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Two. There were just two more rites to go. Kendrick could not believe how quickly they had gotten through the other three rites. True, there had been challenges for each. In the first rite Zyndel had had to face his fear, heights, during the second rite he had taken charge from Kendrick when the man had lost his way. That had been a struggle and half, mostly on Zyndel's part due to Kendrick's stubbornness. For the most recent rite Zyndel laid down the law for Ganso and his mischievous nature, curbing it before the young tokota had taken it too far and they had successful led the three tokotas to safety across a flooded river.

This next rite would take them the most time, but that was mostly because of what it required of tokota and rider. They would have to stay out in the wilderness for a month, thirty full days and nights. Zyndel would be relying on his own skill to feed himself and protect Kendrick, and Kendrick would be counting on his survival instincts and gear to help protect and feed himself. Technically Kendrick was allowed to bring all the gear he wanted – including food for himself, though in reality he had made a list and reviewed it half a dozen times, trying to think of the best combination of supplies to take without weighing down Zyndel overly much.

He would certainly be bringing a sleeping roll, compass, map, rope, a little climbing gear, a tent that was easy to pack up and also fairly wind resistant, knife, first aid kit, tinderbox, flares, a walkie-talkie and extra batteries even though he did not expect to be able to reach anyone with it, better safe then sorry as the saying went. He also had water-proof matches, whetstone, flashlight, supplies for making his own arrows and a collapsible bow and fishing rod, water skin, and of course his favorite – food packages. Those would vary from dried fruits, nuts, jerky, hard bread, and other such non perishable goods.

In the way of clothes, well he would be wearing a lot of them when he left. There was his heavier seal pelt jacket with the wolverine furred hood, the lighter man-made jacket with orange reflective stripes running down the back. He had three sets of shirts, varying in heaviness and resistance to water, two pairs of pants, one heavy and the other were snow pants. Lots and lots of socks, running the range from heavy to light, many pairs of comfortable, warm underwear, and he would be wearing hardy boots studded with ice spikes for the whole trip. He would be relying on a drying rack he would build once the campsite was set up and a nearby river to keep the clothing from becoming too nasty.

Sure, he could think of other things that might help, but the packs were already stuffed full, the tent and sleeping roll had been bundled together but they still made for a very bulky carry-on and most of the items he could think to bring would involve packing even more bags or stuffing them even fuller which would not be a good idea. And he had to keep in mind that Zyndel would have to hunt for his own food once they had reached their campsite which had also been planned very thoroughly.

Their campsite would reside not quite in a valley, but on some of the outlying plains surrounding a valley, nothing too high so that they would be able to easily go up or down to hunt prey if need be. A nearby river would supply fresh water, and that also hopefully upped the prey count of the area. From what they knew from their own plotting and what others said it did not seem like there were any packs of wild tokotas in the area, or at least none that had been seen consistently enough to suggest that the plains were part of a claimed territory.

This rite would also take the longest because they would have to wait until spring to take the trip. Kendrick had wanted to get all the rites done as soon as possible but going on such a trip with winter coming up, well, there was no need to force themselves to face more challenges on their journey. The wait frustrated Kendrick, but he had been outvoted by Robyn, Alex, Elena and Jaime.

Winter passed, as it did, ever so slowly, but finally they all agreed that it had been warm for long enough that it was probably safe to leave on the trip. With hugs and tears he was sent on his way. Soon, they had arrived at the campsite, and it did not take long for Kendrick to set up tent and find a large supply of fallen branches to stock up a pile of firewood, and set up a drying rack.

Thirty days seemed to stretch into eternity ahead of Kendrick, he had been convinced due to past to bring his favorite book with him, or more accurately books as he had brought The Lord of the Rings; all three books combined into one large book. This was actually a new copy of the book, given to him at Christmas especially for this trip as it was water resistant and came with a small book light and bookmark.

Part of Zyndel having to hunt for himself meant that Kendrick could not set up traps, at least not for Zyndel, but he did set up a few small traps for rabbits and foxes to supplement his diet. He also found some bushes growing what he knew were safe to eat, though not fully ripe berries and mentally marked their location and he scouted the river, finding the best place to fish. This passed the first few days fairly quickly and Zyndel had been fishing for his food, though with little physical exertion after the initial effort getting here and setting up meant the tokota had to eat less.

It was a quiet life, Zyndel mostly kept his hunting to himself, knowing that while Kendrick was used to hunting both for himself and with tokotas now that sometimes humans preferred not to see how a tokota ate. Sure, the water was cold, sure his clothes took forever to wash and dry, and there were the rainy days that left Kendrick wet or stuck in a tent smelling wet tokota just yards away. There were the cold days when Kendrick did not want to leave the tent, and there were warm days when Kendrick and Zyndel would both be outside from dawn to dusk. Fortunately there was no snow, despite Kendrick being prepared for the event.

Before they knew it though, fifteen days had passed, Zyndel staying healthy if a bit leaner, Kendrick was hardly starving, and they both got plenty of exercise to keep them fit and active throughout the day.

On the sixteenth night that all changed. That was the night they first heard the howling. Kendrick did not want to believe it could be other tokotas, so at first the sounds were explained away as coyotes or wolves. As the sounds grew closer though it became more and more obvious it did not belong to a coyote and that left them with wolves or tokotas. Wolves would be preferred because even though they were territorial like tokotas, they tended to shy away from the scent of the larger tokotas, especially when a human was with them unless they were rabid, or desperate. If they were desperate then there would be a problem, wolves tended to fight in packs, and while Zyndel had a size advantage he was just one tokota. Tokotas, well tokotas would bring more problems then wolves did, they also tended to travel in packs, and would be on equal footing size wise with Zyndel.

Morning of the twentieth day came and when they found large paw prints around the river Kendrick's heart sunk. The paw prints forced him to face the truth of the matter, there were tokotas coming into the area, at least one for sure. They could only hope that the tokota would keep moving and that they had not stumbled into a pack's home.

All through the day Kendrick was jumping at the smallest sounds, and Zyndel seemed to be warier too, the tokota sticking protectively by Kendrick's side, the two deciding to comb the valley for food rather then to stick by the river. Kendrick considered moving the campsite, but they were so close to leaving, they just had to stick it out ten more days and with the river full of fish and the valley still full of prey that gave a lone tokota less reason to seek them out.

That night Kendrick had a hard time getting to sleep as he heard the howls of a tokota not too far away, but eventually exhaustion overcame him, sending him into a fitful sleep filled with nightmares of sharp teeth.

Another day passed, there were more tracks by the river, whether they were from the same tokota or a different one Kendrick could not tell. Zyndel knew there were at least two tokotas though and the creamy male became even more guarded. One on one was a difficult, but winnable fight. Two on one, well, it was still possible to win but it would take every ounce of muscle and all his wits to do so.

They decided that avoiding the part of the river where they had found the paw prints, despite it being the best fishing place, would be for the best and they stuck closer to the campsite in general. Zyndel marked the territory around the campsite, paced the perimeter, watching through the day and through most of the night, and even though his eyes grew tired he did not want to let his guard down for longer than he had to. It was only when Kendrick joined him before dawn on the twenty-second day that the tokota let himself rest.

That day their nerves were on edge, Zyndel's senses had ramped up, they both looked a bit harried, and there were shadows under their eyes. Sounds that had become second nature to for them to hear made them jump, ever rustle was met with wide stare of panic or a defensive growl. They did not see the tokotas that day and t was not until the sun had started to set that they started hearing the barking and howls coming closer and closer.

Neither of them got much sleep that night.

They might not have moved from the camp in the morning except for Zyndel's growling belly, while Kendrick still had a good supply of food for himself and he wished with all his heart that he could give Zyndel some of that food he knew if he did he would not be able to live with the guilt of knowing they had been so close to finishing this thing, and thus far they had not bent the rules so doing it now... well it would defeat the purpose, taking away what they had worked so hard to earn. Kendrick's pride and stubbornness would not allow giving up, and Zyndel was just as determined. Together they would make it.

Kendrick rode Zyndel instead of staying behind, alone, at the camp, trusting the tokota to be able to run for it if need be, while allowing the creamy male to hunt. That was when they saw the other tokotas. They were lean, but fit, two males, probably bachelors that were traveling together for the time being. Kendrick felt slightly relieved to know they had not wandered into a pack's territory, but they still had problems, it was two tokotas vs one, though with Kendrick the numbers were technically even.

One of the males was a tundra color, something that would have blended into the snow effortlessly, and the other male was a deep rich brown with lighter brown accents and both males bore the black lines around their eyes and mouth that most tokotas had. The tundra narrowed his brown eyes, staring straight at Zyndel, and the brown male's hackles raised, a deep growl coming from him.

Zyndel snarled, staring right back at the two wild males. Kendrick, in some odd state of panic had named the two the instant he saw them, obviously calling the tundra male Snow, and the brown male he called Nico. Why Nico? He had no clue. Perhaps his brain had decided if he named them they would somehow become friendlier.

Kendrick bent low over Zyndel, not looking at Snow or Nico, he did not want to seem like he was a threat. Zyndel, showing his teeth, started backing away from the two slowly, though he did not let his gaze drop. Only when Snow looked away did Zyndel turn, as if in disgust at the two males, his tail and head held high, silently communicating that he was the dominant male here, and if they tried to mess with him they better be prepared.

After that Zyndel quickly made a kill, and gulped down the food before they headed back to camp, though he did not sprint. No, sprinting would have made him look like he was afraid of Snow and Nico, and in order to protect Kendrick he could not allow any weakness to show.

The feeling of eyes watching from the distance, a constant uncomfortable tickle in the back of both Zyndel and Kendrick's mind stuck with them the rest of the day, even though they did not see either male. On the twenty-fourth Kendrick had packed everything he could into his backpack, his stubbornness had relented, they would be moving camp that afternoon, while they could not go far they had to get out of here before they invited trouble they weren't looking for.

Zyndel was eager to move as well, and once everything was tied up he moved away from the place at a gallop, his paws flying over the ground. They kept moving long after the sun had set, no longer at a gallop, but at a weary walk. Exhaustion hit Kendrick first, the trees becoming blurs in his vision, his eyelids growing heavier with each passing moment. He eventually dismounted Zyndel and started walking beside his tokota to try and stay awake, but as his coordination slipped away into a wash of fumbling fingers, mumbled words, and almost running into a tree he finally stopped. His legs trembled, and at that moment he could not have taken another step if his life depended upon it. Zyndel, as tired as he was knew his rider could take no more, and so gently pressed Kendrick down with his muzzle as the tokota also lay down, curling around the man protectively. The instant Kendrick's head hit the soft fur of his tokota's belly he fell asleep.

It was almost noon on the twenty-fifth day when Kendrick awoke, his eyes darting around in a panic, his breathing hitched, not remembering where he was, but Zyndel calmed him with a soft nuzzle as their flee to this hopefully safer place came rushing back to Kendrick's memory. Along with his memory, his hunger came back with a vengeance, they had not stopped to eat yesterday, only to drink water and he knew Zyndel must be hungry too. Digging some food out of his back pack he stretched for a moment, his back sore from sleeping the ground. He then mounted Zyndel, and ate while the tokota looked for food.

When they found a river Kendrick dismounted, taking Zyndel's tack off and then without waiting a moment longer the creamy tokota plunged in, and began fishing. Kendrick stripped his sweaty clothes off, not caring if anyone happened to see him, it was the wild, what did they want from him? He waded into the water, shivering at first as the cold rush of liquid swirled around him, carrying away dirt and grime.

Zyndel's hunger motivated him and he had quickly caught and eaten three fish, and now was sniffing around for anything else to snack on, trying to build up his reserves once more.

After his bath and drying off Kendrick scouted the area, consulting with his compass and map. Good news, he knew where they were, bad news, it was awfully close to a territory of a pack of wolves. He marked a place on the map a little further away from the wolves, but still close to this river while not going too far back the way they came as a possible place to camp. Once Zyndel was done eating they headed there.

For the five remaining days of their challenge they stayed at that campsite, though it was never as calm or pleasant as the first fifteen days had been. It rained every single goddamn day of those five days, never giving Kendrick enough time to get his clothes dry and leaving Zyndel smelling of wet tokota. They were more than ready to go home on the thirty-first day, which, of course was a sunny and pleasant a day as Kendrick could have hoped for, but with the trial done he just wanted to go home, have a civilized meal and do laundry in a washing machine instead of a river. As for Zyndel, well, Zyndel was looking forward to not having to catch all his meals for himself.

Description
Two. There were just two more rites to go. Kendrick could not believe how quickly they had gotten through the other three rites. True, there had been challenges for each. In the first rite Zyndel had had to face his fear, heights, during the second rite he had taken charge from Kendrick when the man had lost his way. That had been a struggle and half, mostly on Zyndel's part due to Kendrick's stubbornness. For the most recent rite Zyndel laid down the law for Ganso and his mischievous nature, curbing it before the young tokota had taken it too far and they had successful led the three tokotas to safety across a flooded river.

This next rite would take them the most time, but that was mostly because of what it required of tokota and rider. They would have to stay out in the wilderness for a month, thirty full days and nights. Zyndel would be relying on his own skill to feed himself and protect Kendrick, and Kendrick would be counting on his survival instincts and gear to help protect and feed himself. Technically Kendrick was allowed to bring all the gear he wanted – including food for himself, though in reality he had made a list and reviewed it half a dozen times, trying to think of the best combination of supplies to take without weighing down Zyndel overly much.

He would certainly be bringing a sleeping roll, compass, map, rope, a little climbing gear, a tent that was easy to pack up and also fairly wind resistant, knife, first aid kit, tinderbox, flares, a walkie-talkie and extra batteries even though he did not expect to be able to reach anyone with it, better safe then sorry as the saying went. He also had water-proof matches, whetstone, flashlight, supplies for making his own arrows and a collapsible bow and fishing rod, water skin, and of course his favorite – food packages. Those would vary from dried fruits, nuts, jerky, hard bread, and other such non perishable goods.

In the way of clothes, well he would be wearing a lot of them when he left. There was his heavier seal pelt jacket with the wolverine furred hood, the lighter man-made jacket with orange reflective stripes running down the back. He had three sets of shirts, varying in heaviness and resistance to water, two pairs of pants, one heavy and the other were snow pants. Lots and lots of socks, running the range from heavy to light, many pairs of comfortable, warm underwear, and he would be wearing hardy boots studded with ice spikes for the whole trip. He would be relying on a drying rack he would build once the campsite was set up and a nearby river to keep the clothing from becoming too nasty.

Sure, he could think of other things that might help, but the packs were already stuffed full, the tent and sleeping roll had been bundled together but they still made for a very bulky carry-on and most of the items he could think to bring would involve packing even more bags or stuffing them even fuller which would not be a good idea. And he had to keep in mind that Zyndel would have to hunt for his own food once they had reached their campsite which had also been planned very thoroughly.

Their campsite would reside not quite in a valley, but on some of the outlying plains surrounding a valley, nothing too high so that they would be able to easily go up or down to hunt prey if need be. A nearby river would supply fresh water, and that also hopefully upped the prey count of the area. From what they knew from their own plotting and what others said it did not seem like there were any packs of wild tokotas in the area, or at least none that had been seen consistently enough to suggest that the plains were part of a claimed territory.

This rite would also take the longest because they would have to wait until spring to take the trip. Kendrick had wanted to get all the rites done as soon as possible but going on such a trip with winter coming up, well, there was no need to force themselves to face more challenges on their journey. The wait frustrated Kendrick, but he had been outvoted by Robyn, Alex, Elena and Jaime.

Winter passed, as it did, ever so slowly, but finally they all agreed that it had been warm for long enough that it was probably safe to leave on the trip. With hugs and tears he was sent on his way. Soon, they had arrived at the campsite, and it did not take long for Kendrick to set up tent and find a large supply of fallen branches to stock up a pile of firewood, and set up a drying rack.

Thirty days seemed to stretch into eternity ahead of Kendrick, he had been convinced due to past to bring his favorite book with him, or more accurately books as he had brought The Lord of the Rings; all three books combined into one large book. This was actually a new copy of the book, given to him at Christmas especially for this trip as it was water resistant and came with a small book light and bookmark.

Part of Zyndel having to hunt for himself meant that Kendrick could not set up traps, at least not for Zyndel, but he did set up a few small traps for rabbits and foxes to supplement his diet. He also found some bushes growing what he knew were safe to eat, though not fully ripe berries and mentally marked their location and he scouted the river, finding the best place to fish. This passed the first few days fairly quickly and Zyndel had been fishing for his food, though with little physical exertion after the initial effort getting here and setting up meant the tokota had to eat less.

It was a quiet life, Zyndel mostly kept his hunting to himself, knowing that while Kendrick was used to hunting both for himself and with tokotas now that sometimes humans preferred not to see how a tokota ate. Sure, the water was cold, sure his clothes took forever to wash and dry, and there were the rainy days that left Kendrick wet or stuck in a tent smelling wet tokota just yards away. There were the cold days when Kendrick did not want to leave the tent, and there were warm days when Kendrick and Zyndel would both be outside from dawn to dusk. Fortunately there was no snow, despite Kendrick being prepared for the event.

Before they knew it though, fifteen days had passed, Zyndel staying healthy if a bit leaner, Kendrick was hardly starving, and they both got plenty of exercise to keep them fit and active throughout the day.

On the sixteenth night that all changed. That was the night they first heard the howling. Kendrick did not want to believe it could be other tokotas, so at first the sounds were explained away as coyotes or wolves. As the sounds grew closer though it became more and more obvious it did not belong to a coyote and that left them with wolves or tokotas. Wolves would be preferred because even though they were territorial like tokotas, they tended to shy away from the scent of the larger tokotas, especially when a human was with them unless they were rabid, or desperate. If they were desperate then there would be a problem, wolves tended to fight in packs, and while Zyndel had a size advantage he was just one tokota. Tokotas, well tokotas would bring more problems then wolves did, they also tended to travel in packs, and would be on equal footing size wise with Zyndel.

Morning of the twentieth day came and when they found large paw prints around the river Kendrick's heart sunk. The paw prints forced him to face the truth of the matter, there were tokotas coming into the area, at least one for sure. They could only hope that the tokota would keep moving and that they had not stumbled into a pack's home.

All through the day Kendrick was jumping at the smallest sounds, and Zyndel seemed to be warier too, the tokota sticking protectively by Kendrick's side, the two deciding to comb the valley for food rather then to stick by the river. Kendrick considered moving the campsite, but they were so close to leaving, they just had to stick it out ten more days and with the river full of fish and the valley still full of prey that gave a lone tokota less reason to seek them out.

That night Kendrick had a hard time getting to sleep as he heard the howls of a tokota not too far away, but eventually exhaustion overcame him, sending him into a fitful sleep filled with nightmares of sharp teeth.

Another day passed, there were more tracks by the river, whether they were from the same tokota or a different one Kendrick could not tell. Zyndel knew there were at least two tokotas though and the creamy male became even more guarded. One on one was a difficult, but winnable fight. Two on one, well, it was still possible to win but it would take every ounce of muscle and all his wits to do so.

They decided that avoiding the part of the river where they had found the paw prints, despite it being the best fishing place, would be for the best and they stuck closer to the campsite in general. Zyndel marked the territory around the campsite, paced the perimeter, watching through the day and through most of the night, and even though his eyes grew tired he did not want to let his guard down for longer than he had to. It was only when Kendrick joined him before dawn on the twenty-second day that the tokota let himself rest.

That day their nerves were on edge, Zyndel's senses had ramped up, they both looked a bit harried, and there were shadows under their eyes. Sounds that had become second nature to for them to hear made them jump, ever rustle was met with wide stare of panic or a defensive growl. They did not see the tokotas that day and t was not until the sun had started to set that they started hearing the barking and howls coming closer and closer.

Neither of them got much sleep that night.

They might not have moved from the camp in the morning except for Zyndel's growling belly, while Kendrick still had a good supply of food for himself and he wished with all his heart that he could give Zyndel some of that food he knew if he did he would not be able to live with the guilt of knowing they had been so close to finishing this thing, and thus far they had not bent the rules so doing it now... well it would defeat the purpose, taking away what they had worked so hard to earn. Kendrick's pride and stubbornness would not allow giving up, and Zyndel was just as determined. Together they would make it.

Kendrick rode Zyndel instead of staying behind, alone, at the camp, trusting the tokota to be able to run for it if need be, while allowing the creamy male to hunt. That was when they saw the other tokotas. They were lean, but fit, two males, probably bachelors that were traveling together for the time being. Kendrick felt slightly relieved to know they had not wandered into a pack's territory, but they still had problems, it was two tokotas vs one, though with Kendrick the numbers were technically even.

One of the males was a tundra color, something that would have blended into the snow effortlessly, and the other male was a deep rich brown with lighter brown accents and both males bore the black lines around their eyes and mouth that most tokotas had. The tundra narrowed his brown eyes, staring straight at Zyndel, and the brown male's hackles raised, a deep growl coming from him.

Zyndel snarled, staring right back at the two wild males. Kendrick, in some odd state of panic had named the two the instant he saw them, obviously calling the tundra male Snow, and the brown male he called Nico. Why Nico? He had no clue. Perhaps his brain had decided if he named them they would somehow become friendlier.

Kendrick bent low over Zyndel, not looking at Snow or Nico, he did not want to seem like he was a threat. Zyndel, showing his teeth, started backing away from the two slowly, though he did not let his gaze drop. Only when Snow looked away did Zyndel turn, as if in disgust at the two males, his tail and head held high, silently communicating that he was the dominant male here, and if they tried to mess with him they better be prepared.

After that Zyndel quickly made a kill, and gulped down the food before they headed back to camp, though he did not sprint. No, sprinting would have made him look like he was afraid of Snow and Nico, and in order to protect Kendrick he could not allow any weakness to show.

The feeling of eyes watching from the distance, a constant uncomfortable tickle in the back of both Zyndel and Kendrick's mind stuck with them the rest of the day, even though they did not see either male. On the twenty-fourth Kendrick had packed everything he could into his backpack, his stubbornness had relented, they would be moving camp that afternoon, while they could not go far they had to get out of here before they invited trouble they weren't looking for.

Zyndel was eager to move as well, and once everything was tied up he moved away from the place at a gallop, his paws flying over the ground. They kept moving long after the sun had set, no longer at a gallop, but at a weary walk. Exhaustion hit Kendrick first, the trees becoming blurs in his vision, his eyelids growing heavier with each passing moment. He eventually dismounted Zyndel and started walking beside his tokota to try and stay awake, but as his coordination slipped away into a wash of fumbling fingers, mumbled words, and almost running into a tree he finally stopped. His legs trembled, and at that moment he could not have taken another step if his life depended upon it. Zyndel, as tired as he was knew his rider could take no more, and so gently pressed Kendrick down with his muzzle as the tokota also lay down, curling around the man protectively. The instant Kendrick's head hit the soft fur of his tokota's belly he fell asleep.

It was almost noon on the twenty-fifth day when Kendrick awoke, his eyes darting around in a panic, his breathing hitched, not remembering where he was, but Zyndel calmed him with a soft nuzzle as their flee to this hopefully safer place came rushing back to Kendrick's memory. Along with his memory, his hunger came back with a vengeance, they had not stopped to eat yesterday, only to drink water and he knew Zyndel must be hungry too. Digging some food out of his back pack he stretched for a moment, his back sore from sleeping the ground. He then mounted Zyndel, and ate while the tokota looked for food.

When they found a river Kendrick dismounted, taking Zyndel's tack off and then without waiting a moment longer the creamy tokota plunged in, and began fishing. Kendrick stripped his sweaty clothes off, not caring if anyone happened to see him, it was the wild, what did they want from him? He waded into the water, shivering at first as the cold rush of liquid swirled around him, carrying away dirt and grime.

Zyndel's hunger motivated him and he had quickly caught and eaten three fish, and now was sniffing around for anything else to snack on, trying to build up his reserves once more.

After his bath and drying off Kendrick scouted the area, consulting with his compass and map. Good news, he knew where they were, bad news, it was awfully close to a territory of a pack of wolves. He marked a place on the map a little further away from the wolves, but still close to this river while not going too far back the way they came as a possible place to camp. Once Zyndel was done eating they headed there.

For the five remaining days of their challenge they stayed at that campsite, though it was never as calm or pleasant as the first fifteen days had been. It rained every single goddamn day of those five days, never giving Kendrick enough time to get his clothes dry and leaving Zyndel smelling of wet tokota. They were more than ready to go home on the thirty-first day, which, of course was a sunny and pleasant a day as Kendrick could have hoped for, but with the trial done he just wanted to go home, have a civilized meal and do laundry in a washing machine instead of a river. As for Zyndel, well, Zyndel was looking forward to not having to catch all his meals for himself.