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Description
Blue, cloudless sky met Kendrick's gaze, and he smiled. The air was chilly, and a gentle wind swirled around him and fall leaves fluttered in the breeze. Orange, red, yellow of the leaves decorated the yellow-green grassy hillside. Hopefully tomorrow would be just as pleasant and beautiful and part of him wished they were at the mountain pass already, but at the same time he was enjoying the scenery.

All too soon he had to get back into the truck after Zyndel and Robyn had stretched. They were driving up to a mountain pass for the second rite of dominance, sadly spending far too much of the pleasant day in the vehicle. Aspen had finally gone through all of her rites and they could not be prouder of the dun female that had been their first tokota. While Zyndel was not their second tokota, they had all agreed he was better prepared for the rites then any other tokota, and Zyndel's arrival had not been far behind Koreth, who had been the second addition to their family.

Zyndel had already done his first rite, facing his fear of heights by crossing over a canyon on a log bridge, with much encouragement from Kendrick. While the fear itself had been easy to prep for and well known by every rider – especially Kendrick facing it had still been a challenge. In the end Kendrick had been the only who felt he knew Zyndel well enough and did not have a problem with heights to meet the challenge. And in the end they had risen above, literally and figuratively.
While nature was unpredictable, Kendrick still felt confident about being able to complete this rite with no real problems. He had carefully selected the day for their journey, the pass they would be traveling through, leaving nothing to random chance.

Robyn would drop them off at the campsite and in the morning Kendrick and Zyndel would make their way through the pass and at the end Robyn would pick them up, and they would drive home. Kendrick was not exactly sure what to expect from this, there were many stories from others about what they had experienced, everything from a beautiful bonding experience, to tales so harrowing he was surprised the rider's hair had not gone white from shock. Of course some of the best stories were from the older riders, so who knew, maybe their hair was white from many harrowing rides.

Finally they reached the drop off site, and Robyn helped set up, after all she would also spend the night here, home was far away, and Kendrick appreciated the company. The night passed quickly, the truck and trailer guarding their tents from the wild, and with Zyndel curled up next to Kendrick he had no real need for blankets.

Kendrick was up with the dawn, breakfast came first and they all ate together while discussing the plans for the day. It all felt strangely normal and yet there was an overlaying layer of apprehension. Normally on an expedition both of them would have a tokota to ride, so there already was one difference, another was that Kendrick would have no map to guide him through the mountain pass. He would have to rely on Zyndel to guide them both.

Robyn would be waiting on the other side, prepared to call back up if needed. Kendrick was fairly confident in Zyndel, and in himself, but given how trial had played out last time he knew better then to be overly sure. He still had nightmares about that rock fall, of Aspen running for her life. In the end they had both made it safely through the pass but he had no desire for that experience to be repeated, he would not and did not count on luck to once again pull through for them.

So it was understandable that he double and triple checked their supplies, fiddling with Zyndel's tack to make sure it fit just right, and that he kept glancing up at the clear morning sky anxiously.

“You will do just fine” Robyn reassured him.
“Easy for you to say, you have not been blessed this experience before” Kendrick said, his voice tense.
Robyn said nothing, knowing that Kendrick had not meant what he had said, and it had been the stress talking.
“Zyndel are you ready to find your way through a mountain pass?” Robyn asked the tokota quietly. Zyndel's warm brown eyes met hers levelly, as if to say you can trust me.
She reached up and scratched the tokota behind his ear, and he gently shoved his head into her hands, twisting about as she scratched all the itchy spots. “Take care of him alright?” Robyn whispered into Zyndel's black tipped ear and stepped away from the tokota and smiled broadly at Kendrick.
“I think everything is ready to go. I will see you on the other side.”
Kendrick simply nodded, mounting Zyndel with a grunt and waving to Robyn as she hopped into the truck. For a bit Kendrick simply watched as Robyn, truck and trailer disappeared down the mountain said, he shook himself though and took a deep steadying breath. Everything would be okay he told himself and he clucked softly to the pale male tokota that shifted restlessly under him.

Zyndel perked his ears, and with a confidence Kendrick wished he felt, began their journey. They rode at an easy pace for several hours, the sun warm, though the cool breeze from yesterday had returned a bit stronger Kendrick did not really mind the extra chill, as riding a giant furry wolf bear creature could get you a lot warmer then comfortable fairly quickly. As the sun rose steadily they deeper into the pass, so far there had not been too many challenges, they had had to ford a river at one point, but it was not very deep and calm and it had been easy enough for Kendrick to avoid getting wet all together.

Up ahead the pass narrowed, but there was still room for at least one other tokota and rider so Kendrick tried his best not to think of rocks coming down from above and crushing them, forever blocking the pass and them under pounds of sediment and debris. Walls, caving in, crumbling, crushing their breath out. He gripped the reins tighter unconsciously, Zyndel, reading his rider's uncomfortableness halted in his tracks and whined softly.

Kendrick shook himself, snapping out of his imagined nightmare. “Sorry Zyndel, I guess I still have some baggage.” He patted the tokota's neck and Zyndel turned his head and licked Kendrick's hand gently.

Breathing in, out, in, out, Kendrick calmed himself while Zyndel stood patiently, waiting for his rider's cue. Shakily Kendrick clucked to the tokota who willingly started trotting slowly forward once more. Rocky ledges surrounded them shortly, rising to just above Kendrick's head, the walls were gentle though and there were no large boulders sitting on them which made Kendrick breathe a little easier.

None too soon for Kendrick the mounds dissipated into nothing, the ground becoming rocky with little vegetation, practically barren save for an old hawk's nest Kendrick spotted. He briefly wondered if the nest belonged they were the same hawks that he had seen while they coming up the pass.
Zyndel's nails softly clicked on the rocky surface, the quiet up here was a bit unnerving. Whistling softly Kendrick muttered something about “just keep riding”, the wind's gentle whooshes almost drowning it out, though Zyndel's ear flicked back briefly.

On and on the nothing went, with nothing but rocks, dirt, wind and the occasional sprout of brave vegetation that had managed to survive here. It was like an alien planet, sure there were familiar sights and smells but it all looked the same after a while, and Kendrick was starting to feel like they were going in circles.

It was at that point he decided they should break for a light lunch, the monotony of the landscape was weighing on him, and it would be good to get some fresh energy going, maybe even pick up the pace a little? Finding a more sheltered area he dismounted Zyndel and rummaged through the packs for their lunches, dried and salted meat for Zyndel and a ham sandwich for him. He also made sure the tokota got some water from the larger bottle he had brought for the tokota, and made sure they both stayed hydrated.

After a brief rest Kendrick mounted Zyndel once more, and the tokota went back into his slow but steady gait. The barren landscape continued for another half hour, as the pass sloped gently downhill trees started appearing, the grass became greener and more abundant, and the air got ever so slightly warmer.

Sooner then Kendrick had expected they had reached the forested area of the way down the pass, where deer, mountain goats, various birds, bunnies and other woodland species were found. He was feeling pretty good about their progress thus far, it was still early in the afternoon and they had already made it to the forest, if they kept this pace up they might get home before ten. What Kendrick did not notice was that he was guiding Zyndel in circles.

Zyndel was unhappy, Kendrick could not figure out why, the tokota was pausing constantly, whining and pulling in what Kendrick was sure the wrong direction, but eventually the tokota would the way Kendrick pushed him toward, and they would travel on though Zyndel often looked back and then a while later he would stop again for no apparent reason. This had happened twice and tokota had refused to move for longer the second time, and pulled even harder in the direction he wanted to go. Kendrick wondered what was out there that Zyndel wanted so badly?

The third time Zyndel stopped he stopped hard, his feet firmly planted in the ground and he would not move no matter how Kendrick coaxed him. Kendrick tried turning the tokota in tight circles, but Zyndel would go a few steps in the right direction then veer off in the other direction. Kendrick was hesitant to dismount and investigate, on the ground he lost some of the illusion of control he had over the tokota, and being dragged behind or having to run after Zyndel loped off to do whatever it was he wanted to do.

“What is the matter boy? What is so interesting over there? We gotta get home buddy, look if its a deer or something I promise, I will take you hunting soon. I know lunch was not great but the sooner we finish this the sooner we can go home and have some nice tender meat. That sounds good right? C'mon, we are so close now, and I would really like to get home before ten pm. I mean that's a full night of sleep right there, and Robyn won't tease me about men not asking for directions. I mean we are not even allowed a map so I would say that would be against the rules too..” Kendrick trailed off suddenly aware he was rambling. “Look, I wish I could talk to you and you could tell me what you want, but I can not, so you are just going to have to listen to me and trust me.”

Zyndel considered Kendrick's words and pleas, but he knew that he was right, that Kendrick had managed to turn them around in circles. He could smell his own scent here very strongly. But how could he convince Kendrick to trust him? His only solution was to whine again, he did not understand why humans could not smell as he did, he could smell the water ahead, he could smell his own trail going in circles just to please Kendrick. Yet, he hesitated to use his raw power to take over the situation, that extreme usually reserved for emergencies. More and more it was looking as if he would have to resort to forcing his paw, so to speak.

He stood there, locked in a checkmate of his own doing, and tried to clear his thoughts. His human wanted him to keep going in circles and how long would be before they noticed the mistake? Zyndel finally made up his mind and he tensed his muscles, and pulled forward. He had never worn a bit so he had never known the pain of such a thing sawing in his mouth to halt him, but he could feel the nose band tighten as Kendrick pulled at the reins.

Impatiently Zyndel reached his head over and with a chomp his teeth tore through the lightweight leather that connected the contraption to Kendrick's hands. The hackamore remained, but the reins now hung useless.

Kendrick had stared in shock as Zyndel had reached back, and done the one thing a tokota was never supposed to do except in a dire emergency, the reins now drooped, resting atop the saddle as Kendrick's brain went into overdrive. There had to be a reason Zyndel would do such a thing, and now he had no choice but to just hang on to the large creamy tokota as he bounded in what Kendrick was sure was the wrong direction.

Zyndel did not hesitate once he had freed himself from his rider's; well stupidity is how he thought of it. He rushed for the water, and if it had not been for Kendrick he might have splashed in, but instead he simply slowed and started drinking the water.

Kendrick stared at the pool the tokota had found, “All that effort for some water?” he asked, still not catching on. Though now the reins were broken, so all he had was his voice, knees and feet to guide the tokota. True, he had worked with Zyndel to do just this, and Aspen was fully trained to respond to just voice ques, but would Zyndel respond? He pushed gently on Zyndel's barrel with his knees and the tokota's head rose, water dripping from his chin. Zyndel turned, the brown hackamore was also slightly damp, and his brown eyes stared back at his human. Was it Kendrick's imagination or did the tokota look a little wilder? His breath for a moment as he stared at the tokota, but Zyndel turned away first and huffed slightly and followed the water as it trickled out into a creek.

Once more Kendrick tried to correct Zyndel, his knees pressing, his feet kicking, and he even gave the tokota's furry butt a smack, he tried everything but getting off, but he was afraid if he got off he would never get on again.

It was obvious now that Zyndel had not been ready for this, but he had done well facing his fear. And now he was starting to question whether he should jump off and just start the long walk down to Robyn, she would be able to help him catch Zyndel, there was no way the rope he had in his backpack would be enough. Though thinking of his backpack did give him an idea. He slipped the strap over his shoulder, rummaging in the bag. Finally his fingers found what he had been searching for. Treats. Crinkling the packaging he deftly swung the backpack back into place and unwrapped it.

At the sound of the plastic Zyndel's ears flicked back and forth, and he slowed down. Had Kendrick finally realized what a good boy he had been? Even though he had had to break the reins to do it had he finally gotten them back on track?

Kendrick smiled to himself as the tokota slowed, he should have thought of this before, the way to a tokota's heart was through his belly after all. Zyndel halted as Kendrick gave the command to do so, fully expecting that he was being stopped so he could get the treat he knew Kendrick held.

Dismounting Kendrick stuffed the wrapper for the treat in one of his pockets, and held the treat in his hands, careful to hold his hands shut as he walked backwards, towards the water. After taking about one hundred steps back he opened his hands and said softly “Come on boy, we just need to go this way for a few more hours and we will find Robyn and get to go home. Look, I have a nice juicy treat for you.”

Zyndel could hardly believe his eyes when Kendrick went back in the wrong direction, and urged him to come get the treat. How much pushing did he have to do? Well he could not take the treat, no matter how much he wanted it. He whined audibly, his tail drooping, ears flagging, and he gave Kendrick his best puppy eyes. Then he sat firmly on his hindquarters, cocking his head and he whined again.

The treat dropped from Kendrick's fingertips into the muddy ground by the water. Never before had he seen Zyndel refuse a treat. That was the final nail in the coffin. Wherever Zyndel was going he would go too, he would simply have to trust the tokota. Whelp. It could end up being a very long night. With a sigh and a curse Kendrick dragged himself back to Zyndel's side and Zyndel patiently stood for his rider once more, as he mounted back up. He did not even go back for the treat, not wanting to give Kendrick the wrong idea. Besides Robyn would give him lots of treats for keeping Kendrick safe he was sure.

So with treats in mind, Zyndel continued to follow the creek, down through the forest, winding his way around trees and rocks. Kendrick watched as the forest flashed by in shades of brown and green, with the streak of blue and brown marking the water to his side, and a the distant clear blue of the afternoon sky above.

It was hours before Zyndel slowed. Kendrick had been able to tell they that they had been going down but he had completely given up on them ending up in the right place, honestly he could not even tell which was the right way anymore. The sun was setting on the forest, and by now Kendrick was fairly sick of seeing trees.

A distant sound caught Zyndel's attention and he turned, and galloped forward, surprising Kendrick who hung on for dear life as the tokota plunged through trees at a headlong pace.
Suddenly out of the trees appeared a site Kendrick had not expected to see for several more hours. The glint of Robyn's truck haloed by the setting sun on the horizon.

Zyndel slowed and proudly trotted up to the truck where Robyn waited. “Hey there boys!” she said smiling broadly. “I was not expecting you for a few more hours. You must the directional sense of a homing pigeon! And you brought Kendrick back safely, such a good boy!” she praised the pale tokota, scratching behind his ears.

Only after she had praised the tokota did she offer her arm for Kendrick but he continued to sit there, trying to process what had just happened. “Is something wrong?” Robyn asked, puzzled.

“I am trying to figure out how we got here so fast. I thought for sure I was going the right way, but then Zyndel refused to go that way anymore and I tried .. everything to get him to go my way. I even offered him a treat but he would not go for it. I guess he knew the entire time.”

Robyn's brow furrowed, then she smiled again. “Well of course, you should have known to trust his sense of direction, that is what this rite is about after all.”

Kendrick hung his head in shame “Yeah, Zyndel definitely deserves a treat tonight” he said warmly rubbing the tokota's neck.

Zyndel tail wagged happily and he barked once in agreement.

Description
Blue, cloudless sky met Kendrick's gaze, and he smiled. The air was chilly, and a gentle wind swirled around him and fall leaves fluttered in the breeze. Orange, red, yellow of the leaves decorated the yellow-green grassy hillside. Hopefully tomorrow would be just as pleasant and beautiful and part of him wished they were at the mountain pass already, but at the same time he was enjoying the scenery.

All too soon he had to get back into the truck after Zyndel and Robyn had stretched. They were driving up to a mountain pass for the second rite of dominance, sadly spending far too much of the pleasant day in the vehicle. Aspen had finally gone through all of her rites and they could not be prouder of the dun female that had been their first tokota. While Zyndel was not their second tokota, they had all agreed he was better prepared for the rites then any other tokota, and Zyndel's arrival had not been far behind Koreth, who had been the second addition to their family.

Zyndel had already done his first rite, facing his fear of heights by crossing over a canyon on a log bridge, with much encouragement from Kendrick. While the fear itself had been easy to prep for and well known by every rider – especially Kendrick facing it had still been a challenge. In the end Kendrick had been the only who felt he knew Zyndel well enough and did not have a problem with heights to meet the challenge. And in the end they had risen above, literally and figuratively.
While nature was unpredictable, Kendrick still felt confident about being able to complete this rite with no real problems. He had carefully selected the day for their journey, the pass they would be traveling through, leaving nothing to random chance.

Robyn would drop them off at the campsite and in the morning Kendrick and Zyndel would make their way through the pass and at the end Robyn would pick them up, and they would drive home. Kendrick was not exactly sure what to expect from this, there were many stories from others about what they had experienced, everything from a beautiful bonding experience, to tales so harrowing he was surprised the rider's hair had not gone white from shock. Of course some of the best stories were from the older riders, so who knew, maybe their hair was white from many harrowing rides.

Finally they reached the drop off site, and Robyn helped set up, after all she would also spend the night here, home was far away, and Kendrick appreciated the company. The night passed quickly, the truck and trailer guarding their tents from the wild, and with Zyndel curled up next to Kendrick he had no real need for blankets.

Kendrick was up with the dawn, breakfast came first and they all ate together while discussing the plans for the day. It all felt strangely normal and yet there was an overlaying layer of apprehension. Normally on an expedition both of them would have a tokota to ride, so there already was one difference, another was that Kendrick would have no map to guide him through the mountain pass. He would have to rely on Zyndel to guide them both.

Robyn would be waiting on the other side, prepared to call back up if needed. Kendrick was fairly confident in Zyndel, and in himself, but given how trial had played out last time he knew better then to be overly sure. He still had nightmares about that rock fall, of Aspen running for her life. In the end they had both made it safely through the pass but he had no desire for that experience to be repeated, he would not and did not count on luck to once again pull through for them.

So it was understandable that he double and triple checked their supplies, fiddling with Zyndel's tack to make sure it fit just right, and that he kept glancing up at the clear morning sky anxiously.

“You will do just fine” Robyn reassured him.
“Easy for you to say, you have not been blessed this experience before” Kendrick said, his voice tense.
Robyn said nothing, knowing that Kendrick had not meant what he had said, and it had been the stress talking.
“Zyndel are you ready to find your way through a mountain pass?” Robyn asked the tokota quietly. Zyndel's warm brown eyes met hers levelly, as if to say you can trust me.
She reached up and scratched the tokota behind his ear, and he gently shoved his head into her hands, twisting about as she scratched all the itchy spots. “Take care of him alright?” Robyn whispered into Zyndel's black tipped ear and stepped away from the tokota and smiled broadly at Kendrick.
“I think everything is ready to go. I will see you on the other side.”
Kendrick simply nodded, mounting Zyndel with a grunt and waving to Robyn as she hopped into the truck. For a bit Kendrick simply watched as Robyn, truck and trailer disappeared down the mountain said, he shook himself though and took a deep steadying breath. Everything would be okay he told himself and he clucked softly to the pale male tokota that shifted restlessly under him.

Zyndel perked his ears, and with a confidence Kendrick wished he felt, began their journey. They rode at an easy pace for several hours, the sun warm, though the cool breeze from yesterday had returned a bit stronger Kendrick did not really mind the extra chill, as riding a giant furry wolf bear creature could get you a lot warmer then comfortable fairly quickly. As the sun rose steadily they deeper into the pass, so far there had not been too many challenges, they had had to ford a river at one point, but it was not very deep and calm and it had been easy enough for Kendrick to avoid getting wet all together.

Up ahead the pass narrowed, but there was still room for at least one other tokota and rider so Kendrick tried his best not to think of rocks coming down from above and crushing them, forever blocking the pass and them under pounds of sediment and debris. Walls, caving in, crumbling, crushing their breath out. He gripped the reins tighter unconsciously, Zyndel, reading his rider's uncomfortableness halted in his tracks and whined softly.

Kendrick shook himself, snapping out of his imagined nightmare. “Sorry Zyndel, I guess I still have some baggage.” He patted the tokota's neck and Zyndel turned his head and licked Kendrick's hand gently.

Breathing in, out, in, out, Kendrick calmed himself while Zyndel stood patiently, waiting for his rider's cue. Shakily Kendrick clucked to the tokota who willingly started trotting slowly forward once more. Rocky ledges surrounded them shortly, rising to just above Kendrick's head, the walls were gentle though and there were no large boulders sitting on them which made Kendrick breathe a little easier.

None too soon for Kendrick the mounds dissipated into nothing, the ground becoming rocky with little vegetation, practically barren save for an old hawk's nest Kendrick spotted. He briefly wondered if the nest belonged they were the same hawks that he had seen while they coming up the pass.
Zyndel's nails softly clicked on the rocky surface, the quiet up here was a bit unnerving. Whistling softly Kendrick muttered something about “just keep riding”, the wind's gentle whooshes almost drowning it out, though Zyndel's ear flicked back briefly.

On and on the nothing went, with nothing but rocks, dirt, wind and the occasional sprout of brave vegetation that had managed to survive here. It was like an alien planet, sure there were familiar sights and smells but it all looked the same after a while, and Kendrick was starting to feel like they were going in circles.

It was at that point he decided they should break for a light lunch, the monotony of the landscape was weighing on him, and it would be good to get some fresh energy going, maybe even pick up the pace a little? Finding a more sheltered area he dismounted Zyndel and rummaged through the packs for their lunches, dried and salted meat for Zyndel and a ham sandwich for him. He also made sure the tokota got some water from the larger bottle he had brought for the tokota, and made sure they both stayed hydrated.

After a brief rest Kendrick mounted Zyndel once more, and the tokota went back into his slow but steady gait. The barren landscape continued for another half hour, as the pass sloped gently downhill trees started appearing, the grass became greener and more abundant, and the air got ever so slightly warmer.

Sooner then Kendrick had expected they had reached the forested area of the way down the pass, where deer, mountain goats, various birds, bunnies and other woodland species were found. He was feeling pretty good about their progress thus far, it was still early in the afternoon and they had already made it to the forest, if they kept this pace up they might get home before ten. What Kendrick did not notice was that he was guiding Zyndel in circles.

Zyndel was unhappy, Kendrick could not figure out why, the tokota was pausing constantly, whining and pulling in what Kendrick was sure the wrong direction, but eventually the tokota would the way Kendrick pushed him toward, and they would travel on though Zyndel often looked back and then a while later he would stop again for no apparent reason. This had happened twice and tokota had refused to move for longer the second time, and pulled even harder in the direction he wanted to go. Kendrick wondered what was out there that Zyndel wanted so badly?

The third time Zyndel stopped he stopped hard, his feet firmly planted in the ground and he would not move no matter how Kendrick coaxed him. Kendrick tried turning the tokota in tight circles, but Zyndel would go a few steps in the right direction then veer off in the other direction. Kendrick was hesitant to dismount and investigate, on the ground he lost some of the illusion of control he had over the tokota, and being dragged behind or having to run after Zyndel loped off to do whatever it was he wanted to do.

“What is the matter boy? What is so interesting over there? We gotta get home buddy, look if its a deer or something I promise, I will take you hunting soon. I know lunch was not great but the sooner we finish this the sooner we can go home and have some nice tender meat. That sounds good right? C'mon, we are so close now, and I would really like to get home before ten pm. I mean that's a full night of sleep right there, and Robyn won't tease me about men not asking for directions. I mean we are not even allowed a map so I would say that would be against the rules too..” Kendrick trailed off suddenly aware he was rambling. “Look, I wish I could talk to you and you could tell me what you want, but I can not, so you are just going to have to listen to me and trust me.”

Zyndel considered Kendrick's words and pleas, but he knew that he was right, that Kendrick had managed to turn them around in circles. He could smell his own scent here very strongly. But how could he convince Kendrick to trust him? His only solution was to whine again, he did not understand why humans could not smell as he did, he could smell the water ahead, he could smell his own trail going in circles just to please Kendrick. Yet, he hesitated to use his raw power to take over the situation, that extreme usually reserved for emergencies. More and more it was looking as if he would have to resort to forcing his paw, so to speak.

He stood there, locked in a checkmate of his own doing, and tried to clear his thoughts. His human wanted him to keep going in circles and how long would be before they noticed the mistake? Zyndel finally made up his mind and he tensed his muscles, and pulled forward. He had never worn a bit so he had never known the pain of such a thing sawing in his mouth to halt him, but he could feel the nose band tighten as Kendrick pulled at the reins.

Impatiently Zyndel reached his head over and with a chomp his teeth tore through the lightweight leather that connected the contraption to Kendrick's hands. The hackamore remained, but the reins now hung useless.

Kendrick had stared in shock as Zyndel had reached back, and done the one thing a tokota was never supposed to do except in a dire emergency, the reins now drooped, resting atop the saddle as Kendrick's brain went into overdrive. There had to be a reason Zyndel would do such a thing, and now he had no choice but to just hang on to the large creamy tokota as he bounded in what Kendrick was sure was the wrong direction.

Zyndel did not hesitate once he had freed himself from his rider's; well stupidity is how he thought of it. He rushed for the water, and if it had not been for Kendrick he might have splashed in, but instead he simply slowed and started drinking the water.

Kendrick stared at the pool the tokota had found, “All that effort for some water?” he asked, still not catching on. Though now the reins were broken, so all he had was his voice, knees and feet to guide the tokota. True, he had worked with Zyndel to do just this, and Aspen was fully trained to respond to just voice ques, but would Zyndel respond? He pushed gently on Zyndel's barrel with his knees and the tokota's head rose, water dripping from his chin. Zyndel turned, the brown hackamore was also slightly damp, and his brown eyes stared back at his human. Was it Kendrick's imagination or did the tokota look a little wilder? His breath for a moment as he stared at the tokota, but Zyndel turned away first and huffed slightly and followed the water as it trickled out into a creek.

Once more Kendrick tried to correct Zyndel, his knees pressing, his feet kicking, and he even gave the tokota's furry butt a smack, he tried everything but getting off, but he was afraid if he got off he would never get on again.

It was obvious now that Zyndel had not been ready for this, but he had done well facing his fear. And now he was starting to question whether he should jump off and just start the long walk down to Robyn, she would be able to help him catch Zyndel, there was no way the rope he had in his backpack would be enough. Though thinking of his backpack did give him an idea. He slipped the strap over his shoulder, rummaging in the bag. Finally his fingers found what he had been searching for. Treats. Crinkling the packaging he deftly swung the backpack back into place and unwrapped it.

At the sound of the plastic Zyndel's ears flicked back and forth, and he slowed down. Had Kendrick finally realized what a good boy he had been? Even though he had had to break the reins to do it had he finally gotten them back on track?

Kendrick smiled to himself as the tokota slowed, he should have thought of this before, the way to a tokota's heart was through his belly after all. Zyndel halted as Kendrick gave the command to do so, fully expecting that he was being stopped so he could get the treat he knew Kendrick held.

Dismounting Kendrick stuffed the wrapper for the treat in one of his pockets, and held the treat in his hands, careful to hold his hands shut as he walked backwards, towards the water. After taking about one hundred steps back he opened his hands and said softly “Come on boy, we just need to go this way for a few more hours and we will find Robyn and get to go home. Look, I have a nice juicy treat for you.”

Zyndel could hardly believe his eyes when Kendrick went back in the wrong direction, and urged him to come get the treat. How much pushing did he have to do? Well he could not take the treat, no matter how much he wanted it. He whined audibly, his tail drooping, ears flagging, and he gave Kendrick his best puppy eyes. Then he sat firmly on his hindquarters, cocking his head and he whined again.

The treat dropped from Kendrick's fingertips into the muddy ground by the water. Never before had he seen Zyndel refuse a treat. That was the final nail in the coffin. Wherever Zyndel was going he would go too, he would simply have to trust the tokota. Whelp. It could end up being a very long night. With a sigh and a curse Kendrick dragged himself back to Zyndel's side and Zyndel patiently stood for his rider once more, as he mounted back up. He did not even go back for the treat, not wanting to give Kendrick the wrong idea. Besides Robyn would give him lots of treats for keeping Kendrick safe he was sure.

So with treats in mind, Zyndel continued to follow the creek, down through the forest, winding his way around trees and rocks. Kendrick watched as the forest flashed by in shades of brown and green, with the streak of blue and brown marking the water to his side, and a the distant clear blue of the afternoon sky above.

It was hours before Zyndel slowed. Kendrick had been able to tell they that they had been going down but he had completely given up on them ending up in the right place, honestly he could not even tell which was the right way anymore. The sun was setting on the forest, and by now Kendrick was fairly sick of seeing trees.

A distant sound caught Zyndel's attention and he turned, and galloped forward, surprising Kendrick who hung on for dear life as the tokota plunged through trees at a headlong pace.
Suddenly out of the trees appeared a site Kendrick had not expected to see for several more hours. The glint of Robyn's truck haloed by the setting sun on the horizon.

Zyndel slowed and proudly trotted up to the truck where Robyn waited. “Hey there boys!” she said smiling broadly. “I was not expecting you for a few more hours. You must the directional sense of a homing pigeon! And you brought Kendrick back safely, such a good boy!” she praised the pale tokota, scratching behind his ears.

Only after she had praised the tokota did she offer her arm for Kendrick but he continued to sit there, trying to process what had just happened. “Is something wrong?” Robyn asked, puzzled.

“I am trying to figure out how we got here so fast. I thought for sure I was going the right way, but then Zyndel refused to go that way anymore and I tried .. everything to get him to go my way. I even offered him a treat but he would not go for it. I guess he knew the entire time.”

Robyn's brow furrowed, then she smiled again. “Well of course, you should have known to trust his sense of direction, that is what this rite is about after all.”

Kendrick hung his head in shame “Yeah, Zyndel definitely deserves a treat tonight” he said warmly rubbing the tokota's neck.

Zyndel tail wagged happily and he barked once in agreement.