Rite of Merit - 1 Angel 2 Devils

The goal was clear to them. They had been sent here to the foot of this giant mountain. There was a path right in front of them leading up, around and down on the other side. And there they would find the start and finish line and the judges. They had a limit of three hours to get there or their first rite would have failed. Well, if you thought about it, it was a quite easy task to do in theory. But when you stand in front of this mountain, looking up, it didn't seemed to easy anymore. But the team was prepared for anything and they would do it. And they would make it.

Nanuq was standing beside Zahla, her companion for this set of rites. Zahla was a beautiful creme tundra with some amazing markings. She was given to Nanuq to do her Rites of Fertility together and the young rider was honored to do so. Nanuq was a member of an ancient clan who was still deep connected to nature and it's animals. The girl owned a white mask and if she put it on, she turned herself into a quite big arctic fox. But today she would ride her tokota and would not run along side her. Nanuq was wearing her usual blue jacket with a hood and some pelt to keep her warm. But she wasn't the only one of her clan to join those rites.
Attila was a bit older than her and quite tall. He had ginger hair and full beard to go with it. He would turn into a red fox if she put on his mask. But like Nanuq he would ride his tokota today. And his companion was Mahagoni, a rich brown female with a mind of her own. She needed a tough hand or she would probably hurt you with all of her energy.
And the third one to join them was Raven, another member of this ancient clan. With her black long hair you could easily guess what kind of fox she was. A silver fox. Her eyes were golden and she would rarely laugh. Raven would ride as well a little she-demon. Rust was her name and she had a beautiful greyish red coat. But she was the devil himself and only Raven had a will strong enough to contain her. And exactly that would become a problem.

It was hard enough to get to the starting point without Rust and Mahagoni growling and snapping at each other. The two females had a lot of temperament and it was hard for Attila and Raven to stop them from biting each others paws or ears. Luckily Zahla stood over them in the hierarchy, even is she was considerable smaller than the other two. She wasn't as dominant but she would growl at both and they would be nice for around ten minutes before starting all over again. But without her this adventure wouldn't be possible. But now they had to start, the clock was ticking and they still had only three hours to get to their destination.

"This is only the first of three rites. How are we going to manage that those two get along? I know, if we accomplish this rite, Zahla will stay with us for the next one. But haven't you said that she would do the Rite of Knowledge? That means we need another more dominant tokota for our Rite of Hunt." Attila checked his saddle a last time before swinging on Mahagoni's back. At first he had been saying that there was no problem and it would be a piece of cake to contain those two females but know he was very concerned not only about their health but also about his. Mahagoni was quite the fierce tokota and she had shown him the way he had to go. Somehow the ginger had managed to get her trust and placed himself above her in the hierarchy. But still.

"Are you afraid Mahagoni is going to eat you? I think she is the sweetest and you are just incapable of handling her. Your pack consists of a lot of males, right? it's no wonder that you can't handle a moody female." Raven looked at him with no emotion in her face or voice. She was already sitting on top of Rust, placing her backpack on the side of her saddle before taking the rein. 

"I'm just riding her because Nanuq is riding Zahla now. Actually Nanuq should have been riding this little brown beast, not me. I would have preferred on of my boys for this, of course. They are all well trained and would never bite the hand of their handler." Attila looked down at Mahagoni with a slightly mad view. When he had tried to feed her some hours ago she tried to bite his hand off. But Raven just said she did that because he had some beef left on his hands, nothing more.

"Raven, if you like her so much, you can have her. I never really bounded with her but she really like you, I think. After those rites she will be yours. And maybe you can keep those two brawlers together without killing each other. They trust you both and you have a strong hand for difficult chases. But for know, Attila, you have to stay with Mahagoni. We have to finish this track. Let's go! I will go first, then Attila and you are last Raven. I think that will be the best formation." Nanuq was the last to get on her tokota. She brushed over Zahla's collar before mounting. Now all three riders were on they tokotas and Nanuq just gave her female a slight hint and she started walking. 

Zahla was leading the group onto the path and up the mountain. The first part was quite easy. The path lead through a pine forest at first. The sun was shining through the branches and the light would dance on the forest floor. Birds were flying over their heads and if you watched closely you could see some squirrels running away. The little critters didn't like the tokotas in their forest and fled. The pack would keep a steady but quite fast pace as long as the path wasn't to steep. That meant trotting for Mahagoni and Rust and a mix of trotting and gallop for Zahla because of her height. But the creme tundra had a good constitution and had no problem keeping up with the bigger two. But soon the scenery changed and the path went up the mountain. Giant stones would block they road and the had to carefully find a way around it. Now it was a plus for Zahla to be so small, she could easily find gaps and holes to walk through. For Mahagoni and Rust it was a lot more difficult, especially for Rust. The reddish female was very large and her patience grew smaller and smaller with every rock they had to go around. And not only this, all those rocks cost them a lot of time and they couldn't keep their steady pace anymore.

"Who found this ridiculous path anyway? Did they choose the most annoying route on purpose? I mean, yeah, they need to check if a tokota is breedable but this is just a bad joke." Raven's patience was as bad as Rust's. Attila would now keep a few meters between him and his teammate. Not only for himself but Mahagoni started to feel the bad mood and adapted to it. She would start growling again and her ears weren't visible anymore. If the two females would come too close to each other there was no guarantee that there wouldn't be a fight. But not only Attila was aware of this, Nanuq reined Zahla to place herself between the brown females. The young rider gave her mate a particular look and he would guide his tokota to the front to avoid any conflict.

"Stop whining, Raven. Look, we are almost at the ridge. If I'm not mistaken the path will lead us down the and the finish line is right at the foot of the mountain. We can still make it, trust me." Nanuq pulled her hood down and smiled at the black haired woman, but without success. But she didn't lie. When they finally arrived at the top of the ridge they could look all the way down to the bottom of the mountain. They could even see a small group of people waiting for them at the finish line. But the way was still long and a glance on the clock showed that they had little time left.

"We will never make it in time! Zahla and Mahagoni are exhausted and if we want to make it we need to be fast. And fast means they have to place their steps with a lot of awareness. If not they will fall down the mountain." Raven was right. The creme tundra and the brown female panted and their heads were hanging down. Only Rust seemed to have a little bit of energy left. The red-brown looked at her pack mates closely before putting her ears back. Without permission from her rider she walked towards the other two, started growling and showing her teeth. Nanuq and Attila tried to get their tokotas out of the way but there was no space on the ridge. Meanwhile Raven tried to get her female back under control but nothing seemed to help. The three riders could only exchange some irritated and slightly frightened views. Nobody had a clue what was going on but Rust didn't attack any of the other tokotas. She just stopped in front of them growling and now barking as well. At first Nanuq didn't understand but she was the first to get the hint.

"I see! Rust tries to motivate Zahla and Mahagoni. Apparently she knows that we are running out of time. And she is the only one with energy left, if she walks ahead and checks the path the other two can follow much more quickly and without falling down." Nanuq started to smile, then Attila and even Raven seemed to grin just a bit. After a few more barks and growling Rust turned around and started walking again. First the other two didn't follow but after giving Rust a little head start bot jumped down the ridge. The reddish female was quite fast and she threw her head from one side to the other to find the fastest but also safest route down. And just a few seconds behind her followed Zahla and Mahagoni with the same speed but now they knew the safe way down. 

"There are only a few minutes left, we are never going to make it in time! Raven! We need to be faster!" Nanuq looked down at her watch and the time was flying by. This would be very tight. Raven had heard her and lowered herself down on Rust.

"C'mon big girl! Show them the meaning of haste!" with these words Rust started howling and speed up. She jumped from stone to stone, from safe place to safe place, followed by her pack mates. Nanuq and Attila followed Raven's example and lowered they bodies to give the wind less to grab to. And with this technique all three females were much faster than before. All three flew down the mountain without falling or slipping.

"Only a few minutes left! Now or never! We can make it!" Attila's voice was full of hope. They were already at the foot of the mountain, only a few meters separated them from the finish line. All three riders pushed their tokotas to their limits and they were racing over the finish line. The crowd was cheering at them while the pack was running down. They made it. They had finish the first rite in the given time. Nanauq, Attila and Raven dismounted from their tokotas to bring them water and food. The three females were exhausted and lay down panting. Even Mahagoni and Rust lay side by side without fighting. It seemed this experience brought them closer together. The next step was the Rite of Fortitude and there they needed a lot more strength than this. Five days to finish and a long way to go. But for now they just needed to rest.