The Ruins
They set out early in the morning, when the mist still hung heavy over the autumn landscape- knowing they needed as early a start to their adventure as possible. That day, they were headed up into the mountains, to investigate some ruins about mid-way up one of the larger mountains, intending to see if they could find any relics. According to the elf, they would serve them well if they were found for a lot of reasons really. There was always the chance for profit, but also the chance to maybe find something so useful that they wouldn't even dream of selling it. Something magic, or something like that.
Who even knew when it came to the elf.
Anik had decided on bringing Nux with him, wanting the piebald to get more experience on outings. The tokota really needed to learn to handle going out and doing things where he may not be able to bring something back. Chances were fairly good that they might not actually find anything useful after all. He had treats at the ready to try and cheer Nux up if he got upset, but he hoped that the big beast was learning not to be so upset about things over time. Surely there was a way to manage that, right? The were-hyena sure as hell hoped so. The ability to accept defeat would be a useful one for Nux. Even if it did seem to motivate him to go above and beyond, the anxiety upon loss was awful, and surely wasn't doing the piebald tokota any favors.
Cyrelas on the other hand, not feeling the need to bring one of his own beasts had borrowed Alaina's prize sphinx from her. The beast called Riggs worked well with Nux apparently, and he thought that it would give him some more endurance training- which seemed to satisfy his owner. He was glad to be trusted with the sphinx tokota, knowing how important he was to the woman. This was a genuinely nice thing as far he was was concerned, as it made him very aware of how much she trusted him to take care of her tokotas when the need to borrow one arose. He was sure to thank her again later for trusting him with Riggs.
Their journey first carried them through the woods at the base of the mountain, up a well worn trail. As they moved, Nux made a happy wuffle, tail wagging as he pranced about. From beside him, Riggs made a wuffing sound and watched him curiously, keeping much calmer, but clearly happy. Why wouldn't he be? He was out with the nice elf, and with Nux, a tokota he had come to trust through the course of Halloween festivities. The two were friends, and now they got to go out and about with one another and their riders. He was perhaps a bit saddened that his usual rider wasn't with him. This new guy, he was light and he smelled different- wild somehow. Like the wild tokotas did, but he certainly wasn't a tokota. Either way, Nux didn't seem to mind his presence and so Riggs was relaxed about it all.
They moved up the path for some time, wrapped in the sounds of nature; birds chirping in the distance, wind rustling through trees. Just over that they could faintly hear the clinking of tack, and the soft sound of paws against worn earth. After a several long minutes Cyrelas cleared his throat and looked over. "Here, we're off-road from here on out, I know the way up, it's not too far." With that he nudged Riggs and guided him off the path. For a moment the piebald male with him hesitated, before Anik encouraged Nux forward. "It's alright buddy, he knows what he's doing." He paused a moment. "Probably." He'd never had reason to doubt the elf before, he didn't think he'd be starting now. Even if this plan seemed really far-fetched. There was a path up the mountain that they knew was safe, why would they decide to wander off into what was probably bear territory? Did Cyrelas really know a better way up to the ruins? He sure hoped so.
The trip up wasn't as dangerous as he expected at least. "Doin' alright Nux?" He questioned his mount, and the beast immediately responded with a happy bark, tail wagging once more. "Alright, I'm glad buddy." As long as his tokota was doing okay, he was okay he supposed. Nux seemed pretty damn happy about things, comfortable and content all things considered. Which was a good thing he thought, it meant Nux wasn't nervous about their route. That seemed to be a good sign. "You okay too Riggs?" He questioned the sphinx, who responded with a happy noise, and a tail wag, wandering over to sniff at Nux curiously, making another happy noise as Nux licked his nose.
At least the tokotas were happy.
By the time they had made it up the slope to the ridge with the ruins atop it, they'd been traveling for a few hours, and he was sure that their mounts were tired. Yet, they were there at least- he could see the ruins looming ahead of them and all he could do was gasp. "Wow." That was impressive.
"I thought you'd like this way up, you can see it better before you get there." Cyrelas smirked, clearly proud of himself for having guessed right. "Come on, let's at least make it up there, we can dismount and give the beasts a rest and then start exploring."
It seemed like a pretty good plan to Anik, and he nudged Nux forwards, smiling happily. They passed under an ancient arch that still held over time through some miracle. Maybe it was magic. Maybe it was just luck though. Who could say. Either way, it felt eerie and both tokotas seemed momentarily uneasy. With some encouragement, however, they both pressed on without any more hesitance. It was good enough for Anik's nerves at least- if the tokotas were comfortable, he was too. As they moved, Cyrelas hummed softly to himself, seeming content in the area and not at all bothered by the odd air of the place. Riggs stopped abruptly at the man's gesture, pulling back gently on the reigns. The elf looked impressed. "Your owner trained you well, Riggs." Praise followed by a soft pat to the beast's neck. "We can stop here, let the tokotas rest and have ourselves a look around, see what we can find." It seemed like the best plan in the long run.
With that he dismounted, giving Riggs a gentle pat on the shoulder, smiling to him. "Alright, you be good now Riggs. I've brought food for you and your fluffy friend, so you two stay put here, and we'll be back soon. Won't be too far, I promise." Soft words spoken by the elf to try and assure the sphinx tokota that everything was good. As Anik dismounted from Nux, Cyrelas produced some food from the side pack, dropping the meat on a nearby rocky area, and letting the tokotas chow down. "That'll keep them satisfied, now we can go look."
Anik nodded in agreement, and moved off to follow him around the ruins. Their searching lasted a few hours, during which the two tokotas simply sniffed about where they had been asked to wait. Nux wandered a bit further than the rock, before leaping at Riggs to initiate play. For a time, they wrestled and tusseled until their riders returned. "We did good today guys, and you both did great." Anik praised them, smiling with his bag full of rtelics. Both tokotas were given a pat on the nose, and he moved to tuck the bag into one of Nux's saddle bags. No need to worry about the tokota worrying he supposed. That was always a plus, right?
"Nothing really valueable- but...we did good none the less." Cyrelas said, moving carefully to climb back up on to Riggs' back. "These should be enough to get you and your friend some extra funding at least, maybe you can pick up some more pups soon eh? You seem to have a fondness for them." The elf teased lightly, recalling that Anik's home was almost always swarming in tokota puppies. It was clear that he had a fondness for them. "Let's head back." He smiled, nudging the sphinx to motion and heading back towards home.