Cato's Activites and Events

The snow crunched beneath their paws as they trotted through the thick forest. Two handlers, rode upon the backs of the two Tokotas, prepared for the hunt ahead. Delsin rode upon the large male merle, while Sakari rode upon a smaller, orange-brown colored male. The merle went by the name Rhunon, whilst the smaller male was named Cato. Following them was Tavrani, a bloodmarked longmane who seemed to truly be a boy at heart. The prize they were after was the prized pelt of a bear. They hoped for a grizzly, but if no grizzly came their way that day, they would go for any good bear they came across.

The air around the small group was crisp with the frost of winter, and the handlers wore large coats lined with soft fur to protect their skin. The Tokos thick fur made the weather pleasant, keeping them warm, yet allowing the cool air to keep them cool as they traveled with the weight upon their backs, d. Both of the males were focused on the task, both wanted to outdo the other. They ignored each other as well as ignoring Tavrani who was slightly more laid back. Little did they know that she had a plan of her own, hiding it from their sights so that they not guess her intentions to outdo them both.

Delsin sat back in his seat as a warning to his Toko, commanding Rhunon to halt in his tracks. The group waited as Delsin dismounted and knelled down on the ground, looked at the tracks in the snow. The tracks that clearly belonged to a bear of fairly nice size. The lumbering footsteps, and shape were of nothing else they knew of. Delsin looked in the direction the tracks led, but no bear lay within their sight at the present time. Sakari looked back the way the tracks came, eyeing the bushes intensely. The thought of a bear looping around sounded ridiculous, but they knew better then to believe such a thing was false. Stories of such wise bears had been spread far and wide, allowing hunters to learn and outsmart the technique of the great beast of the wild.

Delsin stood, once again mounting Rhunon who was getting impatient with the tracking. He wanted to get moving, wanted to make the kill before Cato got the chance. Cato felt similarly, prancing on the spot while they awaited the command to once again head out. Soon they left on their way again, turning to follow the tracks. The wind was not on their side as they travelled, coming from their backs and carrying their scent on the wind, off towards the direction the bear had wandered. Sakari looked back once and a while, watching the bushes for any sign of life, to see if the bear had noticed their scent and have tried to loop around behind them for a surprise attack. No trace of the bear appeared upon them yet though.

They went quite a distance for the wind changed, carrying the bear's scent towards them, though it did not come from ahead, it came from the side. A growl from Tavrani drew the others to a halt, looking through the trees in the direction she was looking. Soon the two males were fidgeting excitedly, their prey near enough to get a good whiff of it's scent. Delsin and Sakari held back the two boys as best as they could, trying to move slowly and quietly in the direction pointed out by the Tokotas. Cato pranced with excitement as they came closer and closer to their prey, Rhunon yanked his head forward, wanting to go, wanting to run. Each boy wanted to run ahead, beat the other to the prey so that they could get the glory.

A large bear lumbered through the trees, a branch snapping underneath it's paw. It paused and lifted it's head to sniff the air, trying to find the creatures it had smelt before. The wind had changed on him, blowing the scent away from him, and leaving him to wander. The furry blur came into the sight of the small hunting group, exciting them all with the hope of soon collecting their prize. The beast looked large and healthy from where they stood upon the rise, hopefully it would bring in a lovely sum once caught. The two handlers dismounted and removed their own weapons from the saddles, one held a bow and the other used a spear, ready to take the defense if the bear escaped their Tokos and attacked the two humans, before motioning for the Tokos to get into position. Rhunon and Cato looked to each other with challenging looks, staring each other down for a while before moving into position, while Tavrani just stalked past into position.

Their hearts raced with excitement as they watched the bear. His nose was up in the air, suddenly alert of something nearby, but was unable to pinpoint exactly what or where. Cato became impatient and charged forward, alerting the bear to their presence and annoying Sakari. The bear let out a roar and lifted up onto his hind legs, making Cato jump back to avoid being crushed. Rhunon joined the fray, leaping forward only to be forced to dodge a swing from the bear's strong arm. Upon leaping to the side, he ran into Cato who had moved around him. They fell to the forest floor in a heap of fur and flailing limbs. Tavrani then leaped onto the back of the bear, digging her teeth into the scruff of the beast. The bear roared and spun around, trying to knock it's attacker away, but Tavrani clung to the bear. Soon the males were up and after the bear once again. They struggled, lashing out again and again, the bear working hard to defend itself.

With a shove from Rhunon, the bear fell with a huge thud and roar, but Tavrani leaped forward to make the kill before Rhunon could gather his paws underneath him again, taking the victory away from the boys. Cato stood, panting heavily, looking from Rhunon to Tavrani in astonishment and disbelief. Rhunon was stunned for a moment as well, but only at the amazing speed shown by the longmane female in her attempt to defeat the males in their small competition. Their looks became glares as they realized that Tavrani stole their kill, stole their victory and outdid them. They were shown up by the girl of the group who stood proudly before them with a smug look on their face. She then walked past them, her held and tail held high, being the first to meet the handlers as they came over to meet the victorious Tokos.

They gave Tavrani a pat as she walked up to meet them, before each going to their own Toko, trying to cheer them up a bit before going over to inspect their prize, a large, healthy bear. Cato and Rhunon sat and glared at the female Toko who sat with her chest puffed out with pride while they waited for their handlers. A makeshift platform was made from what sturdy branches they could find nearby, and Cato was soon hooked up to drag it back to their camp. It was some distance to their camp so they made plans to switch out the Tokos every so often to give them each a rest from dragging such a large prize. Soon they were off through the snow, headed back to their camp where they would prepare the bear and it's pelt.