Cato's Activites and Events

Adam strapped the light weight western styled saddle onto Blitzkrieg, then returned to the hook to grab the bridle. He pulled the shiny black bridle from the peg and returned to place it on the Toko. He picked up the saddle bag he has placed on the ground. It fit on the saddle horn, a pouch hanging from either side of the saddle. Each side was big enough to hold the few supplies they would need to complete the final test ahead of them. They would get the supplies once they got to the starting point, but for now, the only thing in them was an emergency cellphone in case something happened and they needed to call for help. the two were ready to go with the saddle strapped firmly in place and the saddle bags ready for the needed supplies. They headed out for the starting point, leaving the town to head towards a small building a little ways away that was used as the starting point. Inside the building was all sort of supplies, and it was where they would return to once they completed the test. The building came into sight through the trees and someone was waiting in front of it. Blitz trotted up to the small porch of the building and stopped at Adam's command. Adam dismounted and took the saddle bag off the saddle before facing the man that appeared to be waiting for them. The man went inside with Adam and the two gathered the supplies needed for the task. The man in charge of the test first went and pulled some halters off the pegs on the wall next to the door. Adam hung them from his arm as he received some more gear. A compass, map, timer and a rope as well, all fit nicely into the saddle bag, even two of the halters fit. He kept the rope out and hung it on his shoulder to be able to use it right away, and the last halter he would hang from the saddle horn. He left the building, the judge following right behind him as he walked over to the waiting Toko and he placed the saddle bag and extra halter on the saddle horn. The two were ready to go, ready to start the final test.

The judge hit the timer and the two were off at a jog, heading through the trees towards the territory of the pack. Within the pack were three tagged Tokos that had been released. The only way to tell them apart from the rest was by the tags on their ears. The handler was not told what they looked liked, he was only told the colors of the tags, blue, green and red. The Toko and handler team had to find all three and get the halters on them within the given time set for the test. They were given a map of the general area they would be in, now it was just a matter of finding their exact location within the area on the map and picking them apart from the rest. Blitz could have used his nose to track them down, but the wind was blowing from behind them, carrying the scent of any Tokos nearby away from them. Blitz tried to sniff the air as they went, tried to find any trace of their targets, but only very faint and hard to track scents reached him. The two just kept moving, thinking of areas on the map that could be good spots for Tokos to hang. They thought maybe a nearby river, or maybe even a sunny field nearby. There were also caves in the mountain face that would provide good dens and shelter for the pack when it rained or just at night when they needed a place to sleep.

The trees thinned out as they came to a younger section of the forest that was regrowing from log cutting that wiped most of the trees in the area before it was set as protected land because of the wild Toko packs. The trees were coming up, but they were still pretty small, maybe just a little taller then the Toko Adam rode upon. A few deer seemed to be grazing a little ways away, their heads perking up as the Toko and rider became visible. They did not run away very quickly as the Toko and rider continued on, focusing on their task, but they did slowly trot a little further from them before looking back and watching the two pass by. No wild pack members seemed to be hunting the deer, but it was starting to hit the warmer time of day. many of the pack members would most likely be relaxing and trying to avoid the sun. they would be more docile and trying to keep cool. They kept moving, heading towards the river where they could be trying to cool down or taking a drink of the cool water. It would also be a good spot to take a short break to get a drink if their targets were not there. Though this was not the case. Most of the pack was there, including all three of their targets. All three were pretty young Tokos, but each were very pretty, or handsome, in their own ways.

The first wearing a red tag, seemed to not focus her eyes on things, her ears were perked and she seemed to sniff the air more often. It was clear that she was blind, but she was elegant. She was marked collared tawny with wolverine markings, a blanket like marking and accents. She had the rare curly maned gene and her fur was long and silky. The second was wearing a green tag, a young natural maned male with orange-brown fur. The white diamond marking on his forehead was easy to pick out from the others and his eyes were a brown to nearly match his fur. The third bore a blue tag. A young natural mane brown female with creamy brown mane and accents. White splashes of vitiligo marking covered her body and her eyes were a beautiful light blue. The blue tagged female seems to just be relaxing in the shade, the red tagged girl sitting next to her, her ears twisting around to listen to all the movement around her. The male was a little ways away taking a drink from the river, some other youngsters watching him wearily as he was the odd one out not being born in the pack.

They decided to go after the girls first, Adam dismounting from Blitz. Adam had his eyes on the blind girl, while he prepared to send Blitz after the brown female who would most likely be harder to catch. Adam prepared the loop on the rope to catch the blind girl with, while he used hand motions to direct Blitz into place on the other side of their targets. They waited a few moments, the ears of blind girl flickering about, and the brown girl now perking up her head due to a new scent nearby. She looked around, sitting up to sit next to her companion. Both seemed tense and weary all of a sudden, making the rest of the pack tense, some even started to leave, trying to get away from the strange thing they could smell nearby. The air became tense and created a nervous energy in all the Tokos nearby, even Blitz felt it, fidgeting slightly with nervous excitement as he waited for the signal from his handler. Adam crept closer to the two, the brown finally seeing him and lowering her head in a weary and threatening manner. She stood up with a growl and started to slowly walk away from him and around him, watching him closely, studying his every move. He had his eyes on the blind girl though, who sat and waited, tense now that her partner had gotten up and walked away. Adam flicked his wrist and Blitz was off at a charging run, going after the brown girl who bolted with great speed, sending the rest of the pack scattering. Adam stayed and leaped forward to get the noose around the neck of the blind curly. She leaped sideways, pulling the rope back and knocking Adam off his feet. He fell to the ground face first, the Toko still backing up slowly, but he still held onto the rope. She finally stopped, her eyes wide with surprise and fear, and her ears forward. She was breathing heavy and letting out a lot of nervous energy as she stood waiting for movement, anything to tell her if Adam was an enemy or friend. He slowly stood, causing her to shuffle back some more. He froze a few seconds before moving forward, gently speaking to her and giving her a pat on the neck, reassuring her that he was not going to hurt her. She sniffed his hand and allowed him to pet her, calming a little more. He slipped the bridal over her head and gave her one last pat before looking around for Blitz.

Blitz chased the brown a little ways from the river before she spun around to face him instead. Blitz slid to a halt in surprise to avoid her swinging head that would have whacked into his own head. The two circled each other, Blitz calmly inspecting her every move, and she doing likewise, though in a far more tense and weary way. The two eyed each other until he made the first move. With spring he leaped forward, the female prepared to dodge, but she had miscalculated her timing and his front paws wrapped around her hind legs, causing her to face plant into the earth. She shook her head as she attempted to get up, but Blitz pinned her down with a triumphant look on his face. She glared up at him, and tried to get up once again, but she knocked to the ground where she stayed until Adam arrived. Adam had tied the blind girl to a tree and came to find Blitz. He walked over and pulled a halter out from the saddle bag. Slowly walking up to the brown female, he slipped the halter over her face and tied it to the saddle on Blitz's back before instructing him to let her up. She stood and gave the boys a glare before following them back to where the other Toko was. The two were tied together to the tree as they went off to find the last Toko, the male that had bolted with the rest of the pack. They had not gone very far though, they moved up the river and appeared to be waiting to return to where they had been relaxing not long before.

The toko handler team stopped a little ways from the group, their target watching them closely. sneaking up on him would not be an option, and Adam could not run over and catch him in time. The best way to go was to let Blitz go after him. Adam dismounted, keeping his eyes on the green tagged Toko, he then removed the last halter from the bag and hung it over his shoulder, Blitz tensed his muscles, ready for the chase. There was a twinkle his eye as the two stared each other down, and they sized each other up, each trying to seem bigger and stronger then the other. Blitz puffed out his chest, followed by the green tagged Toko, then Blitz lifted his nose in the air. They were focused on proving who was the bigger and more handsome Toko, but they made themselves look goofy in the eyes of the handler who still stood next to his Toko. Adam gave Blitz a look, and the Toko gave an embarrassed smile before bolting forward towards the unsuspecting male toko who was still focused on showing up Blitz. The green tagged Toko looked surprised as he was tackled, but he quickly got a hold of himself and twisted his body. The two tumbled in the dirt, causing wild tokos to have to bolt and dodge away from the two tussling Tokos. They scattered into the trees surrounding the river and soon the tussling males were splashing into the water. A spray of water shot up around them, making them hard to see.

It was not long though before two soaking wet Tokos pulled themselves out of the river. The green tagged male looked miserable for a few moments before he shook himself off, spraying Adam with water droplets. Blitz soon followed suite, forcing the green tagged Toko to shake off the water Blitz sprayed onto him. The male Toko glared at Blitz as Adam came up behind him and slipped the halter on. They had finally caught all three and now they could return. They returned to the tree where the females were tied up and retrieved them. They raced off towards the finish, racing against time to finish the test. The final test. The leaves crunched under their paws as they trotted, the three Tokos following closely beside or behind. He wanted to run, but he thought of the blind Toko, not knowing much about the girl, he did not want her to get hurt in their race, so Adam kept Blitz at a trot, even as they came into the clearing came up to the small building that was also their starting point. They tied the three Tokos outside and Blitz sat patiently next to the steps as Adam went in to confirm their time.