Saren refuses to take the plunge! RoF.

Travis Cochrane was a young man that was now running the Triple T Ranch all on his own since his father's passing two years earlier. He had been born and raised on the Triple T Tokota Ranch and was about as skilled with tokotas and survival skills as someone could get. Being born into such a life meant that there wasn't anything at all that you couldn't do when it came to raising, showing, and training tokotas. Normally one would expect such a man who lived on a ranch like his would have tons of tokotas, but the truth was that he had to sell all of his beloved tokotas after his father passed in order to pay for funeral costs and to pay off his father's debts. The Triple T Ranch had fallen into ruin after his father's passing and Travis had done all he could to keep from losing the place. Travis was blessed though, his neighbor and best friend Benjamin Barnes who owned the sprawling Tomahawk Barnes Tokota Kennels was always willing to help by giving him odd jobs to do and even gifted Travis with another tokota on his birthday. Had it not been for Benjamin Barnes it is likely that Travis would have completely lost the Triple T Ranch.

Travis woke up before the crack of dawn this morning, Benjamin had started training a young 19yr old tribe member and his tokota for their Arms of Akna, an award that symbolized that the tokota had the right the breed. There were 3 tests the tokota and handler had to complete together in order to get them, and on this day Benjamin had asked Travis if he would go on the second Arms of Akna test called the Rite of Fortitude and train one of his own tokotas to help her get her second rite. Travis had obviously agreed, when Benjamin Barnes asks you to help him with something, you did as he asked, no questions asked. That is how it was around here. Benjamin Barnes was about 8 years Travis's senior and had an aura about him that demanded respect. Benjamin had a rough and very rugged appearance, but was very well kempt. He wore a typical tan cowboy hat, paired with a long sleeved, navy blue shirt. Silver double buttons ran from the collar down the entire front length of the shirt, which was neatly tucked into tanned cowhide pants. A red bandanna was draped around his neck and cowboy boots adorned his feet, riding spurs attached to their heels. On his hands were a pair of dark brown leather riding gloves that were aged and worn, looking about as tough as the man wearing them. A thick mustache was spread across his upper lip, paired with a neatly trimmed goatee upon his chin.

Travis dressed himself that morning in blue jeans, brown riding boots and a grayish white long sleeve shirt, he believed in a more casual appearance rather then looking like you were dressed up for a top notch rodeo 24/7 like his friend Benjamin Barnes. After eating a quick breakfast of scrambled eggs and toast he made his way to the spare bedroom and gathered up his one and only tokota Zuko. Zuko was nearly black in color with unusually white under markings and a magnificent silver band that began at his brown and ran the entire length of his body along both his sides ending at the base of his tail where the two sides came up and gently connected, this particular silver banded marking was known to tokota breeders as the wolverine marking and could be very different looking depending on each individual tokota and their lineage. when Zuko laid eyes on Travis and how he was dressed he got very excited and yipped and yapped with excitement, barreling towards him knocking lamps off end tables and pictures off the walls. The inside of a house was no place for a tokota to live but with Zuko being the only tokota he owned Travis just didn't have the heart to keep the poor thing locked in a dark and scary barn all by himself.

"Down boy." Travis cooed to his best pal as he pet him with both hands on either side of his face. "You can't come with me this time boy, I've promised to help Benjamin train one of his lovely white tokota girls. But I have wonderful news! You will be staying at the Tomahawk Barnes Kennels with Alice and Everest for the next several days! Won't that be fun boy?" Zuko hung his head and gave Travis a depressed expression. This was the first time that Travis wasn't taking him with him ever since Benjamin gave him to Travis. Zuko whined softly but understood that Travis had to do a job for Benjamin and walked quietly out the door with Travis and over to the Tomahawk Barnes Kennels. Once there Travis set Zuko out in the pen with the other tokotas and kissed him farewell on the nose before going to the barn and helping Benjamin prepare their packs and saddle bags for the long journey ahead. Once the two men were packed and saddled on the backs of the white tokota girls and walking up the drive to head out, Zuko whined and cried and even let out a long and sorrowful howl.

"This separation will be good for him you know Travis." Benjamin said to his friend once they were on the trail. "Yes, I know. I am excited for him to be getting the chance to spend some quality time around a large tokota pack. He's very lonely for the companionship of other tokotas, so I put a bid in on several tokota breedings so as to add some pups to my Ranch." Travis said as he straightened himself in the saddle. Benjamin smiled at Travis's words, it was about time that more tokotas were added to the Triple T Ranch. Instead of lingering upon the subject, Benjamin Barnes decided it was time to get down to business. "So the girl you are riding is named Winter and this is her sister Avalanche." He said patting his mount's shoulder a bit.

Avalanche and Winter looked very similar in appearance; both had nearly white coats with mild tones of soft grey hues that gently blanketed their bodies. Each of the young tokotas had a bright white collar-like marking around their neck. Their eyes, however, were the most mesmerizing feature about them. Each had eyes that were of two tones, lavender and blue, splashed together in each of their irises. What set the two apart the most was not greatly visible. Avalanche had subtle creamy undertones that ran along her sides and haunches, which her twin, Winter, did not have.

It took half the morning to finally reach the point on the trail where they were set to meet the other young handler named Alan Harper and his young male black piebald yeti named Saren. Alan and Saren were already waiting for them, by the looks of everything it seemed like the pair had camped here over night while they waited for Travis and Benjamin. "Hello again Alan and Saren, it is good to see you. This here is my neighbor and good friend Travis, he has agreed to help me train my pretty girls here for their Rites of Fortitudes as well. I hope you don't mind a bit of extra company on our journey." He said to the young man with a smile.

Alan Harper was nearly 20 years old and was eager to prove himself, he came from an inut background but due to his attitude and irresponsibility he spent most of his young life banned by his tribe from handling tokotas. The young boy had to go through a real serious test to prove to the tribe elders that he was worthy of being a tokota handler and ever since he passed the test he was hellbent on proving to them that he could be a good handler. So when it came time to train Saren for his Arms of Akna he went to the tribe elders and asked who was the best person to seek guidance on tokota training and was given the name Benjamin Barnes, owner of the Tomahawk Barnes Tokota Kennels which sat on the farthest end of the tribe territory.

Alan wanted to make sure that he was at the waiting spot by the time that Benjamin got there and what better way to do that then leave the night before and camp out. After his first impression of the older man he was pretty worried that if Benjamin had arrived before him and had to wait on him that he might very well get left behind. Alan was all packed and ready to go and Saren was eagerly sniffing at Avalanche and Winter, who were both flat out ignoring the poor yeti. Soon the three men were all astride their tokotas and were traveling down the trail keeping a look out for the first marker. Benjamin and Travis had spent so many years training tokotas on this route that they knew every nook and cranny of the place, but none of the three tokotas nor Alan had ever been this way so it was a new experience for all of them.

The first day was very easy, it was spent walking along through an old forest full of aspens, hemlock, and spruce trees and wading through small rivers and streams. But by nightfall Poor Alan and the three tokotas felt drained of all their energy and sore in various places from being on the tail for so long. They must have covered over 25 miles or more, something which none of them had ever done before. Travis and Benjamin however were so used to being in the saddle for days and sometimes weeks at a time that it was practically nothing to them and by the time that the others nearly collapsed from exhaustion they still felt energized and ready to go another 50 miles. But all the same they understood how everyone else felt and they all made camp for the night. Benjamin set to work making a fire and then some coffee while Travis made dinner. Alan had the task of feeding the tokotas.

The second day though they were able to cover a lot more miles, Alan and the tokotas seemed a lot more comfortable and less sore then the first day. The first part of the day was just like the previous day, walk through forested terrain and stopping to catch a few small hares for lunch. But during the latter part of the day the group came across a large lake that was too wide to walk around and the only way to get across was to travel into the lake and swim across. This posed a large problem for Alan as Saren was not too keen on the idea of swimming in a large lake and flat out refused to follow Avalanche and winter into the water. Alan pulled and tugged at the tokotas lead trying his hardest to get the large furry beast to move but the yeti had firmly planted his butt on the ground and refused to move sending Alan into a fury of cussing and more tugging and pulling until finally Saren's halter came up over his ears and flew off his face with such force that it propelled Alan backwards right into the lake. Travis and Benjamin had to double back and they both tried to get Saren into the water but he still would not budge.

Benjamin, Travis and Alan were forced to spend several hours gathering large logs and tying them together to make a raft and even though it was a real serious pain in the ass and set them back on their journey by several hours the raft worked out to their advantage as they were able to put all their gear and saddles onto the raft with Saren and keep them dry. So there sat Saren, on his raft while Alan and Travis lead Winter, and Benjamin lead Avalanche, both of which had a rope tied to them and were pulling Saren on the raft across the lake. Every now and then when the men got tired they were able to climb up and sit along the edges of the raft and rest a few moments before getting back into the water and continuing on their trek across the lake. Just as they reached the other side of the lake, the sun was beginning to set so they decided to make camp under the trees not far from the lake.

The third and fourth days of the trip were quiet and uneventful, but on the fifth day the group wandered up on a large grizzly bear that had just woken up from hibernation and was in a foul mood. Travis and Benjamin both of whom were highly skilled in hunting situations thought that it would probably be best if Alan and Saren tried to take down the bear so as to gain experience. Alan carried a large spear and kept trying to spear the bear with it but every time he did so Saren would move the wrong way to where Alan was suddenly out of range or would read up onto his hind legs nearly unseating Alan from the saddle. For a while there, Travis and Benjamin were worried that they might have to intervene but in the end Saren was able to knock the bear to the ground and Alan speared it swiftly and was able to kill it. The three men then set to work harvesting the bear's pelt and meat and then set back on their way. By early evening they made their way into the center of the tribe where they presented the elders with the bear pelt and meat and then the three men and their tokotas sat with the elders had to tell of their 5 day trek through the Alaskan Wilderness.