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Description
Jacqueline and her new tokota No’tek were already ready and raring to go on their first tasks of Fertility – namely the Rite of Merit. It had taken the anthro feline a while to think about what she thought the tokota would excel best at now that she had become more familiar with the entire process for each task. And while the tokota did well at all of the skills necessary to finish all of these tasks, the tokota was built best for the task of show jumping and so the amber-hued anthro took her chocolate roan with her to the ringside of the task location, signing up for the show and waiting to start their turn in the ring. Jackie looked over her shoulder at her stable hand Fabian. The apricot anthro skunk was holding the lead attached to her other chocolate roan tokota; a beautiful piebald half-mane named Gabaltan. Gabe stared at No’tek with disapproval clear in his violet colored eyes while Fabian shifted uncomfortably in his riding gear and showier clothing. This would be the first time that the anthro skunk actually took a dominant role in the lives of Jacqueline’s tokotas. And since Gabaltan was one of the more level-headed, if not stubborn, tokotas in her pack, she figured that it was the perfect tokota for Fabian to start off the Rites of Fertility tests with. When Fabian looked over to her with wide, ruby eyes she gave him an encouraging smile in hopes to calm the apricot anthro skunk down.
The amber-hued anthro and her apricot-colored friend found themselves standing next to a stranger with a brown curly-maned tokota with bright blue eyes as they waited to enter the free jumping ring. The tokota looked eager and excitable while her strawberry-blonde human companion seemed easygoing and friendly. No’tek immediately stood taller and in a dominant display despite the female tokota completely ignoring his warning sign while Gabaltan rolled his eyes at the other chocolate roan’s ignorant display. It seemed all the brown, curly-maned tokota wanted to do was make a new friend. She wuffed excitedly and tried to lick No’tek’s face; which caused the chocolate roan to snarl angrily as he snapped his head back and away from the excited curly tokota. Jacqueline rolled her eyes and yanked hard on the lead attached to his halter in order to bring the massive tokota back in line while Gabaltan uttered an amused chuff while Fabian backed slightly away with nervousness. It seemed as though the normal-maned tokota’s aggression was mostly ignored by the excited curly however – she still sniffed at him intently as her tail wagged hard behind her.
Her handler patted his tokota’s side with a wry smile. “Calm down, Oheň,” he said with an apologetic laugh as he turned toward the insulted chocolate roan. “I don’t think he wants to play with you.” Oheň whined in response, clearly disappointed that a tokota wouldn’t want to play with her before turning her excitement toward Gabaltan, who pointedly ignored her enthusiastic greeting.
She’s like a giant puppy, Jacqueline thought of Oheň as she smiled back at the other handler, patting No’tek’s shoulder reassuringly while Fabian tightened the hold on Gabaltan’s halter. “That’s alright,” she said as she pulled on her tokota’s lead again as a growl began to reverberate in the depths of the chocolate roan’s throat once again. “No’tek here is mostly harmless. He’s just a stick in the mud most of the time and very, very vain.” Her roan’s ears flattened at her comment and snorted derisively at the thought of being compared to a stick in the mud. As far as the vain tokota was concerned there was no comparison. Fabian gave a wry smile in response as Gabaltan snorted a laugh at No’tek. “You see?” the amber hued tokota said with a laugh at his offended response. “He doesn’t even like being compared to sticks or mud in the same sentence. Even my other tokota Gabaltan and my stable hand Fabian know him much too well. He doesn’t want his pretty face dirtied before entering the ring – that was his main concern with Oheň.” No’tek snorted again with a slight nod of his head as if to say Exactly, though he shot a glare at Gabaltan and Fabian. The apricot anthro skunk pretended to look innocent as Oheň snuffled at Gabe curiously. Jacqueline laughed at the expression on his face before turning back to the other handler again. “I’m Jacqueline Havin’nth – a pleasure to meet you. And this fellow beside me is Fabian Na’tak.”
The strawberry blonde handler laughed along with her, much to No’tek’s chagrin. “I’m Sven Engström, but you can call me Sven. And the pleasure is all mine,” he said as he shook the anthro’s outstretched hand. Fabian gave the other handler a nod off acknowledgement before turning his attention back to Gabaltan. “Are you also here for the Free Jumping competition? Oheň just can’t wait to get started.” he asked as Oheň literally began to wriggle with excitement at the thought of jumping around excitedly in a ring. No’tek snorted as if it was beneath him to do such a thing while Jacqueline smiled wryly at his response. Gabaltan stood proudly at the mention of the competition while Fabian twitched his fluffy tail nervously as Oheň started bouncing on her paws.
Giving the No’tek a pat, she nodded. “Yes, we’re here for the Free Jumping competition as well,” the amber-hued anthro affirmed while her tokota snorted with derision at the thought. “I wanted to give them a challenge, since No’tek’s so full of himself that the Halter may not be the best way to show him off in a ring. Plus Gabaltan is more steady-headed; jumping is more out of his element as well. No’tek can be pretty agile in the water on his own but I’m sure if he had competition to show off to, he’d try to put that agility to use on the Free Jumping course.” No’tek gave a haughty lift of his head as he huffed superiorly as Gabaltan and Fabian both rolled their eyes. Oheň ignored the chocolate roan’s haughtiness and gave a play bow of excitement – thinking that this event was some great game and that she was going to be playing this game with the two chocolate roans. Sven smiled jovially at Jacqueline as No’tek snorted irritably at Oheň as the brown, curly-maned tokota barked out with excitement. Gabaltan shuffled his paws and turned an ear back with a slight show of nervousness as Fabian stroked the tokota’s short, patched mane to reassure him.
“Well Oheň will be sure to think that this whole task is a big game,” Sven noted as he turned to his excited tokota who bounced slightly on her paws as No’tek lifted a foreleg to recoil indignantly away from the other tokota. “She’ll likely not care that your No’tek wants to show her up in the jumping ring. She’ll just be focused on having fun. But I’m sure that it will be an entertaining show from both of them as No’tek and Oheň try to impress the judges in their own ways.” Sven nodded to Gabaltan along with Fabian as well as the half-mane tokota along with his handler didn’t feel left out in the conversation.
No’tek rolled his eyes while Oheň leapt about with excited barks at the thought of the Free Jumping ring. Jacqueline could tell that the curly-maned tokota was excited for this excursion and competition; and seeing her excitement made the normally stoic amber-hued anthro crack a small smile. No’tek gave a warning snarl at Oheň when the curly-maned tokota encroached too close to his personal space. Even Gabaltan and Fabian had to back up a bit to ensure that they weren’t accidentally injured by the overly excited tokota. Though Gabe was more level-headed about the interaction, giving Oheň a reassuring chuff as the female whined slightly at No’tek’s furious snarl and backed away to huddle beside Sven, a hurt look in her eyes. Sven gave his tokota a sympathetic pat on her shoulder.
Before any more words could be exchanged between any of the three handlers a voice came on over the PA system. “Will participants’ numbers 42, 83 and 85 make their way to the ring for the Free Jumping assessment. Once again, will participants’ numbers 42, 83 and 85 make their way to the ring for the Free Jumping assessment. We are ready for your tokotas. Thank you.”
Jacqueline looked over her shoulder at Fabian as she grabbed No’tek’s lead in her hand. “I suppose that’s us Fabian,” she said as the aforementioned anthro skunk took Gabaltan’s lead in his had. “I wonder who will be in the ring with us performing this jumping course?”
Sven smiled as Oheň began to bounce about again with unbridled excitement. He laughed and patted his tokota on the shoulder. “That would be us,” he said with a broad smile. “It looks like No’tek will be able to compete with her in the ring at the same time – or at least indirectly.” Oheň gave a low woof of excitement as she play-bowed while No’tek snorted derisively. Gabaltan rolled his violet eyes before giving Fabian a knowing look. It seemed the roan piebald half-mane was not looking forward to the confrontation that was likely to unfold if Jacqueline lost control of No’tek in the ring.
The amber-hued anthro seemed unfazed however. She smiled and patted the naughty roan. “Then we’ll definitely see,” she agreed. “Come on No’tek – it’s time for you to actually show me that you can be useful for more than bullying the other tokotas in my pack.” Jacqueline’s tone was lighthearted but also slightly serious as she led the chocolate roan into the ring. No’tek seemed to ignore the barb and held his head up high as he entered the jumping ring while Fabian and Gabaltan followed behind. Oheň practically leapt into the ring once she was taken off her lead, bouncing around the other tokotas while No’tek growled irritably at the excited curly-maned tokota while all three of the handlers stayed on the sidelines to watch as the tokotas headed to the starting place of the free-jumping contest.
Though there was no set course for the jumping – the tokotas were required to make all the jumps in a timely manner, though there were different types of obstacles. Some were regular hurdles, others were ramp-to-ramp, others natural obstacles like a small river or pool and even rocks or fallen trees set up inside the ring. All together Oheň, No’tek and Gabaltan all could choose their own path or take the same one; as long as they all made every jump and did not fall.
Jacqueline looked over at Sven and Fabian while wincing inwardly. She only hoped that No’tek wouldn’t embarrass himself with this trial.
As the judge shot off the starting gun, Jackie turned to watch their tokotas while Sven and Fabian also gathered along the fence to watch. Oheň bolted right off the bat to take on the nearest jumps before leaping forward and around the ring in the most haphazard of ways. But the brown curly-maned tokota looked as if she was thoroughly enjoying herself with the course. She was taking every jump in stride without concern or intimidation – even the longer of the jumps she took on without batting an eyelash. Jacqueline was mildly surprised and yet she shouldn’t have been considering the Oheň’s personality. As far as the amber-hued anthro was concerned it was likely that Oheň thought that this trial was some sort of game and she was out there having fun. So this made for the most fitting scenario to unfold for No’tek as the chocolate roan could not be outshone in his own mind. Then there was Gabaltan – the noble tokota was above competition but if he thought that one or the other of the two others happened to be in danger, well… Gabe was going to be on top of them attempting a heroic rescue.
Predictably No’tek launched off the starting line forcing himself to keep pace with Oheň as she gallivanted along the course in the most wishy-washy of ways. The chocolate roan was hard pressed to keep up with her; however he was strong and full of the burning passion of competition and was able to keep up with the excitable tokota, leaping along almost in time with the curly-maned brown tokota. The fur along his neck was slightly ruffled with irritation as his lips were also curled in challenge and anger – yet Oheň seemed to have a sparkle of a laugh in her eyes when she looked at his snarling face and only increased her speed. No’tek was hard-pressed to keep up with the excitable tokota as Sven, Fabian and Jacqueline followed their rush around the course. Neither froze at any of the jumps and while their paws sometimes faltered slightly upon landing, they still made short work of the obstacles. However it was clear that Oheň found this whole course to be some sort of game – doubling back and redoing some of the course before attempting to finish the whole run. Meanwhile Gabaltan ran his own version of the free-jumping course. The piebald chocolate roan was more interested in completing the course in a timely and orderly fashion, which was something Gabe prided himself on. He wasn’t going to allow Oheň and No’tek to distract him from his goal.
Jackie’s dark amber eyes strayed to watch her other tokota Gabaltan as he ran the course. When he started, she could see him take a wide, outside route the first time around, his paws carrying him along the outer rim while Oheň and No’tek took a more chaotic and unpredictable route. Fabian smiled at Gabe’s meticulous but determined route through the course as his paws carried him over obstacle after obstacle. His short fur flexed and stretched with each leap, accented by his white fur from his piebald patches as well as the sparkling roan hairs on his colored patches. Gabaltan was a stunning example of a tokota with his genes – something that Jacqueline was proud to show off, though she knew that Sven and Fabian were probably not interested in her half-mane’s performance. Sven was likely interested in Oheň’s own completion of the event while Fabian just wanted Gabe to pass this trial so that he didn’t feel like such a failure all the time. Jacqueline slightly pitied the stablehand who used to be a city kid. But a job and a promise was something that Jackie had quickly learned that Fabian was sure to stick to like glue. So for Fabian’s sake she also hoped that Gabaltan would perform splendidly on the course so that the apricot anthro skunk wouldn’t worry so much about his own ability to handle and instruct tokotas. But Jacqueline nor Fabian needed to worry about the short-furred piebald chocolate roan; he held his own and dodged around No’tek and Oheň when the other two tokotas interrupted his space with grace and dignity.
Time however was not on the side of Oheň and No’tek however as Gabaltan made his final few jumps that marked the end of the course for the half-maned tokota. He trotted away while obliviously No’tek continued to try and keep pace with the overly amused curly-maned tokota. Oheň seemed to be going back and forth on the course amused by a new game she seemed to have created with her competitive chocolate roan friend. Yet neither had completed the last of the free jumps – a couple of river jumps and a canyon leap as well as a rockslide leap. No’tek didn’t seem to notice that they had omitted a few jumps but the three handlers were. Sven wondered if his pup-minded tokota would actually be able to finish the course after all while Jacqueline herself frowned severely at her overly dominant tokota. If anything, his competitive spirit was ruining his own chances at the trial. She needed to stop this nonsense and stop it quickly.
She clicked her tongue loudly and whistled, hoping that it was enough to break No’tek’s concentration on Oheň and bring him back to the competition at hand again. Gabaltan’s head popped up curiously as he trotted over after completing his own run of the course, his lavender eyes curiously looking from Jackie back to Fabian before padding over to Fabian to wait for the other tokotas to finish. No’tek’s blue eyes glared over at his handler for a moment before realization lit in his icy gaze. Quickly, though not with a small bit of fumbling, No’tek returned to course and began rushing for the last of the jumps that he had missed while he had been distracted by Oheň. The brown curly-maned tokota gave a bark of surprise when she realized that her game had ended and her playmate had abandoned her. She quickly made a wide run of the area and followed closely after No’tek who was already almost finished with the course. Jacqueline couldn’t help but noticed the flash of teeth he displayed at Oheň as the curly-maned tokota caught up finally for the last jump of the ring, leaping in time with the chocolate roan.
Time was called by the judges and the handlers were allowed to enter the ring. Oheň immediately made her way to Sven and greeted her handler enthusiastically with a wagging tail and excited play bows. No’tek approached Jacqueline with more dignity though his nose was high in the air with disdain at the other tokota who had run the course with him. Jacqueline and Fabian could both tell that the chocolate roan tokota just would not admit that the other tokota had outperformed him, though she was less concerned with the fact that they were competing and more concerned that she was playing a fun game with the other tokota. Not that Jackie was going to educate her tokota about that now – instead she gave him a good stroke on the mane and did the same for the bridge of Gabaltan’s nose as both tokotas wagged their tails happily (though No’tek’s wag was more begrudgingly happy than excited) at their handler’s touch. “Good job,” she said to them. “You both did great.”
Jacqueline turned to smile and shake hands with the other handler whose tokota was already overwhelmingly excited despite the fact that the results hadn’t been announced yet by the judges who were now calling the next group of tokotas out to the free jumping ring. Sven smiled and gave a firm shake as Jackie realized she’d met an interesting pair that she would probably never forget. “Your tokota Oheň is something to see,” she admitted as she gave a nod in the curly-maned tokota’s direction. “She’s an excellent tokota and I’m sure if No’tek didn’t have his pride to keep intact, he would admit it himself.” No’tek snorted irritably before turning pointedly away from his handler. Gabaltan only huffed a tokota-like laugh before nudging Fabian for a treat.
“Your No’tek did a good job himself considering his low tolerance for Oheň,” Sven responded gracefully while No’tek growled lowly before sitting down irritably. Oheň gave a woof of excitement and ran over to the chocolate roan to see if he would play with her again. Naughty only growled at her again, his ears flattened on his head with irritation. Jackie smiled. “He may have pride but he’s mostly harmless,” she mused before looking back at the three tokotas and clicking her tongue to command No’tek and Gabaltan out of the ring. Oheň followed closely after the irritable chocolate roan and the piebald half-mane, weaving between the two in the hopes that one of them would continue to play with her.
Sven laughed and whistled for his tokota to his side. “That’s enough Oheň,” he said to her as she whined in protest. “There are other tokotas who must take their turn in the free-jumping ring and we can’t be taking up all the space in the ring and the surrounding areas. You’ll have a chance to play with other tokotas when we return home.” That answer seemed to make Oheň pout further as her whine increased. But she obeyed her handler and followed him out of the ring while No’tek and Gabaltan followed Fabian and Jacqueline back to the staging area where she had first encountered the other tokota and her handler.
“Don’t worry Oheň,” Jackie said as she waved to the other handler and his tokota. “Maybe ask Sven nicely and maybe No’tek, Gabaltan and some of my other tokotas may be able to visit sometime. But that all depends on where I am at the time.” No’tek looked horrified before a sigh of relief escaped him at the fact that they may not meet up again due to the fact that his handler never stayed in one place for very long it seemed. “But if you ever need to find me, just check the inns around and ask for Jackie – I’m sure someone can point you in the right direction. Nice meeting you Sven and Oheň.”
The golden anthro feline swished her tail behind her as she barely caught Sven’s response, her mind already thinking about her next move and her next stop on her continually changing course through Tokotna. Now that the free-jumping exercise was completed for No’tek and Gabaltan she would need to see how well they performed before determining if she would need to invest in more training for the rest of her ever-growing pack. She hadn’t realized it yet, but she was becoming enamored with these creatures and they were winning her over. And that meant it was time for the previously lone-wolf type bounty hunter to realize the inevitable truth.
She wasn’t really alone anymore.

Description
Jacqueline and her new tokota No’tek were already ready and raring to go on their first tasks of Fertility – namely the Rite of Merit. It had taken the anthro feline a while to think about what she thought the tokota would excel best at now that she had become more familiar with the entire process for each task. And while the tokota did well at all of the skills necessary to finish all of these tasks, the tokota was built best for the task of show jumping and so the amber-hued anthro took her chocolate roan with her to the ringside of the task location, signing up for the show and waiting to start their turn in the ring. Jackie looked over her shoulder at her stable hand Fabian. The apricot anthro skunk was holding the lead attached to her other chocolate roan tokota; a beautiful piebald half-mane named Gabaltan. Gabe stared at No’tek with disapproval clear in his violet colored eyes while Fabian shifted uncomfortably in his riding gear and showier clothing. This would be the first time that the anthro skunk actually took a dominant role in the lives of Jacqueline’s tokotas. And since Gabaltan was one of the more level-headed, if not stubborn, tokotas in her pack, she figured that it was the perfect tokota for Fabian to start off the Rites of Fertility tests with. When Fabian looked over to her with wide, ruby eyes she gave him an encouraging smile in hopes to calm the apricot anthro skunk down.
The amber-hued anthro and her apricot-colored friend found themselves standing next to a stranger with a brown curly-maned tokota with bright blue eyes as they waited to enter the free jumping ring. The tokota looked eager and excitable while her strawberry-blonde human companion seemed easygoing and friendly. No’tek immediately stood taller and in a dominant display despite the female tokota completely ignoring his warning sign while Gabaltan rolled his eyes at the other chocolate roan’s ignorant display. It seemed all the brown, curly-maned tokota wanted to do was make a new friend. She wuffed excitedly and tried to lick No’tek’s face; which caused the chocolate roan to snarl angrily as he snapped his head back and away from the excited curly tokota. Jacqueline rolled her eyes and yanked hard on the lead attached to his halter in order to bring the massive tokota back in line while Gabaltan uttered an amused chuff while Fabian backed slightly away with nervousness. It seemed as though the normal-maned tokota’s aggression was mostly ignored by the excited curly however – she still sniffed at him intently as her tail wagged hard behind her.
Her handler patted his tokota’s side with a wry smile. “Calm down, Oheň,” he said with an apologetic laugh as he turned toward the insulted chocolate roan. “I don’t think he wants to play with you.” Oheň whined in response, clearly disappointed that a tokota wouldn’t want to play with her before turning her excitement toward Gabaltan, who pointedly ignored her enthusiastic greeting.
She’s like a giant puppy, Jacqueline thought of Oheň as she smiled back at the other handler, patting No’tek’s shoulder reassuringly while Fabian tightened the hold on Gabaltan’s halter. “That’s alright,” she said as she pulled on her tokota’s lead again as a growl began to reverberate in the depths of the chocolate roan’s throat once again. “No’tek here is mostly harmless. He’s just a stick in the mud most of the time and very, very vain.” Her roan’s ears flattened at her comment and snorted derisively at the thought of being compared to a stick in the mud. As far as the vain tokota was concerned there was no comparison. Fabian gave a wry smile in response as Gabaltan snorted a laugh at No’tek. “You see?” the amber hued tokota said with a laugh at his offended response. “He doesn’t even like being compared to sticks or mud in the same sentence. Even my other tokota Gabaltan and my stable hand Fabian know him much too well. He doesn’t want his pretty face dirtied before entering the ring – that was his main concern with Oheň.” No’tek snorted again with a slight nod of his head as if to say Exactly, though he shot a glare at Gabaltan and Fabian. The apricot anthro skunk pretended to look innocent as Oheň snuffled at Gabe curiously. Jacqueline laughed at the expression on his face before turning back to the other handler again. “I’m Jacqueline Havin’nth – a pleasure to meet you. And this fellow beside me is Fabian Na’tak.”
The strawberry blonde handler laughed along with her, much to No’tek’s chagrin. “I’m Sven Engström, but you can call me Sven. And the pleasure is all mine,” he said as he shook the anthro’s outstretched hand. Fabian gave the other handler a nod off acknowledgement before turning his attention back to Gabaltan. “Are you also here for the Free Jumping competition? Oheň just can’t wait to get started.” he asked as Oheň literally began to wriggle with excitement at the thought of jumping around excitedly in a ring. No’tek snorted as if it was beneath him to do such a thing while Jacqueline smiled wryly at his response. Gabaltan stood proudly at the mention of the competition while Fabian twitched his fluffy tail nervously as Oheň started bouncing on her paws.
Giving the No’tek a pat, she nodded. “Yes, we’re here for the Free Jumping competition as well,” the amber-hued anthro affirmed while her tokota snorted with derision at the thought. “I wanted to give them a challenge, since No’tek’s so full of himself that the Halter may not be the best way to show him off in a ring. Plus Gabaltan is more steady-headed; jumping is more out of his element as well. No’tek can be pretty agile in the water on his own but I’m sure if he had competition to show off to, he’d try to put that agility to use on the Free Jumping course.” No’tek gave a haughty lift of his head as he huffed superiorly as Gabaltan and Fabian both rolled their eyes. Oheň ignored the chocolate roan’s haughtiness and gave a play bow of excitement – thinking that this event was some great game and that she was going to be playing this game with the two chocolate roans. Sven smiled jovially at Jacqueline as No’tek snorted irritably at Oheň as the brown, curly-maned tokota barked out with excitement. Gabaltan shuffled his paws and turned an ear back with a slight show of nervousness as Fabian stroked the tokota’s short, patched mane to reassure him.
“Well Oheň will be sure to think that this whole task is a big game,” Sven noted as he turned to his excited tokota who bounced slightly on her paws as No’tek lifted a foreleg to recoil indignantly away from the other tokota. “She’ll likely not care that your No’tek wants to show her up in the jumping ring. She’ll just be focused on having fun. But I’m sure that it will be an entertaining show from both of them as No’tek and Oheň try to impress the judges in their own ways.” Sven nodded to Gabaltan along with Fabian as well as the half-mane tokota along with his handler didn’t feel left out in the conversation.
No’tek rolled his eyes while Oheň leapt about with excited barks at the thought of the Free Jumping ring. Jacqueline could tell that the curly-maned tokota was excited for this excursion and competition; and seeing her excitement made the normally stoic amber-hued anthro crack a small smile. No’tek gave a warning snarl at Oheň when the curly-maned tokota encroached too close to his personal space. Even Gabaltan and Fabian had to back up a bit to ensure that they weren’t accidentally injured by the overly excited tokota. Though Gabe was more level-headed about the interaction, giving Oheň a reassuring chuff as the female whined slightly at No’tek’s furious snarl and backed away to huddle beside Sven, a hurt look in her eyes. Sven gave his tokota a sympathetic pat on her shoulder.
Before any more words could be exchanged between any of the three handlers a voice came on over the PA system. “Will participants’ numbers 42, 83 and 85 make their way to the ring for the Free Jumping assessment. Once again, will participants’ numbers 42, 83 and 85 make their way to the ring for the Free Jumping assessment. We are ready for your tokotas. Thank you.”
Jacqueline looked over her shoulder at Fabian as she grabbed No’tek’s lead in her hand. “I suppose that’s us Fabian,” she said as the aforementioned anthro skunk took Gabaltan’s lead in his had. “I wonder who will be in the ring with us performing this jumping course?”
Sven smiled as Oheň began to bounce about again with unbridled excitement. He laughed and patted his tokota on the shoulder. “That would be us,” he said with a broad smile. “It looks like No’tek will be able to compete with her in the ring at the same time – or at least indirectly.” Oheň gave a low woof of excitement as she play-bowed while No’tek snorted derisively. Gabaltan rolled his violet eyes before giving Fabian a knowing look. It seemed the roan piebald half-mane was not looking forward to the confrontation that was likely to unfold if Jacqueline lost control of No’tek in the ring.
The amber-hued anthro seemed unfazed however. She smiled and patted the naughty roan. “Then we’ll definitely see,” she agreed. “Come on No’tek – it’s time for you to actually show me that you can be useful for more than bullying the other tokotas in my pack.” Jacqueline’s tone was lighthearted but also slightly serious as she led the chocolate roan into the ring. No’tek seemed to ignore the barb and held his head up high as he entered the jumping ring while Fabian and Gabaltan followed behind. Oheň practically leapt into the ring once she was taken off her lead, bouncing around the other tokotas while No’tek growled irritably at the excited curly-maned tokota while all three of the handlers stayed on the sidelines to watch as the tokotas headed to the starting place of the free-jumping contest.
Though there was no set course for the jumping – the tokotas were required to make all the jumps in a timely manner, though there were different types of obstacles. Some were regular hurdles, others were ramp-to-ramp, others natural obstacles like a small river or pool and even rocks or fallen trees set up inside the ring. All together Oheň, No’tek and Gabaltan all could choose their own path or take the same one; as long as they all made every jump and did not fall.
Jacqueline looked over at Sven and Fabian while wincing inwardly. She only hoped that No’tek wouldn’t embarrass himself with this trial.
As the judge shot off the starting gun, Jackie turned to watch their tokotas while Sven and Fabian also gathered along the fence to watch. Oheň bolted right off the bat to take on the nearest jumps before leaping forward and around the ring in the most haphazard of ways. But the brown curly-maned tokota looked as if she was thoroughly enjoying herself with the course. She was taking every jump in stride without concern or intimidation – even the longer of the jumps she took on without batting an eyelash. Jacqueline was mildly surprised and yet she shouldn’t have been considering the Oheň’s personality. As far as the amber-hued anthro was concerned it was likely that Oheň thought that this trial was some sort of game and she was out there having fun. So this made for the most fitting scenario to unfold for No’tek as the chocolate roan could not be outshone in his own mind. Then there was Gabaltan – the noble tokota was above competition but if he thought that one or the other of the two others happened to be in danger, well… Gabe was going to be on top of them attempting a heroic rescue.
Predictably No’tek launched off the starting line forcing himself to keep pace with Oheň as she gallivanted along the course in the most wishy-washy of ways. The chocolate roan was hard pressed to keep up with her; however he was strong and full of the burning passion of competition and was able to keep up with the excitable tokota, leaping along almost in time with the curly-maned brown tokota. The fur along his neck was slightly ruffled with irritation as his lips were also curled in challenge and anger – yet Oheň seemed to have a sparkle of a laugh in her eyes when she looked at his snarling face and only increased her speed. No’tek was hard-pressed to keep up with the excitable tokota as Sven, Fabian and Jacqueline followed their rush around the course. Neither froze at any of the jumps and while their paws sometimes faltered slightly upon landing, they still made short work of the obstacles. However it was clear that Oheň found this whole course to be some sort of game – doubling back and redoing some of the course before attempting to finish the whole run. Meanwhile Gabaltan ran his own version of the free-jumping course. The piebald chocolate roan was more interested in completing the course in a timely and orderly fashion, which was something Gabe prided himself on. He wasn’t going to allow Oheň and No’tek to distract him from his goal.
Jackie’s dark amber eyes strayed to watch her other tokota Gabaltan as he ran the course. When he started, she could see him take a wide, outside route the first time around, his paws carrying him along the outer rim while Oheň and No’tek took a more chaotic and unpredictable route. Fabian smiled at Gabe’s meticulous but determined route through the course as his paws carried him over obstacle after obstacle. His short fur flexed and stretched with each leap, accented by his white fur from his piebald patches as well as the sparkling roan hairs on his colored patches. Gabaltan was a stunning example of a tokota with his genes – something that Jacqueline was proud to show off, though she knew that Sven and Fabian were probably not interested in her half-mane’s performance. Sven was likely interested in Oheň’s own completion of the event while Fabian just wanted Gabe to pass this trial so that he didn’t feel like such a failure all the time. Jacqueline slightly pitied the stablehand who used to be a city kid. But a job and a promise was something that Jackie had quickly learned that Fabian was sure to stick to like glue. So for Fabian’s sake she also hoped that Gabaltan would perform splendidly on the course so that the apricot anthro skunk wouldn’t worry so much about his own ability to handle and instruct tokotas. But Jacqueline nor Fabian needed to worry about the short-furred piebald chocolate roan; he held his own and dodged around No’tek and Oheň when the other two tokotas interrupted his space with grace and dignity.
Time however was not on the side of Oheň and No’tek however as Gabaltan made his final few jumps that marked the end of the course for the half-maned tokota. He trotted away while obliviously No’tek continued to try and keep pace with the overly amused curly-maned tokota. Oheň seemed to be going back and forth on the course amused by a new game she seemed to have created with her competitive chocolate roan friend. Yet neither had completed the last of the free jumps – a couple of river jumps and a canyon leap as well as a rockslide leap. No’tek didn’t seem to notice that they had omitted a few jumps but the three handlers were. Sven wondered if his pup-minded tokota would actually be able to finish the course after all while Jacqueline herself frowned severely at her overly dominant tokota. If anything, his competitive spirit was ruining his own chances at the trial. She needed to stop this nonsense and stop it quickly.
She clicked her tongue loudly and whistled, hoping that it was enough to break No’tek’s concentration on Oheň and bring him back to the competition at hand again. Gabaltan’s head popped up curiously as he trotted over after completing his own run of the course, his lavender eyes curiously looking from Jackie back to Fabian before padding over to Fabian to wait for the other tokotas to finish. No’tek’s blue eyes glared over at his handler for a moment before realization lit in his icy gaze. Quickly, though not with a small bit of fumbling, No’tek returned to course and began rushing for the last of the jumps that he had missed while he had been distracted by Oheň. The brown curly-maned tokota gave a bark of surprise when she realized that her game had ended and her playmate had abandoned her. She quickly made a wide run of the area and followed closely after No’tek who was already almost finished with the course. Jacqueline couldn’t help but noticed the flash of teeth he displayed at Oheň as the curly-maned tokota caught up finally for the last jump of the ring, leaping in time with the chocolate roan.
Time was called by the judges and the handlers were allowed to enter the ring. Oheň immediately made her way to Sven and greeted her handler enthusiastically with a wagging tail and excited play bows. No’tek approached Jacqueline with more dignity though his nose was high in the air with disdain at the other tokota who had run the course with him. Jacqueline and Fabian could both tell that the chocolate roan tokota just would not admit that the other tokota had outperformed him, though she was less concerned with the fact that they were competing and more concerned that she was playing a fun game with the other tokota. Not that Jackie was going to educate her tokota about that now – instead she gave him a good stroke on the mane and did the same for the bridge of Gabaltan’s nose as both tokotas wagged their tails happily (though No’tek’s wag was more begrudgingly happy than excited) at their handler’s touch. “Good job,” she said to them. “You both did great.”
Jacqueline turned to smile and shake hands with the other handler whose tokota was already overwhelmingly excited despite the fact that the results hadn’t been announced yet by the judges who were now calling the next group of tokotas out to the free jumping ring. Sven smiled and gave a firm shake as Jackie realized she’d met an interesting pair that she would probably never forget. “Your tokota Oheň is something to see,” she admitted as she gave a nod in the curly-maned tokota’s direction. “She’s an excellent tokota and I’m sure if No’tek didn’t have his pride to keep intact, he would admit it himself.” No’tek snorted irritably before turning pointedly away from his handler. Gabaltan only huffed a tokota-like laugh before nudging Fabian for a treat.
“Your No’tek did a good job himself considering his low tolerance for Oheň,” Sven responded gracefully while No’tek growled lowly before sitting down irritably. Oheň gave a woof of excitement and ran over to the chocolate roan to see if he would play with her again. Naughty only growled at her again, his ears flattened on his head with irritation. Jackie smiled. “He may have pride but he’s mostly harmless,” she mused before looking back at the three tokotas and clicking her tongue to command No’tek and Gabaltan out of the ring. Oheň followed closely after the irritable chocolate roan and the piebald half-mane, weaving between the two in the hopes that one of them would continue to play with her.
Sven laughed and whistled for his tokota to his side. “That’s enough Oheň,” he said to her as she whined in protest. “There are other tokotas who must take their turn in the free-jumping ring and we can’t be taking up all the space in the ring and the surrounding areas. You’ll have a chance to play with other tokotas when we return home.” That answer seemed to make Oheň pout further as her whine increased. But she obeyed her handler and followed him out of the ring while No’tek and Gabaltan followed Fabian and Jacqueline back to the staging area where she had first encountered the other tokota and her handler.
“Don’t worry Oheň,” Jackie said as she waved to the other handler and his tokota. “Maybe ask Sven nicely and maybe No’tek, Gabaltan and some of my other tokotas may be able to visit sometime. But that all depends on where I am at the time.” No’tek looked horrified before a sigh of relief escaped him at the fact that they may not meet up again due to the fact that his handler never stayed in one place for very long it seemed. “But if you ever need to find me, just check the inns around and ask for Jackie – I’m sure someone can point you in the right direction. Nice meeting you Sven and Oheň.”
The golden anthro feline swished her tail behind her as she barely caught Sven’s response, her mind already thinking about her next move and her next stop on her continually changing course through Tokotna. Now that the free-jumping exercise was completed for No’tek and Gabaltan she would need to see how well they performed before determining if she would need to invest in more training for the rest of her ever-growing pack. She hadn’t realized it yet, but she was becoming enamored with these creatures and they were winning her over. And that meant it was time for the previously lone-wolf type bounty hunter to realize the inevitable truth.
She wasn’t really alone anymore.