The Path Of A Zebra

The cold autumn time wind was what woke Sokhor from his sleep, the cold air nipping at his body through the cracks in the wooden walls and the door frame leading to the outside. It was a good thing that Sokhor was woken up as he had a lot of travelling to do and a lot to complete today.

Sokhor stood up from his bed that was made of straw and animal furs, he stretched out his back and got a satisfying popping sound, a quick glance out of the window told him that it was early morning so he wouldn't have to rush to get to the monastery. He was going to take some time to admire his village before he was sent away to complete his challenges, the grand master believed that he was ready to take his trial and put all that he had learnt about his chosen paths into proper use.

Each zebra that is chosen by the grand master has to pick two paths that will shape them and change them until they are ready to complete their chosen trial. The paths that can be chosen by a zebra are all challenging for both the body and the mind, but each one focuses on a different aspect of survival:

The path of the hunter is chosen by the brave adventurer types or by those who have felt the callings of the wild. It teaches zebra to learn how to track and kill the various animals that walk the lands so they could be made into coats, extra food for the villagers and other useful essentials.

The path of the artist teaches a zebra the ways of creating and are responsible for making and designing all tools for the zebra tribes as well as constructed the building that a tribe would need. Only the gifted and smart zebra are accepted into this way of life.

The path of the diplomat teaches a zebra about the other races such as the ponies and griffins that share this world with the zebras, it shows them all of the corners of the world. It also teaches them that violence isn't the only way to win a fight and a sharp tongue to as dangerous as a sharp sword or spear.

The final path is the path of the warrior, it is one that isn't pursued by many as it is requires a zebra to faces that biggest and the most dangerous monsters that are known, it is also their responsibility to protect the villages from any dangers that may lurk in the shadows of their physical world and if necessary, the worlds of dreams. If any danger presences itself to the zebra race, it is their duty to dive in without any fear for their own moral self.

Sokhor wasn't afraid of these monsters and demons, so the grand master of the monastery allowed him to take the path of the warrior and the path of the diplomat, if he was to succeed in his trials he would become a envoy for the grand council, furthermore the grand master promised him a place by his side should he complete the trials of a warrior and it had become Sokhor's highest priority to train himself both physically and mentally to prove to the grand master that his faith in him wasn't misplaced. He step out into the cold autumn air, the wind blowing at his mane and sending chills down his body.

Sokhor's village was lucky enough to be inside the protective walls of the mountainside monastery, so everyone was happily walking around without fear of a beast eating them, the houses and workspaces were all made of logs or scrap wood mixed with mud that didn't provide much protection but kept the rain and snow out. It was good enough for the tribe so it was good enough for Sokhor, children ran around chasing each other playfully, it made him happy to see children running around without fear of the many monsters getting them. One of the many children spotted Sokhor and muttered a farewell to his friends so he could rush over to him.

The child reached Sokhor and they both gave each other a nuzzle, “Hello little brother, how is the day treating you?” Sokhor asked the child, picking him up and balancing him of his foreleg so he could carefully jump onto his back.

His brother shared the same look as Sokhor, grey with black strips all over his body, his black hair was tied back into a single knot that when over his shoulder, the only difference was his mark on his flank, while Sokhor's was of seven points joining into a squiggly swirl, Acuri's was of a line navigating between crossed out dots.

“I'm fine big brother, are your ready to leave for your big trial?” the younger zebra asked, he knew the importance of Sokhor's trials but was going to miss him a lot, as trials can last a few years and can change a zebra into something that he or she wasn't before.

“Yes, young Acuri, I don't know the details yet but the trial is going to be a long and harsh task to complete,” Sokhor replied to his younger brother, “But have no fear, you know that I'll be perfectly safe with the gods at my side,” he added after.

“I know, but I going to miss you so much, the village won't be the same without you here,” Acuri stated with sadness in his voice, Sokhor was going to miss his little brother as he was the only family he had left and since their parents were killed they had grown close to each other. Sokhor knew that Acuri was safe in the monastery and that he would grow up into a brave hunter when the time is right.

“Don't worry little brother, I'll be back before you know it,” Sokhor reassured, he was already walking towards the monastery but decided to take the long way around so he could take one last look at his village before he set off. The village was quite prosperous due to its location, many hunter returned from the woodlands with good quality furs and meats while fishmongers cached and salted their prizes for the long winters where hunters found it difficult to track and hunt animals. Farmers tended their gardens in hopes that they will grow a large produce and get enough to feed their family's for the upcoming year.

The monastery itself was a extremely old building made of hardened stone bricks, it was one of the only structures that Sokhor had ever seen that wasn't made of wood and mud, it was inside the monastery that hundreds of zebra lived and work, each one was dedicated to their chosen paths and some even lived their whole life inside that stone castle so they can better appreciate the paths they had chosen to live by. Outside the massive gates were several zebra in red plated armour with large swords by their sides to fend off any threats that may attack the monastery or the village, these were the ones that were chosen to take the path of the warrior and proved to be the hardened warrior the tribe needed to take up arms to defend the weaker and younger members.

The guards looked at Sokhor closely, halting him by the gate and preventing him access to the monastery, Acuri jumped off his back and landed skilfully on his hooves while Sokhor showed the guards his paperwork and muttered a few pass words.

“Brother, I got to go to school now,” Acuri informed his older brother, a sad smile formed on his lips as he realised that this is going to be his final goodbye to Sokhor.

“I guess this is goodbye for a while then little brother,” Sokhor knelt down and gave his brother a large hug, they stayed like that for a few moments until Acuri broke the silence.

“I'll pray for you every day Sokhor, please watch yourself out their and come home in one piece,” Acuri whimpered, his eyes began watering slightly as he held his brother in his hooves.

“I will Acuri, good luck on your own trials when you get them, focus on them, not me... and remember to act with pride and honour when the time comes for you to prove yourself,” Sokhor advised his little brother as he broke the hug, his little brother nodded his head and Sokhor ruffled his brother's mane.

Sokhor waved his hoof as Acuri faded around the side of a building and back down into the village, he gave a loud sigh and walked in the opposite direction to his brother and entered the monastery to get his trial.

The interior of the monastery was a peaceful environment where many zebra's meditated silently or trained against many different test dummies in separate rooms, students walked around talking with their peers or teachers in quiet voices so they do not disturb the harmony of the rooms. The floors were all wooden but were all smoothed out and well maintained, they felt nice compared to the rocky paths and muddy roads that his hooves had walked on for most of his life, the air around him was warm due to the many candles that were used to light up the rooms or to provide a relaxing scent for meditation and studying.

Sokhor was quick to find his teacher walking though the halls of the building, his teacher wordlessly walked into a empty room and beckon him to follow.

“Sokhor, are your ready for your trial?” Sokhor's teacher asked, he nodded his head in response, “Very well, your equipment has already been decided and packed, ready for you in the armoury, but now I will explain some of the details of your mission so hold all questions until the end,” the teacher walked over to a table and pull out a map from his saddlebag, “Your trial takes you to the land of Equestria, where your skill as a warrior and a diplomat must be used to complete the task, the task is simple, find a zebra that was exiled from the community and bring her back here alive, she poses a threat to you but shouldn't be hostile, so be weary around her, she is held up in a town called Ponyville right around here,” He pointed his hoof to the map, sure enough there was a small point labelled Ponyville, “Take the map with you, it will serve as a valuable asset on your travels, however, it could take a long time for you to find her so you will have to make some friends of the ponies that live in Ponyville, they won't fight you or try to hurt you but they use lots of trickery in almost every aspect of their lives so stay alert, for they live very differently to us zebras...”

Sokhor's teacher continued to explains the basics of the pony way of life and the different types of ponies that he would encounter, however zebra's knowledge on ponies was very limited and left him with many questions that couldn't be answered. After all of his questions were asked, his teacher lead him over to the armour to get his equipment.

“Take a moment to look at your equipment Sokhor, you will find in your saddlebags some: healing potions, preserved food that should last you a few weeks in the wild, flasks of water, matches for lighting fires, a sharp knife for cutting up dead animals if you come across any and finally some other potions with various effects that are labelled on the bottles, the items you requested are inside as well,” the teacher walked over to a mannequin with a set of light adventurers armour with a small, rolled up sleeping bag on its back, it had many straps and padding scattered around to protect the user but the leather like material wasn't the strongest protection against attacks so he'd still have to use speed and discipline to win any fights he many get into, “This is your recommended armour for the journey, its light, doesn't constrict movement and supports a hood to conceal your head from the sun, the armour itself with soften the blows of any hooves but don't rely on it to save you from multiple strikes or any weapons,” the teacher moved on the a table with a single sword on a stand resting on it, “This is your weapon Sokhor, a gift from the grand master's armoury, a curved zebra sword, its yours to keep,” the sword itself was a beautiful creation, the blade was long and extremely sharp, it appeared to be made of a metal that Sokhor had never seen before, the handle has gems encrusted into the top were blade meets mouth-guard and the handle itself was covered by expensive leather, “Cast your mind back to training Sokhor, for I told you that a blade could be wielded in mouth or attached to a piece of forehoof armour if the zebra can stand on its hind legs like you can,” his teacher reminded him, tapping the piece of armour that rested on the mannequin's forehoof.

Getting on the armour was simple and it fitted him perfectly, his teacher was correct when he said the armour doesn't constrict movement as it felt like a cloud was engulfing his body. Even when he had the saddlebags by his sides and the sleeping bag on his back it was still light, not slowing him down much at all, “You are now ready my student, I have taught you everything I know and provided you with the best equipment I can, now it only a matter of promising to the gods that you will see this task completed to your dying breath,” His teacher walked out of the room followed by Sokhor to the heart of the monastery.

The heart of the monastery was a large, open space were many statues of different zebra gods where displayed, the sky was clearly seen through the roofless room. The space was mostly empty except for several hooded zebra priests that surrounded a large statue that represented one of the zebra gods, inside the circle of priests waited the grand master himself.

“Approach, young Sokhor...” Commanded the grand master, Sokhor did as instructed and walked towards the group, as he did so the circle opened up to allow him to get close to the statue and the grand master, “You have been given your trial and have been provided all that is required to complete it, are you ready to begin, for once you start, you can't come back until it is done,” the grand master urged.

“I'm ready grand master,” Sokhor replied, giving a bow of his head to the statue.

“Then let us begin...” the grand master closed his eyes and so did Sokhor, the hooded zebras began to chant something that Sokhor couldn't understand nor did he want to for his mind was fully focus on the grand master's words.

Do you, Sokhor, swear to the gods themselves that the trial assigned to you will

be completed with the use of sanctified and righteous methods?

I do.

Do you declare yourself as a faithful and justified servant to the gods and will defend

their honour to your dying breath and beyond?

I do.

If presented with a threat to the nation or yourself, do you promise to do

everything in your power to remove that problem, even if the cost is your own life?

I do.

If faced with an enemy, do you swear to fight with the courage and honour

that is expected of you, and to never risk your fellow brothers and sisters safety

for your own selfish reason, be on the battlefield or on the diplomacy table?

I swear to shield my brothers and sisters from my selfish, mortal thoughts and actions

or my soul will be set alight to rekindle the sun should I break this oath. Furthermore

I will protect the secrets of the zebra race from any that mat use the knowledge against

our people.

The cloaked zebra's each stopped the chanting and Sokhor opened his eyes to look at the grand master, he smiled at him and reached over to the statue to pick up some glowing dust. A cloaked priest removed her necklace and put it around Sokhor's neck, “Keep this on – always, to guide you in times of difficultly brave adventurer,” she said, her voice was calming and youthful, the necklace hung loosely around his neck but it felt like it lit a fire in his chest that inspired him to complete his task.

Sokhor turned back to the grand master and nodded his head, “The gods have bless you brave adventurer,” He promised, he then blew the dust from the statue into Sokhor's face, he could feel it burning away at his skin but it didn't hurt, he felt his eyes become heavy and he became dizzy as he breathed in the dust particles. The priests held him as he lost control of his body and he could feel them carrying him somewhere, all the while chanting something in a old zebra tongue that Sokhor didn't know, but it help his body to relax and fully fade from consciousness.

He awoke shortly after outside of the monastery's walls in the wilderness, all of his equipment rested against his body. Countless dangers waited for him between here and his destination, he had days of travelling before he would get to Ponyville and most of that time would be spent walking or foraging for food and drink. Yet he didn't fear any of the monsters and accepted the challenge and a chance to show off his skills. He looked up at the sky, his teacher told him that the clouds always move towards Equestria, with his direction in front of him, he place the first of many hooves in front of himself and walked towards his goal. Off in the distance, he heard a sound he was sure to hear a lot more, a growl.