what were Mahuta's trials that the Tergian failed where the human succeded?
((Sorry for the delay, school and writer’s block happened))
Mahuta placed 3 tests along Ropata’s (the hero) and (unknowingly) the human Whinia’s road.
The first test was simple enough: help overturn a tortoise (Mahuta in disguise) stuck on its shell. Ropata ignored the tortoise while Whinia used twigs (staves to her) as a lever and helped it back on its feet. Mahuta brushed this off as a simple oversight. Perhaps the great hero had not seen him.
The second test occurred as Ropata set camp for the night. Nearby, a wuruhi pup (faol aka horned wolf aka Mahuta in disguise again) had fallen into a patch of quicksand. Ropata ignored the cries, thinking the other wuruhi would come claim their lost pup. Whinia, having heard the cries and keeping her kiwi mount far away, did her best to help by cutting vines from the treetops for the pup to use. Mahuta recognized the human from earlier, but continued his efforts to prove Ropata’s worth.
The third test was the hardest to ignore. Ropata was woken by the sounds of screams and a Pungan* Wyrm’s roars. Some villagers, including children, were trapped. The Wyrm refused to move but continued to roar and screech at anything that moved. Ropata raced to the scene, but kept his distance, trying to think of a plan. He had faced Wyrms before and barely made it out intact. Each moment the villagers were in more danger, but Ropata did not act. Whinia, however, did. She was the only one able to get close enough to see why the Wyrm could not move: a stake was embedded in its claw, ropes holding it in place. Despite her size and the bluntness of her trusty machete, she broke the ropes…catching the Wyrm’s eye when it went to pull the stake out with its teeth.
In an instant, the Wyrm disappeared from the village.
Mahuta revealed himself to the valiant human, and offered her and her kind a gift from thereafter.
"No animal will harm you, should you never harm an animal."
Many will tell you that humans are too otherworldly for Tergaian animals to consider eating, however.
*Punga = Maori word for “big/giant”. Pungaroa would be the FFH-version of New Zealand.
