Her large eyes shot to the growing shadow, then to the devil-winged silhouette against the harsh light. It occurred to her that his could be the shadow of oblivion, her own demise - the vulture seemed less like a hungry animal and more like the yawning void itself, ready to swallow her whole in a silent, sudden non-existence. [If only she knew what awaited her after death! Poor, naïve little kitten.]
The glint of claws awoke her from her stupor. Her spine curled and hair straightened, and after a loud hiss she sprinted away just in time, scattering the rest of the seeds in her panic. The competitive aspect was becoming more and more trivial in the wake of her several close encounters with certain death; This cat has had enough, thank you.
The vultures swooped and screeched among the crowd Huntsman was steadily leaving behind. He felt satisfaction at that; he was winning, and there was very little in his way.
Only two real obstacles, actually.
Well, two if you wanted to count that sooty lump of fur an
obstacle. Really, he would've mistaken the thing for a lesser if he hadn't heard it speak near the beginning of the trial. It was nearly impressive it had kept up with the likes of him.
But that didn't make it any more of a threat.
No, the one he TRULY cared about was the one he'd failed to take down early. The one who'd continue to fly, continued to
compete despite the warning. The one who STILL didn't get the message.
He launched into the air, quickly gaining height until he was at least a dozen feet above Hymn. He'd fly down in a hook-shape, kicking out at Hymn at the bottom of the curve. It was nearly the same as the move he'd attempted against him prior, so maybe Hymn would see it from a mile away.
Or maybe, Huntsman would win.
@Hymn
Hymn was having a perfectly dandy time going about doing the trial. Just a weird hybrid lookin' thing going about his life making some music when OH GOD NOT THEM AGAIN!? He veered sharply to the side, just barely dodging the attack. Seriously though, what was wrong with that guy? "HEY! I ALREADY TOLD YOU NOT TO DO THAT! AND YOU DID IT AGAIN! YOU BEING SERIOUS RIGHT NOW?" His feathers were starting to get ruffled up as well from all these close calls. It was important that he stay on his guard, especially when Huntsman never seemed to learn his lesson.
It was then that a thought struck him. There was a way to ensure they never tried attacking him again. And that was if he attacked
them. A taste of their own medicine, eh? Hymn only used his magic to make music really, but he figured if he did it right it would also serve to be rather disorienting for those nearby. He pulled upon his magic, and it came. Even if it wasn't as powerful as he hoped. Hopefully it would be enough to knock Huntsman off course and crash or something. Anything to ensure they stopped bothering him. He had music to make! He was busy enough!
@Huntsman
The birds
were, in fact, very scary. He tried to focus on the seed-strewn ground, and on moving ahead. But he could still
hear everything going on, and that was almost worst than seeing it.
"I'll protect you, too." He replied softly, unsure if Star could even hear above the cacophony.
He averted his gaze upwards just long enough to catch the sight of the gembound who'd saved Star, splotchy grey coat like ashes and fading wings like dying embers. Conleth looked away as he caught sight of vultures crowding a smaller gembound, probably one that The Rescuer was going to protect.
Connie felt.
Well.
Afraid. And Bad.
He was TRYING to help. He had strewn the discs and the seeds like the masked figure had said. But he hadn't SAVED anyone. Not even his friend.
And he was terrified.
Star wasn't afraid. Star was acting like nothing was wrong. She was so fearless she had been nearly taken by the horrors- TWICE!- And maybe he'd noticed a HINT of what was MAYBE the same thing he was feeling, but she stilled seemed so- HERSELF. Not swallowed up with this awful, foreign fear and doubt like he was.
And that grey gembound- Their Rescuer. He was so. Cool. And Brave. And nearly untouchable in the chaos. Connie had been born here, but he got the feeling that that horse had been too. But unlike him, the horse had never left. Connie wondered if he would've been like that if he'd never left Hydra, too. Or maybe he would've been dragged away by twin stingers into a worm's toothy maw.
What did those two have that he did not?
Maybe it was their wings. Maybe if he had wings, too, he would be braver, and untouchable.
The vultures had wings, too. But he didn't want to think about that.
@Star
His attack missed, frustratingly. And his opponent seemed to be just as annoying and clueless as he'd been over the dunes. He would even out his flight so he was level with Hymn- although too far for another attack.
"This is a competition! What do you not g-" Just then he was met with a horrible, omnipresent buzzing, as though the air itself was suddenly haunted by the spirits of dozens of angry bumblebugs. His jaw set until the sound dissipated, all the while his frustration and anger mutated into something more personal
Maybe he would be fine with second place, as long as Hymn did not cross the finish line.
"ENOUGH OF THAT INCESSANT NOISE!" He snarled, unsure if he was referring to Hymn's voice, that horrid buzzing, or that monotone note whistling out his gem. All three, probably.
"Just be SILENT and let me WIN."
@Hymn
Aran's luck has been betraying him. Nothing good comes from this place. His magic is not working, he's failing basic functions. Unfortunate, but he cannot do much about it. He flares his nose, taking in the scents of the desert. Only, he hears shrieking now. Wind flapping.
Birds.
Something about this sets off his anxiety - he was able to push it down before, but something about this brings on something familiar. He cannot put his hoof on it. This is wrong, he needs to GO
He flares his magic. Yes, a distraction. Something to scare the creatures away. From behind the birds.
Round Seven
The screeching chaos of the Eyehooks suddenly... dimmed. Those few seeds emerging into sprouts with the touch of magic gave off strange spores with a carrion scent, and the birds seemed transfixed. They were not friendly, by any means. Likely it'd reduce their aggression--given time, and enough plant growth--just enough that they would not be the ravening monsters they were today. But for now? They were merely... distracted, flapping in place and staring down at the greenery.
Now came the descent: a long run down the twisting, narrow trails and into the Crucible's ravines. Downhill rock slides had left piles of heavy debris; flash floods had left skeletons and dead, wind-worn logs in the way. It was an obstacle course, through the heat but shadowed by the canyon walls: a very long run that would eventually spit the Gembounds out into the mouth of the Dead Marsh.
Sprint Round!
Characters should all be posted to describe their difficult descent down through the Crucible to the Dead Marsh. If the character wishes to attempt to move forward by one position, they may roll to do so. They may alternatively roll to try and sabotage any other character in their placement, or take any other action they see fit.
Failures are not punished this round. Critical Fails will still cause the character to take a serious injury, thus losing one position in the race. If a character is sabotaged and doesn't roll successfully against it, they will lose one position.
A character may post once to roll to defend against each sabotage attempt made against them in addition to posting their own action.
Morpho and Ketur have fallen out of sight.
Placement:
First: Hymn, Anselm, Huntsman
Second: Spinnaker, Duck Duck, Fleas, Wisperia, Corsair
Third: Aran, Whistle, One
Fourth: Kaizer, Fiver, K'cil, Conleth, Ketur, Jim, Zhusha, Morpho, Ivory, Star, Galleon, Glory, Ruby-Beta, Warrior, Captain
Fifth: Reverend
The next post will take place on September 17th.
@Wisperia (Hymn, Star)
@Galleon (Fleas, Anselm)
@Ruby-Beta (Glory)
@Whistle (K'cil, Duck Duck)
@Aran @Zhusha (Captain, Jim)
@Conleth (Huntsman, One)
@Reverend (Spinnaker, Kaizer)
@Warrior (Corsair, Ivory)
@Fiver
