[EVENT] The Trial of Hydra - Reclamation

Fleas carried on the trek away from that cat. Duck Duck still occupied her thoughts, though. The cat looked scared, staring up at her with huge owlish eyes... Was she just being mean to some small animal? But no, someone had cast that magic, right? She mulled over it as she walked. Her thoughts could only distract her from her exhaustion for so long, though. By the end of the trek, Fleas was in much worse shape than she'd started it in. Her pack was lighter, at the very least, but Fleas was was openly panting, dragging her paws. When they at last reached the shade of the crucible, Fleas collapsed onto her belly. Thank goodness. That relief was short lived. The group she'd traveled with was moving forward.

"We...we gotta go up that?" she panted. She rose with a grunt. It was difficult, to say the least. But she was small enough to thread through both her group and the trails without much incident. Twice she nearly walked into spire spider dens--cracks in the walls that housed those terrifying monstrosities. She noticed them only by the iridescent shine as they shifted inside their burrows. It was by the skin of her teeth, but she avoided them. Fleas was still going.

"When I speak"
When I think

He noted, with relief, that the buffalo was alive. Injured--but still alive, and not in immediate danger of bleeding out. Warrior was already falling back to help those falling behind with their injuries, so Zhusha turned his attention to traversing the Crucible with the larger group. They were not free from danger yet; and some of those here might also need help.

After so much flying through the unforgiving heat and light, the shade and shelter offered by the Crucible was a welcome relief--so much so that Zhusha let his guard down too early. As he flew toward the target, where they were to plant their seeds, a Spire Spider's owlish eyes snagged his attention. Uncontrollably, he was drawn to the shimmering creature, utterly mesmerized by its dance.

burn me to ashes and scatter me in the flooding spring river
that i might drift with the fallen flowers to a place no one has known

Without wings, Jim was forced to make the trek up the plateau the long way--but he made it silently, and without complaint. Of course, the silence could also be because he was too hot and tired to talk. Still, his Tibetan fox physique was somewhat helpful in this situation. He noted the sand shark's struggle up the cliff and nasty-looking fall, winced with sympathy, and counted his blessings.

But just because they had reached a place with shade and water didn't mean they were safe yet--all around Jim, Gembound were falling victim to hidden spiders and scorpions. Some of them even seemed to be hypnotized, somehow. Decisively, Jim smashed his eyelids shut and searched the area using his Jim Sense first. Only after ascertaining the locations of these dangerous creatures did he open his eyes and start moving again, being careful to look and stay away from the places unknown dangers were hiding.

"Use magic to scan for dangerous critters, if you can!" he called out, voice a bit hoarse from trekking through a sandy hellscape for over an hour. "Watch out for the hypnosis, and for crevices an ambush could hide in!"

Captain gasped with relief as the sandworm harassing him was hit by something heavy, let go, and fled. "ARRRR! YER A REAL ONE, ME HEARTIE!" Lotta heroes 'round here! he thought, heartened, as a pale horse fell back to offer encouragement and point out a safe path.

He offered a friendly toss of his head at Warrior. "ARRR, IT'S LAND AHOY, MATEYS! LET'S FORGE AHEAD, WE CAN DO THIS!"

A brief burst of magic, and a sparkling banana appeared in front of Captain. He gobbled it up immediately, grateful for the moisture and nutrition. He'd need it to help him recover his strength from his injury, and get his energy back for the long trek ahead.