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

Fleas is moving forward

Anselm avoided the worst of the heat by hiding in the shadows of the gembound flying above. She was hopping now, a rarely seen sight, as she desperately tried to keep up with her fellows. Her paws ached and her heart beat a staccato rhythm by the time the crucible had been reached. The cliffs offered much welcomed shade however, and Anselm took a moment to rest before resuming the journey. She was quick to scale the cliff trails, leaping from rock to rock nimbly. As she landed from one such leap, something moved in the corner of her eye. Her head whipped around.

A scorpion, large enough to dwarf her twice over, crawling out with its stingers at the ready. Anselm sure enough looked like one of its usual prey. Enough for the scorpion. Its tail whipped forward. Anselm's eyes widened, magicka surging forward at the same time as adrenaline flooded her. Her paws crackled with pain and heat. Anselm launched herself under its stinger and at its face, pressing burning paws into it. The hiss and smoke of burning carapace filled the air. Her eyes and paws stung, but the scorpion had it worse. The scorpion scrambled back, searching for somewhere to nurse its wounds. Leaving Anselm alone but uninjured with raw, painful paws. Then, delicately, she continued to pick her way up the cliff once again.

anselm is moving forward

It had been a mad dash for survival, but now that she was safely past the sandworms, Star noticed Connie (whose voice had gone unheard earlier). "HELLO CONNIE! SANDWORM WAS NOT FRIEND! MAYBE IT WILL BE FRIEND NEXT TIME!" She had still not yet processed the fact that it was trying to eat her which would've resulted in death, or that it is not something you would want to befriend in the first place.

Star looked ahead at the challenge that lay before them, then decided that it would be rather easy to just fly and avoid danger. "CONNIE LOOK! I DO MEGA BOUNCE!" She leaped, then tried to flap her wings to lift herself up. The Kori Bustard was able to gain flight for a few moments, before a sand scorpion's tail emerge from a crevice, ready to snag her from the air.

@Conleth (vis)

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!"

fox credit - dash huang on flickr

Jim is staying with the group

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.

Captain is pushing ahead

It had been pure terror.

The ground exploded with creatures magnitudes bigger than Connie himself, and one had nearly eaten his friend. His BEST friend, even.

And that friend? Seemed nearly unphased by it.

Connie wished he was THAT brave.

He responded to Star with only a meek "Y-yeah!" before they continued onwards, towards the canyon. It was a welcome relief from the heat. And apparently, prime bouncing grounds.

Some good ol' fashioned bouncing would make him feel better, right? After all, he just HAD to outdo Star's 'mega-bounce.'

He managed to get some decent air-time. More importantly, he managed to avoid the notice of the sand-scorpions and spiders. Maybe all that jumping intimidated them?

Conleth is staying with the group
@Star [vis]

Hymn was glad to see that the cockatoo was on their side. They weren't going crazy after all. "I have NO idea! That thing tried to MURDER me! BLOODY MURDER I TELL YA! I don't even know them!" he kept pace with Corsair, liking how they also had a taste for good music. It wasn't the kind he knew of, but Hymn was always glad to pick up on more types. They beat their wings to the tune of the song, which was really quite inspiring.

It would not do to continue dwelling upon what had just happened, so he focused upon the next task. There was no disk this time, so he should be able to maintain flight? Hopefully that meant he would be able to avoid some traps if there were any. The music provided by the bird had him humming along, almost enough for him to lose focus and smack right into a wall. Hymn was able to maneuver out of the way just in time though, and continue right along with the front of the group. Hopefully that other gembound wouldn't try to attack him again.

@Corsair (vis)

Hymn is moving forward.

Wisperia was just glad to be out of the sands. She had been too panicked to take much note of how she escaped (some miraculous wind had blown her?) and had darted across the sand as fast as she could, not even taking the time to say thanks. Not that she said thanks anyways. The fact that she had to rely on other gembounds to get out of that one disturbed her greatly. She didn't need any help! She should've been able to do it all on her own. This thought dominated her mind as she scampered across dunes, eventually finding herself at the next stage of Hydra. It had shade and rocks, the exact type of environment she thrived in. Yet... there was no way it was that easy. The lizard's three eyes darted from side to side as she surveyed the place. There must be some hidden traps somewhere. Something. She would have to proceed carefully.

It seemed she had learned her lesson, taking great care in avoiding shadier areas and sticking along the wall which was not a normal route gembounds took. This allowed her to avoid much of the dangers and get past.

Wisperia is moving forward.

Aran can hear the rumbling of the sandworms as he runs. He does not look back to see if anyone has died, or if they've been saved - he just knows he needs to get out of here. He tosses discs as he goes, taking note that they seem to bring the enemies closer rather than away. He makes sure to not get too close to where the discs end up, his own or other gembound. Now is not the time to die.

As he makes his way through, he spots the crucible, the bird's eyes allow him to get a good view of everything going on. He can also see figures, but he chooses to ignore them to instead trek on. No point in waiting when there is plenty of others ahead.

Aran is moving forward.