This wasn't off to a great start. Remedy backtracked enough to get a running start like before, the with more care put into her footing this time, she launched herself forward to try at the hurdles again...

...and with the grace of a pelican, somehow managed to clear them all. Finally. Her landing was rough, making her stumble to catch her balance again, but then she was off, chasing after the pack in hopes of making up for lost ground and time.

As she ran, she tapped into that link. Cure, I'm an idiot. You'd have laughed your fat fuzzy ass off at me just now.

---

@Cure

A loud snort escaped from Kito's nostril's as he approached the rest of the hurdles. He had to catch up with the others! Right now he was behind.

Take it slow! Take it Slow!

The voices rang in his skull. No! He protested to them. That's crazy! I want to win!

You will regret this.

Kito scoffed at his "head friends" for being so foolish. He could clear the rest these fences with his eyes closed if he wanted. He just got off to bad start, that's all. After all it wasn't strength or strategy that determines winners here, it's pure luck. Kito launched himself at the rest of the hurdles. His hooves hit each one as his body barely cleared the fences, but he cleared them, nonetheless. Not the result he was hoping for, but he could work with it.
"Haha!" Kito laughed out loud as he landed, kicking up his hind legs in excitement. See?

The head voices remained silent. The zebra foal shrugged and galloped off towards the Spire, dust trailing behind him.


"Speech"
Kito's thoughts...
Auditory hallucinations

Pent up with the excitement of getting to announce the event, Faelan ran along behind the competitors after they sped off in a cloud of dust and a pounding of hooves and paws. After a moment though, the dust settled, the sound faded, and he was able to watch with wide eyes and upright ears as they headed for the first obstacle, the hurdles.
It was obvious from the beginning that the black colt had a head start, since he approached the hurdles first, and practically seem to fly over each and every one. Within seconds, he was on his way to the Spire, and the lion cub was focused on the next one up to the hurdles, which was the black and white striped equine. To the inexperienced eye of one so young, his leap seemed good, until he ran smack dab into the first hurdle with his chest. Faelan cringed at the sight, even though he had never run into anything and didn't even know how it felt, it just looked painful. The sight of the poor thing getting up and trying to catch up was too much for the young judge to bare, so he flicked his gaze over to the last equine.

The knock of the filly's hooves on the hurdles sounded through the room, but she made it over, and was able to catch up to Thanatos in her sprint to the Spire. With apparent ease, she made her two laps around it, and then shot off toward the river, out of sight to the cub for the moment. His golden gaze flicked toward a black and white canine, just in time to see it launch itself into the air, and then land directly on top of a hurdle. Faelan hissed as the poor thing crumpled for a moment, and then scramble its way off the hurdle. Its momentum was messed up though, and it crashed face first into the next hurdle, making the young cub groan in sympathy. Poor thing, he thought as he watched it struggle to leap over the hurdles now that it wasn't running.

It wasn't the only one having trouble though. A black and red hybrid creature seemed stuck in the hurdles at first, and a platypus was literally stuck on top of the first hurdle like the canine had been. Faelan wanted to encourage them on, but he also wanted to see how the others were progressing. After a moment's deliberation, he raced toward the Spire to see how Thanatos and Kito would do with their laps. While the lion cub had been watching the others, the white and black creature had gotten through the rest of the hurdles, and was catching up to the other equines. As he raced along after the equines, he saw the hybrid making its way toward the next obstacle as well, its legs stretching in and out as far as they would go in an attempt to catch up.

Okay, that was enough breath-catching for now. The platypus struggled to writhe her way down from where she was stuck as she felt and heard the vibrations of the others disappearing into the distance.

No! I... I don't wanna get lost!

And so she wriggled frantically, eventually squirming her way off the first hurdle. She waddled after the fading footsteps, only to slam beak-first into the next hurdle! Panic fluttered in her chest. There's more?! She took deep breaths, her hope withering for a moment. Once again she patted her bill against the hurdle, figuring out what to do. Her head was aching from the impact, shivers of pain running through her gem. She didn't know if she could do this, but she really, really wanted to. But what good was a want if she didn't try to make it happen?

Even if her confidence was gone, it was replaced by sheer determination.

She pulled herself back, and then waddled, and then flew like a duck! ...Only to become once more sprawled over the wooden hurdle. But the little platypus desperately wanted to keep going. She was gonna finish this!

Even if it was the last thing she would ever do.

What's next? Oh yeah! Run around the Spire twice!

The Spire grew closer and closer before Kito. The foal dug in his hooves as he sent a surge of extra energy through his muscles. He felt like he was flying again. He never got to gallop this fast before! For a heartbeat, Kito thought his long legs were going to interlock and make him fumble, but to his surprise, they carried him loyally. It wasn't long before Kito found himself turning around the bend the great Spire. He couldn't help but stare up in awe as the bright magicka, as blue as his own eyes, crackled from the tall, pointed crystals that loomed over him.

Suddenly, pain erupted through the frog of his hoof as his foreleg came crashing down on a cleaved off crystal. Kito yelp in unpleasant surprise and slowed down to a stop as he lifted his hurting hoof to inspect the damage. The crystal had shattered and parts of it had gotten wedged between the inner crevices. Kito snorted, his eyes stinging with tears of pain, as he shook the shards from his forehoof. He gently placed his sore, throbbing hoof back on the ground and felt a stab of intense pain when he placed his weight on it. Kito wondered if the frog was bruised, but he hoped that was not the case otherwise it would make winning this competition a lot harder.

Told you so! Now you've gone lame! You're lame! Haha!

"Shut UP!" Kito brayed angrily, swishing his tail. He really didn't need to here his head "friends" gloating right now. The foal sniffed trying to choke back his pain and hide how upset he was about his luck in this competition as carried on around the jutting tower of crystals, putting as little weight on his aching hoof as possible. So, he couldn't gallop around the Spire, but at least he could limp.

"Speech"
Kito's thoughts...
Auditory hallucinations

The young filly was flying through the course! Her mane and tail flowed out behind her as she raced from the spire straight towards the river! The little filly saw the assimilation of stones and branches and began to carefully sort through them. Nervous energy made her jittery as she wanted to quickly get through everything. Finally after what seemed like ages she found one of the stones with a blue mark on it. Quickly she grabbed it along with one of the sticks and raced back towards the Spire.

_____________

words| ---
tagged| @Thanatos @Destiny @Remedy @Kito @Rinaotei
ooc| ---
muse| 5/10

"Talking looks like this!"
"Eekii eee!"
Thinking looks like this...

He cleared the obstacles with ease, leaving the two laps around the spire next in the race. Lagging behind, his little baby legs carried him as fast as they could, but even the filly Saga was ahead of him! This would simply not do! He charged towards the spire full steam, little baby hooves hitting the ground and sending dirt flying behind him. He was looking good before he felt his left forehoof collide with something, a rock maybe? He didn't have time to think as it sent the equestrian to the ground, eating dirt behind all the other competitors. He had little faith in winning this race, but he just had to keep trying! As long as he could get up, anyway...

Destiny wriggled herself free once more, and waddled her way forward. bump! same as before, she collided with a rock. This time, Destiny pulled herself back again, and she bounced forward! Hop, hop! she was over the hurdle with a little bit of scrabbling and a heavy thud as she landed on the other side. She ran ahead, another bump. and then she was over, and through!

No more hurdles!

Destiny tore after the fading echoes with all the elegance and grace of a wingless duck. Onto the next obstacle! Destiny bounded on, following the imprints in the dirt and the distant echoes. She needed to follow this path twice! and that was where she was headed now.

Well Rina is still at the hurdles, she knows this standing around a bit to analyse for a new strategy isn't really a good idea due to the limited time, still being impulsive and going on with the unbearingly slow method she's doing now isn't going to help at all really. She almost quietly sighs in response to this situation, she certainly was faced with a predicament. No need to complain though, that would just cause the surpressed fermentation to take over her mind and she won't be going anywhere in this race if that happens.

Actually... As she recalls, as long as she doesn't use spells, attack another or fly, then she should say climbing to the top of the fence to get over this part of the obstacle by jumping onto the top of the next fences should be alright. As long as Rina doesn't fly, which will be easy she doesn't have wings, then this will be a good loophole to exploit in the rules, this method will be faster than what she is doing now. Good thing she has experience with climbing in regards to that whole climbing up the ice wall once, so this won't be a new thing for her to do, while she technically did that thing with the landing on the top of the fence earlier which was what threw her balance off in the first place, she wasn't expecting it then since that wasn't her plan so she probably can endure it this time since Rina is expecting it this time.

She crouches down in an attempt to once again put the pressure on her hind legs, and she tightens on her chest as well, which to an extent adds a little pressure to her front legs too, all the while the crunch of gravel could be heard again from doing that. Releasing the power set on her limbs, she begins to climb with a huge leap onto the next fence that is now in front of her which Rina has yet to get over, and now Rina begins her own climb without any hesitation whatsoever, albeit a little clumsily all over this fence, since it wasn't a wall, and so it wasn't a tall enough height for her to fully extend her legs on with her now fully grown body. Alright let's pivot again... Left paw, right paw...

She doesn't need to think through much on how to climb to the top since it isn't that tall, so with the usage of her pawpads Rina eventually reached the top. Her legs are awkwardly pretty close together but she's sure she can handle it. Straightening her tail outwards to help with the balance of her jumps and her claws clamp down firmly onto the top of the fence, ready to be loosened the moment she starts her leaps.

Releasing the grip her claws have on the fence she now begins to jump over onto the next fence, which was a success the jolt came again but she saw it coming this time so it doesn't put her off much this time, and so now that she wasn't a stranger to that jolt that'll put her off, this time her speed picks up on these leaps to the next fence. Rina wove in and out of the fence eventually at an almost blinding speed the billow of her leaps going quite well, during this Rina started to notice the change in the terrain as she finally leaped over the last fence.

There we go... Last hurdle, Rina finally lets out a quiet sigh of relief over how she's finally getting somewhere now. Still she can't relax now, Rina needs to make up for lost time because that start there was just pitiful... She's calm as always, but her impatience really is rising now, hopefully that'll help her in this next part of giving laps around The Spire. "Obstacle Course... It is a fitting name." She quietly purrs out as a matter of fact..

_____________

words| 673
tagged| ---
ooc| ---
muse| 7/10

"Talking looks like this!"
Thinking looks like this...

Kito pushed on, pain stabbing at his front hoof with each pathetic step. He thought this obstacle course was going to be fun, and that he would race a head of everyone and become the winner because winning was fun too, but he was sorely mistaken. The zebra was starting the wonder if the almighty forces from the numbered beyond were angry with him, or maybe they just found his misfortune amusing.

Kito.

The zebra stopped in his tracks, as still as a stalagmite. He had not heard that voice among his head friends. It gave him a strange, tingly feeling that crawled through every inch of his fur. The way it sweetly sang his name in a ghostly echo, it gave him chills, but strangely, he found himself wanting to meet it. He did not have look far, for the new head friend appeared before him. Kito thought it looked like an equine foal, about his size and build, covered from head to hoof in fungi. The part about the figure that creeped him out the most was that it had no eyes, for a cluster of mushrooms had grown through the sockets. It opened and closed its mouth, as if it was trying to form words. His ears pushed forward at the sight, trying to pick up on what this new "friend" was saying, but all he caught was eerie silence. Kito felt uneasy as he watched this strange horse mouth silent words. He did not like this head "friend". He wanted to run away as fast as could from this thing.

Creeped out, Kito took a step a back and felt his hoof come down on something hard, that was not cave floor. The zebra snapped his head down and realized what he was he standing on. Horror twisted across his face as he saw that he was standing on a sea a Gembound bones much like the ones strewn all over Canis, except, fungi had wound themselves through every crevice, their white, greedy tendrils, clutching the mismatched skeletons, stealing the life force from the crystals embedding in them. The stench of death and decay filled his nostrils. Terror froze his blood still when Kito realized that he was sinking beneath the rotting bones, and the fungi tendrils were wrapping around him, slithering through his skin, pulling his body deeper and deeper. The foal tried to rear and buck. He tried to scream for help, but his body would not respond, as if he was frozen in ice. Kito looked around and saw that he was no longer in the Spire, but in an endless nightmare of a cavern, and the only one their besides him, was this horrid fungi foal. It was frowning, as if it were sad, like it didn't want Kito to fall beneath. Upon looking at it, he had never felt so lonely, helpless, and utterly terrified. As the bones tumbled towards his neck and the squirming tendrils came towards his face, searching for his angelite, Kito squeezed his eyes shut and waited for his end.

But it never came. Kito popped one eye open, and saw the magnificent Spire, crackling with power. He was back in Polaris. No rotten skeletons, no evil fungi, no creepy head... creep. Relief and confusion simultaneously flooded through his body. That was.. weird.. and scary. He didn't want to see those images ever again, but he was thankful to be back. Kito blinked a few times, observing his surroundings, and figuring out that he wasn't frozen anymore. Suddenly, realization struck him like a well placed hoof. Has he been standing here the whole time, spacing out? How long had he been standing here?? He had a race to win! How could something happen in a time like this? He needed to get moving!

"Speech"
Kito's thoughts...
Auditory hallucinations