He had come simply because there was a large gathering and he was interested in observing others; he made exaggerated movements with his left leg to show off his glowing accessory, by stretching it as he walked or lifting it to his chin to give it a small lick. As the kitten pranced behind the crowd, he made note of which creatures he thought were beautiful and, equally, handsome; and which ones he simply adored. Lilymoth nodded here and there, noting pretty gems or dull ones.

Pushing through several legs, he kept low to the ground to observe the shimmering alabaster creatures at the head. What stunning grace! optimum allure! His multi-colored eyes glittered with excitement to have discovered such prime examples of majesty. He carefully followed her charming voice and directions, listening to the chime in her voice, his eyes peeking at each and every thing she pointed out to them. His attention was directed to the medic-on-hand, Oliver; and what a stark difference this creature was to the frosted icons near the rocks. Rich onyx fluff and feathers captivated Lilymoth until the voice of the first stunning creature called his attention back.

Her hair glistened like the shards of his chrysalis—but then there was a commotion, a communal lurch toward the strange objects in front of them. His head reared back and tucked into his neck, dodging feet and debris as he hissed toward nobody in particular. Ugh! Beasts!

...but he would participate, then; he noticed the tiny figure of the shadow who had greeted him at his chrysalis, and so he shook out his coat and exhaled sharply. Huh! His nose pointed curtly toward the ceiling and he pranced forward, taking no immediate urgency, and gently approached the first hurdle.

Hmm, he had not done something like this before, but he observed most of the others succeeding in leaping over or through these strange, fat bars. So he faced his, pulled himself into the ground, wiggled his back feet to adjust his position and—

Lilymoth delicately attempted to place himself through a gap near the bottom, tucking his paws into his chest and springing forth with his hind legs, but! What a foul thing, this... thing was! It reached up and grabbed at his back feet—or so he imagined—and tripped him so that he would land on his chin on the other side. How dare! Rude! He hissed a tiny kitten hiss and turned to swat at the wooden board with his needle-like kitten claws. Hmph! He turned his nose up and decided to try a different one, scarcely paying attention to the others at this point. Moving to a different hurdle, he'd try again here.

The lion sat dutifully atop the rock formation, having carefully plantcharmed himself up to the precipice. Moonlit eyes traced the movements of each Gembound below, keeping an eye on the winged ones present. As Ayr went down, trotting alongside the --- oh, a Bloodberry, Mercurius continued to watch carefully.

As the unicorn returned, the lion conjured up a bit of magicka, hopefully forming some fairly sturdy steps out of the plants surrounding their rock formation: a helpful set of stairs for her to climb up, lest she roll an ankle or something. "I hope that no trouble comes," he rumbled softly, concerned, "so far, there seem to have been no... negatively-impacted competitors."

ELI
I CAN GO THE DISTANCE

And they were off!

Eli must have had his head in the dirt because everyone left without him. "Aw shit! He hissed, lunging forward to race after them all the while cursing his clouded mind. He had been lost in thought, but couldn't help it! The Spire was just so damn pretty! Eli coughed at the dust thrown in his face. Better late than never!

Before he knew it, the first hurdle (a make-shift fence made out of wood and- what was that? Spiderweb?) was coming up fast.

Perhaps too fast...

Eli's paws slipped and he slammed his face into the wood with a loud thump! Dazed, the hybrid crumpled to the ground, clutching his brow with a paw. "Fuck." He breathed. His brain felt like mush.

As Kera cleared the last hurdle, her hind paws knocking the old wood uncomfortably, she went into a dead sprint towards the Spire-- quickly forgetting that she'd have to circle around it, and started yanking herself along to turn while keeping up.

She managed this much at least, and took a moment to enjoy the feeling of her paws thumping against the solid cave floor as she sped along with the main throng of the crowd, ears pricked against the ever-crackling tower as she did her laps and then went careening for the river's shore.

It was safe to say Jay was surprised she'd made it this far-- she cleared her last hurdle and then went kitten-galloping towards the Spire. She'd seen some of her friends-- Pale, and Adder, and Lily --but she decided not to speak with them yet. She had a race to win.

And Jay refused to lose.

Perhaps raw determination was keeping Jay up with the others so far, as the kitten had to weave through the legs of much older, much taller gembounds to keep herself up with the crowd, and also without getting trampled by a nearby paw or hoof.

It was quite clear that the unicorn didn't exercise all that often, as she was still a little out of breath by the time she reached the rock formation, her pale chest heaving and tail lashing weakly. "As do I," she responded quietly, dipping her head in gratitude as the sprawling plants came.

She ascended carefully up the steps and settled herself down onto her belly atop the formation of rocks, staring out to the herd of jumping-and-sprinting gembound. "She claims," Ayr began, taking a needlessly long breath as she indicated with a flick of her tail towards Jayberry. "That she is not here to cause trouble, and forgive me for saying but I do not quite believe it."

The unicorn tossed her head quietly, brow forming a rare crinkle. "It is the wolf's choice if she wishes to say but I don't have any intention of stopping others who want her to, ahhh, account for what she's done," the ethereal creature added, quietly, before moving on and pointing out-- "it looks like most of them are at the Spire."

VINNIE THE VOICE

Oh. Boy.

His favorite time of the year was back around. The seagull was circling around the top of the obstacle course, high enough to be well out of the way. At times he fluttered to land on rocks to watch the contestants darting past.

All the while he began a steady stream of narration--and attempted to enhance his already-considerable volume with magic, to an impressively loud level.

"AAAAAAAAND THEY'RE OFF! Looks like the white wolf's goin' in hot--ahh there's some missin' clearance there, foot hit the hurdle but that's not a problem! Don't let it slow ya down!" ...Vinnie couldn't even see Squick; so despite the little worm gaining an impressive lead, he didn't comment at all. It wasn't a snub, just--ignorance of the parasite's presence. Hell, he barely spotted the tiny black kitten against the dark rock below. "And look at that little black--err--black--furball! Right through the holes, neat as a sparrow! Followed close-on by this cat-deer-fella! Caves, ain't he GREEN!? Cat or deer, cat or deer--well he jumps like a deer!"

Deep breath.

"And this wingy-deer fella, lookathimgoooo! Ooh, he almost got his wings out there, closed at the last second--good thought, guy--and here comes another little furball! Is it a kitten?! I think it is--oof! Don't let that fall get to ya, kid, I've seen bigger comebacks! Pick yourself up and RUN RUN RUN!" This loud encouragement rang through the room and he circled back again, calling out further.

"AND ANOTHER ONE! That goes for you too, little guy! Don't give up--you can do it! AIM FOR THE GAPS! And that black wolf's on the go! Look at that speed--oh, what's this? Is that one of the judges on the field? I didn't see any mistakes by the wolf but ey, I'm no judge! And here comes a dog! Look at him--oh, ow--ahh--... We got ourselves a REAL ENTHUSIASTIC competitor here, folks! Let's get a cheer for him! And here's ANOTHER CAT, off it goes, bounce bounce--great job--MONGO buddy, that you!? Great work, pal, but maybe you should ditch that skull! --little heavy," he added, not entirely sure why the fossa had upgraded to a bigger, heavier skull.

"And here we got--ANOTHER CAT! Man what is WITH all these cats today?! You guys are doin' great! UP AND OVER goes the--fish-... lady! -Thing! She's uhh--what even is that--IMPRESSIVE! IT'S IMPRESSIVE! AND NOW WE GOT THIS MONKEY-FELLOW? What's he saying?! Who knows! I don't! Jump, guy, jump!" For Pollux he gave a loud and crowing cheer. "Eyy, you go there, uhh, whatever you are! Nice wings, good jump! And--holy SHIT another cat?! --uhh, sorry, I mean--GO AGAIN little guy, jump or uhh--yeah! Another hole, you can do it! Get in there! And, uhh--you okay, uhh, hybrid-fella? You hit your noggin kinda hard there--can we get someone to check on that one--"

The gull continued circling overhead, his loud and raucous commentary unceasing.
________________

Against all the odds, Squick had somehow found its way over the hurdles. Perhaps it had been kicked, perhaps found its way through a mightily impressive breeze; who knew? But either way, it lumbered now on the path towards the spire, letting small gasps of air out as it ran, full steam ahead at a pace which, whilst impressive for a worm, was definitely not gonna sweep away the competition without some serious help.

Still, it kept going, hopes high and eyes wide with excitement.

Soon, though, it ran out of steam, and had to stop to catch its breath even though it wasn't even close to finishing its lap around the Spire.

---

When I think.

Before long, the cat had cleared the hurdles, leaping from the ground to the top of each hurdle, and then back down again. And then she was off, barreling along the ground.

Next was two laps along the Spire, and that would be fairly easy so long as she didn't get run over. Which... honestly would be pretty easy, and so she kicked it into high gear, stretching out along the ground and digging in her claws as she tore around the Spire as fast as she could, almost peeling off from it after the first lap before remembering that she had to do a second, digging in her claws and continuing onto the second lap,

The dog wasn't really sure what was happening - he was just glad to be here!

Where was he supposed to go now? Well, he continued to run, until he saw the cat with its feathery tail pluming ahead in front of him. Oh, just follow her then! Okay! He barked excitedly, dull claws scrabbling on dirt and stone as he struggled to speed up and catch up to the cat.

A doggy grin spread his face, tongue lolling out, tail wagging as his eyes crinkled. Oh, oh this was great! He woofed loudly, the cat kicking it up just a bit (oh shit dog! some part of her instincts screamed), tilting to circle the Spire.

The bird's loud voice caught his attention, and he woofed loudly "HELLO LOUD BIRD!" only to yelp as he lost his attention and went rolling down an incline. Sitting up, he shook his head, and trotted back up the incline, barking excitedly as he began to run again.