Elspet had rolled around on the ground uselessly for a few moments (magickally-induced fire seemed to have a damn stubborn quality to it) before her beloved came with a welcoming shower of water. Her face had physically melted into a relaxed state, as had her tensed up posture. There was smoke and steam rising from her charred hair, yes, but at least she hadn't burnt into a very crispy gorilla. "Thanks, medic," she joked quietly, rising up to her rear and fixing electric-yellow eyes on the competition.

"You ain't so bad at your job, are you," the gorilla snickered, leaning to place a delicate kiss on Ayr's cheek, if so allowed.

So, she sat and watched the competition. A huff had escaped her upon realizing that she hadn't placed, but she ignored it pretty easily. Elspet had come to have fun, and fun she had (while not burning up.) Sighing and rolling onto her knuckles, the trollish Gembound shook herself. Her grand horns glimmered in the air as she turned to face the unicorn.

"How's about we go find some tasty fruit or berries while you're on break, love?"

;exit

Oliver crept in hesitantly. He was very, very reluctant to even approach Huckleberry. The hybrid was an enemy--someone who'd attacked him and all those he cared for.

The hybrid came up with obvious fear, his feathers ruffled and his hackles raised. He practically crawled over the floor, shivering, oblivious to all else as he extended one clawed forelimb toward the other hybrid. Huckleberry had, in Oliver's experience, been dangerously unpredictable. One moment exceptionally violent, the next screaming or sobbing, and chaotic in his magic--to say the least. Why he was even here Oliver didn't know, but it wasn't his place to judge. And it wasn't his place to choose to withhold healing--not that he would have, anyway.

The claws on his wing-paws attempted to touch Huckleberry at the shoulder, the cringing bird-dog closing his shimmering blue eyes. There was a spark of magic, and a surge--a powerful one, one that almost disbalanced Oliver and knocked him to the ground. But he channeled it nonetheless, doing his best to strengthen Huckleberry. It wouldn't mend the wounds, exactly, but it should keep him alive--he hoped.

When he was done he sat back, shivering with both trepidation and the intensity of the magic cast--waiting to see if Huckleberry would awaken. If he were burnt, Oliver would need to conjure water, or lead the hybrid to the river--but for now he had to at least ensure that he would survive.

{Table code credit to Madison, altered a bit!}

@Huckleberry

Pride had watched the other competitors with deep interest.

He'd been pleased to see Squick, but that pleasure immediately faded as he realized that the hapless parasite still had no idea on normal social interaction. Aster had taken ill, and Pride found this... displeasing, disappointing. Elspet's entry had been far more interesting, and actually caught both his eye and his mind. The fire, internal and then external, had been both spectacular and almost frightening-- he'd feared that she might be truly harmed by her display.

Some of the others seemed less fascinating, to him. The serval, for example--what exactly had he... done? That one left Pride baffled. Wilder's too, had seemed... well, he had no idea. The supernova itself had left him unable to see the rest of her performance--it was a blinding magic, and she had failed to warn them to close her eyes. That said, what little he had seen had given him new ideas with his own magics, and left him mulling over a dozen very interesting possibilities.

The crow's entire "nemean" thing had left him nonplussed. He had heard the name, but had no idea what she was shouting, or why. And Huckleberry-... Pride had watched impassively as the hybrid had essentially destroyed himself.

Again.

That hybrid was an emotional wreck, and honestly, Pride felt that it seemed to truly affect his magicka. Did self-hatred, self-pity, focus one's damaging spells on oneself? Perhaps arrogantly, he thought to himself that this, perhaps, was why his own offensive spells usually hit their mark. ...Usually.

Rift's tree had been... pretty, but strange, to him, and he'd been a little impassive about it. Had it been a single color, perhaps, but the rainbow of light had been distracting at best; a poor choice of aesthetic the haughty stag sniffed to himself, internally. Aure's had been impressive, but not beautiful. Powerful, perhaps intimidating, but nothing Pride would dwell on or envy.

Sebastian's further use of fire, after Elspet's flame and Wilder's plasma-moving, had left Pride wondering if perhaps he should delve into fire magic. He knew that it was dangerous, yes--he'd seen what had happened to Eridanus--but there were many possibilities that didn't involve setting oneself aflame.
Hmmm. He could absolutely not imagine, however, that Rift would be okay with his brother having decimated his tree. It seemed a fairly disrespectful echo of Eridanus' fires, to him.

Well, the winners were announced. He could not deny that he was disappointed not even to place--certainly, he'd thought his own spellwork spectacular, and beautiful--but he was hardly about to seem ungracious. Polite, and seemingly genuine, he offered a few words to the winners. "Congratulations--you have earned it. Fascinating performances all around; it has been an honor to watch everyone here display their skills. Excellent storm, Aure; I would hate to see it put into true action against an enemy. Devastating, I should think; and that white fire was certainly impressive, Wilder," he went on (and damn, his eyes were still recovering). "Your fire was quite impressive," he went on, to Sebastian.

Thus, polite and genteel, the stag went among them with his congratulations, before turning to go his own way.

exit Pride

Zevruu didn't remember much after what had happened. He remembered being nudged away and he obliged, paws leading him away, though he had no recollection of such. As time passed on, he began to become more aware, until suddenly next thing he knew the competition was over and the winners were announced.

He hadn't won. Of course not - not after that devastating performance.

He could still feel the lingering fear. The paranoia. It wouldn't go away, would it? Not now, not ever. If he had managed to do this - and he had - this one time, who was to say he wouldn't do it again? Or to someone else? It wasn't safe. He wasn't safe.

He'd always said to himself he should stay away from others. But something had always drawn him to the gembounds in these caves. He had never been able to stay away for long.

But maybe he should. Maybe he was right. If he stayed away from others, surely he couldn't hurt them? He'd just...hurt himself.

With that thought, he turned around and ran.

-exit Zev-

"Speech" l 'Thoughts'

Rift watched the other participants with a steady gaze. He straightened up with surprise at the sight of the white wolf stepping out before the judges and a smile spread across his face. Kera was back. It made him so happy to know that she was around again, so happy that he almost missed what happened next.

But, then again, there was no way to miss it at all. The tree he had grown for his own piece had suddenly burst into pure white flame, an image that threw him headfirst into his memories.

Pride was glaring at Blackberry. No movement showed his attack, but Rift saw it, clear as day. The ground beneath the goose erupted into flame just as her hybrid son tumbled towards her to push her out of the way. There were screams, so many screams, as enemies and friends tumbled away from the explosion. Huckleberry screamed the worst scream he had ever heard. It pierced into his ears and branded itself into his brain. It was so bright, he was so bright, as Blackberry burst towards Rift, splattering plasma on his body, he began to glow as well...

He gasped as he was tossed back into reality, finding his whole body trembling, unsteady on his feet. He wanted to look away but he was transfixed on what the kitten was doing. Not that he could see her anymore as the tree's now bright white form twisted until it was the shape of the Spire.

His jaw dropped with horror as he realized that she had killed it, utterly destroyed it for her own amusement. He even watched as she ran away, seemingly quite pleased with herself, but he immediately turned to follow her through the crowd, seething with anger.

He didn't watch the rest of the contenders, although he did give Sebastian a glance and felt a spark of pride for his brother doing so well. By the time he'd gotten to Wilder, things were already over.

He stopped in front of her, breathing heavily, his lip curled and his eyes blazing. "Hey, what the FUCK?!" he spat at her. "You could have just left the tree there!"

Wilder happily stationed herself in the crowd, watching the others perform with grace and power. She let out a whooping cheer at Aure's performance, bouncing all over the place with great excitement. She seemed to finally have thrown off the threat of a trance and was thoroughly enjoying the displays of magic. When it was all over, she tried to find where Aure had gone, but he was too far away to reach.

Her name was called for second place and she whipped around, surprise and delight spreading across her face. She had won?! Well, not won but she placed really high! She meowed happily and bounced around. "Wow, I got second place! Thank you, thank you!" She wanted to go rub her head against the judges but they were too far away. And, besides, Rift took that moment to appear beside her.

His loud, sudden voice caused Wilder to jump and shrink beneath his wrath. Her eyes widened as she gazed at him, wondering what she had done to make him so furious. "I-I'm sorry..." she squeaked, "but I-I just did magic! It was j-j-just a tree, right?"

Rift hadn't been angry like this in a long time. It was different from the murderous, violent Rift that had come up during the battle, but he was angrier then he was on a normal basis. She not only had the nerve to score herself a place but then turn around and say she'd done nothing?! Arrogance! Ignorance! He hissed low as thorns began popping up all over his body. "You. Committed. Murder. That tree was innocent and you killed it! You burned it into nothing! Look at it!" He gestured towards the pile of flame that had once been his lovely tree. "It was alive and thriving and you just...you just destroyed it!"

Why didn't anyone ever understand these things?! Why did people have to treat nature so poorly all the time? Of course, he did not at all see the problem with having a random tree right in the middle of the magicka competition arena, but could only see the needless destruction of life. The destruction of a perfectly fine, perfectly healthy tree just for the amusement of spectators.

Wilder stared at Rift with wide, terrified eyes, backing away from him with fear. She could understand his anger now. She knew who he was. He was the Guardian of Eridanus, the King of its Kingdom. Of course he would be angry that she had destroyed life so carelessly!

She whimpered, guilt beginning to weigh down on her. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "I...I didn't realize. I won't ever do that again, I promise, I promise." She shivered, wondering what it was like to burst into flames like that. She glanced at the pile of plasma she had left and wanted to be sick.

She didn't like hurting people and, according to Rift, hurting plants wasn't much different. She hadn't thought of it that way before. She had to make it up to him...somehow. She should just grow him another tree!

Trying to imitate what Rift had done, she pressed her nose against the ground and something peeked out of the earth as he magic took effect. For a moment, she was excited that she had done it, that she was growing a tree! But, instead, a small yellow object popped right out of the ground in front of them, sparkling delightfully. A most majestic banana.

How she did that she didn't know, but she pushed it towards Rift, as if this would make up for what she'd done. "Here...I'm sorry, it won't happen again, I promise. I'll grow you a tree!" Unable to really say anymore, she turned and fled, face burning and trying not to think about how angry he had been at her.

*exit

Rift stared at the cat with surprise. He'd expected her to fight against him or argue what she'd done, but she was immediately submissive, even growing him a small banana. He wondered if she'd tried to straight up grow a tree for him to make up for the one she'd killed. Of course, they'd never get the soul of the last tree back, but he appreciated the gesture.

He softened and was about to open his mouth to apologize when she shot off. He stared after her for a moment, a little bewildered, when he shrugged and leaned over. He scooped the banana into his mouse and in a few quick bites, devoured the little fruit, sending magic to his stomach so that he could properly digest it, skin and all. He turned and walked through the crowd, looking for any sign of Kera as his fur began to sparkled.

*exit

The others seemed not to care for Huckleberry's body, merely pushing it to the side so that they would have room. Only when Oliver decided to break from the medics did he get any kind of attention.

The spell brought his consciousness back, but his muscles were still tight from the shock and his head still ringing. He blinked drowsily and looked up at his savior, seizing up the instant he saw the hybrid. Shiny was by his head, pressed against his gem and didn't comment, although he caught a wave of uneasiness from her.

What was he supposed to do or say? He'd been part of the family that had tried to kill Oliver not long ago. They were enemies...or, at least, they used to be. Not anymore, but still, Huckleberry felt like it couldn't be coincidence that Oliver was the medic that was helping him.

"Th-thanks..." he gasped as he began struggling to get into a sitting position. His whole body hurt, sore from the shock, and he cringed as he settled himself. He wasn't able to stand just yet. He didn't meet the wolf-crow's eyes but still, he had to say something. "Um, I'm sorry. For, uh, the Eridanus thing. I'm sorry we tried to kill you." It was blunt but actually quite sincere and Shiny curiously stepped forward, her bushy tail twitching as she sniffed one of Oliver's feet.

@Oliver