Imp was more than a little grateful for the sudden spate of water that came spattering down. He eyed the one Gembound that kept muttering "storm," and grunted his agreement.

"Sounds good. Storm away." This encouragement offered, he kept on slogging forward.

The salt felt almost as if it were biting at him, as it gradually grew a little damp--squishy, like slushy snow, and very unpleasant to the touch. The air felt acrid.

Imp shook himself, a little, then glanced around. Shango and he were both glittering, so they'd both obviously had bananas. He eyed the dragon up above, and concentrated, for a moment. He'd intended to chuck a banana directly at her face--as a gift, obviously--but his magic didn't come, and Imp just sort of shrugged and continued onward.

They were still moving; they were still alive. He still really wasn't sure why he'd decided to do this--but boy would he have something to report back to his Dad!

Lapis Ninety-five

Oh, you fool, there are rules, I am coming for you
Darkness brings evil things, oh, the reckoning begins

Lazuli hissed with rage as the small creature ahead of her began to kick up the salt, making a point of throwing it directly at her, stinging her legs and catching in her feathers. She transferred the vulture’s feather to one of her foreclaws to prevent the salt catching in it. It was a fine trophy, and it wouldn’t do to hand it in stained with salt.

Lazuli wouldn’t have cared if the other gembound had simply gone ahead... but she was stunned by the sheer indolence of the, to her, tiny creature. The great bird wasn’t going to have any of that; so in punishment, Lazuli picked up the pace, breaking into a dash through the raining shards with her neck snapping out in an effort to give her saboteur a warning nip, stopping their salt rain and hopefully putting them safely back in their place.

It wasn’t a hard bite, but it might be enough to cause some damage provided she hit them. And, at the very least, it would slow them down.

Lazuli defends Desert Rose’s Saboutage.

---

"Speech."
"Thoughts."

(Permission has been obtained from Hawkweed regarding success of prior roll)

Lapis Ninety-five

Oh, you fool, there are rules, I am coming for you
Darkness brings evil things, oh, the reckoning begins

The great bird felt her beak catch onto Desert Rode’s tail as it began to fly away, and her feathers prickled with satisfaction. She could have stopped there, letting him go with a small nip, but she realized then that it would not be enough. No, she had to ensure that the small creature did not try to ruin her trial again. Lazuli was a queen; she was above all this rabble. She looked out for herself alone, and she was fine with others doing the same.

She did not usually stoop to their level.

But this was one exception. The great bird tightened her hold and brought her head towards the ground, aiming to drag the smaller creature with her and throw him back onto the salty earth.

---

"Speech."
"Thoughts."

DESERT ROSE THIRTY-FIVE
broken bones, set at home

A guttural, crocodilian hiss rose in Thirty-Five's throat as he felt the bird's pointed beak dig into the meat of his tail, his pupils constraining to paper-thin pinpricks. "Get off!" He growled, adrenaline coursing through his body as he shook to drop her back to the ground. He knew this risk could happen- he should have never even tried to glide down. Why couldn't she have just taken the hint?

It wasn't long until he felt her beak scrape between his scales, an angry red line of blood rising between them as she fell back to the salts below. They both tried to hinder each other. They both ended up back right where they were.

Thirty-Five's head moved to look back down, hard flaps bringing him back into the air. Damn. His teeth clenched the feather between them as he spotted the Lapis getting back on her feet. Well, nothing lost, nothing gained, except for a horrendous pain in his tail. That's fine. He didn't need anything else to worry about. Totally not. Just have to block out the pain, that's all, even if that was easier said than done.

Desert Rose Thirty-Five successfully fends off Lapis's sabotage.

At long last--through the shimmering heat, through the dust and over the last stretch of white salt-sand--Tunnel P was visible.

The black-hooded figure stood waiting in its mouth, still, silent. The final, short run over a last sea of sand lay ahead.

Behind the group, Vargas yet lurked, within sight. And the raincloud still offered a few drizzles of cool relief around those near Shango.

_________________

Gembound now face a choice. This is the final stretch of sand. They may either simply aim for the finish, OR attempt to sabotage another near them. Those who are sabotaged may both attempt to sabotage another OR run for the finish, AND defend themselves, this round. Those who are successfully sabogated will lose ONE placement. Those who simply run for it will not gain or lose placements; instead, their roll will determine where they place within their placement. In other words, the roll # is simply a tiebreaker per placement. This will not matter much, bar for 1st, 2nd and 3rd places. Gembound can, if they wish, remain behind their group to attempt a sabotage on someone behind them, though they will themselves then finish (at best) in their target's rank.

Gembound will not die in this stretch, unless a sabotage winds up fatal (up to player choice).

Rolling a critical fail will inflict a severe injury and cause the character to fall farther behind. Please remember any potential exhaustion, or current injuries, that your character is suffering when making your post.

Click to view current placement rankings.

1. Garnet Five-Seven-Nine
2. {empty space}
3. {empty space}
4. {empty space}
5. Lapis Ninety-Five, Desert Rose Thirty-Five
6. Yoosung, Labradorite Five-Four-Six
7. Reseda
8. {empty space}
9. Opal Three-Seven-Six
10. Amazon, Quartz Eight-Six-Zero, Asimona, Quartz Five-Two-Four, Styx, Imp, Shango
11. {empty space}
12. Agate Two-Three-Six, Mayngo

@Yoosung @Amazon @Shango @Quartz Eight-Six-Zero @Labradorite Five-Four-Six @Agate Two-Three-Six @Desert Rose Thirty-Five @Garnet Five-Seven-Nine @Lapis Ninety-Five @Quartz Five-Two-Four

The figure, eventually, stopped barely appearing over the horizon, steadily growing larger along with the backdrop of Tunnel P. Garnet Five-Seven-Nine's eyes lit up hopefully, despite its exhaustion. After that hour-long crawl through the barren wastes of nothing but salt, it had managed to stay true in its directions. With a slight adjustment in heading, bleary-eyed from the heat and half-numb in the feet, the Champion picked up the pace.

It hopped toward the Merchant, trophy in beak and certain of victory. The Overseer and Masters (if it had truly glimpsed them) would surely be happy about this success, even if it wasn't the most suited to a career as a soldier. These trials and a lack of identity had left Garnet Five-Seven-Nine a little reliant on validation. Nothing else was enough to encourage it to suffer these bleak hours.

In the midst of its eagerness to be done, keen ears failed to pick up on a scorpion emerging from one of the shelves of cracked earth. Chitinous segments clattering against one another, the bastard's stinger snapped out, striking the creature squarely in the thigh. Garnet Five-Seven-Nine shrieked, a sharp sound compared to its stoic silence. It kicked out against the sharp pain, dislodging the venomous point roughly and sending up a spray of salt in its wake. Barely sparing a moment to inspect its rapidly numbing and stiffening leg or see what damage it had done to the scorpion, the Champion pressed onward.

It was so close.

Garnet Five-Seven-Nine is really gunning for the tunnel because it can't do anything else and it's Free Magicka.

Lapis Ninety-five

Oh, you fool, there are rules, I am coming for you
Darkness brings evil things, oh, the reckoning begins

The pesky desert rose wriggled free, and although she snapped once, Lazuli didn't try to catch it again as she let it go. All was well; he should know his place by now. And if he didn't, well... Lazuli would be happy to teach him another lesson until the message sank in.

As she saw the tunnel ahead of her, Lazuli's attention turned from the pathetic creature who had tried to hold her back. And so, without a word of apology or reprimand, the great bird broke into a sprint, gunning for the tunnel ahead of her. She had survived, albeit with an ache in her ribs.

And she wasn't going to stop now.

Lazuli ignores Desert Rose and sprints for the finish

---

"Speech."
"Thoughts."

DESERT ROSE THIRTY-FIVE
how quickly the hawk becomes a dove
when faced with the barrel of a gun

Thirty-Five's heart hammered in his ears as he panted around the feather in his mouth. He was so close now. That "champion" was lucky to not have dragged him down. He could make this. Flexing his straining muscles, Thirty-Five surged forward, lurching with each wingbeat . He had to focus. This pain would be over soon, but it made him want to just drop down and return to his chrysalis.

Maybe that's what'll happen when he's done here. The dragon's head filled with unbearable noise as he flew through rings of utter pain, teeth clenched on his trophy. He wasn't going to die now.

The cave mouth was in reach. He could see it. That bird turtle had already made it. He just had a few more reaches to go. He just had to push himself to make it, despite the fact he was running on empty.

Desert Rose Thirty-Five will place behind Garnet and before Lapis.

Ahead, Amazon could see him. The robed figure in the distance, standing at the mouth of the tunnel. Her heart began to race when she realized that it was over. She'd survived. They had promised a reward...perhaps hers would be time. It was so close and she couldn't wait. She wasn't going to wait!

She looked back at the yeti, eyes glowing, before turning forward to sprint the rest of the way. Luster, Livius, I'm coming home!

Asimona could see the end now. The matriarch's head was so heavy in her mouth and her teeth felt sore for carrying it all this way. Perhaps she should have been smarter and left it there and kept the feather that she's put in her horns. Although a quick inspection with her claws showed that the feather was gone, perhaps fallen out during the flood. Oh well, she had the head, at least, to show for it.

She wondered if she had the strength to make it the rest of the way. She was utterly exhausted and her tail dragged behind her. She glanced back at Ru to make sure she was still there, before looking forward again. She realized that everyone in front of them was beginning to sprint. Was something happening? She looked up to see if the vultures were diving, but they were still high in the sky. A glance on the ground showed none of the rippling motions of the sandworms. Everything was fine.

Another glance, and she realized where they were running to - the exit to Hydra, where a black sillouette waited for them. The final stretch!

She looked back at Ru again and jerked her head forward before she broke into a run - not too fast that she got far ahead of Ru, in case there were still some tricks to play out, but they were almost done!

"Can you hear their voice?"
"Find the one who'll guide you."
To the limits of your choice.

tags:
notes: