The dark leaped out, swallowing up a bird and the massive creature, and then it was cold, so cold he couldn't breathe, clutched at his skin, tore at his fur and shattered his bones, until suddenly something blunt grabbed at his fur and he was warm again, twisting to see the horse and one of the strange hybrids there, gasping "Thank you," wishing he knew their names to thank them properly, but instead bounded to duck into the crowd, shuddering and ducking his head to hold the gull-skull carved bauble in his teeth, trying to find the courage it had given him before.

The gembound around her were rushing back into the dark. Warrior, the pale horse, called out that two were missing, the black dog-like creature and the white wolf. The tiny bird had raced back to help, to her surprise as well. She gave the group ahead a glance. Some looked back, more pressed forward, following the wisp. She stood, rigid and fearful, as she considered her options. She slithered into the dark to help. She wouldn't be able to live with herself, having the knowledge she could've and didn't. Usingizi had her doubts that something so small would be of much help. Ifrit had raced off after the tiny bird, and the massive gembound's scent was still fresh. With a flick of the tongue, and an intake of scent, she slithered after the pair.

The dark consumed everything, including scent it seemed. She nearly lost the scent, scattered to the wind, or buried perhaps. But there was still a thread of scent, and she followed that to the grouping. She could only tell they were there by the pale glow of their baubled items. She pressed her gemstone. The dark was pressing in all around her. She scented the air. No blood. Did the creatures in the dark even attack physically? She sighed.

"I can track our scents back to the group." She said, scenting the air for the gembound further ahead.


USINGIZI is attempting to rescue Fireheart ((realized theres three going after fireheart i thought it was tied WHOOPS))

Ru frowned as they watched gembound willingly race into the darkness. Ru knew little about what happened to gembound who entered the dark, but had their doubts they would come back. If it was foolish to enter the dark, it was foolish to believe they would return. If they did, it would be a pleasant surprise. But...in case they did.

Ru cast pickup. But they were not the target--the small gusts of wind trailed behind them. Skirting the sand, and leaving scrapes and swirls. Ru did not know if the beasts within the darkness would swallow that, or the sand itself would shift and cover the markings, but it was a lifeline those behind could follow.

"Lets not risk more." Ru said, with a shake of the head. The air ahead smelled rotten and the sand was wet beneath their hooves. It was familiar in a way that Ru hated. But, at least it was familiar. "Watch your step, moving forward. The mud here is dangerous."




Quartz is pressing on

Her hair stood on end when the others were swallowed up by the darkness. She hadn't realized before that there was danger in it, but now the wolf and the shadowy thing -- what were their names? Fireheart and Black? -- were gone now and she felt her stomach roll. What if that had been--

Sora had been more than prepared to dash after Pumpkin when Morganite and Kini-yolotl firmly told the group to stay put. While the command was at odds with her nature, this was certainly a matter of life and death, and she was not one of the leaders of their little group. She was a protector of it. Kini and Morganite needed to be obeyed, because lives were on the line. But that didn't stop her from getting snarly. "PUMPKIN! IFRIT! ORENSTEIN!" she thundered, voice surprisingly loud for such a small creature. "How irresponsible can the three of you possibly be? Get back here RIGHT NOW." Honestly, she didn't care one bit that anyone outside their group had been swallowed by the fog.

Some gembound were going to die. Her family didn't need to be among them, and certainly not throwing themselves blatantly into that danger of the darkness. Explicitly -- not everyone was going to get out of here alive. That was literally the intention of this whole mess. Needless to say, Sora was not looking forward to Pumpkin and, apparently, Ifrit continuing to be reckless.

She glowered at the little monkey behind her who was reporting on the shadowy beasts. Thankfully, nobody was listening to him. She glared and kicked out at him with her back leg. Not really intending to actually hurt him, but certainly, if he failed to skitter away she might hit him. "Shut up, you," Sora snapped. "Nobody cares what it looks like. If we're lucky, we'll never have to see it."


SORA is pressing on.


@puck mostly but also the rest of the hydra kids

TRIAL OF HYDRA - DARKNESS

ROUND 4 - THE FIRST LIGHT

The group split in two. And the light--its intensity and its breadth--also split in two. There was chaos, in the darkness: as Gembound struggled to rescue one another, dashing in and out of the dim pools of light, the sounds of running and the agonized cries of Kini-yolotl and Anemoi, as they cried out for Pumpkin, ringing too loudly in the dark.

Those who had stayed behind would find themselves facing bitter cold as they dipped into the shadows, scratched by unseen claws of ice, bloodied by seemingly nothing. There was no sound bar the Gembound. Nothing to sense, for Owlface's magical questing, bar the oppressive sense of some dark magic pressing in all around. Nothing to fight back against. Black and Fireheart would be wounded the worst--not severe enough to be life-threatening, but bad enough to cause major, lasting scar tissue if they survived the unnatural night, enough to leave blood streaking freely in rivulets over their fur. Their rescuers--Pumpkin and Ifrit, Elyon and Orenstein, Warrior and Usingizi, would all find themselves grabbed, scratched, by nothing--and then the grip and lashing was gone, as they tumbled one by one back into the second pool of light. Ahead, the rest of the Gembound, and the first Wisp, were bobbing slowly over the treacherous marsh.

Anemoi's barrier would never have reached another; it was meant to be maintained, and simply puffed away, a wasted breath into the night. And Orenstein, striking out at the darkness: would it be more frightening to say that his magic lashed out and found something, hiding out there, invisible in the cold-? Or was the truth more terrifying: that his magic found nothing, impotently falling away, the darkness ripping at his allies seemingly without form?

Both groups could draw back together, this round, in their push ahead beneath the large wisp. As they did so, the light would bloom outward, once again doubling in size and in brightness. But along the path ahead lay several patches of sucking quicksand, invisible twists of toxic air, and deceptively deep pools hidden by a silty surface. The shadows, too, still moved unnaturally, threatening to swallow any who drew too far from the light. And yet, for now, there was silence: no further attack, the violence halting as abruptly as it had started, as if the predator in the dark had gone back to simply stalking them.

A tall, twisted swathe of dead tree limbs--arranged to look something like a scarecrow--was suddenly exposed up ahead by the moving wisp-light. It smelled of pitch. The Gembound had found the first Torch. For now, the wisp would hover here... as if waiting.

_______________

Gembound must choose whether to protect one other Gembound, to protect the entire group, or to take some other action like trying to light the torch, or investigating the vicinity. Players must CLARIFY after their post, AFTER their table, which of the following they are rolling for. Anyone rolling a fail must choose a hazard listed above--quicksand, shadow, deep water or toxic gas--and write their character becoming entrapped by this near the torch. More than one Gembound may aid in lighting the torch.

Code:

<b>NAME is rolling to light the torch, investigate, etc.</b>

(Low risk)

Code:

<b>NAME is rolling to protect OTHER NAME(S).</b>

(Higher risk)

Code:

<b>NAME is rolling to protect the entire group.</b>

(Highest risk)

A Gembound's roll must reflect their in-character actions.

@Pumpkin @Owlface @Orenstein @Rainstorm @Kini-yolotl @Simon @Styx (Mayngo, Hera) @Morganite @Charles @Puck (Usingizi, Quartz) @Nassir (Howl, Elyon) @Warrior (Black, Fireheart) @Sora @Ifrit @Anemoi

Pumpkin shivered violently as the cold gripped him, twittering out as he was violently grabbed and scratched. not enough to cause lasting harm, but it stung, worse as the cold nipped at him. as he was thrown back into the light he looked around for his family, nervously, sticking with what he knew to do, stay with the light, try and help to the best he can.

pumpkin caught up the belt he could, staying close to the group

Pumpkin is rolling to stay with the group

Morganite cried out as more of their family left to try and save the two who had been swallowed by the darkness, staring into the black void, desperately hoping that they returned. When they did, they immediately went to scold, anger and upset in their green gaze.

"I told you all to stay put!" they said, glancing to each of the Gembound who had gone off, "Please, don't go off again. Not... not unless you're certain of return."

They exhaled and took a moment to gather themselves before moving forward, and carefully scoured the area, sticking one paw forward to test the ground warily before continuing forward, sticking out another paw to test out that section, trying to figure out where was safe to stand. A few areas were iffy, so they stayed away, digging their claws into the sand to mark Xs where it was safe.

"Stand where I've marked," Morganite called out, "I've deemed them safe to walk on, there are quicksand pits all over, be careful."

MORGANITE is rolling to light the investigate quicksand pits. (To deem where they are for others to know.)

Simon swore his heart had never pounded as hard as it did when Orenstein leaped into the darkness towards their companions. This was-- this was a nightmare! He shivered with anxiety as his head bobbed to and fro, trying to make out their fading lights in the void. After several tense moments, though, Pumpkin, Orenstein, and Ifrit came flying back into the light with the others. The viper sighed in relief. He didn't say anything, but shot them all a worried glance. He was disappointed in how rash they were, but at least they were all alive.

Simon looked back to where the wisp had suddenly stopped. Just ahead was a strange amalgamation of dead branches fashioned into an odd form. His tongue slipped out to taste the air, and his face wrinkled in disgust. It smelled bad. He wasn't really sure what kind of smell it was, but there was an odd air coming from both the pyre and, scarcely, from someplace in the vicinity. That wasn't a good sign. The boy slithered up from his position around Morganite's neck and curled around her horns; acting guard, perhaps, orange eyes roving for anything that could lay harm on them.

But alas, he leaned forward too far. Just as Morganite was marking out the quicksand Simon slipped, sliding off of the hybrid's side and landing in the mire with a hiss. The good thing? He landed on his back, meaning he could still breathe, for now. The bad thing? A mixture of sand and water was flooding his lidless eyes. The snake thrashed blindly in an attempt to escape, causing himself to sink further into the goop. He hissed again, no words forming in his panicked mind, just an instinctive, frantic cry for help. This was not a good day.

SIMON is rolling to protect MORGANITE. oop he's sinking now

A nothingness. Just complete and utter nothingness responded to his probing magic. The first thing he thought was that's not very nice and the second thing? Oh shit. Best not to dwell on that, yeah... He had no idea what was out there, what was stealing his stranger-friends and surrounding them in darkness and cold but whatever it was it didn't seem to have any gemstone, nor a remnant of life and magic. That was just wrong. Well, actually, he couldn't really judge them because then he'd be in the wrong. Y'know, he doesn't even know who they are, maybe they're just trying to make new friends. "There's nothing out there, like Nothing kind of nothing, it's something but it's nothing, you get me?" A scared little chuckle was released to soothe his beating heart.

Honestly, perhaps not the smartest thought Orenstein has had, but these were hard times! He knew for sure that they were not trying to make friends, that the fact his magic could find nothing out there, nothing at all, not even something that just wasn't using magic, meant bad things for all of them. He also knew that they were all in trouble if they didn't get back with the rest of the group, it was dark and cold (so very, very cold) and he felt alone even though he knew that those going after the fire eyed guy were there somewhere.

You see, he knew all of this, and yet, he still told him self that everything was going to be fine gash darn it. Everything was going to be fine until things touched him! Nope, that was it, just nope. He could deal with touching, give him a hug any day, but do not grab him like that and try and hurt him when he has no idea where you are or who you are. "We can catch up with the others, guys, it's all alright!" He still tried to be upbeat for them, trying to shrug off the claws that tore pain down his sides and gripped the baubled cloak tighter around himself like a safety blanket.

The darkness was oppressive, suffocating, an icy hand across his body so it took very little of his intelligence to decide to join up with the rest of the group, hoping that all the others who had fallen behind would decide to do the same thing.

In the light, under the wisp, stood a tree. A beautiful tree. Though a little (a lot) dead, it was still a tree. One his monkey mind could not ignore. "Guys, I see a tree. This is not a joke. I. See. A. Tree. It's a bit dead and weirdly shaped but that's alright, I will love it anyway." That was that. Ignoring the fact that he was bleeding, that pain ran along his sides or that just moments ago that darkness held them, he ran. Oh god did he run. Straight up to the gnarled, twisted, tree torch and tried to climb in. That's what a monkey does is it not. His fingers gripped the dead limbs of the torch and, in a moment of pure stupidity which he is not supposed to be known for, he would attempt to bite a limb off. Just shove the thing into his mouth. He might give the excuse that you could possibly find some insects in dead trees just making their home when in reality he was just so damned pleased to see something resembling a tree here, that was more just wood, not really a tree, that glee overcame every single logical thought. It would have to with the stench of fuel clinging to his nose and he swore he could feel it in his cuts too. It didn't matter. Wood. Beautiful wood.

Wait, weren't they told something about a torch? Ah well, later.

That was a bad thought, a very bad thought, he should not have let that enter his head because as soon as he did his mouth tasted vile. His nose stung. His eyes watered. Oren tried to gasp for breath, opened his mouth wide and breathed in deep and yet he could feel his lungs choking on something, the odour of the tree clinging to his tongue and something else, something more toxic, lined his throat until he could not stop coughing. Something evil this way comes. "Bad...air," a chocking sound from his throat, as if he was trying to laugh off the warning. Yet, his hand still gripped at the torch as if it was the only thing keeping him standing.


Failure ----> toxic gas
ORENSTEIN is rolling to investigate the torch/tree thing

Sora grunted softly as they finally pulled through into the swamp, smelling the thick smell of pitch and darkness all around her as her siblings returned lightly scratched. "You three need to think about yourselves for once," she huffed. "Gems are going to die today. That is literally the entire point. Rushing out to save the lost and forgotten just means that we are more likely to die." A shadow settled over her face and she looked towards the Masked Merchant. "We should only be thinking about our own group. We don't need to lose ourselves in empathy when we were created to be killed."

Finished with her little lecture and not really caring if anyone else heard her -- anyone who thought this trial was a place for empathy and kindness was deluding themselves -- Sora took a look around. Morganite was already investigating the quicksand, and Sora took it upon herself to check the water. She was one of the few members of their little herd who could swim, and she certainly had no means to light the torch, considering she was a short pig of the water element. Instead, she was going to try and figure out if the water was safe to swim in, and furthermore, if there were any outside indications of the depth.

However, it seemed as though the edge of the swamp she'd approached was less stable than she'd thought, because Sora was tumbling into the water. "Oh, shit!" she squealed. "Okay, okay -- I'm fine, this is fine, I can swim-- I swear to god, Kini, if you try to drag me out I will shatter you. Okay. Okay. Deep breath, definitely not a death swamp, nope, not at all. Definitely not a death swamp with potentially lethal creatures lurking in its depths, right? No? No way. No way. Noooooo way." She grunted and started making a valiant attempt to swim back to the banks, keeping her head as high as possible so as to avoid getting any of the water in her nose or mouth. For all she knew, it could have very well been toxic. She growled something under her breath about kicking the Masked Merchant in the gem -- not that she was even sure the creature had a gem -- but otherwise continued her escape attempt.

SORA is rolling to investigate the water.