Several of them were testing the ground before setting foot on it. Black, for one, was observing the shadows' edge, watching it closely for movement; but he was aware, past the whispers, of the actions of the other would-be guardians.

When Mangyo, putting himself at risk for the rest, tumbled in, Black--still astride the white horse--lurched into surprisingly swift movement. Like a bolt he was at the edge, reaching in his halberd for the fossa, offering it for him to climb onto.

For an instant, Black felt a nonexistent hand grip his shoulder.

And then, in vengeful violence, shadows twisted up from the quicksand and jerked the dog-beast in.

He tumbled without a sound, and his last moments before submerging were spent gripping Mayngo by the scruff of his neck, turning--silent, soundless--and hurling him for solid ground. He was Guardian; he always had been. He had come to protect. He had been told that he would perish, here; he had known, though he fought it still, clawed hands driving the halberd for the sandy bank and failing to do much but slide loosely through. The panic of drowning--as water and sand began to seep into jaws and nostrils--struck him, and he let go the weapon, clawing at the edges instead.

The shadows drew him down, however, far beneath the surface; a long and agonizing fight and in the last instant before his vision faded out, he had the strangest thought.

I am coming home.

TRIAL OF HYDRA - DARKNESS

ROUND 5 - THE CROSSING

In the silence that followed the sinking and abrupt vanishing of Nassir and Black, the rest were able to pull themselves free--though not unscathed. But they had little time to search for the sinking pair--now long out of sight; and any attempt to search the pools in which they had vanished would find... nothing, as if they had never been. Instead, the wisp-light that they had been following began to once again move on through the Dead Marsh. Yet, as it did so, it seemed to split in half: as though it left half its light behind, with the newly-lit, flaming torch. Though Fireheart's flames had ignited it, it was almost as if Hydra had its "limit" of light: and now the pool the Gembound were to follow was half as large, and twice as dim...

It would be difficult to crowd into its breadth, even with two of them now missing--and worse than that, all the baubles and magical lights seemed to do little to add to it, now. Splitting apart might dim the existing wisp-light even more... but at the very least, it was moving steadily toward its next destination.

___________

The wisp is once again in motion. Gembound may take any action they see fit, but they must roll to do so. Failures will find themselves struggling to remain within the pool of light. If a Gembound chooses to risk itself to protect one or multiple other Gembound, as in prior rounds, this should be noted beneath their post.

pumpkin felt ashamed. kini's words stung like fire and part of his told him she was right. he's weak. he shouldn't play the hero because in the end, what can he do?

he simply sulked, staying close to his beloved family, trying to stay close.

PUMPKIN is rolling to stay in the light

...They were falling.

Failing.

The chaos broke out as it had last time: a sudden flurry of movement, of cries, of splashing and choking in the dark. A blast of flame, igniting the torch. A lurch, from Warrior's back--he turned, eyes widening to follow Black's movement; and as if in slow motion (hooves slipping in the mud) he saw the bipedal hound reach the ground, stumble, and rush for Mayngo.

And stumble again.

And fall in.

Warrior's head swung, sound seeming to dull to a distant thump, watching as Nassir leapt for Hera. Fought to pull her free, struggling powerfully to save her life. Flung her to safety, feathers matted and wet.

Slipped.

Fell...

...And vanished.

He turned, to see others pulling themselves free--he leant a tug of teeth here, or a hoof there, if needed. And then he rushed for the water's edge. Where Nassir had fallen. Where Black had sunken.

Neither-... Neither of them were there. And before he could fight to get them out, before he could debate diving in, himself, the light was moving away. It was as though a muffled cold, pitch black, was curling in on him--and instinct drove him staggering back, then leaping away, snorting with a prey beast's terror.

Ice had been terrifying. The ice worm, even more so. Knowing that it hunted them in the quiet, blinding snow--that had been a nightmare he'd revisited far too often in his dreams. But this-...

At least with the ice worm, we knew what was hunting us, he thought, dimly, frightened.

And then he wheeled, calling out.

"Stick together-! We have to stick together! Stay in the light..."

Fear drove him, but it quickened his steps; his movement became a stumbling half-canter, slowing now and then to a short trot as he sunk, for a beat, into the water. But he pulled to the head of the group as best he could, edging at the tip of the light, trying to peer out with his magic.

He could not watch behind him, now--not very well, or rather he couldn't move to someone in time if they were hurt. Instead his focus was out front, his eyes wide with fear. If he were to be a trailblazer, that left him occupied.

horse stock: colourize-stock.deviantart.com

He'd been so busy staring at the torch--so entranced by its flame--that he'd barely noticed the cries erupt around him. They'd startled him, a jump of fear spiking him from his reveries, and he turned, starting to run toward-...

...Who? He hesitated, looking here and there; there were too many sinking, flailing, coughing, crying out. He picked a direction and raced in it, helping, like Warrior, where he could. But two were gone--and he had not seen them go, bar a brief glimpse of Nassir swinging Hera free. Once they were all up, all moving (or as many as had made it) he trotted in amongst them, brow drawn down in thought.

"Am I--the only one who can make fire, here?" His gaze quickly sought out Ifrit. "Can you? We need to ensure we survive... if those torches can't be lit, if one of us dies, I do not know what will happen." It was grimly-stated, but he pulled a bit closer to the giraffe--hoping that by ensuring one anothers' survivals, they would ensure the group's.

He did his best to keep the light above them, too--both his own wisp, and a twist of pure flame, taken from the torch itself. This he manipulated and kept in the air just above his head: a small ball of fire, pure and bright and warm, helping to lead the way.

Warrior is protecting Ifrit.

The group pressed on, and somewhere in the dark behind them, paws shuffled hurriedly through the muck. Wet cat scent flared up with every splash.

"Help!" Nassir called. His voice sounded chipped and scratched - hoarse from screaming, perhaps? It came in guttural starts and stops, almost as if he was choking. Every note was high-pitched and plaintive, but almost... empty. Or merely tired, exhausted? "My light went out."

There was a quiet clicking of teeth and metal, and the wet shift of quicksand. "I can't see. Please, help me!"

The wisp marched on and away from him, unrelenting.

Sora hadn't been expecting to feel shadows catch at her feet, or to feel the water grow almost... thick. Panic seized her and she knew that all she knew about water was betraying her. It was not a life-giver, it was not peace, it was violent and angry and relaxing into it, letting it hold you, would lead to her being dragged into the depths. Sora fought with all her strength and was just about to scream when suddenly, the strength stuttered. She surged upward and towards Ifrit's warmth, gasping and coughing. "Shit! ROLL CALL!" she shouted, fully expecting to hear her family count off -- except Pumpkin, who she'd already noticed at the edges of her vision. She started to look out over the group.

It had dwindled, both in light and in number. She looked sharply around at her family and back at the light. "No more playing the hero. Not a chance. If any of us split this light up now... we'll be killing ourselves at best. At worst, we damn everyone. Save your own stones, not those of strangers." Her family surely would have been aware that Sora saw the group as an extension of herself, and certainly wouldn't have been telling them to abandon each other. "Stay close, and let's move."

For a brief, bloody moment she considered trying to sabotage someone else. The fewer gembound in the group, the more room there'd be for her family. The fewer souls on the line, the less chance that the saviors would be rushing off to find them. She pointedly ignored the cries from behind them, echoed and hoarse and sounding more like a monster than a cat. "Its probably an illusion. Otherwise, the other one would be calling us, too."

SORA is rolling to stay within the light.

Puck crawled down from his spot on the tree, spitting out a tooth. "Stupid mean pig." He grumbled to himself. Puck would have his revenge. He would bide his time, until it was time to strike. Screams caught Puck's attention. His head whipped up, and he watched in horror as gembound seemed to be swallowed by the earth.

They were gonna come back...right? Puck stared, an extra moment. They never rose again. Others came from the dark pits, but not the two Puck had seen. Puck hadn't seen death before. Puck just did small pranks. Gembound didn't die from Puck's pranks. He shuddered. It wasn't him, at least. The dark did not want Puck.

The wisp did not have time for Puck's morbid thoughts. It had split, and would move soon. With a new perspective on the dark, Puck pulled the twigs from his back, and trotted to the man-shaped torch. Puck climbed, till his paws felt the prickling heat of the flame, and lit a pair of twigs. They wouldn't last long, but Puck had fire. And fire burned things. He hopped from his spot on the torch. Following a moment of decision, he padded after the leftmost light.

Puck is rolling to light some torches

Before she was plunged within the water, Usi realized something strange. There were no scents of lessers. Nothing but them. The scent of greaters. She wanted to mull over this, within the safety of the light, and the group. But as she was soon to learn, nowhere was safe from the dark. She was within quicksand within seconds. The void grasped at her, the cold sapped at her strength and pierced her to the bone.

The quicksand and...something else pulled her further in. Dragging her deeper and deeper. Each breath was met with thick water and sand. It filled her lungs and her throat. Each breath painful. Her lungs burned. And then, suddenly, it was over. There was nothing grasping, no unnatural chill. Just her. She did not question this opportunity. She powered through the quicksand, making for the shore.

And she sat there, gasping with each breath. Trying to recover. She hardly had a moment. The light had grown smaller, and was already on the move. She wanted to beg it for another minute of rest, even a few seconds. She barely had the strength to move, let alone speak. The combination of the myriad cuts and the fight for her life in the icy waters left Usi panting. Tired and battered. Even her bleeding had begun slowing to a crawl. The sweater she wore itself leeched warmth from her, soaks through and through with icy water. But she had to move again. If she didn't she would die. She was sure of that.

"I want to go home," she said. The speech was slow. Large pauses between each. She could barely hear anything but the ringing of her ears. The dark had swallowed most of her strength, as it did everything else. She was coldblooded. It was unsure how much longer the snake could go on. Usingizi, after a moment of adjusting her jaws, began to speak once more. The cracked bloodstone within her jaws hummed with warmth.

"Leave us alone." She said, directing the voice as far away as she could manage. She didn't have much strength for anything else. With no other words, and eyes blurring, she crawled after the first light she saw.

Usingizi is rolling to protect whoever is around her

Ru had decided not to watch its group for a second. One second. And then everything exploded into chaos. Gembound were sucked into the muck, and it whirled, wildly, unsure of what to do, helpless to simply watch. Some crawled free, but others, it noted, were still missing. Two. The upright-dog creature, and the panther. It scowled. They were gone. With careful steps, Ru walked over the path it had created in the muck, following the slowly dwindling flame of the wil o wisp.

The voice of another echoed behind it. The panther, it realized. Ru pinned back its fins. "It is most likely dead. Pay no mind to its speech. The dark aims to trick us. It will take us, too, if we go back." It was not fond of what it had said. But it was better than the alternative. More going back, risking their lives for one already dead. Succumbing to the dark.

No, it was better to stay ahead. Perhaps the momentary sacrifice would appease the dark. Ru trotted after the group. Near the back, where it could keep an eye on all of them. Make sure none disappeared. The wind of its spell spluttered, thin and whistling. And then, ironically, Ru was gone. Swallowed, itself, by the dark that claimed the others before it.


RU is rolling to stay within the light.