The quicksand was unrelenting. Simon writhed this way and that, only to find himself sinking further into the pitch depths. He vaguely registered Kini's attempt to help, but with water flooding his eyes, ears and mouth, there wasn't anything he could do. Was this the end? No chance to see the world, no final goodbyes, just a slow sink with help just in front of him?

He was just about to accept it when a black shape plunged into the waters.

The clenching darkness let go. Simon gasped, greedy for air, and blindly shot straight up towards Kini-yolotl's voice. Wet sand rolled off his body as he gently bit onto their horns and slowly, excruciatingly pulled himself out. He was wet, and sore, and tired, but he was alive. The copperhead spat out the sand in his mouth and softly whispered "Thank you," to the hybrid. Sora called out, and he tiredly hissed out an "I'm here." before slumping against Kini's horns. He needed to rest, just a minute.

The wisp moved onward, yet it seemed... dimmer. What was that about? He could see the other half of the wisp hovering over the now-engulfed torch, which was now fading into the void. 'I hope there's enough room,' Simon worried, quickly scanning the silhouettes to check. There was barely enough room for everyone... wait a second. Not everyone. Two of them, the strange dark beast and the feline, were missing. Alarm shot through him. Were they-- was one of them the one who jumped into the ooze? The pressure had alleviated right after, if it weren't for them, he and many others certainly would've sunk.

A cry rang out from behind them. Between the stifling darkness and his waterlogged earholes, he could barely make out the words. But it was certainly there. At least one of them was left behind. 'The one that saved me.' Emotions clashed within him. Just minutes before he promised to himself not to go back. His own family begged. But his savior... if no one was going to go help, then he had to. He owed them. And plus... in the end, he valued others far before himself. He may die, but if he could save another, or at least try... well, he could die content. And hey, if he lived, he'd have one hell of a story to share.

There wasn't much warning. The viper murmured: "Shadows do not speak. I'm going back. Don't follow me." Simon tried to keep his voice steady, but fear and uncertainty still wavered through it. He drooped down on the antler: his mind was made now, no matter how much looking into the dark terrified him. "I'm sorry. If I don’t return... please, just look after each other. See what world's beyond here, if there's someplace we can be happy." His voice was barely above a whisper. He'd rarely spoken so much before, let alone with such emotion. "Goodbye."

And he was off. Simon slithered off Kini's shoulders and sped into the dark as fast as he could go. Light quickly left his vision, replaced by nothing but oppressive darkness. He kept going, even as his bauble flickered, even as sound and smell and everything was snuffed out by the abyss. After he was certain he was far enough, he stilled. Wait. Did he even remember where the torch was, again...? The light had to be somewhere here, where was it? He sniffed the air, a piling feeling of dread rise in his throat. There was nothing around him. Nothing but empty, cold darkness. Where were the ones-left-behind? The snake's head spun this way and that, but still no sensory input came in to tell him where he was. He was lost.

There was one thing left to try. One thing. Simon swallowed down his fear and called out, "I'm here! Where are you? I can help you, just stay calm!" Truth be told, he was likely in as much trouble as them (and probably as panicked), but he had to keep steady. He had to. For his family, for the strangers who saved him, and for himself. The boy pressed onwards, blindly, unsure of where he was or what direction he was facing. 'Keep steady.'

SIMON is attempting to find NASSIR.

It happened too fast. They stepped forward and yanked their foot back, eyes widening as they saw something... something black, shadowy. Darkness. Their mouth opened to warn everyone and then the weight around their neck disappeared.

"Simon- SIMON!" they wailed, eyes darting around, searching for the snake.

They spotted movement and leaped forward to dive in, only for a shape to dart past, saving them from doing so. Simon leaped onto Kini's horns and seemed safe enough, and they ran forward, nuzzling the snake before yelling their name to Sora.

Their eyes moved to the side... and they saw Black disappear. And then they were moving.

"Wait- wait!" they cried- no, gasped, "That creature- the black being- they sank! Oh no- wh-what is their name! THEIR NAME!!"

She reared to turn around quickly to run after the light, panting softly as the stress started to truly get to them. Their family... the others... who else would die? She could only follow the others, hoping to any God that was out there that no one did anything-

... Stupid.

Morgan heard Simon's words and whirled around, teeth snapping at his tail, trying to grab and hold him back, tears in their eyes, "Don't you dare- DON'T YOU DARE! SIMON!"

Gone- he was gone! Into the shadows, away from his family.

"SIMON!!" they shrieked, their voice so distraught, like a mother's wail as she backpedaled, trying to stay in the light, knowing that they had to protect the others...

Fat load of good they'd been so far, they thought bitterly.

Morganite stifled her sobs and stepped back, staying within the light as they called out to Simon, trying so hard to not cry, to stay strong and stay alive for the others. They felt selfish and horrible for staying with them, but it was for the good of them all. They had to stay...

Or at least, that's what she kept telling themself.

MORGANITE stays with the light...

Owlface quietly themselves as they struggled against the deep water, wishing they'd paid better attention. There would be the occasional ragged, desperate gasp of air. The only thing they could focus on was keeping afloat, keeping from getting dragged down by whatever force seemed to be pulling on their legs.

The mysterious force tugging down relented for a moment, long enough for Owlface to rush to land, gasping and coughing, water dripping from his scales. The only thing he could focus on was how tired and sore he felt. There was much talking and yelling and movement around him, but they could only stand there, breathing raggedly. He hardly had a moment to recover before the wisp began to move yet again.

As they began to move on, he desperately searched the crowd for his siblings. He found them- Kini, Sora, Pumpkin. And Simon, quietly slithering off into the dark.

"Simon!" He shouted, panicked. He had no idea what Simon was doing, he only saw him slithering towards the very thing trying to kill them. Normally he was a healer, not a noble protector, but now he was rushing into the shadows before he even had time to think of the consequences of his actions. He reached for his magicka to hopefully help guide him through the deadly darkness.

His magic failed to come to his aid. He reached out with his remaining senses, rushing desperately through the dark to locate his lost sibling, following the sound of his voice as he called for.. someone? One of the missing? "Simon?" He called, breathing heavily, still exhausted from fighting the murky water, "Simon? Where are you?" They called again, panic breaking their voice. "We need to get back to the group! They called one final time, rushing blindly in what they HOPED was Simon's direction.

OWLFACE is protecting SIMON

Rainstorm found themselves leaving the cursed smoke. Their eyes and lungs burned, everything hurt. Their wing was still bleeding. And yet they still had to continue on. Their brain was clashing with their body. Move. Don't move. Running would do nothing. Facing the dark would bring death. Like the ones that went missing from the group.

Despite their eyes and lungs burning, Rainstorm chose to keep going. They couldn't quit now. No matter what it took.

Rainstorm is rolling to stay in the light

O-oh, the wisp's moving again and everybody's yelling and calling out. Their ears flicked back and they shook themselves, tail flaring out yet more. It basically looked like a pipe cleaner at this point; and at this rate, their heart was wired to explode. Presently smack-dab in the center of the crowd, Howl missed the frantic cries from the dark. There was just too much noise, and they were too focused on not mistepping to care about anyone else.

So, yes, the hybrid continued to be only out for themselves, and plod through the mire in the wisp-light. Such was the best strategy for survival in a near-panic.

Except... they inhaled once in just the wrong place, and found their lungs almost set on fire. Stuttering to a halt, Howl stood upright, lifting a mud-soaked arm to cough and wheeze into. Their eyes blurred, burning with the noxious gas and strained tears. The wisp slipped away, and the Gembound ambled away while they struggled to get their bearings and press on.

HOWL is attempting to stay right under the light SUFFER toxic gas and probably Dead Monkey Disease.

Chaos, calamity, and a number of them caught in the sucking mire - then... just two of them. Those two were gone, and it stung to know that they died to protect another. Elyon inhaled sharply, glanced up at the wisp moving on, and ... she just wanted to live. She was tired, sinking up to her knees in the marsh, and she wanted to go home.

(And after that, she might have to punch that dipshit Orthoclase-Alpha for not at all stopping her from going in. Wide-eyed asshole.)

Her hoof-claws skimmed the edge of a particular pit of quicksand, and she jolted at the feeling of cool metal brushing against the softer exoskeleton. Kicking it lightly and catching it in her left hand, Elyon stared down for a moment. The two-legged dog had had this, walking in. Now, he was gone.

The centaur tried to pick up the pace and follow after Warrior, even with the rising clamor behind her. It was selfish - hell, she knew it was selfish - but she'd be damned if she didn't try to escape from this losing battle. One hand reached behind her for her own halberd, slotting the black one where it usually went.

Holding it haft-down, she felt along, prodding the ground ahead of her for integrity and leaning on it for stability where necessary.

ELYON is attempting to keep herself safe under the light.
Touched? +1 CP? from picking up Black's halberd.

It was Black's voice that rang out next, somehow--impossibly--from in front of the group. The tone was quiet, almost sing-song, in a childlike sort of way. The voice itself was... wet. And it came from the darkness up ahead.

"You can come into the dark. It's safest... in the dark. It can't see you, anymore..."

Accompanying this was the quiet sucking sound of feet moving in muck, uneven, heavy steps; and then that stopped. There was the stench of wet dog, and bile, and then the voice came again.

"You can come with me."

"Come with me."

Sora demanded a roll call, and Ifrit immediately answered, "here!"

But there was... so much happening, it felt like. If he turned one direction, or the other, there was always something he wanted to reach out for—the cries for help, the fading lights, and the even more scary calls from the shadows—and his mind whirled to keep up. It felt like he was spinning and losing his direction, until the wolf spoke to him directly.

"I'm not sure, I can try—wow!" came his genuine surprise when Fireheart just lifted the fire free into the air. Well, he couldn't do it like that, at least. Then another creature approached the torch and lit sticks on fire. Oh, that was smart! "Let's go, quickly then," he suggested.

As the others started to yell for Simon, Ifrit hesitated and turned to look for him, for his family—but it was more important, he thought, to finish whatever sick game this was so that the lot of them could get out alive. He glanced briefly at Morganite and frowned.

"C'mon," he said quietly, sadly. And they headed toward the next torch, hoping to keep well within their own light-group.

And again, he focused on the swell of magic within himself, keeping the chill from biting too deep into his bones.

When a voice spoke from before them, he halted immediately. It sounded like someone was walking toward them, struggling, maybe, through the marsh. It said they could come into the dark, that it was safer, that they could come with... them... It smelled horribly.

"Who—who are you?" he dared, lowering his head even further into the group. "Who is that?" he asked of the others worriedly.

IFRIT is rolling to protect Fireheart and Puck (assuming they are all heading to the same torch).

Unnerved. That was a new emotion. That was a new feeling. Charles didn't like it at all, it was all intense and fearful and it hurt his chest so much and it felt like ants under his skin, disgust in his throat, as he watched the two dragged beneath the earth. They weren't from his family but they had been alive, not long ago, and they had died. And that could happen to any of them.

The realness of the trial was setting in now. Any of them could die if they weren't careful. They couldn't take risks anymore. They had to protect each other and only each other. Perhaps it was selfish, but like hell would he want to see any of them die. Like hell would he be willing to sacrifice himself or any of his family for the others that had come along of their own free will. No, they would live, and he would make sure of it.

He clutched tight to Anemoi as they continued to move, shivering as the light dipped. And the voice...the voice behind them, of the cat...Charles forced himself not to listen. But the cries for Simon had him twisting back with alarm. "Simon! Simon what do you think you are doing! That is foolish, foolish I say! Come back here! He's gone, we can't help him!" But he had disappeared...away from the others, out into the dark and he stared at the place where he'd disappeared with horror. "No..."

The second voice distracted him...coming from in front of them? He swiveled around, a sinking suspicion tugging at his chest. "Wait a second, but he disappeared behind us, did he not? How can that be him? It is not! The darkness is playing tricks on us, I'll bet! Don't follow the voice! Don't follow it!" He held tighter to his ride and clacked his beak. "Don't you dare follow it, Anemoi. I won't let you! Just keep following the light!" So distracted by his own instructions, he loosened his grip and one more step had him tumbling off of Anemoi's back, right out of the edge of the circle of light.

CHARLES is rolling to protect Anemoi.

'Vinnie, help me!'
and he couldn't breathe!' he tried to hold his breath, he did, but his lungs were only so big and finally he dropped his jaw and gasped and then there was sand in his lungs and he was drowning. Flailing his limbs ineffectually, only serving to pull himself down quicker -

and it wasn't even an awareness that Black had offered him help, his paw hit the halberd and he surged to cling to it, just managed to get a grip on it when something grabbed him by his neck when he found himself flying, struck to the ground. The fossa struck the ground, coughing and choking, unaware of his savior being stolen away.

But the light was fading... he was going to be left behind.

He couldn't see - could only barely breathe, was still coughing out sand. But he had to move, had to climb to his paws and stagger forward, trying to keep with the group.

Mayngo is rolling to go with the group