Huckleberry waited at the start a little nervously, Shiny on his shoulder kneading calmly. It was nice, and familiar, but there was a lot of people here and he didn't know many of them. The honk startled him, and for a moment he thought that she was back, but a quick glance at the podium revealed that it was a different goose. Still, it had sounded startlingly like Blackberry's.

But Shiny's gently purring had him focusing wholly on the race and just before the start began, she jumped off, to sit on the sidelines, leaving Huckleberry alone.

But that was ok. He had this.

As soon as the goose honked again, he was off, startled again, but his short slippage was corrected as he righted himself. But this was trickier then he thought, doing his best to grip with his claws, but his hind hooves weren't that accustomed to ice - not as strong or stable as a real moose.

Still, he fought on and kept his footing.

Tupu was sitting at the back of the crowd. She didn't know why herd was here. Or who this herd was. She had lost her rat herd not too long ago. She'd seen this mob of gembound, and naturally assumed they were a herd. Things just kept happening around her. But Tupu was with herd. And Tupu would stay with herd. A trio of gembound at the front were speaking. Tupu kept her eyes on them for a trio of seconds, chewing noisily on cud.

Then back to the ground her face went. She wanted to graze. The rest of the herd didn't seem too keen on grazing. Which meant more plants for Tupu. Then, suddenly, Nameless shouted for them to go. The rest of the gembound thundered off, and Tupu jumped. Her head swiveled wildly, legs stiff. She was behind the herd. Tupu stay with herd. She let out a quiet, confused bleat, then took off after the herd.

As she raced, her massive black eyes caught the gleam of red berries on a dark bush. Off to the side of the tunnel. Tupu like fruit. She stopped in her tracks, and padded over to the berries, rather relaxed. They were sweet on Tupu's tongue. The leaves were crunchy and tasted like leaves. She chewed, occasionally flicking an ear or her tail as a bug buzzed around her. Obstacle course forgotten, for now.

Madhukar found a comfy crevice to warm her up amidst the cold. An electric grin sparked across her features, turning on the twinkle of amusement in her eyes. She watched the race begin, tail lashing like clockwork, a series of calculations running through her mind. All these quirks in her posture pulled together to adumbrate the knowledge she possessed; the higher knowledge about this course.

She gleefully anticipated what was coming for them.

While she was in a good mood, and waiting for something a little more interesting than the beginning to occur, and while the urge was nagging, the kitten decided to try a magic exercise. Focus, give direction, and send it off.

The little volt of light danced between a few hairs on her left paw before prematurely fizzling out. A shame, but not the kind that stuck around. Now Madhukar could focus on the race.

Tahi eyed the wheel-creature suspiciously. While he was having to get used to not making snap-judgements about who or what was a monster (and he had, in fact, noticed the Overseer in attendance and given a shudder he'd passed off as being due to the cold), he was sure this... thing... fit the bill. It made a comment about 'watching' and he snorted as if the many-eyed monstrosity had made a joke. Perhaps it had been intended as one, and perhaps it hadn't been, but Tahi-shei didn't make any actual comments and instead assessed the icy hill.

He was not a deer who enjoyed the cold, and he glanced warily at his hooves. The problem was, if he was knocked off of them, he didn't think he'd be able to get back up quickly at the base. He frowned and steadied himself for the signal, deciding that he would try to remain firmly on them.

Tahi-shei slipped immediately, flopping onto his side with an unbecoming shriek as he skidded down the icy plane with no grace whatsoever. Certainly not becoming of a creature who would soon become a mighty stag, but he'd been struggling lately! He'd surely be fine in the later attempts.

Surely.

Kalama had been born ready for this. A trio of competitions, all perfect for her. She would win all of them, she was sure. This would make up for her placement in the trial. Still rigged, she thought. She figeted, impatient, as the goose gave them the run down, and the other judges introduced themselves. She clawed at the ice beneath as they waited. She wanted to go now. With a frustrated groan, she spoke.

"Hurry it up so I can win! I'm a champion!" She called. Eventually Nameless said go, with a honk, and they were off. Kalama herself took off with a burst of speed and a scrabble of claws. She resisted the urge to flap her wings. What a stupid rule. She was being sabotaged because they knew she'd win. Give the rest of these non champions a chance. She raced over the ice, fast as she could. Her claws barely touching the ice before she was airborne again.

think "speak"

[spectating]

Broadly speaking, large crowds made Sora anxious. Not that she'd experienced many before the Trial, but you know -- potato, potato. She was really just here to make sure Pumpkin didn't die, but supporting him and getting a gander at the other creatures who lived in the caves certainly wasn't a bad idea. Most notably -- the littler version (wait, was there two of them now?) of the triangle-faced horror, a pestilence creature who looked like the worst parts of Warrior and one of the birds put together, and some kind of technicolor nightmare. Sora looked that one over in particular -- its leather satchel clinked together, and it had hands.

She'd been considering getting a tattoo... and judging by the bits of ink on their own pelt... Sora flicked an ear and made a mental note to catch the bipedal thing on her way out. Meanwhile... "GO PUMPKIN!!! LEAVE THEM IN THE DUST!!" she roared, stamping her feet before settling down to just watch. Keeping an eye on everyone else out of instinct. Her body was tense, prepared to move in and cover Pumpkin's. Even though she was... probably too far away to manage that in the first place.

the little ones will eat him. you will watch.

"Shut up," she muttered under her breath, ignoring the voice (which she'd now noticed sounded quite a lot like the Masked Merchant) as valiantly as she possibly could.

Sorda waited at the starting line, her feathers fluffed with excitement. She glanced around at her competitors, the large menagerie of faces somewhat intimidating.

Then, she spotted a familiar face.

"Tupu? What are you doing here?" She'd lost track of Tupu- that happened more than she liked, to be completely honest. At least she'd found her- though she would've preferred a situation that was a little less chaotic.

Then one of the judges- a snow white goose- shouted go, and off she went, trying to keep up with- and hopefully get ahead of- the group.

Just as she started running, a unpleasantly familiar voice sounded throughout the tunnel. Quickly glancing around, she found the source- that weird, rude dog. Her eyes narrowed in a glare. Of course they had to be here too.

She turned her focus back to running, trying not to slip on the ice, or moisture slicked rocks, or inky black fungi- wow, there were a lot of things to slip on. Guess that was the whole point of an obstacle course, huh?

Her claws gripping stone, wings fluttering lightly as she ran, Sorda grinned. If all of the obstacles were this easy, she'd have no problem placing- hey, she may even make first place!

She briefly glance back, looking for Tupu, and found the gerenuk... eating. In the middle of the race. She frowned, was Tupu really this easily distractable?

"Hey Tupu! Come on! You can eat later, its racing time!" She called. She wasn't entirely sure if Tupu actually understood her words, but maybe she'd be drawn by the sound of her voice? She hoped, at least.

coding by wulf for template purposes

Doug wiggled excitedly in place, trying to keep from running off early, even if he wanted to so much. He couldn't help it, he was just so excited! The angry fluff had told him about this- she had even helped set up! He bet whatever she did was really, really cool! He spotted her on the sidelines, and shot her a big 'ol grin. Temporarily distracted, he wasn't prepared when the race started.

Oh, well, he better start running, shouldnt he! He had to ge super, SUPER fast if he wanted to win. He wasnt prepared for the slippery-ness, and skidded around like a dog on a freshly polished floor. He was determined, though, and wore a goofy grin the entire time.

the   thorn produces delicate roses
sharp

A race! A race! Sharp had come as soon as she heard. Of course, the lizard had never been this far out before, so it was a little difficult finding where it was. The streams of crowding gembound did help, though. She'd almost gotten squished a few times on the way, but that was okay! Sharp will race the very best and make everyone impressed!

The mottled reptile scuttled up to the starting line as the white goose spoke. The tunnel was cold, very cold, and slicked with ice: not exactly good for a cold-blooded child like her. It took nearly all of Sharp's energy at first not to doze off in the chill, though the heat from the gembounds around her helped. The path ahead was blanketed in even more of the pale substance, far more than she'd ever seen before. She wished she could just waddle out and see how it looked up close; how slippery is it? If you stomped on it, would it be hard or soft?

Well, she was gonna figure out soon enough. The call rang out and Sharp bolted as fast as she could, little claws digging into the ice. Her pointed tail swayed from side to side in an attempt to keep herself balanced. Hypothesis confirmed: big-ice is hard. And slippery. She nearly skidded quite a few times as she struggled to dodge slick fungi and other environmental hazards, but miraculously made it out alright. The sungazer let out a little celebratory screech, a high-pitched whistle that rung into the icy air. She could do it! Sharp can impress everyone!

♠ ♥ ♣ ♦

Lady was a tubby, awkward little thing.

She hadn't grown into her paws, or her bristly little fur. Though she'd be sleek and made for the Obstacle Course next time it came around... well, she really wasn't this time.

That didn't stop her from bouncing around, hopping from paw to paw, as she waited at the starting line.

"Let's go let's go let's goooo!" she bayed, trailing off into a pup's obnoxious howl.

Finally! Finally a white goose walked up, announcing the judges, yada yada yada, and she dropped down into that stalk she'd been developing when she stalked Lessers, tried to herd them around.

A honk and she was off like a shot - or, oh, no nevermind, she was running in place, paws unable to gain any traction on the ice.

Well... she looked like she was running very fast in place, at least?