The roaring column of fire that was the next obstacle freaked Huckleberry out a bit. It was tall and hot and he trembled a bit at the thought of getting licked by those flames. It brought back unwanted memories of screaming and fighting, of a bright flash of light and excruciating pain as his entire body was consumed by white fire.

But he snapped out of it quickly, not faltering as he got closer - in fact, he began running faster, claws tearing at the ground, hooves thrumming against the rock. He opened his wings as he got near and jumped into the air, easily soaring over the top of the fire, barely feeling the heat of the flames before he was on the other side.

He touched back down as soon as he could, folded in his wings, and kept running.

Over the electrified hairball minefield and - huh!? A veritable column of fire that really ought've burned through all of its kindling by now roared in front of it. Others were jumping and squeezing through it, and a few flew over it without any apparent consequence. Hemlocke hesitated for one precious second before taking that apparent leap of faith. It sprung into the air, wings more suited to sustained gliding flapping to accumulate as much height as possible.

The only thing fortunate about this much fire was the blustering wind and current it was generating. Very a la Monoceros of it.

Gliding out of reach went as smoothly and almost as perfectly as it could. Only a few sooty spots on its underbelly.

Hunter left with words of encouragement but... that wasn't enough. There wasn't anyone here to pat him on the back and urge him to swish around salty water in his mouth to stave off infection - wait, maybe. If he could get to his feet and... hobble over to the sidelines, someone could help him? Someone had to be a medic here? If his Dad were here, he'd have taken all this right on to himself without hesitating.

If his Dad -

Crown sniffed, and choked down a sob as he called, "Medic?? Medic? I'm done - I'm d -" A ragged wheeze-sob escaped him and he stumbled back down onto his knees. He wasn't ready for it and just needed to go. "Help me up, please -" he bleated. The lamb was ushered off the course feeling absolutely pathetic.

exit crown / forfeit

[Origin Cave]

Round Four has begun!

Out of the Frying Pan (and Also the Fire!)

Some soar cleanly over the wall of fire. Others... start to really fit their table images.

The runners ahead have reached the end of all magical hazards and come upon a rather imposing-looking uphill climb. Bits of rock and ice jut out for anyone to climb or jump up, but watch your step! You just might end up slipping and falling.

Svartis is on fire extinguisher standby to put any poor folks at Section 3 out!

Current Sections

1. Slip and slide! Tahi-Shei

2. Um... electrifying. Hunter, Lady

3. It's just fire. Ivory, Kalama, Sharp, Tupu, Pumpkin, Bug

4. Climb, climb, climb! Yew, Hemlocke, Sorda, Ruby-Beta, Sniffles, Doug, Huckleberry

* Crown has ICly forfeited!

For your point-tallying convenience, here's a link to a Google Sheets detailing rolls on the current section and who we're waiting on!

@Hemlocke @Bug (Ivory) @Tahi-Shei @Scout @Kalama (Tupu) @Yew @Sniffles @Hunter @Sharp @Sorda (Doug) @Pumpkin

When Dread'd come home crowing about all of the fire he'd belched onto Tunnel M, Svartis... figured he should hang around after the Magicka Show. For good reason, because holy shit there was no way this was safe. Despite his very polite suggestions to change it into a more ice-based section, the set-up crew that was loitering about was adamant that it should stay on fire.

So... he volunteered to hop from Gembound to Gembound, breathing a dense, fire-extinguishing mist onto each one and maybe subtly casting on the sticks to make the roaring flames go down. Not only were they setting the runners on fire, it was making him hot.

"Come on," he rumbled to each participant he passed, urging them to their feet, "that section's shorter than the others." "You good to keep going?" Mother-hen. "I can carry you to a medic -"

before i'm dumby and forget to post this round...

It was full steam ahead from here. No more arbitrarily placed magical hazards and potential to get slippery, electrocuted, set on fire... just itself and its ability to hop. Closely resembling hares and frogs was a nice combination. Hemlocke kept its wings out to steady itself and brake as needed, but its best tool was its hindquarters. Crouch, wiggle, calibrate...

... and spring! Rinse and repeat all the way up the sheer path. No hitches but a single slip towards the top.

he looked at the column of fire, gulping. he was allowed to fly for this one, right? just once? he could do that

he took a deep breath, running full steed ahead

as he flapped his wings, he took off the ground, and nearly passed out as he actually entered the heat of it. literally. he nearly fell backwards into a patch of fire, but he was able to snap out of it and catch himself, diving through the air and around the towering flames, getting comfortable after a minute and doing some fun loopdyloops around some of them. this was amazing!

Hunter threw himself into the next part of the course, glad that most of the electricity had been taken out of the air. A very clear path was set in front of him, and he pelted down it with excitement. Of course, he hadn't seen what would happen if he actually stumbled into any of the nasty traps, but it seemed pretty straight forward like the last half.

Let's go! His bruised knees and scrapped elbows sometimes made him stumble, fumbling over the stones and slippery, no longer charged hairballs, but he was definitely gaining traction.

Look out world, Hunter was on his way! Nothing was going to stop him from reaching the finish line-- his own little personal victory imminent!

She reached the fire and leapt up, snapping her draconic little wings out at last. She could hear Svartis talking nearby, reassuring the one who'd been burnt, and she took note and vaguely hoped it would be okay. But she was around fire enough at home that this bit would be cake.

A quiet "Wheeee-" escaped her, under her breath, as she shot over the flames; their heat was scouring, but wings were sort of an unfair advantage, here (regardless of the rules allowing it).

After the fire patch, she landed, dragon-clawed kitty paws touching down softly and neatly--and then she set off at a run for the final stretch. Ooh, climbing-! That would be fun.

Ivory turned, blinking, at the cries and sniffles, and was about to go to the sheep-creature when the black dragon ushered it off the field.

She hesitated a moment longer, but it seemed under control and there wasn't a whole lot she could do to help; for now, she turned with renewed determination and thundered for the path again, scrambling to try and climb up along the edges where she'd fallen down.

Ivory found, to her dismay, that the ledge was too steep; her claws and hooves and heavy bulk slipped right back off again, and though she struggled, she couldn't clamber back toward the path.