The fact that there was a chance, no matter how small, that Hunter could still place after several rounds of utter failure was a miracle in itself.

Not that Hunter gave a lick about any of that! He was having a blast just getting through the course on his own merits. He had finally caught up to a majority of the pack; seemed a lot of them were having trouble with the climbing section.

The noodle with thumbs wasn't daunted, though. How hard could it be to scale a wall? He charged head first at it, lunging up into the air to grab at any handhold he could manage to get on the cliff. He scrambled upward, for a split second looking like he would make headway, and then...

And then Hunter began to slide down the wall, even as he tried to sink his claws in. No amount of scrambling could get more forward momentum, until finally he landed on his tail, crumpled at the bottom of the wall.

Okay, okay, this was fine. He just had to try a different approach!

Tupu climbed from the rocky wall. But the gerenuk had no time to stop or rest. The herd around her continued to race forward. Within Tupu's brain, a single thought occurred. A single fire of synapses. Tupu had never felt so alive, running with herd. And there were no more obstacles, just a straight path. To what, Tupu wasn't sure. But herd was racing forward. There were probably plants Tupu could chew, further ahead. The gerenuk licked her lips, and continued charging after the herd.

And then stopped immediately. The gerenuk spotted a patch of grass. Untouched, in the midst of the thunderous roar of feet. The gerenuk trotted over to it, and began to graze once more, pulling clips of grass. Tupu could catch up to herd later. Tupu want snack.

pumpkin pants as he's almost to the end, wings and legs tired from all the climbing, running and he's still kinda dazed from stepping on the furball.

but he's almost there. almost there and he can still make this. he gets ready, braces himself, and...

he breaks off into a runn, tripping over his feet and nearly falling over several times but he's doing it, he's tired and a little sloppy but he's doing it and he's on his way!

he runs towards the finished line, out of breath and absolutely ecstatic, he cheers as he runs, this was what he's wanted since he was a hatchling. freedom.

Kalama had fought her way through fire, slippery mushrooms, and fire. Straight up fire. She'd have words with whoever did that. They were probably attempting to sabotage her. Her specifically. But she'd climbed over the incline. And now it was just a straight shot. Kalama could see the finish line. Her first place had been stolen by some no good bird thing, which enraged her. But she had to place. Kalama tucked her wings in and charged forward.

And immediately tripped, tumbling over herself, before driving her beak into the dirt. She shook, pushing herself up with her wings, and saw her worst nightmare. People other than her, racing ahead. Almost assuredly placing before her. "No!" She screamed. "I was supposed to win!"
think "speak"

new table time-

She could do it! The great Sharp passed the fire just clean! Of course, this still meant she was at the tail end of the contestants. The lizard could faintly hear the cheers as someone crossed the finish line, but that was fine. She was having fun! So much fun!

In front of her was a rocky, icy wall looming above. The fire did warm her up once more, but the chill was still imposing. Being cold-blooded and having to slowly climb something cold did not mix well. Looks like she just had to speed through as fast she could.

Sharp took a few steps back in preparation, and then zoomed forwards as fast as her teensy lizard legs could go. The wall came towards her, and she kept her momentum going, switching painlessly to scrabbling up the freezing surface. Dull claws dug into ice and gravel, sending little flakes crumbling downwards in her wake, before finally breaching the wall. It was a bit too high for her to cleanly jump off, so she quickly worked her way back down and went on her way.

© ©

The oversized beast made another leap for the cliff-like rocks, ice-clad as they were, with a grunt. Again she failed, sliding back with a bellow of frustration that echoed along the snowy ledges.

She turned and circled, trotting--trying not to get in anyone else's way--as she studied the cliffs, looking for a better way up.

This was not at all turning out how she'd expected, but... at least she wasn't dead, or anything.

Bug squealed, and made another pass, bounding forward and then leaping with bunched muscles for all her little cat-like-body was worth.

Like the bellowing white beast not far off, she failed--scrambling back, claws skittering down and finding no purchase. She yelped, then silenced herself, determined not to look embarrassed...

Stubbornness took root, and she tried again a couple of times, leaping and then scrabbling down.

Okay, this was embarrassing.

[SPECTATING]

Tahi was out of the match it seemed, the wiggler and Sniffles finally starting to struggle. All Madhukar could do was sit there and watch and wait and hope that eventually, at some point, this would end soon and they would be alright. What else could she do?! Focus on magic??? She just stress-hairballed so, uh, no thanks.

Fiddle with her "thumbs". Flick her tail. Look anywhere else. Breathe deep so she could calm the heck down. Try to hide, try to hide, try to shrink into a ball and be unseen until it was all over...

So she curled up and closed her eyes and vibrated softly with... anticipation, let's just call it.

Why couldn’t he climb? It felt like nearly everyone else had already passed by him. Why was the ice so SLIPPERY? Why did the rock keep crumbling? Why couldn’t he just finish this race? He'd been excited to race before, but how he just wanted to get to the finish line.

With a small, frustrated growl, he threw himself at the wall yet again, just as quick and reckless as his first attempt. Maybe it was a bad idea, but being careful hadn’t worked! Maybe third time’s the charm?

Finally, FINALLY, he managed to climb up without slipping and falling. The feeling of frustration fading somewhat, he grinned as he got to the top of the icy cliff.

Finally over that rocky wall, it was only a straight line to the finish line. Easy enough, right?

Maybe she could still win this, Just maybe. Someone had already gotten to the union pillars, but second and third place were ready for the taking. Tucking her wings close to her sides and digging her talons into the dirt, Sorda ran as fast as she could, completely focused on the Union Pillars just ahead.

It was like a second wind, or maybe failing the climb so badly just made her even more determined. Whatever the case, Sorda found everything blurring around her as she sprinted right for the union pillars, Only stopping as she got to the finish line, exhausted yet still buzzing with energy and adrenaline.

coding by wulf for template purposes