Desperation beginning to take over, Ruby-Beta threw itself back at the wall, digging its claws into the ledges, forcing itself up the wall. It had lost the lead, now, definitely. It probably wouldn't even place. Dammit, it had failed. This was its chance to prove itself, at what it did best...but here it was, barely scraping by.

But it wasn't going to give up. No, that would be worse. So it clambered over the edge and began to run, behind the rest of the others.

Huckleberry could see Yew, far up ahead, crossing the finish line. He put on a burst of speed, a sense of friendly competition rising inside of him. To his surprise - and immense relief - it wasn't the kind of harsh, cruel competition he had been used to growing up, but the friendly, light-hearted competition of rivals. He didn't quite see Yew as a rival in the long run, but he did now. They were, after all, from the same family.

And so, tired, breathing hard, and quite thoroughly exhausted, Huckleberry threw himself across the finish line and immediately collapsed onto his stomach, trying to get his breathing back under control. Man, not flying or using magic was hard.

Round Seven has begun!

An Epic Conclusion

A tightly-packed group hurtles for the finish and Hemlocke meets a pillar first, then Sorda! Pumpkin and Huckleberry charge in next.

Others race towards the Pillars, vying to finish in good spirits. Two rounds remain to reach the end.

Current Sections

1. Slip and slide! No runners

2. Um... electrifying. No runners

3. It's just fire. No runners

4. Climb, climb, climb! Ivory, Bug, Hunter

5. FitnessGram Pacer Test. Tupu, Kalama, Ruby-Beta, Sharp, Doug

Finished. Yew, Hemlocke, Sorda, Pumpkin, Huckleberry

* Sniffles has OOCly 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!

@Tupu (Kalama) @Pumpkin @Doug @Ruby-Beta (Huckleberry) @Sharp @Ivory (Bug) @Hunter

Tupu continued chewing on the small clump of grass. It tasted, as far as grass goes, pretty good to her. Frozen dew stuck to the blades. Like a grass ice cream. Which sounds pretty bad, but pretty good for an antelope. Tupu was concentrated on her snack, but she noticed the movement of the herd. It was in the periphery of her vision.

They were leaving her in the back, although she had no reaction, other than to continue chewing. Then, as if on a whim, Tupu decided to follow. With a shake of her head, she clipped off the remainder of the clump of grass, and trotted after the rest of the group. Upon reaching the end, she b-lined for Sorda, dropping half of her grass for the bird. Chewing through the rest.

Madhukar watched, feeling like her whole body was in a stasis, her eyes locked on trying to comprehend the scene. Trying to calm herself the heck down. They were all safe now, but two of her familiar faces had stopped participating. The wiggler was all that remained. She was worried about that one, finally in the last stretch of the race. None of her familiar faces would place, it seemed, but that didn't feel like it mattered at all. She hoped Tahi was getting help. Luckily no one was in the fire anymore.

This race had made her a lot more tense than she'd deemed necessary. In an attempt to release some of that wadded stress, the kitten decided to try to generate yet another spark, to make it zip from the tip of her tail to the top of her head. That should distract her.

Kalama stood, half ashamed, half hurting, and all angry. Her first place had been robbed once again. She would have words with those who won. Who stole her hard earned victory from her. She charged forward, hoping to atleast place within the top ten. And then she fell once more. She was pretty sure she was bruised in atleast ten areas. She hated this race. All her failings only had one explanation. Nothing self reflective of course. She stood, shaking out her aching feet.

"Who did that, huh! Someone thinks its funny to make me place last huh? Using magicka to make me trip? I'll find you!" She said. Her tail held stiff in a show of anger. By now she could've probably moved forward, gained some ground. But yelling at the other contestants was just as good.

think "speak"

This was beyond embarrassing.

Ivory felt slow--lumbering and brutish--beside all of these agile, trained, athletic creatures. She'd survived Hydra--but now she felt heat rising in her face, shame growing by the moment. She felt as though eyes must be shifting to her, by now. Watching her.

Watching her fail, watching her thrash and lumber and stumble and fall. Slow, heavy, and stupid.

She felt like an idiot.

Fear flickered in her, and she couldn't have said why; she wasn't really in any danger--at least, she didn't think so. But it was a fear that eyes were on her. A fear that she'd continue to fail. A fear that she's be stuck here for more long minutes--for hours--for days, forever--struggling as everyone else sailed by.

She made another half-desperate, shamefaced lunge for the cliffs, and this time she got her feet--if barely; muscles surging she at last made it over, panting heavily as she barreled past the ledges and toward the final stretch.

Bug was a tiny firebrand, so unlike the white beast that at last shot past her, she was just getting annoyed. Tiny wings briefly flapped--not to move her anywhere, but just an idle gesture as she stared up, eyes narrowed, t the cliffs. Then they folded over her back again, and she backed up a few soft-pawed paces before extending out her claws.

Horned head lowered almost defiantly, and then Bug charged.

Claws lanced into the ice, and she went up--up--and then the snow gave way, toppling her all the way back down. There was a quiet, spitting yowl of protest, and then the little cat-dragon shoved her way out from underneath the fallen snow, tail lashing.

"I SUCK at this!" she yelled, in loud complaint, to no one in particular.

Hunter wasn't going to give up. He knew only one, definitive way out of this; and that was finishing what he had started. Bruises and scratches and all! So the climbing wall had bested him once, but maybe he just needed to take it more slowly. Find the proper hand holds?

Taking a few moments to stare up at the wall, he figured out the best place to start-- a place where he could put his hands, and he began to haul himself up the cliff-face. He quickly moved his hands up to the next handhold, and put his feet where his hands had been, and started to use his tail as a counterweight as he leaped up to the next handhold.

Yes, yes, yes!

He was so close to the end; it didn't matter that he was probably one of the last ones to finish. No one was stopping him from getting through this race!

"I'm coming!! Don't stop the race yet! I'm gonna do it!" He howled after the others, a huge grin across his face.

The last round! She was so, so close! Of course, Sharp probably wasn't going to be getting any medals, but that was fine. She had fun!

There were no more obstacles: just a smooth, clean run to the pillars. The lizard wound up her small legs and then bolted forward, trying to get ahead before anyone else on her round.

And she touched it! With a big, dramatic gasp, Sharp laid down on the icy floor tiredly. She didn't bother looking up to see who would get their next: all she needed right now was a good ol' nap.

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