The Trial of Hydra - Blinding White

The Merchant stood now at the mouth of Hydra, the blinding white roaring behind him. Bitter cold bit at those awaiting trial, wind howling past and the snowfall so blinding as to make visibility within nearly impossible. Even here, the cold underfoot bit at paws and toes, and breath came frosty into the tunnel air.

When they were assembled, the Masked Merchant spoke, his voice a rasp raised to be heard over the blizzard beyond. "Enter. Survive. These are your only tasks."

Once the last of them had entered, the Merchant raised his hands, a powerful, shimmering barrier blocking retreat--trapping the Gembound in Hydra, for now.

Those entering Hydra will find visibility poor, and the cold powerful. Yet there seems to be no guidance, no rules, bar "survive." It's difficult to tell how anyone could "win" such a thing.

The Winter Trial of Hydra has begun.

Once the barrier is closed and the next round begins, no further Gembound may enter from outside of Hydra. Hydra-dwelling Gembound may join the thread at any time, but must adhere to the posting rules and are only eligible for prizes if they join in round one. For further details on rules and prizes, refer back to the sign-up thread. Note that placements are not yet in effect, and may come in and out of play throughout the event, even resetting at unexpected points. Have fun, and good luck...

@Desert Rose Thirty-Five (Null) @Imp (Ivory) @Agate Two-Three-Six (Wynter, Fisher) @Virgil (Vinea, Hargrave) @Shida (Palefur, Winter) @Kalama

Vargas paced up alongside, observing. A grin was on his face as he stared out into the white, and he leaned in to murmur something to the Merchant that the rest could not hear. He then looked to them. "Good luck--I won't be joining you... I'm not needed, this time," he added, rather ominously.

He then leaned toward Desert Rose, assuming the smaller Gembound was close by (or even there): "Remember what I told you."

Last he eyed Imp. Eyeing him... ha, he thought, with savage humor.

He admired its tenacity, but he did not approve of its stupidity. It would not survive the trial, that much he did not doubt. But if it wanted to throw its life away, let it; Nemean had let it live, but apparently it was bitter enough to discard the rare gift of her mercy. Vargas was indifferent to that, though it was, he vaguely thought, a shame that a previously-successful creature was going to be destroyed without reproducing.

Maybe he could get Hag-rteho to bring him the stone, afterward; but likely, from what he knew of the upcoming trial, that would not be an option.

Agate had come in last, last time, hadn't it? And Shida, that one shared a design with a previous, surprisingly-successful recent champion. Those were some to watch, but Vargas' bets were strongly on Desert Rose.

The Overseer settled in at the entrance, grinning, to eagerly watch it all play out.

Virgil snorted as she galloped down the length of Tunnel P, a great brown behemoth plowing through and right into the snow. The persistent maelstrom didn't seem to phase the bison quite yet, since she set right to covering herself in it and shoving her face right into the drifts, sending it up into a spray.

She hollered back to any little Gembound, tail whipping out behind her and flagging eagerly in the howling wind, "any 'o you l'il guys can ride on me! We'll - uh, be survivin' alright!"

The other creature with a name starting in V was less friendly and companionable. Vinea would likely learn to be helpful later, but for now... he was all about getting ahead (or, kind of) while he could.

Adjusting its splitting jaws in distaste, he long-legged through the deep snow. This dang cold was already seeping into its bones, and it was barely in the worst of this. Hunkering down behind Virgil's massive silhouette, the hybrid tucked its gliders and fins close, blue eyes darting around and waiting for - something, anything, to happen.

And, finally, at the tail end of Navy's character list for the trials: Hargrave.

She moved quietly, without a single word to even her smaller, greyscale (apparent) cousin. Fiery eyes stared down at the snow, ears flickering back and long fur whipping into her own face as it got caked with snow. If only she were Raheerah - then she could just burn the whole lot and run off scots free through this and - whatever she was supposed to survive except for this insufferable cold.

The dog waited, and waited, barely glancing back to the other Gembound - and she wondered: what's gotten into me?

Imp squinted against the blasting white, but there was little point in squinting. A brief melancholy struck him; the squinting was habit, of course, but there were no eyes there anymore, no reason to shield them against the snow. Still, the little wet flakes bit at his hollow lids, and at the rest of him, too; he was warm-blooded, but fuck if he wasn't freezing already.

He cast out his magic, shivering, trying to get an idea of what lay around them. He could remember the layout of the land--if that hadn't changed; marsh off to the right, stretches of ugly flat land and then murdery worm-dunes ahead of that. And last, the big horrible canyons full of murder-birds. But determination was driving him. He was going to prove himself here, just as a big "fuck you" to Nemean and Vargas, if nothing else.

Virgil's voice gave him an idea.

"Hey, listen, big--uh, thing!" he called out, inspiration striking him. He turned and wing-walked rapidly toward her, his ungainly, gargoyle-esque waddle made almost tragic by the way he blindly stumbled through the white. That didn't seem to get him down, though; his head was up and excitement flickered through the lines of his body as he made his way to her. His magic, it seemed, found nothing--maybe the cold was damping it somehow?--but he angled for what he'd heard, and the strong smell of her hide. "Lemme get up there." He remembered Kerberos, the big dog, carrying him, its warmth, Imp nestling in. Virgil sounded kinda dumb, so maybe they could work together.

"I know this place, and there's a bunch of evil crap under the ground. Let me on and I'll watch with my magic eyes for it. Then we both win!" In fact--"I can let ALL of you know. So don't try to kill me, right? I ain't after winning, just surviving, so don't try to fucking kill me, okay? I remember some of you jerks trying to murder each other last time."

At least he hadn't heard Hemlocke here (not that he knew its name), but then again... The roar of the wind alerted Imp to another problem, even as he tried to just climb right into Virgil's woolly back. He was almost deafened. His grand plan about using his bat-ears to navigate was on the back burner. Or the back freezer, as it were. If Hemlocke were here, would he know? If they were about to stomp off a cliff or into a rock, would he even be aware-?

Shit. he thought; and it was apt.

Wynter shuffled up beside Virgil, ears swiveling in desperation to pick up any signs of danger as the harsh winds roared around them. "Or me," the steed raised his voice. "Everyone stick together, it'll be too easy to lose one another in this storm..." He was already glad for his thick black wool coat, though a number of the others didn't have this kind of advantage.

He nudged his shoulder into Vergil, giving her a gracious blink. He was glad to have a like-minded companion right out the bat, considering this trial looked like a dangerous trial to try and take on one's own. "We may want to see if we can find a shelter... If our goal is to survive."

How many of them were there? He tried to do a head count while everyone was still close together, but the thick flurries and biting cold on his eyelashes made it difficult.

... There were easily a dozen, if not more. Keeping everyone together was going to be difficult, but having that many warm bodies together would make surviving the snow plausible, at least.

WYNTER HASIRA
Like walking in the rain and the snow
When there's nowhere to go
And you're feelin' like a part of you is dying

Lyra came running through the tunnel from Canis, slowing down and stopping amongst the Gembound that were taking part in the Trials. As she passed by the Merchent, she managed to get out, "'M Lyra. Taking Winter's place." She didn't know if it was necessary to "take someone's place" but she was doing it anyways. Better not risk it.

As they stepped into the snowy wasteland, her fur and feathers immediately fluffed out, trying to cover the soft snake-like scales on her flanks. Her legs were already starting to grow cold. The bison's offer had her breathing with relief. "Th-th-th-thank you," she shivered, climbing carefully onto her back. She hoped that it wasn't too much, with both her and the alligator-creature up there.

Shida trotted into Hydra, the cold wind already buffeting her skin and sending chills up her spine. "Ah shit," she spat as her feet sunk into snow. "Jeez, it's fuckin cold!" Her wings opened and she tried to wrap them around her body as best she could, but it didn't do much to help. She glanced over at Ivory, trotting over and pressing against her sister without asking. "Hey, keep me warm, huh? You got way more fur."

She trotted into Hydra just behind the other, carefully analyzing the other Trial challengers. Already, as the Merchent released them into Hydra, she saw the advantages of grouping up. Surviving together. They didn't know yet if there were any dangers - many of Hydra's creatures would probably be hiding from the snow and wouldn't prove to be a danger, but she couldn't be sure of that. Still, the best bet would be to use the resources around her.

She kept up with them for now, her own fur keeping the cold tolerable, but she could feel a chill coming in. She kept close to the bison - it would probably be beneficial to stay near a larger creature that was more suited for the winter.