EQ Game Quest- Festival of the Five Tribes pt.2

As the First Ceremony comes to an end, those involved are given time to rest, as the festivities pick back up. However, it is not even two hours later that it is called upon that the second Ceremony, the Ceremony of Spirit, was to begin.

Those wishing to take part would follow a crowd, this one much smaller, to a big, blue painted tent, erry smoke and slight teal light coming from it, four of those massive guards protecting the entrance.

A Shaman stood before the crowd. “For those willing, next we offer the Ceremony of Spirits, where one may take of the spirit waters, and converse with those long gone. Your nerves will be put to the test, you're reasoning, your ability to understand reality if you are not careful.” “

He looks over the small crowd, many already backing off, leaving only maybe 20 total stern enough to enter. “do not think this Ceremony any less perilous simply because ones body is not tested. For the ancestors and spirits are finicky, often changing their mind on a single word, a singe whim. He who is left last, whos nerves or words allows them to stay longest, to please the spirits will be shown to be worthy of their blessing. Now, if you think yourself right of mind, and true of will, step forward, drink, and enter.”


Peyote strokes his beak a little and mulls over the next Ceremony. The rest did well to tend to most of his sores, but the Griffon found himself a litle worse off now that the adrenaline had died down. He looks over towards Defender, before curiously asking "How perilous is this'n, exactly? You've done it b'fore, right?"

Gary had recovered far better than the other two probably did, having been knocked out early, but he still looked towards the tent with a grim expression. He'd dealt with spirits now over the time he'd been in this world and had mixed results with them. What spirits of the dead would he even see, the buffalo? Maybe he'd see the human dead? It didn't matter to him now, he just needed to make up for the horrible performance in the last ceremony and moves forward to the water, "I'll go in..." The gryphon said somberly, looking down into it with a glare mixed with worry and doubt.

Feeling a bit better now after resting, but still bruised, Day made her way to the blue tent. Spirits and stuff, eh? To be honest, ghosts did make some part of her slightly nervous but she was never one to back down from a challenge, no matter what it would be. The cocky mare would enter with the griffon then look back at Peyo, listening in for Defender's response to his question. Probably a smart thing to ask.


Defender sat on the edge of the crowd, and seemed to stare into the tent emotionlessly. “physically? Nothing. And for most, they tend to simply be unable to understand what they saw, so they tend to ignore it.”

He shrugged. “have an uncle, great man, but he tried it once, nearly won. He used to not drink, he was into that whole 'holy soberty' thing. This time of year though you can now usually find him hanging around the tent serving the hard stuff.” he chuckled a bit. “but Uncle Shepherd of Warriors was always sentimental, its possible he just let something get to him more then is usual.”


Peyote hums a little bit, and ruffles his wings softly in thought. He looks to the other two and shrugs softly, before giving a nervous chuckle "Well, I'm not gonna be th' odd one out. I'm down too."


With all three ready, they approach the shaman and the entrance to the tent, waiting til it is their time to step forward. As they do the shaman nods, and holds out a bowl, some sorta ocean-green liquid softly glowing and bubbling a bit inside, steam rising from it and over the edge of the bowl. “if you wish to enter, you must sip from the spirit waters. Just a bit will do. Then you may enter.”

If they drink, they would feel the warm liquid seep through their body almost instantly, a strange, light warmth going through them. As they are ushered into the tent, all they would find is smoke and a faint light blue light across the ground, though they cannot figure out where it comes from.

And then, they would be alone. No noise, no friends, all lost to the room. A soothing voice would flutter over them from all directions.

*”Sit. Meditate. Let the mind wander.”


Peyote looks over the liquid in the bowl, frowning a little bit as he does so. He's heard of natives doing things like this back on Earth, but... he'd never really heard much more than that. "Too late f'r second thoughts..." the griffon murmurs, steeling himself internally before taking, and releasing, a deep breath, drinking a sip of the water, and heading inside. He finds a seat near the center, for what little it matters and settles down to sit, before letting his eyes flutter shut. At the least, the warmth helps him forget the aches and bruises...

Gary huffed and psyched himself up before leaning down to take a deep drink of the water, "I guess I'll see you guys... On the other side~" The gryphon quipped with a chuckle, moving into the tent.

Day gave him a light punch to his arm before going ahead and entering completely then taking a sip at the water. Afterward she sat and tried meditating. Hopefully she wouldn't fall asleep doing this, as she only successfully done it a few times when she used to live at home alone.

[d12+meditation folks]
Day,10
Gary, 11
Peyote, 6


Day sat in silence, say for the whispy crawl of smoke against the soft ground, the air cool, but the drink still arming her body, as she sat, meditating.

And then like a dagger cold winds whipped about her, snow covering her up to her chest as the warmth left, and her eyes darted open, revealing an snow covered landscape, a snowstorm wallowing around her, blinding, all encompassing....




Gary sat down, breathing in as he closed his eyes, the warm feeling working its way through his body deeply, soothing, as he sat in the silent fog.

And then he felt it, little slips, there for only a moment, twirling around him, like windy silk across his skin, as if his feathers and fur were not there to stop it. The slivers continued, until the soft slick feeling forced him to open his eyes, and he saw himself in an empty expanse, of nothingness, bright strings of smooth, yellow light slipping over and around his body, the only light in the place.


Peyote sat down, listening to the fog roll gently through the tent, before something made him twitch. A crack, a snap, the sound of snarling from behind, the warm feeling through his body starting to feel like boiling, his body seemingly rejecting his calmness, trying to coax him into fleeing as warm breath blew on his back, seeping into him unnaturally deeply.



Gary beheld the utter nothingness around him, the void. He looked down at his body covered in the yellow light and tried to inspect himself as much as he could. "What... where am I? Hello?!" The gryphon called out into the inky blackness.


Peyote's eyes shut rather slowly, and, shortly thereafter, felt like he was right back out in the swampy jungles of Hayven. The uncomfortable sensation of a humid, hot day, mixed with the unfortunately familiar sensation of sounds indicating the hunter had became the hunted were more than enough to shake the griffon's resolve... but, he steeled himself. He'd dealt with this before, he'll deal with it again in the future... now should be no different, right? In that vein, the griffon flares his wings out and brings himself around to see his hunter face-to-face


Day's eyes indeed shot open once she felt the snow, " WHAT?! NO. NO! " she wrapped herself up and started shivering, " Nonononononooooo! AAAAaaaghhh!! " she cried out into nowhere among the icy landscape. She hated the cold and snow. This had to be some cruel joke on the mare. " Whhhyyyeeee?? " she whined and pouted.



As Gary asked the black void before him, the yellow lights twirled and swirled around him more, and suddenly started blinking, and he heard dozens of little voices coming from them.

*”Hello? Hello! Yes! Hello hello! Halo? No, Hello! Ooohh,Hello!”

It was hard to tell if they were talking to him or each other, or both.


As Peyote turns, eyes opening, he, for a moment, sees something right infront of his face, teeth barred, each as big as his beak, before it opens up to snap at him and.....suddenly he was somewhere else, the feel of cold metal under him, the fog still around, but the light now a deep, bloody red, his skin feeling like his own blood wanted to break out of him and flee.


As Day wrapped herself up, the blizzard continued to beat down on her, and suddenly she started hearing voices laced into the wind as it cut through her fur and against her skin.

*“.....weak.....small....worthless.....broken.....” she heard, each word like an icicle point ran cross her skin sharply, coming from up ahead.


Gary only became confused, staring between all the lights swirling around him, "Are you the spirits that are apart of this trial?" He asked, trying to reach out and touch one.


As she shivered, the faint words pricked at her, " O-oi! Wh-who the h-hell y-y-you calling w-weak?! S-say it to m-m-my face!" she growled and shook a foreleg angrily up at the air, but then quickly brought it back to hold herself. Sitting here wasn't going to do anything, she was going to need to find shelter. She knew how to survive in a warmer setting but a cold one was foreign to her. Fire. She needed fire and a shelter.


Peyote screeched a startled challenge as best he could and prepared to strike, before the darkness of the creatures maw engulfed him and his surroundings. The feeling of metal was... new, definitely. Just as unpleasant as the situation he had found himself in before, albeit... without any form of familiarity to the locale... he got back up on to all fours and looked at the blood-red mist in confusion, before locking up a little as he felt his stomach, and his blood, trying to leap from his mouth to freedom. He gritted his beak and narrowed his eyes, trying his best to shake off the feeling "N-Not, real... doesn't matter none..."


[Gary, d12+Perception]
4
[Day, d12+Endurance]
8
[Peyote, d12+Will]
5


Gary fails to notice it until it was too late to consider what it might mean, but as he reaches to touch one of them, both around the area he is aiming for, and around his claw, the lights start to converge.

When he touches his claw to one, he feels a sudden shock, and suddenly he blinks and...has pokes himself hard enough in the arm where he was reaching to bleed, claw embedded into the flesh....and then suddenly all the lights start swarming into the wound, the sound of giggling filling the vast emptiness as his veins begin to glow and blink that bright yellow, slowly spreading from the wound, now oozing glowing yellow instead of blood.


As Day crawls her way forward through the thickening snow, she suddenly spots a light up ahead in the vast, flat snows-cape, and approaching, the insults stop, and she comes across....a massive spire of ice, a soft glow coming from within, somehow giving off heat without melting the spire, only turning the snow falling near it into warm rain, the ground around it melted, muddy.


Peyote cringes, falling over, his body flooding with pain, his body screaming at him, before he blinks, the feeling lighter, as if the gravity of the room had disappeared...and then he coughed, and a bit of blood came out, floating in the area oddly as things do in zero gravity.

And then he heard a clanging from up ahead, as if something was being beaten on like drums.



Gary yelled out in pain and shock, staring down at the claw now in his arm and at the lights seeming to flood into the wound and turn his blood a bright yellow, "What are you doing to me?! Stop it!" The gryphon starts to panic, feeling the pain and not wanting spirits to invade his body.


Peyote screeches in pain as the feeling overwhelmes him, and the griffon collapses. He curses his weakness, before shaking his head a little as he's slowly lifted off the ground... which definitely isn't a good combination with the nerve-wracking pains. He goes into a coughing fit, and recovers from it in time to spy... his own blood. At the least, his penchant for cuts and other little injuries back home left him less-worried at the sight of his own blood, but seeing it come from the mouth was an unsettling experience nonetheless. His ears fold back as he struggles to turn himself around, before lashing out in anger at the source of the noise


Seeing the light ahead the mare moved forward closer and closer to the spire. She would look up at it to see where the top of it led then back to the glowing let, trying to squint to see through the rain starting to pelt her. Slowly she put a hoof to the light to try to see if she can feel the warmth coming off it directly. Would she have to break it out? If it was warm, she would lean against it to try and get some of that on her body.



As Gary panicked, the giggling continued, as did the spreading glow, until it was up his arm and into the rest of him.

Suddenly, similar lights, but these green, started popping up in the void around him, before twirling and twisting together, until they solidified together into a familiar shape.

A young, strapping beauty of a buffalo lady say floating in-front of him, as if she was laying down on a long couch, he dress flowing off impossibly long into the void, as she took a puff from a long pipe and blew a wing of green smoke out and into the nothingness, and giggled.  “Well, you're certainly in a pickle, hm?”

Gary felt his arm twitch, as if he was losing control of it, and felt the lights starting to work up his right wing too.



As Peyote swipes at the empty mist, the gravity returns, and he slams into the ground. As he stands, the fog around him is not so thick, all having been thrown to the ground aswell. He is in a vast expanse of nothing, metal pillars all around, shooting up into a black sky where he cannot see.

But suddenly, he hears the growling again, far off in the distance to his left....


As Day goes to brush the spire, which is massive, but the top can be see about fifty feet upwards, she feels an odd mix odd warmth and coolness, until suddenly she sees the warm light inside twirl a bit, and suddenly sees what seems like a version of herself on the other side, but made of out red fiery energy.



Gary looked up in panic, thinking there were more spirits here to taunt and mess with him, but his fear of that happening was put to rest when he saw how lax the buffalo female was and at her words. He tried fighting against his arm and tried to will the spirits out, "These spirits! They're trying to take over my body or something, but no! I won't let them!"


It was weird, the feeling. Kinda like an Icy-hot from back on earth but wasn't painful. She enjoyed it's feeling, desperate for more when suddenly, the firey image of her made her pull back immediately. There was a bit of panic that briefly passed through her, but she remembered where she was. Just...just snow and a silly reflection is all. Just to reassure herself, the mare knocks on the ice lightly.


Peyote slams into the ground with a start, and shakes his head... a dizziness came over him, not unlike the many times he'd failed to land before he became... acquainted with his wings. He grits his beak and rights himself, before flicking his ears to the growling and taking note of the 'forest' of metal spires... he quickly begins to grow further frustrated, and quickly pounces upon the noise, for what little good it will do him "T-This is my head, thank you! I-I won't let you scare me!"


[Gary, d12+Will]
9
[Peyote, d12+Perception]
3







As Day jumps back, the reflection does too. As she approaches, it returns aswell.....as she taps, so does it....and cracks start to form upon the inside of  he icy spire where the reflection of her tip taps, but unlike her it smiles...and continues to tap, even as she stopped, slowly the cracks deepen, spread....


As Peyote once again lashes out, he finds his anger hitting nothing, nothing but the stone cold floor, as he feels his blood boil, ans sees little red droplets float up from his pores....

and suddenly a low growl was right behind him, and a deep, cannibalistic voice spoke. “You attack blindly, react blindly. Even the wolf knows when to strike, the rabbit when to run. What, then, are you to not know such things?” turning, he would see....some demented creature, like a twisted version of himself mixed with a wolf, smiling as it drooled on the ground, each tooth massive, its size larger then him by seemingly varying degrees, somehow unable to be measure by his eyes.


Garys arm twitched, but as he struggled, he felt himself keeping control, the lights spreading slowing, but not stopping. From all throughout him he heard the little voices speaking.

*”no fun! No fun? Yes, no fun! Stop resisting, let us play!”

The foxy Buffalo lady chuckled, taking another puff, and blowing it around Gary, the odd green smoke pleasant, like tea and cut grass. “Well, you're holding up well, for now...but its not going to stop.” she smiles, and rolled over a bit with a yawn, stretching on her back as she looked over at him, taking another puff.

“what now then, human?”


She smirks, " Heh, y-yea. Just a-as I thoug-" she stops mid sentence as the image taps back and the ice cracks. Her heart rate picks up again and there is a sense of fear that washes over her. It struck home even more when it smiled on it's own, " Ah...n-no...nononope...nope so much nope! " she quickly grabbed a hooffull of snow and pressed it against the ice where the cracks were, " No, no, d-don't break, d-d-don't break! "


Gary glared at the green buffalo, growling. It didn't even cross his mind that this spirit knew that he was human, he just wanted those other damn spirits out! "I will... take back my body!" The gryphon growled, trying to will the spirits out, concentrating on them to try and force them away.


Peyote comes up short, the voice appearing instead behind him. The griffon growls a little and turns to react, before stopping- and listening. He looks himself over, noting the anger almost radiating off of his bulky frame, and lets out a short sigh "I... a fool, I am. I talk about keeping a level head, but-" he stops, taking another moment to inhale, and exhale "-the moment things go wrong... well, you know." he goes quiet, regarding the monstrosity with unease "Even after years of work, I jus'... fly right off the handle, I guess." The griffon responds, his mind still somewhat-clouded by anger, albeit tempered by the blunt words
[Gary, d12+Will]
4


Days attempts are worthless, the cracks not on her side, and even as they spread enough to be, the snow hardly helps to repair it, as the whole area infront of her is cracking, chunks falling, the other her on the inside distracted, but still smiling, happily, slowly chipping her way out.

Suddenly, she hears her own voice, but distorted, scratchy, coming through the crack. “~Im coming out Daaaayyyyy, one one or another~”


As Gary struggles, he cant keep it going, already half his chest and right wing as glowing too, and his arm suddenly is lost to him, and starts trying to pull him this way and that way randomly, as the spirits inside giggle and laugh.

The Buffalo rolls her eyes as she watches Gary get pulled this way and that way, simply puffing on her pipe. “Well, that is that then, you no longer own both arms. Fun huh? You know, maybe simply standing there like an angry baby isnt your openly option, or do you just not have any friends to be used to the idea of getting help, hm?” she says, not even looking at him as she puffs a ring into his face from the side of her mouth.


The big monstrosity just smiles, and then laughs at Peyote, the laughter echoing across the empty metal expanse. Peyote sees the oddity of his body slow down to nearly stopping, and the creature sticks its tongue out, licking up some droplets near itself.

“well, too late though, here I am, here you are.” it stares at him hungrily. “what do you do in this situation, human?” the monster takes a step forward. Looking down at Peyote.

“what do you do, when anger and violence isnt the answer, but the other side presents it non the less?”


Gary was panicking now, the feeling of losing control of his body not sitting well with him at all. He shot his head up to look away from his body and to the green spirit with pleading eyes, "Please... I'm sorry for my ignorance, but I don't want to lose my body, not again! Please, help me!"


She was starting to to panic, she did not like the sound of that voice at all. More and more piles of snow was being piled on to the pillar but to no avail was it working. She even tried to press her own hooves against it to stop the cracks. Her body was starting to feel numb from the cold and she continued to shake and shiver, breathing heavily. " Dammit...dammit...!! " She didn't know what would happen if this were to break. She was actually scared and confused as to what to do. Growling and out of frustration, she pulls her foreleg back and does the only thing she knows how to do as a reaction to something that frustrates her. She hits it.



Peyote blanches at the laughter, trying his best to keep his cool- dang big-ol' wolf. He cranes his neck up as it steps in closer and closer, his wings fluttering a little as he takes time to consider its question... and try to remove the cracking in his voice. No matter how fake this is, the sight in front of him is terrifying, nonetheless "I... well... there's always running, but... it's not an answer. It doesn't fix anything. In my opinion, at least... the answer'd be t' stand your ground, and extend your hand... try to... 'tame' the situation, like I'd tame an angry critter? Ain't like you don't prepare f'r th' worst when ya try it, but... it's worth a shot, at least."


[Day, d12+will]1
12


Day steels her nerves, and as she slams her hoof down in anger, the other her actually flinches back for a moment, her smile gone....but then it returns, and the part of the spire separating them crumbles away and melts, leaving a smooth, curved opening between them, heat hitting Day heavily from it, as the flamey reflection herself lowers her hoof, smiling, and starts slowly walking out to her.

“~oh, thank you, how kind of you to help! Man, it was *hot in there haha!~”


As Gary begs for help, a smirk comes to the buffalos face.

```”Charila, leave the poor man alone.”

and just like that, the feeling of lost control stops, and with a rush all the lights leave him quickly through the first wound, Gary feeling the breath leave him, before all the yellow lights come together and form a big, but cutesy, pouting Arabian mare.

“awwww,  Charmer, I was having fuuuunnnnn....” she says, but then giggles, looking over and waving at Gary.


The monster grins widely, and lowers itself so its at eye level with Peyote.
“No, you run, or you fight. You listen too carefully, expect no lies.” he wolf-griffon monstrosity licks its lips. “but even the spirits can lie.”

And then, it opened its mouth slowly, hot breath washing over Peyote.


Daybreak's eyes widen in surprise as she feels the heavwave wash over her. Yes, that felt good! She'd even take a step closer toward it but uses caution, tilting her head, " ...Who...? Are you? "

Gary gasped in shock when he felt the light leaving his body and panted heavily when it was finally all out. He patted all around his body, laughing when he felt his body was his own again. Looking up, the gryphon was about to say something, but suddenly those two looked familiar. "Wait a second! You two... I've seen you two before! We fought giant stone statues of you!" He remarked, looking between the two.

frowns a little, before sticking his tongue out in the wolf-monstrosity's face "W-Well, in that case... you're lying, ya big jerk." the griffon huffs, before shrugging "Critters only have two options, but people have more than that. I don't believe running away ever fixes it, since... I mean, it's rarely worked in th' past."


As Daybreak walks forwards, the other, red fiery her walks the same path, til both meet face to face.

“~Im just something thats here to replace you, duh!~” hit says, and suddenly Brings Day into a hug, and she feels and smells her fur burning, her blood start to boil!



“Hmm? Ah, oh, no...no no....our statures were gone before you arrived.” Charmer says, blowing another ring of smoke at Gary.

Charila giggles, and reaches out, flicking Garys beak. “You're silly, really silly. And weak! Oh, and angry!” she nods happily.



Peyote hears a voice from all around, and suddenly the inky blackness is closing in, as the jaws slowly surround him.

“No, but it does keep you alive to figure things out, if you cannot fight at the moment. Something, you will learn today.”

And the jaws snap shut, and after a moment of blistering pain, Peyote wakes up with a start, suddenly outside the Tent from before, the Shaman looking down at him.
“hmm.....I think you failed....” He shrugs, and offers Peyote hoof.



She tenses up at the words and then the heat, " The hell is that supposed to mean!? " and then tries to pull away from the other. She loved the heat but this was too hot to handle even for her.


"No, that wasn't you? Ah well..." Gary waved away the smoke ring and went cross eyes when he was booped on the beak, but couldn't help but smile at the mare, "Well, what now? Do you guys just want to like, talk or something? You two seem nice enough, despite on of you trying to take my body for a sin," He looked between the two, wondering what was to come next.


[Day, d12+Will]
12




With some struggling, Day manages to push the other her away, but notices the burns on herself, deep, and blistering, where she was hugged.

The other her giggles, in that deep, echoing, distorted voice.  “~Well, that didnt work. Was worth a shot though!~”


As Gary asks them, they share a look, and smirk, before looking back to him.

Charmers eyes glow. “Well, is that what you want this to be? Just a questionnaire after you failed to defend your own mind, your own body? Sitting here, at our whims, hoping we keep playing nice, hm?” she blows another ring at Gary, as Charila giggles, and stops skipping a circle around him.

“Well he *is kinda cute, on the inside too!~”


Peyote isn't in the straightest of mindsets, and... hasn't noticed the inky darkness closing in, somehow. He curses a little, for what little difference it makes, and yells out as the pain sets in. He wakes up with a start, and, in panic, swings out at the shaman. He comes to his senses shortly after and picks himself up off the ground, before wincing a little and folding his ears back "S-Shit, uhm... sorry. I-I startle easily, and, uh..." he trails off, before sitting back down on his haunches and sighing "W-Well, that was a bust. I... I think I learned something, it's jus'... blegh, I don't like what I learned. It goes against, well... what I thought I'd already clued out."


"Oh well, I was hoping we could play nice, y'know? No need to always be fighting, but I will if I have to. I see no reason why we can't be civil," Gary spoke to them, hoping that his words would dissuade any sort of actions the spirits were about to try and pull. On the inside, a feeling of dread started to take him over as he realized his situation.


She hisses in pain looking at her body then to the flaming figure....then to her body again, " One second..." the mare flops down in the snow and screams into it. First, to cool off her burns, next screaming because it's fucking cold! She immediatly got back up and faced to the figure again with a stern face, " Who and what are you? "


The Shaman shrugs, looking Peyote up and down. “Well, maybe think on it. The spirits lessons are not always simple, or fully honest.”


After Garys question, Charila giggles, and clamps a hoof down on Garys shoulder.  Smiling at him.

Suddenly, Charmer gets up off her invisible couch and walks over laying down infront of Gary and putting her snout to nearly touching him, blowing some smoke in his face.

“And how might you stop us, if we were to do something you disprove of?”


As Day asks the same question yet again, the other her giggles again, and suddenly Daybreak feels a different warmth behind her.

Turning, she would see a massive buffalo, nearly twice as big as Slayer of Dragons was, looking down at hr, the buffalo a red, cloudy thing, mist coming off his hooves.
“she is a trickster spirit, do not indulge its games, would be my suggestion.”


Gary shrugged off the hoof on his shoulder, giving weary looks to the two spirits and began to back away, "Oh, you know! Force of will, kicking and screaming. Not much to do against spirits without the proper tools, but I'll fight to the bitter end here," He gave them both a firm nod of his head.


Day nearly lept out of her coat when she saw the massive buffalo behind her, falling backward in the snow, " Whoa! Who....what....!?" she looked at the flaming twin behind her then at the buffalo, " Oi, if that's a trickster...then....who are you? " she had an angry look on her face. An angry pouty look.


Peyote rubs a shoulder a little bit, before hanging his head "Yeah, it said something similar. I can't shake that it wasn't much of a lie, I guess... it's up t' me t' figure out when to run... It rarely worked for me back home, so I just sorta... wrote it off, but I don't think it was right of me t' do that. And, uh... by the way. Is there a way to bump back into the spirit? It was like... a wolf, mixed with me."


The Shaman nods to Peyote. “not know, but later, on your own and with the right tools yes.”


When Gary pushes off Charilas hoof, she frowns, and Charmer chuckles. “Well, that wouldn't work.” she blows some smoke off to the side, but this bit lingers, and forms a door.

“Well, heres the simple truth. You can stay and risk it, or you can leave out the door now. Your choice.” she shrugs.


The buffalo just stares at Daybreak. “The Tricksters Father. And *you, Little one, are the one that just undid all my work, to keep on of the most dangerous spirits in our realm sealed up.”

He looks up, as the other Day starts walking towards them and the exit, giggling...but this time, Day notices the fire energy inside the spire is following, flowing into the other her, whos simply skipping along happily, until she gets to the exit, all the fire having drained into her, her form now giving off flames, and a deep glow at the center of her form.

“~thank you Daybreak, man was I getting bored in that cage, heee~”




Gary was about to take her up on the offer, but something within him clicked. He wasn't going to be a bitch and willingly lose this competition. No, he was going to stand and fight these buffalo! "Guess I'll risk it then," He told her with a smirk, daring her to try something.


She blinked at all that happened letting it slowly click and register, then growled. She stands up to her hooves, " Goddammit..." and starts to scoop up a snowball in her hoof, looking up to the giant buffalo, " So how do I get that twerp back? "


"Well, I didn't mean now... I reckon it wants t' give me time to think 'bout all this, anywho. Do ya know what it was, out of curiousity? OR was it just a part 'a me"


The shaman rubs his chin, deep in thought. “i....do not know....hmm.....i have some things to look into you....humans, did not meet spirits under the same conditions as us....i did not think about the fact you three had no connections to this world.....”

Suddenly, the shaman has shoved his big ol walking stick thing into Peyotes Arms. “here, you're in charge til I return. Its easy, just...make sure no one passes out upon getting thrown out of the tent.” and with that, the shaman has run off.


Charmer giggles a bit, and pokes Garys beak. “Well then, heres the game. Ask us questions, entertain us. If you dont, well, I wont stop my friend here from entertaining herself~” looking Back, Gary would see Charila wink, and twitch, as if she was gonna break apart again.


“***You three have done enough.” the massive buffalo says, pushing Day behind himself. “Go, leave, there is only one thing you could do here to help, and I fear your soul is too fragmented, parts of it might not survive or remain if you were to do the one thing you might. So go, leave.”

He stares at the giggling Day-clone, whos giggles are disturbingly distorted, and echoing around the vast snowy plains. Daybreak notices the storm was stopped....


Gary nodded, feeling rather pressured all of a sudden with the feeling of doubt creeping in. Alright, so he had to keep some spirits entertained with a Q and A session. "Alright, how about I ask a question, you answer, then ask me a question and so on? Unless of course you already know everything about me, being spirits and all!" The gryphon offered, hoping the spirits would take that offer. Feeling they would probably be annoyed with him for that though, he decided to ask his first question though, "So, earlier you said your statues were already gone. Who were the statues of that we fought then?"

Peyote nods a little bit, and strokes his chin in thought. "Maybe... hrm. I'll have t' look into this m'self once I got th' time an' the resources." The griffon warks quietly ss1 he finds himself in charge, gripping the staff tightly and bobbing his head. He's not sure what's going on, but... he straightens up and holds the staff tight, waiting for anymore to step out


Day was scooted to the side easily by him, but kept an annoyed look on her face. You three? One may not survive? Well if that wasn't an opportunity to get rid of one of her others she didn't know what was. With a devilish grin she let forward back to the buffalo's side...but paused. She didn't know why, but continued...then paused again. Lifting her leg was proving to be difficult but finally she pushed through and called back out to him, " Oi, count me in dude. "



Charila giggles and ruffles Garys head. “Maybe we will ask questions, maybe we wont~” after he had asked his second though, she rolls her eyes.

“well, surly Gary you know women like to talk about themselves more then others, hmmm?” Charmer giggles, blowing more smoke in his face. “but its interesting enough. The statues are just little windows to allow some spirits interact with the physical world directly, usually to guard something, or to train mortals. I can only guess which ones you fought, but most likely some old fashioned types.”


As Day stepped forward again, the buffalo blinked. “you would have to trap the spirit inside of yourself....this will not be easy, and you will never be free of the trickster...are you sure you are prepared for this, little one?” The buffalo is nervous, and quickly snaps forward as the Trickster-Day starts casually walking towards them, smiling widely.


"Yeah, they were a Saddle Arabian mare, a buffalo, and a minotaur," Gary explained to the two. "I guess you're right though. What can you tell me about you two?" The gryphon leaned lay himself down to get more comfortable for this little session.


She blinks at the response, " Wait, have that trapped inside me? And never? " this was starting to sound like a bad idea to the mare. She thought she would have to get the trickster back into the ice somehow. The other two within her were hard enough to deal with but they were...tame...for the most part. But still, she did fuck up letting it free so she had to take some sort of responsibility for it. She looked to the trickster then to the Buffalo, " Is there really no other way to seal it? "


Peyote doesn't really fully understand what he's doing, so he just checks in on the other entrants who have failed as he waits, and makes sure they're up and about. The He gives little bits of chitchat from time to time, trying to compare experiences with those willing to talk



[Gary, d12+perception]
5





The buffalo shakes his head. “well, never isnt the right word, you may be free of her eventually, but her mark will always be on your soul....what is left of it anyways.” he sighs, taking a step to put his leg between Day and the now cackling, charging trickster spirit, who seemed tp no unstable in shape now, leaving a trail of melted snow as long, whispy trail of fire left her.

“none available. None close by. None she wont be far away from by the time it is prepared. You have your choices. Run, and let her be free to do who knows what on both worlds, or help, but lose a part of yourself to this realm, and have to put up with this spirit mucking around inside you.”

he looks down at her, a soft expression on his face. “i am sorry, the choices are not easy, but I will hold her off as long as I can if you choose to run.”


Charila and Charmer share a look, and grin.  As Charmer looks back to him he..thought he saw something different, just for a moment in her eyes, but it might just be all the smoke in his eyes.

“Well, I am Charmer, Charmer of Snakes. I was the daughter of an old Mossfoot Chief. “ theres a sparkle in her eyes. “I....died, but not before I did some deed worthy of becoming a spirit of this world.”

next Charila outright picks Gary up, turning him around as she sits down, Gary near her face sitting on her hooves. “my turn my turn! I was a middle class noble from an Arabian colony! Me and Charmer became good friends, got into all sorts of trouble haha! Eventually we both went off, mucking about and ended up guaranteeing our spots....here!” she giggles, and simply drops Gary back onto the ground.


Gary groaned in annoyance as he was dropped and picked himself back up, slightly dizzy from being picked up and moved around so rapidly, but thought against giving them the rise they probably wanted. "Alright then," The gryphon huffed, "How'd you two meet and become friends? I'd imagine the daughter of a chief and a middle-class mare wouldn't be able to meet each other so easily."


The mare bit her lip. She wasn't one to run from anything but this was serious. In her mind there was a flicker of panic, nervousness and fear. The other anger and desperation. She held a hoof to her head, feeling a massive headache. Hooves would start to tredge through the snow as if to run. "Don't you dare!" "But, we can't let it loose..." Daybreak was having a literal internal struggle on the choice she had to make, the three of them, even the timid one having her own say on the matter. The two within were not going to go down without a fight but it was Day's choice to make, not theirs. " I....will..." she grunted, trying to get the words out, "....do it...."








Charmer shrugs. “Met when we were dragged along for trade dealings, but eventually we both started sneaking off to go explore and hang out. Typical rebellious teenage antics.” he giggled.

Charila nodded. “yup! Fathers were too strict on hanging out with 'upper' or 'lower' classes, so much as us ditching our duties and studies over it!” she smirked at Gary. “but we did it anyways, and now, were here!”


The Buffalo nods. “...i am Thorn Footer, I commend your bravery. Now. I need you to fight, to calm your inner struggle, so when the time comes, you might open yourself up to be the vessel, the cage...until then.” he suddenly charges forward, and meets the Trickster spirit head on, both ramming heads.

The result was a massive heat wave turning all the snow in a large, fifty foot area around them into steam, a perfect circle of now clear grass as they both float for a moment, Day getting soaked to the bone as shes nearly blown away.

“I will keep my daughter busy!” he snorts, and the two jump back from eachother, only to ram heads and cause another heat wave to be released.


Suddenly, Gary feels...kinda hot? And the area seems to distort for a moment. Both spirits hes with quickly turn, a surprised look on their face, before they shakes their heads and return to Gary with a smile. “so, next question then?”


Peyote would blink, the flaps of the tent fluttering from the inside a moment, and he swore he felt a bit of heat....but then another contestant flops out, so that must've been the reason.



Gary wasn't an idiot and could tell that wasn't supposed to happen if both spirits were acting surprised, "Woah, hang on, what was that?"

Peyote hurries over and pulls the contestant out of the tent fully, and a good few feet away (albeit with some struggle). He taps the contestant on the face once or twice, and says "Yo, dude. Rise 'n shine, man."

She doesn't bother to shake herself from the water as she was too busy watching what was happening. As they fought, Day blinked and her vision faded a bit, going in and out. Kindle spoke first, " The hell are you doing? This shit is none of our business, stop getting involved with these things!" Mocha then spoke, " She's...actually right, I don't...I don't know if we should be doing this." " Oi, you're both a pain in my ass and right now, taking this thing in would do better for the world than you two ever did." There was a faint gasp and a hiss of a growl. "...O-oh..." "What the hell do you know? The shit I had to go through to make it out? To become...you?!" there was a silence for a moment, " I'm not getting knocked out so easily. But if I am, I'll find my own way back to earth and leave both of you here. " Meanwhile the mare was struggling to keep standing, her eyes squint shut as she concentrated and finally she breathed shakily, now ready for anything.


[Day, both a Will and Meditation roll please~]
Will, 7
Meditation, 12


Day feels pin pricks in her mind as the natural laws of the spirit world allow the other two to struggle more, talk more, prod more.

But Day was learning to control herself more, and taking a moment, she is able to nearly ignore another heat wave as she metaphorically forced the other two into a corner. She had control now, an opening to do what the buffalo said needed to be done.

Suddenly the trickster gets the upper hand, twirling in the air and slamming down on the buffalo, causing him to make a small crater and grimace as she giggles from on top his back, and waves to Day. “~Ill be with you shortly Day!~”

But the buffalo isnt out yet, knocking her off and jumping backwards, landing in front of Daybreak about ten feet. “You ready little one? Sit, calm yourself, imagine an opening, a doorway to your mind....and toss out what is not needed, so you may cage what must be caged....”


Meanwhile Charmer rolls her eyes, taking a big puff of her pipe. “all little realms of the spirit world are connected to all others. One very powerful spirit has been let out, and an old fool is attempting to contain it. He'll lose of course, have fun with that running amok once you get out of here.” she chuckles, looking back to Gary.

“Now, you have more questions, this tale is getting...boring, I think, right Charila?”

Gary sees familiar blinking for a moment behind him, “Yup! Our old lives are long and gone, too old, too boring!” he then feels another wave, but this time the two ignore it.


Gary looked at the two with even more concern and doubt, ignoring that the two were seemingly getting bored, "Wait, the worlds are connected? Like the ones that are doing the ceremony right now? Shouldn't we go and try to help contain this spirit?!" His head whipped between the two, panic in his voice.

Daybreak breathed as the others in her mind protested, trying to keep herself focused as much as possible, " Ready, but hurry up. " in her mind's eye she visualized a door. A pretty ornate one if I do say so myself, creaking open slowly then completely.


Peyote would notice only about 4-5 could be left in the tent, as another plops out, and crawls away, seemingly terrified.



Charmer just breaths a long, big cloud in Garys face. “transversing this place can seem like a labyrinth even to spirits, much less mortals who can only do its minimally on their own. Its not our job to fix others mistakes, nor is it yours, or the reason you came here, no?” she yawns, and stands back up.

Suddenly, Charila has spun Gary around, face shoved nearly against him. “Yeah, stop worrying about what others are doing, when you're still here, with us!”


As Day forced her mind open, a door similar to what she thought of would appear infront of her, slowly opening. To the observant eye, three figure would be standing before it..

The door was hidden behind the Buffalo, who stared forward, then....stepped aside at the last moment, as the Trickster shot at him like a meteor. And so slammed right inside the door.

The fiery spirit bounced around and tired lashing out, Day feeling like her mind was on fire, under attack, her forms having to fight to stay out of the spirits way, as it tried to find a way to escape, her mind and soul straining under the pressure of having already been at its limits to a degree. Something had to give, it seemed.


When Gary first got here, he may have let it be, to sit by and do nothing because it wasn't his problem. Now though, after everything that had changed, including him, he refused to sit idly by. "No!" He growled in the face of Charila. "I took an oath to defend the weak and the innocent, to do whatever I could to protect others! If there's an evil spirit on the loose, especially with my friends still in this dreamscape, I'll do whatever I can to make sure they get out safely!" The glare he gave Charila and Charmer was of defiance and will.

[D12+willpower for each mind]

Day, 2
Kindle, 5
Mocha, 1


Charila rolls her eyes, Charmer just looking off into the empty void.

“You've grown boring.” Charila says simply, and points to the smoky door. “Last chance.”


Meanwhile Day writhes in pain, the Buffalo looking on, waiting, watching. He mind was a mess we willpower fading, but she could feel the spirit losing control, losing power, bleeding it off to try and escape.

And then her heart beat, once, like it was about to explode, and suddenly Day blacked out.

A moment later, Kindle would wake up, in charge of the spectral body, though she could feel only temporarily as Day stirred inside. The door was gone, shut, locked, her inner mind tucked away again. Blinking, she would see someone else Standing before the buffalo.

Mocha. The buffalo was looking down at her sadly. “im afraid the choice was made little one. Come, I will protect you during your stay here.” he said, looking over at Day/Kindle.

“The Trickster Lua is now trapped inside of you, taking up a part of your soul. In time, the proper way to seal her here may be found again, but until then, be weary, be careful. She may be caged, but she may still influence you more then you know. Your mental walls will not last against her like your own parts, and will need repairs, I suggest meditation myself.”


Gary just growled and sneered at the two, angry at their uncaring nature, "I will not back down before two spirits who are so callous and uncaring about what happens to the world around them, what could happen to their own people if that evil spirit gets out!" The gryphon spit onto the ground, "Do your worst..."


After that whole ordeal Kindle sat up. Her dark eyes blinked and she looked around. Snow. Wait. Hooves? Looking before her she saw the buffalo and a worried, distraught looking Mocha who shivered only slightly. Mocha looked up at the buffalo with lowered ears and slight tears in her green eyes, one falling down her face and over her light freckles. She put on a light smile and rubbed her shoulder with a foreleg, " I gues...this makes sense..." she spoke softly looking down to the grass below. Day on the other hand, hoof, was trapped behind the glass of her mind and next to her, the firey trickster. Wait, she wasn't supposed to end up like this! She threw her body against the cracked glass and started to panic. Kindle shook her head, " This...this actually....turned out perfect. " she smiled.



Charila and Charmer share a look, then look back to Gary with a angry frown. “well then.”

Suddenly Charila comes apart, back into those little whisps as she surrounds Gary, Charmer suddenly becoming smoke, and surrounding him too, both entering through his lungs and pore, his eyes, his wounds.


The buffalo puts a kind hoof on Mochas shoulder. “shh shh little one, it'll be alright. Come, we have a long journey ahead of us.”

He looked up at Kindle. “leave now, the way you came. I will do what I can on this end to prepare for a more permanent solution to sealing away the trickster, but you must search on your end too. Look for something called 'the silver fruit', you will need it.”

Internally, Day had made progress on the crack, but the Trickster Lua just rolled her eyes, sitting back and meditating. “well, I guess I did get you replaced, at least in a sense, eh~?” she mocks, letting her natural abilities slowly crawl her power back up, though this would take quite some time.


Peyote would find that only three were left inside, including his friends...

[Gary, d12+Will twice]
11 and 9

Peyote shuffles about nervously as he checks on the next couple washouts, helping them to their hooves and getting them a bit of water. "Shucks. I hope Day an' Sundown'r alright."


Gary screams, his body being thrown into pain and agony as the spirits assault him, but he stands firm. With burning passion, he forces Charila and Charmer out, who seem surprised, only for Charmer to hiss, her eyes like a snake, scales over her body, tongue pointed.

“well, thats enough of ***You then!” and with a smoke door forming behind him, Gary suddenly finds himself back in the real world, slamming back first into Peyote.


Peyote goes back to leaning on the staff as he waits, humming a little to himself. He looks up just in time to spot Sundown, and lets out a startled yelp as he tries his best to catch him. Thank goodness he isn't a lanky guy! He helps right Sundown and taps his head a little, before leaning down to check on him "Hey, Sundown. You okay?"

Day looked to Lua and just growled at her. This was what she wanted afterall, to keep this thing in here with her. Kindle nodded to the buffalo and started to gallop off so that she could get out. Silver fruit, huh? Mocha kept her head down as she walked with the buffalo and gave a weak smile, " It wouldn't be the first time...see, once I met this pegasus named Lockheart and..." she started and continued to speak as she walked with him. Mocha may have been not as strong as the other two, but she was a learner and wanted to know more about this spirit world while she was going to be there.


Sundown glared at the tent after he was picked up, "Fuck you too, you lazy ass, good for nothing spirits!" He growled and stalked away to wait with the others.

Peyote rubs the griffon's back as he helps him up, before frowning "Bad experience, then? Ya did better'n me, at least. I think Daybreak's th' last one, 'r one of th' last."

Sundown growled at the tent again, "There was something in there, some evil spirit they said, and they refused to help me go after it. It could get at Daybreak, dammit!" He paced back and forth, clearly very agitated.


As Kindle walks back, her world goes white, and suddenly she strolls out of the Tent and is back in the buffalo village. To those with eyes to see, Day would have a long stripe of clear, dark orange hair, slightly glittery, through her mane and tail, a reminder of what was now dwelling inside of her.


Not too much longer, the last Buffalo comes out, as the shaman Returns and takes back his Staff! “We have a winner, our spirits champion!” the crowd quickly forms around the young, spryly light tan buffalo, who is ushered off by the cheering crowd, leaving the three humans to themselves.

oh, but as he grabs the staff, the Shaman whispers to Peyote "we shall talk later."


Looking at Daybreak and not even noticing the orange striped, Sundown quickly bolted over to her, placing his hand on her shoulders, "Daybreak! They said there was some evil spirit in there, are you al-" Her eyes. They were dark purple. "No... No no no! Kindle!" He hissed at her, his look of worry going into a glare.


Peyote hums a little bit, before trying to take on a reassuring tone "She's tough, Gary. She'll beat it." The griffon smiles as the mare comes out and bobs his head happily, before oohing softly at the physical change. He nods a little bit towards the shaman and returns the Staff, before giving a confused look between Sunfown and Daybreak "... Kindle? What? Did you change your name too, Daybreak?" he asks, unaware of the meaning behind the eye color

Kindle was seeing everything for herself for the same time. She didn't even pay much attention to Sundown, moving passed him. She breathed in the air, felt the dirt under her hooves, the breeze in her mane...." It's...to have a body again..." her darker eyes started to tear up some and she let out a shaky sigh with a small laugh. After having a bit of a moment to herself she turned to the other two griffons with a small smile on her face, " You could say that Peyo. " she paused to think, " Although, if Daybreak is easier for you, that's fine. I don't care either way. " then she looked to Sundown, " Yes? Oh, don't worry. Your little girlfriend is still here, but you won't be seeing her for a while. " she spoke with a bored, flat tone.

Peyote twists his face up in confusion, and looks between Daybreak and Sundown again. He cautiously steps a bit forward, before asking "...This ain't ome kinda intensive roleplay, is it? What's goin' on here?"

Sundown glared daggers at Kindle, his wings and hackles raising threateningly, tears starting to form in his eyes. "Let her out, dammit! I am not... I refuse to lose her!" He growled at the mare, his mind trying to calm itself like Bengal had taught, but his heart refused to let this sit. "I will not let her go..." The agitated gryphon whispered loudly.

"Let her out? Is this some kinda... multiple personality thing?"

She gave the griffon a side glance, " And I'm not going to miss the opportunity. You wanted to go home, right? Now you have a partner. " she looked to Peyo and didn't respond, instead continuing, " Besides, this wasn't my idea, but hers. " her eyes go a bit colder, more serious, " There's another in here. A trickster that kicked Mocha out..." she pulled one of the orange streaks over her shoulder, looking at it with disdain, " While I'm glad to have a body again, I want this thing out of me as soon as possible. I'm going to need some kind of silver fruit. " Kindle then walked forward, looking around, " Where is Defender, I need to speak with him. "



Sundown let out yet another growl of frustration, not letting this sit. Quickly, he leaped forward and in front of her, trying to block her path, "This is not over, Kindle! I don't give a single shit about going home so long as she's trapped. I told you she had to agree with you, you had to talk things through! I will do whatever I can to get her back, dammit..." His steely blue eyes glared into her dark purple.

Before Peyote can properly continue the conversation, two excited Female fans step infront of him, and start fan girling over him, and pull him off and away for drinks, asking him questions and poking as his muscles as he is left at their mercy.

She stopped as Sundown blocked her path and looked him up and down before meeting back to his blue. " Don't be a fool. If you want any chance of getting her back, you'll keep your beak shut and help me find this silver fruit. My first goal is to get rid of this thing and you are supposed to train yourself so you can take on Nebula. He'll wipe the floor clean with you in your current state. "

Peyote was about to step between the two, but finds himself suddenly occupied! As worked up as he is, he can't manage to get the point across, and is resigned to being fangirled. He gives Daybreak a hopeful look... maybe she'll pull him away somehow!(not)

Sundown huffed, trying to keep back tears of frustration, stepping up t the mare until he had to properly look down at her. "To hell with Nebula, to hell with finding a way home. I'll help you find this silver fruit, get rid of this spirit, but I'll also find a way to get Daybreak back..." His eyes clenched shut and he visibly shuddered, mind deciding on saying something stupid. His eyes opened and stared down at her intently, watery, "Call it stupid, young love. Call it fake, say it isn't real, but I've come to... To love her and will do anything to be with her."

Kindle stared blankly at Sundown as he spoke. Was this guy for real? Her eyes seemed to go a bit lighter, but just for a short moment before fading into dark again, " Well I loved someone too once and you don't see me bitching about it. Come on then Sunny-boy, start asking around about this fruit so we can have a lead. There isn't much time to waste and I don't know what will happen if this..." she paused for a moment, as if calculating something in her mind, "...Lua? Starts getting strong enough to take over. Get a notebook, start investigating. I want to get as much info as possible before the next ceremony starts. " she takes the buffalo journal out and starts getting ready to use it as she looks for Defender.

Defender was off, perhaps just in sight, having a chat with Bone Breaker and another of his cousins.

Sundown stared down towards where the mare had been for several long moments, his eyes starting to water over before he turned to look after Day-... Kindle with a sad expression and one of remorse. "So what? You turned into a bitter woman that can no longer feel anything or something? You just switched it all off and shut out everyone?" He called after her with obvious anger in his voice. Without waiting for a response, he trudged his way over to the buffalo in charge of the ceremony tent, "You! What do you know about a Lua and a silver fruit?!" He barked out with a determined look on his face.

The shaman jumps, turning, but already the two massive guards were stepping infront of Gary, snorting in his face.  The shaman frowns, and pushes on to the side a bit so he can see the griffon. “off the top of my head? Nothing, but im sure I could find you some info. But with an attitude like that, I will not. Go, enjoy the festival, I know now the trial did not go for you humans as expected, but this is no the time or place to talk, and more importantly, the answers we both seek over this will only come with *Time.” he nods, and shakes his stick at Gary, clearly trying to get him to back off before he has to let the armored guards do their job.

Kindle's ear twitches to the words he spoke and she gave him a side glance before saying nothing and continuing on her misson. Seeing Defender she trotted over him and Bone Breaker, " You two, sorry to interupt but I have to say..." she looked between the two of them, going quiet for a moment before continuing after choosing her words, " ...You both did good out there in the battle of brusies. Now. About this silver fruit, can you tell me about it? " he tone was almost monotone when she spoke.


Defender blinks, Days change of character a bit unexpected, before sharing a look with Bones. “Er...Day....what happened to your hair? ...silver Fruit, huh? er...” he rubs the back of his head, clearly trying to process Days odd tone, her hair, and question. “...i think ive heard of it, old legends and stuff talk about it I think? But I dont know anything more, sorry.....wait...are your eyes different?” he asks, turning ot Bones.

Bones seemed a bit off her feet too, but nodded. “yeah....i think they are....did...something happen during the spirit ceremony? I know sometimes people come out of that...changed....” she says, her usual playfulness replaced by a bit of worry.

Sundown gave a desperate look to the shaman, "Please! I'm sorry for the way I acted, but my..." His face scrunched up and he sighed, "My friend says while she was in the spirit world, something called a Lua was trapped inside of her and she has to find a silver fruit to banish her. Something's happened to her and she's no longer herself, I just need whatever information I can get on this thing to get her back!" He stared at the buffalo, giving it his all so tears of frustration didn't start to pour out. The gryphon's voice was full of desperation, making it evident how much he needed whatever he could get.

Kindle stared at them, then mentally cursed. With an internal groan she forced herself to smile to the two of them. How did she act when she was a brat again? " Yes, it is me. Daybreak. The brat. " she strained through her teeth, " It appears that I may have taken something back with me during the ceremony because sh--...I...I am a very, very, stupid pony. " before they responded, Kindle moved closer to the two of them, " It would be ever so lovely if you two were to help me out? " she tried her best to make her voice higher pitched.


The Shaman looks a bit worried, and rubs his chin, thinking for a moment. “im...this is a worry but....generally, such things are to imprison a spirit, willingly, so it may not cause harm. I am sorry Sir, Gary right? But I cannot help you so suddenly. If she chose to imprison a spirit inside of her, then that was her choice, one I am willing to help her more properly seal away but....im sorry, but new imprisonments are far from a concern, as such chains are fresh, strong. It could take months, years, depending, for it to be strong enough to free itself.”

The shaman sighs, giving Gary an understanding look. “Go, I will help you, but my duties do not permit it at this time, as the danger is not imminent. I will help, but as ican, when I can. I am Shaman He for Others, if you ever need to ask for me. For now, I am sorry, but I have things to attend to.” he nods, and heads off, one guard following, the other firmly planting itself between Gary and the shaman.
“id suggest learning to live with..whatever it is, for now, human.” the Guard suggests sternly.


Defender and Bones still seem....unconvinced, but Defender gives her a genuine smile. “hey, you know im always happy to help but...I really dont know anything about any of that. Its...not unheard of for some to come back with blessings or curses, but really, you would need a shaman for that...i can...arrange a meeting with one?” he suggests, sharing a nod with bones.

“meanwhile, you uhhh....seem a bit...off? You took some pretty hard hits during the Ceremony of Bruises Day, maybe jumping into a mind trip wasn't the smartest thing?” Bones asks, and offers Day a drink. “here, maybe getting fucked up will get your brain kicking again, eh?~” Bones says, smirking.


She was writing in her journal as Defender spoke, " Shaman meet up. Right. Yes, I'll do that. " then she looked to the drink Bones was offering her and shook her head, " Sorry, but I got to keep a clear head about this, thanks anyway. " then started to walk away from the the two of them. That is until she stopped and leaned her head back, " By the way Bones? Defender? I think you're both pretty hot. " she said with a playful smirk of her own. Day within her mind would bang on the glass and shout things that probably shouldn't be heard on a christian server.

Sundown growled at the guard, "I am not waiting months or years to get her back!" He turned and stormed away, a little more content that he'd gotten somewhere, but still unable to accept what was going on. Eventually he found Kindle, Defender, and Bones and stalked his way over to them and sat himself there. His head turned to glare at the mare, "The shaman was hardly any help. He says since the chains are fresh it is of no concern and could take months or even years to remove the Lua. I say that's bullshit and we're getting rid of it as soon as possible." Then for the comment, he smacked her with a wing, not pulling it like he would normally for Daybreak, giving Kindle an innocent smile.

Peyote, having finally freed himself, makes his way towards Defender, Bones, and the Shaman. He skids to a stop as the guard steps in, and figures it would be best to talk... later, later. He turns to the two buffalo, Sundown, and Daybreak, before offering a nervous smile "S-Sorry, got sidetracked. Is everythi-" he snaps his beak shut as he witnesses the wingsnap, before frowning a little "Ehm... guess not." he follows behind 'Daybreak, before giving her a curious look "So, t' be a little less outta th' loop... do ya got other people in your head, or somethin'?"


At the end of Kindles words, Defender does a double take, and Bones just blinks blankly. Defender jumps up though as Gary smacks her. “Whoa whoa, uhhh, that wasn't necessary Gary, a compliments a compliment....” he coughs, blushing a bit.

Bones just takes a drink from her mug, staring at Kindle like an interested animal over the edge of it.

Not being part of this, Defenders other cousin had left when Kindle first came over. Defender nods to Peyote, and looks to Gary. “...i have no idea what any of you are talking about, geez what happened in there?”




Kindle looked annoyed by the hit but did nothing about it. Peyo looks like he was able to free himself from the fangirls and Defender had joined them, " Something like that. " she said as she walked, " Long story short, I had two verisons of myself within...myself. Somehow. The Daybreak you've been speaking with is my 17 year old self, and my even younger 15 year old self Mocha was left behind in the spirit world. Now I got two hot heads within me. " she explained, " Need something called a silver fruit but it looks like we won't get any more info today. Let's take care of the last part of the ceremony. "

Sundown glared at Kindle as they walked, "Yeah, fuck it, let's get this thing over with..." He continued to walk beside her but with an obvious gap. "You and I are having a talk after this buffalo stuff is done," The gryphon said lowly to Kindle.

"W-Woahwoahwoah. Ya had younger versions of yourself in ya? And... ya left one behind? I-Is she dead, or... un-done?" he asks, trying to find the best way to put it "And what about Daybreak? Is she jus'... locked up somewhere?" the griffon seems confused, but after mulling it over a little, he sort-of nods "I think I get it. So, how much of her is... you? Did you see all the same stuff she did, since ya seem to know my name?" he asks "Buffalo stuff? Right, shit. Th' last ceremony an' all."

"Don't worry, Peyote. This is a temporary arrangement." Sundown very firmly stated, speaking up to the other gryphon.


Defender just looks at Dayndle like shes insane, but his head snaps to his left as bones speaks up.

“...thats kinda hot.” she says, shrugging. Defender just glares at her, but blinking, takes the mug from her and downs whatever was left. He could deal with a lot of shit, but whatever the hell was going on here, was not something he knew how to deal with.

“uhhh, Bones, why dont you...go....help them....seeing as, well, my leg...” he says, blinking a bit, trying to process it all.

“Right.” she smiles and ran off to catch up with the others, leaving Defender to process it al on his own.


" You got it Peyote. " she said flatly, not even looking at either of them. " You know...if you care about her so much..." she smiled looking forward, " She is going to be me someday. "

"Uhh... right. I'm not sure the reason f'r all this, but I'd like t' get my sparrin' buddy back, so... I'm with ya, i-if ya need help."
"W-Well... shame about that Mocha one, I guess. Even if I didn't know... her? You? Still kinda sucks t' just poof like that. And, I mean... not really, Dayb-Kindle? Fuck, this is annoying. Just because ya started as th' same person doesn't mean you'll end as the same one. Different experiences shape ya differently."

Sundown snorted at Kindle and shook his head, "She might become you one day, but I fell in love with Daybreak, not you. I'd rather see her grow with my own eyes, to see her become the person she will be and to help her through the tough times and as Peyote said, different experiences shape who you become. I am not giving up until I have her back." He said with no small amount of conviction.
She raised an eyebrow to the both of them, " Gee, if I didn't know any better I'd say you guys didn't like me. " she smiled a bit, " But it doesn't matter, I've got a job to do and getting close to anyone again will just make it all the more difficult. Please, continue to dislike me, it'll make things easier. "

"Well, uh... I don't even really know you." the griffon offers, with a huff "I-I wouldn't say dislike, jus', I'm worried 'bout Daybreak, Da-Kindle." Peyote looks towards the next ceremony, and tilts his head to the side "So... what's this next one? Stone haulin'?"


As the humans bobble round, they eventually are informed to go to the western edge of the Tent fields. Upon arriving, they would meet a large crowd, bigger even in both competitors and watchers then the Ceremony of Bruises. Large, massive stones slabs, solid, thick, were lined up, like the ones in the center of the Tent fields, though these had no carvings in them.

“Gather round, Gather round, for the last of the great Ceremonies! THE CEREMONY OF STRENGTH! Where as Teams up three to six must combine their endurance and natural strength to pull a slab, together, to the center, where the first one to enter shall have the honor of not just the rewards, but ttheir stone being  used by the Chiefs themselves to write down the most important events from the past year. Second place gets the honor of the Shamans using their stone aswell! “

The announcer, upon his wooden little tower, looks over the crowd. “Now the race is simple. We have conditioned off large paths, in a spiral inward, towards the center. Guards will be watching to make sure no shortcuts are taken, heh, not that its easy to hide a large stone or the path it creates! Now, one must stay on the path, but so long as they do not cut the ropes connecting a contestant to their stone, main or kill them, or damage their own or another stone,  they may ram, punch, and toss things at their opponent to try and slow them down! Itll be a brutal race, only those with true endurance and strength could make it first, some might not have it in them to make it all the way at all!”

He nods. “Now please, find a stone, form your teams, the stones are already along the starting line, so dont worry about wasting energy moving it!”

With that, the crowd hustles and bustles, teams forming, friends talking, others going to take their spots.


Bones had been idly following, and as the announcer finishes, looks to them “so, we all teaming up, eh~?”


Peyote flicks his ears and looks towards the announcer, before looking back at the two with him "We can talk 'bout that stuff later... looks like we got a ceremony t' do... three t' six contenders? th' three of us, an'... I unno, that zebra girl, an' Defender?"

Sundown shook his head stopping Kindle with a hand on her back, "Do you not remember what we talked about? It's fine to have a goal, to want to go home and work towards it, but you can't alienate everyone you come into contact with because you think it'll get you nowhere. What about before? You said you found love, had friends, went on adventures with them. Don't turn into a cold and bitter person like I was, lashing out at everything and pushing everyone away!" At some point he'd gotten in front of her again to look her in the eye, his own softening a bit as he spoke, his voice trying to stay low but convincing. At the words from the announcer, he looked away from her and sighed. "Now come on, let's get this ceremony over with and have that talk."

She lets him says what he has to and rolls her eyes, giving him a pat on the head with her hoof when he was at her level, " Sure thing kid. " then she moved forward toward the ceremony area with Peyo and the others, " I'll leave you two to pick out the rock. I'll be over here. " she stood next to Bones while she watched them.

Sundown glared as she walked away, "Come on, Peyote, let's go choose our rock..." He said and pulled his vision away from Kindle, making his way over to a random rock and standing beside it to wait and see what they were supposed to do because all the rocks seemed rather similar.

Peyote huffs a little bit, and hangs his head "Yeesh, this ain't good... W-Well, then... why don't we jus' go pick out th' rock? Maybe we can find a good teammate 'r two." he offers, looking around the crowd for any familiar faces to pull into a team

She looks to Bones, " You want in on this? "


Bones had just been listening, curious about whatever was going on, but unsure of how she felt about it. “Well, Kindle right? Your...opinion on things certainly seem different.” Bones said, chuckling a bit. “and yeah, duh. Whatever your after missy, the rewards for winning cant hurt you getting there.” She winks.

She then leaned over, whispering in Kindles ear. “oh, for the record, Im ok with no emotions attached~”

As Gary and Peyote choose a random rock, they find all do seem the same more or less, and find a rope and harness system already setup on each, ready for them to strap in when choosing their rock.


"Hey, yo! Anyone else want in on this?" the griffon asks, strapping himself in to one of the harnesses with some difficulty. He smiles a little bit as he looks the stone over, happy to be back to the events, and to be putting off that whole... thing, right now. While still a little tired, physically and mentally, his enthusiasm gives him the strength to go on "D-fuck Kindle, Bones! We got one!"

Grumbling about the whole situation, Sundown just strapped himself into the harness. When he was finally strapped in, he pointed to Kindle, "Just get over here and strap yourself in, you bitter as-" He shook his head, stopping himself. No need to start that. Instead, he was content to just glare at her.

Rasing an eyebrow her eyes met with Bones, " Of course you are. " she paused. " We'll see. " then called out to Peyote, " You can still call me Daybreak, I don't want you having an aneurysm over it. " she glances to Bones and speaks lowly, " If he did we may lose. " then she heard the grey and white griffon calling out to her, " Don't get your panties twisted, I'm coming..." and she did, getting herself strapped up next to him.

Sundown snorted and shook his head again, "You're Kindle, not Daybreak..." He muttered sourly.

"W-Well, I-I wanna at least make an attempt!" he offers in responds, his tail flicking about

" I'm whatever you want me to be Sunny-boy. "

"How about back in that head, letting Daybreak back out?" Sunny-boy asked moodily, staring forward.

"C-C'mon, let's jus' put it all to the side f'r now, aye?"


Bones smirks, and joins the others at the stone. After they strap in, they are approached by a black buffalo, who nods to the group. “looks like you folks could use some help. Let me take the center, and 60% of the reward, and ill get you to then end. Deal?”

"Uhm..." he looks to the rest of the group, before cocking his head to the side "...Guys? Whatcha think? I'd be fine with it, I think... It's steep, but I'm in it more for th' experience."

" What's the prize again? " she looks to the others.
Sundown looked between the buffalo and the others, "There's a prize?" He blinked.

The buffalo blinks "er...yes, like the others, the winner, and in this one, second place, gets a prize. usually a good sum of Bits, and more, though the exact ammount, while large, varies per year."(edited)
"Hrm... well? We all good with it?" he looks around
" 50% and you got a deal. "
"I don't care either way, don't really need bits..."
Bones shrugs. "40%?" The buffalo smirks. "50% is my limit, but sure." With that, he hooks up.


As the final of the teams get set up, the announcer starts yelling again!
“ALL TEAMS READY? SEEMS SO.....TEN....”

the big black Buffalo nods to the humans...and Bones. “im He of the Palins, pleased to meet you...now lets win this thing.”

“SEVEN.......SIX.....FIVE......” the announcer continues.


"Deal. Whatever. " she starts getting in position to get ready.

"Sundown here or I guess as Defender named me, True of Heart," The gryphon nodded in greetings and got ready.(edited)

Peyote gets ready to pull, and rolls his shoulders out "Peyote. Pleased t' meet ya." he remarks, before narrowing his eyes in anticipation


“THREE....TWO....ONE.....LET THE CEREMONY OF STRENGTH BEGIN!”

[D20+ strength everyone]
Day,6
Gary,20
Peyote, 11
Bones,6
Plains, 18


as they start, Gary and the Buffalo manage to get the stone moving quickly, Gary even out pacing the massive mound of muscle for a moment, Peyote catching up to help pull the weight near enough.

Kindle and Bones however, being much weaker, almost get bulled over, but manage to pull forward, though they struggle to get in position to help pull the weight.

As they start around the outer twist, of the spiral track, their pattern is this.

Gary on left side, Bones, Plains, Kindle, Peyote on right side. Suddenly, Gary sees out of the corner of his eyes, a stone being pulled by three buffalo twisting to try and ram them in the side!


Sundown strained, his frustration and anger helping him focus on pulling the giant rock and pull ahead the rest group. Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, he saw a large rock coming at them. "Left side, they're trying to ram us with their rock!" He shouted a warning.

Kindle tries to act fast and looks up to the oncoming three buffalo. If she couldn't get by on strength, then she would by providing a distraction. Looking over to them she tries to give them a sultry look, biting her lip and winking before going back to pushing the rock.

Peyote grunts a little, and huffs as he rolls his shoulders out. He's lucky he had the buffalo and Sundown, otherwise he'd had not gone near far enough! He looks over towards the incoming rock-ram, before gritting his beak and pulling forward as hard as he can manage!

[Gary, Peyote, d20+End]
[Kindle, d20+Charisma]
Gary,12
Peyote,20
Kindle, 18


One of the buffalo is caught off guard by Kindles look, not putting his whole weight into the ram. While Gary bounces a bit as the big buffalo rams him in the shoulder, but Peyote is able to keep them going, and one of the buffalo on the other team trips causing them to come to a full stop and disappear behind them.

Sundown glared and snapped his beak at the buffalo for knocking into him, but kept going.

Peyote lets out an excited cheer as they bounce off mostly harmlessly, and their team continues to pull on ahead!

[D20+ strength everyone]
Gary,14
Day, 6
Peyote, 3

While Gary and the buffalo Plains kept up a good pace, the others were already feeling a bit of strain, causing the group to start to slow, and many a team passes them, when already they were only so far ahead.....

huffing, He of the Plains is clearly pushing himself to make up for their slowing pace, and looks down to Kindle. “Young one, how goods your throwing arm. Perhaps you might be better slowing our enemies down, rather then pulling?”

Sundown, with all the frustrations going on already was not at all happy, "Come on you guys, pick it up!" He yelled back at them.

" Aye! " she nodded, " Used to be pretty good, what do I need to throw? "

Plains smiles, and quickly tosses Kindle up and onto his back, then as they go along, tosses up a few decent sized rocks onto his back. “Give those big things a good kick,i recommend aiming for faces, or legs.” he smirks.

Peyote warks a little, his haress shifting to rest on a particularly bad bruise- one from a buffalo's not-so-light headbutt. He takes some time to readjust it, before trying to push through his flagging strength!


[Gary, Peyote, d20+strength]
Gary,8
Peyote,19


This time its Peyote and, oddly, Bones, who start to pull them back on track, though Plains does keep pace, he is slowed by trying to keep Kindle balanced on his back.

Gary starts to fall behind a bit, often noticing hes simply trying to keep up, rather then help pull.

Suddenly, as on the left they finally start seeing Tents, meaning they are entering into the second ring of the spiral, Kindle sees one team coming in from the right towards Peyote who can see it coming, and another team  to the left and ahead a bit is aiming a big ol slingshot at Gary, whos too busy trying to get his speed up to notice!


She was surprised by the lift but understood, nodding and looking toward the the right then the left. Something told her to aim a kick at the left side first, to pick up on Sunny-boy's slack then would toss a rock to the right.

Sundown keeps staring ahead, stewing and berating himself to keep on pulling forward, unaware he was in any danger.


"Two teams! One from th' right, an' one from th' left!" he shouts, trying to pull harder to try and get them out of danger! He strains against his harness, his wings flapping to try and give himself a boost!


[Peyote and Gary, d20+End]
[Dayndle, 2 d20+Ranged]
Gary,17
Peyote,11
Day, 8 an 8


While Kindles aim isnt on point, the right rock missing, and the left one only skimming the oncoming target, Gary manages to pick up the pace and pull them ahead, by natural merit making the incoming shot at him miss, though he does notice the zebra aiming another shot as they pass.

Peyote manages to knock the incoming bounce off aswell, in part thanks to the dude slowing down from kindles hit, but still gets knocked off course a bit, but at the rammers disappear behind them he has time to correct it.

As they continue, they find themselves about in the middle of the pack, maybe slightly ahead, far from winning, but the race was far from over at this point.


Sundown finally noticed the slingshot to his left and called up to Kindle, "Aren't you supposed to be watching our backs up there? Take care of him already, you idiot!" He berated her, not at all happy with who he saw as an imposter.

" Do you want to come up here?! I didnt think so! " Kindle cursed and did her best to hang on on the Buffalo and tried again with tossing rocks in both directions, " Hey! You! " she shouted out to one of them, " Yea, you! I heard your partner there said you smelled like donkey ass earlier! "

Peyote huffs a little and folds his ears back, before shouting "Please, just put that t' rest till we're outta here, aye? Now, c'mon! We gotta get outta th' middle 'a th' pack, we're way too vulnerable!"


Bones chuckles, leaning over to Peyote. “let them bicker, hot blood makes the legs pump faster, eh~”?”

He of the Plains grumbles, simply shaking his head and putting more effort into bringing them forward. “whatever helps us win, do it.”

[Day, D20+ranged]
[Gary, Peyote, d20+strength]
Gary,19
Peyote, 5
Day,10


Kindle manages to smack a rock next to the zebra, throwing off his aim, before that team disappears behind them.


Gary and Plains get back into the game, pulling them along and hard, slowly making ground, but peyote starts to trip up, almost falling over, before they get around the second pass, into the second ring of the spiral, the third section out of seven.

Already the crowds a bit thinned, the slower or less capable teams falling too far behind, or giving up, but this only made it look like more teams were ahead of them, not less.

Suddenly, a bit rock lands infront of them, and looking up, more are falling, someone infront taking the time to toss head sized stones backwards as they go!

[Gary, Peyote, d20+Dex AND strength]
Gary, 8
Peyote,14


Peyote warks angrily, and forces himself to get back up! He pushes himself as hard as he can, trying to make up for his trip and fumble, and push ahead of the rocks!


While Peyote is able to keep going, and hopes over one rock gracefully, it hardly matters.

Plains is big enough almost not to worry about them, and Bones manages to avoid her too, but Gary, while taking no direct hits, ends up mis calculating, and nearly trips on one, almost bringing the whole team to a stand still.


Sundown was too concentrated on just pulling the damn rock that he nearly tripped over the rock in front of him, "Shit!" He yells in surprise but quickly tried to right himself and get back to pulling.

Peyote leans over to yank the other griffon up, rubbing his shoulder a little before shouting "C'mon! If we get another burst like that, we can pull up near th' front, I wager!"

Kindle kept throwing rocks ting to keep her balance. Surely one of these things would hit.

[Gary, d20+Dex]
[Peyote, d20+strength]
[Kindle, d20+ranged]
Gary, 13
Peyote,22
Kindle, 8

Kindle manages to smack some poor bloke in the side, but not much else, before with a surge o energy they get on their way, starting to make up for lost ground as they come to the fourth part of the race.

Suddenly, two teams come up on either side of them, clearly trying to match their speed, and in sync start to close in...


Sundown looked to his left and right, noticing the two starting to come at him and was reminded of the ceremony of bruises, "Pull forward, quickly!"

Seeing that throwing wasn't doing much, she tried to go back to her first tactic. While perched up still a top the Buffalo, she looked over at the competitors and ran a hoof through her bangs while giving a half lidded glance to those that would look her way. Daybreak had her face in her hooves in embarrassment over Kindle's actions. If she had control, she would totally win this and beat some ass.

Peyote warks eagerly as he yanks the stone along, huffing and puffing but pulling as hard as he can nonetheless! He spots the teams approaching them from either side, end strains as hard as he can manage to try and get a bit more of a burst! "I-If we pull hard, they'll hit each other!"

[kindle, d20+Cha]
[Gary, Peyote, d20+strength]
Gary,21
Peyote,16
Kindle,18


With much gusto, the group pulls forward, Kindle waving at and distracting the Buffalo, who look on in confusion and not at all unpleased, until the ram into eachother, and come to a rash, and painful stop.

With that, the team moves on further, and seem to be in between those ahead, and those lagging behind, at least at this part of the race, but are quickly catching up!

Bones whistles, looking over her shoulder and up at Kindle. “hot damn, now THATs a look~”


Sundown actually looked up and to his disgust, liked the look she was giving. Shaking his head and reminding himself that that mare wasn't Daybreak, he concentrated on looking forward with a determined glare. Time to win!

Peyote grins as he hears the heavy slam from behind him, his morale soaring as he lets his wings fan out a little "C'mon, y'all! We've almost got this! We'll show 'em, aye?"

She winked down at Bones and wouldn't risk the flirtatious attack again. Instead she'd try to go back to throwing more rocks for now.

[Gary and Peyote, d20+Strength and End]
[Day, d20+strength and Ranged]
Gary,24
Peyote, 17
Day, 7

Kindle watches as she throws short again, but nearly falls off as the group surges forward again, and end up passing by a few surprised group.

Coming around to the fifth section out of seven, they see themselves nearly to the lead, though still five groups ahead and....oh shit, it start raining rocks from up ahead again!

And worse, the group right infront of them just got wiped out, now coming at them as a mound of stopped stone and buffalo.


Peyote yelps a little, before shouting "Yikes! Right, Right!" and starting to swerve in that direction himself!

Sundown was too focused and angry to let them wipe out now, calling out to his group again, "Go left!" He shouted out an order.
"E-Err, Left! Left!"

Seeing the pile of Buffalo and stone ahead, she'd try to do some steering of her own in the direction they called out.

[everyone, d20+Dex and Strength]
Day,22
Gary,7
Peyote,16

Gary isnt able to correct his path...luckily, that didn't matter, as he was on the left, so as Kindle treat He of Plains like a horse and leads him left, followed by the rest, they easily force him off the path, clearing the obstacle and continuing on their way!

As they march ahead though, more rocks are still falling!

"What's with all these rocks, damn!"

 [D20+Dex everyone]
Day,13
Gary,7
Peyote,7

Kindle is able to keep herself situated, he mount either avoiding or uncaring of any stones falling hi way.

Gary and Peyote however, are not so luck, both having to slow down greatly to avoid the rocks, allowing the competition to both get ahead and start catching up. From the side, Gary sees another ram coming in, from a full team of six buffalo...


Peyote acks as he's nearly bonked good by a couple rocks, slowing, and veering as best he can to avoid it. He warks determinedly, and flaps his wings as he tries to forge ahead!

Sundown saw the group coming in to ram them and tries to swerve away from them, "Team to our side coming in to ram!" He calls out.

Kindle braces herself from getting slammed again and decides to call out insults to them to distract the other team.


[Kindle, d20+Cha]
[Gary, Peyote, d20+End]
Kindle,4
Gary,19
Peyote,11

Kindles angry face isnt as good as her sexy face, and the insults do nothing. Thankfully, this does not matter as Gary takes the hit like a champ, despite the weight, bouncing the enemy off, though they quickly lock shoulders with him and try to start forcing him and the team off the path.


Sundown glared at the buffalo that had locked shoulders with him and refused to back down, snarling and snapping at the bull, trying to scare him off while pushing against him.

Peyote warks angrily, before flaring his wings out and trying to screech as intimidatingly as he can manage. It's not the first time this worked, maybe it'll work this time!

Kindle was getting annoyed with this, deciding to go back to her flirtatious ways. Was this really her best option? She started blushing a bit as she pulled the hair tie from her mane, letting it flow wildly, pink and orange catching the light before using a hoof to brush it away from her face.

[everyone, d20+cha]
Gary,12
Peyote,8
Kindle,14

its not her best work, but Kindle does manage to distract two of the bulls, before Garys hiss makes them jump, and the one next to him flinch back.

Far from fully making their opponent crash, this does make them back off and fall behind a good ways.

With that, they round into the sixth of seven rings, the rings of course each growing shorter. Closer to the front then not, they still are a good distance from leading this race, four teams at least infront of them....


Sundown gave one last sneer to the other team as they fell behind before bringing his attention back, "Almost there, power through!"

Peyote snorts a little, a peculiar sound from a griffon, before puffing his chest out "C'mon! One last long haul, we can overtake 'em!" he warks excitedly, before giving it all he's got, captain!






Ugh. It worked again. " Keep going guys! " she called out to them, hoping they would be encouraged some by her yells. She didn't know what to do next, having run out of ideas. Shit, dare she think to herself, what would Daybreak do? " JUMP ON THE ENEMY AND PUNCH HIM! " she heard shouting in the back of her mind. No, punching is stupid you idiot meathead, use your damn brain! But really, what else could she do? With sigh she looked to the other team. She sighed, then sucked in her breath, " Hey guys! " she called to the team closes to them, " If you slow down I'll give you each a kiss on the cheek! " she winked at them, hoping it would work. Actually, a large part of her hoping it didn't work. Daybreak inside was furious and Lua just laughed her flaming ass off.


With that comment, Sundown glared up at Kindle again, ready to start bickering again, "Listen here you little shit, I'll make sure you fall off that buffalo and go rolling!" He growled up at her.


“well, shame you're saving all the sweet talk for the enemies...” Bones said, pouting a bit, before chuckling.

Plains just shook his head, disturbed her flirtatious nature had worked so well so far.


[Gary and Peyote, d20+Strength and End]
[Kindle, d20+2+Cha]
Gary,13
Peyote,21
Kindle, 22


With much less hesitation then there probably should have been, the other team stops at Kindles words, and firmly plop themselves down.

Meanwhile, as Kindle is forced to think on what this all means, Peyote leads the charge, pushing the team further and further, slowly getting up to tieing for third place before....wait, more rocks fall....its those bastards in second place doing it, tossing rocks up with their horns as they rush along!

[Gary, Peyote, d20+Dex]
Gary,20
Peyote,13

Gary leads he charge, Peyote close behind, as they swerve and dodge the rocks, slowly gaining on second place, but they aren't no slouches, moving quickly to block the human team from being able to get past them, matching them disturbingly well it seems, almost perfectly.


Kindle sees the team all sit and look...quite pleased with themselves. "...Shit. " she said flatly. " I think I've done enough damage today! " and with that, she hops off the buffalo and decides to help with what little she can with pushing the stones, landing next to Bones.

"Damnit! C'mon, y'all! We're almost t' th' front! One more push, an' we'll be there!" he warks, ignoring the increasing soreness and pulling with all his might


His body was starting to feel the strain, but the anger at everything was just egging him on, especially his frustration at the team ahead. Sundown pushed on, hoping to help finally get their team around these bastards.


As Kindle landed next to Bones, the zebra looked over with a wiggle of her eyebrows and a smirk. “well, hello there sweet stuff, fancy seeing you here again~”

[D20-3+Dex everyone]
Kindle,7
Gary,6
Peyote, 15

Peyote tries to lead the charge, but its simply not enough, the team infront of them too good to get past it seems, at least not with pure speed. Dodging a few rocks  they toss back at the team isnt helping either.


Sundown was about to yell in rage, but remembered Bengal. Trying to clear his mind as best he could, he took deep breaths, evening them out, "Juke them, feint left then go right!" He called to his team, but not loud enough for the others to hear.

She nodded at his orders, doing her best to follow them pretending to move left but actually going right. She was impressed with his anger management and would have to compliment him later on it. Now wasn't the time however as she needed to focus on the task at hand.

Peyote bobbed his head a little, and tried to keep his own mood in check. Between the falling rocks, the stumbling, the hauling, and the ramming, he was pretty much ready to call it quits... but, not yet! He does his best to do as Sundown suggests!


[d20+2+Dex everyone]
Gary,6
Peyote,5
Kindle, 21

Despite having the plan made, Gary fumbles his attempt to go for the opening, and Peyote does no better.

However, despite her size, Kindle finds it in herself to pull hard, the buffalo and Bones following suite, and they, just barely, slip out and next to the second team, who are quick to slam into peyote to try and knock them off course.

With that, you round the seventh bend, the smallest ring before you, the race coming close to an end...


"W-We're almost there! M-Might be stumblin', but we can do it!"

" Atta girls! Keep at it ladies! " she tried channeling Day's fighting spirit from within and kept charging!


Sundown let out his own roar, channeling the lion part of his body and soul, "Give it everything!"


[Everyone, d20+Endurance]
Gary,20
Kindle,20
Peyote,10


With pure will and the endurance to ignore their aching muscles, Kindle and Gary pull the group along from the head, slowly, ever inch by inch, making their way past and beyond the second team, pushing back against their attempts to run them off course, and finally slipping ahead.

However the end of the race is slowly appearing before them ,and the first place team is a decent bit ahead, and two teams are hot on their tails, giving everything they got, including projectile weaponry to try and slow them down!


"Final stretch, let's get some!" Sundown yells, a primal look to his face as he solely focuses on the finish line ahead of them. His body screamed at him to stop, but he ignored it, wanting nothing more than to win at least one of these ceremonies.

Peyote lets out a ragged shout, and pushes himself as hard as he can manage! Today's been tough, but... Just a BIT MORE!

Kindle continued wanting to get to that finish line already. Whoever said it was about the journey and not the destination lied. She needed to get across that line, to that silver fruit, across the worlds and back home again!


[D20+End and Strength everyone]
Gary,14
Kindle,3
Peyote, 9


The Team pushes, trying to pull themselves along that final stretch. But it is futile. Their allied Buffalo Plains slugs along well, his natural abilities keeping him going, but even her shows signs of exhaustion.

Bones too pulls along, just about keeping up with Gary, whos natural hot bloodedness pushes him forward.

Peyote lags, but step by step tugs along.

But Kindle simply was not built for this, her body barely able to keep her from going under the very stone they were pulling. All and all, they make it across, but long after team one had gotten across to the cheering of the crowd.

They make it to second place, but with another team only seconds after them, the pain of the day hitting them like tricks the moment they stop.

They are quickly brought water by the mugfuls, their harness removed and the stone pulled away, as an announcer waves a hoof at them “LETS HEAR IT FOR SECOND PLACE, THE HUMAN TEAM!” before quickly moving on to third, and so forth, as the teams now slowly start to make their way in.


Sundown doesn't even bother with the water, the strain causing him to walk forward a few times before giving up and collapsing. "I'm... I'll just... Sit here for a bit, thank," The gryphon pants out, his entire body screaming out in pain.

Peyote stumbles a little at the end, his face smacking into the ground and sliding. Between the earlier ceremonies and the repeated stumbles, the griffon's just not quite in control of his legs anymore. He weakly struggles to get out of the harness and roll on to his back, shakily spreading his forelegs out to ease up his breathing. After a few moments, he sits up, and places his talons on top of his head, to try and open up his breathing a little more.

Kindle gladly took the water, sipping it slowly then gasped for air. How did Daybreak put up with this shit? Every part of her was sore and it didn't help that the dumbass was in a fight earlier that day. "Yea, 2nd place....woo...hooray and whatnot. " she said sarcastically before just plopping down on her haunches.


He of the Plains downed several mugsful of the liquid life, and sighed heavily, looking as more teams came in and the winner were celebrated. “Well....better then I suspected id have gotten in another team.” he shrugged.

Bones meanwhile sprawled out on her back, simply enjoying the rest, before eventually rolling over, and then sipping on her own mug. “woof......fuck me if this was hell, always hated running this one....” he smirked, looking over her teammates. “...but first time ive gotten close to winning, I sure know how to pick em~” she said, and eyed up Kindle heavily.

Finally, the last of the teams arrived. “WITH THAT, THE CEREMONY OF STRENGTH IS OVER. WE SHALL NOW HAND OUT THE PRIZES!”

First place each received 250 gold bits, and an odd bracelet, as well as their stone being setup first in the new circle of stones, to be the center piece the Chiefs themselves carve into.

Next, they were called to the stage. “AND SECOND PLACE, THE HUMANS AND THEIR FRIENDS!” the announcer nods as they crawl into their spots.

“Each will get 100 gold bits for their efforts, and the Great Shamans of our people themselves will give them the honor of their stone being the second, the one for the religious to crave into! “ with a nod, the crowd cheers, and they are sent off to rest and enjoy the festivities.

“WITH THIS, I DECLARE THE THREE CEREMONIES, OVER!” the crowd explodes, and waste no time getting into the groove, songs, food, and drink seemingly materializing as the sun drifts low, and the first day of the Festival going into its first night...





He of Plains is quick to stop the group from splitting up, clearing his throat. “Well, that was quite interesting, im glad to have been part of this, but I seem to remember, I am owed a bit of something?”


Sundown panted a bit more before picking himself up and nodding to the buffalo, counting out his fifty bits and tossing them to the buffalo. He crossed by Kindle and whispered to the mare, "You and I need to have a talk." The gryphon walked away towards a more secluded area of the camp, or at least one with the least amount of people.

She was able to recover some and gave a smirk to Bones and waved off Sun after he whispered to her before getting up and going to the Buffalo that helped them, " Oh right, your reward. " due to the heat and exhaustion, she had forgotten who wanted what and leaned up to kiss the buffalo on the cheek before tiredly looking around for the others, " Wait, now who was I supposed to give money to? "

Peyote listens to the ceremony closings from his handy spot on the ground, and offers a grin as their name is called out. He looks over towards the buffalo and nodding. He, and assumably, the other members, split the pot- half of their shares to him. He leans against his rock for a little while lnger, before staggering to all fours"It was fun, y'all. Thanks f'r th' help, He 'a th' Plains." he grins again, and offers a talon to shake "Welp... It's getn' pretty late, so we'd best head back soon. We've got a couple days left in th' event, an' as much as I wanna go talk t' th' shaman, I think he'll be fine t'morrow."


He of the Plains blushes, and clears his throat to Kindle. “kind of you, but you are mixing up rewards little lady.”

Bones laughs after being released by the griffon, waving as he leaves. walking over to Plains, she hands her part of the reward over, and puts a hoof around Kindle.  “Oh my sweet thing, you seem *sooo Tired! Why dont we.....go off and fine a bed, hm?~” she leaned over, whispering. “ill treat you better then Gary will, if nothing else~”


Sundown would wait for Kindle to finish up with whatever it was she needed to do but in clear sight in a small clearing behind some tents, his head bowed. Wether it was from tiredness or deep thought, they wouldn't be able to tell from that distance.


Kindle tiredly nodded her head to Bones, then stopped and shook it, " Wait, sorry no, hold on I gotta kiss some folks then talk to some guy I think. " she gave He his gold then went over to the team who had basically forfeit for her. She forced a smile while Daybreak inside was rolling on the floor, "Aaagh! Don't use my lips for that dammit! Get your own!" One by one, Kindle got it over with as soon as possible, mane still a loose mess and pecking them each on the cheek quickly as if it was some kinda kissing booth ordeal. " There, you guys happy? " she said with a raised eyebrow.



Plains chuckles as he watches Kindles work, Bones biting her lip a bit, before Plains walked off to join the festivities.

The team that had fortified blushed and nodded, hoof bumping eachother and going off aswell.

As it became just the three of them more of less, Bones giggled, and walked over to Kindle. “Well, if you still want some fun, or maybe just not have to drag your cute ass all the way home, find me once you're done getting berated by Gary~” she winked, and pulled Kindle into a not so innocent hug, before pecking her cheek and going off to find a stiff drink.

And so it was just Kindle and Gary.


Kindle rubbed her cheek where she was kissed, a bit harder as if to wipe it off after the other mare turned away. She went over to where Sundown sat with his head hanging low, leaning her own down to look over to see what kind of expression he had, " Sunny-boy. Not like I care but, you alright there? Saw you hold yourself back from going too far, good job on that." She flatly stated, giving him a pat on the shoulder.

The look he had was one of deep thought and determination. "Let me talk to Daybreak," His tone was almost as flat as hers, a slight edge to it, uncaring of the hoof patting him or her compliment. "You've peaked out to talk to me before, now let her do it," The gryphon finally looked up at her, a sharp glint in his eye.

Kindle rolled her eyes, " Really? I push, and fought for months just to be able to let her even hear me and you want me to just let her out like that? " there was plain disgust and jealousy in her tone. She was quiet for a moment, staring at the griffon before groaning out an annoyed sigh. Her dark eyes lightened up and seemed a bit wider than Kindle's had been. She looked around her and blinked several times before touching her out cheek then her vision focused on him, " Oh shit...I'm..." she knelt down in front of him, " Sundown? "

With tears already starting to form in his eyes, he swept the mare up into a tight hug, "It's me, Day..." His voice was strained, like all the pain and stress were finally catching up to him. "I made you a promise didn't I? I'm going to figure this out and I'm going to get you out. I will not lose you!" A few tears actually managed to escape, soaking into his feathers.

She gasped when he grabbed her and paused for a moment, letting him hold her, nuzzling into his feathers, " S-sorry, I...fucked up. But I'm gonna make it right. I just need to find that silver fruit and...do...something. I unno, eat it? " she shrugged and tried to force herself to laugh a little.

Shaking hiss head, he kept her close for a few more seconds before letting her go and stepping away. She could see his eyes were wet and puffy, "I'll find that damn fruit and get you back as soon as possible then!" The gryphon walked closer and sat, lowering his head so that their foreheads were touching. "I meant every word, Day. I love you and I will not lose you," He whispered intensely, staring into her violet eyes.







Her heart felt like it stopped got a split second. She had heard him earlier but this time it reached her differently. " You..." she started to say then closed her eyes. Her body started to shake as her own tears started to well up. Then smiled, " ...Are an idiot. " she giggled, " As if I could love someone like you. I really should have gone off with that unicorn~ " when she opened her eyes again they flickered a bit orange before fading into a deep purple again, yanking herself away from the griffon. She rubbed her eyes with a hoof and growled, " Christ, I can't let that happen again. " she looked to Sundown and noticed his tears. She didn't care but knew that pretending to helped, " Sorry about that. "

Sun looked at her with a look of extreme sadness and hurt. He refused to believe Daybreak would say that, especially when he saw the flicker of orange in her eyes. Still though, her voice and body saying that hurt him deeply. Turning away from her, he looked upwards so she wouldn't see his face. "And why do you give a damn enough to apologize? You basically said it yourself, right? You're an uncaring woman that just wants to get home..." His voice was low and sorrowful aas he spoke. His head drooped again and he began to walk off, leaving the mare to herself like she more than likely wanted.

Kindle's hoof reached out to him as he started to walk away, " Wa-" then she stopped herself, and looked at her hoof as if it weren't her own. "...tch..." she cursed and let him go be alone while she would eventually catch up to the group later. For now, she'd go ask around some NPCs for info on this mysterious fruit.