[The Official RPN Character Challenge 2015]Group B!

"Well if I do have to die in your little godly play-pen I'll do my best to die as conveniently as possible!" Kallin shot back sarcastically at the voice, noting it was probably futile, but shouting made him feel better...a little. This could have been one of his least favorite scenarios...trapped in a dark, small place which was getting increasingly smaller as the sand began to pour out onto the floor, creeping triumphantly to all corners.


Of course the sand had begun to pour right on top of his head, streaming off his wide-brimmed hat like a fountain spout and trickling down his robes. it was a good thing his body was made of mist during the day...or by now having sand in this many places would be...uncomfortable. Disregarding the threat of imminent suffocation and awkward sandy bits however, he had to admit that the temple was actually quite spectacular. Kallin wondered what sort of secrets lay concealed in the mysterious glyphs that lined every wall and column. And extra dump of sand in his general vicinity was a good reminder for him to hurry up.


His eyes darted to each door in turn, they all looked fairly similar. Struggling to climb on top of the growing dune he scrambled his way to the Southern-most door, sliding down the bank of sand on the other side and skidding to a halt to place his gloved hand flat on the door and...nothing happened.


He cursed. Right, the other players.


"Hey guys!" He shouted, "anyone interested in not dying, come this way!"


@SpectroVector


@LoveMyHate


@The One Called X


@Prizzy Kriyze


@JadeWuvsCookies

Star raised a brow as Kallin shot back at the Gods, she knew arguing was not going to help keep them alive nor was it going to get the group out of this death trap of a temple. Sighing Star bit her lip as she whimpered at the small creatures and sand falling from the roof and onto her. Looking down she sighed softly as she began to follow in Kallin's footsteps as he made way to the Southern door. "Great.." she muttered to herself as she tried to climb over the sand dune but got a mouth full. Spitting it out she got to the top and slid down to the bottom. As she stood she slowly made way to the door and placed her hand on it, studying it as if it were a clue to a puzzle "Are you positive about this door? I really want to make it out alive and I'm sure they do too." She motioned to the rest of the group and furrowed her brows for a second as she watched the slow-pokes sit there "Come on guys! I don't want to die with a mouthful of sand and I doubt you do."

I watched as the misty faced man in robes and the blonde haired girl yell and run, before turning my attention to the snakes, spiders, scorpions, and ants that were steadily approaching me. Swiftly knocking them out of my path, I made my way to the south door, my body and mind on mission mode.


"Are you sure that this is a good door?" I asked them as I neared.


"What if something worse is behind it?" Glazing at the girl, I noted that her scent reminded me of dogs...but more woodsy...wild dogs maybe?


"Anyone here have a good sense of smell or hearing perhaps? Maybe they can smell or hear something behind the door. I don't want to escape suffocation and enter a worse death." I rationalized as I stared at the blonde, wondering if she just had dogs or...or if she was something not human...


Turning my eyes away from her, I observed the...misty man person. He has a large stick strapped to his back...Maybe he's actually an old man under the mist?


He was wearing clothing I've never seen before; most of the clothing I've seen up til now were suits. His clothing was also ripped and worn in areas.


Maybe its normal for misty man's world to dress like that. At this point I've already figured out we came from different worlds and possibly different universes.


Crossing my arms, I frowned at them, waiting for them to reply.

Star cocked her head as Ax approached them at the South door. She looked around the room for a second before responding to his question "The room is getting fuller by the minute and we're already at this door." Studying Ax for a moment and realized he must be human or something she wssnt used to.. She grabbed him and sniffed him out of curiosity. Star knew she couldn't do so with the misty man because he was.. mist. She didn't smell anything except for human and when she pulled away she gave a small sneeze before looking up at him "I doubt there's anything worse behind that door. There could be but we should just try and get out of this terror filed temple." She looked back to the door and ran her hands across it "I'm a werewolf but the Gods are smart, they aren't going to put anything in there without us accessing it first." She looked back to the rest of the group and furrowed her brows, she was surprised they hadn't moved after staring at all the sand and creatures falling. She shuttered and kicked away a few snakes and spiders, whimpering softly as she just wanted to leave this terrible place.

"... Huh?" Was the only thought that reverberated through Vex's skull as the darkness started surrounding and hanging on to him. It felt like magic, but it felt much more ethereal than anything he'd ever come across before. It was like he was surrounded by ghosts, all casting old ritual magic on him. The notion was unsettling, but whatever had power here could more than easily destroy him if they chose to. He put his faith in this not being lethal unless his earlier performance hadn't amused the Gods. With a hand upon his necklace and a prayer in the back of his throat, he closed his eyes and hoped for the best.


1... 2... 3... He dared to open his eyes again, and found himself inside a strange temple of unknown architecture. Around him was 5 other contestants, each humanoid in appearance but all very different, both physically and psychically. One was a blonde, blue-eyed girl who smelled like an animal, and had a very peculiar connection to some sort of energy. The lapse in knowledge about her power made Vex uncomfortable, but neither she or it seemed very malevolent. Another was a clothed dark figure, very much similar to the mages of his own time in the mental impression he gave. Something strange loomed over him, something dark that Vex couldn't quite put his finger on, and he was far from certain if he wanted to. Two of those present didn't carry any obvious connection to energies, but they didn't look anything like each other. A young boy with a body that betrayed a past of combat, and a girl... wait. Vex leaned his head to one side and gave the girl an inquisitive look. There was definitely something more to her than just being powerless, she...


Before he had the opportunity to further analyze his companions the booming voice of sarcastic godliness reappeared and described the situation to them. "So there's a constant chance of death?" He thought to himself, then shrugged. Large amounts of sand started spilling from the ceiling, like waterfalls of gold rushing towards him. People started rushing across the room to the southern-most door, but Vex lagged behind, walking slowly with his hands pressed against one-another. Streaks of energy danced up his forearms and down his legs until a transparent barrier surrounded him. It circled around him about a yard away from his body and seemed to keep the sand and critters from reaching him.


He twisted his head around and finally took a glance at the last contestant. He smelled of blood and his connection to the dark end of the energy spectrum would bother Vex, if he only wasn't so well-dressed. This wasn't the time to be amazed by a man of fashion however, and Vex quickly shouted "Sorry for the delay! Get close to me and the sand can't get to you. Let's get this door open." He motioned with his arm, offering for the other contestants to take a spot within his protective barrier, then turned back forward and started walking towards the door where half of the party had gathered. "Come on, let's move!"

Alec blinked as he watched the last act jump off of the stage, feeling less shaken than he had before. But, just as he was about to settle in, he felt a strangeness inside of him. A shifting. He opened his eyes, but there was nothing but darkness. Every single particle within him felt as if it was moving through space; changing and then rebuilding back where it had once been. At one point, he felt like he didn't even have a body. He heard nothing, like he was being sucked into a vacuum, but then he knew everything had stopped. Although the only thing that surrounded him was darkness, he knew that his body was where it should be; attached to him. The only thing that was wrong (Besides the whole shifting through space thing) was a deep nausea that spread through him like disease. As light appeared once more like a flash, Alec found that he was on his knees.


He looked around. He was not in the same place. He could not have been. At least that explained the shift. He put his hands out on the floor in front of him and took them away after feeling that the stone ground was laden with grains. He looked at his palms; they were dotted with sediment. He furrowed his brow and looked up and around him. He was in an enormous temple; or perhaps it was a tomb. Either way, he shuddered. It looked like an old Egyptian burial spot; he had seen pictures of them when had visited the Middle East, but had never actually been to one. It was spectacular, and even the pain in his stomach was not going to stop him from admiring the beauty of the place. He studied the columns; the grandeur of the designs. Yes, this place was ancient. Perhaps even Aztec. Alec got onto one knee and steadied himself. He put his elbow on his raised knee and brushed the sand off of his hands.


As he looked around, he was unsurprised to see that some of the other people who had joined him in the previous horrific location were accompanying him. One of them had long, dark hair and a giant sword swung from his side. From this angle, Alec may have mistaken him for a woman, but he knew from previous...meetings, that this person was indeed a man. Or at the very least a very masculine lady. Alec gulped as he got to his feet now, and just like before, a booming voice sounded in the place. It felt as if it was rattling the temple. The seemingly omnipotent voice told Alec and the others that this was a challenge in the appropriately named; Temple of Doom. Alec felt the nausea run through him again. Just as he thought it couldn't get any worse; sand began to flow into the room from different spots in the roof. Alec noticed little creatures crawling within the gathering piles of sediment. His skin crawled at the thought of them touching him.


As the location of the doors were announced, Alec's eyes flitted to each of the exits. He closed his hands into fists as the voice signed off. Everyone seemed to flood to the Southern most door. One man had a gloved hand over the door, but his actions were obviously useless. The sand was still slowly but surely bringing them to their death. The man called the rest of them over to him, but Alec had not yet gathered his feet. The man with the long hair signalled to him. Alec blinked away the fogginess in his eyes; too much was happening for him to comprehend. He focused on the lady-haired man and saw that he was emitting a sort of magical light. He was beckoning Alec, and Alec didn't know whether this was to be a trick. But, the thought of those-those-SCORPIONS! Alec rushed towards the man and cowered behind him. They were protected from the sand; but for how long? They began walking; Alec stood behind the man, just to the left of him. Everyone seemed to have sprung into action; or at least they had some idea what to do. Alec stared at the thick muscle on the back of the man in front of him. He moved his eyes over to the pair of people arguing about how they would get out. Alec had no idea. They were ready for things like this. Alec certainly was not.


Think, he told himself. Let your mind go free.


He continued to walk. He had to study this thing first.

Kallin looked at the young girl, then leaned back casually on the sandy bank forming behind him and said in a mock-wondering tone. "Oh? you did? And here I was thinking I was the only one who wanted to live." He shook his head at the ceiling, regarding her with an unamused expression, which faded when he realized that he had come off as pretty rude to someone who had not deserved it.


"I'm sorry...I have no idea about this door," he replied to both she and the other blond youth, his tone was urgent, but at least this time he spoke in earnest. "But I also don't have a better plan for the moment..."


As if to emphasize the fact Kallin jolted and his eyes widened to the size of golf balls. Reaching slowly down the back of his robe he pulled out a scorpion that had managed to creep past his initial defenses. It was a good thing he knew how to handle dangerous animals, he may have been mostly mist at this point, but that wouldn't stop him from being injured or killed...or poisoned.


It was then another member of this involuntary team stepped forward, creating a barrier about himself. Kallin used a bit of earth magic to part the sand for the two blond teens so they could get to the barrier first, before he wiggled out of his own sand bank and followed.


He nodded in thanks. "This is a good temporary fix...but if we let this sand get too high we won't be able to open a door....I'm Kallin by the way, Kallin Antorfell, black mage of High Tower, in FableWood." He paused, feeling (circumstances being what they were) that a formal introduction may not have been at the forefront of anyone's mind, but if there was a chance he was going to die with these people then damn it all, he was going to know who they were.


He watched the sand pile enthusiastically about the magic orb, studded with dangerous animals and he made a face, an act that, with two glowing eyes being the only real features on it, consisted only of his eyes narrowing.


He kept his hand placed firmly on the door and pushed. Still nothing. "Anytime today people." he shot at the others in the room who had yet to make a choice.

Boulder Dash!Your character must run to escape the rolling boulder, else they'll meet a grisly end as flat as a pancake! Not only that, but the slope also contains numerous smallish spiky pits which your character must try to avoid running into. At the bottom of the chamber, the slope will begin to rise again, and thanks to gravity, the boulder will be forced to relinquish its pursuit; at the top of that slope, you will find the next door. Now run! Run if you wish to live!

@SilverFlight @The One Called X @JadeWuvsCookies @Prizzy Kriyze @SpectroVector @LoveMyHate

The road opened, and Vex stepped through with the others beside him. His barrier kept the sand from flowing in after them, and with a deafening slam the doorway was closed by the stone that served as a door again. "Alright, what nex-" Vex got out, only to be cut off by the omniscient voice again, this time with a very short introduction. Stone brick that covered a giant boulder gave way, and Vex's pupils shrunk. He wasn't sure of these people's capabilities, but a boulder at this slope wasn't something most humans could outrun. The cogs in his head started turning, and quickly. He may need anyone of them alive with him for the following rooms where their abilities might be more convenient. So what to do? What to do...


Barely a second after the boulder was released Vex had finished his fairly simple plan. He turned around to face the boulder, raised his hands and let all of his energy run into stopping it with telekinesis. His entire body ached from the strain, but through the effort he managed to choke out his idea. "Black mage, help me hold it! The rest of you run. I can move the two of us qdown there quickly, but I don't know about the rest of you..." His words trailed off as he started breathing heavily. "Get a move on!" He shouted.


The boulder was monstrously heavy, and without any momentum from Vex's side stopping it was very tough. He offered the mage who'd introduced himself as Kallin a smile. "Sorry to ask for your help, but I figure the more of us alive the better." He turned his head back to the boulder, and his pupils were positively shining with purple now. Streaks of purple light ran up his veins, and it was overall obvious to see he was exhausted. "I'm Vexillarius Aquila, by the way. Call me Vex."


@SilverFlight (mainly)

When the door gave way Kallin fell flat, landing on his face in the sand. He scrambled to his feet quickly, shaking sand out of places he just knew would chafe later.


Then that indescribably annoying voice echoed about the room once again.


"Boulder...what?" but he did not need to finish the question as a literal boulder appeared just above them on the incline. Kallin swore colourfully. He looked to the others, worried about their safety...especially the awkward, smallish man who had cowered within the shield. A voice drew him back to the problem at hand, where the elf had already pitched himself against the giant rock.


"Got it Vex!" Kallin shouted and drew his staff, slamming it onto the stones before him. A glyph blossomed about his feet, tracing intricate symbols in a ring around his fluttering robes. Suddenly several small stone pillars lurched from the pathway and braced themselves against the rock. Kallin struggled to hold them against the force, he could already feel the supports beginning to crumble.


"We have seconds!" He cried, hopefully it would be enough to give the others a head start.

Star narrowed her eyes at Kallin for a moment before the door shook open and they walked inside. Looking around confused for a second she a raised a brow but that was when the booming voice of Gingericus returned and explained their next journey. Her eyes began to wander around the place, finding it rather beautiful in her opinion. Looking around at her fellow companions she smiled but that soon faded when Gingericus mentioned the "Boulder Dash" and her motherly side kicked in immidiately at the thought of a boulder coming down to smash them all. Her eyes flooded with worry and care as she spoke "I can carry at least two if your light enough but if you can run you better run now." She growled to them. Shifting to her werewolf she growled once more, waiting for atleast someone light then another heavier but that didn't matter. What mattered was getting everyone out safely and she wasn't going to leave anyone behind even if that meant grabing their sleeve and pulling them through. She wasn't even going to let the two holding the boulder stay behind. "Come on you slow pokes!!" She said mainly to herself since they couldn't understand and all they understood was a loud, demanding bark.

As Ax entered the room, his eyes swirled around, taking small notes of the walls and sounds in the new place. Was the sky real he wondered. His observations were interrupted by the voice talking about some boulder dash. How annoying he thought. When the boulder appeared, Ax studied it quickly also, noting that his current weapons would not be able to slice it apart. "Maybe we could lay in the corners and let it roll pass us?" He thought out loud. When Star offered to carry people, Ax was intrigued but figured that this would not be the time to find out about werewolves. "I think that the pale guy needs to be carried. No offense, but you don't look like you run much. As for me, I can run on my own." When Star barked, Ax instinctively reached out to pet her but stopped. This is not the time for that he mentally scolded himself. "Come on, we need to move so their efforts won't be in vain. Unless my idea works, then, in that case, we should position ourselves as to not be flattened." As Ax said that, he stretched, since there was a higher possibility of them running rather than them slipping through the spaces between the boulder and the wall.

One moment, Chastity was sitting in the stands, watching the last act leave the stage.


The next, she was enveloped in darkness. She did not like darkness.


She panicked, thrashing against the force that held her. Fortunately, the restraint didn't last long. Unfortunately, her struggling resulted in her being dumped unceremoniously on the floor, landing hard on her stomach. Groaning, she let her head rest on her arms as she listened to the voice that introduced itself as Gingericus. She decided she did not like Gingericus, as they were really excessively chirpy and what the heck would a god of the color orange do, anyway?


She forced herself to get up. She had her breath back, for the most part, and she knelt on the ground, brushing sand off her skirt and taking stock. The sand wasn't going that fast, and the doors were pretty close, so she figured she had some time.


There were five others in the room with her. Only one other girl, blonde and short. A pale, slender boy with a pockmarked face, who... unnerved her. He was... she'd have to get closer to him to figure it out, but she didn't like that idea, not at all. He didn't look dangerous, but he felt very, very wrong. Another boy, also short and slim- come to think of it, she only saw one other guy who could rival her in height- who gave off a sense of death, and a lot of it, too. Chastity swallowed hard, not relishing the idea of being around him. She could deal with it, though- he was just a person, she could keep the impression separate from herself. Her heart went out to him, though- poor kid, to have seen so much awfulness at a young age. She wondered how that had happened.


The tall guy... the first thing that popped into Chastity's head when she took a closer look at him was long-haired pretty-boy. He was fairly unremarkable, other than that. That left only one other- who appeared to be made out of mist. Well then. That was interesting, anyway.


Something scuttled over her hand, and she jumped up with a shriek. She hated spiders. The others seemed to be clustering around the southernmost door, which she was glad of. The other doors felt ominous, somehow. She worked her way over to the group, sliding a bit on the accumulated sand and feeling rather resentful of the gods. The temple looked fascinating, and she dearly wished that she could have examine it. She pushed her hair out of her face, checked her pockets for hair ties, and came up empty. Darn gods. Least they could do would be to give her a stinking hair tie, or at least some pants. She didn't like the idea of running around their little Obstacle Course of Doom in a dress.


She pressed her hand to the door with the rest of her compatriots. Mist-Guy had a name now- Kallin. He was a mage, apparently. She filed that information away for later, as Gingericus the Excessively Chipper made a return to announce... Boulder Dash?


Yes, she decided, the gods were definitely jerks. Pretty-Boy seemed to have a plan. He had also introduced himself, but since introducing oneself in the middle of a highly time-sensitive crisis was incredibly dumb and she was in a rather uncharitable mood, Chastity resolved to continue referring to him as Pretty-Boy. He enlisted Kallin to help him hold back the boulder- so, then, they could both do magic. Could the boulder really hurt Kallin, seeing as he was mist? It didn't really matter, it could definitely hurt the rest of them, so that's what she needed to worry about.


She could see, a ways away, that the corridor began to slope up again. They just needed to get far enough up that incline that the boulder would have to start rolling back... and avoid falling into the pits, which was just bloody unfair. Stupid gods and their stupid Indiana Jones ripoffs.


To make matters worse, her compatriots appeared to be under the impression that this was a good time to stand around talking and, in the case of Blondie, turn into a wolf.


...turn into a wolf. Okay then. Moving on, no need to freak out, she knew a guy who could sprout wings at will, this wasn't that weird.


Blondie had offered to carry people previously, but Chastity didn't need it. Privately, she agreed with Shorty- Pale guy looked like he could use a lift. The important thing, though, was to get moving. Pretty-boy and Kallin seemed to know what they were doing, so she couldn't worry about them. The most she could do was make sure everyone else got the heck out of Dodge so that the two of them could keep it up as much as they could. They'd bought them a precious few seconds, and Chastity was going to make damn sure that those moments were not wasted.


Shorty was actually stretching, like they were not about to become human/wolf pancakes. Did the kid have no sense of urgency? She ground her teeth, before raising her voice in her best Sapphire-on-the-warpath impression. "Boys, if you can run, go now. Blondie, if the pale guy doesn't need you, start running. Don't worry about Kallin and pretty-boy, the faster we get out of their way the faster they can get to safety. Now everybody MOVE!"

Kallin had to say it didn’t surprise him to see the blonde teen shift into a wolf. He knew a werecat personally. He considered Ax’s idea, glancing quickly at the corners of the room, but he couldn’t tell if there was actually enough space. There were too many blighted plants! Looking to the small-framed and nervous man he had trouble picturing why the gods had chosen him to participate…it seemed they all had some sort of skill, perhaps his was not physical or magical but intellectual?


“Hey Tiny, will it work?” Then he noted he may have to speak slowly and be a bit more descriptive, the poor guy was clearly shaken. “Can we fit into the corners of the room? Or is the boulder going to turn us into human paste?”


@SpectroVector @LoveMyHate


They needed an answer fairly quickly, a chunk fell off one of his pillars and he cast one more for extra support, but it wouldn’t last long.


So involved with the danger was he that he barely noticed the lovely dark-haired girl until she spoke. Her attitude made him smile, a gesture that was only marked by his eyes narrowing into upturned crescents, he could tell they were alike.


"What she said! Go!"


@The One Called X

Star narrowed her eyes and quickly went under the scrawny boy, forcing him to sit so he could be carried. With that she gave another low, demanding bark to the boys that had been holding up the boulder for a good few seconds. With that she took off as fast as she possibly could, ocasionally her paws slipped and she almost fell into a couple of the spike filled pits, which made her eyes grow wide. Focusing more on the pits than anything she continued to run at top speed, jumping over the smallest but still ocassionally, just almost, falling in completely. She looked back to the young, dark haired girl and wondered if she needed help, though she'd almost forgotten the one passenger that she already had. After waiting a moment she debated wether she should go back but knew it would probably result in death due to the boulder that would come crashing down any moment. Sighing softly she decided to keep running so that hopefully her and the scrawny boy - she knew was atleast somewhat powerful, got out safely, along with the others.


After awhile of running - and lots of slipping.. Star had reached the point where the slope began to rise once more. She barked loudly with excitement having made it down the slope safely with a passenger. She dug her claws into what she could but slipped back down. Seeing the plants around she wondered how strong they were and if she could possibly climb them to the top. The thought stuck for a brief moment before she decided to try climbing again. She began digging all four claws into the rising slope, it took what felt like five minutes but was only several long seconds, her claws began to sink in and make tiny holes in the slope.

Alec felt his body rush through the door, the second that it opened. He was not going to waste any more time. He felt like he had moved through a barrier of horror, into what seemed like a comforting area. It was filled with different plants. Some looked vicious but others looked beautiful. He knew that the aesthetically pleasing ones would most likely be the most dangerous. That's how Alec usually found life. Alec saw that this hall way was quite wide, wide enough to let the five of them sit-or stand- quite comfortable with Alec feeling absolutely no obligation to be too close to the other strangers. He looked up, as he felt burning warmth touch his skin. He still wasn't used to the sun. Even though his ring protected him from skin sizzling damage; it was still very bright. He didn't like brightness when he was a human; he was hardly going to warm to it now.


Alec looked down at the floor and waited for his brief second of happiness to be over and- ah, yes! Just on cue. The voice. The voice congratulated him and the others, though Alec didn't recall doing anything notable, except running away from scorpions, which was far from brave. He sighed as the voice announced the terrifying name of this chamber. Alec felt himself begin to panic as a door opened, revealing a terrifyingly giant boulder. Alec gulped, his throat dry. He saw that the others were talking about him. Anyone who used the word pale was either speaking about him or a sickly child. As there were no peasant children laden with cholera; they must have been talking about him.


One of the others, a young boy suggested that Alec be carried. As much as Alec took pride in his dignity; actually, why was he kidding himself? Of course he would need carrying. No; no he wouldn't. He had super speed. Alec smiled. Finally, he would be good at something. He was way faster than any of these idiots! He looked around; guiltily, as if they had heard his offensive thoughts. He shook his head, but as he was about to run, someone asked him a question. But, his speech was interrupted, like usual, and a young, brunette girl stood in for him. He didn't mind; she was quick, stood up for him and said what he would have said. He nodded, and set off down the slope. He focused on the higher point of the hill, imagining himself almost teleporting there. He looked straight ahead; focused and totally concentrating.


He felt himself passing the others, the boulder far behind him. He was almost there-He squealed as he tumbled over, pain pricked all of his body. He squeezed his eyes shut and tensed every muscle in his body. His face was on the floor. Had the boulder gotten him? He was so worked up over his speed that he might just have been daydreaming. Finally, he worked up enough bravery to open his eyes. He looked at his body. It was not crushed into Richmond soup, but his clothes were torn, as he was laying in a pit of spikes. He thought that he could get out, until he realised that his foot was stuck under a larger spike that seemed to have bent backwards. His heart felt like it had melted. He began to sweat and felt like he might just cry. He was going to die. He was going to be crushed. And they were going to beat him. He squealed; a desperate call for help as his words were not coming from his mouth. "Um, a little help?" He cried, trying to tug his foot away.


@Prizzy Kriyze @LoveMyHate @The One Called X @SilverFlight @JadeWuvsCookies

Another pearl of sweat rolled down his forehead, and Vex turned his head back to look at the group only to find that at least half of them were still at his side. "I'm giving you 10 seconds to go down, after that I'm letting go and this boulder will crush everyone who's still in the way. And I wouldn't count on lying down in the corners." He said, this time with an authoritarian voice that hinted on frustration since they hadn't started running yet. "I can catch the vampire boy on the way down if nobody else does, but the rest of you have to move. NOW." His entire body was locked in a position as if he was physically holding back the boulder at this point.


"Kallin." He said to get the mage's attention. "As soon as I let go, your pillars will hold it back for a moment, correct? In that time, I'll grab you, throw you over my back and send us gliding down the pathway quicker than the boulder could ever catch us. Will you be ready for it?" He felt his arms growing tired. This boulder wasn't any kind of regular rock, that was for certain. With the massive amounts of energy surrounding this entire dimension he'd quickly be able to recover from the strain, but it was far more draining than it should be. He could feel his energies failing.

Kallin grinned at Vex, "I can handle myself, don't you worry. The pillars will give us five seconds. Ready?." He twirled his staff in one hand. "Go!" He shot a bit more strength into the spell before dashing away from the enormous rock. He bolted down the corridor, spreading a thick sheet of ice before him. One...two...He leaped and landed deftly on it, catching his balance and sliding like a snow-boarder, using gravity and his momentum to increase his speed. Three...four... Up ahead he saw the others, finally catching sight of the sickly human far ahead of the rest.


"Bloody coward." Kallin muttered, when all of a sudden he vanished, swallowed up by a trap in the path. Five. He heard the pillars break apart with a terrifying 'crunch!', but he didn't dare look around.


Kallin swore for the second or third time in the span of a few short minutes. He stopped the ice and ran to the edge of the pit, leaping into it without another thought. Landing awkwardly, he managed to stop his fall just as a spike came dangerously close to his nether regions. He heaved a sigh of relief and maneuvered gingerly over the spike to where Alec lay trapped.


"You. Are more trouble than you're worth." He grumbled, kneeling down and summoning a bit of fire to sear the wood spike to a breakable stage.


"If we're going to get out of here we'll all need to work together all right?" The spike crackled and Kallin stood, giving it a good hard kick to splinter it and free his reluctant ally. He offered him a hand to help him up. "So, lets keep this team momentum going shall we?"

(I thought I was carrying you?.. @SpectroVector )


 
Star looked back over her shoulder when hearing Kallin, she had just reached the top where the door was and she may have to go down and possibly die. Shifting to her human state once more she studied him for a moment and yelled "I could pull you guys up if you jumped and grabbed my hand, if you run fast enough we can open this door." She furrowed her brows and looked to Kallin and Alec as they began to get out of the spikey death trap. She whimpered softly at the thought of them dying.. Looking up at where the boulder had been held her motherly side over took her as she stared at the boulder as it began crashing down and then at the people that were still down below the slow. Her mouth dropped and eyes grew wide, she looked around frantically for something to tell her how to react but her mind was clustered. She thought for a minute and crossed her arms before deciding it might just be better to go down and get smashed if it meant they were safe..

(I'm so late ;A


"What she said! Go!"


Ax took that as his cue to run and quickly dashed down the slope. He ran with his head up, eyes looking around for dangers, his breathing controlled. Suddenly a burst of wind went by and Ax looked up to see the pale boy run past. "Huh. Guess he didn't need to be carried after all...Wait am I slow or is he just really fast." Ax thought as he tracked the pale male with his eyes. A movement caught his eye and Ax turned to see several other people past him. "..Guess I shouldn't have eaten all that cake.." He muttered quietly to himself. Leaning forward, Ax went into a sprint, almost flying over the floor. A commotion ahead caused him to slow down a bit, not enough that the boulder would catch but enough to quickly observe the situation. It appears that two people have fallen down a pit and werewolf girl was trying to help them. Coming closer, Ax realized it was the pale guy with super speed and one of the magicians. His mind racing, Ax thought about how to save them. "Hey magic dude, can't you create something slippery on top of this pit and have the boulder slide over it? If the boulder is fast enough...No that wouldn't work, we would be trapped by the boulder if it were to stop past this pit...but maybe.." Ax shook his head. "I think the best option right now is for you guys to jump and grab our hands. Don't worry, I may be small" He grimaced. "But I can pull you up."

Blondie and the boys finally took off, and Chastity followed. This was one instance where her long, slim legs would serve her well- she wasn't much good for endurance, but she could sprint like a deer when she needed to. She'd underestimated Pale Guy, it seemed- he was fast, unnaturally so, and her discomfort about him increased.


No time for that, though. She needed to focus, avoid the pits. If anyone fell in, it'd be a disaster- for themselves, and for others who had to help them. She gasped, skidding around one of the pits, losing precious seconds when she had to struggle to regain her footing. She was almost there, though- almost to the incline. She could see Blondie, still in wolf shape, and she let out a breath of relief when she was able to join the other girl on the slope.


She turned, to check on the others, and was immediately torn between bursting into tears and screaming in frustration.


As if to confirm her previous thought, Pale Guy had managed to fall into one of the spike pits. Kallin had either fallen or climbed in after him, and Shorty was lollygagging above the pit, rambling about creating something slippery... there might be something to that- maybe if he could get the floor extra sticky, he could at least slow the damn thing down some... from what she could see, neither of them were injured. They were adults, strangers, so she wouldn't put herself at unnecessary risk for them. Damage control, that's what she needed to do here.


She glanced at Blondie, who had returned to being a proper human-shaped blondie. She looked like she was going to head back down... no, that wouldn't do. Chastity grabbed her arm. "Don't. Shorty said he could pull them up. Neither of them look hurt, if they are, one of us can go down and help. Otherwise, you'll just be in the way, and they'll be in more danger than if you'd stayed up here." Her voice was brisk, matter-of-fact; the kind of voice she'd noticed that people listened to best. In all honesty, though, she was beginning to lose patience with Blondie and her hero complex. That wasn't important now, though. Remembering her idea, she debated internally for a few moments- was it worth potentially distracting them? She looked up at the Impending Boulder of Squishy Death, and decided that slowing the thing down was definitely worth it. "Kallin! Pretty-Boy! If either of you can make the ground in front of the boulder extra sticky or something, do it! Any speed we can take away from the damn rock is worth it!"





@Prizzy Kriyze @SilverFlight @JadeWuvsCookies

There was no time to wait for a reply from his rescuee, instead he gripped his hand firmly and reached out for someone to pull them up.


He thought about what Chastity had said. "I can't just conjure anything out of thin air, magic has rules!" But then again, looking at the plants, perhaps he wouldn't have to create a glue.


He flicked his staff this way and that, summoning the water trapped in the very stems of the plants and twisted his hand quickly. Some of the greenery went flying into the boulder's path, sticky sap oozing from holes puncturing the branches. The boulder ran right over the first few meters with unhindered ease, but as Kallin continued to throw the shrubbery in its path the sap and thick branches suddenly began to have an effect, all be it a small one. The boulder would no doubt reach them eventually and happily crush them as it had the begonias.


It was exhausting work and before long Kallin was breathing heavily, as if he had run a mile.


"Let's go!" he shouted. he could not say how much time he had bought them. "To the top! Quickly!"


@JadeWuvsCookies @LoveMyHate @Prizzy Kriyze @The One Called X @SpectroVector

Star furrowed he brows at the girl, she didn't care what she said. She would put herself in harms way if it kept the others alive. "He's not even up here.. How will he pull them up?! If they can jump I'll pull them." She huffed and laid on her stomach, reaching her gand down she looks to Kallin who seems to be breathing heavily. "I'll pull you up first Kallin.. hurry!" She bit her bottom lip and waited for the boy to grab her hand.

Kallin grabbed the hand offered, but not letting go of the man he had jumped down into the cursed pit to retrieve.


"How about you work together?" He suggested, more than a little urgency in his voice. The rock was nearly upon them now, there was no more time for arguing. With one hand he hauled Alex up as best he could, passing him to Ax while relying on Star's strength to get himself out. Once they were free Kallin nodded his thanks.


"Now, I don't fancy having my clothes pressed while I'm still in them."


He started off at a run, gesturing for them to follow.