Ooc: Post due by 6:00pm CST on 5/16! If you do not post by then you will be disqualified! This will not be rolled by judges so there is no need to post your race form.

The feast had gone well, at least she thought so, which made her very happy. Everything leading up to today had felt like so much work and was a bit overwhelming, but now that it was finally here it was rewarding to see it all come together. They had feasted and celebrated on through the evening and the next morning she had gathered up the wolves that had expressed interest in the race she had prepared and led them over to the beginning of the course. The path had been roped off with strips of fabric that were held together by steaks stuck into the ground. From where she was standing her and the other participants could see a portion of the track that curved around the edge of the lake, but once it went up into the trees it became difficult to see.

She stood to the side of the track, waiting for the participants to take their positions. She had been afraid that she wouldn't make the track wide enough, but fortunately there wasn't a ton of participants so she didn't have to worry about that too much. She knew Ricin fairly well and she recognized Duchess from the week the violet woman had spent with them. Kione was a new face for her, but she knew he came from that pack in Auster that they had visited when they were still a band. "Okay! When I give the signal, all of you will follow the track and race to see who can get to the end fastest. There might be some obstacles to look out for..." she hinted with a little smirk. She waited for them to ready themselves and then counted down, saying, "On three... One... Two... Three!"

"Avacyn Mendacium"

Ricin had been among the first to show up for the race, his excitement at showing off his skills actually had him arriving a little too early. Still, a couple more wolves filter in and he spies the purple form of Duchess. Eagerly bounding over to her, the blue boy greets her happily and pulls her smaller frame in for a huge bear hug. When he pulls back, Ricin places an affectionate lick on her cheek before allowing her space to get ready. Ricin looks over to the side where his brother waits, ready to cheer him on and he shoots Ny a nervous grin while the blue boy moves to the starting line and takes a deep breath. Ruby eyes turn to Avacyn as she announces the rules and his eyes widen a little when she mentions obstacles. Oh, this is going to be fun. Before the countdown starts, he looks to his opponents and says, “Good luck! May the fastest one win!”

With that, Ricin crouches to lower his center of gravity and Avacyn counts, the boy bolting forward as the word three passes the purple wolf’s lips. Despite his initial burst of speed, the blue boy settles into a slightly slower rhythm in an attempt to conserve his energy for the longer stretches. The first obstacle that the boy finds is right after the first turn in the track; a wooden pole is suspended off the ground by two posts and it runs the whole length of the track. Ricin easily clears the pole but stumbles on his landing and he hopes that his mistake does not cost him the race.


"Ricin Dauner"

It had been quite the hike from Fenmyre all the way over to the festival but it was more than worth it.  Truth was, Kione enjoyed running across the land anyway, this had just given him a reason to go somewhere.  The food had been wonderful, the drinking a lot of fun and the headache he’d woken up with seemed to be fading.

Now he looked to the others in the line with him, grinning at how well the blue pup had turned out.  He’d grown, now taller than Kione was.  Kione gave a charming smile to the purple lady and a win to young Ricin.  The painted-wolf listened to the instructions, then focused on the track. “Luck to ya also Ricin, and to you luv.”

The moment the word ‘three’ was voiced Kione was off as if released from a rubber band.  The wild dog’s long-legged gait seemed almost as much leaping as running.  His eyes kept focused at the path ahead but those keen ears were listening for the slightest hint of his competition closing in or a moving obstacle ahead.  Kione would let nothing slow him down nor distract him!


"Kione"

Duchess had really only joined the race for Ricin, and that was okay with her. She really cared for the boy immensely so having a little fun through her harsher emotions she could work through. She joined along side Ricin, giving him a tight hug in return before looking up thankfully into his eyes. She went to take her place at the starting line and listened to Avacyn for the easy explanation. Ricin lived here and Duchess had spent some time here herself so other than the obstacles that Avacyn had mentioned, she knew the layout of the land rather well. Duchess only smiled at Ricin and the other male here as they offered luck to every one of them.

Duchess took off at the count of three, but she would have to make up for speed compared to the other two's strides. Ricin had the largest obviously, but even Kione had a bit larger stride than herself. Duchess was good on her paws luckily, so once they came across the jumping pole she only took a few seconds to analyze still in step before approaching straight on and popping over the jump to the other side, still keeping her paws moving along the path.

"Duchess"

Ooc: Next post due by 6:00pm CST on 5/20!

Avacyn watched them bolt off at the end of her count down and she grinned, letting them get a head start before she went and took a quick short cut to a different part of the track that curved around through the woods as it separated from the edge of the lake. She knew that they would already hit at least one of the preset obstacles on the way to this point, but this one needs a bit of momentum to get it started. There was a chunk of sawed off log stung up between two of the large pine trees and ti was being held to one side against one of the trunks. She waited till she could hear their paw steps coming around the bend and into the woods to release it, sending the log swinging back and forth across the path and giving them something to dodge past. She grinned once it was going and then turned to run off toward another part of the track to prep the next obstacle.

Rolls:
Ricin: 15
Duchess: 15
Kione: 7
Since there are only a few racers no one gets knocked out this round, but Ricin and Duchess do take the lead!

"Avacyn Mendacium"

As Duchess ran up alongside Ricin, it was the only way to tell they were neck in neck in the lead. She enjoyed being up here with him, and she hoped he was having a ton of fun. She wouldn't throw down arms though, she knew he'd want her to give him her best shot.

As they approached the interactive obstacle, Duchess only had a few seconds to analyze her foot work before she met up with it. She slowed in her pace as the log came swinging down and waited for that perfect moment to swerve around the end of it and make it around before it came back. Her paws were quick behind the log, and she made it to the other side of the obstacle without anything drastic happening. She'd continue on along the path and wait to see what else was in store.

"Duchess"

The track leads the trio along and soon, Ricin and Duchess are sharing the lead. A loud happy laugh resounds through the air as the blue boy can’t contain his joy anymore. He calls back to the lagging dog, “Hey Kione! Keep up, will ya?” Another loud laugh is released… until the next obstacle comes into view. Eyes round at the swinging log that is in their path but Ricin does not slow, instead speeding up a little as he charges straight toward it. He tracks the path and when it passes the middle of the track, the blue boy speeds across the path in the log’s wake. Seriously, after the race is finished, Ricin is going to give Avacyn the biggest compliments. This is awesome!

"Ricin Dauner"

Kione runs with the group, long legs doing a great job of easily moving forward fluidly.   The wild dog always put his heart into whatever he did and was happy to take risks for the end victory.  When obstacles came along Kione took them at full speed, keeping up just fine.  Kione’s speed was one of his greatest assets after all.

The log was seen swinging and Kione ran on, betting on beating the speed of its swing and getting on by.  Instead, the log smacked into his side and flattened Kione so he was suddenly lying on his side.  Woah, felt that one.  Kione lunged up to his feet and pounded his paws against the dirt aiming to catch up.  There was a pain in his side but Kione could ignore that.  Nasty bruise he imagined but it was given little thought.  This was fun!  Kione just grinned at Ry's comment, he'd respond after he caught up.


"Kione"

Avacyn didn't get the chance to see how the first swinging obstacle played out since she was already on her way to get the next piece started, but she was eager to see who took the lead after getting through it! A little ways down the track after a bend that would curve the racers out of the trees and through a patch of rocky terrain at the base of the mountains, Avacyn grabbed a bag of smaller rocks and quickly scattered them across the track. She left patches of ground uncovered by the slippery stones, almost like "islands" that were save to use if they were perceptive enough to spot them. There were also a couple of larger boulders within the confines of the roped of track that were low enough that they might be able to hop up onto them to get through the more treacherous patch of terrain if they wanted. With that set up she tossed down the bag she had been using and then ran off to wait at the finish line so that she could be there to declare the winner!

Rolls:
Ricin: 15 + 15 = 30
Duchess: 15 + 14 = 29
Kione: 7 + 19 = 26
Kione makes a big come back and everyone is almost neck and neck going into the next obstacle! It's going to be a photo finish!

"Avacyn Mendacium"

The trio pass the swinging tree trunk and reach a straight away on the track. Laughter still erupts from Ricin at intervals as the blue boy thoroughly enjoys the race with his friends. He puts on a small burst of speed, trying to gain a slight lead as they make a turn around a bend.

Ruby eyes catch sight of small stones littering the track, and he quickly scans to pick out the small islands of track not covered by the obstacles. This reminds the blue boy of the goat paths he and Chade like race along on the mountain and how he quickly has to pick out a safe path and execute it to win. For being a tall wolf, Ricin is surprising nimbly as he leaps from island to island. Spotting a large rock, he changes direction and jumps onto the boulder, pausing a moment to scan the field. If he plays it right, she should be able to by-pass the rest of the stones by leaping to the last island.

Plan made, Ricin launches himself to the island, landing and leaping over the last small section. The laughter is gone as his paws hit the track once more and he pours all his speed into this last leg. Paws thunder along as he focuses on getting to the finish line, determined to take home the win.


"Ricin Dauner"

With Ricin just one step ahead of her, her eyes were keen on the path ahead. It took only a few seconds to see what the obstacle was ahead of them. She focused first on the little island placements, and once she was close enough she realized they were surrounded by rocks. Luckily for her she was agile, her hopping across the spotted path wouldn't be so difficult for her. Still what she lacked was speed and stride, and only time would tell just how much she could stay ahead. She hopped through the stone obstacle, making it to the other side and didn't stop for even a second. Every little step would count, but looking at Ricin made her little heart happy. As long as he was having fun that was all that mattered to her. At least she got to experience this time with him.

"Duchess"

Kione had fallen far behind at the beginning but he had gained a lot of ground after that first obstacle.  The painted wolf wasn’t the sort to carefully plan his path but just blaze ahead and trust his ability to react in time to surprises.  

There was no pause to choose between the larger boulders versus the safe little ‘islands’.  Kione hopped about a couple of safe pockets in the trail before leaping onto a boulder.  A back paw slipped at one point but the balance was easily regained and he continued on.  He was gambling with pure speed to make up lost time.

With the slippery rocks behind Kione continued forward, watching those ahead of him, demanding his muscles to work to catch up and get past them.


"Kione"

Avacyn waited eagerly at the finish line, looking up to see the trio coming down the home stretch. This might have not been the most popular event, but it was definitely the one she had the most fun setting up and putting into action. It was such a close race until the very last second, but in the end Ricin crossed the finish line first, quickly followed by Kione and then Duchess. Her tail wagged as she trotted over to where the racers landed after they slowed to a stop, grinning happily to each of them. "I hope you all enjoyed the race! Thank you so much for participating. Congratulations, Ricin!" She fetched a bundle of prizes for him that contained a very nicely tanned elk pelt, a small bag of sparkling gem stones, and a satchel of rare herbs. She handed it off to Ricin, happy that the friendly blue-hued boy would get to enjoy the prize.

Rolls:
Ricin: 15 + 15 + 25 = 55
Duchess: 15 + 14 + 12 = 41
Kione: 7 + 19 + 24 = 50

"Avacyn Mendacium"