Festival: Summer Peko Race

If there is one thing in the world that the threat of war cannot dampen, it is the competitive spirit. Why worry about an invasion from another server when you have the thrill of PEKO RACING.

Summer has come once again to the lands of Yamato, and despite worries over what might come, people are determined to celebrate. Along the beach, flags mark the racing track as Landers and Adventurers have gathered. There is an anxious feel in the air, with guards watchful near the start of the track, just in case anyone tries to interfere with the festivities.

"Riders! Take your places!" A very manly voice calls out. A pot-bellied Pooka seems to be the Master of Ceremonies for today. His handle-bar mustache seeming to stick out from either end of his face in a comical fashion.

"We've got a special event today! Will our riders be able to handle the dangers the track will throw at them? Let's find out!" There are cheers from the gathering crowd, although they seem slightly more subdued than past races. People just seem... nervous and uncertain.

The Lander sitting at the sign-up table is looking up at Uta who, if not 'towers' due to her not exactly impressive stature, at least 'stands' in front of him, arms crossed, staring down.

It's a challenge.

"I, Mister Clerk, regret to inform you that-"

"WHAT IS IT THIS TIME?!" Uta exclaims, as she hurls herself into the poor man's face, and her fists slam on the wooden table between them. The small objects and forms on it jump up a bit, and fall back down. "I have signed up well in advance! I have filled in all the required fields, in all the required forms! In triplicate! I have gone through all you little burocratic rigamarole, and I am ready to counter any loophole you might throw at me!" As Mr.Clerk tries to open his mouth, Uta leans even forward, dour, and raises one finger in warning. "Before you speak," she states in a slow, low voice, "I will have you know that I am trained in both Scripture -and- Law. My bureaucracy game is flawless."

Mr.Clerk hesitates. He remains there, one finger of his own lifted in uncertainty, before he hazards, "...Ma'am, where is your peko?"

Uta stands frozen.

"I -knew- I had forgotten something!", she exclaims as she slaps her face.

    Merek rides atop the peko which he brought with him, taking the time to begin adjusting his equipment. Then he nods a bit to the people that will be racing with him. "Good time to take a break," he will admit, then he prepares at the line.

Schneider has shown up for the peko race despite the world situation, resplendent in glittering scale cape and outlandish coat, with his ... well, the hat doesn't really fit the 'look', which is something Adam Ant would wear - fanciful and ornate. The hat, though, looks like a bit of gamer kitsch, a stylized to look like the wearer has a peko head, but plush rather than realistic. It suits him in some odd way, though. Those who raced last year will recognize it as resembling one of the rewards the also-rans received.

He arrives at the Peko race smiling and waving to the familiar faces. And Fukaziroh. He sighs a bit, turns away, and goes to pay attention to his peko, which doesn't need it, really. Uta's outburst proves to be an amusing distraction, but then they're being called to the start.

When the call goes out to take our places, he will mount up and ride his peko, which seem well-mannered, into position at the starting line.

Who could blame these people for being so... downcast? The mood is not exactly the sunniest in Yamato. War always does a great job at raining on everybody's parades, and in some ways, the uncertainty of whether or not a war will even occur is even worse.

But that's why these festivals are so important. They're a vital distraction not just for the Adventurers, but for the Landers as well.

Prophylaxis waits astride his ever-loyal, ever lackadaisical peko. Konpeko splishes and splashes through the shallows, kicking up sprays of seafoam this way and that. As ever, Konpeko... just doesn't seem particularly interested in racing.

At least, not until her rider pulls out a TASTY CARROT ON A STICK and dangles it in front of her face. That sets her right pretty quick.

Shiruba rides Tradewind up to the race area. She, like many, have no intent on letting a looming disaster ruin what has become one of her favorite pasttimes in Yamato. "This is it, boy. The first race of the season. Let's do our best like always, right?" The bird bobs his head and gives a chirrup of agreement.

And Uta made it... without her bird. How do you forget a peko going to a peko race? Then again, considering Uta forgets what Duty she is going to sometimes. Shiruba sighs, and all she can really do his shake her head a bit before waving to the Spriggan. "It's okay Uta, you'll still be a champion to us... You can go in the stands and cheer for the rest of us like one, too." After which she gives her own mount a light nudge to direct him to their starting position.

She's been doing these races since nearly the start. But this would be the first time she raced with -actual training-.. Though considering how well Tradewind did handling himself before, we'll see how much of her input he actually needs outside of the challenges.

The thrill of PEKO RACING! War can wait. In fact, Haru is pleased to get a break from the topic of war talks AND he gets to race at the same time? He didn't plan on missing this double feature. The white haired Artificer is quiet today. Large crowds. Lots of energy. Enough to go about and navigate and get the Peko he only met recently. Unlikely partners make for a good story.

"Any day is a good day to enjoy it," Haru says, mounting up and taking a moment to adjust himself on the big bird. Whats the controls on this thing? You cant a big step in and a big step out. Turn your bird around and shake it all about. Flight check, complete. He looks to Uta's antics and offers a wave of the hand, "Where is your ride?" Just to add more 'doh' to the oversight.

    Guiding a peko of her own up to the starting area, Fuka waves to the other competitors, a grin nearly splitting her face in half. Some of the people she considers her most dear friends are here, and she can't WAIT to leave them in her dust!

    "Yeah, DANGER! Danger is my middle name!" cheers Fuka. "Wait, I don't even have a last name. Can I even have a middle name? Too late, it's my name now! Fuka DANGER Ziroh! CALL MY NAME!"

    So saying she mounts up. Apparently either her peko is remarkably familiar with Fuka and so doesn't make a fuss, or it's particularly attuned to a rider's wishes. Either way, she soon sits ready upon Sandy, who seems raring to go!

    June has arrived. The cow woman leading a peko with a saddle that has several metal plates attached to it, each engraved with mystical sigils... or you know words... there's a lot of stuff on there. The Iron Scaled cow woman has a bit of rust showing around her horns and between some of the plates, and it's quite possible she's lost weight. But a gleam in her eye is both disturbing and ... perhaps encouraging to those who are at least wanting to see someone determined. She signs up and only just manages to not turn the page into a spell out of reflex. Then she heads towards the line mounting her very nervous looking Peko... those metal plates might not all be... tested.

It's been a while since Syx has made it to one of these races, but him and Meteor have arrived and are quickly making their way to the starting line. He pets the bird a few times and then leans in to whisper some words of encouragement, "I know you got this big guy. No matter what we go up against, we'll get through it!"

    A late comer wanders up to the starting line. It's Yuuki! Probably. It's hard to tell since she's currently leaning forward, splayed out on the back of the aqua coloured peko, her face buried in its neck feathers. Is... Is she sleeping? Again, it's hard to tell. Although in her defence, she did have the red-eye boat to get here. Things have been very busy lately, there's not enough time in the day for everything!

    But still, at least she made it. And who knows, maybe asleep she'll get in a better race. Can't do much worse than she usually does while awake.

Gwen was happy for another race, given what was looming? She needed time to free thoughts of the pending war. Something to relax and keep her spirits up. Something like this race would do the trick as she would ride up on her Peco patting it on the head.

"Well now this is going to be a lot of fun. Oi Shiruba! Good luck!"

Challenge 1 - The Roiling Waves

"Looks like our riders are all in their places! It's time to race! Ready. Set. GO!" The portly Pooka proudly proclaims.

Unlike many other races, there isn't a skermish near the start. It's a small miracle, it seems. Most of the racers get out of the gates relatively easily, zooming along the sands as they follow the flag markers down along the beach.

It is the beach that begins to fight back, however. Large waves are rolling in from the ocean, splashing up onto the track. It's enough to trip up unskilled riders, or flat out knock someone off their bird if it stumbles. Some of the waves become so large that they sweep a few people out to sea, causing rider and mount to flail in the heavy waves.

It requires a fine bit of skill to keep those waters at bay and allow their mounts to get up onto a rockier part of the track that is higher up from the roiling waves below.

Roll: Water

Uta turns to walk away, and raises her hand to pat the peko which is not really there. "It's okay, Not Stolen, you'll alw-"

She breaks into mild panic as she realizes that her hands meet thin air. She stares where the bird was supposed to be, but isn't.

"Oh, no! Who am I going to console now?!" She begins to hyperventilate, and after navigating through her menu, she materializes a squishy red ball, which she begins to squeeze while doing breathing exsrcises.

Luckily, a certain wolfgirl shows up to save the day!

"...Thank you, Shiruba! You got me out of an impasse there!"

"Hey, Haru!", she waves, suddenly all excited as if what just happened hadn't, well, happened. "My ride? It's right h-"

She turns, points at thin air, and blinks.

"Hey, where's my peko?"

It takes her a few seconds before her brain kicks into gear enough for her to panic.

"Oh, no! Someone must have stolen Not Stolen!"

    Merek looks to the water when he begins to race, noticing that it will take a bit of work to be able to get around it. He does that, although while he will manage it, it does look like others are managing better.

    June spots the waves "Alright.... we try it." she pushes a small elmental crystal against a metal plate. "Run for the waves Kai!" she says even as a bubble appears around the bird centered around the metal plate, water just rushes around the pair as the peko runs. The cow woman starts to cackle as the plate continues glowing, no explosions, no cracking, it even continues to run until the crystal is completely consumed rather than shorting out. A perfect success, she marks it with a blue stripe of ink as she continues riding.

    'GO!' The race starts! The pekos shoot out from the starting line! Yuuki is jolted awake by the sudden motion, "Wah!?"

    Oh that's right, she came here to participate in a peko race. And so far, she appears to be off to a pretty decent start. Mostly thanks to her rented mount, which apparently seems to be really used to being around the water.

    Yuuki pats the bird as it happily runs through the waves, expertly following their motions to maintain a good speed without being swallowed up by the sea, "Good work, Surfboard. A good start! Now we just need to keep it up!"

Gwen is very ready to for she'll brace herself and take off she also catches sight of Uta.

"Hey Uta! Good luck!"

With that Gwen takes off like a shot as she looks to the waters. She has some spells for this and is able to deal with it chanting as she goes directing the away from her and her bird.

Schneider leans low over the saddle, and when the race starts, he's ready. Nudging the peko into motion, it sprints off, making good time. He knows a bit about beaches and stays as far up the beach as the track allows, and manages to summon an elemental, who can bodyblock the one or two waves he can't avoid. His peko churns up sand as it sprints along, making good time, as he remains alert for the beach hazards. He regrets not wearing his swimsuit, this is the beach in summer after all, but as his cape streams out behind him, he considers that it's a sacrifice for fashion. Or something.

    "Curses! Who could have forseen a water obstacle on a beach race!" demands Fuka as she's cut off from pursuing an ideal line. She tries to summon an arte to deflect the water but fails to pull off the complicated series of words in time, ending up having Sandy plow through a wave and be slowed down significantly. "Sandy! Beaches! Come on, we can't let them get too far ahead!"

As soon as there's "GO!" heard Shiruba grabs on and gives Tradewind a light spurring with her heels, and the Peko is off with as much excitement as the Cait Sith on his back has. He certainly seems to enjoy racing just as much as she does.

The first few strides take them across the sands, and for once there isn't a crazy pile-up of hapless trainers by some unforseen intrusion onto the track. Just the tide lightly lapping at the feet of birds.

Until the tide rolls out... and doesn't come back in shortly after. Shiruba lets out a yelp as she recognizes the sign of water being pulled into a larger formation before returning to shore. "Look out, big one incoming!" Shiruba considers, and then decides to not take the risk and steer her peko farther up shore. They lose some distance, but they also get mostly the seafoam and spray from the end of the wave hitting the sand, which Tradewind's long legged stride can slosh through more easily.

The Peko that Haru settled on is a little larger. If it was a horse, it'd be a draft horse and not a race horse, but it is a Peko and thusly it just looks rather large and chonky. The plumes on her are a rustic brown and red color like that of an arid canyon. Haru looks like city-folk on a farm critter by contrast, with a blue jacket and clean cut whites and grays on. Karen the Peko is in it to win it by that look in her eye. She has something to prove and enough noise to make it known. "Thats right, Karen," Haru says supportively to his bird, "you tell them." SQUAWK, WARK, KYWEH, and other such assorted noises. He takes a moment to speak to Uta, "Stolen?!"

That was the last thing that Haru said before the bird jolted off on the 'Go!' mark. Haru adapts quickly with the wind in his face causing the short tussles to fly about. He is having a good time even if Karen has bird murder in her eyes. Burder, if you will. Like a rock against the shoreline, that Karen. Her salt-of-the-earth stock proves to be an undeterred force. It takes Haru more than one occasion to break his Peko's pacing down to prevent slipping. Instead its a rhino-like pound into the air and bird-snort of watery mist. Meanwhile, rider side, Haru is drenched. "Ha!" he shakes it off and lets the wind air dry him onward.

It's time to GO! Unfortunately, that means it's time for Prophylaxis to try and encourage his peko to actually do anything other than pecking playfully at the beach crabs (and getting snipped once or twice for her trouble, but hey, peko beaks are pretty tough, so it's fine). "Come on, Konpeko, this isn't the time..." But the others have already made a great deal of progress! Prophylaxis clicks his tongue and stares, brow a-furrowed, at the sloshing waves.

...And pulls out a second carrot.

But just then, right as Konpeko finally gets moving, Prophylaxis also... /flash freezes/ a shortcut through the violent tides! Konpeko runs along the makeshift trail, catching up to the rest of the pack...!

But sadly does not get too much further ahead than most.

Not off to the most auspicious start, never the less Syx spurs his peko along, "Come on boy!" Running on sand is never easy, and it's compounded by the waves crashing in on them, one of those waves knocking Syx off of his peko, which he then has to re-mount, causing him to fall behind, "Damnit! Lets go Meteor, we're not out of this yet!"

Challenge 2 - Crab Battle

The sand gives way to rocky shoreline, the coast dropping off to the side in a large cliff. It means that the riders who made it this far are safe from the waves, at least for now.

They are not safe from all threats, however. Monsters are more common here, away from the beaches that give the festival its name. Right in the center of their path is one such creature. Large and brown, the Dire Crab has giant pinchers and seems intent on grabbing at the racers if they try to go past.

The only option seems to be to test their mettle in fighting on peko-back. While they can certainly fight using their regular attacks, it seems that this monster is particularly weak to fire. Afterall, it makes for a delicious treat once cooked!

If they aren't careful, though, they might end up pincered and tossed down into the waves below. This seems the fate of a few riders who are not quite skilled enough to keep the crab at bay.

Roll: Fire

    Merek looks to the crabs, while he takes the time to punch them, his peko shifting with sweeping amazing kicks that assist the man.

June looking at the crabs, but rather than using her normal methods of firing from Peko back or jumping off to beat things up while KFC III keeps runing, she presses a crystal to a different plaque on the saddle. This causes a sphere of flames to spring up, the Peko and cowgirl go riding through the pack, the sheild flaring and failing slightly before the crystal is empty leaving June to kick one of the crabs away. That one gets a green stroke of ink, working.. but needs fine tuning.

    After having failed to conjure water magic in time to do any good, Fuka's trailing behind the others. This gives her plenty of warning to see what's coming up. Prepared, she rattles off a lengthy series of runewords.

    Taking one hand off the reins, Fuka points and releases a long ribbon of fire which erupts into a wall, blocking away (and quite possibly roasting) any crabs bold enough to dare attack her, Fuka DANGER Ziroh! Cackling madly, flaming finger outstretched, she streaks off as if on afterburners!

Haru can practically hear the racing music in his head. Its a good thing because otherwise its a raw chaos of wind, battle cries, and Peko sounds. The heavy thunks of his noble steed get more earthy ground beneath them as the shoreline becomes rocky. "Karen," the Artificer says in a concerned voice. Karen don't care. She is rushing it. "Karen," Haru says in a more concerned voice as that is right towards a pincer. "Ignis. Fulgrim." he evokes quickly, one hand on the reins and the other letting a bolt of fire out towards the pincer to give it enough pause that the crispy crab misses the bird and rider by mere moments. Some plummage was clipped. Sacrifices were made. It only enrages the Peko further, punting another errant crab in their way off to the side making use of the sturdy bird's heft. Right into another rock it goes. "She shoot, she scores," he cheers his bird on, returning both hands and leaning down for the accelleration.

Up up the cliffs and away from the water... And there's the eventual intrusion by monsters the more experienced racers were likely expecting.

"Watch your step, those pinchers are sharp." Tradewind kawhs loudly as he veers away from a crab while trying to not loose footing on the limited rocky ledge space as well. Shiruba has her bow in hand in a flash, drawing several incedinary arrows from her quiver, and firing them one by one into various crabs to drive them back from grabbing at her or her bird. Tradewind does -not- like being in combat, but he's been in enough of the races to know some fighting is unavoidable, so just focuses on the running so Shiruba can focus on shooting.

The pair are very well trained, even if not making exceptional progress.

    Yuuki and Surfboard move out of the shallow waters to follow the course up. Of course, once Yuuki catches sight of the giant crab she practically has stars in her eyes. Oh if only she could fight it. But right now, she must focus on the race! Yuuki draws her sword, "Okay Surfboard, let's make sure to give it a good whack so it leaves us alone!" Yuuki's sword ignites into flames as she prepares a Sword Arte.

    Unfortunately, Yuuki failed to consider that her aqua-coloured Peko named Surfboard likes water. And thus, by the laws of RPGs, is opposed to fire. Surfboard starts getting upset at the sword-based fire being waved around it, jumping around more. Yuuki has to hold on! Which distracts her and causes giant crab pincer to smack her in the head!

    Yuuki is thrown back by the blow, but her foot catches in the stirrup! She's dragged by the agitated peko, bouncing across the ground for some distance. Until she finally manages to pull herself back into her peko. Catching her breath, she looks at her mount and asks, "What the hell was that!?"

Oh no, crabs! They wish nothing less than to reap their TERRIBLE REVENGE upon Konpeko and her rider! This is what you get, you foolish bird! You get GIANT CRABS snipping at your beak! Wahahahaha!

...

"Hmm, barbecued crab," Prophylaxis mutters to himself as he conjures a fireball directly into the soft underbelly of one of the dire snippers. It flash-cooks from the inside, transmogrifying into...

...Several piles of flavorless dire crab drops, because Prophylaxis has neither Hunting nor Cooking. But it does clear the way for he and his noble steed to sally forth and gain a little bit on the rest of the pack.

Schneider is, luckily, a poster child for /skilled with fire/. Without missing a single stride, he leans over the saddle, charges straight toward the crab, and when it turns to snap at him, Schneider casts, "Zako Damero!" and a burst of fire takes the crab directly in what passes for its face. It staggers back a few steps, and Schneider is past, the peko with no name riding on.

Schneider is still neck and neck in the lead, thanks to a strong start, and he's holding so far. His past performance has shown him having trouble holding onto a good start, but maybe he's done some training in the off season. Or it could just be /another/ lucky start. Only time will tell if he can keep up the performance.

Why did it have to be Crabs? Oh god why did it have to be crabs? She did not know but she iwll not get into melee with such cave demons. Nay she will do the right and proper idea. She will use fire to keep them at bay as she and her mount charge on. She lets out a whoop though wait did someone name their mount /Karen/? Geeze she is kind of afraid of a bird wuch such a name. Yet she must focus and keeps going.

"Come one let's get away from the crab bucket boy!"

"Alright it's time for a crab fry!" Syx calls out, as the group approaches the giant crab monster, "Alright Meteor, we've practiced for just this kind of thing!"

Austin rises up onto the back of the peko's saddle, standing up as the two of them get engulfed in flames. The peko leaps up, and drops down on top of the crab with his talons, before jumping off again. This leaves Syx jumping as the peko does, but he sails straight up, before he sails back down to slam into the crab, smashing through it. Then another jump and he's back on the peko's saddle, flames disappating as they race ahead.

Challenge 3 - The Sky Is Falling

Luckily, crabs are more tasty than terrorizing, so it doesn't take long for actual skilled fighters to be able to eliminate the threat that had been blocking the race track. It allows them to carry on quickly enough, following the track down into a quieter cove of white, sandy beaches.

It's a little too quiet, though. Enough that more experienced riders might suspect that something is about to happen even before the first rock gets thrown their way.

This beach seems to be claimed by a set of small Earth elementals, which are not fond of all of the peko tracks being made across their pristine sands. Soon enough, there are rocks of all size being chucked in their direction, raining down upon their heads.

There is enough damage coming their way that trying to fight back against the elementals might not be a wise decision, so it might be best to defend and flee while they can, hoping to get beyond the beach before the attacks whittle down their health bars.

Challenge: Evasion / Shield

Schneider is in second place as the peko with no name galumphs psat the crab and across the elementals' beach, and he grimaces as the rocks start flying. That damage could mount up quickly! So he does what any clear thinking exploder wizard would do. Sadly, the exploding sands just annoy the elementals more, and Schneider is forced to flourish his cape, which forms an armored barrier, deflecting the stones as he continues through at a hard run. Well, the peko does, Schneider's just along for the ride. But Schneider's the one that gets credit for it.

    Seeing what's coming up ahead, Fuka groans. "Flatten down, Sandy! Small profile, don't get hit by a rock!" she encourages her little Peko. Well, not that little. As the rocks come flying, Fuka braces herself, interposing an armoured arm to take the hit and deflect it away from her mount. It's sort of successful. She ends up getting hurt so her mount doesn't, nearly flying from the saddle. She grabs hold, clinging tight, ending up slowing down Sandy somewhat. Not as much as if the peko had been hit directly, or as much as if she'd been knocked flying from the saddle. Bloodied, she straightens back up, still grinning.

    Merek lifts up the shield with him to protect the peko along with him while he works the way along the place.

Things are heating up in the race and Gwen is having fun with t as the sky seem to fall? She's got a plane out comes her shield it glows with magic. One would also hearing a lion's roar.

"LION'S AEGIS!"

A Barrier forms about mount and rider. Nothing is able to get past her guard it seem as she pushes onward!

    At least they don't have to face any MORE crabs. Though Yuuki is half tempted to go back and wreck that one that hit her. She makes a note to revisit this part of the beach at a later time...

    Soon enough the crab battles are all in the past. For now they're running across an eerily peaceful cove. It's a nice change of pace compared to-ROCKS! Yuuki directs her peko left, then right as she tries to avoid the falling stones. Looking to the side, she sees the rocky wall of the cove. She urges her peko towards it, a soft green glow starting to emenate from the bird's claws.

    As if instinctively know the buff its rider has passed on to it, the bird jumps up into the wall and starts running up it, Yuuki laughing triumphantly as the elementals fail to get a good angle on her there.

    Though there is one point where Yuuki slips out of the saddle and finds herself dangling as her peko wall runs along. But she manages to pull herself back up.

They are soon back on the beaches, but there is little time to rest yet as elementals are getting worked up over the race passing through.

But these were the times that this pair exceled at. Shiruba knew she could count on Tradewind to keep running the race with minimal input beyond a command to "Keep on course, towards the far side of the beach!" The peko lowers his head and leans into his stride, focusing on the direction given and putting his effort into making up some of the time they've lost on having to be cautious about previous challenges.

He knows what he's doing, and it allows Shiruba to put her attention mainly on the threat. Eyes narrow as she focuses, and she holds one hand up and out as whisps of aether flit from her fingers. "I OF THE STORM!" As a Spell Fletcher she didn't directly cast very often, but this was one of those times it was suitable. The flick of her fingers is greeted by the whoosh of the wind, and the force of a cyclone spinning up artound the racing pair. A shielding vortex with the strength of a tornado whipping through hair and feather, though most of it's power is directed outward to knock away boulders and crush them back into dust. Little bits of stone debris fall into the sand in their wake, but the duo charges ahead unscathed by the earthly rampage.

    June spots the incomming volly of stones and presses another crystal to a third plate. This one causes a copy of her own ironscales to cover the peko. Kai runs through the rain of stones, stones skipping off of him and June preventing any real damage from getting to them. Another cackle as the plate seems to function almost perfectly. "Yes yes it's working it's working, run Kai RUN!" Mwahahahahahhahahahah.

The race carries Haru and Karen onwards at a relentless pace. It is practically an amusement park ride level of excitement around with the waves and crabs. White sandy beaches are wonderful to behold and Haru takes a moment to breath them in. What a nice day for a race. A nice beach. Nice waves. Nice mobile rock formations. "This one is all me, I got you covered," he tells his bird who, lets get real, was going to charge forward either way. "Caustra," the blue eyed rider begins, reaching his hand out to grab a fist full of the rapid winds from the speed they are moving, "Ventus." A large rock smacks into another. "Ventus," he repeats, taking several waves of wind to redirect the course of the assault and create a skillful opening for his larger bird to break through. The spell ends with a howling, "Woooohooo," along with the screech of his big ole terror bird.

Run run run, Konpeko runs. Each step digs a deep, pekofoot-shaped gash into the land. Each step brings steed and rider closer to the finish line-- and the all but certain catastrophe that awaits them in front of it. But before they even make it close, they need to pay for the sins they've committed against land and creation.

Rocks fall! Prophylaxis clicks his tongue as a boulder sails directly towards his face... Only to dissolve into a cloud of dust on impact! A shield of force, barely even visible around he and the peko both, materializes at the moment of contact and shatters the projectile into its component parts.

Onwards, Konpeko! Let your steps be sure and your strides be long, Konpeko! Because you might as well have a decent showing now...

...Before the i n e v i t a b l e comes.

"Man, you'd think somebody would come through and clear this place of monsters before the race!" Syx yells out to nobody in particular as the group starts to get assaulted by earth elementals. Too far away to actually reach with his attacks, Syx opts to direct Meteor back and forth, weaving in and out of falling rocks and racing ahead, "Serpentine! Serpentine!" He yells out while yanking back and forth on the reins.

Challenge 4 - The Mud Flatts

Once beyond the beach, the track starts to curve back in the direction that they had come, but it ends up taking a path into the surrounding hills. It is easy to lose track of other riders as they weave between outcroppings and down into small valleys ahead.

It is when they reach a river which feeds down into the nearby ocean that the ground begins to become dangerously unstable. It slips beneath Peko feet and causes some to slide, splattering into mud. Still others end up stuck, the birds pulling to try to get their legs free from the mire.

The entire area around the river seems to have become nearly impassible, not without the use of some sort of magic to solidify the ground beneath them, offering some more stable footing. Thankfully, they have time as there are no other threats looming at the moment.

However, the longer that they take, the higher the chances that they'll fall behind the other racers. This close to the finish, any delay could cost them the race.

Roll: Earth

    June grins pressing another crystal to a plate on the saddle, a rippling wave of petrification magic rolling around the Peko's feet. Kai jumps from foothold to foothold, his claws touching down and solidifying the ground instantly with each step. "Yes yes, they're working! Run Kai Run, No Deep Fried PEKO TONIGHT!" she cackles out the iron clad cow woman looking more than little unhinged.

Schneider is barely hanging onto his second place position as they come into the muddy area. His peko and his riding skill are no match for mud, apparently, and the peko winds up deep in it, sinking up to his knees as Schneider ueges him to power through. The peko has a lot of difficulty moving through the mud, and several racers pass him as they choose better paths or handle mud better. "C'mon," he grumbles as he urges it to keep going, "you can do this." "WARK," it replies, which Dark Schneider cannot deny. "Wark indeed," he allows resignedly.

Karen is a durable bird and anything that is going to make gravity say hello to her is bad news. Luck immediately falls into a critical failure as the very first steps into the mucky terrain sink the Peko deep. It takes a heavy bump of Haru's Earth magic to unlodge her, but by now the momentium had been completely reset without sinking back in. "You are doing your best," Haru consoles the frustrated bird who is flailing angrily in the mud. When they clear out of the hazard, "lets put that into finishing strong, o-kweh?" Kweh.

    Merek looks to keep on to the place where they will be trying to reach to win, all the same he begins to use earth to assist in maneuvering with the place.

    Yuuki looks like she's starting to fall asleep again as her mount starts running into the hills. She's juuuuust drifting off when a sudden warning 'Wark!' alerts her to danger ahead. She seems some of the riders ahead of her falling over as their pekos slip on the mud!

    "Ohno! Ohno! Ohno! What do I do!? Okay. Think... It's ground stuff. So probably Earth. What Earth skills do I have... ..." Yuuki brings up her skill list and starts paging through it. Even as she and Surfboard draw closer to the unstable terrain.

    Then Yuuki looks upset, "Tremble Step? That's it!? That's no good! It'll just make the ground even worse!" It's not like she has any choice though! Yuuki throws her arms up, "Screw it!"

    Yuuki activates the skill, her peko's feet starting to cause rippling vibrations through the ground with each step. But through the power of yada yada, sympathetic vibratations, blah blah science technobable, it works!

    Yuuki is just blinking in surprise as her mount runs across the formerly unstable terrain.

"Lets go!" Syx doesn't use Earth magic in the traditional way that most people do, no. Instead he jumps off his Peko and hefts a boulder that's far too large for someone his size to pick up, grabbing it up onto one shoulder and throwing it into the river with a huge splash, before he re-mounts his peko and gets him to jump onto the boulder, before leaping off onto the other side.

Not having to slow down for the projectiles helps Shiruba make up some of the distance between her and the rest of the racers, but this isn't over by a long shot. They were getting close to the finish though, she can feel it as they come around the bed and into the hills. This was no time to hold back, not this close...

And then, mud. Fortunately Shiruba's phenomenal environmental awareness picks out the slog of silt and sludge ahead of them fast enough for quickly decide on a course of action. One of the crystal tipped arrows is pulled from her quiver and knocked back in her bow.

This was the moment. The excitement, the thrill, the challenge. This is what she was chasing, the test of skills as much as the successful conclusion of the race.

She fires the arrow in a high arc, then leans forward against Tradewind's back. "Just keep running! Watch for footholds!" In the mud? How could there possibly be stable ground in that muckish mire of mud?

There isn't, until the arrow comes down from it's arc and fragments. A shower of crystal shards plummet into the mud... and every spot the shrapnel hits the mud starts to harden back into stone in chunks almost perfectly spaced for her peko's stride! Why take the time and energy for an entire path when making a route of stepping stones is enough for her peko to dash across!

    "Come on, Sandy!" Fuka encourages her peko, not wanting to come in dead last. Not that she really cares about winning, so long as everyone has fun, but she has to make a showing at the least. She can't be seen as doing anything less than her absolute best! "You can FLY!" the little sylph cries out.

    Sandy does not, in fact, fly. But she races across the mud like the holy avatar of the christmastime saint himself. No, not that saint. The other one. The guy who produces all the christmastime meals. It may have something to do with Fuka's unusually strong sense of earth magic... or it might just be that Sandy doesn't want to end up in the Colonel's bucket.

Progress is steady. Progress is sure. This is inexplicably driving Prophylaxis' nerves straight up the wall. Why is he so nervous? Because this is how it always is. This is... his curse...!

At least Konpeko manages to stride forth regardless, blissfully unaware of the misfortune that certainly awaits ahead. The mud is deep and thick, with a consistency that threatens to trap the poor peko's claws with every step... Or it was, at least, until the good doctor's magic reinforced the land, forging a path of sure and certain stone out of the swampy muck.

It's time for a bit of mudding Gewen muses as they keep going she's not in the lead but tha'ts okay she just has fun with this. She's almost there she can taste it just about as they ride contiunes on she'l going to end up splatteed in mud, much lkike her bird. With some use of magei she does not get bogged down and keeps on moving.

"WHEE!"

Challenge 5 - Race to the Finish

At last, the finishing line comes into view. It is a strange sight from a distance, with guards stationed along the race track. The military presence is the only sign that things have changed.

Still, the audience seems to have forgotten, at least momentarily, about the looming threat. They shout out their cheers as their favorite racers come into view, trying to urge them on to victory.

There are no further challenges standing in their way, this is a simple test of the speed and connection between each rider and their mount. Who can manage to get that last burst of speed out of flagging peko legs, or encourage their mount with bribes of food or other goodies.

In the end, only one can prevail...

Roll: Handle Animal

    Merek keeps taking the time to guide his animal along that track, taking the time to make for the finish line.

    June having tested all of her plates succesfully, three blue marks and a green. Such success is not something she normally expects when working on something this progressive. Her manic joy seems to be transferred to Kai keeping him running hard as she cackles and keeps encouraging the Peko forward.

JUST THEN!

On this stretch of UTTERLY BARE TERRAIN, on this leg of COMPLETELY PRISTINE RACE TRACK, Konpeko takes a fateful step...

...And trips over her own toe.

"Wark!?" Konpeko kwehs, falling ass over teakettle directly into the path of the other racers. She rolls, tumbling forward as an inexorable ball of feathers and disaster, but... It's one that Prophylaxis has... accounted for...!?

He has... a force field! He's conjured a barrier around his steed as she somersaults into DISASTER! Though they might katamari right over the other riders, Prophylaxis has assured at least that Konpeko makes it through this in one relatively intact piece...!!

    Fukaziroh leans down, pressing her body flat against the back of Sandy, molding herself aerodynamically to get that extra burst of speed as they race towards the finish line.

    Maybe it's the diminutive Sylph's size, or aerodynamic posture, but the peko kicks it into overdrive, putting on a burst of speed for the finish that seems to somehow dominate the field, or at least the pair's performance thusfar.

    Or, you know, maybe it's just that bent down low behind her peko's head, Fuka whispered the best words of encouragement no peko wants to hear. "Bucket!"

Tradewind is already in a forward lean, galloping (is it called a gallop when it's not a horse?) as best he can despite starting to feel the length of the race. In an effort to make their profile as aerodynamic as possible Shiruba leans completely forward as well, pressed against his back and wrapping her arms around his shoulders in a combination of a hug and holding on for all she's worth. "We're almost there! Keep it up Tradewind, I know you can do it!" She has tremendous faith in her own peko, that much is for certain.

Doing your best? Finishing strong? KWEH?! Karen gives Haru the death glare as she cranes her neck back at him, thumping faster and faster without the benefit of looking where you are going. If looks could kill. "I'm your number one fan," Haru says with a psuedo question mark tone of voice. He points to the finish line, "Eyes on the prize, Karen," he gruffs back to the bird that takes no gruff. With that distraction out of the way the big rustic colored bird warks its way forward with its thonking legs pounding the ground and splatting the previous hazard's mud everywhere. Haru holds on with one hand and points the other one out in true 'Lets ride like the wind, Karen' fashion.

Gwen is having a grand old time regadles sof how it's going but at the end her bird gets a spooked by something. Who knows it takes her some time to calm it down. However she'll nearly get thrown in the process and be very much delayed, it could be a lot worse right? Still she will finish it with a grin on her face.

    zzzzZZZZZzzzz

    Yuuki has fallen asleep again, leaning forward on the back of her peko. With its rider apparently preoccupied, Surfboard is content to just run along at normal pace. Seeing no particular reason to speed up. It's not like it'll really get anything out of a win. That's more something for riders, not mounts.

    So a sleeping Yuuki crosses the finish line towards the rear of the group. Apparently content to continue sleeping even as her mount wanders off to find something to eat.

    Merek makes a way to the line and seems to come in with Haru, nodding a bit, while he waves to Fuka.

Sadly Syx's fancy moves to get past the river seem to have backfired on the home stretch, because his Peko may have twisted his ankle and ends up limping across the finish line.

Schneider finds himself in the home stretch, having gone from the front of the pack to the back of the pack. "You can do it," he says to his unnamed Peko, and he snaps the reins. The peko chooses this point to stop and scratch the ground with his claw, trying to dig up grubs, or whatever it is they eat. "Really?" he asks with a sigh, attempting to kick it into action. The peko responds sluggishly, buoyed by the magic of his peko hat, perhaps, and quite a few racers /alomost/ catch up with him before The Peko With No Name starts trotting again, picking up speed and keeping pace, not in the same place he was, but not so far off the lead as he had feared.

There is a roar from the crowds as the racers start to make their way to the finish line. It is a relatively close match, but June ends up holding out the lead through much of the end of the race, despite others trying to push their way to the front.

"Here they come, folks!" The portly Pooka proclaims!

One after another, the riders start to cross the finish line. "Looks like it is June riding Kai Featherquill Chaucer III in first, followed just a beak-length behind is Prophylaxis riding Konpeko! Bringing up third is Dark Schneider riding ... wait, is this right? Um, riding The Peko with No Name."

After a moment of conversation, allowing the other riders to come across the finish line, the Pooka comes back on the magical microphone, "It looks like, thanks to our brave riders, that the prizes for today's event will be an array of fine crab meats, with the two claws going to our first and second place winners! Congratulations!"

Apparently, they have turned the Peko Race, into a seafood boil, sharing the spoils with everyone. Yum.

    Fuka's extremely pleased by her finish, and that final burst of speed by Sandy. No need for the bucket threat now! Not that Fuka would EVER do such a thing of course... she's an animal lover, big time. But the best threats are all about how you present them, not whether you'd actually carry through!

    She laughs as Merek waves to her, mouthing the words 'next time!' in his direction. She'll allow him to claim the victory in their contest. This time. For now though, she eyes the girl who crossed the finish line alongside her. Is Yuuki... actually sleeping? Huh. Fastest imp of all time, and she didn't even finish the race conscious.

    Fuka awwws quietly, then digs into her inventory and pulls out a blanket. One covered with little patterned peko chicks. She drapes the blanket over Yuuki, then turns away to ride off elsewhere. Maybe to congratulate the winners! Sure, they beat HER after all, they MUST be good!

It's not another win, but considering the cautious start they had managing to pull through most of the pack to come in just behind the third place is more than enough to satisfy Shiruba. Every race doesn't need to be your victory to show you are a really good racer.

It's a testament to how fast Tradewind was going that it actually takes several meters past the finish line for him to finally slow down and stop, spreading his flightless wings as extra surface area like brake parachutes to bleed off the remaining speed.

Once they have stopped Shiruba turns a bit so she can wave to June, Doc, and Schneider and their birds. "Congratulations guys!" Then slides her leg over out of the saddle and hops down. "Excellent job as always, Tradewind. Even in fourth place that's one of our best races yet!" The training she's had in handling animals has paid off for sure. She takes a feed bag filled with some leafy greens and dried fruit out and offers it to the bird as a reward.

    June takes the meat looking at it like someone might have made a mistake, then just puts it into her inventory and then comes out with a beer she starts drinking even as she gets her notebook out, beer chugged she replaces it with a quill to start taking notes, not paying any attention to where Kai is going... although it's likely to where Yuuki's peko is headed, to get food.

Haru makes his way through to the finish same as Merek. A hand waves to the crowd before dismounting his Peko. Both hands on the bird, "You did good." Annoyed Wark. "No, you did." Suspect Wark. "And I had fun." Tsundere Wark. Its n-n-not like Karen cares. He takes a plume from Karen's rustic brown feathers and goes into his inventory to pull out a copper label base. "I'll make this to remember the event by and the good time," he lets his bird go to rest back up and clean up after a hard day of racing.

Schneider lets his peko walk off his energy, flapping the stubby wings and WARK-ing noisily. He smiles at Shiruba's congratulations, and will head over to accept his prize, smiling and waving to the fans. Well, if they're happy with the show he's happy to pick up a bronze. He's a bit surprised he held on at the end, it seems everyone must have had trouble in those mud flats that fouled theor sprint to the end.

With a bounce, a spring, and a ~sproing,~ Konpeko finally comes to a stop well past the finish line. The barrier surrounding her dissolves into light, and her rider flops, punch-drunk, out of her saddle.

It was as prophecized. What was foretold... came to pass once again. But...

Someone picks him up off the ground? Prophylaxis stares dizzily as his prizes are pushed into his hands. Second place...? They managed to get... second place?

Perhaps... there is something to be said for weaponizing bad luck...?

June keeps sitting on Kai, writing in her book between prying the plates free from the saddle to check their inscriptions compared to her notes. The iron plated scribe lost in her research even as her Peko eats, she doesn't seem to be bothered to get around to it, and the rust streaking shows she hasn't been using her cleaning menu to take care ofher scales.

Gwen comes in at the end of the race covered in mud as is he bird she laughs. She'll hit her menu to clean herself and do the same to her mount as well befor she goes to get some food.