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Option 1

Team Leftovers
Cheese-(N) HP: 19/20
Maihue (N)- HP: 19/20
Nelgan- HP: 19/20
Talymn (S)- HP: 19/20

Maihue rubbed her shoulder and crossed her arms. That was a really tight fit. She looked around at the others. Cheese was terrified. Maihue.. really, really wanted to help but.. she shivered. She just couldn't bring herself to. Ohhhh... Boo. Maihue pouted, and looked at Talymn going on about his instrument. She stared at him for awhile, and looked ahead. That bridge was so dangerous but.. It was there, and may be possible to cross if it was crossed.. Slowly. Maihue watched as the others crossed, and began to cross as they finished. Oh how she hoped that it wouldn't break as they all crossed. Maihue stared ahead, trying not to focus on her lip trembling and the bridge creaking.

choice 2

team ffffff
Hazzan Octbre - 19 HP
Frossa Fyrste - 19 HP
Alifax Bunsem (S) - 19 HP

Alifax supposed that he couldn't really blame anyone but himself for the scratches he'd received. He glanced over at Frossa and Hazzan, and was able to quickly confirm that they, too, had taken some sort of damage.

They'd gotten through quickly, though, and it seemed like they were a lot more isolated from the other search groups now. That could be a good thing, right? Alifax liked the idea of being alone, because it meant that maybe he could get away with more things. Would Frossa and Hazzan allow for that? Probably, yes, he'd decided. They were nice highbloods, and besides, he was their teammate. If he had to do something to make sure that they all got out in one piece, they'd probably listen to him.

The rest of the cave seemed to be filled with tunnels that split up and dragged on until forever. There was an awful lot of them, actually, and Alifax was honestly beginning to bet a little bit nervous. What if they forgot how to backtrack? But that wouldn't happen; Hazzan was pretty smart and Alifax liked to think that he could at least trace his previous steps, and that Frossa could do that, too. It wasn't before long (...well, it was certainly before long, but it seemed like a far shorter time than he'd thought it'd be) before they came across an old, rickety bridge.

Oh, no. They'd never be able to cross that. Crestfallen, he turned toward his comrades to maybe - well, he wouldn't suggest going another route. They'd come so far already, after all, and it really seemed as though there'd be something on the other side of that bridge. There usually was, right? Bridges led places. The fact that there was a bridge there meant that trolls knew where they were, because trolls had built that bridge. And if trolls knew where they were, then they were probably on a map somewhere, and later on when this entire ordeal was over (because it was an ordeal, wasn't it?), Alifax could try to go and find it and look back and...okay, he was certain that he wouldn't be laughing at his past self.

Or maybe he would. Who knew?

Frossa came up with the solution this time, though, and quickly - she'd pointed out the wall along the side, and Alifax considered it. The bridge sure didn't look as though it'd hold a lot of weight, and honestly? Alifax did like the idea of creeping around the side. It'd be nice to be able to use the stealth skills he'd practiced during those survival courses, after all. And he knew, privately, that it'd be a lot better for Hazzan.

He didn't think about how difficult it might be for Frossa; she was both highblooded and small, so she was probably nimble enough for the wall. And Alifax...well, Alifax had endured training for a reason. He could do this. He could.

Choice 3

Team Junk Pile
Abrila (S) - HP: 18/20
Minist - HP: 18/20
Terbik - HP: 18/20

Oh god Abrila's vascular pump wouldn't slow down. That fall was way, way too close to possible doom for her comfort. She was seriously starting to doubt herself, but at least she and Minist had made it across in the end. Not only had the hungry abyss swallowed up Terbik, it had also claimed a good portion of Abrila's confidence.

She double checked her tracking device, wondering if it was working properly. Electronics had a bad habit of malfunctioning around her, after all. The small passages made her stand uncomfortably close to Minist, too. She never wanted to hear anyone's breathing that closely again.

Thankfully, the passageway opened up into another large cavern. It was quiet on the path except for the echoing sound of footsteps, so it seemed safe enough. Wait. What was that?

A click. A single click of stone against stone. Then the ground began to shiver...

Abrila flashed a panic look at her companion and began to run. There was no way they could outrun that! It had weight and gravity on it's side, they didn't. As she ran, she imagined it catching up to her... Then she spotted a crack in the wall so she dashed for it, squishing her body inside. Jeez, that was close.

Hopefully Minist fared okay too....

Option 1

Team LeftOvers
Cheese-(N) HP: 18/20
Maihue (N)- HP: 18/20
Nelgan- HP: 18/20
Talymn (S)- HP: 18/20

(Collab Post)

"I said I was sorry! 'ow many times do I have t'say et?!"

Team LeftOvers was not particularly looking up to snuff as they continued onwards through the caverns. The drones were upset and even Maihue was noticeably miffed about Talymn's recklessness. Try as he might though, he could not get the other three to waver in their mutual disappointment and distrust. Giving up, he joined the others in their silence, falling to the back of the group.

With her eyes on the radar screen, Maihue gave brief and hesitant exchanges with Cheese, double-checking their placement in relation to that of 'Sir's platoon. Much to their relief, their unexpected gravitationally challenged detour didn't place them too far behind. As the overall tension and mood was returning to a more stable level of comfort though, Fate decided to once again throw a curve ball. And what a ball.

Lifting his foot carefully, Nelgan stared in quiet dread at the switch underneath his foot before slowly looking up at hearing the distant rumbling of tumbling rock. The realisation settled on the group as soon as the giant boulder entered their sights, inspiring blatant panic as they immediately turned tail and ran.

Choice 3

Team Bad End

Sarcel Cincil - 20 HP
Sempur Livora - 20 HP
Pyruet Tropos - 20 HP (S)
Zeylla Crypsi - 20 HP


Oh god he had said something at the same time she did—Sempur almost wished his tongue would catch fire because he didn't want to share anything with her, least of all ideas. His ideas. Because he was actually first to say it, and she was trying to get all the credit his credit just look at how defensive she was getting, the lying liar! He turned on the others with just as much vehemence—"I said it first!"—or, well, that sounded more like incredulousness, that anyone would even begin to doubt it was his bright idea. Certainly, he glared his recruit down as if daring her to speak against him, though he settled a little at the greyblood's gaze. No, he would be civil, no need for such vulgarities like that filthy greenblood over there; he certainly wouldn't be using any initmidation tactics to win them over, not that there was any need for contest in the first place.

Unfortunately, Sempur's supposed "civilness" did not last long as he was spurred right back into yelling by the hemoanonymous girl's verdict. "IT WAS ME. I'm the GREAT LEADER, what I say goes!" Nevermind they both suggested the same goddamn thing at, yes, the same goddamn time, this was going nowhere. Their argument, anyway, somehow the team did finally get to actually crossing the ledge, though the mystery of who said it first would forever haunt these caverns. It is said that to this day, you can still hear the echoing of their arguments, never-ending and pointless.

When they finally arrived in the more spacious cavern, Sempur almost didn't even hear the sound of the rumbling boulder, still so hellbent on, you know, arguing that he was the leader and a damn fine one at that. Of course, when he finally did realize that there was a gigantic stone hurtling towards them, he decided to do only what such a glorious leader ought to indeed do. He turned and stood his ground as though his mighty glare would be enough to stop it in his tracks. Or, if not that, he most certainly would. And just to further make his point, "A real leader fears NOTHING! Especially not rocks!" Because this was totally the same as the little cave-in from earlier, right?


Pyre had reacted rather differently to Zeylla's interjection. While the moron over there had practically started beating his chest and roaring so undignified, Pyre had simply stared at the girl, her expression somewhere between analytical and offended. That had been outright bait for more discord, and Pyre did not much care for trolls trying to play her, not very much at all.

Nonetheless, now was not the time to start even more frivolous disputes(seriously was Sempur still yelling). They had a mission to accomplish as a team, sure, but it was especially not the time because a boulder was threatening to kill them all very quickly.

And yep, there he went. Sempur Livora, Head Jackass, was challenging the boulder that was nearly as tall as he was--and exponentially heavier--to a battle of gumption, and damnit, Pyruet had half a mind to let him. But no, that wasn't what good leaders do. Good leaders don't let natural selection run its course, they get their men out of there alive, and Pyre was not planning on being an exception to that.

Without turning around to face the two girls behind her, she jabbed a finger in the direction of a crevice in the wall to their right. "Get in there." A flat command, issued loudly, but she wasn't shouting. Couldn't show stress, weakness in the head of a team made the entire unit falter. She'd barely gotten the words out before she bolted towards Semp, looking every bit like she was about to heroically shove him out of the way, right up until she slowed the dash as she neared him.

Slipping her arms under his armpits, her hands darted towards the back of his neck as she caught him in an upright full nelson, and with a grunt and a heave, lifted him off the ground as best as she could. She kicked off towards the crack in the wall herself, half throwing and half carrying the struggling idiot with her, lunging into the tiny room as soon as she was within appropriate distance, landing rather haphazardly on top of the blueblood she still had a death grip on.


Sarcel had stopped wondering when the two would stop griping- or Sir more or less, always fueling the fire. A catalyst for catastrophe; that was good ol’ Sempur Livora.

Conveniently ignoring the girl with the gray symbol, half wishing she hadn’t gone out and said that when really, and it was true. At least Sarcel agreed with it, but one sharp look from Sir and she wasn’t about to pipe up about anything. Just giving a silent nod to her commanding officer, and then looking back between the feuding triumvirate, they finally started along again. She tried to look more preoccupied with the residue dust still clinging to the fabric of her clothes rather than the meaningless squabbles. She’d listen to them drone on, but she’d listen to the quiet rumbled of the cavern instead.

So naturally she picks up on a small rumble, stopping briefly while everyone else- so preoccupied in yelling or ceasing the yelling- everyone continues on, and convinced she was hearing things, Sarcel quietly starts to follow again. It was nothing, surely. Nothing.

But then there’s a boulder coming right at them and jesus Christ how she did not notice that OH SHE WASN’T JUST HEARING THINGS way to go Sarce. She might as well been petrified with fear- and she was, no doubt there- until the voice of another figure of authority cut through her startled daze. Right, the greenblood. Wide eyes see her hand gesturing to the wall, her head snapped over to look for it. She had to scan the wall and reconnoiter the area before spotting the dim crevice, but she did spot it eventually, and, not pausing to see if anyone else was following suit, the pathetic blueblood mad a mad dash for the safety of the notch in the wall.

Good god could she run fast. Adrenaline coursing through her veins, only when she reaches the crack does she realize that, hey, everyone else needs to make it in here safely too, and she bumbled over herself more to peer out, watching as the others eventually funneled in. More importantly, to se Pyruet save Sir. She would have left him for the boulder.

Okay well no she wouldn’t of. She’d of pushed him out of the way though so she could of maybe got the fatal wound in place, if only so she didn’t have to deal with the regret of saving a troll with a death wish. Still, what was done was done, and suddenly the greenblood drags Sir back. Tense now, even more so than before, she watches cautiously. Something bad was about to happen. Something very bad. She didn’t want to have to try to break up an inevitable fight.


Honestly, she hadn't meant it as anything more then a jab to get one of the fools to take that ledge first. So when Sempur started yelling again(it seemed to be the only thing the blueblood was good at) and Pyruet gave her that look, Zeylla shrugged them off. She had said her piece and that was that. She didn't need their approval, and her plan had worked out anyways. Sempur had led the way, the greenblood had followed, and Sarcel scurried after with herself taking up the tail end.

The walls, she had thought at first, were reverbirating with the sounds of Sempur's yelling. It was almost unreal, how loud he could get. It was starting to get on Zeylla's nerves. She was clenching her hands into fists, nails digging onto her palms as a headache started to knaw at her thinkpan. Couldn't he just shut up for a minute? Like, just a minute. Long enough for her to collect her slowly unravelling nerves, that was all Zeylla needed. A sweet, perfect minute of silence.

But no, he just kept going and going and gogs, her head was aching from all the noise. And what was that grating, that rumbling and terrible noise? Zeylla looked up, and her eyes widened as wide as they could get as a moment of pure fear rushed through her. But then she snapped back to and gog she didn't need the greenblood to tell her twice.

The greyblood rushed towards the crevice, cramming herself into it after Sarcel, not caring to see what happened to the two loud ones. Why, she didn't care about much with all that terrible sound echoing off the rocks around them. All she could do was slam her hands to her ears and grind her teeth, trying her hardest to will the headache away. She was so focused on ignoring the terrible sounds that she didn't care when Pyruet and the idiot blueblood pushed her back towards Sarcel as they crammed in as well.

She just wanted to get out of her, this was not worth it. The rocks were screaming around her, a never ending echo that beat at her thinkpan like it was some paper and glue beast filled with assorted sweets and little toys. "Sweet 'sem, why is it so loud!" The question was pointless, stupid but it helped to vent some of her slowly boiling rage that came with headaches, but at least Sempur had just his blabbering lips for a moment. If that could be considered a silver lining.

Option 3

Team FFFFFFFF
Hazzan Octbre - 19 HP
Frossa Fyrste - 19 HP
Alifax Bunsem (S) - 19 HP

The trek around the wall was frightening, and, dare he say it, exhilarating. Alifax wasn't supposed to enjoy things like this but he really did think of it as a little like FLARPing, which was really quite silly. FLARPing was...well, okay, he couldn't say that it was predictable. Or that it was safe. But it had rules. There were boundaries to what you could do and what you couldn't do, and the game flarpstractions made sure that you stayed within your class' parameters, for the most part.

This wasn't controlled at all, although it was perhaps just as potentially fatal. Alifax inched across the wall, satisfied that his friends seemed to be just as focused on this as he did. They made a pretty good team, if he presumed to say it himself - Hazzan with her thinking and her planning and her plotting, and Frossa with her strength and her passion and her quick reactions (and her high blood, although that didn't have much to do with how enjoyable her company was - it did help when their FLARPing got in the way of the residents of the Four Fronds' lifestyles, though!). And then there was Alifax: Alifax with his fire and his shyness (was he shy? He didn't think of himself as egregious, either) and his books. He guessed that he could fight all right, too, but that was true for any FLARPer.

Combat was a skill to be cultivated, after all, even if you didn't take formal lessons in it from the army (like Alifax was sure Frossa had). And all trolls were expected to know some kind of it, eventually - how else were they supposed to create a conquering species?

Before long - okay, after long (but it sounded so much nicer when you described it as a shorter period of time - had they lost much? Was the mother grub that much closer to her death?) - they'd reached the other side, and they were...well, they were safe from the dangers of the bridge, at least. Alifax breathed, and followed his friends forward.

Things went fairly uneventfully for awhile: he stayed behind his friends and made sure that they weren't being ambushed or something, and checked his tracker to make sure that they were on the right direction, somewhat. Hazzan stayed up front, scoping the place out, and Frossa - well, Frossa was there to hurry them along and make sure that they all kept pace. She was very competitive! Not that that was a bad thing, when it came to FLARPing. Alifax smiled, unthinkingly, when -

What was that noise? Oh, did he even want to know?

He could face an anonymous beast, no matter how big it was! That was what FLARPing had been training them for, right? That was what the army had been training them for. He could - oh, oh no. It was a boulder.

You couldn't fight rock: it wasn't the kind of thing to give way, and it couldn't think, anyway, so it wouldn't give up when it thought its defeat was ensured, which meant that it would go on and injure you, when, well, you didn't want to be injured! But what - oh. Oh, of course.

Hazzan was already shoving them back, and Alifax scrambled for a little nook in the cave wall. He didn't mind if he came out of this a little more worse for the wear (or a lot more worse for the wear, for that matter), so long as he didn't die.

Ow. All he could think about now was that someone's elbow was in his stomach.

Choice 3

Team Junk Pile
Abrila (S) - HP: 17/20
Minist (S) - HP: 17/20

What. . . What did they land on? Lifting her head up she blinked and stared into the face of a fluffbeast. Looking around she saw there were a lot of them. Well. . . At least they weren't trying to kill them. Picking herself up she said, "Good thing these were here to break our fall." Taking off her pack she checked to make sure all of her supplies were still O.K. Rations, tracker, everything looked alright to her. Just as she was about to sling the pack back on one of the fluffbeasts crawled onto it. "Hey, get off." she said as she tried to brush it off. The thing clung tightly to the fabric. Frowning Minist picked up the pack and tried to shake it off, but to no avail. "Fine, stay there for all I care. Just don't expect me to like you." she said as she hefted the pack on with her new companion still attached. "Let's go, Abrila."

It wasn't long before they ran across the webbeast. Heart racing she thought for a brief moment about tossing the fluffbeast into the fangs of the monster, but realized that would probably only make it hungrier. So instead she ran as fast as her legs would carry her as far away from the webs as possible.