Welcome to Gaia! ::

Puck, for all he was Senshi of the Woods, had never seen a forest like this, not even on his tiny homeworld. He found himself, when he appeared, standing on the edge of the fog-shrouded crystalline trees, facing a large stone-paved courtyard of sorts; venturing forward onto the stone, he approached the center, where waited the reason he was here: the Deep Space Senshi Urania. She had called for help, and he (among others, he imagined) had answered.

Listening to Urania's explanation, the Eternal Senshi studied the strange sphere. It was covered with stars – made sense for the Senshi of Astronomy – but it seemed almost alive. And when she touched them and they moved, he was even more convinced there was something sentient going on with it. The stars formed into words: Are you ready? Ready for what? This challenge she had to face…. Was it that daunting? Was that why he was here? It kept repeatedly scattering and reforming the words, broken, waiting, expecting an answer…

"I'll help you," Puck said with a nod. "S'why I came, innit?" Giving Urania a reassuring grin, he sauntered up to the sphere and placed a hand on it. "Let's do this."

"You did a very good job explainin' what's going on," Puck grinned, hand still on the sphere. "Don't see why we can't cut right to the chase, yeah? Wonder wha-"

The sound of a bell-like voice interrupted him, and he jumped back a bit. "Whoa. Didn't expect that…" So this was the test, was it? He gave the sphere a small scowl; he'd been expecting a more physical challenge, the chance to hit something, like whatever had made the fog.

Then the riddle came, and he scowled a bit more. "Look, I ain't the sharpest tool in the shed, I don't know if I can figure this one out – waitaminit, I think I heard this one before, when I was a kid! King and Queen walkin' into a castle one night, who walks out with 'em the next day… hmm." The other voice said it was a homophone… One could almost smell the wood burning in his brain as he worked the riddle out.

Finally Puck beamed. "Yeah, it was a knight! I get it – Night with an N, knight with a K, they're wossname, homophone things, yeah? I'm not as dumb as I look," he laughed. "I'm sure I got it!"

Puck returned the high-five with a grin. "Yeah, it was 'cause I remember stupid s**t like that, I reckon."

Then the bell-like voice returned with another test, and he frowned. "Now waitaminit, is this some kind of drunk test? I ain't been drinking, but this is giving me flashbacks…." Leaning forward, he looked over the edge of the suddenly-appearing chasm. "A balance test?" He sighed. "Right, I'll give it a go."

Spreading his arms, he started slowly walking along the beam, one foot in front of the other. He avoided looking down... mostly. Pinwheeling his arms, he panicked -- and found himself back at the beginning.

"Well, that didn't go as planned, did it?"

Once more Puck set off across the chasm, his breathing slow and rhythmic as he concentrated on what he was doing. Glancing between the child and his feet, he wished he had something he could use to help him keep his balance.

...Because clearly relying on his arms alone wasn't cutting it, as he once more overbalanced and found himself back at the start.

Finding himself once more at the beginning, Puck stomped around and swore a bit. Maybe he'd get it out of his system if he lost his temper. Taking another deep, steadying breath, he once more set out across the beam, eyes focused at a point near the end of the challenge at the child's feet.

This time he barely got started before he fell and found himself at the start again.

Puck was determined to beat this challenge – he had to, for Urania's sake and the sake of her world!

He was getting a little bit further each try now, but still was losing his focus and his balance just after the halfway point. Just had to make it a little bit further….