FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

The Portal Games

Arena One, Episode One

The black boxes surrounding the contestants blocked all sound, allowing privacy in and out for anyone so concerned. Save for the dragon that had created the black boxes, of course, but that was hardly something that the contestants would know, was it?

Within each one, the teams got to know each other. Such varied individuals could have spoken forever without truly getting to know everything about one another and where they came from, but at least some on each team - notably the ice dragon on one, and the stingray and black-furred deer on the other - were quick to realize that they may not have as much time as they believed. They pushed, in their ways, to focus. After all, they needed to pick a team leader...

"Someone needs to take charge," Sergino said. "A ship without a captain is a ship soon to run aground."

"Is that someone volunteering, then?" the T-Rex asked, Sarah's eyeridges going up.

"No. Not yet."

"Um, is there anyone that does want this?" Isabella asked, the small pangolin looking from face to face. "I mean...I think I can, if I have to, but is there anyone that really, really wants it?"

Many eyes flicked back and forth. The timber wolf thief refused to meet anyone's eyes, even as he watched those that didn't watch him. Sergino, despite speaking first, glanced almost exclusively at the T-Rex, wordlessly pushing her to speak, clearly wishing for something from the larger female. Kotone glanced about, and the mare finally broke the silence of her peers.

"Is this team so desperate to avoid responsibility?" she asked.

"I'm not avoiding it." Sergino shook his head. "I believe that there are others better suited to it."

"Is that it? Or merely wishing to avoid the blame if it goes wrong?"

The ice dragon growled, one hand clenching at his side. The mare, however, had already turned her head to the pangolin.

"You say that you will take it if you have to. But yet, you offer others the chance to do it first?"

"I don't want to step on anyone's toes, that's all! I mean, it's not that I want it, but -"

"Are you all cowards, then?"

"I'm not," Jason said, shaking his head. "But even though I did pretty good before, I know how these kinds of games go. The person that gets the lead ends up getting a lot more responsibilities. Sometimes, that's as bad as being sabotaged, and I don't want that."

"Well, at least you are honest," the mare said to the green dragon.

"Alright, alright, let's stop with the fighting," Sarah said, and none made any effort to fight the statement of a woman that stood several feet taller than some of them. The T-Rex looked around at the group, shaking her head. "Looks like we have plenty of people that could lead us. Let's just say it flat out, huh? Who doesn't want to be the leader? Raise your hand?"

Glyn, Jason, and - after a moment - Sergino all did just that. The T-Rex nodded.

"Right. Then we have three candidates. Me, Kotone, and - Isabella, right, cutie?"

The pangolin blushed, but nodded.

"Right. Let's put it to a vote. We'll hold up hands on the count of three. Hold up a one for Isabella, two for Kotone, and a three for me. Ready?"

Everyone nodded. The count went down, and the fingers went up. Four 1s, two 3s.

"And that settles it. Isabella leads the team," Sarah said, clapping her hands. "So, what's the team name gonna be, hon?"

"Well, um...first, thanking you alls for this. I will do my best, but -"

"Yes, yes." Sergino gestured, rolling his hand to hurry her up. "Team name."

"Oh. Right. Well, I think we should call ourselves -"

"I nominate anyone but me," was the first thing out of Sanmer's mouth, the white-furred fox shaking his head. "Specifically Jaden or Ailsa, but not me."

"...That was fast," Tarin muttered, the melanistic white-tailed deer said, adjusting his coat. "Why not you?"

"I'm a scientist. And distracted. And - well, call me a force of Chaos. I want to win, and the first step towards winning is not putting me in the driver's seat."

"Honesty. Who expects that from a fox?" Mchumba muttered, the rat woman shaking her head. "I nominate myself."

"You? Heh, sorry, but I don't think someone that fell off their own ship and lost everything before coming here is the best choice of a leader," Sanmer said, shaking his head.

The rat leaped forward, barely stopped from tackling the fox by the stern hand of the stingray at her tail. Ailsa pulled the bare-chested woman back, stepping forward and shaking her head.

"Let's put this out there. I'm not the best choice for a leader if you want someone nice. I'm a military woman. I know what I'm doing, but I'm going to push you hard. I'm going to push you very hard, and I'm going to expect you to follow orders the moment that they're out of my mouth. That's the way that I was trained, and that's the way that I'm going to push you. If you don't want a leader that's going to do that, pick someone else.

"But if you think that's what we're going to need to win, then pick me."

All eyes shifted from the stingray to the orca, and Jaden rubbed the back of his neck as everyone turned to stare at him. The muscular tribal male looked back and forth, then sighed.

"I...I don't think that I would be a good choice. I barely understand the spirits back home. The island is...familiar, but there is something off about it. I don't know if my experience will help."

"...He be right about the island," Mchumba admitted. "There is something...off here. Something wrong."

"Regardless, we still require a leader," Tarin said. "Lykus? You've been rather quiet."

"Hm? Sorry. I'm just seeing if I can poke a hole in this spell," the wolf said, running a card along the black walls around them. "It's a pretty cool spell."

"..."

"What?"

"You be voting or not?" Mchumba asked. "Ailsa wants it and I want it."

"Oh. Right. Um...Oh, I don't want it. It's gonna be work, and I don't like work."

"Then we have our candidates," Tarin said. "Perhaps we should vote now and get it over with?"

"Yes. Vote quick," Mchumba said.

Not knowing that they were pulling a very similar voting system to the team just across from them, they quickly flashed their fingers for the ones that they wanted as leader. One vote went to Jaden, two to Mchumba, and three to Ailsa. The stingray nodded.

"Well, guess we're going to be pushing hard. And we'll call ourselves -"

The black boxes came down a few minutes later, and the team leaders stepped forward, the pangolin and the stingray moving to the dragon. They both flashed each other a glance, with Isabella smiling and waving, and Ailsa giving a slight nod, though with a hint of a smirk on her face.

Draconicon greeted them equally, giving them a nod of welcome as they stood in front of him. The pangolin pulled her hide shirt back up a bit, letting the straps rest along her shoulders, while the stingray snapped a quick salute.

"I am the chosen commanding officer," she said. "Anything that I need to know about my leadership responsibilities?"

"Just make sure that you keep them moving, and keep them under control. You don't get any mind control spells or anything like that, if you were wondering."

"I wasn't, but damn."

"It's up to the pair of you to keep your teams focused." Draconicon slowly turned, gesturing towards the center of the island. "As you can see, there's a large forest from here to the mountain, and it continues on the other side. Your first challenge, and the key to the boats on the far side of the island, is just past the mountain."

The team leaders looked up and past the mountain. While Isabella cooed, oohing and ahhing at the approach ahead, Ailsa tapped her chin. Calculations ran quick and clear across her face, and by the time that the dragon turned back to them, white eyes panning between the two, she had clearly made a decision.

"Now, let me reiterate something. Two things, actually. First, you don't have to do the challenge. If you think that you can make it to the portal on your own, you're welcome to try. There's always a chance of it, after all, as long as you're strong, smart, and fast. Of course, you'll be competing against someone that did take the time to do the challenge - and the challenges do take time, and aren't always easy - and if they succeed, then they'll have the second half of the arena far easier than you do. There's more than just the key to the boat there, after all."

"And the second, Mr. Draconicons?" Isabella asked.

"Heh. This is a new world. A very, very new world for most of you. And as a result, there's a great deal here that you might not be expecting. I want you to take a moment and look behind you, back at the water."

Isabella turned immediately, while Ailsa arched an eyebrow before doing the same. Their teams followed their lead, looking out past the edge of the sandy shore and towards the waves that were coming in from a distance.

At first, they saw nothing. Then a black wave of the dragon's magic opened in the air above the water. A dummy-ship fell through, more a copy of a ship than anything else though quite large at thirty feet long, and began sailing across the ocean. The craft seemed to stand out more than it should, a deep red and black on the waves.

It lasted for perhaps thirty seconds before jaws bigger than Sarah was tall slammed down on the stern, snapping it in two right off the bat.

Everyone on the beach jumped, leaping away from the water as tentacles and teeth ripped the boat to shreds, leaving it in lumps of half-real timber in less time than it took to react to the sudden appearance. A head that could have fit three team members inside its jaws loomed out of the water, rolling higher and higher, supported by a massive neck that seemed to go on forever. Eyes as big as Sarah's head looked down at them from a distance, and then, the creature slid back beneath the waves and swam off.

"...When did Great-Aunt Linda's girlfriend get here?" Sarah whispered.

"Heh, not far off, Sarah." Draconicon nodded. "That is one of many challenges here. This is not the ocean that most of you are used to...and the forest is not the same as those that you have delved through in the past. I am bringing in many things to make this a proper game for the lot of you. I don't want anyone to get too comfortable with what they have, so make sure that you're paying attention at all times. You don't want to lose because you missed something important, right?"

The teams slowly turned back to him, their eyes wide. Some of them sputtered, some of them huffed, but -

"THAT WAS AWESOME!"

There was also Lykus, who was giggling and grinning, and the mood spread through some of the others in the group, on both sides. Even Isabella, for all that she had jumped more than the others, was clued in to things, now, and she grinned at the sight of the massive beastie.

"Well, just keep in mind the dangers that come from the creatures, and you should be alright." Draconicon nodded. "Now, you had time to pick leaders, and team names. Let's hear them. On three. One, two, three."

"Team Black Chaos," Ailsa said.

"Team Whoopsie Daisies," Isabella proclaimed proudly.

Both teams eyed the other, and again, more than a few giggles started to come up, though they were just as quickly stifled in a number of occasions. Ailsa arched an eyebrow at the pangolin.

"The...Whoopsie Daisies?"

"Yeah! See, the daisies never quit, and we all had a whoopsie getting here. But we never stay down, just like the daisies. Besides, they're pretty."

"...Heh. If you say so."

"Are you making fun of me?"

"...No."

It seemed that even a marine could not entirely bring herself to put down the childlike innocence of the pangolin. Shaking her head, she turned back to the dragon -

Only to find, like everyone else, that the dragon was no longer there. No portal, no sign of him remained, save for two large footprints in the sand. Yet, his voice boomed out over the beach.

Whatever you plan to do, I suggest you do it fast. I give you...oh, about five minutes before the raptors are loose.

"...Raptors?"

Nobody was quite sure who said that, but it was clear that they were not going to be allowed to take it at their own pace, even at the start. Ailsa shouted for her team, waving her hand and pointing straight ahead, and Team Black Chaos were off at a jog, moving towards the forest, while Team Whoopsie Daisy...was still on the beach.

#

Black Chaos

"Raptors, huh? That's gonna be interesting," Ailsa muttered to herself. "Anyone good with trees?"

"Aye!" Mchumba said. "Need me aloft?"

"Only if you can keep up."

"Heh, watch me."

The rat climbed up one of the trees as fast as only a true sailor could, and she leaped from branch to branch overhead, keeping her movements swift and sure. Every time she landed, the tree shook, but it meant that they had eyes in the sky. Considering the fact that they didn't know what was ahead or behind, that was the best that they could get at the moment.

Ailsa would have preferred taking the time to scout ahead, to use Jaden to hit the beaches and check for more food from the water. That said, that would have to wait for later, when they were more sure of their surroundings. She didn't think that there were any big predators out there that would get close to shore, but their 'host' had said that this was a place that was new. There were all kinds of rules that she probably didn't know just yet.

The rest of Black Chaos followed in her wake, with Tarin moving at her side - the deer seemed quite keen on keeping close, and he moved with an ease that the others didn't quite have - and Jaden just behind her, while Lykus and Sanmer brought up the rear. The two perverts of the team were already discussing some of the things that they'd get from the reality-reward if they won.

"See, I don't really need to change everything," Sanmer said. "There's something just...wrong with taking it all, knowing everything right off the bat. I think I'd just change a few rules, and see what happened in that pocket universe, how it would go differently."

"Or, you know, you could just completely reverse the rules."

"That's...what, you mean shifting matter to antimatter and vice-versa?"

"I don't know, you're the scientist," Lykus said, shrugging. "I'm just saying, what if you made a reality where all the rules of physics were reversed, so that you had to start from the other end and start reverse engineering back the way that you came?"

"Hmmm...now that would be interesting."

"Save your breath; we're going to hit an incline soon," Ailsa shouted back.

"Yeah, yeah."

Black Chaos was already deep in the forest, having put a fair bit of ground between themselves and the beach. As far as the stingray was concerned, she wanted to keep a significant amount of treeline between her and the shore. At least a few hundred feet, enough to give them time to climb up into the trees if the raptors did start chasing them. It wouldn't be ideal, but it'd be better than nothing.

Raptors. Why did it have to be raptors?

Tarin paused, looking back, and Ailsa stopped as soon as he did.

"See something?"

He reached into his jacket, pulling out a monocle. Holding it to his right eye, he tapped the edge of it. The glass in it seemed to shift, changing color for a moment. Peering through it with a narrowed eye, he slowly shook his head.

"I thought..."

"You thought what?"

"Something...but maybe I was seeing things. But maybe not."

"If you weren't?"

"Something magical is coming."

"...Let's move faster. Further towards the mountain, find a campsite. Hey! Pick up the pace; we're only stopping for food," Ailsa called.

Team Black Chaos moved that little bit faster.

Whoopsie Daisies

"...Raptors?" Isabella cocked her head to the side. "Um...What are -"

"Runners with teeth," Sarah said. "If they're anything like the ones at home."

"Ooooh. Are they fast?"

"Faster than me."

"Should we be running?" Sergino asked, cocking his head to the side.

"ALREADY DOING THAT!"

Everyone whipped their heads to the source of the shouting, seeing that Glyn was suiting actions to words and running from the beach to the trees. The timber wolf had his grapple gun out, aimed for the nearest branches and firing as soon as he was in range. Sooner than any of them expected, he was in the trees, and nothing could be seen save for the brown-furred ears poking through the greenery.

It was such an absurd bit of imagery that the rest of the team couldn't help but laugh at what they saw. Isabella in particular just rolled onto the sand, clutching her stomach as giggles seized her, while Sergino cracked a smirk at the corner of his mouth. Jason bit off laughter, and Sarah chuckled, shaking her head.

"Well, we have...we have approximately four minutes to decide," Sergino said, looking around. He reached over his shoulder, his hand on his axe. "Do we stand and fight, or do we attempt to run?"

"Let's get our fearless leader out of her giggle fit, and see what we can do," Sarah said.

"If she can stop laughing," Kotone, the only silent one, said.

It took another minute, bringing them down to three. Finally, the pangolin got to her feet. She was still smiling, shaking her head.

"I wanna stay. I've never seen them, and I really wants to."

"They're dangerous, cutie," Sarah said.

"Oh, I bet they're fine."

"...You're kidding yourself."

"Nah. The big girl out there wasn't dangerous. Just scared of someone coming into her territory. I saw it. I heard it."

"...Heard it?" Sergino asked, arching an eyebrow.

"I hear spirits. And they're all over the place. Quiet, not strong, but they're there."

"Two minutes," Kotone said.

"Looks like we're waiting."

"I'M NOT PULLING CLEAN-UP DETAIL IF YOU GET EATEN!" Glyn shouted.

They ignored the timber wolf.

The minutes passed, and from below the waves, they came. Wearing seaweed almost like wigs, two packs of raptors rose from the depths, riding the waves towards the shore. One ran off to the side, following the tracks of Black Chaos, while the other approached the Whoopsie Daisies more slowly. They kept their heads down, leaning forward, their hand-claws clicking against each other as they whistled and barked.

"Hey, that's just rude," Sarah said.

"You can understand that mess?" Sergino asked, his hand still on his axe.

"Some. It's a really crude dialect. None of them went to school, apparently."

"Can you or Isabella talk to them?" the ice dragon asked.

"Heh...we can try. What do you say, cutie?" Sarah asked.

"Ooh, maybe...but they're not - duck!"

Isabella hit the sand, followed by Sergino and Sarah. Kotone leaped, and she was safe, though there was the immediate question of how a mare had managed to leap more than ten feet in the air from a standing position.

Jason, however, was less fortunate.

The lead raptor barked again, and as it did, a tentacle mass leaped from its throat, shooting through the air like a loosed projectile. It splatted against the green dragon's chest and knocked him head over heels, the black ooze running across his chest and around his torso. Before he hit the ground, his arms were already pinned to his sides, and the tendrils were sneaking up along his limbs, making their way to his head.

As he squirmed, Kotone came down. The raptors turned to her, but not before she kicked up a wave of sand. The nearest ones to her yelped, turning their heads, and she was airborne before -

"Wait, wait!"

Isabella's shout stopped the mare in her tracks. She came back down, thumping into the sand, arms and legs held defensively.

"They are not here to play with us, Mistress Isabella," Kotone said, shaking her head.

"But they're not hurting us. And...and I think...Hey, hey, boys! Come here, come here!"

To the shock of everyone, Isabella waved her hands, the pangolin calling the pack toward her. As she did, the air shimmered, a dull light coming from her hands. Almost as if in response, the same light shimmered from the raptors, particularly around their necks and running down their backs, from their ear holes down to their shoulders. The same sort of tendrils that they had barked up were running along them.

And to the shock of everyone on the team, Isabella walked right up to the lead raptor...and jumped on his back.

"Woo! New friend!"

Black Chaos

"Well, this be just lovely," Mchumba muttered, leaning back against the tree as her leg hung over her branch. "Grand ol' time. Great work. Really, just great."

"We're not eaten, are we?" Ailsa muttered, shaking her head. "Do you see anything from up there?"

"Clear path up the mountain," the rat called down. "If we can get past the bitey-boys."

That was the problem. While they had managed to outrun the raptors easily enough, and even find a place to stop that would serve quite well as a campsite - a clearing that was beside running water that came down the mountain, with only two clear ways in and out - they had been followed the whole way there. Jaden and Lykus had worked together to create a good defensive barrier against the raptors, with the wolf using his cards to find something in the air and Jaden using his shamanic training to control whatever it was that Lykus found to create barriers, but while they were safe enough for the moment, there was still the issue of getting back out again.

There were options, of course. Ailsa had her gun, and she'd checked her belt to make sure that she still had her knife. Lykus, from what little he'd said that was practical, had a few spell-cards on him, but he didn't want to use them up if he didn't have to. Most of his cards were blank, waiting to pick up magic rather than ready to expel it. Jaden could probably fight, and while Tarin hadn't said much, it was clear that the deer had some skill in a dust-up.

Sanmer...probably not that reliable, in all honesty, considering that he was from a lab and had had the hardest time keeping up with the group. He'd been great for picking out what they could eat as they ran along, and his scanner had doubled as a taser to keep one raptor that had gotten too close from picking Lykus off, but that was as much as he could do, and she doubted that the taser had an unlimited battery.

And Mchumba...

Ailsa looked up at the rat. The former pirate captain had been grumping and grouching the whole way, and for a while, she'd thought that it was just from the fact that the other woman had lost the vote for leader. Looking up at her now, though, seeing the way that the rat cupped her side and winced when she thought no-one was looking, she wondered if it was something else.

After a moment's hesitation, she climbed the tree, sitting beside the other woman.

"You okay?"

"You be kidding, heh. Are you?"

"Heh. Probably better than most of us; I jumped through."

"I fell."

"...Want to talk about it?" Ailsa asked.

"...Do you?"

The stingray hesitated, then pulled herself up the rest of the way. They were going to be stuck here all night, and until the sun went down, no need to be too careful. And considering she was talking to someone that came from a pirate era, she wasn't going to pass up the chance to get out some of her frustrations to someone that might actually understand.

On the ground, Tarin continued his patrol, moving around the small clearing, and occasionally poking his head past the edge of the magical barrier that Jaden and Lykus had pulled up. So far, it had kept the raptors on the other side, but...

He pulled his monocle to his eye again. Through the glass, he could just make out the shimmer in the air, a hint of magic that had been left behind in the dinosaurs' tracks. It lingered in the ground, almost like the spells of the mages of his homeland, and he knew that it wouldn't be so simple as running through it. Not without having something happen to those that went first.

The simplest way through, provided that Sanmer's equipment worked the way that he said it did, would be to send the fox through first. But perhaps the most expedient would be to send Lykus. He imagined that the wolf had his own sort of tricks, and if he didn't...

Consideration upon consideration.

Tarin continued his patrol, meeting Jaden at the opening between the trees. The orca looked out at the pack of raptors waiting just up the path, the dozen-strong pack just watching them. They were obviously intelligent, and their hisses and barks clearly had some sort of meaning to them as they almost seemed to chatter to each other. The orca and the deer stood together, looking at the dinosaurs.

The deer broke the silence.

"Can they get through?"

"I want to say no, but I can't be entirely sure. The spirits here are...different."

"But you are pretty sure?"

"Yes. They did agree to help, provided...Well, I'll pay that price."

"...What is the price?" Tarin asked.

"One of us needs to sleep in the nude, and not resist their touches later."

The deer arched an eyebrow. He had already learned that the wolf and the fox were perverts, but he hadn't expected the same from the orca. Jaden shook his head.

"It's the way of spirits. They want to have an experience, and sometimes, that means that they want something...different. A little more sensual."

"...Do you want someone to watch over you?"

"No...but I wouldn't mind some privacy."

Tarin smiled.

"Then let me do you a favor. I will keep the perverts away."

"Thank you. I didn't want to ask, but -"

"Just remember that I did this for you."

"...Why?"

"Just...remember."

Whoopsie Daisies

"Ha...ha..."

Jason dismounted his raptor nearly a minute after everyone else, the green-scaled dragon barely able to stay upright as he slid off the scaly thing. They were bigger than proper raptors should be, and harder, too; those scales along his mount's back felt like they'd beaten his balls into submission, and then some. They felt like they'd been pounded flat against his crotch.

The other males on his team didn't look like they were feeling much better, save for Sergino, who seemed to have a rather pleased expression on his face. Isabella was fine, and Sarah - who'd been too big to ride, but had loped along with ease along the coastline with the pack - was winded. Glyn still trembled as he slid off his raptor, though he was half-sure that he saw the timber wolf mouth the words 'fucking wow', and Kotone seemed almost untouched as she slid off her raptor.

He shook his head, looking down at his chest. The tentacle thing was still there, though thankfully no longer inching its way towards his ears or making any headway towards his mouth and nose. It was disconcerting enough to have them stroking his body like happy-hentai-tentacles; he didn't want them exerting any other influence on him, like they seemed to be doing to the raptors.

"Thanks you all," Isabella said, the pangolin hugging her raptor, much to its apparent confusion. "You did so much. Thank you, thank you, thank you."

"I don't think that they did it for hugs, Isabella," Sarah said.

"If you tell me that they want meat now, I swear, tree-time 2.0," Glyn said.

"Better bring me with you this time if you do," Jason said.

"Promise a blowjob and we'll talk."

"Blowjob? I'll give you anal, if you want."

"Heh, maybe that'll be -"

"Boys." Isabella rolled her eyes. "Come on. Let's make camp. Sarah? Can they come with us the rest of the way?"

"Not this time; they were supposed to chase us and eat us. I think that if we hadn't been there - you and me, I mean - they probably would have."

"Can you ask? They're fun to ride."

The T-Rex turned, warbling and growling. The pack leader responded with a whistle and a coughing bark. Sarah shook her head.

"No dice. They're supposed to go back to some guy that lies dead and dreaming."

"Awwwwwww."

The raptors said their goodbyes, and Jason, despite his relief at the fact that they were leaving without demanding further payment, was almost sad to see them go. Their speed had kept the team going further and faster than they normally would have been able to manage, he imagined. They were a good halfway around the island, now, though they were still on the beach rather than making their way up towards the mountain. Wherever the challenge was, it must have been far enough on that you'd need to be at the base of the mountain to be able to see it, or at least on a higher elevation.

But for now, they were safe enough to make camp. In the dark, they proceeded to do just that. Glyn jogged off, returning shortly after with some coconuts, and Sarah began the process of cracking them to get at the food inside. Kotone returned with wood - though the wood wriggled rather dangerously before they set it on fire - and Sergino and Jason sat on opposite sides of the fire.

"You seem...concerned," the ice dragon said.

"I'm trying to figure out what I can offer here; we're only a few days away from the first elimination, you know."

"Only if we lose."

"Yeah, but that could happen. I don't want it to, but..."

Jason looked at the rest of the team, and so did Sergino. The dragons had done the least of the team so far. If it came down to it, the pair of them would have to find something to justify themselves, something to show that they were useful enough not to be voted off.

And Jason had a thought for that. Not a good thought, but he remembered what had worked in the last game show that he had been part of.

He got up and walked over to Sarah. A few whispered words to the T-Rex, and the bigger female grinned. The pair of them walked away from the fire, and soon enough, the rest of the team could hear little more than their moaning. Sergino grimaced, shaking his head as he tossed a stick in the fire.

"Wish I'd thought of that first..."

"Thought of what?" Isabella asked, sitting down.

"...Nothing, ma'am."

"What are they doing, anyway?"

The other three teammates immediately looked up and away, leaving the pangolin kicking her legs innocently. If there was one thing that they were unified on, it was not screwing with her. Not that way, at least.

Both Groups

A night of offerings.

A night of connections.

A night of revelations.

A night of 'God will you shut up?'

But the night passed, and the two teams began their progress towards opposite sides of the great mountain in the middle of the island. For the Whoopsie Daisies, it was a painful uphill climb along a series of rock faces, occasionally made worse by vines that were far friendlier than they should have been. For Black Chaos, the passage was simpler by geography, but harder by their pursuers, forcing them to double-back, temporarily take to the trees, or occasionally abandon the path altogether to take a secondary route for a time.

They were merely grateful that the raptors didn't seem too intent on eating them, and the Whoopsie Daisies were happier that they were able to take it slow, and that the only thing that they had to worry about was amorous flora. At least, during the climb.

What the two teams saw from opposite sides of the mountain made them pause and take stock of their life choices in a major way. Sprawled out on the descent before them was a massive ravine, one that dipped down hundreds of feet in a drop that was little less than sheer, with more of the fondling, twisting, too-alive plants that one team had faced on the way up, and hissing little chicken-sized dinosaurs that wore little 'cloaks' of feathers and chanted in their hissing language.

One might have thought that they could have just gone around the ravine, but the issue was, both teams could see that the challenge lay at the midpoint of the ravine. There was a shrine there. A shrine, rising out of the center of the ravine on a taller hill, surrounded by all kinds of beasties and plants. The multi-tiered shrine was almost like a pyramid with its rough layers going up, and at the very top, suspended on a floating, spinning pedestal made of circular stone, were two packs.

The keys, and whatever else were jammed in for the challenge winners, waited at the top of the shrine. To get it, one would have to reach the shrine, then get to the other side of the ravine. Nothing in the ravine was so dangerous as to look deadly, but there were enough things down there that could catch and hold someone in a tight grip to worry about. And then there was the climb up, with at least fifty feet of rock to climb on the other side before reaching the forest over there.

A ravine dropping down fifty-some feet, a divide about forty feet across to the far side, and then another fifty feet of climbing back up, all while dealing with all the living obstacles between them and the prize.

How were they going to do this? Who knew...but the dragon watched from his room far away, tossing a piece of popcorn down his throat.

"This is where the fun begins..."

The End

Summary: The games begin, and the two teams are immediately pushed in different directions in the way that they respond to the dangers around them.

Tags: M/F, Nudity, M/solo, Implied Sex, The Portal Games, Teams, Captains, Tentacles, Dinosaurs, Reality Show, Portals, Series,