A Trios Journey (private rp with wingfeather and tenebria)

[Abbster]

Sugar flattened her ears slightly. “Oh….uh….yea….it’s just that I-uh…” she stopped and flattened her ears some more. “I couldn’t do it alone..” she finally said, as she looked at Galmur. “I know we agreed to go on our own paths for this part, but I got scared” she admitted. “So. Would it be ok if I joined you?” She asked.

[tenebria]

Galmúr looked disappointed, but quickly smiled and nodded "Of course, two pairs of eyes are better than one, i'm sure Artemis can do another path as well... but hopefully we find it before then" he said, swiftly turning and trotting back down the path, explaining as he went. "Ok, so you just look at all the trees. If any have some bark missing that looks weird, or a scrape on them, tell me" he said, slowing to carefully examine the bushes at the side of the path.

[wingfeather]

Artemis walked for a little ways more before deciding that this wasn't the right path. She backtracked then tried the next, it was dense and it took her a while to even go a few steps as she tried to be diligent in her scrutiny.

[Abbster]

Sugar smiled and she hugged Galmur. “Thanks” she said, as she looked around. When she spotted a tree looking off. “Galmur, wait” Sugar said, nudging him. “That…tree looks strange don’t you think?” She asked, as she trotted up to it, and sniffed it.

[tenebria]

Galmúr quickly stopped and looked at the tree, seeing what she meant in an instant. A rough hoof print shape was scraped against the bark, just big enough so it looked like an almost natural loss of bark, but at the right angle, it definitely looked like a hoof print. "Good job Sugar!" he said, hugging her then swiftly spinning "Come on, let's go get Artemis" he said quickly with a wide smile, racing down the path. "ARTEMIS!" he called loudly. "IT'S THE FIRST TRAIL ON THE LEFT!"

[wingfeather]

Artemis ears pricked up at Galmúr's call, swiftly she turned tail and bolted back to the clearing, ''what! did you find it?!''

[Abbster]

“I did” Sugar said, with a smile. “The first marker has a hoof print looking thing carved into it” she said. “It’s this way, come on!” She said, turning and racing away towards it. She slowed when they got there. “Here it is!” She said, with a gleaming smile.

[tenebria]

Galmúr skidded to a halt as he reached the clearing, smiling widely at Artemis and nodding. "Yep, she found it!" he said, backing Sugar up, then turning and cantering after her. They paused at the marking, and he examined it closely again, just to be sure before nodding. "Yep, it's definitely it. No way that's natural" he said, adding "And look, you can see a cut into the tree itself right there" he said then tossed his mane. "Ok, we're wasting daylight, let's go!" he said, his spirits quite high. The first test was passed. But who knew what more lay ahead of them!

[wingfeather]

Examining the scrape acutely Artemis nodded, ''yep that is artificial, great job Sugar you really have good eyes.'' As Galmúr began cantering away she said, ''Come on Sugar,'' 

[Abbster]

Sugar blushed a little, and she cantered after her friend. “Wait till I tell Gus” she whispered to Artemis as they followed Galmur.

[tenebria]

Galmúr kept up a steady canter, his eyes darting along the path at all times. This path was increasingly difficult to follow, and often times he'd start going one direction before figuring out it wasn't the path and quickly double back. Quickly though, he learned that the best signs were hoof prints, scrapes on trees, and broken bushes... newly broken. As he became used to looking for these, his pace grew more sure and swift. After quite a few minutes of running, he slowed uncertainly. The path... it seemed to have disappeared. On either side of them were thick trees, almost like walls. And in front of them, a rather formidable looking patch of thorns, heading off darkly into the forest. He gulped. "Uhhh guys..." he said as he halted in front of the gleaming thorns. "I don't think this is the right..." he was about to turn them around when he suddenly noticed a very clear mark on a tree in the midst of the thorns. His ears pinned. This had to be a joke. "Ok... Artemis, Sugar... what do you think this is about?" he asked, trying to get closer to the thorns without poking himself or getting caught. As he stared hard at them, he began to notice strange, almost horse length, long clear patches in the midst of the thorns, all in a straight line, with about 2 - 6 feet of thorns in between each space. His eyes narrowed. He almost had an inkling of what they were supposed to do... but he couldn't quite get it. "You guys see those?" he asked dubiously eyeing the patches.

[wingfeather]

Artemis inspected the sharp tightly-packed thorns, and began pacing a little nervously in front of them, ''well we can't walk through that, do you think it has anything to do with jumping.'' she asked rather doubtfully.

[Abbster]

Sugar flattened her ears. She wasn't the best when it came to jumping. "Jumping....?" she mumbled. "is there any way to go around it?" she asked, as her nerves were spiking at the thought of having to jump. "I...I don't know if I can jump that." Sugar said. "But I am willing to give it a try" she said. "Galmur...you go first" Sugar said as she was still nervous about jumping that.

[tenebria]

Galmúr looked over to Artemis with a surprised look, then back to the thorns, nodding "Oh, of course, that makes sense!" he said, slightly nervously. The idea of attempting to jump over the gleaming thorns was not an enticing one to say the least. He glanced to Sugar and smiled "Hey, i'm sure you can do it" he said, reassuring her and himself at the same time. "Ok..." he took a deep breath. "Well then, here I go!! Once I reach the third jump, one of you can follow me" he said, turning with a determined shake of his mane to the thorns ahead of him, judging his spot and backing up slightly to get a good running start. The young buckskin took a moment to gather his nerves, then plunged forwards, thrusting upwards, bending his legs almost to his belly as he soared over the first patch of thorns. Midair he suddenly realized that he wouldn't have time to stop while jumping, and then he was landing. As soon as his back hooves touched the ground he thrust himself up again, hooves outstretched as he flew over the longer patch of thorns, glinting and gleaming evilly beneath him. Without a scratch he managed to land once again, but he fumbled slightly as he did so, and was only barely able to get his hooves beneath him to push himself over the third jump. He let out a slight snort of pain as a long thorn scratched his leg, but he gritted his teeth, knowing he didn't have time to stop. Five more jumps. He could do it. He had to.

[wingfeather]

Artemis watched as Galmúr made his first jump, then his next and the next, when he landed his third jump, Artemis turned to Sugar, ''you want to go next?''