Greatest Contest Ever - RPLOG
From Rusted Promises
Participants
Date
9/3/477
Log
The farms are bustling as a large crowd of folks gather round an old couple of bulldogs. "C'mon yall, you know you want in on this. No charge, you'll make enough of a fool of yerself to make it worth our while, come try your hand!" the male yells, the crowd whooping as the female escorts the next competitor off. "Come on don't be shy, we need a few more!" There are a group of folks all lined up off to the side, a fat bobcat, a rather average sized swordfish, and a small folk frog wearing a blue pointy hat.
A blue, pointy hat. No, no, a blue, pointy hat. Well, advertising is one thing, Sveta supposes as she joins the line, and one supposes there are worse ways to spend one's off day than participating in such competitions. At the very least, it'll be good practice at improvising on the fly. The line is long, the nature of the competition mysterious...but at least she'll be as prepared as she ever is.
Making a fool of oneself? Well that is always a good way to get a laugh? Angus crosses his arms as he steps up to the line, looking over its size a bit before he decides to give in and step into it. Mystery or not why not join to see if he could have fun?
The GREATEST compeitition? Surely it was nothing more than just some words to attract people, but who's to say? It could really be the world's greatest competition, and if one skipped out, they could be missing something amazing! Or the greatest of something. Maybe there will even be some food. A lion joins the line and waits eagerly. To pass the time, he raises two fluffy arms in the air and waves to a few beings he recognized. "Oo! Oo!" He shouts out. "Good day to ya, fox kit an' Bird o' Impressive Shieldin'!"
Humming a jaunty little tune, the pale tigress approached the crowd in time to hear the call out for new competitors. She had caught little snippets of conversation on the road up about it but had no real idea what any of it meant. Still, it was a new thing! And what proper feline wouldn't have their curiosity piqued by such an event? If nothing else, it may provide a laugh and a bit of distraction. Ah, and a few people she recognized! One hand raised, Kaelli stepped forward to volunteer for the next round.
Selena doesn't seem to be in the 'competitors' section of the gathering, though having just arrived it may be a little difficult to tell. The wolfess raises an eyebrow at the strangely adorned frog, waving over to Sveta, Angus and Dio; the more familiar of the faces around the farmlands, moving over to greet them proper. "Well. What exactly IS this competition, anyway?" She queries, looking between the beings and announcers present. "I'm... Not sure what to make of this setup."
The group of new competitors is complete, and the bulldogs smile and look them over. "Okay the rules!" the woman cries out. "No magic of any sort! Please stripr your armors and weapons, we don't need anyone getting hurt and it will just take the fun out of it all." The male nods in agreement, beaming widely as he's asked about the competition. "The competition? Why I bet you'll see soon enough! We just need compliance, be sure nothing will happen to you, we aren't going to mug you with all these folks around right?" he says with a jaunty laugh which is shared by a few of the folks present.
Sveta greets Dio and Selena with a brief nod of her head, the latter more empatic than the former. "No idea, to be honest - I suppose that's part of the challenge, not knowing what one's coming up against. Well, fine. Let's see what this is about," she mutters, more to herself than anyone else as she divests herself of all sharp and pointy ends. "If it's the world's greatest competition, it's bound to be more than a little eccentric. Has to be."
Angus blinks, they were going to be disarmed? ...Welp, definitly going to have to switch something. "Hello there Selena, Dio. Sveta." He greets as he relieves himself of his weapons, while switching out his soul gem as he looks over the competition.
Thankfully he didn't bring too much to worry about, just his standard buckler and handy sword should anything come to blows. One never knows what could spring up these days. Stashing the equipment away, the lion puts a hand over his heart and straightens up. "Ready fer winnin'! Let us begin! I wish to see what the greatest competition 'as to offer," he says with excitement, giving a wave towards the others that he missed.
Kaelli wrinkled her nose at the declaration but the feline's displeasure was fleeting and mostly due to how tedious it was to divest oneself of full plate armour. All the same, the tigress set to with practice and familiarity to undo buckles and fastenings, stowing the pieces away in her ever-present bag and securing her weapons in a similar fashion. Eventually left in just travel-worn pants and vest, she gave a wave at the familiar lion then pulled her hair back and out of the way before giving a leisurely stretch and rolling her shoulders to work out some of the inevitable tension wearing heavy armour tended to cause.
Selena raises an eyebrow, shaking her head. "See... Probably. Participate? I'll pass." She replies simply, remaining off to the side and rubbing her cheek. "I imagine that's all up to your opinion on what the world's greatest competition would be, Sveta. How've you been as of late? I haven't seen you anywhere." The wolfess smiles a little, turning to Dio. "I've heard enough beings call something 'the greatest competition' and have it turn out to be... Well, less impressive than implied. Good luck either way; I've got no intention to join in on this one."
Kalt jogs her way up to the competition, clad in her new and more decent looking plate armor... The white coloring with black trim giving her a more regal appearance, and one could only wonder how much trouble she'd be in when the Solacious saw the bill. She comes to a stop when she sees the group, and straightens her back as she waves... Quickly realizing they were removing their arms and armor, and she had most likely arrived late. She glances around then, and tries to descreatly sneak her way into a good spot to observe the antics as she'd remove her great sword and lay it in her lap. "Come on Angus! Go on an' give'em a proper whoppin' like they ain't nuttin but vermin!" Well, she can cheer at least it seems, barking out the cheer as she gives a fist pump into the sky... After all, cheering for her boss might distract him from how much her new equipment cost him.
The armor and weaponry removed the competitors are given a once over by the two bulldogs before they smile. A few looks are given to Kalt as she jostles the crowd. A few rough looking farmhands are called over, each carrying an enormus load of hay! They set down everything they bring over together before the four of them start to build up a very large hay pile, as the bulldogs declare "You're gonna find this tiny bit o thin metal amongst all this hay!", although unison can be called into question when one is slightly slower than the others. "You have as long as you like, be the first and you're the victor!" the crowd murmurs then cheers excitedly.
"That's...it?" Somehow, Sveta imagined the world's greatest compeition would be some more than a literal reproduction of an old proverb. This has to be some kind of joke, although she has to admit there is something in the level of difficulty. Ever the literal-minded bird, she waits for the haystack to finish being built.
Angus flinches in surprise as someone starts shouting and chearing for him, turning to focus on the source he notices Kalt and gives her a wave. "Needle in a haystack? Now that is an intresting competition...to say the least." HE corsses his arms once more as he stares at the stack, tail flicking a little bit as he huffs.
While waiting for the haystack to fill up to the brim, Dio starts his typical stretching by bending his knees, rolling his shoulders, jogging in place, and other nonsense to really get the muscles and blood pumping. "O', I can do this real good," he says with confidence, giving a golden arm a good flex. "An' what's the prize if I may ask? A meal o' somethin'? I mean, if it's the greatest competition as ya claim, I 'ope it 'as a big prize."
Kaelli blinks twice in surprise as she realizes what the competition is about. Ears flattening and then perking back up once more, the feline tilted her head to the side before giving a soft laugh at the absurdity of the activity. Even so, the tip of her tail began to flicker as she eyed the ever expanding haystack. Find a shiny. Doable! Those mismatched eyes scanned the haystack for a time before surveying the other competitors.
Siyu just wanders in, swishing his hips, he's not sure what's going on, just around to watch.
Selena stifles a laugh as the beings begin to heap hay over the sliver of metal, tsking after a few moments when she gathers herself. "Well. That's certainly not what I'd be expecting to see. I suppose I have to cede novelty, but this is a little ridiculous. Kalt; good to see you again." she greets the fox, settling back into the sidelines as she watches.
Kalt grins widely before looking around at the eyes on her as she sobers up. "... What? Ain'tcha all gone round bein' energetic' an' such?" She huffs and mutters something about kill joys before placing her pinkies in her mouth as she gives a sharp whisltle and thumbs up to Angus, definantly not watching dio stretch that's for sure. "You got this angus! Ain't nuttin a lil'practice can't solve an' such! S'easy nuff we did it as kids!" She blinks as Selena talks to her, offering a wave to the woman. "evenin'! Gonna be plenty lively eh?"
The pile grows ever larger, the workers going to get more materials and two mysterious boxes. After the pile is complete they set up a ladder next to the pile, and set one of the boxes on top of it. The other is held nearby. "NOW, let the competition begin! Are you ready contestants!" cries the bulldog happily. He grins and looks the group over, and then throws his hand down as if he were holding a flag. "GO!" he cries, the workers stepping aside and the crowd getting excited as the contestants take off.
"This is ridiculous," Sveta mutters, but the nature of the competition was unexpected, at least. With one final nod to those competitors familiar to her, she gets down on her knees and begins sifting through the hay closest to her. What are the chances someone's going to throw away the needle by accident and no one finds anything and the end of it all?
Angus just shakes his head as he is whistled at, trying hard not to laugh. "Didn't expect to be cheered on." He comments, flashing a smile as he hears them shout go! In a flash he decides the best way to find the needle, is to dive into the haystack!
Before getting right into the action, Dio performs a few more stretches and walks over to Kaelli to put an arm around her shoulder. "If I don't make it back lass," he says in a hushed and serious tone, "I want ya to 'ave my spirit pillow I've got in my room in the Freesword's. Remember me as I was!" The lion runs backwards as far as he can and takes off for a full sprint into the pile of hay, intending to do as much damage as possible to it and hopefully knock a good amount over if possible!
Kaelli eyes the boxes with equal amounts of curiosity and suspicion. However, her attention goes back to the main goal of the contest. "Find shiny thing in pile of itchy things." she mutters to herself, shoulders rolling slightly as she prepares to pounce directly into the pile and..rummage? Rummage. It was a silly contest, after all..why not have some fun with it? The lion's approached caused her to jump slightly in surprise and she blinked once more as she looked at her friend. "Spirit..pillow?" she asked in confusion, the lion running headlong into the stack before she could get an answer. Standing still for another few seconds, she soon gave a soft sound of shock and skittered into the pile to join the hunt!
Selena tilts her head at Angus's enthusiasm, still watching from her position as the huge quantity of hay is sifted and searched through by the beings, shaking her head bemusedly. "Greatest competition..." She mutters under her breath, glancing back to Kalt. "I'm not sure it's the enthusiasm so much as the competition itself. This doesn't strike me as a match of skill."
Kalt cackles as she watches Sveta work carefully, when dio and angus go diving into the pile. "Come on Angus! He's gainin' on you! Sock'em in the gutt!" Ah yes, the call for dirty fighting. Truly, the greatest way to win was to cheat the best after all. She gives a wave to the arriving Siyu before whistling, hooting, and hollering for Angus pausing only when Selena speaks. "Aw shoot, it's got skill an' all. You gotta be figurin which is right an' all, so fella with the sharpest eyes' got the biggest workin' here right? So figurin' you ain't got the sharpest eyes, well you gotta go throw that fella on out so you can go searchin' more."
Siyu walks up to the group, to the outskirts and he tilts his head, looking left, looking right, and then of course he talks to the people outside of the ring, "So...what exactly is going on?" he inquires.
The lion's approach is met with little resistance from the pile, letting him in as it tumbles a decent amount for him. "The contestants don't seem to be having any luck yet but it's still anyones game!" the female bulldog cries as she smiles. "It's almost time by the way, are you all ready?" The crowd gets excited by this question, a few of them look rather confused but most of them seem to know what's going to happen. "They're having a competition!" a hawk says to Siyu, pointing over towards the stack. The big workers look anxious about something. THe frog is thrown out of the pile by the swordfish, and he scrambles to get back in.
"Almost time? Almost time for what?" Sveta pauses in her meticulous sifting and looks quite confused, or would have been if not for the spectacle of Dio rolling about in the hay. "Did someone leave something out?"
Angus pokes his head out of the haybale, shaking off as much of it as he could. ".....Do I even want to know?" He asks, before ducking back down into the haybale to keep looking!
Thankfully, Dio had short enough fur that getting hay stuck within it was impossible. However, his mane and clothes would be an entirely different story after all is said and done. Without being concerened about what's next, he continues to roll about inside the pile, grabbing and looking for the prized piece of metal that taunts him so.
What was that? Something..? "What is in boxes?" the tigress wondered aloud, her accent heavier when she was distracted by the search. Though, from her buried position within the hay it sounded more akin to "'aht 'n'oxes?" Head poking back out, the feline eyed the boxes in open suspicion while still pawing and patting to search.
Selena looks over to the mouse, raising an eyebrow. "There's a search for a needle an a haystack." She replies amusedly, looking back to Kalt - "I don't think that's 'skill' so much as 'trying'." She replies simply, tapping her cheek. "And for that matter, there haven't been any real rules announced other than 'no equipment or magic'. And there hasn't been any attempt to explain what the contest actually is."
Kalt grins to Selena as she waves a hand dismissivly. "Ain't no rules! That's what's fun an' all... You gotta win through the chaos!" She quickly pats the spot next to her for Siyu as she resumes her cheering and hooting for Angus, while calling out plans to whoop ass.
Siyu tilts his head a small bit, "A needle...in a haystack, really that's...that's...isn't that an old fable? They're actually doing it?" he chitters a tiny bit.
As the contestants ask the bulldog male broadens his grin. "I hope you aren't squeemish!" he declares as he waves to one of the workers, who climbs the ladders and stands atop it as he opens the boxes latch, and dumps it over the pile. 8 piz go scattering through it, one of them running off on its own the other 7 remain in the pile. A few of the crowd members groan like it was a terrible act and the others smile excitedly, knowing it wasn't happening to them. "Good luck! Be aware of what comes next!" he calls out.
Angus notices something shiny in his search! And instantly dives for it, sifting through the hay as he searches for that shiny bit of metal that he got a glimpse at! He was unaware of the Piz, that is until one crossed his path!
At the sight of the Piz being dumped into the haystack, Sveta stands up, dusts off her hands and picks out what little straw that got into her feathers. "All right, I've had enough. I quit. Have fun, the lot of you." With a click of her beak and a face kept painfully straight, she leaves the pile, hoping to head back to where Selena is standing.
Wait, what was going on? Oh well, it wasn't too important, was it? Dio continued to search through the pile, graping at straws and grumbling under his breath. He had to grab that prize! However, something was a bit off... Was that... "A piz? What's goin' on 'ere!" No longer wanting to be within a pile of... those things, he starts tunneling his way out, but still looking for the needle within his path!
Kaelli was having no luck with this search. But..what was that? As the boxes opened and the creatures spilled forth, the tigress let out a reflexive hiss and scrambled deeper into the pile as if fearing the reptilian vermin were simply further competition on the great shiny hunt. Competitive? Nooooo! Not her..
Selena waves to the goshawk as she makes her way out of the competition, moving somewhat to the side to allow for a bit more space. "That's just bad..." She comments, shaking her head as the piz start to dart around the pile of hay. "Well, I rest my case Sveta." She comments when the bird is within earshot. "I'm sorry, I don't see this being a test of skill at all, Kalt."
Kalt snerks, and begins laughing loudly as she clutches her side, slapping her knee for a moment before grinning to Selena. "Heh... Now they gotta be off goin'gainst real vermin n'such! Picked a good time figurin' to just go sittin out eh?" She smirks and looks back to the pile and chaos as she shrugs. "Ah, fair'nuff an'all... S'not somethin' you go off explainin' to city folk."
Siyu stands next to Kalt, and then of course, the lizards! Eeeee! His tail sticks straight out, "That doens't seem as if it's fair...who's running this thing anyway?" he chitters again.
The bulldog calls out "Two are done for!" as Dio frees himself of the pile, looking to Sveta and him. "Sorry for your premature exit, I hope you had a little fun!" he says. The piz in front of Angus's gaze attempts to run move past his face. The crowd offers consolation in words to the Lion and Gohawk, smiling as they watch the going ons. "Come on you can do it!" a Komodo says loudly to the two in the pile.
"Well," Sveta remarks to Selena as she comes to stand by the wolfess' side, "so do I. I don't think whatever prize they can throw at me for this will stand this sort of indignity. Although -" she jerks a thumb back at Angus, still going away at it - "I think it says a lot about him that he's still there."
Angus glares at the piz as it skirts by, before that same shine is visible to him once more! He pounces at it, trying to snag the needle before anyone else can!
"Not yet!" Dio yells out as he peeks from out of the haystack. The lion lets out a loud and competitive roar and receives a surge of leonine powers from the lion's before him and those before them! An ancestral bond between all lions to give power to those of the leonine persuasion in need! Or maybe it was just his energetic self. "I jus' got a little surprised is all!" With his new-found strength, he goes back into the pile and digs for the piece of metal again!
A muffled cry sounding suspiciously like "Shiny!" filters through the pile as the tigress catches sight of the sliver. Tail lashing about within the hay, she lunged after the item with both hands in an attempt to secure her prize before either piz or the other contestants? Contestant? Could. The sensation of movement nearby was apparently and Kaelli braced herself just incase a blind collision occurred.
Selena shakes her head - "I think we have very different opinions on what skill entails. This just seems like a test of endurance if anything." She replies to the fox with a sigh, looking back to the pile amusedly. "And the other tiger, for that matter." She adds. "I'm sure there's someone here that'd romanticize their efforts." Then, another pause as Dio jumps back in. "...I think that was expected."
Kalt grins as she shrugs. "Dunno who's runnin' it Siyu! Looks like some damnable fun eh? GO ON ANGUS! YOU GOT IT! PUNCH'EM, KICK'EM!" Giving out some more hooting and hollering as Selena speaks, the country vixen's ears pinning back then as she mumbles something about the city.
Siyu shakes his head, "Doesn't look fun, with a lizard on your face, but I guess we'll just see how it plays out, how this all finishes..."
THe needle is grasped by a tigress, the fox a second too late. As this happens the bobcat in the pile attempts to grasp it from them, flashing a weak grin as he hopes to take it from them. "C'mon! I want it!" The crowd looks excited to see who emerges with the needle, the bulldogs and the workers standing ready.
"Wouldn't say it was a test of skill myself," Sveta says to Selena. "Well, not much in the way of it - anything would be outweighed by sheer luck - but it looks like it's over, now. And I suppose one needs to ask...is it worth it?"
Angus was so close! He couldn't stop now. Pushing the bobcat out of the way he grabs for the needle, a smile on his muzzle as he actually enjoys the competition!
There seems to be an awful amount of commotion within a certain area in the pile. The lion heads for the sound disturbance and notice the trio of individuals fighting for what could be metal piece! Still, he wasn't quite sure what was going on, so he grabs blindly in the general area, grasping out for whatever he can.
Kaelli curls her fingers around the needle and gives an exclamation of triumph. Wary of others trying to steal her prize, the tigress throws herself forward while drawing her hand towards her chest to curl up around the sliver. "Miiiine!" she exclaimed, a clear tone of laughter and amusement coloring her accented statement. Assuming it works and her prize remains secured, the feline would kick off against the ground to make a break for it and try to exit the hay. If it didn't.. Well, she'd have to reclaim her victory, of course!
Selena nods, rubbing her cheek. "At least - I hope it's over. There's a reason I don't participate in this kind of thing; I'd rather try to find an otherwise undiscovered dedication point to take apart and look at. To make it clear, that's not likely to ever happen. I'd probably have more luck buying the land with one on it from someone." she quips, shaking her head. "But that's neither here nor there."
