[SkyWolf11]

After having listened to the wailing pup with little enthusiasm, Domeskis shot the young Tali a questioning glance.  He took a few wary steps away from the pup and let his eyes trail up to the second pup who had found himself stuck on a high up branch.  And an unsturdy looking one at that.  He clicked his tongue and took a small step up to the tree's base.  "It serves you poor unfortunate souls right, if you ask me.  Why would you want to do something so stupid anyways?" he scoffed crudely at the small pup a few inches away.

But ... Hmm ...  His eyes observed the swaying vines with curious interest.  In the decieving darkness, the tree itself seemed to sway with a dangerous motion.  A small smile slipped out as he inched closer and raised a paw temptingly onto the darkly wooded trunk.  He drew it back quickly as he imagined he had felt the wood move.  This place sure was something.  Even the plant life here was something to be cautious around.  His legs trembled with an uncertain feeling.  

"... Sure ..." he growled roughly, rolling his shoulders free of some built up tension.  Wait ... was he actually going to help the pup?!  Him?!  Surely not ...  Well, there had to be more to it than that.  And yep - there was.  One word:  Challenge.  They were what gave Domeskis's life excitement, if you thought about it.  No job, no responsibilities, nothing really to keep him busy ... so he loved the occasional challenge that he was presented with.  He liked anything that pulled him out of the shadow of boredom, really.  And here was no different.  Hey, it got the blood and adrenaline pumping, so he could care less about the danger right now.  

He tested the tree again with another touch before jumping onto the trunk and digging his claws in deep.  Biting down hard on a closely swinging vine, he desperately attempted to climb the odd tree to the best of his ability.  It wasn't as easy as you would think - I mean, he wasn't a cat afterall!  Canines weren't really made to climb, you know!  He yanked hard on the vine, trying to pull himself higher up into the creaking branches and towards the pup ...

[Lvl. 1 -- 3]

[Jessari]

When Jane saw the path separate ahead of her, she was more than happy to leave the Slynx to travel his portion alone. She stalked down the parallel path, red eyes alert for any movement among the dark trees. There was nothing to be seen, or heard, however. Pity. Perhaps she had chosen wrong; maybe she should fight her way through the thick bushes that separated her path from the one the Slynx was travelling. It had seemed more frightening, and therefore more promising, than this one.

While she was weighing her options, she nearly stumbled upon the small bag in the middle of the path. She stood there for a moment, head tilted curiously as she wondered how exactly it had gotten there, and what the revoltingly pink fabric concealed within. Her fingers wrapped around the cold steel of a butterfly knife, and she spared another glance about her. Would the owner of the package return to reclaim it, or had he or she already been eaten by the creatures who were supposedly roaming this 'zoo'?

Crouching down to rest upon her heels, Jane lifted the small bag onto her lap. With a deft flick of her wrist, the butterfly knife opened with a harsh click. She slid the blade beneath the blue ribbon and tugged, only the slightest pressure needed to slice through the fabric. Then, with a grimace, she set to work pulling open the pink bag with her free hand.

[Eunwon]

Really? A fruit tree? He must have overestimated this competition. How scary - a fruit tree. The worst it could do was bomb pears at it. Yeah, like that was a life-threat. But even though there was nothing scary, what was he supposed to do? It's not like he could just pass it, I mean, it was there for a reason...

Oh, oh! Maho's eyes grew round, looking below he saw the rise and fall of a chest belonging to a massive Sheilupe. He took a great step backwards. So he realized the threat now, but what was the challenge? Suddenly he heard of flutter of wings next his ear, and Maho saw a little Batti doing his best he can to reach of fruit. The Gyrraptor couldn't help feeling bad for the little guy, one of his wings was in a sling and he seemed really desperate. Now that's familiar, is it not?

"I'm ju-" Maho started to speak but the little Batti had cut him off. So, a fruit was what he wanted. "Nice acting." Maho thought, the little guy was so stupid, and the Gyrraptor felt he didn't have the time for this... Just about as he was about to reply in a curt ''no'' he changed his mind. This was a test, was it not? He had to get a fruit for this guy, and perhaps he may be able to move on. So, how to get this fruit? Maho had no idea.

"Ok, ok. I'm gonna help you, just hold on a second, will you please? I have to figure out how I'm supposed to get you a piece of fruit without getting shredded to pieces in the process..." Maho snorted sarcastically, what was he supposed to do? He tried jumping up and grabbing a piece but it was to high. Next, he tried climbing the tree... that was the dumbest thing he had done yet. He slipped back down like a waterfall. Turning around, he saw the big Sheilupe. No. He shot a glare at the Batti. This was it, he was going to attempt to step on the big brute's back without waking him. Well, he would reach a fruit then, at least. This was so stupid! His life for a piece of fruit, to be given to a Batti. Ever so carefully, Maho put his foot on the Sheilupe's back, and then set the other one on top. Now all he had to do was reach a fruit without this guy waking up.

[MillietheWarrior]

OOC: (Sighs) Okay. Since the rule has already been broken twice, I'm going to post this INSTEAD of PMing you guys (Since PMing only informs one person, and this needs to be adressed to all; sorry for OOC posting, but it's necessary). You MUST follow the posting order. GrayGriffin, that post was out of order. I'm going to let it go this final time, but I'm afraid if it's broken again, I'll have to kick out the rule breaker. Please, please, please! READ THE RULES. Thank you.

Also…Since this contest seems to be dragging on a bit longer than I originally thought, there won’t be as many challenges as before. So beware! You could run into a ‘prize pet’ at any point in time. Make sure to keep your ‘gifts’ close at hand. ^^

--------------------

Wyndhail:
“Oooh my,” The Carpetfang sighed, looking quite put out. “I sssssuppossse your right.” It huffed, uncoiling form around the Slynx. “Your lucky I wassss told to play by the rulessss…Otherwissse you’d be dinner right about now.” It hissed angrily, before sliding off into the darkness, but not without a few parting words. “Better choooosssse carefully next time, little pink morsssel. The next challenge may not be as nice as I am…I hear they have a particular dislike for things that are pink…Esssspecially when they are pink catssss.” Was that a clue? Let’s hope not. Well, what will your next choice be? Right, or left?



Skywolf11:
The tree swayed dangerously, both pups still wailing loudly in an irritating manner. The vines snapped and lunged at the Lucain, seeming unhappy to have the bark of the tree scratched by it’s claws. Fortunately, the Lucain was not what the tree was used to dealing with; it liked it’s prey weak and helpless, like the Tali pups. With a creak and an ominous moan, the tree shuddered, and the Tali pup was sent tumbling down onto the Lucain, and then safely onto the ground, where it bounded towards it’s brother. “Haha!” they both chorused. “Thanks for your help Mr.! That was awfully nice of you!” The first Tali pup carefully pulled out what looked like a toy mouse, and threw it at the Lucain’s feet. “That should come in handy! Keep it close!” it called, before the two bounded off. Weird…Well, now  that you have that ‘useful’ gift, which way will you go? Left or right?



Jessari:
The bag twitched lightly when it was touched. Wait…twitched? Ew. Ew. Ew. Ew. Maybe you shouldn’t touch it? What was inside? Was it something dangerous? Something vicious? Something…gross? Let’s hope it was something quite normal, like a cookie, or confetti. As Jane’s hands began to pull the fabric open, the bag seemed to slowly roll towards her with a strangely ominous feel. Looking inside, it held what looked like a large marble. And it was looking at her. Wait…marbles don‘t ‘look’, do they? What the…? Oh, snap! That was NOT a marble! It was an eye! A freaking eye in a bag! Oh my GOD! What are you going to do? Okay, calm down! It’s not that bad! It’s just an eye in a bag, is all! Heck no, this is weird! Ahem…Your going to take it, right? Because it may come in handy sometime soon. Yes, handy…that’s right. So, now, which way shall you go? Right or left?



Eunwon:
“Dude, don’t be a jerk,” the Batti grumped, wiggling it’s ears. “Just do it, already.” Seems he didn’t realize the danger he was putting the Gyrraptor in. Of course, the reptile didn’t help his situation when he decided to use the Sheilupe as a stepping stool. With a  massive yawn and an ear-splitting roar, the giant canine leapt to it’s feet, probably forcing the Gyrraptor to tumble off his back. “Who goes there?!” he shouted, looking around frantically, saliva dripping from his fangs. The Batti stepped up beside Maho, grinning. “Yo, Luke. Wassup?” The Sheilupe instantly relaxed, and looked from the Gyrraptor to the Batti. “James,” it said in a richly accented voice, inclining it’s head. “How are you this fine evening? And I see you have a new friend! How positively wonderful! You must introduce me!”

He peered closely at the Gyrraptor. “Wait. Are you the fellow who was just standing on my back? I say, whatever were you doing that for?” The Batti shrugged. “He was tryin’ to get me some fruit, dude,” he said casually. “Oh!” the Sheilupe exclaimed. “Oh why didn’t you simply ask, my good man? I would have been quite happy to give you a hand. Why, I’m rather good at picking fruit, if I do say so myself. Why one earth do you think I sleep beneath this tree? I get the fruit for those who cannot get it for themselves. Now, James, why didn’t you ask for my help?” The Batti shrugged again, unconcerned. “Didn’t wanna wake ya.” The Sheilupe scoffed, and reached up with a thick neck to gently grab a fruit with his teeth, handing it to James, who shook off the slobber with a grimace. The Sheilupe turned to the Gyrraptor. “I say, my good man, you must be one of those ‘adventurers’ I heard entered the park a while ago. How dreadful. I do apologize for any mishaps you encounter here; we are not all so civilized.”

He gave a disapproving look to James, who was not halfway through the fruit, and had most of it on his face and vest. “But I say, I wish you the best of luck, old chap. And remember, sometimes it is better to ask for help than to simply…how shall I put this? Wander willy-nilly into a situation. Why don’t you take this?” It reached up and grabbed a piece of fruit, handed it to the Gyrraptor. “I say, it should come in handy down the road. Now, off with you. You’ve got an adventure to have! Good luck, and Yepha’s speed, my dear friend.” Now it’s time to make your decision on where to go next, ignoring the cross scolding of ‘James, must you eat your fruit so sloppily?’, and holding your new piece of fruit. So, what’ll it be? Left or right?



GrayGriffin:
“Fine,” The Draculi growled, not seeming impressed in the least now. She faded in and out, and suddenly the vine was right beside the two adventurers. Annoyed, the Draculi disappeared, leaving only small, feline footprints near the edge of the quicksand. Time to pull yourselves out! But wait…what was that, lying on the ground? Why, it looks like…a data chip? But where one earth could that have come from? And…well, what on earth is it doing here? That has got to be the most random thing ever…Well, except for that eye, but let’s stay on topic. You should definitely take that with you; it’ll come in handy in the near future. So now you have a choice to make. Left or right?

[Wyndhail]

Arron gave a sigh of relief once the Carpetfang finally uncoiled, then hmphed contemptuously when the Carpetfang mentioned someone having prejudice about pink and cats, as well as pink cats, but that should've been a given. He hoped that he would not come across this individual, because it would only make things worse. Hesitantly the Slynx carried onward, shaking and stepping even more carefully than he had before. Of course, he had no idea what was coming, and so it was another source of distress when he came to yet another fork in the road. He was awful at making decisions, and he hoped that he wouldn't need to make many more. Or think about these complicated, irritating riddles.
The Slynx glanced back and forth between the two pathways, a rounded ear twitching as some sign of irritation. Both of the paths looked the same, so he couldn't really make any appearance-based judgements. Therefore, not allowing himself to think any longer about something he couldn't really make a decision on, Arron simply chose to trot off left.

[SkyWolf11]

Domeskis was pretty much stuck in between a rock and a hard place as the vines started flailing at him in what looked to be anger.  And he couldn't really fight back, seeing as it took all he had just to stay on the tree.  But it was an interesting sight - Imagine ... a tree with emotions.  Hmm ... not that that would be much of a surprise right now, since it was already capable of movement...  Oh well.  It wasn't something he'd have to dwell on for very long it seemed as the tree's sudden movements sent the small pup crashing down right on top of him.  So much for his thought-to-be-long-and-hard rescue attempt.

He clenched his eyes shut quickly before letting out a loud "Ummpff!" as the pup smacked into him, effectively dislodging him and his already sketchy hold on the tree.  In seconds, Domeskis found himself flat on his back and looking confusingly up into the slowly swaying branches of the odd tree.  And there he laid for a few seconds more, trying to make sense of what had happened.  'Wait ... was that ... it?  Really?!  THAT?!  Man!'.  He growled loudly in disappointment that the 'challenge' was already done and over so quickly.  Any normal person would be glad it wasn't so treacherous, but, then again, no one ever said Domeskis was of the normal variety, right?  Slowly he got back to his feet.

As the pups thanked him, he begrudgingly nodded and "Yeah,yeah." -ed at them,  and then they seemed to have vanished just as quickly as they had appeared before him, leaving only a tiny toy mouse behind for him with a few strange words.  He glanced around momentarily before lowering his gaze onto it.  He questioned the use of such a thing in this place but went ahead and picked it up.  Who knew, it just might come in handy as the Tali pups had said...

He was actually a bit surprised that the two hadn't tried to trick him, as the woman at the gates had warned them of.  With that taken care of, he was perhaps even more eager to move forward - in search of something more ... exciting than random good deeds.  It didn't take a long walk before he was confronted with another fork in the road.  Looking the two paths over, he couldn't see much of a difference in them ... so he chose to go right.  

Starting down the path, he couldn't stop himself from wondering what exactly he might encounter next.  And how, and if really, this little-bitty plaything would be of any use in the long run.

[Lvl. 1 -- 4]

[Jessari]

As Jane picked up the bag, she could feel a slight give, as if whatever was in there was just a little bit soft. Ugh. Pink wrapped around something soft. She dearly hoped whatever was in there wasn't a baby or something. Where were all the creepy monsters she'd been promised?

Nevertheless, her curiosity wouldn't let her stop with just picking up the bag. One fold at a time, Jane pulled the cloth away from whatever was inside. Although Jane was a tough one to rattle, her mouth dropped open all the same when she viewed the contents...and as the contents viewed her in return. With slow, careful movements, she set the open bag on the ground, then rose to pace in a circle around it, all the while tapping the blade of her butterfly knife against her chin.

"Well, little guy, I figure someone's missing you something fierce right about now," she muttered. "Unless they left you here on purpose, that is. Couldn'ta liked you much to wrap you in something that prissy, huh?" Whatever her hang-ups were about talking to people, apparently that didn't apply to wierd abandoned eyeballs. She was an odd one, that girl.

Shrugging out of her light jacket, Jane lay it upon the ground then upended the bag over it so the eyeball landed in the center. Tucking the corners around it, she picked it up and began walking again. "I'll be damned if I'll be seen carrying that thing. Ruin a girl's reputation, it will."

When Jane came to the fork, she dug in her back pocket for the crumpled map. A quick glance was all it took - left would lead to the pink dots (gag!), and right would lead to the purple ones. Stuffing it back in her pocket, she headed down the path to the RIGHT.

[Eunwon]

Maho screamed in his head as the large Sheilupe awoke. The Gyrraptor was dead meat for sure, no doubt about it. What on earth was he thinking? Climbing on the dog's back like that, it just cost him his life! Stupid, stupid Batti. Here he was, about to die, and his little adventure had just started. This was insane, crazy, and sadly - very dangerous. Oh, and time seemed to be passing ever so slowly, death was certainly strange. He wasn't really scared, which when Maho thought about it, was the stupidist thing in the world. 10, 9, 8, .... Maho could just feel death coming for him. And as the Sheilupe growled his horrifying words of 'Who goes there?' - the Gyrraptor shut his eyes as tight as possible, even though death was here, maybe it would be easier not to look.

Wait. Hold up. Impossible. This Sheilupe was this Batti's friend? Had Maho totally overreacted? Now he felt stupid, well, if he hadn't been so shocked. His mind was boggled. No kidding. He wasn't going to die. The Gyrraptor was so happy he was about to cry! I mean, ha! He was still alive! Overwhelmed, Maho shut his mouth throughout the conversation of the two pets and thought about how truly stupid and lucky he really was.

The Gyrapptor waited out their talk. He kept nodding through the whole thing, however. So whenever attention was turned to him Maho just kept nodding along, seeming to agree. The Sheilupe had talked to him a couple of times, right? Maho wasn't really thinking straight so he couldn't recall, but he muttered, "Yes, of course.... yes," a couple of times along with the nodding.

Finally, Maho seemed to snap out of it. Ok. He survived. That was done with now, so he bid a kind farewell to the two and headed off. Oh, so they had given him a fruit. Maho was just about to gulp it down (he was terribly hungry!), but thought twice about it. The Sheilupe had said he could use it in the future. Yeah right! What's a peice of fruit going to do?! Well, this competition was highly unpredictable, so best stay on the safe side. Now, what path? It had been time to be going already. How about left again, after all, last time it had certainly brought him good luck. Maho let out a deep sigh, full of relief and excitement, then set out on the path.

[GrayGriffin]

"Yay! Thanks!" cheered Katie, clambering happily out of the quicksand. She turned to wave, but saw that the Draculi had already disappeared. Frowning, she turned to help Ship out as well. The Yingshee muttered as he panted on the shore, shaking sand and water out of his wool, which had gotten much heavier. He bent down and picked up the data chip, holding it delicately in his mouth.

"Now what?" he asked, somewhat grumpily.

"Let's change our minds!" suggested Katie, pointing to the right. "Okay?"

"Sure...but be careful this time."

"Okay!"

[4, 4]

[MillietheWarrior]

Wyndhail:
The path the Slynx had taken widened right after the fork. Up ahead, there was the distinct sound of rushing water. As you near the edge of the river, you see a strange man standing beside a boat, scratching his head. With him, is a Yingshee, a cabbage, and a Lucain. The Lucain looks rather bored, the Yingshee wary, and the cabbage…looks like a cabbage. The man seems puzzled, and turns quickly to the Slynx, surprised to see him there. “Hello, stranger!” he called, and you notice that there is something distinctly un-human about him. “Might you want to cross this river?” He gestures to the vast expanse of water behind him, and shakes his head. “I’d love to help ya, but I can’t exactly leave my post. You see, I need to get these two critters and my prized pet cabbage across the river. Unfortunately, I can’t leave any of them alone together. The Yingshee will eat my cabbage, and the Lucain might eat the Yingshee. So you see my problem.” He suddenly brightens, turning to the Slynx. “If you can help me figure this out, I’ll ferry you across the river, no charge!”



Skywolf11:
The Lucain chose an interesting path. It seemed rather harmless looking, although here, looks could be deceiving. Further down the path, there was a sniffling sound, and sitting directly in the middle of it was a rather sad looking Torken. It snuffled dangerously, a small ball sitting at it’s feet. It was staring hard at it, as if willing it to fly into the air or something. When he looked up and saw the Lucain, the Torken let out a little cry of surprise. “You!” he shouted, pointing. “You! I need you to help me. This stupid Draculi came by earlier this morning and tricked me. She said there was no way I could throw the ball as hard as I could and have it come back to me, even if it doesn’t bounce off anything, nothing it attached to it, and no one catches it or throws it back. I can’t figure it out! Do you have any idea how I can do it? I don’t want that stupid cat to get the best of me.”



Jessari:
You have come to a crossroads. To the left, there is a singular path, and to the right, there is a singular path. Before each path stands a Fenling, each identical to the other. They smile at you, twin looks of amusement upon their faces. “Greetings!” The one on the right calls. “Salutations!” says the left one. “You must want to get to the prize at the end, eh?” The right one glances at the left one, and then begins to speak. “To proceed, you must guess which one of us is telling the truth, and which one of us is the liar.” The one on the left puffs out his chest. “My brother is the liar; the road to the left will take you to the prize.” The right one looks offended, and scoffs. “No, my brother is the liar, and the road to the right will take you to the prize.” They look at one another, and then at Jane. “You may ask us one question; then you must choose which way to go.”



Eunwon:
The Gyrraptor was wise to keep the fruit with him. It would indeed come in handy…soon enough. Down the path he had chosen, he would soon come upon a small gathering of sorts. A Shartile, and her four sisters, along with a rather large, rather confused and bumbly looking Hollowheart. “Hi! My name is Mimi!” the first little Shartile bounces towards the Gyrraptor, red hair flouncing on her head. “Do you think you could help us? See, my father-” Here, she points at the Hollowheart. “-has the worst memory. These are my four sisters, Meme, Mumu, Mymy, and Momo. Unfortunately, my father can’t remember the names of his kids.” She smiles. “Now that you’ve met us, can you tell me the name of his fifth daughter? I‘d really appreciate it if you could help us; you know, reptile to reptile.”



Graygriffin:
As you round the next corner, you see a very dejected looking Fellox sitting directly in the middle of your path. Despite the regal bearings and the almost insane amount of awe people feel every time they see one, you can’t help but notice that this one looks…sad. When he lifts his head and sees you, he sighs, before turning back to a small bottle in front of him. “Oh, hi,” he says sadly. “What, come to kick me when I’m down? Be my guest.” Wow, so he is one gloomy Gus, isn’t he? You can practically feel the ‘I’m just a little black rain cloud’ song rolling off of him. “Look, if you could just move along, that’d be great. See, I put this rare coin in this expensive wine bottle and…well…I want to get the coin out so I can sell it, but I don’t want to break the bottle. And I can’t take the cork out, because if I do, I’ll lose it. My paws are too clumsy for holding something that delicate. If…if your not busy…you think you could help me? I need to get it out without taking the cork out or breaking the bottle. I understand if your too busy to help me.” He sighs sadly. “I know I wouldn’t help me…”

[Wyndhail]

At the sound of water the Slynx's fur immediately began to prickle yet again, and he sighed deeply. Goodness, why did everything awful have to come his way? First a Carpetfang, which he was absolutely /terrified/ of, then water. He hated water, even though his species was from the mountains. Mountains that were full of frozen water. But perhaps that was why he was never there in the first place.
Once he got to the area up ahead, he glanced around at the individuals there and then the expanse of water.
Hm, this was interesting enough, but Arron was quite wary of both this man (he just seemed creepy) and the Lucain at his side (simply because he had a strong fear of Lucain). However, the man seemed to only want help with this minor problem... or, at least, the Slynx hoped so, because he was not in the mood to be eaten or otherwise maimed.
Keeping a good distance from anything that he thought might harm him (aka, several yards away from much anything at all), he glanced around before coming to a conclusion.
"Well, you could, um... You could take the Yingshee,  then take the... Lucain... then bring the Yingshee back... then take the cabbage and the Yingshee?" At least, he hoped that was a working solution.

[SkyWolf11]

Continuing along down the path, a sound caught Domeskis's attention and he swivelled his ears in search of it.  Apparently it was a little ways up ahead.  As he approached the source of the sound, he realized it was from a rather puzzled looking Torken.  His red eyes fell onto the small ordinary looking ball at the creature's feet and he tilted his head slowly.  'Oh boy ... what's this now?', he thought as he quietly walked forward out into it's view.

When the Torken spotted him and let out that sudden squeal, he nearly stumbled backwards out of surprise.  Heck, the way it yelled at him was as if he had just been accused of a crime or something!  Or maybe that was just his paranoia kicking in a bit late...  This place could make anyone a bit suspicious and nervous of things in time.  

Surprisingly, Domeskis managed to listen to the Torken's complaint about the Draculi and the ball patiently without just walking away.  The first thing he thought of after the Torken finished was actually that little toy mouse those Tali pups gave him.  No ... heck no.  That couldn't do anything here, he didn't think.  He let out a sigh that resembled a soft growl.  They said the mouse would help, but not here apparently.  Maybe for later on?  Gah - useless!  He shook his head clear of distracting thoughts and tried to focus on this riddle the Torken had presented him with.  

Er ... problem solving wasn't really his forte but he might as well try.  He thought ... and thought ... and thought some more.  He certainly took forever thinking about it before he seemed to reach a mini epiphany of sorts.  He locked eyes with the Torken and gave a small, confident smile.   "Have you tried tossing it straight up?"  Well, he hoped he had gotten it right.  He had racked his brain for answers and that one seemed to be the only one that made sense.  

[Lvl. 2 -- 5]

[Jessari]

When she first came upon the Fenlings, Jane blinked, trying to clear her eyes. Surely she wasn't seeing double, was she? Unfortunately not. With a scowl upon her face, she listened to their words. If she had her guess, both of them were liars, and annoying liars to boot. And she only got one question? Shouldn't the one telling the truth be willing to take more opportunities to prove his/her innocence?

Breathing an irritated sigh, Jane crossed her arms, free hand swinging the butterfly knife open and shut with ominous clicks. She wasn't exactly happy with this. "Well, then, each of you tell me this: how do you know what lies at the end of your paths? Don't leave out any details." Being a fairly good liar herself, she hoped to be able to spot any falsehood in their stories.

[Eunwon]

First things first, how was a Hollowheart a Shartile's father? That made no sense, whatsoever. But, it's not like any part of this 'competition' made sense, either. This was probably his next challenge, and it seemed like this was going to be some kind of riddle. Maho hoped it was some logical one, because he was dreadful at common sense. "Oh, hello Mimi. I'm Maho." The Gyrraptor smiled at her, trying to be friendly, but most would notice the roll of his eyes and his little sarcastic snort. He actually wanted some adventure in this contest, not like a life-threat, just some fun. And, so far, no excitement had come his way... Meme, Mumu, Mymy, and Momo? What kind of father was that? Name all his kids the same thing - well, at least close to the same thing. Now what? The name of the 5th daughter? How was he supposed to know what kid was born fifth? So he tried examining there size, but then he realized that they looked exactly the same. Wait, wouldn't Mimi know herself? I mean, it was her family, after all. But, like Maho had guessed, this was obviously supposed to be some kind of riddle. Just the bad thing was, Maho didn't get it...

He thought about, and shifted his weight to his other foot back and forth for a while, until he realized that Mimi was still waiting for an answer. "Erm, well... uh, I think it would be..." The Gyrraptor didn't get it, so he just stuttered more and more. What on earth was the 5th child supposed to be? What should he do, run away or something? But as he pondered some more, with stutters and coughs in the middle, he finally realized that it was Mimi herself who was the fifth child. Right? Because she had listed her four sisters, but not herself with them. So Meme was first, then Mumu, Mymy, and Momo, and lastly, number five, Mimi. "As I was saying, you would be the fifth child, Mimi." He tried to say this in a way that sounded like he was positive she was the fifth, to make up for all his stuttering. Honestly he really didn't know for sure if he was right, but now all he could do was hope.

[GrayGriffin]

Katie gasped. "Why do you think we wouldn't help?" she asked, horrified. "We love helping people! Helping makes everyone happy! Unless you're helping a criminal, but you should be able to tell that what he wants you to do is bad, and this isn't bad, so you aren't a criminal, and we can help you!"

"But how?" asked Ship, mumbling slightly around the data chip.

"Hmm...I could take the cork out! I have a pouch, look! We can keep it in there while you get the coin out!" suggested Katie.

Ship shook his head. "Your pouch is too messy. That's why I'm carrying the chip."

"Um..." Katie furrowed her brow and thought hard. "Oh! I know! You can push the cork into the bottle!"

[6,6]