WoR Purity Trails: Loyalty Trial I

♦ In the ultimate display of trust, your Reosean, blinded via a mask over their face, is guided by their companion through a difficult course consisting of various obstacles (jumps, holes, felled trees, etc.). 

Individual Submission by Mechanic-Drone

Using: 

Sorn 14744 | Kyjo 15319 | Deevion 15286

“My my, you three have done very well with your trials so far you should all be very proud.” A soft spoken chaser spoke with encouragement to the group that stood in front of him. All three looked uncomfortable at his praise as though they felt the compliment may be insincere considering how “less than ideal” the past two trials went.

“Well that brings you here to your final rest, the blind obstacle course! Now if I may ask, out of all of you, who is the “leader” of your little group?” The chaser spoke calmly as his eyes went over each of the reos that stood in front of him. 

Without so much as a second passing Kyjo piped up, “Of course the leader of this group would be yours truly. The other two aren’t as competent as me to lead us through such a course.” As he spoke both Sorn and Deevion groaned in annoyance and rolled their eyes in unison. 

“Yeah and I’m the king of Thedale. You know since we are all apparently lying.” Deevion uttered in a sassy tone at Kyjo’s remark. 

“Now listen here you little shit.” Kyjo let a low rumble erupt from his throat as he snarled, unpleased by Deevion’s comment. 

Sorn sighed as the two boys began to bicker back and forth, nothing new she hadn’t heard. Each hurled insults at the other until they grew bored, which was a fairly regular event with the three spending so much time together. Obviously the two didn’t really mesh well. 

The chaser in charge of the course sat patiently while the boys verbally assaulted one another before turning his gaze towards Sorn. He smiled brightly at her before speaking, “So you are the leader then, Sorn was it?” 

The two boys grew quiet at the comment and both looked at Sorn with skepticism, “Sorn? You really think she is the one in charge?” Deevion spoke softly, his tone not meant to be rude but Sorn couldn’t help but be insulted.

“Ah so it is decided then she shall be your leader in this event and the one to guide you two through the course.” Before either of the boys could let out any more protest, the chaser handed them both blindfolds to wear, “Now come along with me so we can get you to the starting point.”

Both Deevion and Kyjo looked at Sorn as though expecting her to say something but she held her tongue and sat ready to be the guide, “I swear if you make us fail this..” Kyjo muttered in a threatening tone before following the chaser with Deevion to the starting point. 

Sorn gulped loudly, the stress starting to set in. Though she had planned to do this trial today with the other two she had never imagined she would be the one to guide her companions through it. Having already messed up the first trial so badly by getting lost it was easy to see she had lost confidence. 

At the starting line the chaser tightened the blindfolds onto the runner and puller respectively, each having to crouch down for him to reach, “Well I am fairly confident I got those on well, I hope neither of you can see as that would void the trial.”

Deevion and Kyjo both let out exasperated sigh and spoke in unison to the question, “No.” 

“Very good then!” The chaser spoke excitedly before turning to Sorn who stood above the course to oversee it all, “Whenever you are ready Sorn you may begin guiding your team!” As he spoke he began walking away to allow the trio to complete their task. 

Taking a deep breath Sorn looked at what laid ahead of the two. The course was full of obstacles, fallen trees to hurdle or go around, large pits that would need to be jumped, even some steps that she would need to call out for them to make it without being injured. She began trying to create a list in her mind on what to tell her companions and the best way to go about it all, that is until Kyjo began walking forward before she could say anything.

“Kyjo wait, I didn't say start!” Sorn cried out as he got dangerously close to a pitfall. 

“Yeah yeah I know but I’m not gonna sit around all day for you to not tell us what to do, just get on with it already “leader”.” Kyjo spat the words with anger, clearly upset he wasn’t going to be the one leading this trial. 

Sorn frowned but seeing Deevion waiting patiently for her commands gave her hope, “Ok, Kyjo stay there, Deevion I am going to need you to walk three paces forward to catch up with Kyjo.”

Deevion nodded at her instructions and began walking, carefully counting his steps but he still fell short of where she wanted him to be. He was much shorter than Kyjo so it was clear she would need to keep that in mind with instructions as his strides would be much smaller, “Ok just one more Deevion and you’ll be lined up with Kyjo and we can start.”

As Deevion lined up with Kyjo Sorn began to brainstorm the best way around the pit trap, “Ok you both have two options, there is a pit in front of you that is about six feet wide, you can either jump directly in front of you that distance, or I can direct you around it.” 

“Oh wow how kind you are giving us options.” Kyjo retorted before launching himself across the pit with ease, leaving poor Deevion behind, “Piece of cake, lets just get this over with.”

Sorn frowned as Deevion stayed rooted in his spot, his ears pressed against the back of his head as though nervous and untrusting of Sorn’s instructions, “Is the pit really only six feet Sorn? You gotta remember I’m a lot smaller than you, covering big distances like that is a lot harder, can you direct me around it instead?” Though it was clear he was trying to be brave the slightest bit of fear encased his voice, giving away his true feelings.

Sorn nodded at the comment before directing him around the obstacle, “That’s ok Deevion no shame in going around. Turn to your left at ninety degrees and take two steps, you are really close to the edge so it shouldn’t be too much to go around it.”

Deevion nodded following her instructions to the point, this time landing in the spot Sorn intended, “Ok now turn to your right ninety degrees and take five steps and you’ll be caught up with Kyjo.” 

“Come on, let's get on with it, you should have just jumped it Deevion you’re slowing us down.” Kjyo barked, directing his head behind him so he was clearly heard. 

Deevion scoffed at his comment, “What’s a matter can’t go two more minutes blind? Or did you need to find somewhere to swoon at your own reflection?”

Kyjo bared his teeth at the statement but Sorn stepped in, “Would you two stop arguing like children? Once we get this done with we never need to work together again so just suck in your pride so we can get this over with.” Her harsh tone was out of character but it was clear spending all this time with the two she was at the end of her rope.

The two stopped at her comment and grew silent as though waiting for her command. The path ahead was fairly clear aside from a few rocks and a downed tree, “Ok, Kyjo I want you to walk about ten steps forward, then step left twice before taking five more steps and then one right. Deevion, you are going to need to walk fifteen steps forward before you take three steps left and eight steps right. Got it?”

The two nodded without responding as they began their instructions. Deevion followed them exactly, ending up perfectly where Sorn wanted him, though Kyjo seemed to be taking uneven steps and ended up dangerously close to the fallen tree, “Ok Kyjo the tree isn’t even a foot in front of you, I need you to walk five paces to the right before we can continue.”

Kyjo huffed at her comment but didn’t raise his voice and followed her instructions, the tree now out of his path. All that was left was a few rocks and a small bit of water they would need to swim through to finish the trial. The chaser that they had originally talked to watched intently as though judging each of their actions. 

“The path ahead of both of you is almost a straight shot to the water portion, all you need to do is keep walking, slowly, till you can feel the water. Just keep in mind there are a few rocks in both of your paths, just so long as you go slowly you should be able to walk over them.” Sorn’s eyes scanned the scene taking in every detail so she could best direct them. 

As the two began walking Kyjo quickened his pace as though to race Deevion who was taking his time, carefully feeling ahead with his paws before putting his weight down. Sorn sighed, annoyed that Kyjo couldn’t seem to follow instructions but he managed to make it to the water without issue and after a few more moments Deevion stopped at the water as well. 

Sorn paused for a bit looking at the water, it was deep, definitely deep enough for both of them to need to swim to get across so judging distance would be a lot harder since “one step” wouldn’t really work. After a bit Sorn spoke, “The water is about twenty feet wide and both of you will need to swim through it, there are no turns and I don’t really see any obstacles in the water aside from maybe some seaweed or seagrass so you should be fine. This is the last obstacle so take your time.” 

Before she could get the last words out Kyjo launched himself into the water creating a huge splash that drenched Deevion, “Really?” Deevion spoke annoyed by the splash before he began to follow after Kyjo himself. 

Kyjo swam with confidence, each stroke sending him forward with some decent momentum. That is until, unbeknownst to Sorn, he nailed his front paw on an unseen rock. Yelping in pain Kyjo dipped below the surface for a moment before resurfacing, “I thought you said there were no obstacles!” He cried out clearly upset and in pain.

“I didn’t see any, what did you hit?” Sorn yelled to Kyjo, puzzled by his reaction.

“There is a giant rock here you nimwit! I almost broke my leg!” Kyjo cried out to Sorn.

“Well maybe you should have taken your time like she said.” Deevion said between breaths as he gracefully swam past Kyjo, his short stature meaning he didn’t even come close to hitting the rock. 

Kyjo muttered a chain of profanity under his breath before continuing on, his pace now much slower. Shortly after Deevion’s feet his the other side of the short and he hauled himself out of the water before stopping to wait for Sorn’s instructions. Kyjo, now in pain, took a few additional minutes to pull himself from the water and put weight on his now injured foot. 

Before Sorn could say anything else the chaser excitedly ran over to the two males, “That is it you completed the obstacle course! Congratulations! Though I must say you three didn’t cooperate as well as you could have you’ve still done it!” 

Sorn smiled happily and let out a loud cheer as the chaser removed the blindfolds from the two, “We did it guys!” 

Kyjo and Deevion looked at one another, their own smiles much more faint than Sorn’s before they nodded at one another, “How about we make sure to never interact with one another again?” Deevion spoke softly.

“You read my mind.” Kyjo said, annoyed as he shook the water from his pelt, “It’ll be too soon to see either of you again after this.”

[2,035 Words]