A race to the finish line

Cailu had warned the trio of friends that the watchers are hard to get a hold of and that they carry a certain reputation amongst the other clans.

As the trio advanced through their territory the light was fading more and more from their surroundings as fewer of the bioluminscent crystals seemed to grow here.

"We are definitely in the watchers territory" remarked Cailu squinting hard at the gloomy and dimly lit surroundings.

"There!" he said noticing two beads of light high above the travelling friends. No doubt eyes belonging to a watcher.

Varos said what everyone was thinking at that moment.

"We've been here for such a short amount of time. It feels- odd that we have already been spotted by a watcher."

"You say that as if you were trying to sneak about. You four are too noisy to ignore." responded the Haedian who had been hiding high above the trios. They slinked further down hopping from platform to platform, sometimes vanishing from sight as they wound their way through a tunnel.

Soon it was quite close to the group, yet still did its best to not touch the ground and remain on an elevated position.

"You lot seem like fun." remarked the new haedian with its glowing eyes that seemed to contain the entire night sky.

"Actually we are here to speak to the matriarch-" said Varos yet the haedian cut him off.

"Eh, Im sure you arent in such a rush." said the haedian with a beaming grin.

"Tell you what I challenge you

... to contest... of leaping through the cave’s pathways! Beat me and I might just help you meet Saikaam, our clans leader."

This proposition was tempting and Maple had easily agreed with her being able to fly yet Katholes was the first to object by trying to gauge where these pathways started. 

"I cant jump that high." said the red coated puller. 

"Would a sparrow complain if it carried an ant?" said the haedian glancing between Katholes and maple. 

"Would a carp complain if it had to carry a frog?" it asked Varos. 

"Riiight. I think I understand what you want to tell us." said Varos with a puzzled look. 

Soon the race was on, Maple would carry katholes whilst cailu would help varos out. 

"Alright, ready, set, go!" yelled the haedian immediately starting to make headway as they were familiar with the caves and pathways. 

Maple beat her wings, claws holding katholes firmly as she skipped the first few platforms, having to land to try and squeeze her body through a narrow tunnel, which required help from her redcoated friend, who pushed her and helped her navigate the tight space by giving her instructions. 

Cailu carried Varos on their back, hopping from platform to platform with his small wings aiding him in extending his jump by allowing him to glide.

"Hey watch out." yelled the small chaser having spotted a rock that was hanging low enough that Cailu would hit their head against, but thanks to Varos warning they managed to duck in time.

"Thanks." said Cailu but the giggle from far ahead of them made one thing clear.

They would need to get creative if they wanted to win this.

Maple just finished the squeeze free from the tunnel and stumbled onto another platform before Katholes followed her onto said platform.

"Listen we will lose if you stick to trying to complete this course like a haedian. Skip tunnels and use your wings to fly ahead." instructed Katholes who had started to feel just a bit competitive.

Maple nodded and once again grabbed her friend to carry on with the course, heeding his advice to skip any portions of the race that werent made for her.

Soon the two had caught up to the watcher haedian, which was far from true for cailu and varos. whilst the two were following after the haedian from the watchers clan they found the tunnels and platforms confusing, failing to find a clear path to traverse the obstacles once they couldnt simply follow the watcher haedians path through this confusing maze of platforms and tunnels.

"There!" barked Katholes noticing a faint glow coming from above the set of the next few platforms.

Maples head snapped to look where Katholes was pointing to and with a few coordinated beats of her wings and a small hop between two platforms for which she used her claws on her frontwings to hold on and then push herself off again she and Katholes found themself once again on grassy ground. the nearby cave walls had painting of constellations on them. A few moments later the watcher haedian jumped up onto the platform too, surprised to see maple and katholes already there.

"It seems i underestimated you two. Fine- if its that important to you then ill bring you to Saikaam." said the haedian glancing back down the course they had just run to see where cailu and Varos where at.

"We should probably wait for your friends." noted the haedian seeing the two just having reached the halfway mark.

"Still well done. few are brave enough to try to follow in the steps of the watchers. Im sure Saikaam will agree."

Silence fell over the group as they waited for Cailus and Varos arrival who seemed to be struggling a lot with the current course.

Soon an out of breath Cailu emerged and Varos hopped off celebrating that they had made it before surprise gripped them as to why the others were already up the platform as in their mind they had quite quickly completed the course.