The Ameruld League Competition

Riley

"Look!" Indie exclaimed, pointing.

"Ye-e-es!" I shouted. We were almost there! Just a few more meters!

"Come on!" I said. I grabbed my rope again and pulled myself up as hard as I could, adrenaline pushing me to climb faster. Indie and I reached the top of the cliff together. Finally--the Time Game was over.

"Woo!" I shrieked, flopping down on the ground. I just lay there in the pouring rain, enjoying the fact that I didn't have to climb anymore. Now that it was over, I realized how tired I really was. Funny how much the mental game mattered--a little motivation could make all the difference.

"Okay, it's cold out here," I said. I dragged myself up and ran for the trees, stumbling over my own feet. Indie followed me, but it was no use. It was raining so hard that even the canopy of leaves couldn't protect us.

"Hey, Doc Levian!" I shouted at the sky. "You can stop the rain now! Man, Indie, what is that guy's problem?"

Indie

“Ye-e-es!” he shouts while peering up at the edge of the cliff, looking about as relieved as I feel.
The he grabs his rope and yells to me “Come On!”
I take my rope and we start to climb again, going faster quicker than we did, even in the beginning.
Adrenaline as well as the fact that we are almost there pushing us on.
We reach the top around the same time walk a few steps and Riley collapses on the ground gasping and laughing.
There is a loud Clicking sound and I imagine that that signifies the end of the challenge.
I stumble around for a few seconds trying to stay on my feet in case we have to keep moving but after a moment I give up.
I collapse on the ground a few metres away finally letting the tiredness I’ve been feeling all along sink in.
It’s getting dark and it’s just getting colder.
The rain is getting heavier- somehow.
“Okay,” Riley says suddenly, “It cold out here,” and springs to his feet running to shelter under a nearby tree.
I follow, but soon we realise the tree doesn’t do too much to shelter us from the rain or the cold.
“Hey Doc Levian,” Riley cries to the sky, “You can stop the rain now! Man, Indie, what is that guy's problem?”
I don’t answer straight away, but instead I wait, for a second and then almost laugh at how stupid it is to actually expect an answer.
I turn to Riley who is no less drenched or exhausted than me and say, “I don’t know but we should probably go find some better shelter.”
I pause looking around, “If this is the campsite than there has to be something here better than this. Our suitcases will probably be around here somewhere and tents maybe?”
I break off looking at him, wanting to get out of here.

Arrah

"Careful" he says, earning a slight smile from myself. We walk in silence for a while when we suddenly here a vague shout resembeling the word 'yes' only stretched out ringing from the top of the mountain.
"Sounds like someone's reached the top," He commented as we reached the ledge; but it was still above us. Rather than walking around the edge I jumped up, grasping the lip of the ledge and pulled myself up with a slight boast from James.
"Thanks," I say turning and pulling him up the rest of the way. I unclipped my bag and routed around for one of the bottles of water we'd been given on the plane.
"Ah! Here we go," I unscrewed the lid and took a quick drink then offered it to James, "Want some?" Then the rain started pellting down.

Amos

I watched as Arrah vanished over a ledge some way up the mountain. Liz and I had started making good progress not that we were actually moving, although she did keep slipping annoyingly often. I had to resisted the urge to tug on the rope to make her hurry up, I would like to get there before night fall. Pitch clouds began to gather over head and spew down rain, big heavy dropplets of it. Joy.

Riley

"We should probably go find some better shelter," Indie suggested. "If this is the campsite, then there has to be something here better than this. Our suitcases will probably be around here somewhere, and tents, maybe?"

"Or maybe they're waiting until the others get up here to drop the stuff off," I mused. I looked around for any sort of shelter. "There!" I exclaimed, pointed. "There's a cave over there!"

Indie and I ran over to the cave and huddled inside. I wrung out the hem of my t-shirt--I didn't know why; it didn't do any good. Outside, the rain kept coming down harder and harder. That was one messed-up cloud.

"What's taking those guys so long?" I muttered. If that nut job Aster was waiting for the other competitors to stop the rain, then we'd be huddled in this cave for a long time.

Indie

The cave is as dark and dank as you would expect any cave to be, but it is much better than trying to stay dry (or in our cases- dryer) under a tree.
Riley starts trying to wring some water out of his shirt leaving a small puddle around where he stands and I slump to the ground a bit away hoping that either the rain will stop or the other team will arrive.
A hand help light would also be good, I think to myself, this cave is really dark and kind of small.
I kind of (okay I really) wish that I had my suitcase with me right now.
“What’s taking those guys so long,” Riley mutters impatiently and I try and hand-comb a knot out of my messy (what looks like brown now.) hair because somewhere along the way up the mountain the band that tied it up fell out- which in the case of the competition really doesn’t surprise me.
I turn to look up to Riley, “I think, considering the rain and how long it took us to climb the mountain it might be a while before the others get here.”
I turn to peer outside the cave.
Most of the mountains rock has been turned to mud and looks slipperier even than it seemed when it was when we were climbing and there are a few trees scattered around the small field with patches of long grass and rocks scattered around at random.
In the distance I can see a few small objects in the distance that could be rocks, or grass or buildings. Apart from that the view is of a straight, flat field- completely unlike what you would expect the top of the mountain would be like and the fact that it is getting dark isn’t obscured by the pouring of the rain.
I turn away from the view outside feeling a bit melancholy and wishing the other contestants would hurry up.
Riley looks like he’s possibly thinking the same thing slumping against the wall and watching the edge of the cliff.
I think back to the objects I saw in the distance, wondering if they are buildings and an idea crosses my mind that this could be the ‘campsite’ that the judges mentioned vaguely before crosses my mind.
I think for a second, looking for them in the distance once again and consider saying something about it but the longer I peer at them through the rain the more uncertain I become.

James

Rain pours down from the sky, drenching us instantly and for a second we do nothing.
Then Arra shoves the bottle back into her bag and we start climbing up the mountain again even quicker than before; trying to escape the rain.
We only have one cliff to go.
“Almost there,” I yell to her over the torrent of rain.
The rain makes it impossible to see anything that isn’t right in front of us and I imagine this is what it’s like to climb up a waterfall.
In the end we give up trying to climb the slippery mountains edge and had to try pulling ourselves up our ropes instead.
It seems like we’ve been here forever, trying to climb and getting nowhere.
I look around for Arra and see a dim shadow just ahead of me, and then I peer up towards where the top should be trying to find how much of this mountain there is to go but the rain prevents me from seeing too far.
All that I can tell is that there is another ledge- smaller by far than the last one- and climb towards it hoping that Arra will too.
The edge of the cliff just gets steeper as we climb but eventually I pull myself up onto the cliff and soon Arra appears over the ledge too.
The rock above us gives us a little shelter so that the rain is not so heavy.
I stand there, noticing another team just ahead of us on the cliff, struggling as we had been a minute ago up the cliff and knowing that we have to get moving again soon.
“Are you okay?” I ask her.

Marina

I press the stop button on T4’s (team four- Indigo and Riley) timer as they cross the finish line they probably didn’t even see and watch as Aster records the time in his handheld log book for these competitions.
One of the screens of the holograph goes dull and I turn my attention back to the other four.
Max and Tam are almost at the top of the mountain with only about 10 metres to go (although I’m sure that they probably haven’t noticed that yet as the rain prevents them from seeing straight up.)
Arra and James aren’t far behind either with 15 to 20 metres to go.
Finally I turn my attention to the final screen- Amos and Liz.
They are around the halfway point but something seems to be going wrong.
I press a button near my right hand that lets me pick a screen and zoom in on it.
Carefully I watch they’re progress.
Soon enough Aster turns to stare at the screen too and soon it becomes abundantly clear that something is definitely very wrong down there.

Aster

Marina stopped Team 4's timer, and their holograph dimmed.

"Team Four," I muttered to myself, scribbling a note in my log. "Time Game...one hour, forty-seven minutes, thirteen seconds..." I had to think for a moment before I remembered their names. "Indigo and Riley," I added. Unnecessary, but useful if I didn't want to flip to the front of my log.

"Aster," Marina said, slapping me to get my attention. "Take a look at this."

I pivoted around in my chair and looked at one of the holographs. Amos and Liz were about halfway up the cliff, clearly struggling with something, but the camera was too far away to see them clearly.

I rolled my chair down to the far end of the console, where my headset was, and slipped it on. "Tanner, get me a close-up of Amos and Liz," I ordered. Tanner muttered something, but complied.

I looked at the holograph again. Amos and Liz were dangling from their harnesses, arms over their heads, rocks tumbling down the cliff above them. "Rockslide," I said urgently. "I need the hardness and composition of the rock, and the composition of the rain." Someone on the environmental team replied, saying they were working on it.

"Well, work faster!" I ordered. I spun around and stared at Marina. "Is that acid rain?" I asked. "Why didn't I know about that? Why wasn't it in the environmental report?" I didn't wait for her answer; instead, I swiveled toward the environmental control panel. "Rain at half strength," I muttered. "Basic...Marina, that's all I can do for now. Amos and Liz will have to get out of this one themselves."

Max Barkat


The rain comes down in sheets, harder and harder. Our progress - or maybe only mine, since Tam has basically disappeared from view - has slowed to a crawl. I slip at nearly every step, and each time I do I imagine everyone else slipping too. Maybe to their deaths. I really don't want anyone to get hurt...
"Tam!" I yell, starting to feel worried. When I get no reply I yell even louder. "TAM!"
"I'm right here," says a voice not five feet away. She's still close, still okay, and still moving. I force myself to focus on my own climbing. The top must be close... Just let the rain let up a bit, please. To my surprise, after a few minutes the rain eases up enough to not be blinding, though it is still pounding. I see the top of the cliff face just a few feet above me. Finally. Tam has fallen a few feet behind. Her face is pinched and greyish, creased with both determination and utter exhaustion.
"Just a few feet left!" I am so filled with exhiliration that I easily pull myself up. Oh, solid ground. I unclip myself, then turn back to help Tam up.
"You alright?" I pull her over the lip; the girl is shaking with exhaustion. It makes me angry, to be honest. Why did they let her in? She made it up the cliff, didn't she? Give her a chance.
"It's over, finally," she pants, closing her eyes. For a moment we just stand there in the rain. Thank you thank you thank you...
It is still a deluge out here, so Tam and I stumble towards a blurry shape in the distance. The image gradually takes shape as a large tree. Not good enough. We keep walking.
Some of the color has returned to Tam's face as she points out some more indistinguishable lumps. "Are those houses?"
"By golly, I think you're right." I squint my eyes; the things are either houses or more mountains. I really hope it's the former.
"What now?" Tam interrupts my squinting attempts.
"Um, I don't know," I say with a shrug. "Keep walking until we get out of this stupid rain."

Spoiler

Sorry this took forever, and also that it's not very good xD

Tam

"Just a few feet left!" He yells as we struggle up the mountain and I try to keep breathing. I turn my head upwards slightly to see Max crawling over the edge of the ledge and then concentrate on getting myself up there. I almost slip a few times but soon I have reached the top of the cliff.
Now how to get up?
As I try and crawl over the edge of the cliff almost slipping every two seconds I see Max unclip his harness and turn to help me.
Soon I’m standing on the edge of the ledge too.
“You alright,” he asks looking as tired and miserable as I feel.
I nod slightly and then finally it dawns on me that we are done.
A short laugh escapes my lips and I see Max turn to me.
“It’s over,” I gasp, finally.”
My eyes drop close and for a moment we just stand there, in the rain, just being happy that it’s over.
It’s still raining though, and it’s cold.
We stumble towards shapes in the distance barely noticing as they take forms.
We walk past a tree and bunches of rocks seeming placed around this open space at random.
As we walk the feeling of not being able to breathe properly starts to leave.
I point to something in the distance when I see them.
"Are those houses?" I turn to ask him.
"By golly, I think you're right." He says and squints to see them.
"What now?" I ask and he looks at me hopelessly.
"Um, I don't know," He shrugs. "Keep walking until we get out of this stupid rain."
I just want to find something to get out of the rain.
Then I spot a cave in the distance.
It’s closer than the odd shadows in the distance were and is more reliable as well.
Quickly, before we walk too far past it I stop.
“Look over there,” I say and point it out to Max.
He stops just ahead of me to peer at the cave.

Marina

I keep watching the holograph of Amos and Liz waiting for something to change- waiting for them to get through the acid rain.
They don’t and after just a few seconds of watching them or rather watching Liz in particular it becomes immediately clear that something is wrong. “Zoom in really close,” I mutter through voice control and a few seconds later I see what the problem is and pick up another remote.
“Participant number four- injured...” I start to say but then a machine to my right beeps and I turn to see what it is leaving the ‘voice control system’ up to Aster- hoping that he will see what the problem is.
“Porter ship 211 coming into landing space,” comes an electronic voice through the transmitter, “permission to land at docking station?”
I think about this for a second taking into note of the late entry that is onboard.
Then an idea comes to mind and I order the ship to instead go to the area on the mountain where Liz and Amos are still hanging.
They can pick up the injured contestant while they are there as I doubt she will be able to continue with an injury like that.
The other girl can take her spot and then hopefully them to Amos and... I stop for a moment to glance down vat the final application form – Katarina or Kat- can hurry up that mountain as quickly as possible.
I say as much to Aster, watch him think about it and then nod.
I hand over the transmitter so that he can tell the coordinates to the driver.
Then I turn back to the holographs and continue to watch people progress trying not to think of what will happen to Liz now.

Kat

The ship was beginnig to pull into the port when suddlenly it changes direction and starts heading for the mountain instead.
"Off you get," someone informs me and a few seconds later someone practically shoves me of the ship.
Another girl is dragged on and before the ship pulls away again I see blood which makes me wonder what kind of competition this really is.
Another boy is stading near the mountain near where the other girl was looking confused and kind of exhausted.
"Hi," I say- trying to break the silence that started once the ship pulled away again, " My names Kat."
"Amos," he says and explains what we are supposed to be doing.
I look up at the mountain seeing the other teams way ahead of us.
"Lets get going," I say to him, " Maybe we can catch up."
We begin to climb.

Indie

Everything is silent for a moment as we sit in the cave watching the rain pour down outside, but then suddenly the vague shadows of other people can be seen not that far away.
They start walking towards us.
A minute later two other people- other contestants- I remember from the docking centre pile into the cave looking so soaked and tired I realise how much better it is in this cave than outside.
They look a little surprised when they see that there are already people in here.
Outside the rain begins to calm down- but only slightly.
I wonder how far behind the other teams are, and how long before we can leave this cave.
Instead of thinking about that I turn to the others.

Max Barkat


"Allrighty then," I say, and follow Tam to the cave. Inside, it's surprisinly warm and unsurprisinly much drier.

"Much better," Tam murmurs, wringing her hair out. I push my own hair out of my eyes. My hair uncurls and quadruples in length when it's wet, so I usually end up with it flopping everywhere like a girl's.

"We did it!" I grin down at her. She replies with a watery half-smile, then an exhausted sigh.

I look around and nearly jump out of my skin when I see two people staring at me. When my heart resumes beating, I realize that it's just the other team with the short kid and the redhead. I try to remember their names: Rowley and Indie, I think.

"Uh, hi," I venture to say after a minute. "Fun day, eh?"

Rowley grunts. "Best day I've ever had. Really."

"How far behind is everyone else?" Indie asks.

"One team was just a little bit behind," Tam replies. "And the other had some trouble."

My stomach lurches as I realize that that must be the team with the young girl. Please let her be okay!

"Well, I'm Riley," says the guy -I was just a bit off. "And this is Indie."

"Max and Tam." I nod. "A pleasure." They both nod back.

"So, how long have you two been in here?" I ask after we sit in silence for an awkward moment.

Indie shrugs. "Awhile."

"Have you seen the houses?" Tam asks suddenly, tilting her head.