The Fearsome Encounter (GBS3G8) [Round 3: Ark of Hope]

Originally posted on MSPA by Dragon Fogel.

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The bird had caught Viscount by surprise.

Yes, technically he had known they were around, but he hadn't expected one to be right there, at that time, flying directly towards him. He'd known Parliament would pose a problem if he hoped to make the others forget he was a contestant; there were simply too many birds to consume the memories of each individual in a reasonable amount of time.

The immediate problem, however, was that as he drew near the blue jay, Reynard snatched the two coins the Viscount held: Cthaasa's, and his own.

Viscount considered fighting back to reclaim his prize, but as he drew towards the jay, a number of other birds emerged from the nearby mannequin.

As the flock drew near, Reynard demonstrated precisely how much smirking could be accomplished with a beak. Viscount opted to flee; he was unprepared for such a fight, least of all with two other competitors chasing him already.

Cthaasa's attempted pursuit soon ran into a problem. The smoke-creature had escaped, and there was now a flock of birds (and a mannequin) between him and his quarry.

Then he noticed two shiny coins in the talons of a blue jay, and none on the form of the unknown creature.

He ordered Augustus to charge towards the jay. As the Divine Arbiter did so, not fully understanding why, a rooster crowed out a warning.

Reynard turned quickly, and saw Augustus approaching. He reasoned that the coins were the man's objective, and he was never one to give up a bargaining chip. He flew back towards Parliament, still holding the coins.

Cthaasa was undeterred. He simply changed Augustus' orders, and told his thrall to charge through the birds towards the jay, and destroy any of them that interfered. Augustus complied, and rushed forward.

This raised a number of strong objections from Parliament's members.