[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/Ajuvzjh.png[/img]
[color=FF8C00]
RANK 3
1/30 EXP

[b]Sandswept Sky - Split Mountain, Redstone City[/b][/color]

[@Thatguyinastore][/center]

The team edged forward up the craggy mountain slopes as if they were in a sandstorm, only one where the particles of sand were as big as cars and flying at them just as fast. Not the best metaphor, but an apt one!

While some of the less agile climbers tried to hunker down against the oncoming racers or find a way to brute through, Raz was pretty used to having big things flying at him. He sidestepped a biking father who had his child irresponsibly strapped to the back of his bicycle, ducked under a small round creature riding a giant floating star, and even managed to clear a couple of smaller Gorons with well timed jumps. He was making decent progress on his own, until another attempt at Goron-hurdling took a turn. Raz landed [i]on[/i] one of the rolling creatures, running atop it just long enough to lose all the ground he covered and then some, before stumbling over the Goron's rocky skin and tumbling to the ground. A pretty ungraceful landing after the stunt he just pulled, one that left him with a bruised knee, a bruised ego, and a mouthful of pebbles and dust.

"Pleh, caff!" Raz coughed and spluttered, only just rolling out of the way of a screeching ATV from ramping off his head. "Okay, going against the tide, not the best move," he admitted as he picked himself up. At least others found a better way forward to make up for his blunder. Maybe nobody noticed?

Raz was square in the middle of the lane, the walls to either side still pretty far apart, and he knew all about running across the road, which probably also applied to running across an active race. His stumble on top of that Goron did shake something loose, though. Not, like, physically, but mentally.

"Oh yeah, I've missed this one!" Raz hopped in place, and under his feet a bright orange orb with a green ring popped into existence. Already on a slope, the Levitation ball started to roll downwards, but Raz was (pretty much) an expert on this thing. With big backpedaling steps, he skewed the ball sideways, turning his downward descent into a curved arc towards the wall, almost like he was surfing. He flung past several of his fellows on the way, but he made extra sure to aim himself towards one of their newest additions; Ellie. Compared to the others who all had their own ways of dealing with the onslaught, she seemed to be ill equipped for it, and Raz was nothing if not helpful.

"Incoming!" He shouted right before he passed Ellie by. Once he was close enough, Raz also tapped into another power he was sorely missing, and a big hand the same color as his ball formed, plucking Ellie up by the underarms, and pulled her along with him. It was probably a sudden shift for her, buuuut hopefully she'd be more grateful for the safety than any possible whiplash she got.

Once they got to the wall, Raz poofed his Levitation away and set Ellie down, now that they were away from [i]most[/i] of the riders. "You know how to climb?" Raz asked, though continued with, "just follow my lead," regardless of her answer.

At the race's starting line, once everyone was back together, Raz accepted any water offered, hoping to wash out the taste of rock, sand, and machine oil from his mouth. Don't ask how that last one got there. "Hey, thanks," Raz said to Tora, giving the Pon a friendly pat on the, uh, shoulder-ish area. "Next time we run into speeding bikers, I'll be sure to stick with you." He meant it, too, and it wasn't a completely unlikely prospect in this world, so who knew?

The next part of the trek was, thankfully, less exciting. As the hot stone canyons bled away into dense woods, Raz started to shuffle his warmer clothing on, trading one jacket for another and slipping on one shoe after the other while continuing forward. Quick-changing could come out pretty useful outside of performing.

When the group slowed down to another involuntary stop, Raz hurried to the front. "I hope this bear isn't telekinetic," Raz worried, putting out an idea that nobody else would've thought, and probably won't stop thinking about now. It was much, much bigger than anything he'd seen before, and luckily, it was asleep, even if that was impeding theme. "Too bad it's still... uh, ya know." Raz left the vague point in the air, gesturing at the bear, not wanting to spring the crew's secret mission when there were some newbies around. "Otherwise I could probably wake it up mentally. Maybe we can just... pet it? Awake?" Raz manifested his TK again, idly pushing it closer and closer to the bear's head, as if testing the waters of the idea.[hr]
[center][color=FF8C00]WORD COUNT: 817
EXP GAIN: +2[/color][/center]