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Warning for non-con, peril, and bad ends of various forms.", "count": "23", "submission_left_submission_id": "3551044", "submission_left_file_name": "5439435_Flowerfall_title_card_01.png", "submission_left_thumbnail_url_huge_noncustom": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/files/preview/5439/5439435_Flowerfall_title_card_01.jpg", "submission_left_thumbnail_url_large_noncustom": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/large/5439/5439435_Flowerfall_title_card_01_noncustom.jpg", "submission_left_thumbnail_url_medium_noncustom": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/medium/5439/5439435_Flowerfall_title_card_01_noncustom.jpg", "submission_left_thumb_medium_noncustom_x": "120", "submission_left_thumb_medium_noncustom_y": "120", "submission_left_thumb_large_noncustom_x": "200", "submission_left_thumb_large_noncustom_y": "200", "submission_left_thumb_huge_noncustom_x": "300", "submission_left_thumb_huge_noncustom_y": "300", "submission_right_submission_id": "3557071", "submission_right_file_name": "5450511_Flowerfall_title_card_01.png", "submission_right_thumbnail_url_huge_noncustom": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/files/preview/5450/5450511_Flowerfall_title_card_01.jpg", "submission_right_thumbnail_url_large_noncustom": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/large/5450/5450511_Flowerfall_title_card_01_noncustom.jpg", "submission_right_thumbnail_url_medium_noncustom": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/medium/5450/5450511_Flowerfall_title_card_01_noncustom.jpg", "submission_right_thumb_medium_noncustom_x": "120", "submission_right_thumb_medium_noncustom_y": "120", "submission_right_thumb_large_noncustom_x": "200", "submission_right_thumb_large_noncustom_y": "200", "submission_right_thumb_huge_noncustom_x": "300", "submission_right_thumb_huge_noncustom_y": "300" } ], "description": "The little of the week that remained before the cubs' next appointment with the challenge mechanics had, likely, [i]not[/i] been all that fun. Some, particularly those with a nose for such things, might have been able to find a little enjoyment in the opportunity to explore. But for most, the nights spent huddled outside the barrier were cold, the eventually discovered cave/s not much better, and while it actually was not [i]too[/i] difficult to find the scattered edible plants *Minerva had mentioned, it was a less than satisfying pay-off for the effort. Even if the substantial little roots and cauliflower-like 'blossoms' did seem to stave off genuine, agonizing hunger better than they looked like they ought.\n\nJust lucky that none of the predators in the party were species [i]completely[/i] incapable of getting sustenance from plants, even if only in the short term.\n\nAt least water was not difficult to find. Brooks and streams flowed clean over the rocky terrain and made their presence obvious with loud and incongruously cheerful babbling, as if whoever had implemented this totally-not-a-punishment realized that simulated dehydration wasn't going to be fun for [i]anyone[/i].\n\nBut at least Connie was fine! Albeit, probably, a bit lonely? Had she heard *Minerva explain about how their escape attempt had been 'interpreted'? That exchange had taken place right next to the barrier line after all.\n\n\nOne way or another, when the challenge rolled around, it might almost be a relief! In some ways.\n\nThis time there was no appearance from *Minerva, no customary opportunity to get their day properly started. Indeed, there wasn't any warning whatsoever, unless you counted the best night's sleep any of the exodite cubs had had the chance to enjoy since being locked out of their tents.\n\nBecause they had all been [i]moved[/i].\n\nIt must have happened during the night - or at least, that would be the scenario proposed by the journals that briefly manifested of their own accord, floating in front of everyone for a short while before disappearing again.\n\n[q][u][t]LABYRINTH OF TWILIGHT[/t][/u]\nThe party has been ambushed! Will they\nescape before the realization of their\ncaptors' diabolical intentions?[/q]\nNobody was able to see one-another, and this time, it was because they had apparently been [i]boxed[/i]. At least that meant they had all had a comparatively cozy night, stiff though many would now be on account of time spent partly resting against the wooden base of their container, and partly... suspended. Each of them would quickly realize they had been tied up.\n\n[i]Compromisingly[/i] tied up.\n\n[center][b][u] \t[/u][/b][/center]\n[color=#888a85][t][center]The Third Challenge[/center][/t][/color]\n\nTrapped in their respective crates, each of the cubs - although they had no way to tell being out of one another’s sight - was bound in more or less the same way. Were any of them familiar with it? Petal? Maybe Pity? Then again, who knew what some cubs got up to if ever they had unsupervised internet access, or even just saw a TV series or comic book whose artist took inspiration from more... questionable sources.\n\nThe method was [i]comprehensive[/i]. Ropes crisscrossed their bodies, artfully forming an outline almost like a leotard. The bindings looped from behind the neck and down the front of the chest - which, in combination with a pair of loops above and below, meant that (for perkier party members at the very [i]least[/i]) breasts (however small) were snugged and squeezed emphatically. At least one more crisscross framed tummies, before the whole arrangement dived down between legs.\n\nFor those possessed of male genitalia, the two lines further framed their privates, snugging behind and pressing things forward to either form obvious bumps against clothing, or simply forcing things to stand proud for any were unfortunate enough to have gone to bed so-exposed.\n\nFor the girls? The opposite: the two lines running together to snug [i]firmly[/i] against sensitive nether regions, bunching clothing up against where it had been still-worn but otherwise exposing unprotected intimates to the un-gentle caress of bare fibers.\n\nAfter that, the ropes tugged back up behind, framing bottoms just as with chests before the whole arrangement formed knots between shoulder blades and against the small of the back, the two tied together in turn.\n\nLegs were no more fortunate: bound snugly above and below the knee, and at the ankles, each loop of rope pulled snug by a loop of its own about the middle. That might further snug bindings against crotches, but at least it meant their legs were bound together rather than apart!\n\nNot that that was the end of the arrangement.\n\nEach cub was also trapped on their front, rope looped over a wooden bar across the open top of their box above, running from the knots against their back to the ropes around their ankles. With too little slack in the hanging rope to allow laying flat, the result was a still-further compromising bow shape that ran from footpaws to upper back, with tummy resting against the wood. This, in turn, made certain that any invisible viewpoints could get a good, rope-snugged view of bound chests and even genitalia lifted several inches into the air.\n\nHandpaws, however? They were exempt from the rope! It was out of sight, but the cold, unyielding material binding wrists into smalls of backs had the feel of cuffs of some kind. And for the final touch: a gag. That was an arrangement with which the majority of the cubs had to be familiar, too, what with kidnapping scenarios in stories and the like.\n\nA strip of cloth, bound behind the head and snug against the mouth, just shy of tight enough to hurt but with no hope of working free unassisted, and with the sensation of yet more cloth bundled into the mouth to prevent any shouting around the bind.\n\nIf it weren’t for that journal flashing up unbidden, some of the cubs might think they really weren’t supposed to escape! Especially given the sounds of things moving about none too far away; things quite a bit bigger than other cubs.\n\nBut there [i]were[/i] clues beyond the Journal flash that this had been engineered more as a challenge to be solved than a genuine, inescapable capture! After all, however out of reach it may look... who in their right mind would leave a big, obvious, iron key laying before their respective noses?\n\n\nOnly a few of the cubs did not realize immediately: Sebastian, Ash, and Petal were far too busy trying to process the discomfort of their bonds and the sense of individuals nearby to guess that there was a possibility of freeing themselves.\n\nOnce the cubs had understood the situation, the next step was almost certainly going to be... wriggle! After all, the only way to figure out their bindings from so limited a perspective would be by feel. And perhaps a little creative bending to get a look along one’s front.\n\nUnfortunately this was where the real cruelty of the challenge set in. Because wriggling and bending, in an arrangement such as the cubs were in? It would be [i]moments[/i] before the first of the cubs felt the bite of the ropes squeezing, pressing, and rubbing at things that really did [i]not[/i] care to be stimulated by fibrous coils. Only Skylar, Daniel, and Pity managed to either tolerate the discomfort or immediately find the weakness in their bondage: a sharp, frightening [i]snap[/i] from above and a very short fall against the bottom of their crates.\n\nThere would be no telling from within their boxes, but the variously spaced [i]snap[/i]s that followed belonged to Ash, then Josephine, Connie, Petal, and Jake. A moment later, Sebastian had broken [i]his[/i] suspension... and then twice as long again before the near simultaneous sounds of snapping wood from above Poly and Trixie, both of whom were almost certainly rather sore thanks to just how [i]long[/i] they had had to spend writhing against their showy bonds.\n\nIn the meantime, and after the requisite pause to make certain nobody unintended had heard the sound of breaking wood, some of the cubs began to make progress with their actual bonds! Freed of the partial suspension, Connie, Sebastian, Ash, Daniel, Petal, Jacob, [i]and[/i] Josephine quickly figured out the possibility of further productive wriggling. That key was [i]close[/i], and had to be for their hands! All they had to do was find a way to get themselves turned and rolled so that the paws behind their backs could get ahold of it!\n\nIt only took Skylar and Poly a little longer, and Trixie too, but by that point some time had passed as the three of them fought to free themselves, and then needed those precious moments to recover from the effects of bucking against such strategically positioned ropes.\n\nThe only cub that really had difficulty solving the puzzle of the key-in-front-of-her-nose (well, okay, and how to line herself up with it)... was Pity. Really it was the efforts to position herself; over and over Pity would try one position or another, only for the ropes to squash or grind some part of the poor coyote’s lewdly gifted little body and force yet another brief pause! Focused members of the audience were already debating if her determination was worthy of praise, or if the by-now-unkindly-titled miss Graves was simply having fun in her own, ‘typical’ way.\n\n... And then came the hard part.\n\nConnie was the first to pull it off! The awkward game of balance and determined, blind aiming that finally allowed her to slide that big metal key home and... [i]click[/i]. Freedom! Or as-good-as. Once her hands were free the ropes were actually easy to escape. Many of the loops could just be wriggled down, and so many more of the knots were easy to undo when you could actually get your fingers on them. So up she’d stand, and be the first to see that the whole group of them were inside some sort of .. warehouse? A large shed?\n\nAt least it was fairly bright. Wooden walls with windows high up near the ceiling gave a comfortable light to see by, including the big doors at one end of the structure, outside which could occasionally be glimpsed the footpaws of creatures that... well it was a fair guess they were fairly tall, and probably canid.\n\nBlessedly, Connie did [i]not[/i] suffer a moment of thinking they all had the opportunity to make some new friends. Maybe it was just how [i]into[/i] '*Minerva’s game' she was, but the chee’ girl instead went straight to help the cub in the nearest box to her own: Petal!\n\nIt was also entirely possible Connie hadn’t thought to un-gag herself, either. What was one [i]more[/i] thing stuffed in her mouth without her consent, after all?\n\nStill, Petal had very nearly freed herself! Maybe there was plenty of experience to go by? The positioning had taken only a little effort, and getting that key into position had taken even less! So quick in fact, that Connie barely had time to help Petal with [i]her[/i] gag! And possibly be helped in turn, although after the earlier incidents, Petal might either be grudging about that or simply leave the daft cheetah to run about with a facefull of cloth.\n\nMore nearest-first cubs gone for. Connie rushed off to assist Poly, who had finally overcome the discomfort of her variously squeezing and grinding bonds to get at her key, but was having the devil’s own job working it into the lock on her cuffs. Petal’s selection meanwhile was Skylar! Poor maned wolf was still busy doing battle with her own grinding bonds in vain effort to get anywhere near her own key.\n\nBy now, however, everyone had to be aware of the creatures outside, and the perceptive among them might even have figured out just what was there as well: glimpses of footpaws, faint sounds, scents – the familiarity to the cackle that had carried off their first lost party member was inescapable. Even as they were helped to free themselves, Poly and Skylar were much too scared of another encounter to leap into action assisting the others to freedom.\n\nStill, now Ash had freed herself as well! Unassisted by Connie [i]or[/i] Petal, at that! The first victim of Ash’s assistance was Pity, who by now had to be in a terrible state. Stark naked, unable to help but keep failing at getting to the key as ropes found new and interesting ways to squeeze and grind things... they might not have been visible, but there had to be [i]far[/i] more viewpoints than just Ash’s, appreciating the view of the shibari’ed and increasingly distressed coyote tween in her little wooden cage.\n\nIt was probably understandable when Pity did not elect to nakedly join in the fun of rushing around helping other cubs.\n\nAnd Jacob? He and Josephine were long-since free, having actually breezed through the challenge! Unfortunately both had also caught wind of just who might be responsible for their predicament, and while Josephine had merely decided to take a cautious tack and remain in her box, Jacob had realized, panicked, frozen...\n\nAnd wet himself.\n\nPetal, Connie, and Ash however? They were industrious! In short order, they had freed the remainder of their friends that needed freeing. Connie had just finished rescuing Daniel, who despite earlier success had gotten stuck fighting to work that key into his cuffs. Sebastian was in the same predicament, but eventually Petal had finished saving Skylar from the terror of being tied up to show off those immature little breasts and the bump of her hidden not-boyhood. Petal was finally there to help the ‘roo boy release his cuffs, and he was actually more than ready to spring to the assistance of his fellow adventurers!\n\nUnfortunately, by that point nobody still needed saving, but at least it was an easy job to convince those cubs too worried about gnoll encounters that it was, at least, safer to clamber out of their boxes than to risk being there when their captors returned. Well, except for poor Jake. [i]He[/i] needed assistance, so it could at least fall to Sebastian to pluck the poor, petrified hare out of his box and carry hm to safety.\n\nSafety in the form of another door, much smaller than the one with the ominous glimpses of hyena paws. It would only be a short effort to creep across the way, unhitch the little rope latch that had the door held shut from the inside, [i]carefully[/i] work it open, and slip through with their captors none the wiser.\n\n[center][b][u] \t[/u][/b][/center]\n\nAnd [i]free[/i]! Everyone fair bundling out onto an empty, stony street and-\n\n[i]Blip.[/i]\n\nBecause while, apparently, they had already been moved to their new location, the party still all needed to be in one place for the summary of their challenge!\n\nThey had had a glimpse of a fairly generic fantasy town... or, judging by the roads and size of some of the buildings, possibly city? Maybe familiar players would even be able to guess at the settlement’s name! But now there was no mistaking where the eleven of them had been brought: a tavern.\n\nLike everywhere else so far, it remained completely empty, with doors shut and windows closed. All of the furniture was a little too big as well, but then that was to be expected. Whoever heard of a tavern with furniture made with cubs in mind?\n\nStill, it was pleasant as the common tavern went! Lots of bare wood furniture, bare wood floors, and wooden shutters across the windows, but a pleasant fragrance from various dried herbs and flowers hanging here and there from the rafters. And where sunlight shone through the cracks in the shutters, pleasant little rays of light with faintly dancing motes of dust catching therein.\n\nBut there, amidst it all, smiling with... just a little awkwardness, was *Minerva.\n\n“Everyone, well done. That must have been quite thrilling.”\n\nShe would quite clearly have sooner gone for ‘I am so sorry that must have scared you all witless’, but that wouldn’t have been in the spirit of the event now, would it?\n\n“Connie, you were the first to get free, and so you have once again won the challenge and I can award you one more Life Point.”\n\nCupped paws, the soft, warm sensation, the single white numeral rising up in front of the chee’ girl once again.\n\n“The order of escape thereafter, with the help of your friends, was: Jacob and Josephine, Ash, Petal, Poly, Pity, Daniel, Trixie, Skylar... and finally Sebastian.”\n\nWhich earned Sebastian a soft, sad expression as he earned the [i]black[/i] numeral for a moment, as a Life Point was taken away.\n\n“You all did so well,” clearly *Minerva was not about to highlight Jake’s small, critical failure of will at the end there. “I will be back to inform you all of your final Life Points for this round in a little while. This inn has everything you need, including some good beds upstairs. Its doors will not open right away, but once we have spoken again, I am sure the cackle will have realized their prey has escaped and moved on. I suggest you take the time to recuperate.\n\n\"Here are your symbols to choose from, when I return.\"\n\n*Minerva gave a little bow, just as ever, and then she was gone. In her place, apparently burned into the wooden floorboard, were two more symbols. This time? One was that same symbol from before, the square with the inset top and the V shape within. The other, looked for all the world like an empty picture frame, with a line across its top right corner.\n\n[center]#H3555491 #H3549607[/center]\n\n\n[b][/b]\n[center][b][u] [/u][/b][/center]\n\n[b](Summary/Key points:[/b]\n- Everyone but Connie got stuck outside the camp and had to sleep outside and scavenge\n for consumables. I want you all to remember that this was [icon]MystBunny[/icon] Daniel's bright idea.\n- You all got shibari'ed! That's right, the squiggly line was a rope.\n- Connie won. Again. Sebastian was in last place.\n- *Minerva has left the cubs at an actual [i]inn[/i]! It's got food and drink and proper beds -\n enough for all the cubs and one more, across three rooms. They can't get out for now,\n though, and there's not a soul around bar themselves.\n- The cubs have also been left with two symbols again: the one they did not select previously\n and another that looks like an empty picture frame with an angled sheet in one corner.\n- Votes for saving other cubs are closed as of this prompt going up! I was still one short!\n [b]Please[/b], everyone remember to [b]vote as early as possible[/b], even if only provisionally. I\n don't like having to assign votes at random. Remember you can PM me a change of vote up until\n I drop the subsequent prompt, so there is no danger with an early one.\n\n[u][t]Remaining Cubs[/t][/u]\n[icon]Polymorph[/icon] [url=https://inkbunny.net/s/3533964#commentid_8956124](Poly)[/url] [icon]blessedwasthechild[/icon] [url=https://inkbunny.net/s/3533964#commentid_8956767](Trixie)[/url] [icon]Smolfoks[/icon] [url=https://inkbunny.net/s/3533964#commentid_8957427](Skylar)[/url] [icon]PaydayWolf[/icon] [url=https://inkbunny.net/s/3533964#commentid_8958052](Connie)[/url]\n[icon]MystBunny[/icon] [url=https://inkbunny.net/s/3533964#commentid_8959771](Daniel)[/url] [icon]SebastianTheRoo[/icon] [url=https://inkbunny.net/s/3533964#commentid_8960253](Sebastian)[/url] [icon]Mysterythree[/icon] [url=https://inkbunny.net/s/3533964#commentid_8960555](Ash)[/url] [icon]PetalLaFleur[/icon] [url=https://inkbunny.net/s/3533964#commentid_8965166](Petal)[/url] [icon]PityPlowed[/icon] [url=https://inkbunny.net/s/3533964#commentid_8965346](Pity)[/url] \n[icon]Mizzyam[/icon] [url=https://inkbunny.net/s/3533964#commentid_8965608](Jake)[/url] [icon]FlutterBun[/icon] [url=https://inkbunny.net/s/3533964#commentid_8965902](Fifi)[/url]\n\n- Cub reactions [url=https://inkbunny.net/s/3555431#commentid_8997486]Here[/url]\n- Predator reactions [url=https://inkbunny.net/s/3555431#commentid_8997489]Here[/url]\n- Audience reactions [url=https://inkbunny.net/s/3555431#commentid_8997491]Here[/url]\n[center][b][u] [/u][/b]\n\n[url=https://inkbunny.net/s/3551044]<--- to the previous prompt[/url] | [url=https://inkbunny.net/s/3533932]to Labyrinth of Twilight Details/Index[/url] | [url=https://inkbunny.net/s/3557071] to the next prompt --->[/url][/center]", "description_bbcode_parsed": "The little of the week that remained before the cubs' next appointment with the challenge mechanics had, likely, not been all that fun. Some, particularly those with a nose for such things, might have been able to find a little enjoyment in the opportunity to explore. But for most, the nights spent huddled outside the barrier were cold, the eventually discovered cave/s not much better, and while it actually was not too difficult to find the scattered edible plants *Minerva had mentioned, it was a less than satisfying pay-off for the effort. Even if the substantial little roots and cauliflower-like 'blossoms' did seem to stave off genuine, agonizing hunger better than they looked like they ought.

Just lucky that none of the predators in the party were species completely incapable of getting sustenance from plants, even if only in the short term.

At least water was not difficult to find. Brooks and streams flowed clean over the rocky terrain and made their presence obvious with loud and incongruously cheerful babbling, as if whoever had implemented this totally-not-a-punishment realized that simulated dehydration wasn't going to be fun for anyone.

But at least Connie was fine! Albeit, probably, a bit lonely? Had she heard *Minerva explain about how their escape attempt had been 'interpreted'? That exchange had taken place right next to the barrier line after all.


One way or another, when the challenge rolled around, it might almost be a relief! In some ways.

This time there was no appearance from *Minerva, no customary opportunity to get their day properly started. Indeed, there wasn't any warning whatsoever, unless you counted the best night's sleep any of the exodite cubs had had the chance to enjoy since being locked out of their tents.

Because they had all been moved.

It must have happened during the night - or at least, that would be the scenario proposed by the journals that briefly manifested of their own accord, floating in front of everyone for a short while before disappearing again.

\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLABYRINTH OF TWILIGHT
The party has been ambushed! Will they
escape before the realization of their
captors' diabolical intentions?\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
Nobody was able to see one-another, and this time, it was because they had apparently been boxed. At least that meant they had all had a comparatively cozy night, stiff though many would now be on account of time spent partly resting against the wooden base of their container, and partly... suspended. Each of them would quickly realize they had been tied up.

Compromisingly tied up.

                                                                                                                                                \t

The Third Challenge


Trapped in their respective crates, each of the cubs - although they had no way to tell being out of one another’s sight - was bound in more or less the same way. Were any of them familiar with it? Petal? Maybe Pity? Then again, who knew what some cubs got up to if ever they had unsupervised internet access, or even just saw a TV series or comic book whose artist took inspiration from more... questionable sources.

The method was comprehensive. Ropes crisscrossed their bodies, artfully forming an outline almost like a leotard. The bindings looped from behind the neck and down the front of the chest - which, in combination with a pair of loops above and below, meant that (for perkier party members at the very least) breasts (however small) were snugged and squeezed emphatically. At least one more crisscross framed tummies, before the whole arrangement dived down between legs.

For those possessed of male genitalia, the two lines further framed their privates, snugging behind and pressing things forward to either form obvious bumps against clothing, or simply forcing things to stand proud for any were unfortunate enough to have gone to bed so-exposed.

For the girls? The opposite: the two lines running together to snug firmly against sensitive nether regions, bunching clothing up against where it had been still-worn but otherwise exposing unprotected intimates to the un-gentle caress of bare fibers.

After that, the ropes tugged back up behind, framing bottoms just as with chests before the whole arrangement formed knots between shoulder blades and against the small of the back, the two tied together in turn.

Legs were no more fortunate: bound snugly above and below the knee, and at the ankles, each loop of rope pulled snug by a loop of its own about the middle. That might further snug bindings against crotches, but at least it meant their legs were bound together rather than apart!

Not that that was the end of the arrangement.

Each cub was also trapped on their front, rope looped over a wooden bar across the open top of their box above, running from the knots against their back to the ropes around their ankles. With too little slack in the hanging rope to allow laying flat, the result was a still-further compromising bow shape that ran from footpaws to upper back, with tummy resting against the wood. This, in turn, made certain that any invisible viewpoints could get a good, rope-snugged view of bound chests and even genitalia lifted several inches into the air.

Handpaws, however? They were exempt from the rope! It was out of sight, but the cold, unyielding material binding wrists into smalls of backs had the feel of cuffs of some kind. And for the final touch: a gag. That was an arrangement with which the majority of the cubs had to be familiar, too, what with kidnapping scenarios in stories and the like.

A strip of cloth, bound behind the head and snug against the mouth, just shy of tight enough to hurt but with no hope of working free unassisted, and with the sensation of yet more cloth bundled into the mouth to prevent any shouting around the bind.

If it weren’t for that journal flashing up unbidden, some of the cubs might think they really weren’t supposed to escape! Especially given the sounds of things moving about none too far away; things quite a bit bigger than other cubs.

But there were clues beyond the Journal flash that this had been engineered more as a challenge to be solved than a genuine, inescapable capture! After all, however out of reach it may look... who in their right mind would leave a big, obvious, iron key laying before their respective noses?


Only a few of the cubs did not realize immediately: Sebastian, Ash, and Petal were far too busy trying to process the discomfort of their bonds and the sense of individuals nearby to guess that there was a possibility of freeing themselves.

Once the cubs had understood the situation, the next step was almost certainly going to be... wriggle! After all, the only way to figure out their bindings from so limited a perspective would be by feel. And perhaps a little creative bending to get a look along one’s front.

Unfortunately this was where the real cruelty of the challenge set in. Because wriggling and bending, in an arrangement such as the cubs were in? It would be moments before the first of the cubs felt the bite of the ropes squeezing, pressing, and rubbing at things that really did not care to be stimulated by fibrous coils. Only Skylar, Daniel, and Pity managed to either tolerate the discomfort or immediately find the weakness in their bondage: a sharp, frightening snap from above and a very short fall against the bottom of their crates.

There would be no telling from within their boxes, but the variously spaced snaps that followed belonged to Ash, then Josephine, Connie, Petal, and Jake.  A moment later, Sebastian had broken his suspension... and then twice as long again before the near simultaneous sounds of snapping wood from above Poly and Trixie, both of whom were almost certainly rather sore thanks to just how long they had had to spend writhing against their showy bonds.

In the meantime, and after the requisite pause to make certain nobody unintended had heard the sound of breaking wood, some of the cubs began to make progress with their actual bonds! Freed of the partial suspension, Connie, Sebastian, Ash, Daniel, Petal, Jacob, and Josephine quickly figured out the possibility of further productive wriggling. That key was close, and had to be for their hands! All they had to do was find a way to get themselves turned and rolled so that the paws behind their backs could get ahold of it!

It only took Skylar and Poly a little longer, and Trixie too, but by that point some time had passed as the three of them fought to free themselves, and then needed those precious moments to recover from the effects of bucking against such strategically positioned ropes.

The only cub that really had difficulty solving the puzzle of the key-in-front-of-her-nose (well, okay, and how to line herself up with it)... was Pity. Really it was the efforts to position herself; over and over Pity would try one position or another, only for the ropes to squash or grind some part of the poor coyote’s lewdly gifted little body and force yet another brief pause! Focused members of the audience were already debating if her determination was worthy of praise, or if the by-now-unkindly-titled miss Graves was simply having fun in her own, ‘typical’ way.

... And then came the hard part.

Connie was the first to pull it off!  The awkward game of balance and determined, blind aiming that finally allowed her to slide that big metal key home and... click. Freedom! Or as-good-as. Once her hands were free the ropes were actually easy to escape. Many of the loops could just be wriggled down, and so many more of the knots were easy to undo when you could actually get your fingers on them. So up she’d stand, and be the first to see that the whole group of them were inside some sort of .. warehouse? A large shed?

At least it was fairly bright.  Wooden walls with windows high up near the ceiling gave a comfortable light to see by, including the big doors at one end of the structure, outside which could occasionally be glimpsed the footpaws of creatures that... well it was a fair guess they were fairly tall, and probably canid.

Blessedly, Connie did not suffer a moment of thinking they all had the opportunity to make some new friends. Maybe it was just how into '*Minerva’s game' she was, but the chee’ girl instead went straight to help the cub in the nearest box to her own: Petal!

It was also entirely possible Connie hadn’t thought to un-gag herself, either. What was one more thing stuffed in her mouth without her consent, after all?

Still, Petal had very nearly freed herself! Maybe there was plenty of experience to go by? The positioning had taken only a little effort, and getting that key into position had taken even less!  So quick in fact, that Connie barely had time to help Petal with her gag! And possibly be helped in turn, although after the earlier incidents, Petal might either be grudging about that or simply leave the daft cheetah to run about with a facefull of cloth.

More nearest-first cubs gone for. Connie rushed off to assist Poly, who had finally overcome the discomfort of her variously squeezing and grinding bonds to get at her key, but was having the devil’s own job working it into the lock on her cuffs. Petal’s selection meanwhile was Skylar! Poor maned wolf was still busy doing battle with her own grinding bonds in vain effort to get anywhere near her own key.

By now, however, everyone had to be aware of the creatures outside, and the perceptive among them might even have figured out just what was there as well: glimpses of footpaws, faint sounds, scents – the familiarity to the cackle that had carried off their first lost party member was inescapable.  Even as they were helped to free themselves, Poly and Skylar were much too scared of another encounter to leap into action assisting the others to freedom.

Still, now Ash had freed herself as well! Unassisted by Connie or Petal, at that!  The first victim of Ash’s assistance was Pity, who by now had to be in a terrible state. Stark naked, unable to help but keep failing at getting to the key as ropes found new and interesting ways to squeeze and grind things... they might not have been visible, but there had to be far more viewpoints than just Ash’s, appreciating the view of the shibari’ed and increasingly distressed coyote tween in her little wooden cage.

It was probably understandable when Pity did not elect to nakedly join in the fun of rushing around helping other cubs.

And Jacob?  He and Josephine were long-since free, having actually breezed through the challenge! Unfortunately both had also caught wind of just who might be responsible for their predicament, and while Josephine had merely decided to take a cautious tack and remain in her box, Jacob had realized, panicked, frozen...

And wet himself.

Petal, Connie, and Ash however? They were industrious! In short order, they had freed the remainder of their friends that needed freeing. Connie had just finished rescuing Daniel, who despite earlier success had gotten stuck fighting to work that key into his cuffs. Sebastian was in the same predicament, but eventually Petal had finished saving Skylar from the terror of being tied up to show off those immature little breasts and the bump of her hidden not-boyhood. Petal was finally there to help the ‘roo boy release his cuffs, and he was actually more than ready to spring to the assistance of his fellow adventurers!

Unfortunately, by that point nobody still needed saving, but at least it was an easy job to convince those cubs too worried about gnoll encounters that it was, at least, safer to clamber out of their boxes than to risk being there when their captors returned. Well, except for poor Jake. He needed assistance, so it could at least fall to Sebastian to pluck the poor, petrified hare out of his box and carry hm to safety.

Safety in the form of another door, much smaller than the one with the ominous glimpses of hyena paws. It would only be a short effort to creep across the way, unhitch the little rope latch that had the door held shut from the inside, carefully work it open, and slip through with their captors none the wiser.

                                                                                                                                                \t


And free! Everyone fair bundling out onto an empty, stony street and-

Blip.

Because while, apparently, they had already been moved to their new location, the party still all needed to be in one place for the summary of their challenge!

They had had a glimpse of a fairly generic fantasy town... or, judging by the roads and size of some of the buildings, possibly city? Maybe familiar players would even be able to guess at the settlement’s name! But now there was no mistaking where the eleven of them had been brought: a tavern.

Like everywhere else so far, it remained completely empty, with doors shut and windows closed. All of the furniture was a little too big as well, but then that was to be expected. Whoever heard of a tavern with furniture made with cubs in mind?

Still, it was pleasant as the common tavern went! Lots of bare wood furniture, bare wood floors, and wooden shutters across the windows, but a pleasant fragrance from various dried herbs and flowers hanging here and there from the rafters. And where sunlight shone through the cracks in the shutters, pleasant little rays of light with faintly dancing motes of dust catching therein.

But there, amidst it all, smiling with... just a little awkwardness, was *Minerva.

“Everyone, well done. That must have been quite thrilling.”

She would quite clearly have sooner gone for ‘I am so sorry that must have scared you all witless’, but that wouldn’t have been in the spirit of the event now, would it?

“Connie, you were the first to get free, and so you have once again won the challenge and I can award you one more Life Point.”

Cupped paws, the soft, warm sensation, the single white numeral rising up in front of the chee’ girl once again.

“The order of escape thereafter, with the help of your friends, was: Jacob and Josephine, Ash, Petal, Poly, Pity, Daniel, Trixie, Skylar... and finally Sebastian.”

Which earned Sebastian a soft, sad expression as he earned the black numeral for a moment, as a Life Point was taken away.

“You all did so well,” clearly *Minerva was not about to highlight Jake’s small, critical failure of will at the end there. “I will be back to inform you all of your final Life Points for this round in a little while. This inn has everything you need, including some good beds upstairs. Its doors will not open right away, but once we have spoken again, I am sure the cackle will have realized their prey has escaped and moved on. I suggest you take the time to recuperate.

"Here are your symbols to choose from, when I return."

*Minerva gave a little bow, just as ever, and then she was gone. In her place, apparently burned into the wooden floorboard, were two more symbols. This time? One was that same symbol from before, the square with the inset top and the V shape within. The other, looked for all the world like an empty picture frame, with a line across its top right corner.

\r\n\t\t\t
\r\n\t\t\t\tIcon 03 by Flowerfall\r\n\t\t\t
\r\n\t\t\t
\r\n\t\t\t
\r\n\t\t\t\tIcon 02 by Flowerfall\r\n\t\t\t
\r\n\t\t\t



<Please roleplay responses by replying to the appropriate ‘Reactions’ comment below! Tag and/or PM me your character's decision with regard to the symbols. The next prompt will ideally be posted on Sunday, in 2 days' time.>
                                                                                                                                                    


(Summary/Key points:
- Everyone but Connie got stuck outside the camp and had to sleep outside and scavenge
  for consumables. I want you all to remember that this was \r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
MystBunny
\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t Daniel's bright idea.
- You all got shibari'ed! That's right, the squiggly line was a rope.
- Connie won. Again. Sebastian was in last place.
- *Minerva has left the cubs at an actual inn! It's got food and drink and proper beds -
   enough for all the cubs and one more, across three rooms. They can't get out for now,
   though, and there's not a soul around bar themselves.
- The cubs have also been left with two symbols again: the one they did not select previously
   and another that looks like an empty picture frame with an angled sheet in one corner.
- Votes for saving other cubs are closed as of this prompt going up! I was still one short!
   Please, everyone remember to vote as early as possible, even if only provisionally. I
   don't like having to assign votes at random. Remember you can PM me a change of vote up until
   I drop the subsequent prompt, so there is no danger with an early one.

Remaining Cubs
\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
Polymorph
\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t (Poly)   \r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
blessedwasthechild
\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t (Trixie)       \r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
Smolfoks
\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t (Skylar) \r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
PaydayWolf
\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t (Connie)
\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
MystBunny
\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t (Daniel) \r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
SebastianTheRoo
\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t (Sebastian) \r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
Mysterythree
\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t (Ash)  \r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
PetalLaFleur
\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t (Petal)    \r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
PityPlowed
\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t (Pity)
\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
Mizzyam
\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t (Jake)   \r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
FlutterBun
\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t (Fifi)

- Cub reactions Here
- Predator reactions Here
- Audience reactions Here
                                                                                                                                                      

<--- to the previous prompt         | to Labyrinth of Twilight Details/Index |         to the next prompt --->
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