Part 3: The Race against Time

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"Alright, you're doing good, guys! Now just yell "whoa" to make them stop!" Epel commands and they did so which the plushies did so.

"Nice! You improved in such short time!" Epel smiled as he got off the sled. "Speed is good, and turning isn't a problem anymore! Not bad for first timers!"

"Well, we've you to thank." Jade smiled as he cracked his knuckles.

"And I'm the type to keep it up after the compliments~!" Idia giggled.

"Me second!" Sebek nods.

"Okay, so 'Mushing' is done and now-"

"Wait, Mushing? You mean the ones who control the sled?" Sebek asked.

"Yes."

"Then new title acquired!" Idia pats himself on the back.

"We're at a good stopping point so let's rest." Epel assured and let the others get off their sleds to breathe.

"Hard coming back to reality when getting carried away in games like this..." Idia laments lightly.

"I can still do better! 'You won't do well if you don't keep practicing!' That's my motto!" Sebek boasts.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, Sebek. If you push past your breaking point and focus too much, it won't end well..." Epel bit his lip. "It's best to take things easy and give the mind and body lots of rest. It's said to improve efficiency in practice as well."

"Well, yes, but.....I feel as if time is just being wasted..." Sebek sighed. "It's best to take advantage of it!"

"Wow....that's dedication if I've seen it." Luna chuckled as she flew down, landing perfect on her feet.

"Luna!" Epel ran towards her. "Thanks for staying with us! But, where's-?"

"Coming in!!" Charlie shouted as she flew towards the ground at top speed. Epel threw himself to the ground, scared he was gonna get hit, but Charlie swoops up at the last minute and lands just besides Jade with a smile. "Luna and I were following you guys and tracking your progress! Splendid work! You guys takin a breather?"

"Yes." Jade answered. "Although I think you gave those three collective heart-attacks~..." he smiled, seeing Epel face down in the show, Grim with his back in the snow from all the flying he endured and Idia with his back to the tree, looking close to shitting his pants.

"A-As I was saying..." Epel shakily got to his feet. "Usually we have tea breaks here with desserts, coffee and usually chat with friends and family."

"That's be a nice thing for you to follow, right Sebek?" Jade eyed the half-fae.

"....you have a point." He relents.

"Thankfully we've an aid section up ahead. Stay here and I'll handle it!" Epel promised.

"Aid?" Grim asked.

"A place to get food and water for marathons and races." Sebek answered.

"Yea. With so many teams practicing, they have light meals on hand." Epel smiled with Grim following.

"Ooh, sounds like good service!"

"Does your Grandmother act as one?" Luna asks.

"Yea. She always does her best to give support to our teams."

"Sounds very much like her." Jade nods.

"Do they offer anything else?" Charlie asked.

"Oh yeah! Emergency stitch ups for the plushies and can tell about their condition, too! Wanna join?"

"Of course! Let's revert to normal, Luna. We'll transform again when the guys are ready to go!" Charlie says. The two willed their forms to vanish and fell back into their Snow outfits. "So what do we need to do?"

"Just talk with the staff at the station since race development often changes. Let's go!" He led Charlie towards the station as Luna stayed behind to watch the other three and Grim.

"I'm surprised we managed to make it so far! I don't think we'd have to practice due to the distance we've covered!" Jade leaned back against the tree.

"If I'm being honest, this is nothing." Sebek scoffed.

"Yeah, seems like you guys are fine without me helping you." Grim smirked.

"Oh please! If you were on the team, we'd be toast thanks you your wanderlusting now and then, clueless gremlin!" Sebek snarks.

"What did you say?!" Grim got riled up and scooping up a handful of snow, hit Sebek with it right in the kisser.

"Ppph!!! What the-?! What was that for?!"

"That's what you get, bub!"

"Oh. You're not getting away that easily!" Sebek snapped and did the same action back, but the force of the impact sent Grim falling backwards.

"Fgna!"

"You're not stopping them?" Idia asked Luna, watching the two throw snow at one another with a smile.

"Please, that gremlin is not my pet. He made the mess himself, He can get out by himself too." She shrugged carelessly.

"Yet I surprised Sebek finds joy in being here-gah!" Jade got hit by a snowball out of nowhere as Grim laughed.

"Geez, Jade! What a loser!!"

"Well, since we're descending into anarchy~" Jade smiled sadistically as he pounded Grim into the snow with several attacks.

"Ugh....why do I even bother?" Idia sighed, but got whacked in the face with one, making him nearly faint feeling cold snow on his face.

"Okay, I'm going to go and make sure Epel and Charlotte need help with carrying things." Luna made her way far from the War-zone and towards the Aid station.

Grim reeled his tail back, one snowball at the ready to hit Sebek, but due to over miscalculating, it flew past and hit someone else.

"Agh!"

"That was his doing!" Sebek's reports, finger pointed at Grim.

"Are you okay over there?" Jade asked. "Sorry for the incovenience by those brain-dead hooligans!"

"Geez, Jade. Way to throw us under the bus..." Idia huffed as a few people made their way toward them.

"Oh no! It's fine!"

"Who the hell you think you are?! You want a snow war?!"

"Snow war! Sounds fun!"

Grim just nearly passed out when he saw who it was. He didn't even notice two of them coming toward him, snowballs at the ready.

"I got him! I got him!"

"Hop! Gran! Stop being so rude!"

"Wait, do we...know them from somewhere?" Jade asked, confused a tad.

"Hey, guys!" Charlie had ran back to where they were. "Luna said she'd take over for me with helping Epel. We switched places so that's why I'm here!" She had noticed they were looking somewhere and approached, confused. "Whatcha looking' at?..."

"Nothing important." Idia answered. But Charlie followed their line of sight and her eyes widened. It's was them!! The Dwarves from the VDC!

"U-Uh....please stop staring, I'm getting queasy!"

"Okay, I'm back! Black tea and cinnamon rolls to go!" Epel called out, Luna helping him carry the things they got. He nearly felt his grip loosen on the drinks had be not recognized the faces almost immediately. "Wait...you're from Royal Sword!!"

This made the guys go tense all over as Luna, unfazed, joined Charlie, still gobsmacked seeing the seven small boys. "That's right! We're from the other side of Moln Mountain!" Each introduced themselves as Charlie remembered when she saved them from a few delinquents back at NRC.

"Nice to meet you all! I'm Epel From Night Raven. And behind me is Idia, Sebek, Jade, Grim, Luna and-"

"Charlotte!" Dominic's eyes widened when he saw her. "Long time no see!" Sneek, and even Gran, smiled upon seeing her, remembering her.

"Indeed." she smiled softly as Dominic approached her and they shook hands.

"It's okay, guys. We know her, and she's a friend of Neige!" All at once, the other six crowded around Charlie, smiling and greeting her with hellos and numerous questions, to which she tried answering as fast as she could when more were thrown at her, her smile starting to make her cheeks hurt. Luna joined the guys as she kept Charlie in her field of vision.

"So these are the dwarves Charlotte rescued from some of the delinquents...and they're from a dwarf clan?" she asked Epel and he nods.

"Tell us what are you doing here?" Sebek demands.

"We're also taking part in the Kelkkarotu event!" Dominic answers as Shelpy, Toby, Sneek and Timmy snuggled against her winter clothes, finding solace in her motherly aura. She was too busy cooing at their cuteness she didn't notice the other boys tensed at the answer. "We heard through the grapevine so we wish to participate! and to be blessed with happiness!"

"They came all this way just for the measly reward?" Sebek whispered behind clenched teeth to Jade, who ignored him and spoke,

"I can tell you really wish to obtain that."

"We're happy enough as is, actually. We're not ones to be greedy, it's just-"

"We want to give it to others, Achoo!" Sneek answered, pausing to turn away from Charlie to sneeze. The guys gave each other confused looks as Dominic continues,

"Yes, we're doing this for the benefit of the others around us! The less fortunate, the poor, and more!"

"Huh~?If you think you can make everyone happy by winning in a small race like this, then no one in this world would have a difficult life!" Idia was snarky but the tone of voice went over Dominic's head.

"True, it'd be impossible to make everyone happy...but really...we want someone dear to us tp be happier: Neige. If we can make him happy, then he'd make other people happy and that's more than enough." But all this did was make the guys stare at Dominic like he was speaking alien.

"Guys, close your mouths or you're gonna catch flies." Charlie, unbothered by the air in the room, stood up after crouching down for so long and decided to join Luna, who smirked seeing the boys so silent.

"Doing this for the people around the world....? Sounds so nice it's starting to sound sketchy as hell!" Epel spoke.

"Yes, stop pretending to be nice!" Sebek roared.

"They make it seem so humble, but they're rather confident." Jade whispered to Idia who agreed.

"Ugh, talk about arrogance! Lust listening to them I feel like throwing up!"

"Well you just responded like any normal person would...." Epel brought up weakly.

"And I'm only more riled up just listening to them talk!" Sebek huffed, causing all four of them to decree to not lose to them.

"We shouldn't even bother stopping them?" Luna whispered to Charlie, as Sneek asked if they were gonna be in the race too to which Epel confirms.

"No, it's just gonna get a rise out of them." Charlie sighed.

"We heard your town head's friend got injured and was going to not participate." Dominic brought up.

"If it's that bad...I'm worried for him...." Shelpy yawns.

"You think you twerps will win?"

"The hell you talkin' about? Course we will!" Gran yelled at Sebek, who held a smug grin, even when Dominic mentioned that they may not, and that they need practice, Sebek challenged them to see how good they were and the dwarves took the challenge.

"We'll keep a sky eye view on how it goes." Luna says as she transforms with Charlie. "Just so we can check progress."

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By the time they made it back to the start/finish line, it was getting lose to sunset. Domininc bid the group farewell, and all seven traversed back to their hotel in the town over. The boys just looked at one another at what they had witnessed.

"What...was that just now?! They went like lightning!" Sebek shouted.

"You're not the only one shell-shocked...They're pretty damn good..." Epel nods.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say they were cheating! It's dangerous to put more than one destructive element character!" Idia adds.

"And they're teamwork is impeccable. This doesn't bode well...." Jade mumbled.

"Yea, you guys are toast." Grim shrugged. "Like you said: I'd join you if I could, but I'd just slow you down."

"What?! No! We can't lose to RSA! Even outside school grounds!" Epel argued. "We have to improve!"

"Now you're speaking my language!" Sebek nods.

"I'm not one or losing to a level one newbie!" sneered Idia as Jade sighed,

"Imagine what everyone would say if they got word...."

"Here we go again..." Luna sighed.

"We'll go back into the sky and mark your movements and see if anything needs fixin'." Charlie tossed her hair over her shoulder.

"Please do!" Epel nods as all four got back to work.

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"FULL STEAM AHEAD!!!"

"MUSH!"

"HAIRPIN CURVE! MAKE RIGHT!"

"HAW!"

"NOW VEER LEFT!"

"GEE!"

"MAKE SURE THE PLUSHIES HEAR YOUR COMMANDS! WE WON'T REACH THE END IF YOUR ABOVE NORMAL LEVEL TALKING! WE CAN'T LOST TO ROYAL SWORD!"

"AGREED!"

"INDEED!"

"S-Sure..."

"THAT'S A HALF-ASSED RESPONSE, SHROUD! SCREAM LIKE YOU'RE GOING TO WAR WITH A VIDEO GAME BOSS, SOLDIER! I MEAN NOW!" Epel veered around to yell at Idia, who veered back in fright.

"Ugh, I hope Ortho's okay....Nii-san's having a bad time already..."

"If I wouldn't know any better, I'd say he'd be a cattle wrangler with all that pent up anger!" Charlie laughed as she and Luna flew overhead to mark their movements.

"His girlish looks keep him from getting what he wants, though..." Luna rolled her eyes with a smug smize. The whole practice time kept going till the last of the sun's rays had set and the warm skies turned a dark blue, and Epel decided to stop. The three taller men behind him flopped against the sleds with exhaustion.

"We practiced so much, it's already dark out..." Jade realized.

"Me either..." Sebek agrees. Idia began to move his lips, but no sound left his throat. "What?! What is it?! Speak, damn it!"

"Wha....Wh....What's with all this extreme strict training?!My HP's dropped right into the negative zone! I endured it for a while but I'm past my limit! I should've known what I had gotten myself into....but now I can't take it anymore!"

"Then you're weak! Complaining over a trivial thing!" Sebek quips as Charlie and Luna land, deciding to detransform later.

"But it's major improvement from the first time around." Luna spoke.

"Yeah, way to go beyond the limit!" Epel cheered.

"Yeah, uh...Epel-shi...don't you think you were a bit too....strict?..." Idia raised his hand timidly.

"...Was I?" Epel raised an eyebrow.

"I'd say it's more like "aggressive instructing." Jade rephrased.

"Who knew you had it in ya?" Charlie hugged him.

"Ha, well, I was just too focused on not losing to Royal Sword." Epel admits.

"Any Refreshing, shiny and likeable character just maxes out my anger lvl." Idia seethed.

"No matter who the adversary is, I'm not one for taking a loss!" Sebek hit his chest with pride. "Let's pick up the pace. Continue, Epel!"

"I know you want to train as much as the next person, but...we really need a breather..." Epel shot down. "Plus, it gets freezing as night arrives."

"Where's a fluffy bed when you need one?" Idia cracked his spine as he yawns.

"Let's call it a day." Jade agreed. "It's best to hit the sack early and prep for tomorrow."

"Nice work out there, boys." Luna says as she and Charlie detransform.

"Let's get some grub!" Grim scurried to the latter's side.

"Not yet, Grim." Epel hushed. "The Town's hosting a gathering in our honor and we must go!"

"Please tell me...?"

"Yes. Meemaw should be prepping for it in the assembly hall right about now."

"Awesome! Let's hit the road!"

"Now thinking about it, I'm famished myself..." Sebek agreed.

"Let's see what they've prepped for us." Jade shrugged, wondering what's ahead as the group begins the trek back.

"Epel, your grandma may be fierce, but she has a good heart." Grim looked up at the country boy.

"Well, yeah! I'm sorry if she comes off a bit crass when it comes to this sort of thing...." he apologized.

"I wonder who else got that type of anger from her~?" Charlie smirked at him. She stopped when he gasped.

"I almost forgot!"

"Forgot what?"

"What will our team's name be! If we don't have one by tomorrow, we won't be allowed to race!"

"Is that really necessary?...."

"Of course it is! Before we reach the hall!" Idia mentioned to name it after the anime of the same name, but it sounded rather cutesy for Sebek's taste. Jade wanted something akin to his club, but that got show down. Grim, as usual, wanted it on him, but got promptly ignored by the guys and a head whack from Luna.

"Ugh....this is hopeless...." Epel pulled the brim of his cap over his eyes, face burning red as he tried to think. Grim perked up when he caught a whiff of food and smiled, running off in the direction it came from. Sebek yelled and ran after. Jade followed, knowing they'd be separated from the others. "We can't participate tomorrow like this...we need a name. Guys, let's huddle up and-huh?! Idia?! You, Charlie and Luna are the only ones?! Where the hell did the others go?!"

"They ran off." Luna huffs with annoyance. Idia pointed north of where they went silently as if giving detail.

Epel rolled his eyes in annoyance. "It's a small town and they just go wherever they want?! Well...it's small either way so we should track them down in less than five minutes...." he walked in the direction the three went, leading the charge.

Jade, Sebek and Grim found themselves back in the plaza square, where a huge bonfire had been lit, keeping the people around it warm as the dark settled over the skyline.

"Huh...we're back where we came before?" Jade was confused, thinking they were just going in circles.

"Ah, a bonfire! Very convenient!" Sebek felt the embers reaching him from where he stood. Jade looked up seeing the small red lanterns lit and giving off a warm glow from above where they hung while Grim saw more stalls had opened with food galore.

"Let's grab a small bite before we get to the welcoming party." Sebek agreed.