Snowy - D5 - Gamemakers —— The second he sees the bird, he knows the challenge he’s been assigned. They have absolutely no hope of catching it on anything but sheer speed and agility, neither of which they have in spades. As soon as he feels the water lapping at his paws, he starts running. He’s good enough at running; he’s not a fighter, so it’s somewhat of a key skill when living on the streets; but it’s not as if he excels at it, exactly. They let out a frustrated hiss as they swipe at the bird only for it to scamper—can birds even scamper?— into a trees’ foliage at the last second before flying off again. The water is rising. This is bad. This is really bad. They won’t let anyone die this early, right, right? Surely not. He manages to pull himself up into a tree, keeping him away from the rapids for now, but the branches are thin. It won’t last. The bird is pecking at at a leaf on a tree a few feet away from them. He has no hope of making this jump, let alone managing to catch it. Not with their prosthetic on, at least. His tail flicks back and forth, and he can feel it graze the water. They’ll probably provide a replacement if it gets ruined. And an advantage in the games is worth quite a lot. …screw it. They slip off their prosthetic and shove it into a crevice between the branch and the base of the tree. It’s precarious, but it’ll do for now. He hoists himself up a branch higher and scrambles as fast and as quietly as he can to the edge. They lean back for a second, positioning themself, before jumping. He barely makes it in range of the bird, managing to snatch it with one paw before it can fly away, but falling into the water in the process. They inhale deeply before diving under, and— Suddenly the water is gone. He drops the now dead bird to the ground, cringing away from the body, before glancing up at the prosthetic, which is teetering precariously over the edge. Hopefully it falls before they come to collect them. He has no hope of climbing back up on three legs. —— audio - the chase, deltarune art - @banana203