Like a Bad Penny

Argentum, the Ethereal Silver Mottle Firelizard, was a bit more dignified when he heard the beckoning screech. He was hunting in the grasslands on the edge of the desert, by chance, though the call echoed well enough to give him the general direction.

Well, enough dallying.

The silver sighted a lard lizard and took it with a keen dive, landing on a rock to quickly bite and drain it before bolting off towards where he just barely saw a glimmering coppery presence, as well as a competitor - dark from distance - already ahead of him.

Not that such bothered him. A quick blinkBetween and Argentum was pacing Grog beat for beat about two feet to the left. His eyes were only for Jhem, though. Eyes on the prize, blood racing through his veins, sunlight hot on the wings; it was a good day!

The Ethereal Firelizard began to softly glow and become indistinct as his blood rose to the chase. He saw Jhem dart through the canyon cracks and tucked his wings to follow. He wasn't afraid of this tactic as he'd used it before to chase down wrongdoers alongside Anari in the Village - he'd had to be as agile as he could be to follow along their twists and turns when they went into places he couldn't follow from on high.

What he didn't foresee was the flaming hoop that lay just beyond. There was no time for him to think, only react, and it was mostly momentum and a quick spin that got him through that first one. The object of his pursuit was still ahead, going through another one, and another, and another, all alight with fire and clearly the intent was to follow. Argentum twisted about laboriously, taking a bit of time and sizing up the challenge before he began again. Wings beat furiously at the air as he pushed himself as fast as he could towards the second hoop then snapped his wings closed at the very last second, body spinning in a corkscrew to pass through the hoop. From there it was flap, close, flap, close, flap, close, through each one in turn, relying on momentum and instinct and intuition rather than actual thoughtful planning. There just wasn't time for the silver, admittedly lacking the aerial agility of some of his smaller flit kindred, to think.

He actually got through it with only a few minor singes on his wings and tail. Nothing to bother him; minor stings.

Next, lovely Jhem?

So the boys made it through the flaming hoops!  Not without a little singeing and scorching, but they made it through.  Jhem was equal parts pleased and vexed, in the heady arrogance of mating hormones and the mental space they generated.  Of course she wanted to be queen of the desert!  But some small part of her did want the males to succeed, or what was the point?

Next leg of the challenge was another canyon, although this one didn't have flaming hoops.

It had swinging axes to fly through.  (Don't worry, boys, the axe blades are padded, the worst they'll do is knock you out of the air.)

Jhem was a creature of mischief, not malice.  Getting hit by one of the padded axes would certainly be felt, but they weren't swinging particularly forcefully and they were indeed padded.  Mostly the challenge was one of rhythm.  

Can you time yourself to fly through them without getting bonked?

Jhem darted by one and pulled up just in time not to get hit by the next, looping through it as soon as it passed her, repeating this until she got through the puzzle.  Could her suitors do the same?

Jhem spiraled up to watch her suitors. She didn't know what happened to Argentum, precisely, but Grog seemed to be taking a beating, and more males had shown up! Better late than never.

They were about to be very sorry they were late. They were also about to be very sorry they'd shown up at all.

The copper female's path finally took her up and out of the canyon, where she hovered just long enough for her suitors to start closing in on her before she dived for a hidden button on the desert floor. From there, she knew the straight trajectory out without getting hit with any projectiles, but, well, the males following her did not have the advantage of having arranged the course and built

eleven pie-throwing machines that were now active and slinging pies through the air, at the fair of suitors.

No, that was Jhem's purview alone.

What kind of pie, you ask? All the pie! Apple, chocolate, cherry, banana cream, strawberry rhubarb, all the pies flew through the air, soft and sticky and aimed straight for the incoming firelizards!