No matter your choice, Time returns you to the place where it all began. The door leads to Beqanna, and you step out to wherever, whoever, you left behind. When you arrive, everything returns to normal. Your frozen friends and family blink and move as if they never missed a beat, the sudden winter disappears, and it’s as if you never left at all. As if no time has passed.
 
There are three where the world does not return to normal right away. Three that Time finds first.
 
Rora
She had said yes, had let Rora stay and watch one year pass into another until the moment before the bubble shrunk entirely. Then, before such a young girl witnessed death, She had sent Rora through the door.
 
Perhaps Time cannot go there, but he knows what happens.
 
“I understand your choice,” he says simply, appearing suddenly as he had before. It is not anger in his voice, but sadness. That is worse, somehow. The disappointment and emptiness that lingers in those words hurts far worse than yelling ever could. “But thank you, for staying with her. She so rarely has company.”
 
He waves a hand, so like Her, and you feel different. Like a piece of Time was left behind for you to carry.
 
Rora now has genetic Temporal Repairing. This gives her the ability to heal both animate and inanimate objects by rewinding time around the injured creature or broken object. Certain things are inevitable though, and death cannot be avoided or reversed. But there is a price to pay for failing Time. The energy to rewind time must come from somewhere else, pulling from life nearby. To heal horses and things she loves, Rora must take the energy from herself or someone/something else that she loves as well. She cannot reverse damage inflicted by fairy magic. (3 spaces. You do not need to post an update)
 
Divide
He comes to Her side immediately, and if it’s possible, She glows brighter. Time stands still around them as they embrace, and for a moment, you are forgotten there as you trail behind, holding her prison at bay by the power of sacrifice.
 
It is not long before She breaks away though, motioning toward you, a smile on her face. “Thank you,” Time says, his voice nearly breaking as he loops an arm through Hers. “Thank you.”
 
Their time is limited though. She smiles at him, wrapping her arms around him once more before she comes to you with a soft touch of her hand. Her other hand reaches for Time, grabbing his fingers before slipping away as the bubble comes back around Her, any remaining energy draining from you as it returns to its’ captive.
 
And then, She is gone.
 
For a moment, Time simply looks at the place She occupied only moments before. He is sad, but it’s a wistful sadness that rests on his face. “It has been so long since I have seen her,” he says simply, turning those green eyes to you for a moment. “Your gift  to me will not be forgotten.” He waves a hand, and you feel energy surge through your veins. This time, the energy does not drain you, but gives you life.
 
And then, he is gone.
 
Divide now has genetic Light Absorption. This gives her the ability to temporarily absorb light from her surroundings and redirect it in beams of light or as a shield, or to store the light and emanate a soft glow in the darkness. She also has the ability to create darkness by absorbing all the light in dim areas.  Though there is a price to pay for attempting to change the natural order of time. Divide cannot absorb light during the night, even from the stars and the moon. The longer she spends in darkness, the weaker she will become. Light is part of her sustenance now, and is vital to her life. (3 spaces. You do not need to post an update.)
 
Hawke
In the end, love truly conquers all. Even time and space. He comes to Her side immediately, and if it’s possible, She glows brighter. Time stands still around them as they embrace, and for a moment, you are forgotten there as you stand at Her side.
 
It is not long before She breaks away though, motioning toward you, a smile on her face. “Thank you,” Time says, his voice nearly breaking as he loops an arm through Hers. “Thank you.”
 
”May love touch your life as it has touched ours,” she says, reaching out a hand to touch you. And as her fingers brush your coat, you feel the warmth and joy of their love spread through your veins, making you feel whole in a way you never imagined.
 
And then, they are gone.
 
Hawke now has genetic Love Empowerment. The more Hawke is loved by others, the stronger/faster she will become, and the slower she will age (though she is not immortal). Hawke will never have superhuman skills, but she will have more endurance and strength than any normal horse, so long as her life is surrounded by love. But this works in reverse, and there’s a price to pay for changing the natural order of the world. The less others love Hawke, the weaker she will become and the faster she will age. Love is part of her sustenance now, and vital to her life. (2 spaces. You do not need to post an update.)

In the end, the path never mattered. The path was only a means to an end. To this place.
 
Slowly, your eyes adjust to the bright, white room. There is something familiar about this place of nothing (or is it a place of everything)? Like you have been here before. Or like you will be here again. The walls flash now and again, the white breaking with images of worlds you do not know. Other worlds, each one coming slowly to the end of the year in their turn. This is where Time has brought you. To the place of endings and beginnings.
 
“Oh, look at you,” a soft, kind voice says, and finally you notice Her. In the middle of the room sits a girl, a large glowing sphere around Her. It grows smaller as you watch, tightening the noose. The girl is a beautiful thing, her hair white and glowing, cascading down her back and onto the floor. She is slight, with two legs like Time and blue eyes with that same cat-like slit, though she does not have the tail. She wears a white dress that glows as everything about her glows. She waves a hand, and your injuries heal. Skin sews shut, broken bones mend, bruises fade. “Every year, he tries, you know.”
 
It is no wonder Time loves Her. She is beautiful and kind and sad. She is not screaming now, but you know without hearing it that it was always her screaming. That is was always her dying. Again and again. She is endings and beginnings. She is nothing and everything. There’s no one word for Her.
 
She turns back to the images on the walls, waving her hands as they flash before her. In some, more two-legged creatures cheer and shout and celebrate. In others, animals pass the change without notice or care. “He cannot come here. I am a fixed point in time, a place that even he cannot touch. So every year, he sends a handful of chosen ones to save me. Most don’t make it this far.” She waves a hand at the far wall, and you see the exit now. It glows, rimmed in promise and safety. Nothing lies in your way.
 
“You can take me from here,” she says, though it is obvious you have to get her out of the strange bubble that both protects and damns her, “but if you do, there will be repercussions. I must come, every year, you see. You must end one year and begin the next. Time must have some meaning.” She pauses, her eyes turning a moment from her work to you, and they are beautiful and endless and filled with sorrow. “Or you can leave me, and face Time’s wrath. But the world will progress as it should, and in the end, we all face Time wrath anyway, do we not?”
 
***
 
Decide if you take or leave Her. Detail your thought process, your experience in the white room, etc. You quest ends when you exit the door.
 
Iasan, Briske, and Lucrezia have been eliminated. For the next BQ Year you will have randomly incorrect sense of time. Morning will seem like night, night like day. You also won’t always be able to tell a child from an adult, or vice versa.
 
The 1,500 word maximum is still in effect. You have until Thursday, January 12th at 9am EST to reply.

Through the Mountain – Iasan, Divide, Hawke, Lucrezia, Cerva
 
“I can help you! a voice calls from inside the strange rock formation. As always, you can go back, though by now the way back may be harder than the way forward. Or you can go to the voice promising help. The sound of running water catches your ear, and when you enter the rock temple, a man with two heads stands there, a small river running in front of his feet. “Drink,” he offers, and as you do, the rocks begin to grow around you, slamming shut on all sides until it is just you and the strange man with two heads. No, not really two heads. It is one head, but with two faces on either side.
 
They swivel back and forth to look at you, the other mouth speaking now.  “I promise, this is help. It is a quicker route.” The man – is he a man, or a god? – raises his hands slightly and two shimmering doors appear on each side of him, and another behind you. “The shorter path is never easier – “ “you can go back if you choose.”
 
At this, two creatures begin to shimmer, forming as the doors did, though the creatures do not solidify. On one side, a creature with the body, tail, and back legs of a lion; the head and wings of an eagle and an eagle's talons as its front feet. One the other side, an impossibly large two-legged creature towers, a club in his hands. The head on the side of the strange lion and eagle creature speaks first. “Inside each door, you will find these creatures in the tunnel.” ”We cannot stop the creatures, we can only warn you.”
 
”Choose. Griffin,” Or Giant. Or the door behind you will take you home.” And then the two-faced man is gone, and you are left to choose.
 
**
Detail your trip through the tunnel. The tunnel is cold, and you are still under the snowy landscape above, but the rest of the details of the tunnel are entirely up to you (small/large, dark/light, etc.). Encounter the monster you choose and detail your escape. Your trip ends when you reach the end of the tunnel and find a white room.
 
Dunes in the Desert - Briske
 
“I can help you! a voice calls from inside the tree-ringed oasis. As always, you can go back, though by now the way back may be harder than the way forward. Or you can go to the voice promising help. The sound of running water catches your ear, and when you enter the oasis, a man with two heads stands there, a small river running in front of his feet. “Drink,” he offers, and as you do, the trees begin to grow around you, slamming shut on all sides until it is just you and the strange man with two heads. No, not really two heads. It is one head, but with two faces on either side.
 
They swivel back and forth to look at you, the other mouth speaking now.  “I promise, this is help. It is a quicker route.” The man – is he a man, or a god? – raises his hands slightly and two shimmering doors appear on each side of him, and another behind you. “The shorter path is never easier – “ “you can go back if you choose.”
 
At this, two creatures begin to shimmer, forming as the doors did, though the creatures do not solidify. On one side, a large snake appears, fangs dripping venom. One the other side, an overlarge hyena forms, though you know it cannot be a hyena. There’s something wrong about it, something long dead. The head on the side of the snake speaks first. “Inside each door, you will find these creatures in the tunnel.” ”We cannot stop the creatures, we can only warn you.”
 
”Choose. Basilisk,” Or ghoul. Or the door behind you will take you home.” And then the two-faced man is gone, and you are left to choose.
 
**
Detail your trip through the tunnel. The tunnel is hot, and you are still under the desert landscape above, but the rest of the details of the tunnel are entirely up to you (small/large, dark/light, etc.). Encounter the monster you choose and detail your escape. Your trip ends when you reach the end of the tunnel and find a white room.
 
Hard Ground in the Desert - Rora
 
“I can help you! a voice calls from inside the tree-ringed oasis. As always, you can go back, though by now the way back may be harder than the way forward. Or you can go to the voice promising help. The sound of running water catches your ear, and when you enter the oasis, a man with two heads stands there, a small river running in front of his feet. “Drink,” he offers, and as you do, the trees begin to grow around you, slamming shut on all sides until it is just you and the strange man with two heads. No, not really two heads. It is one head, but with two faces on either side.
 
They swivel back and forth to look at you, the other mouth speaking now.  “I promise, this is help. It is a quicker route.” The man – is he a man, or a god? – raises his hands slightly and two shimmering doors appear on each side of him, and another behind you. “The shorter path is never easier – “ “you can go back if you choose.”
 
At this, two creatures begin to shimmer, forming as the doors did, though the creatures do not solidify. On one side, a large two-legged dragon appears, though it’s head looks like that of a rooster. One the other side, a two-foot long worm appears, with no discernable head. The head on the side of the dragon speaks first. “Inside each door, you will find these creatures in the tunnel.” ”We cannot stop the creatures, we can only warn you.”
 
”Choose. Cockatrice,” Or Death Worm. Or the door behind you will take you home.” And then the two-faced man is gone, and you are left to choose.
 
**
Detail your trip through the tunnel. The tunnel is hot, and you are still under the desert landscape above, but the rest of the details of the tunnel are entirely up to you (small/large, dark/light, etc.). Encounter the monster you choose and detail your escape. Your trip ends when you reach the end of the tunnel and find a white room.
 
 
Jungle on the Island – Druid, Nyxia
 
“I can help you! a voice calls from inside the hut. As always, you can go back, though by now the way back may be harder than the way forward. Or you can go to the voice promising help. The sound of running water catches your ear, and when you enter the hut, a man with two heads stands there, a small river running in front of his feet. “Drink,” he offers, and as you do, the doors and windows turn to hard wood, until it is just you and the strange man with two heads. No, not really two heads. It is one head, but with two faces on either side.
 
They swivel back and forth to look at you, the other mouth speaking now.  “I promise, this is help. It is a quicker route.” The man – is he a man, or a god? – raises his hands slightly and two shimmering doors appear on each side of him, and another behind you. “The shorter path is never easier – “ “you can go back if you choose.”
 
At this, two creatures begin to shimmer, forming as the doors did, though the creatures do not solidify. On one side, a creature with the body of a red lion and a human head with three rows of sharp teeth. One the other side, a two-legged creature with flaming red hair, his feet twisted around to face behind him. The head on the side of the lion-like creature speaks first. “Inside each door, you will find these creatures in the tunnel.” ”We cannot stop the creatures, we can only warn you.”
 
”Choose. Manitcore,” Or Curupira. Or the door behind you will take you home.” And then the two-faced man is gone, and you are left to choose.
 
**
Detail your trip through the tunnel. The tunnel is hot, and you are still under the desert landscape above, but the rest of the details of the tunnel are entirely up to you (small/large, dark/light, etc.). Encounter the monster you choose and detail your escape. Your trip ends when you reach the end of the tunnel and find a white room.
 
 
***

Teal and Argo have withdrawn. 
 
Irisa withdrew after the time limit, and Jay’s Wing has been eliminated.  For the next BQ year, Irisa and Jay’s Wing will speed age both backward and forward, as far as their birth and death. They will not be re-born or die, however. After one BQ year, they go back to their correct age. 

As before, if I messed up your choice, correct me and just reply to the right prompt. If I missed a choice completely and you need a prompt, let me know. 

The 1,500 word maximum is still in effect. You have until Thursday, January 5th at 5pm EST to reply.

They come, lost in their own worlds. No, not really worlds, just different pockets of time. He’d plucked them all out of Time and placed them in a different stream. One by one, they pick a path, and as they do, he appears. Time is largely humanoid, strutting beside you on two legs, though a lion’s tail brushes the ground behind him and green eyes with a cat-like pupil peer at you. “I cannot go where I am sending you,” he says simply, wasting no time on introductions (no pun intended…maybe). If you do not yet know who he is, then you are fool anyway.
 
“And I cannot send you by a direct route.” Because of course, he is not supposed to go where you are going. If he were, he’d simply go himself. But She lives in a place Time cannot touch. A fixed point in time that even he cannot change, cannot manipulate, cannot go. It’s always a she, isn’t it? And it’s always love, in the end, that drives any tale worth telling. Any adventure worth having.
 
“Save her,” is all he says before disappearing just as he’d come. Without fanfare, without warning. As soon as he disappears, light glows in the distance. An exit. So you keep going, because there’s nowhere else to go but back. Though you can. You can always go back. It is a choice that so few make, but it’s always a choice for anyone but Time. Time does not go backward. It slows, it flows, and it stills. But it never goes back.
 
LEFT – Iasan, Divide, Hawke, Lucrezia, Cerva
At the end of the tunnel, wind howls. The temperature drops, colder than the winter you left behind in Beqanna. As you exit the tunnel, snow spreads out before you, rising up in front of you. You are at the base of a mountain, and there are two clear paths branching out beneath your feet. They look traveled, though by what, it’s hard to be sure. One path leads around the mountain – longer, but safer. The second path cuts through the mountain – direct, but harder. Which do you choose?
 
Choose your path around/through the mountain. Detail your trip. You must run into at least one obstacle that would make sense given the landscape you are in. That obstacle can be an animal (mythical or non), a natural disaster, whatever. Your trip ends when you reach a Stonehenge-like rock formation on the other side of the mountain.
 
CENTER – Jay’s Wing, Irisa, Argo, Briske, Rora
At the end of the tunnel, the light is almost blinding. As you exit, the sun sits high in the sky, the temperature rising, sweat breaking out on your coat. The earth beneath your feet shifts as sand does, dunes rising around you. The world is miserably hot, and in the glare of the sun it is hard to make out the paths worn by those who have come before you. But the paths are there. One leads to the west, the ground turning to a more stable, rocky terrain though the sun will be above you the whole way. One leads to the east, the ground remaining sandy and the dunes large, though with luck, as the sun sets, you’ll find a bit of shade. Which do you choose?
 
Choose your path through the desert. Detail your trip. You must run into at least one obstacle that would make sense given the landscape you are in. That obstacle can be an animal (mythical or non), a natural disaster, whatever. Your trip ends when you reach a tree-ringed oasis at sunset.
 
RIGHT – Druid, Nyxia, Teal
At the end of the tunnel, you hear the lullaby of gentle waves. The temperature is pleasant here, but the water an obvious problem. It is low tide though, and a land bridge is clearly visible right beneath the surface of the water. Partway to the island, the bridge splits right and left, dipping lower in the water. To the right, a volcano looms, smoke billowing from the top. To the left, the island turns to a dense jungle, where you know even from this distance light does not touch the ground.  Which do you choose?
 
Choose your path to the other side of the island. Detail your trip. You must run into at least one obstacle that would make sense given the landscape you are in. That obstacle can be an animal (mythical or non), a natural disaster, whatever. Your trip ends when you reach a hut on the other side of the island.
 
 
***
Blazing Sunfall, Karaugh, and October have been eliminated. For the next RL month, time will move uncontrollably around your character (effecting only your character). I.E. one moment you might speed up, talking or moving like you hit fast-forward; or it might slow down like someone put you in slow-mo; or it might just stop for you, and you freeze for a few minutes.

Please correct me if I have your character's choice wrong, and just reply to the correct prompt.
 
The 1,500 word maximum is still in effect. You have until Saturday, December 31st at 9am EST to reply.
 

Autumn is always peaceful, and Time finds that he enjoys it immensely. The winds sigh softly, the world content as the leaves begin to change, dying in a specular array of flaming colors. There’s a chill in the air that is not unpleasant, but rather the kind of chill that wakes you, that adds a spring to your step. The promise of children blooms in the wombs of many mares, and the thought of new life this spring is enough to bring a smile to many faces.
 
Ah, but Time is feeling impatient today, and besides, there are things that need to be done. He needs the attention of the residents of this land; horses who are oblivious to his presence so often. They don’t think much to Time, really. They think of breeding and politics and fighting; they think of snow and sun and water; they think of all the things that Time brings and takes. But Time itself? Oh, how they forget him.
 
So for a moment, Time simply stops. The world around you ceases to move. Perhaps you are talking to a friend, their mouth locked in the middle of a word. Perhaps you were playing a game of hide and seek, the seeker’s eye stuck shut as stays on “nine”. Perhaps you were alone, the animals halting around you, the leaves of the trees stiff, the air unmoving. Only you move, each horse stuck in a world that, for a moment, exists out of time itself.
 
And then Time flows forward, rushing headlong into winter. The air grows cold, leaves plunge from trees, the grass browns and curls away beneath your hooves. Soon there is snow coming in from the north. If you pay attention, you’ll notice that everything is dying in a progression, the world turning to winter from the northwest and northeast, leading you to a destination.
 
If you follow, there’s a cave you have not seen before. Around it, the world is still autumn, the trees still painted with fire, the cool air warm compared to the rest of the land. The mouth of the cave is wide, lit by glowing orbs that float at the entrance of the cave. A muffled sound comes from the cave, something like a scream. Do you enter?
 
If you do, you’ll see the cave splits into three openings. There are no lights to illuminate the next level of entryways though. It is dark, but you can clearly hear the screams now. They are cries for help, the sound seeming to come from all three pathways ahead of you. Do you enter? And if so, which do you choose?
 
***
Detail your experience with time stopping then rushing forward. How do you find the cave? What choices do you make?
 
This is writing quest, loosely based on a choose your own adventure. There are no wrong choices, just different paths based on each choice. Eliminations can occur, but will not be based on the choice you make.
 
You have until Monday, December 26th at 2pm EST to reply.
 
1.    One entry per player
2.   Characters must be born (i.e. no babies from this season)
3.    You will typically have about 72 hours to reply to each round. 
4.    You may choose points or a new trait (trait to be decided by Time) as your prize. You must include your choice in your entry post (an OOC note is fine).
5.    Max of 1,500 words per post. Please feel free to write shorter. Long does not necessarily equal better.
6.    There may or may not be defects.
7.    If you cannot meet a post deadline, let Time know you are dropping out.
8.    You can edit posts, just do not edit after the deadline.
9.    PM or post on OOC with questions