The rain outside started to pick up. The sound of thunder added to the impending level of tension in the air. Ruby stared at the mini map view of the level. It was almost like a death maze, saw blades on the floor, flame jets along the ceiling that left little to no room for hesitation. There were question mark blocks at the corners of the map, "What are those question mark blocks?" The brunette inquired.

"Those are item blocks," Luna replied, "they provide you with items to improve your chances of winning."

"Oh~" Ruby hummed, "so they give you things like weapons 'n' stuff."

"More or less," Ivy said, "there are some blocks that give you extra lives. Though I've never known my brother to be nice enough to add a one-up mushroom to his level designs."

"Not necessarily the most forgiving of people, are you Cypress," Ruby said looking over her shoulder at the boy.

"You expected a trial to be easy?" Cy questioned with a smirk on his face.

"Fair enough, I guess," Ruby sighed, "But, I hope this is the last bit of the challenge I'll have to do. I would really like to further indulge in this game night."

"The Gauntlet is always the last level of a new member's trial," Azure said, "Sorry, Ruby. But, look at it this way, you're nearly done." The brunette shot the blue haired boy a death glare that chilled him to the core.

"Ruby, don't stare him into the grave while I'm sitting right here," Winter said. She leaned in toward the brunette and whispered, "I'll get him back for you later."

Ruby huffed, "It's alright." I'll get him later the way no one else can. She started the level. It was another three dimensional level in the lava lit castle. Terrific, She groaned internally, another dismal level in the foreboding castle. She started wall jumping her way up to an item block and jumped headfirst into it. A small red and white flower popped out of the top.

"That's a fire flower," Nora said, "take it! It'll make getting through this level easier."

"It's true," Luna nodded, "it helped me when I ran The Gauntlet."

"Just press the '1' button," Winter said, "it'll make you shoot a fireball and clear enemies out of your way."

"Good, that's just what I need." Ruby said. She began running through the timing puzzle, flawlessly, and jumped over two saw blades near the far wall of the top of the labyrinth. From there, she jumped and slid down the wall on the end of the timing challenge and ran to the bottom of the item. She jumped down into the depths and collected several golden coins.

"I remember seeing someone try to beat this level on YouTube once," Luna whispered to Azure and Nora, "they never made it this far on their first try."

Ruby gave a faint smirk of confidence, but her eyes and focus was centered on the maze. She ran through the siege of monsters and traps. "Who is this girl?" Nora asked in a whisper, "She claims to be a novice, but she plays like a major league gamer on Twitch." Ruby had no idea what Nora meant by that, but she took a wild guess that it was a good thing.

Spinies, Koopa Troopas, Chain Chomps, and Piranha Plants that spat fireballs put her sense of perception through its paces. Ruby could feel her brain going into overdrive trying to process the storm of events taking place on the screen in front of her. If her millennium old heart were beating, it'd sound like an Irish dance troop after each member downed a growler of extra strength black coffee as part of a deranged dare. She slid through to the bottom of the level and sprinted to the finish through a gap in a series of flame streams. Finally, she made it to the finish line and jumped to the flag at the end. She heaved a heavy sigh, "Cypress, you're a maniac." She groaned.

Winter put her hand on the brunette's shoulder, "Ruby," the girl turned to face the heiress, "that was incredible!" She leaned forward and hugged Ruby tightly, "No one's EVER been able to do that in one go."

"Am I part of this little group now?" Ruby asked in slight shock at Winter's choice of action. She didn't mind affection, but she wasn't used to being hugged by anyone, especially someone that reminded her of someone she knew.

Azure knelt down next to the embracing girls, "You most certainly are, Ruby." He said, "Uh Winter, I think she's gotten the point."

"Sorry, sorry, sorry." The heiress said meek tone of voice.

"Feisty as and awkward as Mei," Cy said, "That's our Winter Schnee."

"I-I have, n-no idea what you're talking about." Winter said a light shade of red showing on her face.

"Then why are you blushing," Luna asked slyly.

Ruby couldn't help but start giggling. She forgot what it was like to have human friends who could actually fill her with enough mirth to make her laugh. "Are you guys always like this?" She asked as she continued chortling.

"Yes," Nora said, "yes we are. Thank you."

Ruby smiled ad looked around the room, "Well, is there another part to this initiation," She asked, "Or is that all I need to do?"

Azure looked to Cypress and Umbra, "Gentlemen, what shall we do?"

"Care to hunt down a Rathalos or a Hellblade?" Azure asked.

"If we're playing that," said Nora, "I'm gonna need to break out my secret weapon." She got up and went over to a pink backpack with a personalized logo hanging from a keychain. She pulled out a pink Nalgene bottle and a black tub with a pink label that read G Fuel. "Gotta make sure I'm conscious during this whole fight."

The others went to their respective bags and grabbed bottles of water and their energizer of choice. Umbra chose G Fuel with a red label, Azure chose a pack of grape flavored Gatorade, and Cy went with Glacier Freeze.

"Light weights," Nora said.

"Some of us want to get a little sleep tonight, Nora," Cy replied.

"Haha, sleep is for the weak," Nora said with a manic smile on her face as she shook her bottle to mix in the light pink powder.

"Alright dudes and dudette," Umbra said, "Flying dragon with poison laced talons, or burning wyvern with a blade tail?"

"Hellblade," All three of the younger gamers said.

"Roger that," Umbra laughed, "let's gear up."

What's up readers, it's Cluny. I know, this is a short chapter, but I've got stuff I need to do outside of here. However, I'm not going to stop with my writing. I've got a schedule that I'm following to keep myself going. I've got a YouTube channel that I'm keeping up with, look me up, bubba485, I've got an Art Vlog and a Let's Play series I'm updating as often as I can, with a second Let's Play series on the way.

Also, for those of you who are in the DC and DMV area, I'll be attending Awesome Con in Washington D.C. June 16th through June 18th. Look for a guy with glasses in a grey wool cap with a Pikachu pin with a grey satchel over his shoulder. That's me ^_^ I look forward to meeting anyone.

In the mean time, those of you who read Melting the Ice, hopefully by next week the next chapter, Flight of the Raven, will be up. And as always, reviews are appreciated but not mandatory ^_^

'Til next time,

~Cluny