Thanks for your patience. Because I am off today and tomorrow, I will be able to do at least the next two parts. Hope you enjoy.
Millie and Blossomfall were surprised to see Lionblaze and Crowfeather at the castle. They were debating if they should ask them why. Lionblaze and Crowfeather were just starting when they got there. Lionblaze and Crowfeather looked at them too. They didn't realize Millie and Blossomfall had a problem with their cabbie and thought they would have been done already. Finally Lionblaze decided to say something and he said, "So what happened with you guys"?
"Our stupid cabbie had to get gas", said Blossomfall. "And you guys"?
Lionblaze and Crowfeather were wondering if they should tell the truth about why they were behind and decided just to say, "We had an awful cabbie too. Don't ask! It was horrible".
All the teams besides Leafstar and Echosong had received their clue and discovered that the winner of this leg would get an express pass for their team and one for another team. They were all so excited about it.
Leafstar and Echosong finally arrived to Russia and were feeling disheartened. Echosong was doing her best to cheer up Leafstar. They were lucky to at least find a cabbie who spoke a little English and knew which landmark they needed to visit. The cabbie got them there quickly and they got the clue for the detour and decided to do the vodka. Echosong made a joke and said, "After the day we been having, the Vodka is just what we need". That got a little laugh out of Leafstar. When they saw the part about the Express pass, Leafstar said, "Well all we have to do is not come in last. Maybe another team will strategize that they do not see us as a threat and give us the express pass and it will help us. One can hope".
Squirrelflight opened up the clue and saw it was a Roadblock. We see Autumnsplash saying, "This is a Roadblock. This is a task only one team member can do. Each team member has to do 6 Roadblocks each during the race. In this Roadblock, who has a taste for the finer things in life? After the teams decide who will do it, they will find out they have to go to Café Pushkin and eat a sampling of 5 popular Russian dishes, including: Borscht, Beef Stroganoff, Caviar, Blintzes, Pelmeni (Russian Dumplings)". Squirrelflight had looked at Bramblestar and said, "Do you think this is a food challenge"?
"It could be. May be a play on words right"? said Bramblestar.
"It is my turn and while I don't know if I want to eat what they have to offer, at least it is not a brawn challenge", said Squirrelflight.
"You will do fine sweetie. I have confidence in you", said Bramblestar. Their cab was still waiting and they told the cabbie the name of the restaurant. A few minutes after they left, we see Tigerstar and Scourge talking about the clue.
"What could this be"? said Tigerstar. "Maybe about jewelry, or fine clothing or food"?
"I'm thinking food", said Scourge.
"Ooh maybe they will make us eat some sort of brains or eyes or something. I saw it on one of the Amazing Race episodes", said Tigerstar.
"That would not be a real challenge for us, with the stuff we normally eat. It is probably some weird twoleg food", said Scourge.
"I'm going to take one for the team. I can do it. No matter what exotic delicacies they serve", said Tigerstar.
"Oh ok", said Scourge. They got to their cab. They were worried that the cabbie may get the name of the place mixed up with something else, so they showed the cabbie the website too. That seemed to help.
Squirrelflight was sitting down. The waiter brought over some bottles of water. The waiter asked if she wanted an extra bowl. Squirrelflight whispered to Bramblestar, "Why would I need an extra bowl"?
Bramblestar was afraid to say what he thought the real reason was, so he said, "To put in bones or shells for some of the food that you may be eating"?
Squirrelflight was skeptical but just said to the waiter that she would take the bowl. As the food started to come out, Tigerstar and Scourge just walked in the restaurant. They were seated and were asked the same question.
Tigerstar insisted that he did not need this bowl they were offering. Squirrelflight looked at the odd food and did not know where to start first. She decided to try the dumplings. They looked light. They had some sort of salmon in it. She was not crazy about salmon but used a lot of water to get it down.
Tigerstar's food came out. Tigerstar just decided to eat the thing closest to him and it was caviar. It was awful but he also used the water too to get it down. When her food came out, Squirrelflight ate the dumplings and the stroganoff, which she decided was not so bad. Tigerstar just finished the caviar and started on the stroganoff too. This is when Hollyleaf and Leafpool walked in and heard about the water and the bowl. Hollyleaf agreed to do the task and started on the dumplings too. She made sure she had the water nearby her too when she ate it. She definitely was not a fish fan either.
Shortly after, Reedwhisker and Mallownose came in. It was Reedwhisker's turn to do the Roadblock. He also decided to have the bowl, just in case. Squirrelflight started on the blintzes which were filled with cheese. "Strange food, but not half bad", she thought to herself. Tigerstar lost his focus from the stroganoff, and it took him an extra minute to finish. This was because Reedwhisker and Mallownose were cheering when they realized what some of the food was they had to eat.
Reedwhisker started to eat the dumplings, which he liked and was able to eat very quickly. At that time Tigerstar started the dumplings. He was not crazy about it but used the water again to finish it. Squirrelfight just finished the blintzes and looked at the two foods she thought were the worst to eat, the caviar and borscht. She decided to try the borscht first. It was a soup, so it was easy to get down even though it was awful. She had a lot of water after that. But she started to feel really full and needed to take a few breaths before she got to the last dish because she was afraid she would throw up.
At that time Hollyleaf started on the stroganoff which she thought was okay too. Reedwhisker quickly went to the caviar and finished that before Hollyleaf finished her stroganoff. Tigerstar decided to eat the blintzes. He thought they were weird but not awful. But Squirrelflight did not get to the caviar yet and Tigerstar was just about done with the blintzes. Hollyleaf started on the caviar but it was slow going. Reedwhisker was already on to the borscht but it was a little more slow going than the other two items he already ate so Hollyleaf caught up a little bit but not by much because the soup was easier to eat than the caviar for Hollyleaf. Tigerstar started the borscht and finally Squirrelflight started the caviar. She was having a hard time and was worried she was going to throw up. But she did it and finished just 2 minutes ahead of Tigerstar. She got her clue and a big hug from Bramblestar. Shortly after Tigerstar got his clue too and both team had left after they read the clue. Reedwhisker went on to the blintzes and so did Hollyleaf four minutes later. Reedwhisker really didn't like the blintzes so Hollyleaf caught up and got ahead of Reedwhisker. So she started her borscht.
As she started her borscht, Jayfeather and Willowshine walked in. They agreed Jayfeather was to do this task because there may be some Roadblocks later that he could not do. Jayfeather started to say loudly, "What kind of weird..but then Willowshine shot him a look. It was a dark and stern look, none like he ever saw her give him before. He was so startled, he stopped. He made sure he had his bowl and water and waited for his food. Hollyleaf finished her borscht before Reedwhisker ate the stroganoff. Hollyleaf got her clue about 6 minutes before Reedwhisker did. At that time Jayfeather was finishing up the dumplings. He was muttering under his breath after he swallowed each bite but he did it. After he finished the dumplings, Tigerheart and Dawnpelt walked in.
It was going to be Dawnpelt who was doing the challenge. Jayfeather had started on the caviar and was holding his nose as he was eating it. He gulped large amounts of water. Dawnpelt started with the dumplings. She wasn't crazy about it but ate it. Jayfeather was having some trouble with the caviar, so Dawnpelt started the blintzes before he finished the caviar. Jayfeather had a second wind, so was able to finish the caviar before Dawnpelt finished the blintzes.
Next for Jayfeather was the blintzes, which wasn't so bad after the caviar. He wouldn't admit it but he actually liked the blintzes. He finished it quickly and Dawnpelt was having the borscht. Then Jayfeather had the borscht. He made a face but ate it. Dawnpelt had the caviar which was tough but she finished it. Jayfeather had the stroganoff and then Dawnpelt had the borscht. Jayfeather had the dumplings and Dawnpelt had the stroganoff. Jayfeather finished first and got the clue. About 6 minutes later Dawnpelt finished.
About 50 minutes later, Lionblaze and Crowfeather walked in and then 5 minutes later, so did Millie and Blossomfall. Lionblaze and Blossomfall were doing the Roadblock. Lionblaze's food came out first. He was puzzled by the twoleg food they were served. He didn't know where to start first. So when he started to eat the dumplings, Blossomfall had just picked up a dumpling. They were able to get through the food but Blossomfall started to retch but not throw up when she was eating the caviar last. So Lionblaze finished first. Blossomfall finished 12 minutes later.
Stay tuned for the next part where we see what happens with Leafstar and Echosong and who wins the Express Passes,