Buses drove the teams out to the Buzznyan Foothills for the Steeplechase. Reaching the inclines that the teams must race down required slow and cautious driving. If many athletes were getting bored, there was one exception: Team Plasma’s Ghosto, fidgeting with a contraption topped off by a weather vane.
“Excuse me, but… what is that thing and why is it beeping?” asked Yellim from the seat behind.
“I’m tracking the weather,” said Ghosto without turning around. “A heavy wind warning is in effect with a high-pressure system accelerating downwards. They told me to capture some live measurements.”
“Ghosto has several relatives who are weathermarbles, so we trust their judgment and let them study it,” explained Gloomo. “I think we all need to prepare for poor racing conditions.”
The buses soon grew loud with teammates’ chattering and planning, but the scene at the track was even more frantic. Gusts of wind kept whipping off the hurdle poles, with Buzznyan stewards sprinting around to hold them in place. The sand on the tracks was dry, while the pebbles on it swirled back and forth.
Every team was huddling and sketching plans now, though Team Plasma had the privilege of also hearing Ghosto’s live forecasts. “We just have to stick together and follow my lead,” said Captain Fearo. “Bad weather does not mean danger. It does not mean disaster. It means we have to get smart.”
For the first time since 2016, the Rojo Rollers stood on a Marble League podium together as a team. They were joined by Team Plasma, whose gold harkened back to their dominance in the 2022 Showdown, and the Crazy Cat’s Eyes, exhilarated to have received their second medal in the span of two events. Behind them in fourth were the Gliding Glaciers; who after a tense period of investigation had lost out on the thinnest of margins.
Seeing Alpine and Glide smile at each other, waiting out the wind with water and ice cream beneath a nearby shelter, Blue Eye almost couldn’t tell they’d missed out on anything.
“Hope there’s no hard feelings!” Blue Eye called out, having to yell to be heard above the wind. “Your run was very clean.”
“Hey, thanks!” Glide replied, Alpine too busy with their refreshments to speak. “Anything’s an improvement on that Team Pursuit performance.”
“It was a tricky event. Actually, where is the rest of your team?”
Finished with their ice cream, Alpine glanced around them. “I’m not entirely sure. I know that Iceberg left to get some privacy after knowing we wouldn’t podium… and then Frost followed them. And Polar?” Alpine and Glide turned to each other and shared a knowing smirk. “They left to go get more ice cream.”
“So, why are you here alone?” Glide interjected. Blue Eye grimaced. That was something they didn’t want to talk about, but they’d be a hypocrite not to answer.
“Well, the wind’s too strong for us to leave. And right now, my team is with Plasma and the Rojos.”
Alpine and Glide exchanged another look, initially unsure what Blue Eye meant. Then it seemed to click for both of them.
“Oh, you’re avoiding Rojo Tres?” Alpine said. Ashamed to have it put so bluntly, Blue Eye sighed.
“I… yes, that’s true.” Surrounded by thousands of home fans all cheering for them, it had been easy to feel that they hadn’t done anything wrong, no matter the conclusion reached by the officials. They had never truly apologized. “I don’t think they’ll be happy to see me around, so…”
“Have you spoken to them?” Alpine asked.
“Not really.” Blue Eye admitted.
“Well, you should,” Alpine added. “Communication is key to resolving conflicts– that’s what Glide says.”
“And if they don’t want to talk?”
“Then they don’t. But the first step is giving it a go!” Glide chimed in.
(Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)
Back on top of the hill, Blue Eye found their team still amongst the podium-sitters. Steeling their nerves, they ducked past Red Eye’s eyeline to approach Rojo Tres, who was sitting satisfied with their silver medal.
“Hey, um… Do you want to talk?” Blue Eye asked, averting their gaze.
Tres blinked at them, surprised. “About what?”
“About the Triathlon.” Blue Eye sighed. “And how… How I’m really sorry for what I did.”
Tres sat on the sentiment for a moment. Arriving so late, Blue Eye was prepared for them to turn it down. Then they smiled, expression gentle.
“Okay,” they said. “I forgive you. You could have said it slightly earlier, but I’ll take it.”
Sheepish, Blue Eye breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you.”
“I’m just glad you could get through a sand event without pushing someone else into the banking.” They laughed. Blue Eye didn’t laugh along, but they were happy to only be receiving some gentle ribbing.
Maybe Alpine was right, they thought.
In due time, the wind died down in the Foothills. The buses were given the all-clear to drive back down, and this time the Plasma athletes sat next to the Rojo Rollers.
“Wow, we haven’t had a chance to chat since the Pond last year!” exclaimed Rojo Dos. “But what a great run you all had. It’s a well-deserved gold.”
“It was awesome to be on the podium with you,” said Ecto. “Just how hard was it for your team to adapt to the weather? We had to think a lot on the fly.”
“Nothing is easy in sports, you know? But even if we hadn’t qualified for the big stage, we kept training for events like these,” said Rojo Tres. “We’d practiced in the sand with Red Number 3 for years! The legend themself! It’s just with them falling on some hard times, we’ve been out of touch with Red for a while.”
“What a coincidence, it’s the same story with us,” said Fearo. “Starting out in sports, we had days every week going down the sand dunes with Ghost Plasma… I can’t say those were my favorite moments. It’s complicated– ”
“What do you mean, it’s complicated!” laughed Rojo Dos. “If we have the same training routine, and we’re both the best at sand rallies, I should ask you why we aren’t friends yet!”
The Rojo Rollers didn’t ask about Ghost Plasma. Instead, they talked about how Team Plasma had to visit Numerun after the League, because the Rojos can pull their connections and let them race down the legendary Colina Umerun.
As Ghosto would whisper to Fearo after the teams said their goodbyes: “Maybe nobody here cares about our past. They just know we’re the team to beat now.”
(Photo Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)
Em sits in the corner of their room amidst a flurry of empty crisp packets and chocolate bar wrappers. They lift a beanbag chair, revealing a single silver coin underneath.
“I knew it!” they exclaim, adding the coin to the small pile on the floor. “Just enough money for a ticket!”
“I don’t want to be a downer, Em, but that’s just for one event,” Saffy says, perched on the bed. “That’s not really a lot of time to get autographs.”
Em looks at their blue-hued friend. “Sixteen? There are 32 teams in the League, remember?”
“You want signatures from the SHOWDOWN teams, too?”
“Of course! They’re just as important!”
Saffy lets out a quiet sigh. “I know, I know, you’ve said that a hundred times, but you still only have enough money for one event.”
“I’ll sneak in if I have to! Plus, I’ve already written letters to a bunch of the teams!”
“Have any of them actually responded?”
“…No, but it’s only been a few days. I’m sure they’ll respond soon!”
Saffy rubs their eyes, exhausted by Em’s endless optimism. “Good luck with that, I guess. But do you really think you’ll do it?”
Em becomes quiet for a moment, glancing at a picture, dust gathered in its frame, sitting on the dresser.
“It won’t be the hardest thing I’ve done.”
Credits
- Writers: Millim, Fouc, Flamigiri
- Copyeditors/Editors: Fouc, GhostDM, Stynth
- Graphic Designers: Flamigiri
- Photographers: Jelle’s Marble Runs
- Reference: Marble League 2023 E2: Steeplechase | Jelle’s Marble Runs
- Release: 25/10/2023
Project Marblearth 