Fireflies And Butterflies (ON HIATUS)

18║First Delay

Gaping at the dancing kayaks that were parked by the river bank, Czarina's eyes widened by a fraction. "I knew it! I was right!" she said to herself, doing a small fist pump.

She tried hard not to smirk at the other racers who were complaining under their breath, biting down on her lip. The number of racers had been reduced to nine, she and her brother part of the nine racers. Czarina looked at her brother from the corner of her eyes and snorted quietly at the sight of his pissed face. Vladimir was among the racers who were complaining, his eyebrows knitted and his jaw ground. She rolled her eyes and looked at her father as he moved to stand before them.

Before anybody could start casting their worries upon him, Qlaus raised a finger and said, "it is not my fault. I wasn't the one who wrote the clues."

Czarina heard a scoff that came from her right. "Of course not. You just come together to decide something without informing us."

Qlaus raised a brow. He sighed as he shook his head. He lifted a hand. "How many of you had known that this race will be done by the water?" Czarina and two other people raised their hands. "Good."

"But that's not fair," Vladimir hissed
The others who had the same problem concurred to what he said by nodding.

"What's not fair? The fact that they had realized what the clue meant? Or the fact that you hadn't?"

Vladimir growled lowly and pointed a fat thumb at Czarina. One of her brows jerked up. "How is it possible that someone like her had been able to decipher the clue? Can she read?" Vladimir growled. "You had helped her hadn't you? Always taking her side."

Czarina scoffed and said, "he didn't." At the same time, her father frowned lightly and sighed, "I didn't."

Vladimir folded his arms. "Then who did? It's unfair that she had help and we hadn't." He looked at the other racers who were in the same situation as him. "Am I right?" They nodded. He glared at his father. "See?"

Qlaus shook his head and exhaled. "Gone are the days were people do things alone. Hadn't you referred to Google for help? Hadn't you asked the other racers or someone else to explain some clues to you?"

"But—"

"Enough," Qlaus said, raising a hand. "I don't want to hear anything else. The vehicles have been chosen and there's nothing you can do about that. There's nothing I can do about that." He glared at them. "Anymore complaints?"

They echoed a dull, "no" and he nodded.

Qlaus sighed and clasped his hands behind his back. "That aside, another day has come, bringing with it another race. You had been presented with the clues and you know what to do. As usual, if you stray past the right path you will be automatically disqualified." He pointed at the kayaks. "You will all be assigned individual kayaks." He smiled at them. "I'm sure you all know how to paddle a kayak right?" They all grumbled "yes" and he chuckled. "Anyway..."

Qlaus gestured to one of the people who were by the riverbank and Czarina followed his eyes. The person he gestured to crouched and picked up the paddles that were by her leg. She carried them in her arms and brought them to Qlaus. As she handed each of the paddles to Qlaus, he looked at the numbers that were inscribed into their black body, calling out the numbers of each racer. When he handed out the last one, he motioned for them to follow him to the kayaks.

"Find yours and stand in front of them." The racers did just that; Czarina stood in front of hers, tightening the grip she had on her paddle. "The rules are the same and simple. And try not to paddle your kayaks into another racer." He clapped his hands. "That aside. Racer fifteen had come in last during the previous race and had purposely delayed herself. This automatically gives you all a head start. So racer number fifteen could you please take a few steps backwards?"