Rock and Roll

    Cath and Lyla found themselves in one of Tabira's many neighborhoods. This one had nothing but one story buildings made of dirt. The homes themselves were well-kept. Trees were scarce, but bushes and shrubbery were common. It was a nice neighborhood overall.
    More importantly, it didn't look like the small clearing they were supposed to find.
    "Ugh, this isn't it either," Cath said with obvious annoyance. The two of them had been looking for Marble since shortly after sunrise. It was now noon. Both of them were new to the city, so neither of them knew it well. "If they're one of four major guilds, why are they difficult to find?"
    "Maybe you should look around again," Lyla suggested.
    "Yeah..." Cath climbed to the top of one of the nearby trees. They had been doing this all morning. Cath would climb up whichever tree looked like the best vantage point and look around for any clearings, Lyla would point south, and the two of them would head wherever looked like it might be their target. Lyla had been watching the sun and the shadows it cast carefully to determine which way was south, but that stopped working now that the sun was directly overhead. More often than not, the surrounding trees would prevent Cath from seeing too much, which basically left the pair wandering in a south-ish direction. The last time Cath attempted this, she thought she had found a clearing. After looking around in all directions from her current vantage point, she figured out why she thought that. She jumped down from branch to branch until she was back at ground level with Lyla.
    "This is the edge of the city. This area looked like a clearing because there's nothing to see over here. We definitely can't go south any farther because we know the Trackers are in the city somewhere. Tabira has a lot of trees in any direction otherwise, which probably means no clearings."
    Lyla realized they had no reason to pick one direction over another at this point. "Let's... go west."
    "Alright."

    Hours later, they finally found the clearing. They weren't sure at first because this one had log cabins, just like a few other nearby areas in Tabira. Fortunately, the presence of Marble told them they had finally found it.
    "You're late." Marble barked.
    "We had trouble--"
    "Save your excuses. Both of you, get over here now." They complied. Marble led them to the center of a triangular 6-lane track filled with obstacles and directed their attention to one side. "You two are going to be tested here. This is a series of hurdles. Jump over them. For these, you need to stay in the lane I tell you to stay in. For the rest of the course, the lanes don't matter." Marble pointed towards the next side of the track. "Next, there's a balance beam over a small pit. Don't fall in. After that, there's a gate. It's an old and heavy gate, so you'll need to force it open." Marble pointed towards the last side of the track. "Finally, we have a field of spikes. You need to get through them without getting hurt. After that, you're done." Marble focused on the start of the course. "Zigzagoon, take lane 1. Sandshrew, take lane 2. Start when you're ready."
    "My name is--"
    "If you wanted to have time for introductions, you would have arrived on time. Lane 1. Go."

    They started as soon as they could. Lyla ran and jumped over the first two hurdles, clipped her tail against the third, and jumped straight into the fourth, causing her to crash into the ground with the hurdle. She quickly got up, stepped back a few paces, ran, and successfully cleared the fifth. The balance beam was tricky. It was just barely wide enough to fit one of her feet, but her legs weren't great for placing one foot directly in front of another. Instead, she had to face the side and slowly shuffle her feet across. Her tail threatened to throw her off balance, but she managed to keep going somehow. From this position, she was able to overlook the rest of the course. Cath was already finished and talking to Marble. Lyla kept inching forward, trying her best to control her balance. She eventually made it across without falling.
    The gate had closed itself somehow, so Lyla needed to open it again. She pushed it, but it only opened a few inches. Tackling it worked better, forcing it open enough for her to pass, even if it wasn't a very graceful entry. The spikes were mostly scattered around evenly, although there were a few gaps. Some gaps were more linelike than others. There weren't any clear paths from one end to the other. Lyla had to use some fancy footwork, but she was able to get across safely.
    Cath started with a sprint. She jumped over the first four hurdles, clearing them easily. After jumping over the last one, she curled up and rolled. The balance beam was no problem to her. Rollout was working as it always did, increasing in speed at the attack continued. This speed gave her enough force to open the gate easily. That speed also made turning a bit of a problem. Her turn was wider than she planned, but she stayed on track. Right when she had reached the spike field, she uncurled and pounced across it. The speed she gained while rolling allowed her to clear the field in one jump.

    "Done!" Cath stated proudly. "What did you think?" she asked Marble.
    Marble was impressed. She just didn't want to admit it right now. "That gives us time for introductions. What's your name?"
    "Cath."
    "Cath, you were supposed to go through the spikes, not over them. These obstacles are here to test you. They're not here for you to bypass them entirely."
    "Hey, we had to clear some spikes, and I cleared some spikes."
    "I have confidence in your ability to walk around spikes. Anyone can see danger ahead and walk away from it. That's not what you were being tested on."
    "You never said we couldn't go over them."
    "That's a warning I only have to give to flying types. Usually."
    "And I'm not a flying type. I can't just fly over everything."
    "You won't always have the opportunity to attack, either."
    "...ugh, fine. The rest of the course was good though."
    "You did alright."
    "Alright? That was great!"
    "Great on the hurdles, perhaps. Rollout was clever for the balance beam, but unnecessary for everything else. Again, you won't always have the opportunity to attack."
    "I could have done just as well without Rollout. You never said we couldn't use our moves."
    "We'll see about that."
    Lyla finished the course. "Great, you're both done. You two wait here," Marble ordered as she walked off to a nearby cabin.
    "That wasn't too bad," Cath said.
    Lyla agreed. "No, it wasn't. Except for that one hurdle."
    "If that's the worst we have to do, we can overcome anything." After a short pause, Cath realized something. "There was no swimming. Marble isn't going to send us to any large bodies of water."
    "Hah. Great!"

    When Marble returned, she was carrying a large green doll which she placed right in front of Cath. "Meet Sue. Sue is our substitute Substitute. None of us know the move Substitute, so the Artisans gave us this. Right now, imagine she's an unconscious client. You need to take her to safety. Cath, I want you to run the course again and take Sue with you this time." Cath nodded then carefully set Sue on her back. While Cath was repeating the course, Marble had a chance to talk to Lyla. "We have time for introductions. What's your name?"
    "Lyla."
    "Lyla, you should have picked up the pace. You were slow clearing the course and you're not winded right now."
    "Were we timed?"
    "No. You weren't on a picnic either. I want to see your abilities, speed included."
    "I can try again if you need me to."
    "No, that won't be necessary. You were otherwise alright. I don't think running is going to change your performance here much."

    Cath started with a sprint again. Sue wasn't very heavy, but the weight was noticeable. As Cath jumped, she felt she was jumping lower than before, but she still cleared the hurdles with little difficulty, so it probably wasn't anything to worry about. Walking across the balance beam was no trouble whatsoever thanks to Cath's small paws.
    Cath's first attempt at opening the gate was simply pushing it. The gate barely moved at all. Next, Cath rammed into the gate head-first. Headbutt was better, but the gate still wouldn't open enough for her to pass. Cath kept up her Headbutt, but the gate wasn't moving. After that, she set Sue off to the side. Rollout worked the first time, so she was going to try that again. It needed time to speed up, but it did open the gate fully. Cath ran back over to Sue, but by the time Cath had picked up Sue, the gate had slammed itself shut again.
    "Skip it," Marble yelled. "Just move on."
Cath was annoyed now and wanted some sense of triumph over the gate, so rather than just walk around it, she climbed over it.
    The main problem with the spikes was their height. They were tall enough and Cath was low enough to the ground that each spike would embed itself on her fur if she tried to simply walk past them all. She had to walk with her legs fully extended, which still wasn't too hard, even with Sue. The spikes were spread out enough and Cath's paws were small enough that walking through them was no trouble whatsoever.

    "Great, you're both done. Lyla, you were slow overall, but not too bad otherwise. Cath, you need strength training. Both of you did fairly well, but neither of you helped the other. I had you two start at the same time for a reason. Neither of you took advantage of it. You should be providing each other with stability, strength, and coordination. You two are a team now; you need to start acting like it. We're going to work on that. I want both of you to here once a week. Come back here five days from now and arrive early next time."
    "Of course," Lyla replied.
    "Fine," Cath grumbled.
    Marble took Sue back. "Great. We're done here for now. Dismissed."