Event 2 - Obstacle Course and Carnival || Self-Para
Title: Against Perceived Odds
When: Day 1, around Noon.
Where: Obstacle Course
Who: Harmony, with background involving other slaves.
Summary: Harmony's thoughts prior to and post the obstacle course.
The odds seemed to be against Harmony, which wasn't unusual. She'd seen the bets placed and the fact that no one had believed she could do well, only fueled her determination to show them that she was more than they believed her to be.
When she'd been told the process and the actions that would be required of her on the track, she'd taken it all in attentively. Having seen the course briefly she had planned a strategy to at least place well within the top margins. Her determination to win had diminished her modesty and nervousness about the pieces of leather that she was forced to parade around in like some common whore. All of the years of dance she'd undertaken would work to her advantage for both the required ensemble and her physical endurance.
Listening around to general gossip Harmony had come by a few facts about the obstacles that she would put to good use. There would be water, combative training equipment, and a part involving two guards. She wasn't certain about what that could mean, but she hoped it wasn't anything that involved her being hit or embarrassed any further.
After an hour of general milling around with the other slaves, Harmony was called to the starting point. She would have been lying if she had told anyone that she wasn't nervous. The butterflies that typically took up root in the pit of her stomach were frantically beating their wings and no matter how hard she tried to muster her previous bravado, it wouldn't come. However, when she looked up and was met by the stare of the Masters on the island and others, she was filled with righteous anger that gave her the adrenaline rush that she'd been trying to build. She could do it.
As soon as she was given the go she bolted for the stairs that would begin her long journey through the course. She powered through the rest of the obstacles--got held up at the monkey bars when she slipped and lost her swinging rhythm but climbed right back onto the bars and swung her way through. She knew it would cost her time for the fall, but she was confident that she wasn't doing too badly. When she finally arrived at what she suspected was the portion of the obstacle involving the two guards, she wasn't surprised to learn that she was being forced to orally pleasure them--then swallow, before she could move on. At that point, she was of two minds. General outrage at the assumption that she'd allow herself to be forced to partake in sexual favors--because sucking some guy off was not a true test of physical endurance, it was only for the guards' benefit-- and the other half of her wanted to beat the people that didn't believe in her. That never believed in her. Eventually after a brief crack of a whip, which scared her half to death, and the warning prompt, Harmony sucked up her pride and knelt before the men. She had trouble, of course, throughout the entire ordeal, but she was able to successfully swallow their release and move on.
Arriving at the finish line, Harmony felt like bursting into tears with joy and sorrow. She didn't have anyone to greet her happily with hugs and kisses for a job well-done, and it hurt. She missed her family with a fierce emotion, and it was disheartening to not have them there after she'd done something so strenuous. But she was thoroughly elated to have done the entire thing with little to no trouble.
Harmony was escorted to a medical team that looked her over and cleaned her wounds that she'd gotten from all of the climbing and crawling, and released her to the slave pen.
The days activities had been exhausting, but Harmony felt good about herself. She'd shown them that she could do it and that she was worthy of their attention; even if they wouldn't understand it that way.
