Summer seems to be continuing its unannounced visit at Southern, the only sign of the usual autumn rains gathering on the distant horizon for the moment. It does make for a nice dry day for people to make a run at the obstacle course, if an oppressively hot one. Rielle is current escorting a group of Candidates to the beach to take a run at Rocio's new obstacle course, along with a few other Serval riders who've been voluntold to tag a long. The Serval wingleader is making a point of ensuring a pot of sun salve is being passed around, reminding people about the spate of heatstroke and sunburn the Weyr suffered from over the summer. "Rub it in well; you don't need to go slipping and sliding all over these things," she says as she brings them to a halt a short distance from the logs and wagon wheel rims that comprise the first stretch of the course.

Talya is one happy candidate with Summer 2.0 sticking around, wearing what is her usual jogging gear onto the beach. It's a loose pair of pants that have actually been cut away so their length no longer had to be rolled up or dragging, a bikini top, and her boots. Boots were important on the hot sands, and many months of jogging on the beach has helped her gain the muscles needed that she doesn't quite trudge along like other candidates. Her eyes light up at the obstacle course even when the salve reaches her. She doesn't take any, instead passing it along to the next candidate beside her. "Is there a prize for winning the course?" she asks loudly to the supervising riders, rubbing her hands together eagerly ready to give it a try. "You excited for this?" is asked of her fellow candidates, however.

Ginger helps herself to a good dollop of salve when the pot comes her way, slaps it loosely on her arm, and then takes another for her mostly bare legs and face before passing it on to the next candidate. Rapid rubbing-in follows as soon as she's stopped. When you're Ginger, sunburn is definitely a clear and present danger, and there's a fair amount of exposed skin ripe for burning, as she's wearing shorts and a very skimpy top for this little exercise. As she applies the salve, she keeps an eye on the obstacle course. She doesn't seem particularly interested in the suggestion of prizes, but she does answer Talya, "It looks fun. What do you think we're supposed to do with those hoopy bits?"

"Candidate!" Rielle's teal gaze is settled implacably upon Talya, having observed the pass made on that salve. "Get some of that on your skin now or ye won't be trying anything!" Nor is the wingleader about to Turn her attention away so that anyone gets away with it, considering the other wingriders with her are on their marks and watching, too. Once Ginger is done slathering herself, Rielle gestures for her to pass the salve back to the erstwhile Guard. "No prizes except bragging rights that you can already tackle something the weyrlings have to endure more often. But that isn't the point. If this," she says, sweeping her arm back toward the obstacle course without turning from them, "discourages anyone, remember that it can be worked on. You just need patience, discipline, and dedication." Or a dragon, and then they won't have a choice. "If those still scare you, y'might want to rethink that knot. But I hope you'll all be the brave ones."

Talya opens her mouth to talk back to Rielle, she even gets out a "I don't—" until she snaps her mouth shut. Perhaps it was already grilled into her before not to talk back to riders while wearing a white knot, and her jaw clenches a moment to avoid it any further before she lets out a "Yes ma'am." Reluctantly. Just to make sure she doesn't make the brownrider any angrier, she snaps off a snazzy salute. "Probably hop in and out of the hoopy parts," she replies to the red-headed candidate as she waits for Ginger to finish up with the salve. She scoops up a bit with two fingers, rubbing a thin film of the salve on her face and then her shoulders just using the minimal amount as possible for skin as well as fingers, avoiding getting her hands all slippery. With a huff she looks up to Rielle, hopefully satisfying the Wingleader before passing it on again. "Brave, yes. Slippery too." The latter is sad a lowly to her fellow candidates.

Ginger listens to Rielle's words with something like astonishment, darting glances round the group of candidates to see if she can work out who might be the target of the wingleader's diatribe. Who wouldn't want to have a go at this, after all! Several, apparently; there's a certain amount of shuffling going on as the candidates listen. "And along the logs, and… looks like there's a wall to climb." Still, she keeps her comments to a low tone, with an eye on Rielle for further instructions.

Good thing the stuff is fast-absorbing! Wingleader and field medic, Rielle knows what she's about and wouldn't risk anyone's safety with her medicines, Candidates and riders and anyone else who wants a shot at the course alike. She's unimpressed with Talya's huffing but doesn't acknowledge it beyond an arched brow. Now she turns a bit to eye the course itself, trying to decide whether or not it's actually finished. Regardless, there's plenty to work with, the first field beginning with the wheel-rim and log agility course and ending with a stretch of low-strung rope to crawl beneath. From there, the wall rises to the heights of a large blue, ropes dangling to assist on both sides. There's actually another wall beyond that now - shorter, but steeply curved so that the only way to catch the edge is to take a carefully timed run an a leap. Further, three lengths of logs, tiered in height, are there to be balanced across, then a jump down…and then a muddy pit presents itself, 3 rows of suspended ropes marking the way to cross to the end. "If anyone is uncertain of the line…" She looks to one of her wingriders, a young man not long out of weyrlinghood with green in his knot, and jerks her head for her to join him. Together, wingleader and rider take off, darting through, under, over, along, and across, assistance given over the top of the wall and a near-miss had at the curve beyond it. Some of it may look easy…but they're dragonriders. There are a lot of muscles working now that may not be just yet for all the Candidates. All in all, it's roughly three minutes before they're both back in front of their charges, sweating and puffing a bit but quite intact and grinning. "If there are no questions," the brownrider tells them, "line up at the start."

"Just keep running and it'll be fine… the problem is if you stop and try to think about what to do," Talya remarks to Ginger, as if she already knew how to run through the course. Her own dark eyes look at the more nervous candidates that don't seem as eager to run through the course. Their loss. She smirks back to them, then turns to focus on Rielle. The Wingleader is the one to follow instructions from, and she seems watches as the pair of them take off and maneuver through the course. "See, easy." She's going to eat those words soon! Because she's one of the first to push her way to the front of the line to start, bouncing on her booted feet as she waits for the signal to go, cracking knuckles and shaking them out even.

Ginger watches intently as Rielle and her wingrider tackle the course. "They're so quick!" In preparation for her own attempt, she rubs the palms of her hands on her shorts, which won't improve the shorts but may improve her grip. It may be clearer what she's supposed to do now that the two riders have demonstrated, but she's still frowning at some of the sections, and doesn't now seem in a rush to be near the front. Still, she follows Talya to the start. "Think I'd rather see how a few more people do this first." Nothing like learning from the mistakes of others!

Once the Candidates that are clearly raring to prove the ease of the course are lined up, Rielle moves the rest off to the side to watch. Obhaeroth eventually moseys his way out of the water, shaking off a healthy distance away and coming to sit - and make a convenient sunshade - and watch. Probably nicknaming them all as he observes; he loves having Candidates for just that reason! "Right. Stand ready!" Rielle calls at the end of the line of ready Candidates, and once she's certain they're all as ready as they're going to get, it's a simply shout of, "Go!" And they're loose!

Talya bounces on her feet in place to run the course, unable to keep still and her smirk turns into a toothy grin. "Only way to learn is to do it!" She may be a little competitive, for things that she likes. If it were a competition to sew the fastest hatching robe, she'd not even bother trying. Her dark eyes are locked to Rielle, waiting for the signal, and trying not to see who at the end did line up to challenge her. As soon as she hears 'Go!' she yells out "See you at the finish!" even as she is kicking up sand and taking off. First what she called the hopping, one leg in each rim and quite well coordinated! This is simple, she's had to do similar training for her Guard exam most likely. Her small speedy body is quick and agile at least, and she hits the wall with a slam, hand over hand, and here she can manage to peek at her competitors now to see where they are, particularly Ginger, as she climbs up.

Despite her reservations, Ginger is in the first bunch. As people seem to be gearing up for a quick off, she mutters, "This isn't a race, is it? She didn't say it was a race!" Whether it is or not, they're off! Ginger's pretty fit in some respects, but she's not really done a lot of running or anything like that lately. Still, hitting things with large hammers is good exercise too. Off she goes, trotting up to the wheels and then picking her way through them, one foot per wheel, not going all out for speed in an attempt not to trip. Over a log with a neat little vault, then more rims. She's not in the lead but she's not at the back either, and she's not looking as if she'll be out of energy any time soon.

"Safety over speed!" Rielle warns those who take off at top speed…though not in time for a few to eat sand in the midst of the log obstacles. No, it's not a race! Yet. Thankfully, no one comes away with anything broken, and they continue on more cautiously. Teal eyes dart quickly between Candidates, trying to look out for as much as possible between the fastest and slowest.

The wall is definitely taking a lot longer than Talya wanted. She aced that agility course, probably since it had not been long that she had become a true Guard herself. Still, her boot slips near the top of the wall and she slams against it heavily, keeping herself held up by her hands. It takes a moment to compose herself, getting feet back under herself… and then pushing up the last bit before pulling herself over. She pauses at the top to catch her breath, which only helps others catch up. She probably feels confident in the rest of the course that this doesn't seem to bother her. She gives Ginger a "Come on and catch up!" Before she moves to shimmy down the rope on the other side of the wall. This is easy, which means she's taking off at a run again towards the warped wall! … And then promptly slides down it, no where near to jumping and catching the rim. "Well shit," she says, more to those that are easily scaling the thing, the taller of the candidates.

Crawling under ropes comes next. Ginger's never been precious about little things like dirt: she has no hesitation in taking to her knees and crawling and squirming as required to make her way out the other side. Then it's the wall. She eyes it with glee: if there's one thing Ginger loves, it's climbing things. Granted, the bits of the bowl that she scales are better provided with handholds and footholds, but here there are ropes to help. She's up it without much difficulty, gives herself a moment to take in the view, and then she's letting herself down the other side and sprinting towards the curved wall, getting into the competitive spirit a bit. This obstacle isn't really climbable, and she stops and stares at it for a moment, watching as others try and either fail or succeed. She's taller than Talya by six inches, but that won't get her over the top without the application of a bit of brainpower.

That warped wall is presenting a lot of people with problems…though if that's the least of what those overseeing this group has to worry about this afternoon, thank Faranth for it. Rielle and her assistants are grouped at the curving wall now, and the wingleader is doing her best not to smile too much at seeing the cockiest among the lot taken down a peg or two. "If you can't beat it, that's a hundred push-ups and fifty jump squats instead before moving on!" she informs them all, even as a few of the taller ones finally catch the edge and start pulling themselves up. "It's not all in the run; think it through!"

Talya was doing so well! Even that rope she had to crawl under. She totally did that obstacle, too. Now she has a second wall to climb without any help from the ropes, and she stares at the curved edge without comprehension. Giving herself some room, she tries to run the obstacle again, only to slide back down again… and again. And gain. She takes a few steps further back, as if it will help her analyze the situation better… and see all these other taller candidates starting to climb over it. "I would have finished right about now if this one wasn't rigged," she growls when Ginger finally catches up, though her eyes are trailing to the brownrider. She wipes the perspiration from her forehead, then wipes THAT on her pants to make sure her hands aren't wet and slippery. "That isn't going to happen!" she calls the Wingleader regarding not being able to beat it. Eventually she seems to see a pattern in those running it, and she gathers her energy to do so again, running this time without leaning into the wall before launching herself before she starts sliding. One hand catches the edge, and she just hangs there.

Ginger is thinking it through! And what she's thinking is this: forward motion needs to be translated into upward motion, and the curved wall's not going to do enough of that for her. She even traces it out with a finger in the air, then wipes the sweat from her palms again, finding a clean bit of shirt for the purpose. Then she retreats far enough to get a good run up, sprints for the wall, and pushes off hard into a jump towards the top as she gets well up the curved bit. And it works! At least, it leaves her clinging by the fingertips to the top of the wall But being a Smith is good for something - actually lots of things, but only one's relevant here - in that it's provided her with strong hands and arm muscles. She hauls herself painfully upwards until she can get an arm over the edge, and the rest is simply a matter of struggling like a stranded fish until she's over the top. It really isn't pretty, but she's done it! With a glance towards Rielle, she shuffles uncomfortably along the top towards Talya. "D'you think a bit of teamwork's allowed here?" She reaches down, offering a hand.

The smile that curves Rielle's lips at Talya's retort is rather inscrutable; it's a sharp, knowing thing, not giving away whether she doubts the girl or is impressed with her determination. By the time Talya ends up dangling, some have made it on to the ropes and mud, with one taking a splash already. Ginger's ascent is noted…as is the way the red-haired girl scoots across to offer assistance to Talya. The wingleader folds her arms, teal gaze observing with keen interest. She doesn't make a move to tell them it isn't allowed…so surely all is well!

Talya seems to have used up most of her energy in all the pre-runs up the wall, and trying to pull herself is harder than she expected. She's already out of breath but holding on tight with that hand, clinging to the edge. Her muscle is definitely shakey, probably unable to get herself up— but then there is Ginger's hand! And she takes it carefully with her free one, finding the strength enough now to get all the way up. "Thanks," she puffs out at Ginger, taking a moment. "Dragonriding is all about teamwork, right? If they say it's not allowed, I'll have a few words to share with them." Her eyes find Rielle down below, not too far down that she may have heard the Guard-turned-candidate's words. Teamwork and standing up for a fellow candidate is a good thing, right? "Let's go on and finish it. Need a hand down?" She is not about to be unhelpful to someone that saved her there. But she's eager to get this over with now, especially now that she is no longer gonna finish first.

"You'd think so," Ginger agrees. "Besides, you can have enough of competing." She peers over the far side of the wall, first at the drop, and then at the logs beyond, where other candidates are still attempting to walk without falling. "Just needs letting ourselves down by the arms and then dropping, I think. I'm good for that." And she proceeds to do it, staggering a little as she lands. "And then the balancing on logs bit." She doesn't sound so happy about that, and she waits for Talya to get down.

Rielle simply peers back up at the dangling Candidate expectantly when Talya glances down. There's a sense of relief that sets the brownrider into motion once she accepts Ginger's hand, her arms dropping as she moves on with an approving smile. Nearby, one of her wingriders is counting out pushups for a few Candidates who simply couldn't figure it out. "You'll have it next time!" she calls to those ones as she departs to watch the girls tackle the balancing logs.

Talya is going to just be happy about finishing the course, unlike those that could not get past this current wall. She follows Ginger's example, though she definitely looks more worn out than she hoped to be at this point. Her small body shudders as she lands heavily in the sand. "Right, we got this. The rest are simple, at least. We can do this, just run and don't look down." So long as you have good balance! She gives Ginger an encouraging nod, taking off towards said logs. Her small body thankfully doesn't give her any trouble, jumping up and covering the length of the logs with only one or two short pauses as her body unbalances near the end, which is caused when her eyes dart to see how Ginger is faring on them. She wants to at least finish with the girl. Last up is the rope swing over the mud!

Ginger is not quite as confident at balancing on the logs as she might be; she takes the first one slowly with several pauses to wobble. But as the height increases, strangely, so does her confidence, and she crosses the last one at a fair speed. And now just the rope swing, and that looks fun. She's positively grinning as she approaches it, takes a rope and jumps. What a shame she didn't wipe her palms clear of sweat and suncream again… She's half way across, and screeching in delight in a manner that would horrify her mother, when her hands start to slip, and she ends up dropping into the mud, as several have done before her. She wades out on the far side, absolutely covered in the stuff, and in dire need of a bath - or, this being the beach, a dip in the sea. She's laughing fit to burst.

Rielle is convinced that some of the Candidates are falling into the mud on purpose, the youngest of the lot in particular. Some people never get tired of splashing in puddles, it seems! Not that she can really fault them right now. She gives a little shake of her head, though can't help smirk at the laughter she hears coming up from below the ropes. "You're all lucky there's another group coming out to try, or I'd send you around again!" she informs them all, though there's little bite to it. It's they're first time, and it's hot as blazes. "Take a cue from Talya and Ginger and try a little teamwork in the tough spots! Your ego is not worth someone's failure. Or death, in the case of Threadfall." Which may seem like a leap, obstacle course to flaming Thread, but it's certainly part of the lesson of the course. "Into the water, those who need it! Then get back here, quickly, please." Not that it's a request. Obhaeroth will bound out into the surf to make sure they all get moving, and he'll have fun doing it!

Talya gives a woop as she crosses the mud on her rope swing, and clearing the majority of the mud! Except she doesn't let go right away, startled by the screeching that Ginger unleashes as she catches up. Realizing she missed the clean end of the beach, she at least lets go at the far end of the mud, her boots still slapping down wetly. A more dignified landing than the younger candidate, but still a little muddy. She trudges out of there, shaking the mud that splashed up on her hands as well and then she actually turns to regard Ginger with a wide grin. "You think we get out of chores if we're too muddy to keep things clean?" And then Rielle is yelling at them to get cleaned up instead and she winces. "And here I thought she was starting to like us." She glances over at the brownrider then makes her way to the water, only far enough to where the water splashes in, to clean off her boots and hands.

Well, if Rielle is actually telling her to get into the water… Ginger wades in with alacrity, and she doesn't stop at paddling-depth. Waist-deep, she drops to her knees and ducks her head under water. Her clothes won't suffer from the ducking, and her boots were already going to need a thorough polish and some TLC. She emerges considerably cleaner, to say nothing of cooler, and dripping with seawater rather than sweat. "That," she pronounces, "was fun."

A display of liking takes many forms! And Rielle wants these Candidates to be clean and cooled off before heading back, of course. Ginger manages to pull a laugh from the wingleader as she watches them all rinse off. The it's a march back to the barracks to change…though with this heat, they'll probably get baked to dry in no time.