Gold and dragon feathers

Crowns of silver

Tubbo can identify all sorts of emotions buzzing in his chest as he follows the sleepy boys towards the towering arena. Mellohi walks steadily besides him, careful to keep his pace at something close enough to matching Tubbo's to prevent them from being separated.

The promise of three days where they will have to return to the building is both daunting and exciting.

Murmurs that agree with him seem to bubble from all around him. There might be more people waiting to get into the main entrance than there is in all of Snowchester. Actually, it seems very possible.

He is definitly glad that he's going to the back enterance rather than staying in the crowd.

The back enterance itself is surprisingly similar to the one he went to in Drywaters, despite being so much larger. Two large gates with an unfamiliar possum hybrid keeping guard with a large, modern room behind it. The room itself has very similar ledges and art for the dragons to lounge on and a few spots for the riders to hang out. Though, this one also has brushes, polsih and other items meant to spiff up the dragons (and maybe even the riders) before they go out.

Phil waves at him from his spot at a table he couldnt see until fully entering the room. At it the dragon riders are fueling up for the main event, as their dragons are brought stuff from a small door behind it (that he is told to go through to grab some food. Behind it an entire kitchen is up and running, workers rushing to get things ready.

He picks himself out somthing small for breakfast and joins the chatter filled dining table.

" I heard they're actually planning to include audience votes for the final contest this time!"

"Oh?"

"What the hell are they supposed to vote on?"

Dream just shrugs in response to the twins before taking another bite.

"I dunno, George didnt have time to explain"

"Of course hes the one who told you- I still dont get how he's in the designing field when hes colorblind anyway"

"Wilbur, we've already talked about this"

"I know, was just trying to get a conversation started"

" a 'conversation', sure "

" well,what else are we supposed to talk about, Techno?"

" maybe we could just eat in silence and save our energy?"

"That's no fun!"

The chaos is oddly familiar (and not just in the sense that he's been eating with the sleepy boys most days). It's hard not to recall the way Ranboo and Tommy like to pretend to bicker when the minutes grow too long. Though, unlike at home, he doesn't find himself wanting to join in that much. There's just too much unfamiliarity with the specific way they show that they all are familiar with each other.

It doesn't take long before it's time for the group to disperse and soon he's being led by a lizard hybrid to a side room just above the ground floor, overlooking the competition.

The room is already occupied by workers and a couple of specialists of some sort. He decides to stay near the door with Mellohi rather than trying to make friends, watching the empty field. Though, he keeps his ears perked
as he tries to absorb more information about the behind the scenes of these races. It takes a lot more people to set up than he would have guessed (though it makes sense).

He's not sure how long it takes until the intercoms screech to life but it feels like a longtime. Not that he minds, as soon as Eret's voice begins to announce the day's events he practically right back at the first competition he's ever watched, adrenaline bringing him as close to the glass as he can get in order to get a better look at the confident dragons strutting into view one at a time, he waves at the sbi and gets a wink from Wilbur in return.

It's strange to see the dragons he's come to be so used to in the spotlight again, scales glinting in the lighting and bodies shifting in anticipation. Then it comes to be announced, the thing that's especially about the Logstedshire obstacle course.

"Our contestants here will not be racing as normal, rather they will one at a time be tasked with making their way through the maze of glass obstacles!"

That helps explain part of why the competition will take place over multiple days, though to be fair the higher ranked dragon riders almost never do the entire thing in one sitting. He kind of wonders why that is.

" they will be scored by overall performance in this part as well as time-"

Tubbo doesn't even realize that he's focusing on his thoughts instead of the announcer's voice until he hears feels the stadium trembke and feels feathers puff up under his hands.

He immediately snaps his attention to the window as glass panes decorated with a slight pattern of some kind slide into place. He almost doesn't notice most of the dragons step back, out of sight until it's over.

Then , before he can figure out where they went, the main lights shut off with a sudden click ,colorful blue and purple lights taking their place after a moment of darkness.

The colors reflect off of glass that, for a moment, is almost invisible, until a final set of white lights clicks on, revealing the shapes of the glass they are contained in.

Friend is called to go first and Tubbo is thoroughly taken by how the dragon practically matches the glass in the lighting, his rider leaning forward to see better as the countdown ticks.

A whistle blows and the duo take off, weaving through the illuminated panels to the best of their ability.

Tubbo has to admit that it looks hard, certain movements making Tubbo wonder if the riders can see the glass nearly as well as the thousands of spectators.

Friend skids to a haugly in a corner but before he can go to turn around Wilbur directs the dragon's gaze upwards.

Tubbo watches as the dragon's claws press against the glass as they begin to make their way through a tight upwards column of empty space that Tubbo is certain Steve and Crowza wouldn't fit through.

In the last half of the course Tubbo watches friend leap from panel to panel instead of flying curiously before finally a buzz as

"-Finish!"

Tubbo notices a screen besides him flick to life as camera footage reaches the room. A close up on Wilbur's (slightly dazed) smile.

As the dragon rider is lead away by a bird hybrid with a glow stick, Steve is announced to go next.

Just as Tubbo begins to worry about how Steve could possibly make it through the track the lights all shut off, returning to show off an entirely different track with Steve standing at the entrance.

Reeling about the fact that they just did that, Tubbo still finds himself appreciating the way the white dragon seems to glow in the dark lighting.

He feels himself grinning as he realizes that they still have most of the dragons to go and boy, he's excited.

By the time the competition is over his arms and back are sore from being so at the ready the entire time but he can't bring himself to care, he's reminded why he always loved to watch competitions.

The promise of audience participation tomorrow only makes him feel more like a giddy little kid.

He wonders if Tommy and Ranboo were watching from Niki's at home.

If not he's going to talk their ears off about it but for now he'll have to do with talking to Mellohi until Phil shows up to take him back to the others for lunch (and ranting to them) about what happened, ignoring the way they get flustered.

As they leave everyone they see bubbles with energy and Tubbo feels happy, everything is looking up. 

(Hhh sorry for the wait and the short chapter. I meant to put a lot more detail into this but I'm just too excited for the chapters coming up I think)
(Also to be completely honest here, I normally write this kind of chapter listening to Pokémon battle music but this time I started to just listen to Mario aquatic race from Mario galaxy to get rid of the pressure I felt about making this good qvq so the vibe may be off but I feel like this chapter is still alright and I hope you enjoyed)