Hunting For Some Fun

-Hargeon Town, the beach-

Wearing her purple short-sleeved t-shirt and blue jean short shorts with black tennis shoes, Diana arrived at Hargeon Town's beach with no gear because today she was not here for work-related reasons. She was here to have some fun. Ever since starting her new life as a legitimate Guildless mage almost two months ago the huntress had been learning how to live like a normal person. It had been a challenge to adapt to her new circumstances, but so far she had been up to the challenge. Stopping a short distance from the party area, Diana noticed that there were a lot of people here.

There was no shortage of party-goers at the beach... there were so many people that in some places it was hard for anyone to move without bumping into another person. She saw people of all ages attending the party and everyone seemed to be having fun doing something other than their normal routines. Diana was here to have some fun herself, but she did not know where to begin having it. She also did not know what "fun" really was because she tended to work a lot.

Unsure as to what the beach party had to offer, Diana chose to walk around the beach to get a look at the activities being offered today before making a decision about which ones to participate in.

-Forty minutes later-

The beach was so crowded that it had taken Diana longer than anticipated to do a lap around it, but she had learned that there were seven activities to choose from. She could choose from a limbo contest, a surfing contest, a volleyball game, a sand castle building contest, a horseshoe throwing contest, a fishing contest, and a tropical feast that boasted a wide variety of food for anyone who wanted to eat before or after participating in the other activities. There was certainly plenty to do here.

Diana immediately ruled out the surfing contest because she did not bring a bathing suit or a change of clothing and did not want to get her only outfit wet if she could help it. She also ruled out playing volleyball because she did not know how and was not going to try and wing it when other people were counting on her to pull her weight. Ruling those two options out still left her with five activities to choose from and five was enough for her to find something fun to do. The problem the huntress faced now was deciding which activity to do first.

The activity she was the most inclined to try first was the fishing contest. Her second choice was the horseshoe throwing contest. Her third choice was the limbo contest. Finally there was the tropical feast. Diana might participate in the sand castle building contest if the other activities were unavailable, but the sand castle building contest was the activity that interested her the least.

No matter which activities she did and no matter what order she did them in, Diana was saving the feast for last. That much was for certain. With that having been decided, the huntress found herself pondering the same question she was trying to answer earlier.

Which activity would she do first?

Diana was not sure, but she would make a decision soon.

[Post Word Count: 558]
[Diana's Word Count: 558/2,000]

Diana is rolling for the Fishing Contest.

The member 'Diana Winchester' has done the following action : Dice Rolls

---

'Normal Dice' :

-Twenty minutes later-

Deciding to do the Fishing Contest first, Diana had retraced her steps to the contest area, which was on the far right side of the beach. Once there she approached a table manned by event staff members and declared her intent to participate. She was directed towards a rack of ocean fishing rods placed just to the right of the table; permitted to choose her own rod, Diana chose a blue one equipped with a hook and artificial bait. Diana was also given a blue plastic bucket in which to keep any fish she caught during the contest.

After listening to a brief rundown of the contest rules Diana walked towards the edge of the water and took up a position at the far right end of the contest space, a place where she felt that fish were most likely to bite. There she cast her line into the water and waited.

-Ten minutes into the contest-

Diana had spent ten minutes casting and re-casting her line hoping for a bite and so far that hope had been in vain. In contrast to the unlucky huntress, one fortunate man two places to her left was catching so many fish that he had difficulty deciding which one he was going to keep to have weighed at the end of the contest. Diana turned back to her line and hoped for a bite so that she could at least try to catch a fish.

As time ticked on the huntress was starting to get a little concerned that she might not catch anything before the contest ended. Diana took a quiet breath and focused on her fishing rod, watching the rod's tip for any sign of movement. Her patience was rewarded three minutes later when she finally got a nibble on the hook.

Diana sprung into action and sharply pulled the pole upwards, then began reeling in the line with her left hand. When she reeled the line all the way in she could finally see what she had caught. What she saw was underwhelming, to say the least.

She had reeled in a small, flat fish that was brown and had its eyes on the top side of its head.

Diana looked at her "catch" and frowned. It was a small fish roughly the size of her hand. The disappointed Diana thought of throwing it back and trying to catch a larger one but decided against doing so since time was not on her side. Unwilling to risk not having a fish when the contest ended, the huntress took her catch off the hook and placed it inside her plastic bucket. The contest ended less than two minutes after the huntress had caught the fish.

-At the judging table, ten minutes later-

Having learned that the weight of the flounder she had caught was at the bottom of the rankings at a modest ten pounds, Diana walked away from the weighing table that had been set up about three meters to the left of the judging table. That small fish was hardly worth the effort to bring in, but at least she had caught a fish before the contest ended liked she had hoped to do. Diana supposed that she would have to be satisfied with that small victory.

Diana turned in her fishing rod and bucket at the place she had gotten them from and was given a green wreath of flowers in exchange. The blond male staff member who had given it to her explained that leis were given to contestants as a reward for participation regardless of their rank in the contest. Diana accepted the lei, put it around her neck, and thanked the staff member. She then walked away from the Fishing Contest to find another activity to participate in.

[Post Word Count: 636]
[Diana's Word Count: 1,194/2,000]
Diana has earned the lei from the Fishing Contest. She currently has one out of four leis needed for event completion.

-At the Limbo Contest, fifteen minutes later-

After the fishing contest Diana decided to do the Limbo Contest next. She approached the Limbo Contest area and walked over to a table manned by event staff members that was facing a limbo pole on two upright poles and a sound system playing upbeat tropical music. Waiting nearby were five young women in bikinis... Diana stood out due to her casual clothing. She did not mind, though. She doubted that anyone would complain about her choice of clothing.

After declaring her intent to participate Diana and the other contestants were directed to form a line a meter away from the bar and the first round of the contest began shortly after the line had been formed. A tropical music piece with a ukulele as the main instrument and steel drums as the backing instrument played as the first young woman in line, a young woman wearing a white bikini and boasting waist-length blonde hair, leaned backwards to try and go under the bar. She cleared it with ease and so did the redhead behind her. Everyone made it past the first round and two young male event staff members lowered the bar one rung.

The second round began and the bikini-clad blonde led off, passing under the bar without any difficulty. So did the redhead behind her and the black-haired young woman behind the redhead. Again everyone cleared the round. Again the bar was lowered and the third round began.

The blonde led off and again she passed under the bar: so did the next three behind her. Unfortunately the fifth young woman, a blonde with shoulder-length hair who wore a pink bikini, slipped on the sand and fell while trying to pass under the bar, resulting in her elimination. After the bar was reset Diana easily passed under it, thus making it to the fourth round. Five contestants remained.

The bar was lowered by one rung and the music changed to a steel drum solo backed by a ukulele and female vocals singing about a sunny day at the beach. The first two young women passed under the bar without any trouble, but the black-haired young woman who was third in line leaned too far backwards and fell on her back while making her attempt, eliminating her from the contest. The bar was reset and both the next person in line and Diana passed under it, so it was lowered again and the fifth round started. Four contestants remained.

Diana watched the blonde in the white bikini struggle to get under the bar, but with careful movement and patience she cleared it. The surefooted redhead passed under the bar with less difficulty than her predecessor. The next person, a brunette in an orange bikini with short hair that ended just below her ears, leaned back and walked under the bar. She reached the halfway point before she wobbled and fell backwards onto the sand. Once the bar was reset it was Diana's turn to attempt to pass under it.

Diana leaned back and walked under the bar, wobbling a bit at the halfway point but regaining her footing in time to avoid a fall. She passed under the bar and proceeded to the sixth round. Three contestants remained.

The bar was lowered yet again and this time the blonde who had led the line hesitated for a moment before leaning back and making her attempt. She leaned back and moved forward, reaching the halfway point. She was just about to make it when she went upright too soon and knocked the bar off with the top of her head, causing her to be eliminated. The bar was reset and it was the redhead's turn. The redhead leaned back and reached the halfway point with ease, but then she ran into some difficulty.

She began to wobble and nearly fell backwards when she recovered her balance and moved a couple more steps forward. She moved forward two more steps before beginning to wobble again. She rallied a second time and moved forward three more steps. She was just about to clear the bar when she wobbled a third time; this time there was no recovery. She fell backwards onto the sand and was eliminated.

The bar was set up again and it was Diana's turn to pass under the bar. Diana held her breath and leaned backwards, then began to move slowly and carefully. She watched the bar closely because at this point her chest size threatened to work against her. Diana slowly maneuvered under the bar and kept going, watching carefully to make sure that her chest did not knock the bar off or otherwise disturb it. After a tense journey Diana passed completely under the bar and walked a few more steps before standing upright and facing the event staff members at the table.

She had won the contest!

-At the table-

Diana was pleased with herself as she received a pink lei for participation in the Limbo Contest. She put it around her neck and walked away from the table. Now she was going to go participate in the Horseshoe Throwing Contest and see if she could not win that contest as well.

[Post Word Count: 874]
[Diana's Word Count: 2,068]
Diana has earned the lei from the Limbo Contest. She currently has two out of four leis needed for event completion.

-At the Horseshoe Throwing Contest, ten minutes later-

After her unexpected victory in the Limbo Contest Diana felt ready to take on the Horseshoe Throwing Contest. She had walked over to the table manned by event staff members and declared her intent to participate. She was given five purple plastic horseshoes and pointed towards the peg in the sand that would be her target. Diana walked over to a place roughly eight meters away from the peg and joined up with a trio of elderly people waiting to get the game going.

One of them was an elderly woman with black-rimmed glasses wearing a pink muumuu. The second was an elderly man with wearing a blue Hawaiian shirt with white flowers on it and khaki cargo shorts with brown sandals. The third was an elderly woman wearing a yellow sundress and a straw hat plus large sunglasses.

As soon as Diana got into place one of the event staff members announced a start to the contest. The woman in the pink muumuu went first, tossing a pink plastic horseshoe and missing it by a good meter to the left. The elderly man in the blue shirt tossed his blue horseshoe at the peg and missed it by a half-meter to the right. The woman in the yellow sundress tossed her yellow horseshoe and missed the peg by a good two meters; the horseshoe landed two meters behind the peg. Diana threw her first horseshoe and it landed a half-meter in front of the target.

Diana looked at her fellow players and could not help but to notice that the horseshoes of the contestants matched the primary color each person wore. Whether that was deliberate or just coincidence was unknown. However, it would have no effect on the outcome of the contest.

The woman in pink threw her second horseshoe and it landed a meter short of the target. The man in blue threw his second horseshoe and almost rung the peg. The woman in yellow threw her second horseshoe and it landed two meters short of the target. Diana threw hers and it rung the peg.

The woman in pink took her turn and threw her third horseshoe; it landed just a half-meter short of the peg. The man in blue threw his third horseshoe and it rung the peg. The woman in yellow's third throw landed a meter to the right of the peg. Diana's third throw resulted in it ringing the peg.

After the third turn of each person the contest proceeded rather quickly. The woman in pink missed her fourth throw by a good two meters. The man in blue missed his fourth throw by only a half-meter to the left. The woman in yellow overshot the target by a meter with her throw. And Diana rung the peg a third time.

The fifth and final throw for each contestant was an improvement for everyone except Diana. The woman in pink missed ringing the peg by only a half-meter. The man in blue rung the peg again. The woman in yellow missed the peg by a half-meter to the left. And Diana rung the peg for the fourth and final time.

-The end of the contest, five minutes later-

At the end of the contest the contestants stood in front of the table to hear the results. Diana came in first, the man in blue came in second, the woman in pink took third, and the woman in yellow took fourth. Diana received a yellow lei for her participation and put it around her neck. Now that Diana had won two contests in a row it was time for her to participate in the Tropical Feast, the activity she had saved for last. For that activity the only competition Diana would have to face was competition for a place in line.

[Post Word Count: 644]
[Diana's Word Count: 2,682/2,000]
Diana has earned the lei from the Horseshoe Throwing Contest. She currently has three out of four leis needed for event completion.

-At the Tropical Feast, one hour and thirty minutes later-

After her victory in the Horseshoe Throwing Contest Diana was ready to see what the Tropical Feast had to offer. So were a lot of other people. In fact there were so many people waiting in line that Diana had to wait an hour in line just to get a study paper plate, but once she got the plate and silverware rolled up in a napkin actually getting food took only half as long.

Diana saw twelve tables placed side-by-side and loaded with food, predominantly fish and pork-based dishes. There was a table in the middle that featured slices of fruits like apple, pineapple, and banana for variety, but the bulk of the food was fish and pork-based... not that Diana had any problem with that. She went through the line until she got to the fourth table and picked up a serving of grilled tuna and a serving of baked flounder. Once she was finished there she went down the line and picked up a slice of pineapple for variety.

After that Diana went all the way down the line and went in search of seating. Carrying the plate of food and the bundled silverware, Diana carefully made her way over to some seating. It was arranged in five rows of twelve wooden tables and there was plenty of seating, but she did not want to wait around. More people were getting in line for the Tropical Feast and if she waited too long she might not be able to get a seat.

Diana made her way over to the twelfth table on the fifth row and managed to get there just as the previous occupants were walking away. Now that she had a table to herself for the time being the huntress could eat in peace. Unrolling the clear plastic silverware, Diana began to take part in the Tropical Feast.

-Fifteen minutes later-

Having eaten in ten minutes and taken five minutes to dispose of the used plate, napkin, and the plastic silverware in the proper receptacles, Diana was about to leave the beach when a female event staff member with shoulder-length blue hair walked up to Diana and presented her with a purple lei for participating in the Tropical Feast. Diana thanked the young woman, put the lei around her neck, and began walking towards Hargeon Town. She needed to go home and look for a job. Buying her new townhouse in Capital Crocus had not been cheap and furnishing it had taken another large chunk out of her savings.

Still, the Beach Party had been fun. It was well worth taking the time to go to. Now Diana had to go home and find a job so that she could start putting Jewels back into her savings. Taking one last look at the beach before she left the party, Diana then turned around and began walking towards home.

[Post Word Count: 493]
[Diana's Word Count: 3,175/2,000]
Diana has earned the lei from the Tropical Feast. She has earned all four leis needed for event completion.