The Journey for Paper (Cleansing the Earth)

[Jams Bolero]

The corridor curved around rightwards enough so that only two obstacles were clearly visible.  Beyond the wooden plank platform of which the group was standing on, mud covered the entire floor like an incredibly slippery carpet.  It almost seemed like the substance was threatening the duo, just waiting for them to slip, fall, and soil their precious off-white parchment.  Jams held the paper close to his chest in overprotective worry.  Several logs aligned in a zig-zag pattern led to the first obstacle, propped up vertically in the mud to act as stepping stones of a sort.  The first obstacle was simple enough, a series of ropes that one had to swing across in order to land on the platform ahead.  The second, however, was suspiciously innocent.  The platform was odd in shape, sort of like a demented letter "s", but beyond that nothing seemed too dangerous.  The stepping logs were more intimidating than that.  Jams began to fold the slip of paper into his pocket as he further analyzed the obsta-

"Stop folding that paper, kid," one of the ninjas stated, "or you'll have lost before you even started."
"Oh.." Jams replied disappointingly, "Well, you said unsoiled, so I thought it meant just don't get it filthy..."
"...Escort the paper to the end of the course unaltered."
"By the way, is there a time limit?"
"No, there is no time limit, though we won't stand around all day for you to finish the course."
"Cool!  I just wanted to make sure, since-"
"Come ooon, just start already or get a game plan going!  For GOD'S SAKE!!"  Another ninja, the one Jams accidentally ticked off, seemed tired of his mere existance.
"Get to your post, please.  The sooner you do the sooner they'll be out of your hair."

The irritated man stomped off, hopefully to grab some ice cubes and chill for a while.  In the meantime, Jams pulled Eric over for a team meeting.
"(Alright Eric, since we don't have a time limit, I don't think we have to rush this.  We'll start out nice and simple, taking our time to assess the situation and not fall in the mud.  If we get attacked, though, we might ruin the paper, so one of us can hold them off while the other makes a mad dash to the exit or protects the paper.  Is that good?  Any other ideas?)"