// you absolutely don't have to match the length, tl;dr at the bottom!!

Like a few other things Danny had gotten done lately, he had planned this next checkpoint out both earlier than usual and without another soul having even a slight inclination about what he was up to. Not that he was intentionally trying to be sneaky, he was just too shy and nervous to make a big deal about what he was doing. Well, there was the person who he got the necessary map from but he made sure to ask and wait some time before officially setting out. Didn’t need a crowd or someone chasing him down and risking the chance of looking like a fucking idiot. In hindsight, setting out to accomplish the next stage in his division selection without telling anyone was probably not a great idea, should something go terribly wrong. But Michael was convinced it was safe enough, and Keona did it just fine, so what was the big deal? Just don’t mess it up, that was not a record you’d want to set.

The moon was still high in the darkened sky when the wolf woke up and left, a less than new satchel around the shoulder holding what he needed and what he’d hold as he found the specific totems needed, making sure not to wake anyone up to the best of his ability. Partly up so early to not disturb anyone else, and also partly because something about the stars overhead made him feel more secure, his initial answer only because they were pretty to look at. It could have gone deeper than that, admittedly, but he wasn’t too sure how deep just yet. Assumed that such philosophical answers came with age. However, he found that night over the archipelago was rather beautiful, in a way that was hard to explain. The beach and surrounding jungle was always a sight, he didn’t deny that, but the darkness and sparkling reflected in the waves with the light of the moon was nearly ethereal. Ethereal, and nostalgic, but once more, he didn’t know why or how to explain himself.

He’d traveled some distance over the cold sands before checking the marked paper for the places he needed to go, the x’s placed dark enough to see even in the lack of sunlight, and from what he could tell it was almost a straight way up to the volcano itself, a little less than linear but nothing too insane that would have him wandering for days. Thank goodness for that. His tail brushed against something while he was reading and mentally making notes on where to go, frightening him enough where he nearly jumped out of his own skin. Which would have been very inconvenient, have you ever tried to go on a day long hunt without your skin? Didn’t think so. Luckily, it was not a threat nor a living creature at all, but a statue that looked like it had seen it’s fair share of the elements over time. Danny squinted, wishing that for the time being he could have been or at least had the night vision of a cat, because it took him a minute too long still to figure out that the stone being was, in fact, a turtle. The location and somewhat isolation of the statue seemed reminiscent of an old stone carved visage of a god of sorts, which was honestly rather humorous to imagine the Typhoon making offerings to a giant turtle with the assistance of a turtle statue. Maybe he’d ask Michael or Keona or even Roan about it later, if only because he somehow managed to always cross paths with them, and they had the air of knowing things about the Typhoon that were in existence long before he was born.

Moving on.

The first totem to hunt down was close to the bay it looked like, far enough from the water so the high tide wouldn’t interfere with his digging. Or, y’know, steal the totem itself from under his paws, which would have been very rude. But the ocean was a bit of a cruel mistress, and life hadn’t been quite on his side lately. But that was neither here nor there. He stretched, preparing for a bit of work, sand was certainly not as easy to dig through as earth was. It got everywhere, and the grainy texture felt like it would rub his skin clean off, a feeling that made him uneasy as it only served to remind him of the stormy night that he initially lost his mother, and that train of thought never ended well. For obvious reasons. He was starting to think he had the wrong place right before his paw thunked against something that was neither sand nor shell, and pulled out a little wooden totem, putting a name to the figure as the symbol of the Blackjack Rats. The little rat and it’s little ace of spades looked so mischievous despite being nothing more than a little totem that was going to sizzle away at the end of his journey. That made him feel sort of bad. He put it in the satchel.

Next was the crystal caves, which to his knowledge he didn’t think he’d ever been in. He hadn’t any reason to, but heard from others that was where all the gold and material came from, and he figured at the least he ought to learn where the caves were, maybe even explore within reason. Too far in and he would be in a great deal of trouble. As far as his search was concerned, the next totem location was just outside the opening of the cave system, the sparkling of the resources within visible from where he eventually stood, double, then triple checking his location. It was rockier than his prior spot, but digging up the ground beneath proved a less arduous and quicker task than the sand. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the next figure he pulled out of it’s little hidey-hole was the manta-ray guarding an arrow and a sword. Danny held it in his paws for a moment, as dirty as his paws were, before putting in the satchel at his shoulder with the little rat as well.

Perhaps it was the steady adrenaline, or the unwavering determination to finish this on the first try, to prove something to himself and maybe to the others around him, but even by the time the wolf was hunting down the third totem, he did not feel even a little bit tired. The sun was starting to make it’s grand appearance by now, hours having passed him by without realizing, the once dark sky lit up by streaks of glorious pinks and oranges. Rocks turned to lush undergrowth as his last stretch brought him to the botanical sight just beneath the volcano’s steep trails, past the sands and into the jungle. He had a feeling the temple was somewhere nearby, which wasn’t a bad place to be. And not a bad place to hide the final totem either. The problem was that the plants were large things, creating shadows that such a small thing could easily be hidden under. Could be worse, he supposed, optimistically, it could still be dark outside. For traversing a jungle, you’d think he’d be louder than he was, but being so frightened of potential threats made Danny surprisingly adept at limiting his volume. Especially when you couldn’t see where they might come from. He would be the first to admit he really, really did not like the jungle, even before discovering the corpse of his mother crushed beneath one of the towering trees. But he had no choice in the matter, running meant failing, and failing was worse.

He pushed large green leaves away from any potential hiding spots in the area the map marked off, observing any spots where the dirt looked loose or at the very least disrupted, digging up not one but three different spots. A little challenging, this one, he was slowly learning that he was not built for intelligent observation. And it took way too long to locate and pull the last totem up and out, frowning at the vial hugging mamba as if it personally offended him.

Now, the moment that everyone was always waiting for. The most dangerous expedition of the map guided adventure, and absolutely the part he was beyond nervous about. The volcano.

Getting up the side of the thing was the easier part, Danny was not a small boy after all, and spent most of his waking hours hiking about the territory to avoid social interaction where he could. His legs could handle the trek, rest assured, but his lungs absolutely despised the lowered air quality the higher up he got. He grimaced multiple times, once having to stop to shake the water from his eyes, the lighter fur of his chest starting to darken from the smoke. Just had to discard two of the totems, and he was done. He could go home.

The Blackjack Rats and Necro Mambas were his sacrifices, the two chosen totems for the volcano to consume being removed from the inside of the satchel and promptly released into the air as he tossed them, after taking perhaps a step too close. The lightheadedness he was beginning to suffer from became his enemy as it stole away any strength to stop his own momentum, promptly slipping and waking up just in time to grip onto the rocky surface for absolute dear life.

Falling into molten lava was not the best way to go out, and this probably wasn’t Michael’s prediction for anyone, even for the crazy nuts of the Typhoon, nearly falling to your burning death was pretty wack. Danny kicked at the edge, shaking violently from panic, which only served to make his situation worse. Quivering muscles were useless. He groaned under his own weight dangling perilously, feeling the fur at the end of his legs and tail singeing from the heat. His shoulders twitched as he pulled up as hard as one boy possibly could, ears pressed flat against his skull. ”Damn it, damn it, damn it-”

He shut his eyes as tight as they would go, and yanked the rest of his body out of the volcano opening and onto the rocky terrain.

Panting, and eyes widened and blank, Danny dizzily stumbled back down the path, tripping over himself half way down and tumbling over the rest of the path. The shade of the jungle felt like heaven as he just laid there. But he had completed the trial, and the Grim Rays totem was still with him.

// tl;dr: danny just finished his division ceremony by early morning, also almost fell into the volcano + summersaulted down the path and now he's in some plants like a dork

The first sign that he was, in fact, still alive was the pained groan that left the undergrowth. He didn't think he broke any bones, he figured he would have felt it and all he felt was a few new bruises that would be sore later, but that was tolerable. "I'm okay." Came the tired response, though he refused to move just yet from the ache of hunting down totems and rolling down half a volcanic trail. Rocks were not your friend. He almost wanted to shove his face into the rather lush soil when it clicked that Keona had tracked him down first, but he figured that if anyone would give him the benefit of not making fun of him it would be the blind dealer.

Now give it a few minutes, give or take, and he did plant his face directly in the dirt. Perhaps too obvious as to why, but to his surprise and overwhelming relief, Vayne didn't laugh either. She just sounded excited rather than humored by the fact he just summersaulted into some leaves. The wolf lifted his head finally, shaking out his fur and blowing a piece of leaf off his face in frustration before switching back to the usual. "I did it! I did it..." He blinked, echoing that fact as if he hadn't realized just yet that he was done, or it hadn't sunk in. Not that he had any time to further process it, as he let out a quiet squeak immediately at the hug from the kitten. Like a voice crack, which was...not smooth at all. "Th-Thanks..." He'd like to return the hug like he had previously but by the gods he was sore, and too tired to think smart things.

— Reggan