SPARKS WILL FLY || Blood Division [O]neshot

[VAYNE CIPHER-VANTAS.]

[glow=white,1,400]LIKE WE FORGET WHO WE CAN TRUST ! — ｡+ﾟ.[/glow]

//This oneshot is set the morning after this thread! No need to match the length of it <3


Soon before Vayne had went to bed, Michael had given her the map that showed where the hidden treasures of the Divisions would be. Diya had told her that she would have to set out at dawn and so, the kitten had set an alarm so she would be up early enough for it, and made sure that she ate something small and drank water before she went to bed. Nothing super heavy, since she didn't want a bellyache to keep her up all night, but just something to get her through the journey.

Whenever her alarm went off, Vayne quickly shut it off - hoping that it didn't wake Diya or Roxanne, or any of her adoptive siblings - and quickly set off. She carried her bucket with her, the one she usually used for seashells, but this time it would be used for something important. She needed something to carry the buried treasures in, after all, as well as the map, but hey... if she saw a pretty shell along the way, it wouldn't hurt if she picked it up, right? Sitting just outside the Captain's home, Vayne set down her bucket and unrolled the map, taking a look where her first treasure would be. The Lighthouse. Her first target.

Thankfully, it didn't take her long to reach the Lighthouse, given its proximity to Barracuda Bay. Once she arrived at the large red-striped building, Vayne once again set down the bucket and looked at the map. So the treasure wasn't inside the lighthouse, which made sense considering it was buried treasure, but it was something that the she-cat took note of. It appeared to be closer to the oceanside and finding an area that wasn't completely rock, Vayne started digging - eventually coming across the quartz-wooden statue of the Necro Mambas: a snake that had its tail protectively curled around a potion and a strip of sage. Placing it gently in her basket on its back and making sure it wouldn't crush her map, Vayne would quickly set off in search for her next target.

The Hidden Colosseum. That was her next spot and it took her longer to be able to reach it, mostly due to its separation from the main island. Luckily though, there was a Pier nearby the Tavern that led to the island that held the colosseum. Vayne trotted across the Pier, determination in her step, as she went in search for the colosseum itself. Just like the case with the Necro Mamba statue, the Blackjack Rats's statue wasn't hidden within the colosseum - though Vayne wasn't entirely sure why. Surely the colosseum has sand or some sort of soft ground in it? Not that she had any complaints; she liked the scenery here and would much rather explore the lush undergrowth rather than an old colosseum. Soon enough, the Cipher girl found herself near a small pond that was nourished by a waterfall pouring it in - according to her map, this would be where her next totem would be.

Getting dirt on her paws was rather annoying, but it was worth it when Vayne eventually found the green-colored totem. She quickly pulled it out from the hole she dug, only to find that it was a green-colored version of the Grim Ray's. There's fake ones? She observed in shock, blink at first as if it would turn the totem into a rat. Unfortunately for her, it didn't, and she tossed it back into the hole she dug. Looks like she'd have to keep searching. Which unfortunately meant she would have to get close to the pond and as such, the dirt slowly turned into mud. Grumbling a bit, Vayne dug at the earth, praying to whatever god would hear her that this would be the right one. Fortunately for her, it was! The emerald-wooden totem of a rat holding an ace of spades and its tail wrapped around a kid. Vayne let out a sigh of relief and placed the statue in her basket, briefly taking the type to hop into the pond to wash her fur off.


The final spot was somewhere near the volcano, which was a relief considering that after she collected all of the totems, Vayne was supposed to go to the top of the volcano and throw down a statue. It was certainly convenient that this would be her final looking place, but the she-cat definitely wasn't complaining. The place that was marked was fortunately nearby one of the paths that was already carved out for Typhooners, likely to protect them and make sure they were safe during this journey. There weren't any notable landmarks here, other than the volcano itself, so Vayne didn't really have much to go off by. So she spent time digging multiple holes and looking underneath rocks that she was able to move by herself. Larger rocks she couldn't move at all, of course, and she hoped that the last totem she was looking for wasn't underneath of them.

Eventually one of the holes that Vayne dug up, which was towards the bottom of the volcano, housed the Grim Ray totem - an obsidian totem that had a manta ray's tail curled around an arrow and a sword. After placing it in her bucket, Vayne took this moment to relax, suddenly feeling extremely exhausted after this whole journey. She wanted to go home and sleep already, her limbs aching. But you have one thing left to do. She had to scale back up the volcano, to the very top, and throw one of the statues in. Gritting her teeth, Vayne grabbed her bucket and made her way up. This was the very last thing she had to do. She could finish this.

It was extremely hot as she neared the top of the volcano, and it certainly didn't help that she was a long-haired cat. Vayne pressed on though, forcing herself to continue, flattening her ears as she continued uphill. Eventually, she was met with the sign that warned about the lava and this gave her a brief moment of strength to push herself - she was almost there! This was exhausting, she was ready to go home and sleep, but she was almost done.

Reaching the top of the volcano, Vayne set her bucket down on a safe place away from the opening and carried the three statues until she was close enough to the opening. With this, she quickly separated the Necro Mambas's statue from the three and tossed it into the volcano - quickly running back down to her safe spot; she didn't want to be any closer to the lava any longer than she had to be. With this, Vayne held up the statue of the Blackjack Rats, signifying that she had chosen them as her main Division.

She was finally a full member of The Typhoon.

[glow=COLOR,1,400] ━ ✧*:･ﾟ[/glow]

[michael t.]

ALL I FOUND THE SPACE BETWEEN THE SPACES
STANDING IN THE NOTHING, AND TIME RECLAIMS YOU

When Michael had heard that Vayne was properly becoming a member of the Blackjack Rats, he had been understandably excited. After all, the other was not only his adoptive niece, but she was also joining the division that he was a head of! Vayne had not only chosen a path in life, but she had chosen one that he could help her out with to the best of his abilities, and he was happy for that. Unfortunately, he also knew that he couldn't help her out with this particular part of the process.

The best he could do was give her the map that she needed, and give her a brief smile of encouragement before he headed back to his own hut. A small part of him really did wish that he could help out, but he did also have faith in Vayne. He was sure that she could find the tokens all on her own, and that she would be able to bring them up to the volcano. Just thinking about that, though, did fill him with some sense of anxiety. What if something went wrong? What if Vayne ended up...? No, he couldn't think that way. He had to believe that everything would be okay.

It was because of this faith that he had just gone to bed, curling up and taking a deep breath before he managed to doze off. By the time the morning came, the dealer was sure that Vayne was already done with her task, and ready for a grand and successful life. Yet still, he couldn't shake the sense of worry in the back of his mind. Deciding that he couldn't just wait until someone else told him the news, Michael was quick to get to his paws, heading out and into the fresh air of the morning. The volcano lingered tall and unwavering in the distance, and even the bobcat felt a bit intimidated just looking at it. He wasn't about to just tuck his tail between his legs and run, though. Instead, he was going to make sure that Vayne had succeeded. And if she hadn't, for whatever reason... well, he'd help her try again. Because there was no way she'd give up. She had already been through so much... he didn't see her giving up for anything.

The actual trek up the path of the volcano was a bit of an arduous one, but Michael could handle it. His claws dug against dirt and stone, heaving himself upwards as he looked around, jaws slightly parted. His mismatched gaze lit up when he caught the scent of Vayne underneath that of heat, and smoke. His excitement caused him to speed up a bit, but only slightly – he didn't want to go stumbling off of or into the volcano, after all. Either way, it wasn't long before he reached the top, and he spotted Vayne sitting there, holding up the totem of the Blackjack Rats with a look of pride on her face. Similarly, he could feel pride spreading throughout his own chest, a goofy grin coming to his muzzle. Although Vayne technically hadn't been family for long, it felt great to have his niece accomplish such a gargantuan task, especially for someone her age.

With a light chuckle leaving his throat, the bobcat moved over to where Vayne sat, throwing one front limb around the smaller feline to give her a half hug. His words were warm and slightly tired as he spoke, glancing down at her, "Congrats, Vayne. I'm really proud of you..." Normally he wouldn't be so sentimental, but it felt like Vayne wouldn't mind the praise. After so much of her life with Aphra as a mother... it was unlikely that she had been told anyone was proud of her before. Of course, Michael wasn't able to be all sunshine and sentiment. So after another little laugh, the thief muttered softly, "So... you ready for the real fun part? Cause now you get to cause a bunch of chaos, with the rest of us rats." His smirk was delighted and infectious, his tail twitching behind him. He actually hadn't done much regarding the espionage side of the Blackjack Rats in a while, but he was sure there would be some excitement to be had in the future.

— Reggan

[daniel]

Ah, the day of somebody's blood division ceremony. Was Danny excited for his first and closest friend's day to officially become a member of the Typhoon? Duh, of course! Was he nervous though, given the information that Michael had been able to provide about the steps to complete it? Also, yes. Look, most people feared volcanos, lava wasn't exactly friendly, and the idea of getting close to it just...it wasn't a pretty thought. He wasn't going to tell Vayne that he'd been worried at the prospect of her falling in or getting lost or...y'know, whatever else could happen. Worried enough to only sleep in short intervals, spending his remaining waking hours staring at the ceiling of the tavern's third floor, where he still resided at night.

Having the same general idea as Michael, speaking of, Danny had snuck out on his own and followed behind, not knowingly of course, but it wasn't as if there was so many ways to track a single scent trail for one person. Admittedly, he sort of hated the heat and scent of smoke, thinking not once, but twice of turning back and letting the two come back on their own. Which he felt bad about, of course, because that wasn't very supportive, and he was going to have to haul himself up that trail anyway, better to know the way than go blindly. He squinted, eyes watering from the change in air quality the closer he got to the top. A sharper rock against his paw earned a short whine, but it was smooth sailing other than that, more or less.

"S-Sorry, Michael, sir...if i'm not, um, allowed to be here." Trudging up the final stretch of the volcanic path up to the safer resting spot the kitten chose, practically hauling his weight around with little visible fatigue, replaced by frustration at the difficulty of the trail. He was a big boy, he could do it. Even though he made an effort to not be so obvious, a relieved sigh escaped him at the sight of the bright orange and white fur, albeit a little dirty from her totem searching. She looked tired, too, understandably. Danny smiled gently, wagging his tail in constrained excitement. "Do you maybe want a ride...miss Blackjack Rat?"

[glow=black,2,300]— ❤ —[/glow]

[VAYNE CIPHER-VANTAS.]

[glow=white,1,400]LIKE WE FORGET WHO WE CAN TRUST ! — ｡+ﾟ.[/glow]

There was no doubt that Vayne was happy and excited that she completed such a big step in her life - a Typhooner's life - but her exhausting wore her out so much more. Still, Vayne was happy to see her uncle come, followed by her closest friend. Vayne's smile was huge as the two congratulated her, her body almost starting to vibrate with happiness, though when Michael mentioned being proud of her... it actually brought tears to her eyes. Although she couldn't read Michael's thoughts, he was definitely right in thinking that Aphra never said anything like that. Ever. The closest Vayne ever got to some sort of praise from her biological mother was a simple 'nice, cool, good job'. Dismissive, not exactly actual praise. But Michael, on the other hand... His words were genuine. He genuinely was happy for her accomplishment and Vayne started to cry.

It was a good cry, though, and Vayne tried to make that apparent by her smile. "S-sorry, I just have smoke in my eyes," She lied, her words coming in half-laughter in embarrassment at her own emotions. She looked over at Danny at his offer, sniffing and trying to wipe away tears with a paw. "A ride would be nice, actually..." Her legs were burning.[glow=COLOR,1,400] ━ ✧*:･ﾟ[/glow]