Chapter Text
"ATTENTION!" A very tall and buff man shouted in the middle of the Wood Scout's campgrounds.
Almost immediately after the man's shout, the group of campers came out of their tents all lined up in a row. They all were awake and in their uniforms with hands at their sides in typical military fashion. They looked ahead with pride and purpose, awaiting what their leader had in store for them today.
The buff man wore a similar uniform, though he also had a sargeant style hat atop his head that casted a shadow onto his face. One so deep and dark that nobody could see what was above his mouth. "WOOD SCOUTS!" He shouted yet again.
"Yes Sargeant!" The boys responded in sync, but didn't speak louder than the older man.
"Line up for your usual drills. Breakfast will be provided once they are completed." The man spoke in a very heavy southern accent, which was only really heard when he wasn't shouting.
"Yes Sargeant!" The boys responded once again before running off to one of the various activities around the camp.
Danny slammed the door to the bathroom open with a deep frown on his face while he held a bucket of cleaning supplies. He had spent the entire night cleaning the bathroom top to bottom as punishment for letting Jasper get away. That and for letting him break their new obstacle course of hell.
The platinum blondie half considered drinking the bleach to get out of the punishment and the shame that came with it, but he was pretty sure he was immune to chemical poisoning by now. Eating chemicals as a baby sure had its ups and downs.
He tried to keep a straight face as he walked over to the Sargeant. "It's all clean, top to bottom, no spots or spills or messes are left." Danny spoke, trying not to let his anger seep into his voice.
The Sargeant held his hands behind his back, and marched over to the bathroom. He made his way inside and inspected every surface. Danny followed alongside him, ready to be showered in praise for his hard work. Instead he was met with more yelling.
"DANIEL." The man shouted, and motioned to a small spot of dirt on the ground.
"Yes, sir?" Danny said as he looked at the spot, and dread overtook him.
"Tell me. What is that on the floor." The man said as he stood tall above the boy.
"...dirt." Danny said quietly.
"No spot's left? Isn't that what you said? You lyin' to your higher up now?" The man questioned.
"No, no sir! This wasn't here a moment ago I swear it!" Danny said quickly.
The Sargeant grunted and kicked the platinum blondie to the floor. "Clean the whole place again. If ya don't do it right now, you're doin' it all again later." The man said sternly as he left the old wooden bathroom.
Danny felt his eye twitch as he looked at the place. He held back a scream as his mouth twitched into a force of habit smile. He was not about to spend the entire day cleaning the bathroom. Especially not when it basically turned into a sauna in the hot weather.
He looked towards the high up and small window in the room. He set the mop against the wall, and stood on the top of it to escape out from the little window. He landed gracefully on his feet at the other side, then quickly ducked into a nearby bush to evade detection. Once the coast was clear, he darted towards one of the walls surrounding the camp.
It was very fortunate of him that he knew how to escape such confinements easily. A skill he'd learned a few years ago when he was sent to solitary confinement by his parents for a month. What a joyful time that'd been to be out in the world and wriggle his way back in there at the final day. It felt like that again in this moment as he found a loose section of the wall and pushed it open like a hidden door. Well, it sort of was a hidden door in this way. One he'd made himself. Well, Scratch had helped but it sounded better if he made it himself.
The makeshift emergency exit they'd crafted finally had come in handy. He slipped onto the other side and closed it behind him. Now, escape wasn't quite on his mind. He knew his parents would have a much harsher punishment awaiting than the Sargeant could even come up with if he tried to go back home. Along with bringing shame to Xëmug's good name, which he would never dare do.
No, no, he needed this opportunity to prove himself. To his lord and savior of course, but also to the Wood Scouts. He must prove that he is not a loser, and in order to do that he must present something big, something powerful to them. He just needed to figure out what that would be. He shuffled through the woods until reaching a small clearing, where a circular patch of sun beamed down onto the grass.
Danny knelt down in the sunny spot and clasped his hands together. "Lord, please, show me a way towards redemption!" He pleaded.
A gust of wind pushed back his platinum locks, and once the wind stopped the ground rumbled furiously. The boy nearly yelped as he fell onto his butt. Once the rumbling stopped, he looked to the direction it'd come from. "Thank you Xëmug!" He said cheerfully as he began to sprint towards the source.
Danny found it quite easy to navigate through the woods. It was part of the Wood Scout's activities to be able to get through the wilderness without a problem after all. He proudly grabbed onto his sash with many badges. He excelled at everything he did, simply so. All except things that involved... other people. Teamwork was not his thing, and neither was working with anyone in general. Besides Scratch, but he was more like his evil minion.
It was just so difficult when people didn't listen to him! He knew what he was doing, but they all hated being told what to do from him. Even if his plans were flawless! Besides the Jasper incident, but he would improve next time. He'd work on creating a more stable course that nobody could fuck up.
For now though was a simple quest to restore his lost honor. Whatever Xëmug was leading him to would have to be the solution to his problems. He smiled with determination as he pushed past thorny bushes of red berries, fallen and rotting logs, and jumped across a small stream. The scent of decaying wood hung heavy in the air. It was a familiar scent to the boy. It reminded him of home, where the house his and a few other families stayed. Though the scent from the forest lacked the underlying scent of mildew and mold.
Judging by the direction he was walking, he knew he was heading southwest. He questioned to himself just how dangerous these woods could be. Perhaps he could wrestle a bear or a few wolves and bring them back to camp. Maybe there were nuclear waste barrels somewhere, still full of chemicals and radioactivity. His smile only widened as he pondered through possibilities.
The platinum blondie's hair almost glowed in the bits of sunlight that peaked through the leaves and beamed down onto him. While he much prefered the coldness of the dark, the sun shining on him felt a bit nice when it passed. It was when he was standing in a patch of sun that he noticed a strange red color amongst bushes in the distance. He raised an eyebrow, wondering if this could be what he was looking for.
Danny approached as slowly and quietly as he could. Upon getting closer, he could more clearly see that this red thing was a tuft of hair, just barely poking out of some tall bushes. Not only that, but it was moving as well. The boy didn't recognise its color to be from any animal. He considered it could be a fox for a moment, but this hair was just too red to be from one.
No matter what it was, Danny was sure this was what he was meant to find. He grinned wildly in wondering what kind of unknown beast was just lurking here in the woods. His hopes were immediately shattered as it popped out of the bushes with a grumble. Just ahead of him was a boy. The tuft of hair was clearly belonged to him. The platinum blondie frowned as he thought hard. Why would he be lead to some random kid in the woods?
In his moment of thought, the boy turned around and covered his mouth as he looked at Danny. The platinum blondie simply waved and smiled, unsure what to do now. He settled on trying to be approachable for now. He stepped out of his spot and got closer, and the two both stared at eachother for a while once they could see the other more clearly. Danny was surprised at how much this kid looked like him. His facial features and tuft of hair were the same.
Though this kid was much different in a lot of ways. Danny could only put it that the redhead was an inferior version of himself. "Hello there, friend!" The platinum blondie said as nicely as he could.
"...who the heck are you?" The redhead asked in confusion.
"My name is Danny, and I'm from the Wood Scouts." He said proudly, standing as tall as he could while smirking.
"The Wood Scouts?" The redhead questioned. The boy's eyebrows lowered for a second before a look of realization spread onto his face. "Wait, Jasper, he asked me if I had an evil twin!"
Danny's grin waivered for a moment and he just laughed. It seemed his reputation was already clear to the boy as something horrible. Of course Jasper would have told about his escapade. Well, two could play the exadgeration game. "Evil? No no no! Jasper was probably going overkill with his description." Danny insisted.
The redhead was not so convinced. He just crossed his arms and stepped back. "Riiight."
The platinum blondie's eye twitched. He needed to figure out what to do with this kid and fast. His eyes darted around quickly, and landed on a sign just in the distance. He squinted to read what it said: Danger! Inactive Volcano ahead! DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSANCE GO THIS WAY WITH ANYONE.
Danny's grin twitched to something more sly. This must be sign from Xëmug! "Well, you don't believe me, but I'll help you out. I see that you're trying to escape from Camp Campbell." Danny said with a bit more humbleness to try and gain the other boy's trust.
"...was it that obvious?" The Campbell camper said with a frown.
"Yes." Danny said bluntly, then walked over and wrapped his arm around the boy's shoulder. "Since I'm a Wood Scout I know my way around the forest. I have a route to get exactly back to civilization from here."
The other boy's eyes lit up slightly. "Really?" He said, still with a bit of skeptecism.
"Really! Just let me lead the way." Danny said cheerfully, spinning the redhead slightly and grabbing onto his hand. While the other boy was dizzy, he pulled him past the sign so he wouldn't be able to see it.
Once the redhead wasn't dizzy, he pulled his hand away from the platinum blondie. "My name's Davey, by the way. I forgot to tell you." Davey said while walking next to Danny.
"Our nicknames are just as similar as our appearances!" Danny said with a bit of a laugh, trying to relate to the boy to gain his trust further. That and he did find their similarities to be a bit strange.
"It's pretty weird, right?" Davey asked.
"Mm... yes. We could be mistaken for eachother if our hair was the same color." Danny pondered, still wondering what Xëmug was trying to get him to do.
"And our eyes. Mine are green." Davey added.
Danny wasn't much paying attention to Davey now, besides making sure he was still following along. He was wracking his brain trying to figure out his goal now. It was clear to him that he had to bring Davey to this volcano, but why? If this was a quest to prove his worth, how would bringing someone along even help him do so?
"Hey, Danny?" Davey asked.
The platinum blondie's head turned quickly and his neck made a cracking noise. "Yes?"
"Are you escaping too?" The redhead continued his question.
"No, I'm..." Danny started and then held his tongue. He would need to word this in a way the other boy could understand. "On a quest to prove myself."
"Prove yourself?" Davey seemed confused as he asked.
"Yes. I'm sure you heard about how Jasper escaped our Camp, and I took the blame for it." Danny sighed, feigning innocence. "So now I am trying to prove to the Wood Scouts that I am worthy of being in their organization!"
"...oh." Davey said and his lip turned into a pout while he motioned at Danny. "I mean. All those badges don't prove it already?"
The platinum blondie glanced down at his attire, and at the array of badges attatched to the sash around his torso. He definitely knew he was good enough for the Wood Scouts. No, he wasn't good enough for his Lord, that was the problem here. He couldn't just begin rambling about that to the other boy, though. Scratch had made it clear that talking about Xëmug was something not socially favorable.
As much as it pained him that the Lord wasn't something the others liked to hear about, he wanted to stay on the boy's good side. "Unfortunately, no." Was Danny's conclusion to Davey.
"That sucks." Davey said, but it had a sort of sad tone to it, like he felt bad for the other boy.
Danny smiled. His facade was working! The other boy was already feeling bad for him and on his side. He quickly changed his face to frown. "Yes, it does, but I must complete this quest!" He said confidently.
"Uhuh... what is this quest, exactly?" Davey wondered as he looked around the forest.
The platinum blondie stood still for a moment before quickening his pace. Shit, he still didn't have an answer to that, fake or real. He remained silent for just a bit too long while he tried to think of something. Davey soon stood next to him, looking a bit concerned as he waved a hand in front of his face. Danny grabbed the hand and put it back down to the redhead's side after finally coming to a realization.
"To help you escape, of course!" Danny said with hands on his hips.
"So... you lost your worth by letting someone escape, and to get it back you have to let me escape?" Davey said, poking holes in the other's words.
"Please, someone escaping our camp is much different than a rival camper escaping." Danny flipped his hand.
Davey nodded to that. "Guess that makes sense."
"You see, if rival campers escape then it'll make our own camp look more appealing." Danny said smoothly, coming up with all of this on the spot.
"Well, thanks for helping me." Davey said with a little smile.
A smile that made Danny feel just a bit bad as the real plan had already hatched in his mind. There was no way Xëmug sent him there to help this kid. With the volcano and it's sign, Danny only saw one option. A sacrifice, of course! It was so obvious now that it was in his brain. Getting rid of another camper would surely please both the Lord and the Wood Scouts. "Of course!" Danny said cheerfully.
Danny hated that a small little part of his brain felt a little sad for the redhead's soon to be death. He was still too sentimental as his parents would put it. Getting attatched to worthless people too easily was not good for him. Yet he had done it already with Scratch, but he insisted to himself that it was because that boy was useful and could possibly become a part of the family. Another part of his brain knew that this wasn't the truth, and he was just depserately trying to excuse himself.
Here he was now feeling the same way already about Davey. He needed to get rid of him, and fast. His own integrity was at stake now too. He wanted to groan at how much this quest was weighing on him. If he failed, he no doubt knew he would be shunned. Danny hadn't noticed but his lip had begun to quiver, and his hands were shaking.
Davey did notice and he tapped on the kid's shoulder. "Are you...okay?" He asked with a bit of worry, and maybe some annoyance.
Danny bit down on his lip until it formed a smile again, and put his hand to his chest with a long laugh. "Simply excited is all!" He insisted as he began to run.
The redhead quickly followed behind him uneasily. He opened his mouth to say something, but shut it as he just kept running alongside the Wood Scout.
Soon the plants in the forest became less dense, and the air was a bit hotter. Once there were hardly any pine trees blocking their view, a huge volcano was now visible just in the distance. Danny grinned gleefully. Davey looked utterly surprised. "What the heck?! Why are we at a volcano?" The redhead said in shock.
"Don't worry, we just need to go through it to get to freedom." Danny said as he began charging closer to the volcano.
"Don't you mean around it?" Davey said with concern as he ran to catch up to the other boy.
"Nope!" Danny shook his head with a wild determination in his eyes.
Davey anxiously looked ahead. He wasn't so sure about following this kid anymore, but he also didn't want to ruin the boy's quest. That and he was sure if he tried to run the platinum blondie would just bring him right back. The redhead ran with the platnium blondie until they reached the bottom of the volcano. There were hardly any plants around now, and the boys were sweating from the nearby heat.
Danny began to climb up the rocky surface, small pebbles he kicked fell onto Davey as he followed. Davey frowned and moved out of the way of the boy. "Can you not kick rocks at me?" He said with irritation.
"Sorry, I can't hear you from up here!" Danny called, in an almost teasing way.
The redhead puffed out his cheeks angrily and caught up to the other boy. "How about now?" He teased back as he stuck his tounge out in mockery.
Danny gasped. There was no way this red copy was going to try and one-up him. He was about to push the other boy down, but held back as he forcibly grimaced. He couldn't lose sight of his goal now, not when he was so close. He just shook his head at the boy and continued climbing.
Davey rolled his eyes, not understanding what this kids deal was at all. Seriously, he was worse than Jasper. Besides the whole helping him escape thing. Jasper was way too much of a square to help him do something like that. He shivered slightly at the usage of the word square in his mind. He wasn't sure how to feel about Jasper's stupid slang rubbing off on him. He really needed to get out of here before it got worse.
Luckily for the two boys, they reached the top of the volcano just as the sky began to turn orange. Much to Danny's dismay, there was no lava inside, it was very clear that it had been dormant for a while now. Just barely he could see some magma way below, but it would surely make do for his plan. Davey stood a bit back from Danny, not wanting to get close to the giant hole.
"Come closer, Davey." Danny beckoned, wiggling his finger slowly to call him forward.
Davey swallowed a lump in his throat and slowly walked closer to the Wood Scout. He felt the hot air below press against his face and winced a bit. He flinched as Danny put his arm around his shoulder and gestured his other towards the chasm below.
"You see this, Davey? Isn't it wonderful?" Danny said with a tone the redhead couldn't place.
"Uhm. It's cool, yeah." Davey nodded and nervously smiled. Seeing a volcano up close was cool, but he didn't want to get any closer to what was inside of it.
"Oh no, it's much more than cool." Danny said, his hand slowly making its way to wrap around Davey's.
"Hahahhh... yep, can we go now?" Davey's smile only became more forced as he felt the other boy's cold palm touch his own.
"Of course." Danny said with a moment of hesitation.
For a second, there was tension until it was broken when Danny pulled Davey in front of him by the hand he was holding him from. The Wood Scout's other hand lifted Davey by his shirt. That grin of Danny's became a bit crazier in an instant as he dangled the redhead over the chasm.
"Hah! This was really too easy." Danny said with a manic laugh.
Davey squirmed and looked at the other boy angrily. "What the hell are you doing!?" He yelled.
"Earning my honor back. You see, none of this was to help you, or the Wood Scouts even." Danny scoffed.
The platinum blondie then looked up at the sky with a wild smile. "It was to please the Lord, Xëmug, who has lead me to sacrifice you for his sake!"
Davey's eyes widened and he struggled against the boy even more. "Sacrifice?! WHY?" He whined.
Danny's evil look faded for a moment as he pondered the question. He looked up to the sky for am answer, but was met with nothing. He looked around at the rock under his feet, the forest in the distance, and the setting sun. Then finally, he looked into the eyes of the boy he was holding. Those eyes greener than the summer itself had a sparkling light reflected by the sun in them.
He felt his cheeks get warm with anger as he bit his lip, in a quiet mutter he spoke. "I don't know."
"Then, put me down!" Davey pleaded.
Danny's brain almost seemed to frazzle but the words clicked into place like an order. Xëmug wouldn't just send him to this kid for no reason, right? This had to be the answer, but he was lacking a reason that lead to it. It just had to be this.
"If you insist." The platinum blondie said cheekily as he let go of Davey's shirt. His hand was still holding onto the other boy's, however.
Davey dangled over the magma, letting out a small scream as he swung back and forth in Danny's hand. "That's not what I meant!" He yelled.
"Don't worry Davey, it'll all be over soon." Danny said with his head tilting, and a sincere smile somehow on his face.
Davey felt his eye twitch. He was not going to die here and not at the hands of this asshole. He dug his feet into the walls of the chasm and practically jumped off of the side. Once he was in the air he grabbed one of Danny's legs with his free hand and pulled it back. The platinum blondie tripped and yelped as he fell, tumbling faceforward towards the chasm. The redhead lifted himself back onto the edge of the volcano and huffed.
While Danny was trying to get back there as well, he slid further forward and nearly toppled into the hole below. He slowly closed his eyes. He had failed in his mission, and this must be a punishment from the Lord. He stared at the firey fate below him and frowned. Now it made sense in his mind, why he didn't know the answer Davey was seeking. Xëmug would never aprove of such a method of sacrifice! Now he was going to pay by his own life for such a blunder.
He quietly prayed under his breath for forgiveness, and yelped again when he felt a hand grab his leg and pull him out. He breathed heavily, eyes wide as he looked at Davey who quickly let him go. His surprised turned to immense confusion as he stumbled with his words. "Wha? Why... why did you help me?"
"Because I'm better than you. I'm not just going to let you die even if you were going to kill me." Davey huffed, and started to walk down the mountain.
Danny watched the boy hop down the rocky surface without a word. He felt as if his mind had been completely twisted up and flipped on its side. Davey had not only saved him, but was letting him just go. No punishment, no berating, just a statement that he was better because of his morality. Maybe the redhead had a point. Maybe he didn't, but this fact got under the platinum blondie's skin.
He could think of so many things he was better at than the redhead. Yet, the idea that the red copy was better just because he had the nerve to be nice make him angry in a way nothing else ever had. Why the hell was this kid even being so nice at all?! Asking if he was okay, telling him he was good enough for the Wood Scouts, and sparing him?! It didn't make sense! He didn't even do anything to deserve this treatment from the other boy.
Danny ran to his feet to catch up, but when he looked down at the forest below Davey was gone. He clenched his fist at his side. The redhead may be gone now, but he would be getting his revenge. There was no way he was going to let Davey be better than him.
With thoughts of Davey, Xëmug, and the Wood Scouts heavy on Danny's mind, he headed back towards his own camp. It was in that momemt he remembered he was supposed to clean the entire bathroom again. "...shit."