“Snake.” Isak called out as he pointed to the creature with his walking stick and didn’t miss a stride.

Zyn hopped out of the path of the snake while craning his neck over to watch the reptile slither off. “Is it venomous?”

“I don’t recognize it, so I don’t know.” The human said and continued onward through the underbrush, snapping a branch here and there to mark their way. “No, coloration doesn’t help. I know there’s brightly colored and dully colored venomous snakes. So leave the snakes alone.”

Nelli zoomed though the branches up above to knock a few leaves to the forest floor.

“Unless we know them! Plus it would be bad luck.” Isak said as he waved to the roaming feathered serpent. “Which reminds me, Xoco how venomous is Nelli?”

“Oh, very!” Xoco lit up as she nudged a large branch out of her way with her own stick, letting Tonauac pass before following. “The ‘Rainbow’ in ‘Rainbow Feathered Serpent’ doesn’t just refer to her species colors! But to the colors you’ll see if bitten! Before a quick death...but don’t worry! She’s never bitten a friend!”

The three boys and one rock man all cast a glance back at her with levels of worry from ‘really prioritizing learning Blood Filter’ to ‘unmoving stone’.

“Has she…” Isak hesitated and chewed on his lip before proceeding both in conversation and ahead in the jungle. “Has she bitten anyone before?”

The jungle troll made to look off into the underbrush as though she was focusing on something, but it was apparent she was just avoiding eye contact. “...no one who didn’t deserve it.”

Croaking frogs and singing birds filled the silence before Zyn finally failed to hold back a chuckle.

“Good job, Nelli! Proud of you!” The drow called out to the tree tops. “You’d fit right in down in Mu!”

Isak was a bit more reserved in his praise after Tonauac shot him a worried look. “Well...I’m glad you had Nelli to look out for you. I know I’d be happy to have Vidal around me if bad things were happening! But not so happy about the bad things happening…”

“She is a lifesaver, yes.” Xoco finally offered a weak smile as she finally looked back to the group.

“The world is a slippery place, and it’s easy to fall.” Tonauac mused in a melancholy voice as he stopped for a moment to stare up at a brightly colored bird. “That’s why we surround ourselves with people to lean on or help us back up and dust us off. Sometimes that involves deadly poison.”

The drow let out a loud groan and buried his face in his hands as he came to a stop. “Yeah, I get it. You all have a barely disguised something eating at you and need your best friend Zyn to lean on. I’ve accepted this.”

“While it is my primary duty to ensure no harm comes to Master Isak, the continued safety of his friends is conducive to his mental health and I will endeavor to see to your safety as long as it does not come at the cost of Master Isak’s.” Vidal stated. “However I am unable to recommend that any but Master Isak lean on me for risk of serious bodily harm.”

“See?” Zyn got halfway between gesturing to the rock man before dodging out of the way of a dangling spider, then resumed his pointing once safe again. All while retaining his smile. “Best friends, plural, and a giant elemental force of nature to protect us! I’m not saying none of you are allowed to be sad about things, but I am saying that there are worse ways to end the first week of magic school”

Isak’s eyes went wider as he blinked and looked around at the jungle. They hadn’t been moving in some time. “Yeah...yeah fine. I think we’ve still got a ways to go...wait is that metaphorical too? Sorry I just meant we shouldn’t stop now on this trial together...hang on let me try again-”

“I don’t even know if you’re doing this on purpose anymore.” Zyn shook his head with crossed arms, Ozzy crossing several tentacles together as well. “Honestly it’s impressive, and as your friend I am not going to discourage the creativity.”

“Thank….you?” Isak said while scratching his head and spending a few minutes puzzling out that compliment before leading onward after having Tonauac through a still circling Patli that they were on the correct path towards the volcano.

The conversation shifted to the idle chatter mixed with random bouts of survival knowledge as they worked their way through the jungle. Likely on purpose, this part of the island seemed to hold a fairly calm version of what they had expected from their own previous experience.

Tonauac and Xoco came expecting familiar nightmares, Zyn expected exotic nightmares, and Isak who had read about the dangers of tropical rainforests and found shockingly few bugs trying to kill him.

Most of them were far smaller than what any of them had expected, to their relief. The largest that they did see was a mantid student, that hadn’t even come as a surprise thanks to an early warning by Nelli.

The mantisgirl waved to them and the two groups greeted one another, exchanging stories of what they had encountered so far and where they were headed. In fact, the most unusual thing about that group or the journey so far was the other human in the new group of four.

“You’re Isak, aren’t you?” The dark skinned girl with long braids finally said after a moment of realization and wide eyed recognition.

“Uhhh...yes?” Isak looked over his shoulder and all around him, seeing only his confused friends and no one else who looked like an Isak as he himself wasn’t certain at the random recognition. “How did you know?”

The girl pointed to Vidal with a chuckle that her red jackal echoed. “Not many humans, so not many human mages at school. And no one else with a familiar like that. Good to finally meet another human, I’m Zoya!”

She held out a hand, and though it hadn’t been too long it felt far longer to Isak since someone had actually offered a handshake and didn’t seem like they had only ever heard about it. “Good to meet you, Zoya. We’re headed towards the volcano. Or at least the nearest one. You?”

The lizardfolk of their party unfurled a scroll as she said with a sigh “Tallest tree in the jungle…”

The fourth member of their party, a merrow that had been pacing non-stop around his patient deep sea anomalocaris floating at knee height before turning to Isak’s group “I’ve got a box of sugar kelp candies for anyone who can point us in the right direction!”

Tonauac focused his eyes, looking up to the canopy before extending a pointing claw out to the right. “It’s that way.”

The merrow came to a halt and looked up in a giant eyed daze. “What?”

“That way. Patli’s flying up above the trees, and his love of finding the highest roost has had him eyeing that direction for trees.” He pointed in the same direction again for emphasis.

The newly met group stared open mouth at the lizardfolk and then at each other before Zyn shrugged. “Two flying familiars, a navigator, and two tall folks who seem especially ready for any threat. I’m just here for moral support.”

“I don’t wanna hear it.” Isak waved him off. “You’re gonna be dragging us through the cave expeditions.”

“A deal’s a deal.” The merrow said with a needle toothed smile and giant pale blue eyes. “If there’s a largest tree over there, you got yourself a box of sugar kelp candy! Also I’ll help out in the aquatic expedition as additional thanks for preventing any of us from having to climb a tree.”

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

“I TOLD YOU I’M AFRAID OF HEIGHTS OKAY!” The mantisgirl threw two sets of yellow arms into the air as she tried storming off with her forest hog trotting behind her.

The merrow pulled her back with an overly long arm. “Don’t go getting slime in your gills, it wasn’t directed at you. We’re already way too high up without climbing a ‘tree’.”

“THANK YOU!” Zyn shouted with an over exaggerated gesture to his newly found kin. “Thank you, okay? Thank you. That’s all I wanted to say, let’s get back to it.”

Xoco looked up to the trees before looking back down to everyone with a furrowed brow. “It’s really not so high up…”

The assembled drow, merrow, and golden mantid dismissed her with the insistence that she more than even most tallfolk was the last who got a say in what counted as high up.

“You are all far, far from the shortest teens I have encountered.” Isak said with a roll of his eyes that landed on the even taller Vidal. “You can just say you don’t like heights.”

“Don’t mind these two.” Zoya shook her head to rustle the beads in her braids against one another. “They just like to complain.”

The jungle troll reached a sympathetic hand down to place on her shoulder. “I’m terribly sorry, we only have one to deal with

“It doesn’t count as complaints if they’re true!” Zyn and Ozzy alike narrowed their eyes at his taller friends.

Tonauac and the mostly silent lizardgirl weren’t having it as they looked at one another.

“Yes it does?” Tonauac scratched at the back of his head.

“That is not how those words work.” The other native speaker of Clear Speech insisted.

After a short debate that went nowhere aside from getting progressively dumber and with more nits to pick at using the finest of drow technicalities standing against the might of lizardfolk bureaucracy, the conversation switched to something inane shortly before they realized they were still in the middle of a test as they excused themselves.

Promises to meet up later were made and the groups parted ways. Isak’s group continued on for some time, finding a cleared path that still happened to be taking them in the right direction. The human insisted that while this may speed them up, that they should be extra vigilant as any number of jungle creatures were likely to use this path as well.

More than a few times he would point out a broken branch, pawprint, or tuft of fur or stray feather clinging to a plant at the edge of the path. After a time, his friends were noticing as well and calling out similar findings. A picture was formed of two things. A small animal feeding on the plants along the path bearing fur, and a feathered predator of similar small size that crept along on all fours.

The path led to a small stream nearly hidden by plants of the underbrush all trying to claim its waters. Time was an inexact science down here in the canopy filtered light, and it took Zyn, who was not about to start relying on sunlight for time keeping, insisting that they had been at this long enough to warrant a short rest and meal. They found a downed log that Vidal used a stone hand to clear of debris before taking a seat and unpacking their bags.

Tonauac gulped down his canteen of water before he instructed his friends “Drink your water! We’ll refill here and you mammals need to drink a lot.”

He didn’t allow any room for protest as they all grumbled and drank from their canteens while the lizardlad hopped down to start gathering some small mounds of dirt. “Twigs and roots should be enough for the canteens, and something to tie them together if you can. I’ll work on this part of the ritual.”

“Gonna go find some jungle string with Ozzy.” Zyn hopped to his feet and stretched before heading off with a wave behind him. “And yes, I was being metaphorical with ‘jungle string’!”

Isak shook his head as he raised a brow to Xoco, who responded with a silent chuckle. The two searched the underbrush as Vidal kept a watchful eye. He had continued speaking even less than normal, a fact that periodically had Isak cast another watchful eye out into depths of the jungle. They set about gathering plenty of small twigs and stray roots while avoiding anything that looked hazardous, which to the cautious minds conditioned by Survival class was most things.

The human boy snapped a twig, and at hearing another he hopped up with walking stick in hand and wheeled around to find Xoco had done the same with her sharpened stick pointing at Isak shortly before Vidal put a firm lightning stone hand on the pointed tip.

“Your vigilance is appreciated, Miss Xoco.” Vidal said as he politely yet firmly lowered her makeshift spear as her face flushed deep green and she nodded. “Please exercise caution.”

A moment later and Nelli had swooped down to undulate and hover in the air next to the jungle troll to assess the situation. Finding it satisfactory, she coiled around Xoco’s shoulders.

“Sorry…” Xoco exhaled and found a nearby tree to lean against after a moment of ensuring it was safe to do so. “Camping trips mean far more guards and servants so without them out in the wilds I-...sorry you don’t want to hear this.”

“First-” Isak held up a finger as he leaned on his walking stick. “Sorry for Vidal being scary.”

“Fear is secondary to safety, Master Isak.”

“See?” The human buried his face in his free hand before holding up two fingers. “Second. I never said you can’t talk to me about anything. In fact, I am saying the opposite of that. So talk away!”

The jungle troll girl hesitated, looking off and around into the underbrush before turning her attention up to let her focus settle on a branch. She whispered a fast Find Weakness spell to ensure that it would hold the two of them first. “Join me on a vantage point?”

As soon as he nodded she was reaching up and pulling herself up onto the large branch with minimal effort. One part of Isak was extremely impressed, another part was grimacing and gritting his teeth as he eyed the tree to figure out the best way up. Vidal kneeled down and offered a lift upward, but the human dismissed it as there was a girl to impress and a tree to climb. He sized up the tree, spying a few creeping vines running high up into the branches and a few knots on the bark that would be good footholds.

“Did you need some help? I can lift you up-”

“I’m good!” Isak shouted back as he estimated that vines and knobs of bark would be enough to help him ascend the tree and keep his dignity intact while attempting to impress a girl. It took a bit of effort, but with only a minor struggle it was even easier than climbing the trees back home with all the extra vines and competing plants and fungi growing on top of one another to make for an easy climbing surface. With a final push of effort he hefted himself up onto the branch next to Xoco “See? Easy!”

Xoco wasn’t entirely certain of that, but still let a sharp smile shine through the concern. “Climbing trees was always below my family, so even when they were all there on a camping trip I could get away for a bit.”

“I just had a treehouse.” Isak said, keeping an eye to the jungle from the vantage point and watching birds and bugs flit about the trees as a housecat sized dinosaur scampered through the underbrush. “But then I just did that because I thought it was cool having a treehouse out in the forest for trapping and hunting. I didn’t really need to get away that often….um, sorry to hear that you did.”

Nelli nuzzled her mage under the chin to coax a smile back onto her face. “My family has many moments. Good and bad. Some that are just like what you read about in those happy books, others...not as good. But you care for them anyway because they’re family.”

His mother sometimes being a bit overly involved and over enthusiastic already seemed like the smallest of worries to Isak as he kept silent, having enough sense to keep quiet and let someone talk when they needed it. He offered a smile and gestured with his hand to continue.

“I’m not used to being out in the wilds with friends.” She continued, hunching over slightly as she kicked her feet back and forth. “It’s nice knowing everyone you’re with is watching out for you, not...plotting…”

Isak gave a nervous laugh, holding onto the branch with white knuckles for lack of anything else to do with his hands. “Well...I’m just happy to have friends. And uh, glad I can make you feel safe? Or at least Vidal does that. I’m the moral support this time.”

“Says the one who chased after me just to listen to me complain about my family.”

“Anyone would do that!”

Xoco put a flattened palm to her brow, and scanned the jungle before landing on a human that failed to make eye contact and felt blood rushing to his face. She nudged his side and it was only his white knuckled grip on the branch that kept him from falling off.

“Point taken.” Isak mumbled out. “And I remember saying we were going to watch out for one another, so...promises and uh...stuff…”

The troll girl laughed and smiled, which got the human boy to laugh as well. Isak was half expecting Zyn to appear out of the jungle to ruin the moment any second now.

Patli’s screech and the warning it carried did that well enough instead as their eyes shot to the skies.