Pride. It was always his stupid pride. The Jersey native had always known that the deeply embedded pride would be his downfall in the end. It was his pride that he cursed now, staring into the yawning mouth of the cavern, seeing how the light only carried twenty five meters in before darkness overwhelmed the dark brown stone. He couldn't help but shake his head and grumble before pulling on the straps of his backpack, taking slow steps forward into the entrance of the cave.
This had all started out when he and Steve had visited this place just a few days earlier. The SEAL did this far too often- dragging him out on some mountain excursion, showing him another dangerous, gorgeous wonder of the island, and bragging how he had defied the hands of the reaper with his father when he was just a boy. The last weekend he had been taken with Steve up the side of a rainy mountain, and shown the wondrous entrance of Hawaii's largest cave system.
"My dad took me here when I was just nine years old. We went down into the caves together, and we used an old combat knife to carve our names into a vein of clay that we found in the wall. I was just a boy, and there are spelunkers that don't even dare enter into this place" Steve bragged, striking a strongman pose at the entrance of the cave with a ridiculous grin across his face.
Danny merely put his hands on his knees, hanging his head down in frustration. Steve had sprinted nearly the entire way, and now they currently rested around halfway up the mountain. Although he was in well enough shape to work as a successful detective, he wasn't too fond of high-speed runs up a mountain, and this of which had left him quite winded.
"Come on Danny, don't act tired. You're just upset you never did anything that exciting without professional training, or that young, or even at all. Don't be so hurt over it." Steve said with a chuckle. Danny could feel his frustration mounting at this comment, even through the exhaustion that had mounted on his run here.
And even though he wouldn't admit it, Danny was rather wounded by Steve's words. It seemed that it was a rather low blow, attacking his accomplishments, and even comparing them to Steve's own. Danny had always known that he was no match for the SEAL- he was honored to be working beside him, and didn't need any reminding that he was lesser in any way. Simply blowing a short puff of air from his nose, Danny looked at Steve, forcing a smile to hide the fact he was smarting.
"Oh well, just because I wasn't raised as a little warrior like you were, McGarrett, doesn't mean that I haven't done anything fun or daring"
"The rock wall with the Cub Scouts doesn't count, Danny" Steve retorted with a hint of sarcasm in his tone. Another little comment that was enough to force Danny to bite his tongue, and look away from his smug partner. Was there something today that made Steve extra eager to push Danny's buttons? The blue-eyed detective didn't do so much as snarl at Steve this time around- he was too tired, too wounded. Righting himself and drawing a breath, Danny turned his back to the entrance of the cave, and started taking steps back towards the direction from which they had come.
"Don't worry about it, Steve, you can relive your childhood memories on your own. I'm going to be working my way down this god forsaken mass of rocks, towards home" he muttered, and started to push aside the underbrush he had already fought his way through once, hunting for the most widely used path that wound down the mountain.
"Whatever you say, Jersey" Steve yelled after him. "I've always known you left your balls back on the mainland. Bet you'll never have the guts to take a trip down to the gates of hell!"
The Lieutenant Commander's words faded off as Danny continued to stalk away, knowing that Steve had just issued him a challenge, one that he wasn't sure he was able to back down from. Whether he was in a more hostile mood than usual, or that his pride was wounded from the exhausting run and the comments, Danny knew that he had to prove Steve wrong somehow. It was one thing to engage in their normally friendly banter- it was another to insult his manhood.
Crashing through the brush, making his way down the mountain, Danny made up his mind- he was coming back to this place and proving Steve wrong. He knew he could- he was more than some low-grade Boy Scout who didn't know a stalagmite from a stalactite. He was more than some low-key Jersey detective who didn't have the cajones to pull a good stunt. He was more than what Steve made him out to be on the bad days- and he was going to come back to this place and trump all that Steve had ever dreamed of.
It was that afternoon which propelled Danny to where he was now, standing at the mouth of the cavern, feeling the cool air pouring away from it like a wonderful wave. Danny knew it was going to be cooler in the cave system than it was out in the stuffy Hawaiian weather- it always was in deep underground caverns. He was prepared for that- he was wearing a light shell of a jacket and his backpack had necessary commodities.
He hadn't charged into this blind- he had spent a solid night reading up the basics of spelunking and cave exploration, and another night reading about this particular system. Steve hadn't been lying- this cave system was magnificent, and was declared the largest in Hawaii. It still was not completely mapped, for many of the caverns were filled completely with water, and others were greatly unstable. Many spelunkers went into the preliminary cave systems for thrills and chills, but even the most experienced rarely ventured down into the deeper portions.
This specific system of caves was called a few choice names in Hawaiian (which Danny hadn't dared attempt to pronounce) but the loosest translation he could find for this place was "The Devil's Threshold." Once again, Steve hadn't been exaggerating in the slightest when he referred to this place as 'the gates of hell.' There was of course the associated lore that came with such a name and such a background in this culturally rich area of the world, but Danny had figured he could read up on that another time; he didn't want to scare himself with old stories and tales the night before he took himself into depths of freezing darkness.
So now he stood, at the gates of hell, nothing more than a small pack on his back and a jacket over his shoulders to guide his way. His knowledge of basic knots and experience climbing some rocks with his old unit in Jersey was what he counted on to carry him through at least a few preliminary caves, just enough to prove Steve wrong, just enough to give himself the last laugh.
The backpack was close to a McGarrett original, a green canvas pack full of assorted items that he didn't know if he would even need. Three water bottles, a couple of protein bars, ropes, carabineers, duct tape, a pocket knife, his phone, and two flashlights. Although the seasoned SEAL would have told him that he was severely under packing, he thought that he had brought far too much as it was. The pack was weighing down on his shoulders, but he also knew that his trip would be short. A few steps down, a picture to prove his success, and then a trip back home for some coffee and gloating rights. The day was still early, and Danny already knew that he didn't plan on spending more than a few hours here- he had a cold pizza waiting for him in the fridge at home, and didn't want to miss that most pleasant date.
With a final sigh of resignation, Danny scanned the entrance of the cave with his eyes slowly, shaking his head. There was nothing but dread rolling in his gut, but he steeled himself against his shaking nerves and swallowed any fear that was threatening to surface. Danny gave a wry smile of determination, and strode forwards into the mouth of the cave.
Thank you so much for reading! Just to clarify- all the places that I mention in this story are purely fictional, and I have created them for the benefits of this story. And as per usual, none of the characters in this story belong to me. I hope that you all enjoy this new story! If you have any comments, suggestions, or critique, feel free to drop a review or PM! Thanks again!