Grim Grinning Ghosts

You decide to use the stalagmites as stepping stones. At first it seems like a solid plan as you begin to make your way across, but then suddenly the one you're standing on begins to crack and splinter, giving out completely beneath your paws.

Somehow you manage to scramble almost all the way across, but as you make the final leap to the edge of solid ground you feel yourself begin to fall...

All you remember is the hot blazing heat and then... cool darkness. You awake outside of the chasm on a smooth, flat rock.

A familiar form kneels beside you, tending your wounds. It takes several blurry moments to realize this is not your guide, but a cluster of fireflies in a cloak the same color as your guide's fur. Your injuries are blindingly painful, but you will live; you can tell somehow by the way the fireflies buzz around you. One in particular will stand out, a deep, ugly wound that lies across your right hip, that will leave an impressive scar (about 6 inches long). You feel less knowledgeable at having gone on that adventure as well.

You realize loosely how little sense that makes and you wonder if this is real, but a warm force closes your eyes and bids you to think of home, of safety. When you awake next, you are in a safe place, one which you might have imagined.