Sherry was proud to be a member of the Rhino Guard, being ready to provide justice in case of emergencies. However, the downside was there really weren't many emergencies. Animalia was virtually crime-free, with few enough misdemeanors to involve the APD, let along the Rhino Squad. But the members of the squad were well-aware that they wouldn't be needed most of the time. While they did do plenty of training to keep in shape, they also had plenty of spare time.
Sherry finished her session with the punching bag before giving a sigh of exhaustion. It was really weird for her to be exercising so hard and yet not be sweating by the end of it. There were few Animalians who had sweat glands, asides from the horses. But Sherry could tell she's had enough for one day. She turned over to Wanda and said, "Hey, Wanda, I'm taking off now."
"Ok, where are you going?" asked Wanda.
"I'm going to sign up for the Green Glacier Adventuring Clan," said Sherry.
"You haven't already?" asked Wanda.
"Been kinda busy with the training," said Sherry, "You want to come along?"
"Can't," said Wanda, "I have an appointment with Dr. Jones."
Sherry nodded to herself. While Wanda did recover a lot by converting into a woolly rhino, she was still overcoming her PTSD and her pyrophobia. "Well, I'll check with you later," said Sherry as she headed towards the door.
"Have fun," said Wanda.
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However, finding the club wasn't as easy as Shelly was expecting. There didn't seem to be any evidence that they had a clubhouse or official meeting place. But at least Shelly knew who was in it, though that wasn't much of a challenge considering the GGAC was achieving worldwide fame, especially with their new TV show coming. Shelly had the good grace to call ahead and ask if she could come over. Once she got a confirmation, she went to Peter's house.
The house looked nice, though there were signs that it had been expanded. Considering all the turtles living there, it was no real surprise. Shelly paused a moment at the mailbox and raised an eyeridge. "The Tuttles? Huh, wonder if they already had that name or they changed it," said Shelly. She walked up to the house and gently pressed the doorbell. She had to be careful how much of ceratopsian strength she used.
The door was opened by a female turtle Animalian. Since she had curly red hair, Shelly assumed she was Peter's mother. "Oh, you must be Shelly," she said, looking up at the Dinotopian, "You were taller than I was expecting."
"Hopefully not too tall," said Shelly, "Is Peter here?"
"Oh sure, come on in," said Mrs. Tuttle, moving aside to let Shelly in. Then she called, "Peter, Shelly is here."
"I'll be down in a minute," called a voice from upstairs.
"Excuse me a moment, I need to get back to the kids," said Mrs. Tuttle.
"Kids?" asked Shelly with surprise.
"Me and Carl had three more kids after converting; two girls and a boy. You want to see them?" asked Mrs. Tuttle.
"In a little bit," said Sherry. Not much longer than that, Peter came down the stairs. Sherry was a bit impressed with the buff turtle. "Hi, I'm Shelly. You must be Peter," said Shelly.
"Yep. I was wondering when someone was going to go Triceratops," said Peter as he shook her hand, "So what brings you over?"
"Well, I heard about your Green Glacier Adventure Clan, though I couldn't find your clubhouse," said Shelly.
"Well...we don't really have a clubhouse," said Peter.
Shelly raised an eyeridge, "You're becoming a worldwide media sensation but you don't have a clubhouse?"
"Well, we're a pretty small group," said Peter, "Just me, my three guy friends, and our four girls. Topanga in Mieni Atoll was interested in joining up, but I'm not sure how many people have joined her chapter."
"Uh-huh. Well, I'd like to join and it seems like you guys could stand to gain a few more members," said Shelly.
"I guess we should be trying to expand more," said Peter, "But where could we meet?"
"Aren't their places for conventions at the Claw Coliseum?" asked Shelly, "Or a local game store you guys could meet at?"
"I guess we could," said Peter, "I suppose we never put a lot of effort into it yet. You know us turtles, slow thinkers."
"Ah, you're not slow," said Shelly, "You just need a bit more ambition. And maybe I could help bring some in."
"Perhaps, but you can't just join in by asking. You have to go through The Trials," said Peter, putting extra emphasis on the last two words.
"Well, I've gone through my Rhino Squad training, I think I can handle your trials," said Shelly.
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The first trial wasn't exactly what Shelly expected. "So, I have to do a dungeon crawl and make it out alive?" she asked.
"Well, since you're a first-timer, survival isn't strictly necessary," said Adam, the three other guys in the GGAC having come over, "This is a test of endurance. As long as you can get through at least half of the dungeon, you pass."
"Ok, but don't you guys do live action roleplaying?" asked Shelly, looking at the board in front of them.
"Everyone starts out with the paper version first," said Tom, "This is going to be a test of patience."
"Uh, you guys are going to act super-nerdy around me to make me want to leave, are you?" asked Shelly suspiciously.
"No," said Jerry, "Well, maybe a bit. I mean, we've grown past that, but we can't help being ourselves."
"Consider it a test of tolerance as well," said Peter, "Once we've done this dungeon, we'll show you the live-action stuff."
"Uh, ok," said Shelly before looking at a character sheet, "So how do I fill this out?"