UnderAsriel

6 - Without the Skeleton

"Oh my gosh," the flower hissed. "Hide. Now!!"

There was a trace of real panic in its voice that Kel didn't like at all. She sprang into action, looking frantically around. They were standing on some sort of wide snow-covered path, bordered by trees - huge, ancient conifers - and tangled, sprawling bushes. 

This reminded Kel of a time when she'd hid from her dad on a hike, taking refuge under the warm branches of a low-growing pine. They had hid her then; maybe they would hide her now.

She sprinted away, diving onto her stomach to wriggle through the ice and needles into the dry, musty interior of the closest tree. The sap-thick scent of pine instantly shoved its way up her nostrils; it was like breathing in Christmas, and Kel breathed deeply, savoring the fragrance of family and presents. Her fingers dug into decades of dry needles and she pulled in her feet, fitting her head through some of the lower-hanging branches to give her room to sit up.

As she quickly discovered, this was no ordinary tree. It was like being inside a dark green tent. Every side of her was sheltered by thick motleys of plant, so thick and secure not even Kel could see out. There was no way anyone outside would spot her, not even if they tried, and as an added bonus, the needles also gave a certain amount of insulation: there wasn't a spot of snow within, nothing except for what she'd dragged in with her, and the cold was distinguishably less severe.

Flowey, however, didn't seem any less tense. The flower was still clinging to her neck, bright blue tendrils wrapped tightly around her arm. Kel would've found it cute if the thing hadn't tried to kill her an hour ago.

She hadn't seen anything herself - nothing but snow and frosty, white mist - so she was a bit confused as to what had the flower in such a panic.

"Flowey, what-?" Kel tried to whisper, but Flowey placed a tendril gently across her mouth, shushing her.

A few moments later, Kel heard what Flowey must have seen. Footsteps, crunching loudly through the snow. At least eight pairs of feet, if not more. They marched in from Kel's left, heading directly to the door she'd abandoned seconds earlier.

Kel frowned, hugging her knees. She was getting awfully sick of hiding and listening to footsteps, waiting and wondering if and when their owners would come to seize her.

The footsteps paused just outside, and for a few seconds there was nothing but solemn, chilly silence, punctured at times with heavy, hissing breaths. It sounded to Kel like a bunch of dragons were stalking her, breathing fire even as she breathed out clouds of frozen air.

"These footprints are fresh," a dark voice spoke up, sounding annoyed. "Which one of you has been fooling around on guard duty again?"

Oh no. Her footprints! She hadn't even thought about those. Kel's heart sped up, panicking. If they tracked her to the tree and looked-

"Luckily for you, Drake has ruined most of them, so the world will never know what you were up to."

There were chuckles all around, and a mumbled "sorry" from a person Kel guessed must be Drake. She let out a sigh of relief, thanking the universe for whomever had put Drake on the patrol.

"Alright, the door. Somebody open it. We can just run in and grab the cargo, right, Your Highness?"

There was a pause.

"yeah," said a new voice. "should be fine."

Kel felt shivers running down her spine that had nothing to do with the cold. This voice, this new voice... there was just something off about it, something she couldn't explain. Your Highness...