The Fire Inside

14. The Mountain Made Me Sick

To say the mountain was cold was an understatement. The entire group was shivering and had forgotten to get any kind of outerwear. Emmalynn was now sick and on Julien's back. They kept trudging through the sudden snow that had engulfed them five steps into their adventure.

"Are you sure you can't summon flames?" Maria whined.

"I'm feeling cold too, you know! I wish I could, but I'm unable to at the moment," Jimin sighed.

She wanted to help her friends keep warm, but it was true. She couldn't summon a single flame out of her body. It just wouldn't come. They walked a bit longer until Emmalynn fainted on Julien's back.

"Oh my god! She's gone limp! Guys we need to stop somewhere!" Julien panicked.

Just then, by the luck of the century, Varun spotted a small pit in the side of the mountain.

"Guys! We can go there for now!"

All eight of them hurried into the small shelter to seek warmth. Jimin, finally feeling a bit better, was able to summon a small ball of fire on the palm of her hand. All of them whooped in joy. Isadora, who had been freezing her paws off, moved herself next to Jimin. They all sat down and Riley moved Emmalynn so that she was resting on her lap. Jimin sat down and Isadora took that moment to curl up in her lap. Jimin wanted to pinched her little black nose, but then decided to hug the poor pup instead.

"So should we look out for some sort of shelter nearby? Because this clearly isn't one," Maria said.

"I'd say Julien and I should go look for the safest path next," Varun volunteered.

"Take me with you!" Jimin said.

"No!" The girls said.

"Sure," the boys said.

Maria and Varun had a staring contest.

"We need her so we can see where the hell we're going!" Varun complained.

"Well, we have a sick child!" Maria retorted.

"That's the mountain's fault! Not ours!" Varun shot back.

Jimin silently created a slightly bigger ball of fire and left it on the ground. She tested out her theory and stepped on it to snuff it out. It stayed.

"Guys! My fire doesn't go out!" She announced proudly.

"Great! We're taking her!" Julien said, holding onto Jimin like a leech.

"Just make out already," Maria deadpanned.

Julien released Jimin and turned red instantly. Jimin also turned red, but you couldn't tell because she had already summoned another fiery red flame and hid behind it.

"Let's just go," Varun groaned.

The trio walked out into the harsh weather. They tried to walk through the hail, snow, and wind that hit them over and over again. They would walk forward, turn around to see if the light from the cave was visible, and turn back, before moving on. At some point, they couldn't see the cave, but still wanted to keep moving forward.

"Guys, be careful, it's really slippery around here," Varun said, right before he fell and twisted his ankle. He scraped his leg against a sharp rock right next to him and screeched in pain.

"What the hell!" Varun threw his hands into the air.

Julien laughed before helping him up.

"You should take your own advice," he taunted.

"Maria's not here. Can we not hash this out?" Varun rolled his eyes.

Julien helped Varun up and supported him. Jimin walked over to the other side, her flame slowly getting faint, and supported him on the other side.