Permafrost

5: Char

⭐️Chapter 5: Char

Of course you may be wondering, "Charred books? You mean to say the books had been on fire at some point and had been burned but yet the Library still contained them?" And to that, we say yes. Because all knowledge is valuable in some way. Ryn and her team had split up in the library. They each took a different table located within the building, and had set their drinks down to search. Last thing they needed was their drinks ruining the pages further, which HAD happened once, but only because the person doing it wasn't themselves that day and just needed some rest. They weren't about to be those people again.

Each member started out in the outer corners of the place, and they decided to work their way in, taking their drinks with them when they moved. Cosmo had taken a corner about history, Silvia had taken a corner about biology of species, Jack had taken a graphic novel section in case there were powers there that might explain the ink, and Ryn had taken the fiction and nonfiction novels section, looking for anything about the ink as well. So far, nobody had any luck. There were more genres as they moved in as well, which only made things harder. They weren't on a time limit, they could do this all again tomorrow, just...they were kinda impatient, as this new discovery had raised thousands of questions in their heads. They hadn't know for so long, and now...they knew. 

It took a while. The library kept its quietness, and each member kept reading with determination. With each book they read, they began to lose more and more hope. But they knew that it had to be in here somewhere. They didn't want to skip over any books or stop the mission in case it was literally RIGHT THERE. In fact, it would be HORRIBLE if it had been sitting in one place the entire time, but they were dumb enough not to see it. They didn't want to ask the librarian about it because just straight up asking for "a book about fire ink" sounded suspicious right off the bat.

Eventually, they had reached the center area. So far, they had absolutely nothing. Ryn began to worry. What if there was nothing on it? Would they forever be lost in a mystery? Silvia had looked through the powers of other species. Mimic octolings could shapeshift, Eelings had electricity, Fangteeth and Anglers had their specially designed teeth, some creatures had bioluminescence...but nothing on hot ink. All the books Cosmo had read were about wars between other species, and despite all the weapons mentioned, there were no signs of hot ink anywhere. Jack meanwhile, was just waiting on the others. He hadn't found anything, and didn't expect to. The four were now within earshot range of eachother.

"Aha! I found a book on it!" Cosmo exclaimed.

"You did?!" Jack said, looking up from his book, which currently had said nothing about the ink. He was ready to hear about this.

"Yeah, see? Boiling hot ink!" He pointed.

"Uh. I'm still reading my book...in case there's anything here too" Jack said, half lying. Some of these graphic novels were GOOD, and he had to admit he had kind of drifted off from the original mission just to look at a few.

"Oh. I guess I can just read it then?" Cosmo asked.

"Well then yeah, if you can, then read it!" Jack said. The other two also perked up at this, ready to hear what Cosmo had found.

"Okay okay. Says here...there is a species that exists known as Firelings, some called them Pyrolings. Their ink was boiling hot. They were always fighting..." Cosmo stopped.

"Why'd you stop?" Silvia asked, looking up from her book but still paying attention.

"It's burnt..." Cosmo mumbled.

Jack looked up.

"Huh?" He said loudly, as he didn't hear what Cosmo said. He tried not to yell though, since libraries were supposed to be quiet.

"The page! It's burnt! I don't know what to do..." Cosmo explained.

"Keep going with what's intact!" Ryn encouraged.

"Okay, um..." it took Cosmo a while to find where he had stopped from before, since the charred spots made it harder to find his place. 

"...their ink was actually fire charged, and could melt some things if left on said material for too long. More charred stuff...ah, they haven't been seen around after the great Tidal wave separated them and the...it's burnt again."

"So...you mean to tell me that Ryn might be an endangered species?" Jack said.

"Well...maybe?? I don't know, this is the only source I could find with hot ink" Cosmo said, keeping the book page open. He would have to check the rest of it soon.

"Well, let's keep searching. I'm sure there's more somewhere..." Silvia said.

"Alright, I'll keep reading" Cosmo said as he turned his head back to the book and continued reading the rest of his book.

The four of them kept on reading, motivated by the thought that if there was one book on it, then surely there were more books on it. They kept reading and reading, excitement filling their minds as to what other secrets had been hidden for years. Time flew by, and they still hadn't found anything good. Heck, it was getting close to dinner time. They wanted to eat, but...they also wanted to keep going. They felt like they had to. They needed to know what else there was to these firelings! At the end of the day though, they had found nothing more. They all said their goodbyes and parted ways from the library, headed to their homes.

"Fireling, huh..." Ryn thought as she walked home."Interesting."

-----

In his room, he sat.

He looked out the window.

Snow, snow, and more snow.

He sighed. It was always so boring here. All he ever did was the same thing over and over again. And don't get him started on the cult here.

He wished he had more friends. He only had one, really. Jay was his other friend, but he could rarely see Jay due to his...Situation.

You see, he was a-

"Prince Corrin! It is time for your swords lesson!"

"Coming...." he groaned.

Corrin got off of his bed and out of his room, and began to walk down the long, cold hall.