Permafrost

10: Coal

⭐️Chapter 10: Coal

Ryn kept going, and going.

Out the back door. Out of the town. Deeper into the forest that surrounded them. She would not stop. She couldn't hear anyone following her, which was a relief, but she never knew. Someone could be hiding in the trees, waiting for her to come by to strike.

She stopped when she thought she had enough distance, and she looked around. She'd never been here before. She had snagged a backpack on the way out, but hadn't opened it. It was very light, anyway. Other than that, she had no food or weapons. It was just her alone.

There was a trail in front of her that had been worn down into the dirt level. She decided to follow it, thinking it must lead somewhere. Her heart was still pounding, and she needed to plan a way to free her friends if they had already been taken. She needed to calm down. She took a deep breath in, and a deep breath out. It was all going to be okay. Sure she was alone, but she knew some species lived in the forest. Surely she could get some help.

Well. It didn't appear. For a long time. She wanted to count steps as she went down the twists and turns of the paths, but she'd already lost track, and twice. It was about noon now, and she as starting to get hungry. She stopped to open her backpack to see if there was food inside. Nothing but a sketchbook and pencil, socks, winter coat, and some money on the bottom. No food. She sighed. She zipped the backpack back up and continued on. She began to wonder where she would stay if she didn't find a home. Maybe she'd need to build one out of the sticks here, but...they were all covered in snow. She'd also need a way to keep the heat in, and most of the leaves from the trees had blown away. And there were so many other things after that too...After what must have been a half hour later, she came across a small log cabin, elevated via some wooden pillars, off the ground. Down below, there was a bell to ring. Ryn walked up to it. Should she ring it? She could get help (or not) here. Well, to be honest, anything would help.

So Ryn rung it gently.

She waited for something to happen. She heard the sound of a window opening, and looked up. An osprey peeked out from the window of the house, and peered down at Ryn. They seemed grumpy, but maybe they were just having a bad day? Ryn cleared her throat.

"Um, hello there. My name is Ryn and I'm in need of a place to stay."

"Place to stay, eh? Had to be HERE of all places?" they grumpily asked.

"S-sorry, this was the first place I came across after running from the Frost Army..."

The Osprey suddenly got a worried look on their face.

"F...Frost...Army..."

Ryn didn't want to say anything to ruin the moment, so she sat there in silence.

"I-It's okay, I can just-"

"Child, are you being followed?" the Osprey asked, looking from side to side.

Ryn looked around. She saw nobody suspicious.

"I don't think so?" she replied, looking back up at the Osprey.

"In, now. Hurry."

And so Ryn climbed up to the ladder and into the home, with the osprey locking the door behind them. Upon entering the house, Ryn saw that it was rather old fashioned, but still had some electric appliances in it. She also saw an Insectoid (evolved bugs) stag beetle resting on the sofa. Its body was small but its mandibles were HUGE.

Ryn took a seat down in a cushioned chair, taking off her backpack and setting it down on the floor. She also took off her coat and put it down.

"Has the Frost Army invaded your actual home, child?" the Osprey asked, walking towards the cupboards to see what there was in the way of food.

"Yes, they've taken everyone there and I wouldn't have gotten away if it wasn't for my friends..." Ryn said sadly.

"That was VERY brave of your friends to do. You plan on rescuing them, right?" they asked, still rummaging through.

"Yes I do, uhm...uh..."

"Talon.""Miss Talon."

"Good, good. A loyal friend is a good friend" Talon said, as she pulled out a bag of trail mix and filled a small bowl with it.

She set the bowl by Ryn, and put the bag back into the cupboard. Ryn smiled at the offer of food. Anything would help.

"Thanks. Now, what should I do while I'm here? Just because I'm good doesn't mean I'm up to speed with fighting the army" Ryn asked.

She dug through the mix. It was pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, dried berries and some nut pieces. She was kinda looking for pieces of candy to be honest. Those were her favorite. Sometimes they were brown and mistaken for raisins or something. Whatever it was, Ryn still found herself having fun with it while she listened.

"Well, maybe don't fight the army, fight the guards that hold your friends" Talon replied, taking a seat across from Ryn.

"Ooooh, I see."

"Now then. I have a guest room with an extra bed. Stag can sleep on the couch, he won't mind."

"Okay! Should I go get situated real quick?"

Talon nodded.

"If you want to."

Ryn picked up her bag and headed upstairs to the second floor of the house. There were four different rooms, one was Talon's, one was a bathroom, one was Stag's. The last one was where she would stay. She opened the door to it only to find a rectangle mattress in a rectangle nest. There were blankets and pillows off to the side, and Ryn decided to take the time to customize it to her liking.

It took her a few minutes, but when she was done, she sat down on it and yawned. What time was it? She didn't know. But surely Talon wouldn't mind her napping? She knew where she was, anyway. Ryn laid back onto the bed, imagining plans for helping her friends.

And with that, she fell asleep.

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Cold...

So Cold...

When would this nightmare end?