Corrupted - A JSAB Fanfiction

Chapter 7 - Crimson

Kinn dragged her tired legs across the cold rock floor, her entire shivering figure soaking wet from the rain.

"Luna?" she called, her voice echoing across the cavern walls. In only a few seconds, a figure with damp sky blue hair poked her head from behind a corner.

"Kinn!" Luna exclaimed. She rushed towards the Cube with a dry towel before checking her around for injuries. "How did it go? Did you find them?"

Kinn accepted the towel gratefully, wrapping herself with the dry cloth. The storm had soaked her from head to toe, even with her hoodie on. She had a feeling none of them could ever be truly dry at this rate. "I found Lili, Verdan, and Ferris." She sniffled. "No luck on Cyan."

Silence. Luna hugged her and whispered, "Oh, Kinn..."

Soon enough, the remaining three Guardians rushed into the cave, just as wet as Kinn and shaken from fleeing the demon king and his minions all day. They were shaken, but unharmed - and most importantly, not captured and tortured like how Cyan had thought they were. Luna immediately hurried into a deeper part of the cavern and came back with three extra towels.

"T-that was a c-close call," Ferris shivered.

"I know," Verdan gritted his teeth. "L-Luna, where did you even get these t-towels?"

"I flew back to my house when Kinn went out to find you," said Luna. "I put all the necessary survival stuff in my rucksack." She smiled. "And yes, even food."

They all perked up happily at the mention of food. "Oh jeez," Ferris grinned. "I'm starving."

"What did you bring?" Lili asked eagerly.

Eight minutes later, the group had made themselves comfortable: sitting on sleeping bags in a much roomier part of the cavern lit by a few candles, eating rationed meals of canned soup and bread. Luna even brought an entire 1-litre bottle of water, though she let everyone know that they needed to be sensible because the natural rivers and springs had turned corrosive. Thunder boomed outside the shelter of the cave as the rain continued to pour relentlessly down on the land once known as "Paradise."

Kinn was the one who suggested this hideout. It was a cavern with long, twisting passages burrowed deep into a mountain right next to Luscious Hills. The cavern was high enough to overlook the city and to serve as a great lookout, but not too high up that they couldn't make a quick escape. Luna had reported that the caverns were mostly devoid of any creatures - and most importantly, carnivores of some sort - but was alive with many different kinds of colourful glowing insects and mushrooms.

It was the perfect hiding spot.

"Where've you hidden the triangles, Luna?" Verdan asked through a mouthful of bread.

Luna smiled. "Don't worry, they're in a safe little room further down the caverns. More accurately the tenth cave to the left and behind a stack of rocks. It'd take ages for any Corrupted to find them without any clues."

Once they've finished their rations and kept the rest of the food back in Luna's rucksack, Lili spoke. "We need to find Cyan."

"Not in that weather, we won't," said Luna firmly. "You can barely see anything within a metre through that rain. We'll get lost, get killed, or worse, captured."

Typical of Luna to believe that getting captured would be worse than death - but frankly, Kinn agreed. Who knows what those Corrupted bastards would do to them if they get captured - tortured for information, maybe. Or even given them a painfully slow death.

Yeah, maybe getting lost or killed suddenly would be better than that.

"He's probably captured anyway," Ferris said gloomily. "If he is, let's just hope he isn't tortured at the moment. Or worse..."