Permafrost

38: Evergreen

⭐️Chapter 38: Evergreen

The Infernos were shaken from that experience. That was certainly something to them, and it only proved that they needed to step up their game. But...was Fang paying them back a favor, since they'd saved him from the fangteeth before? If that was the case, they'd probably need to make him owe them more favors to keep him in the group. Otherwise, he'd think that because he'd paid off his debt to the group, he was free to go.

The Infernos needed him. As much as they didn't want to admit it, they kind of had to manipulate him to stay. Seeing how he'd previously acted made them on edge, they knew they had to be careful, almost like they were handling a flame. Fuel it with the right things, but don't let it get out of control or it would burn everything down. Speaking of which, they needed fire right about now. It was still snowing.

And it hasn't stopped snowing since they started up this mountain. Their feet were getting number and number. They'd wanted to stop again for a break, but they weren't sure how long their snacks would last them, even if they ate small amounts. Besides, Fang would probably be a jerk and eat everything in there. The Infernos assumed they'd have to snack in secret.

Tempest still hadn't shown up, surprisingly. Not that the group minded, since that had calmed down some. The further they got up the hill, the less of a concern Tempest became. Ryn wondered if she was even still down there, looking for something that didn't exist. She had to admit, she felt a little bit bad.

Tempest hadn't exactly done anything wrong to the Infernos, since she hadn't harmed them. She was only guarding the mountain entrance. Technically, neither side could really attack the other in that case, since that meant the other side could attack back as means of self-defense. The Infernos needed every advantage they could get at this point, even if some of their advantages were...well...reckless inklings from an enemy team. They had no idea what the Rinklings could be up to.

Also, it was worth considering the fact that the Infernos only had ONE Pyroling with them compared to the whole KINGDOM of Rinklings. Of course, the Infernos didn't know where the other Pyrolings were. If they'd known though, they'd probably have gone to that place to get help. Nothing in the books they read said anything about it.

But that didn't matter now. They had SOME help, at least. It was better than none. They kept a lookout for anything else that might happen, like a rockslide or another beast blocking their path. The width of the path had lessened, sure, but that only made things riskier. The chilling new wind that accompanied the group didn't help either.

"Is it just me, or has it gotten colder?" Jack asked.

"Well...that IS what happens when you go up a mountain..." Ryn replied.

"Hey wait. If we're not able to survive the cold down here, how will we survive the cold up THERE?" Cosmo asked.

The Infernos paused, but Fang kept going.

"Oh...that's a problem," Ryn muttered.

"Yeah...without camps to stop and adjust to the height and temperature...I don't know if we'll be able to make it up much further," Silvia said worriedly.

"Should we stop and rest, then? I feel like we practically have to at this point," Jack asked.

"Well. I don't see a place to stop and rest..." Cosmo sighed.

Indeed, the rest of the mountain showed no signs of caves or stable rocks that could house them in this snow. It was mostly just a wall of rock, with moss or snow on the side or other rocks jutting out. The Infernos hadn't seen any houses built nearby or into the mountain at all.

"Should we just sit alongside the mountain, then?" Ryn suggested."Won't we just be sitting ducks?" Jack asked.

"Do we really have any other option?" Silvia said, glancing around for any alternatives.

Cosmo shivered a little, despite his jacket.

"But...I don't wanna freeze up here-"

"WHAT'S TAKING SO LONG?!" Fang shouted.

"S-sorry, but uh...aren't you cold?" Silvia shouted back.

He hesitated, but...

"Y...yeah?"

"We're trying to figure out what to do so we can adjust to the height and the temperature!" Ryn yelled.

"Aren't we just gonna be sitting ducks?" Fang called out, just as the group had expected him to say.

"That's what I said, but I don't see a cave around here! It's not like we could carve one into the mountain ourselves!" Jack shouted.

"And why not?!""Because-"

Jack paused, unsure of how exactly he wanted to respond to the question.

"Because I don't know if we have the right tools to do so! I don't want to break my dynamo for this!" he shouted back.

The Infernos heard a loud, audible groan from where Fang was, and watched as he walked down the mountain to reach them. Once he got down with them, he stared at them.

"Well what do you think we should do?" he grumbled.

"Our weapons seem to be our only decent tool around here...I don't think Ryn's backpack contains anything other than snacks and...well, non survival things," Cosmo said.

"Alright then, let's go over our weapons. We have a splattershot, tri-slosher, undercover brella, golden dynamo, and a tenta brella," Silvia listed.

"Tenta brella...that's it! We could all sleep under the tenta brella if we need to! If we don't fit with our human forms, we can use our cephalopod forms!" Jack exclaimed.

"But then we'd just be laying in the snow, right? These pieces of clothing are kind of like gear, you know," Fang said.

"Oh...right."

Ryn thought, trying to come up with an alternative.

"I wonder if my ink would be able to keep us warm..."

"Don't. You know what happened to Thrash when he touched it. Let's not risk that with the team we have," Silvia said calmly.

"Just thought it might work..." Ryn muttered.

"Well, we have a base idea. Maybe we can see if the brella fits our humanoid forms first?" Jack asked.

"Yeah, might as well."

Fang took out his tenta brella and popped it open. Everyone slowly crawled over to it and sat under it.

It felt...

Nice.