Permafrost

41: Arctic

⭐️Chapter 41: Arctic

Ryn stared at the Rinkling in front of her. He seemed about the group's age, like a teenager perhaps. He was probably around Jack's height if she had to guess, since all of them were on uneven ground at the moment. Nobody made a move yet, everyone was still frozen with both curiosity and fear. Fang seemed to be edging towards hostility, though.

"Uh...hi?" Ryn smiled sheepishly.

"Ryn, this is the species that captured our town, and the first thing you do is say HI?!" Jack hissed.

"Well, maybe this one is friendly?"

Corrin could overhear the group talking about him, and quickly realized that these cephalopods were survivors of the Laocrah town raid that had happened a few days ago. He assumed they might be mad at the Rinkling race for taking over their town, and that they might want him dead. Understandable, he just had to prove he was peaceful to get by.

"Ah! I'm not here to capture you or anything, you ah, you FAR outnumber me! I was just going to the bottom of the mountain, that's all, haha..." Corrin said nervously.

"You're codsalmn right we outnumber you," Fang growled, "now if you EVER want to see the light of day again, you'll-"

"TAKE US UP TO THE ICE KINGDOM AND FREE OUR FRIENDS!" Cosmo screamed last second. He quickly shut his mouth afterwards.

"Oh right. That. I was gonna say "leave us alone", but you've got a point."

Corrin stared at them. Sheesh, couldn't these guys just let him by? Guess not, since this seemed to be the thing he was doing. He didn't want to have to walk down this mountain only to CLIMB BACK UP IT. Guess it was no use.

"Aww man, can't a guy just go to the town below his mountain home to retrieve some items for himself?" he asked.

"Well, other than Tempest, you're the only other Rinkling we've encountered, so...you're helping," Jack confirmed.

"But I just got down here!" Corrin complained.

"Too bad, we don't care. You're taking us up whether you like it or not," Fang said.

"Fang!" Ryn exclaimed.

That was a little too cruel for her taste.

"Fine, you can take us up then go down and do your business while we free our people and commit arson on your home," Fang growled.

The Infernos sighed as Corrin hung his head low.

"Alright..." he groaned.

And so, the group of what was now 6 began their way up the mountain, with Corrin lagging behind all of them. Great. Now he DEFINITELY couldn't tell them he was the prince, or they'd be on his case about wacky ruling. The raid wasn't even his idea, it was his father's ever since that stupid spirit said something would happen to the kingdom of they didn't find a certain person soon. But hey, who would believe him? It was fine, though. He could play quiet a little longer.

"So are you just some citizen or?" Jack asked.

"Oh! Yeah, I am."

Ok, never mind. They were probably going to ask him some questions, and he'd have to lie through them all while also giving as little info out as possible. Great.

"Oh good. At least we're not taking somebody important along with us, or we'd be in great danger!" Cosmo said happily.

Again, Corrin said nothing. He'd joke about how normal he was, but he wasn't about to risk anything too big here.

"So, what's it like up there? Do you guys get the snow from the mountain, or do you guys have some magic ice dome that shields the kingdom from it?" Ryn asked.

"We get the snow. Every day. To the point we hardly see the sun," Corrin groaned.

It really was a complaint. He remembered the few times he saw the sun as a kid, and he thought it was beautiful. His father actually let everyone do what they wanted on those days, since sunlight was so rare. Corrin missed it all...

"You guys don't see the sun?! Okay, now we know this place is serious!" Ryn exclaimed.

"How cold is it?" Silvia asked.

"I don't have exact measurements, sorry. Rinklings are resistant to cold, so it's not like we need to keep track..." Corrin replied.

"Should've guessed," Fang grumbled.
"Well...if it snows so much, I'd assume liquid stay frozen up there, so at least around 30 degrees Fahrenheit," Jack said.

"Or 0 degrees Celsius," Cosmo added. "Or less."

"We didn't need you needs to tell us that. If liquids freeze and we're made of ink, I'm pretty sure we're gonna need another plan to bust everyone out," Fang snarled at the two.

"Uh. Ink and water are two different things, Fang," Silvia said. "They have different freezing points."

"Really? I thought all fluids froze at the same temperature..." Ryn mumbled, staring down at the ground as she walked.

"Fine, then tell me miss smarty-pants, what temperature DOES ink freeze at?" Fang asked.

"Why do you care? You shrugged off the other two, so you might as well shrug off me!" Silvia exclaimed. "What matters is that ink has a lower freezing point than water, so we should be alright."

Fang just shook his head at the response, and Corrin watched with mild curiosity. He didn't want to ask anything of the group in case it made them suspicious of him, but how did each member know each other? How long had they been like this? What had they gone through? They were teens just like him, so where were their families?

Well, despite Corrin's short fall, they had a looong way to go, and Corrin wasn't sure he was ready for this. He felt unprepared to speak to anyone here, and he was growing more uncomfortable by the second.

"You know, we're not gonna take you hostage or punish you or anything. We just need you to help us out a little. Once we sees who rules the place, we'll attack THEM, and you'll be free to go!" Ryn said cheerfully.

"Or we could just stealth mode through wherever everyone is and free them without having to fight the Frost Army if they're there," Fang said in a "my idea is better than yours" tone.

"Yeah yeah, I get it."

Well.

That just made Corrin feel WORSE.