Permafrost

42: Conifer

⭐️Chapter 42: Conifer

The group still couldn't tell how far they were from the mountaintop. They'd stopped for another snack break, but they then realized how low food was becoming. They either had to make it up this mountain quicker than they were going now, or find another source of food. Or both, that would be nice. At the moment, they were discussing how to enter the Ice Kingdom.

"There are guards guarding a gate up there? Dangit, I should've brought the e-liter instead!" Cosmo said frustratedly, though it was light and not serious.

"Relax, relax, I could probably land a dynamo flick at one of them...or throw a bomb. Actually, Ryn could take out one with two burst bombs if her aim is good enough," Jack said.

"I could try to attack them if I get my special charged. Not sure how ink does with snow, though..." Fang grumbled.

"Or we could get the Rinkling to talk to the guards since I'm sure they know him!" Silvia offered. "Oh, that reminds me! We don't even know your name!"

Corrin gulped, and Ryn saw how uneasy he was.

"You don't have to tell us your real name, just at least give us something to work with!" she said.

Ah, well that made things easier. Corrin sighed with relief and cleared his throat.

"Call me...Nyroc!" he said somewhat proudly.

His inspiration was a fictional book he'd read about owls. There was an owl named Nyroc who wanted to change his name, so he reversed the letters to spell "Coryn". Seeing as the names were similar and that Nyroc sounded better than Nirroc, Corrin went with it.

"Ah, so Nyroc here can just go up to the guards and sneak us in!" Silvia exclaimed.

"Uh. I don't plan on stuffing you guys in my clothes or anything, so please come up with an extra to that plan," Corrin said nervously.

"Oh...right."

"Well, maybe our cephalopod forms could all fit inside Fang's closed tenta brella? Nyroc would have to make the guard talking quick though, because we won't be able to breathe for long in there..." Cosmo asked.

"Maybe someone can go into my brella to at least make more space in there," Silvia offered.

"Well, Cosmo and Ryn are the smaller ones here, so do you think we could fit both of them into yours?" Jack asked.

"Only one way to find out! We'd have to stop to try that, though," Silvia replied.

Corrin almost zoned out as the Infernos kept talking and talking. There was nothing interesting to do, since snow kept flaking and you could hardly make out any small details on the ground. He wondered how the group had managed to stay intact this whole trip. As he minutes went by, everyone's positions shifted. Fang fell back behind the group with Corrin as Cosmo and Ryn lead the group. Silvia and Jack were in the middle, talking to each other.

Corrin looked off to the side, but noticed Fang seemed...deep in thought. He'd initially thought Fang was a "fight now, ask questions later" kind of guy, but...those kinds of people didn't usually do deep thinking...or did they?

"Is something wrong? You seem...conflicted over something," he said.

If all else failed, he could just not interact with Fang. Surprisingly though, Fang answered.

"No, I'm just...thinking about something."

"Oh? May I know what? Or is it private matters?"

Corrin began remembering his mannerism lessons from when he was younger. He hoped they could come in handy.

"It's just...stuff," Fang grumbled.

"You sure you're not thinking about something?" Corrin asked.

"Yes."

The two strode in silence for a while, neither of them saying anything. However, it only took a minute for them to start back up again.

"Ugh, okay fine, I AM! I keep acting up so these losers will back down and not bother me, but I keep finding myself helping them out! I don't even know why, and it pains me enough! I just feel like...they're dumb, so I need to show them how to do things the right way!" Fang exclaimed. "Not that you care though...you'll probably...egh..."

Corrin just nodded his head a little, in an "ah" movement.

"I see. So you're torn between sides? I won't tell, if this is a secret."

"Yeah, that's one way to put it, but whatever. Not like you'll care about this anyway since you don't even know what's going on. I hate thinking about it anyway. My teammate Thrash leads my turf team, and while he IS tough and strong, he's also reckless and...kind of rude. The rest of us all join in on whatever he does and copy his mannerisms just because...I guess it feels like we fit in or something. Like we're tough and unbeatable. But then the guy has a tendency to punish those who don't follow what he wants. He's done it to me more, probably because I'm a weak excuse for a giant squid..."

Corrin raised an eyebrow in surprise. Weren't giant squids supposed to be at least 6 feet or so? Heck, maybe 7? Fang was like. At least something above 5 feet if he had to guess.

"You're a giant squid? But you're kinda-"

Fang glared at him with a "seriously?" expression.

"Sorry, sorry. I know what you mean. That's happened with...my turf team sometimes, too...even though I lead it...we have leadership issues..." Corrin mumbled, before quickly realizing he was going too far into personal issues. "A-anyway! I know what it's like, to be treated like nothing. To want to be cool, to want to fit in with everyone else. To want to be...well, I don't know if you've wanted to be different before, or..."

"Eh. Close enough. But again, not like anyone will care. What I have going now is fine, anyway. Makes those pathetic chumps suspect less," Fang replied.

"You sure it makes this...whatever it is, easier? It seems like it wouldn't, but that's just me," Corrin said.

"I know. But...I still can't trust them enough yet, and I don't know what we'll do if the rest of my teammates show up. I was initially thinking 'Eh, ditch em, they'll live', but now..." Fang sighed in frustration. "What have I gotten myself into...."

Corrin merely watched him as he dragged his hands down his face.

"A mess, that's for sure."