Permafrost

46: Jetstream

⭐️Chapter 46: Jetstream

The last riddle stuck in their brains like glue.

To be with it costed nothing...yet to be without it costed everything...and it was there but couldn't be seen. And they couldn't even help Ryn on this one. With one guesser down and one guesser left, what were they supposed to do? The tensions were high on this one.

"Air? Like, we breathe air, and without it we're dead...and it's there but we can't see it..." Cosmo muttered, since he knew he couldn't help Ryn now.

"It doesn't shine, Cosmo," Silvia reminded him.

"Oh right. Forgot about that."

"Does it have to though? What if the shine is just metaphorical?" Jack asked.

"I don't know..." Silvia sighed, not even attempting to guess at this point.

All attention was on Ryn. Her choice decided the fate of everyone. God, what had they gotten themselves into? They'd only come to rescue their town, but now they were talking to a dragon that came from who knows where because they needed a warm place to sleep while a storm raged on outside? Man this adventure was weird.

'There but cannot be seen...so it's probably something within...' Ryn thought to herself. 'Could it be love? Does love shine brightest in the dark?'

The room filled with silence as Ryn sat there thinking. It was deafening, and really uncomfortable. Kagayaku stared at her with intense eyes, but she had a feeling that if she took too long, he might kick them out anyway. Nobody said anything, and everyone just exchanged nervous glances. That is, until Jack cleared his throat.

"Sooo...what happens if we intervene?" he asked.

"I blast you out of this cave. Don't try me, I won't hesitate to," Kagayaku snarled, momentarily glancing over at Jack before shifting attention back to Ryn.

Corrin watched the small inkling as she thought. If only there was some way to help her without Kagayaku noticing. She seemed to be in quite a pinch.

"Ryn, I hope you get this right. We're all depending on you.

Ryn smiled, but began thinking about what he'd said. He hoped she got it right. Everyone was depending on her...

Hope...

Hope...

Could that work? That was something that couldn't be seen. And in tough situations, it was always there...to be without hope would indeed cost someone a lot...

"Is it...hope?" Ryn asked.

"Correct. You may stay for only a day, then you must all get out," Kagayaku said, shortly before laying back down and assuming a rest position.

Oh.

So that was that, huh? No big celebration or anything? Alright then.

"Well, we did it. Might as well get this done with as soon as possible, so then we can resume our trek sooner," Jack said.

"Right...um...Mr. Kagayaku, are there any spots you don't want us to sit?" Silvia asked.

"Just don't sit next to me...sit around the back walls or whatever," he replied, without moving.

Upon further examination of the cave, the group realized that it was indeed somewhat small. They all walked over to the wall of the cave and sat down, finally relaxing after all that.

"Well. Let's get this rest done with," Fang said.

Everybody laid against either the wall or each other, and closed their eyes. Slowly but surely, they drifted off to sleep.

-----

When the Infernos woke up, they had a look around. They were surprised to find that Kagayaku hadn't shoved them out of the cave, and that they were still all together and warm. What time was it? None of them knew. They sat there in silence and listened to the area around them. The snow storm had calmed down, and had resumed as regular snowfall.

Corrin and Fang were still asleep at the moment, and nobody dared wake them. Nobody asked to see if Kagayaku was up either, so they sat there while they had the calm environment to. It felt weird, resting when the world needed you. The Infernos felt bad about it, but hey. Rescuers had to restore their energy do they could continue rescuing on their mission or whatever it was.

They'd wanted a break for so long, yet now that they had it, they wanted to get back on track. Then again, she would they ever get a peaceful rest like this on the rest of their way up? They had no way of knowing, so might as well hey as much rest as they could out of this rest.

"You guys doing okay?" Cosmo mumbled.

"Yeah...I'm alright. I'm just glad we've gotten this far," Silvia replied.

"Me too. Though I have to admit, I can't help but think this is my fault," Ryn said.

"What? No, you had nothing to do with the Frost Army invading," Jack stated, giving her a look.

"Wouldn't be surprised if we got to the Ice Kingdom and I actually WAS the reason..." Ryn muttered. "Maybe it's because..."

She paused, unsure if she wanted to continue. She looked over at Corrin and Fang, who were still asleep.

"I'm a Pyroling, and the Rinklings are looking to kill them or something. Fire and ice seem to be opposites, after all," she finished.

Silvia sighed, shaking her head at her friend's reasoning. While it seemed possible now, maybe this was all just a big misunderstanding.

"We'll figure it out eventually Ryn, I know we will," she sighed.

The group heard a grumble, and then looked over to see Kagayaku stretching out a little. He made quite a bit of noise while doing it though, and that was what seemed to wake up Corrin and Fang.

"What the...are we still here?" Fang mumbled, trying to get a clear view of his surroundings.

"Seems like it..." Corrin sighed, also slowly opening his eyes to the cave around him.

"Oh good, you're up? Are you going to leave now?" Kagayaku grumbled, clearly still annoyed the group was there.

"Yes, yes, we will...it's just um..." Cosmo mumbled, a little nervous.

"Spit it out, or don't bother at all."

"We have just one more favor to ask..." Ryn said, speaking for Cosmo.

Kagayaku let out a sigh, and grumbled something incomprehensible as he slowly turned to look at her.

"What is it? This better be easy."

"We need you to take us up the rest of the mountain."