Permafrost

49: Lichen

⭐️Chapter 49: Lichen

The group fully got off Kagayaku, now in their humanoid forms in coats. Corrin had promised Kagayaku treasure if he waited on the ledge for him. He said he'd try and make it quick, but Kagayaku told him that he could deliver it to the cave when he was done, since he didn't have the time to sit there in the cold forever. Corrin then agreed, and Kagayaku flew off, leaving the group on the ledge with the bars leading...into the mountain? Corrin told the others to follow him, so they did.

They slipped through the bars using cephalo form (with nobody watching when Fang did it), and felt a chill as the bars went through them. Once they got inside, they began walking down the long cave halls, noticing the mosses and such that grew on them. They saw their breath as they walked through, and as they looked down, they could see the surface turning from flat yet rough stone to a sort of stone brick. At the end of the hallway, there was some kind of blue light, and the path split to a left and right. It felt very ominous.

"So...where are we again?" Jack asked.

"Somewhere in the dungeons," Corrin replied.

Ah, mission made easier already. They didn't even know why they were so worried about sneaking in. But then they realized the fact that they didn't fit in, not with their clothes or mannerisms or whatever. All these other Rinklings would have ice patterns on them and different clothes, and probably colors that were shades of blue. None of the group other than Corrin had that at the moment.

Well, Silvia had blue on her, but the group didn't have a way to add onto it and make it seem glittery. However, Ryn trusted Corrin as he led the group down the path, so she thought he'd at least think of something. The weird mountain hallways seemed to create an echo as the group walked, which made everyone a little nervous. The sound of their foot hitting stone was the only thing occupying their ears at the moment, so the second they heard more feet hit the ground, they'd panic. In fact, they had nowhere to hide if they were confronted with another Rinkling.

"Corrin, do you know if there's anyone else patrolling this place?" Silvia asked.

"Yeah, actually. Two guards of the palace and and one of my friends," he replied.

"Let's pray that we run into your friend instead..." Jack mumbled.

"Well...I was gonna get you guys to my room first, so we could plan things out."

"But...what about our citizens?" Cosmo asked.

"I know this means a lot to you, but we can't focus on them right now. If we did that, then what? We'd have no way of planning for what could happen after! Besides, your people need an escape route," Corrin explained.

"Oh...I guess that's true..." Cosmo muttered. "I still feel bad about them though..."

"So what's the quickest way to your room, then?" Fang growled, clearly irritated by this whole situation.

"Well, we go through these caves and up a staircase to the main castle, then up more stairs."

"Oh brother..."

"Well I'm sure we'll do alright!" Ryn said. "Just keep quiet for now..."

And the Infernos did.

For like two minutes.

They stayed quiet for such a short amount of time because they suddenly heard footsteps. To make sure it wasn't their own, they paused. Sure enough, it was somebody else's footsteps. Everyone was sent into a panic as they frantically began wondering what to do. Corrin realized it was coming from an upcoming intersection of the paths.

"You sure there's no place we can hide?!" Jack hissed.

"All I see is rock!" Silvia whispered desperately.

Ryn thought.

"I know! Corrin can pretend he caught us! He could "escort us to our cells" or something!" she said quietly.

"Jeez, we really need to figure this stuff out BEFORE we start going into things," Fang grumbled.

"I know, I know-"

The footsteps came closer and closer. Corrin told the Infernos to hide behind him in a single file straight line, and to keep their Weiss together as if they were cuffed. The group did it without question, just as the figure turned the corner. It was a teal Rinkling with a long, pointed face. He wore a mask over his mouth, and his eyes were ice cold.

"Oh, hey Zane! I caught some prisoners escaping, so I'm bringing them back to their cell!" Corrin exclaimed casually.

"What are you doing down here? You shouldn't have this shift..." the Rinkling, Zane, said.

He was glaring at the whole group. It was really uncomfortable.

"I know, I know, but nobody else paid attention to them so I figured I might as well help!"

Zane sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Fine, whatever. Just don't get seen by the other two, okay?"

"Yes sir!"

"Don't do that either."

"Okaaaay...c'mon, let's get going!"

The Infernos hurriedly shuffled after Corrin and into the next hallway before Zane could tell they weren't handcuffed or anything. As soon as they could no longer hear the footsteps, they all calmed down.

"Th-that was t-too close..." Cosmo said shakily.

"Yeah. Well, luckily, the staircase to get outta here is just up ahead, so let's go!" Corrin said.

The group marched onwards in silence more. This time they couldn't hear anything approach them...but they could hear someone else talking.

"Hey wait a second..." Fang muttered in a rising and more suspicious tone.
"What is it?" Jack groaned.

"Something just clicked..."

"Go on...?" Silvia asked.

"We just have to go up stairs to get to Corrin's room, right?" Fang said, narrowing his eyes at Corrin.

"Yeah...?" Ryn replied nervously.

"Corrin...we're in the dungeons, right?" Fang asked.

"Yeeeees?" Corrin replied, unsure of where this was headed.

"And this dungeon...leads to your house?"

Corrin's heart nearly stopped. He hadn't thought about that. Ugh, at this rate, they'd DEFINITELY find out about him. He decided to play it cool anyways and shrug it off.

"Uuuuuh...g-get to the point!" he stuttered.

"Are you like...royalty or something?" Fang asked.

Corrin froze, causing everyone behind him to crash into each other.