Permafrost

59: Frostfire

⭐️Chapter 59: Frostfire

The Infernos stared at the dark ceiling. They'd lost track of time, and their bodies absolutely ached. Over time, Cosmo had ceased his crying, but he was still sniffling here and there. The group was absolutely furious over what Spyke and Fang had done. They swore they'd get payback the second they could.

All they could do was sit. There was nothing to do in these cells. Nobody was nearby, and there weren't small pebbles to play with. Jack had tried to break something with his bare hands, but got nothing except hurt. His hands still ached, and he'd tried to focus on something else to make the pain go away.

Ryn just hoped that if she and her friends ever encountered a bully team again, they wouldn't do this all over again. As of now though, she felt useless. She was the Fireling, Pyroling, whatever it was called. What did that mean? Was she supposed to bust everyone out of this icy cold prison with ease like some prophecy? She was just a kid.

She was the leader of her team, she had to do something. She'd hardly made any decent decisions ever since this trip had started. Did that make her unworthy? Was she just a failure? She didn't know what to do in a situation like this, and a motivational speech probably wouldn't do much.

The least she could do was pass time until Corrin came...she hoped. If he got captured too, well...she didn't have a plan.

"Say, Silvia. Remember that team you joined when you were younger?" Ryn asked.

"Yes?"

"What do you think they're doing right now?"

"Hmm."

Indeed, when she was little, Silvia had joined a turf team BEFORE siding with Ryn. She was 2 and a half years older than her anyway, and got control of her humanoid form earlier than Ryn. She would always tell Ryn the stories of what would happen with her teammates, but she never told Ryn their real names, calling them "Tee", "Inky", and "Shades" instead. Her team's location was never really stated, but Ryn had never seen them.

One day, Silvia had to split from them. She told Ryn it was because things were "getting complicated", and when Ryn asked if she would ever see them again, Silvia replied with a "maybe". From then on, Ryn always wondered what her teammates were doing.

"I wonder if they got captured too..." Silvia replied.

"Dangit! It would be really cool to see them though!" Ryn said. "Especially if they rescued us heroically or something!"

Silvia let out a light laugh.

"I...I guess it would be."

"You had other teammates?" Cosmo asked.

"Yup."

"What were they like?"

"Eh. I dunno if you guys would even be interested..." Silvia replied.

"Well we have all the time in the world at the moment, so might as well do something," Jack sighed.

"I'd really rather switch topics..."

"Pleeeease?" Cosmo begged.

"Alright, if she wants to switch topics, we probably should..." Ryn said.

"But I wanna hear!"

"Cosmo, we probably shouldn't all get into a grumpy mood just because we're all stuck in a cell together. I'd hate it if we all got into a fight before our possible confrontation with an evil spirit," Ryn said.

"Awww..."

Well, so much for trying to tell a story.

"Hey, what do you think would happen if we started making a ruckus in here?" Jack asked.

"The Wave Crashers would probably come over here and splat us. Or worse," Ryn replied.

"Do you really think they would?"

"What do you mean?"

"Do you really think they would splat us when they know there's no respawn point? Ryn, think about this. That would practically be the same as murder. Our parents and family would realize that we're gone, and they'd want to know who did it. I'm pretty sure those guys don't need murder on their backs," Jack explained.

"I don't know. They might go so far as to torture us that they might splat us on accident, or-"

"Ryn."

"What?!"

"They're teenagers just like us. I think they've already taken this too far."

"Well YOU were the one who was angry about them the most!" Ryn cried.

"I was, and I still am. But even though they're crappy as shell, they're still inklings."

Ryn buried her face in her hands. If only she wasn't so useless. All she needed was comfort from everyone, but it seemed they were...not feeling their best now. Well, if she really was a leader, she probably wouldn't say anything about this. She would probably keep it all bottled up and internal, and not worry any of her friends about it.

After all, isn't that what many people did? Ryn sighed. She missed Corrin. He was really nice, and she'd definitely want to keep in touch with him after this whole thing blew over. She kinda wondered what he was like.

He seemed to really care about the group, especially for a prince. Had he been taught manners in this castle? Quite frankly, Ryn was glad she'd run into the Prince of all people to help them. Even if the Frost Army was evil, that didn't mean all Rinklings were evil. Having someone on the other side was nice!

Ryn thought about what would happen once the group got out and got their revenge. It could happen...but would it? Ryn shook her head. Now was not the time to think of such things. What if Corrin never even showed up? Honestly, whatever happened happened.

Ryn laid down on the cold, stone floor of the dungeon. Slowly, everyone else followed. It seemed that there truly was nothing to do. They would just have to wait there with the agonizing feeling of what was to come within them. Everyone was about to drift off to sleep...

Clank.

Ryn's eyes shot open, and she turned her head to the source of the noise. She could see a figure standing by the door of their cell, and she squinted to get a better look.

It was Fang.

And he had the keys to their cell.

As all of the Infernos sat up, they could hear him sigh lightly to himself. They watched as he looked away from them as he spoke.

"Just remember this. I saved your life, okay?"