Kela Crash Course Part 4

As the bag of seeds began to grow lighter, the sunlight grew paler until it was dipping in and out of the clouds along the horizon. Soon, the Euoplos were squinting in an unfamiliar darkness as they tried to navigate their planting. Their paws were stiff with both the cold and fatigue and progress had slowed to a disappointing pace at this stage. As the sunlight left, so did the scarce warmth they had been relying on all day to keep them going, it was like the cold was encroaching along with the darkness. Still, both were surprised when the Cryos returned empty-handed to the bag of seeds.

"We're stopping for the night," Drift said bluntly, not a question or suggestion, a firm proclamation.

"We're not finished here, keep planting," Talos ordered even as his beak chattered in the cold.

"Yeah, we're finished," Brook said casually, stretching his back, "Staying out here after dark is going to end badly."

"Don't mince words, surface dweller," the helmed Euoplo snapped, "What do you mean? Is this idle threat to avoid getting out of hard work?" Brook seemed to bristle at the implication, especially after spending the whole day hiking and planting. Luckily, Tony stepped in before the situation escalated.

"If we stay out here we'll freeze, plus some of the nastier residents of the highlands love to come out at night," he said quickly.

"No match for the knights of Atlantis," Talos insisted proudly, but Korppi was watching the surface dwellers' expressions. They were genuinely on edge, watching the trees for the slightest movement. They were aware of something lurking around here, something that she or Talos couldn't comprehend. 

"We only have a small amount left, they can wait until morning," she tried to reason with her companion.

"By morning we should be heading back to Atlantis for more," Talos huffed, "But, I see I am outnumbered. Very well, we will rest for the night and resume in the morning." 

"Good let's find somewhere to sleep," Brook said quickly, hurrying to help put the seeds away.

"We could just stay here, right?" Korppi asked, making Drift wince.

"Just feel that, hold still and feel it," she said, putting her claw on the crested Euoplo's back.

"I feel.. the wind?" Korppi guessed.

"Correct, if you can feel the wind you can't stay overnight," Drift said enthusiastically.

"Wind is the silent killer up here," Tony agreed, "It wears you down and before you know it you've frozen to death." That made both Euoplos turn to look at the line of planted seeds they had spent all day digging holes for. "It's their trial by fire," the Pachy insisted, "If they survive overnight then that's a good sign, isn't it?" Reluctantly, the Atlanteans followed the three surface dwellers further down into the valley. As they walked it was like the wind was growing stronger, colder and chilling their faces as it whipped past. 

"It'll get worse before it gets better," Brook reassured them, "The valley channels the wind down here, but once we turn into this chasm it should calm down." He was right, as the walls of stone grew around them, it shielded them from the wind that seemed determined to cut through to their bones. Drift perked up and hurried ahead, peeking into a recess in the stone.

"In here! Nice and sheltered here, and it's big enough for all of us," she called back.

"Not so loud," Tony hissed, looking over his shoulder. Drift made an apologetic patting gesture with her hands and gestured for all four of them to follow her inside. Korppi wasn't sure what she was expecting, but she was definitely expecting it to be noticeably warmer. Instead, she shivered in the stagnant cold air and only felt the relief from the howling wind. Talos walked to the back of the cave to drop the seeds on the floor before thinking twice and leaving them on his back. The stone was far too cold to leave the fragile little seeds exposed to it.

"Not a bad find," Brook praised his sister, "This'll be good til morning as long as nothing else lives here." Drift grimaced at him but didn't say anything else.

"What's out there?" Talos asked bluntly, fixing both Cryos with a cold stare. Korppi shuddered, the last thing they needed was to add more cold to this place but she was also aching to know what the others were so afraid of. After a brief exchange of glances, Tony sighed and stepped up.

"You have to understand, we don't want you to panic or to do anything extreme," he pleaded, "There are carnivores that will hunt you down around here but they're just trying to survive like you are."

"Then we will fight them," Talos replied sharply.

"And you might even win," Tony agreed, "But you won't win every time, that's just the nature of life here. You come up here and you're food. You can try to plant and take over as much of these islands as you like but you'll never be at the top of the food chain the way you were down in Atlantis." He let that sink in, watching anxiously as the Euoplos seemed to turn his words over in their minds, looking at each other for further insight. 

"We'll need to tell Queen Rhys about this," Korppi said quietly and when Talos nodded Tony looked so relieved he seemed to be on the brink of tears.

"To tell her to slow down, right?" Drift interjected, "To chill out a bit and not just carpet the islands with plants and hope it'll work?"

"It will require a change in tactics," Talos agreed, "We will need to bring the court guards to the surface to pave the way for our plants." Drift sent a panicked look to her brother and Tony, this was exactly why she didn't want to tell them about the dangers of the islands. Now they were about to go full scorched earth.

"Let's sleep on it!" she said, her voice high and strained, "No good decisions are made with tired minds!" Tony nodded enthusiastically.

"Yes, and we still need to finish planting in the morning," he added.

"And everything we plant needs to be watered," Korppi piped up as an unexpected voice of moderation, "We don't need to decide anything on the Queen's behalf, she might be more accepting of the nature of this ecosystem than we expect." Talos looked unconvinced, but he acquiesced and lay down on the cold stone, wrapping himself as close as he could around the bag of seeds. With his silent surrender, the others in the cave quietly settled themselves into their sleeping places for the night. They had managed to delay the disaster until the morning.