#i think things could be okay type weather. also the beast is pawing around in wet earth making pig noises.

[istherewifiinhell]

Hey. The sun in the sky is melting the snow, the water is a deep serene reflection of the sky above. There is greenery around, and farther of it shifts to deep blues, then lighter ones. And the occasional call of a bird.

[zach-the-fox]

Frostfur Episode 9: Close

Today is the day. No going back on any plans, for we leave for New London. We’ve been snug in our shelter all night, and we intend to head out. First, we sit around a campfire I’ve managed to light and dine in on some of the rations we gathered from Winterhome, or what was left at least. It’s taken us two days to come to this point, but now it’s time we head straight to the city. We head outside and load up our supplies on the automaton, then we climb aboard and get ready to head out. A few seconds in, however, the machine doesn’t move. Seems as though the mechanical contraption has malfunctioned due to the weather conditions overnight.

“What’s going on?” asks Carly. “Shouldn’t we be moving?”

“The automaton seems to have malfunctioned,” Brook tells her. We dismount as her and Emmy inspect the body. “Hm, seems we have some problems here and there…” The two girls scan around. Brook then turns to me and the cat. “The wild weather has caused an unexpected effect. Airborne ice crystals have penetrated the lubrication system of the steam core for the automaton. It’ll take us some time to repair.”

“We also seem to be short on fuel,” adds Emmy. “Perhaps refilling the automaton will help combat the efficiency issues.”

“What kind of fuel does a giant metal monster take?” Carly questions.

“Automatons usually refuel at special “stations”,” explains Brook. “We have that here with the special heating system, but we’ll need coal.”

“Now, where are we supposed to find coal in this snowy wasteland?”

“Relax, Carly,” I order. “We’ve got some coal with us. We salvaged it from the city of Winterhome as a means to make better fires. I believe we still have a big sack of it left.”

“See if you can heat up the cabin’s steam hub more,” Brook states. “That should help refuel the automaton quickly. The faster we fill up on fuel, we’ll be out of here and in the city of New London.”

I walk in to grab the sack full of coal as the engineers work on the ice issue outside. It becomes tough to lift, using all of my energy to bring it off the ground. Then, I take small steps toward the door, having been impaired from the weight of the coal. In the doorway, I notice the cat standing in. Without any words, she heads over to me to ease the heavy sack, allowing me to walk a bit faster. “Why, thank you, Carly. Your kindness is appreciated…”

“Hey, what are friends for?” she asks. “I couldn’t let you carry that huge sack all by yourself now, could I?”

“It’s fine, Carly. I can handle this all by myself. It’s not like I’ve-” The bag nearly slips out of my grasp. Carly places her paws on it to keep it steady as I readjust my arms. One my paws ends up on top of hers, causing her to look at me straight in the eyes. I glance back at her, frozen and speechless on what to say. She moves her paw further down to the bottom with a smile, keeping her sight on me. I shake my head as to snap out of my trance. “Right… Let’s get this outside.” Carefully, we carry the heavy coal bag into the cold weather, getting hit with the small pellets of snow on our way out. I was just enjoying the warm indoors, but the task needs to get done. Taking the black resources out from the sack, we shovel it into the furnace for the heater so it can stay in optimal condition. I remain staring at the cat as she helps work the steam hub until she shifts her eyes to me again.

“Zach,” Carly utters. “Why don’t you see how Emmy and Brook are doing?”

“I don’t want to leave you here by the fire alone,” I say.

“I think I can handle myself fine. Besides, I can take care of this while you check on the engineer’s progress.”

“Uh, okay.” I leave the area and walk over to the others by the automaton. Standing beside the warthog, she takes notice and gives a “hey” to me. I respond back with “hey” as well. “So, how’s the progress?”

“Not too bad,” the warthog replies. “Brook and I might be able to get the automaton up and running in a matter of a few minutes.”

“Emmy, you’re a brilliant warthog. You’ve not let us down with your great mind, and we’re thankful for it.” I catch her blushing and looking away. “Oh, I’m sorry… Did I do something wrong?”

“No!” she juts. “No… You didn’t… I appreciate your kind words, Zach… No one has been too nice to me ever… You’re a heartwarming fox and I’m grateful you’ve been with me.”

“Er, thank you… So, how much longer until the automaton’s ready to go again?”

“We can try refueling it now!” Brook shouts, popping her head over the other side. “Emmy, switch on the automaton! Let’s get this thing ready and get out of here!”

The warthog flicks a switch, causing the metal beast to whirr back to life and emit a loud, buzzing noise. “That’s odd… Why is it making this sound?” The buzz gets louder and louder, increasing in volume.

“Something’s wrong!” Brook yells again. “The automaton isn’t supposed to do that!”

My eyes widen, thinking something bad is about to happen. I grab Emmy and run away from the contraption, which explodes in a matter of seconds. The legs fly in separate directions, with one ripping through the shelter as if it weren’t there. As the vibrations had knocked Carly onto her seat, the steam hub’s support comes loose and the towering structure begins to descend. The cat rolls out of the way to avoid the metal building as it collapses into the snow with a thud. I look back at the contraption, which now lays about in pieces. But, my mind is more focused on the rabbit who was behind the metal monster. “Brook!” I sprint over to the other side to see the purple rabbit sitting on her seat, clutching her side. I kneel down and put my arms around her. “You okay?!”

“Yeah,” she coughs. “I’ve handled all types of explosions… This was nothing.” As she tries to stand, she stumbles in my arms. “Ugh! Man, that hurt!”

“Seems pretty bad… Here…” I place my arm around her shoulder as we stand. “I’ll help you walk…” Looking up, I notice the shack has been destroyed in our little mishap. I let out a sigh. “So much for our backup shelter and our supplies…”

Carly runs over to us. “What the bloody hell happened?! There was a huge explosion and the whole structure just gave way, almost crushing me!”

Emmy regroups with us. “You okay, Carly?”

“I don’t know… I mean, obviously, yes, but that explosion destroyed the whole shack, along with our supplies!”

“It was the automaton,” Brook says. “The steam core was badly damaged by the ice crystals and it couldn’t function correctly, causing it to explode. There goes our ride through the frostland…”

“Well, seems like we’re going to New London on foot from here,” I tell everyone. “And we can’t stop for anything… Come on, guys…” As I help Brook walk, Emmy and Carly follow close by. We now travel to New London with nothing but the clothes that we wear. So close, and yet so far… @carlycmarathecat​ @emmy-the-absolute-goof​ @bendy-bear-15​