Breaking the Ice (Book 1)

Chapter Seven

SLEET

"You're not that ugly. I've seen uglier." Sleet bit hard on his tongue, not trusting himself to speak. Luna barked a laugh. "When we jump in, I can freeze the water so we'd have something we can float on." he offered, trying to change the subject.

"Yeah, but I'm pretty sure they aren't fond of Icees either." Luna pointed out. She was right, Sleet hated to admit. Heatlings also disliked Icees, but not as much as they hated Nightlings. "And those clothes are pretty Icee-ish."

"That is why we need disguises." Sleet spat. She snapped her fingers as she walked away and began digging into a nearby bush. "What are you doing?" he buried his hands back into his pockets.

"Good, it's still here," he heard her say.

"What's still here?" Sleet raised an eyebrow. Luna had pulled out a sack, not quite neatly stitched together. She opened it and pulled something out. A large, black cloak. It was nearly twice her size.

"I've had this for a long time, so please take care of it." she handed it to him. Giving her a skeptical look, Sleet pulled off his own jacket and put the black one on. It felt soft and warm. Despite probably sitting in a bush for so long, it still smelled clean. He flipped the hood on. "Looks better on you than on me." Luna smiled.

The hoodie almost fitted him perfectly, but was slightly big. Black did suit him well. Luna stuck her head into the sack, bringing out something between her teeth. It was a small pouch. She gently took out one of the things inside, There was an even smaller pouch, the size of her palm. Sleet eyed it curiously. Inside was a bunch of small red berries.

"They're healthy and can never go bad as long as they're hidden from the sun." she said. "It'll boost our energy." she handed him some. Sleet examined a berry in between his fingers. He saw Luna eat a few, he took a deep breath and then popped it into his mouth. It tasted pretty good, although it had a bitter ting at the end. He began to wonder why she was so nice to her, he was an Icee, the same kind who imprisoned her. Wasn't he making things harder for her?

"Sorry that there isn't much. I never thought I'd have someone with me." Luna handed him the whole pouch.

"I ate a lot before I left." Sleet lied, he didn't need a Nightling taking care of him. He could take care of himself. "And it's almost sundown." he grabbed her wrist as she pulled the large sack with her. They both jumped. There indeed was a river down there. Sleet quickly froze a square of sturdy ice for them to land on. It bobbed at first, but thankfully it floated.

Sleet opened his eyes. Ironically, it was Luna who woke him up and not vice versa. He sat up, their ice block had stopped at land. They must've slipped into a small cave and into the volcano. "We're here." Luna said. She pulled up her cloak and made sure the cloth around her inked arms and strange eyes were secure. She pulled out a piece of cloth from the sac to hand to Sleet. He used it as an eyepatch for his blue eye. His magenta one was as close to red as one could get.

"What supplies do we need?" he whispered.

"Rope, weapons, and we're low on food. They make such amazing food!" Luna replied. Sleet was pretty hungry. They entered the marketplace. It was dark as if nighttime, with red and orange lanterns lighting everything up. Sleet's stomach rumbled. He rejected the Nightling's food because he couldn't afford to trust her.

Remember the plan. He told himself. Just gain her trust and let her lead you to the Nightling kingdom. He didn't believe her when she said she didn't know where it was. He had to make his parents proud for once. He had to make his tribe proud.

But he hadn't anticipated paying the Heatlings a visit. They just had to get in and get out.