Empty. Bird did not dream this time; the immense danger of the situation wouldn't let him. However, he was definitely still asleep, and on the outside of his absent mind, the six-armed creature was slowly dragging them deeper into the cave. The creature moved through 10 or so new rooms before dropping the two onto a light blue surface that blended with the original sandstone.
The two woke up much faster than last time. They awoke in a startled manner as if they hadn't fallen asleep but had been knocked out and were coming back to their senses. A cold chill ran through both of them. Bird had a perplexed expression written across his face as he stared at his surroundings.
Bird was sitting on the side of the room that was covered in the mysterious blue material. Of course, it was too dark to see this, so he attempted to stand up to get a better look at the room, but ended up slipping on the light blue, crystal-like material.
After busting his rear, He let out a small yelp and groaned. Leonis heard this and immediately started to manifest the orb of light above his finger. With the room now illuminated, Bird could see he was standing on a strange, unfamiliar surface.
"Leonis, what the hell is this stuff?"
Taking a moment to look at the material, then back at Bird, Leonis was a little dumbfounded by his question.
"You're sitting on ice. You do know what ice is, right?"
Bird had never seen ice. Seasons do not change on The Cone. The season on the layer you lived on was going to be that season at all times. With that said, Bird had only heard of ice from stories about the other layers, so he had never seen the real thing.
"No, I did not know what ice was, and why the hell did no one tell me it would be so slippery?"
Leonis was shocked. He was starting to realise how far apart their worlds had really been. This realisation was slowly starting to fuel his passion for destroying the hierarchy. One look at him, and Bird could tell what was going on in his head.
"Calm down, you need to be alive to take down the hierarchy. Before we fell asleep, I found the cause of our sudden languish."
"Which is?"
"The cold, it's the cold and welcoming breeze that is putting us to sleep. Normally, it would be invisible, but this cold, just before it caught me, I could see it. A very transparent white fog rolled through the air, swiftly filling the entire room. That means if we can evade this fog, we can make it out."
Leonis spent a few seconds thinking before saying.
"That's only if we can make it back to the entrance. I don't know how much longer we can last. Especially you. How are you holding up?"
Bird replied with gilded reassurance.
"I'm doing fine."
Leonis could tell Bird wasn't being honest, but he didn't know how to help him.
"Are you sure? We haven't been able to satiate our needs for a while."
'Damn it! I was just starting to forget about it.'
"I will be fine. Starvation has been a part of my life for many years."
Despite what Bird had said, He was not fine. Starvation might have been an old friend of his, but that didn't mean it was going to be friendly. Luckily, the pain and nausea that starvation brought him numerous times in the past were enough for him to be used to it. What he was not old friends with was the fierce heat and dehydration. On top of this new friend, with every step he took, he swore his legs would shatter. He was not doing fine
Bird had been partially ignoring the ache for food and water, but after Leonis spoke about their conditions, it brought the topic of starvation and dehydration back to his mind. He could start to feel every inch of his mouth beg for moisture. His stomach suddenly felt a lot emptier than he had remembered it being just a few moments ago. But this did not stop him. If anything, it gave him another reason to get moving and escape.
Before leaving the frigid room, Leonis took his knife and cut out a small chunk of the ice.
"It's too solidified to eat, but if you cup your hands like a bowl and hold it, eventually, you will have a little puddle to drink from."
Bird took mental notes of the small survival tips Leonis gave him.
An hour had passed since their departure. Bird's small chunk of ice melted after leaving the frigid part of the cave. He drank the melted ice water and was brought a moment of bliss. That bliss only lasted a second until his mouth started to yearn for more. Actually, the sudden moisture had only made him want to satiate his thirst more. It only reminded him of how thirsty he truly was.
Another hour passed of wandering around the new parts of the cave. Leonis slowly marked each cave they entered with an arrow pointing the way they went. If that way was a dead end, they would come back, cross out the arrow, and repeat the process. This carried on for a couple more hours before finding a room that had been marked from their previous awakening.
Now that they were in a familiar part of the cave, the only thing left to do was goto the exit, avoid the fog, and confront the sinister creature that was toying with them. One room away from the exit room, they both stared in and felt a sense of dread. Before entering, Leonis stopped and looked at Bird with tired eyes.
"You ready?"
Bird firmly nodded, and the two entered.
It looked completely normal, nothing out of the ordinary, but they knew the second they tried to leave, the fog would seep in and take them. Bird slowly moved towards the side of the cave where the ledge was, climbed it, and then crouched. Leonis stood looking out the exit; the sun was rising. Bird gave him a subtle signal, and with that, Leonis started to walk toward the exit, slowly creeping closer and closer.
Around 5 steps from the exit, Bird started to see the fog slide in.
"LEONIS ITS HERE!"
Leonis immediately turned and dodged the flow of the fog. But something was wrong.
'What the?'
The fog didn't seem to care about Leonis; instead, it just kept moving toward the exit until it fully blocked their escape. Leonis looked back at Bird with a final glance before being engulfed by the rising fog. Leonis was asleep. Meanwhile, Bird watched from above and seemed to be psyching himself up for what came next.
'It's going to be fine, it's going to be fine. You got this...'
Bird had stopped crouching and now stood firmly eyeing his impending slumber. The fog touched his feet first, and instantly, he could feel his feet start to give. But this time, he was conscious of what was happening; he could withstand it. The fog had risen to his torso; his whole body felt like pins and needles, but he was still standing, reaching his head as high as he could in an attempt to evade the fog. It was to no avail; Bird's eyes started to shut slowly.
Before it reached his head, Bird desperately hugged the wall. With this final action, Bird's eyes fully shut, and the fog slowly started to dissipate.
They had been caught.