Sunny was tired.
But he had to push through.
He began his survival quest by looking for dry tinder, but given that everything was surrounded by snow, he decided to move from his current location.
Sunny looked toward the mountain peak and decided to simply look around rather than climb—easier said than done, since the snow was almost at his ankles, making every step a chore.
Eventually, he found what he was looking for: a flipped hollow tree trunk. The outside was covered in snow, but like his mom always told him, it's the inside that matters.
He grabbed a jagged piece of rock and began chipping away at the inside. Pieces of wood slowly fell to the bottom. He gathered a couple of handfuls and placed them on his undershirt, which he had taken off. He had to do this to prevent the wood from getting wet.
'Cold...'
He quickly started looking around for a dry space. Revel had said that gravel was ideal, so Sunny opted to find a cave or somewhere closed off.
He found a small cave that was somewhat dry. He unfolded his bundled-up undershirt and laid all the components down on the ground. He picked up some rocks and laid a base with them, then took the wood shavings and evenly spread them out, adding the dry shrubbery on top.
He grabbed two more rocks and slammed them together, but the sparks fizzled out before even touching the shavings. Fantastic.
'This is going to take a while...'
Meanwhile...
Silent Stalker reached the peak. She placed down a picnic cloth—only, of course, it was a memory. Technically, she could will it to be any pattern, but she thought the pattern was nice for the occasion.
The memory had warming capabilities and was comfortable. Then she waited.
Soon enough, a figure came into view. The alluring figure of Beastmaster became clearer and clearer as she approached. She appeared to be carrying a picnic basket, and behind her was another figure, with hair as white as the snow.
"Nice view," Moonveil said as she approached. "Sadly, the rest of the sisters are busy today, and Revel isn't good with light, as you know."
"Maybe she just prefers the company of our mother's corpses," Silent Stalker smirked.
"Hey," Beastmaster scowled. "Be nice."
Silent waved her off. All three of them were a sight to behold. If someone were to see them, they would think they were fairies enjoying a day out.
They sat down on the picnic cloth and slowly brought out refreshments and snacks as they observed a small figure scrambling around below. Luckily, they were Saints, so their eyesight was manifold stronger than that of a mundane.
"Is that...?" Moonveil asked.
"Our new sibling," Bin answered before she could finish her question. "An amusing little thing that Revel picked up on the day we were supposed to have fun."
Her voice carried a pinch of contempt.
"Currently being mentored by me," Silence said. "As annoying as it is, it is quite amusing to see him unable to protest against my orders."
Silence chuckled.
Down below...
Sunny huddled near the cave entrance, the sun slowly disappearing on the horizon. The cold was no longer biting—it was gnawing.
He glared at the small pile of twigs and shavings that sat useless before him, as if that alone would ignite them.
He grabbed the two rocks and kept slamming them together.
Click. Clack. Scratch.
Still nothing.
"Oh, come on," he muttered under his breath. "The webtoon guy just slammed them once and—poof! Fire."
He gathered all his strength and struck. A tiny spark flew toward the timber and...
Fizzled out.
"Of course," he cursed. "God forbid anything works out for me."
He looked around for anything to help him but found nothing. No flint, no matches, and certainly no saintly help.
Just him, the snow, and a pile of useless timber.
'Damnation,' he thought. 'I might actually die at this rate.'
Back at the peak...
"He's freezing," Moonveil noted. She took a sip from the scalding cup of tea in her hand, looking thoughtfully down. "This isn't entertaining if he just turns into an icicle, you know."
"I could toss him a hint," Beastmaster said, thoughtfully eating a fresh peach.
"No, leave him. Pain is half the lesson anyway," Silent said lazily as she stretched on the cloth, seemingly uninterested. "If he can't survive this much, it's better to let him die anyway, so Revel doesn't get too attached."
"Cruel," Moonveil smirked.
"Realistic," Silent countered. "Otherwise, he isn't even worth my time."
"Oh look, he's trying again," Bin mused. "Maybe this time he'll have some luck."
Back at the cave...
Sunny's fingers had gone numb, yet he forced himself to grab the rocks and think.
Then it clicked.
He reached into his pocket and grabbed the can. There, right beside the nutritional information, was a label:
"Scan the code for a chance to win so–m–ey–"
"Yes!" Sunny almost cried in joy.
He clumsily tore off the label, which took a few tries since his fingers had lost all feeling at that point—but he eventually did it.
Let's see you die out this time.
He slowly picked up the two rocks and, using all his remaining strength, struck them together with a loud clang.
A spark appeared and hovered, before slowly settling down right on top of the piece of paper.
It smoldered.
Then caught.
A flicker of flame danced in the cold.
Sunny's eyes widened. He dropped to a hunched position and shielded it from the wind as if it were a newborn. His heart thudded as the fire grew, then crackled.
"Yes!" Sunny hissed through a wide grin. "Take that, Silent! You won't be getting rid of me just yet."
He sat back, warming his frozen fingers while already making plans to get more fuel.
Sure, he might barely be able to survive six hours, but it was still a win in his book.
Back above...
"Well," Moonveil laughed. "That's one way to do it."
Beastmaster nodded. "He is innovative, if nothing else."
Silent was internally surprised. To think he had used a resource she considered useless and turned it to his advantage secretly pleased her.
"We might make something of you yet, Sunless," she said with a grin.
But for now, she sipped her tea.Maybe she was enjoying this more than she thought.