Cream POV

I couldn't resist letting out a yawn as I opened my eyes.

"Good morning Cream, we have almost arrived." Marshadow greeted me. I hummed in response as I saw the desert shoreline. Suijin and Serket woke up before we hit the shore, where Serket almost fell out of the boat.

"Couldn't the stop have been cleaner..?" He muttered as we stepped off the boat.

"I'd appreciate it if you all could warn me if I'm about to walk into something." Suijin said as we started walking.

"Of course we'll help." I replied, making him smile.

"Thanks."

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??? POV

"Who the hell are those guys?"

"Dunno 'bout the rest, but the black, smoke lookin' guy... think I've heard of 'im before."

"And where would that be?"

"I'm tryna remember..."

"Come on, you've never-"

"He's a rescuer. I've heard 'bout 'im on the radio."

"Seriously?! Then that probably means the rest are too..."

"An' that means-"

"We have to deal with them... why can't life be easy for once?"

"Jus' shut it an' get movin'."

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Serket POV

"So, how long until we get out of this desert?" I asked as we continued walking through the scorching heat. Seriously, at this point I might be able to use Overheat.

"Three days." Marshadow said without glancing back. I stopped and felt my eye twitch.

"What?!" I yelled, making the others stop and look back.

"Three fucking days?! And we're just gonna walk all that way?!" I asked, getting a nod from Marshadow.

"Couldn't you just fly?" Suijin wondered out loud.

"Of course not! There's barely any wind, and I can't just keep slamming my tail on the ground to keep myself in the air, that would tire me out way before I reach the end of the desert." I explained, getting a grunt in response.

"Walking is the only way across. As you said, flying would tire you quickly, and you could barely carry Cream by herself anyway. Running would tire us out as well." Marshadow spoke with Cream agreeing. I groaned, but there's no other option.

"Fine." And we continued walking. A few hours go by, we stop to eat some food Cream had in her backpack, then we walk for another few hours before finding-

"An oasis! Now we can cool off!" Cream said cheerfully as she ran over. Marshadow guided Suijin to the water. He almost walked into one of the three trees surrounding the water.

"And now I can stop suffering in sweaty silence." I mumbled before dunking my head in the water. We spent an hour there and the sun quickly began setting. The temperature began dropping as well, from 'I think I'm melting' all the way down to 'Shivering like a motherfucker'. I still had my claws hanging in the water when the temperature dropped and I instantly began feeling as if they'd break off. I tried pulling them out, but they were stuck in the water, which somehow froze over. Snow began falling as I struggled to break free from the ice. I heard Suijin and Cream yelp from behind me, definitely due to the sudden cold. Marshadow came up and broke the ice with two quick punches.

"T-Thanks." I sputtered out, shivering as my claws were assaulted by frostbite, making me softly bite them with Fire Fang.

"W-Why did it g-get so cold s-so fast?" Suijin asked in a shaky tone, his whiskers lightly frozen already. Marshadow looked lost in thought... and didn't even shiver.

"Why t-the fuck aren't you f-freezing your ass off?!" I yelled at him, but he just ignored me.

"I have heard rumours that there was a desert that transformed into a frozen tundra at the dead of night, but I did not think it was possible. I suppose I have been proven wrong." He said without stuttering once. What is this guy?! Seems like he can't even feel the cold!

"S-So what d-do we do?" Cream asked, sounding hopeful for an easy solution.

"We continue forward. There should be a village ahead, it will take a few hours to reach." He responded, leaving the other two to frown as I groaned loudly.

"S-Seriously?!"

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??? POV

"I-It's fucking f-freezing!" I whisper-shouted to the other Cacturne.

"Aven't w-we done m-most of our missions in t-the cold?" He asked, to which I rolled my eyes.

"It n-never gets any w-warmer..." I muttered, which he didn't notice, unless he did, but just didn't show it. We were seated behind a snow covered sand dune, keeping an eye on the shadow guy and his friends.

"They're movin', so get yer ass up." He whispered. I replied with a shaky groan and got up. We slowly crept alongside them, but... you know, far away. After a few minutes I had a thought.

"D-Do you think we'll b-be able to beat t-them? I m-mean, I've never a-actually fought before..." I trailed off, glancing at his face before looking away. He sighed.

"L-Listen, all ya gotta d-do is hold this against one o their n-necks. I'll grab one, h-hand 'em over to ya, and you'll make s-sure they don do anythin' by threatenin' to s-slit their throat." He explained as he held out a dagger, which I grabbed, along with the holster he gave as well. I strapped it to my waist as we continued. After awhile, the snow became more intense, so I pulled my scarf up in an attempt to ward off the cold... it didn't really work.

"Looks l-like they're surprised by the s-snowstorm, this's prolly the b-best chance we got for an ambush, l-let's go." He said, quickly moving closer to them. We were practically right behind them, but the Dewott turned around and fired a Water Gun at us, immediately making my body temperature drop to the coldest I've ever felt, so much so that tears began falling from my eyes. I wiped them away and shook the water off, knowing it wouldn't be long before it froze. I finished and looked up, seeing all four of them staring at the two of us, all looking ready to fight. I gripped the hilt of my dagger as frostbite crept up my arms.