Cacts POV
The serious and vulgar ones stopped attacking Cracts when they saw their friends.
"If e-either of you attack a-again, I'm slitting t-this girl's throat!" I yelled to them, pressing the knife right up against her throat. They both stopped and stared, not knowing what to do. Cracts took the opportunity to knock out the serious one, then the vulgar one as he turned to look at what happened. The blind one passed out due to lack of air and I got off of him.
"W-Why did you a-attack us..?" The soft one asked.
"I-It's... complicated..." I answered before knocking her out with the hilt of the dagger.
"T-Thanks, I might've been in t-trouble if ya didn't do that." Cracts thanked me. I looked away as I put the soft one down.
"Y-Yeah..." I hid my arm from his view and holstered the dagger. He narrowed his eyes and stepped closer.
"W-What happened?" He asked, grabbing my shoulder.
"W-Well-" He spun me around and his eyes widened when he saw my injury.
"Did ya d-do this?" He asked, to which I nodded slowly, looking away.
"I-I was blacking out, s-so-" I tried explaining, but...
"Never m-mind, ya need that p-patched up." He grabbed my good arm and began dragging me back home, but I broke away.
"W-What about these guys?" I asked, gesturing to the four unconscious bodies around us.
"What if t-they survive the c-cold and find t-the village?" He nodded at my question and grabbed the serious and soft ones.
"An' t-the other two a-are weak against g-grass, so they'll be e-easy to deal with i-if they do survive." He explained. I nodded and held my injured arm, trying to stop the bleeding, then Cracts handed me his scarf.
"H-Here, I'm mostly f-fine in the cold anyway." He said. I took it and covered the wound as we walked back home.
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Cream POV
I woke up in a small room with a large rock in one corner, and a potted plant in the other with the rest of the rocky walls lined with thick poles, except for the wooden bars in front of me. I was in a prison cell. I looked to my right to see Marshadow, which was a relief, but Serket and Suijin weren't here. I hoped maybe they were in another cell instead of out in the cold or-
"Cream..?" Marshadow woke up, looking a bit dazed. He stood up and looked around.
"Serket and Suijin are not here... I can only assume they were left in the cold." He concluded.
"No! They'd freeze to death out there!" I shouted, getting a shake of the head in response.
"I know they were not left in the cold, but it was not the Cacturne who took them." He said, leaving me confused.
"Stel is going to the Crown Tundra as well, and there were no other ways to get across the water to this desert, and she did not take Ronin's boat, as we used it to get here." He explained, making me nod. He continued.
"The fastest way to the Crown Tundra is the path we took, a straight line towards the Tundra with no detours. After she crosses the water and travels along our path..."
"She'll find Serket and Suijin and make sure they're okay!" I finished, which he nodded at. I smiled at the thought that those too would be okay, but it quickly fell as I realized our own situation.
"But... what do we do?" I asked, giving him a concerned look. He closed his eyes and put his hand on his chin.
"I'm not sure... it depends on-"
"Ah, so you're awake." A new voice spoke from the other side of the bars. It was another Cacturne, he had a blue scarf on.
"Sorry to interrupt, but I'm Otto, the one who'll be watching you two to make sure you don't try to break out." He said in a friendly tone. Marshadow walked up to the bars, right in front of him.
"Why have we been brought here?" He asked, plain and simple. Otto's smile faltered and he began looking nervous.
"W-Well... it's kind of hard to explain..." He trailed off, looking to the side while scratching his head.
"Let's just say... you'd make things harder for us later." He finished, Marshadow and I tilting our heads in confusion.
"Otto, we've got one more! Get over here!" A feminine voice came from down the hall. Otto flinched before responding.
"Alright Sky, I'm coming!" He yelled back, then turned to us.
"Please don't do anything while I'm gone, I'll get in a lot of trouble if something bad happens." He whispered before another yell was heard.
"Otto! Get your thumbs out of your ass and get over here already!" Otto panicked and ran down the hall. Marshadow and I stood in silence for a few seconds.
"So, we've got nothing to do. We're stuck in here for a while... alone... t-together..?" I began trailing off as I remembered what happened on the boat.
"Why am I thinking about that now? I mean... do I even like him that way? I don't... do I?"
"Cream?" I snapped out of my thoughts after I heard him say my name.
"Y-Yes..?" I squeaked out, getting flustered.
"Your face is red, is something wrong?" He questioned and stepped closer.
"I-I... n-no... I d-don't..." I stuttered, struggling to get a full sentence out. He tilted his head and put a hand on my cheek, which caused my face to heat up and my heart to feel like it would beat out of my chest.
"Your face is heating up, have you become sick because of the cold?" He asked, oblivious to the massive blush covering my face.
"N-No... I'm not sick..." I mumbled, leading to Marshadow leaning in to examine my face.
"What is he doing? And why haven't I pushed him away? I'm not... hoping for... something..." I swallowed the lump in my throat and gently pulled away.
"M-Marshadow?" I started, my heart beat slowing back down after his hand wasn't touching my face any longer.
"What is it?" He asked. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.
"W-What do you... think of me..?" I asked, already regretting what I had just spoken. Marshadow closed his eyes and pondered for six agonizing seconds.
"Why did I even think about asking that?! I have no idea what he-"
"You are strong, tough, helpful, and... I suppose the most appropriate word is cute." He said with a bit of red dusted on his cheeks. I froze and had to do a double take.
"He called me... cute..? He called me cute!" I smiled as my entire face became beat red... I almost passed out...