Edison followed the poro through the winding tunnels, time losing meaning in the endless dark. The path twisted and turned, doubling back at times, yet something felt... off.
At first, he couldn't place it. Then it hit him—the deeper they went, the warmer it got.
That shouldn't be possible.
The Freljord's cold was supposed to seep deep into the earth. Yet here, the stone walls grew darker, their surfaces studded with strange, metallic ores that glinted dully in the torchlight. The air no longer bit at his lungs with each breath. Instead, it carried a faint, mineral tang—like iron and salt.
"Guide," Edison muttered, wiping sweat from his brow. "Why the hell is it getting hotter?"
"Geothermal activity, perhaps," Guide mused. "Or..." A pause. "Something else."
"'Something else' isn't an answer."
"It's the only one you're getting until we have more data."
Edison gritted his teeth but kept moving. The poro, undeterred by the rising temperature, trotted ahead with renewed enthusiasm, its nub-tail wiggling.
Edison followed the poro through the increasingly warm tunnel, his boots scuffing against the strange metallic-veined stone. The air hung thick with mineral warmth, so unlike the frozen wastes above. Just as he was about to ask Guide another question—
He came to an abrupt stop.
The tunnel dead-ended at a sheer wall of dark stone. The only opening was a narrow vertical crack barely wider than a foot. And the poro—
"Wait, don't—!"
—was already squeezing through with impossible flexibility, its fluffy body compressing like dough through a sieve. In seconds, only its wagging nub-tail remained visible before that too disappeared.
Edison stared at the crack in disbelief. The poro's round face suddenly reappeared on the other side, peering at him with what could only be described as poro innocence.
"You've got to be kidding me," Edison muttered.
"I did forget to warn you about their surprising agility," Guide said, far too amused for the situation.
Edison crouched, examining the gap. "No way I'm fitting through that."
The poro gave an encouraging prrt, its pink tongue poking out between his beard-like facial fluff.
"Oh, don't give me that," Edison snapped. "You're basically a sentient marshmallow. I've got shoulders."
"And hips," Guide added helpfully. "All very inconvenient for squeezing through tight spaces."
Edison ignored him and pulled out his hunting knife. "Alright. Let's see how sturdy this rock is."
He wedged the blade into the crack and levered it hard—
Clang!
A sharp, metallic ring reverberated through the tunnel, the impact jolting up his arm. The stone didn't chip. Didn't even scratch.
"What the—?" Edison tried again, striking harder.
Clang!
His hand went numb from the vibration. The knife's edge, however, was now noticeably duller.
"Okay," Edison said through gritted teeth, shaking out his stinging fingers. "What kind of rock is this?"
"Analysis suggests it's not rock at all," Guide said. "Or at least, not just rock. The metallic resonance, the unnatural durability... I'd hypothesize some form of magically reinforced mineral formation."
Edison glared at the crack, then at the poro, which was now grooming its paw with infuriating nonchalance.
"Well, gotta keep trying..."
[ 5 minutes later... ]
Edison slammed his shoulder against the unyielding crack for what felt like the hundredth time, the impact sending a fresh jolt of pain through his already bruised body. He staggered back, sweat dripping down his temples despite the cool air.
"Persistent, aren't you?" Guide remarked as Edison picked up a loose stone and began hammering at the edges of the fissure. "Though I should point out that little pebble you're holding isn't—"
"Not helping," Edison growled between gritted teeth.
The stone in his hand shattered after a few strikes, leaving the crack completely unaffected. He wiped his brow with a trembling hand, his breathing ragged. The healing salve might have mended his ribs, but every muscle screamed in protest.
For several minutes he simply stood there, staring at the impassable barrier while his pulse gradually slowed.
The poro watched from the other side, occasionally making soft chirping noises that sounded suspiciously like encouragement.
Edison knelt down, bringing his face close to the narrow opening. "Hey fluffball," he said, voice hoarse from exertion. "Is there another path? Or a different way to get to the other side?"
The poro tilted its head, ears twitching. Then, without warning, it turned and waddled out of view.
"Wait! Come back—" Edison's fingers scrabbled uselessly against the stone as the poro's fluffy tail disappeared into the darkness beyond.
He pressed his face against the crack, squinting to see where it had gone, but there was no sign of movement.
Slumping back against the cavern wall, Edison let out a long, shuddering breath.
The little stamina that had sustained him was finally ebbing away, leaving behind an exhaustion so deep it made his bones ache. His vision blurred at the edges as his eyelids grew impossibly heavy.
His mind sluggishly turned over his options if this path was truly blocked. Retracing his steps through the winding tunnels would be dangerous - he'd barely paid attention to the turns while following the poro.
Then there was the chasm itself... could he even climb that ice covered wall without proper gear?
The thought of those Ursine still prowling above made his stomach twist.
And the poro - who knew if it was coming back? Maybe it had just been leading him to where he sleeps this whole time. Every possible path forward seemed to collapse into impossibility the longer he thought about it.
"Guide," he mumbled, "how long... have I been... awake?"
"Given the lack of circadian rhythms underground, your guess is as good as mine. But if I had to estimate—"
"Rhetorical... question..." Edison's head lolled forward as his body finally gave out.
The last thing he heard was Guide's distant voice saying something about "reckless napping habits" before darkness claimed him.
[Unknown Time Later...]
A sharp clang jolted Edison from sleep.
He lurched upright, heart hammering, disoriented in the dim ember glow of his dying torch. Before he could even process where he was—
"BOOM!"
The wall beside him exploded inward, rock shards pelting his legs as dust filled the air. Edison scrambled to his feet, knife already in hand, instincts screaming.
"What the—?!"
"Oh good, you're awake," Guide said, far too calmly. "For context: You fell asleep in an unknown cave. That was unwise. Now there's a hole in the wall. Try to keep up."
Edison coughed, squinting through the settling dust. The crack he'd failed to widen was now a gaping maw of shattered stone, and from it emerged—
A shadow.
Not the little poro, he's not this broad and this thing is almost twice his size.
"It's a she, actually," Guide corrected.
"Wha... Now is not the time for—"
Then he saw it.
The creature stepped fully into the dim light—a poro, but unlike any he'd ever seen.
Where the little one had been fluffy and round, this one stood nearly up to his thigh, its slightly less round frame covered in thick, soot-darkened white fur. Two spiraled horn jutted from its forehead, polished to a gleam. Its face was framed by a lush, braided mustache, the ends bound with iron rings, and its similarly darkened brows slanted downward which gives it a serious, almost angry look.
But what truly commanded attention was the hammer clutched in its paws, its glowing red head nearly half the size of the poro's own. The metal pulsed with inner heat, casting flickering light across the cavern walls and making the air shimmer around it.
It stared at Edison with it's tiny dark eyes.
It's size may not be that big but the pressure readiating from it is formidible.
Edison and the grumpy poro just stared at each other in silence.
Edison was about to turn and run, when the little poro popped out from behind the grumpy poro, letting out happy squeaks that broke the tense silence.
Edison scooped up the little poro, its fluffy body squirming excitedly in his arms. "So you went and got help, huh?" he said, scratching behind its ears. "Knew you wouldn't abandon me."
"More like it couldn't abandon the Poro-Snax," Guide corrected. "That bag at your waist is basically hostage negotiation material now."
As they bickered, the small poro stretched its paws toward Edison's belt pouch, tiny claws snagging on the fabric but failing to reach the treats inside. Its frustrated wiggles sent puffs of fur floating through the air.
A deep, rumbling "Hnngh" cut through their chatter. The massive poro stood framed in the broken wall, hammer resting on its shoulder, glowing embers drifting from the red-hot metal. It jerked its head toward the newly created passage - a clear 'follow me' gesture.
Edison hesitated. "You sure about this?" he muttered to the little poro, which responded by enthusiastically licking his fingers.
"That's not an answer..."
The hammer poro snorted impatiently, the sound making the iron rings in its mustache clink together.
With a final sigh, Edison set the small poro down and grabbed his torch. "Okay. Lead the way then."