A Punch to the Gut

Jonas had enjoyed a leisurely breakfast and was feeling rather relaxed. He had planned on seeing if his underground contact had returned to the village, and if so, if they had any new information about what he'd asked them to look into for him. He didn't expect anything new and if they didn't have any information, he was going to write them off as a dead end.

Ater all, if they were to really do something to try and stop the assassination attempt, then they would really need to be closer to the king in the first place. Which meant that they would need to leave this village sooner or later. Though, with how worn owut they'd been, Jonas figured that they'd need to stay in the village for a few days at least to fully recover.

Jonas was about to head back to his room for a morning nap when Elmo came through the door, looking rattled. Immediately Jonas was concerned. Nothing should be happening inside the village to cause that kind of reaction, unless there was another, say goblin attack, but given the fact that there wasn't any screams of fright or panic in the streets, it clearly wasn't anything on that level.

Jonas quickly ushered Elom to a seat at the table, setting him next to Elin before sitting down on the other side of the table himself.

"What happened?" Jonas asked directly. Whatever it was, it needed to be dealt with now and not dance around the issue.

"I went for a walk to pass the time," Elmo said, his voice unsteady. "Then when I started coming back to the inn, some people stopped me before surrounding me and asked me where you were. Then after I told them, they started to get more confusing and said that they wanted to know how you know whatyouknowandthatIneededto-"

As Elmos spoke, it was clear that he was starting to panic, so Jonas quickly motioned for Elin to stop him, as the more he spoke, the faster he seemed to talk as if he didn't have time to say everything he wanted to say.

Elin stopped Elmo from talking by clapping a hand over his mouth, though it was clear it didn't do anything to lessen Elmo's panic.

"Elmo, stop," Jonas commanded him, hoping that it would keep Elmo from passing out from getting overexcited about whatever happened. Fortunately, it seemed to work and Jonas motioned Elin to let go of Elmo.

As she removed her hand from off of Elmo's mouth, Elmo didn't say anything, although he was breathing a little quicker than usual still. Which Jonas had to take as a good sign. It showed that he hadn't gotten to a blind panic stage before Jonas had stopped him.

"Alright now," Jonas continued in a calmer tone. "What I heard from you was that someone was asking about me, correct?"

Elmo nodded and Jonas sighed. That was at least a start.

"Then you said something about what I knew and how I knew it?"

Elmo nodded again.

"Okay. Now, pick up from there," Jonas said. "And take it slow. Even if they burst in this inn right now, don't worry. We'll deal with them when it's time."

"There wasn't much after that," Elmo said, his voice still trembling, although he seemed to be doing well to not let himself tremble with whatever emotions were coursing through him. "I got them to let me go and I used my wind shield spell. They couldn't reach me after that and told me to not tell you that they were looking for you. Hinting that they'd be able to get me without me realizing they were there in the first place."

Jonas nodded. It would seem that now he has another item to talk to his underground contact about. He certainly wasn't going to let this slide. However, he was surprised at the level of animosity that he felt towards the person who threatened Elmo. He didn't know about it was about, but he could feel that he was already harboring murderous thoughts towards whoever was involved in that.

While he had talked Elmo out of leaving their team on their way back from the dungeon, it hadn't felt like a punch to the gut that this occurence had caused for him. That time it merely felt like his stomach was being squeezed tightly and was merely uncomfortable. Now, however, it felt like his breath had been knocked out of him. Why he felt that way, he couldn't be sure. Only he really didn't like feeling that way.

"Elin, go tell Kim what Elmo just told us, I'm going to need her to come with me," Jonas told Elin, wondering if they should go as a group rather than just him and Kim. While he didn't have any proof this was the case, he suspected that whoever threatened Elmo was at least in contact, if not working for, his underground contact.

Which meant that he might very well have to do something he hadn't planned on doing originally. He was going to end this threat, once he fully understood what it was about. However, even if he didn't bring Elmo an Elin along, he knew he'd at least need Kim with him if it came to blows. He wasn't going to take chances here.

Jonas sat in silence with Elmo. Elmo didn't seem inclined to say anything more, and Jonas wasn't going to push him. He was merely waiting for Kim so he could explain the situation and get her to agree to join him on hunting those people down. If necessary, he'd just have to point out the obvious: What if it had been Elin rather than Elmo?

When Elin returned, Kim sat down on the other side of Elin, glancing at Elmo with a few questions written on her face. However, Jonas didn't want to waste time at the moment and quickly explained what Elmo had told them, since Elin hadn't been gone long enough to really have explained things to Kim, as well as a few different things, such as his own suspicions and how Elmo nearly had a breakdown because of how shaken he was over what happened.

Kim merely nodded with what Jonas said and didn't voice her opinion. Instead, she appeared ready to head out right then. "So, when are we going to deal with this matter?" she asked, her tone containing so much contained fury that Jonas couldn't help but be thankful that he wasn't the target of her anger.

"I had originally planned on stopping by later this afternoon, but with this going on now, I don't think it's safe for anyone in our group right now until we deal with this. Which means as soon as you're ready, I was planning on heading over there," Jonas answered.

Kim merely nodded. "I'll get my swords," she said calmly.

Then as Kim left the table, Jonas couldn't help but wonder which was more dangerous: Kim holding her fury back or Kim letting it flare out in everything she said and did. While the second option would pretty much be a much more intimidating show, Jonas couldn't help but feel that the first option could probably be worse, given how quiet Kim seemed to get in that case.. Plus, Jonas actually felt more scared of Kim when she got that quiet.

"So, while she's gone, I wanted to ask, do either or you want to come with us?" he asked, not sure Kim would be happy with him asking them this. "I can't guarantee what might happen, but I think it should be your call if you join us or not."

Elmo didn't respond right away, but merely stared at Jonas. Elin's face was set and he was pretty sure she was already planning on joining them, but wasn't sure about Elmo.

He wouldn't mind if Elmo stayed behind. Especially since he was sure that if anything happened, that Heather and Sonya qould be able to help Elmo. Though, he also couldn't help but feel like he didn't want Elmo to be out of his sight while also not joining them. Somehting that he knew just wasn't possible to have both.

He stayed quiet for so long that Jonas was starting to suspect that Elmo was going to want to stay back. Yet, when Jonas saw Kim coming down the stairs however, Elmo finally nodded.

"I want to come as well," he declared firmly.

Jonas smiled and nodded. "Alright then. All of use will go, but I'm hoping this isn't necessary," he said.

Then as he stood up, he suddenly had a thought. If his contact didn't have anything to do with this, then having their entire group there could be easily explained that they weren't sure about just leaving Elmo and Elin behind. Yet, if the contact did know something or was directly involved, then Jonas couldn't help but wonder if this would be the best thing to do.

However, as they headed towards the door, he couldn't help but feel that this was going to turn out in a way that he wasn't prepared for. Not in regards to the outcome, but rather the whole situation would unfold in a way that made him wonder exactly what was going on in general.