Stellar Bear

Confused, Elmo felt like he should remain silent. He wasn't sure if Jonas meant that he'd found a possible way out of this place for them or if there was something else of interest that he'd found.

After a few minutes, with Jonas not saying anything more, Elmo sighed. He was about to wander off, hopefully this time with not getting lost in his own thoughts, when Jonas started walking in the direction that seemed to swallow all light.

Until Jonas started walking that way, Elmo hadn't noticed it. He glanced back at where he'd left his clothing to dry, but didn't see a need to go back to get it at the moment. As long as they didn't go far, it shouldn't be an issue. Besides, the longer he took, the dryer it would be.

Thinking about his clothing, Elmo glanced at Jonas and saw that he'd taken his clothing off at some point. As Elmo thought about it, he realized that Jonas hadn't been wearing his clothing when he'd pulled Elmo out of his thoughts. In a way Elmo understood, it Jonas would have been likely freezing at this point if he hadn't, but on the other hand, both of them were naked and Elmo had been hoping for more than just a basic friendship with Jonas.

While at the same time, Jonas hadn't shown any interest in Elmo, so it wasn't like anything would happen between them. No matter how much Elmo wished otherwise. Not that Elmo could think of how to make it otherwise as well.

"Not only do I hear some breathing down this way, but I think I hear some air flowing too," Jonas remarked quietly after a few minutes of them walking in silence.

Elmo didn't like the sound of 'some breathing,' no matter how positive the rest of Jonas' statement might be. If there was something alive down here, even if it was creatures that weren't dangerous to them, Elmo didn't feel like meeting them. He wasn't sure if it was the environment they were in, the creature that they had been fighting, or everything that had happened to them since they came to this world. All he could be certain of was the fact that He'd like a quiet few days where nothing happened. Which was a desire he was confident wasn't going to happen. At all.

At least not while this competition was going on.

The darkness opened up to more lights while they walked, the cool stone feeling smoother beneath Elmo's feet than he had expected. If anything, he'd expected it to be cracked and ready to shred his feet apart from sharp edges and points.

Instead, the rock was rough, but all edges seemed to have been rounded down so there wasn't any edge that would cut into his feet. Even the crystals around didn't seem like they would cut into him if he stepped on them. Which wasn't at all what he would have thought would have happened.

"Why's the rock so smooth?" Elmo asked, only aware of the fact that he spoke after a few minutes.

"Probably because of simple erosion," Jonas answered calmly. "Even if there's not much water coming through, it can still wear the stone down if given enough time."

Elmo took a deep breath and let it out as slowly and as quietly as he could. He knew what Jonas had said, but that still didn't explain why this rock wasn't sharp. While he wasn't complaining about it, he wished he could at least know that.

Maybe he was overthinking this matter, but he still felt like there was something off about this cave that he couldn't quite pin down. Like it was an entirely different world altogether.

"Calm down," Jonas said, almost like he was reprimanding Elmo. "Your heart's beating too loudly. It's drowning out some of the other sounds around us."

Elmo couldn't help but feel offended. It wasn't like he was trying to make his heartbeat loud. He couldn't help that. Yet at the same time, he felt like it was Jonas' way of telling him to leave. So, Elmo stopped walking, letting Jonas move ahead.

If Jonas wanted Elmo to leave, then he would. At the first opportunity, he would be gone, no matter what came as a result of that. Naturally it would likely be after they left these caverns and this dark world, but he would leave.

Besides, it wasn't like he hadn't already been contemplating this before they'd ended up getting swept down the river into this dark world. Where something waited in the dark. Something they couldn't tell how dangerous it was. Just that it was there and apparently was big enough for Jonas to feel the need to make mention of it.

When Elmo stopped hearing Jonas' footsteps in the dark, he turned around and started making his way back where his clothing was. He doubted that itw as dry enough at this time, but he figured that he might as well wait by it for it to be ready. If nothing else, he'd be far enough away from Jonas that he wouldn't need to worry about how loud his heartbeat was.

He hoped that he wouldn't need to wait long, mostly because he wasn't sure that he'd be able to handle it if he had nothing else to do but wait. He didn't think it had been very long since he'd set his clothing out to dry, but it wasn't like he had much options right then either.

Elmo felt like it didn't take any amount of time to return to his clothing, but he knew that it had at least taken just as long as it had for him to have walked away from it as it had for him to walk back. He hadn't walked at a hurried pace, but just as sedately as he usually walked.

When he reached his clothing, he touched it, feeling how wet it still was. Which was still pretty wet. He wished there was some way that he could speed up the drying process, but he didn't think that his magic would be as helpful as he'd like. He would be more surprised if he didn't destroy his clothing if nothing else.

Elmo sat down and closed his eyes, wondering if maybe a nap would help him out. Help him to not only have more energy, but also to maybe not let his mind be so distracted by small things that shouldn't otherwise matter.

It felt like he'd only closed his eyes when he felt someone shaking him awake. Internally, Elmo started cursing the dark and how it kept him from being able to tell the passage of time and know just how long he'd been there to begin with.

"Elmo, grab your clothing," Jonas said as Elmo's eyes started to slowly open. "We need to leave. Now."

"What's wrong?" Elmo asked, yawning.

"I found a passage out of here, but we need to go. Now."

"Yeah, I got that," he complained, unsure what made Jonas so impatient all of a sudden. "What's the rush anyway?"

"I found what was breathing," Jonas answered simply.

Elmo wasn't sure if he should ask more about it, but something told him that he should let the matter go. That whatever had been breathing was enough to unnerve Jonas.

Deeply unnerve him with how easily Elmo could tell how nervous Jonas was. It felt like Jonas was worried that whatever he'd found would be ready to meet them at whatever possible exit Jonas had found.

Elmo felt like he was starting to get a little nervous as well. Although, it was tempered by the fact that he hadn't seen whatever it was that had Jonas on edge, he still didn't like getting closer to anything that would make Jonas unsettled.

Elmo quickly picked his clothing up, feeling a little surprised at how much his clothing had dried. He wasn't sopping wet, but it wasn't merely damp either. Elmo couldn't say how much time that would mean it had been there, but it didn't really matter. It was time to put it on, no matter how much it started to make him cold. He knew he'd at least feel a little better wearing something rather than continuing on with the clothing over his shoulder.

Elmo started following Jonas, not sure what to expect. While his mind had kept wandering before, His uneasiness was helping him keep from thinking about anything else. He also couldn't be sure, but he suspected that it was making it feel like the trip was taking longer than it had before.

After a while, Elmo couldn't help but hear a soft, rhythmic rumbling in the distance. He wasn't sure what it was, but it sounded large.

A moment after he started hearing the rumbling, Jonas quietly pointed to a darkening in the wall by them. Elmo wasn't sure, but he had a feeling that it was the passageway that might lead them out of here.

However, something told Elmo to head towards the rumbling. Even though every fiber of his being was screaming in protest, Elmo found himself stumbling towards that noise. He wasn't sure what it was about, just that he felt the need to head towards it right then.

When he could see what it was, at first it merely looked like a silhouette against the darkness. Like it was two different shades of black that were overlapping each other.

After a few minutes of continuing to walk closer to it, Elmo stopped. He couldn't see all of the creature, but he could at least see the head. The head was that of a bear, but that's where the similarities to bears he knew about ended. This bear was massive. Just the head was about the size of Aquis.

While the bear was asleep, it still made Elmo's legs start to lose their strength. Elmo could only assume that Jonas had seen this much of the bear and that's what had unnerved him. If that was the case, Elmo didn't plan on holding it against him at all. He was uneasy at looking at a bear of that size as well.

However, something inside him said he needed to know more, even though another part of him was telling him to high tail it out of there.

"View Stats," Elmo breathed, not wanting to make any more noise than he absolutely had to.

Stellar Bear

Level 24

HP 5069/5069

Stamina 729/1758

Str 593

Des 2

Con 173

Int 1

Wis 4

Vit 93

End 189

Agi 1

A Stellar Bear is a bear that is composed of the essence of stars and often travels across them when it isn't hibernating during the cosmic winter. While formidable, these bears have very little healing abilities. A small cut might take a month to heal. Despite that, they aren't much different than regular bears in regards to their abilities.

When they sleep, their bodies become dark. When they are awake, their bodies will take on the look of a nebula or other cosmic appearance. The light of those stars can illuminate the area like the sun does through thick clouds.

Their sense of smell is so strong that they can tell what's been in their lair for years prior to them waking up. However, they will often seek out what had been in their lair at that time and hunt it down. They are especially short tempered when they wake up.

Elmo wasn't sure he like what he saw on this information he was reading about these bears. While it seemed like there was only one, he couldn't help but worry that it was merely another reason he had to find a way back to his own world, no matter what else happened to stop that. effort.

Uncertain of what else to do, he quickly moved away and headed towards the passage that Jonas had indicated minutes before