Speculations

In the morning as soon as they'd finished their breakfast, Stanley and his group left quietly. The didn't have much of an exchange of words or any conversation with the rest of them, though there were a few gestures made, such as a nod or two between Thomas and a few of the others.

When they left, it was with Blinky's assistance, so it wasn't clear which direction they went in. Though, they did have Harold with them, which Jonas suspected wasn't something that Stanley was happy about. Especially with the sour look on his face when he looked at Harold right before they left.

Afterwards, it almost felt like everyone breathed a sigh of relief, even though there wasn't any sound made in the stillness of the morning. Jonas at least felt like there was less tension. Which he attributed more to Stanley himself as well as Frank. For some reason Frank seemed to try to take offense at almost everything.

"So, think he's really gone?" Owen asked, almost mockingly. "Or did he just go out of sight so he could see what we really think of him?"

"Don't care," Patricia remarked as she finished eating her breakfast of bear steak. "As long as he's gone."

"You make it sound like he's an awful person," Elwin commented, sounding more amused than anything else.

"Can't say if he is or not, but I certainly would rather not have to deal with him again," Patricia replied sounding annoyed. "He's much like a number of pricks I knew before I got pulled into this competition. So full of himself that he doesn't consider the possibility that others might have different thoughts. That he doesn't even consider it being a possibility that any idea he has might not be correct."

"Let's just hope that we won't have to deal with him the rest of the competition," Owen said, laying back down where he had slept the night before. "It won't matter how much of a jerk he is or isn't if we don't have to deal with them. Though, it's hard to say if that'll be possible or not with how we don't yet know what the challenge after this current one is done."

"Any idea where that girl from yesterday is?" Kim asked. "I have a feeling that she still might be around."

"Why's that?" Jonas asked. "Looking for someone to pursue now that you've broken up with Elin?"

Jonas had to hold in his laughter with the look Kim gave him in response. It was clear that she didn't find his question as amusing as he did, but it wasn't like he'd expected her to either.

"The reason I'm asking is because I had the feeling that she'd been following us, or at least watching us for a while. Otherwise I think she'd have abandoned what she had been cooking when we arrived yesterday without waiting for it to finish cooking," Kim said, startling Jonas.

He hadn't noticed anyone watching them or even following them. He was pretty sure he'd have noticed that, but as he thought about it, he couldn't argue with Kim's assessment. The girl did seem rather timid, but she had been fine with Patrick being around her. Plus, she didn't seem as freaked out by him using his system to help cook the critter she'd had on a stick over the fire as he would have otherwise expected. Which meant that he couldn't dismiss the possibility that he'd somehow missed her presence.

He'd like to argue with Kim's assessment, but he couldn't think of how to go about doing that. It wasn't like her logic had any holes that he could see or work out. It might be just conjecture, but it was at least a sound theory. Although, he also still suspected that Kim might try pursuing the girl now that she was on the outs with Elin. Especially since she didn't even try to deny his suggestion to that point.

"I haven't seen her since she left," Patrick said. "Though, if she's still around, I doubt I'd know."

"The only thing I've seen is that brightly colored thing that looks like it's made out of fire flying through the air before the sun came up," Patricia remarked. "Not sure if that has any connection to the girl or not."

"You know, if what you're talking about is what I'm thinking, I can't help but wonder if the thing that looks like it's made out of flames might be what we're supposed to essentially capture," Jonas remarked. "I mean, we were each given a feather that looks like it was stamped with an image of flames on it, so if that feather came from a bird, then it would make sense if we're supposed to capture that."

"Any idea of how to get close enough to one to even attempt at capturing it?" Elwin asked dryly. "The closest I believe any of us have see it has been when it's flown through the air. So, it's not like we're any closer to catching it if that's what we're supposed to capture."

"We could always try flying on Soya when she's recovered from her crash," Patricia remarked. "Though I'm not sure we'll have the amount of time it'll probably take."

"Speaking of which, the sooner we head out to reach her, the sooner we'll be able to plan our next step," Owen added. "Even if that thing isn't what we're supposed to capture, I'm sure we'll be able to come up with something to try to make sure about that once we reach where the others are."

"Or we could try to brainstorm as we walk along," Patrick suggested. "I mean, it's not like we'll get there in a few minutes or even an hour, so why not discuss it while we walk?"

"Probably because some of us aren't likely going to have the energy to keep discussing it as long as others are," Kim remarked. "Though, I wouldn't be opposed to discussing it when we stop for the night or for a lunch or something."

"Yeah, I agree," Patricia added, leaning against Patrick. "Even if you have the energy, I could see you getting so wrapped up in the conversation that you'd trip over a rock or something along the ground."

"I don't trip over things on the ground!" Patrick protested, though his words seemed to carry a different meaning than his tone did to Jonas. Almost like he was protesting because he didn't like how it sounded in general, but didn't want to actually disagree or something with Patricia.

"It's not so much that you do trip over things on the ground," Elwin remarked, his voice full of amusement. "Just that you could if you're not paying enough attention to where you're walking."

"And I'm telling you that it wouldn't happen with me," Patrick insisted, his glare telling Jonas that while he didn't want to get on the bad side of Patricia, he had no qualms with starting something with Elwin.

At that moment, Patricia whispered something in Patrick's ear. While Jonas couldn't hear what she said clearly, it was apparent to everyone present that it was enough to get Patrick to let the issue go: He stopped glaring at Elwin and didn't even respond to any further comments about him potentially getting distracted.

While he couldn't be exactly sure what was said, he had a feeling that it was in relation to Patricia letting Patrick getting some. Which if that's what it was about, so long as both are fine with it, Jonas couldn't care less whether or not they do it. So long as he doesn't have to see himself.

Regardless of what was said, it was clear that both of them were ready to head out right then. Which Jonas couldn't argue with. After all, it wasn't like they hadn't already been getting ready to leave.

"What'd she say?" Kim asked Jonas as he picked up his, Elmo's, and Heather's packs.

"Didn't catch what was said, but I'm pretty sure you can guess what it sounded like," Jonas merely replied, not sparing Kim a glance as he started walking on.

He figured Kim could carry her pack, Elin's pack, and Sonya's pack. Besides, while Sonya and Heather hadn't officially joined their group again, they had already been part of their group, so Jonas didn't see a problem with helping bring their packs to them.

"So, what do you think it is that we're supposed to catch?" Owen asked when everyone was ready to go. "While we were given feathers, we can't really say that it was a bird. After all, griffins have feathers, but they're certainly not a bird."

"You realize there's so many options out there that it would likely be hard to rule most out, right?" Kim asked dryly. "Especially when you consider creatures like the stellar bear that doesn't have any place in any mythology that I'm familiar with."

"Unless that's where they got the name for the Ursa Major constellation," Jonas remarked. He wasn't really serious about it, but it was more like lobbing a grenade into the crowd to see what happened. "I mean, that bear was rather large."

"Maybe, but I'm pretty sure those constellations were named because of what people in ancient times thought they looked like rather than anything else," Kim replied, not taking Jonas' bait to his disappointment.

"Well, if we can't figure out what it is we're supposed to capture, how would we know what we need to catch?" Elwin asked, sounding rather annoyed to Jonas. "I mean, we could otherwise be looking for a lizard or snake with feathers for all I know. I'm sure they gave us those feathers for a reason."

While Jonas didn't care to think much about it, he had to admit that Elwin had a point. There had to be something about the feathers that would help direct them to whatever it is that they're supposed to capture. While he couldn't be sure what that was at the moment, he could at least try to work it out. Especially with what little that he'd seen about the feathers, how they gave off light in the dark, and how they looked like the colors of the campfire.

There had to be something in all that, that would help him know what they were looking for.