Out Hunting

Elmo wasn't sure when he'd lost Elin. He hadn't been sure where to go, or even what to look for, in regards to finding something larger than rabbits to hunt. However, likely out of pure luck more than anything, he found a herd of boar. He wasn't sure if Sonya cared to eat boar, or if she kept a kosher or halal diet, or whatever any of those were, but it was better than nothing.

Besides, it wasn't like he had any other ideas of where to find anything else.

Elmo turned to confer with Elin, but couldn't find her. At first he was confused, but then he started to grow concerned. He was aware of the memory problems she'd been having recently, though none of them could figure out why it was happening or how she'd even gotten that status on her. All he could be sure of was that he probably shouldn't have taken her away from where they'd been camping by Sonya.

Not only wasn't he sure where he lost her, but he couldn't even be sure that she'd remain there. Especially if she had a period where her memories went away again. He didn't think that she'd get hurt, but he also didn't like the thought that she was out there by herself.

Yet, despite that, Elmo turned to look at the boar in the distance again. Regardless of anything else, he was sure the he should at least get one or two boar. That way he could at least bring something back before organizing a search party. Though as he thought about it, with all the people that he'd be able to gather, it might not be big enough to really be considered a 'search party' since aside from himself, there was Heather, Sonya, and Bart.

Maybe he could recruit Grisha, but he didn't think he should count on him. Then with Sonya, he couldn't say how viable she was as an option. Not with her injuries. Besides, he knew that they should at least have one other person helping her, which would also count Heather out. Which would then leave just him and Bart. Not really large enough of a group to do any effective search in an area as large as this one.

Pulling himself out of his thoughts, he focused on the boar. He thought about using one of his brimstone spells, but quickly discarded the idea. For one thing, he wasn't interested in charring part of the pigs. Not when he had alternatives and not to mention that he didn't need to take down the entire herd.

Instead, he opted for his Dark Impact spell. He wasn't sure if it'd be able to take any of them down with just one hit, but he was also confident that he'd be able to just focus on one single boar, rather than any of the smaller ones.

"Dark Impact," Elmo said, focusing on one of the larger boar. He wasn't interested in trying to find the best one, as he already felt rather distracted with the knowledge that Elin was missing. Which he knew he couldn't really expect to be able to do anything about right then. Not with everything else going on at that moment.

While Elmo hadn't been sure if the spell would be enough to take down the boar, he felt satisfied when he saw the spell hit the boar, making the rest of the herd take off. The one he'd hit didn't move, which Elmo took to be a good sign. He just hoped that he hadn't merely knocked the boar unconscious. If that was the case, then he might end up getting attacked if it woke up after he reached it.

Which wasn't an outcome that Elmo would like.

However, waiting for it to wake up also wouldn't be a good use of his time, since he might have killed it in the first place, which would mean he'd just be wasting time if he waited. While he could always check it with his View Stats spell, he didn't really feel like doing that. Not while he couldn't really focus on the boar, since he was concerned about what might have happened to Elin.

However, he knew that he still needed to get the boar back to their camp by Sonya, so taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly, Elmo started walking towards where the boar had fallen. After all, it wasn't going to get closer on its own and he certainly didn't have a spell to bring it closer.

Which meant that he had to go over to find a way to move it if he couldn't lift it, which he wouldn't be surprised if that turned out to be the case. Especially since it appeared large in the distance, which meant it likely was bigger than he probably thought it was.

However, it wasn't like he had many options right now. If he tried taking it back in pieces, he likely would lose the rest to scavengers. Which would mean he'd have to go hunting again and he really didn't feel like doing that. Especially when he'd rather try to find Elin instead.

Even if it wasn't going to be that simple.

Pushing the matter of Elin's whereabouts to the back of his mind, Elmo started walking over to the boar. The sooner he took care of this matter, the sooner he could move on to what he'd rather focus on right then. Besides, if he brought that back, Sonya might even be willing to try and convince Heather to help him search for Elin.

He didn't expect that to occur, but he at least liked to think about the possibility. Especially since he didn't have much else to think about as he walked towards the boar.

Fortunately for him, when he reached it, the boar hadn't moved, and as he got closer, he was starting to hope that it had been killed. Only, as he was about ten feet away, the boar lifted its head, like it was waking up from a nap.

Unfortunately for Elmo, it saw him clearly when it did that. So, before Elmo had any time to really register that it hadn't been killed, it was charging at him.

Elmo barely managed to dodge to the side to avoid getting gored by the boar, but it's right tusk still bit into his leg painfully as he tried dodging to the left. After which, he had a feeling that he wasn't going to be returning back to the camp very quickly, even if he didn't bring this boar with him.

Yet, despite that, he knew that if he didn't kill the boar now, that it was probably going to kill him. Especially as it was turning around to face him again after having continued it's charge for about thirty more feet.

He wasn't sure why, but the boar seemed to be attacking him. He doubted that it thought he had knocked it out, but it wasn't like he knew much about boar to begin with. Or at least anything about them beyond what kinds of meat they contain. Namely pork, ham, and bacon.

Still, with the amount of distance that was between him and the boar now, he had more time to come up with a plan of action. Especially since he wasn't caught off guard now by the boar suddenly waking up.

"Frozen Missile!" Elmo cried, as the boar started to pick up speed in its charge.

The spear of ice that short out of Elmo's hand hardly had to move any distance as it struck the boar head-on. Elmo dove to the side because he had no idea if it would stop the boar or even if his spell killed it, if it wouldn't run into where he stood anyway.

When Elmo turned to look after coming to a stop, the first thing he noticed was his leg complaining loudly about the treatment it was receiving after getting injured. As the dust cleared, he saw that the boar had been killed as well as there having been no need for him to jump out of the way.

While he saw he really hadn't needed to dive out of the path the boar had been travelling, he didn't think too much about it. Not when he didn't know if it would be a danger or not.

So, Elmo stood up and limped over to the boar's body. He wasn't sure if there was any other method to work with, but he picked up two of its legs and started pulling. He wasn't sure how long this method would take, but he was at least happy with the fact that it was moving.

Though, his leg was making its protests heard quite clearly to him. He hoped that he wasn't making it worse, as he didn't exactly have any real alternative option in the matter. Not when he didn't know where Elin was.

If Elin hadn't disappeared, then he was confident that she'd be able to heal his leg without a problem. It was just one of those situations where he just didn't have any real good options on hand.

At least other than dragging the boar back to Sonya. Which he hoped that she appreciated, since it was a lot more work than he had expected. Especially when Elin had accompanied him initially.