Partial Story

What Kim first saw when they reached Sonya was Heather in Sonya's mouth, naked from the waist down, Heather's arms holding tight to Sonya's jaw. It was clear to Kim what they were doing and that they were aware of the audience they suddenly had, as soon as the audience had appeared.

Which Kim found a little amusing that Heather moved so quickly as Sonya dropped Heather out of her mouth to a blanket to cover herself, using her hands to keep a sense of modesty, despite how much was still visible.

If that was the most exciting part of the day, Kim would have been fine with that. However, when she realized that no one remembered Elin, she wasn't sure what to make of that. Especially since she could tell that no one was faking it.

However, as she looked at Sonya, there was something in how Sonya looked that Kim couldn't quite explain. It almost felt like she wasn't behaving the same way as the others, but that could also just be because in her dragon shape, Sonya didn't exactly give the same non-verbal cues as another human would have.

So, she walked over, hoping to get a quick word with Sonya. After all, if she could remember something, then it could help her understand what was going on. As any additional information would be useful. Even if it didn't seem like much at the time, as well as the fact that she pretty much didn't have any substantive information to begin with.

"Heather, would you mind if I spoke to Sonya? Just the two of us?" Kim asked Heather, who didn't look like she planned on leaving Sonya's side.

Heather looked at Sonya, her face looking conflicted.

"It'll be alright, Heather," Sonya said, nudging Heather with her head. "We can try again when it's your turn for watch."

Heather smiled at Sonya, but her face went red when she glanced at Kim and Kim had a feeling what Sonya was talking about was what they were doing when Kim and the others had come into view of them.

Kim herself didn't mind the view, and if it was just her, she doubted that it would have been as bad for Heather. Yet, since it was pretty much the rest of their combined group, she could only imagine how embarrassing it was.

"You know, I'm surprised at how quiet you were when I saw you," Kim remarked quietly enough so only Sonya and Heather could hear. "I'd have thought that you'd have made more noise with how much you seemed to be enjoying it."

Heather's face turned a deeper shade of red, though Kim had a feeling she was somehow pleased. Though, it might have been Kim's imagination since she couldn't think of a reason why Heather would be pleased about Kim's opinion on that.

When Heather and Sonya didn't respond right away, Kim suddenly wondered if she'd overstepped herself with commenting on that. Though, as far as she was concerned, it was fair game since they were getting it on like that out in the open.

"I didn't want Elmo and Bart to hear me," Heather replied quietly after a minute.

"She does try to hold it in," Sonya said, sounding a little smug and a little affectionately, her tongue sliding out to tease the skin showing at the top of Heather's pants.

"Okay, I'll leave you two alone, okay?" Heather said, still looking rather embarrassed.

"She'll be okay, right?" Sonya asked, as if Kim had the answer. Kim also noted that Sonya was talking just as quietly, that she likely didn't want others to hear her response.

"I have no idea," Kim replied, feeling a little awkward to still be talking just as quietly. "I was hoping to see if you might have noticed anything since you didn't seem to have the same kind of reaction when we asked about where Elin was."

Sonya sighed. "I'm not really sure myself," she admitted. "I didn't say anything because I'm not sure what's going on myself. Yesterday Elin left with Elmo to go hunting, but then she disappeared while he was out. She'd been having memory problems for the past few days, so it's possible that came up during that trip, but I can't really say for sure."

"Wait, 'memory problems?' About what?"

"She seemed to have times when she'd remember everyone here, but other times she couldn't. Though, I think it might have started with the girl that she'd encountered that one time… ugh, I can't even remember that name."

"Slow down," Kim instructed, feeling like she was getting pieces of information rather than what she could use. "I can't follow very well if you keep jumping all over like that."

Sonya sighed. "Sorry. I'm just not sure what exactly was going on as well. The girl I mentioned, her brother showed up, or a guy who claimed to be her brother at least, asking if any of us had seen her, though I wasn't awake at the time then. So it's not like I know exactly what was said then, but from what Heather told me, that that's about when Elin started to have memory problems. Or at least the next morning."

Kim nodded, wondering if she should try to avoid being seen by this 'brother' or not. Or even if she'd be able to do that as well. It was possible that this 'brother' would show up without warning, just as it was possible that he didn't have anything to do with what was going on. Since as far as Kim knew, this was something else that had come up because of whoever was running this competition or was like the devourers.

"What's his name?" Kim asked after digesting what Sonya had said for a minute. "The guy who claimed to be the brother of that girl?"

"Grisha," Sonya replied immediately. "He's also been bringing rabbits by, but Elmo was nice enough to think that I might something a little larger than that, which is why he brought a boar back yesterday."

Kim nodded absently. She wasn't sure if that really mattered or not, but it was at least good to know. "Do you know exactly when the others seemed to forget about Elin?"

Sonya nodded, or at least gave a dragon's nod. "When Elmo got back he was talking about going to look for Elin, but before he could do that, it was like they all forgot at the same time. Like when the mentioned it to Grisha and he didn't know what they were talking about, that they forgot about her as well."

Kim sighed. Either this Grisha was part of the problem, or he was a victim as well. She wished that it was cut an dry who was responsible, or at least who wasn't, but she knew life rarely worked that way. Although, as she thought about it, an idea came to her. One that she couldn't be sure if it would work or not, since she wasn't sure about all the variables involved, but was confident that it would at least have the possibility at working, if nothing else.

Although, she also couldn't help but wonder something. Something that she didn't think Sonya had thought of, but was certain that it would be important.

"By the way, what was said when Grisha didn't remember Elin? Or, I mean, said he didn't remember her?"

Sonya looked frozen for a minute, but quickly took a breath and answered like she was ticking items off of a list, "I believe Elmo asked Grisha about Elin, he said that he didn't know who he was talking about, that when he'd arrived, there was only three of them with me, and that was the last of the conversation about Elin."

Kim nodded. She wished she could have been able to get more out of that than she had, but she couldn't say that she'd really expected to. If Grisha was behind it, then he played his part masterfully. If he wasn't, then it was also possible that he was merely a victim as well.

While Kim didn't really want to think about this possibility, mostly because she couldn't be sure how it could be countered, she couldn't say that it wouldn't be something like a disease. After all, with everything that had happened so far, a disease like this wouldn't be beyond the capabilities of those running this competition and it would certainly fill the role of a secret challenge as well.

If it wasn't a disease kind of thing, then it was also possible that it was an enchantment that acted like a disease. There wasn't enough information to go on at the moment, so she wasn't sure if she was on the right track.

However, at the same time, something felt off about the whole issue. As Elin first started having memory issues and trouble remembering those around her, but it wasn't until she was gone that anyone had trouble remembering her. If it was like a disease, then Kim would have expected that it would have affected everyone equally. Not like how it seemed to be unfolding.

Kim was about to walk away from everyone, on the excuse of looking for more food for Sonya, when Bart called out, "Grisha! Over here! The others got back!"