Veiled Threat

Elmo wasn't sure what was going on. First the others arrive, then they start asking about someone that he'd never even heard of: Elin. If they had said something more than that, then maybe he wouldn't be so confused about it.

The only thing that he could possibly think of was that they'd encountered someone named Elin while they were on their way here, and thought that this 'Elin' had come by here. Although, he couldn't say that his explanation would explain why Jonas had left almost right after he got here or why Kim wanted a private word with Sonya.

There was just too much that didn't make any sense.

Not to mention, when Grisha showed up, he couldn't help feel like it had only gotten stranger. As while he remembered what Grisha had come here for, he couldn't remember how he knew some details, such as that someone had seen his sister a while ago. An exact time wasn't clear to Elmo, but he wasn't sure if it was because of how he knew those details was also fuzzy or if it was because he'd merely heard it from someone else.

"Should I have brought more rabbits?" Grisha had said when he'd first arrived after Bart made his announcement. "I didn't expect anyone to arrive so suddenly."

"Don't worry about it," Elwin had remarked without looking in Grisha's direction. "We brought some bear meat with us."

"I don't believe we've met before," Owen said, walking over to Grisha as the man carried four rabbits over to where they'd recently cleaned the boar. "I'm Owen."

"I'm Grisha," Grisha replied, looking a little uneasy at Owen's friendliness. "What're all of you doing here? They told me that they knew someone who could help me find my sister, but they never said anything about so many others."

"I guess we just didn't think about it," Elmo said, unsure whether or not they actually did mention everyone. He thought they had, but he really couldn't be sure.

"It doesn't matter," Grisha replied, sounding as friendly as he always had. Like he wasn't really bothered by the sudden appearance of so many people.

Yet, Elmo felt like it did matter to Grisha. Much like when his father apologized to his mother for screwing something up and she said that it didn't matter or something, when he could tell that it did matter to his mother.

He wasn't sure what it was that either upset or annoyed Grisha so much about five other people showing up so suddenly, but he had a feeling that something was different about Grisha. Even though he really had a bad feeling about saying anything about it. He wasn't sure what it was about, but it was certainly there.

"Anyway, your friend mentioned that you had bear meat? Where'd you get that? I haven't seen any signs of a bear anywhere in these mountains."

"Well, it kind of was a giant bear that died about maybe a three or five day walk from here?" Owen said, sounding like he was asking rather than telling Grisha. "We cut out what we could get, but had to leave most of it, since it was a very large bear."

Grisha shook his head, looking to Elmo like he didn't want to deal with that subject. "Whatever. Though, I have to ask, have you seen my sister on your travels? Her name is Elysia."

Owen merely shrugged. "I haven't a clue. Others might have, but we don't always tell each other everything. Sometimes if I want some information from one of the others, like Elmo here, I have to pry it out of them with how tight lipped they can be."

Elmo looked at Owen out of the corner of his eye. He wasn't sure what Owen was getting at with that statement, but he was pretty sure that Owen would be able to get at information more easily than the rest of them At least with his system that seemed to let him read a person's thoughts. Although, as he glanced back at Grisha, he couldn't complain about not wanting to let someone know something like that. Or at least someone who wasn't in the competition, at least.

"Do you mind if I ask around?" Grisha asked, "If you don't know if the others haven't seen her, then they might be able to tell me something."

"Go ahead," Owen replied disinterestedly. "Each of us pretty much do our own thing anyway. Even if it annoys the rest of us."

Grisha smirked, somehow making Elmo feel like that was the closest to a genuine expression he'd seen from Grisha. "Not a problem. I just hope I can find her before something happens to her."

"What could happen to her?" Elmo asked. "I mean, if she's survived this long on her own, I doubt that there'd be anything in these mountains now that would be a threat to her."

Grisha shrugged. "You never know. Even if something isn't normally a threat, circumstances can change to make it a threat, regardless of anything else."

Elmo wished it didn't feel like he'd just received a veiled threat. While he couldn't dispute what Grisha had said, it felt more like he was telling Elmo that if he didn't stop asking questions, that he'd be the one in danger. Despite how Grisha making his statement that sounded like he was concerned about his sister's circumstances changing.

"My head hurts," Elmo muttered as Grisha walked over to Kim. "It's like listening to him just gave me a headache."

"He is up to something alright," Owen remarked quietly. So quietly that Elmo felt a little surprised he could hear Owen. "I just can't tell what just yet."

Elmo looked at Owen for a minute before walking away from him. He couldn't say what it was that had him so suspicious of Grisha and why Owen's statement made him feel like Owen wasn't being upfront about all the abilities of his system.

Although, on the other hand, he couldn't say that he could be sure that Owen had really disclosed all the information about it. After all, it wasn't like they had been working together that much. Besides, he was pretty sure that the others in his group hadn't told him everything about their systems. Which made him feel even more confused about why he felt so annoyed that Owen might not have said everything that he could do with his system.

Taking a deep breath, Elmo scratched his head, not sure why that troubled him so much. He felt like it shouldn't matter, but for some reason, at that moment, it did. Maybe it was his whole unease about what was going on. With what he could and couldn't remember.

Such as how he remembered a good amount of the journey he'd made so far in this competition, but there were parts that he couldn't quite remember.

Such as how he remembered how he felt scared of Kim's attitude towards him, but he couldn't remember what mitigated that fear enough so he was willing to travel with her. Or how he'd survived the freezing cold of whatever it was that he'd essentially caught from Jonas on their first night in that dungeon.

It was like he remembered the biting cold, but then he couldn't remember when or how it went away. While he didn't remember anyone named Elin, he couldn't be sure that he actually hadn't met anyone by that name. Not with the holes in his memories when he looked back.

As Elmo sat down, leaning against a tree, a distance away from everyone else, he couldn't help but wonder if whatever was happening was part of their current set challenge. Or if it was something else. He wasn't sure what might be causing it or if it was something about this 'Elin' that was the cause.

Since he couldn't remember her, he couldn't really rule out the possibility that she was the problem somehow. Or maybe something around her was. Although, it also felt like he was missing something. Something that he'd probably be able to pick up if he didn't have those holes in his memory. Holes that he couldn't figure out how to fill.

Closing his eyes, Elmo wondered if maybe taking a nap would help him out. While they had to wait for Sonya to get better, they wouldn't be able to move. Even if it was just by walking. Though, he was of the opinion that Sonya just didn't want to walk, or maybe limp, while her foot was still injured.

If that was the case, then he couldn't say that he blamed her for that. He couldn't imagine that he'd care to do that, even if he had four legs himself.

Opening his eyes a crack, he looked around, suddenly realizing he had no idea where Jonas was. He knew that Jonas had returned with the others, but as he thought about it, he hadn't seen him since that time.