Emotionally Overwhelmed

As the day broke, Elin was already exhausted. She wasn't sure if it was because she just wasn't that strong or if there was something else going on. Like maybe a lingering curse from Douglas.

With how upset he'd been, she couldn't say that she'd be surprised if it turned out that Douglas did that to her when he quieted down. She considered it a distinct possibility, though she didn't know all of what something like that might entail.

Then again, carrying Jonas on her back probably didn't help. Not with how heavy he was.

She really hoped that Jonas would wake up soon. The main reason was because she was worried about him and wanted to make sure that he really was okay, but she also knew that if he didn't wake up soon, she'd be wanting him to wake up more because of heavy he was.

"How- how much farther?" Elin gasped, a little surprised that she was able to spare the energy to even speak right then.

"We could take a break if you need it," the bird answered after a couple minutes.

Elin wasn't really happy about the delay in response, but she supposed that it was necessary. Not that she could really see if the bird had looked around before responding or anything.

As far as she knew, the falcon had had to fly closer to her in order to respond because it had been a distance away from her.

"Might as well," she mumbled, letting Jonas slide off her back to the side. If she didn't, she suspected that she'd collapse under his weight if she tried setting him down gently.

Of course, when it came time for her to sit down, she pretty much did collapse, but it didn't look like that as much simply because she was already going to sit down.

"I'm not sure we'll be able to outrun Douglas if he comes this way," the bird remarked unhelpfully.

"If you have any suggestions to wake Jonas up, I'm willing to listen," Elin mumbled, wondering if it was in her best interest to keep him from falling under Douglas' mercy. Although, she didn't want to leave him because she still wasn't sure if he'd be alright on his own.

Besides, she still owed him for what he'd done for her in the first place. In getting her out of that rocky wilderness and away from that wagon trap.

The bird sighed. "Look, sometimes you have to choose to leave someone behind in order to go and find a place to be safe. If you insist on sticking with him, you might end up getting captured yourself. Which wouldn't help you or Jonas."

Elin wasn't convinced. Even if Jonas voiced agreement with what Ember said, Elin didn't think that she'd accept it. It wasn't about her own survival in relation to Douglas, but rather from what she knew was right. That she wouldn't be able to really live with herself if she didn't do something to help Jonas out at this time.

"Even if it costs me my life, I'm not leaving him, okay?" Elin declared firmly, showing Ember her 'firm' face.

The falcon turned it's head, as if it was confused. "Is that look supposed to mean anything?"

"It mean's I'm not budging with what I said. If you don't want to stay with us, then you can go ahead. I'm staying with Jonas, no matter what else happens, alright?"

The bird let out a breath that almost sounded exasperated. As if Elin was being unreasonable. "You realize that Douglas is after you. He had that trap set up for you. He's upset that you got away."

Each time Ember said the word 'you' it almost sounded like she was spitting it out. Like even having it on the tip of her tongue was rather distasteful.

Elin stared defiantly at Ember. "Maybe, but if I leave Jonas, who knows what Douglas might do to get me back. He did mention 'one of the others' so apparently he's aware of others that I would be willing to risk myself for, even if I don't rem…ber… them."

Elin trailed off, recalling something that she'd heard Douglas say but hadn't thought anything of it at the time. About how her memories were in a crystal or something. The crystal Pendant.

She had figured that Douglas had been upset because he realized that it had been found, though she hadn't thought too much about it either. Just because he really wanted something, didn't necessarily mean that it would help her out any.

However, since she saw what she thought was herself. Especially since her reflection in the river matched what she saw in that crystal, as well as how she felt she already knew the girl in the crystal.

She wasn't sure how, but she needed to draw that girl out and regain her memories. Only, she didn't know how she was supposed to do that. Especially since any time she'd tried to reach in to touch anything she saw in the crystal, she couldn't.

Elin turned her attention to Ember. The bird in front of her.

Ember certainly seemed trustworthy, but for some reason Elin had a hard time even thinking of pulling out the crystal to show the bird. Maybe the bird would know something, especially since the falcon had known that she needed to get off of the wagon. Although, she couldn't say exactly how she'd gotten up there in the first place or how the bird knew about that either.

"Good morning, contestants! We have another day where none of us have any idea about what to expect. No one is close, as far as we can tell, to having completed the challenge, but everything seems fine on that front. The danger of it becoming one that none of our contestants can complete is getting lower, but it hasn't gone away yet.

"I'm sure I don't have to tell my viewers that we haven't had anything like this happen yet. As such, even the committee and myself are very interested in seeing how things play out.

"Will our contestants make it through what's happening or will they find that this problem, that we didn't create for them, will be more than they can handle? Well, we'll just have to wait and see, won't we?"

"-realize it gets very annoying when you do that, don't you?" Ember raged, though Elin wasn't sure what the falcon was so upset about. Especially when Elin couldn't say what the bird had said while she was listening to that strange voice.

Elin had no idea where the voice came from, or even why it only said strange things in the morning and evening. If she did, maybe she'd know of a way to get it to stop or to filter it out so she didn't have to listen to it each time.

"Even Jonas did that every so often!" Ember continued, though Elin wondered if the bird really expected her to respond. Otherwise she might have noticed that she could hear the bird now.

However, she felt like letting Ember go on like that would just be a waste of both of their time. Especially when they couldn't say if that noise would draw Douglas to them. Even though they'd walked a good distance since they'd been by him, he could still be nearby for all they knew.

"What do you mean by 'Jonas did that every so often?'" Elin asked, interrupting Ember's rant.

"Oh, now you can hear me, huh?" the bird snapped, clearly directing its wrath towards Elin at this time. "What was so important that you spaced out again? You seem to do that every morning and evening. Not always in the exact times, but you still do that then. Why is that?"

Elin merely shook her head. "Maybe if I could remember I'd tell you," she answered honestly, feeling tears come to her eyes with the thought. "I'd like to remember anything at all, but I can't. All I have is what Jonas tells me is true and I can't even be sure if that's true!"

Elin had to stop talking because as she spoke, feelings that had been building up finally had a way out and they weren't going to be held back. They came out in a flood and Elin could tell that her words were starting to become unintelligible so she stopped talking. Otherwise she was sure that it's just add fuel to the flood. Not to mention that as te tears came out, she couldn't help but give a mournful wailing sound. She wasn't sure why, but it just came out unbidden, on its own.

"Uh, come on," Ember said, quietly, as if the bird didn't like being around anyone crying uncontrollably. "You don't need to do all that."

Elin wanted to say something, but she knew it's just get lost in her tears. Her wails didn't seem to want to cease, either. All she could be certain of was that her emotions didn't have an end that she could see.

However, all the pains she'd been enduring, all the worries, all the uncertainties, and all the doubts that she'd been dealing with were just coming out in her tears, as if that's what her tears had been waiting for. Which somehow made her feel lighter and less burdened.

She just hoped that her crying didn't attract the wrong kind of attention. Especially since she wanted to talk to Ember about what she'd heard Douglas say. Especially how he mentioned someone named 'Elysia.' Elin wasn't sure who that was, but had a feeling that she should.