Jonas' Issues

Jonas couldn't say what bothered him the most: the fact that Elmo had been captured by orcs and it was just at this point that they were finally able to really make an attempt at rescuing him or the fact that he was suddenly that worried about Elmo. He'd never been worried about anyone in the past outside of them being in the same group as him, with the same goal. Though, even then, it was in regards to how important that person was to whatever goal they had at that moment.

Maybe if it was before he'd been taken from the life he used to know before that, but mostly that period of his life was a blank or a blur. It wasn't something that was so clear for him as the concern he had for Elmo right then. Even with him not being able to explain why it bothered him so much.

Even trying to occupy his mind with other things, now that the issue with Douglas had been resolved, wasn't helping keep him from dwelling on the subject.

Though, he hoped it was primarily because Elmo was important to their group, and there was no telling how he was doing at the moment with the orcs. As at least that would be more in line with how he had considered things in the past. Even though he was pretty sure that wasn't it.

He wasn't sure if he should see if he couldn't talk to someone about it, but he was pretty sure that no one present was really interested in listening to him when he himself didn't know what the problem really was between him and Elmo. It felt like his heart was being crushed the longer Elmo was held captive, yet he couldn't say what it was about. Especially when he didn't have any frame of reference to work with on the matter.

He wasn't even sure he understood it well enough to even put words to it.

Even after eating something, he still couldn't shake the sensation from him. It was almost like it had somehow found its way inside him to a level he either hadn't even known existed or had been unused for so long that it might have as well come out of nowhere and sprang into existence without so much as a warning.

He didn't believe that would have sprang out of nowhere, but with what he'd experienced lately, he wouldn't be surprised if it was possible for it to actually do that.

Still, it didn't solve the problem about how to handle it. He'd always been sure to keep his distance from those he worked with, but that didn't help him when it came to his turbulent emotions when it came to Elmo's predicament.

He wanted to go off on his own to save Elmo, but he knew that would likely be a suicidal move if he did so. Not only that, but he also had the first two watches this night. He'd volunteered for them because he'd been gone from the combined groups for so long that he also felt like he owed them for that time away. Kinda like he'd taken some 'vacation' time when he went looking for Elin.

Not that he'd said anything about it to anyone then.

As it is, Elin was working out her issues with Kim, but he wasn't sure how well that was going, just that they were talking away.

As he thought about the best way to get Elmo safe, he wondered about the orc in the crystal. He couldn't be sure if that orc was from these orcs or if maybe it had been taken from another group of orcs. What he could be certain of was that it was at least stronger than the usual orc and so if they freed it now, it might be willing to listen to them and seek to join these orcs if it was from a different group.

While they worked that out, Jonas hoped that they'd be able to, in essence, make a trade with them. The orc in the crystal for Elmo.

Jonas wasn't sure how well it'd work, but he hoped that it would have at least given them a chance. Especially if the orc wasn't compatible with these and launched a suicide run attack on them. As in that chaos, he was pretty sure that sneaking in and extracting Elmo would be rather simple in that case.

Though, he wasn't sure if the rest of the combined group needs to know about the crystal. He couldn't be sure if Elin hadn't or won't tell Kim about it, but if she did, he couldn't say that he'd see it mattering. In fact, he couldn't be sure that it wouldn't matter if everyone in the combined group knew about it.

The problem that came with it was the fact that then they'd know what it was capable of, as well as that they could store things in there. Which, in a way, could be good for them to know, but at the same time, they couldn't be sure that it wouldn't have some way of backfiring on them if they did.

Besides, once they freed everything from the crystal, Jonas was of the mind that it should be destroyed. Its mere existence felt like it was something to fear. Especially when he'd accidentally entered it without wanting to and needed to wait for Elin to find it in order to leave it.

In the end it had helped him and Elin, but he couldn't be sure that it would continue to do that. Besides, if just a ray of light was able to trigger it, then he couldn't be sure that it might not happen to Elin when she wore it around her neck.

Which was one of the many concerns he had about the crystal. One that could create problems later on. Especially if the next challenge was to defeat a creature that could bend light, create light, or anything with that.

Or at least that combined with a creature like that.

The night continued on with Jonas being unable to come to term with his self-realization, even to the point where his watch had ended before he'd been able to figure out any sort of rationalization of any kind about his emotions.

Not that he'd really expected to have been able to, to begin with.

+++

Elmo woke up. It was gradual and he was glad that he didn't have any more surprises waiting for him. Such as when he was assaulted by the female orc or if the elder suddenly wanted another demonstration, though Elmo wasn't sure what kind of effect that was having for them. Especially since they didn't seem to be any closer to figuring out how to cast that single spell as when they'd started.

He carefully looked around him and saw that there wasn't as many orcs around as there usually was. He didn't care what the reason was, he just felt that this was going to be his best opportunity to make his escape attempt.

He knew he likely only had this one chance, so he needed to make it count. Especially since he had absolutely no idea which way was the correct direction to go to find the exit.

He knew a few of the chambers in the cave, but he couldn't say just exactly how close to the surface, or an exit, those locations were. It was possible that they were just outside the sunlight, but he really had no idea. It wasn't like he was a geologist. All he knew was that he doubted they'd have knowingly taken him that close to the surface.

Which meant that he needed to assume that a way out wouldn't be in one of the cavern he was familiar with. Not with how important he seemed to be to them. Not with how, up to this point, they'd kept a close guard on him.

Though, for all he knew, they till wanted to, but misjudged when he'd wake up. Or maybe something else woke him up that he likely wouldn't ever know what it was. Something that was out of the ordinary for him, though it might not be for the orcs.

Regardless of the reason, he was awake now, and so he had his shot while they weren't looking.

Elmo first looked around the corners of the cavern where he slept. The corners that led to areas that were unfamiliar to him. As those would be the ones he wanted. Even though he had no idea which ones would ultimately be the correct ones.

There was one passage that only had a single orc in it, though he couldn't tell if it was supposed to be guarding something or if it was supposed to be doing something else.

Regardless of which, Elmo used his sleep spell on it, watching as it slowly crumpled to the floor, sound asleep. It wasn't much, but Elmo had started to make his way out.

He just hoped that he wouldn't end up deeper than he'd have liked.