Downpour

Elmo had a hard time walking as he climbed out of the hydra's lair. He didn't mind it, and in fact felt pretty good about it, but it did feel rather awkward.

Jonas didn't seem to pay any mind o Elmo, much like he usually did, but Elmo was confident that he was on Jonas' mind, even at that time.

"I'm pretty sure the others have moved on ahead of us," Jonas commented as Elmo caught up with him at the entrance to the lair and Elmo could see him motioning towards some tracks in the bog.

Or not, Elmo thought to himself, feeling a little deflated at that knowledge that Jonas' mind had already stopped thinking of him directly.

"Well, should we continue after them?" Elmo asked as he felt a raindrop hit his face, hoping that eventually Jonas would have times when he just thought of Elmo rather than him in addition to something else.

Jonas made a noise that wasn't quite a growl, but it wasn't a long grunt either. Elmo wasn't sure what to make of it, or even what to call it, but it was clear that Jonas wasn't confident about whatever choices he was considering.

"We probably should, although we're probably not going to make it very far before the rain really slows us down," Jonas said, looking back at the cave that led to the hydra's lair. Elmo wasn't sure what he was thinking of at that moment, especially when he shook his head and started walking out into the bog, ignoring the fat rain droplets that were falling.

Elmo found that walking out of the hydra's lair and across the bog were two different things. While he was still having difficulty walking along the solid stone, walking through the mud that kept pulling at his legs each time he tried to pull them out as he walked along was even more difficult.

It didn't even take very long before he felt his legs starting to ache from the exertion. He hoped that it would go away at some point, but as the rain started to come down harder, he started to get the sense that he wasn't going to be able to lose that pain. At least not for a while.

While the pain didn't go away, it at least did seem to dull at some point where he was able to get used to it. Or at least let it fade into the background of his mind as he continued to make his way with Jonas across the bog. Which Jonas seemed to be going slower just to keep Elmo from falling too far behind. Elmo was certain of that, though he didn't say anything about it.

As if he did, he was pretty sure that Jonas would leave him behind just as quickly.

Time felt like it was dragging as much as the bog was making their progress drag. Plus, the rain that kept falling certainly didn't help matters. Not with how fast they were able to move.

Then all of a sudden, the rain started coming down in waves. Almost as if some divine power decided that the rain wasn't coming down fast enough and decided to turn the faucet to allow the rain to fall unrestricted.

While he had been wet from the rain before, now he was soaked through in seconds. Or at least the parts of him that hadn't yet started to get wet from the rain.

Elmo felt like he was being pounded into the bog, even as he tried continuing on. He wasn't able to see very far as curtains of rain fell down and slammed into him and Jonas.

"How far do you think the others are?" Elmo asked Jonas, his teeth chattering with the cold rain.

Jonas didn't respond and Elmo suspected that he hadn't heard the question through the roar the pounding rain was creating. Which Elmo couldn't say that he was surprised about. Especially with the fact that he knew he wouldn't be able to ask his question any louder. Or at least not while he was as cold as he was.

The sky was a dark gray and Elmo wasn't sure how long the rain would last. Though, he also wasn't sure how long he and Jonas had spent the in the lair, even though he wouldn't trade that time, even if they'd spent the rest of the day down there. He just would like to know how close they were to the sun going down because he suddenly realized that they might not be able to move once the dun did set because they would even have any light from the moon or stars until the clouds moved out of the way.

Elmo also couldn't be sure how far they'd gone since he couldn't see very far through the curtains of rain. Plus, the path that the others had blazed through the bog was quickly getting washed away from the rain, so it wasn't easy to tell if they were starting to break from where the others had been moving.

All he could do was move and hope that they reached the edge of the bog before long and had managed to reach the same place as the others as well. He had serious doubts about that happening, but that didn't stop him from hoping that things would turn out that way.

+++

Kim was unhappy with the rain. When it was coming down as a simple shower, that was one thing. A downpour like this was entirely something else.

Not only was it difficult to communicate with each other, but it was hard to even see very far. She thought she'd seen something ahead that looked promising a moment before the downpour started, but if she had actually seen anything, it was now hidden behind the curtain of rain flowing down like sheets of water that was making the much even harder to move through.

She doubted it would be over quickly, but she at least hoped it wouldn't slow them down that much. Even as she knew it was potentially dangerous to at least Bart, if none of the others given the possibility of the rising water level. Especially since she couldn't be sure that they weren't in a bowl with no way for the water to drain out in general.

If they were, then the bog holes would just get bigger and patches of the bog's equivalent to quicksand would also likely be bigger. Then there was the fact that they'd likely then sink deeper into the mud as they walked along, which would slow them down even more. Which Kim really wasn't happy with.

She glanced at Elin who wore a face of abject misery in the freezing rain. If they could reach the end of the bog, she was certain that they'd be able to set up their tents and get out of the rain quickly. Although, an island that was rocky probably wouldn't hurt either. Kim just hoped that either of those would happen quickly so they could get out of the rain as fast as possible.

Although, a rising water level wouldn't likely let them stay on a rocky island for long before the tent started to take on water itself. Not that Kim considered that much of a problem, as at least they wouldn't likely be sinking in the bog in that case. All they'd need to deal with would be the cold.

Which was something they'd need to deal with sooner or later out here.

However, until they found something, Kim was determined to continue on, regardless of their current situation. For as long as they could see, at least. Kim wasn't sure how much longer they'd have the sunlight shining any amount of light through the clouds, as it was close to setting when the clouds had fully moved in.

Glancing back at the others, she was barely able to make out that Elwin was carrying Bart on his back with Patrick doing the same for Patricia. While it didn't matter to Kim, it was at least good to see that she wouldn't need to worry so much about Bart.

At that moment, it suddenly felt like the world dropped out from under Kim and she was suddenly surrounded by water. Though, as she started to rise back to the surface, she felt something catch hold on her left ankle. She couldn't see what it was, but whatever it was, it had a firm grim, though it didn't seem to be doing much more than holding onto her ankle.

As she was about to reach down to figure out what had a hold of her ankle, she felt a pull on the rope around her waist. She felt herself being held in place by her ankle, and the tugs on her waist, where she'd tied the rope, were quickly starting to hurt. As such, each tug also was causing pain in her ankle, as whatever had caught hold of it wasn't letting it go and she wasn't able to figure out what had a hold of her ankle when there wasn't any slack in the rope to allow her to bend down to get close enough to her ankle to inspect it. Even as her lungs were starting to burn.

Kim was struggling to keep from screaming in a combination of frustration and pain when suddenly her a flare of pain erupted from her ankle at the same moment she heard a loud pop and her ankle went completely limp. She was having trouble processing what happened as her ankle was suddenly free and she was quickly pulled to the surface.

She wanted to climb out of the pool, but at that moment, laying there was enough to help calm her ankle down. Letting the pain quickly die down to a throb that pulsated with her pulse.