As Kim opened her eyes, she felt like something was wrong. Not in the way that usually was the case, but that something was different from when she'd gone to sleep. She just couldn't say what it was right away.
She looked around her and couldn't see anything different. She wasn't sure what the feeling was about, but she couldn't dismiss it very easily. Not when she still felt on edge about Jonas and Elmo still being missing and her preferred sword being potentially dangerous to wield at the moment.
She could feel Elin in her arms at them moment, though they still had their clothing on. Their packs were still present, including Elmo's and Jonas'. There wasn't any sign that anything had approached them through the night, and there weren't any strange shadows luring around that were being cast by something unseen.
The morning was like any other morning since Elmo and Jonas had been sent into the river. Which was also the only real difference from even before that. Which merely served to make everything seem more 'normal' than anything else they'd encountered in this world.
Kim didn't like feeling that something was off, but it wasn't like she could just turn the sensation off. What she needed to do about it was to deal with it directly. Despite the fact that she couldn't do that when she didn't know what was causing that feeling to begin with.
Yet at the same time, she knew that she might not know, until it was too late, what the feeling was about. Which also meant that she needed to do her best to put it out of her mind so she could focus on other tasks. Such as getting breakfast ready. Something that felt so ordinary for being on such a fantastical adventure that seemed more like a continual nightmare than anything else. Something that felt like it shouldn't be that way, with how mundane it was.
"Good morning contestants!" the announcer's voice boomed, making Kim wonder if Elin was awake and merely pretending to still be asleep. "It would seem that our viewers are dissatisfied with how the fire dragon keeps disappearing when the battles don't go its way. We want to emphasize that the fire dragon can only do this for so long before it can't do it anymore for a certain period of time. During which, it'll either be killed or manage to kill all the contestants that try to slay it. It'll be the metaphorical cornered bear or whatever.
"On other news, we have become aware of a stellar bear on this world. Now, normally we try to avoid those things because of the overall problems, but we want to assure our contestants we honestly didn't know that it was present. That we're looking at ways to correct this oversight as soon as we can. We just hope that it won't wake up before then.
"Next, again due to complaints by our viewers, we want to assure everyone that while defeating a regular dragon is difficult, it doesn't rise to the level of a challenge. Even if that dragon was on the edge of becoming a weaker fire dragon than we have as our challenge right now. The committee is emphatic about that.
"Lastly, we want to remind our viewers that our contestants are not under our control. We don't direct them to go anywhere specific and can't force them to engage in these challenges. If they want to sit around and take it easy all day, that's their prerogative. We can't do anything about that as stipulated by the contract that the contestants agreed to when they were brought into the contest.
"So, with all that said, we hope that all of the remaining contestants will strive to give our viewers a good show, even if you're not seeking out challenges to complete!"
Kim sighed. She typically tried to tune those announcements out, but usually failed. It was almost like they were inserted directly into her head and she only 'heard' what was 'said' because of how it was accomplished. Not that she knew how it was done. The only thing she was fairly certain about the announcements was that they were made when each 'contestant' was awake. At least of those who were still alive.
"You can stop pretending to be asleep now," Kim informed Elin. Though, she wouldn't have minded just staying like this a while longer. However, she didn't want to be in this position if she could help it when whatever was causing that feeling inside her arrived.
"Not awake," Elin mumbled, making Kim smile affectionately.
How she wished she could let Elin sleep as long as she wanted to every morning. Yet, if she did that here, she couldn't say when they'd be able to actually get anything useful done in regards to completing these challenges in order to get back to their own worlds.
As Kim was carefully separating herself from Elin, she felt a wave of sorrow wash over her as she was again reminded that what she had with the girl could only be temporary as long as they returned to their own worlds. If they stayed on this one, then they'd be able to stay together, though Kim wasn't sure if either of them would be expected to get pregnant at some point, or if it might even be possible for a system or anyone who could use magic to change one of them so that they could have a child together.
However, unless they failed in their efforts to return to their own worlds, Kim didn't plan on spending too much time thinking about 'what ifs' when there was other things that needed to be done. One main reason Kim wanted to have Elin go back to her own world was because Kim knew what it was like to not have a family, and as far as Kim knew, Elin's father was still alive and Kim wanted Elin to be able to spend as much time with him as possible. At least if she could do anything about it.
As Kim started getting breakfast started, she kept her senses on alert, not wanting to let anything catch them off guard if possible. She didn't think that her bad feeling would come about during this time, but she didn't plan on taking any chances on the matter. Much like with the shadow that they had been speculating about earlier, that merely turned out to be Aquis under and invisibility enchantment or spell.
Why he cast a shadow when he was invisible, Kim still hadn't figured out. She didn't plan on spending much time thinking about it, but it still bothered her from time to time.
"What're you making?" Elin asked, sounding rather hopeful, when Kim was nearly done making breakfast for them.
Kim smiled wryly, knowing Elin wasn't going to be happy with her response. "Stew. What else do you think we have to make?"
Elin groaned, making Kim's smile broaden as she chuckled. She hadn't been able to find anything else for them to eat, so it wasn't like she'd have been able to come up with something else. Which Elin really should have known, no matter how much she wanted something else.
"Why can't we make something different?" Elin complained as she sat across from the cook fire Kim had going to cook the stew.
"Why don't you find the ingredients for something else?" Kim challenged. "If you can find something that we can eat that can fully replace a stew, then I'll cook it for you, okay?"
"Really?" Elin asked, her face brightening up.
"Really," Kim replied, hoping that this would get Elin to not be so withdrawn as she had been for the past few days. It wasn't that big of a deal, but Kim couldn't help but find it a little concerning. She wasn't sure what the reason or reasons might have been, but she couldn't help but worry that Elin would pull away from her and leave.
While it was Elin's choice overall, Kim still didn't want to let the girl go if she could help it. If Elin did leave, then Kim couldn't say if she'd be able to do anything that would be able to help the girl return to her own world from this place.
"What would it look like?" Elin asked.
Kim sighed. She was pretty sure that Elin was wanting to find some wheat or other grain, but she wouldn't know what they looked like either. Maybe if she had some experience faming them she might be able to say something, but since she didn't, she knew she wouldn't be any help in that respect.
"Keep your eye out," Kim advised anyway. "You might find some where you'd least expect them."
Kim nodded and quickly helped Kim clean up where they camped. There wasn't much to do, but Kim still preferred to clean it anyway. Aside from where they had their cook fire, Kim didn't plan on leaving anything for any potential enemies to know that they were here.
When they started out, Kim's bad feeling persisted, though it didn't get any stronger. It just remained constant. Kind of like a blister on her foot. Irritating and distracting, but something she could ignore if she needed to.
As they walked, it looked like it would be a day where nothing happened, which Kim wished she could believe. The were a few stray clouds that floated silently through the sky while the sun shone brightly.
If Kim was on her own world, she would think it would be a perfect day for a picnic, even though she'd never been on one. She merely thought about it on days like this and wish for something that could have been that never materialized.
A tugging on Kim's arm pulled her out of her thoughts. "What?" she asked, more curious than anything else.
"Was that way there when we first came through here?" Elin asked, pointing to a path that was almost hidden in the canyon wall.
The path was maybe two feet wide, just barely enough for both of them to squeeze through single file. It didn't go straight, but turned a few feet into it, and Kim couldn't help but wonder how they missed this on their way through here before.
Looking around, Kim could see that it was possible for them to have missed it when they first came through, but she had a feeling that wasn't the case. It just felt wrong somehow.
"I guess there's two options," Kim remarked.
"What're those?" Elin asked immediately in response.
Kim sighed, she wished she could get Elin to stop being so impatient. She had planned on answering the question, even if Elin hadn't asked that question.
"One is that we just didn't notice it, which I'm doubtful happened."
"What's the other one?" Elin asked, as if Kim had stopped talking.
Is she trying to imitate a little kid? Kim couldn't help but wonder as she looked at Elin. If Elin was trying to do that, she wasn't giving anything away as Kim looked at her.
After a minute, she sighed again. She didn't have the energy for this. Especially when she had the feeling that something was going to happen and that she wasn't likely going to like what it was.
"The other option is," she finally said after letting Elin squirm for a little longer, "that we didn't get back on the path that we had been taking. That we messed up and somehow got on a different path."
"How would we do that?"
Kim wished she knew. "Probably because we got mixed up a little from losing those two bridges," Kim answered succinctly. "I might be wrong, but it's possible that we ended up on a different path than the one we thought we were on."
Elin nodded, looking a little annoyed herself. "Should we take it then?" she asked. "Maybe it'll help us find Jonas and Elmo."
Kim shook her head gently. "Let's continue on a little longer. We might be able to find a better option than that. I still think we should check out along the river more first."
Elin sighed, clearly not happy with Kim's choice. Not that she let it bother her. It was just another irritation that she had to deal with since being forced into this lousy competition.