Elmo didn't understand why he had to accompany Elin down the path. She was raring to go, so why he needed to go as well, he couldn't understand. True, she'd healed him of a simple sickness that was starting to make him rather miserable, but he didn't see that as a reason for him to go. If anything, he'd say Jonas should be the one to go, since he was so insistent on seeing what was down that trail.
Yet, he couldn't bring himself to voice any of that either. Maybe it was an effect of having recovered from that viral infection so quickly, but it he just didn't feel like he had the energy to argue.
As it is, he was pretty sure that none of the others noticed his unhappiness with going, given how miserable he was pretty sure he still looked. His eyes ached and he just wanted to close them, but even with such a narrow path, closing them wasn't a good idea. The trail turned too frequently for that to be a good idea, though he could hear Elin moving ahead of him at a much faster pace than he was going.
Elmo briefly considered stopping, leaning against the canyon wall, and just dozing. He knew that he'd enjoy that a lot, but at the same time, he couldn't help but feel like Kim and Jonas would be aware that he did that. He didn't know if Elin would care, even though she seemed to be rather over the moon that he had been voluntold to take a look as well.
Elmo wasn't sure how long they were supposed to be taking to 'see where it went,' but he felt like the day was going by while he and Elin moved down the trail. Maybe they had been told, but he didn't really remember that. As he walked, he didn't feel the sun shining directly on him, so he at least had that comfort, although he wished he could at least enjoy the warmth of the sun. It seemed more like one of those things that was being denied him that day for some reason he didn't really understand.
He thought he heard Jonas and Kim calling out at some point. He wasn't sure if it was his imagination or not though, nor what they might be saying if so. Just that the sounds around him made him think that if nothing else.
However, after a certain point, he felt himself becoming more alert, though eh wasn't sure why. Just that he felt like he suddenly had more energy and was more awake. To the point where he could tell that the day was quickly reaching midmorning. Meaning that he'd been going down this trail at least an hour, maybe two.
Ahead of him, he suddenly heard Elin calling something out, though he couldn't really make out what it was. He was only certain that he did hear her, unlike when he thought he heard Jonas and Kim.
He picked up the pace he had been moving at, not sure what to expect, though it didn't sound like Elin was in trouble. In fact, she seemed more excited than anything else.
Idly, Elmo pictured Elin having found a mirror or something that would allow her to create multiple Kims for her entertainment. Though, what a mirror would be doing in the middle of nowhere like this, he couldn't say. Just that that's where his mind went to explain why Elin seemed so excited.
Maybe fifteen minutes or so, Elmo entered a widening on the trail. It widened to pretty much create a perfect camping spot, if they were planning on camping here, at least. There was a pond of water to the side of the center of the area, which drew Elmo's attention more than he would have thought.
The pond was about 50 feet long and around 20 to 30 feet wide. The rest of the area was about twice that of the pond. Though, there didn't seem to be anything else special about this place.
The water in the pool seemed almost iridescent, but not like there was some kind of oil on the surface of the water. Rather, it almost seemed as if the color itself was part of the water. Like it was more than just what they saw before them.
Elin was standing by the edge of the pond, just about a foot away from the water, looking at it with excitement in her eyes.
"What's got you so excited?" Elmo asked, trying to be casual about this whole thing while inside he wanted to jump up and down in excitement for some reason he couldn't explain.
"Don't you feel it?" Elin asked, not taking her gaze away from the pond. "It's wanting us to jump in."
"Uh, Elin?" Elmo asked, feeling a little hesitant about what she just said. "You realize swimming in an actual dress isn't that good of an idea, right?"
At this, Elin turned to look at Elmo, her expression one of indignation. "Of course I know that," she snapped. "That's just how it feels to me."
Elmo nodded, not sure how to really respond to that. He'd like to, but at the moment it hardly felt like it was a good idea. He didn't know much about the pond, but there was something different about it that he couldn't quite put his finger on.
He heard sounds coming from the way they'd come, which made Elmo remember about when he thought he'd heard Kim and Jonas calling something out. He wasn't sure if that was them approaching or not, but he knew that there hadn't been any other paths diverging from the trail they'd been on. Which meant whatever was coming from that direction had to have at least passed by where Kim and Jonas were.
"Uh, did they give us a certain amount of time before we were supposed to return?" Elmo asked, feeling a little uneasy about facing Kim and Jonas, Kim especially, upset with them.
"Huh?" Elin asked, like he'd interrupted her train of thought. "Oh, yeah. They wanted us to only go as far as we could for an hour. Then we were supposed to return."
Elmo blinked. He could clearly see that it was more than two hours since they'd started down this trail, yet Elin clearly hadn't tried to return. Elmo felt he at least had an excuse in that he wasn't aware of the time passing, so it wasn't like he had recognized when an hour had passed. Although, he doubted Kim would accept that as a reason from him, even with Elin having completely disregarded that direction.
Elmo wasn't sure if Jonas and Kim were somehow able to move faster than he was, but he wouldn't be surprised since he hadn't really been putting much energy into it,. Also, since he was pretty sure they were on their way, and he was probably going to have to deal with them being unhappy with him not returning when they'd apparently told them to, he thought he'd at least take a nap. While he didn't feel as tired as he did before, he knew that didn't exactly mean that he wasn't actually tired.
So, he made himself comfortable in the shade, laying on his side, facing the canyon wall and closed his eyes.
He couldn't say how long it took him to fall asleep, but when he opened them, after what felt like only a few moments, he could hear Kim and Jonas talking with Elin.
"I understand you wanted to reach the end," Kim said. "But we had no idea how far this would go, or what dangers might have been down here."
"But isn't this pond interesting?" Elin asked, clearly trying to change the subject. "I think this is magical."
"Al I can detect is a faint magic in the pond. It's nothing to really write home about," Jonas remarked.
Elmo perked up at that comment. He hadn't thought about it being magical. Maybe it was because he was so tired that it didn't cross his mind, but that would explain a few things about the pond itself.
Elmo slowly got up, not wanting any attention to fall his way. At least not right then. He made his way to the edge of the pond and knelt down, looking at the waters. "Identify," Elmo said softly, hoping he could take care of this before Jonas, Kim, or Elin noticed him.
The window popped up in font of him, giving him what it could about the pond: Enchanted Pond. Has absorbed magic through the crystals sitting at the bottom for over seven centuries. The crystals appeared naturally and were not placed here by anyone, making this an entirely naturally occurring magical anomaly.
When Elmo finished reading that, he felt like he'd been gipped out of his MP. The information he'd received wasn't helpful at all. Other than a bit of history of the pond, at least. What he needed to know is if they could benefit from the magic in the pond, or even what they pond could do in general.
"View Stats," Elmo said, hoping this would give him more of what he was looking for.
What appeared in front of him in the window was more than he had expected was even possible. It made him turn to the others in his group, no longer afraid that they might come down on him. That they might not be happy with him not having returned when they had instructed him to.