Elmo hadn't been sure what to expect when he stepped into the pond. While he had expected to maybe 'fall' into the pond, he hadn't expected the sensation of falling to continue. Like he had stepped off of a cliff. Only, there wasn't any wind and he couldn't see a 'bottom' of the 'cliff' appearing.
Kim was the first of them to step into the pond, but he couldn't see, hear, or sense her around him in any way. He didn't think that Jonas or Elin had been far behind him in entering the pond, but at the same time, he didn't know where they were in relation to him either.
What he could feel was his MP and stamina being pulled out of him. In the same manner as when he used his spells, so it wasn't an unpleasant or even uncomfortable experience. It just let him know that whatever was happening, this was the sacrifice that was mentioned in the information he'd gotten about the pond.
While he had no sense of time while he was 'falling,' he knew that time was still passing. Only, how much time was going by, he couldn't say. Just that when he finally ended up where the pool sent him, the sun was much lower in the sky than it had been when he'd entered the pool.
He looked around him, wondering if he really had been sent to where the fire dragon was. There didn't seem to be anything that would signify a fire dragon having been there.
What he saw was that he was in a valley field that had a large burn scar though the grass and flowers in the field. He could see several people several feet away from him, all of which were just barely able to be made out in the distance from his perspective. He couldn't see what they were doing, what was going on, or even who they were, but he could just make out that they were people. He also estimated that they were probably around two to three hundred feet away. At least.
After a minute, he became aware Kim was on the ground next to him, looking like she was unconscious. He didn't know if that was from her arriving here or if it was from something that happened after she arrived in this location.
As he knelt to check on Kim, he could feel when Jonas and Elin arrived. Both took a minute to collect themselves as they not only recovered from the trip here, but also to gather their bearings from their surroundings.
"What's wrong with Kim?" Elin asked, as she rushed over to Kim, nearly pushing Elmo out of the way.
Elmo shook his head. "Can't say. She was like this when I first became aware she was here."
"If she's not dead, she just might have been worn out from the trip to get here," Jonas remarked, stepping over to where Elin was kneeling next to Kim, checking her vitals.
"Why would she be worn out from the trip here?" Elin asked absently as she ran her hands from Kim's neck to her eyes, to her wrists, and so on as she raced to check every conceivable method to check a person's health. Most of which Elmo was pretty sure would be best to do with Kim conscious when checked, though Elmo would also admit he wouldn't know the first thing, aside from a person's pulse, about what any of what Elin was looking at or for would say about a person's health or condition.
"Not sure why, but that's just my guess," Jonas answered calmly. "After all, there was a sacrifice to be made, and she only has stamina to spend. So, even if she didn't run out of stamina, it might have been so much that her body just went to sleep because of the loss of however much of stamina all at once."
Elin looked at Jonas out of the corner of her eye. "That makes sense, but why isn't she waking up now? Her stamina's stabilized, right?"
Jonas shrugged. "Couldn't tell you. You're the expert we have when it comes to medical stuff and I'm pretty sure that question would be in that field."
"Uh, any idea who's over there?" Elmo asked, hoping Jonas might be able to make out more details than he could about those he could see in the distance.
"Not really sure," Jonas answered, following Elmo's gaze to see the people in the distance. "Though, I think they might be Owen's group and Patricia's. Not sure if there's more, but if there are, they're not in the open over there." Jonas squinted his eyes as he looked into the distance. "Something might be wrong there. I can't be sure, but I think something bad has happened, but I have no idea what might be."
"Jonas, would you carry Kim?" Elin asked, standing up, apparently ignoring the last part of his statement. Though, Elmo wasn't sure what to make of it either, or how to respond to it. "There's nothing I can do right now, but I'd like to move her somewhere that she'd be more comfortable in, so we can't just leave her here."
Jonas sighed as he nodded. "Yeah, I can," he acknowledged as he squatted down to pick Kim up, though Elmo couldn't help but feel rather annoyed at how he lifted Kim up in a side carry. Rather than as a sack of potatoes he remembered Jonas carrying him.
"I'll lead the way," Elin said, looking more cheerful than Elmo felt happy about for some reason. He couldn't say why, but her cheerfulness was grating on his nerves right then.
While he wanted to complain, Elmo kept his mouth firmly shut, eager to just let things go. He wasn't sure how much was just him being tired, but he doubted it mattered much. If he complained, he wasn't sure he wouldn't say something that he'd regret. Whether now or later didn't matter to him. He felt that he should let things go so when he left the group, it wouldn't be on a sour note that could make things more difficult for him later on if they encountered him later on.
Glancing at Jonas, Elmo felt a mix of emotions as he considered how they'd spent the night of the thunderstorm cuddling. While part of him thought they did more, he couldn't really remember. With how Jonas was, he didn't think they did, but he did recall a few details that didn't quite add up with them not having done anything more.
Pushing those thoughts to the side, Elmo did what he could to focus on the here and now. He wished there was something between him and Jonas, but even if they did have a one night stand, that didn't mean there would be anything more between them. That was just the reality Elmo had to face.
Not that it was the biggest part of why he planned on leaving. The biggest part was how they really didn't need him. He was certain of that. Even with Kim's sword, he was confident that someone else would have been able to determine all the details he had about it.
Elmo had to pull himself out of his thoughts when they reached the people they had seen, those who Jonas was confident was at least Owen's and Patricia's groups. Elmo was able to make out Bart, Patricia, and Elwin as they were almost to them.
While it had at first seemed like a flat valley, Elmo felt a little surprised to learn that there was a kind of hill in the center, which had kept the others out of their view. When they got closer, it was apparent it was there, but when Elmo looked at Elwin, he was surprised to see the man looking like he was in mourning.
When they were less than fifty feet from them, Bart looked up and noticed them. He turned and ran over the top of the hill, though Elmo wasn't sure if he was collecting the others or not. Just that he disappeared without saying anything at all.
"Something happen?" Jonas asked Patricia when they got closer.
Patricia looked up, looking a little surprised to see them before looking down. Elmo couldn't decide if she was just tired or sad. It might because there was too much distance for him to make it out adequately, or just because he was starting to feel rather tired again himself.
"I guess you could say that," came the answer after a minute of silence. "First, we fought the fire dragon." She paused for a minute before sighing. "Then, that happened." Patricia paused again, but didn't indicate what 'that' was. When she continued again, Elmo wanted to tell her to get on with it, but couldn't when he saw how full of sorrow her eyes were. "We managed to kill the fire dragon, but…" Patricia trailed off as her gaze shifted towards Elwin.
While Elmo thought that Elwin wasn't aware of their presence, he spoke up, startling Elmo. "He fought well, but in the fight-"
Elwin was cut off with the announcer's voice booming out. Elmo wanted to scream at the poor timing of the announcement, but it wasn't like he could really do anything about it in the first place.