Elmo wasn't sure what to expect when they'd arrived back at the camp. The hunting trip had gone well, though when Owen had missed his first shot, he'd been asked to take the deer down, only… his magic had been a little too effective.
Not only had he gotten the one Owen had been targeting, but also four others. While that just meant they'd have more, Elmo felt like his control wasn't as precise as he'd really need with using his magic for hunting. As not only did he get more than he'd planned on, but also the deer weren't exactly in prime condition anymore. Not only had he pretty much burned holes in the hides, but some of the meat had also been charred and burned away.
Still, what was edible was more than they'd have gotten with one and it wasn't like they'd had any real use for the hides to begin with. Owen just liked the idea that they could harvest the hides and potentially make some money by selling them when they got near a town.
So, when they arrived back in camp during the early afternoon, Elmo had thought it would be a rather uneventful day. Owen had brought in one of the deer, Elmo had been forced to drag the lightest one back, while Elwin had easily carried two.
What he hadn't anticipated was that about an hour after they'd returned, while they were busy taking care of butchering the deer, Kim woke up from a nap and shortly after seemed to be rather frantic that she couldn't find Elin. Though, Elmo didn't know what to say, since he hadn't been present when she'd apparently left, nor did he have any means to figure out where she'd gone.
They'd found Elin's pack easily enough, which meant that she at least had planned on returning, though it was hard to say when that might be. Elwin helped by apparently finding the tracks she'd left behind when she'd gone for a walk almost right away. Though, Elwin did say that she'd left over an hour before.
Still, Kim seemed determined to track down Elin. Somehow convinced that Elin had gotten in trouble or something. Elmo wasn't sure what her reasoning was, but couldn't say it was rational or anything.
However, he was determined not to get involved in whatever was going on. He was confident that Elin was fine and that she'd be able to either handle herself well enough or that she'd be able to do something to let the rest of them know she was in trouble, even though he couldn't say for sure what that 'something' might be.
So, he volunteered to stay in the camp in the event Elin returned. He didn't see the point in everyone barreling after her, like Kim seemed determined to do. If anything, he suspected that it wasn't going to turn out well, regardless of if Elin was in trouble or not.
Bart and Patricia volunteered to stay behind as well. Though, Elmo suspected that Patricia was like him and didn't see any problems with Elin having been gone just a short period of time. Bart, however, wanted to go, but since he was so young, Elwin insisted that he stay back, in case they needed to move fast against whatever threat might have Elin.
Which Elmo suspected Elwin was making up for dramatic effect. Not that he really cared, just that it seemed a little over the top to him.
The afternoon wore on into the early evening and no one seemed to return. At least from the 'search party' as Elmo thought of them. Yet, as the sun was sliding down past the tops of the mountains, Elin walked back into the camp, not looking any different than before.
"Where were you?" Patricia asked calmly.
"I went for a walk," Elin answered, sounding rather confused as to why Patricia was interested. "I'd asked Kim to join me earlier, but she wasn't interested and when she went to take a nap, I decided to go on my own."
Elmo couldn't say he was surprised at that. He wasn't sure what was going on between the two of them, but he could tell that they weren't exactly on the same page either.
"So, you weren't in danger or anything?" Bart blurted.
"Why would I be?" Elin asked, sounding like she was getting even more confused. "It was just a walk."
Elmo didn't see the need to explain, he was sure that the others would return soon enough and do that for themselves, no matter what the rest of them said. After all, he had been determined to not get involved in any way, no matter what else happened.
"It's just that when Kim woke up from her nap, she kinda freaked out that you weren't around," Patricia said. "When no one new where you were, she seemed to come to the conclusion that you were in some kind of trouble and that they needed to head out to save you."
"What could have happened to me?" Elin asked, sitting down around the cooking venison. "It was just a walk."
Elmo shrugged, but didn't say anything. He didn't hold anything against Patricia, but he felt like it had been unnecessary to have said that much to Elin. At least when the 'search party' would do that as soon as they returned."
"There's still monsters in these mountains," Bart said. "Aside from dragons, we've seen drakes, giant bears, and not to mention some weird things that we know the people who brought us here had something to do with sending."
Elin nodded, but didn't reply. Elmo suspected she didn't really consider those likely threats, and he couldn't really blame her. He didn't really consider it realistic for any of those threats to materialize in any meaningful way out of the blue like that. He doubted that things would happen like that without some kind of sign, but he also doubted that this incident would get resolved so quickly. Not with how Kim had been when she couldn't find Elin.
However, in Elmo's mind, that was something Elin would have to deal with herself. As he doubted that Kim would jus let Elin return without her having something to say about her having disappeared. He just hoped that it would be loud enough to disturb his sleep. Depending on when the search party returned.
"So, how did the hunting go?" Elin asked conversationally.
Elmo looked at Elin out of the corner of his eye, no sure if she was really curious or if it was a topic different from the one they had been on. Not that he'd complain if that was the case.
"Apparently it went well and terrible," Bart answered. "They got four deer, but a good amount was burned away, and the last one had a lot of dirt in it because it got dragged the whole way."
Elmo didn't say anything. He recognized that Bart wasn't happy about having been left behind. Though, he also didn't like how he had had to drag the fourth deer back. He never could understand how others could lift things so easily where he'd always struggled to lift them. At times he felt it wasn't fair, but he also didn't really care enough to try and figure out how to change things on that front.
Some things in life he felt should be endured. Otherwise he was certain he'd always be trying to catch up to others and not let himself live his own life.
"At least they got something," Elin said. "I was wondering if they would be able to find anything at all."
"Of course they were going to find something," Bart replied. "We already knew the deer were in the area. We just had to take the time to locate them. It's not like they're likely to find us just when we want them to."
Elmo nodded absently. What Bart said made sense, although, he couldn't help but wonder if he was discounting the possibility that they could merely cross paths with the deer, or whatever else they'd hunted, while they travelled.
"So, did you find anything on your walk?" Patricia asked. "I mean, anything interesting?"
Elmo felt like he could kick himself. Of the things that he could have said to try and cheer Elin up, he was confident that would have been one of them. Why he didn't think to ask that, he couldn't say. Just that he wished he had.
"Not really," Elin said. "I wanted to go for a walk with Kim, but she wasn't interested, so I just went on one by myself." Elin paused as she looked up at the sky, her eyes moving as she either tracked movements of clouds in the sky or was lost in her own thoughts for a moment. "I guess I just needed time to clear my head."
Elmo nodded. He certainly could appreciate that. Though, he couldn't say that he'd used going on a walk as a method to do so.
"Then there was the singing," Elin continued in an almost dreamy tone, snapping Elmo's back to full attention. "Her voice was so beautiful."
"What? Who's voice? What're you talking about?" Patricia said, sounding rather alarmed.
"Oh! Yeah, I didn't mention her," Elin said absently. "Well, her name is Elysia Violet and when I tried talking with her she ran away."
"One, how do you know her name, and Two, why didn't you mention this earlier?"
Elin shrugged. "I guess I just didn't think it was important."
"Um, that still doesn't explain how you know her name," Elmo added quietly, not sure he should even say anything after being so quiet for so long.
"Yeah, she told me," Elin said.
"I thought she ran when you tried talking with her?" Bart asked.
Elin nodded. "She did. Though, she told me her name after I told her mine. Though, she didn't care to say much after that."
Elmo nodded as he noticed the search party coming from the direction where Elin had returned from.
"They're back," he said, not sure if he should be making his exit at this time or not.