The Systems Challenge

Elmo had his reservations about leting Stanley's group join theirs, but he couldn't think of anything to argue aginst it. Though, he doubted that his voice would carry much weight anyway. He couldn't be sure, but there was something about the way Stanley spoke that made Elmo want to dig his heels in with whatever he said.

However, he'd long let Jonas and Kim make the more important decisions, so whenever he wanted to scream his disapproval about anything suggested by Stanley or about something he'd said, he held it in and waited for Jonas or Kim to say something or remain silent.

When they didn't, he just swallowed his complaints and resolved to follow their lead at this time. He recalled how he'd been considering leaving the group, but couldn't say why he'd stopped thinking about that. Almost like adding more people into the group made it less of a problem for him to be there. He didn't really understand it, but didn't plan on thinking too much about it. Especially when he had people like Stanley around.

Plus, since they had agreed to have all groups travel together on their way to deal with the stellar bear, Elmo did his best to keep his distance from them. Such as volunteering as often as he could to locate water to refill water skins and collecting firewood. While he got the sense that Stanley's group, Frank especially, didn't think much of him, they at least didn't complain when he was engaging in so much of what they referred to as 'grunt work.'

Days passed and started to merge into one for Elmo. He wasn't getting worn out more than usual, but he was starting to have trouble differentiating the days from each other. He wasn't sure how long it had been since Stanley's group had joined theirs anymore. Though, he did recall when he had the count at four days.

However, he couldn't remember how long ago that was. As far as he knew, it was merely yesterday or even a few days since then. He doubted it had been a week, but he wouldn't be surprised if someone told him that it had been. All he knew was that Stanley and his group hardly did anything to help support the rest of their efforts to make it to the bear.

As they travelled, the bear kept getting bigger. Although it still always seemed like it was just a little farther away, given how large it each day and how much bigger it kept getting. While Elmo knew what he'd seen when he and Jonas had first seen the bear, he was starting to doubt his own estimation of how big the bear was to begin with. He wasn't sure if the bear might have somehow grown since it woke up, but it felt like it might be twice as big, at least, from when he'd seen it still asleep.

While there had been a little talk about what to do when they fought the bear, no one had really gotten a discussion going about the a strategy for fighting the bear. Although, Elmo wasn't sure how much anyone in the combined group did that sort of thing anyway. As it wasn't like they'd doing this kind of collaboration before. Or at least not like this where they were all approaching it before the fight started, with the exception of the troll in the first dungeon.

Although, at that time, they didn't have a clue as to what they were going to face, so it wasn't like they could have done any strategy talk before the fight. Especially since they didn't know anything about the traps and other mechanisms that made that fight a true challenge.

Yet, as they continued on, the mountains that the bear could be seen above looked like they were about to reach them. Which meant that they very well might be able to see the bear fully soon enough. Elmo wasn't sure what they might be able to find as a result, but he was certain that it wasn't going to be a comforting sight. Not with how large they could see the bear likely was.

They were just starting to climb the slope of one of those mountains as they stopped to camp for the night, which hardly seemed like any night they'd had up to this point. At least with the light that was coming off of the stellar bear. Elmo wasn't sure how well he'd be able to sleep, even with the cloth he'd been wrapping around his eyes as a blindfold lately.

Elmo hoped that they'd be able to either deal with the bear quickly or have Stanley's group get taken out during the fight. Either option was one he'd be fine with. The problem was that he doubted he'd be able to get either. He was confident that things wouldn't work out the ideal way he'd like. Even peripherally to what he'd consider ideal.

"You said that you thought that Blinky didn't move you guys closer to the stellar bear because he wasn't comfortable getting to so close to him, or something like that," Patrick asked Thomas as they sat near the edge of the camp

Thomas looked at the cat as he rubbed its head. "Hard to say," he replied. "I'm not really sure what exactly Blinky thinks about it or why he's still here." Thomas paused for a moment as Blinky started rubbing his head against Thomas'. "To be honest, I'd have thought he'd have left me by now rather than sticking with me."

"Well, with cats, it's hard to say what they think. I mean, they're more independent than dogs, but in some ways, I think they're loyal in their own way, so I can't say if it's something like that or not," Patrick commented.

"What if Blinky just wants to be there to pull him out if things start getting dicey," Patricia asked, walking over to them. "Though, I'm not going to say that's exactly what the cat is thinking, but you never know."

"I wouldn't be surprised if Blinky thought that," Thomas answered. "When I first saw him, I was certain that we had a connection. That he knew what I was thinking even then."

"Stupid thing should have been drowned as a kitten," Frank said as he came up.

"Don't listen to him, Blinky," Thomas cooed and Frank rolled his eyes. "You know he only gets like this when he gets tired."

"I guess you don't like the Blynx," Patricia remarked.

Frank shrugged like he didn't actually care. "I just don't like cats. I mean, the critter is useful, but it's still a cat in the end."

"I think the announcer said that a Blynx was a kind of cait sith, I think," Patrick remarked.

"And that's just another name for a cat sith. Essentially the same thing as a cat. Just with more magical or mystical abilities," Frank retorted.

"Just think of Blinky as a critter that's only taking the form of a cat," Jonas said, making Elmo jump with how he seemed to almost fade into view out of the shadows.

"Where were you?" Patricia snapped, clearly startled as well.

"Oh, I decided to got take a look up the mountain," Jonas replied. "I find that I'm able to move more quickly when I'm merged in the shadows."

"Well, you should come out of it farther away from us," Patricia said heatedly. "You probably shaved a few years off of my life doing that."

Jonas merely shrugged. "I'm sure you'll be able to recover from that during your next… uh, quality time with Patrick," he said with a smirk.

Patricia merely rolled her eyes. Though, she didn't argue with his assertion.

"Well, why would that make a difference?" Frank demanded. "A cat's a cat, no matter what else there is about it."

"Well, with this world, just because something walks like a cat, talks like a cat, sounds like a cat, doesn't necessarily make it a cat," Jonas replied. "There's just too much in this world that doesn't quite work the way things worked in our home worlds."

Frank merely shook his head, looking like he didn't care what Jonas said, that his opinion wasn't going t o change anytime soon.

"Well, with that issue dealt with," Jonas continued, "let's figure out what formation we should take when we approach the bear. It's actually walking in our direction and should be within reach when we cross over the mountain tomorrow." Jonas paused for a moment before quickly adding, "Assuming it's pace remains consistent."

Elmo wasn't sure what exactly Jonas used to calculate his estimation, but he didn't feel like going oout to figure it out himself. For one thing, he couldn't say how much sleep he'd be able to get anyway. Besides, he'd had been on watch during the mid-shift through the night, so he was looking forward to getting plenty of sleep. If he instead chose to head up the mountain to make his own estimate on the bear's pace, he doubted that he'd be able to get the sleep he wanted, even if he then went to sleep right there.

Though, with the way the conversation was turning, he wasn't sure how much sleep he'd be able to get anyway. Though, if he didn't listen to the discussion, he doubted that he'd know what to expect when it came time to fight and who knew when that discussion might end, even though not everyone was present to really discuss it anyway.