The Systems Challenge-Chapter 447: Where to Next?

Though Elmo suspected that Elwin had voted against Kim's suggestion to not head strictly east simply to get back at her for essentially having taken his suggestion over. Even though her suggestion had merely turned out to be more like his, with where he thought the starting dungeon was.

"It's not about what we thought might happen it's more that we could have followed a stream or something, like the one we encountered around noon," Kim retorted.

"Well, technically we are out of the mountains now," Jonas interjected. "So, how about starting tomorrow, we start following the first stream we find that's leading out of the these hills? Oh, and only leaving that if it turns out that it's turning to go back deeper into the hills again."

"Not a bad suggestion," Heather commented. "Might even be good to take a break when we find a stream so we can clean ourselves. I mean, its been a few days since I've been able to do that. Even if the water was icy then."

"That does sound good," Owen commented. "Though, we'll need to think of where to go from here since we can't be sure where anything else is in relation to where we currently are."

"When we're out of the hills, we head east some more," Elwin declared.

Although Elmo wondered if maybe he was the only one who actually paid him any mind with how others were starting to break off and discuss the matter in smaller conversations around them. If anything, Elmo hoped that Elwin wouldn't dominate the discussion once they got back to everyone being done with their side conversations.

It was possible that they would, but at the same time, it was just as possible that they'd ignore him altogether. Or at least Elmo hoped that that was a possibility.

Though, no one seemed to pay Elmo much attention on wanting to talk with any side conversation. Which felt just a little lonely for him. He wasn't sure if it was because he had to wait for everyone to finish where he could be included again or if it was his own unease in social situations that prevented him from trying to join in on any of the conversations around him.

When the side conversations started to break up, Elmo hoped that they'd come to a final decision, as he was starting to fall asleep. Partly from being tired from constantly moving during the day, but also partly because he didn't have anything to focus on that would help him stay awake.

"So, what's the consensus?" he asked, yawning as everyone quieted down.

"We haven't decided yet," Owen remarked dryly. "We just discussed a few options and we think that heading north east might be the better option. If we can return to the capital, we'll at least know where we are and anyone we reach will know where we're going so we won't need to try and remember a small village's name or anything like that. We'll just let them know that we're looking for where the king's home is, essentially, and then go from there."

"What do you mean 'where the king's home is?'" Patrick asked, sounding like he felt the phrasing should be better.

"I was just putting it one way," Owen protested. "It doesn't have to be put that way. You can phrase it however you want. I just thought I'd put it in a way that everyone would understand."

"Hey, I would understand something like 'the king's palace' or something," Elmo said, feeling like Owen's comment was directed more at him than anyone else.

"Be that as it may, I said what I said," Owen replied as if that was the end of that matter.

Which Elmo didn't feel like pursuing it regardless. It hardly felt like he'd be able to get anything worthwhile if he did.

"Regardless of that," Kim interjected. I agree the capital would be a good place to start, but first we'll need to find some water as I'm pretty sure we won't have enough to last that long if we can't resupply it soon enough."

"Relax," Patricia said. "I'll just create some ice every so often and we can let it melt in the pots overnight. That way in the morning we can use that water to have for the next day."

"Will all of it melt?" Kim asked, sounding as skeptical as Elmo felt but didn't want to say.

"Probably not," Patricia admitted freely. "But it will at least be more water than we'd have had otherwise, right?"

"That's not a bad idea," Jonas suddenly said. "Especially since we can't be sure that any water source we come across will be safe to drink." Jonas looked pointedly at Kim. "So Patricia's offer is more than useful. Especially since she's proven that her ice has been more than useful in the past."

"Oooh, the siblings are fighting," Bart said, as if he was watching a fighting match.

"We're still working that out," was all Jonas said about the matter and Kim didn't look like she planned on even saying that much.

Which Elmo was perfectly fine with. He certainly didn't want to push the matter and end up on Jonas' bad side even. Especially as he considered that it wasn't any of his business to find out where they were in the process of 'figuring it out.'

"So, is it the capital that we'll be heading towards or is there some other place that's been mentioned but I missed somehow?" Patrick asked, sounding like he wasn't fully awake himself.

"No, I'm pretty sure that the majority here has determined that once we're out of the foothills that we'll head towards the capital," Owen answered.

"Hey, we haven't put it to a vote!" Elwin protested. "It's not official until we put it to a vote!"

"No problem," Jonas said cheerfully, making Elmo wonder if Elwin would lash out at him for that, even though hit was clear that Jonas was going along with what Elwin had said they needed to do. "Anyone in favor of heading to the capital after we leave the foothills, raise your hand."

Elmo raised his hand and felt a little surprised when Elwin was the only one who didn't. Though, it was also clear based on Elwin's expression that he hadn't expected that result either.

Looks like the motion was passed," Kim remarked. "So, once we can get out of these hills, we'll head northwest to see if we can find any signs of the capital and then head towards it that way."

"It's a mistake," Elwin replied, sounding almost like he was trying to stir up trouble.

Yet for some reason, Elmo couldn't help but shake the feeling his statement was more of a warning than a threat of him planning on doing something. Elmo wasn't sure what, just that he couldn't shake the feeling, even as he later drifted off to sleep.