The Systems Challenge

Jonas wasn't sure what was going on. He'd expected to head over to the bear on the second trip for Sonya, but when she returned without anyone having gotten off of the dragon, he wasn't sure what to make of it.

When Sonya got close enough that he could make out details, which was still farther out than anyone else would have been able to do the same, he could see that everyone's expression, except for Elmo's was somewhere along the lines of disappointed and discouraged. Elmo seemed more relieved than anything else, but that wasn't surprising in the first place given his reluctance to go to begin with.

Though, one thing that did stand out to him awas how Sonya's left front foot was being held a little differently from her other feet. Almost like it had been inured somehow, though he couldn't say how that might have happened.

Then as she landed, he noticed she kept that foot off of the ground, like she didn't want to put any weight on it. However, while he wanted to say something to Heather about it, it seemed like she'd noticed without being told about it, as the moment Sonya was on the ground, Heather was already running over as the others slowly climbed down from off of her back.

"Sonya, what happened?" Heather asked, clear worry in her voice. "Your foot!"

Jonas pulled his attention away from those two as her passengers, aside from Elmo, came over, clear annoyance on their faces. If Stanley wasn't one of them, he suspected he'd be giving an earful to whoever had come back, considering how insistent he had been that the plan was the correct move.

"What happened?" Patricia asked. "Why'd everyone come back?"

"Complications come up," Patrick said after a minute of silence. "When Sonya went to land, she suddenly started to try to take off again. We're not sure if the top of the bear's head tried to grab her, if she started to sink into it, or if there's something else up there."

"Couldn't you have jumped off?" Kim asked. "I mean, you guys were wanting to try for that method, right?"

"Patrick and Elwin weren't willing to go first," Stanley replied. "They were talking about how they didn't know if it was safe or something, so we chose to come back and consider other options."

Jonas did his best to keep from smirking. Of course Stanley would try and push others to try and go first. Especially if they weren't from his group. Which tracked well with him have a politician's system, given he didn't know of any politician who would do something with an unknown danger level like that without having someone else test it out for them. Especially if that 'someone' wasn't anyone that they particularly cared about.

"So, what's your next idea?" Jonas asked dryly. He doubted that Stanley had a 'next idea' just yet, but felt like needling him on how this idea of his had failed so spectacularly.

"We're gonna have to discuss it some more," Stanley replied, either ignoring Jonas' ribbing or not noticing it at all.

Either of which was fine with Jonas. He wasn't looking to start a fight or anything right then. He was just looking to entertain himself a little. Especially since Stanley looked like he was taking this turn of events rather hard and Jonas wasn't sure when he'd get another opportunity like this again.

Besides, it served him right for complaining about others not doing something that he wasn't willing to do first. If he had to have been held back from jumping, onto the bear's head, then Jonas would have accepted his complaining about Elwin and Patrick not being willing as fine. However, it was clear Stanley wasn't really concerned about the safety of the others outside of his group.

As the others walked away, Jonas stayed back to say a few words to Heather and Sonya, since he could see Heather taking her time healing Sonya's foot. Even though it didn't look to him like she was making much progress, but as far as he knew how it looked would be the last thing fixed.

As he approached, Heather looked up at him, he face lined with worry and concern as she pulled her hands away from Sonya, and Jonas was pretty sure he heard Sony give a grunt of pain at that moment. Which he could only assumed was because Heather's healing probably also included an anesthetic with her basic abilities. That if she paused or stopped, the anesthesia would also stop.

"Don't stop on my account," Jonas said. "I just came to tell you to take your time. We're not going to be heading out for a while and probably not even until tomorrow, so don't worry about getting back to us that quickly, okay?"

Heather gave Jonas a weak smile as she turned her attention back to Sonya's foot. Though, Jonas couldn't be sure if maybe Elin should take a look as well. After all, she might have other healing abilities or spells that Heather might not have. Even though he couldn't be sure if that would be true or not.

Besides, he was confident that Kim wouldn't mind if Elin assisted in healing Sonya's foot. If it could help her heal faster, then that would mean they'd be able to get whatever idea suggested next going that much sooner. Though, if Sonya's foot was able to get healed before they went to bed for the night, he would argue that they should wait for the next day before trying another plan. If only so it wouldn't be as likely to get dark before they were able to determine if the plan was having any real effect or should be paused for a time.

Though, he couldn't be certain if Stanley would push for something more idiotic, given the 'decapitating the bear' had been his idea in the first place. Although, he had his doubts about it, he had to admit that he hadn't expected the complication about whatever it was that hurt Sonya's foot.

When he reached the camp after a few minutes of walking, he could hear the others discussing the next plan already. Naturally Elin and Elmo seemed more like a part of the discussion due to proximity than actual interest.

"Elin," Jonas said quietly, not wanting to disrupt the discussions. "Why not see if there's anything you can do to help with Sonya's foot?"

Elin looked like she wasn't sure if she should for a minute before smiling as she nodded and started heading towards Sonya and Heather.

"Is there something Heather can't fix about Sonya's foot?" Elmo asked quietly.

Jonas shook his head. "Not sure. Just thought it'd at least be helpful for her to take a look too."

"You can't be serious!" Stanley cried, sounding like he couldn't believe whatever was just said.

"Uh, sorry, I missed that," Jonas called out. "What was just said?"

"Just that I was thinking that I could try to jump in the bear's mouth tomorrow morning if we can get it to open it," Kim said.

One thing that surprised Jonas more than anything else was the fact that he was actually agreeing with Stanley on anything. The fact that Kim had suggested that idea, and so casually too, was almost as surprising as him agreeing with Stanley on the subject.

"Why?" Elwin asked, snapping some twigs piece by piece before tossing them to the side and picking up more. "Why it's mouth? You could just jump on its head and sink in that way."

Kim shook her head. "I'm not sure about the details, but I know I mentioned to all of you about the abilities my sword received recently. One of them was that I can use it to locate something once a week. So, during the walk I was on this morning, I used it to see if I could locate the weakness of the bear."

"And your sword told you to jump in its mouth, right?" Frank asked rather derisively.

Kim shrugged as if his tone didn't bother her. "Not quite, but close enough. It let me know that the bear's weakness is through it's mouth, but I was the one who decided that I'd need to jump into it."

Jonas couldn't find any problems with that logic. Especially since he couldn't be sure if Kim had been given more information than she was sharing, since he wouldn't be surprised if that information included something that was hard to put into words. Such as if maybe she'd find something to attack on her way down the bear's throat. Not that he really understood how her sword's 'locate' ability really worked to begin with.

"I know I owe you a favor, but I don't think I'll even be able to let you do this even if you want to cash that favor in for me letting you do this," Patricia said.

"I'm not asking to for a favor. I'm just saying that everyone should get a position near the bear so if I'm able to get it's weakness, then if there's more to be done, everyone can head in to attack the bear if necessary."

Patricia gaped at Kim for a minute before shaking her head, as if she just couldn't deal with her right then.

The arguments for Kim giving up that idea and her rebuffing those complaints went on for a while. Jonas wasn't sure if he should say anything himself. While he thought it was a crazy idea, it was at least something that he felt he could trust. For one thing, while he didn't know much about the abilities Kim's sword had, he at least felt confident that it was more reliable than any other interpretation of what Kim had learned was that he could think of right then.

Though, the only hiccup in Kim's proposal was they didn't know if Sonya's foot would be healed in time or not. While he hoped that it would, the look of worry on Heather's face haunted his mind for reasons he couldn't quite explain.