Chapter 251: Stellar Bear
Confused, Elmo felt like he should remain silent. He wasn't sure if Jonas meant that he'd found a possible way out of this place for them or if there was something else of interest that he'd found.
After a few minutes, with Jonas not saying anything more, Elmo sighed. He was about to wander off, hopefully this time with not getting lost in his own thoughts, when Jonas started walking in the direction that seemed to swallow all light.
Until Jonas started walking that way, Elmo hadn't noticed it. He glanced back at where he'd left his clothing to dry, but didn't see a need to go back to get it at the moment. As long as they didn't go far, it shouldn't be an issue. Besides, the longer he took, the dryer it would be.
Thinking about his clothing, Elmo glanced at Jonas and saw that he'd taken his clothing off at some point. As Elmo thought about it, he realized that Jonas hadn't been wearing his clothing when he'd pulled Elmo out of his thoughts. In a way Elmo understood, it Jonas would have been likely freezing at this point if he hadn't, but on the other hand, both of them were naked and Elmo had been hoping for more than just a basic friendship with Jonas.
While at the same time, Jonas hadn't shown any interest in Elmo, so it wasn't like anything would happen between them. No matter how much Elmo wished otherwise. Not that Elmo could think of how to make it otherwise as well.
"Not only do I hear some breathing down this way, but I think I hear some air flowing too," Jonas remarked quietly after a few minutes of them walking in silence.
Elmo didn't like the sound of 'some breathing,' no matter how positive the rest of Jonas' statement might be. If there was something alive down here, even if it was creatures that weren't dangerous to them, Elmo didn't feel like meeting them. He wasn't sure if it was the environment they were in, the creature that they had been fighting, or everything that had happened to them since they came to this world. All he could be certain of was the fact that He'd like a quiet few days where nothing happened. Which was a desire he was confident wasn't going to happen. At all.
At least not while this competition was going on.
The darkness opened up to more lights while they walked, the cool stone feeling smoother beneath Elmo's feet than he had expected. If anything, he'd expected it to be cracked and ready to shred his feet apart from sharp edges and points.
Instead, the rock was rough, but all edges seemed to have been rounded down so there wasn't any edge that would cut into his feet. Even the crystals around didn't seem like they would cut into him if he stepped on them. Which wasn't at all what he would have thought would have happened.
"Why's the rock so smooth?" Elmo asked, only aware of the fact that he spoke after a few minutes.