The Systems Challenge

While her attempt at getting pregnant was on Elin’s mind, she knew she needed to keep her focus on what they were doing. If only because she didn’t want to risk losing a child if she was pregnant after her romp with Kim.

Even as they moved along, she couldn’t help but feel like it might be a mistake joining the others, even as she worried about being able to return to her own world. If she didn’t return, then likely Kim wouldn’t either, which meant that they’d be able to try again to have children together as many times as they wanted to. Yet, if they did return to their own world, any child that Elin was carrying in her would likely be the only one that they’d be able to have together. The only thing of Kim that she’d be able to keep with her.

While Kim had been working at unravelling the mystery of how to travel between worlds, Elin couldn’t help but worry that there would be an element or two that Kim would be missing and that she wouldn’t be able to acquire herself. Especially when she was back in her own world.

Everyone else seemed to have no trouble focusing on what they were doing, but she couldn’t help but shake the feeling that many, such as Elmo, were having trouble keeping their focus, despite their appearances. Elin primarily based that on the fact that no one had questioned if she was doing okay herself, even though there were times when she nearly ran into a tree or another person. It wasn’t that she wasn’t paying attention to her surroundings, it was more that occasionally she’d get so lost in thought that she nearly collided with something.

Fortunately, she hadn’t yet run into anyone, which she worried would draw everyone’s attention to her and her distracted mind. Which in turn might delay their arrival at the dungeon. Which might force them to camp where they were, since they were already going without sleep so they could reach the dungeon before Stanley and his group started to return to the entrance, as everyone concurred that it was likely they’d be going without sleep too, seeing as how they were so close.

Though, Kim cautioned that they probably would want to rest themselves anyway once they reached the dungeon, since there was likely other things to make the challenge harder. She even acknowledged that she might be mistaken and it was as straightforward as it seemed, but Elin was confident that Kim was correct that there was something that would add to their problems before they reached wherever it was that they were supposed to take the book inside the dungeon.

Aside from the movement that had been noticed before they’d continued on, the forest had seemed almost like it had gone to sleep itself. Which bothered Elin because she knew that the forest should at least have some animals active at night, but here it hardly seemed like there was anything that was moving, and even that was from the wind blowing a branch or something. Nothing that was able to move on its own. It felt like something might be lurking in the dark, waiting to strike. Something that Elin couldn’t help but feel the presence of.

"You okay?" Elin heard Kim ask her, startling her.

"Huh?" Elin whispered back, a little frightened at talking at the same volume as Kim. "Uh, yeah. I’m okay."

"Really?" Kim asked, looking pointedly at Elin. "You seem like something’s on your mind. Like you sense something out there or something."

Elin sighed. She had been hoping to have kept quiet about her worries, but it seemed like Kim was intent on keeping an eye on her. Which, in a way, was something that felt good to her. Knowledge that Kim really cared. While on the other hand, it meant that she’d either have to lie to Kim or tell her what was really on her mind. Something that she wasn’t really sure she should. Dodging the question didn’t even occur to her.

"Isn’t the night too quiet?" Elin asked after a few minutes of trying to organize her words. "Shouldn’t there be some kind of noise from the forest?"