"Interesting to see you here at this time," a familiar voice said from within the trees ahead of them.
Elin knew the voice and she'd been unconsciously hoping that they wouldn't encounter him here. He might not be a problem with all of them together, but she still didn't want to deal with him. Not with how he scared her in regards to the way he said the things he had to her and Elmo the day before.
It might just be her overreacting, but she certainly worried that he was going to do something that couldn't be taken back. Regardless of how it turned out.
"Something we can help you with?" Jonas asked conversationally, as if meeting Harold in the woods was something that happened every day.
"Actually, there is," he said as if he just thought of something. As if there wasn't a reason that Elin was certain of for him to be present here at this moment. "If you gave Frank the book that was needed to complete the challenge, then why are you making your way to the dungeon?" Harold paused as he laughed, as if he found humor in this whole situation rather than what Elin was confident he was really here for. "I mean, what other reason would you have for approaching the dungeon then?"
"And what if the book we gave him wasn't the correct one in the first place?" Owen asked, as if he was the one whom Harold had been speaking to. "Naturally they'd blame us because they didn't go through the proper procedures to have gotten the book themselves."
Harold sighed as he stepped out of the trees, looking like he had already started his transformation into a tiger.
"Hey, I thought you could only turn into wolves," Elmo called out.
"I have a lycanthrope system," Harold commented, looking annoyed at Elmo's question. "It applies to anything that could potentially be a lycanthrope."
Elin wasn't sure what that meant, but she had a feeling it wasn't going to be as pleasant as she'd prefer the answer to be. Especially considering how she was certain that this encounter wasn't going to turn out to be a peaceful one. No matter what was said.
"In answer to your question," Harold continued, as if Elmo hadn't spoken and he hadn't replied, "That would be for Stanley to decide and if he did blame you, then it'd be your fault for taking the book we'd made clear he wanted."
"Actually, it's more his fault for not bringing anything to trade with," Jonas remarked, sounding as if he was ready to pick a fight. Which surprised Elin as she couldn't imagine Jonas doing that for any reason. Even if he was being provoked into that himself by Harold. It just felt out of character for Jonas. "Though, I doubt you'd let us go even if we returned to the village. I mean, why else would you already be transforming when we haven't done anything to warrant such hostility from you."
"Hmm, maybe," Harold hedged and Elin suddenly had a feeling that he was toying with them. Like a cat that was confident it had the upper hand over a rat. He hadn't made any overt movements that would make her think that's what he was doing, but it was the way his eyes were looking at them as he spoke. Full of malice and amusement. Like he didn't even consider them a threat. "Or maybe I just make sure that you're not a threat at all to Stanley anymore."
Elin couldn't help but think at that moment that while Harold seemed to be turning into a tiger, he seemed more inclined to canine behavior and loyalty. As Elin was pretty sure cats weren't as worried about pleasing someone they looked up to. Aside from the young looking up to their parents, that is.
"And what makes you think that you'd be able to beat all of us?" Jonas asked casually, as if he didn't pick up any undercurrent of hostility that Elin felt was seeping in through their pores with how thick it was.
"Plot armor," Harold replied simply. As if that was an answer in and of itself. "I'm the main character in my own story, so of course plot armor would protect me."
Elin wished that she could say if Harold was serious about that or not. The way that he said it so offhandedly made her wonder if maybe this was just a weird dream she was having while walking through this forest because there wasn't much else to do and she knew that she was still tired from having gotten up in the middle of the night to relocate to another place to sleep.
"You realize that not everyone's story has a heroic ending, right?" Owen said, startling both Harold and Jonas. "I mean, look at Romeo. He killed himself because he thought his love was dead. Then Achilles died in the battle for Troy and I'm pretty sure that he was the main character in his own story too."
Harold blinked. Elin wasn't sure if he was revaluating his statement about 'plot armor' or if he was processing what Owen had said. What she could tell was that Harold didn't seem as sure of himself as he had been. Which Elin hoped meant that he'd reconsider his approach with them. Such as maybe not attacking them.
"Maybe, but I've survived so far through so much of what had killed others, like Rachel. Considering that, I do have my plot armor and you're not going to make me doubt what I know to be true about that. No matter what you say, I know I'm going to survive this and return to Stanley, no other worries will keep me from doing what set told me to do," Harold declared, his words sounding almost inspiring to Elin.
Though, she did wonder if maybe he was trying to inspire himself more than anything else. As well as convince himself that what Owen said wasn't as true as it sounded to him. Which Elin was willing to bet was probably more accurate than Harold seemed to be willing to accept.
"So, you're willing to take that chance that you're wrong?" Owen asked, though Elin thought it was a little rhetorical to ask that in the first place.
"I'm not wrong!" Harold snarled, his voice almost coming out as a roar. Though, he quickly collected himself and appeared to try and take that outburst back or at least pretend it didn't happen.
Elin saw out of the corner of her eye, Bart gripping his quarterstaff, Elwin resting his hand on his sword, and Patricia's hands start to have a light mist form around them that even caused the air around them to cool noticeably. Though, the only one who didn't seem to be getting themselves psyched up for a fight was Elmo; which Elin hoped was because he wasn't fully awake to recognize the danger around them.
"I'm not wrong," Harold said calmly this time, though Elin wasn't sure just how close he was to losing control of himself and attacking them out of hand. "I'll survive, no matter what else happens."
"So, which of us would you go for first?" Elwin asked, sounding genuinely curious. "I mean, if you had to pick?"
Elin wasn't sure what he hoped to gain from asking such a question, but she couldn't think of a reason to say anything about that.
"Hmmm," Harold mused, looking like he was actually considering such a thing. "It's kind of a tough call. First, you and Kim would be the most dangerous with a blade, but then Elin and Heather are healers, so it would be good to get them out of the way." Harold sighed as he paused in his musing. "Then there's the fact that Jonas would be a wild card and I can't be sure that he wouldn't be able to do something to slow me down if I don't take him out first."
Elin glanced at Elwin as Harold thought the matter over out loud. She wasn't sure what she expected to see from him, but she at least couldn't help but wonder if she could see what was going on in his mind in order to ask something like that.
What she saw felt almost like a slap to her face. Elwin was amused! She couldn't say if Elwin was amused at Harold speculating about who he should attack first or if it was at having asked that question first, but it felt like he was laughing inwardly at all of their expense!
Elin wanted to give Elwin a piece of her mind, but with Harold present, she knew that it would need to wait. That she'd be opening all of them up to an attack if she distracted them with something like that in the face of a more pressing issue.
"Well, I guess I'd need to settle on the healers," Harold said, seemingly to have come to a conclusion. "That way there's not going to be any sudden unexpected abilities that they might have that would create more of a problem for me."
Elwin nodded, his smirk making Elin grind her teeth in annoyance. "I see. Well, at least now we know who to protect first."
Harold blinked. Elin felt stunned herself. She wasn't sure what exactly just happened, but it was clear that Elwin had more of a purpose behind asking about that than she'd given him credit for.