"Well, now that we have that out of the way, we should figure out what to do next," Jonas said, hoping this issue would get dealt with without any other issues coming up.
"What do you mean?" Bart asked, sounding more surprised than Jonas thought he should.
"Well, Harold was aware that we'd left the village and was heading towards the dungeon. So, I'd say it'd be safe to assume that Stanley has the same knowledge. Even if we can't explain how he'd be able to know that," Jonas replied calmly, even though he'd really prefer to get moving on to the points that he had in his mind to get to. Despite the fact that he could see he was going to have to slow-walk this to keep some of the others from getting lost.
"Why would Stanley know we're heading to the dungeon?" Elin asked, one person Jonas felt he should have known wouldn't have realized this on their own.
"Because Harold knew," Kim replied before Jonas could. "The fact that we left at night to avoid whoever they had spying on us in that village must not have been lost on them. Possibly even someone working at the inn, so the fact that we didn't even leave our rooms for meals would have been something they'd been instructed to report. Which in turn left them to assume we'd already left and Harold rushed ahead to meet up with us. So, like I said a minute ago, since we don't know that Stanley hadn't planned on collecting Harold later on, we'll have to assume that he'll be aware of Harold's death and know to expect us either on the way to the dungeon, or even at the dungeon itself, or inside it."
"That's all well and good, but why should we need to be worried?" Patricia asked dryly. "If we're aware that he's aware of us, then couldn't we be on the lookout for traps or ambushes?"
"Yes, we can, but that doesn't help us if we don't see them," Jonas replied. "I can only see so much and even I have limits, even if I'm not really aware of what those limits are just yet. Besides, if its an ambush, it won't help if they see us first. I might be able to see in the dark as if its day, but if we have something giving off light, they'll be able to see us much more easily in this forest than I would. As light in darkness attracts attention."
"You're making my head hurt," Patrick complained. "Let's just move on from this and figure things out as we go along. We've done well enough so far doing just that, so I don't see why we can't do that again."
"Well because if we want to survive to see the last challenge completed, and since we're trying to complete the last challenge ourselves, we're likely going to end up in conflict with Stanley and his group at some point. Even if we end up at the finish line before we encounter them," Jonas answered, feeling like this probably was going to take longer than he'd like, regardless of what he'd hoped for at the start of this topic.
"So, why not send someone ahead to scout for us?" Elwin asked, looking at Sonya. "If I recall correctly, many of your shapes are rather small and not suited for combat, right?"
Sonya glared at Elwin. "I'm not leaving Heather like this," she stated flatly, as if she was being pressured to break up with Heather. "You can find someone else to do that if you really want to." Sonya paused for a moment, possibly to let her words sink in, though Jonas suspected that it was entirely unnecessary. "Unless she waked up and tells me she's alright, I'm sticking with her and I'll need to be in a form large enough to carry her."
Elwin sighed in exasperation. Though, Jonas wasn't sure why he should have thought that would turn out any other way than it did. After all, it wasn't like they had anything else that they could use to carry Heather, even if Sonya was willing to do that for them. Although, as he thought that, he suddenly had an idea. One that might help them out, both with keeping Elwin pacified and Sonya from worrying about leaving Heather.
"What if you change into something small, scout ahead, and then return to us while we waited here?" Jonas suggested earning a glare from Kim, a wary look from Elmo, and an incredulous look from Sonya. Jonas didn't even look to see how the others reacted to his words. He really didn't care at that moment even from the faces he did see before him. "I'm sure that you'd trust Kim and Elin to look after Heather while you're gone, as its not like we'd be able to move while carrying her anyway. Not unless we're willing to sacrifice one of our fighters to do that, or at least until she's conscious, that is."
"How will that help us on moving quickly towards the dungeon?" Kim asked, as if Jonas was challenging her desire to keep moving.
"It helps us out because then we're not moving in a direction that will get us killed," he said. "Frank has the archer system, in case you don't remember. While he's not guaranteed to kill all of us with it, whose to say who he'll shoot first if he sees us before we see him? And if he does, while it might not be a kill shot, I'd expect that we shouldn't expect to get as lucky as we did with Harold. Especially because if we rely on luck, eventually it's going to bite us in the ass."
"You make a compelling point," Kim replied curtly, letting Jonas that while she agreed with him, she wasn't happy about it. Which was completely fine with Joans. He wasn't that interested in making her happy. He just didn't want any of their combined group to get killed like that. Especially if it was because of something simple like that.
"So, what're we going to do if we do find out where they're laying in wait for us?" Owen asked dryly. "It's not like we can just expect they'll stay there forever. Nor can we assume that they'll allow us a chance to pass them by and still reach the dungeon."
"We'll have to strike first," Jonas replied. "Unless Sonya can determine that they mean us no harm and that Harold was acting of his own accord." Jonas paused, suddenly having a thought occur to him. "Or even if Stanley had directed him to do that, Stanly might not care to confront us himself. In that case, he might be open to reason. Though, only if Sonya can determine that can we consider that a potential option." Jonas turned to Sonya, hoping she'd agree after the discussion on the matter. "Would you be willing to do that? We can care for Heather while you're away and if Heather wakes up we'll let her know where you are and that you'll be back soon."
Sonya sighed, sounding to Jonas like she was already going to agree, even if she didn't like it herself. "Alright, I'll go. Though, don't expect anything grand, okay?" she grumbled. "I'm not going to turn into anything that can fly, since my dragon shape is too big and my dragonfly shape will be easily seen since it reflects all light. Though, it would be nice if I had something else that could fly too, but I don't."
Jonas wanted to sigh in annoyance, but he supposed letting Sonya go through this bit, however tedious, would probably help get her moving faster than debating if she really had to go on and on.
"So, use a shape that'll keep you from being as noticed, even if it doesn't fly," Elwin said, his tone indicating that he didn't have much patience for whatever Sonya was going on about right then.
"I'll use my squirrel shape," Sonya growled, looking like if there was a dispute, that she might try biting Elwin, which Jonas was confident wouldn't help matters any, even though it would be his opinion that Elwin would have been asking for it. "It might be shaggy, but at least it'll be easier to blend in with the forest."
"Uh, I think I heard you mention once that you could turn into a lizard," Bart remarked. "I think some lizards might be faster than squirrels."
Sonya shook her head, which looked a little odd to Jonas, with her still being in her wolf form. "If I turned into a lizard, I'd be whatever color stands out the most. Which wouldn't be something that I'd like to have happen when I'm rather small, okay?"
"Let's just let her do her own thing, okay?" Jonas suggested, not wanting this tangent to go on any further. It was already annoying enough to him as it was, and he didn't see a point in letting it continue. "The sooner she leaves, the sooner we can figure out what to do next. Even if it's something we hadn't considered before."