Kim's Discussion

While there wasn't a rule that they all had to sit by the same campfire when they ate, it still felt weird to Elmo to see Kim at the campfire that was right by the tent where he'd slept without Elin.

Even though it was entirely possible that Elin just hadn't come out of their tent yet, Elmo was pretty sure he'd seen her go towards another group to have breakfast.

He didn't say anything, but he couldn't help but wonder if there was a reason for that occurrence. Such as if maybe Elin and Kim had a falling out or something.

Since they'd been to this world, aside from the time where Elin worked as a waitress at the inn they stayed at after leaving the dungeon, she'd always eaten with Kim. Which meant that there had to be something different this time. Elmo just couldn't figure out what the reason was.

Yet, he still had to admit that he might just be overthinking things, as neither seemed in a bad mood, or even unhappy about something. Although, he couldn't be sure if he'd be able to tell if that was the case or not. Given how he never really spent much time around other people before coming to this world, and even when he had, he didn't really pay that close attention to them. Other than to know where they were so he wouldn't physically run into them and all that.

Still, he couldn't help but wonder if whatever inspired them to eat separately might have an impact on their group as a whole. He hoped it wouldn't, but since he didn't know what was going on, he couldn't help but worry about it.

"…say that," Lance was saying, his voice full of laughter. "That's not how it went at all."

"Then how did it go?" Kim challenged.

Elmo got himself some stew in his bowl, trying not to draw any attention to himself. He wasn't sure what they were talking about, but didn't want to get pulled into anything that he couldn't help but worry would impact him in ways he doubted that he'd like.

"Well, when I was swinging my sword, there hadn't been any problems. However, after the fifth parry, my hand went numb and I couldn't hold my sword anymore," Lance said.

"Sounds to me like you're trying to come up with excuses on why you forfeit our match then," Kim declared.

"As I said, you can't really say that," Lance protested, although his good humor made Elmo wonder if what he was hearing was really what they were talking about. "A forfeit isn't something that happens just because I can't hold my weapon anymore."

"Well, you said you surrendered, right?" Kim asked, a smirk on her face.

"Yes, but it wasn't like I'd have been able to do anything after that," Lance said.

"Doesn't matter about that," Kim replied. "The fact you gave up is what makes it a forfeit. If you had wanted, you could have still attacked with your hands or found some other item to use as a weapon."

Lance shook his head. "What good would that have done?" he asked, sounding like he didn't know what Kim was getting at. "We'd agreed to a sword fight back then. Nothing else."

Kim shook her head, and Elmo then noticed that Jonas was chuckling.

"Look, we did agree to a sword fight," she said, sounding like she was getting ready to spell things out for Lance. "However, once you no longer could hold your sword, your options were then to continue the fight through some other means or to forfeit. Which is what you did. You surrendered, or forfeit the match."

Lance shook his head. "How could we continue it if I couldn't wield a sword anymore?" he asked, sounding like a dog who wasn't going to let go of a bone. "If I had tried continuing on with the match, it wouldn't have been a sword fight anymore."

"How many fights have you gotten in that didn't come with 'rules of engagement' that said what you can and can't do?" Kim asked, sounding like she was getting ready to make a point.

"What other fight is there?" Lance asked, apparently not getting what Kim was getting at.

"Well, there is the fight we had on the night of your sister's birthday," Kim replied casually. "During that fight, there weren't any 'rules of engagement' other than the fact that whichever side was left standing at the end would survive."

Lance opened his mouth to reply, but didn't say anything. Elmo wasn't sure what the whole point of this was, but he certainly wasn't going to jump in. Especially since he hoped that they hadn't noticed him eating the stew they had for breakfast here.

"So, you're saying that even if I couldn't hold the sword anymore, that I should have continued the fight?" Lance asked, sounding a little incredulous.

Kim merely shrugged. "That's really up to you. I didn't choose for you to 'surrender' and I certainly didn't tell you that you could only use your sword to fight," Kim replied, although her tone made it sound almost like a challenge to Elmo.

"What do you suggest I could have done?" Lance asked, as if his question didn't have an answer Kim could give.

Kim, however, merely rolled her eyes. "How much detail do you want me to give on what you could have done?" Kim asked.

Jonas started chuckling nearby and Elmo couldn't help but glance at him, not sure if he should be trying to worry about Kim's and Lance's reaction to that. Although, they kept their argument going, like they didn't even hear Jonas' chuckling.

"However much you want," Lance retorted, sounding a little too arrogant and cocky for Elmo's tastes.

If he didn't have the bowl of stew in front of him that he was still eating, he would have already left. As it is, he was wondering if he should have joine Elin at her fire rather than this one.

"Fine," Kim said. "A fight isn't over until the opponent has lost the ability to fight. If you break their will to fight, then that works too. Now, if you can't wield a sword anymore, you can always attack with your fists and feet. I don't care what others say about what's dignified or civilized, doing that could save your life if it happened in the middle of a battle."

"Hold on," Lance interrupted, looking rather confused. "What are you getting at here?"

"Simple," Kim replied, as if the answer should be obvious. "A match is for us to work on our fighting skills. If you stop where you were when you can't hold your sword anymore, then you can't really say that you put your all into it."

Lance looked like he wanted to say something in response, but couldn't find the words.

Kim merely took a deep breath, looking to Elmo like she was trying to be patient with Lance, which actually scared Elmo a little.

Since when did Kim get this patient? Especially with someone she knew was male?

"Let me put it this way," she said, looking a little too thoughtful for Elmo's likes, which just made him even more scared. "If you get attacked by someone out here and they fight in a way that's unconventional, how would you be able to fight them off if you're not used to others using unconventional tactics?"

Lance looked like he didn't really get it, but he at least stopped debating Kim. He nodded, apparently accepting Kim had a point.

Elmo finished off the last of his stew, set the bowl back down with the other bowls and left as quietly as he could.

He didn't want to draw any attention to himself, and get drawn into what had been going on there. He thought that if he spoke to Elin, maybe she'd be able to know what was going on with Kim. He couldn't be sure if that was anything that would be good for him or not, but he wanted to make sure so he wouldn't need to be looking over his back when Kim was standing behind him.

He walked towards the fire that he'd seen Elin at, but was surprised to see that she'd already gone. He wasn't sure where to look, but then noticed others starting to strike the camp. Normally he wouldn't have wanted to participate, but right then it sounded like the perfect activity to get his mind off of what had just happened.

He was confident that he wasn't in any direct danger, but that didn't mean it couldn't change later on. Which meant that the scarcer he was, the better for his health overall.

Or at least until he could figure out what exactly was going on with Kim. He didn't thin it would be serious, but he knew that he'd been wrong before and he wouldn't be surprised if he was this time.

He just hoped that if he was wrong this time, that it wouldn't hurt him that badly.