Lance's Concerns

As they continued travelling, Kim made certain to keep her own head on a swivel. There was too much that could happen that may or may not be related to the shadow. Plus, she couldn't be sure that whatever it was, was alone.

The path they were on climbed to be about twenty feet above the river and then levelled out. The mountains around them were starting to become more angular and look more like a canyon. Though, the path they'd been travelling along seemed to be staying the same width. Which Kim merely considered a small blessing.

As it was one less thing to worry about. In addition to the turns that kept coming along as they walked. When the sun finally descended behind the surrounding mountains Kim started to look for a place for them to set up camp.

There wasn't much in the way of firewood to find here, so Kim had to hope that they either wouldn't need it so much in the days to come or that they'd be able to find something else to use. Not that she was confident what that 'something' might be.

When the camp was set up, Kim felt like the events of the entire day started to catch up with her. To the point she was contemplating going to bed before they'd even made dinner. Not that she really was that excited over Elin's current attempt at making her 'stuffed buns.' Especially since they seemed to be stuffed only with the stew that usually was what they had for any meal rather than something else that would go better with the bun.

Kim couldn't be sure if it was that she was starting to relax as to why she suddenly felt so worn out, but she wasn't going to take time to try and figure it out. She was more interested in getting to sleep.

"Kim, could I get a moment of your time?" Lance asked as Kim was about to duck into her tent while Elin was still cooking her stuffed buns.

Kim sighed as she stopped entering the tent. "Sure, just make it quick."

"Sure, I just wanted to check with you. Should we be worried about the shadow that startled everyone?"

Kim shook her head. "Not at the moment," she answered, feeling like he should already be aware of this fact. "If it was going to attack, when we first saw it would have been a better time for it to do so. Here, It's a little more limited with how it can maneuver."

"Okay, but what should we do if it does attack?"

Kim felt like this was quickly becoming a headache for her. "Look, you're the second-in-command of the army, right?"

"Yes," Lance said, sounding like he wasn't sure where Kim was going with this.

"Then you should be able to figure it out. You pretty much asked for your position, I didn't. So, you need to figure out these things for when I'm no longer here," Kim said, feeling like she shouldn't need to explain this, but knowing that it was something that really needed to be said.

While Kim was only saying what she felt, she couldn't help but feel like she was going to far with her statement. Though, she couldn't say how she could have said it any better, as she felt that if she hadn't phrased it the way she had that it wouldn't drive the point home that she felt Lance should be getting: That he needed to learn these things for himself in order to really be the leader he seemed to want to be.

"I understand," Lance said, looking like Kim had smashed his favorite toy in front of him.

Then without anything else, he turned and walked away, Kim considered following him for a moment before entering the tent anyway. She just wanted to sleep. Dealing with hurt feelings wasn't her strong suit anyway. If anything, she was confident that she'd just make everything worse.

+++

Elmo couldn't hear the exchange between Lance and Kim, but he could see how hurt Lance was as he left. Elmo thought briefly about getting Jonas to smooth this over, but he had a feeling that Jonas wouldn't be too happy with him if he did that. Especially with how tired all of them had seemed that day.

So, Elmo started following Lance, hoping that he could see if there was something that he might be able to help with. While he wasn't wanting to get involved with anything that took up that much energy, he thought he at least could offer a sympathetic ear. As he could recall sometimes when his family was having a hard time, they just seemed to need someone to listen rather than help solving whatever the problem was.

Why Elmo had always had to be the one to listen, he couldn't say. Especially when he had no interest in doing any of that at that time. Such as when they would wake him up just so they could have someone to listen to their problems. Those times had been especially annoying for him. Though, he couldn't help but wonder if maybe dealing with all of that had helped prepare him somehow for this. Even though he couldn't say why this would be that important or anything.

Elmo followed Lance through most of the camp and Elmo couldn't help but wonder if Lance knew that he was being tailed or if he was completely oblivious to his surroundings. It was possible either way, but Elmo wondered if Lance would be unhappy for Elmo to show up like this.

He didn't plan on changing his plans if Lance was unhappy about it. Elmo was confident that Lance needed someone to talk to, especially since Kim looked like she'd be her usual abrasive self. Especially when Elmo was pretty sure that Lance just wanted to impress Kim, no matter what it took, even though he probably had no idea how to go about it in the first place.

When Lance entered the tent that was partially set up as the official headquarters of the camp, which also is where Lance slept, Elmo nodded to himself, confident that this would be the best place for the conversation he planned on having with Lance.

The guards stationed out front of the tent didn't pay Elmo much mind. It was well known who he, Kim, Jonas, and Elin were. Which meant that they were expected to have complete access to this tent if they so much as felt like looking in.

When Elmo entered, it took a moment before his eyes adjusted to the difference in the lighting. While there was still quite a bit of afternoon light seeping in through the edges of the tent, it was still rather dim.

Lance had gone over to a small table that had a few papers on it, looking like he wasn't even seeing what was in front of him. Not that Elmo expected any different at the moment.

"Something on your mind?" Elmo asked, and had to suppress his laughter when Lance nearly jumped out of his boots.

"When did you get here?" Lance asked, looking like he was trying to calm his racing heart down.

Elmo shrugged. "Just now. I saw your exchange with Kim, though I can't say I heard anything. I just thought that maybe you'd like to talk with someone about it."

Lance shook his head. "You don't strike me as someone who would know how to handle this problem."

"Maybe," Elmo freely admitted. "But sometimes just saying it out loud can help you see what you're missing. Even if I don't say anything, you might be able to catch something that you're missing right now."

Lance shook his head. "Thanks, but I've got enough problems than to be seen addressing them to you."

Elmo couldn't say why, but it felt like Lance had just given him a verbal backhand. It wasn't pleasant and he didn't feel like letting the matter go anyway.

"Well, if you really don't want me here, I guess I could take up residence here," Elmo remarked, not sure where he was going with this either. "It looks rather nice in here."

"You'd really do that?" Lance asked dryly. "Your friends seem to prefer staying together, away from where the heart of the matters of this camp lay."

"Try me," Elmo suggested cheerfully. "I'm pretty much the most expendable of our group, so it's not like they'd lose anything if I just disappeared."

Lance turned to look at Elmo in surprise. "Since when is any person expendable?"

Elmo clapped his hands and pointed at Lance. "Now that's the approach to take. Let everyone know that's how you view things and they'll trust you no matter what happens."

Elmo couldn't be sure if what he was saying was actually true. He was merely putting together a few things he remembered reading in some books and games. He at least hoped it made sense, even if he wasn't sure how true it was.

Lance merely sighed. "If that's all you have to say, then you can leave. I'm trying to figure out some problems."

"What kind of problems?" Elmo pressed, somehow feeling like even if he truly pissed Lance off if Lance would actually do anything about it. "Even if I don't know anything about this, I could still have a suggestion that you might be able to work with."

Lance sighed. "There's really no getting rid of you, is there?"

"My family would like it if there was, I'm sure," Elmo replied, feeling only a small amount of pain at that thought. He'd long accepted that most of his family really didn't want him around period.

Lance shook his head again. "Fine, I'll give you a chance."

Elmo walked over to where Lance was standing above the table. "So, what's the problem you're looking at?"

Lance sighed. "I'm trying to figure out how to get everyone settled down after that shadow? How can I get them to prepare for an enemy that might attack when we're not expecting it?"

Elmo nodded, an idea popping in his head. He wasn't sure where it came from or if it was from something he'd heard about before from someone else, but it seemed like something that he should at least mention.

"What about doing drills?"

"Drills?" Lance echoed, confusion clear in his voice.

"Yeah. Have everyone in the army engage in basic training. If nothing else, it might make them more confident in themselves. Plus, you could also have them divide into groups and engage in mock battle. Then later you could try and have those occur at night."

Lance looked at Elmo like he'd grown two heads. Elmo couldn't tell if that was a good sign or not. The idea he'd given had started off simple, but then it seemed to just grow as he spoke. He couldn't say if it was going to turn out to be good or not. Just that it somehow felt right. Not that he could explain how or why.

After a minute, Lance merely sighed. "That's not a bad idea. Are you sure you're not pretending to be as clueless as you often seem?"

Elmo felt like he'd just been backhanded again. Clueless? He might be a little oblivious at times, but he wouldn't say that he was clueless. However, he pushed his hurt pride to the side for the moment. It'd only distract both of them if he made an issue of it.

"Well, if you don't like the idea, then don't go with it," Elmo said, feeling like he should have listened to Lance and not bothered with this whole thing.

"No, it's a good idea," Lance said. "I'll think about it."

Elmo sighed and moved to head out, wondering why he'd even thought about trying to help.

Then as he was about to leave, Lance added another short sentence that seemed to soothe all of Elmo's hurt feelings. "Thanks for the suggestion."

Elmo didn't turn around. Or even acknowledge what Lance had said. He just merely continued on, wondering if he had at least accomplished what he'd hoped to do. Even though he didn't plan on staying any longer with how things were. Like while he had apparently been able to help, that it would have been better if he'd just not bothered.