While Elmo had supported the idea of going to the edge of town to set up camp before they all settled down for the night, he wasn't really happy about having to walk that distance himself right after getting woken up. He understood the necessity, but that didn't mean that he really cared for it in the first place.
Although, he did content himself with the fact that he had the watch for the first part of the rest of the night. Which meant that he'd just need to suffer through that part and he'd be able to return to sleep. Even if that portion of slumber would get interrupted when it was time to get up in the morning.
"Do you really think that they'll try something to keep us from trying to get that book back?" Elin asked Jonas, her voice sounding smaller than usual.
Jonas sighed, like he really didn't want to deal with that question right then. Not that Elmo could really blame him. Jonas had had to deal with Frank already, which Elmo had since come to realize that he'd done that out of necessity more than anything else. And that they really weren't in The Twilight Zone or even in danger of getting pulled into it.
Elmo hoped that no one said anything about his previous insistence that that's what was going on. Especially since he really had ignored all other possibilities. It was embarrassing enough knowing that he'd been so insistent on that without others commenting about it at this point.
"Yes, I'm confident that they'll try something at some point," Jonas answered after a few minutes of silence. "I just don't want this to occur before we can be ready for it."
"What's to get ready?" Kim asked dryly. "All we really need is to make sure that they don't get the drop on us."
"If that's what you think, then we'll have other problems to deal with," Elwin remarked. "You know, such as what to do about it when it occurs."
"Exactly," Jonas said, as if he was going to have said that as well. "Making a plan for contingencies would help reduce complications and potential injuries."
"Yeah, that'd be necessary if we weren't going after someone like Stanley and his group," Kim replied dismissively. "I mean, how bad could they really be? I seriously doubt that they have much tactical experience or even strategy. They feel more like thugs and bullies than anything else, to me."
"He has a point," Elwin commented, sounding rather thoughtful. "Any battle you go into could be made less dangerous if you have a few contingencies in place. As anything can happen in a battle of any kind."
"Didn't ask you," Kim grumbled.
"Doesn't make it any less pertinent," Elwin replied, even though it was clear that Kim didn't care for a response.
"Enough, you two," Jonas said, sounding to Elmo like he was trying to separate the two verbally before they started going at each other's throats. "We'll have enough problems when our enemies attack without having anyone in our group going at each other as well."
Elmo couldn't help but wish that they'd stop going on about that topic right then. Not so much because he thought that it wasn't good to at least get that topic out of the way, but because with the dark of night surrounding them. It felt more like there could easily be something waiting for them on the way rather than anything else. Though, if whatever was waiting for them didn't expect them to be coming by at this time, then being so noisy would certainly alert whatever it is to be ready for them.
Even though Elmo knew that it wasn't going to be something from the Twilight Zone or any kind of series he'd watched in the past, he still worried that Harold could be the one ready to pounce on them as they passed by wherever he might be at that moment. Especially since they couldn't be certain that he'd actually left with Frank. If that was the case, then Elmo felt like they might be worrying over nothing. As it was what he was thinking about in general anyway.
As they walked along, the area around them lit up only by the crescent moon and stars. Elmo couldn't help but wonder if this was the last that he was going to see of the night sky on this world. If things worked out as they all hoped they would, Elmo estimated that they'd reach the dungeon and enter it before the sun went down again.
Assuming that they didn't encounter unexpected trouble as well.
It didn't take very long before Patricia called out for a halt. They had just passed a farmer's field and Elmo felt like he was ready to drop, despite the fact that he was going to have to keep the next watch. Not that he'd dealt with this sort of fatigue before. It was merely something that occurred every so often, regardless of what he'd prefer when he'd kept one of the middle watches in the night.
"This should be good enough," Patricia said, disturbing the silence to the point where Elmo nearly jumped out of his skin.
Maybe it would have been different if he'd been fully awake rather than mostly asleep, but he also wasn't expecting the quiet to be disturbed so suddenly. Nor did Patricia try to keep her voice down. If she'd screamed, Elmo wasn't sure if it'd have had any less of an impact for him. All he could say for certain was that he wasn't very happy with how she'd broken the silence.
"Not so loud," Elwin snapped, his voice a lot quieter than Patricia's. "If anyone is waiting in an ambush, you'd just have given our location away."
"Come on," Patricia retorted with the same volume. "Like anyone is awake at this hour."
"We're awake," Owen remarked, his voice sounding like he was ready to stop himself.
"Maybe, but we were already planning on this," Patricia replied, not lowering her voice any, without missing a beat. Besides, it's not like we planned on going very far."
"That's not the issue," Elwin returned. "The issue is that you're being too loud. If you were a little quieter than you'd be fine. I mean, I'm sure Owen is eager to stop for the rest of the night too."
"I just get louder when I get tired," Patricia remarked defensively as she lowered her volume. A little.
"Really?" Patrick remarked, sounding like he wasn't even thinking about what he was saying at that moment. "When we go at it, you tend to be louder at the start of it rather than the end when you're about done."
Elmo couldn't help but wince as he saw Patricia's expression. He wasn't sure what exactly it was that Patrick had screwed up on, but it was clear that he said something that he shouldn't have.
"Please don't drag us into your lovers' quarrel," Elwin sighed, his expression unreadable in the limited light. Though, Elmo suspected that he was rather tired himself.
"It'll only take a sec," Patricia assured Elwin. "I promise I won't be too loud as I deal with him."
"Might as well make camp here, then," Jonas said calmly, as if nothing was going on around him that was cause for concern. "If anything, it'll allow those two to work out whatever it is that seems to be the problem.
Elmo wasn't sure if Jonas had been paying attention to what had been said, but he wasn't sure it really mattered. So long as it didn't affect him, at least.
"I'm good with that," Kim said, sounding like she didn't really care. Though, Elmo couldn't help but feel a little surprised at that. For some reason, he couldn't help but think that Kim should be more eager to continue on rather than stopping here. He wasn't sure where that idea came from, but it wouldn't leave his mind regardless.
"I guess that's settled then," Jonas said, acting like Patricia and Patrick weren't present, though Elmo found their motions distracting.
While they weren't loud enough for Elmo to hear them, which was a surprise for Elmo given Patricia's assertion about being loud when she was tired, it was clear that they were in a heated discussion over what Patrick had said. Elmo wasn't sure he wanted to know what was being said, but he did wish that they weren't so noticeable over that issue. It just felt almost like it should draw more attention than Patricia's earlier volume had.
However, he didn't see a point in saying or doing anything about that right then. What was important was to get the camp situated so that his watch could officially begin. Which in turn, would assure that it'd be able to end that much sooner, which meant that he'd be able to get to sleep that much quicker as well.
He just hoped that there wouldn't be any more complications to this night. Not that it'd been especially problematic up to this point. Even considering Patricia's volume and the debate over that.