When Given a Lemon

Part 29

Not that any creature would ever need such assistance to find us. The many fire pits and boisterous noises produced in this working military camp announced our location well enough all on its own.

Still, I would prefer for the titan to not show up here either. I happen to like my cozy tent monster-free, thank you.

Lemon must have gotten over our earlier disagreements because they just popped though the door with their hands full. They brought food for the both of us, handing me a heaping bowl as they joined me by the fire.

It was very nice of them. But by now it might just be a habit for them; they used to get our rations at least once a day so that I didn't have to move around, lift anything, or swivel my body too much while recovering.

That night we turned in early and they surprised me when they pulled their bedroll close to mine before I even had a chance to say goodnight.

They don't need to know that I honestly am not sure if I would have been able to sleep if they hadn't, but I still teased them for it. I'll take it to the grave that I needed the closeness of another human as much as they did after everything we'd been through, bickering aside.

Wrapped in my bedding with Lemon’s bed next to mine, feeling the warmth of them close to me assures me I'm not alone, nor as vulnerable.

I'm glad we don't have to reascend tomorrow. They gave us a day of reprieve, instructing us to focus on training instead while their officers met to discuss their secret plans to take down the monster. Supposedly it had struck down an old, ancient grizzly bear that was just coming out of its winter slumber somewhere nearby. I couldn't help but feel bad for the poor thing. The unlucky beast has chosen the wrong moment to peak its head out and paid a heavy price for it. As to where this happened, I'm not sure. It sounded like it was a little further up toward the summit, but that doesn't say anything about where the beast could be at this point.

I made a mental note to find out so that I knew what area to steer clear from.

For part of the day I watched as soldiers trained. I had yet to be cleared to participate so the only thing I could do was practice jabs with the knives I had until allowed to heft the bigger weapons again. Until then I was also banned from competing in a one-on-one or group training session with the others. Not that I was any good at any of those things even before my injuries.

From my vantage point on top of an old stump I saw that many soldiers were becoming more proficient with the new program the lieutenants and captain had established over the past few weeks; undoubtedly a program reaffirmed after witnessing my team's first debacle with the bugs. I hated feeling like we were the mascots for what not to do.

Listening to the banter as they all trained I couldn't help but notice one of the lieutenants saying “don’t be part of the useless squad! Fix your stance! Watch yer arm! Swing harder! Dodge! Get yer asses trained, damnit!” When he was unhappy with their progress, he roared out just what he thought of them.

In my head I could picture the officer peering my way, even though I couldn't bring myself to check if they really did. The rest of the trainees present did though. Each time they would glance at us as if to see how we would react to all the name calling. Don’t know what they are expecting; I wasn’t about to confront him about it nor did I intend to run away crying with hurt feelings. I’m well aware of how limited our capabilities are, especially mine right now with these injuries. Still, it's irritating to hear, whether or not it's actually directed at me.

The best thing to do is pretend to not hear him. I'm not training right now anyway so we have no reason to interact so long as I stay out of the way.