It was nearly dark by the time the group stopped for the night. The sun was just barely peaking over the mountains, sinking down further every second. The dying light cast eerie shadows amongst the trees.
Arslan sat on a fallen log just outside the perimeter, watching as his companions prepared the camp. Daryun and Narsus argued over how the tents were to go up. Gieve was sitting near Farangis, watching her quietly as she prepared more arrows with help from Alfreed. Elam was pulling the cooking supplies out of the side saddles on the horses, struggling to keep everything in his hold.
Arslan stood up to help his friend, catching one of the wooden bowls as it fell from the boy's grasp.
"Here, let me help you." Arslan offered, reaching out to take some of Elam's load.
Elam looked taken aback. "Prince Arslan." He said, bowing his head as best he could with his arms full. "It's unnecessary that you help me. Please, sit and rest, Your Highness."
"Um, alright." Arslan said quietly, handing the bowl back to Elam and slowly returning to the log. It would be useless to argue with Elam, the boy was too humble and too stubborn to let the prince help.
Arslan continued to watch as everyone else puttered around the camp. He often felt useless at times like this. No one wanted to make a prince do menial tasks, and on the rare occasions someone let him help, their patience to teach him the tasks was limited, and Arslan was left feeling as if he was more of a nuisance.
Elam slowly started to prepare the evening meal for the group, cutting up the meager ingredients for the stew. When he had finished his preparations he began to look around the campsite, and Arslan knew he was looking for the perfect place to start a fire. Somewhere not too close to the tents, where a fire set them ablaze, but also somewhere not too far, for both convenience and heat.
"I'm going to collect firewood." Elam announced to the group. He instinctively looked over at Narsus for the man's approval. Narsus barely turned his head to nodded at the boy before going back to his heated (and undoubtedly petty) argument with Daryun.
Elam took off towards the forest, heading quickly into the deep underbrush.
"Hey Elam!" Arslan cried out, leaping off the log and running to catch up. "You shouldn't go into the woods by yourself, I should go with you."
Elam stopped and turned towards the prince. "That is very kind, Your Highness, but I'm sure I can manage on my own." Arslan smiled as he caught up.
"It's no problem." He assured. He heard Elam sigh beside him.
"Prince Arslan," Elam said tentatively, choosing his words carefully. "I cannot as a prince to help me collect firewood. It would be best if you returned to the camp."
Arslan stopped at Elam's words. "Are you sure?" He said in a small voice.
"Yes." Elam said firmly. "Please allow me to collect the firewood for the camp."
Arslan gave the boy a sad look as he returned to the camp. He sat back down on the log for a third time and tugged his cloak closer towards him, wishing that his cloak could make him disappear.
The sun was fully down by the time anyone noticed that Elam had been gone for far longer than he should have.
"You're certain that Elam was just going for firewood?" Narsus asked, his brows furrowed in worry.
Arslan nodded. "I told him I should have gone with him, but he insisted that I stay here."
Narsus shook his head. "Foolish boy." He muttered. "He's always been one to do everything himself, but he's never taken this long to collect wood. His independence may have finally gotten him into trouble. Which way did he go?"
Arslan pointed off in the direction he had last seen Elam. Narsus stood near where Arslan had pointed and shouted into the woods.
"Elam!" He called out. A few birds that had been sitting in the nearby trees scattered, and he listened to the silence, hoping Elam would shout in return.
"Elam!" He called out again, worry starting to creep into his voice. Daryun grabbed his bicep as he tried to call out a third time.
"Save your breath." He said. "Calling out like that may alert any nearby enemies to our location. Our best option is to split up and go look for him."
Narsus' shoulders dropped in defeat. "You're right." He said. "Gieve, Farangis, Alfreed! You three head head North-East for a ways then split up. Daryun and I will go North and do the same." Narsus stopped and looked at Arslan.
"Should I head East?" Arslan asked, hopeful that he could help with the search for his friend.
"No." Narsus said. "You wait here, it's not safe in the woods for a prince, and we need someone to wait here incase Elam returns." He buckled his belt around his waist, pulling his sword out of its scabbard and making sure it was sharp enough. "If no one finds him within an hour, return to camp and we will replan our search strategy."
Arslan watched as the rest of the group scattered into the woods. When he could no longer hear the leaves and twigs crunching under their feet he stood up from his log and put his sword on his belt from where it rested against the log.
'To hell with waiting around.' He thought. He didn't want to be sitting around feeling useless while his friend may be in trouble.
"Sorry Daryun." He apologized quietly to his loyal servant. He knew the man would be furious when he found out Arslan had put himself in danger by wandering into the forest.
Straightening out his cloak and making sure his sword was snugly at his side he took off into the forest, vowing that he would be useful to his companions.