Part 2
To this point, our relationship was wavy, yet relatively mild. Our fireside chats really helped to establish a friendship, but it fluctuated. Some days, I genuinely felt the need to help her when she was in trouble. Other days, I really couldn't care less. I suppose our personalities clashed; her independence with my wisdom. As such, even though we became friendlier as the nights went on, there was always a little frostiness, a little uncertainty you could say, that meant that we were never truly close. The Order of the Shovel would not approve of such a thing; companion knights needed to know each other inside and out if they were to work well in tandem (as was constantly drilled to me in my lectures prior to this pairing-up trial).
Putting it simply, we were just friends. And not even great friends at that. We tolerated each other and had the minimum amount of appreciation for each other's lives to be able to cooperate. Little did I know, something hidden was brewing inside me, and it decided to show its face that night.
The campfire was beginning to die down. It was not one of my best; the heat was quickly dissipating and I knew that I would have to drift to sleep soon before the heat faded completely. Trying to slumber on a cold night was impossible, as I learnt the hard way. The same applied for Shield Knight; her crankiness was incredible the following morning when my campfire was not at its best. On this particular night, I had rolled myself a log towards the fading embers and leant myself against it in my usual comfortable position. Half-sitting, half-lying, I watched as Shield Knight positioned herself in a lying position at the opposite side of the campfire, readying herself also for sleep. There was a faint warmth from the campsite and I allowed myself to relax.
I closed my eyes.
…drip…
A faint pattering sound collided against my helmet. Had a dastardly bird relieved itself against my blue hues? Was I an easy target?
No. The projectile was for too small. So small in fact, that I paid it no heed and closed my eyes again. The wind blew gently against us, bringing a glowing pulse to the campfire.
…drip…drip…
This was no mere bird. No, I thought, this is something else. The dripping continued to patter against my helmet, and before long it also struck my breastplate a shoulder plates. I sighed. I knew just what was coming.
Rain.
The rain started to double and triple up in intensity, before it came falling down at rather an incredible rate. My heart sunk as I peered outside my helmet visor to see the rain tearing my beautiful campfire to shreds. Within the minute, the fires and embers had hissed out into soggy ashes, and only the faint, faint light of the few visible stars gave me the vision to see through the darkness. Disheartened that my campfire and warmth was gone, I had no choice but to rest against my log and stare into the darkness, hoping that the rain would subside. I was no stranger to night rain, but I hated it each and every time. The few surrounding trees offered little shelter for me.
My eyes became accustomed to the darkness and I was able to make out the moving shapes beyond my visor. I could see Shield Knight, who had quickly produced a lantern and lit it, restoring light to our sodden resting place. Impressed that she had even brought a lantern, I remained still and watched her.
She fumbled around on the ground, angry that the rain had come. Her long, blonde hair had already become wet and was leaking out of her helmet, falling in slimy, clumpy bands of gold, dripping and sticking to her neck and armor. Her face was one of punctuated annoyance. She grabbed her small shield and set the lantern under it, balancing the two against each other so the shield was able to block out enough rain to keep the lantern alight.
Shield Knight then reached out for her larger shield, which until recently had been lying opposite her. I needed to remind myself to tell her that leaving her weapons unattended to lead to grave consequences (I've lost many a practice shovel due to ill discipline myself). As she grabbed it, she tried to dig it into the ground at an angle, positioning it against the direction of the falling rain. At first, I was confused as to why she was doing this, but I quickly realized she was trying to create a makeshift shelter for herself.
But she couldn't quite manage it, unfortunately. Every time she got under, the shield slipped and started falling on her. Sighing, she repositioned her shield and fiddled with it, digging it in again, seeing it fall, and so forth. She fumbled about with it in an attempt to make her shelter work. It wasn't working. At one point, she managed to get it to stay somewhat still, but it kept falling loose from it's foundation. I watched Shield Knight try different sleeping positions with various limbs wedged under the shield to keep it upright. None worked. I watched for what must have been a good twenty minutes.
Eventually, a clearly frustrated Shield Knight let out a yell and kicked the ground in fury. The rain wasn't letting up; it had seeped into my armor and soaked me to the bone. I could only imagine that she was just as rain-sodden as I was. I continued to watch as the bleak light from her lantern illuminated her despair. Eventually she gave up, and just sat under her shield and held it up with her hand. She was successfully remaining dry, but with her arm in such an awkward position, she was in no shape to sleep.
