Judith stared at the campfire. She was very, very tired, and it'd been night for quite some time, but she wasn't actually sleepy yet. She'd become familiar with this sensation by this point, much to her chagrin. It wasn't very pleasant to want to get some rest but be unable to—especially in the Labyrinth. Even with the assurance that either Elowen or Afon were keeping a close look-out of the camp entrance, Judith couldn't bring herself to relax. In her mind, the constant wariness of monsters popping out of the trees never went away. As a result, she found herself constantly scanning the camp, and looking behind her shoulders. In the few nights the guild had been camping, she had yet to encounter even one nocturnal monster. Yet, she could never shake the sense of "but what if it DOES happen?" She was aware it was an irrational thought, but nonetheless, she could not shake it.

Finding herself unable to ignore the paranoia, Judith checked over her shoulder. Contrary to her expectation that nothing would be there, she instead found... Elowen! The auburn-colored Survivalist's sudden appearance startled Judith. Judith screamed, jumped off the log-slash-seat, turned around, and put herself in a combat stance, sans her standard broadaxe. Within two seconds, though, Judith let her guard down. If she was going to have someone stand silently behind her, Elowen ranked a bit higher in preference than Sigrid, who Judith considered completely harmless.

"Oh, ah... Sorry. For, um, startling you." Elowen spoke up, finding the courage she lacked a few seconds ago.

"It's...it's okay," Judith responded. Her fight-or-flight response made her breathing heavier. "What's...hah, what's up? Is everything alright outside?"

Elowen nodded. "It's Afon's shift right now. I came here because... Um, I've wanted to ask you something for a while. I-if that's okay."

"Why wouldn't it be okay? Shoot."

"B-but why would I want to shoot at you?! I don't even have my bow!"

"...Elowen, 'shoot' in that kind of context means 'go ahead.'"

"O-oh. ...Anyway, well... You were in a war before you came to Etria, right?"

Judith tensed up. Being reminded of that was...unpleasant, but Elowen meant no harm. "Yes. Yes I was. What about it?"

"What, um... What was survival like in it? How did you get out of it...alive..." Elowen's speaking slowed as she saw Judith's eyes widen, and heard her breathing become more rapid. "S-sorry, I'll go now." Elowen started to shuffle out of the camp area, but Judith stopped her by grabbing Elowen's cape. "I'm sorry Judith please don't—" Elowen's voice was barely more than a whisper.

"Elowen. Please calm down," Judith said in the most reassuring voice she could manage. "I... Look. War's obviously an unfamiliar thing to you, and I understand that. Just...please, next time, try to understand that it's...not something most people who partake in it would prefer to remember. Survival often meant killing other people, and that's...something that will haunt me until I die." Judith paused. "Does that answer your question?" Elowen nodded in response.

Judith let go of Elowen's cape, and slowly walked back to the campfire log she sat on a short bit ago. Elowen looked at Judith for a bit, and then went back to the lookout hammock.

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