Patroling was something that Lenka was totally used to by now, and often just did for fun. Nowadays, since it was so cold, she mostly did it when she had to, and always made sure to pack a nice jacket in with her bag full of lightsabers and food that she brought with her. Normally, she spent the time at the park, either practicing her agility on the jungle gym, or working on her fencing moves with her lightsaber.
Tonight she was just fooling around with her saber, whacking at a tree, totally focused on it, trying to find the best way to strike a youma…or a real bad guy. It was always important to get stronger after all, when you were stronger, then the bad guys would start to know not to mess with you!
And the good guys. Them too. When she got stronger, they’d know she was serious about her job!

Shalott spent a lot of time at night patrolling now, with and without Camelot by her side. She didn't want to become reliant on him to always be with her, holding her hand. She wanted to be self sufficient and learn more about this war on her own terms. She crossed the park to get toward the library to meet Camelot when she spotted Lenka with a lightsaber. She sighed, rolling her eyes a little. Now that she'd found one they seemed to be everywhere and this one had a lightsaber. So instead of a superhero she thought she was a Jedi? Christ! Did anyone explain to these kids just what the hell they're doing? She approached and let herself be heard so the little girl didn't get scared. "Hi there." she said brightly, hoping she recognized the symbols of Earth and recognized her for a knight.

Lenka paused in her training when she heard someone approach, rather, when she felt someone approach. She wasn’t worried since she could feel the energy and she knew it wasn’t someone from the bad guy side. She turned and gave a little smile. “Hello.”

Sheesh. Another older person. What was the point of that? There was a reason why Jedi’s had to be trained while they were young…if you got them too old, well…they were much more likely to die or go to the dark side. Yup yup. Lenka tilted her head to the side then zipped her jacket up a bit more.

“Is there something I can help you with, or did you want some training help? I’m more than happy to offer my services!” This lady wasn’t very strong yet…she might even just be new to the whole war! She would need all of the help she could get!

"So I guess you're a Jedi, arne't you?" she asked softly, stooping to get on the child's level. Children, she found, hated to be talked down to in any way. "What's your name?" She could easily see that the little girl was working in earnest, trying to better herself for battle. It would be very cute if she were a mere child trying to play a game and be a pretend hero. Something else altogether when she was a tiny soldier in a huge and dangerous war. Kyndall was still reeling from this idea of pint sized soldiers. She thought she had Ambrosia on the right side now, careful and not as illusioned as before. She hoped, anyway. No mother needed to know what losing a child is like. "I don't need training help, though. Thank you sweetie. I think I'm pretty good there."

For a moment, Lenka’s eyes lit up. This lady knew. She knew that she was a Jedi, someone not to be messed with. “I’m Sailor Chibi Lenka.” She was still basking in the effect of being called a Jedi when the word ‘sweetie’ was used, and all of the child’s joy was ground to a halt.

That tone, that…stupidly overly sweet tone…it was mocking. The fact that she had kneeled…just like that other senshi, that Acubens. Lekna’s eyes narrowed and she cleared her throat. “I mean to say, I’m Super Sailor Chibi Lenka. What can I help you with. What do you want?”

She was on guard now. She wasn’t going to have someone else say that she shouldn’t be out here fighting. This was where she belonged. This was where she was meant to be. Maybe not out on the front lines, no. Only when necessary. But she was meant to be honing her skills, getting ready for the inevitable battle that was going to come. Maybe not tomorrow, or tonight. But someday. Wars were always happening. Even when people thought they were over.

"Now there's no need for that." Shalott used her mom voice, the one most of her students tended to listen to the moment she saw a change in Lenka. She was used to working with kids and teens alike and though she was new to the fight this was certainly not something she was new to. "I'm Shalott. I'm here to help." Not really the other way around. What was a chibi senshi going to show her that she didn't already know? Again Kyndall found her heart breaking at the idea of it, their childhoods taken away from them by a simple stroke of fate. "I met your friend Ambrosia the other night. She spoke very highly of you. She mentioned something about a team Yum Yum?"

Lenka made a face at the voice, and had to resist the urge to stick her tongue out at Shalott. She didn't want to be lectured! That was for when she got home and forgot to clean her pig's litter boxes, not when she was training!
At the mention of Ambrosia though, the senshi stopped making faces. "Oh, yeah! Team Yum Yum is my team! I made it when I met Sailor Pomona, and I saved her from a spider youma. I decided she needed protection and help. It's a team of the food senshi!”

"Yes. Ambrosia if honey, so I take it. And you?" Clearly the little girl was watermelons. Shalott was only a Page but she felt like she was getting better, stronger, faster. That there were teams among the senshi she was a bit surprised to hear. She didn't know much about the politics or pairings. She was a Knight of Destiny, with Camelot, but hadn't asked about what the other senshi did to gether together. She felt a little foolish to not assume they created teams like Camelot did. "How many do you have on your team?" She was curious and wondered how many of them were children, trying to get an estimate in her mind about how many kids she might find someday. She already considered Ambrosia her cub to guide and protect into relative teenhood.

Lenka stood proudly. "I'm the senshi of watermelons." She liked that. Even though before this whole senshi thing had started, she had never really liked watermelons...they were kind of gritty and tasteless...but, now she found she was beginning to like them more and more and more! As for how many on the team, she thought, ticking off the names in her head. "There are four of us now, I think. I'm going to arrange a Yum Yum picnic so we can all meet...I don't know if they have met anyone else in our team but me."

"That sounds nice." God! She sounded so innocent! Like any other small girl ought to be. She thought of Ridley whom she'd shown the library or Ainsley who she read to. Both girls were about her age, she judged. And Minny, who just wanted to help. "That's very sweet of you to bring everyone together like that." She forgot about meeting Camelot for patrol and training and instead fixated on spending time with Lenka. "I'm not a senshi or food so I guess I don't belong but all the same I'll help you out if I can."

Lenka shrugged. "But...you're Shalott, right? Are you like...the onion kind of Shallot? Or like the one who drowned in the boat...or something like that. Trying to find that knight guy?" She had read Avalon High in school before winter break, so the name was at least a little familiar to her, though...stuff like that bored her. Knights and the like. If they didn't have lightsabers...what was the point? "Also...what do you want to help me with? I don't need much help."

"That's a Shallot, dear. Shalott is a place somewhere in England where Lancelot ran away with Guinevere. It's sort of related to Camelot in it's own way." And she and Camelot were friends so it made sense in her mind. He'd mentioned an Avalon to her once, too, but she'd never met them. Obviously Lenka had her mind more on the science fiction of the world. Star Wars was an amazing franchise of movie and Kyn admired it in its own way. "I'm here to help with just about anything. You'd be surprised what grown ups can do. I just don't want you going out in this war and getting hurt. Even Luke needed Yoda, right?"

The child shrugged. "Shallot, Shalott, it's all the same, but the book I read said that Shalott was some lady who was cursed and floated in a river and drowned or something. I don't know. It wasn't a really good book anyway. Not enough action." She thought about the whole Luke and yoda thing, then nodded. "And I don't want you getting hurt either. So, I accept. I would love to be your yoda and train you as my padawan too. I have lots of padawans." She grinned and stretched for a minute. "Would you like to spar to get better with your saber skills, Luke?"

"I'm not Luke in this situation, Lenka..." Presumptuous little kid wasn't she? And she didn't see how a plastic lightsaber was going to do much good against a youma. She'd trained with staves in karate class but swordplay, not so much. But she was still pretty sure she could out fight this little girl and it worried her that the kid seemed to be so cocky. "This isn't a game. You could really get hurt in this war. Those are monsters you're fighting, real ones, and they weren't created by George Lucas. I know you must be very brave to do what you're doing but you need to understand that." Oh, dear, she hadn't meant for it to come tumbling out like that. What had she done? "I'm sorry Lenka. I'm just worried about you. This isn't a game to me. It's a very dangerous war."

Lenka raised a brow, then shrugged. She really wasn't sure...how she felt about this lady right now. Part of her wished a youma would attack so she could show off again like she did with Acubens. At least that senshi realized that she wasn't bluffing about her skills. She thought for a long moment about what to say, then straightened up, putting her gloved hands behind her back. "Ma'am. I know this isn't a game. I know I can get hurt, and honestly, some of the bad guys have threatened to kill me. It's scary, yeah...but this is my job. It's my job to protect people, and I have to protect my mom, and my dad, and my friends. And...just because I'm little, doesn't mean I can't fight."

"No, it doesn't," she agreed. "It means you shouldn't have to." She straightened up, too, trying to treat Lenka as maturely as she seemed to want to be treated. It was a very mature attitude for a ten year old to have. "But I'm a mom and I have a little girl that was your age not too long ago. She died in this war and she wasn't even a part of it." She still shuddered to think it, thanking God every spare minute that Harmony was brought back to her safe and alive. "And I keep thinking how your mommy would feel if that happened to you. No mother wants to see their children hurt. And yes, I know you mean well and you've gotten very strong but that's the truth of the matter. You're still a little girl. This should be play time for you...not war.”

Lenka nodded, seeming thoughtful once more. "I still have my play time. But, for as long as I can remember, I've wanted to be a Jedi. And...I have to wake up and realize that Jedi's are mostly not real. And I'm prolly not going to be one ever, but I get to be what I am. I get to be a real hero, saving real people, not just...running around my backyard fighting invisible bad guys and saving my pigs from pretend Sith Lords. I can't just stop fighting...you said you lost your daughter, but...what if me not fighting caused me to lose my mom? I'd be all alone then, my dad doesn't have time for me, and...my mom is my world. I'm fighting to protect her. She needs me. This city needs me. I was called for a reason, and I'm doing my best to continue to answer my call!"

"Just...promise me that you'll patrol with others. Don't go off by yourself. I know Camelot patrols nearby and I stick by Crystal Academy when I'm not with Camelot. I don't want you going around alone, ok?" Shalott found it wasn't worth arguing with someone that seemed this convinced. The damage was done, she'd been called. The best she could do was hope the little girl listened long enough to keep herself alive. "I don't want your mommy ever having to go through what I went through. Can you promise me that?"

Lenka nodded. "I know. Camelot told me all these things, and I don't patrol on my own unless I really have to. That's why I made my team, I know there's safety in numbers. That's why antelope are always together too. To stay safe from the lions. My mom's never going to have to go through it. I train to get stronger so I can protect her and myself. And everyone else."

It was the best she could hope for, she guessed. Shalott shrugged. She didn't actually want to train with the girl because she might hurt her and would never forgive herself. It was hard enough getting used to training with and possibly hurting Camelot - someone older than she was. "I hope you're right but come and find me if you need help. I'm almost always around. I don't want you to feel like you're on your own." She'd made the same request of Minny, too.

The senshi gave a smile. "Don't worry, I don't ever feel like I'm on my own. I know there's lots and lots of people around to help me. Besides. Good always wins in the end...even if it looks bad, you can't lose hope, or be scared. When you do things like that, that's when the bad guys can take over. I always know that." She gave a yawn then and rubbed at an eye. "Well...I should be going home, it's almost past my bedtime. It was nice to meet you, Shalott!"

"It was nice to meet you, too, Lenka." Shalott gave her a little wave, hugging herself and reminding herself that she had a date with a man in armor to attend to and she'd gotten sidetracked. She'd need to talk to him about this when all was said and done. It bothered her deeply. But that was not Lenka's problem but her own. "Be careful." She watched until the little girl was out of sight and then turned to make her way toward the library, to Camelot.