First day on the job! Almmiir was ecstatic for his luck. He’d been trying to get a position in a caravan for months, and finally, a caravan had accepted him into their guard after he had proved himself formidable enough to the captain. The duel had been simple: land a blow on the captain before he had a potential lethal blow on Almmiir. Well, simple in concept. In reality, Captain Ira had definitely held back and not only given him tips during the duel, but also let him hit her in the end. He knew it beyond a shadow of a doubt.

  But, she gave him the all clear to the caravan lead, so now was his first journey outside of Myriak! He’d finally get to explore Yurgo and get paid to do so, a dream job, even if it meant putting his life on the line against wild animals, it was still better than standing around his little town fighting off those same creatures.

  Besides, rumor had it, they would be dropping by Seyiki and picking up their witch. Myriak had heard rumors of her: a woman capable of healing most ailments, her medicines more capable than any others in the land. She was just, reclusive by nature. The fact that she’d actually asked for a caravan’s assistance had come as a shock to the people of Seyiki, but like many of the smaller towns, they were resourceful, and knew the patterns of the caravans. Shellick Shill’s caravan just happened to be heading in the same direction, and they’d just picked up one heroic Almmiir Gresintock!

  Three days later when Almmiir actually met the witch, his enthusiasm deflated a bit. She was so short, but her reputation was far grander than anyone her size has any right to, in his estimation. His delusions took another blow when Captain Ira pulled him aside.

  “You’re to keep her safe,” his captain told him, a comforting hand on his shoulder, as if she knew he wouldn't like this, but her voice stern enough that there was only one reply he could give:

  “Yes ma’am.”

  “She’s a high value asset to our caravan right now, so it's more important than it may seem at the moment,” she said encouragingly, obviously trying to appeal to Almmiir’s desire for greatness.

  It worked. Kinda. “Thank you, ma’am! I will protect her with my very being!” He beamed at her with pride, and she returned the smile before dismissing him with a chuckle.

  “Greetings, ma’am!” he had enthusiastically exclaimed to her when he met her. “I’m Sir Almmiir Gresintock! I will be your body guard during this journey.”

  Her reply was muted and formal in a way that had stunned him: “Good day, Sir Almmiir Gresintock. I’m Akai. I will be in your care... I am terribly sorry that someone as distinguished as you has to look after someone like me.” And then bowed to him!

  Everyone had looked at them, confused as to why the Witch of Seyiki was bowing to him, a common guard! He felt his face flush a deep crimson as he quickly tried to get her to stop. “Uh, no no no, that’s okay, Akai! You needn’t be so formal, please.”

  She seemed to hesitate for a beat before standing up straight, but she didn’t look up to him after. “As you wish.”

  “Soooo where are you from!?” His hand reached up to drag through his dirty blonde hair as he walked beside her. It was later the same afternoon they'd met, the two walking aside by side next to one of the carriages.

  The glance of her black eyes towards him didn't go unnoticed as she took a bit of time to respond. “Seyiki.”

  “Before that, I mean.”

  To this, he didn't get a response. She just stared off into the distance for a bit, and Almmiir decided to change the subject. “I’m going to be a hero one day!”

  “What kind?”

  “The… uhm.. the kind that’s known for protecting caravans!” His smile waned a bit, but he pushed through it.

  “You must be good at it then, Sir Almmiir Gresintock.” While she looked in his direction, she didn’t look up at him. It was discomforting for the guard, who offered a wry, almost pained smile.

  “This is my first time,” he murmured bashfully, some of his boastfulness fading, but it came back as he realized something. “But Captain Ira entrusted a high-value client like you to me!”

  She stumbled a bit at that and while he moved to try and catch her, she waved him off before he could touch her, having already regained her balance. “I’m no where’s near important enough to need protection from a hero in the making,” was her reply, soft and a little surprised.

  “Captain Ira thinks you are,” Almmiir proclaimed.

  “Captain Ira must be mistaken then,” the petite woman mumbled.

  “Are you implying that I don’t know how to do my job?” came the reply from behind the two. Akai jumped, startled into turning around, while Almmiir just looked at his captain with a polite nod of his head.

  “I—I would never! Sorry that I implied that!” Akai’s rushed answer spills forth, and Captain Ira reached up to ruffle the woman’s black hair affectionately.

  “I’m teasing, little healer,” came the gruff reply from Almmiir’s commanding officer. “Almmiir is new, yes, but I have high hopes for my newest guard. And you are our important guest.”

  “I—But, Captain Ira, I can’t pay for that…” complains the woman. “All my—”

  “You can repay me by attending to my employees if anything happens,” Captain Ira interrupts, amusement lacing her words.

  “That’s not payment if that was already the deal for me to be here…” Akai replied, looking up at Captain Ira with a look Almmiir couldn’t quite place.

  “You say that as if I hadn’t told you the price knowing I’d be assigning Almmiir to protect you.” For some reason that baffled Almmiir, Ira seemed to be highly amused by the interaction. Equally baffling was that that was the only deal that Akai was expected to pay for their services. Caravans often worked under the assumption that their participants would do what they could to assist the caravan, which was essentially what Akai was being asked. But there was often a price to be paid to have her own personal escort.

  Akai remained quiet, turning back around and following the path with the rest of the caravan.

  “Don’t worry about it, little healer. I offered you a fair price for the services that are being rendered to you.”

  Almmiir tried not to stare at Captain Ira, but his confusion overrode his better judgement and he turned to face her. Only to see her shaking her head at him with a finger to her lips. So he kept his mouth closed.

  “If you insist,” came the subdued response. Akai didn’t entirely sound convinced, either. Captain Ira grunted then moved past them, doing her rounds of the caravan.

  The two walked in silence for about half an hour before Almmiir spoke up again. “What brings you out of Seyiki?”

  “Need to trade for some herbs I can’t grow in my home.”

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  “What kind of herbs?”

  “Medicinal ones.”

  “Do you know their names? I might be able to help?”

  She started naming off various plants, some of which Almmiir recognized, most of which he didn’t, and none of which he knew any local sources.

  On the third night, Almmiir came to a decision: Being a glorified baby sitter was boring.

  Akai had refused to take any space in the caravan carriages, opting instead to walk along with the other guards. Almmiir had assumed she’d give up after the first two days of the pace they set, but not only did she keep up, she also helped with setting up and taking down the camp every day, moving from family to family to see if they needed help. All the while, she refused any sort of gratitude, always claiming that her selfishness shouldn’t be rewarded.

  After they got moving again on the fourth day of his guard duty, he asked, “what are you in such a rush for?”

  She’d shrugged, noncommittally murmuring, “I’m not.”

  He scratched his head at that, “why do you keep saying you are then?”

  “I haven’t.” Her voice seemed to go quieter at the question.

  “Haven’t what?” Almmiir pressed.

  “Said I was in a rush.”

  Perplexed, he continued, “then why do you keep saying you’re being selfish? That’s about the only thing I can think of that would be selfish for you to help people.”

  She hesitated for a moment, then responded in what was almost a whisper, “using that excuse tends to stop people from thanking me too much.”

  “Why don’t you want gratitude?”

  “Because I’m not doing it for gratitude?”

  “Why not?”

  “I don’t deserve it.”

  It took a moment for him to respond after that. “Then why do you do it?”

  “I want to be useful.”

  Almmiir tilted his head at that, his confusion deepening. A witch, known for her abilities with medicine, felt like she was useless? Flippantly, and with no small amount of irritation – she already had a better reputation than he did, yet she felt like she was useless!? What must she think of him, then!? – he murmured, “then why don’t you thank them?”

  “…Should I?”

  “Yeah, sure. They’re allowing you the opportunity to be useful, doesn’t that deserve thanks? It also evens the odds a bit.”

  “Oh.”

  He’d intended it to be a joke. A joke! That night though, she not only thanked everyone she helped, but also bowed to them with each thanks she gave out. Now his peers were looking at her warily and Captain Ira was looking at him, displeased as if he was the one breaking common etiquette!

  “Almmiir, we need to talk.” She had said that night after his charge had fallen asleep. Taking him aside, though still inside the encampment, she ran a hand through her hair. “I’ve been hearing some things about your charge tonight.”

  “Ma’am, it’s not my fault! I was—”

  “Calm down, Almmiir. Myriakans don’t get the entirety of the rumors about her, I should have warned you ahead of time.”

  “Warned me about what?”

  “The people of Seyiki call her a benevolently evil witch,” the captain said, glancing to the sleeping form. “She goes above and beyond for everyone she can, but the way she interacts with people is… odd, as I’m sure you’ve noticed.”

  Almmiir nodded, thinking back over his interactions with her. “She seems to be excessively formal and hates to be thanked for small things?”

  “Anything,” Captain Ira emphasized. “She hates to be thanked for anything, Almmiir. Even going so far as to thank others for things she should have been thanked for. And she has no sense of self preservation.

  “The third time she joined a caravan I was in charge of, we were attacked by a small skiran group. She got a minor injury bodily protecting a child in the caravan and thanked the child for being safe, refusing to accept any type of gratitude from the parents until I pointed out that she should just accept the thanks as they weren’t going to stop until she did. I spent the rest of that journey watching over her personally and trying to convince her to not thank people for her helping them.” With the last bit, she stared pointedly at him, and he shriveled a bit under her gaze.

  “Oh.” He said, looking down and blushing.

  “Do you know why I brought you on?” she asked after a moment.

  “I’m starting to think it’s not because of my natural talents and skill,” he said, a little dejectedly.

  This prompted a bark of laughter from his captain. “Hah, no, don’t worry about that, you’ll grow into it. I’m not worried at all about your prowess. No, the main reason I hired you was because of your enthusiasm and the nature you possess. I was hoping you’d help get her out of her shell a bit. She’s a handful, and she seems scared. I was hoping you would help put her at ease.”

  “I feel like I'm failing in that regard,” he murmured to his captain.

  “It’s too early to tell,” she conceded, “but it does seem that way, yes. Get her to stop thanking people for helping them, for goddess’ tears.” She grunted as she pushed down on her knees to help her stand back to her feet. “And one last thing… fuck.”

  Almmiir turned his head, following the vague gesture towards the woman to find her writhing under the blanket she was under. His jaw dropped at the sight, having never seen something like it. “what’s happening?”

  “Nightmare,” Ira responded looking on. “Hers get really bad, which, for as young as she is and the fact that she focuses on healing, is something I’ve never seen before. More used to it with older guards who have seen dozens of attacks. She’ll probably start screaming soon.”

  As if on cue, the young woman started crying and opened her eyes. Ira approached her slowly before sitting next to her and offered a hand to the woman. Akai simply stared for several minutes before taking the elder guard’s hand in her own. Almmiir watched the two for a bit then approached cautiously and, seeing no reaction from Akai, sat down near her and the fire. “You doing okay, Akai?” he asked softly after a beat.

  Silence was his answer. She didn’t even acknowledge him. Ira gave him a knowing smile before putting a finger to her lips. Almmiir got the hint. With nothing else to do, he laid down in his own bedding to get some sleep. He was tired anyway – he wasn’t used to being on the road like this.

  The next day, Akai – and her bedroll – were both gone. Almmiir scrambled up and hurried off to find her, his bedroll haphazardly in his arms. It took him ten minutes to spot her assisting a merchant with packing up her camping gear, so he trudged over and silently started assisting in the endeavor. When they were finished, and before Akai could say anything in response to the merchant’s appreciation, Almmiir cut in and said, “you’re most welcome, Hann.” Then gently escorted Akai away, using his bundled sleeping roll to gently prod her away from the merchant before she could say anything more to her.

  “Not allowed, Akai,” he said as she opened her mouth to protest. She closed it at his words and he watched as she ground her teeth together. After a bead of silence where Almmiir started folding his blankets up.

  “You said yesterday I should.” The tone Akai used when she said this almost made Almmiir decide against saying anything more, but he continued anyway.

  “I didn't actually mean it. It was more of a …”

  As the days wore on, Almmiir decided quickly he didn’t care for talking to her. She never looked at him, never elaborated herself, just... made him work for it. Even when he told her stories of his accomplishments (mostly exaggerated,) he knew she listened because she often offered encouragement to continue, but all her congratulatory offerings on his deeds were.. distant, was the best way he could describe it.

  She would tell him, “good job,” “that was smart thinking,” “probably didn’t try that again, did it?” and so on, but even as her words made him feel somewhat proud, the prideful feeling quickly left him as he realized that she just… didn’t seem to really be interested and was merely humoring him. Then he'd get irritated and then she’d suddenly change, as if noticing and apologizing to him before she just… cared more. After about five additional days straight of this, he’d figured out that the “caring” was just a better disguised version of what she was doing before.

  Ira’s plan failed to produce the desired results. Akai was still the same when she departed the caravan three weeks later back in Seyiki with all her smelly plants and weird flowers, and Almmiir was certain she was going to kick him out of the caravan, but she merely shook her head at him when he asked.

  “I didn’t bring you on for four weeks just to ditch you when my main reason for hiring you left. It worked either way. Your enthusiasm has dampened a bit, giving you more realistic expectations of what our job is like, and while I didn’t notice any changes with Akai, that doesn’t mean you didn’t have an effect. Just not one we noticed yet.” She then gave him a smirk. “Besides, we have another MVP I need you to entertain when we drop by—”

  “Nope! I don’t want it!” Almmiir declared, shaking his head and putting his hand up.

  “Too bad,” Ira laughed in response.