Disaster

As I set off from the bandit base with Vanessa in tow, I learned a few important things about her. The first of which was that I was very glad I defeated her without having to fight directly. Whenever a group of bandits bared their fangs at us on our travels, she would without question or hesitation slaughter them wholesale. With speed and strength far surpassing what should be even possible, she drew her steel blade and carved them up like the weak sacs of human waste they were. I would have done the same (in my own way though), so I have no room to complain. The second thing I learned about her was the fact that her personality and her actions could be summed up in the words, 'volcanic', 'impulsive' and 'explosive'. Her actions were very expressive and understandable, too. If most people could be read like a written book, then she was a picture book with vivid illustrations.

Regardless, it seemed that I had obtained quite the eccentric traveling partner. I pretty much took care of all general and miscellaneous tasks that surrounded camping. Vanessa seemed rather embarrassed and disheartened by the fact I wouldn't entrust her with the setting of things, and had been arbitrarily assigned 'guard duty'.

Perhaps because of this, on the tenth day after we began our trek together, I thought 'what's the worst that can happen? She said she's been alone for a long time, so she has to be able to be able to do this at least'. While we didn't ask each much about each others pasts, Vanessa had told me she had been a wanderer like myself for about three years now. The bandit group she had been supposedly leading, actually was a rather unusual situation.

The story went a bit like this: As Vanessa was walking through the Dragonridge Forest wandering aimlessly, slaughtering anything and everything that had the unfortunate fate of moving in her line of sight (naturally, she told this story with a smile). She came upon the leader of the bandits who was making his inspection rounds or something, she didn't have time to really find out though. The bandit leader eyed her as she passed by and ordered her to surrender herself. She refused and then proceeded to gut the bandit leader who had drawn his weapon. The bandit's fearing for their lives, performed a kowtow (Knees and forehead on the ground, like begging animals), and begged Vanessa to be their new 'Boss'. She thought, "Eh? What the hell….I guess I got nothing better to do. Might as well try it. Draconic law and shit, makes sense." Then a few weeks later I showed up, killed all her followers, defeated her, freed all the captured slaves, and stole...er...liberated the groups' highest grade valuables. The rest, I already knew well.

I suppose in these last few days I would like to believe that I had established enough trust between us to probably not end up poisoned. If I couldn't trust a not-so-bad girl to cook a simple meal, I think I would lose what little faith in humanity I had. That choice of mine ended up as a disaster.

I wasn't poisoned, mind you, but the result speak for themselves. It was an unparalleled disaster.

…..

"Hehehe, Boss is counting on me."

"Yep. Good luck." After giving Vanessa the go ahead to start a fire to cook dinner, she laughed quietly to herself. A smile that could only be described as eerie was plastered across her face. For the short time I've known her, it could be said that this was her 'confident and content' smile. It differed greatly from her angelic grin, which was her usual expression. This expression was her 'killing smile', the face she made when she gleefully butchered up hordes of bandits. Yes, gleefully.

Another thing I learned about this girl was that she loved to kill. There was a good chance she was a legitimate psycho. While a little worried about whether this night would be my last on the mortal plane, I brushed my anxiety off as needless. This killing expression might have been her truly happy face, rather than the mask she wore daily. Maybe. Hopefully. It was the smile she made when I sang anyways.

"Oh Boss, while you're on guard duty, could you sing me a song~, please~."

"Sure. I was going to anyways, I'll set up tents, and scout around while at it.

"Really! Thanks, Boss"

"Please stop calling me that."

"Nope."

After I sang for her on the first day traveling together, Vanessa has asked me sing at every opportunity she got. I loved to sing, especially now that I had someone who would listen without falling victim to the unintentional suggestions.

She was off to a good start. Vanessa had no problem starting the fire at all. She used a fire blessing that I had yet to see to just torch the firewood I had gathered earlier with her flame filled breath. Should I say 'as expected of a dragon'? Breathing fire wasn't an uncommon blessing among dragonkin, but seriously, how many cards did she have to play?!

I had been teaching her the utilization of utensils, so she was able to stir the soup with a wooden ladle, albeit she held it in a death grip. She was really improving at a shocking pace and I thought her learning ability was really extraordinary. The only problem I could see was…. Are those cracks and splinters I see forming on the ladle?!

I sang and watched helplessly as she tried her hand at cooking disastrously. Every time I would try to help, she would say something stubborn like, "This is a job Boss gave me! Don't concern yourself with me, everything's fine!"

So, like that, an hour went by.

…..

"Good job….is what I would say if you were trying to win the competition for 'Killing people with non-poisonous food'. The soup is burnt, and my tongue has been pricked several times with wood splinters. The black bread is really living up to its name, it's real black, charcoal black! And are these pebbles I see in the crust?"

"S-s-sorry I dropped the flat bread several times, and I broke multiple cooking tools, and I made the soup sit to long. I-I'm truly sorry Boss, I told you that you could count on me, but I failed you. I'll t-t-try better next time."

Under my harsh rebuke, Vanessa crumbled and broke down into tears and sobs, I may have been much to harsh. I'll try to cheer her up, but it might be a lost cause. I messed up here. She did try her best after all, it may be mere speculation but….

"That being said, it is not so bad to the point of being inedible. You certainly tried your best. This is just one of those things I will have to teach you then. I don't really mean to pry but….this is your first time cooking isn't it? How did you eat your meals before?"

Judging by the ragtag clothes, rough speech, and rusted sword that she tried to maintain every night, she was no noble. Only nobles and the upper echelons of society, like wealthy merchants, could afford to never cook their own meals. She could neither read nor write, proving she wasn't a merchant's daughter (as that was a very basic skill to be a successful one) or even from a well-off commoner family. After all I was the son of a talented blacksmith and a gardener, I knew basic arithmetic and how to read and right in the the common trade language. However, Vanessa's next comment to me blew all my assumptions and wonderings right out of the water.

"You're right. I d-didn't cook, I've always eaten the raw meat from monsters and animals. S-s-sometimes when times got bad and there was nothing around they would make me eat people to…I was even f-f-forced to eat my friends, they made me eat my family too…. I don't want to talk about it."

An almost tangible cloud of gloom settled over the campsite. As Vanessa tears streamed down even harder, I felt like I had stepped on a personal landmine that should have been left undisturbed. I did not so much as dare to ask who 'they' were. Though from what I heard, 'they' were monstrous scum deserving of a quick extermination. Despite being seventeen, it seemed she had her own share of unspeakable hardships she suffered from.

I was at a loss for what to do. After a few moments of silence, I suddenly remembered what my mother did for me the day my supposed 'friends' abandoned and bullied me for my red eyes.

"I'm going to hug you now."

"W-what?"

Not leaving any room for negotiations I leaned over and awkwardly embraced the person who I made cry. I was a despicable person for making an rather innocent and beautiful girl cry rivers. If I couldn't so much as pat that person's back and say 'there, there, everything will be alright', no matter how awkwardly, what kind of man would I be?

In my uncomfortable embrace Vanessa didn't struggle one bit, rather she embraced me back and balled her eyes out. Tears and snot poured onto my shirt as Vanessa cried into my chest.

We stayed like this for awhile, and as the sun set over the horizon coloring the world in shades of purple, dark blue, and black, I sung a lullaby. One that hadn't been heard since the time I was six. The song my mother would sing to me when I had a bad experience and was troubled.

"Little wolf, please don't be sad,

For the world is not filled with evil.

The people are like the night sky,

Most are evil and dark as the night,

But there are some who shine through right it.

There are countlessly many stars,

They illuminate the darkness with light,

And are there few who glow like the moon.

Little wolf, you are the moon.

You illuminate the darkness,

And give way for the light."

Not long after nightfall, Vanessa fell asleep in my embrace. I checked her once to make sure she was asleep, before picking her up in a princess carry, and laying her down in the tent. Leaving the tent, I took up an all-night watch. She had a rough time.

While I needn't worry about monsters approaching me due to my curse, monsters would have no qualms attacking Vanessa, who was innocently sleeping in the tent. I really screwed up today, it was an unparalleled disaster. This going to be a long night.