Aero the Bandit

~Chapter 6: Ask~

As I laid on the short grown grass, Atherca took care of cooking, pouring a bottle of water into the pot then dumping a handful of salt. "We'll have oatmeal, it's actually the only thing I know how to make." She snickered to herself as she used two rocks of different colours to light the wood and parchment she had earlier placed inside a circle of normal everyday stones. Somehow, I knew she was striking steel with flint, which became a lot more obvious when many sparks erupted into small flames onto the paper. For a while, she stared into the fire, waiting for it to grow before hanging the pot on a tripod and carefully placing the display onto the pit as to not burn her hands. "So... Aero... you aren't talking much."

I nodded my head and moved my gaze to her. "I just don't know what to say." For a moment, her hazel eyes were captivating. The mixture of green and amber in her iris was not a commonality where I was from, I knew such because of how strange the eyes seemed to me. "If it makes you feel better, I'm fine with oatmeal but you should learn how to make more types of food."

The furrow of her eyebrows proved she was thinking of my words as she poured a bunch of oats into the pot, causing a dull dinner smell to arise with the fire's smoke. "Yeah, I've been meaning to but my job around here takes a lot of time. I spend practically five hours listening to scout reports before deciding where our next attack should be." She sighed as she stirred the pot with a silver utensil that was roped to the tripod. Bandits, they were always stealing things, even amongst themselves. I smiled at the unknown thought, causing Atherca to give me a confused scowl. "You think five hours of sitting in a wooden chair listening to one scout after another is funny?"

"No!" I coughed, sitting up and shifting most of my weight onto my right arm. "I was smiling about something else- I apologize, I didn't mean to hurt your feelings."

"I'm not hurt." Atherca grinned as she changed the rotation of her stirring. "Just a little confused..." The subject was quickly changed. "That was quite the apology you made, I wasn't expecting it to go on for so long. Usually people just say 'sorry.'"

I blushed at the comment, unsure how to handle it. "Sorry, I wasn't thinking when I spoke, it just came." Despite having no memories, I knew the extra words I spoke was the way I learned how to genuinely apologize. Say the fault, say sorry, say it wasn't meant to have the effect it did, move on. Just a simple 'sorry' wouldn't be enough.

Atherca shuffled her pose for a more comfortable position as she continued to stirr, causing the lingering scent to grow stronger. "Are you feeling well? Should I be worried about the wound creating issues for you when it comes to training tomorrow?"

I shook my head. "It's been practically a week already. Sleep goes a long way, I'll be alright tomorrow." Training, the word itself twisted my gut. Not only was I the newest recruit but I also wasn't interested in the work I would be forced to do soon. Bandits didn't always kill, but they certainly made life miserable for the average person. Their nasty reputation was as bad as the dragons of old. Hurting other people wasn't the reason for my existence, I knew such was true from a strong feeling in my heart. Realizing what was to come felt like a hammer hitting against my chest.

As if reading my thoughts, Atherca cleared her throat and spoke clearly. "You owe me for healing you, Aero. You've got three options; be a bandit, die by hands my refusing to be a bandit, or die in the process of trying to escape the bandit camp. Do you see what I'm trying to do here?"

"Yes." I said with a bored tone, a tiny smile inched its way on my face. "You're suggesting I choose the bandit path by repeating the very word way too many times."

The slight downward tilt she unconsciously made was proof that I was right. "I healed you. The arrow would have surely taken your life if I didn't show up. In other words, you owe me something. That something? Simple, your life."

"Does a mother expect her child to live solely for her? By your reasoning, all kids would be slaves to their parents. Yet, the average farmer... where was I going with this?" My past life was bringing these opinions to me but the moment I started grasping the memory, my whole train of thought would just vanish. This whole situation was like trying to get a piece of cake that was slightly out of my reach. "Damnit..." I muttered as I ripped out a few blades of grass.

Atherca watched with an unreadable expression. Her eyes were squinted, searching for some kind of important clue but her eyebrows were angled as if frustrated. "This is different than family-"

"-Is it? You committed your time to me, I didn't ask to be healed."

A sudden smile rose on her face. "Ah, but you did." She dipped a finger into the pot then tasted the oatmeal and shook her head. All the while, I stared with raised eyebrows until she elaborated. "A scout reported to me about some castle soldiers hunting down a young thief. With them was a prince, Jayde. I decided to see this battle with my own eyes, hoping I could possibly take Jayde and ransom him. No, I barely got there in time to see Jayde kick you in the stomach, guards were all around the area. There was no way of taking Jayde without losing any of my own. I waited until they were completely gone before taking you in. Just as I pulled the arrow out, you begged for life. 'I don't want to die, please help me!' In other words, you did ask to be healed."