Paladin Ekhart was the leader of the city patrol. Thankfully, he himself did not accompany any of us on our rounds, yet he certainly made sure to dispatch his protégé on many of the patrols for the sake of training.
Two things truly concerned me regarding my interactions with this new Steven. One, as a Traveler, I should be able to feel a modicum of emotions from him at least, and yet he was a black hole or an emotionless block of ice to my senses. Two, notwithstanding the abject failure of my ability to learn anything about his emotions, with his drastic change in personality, I’d have thought that I would see at least a hint of who he was before.
Instead, in the few times we interacted, he engaged me with aloof indifference. It was as if I was nothing more than an undesirable speck of dirt on his boots that he had to tolerate, at least until the end of patrol.
Even all of that wouldn’t have been so bad if it weren’t for the fact that he was completely professional about everything. There was no blatant favoritism, gross mismanagement of personal, or angering of his superiors from his actions. He was in all honesty, the epitome of a perfect soldier or city patroller.
Something rankled deep inside me at this swift turn around which the original Steven could not have possibly accomplished. I may be paranoid, but it felt as if something had come along and fully suppressed the annoying ego of the lion man, and now this pristine alter ego was only one seen in the light of day. I honestly dared not to seek him out at night or off duty to seek clarification or a fault in his change. This was doubly cautioned and warned against by both my masters to not do.
Even my core pulsed cold whenever I teased the thought of blatantly confronting him. It was as if it were warning me that what I might find out, or what would result in such pursuits, would greatly harm those who I cared for, if I were to ignore its warnings.
As such, I regretfully withheld my curiosity and focused on myself.
.
.
.
Finally, after several violent engagements with invading monsters, I felt as if I had gotten a fair handle on the separation of my own thoughts and emotions from the emotions of those around me. I was certainly not a mind reader, thank goodness. I may have dreamed of having such an ability in the past, yet being exposed to the raw emotions of adults transformed into angsty teens was more than enough to reconsider my fantasies and delusions.
Following my acclimation to empathic ability, I spent far more time wandering through the central marketplace as I engaged in people watching. The amateur architect in me also greatly enjoyed the extra stimulation of watching the small constructions and additions they had to erect with the increased flow of Travelers.
It was poetically satisfying to see both new buildings and new Travelers arrive in the midst of the mercantile chaos, and seeing how their presence affected the general flow. Among the many perks my observations provided, my frequent excursions also allowed me to build a baseline for general emotions felt by others. The great majority of arrivals were saturated with excitement, hope, doubts, shyness, and a myriad of other flavored emotions. Occasionally there would be a far outlier which boasted emotions that either drew me closer to them in sympathy or curiosity. Those I was drawn to; I would frequently offer my services and insight to in their initial stages of arrival.
Most appeared grateful for the assistance and advice which I offered to them as a newcomer. It was very gratifying for me to feel the emotional reflection of that appreciation. A sad smile briefly crossed my face as I recalled many times in my past wishing that I had the ability to know if my actions were truly making a positive impact on the world around me.
Too often, we believe that vocalizing our appreciation is not necessary and that the intended recipient of our gratitude should be able to feel it in our actions, or already know it. Yet far more than most might believe, that is not the case. Friendships, families, and work environments can become unbearable and broken simply because appreciation for the effort we or others put in, was not apparent to the one striving to do their best.
Those for whom the good deed was intended, may feel that such is their due and right. They may also feel that it would be too tedious to express gratitude or show appreciation for every little act done to please them by a partner, friend, or associate. And they may be right. It may be tedious to do such, and yet would it not be better to be thanked too much rather than too little for what you do?
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
My lips twitched at a recalled memory. I had gone indoor rock climbing with a friend of a co-worker and almost without fail, I had thanked them for the assist at every climb. I later learned from the co-worker that it had been fairly awkward for their friend when they accepted all that thanks. They did say that they were open to more future climbs but to just not thank them as much.
I feel that such a result was more preferable than if they had gotten a bad taste because I had been brusk and selfish of their time. I’m certain that a lack of any appreciation would have closed the door of opportunity for future climbs with them.
.
.
.
I got such a feeling from a fair number of the new arrivals. Their emotions ranged from entitled brats to vicious cutthroats. I certainly couldn’t find any emotional traits within those Travelers which would draw me over to befriend them. What truly threw me however, was that a rare few of them were able to pull off a very friendly and seemingly warm demeanor with the personnel at the Travelers registration desk. How they portrayed themselves was vastly different from that which I felt coming off them in waves of emotion. I felt a sickness to my stomach at the dichotomy of it.
It was after a solid two weeks of people watching before I met a pair of new Travelers who upset the status quo. Their very presence unsettled my heart and mind as I beheld the distinct polarity between them. The young man, a half-elf with wavy black hair and greater musculature, reminiscent of a few of the barbarians I’d seen come through appeared with a young woman. Had it been him alone, my mind would have already marked him as one to purposely avoid. His emotions and very demeanor screamed juvenile entitlement. He was like a child whose parents never said no to him.
However, it was the young woman who arrived by his side and who appeared to be acquainted with him that truly threw me. Physically she appeared a little on the smaller size, about a head shorter than the man who arrived with her. Due to her size, I couldn’t even guess at her racial configuration as she looked to have a pair of wings reminiscent of a fairy and aviary while her body was lithe and truly attractive. It wasn’t her body though which caught my interest, but the combination of her character and the accompanying feelings.
Fragile hope shone forth from her heart while her body screamed a yearning for freedom and to take flight. Yet all that came crashing down as she took in the view of those in the market square with her.
The glimmer of hope I had felt coming off of her was instantly quenched into darkness when she caught sight of the figure beside her. I watched in real-time what happened next. Her slightly upturned face, as if looking into a brighter future abruptly became downcast while her shoulders slumped in utter defeat. The tendril of hope and slightest whiff and desire for adventure disappeared into an abyss of terror and oblivion. It was as if she had completely shut down all positive emotion then, as I could only feel a pall of sorrow, fear, and morose acceptance.
My own heart reflexively reached out to her as her emotions weighed heavily upon my psyche. As I stood up from my close vantage point by the Travelers stone, and made my way to the dichotomous pair, I had to mentally push aside the unpleasant sickly emotions of her male companion. He had already begun speaking to her as I approached.
“Lynette!?” He yelled out in surprise. “What are you doing here?” His gaze then turned skyward as if being put upon by the most unfortunate of burdens.
“Why couldn’t you send my cousin elsewhere?!” He screamed in a tantrum like manner totally unfitting of his physical avatar.
To his side, Lynette as I learned her name to be, simply stood there in silent misery with her colorful hair and wings once gleaming in hopeful freedom, now listless and weighty as the present tore down at her figure like gravity magnified.
“I’m sorry.” The softly spoken words of apology lightly echoed from her lips as if she had spoken them countless times before. The utter difference between her before and after countenance made me ache as I felt the emotional darkness within her.
Her cousin swiftly turned on her in exasperation. “Sorry isn’t good enough!” He warned her. “Mom and dad, your aunt and uncle, were nice enough to take you in when you lost your parents, but you’ve been nothing but a leech since you arrived.”
The numb pain I felt coming from her at his continued tirade made me believe that this was something she experienced on a normal basis. My hands clenched in anger and I nearly swung my staff at the little runt to end his miserable life for at least two real-time days. I would hope that such action might gift this poor young woman a good six days here free of her demeaning cousins presence, but something told me that such actions on my part would not bring about that optimal outcome.
My hands still itched to do something about it and so I stepped up to them to diffuse the situation as best as I could.
“Hi.” I called out to them with a minor hand wave. I considered holding out my hand for a shake, to see if such a display of confidence could knock some respect loose from the boy, but I wanted nothing to do with touching a being like him. The waves of contempt and utter disdain aimed at his beleaguered cousin spoke volumes of things I did not want to learn about him.
Continuing on as if oblivious to their current interactions I introduced myself. “I’m Andrew, one of the first Travelers here in this city. I would like to extend an invitation to help you get started on your adventure. What do you say?” I asked with a smile that felt falser to me then a set of grimy dentures. I could almost imagine it feeling like such as well, as I struggled to keep it on my face without giving into the small twitches in my hand’s reflecting my desire to wring his thick neck.
Turning away from his sister and giving her a brief respite, he paused to take in my clothing, weapon, and demeanor before giving me a belligerent snort. “Are you some hotshot or bigwig in the city then being here so early?” Casting his gaze about he added. “You couldn’t have been here much earlier than us as it seems everyone is arriving now.” Nodding his head to his cousin he admitted. “Even she only got her capsule a month before me, and was made to wait to start only once I got my own.”
*Hahaha!* I didn’t bother to hold back the disdain in my own laugh at his lack of self-awareness. I didn’t think about it until later, but I should have been more considerate of Lynette’s circumstances before I countered with my own knowledge. “It seems that you are not aware that those who received the capsules earlier than others are held in higher esteem by Millennial Enterprises.”
My lips curled in undisguised contempt at this little snot trying to put down those around him. “The fact that your cousin got her capsule a full month before you, means that she is more valuable to this place than you are.”