“Rep!” Zalan jumped up and rushed over to him, looking over the wound spilling freely on the floor. “Stop the bleeding! That’s a bad cut!”

Yelsa hopped up and poured water over the wound as Rep bit his lip and winced in pain. Zalan took his sword and cut off the lower end of his tunic to cover Rep’s wound while Yelsa went through Rep’s things to pull out proper bandages.

“I am fine. We should continue,” Rep said as Yelsa began dressing the wound.

“You’re not fine,” Zalan said immediately.

“But we should keep moving,” Rep said, then heard the sound of the Razortongues scratching against the door behind him. “We want to make distance between us and them,” he added.

“Fine, but only after we stop the bleeding,” Zalan said quickly.

“They may be able to smell the blood through the door,” Rep mentioned.

“Whatever! Rep, you’re bleeding! We don’t have a place to heal nearby, why are you being so weird about just closing your wound?” Zalan asked.

Rep continued to bite the inside of his mouth and didn’t reply. Once Yelsa had put a tight bandage on the wound, it changed color to a deep red. Then, Rep stood up and they made their way across the room and away from the frenzy of monsters at the door. They didn’t go into the next room, instead crossing to the wall next to the door on the other side of the large, empty room. Fran stopped and sat down against the wall, Gorb following suit and Rep stood looking at both of them in confusion.

“Why are we stopping?” Rep asked.

“There may be any manner of monsters on the other side of that door,” Fran flicked her head up to the next chamber. “I presume it would be safer if we waited for you to heal some before charging forward.”

“I said I am fine. We should continue moving,” Rep said.

The others watched Rep uncertainly, not sure how to respond to that.

“Rep, you were bleeding pretty bad. It’s worth getting some rest,” Zalan said.

“I assure you that will not be necessary,” Rep said, his face inscrutable.

“It is necessary! What are you saying?” Zalan asked.

“We should not stop our progress on my account,” Rep replied.

“Rep, your injury may make it difficult to hold a sword, or perhaps use your fire,” Yelsa chimed in.

“Not a concern for us,” Rep shook his head.

“Do you have some Artifact of healing that you have neglected to mention to us?” Gorb asked.

“I do not want to be the reason we delay, is all,” Rep said firmly. The blood pooling in his bandages began to make it to the surface, a slight sheen of red was now visible atop the covering.

“What is going on with you?” Zalan asked, looking at him in confusion. “If Fran was hurt like this, would you still want to push forward? Or if I was bleeding out like that, would you insist that we move forward?”

“That question is irrelevant,” Rep dismissed.

“Why?” Zalan demanded.

“Because neither of you are so seriously wounded,” Rep replied.

“But you are!” Zalan’s voice was rising.

“That does not matter!” Rep claimed, matching Zalan’s increasing volume.

“Why not? You’re hurt!” Zalan practically screamed.

“Because I do not matter!” Rep shouted.

The response would have been met with shocked silence, had the room not echoed Rep’s outburst. Zalan’s face went from upset to deeply confused and a little stunned. He’d flipped in and out of the sentiment of believing he didn’t matter back when he was in the real world. His thoughts were in a deep turmoil that sent him away from wanting to communicate with anyone. He never expected to hear the words said out loud, especially not from Rep.

“What do you mean you don’t matter?” Zalan asked, his voice level.

“This quest can be completed without me. We need not worry about my condition for this to be a success,” Rep said, he was still biting the inside of his lip. Zalan was worried he’d bite it open again.

“So what? This quest can be done without me, too,” Zalan said, keeping his voice even and calm.

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

“No! Absolutely not,” Rep rejected immediately. “You are an integral part of the quest. You and Yelsa are here to get the Homeseeker. Fran and Gorb are here to be paid for their service in assisting Yelsa to her goal. All of that can be achieved without me. I am only along to assist, but I have now done the opposite. It’s become clear that I cannot assist.”

“You are a huge help!” Zalan said, amazed he was having this conversation.

He looked to his other companions for support and saw each of them nodding their heads in emphatic agreement with Zalan.

“Am I? In every battle, I have been a burden. I could not stop a single Boznok. I could not be more than a distraction for a Narg. I could not even take on a half-dozen Razortongues except that one of them tore my flesh enough to get you to be concerned for my well-being. You took on hundreds! Without a scratch on any of you! It sounds much more like I hold you back than help you forward!” Rep replied sharply.

“Rep, I would be dead if it weren’t for you,” Zalan said, exasperated.

“That is not true,” Rep said, deep lines of guilt on his face.

“The Flamestriker would have definitely killed me without you!” Zalan insisted.

“That is not true!” Rep enunciated each word with such venom that Zalan blinked in shock.

Rep almost seemed angry. Certainly ashamed. He felt he was so much of a burden on the group that he wasn’t even acknowledging the time he clearly saved Zalan’s life. Or was there something more to it? Zalan couldn’t tell and Rep looked almost manic.

“If you push yourself, then you might die before we get the chance to get you home with the Homeseeker so that you can heal yourself,” Zalan said urgently.

“And the quest could still be considered a success. Everyone would get what they want. Including me, who only wants to assist you to get home. The only thing I want is for you to be able to return home,” Rep said matter-of-factly.

“You’re being ridiculous,” Zalan spat.

“Am I? We know that the Satiator’s effects are wearing off and rather than rush forward to finish our task, you insist we stop for someone that has nothing to offer in the form of support,” Rep said.

“Stop saying that,” Zalan said.

“Then let us continue,” Rep commanded. “If I am the reason we can not continue, then I am certainly holding us back.”

“No. You know what? I’m tired. I want to rest. I wanna sit here and do nothing for a few hours to make sure I catch my breath after fighting off those Razortongues. How does that sound?” Zalan snapped.

“It sounds like you are making this up so that you may force me to rest,” Rep said.

“Does it matter? I’m not moving,” Zalan sat himself down.

Rep looked down at him, his eyes narrowing, teeth grinding over the inside skin of his lip.

“Fine,” he muttered. “But we really should get moving.”

Rep moved to the other corner of the wall and sat alone, closing his eyes and laying his head back. Yelsa rolled her eyes.

“He did not even do me the courtesy of allowing me to redress the wound before sitting down,” she sighed, getting up and pulling a new set of bandages from her bag.

Zalan put his face in his hands, sighing loudly in frustration. He looked up sharply at Gorb and Fran.

“Can you believe him?” Zalan asked rhetorically.

“Yes,” Gorb nodded. “He has always been this selfless.”

Zalan scoffed in frustration, remembering the conversation he had with Gorb about strength and compassion.

“Is this really strength? Hurting yourself to please others?” Zalan asked.

“I have never known anyone like him. I am certain he would offer himself to the dragon if we told him it would assist us,” Gorb said, looking over at Rep with respect.

“That just sounds like insanity,” Zalan said.

“People use the word insanity to describe any manner of people they do not understand,” Fran said, smiling gently.

“Okay, but you’re actually a little insane,” Zalan replied.

“Perhaps,” Fran shrugged nonchalantly. “But I do not yell at my friends when they are in clear pain.”

Zalan paused to take in her words, but quickly rejected them.

“Pain? I was yelling at him because he wasn’t addressing the wound properly!” Zalan protested.

“Not the physical pain, that was clear. He had other pain he was expressing. Regrets and shame. The feeling of being the least helpful one among so many talented people,” Fran mused.

“I can barely hold a sword,” Zalan said seriously.

“That did not prevent you from hurting a Narg when he could not,” Fran pointed out. “Be gentle with him and you two will come to an understanding. And then we can move forward.”

“I’m not gonna be gentle with a guy that’s trying to hurt himself,” Zalan said firmly.

“Then he will only get worse,” she shrugged.

Zalan looked down at his feet, unsure how to react to that. Maybe she was right. Something was definitely wrong with Rep emotionally to insist on physically pushing himself this much on Zalan’s part.

“You really think that trying to talk sense into him is doing him more harm?” Zalan asked.

“I do. Because he believes you are his friend, your words affect him deeply. It hurts him to see you angry at him, in case you are not aware. And perhaps you believe that you can live with that because you are so insistent that you are from another world. But I like to think you will try to make amends before going home.”

“But I have no idea what’s going on with him!” Zalan said, helpless.

“Neither do I,” Fran admitted. “But I suspect you are the one most likely of us to get a response. He clearly sees himself as your guardian. He tried to make us act especially cautious for your sake during this entire journey.”

Zalan thought back through the days and could clearly see the pattern of Rep trying to make things easier on him. The constant questions and worries were all in respect with keeping them all safe. But with all the ideas of selflessness he must have felt wholly inadequate when he could not fight as well as anyone else, Zalan included. What kind of guardian could do nothing when faced with tangible danger? Zalan could see the pain in Rep now. He blinked in surprise at his own assessment of his friend. Zalan could never have that same kind of epiphany when he reflected on his own emotions. Nothing was ever so clear in his own heart.

“I’ll try to be better with him,” Zalan said seriously.

“Good. Frankly, I would like to go and kill a dragon once you two are done bickering,” Fran smiled.