“Well… this is worrisome…” Van said as he peeked out of the blinds of his carriage. Watching as the rangers dispatched with relative ease a small pack of death wolves. “At least they seem to have things handled…” he said, though he somewhat itched to help them, he didn’t like being stuck in the carriage while they were being attacked, but obeyed Yesi’s command to stay anyway.

“It’s fine, Yesi said she has this, and by the looks of it, she does,” Anna said. “So I don’t think we have to worry too much about it.”

“I don’t know… I kinda want to fight…” Luna said, looking like she herself was itching herself for a good brawl.

Either way, the wolves would have all died by the time they even bothered to step out, so it was a moot point to want to help now since it seemed the rangers were already cleaning up the corpses. Soon after, the caravan resumed its travels, acting as if nothing at all had happened, other than leaving behind a few corpses in their wake.

“A shame… we could have put the fur to good use.” Van thought out loud, the six months surviving in the forest, now shaping some of his thoughts to be as efficient as possible when it came to any and all resources that became available.

“Do you want me to ask them to stop so you can gather them?” Anna asked.

“...No…” Van said after a while. “They would probably wonder where I would put all those corpses, and I don’t want to slow us down any more than necessary. Yesi is already pretty annoyed with me always putting a stop to everything to go out of our way to pick up the rare herb or two that I find on our travels. I don’t want to make it seem like I'm going to stop our little caravan for every little thing…”

After that, the small group began to chat to help pass the time. Their sense of boredom was very high since it’s been a few days since they left their first outpost and they had nothing to do but to pass the time sitting on their asses the whole way through doing nothing.

After a few more hours of traveling though, Luna was the first to break.

“Uagh! I’m so bored!” She then turned to her husband. “Van, fuck me!” she complained.

“No, I already did that,” he said flatly. “I’m bored myself you know, and tired of the fact you keep asking for sex every time your bored.”

“Please! At least let me rest my head on your lap,” she whined.

“If I did that you’ll just end up giving me head.” Van retorted.

“So? Pleeeaaasssseee” Luna begged, giving Van her best puppy eyes.

Van gave a long suffering sigh. “Finnnne… though I know where this is headed…”

“Thanks, Van! I love you!” Luna said with a huge smile on her face. She then got comfortable on the seat, laid herself out and gently put her head on his lap, and closed her eyes.

Van then began to gently caress her head and massage her scalp, slowly petting her in a rhythmic fashion.

But just as he feared, not even fifteen minutes later she was chugging down his rod, looking for a meal… to which she got…

“Gods dammit Luna! Are you happy now!?” Van asked, a little annoyed.

Luna got back up making a slurping sound, wiping her mouth with her hand, and swallowing. She looked completely satisfied and without any remorse said, “YES!” with a huge smug grin on her cute little face.

Van could only sigh at that, it was hard to be angry with her, she was just too cute, and he loved her too much.

“Umm… can I have a turn?” Anna asked.

“Ya sure, why not?” Van said.

And then Anna began to do the same until she had her share of the meal.

“I hope you both are satisfied now…” Van said rather curtly.

“Aww, don’t pout, we you know like it.” Luna teased.

“Sorry to bother you Van, and thank you very much,” Anna said.

“...it’s no problem,” Van said, feeling defeated.

“By the way, I have an idea of what you could do to pass the time,” Anna said. “You wanted to ask Yassan about how he became a ranger right? Maybe you could ask him, now that we have all this free time?”

Van thought about that. “I don’t know if this second is a good idea considering they are on the job… but maybe when we camp for the night I could ask?” thankful for the idea and wondering when it would be the best time to ask for such a thing. “Thanks, Anna, at least now we may get a story to help pass our travels with.”

“No problem, just glad I remembered,” Anna said.

The rest of the day passed with no problem after that, other than of course the sheer boredom everyone was experiencing. Surprisingly, they did not have to wait for later tonight to ask Yassan his story, for he came by to tell them they were going to take a short detour at the road up ahead due to several trees blocking the road's path that fell a couple of days ago to the harsh fog storm they had. Apparently, the noble in charge of this part of the land was a little slow in taking charge of the issue and was only now cleaning up the problem.

“The detour shouldn’t take us more than a few extra hours.” Yassan said, “we still should be able to make it to the next outpost by nightfall. Sorry for the inconvenience…”

“No need to apologize.” Van said, “not your fault the fog storm blew those trees onto the road, or the one in charge was slow on the uptake. Just glad we could still make it in time for a nice warm bed tonight.”

Yassan looked strangely relieved, almost as if he was expecting some sort of backlash or yelling for the delay.

“But now that I have you here…” Van said, making Yassan stiffen up. “Can you tell me how you became a ranger? I’ve been interested in that for a while. Don’t see many male rangers after all, and I wonder what skills and training you had to do to become one.”

Yassan looked at Van somewhat oddly, as if wondering why such a question was asked in the first place, and if there was any hidden meaning to it.

Van, feeling a little weirded out that Yassan was weirded out, quickly backpedaled. “Of course you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to, I understand if it’s personal, didn’t mean to pry or anything.”

“...no… no… it’s fine.” Yassan said after thinking about it for a while. “It’s just that… no one has ever asked me about something like that before… Give me a sec.” he said, now looking like he was deeply thinking about his answer as he rode alongside Van’s carriage. A few moments later, he quickly looked around to see if his sister was paying attention, then leaned in a little to make it easier to be heard.

“It’s not much of a story really.” Yassan began. “Me and my sister were orphans, in and out of the orphanage and the streets, trying to get by. My sister was the one in charge of everything, always trying to work and earn money to make a brighter future for the two of us. Though I guess that makes sense since she always insisted that it was her duty as the older sibling…”

Yassan looked like he wanted to add something to that, but shook his head, not willing to divulge matters to personal.

“Anyway… after a while she got a reputation for being a real sneak, being able to hide in plain sight and all that… while also having the reputation of a hard worker, there was literally nothing she would not put up with in order to make a coin, and no deals and connections she wouldn’t make if it meant one day earning from it later. She was soon scouted by the scouts guild for her eye for detail and quietness, and later the rangers guild for her willingness to train and meet expectations.”

“And well… she would never leave me behind… so I kinda got roped in alongside her for everything… There were a few complaints… and it wasn’t like I was the best ranger the guild had ever seen… but my big sis was making waves and she was proving herself as leadership material, one that could be groomed to be the head of her own branch. So a little extra baggage was… bearable… in their eyes…”

Yassan went quiet for a while before continuing.

“I barely passed muster and joined her in her tasks… she slowly gained enough rank to create her own ranger group… she’s everyone’s pride and joy… if not for her… abrasive attitude sometimes…” he admitted. “And well… the rest is history…” giving a little shrug.

“Oh… well… that was still very interesting,” Van said, he wasn’t sure if he should apologize or not, it felt like he should say something about having your whole life being dragged around by your older sister. But what? In the end, he couldn’t think of anything since he probably didn’t have the full picture, and it wasn’t like yassan was having a bad life or anything… but there was one question Van still wanted to ask…

“Umm… if you don’t mind me asking… Why does your sister hate nobles? You don’t have to answer of course! Just… curious…”

Yassan hesitated but decided to answer. “I’m… not fully sure why… she seemed to hate nobles ever since I was young… and she’s a lot older than me…” he said, then added. “The only other reason I could think of is because… well… you know… a young male in ranger gear… and it’s been days since you’ve hit a lovers guild… well… let’s just say there have been more than just a couple of times that some noble women have tried to use their status to get me into their bed… forcing my sister to make it… very clear… that I’m not available…”

Van nodded sagely, in complete understanding of Yassans situation. “I completely understand. I’m glad you have a sister that could help you like that,” he said adamantly.

Yassan looked a little embarrassed, but oddly happy at how Van responded. “Ya… she’s saved me a few times. I’ve learned now to stay back a little and out of sight of any noble women that we may be escorting.”

“Smart choice…” Van agreed. “But… don’t you ever wish to have… a woman of your own?”

Yassan hesitated, taken a little by surprise by the question. “Well… there was… someone… but my sister doesn't… approve…”

“I can somewhat understand… but you can’t just rely on your sister forever, you are your own male. Trust me… once you find someone you can trust, life gets a whole lot easier.” Van said.

“I’ll… take that to heart…” Yassan said, unsure of how to take such advice.

“By the way… what do you do to help pass the time? It gets really boring staying cooped up in the carriage all the time…” Van asked.

“Well…” Yassan thought about that. “I don’t know about you… but usually, when I have a slow day, I imagine what I'm going to do with my free time when I’m off the clock. Ranger duty makes it so that we are always required to act at a moment's notice, so getting any downtime is a rarity. Mostly I like to spend my free time cataloging plants… I ah… even made a small journal with notes on all the plants I’ve seen.”

Van’s eyes began to sparkle.

Luna’s and Anna’s eyes slowly filled with dread…

“Do you mind… showing me? I would very much like to see!” Van asked, excitedly.

“Umm, sure. I don’t mind.” Yassan replied, surprised by Van’s response to his hobby.

The next few hours were then filled with two young men exclaiming, debating, and having fun… talking about plants and all their marvels…

“No, no, no, as I’ve been telling you, I may not know much about potion making, but I do know enough about herbology that the effectiveness of a star petal depends on the environment that it grew in. You can’t just throw in any herbs alongside it and expect it to work… right?” Yassan said.

“And I get what you're saying.” Van began to rebut. “But when it comes to potion-making, I can distill the petal and add a pinch of red wort to increase the effectiveness of an anti-venom and poison potion. Yes, I'm aware that depending on where a star petal plant grows it can be more effective, but potion-making allows one to combine more than just a few materials, so long as you have the time and patience for it. You really should try taking up potion crafting, it will open up a whole new world of understanding of what plants can be and do.” His excitement of what he was talking about, slightly infectious.

“Hmm…” Yassan looked like he had to think about that. “I don’t know… I don’t think my sister would approve of spending even more time on plants…” he said worriedly, though he did look interested.

“Why let your sister dictate everything you do? That’s something I’ve noticed so far since we began to talk, you always go back to her. It’s just broadening your horizons a little, she can’t be there for every little thing, right? One day you will have a harem and she will have joined one. And I think you have some talent in this, I mean, just look at your journal! It’s amazing!” Van said, pointing out the pictures and notes on the book that Yassan showed him. “Why in the world would you give this kind of talent up?”

A series of mixed emotions quickly passed through Yassans face. Worry, hope, nervousness, fear, pride, and trepidation. In the few hours he spent with Van talking about their shared love for plants and their uses, Yassan felt like he finally found a sort of… friend… so it was hard to explain everything to Van and his feelings on the matter. Especially because he didn’t know his own feelings on the matter…

“Well… I don’t know…” Yassan finally said after a while.

“Why not?” Van asked. “You have the talent, the skill, the passion, what else do you need? You can’t fall back to using Yesi as the reason to not do what you love just because you're scared forever you know. She will one day join a harem… right?” now asking because it seemed there was something more going on.

“Well… I don’t know if Yesi would ever join a harem…” Yassan said hesitantly.

“Why?” Van asked, innocently.

“Well… you see…” Yassan began to explain slowly, looking very nervous, but feeling like he owed an explanation to his new friend since he felt like Van was someone he could trust... “Yesi actually has been offered to join a few harems before… but she’s turned them all down. And not just any harems but offers from noble women as well…”

“But… it always seems like they offer it just to tie Yesi to them… so…” Yassan said, unsure of how to explain further.

Van slowly began to nod. “Sorry, I guess that’s another reason why she doesn't like nobles… I can’t imagine how that must feel, to have worked so hard, and then someone comes around and tries to make you a piece on their chess board… I'm sorry…”

Yassan shook his head. “Actually… it’s not always like that… but…” he now looked a little mad. “She’s always using me as a reason to refuse, always saying that she has to take care of me… like I can’t take care of myself… and on top of that…”

“She doesn’t allow you to be with the one you love…” Van said. “Sounds like your sister is a complicated person with a hatred for all things noble… I wish I understood her a little better to give you some advice…”

Yassan sighed. “You and me both…” he muttered, then sighed again. “But it’s not like I don’t understand, some nobles tried to get to her through me…” looking a little annoyed.

Van felt like there was a hidden story behind all of this, but felt it would be rude to try and pry any further. What was clear at least was Yesi’s distaste for nobles and her overprotectiveness of her brother. To the point, it was even a little suffocating. Once more, he learned that the five women he led weren’t part of his harem. In fact, Yesi had made sure he didn’t marry or was romantically involved with anyone. But he felt it wasn’t because she was a brocon or anything, but for something more…

“Well… either way… you have a friend in me,” Van said. “If you need anything, or want to meet and chat about plants, on or after our journey, that would make me really happy.” he then chuckled. “It would also make you my first actual friend who isn’t a girl!”

Yassan looked a little surprised, but then a little happy, a small smile growing on his face at the thought of having an actual friend. Surely his sisters couldn’t complain about that… right?

“I would happy to be your friend,” Yassan said. “If ever our free time overlaps, we should go grab a drink or… something…” he said awkwardly.

Van laughed. “Definitely!”

Yassan smiled, and was just about to say something when…

“YASSAN!” a voice shouted from up ahead, making Van and Yassan jolt up a little from their positions.

“Ride up ahead and tell the outpost we will soon be arriving… make sure to arrange everything while you're there,” Yesi shouted from up ahead, looking back with a glare.

Van and Yassan paled a little. Yassan shared one last look with Van, and slowly pulled ahead to do as ordered.

Yesi continued to glare at the both of them for a while, then just at Van for a few seconds longer before turning back to the head of the column, taking the lead.

Anna and Luna were just about to tease Van for making a new friend but decided to stay silent.

The group then safely made it to the outpost within the hour and went to bed on the nice soft beds provided to them. Van felt like tomorrow was going to be another long day…