Over their entire time spent together, Charlotte had taken great care never to accidentally harm Jerik. Of course, there were occasional near-misses and accidents, but thus far nothing had ever been a serious mistake. Well, that is, until today.

  Neither Jerik nor Charlotte were sure who was to blame, but it didn't matter to either of them. Accidents are accidents, after all. Was Jerik's footing unsure? Did Charlotte accidentally twitch her hand at just the wrong moment? Only one thing was for certain: Jerik had fallen off of her palm and hit the ground, well... hard.

  Time seemed to slow, nearly imperceptibly, for Charlotte as she watched helplessly. Jerik writhed in pain on the ground, screaming, clutching his thigh. He was sweating profusely now, and his face was contorted into one of agony.

  Charlotte didn't need a medical license to figure out Jerik's leg was broken from the fall, but what she did know was she was ill-suited to help him. She knew nearly nothing about how to treat an injury, nor did she know any type of healing magic. She was naturally gifted with rare teleportation magic, but nothing else.

  Jerik, somehow, managed to speak through the pain and labored breathing, "I... think I'm going... to need a doctor..."

  Charlotte imperceptibly gulped.

  Jerik met her gaze solemnly, he knew what this meant as well.

  They would have to seek help outside of their domain... In human territory.

  ***

  Just west of Twill forest, not even half a mile from the treeline, existed a small village. The inhabitants numbered less than fifty, and their defences were pitiful against any serious threat. Only ten armed guards patrolled the town, some in archer towers, some on foot.

  Gringham-- a satelitte colony cut off from the mainland's bountiful resources... and care. It was a god, and king, forsaken town. Life was simple, and the work was hard. And in truth, the guards were little more than farmers with weapons.

  Which, is exactly why one of the archers nearly shit his trousers when he spotted a Naga approaching from the forest.

  "No, no, no, no, no...!" Reeve panicked, rubbing his eyes just to double-check.

  Yep. Still coming.

  "N... Naga!" Reeve shouted, startling everyone in earshot.

  In truth, the town had no method of combatting such a threat. Generally, everyone hid in their houses and prayed to whatever God they believed in.

  It was not long until half the guard showed up beside Reeve, bows in hand. The other half ran to their families, already resigning to their fate.

  Of course, the Naga still took a little bit of time to reach the village, but it was not like they had any extra defences to prepare.

  She halted in front of the, well, easily-crushable wooden gate. The Naga had her hands cupped together, holding... something.

  Guards held their breath, townsfolk either holed up indoors or grabbed pitchforks to make a last, noble stand. If they were going to die, it would be with honor, protecting their loved ones.

  In truth, what happened next seemed to truly shock everyone.

  ***

  Charlotte was out of options. If this town didn't have a way to help, Jerik would likely never walk again, not to mention he would suffer far longer without treatment than with it. She decided to stop a reasonable distance from the town, just enough to get their attention, but also to show that she was not just going to barge in on some voracious rampage.

  Being unable to communicate vocally was not working in her favor right now, otherwise she would have spoken her true intentions already. She needed to quickly and effectively demonstrate what she wanted.

  Jerik had already gone unconscious on the journey, so he was not able to just speak out and vouch for her.

  "... Please, s... spare our humble town, Naga...!" a townswoman begged, the first to break the silence.

  Mixed reactions spewed forth from anyone else outdoors, some callous, some pleading.

  "Fire!" one guard yelled out, causing a very small array of arrows to fly at Charlotte.

  Charlotte expected such a reaction, after all, they were only trying to defend themselves. If any other Naga had approached like she had, she hoped they would have done the same thing. However pointless it would have been.

  Charlotte slid Jerik into her left hand, and raised her right hand. Arrows kept getting fired at her, and none were hitting their mark. The guard fired until they were out of ammo, and out of bravado.

  "W... where did they go!?" Reeve spoke, in disbelief. It seemed to him that the arrows vanished into thin air, unless... magic was involved?

  "Teleportation magic," a calm elderly woman spoke up. She had also watched the events unfold, and paid close attention to every action Charlotte had taken.

  Once Charlotte was certain no more stray arrows would put Jerik in danger, she laid him on the ground in front of herself. Once that was done, she lowered herself as well, hands clasped together, head bowed reverently. Now she was the one pleading.

  "Is... is that... a human? What--" Reeve began to speak, before witnessing something truly unforgettable.

  Every single arrow the Gringham guard had fired, fell from the sky.

  Thoomp-thoomp-thoomp-thoomp-thoomp-thoomp-thoomp-thoomp...

  The arrows one by one landed at the entrance to the gate, hitting no one, very rudimentarily spelling out...

  "Help us"

  A moment of silence passed. Charlotte had done everything she could think of to prove she wasn't here to cause trouble short of leaving Jerik alone and backing up further, which she really, really did not want to do.

  "Is... it a trap?" Reeve muttered under his breath to another guard.

  "I don't know..." the guard replied.

  "Couldn't she just overpower us if she truly meant any harm?" a townsman named Trist pepped up, speaking sense.

  "Why don't you go out there and ask, yourself?" a snide remark from an elderly man.

  This, of course, caused Trist to pause, weighing the facts and risks in his mind.

  "She's going to eat you once you get close," a middle aged woman chimed in.

  "Then why didn't she eat the human she was already holding?" Reeve called down from the archer's tower.

  The town murmured, question after question, answered with logic. No one had ever heard of a peaceful Naga before now. But there she was, kneeling down in her own way, arrows arranged in a very to-the-point message.

  "I'm going to go help the pretty snake lady," Amalia announced-- a young girl who couldn't have been more than ten.

  Of course, the town began to vehemently disagree in an uproar, but the young lady had already dashed past the guards, and everyone else, causing a few to give chase... but within a certain distance of Charlotte, many found each footstep to be much harder than the last. Their bravery was failing.

  "AMALIA!" Trist screamed, giving chase, farther than anyone else had managed. Amalia was his only surviving family member, his younger sister prone to making rash decisions.

  Trist saw nothing else but Amalia's pink dress, the grass and mud were a blur. He had never ran so fast in his life. Once he finally got a hand on her back, his heart sank. He looked up. The Naga was staring-- her otherworldly eyes affixed on them, her mouth very slightly agape.

  Charlotte really hadn't expected anyone to come to her, but she was glad someone was willing to give her a chance, even if she didn't fully understand the circumstances of why Trist and Amalia stood before her, she was deeply thankful someone understood she meant no harm. And so, a smile broke across her face.

  To Amalia, the smile was every bit of the invitation she needed to run up to Charlotte's hand and begin to hug it. "Yaaaay!"

  Trist couldn't bring himself to take another step. To him, that smile meant something else entirely. Had they truly fallen into a trap? Was that a smile of a 'haha, got'cha'?

  Charlotte left one hand on the ground for Amalia to climb and play on, but her eyes were pleading and staring at Trist. Using her free hand, she waved, and snapped her fingers, trying to break him out of whatever shock he just put himself in.

  "Hu... huh? I'm not dead, yet?" Trist mumbled aloud, and watched Amalia try to wrestle with the Naga's thumb. The Naga was seemingly trying to get his attention, before pointing her finger at a man lying on the ground.

  It was at that moment things finally started to click again. The arrow pattern, she had done that. The Naga wanted his village to help them, but... what was wrong?

  Trist slowly took his eyes off of Charlotte for just a moment to look at the man on the ground. It didn't take long before he noticed the man was breathing and panting, and his leg was bent at an odd angle starting from the hip.

  "O...OH!" Trist finally understood. "Y-you just want us to try and help your... um... friend?"

  Charlotte nodded vigorously.

  "A-and t-that's all..? You're not going to, um..." Trist went silent, but Charlotte got what he was hinting at.

  Charlotte shook her head no, even harder than when she answered 'Yes' to Trist's previous question.

  Trist let out a sigh of relief. So she really did just want help.

  "It's rather strange of a Naga to travel with a human companion like this, but maybe if the village healer heals this guy... he'll be able to tell us more. Or maybe they'll just leave?" Trist began to weigh the pros and cons. Ultimately, he came up with a handful of possibilities.

  One, they would just leave. Two, the same as the first, but maybe they'll get a reward. Three, once the man is healed the Naga will attack for some reason. Four, the duo will be grateful and agree to protect the village.

  The odds were risky but seemed stacked in Gringham's favor.

  "Okay, we will help as best as we can," Trist promised on behalf of the village. His eyes darted back to Amalia, then back to Charlotte.

  "Naga, please don't hurt her," Trist quietly asked.

  Charlotte pointed at Jerik, then to Trist.

  "I... I see. So he must mean the same to you as she means to me," Trist rationalized. It was a longshot, but it was all he had to go on. Amalia didn't seem willing to leave the Naga's hand, and he didn't dare step any closer than necessary.

  "I'll be fine, brother!" Amalia shouted from Charlotte's hand with a smile. "Help her boyfriend, he looks sick!"

  Those words caused Charlotte to blush near crimson red. Unable to bear the embarassment any longer, Charlotte waved her hand over Trist and Jerik, teleporting them inside the village gates, completing the trade. Charlotte held Amalia, and Gringham held Jerik. All she could do now was wait.

  The waiting did not last long, as a handful of children were running up to Charlotte now, followed by some extremely worried parents.

  Charlotte held her breath, and put on her most disarming smile. It usually worked on Jerik, perhaps it would work here, too, she rationalized.