The first rays of sunlight broke through the forest's trees, casting dim light through the mist.
Piggy was the first to grunt, scratching his thick belly and blinking through the haze. Hideous soon followed, letting out a loud snort and staggering to his feet.
The two Orcs growled and groaned. Piggy sniffed the air, then gestured with his chin. Hideous growled back, pointing into the forest.
Dummy was missing. It didn't seem like a problem right away.
They waited for a bit.
The Elf watched silently. Her gaze moving, from time to time towards the Orc closest to her.
Piggy turned towards him and grunted.
The message was clear.
'Alright.'
The Orc stood up, gave a nod, and turned toward the woods.
Wasting some time was necessary. They had sent him to find Dummy, but finding him right away could make them suspicious. Eventually, he retraced the path and found him.
'Looks like some pieces of him were eaten.' The Orc chuckled.
He remained standing in front of the corpse for a moment, amused by the dumb expression that remained on Dummy's face even after death,
'Pretty gross.'
Dummy's body had been bitten here and there, probably by wolves and foxes. Countless flies were either on the corpse or above it, buzzing and circling.
After a suitable amount of time passed, the Orc walked back to camp.
They grunted as he pointed in the direction where he had found Dummy.
Piggy was frowning, annoyed that he had come back alone.
Hideous was annoyed as well, but there was nothing that could be done. If Dummy was busy doing something else, there was no way for the weakling to bring him.
The two groaned and started walking in the direction that he had pointed. But before they disappeared in the forest, they pointed at the cage.
In other words, they wanted him to have the cage on his back by the time they came back… With Dummy.
The Orc nodded, and the two walked away.
He sat back down beside the Elf. It would take a couple of minutes for them to find Dummy, a couple more for them to examine his corpse, and some more for them to come back.
The Elf glanced at him, cautious. Her eyes flicked between him and the direction that the two had taken.
The Orc stared straight ahead. He looked… Nervous?
After a moment, he suddenly turned to look at her, which caused her to flinch.
"Something changed." He muttered.
The Elf blinked.
"I'll get you out of here."
"How?" She asked.
A moment later, her eyes widened.
"Did you just… Did you just talk?"
He didn't answer.
"You… you can talk?"
He nodded slowly..
Her expression shifted. Curiosity and confusion mixed..
"S-Seriously…?" she whispered. "So you…" A flicker of light shone in her eyes momentarily. "You really aren't like them!"
He didn't reply.
"B-But…" Her facial expression quickly turned into a frown. "If you could not only understand me but also talk to me then why didn't you sooner?"
The Orc looked away. He scratched his cheek, then turned back in her direction.
"I told you, something changed."
The Elf stared at him silently for a couple of seconds.
'Yes, something did change.' She thought to herself. 'At first-'
"I'll get you out of here, like I said."
The Elf blinked and let her back rest against the cage's metallic bars.
"Then why don't you?" She asked.
"Hm?"
"Let me out."
"I can't."
"Why not?" She asked, darting forward and wrapping her hands around the metallic bars.
"I don't have the key, and I can't break the cage."
"Then… Take me away." The Elf said, her eyes shining. "While they're gone, we can go away. We'll figure out what to do about the cage later!"
The fact that an Orc was capable of speech was mindblowing, but the Elf had realized that now wasn't the time to focus on that.
"If they find us, which they will, they'll kill me."
"You don't know that!"
"I do." The Orc answered sternly. "We can't run away from them."
"So I'm supposed…" Her gaze was slowly lowered to the ground. "To just stay in this cage?"
"Yes."
"What are you…" She gulped. "What are they… Planning to do to me? Why was I captured in the first place?"
Staring at her, the Orc couldn't help but feel sorry for her. She didn't even know what they had planned for her, yet she had talked about him getting back them. Despite her situation, she had spent a lot of time talking about his.
"They plan on taking you to our Chief… Well, to the Chief. As an offering." The Orc explained.
"Why? What does the Chief want with me?"
"I think… You already know."
The Elf clenched her teeth, her gaze on the ground.
"I won't let that happen." The Orc muttered, looking in the distance. "I won't let them hurt you, and I won't let them have their way."
"Why… Would you do that for me?" The Elf whispered.
The Orc didn't really know what to answer. Because he felt sorry for her? Because he liked her? Because he hated them and wanted them dead?
"It will take a couple of days before we make it to the village, where the Chief is."
The Elf's eyelids wavered. A couple of days. Hope.
"But if I die before that… It's likely that you won't make it to the village."
"But the Chief…?"
"The Chief doesn't know about you." The Orc explained. "In those couple of days, they could find a boar or something to replace you with."
Her hands, still wrapped around the metallic bars, started shaking.
She understood perfectly.
Boar or Elf, it didn't matter to the Chief, since he would never learn that the Elf had been replaced by a boar.
Orcs only cared about two categories of things.
Things that would fill their stomach, and things that would empty their balls.
"D-Do you…"
"Hm?" The Orc turned in her direction.
"Do you promise?" She asked, her gaze still on the ground.
"To help you? Yes, I do."
He stared at her shaking hands for a moment.
"I promise," The Orc whispered, laying a hand over hers. "I'll help you."
She remained silent momentarily. She hadn't expected an Orc's touch to feel like this.
The shaking in her hands slowly subsided. She hadn't expected to ever think of an Orc's touch as comforting.
Orcs were taking her to another Orc. Orcs were the enemy here. Yet her only hope was also an Orc.
She slowly raised her gaze, staring at his hand for a bit. It was much larger than hers. The skin tougher and obviously more resilient.
The Elf raised her gaze further, until her gaze met his.
Zap!
She quickly pulled her hands away from him, her eyes wide with surprise. Her back regained the other end of the cage.
The rustling of leaves.
The Orc could tell that Piggy and Hideous were getting close.
He got up and stretched his arms.
Meanwhile, the Elf was staring at her hands with confusion.
'What was that…?'
She was blushing slightly.
'I could swear that…'
For a moment, the Orc's touch had been…
[Affection Gauge: 17/100 —> 28/100.]
Electric.
[Affection has increased!]