The cage swayed gently on the Orc's back as the group resumed its march through the forest. The path ahead was muddy and uneven, the air thick with the scent of damp earth. Piggy and Hideous grunted now and then, eager to complain. Fortunately, he gave them nothing to complain about.
Naranca.
The name echoed in the Orc's head again and again.
The Elf was immobile. After whispering those final words, her breath had evened out. The rise and fall of her chest was light and steady. Every now and then, her fingers would twitch or her head would tilt one way or the other slightly, but she did not wake.
She was truly asleep.
The exhaustion had finally overtaken her.
The Orc's steps were faster than before, more energetic. The cage on his back weighed no less than it had the day before. Still, it felt lighter. Firstly, because he had grown stronger. Secondly, because the cage was not a burden imposed on him anymore. It wasn't a weight he needed to carry because he was the weakest around. It was a weight he decided to carry. A burden he wanted to carry.
You were my Guardian Spirit-
He hadn't known what to say. He still didn't. But something in his chest hadn't stopped stirring since.
His name.
The Orc had been given a name.
That alone would have been enough to make him overjoyed.
But that name, Naranca, was much more than a name. It wasn't just a word.
It wasn't even something that the Elf had decided on randomly. A deliberate choice.
No, the Orc could tell that it hadn't been a choice.
At one point or another, the name "Naranca" had simply and suddenly popped into her mind while looking at him. It had come from the depth of her mind, the depth of her being.
Naranca.
It had come from her.
The promise to help her meant little now, when weighted against the promise of being Naranca, of being her Guardian Spirit. Not for a night, not for a week.
Naranca.
The sun was at its peak. They did not stop. Hideous chewed on something fibrous and wet as they walked. Piggy had a thick and meaty leg in his hand. He chewed on it and grunted at nothing in particular. The forest remained quiet. No birds sang. No insects buzzed.
Only the distant creaking of trees and the sloshing of mud beneath their feet reminded the Orc that they were moving.
Because he did need to be reminded of that.
The Orc noticed that he had developed a habit of getting lost in thought. This wasn't surprising knowing what the Elf had shared with him. Still, it was a strange thing, getting lost in thought. Being here, but at the same time there. Losing track of the movements of one's body. Losing track of one's surroundings. For someone who had just gained reason and thought, it was a scary thing.
Occasionally, the Elf murmured something in her sleep. The Orc would tilt his head slightly to listen, but the words were too soft to understand. At one point, her fingers reached through the bars and her hand lay on his back. His body stiffened, but he didn't pull away.
Her hand was warm.
Warmer than it used to be, the Orc thought.
As the sun descended and orange light began to trickle through the gaps between branches, the group finally slowed. Hideous stopped first. Piggy turned to glance behind him and gave a short grunt.
While they had stopped at dawn the day before, they were sleeping at dusk now.
With Dummy dead, they needed to be more careful. Piggy thought they would be safer by sleeping before the dead of the night and being awake when it is darkest.
The Orc knelt down carefully. He lowered the cage from his back and rested it near a large root protruding from the base of a gnarled tree. The Elf inside didn't even stir. Her golden hair had fallen over her face, lips slightly parted as she breathed, her hand resting near her cheek.
He stared at her.
The woman had given him a name. More than that, she had given him a goal, a purpose, and a title. Guardian Spirit.
The Orc who looked like the others, yet had something completely different in his eyes.
'...' He scratched his cheek.
While he previously felt torn between two different objectives, the Orc did not feel that way anymore. Not as much, at least.
While helping and protecting the Elf and making Piggy and Hideous suffer weren't contradictory goals, they could be.
Just like she had said earlier, he could grab her cage and take her away. He could run away with her. There were dangers associated with that, and the key was needed as well but… If he were to forsake his revenge and hatred, then he could steal the key while Piggy is asleep, and the two could run away.
He glanced upward, at the darkening sky. The sun was nearly gone now, leaving behind a dim haze of red and purple that bled into the horizon.
'Protecting her is the priority.' The Orc thought to himself. 'If I have the choice between the two, then she takes priority.'
He sat by the cage and picked at the ground with one of the sticks they'd gathered earlier.
'Can I protect her on my own?'
The Orc sighed. He turned in her direction.
They weren't being watched right now. Neither of the others cared about him. And certainly not about her. To them, she was either an offering to the Chief, or a hole for them to… Which one it would be, only time could tell. At least, that's how Hideous and Piggy saw the situation. If they're able to control themselves, then she would be an offering. If not, then…
The Orc clenched his fist.
She said she hadn't suffered anything too grave.
Yet.
That word rang in his ears like a curse.
Yet.
He shifted his gaze back to her. Her chest rose and fell slowly, evenly. A small line of drool had formed at the corner of her mouth. Her fingers twitched again.
He turned towards them for a moment. They were lying down.
The Orc crawled closer. His hand started shaking as it approached the metallic bars.
Eventually, he managed to calm the shaking enough. Just enough to pass his hand through the bars, and wipe that line of drool off her face with his thumb.
He sat, inches away from the cage, his gaze on the drop that remained on his thumb.
[Lust Level: 5—>6!]
[Your Lust Level has increased!]
[Your Agility Stat increases by 2 Stat Points!]
The Orc shook his head.
His gaze fell on a rock. It looked exactly like the one he had used to hit Dummy.
He reached for it and brought it closer.
"The problem with last time…"
Holding that rock with both hands, he stared at it profoundly.
"Blunt." He whispered, his hands stroking the edges of the rock. "Blunt, is the word."
The image of Dummy stopping his second strike with an open palm did not leave the Orc's mind.
"A weapon that can't… Be stopped that way."
He scratched his chin for a moment, staring at that rock.
"A weapon that isn't blunt."
Snap-
The Orc's eyes widened as his hand moved towards his waist.
"Yes…" He mumbled. "Just like that."
His hand stroked the line. Right where he had been cut.
Piggy groaned in his sleep and,
[Special Quest has been issued!]