Returning to the orc settlement…

After leaving the manor and returning to the Orc settlement with Kalil and the children, Saige takes a deep breath before leaning down to the kids.

“See, I told you it would be okay! We have such nice friends that help us, we’ll have to find a lot of rocks to give them to say thank you.”

She smiles and gives them hugs before letting them run off to find their families. Saige steps away from the bulk of the village to the outskirts, finding a tree to shelter under. She sits and fiddles with a few of her trinkets, shaking slightly.

Kalil watches Saige with the children, waves to them as they leave to find their parents, and then follows Saige over to the tree. He stands with his arms folded across his chest, both daggers sheathed on either hip. He is still dressed in his grey tunic with black pants covered in blood and dirt from all the fighting.

"You okay?"

“All those years in the forest and I never really lost anyone, suddenly I’m here and I feel like I’m losing people all the time, or being put in situations like this where I didn’t know if they were alive or dead…”

She sighs.

“I guess this is what my brother was trying to protect me from, why he didn’t want me fighting or leaving the forest. But I’m angry, because bad things keep happening to my friends and I feel like I can’t do anything about it. I’m not good at fighting, I’d rather play games than go into a fight but that’s not how it works here. I’ve tortured and killed people for hurting my friends, I even enjoyed it. It’s just so different, and stressful, and I’m having to adapt to things I’ve never experienced before.”

Saige begins re-braiding some of her hair, weaving leaves into it.

“But it’s okay. I’m okay. How are you? Better, now that your mom’s okay?”

Kalil squats down in front of Saige, draping his arms over his knees. "Yeah. I'm doing much better now that my mom is safe and back home. And I'm happy we rescued everyone from the village too." He sighs. "All I've ever really known is fighting or training to fight so I can't say I know what you're going through but... I'm glad you were here. You kept me alive. And you helped me get my mom back and get those kids to safety. I know you don't like to fight but you *did* help your friends."

Saige smiles a bit, not her usually toothy grin but a smile nonetheless. She stands up, brushing off her skirts.

“Okay okay, I’ve got to get to work helping them put the camp back together. Speaking of which, I should really ask if they ever named it. I’ve just been calling it the orc camp. They should totally name it after rocks though.” She claps her hands together, “we’ve also got to figure out why the plants are dying, now that there’s no immediate threat of death.”

Kalil smiles back and stands up. "Maybe you can help them name it. You've been helping them so much I'm sure they wouldn't mind if you helped come up with a name."

He looks towards the farming plots. "I'll talk with my mother and see if she knows anything about what's hurting the crops. And... I'll see if she wants to come back out here. She enjoyed helping them too and it got her out of the manor for a while. It was good for her."

He turns his attention back to Saige. "I want to thank you for your help with my mom and the kids. I'll come find you here in a few days okay?"