FSE

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Nikita hummed idly as she strolled, completely without a care, through the streets of Caphen, a small village in the southwestern area of Analiea, which was one of the many small territories that had sprung up along the Burning Way.

It was a pleasant little town, with about two hundred people in total, always with travelers, passing through on their way to the main Way. Some of those were always bound to be more interesting than others. Nikita, who had spent most of her relatively short live here, loved to spy on them - of course, she just called it "observation" if ever caught.

She was considered a nice enough Phelgon, if a bit quirky. She was perhaps nineteen years old, with a figure that would make any male Phelgon - if there were any around, of course - look twice, particularly in her current garb - a simple loincloth, a piece of cloth over her ample chest, and of course her ever-present red scarf, the one gift she always treasured.. The only males that ever happened through the village always seemed to be on a pilgrimage or journey - she rarely even had the chance to talk to them - it always seemed that way to her with males. Well, besides her best friend Tanshar. But she didn't really even see him as a male - after all, he had been her best friend since they were both pups. Why would he be different now?

She stopped suddenly, her thoughts scattering as she heard voices nearby. An irritated, imperious voice was calling out:

"Put me down, you blasted piece of maggot-infected Orc dung!" the voice snarled from around a corner.

"Shuddup, Bert!" This response came in a slow, dumb voice - it sounded, in fact, very much like an Orc.

"Gods damn you, my name is not Bert! I have told you many times before - I am Kolt'yak, and you will respect that or the Nine Hells take you and keep you!"

"Me says shuddup!"

Nikita slid up against a wall, peering out around the corner onto the street where the voices were originating, but she didn't see anything out of the ordinary. She worried about what was happening, trying to decide what to do.

Eventually, she took off sprinting back the way she came, bursting through the unlocked wooden door into the room that she and Tanshar shared, panting heavily.

The other Phelgon, dressed in a pair of shorts, looked up from a small book that he had been reading in a corner, and blinked in surprise when he saw her.

"What... What's wrong, Niki?" He always addressed her by that shortened name.

"I think something's happening down near Kopfer's that shouldn't be!" She yelped in some amount of fear, referring to the pleasant old tavern near where she had been.

Tanshar stood up quickly and, grabbing a small dagger, dashed out of the building, headed towards the spot she had been, directed precisely by herself.

It took less than five minutes for them to arrive, but they still saw nothing abnormal; however, the voices persisted.

"Good gods, will you ever put me down or not?"

"You ever shuddup, Bert?"

"Need we get into the same damned conversation once again?"

Tanshar, keeping the blade in a reversed grip, edged forward, Nikita following a safe distance behind. Then, as they turned the corner, they finally saw the source of the distraction that had been occurring this entire time.

There was a massive Orc, garbed in heavy red armour, standing against a wall - but there was no one else around. No, the only company he kept was a brutal, glowing axe - from which the angry voice was emanating. There could be absolutely no doubt about it - the axe was sentient, and it was quite irritable.

"...That..." Tanshar began, amazed at the sight. Nikita quite agreed with his one-word description of the situation, equally awed by the apparently talking axe, wielded by the massive Orcish warrior.

The Orc turned - he had noticed them. "Oh, hullos furry-wolves! Me not seen many of yous in long time!"

* * * *

A few minutes later, the group was seated within the room that Tanshar and Nikita shared. Nikita was amazed at how much space the vast Orc - who had introduced himself as Zug - took up. The room, which always looked so big, even with all the furniture in it - two large beds, two cabinets, a small brick oven, a table, and a few chairs, now seemed so crowded with the pair of Phelgon and Zug occupying it.

"...And so, yes, you can spend a few nights here with us if you wish, sir Zug. We have enough extra room, certainly enough to fit you," Tanshar was saying. Nikita blinked - there were only two beds, how could they all fit? Unless one of them slept on the floor, of course. That would work.

"Niki and I could share one of the beds, and you could have the other," her friend continued. "There's plenty of room for the two of us." Well, Nikita thought idly, that would work too. She hadn't thought about that, actually.

"Well, we should all probably turn in now. It's already getting late," Tanshar offered.

"Yup yup!" With this cheerful agreement, Zug promptly toppled over onto the nearest bed in full-armour and started snoring, whilst his glowing axe sat muttering over in the corner. Tanshar stretched and laid himself out on one half of his bed. Calmly, Nikita disrobed, leaving on only her scarf before lying down on the other half of the bed, pulling some of the soft blankets over herself.

A few hours later, she woke up and blinked a few times. She had apparently curled herself closer to her old friend while she was asleep, and now lay half on top of him. She looked out the nearest window, right above her head, which let a sliver of moonlight into the room. It was, she realised, still late. Or extremely early, perhaps. Still, it was dark. She then glanced over at her bed, where Zug currently snored away, then back at Tanshar. He was also fast asleep. She pondered getting up and getting ready, then simply decided to go back to sleep.

Later in the morning, Zug was the first of the trio to awake. By the time that Nikita had woken up, Tanshar was already up and about as well, seeming to be packing up numerous items.

"What's going on?" Nikita asked this of the pair as she was dressing, taking care to put on travel-friendly clothing just in case.

"Well, thanks to our big friend here, we're going on a big trip. We're gonna be travelling farther along the Burning Way!" Tanshar replied to her query with a wide grin, obviously quite pleased.

"Really?! Where are we going, then?"

"We's going to camp I friends has!" This particular bit of enlightenment came from Zug.

"Who are your friends?"

"Me gots all sortsa friends. Der be udder furry-wolves der too. And udders beside dem, yus." The massive Orc smiled widely at her.

"Well what are we waiting for, then? Let's go!"