I stare blankly at the map for a while.
"What is this?"
After a couple of second of looking at it in confusion, I look back up to see that the girl is gone.
(Okay… totally not ominous at all…)
I put the map in my pocket.
(So where am I? Who was that girl? She just disappeared without a single sound or trace.)
While I pace around in circles thinking, I hear gallops coming from over a small side of the field. There's a path with a bunch of trees that leads to a hill. It's several people on horses.
(They look a bit TOO large…)
They continue until they reach the bottom of the hill and onto the path that leads into the field giving me a better view of them.
(Wait a second… Are those Orcs?! That's impossible! They don't even exist! I should probably run before they spot me!)
I start running the other direction for a while before stopping in the far end of the field into the area filled with trees. I run over and hide behind a tree praying they didn't follow me. I peek around the tree to see one of them look in my direction.
(Damn it! He saw me!)
"Hey you! Come out!"
(I'm not fast enough to outrun horses. If I just do what they say maybe they'll let me off? Maybe they won't kill me? Hopefully?)
I raise my hands in the air while walking out. As I get closer I get a better look of the Orcs. There are about 6 of them. They are 2 feet larger than me and have green rough skin. Each of them look the same but the only difference is their hair. Only 2 are bald but they have face painting that's probably unique to only them. They each have chest plates that seem to be made of silver and leather pants that look worn out. One stands out more then the others because he has a necklace that shines brightly on his chest because of the sun beaming over us. I can only assume he's the leader. The leader of the Orcs motions me to come over to him. I slowly walk over to him. I keep my hands in the air to show I'm unarmed.
"Who are you?"
I look up at him.
"My name is Ryuki."
"And why are you here? This entire area is our territory you know?", the other Orc asks.
"I don't know how I got here."
"And how exactly do you not know how you got here?", another Orc asks.
"Um… I… While I was out hunting, I-I got lost."
"And where's your weapon to hunt?"
"I lost it."
(Are they convinced?)
"I've been walking for three days trying to get back home. May I go?"
"No, you're going to come with us."
"What why?!"
"Don't ask questions and come with us or we will kill you where you stand human!"
I sigh and follow them.
(Where are these guys even taking me? Should I just book it while I can? No that's too risky. One of them has a bow and I don't think I want to find out how skilled he is.)
They lead me to a side of a mountain that looks like a cave entrance. After leaving their horses next to it, they take me inside before stopping at what looks like a door. They toss their weapons in there and close the door before forcing me inside a small room with torches all around it.
"Sit."
I take a seat on one of the stools and watch as they talk amongst themselves for a while in some weird speech. One of the Orcs suddenly gets up.
"We have decided to make you our servant. If you refuse we will kill you. So decide."
(What?! How is that fair?! Become a slave?! But these guys will definitely have my head if I refuse!)
"We'll give ya 15 minutes to decide. So you'd better make a decision soon."
They leave and close the door leaving me to think.
(I'm not planning to be a slave to some Orcs. No, not me. I'm going to fight!)
…
(Who am I kidding. I don't even have a weapon and they're twice my size. Maybe I can escape instead of fighting. But one of them is standing right outside of the door with his sword and even if I do get out then what? I'll actually be lost. Well, it'd beat being a slave. Oh, the map! It said it'd lead me to… Gratsudale Academy…? There's no way that's a coincidence. Ugh, what the hell is going on? How did I end up here? Anyways I should get back on track. I'll think about all of this when I'm actually out. Now, how can I escape from here? Maybe I should focus on getting rid of that Orc that's guarding the door. Let's see, maybe if I lure him into the room and use the torches to my advantage.)
I grab one of the torches and a chair before knocking on the door to get the Orc outside of the rooms attention. He turns to me through the hole to see through the door. I hide under it so he can't see me.
"What?"
"I want to talk to you."
"I've nothing to say to you."
"You should listen to me if you don't want to end up dead like your mother."
The Orc's eyes widen and he looks startled.
(That actually worked? What luck! I was taking a complete gamble there. Didn't know his mother was actually dead. Sorry not sorry.)
"Now come in. Make sure no one sees you."
The Orc slowly opens the door and I hide behind it as he enters.
"Alright, now tell me right now why do you know about my moth- huh?"
I take the chair and slam it on his back which does nothing but anger him.
"You foolish human!"
He turns around and tries to grab me but I barely avoid it. I throw the torch at his face and it directly hits his eyes.
"ARGHHHH."
He stumbles back while covering his face in pain as it burns up. I grab his sword and stab him straight through the stomach. After a few seconds, he finally collapses.
(My hands are shaking like crazy! I-I can't believe I actually just killed someone. This is so unreal. But it was an Orc. It wasn't human and it was trying to kill me. Yeah. Anyways, I should get out of here just in case someone else heard that.)
After fully recovering, I leave the room to go to the weapon storage they had tossed their stuff in. I grab a sword as it is all that I can carry. I run outside of the room and hear footsteps. I hide in some bushes outside the door as I hear several Orcs coming.
"So we're just gonna kill the human?"
"Yeah. It's not like he's going to be of any use to us."