“It takes animals a while to get used to new environments. What makes you think the same would not apply to people as well?” - Nosendra Avlis, Sociologist and scholar of animal behavior from the Levain Institute of Higher Learning, circa 490 FP.

“Getting more used to them?” asked Celia as she accompanied Andromarche - who had regained enough strength to walk on her own - as the former female knight walked around the orcish camp. Aideen had foisted the task of accompanying the woman to Celia after Andro woke up, since they were from the same homeland and that familiarity would probably help the former knight acclimate herself better with the current situation. Celia also helped teach the orcish language to the other woman and translate for her in the meantime.

“Kind of,” said Andromarche with a bit of self-doubt as she watched the Bloodfangs at work. The two of them were walking around the Bloodfang’s encampment in Greentusk land, where the horde had reconvened after the battle nearly half a month ago. “I have to admit that this whole thing still felt kind of like a dream to me… and I’m not even certain what sort of dream it is. One moment I was fighting for my life and selling it dearly, the next thing I know, I woke up here…”

“I kind of get it, honestly. I had that same sort of feeling myself at times in like the first month or two after I met Miss Aideen,” said Celia with an understanding nod, all too aware of what the other woman must have felt like. Not everyone was capable of digesting such a massive and sudden change to their reality of life quickly and calmly. Celia herself had been through multiple such bouts, first when she had been caught by the bandits, and later when she had been freed from them. “Back then I had despaired that I’d spend the rest of whatever life I had as some plaything for filthy bastards to vent their lust at, but then she brought me out just like that.”

“I… I’m sorry to hear that. We failed in our duties to the people of Lavinja,” said Andromarche, who by then had long learned that Celia also used to be a native of Lavinja, as well as her - and Aideen’s - being Unliving. “I had often asked or volunteered to be sent on missions to hunt down bandits like those, but our commander approved far too few of it to matter. Forgive me if that sounded like an excuse,” said the former knight with a long-suffering sigh.

“Eh, I think my area wouldn’t be under your jurisdiction anyway, if you’re one of the Count’s personal knights,” said Celia with a shrug of her shoulders, having put the past behind her by then. “And for what it was worth, at least you folks near Lavinja city still deserve your knightly title somewhat, unlike the scumbags that call themselves knights under the lord of my area. Good riddance to those pieces of shit.”

“You mentioned that you were from… Azulise village, wasn’t it? That’d be lord… oh damn. It was you and miss Aideen who killed them back then, weren’t you?” Andromarche asked as she made the connection between Celia’s comment and obvious distaste with her local lord to the incident that had shaken Lavinja County half a decade ago.

“Mostly miss Aideen,” replied Celia nonchalantly to the question. “Though I did shank a couple of the knights myself, I guess. As you can tell, she doesn’t exactly have any reason to oblige a perverted bastard who tries to abuse their daddy’s name and authority to drag women into their beds, and if they wanted to get violent about it, she’d repay that in spades.”

“Those bastards aren’t going to be missed, to be fair,” said Andromarche with a sigh as she shook her head. Even as a young knight-in-training the unsavory rumors around the lord in question and his spawn had reached her ears, and there was too much circumstantial evidence to simply decry it as slander. That said, since the Count had not said a thing, as a knight sworn to them she was powerless to do anything about the matter.

“Anyway, you decided on what to do yet with your life? Gonna try to eke out a living elsewhere? Or gonna give living here a shot?” asked Celia with some curiosity to the former knight. Andromarche was not the only one that the orcs had kept alive, and by then all the others had also either woken up or passed away in their sleep, which left around a dozen and a half of them. Some had chosen to strike out on their own, their fates left to the whims of fate, while a few others had taken up the offer to live with the local clans.

Most were still undecided much like Andromarche herself, though.

Before Andromarche could answer she noticed a large orc - one easily a head taller than her or Celia - as he greeted the other woman and spoke to her for a bit in their tongue. Andro’s own fluency of the orcish tongue was still abysmal, and other than the greeting and farewell phrases she barely understood anything they discussed between them.

The sight of the orcs, with their tall and bulky figures, and their skins generally having a greenish shade even amongst those of darker colors, as well as their protruding tusks and way of dress all made them look like savage tribals who knew little about civilization. Looks proved deceiving, however, as now that she had stayed in their midst for the past week and seen their lives for herself, she recognized that they were civilized, just in a very different way compared to what people in the Empire expected.

“Anyway, don’t make your call yet, at least not until after tonight,” said Celia to her after the woman finished her discussion with the large orc and bid him a polite farewell. “They’re holding a massive feast to end the traditional tribal gathering tonight, so you’re in luck since there’ll be tons of good food all over for us to have later.”