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Chapter 3 pt. 2: Battle Against Odds

After discovering that off-putting message on the cave walls, it left questions, Like how could Aoi read old Norse? But questions will have to wait, as four heroes hide behind a big boulder, peeking out.

They saw ogre, he surely was tall, like 6'5 with muscles but it seems ogre let himself go, not only was he tall but fat with scars all over his body, his skin was brown, around big o' ogre was green goblins, cheering, burping and farting.

And it seems goblins numbers were double. About 20 in total, if scouting parties returned, that would be 35, lucky for fang's group, scouting parties haven't returned....at least not yet.

" ugh, the smell is a lot worst when you are this close" Hana mumbled, pinched her nose together, so her voice was slightly higher than normal " Wait until you get closer, Hana" Fang teased, as he also pinches his nose together as Hana quietly groaned, remembering she'll be the one to talk to it.

" well, it seems ogre been busy" Kaze cold tone kicks in when he said that, looking out at it, then around him, bones of what appears to be humans, elves, and animals, Aoi quickly leaned forward, her green eyes behind her glasses narrowed in on something " Fang, Kaze, Hana, look Elf!" Aoi half-whisper half-shouted pointed down to the very left. Elf, not an elf, an elf child covered in blood, barely looks alive, the elf child was dark in skin, dark brown hair that was stained with dirt, piss and blood, somewhat lifeless amber looking eyes, staring at the ceiling. His clothing was dirt, also stained with piss and blood but its clothes hint that he is from a tribe, which one, Aoi doesn't know.

" what?! " Fang quickly peeks over the rock " Elf child from the way he or she looks, they've been down here for a while" Kaze noted, he frowned deeply, " You think you can still talk to that ogre and his green buddies?" Kaze asked, looking at Hana, who silently stared at the elf kid with her periwinkle purple eyes.

" This complicate things" Aoi pointed out, still looking at the elf kid

" No, it just slightly changes the plan" Fang stated, returning behind the boulder with his friends " we're going to rescue the elf kid?" Hana asked, looked to fang who nodded " Yeah, we are" " this could end badly, milord" Kaze voice his concern" or end in a very good way, Kaze, have faith in me" Fang grinned, Kaze just stare at fang " What's the new plan?" Aoi asked, getting them back on track.

" The plan is still the same with a slight change. Hana, you still talk to ogre but this time, not only Aoi but Kaze is with you" Fang pointed to Kaze and Aoi " As for me, I'll rescue the elf child" Fang stated, looking at his friends.

" No" Hana shakes her head " Not happening, Milord" Kaze refuses that new plan " of all plans, that one is bad" Aoi simply stated, " Oh come on!" Fang half-shouted half-whisper, threw his hands up carefully " Fang, how are you going to get the child? " Hana asked, " by flying?" Hana sarcastically added with a raised eyebrow " Well..." Fang said then slowly trailed off, then went silent " Thought so" Hana sighed.

" But I got other spells" Fang huffed " last time we check, you're still learning magic and you don't have invisibility or anything that will help you get to that elf child" Kaze flat out told Fang who went silent, even now looking unsure " But...he can move while we distract the big oaf" Aoi suggested, placing a hand on Fang's shoulder " He didn't just train in magic. He also trained in swordsmanship and hand to hand combat" Aoi added

" That....is true...but Fang is no soldier or knight" Kaze pointed out " Yeah, he's pretty squishy" Hana added " hey!" Fang said, pouting when Hana pointed that out " but he makes up for it with creativity" Aoi stated, looking at Kaze and Hana.

" you talking about his skills as a thief?" Kaze asked " Well, I did steal your coin purse once" Fang grinned, Kaze stared, lost for words, because that was the truth " Well, he got you there. '' Hana stated, as Aoi looked slightly amused. 

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* Roughly 5 minutes later*

Ogre and goblins were chatting in between ogre and Ghukliak ( Goblin language), that's when they turned to the dark entrance, as Hana, Aoi, and Kaze walked forward. Hana looked around and noticed a few campfires within the cave, none lit, at least yet as she looked up, seeing a big hole in the ceiling part of the cave as the light was shining in.

This is a giant cave...I wonder how they block rain, Hana thought meanwhile " Boss boss, humans. Humans mean food!" Goblin next speak in broken human tongue

" Hawk sees that Smack" Ogre speaks, as he says Gobin's name, he smacks goblins aside, Hana shares a look with Aoi and Kaze once they reach the center of the cave.

" Hello Hawk and uh goblins" Hana waved a little, nervousness kicked in " we came here to talk-" before Hana could even finish, goblins shrieked, drawing their rusted blades and bone swords, about to attack them.

Aoi glared, reaching for her blade however, Kaze placed a hand on Aoi's shoulder " Wait" He whispered, Aoi tsked quietly, moving her hand away from her blade.

" Hold up, We came here to talk!" Hana looked around, seeing goblins licking their lips, making her cringe, then she did something that she didn't want to use yet but given hostility, she had no choice.

She brought her arms up, shaped them into X across her chest, Hawk the ogre's eyes widened " HALT!" He screamed out, as to halt echoing around them, goblins stopped closing in, looked to their leader with scared, admirable faces " sheath your weapons!" Hawk growled out, as Goblins quickly did, some stumbled but managed to sheath their weapons.

Hawk got up from his seat, stumble and wobble to the three, mostly to Hana, Hana gagged quietly, the smell coming off ogre was ugh, making her want to vomit, but she held on, she didn't want to be rude but man this ogre f*****g stinks.

" Hawk wants to know, how do you know his name and ogres salute?" Hawk leaned even closer to Hana, who quietly gulped, her tail frozen stiff, ears down, she was scared, ogres she knew were pretty friendly and less stinky " Well?" He asked with narrowed red eyes, Hana gulped a little " Well, you said your name in the third person, and I was friends with some ogres " Hana explained, Hawk frowned, scratch his chest for a moment "Ah, Hawk sees that, but that still doesn't explain to hawk how you know the ogres salute * sniff* you Nekomata" Hawk growled a little when he said that.

Hana looked surprised " H-how did you know?" Hana asked, Hawk, scoffed " Hawk fought some of your kind back in the day when Hawk was a tiny lad" Hawk explained that, as he looked at Kaze and Aoi behind Hana " However, Hawk doesn't know what a pretty white hair girl is, but her scent is familiar and another pretty lady is human and she seems familiar to me" Hawk talked, looked to Kaze, then to Aoi, then back to Hana.

Hana glanced at her two friends, Kaze looked offended by being called white -haired girl, even muttered " Pretty? Girl? What?" Aoi stared at Ogre as if she was trying to place him since he said she's familiar to him. Hana chuckled softly, looked back at Hawk " And back to your question on how I know about ogre salute as well...." Hana trailed off for a moment, looking aside " Well what?" Hawk asked as Hana sighed " You familiar with twin snakes?"Hana asked, Hawk, frowned deeply, taken a big step back " Hawk us familiar with this slave trade group, always in hawk old home taking our younglings and women." Hawk growled in anger " Hawk hates them. " Hawk added " I was from there....some of the ogres were there, they taught me some ogre tradition and how to survive" Hana softly explained, rubbing her arm where the bandage is at which hides her mark " Hawk sees, that must be hard, little Nekomata" Hawk bowed his head in sympathy.

Aoi cleared her throat three times " Is something wrong with your friend?" Hawk asked with a tilt head " Ah! No no, she does that, she has nasty smoking habit" Hana said quickly, sweating bullets when Aoi glared at her about smoking habit " ahh, Hawk sees that, hmm make sense" Hawk nodded, didn't think that was a lie, Hana sighed in relief.

Meanwhile, Fang was crawling to elf child, yes, he crawling through bones, questionable water puddles that fang isn't going to question, stop when he heard crushed of bones, sniffing, Fang lifts his head little, seeing a goblin sniffing around, probably looking for food, Fang quickly ducks his head, just as goblin turned in his direction, sniffing. Fang held his breath, covered his mouth, hearing the goblin getting closer as more bones were getting crushed, first thing that crossed fang mind was " Aww, poor bones"

Fang heard, " No food. I was hungry.....grrrr" Goblin muttered, walked away, as Fang sighed in relief " That was close" Fang muttered, continued moving through bones to the elf kid.

* back to Hana, Aoi, and Kaze*

    " Anyway,  we came here to talk," Hana said, looking up to Hawk with arms crossed over her chest " Talk?" Hawk asked, Hana, nodded "It's the reason why we came here, directly to you" Hana smiled slightly.

" Hmm. Bold of you guys, alright. Hawk will allow this talk" Hawk grunted, as he sat his fat ass down in front of them, the ground shook, almost making Hana, Aoi, and Kaze lose their balance.

"Thank you, Hawk" Hana uncrossed her arms, giving the hawk a slight bow of her head " first, why are you up this way?" Hana asked, tilting her head curious "Hawk wanted a tribe, hawk old tribe, Black boars didn't let hawk make his own tribe, so Hawk left" Hawk explained, he didn't seem sad about leaving his home, it is more like....he was pissed at them, for whatever reason that may be, Hana will save that question for later.

Black boars....? Oh no...THAT tribe?! Kaze thought, as his eyes widen, he elbow Aoi " Ow dammit Kaz-" Kaze didn't let Aoi finish,  pull her close, Aoi held annoyed look " What is it?" Aoi hissed out, in a low whisper " Black boars, Hawk tribe, we should be careful" Kaze whispered, " Why?" Aoi asked " Black boars are most savage and battle born tribe, they been around for 100 years, their abilities are abnormal, not only they are magic resistant but they can use magic themselves, which is rare among ogres" Kaze explained in whispers, pause to look at Hawk, who talking to Hana, mostly going on about his new tribe " You know this....because?" Aoi asked with a raised eyebrow " Long story short, my family dealt with this tribe" Kaze said firmly, not going into details " we must be careful, even one ogre is tough, even one in his size." Kaze added, looking worried, Aoi knows Kaze for some years now, and she has never seen Kaze this worried, not since milady took Fang in, Aoi sighed " Alright, let's inform Hana" Aoi said, pushing up her glasses.

Kaze nodded, as Aoi tapped on Hana's shoulder, then leaned up, whispering to Hana, as Hawk keeps on talking about his new tribe, for a moment, Hana held a confused look that slowly fallen into a wide-eyed fear look, slowly nodded, as Aoi backup, a hand rested in her weapon that is on her waist.

" That's why hawk started tribe with these goblins'' Hawk finished his tale about making his tribe, Hana cleared her throat, in a grand gesture, she nodded her head " That is amazing, Hawk" Hana compliment Hawk, as Hawk beamed " Thank you, Little Nekomata'' Hawk smiled, as Hana gulped slowly, then sighed " However, did you kicked out Bear family?" Hana asked " Hmmmmm, Yes. Yes, we did. '' Hawk nodded '' We, well them, wanted to kill the bears for food" Hawk explained, as Hawk glance at his goblins " but, Hawk respects bears, they are wonderful and powerful beings, so, Hawk given older bear a choice" Hawk explained further, and glance right back to Hana " and that was?" Hana asked " Die or leave '' Hawk stated with a grin, showing his nasty blood-stained teeth, Hana swallowed, as fear crept up, her tail froze stiff, her ears flattened.

I'm getting a bad feeling, Hana thought, glancing back at Aoi who tightens her grip on her hilt, ready to draw her weapon and Kaze is glaring, his hands behind his back, however, Kaze nodded to Hana, pretty much telling her to keep him talking. Hana frowned, wondering if she could still talk to Hawk about moving tribes.....

But, she sighed, nodded " So, why kick out the bears?" Hana asked, Hawk excitedly explained. 

" Alright. No wonder Rhea left" Aoi whispered " With a choice like that, yeah, and kicker part, she wouldn't take on goblins and giant arse of an ogre" Kaze whispered back " that too" Aoi nodded " Cough again to tell Fang to hurry up" Kaze frowned, glancing around, seeing goblins getting closer " And do it fast" Kaze added, Aoi nodded, letting out urgent coughs, interrupting Hawk tale of finding this cave, give impatient growl " You need to get your human pet a smoke" Hawk said, as Hana's eye twitch " Y-yeah sorry, please continue your tale" Hana awkwardly smiled, pushed Hawk to tell his tale, which he did, as Aoi glared at Hana, Hana sweat drops, knowing Aoi will make her training days hell.....

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To be continued....