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Chapter 3: Battle Against Odds

*At Rhea's cave, Aka Momma Bear home*

Fang watched, as three groups of goblins exited the cave. Goblins were about 3 to 4 feet tall, flat punchable faces, sharp fangs. Their foreheads slope back, yellow eyes with pale green skin. They covered themselves in human flesh and animal furs, their weapons were a mixer of wooden clubs, short rusted and dull short swords, lastly wooden shields.

" How many went by?" Hana asked, next to Fang, whispering " Three groups, 5 in each, a total of 15. " Fang reported back quietly, Hana nodded quickly and quietly went to report that to Kaze and Aoi that were waiting 10 feet away. For about 15 to 30 minutes, Fang will wait and scout in some very bushy bushes, to see if anything changes, Hana will come back, taking Fang's reports to Kaze and Aoi.

But nothing really changed, so Fang returned to his friends, shaking off leaves, sticks, and some spiders that weren't poisonous and didn't bite fang for disturbing their home, So, Fang got really lucky.

" Any changes?" Kaze asked Fang, just as he threw a stick to the west of him " No" Fang shakes his head, as Kaze nodded, using ink, quill, and parchment to keep track of Fang's reports that Hana reports to him.

" So, Just three groups, with 5 goblins in each one. Making that total of 15 goblins that leave to hunt or scout. " Kaze reads out aloud from parchment, tapping on it " That is good and all, but, the concerning part is how many goblins inside the cave" Kaze voices out his concerns. Kaze was using flat bark as a table for his parchment, as he gently tapped on it " We can only assume there are 15 more inside protecting their leader, we also gotta be careful, Cave may look big but it is probably small on the inside. " Aoi pointed out the cave structure to everyone.

" For our sakes to the numbers, I hope you're right, Aoi," Kaze said, looking to her " as to cave structure, that is going to be a bit of a problem, if inside is small" Kaze added, letting parchment dry for a bit, before rolling it up, carefully put Lid back on ink bottle, putting his things away.

" If we can, I'd rather avoid fighting. '' Fang sighed, nervously adjusting his sword sheath on his right hip " Meaning we stick to plan A, Talking to ogre" Hana stated, stretching, getting prepared in case this fight goes south.

" Plan B is when things go south, we fight our way out" Aoi started with a firm look, as she pushed up her glasses.

" And clean cave out" Fang added, holding a finger up, Aoi sighed " And clean cave out"

" To think we are doing this for a few bears" Kaze sighed, rather annoyed by that fact.

" Her name is Rhea" Fang corrected " Her cubs' names are Arturo, Bernard, and sapphire" Hana added, Kaze blankly stared at the two teens " Let's just...move on" Kaze sighed, giving up, walked to the cave, as Fang and Hana fist bump, grinning at one another, as Aoi snickered softly, as they followed Kaze.

* Inside the cave*

Aoi seems to be wrong about the cave because inside was massive and some of the cave walls were smoother, hardly rough, if there was sunlight above them, it would be pretty to see, sadly, no sun. So, it's pretty dark and creepy.

" Aoi, you seem to be wrong about it being small" Kaze spoke up, hand on the wall, to provide Aid, not that he needed it " Yup. Didn't expect this cave to be massive, I bet this was the home of giants" Aoi hummed, in thought, blindly walking forward " Giants?" Fang asked, following Aoi, carefully.

" mhm, Giants used to rule these lands a long time ago. " Aoi explained

" What happens to them?" Hana asked, curious " Who knows? Some say Giants are in deep sleep below us, others say they went extinct when Elves arrive. However, personally, I think Giants are biding their time, waiting for the right moment to strike" Kaze explained this time, but sighed '' Though, I'm not sure. Never really met a giant" Kaze added

" How about you, Aoi, have you met any giants?" Fang asked, carefully walking, hand on the cave wall, for a moment, it was silent " Aoi?" Hana called out, worried "....No. Sorry, I was thinking about something else" Aoi pushed her glasses up.

She was quiet for a moment, why do I get the feeling she did meet one? Hana, Kaze, and Fang thought, as they walked further in a massive cave.

Suddenly, Hana gagged " oh my gods, what is that smell?" Hana pinched her nose, turning green " What smel-What the jig!" Fang gagged also, pinched his nose together " hmm, smells like rotten flesh, piss and hmm, I believe that is booze" Kaze hummed, pretty calmly evaluating the smells.

" and feces'' Aoi added, also pretty damn calm " How in the heck, can you guys act normal?" Fang asked in a funny voice from pinching his nose " Simple, I found something a lot worse than those smells" Kaze admitted, shivered at the memory.

" As for me, during my time as a knight, I fought a monster that smells exactly like a fart," Aoi emotionlessly said, walking, as Hana and Fang went silent at Kaze and Aoi's confession. Inhaled as much fresh air that they can, bravely let go of their noses and walked.

For a while, nothing really happens, no goblins or traps. Just minor cussing at one another as the group would trip over something or simply made fun of one another.

Fang sighed, would use magic to give them some light but ogre and goblins would see it, and the element of surprise would not be to their advantage.

" On my tail and claws, the smell is getting stronger" Hana gagged once more, she almost puked too, but thank god she didn't, as she let out ugh sound.

" It is, but try not breathing through your nose. But, through your mouth" Fang said, focusing not  breathing through his nose but his mouth instead, it's becoming really hard to do that but he held on " thanks for telling me that, Fang. That makes smell-less worse" Hana sarcastically stated, as she rolled her eyes.

" oh right, a cat lady, your smell, hearing, and eyesight are better than ours" Fang muttered, feeling like an i***t " True, but, Hana can focus on her eyesight and hearing than smell" Kaze pointed out "I'm trying to do that but god, the smell is getting worse and worse" Hana sighed.

" Just think of your favorite smell, like a flower-" Fang stopped, his hand brushing against something on the wall, it felt jaggy, scratchy, and somewhat smooth, he furrowed his eyes, for a moment, confused. Slowly, tracing whatever it is on the wall " Something I like? Hmm, I like the smell of roasted fish, now I'm hung-"Hana went face first into Fang body " Ow!" She shouted out, holding her nose " What is it-" Kaze and Aoi spun around then BAM, Kaze got an elbow to the stomach by Aoi. For a moment, Kaze inhaled sharply " jakina..." Kaze wheezed out, Aoi looked confused, not sure what she hit, but either way " What is wrong?" Aoi asked, hand on her weapon.

"Fang suddenly stopped!" Hana hissed out, rubbing her nose " Sorry! I just found something on this wall" Fang said, sounding a bit sheepish, Aoi sighed in relief, Kaze who was still recovering from Aoi elbow blow, wheezingly ask "what you....find...milord?"

" I'm not sure. It feels Jaggy, scratchy like, and smooth. " Fang frowned deeply, trying to figure it out " I can see- AHHHH!" Hana suddenly screamed, then SLAP!

"What is wrong now?!" Aoi sounded annoyed, trying to see in this dark ass cave.

" Fang touched my breast!" Hana shouted out, one hand covered her breasts, as the other out, one that apparently slapped Fang " OW! I was trying to grab your hand!" Fang held his cheek, a bit of tear came out from his eyes, because Hana put her whole strength into that " Well you reached too high Fang!" Hana snapped, clearly red in the face, so glad it is dark in this cave " and I can see in the dark, you dolt!" Hana added

"Again I was trying-oh. Right. Cat vision. " Fang realized his mistake, blushed profusely " I'm sorry!" Fang screamed out " SHHHHH!" Aoi shushed Fang.

Kaze inhaled deeply, let it out slowly, questioning his life now.

Fang was still pretty embarrassed at what he did, he softly said " Sorry, Hana. Didn't mean to, ya know" " It's...fine. I know you didn't mean to. I'm sorry for slapping you too hard" Hana apologies back, still pretty red and shocked but she reacted far too strongly.

" Ahem!" Kaze cleared his voice, getting their attention " Now, That passed, can you see what Fang found" Hana?" Kaze asked Hana to roll her eyes " I can certainly try, but, never really read in the dark. " Hana moved closer to Fang " Mom did say, reading in dark is bad for the eyesight" Fang commented

" Indeed, she did. Hold up, Kaze can't you read in the dark? If I recall, I saw you reading one time" Hana called Kaze out, who simply remained silent for a moment, then sighed once more " No. You must've seen me sleeping, which is weird by the way" Kaze stated, Hana held a blank look in the dark " Right, I'd call Bullshit. " Hana then followed Fang's hand, not bothering to wait for Kaze's comeback.

" Whoa, fang is right, something is on this wall. Fang moves some, so I can see it more. " Hana moved into Fang spot, her hand never left the wall, as Fang carefully moved away from his spot.

"I can't see shi-ohh. Found something soft, this feels familiar though" Fang wondered, give whatever he found another squeeze " Fang, my lord, that is my breast" Aoi coldly stated, keeping her anger in and controlling the blush that was slowly creeping up to her cheeks " OH MY GODS! I'M SOR-MMMPH" Fang almost screamed out once more, this time, however, Aoi, covered fang mouth, shushed him "It's fine, My lord. I know it was an accident. " Aoi calmly said, through her controlled temper.

Kaze who facepalmed at Fang's clumsiness and mutter to himself " By 12 gods, give me the strength to make this day through"

" I'm going to ask nicely...." Hana sighed " Can you three, like. shut up" Hana stated, no one said anything after that, Hana let out a sigh of relief, focused on the wall, for about 5 mins, she figured it out, something is written on the wall, the Jaggy, scratchy parts felt like they were carved by something sharp, perhaps magical knife " Alright, something is written here, but, sadly I can't read it. " Hana informed everyone " What do you mean you can't read it?" Kaze asked, furrowing his brows

" Well, not sure, it is in another language, something I'm not familiar with" Hana admitted, Kaze raised eyebrow " Alright, Fang, summon a light" Kaze pretty much demanded

" Mphm mmm phm!" Fang speaks, but his mouth is still covered by Aoi " Um...what?" Kaze blinked, didn't understand any of that.

" Oh. s**t. Sorry, covered Fang mouth" Aoi stated, removing her hand from Fang's mouth " Why were you-you know What...I don't want to know" Kaze shakes his head, he really doesn’t want to know " Can you repeat what you said, Fang?" Kaze asked.

  '' What about the goblins?" Fang tilts his head in wonder " They would've found us by now, from all the shouts and screaming and slap, you and Hana caused" Kaze flatly stated, as Hana chuckled sheepishly, Fang scratched his cheek, apologetically.

" Hmm. If you're still concerned, can you make it small enough, just for us to read whatever is on the wall?" Aoi asked

" Yeah, I can actually. Give me a moment" Fang cup his hands together, bring it carefully to his mouth, once his cup hands were there, he softly in command voice " Lumos Orbis"Just from that soft command, white light formed in Fang's cupped hands, giving everyone some light. Which. At first, they were blinded, but after a few minutes, their eyes adjusted, just as Fang uncapped his hands, letting light float above them, in a small, white orb above their heads, giving them light to see.

Lumos Orbis, a light spell, it's not really used for combat unless a monster is sensitive to light. The light comes out from cannonballs to fireflies in the color of white.

Fang spells worked; they can see whatever is on the cave wall. It was in an odd language that wasn't familiar to anyone but Aoi.

jörð bálför tími, 

gods rule among oss, vér, giants vóro kastniðrr, vér plan okkarr revenge en tími wasn't á okkarr hlið, til newer generations, kill gods,inn svá vér megruler yfir mortals einn sinni meiri

" What sort of Amazro language is that?" Fang asked, confused, trying to read it, but to no avail, but he knows the rules, gods, Giants, plan, revenge among, generation, newer and kill. That is all he got from whatever hell that is.

" No idea, Fang. I could only read some of words, since some of them were in our human tongue" Hana shrugged " Yeah, same here" Fang nodded, turn to Kaze " Sorry, Milord, I could only read same as you and Hana, but, it looks like its lost language" Kaze stated, studying message to see if there is code or secret message in it. Aoi watched as her lord, his friend and her fellow worker tried to decipher the message, she sighed.

I really hate this, She thought, as she glance at message and said " its a message, in old Norse" Aoi stated, as she felt everyone gaze on her " So, I'm right, it is old language" Kaze muttered, as Aoi nod " You can read this?" Hana asked Aoi who nodded in return " Cool can you translate it to us-Fang what are you doing?" Hana asked, looking at Fang pulling out old looking Journal full of stray parchments sticking out of it, in odd and every angles, Ink bottle and quill from his bag " Recording our findings and our adventure" Fang hummed, as he writes what happened so far, than write what he is seeing on cave wall.

Hana said " So, Like a diary" " what? No!" Fang huffed at that " It's a record of our findings and our adventures. " Fang explained some more, Hana still held a blank look " you know how scholars record their stuff?" Fang asked Hana "Yeah..." Hana nodded slowly " Well, that's what I'm doing but in every detail that I can remember, even some sketches for visual appeal" Fang stated, showing Hana, his journal, being careful with the ink. Hana read what Fang had written so far, looked pretty impressed with Fang's sketches " Who knew you were an artist" Hana let out a low whistle, looking at drawings of bears, they met " Well, I can only draw animals. Human drawing is not exactly easy to me" Fang admitted, as Hana raised an eyebrow at that " Hmm, I will need to confirm that later, anyway, why are you doing this?" Hana asked Fang

" Easy. For our mother to read and see, once we find her. '' Fang stated with a determined look " that is wonderful, milord! "Kaze suddenly said, making Hana and Fang jumped, as Kaze place hand on Fang shoulder "keep it up milord, your autobiography will surely impress milady!" Kaze said, with stars in his eyes, making Fang gulp little " Um, Actually, this journal isn't exactly an autobiography. I was sort of hoping we all use this journal together, talk about our experiences, including our findings and talk about our pasts. " Fang admitted, holding Journal out little, as Kaze stared, little flabbergasted at what fang said. Even Hana stared.

" So, you're saying, this journal is for everyone. " Aoi wondered out loud, looked at Fang and wrote in her journal " Yeah. You don't have to write in here but if you want something off your chest, you can use this." Fang smiled some, as he explained his journal idea more.

" What happens if we don't want anyone to read what we write?" Hana asked, hugging her arm to her side " then you say these words: What I wrote shall vanish, then tap quill on what you wrote 3 times" Fang explained further " So, you enchanted it?" Kaze looked stunned

" Um, not exactly, mother gave me this upon my 15th birthday. " Fang looked to the side, sad. It was the day, That King's men attacked them.

" oh...right." Kaze muttered, scratching behind his head, remembering that day clearly.

" What happens IF we want others to read it? " Aoi asked this time, breaking awkwardness in the air " Hmm? Oh. Just do the opposite but tap the page 5 times. Like 3 taps, pause, then 2 taps" Fang explained happily, as Hana did another low whistle " Damn. That is one awesome journal. " Hana chuckled, impressed.

" Yeah. I didn't know about it until 2 months ago, when we got chased by those horned birds" Fang chuckled awkwardly, as Hana cringed at the memory, Kaze groaned and Aoi, Aoi rolled her eyes.

" anyway, Aoi translate" Fang excited looked to Aoi, ready to write, Aoi sighed, looked at message on cave wall, inhaled and exhaled, softly read what's on the cave wall " Land before time, gods rule among us, we, giants were cast down, we plan our revenge but time wasn't on our side, to newer generations, kill the gods, so we can rule over mortals once more" Aoi finished, as Fang written it down in his Journal.

" Well, that message was....." Hana trailed off " Off putting?" Kaze finished " Yeah" Hana nod " Interesting, it seems old giants were planning to take their revenge on gods, which ended as a failure. Newer generations probably couldn't read old Norse. " Fang summarized, closing his Journal " probably, we could talk about this later. We need to move on" Aoi stated, pointing down the big ass cave.

" Right, ogre. " Hana sighed, as Fang snapped his fingers, light orb vanished, once more.....darkness was upon them.

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To be continued~