Lix Lorn and Strawberries IC

[Strawberries]

"...yeah." Kitra says, but she seems a bit confused How is it they are so nice? That's not normal she thinks. She comes from a...different ambient "You...you didn't have to do that, hon. " she says, embarassed, but taking the armor all the same. Then "How is your warrior? Did he say anything?"

[The Dark Fiddler]

["Perhaps I didn't need to, but I wish to. Your help in this matter is greatly appreciated. The bow and armor are empowered by the Great Ancestor... I believe his blessing may be useful in the future. As for the warrior, he has yet to wake up either. His injuries were much more severe than the girl's... it wouldn't surprise me if he were unconscious for another day, personally."]

Just as the elder finishes his sentence, there is a quick sentence of orcish from inside the hut, followed by a grunt and a thud, before a female voice shouts out, "Damn orc! I swear, if you did anything to me..."

[Lix Lorn]

Laen was about to call to the girl, and decided that Kitra would probably be more calming for her.

[Strawberries]

"Aw, dammit" Kitra mutters, then heads quickly into the hut, all the while speaking in common to be heard by the girl "Now calm down, sweetie. You're among friends, you know."

[The Dark Fiddler]

As Kitra pokes her head into the building, she notices the healer on top of the girl, pinning her to the ground. "Thank the gods, another human! Will you get this damn orc off of me?!" She's obviously struggling against the healer, though he isn't doing anything more than restraining her. He speaks an sentence in orcish as the elder enters the building, his hand glowing briefly.

"He says he intends to do nothing, and wishes to point out the girl attacked him without provocation."

"A-another orc? W-where the hell am I?! You're not working with them, are you?"

[Strawberries]

"As a matter of fact, yes. Kind of. Look, sweetie, there's no "working with" here. Your parents send us to find you, these people helped." she shakes her head, realizing that the story doesn't seem very likely.
"That fellow on top of you is actually the healer who took care of you, and will release you in a couple of seconds, if you calm down" she adds, looking meaningfully at the elder. Then, as an afterthought "If you don't believe me, feel free, but I got a paladin here that will confirm my story word for word." she says, smirking at Laen.

[Lix Lorn]

Laen nodded at her cue, coming in and bowing.
"Your family was worried about you." he said softly. "These orcs helped rescue you."

[The Dark Fiddler]

"But... uh... why'd I need help in the first place then? The last thing I remember is getting ambushed by a group of orcs like this one!"

[Lix Lorn]

"Different orcs." said Laen softly. "Just like men and elves sometimes do wrong, sometimes, so do orcs. But these are the ones who helped us against their misguided kin to rescue you."

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Look, Kitra! Words!

[Strawberries]

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Yay!

Surprised, Kitra looks at Laen for a moment, trying to remember when was the last time she heard him put so many words together. "What he says, darling" she says "Now, what do you say if we take you back home?"

[The Dark Fiddler]

"I... uh..." After a moment of considering her position, the girl stops struggling against the orc on top of her, who promptly gets off of her, allowing her to stand up and brush herself off. "Fine.

"Before we go to bring you home, is there anything you need? Perhaps food?"

"We? You mean, you're coming too?" The elder nods. "Haha... can't wait to see dad's reaction." The girl rolls her eyes and steps closer to Laen and Kitra. "I'll just eat when I get home."

[Lix Lorn]

Laen nodded.
"You've helped more than enough." he said. "I'm sure what she wants most is to hurry home."

[Strawberries]

"As you wish, sweetie, but it's your loss. Food here is excellent" Kitra says. Then, shaking her head "Very well, let's get you home, then."

[The Dark Fiddler]

And with that, the small group leaves to return the daughter home. The elder stops only shortly to give a few orders to Grith on the way out. As Kitra and Laen pass, he says ["Farewell. May we meet again some day."] He bows deeply as well, before returning to his sentry position on the outskirts of the village.

As the four travel back to the house, the daughter does her best to stay far away from the elder. He tries to make small talk, but as he realizes she doesn't want to talk, he eventually gives up. The rest of the trip is fairly silent. Eventually though, you all reach the home of the man who originally asked for your help. "Well thanks a lot, I guess this is where we part ways then?" The girl seems to be speaking in a rush, almost as if she was hoping you wouldn't argue this point. However, the elder does that for you.

"Sorry, but I'm afraid I'll have to stay a bit longer, personally. I wish to mend relations between your family and my village... it's too long now that we've been fighting."

"But... wasn't it you guys who started it?"

"Actually, this whole thing... it's been a great misunderstanding. You don't look very old now... you couldn't have been much older than 10 when you first moved here, no?"

"Right, I was 8."

"So you probably don't remember what happened. No offense meant of course. It's just that I was still fairly old back then, so I still remember... it was all an unfortunate misunderstanding, and one I wish to fix now. It's been too long, far too long..."

"Huh... well, I can't promise my parents will be very receptive to you..."

[Strawberries]

Kitra smirks. She can imagine the men being less than thrilled to have the elder in his house.
"That's why we'll be here, to smooth things over." Or possibly to get dishes thrown at them by an angry housewife, depending on how rough things could get. "Don't worry, sweetheart, I'm sure you can work it out."

[Lix Lorn]

Laen gave a nod, hoping things would go well.

[The Dark Fiddler]

The girl shrugs. "Well, you two will probably have your work cut out for you. Still, thank you for rescuing me... and I suppose if he's going to be here," she motions to the elder, "it's best to have... backup." She walks up to the door of her house, takes a deep breath, and opens it, motioning for you to follow her in. Her mom, standing inside making a meal, nearly drops the food in surprise.

"S-Samantha! You're home!" She puts down the pot she was holding rather hastily and runs up to hug her daughter, babbling incoherently. The rest of the family comes in from the next room, and they're all nearly as surprised as their mother was. The two eldest sons stay off to the side to give their parents and younger brother room, but are obviously happy to see her safe and sound. Her father runs up to hug her along with his wife, while the youngest son runs up to hug Kitra's and Laen's legs. "Thanks you for bringing sissie back peoples!" Samantha is obviously a bit surprised by the quite sudden outpouring of affections (or perhaps the hugs were just a bit tight), but is laughing and trying to calm her parents. Her father eventually breaks off the hug and walks up to the two heroes, hand extended.

"I can't thank you two enough... I can only imagine how much of an inconvenience it must have been for you..." As the father's words seem to get lost (although it's quite obvious how grateful he is to you), the littlest son pokes his eyes between your legs and looks at the elder.

"Look daddy, that man has green skin!" The whole family freezes at this; in the rush of getting Samantha back somehow all five of them had managed not to see the elder. The father's face falls instantly as he sees the orc.

"Wuh... what the hells is he doing here?!"

[Lix Lorn]

Laen immediately placed himself in between the family and the elder, hands in a concilatory gesture.
"This is the elder from the orc village. He has provided immeasurable help in rescuing your daughter." she said quickly.

[Strawberries]

"Yeah, honey" Kitra says, placing herself beside Laen "Why don't you listen to what he has to say, hm?"

[The Dark Fiddler]

"Listen to him? Bah! It's his damn race's fault that any of this happened in the first place!"

"Sir, if you-"

"Oh, it speaks Common, does it? So you'll understand when I tell you to get out!"

"Please, I can explain..."

"Explain nothing, it's been ten years that you've been harassing us for! I'm damn tired of it!"

"But sir, it's all a misunderstanding."

"I'm sorry, but ten years and you're going to say it's all a misunderstanding? All those years? I'm calling bull**** here."

"Dad, the least you could do is listen to him. These two said that he was part of why I was saved in th-"

"Samantha, I know you're not a little girl anymore, but you just got back and you're probably a bit messed up in the head. Please, let me handle this."

"Honey, can't you at least listen?"

"Damnit, are you all against me?!" After the flurry of conversation, the father looks around as the rest of his family looks down. He grunts.

[Strawberries]

Kitra is sick of it as soon as the man open his mouth. She walks to him, invading his personal space and squaring off against him. She is very angry, and being very trasparent about it.

"Now you listen to me." she says. No "honeys" or other monickers this time. She is all business. "Next time you address a sentient creature as "it" to his face, you'll have to answer to me. And I assure you, it won't be pretty. So, first of all, I'll say an apology is in order. And second, we can confirm the parts of his tales that involved us. So, if you are such a bigoted racist that you won't listen to him, there is a paladin right here beside me, that'll tell you the same things, and if you don't believe him either, you can go to hell."

She almost spits the word "paladin", then stands there scowling, looking at the man with a fierce expression.

[The Dark Fiddler]

"Listen, it's not like I'm being unreasonable. You expect me to just be able to believe him after more than a decade? But fine, if you're gonna call down the holy warriors on me, I'll listen." And he does listen to the elder's explanation. The elder explains everything with the misunderstanding and the small cult, as well as the fight to retrieve his daughter. "That sounds a bit far-fetched still. I mean, you say you couldn't explain earlier, but you're speaking Common right now!"

"Because of a magical spell granted to me by my god."

[Lix Lorn]

"Maybe," said Laen quietly, keeping his voice level. "He didn't try and help sooner because he didn't want this to end in a fight?"

[Strawberries]

"Beause he knew that you probably wouldn't look past his tusks and green skin" Kitra says under her breath, still seething.

[The Dark Fiddler]

The man turns angrily to Kitra. "Listen, you, I'm not a racist. This is based entirely on my experience with him and his tribe in the past, not just because he has green skin!"

"I have to admit, he relations with our tribe have been less than pleasant in the past. As for why I didn't come to explain sooner, I figured after a gaff like that, it would be better for us to simply live in peace through not interacting. I had no idea you were being harassed by that group." The man sighs, turning back to the elder.

"I suppose if you're telling the truth, I can forgive. It won't be easy; ten years of anger is hard to get rid of, but I'll certainly try." The elder smiles.

"Thank you. The effort is really all I can ask of you. I hope that we can stay on good terms in the future."

[Strawberries]

Kitra snorts in hearing the man's protest, looking quite obviously skeptical, but doesn't comment any further.

[The Dark Fiddler]

The man turns to Kitra and Laen. "I suppose your job here is done... my daughter's back, and he's here now. I promise you, I'll talk peacefully with him. And thank you again for getting my daughter back."

"I should be fine now... thank you for this chance to reconcile and make amends... remember that you are always welcome at our village." Samantha steps forward and hugs both of her saviors.

"And come back here some time and say hi, alright? Don't be strangers now!" Their mission complete, all that's left for Kitra and Laen is to return to the city. Perhaps they'll find another job there, or perhaps not. Such is the mystery of life.

[Lix Lorn]

Laen smiled slightly, and bowed formally, interrupted by Samantha's hug, which he tentatively returned.

[Strawberries]

Kitra hugs Samantha back "You need me, just ask anyone in the slums for Kit. Okay, sweetie?" she says to her, before releasing her, and nodding to Laen that she's ready to go.

[Lix Lorn]

Laen forcibly withheld a grin, with some effort, and nodded back.

Kit? He thought.

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Kit? XD