The most unusual has happened. In this world brimming with misery, hardship and selfishness; a shady individual decided to adopt a certain someone.

The one who made that decision was a suspicions individual and this was putting it mildly. He was inhuman, his form foreign and grotesque. Some people would guess he was some type of beastman, but many would mistake him for a savage monster.  Regardless of how he looked he was able to adopt a human. This is for the simple reason, an orphanage cared about the money more than the orphans.

The girl he adopted was small and slim, her body still lacking the usual feminine charms; her hair was long and brown in colour, reaching her hips; her eyes were narrow and green in colour. She was clearly inexperienced, but seemed hardworking and willing to learn.

This was how it went for him.

…

Being an orphan she was poor and had no possession besides her tattered beige dress, which resembled a sack with holes for head and arms rather than an actual clothing.

The girl was unsure why she has been picked up by her new guardian but she was happy never the less. She considered herself lucky as orphans were rarely adopted or even taken in as servants as they lacked good upbringing and basic skills. The few ones who were freed from being an orphan were usually boys as they were better suited for manual labour.

In her opinion her new guardian was quite peculiar individual, belonging to a species she has never seen before. Her minders were visibly weary and suspicions of him on her day of adoption, but gladly took the coin without questions. They did wonder why someone like him would pick up a human child and asked if he wants to see other children. The orphanage had many children from different species and subspecies. He waved it off and said he is fine with this particular girl.

She was quite shy and unsure how to behave and what to do with herself when she got adopted. Her guardian did not speak much, he did not say his name or even asked hers. She just followed him throughout the town obediently.

Will her guardian be mean to her, is he a bad person, she started to worry. Her initial happiness withered bit by bit uneasiness taking its place

Unsure what is about to happen to her she gathered the courage and asked in a shaking voice.

“Are we going to my new home?”

“Yes.”

What a simple answer. After this, there was that uncomfortable silence, the one between strangers. She needed to get acquainted, so she asked again.

“Is there a family there, like my new stepbrothers and sisters?”

“No”

Again, such a simple answer. ‘Does he dislike me, if so why did he pick me out?’

“H-How should I call you.” She stuttered.

Her guardian looked at her for the first time they left the orphanage, with a hint of confusion on his face. The pair stopped,

“I am … unsure. How would someone like you call the one like me?”

What interesting questions she thought. “A father?”

“…”

‘Maybe this was too soon; to call him her father” she wanted a father nevertheless.

“A guardian?” She offered a synonymous label for an adoptive parent.

“This will do for now, call me guardian”

They continued their journey. The silence and excitement were too much for the young orphan to bare. She had questions to ask, things to find about.

“Guardian, why did you take me from the orphanage? What will happen to me now?”

“My reasons are my own, but you will serve me”

“How?”

“I will explain once we will get home.”

The answers did not calm her uneasiness at all. She took a hem of her dress and rolled it in her fingers, she was very nervous. ‘What sort of life will I be living? It is unlikely to be worse than in an orphanage’ or so she hoped.

As time passed they left the city and went through a path leading to the forest. The end of a narrow path revealed a small rundown hut, which looked unkempt and abandoned.

This was not much; she did not expect much anyway. Her own place should still be better than living in orphanage dormitory. She had good hopes for this place. A place she will be able to call home.

Her guardian opened the doors which were unlocked and squeezed his massive body through the doorway. The building was clearly not made for his handsomely big frame.

Once inside he gave her a pouch and an old sickle. The sickle looked like it has been used for generations, but its blade held a good edge; it was freshly sharpened.

Then he took her deep into the forest and showed various plants she had to cut and store in her bag. They were there to harvest herbs. It was her first day and he put her straight to work.

They were at it for hours, she was getting very tired from all the walking but she did not dare to complain, fearing that her guardian might abandon her. Send her back to the orphan life, if she failed her tasks that is.

They did not talk much, by now she understood that he was not a chatty type at all. She came to the conclusion that he was some sort of hermit living alone in a forest. She knew that people living in solitude would be like that and she accepted it. Beggars cannot be choosers, she was still happy to be adopted.

They worked till the late evening. As he stopped for a moment she checked herself out. Her clothes were smeared with fibre, seeds and plant matter, her fingers were reeking of herb juice but her sack was full. Most of all, she felt extremely tired.

“It is getting dark, we will get home now.”

These were the words she was dreaming to hear for the past three hours. She was exhausted and terribly hungry.

“I am so hungry and worn-out.” – She complained to herself.

He directed a peculiar gaze at her. ‘Did I offend him somehow?’

“S-sorry, I didn’t…” she was cut off.

“No, I have completely forgotten. Little creatures like you need to eat quite often, I am fine even if I go with no food for two days that is why. Are you hungry?”

“Starving. I missed my ration at the orphanage.”

“I will fix you up something.”

This was the most they spoke in hours. Her guardian did not seem a bad person, peculiar but definitely not someone with an evil and cold heart.

Back at the hut, they put the herbs in the corner. Her guardian opened a hatch on the floor and took a chunk of meat. It was clearly at least a few days old. A young girl was unsure what to do.

It was rude to refuse food, but she can’t eat that. ‘He might but I definitely can’t’ she concluded in her head.

“No? Don’t like it?”

She shook her head timidly.

“I am not sure what your kind eats. I am less prepared then I thought. How about some roots and nuts?”

He took a pouch of fresh nuts and a box containing a mixture of tubers and roots.

The girl nodded, pleased that he has some normal food.

“Where is the pot? I will cook the vegetables.” she wanted to be useful and win a favour with her guardian. She did not get to cook actual food often and was rubbish at it. However, boiling some vegetables, she thought she could manage.

“The pot? I eat them raw. I am not hungry anyways, I ate yesterday. And the pot, there should be one by that fireplace thing.” He pointed at the dusty hole in the cobble wall.

She nodded and went to look for a pot. The pot was in a fireplace which was not used for years and the pot was all dirty and had some very old mould in it. He was not lying, he has definitely eaten those vegetables raw. Even she knew that some of them are slightly poisonous if eaten raw. ‘Yet he ate a stale meat, he must be fine with that.’ She brushed it off as some sort of perk of his race.

“I need to wash it. Where can I get some water?”

“Mhm, the stream is not too far. I will finish this and show you.” he said this as he was sorting the herbs from the pouch.

“No need, just tell me where and I will find it. I can be very independent” – she puffed her flat chest out.

“So be it.” He described how to get to the stream.

The girl listened talentedly and once he finished she heated outside on her small adventure.

‘To the forest from the back of the house, up the small slope and through a small path through the undergrowth, the stream is close by an old oak, follow the sound of water.’ She repeated it again and again in her head.

It was very dark and she could not see the oak. She was actually quite afraid of being alone in the darkness. She just put a brave face and wanted to make a good impression upon her new guardian. However, she was not lost she could hear the sound of flowing water. She quickly walked towards it, eager to return back to the hut.

Eventually, she found the small stream to clean the pot and gathered some drinking water. The water was ice cold and her fingers were shaking quickly losing the sense of touch, but the pot was clean and full of fresh water. Job well done, she was happy.

Suddenly there was a wild howl in a distance. She froze unsure what to do. She heard couple more. Her instincts kicked in and she grabbed the pot and started running towards the general direction of the hut.

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She was so scared, she forgot that a forest is a very dangerous place, especially at night.

Lucky to her, she popped out to the clearing where the hut was. She was totally in a different place and side from where she thought she would emerge. The home was in a sight and that was all that mattered.

She went inside and set the pot on the fireplace. Her guardian was immersed in his job with herbs, working in the dim light of a candle. She was unsure if she was supposed to say something like “I am back”.

He did not look back to her or did anything to affirm that he noticed her coming back. She decided to remain quiet and get on with it. The water was secured but the pot was half full, the rest of it spilt on her clothes. She did not need a full pot of water anyway.

Her next task was to make a fire to boil the water and to dry her clothes. She did not want to disturb him from his tasks and decided to sort that independently, just like a proper adult she was about to be.

She went outside to gather some firewood. She did not need or want to go back into the forest and lucky to her she found some firewood by the side of a hut. Some of it was very old, it was light and full of holes eaten by the bugs. However, it was dry and perfect to start a fire.

The fireplace had a steel and splint hanging on a hook and she started to work it to set the fire burning. She has never used it before. She hit the split again and again; sparks were flying but it did not start the fire, something was missing. She was determined and just kept making sparks hoping it will work.

The girl was running out of energy, her attempts were fruitless. Her numb and cold fingers did not make the task easy either, but she was so hungry she needed to cook the food. She kept trying, giving up was not an option.

Her guardian finished sorting the herbs into small stacks and piles of leaves, stems, pods and flowers,

“How about using the candle to start the fire?” He offered.

‘The candle, duhhh’ she completely forgot about that. She did not need to work that splint and steal for 10 minutes, all she had to do was use her brains. Well, this was a tip for next time when she needed a fire.

He brought the candle closer illuminating her surroundings. It was currently night and It was now dark inside, her errand took longer than she thought. She looked herself over. She was a mess, looking like an unruly toddler. Her dress was wet and messy, bits of plant matter clung to it. Her feet were dirty and muddy, mucky footsteps were all around the clay floor of the hut.

She thought she would get shouted for making a mess inside. Like in an orphanage, every time she messed up something she would get punished by a beating and would get no food for the next day. But he did not seem to pay any attention to it. He was leaning over to hand the candle whilst looking at the fireplace.

”There is no fire-starter just chunks of firewood” he made a spot on observation.

The fireplace was not used in years but he definitely knew how to light a fire.

“This will be easier.”

He stretched his hand toward the wood. A sliver of glowing light slithered and stretched from his palm, twirling inside the fireplace. It glowed brightly and then it caught fire. The girls’ eyes were wide open. This was magic.

‘What is mage doing in a rundown hut, gathering herbs and fathering an orphan?’ She believed that all mages were in nobility, living in their mansions and doing the stuff rich people do.

She shook her head twice trying to wake up as if this was a dream or figment of her imagination. ‘Magic ehh?’

“I wanted to show you how to sort the herbs out, but you were hungry, and we are out of time. Tomorrow you will need to learn how to do that, as this is important.”

“Sorry.”

“How do you prepare the food, show me?” he completely ignored her apology as if he did not care about that.

‘Is this some sort of a test? Are my cooking skills being tested?’ her mind was wary this time. She messed up twice already.

“I just going to peel some of them and set it to boil.” She offered a simple answer.

He handed the food and produced a small parrying knife from somewhere.

“You don’t eat the skin?”

“The peels, no.”

“Noted.”

‘Why is he so talkative all of the sudden?’

She peeled the vegetables and put it in the hot water which was starting to boil. The pleasant aroma filled the room making her stomach to cramp up; it demanded food.

She took a pouch of nuts he had offered before, hoping to ease her hunger. The nuts were still in their shells. Shy tried to crack it but, with no proper tools, it proved to be quite difficult. Guardian was just watching her silently. Her cheeks blushed, she started to feel very self-conscious and embarrassed. She must look so incompetent, unable to do basic tasks.

‘Not this again…’ It was not her fault she did not have a nutcracker.

“How do you get them out?” she asked seeking for help.

“Like this.” he took a bunch of them in between his clawed fingers and squeezed.

The shells cracked with a pop. This was impressive. He was strong. The young girl took a nut and squeezed a nut in her palms with all her strength.

No success.

“Hahahaha” – he let a deep short burst of laughter. “Weak.”

Somehow she got offended even though she knew she was frail and weak, all orphans were.

He took a bunch of nuts into his hands and cracked multiple of them in one go.

“Here.”

He stretched a palm full of mixed bits of nuts and shells. She would have to separate them by herself, some of them were mushed but she did not complain.

The nuts made her even hungrier, rousing her appetite. By that time the vegetables were done and she would not need to suffer that unpleasant feeling of hunger.

The food she made was not a soup or stew just some boiled vegetables. She had to fish them out one by one with her sickle. They were plain but still a nutritious food filling her stomach. For the first time, she could eat as much as she wanted so she slightly overdid it and overate. Too much in one go was not good and she felt bloated.

There were still some vegetables left in a pot for the next day. She hoped that her guardian will not be hungry and decide to eat his share later. As he was huge compared to her, where would be nothing left for her.

Speaking about him, he seemed to lose an interest in whatever she was doing and was absentmindedly staring into the nothingness, probably thinking about something.

She was not hungry anymore but still was exhausted. She looked around for her place to sleep, but it appeared that there was no such place. There was no bed or straw or anything like that in a hut. One exception being the small pile of furs her guardian was sitting on.

Her clothes were still damp and she felt their coldness on her skin. They needed to be dried. She threw a few chunks of splintered wood into the fire looking into the eyes of her guardian who was still spaced out.

Her cheeks got hot and she felt embarrassed again and unsure of herself. She turned towards the fire and took her dress off, putting it away to get dry. This felt very uncomfortable as he still felt like a stranger, and him being a male did not help.

She turned her head hoping to gauge some sort of a reaction. There was none. What was she thinking, they are family. For the family this is normal.

She put a few dusty sacks she found in the corner near the fire and laid on them to sleep.

“Goodnight.”

“…” silence. ‘Will he not respond? Is he still away with the fairies?’

“Goodnight.” He replied eventually. His gaze locked at her naked back.

As she was resting she was thinking about her day and what lies ahead in the future. She slowly drifting into the dream world whilst taking time to reflect on her day.

This was good; not being an orphan that is. Sure this was not much. The hut was in a sorry condition, there was a lack of basic necessities like a simple spoon. However, she did not need a lot; being fed and looked after was good enough.

All the little things she did not have before, she did now. Having your own corner where you belonged. Being a part of something bigger, a part of a family was amazing, even if the called family was more than odd. Strange ex-hermit creature and a useless ex-orphan.

This was better than good. Sure, she would need to work hard and probably would still live a life of a poor person, but this was an honest way of living. Also, her guardian seemed like a good person. He did not even shout or beat her for her incompetence. He taught her and helped her, showing nothing but kindness. She hoped that she will be accepted as a daughter and one day will be able to call him father.

A few tears flowed down through her cheeks before she fell asleep. These were tears of happiness.

‘What sort of day will I have tomorrow?’ she hoped that it will be as good as it was today.