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The rabbit didn’t move.
Its white fur and red eyes were unblinking, staring into her own, like it was judging her. The soft wind had its fur moving in shallow waves, though its ears did not move in the slightest. Its eyes betrayed a kind of intelligence that rabbits didn’t tend to have, as well as a silent threat.
Kaede had never seen a rabbit quite like it. Most fled immediately from Conan, no amount of trust for druids being able to overwrite the instinctual reaction to run from a predator. Sometimes Conan would chase them, instincts for the hunt difficult to overcome when sighting fleeing prey.
But Conan was also frozen, his enormous frame that made carriages look small seemed tiny when facing the shoe-sized rabbit. It stared them down with a murderous glare only a rabbit could give, so still that if Kaede couldn’t see it breathing she’d think it was dead.
Slowly, she extended an arm to a pacifying gesture she hoped the rabbit might recognize if it had seen travellers before. The rabbit gave a clear look of distrust, eyes darting from her own to her hand and back. Taking it as a sign to continue, Kaede reached her druidic magic to try to communicate with it.
Nothing.
It had no thoughts. It had no thoughts. Everything had thoughts. Even plants had thoughts, simple as they were. But this rabbit, this tiny, albino rabbit deep in the eastern forest didn’t have any. Not even surface level instincts. Just a deep, gaping, nothing.
“Impossible.” the words slipped from her lips on their own, a quiet whisper disturbing the silent forest.
Instantly, its attention snapped to her, gleaming red eyes suddenly sparking with violent hate. In the blink of an eye, it was in the air, leaping at her with its teeth bared, ready to rend her to a bloody corpse. It was too fast for her body to react, but her mind watched in horror as it slowly got closer.
Then, Snap!
The rabbit was hanging in Conan’s jaws, shocked to stillness at its failure to murder Kaede in a manner most gruesome.
It wasn’t even midday yet.
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I’ll admit, the rock was a surprise.
I wasn’t expecting anything to spontaneously begin existing outside of existence, especially not by a mortal(?) so small.
Well, relatively small. Orc males average out around 3 meters tall, and orc females around 2.5. My newest roommate hits about 225 centimeters, which is short for an orc.
Skaven typically average around 3 meters for males and 4 meters for females, with the largest ever being a female around 6.5 meters tall. The tallest goblins don't exceed 120 centimeters.
My point is, I didn’t see the rock-summoning coming. Is my new roommate even really an orc?
Let me take a closer look.
. . .
Alright, she IS an orc.
She just so happens to also be a god. Not like Akira, more like the gods that Akira made. Not an exact match, but that can be attributed to her being an orc.
. . .
Why is an orc a god? I’m not complaining, this means I don’t have to make one of my own, but I want to know how it happened.
. . .
Whatever. If she’s gonna be staying here, I should make an assistant– or should I say, an intermediary– so I can interact with her easier.
I don't want it to be overwhelming or all that intimidating. She’s gonna be my roommate, not my slave or enemy.
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Some bone there, some woolen cloth there, a little bit of rope and chain, and. . .
There. A more visually attractive aide.
I’ll also give her a blanket. Sleeping on rock cannot be comfortable.
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The rabbit gave Kaede a look that promised a slow, painful death.
It was currently in a small wooden cage that She had in her camp for the transfer of invasive or lost animals. Considering the rabbit’s aggression, she had decided to use the cage to contain it for the time being.
She stuck a particularly nutritious leaf that she had gathered through the bars of the cage, pulling her hand back swiftly as the rabbit tried to bite her. Despite its hostility, it would be best if she kept it close. It wasn’t a native species, so as a druid it was her responsibility to relocate it, and because of how unusual it was, it was her duty to try to understand it as best she could.
“At least try to eat it. You need nutrition or you’ll die.”
The rabbit looked like it was considering that option just to spite her, but eventually gave in and began to consume the plant. It might not have thoughts, but it sure acted like it did.
What a menace.
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Hifumi awoke on something soft.
Without the ocean of the universe, The only way to see what it was was to see the silhouette it cast on the stone she conjured. By the way that it was shaped, plus its texture, its identity as a blanket was easily discovered.
But she hadn’t fallen asleep on a blanket, nor had she fallen asleep on the stone that she created. Before she could think on that–
“My most humble greetings, my lady.”
She spun. Silhouetted by the backdrop of summoned rock was a creature of approximately skaven height, wearing a monk’s robe secured by rope. Its hands– bound at its wrists by chains– were skeletal and long-fingered. She could not make out its head, as it was above where the stone horizon ended, but the voice had emanated from about an arm’s length above where its neck should have been in proportion to the rest of the body. Whereas before it had its hands clasped in front of it where she couldn’t make them out, at her turn it had raised them to a small surrender.
“Oh! I must apologize, my lady. I thought you knew of my presence.”
Its voice was snakelike and high-pitched, sliding easily over her ears. It had an aged tone, like that of the elder orcs in her tribe, who had told stories around the campfire. It wasn’t necessarily kindly, more akin to the sound that she imagined an old tree would make if it could talk.
“Who are you?” She tried to keep her voice level, wincing at the hint of fear laced in her words.
“You may call me whatever you wish my lady, though if you ask my name, I am Nahi. I am at your service.” it bowed, not enough for her to make out its head, but enough that she could tell what it was doing.
The Orc language was complex, consisting of short noises with meanings strung together to make more descriptive words. In the language, her orc name, Hifu, was composed of Hi (to think), and Fu (to learn). Often orcs would change names through their lives, such as Nufi, whose name meant “Always curious”, coming from Nu (always) and Fi (to be curious), who later became Nuva, when he decided to try cooking, and found that he loved doing it.
But the name that whoever this was gave her, Nahi, meant something different. Hi meant to think, of course, but Na. . .
Na meant never.
She decided to try again. “Where did you come from?”
“I was made to serve you, my lady.” Was that a smirk in its voice? The idea of someone serving her like she had served the noble family put a bad taste in her mouth.
“But who made you?”
“Look around you my lady. Who here could have made me?”
Another non-answer. She knew there was nobody else in the abyss.
Except. . .
“Adho.”
The name made the soft glow of her will infused into the summoned rock dim slightly, and the cacophonous un-noise seemed to intensify. Adho. The Dark One. Banished to the nothing outside of the universe forever. Ahdo, who had made the dark races, and was feared by every god that existed, including the Grand Creator.
Including Hifumi.
Her time as an orc had given her a new perspective, and she no longer feared Adho like she did before, but she had never been able to shake the terror that she felt as just the thought of its existence.
The thing in front of her was made by Adho. Nahi was made to serve her.
“Why?”
She had to know.
“I was made to serve you, my lady. To help you in any way you want and to assist you in any way you may require.”
“But why? Are you aware of the reasoning behind your creation? Are you capable of telling me the reason?”
“I am only aware of that which I am made aware of, my lady.”
Hifumi paused. “Are you loyal? Are you willing?”
“Forever and always, my lady.”
She was not satisfied. But Nahi would not attack or hinder her, she could tell. It held not even the idea in its head that it ever could, nor the desire to do so if it did. She would continue her internal debate on the possible reason Ahdo had to create Nahi just for her later.
She had a fortress to make.
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She began with the rough shape, carving away huge chunks of stone as it slowly became more and more castle-shaped. The discarded stone was used to construct towers out of the rock, grande arches and enormous gardens barren of life. It was a lonely castle, monotone and empty in its initial state, but Hifumi was proud. This would be her new home.
She looked out across her newly carved creation, even as exhaustion began to set in again. Nahi was already behind her, blanket in hand, ready to set her down to rest.
The fortress was beautiful. And it was all hers.
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