Phoebe spent the whole next day walking with Gruna, and whilst the knight tried to teach her more about the weird world she'd found herself in, like that the glow in the grass was actually a magical source, she found herself distracted.

Gruna was giving a piece of herself, to a complete stranger. She was the kindest woman that Phoebe had ever met in her life, but she couldn't think of a single thing that she could give back.

She'd never really been in a serious fight. The orc wasn't going to discover some martial arts from an office worker. She also wasn't an artist, and couldn't pain a wide canvas.

She did know how to make chocolate, but that took months and she doubted she'd be able to find cocoa beans in this place. Drying the nibs wasn't a useful thing to teach a knight, even if chocolate was one of the best foods ever invented.

The last time Phoebe had done a painting, she'd burned it instead of letting anyone else see just how bad it was. So she wasn't about to give the orc that as any kind of skillset.

"I do accounting, where I come from."

Gruna nodded, "A bookkeep, yes, this is something I recall."

"I... You'd never need one, would you? I can't help you out?" Phoebe asked.

The green-skinned woman looked at her curiously, "Do you doubt your ability to demonstrate your skills? Anxiety is something that is accounted for in interviews for such careers. I may not know any personally, but I am certain that I can sign a writ for yourself. The friendship of one of my order can sometimes hold a little weight in such decisions."

"You... Did you just offer to be a reference?" Phoebe stared, and then shook her head, "Practically, yeah, that sounds amazing. But... I wasn't looking for help with my resumé. I... I wanna do something nice for you."

Gruna gave a small and rumbling chuckle, "I see. I did not seek to make this merely about one's curriculum vitae, of course. I see the kindness in your actions, and what you seek. However, your inexperience with this world makes me suggest that it would be better if you spent some time within one of our cities. You might learn things necessary for your survival."

"I'm an adult. I'm not about to die, just by going for a walk." Phoebe felt offended.

The knight jerked to a stop, grabbing Phoebe by the shoulder and hauling her to the same sudden stop. She glared, green eyes almost glowing with her rage, "You think you understand this world? You? Soft skinned child of destiny?"

Phoebe shoved the orc backwards, temper flaring, "Don't touch me. I never claimed I understood everything. I just said I wasn't about to goddamn die."

"Do not take the gods in vain!" Gruna yelled and backhanded Phoebe with her gauntleted hand and knocked her completely off her feet.

Phoebe flipped upright, kicking her feet out to land on her heels with a difficult thud that almost had her falling over again, "There's more to life than fucking gods, bitch!"

She instantly regretted what she'd said.

"More, indeed!" Gruna scoffed, putting one hand on her hip and pointing the other accusingly, "You are blind to the balance of things. There is but a delicate dance between life and death, or magic and consequence."

"I'm not blind. I know I'm an outsider, I know I just got sucked into another fucking world. I am not a fucking moron!"

Gruna blinked, and lowered her hand slowly, "Is that truly so? Then why do you treat that crystalline crystal around your neck as nothing but a bauble?"

"Crys... Oh." Phoebe reached up and touched the black stone on her collar, "It's... Obsidian? It really is just a pretty thing in my world. Is... Are crystals... Magic? Here?"

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The orc nodded slowly, "I see. If it is a thing of your world, perhaps things are different. However, as I must educate you as a child, crystals are things that attract the powers of the gods you so dishonour. It will no longer be so mundane."

"If your gods are as petty as you, maybe I should find my own way to the town." Phoebe rolled her jaw.

Gruna paused, and then looked crestfallen, "There is truth to your words. They mark me upon my soul."

"I... What?"

The green-skinned woman gave a small shrug and stared at the ground, "I am supposed to be a knight of the holy orders. I am to be guide and guardian to all. Yet, I allow my own feelings to cause me to act the child. It is not you who should be so admonished."

"Holy shit. No one has ever said sorry that quickly before. About anything." Phoebe stared.

Gruna smiled sadly, "The truth of things, is that I... I am a lost soul. There is much upon my shoulders that pushes me to speak cruelty, when only kindness should rise. You have lost your world, and I am one who should have sympathy for such a thing."

"World... I..." Phoebe's mind reeled. She hadn't quite realised that her home was gone. Her friends were gone. She wasn't in a new world. She'd lost her home. Everything she knew was gone.

The orc nodded, "I lost my clan. My family. I made choices, walking my path, and I lost them all. That is a weight I always carry, and there are times when such things cause me to treat those around me with an unkindness, undeserving."

"Fuck. You lost your whole family?" Phoebe stared, before remembering that Gruna had mentioned something about a vampire. She just hadn't realised it meant everyone.

The corner of Gruna's mouth twitched, a tiny and bitter smile, "Such is the truth. My story has been etched in stone, and it is one that should not be read unless one has a will of another stone much harder."

"That... Is there anything you can do?" Phoebe was lost.

The knight stopped walking, and gave a bitter shrug, "Redemption lies not in the past, but shaping the future. The past is left behind, in the footsteps you dare not look back to see."

"We can't rewrite this story?" Phoebe said, hoping that vampire attack meant you might be able to turn a few back or something.

"Rewrite?" Gruna's voice cracked. "You're a fool. Some stories are etched in steel, and no amount of pretty words will alter their course."

Phoebe tightened her jaw, disliking the woman's lashing out, but understanding it to a certain degree. They were hurting. "If there's a chance to make things right, then as a knight, you should seek it. If I can help, in any way, then I absolutely will. I will fight for you, and your family, Gruna. I promise."

The orc stared for a moment and then shook her head, "You do not understand what it is that you do! You are nought but a wanderer. You cannot repair the fractures of existence. Reality cares nought for intention, knight or not. Do not swear to something so lightly."

She crossed her arms, "Then reality needs a good kick in the pants."

Gruna's eyes bored into Phoebe's for a moment, but the newcomer didn't back down. The knight winced, cracking, "You learn the hard way. There is a truth to this, that some paths may lead to salvation, but others to ruination."

"Can't figure out which, without walking the damned thing."

Gruna rolled her eyes, "Truth! Some paths are in fact damned."

Phoebe shook her head, and stepped forward, putting her hands either side of Gruna's face. Holding her lightly, and looking into her eyes with sympathy and concern. "Then... Let me find out. With you. Together. Can't we do that?"

The orc's bottom lip trembled around her hooked teeth, and then she gave in. Dropping forward and putting their foreheads together with a thunk, before bursting into weeping tears.

She sniffled and honked, loudly crying and startling a flock of nearby birds. The sun began to descend, lighting the two figures standing in that part of the forest. Stretching out their shadows and bathing them in a dull orange glow.

The light caught Phoebe's collar, flickering for a moment before the obsidian turned the orange to a soft blue, and began to light up as if it were surrounded in a flame.

Gruna's weeping filled the entire valley, bouncing back and forth, as Phoebe felt unsure of how to help her friend, or what the heck she was supposed to do about the glowing blue thing around her neck.

She could see the light from the burning stone, even though it lay beneath her chin. She knew what was happening, even though she wasn't sure that it made sense that she could.

"Re... Redemption..." Gruna whispered, sniffling and slowly looking up with a burning anger in her eyes, "Redemption means to save that which has been lost. To give hope to the damned, to drag the burning from the flames. It may tear us to pieces... But I solemnly swear, with you by my side, to seek such redemption as may be found by world's limits."

Phoebe took her hands, squeezing them and smiling into those emerald eyes, "Let's find out. Face it, together."

She didn't have a clue what had happened to the orc's family. She didn't know if she was quite ready to face an army of zombies or whatever other hellspawn this world might be about to throw at her.

Phoebe also knew, though, that she did not care.

She was there for Gruna. The end.

Fin.