Through Thick and Thin | Benimaru

Chapter 5: Attack of the Ogres

The blue-haired female ogre barely made it into the deep part of the forest away from the orcs. She was out of breath but thankfully escaped with little to no injuries aside the ones previous to her fight with the orc general. Her large claymore was sheathed into the scabbard on her back as she leaned against a tree to try to recover. The rain made it hard for her to see far, but it was enough to be able to safely navigate the forest.

"What an awful day..." she said to the empty forest as she forced herself to keep moving after a short break. Who knew were the orcs were headed next? At the very least, she hoped that it wasn't towards the young master and the rest of the survivors of the village. She had seen the three of them escape successfully, so as long as they avoided doing anything rash like turning around to attack the orcs, they should be safe.

The ogre climbed up the tree nearest tree after deciding that traveling with a height advantage could be the difference between life and death at the moment. Indeed, she was smart as she saw not too far away the orcs making their own path through the forest. The trees that fell to their massive army didn't even hit the ground as it fell, but was rather thrown to the side since the massive orc army simply lifted it and tossed it aside like a twig.

The girl had no time to process the grief after she left the village, her sole focus on escaping the orcs and finding the survivors of the attack. She kept moving, stopping by the river only to rest for a short while before moving again to avoid allowing the enormous orc army to catch up while she was searching for her friends. After all, the forest of Jura was huge and searching through this whole forest would take forever. Despite that, she was determined to find her friends, even if it meant she would spend the rest of her life scouring the forest.

~~~

The rain continued to pour as the red-haired young master started to lead the group away from their demolished village. There was nothing there for them anymore except burnt wooden planks that used to be the houses they lived in. Not a single body was left for either the ogres or the orcs. It was weird that there wasn't a single corpse in sight, but there was no time to dwell on it at the moment.

"Let's head south for now, since the orcs look like they headed to the east." The red-haired ogre pointed towards the direction of fallen trees to the east. Clearly they had torn a path of their own.

"Do you think that perhaps they were chasing something?" the pink-haired princess suggested hopefully. "What if Little Blue is still out there? What if she didn't perish?!"

"Stop that," the young master said, his voice pained as he thought of his friend. It was never good to get your hopes up in such a desperate situation. The chance of her surviving was so low, especially after they had left her in her rage. It was suicide to go against the orc general while in the midst of his army.

"We have no proof that Little Blue is dead!" the princess argued defiantly. "What if she's out there being chased by the orcs and she needs our help?! What if -"

"We have no proof she is alive!" The young master interrupted his sister with a strong punch into the trunk of the nearest tree as he hung his head. They all flinched at how much pain was laced through his words. Of course, no one more than he would wish that she was still alive, even more than her own cousin. After all, this was the girl that he loved with all his heart. "The orcs devoured everything in sight and even took all the weapons and armor. We have no way to know that she survived the fight and fled. We can hope all we want, but the reality is that she is most probably dead."

"Brother..." the princess trailed off. She wanted to cry, but she also wanted to console her brother. He must've been taking it harder than anyone else, especially since he was always expected to take care of his village. Now, that was all gone thanks to the orc invasion. Adding on top, his childhood friend that always was there to support him was gone without even a body left behind to mourn.