A old hope

Next to the kingdom of Arcturus was a great forest ruled by the Orc Lord. The forest is home to one of the strongest and tallest tree species, the Kerazimum. 

The orcs that lived in the great forest varied slightly depending on what family they originated from. A family could have different colored skin and other physical differences. 

In a small clearing near the edge of the forest, a black-skinned orc was kneeling with his head looking down.

Two red-skinned orcs stood beside the kneeling orc.

The orc to his left stood with an executioner's axe in his hands. He wore a long black fur skirt that was as long as he was tall. The skirt was large and flowing, not tight in any way.

His torso, arms, and head were bare and chiseled.

The orc standing to the right wore the skin of a leopard on his torso, covering his shoulders. He also wore leopard-skin trousers that covered every part of his legs.

The orc wearing leopard skin looked down on the dark-skinned orc with disdain. 

"Those night crawlers must think our clan has gotten soft."

"Yes, they must, brother." The man wielding the executioner's axe replied

"We have been assassination-free for years until you came and tried to assassinate the Orc Lord's son."

"Do you have anything to say for yourself, assassin?"

The dark-skinned assassin looked up at the man with a frown.

His eyes were a light black like his skin, and he had two large white fangs that jutted out from his bottom lip.

The man's frown slowly turned into a smile as he laughed.

"Ha ha ha ha!" His laugh was deep and maddened. 

"No, why would I have anything to say?" 

The red-skinned orc's mouth frowned deeply, and he spoke once again. 

"You heard me! This was the first assassination attempt that we've had in a long time. You broke our peace, and now our clan has to retaliate."

"Has to? If they hadn't sent me to kill the kid, your clan would have sent someone into our territory anyway."

The red-skinned orc's frown grew deeper as he spoke out in anger:Do you really think that we would stoop down to your level? How dare you?"

"How dare I what? Speak the truth! Our clans have been fighting since the beginning; if I were not forced to come here, one of your clansmen would have been told to do the same thing by the Orc Lord."

A deep vein pulsed on the red-skinned orc's forehead: "Don't act like your side is innocent; you people always intrude on our territory no matter what happens, and we are forced to go after you."

"You are just like my clansmen, hard-headed and foolish."

"What did you just say?" Thick veins grew on the orc's arms as he pulled his arm back, planning to plant his fist right in this no-good night.

walker's face.

The dark orc looked toward the hand and shook his head disappointedly.

The angered orc lifted his left hand and clasped his right fist, and a soft red energy began to outline the orc's fist and quickly grew in size. 

The orc released his left hand and was about to strike when he felt a strong hand squeeze his shoulder.

The angry orc quickly looked to the right and saw his brother's hand squeezing his shoulder. "What!" The angered orc spoke angrily to his brother.

"No, brother, we have not gotten the message from the Lord yet, and we cannot hurt him."

"The Lord wouldn't care if we just ruffed him up a little bit; he tried to kill one of his children after all."

"I don't know if he would, brother, do you? Why did he not just order his guards to kill the assassin rather than capture him?"

"I don't know," The angered orc brother said, in realization, that the energy outlining his fist slowly began to disappear along with his anger.

"Fine" The orc turned around and leaned on the closest tree.

"Might as well rest; those monkey messengers always go on detours to get food."

His eyes began to slowly shut as he fell to sleep.

The dark-skinned orc looked towards his executioner and asked, "Why did you stop him?"

"We are quite alike."

"I was once asked to be an assassin as a young trainee. My guide told me that I would make a fine assassin with enough training and decided to recommend me to be screened by our clan head, and one day I was screened." 

"Screened, huh, so let me guess you chose not to become an assassin for your clan?"

"I was just about to get to that; once I was done screening, the clan head asked me if I wanted to become an assassin, but at that time I had no idea what I wanted, so I declined. It was a choice, one I don't regret. But I have one question for you: Why did you become an assassin? You had to know what you were getting into."

The dark-skinned orc gave a short laugh before he responded, "Well, I chose to become an assassin because I had to. You don't know much about the other clans, do you?"

Before answering, the executioner wrinkled his face in thought. Why did he have to become an assassin? He must have been able to reject it, right?

The executioner shook his head. "No, I haven't heard much about your clan other than that there used to be a lot of anger between our two clans and how we fought in the days before I was born."

"Oh yes, even though I'm too young, I never lived through those days before either. But let me tell you the truth about my clan."

"In my clan, your entire life is decided by a small group of people. They decide who you marry, what your occupation is, whether or not you have children, and whether you are worth enough resources to keep."

"Your whole life is decided before you are born, and if you do not meet those expectations, the worst they could do is kill you. Who knows, maybe if I were just one of their regular orc warriors, they would lower my occupation rank down to an animal feeder, or if I were a herder, they probably would have just exiled me, deeming me too worthless to kill. But as an assassin, I would be lucky if they executed me. There is nothing I can do to make up for this failure, so they will make an example out of me for all of the novice assassins to see.

The executioner looked surprised at what he had heard since he was young. He always heard his elders talk about our rival clans and how they treated us. He was never told how the other clans worked or why the clans disliked each other.

A single tear fell from the orc's eye as he continued talking. "You must know how it feels to not know your purpose."

"Yes, and to be honest, I still don't know my purpose." The executioner said he was confused.

"Do you know what a farm is?" The dark-skinned orc asked

"Uh yeah, I think the humans use them to create food." 

"I have been imagining it ever since I heard about it from a human. Think about owning your own patch of land where you could plant your favorite food in large amounts. Think about the plants growing taller than your head, completely clouding your view. There would be no reason to fight, no reason to kill, and no expectations laid upon you."

"Can you imagine dying of old age in a soft bed surrounded by your family? The wife who has been with you for the majority of your life, your adult kids who have already begun creating families of their own, and the friends that you have made along the way? I know I can."

A warm presence fell over the clearing. A great gust blew, and the smell of sweet fruit permeated the air. 

The executioner took a deep breath in and a deep breath out. He felt calm, as if everything was as it was supposed to be. 

His brother shook awake as he felt something that should not have been here. He could feel the wind; he could smell the sweet air. His mind wanted to be calm, but he knew the truth. This feeling of calmness was not his, but an emotion forced on him. He knew that it couldn't have come from his brother; he was strong, but his will and his feelings weren't ready to take the next step.

That left the assassin; he only looked forward, unmoving. 

The red-skinned orc was about to move until he felt a small hand on his shoulder.

He quickly moved and saw a silver-haired monkey gripping his shoulder with his hands and a piece of parchment being crushed by its tail. 

He grabbed the parchment, slowly pulling it from the monkey's tail, and unraveled it.

His eyes scanned the parchment, and he nodded in understanding. He looked up from the parchment and said something loud enough for the dark-skinned orc to hear. "It seems the Orc Lord has forgiven you; he says that if you still want to live, all you have to do is train his kin."