[color=ed1c24][center][h2]Akeno[/h2][/center][/color]

Akeno turned her head to look across the camp, over to where the blacksmith’s forge sat. So he’d been captured and used as a slave by the human, or so people assumed; that explained his absence from the tribe, why he stood out as different from the rest and [i]mostly[/i] explained his crafting abilities. She got the impression it wasn’t the full story though, since Akeno didn’t think it was usual to teach a slave all of the knowledge needed for a skilled trade like blacksmithing. Teach them well enough that they could build and run a forge by themselves afterwards. Or maybe it was and whoever captured Bowbh just gave him a lot of leeway when it came to his work. The details didn’t really matter to her.

She did wonder though if that meant the blacksmith knew more about the nearby human settlements than the other Orcs in the tribe; he’d probably travelled farther from the camp than anyone and seen more of the world as a result, albeit against his will. What kind of people they were, how they lived and their culture and so on. It would probably be crass to ask a former prisoner and slave about that kind of thing though, so better not ask unless it was for something important and not just to satisfy her curiousity.

Well, back to the matter at hand. If Akeno wanted to become the shaman’s apprentice then Yambagorn would teach her how to tell the time and navigate by the stars and the sun, how to mix medicines and poisons, which was more or less what she had been expecting. Being able to make medicine and deal with wounds would be an incredibly useful skill to have, as would be able to find her way if she got lost at any point; she wouldn’t have to rely on anyone else if she ever got injured on a hunt or in a fight, which was practically an inevitability, and would be able to find her way through the woods by herself. That was all definitely more useful than being able to tan a hide or work a forge, in her mind.

Useful for what though? Yambagorn raised a good question, what [i]did[/i] Akeno want? The elderly Orc kept flipping between gross mannerism and bawdy jokes one second and weirdly wise and insightful comments the next; it was nothing ground shaking, but the shaman kept reminding her that Akeno shouldn’t take this woman’s intelligence lightly. Well, it wasn’t like Akeno had any reason to try and play word games anyway; she wasn’t trying to match wits with anyone here, just get information, so if she spoke too plainly and let something slip so be it. [color=ed1c24]“Skills that would let me survive; that’s the main thing. Strength too, since the wildlife here seems pretty dangerous.”[/color] Akeno had died young once already, in a place and time that wasn’t even supposed to be that deadly comparatively. It was not an experience she wanted to repeat again, so any steps she could take to improve her chances she would take.

Beyond that? Akeno recalled vague memories of a divine being, an explanation of how she came to be here and a vague purpose being given. She wanted to know why; why do this, why [i]her[/i], why anyone? Was there a way back home? Would she be herself again if she went home, or would she be forced into a third chance at life? If she was stuck here, what was she supposed to [i]do[/i]? Akeno had never been one to think of her life as having some greater purpose, but when a literal god… thing spoke to you it tended to make you reconsider if maybe it did. She didn’t want to think that they were just being watched to see if they did anything interesting.

[color=ed1c24]“I guess I have some bigger questions too, but those can come later.”[/color]

[@Zeroth]