Felic was careful to peak out the window as their carriage rocked and swayed, venturing through the green district. It was a section of Kershin Market that looked cleaner and newer in comparison to the other parts he had explored. Getting there meant traveling toward the city center, where the court in which he attended as a prisoner was located. He didn't get a good look of the city then, and he hoped he would have explored it now under better circumstances.

  This part of the city looked cleaner, wealthier, and less poputed. The buildings were designed with elegance and a focus of standing out rather than adjusting to the same boxed buildings that took up space as much as it could under severely cramped conditions. The streets were well-paved, cking the jagged cracks and wide potholes that littered the barely paved paths at bck district. The buildings themselves were built from different material and painted over, instead of the same rocky gray or wooden materials he expected to find much like before. There were less people walking on foot, most travelled on different forms of travel such as carts and in horseback.

  He turned to Nihja who joined them inside, with her daughter rocking her feet while sat on her p. "What is Zena doing here, was the Bck District badly damaged from the attack?"

  Nihja shook her head. "Bck District is just what we call it. It's an abandoned portion of the city, not acknowledged or kept by those in charge. It's why we keep our folk there, it may be filthy, but it is safe."

  "So," Felix thought over her response, piecing things together, "Bck District doesn't have any houses to treat the sick."

  "Afraid not, which is why she was pced here." Nihja acknowledged.

  Felix shifted uncomfortable, staring at his p as his hands squeezed the fabric of his pants.

  It wasn't pleasant hearing that his childhood friend was... unwell, so to speak. His friends sat with him, present yet far away due to their inherit silence.

  Janette wanted to speak to him and offer some words of comfort, but her mind came up empty. What could she say that would somehow lighten his mood? KuliKuli was much better at these things, and she was gone. Reta sat by his side and would occasionally gnce at him. Perhaps she was attempting to comfort him by giving him time to his thoughts, Janette thought.

  The carriage came to a stop, with Alphonse stepping down and greeting them at the door. Everyone hurried through the white building, with Alphonse taking the lead. They were met with a few nurse maidens dressed modestly in white.

  "Down the right." The front nurse spoke softly with a dreaded expression on her tired face.

  Alphonse nodded, but Felix ran through rather than wait for them. He yanked his hood back and gnced around, finding the room littered with wounded patients. They weren't the only visitors, with many friends and families standing at their bedsides. The closest in proximity to him looked to be a bearded old man with salt and pepper hair, coughing profusely with the cw marks on his chest wrapped up. His body looked somewhat healthy, tanned lightly by decades in the sun, with facial wrinkles telling his age. Felix winced and looked away when he realized that man had a stump for a left arm as well.

  He turned around when Alphonse appeared, accompanied by the rest of his friends. "Come, they moved her this way."

  Guiding him further down the right meant walking down and being witness to a half dozen more patients, each one riddled with different levels of trauma. Janette kept her eyes forward, feeling guilty hearing some of the visitor's weep or pray for them to recover. Reta didn't seem as conflicted or disturbed, which only made Janette more nervous when wondering why. Nihja carried her daughter in her arms, hiding her little face against her chest to protect her from this sight.

  They were led to a private room shrouded by curtains rather than a door. Felix stepped in and froze, eyes widened as they fell upon his old friend.

  Zena was given a rger sized bed due to her height, but she was rendered a shell of her former self. When he knew her, she was a slender green child with funny little tusks protruding from her lower jaw that slipped past her lips, sort of the opposite of vampire fangs. Her skin tone was light green, and her course dark hair would tangle easily and be a mess to brush or tie back, and so often her hair was cut short. When they met as adults, she towered over him in size and strength, standing two or three heads above him with her wide shoulders, bulky muscled arms, and even a darker green color. But that funny accent never left, serving as a reminder of how difficult it was for her to speak in their common nguage with those tusks.

  "By the gods, Zena." His voice wavered as he approached her, hands trembling as he thought twice of reaching out to her. Janette stepped in and cupped her mouth, with Reta entering and her eyes widening with shock.

  Their orc friend turned her head all the way, her right eye bandaged up yet doing a poor job to hide the cw marks dragging across. The veins stuck out from her pale skin, giving her a very sickly look. Her neck had puncture marks on them, signs of possible biting from the attack she endeavored. A bedsheet covered her lower body, but a nurse was tending to her leg with a bucket and sponge. She washed a mangled part of Zena's shin, carefully draping the sheet over it shortly after their arrival. She leaned in with a rag and wiped the sweat pouring off Zena's forehead, tossing it into the bucket once she finished.

  "Don't touch her." She warned them.

  Felix reluctantly nodded, counting the number of stabbings and deep cuts across his friend's chest and arms. "What in gods... what happened?"

  The nurse chose not to respond, bowing her head politely and taking the bucket with her as she walked past them. They noticed the bucket wasn't filled with water but stained with a deep red color, a sight that made Janette feel light-headed. Reta's shoulders dropped as she realized the significance of the orc and her physical state, grabbing Felix's hand.

  "Felix," She whispered to him, armed as he pulled away.

  "She'll be fine." He stated coldly, "We've endured simir pain before. Th-this is... "

  Reta stepped back in silence alongside Janette.

  Alphonse sighed, gesturing to his wife to go ahead. Nihja gently lowered Mitzi down, holding her delicate hand and walking around the opposite side of the bed. "Hey Zena, it's me again. Some friends came to see you."

  Zena coughed, managing to open her left eye halfway. Her skin was a paler green color, with her frizzled hair sticking to her glistening skin. Her lips curved into a smile as she acknowledged the rest of the group.

  "Old friend." She whispered with a pained hoarse voice.

  Felix kneeled down to be at eye level with her. "Hey Zena. I-I'm sorry, I didn't want things to go this way-"

  "Felix." She stopped him, coughing loudly. He thought it would pass soon, but her coughing continued until her breathing turned raspy and weak. Alphonse called for a nurse, and the same women ran in with a towel and gss of water in each hand. She lifted the orcs head slightly, letting her cough into the towel before pressing the gss against her lips. She sipped softly, her face scrunched up as she painfully swallowed before ying back. The towel contained small stains of blood much to their shock.

  The nurse retreated to the corner of the room, pcing the gss and towel over the desk when Felix followed her.

  "How did this happen?" He asked her in a whispered tone.

  "Her wounds are too deep, and the infection is beginning to take its toll on her." She expined softly, returning toward Zena to wipe the growing sweat off her brow.

  Nihja leaned in close, looking at her friend. "Zena, are you okay to talk?"

  "Talk.... talk good." She slowly answered back, wheezing with each breath.

  To everyone's surprise, Reta stepped in to approach the orc. Her eyes traced along the many cw marks across Zena's body, before finally looking her in the eye. "I am Norowa Reta, it is a pleasure to meet you at least albeit under sour circumstances. Janette expined to me what you did and how you helped them escape, and for that you have my gratitude."

  Zena nodded slightly with an affirmative grunt, with Reta smiling back. "You have the makings of a fierce and proud fighter in you. Your bravery and initiative to protect us only proves that."

  "Zena protect her friends." She whispered back, breathing loudly. "Do best to protect... friends of friends."

  "I would like to change that. I did not need friends in a past life, but... having friends isn't as much a burden as I believed. It helps to know that you do not fight alone in this life, it would be a great honor to be a friend of yours. Thank you, Zena."

  Zena smiled and snuck out her right hand from the bedsheet, with Reta gently shaking it. "Good to make new friends." She agreed with a light chuckle.

  Satisfied, Reta stepped back and cocked her head. Felix understood, stepping in her pce and grabbing Zena's hand to comfort her. "Hey, it's me again."

  "Old friend." Zena cheerfully sang, squeezing his hand back. "Did you save her?"

  "Save her?" He asked, caught by surprise.

  "Save... cat." She reminded him.

  "Oh." His face sunk down, hanging his head. "I... yes, yes we did. She's fine now."

  Zena grunted back, her eyebrows closing together in a V-shape. "Friend... not lie to friend."

  Felix breathed in through his nose and sighed painfully. "Could never lie to you, could I? They took her, Zena. They found us, hurt us and took them. We failed, that is... that is the truth."

  Zena turned to look at him. "Give up?" She questioned him, almost testing him with her gre.

  Felix didn't know how to respond until she pressed on.

  "Should Zena give up?"

  "No, no gods no." His voice quivered as he scooted in close. "No, you fight this. You fight this to the very end."

  She chuckled, her shoulders bouncing lightly as she seemed proud. "Now I see old friend." She said, interrupted by a series of coughs.

  The nurse swept in and helped her once again, wiping her face clean at the end. Felix squeezed her hand back, feeling how feeble it felt to him. She had the strength to lift him with ease, but now it felt like her hand was holding on to his weight for support.

  "You know... long time spent in chains with no sun and small food," She mumbled, bringing him back to their years under forced servitude. "But not so bad with squishy pink human friend."

  "We can make some new memories here, once you recover." Felix said with a hopeful look, turning to the nurse. "Don't you guys have any medicine that can help?"

  The nurse looked reluctant to answer. "We have some medication, but our rations are in short supply, and the next delivery will arrive in a fortnight."

  "You can't be serious." He argued back.

  Alphonse frowned. "Felix, they're doing the best they can under these conditions."

  Felix sighed, facing Zena once more. Her breathing grew louder, a sign for the nurse to offer her another gss of water to drink down. She coughed and strained to clear her throat, keeping a hold on Felix's palm to help her rex.

  "Zena not good." She expined, "But Felix help."

  "I wish I could do more."

  She squeezed his hand again. "What do with lose love?"

  Felix hesitated, shaking his head. "Thinking of something, I just don't know. But I'm not letting them get away with her, or with all of this."

  Zena opened her eye again, taking a look at him and scoffing. "You missing eye like me, cats cut you too?"

  Felix smiled back. "No, this was his doing."

  "Old man?" She questioned in disbelief.

  "That old man is stronger than he looks." Felix said in his defense. "Absurdly strong. Not as strong as you, though."

  "Oh, not so strong as orc." Zena said in amusement. "Good to know. But Zena not feel strong no more."

  "Don't say that-"

  "Stop." She insisted, gring back. "You go, get lover back. Bring family back."

  "What about you?" He hesitated to ask. "I don't know if I should leave now, at least until you feel better."

  "Feel better now." She assured him, her face softening as she leaned her head back and sighed. Even the exhale sounded raspy and painful. "Zena spent all life fighting, maybe rest not so bad."

  Nihja and Mitzi stood by, with Nihja speaking up. "Zena, you know you'll always be a part of the family here."

  "Always." Alphonse nodded in agreement.

  Zena closed her eye. "Family, Zena wanted family when child. Grew up alone, lost with no orcs. Had family with many orcs before, orcs live with orcs. We don't live with others, because others are not like orcs. Weaker, smaller, puny. But I lost them, my friends, my family. Then became sve. Fought not with fists but with soul, lived alone until new sve brought in. Then life not so bad."

  She coughed loudly, bursting out into a harsh fit that needed two nurses to help her recover. This time she turned to her side, the sweat didn't stop, and her body sagged as the mattress became a soggy mess of sweat.

  "Please," Felix pleaded, "Save your words, save your strength. I need you to fight this."

  "Fight by resting in bed." She chortled, blood dripping from her lip. "You know, in orc culture we fight for many stupid reasons. Fight for sport, fight to impress, for boredom and to find mate. Even freed, I-I had to fight. Orcs did not agree with me befriending smaller creatures, and I did not know customs well. Did not grow up with them. I needed work, became bodyguard. If people did not want me, maybe they can fear me. At least then... I had purpose."

  "That stopped when I found stupid woman with stupid pns, making homes for creatures like me." She offered a kind grin to Nihja. "Life was good, but still miss puny pink human friend. Lost him before, wondered how Felix was doing."

  "I... I took errands and small jobs." Felix expined in return, "I wasn't always here. I traveled up north and ter went east. I was left a beggar in the street when a farmer named Auguste took me in and moved me here."

  "Then you are fighter too, just like orc." She stated, reaching out and pcing her palm against his chest. "You are not green, but we all have this beating in our chests. We live from the same nd, fight different battles but walk simir paths. I was happy for you and your lover, because she brought out your strength. You are strong, Felix. Stronger than you think. Friends make us happy, family makes us strong. Blood does not decide which is which, we do."

  Felix held her palm and nodded back, sniffling as tears started to form in his eyes.

  Zena's breathing grew faint, almost as if she were gargling water with each gasp. Her hand felt cold to the touch, which made the haunting realization sink in.

  "You have a rge heart. I always wondered why orcs grew so rge with hearts so small. I had a family when I was born, and here I have a family when I die."

  "Zena." He whispered back.

  "Orcs do not fight for others... they fight for themselves. To die for someone else is a weakness and a sign of shame." She wheezed, her voice growing weaker with each word. "The weak die a-and the strong survive. But I think we have it wrong. I-I would see children py with their siblings, loved by their parents... and I would feel joy and p-pain. I-I wanted that... I was robbed of it... but, so many years asking for family... not realizing I had one all this time. Almost beautiful... t-to fight for you like this. I thought I would die alone... but I was never alone, was I?"

  She leaned back, staring bnkly at the ceiling. "This is the first time I feel like I can stop fighting in my life-"

  Her chest jumped out, fighting to finish her words.

  "It's strange... this feels... kind of... n~nnice." She whispered, closing her eyes as her body rexed.

  Her hand dragged down Felix's chest, hanging off the mattress with a limp lifeless swing.

  Mitzi sniffled and hugged her mother's legs, with Janette cupping her mouth and sobbing quietly. Reta held in her words, bowing in honor of her recent friend. Felix stared at her peaceful body, clinging on to that hope of seeing her eye or hearing her voice one st time.

  But it never came.