26 It's all about the Clan

Xa'Gun pulled his eyes from the stars again to look upon Midka's profile, it was eerie how her face, Hellie's and Demze's were exactly the same, but the contorting of their expressions caused them to look different to each other at only a glance.

After his brief pause, Xa'Gun grunted out, "Believe in?"

"Yes. What do you believe in?" Midka continued to look at the stars, as she traced the constellations in her mind, per her tutelage.

Xa'Gun fell silent, as he looked down at the ground searching for some answer in his mind.

"Everyone has something to believe in... I'm sure you are the same."

"...Why do you want to know...?" Xa'Gun grunted as he asked a question to buy more time to think.

"Why not? If I know what you believe in, then I might be able to provide you guidance... I also would like to know what my dear baby sister is getting herself into..."

"Wot? I thought you were of the same litter?"

"I was born first, then Demze, then Hellie," Midka gave a light laugh, as she continued her star gazing.

"I see... Don't seem to be much different in a few minutes."

"That's not true at all." Midka's laugh now turned to silver bells of giggling, "Let me ask you, Xa'Gun... If you gave your enemy a chance to attack you for a second, do you think that second doesn't make much difference?"

"Hoy?"

"That's right. Seconds, minutes, and hours... Days, months, and years... They make a difference. How many seconds you spend doing something... You never answered me, so I'll answer my own question."

"I believe in the clan." Midka's voice turned serious from its more fun tone.

Xa'Gun then looked to the left of him to some of the flickering flames of the other burrows... It was late into the night, so only one was still lit for each burrow. It appeared the torches were snuffed for the streets hours ago.

"Yes. This clan. My father, his father, and so on. My mother, her mother, and so on... All for the clan." Midka continued, "Xa'Gun... There is nothing more important than the Clan... Even family. Without the Clan, there is no family, no orc... No one."

"Clan over everything else? What about the poor? The slaves? other clans?" Xa'Gun asks.

"There are no poor among the Orcs, Xa'Gun... If an Orc has strength, then he can feed himself. There is always work to be done. There will always be war with other clans."

"...I don't understand..." Xa'Gun's knowledge learned from the humans did not translate into whatever system the Orcs had in place.

"All you need to do is believe in the clan. You don't have to understand, only do. If it's hard to learn, take your time, and just pledge to the cause. As long as the clan is strong, We are strong. Orc is strong; Clan is stronger." Midka said with her bosom rapidly rising and falling, catching Xa'Gun's eyes.

He grunted in response.

"I told you what I believe in, to give you an idea of what I'm asking... So again, what do you believe in?" Midka continued.

Xa'gun remembering his adopted father's words pulled his gaze from those curvaceous mounds that peaked above her shaman's robe.

"I... Never had time to think... I guess... Survival..." Xa'Gun's tongue rubbed the spaces in his teeth, as he thought of his sister...

"Survival is good. We Orcs are not strangers to this concept. Banished to these shattered lands after the great war. Those stupid humans thought We would wither and die, but We held onto our clans and those clans found their places... And We are still here. So survival is good, but now... Xa'Gun you have a clan... The Clan will ensure you survive as long as you are with the clan, but first... You must get out of the slave pits."

Xa'Gun turned his face back to the stars, as well... He grunted in agreement.

[Yes... I must continue in the pits...]

Midka stood up and dusted her bottom and robes, "It's getting very late, and knowing Hellie... She will drive you into the ground tomorrow. Go get some sleep."

Xa'Gun again grunted as he looked to where Midka stood, but all that was left was a small pile of ashes and the smell of sulfur.

"..." He stood up and looked around. Xa'Gun then walked into his large living room with both his couches, and found that the smell disappeared.

He rubbed the back of his head, as he lumbered down the hallway, and looked into his room. Hellie was still sleeping with half of her body hanging off his bed. At some point, she pulled off her chest wrap again...

Xa'Gun didn't bother to cover his eyes, and he walked into the room. He gazed at those hard abs and contrasting smaller but still soft breasts of Hellie.

After standing for ghost knows how long, Xa'Gun lifted Hellie's arm and leg that were hanging off the bed and put her back on top in a better position. At the bottom, he had noticed a thin sheet. Xa'Gun grabbed it and covered Hellie lightly. It was summer, and the nights were a lot cooler... That and the amount of sweat she had that caused her mounds to glisten like prizes in the moonlight would cause her to catch a chill, or so thought Xa'Gun based on stories he could barely remember from his Sister.

He turned and left the room to check on his father, Demze, and if Midka was still here.

After Xa'Gun turned the corner, Hellie opened one eye for a moment, before she closed it and smiled widely over her petite tusks, as she turned to her right side to continue sleeping.

Xa'Gun stepped to the doorway of the second bedroom of the burrow, to see Jukzuk sleeping away. He looked the rest of the room over and didn't see Demze...

[She didn't say she was going home???]

Jukzuk started to cough in his sleep in a nasty fit, as Xa'Gun was about to walk away. He quickly went to the side of Jukzuk, to ask, "Are you okay?"

"W-water..." Jukzuk coughed again.

Xa'Gun quickly came and went from the kitchen with a tankard of water. Upon his return, he was met with more coughing, as Xa'Gun provided the water to Jukzuk, who drank large gulps. Finally, he let out a long sigh, as he smiled with his sleepy eyes to Xa'Gun.

"Thanks, son." Jukzuk handed the empty tankard to Xa'Gun and patted him on the shoulder before he slid back into bed and closed his eyes.

Xa'Gun stood there... This felt like... A lot like his sister.

[Is this... Family...?] He shook his head, as he took the tankard back to the kitchen and put it in the wash area. He walked to the center area and stretched. Too tired to continue his search, he fell into his usual sleeping place, one of the couches, and before long his mistress of sleep took him away from the world.