🦴𝐃𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐈𝐧 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐚𝐫𝐤🦴
ᴘᴀʀᴛ ᴏɴᴇ
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ꜱꜰᴡ ✶ ᴍᴅɴɪ ✶ ᴏʀᴄ ᴡᴇʀᴇᴡᴏʟꜰ x ɢɴ ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ
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It was a story that had been told a thousand times before:
Weak human almost dying in the cold, being saved by some beast who was finally showing softness for once in its life.
But this was a bit different.
Grukh had isolated himself from his horde, after having been one of the best hunters in his clan. As an orc, he had been revered and celebrated after every brutal and efficient kill, thriving on the chants and cheers of his brethren. Standing at 6’8, built of thick muscles he’d worked decades for, blunt tusks jutting from his mouth, beard braided in ceremonial style. His black hair gleamed with a healthy shine from drinking down the blood of his kills, using the furry pelts to cover the bare amount on his body to be modest.
But after one hunt, everything went down hill.
He’d thought it was just a wolf that was a bit too big, maybe mutated or just abnormal. And when he’d taken it down and felt its jaws snap down on his shoulder, sure he expected to have a scar after it healed, but he didn’t imagine it would transform his entire way of life.
Grukh didn’t like to think about what happened after, the fever that turned feral, the screams of his fallen brethren and their blood dripping down his snarling teeth, what was once a massive orc, became an even more massive abomination. Nearly unstoppable as he tore through clan member after clan member, their only choice was to lead him out of the camp, barricading him out to the cold.
That had been almost a decade ago.
Now he’d become a legend. A myth. The abominable creature of the mountain, able to take down grizzlies in one swat of his massive paw, his growl said to make the earth shake.
But you didn’t believe in all that hocus pocus.
You’d been craving to see the scenery, to have the thrill of conquering the mountain and see the serene view of the top of trees and the sun setting. But Grukh wasn’t the only thing that could chew you up and spit you out.
Only three days into your week long journey, the storm had ruined your camp, leaving you bleary and crawling through the snow, getting lost in the unforgiving terrain. Meek human body not meant for such things, on the brink of death after freezing in the snow over night. And while the creature of legend could’ve seen you as easy prey, he knew he’d have no satisfaction in that kill. But a part of him couldn’t stand the idea of something else eating you if he left you there.
Which is what lead you here.
Waking up in a giant nest of pelts, gasping and clutching your chest as you looked around with wild eyes. Having been unconscious for almost two days, surviving off of the herbal tea he fed you while asleep and the fire he kept going day and night to make sure you were warm. Your clothes drying in the other side of the cave, naked under the soft fur of his nest. Not able to make sense of anything, but your brain short circuited when you heard the heavy drag of sharp claws on rock.
Your blood running cold as the slick drag of something heavy came from the mouth of the cave. Seconds feeling like hours as you saw an enormous creature in all fours, moving back wards as it dragged a massive brown bear. Jaws clamped down on its neck as blood spilled onto the floor, blunt teeth sunken into the skin under the fur as he let go of it in front of the fire. Standing at its unreal height to look down to you, golden eyes boring through you, blackish green fur along its chest soaked in blood. Two tusks protruding from his lower jaw with rows of flesh tearing teeth barely hidden by his mouth. Hunched menacingly but it stared at you with almost confusion.
He’d been taking care of you for days now, so why suddenly were you scrambling back in his nest, flush against the cave wall with your eyes wide in horror and body trembling with fear?
His body started undulating, bones snapping at sickening angles as his entire body shook a little as he fell down onto all fours. What once was clawed paws shifted into massive green hands, the fur melting away to a broad back with tribal tattoos etched into the skin, an animalistic roar of pain melting into something more human.
The sound of the fire crackling and his panting against the cave floor filling the air as he stood up slowly. Looking down at you and the flames making shadows dance along its muscular body. His hands reaching for a loin pelt to be more modest before he grunted softly and made his way to the bleeding out mass of bear.
You watched him with sickening fascination, the way he used a sharpened rock to clean the animal, setting the pelt aside to dry while he cut the meat into reasonable sizes for a human. Using long piece of sharpened and cured bones from earlier kills to roast the meat over the fire.
His eyes going back to you as it moved, checking on you as you relaxed back into the nest, the earlier terror melting into something else. And once the meat was cooked enough that only a bit of juice dripped out when he squeezed it between two fingers, he moved closer and kneeled infront of you on the floor. Massive hands offering you the bone kebab so gently, eyes full of almost reverence as he grunted out
“Raz.”
Which, technically, you couldn’t understand him. You weren’t exactly fluent in orcish, but handing you food and saying a single one worded command was pretty universal.
You accepted the offering and gave a soft little bow in thanks as you brought the meat to your mouth, taking a bite and melting a little bit from the tenderness. You had been starving, unable to eat real food for days, and finishing the kebab was more easy for you than it should’ve been. You weren’t focusing on what had happened or what had gone on, why you were in a cave with a orc that apparently could be a wolf. Only focusing on the drip of meat down your throat after you swallowed the last mouthful.
Before you even put the bone down, he handed you another. Watching you from his place next to the fire, his own teeth tearing a piece of a meat, eyes on you to make sure you actually ate.
The way he saw it, you were puny. Weak, frail from being out in the cold. In orc culture, that made you a runt, not able to take care of yourself. And Grukh saw it as his duty to change that. To make you big and strong, and while he convinced himself it was so he could turn you out to the world:
The feral part of him refused to ever let you go.
A humble offering to @werecreature-addicted
Part two coming soon (he rails you through the nest)
