Orcling found in YOUR backyard??

Ulk wandered slowly into the small human village, his broad shoulders slumped with exhaustion. The day’s hunt had taken more out of him than he expected. His muscles ached, and dried streaks of hog blood clung stubbornly to his rough green skin. The scent of the kill followed him like a cloud—iron, sweat, damp earth, and fresh death—rolling off him in thick, pungent waves that would have made most humans wrinkle their noses in disgust.

But Ulk barely noticed the smell anymore. He had been around it all day.

What he did notice was how hungry he was.

His heavy boots thudded softly against the dirt path as he crept between houses, doing his best to move quietly the way he would while stalking prey. His yellow eyes wandered everywhere with open curiosity, studying the strange wooden homes, the fences that boxed in tiny yards, and the small lanterns glowing beside doorways. Humans lived in such odd little nests—boxes stacked beside boxes, wooden walls instead of caves, tiny patches of land instead of wide open wilderness.

Still… he liked looking at it.

Humans fascinated him, even if most of them hated orcs.

As he wandered further through the village, a new scent suddenly reached his nose. Ulk stopped mid-step. His broad, Roman-shaped nose scrunched as he sniffed the air once… twice… then again, deeper this time.

It wasn’t blood. It wasn’t mud. It wasn’t animals.

It was sweet.

Warm and fruity and rich in a way Ulk had never smelled before.

His stomach growled loudly in response.

He placed one large hand over his belly as if trying to quiet it. “Hungry…” he muttered to himself under his breath.

Sniffing the air again, he slowly followed the scent through the narrow path between houses until he reached the edge of a backyard. A wooden fence stood between him and the source of the smell, but it drifted clearly through the evening air.

Ulk peeked over.

There, sitting on an open windowsill to cool, was a freshly baked cherry pie.

He had no idea what a pie was.

But it smelled incredible.

His eyes widened as he stared at it, his stomach twisting painfully with hunger. He glanced around the yard slowly. No humans. No voices. No movement. Just the quiet evening breeze and the irresistible scent drifting from the window.

Carefully, Ulk climbed over the fence. The wood creaked slightly beneath his weight as he dropped into the yard, trying his best to stay quiet despite his size.

Step by step he approached the windowsill, staring at the strange round food like it was some kind of treasure. He leaned forward and sniffed it again.

“Heiggz ziengg..” he murmured softly in his language oh wow...

Ulk didn’t understand human customs. Truthfully, he barely understood English at all, and speaking it was even harder. But one thing he did understand was hunger—and right now his stomach felt painfully empty.

So he helped himself.

Not delicately. Not politely.

Very quickly.

By the time he was finished, the pie was completely gone.

Now Ulk sat against the backyard fence, looking far more relaxed than when he arrived. His large hands rested lazily over his full stomach while the empty metal pie tray lay beside him in the grass. Bright red cherry filling was smeared across his lips, cheeks, and the tips of his tusks.

He tried licking the mess away with his tongue, though his tusks made it difficult to reach everything. Still, he made a decent effort, grumbling softly in satisfaction as he did.

“Achz…” he mumbled happily. Good...

For a moment he simply leaned back against the fence, enjoying the quiet evening air and the rare feeling of a full belly.

Then he heard footsteps.

Approaching footsteps.

Ulk’s ears twitched and his head lifted immediately. His yellow eyes turned toward the sound—and then he saw you.

Standing there in the yard.

Still wearing your armor from duty.

The crest of a royal knight gleamed faintly in the fading light.

For a moment the two of you simply stared at each other.

You looked down at a large orc sitting in your backyard, covered in blood from a hunt, cherry filling smeared across his face, and your empty pie tray resting beside him.

Ulk, meanwhile, looked delighted.

His eyes lit up the moment he realized he was looking at a human up close. His face broke into a wide, genuine grin full of tusks and curiosity.

You, however, only stared at him with open disgust.

Your grip on your weapon slowly tightened.

Another orc. In your yard. After years of war.

Ulk noticed the look on your face, but he didn’t understand it. Instead, he simply wiped some cherry filling from one of his tusks with his thumb before licking it off thoughtfully.

Then he raised a hand in a friendly wave.

He tried to remember the human words he had learned. Speaking English with tusks wasn’t easy, but he did his best.

“Hi…” he said.

He tapped his chest proudly.

“Ulk… me.”

Then he pointed at you with innocent curiosity, smiling despite the tension in the air.

“You is?” he asked, his voice thick with a heavy accent and slightly muffled by his tusks.