A child was crying. Their sadness echoed off the walls of the alleyway they huddled in and into the street. They sat against the brick wall, knees hugged to their chest. Heavy footsteps caused them to raise their tear-stained face.

"Are you alright?" An Orc with sea-green skin and short shaggy black hair asked, crouching down beside the crying girl. He was tall, muscular, and imposing, though a soft smile was featured on his face. His attire was nothing special. Just like the girl, they were both in their starting clothes. The orc sported a red tunic and brown pants, while the girl had a blue blouse and black pants.

The girl shook her head. "N-No."

"What's wrong?" The Orc asked as he sat down along the same wall, a few feet away to give the child space. When the girl didn't respond, he continued. "Are you... scared?"

The girl shook her head.

"Are you lonely?" He pressed further. "Do you miss your parents?"

She nodded. "I've never been away from my mom this long, a-and..." The girl sniffled.

"And what?" The orc scooted closer. "You want to see her, or maybe you're afraid she might be mad at you?"

She shook her head. "No, mom won't be mad, but my brother will. I played with his new game headset without asking." Another sniffle. "He already hates me. Now he'll never want to play with me."

"Hey now, don't say that. As an older brother myself, I can promise you that your brother does not hate you. I'm sure he loves you a lot. But..." The orc trailed off.

The girl's head perked up. "But what?"

"He doesn't know how to show it. When you're the big brother, it's hard to show your younger brother or sister that you love them. You don't have to worry about that for too long. Do you know why?" He asked, still smiling gently.

"Um, no." The girl looked up in thought. "Why not?"

"Well..." the orc began, waiting for the girl's attention to return to him. "As you both get older, he'll be able to show you he loves you. Your brother will stop picking on you, and teasing you little by little."

"He will? You mean it?" The girl asked. "Even if I took his game without asking, and I can't give it back?"

The orc nodded with a big grin. "I'm sure he's worried about you more than anything. He'll probably give you a big hug once we can all log out!"

The girl smiled back before wiping away tears with her shirt. "I don't want him to be mad at me. I only wanted to try the game a bit before he got home from soccer practice."

"Like I said, I bet he will be happy to see you and not be mad at all! Same for your mom too. I'm sure they're both worried about you. But..." He trailed off again, looking out towards the street.

She sat up, arms releasing her legs. "But what?"

The Orc faced the girl once more, a serious expression now being worn. "But..." He repeated, his face brightening up into a smile. "I also bet that you're really brave, and you might even have some fun. This is a game, after all."

The girl's smile faded. "I am brave, but this isn't a very fun game. There isn't anything to do, and I don't want to help people clean up their house, or make a watch."

"What if I said there was a place where there are other kids, and you could have fun playing games with them?" The Orc offered.

"There are other kids here?" She asked.

"There sure is. I can take you there if you like. It's a lot nicer than this alleyway." The Orc nodded, still giving the girl a friendly smile. "What's your name?"

"Susie." The girl answered. "What's your name?"

"I'm Tom, but in here my name is Grunk!" The Orc pounded a fist to his chest. "The great and mighty orc warrior!" He gave the girl a big smile. "That's the idea, anyway."

Susie giggled. "That's a silly name."

"It is silly, huh?" Grunk chuckled. "How old are you, Susie? If I had to guess by looking at you... I would have to say ten or eleven?"

"I'm ten and three quarters!" Susie said, smiling back at the big green man.

"Oh wow, almost eleven! I bet-"

"Grunk!" a woman's voice called out.

The orc turned his head to look at the alley's entrance. A female red kobold and a male elf, both only in beginner clothes, walked down into the alley. "Hey guys. I'm glad-"

"Don't 'hey' us. You ditched us! What are you even-" The kobold interrupted once more. She came to a stop, leaning to her side to see past the Orc's bulky form. "Oh, hello there!"

Grunk turned back to the girl, whose cheerful expression had changed to concern. "Don't mind my friends, Susie. I stepped away when I heard you crying." One of his hands went to the back of his neck, looking back at the kobold and elf. "Sorry about that! But as you can see, it was for a good reason." He pointed to the kobold, who gave a friendly wave. "This is Izzy." The Orc's hand then pointed to the Elf, who gave a quick wave of his hand. "And that is Scope."

"Hello. I like your pointy ears." Susie said as she looked at the elf.

"Uh, thanks. I grew them myself." Scope replied, giving the girl finger guns.

Grunk stood up, smiling at the now giggling girl. "So, Susie. You never gave me an answer. Do you want to come with us?"

Susie thought for a moment and then stood up, nodding her head. "Yes, I want to. Will there be food there?"

Izzy noted the child's backpack sitting off to the side. "Do you know how to use your backpack?" When the girl nodded, she continued. "Did you already eat your bread and cheese?" There was another nod. The kobold sighed, giving a look of concern to the Orc.

Grunk pulled his pack from behind himself. "I'll give you something to eat on the way, alright?" He smiled as the girl's face lit up. "I hope you like... Chicken!" The orc pulled a roasted chicken leg from his bag, crouching down to hand it to the girl.

"Thanks, Mister Grunk!" Susie accepted the piece of food, smiling the biggest yet.

Grunk stood up, patting the girl's shoulder. "Come on, let's go." He leaned over, grabbing Susie's backpack and carrying it as they all left the alley. "Alright, Scope. Lead the way. "

Scope saluted the Orc, marching off in military fashion. "Just follow me, little lady. I'll escort you back to base where fun and games will begin." He gave a glance behind him to the girl giggling between bites of chicken.

"Very good, Sargent Scope. Keep up the good work!" Grunk chuckled. "Hm?" He slowed down as the sleeve of his shirt was pulled on. Looking to his side, he saw it was Izzy.

The kobold slowed the Orc until they were both several feet behind the girl and the elf. "What are you thinking?" She said in a stern, hushed voice.

"Mm... About what?" The orc hummed.

"That was your dinner you gave away!" Izzy continued in the same hushed tone. "We barely got any food this morning, you can't keep giving it away."

Grunk shrugged. "She needed it more than me. I’m not going to eat while a kid goes hungry."

Izzy sighed. "Yes, but you can’t help everyone if you die."

Grunk waved off the kobold's concerns. "I'll be fine. It's still only hunger, I checked it not too long ago."

"Except it will turn into Starvation." Izzy countered.

"We don't know when that will be, or how serious it'll be." The Orc countered back.

Izzy sighed. "You've heard the rumors, too. Starving leads to death, and then you'll respawn with the mark and will starve to death all over again."

"So, you admit they're rumors." Grunk smirked at the kobold.

"Yes, because no one wants to starve to death and find out!" Izzy punched the Orc's side, getting no reaction.

"Hopefully, we won't have to find out. We need to figure out where we can get more food. I keep telling you both that we need to go find another town, or get jobs." Grunk said, looking ahead to the girl and elf still leading the way down the streets.

"Staying in here is safer. No one wants to die and be marked for death. But..." Izzy let out a soft sigh. "If we aren't able to log out sometime today, we're going to have to at this rate. We'll all be starving to death soon."

"It does suck being hungry." Grunk relented. "Can't imagine what starving feels like."

"That's my point! We need to be careful. It's not even completely safe in town-" Izzy stopped, the pair catching up with Scope and Susie.

"Here is our secret base. You have to give the special knock before you can enter." Scope explained. He knocked once, paused, knocked twice, paused, then knocked three times in quick succession. "Go ahead and try."

Susie nodded and stepped forward, repeating the secret knock on the wooden door. "Like that?" She asked, looking up at the Elf.

Scope smiled and gave a thumbs up. "Yep, you got it. Go inside." He stepped back as the girl opened the door by its brass handle, following her inside to a large room.

Wooden floors met with shoes as the group went in, the door being closed behind them. The girl let out a gasp as she looked into the room. There were several wooden round tables around the room, each sporting a few chairs and a different game on its surface. Checkers, chess, mahjong with painted wooden pieces, backgammon, and Parcheesi could be seen. There were two dart boards on opposing walls, as well as opposing shelves with more classic board, card and dice games. Not only were there games, there were a handful of children playing the games.

"I told you I heard the secret knock!" A girl with short blonde hair jeered to a boy.

"I didn't hear it over you talking to yourself!" A boy with a short blue mohawk said back, sticking out his tongue.

"I win!" a shiny headed boy declared to the younger boy across from him.

"What? No way!" The young boy with short curly hair said, hands clapping down onto the tabletop.

"Dang." A girl with long purple hair huffed. She readied another dart and threw it. This dart flew and joined the first on the wall below the dartboard. "Dang it!"

"Listen up, soldiers!" Scope stepped further into the room, watching as the children, ages ranging from eight to twelve, all stood and saluted to him. "We have a new recruit. Everyone, meet Susie." The elf motioned for Susie to step forward, to which the girl obeyed. "Soldiers, sound off, starting from my left!"

There was a pause in the room. The blonde girl looked to the other children and then to Sargent Scope. "Oh!" She straightened up, hand still saluting. "Megan!"

"Max!" the mohawk boy exclaimed.

"Arthur!" the bald boy said.

"Uh." The boy with black curls stammered. "Xavier!"

"Crystal!" the girl with purple hair answered quickly.

"At ease!" Scope declared, watching the children lower their hands and relax their posture. "You may return to your games."

Susie watched the other children go back to their games, her smile fading.

"Susie, come play the dart game with me!" Crystal waved to the new arrival. "I'm not very good, though."

Susie's smile returned, going over to join Crystal in front of the dartboard. "I've played this with my mom before in our garage. She always told me to hold it like this." The young girl took a dart, showing her new friend how to aim and throw.

“That makes six now.” Izzy commented. She was still near the entrance beside the Orc.

“It’s a good thing you’re not able to change how old you look, or else it would be impossible to find these kids.” Grunk placed Susie's backpack near the entrance to join the backpacks of the other children. “That might be all of them.”

"Even if we found all the kids, we still can't feed them." Izzy said in a hushed voice. "We can barely even feed ourselves at this rate."

"I'm still ready to go with the fishing job. We just need to level up." Scope said, stepping over to join the conversation.

"It's getting late, and the sun will set soon. If we're finally going outside the town, we should do it when we can see." Izzy leaned back against the wall.

"Hm." Grunk hummed. "I don't know. The kids are going to be hungry soon. I don't want to send them to bed like that."

"Exactly! Since we're still here, we might as well play more of the game. Some people are getting restless and venturing outside from what I saw." Scope agreed.

"Ugh." Izzy groaned. "I simply want to stay safe until this situation gets sorted out. Who knows what is outside the walls?"

"Izzy, weren't you the one that got trapped this morning?" Grunk asked with an arched brow. "The town isn't a hundred percent safe either, and at this rate we'll keep going hungry."

"You don't have to remind me... But I wasn't exactly in danger either." Izzy lowered her head.

"So, are we finally going to go explore outside?" Scope asked, looking at the Orc, then the kobold expectantly.

Izzy answered as both men looked at her. "Fine, but can we do one last check of the town? I swear, there are a few buildings we haven’t checked yet."

"Thirty minutes, tops. We need to go out and kill some giant rats to get level five, or so I've heard." Grunk glanced back into the room of children. "I feel bad leaving them here all the time."

"They're fine, big guy!" Scope lightly slapped the Orc's shoulder. "Nothing bad can happen if they stay here. People rarely come by this corner of town, and they aren't peeking into random buildings. Only Izzy does that."

"Hey, I was the one that found this place!" Izzy pointed a clawed finger at the elf. "You should be grateful."

Scope raised his hands defensively. "I didn't say I wasn't grateful, only that I doubt anyone else in town is as curious as you."

"Oh." Izzy's muzzle closed up tight, red face turning slightly more red.

"Tell your army to defend the base, or something, while we're gone." Grunk opened the door and stepped outside, holding it open for Izzy to follow him out.

"Attention, soldiers. I have a special assignment for you while we go on a scouting mission!" Scope had moved towards the center of the room, waiting for all eyes to be on him. "You must defend the base from any intruders, and by all means you must... have fun and behave!" The elf gave a thumbs up. "Are there any questions?"

Susie raised her hand into the air, asking her question once Scope pointed to her. "Who's in charge when you're gone?"

"That's a good question, Susie. When the adults are away, you are all equally in charge. That means there needs to be a majority vote on all decisions." Scope gave the kids another thumbs up. "This is a simple assignment. You should all be fine as long as you play nice. No cheating, hitting, or general misbehavior. Understood?"

The children all nodded with a various amount of agreement. Scope gave them a salute, which the children returned. He dropped his salute, marching himself out to the children's enjoyment. Once he was outside, Grunk closed the door, and the elf relaxed.

"Phew. Playing military is hard work sometimes." Scope followed his friends.

Izzy glanced back at the two. "It's a good thing you started that. The children eat it up."

"What can I say? Kids love playing soldiers. I did it a lot as a kid too." Scope smirked. "Where are you leading us, anyway?"

"Not all around town, right?" Grunk looked down at the kobold and her swaying tail as she walked. "Remember, only half an hour."

"I know, I know! You don't have to remind me." Izzy said. "I want to check a few places around the plaza."

"That's where everyone is hanging out. We would have heard about someone finding food, or a quest that gives something to eat." Grunk reasoned.

"Doesn't hurt to check. Plus, no one looks around as well as I do." Izzy glanced back to stick her tongue out at the Orc.

"You gotta give her that. She did find that shop that sold the food we got earlier." Scope said, walking beside the big orc.

"Yeah, yeah. Izzy is good at exploring, but that... doesn't…" Grunk trailed off. "Do you hear that?"

The three got quiet and listened as they went. There was a loud commotion coming from further up ahead. Other people in the street hurried along to the mess of voices, the group following.

"The hell is going on now?" Scope asked, glancing around as he picked up the pace.

"You don't think someone is going to jump again, do you?" Izzy asked, her voice quiet.

"I hope no one is stupid enough to do that after what happened yesterday." Grunt sped up, jogging down the street and turning into the plaza.

A crowd of people filled the area with an empty circle in the middle. Shouts and cheers crowded the air. This was better than what the Orc had feared, but now he needed to find out what was going on. Grunk pushed through the crowd, his friends following behind him as he parted the people. Once he broke through, he stood at the edge of the circle.

"Is that all you got, you little shrimp!?" an elf called out, fists raised and ready to swing. She wore a white cloak and stood on one side of the circle.

"Keep talking. I'll rip those pointed ears off your head!" A blue kobold yelled back, pointing at the elf while his other hand remained in a tight fist.

"Another fight?" Grunk sighed. This would be the third one today. He shouldn't be surprised. If a few thousand people were forced into a place they couldn't leave, while having to fight over food, a few fights were expected as tensions rose.

"Wait a second, is that-?" Izzy said, her voice getting drowned out by the crowd.

"As if you could reach this high!" The elf said.

"Why you-!" The kobold pulled his hand back and clutched it into a fist. "I'll kill you!"

Just as the elf and kobold charged at each other, Grunk stepped out, one palm facing each opponent. "Whoa there! Let's figure this out like adults. There's no need to-" The Orc arched an eyebrow as each opponent immediately stopped and lowered their fists, anger leaving their face and body. Sure, he had experience stopping fights, but they never stopped that quickly or easily. "Uh." He lowered his arms. "Are you two good?"

"You're lucky he finally showed. I wasn't going to hold back!" The blue kobold glared at the elf.

"Oh my gosh, calm down. It was an act." The elf rolled her eyes, continuing to the middle calmly.

"You didn't have to make it so personal." The kobold huffed, releasing his glare and resuming to the middle.

Grunk had a confused expression planted on his face, looking at the elf and then the kobold. "What's going on? Did I ruin some kind of performance?"

"You could say that." A purple Draconian in a blue cloak walked over from the other side of the circle. A human woman with her bangs in two braids followed him.

"Oh, it is him!" The woman pointed at the Orc as she got closer. "Wow, he's a lot taller than I remember."

Grunk stood in what had been a fighting circle, a stranger to his left, right, and two in front. "Who are you, and what do you want?"

"We need your help, or at least, we're hoping you can help us." The Draconian said.

Grunk gave the scaled man a confused look, then glanced around as the crowd dispersed. The show had come to a disappointing end. "Let me get this straight. You faked a fight so you could draw me out?"

"We asked around for you. No one knew where you were, but you always showed up when a fight was happening." The woman said. Her attention quickly shifted as Izzy and Scope joined the Orc's sides. "Oh, I remember you! I'm glad you're doing okay."

"It is you." Izzy looked at the other group.

"Eh? Do you know these people, Izzy?" Grunk asked.

The red kobold nodded her head. "They're the ones that got me out of the well."

"I thought you looked familiar." The blue kobold commented as he looked Izzy over. "You look better when you're not soaking wet."

Izzy's muzzle grew more red. "O-Oh."

"Hmph." Grunk huffed, turning his attention back to the Draconian. "You said you want my help? With what?"

"We're going to feed every single person who needs food." The Draconian said, looking up at the Orc that stood at least five inches taller. "We figured you'd be able to help us achieve that."