Stone Fist Tribe

Though all the boyz around him were green, seeing nothing but endless green was honestly irritating. Guk often ran into this problem in his dreams. He had lost count of how many times he had come to this Hazy Realm. Only after Aluba roughly explained what this place was did he realize that many things he had experienced before had not been dreams at all.

Yes, dreams. Guk had often come to this strange green-filled space in his dreams. It was an extremely unstable place, sometimes still as water, sometimes swept by raging tides. Colorful streams of light rolled past in waves like windblown sand. This was where Guk had met Aluba.

At first, he could only hear faint whispers. The longer he stayed, the clearer those voices became. They were the strange words Weirdboyz often muttered. He had tried speaking with some of them. Most gave him no response, but a few would talk to him. He had met around several dozen such fellows.

Though they were talking, it was mostly nonsense that did not match up at all. What bothered Guk most was that the big Square Face always liked following him around, even though it could not speak. So he generally ignored the thing.

"Oi! Are you from Red-Eye?"

But Guk had another purpose for coming to the Hazy Realm today. A thought had suddenly occurred to him: if he found a Weirdboy from the Red Eye Tribe, could he learn what they were doing?

"Eat! I eat!"

Another fellow talking to himself. Guk ignored him and turned toward another patch of light. These Weirdboyz were easy to identify; they all appeared as flickering patches of light.

"Oi! Are you from Red-Eye?"

"Wot? I got no teef!"

"I am..."

Before Guk could finish, the patch of light vanished with a pop. Apparently, that fellow had woken up.

"Oi! Are you..."

"I ain't!"

"I ain't even asked yet!"

"Are you called Guk!"

Guk froze for a few seconds. He thought about it. He did not seem to have spoken to this fellow before. Though he could not remember clearly, the patch of light felt unfamiliar.

"Yes. You know me?"

"I'm from the Stone Fist Tribe, west of that Bloodtooth Tribe from before. I heard you're pretty tough. We've run into some trouble! If you can solve it for us, we'll listen to you from now on!"

Guk remembered the Stone Fist Tribe. He had seen it on the map. It was five or six days from Bloodfang Fort, and even farther from Blackstone Fort—probably ten days away.

"What trouble!"

"A big thing came here! Huge, real huge! We can't handle it, and loads of boyz got killed!"

"Where's your boss?"

"Got killed too!"

That was unexpected. The Stone Fist Tribe was a major tribe with a stone stronghold, not some wandering tribe or outpost tribe. For something to beat such a tribe into this state, Guk had to take it seriously.

"What kind of thing?"

"It burst outta the ground! Got horns! Got armor! Strong as anything! It's nearly torn all our homes apart! Gotta go! I think it's coming again!"

Suddenly, the patch of light vanished. Guk sat there blankly for a moment, then suddenly felt dizzy. When he came back to himself, he found Crooked Mouth shaking him.

"Boss! Boss!"

"What is it!"

Rolling over and sitting up, Guk took a pure white round-headed mushroom from a bone box beside him and stuffed it into his mouth. It was a newly discovered underground mushroom that was extremely refreshing.

A chill soon rushed from the top of his head to the soles of his feet. Guk could not help shuddering, but the effect was indeed excellent. His slightly muddled mind immediately cleared, and his dry throat felt much better too.

"A bunch of boyz came from Blood Fang's place. They say they're Stone Fist and want to join us!"

"Stone Fist!?"

Guk immediately sprang to his feet. He had Crooked Mouth bring his war banner, then led several hundred armored bosses straight toward Blood Fang. This time, he did not ride the Squiggoth, because that thing was simply too slow. He only rode a Fast-legged Squig, the name the boyz used for the Squigs ridden by Green Tooth's cavalry.

After traveling through the day and night, Guk arrived at the chaotic Bloodfang Fortress, where many boyz had gathered. Bucktooth was there too.

As for why, during this time Guk had sent all his yellow-heads and gray-heads out into the wilderness to find newly emerged, wandering boyz. Then, by whatever means necessary, they were to make them join the White Hand Tribe. It was part of his expansion plan, so he had sent out Bucktooth, Grak, and even Green Tooth. Most boyz needed to be convinced with fists, and the job could not be done without some strength.

"Boss Guk is here!"

From far away, the boyz of Bloodfang Fort spotted the war banner fluttering in the wind and began shouting. Those grimy Stone Fist Tribe boyz also came out of the fortress, wanting to see the mysterious white boss for themselves.

"That's him!"

"He really is white!"

When Guk rode his Squig to the fortress entrance with Dragon Tooth over his shoulder, many boyz cried out in amazement. Dragon Tooth, especially, gleamed so brightly that it made quite a few boyz drool with envy.

"Who's from the Stone Fist Tribe!"

As he climbed down from the Squig, Guk's booming voice rang out. A group quickly emerged from the bustling crowd of boyz, numbering roughly a thousand.

"We are!"

"Who's the boss?"

"I am!"

A boy with yellow stripes painted across his face stepped forward. His gear was tattered, and he bore many wounds. Clearly, he was a fellow who had seen plenty of fighting.

"You ain't! I am!"

Another boy with white stripes painted across his face interrupted him. This fellow was even more muscular and held an axe in his hand. He glared at the one claiming to be the boss, ready to fight at any moment.

At that moment, Guk took a closer look at the group. He noticed that their faces were painted either yellow or white, all with slanted stripes.

"Enough! I don't care which of you is the boss. What exactly is at Stone Fist that beat you into this state!"

"You know!?"

Both of them widened their eyes and stared at Guk in disbelief. Guk merely waved a hand and said impatiently,

"I know everything! You'll understand how tough I am later! Talk now!"

"It's like this..."

The boyz spoke over one another, barely managing to describe the creature. It was somewhat like a huge Sand Lizard, with four legs and a dark red body covered in many spikes. It had two pairs of massive horns on its head, long front legs, short hind legs, and an enormous roar.

"...That thing can tear our homes apart in one go, and its armor's thick and hard! We can't chop through it at all!"

Hearing this, Guk became excited. It had been a long time since he had gone on an interesting hunt. Ever since he had cut down a giant Sand Lizard with one swing of Dragon Tooth, he had not encountered anything worth fighting. This time seemed a little interesting.

"How many boyz are left in your tribe?"

"I dunno. We didn't want to wait there to die, so we ran out. That thing chased us, and most of the boyz got killed. We came here, while some ran elsewhere. There are still plenty back home."

"Take me there!"

No one could disobey Guk's order. So not long after stopping, the group set off west again. This time, Bucktooth came along as well.

BANG!

A huge impact came from above, shaking dust loose in an endless shower. Nug angrily slapped his head. He truly felt he had rotten luck. He had finally become a Freak Boy, only for such a huge thing to appear. Tens of thousands of Stone Fist Tribe boyz had gone out, only to be beaten into a rout. Even their boss had died.

Then, the second time, hundreds of thousands from the Stone Fist Tribe attacked together. The result was still a crushing defeat, and the new boss died too.

The third time, no boyz dared go out again. Everyone hid inside the fortress. Since Nug was quite formidable in a fight as a Freak Boy, everyone made him boss. But fewer than a hundred thousand boyz remained in the Stone Fist Tribe now. And honestly, Nug had no interest in being boss at all. Not every Ork wanted to be boss.

"Boss! That bastard's back!"

The boy beside him started yammering again. Nug really wanted to blow his head apart, but he needed to save his strength. Otherwise, if he had to run later, he might not even manage that.

"I know! Don't need you reminding me! I got eyes!"

After grumpily cursing the other boy away, Nug quietly walked to the fortress exit and peeked outside. They were all hiding in the lower level now; the upper level had long been torn apart.

"Oi!"

The moment he stuck his head out, Nug immediately pulled it back. That thing was tearing at the stones above the fortress. Solid rock was as fragile as rotten wood beneath its claws. Nug had no idea how much longer the fortress could hold.

Run?

Nug had considered it too, but that thing wandered around near the fortress. Many fellows who had fled before were caught and killed by it. Two legs might not be able to outrun four.

"Gotta find a chance..."

Muttering to himself, Nug returned to the boyz. He no longer even had his own private room and had to squeeze in with the other Orks, which made him extremely uncomfortable. All Weirdboyz disliked being crammed together with other boyz. They were all idiots.

"Wonder if that Guk will come."

It was not that Nug had never considered saving the tribe. In the Hazy Realm, he had heard other Weirdboyz talking about a fellow called Guk. He was not only a powerful Weirdboy, but also a boss who had conquered the Bloodtooth Tribe. Nug did not know Guk, but he knew the Bloodtooth Tribe. It was not far from here. His former former boss had even planned to conquer that tribe, but the monster came before they could act.

Treating it as a last hope, Nug had tried to find Guk in the Hazy Realm. To his surprise, he really had found him. But he did not know whether Guk would come. In any case, he had done all he could.

"Boss! I reckon this ain't working! Let's go smash it again!"

A tall Ork stood up. His words won the approval of many boyz, and the once-silent crowd of Orks immediately began to stir.

"Yeah! Why hide! Chop it up!"

"Where's my big choppa!"

"Go! I'm going too!"

Nug had heard words like these countless times. The fellows who went out basically never returned. He glanced at the other Ork without saying anything. He was not really the boss anyway. Whatever the other fellow wanted to do was none of his business.

"Boss! You should go too!"

"Go to hell!"

Nug sprang up from the ground and pointed at the other fellow's nose, just about to curse him out, when a strange sound suddenly came from outside.

Woooooo~~~~~

"This is..."

"Sounds kinda like a horn!"

Nug listened carefully. It really was the sound of a horn. He shoved through the crowd and rushed to the fortress entrance, looking into the distance.

A blood-red war banner was slowly rising over the horizon!