Wow belongs to Blizzard, the characters are mine.

*****

There had always been something about him, something that made nobody want to go too near. He always was there though, keeping to the edges, always just out of sight. Nobody cared much about him, they just let him be because it was, as if agreed by some unsaid vote, their responsibility to keep him alive.

He was such a scrawny little thing, dirty and always so hungry. The tribe shared the responsibility of keeping him fed, but it seemed there would never be enough food to put some meat on the little whelp.

At one time the family responsible for feeding him had not done their duty, and from that time onwards he faded even more from the tribe, now only a silent shadow, skulking around at the edges, eating what scraps he found, scaring the other children with his profound, ocean-blue gaze.

His mother had been of the tribe, and thus he was too. The day she had returned to her childhood's home, the strangelooking whelp carried at her breast, the tribe had taken her in with reluctance. She had never told anyone of the child's father, but they all knew he could not be of their own kin. At the time the elders did not approve of mixture of blood between the troll tribes, but they had been swayed by the women who sympathised with his mother. When she died as a strange fever swept through the village, the child was left alone, only cared for by the tribe's women as they felt responsible for him.

As he grew, his bright blue skin, pearly white tusks and dark blue hair made him a constant object for the other children's harassment. He did not fight back, but turned his deep, dark eyes to look at them in sorrow.

He did not speak as early as the other whelps, there being no one to teach him, nor did he seem intelligent or brave, and the elders shook their heads sadly whenever speaking about him. After some years even the name that his mother had given him was but a memory, and everyone referred to him as Rhin, meaning shame or grief.

*****

A small teaser to a new story that is unfolding in my head. I hope I will find the strenght, time and inspiration to write it.