Hello everyone, and welcome. This is technically my first story,so sorry if it sucks. Hopefully I'll get better.

Elizabeth Crocker or Betty as she preferred and insisted to be called, was currently in an aggravated state of mind. She had just finished a particularly weary business meeting and her chauffeur had been unable to pick her up since the car had broken down the previous day, so she was left to walk. There had also been a drizzle of rain over the city earlier in the day, so every inch of the streets were covered with puddles. She was speed walking along the sidewalk, wanting to get home as soon as possible, when some rather loud, metal bangings caught her attention. They seemed to be coming from an open alleyway. She should have just kept It would have been so much easier. Yet, she could not bring herself to just leave. After some inner debating, she decided she would just have a quick look and then she would leave that's it. She entered the alleyway, cautiously, and managed to catch a glimpse of a pair of people's backs right before they exited the area. If she had been curious about what was going on before, then she was thoroughly interested now. She looked around a bit and was about to reach the point where she was about to leave when she heard a faint whimper. She looked over at where she thought it was originating from. It seemed to have come from a little pile of old trashcans. She quietly approached the spot, taking slow steps. As she came closer she heard another whimper. Whatever it was, it seemed to be in pain. As she stood only a few feet away, she finally saw what the source was.

It was a young troll, couldn't have been more than 10 years old, and it was curled up into a ball. It was a he, from the looks of it, and he had all of a troll's normal attributes. He had two horns, each on the upper sides of his head. They were shaped something akin to skinny sunflower seeds and reached out just a smidgen past the top of his head. He appeared to have one small fin protruding from either side of his lower-head area. He only had on a plain, worn white t-shirt and some unrecognizable pair of white pants. His fur was slightly matted due to laying in one of the many puddles in the city. When he noticed her, he moved away from her and let out another whimper. She cautiously approached the little thing. Sure, he was young, but she had heard stories about trolls and they could be dangerous when need be. When Betty extended a hand towards him, he flinched and held up his arms in protection. She noticed the cuts and bruises on his arms and self and she felt a surge of sympathy for him. "Don't be frightened, I'm not here to hurt you" she told the troll as she stopped her hand two feet away from him. After a moment of silence, the young troll lowered his arms just enough to see her. He cautiously and hesitantly stretched out one of his arms, still keeping up one arm just in case, and placed his paw on her hand. When they made contact, he winced, waiting for her to make a move. Betty smiled at him and asked "Is it okay if I help you?" She saw the pain in the creature's eyes and something within her gave her a desire to help. The thing just sat there for a moment, contemplating her question. He gave her a slow nod and lowered his arm. She used her hand to help him up. When he put his weight on his right leg, he let out a yelp of pain and fell to his knees. Betty moved the troll over to examine him and saw a rather nasty gash on his foot. There was no way he was going to walk with a cut like that. After some contemplating over a solution, an idea occurred to her. "Will you let me pick you up?" she asked him. The troll gave her another slow nod after a minute of thinking. She gently scooped him up in her arms. He tightly clenched her coat, giving out a quiet noise, and started to tremble a little out of nervousness. "Shh. It's okay, little one. You're safe now" she comforted him as he was held. She made her way home without another word. The troll in her arms only made a few whimpers of pain on the walk, wincing every time a scratch or bruise was touched.

Betty stood at the front gates to her mansion. The troll lifted his head when he realized that they had stopped. He looked up at her questioningly, a look of caution and apprehensiveness still on his face. "This is my home" she told him "You'll be staying here for a while, okay?" She just received a blank look as a response. Betty sighed and entered the front area. As she walked over to the door, she could see out of the corner of her eye that the young troll was constantly darting his eyes back and forth, keeping an eye out for anything he thought would be dangerous. Betty adjusted him to be held with only one arm so she could open the front door. Kicking the door shut with her foot, Betty moved her arm back to the troll in her arms and continued on.

"Tony!" she called out "Could you be a dear and come assist me?" Some steps were heard and a nicely dressed individual entered the room. "Of course, Miss Crocker, what do you..." he trailed off, noticing the rather obvious and injured troll in her grasp. Without another word, he turned to one of the doorways leading to another room. "This way, Miss" he told her. Betty followed, knowing full well that they were heading to the infirmary. She had had the infirmary set up to deal with minor injuries as a precaution. Stepping into the room, she noticed that the troll was shivering out of fear, having absolutely no idea what was going to happen to him. Tony gestured to an empty bed and Betty delicately set down the injured one on tithe troll looked back and forth at her and Tony. She gave him a reassuring rub on the back, "Don't worry, my friend here will help you" she told him. He gave said friend another glance before nodding in understanding. She stepped away from the bed and took a seat in one of the chairs nearby, watching the troll. Having gotten everything ready, Tony began to disinfect the wounds with some cotton swabs doused in alcohol.

After about half an hour, the young troll had been successfully patched up and cleaned without too much trouble. Seeing that Tony had finished his job, Betty rose from her chair and approached the bed. Feeling much more at ease and not being in as much pain anymore, the troll lay down comfortably and looked over at Betty. She smiled and started petting him, glad that not only was he not in pain anymore, but that he seemed a bit more trusting of them. Putting away the materials, Tony addressed his employer. "Miss, if you don't mind me asking, why exactly did you bring this troll home?" He turned and looked at her. Truth was, she wasn't so sure, herself. Telling him her answer, her assistant merely shook his head and chuckled. "Well, at least he's in good hands, now" Betty knew he wasn't referring to himself "So, how did you get him?" Tony asked. "I found the poor thing beaten and bruised in an alleyway on my way here." she explained "I didn't have the heart to just leave him". Tony thought about it for a moment. "well, I see where you're coming from" he replied "Although I have to admit, it's quite strange how a troll of his blood caste was abandoned like any other common stray". Receiving a questioning look from Betty, he explained further "This little guy right here" he gestured to the now sleeping troll "Is a violet-blood". Betty wasn't quite sure what that meant. "Tony, you're going to have to lecture me, I have next to no knowledge about trolls". He gave her a look of slight disbelief before shaking his head. "Miss, trolls have a system known as the hemospectrum." He began explaining "On this, there are twelve different blood castes. Depending on the colour means how high they rank on it, any types of special abilities, and their lifespan. The two castes at the very top of the hemospectrum are reserved for sea-dwellers only. Well, our new friend here? He has the second highest blood available, violet, thus, making him very valuable. This is why I find his predicament very odd. Normally, no one would ever even think to get rid of any troll in the top three castes, so it makes me wonder what kind of fools would ever do such a thing". Betty sat there, processing what she had just been told. "Now if you'll excuse me, Miss, I have a few chores to finish before the end of the day, so if you don't mind..." she waved her hand in a way that told him to go ahead. He left the room, leaving Betty to her thoughts and an apparently very valuable creature.

So what did you think? Well, it's the first chapter, so whatever. If I make ANY mistakes, grammar or otherwise, PLEASE inform me.