CHAPTER THREE ~ Dancing

It had been three days since she had woken up. The confidence she felt was growing everyday. The morning after she had woken up she had tried to get out of the cave. Her body was sore and stiff for lying so long and she thought maybe a small walk might do it well. The orc however was not impressed that she was up so quickly. As soon as she stepped out of the cave the orc rushed from his chore of chopping wood and blocked her path.

"No, no, no - " He guided her back into the cave and settled her down in the blankets. A few minutes later she was out again, walking slowly from the cave and looking around at the her new surroundings. The orc had guided her back into the cave again, this time more firmly and he sat with her quietly for a few minutes before he got up to continue collecting wood.

Within half an hour she was out again. The orc tried to subdue his annoyance, he guessed she must be bored sitting in the cave all day, he would have been too. He threw the old axe he was chopping with into the ground, where it jutted out firmly against the soft, grassy soil and stomped towards her. She should not be up so early after being wounded, how did she not know that?

She held her hands up in compliance showing the blankets in her arms. He hesitated and then stopped in his tracks, interested to see what she would do. Once she was sure that he wouldn't try and get her back into the cave, she put some of skins on the ground, which was padded with soft grass, and made herself a little nest of animal skins and woven cloth.

She sat herself in the middle of this nest of blankets and looked alertly at her surroundings. Close to the mouth of a cave was the remainder of a fire. Wood was piled up neatly outside and to the left of the cave mouth. He had tried his best to leave the trees surrounding the cave so the clearing just outside was clear of branches and sticks.

Little white flowers had popped up just above the green grass. She closed her eyes and breathed in deeply, she could smell the sweet tang from the flowers, the fresh smell of grass and leaves. She could hear the rush of water from a stream or maybe a small river, a slight breeze lightly caressed her face and hair. It felt so good to be outside after been stuck in a cage filled with other people.

From across the clearing from where she was sitting the orc watched her quietly from where he had been stripping wood for tinder. She sat quietly looking around at the area they had inhabited, her eyes alert and her back straight, proud. Then her eyes had closed and she breathed in deeply, he saw how she winced at the pains in her chest but she seemed to ignore it.

He was sorry that they had this to her, sorry for everyone but mainly for her. He carried on watching her intently, the little human did not open her eyes but sat and enjoyed the breeze that was circling her face.

The lines on her face were unlike other orc females he had seen, they were soft. A straight but small nose flowed into smooth lips, her jaw line was soft unlike female orcs whose jawlines tended to be very sharp and square. Her forehead was smooth and not as rounded as an orcs, her cheekbones descended gracefully down to a small pointed a chin which, with amusement, he noted a small dimple in it.

Although not much shorter than a female orc she was much smaller, smaller shoulders, smaller hips and a smaller structure in general meant less muscle which ultimately meant less strength. She would not have won a hands on battle against any orc.

He looked back to the small strips of wood that had piled up next to his feet. The language barrier was going to be a huge problem. He was a fighter not a scholar and he hoped that soon there could be some form of understanding between them. He would need her help for the oncoming winter.

The following days passed almost boringly, she helped where she could but he did most of the work. She would cook the meat, which required her to sit down anyway, boil water and neaten up the camp as much as she could. Within a week she was walking normally again, grateful to have healed so quickly. She was still weary of the big orc that had bought her here but he had in no way attempted to harm her and would actively try and teach her Orcish. In between the odd jobs they would attempt to talk, her orcish had improved greatly but he often struggled to speak her words or to understand her when she spoke in her own tongue.

Although there was not a huge amount of readily available meat she had somehow managed to find a batch of potatoes and carrots. He was not familiar with these foods but happy at how delighted she had been when she bought them back. Planting them close the cave she had gone back a few times and added the root vegetables to rabbit or squirrel stew.

Since she had taken on cooking duties the meals had been come more tasty, she added herbs and would brown the meat for making it into a stew thick with potatoes, carrots and meat.

It was on a cold and rainy evening that she had taken the pot inside to cook in the cave. The wood outside was quickly becoming damp and so the orc took a few leather skins and draped them over the now impressive stacks. Then he had come inside, seeking shelter from the rain.

Sitting opposite her as she sat and watched the stew boiling with a bored look on her face, he decided that it would be a good time to tell her his name.

"I'm Garrok'Nha, last of the Blood Tooth clan." He pointed to himself for good measure so that she knew he was talking about himself. She was looking up at him now, with those big eyes, eyes that had recently started to entrance him. She sat up straight and answered in his language.

"I am Lilly." She pointed at herself and then back at him, "Garrok'Nha Blood Tooth."

"Yes," He replied. She spoke slowly in his language. She could not seem to spit the words out like he did but rather they rolled gently off her tongue.

"Garrok'Nha, what do you mean the last of your clan?" She looked up at him inquisitively.

Those eyes -

He looked away quickly and swallowed loudly. "Gul'dan killed my family and my clan because I did not accept his gift." He spat on the ground in disgust. She looked at him disapprovingly but ignored his action.

"Gul'dan? Orc? Green with a beard and - " She hesitated then, not sure of the word and gestured with her hands awkwardly on her shoulder blades and back, "His bones sticking out."

"Yes."

"He is a bad orc?"

"Yes."

They sat in silence for a while, she was looking seriously into the stew with a frown on her face. She wrapped a blanket around herself trying to get rid of the chilly nip that had descended in the cave, even with a fire going.

"You had a family?"

"Yes." His answered were coming more clipped and sharp, she decided to stop pressing the subject and withdrew to her thoughts.

A family? Could people as brutal and uncompassionate as the orcs have families? Her brow furrowed further into wrinkles as she frowned. None of the orcs had shown compassion to her people when they were captured. She had not seen any orcish children but why would they have brought them with they were only bringing in warbands?

"Do you have a family?"

No, she shook her head as a reply and stirred the pot again before pulling the blankets over her head so that just her face was sticking out.

"No one?"

She looked up and straight into his eyes, although their conversations were becoming more fluent there were certain topics neither of them wanted to touch upon. He saw the flicker of annoyance in her eyes, annoyance and something else. Something he couldn't quite put his finger on.

"No one." She repeated after him and sighed softly. Her belly grumbled at the smell of the cooking food and she quickly stirred it again.

Not having anyone to go back to would be something that she would have to deal with. It was disheartening think that if she did get out of this situation she had nowhere to go. No one stay with. Despite her close proximity to other people when she was being held captive no one had bothered to get to know each other or to make were too worried about their death. She had been too. There was no time to make friends.

She felt that he was looking curiously at her, she did not want to speak about her past right now and so stirred the pot once more. She covered up her face with the blankets and slumped her body down into the blankets and skins of her bed.

There was silence for a few minutes while the stew bubbled on the fire. As she sat cocooned by the blankets the memories rushed back to her and she let them. She let them rush through her body, through her blood. She let them upset her as her eyes welled with tears and her body heaved with the memories that clouded her mind. She let them harden her resolve and sharpen her determination.

She rustled her way out of the blankets and when she emerged she looked at the orc, straight backed and angry.

"Did you capture some of us?" Her voice was loud and strong, it reverberated through the cave and Garrok'Nha raised a brow in surprise at her ferocity.

"Yes."

There was silence for a while and although he strongly regretted his actions there was nothing that he could do to go back and change it. The few tears that had slipped down her face were angrily wiped away.

"We were told you and your people were..." he paused for a moment, trying to find the right words so say. "Lesser than us."

She looked at him and started muttering to herself in her own tongue, she wrapped the blankets around her shoulders again.

"I see that we were wrong."

She could see that he was telling the truth but it didn't change what the orcs had done. She wondered how many of the people who had escaped had actually survived. She had seen how most of them had been killed, mercilessly and with a hammer or axe that was slammed into their body until their bones were splintered and their hearts carved in two.

He could see her distress but he didn't know what to do. Comforting a human who he had helped capture and retain was...ironic and he didn't think that she would appreciate it. Her eyes still shone with tears unshed, her face had paled leaving dark circles under her eyes. Even her lips had gone slightly grey.

He hadn't quite thought how difficult this situation would be. Orcs and humans were at war but he'd just taken this human, brought her into a cave and he expected her to stay? Had he really expected them to just get along? He hadn't realised the repercussions that this was going to cause, not for him but for her.

"You can leave this place if you want. I am not holding you prisoner here."

"I know."

Her answer had surprised him, surprised him so much that the reaction on his face was visible to her. She huddled the blankets closer to her body and inched closer to the fire.

"I'm not in a cage and I'm not - " She struggled to find the word for she did not know it in his language and tried to show him with her wrists crossed.

"Binded?"

"Like tied up?"

"Yes, binded." He nodded at her. She had been quick to learn, quick enough that he had been impressed with her retention of his language. He took up two bowls was dipping them into the pot of stew.

Carefully he stood up, hunched over as not to hit his head on the roof of the cave he took the few steps closer to her. He offered her the bowl, which she took gratefully and carefully sat down next to her. She did not miss how carefully he sat, how he put himself down gently so that he wouldn't knock her. He sat close enough that she could feel the heat radiating from his body, even through the blankets but not close enough that they were touching in anyway.

He was greatly relieved that she was staying because she wanted too. It felt like a huge burden had been lifted from his shoulders. He often came back into the camp or the cave, wondering if she would still be there. He would worry about her if she would run, if she did she would not last long out here.

They ate in silence for a while. She was oddly comforted by the large orcs presence, there was no animosity between them as they ate. He was was comfortable with her as she was with him. There was no judgement. When she finished eating she placed her bowl down next to the large pot, which had been taken off the fire and snuggled back into her blankets. With her belly full and her body warm she could feel herself drifting.

Lilly.

That was such a … short name. She had added no surname or title, although he wasn't sure she would be cable of anything of the sort to earn one. He quickly reminded himself that he had underestimated her before. Chewing his food slowly he thought of how the orcs would have reacted if they knew he had saved the life of this Lilly Small Tooth, a human. They would surely kill him for it, going against Gul'dan's plans had always proved fatal and taking this human away from his use was direct defiance of his orders.

He felt odd though. He didn't care if they would disapprove and why should he? Once his family and his clan had been killed the orcs had ostracized him. Although he had not been exiled he had been turned away by his own people, the only clan who had accepted him, despite the other clans rejections, were the Frostwolves and he had been eternally grateful but he felt he didn't belong there.

Here with this small tooth he felt like he had a purpose, the need to provide for her was distracting him from the pressing threat at hand. If Gul'dan had his way this world would die and then the orcs and the people here would have nowhere to go.

He was at a loss at what to do. His heart was telling him to go back and fight, he wanted to take Gul'dan's head in his hands and crush his skull. He wanted to feel the orcs brain being squashed in his hands. His fury made his body shake with anger and the small toothed human looked up at him with a frown on her face.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing." He grunted abruptly. He could feel her eyes still on him but did not look back at her. Gently and before she could stop herself she reached out and grasped his knee. She stared at her hand on his leg stunned as to why she would have done such a thing, why she would have reached out and comforted the orc. She swept through her mind for an answer and could not come up with anything logical. She hadn't even thought about what she had been doing, she had just done it.

Quickly she let go of him and huddled more under the blankets so that he couldn't see her face which was starting to burn red with embarrassment, she felt him shift in his seat but not from discomfort.

What was I doing?

She did not feel him watching her and although he was curious as to her gesture of compassion but he was comfortable sitting where he was and didn't want to push her. When she had quickly taken her hand away and hidden her face he had bought a small smirk to his lips.

A silence had drifted back into the cave sometimes broken by the soft crackle of wood on the fire, the cave had warmed slightly or at least he was warm sitting next to someone who emitted her own body warmth. It was slowly starting to get dark outside now and the rain drummed down rhythmically on the rocks and ground. He could feel her body starting to slump against him and he guessed that she must be dozing off.

He got up carefully and laid her down on the skins gently so that he would not wake her. He quickly layered some skins over the cave entrance. Once it got dark it became impossible to do chores so he made to settle himself in his blankets, staring at the roof of the cave until he was able to slip to sleep.

It was still dark when she woke, she didn't wake with her tiredness still lingering or with the heaviness of sleep in her eyes. The fire had almost burnt down and she was guessed it had been a few hours since she had fallen asleep. Garrok'Nha was sleeping on the other side of the small cave. She hadn't remembered when he had moved so she assumed that she had fallen asleep when he was still sitting next to her.

It was raining harder now than it had been earlier that day and she loved it. The sound elated her mind and as she got up quietly to fetch some more wood for the fire she suddenly felt a rush of happiness.

She was still alive.

After everything that had happened she was still here and still able to fight for her life. She had food, water and shelter and that was much more than what she thought she would have when she had been held captive by the orcs.

Taking a few pieces of wood she walked quietly back to the fire and knelt down to feed it, the wood would take a while to catch the flames so she laid two pieces on for good measure. Walking back outside she was careful to keep the pieces of the leather against the entrance to the cave so that the water and cold couldn't get through into its chamber.

She stepped out into the rain with her arms outstretched, not feeling the cold or the wind but feeling how the rain touched her face gently before running down her skin. The droplets were not hard and stinging but soft, caressing her hair, her face, her body.

She felt the dirt being washed away. The smell, sound, sight and even the taste filled her senses, it entranced her. She closed her eyes and rubbed her face with cupped hands, the feel of the rain on her skin was fresh and cool. She was not cold nor did she feel uncomfortable with the darkness that cloaked her. She could feel the smallest wisp of grass beneath her feet, each droplet of rain against her skin, the dirt being washed off her body.

The rain was cleansing her, it was cleansing her skin, her body, hair and her bitter memories. The smell of the damp earth elated her. She welcomed the rain running down her body, it was pure bliss.

Garrok'Nha sat up up quickly when he woke and found that the small human was gone from her animal skins. At first panic started to sprint through his mind but he calmed it, noticing the fire had been fed he assumed she was still around.

He got up and stretched quickly, hoping that she had not gotten herself into trouble. He doubted that she would have run away but he couldn't be sure.

He opened the leather carefully and quickly, in the worse case scenario she could already be injured but he hadn't heard anything or seen anything that would indicate that it was the case.

He stopped himself quickly before he could interrupt her, his panic was more so quenched once he had seen that she was safe and uninjured. She was doing the most curious thing, her body was almost blurred by the rain and he squinted against the night to make sure he wasn't dreaming.

He sat for a moment and watched, not daring to interrupt her while she danced in the rain.