Obligatory disclaimer: I do not own World of Warcraft, or I would have gotten more of the details right.

Eikahe drizzled some more of the pain-relieving potion into human's unconscious mouth and sat back to look at Ga'vik. His friend was running his hand through his hair and clicking his teeth the way he did when he was agitated, or thinking hard. It was no surprise the troll's thick black hair was always standing on end. He seemed to constantly find himself in - or possibly seek - situations that warranted agitation and hard thinking. Eikahe had been a peaceful, contemplative druid until the troublesome Ga'vik had whirled into his life. Look at me now! Causing my own trouble, and dragging Ga'vik into it, for once.

The day before yesterday, he'd even bathed the human. She'd been unconscious, and he'd tried to leave her some dignity by shifting her loose dress up as he washed her lower half, then shifting it down as he washed the top. They'd had her for nearly a week already at that point, and he had been worried that her filthy state was contributing to the relentless infection in her leg. Ga'vik had disagreed, insisting that humans never washed, and had ruffled his hair worriedly the whole time. When Eikahe had finished revealing ivory, pink, and freckle-spattered skin, and covered her with Ga'vik's light cloak so he could wash her single item of clothing, Ga'vik had stood staring at her for a long time. Then his nostrils had flared as he inhaled deeply to take in her smell, and Eikahe had understood his concern at last.

The orcs had noticed the difference as well.

Several of them had taken a renewed interest in the captive, and tension in the party had been growing since then. Eikahe could hear angry Orcish mutterings from the far side of the camp even now.

"Well, we could try dirtying her up again," Eikahe said to his friend in Taur-ahe, gazing sadly at the unconscious human. She'd had many other injuries, beyond the burns: bruises and delicate wounds that told of a variety of cruelties at the hands of the goblins. He hated to think he'd healed her only to let her be subjected to more of the same, at the hands of the orcs. In fact, Eikahe suspected their hands would be the least of it.

Ga'vik only grunted, ducked backward out of the tent and ambled toward the cooking fire. Gurk, the largest orc and the leader of the party, stepped suddenly in his path. As usual with Gurk, there was little preamble.

"Troll, you say the human slave will help us find who attacks the caravans. You say she will help us complete the mission. I say she is dying, and she doesn't even speak Orcish. Let me have her." Gurk peppered his speech with dramatic axe-wielding Orcish gestures, several of which nearly took off Ga'vik's head. Ga'vik didn't flinch, but hunched slightly lower into his habitual slouch.

"Gurk," said Ga'vik slowly, rumpling his hair, "I toldja. She need more time to heal, mon. Eik do great work, but dat collar isn't helpin." His Orcish was more heavily accented than his Taur-ahe. He glanced back at Eikahe, who came to stand beside him, but did not speak. The orcs had a modicum of respect for the troll, who was, at least, a lethal warrior like them. They had little or none for Eikahe, who was practically a pacifist. His support would not sway them.

"You will turn her over to me, now. You cannot keep her for yourself. We are supposed to share any spoils we find." At this, Gurk turned to leer suggestively in the direction of the tent, much to the raucous delight of the other orcs.

"Why you need a half-dead human to fuck, mon? Don't da orc ladies wantcha?" Ga'vik's tone was light, but he repositioned himself between Gurk and the tent. At the same time, a shadow stealthily detached itself from the tent and edged around to flank the big orc, pupils dilating in wide golden eyes.

"Har, har," spat Gurk. "You think you are so funny, troll. You make fun of us orcs. You think we are stupid, because we don't laugh at your jokes. Did your tribe turn you out because of your un-funny jokes, or your love of humans?"

"Below da belt, mon," muttered Ga'vik, rolling his shoulders. He flicked his eyes at Lujin and gave a sharp whistle. She slunk back to the tent, tail flicking angrily. She was not one for diplomacy.

The troll rumpled his hair, clicked his teeth, and tried one more time. "We find somebody dat speak Common, den we get some answers..."

"Enough!" roared Gurk, lifting an axe with each hand.

Ga'vik was primarily a ranged fighter, but it was not because he lacked skills in hand-to-hand combat. Even as Gurk had raised his heavy double-edged axes, the troll was moving swiftly forward to press his skinning knife against the soft hide of the orc's neck.

"I know you a big orc, mon, and you like to look da big orc wit your big fuckin' axes. You feel big right now?" He pressed the blade further, causing blood to well up. "You tink I's just a nobody troll with no tribe, and nobody fuckin' care if you kill me, yah?" At the edge of camp, Jozala, the troll's red raptor, screamed as if in protest. Lujin's golden eyes glowed from the shade beside the tent. "Let me tell ya, Gurk. I didn' get kicked out 'cause I was bad at da killin' part. Just de obeyin' orders part."

Ga'vik stepped back abruptly, and sheathed the knife at his hip. Gurk's axe-bearing arms had already both dropped to his sides. He regarded the troll through slitted eyes a moment longer, before spinning on his heel to stalk out of the camp. The other orcs shuffled restlessly around the camp, but made no move to intervene. They respected authority, but authority came with strength and in this instance, Gurk had been bested.

As the other orcs prepared their meals and slipped under their tents, Ga'vik stood inert, with no hair-rumpling or teeth-clicking to betray agitation. Eikahe knew it meant the troll was battling far more powerful emotions. After several minutes of deathly stillness, Ga'vik ruffled his hair several times in quick succession, then headed outside of the circle of tents to tend to his mount. Jozala screeched a greeting to him and ducked her head as he scratched at her long muzzle and spoke in soft Zandali.

Hesitantly, Eikahe approached and addressed him in Taur-ahe. "Well, that's that... ?"

Ga'vik only snorted in response and began to curry the raptor's scales to remove the sand that had worked its way between them. Jozala crooned and bumped her head against his until he batted it away. Eikahe patted her reflexively when she turned toward him. He missed his own mount, but kodos didn't last long in the desert without any vegetation to eat, so only the carnivorous raptor and three worgs accompanied them on their mission.

The tauren cleared his throat and spoke again. "Now that Gurk's given up on that idea..."

"You think he's given up?" Ga'vik rounded on him, his blue eyes sparking. "If they don't attack us tonight, it'll be tomorrow, or the next day. And don't think they'll spare you just because you're the only healer." He bared his teeth angrily and turned back to the raptor. "And what they do to her will be worse than what they do to us." Snarling, he tossed the brush down to drag both hands through his hair, and turned back to the tauren again. "Best case scenario, the next week is uneventful and we make it back to Gadgetzan. Maybe she knows something about the attacks, maybe she doesn't. Regardless, she's back in goblin hands, getting beaten and raped by those rich little cretins. I'm so fucking glad we saved her life." The last was said with such venom that Jozala crept backward, tucking her talons against her chest and chirping nervously.

Clucking impatiently at her, Ga'vik picked up the brush again and groomed her furiously. "It would have been kinder," he hissed, "to kill her when we found her."

Eikahe sat heavily on the sand and gazed back into the camp. Through the bright mid-day sun, he could see Lujin's golden eyes watching them from beside the tent. Within the tent, the human female was just a shaded lump.

"If you think that's true," the tauren said, working it out slowly, "you can just kill her now. Tell Gurk she knew nothing, so you ended it. She won't even feel it." He watched his friend as he spoke, and the troll's brush-strokes slowed and then stopped. After a moment he sat down beside the tauren, sighing.

"It's like you said, Eik. She wants to live. I see it every time she takes a sip of water, or drags herself out of the tent to take a piss. Despite everything she's been through, she just keeps going. It's a choice she's made, and I can't take that away from her."

"She's pretty, too."

Ga'vik snorted. "I wasn't sure you'd noticed. Everyone else sure did."

"I may be celibate, and of the wrong species, but I'm not blind. I only need to see the way you look at her." That seemed to irritate the troll, causing him to jump to his feet and resume grooming the raptor with rough strokes.

"It doesn't help that you make me carry her all the time, and sleep next to her."

Eikahe huffed. "You offered to carry her, since you have a mount. And we both know there's no room for her in my tent. We can hardly leave her out in the sun all day, to burn the rest of her pretty pink skin off."

Ga'vik only kicked sand at him, having no retort, and bent to his work in silence.