Author's notes: Hey everyone! Thanks for the reviews! You people are awesome:) Anyway, I have some good news and some bad news. First, the bad news: I will be going to Japan for a month to visit some friends, so I won't be able to work on this story for a while. I rushed to finish this chapter in time so I could post it before I left, so you guys at least had something to read. Sorry, but I'll start working on the next chapter as soon as I get back! Now for the good news: I have more stuff up on my deviant art account! Woohoo! I finally colored the chibi-drawing of Raj and Zel, and there's a new Raj/Zel drawing in the scraps section (it's in there because I still need to color it). It's one of the best sketches I have ever done, so go check it out! They're both at this page: flyingsquirrelofdoom dot deviantart dot com.

Now for legal stuff: I don't own warcraft, blah blah blah…

Okay, I'm done. Here's chapter ten. Thanks for reading. Enjoy. :)

Raj had always wanted to meet Thrall. Ever since his father took him to Orgrimmar when he was ten, and they happened to see the raven-haired orc and his Horde army in a funeral procession for one of his generals, he was looking forward to the chance of one day meeting the warchief in person. However, he never imagined that the encounter would be anything like this. In fact, Thrall was probably the last person he wanted to see at the moment.

Raj glanced warily around the large circular room he was in. He was in the barracks at Razor Hill, just north of Sen'jin. Thrall and his army were heading to the Barrens from Orgrimmar, but stopped in Razor Hill for a couple days when they heard about the situation in Sen'jin. Thus Raj found himself sitting in the very center of the room, surrounded by guards, relieved of his weapons, and waiting for the warchief himself to show up. Unfortunately, half the population of Durotar seemed to be waiting along with him, filling up the rest of the room until it nearly felt claustrophobic. They probably heard about his 'predicament' and, like most people who hear there's about to be a lynching, they came early to make sure they got good seats. One orc had even brought some popcorn with him. Raj memorized that orc's face and swore to himself, if he didn't survive this, that he would at least haunt his ass for a few decades.

Eventually, Thrall entered the large room, talking with his adviser, and Raj instantly got up to his feet out of respect while everyone's chatter instantly dimmed down to low murmurs and whispers. The two orcs talked for a moment, before Thrall started heading for the high-backed chair set up for him against one of the walls of the room, almost looking like he didn't want to be here any more than Raj. In truth he didn't know why he was here in the first place; he had many more important things to do, and couldn't see why someone else couldn't have handled something like this for him. Apparently, no one else knew exactly how to handle this. Technically, traitors to the Horde were put to death, but the Horde army was currently looking for as many volunteers as possible, and not a single person could be spared, even on the premise that they might be a traitor. Therefore, they decided to leave the decision up to him. After all, Thrall couldn't make a wrong decision, now could he? Thrall sighed and stopped in front of the chair, not bothering to sit down. He always preferred standing, even in his own throne room. By now the room had become completely silent, with everyone's eyes fixed pensively on the warchief.

"…What's your name, rogue?"

"He is Raj'iki, son of Sor'iki, sir!" one of the Razor Hill grunts bellowed nearby. Thrall raised his eyebrow at the orc, then turned back to Raj.

"And why exactly are you here, Raj'iki?"

"He admits to fraternizing with the enemy, sir!" the grunt responded again. Thrall gave the grunt a withering stare.

"Maybe I should be interrogating you?"

The grunt gulped. "Sorry, sir," he said as he backed away slightly. Thrall then turned back to the troll.

"Ya kno', I don' mind if he talks fo' me…" Raj said meekly, trying to hide his nervousness.

Thrall smirked a little. "And deny you the privilege of speaking for yourself?"

Raj gave him an uneasy smile. He could do without that privilege; he doubted he could say anything to improve the situation anyway.

Just then another Razor Hill grunt approached the warchief and whispered something in his ear, to which he nodded in response. The grunt then disappeared outside again, and a few seconds later Raj could hear someone cursing loudly in a way that he knew could only be from Zelinda. At least she was still alive, and very energetic by the sound of it. Another grunt entered the large circular room, carrying the loud and unruly night elf over his shoulder. He reached the center of the room and dropped her unceremoniously on her ass, glad to be finally rid of the annoying creature. As he walked away, Zelinda sat up and flashed him a very rude hand gesture, then grasped her left arm where it had started bleeding again. They didn't bother giving her a bandage, and her entire sleeve was now soaked in blood. Raj resisted the urge to go to her; that definitely wouldn't help his case at the moment.

"Do you know this elf?"

"Ya…" Raj said slowly, looking down at her. Zelinda was nervously looking around the room, noticing all the people who were staring menacingly at her.

"Does your family know this elf?"

"No. Dey neva met 'er befo' today," he said, hoping the lie would pass.

Thrall paused for a moment. He seemed to let that slide, at least for now. "Are you on friendly terms with her?"

Raj hesitated for several seconds. "…Ya."

Thrall raised an eyebrow. "Considering the current situation between the two factions, shouldn't you have killed her the first chance you had? Why didn't you?"

Raj couldn't come up with an answer to that question. After a long moment of uneasy silence, Thrall spoke again.

"Are you a traitor?"

"No," he said almost immediately. Thrall noticed it was the first answer the troll was truly confident about. The warchief nodded to one of the nearby guards, and Raj watched as the guard started to approach him. When he reached the center of the room, he took the troll's right hand, slapped something heavy into it, and briskly turned around to walk back where he came from. Raj glanced down at what was now in his hand.

It was a dagger.

Thrall crossed his arms. "If you are loyal to the Horde... then prove it."

For the longest time, Raj couldn't tear his eyes away from the blade in his hand. He knew exactly what they wanted him to do with it. He also knew that there was no way he could bring himself to use it on the night elf next to him. Feeling an overwhelming sense of dread rise up in him, he drew a breath and calmly considered all his options. They could try to make a run for it, but judging by all the guards surrounding them, not to mention the onlookers, they would have better luck sprouting wings and flying out of there. He even considered using the dagger on himself, but that wouldn't help Zelinda's situation at all. He was still going through the possibilities in his head, but that feeling of hopelessness started to rise up again as he realized he was running out of options.

Zelinda was also staring at the blade in Raj's hand. She too knew what it was for, but unlike Raj, she was strangely calm. She saw only two possible outcomes to this situation… and both of them resulted in her death. She had finally come to terms with that before she even entered the room, and decided that if that were the case, she might as well choose how she was going to die. Not only could Raj spare himself by killing her, but he would make it quick and as painless as possible. There were many worse ways to die, so if this was the way she was going to go out, then she counted herself lucky. She slowly started to get up, which startled Raj out of his train of thought, and he watched her fully stand, still clutching her left arm. Raj noticed that she was trembling slightly, but was surprised by her eyes, which held more determination than he thought she was even capable of. She had no second thoughts about what she wanted Raj to do with that dagger… but that did little to comfort him. True, it would be better to die by his hand than by one of the angry guard's nearby, but he still wasn't sure he could bring himself to do it. Even if he didn't love her, she had done so much for him…

Suddenly, an idea came to him. He stood frozen for a moment, mulling it over in his head, when Zelinda's brows furrowed in confusion. What is he doing? She blinked in surprise, however, when Raj looked back up at her, and his face almost broke out into a grin. He then turned towards the orc standing before him.

"Um, Thrall… I mean, warchief, sir…" Raj stumbled, obviously not used to using formalities. "Sorry, but…"

At hearing those words, almost everyone in the room started booing and yelling some rather rude things, to which Raj glared at them in response. Thrall raised one of his massive hands, however, and the room suddenly became silent again.

"Let him finish." He crossed his arms again, and glowered at the troll. "Sorry but?"

Raj swallowed hard. "But… da reason we Darkspears be loyal ta you an' da Horde, be da same reason I can' kill dis night elf."

Thrall raised an eyebrow. "Oh?" he said, intrigued about how the troll was going to attempt to talk himself out of this.

"Ya… She not only saved my life, but da lives o' my two sistas. I be honor-bound ta pay 'er back, an' 'till den I can' kill 'er." He paused, hoping the half-truth sounded somewhat convincing. Raj technically was doing all the life-saving in the beginning, but the only ones who knew that were Zelinda and himself.

Thrall didn't look completely convinced. "Is that so?"

Raj slowly nodded. "I'll kill fifty night elves if ya want… Jus' not dis one."

Thrall was silent, thinking about how he should respond to something like that, when a female orc stepped forward from the crowd of onlookers.

"it's true, sir," Naruul said, even though she looked a little hesitant. "I… I saw her risk her own life to save his siblings, during the centaur raid."

As murmurs started spreading through the crowd, both Thrall and Raj gave her incredulous looks, while Zelinda just stared quizzically at her, trying to understand what was going on. Naruul glared at the night elf, as if to say "I am NOT doing this for YOU."

"Can anyone else attest to this?" Thrall said, still a little surprised by the way this was turning out. Naruul glared threateningly at a troll mage a couple meters to her left. He noticed, and sighed as he reluctantly dragged the orc hunter forward with him.

Thrall was speechless for a few moments. He then looked back at Raj, and gave a slight grin. Well, aren't you clever… He then turned his attention to Zelinda.

"What is your name, night elf?"

Zelinda was startled by the orc suddenly speaking to her in Common, and it took her a moment to register his question.

"Uh… Zelinda Stargazer."

"I have been informed that you saved this rogue's life, and the lives of his sisters. Is this true?"

Zelinda looked puzzled for a moment. "Yeah…" she said warily, casting a quick, confused glance at Raj.

"Are you a traitor to the Alliance?"

Zelinda hesitated; not because she wasn't sure of her answer, but because of what the orc's reaction to it would be.

"No."

Thrall raised an eyebrow at her response. Well, at least she isn't a coward, he thought to himself. The night elf was confident in her answer, glaring defiantly up at him, and looking strangely similar to a certain flaxen-haired mage he had befriended a long time ago. He gave an inward sigh.

"Good. I don't deal with traitors." He then turned to one of the guards and started speaking with him, while Raj and Zelinda exchanged astonished and confused glances.

"Uh… What just happened?" she whispered in his direction.

Before Raj could reply, Thrall had started speaking in Orcish again. "The four of you will take the elf outside and watch her. She is not to be harmed. Raj'iki, you will stay here. I need to speak with you in a moment."

As Thrall turned to speak to his adviser again, most of the audience groaned, disappointed that they weren't going to watch someone die today. Feeling somewhat cheated, they started filing out of the room, while four Razor Hill grunts started to approach Zelinda. She tensed up as they surrounded her, but none of them touched her, and one of them motioned for her to follow him. Cautiously, she followed the grunt out of the large room, looking back at Raj as she turned the corner. Four guards likewise surrounded Raj, taking the dagger from him as they waited for Thrall to finish his business. After several minutes of Thrall giving orders and arguing with his adviser, he finally approached Raj and motioned for the guards to stand at the entrance so he could talk privately with the troll. When they were alone, Thrall turned to him.

"I will be taking the Horde army to the Barrens. We will leave Razor Hill and head west tomorrow evening."

Raj knew what was coming next. "…And I assume I be goin' wit you?"

"On the contrary, I am ordering you to stay behind."

Raj blinked. "Um… okay?"

Thrall continued. "Although I don't believe you to be a traitor, you now have a second loyalty that conflicts with the first. It would be foolish of me to put you in the position where you might be forced to choose one over the other. Besides, we need some soldiers to stay behind so our homeland isn't completely vulnerable."

Raj wasn't sure if he was hearing all this right. "So… dat's it? I ain' exiled fo' life o' anyting?"

Thrall gave a weary sigh. "Yes, that's it. Just count yourself lucky that I don't have time to deal with you right now." He turned to lead Raj towards the exit. "In fact, while you are associated with that elf, it would be best, for your own sake, to try to make sure I forget about you. I might not always be as benevolent, or as preoccupied." He glanced at Raj, and noticed the troll was giving him an odd look. "Is something wrong?"

"No! Nothin'. It's jus'… I didn' expect ta get off dis easy. I tought ya'd be mo' angry, I guess."

Thrall gave him the smallest hint of a smile. "Actually, I almost envy you."

"Eh?"

"Nothing. Just get out of here, before I change my mind."

"Oh, ya. Uh… thanks, warchief, sir," Raj said awkwardly as he practically ran out past the guards, wanting to see Zelinda as soon as possible.

Thrall started rubbing his temples, already feeling a headache coming on. Now that this matter was dealt with, he had to focus on dealing with the Alliance threat in the Barrens. Not only were there reports of Alliance spies being spotted, the Alliance was also sending an alarming number of reinforcements to not only Theramore in Dustwallow Marsh, but also Northwatch Hold, the only human outpost in the Barrens. Anticipating an offensive move, he thought it wise to send a good part of his troops to the Crossroads and prepare for a full-blown war to break out.

What exactly are you planning to do, Jaina?

His thoughts once again drifted to the blonde mage that helped him defeat the Burning Legion all those years ago. In truth, he trusted Jaina Proudmoore more than many of his close associates, but recent developments have put a lot of strain on the fragile alliance he and Jaina had informally made, and both the orcs and the humans here on Kalimdor seemed to have abandoned the certain level of tolerance they had for each other. He was getting more and more pressure from those around him to stop preventing the inevitable and strike first at the Alliance, before they get the chance. More than likely, Jaina was being pressured in a similar way. He groaned inwardly; he wished he could meet his friend in secret and try to negotiate this in a more diplomatic way, but it seemed that neither side was interested in peace anymore, and a secret meeting with the enemy would certainly NOT be taken well by his followers if they found out. He wondered if Jaina would even be willing to settle this diplomatically anymore.

"Thrall, sir?"

Thrall almost winced at the sound of his adviser's voice. "Yes, Nazgrel?"

"We have an update on the Alliance, and we have a problem with the supplies that arrived from Orgrimmar. Your attention is required on both matters."

"Of course," he replied wearily, turning to him and motioning towards the exit. "Lead the way."

Raj was nearly blinded by the sunlight as he left the dark building, even though it was nearly dusk. When his eyes adjusted, he looked around him to see where they might be keeping Zelinda, when he felt someone whack the back of his head.

"OW! Da hell ya doin'?" he yelled, turning on his assailant. Naruul stood there, glaring at him as if she were waiting for another excuse to hit him again.

"That's no more than you deserve, you lanky son of a bitch!"

Raj smiled weakly. "Nice ta see you too."

Naruul stabbed her index finger into his chest. "There's no way you're gonna be able to pay me back in this lifetime for what I did for you and that stuck-up elf!"

He grinned. "Maybe… But I can a'least try, right? When we get back ta Sen'jin, I'll buy ya enough booze ta keep ya plowed fo' a year."

"I'm not going back to Sen'jin."

Raj blinked. "Huh?"

Naruul beamed up at him. "I'm going to the Barrens with Thrall. I volunteered."

"Oh…" he said, looking astonished. "Ya mean dey even acceptin' wimps like you?"

Naruul slugged him in the arm, making Raj wince and leaving behind a painful bruise.

"Damn, I'm jus' kiddin', mon… 'Ey, ya seen Zel anywhere?"

The orc rolled her eyes. "Your precious little elf is over there. I'm surprised you didn't notice the racket they were making."

Raj followed her line of sight, towards a couple of tables just north of the barracks, and almost couldn't believe what the night elf and the orcs were doing.

They were having a drinking contest. And Zelinda was in the lead, by the looks of it.

"Well, I'll leave you two to run off together and be merry, I guess," Naruul said in a sarcastic tone as she turned to leave, but was stopped by Raj's hand on her arm.

"What is it?" she said, turning back to face him.

Raj smiled down at her. "Take care o' yo'self, 'kay?"

Naruul blushed slightly, then recovered and tugged her arm away with a scowl. "You're one to talk… Idiot."

Raj grinned widely, and Naruul gave a small smile in return before the two parted ways, Naruul walking towards the other volunteers who were prepping for the long journey, and Raj practically running to the table where Zelinda and the grunts sat. As he approached them, he noticed that while Zelinda was only somewhat tipsy, the orcs were all three sheets to the wind, judging by their slurred speech and apparent lack of good judgment. One of the orcs next to Zelinda decided it would be funny to reach up and squeeze one of her breasts, and as expected, the night elf reeled back and socked him in the face, sending him to the ground and knocking him unconscious. The other three orcs did what anyone would expect them to do in that situation; they laughed their asses off.

"Shouln' ya be guardin' 'er?" Raj asked with a raised eyebrow as he approached them. The grunts just shrugged and grinned sheepishly.

Zelinda noticed Raj's presence, and beamed up at him. "Heeeeeeeey Raj!" she said gleefully, wobbling a bit as she stood up. "I knew you trolls weren't considered clever for nothing! I can't believe you actually talked your way out of that one! I thought I was dead for su-OOF!"

Before she knew it, Raj's arms were around her, holding her to him as if his life depended on it. Zelinda blinked in surprise, sobered a little by his reaction. "Raj?"

She felt his shoulders shake a little, and when he let out a choked sob, Zelinda's eyes widened. "Raj? Are you…?"

"Aww, come on… Don't get sho emoshional," one of the orcs slurred, trying to comfort him. "He only groped her because I dared him to… Didn't mean nothing by it."

"Jus' shut up an' drink yo' ale," Raj said, not lifting his face from where it was buried in Zelinda's hair. The orc shrugged and turned his attention back to his mug.

Raj had stopped shaking, but Zelinda still had her arms wrapped around him to comfort him. "Are you okay?" she asked worriedly.

"I tought I was gonna lose you…" he whispered in her hair.

Zelinda smiled, and held him tighter. "You wanna go home now? I bet Tal'ika's worrying her hair out over you."

Raj nodded, and finally let go of her. His eyes were a little misty, but he had a big grin on his face, and he had to resist the urge to kiss her in front of the inebriated orcs.

"I'm guesshing you'll be wanting these back," one of the orcs said as he reached under the table and puller out a pair of daggers. When he put them on the table, Raj gave him a funny look.

"Uh… those ain' mine, mon."

The orc looked back at the blades on the table. "Oh shit… thoshe are mine." Raj rolled his eyes as the grunt pulled another pair out from under the table and handed them to the troll.

"What 'bout hers?" Raj said as he motioned to the night elf.

"Oh, we already gave it back to her," said another orc as he finished off his mug. Raj shook his head in disbelief.

"Good ta see dat da Horde's got competent guards like you," he said as he sheathed his daggers. He then turned to Zelinda. "I can' believe ya out-drank four orcs twice yo' size."

Zelinda grinned sheepishly. "I didn't, really. I started drinking long after they did."

"Ya need help walkin'?"

"Naw, I'm good," she replied as she started to follow Raj, who wanted to get out of Razor Hill as soon as possible. She turned around to wave at the three orcs as they left. "Byeeeeeeee!"

The orcs waved back at the two. "Bring her back shometime! I can't get beat by a night elf! I have a reputashun to uphold!"

By the time they were halfway to Sen'jin Village, night had completely descended, and the full moon easily illuminated the path in front of them. At this time, Raj had also finished explaining what happened in Razor Hill, from Naruul's involvement to Thrall's orders to remain in Durotar.

"And that's all he did? He basically just sent you home to your mother?"

Raj let out a sigh. "Ya, basically."

"Wow, I wouldn't think a Horde officer would be that forgiving! Who was that orc, anyway?"

Raj raised an eyebrow at her question. "Warchief Thrall."

Zelinda's eyes widened, and she was silent for a moment. "...He's shorter than I thought he'd be."

"Almos' everyone be shorter dan you, Zel," Raj said with a smirk.

She pouted. "Yeah, I guess you're…" She stopped mid-sentence, and her face suddenly became gravely serious.

"Eh? What's wrong?" Raj asked when he noticed her discomfort. As soon as he asked, however, he sensed it too, and went rigid. Nonetheless, the two kept walking, pretending as if they didn't notice anything different. Raj leaned slightly towards Zelinda.

"How many are dere?" he whispered quickly.

"Two… maybe three," Zelinda whispered back. Even in her slightly buzzed state, she could sense that they were being followed. After a few more meters, she made a slight motion with her head, signaling to Raj that they were behind her to her left, behind one of the rows of cactus.

Then, in one fluid motion, the night elf reached down, grabbed a fist-sized rock, and hurled it towards one of the cactus plants. A dull smack and a loud shriek of pain confirmed the hit, and Raj and Zelinda ran towards the sound with their daggers drawn. When they reached the source, however, they looked extremely puzzled by what they found.

A gnome in mage's robes was lying unconscious on the red ground, her two huge brown ponytails splaying out around her head, which had started bleeding profusely.

"A gnome? In Durotar?" Zelinda asked out loud. Raj just shrugged; his guess was as good as hers. Zelinda stared at the small mage, and suddenly had an uneasy feeling. This gnome almost looked familiar…

"Millie!" yelled a human warrior as she ran up to them, drawing her sword and getting in her battle stance. She was immediately joined by a dwarf hunter and his wolf, and the four of them stood frozen, holding their weapons defensively in front of them and waiting for someone to make the first move. As Zelinda stared at the dark-eyed, ebony-haired woman, she almost instantly recognized them as the group of Alliance that healed her, back in Ashenvale. The female warrior seemed to recognize her and Raj at the same time. Her eyes widened in shock.

"It's YOU!" both women shouted simultaneously.

There was complete silence for several seconds as everyone just stared at each other in astonishment. Then it was suddenly broken by the dwarf's thundering laughter.

"So your name's Cassandra?" Zelinda asked the raven-haired woman, who was devouring the jerky given to her as if she hadn't eaten in weeks.

"Mmm-hmm," she managed between mouthfuls. The group was gathered behind a small outcropping of rocks, out of sight from the road between Sen'jin and Razor Hill.

"Um… I never did get to thank you for helping me back in Ashenvale."

Cassandra shrugged. "Don't worry about it," she mumbled as she finished of the jerky.

"And thanks for helping me now, even though I hurt your friend," Zelinda said to the dwarf next to her as he replaced the bandage on her left arm. She was given one in Razor Hill, but it was soaked in blood and needed to be changed.

"Not a problem, lass! We're just glad yer not Horde, we prob'ly would be dead by now!"

Raj gave him an odd look. "So I ain' Horde now, eh?"

Barrett laughed. "Yer not hostile to us, at least!"

"Ow ow ow…" Millie whimpered. She was sitting next to Raj, gingerly touching the bandage wrapped around her forehead. "That's quite a throw you have there."

"Sorry about that…" Zelinda said apologetically. She then turned back to Cassandra. "So what are you guys doing in here in Durotar?"

"We could ask you the same thing," the woman said with a smirk.

Zelinda motioned to the troll next to her. "Raj had to see his family."

"And you decided to tag along?" Millie asked, eyes wide in disbelief. The night elf nodded.

"Are you suicidal or something?"

Zelinda glared at the gnome. "And why are you here, huh? You guys on vacation or what?"

There was silence. The three gave each other uneasy looks, and then they all looked at Raj. He shrugged.

"I be indebted ta ya, remember?" he said, crossing his arms behind his head and leaning up against a rock. "Unless ya plannin' on killin' someone, ya don' hafta worry 'bout me."

Millie still looked hesitant. "I don't know, Cassie…"

Cassandra was deep in thought for a few moments, before she decided that their cover was blown anyway, so they might as well tell them. "The Alliance sent us here as spies."

"To spy on what?" Zelinda asked.

"Thrall's army. The number of troops, if they plan on moving out soon, stuff like that. Basically our superiors in Theramore want to know what they're up against. We were heading up to Razor Hill when we ran across you two."

"Don' dey send rogues in fo' stuff like dis?" Raj questioned.

"They save the rogues for the more… dangerous jobs," Cassandra replied. Just then, her stomach made a loud grumbling sound, and her face flushed. "You wouldn't happen to have any more jerky to spare, would you?"

Zelinda shook her head. "No, you ate the last of mine. Are you really that hungry?"

"We haven't eaten in almost two days," Millie said, sounding pitiful.

Barrett nodded. "Aye, some boars got into our food supply our first night here, and it's hard to hunt fer food when yer trying to stay hidden."

"I see…" Zelinda said, wondering how she could help them. They helped save her life, and she felt the need to repay them for their kindness. Then an idea came to her, and she grinned at Raj. The troll immediately knew what she was thinking… and he didn't like it one bit.

"No. Nuh-uh. No way."

"Why not? They obviously need help. They can get something to eat, and we can tend to Millie's head-"

"She'll KILL me!" Raj said, looking desperate.

"And what else are we supposed to do, huh? Leave them here to starve? We do owe them one."

"But-" Raj started, but the night elf had already left the outcropping of rocks, her silvery glowing eyes searching the road. "I don't see anyone coming. Let's go," Zelinda said with a grin, motioning for the others to follow her. As the group headed down towards the road, Raj let out a heavy sigh.

"Dat elf's gonna be da death o' me."