Hello everyone! I am back! Sorry for not updating in a while...between working full-time for several months and having severe writer's block, my mind was just unable to write anything. So as an apology and a late Merry Christmas, here is a new short story for you!

This will be a bit different than my usual GaLe stories, but I hope you will still enjoy it! This is actually the backstory from one of my backup dnd characters (yes, just one of my backups and not even my main character lol) that I recently started playing.

Now that my creativity is flowing again, I'll start working on my numerous GaLe projects that have been staring at me every time I open my computer :) In the meantime, I hope you enjoy and Merry Christmas!

Prologue

Lizzy stomped into her hut and threw her wooden sword onto the bed. With a huff she flopped face-first next to it, not even listening when her mother scolded her for leaving her muddy boots on. She sniffed into her pillow and turned, blinking away the burn in her eyes before her mother noticed.

"Lizzy? What's wrong, Honey?"

Lizzy bit her tongue to hold back a curse. Of course her mother would notice right away. "Why am I so different?" she practically shouted, shoving off of the bed to sit crossed legged on the blanket.

She sniffed again and rubbed a hand over her dirty face. "The other kids kept pushing me and shoving me, and called me stupid and you a…"

The words stopped on her tongue. Her blood boiled just at the mere thought of the taunts, but she wouldn't repeat the insults the other children called her mother. She was used to the glares and evil smiles, but Gruumsh help her if she allowed anyone to talk about her mother that way.

With a soft sigh, her mother sat on the bed next to her. Lizzy peeked at her from the corner of her eye. Her mother's pale skin almost gleamed in the afternoon sun streaming through the window and the bright pink of her apron made her cheeks turn rosy. Dark, wavy hair tumbled down her shoulders in long waves and her bright, blue eyes shimmered like they always did whenever Lizzy asked the same, silly question.

"Oh baby, did you get into a fight again? What have I told you about just ignoring them?" The thickness in her mother's voice and the increasing sheen forming in her eyes pricked Lizzy's heart.

"But I can't help it!" Lizzy pouted, shaking off her mother's hand from patting her hair and the sensitive sides of her scalp where her clan tattoos were still healing. The sun tried shining onto her arms as well, but the light grey tone of her skin could never hold a candle next to her mother's. "They kept pushing me and calling you all sorts of things. Just thinking about it makes me want to go out and pummel them again!"

She was halfway to her feet, her mother's protests loud in her ear, when the door banged open and her father entered their small home. Lizzy gulped and her mother grew quiet. Her father crossed his broad arms against his impossibly wide chest and raised a bushy eyebrow. Lizzy felt a hand on her shoulder and both she and her mother stood. Her mother wrapped an arm around Lizzy's shoulders, which now stood even with the other woman's now that Lizzy turned ten.

"Did you fight with the boys again?" Her father growled out in their native tongue.

Her heart quaked at the dark look and the wide stance her father took to make him look even larger than normal. His battle scars blazed on his arms and chest, an obvious symbol of his strength and prowess. She had never even gotten close to beating her father in combat. But she was still her father's daughter and she refused to cower in front of him.

She raised her chin, thrusting out her lower jaw to show off her growing bottom fangs and met her father's glare head on. His broad nose flared, his face darkening with an emotion she couldn't read.

"Answer me, qu'Hom!"

Lizzy flinched, the switch between Common and their native tongue a sure sign of her father's growing wrath.

"That's right, Vav."

"Did you win?"

She blinked at the question and heard her mother sigh. A twinkle formed in her father's dark eyes and she couldn't help the grin that slowly formed on her face. "They will need to pray to Bahgtru much more if they ever hope to beat me."

Her father's booming laughter filled the hut, drowning out her mother's gentler tones. Her father took three giant steps and wrapped Lizzy in his arms. She gasped and choked, nearly losing all of her breath in his giant hug.

"'Es my qu'Hom!" he shouted, finally setting her on her feet and cradling her head between his meaty hands. "I knew one day you would prove those elders wrong! It was my best idea yet to bring in a human as my mate!"

Her mother rushed forward, switching the conversation back to common. "You really need to stop encouraging her, Love. What if she gets hurt?"

Lizzy brushed off her mother's hand again. "Ma! I'm not a little girl anymore!"

"That's right, my parmaq, our Lizzy is a grown girl-"

"She's only ten!"

"And nearly old enough to earn her beads and join her first hunt."

"Really, Vav?" Lizzy bounced on her toes, her gaze trailing to the corner of the room where her father's prized glaive rested against the wall.

Her father chuckled and ruffled her hair. "Soon, my qu'Hom, very soon...much faster if you keep practicing like you just did!"

Lizzy grabbed his arm and shook it. "Can you teach me more? They ganged up on me and Manol landed a hit when I wasn't looking and I-"

"Sorry, qu'Hom, your mother has already claimed you for this afternoon. And you know how scary she can be," he switched from common and bent to whisper in her ear, both of them glancing at the smiling woman.

Lizzy gulped and whispered back, "But I want to do more fighting with you."

"It's good for you to learn human things too, in case you ever find yourself among your other kin…"

"I can still understand you, my dears, even if you are speaking Orc," a sharp edge came to her voice and even the great Orc warrior trembled.

Her father cleared his throat, "And it makes your mother happy, so off you go!"

A rough shove on her shoulder made her feet stumble beneath her. She righted herself just in time to avoid falling to the floor and glared at her father, who only laughed and drew his wife in for a hug.

"Why are you always gentle with mom, but break my bones when you hug me..." she grumbled as she made her way to her chair on the opposite wall.

She leapt onto the soft cushion and bounced for a moment before reaching for her unfinished weaving project resting on the table. She picked it up gently, careful to hold the unfinished edge, and twisted it in front of her, imagining in her mind what the design should look like next.

Some dark green would look nice here.

With a smile, she set her project back into her lap and reached into the large yarn basket that held their extra supplies. By the time she found the color she wanted, her parents had finished their hushed conversation and sat in the chairs around her. Her mother picked up her own weaving and her father grabbed his glaive and sharpening stone. The calming sound of scraping metal filled the room and her mother hummed from her corner. Her father's off-key singing joined in until they were all laughing till their stomachs hurt and her father threatened to dangle them in the river.

Lizzy wiped tears from her eyes, resuming her work and looking forward to when her mother started dinner and her delicious apple tarts.

I may or may not have used Klingon as the Orc language...but you can't prove anything unless you look up my computer's search history, hehe