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

Litha turned slowly in the moonlight to examine the small plateau. Ga'vik was already busy, collecting a small pile of deadwood. So practical, she thought ruefully, and dropped lazily to sit on the soft, mossy ground.

Lujin immediately began scouting the edge of the trees. Jozala had arrived safely on their level, and began to explore the site as well, snuffling noisily as she examined the ground. As she rounded some boulders, she gave a squawk and Ga'vik stopped what he was doing to jog over to her. He gave a small grunt of surprise, then gestured to Litha to follow. Hesitantly, she rounded the boulders, and saw Jozala standing at the edge of a small stream, water running out of her wide mouth.

Ga'vik padded to the stream's edge and collapsed to his hands and knees. Litha thought he was going to lap from the water like an animal, but instead, he plunged his whole face in and rolled it side to side. When he tossed his head back, he let out a shout of sheer joy. He turned to Litha, grinning.

She was completely taken aback, and could only stare, amazed and amused, as he began to strip off his armour and clothing. When he was down to his trousers, he paused. His smile turned suddenly coy. He made a twirling gesture with one hand, pointing at her. Litha realized his intention. He wanted her to turn around.

Caught up in his good humour, she shook her head, laughed, and reached up for the clasp of the cloak.

"Why should you be embarrassed, while I prance around as naked as a babe?" she asked, in Common.

She let the cloak puddle at her feet, then joined him in the stream, a few metres away. The water was shallow, coming barely above her ankles, but she crouched in it and shivered with delight as the coolness touched her bum. She looked back at the troll.

He had been watching her, his cobalt eyes intense. He said something in Zandali, and grinned again, then turned away and shucked his trousers unceremoniously. Litha was treated to a full view of his muscled backside as he stepped into the stream and stretched both arms over his head with a groan. He sat carefully on the rocky bottom, the water streaming around his narrow hips, then lay slowly back until he was as submerged as possible.

Litha thought it looked positively decadent, and lay back as well. After a few minutes she felt something pinch her toes, and sat up with a start.

Ga'vik had rolled onto his stomach, and was grinning impishly at her. His mood was infectious, and Litha laughed again and kicked water at his face. She could not remember ice-cold water ever feeling so good. She felt it rinsing away the dirty film of desert sand that clung to her. It almost seemed to be bubbling through her, as well.

Ga'vik laughed then, and asked in Orcish, somewhat unnecessarily, "Good, yeah?"

"Yes," she agreed, unable to resist correcting his pronunciation. This only made him laugh again, sharp white teeth flashing in mirth, and Litha felt the bubbling inside her turn to heat.

She was acutely aware of her own disappointment when he turned away and began to clean himself in earnest, using his ragged linen shirt as a washcloth. When he was done, he wrung it out and tossed it to her, still smiling, but without the same disarming intensity.

Litha cleaned herself slowly, then lay with the water flowing through her hair until her teeth began to chatter with cold. Unwilling to leave the refreshing power of the stream just yet, she sat up and clasped her knees to her chest.

The troll was humming softly, which she had never heard him do. He was clearly in his element. He had rinsed his trousers and the cloak as well, and wore the wet pants as he made camp. She watched him coax a small fire to life with a tiny heap of deadwood and damp-looking moss, then use a handful of the same moss to rub down the raptor, who churred and cooed at the attention.

Lujin reappeared with a small, scaled animal in her jaws. She deposited it at the troll's feet and began to clean her whiskers, looking unaffected by his praise.

Litha stayed shivering in the water as he skinned and gutted the creature, fashioned a spit out of a stick and some rocks, and angled it over the fire to cook. She hugged her legs close to her chest, closed her eyes, and listened to the soft gurgling of the stream and the humming of the troll. She could almost imagine that the cold purity of the water was washing everything off of her… everything.

She even started to feel the divine Light gathering within her chest, but then the slave collar tingled uncomfortably, and the spell was broken.

When she opened her eyes, the troll was watching her from the far side of the fire. He asked her something in Orcish that she didn't catch. He hugged himself and rubbed his arms, miming cold. She shook her head, though her teeth were probably chattering loud enough for him to hear. He let her be for a few more minutes, then abruptly came and wrapped one of the hyena skins around her shoulders, lifted her bodily out of the stream and deposited her closer to the fire.

Litha couldn't help but burrow a little closer against him when he started to move away. He smelled better without the harsh overtones of dust and sweat, and he was radiating delicious body heat. When she clutched at his arm, he crouched down again, hesitating, then shifted to sit and stretched out his legs to either side of her.

She rested her cheek against his chest and stared at the fire. After a few minutes, he started to hum again.

Some time later, he woke her up to make her eat a little charred meat. Litha pulled a face and said "Hot," as she picked off the blackest bits. She didn't know the Orcish word for "overcooked."

Ga'vik scowled at her and rubbed his hair. He looked flustered, and Litha almost felt badly for commenting on his cooking efforts. He pointed at her and said something in Orcish, of which Litha could only make out, "…you." When she shrugged, he pressed his hands together against one cheek, snored dramatically, and leaned his whole weight against her until she tipped to one side, laughing despite herself.

"I don't snore like that," she said in Common with as much dignity as she could muster. The troll seemed to catch her meaning, and gestured to a sleeping Jozala to reinforce his point.

"You," he said emphatically, as the raptor snorted and wheezed lustily.

"You think you're clever, don't you?" she asked, laughing again. This time Ga'vik only flashed his toothy grin at her. She felt the heat rising in her belly again as he pinned her with his dark, blue gaze. Then he turned away and busied himself tending the fire.

Litha stared into the flames for a long while. She could did not recall falling asleep again.