A grey morning greeted them as they climbed the steep, muddy hillside and stepped out on the plains. Where the wild lands ended and the plains began they were separated by a deep cut in the landscape, as if a giant blade had been dragged from the mountains to the coast, slicing the land.

Cassandra delighted in feeling the wind on her face again and seeing the sky, no matter how grey and dull it might be. In the distance the ocean lay silvery and blinking invitingly.

She looked down her mud encrusted clothes, wrinkling her nose at the smell of them, rather evident now they were out of the swamp. She pulled something brown and slightly slimy out of the fuzz that once had been a pretty braid of nutbrown hair. Frowning she turned to the troll who was standing with his eyes closed, happily smelling the wind. She smiled at the sight and realised the embarrassment she had felt for being dirty and smelly was pointless.

Jah'ren's hair was a greenbrown mess of tangles, the kneelong trousers even shorter now than when they entered the swamp, and he had left his leather vest behind somewhere, or what remained of it after he had taken a liking to wrestling with crocolisks.

Cassandra's eyes went to the sea again, her heart feeling a longing towards that flowing silver.

"Sea," a voice said beside her. "Kassandra want to go to sea."

He smiled as he passed her, and she followed through the grass sprinkled with the colours of flowers, towards that waving field beckoning from a distance.

"The sea," she complained. "The sea, Jah'ren. Things get even more important if you put the in front of them."

"Okey," he laughed.

She really hated when he used that word. After she had taught him it he had adapted it to mean just about anything he wanted it to. If he did not want to answer, it was all he said, and if he did not want to listen he used it. She had already regretted teaching him all the swearwords she had been able to think of one evening they were especially bored, but nothing was more vexing than the simple "Okey" he threw at her in all kinds of situations.

The discussion of the had been going on just as long as the one about personal pronouns. He simply refused to see the sense in calling something by another name just to make it easy.

"How you know it the same thing?" was his usual argument, and said with a tone that almost made Okey a rather nice word.

She knew all too well he only argued to provoke her, because he had started using the new words anyway since it made everything easier.

Making their way down to where the plains met the seasand they did not speak much. Both were excited to be out in the fresh air without anything but the sky above. From time to time Cassandra stopped to pick some of the flowers that she recognized to have powers beyond just their beauty.

It took them no more than half a day to reach the white sands stretching northwards seemingly endless. There was still light in the sky and, Cassandra decided, time enough for a bath before tending to needs like firewood and food.

She did not even have the time to speak her thoughs before the troll threw weapons and pouches in a heap on the sand and ran out into the water. Speechless, Cassandra dropped her own bow and dagger before following him into the cold waves.

The water was chillier than she had expected, but she dived in anyway, and enjoyed the salt taste of sea in her mouth while gliding through it. Finally coming up for air she was met by a happy smile.

"Food no worry!" he exclaimed showing her the giant crab dangling angry from his fist. "Many, many … eating things."

"Crab," she said, moving out of the way as he let it go back to the oceanfloor.

"Crap bad word," she heard him say before he dived again.

Cassandra went back on land and found the soap that had been a peace offering at their first meeting. Then she found herself a little pool between a couple of stones providing a little privacy and starting taking her clothes of, washing each garment as it came loose.

Sitting submerged on an underwater rock in the pool she sighed with relief and washed her hair.

She let her head fall back and lay there, almost floating, looking at the sky and feeling the pleasure of water around her body. She was just wondering were Jah'ren might be when something brushed her leg. A moment later she was pulled under the surface only to emerge a second later, angry and blushing madly when she realised she was totally naked and he had been under the water.

"Jah'ren!" She complained. "I wanted privacy!"

The troll just looked at her with a playful look in the green eyes.

"You took my soap," he complained, smiling cunningly.

"Oh! Your soap. What happened to Jah'ren's soap? When did you begin using pronouns?"

"Jah'ren's soap." He pointed, very obviously laughing on the inside.

"Let's just get one thing clear!" Cassandra was still blushing, even more so because he did not seem inclined to avert his eyes any time soon. "When I am naked and washing I want privacy. You may not have any personal boundaries, but that does not mean I haven't got any! You can have the soap when I finish with it, because I am the woman here!"

"My soap," he whined, trying to grab it from her hand and, failing, he grabbed her instead.

Cassandra wriggled to get away, and gave up holding onto the soap when her body went weak from laughing. He let her go and looked satisfied at the soap which now was in two pieces.

"I have two soap," he grinned. "Kass have no soap." He dropped one half into her hand and laughed. "Kass have soap."

Then he turned and walked out through a gap in the stonewall around her pool, sniggering to himself. Cassandra was left sitting on her rock again, the flaming red blush spreading out from her face, her mind trying to let go of the newfound lesson she had gotten on troll anatomy.

When she returned to the beach half an hour later there was a fire in a small hollow in the sand, and one unlucky crab roasting on a stick above the flames. Jah'ren sat by the fire, working his finger through the tangled mess on his head.

Cassandra was still angry, but she found her comb anyway.

"Let me," she said kindly, standing behind him.

A grey dusk was falling over the ocean, but here and there the clouds were slowly parting, giving way to a blackening sky and twinkling stars.

While working through the knots with the comb Cassandra hummed low. The troll's hair was strange against her hands, stiff and still soft, like a horse's mane. He sat watching the clouds, trying to hum in tone with her, and not succeeding.

"I think it is a good thing you don't sing too much," she teased. "I think you are better at hunting."

"Yes."

There was a happy tone to his voice she had not expected; usually he teased her back when he got the chance.

"I bet that was why they threw you out of the tribe," she tried again. "You sing like a tortured pig."

To her utter amazement this did not even get a response. He just continued humming happily.

"Jah'ren? Have you chewed on the Black Stick again?"

He had told her the name and the secret of the black root they had been sharing some evenings when they needed some comfort. The trolls called it the Black Stick, and if you ate a whole one you would have very strange and probably psychedelic dreams pretty soon.

"No," he answered. "Just happy."

"You are weird." She laughed.

"Jah'ren always alone," he sighed. "I always live on my own. But now, tribe again. Little tribe. Little family."

Again she was filled with joy and sadness at once.

"We are a weird little family, aren't we?" she said, and then quickly changed the subject: "When is that crab gonna be done?"

"Bad word," and a grin was the only answer she got.

***

As the beach was peaceful and the sea held an almost unlimited supply of food, the little tribe of human and troll decided to stay a while.

Exploring the stone formations here and there along the sand Cassandra had found them a small cave, just big enough to shelter them from rain and wind. Some days they hunted up on the plains, where large birds made perfect targets for the inexperienced hunter to shoot at.

In the beginning she missed every time, Jah'ren teasing and laughing when her arrows were so off target she had difficulties finding them again.

"No, no!" he snorted with laughter when her arrow against all probability was caught by the wind and landed behind her. "Not that way!"

She turned to him with eyes burning.

"Shut up."

Still finding it hard to keep a straight face the troll came over to her, standing behind her as he placed one hand on each of her.

"Like this," he explained. "Feel bow and arrow, feel prey…"

Pulling the string together she could, strangely enough, understand what he meant. The arrow was suddenly in the perfect height for her to aim well, her hand no longer shaking when he supported it.

"Be strong. Be Hunter."

He moved the hand holding the bow away and held her around the waist instead, ignoring the blush spreading over her skin.

"No fear, just feel bow and arrow and prey, and shot."

The arrow flew; hitting the bird they had been aiming at through the neck and causing it to tumble towards the ground.

"Good hunter," Jah'ren smiled and patted her head when walking past her on his way to fetch their dinner.

The troll made different stationary targets for her too, and with his instructions and teasing she quickly improved both her aim and her technique. He also trained her in close combat with daggers, swords and bare fists. At eveningfall they went back to the cave, usually tired and with a few bruises, even though Jah'ren mostly managed to stay unharmed.

In the evenings, after they had eaten, Cassandra had taken on the great task of teaching the troll to read at his request. In the beginning it was just letters drawn in the sand with a stick, but each time he managed to recite the whole alphabet she took out her old storybook and read him something, stopping every now and then to show him words and explain expressions.

The book was the only thing she had managed to safe from the burnt remains of their house. Some of the pages was bloodsplattered, most of them curled and charred, or wrinkled from being too moist laying in her pack. It was not a particularly good book, but that did not matter much. The stories were all about knights wooing princesses, slaying dragons and saving the world, all in a day's work, and proved good entertainment on the beach under a starfilled sky.

Apart from the quiet complaints about there being to much love and too little blood, Jah'ren seemed to enjoy the nightly reading sessions by the fire.

One night after reading Cassandra was talked into explaining the whole business of courting to the troll's delight. They were sitting on the beach outside the cave, she on a stump of wood and he on the ground below her.

Cassandra talked of all the romantic things she could think about; flowers and chocolate and going down on one knee, ballads and poems under a full moon, and every silly notion she had ever read about or dreamed of as a girl.

"Stupid," Jah'ren laughed, shaking his head in disbelief.

"It's romance!" Cassandra complained. "You can't call it stupid. It's the way things are done."

"Much easier troll way," he snorted, and enjoyed provoking her.

"Well! There has to be some romance involved even there. And how do trolls express their love for each other then?"

She regretted the question immediately when he grinned widely.

"Troll see troll, say; I like you. Then carry back to cave, make baby."

Blushing and a little irritated Cassandra exclaimed:

"That's not very romantic!"

"Pract'ical," he smiled.

"Well, we humans like to have a bit of romance. No good would come from going around hitting each other over the head with clubs and dragging your love back to the cave."

"No club," laughed Jah'ren.

"Anyway," Cassandra said a little vexed. "Humans would not do that. And it wouldn't work on humans anyway. We are more refined in love."

Jah'ren looked thoughtfully into the fire before turning to her. With the back of his hand he started stroking her left leg, smiling what he thought his most charming smile.

"Jah'ren like Kass," he grinned.

"It was not a challenge," she said, kicking the hand away. "And it's not working."

Not being one to quit while having fun he put his head against her waist, lifting one arm so his fingers stroked her throat.

"Be-au-ti-ful," he purred, remembering the word from the tale about the very beautiful princess, but having no idea of how to say it.

Cassandra leaned back and curled one of her legs up to stomp the sandy foot into his cheek.

"You stop that! It's not working and either way I don't find you very charming!"

The troll chuckled and stood up, walking towards the cave.

"Some time I think Kass very much like troll princess," he said over his shoulder.

"If that was an insult, it didn't work!" she replied, poking her tongue out between her lips, trying hard not to smile.

"Not insult, other one."

"Well, it wasn't much of a compliment either." She watched him disappear into the shadow of the cave before adding: "And don't you get no funny ideas, because I'm sleeping with the dagger tonight!"

****

Yes, I know I am weird. But they are cute together. And I like writing silly stuff. Hope you like it. I'll probably write some more sillyness anyways.