First encounter

It had all began with an unusual friendship between a tauren and a female blood elf. Our paths had crossed when Burning Legion decimated our beloved Azeroth for the last time. But not on the battlefield as many would think ...  

It was one really hot day, and mainly one peaceful day without fighting, when I was in Dalaran to do some errand for our mages. I was a little bit tired after all these fights aganist Legion, so I payed a visit to Dalaran inn named Filthy Animal, because I wanted to freshen up and eat something alone. I sat down at the table in the farthest and darkest corner. I have noticed a tauren, sitting two tables away from me, immidiately after my arriving. He looked at me with poker face, like he wanted to estimate me. I was in too bad mood to deal with strangers, so I sat with my back facing him. I ordered Honey-glazed ham and glass of Silvermoon port wine from troll barmaid Mimbihi. I began to eat and after a while I drinked from my wineglass too. It´s taste was really something. It reminded me my home and moments, when I sat under golden trees of Silvermoon with my friends. Drinking wine, laughting, together. But this moments are forever gone. My friends are forever gone... They dissapeared in debris of their own houses when Arthas attacked Silvermoon. Some of them was never found. I was eating, lost in my memories. I remembered my home and how much I miss it, even though I didn´t have many reasons for return lately. All attention was turned towards war aganist Legion on Broken Isles. Sadness seized me and I stopped eating again for a moment, impassive to things happening around me. This happened to me quite often in last few years. I shaked my head and returned to my meal. There wasn´t much left to eat.

I began to pay attention to my surroundings again to suppress memories of my friends. It was quite busy here. Different flavors from kitchen and bar were blending together. Most visitors were seated in groups. There was humming of their talking everywhere. I sighed. Maybe I should pick some quieter place for meal and little rest. That was, when I realized, that a group of orcs and trolls sat down to nearby table. It looked like, this was not their first inn, they have visited, because they were much more than a little tipsy. They were talking about fights aganist Legion and situation inside the Horde. I ate my ham as fast as I could.
"Hey, elf, what do you think about current situation inside the Horde?" I didn´t answer, I wasn´t in a mood to join their conversation. "Come on, join us" said one of the orcs.
"Thanks, but no. I preffer solitude for today."
"The company of other races does not smell to the elves," bitingly said one of the trolls. I raised my eyebrows, but otherwise ignored what he said. Then the troll catched sight of barmaid Mimbihi. She was looking at us the whole time. When she realised that he is looking at her, she approached to their table and asked, if they choose something. Troll measured her from head to toe and then he very eloquently said, that he had really choose something.
"I'll give you one more chance. Do you wanna your order or you wanna sit around and make stupid jokes all day?! " said Mimbihi. I laughed so loud they could hear it. Barmaid smiled at me. I wasn´t there for the first time, so we know each other a little bit.
"Ooh, you two are friends, right? You are both equally grumpy. Just make a little smile girls. And yes I have chosen. Could you serve me these thighs?" He smiled and slapped Mimbihi´s ass.

Tauren, who was sitting at the next table, began to pay more attention to us. Everyone, including drunken troll, knew, that he said too much. Mimbihi kicked him off the chair and stepped on his neck.
"And how about our speciality...?" she spat on him from above.
I chuckled again. "It looks like your company doesn´t smell even to your own race. "
Tauren began to laugh. "You shouldn´t fool around with womens of the Horde my friend."
"Let him go Mimbihi, I think he got your lesson." I said to her with a chuckle.
"I dont need some stupid elf to stand up for me." murmured strangled troll while he was geting up. "Go back to the trees and shook some corn or whatever you elves like to do." That was too much... Again. There are a certain things you just don't say to an elf about elves.
"I´ll shook your corn..." I instantly jumped over the chair, where I was sitting a while ago. I jumped on the table in front of the troll and aimed an arrow just a few centimeters away from his throat. "You shouldn´t fool around with Sin´dorei troll." I felt my blood runing to my face, as my heartbeat quickens. Troll swallowed in fright. I saw his apple core moving under my arrow.
There was tense silence at the table. His friends stood up, just like tauren at the next table. All eyes was looking at us now. Even some of blood elves heard him, prepared to protect honor of their nation in an instant.
"Okey, okey, calm down..." troll whispered.
I stared at him intently with disgust, but I cast my bow down after a few seconds. I jumped off the table and adjusted my armor. Tauren, who was looking at us with a smile on his face, just chuckled. I didn´t get what was funny, so I looked at him questioningly. He slowly sat down again on his chair. Just like everybody else. At least for a while. One of the orcs sitting at troll´s table began to murmur, that he miss the old times of young Hellscream. Times, when no tauren of an old dead bull dared to smile foolishly from behind elves. "The day Blood elves joined Horde is one of our darkest days in history", he continued.
The whole inn froze for a split second and in the next second everybody was on their feet. Something creaked loudly. It was tauren´s table, that was flying through the air in this moment. It landed loudly right between racist trolls and orcs and the one, who said indignant sentence, almost didn´t have time to dodge it. Sin´dorei lunged at them first. Not every orc, goblin or tauren seemed to agree with the group, as some of them joined the elves... Maybe they just wanted to beat up someone. A great fight broke out.

I couldn't help laughing. This is the Horde. As I tried to dodge, a half-full glass of beer whistled around my head. A goblin follow it in turn thrown by an orc from a table under a window. Goblin crashed into a wall behind the bar and stayed lying on the floor. Tauren lunged towards the drunk orcs. I saw him reaching out to strike, but I noticed one of my acquaintances was standing in his way, a leather merchant. Also an orc, but one of the few that could be relied on.
"Not this one, he is with us!" I yelled at tauren. He let him go. Then some troll bumped into me.
"Elves..." he snorted, wrinking his nose with disgust. I sighed, grabbed some mug lying before me on the table and I smashed him hard on the head. Tauren saw this and began to laugh. He seemed to enjoy the whole situation and grabbed an orc approaching me. A an orc from the racist group.
"Hey, can I hit this one?" tauren asked as he held his neck.
"Give him everything you can!" I answered when I punched a troll, who was getting up from the floor.

Meanwhile a few Dalaran guards broke into the inn. No one payed much attention to them at first, so the situation began to calm down after a while. Guards even had to use arcane magic to keep everyone from fighting. I quickly toss some silver coins to the barmaid and silently slipped outside.
"Horde..." one of the guards snorted.

The fresh air freshened up my face. I headed to Violet citadel, where I had to hand in some scrolls. I walked slowly to clear my head.

When I got out of Violet citadel after a while, I was lost in thoughts again and I bumped into some tauren.
"Hey, you are the hotblooded elf from the Filthy animal inn, aren´t you?" he said with chuckle. Oh, of course. He was the tauren from the inn. I rolled my eyes. Why am I always attracting more attention then I want to? "Good fight. You handled the trolls pretty nicely. I dont like Garrosh´s racist adherents."
"Uhm."
"I´m Valdyr, from Thunderhorn clan." he offered me his hand.
"Sanchielle, Sanchielle Duskseeker from Silvermoon." I shook his hand and looked inquisitively at his face. What does he want from me? He probably understood my gaze and asked me what am I doing in Dalaran. I answered him, that I am doing Silvermoon errand. Nothing that should interest him.
"Can´t mages arrange it themselves? "
I told him, that I had it on the way, and there is still much work with Legion. He began to ask about my adventures, Legion and so on. I didn´t feel like talking, but I answered him anyway. We realised, that our nearest journey was common, so he suggested to me to travel together. I wasn´t used to company and, in fact, I didn´t want any. He saw my hesitation. Then he started talking about demons everywhere on Broken Isles and that it was safer to travel together. After a long time he persuaded me. Maybe it could be better to have some company after all. At least I don´t have to be on the lookout all the time.

Tauren offered me his hand as a sign of our agreement. I looked skeptically at the offered hand and then at his face. I narrowed my eyes slightly and quickly examined his gaze. In the end I really slowly accepted his hand. Then he bursted laughing and slapped me gently on the shoulder. Well gently for a tauren. He almost knocked me off my feet and then laugh even more. And that´s how began our first journey together and maybe even new friendship...

(original story - Sanchielle, translate - Abrahamovic)