Troll brothers

 We have been traveling together for some time. Still cheerful tauren was slowly gaining my trust. His company was suprisingly beneficial. Several times we came across various groups of stray demons, with which I would have a problem myself.

 However we killed them quite easily with two of us. His good mood was quite contagious and I realised, that since I travel with him, I think less about my home and I feel better. Broken Isles was really devastated after Burning Legion's attacks. The land has not yet been cleansed of all demons. There still has been heavy silence everywhere, everyone still felt tension. Fear and misery has been ruling here. We ourselves were strugling to find anything to eat sometimes. We can't even find any animal to hunt. Every animal has been dead, poisoned by Fel magic or run away from the demons.
 On one such day, when our stomachs were rattling loudly and we can't get to any inn or tavern, we got an idea for... ehm... well... slightly non-standard solution to the situation. We just were in Val'sharah, not very far from corn fields of Bradensbrook. We had to be really careful. We knew, that people in this village were having a hard time. But we have also been starved. And desperate times call for desperate measures. So we agreed to grab a few corn cobs. Not too much of course, just enough to quench our hunger, until we get somewhere, where we can eat normally.
 In nearby forest, we have been waiting until it gets dark. Slowly and carefuly we crept into the fields so nobody could see us. We managed to slip and we began to tear off corn cobs, when we suddenly heard a loud scream, not far from us and noticed a lit light.
"THIEEEEEEEEEEEEVESSS! THEY ARE IN THE FIELD! STEALING CORN!"

 Frightened with corn in arms, we turned tail. Screaming was getting more and more distant, but we didn't stop running until we were safe, in the shadows of the forests. And then suddenly -KABOOOOOOM- ! I crashed with my full force into something big and really hard. I ended up on the ground after this collision. My head was buzzing, my eyes was misted up and I only heard the sounds from a great distance.

 I shook my head and blinked hard several times to clear my vision again. Corn was scattered everywhere.. Well, too much corn for it to be all out of my arms... That's when I noticed, on the ground not far from me, some troll, who had apparently crashed into Valdyr, trying to get up. In front of me, was another, slightly taller troll which I apparently ran into. He and Valdyr was on their feet. The impact obviously did nothing to them.
 We heard as the farmer, who was screaming before, was getting near. According to the barking, also with a dog. I quickly picked up the corn I had carried before.
"Quickly into the forest!" Valdyr commanded. We were running together with the taller troll toward the trees. The smaller troll frowned closed angrily, and out of spite ran in opposite direction. Valdyr grabbed him with his free hand by the collar and turned him toward the forest. All this happened very quickly. When we finally got to the trees, it seemed, that the farmer and his dog had stopped chasing us. We allowed ourselves to stop and all four of us were trying to catch our breath. I leaned against tree, still a little shaken from the crash with a troll, which threw the corn on the ground, leaned his hands on his knees and was breathing deeply. Valdyr also dropped his load.
 "Who the hell are you and what are you doing here!?" Valdyr and the smaller troll blurted out at the same time.
 "It's none of your business!" me and the taller troll answered. I straightened up again and he did the same. For a moment, the four of us looked at each other suspiciously.
"Fine." said Valdyr. "I am Valdyr and this is Sanchi. We got a little hungry on travels, so we stopped for a few corn cobs at our friends from Bradensbrook."
"They didn't seem very friendly to you, when you had to run away from them..." said smaller troll.
"You probably weren't there on the announced visit either." I hissed at them.
"Oh, this leads nowhere." said taller troll. "I am Zilfim and this is my younger brother Zilfin. We are druids from the Darkspear clan." I kept looking scepticaly at him. "We also starved out on the travels and there is not much food. So we resorted to this unfortunate solution." finished troll.
"Since when do elves not mind stolen corn?" said smaller troll bitingly and stared at me openly. I looked back at him with hatred in the eyes and began to answer, when I heard something. I stood with my mouth open as I wanted to answer him. But...
"Shush!" there was silence. Everyone listened. This time the others noticed it too. Silence was broken by the crack of a branch and footsteps near us. As if someone was watching us. We all looked in that direction and waited anxiously. Valdyr spread out and gripped his axe very slowly and silently, ready to strike. I pulled an arrow from my quiver. A tiny lights twinkled between the fingers of younger troll and plants rose slightly around the older one and small leafs appeared around his fists. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a Felhound with unpleasant and very loud shriek attacked us. Valdyr decapitated it in the middle of the jump with one fierce movement. But several other beasts emerged behind the first. A few Felhounds were just the vanguard. Suddenly we were encircled by whole group of Felhounds and Felstalkers. Disgusting demonic dogs.

 Hassles with trolls wasn't important now. We had to save our lives. All four of us started fighting with demons. I shot one arrow after another, lights of various shapes and color flew around the trolls - their druidic magic. Several Felstalkers became entangled in tree roots, which suddenly grew up around them, before earth swallow them all. Valdyr was deftly swinging with his axe in all directions. I catched sight how one Felhound was about to attack the younger troll. But he didn't noticed it. He was just disposing of another demon with his spell. I quickly drew another arrow and shot at the attacking Felhound. Troll turned around and for a split of a second, with eyes wide open in surprise, stared into a huge brawed demon maw. The Demon fell on the ground dead at that moment with an arrow stabbed right in the neck. The troll cast an equally surprised look at me. It's not known if he was more shocked that he didn't notice the attacking Felhound, or that his life had been saved by an elf. Even the older troll saw it, but there was no time to hesitate. There were still too many demons around us.

 It took us a really long time to kill them all. But we made it in the end. Even without suffering any major injuries. When we caught our breath again, Valdyr stated, that it's not very safe here and we need to quickly leave. However, we were too exhausted from hunger to go on a long journey, not to mention fighting another demons. So we agreed that it will be safer to spend the night together for now. We found clearing in the middle of the forest, where were no signs of demonic presence. Even air seemed to be fresher. It really smelled like forest, not usual demonic frowziness, like most of the forests in these days. We started a small fire and then roasted the corn that we had previously grabbed in the field. When the corn was roasting, we were silent. There was tension between us again, but a little different than before.

 Valdyr sat down on a fallen tree trunk and stared into the fire. He was the only one, who looked calm. The older troll sat down on the ground, tore off a blade of grass and put it between his teeth. He was staring into the flames as well, but he was frowning and sometimes looked at me. While doing so, he was thoughtfuly rolling the blade of grass from one side of his mouth to the other. The younger troll was still on his feet. He stared at me again and his lower lip was slightly swollen. I rolled my eyes in disgust and began pulling some things out of my backpack. I saw peripherally as he opened his mouth several times and then closed it again. Like he wanted to say something. Finally, without a word, he sat down on the grass not far from his brother.

 Meanwhile, the corn had roasted. We had a lot of it, so we all ate well and even had some leftover for breakfast. For a while, we just rested around the fire. The tension between us eased slightly after a good meal. Valdyr stood up and said we should make ourselves comfortable, because he is going to take first night watch. The trolls looked at each other. They silently had found a place to sleep, but the younger troll wanted to hold on awake with Valdyr. We didn't trust to each other obviously. I had found a place to sleep on mossy bed near the fire. I prepared my furs, which I was carrying on travels. Valdyr and I looked at each other and he nodded at me as a sign to lie down in peace. I was really very tired. The older troll laid down as well. The younger one had found his place near the tree he leaned against to rest and to stay awake. The older troll closed his eyes, but he just pretended to be asleep for a while, as he was careful about what was going on around him. But his breath got slower and deeper after a while - he fell asleep. I lay down and as soon as I laid my head on the furs, I fell asleep as well.

 I woke up after a few hours. It was still a deep night. Zilfim was still sleeping and his younger brother Zilfin fell asleep leaning aganist a tree. I grinned at this sight. The fire almost burned out, but despite that, I saw Valdyr, in the dim light, preparing more wood. We could not let the fire burn out completely. He looked like he took a nap too. Then he noticed, that I was awake.
"Sleep" he told to me quietly.

 I wake up in the morning, but I didn't open my eyes immediately. I had strange dreams. It was combination of yesterday's events with my unending fantasy. I thought about it for a while to sort my thoughts. I remembered a dream with a strange female elf, who I had never seen before. I had a strange feeling about it. I also dreamed about Silvermoon and my friends. My heart sank. That's when I noticed a quiet conversation between Valdyr and the younger troll. Valdyr seemed to be pleasantly surprised by how much the troll knew about a tauren history and a culture. They talked about the history of the Horde, its races and current events.

 I opened my eyes. The older troll was still lying, with his arms under his head. His eyes were open and he silently watched his younger brother talking with Valdyr. He had a blade of grass between his teeth again. There was solicitude for his younger brother in his eyes. Maybe even little bit of fear for him. But not because of Valdyr. I stood up and he noticed me immediately. Valdyr and the younger troll were so interested in their conversation, they paid no attention to me. The older troll stood up as well. He stared at me, not as tensely as before, just thoughtfuly. I got out of my furs and started folding them into my backpack. Finally, even Valdyr and younger troll noticed me.
"Sanchi! Good morning." exclaimed Valdyr. He had a wide smile on his face and scuffed tin mug, in his hand, that smoked. He noticed, that I was looking at it. 

"Here Zilfin, he had some herbs with him, so we made a tea for breakfast. Come, take a sip."
I looked at the troll and he returned my gaze with poker face. At least he wasn't frowning at me like before. He pursed his lips and nodded a little. I sat down next to Valdyr on the tree trunk where he had sat yesterday. In the meantime, the older troll also came to us. I pulled my travel mug out of my backpack and pour myself a tea.
"You was... Yesterday... The demon..." the younger troll murmured, looking at the ground. It seemed, that he couldn't find the right words. Then he looked straight at me.
"Thank you." he said without any enthusiasm.
I watched him silently for a while. "We are the Horde."
I didn't need him to thank me. It was a matter of course for me, to save not just my own life, but also lives of my allies, in any fight. And in the fight against demons we were on the same boat. Valdyr just shook his head. He realised, that we didn't want to seek common ground.

 We are one Horde...

 The Horde has nearly the same value as my home for me. They provided sanctuary for my nation, when filthy Alliance turned their back to us. I do not forget such things. But no Sindo'rei can forget wars against the trolls also. We had no open conflict with Darkspear clan, but there still was strong tension between us. And trolls despise us just like we despise them...

 We were drinking tea in silence for a while. It was suprisingly good, even though it was from a troll. We ate leftover corn and I started collecting the last of my things, so we could continue on our journey. Finally away from these trolls... However, for some reason, Valdyr was not very rushed. He even seemed to be reluctant and avoiding my gaze. When I stood with my backpack on my back, watching him intensely, he sighed.
 "Can we talk between four eyes?" I took a deep breath, pursed my lips and frowned at him, but nodded anyway. I hope he don't want to travel with them! We went a little far from the trolls, who apparently also exchanged a few words, but quietly so that we couldn't hear them. Valdyr looked at me with slight apprehension. I looked straight into his eyes with intense and suspicious look.
 He cleared his throat. "You know, it's dangerous here, in this areas... So I had an idea, that we..."
 "NO!" I said vigorously, not even letting him to finish. "Don't even think about that!"
 "You don't even know what I want to talk about..."
 "Don't ask me to travel with these" I tilted my head in the direction of the trolls. Valdyr looked in their direction. Both trolls were watching us.
"But they..."
 "NO!"
 "...were useful yesterday." He didn't let me interrupt him. I was frowning at him even more intensely than before.
 "Yes, okay, in addition to our asses, I'll have to watch their asses, right?"
 "Well, they will watch your... ass too." he said partly seriously and partly amused by the way it sounded.
 "Uhm. I can already see, how enthusiastically they are helping me - a Blood elf." I answered with sarcasm. Valdyr just sighed, but he looked relentless.
 "Okay, you can go with them and I will go alone, just like before."
 "No, you definitely won't go alone, it's too dangerous around here. " Valdyr insisted. "They aren't that bad." he continued. "You may even become friends over time, it seems you might understand each other."
 I pursed my lips so, that I had only a thin line of them. I straightened myself, took a deep breath and looked at him furiously and disgusted. I hope I'm dreaming... I felt my eyebrow twitching. I shook my head. Valdyr saw, that I'm not that easy to persuade.
 "Look, gods know how it could ended up, if we encounter those demons alone yesterday. They fought well. We'll try it for a few days at least and if it won't work with them, we'll split up."
 I absolutely didn't like it. Me, traveling with trolls... "I dont need to listen to their stupid comments." I hissed.
 Valdyr sighed again. "Give them a chance. You once told me, that you went on a journey to create your own picture of the world and other races. Not just based on other people's stories. This is your chance to meet trolls from a different point of view." I watched him silently and disbelievingly. He smirk. "You didn't even like me from the begining" he added with a chuckle "and look at us now."
 That was true... Even in that, I wanted to make my own picture of the world. But trolls? I looked in their direction. Both of them were watching us and waiting.
 "Do you want to tell me they agree with this?!"
 "Well, they are not very enthusiastic about you neither. And Fin asked me a several times, why am I, for the god's sake, friend with an elf." He lost his thoughts for a second and paused. I crossed my arms over my chest and looked at him again.
 "But I convinced them. Even you will have a chance to convince them, that their prejudices about elves are exaggerated."
 "Fin?! What a familial address..." I said sarcastically. "Okay! But one stupid comment about elves and I'm leaving! I don't need to haggle with trolls."
 Valdyr straightened triumphantly and smiled from ear to ear. I rolled my eyes in disgust and sighed.
 "You will like them, You'll see." he said cheerfuly and hit me friendly on the shoulder. He finally learned how to hit me without knocking me off my feet. We returned to them.
 "So friends, we can go on." They were still sitting by the fire. The trolls, and neither Valdyr, had all their things packed, so I put down my backpack and sat down on the tree trunk where Valdyr had sat before. They were silently collecting their things while I was watching them thoughtfuly. Shortly, we were all ready to go. Oh dear, what have I lived to see...

(original story - Sanchielle, translate - Abrahamovic, corrections - Sanchielle)