Tansy of the Wilds

Chapter Seven

Xer'tal found it almost amusing as he watched Tansy prance around like a spring born fawn, all full of life and energy as she chatted away at him. Xer'tal, with his stoic demeanour, made for a stark contrast - the towering, grim orc and the vivacious, talkative woman. He didn't understand how someone could talk as much as she did. She talked about everything and anything. He hadn't been lying to himself when he referred to her as a wild little thing. Not just because of the bloody scene at her prior camp. She had downplayed her actions a lot but the woman had definitely nearly removed that bandit's cock from the amount he had been bleeding. No, he firmly believed she was a wild little thing because she spoke like those words were wild creatures that were desperate to escape her mouth.

As they walked, the day was turning out to be vibrant, a stark difference from the cold, grim nights he was accustomed to. He preferred the darkness, it concealed him from others for the most part. People didn't do well with orcs, they disliked them greatly and he supposed some of the reputation was deserved but clashes were unavoidable and the other species just didn't understand orcish culture. Fighting was like breathing to them, lively discussions. Why talk shit out when you can beat on each other? It seemed much more effective.

However, with Tansy's relentless chatter echoing around him like a chiming bell, he was starting to appreciate the sunlit day. It certainly had nothing to do with the fact she would glance at him every so often and when she caught his eye, she would beam at him like he was her best friend. It was damn unsettling and he most certainly didn't feel a tiny soft spot in his chest every time the damn human gave him that smile.

"But life can be interesting at the lumberyard." Tansy started again and he glanced at her as she leapt over a mud puddle. The water was drying but the mud was still there. He had no idea how she hadn't ended up head over heels in the mud when she did that. "We have all sorts come through the lumberyard and some are really interesting! But not so exciting. Except for the one time we had a large forest fire. Turns out one of the workers' children was playing with some flint he found and it took out a good chunk of our three year old stock. That was painful to deal with." He grunted, not sure what else he was supposed to say to that.

She gave a small hum, moving around another mud puddle that was too big for her to leap. "My brother, Cedar, said they were sending me to the kobolds hoping I wouldn't come back. But he doesn't know how tempting that is. Sometimes my family gets really irritated about me chattering a lot and I understand, sometimes silence is good and I need to learn that not every silence needs to be filled with meaningless chatter. But it's just hard for me sometimes. So if you ever get tired of it, just tell me to be quiet and I'll temper myself."

"Yer chatter doesn't irritate me, Wilde," Xer'tal said, almost defensive at her admission. Why in the great hells would he tell her to shut up? "In fact, it's... refreshin'." To his surprise it was the truth. He had spent so long in the company of brigands, liars, thieves, and con artist merchants that having someone ramble on and on about so much and so little was refreshing because what Tansy spoke of was the truth. She didn't lie, she didn't say things with double meanings, what she said was what it was.

"Well that's a first!" She beamed up at him right as she jumped over a puddle. She nearly slipped, her leg slipping out from underneath her and she grabbed his large wrist to prevent falling into the mud and Xer'tal stiffened at that warm grip on his wrist. Her soft hand against his skin made a heated curl of lust move through his gut that he hastily suppressed. That rattled him and it took all he had not to just yank his wrist away from her soft grasp.

Tansy just laughed loudly at herself, letting him go as if completely unaware of the havoc she had just unleashed in his gut. "Would serve me right to have a mud bath for not paying attention where I'm going." Stumbling and half-laughing, Tansy was like a whirlwind blowing through Xer'tal's stoic loneliness, her laughter was jarringly beautiful against the calm stoicism that defined his existence. He didn't know what to do with it and as much as he tried to suppress it, that little warm spot was growing the longer he spent in her company. "I would look rather funny to the kobolds if I showed up covered in mud." She giggled, sending an odd warmth stir through him. He was unaccustomed to such levity, having spent years in the grim silence of warfare and the bitter, cold winds of the northern peaks and then all that time as a cutthroat, there was no time for giggles or humor. Yet Tansy's giggles did something to his chest that he didn't want to take a look at.

A small silence fell before she looked up at him. He didn't have to look down to know she was, he could feel her gaze on him like a ray of bloody sunshine. "So, Xer'tal, what made you decide to go into the personal guard business?"

It took him a while to answer her question, "Don't really have a tale worth telling there, lass. Fought since I was a lad, against raiders and cave trolls, against other clans and orcs. Got tired of it and decided to make some gold for myself." His voice was almost a rumble as he looked out to the horizon. There was no way he was going to try and explain that he had lost a fight with his father and had been tossed out of his clan. There was no way he would tell anyone that his father had forced it and it was either kill his father and win or lose and be banished and when it came down to it he hadn't the stones to kill his sire. "That's it." He grunted, rolling his shoulder in a dismissive manner.

"You know, Xer'tal is a strong name. Quite fitting for you I would say. What is that orcish saying? Any orc worth their tusks have a strong name?" The orcish proverb coming from her actually stunned him slightly and had him pulling his gaze away from the horizon to stare at her in disbelief. He had no idea where in the hells she would have heard that unless she had spoken to orcs. He wasn't quite sure why his stomach twisted at the thought because there was no way it was slight jealousy over the fact another orc male could have listened to her rambling enough to become friendly. "And I really do appreciate you being so willing to listen to my rambling. It's not often I get to do it, especially like this. I tend to be more toned down at home, as I said they get irritated sometimes but that's alright."

He gave her a sideways glance, "Yer stories aren't that irritatin', Wilde. Can't say I've met a lumberjack's daughter who's on a first name basis with kobolds before." That was the truth, he couldn't say that at all. She was the first human who he had known to be on a first name basis with the little chittering reptiles.

In his long years, that was definitely a first. Although he was starting to get irritated to continually hear that her family found her talking irritating. One didn't cage a wild animal and he was learning with Tansy that one didn't just cage the wild words that pranced around on her tongue.