She makes an impression

Valeera entered the building and took a look around curiously. It was relatively spacious on the inside, considering the otherwise sorry state of the ruins in the vicinity.

What caught her eyes immediately was a huge bear lying in one of the corners. That was not something she expected. Despite its size and fearsome look, it seemed to be pretty docile. "It better stay that way." she thought. Her experiences with bears went back to the plagued ones back at the dead lands she had left behind. And those were definitely not pleasant memories.

She took her gaze off the bear and conveyed the rest of the occupants. There were about a dozen or so fighters inside, relaxing or sparring. Mostly orcs and trolls. There were two huge tauren as well. Well, no surprise there. These were the usual inhabitants of the savage lands of Kalimdor. She would have been surprised to see other elves there. This also meant everyone inside were bigger than her. Even other women. Not that it was that difficult, considering her small petite frame.

"What a bunch of losers." she thought. She spotted a bench on the further side and closed in on the position. It looked like the perfect place to observe the others as they sparred. As she walked through the room, all eyes were upon her. Elves were not a common sight in Kalimdor. Even after some joined the Horde, they rarely visited the continent. It was more of an alliance of convenience, rather than of friendship. That statement was pretty much true to the entire Horde. All the fighters have seen elves before, but seeing one amongst slaves and pitfighters was new to them.

As she was striding across the room, one of the big tauren stepped in her way with a giant hoof. "Hey there, kiddo." he hollered. "You shouldn't be in here. Gimme a hand and I'll take you back to your parents before somebody eats you." he said with a smirk.

That was it. Never mind before, now Valeera was in the mood for some practice. She used the tauren's knee as a springboard and jumped up gracefully, unsheathing weapons in mid-air. She grabbed his left horn to pull herself u, and within minutes she was sitting on the big tauren's back with daggers pointing at his neck. The fight was over almost as soon as it started. As long as it could be called a fight, considering the tauren couldn't move a muscle it all happened so fast. The room went silent. All eyes were set on the tiny elf woman's masterful victory over the much larger tauren.

"For those of you who missed it." Valeera addressed the rest of the **** fighters from atop the tauren. "Don't ever treat me like a child." And with that she gave the tauren two scars on his cheeks and dropped off of him. She was fully prepared for the tauren's retaliation, but he was too dumbstruck by the events of the last minute to do anything. "Good."she thought as she sheated her daggers. Now she could finally settle down on the bench she had spotted earlier. Of course, she was pretty damn satisfied with herself. Now those fools would think twice before messing with her. She strutted to the bench and took a seat facing the others.

By this time, the room had returned to life. She heard some laughter aimed at the tauren she'd just bested, but most everyone continued what they had been doing before. Some were still whispering about the newcomer elf, but Valeera was more interested in those who were practicing. Her keen eyes followed their every move, making mental notes in the process.

That she-orc was limping. Must have been some old injury. Easy to outmaneuver. And that troll. Valeera spotted an opening between his arms in most of his stances. Like he was used to fighting opponents of the same size. Perfect for her. She watched 'her' tauren intently to spot some weakness in his movements. While his defenses seemed impenetrable, he moved extremely slowly. Something Valeera kept in mind, in case he later tried to ambush her out of ****. Not that he looked angry. In fact, he looked extremely calm, considering he'd just been humiliated in front of his peers. Could it be true that tauren were not really aggressive creatures? Well, with size like that, they didn't need to be aggressive to be deadly.

After a while, an orc settled down next to her on the bench. Valeera ignored him and her eyes continued observing the ones sparring. She had already gathered some pretty useful information, should she ever face any of those in a real fight.

After about a minute, the orc spoke up, "Hey there!"

Valeera assumed he was talking to her, but she refused to even acknowledge the orc.

"That was pretty cool." continued the orc.

"Thanks..." replied Valeera in an attempt to shut him up, but she refused to look at him.

"Maybe you could teach me some of those moves one day." he said. He talked as good in common as Reghar did. That was a unique feat among orcs. Well, any kind of coherent speech was unique among those brutes.

Valeera only replied with a cold "Hmph..."

"Now, what is a beautiful and talented woman like you doing among the fighters?" he asked in a soft voice. As soft as an orc could muster.

Valeera glanced up at the orc. His friendly eyes and strong jaw made his face relatively handsome. Well, in orc standards anyway... "I - I am one of you." she stuttered. "I was brought here to fight." She didn't know why she was anxious and tried to calm herself.

"That is troubling news." started the orc, "Because I dread the thought of facing someone as deadly as you."

Valeera could feel her heart pounding faster in her chest. Oh, he must have been kidding her. Was he? She couldn't help but giggle at the mere thought of a big man admiring her beauty and dreading her skills. The perfect combination. Something to think of later that night, when she would be alone.

He gave the elf a seductive smile. The fact that he had most of his teeth intact was a pleasant surprise. And his eyes mirrored something. Hunger? Passion? Valeera had never thought herself to be attracted to orcs, but she felt a certain warmness spread through her body from all the compliments he gave her.

"Name's Khan, by the way." said the orc and held his big, strong hand in front of Valeera. "What's yours, precious?"

Valeera was melting on the inside. She could barely think straight. She reached for the hand to shake it. "My -My name is Valeera..."

The orc gently grabbed her little hand and, to her surprise, he raised it to her mouth to kiss it. "The pleasure's all mine, Valeera." he said with a smile, never taking his eyes off of her.

"Aww..." she thought, "So cute." Words, probably no one ever thought of an orc.

"What a beautiful name." he let go of her hand. "It suits one such as you." he said while looking Valeera deep in her eyes, looking down into her very soul.

She flushed crimson. She was used to being admired by crowds, but not used to being complimented by individuals. Complimented as a woman, nonetheless. Well, she'd never really had the opportunity before. She'd spent her busy life fighting or being chased. And there was nobody she could ever trust. These feelings were new to her, but she recognised the unmistakable moistness spreading between her thighs. Could she be aroused from just talking to a man?

"Leave the kid alone!" barked a deep voice from behind them.

"Kid? Again?" her expression changed drastically. "Guess some asshole still needed a beating." thought Valeera, as she jumped up and drawed her daggers, spunning around to teach this someone a lesson. In front of her stood the giant bear she had noticed before. But she saw no one behind it. Or near it. Who was mocking her then?

Khan also stood up. "Get out of here, Broll!" he threatened the bear with his huge fist. "The lady does not prefer your company."

"She wouldn't prefer yours if she really knew you." said a bear with a snarl. Yes, apparently it was a talking bear. Kalimdor was full of wonders, indeed. At this point, Valeera was not even surprised. She'd seen stranger things since arriving. This was just one of those 'Kalimdor-normal' things.

"Come on, darling. Let's leave this oversized furball behind." he said while putting an arm across Valeera's back. "He's just jealous."

"Yeah..." Valeera calmed down a bit at his soothing words. "Let's go..." She sheated her daggers and the pair walked away from the huge bear still looking at them intently.