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Let's face it, your name would never end up in a history book.
In the grand scheme of things, you were a nobody.
But you weren't actually a nobody. You were you!
You worked in the kitchens for the castle, trying to get by.
And then, one day, your boss asked for your help to bring the meal to the soldiers.
You were over excited! You, like anyone else, knew the rumours. All that was sure was that the orc's army attacked and that they left after having burned down a couple of houses and with relatively few victims.
What actually happened in between was a mystery.
Some said that the human warriors fought with such vigour that not only they scared the orcs away, but they even managed to capture one as a prisoner.
Other said that a group of humans sneaked into the orc's camp and kidnapped the chief's son and gave him back in exchange for the village's safety.
Some even said that the two army made a deal.
But that was absurd right?
Orcs don't make deals... right?
Either way, you were going to find out the truth!
You watched in amazement the training ground. Some soldiers were fighting dummies while others were cleaning their weapons and-
Your mouth hung open as you spotted something unexpected.
An orc.
An orc was training with the soldiers!
He was... different from what you imagined orcs.
From what you heard they were supposed to be giants and extremely muscular.
This looked... almost skinny in comparison.
Don't get me wrong, he was still a foot taller than the humans around him. His muscles were small and not definite, but still visible. His skin was a light green. There was a tuft of black hair on his head. His ears were long and hung toward the end, kinda reminding you of some dog's ears.
Your boss chuckled and patted you on the back, snapping you out of your stupor.
"You'll have time to gawk at the soldiers later, we have work to do."
You blushed at his statement. You weren't gawking! You were just... observing.
Ok, maybe you were gawking a little.
Your boss called the warriors to the meal you made and they lined up in front of you.
You handed a bowl of soup to each of them, even the orc, who looked as happy as a kid on Christmas.
After a while, when you were starting to pack everything to head back, someone approached you.
"Ehm, could I have another serving please?"
You stifled a groan. You were really hoping to have a moment to eat something before having to head back.
You turned around and saw the orc. He seemed hopeful but looked as if was ready to receive a negative response.
"The portions are always so small." He said with a pout.
No wonder he felt like they were small, he's an orc for crying out loud!
You refilled his bowl and took the opportunity to serve one for yourself.
"Do you mind if I keep you company?" You had no idea why you asked him that. Or maybe you did. You were curious about him.
He seemed to perk up at your question, his ears wiggled a bit.
"I know a nice spot if you want."
You shrugged, seeing nothing wrong with eating with him.
You followed him and you both sat down under a tree to eat calmly.
He decided to break the silence "You are way nicer than the other cooks. They never give me another serving, saying that the stocks are low or something." His ears hung in defeat.
"They must have been some racist trash. I'm sorry you experienced that. They must have heard some stories."
"Stories?" He asked confused. There were stories about him?
"You know..." You stumbled over your words "about how you got here."
"Oh! Well, my dad always wanted to make a warrior out of me. But I never had the built. So, he asked the captain (with the help of his giant sword) to train me!"
So... that was it? No epic battle? No prisoners?
At least he seemed happy.
You kept chatting with him. He was actually a funny and nice guy.
You found that his name was Urghur "But most of humans call me "Ugh". I guess my name is difficult to pronounce."
Oh this poor sweetheart! Were the other soldiers annoyed by him?
Your chatting was interrupted by a booming voice "SOLDIER!"
Urghur jumped on a standing position and... the bowl that was in his lap went flying, right in the commander's face! Luckily it was empty or he would've burned himself.
"Go back to the training ground." He ordered.
"Yes Sir!" Urghur said before taking off.
The commander turned to you "You should leave too. I don't want to have you distracting the soldiers, I already have enough to worry about."
You reluctantly left. You had to get ready for tomorrow... hopefully you'll be allowed to get back.
The next day Urghur waved at you when you arrived.
Too bad that he was in the middle of training with another soldier, who was trying to lock him in place with a sort of fighting technique. The soldier was still locked on Urghur arm when he waved at you, causing them to be shaked in mid air.
Ok, maybe he wasn't the smartest guy, but he had a pure heart.
Once again, you ate with him, talking about life.
"I want to become a cook. I always enjoyed to cook for others and to experiment with food, but I never find someone that wanted to try them."
"I will!"
You looked at him with wide eyes "Really?"
"Sure! I'm always kind of hungry and I'm sure whatever you'll make will taste delicious!"
You blushed. He was such a nice guy.
A couple days after that you brought him something you made. It was something simple, an hollowed loaf of bread with a soup inside. The bread was a sort of makeshift bowl for the soup.
He was confused at first and almost flipped it. Thankfully you stopped him or the soup would've gone to waste.
When he ate it, his face lit up and his ears wiggled, like a dog's tail. You actually noticed that it happened only when he was happy.
He loved your cooking and scarfed it down.
He kept complimenting your dish as the two of you talked.
"What happened over there?" You asked, pointing to the weapon's rack that had multiple nails in it, as if it broke down and someone tried to clumsily repair it.
His ears lowered and he looked away from you "If they don't want people to take the club, they should put a sign." He huffed.
...Did he tried to take one of the pieces of the weapon's rack's structure as a club?
Did no-one explained anything to him?!
Another time, he showed you his necklace.
"My mother made it for me. The pendant was supposed to be a bear's claw, but my mother wasn't strong enough to fight one, so she made one from a stone. It's cool right?"
You had to admit that you never saw a bear's claw up close, but the pendant was cool.
"It's beautiful." You told him.
Urghur smiled sadly "I miss her." He sighed.
Oh Gods! Did he lost her? Did his mother passed away?
You really don't want to ask.
All you can do is place a hand on his arm "I'm sorry Urghur."
He placed his hand over yours and smiled at you in a way you can't describe. There is a sort of glint in his eyes.
"Thank you." He said as he leaned down and kissed your cheek, one of his tusks barely scraping the corner of your mouth.
He jumped back, as if you burned him or as if he just realised what he did.
His face became a darker shade, a blush spreading from his nose to the tips of his ears.
"I-I t-totally meant t-to do that!" He stammered.
You touched the cheek he kissed, still trying to process what just happened.
"I have to go! Yes! Totally have to go... places! Itwasniceseeingyoubye!" He managed to blurt out before taking off, running faster than you ever saw him
You were still there, frozen in place and holding your cheek. The situation downed on you and you felt your face getting warmer.
Urghur kissed your cheek!
Tomorrow, you decided, he will receive a treat.