Garashna was seriously irritated. That wasn't exactly a suprise, she was almost always irritated, and when she was not it was often because the irritation had evolved into rage. Only when she spent time with her friends she experienced joy, but if she were to be totally honest her friends also irritated her quite often.<br/>She often found herself cursing the fact she was born as an ork. The looks of suspision and badly hidden scorn was hard to stomach, even worse was when her relatives couldn't help but prove the biggots right. The Morbaags had a horrible reputation as thiefs and troublemakers, but to hear them tell it they were the only honest people in the village. Well, outside the village, they were not even allowed to live inside the palisade, who'd want an ork as their next door neighbour? To show their deffiance, the previous generation of Morbaags had built a stone wall around their large, but barely standing, stone longhouse, to show the villagers the orks didn't need their stupid palisade, they got a wall of their own. That it didn't even reach as high as Garashna's waist seemed to matter little, it was a way to save pride and not really meant to hold of brigands or other threats.<br/>The villagers wouldn't allow them to build inside the palisade, but they sure didn't mind buying their meat. The men of the family hunted in the nearby forest, and the women tended to the families flock of barely domesticated Bristleback Boars. This is what had Garashna irritated at the moment, as it had many times before. She was a better tracker than any of her older brothers, probably the best in the whole family, yet she had to tend to pigs instead of going hunting, just because of her sex! It seemed horribly unfair to her, and it had lead to several violent arguments in the past. And now she had to feed the pigs again, even though it was really G'tchinka's turn. Her younger sister was with child again, the child was probably just weeks away. No one cared to ask if Garashna had plans for the evening, and here she was, getting mud all over the hem of her dress. It was a very plain dress, but the best she had. She was going to meet her friends at the Stone Turtle later. How pleased the humans would be. "Look at the dirty ork! This just proves what I've been saying all along, uncivilized savages the lot of them!" No matter that some of the Turtle's patrons wouldn't even know a toothbrush if it jumped up and bit them!<br/>Her friends wouldn't say anything of course, to spare her any embarassment. No one mention the mudy ork! Like they were so perfect. Ariahva and Reyata with their silly rivalry. "Look at me! Who is prettiest? Who has the sweetest singing voice? Who can turn most heads?" They were sickingly pretty both of them, and the fact that Garashna had never been drawn into the rivalry made it perfectly clear she couldn't compete. Not that she'd want to anyway, of course not. Who had time to play with her hair untill it was just perfect? Who could waste time on singing? Not Garashna, she had to work.<br/>Ilene had at least got out of their silly competition, wich made it a little more tollerable. When it had been the three of them it had been a nightmare, Garashna had been forced to restrain herself not to wrestle them down on the ground, plant their silly, cute little faces in the muck, see how pretty they were covered in mud! But recently Ilene seemed to seek validation by spreading her leg for every farm boy that crossed her path. Garashna wasn't sure that was any healthier than the rivalry. She guessed Xholkrox was alright though, as strange as he was, always spinning some crazy tale, not caring the least they all knew he was just making it up. She had been told the T'Skrang were like that, always telling tall tales and loving the sound of their own voices. He managed to amuse her from time to time, so she didn't give him grief...much.<br/>Another thing that bothered her was how they treated her like some young kid. Ok, she and Xholkrox was youngest in the group, having lived 16 years. Ilene and Ariahva were 17, and Reyata 20. So what? The two human girls had come of age about a year ago, and Reyata just a couple of weeks ago. Garashna had been an adult for four years now! And still the elf walked around with her nose in the air and acted like she knew better than the lot of them.<br/>Garashna forced herself to calm down. If she allowed herself to get worked up like this she'd be lousy company later, and her friends would snigger. How like the ork to be in a foul mood! Garashna threw away the now empty bucket and climbed over the fence. She was done, now she really could use a pint of Cassange's Old Bitter. She just hoped Ariahva's father would let her in. Her brothers hadn't been causing trouble by the inn lately, had they?<br/>She fixed her dress as best she could and headed into the village. Another reason she had picked her best dress was because it also was the dress that showed the least amount of skin. A few years ago some of the men in the village had taken to whistling after her as she walked by. Damnable humans, mocking her at every turn! Well, they seemed to have stopped with that foolishness ever since she punshed out Barno Cobbler at the spring feast.<br/>What Garashna failed to realize herself was that she had grown up to be a fine woman, with a pretty face that a human could admire despite her tusks, and her strong and atletic body could rival the Passions, her generous and firm breasts an envy of all. But Garashna would not allow herself to see this, in her own eyes she was big and clumsy, not cute and gracefull like her friends. When she was younger, she cried herself to sleep many a night, wishing to the Passions that they would turn her into an elf, or at least a human. She had outgrown such childish wishes, but she still sometimes cursed her fate. To be born an ork...<br/>