That Binds Together the Heavens and the Earth

[Orihime Inoue]

For Zabajin and his trolls the day started out normal with hunting, scavenging and killing a few dwarves. However, this ordinary day was shattered when all of a sudden some girl came crashing down through the ceiling of one of their cave entrances. A bright light followed her down, shielding most of the impact, however the fall itself left the girl unconscious. His warriors immediately drew their bows and spears, surrounding her still body like a pack of hungry wolves. The same light that had followed her, now enclosed her whole body, radiating like a sun beam.

“Some spy for the dwarves?” Zabajin’s brother, Rufio hissed angrily while he looked upon Orihime with disgust. “We don’t need this filth!” he roared as he quickly brought his battle axe down on Orihime’s Santan Kessun. However, Rufio’s axe had no effect on the barrier between himself and the girl.

Zabajin’s eyes could barely contain his excitement, as a mischievous smile appeared across his lips, “Interesting.”

Rufio was far less amused than Zabajin. In a thundering rage he came down upon Orihime’s shield with his weapon of war, over and over again, but to no avail. “What witchcraft is this?” bellowed Rufio, while he shook from his rage. The band of troll warriors gasped and reacted to the shield not breaking with both anger and bewilderment.

Zabajin moved himself in front of his band of troll warriors and peered at the shield with a puzzled, but watchful expression on his face. Lightly touching its smooth surface, he noted that it was not dangerous to him or his men at this time. Then there was a movement underneath the shield and he saw the strange girl had come to stir. This had gotten the band of brutes even more restless, as they began circling in, with a thirst of blood in their eyes.

Trolls have no patience, they are unruly, bloodthirsty, and are a warrior race that have had much taken from them. They trust no outsider, and have had a habit of killing intruders on sight without question. Out of this bunch of trolls, Zabajin was by far, the one with the most common sense, and able to see the bigger picture. Though he was the most reasonable out of the trolls, he was also the most dangerous. With a raised fist, Zabajin got his crew to back down and give their chief some space. This shield and girl may be harmless right now, but he did not know what she could be capable of if she felt threatened. Her eyes began to open, and slowly she studied her surroundings until their eyes met. With the look on her face it was apparent that the girl had never seen a troll before.

Zabajin had just returned from a raid of one of the dwarf lord’s farmsteads who was his main rival. His body was painted for battle with crimson streaks running down his face and chest. His head was naked on the sides with thick coarse braids that fell down to his war shield, strapped across his back. The Chief wore a heavy battle armor, adorned with thick animal fur that was stained in blood. His fangs protruded from a harsh and threatening face, complimented by his large tusks. Blood of a fallen dwarven pig was also speckled across his face and arms. He looked like a war machine and that was what he was.

Orihime looked up at the troll in silent shock, she knew she fell down into a cave, but she had never seen these type of people before. Looking around she saw that no one looked very pleased to see her. “”I think I might have interrupted something”” Orihime thought miserably. All around her, these men were of different pigments and covered in furs and bones, as well as long tusks on their sharp, jagged faces. The man in front her was by far the most intimidating, he looked like he could easily end her life and his commanding presence felt considerable to Orihime.

They stared at each other for a few moments, his eyes never left hers, and although she felt like he could crush her at any time, she saw something else in his eyes. It was not gentleness or even excitement that she saw, but possibly judgment. She needed to treat this man, whoever he was, with respect. “I’m...” she stuttered, “I’m sorry, I did not mean to interrupt.”

She stopped and returned his intense gaze with her fearful, doe eyes. The troll cocked his head to the side, almost like a dog would, and smiled a dangerous grin at her. Shivering, Orihime said cautiously, “I’ve gotten into some trouble and it seems I have fallen down here.”

The man said nothing, just stared, so Orihime lowered her shield. This must have startled the warriors, because all at once, the band jumped and drew their weapons on her. One of the trolls reacted with such ferocity, that they let go one of his arrows, and it made its target in Orihime’s shoulder. Through the whole commotion, the main troll’s expression had never changed, like he was mesmerized. Letting out a cry of pain, Orihime gripped her shoulder, and her blood escaped from the arrowhead buried deep inside her flesh.

Zabajin turned to look back at his men with a deadly look in his eye. The warriors, all but Rufio, lowered their heads and weapons, taking a step back shamefully. Annoyed, he turned back to the girl, who had the glowing shield on her again, but this time concentrated around her wound. Zabajin’s eyes lit up in curious wonder, as he saw the arrowhead removing itself from its place, her flesh healing right before his eyes. This magic was more powerful than his wife’s own priestess powers. He turned to see his brother who held an expression on his face like he was not impressed. His body stood defensively close, his axe at the ready. The chief looked at his other men, to see that they all showed the same distrusting opinion as Ruifo, but there was something clearly different about this human. Zabajin was more than intrigued by her.

“It’s nothing to worry, I’m fine now.” peeped her tiny voice. “I’m not here to cause you any trouble, I happen to be a little lost, and you are the first people I have seen.”

A new prime was good news to Zabajin, she was clean of any prejudice or evil of the omniverse. After a long pause he commanded, “We are taking her with us.” Zabajin then roughly pulled Orihime to her feet.

Angry murmured voices filled the cave all around him.

“What?!”
“Kill the bitch!”
“She will lead the King right to our door!”

“Enough!” roared Zabajin, turning to face his men, the feeling around him becoming thick and malevolent. “I said she is coming with us. She will have her face covered to keep our village a secret.”

“Brother” shouted Rufio. “We do not let outsiders into our home!” he exclaimed as the surrounding men cheered in agreement.

The fact that Zabajin had become leader noticeably affected Rufio in negative way. His defiance against Zabajin’s wishes did not come as a surprise to Zabajin, even though Zabajin was Rufio’s little brother.

“This one is different.” hissed Zabajin as he raised his chest at the height of Rufio, locking him in a deadly gaze, “We are bringing her with us.”

Rufio’s fists tightened, but he said nothing, barely containing his outrage. Zabajin had not been chief for very long and many thought him to be arrogant, as well as reckless. Some even thought that he had achieved his rank unfairly. He had fought and dominated the last chief, by law of the land it made him the power now. The old chief had no consideration for the future of his people and led them into the same reckless wars with the cost of many lives. Zabajin wanted a better outcome for his fellow trolls and achieving the responsibility of chief was something that he never desired, it was only necessary. He knew that it was a matter of time before someone would challenge him for chief and for his wife, Tez’Zali’s hand. With a hold of Orihime, he began walking in the direction of the village, but he was stopped by a seasoned troll warrior.

“I will not let you disgrace our people.” snarled the old man. He raised his sword against Zabajin, “I’d rather die and not dine at the great table of our ancestors, before we let a human in our hall!”

This troll was weathered, beaten from many battles and was a loyal follower of the last chieftain. He was not an opponent to take lightly and Zabajin was aware he had to be cautious if engaged with him. Standing several feet taller than the chief, the old warrior had been a part of many raids, surviving many winters. Zabajin’s sudden rise to power made the veteran agitated and foolish.

Rolling his eyes behind his head, Zabajin said with a mocking tone, “Are you sure you want to die today. Right here, and not at home in your bed?”

“Do not insult me, dragon warrior!” the old man dared. Pointing his weapon even closer in the direction of the chief, his stance ready to fight.

Zabajin was silent, almost deadly, as he and everyone else backed up and watched the charade unfold. The trolls began to chant and pound their spears and axes on the ground with a rhythm meant to intimidate.

Sweat poured down the old troll’s forehead, there was a slight shake in his hand, and he pressed the chief on, following with his blade. “The Gods will be against you Zabajin for such treachery.” The old man said in a dry raspy voice. An amused smile stretched across Zabajin’s face, with his teeth baring, he dropped his axe on the ground with a heavy thump, and danced around the old troll. Surprised, the old man swallowed hard and kept his eyes intently on his target while continuing to circle him.

“You think I am going to go easy on you because you lowered your weapon?” laughed the veteran. “I am going to cut you to pieces!”

They continued to circle for a moment, while everyone watched intently to the beat of their weapons. “Afraid?” the chief mocked with a thirsty expression across his face.

“Gahrahhh!” shouted the troll as swung his sword at Zabajin furiously.

The chief moved away from the potential life ending blow with guile and grace. Curling his hand into a fist, Zabajin aimed for the front of his face, hitting the bridge of the warrior’s nose, causing blood to splatter all over the ground of the cave. Grumbling with pain, the old troll attempted to strike back at him. Dodging the blow again, the chief snickered. For a moment the chief saw an uncertainty in his opponent's eyes and was grateful for the advantage. His opponent charged at him with his blade, a barrage of feint attacks followed by backswings. Dancing around the blows cautiously, one of blows kissed his skin, slicing him deep thanks to the misdirection. Zabajin staggered for a moment before returning, light on his feet like a feather. The veteran swung, but his broadsword missed, not close enough to eat skin. The chief smirked at his opponent, this time from the spryness of his dodge. Zabajin could not help but be impressed with the old, weathered warrior and his willingness to die.

The sight of the chief and his cheesy grin only made his opponent angrier. “I will cut that stupid smile off your face!” hollered the old warrior, as he pushed his sword straight toward the chief’s heart.

With little to no effort, Zabajin moved his head away from the sword as it glided past his face. He caught the sword with his hand on the hilt, the blade in between his fingers. With a wicked smile, he clasped his hand around the old warriors with the blade in the middle covered in blood. Pulling the weapon and the warrior towards him, Zabajin smashed his head into the older troll’s own head as hard as he could. Thrusting the old warrior’s wrist upwards, he heard a snap. Cries of pain filled the cave while the old man stumbled backwards, clutching his wrist to his chest.

Orihime witnessed the two trolls suddenly engage in battle. The older one was significantly larger than the leader, with a broad sword that looked like he could cut trees down. However, the leader was much faster, he appeared to dance around the attacks of the older man with ease.

Without missing a beat, Zabajin was on him with a furious barrage of fists, quickly bringing the fight to the ground. Zabajin had a firm grasp on the warrior’s head, his fingers digging into the scalp. With a hard thrust, Zabajn’s head made contact with the veteran’s. Over and over again, he continued to smash his skull. His screams sounded like a dying, wild animal. Then the chief slammed his fist into his opponent's side, his prey crying out loudly in agony. Furious, he struck at the warrior relentlessly, while the warrior failed to keep his face protected or defend himself from the blows. The crowd became silent with the only sound being the impact of Zabajin’s fists. Breathing painfully, the old man became limp and stopped trying to halt the assault. However, this did not slow Zabajin, he did not stop until his opponent laid in his own bloody mess. The chief took away the old trolls last breath with a skull fracturing blow.


Orihime had never seen anyone fight the way this man did. It was almost snake like, no, it was dragon like, and as soon as the fight started it ended.

The last thing Orihime saw was a wicked beast soaked in red. Orhime had seen her share of monsters and scary things, but this man brought a fear in her she did not recognize. Blood of the fallen warrior dripped from his checks and there was an amusing look in his eyes.

“Anyone else?!” their leader bellowed as he turned around, the adrenaline of the fight still pumping in his veins. With only silence as a response, Zabajin looked directly at Orhimie, “Good.”

This is not good! thought Orihime as she instantly regret going through this gate. A bag was placed over her head, her hands bound and tied, and she was being lead unknowingly deeper into the cave.