“We are at practice. Pick a weapon from the rack." He gestured to the familiar and disheartening rack of clubs used by the orc pups.

"ok, Where are the weapons I gave you?"

"Ah, we can't have those." Nullik's voice was dripping with sarcasm.

“When we have those, we win! And Ulf can't abide that sort of behaviour."

ULf quickly turned and marched toward Nullik who Lifted his chin up to meet his alpha's gaze. The blow came immediately and connected with a loud smack across Nullik's cheek. He stumbled backward, lifting his hands to the wounded area and clearly seeming stunned by the action

"You are weak," said ULf "We are all weak. I have been weak for far too long. Today, we shall present ourselves as orcs. No more foolishness."

“Hey, man. What the hell?" Gregory stepped forward to place himself between Ulf and Nullik.

“I've seen you train just as well these past few weeks. You believed in it just as much as the rest of us."

Rage bristled behind ULf's gaze as he regarded Gregory.

"You would not understand. You are human."

‘Yeah, and you didn't call me out by my race before either. What the fuck happened, ULf? Is this about ULLa?"

ULf tried to strike out at him with his club, but Gregory was ready for the attack. He'd always felt more comfortable fighting bare handed than with any weapon. The heavy swing aimed for his ribs was easily avoided by stepping back, and he could have recovered much faster than Ulf to plant a blow of his own on the side of the orc's head. Instead, he restrained himself and merely stepped back to reclaim the ground he'd lost.

“Forgive me, alpha. I'LL go get a more suitable weapon.” Gregory kept his tone level despite his own anger boiling hot just beneath the surface.

The rest of the pack watched him as he turned his back on ULf to go and claim a short-club from the racks and return to present himself in the classic fashion. It was an efficient way to diffuse the situation, for although ULf was clearly not playing ball anymore, he wasn't the type to strike someone from behind.

Giving ULf no more excuses for violence, but maintaining an eerie sort of silence, Gregory continued the morning training session with The Runts. It went about as well as it had always done before they had moved their training to the glade. The overweighed weapons practically rendered Frelki and Nullik as ornamental accessories for all the assistance they could provide. Gregory found plentiful opportunities to attack Wrut whilst sparring with the big orc, as once again he had virtually no means of defending himself whilst carrying the giant club in his one hand.

ULf continued on insistently, having them charge at each other over and over again as if it might make two of their number magically gain 200 pounds of muscle in the space of a morning. By noon, the horns sounded out to call another proving match and Ulag had chosen The Runts again, and pitted them against another of the more dangerous proving packs.

Nullik turned a kind of pale-snot sort of green when he heard their names called out and his caustic humour shifted to outright pleading with ULf to let them use Gregory's tactics and weapons. For a moment, it seemed like Ulf might have been considering doing just that. He clearly hadn't planned on receiving the call again so soon after their last match. It was virtually unheard of, but not remotely against the rules of the provings; especially since they'd sustained relatively little serious injury in their prior bout. Valise's talent for healing had washed most of the bruises out of Frun in the space of 12 hours, and he now stood virtually renewed.

Nullik's mistake was to mention Gregory by name in asking to take up their old weapons. If he'd just called them “the other weapons" then it might have worked.

“Gregory's weapons" on the other hand, were clearly not to be trusted by this new Ulf. He stubbornly shook his head and pointed toward the entrance to the provings with his club.

A few of the pack actually looked to the human amongst them then. Frelki and Wrut in particular were giving him pointed looks as if to say : do something! Unfortunately, the time for doing something about ULf's behaviour wasn't just before they'd been chosen for a match. They were about to have enough of a fight on their hands without two of their number trying to fight each other whilst they were doing it.

So, he ignored the looks and focused straight ahead. He hoped that the proving had been the surprise that Ulag seemed to want it to be. He didn't’ particularly want Janette and Algra watching him receive another stout ass-kicking, and he had a sneaking suspicion that was what he was about to walk into.

“What formation should we-" Frelki tentatively began.

"No formations. We charge when Ulag tells us.”

Charging? Great idea! It went down so well in practice!" Nullik's sarcastic tone had returned with a vengeance.

ULf turned to him with that dangerous look in his eyes again. This time the other orc didn't back down.