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Malis ran excitedly down the street, her dreads flying out behind her and feet kicking up what little shimmering dust lay on the stones. A scroll was tightly held in her hand as she darted around the usual market-goers and narrowly missing the stalls selling the odd little bits and trinkets used in day to day tasks. Red eyes searched the open spaces, looking for the familiar greenish-blue skin and bright blue hair. He didn't seem to be around his usual haunts and the troll frowned, trying to think of other places where he could be. With a sudden thought she dove into her packs and started searching for that scrap of parchment that he had given her a while back. The thin piece of paper was no where to be found and Malis almost dumped out the whole contents of her packs to find it. Small bones, a few shinies, an odd shaped gizmo and a book lay around the kneeling troll that was quickly joined by a few rolls of leather, some unfinished pieces of armor, a spare change of clothing and a skull. Her totems and other 'tools of the trade' were placed reverently aside before she dove back into her large packs, wishing she didn't need to carry around so much stuff.

And then, Success! The troll came up grinning, her fist closed around the parchment that had a small map scrawled onto it. Smoothing it out on her thigh, Malis peered at it, turning it this way and that before she got it in the right direction. Tongue tip sticking out between blue lips, the troll pondered the passages and looked up at the sun. After sitting back on her haunches for a moment the shaman laughed. So this was why Joni said that reading was so important. For the first time she knew what the marketplace was called... "T' Bazaar... Hmmm... Ah wonder that that be meaning'?" She decided to ask Peredhel when she found his home. Picking up her things, Malis kept out the map and started to traverse the twists and turns of the shining city. Stopping at a rather uninspiring door she peered up at it with a curious expression before tacking a blue fist and pounding at the door. Maybe the troll would be in...

Tea?

Malis stood in the door and grinned at the crossdressing troll that stood before her. She waved her hand about to refuse the offer before she reconsidered. Tea was not something she liked to drink but then again, that was the fruity tea that Rynn made. Maybe the troll tea would be better and the shaman was always one to try new things. "Tea be soundin' great! Home ah not be botherin' ya but ah just had t' give ya this!" Malis took a step forward as she was invited in her gaze sweeping over the mess that surrounded the hallway. With a slight chuckle she though how Rynn would freak out at the mess though it didn't bother her in the slightest. Th troll made her way to the small yet airy room that Pere had been sitting in before turning back and tilting her head to the side. "Quite t' nice place ya got here. Very homy an' stuff." She wasn't one who was good at small talk so figured the best thing to do at that moment was plop down on the floor and make herself comfortable.

"So what ya been doing? Ah not be seein' ya for a bit." The troll had been spending most of her time in her home with ink and pen and hadn't had the chance to roam around visiting like usual. "Oh yeah! Ah be havin' something t' give to ya!" She pulled her discarded pack within arm reach and started digging around for the scroll she had been working on for the past few days. "It be somewhere in here..."

The troll was starting to get frustrated. She knew it had to be in there because she had it in her paw just before she went looking for the directions. Malis paused, closing her eyes and thinking back to where she had been. She envisioned the market place and thought about where she had placed everything. The leather working stuff had been on her right... she had some shinies close to her left knee. Where did she put the hearthstone? Oh it was next to the other special pouches where she kept her totems. The shaman kept her mental inventory going on in her mind as she slowly reached into the pack and closed her hand around the parchment she had been looking for. "Ah haha!" The grin of triumph was infectious and she chortled with a glee.

"This be t' t'ink ah be workin' on for t' past few days." The troll stood up and handed it to Perehdel with a toothy smile. "Ah not be havin' t' chance t' travel around t' lands right now. Ah be stuck inside tryin' t' be learnin' how t' read n' write but ah did take a bit o' a diversion t' finish this." Malis watched him with eager red eyes as she waited to see what his reaction would be. She loved to give people gifts, if only to see the enjoyment on their faces. The fact that often it prompted them to give her something in return, be it aid or a return gift was a slight bonus.



"Ah be spottin' ya down at t' Elf-ruins a while back an' didn't want t' disturb ya. Y looked like ya be enjoyin' ya-self though." The shaman nodded thoughtfully. "Sewin' cloth not be much different from leatherworkin' but ya definitely be doing t' more fiddily t'inks."

"Eeeep!" The troll exclaimed as she felt her whole body being picked up by the male shaman. She was by no means a small troll being of the Zandalar tribe, but his momentum didn't seem to mind. She spun around with him laughing before feeling the lick on her cheek. Malis' eyes widened at the gesture of familiarity but there was nothing but smiles on her face, even if her cheeks seemed a little pinker than before... "Ah be glad that ya be likin' it. Ah be needin' t' take a break from t' wtitin' an' ya was t' target so ah figured ya'd like t' see t' results." She watched as he took the sketch carefully and placed it aside so that he could fetch some pins. Sitting down again the troll smiled up at him upon returning and nodded, unconsciously approving the location that he had chosen. Not that it was anything important or that she had any say in the matter but still...

At his next comment, Malis made a face. "Yeah, Mister Joni told me that ah be better t' learn how t' read an' it be mah task t' do t' become accepted into t' guild." The troll waved a paw in the air as she spoke, "Ah kinda be seein' why t' readin' be important, ah be learnin' many t'ings from t' books an' such. It be nice ah don't have t' be findin' an elder t' be teachin' me but at t' same time it be seemin' quite lonely. Ah not be seein' many peoples since ah started in t'is quest." The shaman shook her head slightly as she remembered how shut-off Rynn was sometimes when she started working in her lab. "Though it not be t' readin' that be t' hardest... writin' be quite hard." She sighed fustratedly, "Ah just can't seem t' be makin' t' squiggles correctly." Rolling her eyes at the memory of a few nights before when she almost gave up on the whole deal, Malis was about to tell Peredhel about it when he asked another question.

"Oh Ah be learnin' a little hear an' a little there. Mister Joni was gonna direct me t' some people but ah be t'inkin' he got called away on bigger tasks." The troll frowned a little but knew how busy the elders used to get on her little island... and the city here was so much bigger, there was probably a much larger effort in organizing things than she was ever used to. "So ah be teachin' ma-self a little an' Rynn be helpin' too." She grinned before turning the tables back on him. "So what ya current project be? Ya be sewin' quite diligently on t' isle t' other day."