Old Friends

Derrial looked up from his alchemical experimenting with a grumble as a knock sounded on the doorsill of his Sen'Jin dwelling. The stock of herbs he had gathered in Northrend was proving inadequate to the needs of the Browncoats in their adventures in Mt. Hyjal and other areas affected by the Cataclysm. Working with the new herb, Cinderbloom, was annoying, since it had a distressing habit of bursting into flame at precisely the wrong moment. However, several singed fingers later, he was just beginning to find some workable elixirs and potions. But he really hated interruptions when he was working, so he stomped over to the door and flung it open.

Standing in the doorway was a female troll, grinning at him. A very small portion of his mind noted the Browncoats cloak, but most of his attention was on his appreciative appraisal of his visitor's form.

"Well now, dis be a pleasant surprise!" Derrial grinned back at her, and politely motioned her to enter.  "To what do I owe de honor of dis visit?"

"Just checking in with ya, Old Troll" his guest replied, settling herself comfortably in an armchair near the work area, putting her feet up on the edge of the worktable.

Derrial was taken aback for a moment, both by the greeting and by the familiar way she'd just made herself at home, as if she knew the place. He and his friend Bookh had always called one another "Old Troll" and "Old Bull" - come to think of it, he'd not seen Bookh for some time - but no, he shook his head, that wasn't possible… although, that WAS Bookh's favorite chair when he came to visit…

"Ya hadn't heard the news then, I take it," his guest said with a giggle. Derrial shook his head, perplexed.

"Let me see if this jogs yer memory. 15 seasons ago, just south-west of Crossroads, remember that little grove of trees right by the water…." the female troll's eyes twinkled mischievously as she paused.

Derrial's mouth fell open in astonishment. He knew his friend would never have told anyone else about that…situation…that Bookh had extricated him from. "By all de ancestors, BOOKH!" Derrial gasped. "What happened to ya?  Not that I don't appreciate da changes, o'course, but…seriously." His confused questions were drowned out by Bookh's uproarious laughter.

"Pull up a chair, Old Troll, and break out a flask o' something strong - dis is gonna be quite a tale," Bookh paused for a moment, "and I guess ya won't be callin me 'Old Bull' anymore."

The stunned look on Derrial's face brought a fresh outbreak of giggles from Bookh. This was gonna be interesting…