[centre][h2]Partners in Trade[/h2][/centre]
Feat. [@Zurajai]
[hr]

It was the first time Pepper got to join her father down to the docks. She’d usually be left back home to help mom and little Parfum manage the herbary, or she would be tending to Musky, their old baqualo cow. Today, however, was different, for she could finally join dad to the coast market to sell off their produce. She had saddled Musky with two large baskets, each filled to the brim with one of two types of herb. Their farm wasn’t large, but they did honest work for honest pay at the market, selling dried and fresh parsley and thyme to all who wished to buy. Although, today was different - they weren’t going to Fragrance this time, no; it was the docks!

“Hey, dad? Who’ll we meet at the docks?”

Her father, a small, field-savvy elf of eighty-four years by the name of Vinnigar, gave his chin a pensive rub. “Well, if we’re lucky, we’ll run into the Tama’Pele - they use a lot of parsley in their medicine against tooth aches, as well as a fair amount in a type of oil they put on their skin so it doesn’t get too dry in the sun.”

“Woah! Really? Will I get to meet one?”

Her father grinned. “Maybe, maybe.” 

It took them one hour and twenty minutes from their herbary down to the coastal market, passing out through the Gates of Fragrance on the way, pulling Musky through the silent crowd of commuters from the outside forests bringing fruit and grains into the town to sell on the square before King Safron’s hut. Murmurs rumbled through the crowd occasionally, and Pepper marveled at the deafening sound of the town - in the distance, she heard unfamiliar [i]ting-ting-tings[/i]. She tracked down the sound to somewhere beyond the river of flesh running in and out the gate and pointed.

“Dad, dad! What’s that light over there? The one with the weird noise?” She looked up and lost some of her enthusiasm, for she saw her father scowl at the flickering flame at the source of the sound.

“Those are whitesmiths, Pep. We don’t mingle with their sort.”

Pepper frowned. “Why’s that, daddy?”

“You hear that sound?”

[i]Wooooossssh… Ting-ting-ting![/i]

Pepper nodded. 

“That sound’s way worse up close. We’re very far away right now, but up close, it’s way, way worse - so bad that it breaks the Great Peace.”

Pepper gasped. “What? But you’ve said you shouldn’t do that!”

Vinnigar nodded. “Yes, Pep, and it’s really important that you don’t. King Safron doesn’t like scheming little nelflings who make a ruckus, y’know.” He ruffled her hair. “Okay?”

Pepper giggled. “Yeah, okay.”

[hr]

An hour later, they were at the coast. The market was small today: Rosey the buffalo hunter was there like always, selling her pemmican, suet and buffalo jerky, and Cumine the perfumer stood beckoning customers with small, uncorked flasks of oozing smells. There were also numerous akua of the Tama’Pele, selling stockfish, fresh fish, seaweed and many other bounties of the ocean. The market was terribly noisy and smelly in spite of its size, though - moreso than the Gates of Fragrance commuters could even hope to ever be. Vinnigar stuffed his hand into a skin pouch on his waist and pulled out a handful of raw cotton, handing it to Pepper. “Here.”

Pepper eyed the cotton curiously and gave it a sniff. It smelled a little musty. “What’s this for, daddy?” Vinnigar tapped on her shoulder to grab her attention. He pulled a handful of his own into two dots and stuffed them into his large ears. He gestured for Pepper to do the same. After giving the cotton a suspicious look, she did as instructed and put it in her ears. She looked up at her father and, for the first time, heard his dry, squeaky and untrained voice.

“These make the trip a little nicer on the ears. The Tama’Pele have a slightly different view on the Great Peace, see.” 

“How so, daddy?”

“Well…” His sentence was interrupted by a loud call of an akua merchant selling clams and oysters from a basket she was carrying around. “... It’s different. Now help your old man get these baskets off ol’ Musky.”

“What?!” said Pepper back.

“I said--” The merchant once again shouted her wonderous offer of oysters and how amazing they were with a squeeze of fresh lemon. Vinnigar realised talking was out of the question and beckoned for Pepper to help him. Pepper quickened to action and soon, they had set up a blanket on the ground with samples of parsley and thyme, as well as some small samples of rosemary and sage, all poured out onto wicker plates. Vinnigar smirked down at Pepper and said, “Watch this, kid.” Pepper watched with bated breath as her father took a deep breath and, to her surprise, shouted, “Aroha, come one, come all! Vinnigar and daughter’ve brought fresh parsley and thyme for your remedies and cookeries!” He even clapped his hands, and even through the cotton, Pepper winced slightly at the offensive sound. There was almost something fascinating about breaking the laws like this - thank the gods that this was outside the Great Peace’ juristiction.

“Aroha, ruhe,” came the familiar voice of one of Vinnigar’s most frequent customers. Though they rarely met with one another, the pair had created quite a rapport between one another. The akua stepped forward, chest bare but for the straps from his fishing pack, while his bright blue, purple, and red-tinged scales shone in the light. Though he was clearly akuan by all accounts, it was obvious from his facial structure that his ancestors had been among the Night Elves taken beneath the sea.

“Good see you got da kolohe here, ah?” he said with a friendly smile crossing his visage, clearly lowering his voice intentionally after many dealings with his Night Elven kin while waving at the elven child, “I tell you, ruhe, you no know wha’ lolo kina guys you got coma down-down hiya, ruhe. Good havin’ truss’ with you down hiya, dats fo’ shoah. Nawh, what’cha got fo me an’ mine dis fine evenin’?” 

The Akua nearly began perusing the wares out before catching himself, seemingly flabbergasted by a sudden realization! “Oh! Hooo, brah! Where mah manners? Likkle kolohe no know what kine she sayin’ an’ seeing. Best be calling me Uncle Taika, eh, likkle ruhe. Yo’ fadah an’ I go way-way back.”

With his honor appropriately sated, Taika seemed to move on with his focus. He tossed down his back from off his shoulders revealing all manner of ocean-borne goodies while simultaneously throwing a sidelong glance at everything Vinnigar had for trade. The Night Elf grinned, stood up and squeezed his hand. 

“Aroha, Taika! You sure sound and smell lovely this morning. Come to grab some more parsley for old ma?” Pepper, meanwhile, sat on the carpet still and marvelled at what she could make out of Taika’s form and texture.

“Das’ right der on da money, ruhe, plusa few tings heya and dey. Nada mention how dem ruhe down watah-side real lolo fo’ land-weeds.”

Taika shoveled out a number of products from his woven sack, planting them down squarely in front of the Night Elf. Collected were a number of shelled molluscs, primarily large scallops, as well as a decent amount of pretty corals and other ocean bits. A few crabs came clacking out of the bag only for Taika to place a rock on top of each to keep them from scrabbling off. Content with his work, he turned back up towards Vinnigar.

“So, watcha thinkin’ heya on dis, ruhe? How much’a willin’ to part wit?”

“Hmm… I could part with two [i]xhoich[/i] for two crabs and eight scallops. What do you say, ruhe?”

Taika seemed to bounce on the balls of his feet, a peculiar movement that many Akua often did when they were excited or pleased; in the water it seemed far more graceful. He grabbed up from his bag the correct amount of shellfish, having never been one to haggle with Vinnigar. Their trading relationship, after all, was built on a level of amicability and friendship that Taika had no interest in pressuring. Besides, it was just good business this way. With that he coiled up the collecting in a tight wrapped of seaweed twine and thumped it over towards the Night Elf.

“Aya, thata do it jus’ fine, ruhe; fill yo’ belly real good, eh? Fe’ mah little niece heya, I trow in one moa’ creb, real tasee’ n’ good fo’ yu’, yeh? Make you grow big n’ strong, like yo’ uncle Taika, eh, likkle kolohe ruhe.” Taika seemed to beam at the child, obviously taking to the Akuan concept of Uncle and Auntie very seriously. It was his job, after all, to treat the child right. What sort of uncle would he be if he didn’t give his ruhe’s kids free things, anyway? Satisfied, he bagged up his own goods and tossed them in his pack.

“Oh, whakawhetai, ruhe - whakawhetai,” thanked Vinnigar and handed the crustaceans and mollusks to little Pepper. “Peps, sweety, take the empty parsley sack, run over to the water and fill it up, would you? No, the other o-- yeah, that one.” The girl ran off through the market to fulfill her task. “So, ruhe, anything else you’d like? My wife just harvested the sage this morning - it’s fresh and would go wonderful with some fish, y’know.”

“Yeh, yeh, ruhe, whakawhetai, eh? Jus’ throw a little o’ dat sage thay into my beg an’ we’ll do it jus’ fine, call it even-hapa.” 

Taika gladly took the sage and wrapped it up properly as well, making sure to not let it get wet just yet as he tightly bagged it. With that, he plopped the bundle into his knapsack and threw it back over his back. As always, Taika hit Vinnigar first on his surface runs to make sure the Night Elf had the best pick of his goods, but he still had more to trade. They bumped fists in traditional Akuan manner before Taika smacked Vinnigar on the shoulder in a friendly show of familiarity. Vinnigar returned the gesture.

“You got a good family up heah, ruhe. If you evah learn t’ hold yo’ breath long-long time, you come on down an’ have suppah with me an’ mine, eh? Till next time, ruhe; aroha!”

Vinnigar clicked his tongue twice in approval. “For sure, Taika - I’ll keep practicing for that time. Until next time; aroha!” With that, the two parted ways and Vinnigar turned his attention to his next customer.

[hider=Summary!]
Two nelves head to the docks to sell herbs. They meet an Akua regular and exchange beautiful cultural traits. A fun little culture post.
[/hider]