Jez curled her tiny self into Zij’s body, holding onto his arms as they wrapped around her. His steady breath touched the nape of her neck as he fell into a contented sleep after a long awaited reunion.
——
After Zij left he still wrote letters that he sent to Zer, who had re-written them and forwarded them on to her so as to disguise the origin. As luck would have it, Zer had left the village peacefully a few weeks previously, and the elder’s allowed contact with him.
However, Jez was being “protected” from Zij. They would not allow her to write to him, or even speak of him in a favourable manner. And so she had learned to be silent, and accepted the training of a mage rather sullenly. The woman, Vul’tras, who began training her, was an older troll. Vul’tras was one who seemed not only wise and powerful, but also understanding to the poor girl’s plight. She had taught Jez much, about the ways of ice and fire, and also the ways of life.
Jez still never spoke much, nor confided much in the old troll. She didn’t feel she had to explain herself to anyone, and to stick up for Zij seemed a futile battle. The home they had once shared was no longer in possession of them. Indeed, it had been burned to the ground by the rest of the Tribe. She was living in a rather small shack under guardianship of the local merchant, Jun’Kal, which doubled as his store. So she spent most of those days training, and waiting until the day when Zij’s letter would tell her that things have been arranged for her in the Valley where he was currently staying.
They were planning on meeting a few days after she arrived in the Valley, so as not to arouse any suspicion in the locals of the place he said was called “Durotar”. She had read about the place in books, and seen the illustrations of a dry and dusty land, but she had never been outside of their Village before, but once. But to her, it wasn’t her Village, or her Tribe, without Zij at her side.
After another week or so, Jun’Kal handed her a letter written in the now familiar scrawl of Zer. Stuffing it in her belt, she ran to the ocean side wharf and tore the carefully sealed parchment open. She giggled slightly, partially at the sheer glee of receiving another coded message, and partially at seeing such delicious things being written in an old friend’s scrawl.
Zij & Jez had long ago come up with a secret code that no one else knew, and could only be written, because of the nonsensical nature of the letters next to one another. Frost trickled from her fingers as she decoded the letter on the wooden wharf.
Jez,
The time is near. I have completed the necessary arrangements for you to arrive in the Valley within a few days. Please do not bring any more than necessary, as the locals are very kind and rewarding to hard workers.
I have not yet met many other trolls, though they do seem to be around quite a bit. I suppose I have been keeping to myself more. But I have been thinking of you non-stop. And you will soon be in my waiting arms. We will be meeting at a place called the “Crossroads” within a week. Please meet me at eleven in the morning on the fifth day after your arrival. One of the local orcs can point you in the correct direction once you have furthered your training.
I will tell you more once you get here. Just be ready for your escourt at twelve in the evening, on the night of the full moon.
Love Always, Zij
At the very bottom, Zer had written in standard Zandalarian:
Whatever that means…
Jez giggled happily, reading it over once more before lighting it aflame in her hand. Dusting the powdered ash into the water, she jumped up and ran to Vul’tras so as to further her training before running to a new land.
——
And so they had been reunited after the days and weeks the trolls of the Zandalar Tribe had separated them. That morning after she arrived, they had discussed the finer details of their slightly modified history of the Baywoe Tribe, an unheard of Tribe of trolls that had all been destroyed in some unspoken of catastrophe. Neither of them held much regard for the Zandalar, and held no loyalty to their former Tribe. The elders were simply not understanding to the plight of the young trolls in love.