The trees quickly thinned, and Maliha's pace slowed. Truth be told, she was loathe to leave the sanctuary of trees and and flora - the pace of humans was an odd one. The dryad liked to ease through her day softly and somehow always managed to find herself caught up in the middle of an unstoppable crowd when in town. She would watch, helpless, as she was quickly swept away from her destination. It wasn't her favorite activity, crowd-surfing.
Well, it mattered not: she would enter town, there was no help for it. Torso firming with resolve and dark eyes glinting, Maliha paused only momentarily along the fringe of the forest before quickly striding into the clearing housing La'marri. The lack of trees was sudden and sent a quick pang of anxiety slipping down the dryad's back. She stared at the town - the buildings and people and noise - and the crowd she was so quickly approaching. Too many people, she thought, swallowing uneasily. It was not Maliha's first visit to La'marri - she often sold her services as a seamstress there - but the sheer number of bodies living in such close quarters always caught her by surprise.
The woman with the green skin caught her by surprise, too, as Maliha plunged into the marketplace and swerved to avoid food stalls. The woman was talking to ... a potential customer? She eyed the clothing in the young man's hands and priced the cloth even as she fought against the crowd, clawing her way back toward the two figures in front of her. The woman curtsied and began moving away, and Maliha's eyes widened in alarm. Increasing her pace and using her elbows perhaps a bit more than was warranted, she managed to catch up to the woman (and cast a longing glance at the young man's cloth in the process).
"Hey! Hello!" Out of breath, Maliha gasped out a greeting as she finally reached her goal. Glad to be near a fellow creature of nature - even one as comfortable in cities as the female in front of her appeared to be - she crowded rather close, forgetting all about personal space and propriety.
"My name is Maliha! It's so nice to meet you - I mean, I saw you in the woods," flashing a concerned glance at the woman's face, Maliha returned to examining her companion's appearance as she spoke. "I was worried, of course. Are you okay? Because if anyone threatened you," with these words, an almost comically stern look settled over the dryad's delicate features, "we'll stop them. I'll stop them," somehow, she added silently. "You have every right to live in the forest."
She fell silent, earnest gaze resting on the green-skinned woman's face, and pondered ways to help.
((Ehh. I'm not so happy with this response, but it didn't want to work with me >_< And at least it's up. I'm not always full of fail =3 ))