[Feanor of the Peredhil]

It was the eyebrow that did it. Obviously Mardil wasn't one of those easily offended people and that impressed Alli. Of course he didn't need that he'd won so easily... he'd have to try a little harder to get a public display of her approval.

She nodded subtly to Sai and spoke to Mardil with derision. "Good luck marking my map. If you can find it, you're welcome to write on it. And I'll need a good reason to travel with you... after all, I don't even know you."

Alli didn't want to jab too much... she didn't want him to leave... but at the same time, she wanted to make sure he knew that she could handle herself... or at least make sure that he thought that she could. If nothing else, Alli wanted to be seen as tough enough to take out a dozen enemies in one fell swoop. Her first week in Mordor had been horrible... she'd been scared and didn't hide it well enough. First she'd been singled out by a band of bullying orcs that had intimidated her into handing over her money. Then, alone and with no money, she'd had to find a place to sleep in safety. She didn't even want to think of those first few nights...

She was better off now, and not likely to be pushed around due to her very convincing, or so she thought, bravado, but it still didn't hurt to scare people off before they could bother her. If they stuck around, they were either really insistent on messing with her... or worth having around. Her only trouble, really, was differentiating.

"Well?" she prodded. "What do you have to say? Why should we travel with you?"