Sleep By Dawn

Sleep By Dawn
Date of Scene:	19 December 2012
Location:	Fluorgis - Shard Seekers HQ
Synopsis:	Things move from Sammy bugging the Shard Seekers HQ to Zia revealing a big secret to Skoll.
Cast of Characters:	Skoll Ulfang, Zia, Sammy Colt

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Sammy Colt has posed:
The dead of night. Truly this is the time when all the ne'er do wells come out. Tonight is no different. Atop the Shard Seeker's HQ stands a lone figure armed with a small spray can. He's bent down and slowly spraying the hinges of the roof access. Whomever is doing such a task is dressed in a black set of clothing with sleeves that reach past his hands. The hands themselves are hidden behind the sleeves and only a small glint of hair can be seen playing off the midnight moon.

Sammy's eyes watch from behind the goggles as the foam begins working quickly on the hinges. Soon he'd be able to enter... He just had to deal with the damned squeak this door made that last time.

Zia has posed:
The dead of night is not just a time for those planning dark deeds, but also for those few defenders who still remain from the isle of Manhattan. After the fall of her world, the white gargoyle had come back to Fluorgis to get away from the throngs of people, lost and without a world to go back to. She had done her part here and there to help them, but like most humans she'd dealt with from her own world, they had reacted to her with fear or disgust. At least here, where beings of other races are more common, there is some acceptance - and some safety.

It seems that even the Shard Seekers Headquarters isn't truly safe, though. Luckily, they have a night watchman in the form of a certain gargress who no longer considers herself a 'daylighter'. She may not have a castle to protect, or a city like the Manhattan clan once had, but these people had helped her, and she's not about to sit idlely by and let their headquarters get broken into.

Red eyes peer from elsewhere on the rooftop, a cloaked form fitting in nicely with the gloom of the night. Her feet barely make a sound as she steps out, looking far more human than monster with her wings drawn in low like a cape. "Care te tell me wha ye think yer doin?" The voice comes seemingly out of nowhere, but it would be easy to find the source. A bit of moonlight falls upon her partially hooded face, showing fair features and pale skin. "Usually it's considered proper te knock rather tha tryin te sneak in through the roof. Someone might think ye were up te somethin."

Sammy Colt has posed:
Sammy remains knelt in position as he watches the liquid grease settle into the hinges. The voice of Zia does make his head perk up, but he doesn't turn to look. He knows the voice. The audio files were a match.

"If I was up to something, would I be greasing a hinge?" He asks, standing up and pressing against the handle. The door opens smoothly, almost as if guided by an unseen hand. There's no squeak, eak, or even a creak from the door as Sammy closes it slowly, proud of his accomplishment.

"And at this hour, I doubt anyone would hear me knocking on the front door." He states, finally turning around to look at Zia. She was impressive in comparison, dwarfing the little Turk and being all 'shadow of the night' types of spooky.

"So... is this the part where you arrest me for tresspassing?"

Zia has posed:
While he might be able to match up her voice, the gargress doesn't quite put two and two together to identify this particular young man. She'd been a bit preoccupied with trying to snatch food and avoid the guards at the time when she'd last encountered him, and the rampaging panda Heartless that came afterwards served as a suitable distraction. Her tail twitches, lashing down along one leg.

"Aye, ye would. It makes fer an easier time sneakin inte someplace." Her eyes follow his demonstration of the greased door hinge, glowing faintly red in the night, as if she were some sort of demon. It's no wonder that her kind are so often mistaken for monsters, especially the females, with those glowing red eyes.

"Ah would have answered. Ah'm sorta the unofficial nightwatchman, so ye'll have te excuse me if yer prowlin around comes off as more than a little suspicious." In fact, it reminds her of a certain other member of ShinRa that she'd met on a rooftop back a month or so ago. It seems like longer, but losing your world does that to a person. "So wha' exactly is it yer wantin wi the Shard Seekers." She asks, taking a step closer. Even someone untrained might be able to feel the way the winds shift. They seem to move so that he has to face right into the wind to look at her.

"Ah'm nae a cop, but ah willnae let ye harm those who sleep below. State her business, or go."

Sammy Colt has posed:
Lovely accent she has. Sammy can't help but smile as the woman speaks, but then there's that gust of wind. The Turk blinks and turns away so he doesn't get a face full of the gusting air. "I have no intentions of hurting everyone down there. After all, I find them rather heroic." He states, trying to look at Zia, but being forced away by the inconvieniant wind.

"These times need heroes. So you have nothing to worry about." He states, opening the door once more. "All I'm doing is ensuring that nothing tragic happens to these fine examples of budding heroes." He gives a charismatic smile and bows. "So, if you'll excuse me, I have some work to do." He states, stepping into the HQ and giving a court bow to Zia before turning around, seemingly uncaring about Zia being around.

Zia has posed:
For all that Zia might be watchful over the 'heroes' that sleep below, she isn't really a member of the rag-tag group, either. She'd seen the chaos when they argued over allowing that strange dragon demi-human into the group, and the last thing she wants is a fight over if she should be included or not. Even so, it is a gargoyle's nature to protect, and she can't help but think about people like Reize, or Skoll, or Sasseral, or Faruja. No, she's not just going to let this stranger go wandering around the headquarters without someone making sure he isn't causing trouble.

"Then wha exactly are ye doin here?" The gargress follows him, and as he steps inside, the wind dies away a bit. She's certainly more than a bit confused by the strange little human's antics, but she'd been equally puzzled by the last ShinRa operative that she ran into, so that's no great surprise. "Because ah'd really rather nae have te drag ye out by yer collar and toss ye inte the street. So out wi' it before ah loose m'patience." The gargress would have to make sure that upper hatch gets locked up in the future. Then again, maybe it's how Reize leaves the building when he forgets where the door is.

Sammy Colt has posed:
Sammy descends the stairs ever so purposefully. There's no rushing, running or even excitement. Just step by step while he looks around. As he gets to certain corner, he reaches up and places a small, almost unnoticable device that blends into the wall's colour scheme.

"Oh - I'm just putting down some tracking pods and monitoring devices. As heroic as this little team is, they keep on getting themselves into trouble and it's becoming more and more likely that one day, they're going to run into something they can't handle." He says, not really knowing about the Giant Crab Fiasco. He pauses as he reaches one of the floors. The door is locked, sure, but with the liberal use of a small, slim door-jimmy, it opens up without a complaint.

"By putting these things -" His voice is now a low whisper, "I'll be able to kno what they're up to and perhaps, if they run into something that they need a little more firepower for... Well, we can provide support." He states.

Of course, no one told Sammy about it also being the case that ShinRa would be spying on the Shar Seekers... just in case they ever actually accomplish their namesake.

Zia has posed:
The fact that the strange little man is so clearly placing those small devices around the Shard Seeker's Headquarters might be disconcerting to someone who actually knows about ShinRa. Oh, she recognises them for what they are, and the fact that he's doing this so openly just adds to the mystery of this tiny little man. "An what makes ye think tha ah'm just gonna let ye go doin tha? Ah dinnae think they'd take kindly te big brother stickin his nose inte their affairs." She walks after him, making note of the places that he's putting those little devices, but also the areas he spends time in, just incase she happens to miss one.

Then, she reaches out a taloned hand and tries to grab at his shoulder. "Ah'd stop tha if ah were ye. Now, kindly get yer arse outta here before ah'm forced te kick it out. An' trust me, lad, these talons pack a punch." She wiggles her bare foot talons, and then looks at him with a serious expression in her blue eyes. The girl isn't much bigger than Sammy, so she's not exactly intimidating, but still. A commotion would certainly wake the others, and likely leave them less than pleased.

Sammy Colt has posed:
The clawed hand presses against his shoulder and Sammy stops moving. It's an open threat. He realizes this. Sammy doesn't bother turning around as he lets the door close and re-lock itself.

"Listen. I know you're trying to protect them, but so am I. There's a lot of bad things going on and this little ragtag group is more capable of mobilizing and taking care of jobs that are considered too sensitive for ShinRa to work on. That means that someone's going to take advantage of that. Sooner or later. When that happens, it's likely that it'll be a trap and whomever has sprung it will have a hard counter for every member in the building. What they won't be expecting is that ShinRa steps in on the Shard Seeker's behalf and busts some heads in. It's more for the safety of this crew than it is for ShinRa's own good."

Sammy would probably be serving the kool-aid at the local ShinRa propaganda poster, so if Zia is trying to find a lie in his words, well, that would be something. The kid honestly believes in ShinRa and all the bull it pushes towards him.

Skoll Ulfang has posed:
Skoll has been less and less present at the Shard Seekers HQ for... mysterious reasons. Because that's what this werewolf is all about; being mysterious. But him waking up is practically the same each time. Having gotten up, he slowly paddles his way out of the Male Dorms with his shirt hung open, his jacket still back on his bed, and his shoes untied. Even his zipper is still open. His hair is 'poofed' every which direction, and he's scratching his cheek a little.

If he's noticed what Zia is talking about to Sammy, he's not commented yet. Instead, as he slowly walks past, he mutters; "Mister Contact... Miss Zia..." In greeting, and walks right into the kitchen - followed by the sound of water hitting the garden floor and the sound of someone voicing a shiver. Moments later, Skoll walks back into the room, his hair dripping wet, and apparently wide-awake. "Yo." He goes, raising one hand.

Zia has posed:
The gargoyle's hand doesn't move, but she listens, her ears tilted slightly back into her white hair. It's clear that the young man seems to actually believe his own words, but her natural suspicions and wary nature make her the least likely person to believe such sentiments. "Ah dinnae even know wha' Shee-Ra is, but regardless of her reasons, it isnae yer job te go puttin bugs around someone else's home wi' out so much as a how do ye do." She says 'ShinRa' like a certain magical warrior princess from the 1980s, but she doesn't seem to realize the connection there.

"If ye want te be doin such things, then ye should come back durin the day 'n ask Reize Seitlan or the other one. But ye arenae goin te be sneakin around in the middle of the night goin behind the backs of these people. Ah'll see te tha." She isn't convinced of ShinRa's good will, clearly.

Of course, that's just when Skoll comes wandering out, looking half-dressed and clearly half-awake. Her ears draw back further, and she just watches him go into the kitchen as if this were some random cameo in a strange cartoon series. "Ah was just showin this lad out." She murmurs as Skoll returns, smelling of wet dog and looking far more awake. The gargress turns her eyes away, though, flaring her wings a bit to herd Sammy towards the door. She only looks over her shoulder for a brief moment, "Ye know, yer barn door is open." She motions at his trousers, and then quickly goes back to ushering the tresspasser.

Sammy Colt has posed:
Ah, what fortuidous luck. The runner has shown up half-dressed. Zia doesn't seem too keen on the idea of Sammy planting bugs, but from Sammy's files, he knows that Mr. businessman before him is in good with the Shard Seekers. As Skoll returns, Sammy gives a light sigh.

"Alright. I'm not a member, I get it. Ask a member." He says, paraphrasing Zia's words before smiling at Skoll. "So, what how about it? I pay you a handsome fee and you place these little buggers all over the place so we can ensure the safety of the Shard Seekers. My hand to my heart, we won't interfere with 'club business'. It's just there to help protect up-and-comers from jobs that might not be on the up and up." He says, holding out a handful of small, clear-looking electronic devices... Each no bigger than a thumb tack.

Skoll Ulfang has posed:
Skoll lazily blinks a few times as Zia comments that mister 'Contact' was being shown out - seeing as he was trying to do stuff without Reize's and anyone else's knowledge. The beast just lazily blinks a few times, tilting his head a little to the side. If 'bugs' were planted here, his own operation might be endangered - he considers - but also... it's dishonorable to listen in on random conversations. He's just about to say something when Zia adds to this that his zipper is still open. Skoll is quick to zip up, before moving up to a position besides her.

The werewolf then reaches a hand out towards one of the clear looking electronic devices... sniffs them... and then crushes the little one he'd grabbed, and casually drops the 'dust' that was once the listening device to the floor. "We can protect ourselves just fine. We have no need for this kind of dishonorable rubbish." He notes.

Zia has posed:
It usually takes quite a bit to irritate the normally patient gargoyle. Maybe this boy believes his own tripe, but that doens't change the fact taht the Shard Seekers certainly need to be made aware that ShinRa is looking into their business. "Last ah checked, Shee-ra doesnae police the world. So ye'll have te kindly accept our refusal and tell them te keep their abnormally large noses outta other people's business." What is it about these modern humans and having to know and control /everything/.

The gargoyle unlatches the front door and points towards the street. "Now, willye kindly get out." Her tail lashes at her side. "If ye wante discuss matters with the Shard Seekers, come back during the day when they're about. Next time ah catch ye sneakin around, ah willnae be quite so polite about it." She narrows her eyes at him. "Last ah checked, humans dinnae like te be dropped from high places."

Sammy Colt has posed:
Sammy keeps smiling at Skoll, right up to the part where he crushes the listening device. His face turns to that of disappointment. He had been hoping that they would listen to reason. Oh well. The Turk's smile returns as he places his hand in his pocket and gives a court nod as the door is opened. He steps out whilst listening to Zia's little threat about being dropped from a height.

"You're right. We bounce terribly." He states with a smile and a casual salute. "I'll just leave you two to your business then." He says with a smile before turning around and casually strolling his way towards the outskirts of town without a care in the world.

Skoll Ulfang has posed:
One can probably see how Skoll is slooowly growing more and more awake. And when that awakeness reaches a critical level, and Sammy wanders on out of the door, the werewolf suddenly turns towards Zia. It's like watching a little drop falling down from a faucet, and the bucket suddenly overflowing. "Zia!" Pause. He quickly looks around, left and right, to make sure he isn't seen... and then suddenly reaches out in order to surprise-hug her.

"You're alive!" He sounds surprised about this. "Where were you? Why didn't you pick up the phone? Are you hurt?" He pulls away a little from her, gazing up and down across her body. "You look better... potions? Or just that natural healing thing of yours?" He's talking a bit fast, clearly excited. His tail is even wagging excitedly at his rear. Wag wag wag.

Then he pauses, and looks at the house, and then back to the open street - where he can still see Sammy slowly just wandering off. "Did you just threaten to drop him on his arse from a few miles up?"

Zia has posed:
Maybe the sleepy nature of the wolf would explain his sudden shift from being drowsy, to being quite surprised by her presence, but the gargoyle blinks as her name is called, and a small wry smile shows on her face as she watches him quizzically. "Aye lad, tha's me, last ah checked." It's the sudden hug that catches her off-guard, nearly knocking the poor girl off of her feet, leaving her talons scrambling for a minute until she manages to catch herself and return the hug briefly.

"Ah was in Traverse Town fer a while. The church-mouse helpedte heal m a bit, but ah was out for a while." She steps back, rubbing at the back of her neck with a shy, sheepish sort of expression on her features. "Guess m'natural affinities kicked in after tha." She still doesn't tend to talk about people by name, and those few times that she does, it's always with some full, drawn out title. "Came back this evenin, around twilight."

She looks back towards one of those places that Sammy had stashed one of his bugs, and then motions up the way she had come - towards the access to the roof. She'd been watching him long enough to be fairly certain that he hadn't bugged up there - what would be the point, anyways? It's not as if anyone but she actually claimed the rooftops as usable living space. "Aye, ah thought it'd be a suitable deterrant, ye think?" As she heads up towards the roof, the gargress seems a little embarassed, perhaps not only by his display of relief, but by her own ineptitude. "Ah have trouble figurin out this phone. Now Ah'm wonderin if Ah should get a different model. The one Ah got was from one of those Shee-ra folks, and the last thing Ah want is them spyin on everythin ah do."

Skoll Ulfang has posed:
Skoll kind of looks a bit unbalanced about his own outburst, and looks elsewhere for a little moment while the girl goes and shows her own shyness in her features. The werewolf lets out a little rumbling sound, moving his hands around his chest. He's still not used to this whole hugging and getting hugged thing, but the response had been natural. At least he'd stopped himself from cheekrubbing her or something.

"Faruja - you mean." He comments in regards to the Burmecian, and nods his head a little before looking back up. "I'm glad you're okay now." He follows her gaze as she looks up, and nods at the presence of the roof access. He knew that she prefered high places - wings and all, as well as the way she committed to battle. His gaze skips back down to the girl herself, and the beast moves a hand to behind his neck, followed by him moving his head a little and letting the bones 'crack' a little against one-another. "Different phone huh? Well, the Ma Belle network is still up, so I am sure we can easily find you some kind of phone. I'm afraid I have no spares at the moment... but that can be fixed."

Zia has posed:
"Aye." The gargress doesn't repeat the name of the mouse, which shows she's still not quite comfortable with using names. It's an odd thing to wrap your mind around referring to someone like that, especially when you've spent your whole life not using silly things like names. Then again, she already responds to her own name as if it were second nature, so perhaps she's catching on quick enough. "Had a run in wi some humans from m'world, clocked me with a rock. Ah dinnae blame them, though. They're afraid. Ah cannae imagine what it'd be like te lose everything. Fer me, Ah'd already lost m'home once, this is jus a repeat showing."

She climbs up through the roof access, checking that it is bug free in the process, and then hops through. The gargress has a new accessory - a bit of ribbon tied around her tail. It's easily visible as her tail vanishes up through the hole in the roof. Zia waits there for a little bit, and then walks towards the edge of the rooftop, looking out towards the horizon. She can already feel that creeping edge of an approaching dawn, but there's still time left. It's a good thing she'd caught the trespasser when she had. Otherwise, a statue of a gargoyle certainly wouldn't have done the Shard Seekers much good.

"Ah'm sure we can figure out somethin when it comes te a mode of communication. Sorry if Ah worried ye. T'wasn't m'intention." The gargress settles herself on the roof, sitting and curling her tail in around her legs. "Ah have somethin Ah need te tell ye, though, 'n it's important." She reaches beneath her top and pulls out a small crystal, dangling from a bit of chain. He'd probably have caught glimpses of this before, but it always seemed to have a glow before now. Tonight, it seems empty, like nothing more than a bit of stone. "Some o' the magic tha usedte protect me died wi' the fall of m'world."

Skoll Ulfang has posed:
Upon mention of being attacked by some humans, the werewolf immediately tries to see if he can see any wounds on her. "It's as you say... they're afraid." But that doesn't mean they should just go and lash out at people. It's unbecoming! The werewolf follows her closer to the roof access, and then remains at the bottom as she heads through. During this little motion, he indeed notices the accessory. "Oho? A ribbon?" Seeing as she'd only spoken of the rat, Skoll can't help but smirk a little... "I see the ratling has a thing for the gargoyles." Skoll offers. Not that he can blame him. There's a pristine kind of... niceness to the way Zia looks.

The beast waits a little longer at the bottom of the access, listening to the girl speak of communication. "It's alright. I was just worried what might have become of you. I was blinded towards the end of the battle." There's still the slightest of fur missing over his formerly wounded eye - but that little mark will disappear soon enough as well. "And you would not respond. All I know, is that Will betrayed us and attacked all of you." He doesn't know why he didn't try to attack him. Was it because of the darkness within him? Did the Lords of Gaudium send him?

The beast shrugs his shoulders a little, trying to get rid of that unsettling thought, and then decides to jump up as the girl seems to want to continue conversing. His ability to jump is quite impressive, and he lands right besides her with the grace of a cat - crouched and at the ready; "What's up?" He asks, in regards to her having something she needs to tell him. At the same time of asking this, he looks at the little crystal. Indeed, its glow was missing. "Protect you?"

Zia has posed:
There aren't any visible wounds on the gargress, so whatever healing abilities she does have must be good enough to get rid of such simple, surface injuries. It's troublesome, though, since he had seen the scars that lay beneath those bands on her arms. Something far worse must have caused those sort of injuries.

She's quick to tuck her tail when he notices the ribbon, and her ears slip backwards just slightly. "Ah wouldnae know. He claimed it would be indecent otherwise, so maybe it's jus somethin tha is part o' his kind." She looks a little uncomfortable at the prospect. It isn't that she dislikes Faruja in any way, but sometimes the ratling can go a bit overboard, and no matter how much he might push, she's never going to believe in his god. "Do ye really think tha's what it is?" She asks, looking at her tail.

Pulling her tail into her lap, the gargress lifts her gaze to look out over the city. It isn't nearly so chaotic here as in Traverse Town. That is a city of lost people, and at least here, people still sleep in their beds, secure in the knowledge that they have a world to wake up to tomorrow. "Ah got knocked out sometime durin the fightin, but Ah remember bein hit with some sorta foul magic." Her hand goes to her chest, "Like it was rippin out everyone Ah ever cared aboot." She shivers at the memory. "Last thing Ah remember is tryin te get outta the way of one of tha duck's rockets. Then t'was all dark 'n Ah remember ye callin fer someone named Avira. That's the lass ye were fightin along side, Ah assume?"

Her talon toys with the crystal for a little longer. It's a hard thing, revealing secrets. "M'kind pay a terrible price fer bein what we are. Maybe in the old days of myth and legend, t'wasn't so bad, but as humans expanded in our world, it became a deadly curse to us." She looks towards the horizon, watching the first bit of red start to show upon it. Then, she pushes herself to her feet. "Fer a time, this crystal protected me from tha fate, 'n in some cases it probably kept me alive. Now, Ah dinnae have a choice but te face it. So Ah need te ask a favor of ye, and perhaps of the others as well."

Skoll Ulfang has posed:
Not all were as lucky as this Werewolf... though lucky is relative. Zia's wounds certainly were terrible, if she healed anywhere relatively on par with Skoll's kind - and thinking of the man who must have done this to her angers him just for a moment. But it's something he quickly smashes to the wall of his mind - trying to ignore it and not let his inner darkness show its fangs.

"I think it is what it is..." Skoll replies, moving a hand out to the ribbon. "I've seen his kind without ribbons in their tails - when I made for a trip across the desert towards the west of here. It's quite a beautiful location - you should visit it sometime." The creature then retreats his hand to his knee and sits down on his ass, looking mightily relaxed as the horizon changes its shade slowly.

To the comment about Avira and the foul magic, he just nods. "I don't know what it was. I felt only the edges of it - but it sounds terrible. It struck Avira too - she only barely kept standing as a result of it. You on the other hand, had taken such a beating from the duck..." He spits onto the roof as he speaks the word 'duck', as if this was a terrible thing. "That Darkwing Duck character really needs to go..."

Yep, people still believe that one.

"She was indeed fighting alongside me. Nice girl - seems to have a way with your plain ol' wolves. Taught her a few tricks about tracking a little while ago... after she got too close to something that I consider /my/ problem." The way he looks at Zia, she might catch onto the fact that he is refering to the one who destroyed his world... just maybe.

The werewolf's ears twitch a little, catching onto the sound of the crystal moving between Zia's talons. Skoll simply continues to listen for a little while longe,r before he replies; "A curse, that it protects you from?" He'd seen another Gargoyle - he'd not held such a crystal he noted. "The red one seemed fine... so you're making me curious. What kind of curse?"

Zia has posed:
In some ways, the ribbon reminds Zia a little of her father's old stories. The brave knight who would ride off to face some terrible thing, while giving the fair damsel a favor to hold on to. Well, she's certainly no princess, or even lady of any nobility, so maybe it is just what it is. "Maybe Ah'll get te see it someday. Even with the strange way the worlds are connected, there's still a lot out there te find. Ah cannae imagine wha it was like before, when there were entire worlds te explore, but they were always jus out of reach." So many storytellers have dreamed of other worlds, but what about now when it seems that those stories had some thread of truth to them?

The sudden spit towards the roof draws Zia's ears back, drooping them in beneath the white strands of her hair. "They called 'im somethin else, too. Ah dinnae remember clearly. Suppose it dosnae matter, though. Next time Ah'll be sure te have full use of m'wings, 'n maybe Ah'll have the time te figure out better ways o'defendin m'self." Faruja had already offered to train her, but in what? Being a dragoon? She'd certainly fit the role, but there are so many different things she could learn and more than few possible teachers.

She shifts herself a little on her feet, feeling the way her heartbeat slows with the approaching dawn. All these little signals that tell her she needs to find someplace safe. "Ye dinnae let many people close te yer problems, Ah've noticed. She must be important te ye." The gargress doesn't know much about Avira, or about Valkyrie, but she doesn't seem particularly bothered by all of these people that Skoll calls his allies and friends.

She walks around towards the garden side of the roof, where there is a spot that is shielded from the eyes of thsoe passing by below. It seems as good a place as any. "Nae really a curse. Jus parta wha Ah am. Jus as much as the wolf is part of ye. But Ah need ye te promise me tha ye'll make sure Ah stay safe. Ah willnae be able te protect m'self, 'n as much as Ah hate te ask it of anyone, it isnae something Ah can prevent from happenin." She shifts, "Just dinnae freak out too much, alright?"

Skoll Ulfang has posed:
Skoll slowly nods, "It just sucks that people have a 'need' to learn to defend themselves. I was trained as a warrior... but such a life isn't what I would wish upon you - or even my lil' sis." Whom he had called for recently upon the plains of Fluorgis and gotten no reply from; a fact that put some hurt into his heart. She'd promised... but she'd not been there. It'd worried him - but also angered him in a ways. In remembering this, his hair seems to move a little - standing on end for a short moment, before he calms himself once more. Skoll realizes that he's been less able to restrain his anger lately.

"But I've traveled for a long time, and no matter where I go, there's always a need to fight. There's never a world that's just at peace..." In a ways, Hati was right. There's darkness everywhere! But what about a place like Neverland? Is the innocence of the children truly timeless there? He's never visited that place - so it's not something he really gets to ponder. "Who? Avira? She's kinda important to me." Skoll then admits in regards to the girl-now-mutate. "She has it hard, especially now. But she was a quick lesson for me not to... say too much." He looks away from Zia once more. He'd told Zia a little about a man who destroyed his world as well...

He did not want Zia to hunt this man down. Avira - he considers - almost died in doing so!

"Not many folk who are /that/ kind of important to me - not like that." Skoll then adds, glancing up to Zia, whom he counts as one of those. He'd called out for her after all, hadn't he? "It's safer if I don't... for them, for you." Skoll notes. He then looks back towards the Horizon once more. The werewolf waits for a little, then gets up as the feminine gargoyle moves across the roof to a different spot. "Keep you say? I should be able to do that? But what am I expecting? You gonna turn into a frog all of the sudden or something? Because I hear kisses are a good cure for that." The werewolf is trying to make light of the situation a little. But he realizes that there is importance in her words...

In how she trusts him.

The werewolf nods his head. "I won't freak out. I've seen some weird stuff. I'll keep 'ya safe."

Zia has posed:
The gargress watches him for a moment, taking slow breaths of her own. After not turning to stone for so long, these last few days since the fall of Manhattan have been strange. It seems almost as if she can feel the change coming earlier than normal, but maybe it's just her imagination, feeling like time is being stolen from her. "Ye havete understand, it isnae aboot goin out te fight in other people's wars, but aboot bein able te be strong enough te keep the bad things from happenin te yerself, and te those ye care for." She closes her eyes, breathing out, trying not to let her mind wander back to darker times. "Ah cannae go back te being the sort who sits idlely by, and hopes te be saved. Ah havete fight fer m'self, or no one else will."

She isn't about to argue over weather or not he should tell him about his secrets. She'd already tried to understand more about what is going on with him, and time and time again she's been shoved to the side. "Life isnae all about bein safe, Skoll Ulfang. It's about livin, because ye dinnae know how much time ye have." She used to think that she would have all the time in the world, but now... with the crystal dead upon her chest, it seems as if the darkness is growing just that much closer.

The gargress fans her wings out a bit, "Naethin so simple as turnin inte a frog, but kissin isn't goin te help. Naethin ye do will. Only time." She takes a breath, and as she does so, the sun begins to rise behind her, casting light over the city. "Ah miss the sun, ye know?" She whispers, and then the change comes. Just as his change into a werewolf isn't something he can stop, there is nothing that Zia can do to keep herself from turning to stone. "Ah'll see at sunset."

Her wings flare, her body tenses, shifting naturally into a crouch with her talons flexed and tail splayed out behind her. Her head moves forward and she growls, a sound that shifts into a snarl just as the the stone sleep takes her. It covers her body in a matter of the blink of an eye as the sun's rays touch her. The only thing that doesn't turn to stone with her is that ribbon on her tail, still fluttering in the breeze.

Skoll Ulfang has posed:
"I guess so... but I don't think I am anymore." Skoll admits wistfully, looking away again in shame. Still, Zia's words perk his ears and he forces himself to look back to her. It seems the fall of her world had done some changing for not just Avira, but Zia as well. He remembers very well how big of a deal it had been for him, when his world was destroyed. It draws a shiver down his spine. The werewolf sighs for a moment, and just nods his head.

He's very much aware about life not being about safe either though. It's the 'you don't know how much time you have' that is usually caused by the violence within the system though. Skoll moves closer to Zia, standing besides her as she takes that noticable breath, and nods his head at the note about kissing her. He then looks out towards the sun again. "You miss the sun? How come?" He asks, but... then the answer comes. That comment about seeing him at sunset making sense almost immediately as he sees the light touching her feet... and stone starting to creep up her body.

She can probably see his expression - the way his eyes widen and he takes that step forwards. That instinctual step to try and help her. But this is quickly followed by that realization that this is that curse she spoke of. And then, the realization why the Gargoyles felt so afraid. During their sleep... they truly would be defenseless. The stone continues to crawl up her body as the girl growls and makes for a dynamic pose.

Skoll can feel his heart beating quick in his chest. And when she finally turns truly to stone - including most of her clothing... Skoll reaches out one hand to Zia's cheek. He pauses... swallows hard, and then nods his head. "I will keep you safe."