View source for Avira the Bat Hunter

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2013/12/10
|Location=Central Park
|Synopsis=Avira goes bat hunting in Central park!
|Cast of Characters=Avira,  Echo
|pretty=yes
}}

:'''[[Echo]] has posed:'''<br><span></span> So it's getting late in the city, and it's got some snow as well--not a lot of snow, not a blizzard, neither is the wind kicking up harshly. The snow is coming down softly as if it's sort of shy and maybe a bit ashamed to be there, not sticking to the street quite yet--it's not cold enough for it to really remain there, but it makes a pretty coating on the trees and grass.

:'''[[Avira]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>Snow like this is just perfect for the native New Yorker. It's pretty to look at and it doesn't get in the way of sidewalks and streets. In Central Park with the trees and large grassy areas it becomes the perfect photo opportunity. <br /><br />Bundled up in a leather, fur-lined coat purchased from a mechant in Mount Bur-Omisace in Ivalice, Avira strolls down one of the tree-lined pathways in Central Park. At the end of the pathway is a large lake that has yet to freeze over.

:'''[[Echo]] has posed:'''<br><span></span> There is not just snow out here though, or the random mugger. There is instead something perhaps a bit worse than just freezing cold and the odd thug, though better or worse depends on your definition. Sitting there on a park bench, in just her dress and scarf is Echo, her legs crossed daintily with one sandaled foot dangling in the air as she lounges back, warm breath visible in the air in front of her, like fire plumes from a Chinese dragon. Upon noticing Avira she turns her head and blinked a little, her yellow eyes almost glowing in the dark. "Well hello there, Snowflake."

:'''[[Avira]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>"...such /interesting/ people to meet in Central Park." Avira drawls with a definite air of caution in her voice as she stops the strolling. Carefully, her back straightens, as if it would make her somehow more imposing. But at a tiny 5'1", Avira wasn't going to be imposing to anyone except a pair of chipmunks or trio of ducks. She regards Echo for a moment, struck by the sandals, wondering if she actually gets cold in those out here. Right away, her eyes break away, scanning the treeline for that other hunter she'd encountered Echo with. <br /><br />"What brings you out here tonight?" she asks, inwardly bracing herself for an explosion.

:'''[[Echo]] has posed:'''<br><span></span> "Oh you know," Echo doesn't seem intimidated at all by Avira's presence, long ivory fangs jutting down over her reddish lower lip. "You gave me and the rat quite a run for our money back there, and I heard you worked over Dizzy something terrible," she blinked a little as if remembering hearing about it secondhand. "Burnt down his club too, at that," she rubbed her chin a little, as if pondering something. She doesn't seem cold, if she is, she's not showing it. Is that fur really that thick?

:'''[[Avira]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>"Dizzy...oh right, that pimp." Avira maintains this stance, slowly realizing that she's losing out in the intimidation game which puts her even more on edge. Maybe she does have someone waiting in the wings? (Pun intended.) "Yeah well y'all made off with one of my friends and my partner wanted to be sure he left a little message behind." It's her posturing voice being used right now. She's still trying really hard with the intimidation thing short of reverting to her Brooklyn accent. <br /><br />"...okay this is kind of bothering me, how are you staying warm in those sandals? Is it fire magic?"

:'''[[Echo]] has posed:'''<br><span></span> "I wasn't going to hurt her," Echo admitted, blinking a little nad nodding with a grin. "Yes him, I fear he might be dead, in fact, I think you killed him," the bat replied with some surprise in her voice, though her eyelids flutter just a bit, and she returns to casuality. She cants her head to the side, her dark hair falling over one cheek. "Oh? are you concerned about me being cold?" she shakes her head a little, "No magic, at least not right now," she uncrosses and crosses her legs, arms folded over her front.

:'''[[Avira]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>Echo can see Avira pause for a moment as it is pointed out that she probably killed that vampire. A frown overcomes her face, guilt, briefly, before it returns to a more neutral look. "Interesting, I thought vampires were a lot more durable than that. No stakes or garlic or anything." Avira shifts a little and moves to put her hands in the pockets of her coat. "Uhhh...I wouldn't say concerned, just, uh...curious. Maybe I should be asking what you're doin' in my town instead."

:'''[[Echo]] has posed:'''<br><span></span> "I don't think he was one of those types, he was a real undead, not like me," she gestured to herself, shaking her head again. "Though if it helps they don't like to stay dead, it's rather annoying for them actually," she grinned a little, leaning back. "Though if you're truly worried about my feet you could give me a massage sometime, that should keep them warm," she smiled at that, perhaps being playful.

:'''[[Avira]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>"A real undead? Like a lesser vampire?" It looks like Avira really feels guilty about possibly killing something, even if that something was an undead pimp harassing a friend. ...wait, since when was Morrighan being called one of her /friends/ anyway? They sure didn't seem so friendly in the jungle. "Wha-hey." <br /><br />Avira outright sticks her tongue out at Echo. "I'll pass. We need to be dating for you to get that outta me."

:'''[[Echo]] has posed:'''<br><span></span> "As in he died and came back, doesn't obey the laws of nature anymore," Echo explained, shaking her head lightly once again. "I'm actually not one of those at all, though I seem like it, I guess. Vampire bat demi-human," she shrugged, looking a bit indignant. "Humans are so quick to use that term, even for the elf I saw the other night, I don't really consider elves demi-humans," she looked back to Avira, grinning just a tad. "Of course, of course..." she nodded slowly.

:'''[[Avira]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>"H-hey!" Avira lifts her hands up, "I didn't call you that...well like the undead vampires. Uh. I thought vampires only came in the undead variety. Yeah the vampire bat is a species in these parts but..." she trails off, "Right. Uh. So-" <br /><br />She tries to look menacing again and takes a step towards Echo. Does she have that infamous weapon with her? Probably, but if so, it's hidden somewhere underneath her coat. "You didn't answer my earlier question. What the heck are you doing in my town? Looking for more elves to swipe?"

:'''[[Echo]] has posed:'''<br><span></span> "Not at all, just here... lounging, seeing what there might be to do," Echo looked up at Avira again, uncrossing her legs and standing up in front of the bench. "It was supposed to be a professional sort of thing that, course not many things with me stay purely professional for long," she giggled a little, shaking her head. "Are you going to whip out your icicle and smite me with it?" she put her hands up, or rather arms out, sort of like a mime. "But what if I run, and you strike, hmm?"

:'''[[Avira]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>"...is that why Morrighan ended up in that outfit?" Avira asks with a bit of supicion. "Not that I speak from experience or anything-" actually she does, "-but that sort of struck me as something Morrighan might do to someone." She straightens and looks at Echo. "If this wasn't Manhattan, maybe! In this parts we have rules against randomly assaulting people, even if those people are part of arson-and-kidnapping services." <br /><br />There is basically no intimidation factor left for Avira at this point. It's clear that she won't straight up attack Echo like some thug at least.

:'''[[Echo]] has posed:'''<br><span></span> "Oh that, well she did cause me a bit of trouble getting her here, and her clothes were shredded, so I had to put her in something to preserve decency, no? Maybe not her dignity, of course, but," she shrugged. "The rat is nowhere to be found, I don't know if he recovered from his injuries either," she sighed a bit. Noticing the girl's resolve however, she put her arms down, peering at her. <br /> <br /> "You're a strange one, won't attack me even if I did horrible things to your friend..." she looked down a little, as if wistfully.

:'''[[Avira]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>Avira narrows her eyes just a little bit, as if not buying some part of that explanation. "I somehow don't expect you to divulge where the pyromaniac Burmecian is at since you two were partnered with each other. You might do business with him again." Against /her/ no less. "But I'll bet he'll turn up eventually." <br /><br />Avira turns away from Echo just slightly, folding her arms just beneath her breasts. "Oh, I'd attack you, don't get me wrong. But not here. Manhattan is one of the few pieces of my world left. I want to respect its laws. That means I can't go around randomly assaulting or apprehending criminals."

:'''[[Echo]] has posed:'''<br><span></span> "It's not information for me to know, even if he was still alive, I don't know, he may be dead," Echo shook her head. "He was in quite a state the last time I saw him," she put a hand on her hip as she watched the girl turn away. "He'd come after me too if he knew I had information on him, anyway, he's a mad dog killer," she sighed. <br /> <br /> "You and I come from different worlds, what is law really? A bunch of words in a book," the bat sounded a bit indignant again. "Besides... there are plenty of us who manage to live without them," she grinned a little, being cheeky it seemed.

:'''[[Avira]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>"I doubt he's dead. We didn't find any bodies left behind in the jungle. Well, it could be that something came along and ate the body but..." she discards those pretty morbid thoughts right there. "I agree that guy is crazy. Next time he shows up...I will be much more prepared for him." The look on Avira's face hardens at that. <br /><br />From her spot, she doesn't turn, but she does shift herh eyes to the side to watch Echo. "You included, clearly. That'll catch up to you somehow if you keep sticking around here. Fair warning and all." Perhaps sensing the cheekiness, Avira becomes a little bristly in return, not unlike an agitated dog. "What world are you from?"

:'''[[Echo]] has posed:'''<br><span></span> "I am not sure, though he was an energetic sort of mad bomber, that one," Echo nodded, staring off into the snow covered grass and some of the trees. "I admit however, I've never seen a weapon quite like yours before, imbued with ice is it?" she tilted her head curiously, "I'll keep your warning in mind as well, I wouldn't do well all locked up, I fear I'd go mad," she smiled a little serenly after that, as if such hadn't already happened? <br /> <br /> "What world? one where life is essentially meaningless, at least from what my family taught me," she shrugged. "Cheap, is probably a better term."

:'''[[Avira]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>"The Spine is one of a kind." Avira says in a slightly grave tone with barely hidden pride for her weapon. "I wouldn't really say it's imbued though. I've just learned how to enchant weapons with magic. Cast through them and that sort of thing. Stuff mystic knights usually do." Echo's response is carefully studied. Did she just suggest that she's never been thrown in jail before? Interesting. <br /><br />Then again with the evasive manuvers that Avira witnessed her pulling off when they fought, she'd believe it. <br /><br />"...that's not right." Avira frowns, turning to look at the bat-girl, "Life isn't meaningless or cheap. Why would they say such a thing?"

:'''[[Echo]] has posed:'''<br><span></span> "Interesting.. you're a mystic knight?" this was curious. She'd heard of such before, imbuing weapons with magical properties, adn the like. She raised a brow at that, leaning back just a bit. Perhaps not wanting to get on the weapon's knobby, ribbed bad side again. Echo crossed her arms around her front similar to what Avira was doing, but only for a moment. <br /> <br /> "Why? they were garbage men for a noble house, people have ways of outliving their usefulness," her tone had become a bit more grisly by this point. "Laundry, just like when you do laundry, you have to take it out, wash it, dry it, bag it..."

:'''[[Avira]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>"More or less. My range of magical spells isn't that diverse...yet." Though Avira honestly didn't know if she could pick up the other elements as she has the other. Learning what she had was difficult enough but Echo didn't need to know that. At least, for Echo's benefit, she has yet to produced that ribbed, knobby weapon. Out of sight, it was unlikely to be drawn against the bat-girl. <br /><br />...for now. <br /><br />"Garbage men..." she frowns, the immediate trash-collecting waste management engineers of her world coming to mind. How would that impart such low valuation on life...? Unless... "Oh, I see, taking out the 'trash'. I guess that would kind of explain your...uh, skillset."

:'''[[Echo]] has posed:'''<br><span></span> "Indeed, now employing it for a far more personal and lucrative career than just bumping off inconvenient noblemen," Echo ran a hand back through her hair, fixing it a little. "Course, you needn't fear that sort of thing, I don't think, I only wanted to talk to the elf before I turned her loose, I just needed a place to put her--I couldn't leave her alone and without any way to get home could I? so I put her in that club, least it was warm," the batgirl shrugged a little. "I don't really like to kill people, maybe if they deserve it, but I can't turn down money for something like just borrowing an elf, really."

:'''[[Avira]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>"Bat-girl-ninja." Avira mutters, one of her hands tapping her chin. "So why Morrighan? Did Garland direct you to harass her like that? Honestly, when you and the firebomber rat showed up, I honestly thought you were after /me/." she pauses, "...I've got a few enemies. Yeah, surprising, I know."

:'''[[Echo]] has posed:'''<br><span></span> "I don't know any Garland, so I couldn't say," Echo shrugged her shoulders a bit at that, her wings fluttering a bit from behind her. The dress she wore seemed to be lower on the back than it was on the front, due to them. "I don't go looking for people for no reason, unless I feel like it," she drews herself up a little, seeming to be finally getting chilled. "I think I might step indoors somewhere, for now, free to join me, if you like," she vaned those wide long bat wings of hers.

:'''[[Avira]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>"...hm. Interesting. So it was someone then. I wonder who else Morrighan's manage to tick off this past year or so." Avira muses, tilting her head down in contemplation. "Oh, I know of plenty of reasons people would come after me. Iiiii don't think I'm going to be sharing any with you, of course." She smirks and follows after Echo with a shrug. "Bad for my own business. I'm sure you'd understand."

:'''[[Echo]] has posed:'''<br><span></span> Echo is doing a little brisk walk, her wings out behind her but she's not taking off just yet exactly--they're flapping here and there, leading to a sort of skipping fluttering hopping motion from time to time, not looking back to see if the spine-wielder is following, at least not at first. She's heading out of the park however, though she's not heading towards a brightly lit part of town, perhaps to more dens of inequity like the night club? Except that burned down, so... "Still following me, hmm?" she looked over her shoulder and watched the girl for a moment.

:'''[[Avira]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>If Echo starts flying, Avira will have a problem following. Her own air magic could give her boosts or change the angle of her descent but she couldn't achieve pure flight with it. Quite a shame, actually, because Avira did miss flying like Echo is capable of. <br /><br />Pretty aware of the streets of Manhattan, she keeps good stock of her surroundings too. There are definitely other hives of scum and villainry in the city akin to the one Angantyr burned to the ground. "Yeah." Avira says casually, "Unless you're declaring our conversation over. Then I don't really have a reason to follow 'cause I don't intend to stalk you home."

:'''[[Echo]] has posed:'''<br><span></span> The bat pauses a little, before skipping another step. "Just can't stay away, eh?" Echo turned a little, her skirts fluttering about along with her. "I never said I didn't want to talk to you, I just can't stay outside forever, not in this freeze," she walks a little now, a good bit slower than her bounding pace from before, her wings still out behind her. <br /> <br /> "Or are you trying to find out what happened with the elf?" she pauses a little, turning to face Avira.

:'''[[Avira]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>"I'm pretty sure Sun Tzu said something about knowing your enemy." Avira is quick to respond, perhaps almost defensively. "Oh, so the nearly bare feet ARE getting to you, then?" It still looks like she might take off at any moment until she stops and turns to face her. <br /><br />"You know, I kind of do, but I get the feeling I won't get it out of you without a serious interrogation effort." She rubs her chin, regarding Echo. "You strike me as a professional, after all, and professionals usually don't just up and give details about their contracts."

:'''[[Echo]] has posed:'''<br><span></span> "Well, the arms and legs are the first to lose most of their heat, in cold weather," Echo smiled a little, watching the girl. "Always so concerned about my feet, interesting girl," she grinned a little, then raised a brow. "You want to interrogate me then? torture me until I talk and tell you what you want to know?" she tapped a hand against her hip. "That can be as tough on the torturer as it is on the victim."

:'''[[Avira]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>"Ack! No I'm not! Not concerned!" Avira looks a little flustered at this point, "It's just weird seeing someone out in bare feet when it's this cold out! Seriously!" She waves her hands in front of her. <br /><br />Even more hand waving follows. "I don't think torture would be entering the picture here, I don't torture people. If anything, Angantyr should interrogate you about the job. He's actually intimidating." So Avira's well aware that she's not very scary.

:'''[[Echo]] has posed:'''<br><span></span> Echo just sort of grins like a chesire cat, fangs broadly displayed as the girl waved her hand about, trying to explain. "It's quite alright either way, I don't mind being admired," she explains somberly, watching the girl still, idly. <br /> <br /> "Is that the swordsman I heard about? Hmph, I eat Dark Knights for breakfast," Echo crossed her arms in front of her, before turning and proceeding along. "Care to join me for some coffee, perhaps?" she asked after a while.

:'''[[Avira]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>Avira huffs a little at the continued teasing, pouting with irritation at her intentions being misconstrued. Only seconds later does she seem to catch onto the fact that Echo was just doing it to get the reaction she was giving. Whoops. <br /><br />"Yes, thats' Angantyr. I suggest not saying those kind of things around him or he'll make you prove it." She follows along, looking around her. "Coffee? Sure. I could go for coffee."

:'''[[Echo]] has posed:'''<br><span></span> "Well then, I think I could have you along for that," Echo nodded a little, still smiling and apparently enjoying the other girl's company. She'd continue on then in that sort of half-skipping bouncing fashion along, Avira in tow, off to someplace to get a hot cappacino.