Skoll Stakeout

Skoll Stakeout
Date of Scene:	02 October 2012
Location:	Rabanastre
Synopsis:	Avira hunters for the mysterious lone traveler Skoll Ulfang.
Cast of Characters:	Skoll Ulfang, Avira

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Avira has posed:
Pick one thing at a time and stick to it. That's the approach Avira's been taking to stay focused on skill acquisition as of late. Though it always helped greatly when skill acquisition could be paired with any other tasks scheduled on the to-do list. For example, today Avira really wanted to sharpen her tracking and hunting skills, one such aspect of that being lying in wait for a target to happen by. Practicing concealment was key, as was patience.

The other thing she had meant to do was to get a word with Skoll though she had wound up parting ways with him after that encounter with Ivo in Costa Del Sol. It was a longshot, but in the World of Ruin, Rabanastre was a spot of civilization those wandering could retreat to that was fairly well fortified against Heartless attacks.

So lying belly-down on one of the rocky outcroppings that dot the sloping dunes, Avira waits. A pair of goggles have been pulled down over her eyes, guarding her from the wind and sand that occasionally blows in her direction. In fact, a small pile of sand has accumulated at her side as she's been waiting.

Skoll Ulfang has posed:
Skoll has generally been following the direction Ivo has been traveling, in favor of finding Reize and taking him to the side. After all, with the recent discovery that Ivo and co' may get access to the Elemental Crystals, there is plenty of reason for him to try and force himself into their party. Of course, none of them suspect a thing, and that's just the way Skoll wants it to be. The bad part is - he's not especially good at lying. Lying is dishonorable after all! But he'll make due somehow!

And the desert is a beautiful place for this wolf. If Avira is truly watching him, she may easily spot him because of the sun reflecting against the many chains he wears on his clothing. His jacket open, and shirt removed in favor of getting some 'air' to blow against his body, Skoll carries on from dune to dune, generally unaware of her presence. Or if he is aware, he's not letting it be known.

...

No, he really hasn't a clue..

There's a nice lack of monsters at this time of day, most of them not wanting to come out in the heat of the day, although there's some groups of heartless scattered here and there that strangely enough, don't seem to approach skoll. In fact, it's more like they are 'moving away' from him, as if he were some kind of repelling magnet for them.

Avira has posed:
Wolves are a common sight in the Dalamascan sands. Skoll should feel right at home, really. But unlike the tan-furred wolves that stalk the smaller prey in this area, Skoll stands out pretty easily against the sands. The first sign of anyone approaching that Avira spots is the glint of his chains which immediately gives Avira hope that her "prey" has arrived. Those chains were very memorable! She remains, flattened against the sand, watching the slowly approaching figure, able to pick out more features as he nears.

Eventually, this includes shirtlessness. Nice to look at indeed-so nice, that she almost doesn't notice the very odd behavior of the Heartless in this area-namely that they're not actually attracted to him. Strange, because Avira knows Skoll is clearly in the 'range of attention' that she's since discovered through careful observation of the dangerous creatures. Those Heartless should be moving towards him, not /away/.

This man grew more and more curious every time she saw him! Nevertheless, it was time to make a calculated risk and say "hello."

It's funny, Avira in another life never would have greeted another person this way. This way, meaning, that when Skoll gets close enough to the outcropping she's occupying, Avira quickly scrambles up and leaps after him. It's not a complete out of the blue ambush-she does give a shout of "HEY!" before pouncing down on him.

Skoll Ulfang has posed:
As nice as Skoll's chest may be to look at according to others, it's simply a way to keep cool in his mind. The shirt doesn't appear to be on him anywhere though. Where is he storing it? His inventory? That doesn't /quite/ work. The wolf carries on a little longer, remaining oblivious to Avira's watching of him. His tail even is relaxed, his ears a bit flat to the head - hiding within that mane-like hair, and generally looking oblivious.

Well, this is until the girl suddenly scrambles up and leaps after him. The sudden movement and touching in the and has Skoll quickly turn around and grab for the chain at his belt, ready to defend himself, when he suddenly stops himself. After all, he recognizes Avira - and doesn't think of actually just carrying on with an attack that might throw her away from him. Instead, the wolfman ends up with him slamming into the girl - and the girl slamming into him at even more of a velocity...

End result?

End result, momentum wins, and Skoll ends up flat on the ground, desert-sand poofing up into the air and with the girl on top. His golden eyes are staring at her in confusion, his hands on the sides of her arms, and his ears at attention. There's a long pause... some of the sand descends down upon Avira.

"Can... I help you?"

Avira has posed:
Maybe Skoll ate his shirt for sustinance? Stuffed it down his pants? That shirt can stay gone for all Avira cares. Going bare-chested is pretty par on course for Rabanastre fashion for guys, after all. He'll fit in! But as he continues to walk on, Avira can tell...that he's got no idea she's watching him, which makes Avira proud of herself. *Expert Hunter*

Since Avira has seen Skoll in action, with those chains especially, she had accounted for the possibility of being attacked out of reflex. And somehow, she was okay with this-well unless he /kept/ hitting her. She's braced herself for the sting of metal but finds herself not getting the impact she expected. Yes, she still hits the chains, but only because she's straight up flopped on top of him. The first thought, as she pulls her face off of his chest, is that she really caught him by surprise. Awesome! More signs that her *expert hunter* skills are improving.

The second thought hits her once their eyes meet is that she's got him pinned-up to a point at least. "Hm, I think the weight difference would make it hard for me to hold you down like this..." she remarks, analytically, out of the blue. "Er...oh, uhhh.." Only now does she realize that this might be kind of awkward-awww look at those EARS-no, awkward!

"Haha, well-!" Avira moves to stand, offering Skoll a hand up once she has, "Well in a way you already have, I was practicing my ambush. But! I was hoping to run into you again at some point. Something about you is pretty /different/ and I think I've finally figured it out."

Skoll Ulfang has posed:
Indeed, Skoll could probably benchpress the girl if he really wanted to. But he's too afraid that she might have gotten herself caught in his chains, or otherwise might be hurt if he did so. The werewolf really doesn't make for a very good evil minion - as careful as he is about other peoples' health. His eyes continue to be aimed at her, watching her eyes meet his for a moment only. "I could..." He comments. Not really moving other than keeping this hands at her arms in case she makes any hostile actions, or something that could be interpretted as such.

But no, the girl gets up. He remains laying on the floor for a while, moving one hand to his chest and tilting his head sideways for a while like a confused dog, before finally reaching his hand out to the one she offered him - letting her lift him up. He's actually fairly light of body, but certainly no featherweight. His chains jingle a little until he's stablized himself into the mullen sands, and then puts his both hands into his pockets and leans back a little.

He lowers his upper body a little, and looks 'up' at her with his head tilted up just slightly. He really needed to bend a little in order to get into that position, and shows quite some flexibility of body in doing so. "Practicing an ambush?" He asks her, still not entirely too sure what to think about this. His head tilts a bit further to the other way. "Different?" It doesn't seem like the wolfish and punkish youth is really following her.

"Why would you try to practice your ambush on me?" Seems he's more interested in the 'why' of the ambush than her opinion of what is different about him. Or maybe he's just trying to shift the topic away from himself.

Avira has posed:
Skoll certainly was taking this very well. He's clearly more laid back than Ivo, Avira assesses, though maybe she'd come down on Ivo a little hard those few days ago. Still, at this point, she had expected him to try to throw her off or something a bit more violent-it's actually a little bit of relief that he doesn't and if Skoll looks carefully within those goggles of hers, he could see that relief.

After pulling him up, she dusts the sand they'd kicked up off herself. One hand lifts up to ruffle her hair around to dislodge what she can. That finished, she finally pushes her goggles up onto her forehead. "Yep. I need to practice /all/ the hunter skills, ambushes included." She holds up her hand and makes a little finger gun with her thumb and pointer. Pew. "In case I gotta take a mark down by surprise. Pretty standard stuff."

Evasive. Avira can see that, but she's not letting him get the subject away from him that easily, "That's right." she says, "You're a werewolf, aren't you? That's how you can heal so fast." Also the obvious EARS and TAIL. "Annnnnd-" to tie it back to his actual question, "-you probably have some kind of super keen sense of smell, so if I can ambush /you/, then that must mean I'm doing pretty good."

Avira looks pretty darn proud of herself, though the cockiness doesn't really last that long. Being a little /too/ excited about skill acquistion creeps people out, Avira has discovered. "Practice makes perfect, right?"

Skoll Ulfang has posed:
Skoll shifts his weight, moving his weight one way and his shoulders the other, trying to get a better look. Indeed, he catches onto that 'relief' within her eyes, and it's what triggers him to move his upper body 'up' so that he gets into a proper standing postion. It may be noted that Skoll doesn't really take the time to get the sand out of his hair or from his clothing. He probably figures that shaking his body like a dog is demeaning.

She may also note just how much his eyes are following her every movement, from her hands to her body in general. As relaxed as he seems to be, he's very attentive. "I see. Such is indeed the skill a hunter much practice. Though a desert isn't a good place to train in those skills. You should work on that in a forest, where there are so many more things to keep track off - like twigs that may snap, or leaves that may be rustled by your presence."

The man shifts his weight again, and then nods his head. His tail flicks emotively. "Yup, werewolf. Not exactly hiding it. But... I don't think that's why I heal as fast as I do." He shrugs a little. "Werewolves don't particularly heal fast." Seems she is wrong there. He even flashes his teeth a little, letting her keep guessing at that one. "As for my sense of smell. I also have excellent hearing - but I was distracted enough not to notice you." He pauses, licks his finger, and then raises it into the air. "You were in the wind's direction compared to me, and the mullen sand makes for very little sound. So yes - you chose well."

He then moves that hand back into his pocket. "May not have caught my unawares had I been paying attention though. I also have keen eyes." It sounds like she may have hurt his pride a little - as he is a warrior and a hunter.

Avira has posed:
Avira was actually intently curious as to whether or not he was going to shake the sand off of him like a dog. She was half expecting it, for sure, but doesn't exactly show much disappointment that it doesn't happen and keeps this expectation to herself. Who knows, he might get insulted by that kind of insinuation. The worlds opening up like this did give way to bouts of unintentional racism born from ignorance on Avira's part.

Though she may seem really excitable right now, she is certainly not unobservant. She's watching him carefully, taking in his mannerisms and the way he holds himself. "Oh...really? Hmmm, yeah, you're right, I'll have to try this on different terrains too..." she taps her chin, "Desert's just kind of convenient to Rabanastre, y'know?"

Surprise registers on her face, "Really? I thought all werewolves healed super fast and were only vulnerable to silver? So you don't know why you heal so fast? Hmmm."

Going on to explain his senses, Avira starts grinning again. "Yeah, downwind, I was careful to pick a spot that was downwind." Sand dampening the sound she hadn't considered though and carefully...doesn't comment on that. "Ahhh...but you should be paying attention out here, for the record. Little bands of roving Heartless have been popping up around these parts." She gestures to her stakeout spot, "In fact, I saw a couple nearby you while you were approaching. Seems you were lucky, though, none of them seemed to really notice you."

Turning away from him slightly, she looks back out over the sands in the direction that Skoll came. "I wonder why that is. Usually they're pretty aggressive."

Skoll Ulfang has posed:
"Oh, very much true. I'm admittedly not that good with desserts myself." The wolfman answers, "Hunting in them is such a pain. You're better just running after your prey, and hope your footing is better than theirs. Because in the end, any chase in the dessert is about stamina and footing." Skoll explains to Avira, like a hunter sharing deeper secrets into the profession. "But no, Werewolves don't heal super fast, nor are they only vulnerable to silver." He pauses for a moment. "Have you been talking to Zia, or you from the same world?"

"Not like you will find many of my kind. As far as I am aware, I am the last of my race even." He is putting up the tough-guy act as he speaks, talking about this as if he hadn't a care in the world. Even his golden eyes don't lose a shred of their life. Still, it must be lonely.

"As for the heartless. They never really bother me. They know better than to try and approach me." As if they somehow had some kind of 'knowledge' of what he is like. Or /who he is/. "Still, they rove everywhere really. So... I would not be surprised that they simply saw some other target to go and harass."

Avira has posed:
"I've noticed that running it down really is what it comes down to most of the time out here." Avira agrees, listening carefully to his thoughts on this because she is pretty sure that Skoll is going to have a LOT more experience than she on this. "Most of my practice has been in the desert...there used to be grasslands around Rabanastre but..." she trails off, a confused look on her face. "Zia? Who's Zia?"

Unknown bullet, dodged by ignorance!

Trying-to-be-tough huntress aside, there's just something that gets at her right in the heart when she hears someone admit that they're the last of their race. Skoll might have a devil-may-care attitude about it, but Avira certainly doesn't: "Oh...I'm sorry, that's really sad to hear-I mean, well..maybe there are others out there that didn't get destroyed with your world?" Jumping to a lot of conclusions on this one, indeed. Oh yes, Avira assumes that anything that got swallowed is gone for good at this point and had struggled with that thought for a while. Her sadness for him, at least, is actually sincere.

The sadness slowly disappears, replaced with suspicion. "Unless you attack them, I guess. You're lucky, they always seem to find /me/ just fine. I guess I ever need a Heartless repellant, I'll look you up." His words only make her even more suspicious now. She was watching him in that desert very carefully. There were no other targets for them to go and harass.

Skoll Ulfang has posed:
It doesn't help that Skoll is a pretty darn bad liar. Either way, he shakes his head when the girl asks who Zia is. "If you don't know her - never mind." Skoll answers. "Just finding a lot of people with some rather strange ideas about werewolves. You sound like you know this area though." He takes a wide look around, then glances casually back to Avira. "Doesn't /look/ like this place has had forest anywhere recently." He then adds.

"As for survivors - no so far. And I've been wandering the worlds for quite a long time now." Suggesting that he has been doing this 'gig' from before those Shadow Portals opened everywhere. He may have a lot of information that others don't have if that's true - but nobody's dragged him aside to milk him for it all yet. "But at least the Heartless didn't get to my world. I'd been more sad if their hearts would have been stolen by those creates. Instead..." He pauses. "Instead it was someone else." He moves a hand up to his head, as if he had a headache. It's obvious he's trying to remember something, but failing miserably.

He tries to discard the thought and steps aside for a moment, standing sideways from the girl now. "Anyhow. Yeah - they generally leave me alone. Except for the big ones. I can't quite make those go away." 'make those go away'?

Avira has posed:
Worrisome things just kept piling up about this guy. He might be a bit more of a "bad boy" than his appearance betrays. In turn, though, Avira can hide her own pretty well. Skoll seemed convinced at least and that's what mattered right now. "'course. I'm good at figuring out the lay of the land. It used to be that you had to go pretty far southeast to get to anything like a forest. Now, though, now that's...not around anymore." That particular jungle up and MOVED. "But I'll have to learn how to function in the forest too at some point."

At last he's talking a little bit more about himself and Avira is listening quite intently. She's actually quite surprised to learn that it wasn't the Heartless that destroyed his world and that he's been wandering around for far longer. "Someone else...?" she actually sounds a little peturbed by this. Just what ELSE was out there that could destroy worlds? "...who?" She waits, anxiously, for an answer but judging by the look on his face, he might not even know.

His answers about the Heartless make her feel even a little more anxious now. She turns and stares at him for a long moment, looking a lot like she wanted to ask a question about that. Could he control them? But...

...she changes the subject instead, "...have you ever tried to map out the worlds? You've been wandering around a long time so you probably have a good idea where everything is."

Skoll Ulfang has posed:
"I don't know the name..." Skoll says, "I don't remember them, I wasn't around when they destroyed my world. At least... I think I saw them, but..." He shakes his head. "I was hurt really bad, I almost died. I only barely survived. My memory is a bit foggy." He pauses, and then adds, "I only know a figure... a man with red hair and... half a sunglass." He shakes his head. "I know, it's weird."

He then shrugs, noticing the way she stares at him, and turns his head away. "Nah, not tried to map out the worlds. I just know how to find my way back to them. You could say that I... mark them in a way." That's right, we have a werewolf, traveling from place to place... marking them. Haha.

"Anyhow, want to walk? The desert is kind of hot - and I rather not get a sunburn if I can help it." He tilts his head towards Rabanastre and begins wandering down the hill of sand.

Avira has posed:
This was still very unnerving. Maybe Skoll was mistaken and it really was the Heartless that destroyed his world. "I can relate a little to the brink of death thing but..." she looks troubled and saddened by this whole matter. "If I see anyone that looks like that, I'll..." she's not sure what she'll do. Stop them from destroying another world? Avira /likes/ Ivalice, even if only a small piece is left. She's going to cling to what she has and fight for it if she has to!

'Mark them in a way'. Avira's face goes red as her brain is already imagining him lifting his leg and-NO, no, he couldn't! "A..aww.." she looks disappointed, "I'm trying to draw maps of everything, is the thing. I've barely scratched the surface...oh.."

Avira hooks her thumbs into her belt and saunters after him, "Yeah, let's go into town. The sun bothers me after a while too." Fortunately, she's already gotten past the sunburn stage.

Skoll Ulfang has posed:
Skoll keeps his hands in his pockets as they saunter on down, and she'll probably notice that indeed, the heartless keep away from them. The wolves however, and other monsters, remain just as active and don't seem to react to Skolls presence at all. Still, he moves in such a way as to avoid needless combat - though if that battle in Manhattan was any indication, these wolves that stayed so close to Rabanastre would probably not be a challenge for either of these two.

The way her face grows red amuses the man, but he doesn't comment on it. He can probably imagine what she is thinking. This isn't the first time. Ivo was already making fun of him for the way he'd come to Yuna's side due to her whistling. At least he's not taking any visible offense to it. "There's a lot of worlds out there, far more than these portals seem to let you reach. To try and map them all... it'd be an enormous undertaking." Skoll says, "I wish you luck on that one - because as you said, you have probably only barely scratched the surface."

He starts putting his chain back properly through his beltloops, seeing as it'd come undone in his preparation for an assault, and he keeps on wandering. "I do wonder though - if you don't mind the prying, you said you can related to the brink of death thing? I hope your world wasn't destroyed?" Seems he doesn't realize that this world is so new, that it's very unlikely to know this world as well as she does - and have a different world as a home.

Avira has posed:
She does pay special attention to that as they head back to Rabanastre as far as encounters with Heartless go. The desert wolves that populate this area are mostly ignored; Avira had already invested plenty of time in learning how to fight the wildlife mere steps away from the city. She doesn't try going out of her way to fight anything right now either, eager to get back into the city.

Ultimately, Avira's just glad he wasn't offended by her assumptions. And if he was...well, he could have phrased that a little better! Marking indeed. "...had a feeling that might be the case...but I'm not gonna let that stop me. I'm not going to be That Guy who is always getting lost on whatever world is out there."

-oh. Oh /crap./ Then again, "The part I was born and grew up in was destroyed. Pieces still exist." Which is completely the truth. "I was in that part when it happened..." she seems to grow distant, maybe even uncomfortable as she speaks, wincing every few moments as she recalls flashes of memory from that violent day, "...I remember fighting those things... Getting swallowed by the Darkness...if that clan hadn't taken me in at the gates of Rabanastre, I'm pretty sure I would have died."

Skoll Ulfang has posed:
Skoll grows silent as Avira speaks. And even when she finishes speaking, he remains quiet for a while until they actually reach the gates of Rabanastre. There, just before they come up to a bunch of guards, he turns towards her. "There will be many people in this world, who have gone through the very same thing, I feel. But feel safe... I don't feel the taint of darkness upon you that the Heartless leave with some." He points a finger to his nose then, as if he could somehow 'smell' the darkness. In reality, it's something far more intuitive.

"I'm glad to hear you broke out of the grip of darkness though. There are many who don't have the strength of heart to do that. Don't thank only the clan... thank your parents, thank the experience that made you into who you are today." Skoll has suddenly gotten a lot more serious. He pauses for a moment, and then nods his head, before grabbing for one of the chains near his chest and pulling out a beautiful golden pocketwatch.

He clicks the top and opens it, and looks at its dials, before putting it back into his pocket. "I need to head out. Some people are waiting on me. But I am sure we'll meet again. I've been... meeting a lot of people over and over - and you feel like you may be like them. I am actually trying to find a youth who is skilled at failing to find his way around worlds." He pauses, and then adds; "Also, to help on your mapping - perhaps you are best off buying a map in every city you reach, and circle in how far it is correct, and draw conclusions about the world's structure from there..." He smiles a toothy smile, fixing his jacket a little over his bare chest, and leans back further for a bit.

"I'll be waiting to see the results." He then offers a hand real quick. "Skoll Ulfang is the name." Whether she takes it or note makes little difference to him. He's on a tight schedule. "I gotta head out now." he points over his shoulder, and then suddenly walks away, "See you again, Avira."

Within moments, he heads into a nearby alley and rounds the corner. If Avira followed him, she might note that he basically... well... disappeared into thin air.

But if she really - really ran hard.

Maybe she saw the remnants of a black gate of darkness, closing in onto nothingness.

Avira has posed:
The silence is welcomed for that period of time. Avira actually trails a little, a troubled look on her face as she digs up moments from weeks ago she'd been trying to bury and forget. As long as the Heartless roamed around, she really couldn't. Skoll speaking up again is actually a bit of a surprise, easily reflected on her scarred face as she looks up at him.

It's a lot of fascinating things to hear from him all at once and she looks downright shellshocked by his words-appropriate, given the gravity that he delivers them with. "T...thanks..." she manages with some amount of uncertainty in her voice. Parents. Another thing she didn't want to think too much about right now. They were...gone with the rest of the world.

Numbly, she nods, "Noticed that too-I...yeah..I.." still very shellshocked. "...I'll keep at it. That idea-"

HANDSHAKE. Her brain can process that command at least. She reaches out and grasps his hand, "Avira." He might have caught it long before, but no sense in not introducing it again. "I'll see you around."

It takes her a few moment for her to realize that he just turned the corner of an alley she knows is a dead end. Surprised, she runs after him, but is far too late to see him disappear or even to catch the remnants of a corridor. "W..what the..."