((6/3/01, by Dirah))
Dirah is so utterly unfond of bittersweet events. They lost the base--but they got away with the upper hand. They got away perfectly safely, and yet Tifa managed to skip out and get her rear kicked by some random Yggdrasil supporter in the desert. They still have their hostage, but the Solarian Princess happens to be a satanic mental mess of a lunatic. And what does Dirah do when everything is going her way, but not really? Find a nice way to vent stress, of course! So, hopefully enough in disguise to avoid much attention, Dirah is walking down the streets of Dazil, wearing a long, desert made and pale cloak, silver hair unstyled and both pale, bright eyes uncovered just in case her makeshift twin happened to be known here. Let that be enough, with hope. She's really not in the mood or spirits to try a better disguise. After all, that's quite not nearly a problem, is it? For Aveh fashion is so.. Peculiar. It just is rather unsettling that there is so little of it available in the visible stores here. Oh, why didn't she take the time before the tournament to check out the Bledavik stores? They had such a nicer selection!
Ahh, Dazil. Kale didn't know how much he liked the place until he was away from it for a bit. Or maybe he had just forgotten how miserable Nortune was. Ahh, the things one does for...love? Companionship? Kale briefly ponders on why exactly he DID go as he walks down Dazil's streets, claws clicking against the ground. Well, despite the lung clogging smoke, and rude glances, he wasn't caught and executed for murder...he really must be more careful about that, though.
What was wrong with lung clogging smoke? Its worlds better than all of this blasted heat and endless sand. And Kislev had better media, better weapons, better culture, ~much~ better tournaments, and.., "Ah! How -cute-!" Well, there's -one- thing you never saw in Kislev--street vendors would be crazy to put their wares out where the soot could collect on them. But here, it didn't seem to be much of a problem- and no suprise, that, when buildings were easily more like heat-gathering cauldrons. But Dirah has, for all that high and gleeful shriek, apparently found.. A clothing vendor. And is currently beaming over a.. cute?.. shirt, low cut and looking, for all the world, to be a bit exposing, bright turquoise and desert-light, adorned in patterns about the short, short sleeves and buttoned down the center. How, uh, fashionable?
Kale 's ears twitch, and he winces. Big sensitive ears are all well and good, but not when there are high pitched screams flying though the air. The big dragon man looks around, wondering if there was someone being attacked, or if someone just got perposed too...both have quite the same sound, really. But no, it was just someone finding a shi- Huh? Sigurd? But no...couldn't be. Sigurd's voice wouldn't go that high. And besides, if the pirate captain were around, Kale would be sneezing his head off. Allergic reaction to that annoying Ether Cologne and all that. Then who could it be...one of Sig's realitives? Why not ask. Carefully making his way through the crowed, Kale moves towards the strange shirt buying figure.
Well, perhaps its a bittersweet--Curse the thought!--concept in itself that such is the situation. For one, Dirah does not -want- to be mistaken as Sigurd for the moment, and yet wouldn't it do a number on the real one's reputation if someone mistook the one gleeing over fashion for him? Well... er... On the other hand, that's not likely to happen. Well, no matter. Dirah doesn't even realize that someone is moving towards her, her focus completely diverted into the wide, wide world of fashion. So she holds up the shirt, smiling all the while, while she asks, "How much is this?" Of the stall keeper. Ah, but how could she be suspicious? Wouldn't -anyone- find this shirt to be just the most -darling- thing?
Well, it's definatly not Sigurd. For one, 'it' is actually a she, but more importantly, Kale is fairly sure that Sigurd would never wear that shirt. Remarkable resemblence. Pausing for a moment, Kale remembers vaguly something about impersonators from the cancled tourny...but no matter. If it was anything important, Sigurd would've told Gebler. They ARE allies now, right? Kale glances down at Dirah one more time, then closes the rest of the distance. "Hello there, Ma'm."
Ah, Sigurd would be -lucky- to have such fashion sense! But this is one of many reasons why Dirah is better than Sigurd, after all. But, she blinks as someone talks to her, a bit surprised that someone would--She's supposed to not be suspicious, after all--and jumps a little at the sight of him. A demi human? Goodness, could that give a scare. And yet.. She puts down the shirt mildly, yet looking a bit taken aback as she stutters lightly, "What? Oh.. Er, Hello.." Calm, calm, Dirah. What sort of trouble could this be, after all? Well, at least she has the luck of Sigurd not having told the Gebler about the need to keep an eye out for her and her crewmates. That would be possitively... Inconvenient. So, she pauses, and speaks once more, her voice an odd androgynous balance of trying to sound perfectly female, rather than the habit of matching Sigurd's tone she's been in, while trying not to slide into a Kislev accent, too. What a juggling act! "Sorry. Wasn't expecting someone." Angelic smile. "Good afternoon. I hope nothing's the matter? If I somehow bothered you, I'm quite sorry."
Kale shakes his head. "Oh, not at all, madame." Well, other then the shriek. But can't be rude. This seems like a nice person, which is something Dazil needs more of. "-I- am sorry if I'm interrupted you. It's just that I haven't seen you in Dazil before, and more often then not newcomers need some help finding there way around." Finding there way around without running into Joseph, that is. "I'm Seargent Kale, of the Gebler here."
Eeeeewww.. Gebler. That's not a nice group to run into, especially when you're a Kislevi spy. But, well, if that unnerves her, she doesn't show it. That would be counter-productive, after all. "You didn't interupt me at all, no need to worry. But excuse me for a moment." If she's going to end up trying to avoid trouble with Gebler, she might as well have that darling shirt, after all. So she pauses a moment to reach within her cloak and produce just enough gold for the shirt, which she takes with another brilliance of a smile. Before glancing back up to the.. Gebler. Smile, smile. See, she's no one to worry about! "I suppose you could say I'm new here. But I'm quite familiar with the area, and have seen enough to not be -too- terribly lost, seargent."
Kale grins, ears twitching. "Good. But if you need anything, don't hesitate to ask." Kale glances down at Dirah again. Doesn't SEEM like it, but..."Hmm...this may sound like a strange question, but are you related to Sigurd Harcourt?" Best to know now, for future reference. Wouldn't do to have something happen to one of the Sand Pirates' realitives.
"I'll be sure to, if anything turns up. Thank you for the offer." Dirah isn't here because she's a bad actress, after all. On the contrary--if simple smiling politeness will manage to get her out of any Gebler-related problems, she'd be more than glad to do so. And yet.. She looks a bit surprised at the latter question, falling to quiet for a moment while she considers this. A relative of Sigurd? A pity.. Even in trying not to look suspicious, she manages. Just pray that this doesn't get suspected as something to tie in to the mysterious mess at the tournament, though. It would be.. Unpleasant to have to make a mad dash out of Dazil. So much for deciding she didn't need a better disguise. "Well.. I suppose you can say that. Distantly, however." A pause, and she adds, more lightly, "You.. Know Sigurd?"
Kale shrugs. "Ah. I was just curious...and yes, I do know him. We have something of a...working relationship." Kale gives him the missle co-ordinates for Asher. Sigurd almost runs him over with the Ygg. Twice. And after the rather odd transition to Gebler, Kale tried to make sure that Joseph and Sigurd didn't hurt each other too badly. A working relationship.
Right. Related. Goodness, just the thought makes her want to gag. But, well, don't complain with what works. And if she still happens to look enough like him to warrent that sort of question, she very well ought to play along. Pride is nice. Pride getting her in trouble is not. So choke down the thought and continue to look as innocent as you can, "Is that so? Something of a friend, then? Well, how nice to hear! Its very nice to meet you then, seargent." Smile, smile. How nice to hear, indeed! That sort of information is useful.
Kale makes a slight face at the 'friend' comment, before quickly surpessing it. Sigurd seemed to have some sort of 'try to run over the dragon guy' fetish, as Casske had once put it. But...Kale's memories soften a bit as he remembers Sigurd on the glass plains... "You could say that. It's good to meet you too, miss...I'm not sure I caught your name." Beacause you didn't tell it to me. But no reason to cause trouble.
Eeewwwww... Names. That's not good, either. But then again, who's going to trace a name? She's barely known, even in Kislev, and not a soul knows her in Aveh spare 'That Sigurd lookalike'. So she blinks and notes, actress-worthy tone dropping to something bashful, "Oh, I didn't say? I'm ever so sorry to be so rude. I go by Di." No reason to give away her whole name, anyway. Paranoia has more than its rightful place in the world.
Kale mentally files it away under both 'People that can NOT get hurt in Dazil or we're all be in trouble', and 'Nice People'. Sadly, the first has more entries then the second. "Well, then, it's good to meet you, Di." A bit odd of a name...then again, many people in Aveh use nicknames. 'Bart'. 'Margie'. 'Joe'. And heck, even 'Siggy'. Probly something like that.
If Dirah knew any of what Kale was thinking, she'd likely not be guarding her words quite as much. Not to be hurt? Nice? How charming! Two things she usually wouldn't get mistaken for, working in her favor. But for the moment paranoia and cautiousness is necessary. There's a reason she has managed to make such a mess in Aveh for so long, after all. And, come to think of it, 'Dirah' sounds somewhat Kislevi in itself. Best to stick with odd nick names. "Nice to meet you too, then." But, well, as long as Kale's being talkative.. Let's see how much she can get out of him? No guarentee that it will be reliable, of course, but then again, there's no reason to waste an opportunity at neat rumors, either. "But.. Gebler, right? Then you'd know all about what's going on, wouldn't you? Since I'm not very familiar with this town, could you possibly tell me if anything interesting has or is happening?"
Kale 's ears twitch. If he knew what Dirah was thinking, this conversation would be much less pleasent for both of them. But he doesn't, so, "Of course. Well, let me think...how far back do you want to know about? Right now, the war with Kislev is making things a bit less pleasent for everyone, but the Gebler group here is now an Elite unit, so most of the townspeople feel safe, at least." Actually, it went from a mob to an elite unit rather quickly, mainly due to the fact that Joseph took the men OFF the stupid pills. And the townspeople feel safer because there is much less of a chance of Joseph burning the town down.
Tifa has arrived.
Well, then its nice and well that no one here is a mind reader then, isn't it? So Dirah can continue on, playing this little game of innocence, while she tries to not get a Gebler cross at her and simulataneously find out anything neat at the same time. "Oh, just anything that's still affecting this area now. Just in case I run into anything I should know about." Awww, see? She's not deserving of any suspicion at all. She's just your general nice girl visiting a town and being wary of anything that will be troublesome. Really! "Oh, I'd imagine so.. But there's an entire group of Gebler here?" Eeep. Suddenly this town is seeming a great deal less safe. "How.. interesting!"
Kale nods, tail tapping the ground. He's actually a bit proud of the unit...he did help build it! "Yes. The Dazil Anti-Gear Specialist. Though it's more of a generalized unit, despite the name." That's it, Kale, give away ALL the secrets, why don't you? Well...Kale hasn't said anything that's not publically avalible yet. And even a nice, polite person won't get him to divulge any of the real secrets! ...well, they won't most likely, anyway. "Hmm...and as to what's affecting the area now...Well, the nomads around here are getting a bit more orginized. Some sort of new religion, I belive." I belive...well, if he didn't belive in it, he wouldn't've started it! Kale may be polite, but he's not one to miss a chance to shamelessly plug his work. He's proud of it, darn it!
Tifa meanders throughout Dazil, her hair left untied, bundled around her shoulder and down her back. Her body is mostly covered by a long, brown cloak of sorts, under which she wears a basic dress. A nice disguise, noone would guess who she actually is. In her right hand, she carries a small shopping bag, with various things in it. A couple of new whips to replace the retrieved WhippaSnappas, a new dress, and some snacks! It's then that she spots Dirah being questioned by a big demi-human? Looks curious, might as well go greet the demi-human, and perhaps save Dirah before her narcissism makes her do something they would regret.
Hey! Since when has her narcissism ever done anything anyone would ever regret? Dirah would resent that if it were spoken aloud. Rather, she'll just continue up her little act. See? Innocent little smiling Dirah, trying to look like a cheerful passerby who just happened to be shopping for new clothing. Right! "Goodness... How impressive! I suppose I shouldn't worry at all, if such a group is busy making sure this town is safe." Well, so much for useful rumors. Religion is not exactly something that she could care less about right now. "And is that so..? How very interesting indeed. And so that's all that's been going on? That's nice to hear." Smile! But, drat it, none of that was useful! Spare that.. There are lots and lots of Gebler here. All the more reason to not stay here long, really.
Kale tilts his head to the side, not noticing Tifa yet. Anything else he could mention...best to be helpful. Oh, yes. "Be careful if you go around the areas where the gears are being mantniced, though. There is a whole bunch of retrofitting for everything except the Matama (the Colonel's gear) going on, so some of the mechaniery has been moved out into the streets, and lots of the mechanics are irritable."
Tifa walks up to the two, and smiles rather innocently, "Sister!" she greets rather enthusiastically, her expression telling Dirah what she's trying to do, and hoping she plays along. "I was wondering where you've been! Who is this?" she turns her head to Kale, smiling calmly.
"Really? I'll keep that in mind then! Thank you!" And a pause, and.. Whaaaat? Dirah quite nearly jumps as someone else pops up and chimes an enthusiastic hello. What, is this sneak up on and creep out Dirah Day? And she blinks a few times to see Tifa, and blinks a few more to hear what she called her... Oh, er, right. Ploys to avoid attention are occationally.. Creepy. But, shock aside, Dirah raises back up the traditional necessary smile, "Oh, hi! I'm sorry, I was just out doing a little shopping." And for once, you can't hold it against her! Tifa was apparently doing so too. "Oh! This is Kale. He's a seargent in the Gebler based here." Hint, hint. Not a good thing, nor a good place is Dazil seeming for it. "He was just telling me about what was going on, since I've not been in this area for so long."
Kale glances town at Tifa. "Oh, good to meet you..." From the voice, most likely a 'Miss'. Can't really tell just by looking at her, though...kinda resembles Bart...wait a sec. "...Miss." Kale's brow furrows as he thinks. There definatly was something about a Bart imposter at the tourny..."Hmm. Did we meet at the tourny?" If it WAS the imposter, that would get a reaction!
Tifa blinks slowly, "tourney?" her expression falters, "oh, they're holding tournaments here now, sister! It's so horrible, don't tell me you participated in such a thing, sir? All it is, is senseless fighting!" she sighs, "I'm sorry, sir. I get very emotional at the mention of such things. It's against our ethics. Right sister?" she sincerely hopes Dirah has been acting something like that. If she just gave then away, how...er...nice X_x.
"Oh, absolutely true, sister." Dirah notes, trying for all she's worth to support what Tifa has gone off in saying. Thankfully it doesn't contradict anything already said--Dirah's been acting the rare and definately unlike her role of the perfect innocent angel. "Things like that.. Are very much against our morals, seargent. I'm afraid you have mistaken her for someone else." Smile! Of course, its just a case of misinterpretation! Now let's drop that thought right there and now.
Kale blinks. "I apologize, then." So she wasn't one of the miscreants, then. That was a relief...the less trouble in Dazil, the better.
Tifa smiles happily, "I'm glad you understand, we're really a nonviolent people. My sister said you were a seargant in Gebler? I should have guessed, really. What is Gebler like? I've only heard about it previously!" she acts as if she really is curious, and is actually drawing away the subject from anything...dangerous.
Hum. Once again, Dirah could consider better things to divert the conversation to, but.. Can't she always? At least the subject of a soldier company that is technically their enemy is more safe than pondering if Tifa is, well, Tifa. So, well, can't argue with that... "No need to apologize, sir. Everyone makes mistakes sometime." And sometimes they're dangerously right on target. But that's something quite easily dismissable, isn't it?
Kale nods. Odd, though. She said they were against violence...then asked about Gebler. Ah, well. Personal morals are often...strange. "Yes, I am. But the GA-GS here in Dazil isn't really orginized like the rest of Gebler, so there is not much I can tell you." And the rest of Gebler isn't run by an unscrupulous fat man.
Tifa tilts her head, "I see...I was just curious. I've never seen Gebler before, and I was wondering. I've only heard Gebler was a group in Aveh," she tilts her head. "Oh well, if you don't know, I must thank you graciously for dealing with my silly little questions," she bows, and smiles.
Dirah chuckles mildly, although.. Quite happilly, subconciously, Dirah is repressing that classic need to complain over how drawing that much attention to Gebler was.. Unpleasant. But still, she has to play along.., "We just don't hear very much of Gebler where we live." And.. Charming smile! If nothing else will work, one can hope Dirah can use her charisma to erase all the suspicion in this, "Either way, thank you so much for your help, seargent. But we really ought to be leaving before it gets dark, don't you think, sister?"
Kale nods to Dirah and Tifa. "Well, it's been good talking to you two...please enjoy yourselves in Dazil." Kale walks off. Nice people, eh. Always good to their kind in Dazil."
Tifa nods slowly, "I agree, sister. Thank you sir!" she waves to him, and whispers to Dirah, "thank goodness, let's go."