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1.Envoy
envoy; a messenger or representative, especially one on a diplomatic mission.
This man was a killer.
Ysayle had sensed the blood of her kin on his hands from the very first moment they met. The hundreds of Dravanians that had fallen to the sharp end of his sword, her followers who had given themselves willingly to see her goals to fruition, past adversaries whom she didn’t even recognize, they all wove themselves through the man’s memories…memories her Echo had afforded her a slight glimpse of when they had clashed back in the depths of Snowcloak.
He had tried to kill her, too, back then, although she didn’t hold that against him. After all, she had been trying to kill him in return.
That was before, however, and this was now. In the now, they were traveling companions, along with the young boy Alphinaud and dragoon Estinien. Not who she would have expected to join her to visit Hraesvelgr, but that was the hand fate had dealt her. Ysayle wanted peace for the Dravanians, and if the other side wished to speak with words instead of swords, far bet it from her to disagree.
Alphinaud could be trusted; his eyes still shone with the hope of youth, that all could be mended and peace restored without war. Estinien, less so; he was there in case the peace talks went south.
Then, there was the one she was unsure about. The Warrior of Light. The Eikon slayer.
At first, Ysayle expected him to echo Estinien’s mindset. The Roegadyn seemed to be more of a hulking beast than a man; large, deadly, and silent. He took the lead spot in the group, eyes constantly on the lookout for any threats that he could dispatch quickly and efficiently. He refused to speak with her, and Ysayle had caught him staring at her out of the corner of her eye more than a few times.
‘He still sees me as an enemy. He is waiting for me to make a misstep, so he has an excuse to finish our battle from before,’ Ysayle thought.
Now, however…
“Skrall, there you are.” Alphinaud spoke as he exited Marcechamp’s home with her. They had just finished talks with the leader of Tailfeather and bargained for a place to rest for the evening. “When we realized you weren’t inside with us, I was a little worried, but it seems you were just out here making friends.” The young Elezen smiled fondly at the sight in front of him, while Ysayle looked on in slight shock.
The killer, death-bringing Roegadyn was surrounded by chocobos; he held a few babies in his arms while a handful of adult birds rubbed their heads against him, making pleased squawking sounds.
“Sorry…” Skrall mumbled an apology to Alphinaud, “...They didn’t want me to leave…”
“That makes your next task easier, then.” Alphinaud responded, “Marcechamp’s agreed to let us rest here if we help out with the daily chores. I was going to have you go with Estinien to hunt, but if they like you this much, you should probably wait here and help tend to the chocobos. I’ll ask around and see what else might need doing.” The young boy nodded to Ysayle with a smile, and left.
It took a few moments for Ysayle to finish getting over her surprise, but she then found herself approaching the warrior, fingers reaching out to gently stroke one of the birds’ neck. The chocobo gave a happy chirp, but the man seemed to tense at her proximity.
‘Ah, he probably fears I may attack the birds,” Ysayle thought. ‘I am as much of a monster in his eyes as he is in mine, after all.’
Aloud, she simply commented, “I didn’t take you for an animal lover.”
“…Animals like me…” The man’s voice rumbled softly, a slight edge of discomfort to it. “And I like them…”
Ysayle bit back her annoyance at the man’s feelings. If they were to travel together, he could at least speak to her casually. Did he truly distrust her that much? “Did you grow up around them?”
“…Dunno…” Was the only reply she got, Skrall’s eyes flicking down to the ground.
The Elezen let out a soft sigh. Well, she had tried to speak with him. If he was refusing to answer sincerely, she would just try again another day. Removing her hand from the chocobo’s neck, she turned and made to leave, but he soon spoke again.
“I’m sorry…”
Ysayle’s head turned back to him, only to find the warrior looking at her with sincere, amber eyes. “For what?”
“Your followers…” Skrall mumbled, glancing away once more as their eyes met. “I…I don’t regret my choices…because I had to protect the others…and they were attacking…but…they were your family…”
Was he…apologizing for killing them?
“...If you’re waiting for me to apologize in return, I won’t.” Ysayle’s tone was icy, expecting this was some attempt to get pity from her. “I stand behind my actions.”
Skrall met her gaze once more. “I do too…” he responded, “You don’t have to say it…but…I know how it feels…to lose your friends…so I just wanted to apologize…”
Now regarding him with caution as to where this discussion was going, Ysayle carefully answered, “I see…they were prepared to die for the cause, though. We all are. Because of this, we do not mourn when our lives are lost; it is little compared to the amount of Dravanians that have been slain throughout this unending war.”
The Roegadyn gave a slight nod. “I hope Hraesvelgr listens…I’m not good at talking to people, but Alphinaud is…and I think Hraesvelgr will be easier to talk to than the Ishgardians…”
“Really?” Ysayle was surprised to hear this. “I agree, of course, but I didn’t think you would feel the same.”
A frown appeared on Skrall’s face, his eyes darkening as he looked to the ground once more. “...I don’t like Ishgard…” his response was soft, as if he were holding back a wave of fury. “The knights don’t protect people…but…there are still warm people I care about that helped me…so I want to help them…”
“...It seems there really is more to you than fighting.” Ysayle found herself saying. “I thought a warrior was all you were. That’s all I could see of your past using my gift.”
“It is all I am…I can’t remember who I was before a year ago…I know I’m just a weapon…that’s why I want the war to stop…so I don’t have to hurt good people…”
He couldn’t remember…
Suddenly, everything about the warrior made sense. She had only seen battles in his past because that was all he knew. He had been uncomfortable around her because he was upset he’d had to take away what he viewed as her family.
“Here.” Ysayle was brought out of her thoughts by Skrall suddenly handing her an armful of baby chocobos who all immediately began to squabble and nip at her hair. “Watch them for a moment…I’m going to ask the stablehand what we can do to help take care of them…” He turned and headed for the Tailfeather resident near the stables.
As Ysayle struggled to safely set the babies down, as her arms could hold nowhere near as many chocobos comfortably as Skrall’s large Roegadyn ones could, she watched the man walk away.
It seemed like there was more to her traveling partner than she had realized…perhaps the two of them were more similar than she previously thought…