Ｃｏｌｌａｂ： ＵＲＳ ｘ ＡＶＡ
"Hey," She called down to him, "I think you need this more than me." She tossed him the bottle of wine when he looked up at her, a slight smirk on the edge of her lips.
Urs looked up just in time to catch the bottle, even if he bobbled and fumbled it in his hands for a quick second before steadying it. When Urs saw the woman his facial features and expression immediately softened. The woman had sleek brown hair and a very small frame. At any other time he would surely tower over this small woman, however, she rode on camel-back and thus it was she who looked down at Urs. Her body size and frame would suggest she was timid, but the smirk that Urs could see just tickling the edges of her lips expunged any notion he may have had of her meekness. Her random act of kindness intrigued Urs; just reminded him that they were all out here together. "Well that's a lovely way to start a conversation," he said smilingly, indicating towards the bottle, "Thank you, I greatly appreciate it."
Ava had half expected the bottle to go tumbling into the sand considering he was caught off guard, but to her surprise the stranger below actually caught the wine. Good hand-eye coordination, duly noted. "Doesn't look the fighting type..." She thought, pondering what he did for a living as her green eyes met with his blues. "He has traces of The Prophet's tribe in his blood..." She wouldn't mention it, as she often found people mentioning her own prominent green eyes irritating at times. Surely she was not the only one.
"You were starting to look a little petrified so..." She shrugged, "I'm sure the wine could help you out with that. Liquid courage, and all." She held the playful smirk on her lips as her eyes raised to look around the crowd once again. "Looks like we might be slowing down for the night." Most were popping open bottles and chatting with each other as their leader did the same. Apparently their journey for the day was coming to an end. She would have preferred a more covered area to set up camp, but to each their own. If they died tonight, that was on Hannibal for killing them all on their first day.
Swinging a leg over the camel, Ava jumped down into the sand below. Turning, she extended out a hand to the stranger. "I'm Ava." She introduced herself, appearing mousy as she stood next to him - a whole five inches shorter.
Urs gazed at Ava's hand for a solid 2 seconds before emphatically shaking it. It looked as though he had found a friend. "I'm Urs," he said, flashing a reassuring smile, if only to reaffirm the feelings of goodwill. As he looked down to her that smirk seemed full force know, dancing across her lips. The woman seemed a good deal younger than him, and if Urs had to guess he would gander somewhere in the early twenties. Urs was not old by any measure, but he definitely had years of experience under his belt, and the psychological perseverance of young yet impressionable minds intrigued him. However, he sensed no docility nor blind compliance in this young woman. She seemed strong and independent, a very self sufficient woman. He was certain she had seen just as much in her youthful life as he had in his almost forty years of living.
So far, Urs would bet, judging by the smirk which had been feverishly present throughout their short conversation, she fancied herself a hard type. Urs didn't doubt she was, but in his belief everyone had a soft heart deep down inside them, no matter the circumstances. "So, what brings you on this trailbazing journey? After all, it is something of a deathwish if you take into account everything that has happened in the past," he said in attempt to continue the conversation, perhaps in an effort to get to know this stranger better.
"Nice to meet you, Urs."
While Ava usually preferred to stay aloof, it was always good to have someone to hang around with in situations like these. Crowds were out of her comfort zone, but she at least knew how to act in them. Making herself alone, and simultaneously a target was not on her to-do list. Appearing like "one of them" and joining in on the chatter as to not make herself stand out was her best bet for now. On the plus side she was bound to get some intel on Urs and whatever he felt like sharing with her, whether it be rumor or fact.
Adjusting the bow strung across her back, she listened to him attempt to pry into her personal life. She smiled, "I just want to get out of Oasis, to be honest." She lied without missing a beat. "There's only so many years you can tend to farm animals until you go crazy." She laughed, as if she was truly sick of such menial tasks. "What about-" She cut off her own words as she heard gasps coming from the crowd. Out of instinct she immediately snapped her attention to where the sounds came from, just in time to see Aurelia Nekroz looking horrified at what she had just done and Hannibal Hughes appearing as if the breath had just been knocked out of him. What had the noble woman done this time?
Not too long after, Aurelia came tumbling down from an unexpected toss of wine. Aurelia was apparently gravely less hand-eye coordinated than her new friend Urs was. The blonde came crashing down just beside Ava's camel, which spooked the camel and caused it to trot off in the other direction. Ava's eyes went from Aurelia to the camel several times as Aurelia gathered herself up, clearly humiliated. People were bursting out in laughter from the crowd, though Ava took no part. She did not even crack a smile. How could any one have wanted to put an end to this awkward girl? Ava nearly killed her only a few weeks ago, until the hit was redacted. She could not be this incompetent, could she? No, most likely not. If there was one thing Ava knew, it was to never underestimate those who appear useless on the outside. Life always had an interesting turn of events up it's devilish sleeve.
"Hey, thanks for getting that camel away from me. Good riddance I say! Vile beasts." She called back to Aurelia, a playful look on her face once again.
As Aurelia left back to her own vile beast, bottle of wine in hand, Ava turned back to Urs. "Miss Nekroz must have been drinking the whole ride here." She joked, her eyes moving to the bottle that she had tossed to Urs earlier. "We outta catch up, don't you think?" She laughed, "As I was going to ask before, what brought you here?" Holding a smile, she took off her hood to reveal her face of soft features more easily.
This was completely out of character for Ava, but it fit the environment. Whatever it took to blend in.
Urs' chuckled as he watched the woman -- if he was not mistaken on his "current events" in the Oasis, was it Aurelia her name? -- crash thunderously to the ground. Her face was a deep shade of plum red, and for a moment Urs almost felt bad about his off-hand laughter, feeling empathy for her embarrassment that she was most likely feeling. Urs knew he hated it when he was the wrong end of laughter at your expense, and he decided to withhold his laughter. Funnily enough, even after all this, Urs almost chuckled again when realized that could have been him just a few moments ago. As the woman got up, Urs smiled at her if only to make sure she was okay. Ava brought his attention back to the conversation, as she pulled off her hood. Urs could see her more clearly now, and realized that she had very young and healthy looking skin and her green eyes were vibrant. He found her to be attractive and concluded she would make a good companion for another young soul.
Her response to his question seemed sincere, yet he found it a silly one. He never understood wanting to "run away" from a good and stable life and run towards imminent death. But then again, Urs' reason was not exactly great either. He had been objective of death before, attesting that he did not fear it. But now he wasn't so sure. When she asked Urs what had brought him here, the answer he seeked was not only would be for a response to Ava, but also for himself. He reassured himself that he was a man of science and he was devoted to the power his discovery would bring. As Urs opened his mouth to speak, he hesitated slightly. Should he really be trusting this person so openly? They had only just met and he was going to lay his life's ambitions on her? Urs quickly dismissed these trivial thoughts, attesting to himself that she had done the same to him, and besides, they were all stuck out in this death trap of a wasteland; it couldn't hurt to have a few friends. "I'm an alchemist, scientist, chemist, whatever you want to call it. A rather successful one as well, wouldn't you believe it. I came along to try and discover chemical compounds and foreign vegetation, and perhaps along the way make some other scientific discoveries. It's rather funny, looking back it sounds rather naive, but I suppose there is no returning now."
As he gave her his response Urs looked at her furiously green eyes. He believed she was being genuine, and more so he hoped so. He would need all the friends he could get to survive this journey.
Ava smiled at his response; was he actually being truthful with her or was this another charade? "Wow! You have quite the track record. Very unlike a farm girl, like myself. I'm sure we'll both meet some interesting people during all of this." Even if he was being truthful, she had no plans to be. At least not if she could help it.
Her eyes slowly wandered over to Aurelia again, finding the redhead seemingly trying to console her. "She looks familar..." She thought, eyeing the redhead carefully. A friend of Aurelia's? Unlikely. Aurelia hadn't been the type to keep friends according to her previous findings. Ever since her families scandal she had been quite the loner, whether it was by her own choice or not.
"What do you say we go introduce ourselves to our fierce leader, Mr. Hughes? Surely he needs a distraction after that fiasco." Turning to the direction in which she could hear Hannibal's voice resounding, she took a few steps forward with Urs not far behind. Her eyes pinpointed him in the crowd, then began to sweep over the few people he was currently trying to impress with his theatrical performances. An exotic woman who stood out from the sea of people with ease seemed to be conversing with Hannibal at the moment, though from the looks of it she was just as awkward as Aurelia was.
"If it isn't mister Hannibal Hughes himself!" Ava cooed, just loud enough for Hannibal to hear her approaching from his right side. As he turned to face her, Ava put on a big award-winning smile. If he wanted theatrical, she could act. "My, my... I never thought I'd get to meet a famous person face to face!" She stopped in front of him, eyes glancing over to the other woman before returning to Hannibal. "Oh, excuse my manners. My name is Ava Hemingway, and this here," She gestured to Urs beside her, "is my new friend, Urs. Pleasure to meet you." She offered a hand out to Hannibal for a handshake, a smile still plastered on her face.
