From Attuned to Ascended to Ancient, Kiada Njovu-Reyes has been reborn several times throughout her short life, but her fighting spirit has never once been diminished. With beauty, grace and a quick wit, Kiada is the whole package wrapped in an infectious smile. Recent endeavours have found her in the heart of the Hollowed Grounds, aiding the region and bettering it for her new Ancient kin, and whatever she does next, we know it's sure to pack a punch.
Congratulations, Kiada!
Credits
Court of the Fallen was created in October of 2018 by Odd, Honey, and Crooked.
Skinning and hosting by the epically talented Kaons, and functionality fanciness by the coding magic of Neowulf. If you ever see either of them around, make sure to show them some love!
there exists a tipping point between gods and monsters
The Stonesong is frozen along these parts, and Ronin is taking full advantage of it. Usually he'd be unable to traverse the Whispershore in this form, given that he's so large, but with the thick ice it's more than possible now. And the dragon, while still exquisitely dangerous, seems to be enjoying himself right now.
Reared up onto his back legs, he appears quite the noble draconic figure - and before him, Sugar is creating a large (a very large) hunk of ice, mingled in with the precious stones of the Whispershore. Ronin is going to carve it with his claws, he thinks, and gift it to Remi when it's all finished. But for now he has to wait for his tiny companion to finish her part of the work.
Phoebe was still growing accustomed to this new form of hers. Hooves and four legs - but no arms? - and a horn on her head she couldn't really see made it difficult to navigate at times. The snow of the Greatwood didn't help - nor did the changing paths which had been so kind getting her into the wood, but less kind leaving. She had already run into a few trees, giving muffled nickers of apology each time, by the time Pim zoomed forward ahead of her. His playful emotions had her curious, wondering what trouble her little drangonling was getting into. So she trotted after him...
...but she didn't see the much smaller white dragon that Pim had charged towards like a long lost clutch-mate. Instead she saw the giant dragon rearing up on its hind legs. She squealed, rearing up herself in surprise, before turning tail to run...
...right into a tree. This time, however, she was very much stuck, horn tangled in branches and loose bark. The unicorn continued to panic, hooves scraping and sliding against the icy ground in a futile effort to get away, forgetting that she could just shift back to free herself.
there exists a tipping point between gods and monsters
The dragon in him (of which the majority is in control) recognises the sound of a creature squealing as prey, and reptilian eyes flash to where a unicorn's rump is fleeing into the forest before he can give himself a desperately needed mental shove. Sugar - who has noticed Pim with a trill of recognition - is quick to relay this to Ronin, who has managed to stop mid surge into the trees.
He ends up on his belly by the riverbank, naturally, watching a unicorn who has a suddenly familiar feeling mind struggle with her horn rammed into a tree trunk. Phoebe, what are you doing? he wants to know, and through the Attuned bond he will seem a mixture of lazily predatory and curious. That isn't how you run through the forest.
The voice in her head is startling, enough so that the unicorn froze, head still squarely facing the ground with horn caught in the tree. "Ronin?!" she said in surprise. But the almost brotherly way in which he asks his question - not quite mocking but not not mocking either - immediately caused a flare of irritation to rush through the bond. The unicorn even managed to snort and stamp her foot, adrenaline easily switching from "run" to "shout" in the face of friend not foe. "Clearly not. I'm stuck now." she huffed, tugging on her head once more, only succeeding in nearly sitting in the snow on her horsey behind.
"Since when do you have a dragon shift? You nearly scared me to death!" she said. As far as she knew, the Greatwood was not particularly home to any large dragons - most seemed to live up in the heights of the mountains. She hadn't expected to just stumble upon one!
there exists a tipping point between gods and monsters
With his tail lazily lashing in the Whispershore (read: making massive waves due to his size) and his belly and snout pressed into the snow, Phoebe can't see how smug Ronin looks right now. But she'll absolutely be able to feel it. Have you considered shifting back into something that doesn't have a horn? he asks, as if it's the rarest idea in the world. Either that or I could give you a pull, but I don't know how much you'd like that. Lots of teeth. Probably not very much.
Sitting up a bit, Ronin shifts on the riverbank as Sugar continues to build up the block of ice behind him, mingling it with the precious gems they've found. Not very long, only since Leafchange. Since when could you be a unicorn? Oh - hey! Do you want to help me with something? I'm making a present for Remi. Clearly the scaring her half to death has gone over his head.
Through the bond, Ronin would feel just how irritated his smugness made her, edged of course with embarrassment - which really was the root of a lot of angry moments. But his comment made her pause. He might have been teasing her, but really in her panic the thought had never crossed her mind. "Won't my head be stuck still?" she said worriedly. It was still a better option than dragon teeth trying to drag her out of the spot she was stuck in.
For a moment mid-transformation she froze, horn still firmly stuck in the tree. But it was only a moment and she was suddenly a young woman again, nearly tumbling onto her back into the snow. "Ouch!" she hissed, rubbing her forehead, which had the slightest red spot on it from the tugging. "Since always but I didn't realize it until very recently." she said. Clearly she was still learning the ropes of shifting to and from a human and a horse.
With a huff she crossed her arms, giving him a hard look as he questioned her further. "I might be so inclined if someone apologized for terrifying me half to death, sir!" she huffed. Though really she would do anything for Remi so it wasn't that important in the grand scheme of things. It would be nice though.
there exists a tipping point between gods and monsters
Not unless your head also has a unicorn horn when you're a person, Ronin reasons, shifting to arrange himself back around his big hunk of ice, Sugar perched along the top. The dragon only glances at her when she pops back into Phoebe-form, his reptillian gaze tracking her carefully as she moves through the trees and back out onto the bank of the Whispershore. It's interesting isn't it, when you find those new shifts by accident. Interesting meaning good and bad.
Alright, alright. I'm sorry I frightened you, he drawls, and though the urge is there, to offer her a toothy smile, Ronin resists lest he scare her all over again. I'm making an ice sculpture. It's going to be a luxere, with a hawk in its antlers. I was going to try it with my claws... Maybe you could supervise?
She supposed that made sense in some regard. Really, she wasn't sure where the horn came from or how it was an extension of her person as a person. Maybe it wasn't and it was entirely separate. Really, someone ought to write a manual on the ins and outs of shifting for new shifters like her. She would find it helpful at the very least!
"I suppose, but it still feels like quite the learning curve, never having had one before." she said. Phoebe had gone from being a Natural to being a Demigoddess much like Ronin had. Finding these new abilities and shifts were incredibly foreign to her to handle. "Apology accepted." she said with a small smile, happy to put it behind her as he moved along.
"I can do that." she said with a grin. She could be his up close eyes to make sure he didn't carve too much or in the wrong spot with those giant claws of his. As she stared at the block of ice though, memories of Nate and how cold his own gaze had gotten on occasion leapt to the front of her mind.
"Ronin...have you ever met the Voice, by chance?" she asked softly.
there exists a tipping point between gods and monsters
Mm, it's a very sharp learning curve if I remember correctly. Ronin lets out a mental sigh, sending it down the Attuned bond to Phoebe. I became a luxere first, but it was very late in my time as a demigod, compared to you. After we do this, maybe I can shift into a luxere and we can go into the woods for a run? He can't help but sound as if he's looking forward to that.
They work well as a team, with the Nightingale acting as his detail and Ronin able to carve his basic shapes with her help, and soon a sculpture of a deer with a hawk perched in it begins to emerge. The Voice? he repeats, sounding a touch more serious. Mm, I have. Why do you ask?
Realizing Ronin would have to continue to use the Attuned bond to speak as he worked on his sculpture, Phoebe switched her own method of communication. It seemed on the verge of rude not to speak through the bond when he had no other choice. Was that shifter etiquette? Was that even a thing? She really was in the dark about all of these finer details. "Ooh that sounds like fun! I do find travelling on four legs is much more pleasant and speedy than two." she admitted.
Phoebe sighed a little at his question. "I've never met her. But I have known ascended who have nothing but kind things to say of her. And even Frey has given me mixed messages of some of her actions." Not that the latter was much of a surprise. Frey's first language was mixed messages she thought. "I wondered what someone else might think of her." she said.
there exists a tipping point between gods and monsters
I just really like to run, Ronin admits with a pulse of amusement through the bond, the dragon busy shaving icy chunks from his sculpture gift. Must be a luxere thing. But either way I'm happy to join you, he advises, lifting his reptilian head to offer her a baring of his teeth that's probably supposed to be a grin.
Said grin fades, naturally, at the mention of the Voice again, Ronin wrinkling his snout and returning to his gift making as Phoebe explains. Mm... she's an ambiguous sort of goddess, if you can even call her that, he mumbles. On the one hand, she did heal everyone from the sickness that came from Tanau in the Climb, but I don't believe that was necessarily for selfless reasons... When I met her at one of her shrines, she wasn't nearly as accommodating. She called me a not-man.
"Running is fun! I haven't had the time to do much of it for the sake of doing it." she admitted. She couldn't recall finding it as fun before, or having any urge to do so. But now that Ronin had mentioned it, the thought had her brightening up. Perhaps it was a unicorn thing too - or rather a hooved animal thing.
The Nightingale listened quietly as Ronin spoke, brows furrowing as he reached the end of his tale. "A not-man? What, like she is a not-goddess?" she said dryly, not appreciating the deprecation of her friend. Ronin was a man as sure as the sun meant it was daytime. Whatever could she have possibly meant by that? "Maybe that is why I am struggling then...because Frey can be ambiguous sometimes too." she said. "Frey once asked me why I thought the things she made weren't natural...as if they were somehow equivalent to Rae's designs. But then they are working against her in this war too." she said. Albeit begrudgingly. Frey would much rather have no part in any of this.
there exists a tipping point between gods and monsters
Then we can finish up here, and we will go running, Ronin decides, as if it's as simple as that. And given that his artistic streak apparently still exists as a dragon, it shouldn't be long before the luxere-hawk has been completed to his satisfaction. It's easier to concentrate, weirdly, as they discuss the Voice, though the dragon's growl almost sounds like a soft rumble along the pebble shore.
Mm, exactly like that, he mutters darkly, and he has to stop himself from getting overzealous with the sculpting lest he lop the luxere's head off. "I think Frey is just the type to question things," he says honestly. They seem about as open minded as it gets. It doesn't put them on the same level as the Voice, though.
Phoebe pointed to a small spot on the sculpture that needed additional shaving to keep the Remi statue from having double chins.
"That is true. Frey is very open minded." she said with a nod. So much so in fact that she regularly struggled to keep up with the god. Such was the basis of her relationship with them - Frey asking questions and coaxing Phoebe's human mind along divine pathways to open her up to worlds of possibilities she couldn't even imagine. "But the Voice is more...ambiguous for her own designs...is that what you mean?" Whereas Frey was truly open minded, open to all possibilities and outcomes, the Voice remained ambiguous for the purpose of having the upper hand. At least, that seemed to be what Ronin was getting at.
