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!
Others came, only a couple that Jiao recognised; nothing seemed to be happening and she was about to leave, deciding this was just some kind of human hang out thing, when suddenly chaos descended upon the group.
She saw other people get hurt and held her scissors out before herself, ready for an attack from in front - what she did not expect was to be attacked from behind. Her wings, beautiful things she was proud of, came apart easily with the monster's clawing. Jiao cried out and fell down in the snow, dropping her scissors and reaching behind herself to feel the tattered edges. No flying for a while.
After the attacks one man ran off; Jiao watched Amun leave through a haze of pain and panic and her rational mind told her she should follow, but something kept her there. Perhaps determination, a refusal to let the monsters get her. Reaching out for her scissors she curled up close to the ground, hoping to pass notice if they came to attack again.
The question that rang out nearly made her laugh, given how close to the divide between death and life she felt. "Death. Because it's the end and it makes life more important in turn, but we wouldn't even know life was important without it. It makes us appreciate everything more...like how I appreciated my wings."
--
Jiao stays, curled as close to the ground as she can, and answers death.
A faint glow appear around Peter and Jiao as the creature nods its skeletal head towards them. “Answer what you are asked. Nothing more.” The stag says, displeasure writ on the bones of its skull with impossible clarity.
The dead one has little time for their diplomacy, philosophy, or those who hedge their bets.
after all is said and done you're just a carnivore
let you in and drink my blood you're nothing but a monster
Ooooh, and now they’ve done pissed if off. If Wessex’s interest weren’t so piqued, she might have already left by now, knowing full well that she’s left the Temple on it’s own for a bit.
That vicious part of her says so what? They didn’t want to listen to you earlier, let them take care of everything on their sweet, sweet, lonesome. Let Loren pull a coup, you’re going through that portal anyway.
How many? comes the purposefully vague question. She knows the spirits here, the things that are more than mortal and ooze otherworldly power, often like to toy with them. Test and search for something. The Wraith will likely never know what they’re searching for - only that she’s often found wanting. Her brow furrows and her nose crinkles and in the end she can only assume it’s asking how many they might kill. Or allow to die. Or consider acceptable casualties in a war. All of which are slightly different answers.
It could also be asking how many stars are in the sky, or how many flowers it takes to make a proper daisy chain, but something tells her no, it has to do with life and death.
How many would she kill? Just enough to make a point
How many would she allow to die? None, if she could help it.
How many is an acceptable amount? A handful. A number less than ten, but bigger than two. Indeterminate.
“As few as possible.” If it had wanted a number, it should have asked specifically for one.
As a glow began to appear around her Jiao sat up just slightly, looking at her hands. Was that a good thing? She couldn't be sure, but she hoped it might be. She had given a definite answer after all, which seemed to be what the creature wanted.
How many? was a more difficult one. How many what? Was it related to the first question? Was it just to see what they would say? She stayed silent for a while, listening to Wessex's answer, which she didn't really understand either. As few as possible whats? Maybe she was too literal for all this.
Still, she had to try give an answer. After a pause, an idea came to Jiao - perhaps it meant how many deaths they'd experienced in their lives? How many times they'd had to mourn? It was the only thing she could think of, so she had to go with it. "Just one."
Peter straightened up, the glow not affecting him so much as the words. Answer what you are asked. This might end up going better than he expected then, if all they were meant to do was give answers. There was still a lingering worry, the concern that perhaps, his answers weren't correct, and it would all compile into one grave punishment at the end of this, but Peter tried hard to keep those thoughts from his mind.
Instead, he focused on the glow, which seemed to be an indication of good, for now, and thought about the strange creatures next question. How many? How many what? Others seemed to have answers quicker than he did, Wessex and Jiao both answering simply, without explanation.
His mind moved in a loop. It has to be related to before, to how many lives? to how many deaths?, then to the sinking feeling of being completely lost. In the end, he simply said what he had to offer. "One." An echo of the answer before his. One life to live, one death to feel, one chance to make a change.
PET
he is trying to tell you that there is some sort of shining star now buried deep inside him and he has to dig it out with a knife.
She watches as some of the others take on a glow, ears falling back in brief concern before straightening again. They do not appear to be injured, which sets Amalia's mind somewhat at ease; she is more concerned with protecting the others than providing the luxere with satisfactory answers.
Speaking of which. The creature speaks again, its voice as hollow as its eyes, the question hardly answerable. How many? How many what? How many lives, how many deaths, how many losses, how many loves? How many would she save, if she could; how many would she cast aside? Shaking her head, the qilin sets her ears back among her horns, thoughtful and confused in equal measure.
There is no answer to an unasked question, and so Amalia must choose the one to answer, the one she stands by all her days. How many matter? How many will you save? How many lives and deaths have value, deserve to be respected and loved and mourned?
All of them, she answers silently, while Jyoti attempts to swim a little closer to the skeletal deer.
Now they are getting the hang of it. The question is not what is important, the answer is not the answer. The pathway lies in their thinking and what they can consolidate down to a few meager words. Though their answers are predictable, the beast seems to appreciate them nonetheless.
“A final question.” It says, looking specifically now at Wessex, Amalia, Jiao, and Peter, everyone else having fallen away to nothingness.
Another apparent success, but another one of their number gone, vanished into the darkness. Strange, how Peter had now ended up in a group that consisted only of people he knew, or at least people he had spoken to before. His attention wasn’t on the people around him though, he was captivated by the skeletal beast, still just as entranced as before.
Final question. Peter leaned in, still pressed in against Amalias shoulder, but a step closer to their inquisitor. It took a moment of thought, his brows pinching together, but after a moment Peter answered, just as simply as he had before. ”Yes.” He nodded while he said it, sounding more certain than he really felt.
PET
he is trying to tell you that there is some sort of shining star now buried deep inside him and he has to dig it out with a knife.
after all is said and done you're just a carnivore
let you in and drink my blood you're nothing but a monster
Do you? the skeleton asks to the four of them, and it is all Wessex can do to not roll her eyes. Enough with the vague questions, the chastisement, the non-answers. It called them out here and while the monsters are somehow miraculously kept at bay, this is some philosophical LongNight bullshit.
Does Wessex what?
Brush her teeth? No.
Miss drinking? Very much.
Get up every day night and try to do the best job she can as Queen? Yes. Every. Damn. Night.
So fuck this otherwordly interrogation.
She overthinks as it is. Overplans. Tries to control without letting herself be controlled. Pushes back, hard. And as she’s clearly had enough, the Ascended shoots back, “Do you?”
Wessex is enough. She doesn't need to justify herself to anyone but her Lady.
More questions that make no sense, but at least she seems to have understood the idea behind the question, that it matters less what is asked than what is answered.
The final question is another perplexing one, without true answer or meaning that makes sense. Amalia tilts her head in thought, trying to decide what to answer today. Do you adhere to your values? Do you believe in the things you said today? Do you strive, each day, to be your best? Do you intend to defend those who are here, to protect the sanctity of life and death?
Do you overthink absolutely everything?
Yes, Amalia answers simply. Yes, she does all she can.
With all the talk of death and life, there is only one question Jiao could imagine the creature was asking.
Do you fear death?
She thought on it. As she'd said before, death made her appreciate life more because it meant life would end. But did she fear it? She feared how she could die - perhaps in an undignified way, or alone, or painfully...but that wasn't really a fear of death, was it? You would only know about those things while you were still alive, after all.
When Jiao had her answer, she raised her head and said confidently: "No."
Some learn, some don't. But it hardly matters. In this celestial plane where so much ends before it even has a chance to begin, hardly anything does.
The beat begins again, the effervescent thumping that reverberates in bones and eyelashes, but only for one of them: Peter. Stepping forward through the snow, the skeletal creature looked at the man from another world with hollowed eyes. There was a darkness in him, but a strength too. He smelled of a distant universe, knew impossible things that no one here could know. Stepping forward, the creature placed its antlers against the man's chest...and suddenly the pair were engulfed in a perfect shroud of darkness.
Regardless of where you go, the monsters follow.........
The light from the fish keep Amalia and Ronin safe, as does the utter darkness that surrounds Peter. Jiao manages to make it relatively unscathed as does Wessex, but the latter two are subjected to stones being thrown at them from beyond the ring of light that shines around them.