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Character of the Season
Frail in body but dangerously quick of mind, Nikandr is the sort of character who proves that curiosity can be just as perilous as any weapon. A necromancer, inventor, and problem-solver with more ambition than self-preservation, Niki approaches the world like a puzzle box begging to be opened, even when what’s inside has teeth. Blunt, dry-witted, fiercely independent, and carrying a history best left partially buried, he has a knack for making even failure feel fascinating. Whether he’s raising the dead, moving across Caido to King's End, or experiencing a hangover for the first time, Nikandr brings a wonderfully strange spark to Caido, and we can’t wait to see what trouble his brilliant mind wanders into next.
Congratulations, Niki!
Credits
Court of the Fallen was created in October of 2018 by Odd, Honey, and Crooked.
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01-19-2025, 03:34 PM (This post was last modified: 01-20-2025, 06:01 AM by Lena.)
// hope, is wonderfully messy //
The Greatwood, even after the messes of the previous years, still gave her some semblance of peace. Perhaps it was the wildness – greenery, vegetation, forest, plants, brush, thorns, herbs…all rushing together in a semblance of survival. It was breathtaking and wondrous, and put a balm to her heart even after the news had settled through their eardrums and minds again. The Tundra taken this time – and no way to mend any of those infected.
She could ask Zavien about Everest, but she presumed he’d never made it there. And others – how many more of them – likely made up some portion remaining. An unsettling notion that spurned her onwards yet again, hoping all the more that while they were exploring and wandering, that perhaps one of those significant roses could crop up.
Rather than meandering further into thickets and canopies, she settled on a rock with her bag, brimming with goodies. Mittens grumbled alongside, rolling its eyes as various flora. “Would you like to train or get gifts first?” She offered to Zavien with an arch of one brow. “I can show you what I’ve learned with the bow too,” which, admittedly, wasn’t much. It would provide some amusement though, after everything that had just transpired.
His time in the Greatwoods hadn't been often or extensive, and Zavien always found the plants both impressive and intimidating. Now, he found himself suspiciously glancing between trees, images of purple adversaries waiting for their next victims in the shadows. After all, they'd managed to kill Flora in these very woods. And after their experience at the 'taco party,' he was even more on edge. He wasn't necessarily paranoid, but the tension hadn't left his body since that day, and he'd never taken Safrin's ring off for even a moment, fidgeting with its smooth surface as he waited for it to warm against his hand. Was that considered 'healthy'? Probably not. Did that help him relax? Nope.
Sensing the heightened energy from his companion, Sol hadn't been quite as playful either. Even as his eyes caught the colorful birds in the canopies above, he only spent about a minute scattering them amongst the forest before returning to guard mode. As the couple stopped in the small clearing, the dragon landed on a branch, eyes scanning their surroundings with more seriousness than Zavien had ever seen from him. Smiling with appreciation, he gently encouraged Sol to have fun. He was still so young, and he didn't need to be burdened with the same worries. A second, stronger push was enough to get the dragon to leave his perch in search of entertainment in the form of hanging icicles that steamed with his hot breath.
As he set his own bag very carefully on the rock next to hers, Zavien let out a distracted hum. "Hmmm... let's start with training." Considering how he wouldn't be able to focus on anything other than her wearing his present, it was probably better to get the nervous energy out first. Smiling, he added genuinely, "I'd love to see what you've learned." He may not have trained much with the bow, but he was at least proficient enough to hit a target or two with some level of accuracy.
Knowledge of Noe’s newfound health issue, along with Halo’s current blockade, didn’t leave her feeling much better; but she was determined, in some aspects, to not let that settle over their moments like a noose. If that was foolish, so be it, but she’d much rather enjoy their time together than hover and simmer into what could happen; they would all find ways to conquer these pieces.
Eventually. Somehow.
Her eyes widened when he wanted training first, fully expecting gifts to be shared initially. At least she’d be able to provide him with a laugh. “Okay,” she offered with her signature brightness, beginning to pin her hair back and rise from the stone, shuffling through her bag so he couldn’t see any of the wares. Instead of bringing out any presents, she snagged at the rudimentary bow, and training arrows, already contained within. “Watch this,” came with a proud distinction, notching the weapon as she’d done several times with Astaroth along the bone bridge.
Then she took aim at a nearby tree – and fired. The arrow made a distinctly awful curve, and fell into the bushes, where Mittens rolled its eyes and began to go pick up. But Lena was thrilled, a jubilant grin capturing her features. “That went so much farther than last time!”
Lena's chipper mood made it a little easier to look past the shadows of the forest and the looming threats of world domination. Especially as she put her hair up in a very distracting maneuver that had him grinning. He leaned against a tree to watch, eyes glittering with amusement as she prepared the bow. Zavien didn't know what exactly he'd been expecting, but it certainly wasn't the flimsy bounce into the bushes. His eyebrow raised, already prepared to offer constructive criticism; but how could he wound her pride with a smile like that?
He shook his head to clear the rose tint and stepped to her side to watch Mittens bring back the arrow. Placing an affectionate hand on her head, he couldn't help the beaming smile that emerged. "That was great." Not sure if she even wanted tips on not, he didn't ruin the moment with lectures or lessons, just happy that she was proud of her skills thus far. "Do you want to keep practicing with the bow? I could set up some targets, or be the target." Winking playfully, he offered his hand for Mittens to place the arrow. "Or we could work through more staff practice or some hand-to-hand combat? Since you're so good at the bow already?" This time, he let a little teasing enter his tone, grin lopsided and charming.
Zavien was probably far too nice about it, but Lena beamed again; proud of the pathetic efforts. “Oh um, we can keep practicing. I’m not going to hit you though,” she rolled her eyes, snorting at the suggestion. Instead, she’d, unknowingly, grant him an opportunity. “Is there anything else I should be doing?” The Caretaker clearly wasn’t perfection, and she didn’t want to settle into complacency.
Grabbing hold of the arrow Mittens offered, she notched the arrow again and took a rather haphazard stance, glancing back to him to see if she was doing everything (anything) correctly. Practice, on her own or with Astaroth, hadn’t actually deigned…skill.
Zavien wouldn't argue with her, considering she probably wouldn't (and couldn't) hit him. He settled for shrugged shoulders and another bright smile. "Let's do that then." However, he tried not to jump at the opportunity she'd given him. They'd worked well last time he'd instructed her, but she hadn't been quite so proud of her 'skills' then, and he didn't want to hurt her feelings. Looking closely, he saw that her feet were actually pretty good, similar to the form they'd taken with the staff. But her arms. What was she doing? Biting down on the urge to scrap the form altogether, he decided to start with some small tweaks.
Stepping forward, he offered a polite raised eyebrow. "May I?" Once she'd given the go-ahead, he reached out to correct a few key points of her form. Laying a warm hand on her shoulder, he used his other to guide her elbow into a straighter, sturdier position. "Your arm should be about... here." He kept a single hand on her positioned arm and reached out to her other, which held the bow with a bent elbow. Pushing gently, he straightened it. "And this will provide more stability for your shots. Give it a try." His hands stayed in place, a soft reminder of where she should be positioned while she fired her next arrow.
Lena nodded, granting permission for movement of her form. Turned out she’d been holding the weapon wrong the entire time, and she could only lightly blush at the sentiments of her and Astaroth’s attempts. They must’ve looked like walking disasters – and to think she’d been so proud to hit one target. “Ohhh,” she murmured in response, cringing all the while. “That explains a lot,” she hastened afterwards, maneuvering her arms into what was needed.
Within that threshold though, she breathed again, adjustments made, and notched the arrow. Her muscles strained under the newfound motion; these weren’t quite as honed as the ones she used for carrying water buckets or soil or any other haphazard measure. Narrowing her eyes, she pulled the string, a bit limper than anyone probably would’ve liked, and fired.
The arrow did go farther and straighter, before taking a nosedive plunge into the earth.
Honestly, Zavien was just happy she wasn't holding the bow backwards. That would have been hard to correct gently, but she took the criticisms in stride, bending into the proper form. It would take time and practice for her to look 'comfortable' in the position, so he didn't comment on her strained muscles or awkwardness, letting his eyes follow the arrow as it left her bow.
He grinned wide as he said, "Good. Now we just have to pull it a little tighter and aim." Winking, he handed her another arrow from the pile while they waited for Mittens to retrieve the other. Once she'd knocked it, he tapped her gently on the cheek, just below her big brown eye. "This is where your fletching should be. That way when you shoot, it goes where you're looking."
Lena’s brows furrowed again – hadn’t she been aiming? It’d been a difficult task on the Bone Bridge, but maybe they’d been too busy laughing at their own pathetic attempts to really take notions into consideration. While Mittens retrieved, with the loudest grumble known to mankind, she tried to concentrate her efforts on Zavien’s explanations.
The tap on her cheek surprised her – as was the information that followed. “Oh, I thought - ,” well, not much, in regards, and she grimaced, with a light giggle afterwards. She notched the armament again, then brought it upwards, resting against her cheek. Her muscles strained again, awkward and out of place from everything else, but when her eyes landed upon the target and she drew the strand, the release was much more effective.
In fact, it even went straight – landing precariously in front of the target.
The giggle brought another grin to his face, past worries of Void and Family drama long forgotten in her smile. He watched with pride as she knocked the arrow and managed to land it directly in front of the target. Zavien clapped his hands together once. "See? Even better." This time he grabbed the arrow himself, twirling it in his fingers.
"You've got the form down. You just need more strength. Or..." He took a closer look at the bow, assessing the size and structure. It looked to be average in size, but the average bow was built for men with large muscles and dedicated practice. Perhaps she'd be able to use one in a few years, but Zavien didn't think it was the right fit for now. Tapping the tip of the wood, he finally said, "- a smaller bow." He shrugged his shoulders and gave her a charming grin.
His hand reached out to offer the arrow. "We can pick one out when we get back to Stormbreak, but for now, we'll just focus on the form. Don't worry about not being able to make it to the target. Just focus on keeping it straight." It sounded simple, but it'd be hard to see any meaningful progress without the proper equipment, and it could be extremely discouraging to practice long periods without proof of improvement.
Well, that was embarrassing. She’d had no idea, especially when she’d snagged it from the armory, that there were different bows for certain dimensions and proportions. Notions of needing more strength had her eyes downcast for a moment, wondering just how far she was willing to go for these achievements and still avoid violence as a whole, but if the solution was simply to get something smaller… “Oh. I didn’t realize there were sizes,” she cringed. Maybe she should’ve just left it all the professionals, and retreated right back into the familiarity of her gardens and zoo.
But that also meant complacency, which she didn’t want to embark within either. Nodding along, and breathing away the feeling of mild shame, she resumed the same stance from before, remembering where the fletching needed to be. Notching the arrow, pulling it as taut as she could, she let it fly, and it zoomed well beyond the first few tries. “Okay. Maybe I’m getting the hang of it. Anything else I need to fix?”
Tilting his head, he didn’t blame Lena for the oversight. After all, he only knew these things from years of obsession. He gave her a reassuring smile, passion blazing in his eyes. "Yeah. Not many people realize it, but the size affects the range and how much strength it takes to fire. It has something to do with 'tension' and 'physics,' not that I paid attention to that part. I just remember: the bigger the bow, the farther the arrow will go." He chuckled, shooting her a childish grin. As simple as the concept was, it really wasn't anymore complicated than that (unless wood types, strings, or speed were being included, but he didn't know anything about that).
Her next shot showed improvement and Zavien leaned back against the tree to watch, content with her form and progress. "Nope. I think you look pretty good." The gleam in his eyes said he meant exactly what he said, but he gave her a nod. "Why don't you shoot a few more just to get the form down?"
Her eyes widened significantly as more of his knowledge passed through – now even more out of her depth. “That makes sense,” she figured, if she’d paid any attention to when she’d snagged them off the shelves. “Thank you for your help,” and she gave him another bright grin – figuring she’d probably worn out his infinite patience for the day.
And to show that he hadn’t wasted all his time with the shared sagacity, she grabbed hold of another arrow as Mittens got out of the way, beginning their little cyclical set. The abominable snowball dropped the other at her feet, as she touched upon the armament and notched it once more, narrowing her eyes and staring at the target. Surely she could hit it this time.
As the weapon went sailing, it finally pummeled into the wood with a thud, before bouncing off, but far below the actual goal. Then she glanced over, back to Zavien, to see what he thought.
She'd never be able to run out the Dragoon's patience, and he gave her a wide, sincere grin. "Anytime." In fact, he enjoyed helping her train. He saw the way she brightened with pride, and it gave him comfort knowing she could defend herself if he wasn't there (ironic). While she pushed him to improve his reading (and cooking), he could use his own wealth of knowledge for her benefit.
With that in mind, he watched Lena nock another arrow. Her form was much improved, even if he could still see the strain of her muscles against the movement. Despite that, the arrow managed to connect with the tree, falling to the ground with a soft thud. Zavien whistled, grinning. "If you keep shooting like that, maybe you won't even need a smaller bow." He'd still recommend it, but at least she'd proven she could use a regular sized bow in a pinch.
But then he couldn't seem to wait any longer, pushing off the tree with a clap of his hands and a playful wink. "I think you deserve a little something for your achievement. Are you ready for your present?"
