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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.
OG Skinning provided by Kaons, with functionality and many custom plugins made by Neowulf!
a ship is safe in harbor but that's not what ships are for
Metacarpal Island had a certain aspect to it that left Lena wide-eyed and apprehensive. The semblance of nervousness remained steady and certain, a looming, blooming warning in the back of her mind, and all through her soul; so she and Mittens stayed tied and tethered to the beach. Away from the menacing portions of the encroaching wood – her eyes flicking back and forth to it every so often, as they scoured the sand for some treasures to take home. To make something of substance out of a place that didn’t resonate in anything except safety; no matter the imperfections.
But the abominable cretin had spotted something else down the lines of dunes, screeching wholeheartedly, and the Attuned raised her head, one hand following suit to shield her gaze from the sun, peering across the expanse until she also saw someone else conforming from the area.
It had taken Noe a while after the pool party to convince herself that she could leave Haulani without being swept back into the Family's clutches, but here she was, on Metacarpal Island. Alone. Which, yeah, in retrospect, maybe wasn't her best plan, but if she sat in that apartment for even an hour longer, she was going to scream.
It wasn't that she didn't feel welcome. It wasn't even that it was Sohalia's apartment. It was just... the first place she'd gone after being cured, and there was something about that that haunted her.
So Noe left, and meandered out of Haulani, perhaps to prove to herself that she still could. And when a screech rent the air and the girl jumped out of her skin, she was relieved to find that she recognized the figure walking across the dunes towards her. Noe raised a hand to shield her eyes from the sun, offering a halfhearted wave. "Hey, Lena," she called. And if her voice was a little less effervescent than it usually was, well, who could blame her?
a ship is safe in harbor but that's not what ships are for
Her heart leapt into her throat the moment she recognized the figure, and the warped images rendered the same to her in return. “Hey!” Her footsteps were lighter, easier, and Mittens followed along, her mind a ricocheting glimpse of events so damned and torn. Poor Noe – from the taco party, to whatever the Family had orchestrated in her diseased and infested haze – right down to the pool party, where she’d only seen the edges of Sohalia with her rose.
When she was only feet away, her arms cast down by her side, a gentle smile beginning to touch over her features. “How are you doing?” What wasn’t said were the whole other multitudes: I’m so glad you’re well and I’m so sorry I couldn’t do anything for you. Everything had happened so rapidly – and then not at the same time – but maybe all that mattered was the present.
Lena was brighter than Noe by far, her gentle smile a welcome balm to the girl's wounded soul. Noe watched her approach, Mittens following along, and tried to return the gesture. But it came out feeling wrong - like somewhere along the way, she'd forgotten how to smile properly, without the Family influencing her to be too cheerful, too carefree.
"I'm fine," the engineer said, her voice sounding a touch too mechanical, her response a hair too automatic. She swallowed. "I'm... you know. Cured, or... whatever." She shifted uneasily. She'd done things while infected that she couldn't take back. It felt strange to attempt to return to any sense of normalcy.
a ship is safe in harbor but that's not what ships are for
They were all probably a touch fine; in that retrospect that they didn’t mean it. They were existing. They were coasting. They were trying to find their footing when it kept scraping by and washing ashore and bending until they all sunk and tried again.
But she couldn’t imagine how Noe felt – infected and now not, striving to find stability in a world already sharpened and honed by so much change. “I heard,” Lena murmured, an encouraging smile, calm and compliant, over her features. She wouldn’t pry on the subject, but perhaps, offer an alternative. “I won’t ask about it – unless you want to talk – but we can always figure out a distraction too, if you'd like.” Offerings and alternatives, as Mittens croaked nearby.
Did Noe want to talk? If she was going to choose someone to talk to, perhaps Lena would fit the bill - forever kind, and patient, and gentle. But to talk about her experience would be to admit that she still wasn't sure what to make of it all, and there were things that she was terrified to think about, much less share with someone else, no matter how well-meaning they might be.
So instead, the girl reached for Lena's other offer. "What kind of distraction?" She'd try pretty much anything to get these thoughts out of her head for a time, but she had to admit that if they were hunting for bones or some such thing, she would have to politely decline.
a ship is safe in harbor but that's not what ships are for
No refusal was garnered – and Lena, eternally patient, waited for things to settle, for Noe to parse through whatever it was she wanted. She couldn’t fathom not having her own agency – controlled, dictated, summoned, and compelled by another group of beings entirely – so the engineer was given all her due and diligence.
Head tilting, she watched Mittens as the little beast floated and cavorted around, sniffing at the local plant life but going nowhere near the red, encompassing and foreboding forest nearby. Eventually though, she maintained her gaze back on Noe, the gentle smile still there. “We could collect things, train, whatever you’d like.”
It was strange, after so long having her actions compelled, to be given the freedom to choose her own path. It wasn't that she looked back on her time as a Friend of the Family and felt controlled, exactly. It was more that she was... influenced. That little hints and nudges here and there had guided her path, so subtle that she hadn't even been aware that the things she did weren't her idea.
Still, the difference was stark, and the girl was grateful - even if it was terrifying.
"Maybe... training would be nice," Noe said finally. It was something that would require more of her active attention, and perhaps that would be enough to quiet the voices in her head. "It's been a while since I've done anything super physical, though. So... whatever you think is fine."
a ship is safe in harbor but that's not what ships are for
She lifted her head up at the mention of training, calm and compliant despite her own misgivings towards violence and vehemence. “You’ll find I’m not very good at anything pertaining to that sort of thing,” Lena laughed, modest but truthful. Her efforts had been minimal and soft at best, and she actively avoided the methods until it was absolutely necessary. But perhaps, nowadays, even that was pressing in on all of them. “Maybe we could try some hand to hand?”
Getting up from her kneeling position amidst the sands, she brushed the dune particles from her clothes, smiling, waiting for Noe to make a choice – an agreement or not – before they went into anything worthwhile. Mittens rumbled nearby, then floated back towards the Attuned, hovering over her shoulder like some sort of menacing demon.
Noe wasn't particularly good at combat, either - that was more Koa's thing - and Lena's self-deprecating laugh drew a small smile to Noe's face. "Hand to hand sounds great." At least she knew the basics. He brother had ensured that much.
Noe found a spot in the sand that offered a relatively flat, open area for them to spar in, then stretched her arms over her head and across her chest, loosening up for whatever Lena would throw at her. Mittens hovered somewhere behind the Attuned, drawing another small smile from Noe. The abominable snowman might be a menace, but it was a nice distraction of its own.
Then Noe took up a position she'd learned from Koa: legs shoulder width apart, balanced on the balls of her feet, arms up to protect her face. "Whenever you're ready."
a ship is safe in harbor but that's not what ships are for
Maybe they’d make each other look like grandstanding fighters, based on the experience levels. She followed Noe to a flatter area, also stretching, already fully aware this wasn’t going to go well on her end. Any of the encompassing dread pooled away though – knowing neither of them would be going all out in the violence department.
Zavien had certainly tried to instill some form of stances and movement into her that felt almost natural, adopting the form she’d utilized before. Without someone to critique her though, she likely had something inevitably wrong, but they’d work on things at their own pace and suitability. “All right, here I go,” she grinned, which, likely no one ever actually “warned” their opponents, but by that time Lena had narrowed her eyes, furrowed her brows in rapt concentration, and balled her fists, into a slow, methodical approach to Noe’s upper arm.
At the very least, Noe had the ability to make a proper fist going for her. It had been one of the first things that Koa had taught her, way back when their mother was still alive and things were simpler. They'd been play-fighting one day, and Noe had tucked her thumb into her fingers, and Koa had stopped her from breaking something before resuming their match. It was a fond memory, and one that surfaced now as Noe prepared for the inevitable blows to come.
Lena, her brows furrowed in an expression that might have been comical had Noe not been focusing on the task at hand, threw a methodical punch towards Noe's upper arm. And even though the girl saw it coming, she was rusty on her ability to dodge. The strike landed on the outside of her arm, but Noe ignored the sharp sting. Instead, she aimed her own punch towards Lena's shoulder, hoping to take advantage of the momentary opening to land her own blow.
a ship is safe in harbor but that's not what ships are for
Lena’s eyes widened in surprise when she made contact – shocked at the circumstances – enough to start warbling in “Gods, I’m so sorry,” before remembering that had been the point of it. Nonetheless, in all her sudden revelations, she’d had no opportunity to dodge, and Noe’s punch landed neatly and precisely at the Attuned’s shoulder.
She bit back a slight gasp, shaking the appendage as if to ward away the numbing bite. “Good shot,” she smiled, knowing that wasn’t how it was supposed to go either, but quite incapable of rendering herself into anyone else. Steeling and forging a breath, grateful it’d been in her less habitual arm, she resumed a stance out of memory, and then swung, albeit still leisurely, towards Noe’s collarbone.
Lena's apology brought a small giggle to Noe's lips despite the sting of the blow. To hit each other was, after all, the point of the exercise. If anything, she should be congratulating Lena on a job well done. Fortunately, she'd reacted on memory to strike out, and her punch landed on the Attuned's shoulder.
Grinning at her small victory, Noe realized too late that Lena was moving again, and the woman's next punch landed squarely on her collarbone. Despite the fact that Lena didn't appear to be punching very hard, it still hurt, and Noe gasped with surprise. Still, she was moving again almost before she realized, aiming her next hit at Lena's ribcage.
