All Who Wander
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Jigano Silversmith
the Sage
Provost of the Loreseekers Soul Shepherd
Portal Guardian
Age: 36 | Height: 6'2" | Race: Attuned x Abandoned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 12 - Strg: 30 - Dext: 45 - Endr: 38 - Luck: 42 - Int:
ISUMA - Mythical - Griffin (Venomous)
Played by: Cirago Offline
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Posts: 3,914 | Total: 7,219
MP: 10170
#1
Once the bard might have collected companions for such a trip, gathering together those trusted friends and family who he knew would have his back if trouble struck. Since the confrontations in the basement of Amalia's bakery and the illness that had followed, however, he had lost confidence not only in himself, but in others as well. The lessons of Numeria had been learned again, though the teaching had been gentler; the only weapons drawn had been words, and the only wounds to pride and ego. He could live with that, though not without being changed by it, no less than Onni and Rizz's planned betrayals had changed him.

On a night with no moon a man dressed in sober, dark grey clothing with a broad-brimmed hat hiding his hair walked quietly through the ruins. Fox's blue eyes peered out over the scarf that protected his face from the autumnal chill of the evening, picking his way through rubble and debris until he found a fallen section of the street that led downwards. The only spots of brightness on him were the pale gryphlet perched on his shoulder, golden eyes wide and scanning for the movement of fleeing mice as her companion descended into the darkness below, and the white lantern he held in his hand.

Once below and into the Underground he pulled out a small vial from his belt and dabbed a drop of liquid on the rocks before he began to walk forward into the tunnels. A rich voice soon rose in song, the words given to him by Ludo falling from lips that had spoken little in the last two weeks.

He had been given a lantern and a song, and though his hands still trembled and the chill had not left his bones since the fever had brought him low, he felt recovered enough to press forward, even if much of that forward movement felt almost mechanical. Once an Oracle, always an Oracle, though, and if he could not help the living, perhaps he could help the dead. Every time he came to a split in the tunnels he dabbed more of the scent from the vial on the stones near the floor before continuing on, letting his voice fill the underground chambers and create dizzying echoes and unsettling harmonies as he held forth the lantern and called any lost souls home again.
Kiada Njovu-Reyes
Hollowed Grounds Registrar

Age: 30 | Height: 5’7 | Race: Ancient | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 2 - Strg: 18 - Dext: 16 - Endr: 29 - Luck: 17 - Int:
Played by: Skylark Offline
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MP: 2712
#2
KIADA

One could say she’s sulking. Another could say that she hasn’t really been herself the last few days. At first it seemed normal, as though she’d over extended herself, but now things were different. It excelled, to the point she couldn’t ignore it any further. And as for telling her friends and adopted family about it? They were in the Spire.

Sulking and worried, sad she couldn’t be there to help, she’s waited while remaining hidden in the underground in her new form. She’s been curled up in the corner in her new form, trading feathers for fur, wings for whiskers. It’s the only thing that keeps her fingers from trembling that she can find, the only thing to keep her mind off of it for long enough.

She only notices something change when a man appears in the underground, dressed dark and dabbing something on the stones with a lantern, singing a haunting call. But the voice is familiar, and she finds herself stretching as the voice begins to fade, stretching her paws out in front of her with a feline yawn, before she hops out of the corner of the wall she’s been sitting in, and meanders out after him.

She follows the scent as close as she can, until she manages to catch up to him. But instead of saying anything, she remains in the tunnels with bright blue eyes scoping out Jigano as a small growl slips from her throat, loud enough for him to hear. She feels safe in this form, like nobody will know it’s her until she wants them to. And with it, ears pinned and whiskers shaking ever so slightly, she stares at the man.
Kiada has a large X scar on the right side of her neck.
No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Kiada, without killing her <3
Jigano Silversmith
the Sage
Provost of the Loreseekers Soul Shepherd
Portal Guardian
Age: 36 | Height: 6'2" | Race: Attuned x Abandoned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 12 - Strg: 30 - Dext: 45 - Endr: 38 - Luck: 42 - Int:
ISUMA - Mythical - Griffin (Venomous)
Played by: Cirago Offline
Change author:
Posts: 3,914 | Total: 7,219
MP: 10170
#3
He was a little surprised that he had not yet stumbled across any ROUSes in the tunnels as he walked them, but Isuma was alert for them now, and stretched her hearing for the sounds of claws on stone and the chittering of a restless horde. He listened as well, not unhappy at the thought of violence, and perhaps, a small part of him was forced to admit, even actively inviting it.

The soft growl was not what he had expected, and the bard turned to face its owner with an arched brow. A cat, of a kind he was unfamiliar with, stood illuminated in the lantern light, growling at him though he was uncertain whether it was in greeting or challenge. He continued to sing as he studied it, finding nothing familiar in the shape to tell him who it might be. Another newly-arrived Outlander, perhaps...

But he was in no mood to answer endless questions. That the creature was Attuned he was certain, for no natural cat would be so deep in the catacombs where no sliver of light fell to aid their sight. He kept his thoughts shuttered hard behind the shields Caiside had helped him rebuild, eyes narrowing briefly at the feline before he turned away to continue his aimless path.

Isuma was more wary - and perhaps more perceptive. She tilted her head at the cat, first one way and then the other, catching the faintest hint of Auni's scent from it and wondering where her antlered friend was. She chirruped a soft greeting to the warrior as she twisted in Jigano's shoulder to keep the cat in sight, even as the bard continued to walk away, still singing his haunting call.
Kiada Njovu-Reyes
Hollowed Grounds Registrar

Age: 30 | Height: 5’7 | Race: Ancient | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 2 - Strg: 18 - Dext: 16 - Endr: 29 - Luck: 17 - Int:
Played by: Skylark Offline
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Posts: 1,674 | Total: 13,495
MP: 2712
#4
KIADA

Jigano looks to face her, and her tail flickers in response. Just waiting for the attempt to speak to her, only to find that there is none much to her surprise – and perhaps a small amount of anger at that – instead, the bard continues to sing before turning on his heel to leave and continue down the catacombs. She hears Isuma chirp a small greeting, and Kiada hums a quiet purr that echoes through the channels in response.

But there’s a small amount of her that’s annoyed Jigano hadn’t even tried to say anything to her. And so she picks up her paws, beginning to run toward the Bard in the attempts of trying to cut him off or bang her head into his leg, something. Something to garner his attention, to make him stop and question her. She actually feels a bit put off that he hasn’t even tried.

Another growl of annoyance leaves her throat, shifting into something akin to a roar. Almost as if to say listen. She doesn't know what else she can do other than shift into herself, but even doing that makes her anxious - the way her hands twitch and tremble, and she finds she's far too tired to do it over and over again.
Kiada has a large X scar on the right side of her neck.
No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Kiada, without killing her <3
Jigano Silversmith
the Sage
Provost of the Loreseekers Soul Shepherd
Portal Guardian
Age: 36 | Height: 6'2" | Race: Attuned x Abandoned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 12 - Strg: 30 - Dext: 45 - Endr: 38 - Luck: 42 - Int:
ISUMA - Mythical - Griffin (Venomous)
Played by: Cirago Offline
Change author:
Posts: 3,914 | Total: 7,219
MP: 10170
#5
The cat followed, and Jigano felt a flicker of annoyance. Whoever it was made no attempt to communicate or introduce themselves, though Isuma welcomed them. That only added to his contrary annoyance, and he increased the length of his stride, stubborn and heartsore and tired of always being the one to bend and break. Punished for being too proud. Punished for being too humble. Damned no matter what he did, and for what? For friends to turn on him the moment he stumbled, all his intentions meaning naught. He closed trembling fingers more tightly around the lantern and continued his song, a flicker of anger and loss turning the song from one of homecoming to one of heartache.

The purr brought a scowl to his face and he shrugged roughly as Isuma abandoned his shoulder to flutter down and meet the caracal's charge, as much to protect the bard from Kiada as to protect the feline from him, with his temper so unstable of late. He had been irritable ever since he had woken from his fever, and she didn't know how to quell his volatile moods, but she didn't like to see him lashing out at his friends - even if he didn't know that it was Kiada at his heels.

Growls and roars were only met with a raising of his voice, deftly using the acoustics of the tunnel to overpower the feline protests with the song even as Isuma tried to twine and rub against Kiada in worried greeting, peeping softly to urge both her companion and their friend to calm down.
Kiada Njovu-Reyes
Hollowed Grounds Registrar

Age: 30 | Height: 5’7 | Race: Ancient | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 2 - Strg: 18 - Dext: 16 - Endr: 29 - Luck: 17 - Int:
Played by: Skylark Offline
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Posts: 1,674 | Total: 13,495
MP: 2712
#6
KIADA

The girl follows the bard, and as she aims to try and ram her head into his leg, she’s met with Isuma. If Jigano felt a flicker of annoyance, it was nothing like the frustration that overcame the girl as he raises his voice. She snorts slightly, momentarily standing still as Isuma rubs against her. Kiada’s ears flicker uncertainly, before they pin for a moment. “Hey!” She calls out after him, feeling the soreness of her throat in a strange way as she tries to shout down the attuned bond. Her whiskers tremble as she pins the bard with a stare that’s quite distinctly Kiada, while her tail flickers back and forth.

She momentarily forgets Isuma, pushing past the gryphon to try and catch up to the Bard again with a bit of a scowl on her face. She wants him to stop and turn to her, to talk to her. To say something other than sneer and continue doing whatever he’s doing. But there’s a sickness within her that believes it’s perhaps that the man before her doesn’t care anymore. Perhaps she should return his flute, and his books. That might show him.

She can’t help the swing of her mood, and her ears flatten as another growl rumbles from her throat.
Kiada has a large X scar on the right side of her neck.
No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Kiada, without killing her <3
Jigano Silversmith
the Sage
Provost of the Loreseekers Soul Shepherd
Portal Guardian
Age: 36 | Height: 6'2" | Race: Attuned x Abandoned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 12 - Strg: 30 - Dext: 45 - Endr: 38 - Luck: 42 - Int:
ISUMA - Mythical - Griffin (Venomous)
Played by: Cirago Offline
Change author:
Posts: 3,914 | Total: 7,219
MP: 10170
#7
Ah. There was the voice, for all it was neither greeting nor introduction. It was, at least, familiar enough for Jigano to turn and examine the cat once more with narrowed eyes and a sharp twist in his chest. Kiada... one among many who he had let down had turned against him at the first opportunity. One among many who had left him fevered and weak and helpless and made no attempt to find him. One among many whose simple presence cut at him with the sharpness of a knife and the precision of a needle.

Isuma peeped in dismay as the smaller gryphlet was shoved aside, and the bard's eyes narrowed in a sudden spike of temper. Holding out his arm he summoned her back to his side, holding her close as he glared down at the caracal who had been so rude to his companion, even as the gryphlet shivered unhappily at being caught between two friends who had nothing but growls for each other.

His song did not pause, but Jigano cracked the shields of his mind just far enough to let a flicker of wounded anger slip through the Attuned link. He was hurting and unhappy, and the only reason he could think of for Kiada to follow him was so that she could rub in further how he had disappointed her, failed her, let her down. He was in no mood to let himself be torn down again, but at least he stopped walking, watching the cat and waiting to see what she had to say.
Kiada Njovu-Reyes
Hollowed Grounds Registrar

Age: 30 | Height: 5’7 | Race: Ancient | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 2 - Strg: 18 - Dext: 16 - Endr: 29 - Luck: 17 - Int:
Played by: Skylark Offline
Change author:
Posts: 1,674 | Total: 13,495
MP: 2712
#8
KIADA

He turns back to her with narrowed eyes as her shout makes its way to him, and her ears flicker uncertainly if only for a brief moment. It had been awhile since she has seen him, and in that time she has mostly been staying away from everything. Venturing into the Greatwood without the fear of being punished, seeking out an unhealthy habit of drinking (likely something to keep her mind off the tremble of her hands, the swings to her mood).

She pushes past Isuma after pushing those thoughts aside, until finally Jigano’s attention remains on her. And her ears perk up, a slight sound erupting from her throat as her whiskers twitch and shake. It’s only when his sudden burst of annoyance reaches her that she pins her ears again and sits, long tail flickering in a similar annoyance.

Don’t feel like talking?” She calls out to him again, eyes narrowing on his figure. “Just want to ignore it and hope it goes away?” She shifts on her paws briefly, head cocking to the side. “I rooted for you, you know.” In case it matters. “I wanted you to stay king.” Her paws tremble as her claws clink against the stone of the ground as she regards Jigano again. She wonders if any of it matters anymore. “What happened to you?” To the Jigano she used to know.
Kiada has a large X scar on the right side of her neck.
No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Kiada, without killing her <3
Jigano Silversmith
the Sage
Provost of the Loreseekers Soul Shepherd
Portal Guardian
Age: 36 | Height: 6'2" | Race: Attuned x Abandoned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 12 - Strg: 30 - Dext: 45 - Endr: 38 - Luck: 42 - Int:
ISUMA - Mythical - Griffin (Venomous)
Played by: Cirago Offline
Change author:
Posts: 3,914 | Total: 7,219
MP: 10170
#9
He could read the annoyance in her body language, but he found it so very hard to care again, when caring only made it easier for others to wound him. Fox's eyes met feline, and though he couldn't narrow them further at her opening remark, invisible hackles still bristled. Talking had been the cause of his fall from grace, no words sufficient, no truth acceptable enough to sway hearts that had arrived arrayed against him for trying to help.

If he could have ignored it and had it go away he certainly would have done so. He was not so naive, however. He ran that day and night over and over in his head, replaying the words he had spoken, that Edrei had spoken... that they had spoken. They had followed him in his fever dreams in the depths of his sickness, distorted and cruel, and had been waiting for him when he'd returned to consciousness, a bitter refrain reminding him of the cost of his actions. The road to Hell was paved with good intentions, his world had said, and he had lived the proof of it more than once. That didn't make this most recent time hurt any less, though.

Her declaration finally startled a bark of disbelieving laughter from him, a dark and twisted sound so unlike the face he had always taken care to present before. His song faded, echoing through the tunnels as he gripped the lantern until his knuckles ached, and the light shook and danced around the walls from the tremble in his hand. "You, who had nothing but 'could haves' and 'should haves?' Who said straight out that you didn't like it? That I was suspicious for caring what the people I trusted most," past tense, "thought?" He turned away, walking again, restlessly trying to escape the pain and anger that twisted through him like thorny, poisoned vines.

"What do you think happened to me?" His voice was bitter as Isuma shook against him, more than a little afraid of the darkness that had risen in her bonded's heart. "People are people, no matter the world. Sweet words to your face when you have something they want, but give them long enough and they'll stab you in the back once they're done with you. At least they only used words, not knives this time." Though he would have preferred the knives, truth be told. Cleaner cuts, and faster to heal than the wounds left by words that no healer could reach.
Kiada Njovu-Reyes
Hollowed Grounds Registrar

Age: 30 | Height: 5’7 | Race: Ancient | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 2 - Strg: 18 - Dext: 16 - Endr: 29 - Luck: 17 - Int:
Played by: Skylark Offline
Change author:
Posts: 1,674 | Total: 13,495
MP: 2712
#10
KIADA

The bark of venom that slips from him surprises the girl, and her ears flatten as he spits words back at her. There’s a rumble between a growl and a trill that leaves her throat at the assumptions. And her gaze narrows further on the bard as her tail flickers her annoyance, paws spread on the stone. “Yeah. I didn’t like it. But I didn’t have to like it. You would’ve been better than Zariah, we would have adapted.” She spits back at him, flexing her paws on the stone as her nails clink with the tremble against it.

She huffs a slight hiss of laughter after, ears still pinned. “Because it was suspicious?! You made a mistake, and we weren’t happy. But we would have dealt with it. Also, you have to own up to your mistakes at some point. It was either you owned up to it and remained king, or you do whatever it is you’re doing now.” She looks at him with a pointed look. “And I never wanted anything from you Jigano, I only wanted a friend. It’s not a stab in the back if you take a disagreement as severing our friendship.” She adds perhaps a bit rushed, whiskers trembling as she stared. “Amalia went to go look for you, Auni kept an eye out for you as well. But apparently that makes us backstabbing friends, so it’s really whatever.” Her growl quiets for a moment as she stares at him.

If anyone knew anything about owning up to mistakes, it was her. And gods, how she’s tried and strayed and returned, letting it become a part of her rather than hiding it away layer by layer.
Kiada has a large X scar on the right side of her neck.
No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Kiada, without killing her <3
Jigano Silversmith
the Sage
Provost of the Loreseekers Soul Shepherd
Portal Guardian
Age: 36 | Height: 6'2" | Race: Attuned x Abandoned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 12 - Strg: 30 - Dext: 45 - Endr: 38 - Luck: 42 - Int:
ISUMA - Mythical - Griffin (Venomous)
Played by: Cirago Offline
Change author:
Posts: 3,914 | Total: 7,219
MP: 10170
#11
"Would you have, though? I looked around that room and every face was full of anger or, at best, distrust," he spat the words, still feeling the sting of it. "The only one who was willing to support me - the only one who gave me the benefit of the doubt - was Bastien. And even he didn't trust me so much as 'anyone not Zariah.'" Though Bastien not trusting him caused no pain, at least. The men had never really been friends, and he could find no sense of betrayal at the artist's light-hearted words.

"If I had remained king, you all would have painted me as a power-hungry thief who stabbed Ronin the back to gain that position," he continued bitterly. "If I gave it up, they would say I was weak-willed and untrustworthy, unworthy and unwelcome. Either way I lost, Kiada. The only question was whether I wanted my reputation to be a power hungry traitor or a spineless coward." Power was a drug, and not one he had any desire to become addicted to, but dammit, if they had just trusted him a little they might have been able to find a better way!

"Think what you will. I took the position to put Ronin into power, as we voted on. No, it didn't go the way anyone wanted... but at least I can take solace in knowing that I succeeded in that much, at least. If I had stayed king I would have betrayed myself, and that was a price I wasn't willing to pay to sate your desire to have a target." With Zariah gone and Edy mostly avoiding the job, he would have ended up wearing that mantle anyways. Gods least fortunate, how he hated politics.

'Only a friend' she said, and part of his heart ached at the words. If any of his friends had come to him individually to express their dismay at his choice it might have turned out very differently; a conversation instead of a wolf pack singling out a weak elk and each tearing into it until it fell. But the only person who had sought him out in such a way had been Rexanna... and she had been focused entirely on her own situation, with no time for his. The past didn't change just for wishing at it, and he didn't stop walking as Kiada stared at his retreating back.

"I wasn't hard to find," he said heavily, something sparking painfully in his chest at hearing they had tried to look for him, when he had thought himself alone except for Rory. "Not for anyone with a nose. I... left Rory's house and... I was in the Glade for a while..." In spite of his whiplash words and temper, his voice cracked uncertainly on the statements that were almost more like questions. That time was muddled and largely lost to him. He remembered Rory's anger, the loud disagreement and then the quieter apologies he had spoken. He had been kicked out for a night, brooded by the Oasis instead of taking proper shelter, and when he had come back the next day he had been sick, the fever just beginning to heat his skin. He had been put in Rory's old room, shivering and coughing as an autumn ague took hold and then... and then...

Nothing but the fever ghosts, until he had woken in his den in the Glade in his foxform, no memory of how he got there or when. Rory had been worried sick when he'd finally limped back to the farmhouse, trembling and weak from hunger and illness. He'd been gone a week, and like all animals he had wanted no witnesses to his recovery but his mate. The next time he'd gone out had been to the Cloister of Trials, which felt half-dream all on its own.

"Why are you following me, Kiada?" he asked heavily at last, his steps slowing until he paused again, though he stayed turned away from her. "If you are so angry and disappointed, why are you here?" He leaned against the wall, using the solid stone to steady his trembling hand and hoping she wouldn't see how it shook as Isuma reeped softly in concern, perching on his shoulder to look from caracal to man and back again with wounded worry for both of them.
Kiada Njovu-Reyes
Hollowed Grounds Registrar

Age: 30 | Height: 5’7 | Race: Ancient | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 2 - Strg: 18 - Dext: 16 - Endr: 29 - Luck: 17 - Int:
Played by: Skylark Offline
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Posts: 1,674 | Total: 13,495
MP: 2712
#12
KIADA

Did he not understand how things worked? Anger and distrust at first, for him to prove it to them. If she had her choice, he would have stayed, but ah, she didn’t get to make those decisions. But at his next claim, she manages an uncharacteristic roll of her eyes, fur rising along her hackles. “So you couldn’t have avoided it by turning it down and telling Edrei that Ronin was a better choice? If she listened to you enough to make you King and then seek Ronin out for the same, why do it?” Her voice is sharp, an edged blade as she tosses it back at him.

You would have betrayed yourself, yet you took it anyway to turn it down?” She tells him with a flick of her tail, as if she’s laying down the reasons why he should see why it didn’t make sense, why she didn’t think it was a smart plan in the slightest. But she falls silent as she throws her claims at him, how Amalia had attempted to seek him out, how she only wanted a friend from him.

But she follows him anyway, narrowed eyes seeing well within the dark confines of the underground. He mentions he wasn’t hard to find and she tilts her head. “If you wanted to be found you should have told someone. But you can’t expect us to stop everything we’re doing to come and find you.” She acknowledges. Because that’s what it seemed to her as, he wanted to be hidden, she had seen as much with his useful disguise when he was wanted by Zariah. But she doesn’t say anything on this either, figuring she can bury it down with the rest.

The rest of the friends that thought they knew better and ended up leaving anyway rather than fixing the broken bridges.

The Harpy didn’t plan on putting in the effort for no return. And she regards the bard as he stops and she too stops. “Because,” she begins, “I feel like shit and I wanted to hear the answers from your mouth. And yeah, I’m angry, but I feel like that’s all I am anymore. I don’t want to be around anyone else.” She huffs out with a slight growl as she sits on the stones, tail flickering and whiskers trembling.
Kiada has a large X scar on the right side of her neck.
No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Kiada, without killing her <3
Jigano Silversmith
the Sage
Provost of the Loreseekers Soul Shepherd
Portal Guardian
Age: 36 | Height: 6'2" | Race: Attuned x Abandoned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 12 - Strg: 30 - Dext: 45 - Endr: 38 - Luck: 42 - Int:
ISUMA - Mythical - Griffin (Venomous)
Played by: Cirago Offline
Change author:
Posts: 3,914 | Total: 7,219
MP: 10170
#13
"Everyone likes to think 'but you should have or could have just done this instead'," he growled, reaching up to massage the bridge of his nose, feeling the tension headache rising again. "But none of you were there, most of you don't know Edy particularly well, and clearly no one trusted how I read the situation. I begged Edy to tell me what she was thinking, why she had called me there. She turned it into a test of trust, instead, pushing me into a corner where I either let her have her way or I ran and burned our friendship down. So I fucking stayed and let her make me king, hoping that I could then turn that power and renewed trust around and bring Ronin in. And it worked, until whatever the hell went down between them when she insisted on going to invite him to the party by herself. But I still don't think she would have listened to a word I had to say if I hadn't accepted her offer. She would have pouted and kicked me out for spurning her, I would have been on the shitlist of another Queen, and it would just be her and Wessex alone by now." Maybe that wasn't the worst-case scenario, but it was bad enough. And he hadn't known Wessex was in the picture at that point anyways; he hadn't known who else Edrei might ask, if she would even try to ask anyone else. "But everyone else seems to know better, thinks it would have been so easy to just walk away from a friend who was afraid and on edge over what she'd been forced into by her cousin - and even if she had listened to me after I said no, and she asked Ronin instead... Well. He turned her down the first time, didn't he? So how would that have been any better?" If he'd done that, they'd have called him a coward and a fool for squandering the chance to get a member of their resistance into a position of power. From the moment Edy had set her mind on putting a crown on his head he had been royally fucked, no matter what path he chose.

Blue eyes burned in the reflected lantern light as he looked at her, frustration seething and bubbling at her willful refusal to understand. "I accepted the power in order to share it with one more worthy. I had hoped that Ronin would accept the kingship as well and that I would be able to support him, overriding Edrei two to one if we needed to. When that was no longer needed, I could step down, yes, because I was trying to find a way to put Ronin in power without resorting to violence against Edy. But when Ronin refused and then everyone decided they knew Edy and the situation better than I? Holding onto power for the sake of having it was a betrayal, yes."

He had turned away by the time she spoke of finding and leaving, and he didn't have the energy to even laugh at the absurdity of the statement. "No, fear not, I didn't expect anyone to 'come and find me,'" he said, the words dripping with bitterness from his tongue. He hadn't expected anything at all, while the fever had taken hold of him and he did... whatever it was he had done, between leaving Rory's house and waking up in the Glade. No one would search for him the way Ashetta did for Kalt. No one besides Rory would mourn his passage the way they had for Ronin. "Gods forfend that a friend be inconvenient." He could have told her the truth, could have told her of the sickness... but his temper was twisting fiercely, leaving him stubborn and intractable as he leaned against the wall for support.

"You heard the answers back then," he pointed out, anger and weariness warring on the tight lines of this face. "You didn't like them then. Why do you think that would have changed now?" He lashed out suddenly, striking the wall with the side of a shivering fist, flesh smacking with a dull thump against stone. "Be as angry as you want. There's none that would defend me, and I'm getting tired of defending myself from the same accusations." It was amazing how wise and adept at navigating Edy's moods everyone else suddenly had suddenly become, knowing what she would have accepted and gone along with, if only they had been in the room with her instead of him. It was in the past now, and they'd never know for sure... but gods least fortunate, they certainly enjoyed telling him how they would have handled things differently, and that was where the trust had fallen apart.

He glanced back down at her, at the shivering of her whiskers and the uneasy shifting of her tail, and he let out a sudden, explosive sigh. "Go to the Infirmary," he grumbled gruffly. "There's an autumn fever going around. You should get it burned out of you before it gets worse."
Kiada Njovu-Reyes
Hollowed Grounds Registrar

Age: 30 | Height: 5’7 | Race: Ancient | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 2 - Strg: 18 - Dext: 16 - Endr: 29 - Luck: 17 - Int:
Played by: Skylark Offline
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Posts: 1,674 | Total: 13,495
MP: 2712
#14
KIADA

The caracal fights the urge to roll her eyes as Jigano goes off on a tangent, half listening half not, until he poised questions to her. There’s a fury beneath the outer exterior that she’s never seen before — and it shows her that he would rather deflect than take the criticism. Her head cocks and eyes narrow on his figure as he comments about them not finding him and her nose wrinkles. “You weren’t inconvenient. You didn’t fucking tell anyone where you were going, and you were gone for… what? A couple of weeks? Hardly enough to warrant alarm until the end when you reappeared and suddenly that’s our fault?” She hisses to him, ears flat against her skull.

Ah, but she had planned to remain in her feline form until she left the confines of the ruins, but as his fist hits the wall she imagines that she can manage the shift to human again. And when she does, she lets that same icy gaze stare at him, hardening and narrowing at the outburst. She’s wearing a tank top of sorts that reveals the puncture to her shoulder and the garish scabbing from Melita’s arrow. And pants that are adorned in dust and dirt, as though she hadn’t had the time to change before squirreling herself away from the rest of the world.

So then apologize to us, own your mistakes. You know what they are.” She snaps to him, her hands trembling as she closes them into fists and listens as he directs her to go to the infirmary. She won’t go, not yet. Not until she knows Amalia and Deimos are back with Ronin, Remi, and Ashetta. And she turns on her heel to head back the way she came, to collect her jacket and go somewhere else.

But before she goes, she looks over her wounded shoulder at him, her shirt low enough in the back to show to burn scars along her spine and the hard lines of talon and puncture wounds along her shoulders. “Oh and Jigano? Don’t tell me what to do.” She snaps before her boots click on the ground and she leaves like the night.
Kiada has a large X scar on the right side of her neck.
No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Kiada, without killing her <3


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