rider of the storm ● kydobi

[bai shi]

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[color=#7E354D]BAI SHI
" my own illusion come to be "

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ah, times were changing far too quickly for them to adjust and readjust to. the time between becoming guard, thrust into the position of nomarch, then into vizier and now pharoah had been the blink of an eye in their next to immortal lifespan. the passing of their two friends was the most brutal, too vicious and unfair for them to overcome their grief.

they had asked of a new individual, perhaps a new friend, to come visit them. they had later decided that they needed to visit a place that was out of the usual paths, finding a field of brilliant sunflowers and a falling apart farmstead. settling into the wreckage, the dragon emerged silently, eyes dark and filled with pain.

here laid the graveyard dedicated to their friends and family, including their uncle's diseased body, their lifeless eggs, their... lover's last letters and the sunflowers given to them by their dearest friend and second crush in their lifetime. here, they could show their most broken and fragile inner emotions, their weaknesses that cracked the outer statue of marble that lived and breathed.

relaxing into the vibrant flowers, their eyes traveled the colored stalks, heads and sky, humming a gentle lullaby in their mother language, the dragon taking in all of the loneliness and pushing it away, allowing themselves to finally cry and grieve, silver tears marring the golden scales as their body shrunk and morphed into the small body of a gold and platinum fox, the same silver tears streaking in agony down their face, paws pressed upon a sunflower, smoothing over the petals. they could only hope that this new friend, if he knew where to find them, would not judge them for finally showing some inner slate of emotion, and for stripping away their favored form for the one that they had been born in.

[member=4490]Kydobi[/member] //

[Kydobi]

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[div style="width:55% ;min-height :180px; background-color:#212121;Color:#838B8B; font-family: Gabriola; Font-size: 23px; Font-align: center;padding: 25px;"] Better to be hurt by the truth than comforted by a lie -
♕tags-powers♕

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[OOC: ]

The universe was working away alright. Kydobi had wandered from the Pitt for reasons unbeknownst to him. A tiny feeling in his gut lead him this way and nothing more than intuition would guide him.

If he believed in destiny and fate and all that stuff he would look much deeper into the the crying fox ahead. He wasn't sure what this was or even who that was.

He had half a mind to go. Turn around and avoid an awkward situation with a stranger. Plus Kydobi was never ever good at emotions, so much that he avoided his own tumultuous feelings and swept them under the rug.

Yet something was familiar about that being. Something he couldn't quite name. Their scent smelled of the desert, like Bai Shi. Silver tears. His eyes flicked to the metallic tears, his minding recalling back to Ramona speaking of silver blood.

Maybe it's a common thing in these parts.

But despite his logical side that often bossed around his heart, he walked toward them.

"Uh... Are you okay?", well clearly not. But what else would he say. Instantly the jaguar wished he would have turned and left.

[bai shi]

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[color=#7E354D]BAI SHI
" my own illusion come to be "

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head lifting towards him, their eyes blinked in surprise, "kydobi?", they rasp, brows lifting in surprise before their tail wagged slowly, paws touching their eyes. "oh. um. I am. I'm fine. just was having a moment to myself. ah.", they were unsure of what to say or do. this was severely irregular for them to even show emotion in front of family or friends.

shaking their head, they tried a smile, "if you haven't recognized my scent or voice, it's bai shi. I'm not always a big golden dragon. I rarely keep this form in use. sometimes, it's nice to go incognito.", they sigh, looking around the area with a faint breath, sorrow showing before it was shouldered away.

"what brings you out this far?", they ask, painfully curious despite the pain that the place brought them alongside the peace.

[Kydobi]

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Better to be hurt by the truth than comforted by a lie -
♕tags-powers♕

[OOC: ]

Bai Shi? His eyebrows would raise in slight surprise. He had forgotten that some how the ability to shift their appearance at will. The various powers of this land never failed to amaze him.

"Lynn? Well I guess it is good to go away and escape our lives.", he said softly as he walked closer. He had never seen his friend be so distraught before. The feline liked to think of them as stoic and calm, guess they were better at hiding their feelings more than he thought.

He smiled softly, "Grief can derange even the most disciplined and greatest men. It's good to purge these emotions with tears so they don't ferment into rage or chaos.", he would sit next to the silver fox, looking down at him with
a rather softer expression than usual. Not pity but with recognition and understanding. Although he wouldn't allow his own to be freed. He hadn't done so in so long that the advice he gave others he never ever considered for himself. Maybe he thought he was stronger than others in some ways.

He would sigh and look at their surroundings, "It's healthy to get out the jungle every once in a while and remind myself that it isn't all bad out in the world." his gaze returned to his friends, realizing that he didn't really know about Lynn at all. It seemed that he never gave thought to the things the dragon- or fox experienced. He was immortal was he not? It must be hard, lifetimes of hardship all for one being.

"So why did you come to this spot?", it was unknown to him that it was a resting place, otherwise he would've shown more care where he placed his feet.

[sub][W]isker[/sub]

[bai shi]

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[color=#7E354D]BAI SHI
" my own illusion come to be "

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a quiet sigh, leaning into his presence subconsciously, seeking a comfort that they had long lost. "my grief only rots into rage, harder than jade and sharper than my jian. alas. my concerns find empty bodies and listening hearts here.", a heavy tired breath escaped the fox, still managing to hold themselves with he natural sort of authority that they always had somewhere in their body.

"I come out here to visit the bodies of some of the ghosts that haunt me. I have buried friends and family in these fields since I came here. It's been an intense journey, but I've made it. ... May I?", they ask, wanting to move closer without it being awkward, needing someone else's shoulder to rely on for a few seconds, someone else's presence to ground themselves in.

breathing out, they yawned, "if not the body, a reminder. my mother will soon be buried, mother ages. if I could find my siblings to bring before mother ... ah well. our family is a messy complicated one as most are. the fact is that this is a burial ground and the dead cannot tell the secrets of the living.", a patient hum before their brow furrowed, "and concerns. perhaps i could gain guidance from the remaining energies of jiyu and sephiroth, my first friends here. both pharoahs before me.", they rumble in thought, "mainly about that tiger. sephiroth would have handed him his ass and sent him on his way but it is lonely here. I am too brash sometimes, that is why fika is my vizier, changing those difficult choices into multiple roads. how about you, aside from the jungle? no young lady or young man catching your eye and driving you to write poems?"

// mobile

[Kydobi]

[align=center]

Better to be hurt by the truth than comforted by a lie -
♕tags-powers♕

[OOC: oops! didn't mean to say "he" in my last post XD for some reason I see them more masculine in their fox form ]

Kydobi dipped his head, granting the fox permission. It had been ages since he really touched someone, ages since he was just there in anyone's arms and so he would tense a little. The last person he had any contact with was Ramona and that was a brief nuzzle for her comfort and even then he felt weird showing affection.

But he would listen while he walked over to Lynn and curling around them. It wasn't hard since they were small, and he liked to know that he would be some sort of protection for the fox. A emotional and physical comfort. He would keep his neck up, unsure how to relax but no doubt it would come with time.

It was a sorrowful thing in itself to have to bury a loved one. But to know they were one their way? Did that make it easier or harder? Did it get easier each time you dug a grave? Probably not, but Kydobi supposed that some would move on.

"It's alright Lynn. If that tiger proves troublesome I'll help you out. I wouldn't let him into the Pitt and the others didn't take too well to him because of my opinion of him. He knows he is far from welcome as long as I am there."

He flicked his ear and looked away trying to tell himself that it was fine. Nothing wrong with some affection every now and then. But the only woman he had loved was his mother and she proved unworthy. The only man he had loved was the man who raised him, Kaziko, and he had tried to kill him. The other was his brother by Kyrzoba disappeared before he realized it, abandoning him as well. The only love he knew was platonic and every person he opened his heart to hurt him. So at the young age of a yearling the jaguar had come to the conclusion that love was an illusion.

So when his friend asked of such things he wasn't sure what to say, "Uh. Never wrote a poem for anyone. No one has ever made me feel such a need. Sometimes I wonder if something is wrong with me, maybe this love everyone speaks of is real and I'm just broken. But then I wonder if it is everyone else trying to make something more out of lust. Other times I want to give it time. Somethings in this life can't be explained with sound facts, but I don't know. There is no one however."

He cleared his throat, slightly embarrassed by that.

"How about you?", he knew of the silver lion but would never ask of them. He had a feeling something terrible occurred to that being.

"Wait! I forgot to tell you. A dragon showed up at our borders a while ago. Beaten and roped. I think a Pitt member must've done it but I set them free... Nothing much happened after. I haven't seen much of them." Was this the brother?

[sub][W]isker[/sub]

[bai shi]

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[color=#7E354D]BAI SHI
" my own illusion come to be "

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"thank you. I know that kade can handle herself, but I truly dont believe his worth.", they sighed and shrugged their shoulders, relaxing into him and the way that he curled about them, trembling lightly with a yawn before they relaxed, resting their head against his shoulder.

"love, hmm? it's a fickle and funny thing. I can assure you that you are not broken, but love has the power to break you. hmm. love isnt always for everyone, and sometimes it will attach itself. Myself? I've loved a few and lost them all. They all lay here, even without the true burial. I sadly, cannot write poetry in this form, not very well, but I can recite it if I so wished.", they murmured before looking over at him, eyes wide.

"another dragon? were they like me? did they give a name?", they ask, eyes surprised and so hopeful. "I might ...  have to come see them. I ... lost my best friend aside from my adopted brother when we were young. I have hope that they still live, aside from the way that they were torn from my side. my adopted brother wasnt truly my brother, he was just by my side through thick and thin. perhaps it was my fault for loving him? it's easier to call him a family member, even when our parents never truly got along after a fight. he was close enough that he felt like family, and he now is through blood. but he has passed away, somewhere out there, leaving ... us. his child. myself. our child.", a miserable shudder met their words, the pain and longing vocal.

(he was just close enough that the family considered him adopted in)

[Kydobi]

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Better to be hurt by the truth than comforted by a lie -
♕tags-powers♕

[OOC: ]

Kydobi sighed as he rested his head on the ground, "A darker dragon. They didn't speak much but when Ramona mentioned your name they whispered it.. They weren't in a good shape at all, I never saw much of the after that."

He would look at the fox and smile softly, "If only I knew more. If only we all did." He flicked his ear and sighed once more, allowing his friend to rest on his shoulder while moving his head closer.

"Regarding the tiger, we cannot do anything more. Just keep an eye on him. Truth be told I'd rather have someone like him who is blatantly untrustworthy than someone harder to detect and much more malicious because of it. Like Jervis. At least we all are aware of him being... the way he is."

[sub][W]isker[/sub]

[bai shi]

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[color=#7E354D]BAI SHI
" my own illusion come to be "

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a stuttering choked breath, "it's very likely that they were one that I grew up with alongside my brother?", they murmured, as if doubting themselves. "cass was ripped away when our home was attacked. it was horrible. you ... you may have liked the grounds that we lived in. if it's cass, i will .... find out. i will visit your land again once we have moved territory., a gentle breath, relaxing against him and trying their best to give what could resemble a rusty purr. they hadn't relaxed like this in a long, long time.

nose twitching as a bee landed on it, they sneezed slightly before relaxing again and allowing themselves a private moment to draw in his comforting scent. "jervis .... kanga ... mmm.", they sigh, letting their mind go back to when they would play weiqi with their family and friends, debating battle strategies.

"this is a battle we must always be aware of, of the sleeper waiting to rain hell. the trust that one puts in one can very well be their own downfall.", they murmur in thought, tail twitching restlessly as they thought. it was perhaps a warning to themselves as well, to watch those that they trusted. "have you ever done war planning?, they ask suddenly, considering something. looking back out at the sunflowers they breathed in the scent and let it go, "we must have a plan, beat them before they can sink their roots too deeply into our grounds and family.", they murmur.

[Kydobi]

[align=center]

Better to be hurt by the truth than comforted by a lie -
♕tags-powers♕

[OOC: ]

His eyes would close halfway in that resting state that was so common to felines. Occasionally he would nod his head, allowing a smirk to surface when his friend sneezed.

"At least, at least we are now aware of them." but something put him on edge. He had never outrightly considered overthrowing the fox. Never. He had always thought the fox would die at the hands of another, never by his doing. Nor had he ever thought of war.

"Well... I never had planned to overthrow Jervis. I was hoping to change him but that has proved hopeless...", he opened his eyes as butterflies crept in from slight anxiety, "I don't really want to fight. I just want peace Lynn. Somewhere to be by myself and within the vicinity of others. And I don't want to put Ramona in danger. That poor pup has seen so much."

He laughed in the way that people did when faced with stressful situations, "Haha.. She has enlightened me on what has happened to you and others in the past and that is terrible."

Eyes finally shifted to the fox, "If you have anything violent planned... Just give me a warning so I can take the children out of there."

[sub][W]isker[/sub]