"None of us saw when the axe fell.

We hadn't anticipated an attack form the sky at all. As far as most of us knew, the only flyin' People in Nodd were Dragons, and they don't leave their city, 'cept in very particular circumstances.

Out of her armor, and in camp at the time, the rules of lawful combat dictate that she shouldn't have even been able to be attacked at all. Sure, an opponent could wait until ya slip out of our armor to attack, but an established camp site, with your Monarch's flags wavin', are supposed to be places where you lay down your weapons and do battle with your words. Shoot, why I was there, after all, havin' a Bard in camp is one of the best ways to insure victory in verbal sparrin' and important decisions.

The fact that Kitti didn't die when the person tried to cut the right side of her head off with an axe has to mean there was a God watchin' out for her. The brain damage, loss of her right arm, loosin' her balance to the point where she can't walk, and her muddled speech make me wonder which God it was.

We've been doin' our best to help her convalesce, but our Medics don't how how to help her, most folks this injured don't recover even as well as she has. They have Kitti stabilized, but if her life goes on as it is now, she's goin' to spend the rest of her life mostly in bed.

It's this concept I'm turning over in my head when a stranger walks into the hall outsida Kitti's room. He's a Male Felis, with cream fur and orange markings on his extremities. My singin' mind conjures images of peaches an' cream. The Male asks me my name, and I tell him. Most people look a little, I dunno, shocked? When I tell them who I am? But this Male smiles, which is my absolute favorite thing a Furred's face can do, and he sticks out his hand and says it's great to meet the 'Renowned and talented Dandyfine.'

Then he points to the black sash around himself, and tells me he's come form the Nightside, at the request of Avid. Apparently our Holster friend has some mighty impressive favors she can call in. The Male tells me his name is Vincent, and that he's come to help make Kitti well. When I ask him if he's a medic, he tells me nay, but that we don't need a Medic here, we need a Lore Knower.

I ask how that's different from a Bard. He shrugs and says we learn different stories on different sides of the borders, and lights in me a fire to travel to the Nightside so sudden and surprising that I can't even stop him when he pushes on past and goes into Kitti's room.

The stuff he did in there, once I followed him in? I never seen the likes of it before. But I seen plenty since. Bein' around these two will do that to ya. I don't think it's my place, even as a story teller of my acumen, to tell ya exactly how he did this, but he helped her. By the next mornin', Kitti was walking with crutches, and had her missing ear and arm back. It wasn't really a power Vincent had, to grow back a limb, but it was a thing he knew how to draw out of an Instrument I'd never seen before.

It'd be a heck of an exaggeration to say that /everything/ changed after that night, but a lotta things did. Kitti worked on getting back to herself, and Avid and I got to get to knoin' Vincent. Vincent stayed at the castle for a long while, and when he left, Kitti and I left with him. I didn't know if I'd go back, but Kitti did. Vincent had given us both jobs to do, things we didn't know we'd be doin'. She learned that her life had meaning, something' we'd all known but hadn't been able to convince her of yet, and he showed me that if I was gonna be the best Bard that ever lived, there was a whole half of the world of stories I was missin' out on.

We still don't know who, or what the reason was behind the attack on Kitti. She has some ideas, but none of 'em sound all that realistic to me, and trust me, I know how to spin a yarn. Once she's done with what she has to do on the Nightside, she's gonna be seein' to those ideas. We'll see if she has a Bard to go along with her, or if she'll be on her own for a while again. Either way, Vincent has helped us prepare for either outcome. Gods love him."

World: Knights of Nodd.
Characters: Kitti A. Ryubyn.
Media: Easy Paint Tool SAI and Microsoft Paint.
Art, ideas, design, and character © me.

-Topknot