Is Kalaya a knight? Haven't we answered this question already?

Of course she's a knight - depending on your definition, she's been one ever since her teenage years. Ever since that one autumn evening when she first swore the Thorn Oaths and spent a night in contemplation (even though, at the time, her arms and armour had been little more than a rusty training sword and a leather jerkin that she'd claimed from the castle armoury)

Yes, Kalaya is a knight. But it is not Kalaya the knight that jumps back into the room.

For, long before she ever became a knight, she had been a [i]girl[/i].

And how does a girl react when she makes a true and dear friend? Her first real friend? Someone who stands by her when they had no need to do so, who [i]fought [/i]for her and [i]continued [/i]to stay by her side when all others would have left? What does she think when they spend every moment they can together, like a pair of freezing children seeking out, clinging to the warmth of that one ephemeral flick of flame.

What does a girl feel when that warmth turns to scalding fire, but only when in defence of her? When she and the fire would stand tall in defiance of those who were stronger, faster, [i]crueller[/i]. When the flames would fortify her against the cold, lonely nights upon which doubt would prey. When she could feel that flame as a beacon on the horizon, despite the leagues between them?

And how do you sort through all that when one day, that flame disappears and it's like the sun itself has gone out. When you lose that reference point and all the perspective it would have brought? Do you let their memory fade, or does it become the ideal? And even when other flames flicker into life around you, even when you open up and let them into your life, do they still sit there as the light by which all others are judged?

And what, then, do you do when the sun is suddenly back? But instead of the warm yellow glow of your memories, it's shining [i]green[/i]. Could your mind even begin to process this? Would it break?

And the craziest thing about all of this is that you can remember how the sun spoke to you. Both years and days ago, and the voice is the same - carrying a tone that it touches only for you. That the silent gestures of times past are still present and that whatever space you had in its thoughts - [i]you're still there[/i].

Now, you know what you are [i]meant [/i]to do. You're [i]meant [/i]to walk away. To [i]forget[/i]. To[i] move on[/i]. To find a new sun and a new life. Because for so long the sun had been distant and unreachable. Beyond hearing. Beyond touch. Beyond all sight and knowledge. But now here she is again, right in front of her, and Kalaya can only think about how to help Ven escape once more.

[i]And that doesn't make any sense at all.[/i]

After all. Kalaya is a knight. Those sworn to hell are the enemy.

But it isn't Kalaya the knight that leaps against the dragon.

And it isn't Kalaya the girl.

It's Kalaya the [i]woman[/i]. Armoured in lies, doubt and confusion. The one who would reach out to that flickering flame and try to preserve it, no matter the cost.

[Kalaya is [b]smitten [/b]with Ven, who takes a string. Rolling to [b]Fight [/b]the Vermillion Beast: 4 + 1 + 1: [b]6[/b]. Kalaya uses the move "For the Cause", marking the condition [i]Insecure [/i]to pick a move from the Fight move and chooses to take something - namely Ven].