#aoide

The problem was that, well, I basically sketched it out and inked it before she put up the official design sheet of the character, so now it's not really accurate. I took the parts I liked from each of her designs (the one from when she first turns human and then a year later), and sort of made ti a transitionary thing? IDK.

I didn't want to make this a straight redraw. I had already drawn Aoide/Coral in her fancy dress, so that was out. So I figured I'd make it, you know, less dumb? Yes, she's still out in the snow with bare arms, but eh - I might not have drawn her with the correct body type, but she does have extra protection going for her. :P

I know she's probably experienced snow before - I kinda get the impress that where she was from originally was a lot colder than the main kingdom. But this is the first time she's experiencing snow as a human. (But at the same time, if she's anything like the Coral of the past, it wouldn't matter - she'd be excited to see snow every time it happens. :P)

I do plan to further the present by streaming it's completion. Just need to figure out when I can, lol.

Her flesh was growing, her bones twisting, and yes, that brought the growing pain, a pain she knew from when she was a child, but multiplied tenfold. There was that misconception that four-legged animals had their legs twisted back in comparison to humanoids, which was a falsehood of course, they simply had extended toes and heels, but nevertheless, she could feel her bones breaking and reassembling themselves, shifting together in new ways.

And then, finally, she had grown enough for her to rip apart. It started at the lips, her subtle smile torn into a grotesque grin that struck fear into her opponents’ – her victims’ – hearts. Her teeth grew as well, sharp and long and drenched in her own blood.

Next were her fingers: They extended in length as well, nails growing out, becoming claws. She dropped her dagger. What need did she have for such crude things when her nature had provided her with perfectly serviceable weapons? It felt so much more comfortable anyways.

Soon her skin ripped open at all her joints, and it burnt and bled in the few short moments it took for the wounds to heal, to grow over with new skin, coated in her blood. No matter, she would be drenched in it soon anyway, and it wouldn’t be hers. Spikes were growing from her spine and breaking through her flesh and skin.

If she screamed during the procedure at all, it was a scream of victory as well as pain. And if she cried, those were tears of joy, and they got lost in the blood.

And there she was: A bundle of teeth and claws and spikes, wearing a Drow’s skin. She was grace and might, she was a miracle of nature, a curse personified. She was compassion just as much as she was vengeance, but she felt that today she was all out of the former.