Riley

- he lived a relatively peaceful live with his childhood friend Noct, another Shadow Fae
- at some point he met Riley, a Lightning Fae. They became friends fast, but Riley's dad didn't want her to hang around a shadow dragon because bias & reasons
- they still met to hang out, though mostly at night and in less safe locations, i.e. that forest full of (for a fae) huge wolves
- on a full moon, the other Riley was attacked by one such wolf with glowing eyes and mortally wounded. Distraught, Riley brought her home to a very mad dad. It did not go well, and for a while the two stopped meeting due to one of them being half dead
- Riley survived her wounds, but became a werewolf in the process because magic
- Riley, THIS Riley, felt bad about having caused her so much trouble and harm, but the other Riley mostly blamed her father for not allowing the two to meet normally in the first place
- I am starting to seriously regret giving both of them the same name
- Some arguing and falling out with her father later, Riley really wants to move out, so she asks Riley if he wants to start a clan with her
- This Riley reluctantly agrees, though he wants to ask his childhood friend to come with them... only Riley's dad (who really needs a name of his own that ISN'T Riley) shows up and the two are forced to leave early, though Riley swears to come back for Noct
- When Riley sneaks back into the village about a week later to ask his friend, he learns that a bully took some jokes too far and ended up accidentally killing Noct.
- Riley casually invites said bully to a nice little stroll around the forest. said bully's parents urge them (him? her?) to go with the nice fae and talk things out
- Then Riley ends up leading the way to a historical site, filled to the brim with shadow magic
- if you've read the wiki article on fae, you probably know where this is going
- specifically the parts about "Fae dragons fighting on magically or elementally charged terrain will have a nearly infinite supply of energy to channel into their destructive spells" and "To fight a Fae in a battlefield of its choosing is a poor choice, one its enemies will not have the opportunity to make twice"
- Riley doesn't even hurt them that much physically, mostly he instills a lifelong fear of angry Fae
- with that venting out of the way, and on top of the whole "the other Riley's dad is not happy" thing, he's now officially wanted as a criminal
- Fun Fact: Riley doesn't know HOW Noct was killed. So even if he'd ever meet the marionette that his friend's soul is now possessing, which - knowing me - will probably happen at some point... there's no way Riley could recognize Noct. And Noct in his current form can't talk or write, and is still figuring out communicating basic stuff like "This is not what it looks like" and "I'm not trying to kill you, or anyone else for that matter, so please stop running away screaming?"

Noct Childhood Sweetheart Riley Best Friend Nikolai Friend