From being an Abandoned who had rarely left the Hollowed Grounds, to embracing the call of adventure, to dying and being reborn first as an Ascended and then as an Ancient, Maea has gone through quite the amount of changes in her life. One thing remains common, though, in her attempts to find out just where she belongs; she’s always had a craving for knowledge which has brought her to so many places and to meet so many people here in Caido. We can’t wait to see what else is in store for her!
Congratulations, Maea!
Credits
Court of the Fallen was created in October of 2018 by Odd, Honey, and Crooked.
Skinning and hosting by the epically talented Kaons, and functionality fanciness by the coding magic of Neowulf. If you ever see either of them around, make sure to show them some love!
If he had to stay up to catch a glimpse of a shooting star, Tal figured there was no place better than the Fae's Observatory. He was usually so busy flying into or out of the port that he hadn't been up to it yet, but Safrin's quest had given him the perfect excuse to take a night off and be nosy. Timing a delivery for when there'd be the best chance of a star shower had been the hardest part but now here he was, stretched out on his back on the wooden planks with his jacket folded beneath his head for a pillow as he watched the clear sky above.
The Flowerbirth night was more than a little chilly, but his Frostbite Cuff kept him comfortable in spite of the threat of late frost and, besides, there was a warm dragon stretched out along his side, snoring gently and radiating heat as her tail tip twitched and her talons flexed in dreamy shenanigans. Tal grinned and shifted a hand from under his head to drape over her back, scratching a spot between her wings that had Boreal sighing blissfully and relaxing back into stillness.
A thin streak of light cut across the sky and Tal caught his breath in sudden excitement, his attention all for the celestial display above and unaware of the sound of someone coming up the ladder behind him.
Open!
Though he is older now, his education is not quite done, and as such he still travels between Torchline and the Greatwood. Neither of his parents is exactly happy with his aging, but Jude feels less like a burden now. He had hoped to feel less alone, hoped to catch up with his peers and old friends who had aged up beyond what he had, but that yet remains an unanswered wish. Which is how he finds himself at the Observatory, hoping to convene quietly with Safrin from afar to comfort himself on a particularly troublesome night of worries.
Most Fae entered the Observatory from the top, so Jude is aware there might be one or two others as he reaches the top of the ladder, but when he manages to shuffle onto the landing and sees only a solitary person he winces and can't help apologizing immediately. "Oh, um, sorry - I'll just -" It would have been smarter to silently creep back down in hindsight, but Jude fumbles to try and backtrack without falling straight down the opening in his desperate attempt to escape. Except the ladder is not well lit, and he gets a little dizzy looking at the long drop, which makes him freeze in place like a terrified possum.
stop trying to keep this alive you're pointing at stars in the sky that already died
The voice penetrated Tal's star-struck awe of the sky above, startling him and the dragon both. Boreal raised her head sleepily with a disoriented chuff of confusion and she swung her broad head right into Tal's chest as he was starting to sit up and turn around. Instead he was knocked back to the floor, his head bouncing off the planks with a thunk and a hiss of pain from the courier. He ended up just tilting his head back from the ground, looking at the stranger upside-down as Boreal yawned mightily and then turned around to examine the boy as well - stepping on Tal's diaphragm in the process and knocking the breath out of him as she gave a curious Baruuuar? of greeting.
Tal, meanwhile, groaned eloquently and waved a hand in either reassurance or a plea for help - it wasn't quite clear, given the circumstances.
Still staring down into the dark, Jude misses what causes the other young man to come to harm, but he hears the thunk and pained noise perfectly clearly in the otherwise silent Observatory. When he turns to find the stranger laid flat - and then unapologetically stepped on by his companion - Jude's panic morphs from social anxiety into concern. "Oh! Oh, no, you're squishing him!" he whisper-yells at the dragon, springing to his feet to run light-footed over to the two of them.
Kneeling near the stranger's shoulder, he waves his hands ineffectually at the inquisitive dragon. "Come this way, okay?" He points vaguely to his left, hoping the companion will either understand or be intrigued by the way his hand moves away so Jude can focus on the poor pancake-person. "Are you alright? I'm sorry if I scared you," Jude winces, wishing he had some way to help the raging headache the stranger is sure to be experiencing.
stop trying to keep this alive you're pointing at stars in the sky that already died
bones, bones, bones, bones, bones, bones, bones, bones, bones, bones, bones, bones, bones, bones.
You've encountered the OG random event! This allows you to skip one levelling requirement with the character in this thread. (Unfortunately does not count for characters over level 10, how sad.)
Yes, yes she was squishing him, but Boreal didn't seem particularly remorseful about what she'd put her human through. He was tougher than he looked and besides, he'd heal up just fine. She, on the other hand, was perishing for want of attention and here was a nice new friend to give it to her!
She ambled over to where the young man - boy? - indicated and sat down, just as pretty as a picture as she awaited the treat that must surely be coming. Tal, meanwhile, groaned again and gave up on trying to sit up. Breathing was about the extent of his capabilities at the moment as he blinked up at the newcomer. "Not scared," he growled in protest. "Y'just... startled Boreal, is all." Tal definitely hadn't been startled. Yeah.
"Isn't it past your bedtime, kid?" he added, squinting up at the youthful teenage face in the shadows, scowling in embarrassment at being caught in such an undignified position.
Whatever the reasoning behind the dragon's acquiescence, Jude isn't keen on questioning it, because the man beneath it wheezes a little and begins to sound more like a human than an impending corpse. Convinced he has saved a life, Jude manages a relieved smile for the dragon, producing a treat from his pocket where he always stashes them for his family's large multitude of companions. Offering it flat-palmed and from as much of a distance as he can give her out of respect, Jude mentally records her name as it's given instead of focusing too much on the man's bitterness. It's better for his anxiety that way.
"I'm sorry Boreal," he says directly to the dragon, all moon eyes and earnestness, offering up the treat with more intent as if to curry her forgiveness. "And, um, sorry she ended up stepping on you then." If the stranger wouldn't accept his apology with that particular wording, Jude was happy to oblige with an alternate; plenty more where that came from. And it's why he flushes pink but doesn't bristle at the stand-offish question, not the type to stand his ground. "Oh, um. I'm sixteen, I don't really...have a bedtime?" At least, his parents haven't been terribly strict about it. Jude is usually quite good at policing himself in that way. "But I couldn't sleep anyway. I'm sorry - I really can go -" the babbling threatens to return, face heating further in a way that makes him glad for the darkness that makes it more difficult to see.
stop trying to keep this alive you're pointing at stars in the sky that already died
Given how roughly Boreal played with her favorite human chew toy, Jude wasn't wrong about his life-saving endeavors. She leaned forward daintily to lick the treat from his palm with a rough tongue, slurping it down and then giving his hand a few extra washes for good measure as she accepted his apology, her scaly tail sweeping back and forth across the boards of the observatory in reptilian pleasure. This was clearly a pushover nice young man with excellent manners and she slid a draconic glance to Tal to see if he was taking notes.
Tal was grumbling quietly to himself but conserving his recently-reacquired oxygen as he watched the byplay with an upside-down scowl. There wasn't any true heat behind it, but only those who knew him well would be able to tell. The boy's quietly sincere apology to Boreal went a long way to soothing the courier's ruffled feathers and he sighed at the easy acquiescence. First Mateo, then Harper, now this kid. How the hail was he supposed to stay grouchy at people when they apologized so fast?
"Fuckin'... no," he growled, slowly pushing himself up with a residual groan and spinning on his rump to face the boy cross-legged. "Y'got as much right t'be here as I do. More, maybe, if y'live here. I'm just watchin' shootin' stars for Safrin. If y'need t'talk t'her, I can - we can," he amended, glaring fondly at the dragon as she sidled closer to the boy, extending her short, muscular neck to sniff at his pockets, "Go an' come back later."
It's a bit of a disaster on all ends, and Jude can only be grateful that Boreal is so nice because his anxiety is making his temples hurt with all the mixed signals and mess-ups happening in the span of a few minutes. He giggles quietly, a little strained, as the dragon licks his palm a few more times for good measure. He even waits to wipe it off on his pants so as not to offend her before gently patting her head now that there was no risk of contaminating her pretty scales with her own saliva.
Still on his shins, Jude looks up through the curls against his forehead to watch the older boy. Man? He's not sure, his actions and young face make it hard to tell an accurate age group. "If it's for Safrin, you should stay," he argues, a little stronger in conviction now that the herald had been named. Though that bravery wilts immediately back into shyness, eyes dropping down to Boreal's investigation of his pockets and smiling as he clamps a hand over each to keep her at bay. "Maybe we could...watch together?" It's easier to propose when he's not looking at the other young man.
stop trying to keep this alive you're pointing at stars in the sky that already died
Boreal wasn't particularly bothered either way, but she appreciated pats and the look she gave Tal was a clear indication that just because he was offering to leave, he didn't speak for her. As far as the dragon was concerned the human was her companion, not the other way around.
Tal didn't move his head at the gentle argument, but he did narrow his eyes thoughtfully. "Well, if y'insist..." If the kid wanted to let him stay he wasn't going to fight to leave! This was where he needed to be for a little while longer, at least, and he was already staying up plenty late as it was. He didn't really want to be up the entire night because he'd have to come back later.
"Guess we could," he agreed after another moment's thought. Safrin hadn't said anything about having to do it alone, after all, and the kid was being so polite Tal was starting to feel a little bad, even through his headache. Boreal huffed at him and sent a nudge through their bond and he blinked and rubbed his neck uncomfortably. "Uh. I'm Tal, by the way. An' this is Boreal. So d'you live here, then?"
Boreal is not even remotely close to the first dragon he has met with such conspicuous sass, and it does make him smile to see her take such easy control of the situation. Aidon had gone with Maeve wherever she'd disappeared to, and Jude misses him as much as his mother.
With the agreement verbalized, no matter how begrudging, Jude stands and moves closer so he can sit crosslegged beside the newly named Tal. "Oh, I'm Jude!" A hand is presented with a little hopeful smile, wanting to do introductions properly before he lays down beside Tal to better view the stars together. Plus then it's easier to speak without having to look in someone's eyes. "Sometimes. My parents are separated, so I visit back and forth until I'm done with school. Do you?" It doesn't seem like it just from the way he'd phrased it, but Jude turns his head to look at Tal curiously from the side.
stop trying to keep this alive you're pointing at stars in the sky that already died
The offered hand was taken gingerly and Tal's mouth made an effort to curve in something like a smile as he made an attempt to be polite through the headache that made the expression look a little sickly in spite of his best efforts. Still, it was dark and hopefully the shadows would help hide the worst of it.
A quiet sigh of relief escaped the courier as they were able to lie back down again. He did so slowly, cushioning the back of his sore head on his linked hands while he looked to the sky once more. Stars were thick across the inky velvet, scattered like crushed diamonds that twinkled brilliantly in the chilly Flowerbirth night. Like Jude, he was happier to converse without having to look at the other man and he didn't even notice when the kid turned his head to face him. All of his attention was on the starscape above, seeking another shooting star for Safrin's quest.
"Separated, huh? Sounds tough." he admitted with a touch of genuine sympathy. "Mine are both dead. I'm from Halo, though I'm a courier so I travel around a lot on business. Had some packages t'deliver here in Sidhe, an' a task from Safrin I figured would be best done here, too, so the timin' worked out." He shifted as Boreal stretched out between the two boys, wriggling into a comfortable spot where both could theoretically offer scritches.
"So. Uh. Where else d'you live?" he asked lamely, gamely trying to keep the conversation going.
It's clear he is in some sort of pain, but Jude unfortunately has nothing to help, which only makes him feel worse. Not wanting to point it out just to be incapable of fixing it, Jude quickly lays down and links his hands over his stomach, ignoring the squeamish feeling beneath his palms. The stars are captivating, far clearer than Torchline which often had clouds and bonfire smoke to obscure them.
Tal doesn't turn his face the way Jude does, but he doesn't mind, taking the opportunity to examine how the moonlight falls on the young man's features. "I'm sorry," he whispers, voice solemn and sad. His mother being missing is harder than he can bear sometimes, he wouldn't know how to go on if she was dead. If all his parents were dead. He marvels at how sad life can be, how prevalent - Sohalia had suffered much the same fate. "Do you still miss them? What were their names?" He'd asked Sohalia similar questions about Auden, hoping to carry that information and keep her mentor alive in a mind other than her own.
"Oh! Um, Torchline. My dad is a councilman there. Have you ever been there? I've never been to Halo." Mostly restricted to his two home regions and the neighboring Wilds, lest his parents lose their minds over him straying too far from home. It's not an unfounded fear given his family's strange predilection for disappearing acts, but Jude sometimes wishes he could travel a little further.
stop trying to keep this alive you're pointing at stars in the sky that already died
It was probably a good thing that Tal didn't realize he was being watched. Between the headache and his focus on the sky he missed Jude's scrutiny and didn't see the younger man's expression at the whispered sympathy. His own lips tugged into a grimace, awkward as always with the condolences of others. Boreal heaved a large sigh as the courier's voice emerged, gruffer than it had yet been. "Don't be. Y'weren't the one who killed 'em." That had been Neron, indirectly. He was quiet as Jude continued, and uncharacteristically still at his questions.
Though his eyes remained mostly dry he kept them locked on the stars, watching another flare of light arc across the heavens. "Always," he admitted, the words tugged loose reluctantly. Not for the emotion behind them so much as the prying, wounding words of a kid who couldn't know any better. "But don't worry about it. Or them." In his rough reassurance was love and a grief worn soft and aching with years. But there was selfishness, too, to hold his family close and the instinct to protect himself from further hurt.
He changed the subject abruptly back to something safer and relaxed a little when Jude took the hint. "Council, huh? Sounds important." Then again, Sah had used to be on the Halovian council so maybe it wasn't that big a deal. "Yeah, I go there pretty often on business. But Halo's better," he added in staunch defense of his home. "Not so damn hot all th'time. An' not so humid!" He snorted and then winced, instantly regretting that particular decision. "Ah... fuck. Uh. So what d'you do, anyways? I know I keep callin' you 'kid' but you're old enough to at least be 'prenticin' somewhere, right?"
