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!
walked from revelation to revelation came back storm-drenched
He snorted thereafter, a brief rolling of his eyes in response, watching as the waves maneuvered over the fixture of his legs, in their own myriad of movement. “All right. Then you can tell me yours,” to keep them both accountable. Though his eyes narrowed a moment later, mind deciding on an additional layer – knowing Ru well enough to figure she’d been pinpointing on several victims. “Though you can probably leave some of your activities out of the tale.”
As for Flora and her antics, Ru unraveling and having to watch another act out a similar storyline still gave him great amusement – as long as it didn’t become torn, disassembled, and mauled as the Valkyrie’s. Maybe her mother’s experience would keep her tied over; and with a loss already resounding, maintain some manner of measure and calculation.
But speaking no more of it, other than a stray bark of a chuckle again, there were more amusements to be had – at least, in squirrel hats. Deeply entertained and diverted, he cast her brief onslaught back in return, stirring the pot further. “So is that a no?”
through shattered mountains and aching famine stronger than all of it
06-20-2023, 06:52 PM (This post was last modified: 06-20-2023, 06:52 PM by Hotaru.)
Ru
Ru concedes the equal requirement, though he snatches the fun straight off her tongue as he immediately makes an amendment to that statement, prompting a devilish curl of her lips his way. "Must you steal all my fun?" she croons plaintively, as if she is not still smirking. Another twirl of magic - though it still feels odd to have her healing dissipate and go nowhere - and she shrugs her shoulders, smirk dwindling to a small, more contemplative smile. "I think it will be fun though. Good for me even, if I let it." Exhaling slowly, she stares down into the water instead of those blue eyes that always see through her. "And I'm going to try." Try and let go, try and live. The way Enzo had asked her to, the way Flora accuses her of not.
Glad for the distraction, she narrows her eyes and swings them back up to him, fondly exasperated. "Distinctly a no," she emphasizes, and snorts as she kicks her legs again.
you are such a soft and messy thing nobody knows how to take care of you
Hotaru has a passive magic that makes her glow with an internal golden light; it makes her appear youthful and her hair seems to look like moving sunlight. Can only subtly illuminate dark spaces.
walked from revelation to revelation came back storm-drenched
“Only some,” and he shook his head, parting the waves without gesture or qualms, watching as they became two separate entities, then crashed into one another moments later, before falling back into the springs. “I think so too,” he agreed – because the walls of grief had been enclosing and that hadn’t been the Valkyrie he’d always known. Yes – in pieces and pockets, when the devastating loss rang and decimated, but she’d always found a way to reach back from the horrors. This one had felt different. And possibly too much to bear.
Leaving those thoughts to himself, his eyes flickered downward, watching the curl and plume of the pool, imagining Ru and her infinite squirrel tail hat – some of the fur bustling in the breeze. The image was absolutely ridiculous, and so he made sure to recreate it via the water, utilizing droplets to begin forming the absurd design. “You could start a new trend.”
through shattered mountains and aching famine stronger than all of it
Blowing a lazy raspberry to demonstrate what she thinks of that little amendment, Ru watches him play with the water and sticks a leg out to feel the crash against both sides of her calf as they converge. It feels symbolic considering the soft agreement he lends to the discussion. Emotional vulnerability with Deimos has always been easy, but admittedly both of them have been forced to learn how to express those feelings verbally. Merely humming - for true lack of anything to say instead of avoiding the topic - her eyes slide sideways to take in the terrible (but detailed) recreation he is forming with water droplets.
"Gods, it's like a nightmare!" she sputters and laughs, flicking her fingers toward it to try and dispel with the force of her own air magic. "If you're truly insistent I can make you one and have it delivered to your door you know. You needn't hide your desires in vaguery." Turning it on him with a shameless smirk.
you are such a soft and messy thing nobody knows how to take care of you
Hotaru has a passive magic that makes her glow with an internal golden light; it makes her appear youthful and her hair seems to look like moving sunlight. Can only subtly illuminate dark spaces.
walked from revelation to revelation came back storm-drenched
Leaving the topic behind as well, he catered to the aspects of making the watery depiction more and more bewildering, stupefying, and horrendous. Soon, not only were the fur tails lined up squarely across her head, but also an orchestration of the rodent’s cranium, fangs embedded, elongated, right at the top. For amusement’s sake, he also included the liquid Hotaru winking, regaling her imaginary fans with the latest muse.
Grinning in that boyish and juvenile aspects known only by a few, he laughed uproariously again at her suggestion. “Belial would love one,” with rapt insistence – for he could imagine the damned little deer chewing it to pieces or wearing it himself.
through shattered mountains and aching famine stronger than all of it
Groaning louder as it gains detail against all her desires to eradicate it from sight entirely, Ru smears her hand down her face to shroud her eyes and badly conceal the humorous tilt of her lips. Giving in to the juvenile, ridiculous notions, Hotaru drops her hand and laughs openly, relishing in the feeling.
"I'll add a little tie for under his chin to make it harder for him to throw it off," she reassures, and considers dropping off the little gift by hand so she can watch not only the wrangling it would take to get it on Belial's head but also the hilarity of the insanity that would ensue once the peryton realized it could not be easily dislodged.
Heart a little lighter now, she tilts herself sideways - bodily breaking through the watery vision if he does not move it - and lightly rests her head on his shoulder, magic still trickling down into the waters. She doesn't say anything, but she doesn't need to.
you are such a soft and messy thing nobody knows how to take care of you
Hotaru has a passive magic that makes her glow with an internal golden light; it makes her appear youthful and her hair seems to look like moving sunlight. Can only subtly illuminate dark spaces.
walked from revelation to revelation came back storm-drenched
The watery figments turned and twisted as if the Valkyrie were showing off her latest fashions, waving to an invisible crowd. This permitted him an opportunity to display the rest of his watery incantations and imaginations, with more squirrel tails stacked and braided upon one another. Just as stupid as the speaking creatures themselves, some of the fur spun along the droplets, making it appear embellished in the wind.
At her suggestion, he placed a tie underneath intangible Ru – firmly tied off. Another round of laughter pitched through his chest and throat – even as her vision decimated and dissipated at her movement.
There would have been a word of protest, had her head not settled on his shoulder. Snorting again, a deep rumble exuded, partaking in the quiet moment of peace. “You okay?”
through shattered mountains and aching famine stronger than all of it
With laughter still held like a balloon in her chest, recalling those ridiculous visuals crafted through Deimos' magic and imagination, Hotaru lolls her head against his shoulder and inhales the scent of sulfur and rock that lingers over any natural hotspring.
He must sense the change within even if it is already clear from the outside, and Hotaru hums noncomittally for a moment as she considers how best to word what she's feeling. Until, finally, she just lets the Attuned bond open so he can feel what she's feeling;
Like sunlight through deep water, peace and happiness filter through in radiant beams that do not necessarily dispel the darkness, but beautify it. No longer do the waters feel as if they're drowning her, but as if she has merely exhaled all her breath to sink to the bottom and watch the surface from below. She feels happy. She feels peaceful.
"Yeah. Yeah, I'm okay."
you are such a soft and messy thing nobody knows how to take care of you
Hotaru has a passive magic that makes her glow with an internal golden light; it makes her appear youthful and her hair seems to look like moving sunlight. Can only subtly illuminate dark spaces.
walked from revelation to revelation came back storm-drenched
He waited; ever patient, ever steady, ever a rock and stone. The plumes curled and contorted again without the aftermath of his water incantations contorting over their filaments, or the healing presses of Ru’s wake lulling through. Normalcy, quiet and subdued, their enchantments measured only by brief inklings and sparks of light, cast in vague nuances before floating along.
A smile formed in the corner of his mouth again as the Attuned bond relayed everything perfectly – contentment and ease, calm, composed, leisurely strolls under shadowed brambles and boughs, a world of raised heads and eyes to the sky, rather than bowed and broken.
Another cleansing, in some way.
“Good,” he surmised, before they departed, their work complete.
{FIN <3}
through shattered mountains and aching famine stronger than all of it
