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!
Her hand is surprisingly soft, but belies the strength that meets his own as she shakes it. It does nothing to help the color in his cheeks, stark against his fair and freckled skin. At least the color of the firelight helps to conceal it a little.
“Wow, that’s better than I could’ve expected.” He supposes being far away is detrimental only to the student, not the Academy. He tucks the name she gives him away for future reference and distracts himself with turning the meat to begin cooking the other side. Alys takes up the slack with her question, and Caden grins at her sideways.
“Practically everywhere,” he chuckles, straddling the line of arrogance with his confidence. “All of the settled lands except Stormbreak, and most of the wilds. The Climb and Hak Etme less so, but that’s because the climates are so harsh you won’t find many people to trade with.” Not that he has zero experience with them - his uncle would take them to those exact places directly after bartering more eye-catching magical weapons or favors to lie low. “What about you?”
Though I know my heart will break I'd still tell the surgeon to put it back in
As Caden turned the meat, he began to list off the places he'd been with a confidence just shy of arrogant, and Alys listened with interest. Her own travels had been minimal, usually restricted to needing something specific from a place other than home. She'd intended to travel more when she'd left the Grounds, but she'd fallen in love with Halo, and that was that.
"I spend most of my time in Halo, these days," she admitted. "But I've been to the Greatwood and Torchline, a little. King's End a few times. Hak Etme and the Oerwoud once each. The Climb." As she listed off places, ticking them off on her fingers, she realized that perhaps she was more well-traveled than she realized, and she laughed. "To be honest, I never really though about where all I've been until just now."
Minor powerplay allowed without permission.
Feel free to use force/magic on Alys.
Her dawning realization is amusing, and Caden can't help but grin - though he has the decency to turn his head away as he does lest he offends her with his reaction. "Once you start it's hard to stop," he chuckles, and bravely uses another touch of magic to float the plates over to them so he doesn't have to get up off the log to retrieve them.
"Now all that's left is exploring each of those regions from end to end. Have you ever seen the Hak Etme Oasis? You'd never expect something so beautiful in the desert." Many would never even dream of its existence or even come close to finding it if they didn't dedicate themselves to exploring the entire region. Considering how easy it was to become hopelessly bored in enforced solitude, Caden had learned to love the one thing that came plentifully in his upbringing - wandering. Plating the meat, he cuts it in half and places it on the other plate to extend towards Alys. "That's why I'm not sure I'm cut out for city life anymore." A slightly quieter admission given its honesty. He fears he missed that window years ago and will now never be able to integrate into society the way he should.
Though I know my heart will break I'd still tell the surgeon to put it back in
It wasn't that she disliked traveling, exactly; it was more that she had too much to do to travel often. And when she did, many times it was for reasons other than pleasure. Her trip to Hak Etme, for example, was on an errand to help Deimos and his fellow leaders with a plan to improve Halo. Truthfully, had it not been Deimos that had asked, she probably wouldn't have ventured out there at all. "No," she said. "I've never seen the oasis. If I go back, I'll have to be sure to find it."
She wasn't much of an explorer, so she couldn't really relate to Caden's seeming excitement over exploring the different regions end to end (that would be Soh, go thread with her). Alys accepted her plate of meat with a word of thanks. "Well," she said contemplatively. "No one said you have to settle down. And even if you did, there's no rule saying you have to stay there forever." She cut a piece of her meat and took a bite; it was really quite good, for food cooked on the road. "I mean, I didn't think I'd stay in Halo, but I did. As for whether or not I'll stay there forever, well, who knows?"
Minor powerplay allowed without permission.
Feel free to use force/magic on Alys.
Now that he'd lured her to the idea, he has to appropriately caution her. "You have to come very prepared when you do, the desert is unforgiving and easy to get lost in. There's a reliable charter company I can give you the name of if you'd like." Plentiful scam ones too, and he'd hate to see her hurt or lost out on the sands trying to find the vision of beauty he knows lies to the east.
She makes it sound so easy, to be part of a community without truly settling. And maybe it really is that easy, but to Caden it feels like his solitary ways are a giant cloud over his head that he can't imagine ever getting out from under. "I guess you're right. I was thinking of heading to the Greatwood for a little while next - but maybe I can come visit you in Halo? Or take you to the Oasis myself." Shrugging slightly - not exactly self-conscious but almost boyishly embarrassed - Caden smiles her way. "See? I'm already trying my hand at this whole making real friends thing."
Though I know my heart will break I'd still tell the surgeon to put it back in
Honestly, Alys wasn't particularly keen to go exploring in the desert. She'd grown so used to the cold of Halo, what with her warm clothes and the Academy magic keeping the chill at bay, that the heat of the desert sounded unbearable. Still, she appreciated the warning, and she supposed that if she was going to go, it would be with someone who could guide her directly to the oasis and back. She wouldn't want to linger there any longer than necessary. "Thank you," she said.
When it came to Halo, though, she smiled. "Sure. I'd almost recommend coming to Halo sooner than later - it can be brutal during Deepfrost if you're not used to it. But either way - feel free to look me up when you visit. I'll be happy to show you around." As for the Oasis: "I certainly wouldn't mind a guide to the Oasis," she admitted. That sounded more appealing than contracting some random strangers, anyway. "I'm pretty free to roam, usually, so if you head that way and want company, let me know."
Alys laughed at Caden's shrug and corresponding admission. "Making real friends is hard," she advised. Then, thinking of Tal and Ru, she smiled. "But it can be worth it. I'm not very good at it yet, either."
Minor powerplay allowed without permission.
Feel free to use force/magic on Alys.
Caden winks at her, naturally charming if not particularly flirtatious. "Anything for a pretty lady." Plus he finds himself beginning to feel a little fond of her, likely because she knows him more than anyone else at this point. The bar is incredibly low clearly, but she is the only person in Caido who now knows he's Abandoned. He'd hate to see her lost to the sands.
"I've been before, but only for trading. Where should I call on you?" She'd mentioned the Academy but nothing more, and he doesn't even have her surname as a guide. He definitely won't be arriving in Deepfrost, but there was still reasonable travel to be had in Leafchange. "We'll save the Oasis for one of the colder seasons so you can escape to better horizons," he teases, riding off her previous comment about how dreadful it gets in Halo.
"Unfortunately I have no drinks with which to toast to that, but..." he lifts his skewered meat towards hers, encouraging her to 'toast' them with a boyish grin. "To making new friends."
Though I know my heart will break I'd still tell the surgeon to put it back in
Alys was unused to being charmed, and she waved off the potentially flirtatious comment with a chuckle. She had found herself surprisingly at ease with the young man, perhaps because he was a fellow Abandoned, and perhaps because he reminded her a little of herself before finding the Academy: alone and adrift, unsure where to go or what to do next. "You can usually find me at the Academy; I live there, for now. They have dorms there, for those of us who need it. Otherwise, you can ask around for Alys Glasse, and somebody should be able to track me down."
She wrinkled her nose at his teasing about Halo's brutal winters before she laughed. "That's not a bad idea," she admitted. "I'm sure that I'll be looking for a reprieve, when it gets colder." Even with the magic of the Citadel, and the magic that being a part of the Academy granted her, and the warmer clothes she'd long since invested in.
With a grin, Alys lifted her skewered meat for a mock toast. "Cheers," she said. And with that, it seemed, a new friendship was cemented. They sat for some time around the fire, chatting about this and that, enjoying their skewered meat and one another's company, until night had fallen and Alys decided that she might as well stay at Caden's campsite until morning, when she would be on her way back to Halo.
-FIN-
Minor powerplay allowed without permission.
Feel free to use force/magic on Alys.
