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!
"Indeed," Hadama rumbled agreeably. Though he had not always taken safety into consideration when training in the past, it was most welcome to have a friend who was worried about it - and him. There was something to be said for the motivation that dodging rocks and arrows provided, of course, but it was also nice to go home afterwards without the serious bruising that such projectiles delivered when he failed to evade them.
Coconuts were hard enough, but they had a larger surface area than most rocks, and they weren't as dense. Though they had many uses - indeed, he had recently spent an afternoon teaching Koa of their wonders - there was no need to go into such details with Evie today. Torchline gave his people what they needed; thanks to Safrin they were safe and well-provided, but the Warden had her own frozen land to return to. He would let her go, of course, knowing that the cold didn't bother her thanks to the Academy's blessing, but he would miss her when she left.
Not one to dwell on the uncertain future, he instead focused on appreciating the time he had with her in the present. He was assisted in that decision by the projectile that came his way without warning, and his focus narrowed down to the now. Hadama twisted to the side, pulling his shoulder out of the way of the incoming coconut with room to spare, and his grin briefly flashed white against his dark skin. "Try again!"
Surely the snow glows white on the mountain in her absence, but it's funny how some distance makes everything seem small. Narrowed down to just her and her friend, leadership aside and with something that amounts to juvenile play at best entertaining them while she's here in the moment.
The first throw is a miss, and Hadama's cheeky cheer only makes her narrow her eyes playfully. Her power flurries through the air into the ground, picking up another coconut and lobbing it without ever using her hands so as not to disturb Micah who is watching from her shoulder like a kingly scarf.
That was the spirit! Hadama was pleased indeed with how Evie's magic had blossomed like a flower in the sun. There was a gleam and glow about her that was so very good to see in his friend as her eyes sparkled in the afternoon light even as her power was given a chance to shine.
Though he trusted that she would heal him if he should be hurt, he had hoped to avoid needing to rely on that aspect of her abilities. Unfortunately, his desire to work on his dodging skills was not without cause. He could not change the fates' design when her second coconut came at him with a vengeance; karmic retribution, perhaps, for his earlier cheekiness. The Tidebreaker started to dive straight down, intending to hide in the water, but he misjudged both the speed of Evie's throw and his own ability to reverse course at speed. He managed to get himself most of the way beneath the gentle waves of the lagoon but his head was still above them when the coconut made contact, bonking the king squarely between the eyes.
Even sturdy Hadama saw stars for a moment before he metaphorically shook off the strike. He reached up to touch the tender new bruise - still invisible, but sure to rise eventually - on his forehead with a bemused expression before he turned his attention back to Evie. "Hmm. A good lesson," he decided, making a note to not try that direction again. "But I will live. Let us continue."
Evie knows she has a good arm, even magically, and good aim to boot. She isn't exactly expecting to nail Hadama right between the eyes with a giant coconut. Making a strangled noise not unlike Micah when his tail gets stepped on, she's halfway to the shoreline when he manages to speak up, ushering her to continue. Feeling immensely guilty, but wanting to honor his insistence, Evie looks around for more coconuts. They're fewer now that she has moved away from the trees, and most are cracked open already which means their trajectory when thrown will be harder to control. However, that might be a good thing given it will put her at a disadvantage - hopefully she won't manage to forcefully replace Hadama's brain with a coconut.
Using her magic once more, she lifts a coconut from the beach that has already been devoured and hurls the empty husk towards the Tidebreaker, already promising to herself that she'll heal him when they're done.
Hadama was also rather surprised, but his skull was as hard as a frying pan, and the coconut left only a bruise and a mild contusion. He was impressed with Evie's prowess, even if his own poor life choices had played into the strike, but there was no denying the power behind the throw, or that it had been centered perfectly. If he hadn't tried to dive it would have struck his chest; painful, but much less so than taking it between the eyes.
But he had certainly found his motivation to dodge better now.
A ghost of a smile tugged at his lips as Evie hefted her new ammunition and let fly, and this time he threw himself backwards into the water, body arching as he curved his spine. The coconut flew harmlessly over his stomach even as he used his momentum to pull himself in a full circle, his tail following in a long, dark line of scaled muscle. He surfaced again a moment later pushing his hair back and flashing Evie a smile of satisfaction. "One more?"
To be fair, his height likely plays a large factor in why it takes longer to dodge by submerging as opposed to shifting to the side. Clearly shorter people are superior.
The next dodge is very dramatic, and it makes her shoulders shake with laughter - which has Micah rumbling his displeasure in her ear, the spoiled thing - but she can't deny it's effective. As her trainings with Deimos have proven, silliness is excusable if it gets the job done.
Granting him one last good throw, Evie summons another coconut to her and shoots it towards him, trying to keep it as close to the water's surface as possible to force him into a different evasion maneuver - and also to avoid braining him again (so long as he'd learned his lesson).
Hadama was feeling quite pleased with himself after his successful - and artistically executed - dodge. Style mattered in these sorts of things... though silliness and enjoying the time with his friend was a close second. It did much to salve his wounded forehead pride, at least for the moment. Later he would feel the pain of the bruise, but not for long. He trusted in Evie's compassion as much as her friendship and knew she would not let him remain hurt if she could help.
He had time to brace himself as the Evergreen summoned a final coconut to her hand, watching her with dancing emerald eyes. When she released her projectile with the power of her magic behind it he was ready.
This time it was too low for him to repeat his earlier maneuver, and trying to sink at speed was right out. Diving to the side again was ungainly at best, however,, but there was another way to play the game and put his hand-eye coordination to the test.
Instead of fleeing this time he held his position in the water and his arms rose free of the waves to bring his hands together on the speeding fruit, catching it before it could impact his stomach. He paused a moment to make sure that he had, in fact, succeeded before his grin flashed briefly again and he swam his way back towards the shore.
"Thank you. I feel faster already," he teased solemnly, offering his brow for the healer's touch.
Game ended, he abandoned their ammunition and relaxed with his friend, catching her up on the Longheat gossip from the coast and learning of Halo's quiet summer. He continued to work on his armlet in between their conversation, hammering briefly to round out the metal but never for long, careful of the sensitive ears of both his guests.
By the time Evie was ready to head back he had completed his project, and he bid her a fond farewell before heading back to the Underwater City for the night.
