What do you get when two ruthless assassins raise their daughter travelling through the wildest reaches of Caido? Take one look at Theea and you'll get a pretty good idea. Cheerful and tenacious in equal measure, and curious beyond all else, she began her journey on a mission to find those her mother once called family. And find them she did, soon rubbing elbows with demigods, leaders and even ghosts from the past. Her determination is resolute, her thirst for knowledge unmatched. We can't wait to see where her next adventure takes her!
Congratulations, Theea!
Credits
Court of the Fallen was created in October of 2018 by Odd, Honey, and Crooked.
OG Skinning provided by Kaons, with functionality and many custom plugins made by Neowulf!
It was hard to call them rumors when no one had any evidence, but word had gotten around that something was obviously bothering the Guildmaster. Maybe he'd been short with people. Maybe he'd been sulking. Maybe he'd been uncharacteristically devoid of jokes. Maybe something was very wrong. Whatever it may be, Zavien was determined to get help his friend get out of whatever funk he was in.
He'd gotten to the empty training ring annoyingly early, the sun only a suggestion on the horizon and Sol stubbornly snoring in the recess of a stone wall. Putting on a set of boxing pads, he started stretching and twisting to shove the last bit of exhaustion from his muscles. As he did so, he spotted Koa making his way in. Giving his friend a wide smile and a wave of greeting, Zavien smacked the pads together with a satisfying thwap that echoed across the sand. "Hey! You ready to blow off some steam?"
I learned that in suffering, we find the true measure of our strength.
Hear those bells ring deep in the soul Chiming away for a moment
How about all of the above?
Koa's an annoyingly early riser in general, and these days especially has been relishing the quiet hours to train. It means he doesn't have to put on a brave face, doesn't have to play Guildmaster and (poorly) pretend he has his shit together. It also means he can continue avoiding confronting his problems, which, y'know. Peak masculine energy, that.
So he's surprised to find Zavien waiting, characteristically buoyant smile a mocking reminder of Koa's missing grin. Frowning slightly at the other soldier, Koa briefly considers flat out refusing the invitation, then shrugs his shoulders instead. "Sure. Why not." He's already dressed for it, after all, with a black tank and loose-fitting joggers, Taijitu wraps on his hands.
Let's ignore for just a second the bags beneath his tired eyes, and the split lip that's slightly hidden by a scraggly, budding beard.
Stepping into the practice zone, the young man squares his shoulders and bends his knees, waiting for Zavien to take up a fighting position before swiftly and unceremoniously striking out with a one-two jab. With the second strike he channels healing power, the cut on his mouth mending into a terse and tired line.
Koa Carpenter
Feel your breath course frankly below And see life as a worthy opponent
He immediately notices Koa's uncharacteristic curtness and lack of energy. There's obviously something bothering him, but the stoic expression screams 'ask and I'll punch you.' Maybe, if Zavien lets his friend do the punching first, he'll be more inclined to talk after. He always finds that physical activity helps to clear his mind and expel the excess negativity. As long as he doesn't end up hurt too bad, he's sure it will be worth it in the end.
Sinking back into a defensive stance, Zavien absorbs the first series of short jabs with ease. The tension riddling Koa's body suggests that there's a lot more lingering beneath the surface. He narrows his glittering green eyes in a teasingly playful way. "I know you can do better than that." Fully expecting a barrage of fists, he braces himself.
I learned that in suffering, we find the true measure of our strength.
Hear those bells ring deep in the soul Chiming away for a moment
Normally, this is where Koa would smile, a fierce grin crinkling his copper eyes, playful defiance thrown back at his friend with a sharp burst of warm laughter. He can feel it, too, just beneath the surface, his better nature desperate to claw its way past the warped scar tissue of a battered ego, to get over it, will you?
But instead of getting over it, Koa burrows further down, wrapping his hurt around him like a cloak and stubbornly refusing to crack that grin.
Instead he responds to Zavien's teasing with a terse and angry snort, though truth be told it isn't at all his friend he's annoyed with. Still, challenge accepted and all that - Koa responds with a flurry of punches, fast and intentional and carefully aimed. This time his goal is not to heal lingering bruises; instead he wants to break Zav's defenses - not to hurt him, just to prove he's super srs about being sad.
Koa Carpenter
Feel your breath course frankly below And see life as a worthy opponent
Just as he suspected, his teasing gets the opposite of a playful response. Koa seems too absorbed in his own suffering to return the friendly jibe. Instead, Zavien is forced to keep up with the onslaught of carefully placed punches. Despite his inferior experience, having known what to expect, he receives the attacks with only a small level of difficulty.
He dips under an incoming fist, side stepping around his friend. It doesn't make him happy to simultaneously see so much and so little emotion concentrated behind Koa's eyes. And it brings him even less pleasure to antagonize him, but Zavien knows what his role is today. He's already accepted the wounds to come. So he raises an eyebrow, shaking his head in disappointment. "You're getting reckless. Do you expect to win like this?"
I learned that in suffering, we find the true measure of our strength.
Hear those bells ring deep in the soul Chiming away for a moment
Again the volley is caught with ease, which wouldn't be so frustrating if Zavien didn't continue to insist on making it a thing. Knitting his eyebrows in frustration, Koa does his best to fix the other Dragoon with a disparaging glare. "Mind your tone, cadet," he snaps entirely unnecessarily, the rank pulling only serving to further how petulant and sulky he currently seems.
But he takes the bait nonetheless, this time coming in white-hot and relentless. Gone are the niceties of society, forcing him to play it safe; this is Koa in the Houses, underground champion of his time. A feinting right hook is swiftly followed by an abdomen strike by his left. Should he succeed in getting Zav's guard down (and even if he doesn't, let's be fair), Koa follows up with a rapid volley, aimed to cow his opponent, to open him to a grapple.
Which is the goal: to get Zavien in a headlock, Koa's muscled arms wrapped around his neck. A challenging prospect, given his friend's own physical prowess, and not strictly sparring-legal, but just now, Koa doesn't care.
Koa Carpenter
Feel your breath course frankly below And see life as a worthy opponent
The biting comment had his eyes widening in surprise. Sure, Koa joked about 'rank' all the time, but he'd never made Zavien feel like he was anything less than an equal. Whatever had caused this storm of negative emotions wasn't justification for the treatment of a friend, but he'd also goaded the man, and he could understand the need to purge the feelings. At least if Zavien took them, some other unlucky person wouldn't be subject to the unwarranted anger.
That didn't mean he was going to just sit there and take it.
Sidestepping the feint, he narrowed his eyes slightly before throwing back a snide remark. "'Sir', it was just an -" observation. He didn't have the breath to finish his comment as the following punch landed in the soft of his stomach. The tensing of his abs was enough to keep him from the brunt of the damage, but Zavien hunched over instinctually, letting out a breathless grunt of pain. Luckily, his years of training kicked in and his padded hands stayed up to guard his face and neck. He took the barrage of punches for a moment, gasping in a wheezed breath to clear the haze. They pounded his arms and shoulders, his guard sturdy through it. He just needed a second to be able to fill his lungs again without wincing.
I learned that in suffering, we find the true measure of our strength.
Hear those bells ring deep in the soul Chiming away for a moment
Even if Zavien had yelled for him to stop, there's no guarantee Koa would have heard. All his senses have sharpened and dulled, focused soley on landing his strikes, blocking out everything else. Time, his surroundings, even his friend are gone. He's sixteen and rudderless and his mother is dead, and the only thing he's found to silence the loss is to brawl, to fight, to win---
Victory without honor is no victory at all, Koa.
Anju's voice rings in his ears, and it's like a blade sliced through the fog. All at once Koa is back in his body, acutely aware of his bruised knuckles and Zavien's raised arms and how much everything hurts. As though abruptly made of lead Koa's arms fall, his expression following suit as realization of what he's doing leaves the boy aghast.
"Fuck, Zav, I--" He's entirely open to a counter-strike, and doesn't at all care. In fact, a non-insignificant part of him wants his friend to turn around and punch him in the face. At least that pain would be well deserved.
Koa Carpenter
Feel your breath course frankly below And see life as a worthy opponent
Even when he's finally caught his breath, the punches kept coming. It becomes like a rhythm of falling rain on his shoulders while he lets his friend take out whatever frustrations he's experiencing on his body. But he can take it. Sure, he might regret it later, but if it helps, he'll claim it was worth it every time.
When the impacts stop, it takes a moment for him to notice, lifting his head as Koa starts to speak. As much as others might have taken the opportunity to strike hard in revenge for the developing bruises, Zavien isn't like most people. He does take the opening, but his attack isn't a sickening smack to the face with the foam padding or a rageful tackle to the sandy ground. His padded hand just comes forward to gently bop Koa on the forehead, a grimaced smile on his face. "See? Reckless."
Letting the playful expression fall from his face, he uses whatever shock had caused his friend to freeze as a chance for a second attack.
The Dragoon lunges forward to encompass Koa in an inescapable - hug. His mom had always proven that a good quality hug could sometimes do more than any level of physical exertion. More than once, he'd devolved into tears at the loving embrace. So, as Zavien traps his friend in his firm but soft hug, he hopes that it might provide some of the same comforts, speaking from his heart as he gives Koa permission to really feel. "I'm sorry you're hurting." Whether the motion is cut short or fully embraced, Zavien feels at peace with his decision, letting the moment breath.
I learned that in suffering, we find the true measure of our strength.
Hear those bells ring deep in the soul Chiming away for a moment
Standing there, breathing hard, Koa waits for Zavien to dish out what he knows he deserves.
On the list of potential (and fair) options? Yelling. Storming away. A punch in the face. Spitting at his feet. A threat to report him for being just, like, kind of the worst right now.
Very, very low on that list? A gentle boop on the head, followed by a hug.
Stiffening as the arms wrap around him, Koa blinks into the distance - not because there are tears in his eyes, nobody can prove that there were, but because he's unsure how to compute this turn of events. And while he doesn't exactly return the hug, he does let out a shaky sigh, tension melting into a strangled hiccough as he struggles valiantly to maintain composure in the face of such indomitable kindness.
"Thanks, Zav." Koa's voice is husky with emotion, almost cracking on Zavien's name. When the embrace ends he cannot quite meet his friend's eye, but there's an unmistakable rawness on his face. "I... ahm," he clears his throat, lips quirking in a chagrined smile as he rubs his neck. "I've been pretty stuck in my head the past few weeks. Thanks for... Y'know. Not hating me for being such a dick."
Maybe he isn't as unlovable as he's been feeling. Maybe he's just been putting too much value on the wrong relationships to see what he already has.
[fin]
Koa Carpenter
Feel your breath course frankly below And see life as a worthy opponent
