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!
Having been secluded and keeping to herself within the Greatwood for much of the past season - or was it two? - Eliza decided she had to at least approach some semblance of civilization. That didn’t really mean that she would have to socialize, unless someone decided that they wanted to intrude upon her peaceful activity.
Flitting wings carried the oddly unarmed Fae girl to the banks of the Whispershore, her bare feet touching the slick banks, but she was able to keep her balance. And even if she lost her footing, wings came in handy for an easy recovery.
She bit her tongue between her teeth in a grin, her wings remaining upright, as she stepped into the water, the bottoms of her pants submerged in the water. It wasn’t like she actually cared about that, though. Water was a natural part of the world, and her clothing was nothing special - definitely not something that would be at all ruined because of getting a little wet!
Eliza tied her hair in a loose bun that bounced each time her head turned, and she leaned down, nearly crouching in the water, letting the current move through her sifter. “Come on, Rae,” she whispered hopefully. “Give me some luck, please?” Maybe she would actually find something kind of valuable this time!
The Greatwood was open to the humans now, thanks to the part they had played in healing the Undine (though really that had been Arduinna's work). Cautious though Jigano was still about the Woods - not least because of the affliction in his blood - he still found a measure of solace among its singing life, so much more robust and vibrant than the weary woodlands of the Hollowed Grounds. Someday, he thought, the forests would resemble each other again, but it would take years, even decades, for the earth to replenish, and the plants and animals with it.
For now he ambled along the shore of the great river with the aid of a simple wooden staff to rest his weary weight against from time to time, letting the chatter and soothing song of the water calm the rage that was never far from his thoughts.
He had run into Hazel here before, and Ianto, and though he hadn't come looking for company beyond the presence of the pale gryphlet who flew above him he wasn't surprised to find one of the Fae splashing about in the water. It was too cold for his ever-chilled bones to enjoy, but he found a flicker of a tired smile for the familiar fellow-scholar who had waded into the Stonesong's flow. How long had it been since he had seen her? Months. Seasons, since that first ill-fated trip into the Greatwood had left him bereft of three friends. All had safely returned, for which he was grateful, and it made it easier now to settle against a sun-warmed rock and raise his voice in greeting to one who had offered him courtesy in the past.
The water splashed gently against her arms and legs just as it did the banks of the river. It certainly wasn’t her first time coming to the Whispershore, but she wasn’t able to get there as often as she would have liked. Still, it wasn’t as though she didn’t have the freedom to do so. The thought crossed her mind then that maybe she should make it more habitual to come down and see what she could find.
She hadn’t been expecting anyone to come along the banks of the Stonesong, especially not any non-Fae, and especially not one of the few people whose company she actually enjoyed. She stood straight suddenly, the corners of her lips turned upward, golden-hued eyes sparkling against the light reflecting from the water.
Jigano relaxed upon a stone beside the river, a staff beside him, and Eliza’s wings moved, lifting her easily from the water to the land. The Fae flashed a bright smile, relaxing her wings against her back, as she leaned down to wring some of the water from the bottoms of her pants.
“Hi, Jigano,” she chirped, righting herself and leaving the sifter on the ground. The man was wise and worldly: he had a curious mind much like her own, but he chose to pursue his wonders much more than she did. For that, as well as many other things, she respected him. Even without that, he had been the first person that she actually liked interacting with when the bubble around the Hollowed Grounds came down. For that, he earned a special bit of trust from the girl.
Eliza of course knew about what happened with his friends. Though she hadn’t reconnected with him since their treetop discussion, she lived in the Village, and it wasn’t exactly a secret among her people what happened. “How are you?” She asked genuinely. “And you’re friends?”
The wings of the Fae would never be less than magical, Jigano thought with admiration as Eliza elegantly extracted herself from the river and returned to the shore without any of the messy splashing that a human would have been forced to endure. She looked bright and in good health, something his worried gaze took note of first, checking for the telltale signs of shaking hands and bruised, weary eyes. He relaxed more easily once he had assured himself that she showed no signs of the dark illness that had swept the Greatwood.
Isuma chirruped excitedly, diving down to land upon the trembling arm he stretched up to catch her and then leaning forward to look Eliza over with wide golden eyes in her snow owl-ish face. She was the size of a small cat, though her body and ears looked like a miniature snow leopard with foretalons and wings that matched her owl face. Her primaries were striped in blues, and delicate blue accents touched her face, breaking up the white of her feathers.
"Isuma," he scolded gently, affection still clear in his voice despite the illness that lingered in his veins. "This is Eliza, the first Fae to brave the Hollowed Grounds. Eliza, this is Isuma, companion of my heart and she is very excited to meet you!" He ended on a yelp as the gryphlet wriggled eagerly and nearly slipped from his shaky arm until he made a less-than-elegant grab to catch and steady her. She reeped an abashed apology to him, but her attention was almost immediately drawn back to Eliza, clearly fascinated by the young woman and her beautiful wings.
"Amalia, who bonded the starwhale calf, she is well," he said, obliquely sidestepping himself for a moment. "There was some issue with the first Queen of the Hollowed Grounds, the one who called herself things like 'tyrant' and 'the merciless' threatening Amalia, but Zariah is gone... for the moment. So Amalia has been able to run her bakery." He paused, wondering how much to tell the young woman with the stunning dragonfly wings. It had been such a long time since they'd seen each other he didn't know what she would think, but hiding it from her could only end badly for him. If she asked him to leave, he would of course... but he hoped it wouldn't come to that.
"The others..." he began, all smiles fading to pensive sobriety as he looked over to the river and the sunlight sparkling off it with such deceptive beauty. "And myself... are not so well. The blight did not stop at infecting only plants, I'm afraid." He exhaled slowly, a sad smile touching his features as he patted Isuma with a shaking hand. "I had offered to some research for Arduinna among the human archive, but there was nothing to be found among the tracks of history. I came to the Greatwood today to tell her, but I found you instead. How have the seasons treated you since last we met?" A deft attempt to turn the conversation back to the brave and bright young woman who had been so bold in Flowerbirth. Not that he thought it would work, but he was genuinely interested to hear how she had been in their time apart.
Eliza frowned slightly when Jigano stretched out his arm for the young gryphon to land upon. His arm shook, which she didn’t remember noticing the last time they met, and at that time, she had tried to make note of just about everything. It had been her first time into the Hollowed Grounds, and he was the first person she met inside of it. He was held a good deal of significance to her, and it brought concern to her.
“I’m excited to meet you too, Isuma!” The Fae laughed with a smile to the small creature. She settled herself on the ground in front of the man, her smile unwavering with her attention on the gryphon, who seemed to be enamored by her wings. Eliza spread her wings further and waved them back forth gently, reflecting the light of the sun in their translucence.
She listened with bright eyes as he explained about Amalia and the starwhale she had bonded with. Starwhales were incredibly rare, and Eliza was shocked that a non-Fae bonded with one, but it did give her a slight confidence boost in the trustworthiness of the humans.
However, as he went on, her own smile faded with his when he included himself in the following statement. The blight... Her wings stopped their movement, and her eyes widened. Her expressive face often betrayed her, but it wasn’t common that she tried to conceal her emotions from others. Especially not those she considered to be friends.
“Jigano...” she started softly, sadly. “I didn’t realize...” The blight... Rae, save him... She had heard about the blight spreading, but thankfully, she hadn’t been affected by it. But he had... He had contracted it, and there was nothing they could do! Gods, why couldn’t they have a cure for it already? There were so many ways to treat all kinds of other illnesses, but what was it? What could they do?
She shook her head. “I’ve been fine,” she said, answering his question shortly. “Stayed away in the Greatwood on my own for the most part. Hunting, tracking, the like.” But that wasn’t important right now.
He didn’t seem dangerous. She was generally good at reading people. Well, she tried to be, not counting lies and tall tales or anything of the sort. If he wasn’t snapping or acting violently, perhaps he was still early in the disease. That gave him more time than others. Hopefully... “How did it happen?” She asked him quietly. “When were you infected?”
Jigano sat down as well once Eliza did, no little relieved at the chance to rest. He released Isuma so she could bounce forward to sit up on her hind legs between the two humanoids, eyes bright with rapt attention as the Fae spread her shimmering wings. After a moment the gryphlet spread her own feathered pinions, mirroring Eliza's movements as if to say 'I have wings too!' as she chirruped happily at her new friend.
There was no way to bring up the blight without it bringing a conversation down, the bard thought ruefully as Isuma padded back to his side to offer her companion her support. He tried to wave it off, not wanting to ruin the lovely day - lovely in both weather and the blight resting deceptively lightly on his mind for a change - but Eliza was too perceptive to let him off the hook so easily. The sadness in her voice drew his attention back to her, and he was touched at the concern he saw in her expression.
"Your home is beautiful," he agreed gently, a shadow of the sadness remaining in his smile at hearing what she'd been up to. "Wild and dangerous at times... but it is a place of wonders, too. I have seen the Undine as she sang, and joined the celebration of the Naiad's dance. It is no mystery that the Fae protect this place so fiercely." But not fiercely enough, as it turned out. Not enough to prevent the Blight from spreading through the Greatwood, infecting plants, animals, and people, too.
He was weary with the weight of the affliction upon him, and weak beneath the sunshine, but he still clung to the light when he could, even though he was growing stronger at night as the disease progressed. Some days were worse - far worse - than others, and growing more so as time passed, but today he had not yet felt the surge of anger and venom that twisted his thoughts into monstrous parodies of his usual self. Perhaps he would be lucky, and the blightrage wouldn't come upon him until he was well away from a friend he had no wish to lash out at or insult.
He reassured Isuma with a stroke over her wings, smiling down at the little gryphon as she looked up at him worriedly. "It's alright, you can go say hello now," he told her, and she patted his thigh as if to be sure of it before padding towards Eliza, more subdued but still friendly as she stretched out her neck to sniff curiously at the Fae's knee.
"You ask the difficult questions as always," he told Eliza wryly, settling his back against the big rock. "The truth is that I don't know. Or at least, I don't remember. I came down with a fever right around the change of the season. One night I was letting Rory tuck me into bed while the room swam around me, the next..." He sighed, a grimace tugging at his lips. "The next thing I knew, I was waking up in an animal shape in the Glade, starving and almost too weak to move. The symptoms started shortly after that, and at first I thought they were just lingering effects of the fever... until Ludo corrected my mistake." He tucked his shaking hands into his lap as if to hide them from view. "I lost days to that fever. It's just... blank, in my memories. So it seems likely that however I contracted the blight, it happened then."
