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!
Ianto arched an eyebrow across at her, tilting his head as if noticing the hairline cracks in her facade. This was not the woman he first met in the village, he realised, but then... none of them were the same, were they? Was it so surprising, too, that at a time like this, people were beginning to feel the strain? His new snake friend seemed a safer topic of conversation, and the fox nodded to Amalia encouragingly.
"He won't say it, but I think he more or less lives in my wagon now. The woods weren't kind to him," he explained. "Come over whenever you like. I'll make tea, and you two can chat." And it would feel both strange and wonderful to not be alone and for that to be a normal occurrence. "He spoke a lot about different places that he may or may not have been from. Floating islands that sank into the sea, a place with seven statues, a barren wasteland with a sinkhole..." He shrugged.
"Oh, he lives with you, hmm?" This time her laughter is genuine, a playful nudge of her shoulder against his, her smile returning as she raises a brow. "When's the wedding set for?" It's good that he has a friend, a space, a place to call his own. It's good that he is happy.
They're so rarely happy, these days.
The description of the places this Oli has been are both wondrous and unbelievable... or would be, if she had not seen the maps in Safrin's library, suggesting there might be more topography than she has ever known exists. Floating islands, though? Seven statues? The girl shakes her head. "I would love to come meet him. If... if it wouldn't be an imposition."
don't make a shadow of yourself, always shutting out the light
"Hey, whoa now." Ianto laughed and held up his hands, as if to tell Amalia to slow down. "I think he's just been living in the woods. And... well. I know that feeling, so... it would be the right thing to do, you know?" And yes, he enjoyed the snake's presence too. That definitely helped. But harmless flirting aside he didn't think there was much more to it than that.
Still, it was nice to be lighthearted for once, and he nudged his shoulder against Amalia's in return. "It wouldn't be an imposition at all. Please, drop by whenever you like. I promise it's all for free, too. No trades or bargains involved." Just friends meeting with friends. How adorably quaint.
"Just teasing," Amalia replies with a smile that is far from apologetic. "He's lucky he found you. I can't believe he made it in the woods for more than a day, with the fae." That this man had apparently managed to evade a tenure in the pit is remarkable. Even more reason for Amalia to want to meet him, and the girl smiles her acceptance of the invitation. "No trades- but I do think I owe you some baked goods." How long ago had she promised that? Years and years, it feels.
A question she has been wondering about raises in her mind, and she wonders if Ianto isn't the one to answer it. "Have you seen the tulmhainar?" she asks, a worried dip in her brow. "I... since the blight came to the woods, I've been wondering if it's alright."
don't make a shadow of yourself, always shutting out the light
"He can shift into a snake. I'm pretty sure he's just as slippery to the Fae as he is to any human who comes across him." Ianto smirked at Amalia and raised a brow, as if asking her to give a mental guess as to just how much trouble his new roommate could be. Eyes lighting up at the reminder of baked goods, Ianto dipped into a small bow of gratitude. "I'll be frank, I had forgotten about squaring that particular debt. You're on."
But then she spoke of the Tulmhainair and stumped the fox good and proper. Ianto furrowed his brow, shaking his head slowly to Amalia. "I haven't heard much about it, but... I can only imagine that it is unblighted. I would have expected Delah or Arduinna to make some noise about it, if it were in danger. Right...?" Because honestly, even he wasn't sure.
Amalia laughs a little, imagining a giant snake living in Ianto's wagon, coiled around the various wares that she thinks are hidden within. Come to think of it, she has no idea what the interior looks like. She'd seen the outside when they took it to the Sidhe, but within? A mystery to the girl. "I do wonder- does getting us kidnapped void the deal? I feel like maybe it voids the deal."
That Ianto has not heard about the Tulmhainar is both reassuring and worrying, and Amalia purses her lips. "I promised I would visit it again, and bring it stories, but..." I've been busy feels like a lame excuse, but it's accurate. "We found another one inside the Spire... it's... it died."
don't make a shadow of yourself, always shutting out the light
If only Amalia knew that her vision of a giant snake was actually a small, black danger noodle. He supposed she would learn in time, if she did come by to visit. Snorting, Ianto folded his arms across his chest and gave a lopsided grin to the baker. "Has enough time passed for people to finally believe me that I didn't have anything to do with the kidnapping? I had no idea Delah was there - I really was just trying to show you all the Stonesong." And then what had happened had happened, and his reputation as a conniving fox had been all but cemented.
"Perhaps when all of this is over with the roses, you can ask Delah if she might show you to it again. Given that you made a promise, and that not following through with it would make you a liar... I think you'll be fine." Because the gods knew the Fae had a thing about lies.
To hear of another tulmhainar was nothing short of incredible, and Ianto gazed up at the snowy spire above them in wonder. "I'm so sorry to hear that. Perhaps these roses can be for it as much as for the blighted ones, then. Planted in memory, or something like that."
"That's a good idea," she replies, storing the information about lies away to remember for another time. A time when there are fewer problems, a time when she has time to reenter the woods. Amalia longs for a return to those early days of exploration, when the world had just opened up to her, when potential for the future was all she had to contend with.
The suggestion that the roses are for the tulmhainar brings a bittersweet smile to Amalia's face. Something in the lines of her softens, a weight let loose into the cold air. "I like that idea," she murmurs quietly, a wave of emotion on her expressive face as she thinks back to that difficult day.
The Shield's eyes are bright with gratitude and appreciation as she looks at the fox, a smile quirking at the edge of her mouth. He cannot know what this means to her, but it is a weight off her chest indeed, to spend time like this in simple friendship, to find another who believes in the future. "Thank you for spending time with me, Ianto. I... I didn't realize how much I needed a friend."
don't make a shadow of yourself, always shutting out the light
Ianto smiled sunnily back at Amalia, resting his hands back in the pockets of his coat and casting his gaze about the makeshift garden of roses. With his own planted there was no need for him to linger - but he had enjoyed his conversation with the Shield, and if she was the one guarding the Spire for now, maybe he could spend a little more time with her.
"People rarely do," he said softly, shrugging his shoulders. "I didn't realise how alone I had been feeling either. So it was my pleasure, honestly, to chat with you. Shall we walk the parameter together? I could probably use the exercise." With a cheeky wink, he was already beginning to stroll away, leaving deep prints in the otherwise perfect snow.
Wrapping her arms across her chest, Amalia falls easily into step beside Ianto, accepting his invitation with silent gratitude. It had been her intention to walk the perimeter anyway, and to have company while doing so is an unexpected bonus.
Her feet are light upon the new-fallen snow, the prints shallow beneath her leopardess' feet. "What was your life like, before here? Do you miss it? All I hear of Northaven makes it seem rather... unpleasant... but certainly it can't be as bad as this." Smiling crookedly, she gestures to the decrepit spire and all it signifies.
don't make a shadow of yourself, always shutting out the light
Unlike Amalia, Ianto's prints were the deep, sturdy kind left by boots that intended to keep out all snow and wet. For a man who was more fox than anything else, Ianto still enjoyed his creature comforts. Hearing questions about Northaven, while unexpected, was not unwelcome, Ianto flashing a golden smile her way and shrugging. "I did the same thing as I do here," he said. "I was a merchant, though I was apprentice to another. He ran a string of caravans - Wumpus Wagons, they were called."
Recalling Warren and his days at Northwind and later, Northaven, Ianto sighed. "It was... different," he agreed. "I was a slave there, too, and I got into a lot of debt and really fucked up the business. In reality, coming here was a welcome escape. Or it would have been, had I not arrived alone."
"Wumpus wagons?" Amalia cannot help the giggle that escapes her at the ridiculous name, imagining, somehow, a string of wagons covered in thick brown fur and lumbering on their own. But the mention of being a slave quiets her quickly: though the baker's understanding of slavery is fuzzy, all she knows of it is that it is a terrible thing. And there, too? She glances at his neck, trying to catch a glimpse of the collar she knows is there.
The one Remi lost his sight trying to remove.
"Do you wish Arduinna hadn't taken you in?" Amalia kicks at a rock thoughtfully, wincing at the feeling of it on her bare toe. Perhaps there is an advantage to boots. "Or... whatever she did. You called her your godmother, like you were family, but..." She doesn't seem to treat you like family trails unspoken between them, heavily implied in her expression and tone.
don't make a shadow of yourself, always shutting out the light
Ianto's smile grew crooked, the corners of his eyes crinkling in amusement, and he nodded indulgently along with Amalia's giggles. "Yep, you heard right," he said, well aware that Warren's business had been the eclectic sort. But hey, in the face of brewing war, it had also been a very useful addition to the efforts. Too bad Ianto had ruined it.
Weirdly, thinking about his past failure with the Wumpus Wagon was still better than thinking about his current ties with Arduinna, and the fox dropped his gaze as Amalia spoke again, watching their footsteps in the snow. "No," he said quietly. "No, I don't regret it. Without her I would be dead, or mad. Or one and then the other."
Forcing his eyes up, he offered the baker a sad sort of smile, one that spoke of bleak acceptance. "We made a deal and she owns me. I've been owned by someone since the day I was born, practically, so it's not so different to me. I'm just sad that others had to get caught in the cross-fire." Godmother was just a flowery addition to make a complicated contract seem easy.
Of all the cruelties her home has inflicted on the Outlanders, this has to be one of the most severe. Though to call the Greatwood Amalia's home may be a misnomer: sometimes it feels the woods are as foreign to the girl as anywhere an outlander has ventured from.
Still, would being owned by a god be so bad? She does not say it aloud, but she wonders a little. Ianto seems relatively free enough. He is here, after all; he has loved; he has friends. And all of that is paired with purpose, a goal, a guide. But at what cost? She glances at the man, his sunny face downcast, his smile bleak and sad.
How little of the world the girl has seen. How little she understands.
"If you were free to do whatever you wanted... what would you do?"
don't make a shadow of yourself, always shutting out the light
