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!
So he didn't hunt monsters so much any more. So what? Ronin needed to eat, and even the blight in him knew that. Luckily enough, the blight wasn't picky either, and any beating heart would do. Currently he had flushed out a young deer and was chasing it through the Wildwood. This normally shouldn't have been possible, but two things changed that quite substantially.
Firstly, the blight didn't give a rat's ass about Ronin's limitations. Secondly, it wasn't actually the guildmaster. Indeed, as the deer turned sharply away from the hunter's almost impossible pursuit, it would run right into an axe carried by the real Ronin. His astral projection flickered out as he brought the axe down upon the terrified creature, felling it so he could leap upon it and tear strips of flesh from its corpse. It steamed in the cold air, and Ronin feasted with his bare hands.
09-09-2019, 03:50 PM (This post was last modified: 09-09-2019, 03:52 PM by Remi.)
everything looks perfect from far away
Remi too was hunting, though apparently not with the enhanced capabilities of a blighted-demi god nor the blight's utter lack of standards when it came to a kill. The deer was far too young, needing another year or two of life in order to properly fatten up. As it was it looked stringy and would certainly taste more than gamey. It was why Remi had abandoned the creature as his target and had been tracking other game. Until of course the sounds of bleating and the tearing of raw flesh resounded in his ears.
Trotting through the thick snow as best he could (using his manticore wings to help leverage him above the worst of it), Remi stopped breathlessly at the sight of his husband covered in the thick and still-hot life blood of the young deer. The various predators within his body rumbled notes of appreciation at the scent of the kill, but the man within whose body they resided could do nothing but gulp miserably. Remi knew that this is what the blight was doing to Ronin, knew that it was not his husband's fault. Even so, the sight of so much blood on lips curved into a satisfied smile was nearly more than he could bear.
But he would bear it, because it meant seeing Ronin again.
"You always were a messy eater." Remi called, large tawny wings folding around his pelt-covered shoulders as he tried his best to offer his lover an appropriately boyish smirk.
Coding base by Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Blood, meat, warm and enough, regardless of the quality, to sustain the blighted body that demanded food. Such was Ronin's concentration on the meal that he entirely missed Remi's approach, and only the sound of his voice dragged him from whatever gluttonous trance he had been caught in. Lips pulling back to bare bloodied teeth, red smeared across his cheeks and chin and caking under his fingernails, there was no doubt as to what he thought of the interruption.
Moving as if to stand protectively over the meal he'd caught and hunted fair and square, Ronin swallowed and wiped his lips with the back of his hand (it made little difference). "Get out," he demanded, his voice little more than a low, inhuman growl at this point.
"Out?" The alchemist replied, aiming to sound casual in an effort to hide the way his voice wanted to unhappily warble in the face of his husband's monstrous decline into the worst stages of the blight. "Of the woods?" He tsked under his breath. "I am not sure you are in a position to make such demands." Remi said, folding his arms across his chest as his wings flexed ever so slightly at his sides.
"I have been planting flowers you know. Who would have thought you would make such a prolific gardener out of me, mm?" Remi's laugh was clearly forced, but it seemed to be all he really had to offer as a defense between himself and the darkness blistering off of his love.
Coding base by Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
One look at Ronin would tell Remi that whatever little sense had crept into the hunter in their past few meetings was long gone. There was no recognition in his eyes that the man interrupting his meal was his husband, no indication that Remi was any different to any number of other interlopers in the woods. His movements were slow and jarring as he stepped over the corpse of the young deer, Ronin torn between going back to his meal and hoping the other man fucked off, and making sure he was gone for good.
"Flowers?" He almost spat the word, black eyes narrowing, blood dripping from his chin. "No flowers here. Go." It was a final demand, and the hands that clenched into fists and the tension that rippled along Ronin's shoulders showed a tiny string of restraint - one that would not take much to break.
Whether it was love, naivety, or willful ignorance that kept the boyish smile plastered to his features, forcing himself to see his husband and best friend rather than the blighted monster he in fact stood before, was anyone's guess.
"You know, I think perhaps I will stay." The alchemist replied almost challengingly, his chin raising ever so slightly. How long had it been since he'd seen Ronin last? Days? A week nearly? Perhaps it wasn't even right to call this creature Ronin, but it was as close to it as Remi was going to get these days.
Coding base by Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Then he would stay, and no amount of willpower or hope would let Ronin come to the fore, to fight back against the blight that had so thoroughly taken him hostage. Then he would stay, and the guildmaster's lips parted in a red snarl at his husband, before his feet threw his cold body (too cold, dangerously cold) into motion. He moved with wild abandon, clumsy in a way that hinted that he would shut down entirely soon, if nothing was done, careening at Remi intent on tackling the winged man to the ground.
Already his fists were clenched hard, nails biting into the palms, and his eyes streamed with black; an image of madness that made it seem as though, deep within, Ronin wept for what he had become.
Instead of moving away, Remi merely braced for impact. He'd take physical contact where he could get it, his need for comfort running dangerously low. Besides. The alchemist had eaten deer raw before as well; had had his entire face (leonine though it might have been) deep within the bowels of many a beast. Clover and mosses sprung up behind him to cushion his fall as Ronin tackled him to the ground. Remi's arms wrapped around the blighted king, this gesture made easier given Ronin wasn't wearing many pelts to keep him warm at all, while his legs tried to entangle Ronin's lower half.
"You...need...a ..bath!" The alchemist groaned as he tried to keep his husband's arms pinned against his sides.
Coding base by Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Remi's lightheartedness did little to separate the monster that had latched onto the man, and the two went tumbling down into mosses and clover, Ronin all the while trying to grab and snap and rip at any part of his lover he could get to. His cursing was near incoherent, the hunter struggling against his captor, but even if Remi had not been the stronger of the two of them, Ronin was hardly in a fit state to put up a fight.
Blighted and cold and malnourished, he could do little more than snap his teeth at the alchemist in the end, lurching up to try and take a bite out of him if he could get close enough. Anything to be released, anything to get free.
Trying not to snarl or dry-heave at the combination of dried blood, dirt, and spit sent his way, Remi turned his head as he continued to try and restrain the beast astride him. "Your..idea...of..." The alchemist gasped in between his struggles, "..foreplay..has..changed..!" He managed as vines shot up from the earth and began to try and snake around the blighted king. If Remi was successful they'd render Ronin like an earthy mummy, wrapped and bound by vines strong enough to withhold his frantic struggling.
What he'd do with husband if his plan worked, Remi had no real idea. Try and wipe some of the blood from his mouth, but beyond that? His mind was a blank. Much as he wanted to force Ronin home and lock him away if he had to, that wouldn't be good for Aoife regardless of what age she was in this timeline. But...perhaps he could be somewhere closer. Somewhere warmer than the woods. Somewhere he could be fed food that wasn't raw.
Coding base by Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Having managed to free one arm, something furiously victorious seized Ronin's expression, only for vines to shoot from the earth to grasp him anew. Face streaked with black and blood, and with his energy reserves already dangerously low, there was little the hunter could do to stop Remi's magic from containing him completely.
His chest heaving against the weight of the vines, in the end Ronin was left trapped and impotent (and still fucking starving, by the way), and he glared out at his husband with an expression of blind rage.
"I hate you," he growled, given that he was unable to react physically any longer.
As Ronin was restrained, the alchemist unceremoniously wriggled his way out from under his husband's body. Breathing heavily and trying not to enjoy the fresh air too much, he closed his eyes as Ronin's dark words reached his lips. It wasn't him. He knew that. Still, it was in his voice (or near enough to it), coming from lips he well-knew (again, or near enough to it); his heart clenched unhappily in his chest and Remi fought not to let tears sting the back of his eyes, much as something like that was ever in one's control.
"You might." He agreed softly. "But he does not. And you are killing him." Sitting up and glancing down at his restrained partner in however long forever was meant to last for them, Remi whipped spit and grime from his forever and sighed. "Well. I could make you a locked room in the basement of the guildhall. Or there is the prison." He mumbled more to himself than Ronin at this point, though if his partner, blighted or otherwise wanted to speak up, Remi was all ears.
Coding base by Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Had he the energy, Ronin would have fought against the restraints with tooth and nail (or the blight would have, anyway), but it was all he could do to hang there in the grip of Remi's magic, dirty hair falling into his face, expression twisting as the alchemist moved in to wipe his mouth. He was silent as Remi started to speak, eyes on the other man's feet, Ronin driven to his knees and tied down by vines and earth.
"The prison," he said quietly, hoarsely, in a voice that didn't sound like it had been used in too long. "Take me to the prison. I don't want the memory of this to be anywhere near our home."
It wasn't' the words of hatred that broke the alchemist, but the sound of his husbands voice. His actual voice, even though it sounded like it was being forced out from somewhere dark and very far away indeed. Our home. Remi hiccuped in a gasp, turning abruptly towards Ronin with a look of absolute love and dedication.
With a trembling hand Remi reached out for his husband's cheek, seeking in the darkness of his eyes for the telltale blue eyes. "Hey." He hummed softly, the words catching on the lump in the back of his throat. The alchemist wasn't so naive as to loosen Ronin's bonds, but he did lean in slightly closer as he took a moment to try and discern if the former-captain might require medical attention before being taken to the jail.
Coding base by Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
