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!
His eyebrows raise in surprise. Did the Hollowed Grounds not have ice skating? "Oh, well, it's this thing where you have boots with blades attached to the bottom and then you get to move around on ice super easily. It can be used for fun and stuff, but it's also pretty fast. You gotta have a good balance...and strong ice." It was a bit self explanatory, but Oliver clearly had no problem explaining it. His tone was positive, but not demeaning or rude. It wasn't often Oliver got to share something about his own world, seeing as most people shared similar things with him. Nothing was ever special and hell, normally he was the one asking questions.
Wessex did have a strong point. A knife was far better for protecting him. It was his fault that he didn't get a knife before this, relying heavily on the staff. He didn't, however, understand how he could practice with a knife without having the risk of hurting someone else.
He was willing to have Wessex put him into a lock, yeah, but he didn't exactly like the idea of stabbing her. 'See what you can go for' was an open invitation for him to fight back, but did she really mean with the knife? That just....wouldn't be okay. Not at all. He didn't want to accidentally kill her. Still, he agreed to let her put him into a lock. He could slip out easily, probably. So instead, he moved to give her a kick in the shin.
Great job Oliver. Really. Great fucking job. Cant say he makes amazing decisions....because right now he's making some pretty bad ones.
Boots with blades attached to the bottom? What Wessex ends up picturing is some kind of weird weapon, nothing that would be suitable for transportation, but as she doesn’t have an example to look at, she just kind of shrugs and drops the topic of ‘ice skating.’ It clearly isn’t for her.
However, the idea that Oliver of all people could kill her would have made her laugh. The ex-Queen is trained. And more than trained, she’s fast. The boy would have to produce some sort of fire from his skin in order to catch her off-guard. She stands there, one arm around his neck and the other at her side, waiting for him to do something… that something is not what she expects. He seems to kick sideways, into one side of her leg. It lands, but as Wessex doesn’t feel pain, she reacts more to the pressure than anything else. Looking down, she can see his own foot retreat and she rolls her eyes. If he's underestimating her, he's about to get a rude awakening.
“So when I said ‘see what you can go for’ I meant something that would actually make me let go. You have multiple options available, and that’s what you try? Why? How could that possibly be effective” She demands answers of him, accountability for his reasoning, because in a real situation, he’d probably have already passed out. “Look at your position and then look at me. Look at my joints. Where am I vulnerable?”
The younger boy swallowed hard, realizing that his initial plan wasn't going to work. He had forgotten that Wessex couldn't feel anything, the thought slipping away so fast. That left out a lot of his normal defense mechanisms. He had to prepare himself, Oliver knew that for sure. He couldn't run away forever and someday, he may have to fight against an Ascended or some other person who couldn't feel any pain. It was a dark thought, be he must be prepared for anything.
"I....I thought it'd startle you. Then I could slip out of your arms....I forgot you couldn't feel physical things." He spoke quietly, clearly embarrassed about his folly. Taking a quick glance at her, he swallowed once more. "I'd say....your stomach or your shoulder...I don't want to stab you, but I think that's where it'd work the best. That or I could try to reach for your neck? Doubt I could though." Yeah, he wasn't in the mood to stab Wessex. That would be a recipe for bad news.
She shakes her head again and tries a little more gently, “Forget that I can’t feel pain. That kick wouldn’t have done jack shit to someone who wanted to hurt you.” He’s thinking too narrowly - but that’s something that most beginners have to get past. Oliver may never be the best fighter, and that’s okay, but he should be able to defend himself, and sometimes you just have to get creative. Effectively creative.
At least he’s getting somewhere with the stomach. Wessex nods. “Stomach is good, especially if you have a knife. So is the back, where your kidneys are. An elbow to the lower-mid spine. Now look down” So saying, she does so as well, perhaps tilting Oliver’s head with her. “Knees. They generally only go one way. If you’re in a headlock facing the other direction, kick at the knees from the front and shove them backwards. If you’re facing this way, try to startle them with a quick blow to the backs of the knees. They might fall forward and as they catch themselves, that’s your chance to scoot away.”
Giving him a moment to mull it over and ask and ask any questions, the Wraith lets go of Oliver, allowing him to stand up straight again.
Okay....his idea of kicking Wessex really didn't sound all that great. He truly did think that a kick would actually do something if she weren't ascended, but he soon realized how wrong she was. Oliver may be narcissistic at times, but he was capable of seeing his errors and learning from them. He now knew that his kick wouldn't have helped. It was a learning experience and it's good that he had it, rather than dying thanks to his mistake.
Oliver looked at each body part as she listed off what to do, imaging himself doing exactly that or at least he tried to. It was a bit hard with the headlock. Soon, he was released, but that didn't mean he was immediately ready to go.
Stepping away, Oliver looked at Wessex, taking a deep breath. "And what if it's not a headlock? Can you....can you teach me how to throw a punch? Or how to avoid someone who's say, blocking my path?" He had tried to learn with Loren, but that didn't exactly go too well. "Also, I imagine that if I stabbed you in the kidney, you wouldn't feel it. Right? Would it still work on an ascended?"
Wessex nods. “I can. If you come find me some other time, I’ll be happy to teach you small things like that.” But not right now; they’ve spent more than enough time on this, and maybe if the boy practices, he will have something to show the Wraith next time. As to his next question - well, it might be time for another demonstration. Taking a knife out of her other boot, Wessex holds out her hand and takes the tip of the blade to her pinky finger. Pressing it into her nanites, she cuts deep enough for some of her fluid to drip out.
“We aren’t robots. Our nervous system and organs have been altered” (read: removed, but she isn’t about to tell him that) “- so that we don’t feel pain and don’t need to be kept alive with blood and air and food. That doesn’t mean that we aren’t hurt the same way everyone else is. We won’t bleed internally, aren’t susceptible to biological infections, but we do take physical damage.” That’s about as much as she’s willing to reveal, especially if he doesn’t know these things already.
Wiping the fluid against her clothing, Wessex resheathes her knife. She’s tired of teaching. Time to do her own thing. “Like I said, come find me if you want to learn more.”
