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!
"It truly is a shame." Sweet Sascha stated with a bit of a pout in his voice, like humans had betrayed him and his very existence by acting this way. How hard could it REALLY be to just.. behave? It was quite a charming sight to see Sascha pouting since he really looked like a harmless puppy. Not fierce. Not strong. Not determined. Just... disappointed really. which touché was one of the most powerful looks to make people feel bad over themselves to be fair. As Weaver spoke again however he couldn't help but to cheer up as quick as a light switch would bright up a room. He even let out a small laugh considering that possibility. "Though.. i might wonder what gives out that specific smell." He joked as he slowed down his steps to walk up his restored stairway to his home. When he had gotten here it was life threatening to walk on these stairs but now they looked to be in a stellar condition once again. After all; he was a carpenter.
He investigated curiously the dried meat in her hand and looked like she was offering him a luxuary mansion. It had been forever and an age since he have had dried meat! "I wouldn't mind trading for some at all! I can't believe i haven't eaten dry meat since i came to this world, i would REALLY love to have some!" How had he almost forgotten about the precious gift in life also called dry meat?! It was insane! With a smile on his face he unlocked his door and opened it for her so she could enter first.
The bottom part of his home was indeed quite messy with flakes of wood all over the floor, projects in different stages of being finished, a fireplace to keep the heat inside the home during colder times of the year and notes pasted all over the walls with designs and formulas.
His pout does make him look like a harmless, disappointed puppy who’d expected a walk only to find he’d been tricked into going to the vet. It is almost enough to make her feel bad, as if she’d been personally responsible for the look. In a way, she supposed, she had been but only insomuch as she’d simply told him the truth. She had not betrayed him, stolen from him, or even lied to him so in this moment she was not the terrible nature of humankind that she spoke of. Though she knows she is fully capable of being such, knows that someday that look might be directed at her rather than at the whole of humanity and the idea stings a little. Strange, she barely even knew the boy, but it was hard not to care about someone who cared so deeply. It was hard not to feel at least somewhat responsible for making sure he smiled.
He cheers up easily at her jokes though (at least he appreciated her sense of humor, it was very hit or miss), and she laughs at his response. “Good point. Guess there’s not much I can do to hide that,” she says, following him up the stairs to his home. They look relatively new and she guesses they’d all had to build their homes here out of the rubble. She feels somewhat lucky in that moment that her home has always been there, even if it felt too large now without three of their five family members.
She brightens at his response to the dried meat, less because she needs to trade and more simply because he’s so pleased about it. “I didn’t realize it would be so exciting,” she says with a grin, “but if I do say so myself, it is some of the best you’ll find in Caido. I know how to make some good jerky.” It was key to their survival in Halo, really, but she’d learned to make it interesting rather than just dried. She’d use different herbs to season, create different flavors in different batches, and then trade it away or stash it in her pack for when she traveled and hunted. “Take a piece,” she says, opening the bag and holding it out for him to try one. It would be a bit spicy, a bit sweet, if she’d gotten the mix right.
He opens the door for her and she steps inside, looking around not at the mess but at all the things he could make. She moves into the room further, fingers gently touching projects in different states of doneness, taking care not to disturb his work. “You have some really lovely things here. Did you learn your trade before you came to Caido?” The unspoken half of that question hangs in the air though, or did you learn here out of necessity?. So many things in Caido sprung out of necessity.
weaver
-- ask no questions, and you'll be told no lies --
Yes Sascha was such a good hearted person that it indeed could have been seen as a cruel twist of fate to make him end up in such a harsh environment as Caido actually was. But did the carpenter complain? No he did not. He just kept on smiling, helping out wherever he could and healing what was possible within his skill set. He infected people with that good hearted smile of his and could apparently turn the most brooding people into a smiling one. Caido was indeed different then China with it's monsters, magic and mysteries but people was pretty much the same. There was good people, bad people and confused people. There was wars, political madness and foes no matter where you went in the universe so really, was Caido technically so much different from earth?
"Might rise a worried brow!" He stated happily as he went up the stairs to his home. It was not what everyone immediately thought about, the stairs. To a normal person it was just a stairway to a door but if you looked closer at it you could tell this was a home of a carpenter. Even though the easy design it was flawlessly made and structurally safe. As she offered him to try some of the jerky he gladly took the opportunity to grab a piece from the bag, sniffed it to absorb the scent of the herbs used before eating it. Thank god he did come from China or the strong spices might have been to much for him but with the refined palette he appreciated the taste immensely. The spices turned sweet as well and had an excellent taste in general which made that contagious smile re appear on his face. "I like it a lot! I would be happy to trade for it without any doubt at all!" Who knew how much she had with her but he would gladly get what she was willing to part with.
Well inside the home he put down the heavy bag next to the door as Weaver was exploring his different crafts. He was wondering what may be of interest for her as he loosened the knot of the bag to open it up, letting Weaver look around in a relaxed way. No, there certainly was no tension from Sascha letting her into his home. "Well, funny enough i started working with it after i.. ehum.. left the army back in China." He said as he rummaged through the bag after a certain type of items he had made. Yes "left" the army was a nice way of putting it since he literally had deserted it and had been on the run, living in a hose in the middle of nowhere. "Sure i have always been working with it but in China at the time i am from it's mandatory to join the army and protect the country at a certain age. To make it simple; I wasn't much of a solider and had to get out of there." Yeas a soldier like him was not ideal after all. He found some of the items he was looking for and pulled them out of the bag. A sheath for a long dagger, a trinket in the shape of a warrior symbol and one of the flutes he had made, all excellently carved out. He had just met her after all and wasn't to sure what would be of use to her yet.
"I'm not sure what you would like but i thought maybe some of these could be of interest? I have, as you can se, more items but i thought that maybe these in particular could be of interest. So, how about you? What do you do for a living?" He asked curiously as he held out the items towards her.
She wonders what others would think of her home, were she to ever invite someone over other than to share a bed. Those sorts of visits didn’t tend to invite judgment, at least not of one’s living space. Their house was reasonably well kept, as Korbin was handy and Weaver would, occasionally, clean things up. It was also very well lived in, with clothes in piles and the odds and ends of life scattered throughout the house. They were not the type to put things away with any regularity, and though it was not dirty, it was certainly a bit messy. Maybe she should care more, spend some time actually making the place presentable, but she couldn’t really see a reason why. It would just get messy again and it’s not as if she entertained anyone who cared.
Maybe this is why his workshop doesn’t bother her. It feels homey to her, to be surrounded with things half finished and well loved. It is how she lives, in a space too large for just her a Korbin and yet somehow filled. Much of their family’s things were still in the house as well, taking up space. They ought to do something about that, but instead they kept most of the things, trading them away bit by bit as the need arose. It made more sense in a practical way to clean out that, to use the items of their lost loved ones for food or candles when they need it. Also it seemed to make it easier, to part with them piece by piece.
She listens as he talks about his past in China without judgment. “No, you do not strike me as a soldier,” she says, though there’s no condemnation in her voice. Not all were cut out for such a life. Even she probably wasn’t a soldier, though for different reasons than him. Weaver simply couldn’t imagine following so many rules. She lived life as her own boss, and though she could certainly fight, that didn’t mean she wanted to do so for someone else. He goes on, offering a few items for her to look at.
Weaver makes her way back over to him, looking at the items he extends. They are all beautiful in their own way, though it is the sheath for the dagger that she picks up, examining as she talks. “I’m a hunter. My father and older brother taught me how. They used to do most of the hunting, but after they passed, it fell to me. I got food to feed my younger brother, he learned to trade and take care of the house. Roll reversal, I suppose, but it works for us.” She’s surprised she’s telling him this much, given how rarely she speaks of the deaths of her family. There are no details offered, for it is a story she does not want to revisit, but she finds that it is not hard to tell him the basics. His kindness is infectious and it softens her. “I’d love to trade for this,” she says, holding up the sheath slightly and offering the small bag of meat to him. She kept a number of those bags on hand, so she didn’t mind parting with the bag in her hand.
weaver
-- ask no questions, and you'll be told no lies --
Sascha couldn't help to laugh slightly embarrassed over that he indeed didn't even look like a soldier. Well he couldn't blame her though since he obviously was more for healing and helping than cutting and killing. Or to work on pretty things which was another passion of his existence. Turning something broken and worthless into something beautiful and valuable was part of that passion. Back in China he had collected broken or damaged weapons, mostly only of tree material however, to make them like new or turned them into something else. As like he had read her mind he then stated; "Not all of us can be soldiers after all, right?" where he stood with the items in his hands.
As she started to walk over to him he looked at her studying the different items, listening to her speech flooding with interest. She seamed to have lead a harsh life and yet she also seamed to see the world more optimistically then was common to find in Caido. Sascha had gotten a good collection of friends and most of them seamed to be struggle with their lives. Yes Caido wasn't all that merciful after all. If it wasn't for the longnight monsters it was the people themselves that seamed to do sme bad things according to Sascha. So much had happened during the year he have had in this world, almost as quick as blinking. "I'm sorry to hear they passed.. But you seam to do well anyway which is a huge relief to me! It's never easy to lose a loved one and if you ask me it's a matter of how you choose to deal with it that shows what kind of person you are." He smiled towards her, showing that he felt she had walked the right path in life as far as he could tell and when she found a piece she liked the smile got even wider. Almost seamed to light up the entire surroundings even. "You have a deal then! Thank you so much for this!" He held over the sheath to her while with the other items pinned under his arm e accepted the dry meat with his free hand. Better snack one truly had to look hard for!
“Nope, just as my brother isn’t a hunter even though he grew up with a bunch of us.” Korbin could hunt, and he did when she needed the help but she tried to stick to smaller game, to things and places she could manage on her own. He did not like to hunt, but damn if he couldn’t charm the pants off of anyone or their wallet with them. That was his real skill, to charm you out of everything without you even realizing it. Sometimes she wondered if he wasn’t an illusionist in disguise, just pretending to be attuned instead, though she knew he did not lie to her.
In the end though, she could live in the sadness of her life or she could move on from it. It does not mean she didn’t mourn the loss of her family, but what did it do her to drown in sorrow? She didn’t see the point in getting lost in it, in giving up or giving in. Besides, her mother would have burned her bed out from beneath her and told her to stop it, and Erebor would have given her that disappointed stare of his that always managed to break her heart. Which was something, because her heart was a hard thing to break. It was a closely guarded thing, never given away easily (though given away fiercely, when she does).
She gives him a smile at his words, though it’s not her usual mischievous, shit-eating grin but rather something a little sad, unable to put all her usual bravado behind it. “They would not want me to waste my life simply because theirs was short. So I will live for all of them. Besides, it gives me an excuse to drink more and fuck more, because I’m making it up for a few extra people.” The last part she says with a laugh, falling back into herself at the joke and shrugging off the moment of sadness. She cannot abide sorrow for long.
He accepts the deal, and she smiles broader, taking the sheath and adding it to her belt. “Now I just need to find a good knife for it. Don’t worry, I will be sure to fill it with something stellar.” A truth that he could easily believe, she suspects, given the array of knives already on her person. They were all different, their varying hilts gleaming in different sizes and different metals.
weaver
-- ask no questions, and you'll be told no lies --
Sascha looked a bit sad over that she had lost her family like that but tried to stay a bit positive still since him being sad wouldn't really help her feeling better, right? So with that he gave her a secure smile as he then carefully put away his dried meat on a shelf next to him containing some of his more prized possessions. That meat would full him up good later for sure! For a very short bit he wondered what his own family back on earth had to deal with after his disappearance, if they were still alive that was considering people from all ages seamed to end up here. Better not to think too much about it after all.
As she then stated her life ambition he couldn't help but to laugh a bit embarrassed which was maybe yet another sign of how pure he actually was. Where he came from they didn't really talk about "fucking" just like that after all which was one of many reasons to his now red cheeks. That and his unfortunate curse of not being attracted to the gender he was supposed to be attracted to. Maybe this was how some of the monks ended up? "Well it's good you are living your life to the fullest! I'm happy to hear it!" He however stated honestly with that charmingly, kind smile upon his face. Kinda fitted well to the red cheeks to be completely fair.
"Yes you seam t enjoy knives! Are you collecting them?" He asked interested as he located a few on her person as it was as he himself just had his sword present on himself.
His cheeks go bright red, and she can’t help but laugh. It doesn’t surprise her that he’s embarrassed by it, by her maybe. Some were. She’s just never really cared about such things, never thought it unusual or strange to seek pleasure. Everyone wanted it, it was just a matter of how obvious you were willing to be. Nor was she raised to be the type who believed you had to wait till marriage. She’d be waiting a damn long time if that’s been the case, because she’s not really sure she’s the marrying type. Maybe. Maybe one day someone would snag her attention for more than a night, but it hasn’t happened yet.
”You could try it sometime. I’d be happy to show you around a bar.” She doesn’t offer to show him around a bedroom. First, he’s not her type. Second, she’s not entirely sure that she’s his type either. But there were plenty of options in Halo, and that must mean there were plenty here. The Hollowed Grounds was vastly larger than tiny little Halo, after all.
He comments on her knives and she pulls up a pant leg to reveal another sticking out from her boot. There were others, strapped in various places because you never quite knew when they might come in handy, though the vast majority where on her belt. ”Yea. The thing about knives is that they are handy for all sorts of things, including throwing. I like to make sure I have plenty.” She was not the greatest knife thrower, but she’d been working on that skill. It seems like something worth getting better at.
weaver
-- ask no questions, and you'll be told no lies --
Sascha almost suddenly felt slightly panicked over her offering of 'showing him around a bar' since he wasn't at all secure within himself when it came to romance. Not only that he knew that he wasn't attracted to the opposite sex but also that were he came from lead to you getting killed if not marrying a woman. Old China wasn't very understanding when it came to different romantic feelings so it was either a woman or death for a Chinese male. He sure didn't miss that part.. Pretending to court women in the search for a wife when he didn't want to at all. He had even accepted that he probably had to be very drunk to even have to possibility for a child if he was to marry. Ngh no that had been VERY stressful for him and made him quite scared even in a place like Caido where the whole problem didn't seam to exist. So with that thought he just nervously laughed a bit while rubbing the back of his head. "I'm not really sure that whole romance thing is something for me.. Maybe i just live out my life in celibacy and focus on helping people in.. ehum.. other ways." Yes the mere thought of it all made him truly embarrassed. He had nothing against nudity or such but the intimacy part scared him.
He soon hurried over to the knife conversation instead, clearly distressed over the thought of romance. Tried to make his fiery face go back to normal with a topic change, haha. So with that in mind he gave her a small, mischievous smile as a joke was about to escape him. "I use mine to make food! He stated with a clear apparition of that he actually was joking. Sure he did make food with knives but he had a feeling the joke might make his new friend smile a bit. And smiles was the life nectar if you asked him!
He is adorably naive, and she feels it either her responsibility to break him of that or simply to protect it. She’s not entirely sure which. It’s almost refreshing to find someone like him, to realize that the world wasn’t entirely corrupt and ruthless and promiscuous. Yet at the same time, she really didn’t want the world to eat him alive and slightly feared that it might. Though at least he was the cautious type. ”You know, going to a bar doesn’t require sleeping with someone. You can actually go and just enjoy a single drink.” She usually enjoys more than one drink, but bars served more than one purpose. They were the communal watering hole, the place where people gathered to discuss life and learn secrets and let loose.
She takes a step closer, gently elbowing him in his arm, but the look she gives him is understanding and compassionate (or as close as she can get to those two emotions). She’s guessing, but it’s an educated guess. ”Celibacy is fine, if that’s what you want. And I don’t know what China was like, but this is Caido, and you might find that the preference you have is shared by quite a lot. Or that they just don’t have a preference at all.” Hell, even Weaver had been known to swing the other way on occasion, though she always preferred men. Point being, she wasn’t judging, and she really didn’t know anyone who was. Not here. Caido was a hell, but it did have a few good points.
She lets the topic drop though, talking of knives instead, not wanting to make him uncomfortable. Well, more uncomfortable than he already was, though she hopes the truth makes him feel less so. She does indeed laugh at the joke, though she cocks her head slightly. ”They are very handy for skinning fresh game. What do you think skinned and cut all that dried beef you now have?”
weaver
-- ask no questions, and you'll be told no lies --
A single drink? It never tended to be just one fo him to be completely fair. The intention had always been to sip a bit on a drink and in a perfect world that would have been the whole story.. But one never seamed to stick to be solo. Friends always pushed drink after drink in to him ending up with him sleeping in a field hugging a vegetable. Rice wine was so delicious however that it was easy to overdose on, and therefore; hugging something while sleeping in dirt. He never had understood why the Chinese men drank with him however since he wasn't really a manly drunk.. was is all to make fun of him or did they see it as an experiment to see how much the "kid" could handle? They had probably seen him as a kid considering how he had acted. All; doing the right thing, respecting women and never pursuing them. Kid in Chinese culture. At his age he should already have a wife and at least one kid after all since China back then was always in wars and he may die any day.
After thinking a bit he then proposed something. "Well.. would you like to? Grab a drink and get to know each other more? My treat of course!" He said happily as he felt secure enough with her to leave his guard down. Sure he was usually very gullible but still! That happy smile seamed to light up the entire house even, making him a rare sun ray in a place like Caido.
As she came closer and nudged him he looked curiously at her, wondering what was up before listening to what she had to say. As he heard what she meant his heart sank a bit in his chest since it was clear she had already figured out that he didn't really find women attractive in that way. If she saw it so easily then how many else had figured it out? Could he had been at the brink of death during his entire life without realizing it? He had worked so hard with dating women.. maybe that was the only thing that had saved him? He looked a bit embarressed, like a cute little pupster as he struggled to find the words he was looking for. "I.. is it that.. obvious?" He asked her with a hurt voice, hurt over how bad of an actor he seamed to have been. Eyes glued at a VERY interesting spot at the floor as he spoke. Almost feared he would start crying like a child if he looked at anything else. Caido was so different..
He gathered himself back into place before he could finally, shyly look back at her as the joke had come into place. As she spoke he smiled a bit considering the meat type he had gotten. "Well at least its not human, right?" He stated half laughing as he started to cheer right back up!
He suggests they go to a bar. Well look at that, she was already rubbing off on him. Now, normally, one drink isn’t really her thing either, but today she thinks she will introduce him to sipping spirits. The kind that are designed to drink slowly, to enjoy over a long conversation. He may have been gullible, but she had no plans to take advantage of him. On the contrary, the point of this was to teach him how to hold his own, even if only a little bit. ”Have you been to the VlamVloed?” she asks, nodding to the door and making her way toward it. She’d enjoyed the bar when she’d been, though admittedly she enjoyed the owner more. Not in that way (mostly, anyway), but in a friendly, possible business-partner sort of way. Might as well go support the bar that may very well be funding her own.
Before that though, he ends up staring at the floor sounding very...hurt? Hurt at being gay? Hurt that she knew? There’s confusion written all over her face. ”Here’s the thing, you don’t look like me and have straight guys not stare at you with hungry eyes. You have no hungry eyes. It’s not a big deal here though, seriously.” If there was a girl around Weaver might go kiss her just to make a point. ”You be you, whatever that means. You’ll find your place here.”
She chucks him on the shoulder again lightly, like telling him to chin up. ”If it was human, I wouldn’t tell you anyway,” she says with a wink. It really was a good thing he understood her sense of humor or he’d never touch that beef. And what a waste that would be, it was damn fine beef.
weaver
-- ask no questions, and you'll be told no lies --
"Might have but not to sure.. i was at a bar when i first came to Caido but i have no idea which one it was since i was a bit.. lets say broken when i came here. But sounds nice, let's go there!" It was quite adorable to be honest since it wasn't at all his scene and more looked like an excited teenager then the man he now really was. Yes years where ticking away more and more from the teen years he had once lived in. Already 2 years ago he had left the teens but it felt like a month, maybe two. True back in china at his time you where considered a man when you just reached the teens so it was a bit different from what the future of earth had in mind.
He felt soon however slightly horrified that she had picked it up simply because he didn't just want to throw her on the bed. Wait.. did that mean that ALL straight men wanted to do that? Couldn't they just be interested in her as a person? He seamed to have done things completely wrong even though his female dates back in China hadn't seen it that way. They just had gotten upset he never asked them to marry him really. He listened to her and semi hid his face with one hand mostly over how frustrated he was over himself. After gathering himself a bit he replied in a saddened tone. "Well.. where i am from you get killed if you like people of the same sex as you, I guess it's hard to let that go." True if you grew up with that thought it might not just be as easy to move on, right?
As the conversation moved one his frown face turned into a smile again and he couldn't help but to laugh over this plot twist. "You are the worst!" He teased her and you could see on his face exactly how amused he really was. After that he steered out the home, waited for Weaver to leave the house before closing the door behind them. Then he happily chirped to her; "After you!"
She’s got a few years on him, though it’s not like there was a legal drinking age here. She’s been in bars forever, really, not necessarily drinking but sometimes just with the adults in her life. Younger Weaver didn’t enjoy sitting in a bar listening to gossip. That was the sort of thing you learned to enjoy as you aged, as you began to appreciate the currency of information. But Straia has taken all her children to the local tavern at times to grab some food and spend some time there, learning how life worked. Because life worked differently in different places, and Weaver was taught to navigate some of the seedier options.
”It’s close,” she says, heading out the door and back down the steps. She leads the way toward the VlamVloed, feeling vaguely impressed that she has any idea where anything is around here. Though it’s not too hard to find things located in the area. It’s large, given how much rebuilding they had had to do, but not too overwhelming for a girl from tiny little Halo.
And no, not all boys want to toss her immediately into bed. But there was always that look, some amount of interest that gave away the possibility. She’d grown up learning to look for it, for a number of various reasons. It was important to know what you might be facing, and not all dangers came in the form of a sword or a knife. It was also important to know someone’s weakness(es), and she’d be taught to look for whatever form she could find.
”No, I am sure it is not easy to change such a habit. But if you are stuck in this new world with us, might as well take advantage of the few good things Caido can offer you. Cause otherwise it’s all monsters and misery here.” She says it, though the way she says it doesn’t actually make it sound all that bad. It was a hard life here, but it wasn’t necessarily a bad one.
”I am the worst, though. You’ll see,” she says with a grin and a wink, clearly unoffended. In some ways, he was spot on anyway. ”Almost there,” she adds, gesturing toward a building not too far in front of them.
weaver
-- ask no questions, and you'll be told no lies --
