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!
The strange sailor boy started to walk away, which Oliver tried to follow after him, speed-walking to catch up until he was whammed into the side with the tail end of the water, slamming him into the ground. He scrambled away and coughed out a bit of nasty sea water that had managed to make its way into his mouth, followed by an almost predatory growl. Alright. Nobody made him look like an absolute dumbass. Grasping onto a rather big rock that had fallen to the ground, Oliver contemplated what exactly to do next.
Scrambling to his feet, Oliver's now soaked body started to make it's way into the ground. The man may think that he can hide amongst the hustle and bustle, but unfortunately for him, he is extremely fucking tall and also wearing a very bright red hat. Dumbass. Using his telekinesis, Oliver proceed to carry the rock over to the man before whamming it right into his shoulder. Part of him wanted to rip away that hat, but how else will he be able to tell who the man is within the crowd?
As the rock slammed into Saiden’s shoulder, he grunted. Narrowing his eyes, he turned around. The crowd parted slightly, sensing blood was in the air (or it would be soon, since right now there were just some bruises and aches). Drawing both his cutlass and his knife, he ran forward.
While he ran, he called upon more seawater. It exploded from the ocean, blasting towards Oliver once again. This time, however, not only was the cook aiming to knock the other man down, the Hali specifically targeted the stranger's nose and mouth, hoping to drown him on dry land. Once he got within range with his blades, Saiden would slash forward from Oliver's right to left, hoping to slice open the other man's chest.
The moment that man started heading towards him, Oliver immediately booked it, running in the opposite direction. This time, he was able to at least somewhat anticipate the idea of a tidal wave of water cascading towards him, so he had multiple things he needed to get done. Glancing over his shoulder, Oliver once again used that brilliant hat to his benefit...hopefully. He'd will his telekinesis to drag the hat ontop of the sailor's face, smooshing it against it in an effort to cover it up and prevent him from seeing anything. As well, just as the water was coming towards him, he'd shift down into a fox, hoping to avoid the initial crash of water.
If he were successful to not be rammed into by water, he would make a turn into a nearby alley and hopefully hide behind a box or something. If he were hit, he'd immediately turn back into a human and try to fight back by creating a plate to cover up his face from any of the water.
Things were going straight to hell, but it was totally fine. It was all going to be a'okay. Right?
The hat did indeed momentarily obscure Saiden’s vision. While Oliver’s tactic made the cook’s aim slightly off, some of the water still splashed over the fox. Snarling, the Hali ripped the hat from his face and tossed it aside. He was still running, blades out, the crowd parting before him.
The slightly damp paw prints leading to the alley gave him pause, but they also gave him a clue as to where the other man had run off to. So he careened around the corner, gathering a wave of water to follow at his footsteps, just in case. As Oliver popped up from behind a crate and covered his face with a plate, Saiden kept running, and rammed into the crate, hoping to crush it against the other man and pin him against the wall of the alley.
Things were going great until they weren't. Oliver thought that he finally had the opportunity to catch his breath, relax. No way was the mysterious sailor going to know where he went, seeing as hopefully he didn't even know that a hybrid could be a thing. Unfortunately, Oliver was absolutely wrong as soon, he was propelled roughly against a wall with a strong rush of water. The plate slipped out of his hands and all he could do was hope that he wouldn't be drowned. His mouth and eyes were shut tightly and he tried to turn his head to the side.
The crate was pushed against him, crushing him into a position where he couldn't fight back. All Oliver could do at this point was attempt to make an illusion of fire somewhere to the left of the sailor. Oliver wasn't sure where he was, so he was purely guesstimating, but the goal was for him to be released long enough to shift into a bird and maybe fly away to safety. Otherwise, well, he could only hope that the brutal stranger would give him the opportunity to speak before anything bad happened.
As fire sprang up nearby, Saiden directed the water to put it out. However, he didn’t release Oliver from behind the crate. Instead, the cook pressed even harder against the crate, trying to fully pin the stranger against the wall. "You made a mistake, mate." The words came out heated, with a great deal of menace behind them as well.
The Hali lashed out with his knife, attempting to slice a long gash across the other man's chest. Snarling as he did so, he gave Oliver a murderous look Whether or not the strike was successful, Saiden would spit out some more words. "I was gonna let you walk away without a scratch."
The box was pressed tightly against him and he winced, finally turning to look at the sailor. His eyes were filled with fear, but he tried to maintain a stoic expression, one that didn't reflect how he felt.
A cry erupted from his lips as he felt the slash of blade against his chest. Glancing down, red started to bleed into his top. His eyes widened with horror and fear. The cut wasn't too deep, luckily, but it was a cut for sure. "Please don't kill me...I'll do anything please." Almost anything, no brothels, but his mind wasn't working well enough to protest that. He wanted to escape. Torchline was a beautiful place, but also dangerous. He would come back, for sure, if he managed to survive.
In this moment, Oliver forgot that he could fight back. That he could try to push away the box. He wanted to bargain with the man, get out of here without being hurt anymore. Only if the man came at him again would he even attempt to use any magic. For now, though, he was filled with fear and was trapped. An animal stuck within a net, waiting for the hunter to make his decision.
Saiden snarled at Oliver’s sniveling. The cook didn't move from where he stood, still pressing against the crate with his lower body. "Pathetic. You'll have to beg better than that." The words were low and dangerous.
When the water didn’t turn into steam, he narrowed his eyes. An illusion then. and sent it coursing towards the other man’s face, trying to at least distract him, obscure his vision and maybe choke him a little.
At the same time, the Hali slashed forward with his knife again. This time, he aimed a little lower on the other man's chest. The attack was more focused, too, aiming to open an even deeper cut.
Wincing, Oliver could barely even take a glance at Saiden, overwhelmed by the terror and stinging sensation along his chest. It hurt, unbelievably so. He hadn't been cut like this, not yet. The sight of blood alone made him feel light headed and dizzy, but Oliver wasn't going to stop. Just by the tone of voice, Oliver could tell that the stranger wasn't done, he was ready to continue and torture him even more. And Oliver? He wasn't going to allow that.
As water came gushing towards his face, Oliver used his telekensiss to violently fling a nearby crate directly at Saiden. Unfortunately, he would still be cut, not deep enough to kill, but deep enough to make him cry out. Water filled his mouth and hopefully, if Saiden was shoved away, he'd hurriedly turn into a fox. A bird was the end solution, but for now he needed to get out. Hacking and coughing, the fox tried his best to get away from the mess of crate and water.
As the crate came flying through the air, it smacked directly into Saiden’s side. It was enough to cause him to stagger, and lose his concentration. That released Oliver from the crate and caused the water to drop to the ground momentarily. However, as the other man attempted an escape, the cook slashed out with his cutlass, attempting to cut the stranger's fleeing back open.
At the same time, the Hali pushed the pain out of his mind as best he could. Grasping the water that had pooled about, he lashed out with a snarl. It blasted towards Oliver's feet. Saiden was hoping to trip the other man up, get him to stumble as he fled.
The blonde had managed to flee...almost. With a swing, Oliver had a deep cut across is back, letting out a yelp as he lurched forward, nearly falling to the ground to the sudden contact and intense pain. Unfortunately, even when he was able to continue, a intense rush of water crashed into his feet, finally pushing him forward. He didn't land on his wrist, surprisingly, but he did land on his side, causing him to let out a groan.
Oliver didn't remain on the ground for any longer, for he shifted into a fox and tried to spring on forward, ignoring the aches his entire body was causing. His blonde fur was now stained a deep red color on quite a lot of his body. Just trying to hope for the best, he started to let out loud, and high pitched, yelping and yipping sounds, hoping that some passerby would see him and at least put up a blockade between him and his attacker. Right now, he was just a poor, vulnerable fox who had been unfairly attacked.
Saiden, growling with annoyance as that stupid little blonde scampered away, lifted the cutlass for another swing. However, before the cook could attack again, the stranger fell to the ground. Smirking, the Hali stepped forward. Then, though, the other man shifted and Saiden's eyes narrowed.
The fox was running before the cook could react. Breaking into a run as well, he raised his free hand. The water he'd been using this whole time responded to his call: it leapt before him, and formed into a wall before the stranger. The Hali was hoping to box the other man in so that Saiden could finish the job he'd started.
Unfortunately for Oliver, the inhabitants of Torchline didn't care what happened to a person, let alone an animal.
A wall of water formed before him and no matter how loud he screeched his head off, absolutely nobody came to his rescue. Nobody. There was hardly anything Oliver could do. Everytime he tried to run, the man would get the better of him and use water to attack him. He was steadily running out of steam and he was ready to give up at this point, but giving up also seemed to mean dying.
There really was only one more option, as much as Oliver hated it.
Shifting back into a human, Oliver held up his hands, attempting to show that he wasn't going to pull out a knife or really do anything at this point. "Stop! Wait!" Hopefully Saiden would hear him out and even if he didn't, he'd try to say his next line as fast as he could after. "I will do anything to make you stop! Anything!" And at this point, he really did mean anything. The words were unspoken but judging by the look on Oliver's face, he precisely meant what Saiden was speaking of before. It wouldn't be as bad as death and if it meant he left without any more cuts, so be it.
As the blonde turned back to human and called out, Saiden kept running, and kept hold of his magic. Skidding to a half besides the fallen hybrid, the cook snarled. Lifting one foot, he kicked the stranger in the gut, hard. "Is that so?" There was a dangerous edge to the Hali's eyes.
Kneeling down, he smirked at the blonde. "In that case, here's what I want from you: leave Torchline, and don't come back until you're ready to play by our fucking rules." With that, Saiden spat on the ground next to the hybrid. Only then did the cook stand up. He turned and left the other man behind without a backwards glance.
