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!
Given all the time Loren had been spending in Torchline, perhaps it was unsurprising that he'd adapted so well. Dressed just in a pair of shorts, with a knife at his hip, he very much looked like he might belong there. Although he still had dark circles under his eyes, he was even starting to pick up a bit of a tan.
He found himself heading away from the coastline for once, instead ascending up the mountain that loomed over the town. Astra was with him, glad to be getting away from the sand and the surf that seemed to make her fur impossibly tangled. As she trotted ahead, he watched her, a relaxed expression on his face. They kept walking up the increasingly steep incline, the slight burn from the hike more than welcome. A flask dangled from one hand, and he periodically took swigs from it.
Had Jack gone to visit the governor? Absolutely not. In the middle of the day such a thing would have been foolish, but that didn't mean he didn't have business around Apopo; it was a large area and people could get lost easily. Things could be hidden easily. Sometimes bodies. Was that relevant? Up to you.
The captain of The Ark was coming down in the opposite direction to Loren, stretching luxuriously in the sunlight. There were smears of volcanic dirt on his hands and his sleeves, but for all intents and purposes he simply looked as though he were a man on a stroll. At the sight of a dinky little luxere he had to do a double take however, blinking at Astra as she trotted along.
Since the portal had opened these Outlanders were pouring through with all sorts of creatures with them. Some had sharp toothed pumpkins, and now this.
As the stranger appeared, Astra gave an anxious bleat. Turning, she trotted back to Loren. His luxere companion pressed herself against his back, peering out at the other man. For his part, the healer just took a swig from his flask.
He gave the stranger an appraising look, one that tried to determine if the other man was friend, foe, fuck, or, as was increasingly common for the healer these days, option D, all of the above. The Launceleyn’s eyes lingered on the dirt on the stranger’s skin before returning to the other man’s face. ”Hello there.” Loren cocked his head to one side. Then he fished out a second flask from his pocket, one that was also filled with rum.
He held it out to the other man. ”You look like you could use this more than I do.” There was something darkly amused about the heater’s voice.
Jack watched with quiet curiosity as the tiny luxere trotted back to her companion; a rough and skinny guy that the smuggler couldn't say he had ever met before. There was probably some stupid fucking platitude about being wary of strangers offering drinks, but Jack figured it to be bullshit. Strangers had the best drinks.
So saying, he approached the other man and accepted the flask with a nod of thanks. "Not sure if I should be offended by that or not," he remarked, taking a healthy swig and offering it back.
"Where'd you come by one of those?" he wanted to know, one of those being Astra, of course.
”Not sure if I meant it to offend or not.” He hadn’t but he also wasn’t exactly in the mood to apologize. As the other man offered to give the flask back, Loren shook his head and smirked. "Keep it." With that, he pulled out another of the several he kept on him these days and took a long pull.
When the stranger asked about where the healer had gotten Astra, he reached out a hand to give her an affectionate head scratch. Whatever else he was dealing with, he loved her dearly. "She came by me in the Hollowed Ground." As always, he felt more like she'd chosen him than the opposite.
He jerked his head at the dark marks at the other man's arms. "Where'd the soot come from?"
"Best you learn if you're gonna be hangin' around Torchline for any length of time," Jack murmured, taking another healthy swig from the flask and raising it in a toast to the other man as he was told he could keep it. It was either a man who had everything or a man who had nothing at all who gave his things away for free; he kept that tucked away for later consideration.
Whatever he felt about Loren's financial situation, however, his attention was drawn back to Astra as his hand came out to scritch her. "Ah, another Outlander," he murmured. "To what do we owe the pleasure of your visiting our tiny isles?" He would have bowed had he been bothered; either way it would have been entirely sarcastic.
"It's from the volcano," he said of the soot. The unspoken remark being and what about it?
02-11-2020, 09:18 PM (This post was last modified: 02-12-2020, 05:14 AM by Loren.)
whatever comes, let it come
what stays, let it stay
Loren smirked a bit. "Thanks for the advice. Luckily, I'm a quick study." There was something darkly amused about his voice, and he toasted back with a sip from his own flask.
However, when the stranger scratched Astra (causing her to give out a contented bleat and press closer to him), the healer grinned. Stepping forward, he rubbed her side affectionately. "Yes, sorry about that. And the pleasure is all mine, I must confess." Images of Eloise and Hotaru, even that Kalynd kid flashed through the Launceleyn's mind. "Officially, I'm here looking for medicinal herbs." Smirking a bit, he titled his head to one side.
Raising his eyebrows at the other man's admission, Loren turned to stare at the mountain. "Didn't know that was a volcano." Then he shrugged a took a sip from his flask again.
There was something darkly amused about this stranger's whole schtick, and Jack wasn't sure that he appreciated getting too close to it. Whatever happened, though, he was at the very least appreciative of the drink - and of the lovely images that went dancing through the Launceleyn's mind. "Glad to see that the place has made a good impression," he muttered, already continuing to walk as if to head back down the volcano. Free rum and a quick chat did not keep his attention for long.
"Mm, it's a volcano. Hasn't blown for a while, but you never know. Ain't sure you'll find many herbs up here. What gave you the impression there'd be anythin' other'n dirt and scrubland?" he asked.
Loren nodded. ”It certainly has.” He let his eyes trail down the other man’s body again. The healer's thought trended in that direction as well. ”It could always be better, though, with the right company.”
As the stranger started to walk away, the healer stepped into the other man’s path and held out his hand. ”I’m Loren, by the way. And that’s Astra.” The Launceleyn nodded at his companion, who trotted up to the other man.
Shrugging, Loren took a sip from his flask. ”You never know. Miracle cures can be found in the most unlikely of places.” Like the Efas herb in the Labyrinth, though he knew better than to say that. "Especially in a place as fertile as Torchline." Then he tilted his head to one side. "If you have suggestions for a better place to look, however, I'm all ears."
Jack's smile was purely for himself as he heard - or saw, rather - the implication in the stranger's words. If he thought the smuggler was the right company then he had very low standards indeed, but that didn't mean Jack didn't enjoy seeing himself through the other man's eyes. He did not appreciate the way said man was suddenly in his way, blue eyes glancing from his face down to his outstretched hand. "Call me Jack," he said, clasping Loren's hand with one warm and covered in callouses.
"There ain't no better miracle cure than the one you're holdin' right now," he said, nodding at the flask and smirking, before stepping around Loren with the intention of going on his way; if Loren wanted to follow, that was his issue. "A better place to look, though? You tried the fuckin' market?" Grinning, he glanced over his shoulder. "Ships come in from all 'round Caido. You ain't gonna find any more diverse stock than in Torchline."
Loren's grip was firm and polite, and he released Jack easily enough. "Nice to meet you Jack." Though the healer's tone might've been the slightest bit suggestive, he wasn't going to press the issue.
At the other man's quip, the Launceleyn smirked and took a long pull from his flask, finishing it. Jack's suggestion to try the market earned him a shrug; Loren had looked and hadn't trusted himself to tell the difference between miracle cures and phony products. "I'll take a closer look." Nodding in thanks, he let Jack moved around the healer. Astra let out a bleat, but started trotting up the mountain again, and the Launceleyn followed at her heels.
A little more time around Jack and Loren might discover that it wasn’t so nice to meet him after all; for now, at least, it seemed the Launceleyn had decided upon a lucky escape. ”You do that,” he said of the market, raising the flask one last time as if to say farewell, glancing down at the tiny luxere as she trotted up the mountain and her companion followed at her heels.
For Jack’s part, his exploration of the mountain was complete, and so he continued his journey downwards. No Governor still, but the volcano was garnering more attention, he noted.
