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 moon was beginning to shine bright across the sea, illuminating specks in the water up to Sam's feet, which he had placed just within the surf, idly watching the tide rush over them from where he sat on a rock just above the surface. Sat here, in the moment, it all seemed so calm; the sea, the sky, just him and the world...yet he knew only a little way down the beach, he had fought almost to the death with Remi.
He'd begun to get over his fear of the new region with time and possibly with the help of Loren's friendship (and more), which had imbued him with some new hope and confidence. While he thought that it seemed unlikely for the moment, he hoped one day he might be able to reconcile with the Alchemist...and Ronin too, he supposed, though he still believed the man had twisted Remi into his anger.
Sighing, knowing he should head back home soon, he leaned down to pick up a rock and toss it out into the ocean - he didn't know how to skip stones, so it just sank with a plop into the waves, Sam watching the ripples for a moment after as if expecting something more to happen.
It was probably strange (probably? definitely) for Ronin's voice to sound so close to Samuel, given his current position on the rock. But the hunter didn't walk on water, and he hadn't climbed up next to Sam - no, if the Ascended turned it would be to find Ronin sitting comfortably on a soft expanse of cloud, the Dark Star's eyes far out at sea where the stone had cast its ripples back at them.
He had spotted the redhead from where he had been strolling back from town, headed to the wagon where he could finally collapse around Remi and lose himself to the sweet oblivion of warm bodies and soft breaths. But something made him take pause - made him want to approach Samuel, though he had no doubt about what the other man might think of him. Still, he had to try. Safrin had made that much clear.
The sudden, unexpected voice made Sam jump; immediately his barrier came on and he disappeared, invisible within the electric sphere. That it was Ronin's voice did not help this, with the fantasies of the man's evil plans playing out in Sam's head, but after a moment, when he could actually parse the words, he realised Ronin had...apologised?
He looked up, slowly fading back into view and taking his barrier down, nervous as evidenced by the wringing of his hands. "...You are? I'dve thought you'd be mad at me like Remi was. More so, even." His words were quiet, cautious, but he wasn't going to shy away entirely from the Demi God.
"It was my own fault though, really." Sam shrugged, rubbing a finger back and forth over a bit of seaweed on the rock, idly fiddling so he wouldn't have to look at Ronin.
Ronin could only blink in confusion as the Ascended winked out of existence before him, rubbing at his eyes even after Sam reappeared again. He hadn't intended to frighten the other man, per say, but it would be a lie to say he felt that bad about it given what he had overheard on the beach that night he had restrained Remi.
"I'm not mad at you," he murmured, frowning gently out at the sea. "I don't like you very much, don't get me wrong. But I've learned to stop wallowing in those sorts of emotions." He did nod, however, at Sam's mention that what had happened was his fault.
"You provoked my husband at a time where I have never known him to be so unlike the man I love," he said.
As Ronin admitted he didn't like Sam much, he laughed, quietly and bitterly, shrugging out at the sea. "I must admit I feel rather the same way about you." He confessed, feeling that while this conversation was unlikely to be pleasant, if Ronin was telling the truth about not wallowing, he was safe to be honest.
"...I did." Sam nodded, sighed. "I made a mistake. I thought...I knew what he needed, in the moment. Of course I didn't. I've never been through..well...you know." He was sure Ronin did not need reminding of what specifically he was talking about. "Besides...he isn't..."
Sam frowned, nearly didn't continue, but what Ronin had said about Remi being 'unlike' the man he loved... "He isn't the person I once knew. So you needn't worry - I don't intend to visit again."
”Completely understandable,” Ronin said, a wry sort of smile sneaking across his face. After the unpleasant meeting with Amun, however brief, Ronin was learning that while the world left its marks upon him, he too could scar those around him if he wasn’t careful. That Sam only ‘didn’t like him very much’ was pleasantly surprising, given the reception he might have received.
He sighed as the Ascended continued, shrugging in a melancholy cousin of agreement. ”Having been through it, I can say that even I don’t know what he needed. What I needed. It isn’t something that has words, I don’t think.” Helpful? Probably not. But true? Absolutely.
”He is doing a lot better these days,” he continued, speaking of Remi. ”I can see him again, underneath everything that has happened. Still, I can’t say he would particularly look forward to seeing you.” Not after the display on the beach.
Ronin was forgiving enough about Sam's dislike of him; the way he so easily agreed actually made Sam rather sad. It spoke of Ronin's character, of someone he had once admired, now pushed away through various circumstances that had drawn them apart.
"Mmm. Yes." He agreed, sure that whatever it was Remi needed, it wasn't as simple as he'd thought when he'd first arrived at the beach. He'd been selfish, hadn't thought over it enough, had only seen things through his own lens...though Sam did not think all the blame laid with him. Not that it mattered, all things considered.
He looked up to Ronin and shrugged. "As I said. He's not the man that I once loved. I'm not the man he knew either. We're practically strangers again...so I've resolved not to bother him anymore. Or you either, until you came to speak to me." The beach was a public space, he'd just decided not to walk by the wagon. "...We were always somewhat of a mess anyway, me and Remi...I'm trying to find something more stable nowadays." It seemed odd to talk to Remi's husband about this, but he was beyond caring too much when it came to this topic.
Honestly, Ronin could barely remember when Remi and Samuel had really been a thing - it had been that first Longnight and just after it, and his life had been a wash of blood and grief and the screams of a newborn. But he believed what Sam said, nodding softly and gazing out into the deep waters of the ocean. ”I just wanted to apologise, was all. I will be the first to admit that my conduct - and Remi’s - was far from that of a sane man, the night I came upon you two.”
And ultimately he had apologised, and there was little reason now to stay and intrude upon the Ascended’s evening further. The nimbus Ronin was seated upon rose gently into the air in indication of his imminent departure. ”That is good,” he said of the other man’s resolve, a small smile even making it across his face. ”I wish you the best in finding what you’re looking for. Thank you for taking time to speak with me, Sam.”
"...Thank you. I apologise too...I acted in a way I thought was the best and I was very wrong indeed." Sam said sadly, pushing the water about with the toe of his shoe, wishing he had had an ounce of a second to think before he'd yelled out Aoife's name.
Ronin lifted up and Sam turned to look at him, really appreciating for the first time that he was sat on a cloud; Demi-Gods really were something amazing. "..You too." He still felt his chest contort into strange, bitter feelings when he saw Ronin, but he could not pretend the man had been anything but civil to him in this conversation.
”We all just try to act for the best. I don’t believe any part of you intended to be malicious or hurtful. Which is more than I can say of myself lately.” Ronin shrugged and smiled, gazing down at Sam now that his cloud had risen above the surf. ”Look after yourself, okay?” he said, giving the other man a nod of departure before he went sailing off in the continuing direction of the beach, and the wagon waiting just beyond it. There was a time - recently in fact - where he had thought the world and the people in it had nothing more they could teach him. And it was nice, in fact, to prove himself wrong.
