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!
As Maea pulled the water away from Amun, he raised his eyebrows. "You don't need to waste your magic on me." Still, he gave her a thankful grin.
Chuckling at her response, he winked. "Why, I am shocked to hear you say that. Just what kind of trouble have you been getting in to lately?" Tone teasing, He narrowed his eyes and gave her a playful grin.
Sitting up, he shrugged at her question about the tunnels they just emerged from. "I think that next time we go down there we should be a lot more prepared." He smiled, then made sure to check his cutlass for damage.
"It's not a waste," she just replied. His smile was reward enough, and made it well worth the effort, the strain it put on her.
When he responded to her comment, asking what kind of trouble she had gotten into, Maea stilled where she lay. "Ah... well... you know how Remi's workshop lay empty, and everyone thought him dead? I... kind of... salvaged something from there." She picked her words very carefully, heart beating a little quicker. Realized how quick she had come to betraying a confidence. "Fortunately, he did not seem put off by it when I offered to return the item... He said I could keep it."
Still. Technically it was theft, and... a good enough cover for what she had really been thinking of.
Maea sat up, brushing sand from her shirt. Winced, as her ribs protested and reminded her of all the aches and scrapes, the bruises blueing on her skin. "Please don't tell me you intend to go back," she groaned, grateful for the shift of topic. "What else could you want from that place?"
I'm an angel bored like hell And you're a devil meaning well
BASE INSPIRED BY ODD <3
♦ Violence, magic, thievery is permitted with Maea at all times. DM me if you have any ideas ♦
Amun raised his eyebrows at Maea's comment. "It's not like I'm at risk of catching a chill or pneumonia." Voice teasing, he gave her a shit-eating grin.
Chuckling at her admission, he reached out to clasp her shoulder affectionately. "You little thief!" Winking at her, he smirked. "Proud of you." And indeed, his tone and expression indicated that he was indeed proud of her.
Shrugging, he struggled to his feet. "Not planning to go back any time soon." He glanced back out to the ocean they'd just emerged from. "But I imagine all sorts of juicy secrets are just waiting to be discovered in those tunnels."
Maea returned it with a lofty expression, her own smile very innocent. "Well no. But you would smell funny if mold started to grow on you... and that will hardly win you any suitors, brother dearest." Her voice was rather sweet.
Her brow rose when he commended her for thieving however. When Amun rose, so did Maea, somewhat gingerly, and rather reluctant to have to move so soon. "Why are you praising me for doing dastardly deeds?" she asked, rather amused. "I thought you were supposed to be an honest potter and simple sailor... is there something you aren't telling me here?"
As if she should say that. But some secrets weren't hers to reveal.
I'm an angel bored like hell And you're a devil meaning well
BASE INSPIRED BY ODD <3
♦ Violence, magic, thievery is permitted with Maea at all times. DM me if you have any ideas ♦
Amun grinned at Maea's teasing. "I gotta give the rest of my competition a chance." Chuckling, he spread his arms down his body. "Bring on the mold." Then he winked. "Maybe I can get a hot doctor to nurse me." His tone was entirely joking.
Raising his eyebrows, he smirked. "Why wouldn't I praise you for dastardly deeds." His wounds having mostly closed by this point, he turned to begin staggering back towards the more civilized parts of Torchline (well, kind of civilized).
Glancing back at her, his smirk turned into a fuller grin. "There's so much I'm not telling you." He turned to face front again. "I never said I was an honest potter or a simple sailor."
Rolling her eyes, Maea made a gesture of handing them over to him on her upturned palms. "Be my guest. But from the sound of it, you weren't very interested in either Nate or Loren, and those are the only ones I can offer." She smirked at him. "Or perhaps you would prefer Jigano? He can heal too..." If that was the new criteria.
"Uhm, well, because most people would think stealing to be morally repulsive and wrong, and something to be discouraged." But her interest was piqued now, and Maea hurried to keep up with him as Amun began to walk down the beach. Marveling at his speedy recovery, and his suggestion that he had been doing less than savory deeds in the past.
"Were you a pirate?" she asked, as incredulous as she was curious.
I'm an angel bored like hell And you're a devil meaning well
BASE INSPIRED BY ODD <3
♦ Violence, magic, thievery is permitted with Maea at all times. DM me if you have any ideas ♦
Amun couldn't help but scoff as Maea mentioned Jigano. "Ugh no, not him. Or Loren." It was clear the potter disliked the Sage and the Launceleyn. Shrugging, the Ascended gave her an appraising look. "My objection to Nate was more that you were offering him to me for the wrong reasons. But we've flirted since then." He winked at her. "Maybe it's time to do a bit more thank flirt." Tone suggestive, he waggled his eyebrows as he continued to make his way down the beach.
"In case you haven't noticed, I'm not most people." Grinning, he chuckled as she accused him of piracy. "No, not a pirate. Merely an opportunist." He whistled innocently.
"I'm sorry about that," Maea replied earnestly. "Glad to hear you're getting along, I'm happy for you. Think it will lead somewhere, or just be that 'fun' everyone is talking about?" There was a twist of irony to the way she said the word, like she'd heard it too often... but there was no actual judgement in the way she smiled at Amun, nor indeed any jealousy or possessiveness. She had no attatchments to Nate, what so ever.
"Oh, I did notice. So if not a pirate, then... what? What does 'opportunity' entail? Come on, you're making me curious." Why was it that Maea always found herself surrounded by rogues? Peter, Adam, Sunjata, not to mention Hotaru... and now Amun too? It felt like she was being slowly dragged down into the shady underside of the world, and with shockingly few protests from herself.
Were her own morals that shaky? Did they even exist?
I'm an angel bored like hell And you're a devil meaning well
BASE INSPIRED BY ODD <3
♦ Violence, magic, thievery is permitted with Maea at all times. DM me if you have any ideas ♦
Amun raised his eyebrows at Maea. "Why does it need to lead anywhere? I told you, I'm not the settling down type." Obviously, he wasn't concerned by his long term prospects. After all, he was going to live a long time, assuming something didn't kill him first. Either way, no point in worrying much about relationships.
Chuckling, he winked at her. "Oh you know." Lifting his hands, he moved them up and down as if weighing things, the gesture for ambiguity hopefully clear. "When there were things that no one would miss, right away at least, and that I wouldn't get into trouble for, I'd take them." He glanced at her, wondering how she'd take that news.
She shrugged. "I guess... I still have trouble wrapping my head around the concept of lose connections," she said. "I feel like... if I've opened up to a person and showed that much of myself - in every sense of the word - then... I would want to keep them close. So they don't run off and tell anyone else about it, that hasn't been invited."
She grimaced, rubbing a hand at the back of her neck. "Sounds like trust issues, doesn't it. But if it works for you, then you should of course enjoy while you can! It's established that you are both braver, wiser and more open minded than I am." Maea said it with a wink, her self-deprications light and playful, hardly seriously meant.
"Hmm.. well. Like I said, can hardly fault you, when that's what I did myself." Indeed, her shrug was light and uncaring. "If the owners did not manage to protect their belongings, they did not deserve to keep them."
I'm an angel bored like hell And you're a devil meaning well
BASE INSPIRED BY ODD <3
♦ Violence, magic, thievery is permitted with Maea at all times. DM me if you have any ideas ♦
Amun chuckled at Maea's reply. "Different strokes for different folks." Winking he smirked. "And I don't just mean that literally." His expression softened and he gave her an understanding nod. "Some people are more comfortable and open with parts of themselves than others. It's not good or bad, just different." His voice was cheerful.
As she displayed a frankly surprising acceptance of his less than reputable past, he reached out to (carefully) clap her on the shoulder. "That's the spirit!" Still heading across the sandy beach, he grinned. "Besides, if they're so careless as to misplace it or they're not using it, seems like it should belong to someone who will value it properly."
"So I've come to understand," she nodded. "Sometimes I wish I was more like that. But I keep having this feeling. Like... if I go down that path, something in me will inevitably be lost. Or broken, or... irrevocably changed. And I'm scared, because I don't know if that 'something' is important or not." It was a vague description for a vague feeling she usually just felt in the pit of her stomach, like a tingle in the arms, and a tightness of the chest. Like fear, but not. Like panic, but not. Like excitement and greed, yet... not.
Something along the lines of taking a clean, white piece of paper and pouring ink all over it. Once it was done, it would never be the same again.
"If you say so," she hummed, still amused. "I can't say that I really felt a need to own things enough to actually take them. Even the item I took from Remi's workshop... it doesn't mean anything. Now this shawl on the other hand... I would probably hurt anyone who tried to take it away." Her hands stroked the pitch-black fabric, with a possessive kind of love that suggested deep sentiment.
I'm an angel bored like hell And you're a devil meaning well
BASE INSPIRED BY ODD <3
♦ Violence, magic, thievery is permitted with Maea at all times. DM me if you have any ideas ♦
Shrugging at Maea's explanation, Amun reached out to lay a hand on her shoulder. "It's okay to feel that way." His voice was shockingly normal, far from the slightly suggestive tones he normally spoke in. "There's no one right way to live your life or share that part of yourself with others. Whatever feels right to you probably is right." Giving her a quick smile, he squeezed her shoulder gently before releasing.
Chuckling, he waggled his eyebrows at her. "They rarely stayed in my possession for long. After all, it'd be a shame if I got caught carrying pilfered goods." Winking, he slid his hands into his pockets as they continued their trek.
As always, he was very understanding and offered excellent advice. The arm about her shoulder would likely always be welcome, and Maea leaned into it slightly as he squeezed her. She returned the smile with one of her own, and reached up to brush salt-crusted hair from his face, in a shockingly tender gesture.
"You are too good for this world, and I don't deserve you. I really hope you get a proper good time out of Nate, and anyone else that catch your interest. That you get to be happy, too." The way she was, with so many people around to love and support her. It all seemed almost too good to be true, for someone like her.
"Rogue," she teased, and laughed at his casual arrogance. "At least I know who I should call on if I ever find myself in need of something pilferable."
I'm an angel bored like hell And you're a devil meaning well
BASE INSPIRED BY ODD <3
♦ Violence, magic, thievery is permitted with Maea at all times. DM me if you have any ideas ♦
