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 didn't make sense and Ronin knew it too, but he was hardly in a position to deny Safrin when he had come to her to ask her for something he wanted. As Remi stopped advancing and the Star's heart began to slow to a much more normal beat, he shivered, suddenly freezing cold on the beach.
"It happens," he muttered. "I just... I wasn't expecting you to be like that." There were deer and things that lions liked to eat everywhere, and Remi hadn't gone full predator on them. Ronin, apparently, was the exception.
"Shall we... can we go back to the wagon? It's been a very long night." Rubbing his forehead, he did his best to straighten up, though anxiety made his body want to hunch and make itself small.
"I wasn't expecting you to be like that either." Remi agreed. 'There's never been anything before that both I, and my predatory shifts all wanted at the same time." Still, that wasn't an excuse, and the distance between the two of them was proof enough of that. "I won't let it happen again."
Though he didn't want to push it—he could quite easily see the state he'd put his husband in—this..wasn't over yet. Not like this. 'If you'll have me." Remi said, eyes sad and positioned still slightly hunched. Extending a hand, he reached for Ronin, though didn't move forward.
the alchemist
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
"I've never felt like that before." And that was the truth - Ronin's instincts had always been to turn and face what was coming for him, not to run. But as was very clear, when their shifts mixed there was a lot of feeling going on, and not a lot of sense. At least right now, when Ronin had precisely ten minutes of experience; perhaps the future would be something different.
Would he have him, though? As if Remi had to ask. It was with a lot of trepidation, at first, but as his fingers ghosted across Remi's, felt their warmth and familiarity, Ronin felt himself relax. Stepping forward, the Star would draw Remi to him if the alchemist allowed, arms looping about him so that he could hold him close.
"Mm, I've never seen you run before." Remi said with a low chuckle. "Lesson one of having a prey-shift. Nothing attracts a predator's attention quite like fear and movement." So saying, he remained deadly still as Ronin neared for fear of potentially spooking him again. It wasn't just the Dark Star now, but another creature within all together, and the alchemist knew all too well how instincts could take hold.
Sliding his fingers between his husband's, Remi placed his lips against the crook of Ronin's neck as his other hand snaked about Ronin's back to draw him near. Inhaling deeply, the smell all too familiar and subdued in this body, the alchemist sighed deeply. "And here I thought you were done with throwing me into pits." He said with a small smile, lulled by the pulse of Ronin's heartbeat against his finger and the side of his face where it steadily beat out from the hunter's neck.
the alchemist
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
"I will certainly keep that in mind." Ronin laughed as well, finding it mildly amusing now that he wasn't in literal, imminent danger. "All this time wondering what it would be like to be an Attuned, and I get to be a deer instead of like... a wolf or an eagle or whatever." He scoffed, nuzzling his cheek against Remi's curls and inhaling deeply.
His pulse had slowed back to its steady, reassuring drumbeat now, and though they could go back to the wagon any time, he wasn't quite ready to let the alchemist go. "Now I know how to turn back I don't think I'll need to throw you in a pit. I'll just make sure not to shift around you unless you're feeling particularly... not bitey?"
"A wolf or eagle, how boring." Remi snorted, finding this new shift of Ronin's as amusing as it was fitting.
"Ronin, I am always bitey around you." Pulling back to give his husband a wry look, the alchemist could only shrug at his honesty. "Most of what I am is predatory, and when it comes to you...well.." His cheeks flushed slightly as he looked down, a bashful smile curving his lips. "I'll always want you in every way I can. Now that you're this...well.." He shrugged. "I'll just have to work on keeping my claws to myself."
Now with his head clear, in no small part because Ronin was with him again, Remi looked up at the stars and sighed. "So...you protect the Hollowed Grounds this LongNight in this shift..and Safrin releases Vanya's soul back to Mort." The alchemist couldn't help but look a tad incredulous. "Why does she care about protecting the grounds?"
the alchemist
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
To hear that Remi had wanted to kill and eat Ronin because he... wanted him(?) was something that had the Star chuckling to himself all over again, and he gazed across at his husband with raised brows. "I'd appreciate it. Maybe I'll just... not shift entirely. I wonder if I can parade around with a big antler crown." Would it be cumbersome? Or would it look cool, like Sunjata's horns? Ah, the possibilities.
Slowly, he started to walk them back along the beach, considering Remi's words properly now in a way he couldn't have done as a luxere. "I don't know... She said something about Ludo's history. Perhaps protecting the Grounds is something it thinks is important?" Remi had a better chance of knowing than Ronin.
And now you can hear my thoughts, and my... Great waves of affection and love reverberated out from Remi. The darkness, the need, the anchor and light that Ronin was to him. The uncertainty in their future but the certainty that they'd make it together somehow. All of it mentally rippled out.
Taking the hunter's hand, kicking away paw and hoof prints whenever they passed them, Remi nodded. "I suppose...I'm surprised she cares at all to bargain with Ludo though. She seems happy enough to thwart Frey and seems..competitive, if anything, with it." Humming an uncertain sound, the alchemist tightened his grip on Ronin. "Well we've got about a season to prepare. Perhaps this time we can actually convince everyone to stay inside and you can spend all of LongNight perfecting your prance."
the alchemist
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
The feelings that emanated from Remi were enough to have Ronin rocking on his feet, the hunter's laughter coming out breathlessly. He could only grin stupidly across at his husband, stepping closer to slip an arm around him as they walked. "Is that really how you feel?" he asked, his voice soft and maybe a little disbelieving, but only because he'd had no idea about the extent of the alchemist's emotions.
"Can I show them back?" he wondered, gazing out at the sea and sending his own feelings in return. The devotion, the quiet knowledge of forever, the desperate love and keen flush of attraction all made it through, though Ronin wasn't quite as skilled at it as his husband.
He could only shrug, then, at Safrin's motivations. Honestly, since Aoife things with his goddess had been strange to say the least, but he was on this road now. (If only he knew how much more strange it was going to get). "That sounds very sensible... So I doubt anyone will give me the time and space to perfect my prancing."
Indeed it was. Remi was hopelessly devoted to Ronin, despite all of his bumblings and shortcomings. Despite all the bumps in the road, this love of theirs was strong, and the gratitude the alchemist felt at having someone in his life who truly knew him, for better or worse, in and out, and was matched only by a never dwindling desire.
Wondering if he could, silently hoping he might, Remi felt the steady wash of Ronin's emotions like a current. Gasping with quick and bright laughter, Remi leaned against his counterpart. 'I've wanted that for a long, long time.' He admitted, almost shyly. Remi had always been fairly shit with words, and now the need for them was gone in many ways. It was a bond that only the attuned shared, and now it seemed, Ronin was part of their tet. "You'll have to watch it though. Mayhap not with me, but around others. You're now...open to them, in certain ways, and they you, if they want."
Tilting his head back with a laugh, Remi regarded the stars as he let his amusement die out. "No probably not. They'll probably try and cut off bits of your antlers and see if you can regrow them, or demand that Safrin change them as well."
the alchemist
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
"What, so I might broadcast my love for you to everyone? Or accidentally let Loren know how much of a dick I think he is?" Ronin snorted; the sound of Remi's laughter was a balm against all of the nerves he had been feeling, and the hunter walked easily now with his husband along the beach. "It doesn't really matter what anyone else knows. If it's something you've wanted then I'm happy to have it." He winked.
As for everyone at Longnight? "Hopefully the panic isn't quite that bad. But... well, if it is, we'll deal with it at the time. You and me." And that, ultimately, was all Ronin needed.
