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!
I am magnet for all kinds of deeper wonderment Destined to seek, destined to know
A pale Leafchange sun gazed down upon the world with benign warmth. It was warm still, but the wind was brisk and the waves capped with white as they lashed and bit at the shore. Not exactly prime weather for swimming, alas.
Still, it was adventure day, and it felt like forever since she had been alone with Father, and had his undivided attention. Squeezing his hand, Seren beamed up at him. "What do you want to play, daddy?" she asked, generously leaning the decision to him.
I am a princess on the way to my throne Destined to reign, destined to roam
✰ Starlight (Passive) | Starfilled night billow around her like a veil as she moves. It is more noticeable in daytime and when she make sudden movements.
They strolled along the shoreline and for the first time in a long while, it felt almost ordinary. Ronin did have something in mind for them, in actual fact; especially after the volcano erupting, the sky thick with ash, moving back home and Remi becoming governor, something so simple as this was very much needed.
Squeezing Seren's hand back, he offered her a mischievous smile. "Today I thought I would show you the Miana Pool, and tell you the story of the L'ma - like I promised on the night you came to Torchline. The pool has a sort of game we can play, but you need to know the story to understand it."
They reached the pool in good time, ripples blowing across its surface with the Leafchange breeze. "Do you know how to swim, Seren?" he asked suddenly, as if realising that was a skill he may have neglected to teach her.
I am magnet for all kinds of deeper wonderment Destined to seek, destined to know
Oh, story time and adventure all at once? This was bound to be a good day indeed. "I remember!" she beamed, skipping a little on her steps as the eagerness bubbled within. "Is it a very sad story?" She didn't want him to cry, but the girl still very much wanted to hear the tale.
Approaching the waters of the pool, Seren gazed eagerly out over the water. Wind rippled over it, made it dance and cluck against the rocks surrounding it. She shook her head at the question; there had been no need for swimming when she was with Mother. "Is swimming fun?" she asked, tearing her gaze from the water to look at her father.
I am a princess on the way to my throne Destined to reign, destined to roam
✰ Starlight (Passive) | Starfilled night billow around her like a veil as she moves. It is more noticeable in daytime and when she make sudden movements.
The moment he heard that Seren didn't know how to swim, Ronin stepped up beside her at the water's edge, keeping a warm hand on her shoulder to make sure she was steady. "Swimming is fun, but the water can be dangerous if you don't know how. Once we're finished here, we'll go to the shallows along the coast and I'll give you a lesson, okay?" He smiled. The last thing he needed was for her to end up in trouble in the water, especially with how she liked to wander off.
But back to the L'ma. "Not very sad," he assured her. "The L'ma used to be a big, beautiful bird. But it was cast down into the ocean without its wings. Nobody knows why." Or perhaps they did, but Ronin had never met anyone who knew the whole story. "So now, it has to swim around forever, instead of being up in the sky. But," and here his voice took on a hushed tone - this was where the adventure lay. "They say it lives at the bottom of this deep pool. If you get the shiniest and best stone you can, you can throw it into the pool and make a wish. The L'ma will grant the wishes of those who threw the prettiest stones. Or so they say."
I am magnet for all kinds of deeper wonderment Destined to seek, destined to know
Gazing at the water, then up at her father, the girl smiled and nodded, and withdrew a bit more from the edge. Just to show she wasn't about to go plunging in. "Okay, daddy!"
Her attention was properly stolen as he began to tell the story about the L'ma. The tale of the bird that was taken from the sky resonated with something deep inside her. Her big eyes filled with compassion and perhaps even understanding - from one small, fallen star - but widened when Ronin came to the part about the wishes.
"Oooh, poor birdie," she breathed, a little teary eyed. "Have you seen it, daddy? How many wishes can I make? I want to do lots of things!"
Looking around the ground, she scanned it for any pebbles that might be suitable.
I am a princess on the way to my throne Destined to reign, destined to roam
✰ Starlight (Passive) | Starfilled night billow around her like a veil as she moves. It is more noticeable in daytime and when she make sudden movements.
"Mm, poor birdie indeed," Ronin echoed, nodding to Seren and not trying to hide his relief when she stepped back from the edge of the pool a bit. A smile tugged at the corners of his lips as he watched her start to look for pebbles and other shinies, the Star stepping with her and leaning down to select ones she might want to look at. A bit of dazzling sea glass, a smooth, pale white pebble, a deep blue stone weathered by the sea. "You know, I have seen it," he said. "It tried to get out of this pool a short while ago. I was part of a group that helped it to take a trip along the beach again."
In retrospect, the L'ma's strange behaviour had been a warning about Apopo's impending eruption, but that was over and done with now. "I don't think there's a limit, but maybe we can collect a few stones for later, and stick with one wish for today?" he suggested.
I am magnet for all kinds of deeper wonderment Destined to seek, destined to know
The teary expression brightened again, as he answered. Thoroughly impressed that he had been there, that he had helped. "Ooh! Did It fly again?" she asked, fervently hoping that was the case. She very much enjoyed flying too, the trips on the cloud were her favorites. Being high up never ceased to be fun.
Predictably, she picked the blue stone from the ones he offered. In return, she had found a bright green one, an almost perfectly round one that was white and marbled with something gold-like, and one that was pitch black and completely opaque.
"They are all good treasures, but L'ma can have this!" Taking the blue pebble, Seren made her best throw and by some miracle fluke managed to make it bounce twice over the water before it sank into the depths of the pool. "I wish for a blue dragon friend!" she announced, rather loudly just to make sure the wish-granter would hear her.
Then she turned back to her father and waited expectantly to see what he might wish for.
I am a princess on the way to my throne Destined to reign, destined to roam
✰ Starlight (Passive) | Starfilled night billow around her like a veil as she moves. It is more noticeable in daytime and when she make sudden movements.
04-16-2020, 07:25 PM (This post was last modified: 04-16-2020, 07:25 PM by Ronin.)
RONIN
THE FALLEN STAR
"It did, in a way," Ronin said gently, nodding to Seren. "We made it a contraption that it might move around on. It got to feel the sun on its feathers before returning to the waves again," he explained. Smiling at the stone she chose from his palm, he considered the ones she had found.
Plucking up the white pebble veined with gold, he nodded to himself; a good choice. "A blue dragon friend, huh?" he echoed, grinning and glancing up at Sugar who was predictably circling overhead. "Maybe you'll get that wish granted, eh?" Winking to her, the Dark Star straightened up and skipped his own stone into the pool.
His wish had been the same for a while now, apart from when he'd met with Delphia. "I wish for my family to be safe and happy." It had just been Remi, since coming to Torchline, but now it included Seren too.
I am magnet for all kinds of deeper wonderment Destined to seek, destined to know
"Really?! That's great!" She skipped about, mimicking the flying of the L'ma, until the gathering and throwing of stones consumed her attention.
Following his gaze up at Sugar, Seren waved merrily at the dragon. Father's wish was a really good one, and it brought to mind a lot of things she had wanted to ask him.
"Daddy, what makes you happy?" she asked, gazing up at him. It was only the first of many, but she had good manners. One question at a time was plenty.
I am a princess on the way to my throne Destined to reign, destined to roam
✰ Starlight (Passive) | Starfilled night billow around her like a veil as she moves. It is more noticeable in daytime and when she make sudden movements.
Ronin watched his daughter flap around pretending to be the L'ma, and felt a small smile creep across his face. It was as if something inside him was beginning to relax, to realise that for all their similarities, Seren was not Aoife, and it was okay to enjoy time with her. In response to her wave, Sugar chirped down to the girl, breathing out a blast of frosty air which fell like soft snow over the two of them.
Shaking his head at the dragon, he glanced back to Seren with a raised eyebrow, ruffling a hand through the back of his hair. She asked questions with a refreshing and innocent sort of boldness, and he found himself wanting to answer in earnest. "Well," he said. "Remi makes me very happy. So does living in Torchline, and being able to keep people safe by hunting the monsters around here." None of it was particularly specific, but the reality was that happiness was far from his mind most days. "What about you, Seren?"
I am magnet for all kinds of deeper wonderment Destined to seek, destined to know
Her responding whoop of glee as Sugar made it snow reverberated between the rocks. Pearly laughter followed as she tried to catch the cold flakes, quieting only when Ronin began to talk again.
"You have all that, so you must be really happy already!" she concluded. It was good to hear, she wanted her father to be happy.
The question was turned back to her, and Seren considered. Everything made her happy, so it was hard to pinpoint the best parts. "Being with you," she said eventually, "and making friends. And learning new things. Daddy, can I be friends with Nate? He lives with Sunjata, and he said he is a doctor. Can I be one too?"
Two very important questions there, and she gazed with some intensity at her father while waiting for the reply. Especially the part of being friends with Nate was vital...
I am a princess on the way to my throne Destined to reign, destined to roam
✰ Starlight (Passive) | Starfilled night billow around her like a veil as she moves. It is more noticeable in daytime and when she make sudden movements.
Letting out a whistle, Ronin called Sugar down that she might enjoy the time with the two of them, and the pale reptile complied to come and settle on his shoulder. "You're right, that would make sense wouldn't it?" He smiled back to Seren, offering her his hand that they might walk together down to the beach and get those swimming lessons started. It didn't surprise him to hear that she enjoyed learning new things, but it did cause a little flop in his chest that she liked spending time with him, too.
Raising an eyebrow as she spoke about Nate, he nodded slowly. "Seren, you can absolutely be a doctor if that's what you want," he told her, equal parts affectionate and serious. "If Nate lives with Sunjata and doesn't mind you being around too much, then there's no reason why you can't be friends. Just be careful, okay? As a doctor he might be very busy a lot of the time."
I am magnet for all kinds of deeper wonderment Destined to seek, destined to know
The girl watched Sugar come down with a fierce admiration. She tried to reach the dragon's white tail, just to feel the scales move under her fingers - a bit cautious, wary of the grumpy creature's snarp teeth.
Taking Ronin's hand, she followed him along the shoreline to a smaller, quieter pool, where the rocks offered shelter from the wind and the waves didn't froth quite as much.
"Thank you!" she beamed, radiating a pure joy as he gave permission. "I will be careful." A thought crossed her mind; "It is okay even if he is Ascended?" she asked, just to clarity.
The water was calling on her attention though, and she was quite eager to start with the lesson. Being taught by her father made it feel very special, and Seren tried to pay extra attention.
I am a princess on the way to my throne Destined to reign, destined to roam
✰ Starlight (Passive) | Starfilled night billow around her like a veil as she moves. It is more noticeable in daytime and when she make sudden movements.
"It's fine to say hello. She's grumpy, but she knows you," Ronin assured his daughter, waiting until they reached the pool before crouching down before Seren so she could see the little dragon properly. The pale reptile, for her part, trilled at the star child and snuffled at the air in front of her, the ribbons of her tail curling about Ronin's neck and shoulders.
"Of course it's okay. Seren, a lot of people make different choices to the ones we might make, but that doesn't make them bad people. Nate might be an Ascended, but he's also a doctor, and he's Sunjata's friend. So there's no reason why we can't be his friend, right?" Waiting for her to get her fill of giving Sugar attention, Ronin rose to his feet once more and turned back to the pool so they might start their lesson.
