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!
'cause my life is like a bedroom door don't lead me in when you feel low
It was strange, really, to see these islands up close. Having watched them shift and change from the coastline, watching up above as they seemingly winked out of existence or shifted a certain degree to the left or right. Still, it made no sense, but he’d wanted to visit and see perhaps what it was all about… If perhaps, there were a reason for it all and the way it was. He doesn’t hold his breath for it, any sort of magical encounter that might explain its shifting nature, but it still makes for some great time away from the recovering Haulani, the lava overspill, and the new soon to be responsibility placed on his head.
They had to swim part of the way here, but soon enough the sand is back under his feet, and he can push up a small amount in the water to gain some footing, trudging up along the sands at dusk – if only to ensure that Nate beside him doesn’t explode or anything of that nature. He turns to the Ascended then with a raise of his brow, a slight smirk crossing his face. “I swear to you that this island was over... There last week.” He says, pointing in some random direction before shrugging. This island in itself is rather large, a few trees peek up over the dunes, crabs drift from the rockery back toward the water.
“Or maybe it was over there.” He muses, turning his attention back toward the other way.
'cause i might make a move
No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Sunjata, without killing him <3
Sunjata speaks with an Australian accent and has a passive magic that makes him produce a subtle scent that matches exactly to whatever those around him most desire him to smell like.
It wasn't the first time Nate had been to the islands, though he had jumped on the chance to go. It was actually kind of nice, not needing to sleep. He could keep his days full, working at his clinic, or helping out in Haulani, whatever he could do in shade, and as evenings came he could spend them like this, with Sunjata, doing what they wanted. Which was exploring some islands, maybe finding out the reason why they shifted on the horizon. Mostly just spending time together, away from the prying eyes of anyone else.
A smile plays on Nate's face as he follows the other man out of the water, hips cocked and his eyes following the finger as it points in a seemingly random direction. "Over there, huh?" The smile grows wider, more mischievous, and he lifts his own hand, pointing over Sunjata's shoulders. {way}"Wasn't it back a bit?" He takes a step forward, bringing them closer together, and grabs the attuned's wrist, pointing it in another random direction. "Maybe there?" He teases.
A bright laugh leaves Nate, and he leans in to press a kiss to the other mans jaw, irritated that he couldn't reach higher without actual effort, then stepped past him to look over the island itself. "Are you even sure this is the same island? I don't remember seeing trees on it."
I would never call him enemy He's the bad god I need
'cause my life is like a bedroom door don't lead me in when you feel low
He’s half prepared to debate about it, to give all sorts of reasonings as to why he was sure it was over there. But Nate offers his own musings, taking his wrist and pointing in another random direction that has Sunjata sighing before he hums a small laugh at it. “It was here somewhere.” He finally concedes with a small shrug, glancing down to him as he presses a kiss to his jaw. A small smirk crosses Sunjata’s face, tilting his head down as Nate continues.
“I’m sure there were trees on it.” He says, though he really isn’t sure at all. But Nate’s barging on ahead and Sunjata follows him, sand sticking to his legs and feet already, gaze flickering around the island for anything of interest.
“So, as a side note since your clinic is doing pretty well, Remi offered me a position for the government.” He pauses for a moment, gaze finally returning to Nate as he moves to catch up with the other man. They hadn’t talked about it, hadn’t talked about his attempt to be the governor. But now without prying ears it seemed the best time.
'cause i might make a move
No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Sunjata, without killing him <3
Sunjata speaks with an Australian accent and has a passive magic that makes him produce a subtle scent that matches exactly to whatever those around him most desire him to smell like.
Nate turns to look at the attuned over his shoulder, his brow up and a grin on his face. "Everything is somewhere, dikbek." Really, he isn't quite as concerned about the islands, the way they move, as the other man is. It's nice to have the view out the window not be exactly the same every time. "Maybe lots of them have trees on them." More than just this one has to, right?
Moving up the beach is... actually kind of a slog, and not in the fun way Nate thought it would be. He turns, facing Sunjata again, and seems to topple back, landing on his ass with a soft grunt. It wasn't quite intentional, but it's easy to fake when you don't feel the sting of falling. The stumble seems to be perfectly timed to the announcement, Nate looking up and cocking his head. "Wait, did you get offered a job because of the clinic, or was that just a bad segue?"
"I guess I should say congratulations though." Least something came of the attempt at running for governor, even if it hadn't been the position itself. "What kind of position? Are you going to take it?" Then a pause, a narrowing of Nate's eyes. "Did you already take it?"
I would never call him enemy He's the bad god I need
'cause my life is like a bedroom door don't lead me in when you feel low
A bright smirk and a hum leaves Sunjata’s throat at the Korofi nickname, rolling his eyes playfully toward Nate before shaking his head with a positively roguish smirk, voice lowering a small amount and growing thicker with his accent as he speaks his native tongue. “ah natuurlik. hoe poëties van jou.” There’s a moment where he contemplates sticking his tongue out at the other man, but he refrains.
But he turns back, briefly, only to hear the soft thud of Nate stumbling back into the sand right as he finishes up his slight statement, turning back and slipping back toward Nate with a raise of his brow and a quiet smirk before he crouches before the Ascended – eyes steel but with a feline pupil within as he gazes down at the man. “A bad segue.” He offers with a slight chuckle, before he lifts a hand to rub at the stubble at his cheek, along his jaw.
“I… Took it, yeah.” His voice drops a bit lower there, quieter, as if it’s an awkward topic. “They’re going to call me the Arbiter.” His slit pupils focus on Nate with the result of that, waiting before continuing to see how he takes it. “Sort of like what I’d do back home had I stayed and took my father’s position.”
ah natuurlik. hoe poëties van jou. – ah of course, how poetic of you
'cause i might make a move
No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Sunjata, without killing him <3
Sunjata speaks with an Australian accent and has a passive magic that makes him produce a subtle scent that matches exactly to whatever those around him most desire him to smell like.
It's the accent that seems to escape Nate, the words twice as hard to pick up or spit out in it, though he manages enough to get the gist of what the attuned is saying, the tease being aimed. "Yea, natuurlik. It's poetic as fuck!" Nate does not refrain from childishness, his tongue sticking out, alongside an exaggerated sneer.
Any high ground he might have, deserved or otherwise, was lost in his stumble, no matter how he tried to play it off, to grin innocently up at Sunjata. As the distance between them closes, the attuned kneeling in, Nate reaches up to brush his hand on his shirt, meaning to reach out and run his fingers along the sharp jaw, though he never quite makes it. A light smile still clings to his face as his head tilts, brow rising in question.
"You took it." Alright, no cause for worry, except for the way the other man's voice drops. Then the title drops from his lips, and Nate freezes, considering everything, the little bit of explanation that accompanies it. "Are you... sure that's a good idea?" Nate's hand still lingers on his own chest, though his fingers spread across it, unintentionally mirroring the spot he'd been held against a wall, in the throes of an argument.
I would never call him enemy He's the bad god I need
'cause my life is like a bedroom door don't lead me in when you feel low
The smirk shifts to something akin to a grin as Nate picks up on the words, a tilt of his head to that before shrugging at the tongue that’s poked out at him. “kyk na jou gang.” He comments with a hint of amusement that quickly fades as soon as he’s crouched before the other man, explaining the situation he’s found himself in, steel eyes focusing on Nate as the explanation is given.
A dip of his head at the mention of taking the job. A slight huff of a sigh leaving him at the way Nate freezes, and he swallows hard – shifting in the sand to sit with the Ascended, long legs stretching out as he leans back on his arms, glancing to the waves that crash along the beach before turning his head back to Nate – spotting the way his hand rests at his chest, a flicker of a hazy memory, before his gaze lifts to Nate’s face.
“I don’t know yet.” He offers. “It’s… Comfortable, I guess. I know what to do and the things Remi wants me to do are easy to enforce if the people here have common sense.” He chews on the inside of his cheek as he contemplates it. “It’s basically just ensuring people’s safety.” Of course, that’s what they all said before tyranny reigned, didn’t they? He looks back to Nate with a slight frown crossing his face, the seriousness shining through. “He told me it was to stop ‘unfettered thievery and sexual assault.’”
'cause i might make a move
No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Sunjata, without killing him <3
Sunjata speaks with an Australian accent and has a passive magic that makes him produce a subtle scent that matches exactly to whatever those around him most desire him to smell like.
Nate stays frozen, glued to the spot as the other man moves to sit beside him, blue eyes now locked somewhere on the horizon. There's a low hum, then his fingers tapping against his chest, his head shifting as he nods, turns to take in what Sunjata is saying, the look on his face distant. "Comfortable." He repeats after a beat, his eyes suddenly intense, staring a hole through the attuned. "And what if they don't have common sense? Or the same common sense as you and Remi?" The words probably shouldn't sound so much like an accusation, but this was something a little harder for Nate to just push past with sheer bullheadedness.
The look on his face doesn't improve as the explanation continues, brows pulling together. Ensuring people's safety. Shouldn't Sunjata know, better than most, how easily that could be turned, how easily people could lose that title, in the face of the law. Nate is trying though, trying to keep his mouth shut, to really think about what he says before it comes out. It's the frown that ruins that attempt, the serious tone. "Oh, so youse are just gonna build something corrupt from the start then?"
His hand moves from his chest, fist coming up to press against Nate's mouth, a physical barrier stopping the words now. He sucks in a deep breath through his nose, then slowly drops his hand, words forcibly calm now, as he tries to make up for the more cutting ones from earlier. "I don't understand why this is necessary, I guess." He even tries to soften his gaze, brows pulling together in something more like confusion than frustration.
I would never call him enemy He's the bad god I need
'cause my life is like a bedroom door don't lead me in when you feel low
Regardless of whether or not the idea of comfort is a cover up or not, there was a truthful base to it. Something he had been born and raised to do – at the barest of his instincts it all related to that. It was the reason when Nate had pushed him he’d reverted back into that fight mode of his… He hated every moment of it, but a part of him thinks he can keep it somewhat in control. At least attempt to.
He can feel the way Nate’s eyes bore into him, the way the question seems pinpointed in terms of common sense. “I imagine people would probably prefer to walk the streets without fear of it. Don’t you?” He asks, gaze flickering back toward Nate with a raise of his brow. It wouldn’t end up being all that different from the Grounds in that way – where nobody would have to organize times to go places if only to avoid the crime.
But then Nate’s mood shifts, and the accent slips out harder in him that Sunjata has to tear his gaze away from the Ascended, out back toward the waves that crash in quiet roars along the sands. “You’d be fine with it remaining as is?” He asks, though his voice hints a bit flatly. He gives Nate all the time he needs to respond one more, the attempt to soften his expression, but Sunjata doesn’t need the Attuned bond to know that he’s stepped on a very fine line with him.
“It’s because people can’t leave their homes at night for fear of being robbed or raped.” He says bluntly, gaze flickering back to Nate with a small raised brow. “I don’t blame them for not wanting to go anywhere if that’s the possible outcome.”
'cause i might make a move
No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Sunjata, without killing him <3
Sunjata speaks with an Australian accent and has a passive magic that makes him produce a subtle scent that matches exactly to whatever those around him most desire him to smell like.
Something that is almost a laugh huffs through Nate's nose, between his teeth as he shakes his head. "Are those the only options you're offering? Do what I say, or be afraid to walk the streets?" There's more of a sneer with the words, assumptions stacked on top of each other in an intentionally dickheaded attack.
The way Sunjata's eyes leave him fills Nate with something like guilt, something he bites down on hard, refusing to let it rise in his throat when he's still got this soapbox to shout from. "Maybe not as it is, but... fuck Jata, there's things between lawlessness and co- arbiters." There had to be some other way to move Haulani towards a safer tomorrow, without tugging at the freedom of it's people.
A deep sigh leaves Nate at the blunt answer, the way it feels like he's the one being ridiculous, and he meets the gaze that comes back to him head on, chin up in quiet resistance. "How're you gonna stop every person who's going to rape, or rob? What about the people who steal for a reason, or the people who's crimes aren't so severe?" There's so much unknown about this, and as kneejerk as his initial reaction was, Nate feels like these are the things the other man should have answers to, before people like him, people far less likely to try and understand the outlander, asked the same ones.
I would never call him enemy He's the bad god I need
'cause my life is like a bedroom door don't lead me in when you feel low
Nate’s not the only one to huff a slight laugh, whether it’s in disbelief or not. Sunjata lets one slip as well, gaze taking to the starry sky above at the sneer in the words shot back at him, a refrain from rolling his eyes as he figures out a way to respond to that, because it wouldn’t be like Korofi – authoritarian in nature. Just… A helping hand of sorts. At least in his mind. “That’s not it, Nate. That’s not the only option.” He rumbles, voice thickening with his accent, looking back to Nate with the next comment.
He doesn’t know what Nate was about to say before he mentioned arbiters, but it resonates something in his memory of something similar Nate had mentioned. Police of a sort. “It’s just a title, it’s not like I’m going out there tomorrow and becoming my father, imprisoning everyone who looks at something wrong.” He can’t help the slight disbelief to his voice with the insinuation, but it doesn’t end there as Nate’s gaze meets his own, electric clashing against steel.
“I’m not going to be able to stop everyone. I’m hoping that maybe showing people a better way to go about their lives would benefit the rest.” He draws his knees up, running a sandy hand through his hair, focusing on the Ascended again. “There’d be ways, Nate. It’s not a this or that, there’s no straight road that leads to the result and there’s going to be backlash. But if I can help people, that’s what I want to do.” It’s a honest answer – it was the entire reason he’d went through with training from his father after the Trial. To change it, their laws, their way of life.
“Do not forget that I was also a part of a rebellion and helped write a majority of what they wanted to implement to benefit everyone.” An avian tilt of his head to that, elbows resting on his knees.
'cause i might make a move
No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Sunjata, without killing him <3
Sunjata speaks with an Australian accent and has a passive magic that makes him produce a subtle scent that matches exactly to whatever those around him most desire him to smell like.
He can almost hear the eyeroll in the answer he gets, only barely keeps from mirroring it in his next retort, still frustrated, still upset. "You're not telling me what the other options are though. You can't just say, I won't do that, I'll be better, and not be able to give me something." Nate points out firmly, challenge prickling off every bit of him now.
Mention of fathers though, has Nate almost immediately balking, the guilt he'd bitten down so easily before returning, forcing him to acknowledge it. "I'm not saying that's what you're going to do. I know you well enough to know you're not going to go out and be a power hungry asshole. But can you control everyone you get to help you with this? Can you keep them from being the ones who imprison everyone for looking at them wrong?" He works his jaw, trying to calm, speak more from a place of sense than just emotion. To keep from getting too heated again, and insinuating Sunjata could be what he'd fought against.
"I think..." Nate pauses, humming, and looked up at the moon, brows still knitted together. "I think I need to hear more. All your plans, your better ways. When you have them worked out." He turns to look sidelong at the attuned, face still hard, but tired of it already, tired of this new frustration, new worry. "I don't like it though. I don't think this is the best way to help anyone, or to... bring about change. But..." Shifting, Nate leans over properly, forcing himself into a more relaxed posture, legs outstretched and his elbows behind him. "I guess I'm not the one who accepted the job, am I?"
Nate's face softens properly as Sunjata's rebellion is brought up, his eyes dipping away with something like shame, though what the shame is for isn't quite clear. "I know you want to help people. We just... fuck, have different ideas, I guess."
I would never call him enemy He's the bad god I need
'cause my life is like a bedroom door don't lead me in when you feel low
He can’t give anything, not yet, not with it too fresh and not knowing exactly what he’s walking into. And he sighs with the idea of it, being incapable of answering this when it should be simple. But the fact of the matter is that Sunjata has no idea quite how bad the problem is, what kind of steps might be taken in gradual momentum to try and make it better. And he sighs to Nate’s challenge, glancing back to the water briefly as he works his jaw a small amount. “I don’t know what it’ll be yet.” He offers, clearly unhappy with the answer.
At least he’s honest.
But he listens when the real worry begins to seep through – and Sunjata has thought of that, has seen his fellow enforcers fall down that path and be unable to try and keep them on the right track. He understands, though it doesn’t make the conversation any lighter. “I’ll absolutely try.” A quiet vow – because what good was it if he tried to set an example and everyone beneath him simply turned it around to benefit themselves and not who they should be working for or toward?
But the pause, and the way Nate’s head shifts toward the moon as well – though they’re looking at different things, Sunjata always absently searching the stars. He simply listens to him, gaze flickering back toward Nate with that hint of information. Because they’d been on opposing sides, had Sunjata been in America in the similar position, had Nate been in Korofi in a similar position.
He might try to go toward a more relaxed posture, though Sunjata doesn’t quite trust it yet, the idea of different ideas and different experiences rebounding along the Attuned’s mind. And he huffs out a sigh, feeling a bit touchy with how this conversation had hit so fucking close to home, he reaches over to Nate, trying to pull the Ascended closer to him. “I wanted to see if maybe you wanted to help when… Well, when I see what the problems are.” He offers quietly, unsure how the question will be received. “From your experience and mine.”
'cause i might make a move
No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Sunjata, without killing him <3
Sunjata speaks with an Australian accent and has a passive magic that makes him produce a subtle scent that matches exactly to whatever those around him most desire him to smell like.
The answer that comes is more honest than Nate expects, more uncomfortable with the fact than anything else. And that, the honesty, the doubt, sets him at ease, maybe more than it should. It's a step towards relief. It keeps him quiet too, nodding off in the direction of the surf. The promise to try is met much in the same way, a silent nod, Nate forcing himself to trust in the other man, in his experiences, forcing himself to believe that Sunjata will do better. "Okay. Okay, I... I trust you."
And hey, if something goes wrong, if Sunjata doesn't keep his word, Nate wants to be around to smack him upside the head.
There is a part of him that wishes he knew what was going on in the other mans head. If his words made sense, were being taken seriously, or if he was just coming across as too critical, too judgmental of what was supposed to be a big deal, something exciting. If any of his worry came through, filtered through vitriol and upset. Another sigh leaves him, the conversation weighing too heavily on him. He'd been hoping for a more carefree midnight getaway, not whatever they were turning this into.
And maybe it's that that has Nate leaning in when he's pulled, his gaze drawn first by the quiet huff. Both his arms move to wrap around the attuned, closing the space between them, whether this what he'd intended or not. "After that whole fit, you still want my help?" There's some surprise in the words, though it's not long before Nate is laughing, softly, and leaning in to bump his head against Sunjata's. "You're getting my opinion on whatever you tell me anyway. I'll help keep you straight." Another laugh, the double entendre somehow more amusing on the heels of seriousness.
I would never call him enemy He's the bad god I need
