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!
Time is the substance from which I am made. Time is a river which carries me along, but I am the river;
”Thanks for coming,” she says as she meets up with Noah. Not that it was a real hardship for him to come hunting for luxere. If they were successful today, that would be a good chunk of meat for Noah and Ezekiel this Deepfrost. Still, she appreciates it all the same, because she is unlikely to find a luxere without some help. They tend to avoid her and her dark magic, though with the healing magic now perhaps she would not scare them away quite so easily. Still, despite all of that, she still just prefers to hunt with a friend.
She leads them out of the Citadel, heading toward The Fangs. The luxere could be anywhere in the tundra, but they might be lingering near possible shelter with Deepfrost on the horizon, and The Fangs were full of caves that they could take refuge in. They would not need to climb into the mountain, but rather simply look for caves along the base, where the magical reindeer-like creatures might be.
The wind is somewhat quiet today, which is a blessing. It’s a decent day for hunting, really. There’s no obvious threat of snow, and though she realizes that can change quickly, they can only do so much to prepare. ”So my task from Ludo is to slay a luxere with my scythe. If we only manage to get one, the meat is yours. I just need the hide for leather.” Besides, she has more than enough food between home and the Kraai. ”Also, your next drink is on the house,” she says with a wink.
it is a tiger that devours me, but I am the tiger; it is a fire that consumes me, but I am the fire.
Weaver did not have to twist Noah's arm to get him to agree to hunting with her. It was interesting, however, to be out on a hunting expedition that had been given from a god. Noah had not convened much with the gods, outside from when he became an Attuned. That happened when he was a child, so long ago, that he can hardly remember it. His parents had never been religious, and so while he learned a few things about the gods, Noah really did not know much. He displayed that when he had met Phoebe on the beach, not knowing who Frey was. The gods seemed to be appearing more in the lives of the people who knew, though, and wondered if that would be a necessity in his life, too. He wasn't sure he was entirely faithless, it was merely out of ignorance of personal relationship or conversation with the deities.
Despite that, Noah still wanted to help Weaver. Helping was in his blood. hunting luxere in the Fangs was something Noah knew about, but his last endeavor had been null. He met Wessex that day, but he had not brought home one of the deer-like creatures like he wanted to. But, he at least had an idea of where he might find some, having tracked the herd for hours before failing. The wind had not been on his side that day. "Well, I'll look forward to that." He said, a smile pulling at the corner of his lips. He was glad that Weaver had opened the Kraai, because it fulfilled part of--what he guessed--had been a goal for her for quite a while. They had spoken about it.
"I think we could try heading east. I tracked a small luxere herd there a few months ago." He gestured toward where he was talking about, and altered his course. "If you need only to slay it, how do you want to go about this? Do you want me to try and cripple one enough for you to lay a killing blow, or do you want me to use my reindeer form to herd them your way?" Of course, these plans only worked if the pair actually found some luxere.
Time is the substance from which I am made. Time is a river which carries me along, but I am the river;
Weaver hadn’t exactly convened with the gods either. She was still surprised Ludo had come to her, and she wonders if somehow Maea had anything to do with it. Perhaps, though unlikely. She cannot say for sure what brought Ludo to her. Maybe the hard candies. Maybe she should keep bringing it those, or just try sweets more than toys. Not that it seemed to dislike the toys…
She nods as Noah suggests going east, turning her course to follow his lead. Honestly, she hasn’t exactly been out hunting much, so she doesn’t have a clue where the luxere might be. Any lead he has is better than none, and she’s more than happy to let him make suggestions. ”I don’t even know,” she says with a sheepish chuckle, having not really thought this through much.
Particularly now that she had her fire, she didn’t need weapons to hunt. She could just burn her prey long enough to cripple it, though other than a bit of well-placed fire, she couldn’t do that this time. The hide needed to stay in good shape if she was going to bring Ludo its leather. ”I’d say maybe we start with the attempt to herd them to me? But if we hit a situation where crippling one works better, then go for it. Ludo didn’t say it had to be unharmed, just that it needed to die by the scythe.”
it is a tiger that devours me, but I am the tiger; it is a fire that consumes me, but I am the fire.
He kept heading east, his eyes dancing across the landscape, searching for any signs of the mystical, deer-like creatures. He acknowledged Weaver's thoughts with a nod, but left it at that. The two of them had been on hunts with each other enough to know that it was time to be quiet, time to stalk. When they reached the base of the Fangs, Noah stopped and stripped off his pack. "Find a safe place to put my stuff." He whispered, and shifted.
Strong, tall body coiled and rotated, skin covering in shaggy hair and fur. A great rack sprouted from his head, and the reindeer shook his body out once he was fully shifted. Looking up at the woman with deep, mahogany eyes he set out into the foothills of the snowy mountains. Unlike when he hunted with Korbin, he wouldn't be able to signal to her when he was coming back her way. She would have to watch with bated breath.
Time is the substance from which I am made. Time is a river which carries me along, but I am the river;
They travel in silence, though this does not bother her. They are hunters, and silence is one of their weapons. When they reach the base of The Fangs with no real evidence of the luxere herd, Noah shucks off his pack and tosses it to her. She knows the drill by now, and as he shifts, she makes her way to a nearby alcove that she’s stored his things in before.
Weaver tucks the pack into the alcove and makes her way back to where Noah had been. He was of course gone now, and she was left to wait. This was always the worst part, the sitting and waiting. There was no way of knowing how long he would be gone, and so she settles into the snowy tundra as best she can to wait for some sight of him.
it is a tiger that devours me, but I am the tiger; it is a fire that consumes me, but I am the fire.
It took him a few hours, but Noah was successful. The time he had taken over years and years of learning to track animals with success was paying off on this hunt today. The herd huddled together, and Noah crept around them. They were such magnificent creatures (and tasty creatures, at that). He was always in awe of them whenever he saw them, and each time one of them fed his family or another in Halo, Noah was thankful. Their beauty and majesty helped fulfill life. It was incredible.
The reindeer moved forward slowly, as to not startle the other deer-like creatures. He took his time, mimicking their behavior. It was worth it, the slow trying and careful planning. When he had integrated enough, the attuned reindeer took advantage of their herd, prey animal instinct. His head shot up quickly and he took off, running back towards where he had left Weaver. The luxere followed him, running headlong in panic with the crafty hunter.
Time is the substance from which I am made. Time is a river which carries me along, but I am the river;
It’s in hours like these that she is thankful for the cold resistance. The hunts before it had been brutal, perched on a rock as she is now, buried in her cloak trying to sit still against the bitter wind. Now though? Now the only similarity is that she is perched on her usual rock, scythe in hand, waiting. The wind bites at her skin, but she hardly feels it. She’s not a fool, and she’ll still wearing thick layers and gloves, not wanting to find out if the magic protects against frostbite, but it makes the wait far more bearable. Though it does not make the wait any less boring. There is far too much quiet time to simply think, which is perhaps the last thing she wants to be doing these days.
Eventually though she hears noise, the crunching of hooves against snow. A number of them, running in her direction. Clever Noah, she thinks with a grin, standing up and slipping behind a larger rock to slightly conceal herself. The herd comes down the mountain, led by a familiar reindeer. Weaver lets the first few in the herd pass before throwing up a wall of fire to cut off a handful of them toward the rear. The veer away, heading right toward Weaver and her waiting scythe.
It is all too easy, really. She slices the neck of the first one almost cleanly as it comes charging toward her. It falls into the snow, the others scrambling to get around their fallen brethren. She swipes again, taking a second down to the snow, though the kill is not so clean this time. The few others nearby keep running, away away, but she is pleased with the two she’d gotten. There is no real need to be greedy or wasteful. She pulls out a knife from her belt and puts the second luxere out of its misery with a quick cut, and then looks up to see where Noah might be now.
it is a tiger that devours me, but I am the tiger; it is a fire that consumes me, but I am the fire.
Noah loved being an attuned. The ability to change his appearance and slip away to something else was absolutely delightful. He enjoyed the rush he felt now, the wind whipping at his fur as he ran with the luxere herd. If his reindeer face could smile, it would be broad and happy and all Noah.
He ran passed Weaver, the glint of her scythe a domineering feature to her already intimidating look. She swung and he skidded to a stop, using the time to shift back to his human form. The smile that his deer form lacked now reach across from one side of his face to the other. He lifted his hands triumphantly as the rest of the herd scattered away, panicked bleating and the scattering of hooves filling the air around them. "Yes!" He said with a small victory laugh. He trotted across the snow to retrieve his stuff that they had stashed away.
"If we dress them quick we'll be home before its dark." Noah said to her when he returned. He wasted no time--dropping to his knees before the second luxere, he set to work gutting the creature.
Time is the substance from which I am made. Time is a river which carries me along, but I am the river;
She wouldn’t know what it is like, though she dreams of it sometimes. The ability to join her brother, better acceptance from the gods. Though she has grown into her magic, and a thing she’d once ignored has become a part of her. She cannot hold the magic for long yet, but the ease with which flame erupts in the middle of the tundra is exciting. How simple it is, to cut off their path and end up with two beautiful luxere, dead at her feet. She cannot help but remember Deimos though, their conversation, about how those of the Grounds gathered the luxere for protection. Yet in Halo, all they did was eat them.
Weaver grins up as Noah comes back, clearly pleased. ”Well done,” she says, giving him a slight nod before putting her scythe across her back again. She pulls a knife from her belt and sets to work on the other luxere, gutting it with a practiced ease. ”Should keep a few bellies full for a while,” she comments, thinking of the upcoming Deepfrost. More food was never a bad thing.
it is a tiger that devours me, but I am the tiger; it is a fire that consumes me, but I am the fire.
He made quick work of his luxere. He moved with precision and practice, pulling out what needed to stay without cutting and hacking at viable meat. "Weaver," He uttered her name with his voice laced with curiosity. He pulled at the luxere in an attempt to close the now-open body cavity as much as possible to keep as much blood off of him in the trip home, looking over at her. "Tell me again about this quest from Ludo you're on."
Noah turned to slip his pack off his shoulder. From inside, he pulled out two stained, large, sheet-looking cloths. He tossed one in Weaver's direction, along with a handful of twine. He wrapped his own luxere in the fabric and tress it up with his own bundle of twine. Sliding it over to his pack, he attached the luxere to the various straps. He stood, then, carefully lifting the creature and his pack up an over his shoulder.
"I don't mean this in an offensive way," He started, lifting a hand in a 'please don't hit me' sort of way before continuing, "I just didn't think the gods interacted as much with Abandoned." Noah's questioning statement could be totally off base, and he wouldn't even know it. That is the reason he chose to ask it. Weaver was a woman he trusted, and he knew she trusted him. She would tell him about the gods with her own understanding and with honesty. All Noah knew, really, was what his parents had taught him before they died. Since attuning, he had not had too much reason to seek them out, and thus his knowledge remained small.
Time is the substance from which I am made. Time is a river which carries me along, but I am the river;
She cuts the luxere open, tossing out guts into the snow with the same ease as Noah. She’s done this so many times that even if she’d been prone to being a queasy girl, she wouldn’t care now. There’s some rope in her pack, and she pulls it out to tie around the luxere, to keep it together as best as possible as they drag the carcuses back to the Citadel. Her name on his lips catches her attention though, and she is not surprised when he asks after Ludo.
She grabs the sheet-like cloth he tosses to her, and she offers him rope should he need any, though he seems to have plenty. She keeps working, creating the makeshift sled for the dead beast as she talks. ”I asked Ludo to enchant my scythe, to make it less obvious so that I could carry it everywhere. I rather dislike having to leave it behind in polite company. It told me to slay a luxere and a banshee with the scythe and bring it leather from the luxere and some of the banshee’s rags. What it intends to do with either of those items, I have no idea.” She didn’t ask why, but simply accepted the task.
She hums a slight agreement at his next statement as they begin to make their way back home. It would be a hard journey, dragging the animal behind her, but well worth it. ”They don’t,” she confirms, chuckling slightly at his raised hand as if she might be annoyed by the question. ”Though it is not unheard of for them to come to the Abandoned, it is vastly less likely. I have been praying at that shrine since John died, and this is the first time anyone has answered. I know Ludo has come for other Abandoned, so perhaps it is more forgiving than some of its’ counterparts.” That is only speculation, but still, perhaps there is some truth in it. Perhaps her persistence had paid off. She’ll never be sure.
it is a tiger that devours me, but I am the tiger; it is a fire that consumes me, but I am the fire.
As Weaver finished up her luxere, he motioned to start their journey with an extension of his arm. Weaver would be best to walk in front of him, so that her luxere would be between them. Noah would have his on his back, and the woman would be dragging hers on a sled. Noah would be able to watch more carefully from the rear, and wolves would be less likely to try and poach off of her sled if it was between them rather than behind them.
He chuckled some at her, the usual tone of teasing rolling from his chest. Weaver must he so used to it at this point in their lives. "Can't stand to scare people off anymore, unless you really mean it?" The scythe had never been such an odd thing in Halo. He assumed the rest of the world might not understand the need to be armed at all times like Halovians did. Even within the Citadel there were dangers around the bend that were unpredictable.
"I haven't been to a Shrine since I attuned." He noted, pulling his pack tighter across his back and holding the straps as they walked. The luxere was heavy on his back, and he would sleep sound tonight, but he was used to the weight. "What do you think about the gods?" Noah was starting to embrace the idea of the gods being involved in their lives more and more as he interacted with the outlanders and the other regions of Caido. But, above the opinions of others, Noah held Weaver in high esteem.
Time is the substance from which I am made. Time is a river which carries me along, but I am the river;
She heads first, perfectly fine to let him take the rear and watch for other predators. There was no way in hell she could carry the luxere, so dragging it was really her only option. Even that was going to be hard. Though she wasn’t a tiny woman, she wasn’t large and strength had never been her strong suit. She relies on speed and general recklessness to get her through most fights, but she will always lose in a battle of strength.
Weaver laughs at that, amused. ”Oh no, not that. Rather I can’t always walk into a bar or someone’s shop with it on my back, or sometimes it’s just in the way, but I do not want to be without it. Besides, it will be really scary and very impressive to whip a scythe out of my pocket.” Or maybe she’d have Deimos fashion her a chain that could snap apart without breaking, making it easy to remove and replace the weapon. Regardless, she’d found herself putting it down in other regions, and she did not enjoy it. It felt like being naked, except that she didn’t mind being naked.
She hums slightly at that, not judging. ”I always wanted to light candles for them,” she admits. It’s the main reason she went to the shrine, never expecting Ludo or anyone else to actually show up. Though she was pleased that Ludo had. There was always something about being hated for something she’d never even chosen that grated on her, and though she may not be a devout follower, to be accepted by them...well, it seemed to matter. At least a little bit. ”I think it depends on the god, really. In the end though, I don’t think our opinions matter anyway. We will fight their war and deal with the repercussions of their choices regardless.”
it is a tiger that devours me, but I am the tiger; it is a fire that consumes me, but I am the fire.
He laughed in response to her reasoning. He imagined the look on men's faces, the color draining from behind their eyes and down their cheeks, as Weaver pulls her scythe from some seemingly small pocket. He could imagine it to bring terror to even the strongest of men. He had witnessed before her wrath to drunken hunters who tried to place their hands in certain places without permission, to grab without forethought. Weaver would wipe away any impolite thought from them for the rest of their lives with the way she swung her weapon. He did not know a lot about the world outside of Halo, but the fear Weaver could strike into the hearts of men did not stay contained in the frozen part of the world.
"I've been thinking about visiting a shrine." His statement is simple. He shrugged the pack and the luxere to shift on his back, easing the weight more between his shoulder blades. "I don't know if they'll take kindly to me. I could have been praying my whole life. They gifted me with being attuned, and I have left them to dust in my life." Truly, Noah might have prayed more if his parents had been more in tune with the workings of the gods. His mother, like Weaver, was an abandoned one -- though she was a healer and used her magic for the service of the citizens of the Citadel. His father was just a man, accepted, who encouraged his sons to attune to help them survive in the world. After their deaths, Noah hardly had a mind to turn to religion for aid in survival.
"Korbin has been having trouble with the shrines lately. I'm sure that is what would become of me, too."
