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'm a lady, like whoa I could bring you to your knees
Well shit. At least the fire worked?
Yea, that’s not really a helpful thought right about now. She can move, but the horses can’t, and the teamster won’t leave them. Weaver doesn’t exactly have a lot of options here to stop a falling tree. The smartest one would just be to move, but the forces that are writing this luck wasn’t on her side today.
Weaver grabs a rather large branch that had fallen and runs, like an idiot, almost beneath the falling tree, attempting to wedge the branch into the cut. If she can lever it in a different direction, hopefully she can change its trajectory enough to spare the teamster and the horses, and you know, ideally her.
”Someone grab a fucking rope,” she yells in the general direction of Korbin and Noah. Korbin can’t hear her, of course, but one of the many Attuned here better damn well translate for him. If they can get a rope around it from the other side, they can pull while she pushes.
Quite possibly she’d be putting Loren’s healing skills to the test today.
***
Weaver attempts to use a branch to lever the tree in a different direction and suggests someone else grab a rope to pull.
the devil you know is better than the ghost you don't
Success! Changing tools worked out for the Halovian. With Korbin and the teamster, they were able to fill their sled plus some. Satisfied, and sweaty and tired, Noah leaned against the sled momentarily. The start of his exhaustion was short lived, however. The scramble of commotion and Korbin's dead bolt run made Noah's blood run cold. He followed the other attuned, eyes searching for a solution to help Weaver. He could feel his heart in the bottom of his throat, blood pounding in his ears. The danger was apparent, and they were all running headlong into it.
Did they always do this? Yes.
Weaver's command cut through the air and Noah was obedient. He grabbed a rope, and attempted to swing it over the tree and pull for dear life.
--
Noah tries to swing a rope over the tree and help Weaver redirect its fall.
so I sit and the scan the frequencies, watch the falling snow
Loren's luck had run out. The attempt to compell the horses didn't work, and they were too agitated by the crashing trees and the scent of the bear that still hung in the air. Despite the best efforts of both Loren and the teamster, the horses bolted and all the lumber began rolling off the sled as the skittish animals scampered off. It took a good few minutes before the weight of the sled and the dense vegetation brought the animals to a halt, but by that time all the lumber had been scattered across the area, and Loren would find himself in need of loading it all up again.
Meanwhile, Weaver's quick dodge put her well out of harms way of the tree. Her plan to redirect the fall of the tree was miraculously successful; together with Noah's strength and the rope slung around the trunk they managed to alter the angle of the tree just enough that it fell away from any animals or people.
Seeing that the two had the situation under control, Korbin quickly grabbed the reins of Weaver's horses so that they too couldn't bolt off.
"That was a bit too close," he said, pale faced and clammy with cold sweat as he turned to his sister and the others. Uncaring about the others watching, he caught Weaver in a fierce embrace, needing a moment to make sure she really was alright.
By some miracle, no one seemed to be hurt, but the young raven would no doubt have nightmares about Weaver ending up under that tree for some weeks to come. "Let's get these logs cut up and loaded, and then we can head off home," he suggested, with his interpretor standing by to catch any replies.
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Last round!
Loren failed to calm down the horses. They bolted and scattered his logs around, now he has to reload the sled again!
Weaver's plan was wildly successful! Together with Noah and Korbin she was able to save both herself, the teamster and the horses by shifting the tree to fall in a different direction. All that remains to do is cut the tree to size, load up the sled and head off towards Halo! Noah can choose to stay and help Weaver, or go aid Loren. Korbin will help the one left out.
the devil you know is better than the ghost you don't
Noah pulled, and pulled, and pulled. All he could see was the tree crashing down on Weaver, the woman too stubborn and too caring (caring?) to let other people and creatures take the damage. The reindeer pulled so hard that his hands burned, the rope rubbing them near raw with his determination and sheer force. He did not wince until the tree crashed down, the Halovians all safe.
He breathed out heavily, wanted to collapse on the ground and regain his composure. The time was not yet, though, there was still work to be done. He moved over towards the siblings, watching as Korbin pulled his sister into a tight embrace, one that surely conveyed love and fear and anger and relief. Noah's face softened with a small smile as he, too, placed an embrace on Weaver. It was small -- just his hand on her shoulder, giving a squeeze. It sent tingles of pain up to his elbow, but he did it nonetheless. He nodded to Korbin, all the answer needed for his instructions.
Looking up and around at the rest of the crew, Noah decided to leave the siblings alone to cool down together and finish their task. He moved over to Loren, and would help him gather up the rest of his wood. In the chaos of Weaver nearly getting crushed, Noah had not noticed Loren's trouble and his team running away. All he knew was that the wood needed to be loaded. Through the pain of his rope-burned, raw hands, Noah would help.
__
Noah goes to help Loren. His hands got super rope-burned when he was helping Weaver.
so I sit and the scan the frequencies, watch the falling snow
As the horses bolted despite Loren's best mental efforts he cursed. Giving the elderly teamster an apologetic look, the healer watched the horses come to a stop not too far away. Walking up to them, he gave them as much reassurance as he could both verbally and mentally.
Glancing at the other groups, he breathed a sigh of relief that whatever commotion had been going on managed to resolve itself without anyone getting hurt. Then he set about gathering the wood that had fallen from the sled, hopefully securing it properly this time. As Noah joined the Launceleyn, he gave the reindeer a grateful nod.
Then Loren frowned as he saw the state of the other man's hands. "I can heal that for you." If Noah gave permission, the healer would briefly lay his hand on the reindeer's shoulder and send a pulse of healing magic through the other man.
Loren offers to heal Noah and then sets to gathering up the scattered wood
I'm a lady, like whoa I could bring you to your knees
Yes, she is actually caring. Quite a lot, though she hides that fact pretty well. No one needs to know just how much she cares. But she cares for her family, for her friends, and this small group is made up of them (yes, even Loren). She cares for the horses who cannot help themselves, and the teamster who cares more for the horses than her own damn life.
Noah comes to help, and between the two of them, the tree changes course and falls away from any animal or person. Relief washes over her, the adrenaline fades, and as Korbin comes to wrap her in a hug, she finds herself slumping into him slightly. She wraps her arms around him as well, resting her head against his chest, letting the slamming of her heart against her chest fade away. Noah too comes to grasp her shoulder slightly, and she lifts her head. ”Thank you,” she says to him with a slight nod.
Noah leaves her and her brother, and she takes a deep breath before setting to work on cutting the tree into logs. Honestly, she gives about zero shits at this point about the task before her, but if she was going to nearly die in the process of cutting the tree down, she might as well cut it up. Using a saw this time, she begins to work her way through the trunk.
***
Weaver starts to cut the stupid tree into logs while having a mild heart attack.
Shook up from the near disaster, it was really all they could do to finish up. Weaver and Korbin had a hard time of it and barely got any work done, despite the best efforts. Fortunately, there was lumber to spare from Noah's tree, and when the teamsters pitched in to help, they were able to get a sufficient amount loaded onto Weaver's sled to fill the need.
Loren was able to heal Noah's hands without any setbacks, and together they got every last piece of the logs back onto the sled. All in all, it was a successful venture, though perhaps a bit more adventurous than any of them had planned for.
And of course, this was the easy part. Now all they had to do was get everything back through the portal, across the Tundra and back to the Citadel.
But that would be a story to tell another time.
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That concludes this PQ! Thank you! <3 Feel free to post wrap-ups, I will archive in a few days.
I'm a lady, like whoa I could bring you to your knees
Her mind isn’t in it, and neither is Korbin’s it seems. Can you really blame them? She’s quite possibly could have been crushed by a tree today, and even Loren had his limits as a healer. She’s not quite sure he could have saved her from that particular disaster. Maybe if she were smarter or meaner she would have just let the thing crush the horses and saved her own skin...but no, she could not do that.
They manage to get enough lumber loaded onto the wagon though, and Weaver settles in beside her brother to make the journey back from the Grounds, though the Tundra, and to the Citadel. Honestly, she’s tempted to just go sleep in a local inn and get drunk. But instead, she slips her arm through Korbin’s and lets him drag her home.
Checking one last time to make sure the lumber was secure, Loren turned towards the rest of the group. Giving Weaver and Korbin a slightly concerned look, the healer took a step towards them, fully intending to check in about what the commotion had been earlier. However, they were already heading out and he hesitated, halting where he stood.
Sighing, he shook his head instead and moved to stay with the wagons and the teamsters. Sticking by their side as they trekked back towards the Citadel, he'd do his best to make sure there were no further incidents. Calming the horses as needed, he'd make the return trip quietly.
There was no point in lingering. Once all the sleds were loaded and horses, teamsters and helpers had been gathered up, Korbin gave the call to head out.
He kept close to Weaver on the way back, making sure she was okay. It was as much for his own sake as well; had to assure himself that they were alright, still whole, still together.
The way back to the Citadel would be long, but fortunately rather uneventful.
