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!
Leave my loneliness unbroken! - quit the bust above my door!
Purely aside from the choking sensation of something gripping his throat, there was the instinctive fear of being grabbed. Held, helpless... Like so much prey.
The increased altitude did nothing to actually help Korbin get his bearings. He was just struggling at this point, taloned feet arching up to rake at the goose, make it let go. He forgot to think, to speak, to really do anything except fight. Even if it meant falling.
It seemed preferable to perishing without attempting to escape.
As the talons scrabbled against his body, Loren did his best not to instinctively let go. Or worse, tighten his grip. Korbin. Focus. He did his best to put as much authority into the thought as possible.
When the increased altitude didn't help, he ceased his ascent. Instead, he changed tactics. He began to descend instead. Listen, I am going to get you as close to the ground, and fly as slowly as I can. And then I'm going to let go. Okay? Again, he tried to stay calm, even as his insides roiled with panic. To help both of them, he very, very carefully let go of Korbin with one foot.
Leave my loneliness unbroken! - quit the bust above my door!
It was perhaps a good thing that he couldn't peck at the goose too, or this might have turned ugly. Loren's thoughts pierced the fog of panic and instinct with some difficulty. But though the young man heard him, knew he should calm down, stay still, the message did not pass successfully from brain to body.
The descended, and to Korbin it was a prolonged nightmare where he lived all his worst fears. He couldn't breathe, think, do anything to help himself. When Loren let go with one of his feet, the raven tore itself free -
- and fell. Plummeted, tumbling beak over claw with wings scrabbling wildly for lift. The ground came rushing up to meet him... and just as he thought he'd be flattened against the snow, he managed to right himself.
Spreading the wings wide, the raven leveled out and glided over the ground, only feet away from certain death. He broke the speed and all but collapsed into the snow, panting with open beak, wings still spread in shocked stillness as his little heart beat lightning fast against the breastbone.
As Korbin broke free, Loren cursed. He twisted to try and catch the hunter, but the healer wasn't as maneuverable as he'd like, and his forward momentum was hard to arrest. Managing to turn and continue flying, he tried to catch up with the other man, praying it wasn't too late.
However, just as the Launceleyn was reaching out, Korbin righted himself. Loren had to twist and pump his wings rapidly so as not to collide with the hunter. Instead, the healer shot past the other man. The Launceleyn basically steered himself into a fluffy looking pile of snow and crashed into it.
For a moment, he lay there, stunned. Then he ventured to poke his head out. Relief coursed through him as he saw that Korbin seemed rattled, but otherwise fine. Loren began to climb out of the snowdrift. So uh...let's not ever do that again. There was still a slight edge of panic to the thoughts. Also, sorry. It came out belatedly, but it was very much not an afterthought.
Leave my loneliness unbroken! - quit the bust above my door!
He didn't respond. Too busy gathering up the pieces of himself and put them back together. Slowly, the raven tucked the wings back up to the sides, and got his feet under him properly. Checked over the plumage; tousled again, but not so much he couldn't fly.
Loren's voice echoed hollow in his mind, and it took a while before he could reply.
As Korbin asked if Loren was alright, he reflected that it was a good thing this form couldn't laugh. Still, he let out an amused honk, and shared that with the hunter. Yeah, I'm alright. Ruffling his feathers, he checked for damage but it was nothing particularly serious.
Are you? Carefully and slowly, the healer began to pick his way across the snow. His webbed feet gave him more stability on the unstable surface than might've been expected for such a large bird. As he walked closer to the other man, the Launceleyn did his best to check Korbin out for anything seriously wrong. Loren didn't quite trust the hunter not to downplay any injuries.
Leave my loneliness unbroken! - quit the bust above my door!
The raven dipped its head a few times in acknowledgement. It stretched one wing at a time, turned the head this way and that, checking for injury. Possibly there was a slight strain to the muscles where one of the wings connected to the chest, but it was bearable. Nothing he couldn't live with.
"I'm in one piece," he replied dismissively, as that was all that mattered. "Let's get airborn again."
Korbin knew he needed get back into the sky again as soon as possible. Already he felt fear come creeping at the thought of possibly falling again.. and he would not be grounded by it. Nor by a little pain.
Although he still had his doubts about Korbin's actual state, Loren sent a pulse of agreement to the hunter. Alright, if you're sure. With that, the healer turned away from the other man. The Launceleyn started running forward. Once he had built up enough momentum, he pushed off the ground and flapped his wings.
His takeoffs might not have been the most elegant, but the got the job done. For now, he flew low to the ground, wanting to stay nearby in case Korbin encountered some difficulties. If the raven managed to get off the ground alright, Loren would continue to monitor the hunter's flight. However, the healer would turn towards the direction of the Citadel and begin leading them home.
Leave my loneliness unbroken! - quit the bust above my door!
The raven had an easier time getting back into the sky. Lighter and made for agility, he needed only to jump off and beat his wings to take off. Almost immediately he felt the discomfort of the pulled muscle grow into pain, but he bit it back with stubborn determination and just kept flying. More focused on pushing the fear down.
Quite intentionally he made himself look down as they ascended and set course for the Citadel. Made himself swerve and dip in the sky too, challenging every motion that made his insides curl up and shrivel with remembered panic. It was a merciless brutal beating he gave himself, and he was too busy with it to really shield. There no hiding the pain he was in, or the depth of his resolve.
Or that it really worked. Slowly, gradually, the fear subsided, and his confidence increased until he flew almost like normal again. Only hampered by the stabbing needles zipping through the wing.
When the Citadel came into view, Korbin made a move to veer off, meaning to fly back home.
Although Loren continued to worry and fret, Korbin made it into the air without too much trouble. Seeing as the healer had exerted himself, and had his own crash landing, his own body wasn't super happy with him. So he let the flight back to the Citadel pass in silence.
However, as the hunter peeled off, the Launceleyn spoke up. Hey. Apart from the end, I had fun today. Hesitating, he sent a feeling of appreciation to the other man. Maybe...maybe we can do it again some time. And see you around. With that, Loren flew towards the Palace, ready to get on with his day proper.
Leave my loneliness unbroken! - quit the bust above my door!
Oh, right. Courtesies. Truth be told, Korbin quite forgot it might be the polite thing to say something before leaving. He was so used to flying alone.
"Yeah... apart from the last bit, me too," he admitted, a touch awkwardly. Well, not fun exactly, but... it had not been bad either. "See you later."
Inevitably, as Korbin would have to show up for work eventually. For now though, he had other things to attend to, and with a last caw of parting he couldn't hear, the raven sped off. Before long, it was lost amidst the rooftops and smoke rising from the Citadel.
