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!
Leopard, he repeated, abashed at the mistake. Apologies, fair Aisha. It just went to show that sometimes he wasn't as smart as he thought he was and his player is a derp. But you fought in your human skins, yes? That's why you want a sword? he asked, always curious to learn more about distant lands.
Isuma fluttered up and away as the leopard bent her jaws to take the deer up and begin to drag it out the way they'd come. The fox paced ahead, his companion swooping to a tree branch a short distance away, then perching and waiting for them to catch up before she flew on to the next to wait again.
I appreciate your sense of fair play, he teased back cheerfully. My nose is worn out from all that tracking! None were as sly as a mischievous fox as he slanted a wink back at his feline friend. And I have to watch my joints in my old age. I don't Heal up as fast as I use to! True enough, if only because his Healing magic used to be even more powerful. What's the biggest creature you've ever hunted?
05-11-2020, 04:00 PM (This post was last modified: 05-12-2020, 08:51 PM by Aisha.)
"No worries," she replied, glancing to her arctic companion with sunfire eyes. "An honorable fight should be between man and man, a hunt between beast and beast," she repeated a tenet she'd heard many times. "That doesn't mean it always ended up that way, but that's how a fair fight is supposed to go," then adding with a cock of her head, "hence the sword."
Aisha gave a soft purr as Jigano engaged in her teasing, eyes glinting an amused hue as she tugged the buck back. "Cheer up, sure you have white hair but you don't really look a day over 50," another taunt of course, in reality he didn't seem too much older than her. Maybe late twenties, thirties? But hey, he started the old man thing, she was just playing along, as any good comedic spirit would.
"Biggest?" she repeated, then taking a moment to think, "There were lots of wildebeest on the plains surrounding my city, my family and I would try to hunt them sometimes." Non shifting leopards wouldn't dare, wildebeest were far bigger creatures. But the leopardkin, they did have a slight advantage when it came to strategy and numbers, as opposed to the naturally solitary cats.
The fox nodded at Aisha's wisdom, liking the simple honor of it. It had a clean clarity to it, even if her world didn't always follow it any more than his had. It would be nice if it was like that here, he agreed. Though harder for those non-Attuned to get a good meal like this. He glanced back with a loll-tongue silent laugh to his leopard-friend, almost losing the stone in his jaws. Did you ever use bows?
Dainty paws pranced as she returned his teasing with a compliment that had him pretending to preen. You're too kind, he demurred, trying to contain his laughter. My secret is two voles for breakfast and as little sleep as I can get away with. Not precisely true, but it did feel that way sometimes. Keeps the body young and the mind agile! Though it does lead to your hair turning white... Never mind that he'd been born with that pale mane.
He trotted ahead of her, keeping an eye out for the easiest path for her to drag the deer through, and occasionally taking branches in his teeth - carefully shifting his stone to his cheek - to hold them out of her way. What does a wildebeest look like? Is it bigger than an elk?
Things were definitely different here than they were home, but Aisha took no quarrels with how the people here survived. They were just surviving, and that was all you could really ask of anyone. "In war yes, not against the shiftless," she said, using a term that they'd used for those animals who had no human form. It felt weird to say, even if it was only a thought transferred down a bond. It'd been a while since she'd thought it.
Aisha would prance with him, showing off in a bout of amusement, but the buck she held was a bit impairing. "Next time I'm having a fuck awful sleep I'll remind myself that, at least I'll age well," Sarcasm was her favorite language, especially when conversing with one as fluent as she.
What did a wildebeest look like? Huh, it was pretty satisfying to be telling him things for a change, last time she'd been the one with all the questions. "I've never seen a real elk before, just a shifter, but I think elk are bigger. They're like big cow looking guys with long faces," she had a way with words, descriptive words like; big, and cow-looking-guys, those were the tells of a real wordsmith.
It took Jigano a moment to figure out that 'shiftless' meant animals, not humans, but when he did he sent a pulse of thoughtful agreement through the bond. What about those with smaller shifts, or prey shifts? he asked curiously. Ones who couldn't hunt enough food to feed their human shifts? Aisha's world sounded absolutely fascinating to him, who had lived on a world where his shifting ability had been rare. He had hidden his ability to shift as a matter of protection - and one that had saved lives more than once.
He laughed, dancing with the leopard and even coaxing Isuma to fly back and join in as they pranced through the woods. And don't forget the voles! he teased back as they padded through the underbrush, enjoying Aisha's bold humor.
Real or shifter, the shape seems to be the same, he mused. At least, here they are. So the elk she'd seen would be the same - and that answered one of his previous questions on whether people had prey-shifts on her world. A 'cow looking guy' though? They sound fat and tasty! he decided with a mental chuckle. What's your favorite prey? To chase, to eat, or both!
05-15-2020, 06:27 PM (This post was last modified: 05-15-2020, 06:27 PM by Aisha.)
"Farmers mostly, stuff they could do in human form," she replied, as though it were simple. And on her world it was, that was just how things had been. At least in principle, and as far as she knew. Having grown up in the capital city, tradition had very seldom been broken, but she wasn't oblivious to those who slipped the rules.
Isuma dove down to join in their antics, Aisha was oh so glad that the gryphon was coming around. A purr continued to rumble through her chest as she walked, "Gods forbid I forget the voles," she chuckled a reply down the attuned bond.
Wildebeest weren't exactly as she described, but fat and tasty summed them up well enough that she figured he'd gotten the picture. Her favorite prey? the girl lunged at the opportunity to tease, "I always loved hunting fox," she replied with a sly cock of her head and jump of her shoulders in his direction, a playful feint of and attack, as well as one could pull off with a deer between their teeth.
Ah, that makes sense, Jigano agreed. Not everyone needed to be a hunter, after all, especially if they spent as much time in their human forms as they did in their animal ones. Did they eat meat in their human forms? Or if they were plant eaters as animals did they stick with plant foods as humans?
Isuma was still wary of Aisha, but she was far less afraid of the woman in her leopard form, not associating the feline with the boot that had kicked her. She stayed close to the pair, though she was easily distracted by falling leaves and late-season beetles flitting through the underbrush.
Jigano wasn't expecting the teasing lunge, but he shifted away at the sudden movement, gracefully keeping them the same distance apart as if they were dancing, a laugh startled from him as she teased him and he spun on his hind paws to face her and prance backwards for a few steps. Ah, but how many did you catch? he teased back, wriggling his haunches as if he was preparing to pounce on her in return. When he almost tripped over a branch he was forced to turn around however, even as they came to the edge of the Woodlands and the Fields opened up before them. We're almost home now!
Aisha knew about the general niches, the roles that the people of her kingdom had filled. Their diets? Wasn't something she'd ever put much thought into. "I don't know to be honest, everyone was different I guess?" she said, just as much a guess as it was an answer.
Her antics were reciprocated, Jigano had proven to be as fun as he was informative. Her eyes widened bemusedly when he nearly tripped, a low hitching growl for a feline laugh, she let it trail into a purr as she replied, "Are you doubting your companion's ability? After all the work I put into this team?" she said, playfully dramatic. Golden eyes drifted away from the fox to the path ahead, which opened up into the sprawling fields not far ahead.
"Where are we gonna put this guy," she asked, lip curling up as she readjusted her hold on their kill.
He was content with her answer, uncertain though it was. It was probably a strange question to ask, but his curiosity had never stopped just because of that before, and he didn't know until he tried.
He laughed at his own near-fall, a barking sound that cut off as he snatched after the crystal before it could fall from his jaws. A worthy answer, Mighty Hunter! he lauded, bounding ahead and then turning once more to offer a canine play-bow to the much larger leopardess. Without you we'd be going hungry next season! Not that there wasn't still a chance of that, but it wouldn't be happening yet, at least.
The Fields were a welcome sight for many reasons - not least that dragging the deer would be much easier over the grasses than through the underbrush. He chuckled through the Attuned bond at her question - a good one, but one he was ready for. Let's take him to the Barracks. The militia folk on duty can gut and dress him, and Deimos can use his magic to make an icebox to keep the meat cold until the snows set in and solve that problem for us, he suggested. Not that it would be long now, if he was any judge of the seasons here. First snow can't be more than a few days away now, so it won't have to last long before keeping it cold will be the least of our worries! You can take home as much as you want, of course, he added hurriedly to appease the huntress. But for those who can't hunt, they can come collect some meat to help them keep their strength up in the winter.
Aisha returned the play bow, but with a just dip of her head, "I do it for the people, not the praise," dramatic once more, playing the role of mighty hero, and generous altruist. And it was true, she did hunt for the people of the grounds, not necessarily herself. However this had also been for the fun of it, Aisha couldn't stand chores.
The barracks it was then, sounded as good a plan as any, and maybe she'd even get a few whacks in on the resident dummies while she was there. "I should hope I'm allowed to have some for myself," she exclaimed playfully, then added, "But I guess the people need what they need." She would take a small portion for her and her blacksmith, but leave the majority of the buck for whoever should come to cash in.
A true paragon of nobility! the fox declared. The bards will be singing your praises to the tops of the ale halls! or at least, one bard in particular would be! While he could have hunted on his own, he'd appreciated the chance to get to know a fellow Outlander and he was perfectly happy to give her the honor and glory that she was due for her hard work today.
None would be brave enough to deny you, he reassured the leopard slyly as he paced forward again, breaking the trail home. But the elders and the youngers need the meat, too. And you can build up some credit with the folk in town for when you next need to go shopping. We'll make sure the meat's labeled so people know who they're trading with in the future. It wasn't a perfect system and there were always cheaters, but it was better than nothing and most townsfolk were honest enough. They all had to pull together or they'd fall alone, especially in Deepfrost.
