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!
It was quite typical of Sunjaya to walk the beaches when he came to the Ahi Coast, but today he’s in the mood for something else — a bit of exploring in the jungle sections of the coastline, slipping away into his Nyala form because it’s probably easier that way to not attract attention nor detract any of the fauna around the area. And if nothing else, he’d at least have a decent chance at blending in, the stripes on his pelt mimic the way the sun filters through the palms and the tall grasses as he picks his way over fallen branches and half broken coconuts.
The birds continue to chirp, to croon their songs as he continues to walk through, a few leaves crunching as the sand begins to shift into harder ground, though nothing seems to pay much attention to him while he goes. Dark ears edged in gold flicker to listen for anything out of the ordinary, before he pauses nearby a palm that appeared to have some sort of claw mark gouged into the side of it.
Dark eyes inspect this closer, horned head lowering to follow the lines as it marks around the trunk of the tree.
always have an escape plan
BASE INSPIRED BY ODD <3
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 might blend in, but there are those who have spent a lifetime cultivating the ability to pick out those signs, and to capitalise on them. Truthfully, Vervain had no idea whether what she was tracking was a common occurrence in Torchline, and she definitely didn't know that it wasn't, in fact, some strange form of deer ripe for the taking. So she had followed the tracks and the breaks in the foliage until she got the creature in sight, her bow already in hand as she followed after it.
And when it paused to inspect the trunk of a tree, the witch had already nocked an arrow, drawing back the string with keen eyes and feet finding the most comfortable grooves and crevices in the earth to stand silently. It wasn't so different, hunting here compared to the Greatwood.
So it was that she unleased the arrow, aimed at the creature's neck that she might at least make it quick. Nothing personal. Just the food chain at work.
The scarring in the tree was old, he could tell as much from the way the tree seemed to grow around it. But that didn’t mean anything really to him, and so he keeps his investigation going, pulling his head back around to the other side when he feels it pierce through the thick fur in the side of his neck. There’s enough force behind it that he horns of his head crack against the trunk of the tree as he sways, a bit belated in terms of what the ever loving fuck was happening.
It’s a shot that takes him down once the realization and pain hits, and he drops to his golden knees in the dirt, shifting back into himself as he reaches up with a now shaking hand to feel the arrow that still sticks out of his neck as he tries to wrap his mind around what happened. He can feel the blood as it drips from his neck, cursing some korofian, not entirely sure whether to pull it out and bleed more, but also unable to turn his head and spy the attacker. He can’t even check to see that he wasn’t directly in the line of another one.
always have an escape plan
BASE INSPIRED BY ODD <3
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 would be a lie to say that there wasn't a smile on Vai's face as she took her shot, another arrow already in hand, smoothly nocked into place. But as she drew back the bowstring, wouldn't you believe it, the creature became a person and well, fucking fucking fuck. "Oh shit." She hissed out a curse herself, bow and arrow abandoned as she rose to her feet to hop through the thickets towards the man.
"I'm so fucking sorry, I didn't know you were Attuned," she said, the words coming out in a rush as she placed herself in his line of sight, crouched before him with blue eyes on the wound pissing with blood rather than his face, for now. "I have healing magic - do you mind if I...?" She nodded at his neck, like it should be obvious. "Don't talk, if you can't. Just... a thumbs up will work, I guess."
Call it inappropriate joviality, call it panic. Either way, shooting a man in the neck had not been the intention.
better get to diggin' while my body's getting cold. i keep tryna fight it so just promise when i go, you'll bury me low
There’s words, ones that blur together after a moment of Sunjata trying to figure out what the fuck is going on. He doesn’t know what she’s saying at first until she’s in his line of site, panting and swallowing against some of the blood he can feel along his throat and coating his mouth. The arrow was a great shot, ironically hitting the edge of his compass tattoo, one that would probably tear some of the ink out — but that was to be expected. His sleeved arm still hovers by the arrow, unsure and uncertain, brows furrowing a small amount as he pants and stares at the woman.
Honestly he wanted anything that would take this fucking arrow out of his neck. So he gives her that thumbs up, a grimace as he tries to sit up against the throbbing in his neck and now his stomach for how hard he’d crouched over when his knees hit the sandy dirt. Blood continues to pour and he tilts his head up as much as he can to give her access to fix what the fuck just happened, his head steadily growing more and more dizzy.
Both hands plant in the ground as well, trying to keep him as upright as he can, nausea burning at the back of his throat.
SUNJATA
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.
"Great. Fantastic." Vai wasted no time once she received the all clear; the only reason she'd waited for that much was because... in all honesty, if she'd been the one shot, she probably wouldn't want her attacker's hands on her. But consent was consent, and the moment he gave it she leant in, one hand slipping beneath his jawline to support his head, the other wrapping about the arrow shaft. "I'm sorry," she muttered, and it wasn't necessarily for the initial shot.
No, this was because she had to take the arrow out to heal around it, and she got the feeling she'd be hearing about it in great detail unless the stranger was particularly seasoned in dealing with this sort of bullshit. Vai didn't just yank it out, knowing better, being careful to work the arrow head towards the opening of the wound, thanking her lucky stars she'd not used anything with a barbed tip.
And whilst there was a lot of blood, it wasn't literally pumping out of him, so she was relatively confident (haha probably?) that she wasn't about to have killed him. It took a few moments to get the arrow free, Vai dropping it to the ground the moment it left his skin, her hand clamping over the wound to replace it.
Taking a shuddering breath to steady her nerves, the witch tapped into the reserve of power that had once been so foreign to her, pouring healing energy into trying to close the wound. "I'm Vai," she said suddenly, as if names were important since they were so close. "And I think I owe you drinks for the rest of your life."
better get to diggin' while my body's getting cold. i keep tryna fight it so just promise when i go, you'll bury me low
If he could be shouting or freaking out or doing anything but staying remarkably silent this whole time, he probably would be doing exactly that. But he can’t, and he shuts his eyes tight as he hears her apology, bracing for the arrow to be removed. He’s not sure which is worse at this moment, shot in the neck by an arrow or the time he’d gotten shot with a bullet in his leg. He’d probably have to go toward this one, because at the very least it was near his neck and all the important bits.
He hisses when the arrow is touched and moved around, clenching his jaw despite the outpouring of blood he can still feel in his mouth and down his shirt. His fingers shift to claws as he grips into the ground, clawing into the dirt and hardpacked sand, taking a deep breath when he can as her hand reaches for his neck to heal.
And heal she does, though it isn’t perfect and he already knows the questions he might get, with a quiet promise of the fact that he hadn’t died at least. And then he finally opens his eyes, gaze swimming with the dizziness to find her chest right there, scrambling to look away from her and spit some of the blood to the ground to get it out of his mouth. “Sunjata.” He offers hoarsely, panting, trying to lift his gaze to find her face and nothing else directly within his line of sight, still panting to catch his breath.
SUNJATA
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 fact that he was even able to take a deep breath was encouraging, Vai letting out a shaky sigh and redoubling her efforts on her healing. Not perfect it may be - he’d be left with a still bleeding wound, but not something so drastic as this - it was still better than the alternative. ”Careful,” she said quietly as he shifted as if to move around, oblivious that he was attempting not to look down her cleavage.
Still, he offered his name and she nodded to him, keeping one hand against his neck to finish up with her magic as best she could, the other moving to the pack slung over her shoulder to accompany the quiver of arrows. From it, she took a flask of water, uncapping it to offer it out to him. ”I think you should be alright now. Fuck.”
better get to diggin' while my body's getting cold. i keep tryna fight it so just promise when i go, you'll bury me low
Her quiet reprimand is met with a sigh, but he does as she says – because his neck is still in her palm, he can still feel the healing burn through his neck, and so he lowers his head back to let his swimming gaze focus on the ground where blood stained hands now sit. He closes his eyes for a brief moment, thinking that might help, before suddenly it feels far too much like marble beneath his knees, and far too many eyes on him as he bled out. He opens his eyes again, spying the flask of water before he’s pausing to spit more blood into the ground.
“You know…” He begins through a slight pant, wincing from his voice and how the wound fucking burns with the movement. “A ramphire makes a better target.” He rushes out, clipped before he’s clenching his jaw and spitting a bit more blood into the ground before he’s shifting to try and sit up a bit more onto his heels – reaching for the flask of water and internally thinking that it’s the least she could do for shooting him in the neck with an arrow.
He finally has a chance to look at her now, as he slowly tilts his head back to take a swig of the water, letting it wash away the iron in his mouth, before he goes to hand it back to her.
SUNJATA
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.
"I'm afraid I haven't a clue what one of those is," Vai said with a tight smile, guessing that it was some kind of creature not yet come across in the jungles. "I've only recently come to Torchline. Last time I assume that something I don't recognise can't be an Attuned, though," she muttered, accepting the flask back and setting it down beside them. A quick peek beneath her hand showed that the wound, whilst still sluggishly bleeding, was a lot less deep, a lot smaller, enough to be patched up by other means.
Letting out a long, slow sigh as if just realising how close she'd come to something potentially life ending, she sat back on her knees and reached down to tear a strip from her shirt (a part not already covered in his blood). Folding it into a square, she pressed the fabric to the wound against his neck this time, a firm and steady pressure to encourage it to stop bleeding by itself. "Do you live nearby? Least I can do is help you home."
better get to diggin' while my body's getting cold. i keep tryna fight it so just promise when i go, you'll bury me low
“Probably for the best.” He grits out, exhaling as tenderly as he can while she still presses the wound to his neck. He hands her back the flask and then she’s peeking at the wound — Sunjata closes his eyes and continues to try and keep the dizziness at bay, not recalling how long it’s been since he’s felt like this. Except… Probably with Nate. But regardless, Sunjata tries to focus on her words, hissing when the fabric is placed against it.
He reaches up, then, to take over the pressure of the wound should she let him, before dark steel finds her face again at the question. “Not really.” He pauses to swallow hard through the heartbeat he can feel pulsing in the wound and the absolute distraction that it was. “I live by the lighthouse. Next to the governor.” Another series of short clipped words and statements, but he finds that they won’t really be going anywhere until the bleeding has stopped.
But he needs a way to tie it down perhaps, to keep it from loosening, so he shifts a small amount as he considers her. “Can you help tie something around it?” He asks, pausing to bite down a wince as he shifts his hand to hold the patch with his other one to slip his arm through the blood stained shirt.
SUNJATA
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.
Vai let him, far from the type to coddle, and as he tried to shrug out of his shirt - presumably for more makeshift bandages - she took a knife from her boot so she might cut the fabric. "That is a bit of a walk," she said, brows knitted together in a frown, before something like curiosity shot through her gaze. "Do you know Remi, then?" she asked, all the while cutting a long strip from his shirt, leaning in again to wrap it about his neck and the improvised dressing she'd placed there.
Tying it off neatly, she took a second to kick herself (again) for being so foolish, as well as wish she had any of her medicinal herbs to hand. Regrettably they were all back in the Greatwood, and she'd brought only her hunting gear with her... and look how good that had turned out.
"You're an Attuned, right? You don't happen to have any smaller shifts, do you...? Far be it for me to patronise you, but the sooner you can get some place to lay down, the better." The implication being clear, that she'd take him up to the lighthouse.
i lost all the air in my lungs to the screamin' i lost all the love in my heart to the demons
It is a bit of a walk, and if Sunjata could move or think clearly he might have opted for walking back. But he’s still dizzy as fuck and can’t quite think straight for most things as it stands. Vai helps cut the shirt, and he hisses against the movement he’s done but eventually the shirt is off, the fabric tightened and he can focus a bit more on the why and what happened over the overall sparking pain in the side of his neck.
“Yes.” He replies to Vai, still cut short as she ties the fabric around his neck. If he was more coherent he’d ask how she knew Remi, but he’s not, and the conversation shifts yet again to something he should have thought of but… Again, blood loss.
Gods and right after that conversation with Nate about exactly this. Fuck. He doesn’t answer her question with words, instead he lets his swimming steel gaze find hers again before he’s shifting into a smallish fuzzy black bat, wings draped over the grasses as he focuses on trying not to pass out from that extension of use of power.
i lost all the things that i used to believe in i lost everything for no goddamn reason
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.
Vai would also have liked to ask a few more questions, but evidently it was not the time. Sunjata answered her question with actions rather than words, and Vai felt her chest hitch and her throat tighten as the man became a fuzzy bat on the ground before her. Not because he was creepy - quite the contrary - and the huntress had to sigh out the awww that tried to make its way out. "Right. Well, that's a lot more manageable," she said, giving him a few moments to get his bearings before gathering the remnants of his shirt.
Reaching out, it was with considerable care that she tucked the bat's wings about himself, carefully wrapping the shirt around the small form and scooping him up off the ground. "Did I mention again, how I owe you drinks for the rest of your life?" she muttered by way of apology, pottering about to grab her knife, the arrow, and her bow and other items. Then they were setting off, the bat safe in the crook of her arm, both of them covered in blood. Normal. Yep.
"I know Remi from before he came to Torchline," she explained. "I came to visit him. Small world, huh..."
