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!
He’s still sore, still in pain, but Vervain has mentioned that it might be a good idea to reach out to the Dark Star. And so he does, one morning as the wind begins to pick up, growling through stretches against his skin as the burns pull sharply. So he makes his way, a few gifts wrapped up that he takes along because whether or not Ronin needs them, he needs them too.
He’s mostly a familiar figure around here nowadays anyway, so shuffling into the house is easy enough. Finding the room Ronin’s holed away in is also relatively easy. But after LongNight, he debates the best way to go about trying to catch Ronin’s attention without triggering something. Ronin? He calls out through the attuned bond, then in person, his voice echoing along the panes of the hallway. “It’s Sunjata.” He shuffles a bit, tapping a knuckle against the door in a quiet greeting.
i've learned to lose, you can't afford to
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.
Ronin spent his days wrapped in bed with Remi’s heat, with the press of his hands and the softness of his curls, pretending to sleep. Sometimes when he pretended too hard he actually drifted off - a mistake he tried not to make, given the nightmares that came to haunt him when he relaxed control of himself. But the Alchemist could not be around all the time, given his duties as Governor and the fact that he annoyingly had a life. So when Sunjata arrived, Ronin was alone.
It was the tap at the door that did it, in retrospect. Reminiscent of Longnights past, the knock echoed deep in the Star’s mind, and no amount of Attuned bond could drag him back from the reaction he was already carrying out.
The door flew open, but Ronin was obscured by the light that blazed from the starbolt in his hand, from the illumination of luxere antlers that crowned his head. The star was gaunt, circles darkening his eyes, and he wore nothing but a pair of sweatpants that hung loose on his hips and bandages that patched his stomach and arms. The rest of him was a rainbow of cuts and bruises, and there was little in his eyes to suggest he wouldn’t blast Jata to kingdom come.
Yep, mistakes made. The door opens and a disheveled Ronin with a fucking starbolt is there, demanding he prove he’s real. Sunjata staggers back, steel gaze flickering from the starbolt to Ronin’s face, wondering how the fuck he’s supposed to admit he’s real. His heart thunders in his chest, and he swallows hard, hands up as he tries to be less threatening. “Fuck, I’m sorry, I—”
He trails off, swallowing hard, eyes focusing on Ronin’s face as he tries to figure out where the fuck to start. Has he ever had to prove who he was here in Caido where monsters would replicate everything? Where do I start? I met you at the Hanged Man. I trained with you. You came to the Slagveld after Safrin did… All of that. I helped you with this house. He didn’t know if mentioning Seren might set him off.
You came over to my house, we drank and walked along the beach. You warned me about Safrin. We’ve dug trenches and canals together... He swallows hard, replicating Ronin’s antlers with the horns of his own, sprouting and spiraling from his own head.
i've learned to lose, you can't afford to
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.
Blue eyes bored into steel, Ronin waiting expectantly with a blazing star in hand. And something huffed out of him as Sunjata began - contempt, perhaps - because the other man (monster?) wasn’t telling him anything he didn’t already know. All of this could have been pulled out of his own head and formed into the shape of his friend, all to tempt him to make him... to make...
Slowly, the Star realised that Sunjata had spoken without moving his lips. He noticed the slope of the walls, felt the creak of boards beneath his bare feet. Warm, light, inside. Not the Hollowed Grounds. Not LongNight. ”I’m sorry,” he said in a hoarse voice, the bolt in his hand flickering and dying until it winked out entirely. He rubbed his eyes.
”Fuck, Jata. I’m so sorry. I... the knock at the door...” He sounded embarrassed about it, dismissing the partial shift and shuffling to one side to let the Arbiter in. ”It’s a mess,” he warned; the windows were open behind the curtains to let in the sound of the rain, and candles illuminated areas that were only even slightly dim. There were clothes and bandages everywhere, and the bed wasn’t made given that Ronin had only just peeled himself out of it.
“It’s okay.” He begins, swallowing down his panic as the starbolt disappears. If anything, Sunjata should be the one apologizing. But she steps in, moving to close the door for Ronin, glancing around the room briefly before his gaze lands back on his friend. “I should’ve known, I’m sorry.” He apologizes instead. Taking a step forward to offer the basket of items. Inside, pastries and whiskey for the most part.
“That's fine. I’m one too.” And while his partial shift hasn’t left yet, he tilts a small amount to the side, revealing the burns that tore out his wing tattoo on his left shoulder. He moves a bit further in and turns his attention back to the room, memories swarming to the surface of his own time huddled away in his room for weeks on end. “Thought maybe you might want company…?” An open invitation.
i've learned to lose, you can't afford to
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.
It didn’t feel okay, but then nothing did anymore, so Ronin could do little more than nod along with Sunjata’s remarks. His shoulders seemed to relax a touch as he door clicked shut again, sealing out the world, and Ronin raised an eyebrow at the basket offered out suddenly. He managed a lopsided smile, especially at the whiskey, though he didn’t know how wise it would be to drink in his current state.
He was about to say that Jata shouldn’t be so hard on himself - that he wasn’t a mess - but then the other man turned and showed him that he meant it quite literally. ”Shit,” he said (eloquent of course) and moved to sink down and sit on the edge of the bed. ”What happened? I thought you were here for Longnight.” Because of course Ronin had forgotten that everywhere was dangerous.
The way Ronin begins to relax does help soothe some of the thundering heartbeat that resides within Sunjata. And as the slight smile forms, so too does Sunjata’s shoulders begin to droop, chewing on the inside of his cheek for a few moments, revealing the burns before shrugging lightly. “I was here. Had to go help get rid of the creature in the Fingers. A lava octopus.” He shrugs before following Ronin to where he sits.
Instead of sitting himself upon the bed as well, Sunjata chooses the floor, a slight sigh leaving him as the burns pull against his leg, but he manages it, stretching out along the floor. “Enough about me though, I’m glad you’re back.” He says, letting his steel gaze flicker along Ronin’s form a brief moment, before he settles again and lets the silence creep in, unsure just how much Ronin wanted to reveal.
i've learned to lose, you can't afford to
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.
”A lava octopus. Sounds...” It sounded exactly like the kind of batshittery that Ronin had learned to expect from Caido, honestly. ”I’m glad you got out of it alive.” Though the wince on Sunjata’s face as he shifted to sit on the floor made him feel a little stupid. ”Shit, I didn’t think,” he muttered, glancing about the room as if a chair might mysteriously appear (it did not).
He wished it wasn’t enough about Sunjata, because Ronin didn’t know how to really... be, any more. The talkative hunter had drowned somewhere in the dark in the Hollowed Grounds, and this Ronin had taken his place. He rubbed at the back of his head, chewing at the inside of his cheek, before glancing back at the Arbiter.
Rather than saying it, he let it project out through the Attuned bond; just enough, just a taste, of the truth of things. That Ronin wasn’t back. He didn’t feel back, he felt splintered and scarred and adrift unless he had Remi wrapped about him to keep him together. Thanks, for visiting, he managed.
“Me too.” He replies easily, but when Ronin mentions that he didn’t think, Sunjata lifts a hand to wave him off, shrugging his shoulders. “I need to stretch. Easier with the floor.” An easy explanation, besides, he’s used to being the tallest one around and something about this sort of situation seemed to scream he needed to get down on a smaller, shorter level. So he looks up when his question is aired, how Ronin is holding up, but he doesn’t expect to be shown.
There’s a lot that hits him at once, and he sharply inhales as he feels the similar sensations he’d gone through – but never quite to that magnitude. A frown finds his face, his head nodding toward the Star, an agreement underlying. “I didn’t think you wanted to be alone.” He rumbles quietly, out in the open, pouring Ronin the same sympathy and understanding that his words hold. He can’t quite get them out through his words alone, forever thankful for the attuned bond for giving him that.
Even if you don’t want to talk, I get it. Just wanted to give you company. His steel gaze lifts toward the Star then, horned head tilting a small amount.
i've learned to lose, you can't afford to
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.
Ronin rubbed at the back of his head, finding himself ashamed and sorry for the way Jata winced at what he showed him. It was bad enough that he had to deal with it, let alone anyone else. Remaining on the bed now that the other man had explained his preference - apparently - for the floor, he let out a long sigh that was lost in the pit-pat of rain through the windows.
”I don’t know what I want, honestly,” he mumbled. ”I want to just climb in bed and never leave again. I want to go out, to rip up the sand because it might make me feel better. I want to scream, and sleep, and fuck if it’s not one big mess.” It was the easiest explanation he could give and even then it made no sense, Ronin reaching down for the whiskey bottle in the basket after all.
Indeed he does as he explained he preferred the floor for, long legs stretching out with a quiet sigh as the burn tugs against fresh skin. He focuses on the subject, at the similarities to how Sunjata had also felt a long time ago. But it doesn’t feel right to bring up his previous problems, not how he understands without taking away from it. So instead he focuses on what Ronin can’t decide between, a low hum leaving him as the Star grabs the whiskey, Sunjata leaning over to grab a glass. “You can keep the bottle but save me some.” He rumbles, lifting the glass a bit for a pour.
But as for not knowing what to do? Sunjata’s been there. He gets not knowing how to get out everything that’s wrong. “Start small. It’s easier that way.” He lets his steel gaze flicker up to Ronin’s face. “Maybe one day you do stay in bed all day. Maybe a couple days later you go and tear shit up. Nobody will care or blame you.” Certainly not the Arbiter sitting on the floor.
“Maybe one day you have quiet company, making shitty little forts out of whatever’s in the house to hide away in and put your mind toward something else for a bit.” A raise of his brow to that, gesturing to the blankets tossed about with his free hand, a small smile curling the corner of his lip up.
i've learned to lose, you can't afford to
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.
”Deal,” Ronin murmured, reaching out to pour a glug of whiskey into the glass Jata reached up with, before settling back and taking a long drink from the bottle. It burned and it was far from pleasant, but it still felt better than doing nothing. (Not a great reason behind it either, go Ronin). Sitting quietly by as Jata spoke again, he sighed and let his shoulders slump a little more, rubbing at his forehead. ”Maybe one day giant leaps, and the next hiding under the bed,” he agreed, mulling it over and rolling the bottle between his hands.
He glanced up in time to see Jata gesture at the mess of a room, and for a wonder Ronin found that small smile on his face too. ”What, you want to make a blanket fort with me?” he mumbled. ”You sure you’re in any position? With the lava octopus and whatnot?”
Deal, Ronin says and pours a fair amount into his glass before Sunjata sits back to take a lighter sip from it. His steel gaze flickers along Ronin’s face at the mention of big leaps one day, then withdrawn the next, and sometimes that’s what it took. All Sunjata can offer is a nod and his support for whichever kind of day the Star found.
Of course, that’s not the end of it though, not as Sunjata’s gesturing to the mess around the room and suggesting forts of all things – it does bring a desired result, the edge of a smile on Ronin’s face. He takes it as a victory, taking a sip from his glass and swallowing down the burn. “We never got to have our sandcastle competition.” He rumbles with a small conspirator’s smile crossing his face. “As for being in any position to? Technically no, but when has that ever stopped me?” A tilt of his head to that, before he’s leaning over to place the glass on a random table within the room.
He reaches for a pillow then, shoving it up toward Ronin. “And since we’ve built a fair amount of shit together, I think we can manage something with blankets and pillows without getting stuck in quicksand or Torchers starting fights. Far less strenuous.”
i've learned to lose, you can't afford to
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.
”We didn’t, did we?” Ronin lamented, thinking of the sandcastle competition that never was. ”Perhaps we can do it in Longheat.” The rain tinkling against the glass did not encourage him to want to go out on the beach. Nothing made him want to go out on the beach, actually. He scoffed and shook his head to Jata, though he wasn’t going to stop him from killing himself over a blanket fort if that was what the other man wanted.
Accepting the pillow, Ronin got to his feet and shuffled about, collecting up blankets and other cushions before returning to Jata. ”You say that, but you watch - we’ll end up fucking this up somehow.” Dumping the supplies down before him, Ronin moved again to fetch other potential building materials - a chair from the corner of the room and some rope (better not to ask what it was used for).
