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 had been really easy to convince Noah that it was finally time to visit Torchline. After Whitebrim, she had been more careful about leaving Halo, usually tagging along with a group of people, or she asked Noah to escort her. If he minded, he didn't really show it, though she did worry that she was distracting him from his duties. Anxiety would eat her up if she let it, and she knew that.
They'd had a nice walk to the portal, and had stepped into Kaiholo Port. They didn't stay long, Delphine had not been interested in any of the vendors there, instead, she pulled Noah with her to explore Haulani. She had only been to the town once; to get drugs... or well, paint.
But she didn't tell him that.
Delphine had paused at a vendor who was selling clothing... that was extremely revealing. She was holding something against her front, "Do you li--" A flurry of pink feathers flew into the air, as something pink dove from the sky and slammed into her hair.
The article of clothing was forgotten, as thin fingers encircled the angry bird, and tried to calm him down. Poe screeched, fluffing himself as large as he could. 'Forgot!'
The woman nuzzled the bird, his anger was clear, even if he had not been shrieking words in her face. "I'm sorry. I thought you'd like spending LongNight somewhere warm." She murmured, smoothing her companion's feathers gently. "Didn't you have fun?" She doesn't admit she did forget the bird; acting as if it were on purpose.
As Poe quieted and settled on her shoulder, she leaned to grab the dress, short, backless, and practically sheer. "What do you think?" She grinned, mischievously, the glint in her eye implied the dress would be more for him, than for her.
I'll follow you down, through the eye of the storm
Noah followed her to Torchline without much complaint, but some part of him did have a hard time leaving. Nonetheless, he had promised her. Noah was a man of his word, and he hoped he always would be. So he went with her, leaving word behind with Morgan and Chulane. He needed them to know where he would be headed in case they needed to send word for him. But, Noah hoped that would not be gone long enough for that.
As excited as Delphine was helped Noah feel better about it all. He felt less and less like it was a duty to his promise to her, and more and more like it was a fulfillment of his service to her, to work towards loving her rightly. He knew that keeping her, keeping himself, in Halo where he felt most comfortable was entirely selfish. He was not a selfish man. He had dressed himself in the same outfit he had traded for the last time he was here. He hadn't noticed until he had put it on, but the salve for sunburn had still been in the pocket, given to him by Phoebe. He reached into his pockets and followed Delphine around, trying to follow her eyes to what she was looking at.
Suddenly, a flurry of feathers and squawking filled the air and Noah stopped, a momentary panic settling over his mind, before familiarity of the bird overtook it. He sighed, relieved. "Oh, Poe." He said, hoping the bird would help continue to ease Delphine's mind. "I think he missed you." He chuckled, following along as the woman found a dress. Noah lifted a brow and smiled, warmth spreading across his features. "You'll be awfully cold with just that."
Delphine had grown to like Halo, though not enough to be entirely okay with being there all the time. But... selfish or not, she didn't want to let Noah go just so she could live somewhere warmer. And she doubted he'd leave his home for her; she felt guilty just thinking about asking him too, anyway. So, Halo it was.
But Poe, as he purred on her shoulder, rubbing against her cheek... made her wonder just how the little bird would adapt. He preferred warmth as she did. But... now was not the time to worry. "I think he missed me too." She mused, smirking at the reaction the dress got from Noah.
"Hm... You think?" She moved to stand in front of him, "You're saying you'd not enjoy... such an exquisite view when you come home from work?" She raised a brow. The dress was thin, and sheer, he'd certainly get a view if she removed the slip that was built into it, especially when she was cold. "You'd be able to..." She leaned on her toes, pulling herself close, to whisper in his ear, a lewd description of what he could expect to see of her in this dress. Of things, she'd do to him in the dress. She was descriptive, the hand that gripped the dress was on his shoulder, but her other hand had tangled into his hair. She'd told him once, to never cut his hair. She certainly meant it.
And when she was certain his face was as red as it could possibly be, she stepped back and flashed him a playful smirk. "Verdict? Yes to the dress?"
I'll follow you down, through the eye of the storm
As Poe settled down with Delphine, the hunter wondered what it would be like to have a companion. Neither of his parents had them, but he knew several people now that did. What sort of soul-bond did they share? How was it that Delphine could spend so long away from him and not be utterly heartbroken. Well, actually, now that Noah thought about it, the woman probably had been heartbroken about leaving her bird behind, but just not ready to admit it or face that pain. It didn't matter now--they were reunited. His thoughts shifted away from the bird and the bond as the blonde moved to stand before him, the dress she picked out held up for his eyes to wander over.
In no way shape or form did Noah not want Delphine to have that dress. As she leaned up and whispered in his ear one hand went to hold her waist and the other stayed in his pocket, fist clenched around the container of salve as if it was the only thing keeping him from tearing her clothes off right now, right here in this market. His face flushed red, but this time it was not easily mistaken for sunburn. He cleared his throat, smirking, and simply asked, "How much?"
Delphine smirked, as he gripped her waist. She knew she’d sold him on the dress, and she leaned into his hold, a smug look on her face, as she nuzzled into a very demanding Poe. It felt good—having him back on her shoulder.
As Noah bartered with the vendor, a little old woman who was clearly amused by the display of the couple in front of her—which meant she asked for far less than she could have, and offered a piece of advice to him— “The secret to a good relationship is a girl like that,” the old woman teased, chuckling as she nodded towards Delphine, who was telling Poe about the house they were living in. “You make her smile, and that’s a gift.” The old woman shooed him on.
Meanwhile, Delphine was nodding enthusiastically as the bird squawked, nonsense with actual phrases mixed in. “Well, I think you’ll like the house. You like Noah, right?” She drifted into quiet, as she tried to sort the bird’s emotions about the blonde-haired man. When Noah rejoined them, Delphine grinned upwards, “You know, if we could figure out a way to turn a part of the house into a warm enough room… I could grow medicinal herbs, those trade for a lot.” So did salves and various medicines, though.
And that took her to their next stop. She carefully folded the dress over her arm, “If I have to stay in Halo—“ Poe pecked her cheek, as if she was forgetting him, “—if we have to stay in Halo, we want to be able to trade our own stuff. It isn’t right that you’re trying to bring in enough to barter with for all of us.” When she says ‘stay in Halo’, she doesn’t sound upset or disinterested, simply stating it as a fact.
She’d never ask him to leave. “And… Poe will need somewhere that feels like this.” She commented, gesturing around them. “Maybe the typical warmth of the house will do—but he won’t be able to leave the house very often…” Poe squeaked his agreement, bobbing his head. Poe had been to Halo once and had almost frozen; she’d hated it, he’d hated it. But she had learned to adapt.
As if, maybe the ideas just occurred to her, she turned to study Noah, hazel eyes bright. “I know you were… okay with painting the house and rearranging the furniture, but… what if we add another room? Not for Poe—but so I don’t have to leave him alone so often to work… what if we add another room as an apothecary? Or—are there plans to rebuild the infirmary?” Just like with painting the house, Delphine got a look in her eye and a tone of voice that gave away how thrilled she was to talk the ideas through—thrilled to just have the ideas.
I'll follow you down, through the eye of the storm
Noah smiled at the shopkeep as he handed her what she asked for for the dress. Her advice was sound, it seemed, and Noah smiled even more. "She is a good one." He said, nodding his good-bye to the woman and returning to Delphine. He held out his bag for her to place the dress in. After all, it would be for his eyes only.
He listened as she went on about ideas for Poe, and he nodded again. "I think there is definitely a possibility to modify the house. It would be nice to be able to grow more herbs..." He trailed off for a second, scanning another booth that they passed. "What would that require?" Noah knew nothing about growing plants. He might have read about it in a book, but since it didn't happen in his life he gave less attention to it than a goldfish gives to a bubble. But, Noah was a man always ready to learn.
Delphine deposited the dress into his bag, not asking about the cost; or really concerned about it. She grinned as she paused at a booth, opening one of the man's herb pouches to survey the herbs. She pinched a bit, and tasted the herbs, listening to Noah, and thinking about how best to answer. After all, different herbs required different things.
The man behind the booth was surveying Delphine, a look in his eye, and he rummaged for a different type of herb to offer her. He held it up and clicked his tongue to get her attention off of his typical, medicinal herbs. "You're that pretty girl that likes to hallucinate, hm?"
She cleared her throat, her eyes fixed on the offered pouch of herbs, and for a few seconds she was busy, trying to decide if she wanted to take the pouch or not. For those few seconds, it didn't matter that Noah was right beside of her. She shook her head and placed the herbs she had been looking at back on the counter, "I'm a healer," she murmured, in response.
The man smirked, and cast his gaze to Noah, nodding, "All kinds of healin' gets done with that body of hers."
Delphine shook her head and reached to pull Noah away from the stall, Poe was visibly upset, while Delphine simply seemed near tears. "A-anyway... sunlight, and water, and a varying level of warmth." She mumbled, in response to his question.
I'll follow you down, through the eye of the storm
Noah watched as Delphine fiddled around with the different herbs. He didn't know enough--yet--to know what she was looking at. He didn't ask, either, he simply just observed with her silently. The man's questions caught his attention, however, and he looked up through thick brows at the man. He was small, gangly, with his ribs clearly seen from beneath his thin shirt. Noah's jaw hardened and set. Ire surged and coursed through him. It started in his belly, warm and swirling. It moved up and through each of his limbs, growing white-hot as it reached the tips of his fingers.
Noah did not like to be angry. This, however, he could not stop.
Ire morphed into fury.
The hunter moved before he knew what he was doing. One hand reached down towards the light table, covered with the different dried herbs and gods knew what else the gangly man was peddling. All it took for Noah to toss the table aside and flip it completely over was one, swift motion with his strong arm. With the table out of his way, its belongings scattered into the walkway, Noah had the room to close the distance between him and the foul-mouthed shopkeeper. The veins in Noah's neck bulged as the same hand that flipped the table grabbed a handful of the man's shirt, the other pushing against his chest. He felt how easy it would be to snap fragile bones of the much smaller man as he did so.
He had never been aware of such a thing in his human form before.
"Never speak about a woman in such a manner, again." The Halovian hunter growled, voice low and threat obvious. The shopkeeper's eyes widened with panic and his breathing increased, his mouth moving but no words coming out.
Delphine hadn’t expected to be successful in trying to pull Noah away—in fact, she’d been busy blinking back her embarrassment; there were things she’d yet to tell the man—things he’d yet to ask about. Like how she had managed to keep herself and two children fed.
However, she had not been expecting him to flip the table, sending all of the herbs—drugs or otherwise—tossed to the ground. For a moment, she was busy thumbing through the herb packets, handing what she wanted off to Poe, who chirped and hopped around holding the strings of various pouches that he was handed.
Always a faithful partner-in-crime.
By the time Delphine had finished taking what she wanted, Noah was threatening the man, and she moved to wrap an arm around his middle, “Noah, we should leave. Come on.” She insisted quietly. Poe had taken off, carrying the stolen herb pouches with him.
“Noah… You’ve not got to stand up for me. He’s not lying,” she insisted, softly. “I… did use to sell my body to him, for my habit.” She released his middle, and moved to reach for one of his hands, “He’s just someone from my past, c’mon.”
I'll follow you down, through the eye of the storm
Noah hated being angry. He hated this. He couldn't stop it, though. He couldn't stop the surge of magma leaking into his veins, the white-hot rage filling him and taking every other emotion captive. Icy yes bore down on the man he held against the wall. He could feel him start to tremble beneath his hands, and it made the anger surge through him even further. This man was nothing but a coward. He didn't try to fight back, didn't reach for a shiv to stick into the hunter. He didn't even speak. He had no defense for his actions. Noah growled and dropped him. The shopkeep gasped and collapsed at Noah's feet. "Next time I'll take your tongue." He threatened, while Delphine tugged at him.
He let her pull him out of the small booth, and finally he turned to walk with her. He seethed beneath his light clothes, his face flushed with red. The veins in his neck hardly settled. Delphine's voice was fuzzy in his blinded rage. He finally huffed out a deep breath. "No man should speak about a woman in such a way. If we had been in Halo, and I heard that, it would have been worse." He admitted, eyes still straight forward as they walked along. He could faintly hear people trying to clean up his mess, and the coward of a man screaming obscenities at them. "How dare he." Noah said, fists clenching, but legs still carrying him as Delphine led.
Delphine clasped one of Noah’s hands tightly in both of hers, squeezing firmly as she led him on. ”Calm down,” she murmured, pulling him towards an alley, so she could hide her face against his chest, “I’ve never met anybody like you. Nobody’s ever gotten upset like that over how someone speaks to me.”
She hugged him, for the moment forgetting that she had stolen a good variety of the strewn wares. “We can go home—end our trip early, if you want.” She offered, trying to massage one of his hands out of the first it rested in.
She wasn’t as upset as Noah—but… those sort of things were things she was used to hearing; and even back in Northaven people had things to say about her—not quite as bad as that vendor, though. “We can’t let everything someone says get to us,” she murmured, leaning up on her toes to press a kiss to his cheek.
Delphine was upset that Noah learned about her past, but... that was it.
I'll follow you down, through the eye of the storm
Noah didn't care about her past. Well, sort of. His caring about her past really only meant that he cared for how she took it and used it to shape her future. That she once sold her body to men (and women?) to feed her children was a part of her life. Noah could accept that. He knew it would never be fair of him to say "You shouldn't have done that..." or "Weren't there other options...", because he had never been in that situation. He wasn't a parent. He wasn't desperate to keep other souls but his own alive. He didn't know. He didn't understand. Therefor, he could only accept it. Where Noah could have opinions, however, was in her future. Her future with him. How did what she endured, what she learned, fit into what she wanted to become, where she wanted to go? Those were the things Noah cared about.
Now, in her present, Noah was her guardian. No matter her past, no matter who spoke ill of her, Noah would stand. In his presence, he would not allow someone to speak of her or to her as that man did. He meant it, too -- if they had been in Halo, Noah would have set a higher threat on any man than he did the one here in Torchline. No matter where they went, Noah knew vile people would be there. In Halo, though, he had the ability to truly do something about it.
He let her pull him into the alley and speak with him, and he let out a breath. ”No, we don’t need to end the trip early. Let’s just go back to the inn.”
Delphine reached up to trail her fingers against his cheek, standing on her tiptoes to murmur something about the dress they'd just bought, and taking it off of her in his ear. She grasped his hand and began to lead him back towards the inn; their home for the duration of their trip.
"Hey, Noah?" She turned to study him, offering a smile, "Hungry?" She raised her eyebrows, as the inn came into view. She was glad it was relatively easy to find; she didn't know Torchline all that well.
"Help me cook?" They'd gotten things to cook lunch and dinner with earlier in the day, and she was excited. A truly vegetarian meal, meat for him, of course. Though she wasn't going to refrain from introducing him to one of her favorite meals.
I'll follow you down, through the eye of the storm
As Delphine reached up for him and traced her fingers along his chest, and whispered dirty promises in his ear, Noah relaxed. His muscles loosened and he deflated some to his more neutral, natural posture. He let himself be led by his hand. He trailed after her silently, the rage that had washed over him and consumed him was leaving his body tired. He hated being angry. It always took such a toll on his body, on his mind, and on his spirit. He much preferred living life more calmly--or, as others would say about him, stoicly. He never liked feeling like he had no control over himself. Anger always made him feel out of control, and like a monster. He despised it. It wasn't good.
He was pulled out of his thoughts when Delphine asked if he was hungry. Truly, he didn't know the answer, but he had never been one to turn down a meal. "Yes." He said to both questions, a smile forming on his lips as he followed hr up the inn stairs to the room they had rented.
