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!
After the incident with the shopkeeper, Noah knew he needed to help Delphine. He had promised to teach her to hunt, back in Halo. Now, however, he led her out to the remoteness of the forest below the mountain. The hunter was not aware the mountain had erupted within the last year until he moved around. The damage from the volcanic episode was still evident, but so was the effort of the people to rebuild and remake. Noah moved with the blonde woman into a part of the tropical forest where he hoped they would not be interrupted. He had brought along the weapons he had on him as they traveled, to keep them safe from anything--creature or man--that may attempt to ambush them from behind the thick, green underbrush.
"You need to learn how to defend yourself." Noah said, breaking the mostly-silent trip the two of them had had. "If I am not around, you need to be able to at least run." Noah sighed, eyes clouded with all of his feelings about this. He did not want to have to teach this woman--a healer, a mother, a woman who could be so kind to her core--to fight.
But he did have to, so he would. Because he loved her.
The shopkeeper had bothered Noah more than he had let on; she could see it in the way he moved, the way he looked at her. Or perhaps that was anxiety, nagging her that because he knew her secret, she was worth less.
Noah’s reaction had been… well, nobody had ever reacted like that when someone spoke badly of her. Bellamy had told her to ignore it—to ignore all the bad things said about him as well, and she’d just… done it, like a good pet. But Noah? He’d pressed the shopkeep to the wall, tossed his wares on the ground, and threatened him.
All because of her.
It was a bit of a turn-on, if she was honest, knowing someone cared about her that much. The gift she had commissioned for him wasn’t done yet, but she was worrying that maybe… the gift wouldn’t say enough. She’d not told him about it yet.
“I… I guess that would make sense.” She murmured, slipping her hands against the crook of his elbow, “So… you’re my teacher today?” She teased, trying to convince herself that he was right—she should know how to defend herself.
She certainly could kill with herbs, and had very little issue doing so. But a weapon? She scrunched her nose in thought—she’d been upset when she had first started learning to trap small game, and skin it. She’d eventually gotten over it.
"Yes, it seems I am." Noah chuckled some, letting his seriousness fall away slightly. He realized he had been tense their entire trip to the forest, which is why he had been so quiet. He took a deep breath and let his eyes close for a moment, centering himself here and now and not then and there. He needed to let the anger he felt towards the man he had scuffled with fall away, or else it would get in the way of what needed to happen here today.
"Delphine, has anyone ever taught you anything about self-defense?" Noah asked, glacier eyes opening once more. He wasn't here today expecting to teach her how to kill a man, or want to, but he needed to know that if it came down to it she could keep herself safe. Noah was used to doing whatever it took to keep himself safe--from ursurs, wolves, cannibals. He had killed all of them at this point. He did not want Delphine to become a killer -- to live with what Noah lived with in his soul.
Surely, though, he would kill for her if she reached him safe enough to replay for him her threat.
Am I a prisoner to instincts or do my thoughts just live as free
And detached as boats to the dock?
Delphine shook her head slowly. "I was... always protected. My father and brother were part of the guard, and then there was Zariah and... then Bellamy." She shifted her weight, speaking quietly, "I've never used a weapon to kill. Plants, sure, poison's easy to make." She doesn't elaborate, she was always uncomfortable around weapons; but she did understand why and when weapons could be useful.
"Did you know that a single Oleander leaf can kill a small child? Depending on the size of a person... you'd only need three or four leaves, ground into their tea." Her gaze was focused ahead of them, and she shifted to drop her bag on the ground.
She moved to a nearby tree, fingers seeking the vine that weaved its way up the trunk. Plucking and pulling, gentle movements, she freed the vine from the tree by a section, "Sumac. Causes one hell of a rash, but if you ingest it..." She dropped the vine, rubbing her hand against her pants. "...there's a good chance you'd die."
She turned to face Noah, crossing her arms. "But I've never used a blade outside of my occupation. I've used magic to defend myself, too, but..." He already knew magic was currently a touchy subject for her.
Noah listened to her well. He kept his eyes on hers, his body and face softening some as she spoke. He had come into this full of rage and flames, but the ire in his belly gave way to only embers. He truly just wanted her to be safe -- he could not get the image of the man on the dock out of his head. He had merely spoken to her with harsh, nasty words -- but he could have done more. Surely, he would have, if Noah had not been there with her. He swallowed hard, and sighed. He let his shoulders relax a little bit.
"I don't want to teach you to kill." It seemed, though, she already knew how to, and how to do it well and probably undetectably. "But I do want to teach you how to defend yourself. Sometimes you will need to follow your gut and fight back -- even if its just enough to run." Noah did not always think running was cowardly. In fact, from his time growing up on the tundra, he knew that sometimes running was the wisest and bravest thing a person could do when faced with mortal danger.
He stepped towards her, "I want to teach you to use your body to its fullest potential. You need to hardness you speed and agility -- there will be many, many people in this world who are stronger than you, but you don't have to be a heavy weight to win a fight."
Am I a prisoner to instincts or do my thoughts just live as free
And detached as boats to the dock?
Delphine furrowed her brow. She'd always had... the protection of a man, and well, men never seemed to stick around for too long. Or she never stuck around. And she'd rather not have this particular man, this sweet man, trying to defend her.
"Okay." She agreed, easily. It'd help him rest better at night, if they were ever apart. It'd make him feel better, and that... was important to her.
"Okay. You can teach me about defense." He stepped towards her, and she stepped towards him. She was listening, though she wanted something other than to train, and that showed in the way she reached for his hand, to nibble at the side of his hand, an attempt to distract him from the idea at hand.
"But maybe..." She murmured, moving to lean against him. "...you promise me a reward, for after?" She licked her lips, grinning upwards.
Both of their bodies moved closer together to close the distance between them, and despite Noah's dedication to teaching her about self defense, his heart still fluttered when she nibbled at his hand. He smirked, just barely, and took a step even closer to the small woman. He nearly engulfed her with his size, his bulk, his looming presence that seemed to change in just a moment. His glacier eyes seemed to harden and his jaw set.
"Fight back." He demanded. He needed to see what her natural reactions were before he could teach her how better to react.He struck out with strong arms, one hand reaching for her shoulder and the other reaching for her forearm. He tried to both grab her in his firm grip and spin her around. While doing so, he continued to press forward, to try and totally consume her with his height and weight and presence.
Am I a prisoner to instincts or do my thoughts just live as free
And detached as boats to the dock?
Delphine shifted, watching his movements for a second. Part of her wanted to let him scoop her up, wanted him to pull her against him, hand on her throat...
But that would not serve the purpose of this outing, and so she goes with her other instinct. To dodge. She doesn't quite get it, and she lets him spin her around.
If he'd just grab my throat, spin me back around and press me to that tr.... No, she's supposed to be following instincts, learning something here. And she closes her eyes, and convinces herself that it isn't Noah, but Alder that's got a hold of her.
Thinking about a similar time, where Alder yanked her back by her hair and pinned her to a stone fence after she'd said something. That... works. But just like in that time, her instinct had been magic.
Alteration had allowed her to lift small rocks to throw at her brother, which she had then used to get away. And that's what she's thinking about, when a handful of small rocks pelt at Noah and herself. She yelped as a rock hit her right in the center of her forehead, and turned to hide her face against Noah.
But just like that, it'd stopped. Her thoughts were on the fact her forehead stung, not on the idea of flinging rocks at her brother and...
Once she realizes there's no more rocks pelting them, she squints up at Noah, in silent question.
Noah was too consumed in what he was wanting to accomplish that he did not even notice how the woman was distracted for a moment. If he had known what was going on in her head, however, he may have also gotten distracted. Even so, he was too focused to notice.
His grasp was tight but not bruising as he spun her around, and he continued to press onward, hoping to knock the blonde off balance. He wanted her to keep fighting, wanted to see what she had in her, he wanted and wanted and wanted and..
THUD---
It was a small piece of earth that hit him, but the thud caught his attention. Delphine turned and hid into his chest and his eyebrows furrowed together. He was completely stunned for a minute before it hit him: she had more magic. "Delphine, do that again!" He exclaimed, quickly jumping back away from her.
"Throw another rock at me!"
Am I a prisoner to instincts or do my thoughts just live as free
And detached as boats to the dock?
Delphine had quietly come to the conclusion that she had thrown the rocks, and she arched an eyebrow at Noah, as he excitedly moved away from her. "I..." She almost said '...I don't know how I did that', but she caught herself.
She did know how she'd done it. It was similar to when she had concentrated on using her alteration magic to alter the air around rocks, so that she could throw them. But it was almost easier to do.
And if she could do this... maybe she still had her alteration. She'd lost interest in Noah's lesson, really the second he'd tried to pin her. But now, her thoughts weren't wandering towards having fun with her boyfriend, but rather...
What else could she do? She shifted to study her surroundings, before she focused on a specific rock, and willed it to move.
At first, nothing, but Delphine had grown up with magic. She'd... grown up around different magic users. And, she'd been researching the magic of Caido, in an attempt to find answers of her own.
Eventually the rock is thrown, though her aim was off. She hummed softly, almost in disappointment, before she closed the space between Noah and herself, giggling softly. "Do you know what this means?" She's giddy, like a child that's been given a new gift.
"My magic didn't disappear when I came here! It just... it changed! Uhm, so I was trying to stay focused and learn from you but, it was easier to imagine you were my brother and... I used to throw things at him with my magic and in this instance..." She was talking quickly, trying to piece together her thoughts.
If this was earth magic, then what else did she have? What could her alteration have really become? Alteration had been the ability to change, to alter...
She was lost in her thoughts, now, murmuring under her breath about different magic that she'd researched. Noah had lost his student's attention, entirely.
His own mind was totally trapped now in this ability for her to use another magic. He watched her as she conjured her strength to lift and throw another piece of earth his direction. A smile spread wide across his face, wrinkling the corners of his eyes as he jumped to the side to dodge the rock. While her aim had been off from what she wanted, if he hadn't of moved out of the way the rock would have thumped against his thigh. Noah laughed some, amazed and giddy and in awe of her magic "Well, I know that emotion sometimes heightens the power of Abandoned abilities. So if you're ever being attacked--you imagine that same thing, and we'll get ways to strengthen your magic, and surely you'll be safe." He enveloped her in his strong arms as she closed the distance between them. "Let's go home." He said, placing a kiss atop her golden crowned head.
-FIN
Am I a prisoner to instincts or do my thoughts just live as free
And detached as boats to the dock?
