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’s been a while since Ianto has gone to visit Remi.
Read: it’s never happened in Torchline.
Ianto gets lost, but it’s really more because he’s following his nose and getting distracted by all the new smells that his fox shift allows him. It’s a breezy, moody sort of afternoon, and his pelt is dry and the ground is a little firmer than it has been, so he’s content to take his time.
Finally, he reaches the gOvErNOrS hOUse (lookit you go Remi) and pads up to the porch, a roll of parchment gently clasped in his jaws. Obviously it’s damp and bedraggled by a mix of drool and dew from the long grass, but if unfurled and scanned, it will read the (smudged) following:
Remi, I’ve been a bit of a prat.
Walk?
Ianto scratches at the door instead of knocking, then scurries back to plonk himself down before the doorway, golden eyes watching expectantly. And if his coppery tail is waggling with enthusiasm? So what?
we are like birds of a feather, we are two hearts thrown together
Remi opens the door, taking in both Ianto sitting as ready as any other canine waiting to be taken for a walk has ever looked, as well as the note. Saying nothing, but raising a brow at the fox, Remi reaches down for the rolled up note, not even flinching the tiniest bit at the worse-for-ware state its been delivered in. "Not sure letter-deliverer should be your next career choice." He says, green eyes scanning the few words writ on the page. Biting the inside of his lip to hide his smirk, Remi peers over the note down at the fox.
"What's a prat?" He wonders, before shaking his head. "You know what, never mind. Let me get my shoes. Stay right there." So saying, the door is slammed on Ianto.
There is much banging and movement that comes from directly within the door (telekinesis, to make it sound as though shoes are awkwardly being put on), as inside, Remi scurries up towards an open window. Leaping out and shifting in the air, the pale hawk will swoop around on as silent wings as he can manage, hopefully making it back to the front of the house before Ianto grows suspicious. Regardless, the hawk will reach out with his talons to grab at the scruff of fur on the back of his friend's neck. Playfully of course, but hopefully enough to give him a good scare.
THE ALCHEMIST
we will be forever as one, my brother under the sun
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Ianto’s tail thumps the ground as Remi takes his drooly note from him, the fox tilting his head up at the Alchemist, jaw lolling open to poke out a long, pink tongue. He yips his approval as the other man goes to put his shoes on, Ianto snuffling at the ground and waiting expectantly, obviously falling for the sounds of movement on the other side of the door.
In short, he’s in the perfect position for the hawk to sneak up on him - and he gives Remi the reaction he’s looking for in spades. A yelp squeaks out of him, the fox jumping to all four paws, fur on end as he turns to look at the beast attempting to carry him off.
Sneaky! His lilting voice is filled with good humour, and he snaps his teeth playfully at the hawk. This doesn’t look much like a walk. Are you going to sit on my back?
we are like birds of a feather, we are two hearts thrown together
Hawk's don't have the facial muscles or mouths to properly express smugness, but no matter; the sentiment flowed from the Alchemist in waves, like the haphazard splashes of young children when immersed in water for the first time. Trilling brightly at the white teeth snapped in his direction, the hawk lands upon the bannister to better peer down at his prey friend. I might be a bit too large for that. But...I've lost my other shifts. I only have one that I can actually walk in now. But I didn't want it to...erm. Offering the emotional equivalent of a cringy smile, the hawk shuffles his wings.
I can't speak to you in my human form anymore, not like this anyway. So it is up to you: me talking out loud to a fox, or...walking along as the other thing. The choice was Ianto's: human!Remi with whom he wouldn't be able to share a mental bond, or manticore!Remi who would draw stares and might in fact terrify the fox.
THE ALCHEMIST
we will be forever as one, my brother under the sun
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Don’t be so hard on yourself, Remi, callin’ yourself fat. Obviously that’s Ianto’s interpretation of the Alchemist calling himself too big to hitch a ride on the fox’s back. He ends up chasing his tail in his attempt to follow Remi’s fluttering onto the bannister, flopping to sit once he’s found himself and the other man again. Feeling the cringe and snorting his amusement, Ianto cocks an ear towards the errant sound of the waves.
Walk there, fly back? he suggests, giving no indication whatsoever about where they might be going. (Probably because he doesn’t know, let’s be real). Best of both worlds, that way. Besides, it’s been too long— and here he shifts to an eclectically dressed redhead crouched on the ground, ”since we took a walk together.”
he had eyes like rain & hair like waves & a soul as vast and deep as the ocean
No, you're right. I'll only want to eat my feelings if I let myself think too much about how I've let myself go The hawk agrees, glad for the beak and lack of cheeks in this body as Ianto shifts. There will always be something about the merchant that makes him want to inhale sharply as if breathing fresh mountain air for the first time. First loves and all that, even the ones you don't properly remember, leave their marks after all.
Shifting himself, now seated on the railing with his feet swinging slightly, Remi offers his friend a crooked smile now that he's sure he has his expressions well under control. "I think you only wanted this sort of walk so that I'd not hear your constant barrage of thoughts about just offensively large I've become." He says with a brow raised, letting himself slip off of the railing. He still wasn't wearing shoes but this time he didn't offer any pretence of needing them.
"Come on then." With his heart somewhere near his throat offering fluttery warnings about not scaring off the fox again, Remi sinks his toes into the sandy path that leads away from his cottage.
THE ALCHEMIST
& i guess i didn't mind d r o w n i n g in him.
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
It would be a lie to say that Remi’s appearance doesn’t twang something similar in Ianto, though the merchant does nothing to hide his delighted grin, flashing gold at the Alchemist as he rises to his feet. ”Let’s walk off those feelings instead, eh?” he suggests, turning to follow his friend onto the sands, his boots sinking into it (and a small bell chiming with each step, which seems to have been tied to Ianto’s laces).
”Maybe. Or maybe I just wanted this sort of walk because you tried to carry me off just now as a hawk, you beast.” He bounces his eyebrows at Remi, slipping a hand into the pocket of his waistcoat to draw out a battered old pipe that the other man will likely recognise all too well. Starting to pack it with tobacco, Ianto glances sidelong at Remi. ”So,” he says, an air of drama in his voice, ”how’s tricks?”
he had eyes like rain & hair like waves & a soul as vast and deep as the ocean
Glancing over his shoulder at the sound of the bell, his eyes dropping to his friend's boots, Remi says nothing, only offering the fox a wry smile. Everything and nothing is surprising about the fox these days. It's all so perfectly Ianto that to comment on anyone particular adornment would almost be an insult to their friendship
'Well as I've just said, eating my feelings has become a pastime of mine. What else was I meant to do when you sat yourself upon my doorstep?' Raising his eyebrows back in playful challenge, Remi turns his gaze towards the sea as Ianto fills his pipe.
Having not forgotten a single beat of their last meeting, Remi is slow to answer the fox's question. "Things are exciting here, it being the cusp of monsoon season at all. You really did pick a great time to visit." At least, Remi assumes it's a visit. He can't imagine the fox just up and abandoning the Greatwood. Gesturing out vaguely towards the sea that is entirely without any sort of dimension (it being a flat black panel of oppressive warning for what is to come), Remi just shrugs with a grin. "How about you? Keeping yourself out of trouble, I imagine."
THE ALCHEMIST
& i guess i didn't mind d r o w n i n g in him.
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
”Oh, I dunno, anything else?” Ianto suggests with a musical laugh, placing the pipe between his lips and patting his pockets for a match, striking it up and holding it to the tobacco. A few puffs later and fragrant smoke fills the air, reminiscent of the Greatwood and all the bizarre things that go along with it. Another chuckle leaves him at the indication that his visit was ill timed, the fox only able to nod in agreement.
”I was told Torchline was sunny. And hot,” he reminds the Alchemist. ”You didn’t say anything about a bloody monsoon. When does it hit? Ought I hunker down for the rest of the season?” He offers the pipe out for Remi, exhaling a smoke ring into the air. ”Me? I’m just grand, Remi. Gotta keep myself busy to make sure I stay out of trouble.” He, too, remembers their last conversation. ”...I’m a lot better, than I was.”
he had eyes like rain & hair like waves & a soul as vast and deep as the ocean
"Are you really suggesting I should think with something else, other than my stomach?" The Alchemist quips back easily. Without trying to be too obvious about it, Remi inhales as deeply as he dares. Smell is one of the easiest ways to trigger memories, and the places the fox and hawk have been with smoke roiling between them is not anywhere his mind needs to go. Still, the smell is sweet and alluring, and if he's careful, he can enjoy it just for the sensory pleasantness it brings.
"Were you? What idiot would have told you that?" Remi wonders, reaching out for the pipe before his mind tells him all the reasons it's probably a poor idea. Pulling deeply on the wooden stem, it's like tasting the Greatwood upon his tongue. "Mmmm." He hums happily, pulling the pipe from his lips and offering it back. "S'up to you." Remi replies, blowing out a steady stream of pale air. "Can you even swim?"
With a snort, Remi puts his hands in his pockets as he meanders them closer to the waterline. "This is you keeping busy, is it?" He wonders curiously, before swallowing hard. "If prat means what I think it does, then I was being one too."
THE ALCHEMIST
& i guess i didn't mind d r o w n i n g in him.
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
”Would I do that?” Ianto grins, paying absolutely no attention to where they’re going, simply meandering where his feet take him. ”Oh, it was some handsome idiot that persuaded me to step through the bloody portal. I shan’t be trusting that rascal again,” he drawls, accepting the pipe back to replace it between his lips. Snorting at Remi, he leans over to elbow him pointedly. ”I swim like a fish,” he informs him haughtily. ”Or as close as a fox gets to a fish, anyway.”
Gazing at the waterline, Ianto exhales more smoke, a smile curling at his lips as he shrugs his shoulders. ”This is me... righting a wrong. We were both prats, but... my skin grew shockingly thin. I’m ready to be a person again, I think. And your friend, if you’ll let me.”
he had eyes like rain & hair like waves & a soul as vast and deep as the ocean
"Handsome men are never to be trusted. Especially not ones who try to lead you into other lands. That only works in books." And indeed, that seems to be true of the two of them. Swallowing down the happy thrill to hear the fox call him handsome however ties his tongue for a moment, and he expels an awkward cough as he'd elbowed in the ribs. "Which is just to say, not at all?" The Alchemist wonders, not at all sure if foxes were good swimmers or not.
'And yet you showed up on my doorstep as a fox." Remi points out, reaching for the pipe to snag it away from his friend with a mischevious smile. "Well.." The Alchemist hums to himself, his lips twisting into a peculiar expression that is almost zebra-like in quality; is it a smile trying to be a frown? or a frown trying to be a smile? "...you can't make old friends, so I think I'd be an idiot not to."
THE ALCHEMIST
& i guess i didn't mind d r o w n i n g in him.
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
”Are you saying that this whole falling into Caido thing couldn’t have been written as some fairytale story?” Ianto raises his eyebrows, not believing that even for a second. He snorts at Remi’s opinion of his swimming ability. ”But of course we can swim. Haven’t you read that story about the gingerbread man, hitching a ride on a fox across the river?” The grin Ianto gives his friend is rather a foxy one, though it fades under the realisation that Remi is absolutely right.
”I’m a person now,” he points out, letting the other man snag the pipe from his lips with a huff of playful indignance. “And you, my friend, are not an idiot. So I suppose that settles it for us, doesn’t it?” Nudging his shoulder against the Alchemist’s, he seems to relax. ”So how are things actually?”
he had eyes like rain & hair like waves & a soul as vast and deep as the ocean
"No, not at all. Or..if it was, things would have turned out a lot differently." For you and I, for everyone. Frowning at the fox's storyline-summary, the Alchemist shakes his head. "No...Vai must not have had that book. But go on, do tell me all about this. Why would a cookie need to cross a river?" It sounds absolutely absurd and entirely made up. Most stories were, but this had Ianto written all over it, or so it seems to the Alchemist.
"Are you now?" With the pipe between his lips, Remi gives the fox a skeptical once over, as if entirely unconvinced that the coppery-haired man before him was indeed a person. "I'll remember you said that." He says with a chuckle, of the fox saying he wasn't an idiot. That would no doubt come in handy at a later time.
Pulling in a mouthful of smoke, this time not so jarred by the press of Ianto at his side, Remi releases his sigh in the form of wobbly concentric rings. "I...have lost myself somewhere along the way. I'm trying to figure out which pieces are worth finding again, and how to go about that." He replies in a voice full of a sad sort of melancholy.
THE ALCHEMIST
& i guess i didn't mind d r o w n i n g in him.
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
