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!
// every time you cross my mind, i brought another memory to keep yours inside i saw us drown like high tide, and everything is nothing if you're not here tonight //
What a fuckin’ storm. That’s the thought that goes through Milo’s mind again and again, settled inside and watching from the windows – a fair distance away, of course, but he has places to be and with the wind and rain whipping up outside, Milo can’t help but to huff a sigh of annoyance with it all. It was like this every year, and every year he complained until he was blue in the face or Zeph told him to chill the fuck out.
He’s not really meant to stay inside, not really. Too stir crazy, especially to stay inside at home with the rest of his family that’s back from fishing because it’s far too dangerous.
So he claims he’s got work to do, slips from home and makes it about as quick as he can into one of the shops that’s still open and hasn’t been ravaged yet. Just to have something to do, to kick the restlessness in his mind and body away.
Nobody warned Theo about the monsoons before he moved to Torchline.
Not that it would have made much difference, honestly. He didn't have a whole lot of choice, given the number of enemies he'd made in Halo, and the fact that he was starting to overstay his welcome at the Hollowed Grounds, too. Where else was he going to go? The Greatwood? Somehow he doubted the Fae, with their strict honesty, would appreciate his whole shtick. Though maybe they'd be easier to fool, if they'd grown up expecting everyone around them to tell the truth ...
Well, that was a concern for the future. Today, Theo was more worried about saving his own skin. The storm had caught him at a low point -- he hadn't managed to steal or scam his way into a safe place to stay. He should have taken up Oliver's offer of shelter in the Hollowed Grounds, or thrown himself on the charity of strangers, but by the time he'd realized just how bad the storm was going to get, it was too late -- despite all the Torchers' warnings and preparations. What could he say? Theo was an optimist. Now this store was his refuge ... at least, until it closed and the owner kicked him out.
Theo couldn't help casting a glance at the store's other patron, wondering if he too was homeless. Why else would he be out in this? Maybe striking up conversation would get Theo somewhere. "Quite a storm, isn't it? Can't say I've ever seen its like before."
// every time you cross my mind, i brought another memory to keep yours inside i saw us drown like high tide, and everything is nothing if you're not here tonight //
Milo expects there to be some people inside, but as he darts into the shop he’s surprised to note that it’s fairly empty. Perhaps people were hunkering down before it got worse and he was the idiot in the middle of it that was too stir crazy to remain inside with his family. Either way, he flashes a smile to the owner in greeting, until a voice pipes up toward him and he turns toward it — mahogany hued eyes scanning the man there. “Ey, are ya new?” He asks, grin spreading a bit more boyish before moving to lean against a shelf of sorts.
“The best parts juss gettin’ started!” Despite folding his arms, one flings out toward the door and the windows, shutters along the outside whacking the wall with the wind. But then a moment of pause crosses him, an exaggerated look of thoughtfulness spreads over his face. “Tho I ‘spose it is dangerous. But whatsa lil fun without the danger, huh?” He lifts his gaze to Theo then, the grin back on his face as he awaits a response.
"Is it that obvious?" Theo grinned. Yeah, it probably was. Surely the only people out right now were idiots new to Torchline -- or Torchers who'd lived here so long that the storms no longer bothered them.
But the stranger's attitude fit well with Theo's own: he wasn't beyond a little danger, a little thrill-seeking, himself. Even if the storm spooked him a bit because it was so unfamiliar. With a Halovian blizzard, for example, he'd know just how much danger he was in; here, someone could have told him that Mort himself waited in the eye of the storm to seize unwary souls and he would have had no way of proving them wrong.
"It's certainly something to watch," Theo said, looking out into the wind-blown sheets of rain. "How else do you usually enjoy a storm around here?"
// every time you cross my mind, i brought another memory to keep yours inside i saw us drown like high tide, and everything is nothing if you're not here tonight //
“Mm justa smidge.” Milo replies with a grin spreading across his face again. Comments on the storms aside, the other man didn’t sound like he was from Torchline. Which was fine, Milo doesn’t particularly care for that part. Instead, he’s focusing on what comes next. How else do they wait out a storm? Well…
“Aye there’s a few ways of endurin’ it. As fer watchin’? Y’can watch from the window.” He huffs some laughter at that, not that he’d recommend it with the way the shutters continue to bang against the wall. “Most’ve the people just ignore it. Do other things.” Except for him, who’d been out in it like an idiot. At least it had been fun for a time before it got too bad. Take that, monsoon.
Hm, at some point Theo really was going to have to figure out how to blend in. Until then, though, playing the clueless Outlander seemed to work well enough.
"Right." Theo eyed the shutters dubiously. "Sadly, I am homeless and easily bored. But speaking of other things ..."
His beat-up old lute lay on his back. Leaning against the shop wall, he pulled it out and started to pluck idly at the strings. He frowned: he could barely hear his own notes over the noise of the storm. "Ah, that might not work. I think I have a deck of cards somewhere, though ..."
Music or gambling: Theo wouldn't be Theo if he didn't take the opportunity to line his pockets. And maybe he could even earn enough to buy him shelter through the storm.
// every time you cross my mind, i brought another memory to keep yours inside i saw us drown like high tide, and everything is nothing if you're not here tonight //
“M’sorry mate.” Milo offers to the mention of being homeless. At least with monsoon season upon them, there should be plenty of work after – something to do and hopefully work with someone that could house the other man. Either way, Milo’s attention flickers to what other things Theo has, dark eyes flashing toward the lute with a wide grin.
But of course the storm has to ruin some of that entertainment. “Winds ‘re a bit much, eh?” He replies, perhaps a smidge sorrowfully and playfully at the same time, before the mention of cards has his brow raising. Oh, he’s known a thing or two about card games and what could be gained and lost – but it doesn’t stop his grin from turning wolfish as he focuses on Theo. “A deck of cards? Why didn’tcha say somethin’ sooner?” He grins, nudging an elbow out toward the other man, moving toward the space offered to take up the idea of a game.
Theo shrugged. "Better here than back home. The weather's a lot nicer ... usually."
Ah, a taker. Theo had a feeling that his new friend wouldn't be too easy to fleece, but cards were fun even when he wasn't winning. His only concern was that he didn't have that much on him to gamble with, but he'd make it work. Rummaging in his pockets, he found his well-worn (and slightly, subtly marked-up) deck of cards. "If I'd anticipated your enthusiasm, I would have. Hm, I wonder if we can rope anyone else into our game ..."
He glanced around, but there weren't exactly a lot of people in the shop to begin with.
// every time you cross my mind, i brought another memory to keep yours inside i saw us drown like high tide, and everything is nothing if you're not here tonight //
“Where ‘re ya from?” Milo asks with a tilt of his head — wondering how rough the weather was elsewhere that this seemed nice in comparison. Of course, he doesn’t have anything to base things off of. Stories through the grapevines mostly, here and there, scattered throughout.
As Theo glances around for someone else, however, Milo does the same. His hand raises, a snap sounding from between his fingers as he spots another boy that works at the docks. “Aye, mate, care to play?” He asks, gesturing to the deck of cards in Theo’s hand. It doesn’t take much convincing for the younger man to join them, plopping down to sit and enjoy the game as well. Milo’s gaze flickers back to Theo then, a crooked smirk splashed across it. “A’ight. Gimme yer worst.”
"I'm an Outlander," Theo lied. "My home ... a land called Kadia, very cold and harsh. Kind of like your Halo, or so I hear."
That might not square with his Launceleyn story, but he didn't intend on pulling that ruse out right now -- and anyway, Theo didn't actually know where the Launceleyns were from, just that they were Outlanders.
"Now we're talking." Theo smiled at the new guy and shuffled his cards flashily, tossing them up in an arc and catching them with ease. "Who wants to cut the deck?"
// every time you cross my mind, i brought another memory to keep yours inside i saw us drown like high tide, and everything is nothing if you're not here tonight //
“Sounds shitty.” Milo offers with an easy grin. He wasn’t one for cold, unsure how he’d even attempt to adapt to it. He’s used to the sun, the heat, the everything Torchline has to offer. Going anywhere else seems downright dreadful in comparison. “Too cold for the likes’a me.” He adds with a small huff of a laugh, shaking his head before he manages to get another Torcher to join them in their little game.
Milo makes room, urges Theo to do his worst, while sitting there waiting for the game to start. An elbow reaches out to nudge at their companion. “Go fer it.” He extends a hand toward the deck for the boy to reach out to cut the deck – and Milo waits, unsure what kind of game Theo wants to play, but here for it all the same.
"Definitely shitty," Theo agreed. "It was too cold for me too. And the people just didn't know how to have fun." He grinned. "Not like here at all."
With the deck cut, Theo starts dealing seven cards each, being sure to slide an ace into his own sleeve in a practiced motion. He doesn't even have to look at the card -- the seemingly random scuffs and tears to the back of each card tell him quite clearly which is which.
"What's your poison, gentlemen? I'm thinking poker."
// every time you cross my mind, i brought another memory to keep yours inside i saw us drown like high tide, and everything is nothing if you're not here tonight //
“What?” Milo says as if in disbelief, the fact that they didn’t know how to have fun seeming like a certain type of hell that Milo didn’t want to be a part of. But he grins as the younger boy beside him croons his agreement, settling in and cutting the deck, letting the space between them be where the game would mostly be held.
And Milo watches, too, as the cards get dealt to them – taking his own into his hands and letting honeyed brown eyes flicker back up to Theo. “Aye poker sounds fine by me.” He offers with a grin, having missed completely the ace that slipped up Theo’s sleeve. He was known for his speed and ability to secure shipments, not to be fully attentive to everything.
“What’re we gonna use for the pot?” He asks, cocking his head and putting his hand back together, setting it face down along the floor.
"It's true!" Theo replied, his grin growing wider at Milo's shock. Someone who knew him well would have known better than to encourage him, but there was no one in Torchline who knew him well, and he intended to keep it that way. "Their idea of a good time was to sit around reading essays about politics and soil quality. Awful."
What should they use for the pot? Theo didn't have a lot on him. If he had, he would've gotten lodgings somewhere and ridden out the storm. But he did have a few trinkets ... "Well, I'll toss in this."
He pulled a beaded necklace out of his pocket, each bead a chunky piece of painted glass. Then he untied the string and took off a bead, pushing it forward into the "pot." "Low ante, yeah?"
