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!
"Oh. Why did she make us a boat?" Sam asked, intrigued: as far as he knew, the Ascended didn't have too much of a reason to be sailing the ocean, but the Voice often had secret plans that not all of the family knew of. He found that he'd still like to go on the boat though, always having loved the sea; he nodded. "I'd like that. Yes please."
Of course, Amun's patch continued to take his attention, the effect dazzling as the blue glow overtook his hand; while Sam couldn't see much practical use for it, he still found himself a little jealous of the upgrade, especially now that he was missing his own.
Now that he knew Amun apparently wanted to create an Ascended sailing crew, Sam felt admittedly somewhat anxious about having agreed to go with him; he knew nothing about sailing, had assumed he might spend the time watching the waves go by and lazing about on the deck. Still, he supposed he was trying to learn new skills... "Have you got any Ascended interested?"
He could only nod at the question about his parents, struggling to articulate a good explanation without getting into a lot of complicated and painful things. "Sort of. I mean more..when I was working, I could just let my mind go blank and do the work. I'd spent..my entire life up until that point watching what I did every second of the day. Any misstep would set off my father, so.." Sam shrugged, a sigh leaving his mouth. "When I could sit by myself and focus on just the craft, it was very comforting. No one watched me, only my work."
Grinning, Amun rubbed his hands together. "She gave it to me because I thought it might help us explore Torchline. Obviously that ship has sailed, pun intended." He chuckled. "Still, I know there's only one large landmass on this world, but I figured there might be islands out there. Was hoping to go looking for them one day."
Nodding, he rocked back in his stool. "Then it's settled. I'll make a sailor of you yet." Winking at Sam, the potter leaned back a little further and balanced on the back two legs of his seat.
At the redhead's question about a crew, Amun shook his head. "Not yet, more's the pity." Then he smirked. "Why? You offering?" He cocked his head to one side.
Letting the stool settle onto the ground he fell silent as the other man explained. "So you never really got the chance to act out?" Amun smiled and reached out to clasp Sam's shoulder. "Glad you managed to get out of that environment, though. Sounds awful." Then the potter's eyes narrowed. "If you didn't get the chance to let loose as a kid then we absolutely have to make up for lost time." He jumped to his feet and attempted to pull the redhead up as well.
Sam had often stood on Torchline's shore and looked out to the sea beyond, wondered what could be past the horizon: he had assumed he would never know the answer, but with Amun's boat he could see it for himself (even if it was just 'islands'). Clear enthusiasm growing on his face and resulting in a smile, he nodded. "I'd love to go with you and see it." While he was anxious about just what being 'a sailor' would entail, seeing the ocean beyond the beach would be worth it.
His smile fell but did not entirely disappear at Amun's comforts, Sam trying to nod through it and not feel too awkward; when he was pulled up to his feet he let himself be lifted, but was clearly confused. "Wh...what are we going to do?" He asked, laughing partially from worry. "I don't want to do anything too embarrassing."
Grinning, Amun nodded. "Great." Leaning forward, he rubbed his hands together again. "I'm looking forward to it. And the ship is blacked out, so we should be fully protected from the sun. Also don't worry, I can sail it by myself if I have to. It's just...less fun out there on my own." He winked at Sam.
Laughing at the redhead's reaction, the potter slung an arm over the other man's shoulder. "That's entirely up to you." Amun narrowed his eyes and dropped his voice to a slightly whisper. "Come on, there's gotta be something you've always wanted to do but were too scared to try." He gestured for the other man to speak.
"You're definitely going to have to do most of the sailing." Sam said with a laugh, sure he'd immediately crash the boat if it was left to him. "Maybe you could give me a very, very easy job to start with." As far as he knew, sailing involved a lot of knots and ropes, something that he didn't have much experience with (other than being tied up with them), but perhaps there were elements he didn't know about.
The arm around his shoulder made him look at Amun curiously, unsure what it was they were about to do...only to find out it was up to him. "Umm...I mean, I've done a lot, since I left home." He pointed out, it having now been over a decade since he'd been kicked out. A lot of things he'd never been able to do, like drink alcohol, he could no longer do anyway; Sam tried to think, unsure of what to suggest.
"Well...um..." He chewed on his lip, trying to think. "The only thing I can think of is that I always wanted to try and swim to the bottom of the Oasis." He laughed and shook his head. "But that's silly."
Humming, Amun gave Sam a once over. "Fine by me. But after you've done your turn swabbing the decks and serving as lookout I'll make a true sailor of you." Grinning, the potter winked.
Nodding at the redhead's response, the potter smirked. "Sure. But there's always more to see and do, right?" Shifting so he could meet the other man's gaze, Amun raised his eyebrow.
When Sam admitted he wanted to swim in the Oasis the potter laughed. "Not silly at all!" he declared. Moving, he reached out to grab the redhead's hand and try to tug him towards the door. "Come on, red, it's time to go skinny dippy." Smiling all the while, Amun would try to usher the other man out the exit.
"That sounds a little threatening, but I suppose I'm glad." Sam laughed, finding he was more excited about this sailing adventure than he'd ever thought he'd be. The open waters, a friend, a safe boat...while he was sure there would be ways for it to go wrong (there always were), but as it existed right now in his imagination, he yearned for the simple life of the ocean.
In a way, the spirit Amun showed, wanting to always see more, was essential for Ascended survival, if they were to live as long as they could do; Sam nodded, supposing it would do him well to adopt some more positive life philosophies.
However, he very swiftly wondered if that was a good idea as the idea of skinny dipping came in to the equation, his hand taken and Sam obediently going along out of the shop even as he asked: "Wait, what?!"
