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!
Still sniffing around Beatleste's feet, Loren snarled up at her as she studied him. Pawing at the air, he growled again as she issued orders to Astra. The luxere did indeed nudge the honey badger forward.
However, instead of following his supposed relative, he turned to follow the tracks one of the Ningos had made as it fled. Astra bleated and trotted after him. Before too long though, he stopped suddenly.
Whirling, he charged after Beatleste (stumbled and pushed through really). Once he caught up, he would reach out for the bottom of one of her pants. If he could reach it, he'd sink his claws and teeth into it.
Beatrix sighed as the honey badger took off after a Ningo, and then for a second, she briefly hoped he'd continue on that path and she'd lose track of him.
Then he would be Not Her Problem.
Well, that was a lie, she was too much of a perfectionist to let something go.
When he charged her, she kicked at him, just as he grabbed onto her pants and began clawing and biting. She stamped her foot and kicked with the other, "Let go of me, you rodent." Were honey badgers even rodents?
Beatleste's kick sent Loren rolling across the snow. Springing to his feet, he snarled at her. It doubled in volume at her words. At which point, he darted straight for her.
This time, he was planning to draw blood. However, before he could, Astra planted herself between Beatleste and the honey badger. The luxere lowered her horns and pawed at the ground. Bleating an admonishment, she followed the healer as he tried to circle around the woman.
Finally Loren stopped. Growling one last time, he settled to the ground. Curling around himself, he yawned, showing off his teeth to his companion and Beatleste.
Beatrix could not hide the gleeful smirk that formed over her mouth, as her kick sent her older brother rolling across the ground. Then he sprung at her and she raised her hands, briefly.
The only thing she could do was drain life and... maybe disintigrate the stone path they were on.
And she didn't trust her life drain enough to use it to disable him; and... she didn't feel like fixing the pathway.
Astra got between them and he showed his teeth to them both, and she rubbed her forehead. Maybe she should've gotten someone.
Lifting his head at Beatleste's words, Loren snarled again. Then Astra bleated and he looked at her. Growling a little, he rose to his feet.
Giving Beatleste a wide berth, the honey badger padded through the snow in the direction the woman had been going earlier. When he reached the first intersection, he came to a halt. Looking back and forth, he went a few steps in every direction, but there was no fire in sight. At least not easily accessible fire.
Making a hacking sound in the back of his throat he spun around. Marching straight towards Beatleste, he planted himself directly in front of her. Staring into her eyes, fur fluffed up, he jerked his head towards the intersection.
Beatrix watched him start, before he became confused at the intersection. He planted himself in front of her, he knew he had control over the situation.
Stupid badger.
Stupid Loren.
"That way." She pointed, towards the right. Giving him a wide berth, she started in the direction she had indicated. At this point, she almost didn't care if he followed or not.
Stupid.
Big.
Brother.
Loren was more trouble than he was worth; or she was annoyed. Probably both... because she wasn't a huge fan of dealing with stuff like this. She was irritated, and it showed in how she walked, hard, firm steps that were a bit wider than she'd normally take.
At Beatleste's words, Loren whirled in the direction she indicated. Waiting for just a moment, he followed at her footsteps. Astra trotted beside him.
However, the woman's steps were longer and slightly faster than the honey badger's, especially given his distracted and rather haphazard stride. Growling, he shifted mid-step. In the small mammal's place, a giant lion appeared.
Letting out a snarl, he bounded forward. Skidding as he tried to slow down, he bumped into Beatleste. However, he managed to come to pad by her side. Shooting her a look, he yawned and licked his lips. The luxere bleated, then trotted to catch up with the pair.
At this point, Beatrix was less surprised by her brother's shifts. The lion made her arch a brow, but shrug, ultimately it was unlikely he'd eat her. He bumped her and she stumbled, curling a hand into his mane to stay upright, and then she'd walk like that with him.
Hand loosely twined into his mane, hopefully soft enough not to bring notice to the fact she was holding him by it. "We'll figure out what you took, get you better and out of my hair," she muttered, under her breath.
The Academy did indeed begin to loom in front of them. Loren looked at it and whined a little. When Beatleste's hand came to rest in his mane, he pressed against it, rubbing his fur across her skin. Then he craned his neck and rose a little off the ground so he could do the same to her neck and shoulder.
Flopping to the ground again, he yawned. Astra, walking on the opposite side of him from the woman bleated and he looked over at the luxere. Stopping for a moment, he repeated the process of rubbing his neck against hers, marking her with his scent and claiming her as his. She wriggled a bit, but allowed herself to be subjected to the treatment.
Beatrix inwardly groaned as her brother marked her, watching as he repeated it to his luxere. At least he was less likely to try and eat her now. Even if she was presenting as some sort of twisted, disillusioned mix between her biological mother and herself.
That was a conversation for another day. She moved to push the front doors to the academy opened, taking a second to look around, before ushering her lion-brother inside. "Let's go find a fire." Of course, there was a fire in the main room, which meant they'd not have to go far.
Now that they were here, though...
She wasn't sure what the next bit of her plan was. Maybe she'd just snuggle up with her brother in every form except that badger form, and try to keep him in one place 'til morning.
Chuffing at Beatleste, Loren pulled in air through his mouth. Memorizing her scent, he eyed the doors of the Academy as their small group approached the building. As the woman went to open them, he shifted back to human, appearing even more disheveled and wild-eyed than before.
"A fire. Yesssss," he breathed. Following her inside the school, he looked around at the entryway. "Are there more Ursurs here?" He frowned and started backing away.
However, the sight of the fire halted his retreat. Grimacing now, he rubbed his hands up and down his arms. Astra nudged him from behind and he stumbled towards the blaze. Taking a deep breath, he walked towards it, bumping into a wall along the way and falling on his ass.
"No, Ursurs." She replied, following after him slowly. "You're broken, big brother." She declared quietly, and she almost sounded sad rather than frustrated.
"What's wrong with you?" She muttered, deciding that at least her brother couldn't hurt anyone in the Academy. "I'll be back, okay? I'm going... to go find somebody to help you." She doesn't move to leave, though. She's not sure if she should.
Loren was the slightly dependable brother, the one who was somewhat nicer to her than everyone else. At least, that's what her frazzled memories were saying. So she waited to see if he'd care if she left.
Breathing a sigh of relief as Beatleste told him there were no Ursurs, Loren stopped his retreat. Swaying a bit where he stood, Astra nudged him. He followed his companion's prompting to collapse in a chair by the fireplace. Staring into the flames, he shook his head. "Not broken. Not your brother," he insisted.
The luxere settled at his feet. Reaching down, he stroked her with one hand. His eyes never left the fire though. "I don't know," he croaked. "Everything's so hard to...I can't focus." He rubbed his forehead with his free hand, though his fingers came away slick with sweat.
"Don't go," he pleased. Twisting in his chair, he stared at the woman with wide eyes.
"You're definitely my brother," she insisted, as she moved to settle next to the chair he was in. "I don't remember... Cyton, or Celeste. But I remember you." Not very well. But the memories were there.
She hummed quietly, and reached for a little wooden toy, one she'd discarded at random after getting fed up with practicing her magic, no doubt. She held it up in front of her brother, and concentrated.
Sadly, this didn't seem to get easier when you were just magically aged up, but eventually the little wooden toy did disintegrate in her hand. "Did my mother have the ability to do that?" She inquired, honestly.
Great time to want to learn about your past, Beatrix. While your brother's a mess.
