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 no secret that Saartjie is precious, the one that can do no wrong. That in and of itself is the reason Sunjata knew she’d be safe when he defected — because she was the only one that could continue to carry the bloodline. And in Korofi, blood was like gold. She had been safe enough, at least until being married off as he was to be, to Melita’s father of all people — and it’s those thoughts that he both knows and doesn’t know, that has him clinging to his sister as he wakes her from her sleep.
“We have to go, Saar.” He whispers to her, looking back at Ronin as the Star goes to grab the girl. And instead of where starlit eyes would be found, a similar grey to Sunjata’s own hide beneath tired lids, a freckled face. The question is met with a nod, clasping his hands together and closing his eyes as if he’s wishing for it with all his might. The vibrant purple room changes to the cabin again, warmth leaking through, with trinkets around the cabin on the walls that exuded love and happiness — something the young boy desperately wants.
And before he knows it, he can feel the soft cushioning rugs beneath his feet, the warmth of the hearth again, and he turns to Ronin with a wider and far more genuine smile, darting forward to hug the Star’s leg. “You saved us!”
i said i saw you in the water
No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Sunjata, without killing him <3
Sunjata speaks with an Australian accent and has a passive magic that makes him produce a subtle scent that matches exactly to whatever those around him most desire him to smell like.
It’s over before Ronin can even really get to grips with it. With eyes still prickling, he gathers up the toddler into his arms, keeping her wrapped in her blanket, and he rests his free hand upon Sunjata’s shoulder as the boy starts to imagine the cabin again. For a wonder of wonders, it takes only moments before they are safely sequestered away, and Ronin tucks Saartjie up further, letting out a breath he doesn’t realise he’s been holding.
Still, he laughs warmly to hear Jata say that he has saved them, looking down at him as he hugs his legs. ”No, you did,” he murmurs, reaching out to muss the boy’s hair. ”You did all of this, imagined it all. I’m really proud of you. Now what do you want to do next?”
He should know how Saartjie might appear to Ronin. He should know. But he doesn’t, because this is certainly Saartjie, his little sister he’s sworn to protect and fight for, the one that would make bets with him that he typically lost and would be forced to sit there and braid her hair. The one that would get him to sneak out with her when they were teens just to visit the ocean for a few hours before returning home to the hell they lived in.
But the Cabin is there and Saar falls asleep in Ronin’s arms before he’s tucking her in bed again, and Sunjata’s moving forward to hug and praise their savior. But Ronin spins it on him, tells him that he’s done it all, and no — no that can’t be right. Right? Another blow appears when Ronin says he’s proud of him — memories flicking to the surface of things that would happen to this boy in the future, with only two other times he’s been told someone was proud of him.
The first, when he wins his trial. The second, when he doesn’t give up the location of the resistance. The rest? Well, it’s a shocking enough term that the boy lets go of Ronin’s leg, lifting his head up after Ronin’s mussed his curls. “I… Don’t know.” He admits, small brows furrowing — something Sunjata does even now quite regularly. “Can we do anything?” Comes the hushed question, small wheels spinning in his mind. “Can we make a bunch of blackberry pies and eat them until we’re sick?”
It doesn’t occur to Sunjata that he doesn’t know how to make the pies, how his mother would have the kitchen make the pie specifically for his birthday so they might sneak a few pieces late at night when his father couldn’t see.
i said i saw you in the water
No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Sunjata, without killing him <3
Sunjata speaks with an Australian accent and has a passive magic that makes him produce a subtle scent that matches exactly to whatever those around him most desire him to smell like.
Jata lets him go and Saartjie falls asleep, and Ronin does indeed set her down carefully into the bed in the cabin, before turning to face the boy again. He’s still wearing the black leather and Kevlar of the guard he’s appeared as, but upon noticing it he shrugs and shivers, letting the garb melt away to something more noticeably Ronin; namely, a t-shirt with a hole in it and a pair of pants that sit low on his hips. ”Anything.” He grins to Sunjata.
Making pies until they’re sick sounds pretty good, actually, and the Star meanders over to the little kitchen in the cabin. ”Sure we can. Do you like blackberry pie?” he asks, beckoning for the boy to join him and, if he does, scooping him up to sit on the counter. ”Thing is, I’m only really good at pancakes.” He whispers it, like it’s a secret.
The guardsman clothes on Ronin shifts and melds into something else, a shirt and pants that Sunjata imagines has to be far more comfortable, and a thought occurs to the boy as well — to close his eyes and change his own clothing too. A pair of shorts and a tank top covers him now instead of the wrinkly clothes from the river test. And when he opens his eyes again, he finds Ronin grinning and walking toward the kitchen.
Not wanting to be left behind, the boy trots after the Star, bobbing his head as Ronin lifts him and sets him on the counter. “I don’t get it a lot but it’s my favorite.” He chimes, a wide pearly grin shot back to Ronin.
But when the man admits he doesn’t know how to make pies, the grin turns softer and he reaches over to pat Ronin on the arm. “That’s okay. Pancakes are good too!” He sways his feet a bit in the air as he looks around the kitchen, trying to imagine what they’d need for pancakes and coming up with nothing. So he picks plates instead — a vibrant navy blue set (that looks an awful lot like the ones found in the home they’re dreaming in). “How do you make them?”
i said i saw you in the water
No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Sunjata, without killing him <3
Sunjata speaks with an Australian accent and has a passive magic that makes him produce a subtle scent that matches exactly to whatever those around him most desire him to smell like.
”Well, maybe we’ll both have to learn how to make it. Then you can have it until you’re sick - though I don’t recommend that bit.” Ronin smirks, already hunting around the kitchen for ingredients (all of them are readily available because - obviously - it’s a dream). The pat on his arm and the soft, boyish smile have him chuckling, and he tips a wink to Sunjata as if grateful for his lack of judgement.
Grabbing a bowl, he sets it down next to the boy and grins. ”They’re the most simple thing ever,” he informs him, a whisk in hand. ”We just need flour, eggs and milk.” As if on cue, a bag of flour appears, as do eggs and a bottle of milk. Cracking eggs into the bowl, Ronin whips them up and adds a good deal of flour, before handing the bottle to Jata.
”You can do the important bit. Just keep pouring that nice and slow into the bowl, and you’ll see magic happen.”
He supposes that it wouldn’t be a good idea to eat until he’s sick, but there’s still that childish want within him that wants to experience the exact definition of a food coma. So he offers Ronin a nod, an easy boyish grin, but quietly plots within to do exactly that.
Ronin goes and grabs the ingredients and Sunjata turns a bit on the counter to focus on the bowl, listening to the items they’d need to make it, and his head tilts up toward Ronin with a spark of confusion. “And blackberries?” He asks, though he wonders if those go in before or after the food is cooked. But then he’s watching, mesmerized as Ronin cracks the eggs and adds the flour - handing the bottle to him.
Small hands latch onto the bottle, and he puts all his focus into making sure he doesn’t drop it or make a mess, peering over the bowl as he does so. “Nice and slow…” He repeats, beginning to pour the milk and accidentally putting a lot at first, watching it splash up the side of the bowl and onto the counter, before he reins it back and pauses his pour in case Ronin doesn’t need any more milk. “Sorry.” His brows furrow together, a small frustration glimmering across his face.
i said i saw you in the water
No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Sunjata, without killing him <3
Sunjata speaks with an Australian accent and has a passive magic that makes him produce a subtle scent that matches exactly to whatever those around him most desire him to smell like.
09-06-2020, 08:11 PM (This post was last modified: 09-06-2020, 08:11 PM by Ronin.)
I will fight the end
”Sure, we can add blackberries at the end. And syrup. But it’s your job to imagine those up - the best ones you can, okay?” Ronin grins, whisking together the eggs and flour and letting out a surprised laugh as milk sloshes all over the bowl, counter, and onto him as well. Reaching out, he dabs Sunjata’s nose with flour. ”Nothing to apologise for,” he says, stirring the pancake mix up well and showing the boy when he’s done. ”Best part about this is that if you add too much, we can just add more of the other stuff. Looks good though.”
Setting a pan on the stove and firing it up, Ronin grabs a ladle now and waits for everything to heat. ”You can watch my amazing pancake flipping skills now,” he informs him. ”Careful not to get burned though.” He ladles some of the mix into the pan, waiting for it to cook before wiggling it around. With a flick of the wrist, he (of course) flips it too high, but manages to catch it in one piece at least. ”Ta da!”
It’s his job to imagine them, and so he imagines the best blackberries he can recall, holding onto it until the time for them would be ready. But then he’s pouring, spilling some milk, and apologizing for having made a mess of everything when his steel gaze meets Ronin’s and the tap to his nose leaves some flour in his wake. He wiggles his nose, sneezes, and giggles when he sets the milk down to inspect the bowl. It looks amazing, Sunjata’s eyes growing wide as he focuses on the stove that’s lit up and the pan Ronin puts into place.
With Ronin’s back turned and the bowl of batter out of the way, Sunjata — ever the impulsive little child — dumps some of the flour onto the counter top, mixing in some of the milk that’s spilled and creating a goopy mess to stick his hands into.
He turns just in time to watch as Ronin goes to flip the pancake, watching it go high and wide, and when it lands with a slap Sunjata’s giggling again. “Do it again!” He chimes, hopping off the counter to rush to the other side to get more of a view, his sticky messy hands leaving flour and milk in his wake.
i said i saw you in the water
No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Sunjata, without killing him <3
Sunjata speaks with an Australian accent and has a passive magic that makes him produce a subtle scent that matches exactly to whatever those around him most desire him to smell like.
Ronin is pretending not to notice the absolute mess that Sunjata is making, but he’s doing anything but stopping the boy, and when he manages to get one pancake onto the plate unscathed, his new sous chef is already running for a better view. ”Yeah? You want to do the last one?” he asks, already ladling more batter into the pan.
It goes like this for a few more pancakes, Ronin flipping them and outrageously looking like he can’t quite catch them (for Sunjata’s benefit, of course), and soon a stack grows between them on the plate, golden and begging for blackberries and syrup. ”Alright here we go,” he says of the last pancake, having gotten it ready for Jata to flip. He leans down and beckons the boy closer, having him stand in front of him so he can help to hold the pan.
Together, they manage to achieve a small but perfect flip, and Ronin decides that he likes this one best. ”Think you can manage those blackberries now?”
“Yeah! I want to!” The boy chimes again, flashing a pearly grin to Ronin from where he peers up at the man from the edge of the counter. And he watches, mesmerized as the pile grows and grows and grows, until the last one is there and he’s positive his time to shine is there. He stands in front of Ronin, hands on the pan with all the focus he can muster, lanky thin arms flipping the pancake with Ronin’s help. And it’s a beautiful pancake, evident in the way Sunjata looks over his shoulder at Ronin and beams. “This is the best one.” Sunjata concludes with a nod, before he’s making his way to the table and climbing up on the chair to sit there.
He closes his eyes and his messy hands become clean again, the table starting to fill with those vibrant navy plates again, a bowl filled with the ripest blackberries he can think of, and a piping hot pitcher of dark blackberry syrup. And when he opens his eyes, he’s already reaching for a few of the blackberries to pop into his mouth. “You are really good at making pancakes.” He says as he chews, not having quite learned that social acceptance bit yet.
But then he’s leaning across the table now, grabbing another handful of blackberries to drop on Ronin’s plate, making sure the man has more than enough of his favorite fruit.
i said i saw you in the water
No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Sunjata, without killing him <3
Sunjata speaks with an Australian accent and has a passive magic that makes him produce a subtle scent that matches exactly to whatever those around him most desire him to smell like.
”It is the best one,” Ronin agrees, bringing the stack of pancakes over to the table and making sure that Jata gets the one that he flipped, and keeping a couple back for Saar, should she wake up in this dream of theirs. Sinking down into his seat and drizzling a generous amount of syrup over the pancakes and blackberries, he reaches out to clink his fork against the boy’s in a gesture of well done.
”Thank you,” he says, spearing a blackberry and popping it into his mouth, before staring to cut up their breakfast. He’ll help Jata too, if he needs it, before settling back in his seat and seeming content in the mess, in the smell of cooking and the warmth of the cabin. ”Maybe another day, we can teach you to swim?” he suggests. ”Not in a river. Just in water you can stand up in. I’ll help if you get in trouble again.”
He sits up in his seat a bit more once Ronin arrives to put the pancakes on the plates. And of course, young Sunjata notices he gets the pancake he flipped with the help of Ronin, and beams as he sprinkles blackberries on top and essentially drowns the pancakes in the purply red syrup. He looks up in time to see Ronin stretching out the fork and Sunjata clings his against it, flashing a wide boyish grin back to the Star. “You’re welcome!” Comes the chimed voice before he’s focusing on devouring his plate.
Perhaps Ronin had brought snacks after all.
He begins to dive into the plate, silverware clinking against the porcelain, syrup spilling in a sticky mess when he hears the question — and his gaze lifts up to meet Ronin’s. “I’d like that.” He agrees easily. “Maybe we can teach Saar, too?” It comes a bit quieter, a glance shot over to the girl still sleeping and tucked in tight to the bed.
But then the world around them begins to shift, begins to mold and transform until the dream begins to end and Sunjata feels as though he’s treading water back to the surface.
He doesn’t realize he’s managed to squeeze Ronin close, body feverishly warm and sticky — reminding him briefly of pancakes and sweets (had that been real?) Tired lids open a bit warily, spring the warm room with the sun filtering in, reflecting off the trinkets in the room as if they're diamonds. His gaze lands on Ronin, and after the dream that he rides the coattails of remembering, he squeezes the Star a bit tighter, though he’s not sure if Ronin would know why.
i said i saw you in the water
No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Sunjata, without killing him <3
Sunjata speaks with an Australian accent and has a passive magic that makes him produce a subtle scent that matches exactly to whatever those around him most desire him to smell like.
”Maybe we can. Whatever you like,” Ronin says with a wink, smiling brightly to the boy and settling down to eat breakfast. He supposes it’s breakfast, anyway, even in a dreamscape. He feels the shift as a subtle tug of the world beneath his feat, causing him to glance up; even as he does, he can see Sunjata blurring before his eyes. He’s being booted from the dream, and weirdly, that’s okay. It’s not a nightmare any more. ”Sleep well,” he tells the boy.
When Ronin awakens he’s managed to slide down the headboard where he was propped up originally, and the feverish Arbiter is wrapped all around him and clearly trying to kill him with the heat he’s kicking out. Blue eyes blink open, the Star glancing down at the head buried against him, and he relaxes a bit. Resting an arm around Jata in return, Ronin sighs deeply and clasps him close for a moment. ”I had no idea,” he murmurs.
