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 the first time he’s been to the house since it burned down – picking through the wreckage and picking out what other things could be salvaged that hadn’t been plucked from the remains of the charred home. There isn’t much, but what’s there is enough to fill a few pouches he’s attached to Haai as sandbags of a sort – as well as one that fits snugly on his back.
The sun setting off in the distance alights the hills with golds and reds, the warmth of the day bearing down on Sunjata’s already bronzed skin, tattoos and scars on display, having sweated through his shirt at some point during the work. At least he was healthy now, didn’t have to worry about strange visions and thoughts invading his mind.
And so he and Haai begin the trek along the cliffs back down toward Haulani – pausing by the edge of the cliffs into town to watch the sunset. He sits along the edge, Haai sitting beside him, his hand running through her dark fur and scratching behind her ears as she thumps her hind foot along the sandy cliff edge.
you gave all that sweat and blood,
now you think you're gonna drown
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.
Saiden had been returning from a stroll down the beach as well that definitely didn't have anything to do with depositing illicit goods in a secret handoff. Whistling, he'd swig from his flask every now and then. As he approached the Aumakua, he swerved around the ruins of the new Governor's old place.
And on that note, the governor himself appeared to be in residence. Kind of. Hard to be in residence without a residence. Regardless, the man was at least close by seated on the cliffs.
Grinning, the cook altered course to move towards Sunjata. When the Hali was close enough he called out. "I hear congratulations are in order, guv'na. Glad to see ye lookin' well." Saiden himself looked a bit worse for the wear than the last time the other man had seen the cook, what with the eyepatch and all.
The whistling had been faint at first, a quiet sound that Sunjata hadn’t paid attention too much — not until it slows and stops, not until he can hear the rolling of the waves and the crinkling of grass underfoot of the smuggler as he approaches. And when he speaks, Sunjata hasn’t turned to look at the man, instead humming a bit of a laugh. “It’s good to be well.” He calls back, sitting back on one hand while Haai settles her head on Sunjata’s leg, emerald eyes peering in the direction of the smuggler.
And only then does Sunjata look, his head tilting toward Saiden with that very same amused grin on his face, leaned back on one hand while the other remains scratching behind Haai’s ear. He realizes quickly after that something is wrong, though, the eye patch a new addition to the other man. “Are you doing alright?” He asks, raising a brow toward Saiden curiously, jutting his chin briefly in the direction of Saiden’s eyepatch.
you gave all that sweat and blood,
now you think you're gonna drown
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.
Saiden nodded at Sunjata's response. Peering at the little griffin, the cook took a sip from his flask before offering it to the governor. If the other man accepted, he'd find it was rum. The Hali crouched down next to the duo. "Dunno exactly what ye all were sufferin', to be honest. But it sounded bad." Shooting a glance at Sunjata, Saiden arched an eyebrow.
Frowning at the governor's question, the cook shrugged. "I'm alright." Then understanding dawned and he sighed. "Oh this?" He reached up his hand to tap a finger to his temple next to the eyepatch. "I made a stupid bet with a spirit and lost."
Haai, spying Saiden’s attention, huffs a little sound, smoke drifting from her maw as her tail wags slightly – keeping her attention keen on him. Sunjata, spying the flask, reaches out to take a sip from it (of course, not before he has a chance to sniff it, see what exactly it is) before he hands it back to the smuggler. “We got sick from the Longheat god Tanau. Transferred to us I think from those that went to the Climb and encountered them initially.” That’s what he’d heard, after all. A hiss of a sigh slips from him as his shoulders rise and fall in a small shrug. “Hallucinations, fear of water, thirsty and feverish as hell.” He wrinkles his nose in clear distaste.
“You weren’t sick though, right?” Sunjata doesn’t remember the encounter prior with Saiden at the bottom of the lighthouse, doesn’t recall what had occurred that day at all actually. Most of the sickness a bit of a black block of his memory, a blur.
Luckily Saiden distracts him with news of his eye, Sunjata’s brow raising slightly, lips shifting in clear distaste. “That’s rough, buddy.” He murmurs, snorting lightly through his nose. “Still going to be able to go out on the sea with just one eye?” If it’s a subtle attempt to see just how much Jack’s crew mattered to him, Sunjata doesn’t show it.
you gave all that sweat and blood,
now you think you're gonna drown
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.
Wincing at Sunjata's explanation of where the illness was and the description of the symptoms, Saiden reached out to pat the governor's shoulder. "That's rough, mate. Glad ye made it through to the other side." Taking back the flask, the cook took another swig before slipping it into his pocket.
Shifting from his crouch to a seated position, he shook his head at the other man's question. "Nah. I think the Ark was out when it was spreading." The Hali shrugged, since he was hardly an expert on the subject. All he knew was that none of the crew got sick.
Sighing, he nodded. "Aye, it is." Patting the strap to the eyepatch he arched an eyebrow at Sunjata. "Ye say that like ye've never seen a one-eyed sailor before. Yer gonna have to get used to that, guv'na."
“As am I.” He agrees, settling in and letting the warmth of the alcohol spread through his throat to his stomach. He focuses on the fact of simply feeling better, the way things seemed to fall into order when he wasn’t ill or getting into trouble, didn’t have wounds that continually needed to heal only to obtain new ones. Right now, he was fine, whole. That was really all he could ask in the long run.
Saiden sits beside him and Sunjata props up a leg so he might be able to turn a bit more toward the smuggler, Haai managing to nudge herself underneath his leg to peer back at Saiden some more. “That’s good.” He offers by means of the Ark crew missing out. He knew that Melita didn’t have it – his niece being the one to have found Nate when the sickness was full blown.
He looks out to the water and the sunset, though, as Saiden speaks of his eye, a low hum of a laugh leaving him. “You’ll remember my husband went without an eye for half a year.” He shoots back, raising a brow back at Saiden and letting a roguish smirk cross his face. “Not a sailor, but eyeless all the same.”
you gave all that sweat and blood,
now you think you're gonna drown
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.
Saiden nodded at Sunjata's response. There didn't seem to be anything further to say so the cook just hummed in the back of his throat. For a moment, they sat there in silence gazing out towards the distant horizon.
Chuckling at the Governor's reply about the Ark, the cook smirked. "Aye it is. Dunno what Jack woulda done if there was an outbreak onboard." Probably toss everyone who was sick overboard, but he knew better to badmouth the captain to Sunjata.
Grunting, the Hali shrugged. "I remember. So why do ye think I'll have any trouble." Then he glanced at the other man. "Also, why are ye talking like that happened in the past?" Surely Nate still lacked an eye.
“Probably what any captain would do. Take out the sickness for a healthy crew?” He doesn’t know Jack very well, but something tells him that the captain would just as easily find a new crew if the one he ran with was sick in the way that Sunjata had been. A lot of trouble could come about, having people on board with hallucinations. After all, it had been the hallucinations that caused his home to burn down, he and Nate’s attempts to ward out the darkness with light that had gotten too out of hand.
A low hum of a chuckle leaves Sunjata at Saiden’s question, an amused grin shot toward the smuggler. “Just was curious.” No real other reason than that. As for Nate’s eye? “He got his eye back.” Well, a new one, but he could fully see now. “The Voice fixed him up.” And it had been such a beautiful surprise – one that had Sunjata waking from a terrible, nightmare fueled night, only to find his husband return in one whole piece as he should have been to start.
you gave all that sweat and blood,
now you think you're gonna drown
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.
Chuckling, Saiden shrugged. "I dunno if ye've noticed, but Jack's hardly any captain," he drawled, nudging Sunjata with a shoulder. It was entirely unclear whether the cook thought that was a good thing or a bad thing, but then again he didn't make a habit of guessing the captain's mind.
As the Governor mentioned that Nate got his eye backed the Hali's own eye widened. Turning, he stared at Sunjata. "Really?" Saiden took a deep breath and licked his lips. "Do you...do you think the Voice might be willing to restore my eye as well? Even if I'm not Ascended?" Subconsciously, he reached up to scratch his temple next to his eyepatch.
“I haven’t interacted with him much, if I’m being honest.” The few times he had, though, were always… Interesting. There was always something different about the man, the way he seemed to breeze about, to know exactly what to say, how something might come off. As far as Sunjata is concerned, Jack knows how to read people – a task that Sunjata’s sure didn’t come without experience.
But he pushes that thought aside for that of the Voice and Nate, the goddess healing the both of them among the others that had wished it, as well as fixing Nate’s eye with a brand new one – it had been a slightly different hue, a silvery gleam to it that mimicked Sunjata’s in a sweet way. But the Flood can feel Saiden staring at him and he turns to look back at the cook with a raise of his brow. “Really.” He confirms, flashing another grin. “I’m not sure. I suppose you’d have to ask her.” He wasn’t one for speaking with the Voice – that was far more Nate’s ability. Sunjata was Safrin’s, though something tells him if he’d lost an eye, Safrin would be willing to help with that somehow and someway.
you gave all that sweat and blood,
now you think you're gonna drown
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.
Saiden snorted at Sunjata's comment. Taking the flask back out, the cook took another sip. "Not sure that'd help ye." He shrugged. "I've been on his crew for years and I still can't predict him." Shaking his head again, he held out the flask for the governor again.
Nodding at the other man's explanation, the Hali smiled. "I suppose that makes sense. I'll have to look into it." He inclined his head to Sunjata. As Saiden did, he toasted the governor a little bit. "Well, I guess I should let ye get back to yer...gov'naring?" The cook glanced at the saddlebags on the griffin, but didn't ask about them. People from Torchline liked to keep their secrets and he didn't particularly want to be in debt to the new leader of the region.
“Suppose that’s probably for the best, then.” Sunjata agrees, a hum of a laugh leaving him as he takes the flask and takes another sip before handing it back – looking back out at the sunset as it begins to dip below the water’s edge far off in the distance turning the clouds purple and peach, hints of blue brief and far between.
As for the Voice, though, Sunjata nods to Saiden. He’s got no answers where the Voice is concerned, only he knows how far the Voice is willing to go to help people. But seeing as she’s cured not only the Ascended but everyone else that had taken her cure too? Well, that certainly meant that Saiden could look into it and see if it were an option.
He bobs his head in response to Saiden’s, hand resting on Haai again as he tries to shift the griffin away so they might continue their walk. “Alright. Let me know how the eye goes.” He offers to Saiden, waving the man goodbye when he does leave – spending a few more moments alone with Haai on the cliff’s edge before he and his companion head home as well.
- FIN !
you gave all that sweat and blood,
now you think you're gonna drown
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.
