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!
The wagon has been stationed just beyond the riverbank, hidden in the bright canopy of leaves and trees, hidden from view. A perfect place for them to forage and generally just enjoy the Stonesong. Ianto has chosen to be Remi's foraging partner today, given how well he knows the woods anyway and how Ronin has opted to nap with take care of Mateo while they are gone.
In his feathers, Ianto swoops to land upon Remi's shoulder as they meander down the banks of the river, scarlet wings folded neatly, feathers ruffled to keep off the chill that the running water brings to the air. You can get all kinds of fish here, though I doubt I need to tell you that, he explains, hopping a bit up Remi's shoulder until he can flutter up to land in his nest of curls. You make a rather fetching perch, if I do say so myself.
oh but that's the irony: broken people are not fragile
"I could eat you in one mouthful, I'll have you know." The alchemist grumbles under his breath. It's only half an actual warning; being in the woods again has awakened something predatory in the alchemist he's not felt in a long, long while. Though he'll be careful not to lean too heavily into the feeling when it wasn't appropriate to do so, there's a yawning sort of primacy that sings in his bones. Shift, it whispers to him. Shift, and run, and devour. And gods if the cromch of cardinal bones isn't something he longs to hear. But also doesn't. It's an interesting season, to be Remi.
"You know, having just left the sea, I think I'm alright without fish for a little while." He chuckles, resisting the urge to scratch at his curls where Ianto's little feet are holding on.
"I wonder if there's larger game across the Stongsong."
The Lullaby
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Oblivious to the bloody thoughts that swim through the alchemist's mind, Ianto makes himself thoroughly comfortable in his curls, nestling down and letting out a chirp of a melody that suggests contentment. I'd rather you resisted. One mouthful won't be nearly enough to sate you, so it will be a waste. Fluttering his scarlet wings, he makes himself at home and listens to what the other man has to say. His amusement ripples out, and he imagines that the large fish in the Stonesong are grateful for Remi's decisions.
Humming out a thoughtful sound through their Attuned bond, Ianto peeps across to the far bank. There may well be, but I daresay your husband would be the better one to ask. The deer will flock to him this season, surely. Just be careful not to take a bite out of him. Ianto chuckles. And be careful not to go too far up the Stonesong. There are landsharks.
oh but that's the irony: broken people are not fragile
There's a joke in there about Ianto having once been more than enough to satisfy the Lullaby, but he doesn't make it. It's a bit too close to the truth, and with Ianto and Remi occasionally sharing a bed now (albeit in completely incompatible bodies), the alchemist thinks it best to stray more toward the side of caution than humour.
"There's no fun in that." Remi muses, thinking of how utterly ungratifying it would be to simply charge through an entire herd of deer held in place by Ronin's luxere shift. Even manticores have standards, and this one wasn't close enough to starvation yet to bend his.
"Landsharks? Out here?" The alchemist raises a brow, not that the cardinal will see it. "I thought that they preferred more....flat. Not to mention I'm sure the Greatwood would have something to say about her trees being uprooted."
The Lullaby
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Ianto merely snorts at Remi as they continue to stroll down the Stonesong, easily able to imagine the fun the manticore version of his friend might have charging at everything, held in place by a luxere or no. But then he's distracted by talk of the Landshark, the cardinal puffing up at the memory, and he takes off out of Remi's curls to land nearby. Of course, it's not a bird who lands but a man, Ianto stretching languidly as he rises to his feet, fingers ruffling through his coppery hair.
"Yeah, they do prefer flat places," he agrees, pointing up the river and squinting, like he'll be able to imagine the distance if he tries hard enough. "Delphia organised a trip a while back. Out to explore the dust storms, way beyond the Greatwood. We didn't get far - the landshark was out that way," he explains, before grinning back at the alchemist. "Honestly, to this day I don't know why she asked me along. I was thoroughly useless."
oh but that's the irony: broken people are not fragile
Glancing to the side at the flash of red that suddenly turns coppery and man-shaped, Remi follows Ianto's finger as if he too might be able to see something in the distance if he puts his mind to it. Seeing only the trees, the alchemist frowns and glances back, listening to the fox's description of events.
"Delphia did?" Remi hadn't gotten the impression that Mort's daughter was much of an adventurer. Then again, he'd say more or less the same of Ianto. Not needing to though, the fox saying it for him, Remi offers his friend a crooked smile as he shakes his head. "Now that's not true. I'm sure you were a shining example of the importance of picking appropriate members for adventuring." Grinning widely now, Remi nudges the merchant's shoulder with his own as he meanders closer to the river. "You can fly though. Surely landsharks aren't a problem for you." Already the wheels of Remi's mind are turning, and he's got that faraway look in his eyes as he gazes across the river.
The Lullaby
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
"Mm, she did," Ianto says with a gentle nod, though he doesn't know enough about Mort's daughter to really comment on her proclivities for adventuring. He does snort at his friend's snide comment, however, giving him a shove back for good measure, though he's completely correct, of course. "Wherever I go, I do try to be a shining example of something," he agrees with a grin, meandering further down the riverbank and scrunching his nose at the memory somewhat.
"Oh, the wings helped with the land shark," he says to Remi. "Not so much with the dust storms. It was bad out there. We had to shelter in the wagon until we were finally able to head back the way we came." Wincing as he recalled the stinging against his wings, he turns back to the Lullably only to recognise that look in his eye. "No," he begins instantly.
oh but that's the irony: broken people are not fragile
"I think you do it quite well. The best, in fact." Remi adds with a knowing nod, not adding that bad example usually turns out to be the thing that the fox exemplifies. Not bothering to change his pace at all as mulch gives way to mud and mud gives way to water, the alchemist plunges right into the stream. The Stongsong is vivid in its briskness and Remi can feel more than a few of his muscles tightening in response to the chill.
"Dust storm? It was really that thick, mm?" The Lullaby says, though the words are almost musical in how far away they sound. Almost as if he plans to go right that moment, Remi trudges forward, now up to his knees, and then mid-thigh.
"Yes." Turning around, his smile wide and white and inviting, the alchemist raises his brows, the expression on his face one of unfettered interest. "Come on. I can keep you in my jacket where you won't feel a single bit of dust. I'll even line my pockets with food."
The Lullaby
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
All the other threads of their conversation drop away now, Ianto standing at the edge of the Stonesong as Remi goes wading in, his lips parted and brows furrowed in an expression of utter horror. "No," he repeats, like that might make any shred of difference, but as the alchemist turns, all toothy white smiles and adventure dancing in green eyes, Ianto knows that he's already lost this particular battle.
"Or," he suggests slowly, raising his hands as if to placate the other man, "what if I stay all safe and sound here in the Greatwood with Mateo. I'll make sure nothing bad happens to him, and then I don't have to eat your pocket lint and have to deal with all of this bullshit." He flashes a golden grin back at the other man. "How does that sound, Remi?"
oh but that's the irony: broken people are not fragile
"Yes." Remi reiterates, reaching into the water and sending a wave of it toward the merchant for good measure.
"You'd be so lucky to eat my pocket lint." The Lullaby grumbles, pulling a face. Folding his arms across his chest and letting his legs fall out from underneath him, Remi gasps a breath of surprise as the Stonesong rises up to his shoulders. It fills him with a shaky adrenaline that nearly makes him burst with laughter and the insane desire to run directly into the storms. "It sounds like a very round about way of saying you don't want to come along, Ianto." He replies once he's able, treading water easily despite the tug of the current.
The Lullaby
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Ianto lets out a curse in the Fae tongue as Remi sends a wave splashing towards him, the fox scrambling back a few feet to plonk himself at the edge of the riverbank, sitting with his legs crossed. "What are you doing in there, exactly?" he wants to know, raising his eyebrows at the other man as he gives himself a thorough dunking in the water. And as Remi rephrases the reality of what he is doing with much better (read: more honest) wording, Ianto nods with warm enthusiasm.
"As tempting as you make your pocket lint sound, I would much rather not put myself through that a second time. You and your husband go and have a wonderful time. I will be here, doing precisely the opposite of whatever you are." So probably sleeping and eating and lazing around.
oh but that's the irony: broken people are not fragile
"Cooling off, whats it look it?" Sure they were meant to be foraging, and though the canopy of leaves overhead provided a good deal of shade, the air was still plenty warm. Flicking water toward the merchant once again as if to punish the fox for his silly question, Remi pulls in a breath and lowers the lower half of his face into the water, so that only his eyes were showing.
Well, we will be having a marvelous time. So I suppose that means you'll be miserable. The Lullaby silently counters, before disappearing entirely beneath the clear waters only to spring upward again moments later.
"So you'll watch Mateo while we're gone?" Pulling himself out of the water and flopping down on the bank next to Ianto, (making absolutely no effort not to get the merchant wet in the process), the alchemist lets his head roll to the side to flash an entirely innocent smile up at the fox.
The Lullaby
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
"Oh I see," Ianto says, raising coppery brows at the alchemist as he dips down below the water, looking very much like a green-eyed shark. "I have no doubt that you will be having a marvellous time. But just in case I start feeling wonderful while I'm lounging around in the wagon, I'll know that your adventure in the dust storms has taken a turn." The fox swats at Remi as he comes swamping back out of the Stonesong, cursing again and trying to scoot away from his sopping wet form.
"That's right," he announces. "We'll have a lovely time, in the warm and dry without the dust storms to worry about, safe as houses in the wagon." And there's nothing you can do about it, his tone seems to suggest. Still, if anyone could do anything to get through those dust storms, Ianto has his money on Ronin and Remi Taliesin.
