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!
"...Ah. Well, when you put it like that, I feel probably just as stupid as I looked doing it," Ianto points out, rubbing at the back of his head and shaking his coppery curls out of his face, as if he might be able to look anything other than half-feral and having just dragged himself out of his fox shift for the first time in days. Still, he listens keenly to the instructions, adjusting his grip on the staff and trying to ignore the tension they can both feel rippling out from Remi.
Nodding at the remark to try again, Ianto shifts his stance and tightens his hold on the staff. Still, he's clearly not built for fighting (not unless Arduinna drugs the shit out of him), and so as Remi sweeps his legs out from under him, down he goes like a sack of shit. He does keep a solid grip on the staff this time, though, trying to drag it out of Remi's hands so he can swing it at him as he hits the deck on his back.
maybe i'm a runaway train, maybe i'm a feather in a hurricane
Rather than holding on, the alchemist simply lets go. Down Ianto falls, though this time Remi isn't pulled astride him; this being both a blessing and a curse, of course. Inhaling a sharp breath and avoiding the flailing stick that stretches for his face, Remi crosses his arms as he looks at the merchant. "Now, were I actually a thug, it would once again be quite easy to rob you." He points out with a small, if not slightly frustrated sort of smile.
"I can see what you were going for, but if you can't even get me to fall on top of you twice, it's probably not a good tactic." Remi allows himself a small smile at this, before clearing his throat and extending a hand toward the merchant to help him up.
"Alright. How about you try and come at me, then."
THE LULLABY
maybe it's a long gray game, but maybe that's a good thing
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
"It would not," Ianto huffs, though it would be nothing to do with his prowess as a fighter that would prevent any potential robberies. No, it's just that it's rather difficult to rob someone when a fox is gnawing at your ankles. That isn't something he resorts to now, at least, and his smile is the special sort of self-deprecating as he takes Remi's hand and hoists himself to his feet. His hand is warm and calloused, fresh from wielding the staff, which he keeps in front of him as he finds his balance once more.
"Alright, but if you knock me on my ass again, I give up. I'm clearly unteachable at that point." He sighs and backs up a few paces as if to make his measure of the Lullaby (an easy thing to do; basically, he's a tank on legs). Then he dashes forward, all rough agility and wily movements, trying to sweep the other man's legs out from beneath him with his staff.
maybe i'm a runaway train, maybe i'm a feather in a hurricane
The alchemist is quick to release the fox's hand once he's standing. Already it's enough contact that Remi's body is hasty to take and run with what it can. "Alright. I'll be sure to knock you on your front, then." He replies with a crooked smile, before offering the merchant the telltale nod of come at me, Ianto-chan.
Remi jumps over the staff as if it's some game that they're playing, while at the same time trying to shove the merchant's shoulders so that he might land on his knees. Wiley and limber as Ianto is, it wouldn't surprise Remi if the fox was able to shrug off this small gesture, but this was a spar after all.
"Ask me if I'm hungry." The alchemist says suddenly, a crooked and mischievous smile on his lips.
THE LULLABY
maybe it's a long gray game, but maybe that's a good thing
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
"I mean, that's better than my ass," Ianto murmurs, mostly to himself, before he's trying to go ahead with this whole sparring thing. Naturally, the Lullaby puts any of Ianto's agility to shame within moments, causing the fox to stumble a bit, though at least with the shove to his shoulders he doesn't go flying this time. He does trip, of course, managing to pivot around to face Remi again.
But then the alchemist is asking something absurd, and if it's an attempt to completely derail Ianto then it works like a charm. His grip grows a bit more loose on the staff as he straightens up, his coppery brows furrowing together. "Uh... are you hungry?" he asks. The answer is always, as far as he's aware, but he didn't expect to be having this kind of conversation while training.
maybe i'm a runaway train, maybe i'm a feather in a hurricane
"Is it?" The alchemist wonders with a crooked grin that he immediately sweeps away.
"I am, yeah." Remi replies, flashing the fox a sunny smile. " Now you see, you've accomplished two things. You've abruptly thrown a kink into our spar. Which, if you wanted, would give you a good opportunity to try and attack me again. But you've also found something I want. So if I was trying to mug you, you could..offer me some chicken or the leftovers from yesterday."
This is of course both a way for the fox to end the spar on a high note and for Remi not to have to endure Ianto's manly presence for much longer. He hadn't thought it would be quite so...difficult (we'll leave the low hanging fruit, thank you very much, despite it being true that things are hard), and while he can likely endure the merchant's company while they eat, he isn't so sure he has the restraint to remain in such close contact with him as in a spar.
THE LULLABY
maybe it's a long gray game, but maybe that's a good thing
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
"Did you just teach me how to fast-talk?" Ianto wants to know with a sudden golden grin, his arms folding across his chest. "Did you, Remi Taliesin, whose tongue was famously tied into knots once upon a time, teach me, a silver tongued fox, how to fast-talk?" With a musical laugh that seems to melt away all tension, Ianto resists the urge to shove at Remi and instead takes what he can get in the ending of this sparring match.
"Come on, then. We'll get something to eat, and I'll pretend that none of this ever happened." Shifting to rest his staff over his shoulder, he leads the way away from the Drop and back towards the Sidhe Village and the Wishing Wagon.
