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!
Mabel walked, and walked, and walked. Like a ghost, like a specter, like a wraith, all willowy limbs and unearthly conjectures. Maybe she was a phantom, resurrected and brought back to life for a second time by their brightened Goddess, by sparks and electricity, by pieces and pockets of hard-driven flesh and ambitions.
But she remembered so very little, and it was like running on a tightrope; falling off the side at any given moment. Maybe that was why she only had eyes for the void, for the world didn’t matter to her now, not really, not in these seconds, slipping from portals, into known ramparts, into fortifications and ruins she’d known since her birth. Born and born again; to dust, to ash, to ruin, to seabeds, to nothingness, and then snow laden across her feet.
She didn’t feel. She didn’t care.
She only looked for her sister – a call across sibling, twin bonds, a sharpening knife wrapped around her cold, dead, sinister heart. She only glanced for Evelyn, into the skies, into the air, where she might’ve been coaxing, enticing, laughing.
Like they’d played in Temples, like they’d marred in places of worship.
But when she asked, when she hissed, no one had an answer.
And so she kept going, going, going, until the familiar gave way to strangeness again, fertile fields buried beneath snippets of snow, mounds buried beneath more hills and outcrops, and she stared into the expanse – wide-eyed, and suddenly, painstakingly alone. “Evelyn?” She called along the shadowed dusk, the unwinding world – as if her second half could call back in return, as if there’d be an answer.
What with everything going on, Henry hadn't much of a chance to explore the Wilds. Until now. He'd decided that, instead of using the portals to get to Torchline, he'd fly across the Wilds in his shift. Maybe he'd explore a little, see what there was, but he had no intention of really getting down into the tangles of the unknown. It was snowed over in this area, the eagle taking a particular interest in the giant hills that lay in the distance up ahead.
His resolve not to explore too deeply was dashed by a figure that he spotted down among the snowy grounds, casting a long shadow against the dusk. At first, he merely swung back and followed her, allowing space to span between them so that he wasn't hovering. At first, he thought to cry out to her, to alert her of his presence, to let her know that she was not alone - but, he was curious to see what she was doing.
It soon became apparent to Henry that this girl was looking for somebody. Had they become separated in the vast, new wilderness? Perhaps he could help, given his eagle vision and all. His wings beat against the frigid air so that he could soar ahead of her, circling down to land on a tree branch in front of her with a grace that surprised him. He squawked; a sharp, loud mark of greeting. He wasn't sure, however, if this girl was very friendly, so he remained in the tree. He tilted his head, bird-like, and then suddenly the shift fell away into a man.
Henry used his hands to steady himself on the branch he sat upon, dressed in a sheepskin jacket and a pack slung around his shoulders. The tree swayed slightly with the sudden extra weight, but it was stable enough to support him.
"Hey! Are you alright?" His head still tilted to incline toward her, brows furrowing.
Nothing coiled from the pathways, from the unknown, from the length of snow. An absent-minded, stark void, a world she might have been absorbed within, indifferent to the cold, to the thin clothing upon her back, to the bare feet lodged deeper into the traces. So she walked further, making a trail behind her, somewhere she could return to when she’d ventured enough. She wouldn’t tire. It was just when she’d give in. Give up. Realize Evelyn wasn’t here. Then try somewhere else. Rinse. Repeat. An endless, eternal cycle; driven, driven, driven by the clarity of twin bonds, of the only thing she had left.
Had.
She dismissed the squawk in the tree – had no time for birds, for dusk beacons other than her own.
Only when the raptor shifted entirely into a man did she pause, flicking her harsh gaze upward to the wayward shadows, her senses pinpointed straight upon him. Attuned. In another time, when she’d been a bit stronger, fiercer, not ground away by figments of death, she’d tried her hand at knocking them asunder. Would have done it now, instantly, without any damned piece of regret, if she were armed properly.
Instead, she was fangs in the moonlight. Bared and malicious - reborn - treading in the paths of resurrection.
The youth seemed smart enough to not come down from his bough, and so she continued to stare, a menacing, lithe figure, hoping her eldritch, eerie countenance would make him leave. It seemed to herald the opposite, and she fought off a snarl. “Yes,” she growled instead, and then marched on.
01-06-2021, 10:08 PM (This post was last modified: 01-06-2021, 10:09 PM by Henry.)
sacrifice what you are for what you can become
Her regard for him was transparent; he could see the malice in her eyes and the subtle threat of fangs beneath her lips. But she otherwise came into this place completely unarmed; even her clothes were a sorry excuse for protection. Henry's face contorted as he attempted to understand what was going on here, what she was doing.
Well, you're a bad liar, he thought sarcastically.
Her prowess nor her answer would lend to what she hoped they would achieve. She walked on, anyway, and that was a bit more difficult of her. Henry had two choices. Put himself in harm's way or take her at face-value and fly away. His eyes narrowed thoughtfully as the sound of her footfalls began to quiet with the distance she placed between them.
After a moment, he grappled down from the branch and swung down to the ground. His boots hit the ground suddenly and with a heavy thump, weighed down by his backpack. "H-hey, wait a second!" He attempted to catch up to her, though - upon nearing - he slowed and intended to keep a safe distance from her. The fact that Ascended could move very fast did sprout into his conscious thoughts from somewhere in the back of his mind.
"You're looking for someone," he blurted out, dark blue eyes seeking to meet hers. Although, he hesitated. That became evident in his voice as the confidence in it faltered, "Aren't you? I heard you call someone's name..." He took another step toward her, "let me help you."
Indifference poised aloft through her shoulders, as she bent like a willow, as she moved like a ghost, onward, onward, onward, with little forethought. Her plans were simple and concise: find her sister, damn the rest. All she needed was an inkling, a tracing, a notion of where her twin could be, and everything else could fall into place – why she’d been brought back. Why she’d eternally follow the Voice and her inklings, her motives, her plots. It wouldn’t take much to push her over those edges. Nothing, really.
The fool flickered down from his bough and she strived to ignore him, chin raised, defiant, seditious, ice-blue eyes staring over the vast mounds of snow, continuing on her poignant, haunting strides. She’d wait for no one, especially some nosey Attuned.
She watched him though, from the corner of her eyes, like a predator, despite nothing arming her soul but the fangs nestled behind her lips. “I am.” He’d maintained some level of brain power, which was more than she could say for the great lot of them. But then she ceased movement altogether, stopping in her mindless wandering, in her tracks – narrowing her eyes suspiciously as her head whipped back around to face him. “Why?”
01-07-2021, 03:51 AM (This post was last modified: 01-07-2021, 03:52 AM by Henry.)
sacrifice what you are for what you can become
Henry paused when she stopped, allowing several feet to span between them, his gaze travelling over her figure. She was tense with some hidden trouble he didn't know about, some secret tribulation that pulled her to the edges of civilization.
He was giving her a wide berth, the kind you might give a dangerous animal. Not that he considered her to be such because of her race. Merely because of her demeanor. Something about her felt threatening, even though she did not pull a knife on him or turn to threaten his safety. Even when she only demanded to know why he wanted to help, he remained rigid, a shadow against the canopy of hills and their scattered trees.
"That's a fair question," he swallowed, eyes moving back up to her suspicious expression. He found her face to be beautiful, in a rather deadly way. His hands, splayed, were presented in an attempt to appease her, to show that he was of no threat. "I don't have any ulterior motives, if that's what you mean. I just want to help if and where I can," his words resolved as he spoke, considering that he spoke truthfully.
He lowered his arms and tipped his head down to ask gently, "Who are you looking for?" If he had more information, that'd be a lot better than shooting into the dark; it'd help him help her.
His distance set her at ease, not because of the space between, but what it implied. Fear? Apprehension? Distaste? Omens? Good; she wanted the earth afraid of her. She wanted the world to see her coming and reel away. She wanted to become something that shook and shattered the rest of the remnants – even though, for right now, she was a mere figment. A fragment, newly reborn, newly resurrected, a renewal sharpening over her senses. There would come a time where she could be a terror, an onslaught, a deceitful, duplicitous, malicious little beast. Right now she wasn’t, but maybe it wouldn’t take long.
She had other things to tend to anyway.
Her eyes sharpened, watching as he swallowed, going to flesh and skin along his throat. The appeasement might’ve made her laugh, though the sound would’ve a hollow rasp, in the way she held herself. Why would you want to help? segmented through her mind. There’d be nothing in it for him. No gains. No rewards. Perhaps he was one of these do-gooders, turning their livelihoods upside down for others. Mabel nearly scoffed. She fought off a sneer too, a snarl threatening to rise over fangs and hackles, like some wild, untamed thing. Perhaps she was.
“My sister,” she responded instead, a grate, a sibilance, a hiss. She could use him for that at least. “We’re twins.” Then she turned, as if this was a suitable explanation – both lissome, willowy figures, both having once chosen to slide into the Voice’s wake. Mabel had again. But what about Evelyn? “I didn’t see her at our farmhouse.” And then she continued her march, bare feet pressing once more into the snow, afraid that if she remained still for long the chance, the opportunity, might billow away.
01-11-2021, 06:43 AM (This post was last modified: 01-11-2021, 06:43 AM by Henry.)
sacrifice what you are for what you can become
Henry's expression remained concerned, especially when he regarded her bare feet. Still, he reminded himself that she was an Ascended - she didn't need to worry about keeping her body warm because it operated differently. It was still a bit jarring, though...
He followed after her, his feet taking long strides in an attempt to close a bit more of the distance between them - but not all of it. "Twins, okay... that definitely simplifies things. So, a tall girl with light brown hair - oh! And looks that can kill. Got it," he offered a humorous smile, should she look back at him. More seriously, he added, "I'll take to the air and see if I can find anyone. I'll be back in a bit, okay? Not gonna abandon you or anything, so... don't worry!"
At that, he turned and lifted into the air, shedding his human form for something more aerodynamic. His wings, spanning several feet, mounted the winds that blew across the hills, letting them take him with them for a short time. Then, with a monstrous flap, he veered off into the distance.
Now, Henry was a hard worker. He was extremely thorough when he set his mind to something, an ethic instilled into him by his rather strict father. Working the farm, he had to be dedicated... or it would never work. It had panged him for a moment when the Ascended girl said she had a farmhouse... but Henry didn't know of many other farms that were successful in the Grounds. His thoughts were pushed to the side, though, in favor of rescuing this missing sister of hers.
Only... Henry didn't find any sign of human life out in the fields, even when he soared so low to the ground that he nearly collided with it. As he crossed back over the valley, he passed by one of the giant, grassy pillars that stood at the center of it. He paused in the air, wings accomodating for this, looking about at the strange...thing. After a few moments, an ominous feeling made his feathers rise.
Henry returned. He eventually found the Ascended, realizing she had covered a considerable amount of ground more than he'd thought she would. He cried out to her with the eagle's voice as he lowered himself towards the ground; a fair bit of warning. His wings buffeted and eventually he slowed down, passing her by a few feet before landing.
Returning to his natural form, he got to his feet, burning breath heaving from his lungs. "I um... I'm sorry," his brows were furrowed as he looked up at her. "I looked everywhere around here. There's no sign that anyone was here... at least, not recently." He scratched the back of his head, {slightly} ignoring the feeling in his stomach that told him this was kind of weird and suspicious. "Do you-do you think she might've gone further in?" He gestured vaguely towards the rest of the Wilds.
Mabel likely would never quite understand those of his ilk; caring and compassionate, benevolent and altruistic. She had been amongst the proper range of heroic facets once, before everything else had been consumed, and then she had worked to dig herself out of each and every hole. Even then it hadn’t truly worked – and she’d been witness to far more strife, far more agony, far more machinations – and it’d marred, ruined, punctured into her system with little fanfare. Most of the empathy and concern was gone now, fleeting, tucking it away for a scarce few. She couldn’t imagine she’d do anything like this Attuned figure now, going out of her way to proffer and extend assistance.
She ignored the fact that she’d done the same for Aamu, and cloaked, masked, the weight of her indifference. Maybe it was dissimilar because of Ascended ties; the Old Gods had hissed and thrown them aside. Just like this one – he’d eventually do the same to them.
And wouldn’t it be fitting then, when the world came down around their heads?
She only gave him a nod as he raced through a semblance of phrases. Mabel wasn’t worried. At least, not for herself, or for abandonment. The latter came naturally; one by one by one as her family died despite their warnings, despite their other opportunities. All she had left was Evelyn. The concern would be for her sister, and her alone.
By the time the birdman had returned, the youth had already stalked the vestiges of a field, tucking her way into bramble and thorns, ignoring the slash of nettles across her flesh, paying no heed to whatever pain would’ve once been there. Her eyes had been on the messes of dried reeds and fallen grass, to the potential of footfalls or other tracings – glancing towards canopies, where her twin’s gravity works could’ve landed her.
Nothing.
All of it seemed to be for naught, as the youth descended and shifted (she fought off an eyeroll, a hiss), and the apologies were extended. No signs or traces, and she swallowed down the bits of emotion flickering over her throat. Evelyn could still be out there. That little segment of hope would keep her going. “I don’t know.” And that was the truth of it. She didn’t know. Would she scourge the continent for her sibling? Absolutely. Would she be able to do all of that this evening? No. Instead, her eyes narrowed, not in suspicion, but in thought, restless, irritated. “What else did you see?” She knew nothing about this land – had been born behind the barrier, and had been dead when these Wild adornments were opened.
01-12-2021, 03:58 AM (This post was last modified: 01-12-2021, 04:09 AM by Henry.)
sacrifice what you are for what you can become
He almost shook his head, leaning it one way, then he stopped short. "Okay... Well, those hills in particular.." he turned and pointed out at the giant monuments of grass and snow, "I don't know if they've got anything to do with your sister, but, something seems... off about them, don't you think?"
Henry took notice, not only of the dislike that seemed to permanently rest in her expression whenever she looked at him, but of the cuts along her skin. Clear liquid was seeping from them. "Hey, you're... um- you're-" his eyes were locked onto the small abrasions along her legs. He lifted them to her dark gaze, understanding that Ascended didn't necessarily have to worry about injuries in the same way that the rest of them did. But, he was sure it was still important not to lose too much of their... fluid. Right?
Something occurred to Henry, then. She wasn't following clues or a trail. She was going in blind, and desperate, and there was potentially no hope of finding anyone out here at all...
"Hey, um... When and where is the last time you did see her? Your twin?" The question was posed with careful tact or, at least, as much as he could give.
“Off.” Her eyes turned towards the aforementioned hills, the quirk of her brow arching, lilting, staring out over the horizon. “In what way?” Mountains of monuments – something buried, lurking underneath? Out of indifference, she wandered in that direction too, closer and closer, the cold not touching her bones, the chill not rankling her sides. Alive and ethereal and otherworldly, touches and scorches of disaster and ruin; maybe more of the mayhem the Voice wanted but never told to the earth. Just scattered her components her people, her lifelines, over the void and watched them flicker into the light.
At his notice of the fluid bleeding out from her skin, she glanced down, then shrugged. “It’s fine.” She could replenish them later. Or wait.
But when did she ever wait?
Nor could she fathom why he’d been worried, not when she wasn’t. Not when there were a hundred other things to nestle within instead of the nettles and thorns. Not when Evelyn was out there somewhere, maybe, and the only figments she had going for her were damned hills rising out of the ground. And even then, they seemed like paltry, trivial measures.
Then Mabel went very, very rigid at the next question. It was like something, someone, had pulled at her spine and contorted the mechanics into straight lines. Memories not so vivid, some washed and varnished away; throwing things at Old God worshippers within the Temple, then going to Torchline to help.
To die.
She didn’t turn towards him, but continued walking, pushing sentiments down, down, down; a fluttering, rising panic beginning in her chest. “Before I went to Torchline and got swept out to sea. In the Grounds. The Temple.” Her head shook and she bit down, a clenched jaw, palms curling into fists at her sides. “But I already looked there.”
So she went towards the monoliths, and Henry went after her, confusion and intrigue and Mabel's lack of transparency bringing him to an utter loss. Rather than deter him, however, it only made him yearn for more answers. He wanted to help, was determined to.
"Do they seem natural to you?" He asked dubiously, striding alongside her with a skeptical raise of his browline. This time, there was little space between them but for some elbow room. At her dismissiveness regarding her injuries, Henry let out a frustrated sigh. "I get it. You're an Ascended. Just-" he made a point to drop the edge in his voice and brought a hand up to scratch the back of his head, "try to be more careful, okay? You're no good to... anyone.. if you don't take care of yourself."
Henry didn't know why he cared about people so much, even people who were bristly and might bite his head off should he say something that rubs them the wrong way. Built into him, instilled in him from a young age, among other reasons. He supposed it was some strange way to sate his own desire to live dangerously; maybe if he surrounded himself with dangerous people, danger itself would eventually come with them. What he'd do then, he didn't really know, but the prospect alone spurred him on.
So when the girl froze, though not from the cold, he paused. Hesitation lingered in his expression at first. He swallowed and resolved it, however, waiting for her answer more expectantly then.
It hardly helped place any missing pieces, nor did any of it indicate that her twin's trail might lead... to the Wilds, of all places. His brow pinched. "Listen, I understand you need to find her," Henry began, asserting himself to stand in front of her and block her from continuing on this fruitless rampage. Although, he was hardly trying to intimidate, merely make her stop long enough to think. His gaze searched hers, pleading for her to listen and not to erupt on him right then and there, "but if the last place you saw her was the Grounds and she's not there, going out into the wilderness that just... appeared.. isn't going to give you any answers. You need to find people who might know what happened to her, or where she went.. maybe... the Voice would know."
He tilted his head after a moment, thinking about something she'd said. 'Swept out to sea'. What did that mean, why had she stopped her tale there? He asked, "How long ago did that happen? I mean, when exactly did you last see her?"
“Maybe they’re burial mounds. Maybe they’re monsters lurking underneath.” She shrugged off both; uncertain whether she should care or not. Her heart wasn’t into tampering with them – mere investigation for her sister reigning supreme, and even now, the notions of Evelyn being here were dim. Her steps remained light, airy, vestiges of phantoms though, pressing into the snow, the sullen reticence gliding into her path, into her ether, a scowl marking its way through her brows at his next proclamation. “I’m not here for anyone else.” Which may or may not have been true – but it was for the moment.
She didn’t care. She couldn’t.
The notion of no one being left for her to be good for them cut and slash deep, and her fists clenched. There was half a semblance, a thought, to beat the man beside her bloody, until she didn’t feel so empty, until the hollowed figments weren’t like wandering vessels, and she wasn’t a piece of maneuvering abominations.
For the moment she simply walked, walked, and walked, like she could’ve until she’d reached the ends of the earth. Until she was forced to cease, to desist, when he crossed into her path – and her predacious eyes narrowed, a snarl fixed on her mouth. She didn’t want to think. She didn’t want to linger in the spaces of those possibilities. A hiss threatened through her lips, and only stilled when a chord in his phrases cut through her – a tilting of her head followed, thoughts striving over the melancholy. “What do you mean, just appeared? For how long?” Timelines might have had no concept now, but she knew when she’d been sent out across the waves. “Longheat. I died in Longheat.” Nonchalant in the platitudes, in the tone, in the speech. Last times and opportunities, gone in a flash, and then the fragmented portions of nothingness, set adrift until the sun scorched and the currents mauled, tossed, and ensured a slow, slow damnation.
Henry's lips sealed into a taut, frustrated line. Fine, she didn't have much interest in entertaining the giant hills, that wasn't a problem as far as he was concerned. Well.. why ask if you don't care, but all the same, it didn't particularly matter much to him either. Like he said, he'd seen no sign of anyone. If her twin sister was there, she was lying in a hole somewhere, dead. Not that he would be the one to say that out loud. It was the fact that she was being purposefully difficult, purposefully lying not to him but to herself, that was the frustrating part. He cooled himself, though, recognizing that she was clearly going through something - even if he didn't know what that was entirely. "We both know that's not true," he remarked, a bit stubbornly, "so my point still stands."
Otherwise, he'd let it go. He wasn't going to argue with her about whether or not she should give a damn about herself, for one reason or another. At least he was there to help even if she didn't want him to. A part of him, though, almost didn't trust her should he leave her on her own. She wasn't being sensible on any fronts, so he moved to stop her in her tracks. Narrowed eyes and a threat on her countenance did little to make him desist. It only prompted his tone to be more clear and purposed, giving her less of a chance to argue.
It worked! Or, at least, partly. Because suddenly the hiss on her lips was gone, replaced by a question. So maybe he was finally beginning to pull her out of this fog she was in. Good. She wouldn't be able to figure anything out if she was in a blind... er, rage. Henry was decent at being tactful, simple man as he was, so for the moment he was confident that he could do this without totally derailing her or getting socked in the face.
"The storms..." Henry's expression was incredulous. Hadn't she seen them? If she lived here... "that were right here? They covered all of this. No one could get through. They stopped at the end of Leafchange...and then all of this just... appeared, like I said."
And then she said that she had died and that threw Henry for quite a loop, a loop that ran his blood a little colder. His brows furrowed, chin tilted, his lips opened up in question, but he didn't really know what he was trying to ask. So, dumbly, he just said, "You mean you Ascended?" Because, surely, she wasn't dead and he wasn't seeing a ghost right now. Surely. Another possibility crossed his mind suddenly and he added, "Are you an Outlander?"
