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!
Back in the Grounds, like he’d never really left. Great.
At least he gets to feel a little bit like he’s in control again. Walls had been his idea to start, and now it was back in his hands. Some smug part of him want to gloat, but the rest of him is just bitter and irritated, and that wins. In stark defiance of the Deepfrost snow Nate is dressed exactly as he would be for an evening in Torchline, borrowed shorts and a mostly open shirt. Boots, if only because it’s more comfortable.
Neron’s been collected from the bar, Nate’s arm on the others shoulder as much as the other man will let him. They’re wandering vaguely in the direction of the of the Monster Hunters guild, Nate intending to work on their main battleground before figuring out the maze the will funnel monsters towards them.
”Which do you think is sturdier, more rock, or more ice?”
I’m in trouble for the things I haven’t got to yet
Neron absolutely allows it, the Hailstorm walking in stride with his fellow Ascended. They are a study in opposites, Nate dressed for Torchline and Neron in his customary black, his thick coat and leather gloves telling of much colder climes. It's true that they feel neither hot nor cold, but it's the fitting in that counts. You know, unless you're Nate. Still, he goes wherever the other man leads him, having never been to the Hollowed Grounds before.
"Depends on the situation," he says in response to the other man. "For here and now? I'd say ice. Deepfrost will be on our side, and I can always make the ice block-shaped if you insist on bricks." He grins. "It's also a magic I have at my fingertips. I don't know about you, but I don't feel like lifting rocks."
”Ice makes sense.” Nate agrees easily, pushing off of Neron and stepping in front of him, turning as he moved. ”I’m not going to insist on anything, but unless you can share I think I’m still gonna be moving rocks.” Theres the shadow of a grin on the doctors face, growing when he reaches out to tap Neron’s chin.
He stops in front of an open road, arms spreading out to gesture at the expanse. ”Let’s start here then, huh?” Though he makes no move to do anything of the sort, instead watching Neron curiously, his head cocked in a lazy focus.
I’m in trouble for the things I haven’t got to yet
Neron resists the urge to snap his teeth at the hand that comes to tap at his chin, instead gracing Nate with a predator's smile. "I'm not able to share," he confesses. "My magic is my own. But luckily for you, I do have some water magic in reserve." Winking, he spreads his hands, as if inviting Nate to make the job easier for himself, if that's what he wants to do
Glancing over his shoulder at the road, it's with a narrowed focus and a raising of his hand that ice erupts from the ground in jagged, chaotic barbs - Neron can smooth them down if he needs to, but as barriers go it will prove quite formidable as is. Providing it's only for monsters, of course - it could easily keep the Ascended from escape, too.
”What a shame.” Nate murmurs, letting his fingers linger just a touch longer, wondering just how sharp the smile on the others face can get. He’d started this day expecting to have to work though, to be told that he can’t partake in something he hasn’t expected is no skin off his teeth. ”Here I was thinking you were just going to watch me flex.” He makes a show of considering the offer, of stepping forward, when Neron glances back, and his focus is stolen.
A low whistle leaves Nate at the barrier that erupts to span the road, somehow larger than anything he’d expected. ”Well that was a hell of a lot easier than anything I could manage.” Still though, there’s a single, immediately glaring flaw. ”Do you think... maybe some part of it could be made thin enough to break through, if we need? Like an emergency exit?” He had no plans of dying, after all, and however he could cover his own ass, he would. And if those measures helped everyone else too, well, call it a bonus.
I’m in trouble for the things I haven’t got to yet
"I can watch you flex if you really want me to. Would it help your self esteem if I did?" Neron asks with a smirk, though he is admittedly a little distracted by the wall of ice he's bringing to rise just behind Nate. "Oh, I'm sure you'd manage this just fine, it would just take you a little longer is all," he assures the other man, clapping him on the shoulder and stepping around him so he can do to inspect the wall.
Upon appraising his creation and bolstering it here and there, Neron feels like it might be better to leave it craggy - more likelihood of monsters catching themselves upon it, is his thinking. Though, who knows if the monsters even have bodies with which to impale themselves. They're about to find out for sure.
"Mm?" he turns to glance back at Nate, nodding slowly at his suggestion and reaching out to thin the ice in an area just next to his feet - a sort of crawl space, in truth. "The only problem with an emergency exit is that it goes both ways - it might be an emergency entrance for them, if we aren't careful. You willing to take the risk?"
”I like to captivate my audience, not keep them captive.” His pride wounded but not defeated, Nate moves right along, literally and figuratively. Following after Neron and letting out a low whistle, looking over the wall. ”Do you think you could make it uh... smoother? Near the bottom?” Harder to climb, is the thought.
”I’m barely willing to show up to this.” Nate admits, not bothering to hide the frustration in his voice. ”But if this helps just one of us escape when we need it, I’m willing to to risk it.”
With that sobering thought aired, Nate hurried along to the next street they’re blocking off, immediately moving two large bits of rubble to mark out a narrow point in the centre. ”I’ll borrow that magic now, if you don’t mind.” A hand comes up to receive Neron’s, so long as his fellow ascended is still alright with the transaction.
I’m in trouble for the things I haven’t got to yet
"Hmm...? Of course," Neron says, strolling through the snow to the beginning of his ice wall. Laying his hand against the surface, he adds a more smooth layer of ice to the construct as he meanders along; any who wish to instantly climb the wall will be faced with nothing but sheer, sleek cold. With that done, he follows after Nate to the next street that he wants to block off, his hands tucked into the pockets of his coat.
Which is precisely when, of course, his fellow soon-to-be-hybrid asks to borrow the water magic he's got stored back. "But of course," he says, withdrawing a hand and tugging up the sleeve to expose his wrist, before surrendering it to Nate. "Be gentle, won't you?" He smiles crookedly, knowing already what lies in store.
What he doesn't know, of course, is how pleasure is doubled between Ascended. Live and learn.
02-14-2021, 07:07 AM (This post was last modified: 02-14-2021, 07:09 AM by Nate.)
– NATE –
”I’m never anything else.” Comes the absolutely untrue reassurance, Nate offering a smile as thanks and wrapping his hand around Neron’s wrist, doing what he can to keep this professional. He’s done it before, after all, knows it’s possible, and yet...
Nate supposes he should expect the jolt of electricity that comes with the bite, supposes he should remember the all consuming sensation from the brief period of time where his ascension and his relationship with Sam had overlapped, but somehow it catches him utterly off guard, a rumble sounding deep in his chest as he leans in just a touch closer, the hand not wrapped around Neron’s wrist lifting to fist in the front of his coat instead, holding him still.
Pulling away with a gasp, Nate takes a moment to collect himself. To file this away in the back of his head as something that needs repeating. It takes him longer to realize his hands are still on Neron, to draw them back. ”Are you alright?” It leaves him almost automatically, while he turns away to face the open road, calling forth a thick ice wall, no less formidable than Neron’s had been, but somewhat rougher around the edges, and around the place he’d marked out as the entrance.
It’s a shame that this is all he can take, the stolen magic fading so quickly. Perhaps that’s a boon, giving him the space to once again think clearly as they move on, Nate focusing solely on the heavy lifting, and letting Neron take care of the ice.
I’m in trouble for the things I haven’t got to yet
A jolt of electricity is an understatement - Neron is left reeling as Nate's teeth sink into his wrist, and if he had breath it would have caught in his chest. It's all he can do just to keep his balance, the Hailstorm grasping at the other man's sleeve to stop from falling. And so there they stand, each hanging onto the other to keep standing, to keep their senses in check. And when Nate does step back, Neron has to take a second to come around, raking a hand back through his hair.
"I will be," he replies with a crooked grin, and the next few attempts at an ice wall are admittedly shoddy; work that he has to go back over, such is his distraction. But they manage it, between them, and regardless of anything else, at least there are more defences left over when they finish compared to when they started.
And Neron finds himself hoping more than ever that they live through LongNight. Because he'd also like to give that another try.
