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!
so put your faith in the devil and the deep blue sea put your trust in the light that you cannot see
They remain in the embrace and he hears her out, mimicking Nate in some ways — this vulnerability while hidden away makes it better, makes it easier for him to swallow and understand. And so he listens, hears what she has to say, gives her a gentle squeeze now and then as he mulls over his words. “I’m sorry.” He tells her honestly, of being shut out. But he draws silent as she continues.
“You do matter to me, Mel.” He rumbles, pulling away now as he tries to formulate his words, keeps an arm around her to keep her close to him, trying so desperately to say what he wants to say but unsure of how to say it. “It’s hard for me. I’m… used to having everything get taken away and rather than be fiercely attached I get stuck in a loop of trying to act as though I can control it. I can’t. But I still try to.” He doesn’t even know if that makes sense, but he charges on.
One deep inhale. “Things happen quickly here. If you aren’t home I’ll start sending things to you to keep you updated, how’s that?” An attempt at him trying.
there's a darkness up ahead i will see you where the shadow ends
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.
The honeybee wondered about the weight of apologies – if they were vows to pass on a whimsical, mercurial feat, how much power they held, or if they only mattered when the behavior had changed. If it would remain to be seen, all this discussion, all this talk, of reaching out and ceasing to forget she existed. Her brows furrowed at his explanation, because it didn’t make sense to her. He hadn’t tried anything with her except the shift of pushing away, away, away – which was why she’d felt like a piece of dust, a little speckle of ash, nothing but a form on the tide, cast aloft upon the sea and naught to be bothered with. Even when she’d always been there, right from the beginning, before Nate and Hotaru and Vai and thousands of other stances and stanzas.
Melita had never given up on her family. Not until it was too late and she wasn’t enough, and then there were only figments, memories, songs, about them. And maybe she was afraid that was going to be her too – a cinder fondly remembered, and then forgotten, burnt out when no one noticed.
And it was difficult to watch him become immersed in one stupefying thing after another. To reach out and be tossed. Because then, eventually, she too would cease. She’d drift away. She’d disappear. Not wanted. Not needed. An insipid irritation, a nettle, a thorn, the world, and those she cherished, could easily do away with. “You’re not going to control me,” she whispered, head shaking, wild locks tossed back and forth, pieces and kindling of some other fires. A promise, a warning – she was her own person, with her own choices, her own vices, her own flaws. But they were still family, and she’d attempted to be there. “I only ever wanted to help.” Between those measures of quick, volatile anger, tempestuous edges and flares.
She breathed too, tried to stifle the cinders threatening to burst over her throat. It was a start, and she’d have to take what she could. “Okay.” A swallow, another inhale, exhale. “I asked Ludo for something to deter the ghost whales, so hopefully we can get further this time.”
so put your faith in the devil and the deep blue sea put your trust in the light that you cannot see
“I know.” He rumbles. He knows deep down that he can’t control anything, but that doesn’t keep him from trying. It doesn’t keep him from remembering the room he’d grown up in, pale walls and blankets, the barest of minimums for a family that was the richest in the county. It doesn’t keep him from imagining this home he’s worked so far to get and furnish and live in, get taken from him with a few wrong words. It doesn’t keep him from imagining that everyone he gets close to will die or get taken from him.
So he’s always rathered they decide he wasn’t worth it. That they take that step before he tosses them into his hurricane, into his flood, to never surface again.
He can’t with Melita nor Nate nor Hotaru, nor his friends — like Adam’s chicken scratch handwriting on the notice board, underneath the claims that he’s done nothing. And he should appreciate it all for what it’s worth. But at the end of the day, he’s terrified of losing all of it.
But they reach a compromise, a moment where she’s telling him of the quest from Ludo and his brow raises in interest, head tilting avian-like as he peers at his niece. “What did it ask you to do? Aside from finding the whale bone.” Because at least he’d been there for that one.
there's a darkness up ahead i will see you where the shadow ends
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.
Then show it sizzled behind her teeth. Then prove it seared along her tongue. None of the sparking embers took flight though, save for a deep sigh. These were stepping stones, rather than roadblocks, learning curves for the both of them, and she’d take what miniscule efforts she could. Whether or not it would segment into something would remain to be seen – future events, ramparts, triumphs, conquests, disasters, and ruins – the tides of compulsion and the biting, bickering, bitter unknown.
She tampered down on the currents sliding and clawing within her, containing the storm, the hurricane, as she breathed easier; their impasse and catalyst solidified. More topics, more parameters, and her eyes maneuvered away from the floor and the rest of the void. “Wash it in the Miana Pool, and then leave it overnight at the shrine.” Where it could sit and wait, untouched and untarnished, while the rest of the land partied and set the world ablaze; indifferent to the weights hanging precariously on several fronts. “I’ll go see Ludo again when Flowerbirth is here.”
so put your faith in the devil and the deep blue sea put your trust in the light that you cannot see
He listens to her explain the quest Ludo has put her on. And all things considered? It seems much easier than having to draw blood or… Whatever made those creatures work. And for a moment he’s quietly thankful for the simplicity of it, the straying away from danger that this quest offers her. “That sounds pretty nice actually.” He offers her with a softer smile, releasing her to move into the kitchen.
Once there, the kittens barrage him again, one drifting over to see Melita, and Sunjata begins to prep food for them for their dinner — something quick and easy, where he can continue his idle chatter with his niece, where he can try to keep his mind off of the events that had occurred and the shadows at his back. “I’m glad you’re home, Mel.” He offers near the end of it. Most of all he’s glad she’s safe.
— FIN <333
there's a darkness up ahead i will see you where the shadow ends
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.
