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!
what will you do when the vultures come for you, run and hide?
Longnight seemed a world away, but she knew it was happening. Around this time last year she'd been in Torchline, waiting it out with Oliver at the brothel. She'd returned to the place that she'd tried to call home only to find it was ruined, everything was just as drab and broken as when she'd first arrived. So much pain bled through those streets, she'd escaped it in favor of icier roads.
But had she left her friends behind to die?
She thought of them now as she neared the firling, bundled up as though that would keep out the cold that radiated from her heart. They tree was so sweet, twinkling and swaying eagerly in the breeze. It almost calmed the sizzling ice that prickled her skin, but not quite. At least she'd recovered from that awful sickness, she kept telling herself. It could be, and was, worse. Mixed with the fretting over her loved ones in the grounds, this did not quite ease her mind.
The tree giggled, as if something funny was said. If only they knew all the anxiety she felt, but all they knew was sway and laugh. Might be nice.
There's an art to life's distraction, to somehow escape the burning wait, the art of scraping through
She should be more focused. On a lot of things, honestly. Hester’s been dragging feet and hooves both on her task from Ludo, though she has a convenient excuse for why she hasn’t made more progress on it. Neither the Herald of Life or the Herald of the Stars are particularly revered in Halo, at least not to the point where whole places are dedicated to them. She has to wait.
There’s a frantic, nervous energy that seems to have infected Halo, worry obvious in nearly everyone she passes, despite the relative warmth in Snowcloak, the Warden’s creation working wonderfully. Even still, Hester is shifted into her woolier shape, staving off the last of the cold with a thick coat.
The tree growing in the center of town is old news by this point, but more exciting is a woman she absolutely recognizes. With a loud bleat, Hester starts to run, little hooves clacking on the ice and stone, her head lowering as if she means to topple Aisha over, stopping at the last moment and looking up at the other woman (and unknown fellow attuned).
hold me close smother me, my little dracula wrap your arms around me
Aisha, unlike some woollier folk, was staving off no cold at all. Even the sheepskin coat she wore, so kindly made by Henry, was so ironically useless now. Perhaps it was the chill that'd slowed down her reflexes, but when she heard the nearing clicking and clacking, she turned almost too late.
She likely would've been bowled over, but the sheep halted before her. She stared down at the thing through a mess of curls almost similar to it's own fleece, peering past the strands at the newcomer. It came with no shepherd or herd to follow, and so Aisha assumed she was dealing with an attuned. A smile came to her reddened lips, and swiftly her body shifted and morphed into a smaller skin.
The dark leathery wings broke free with a fluttering, she flew up a few feet the swooped back down to hover above the sheep. Like this she was quick, and like this, with no words or explanations, she could try to forget the world away from the citadel.
There's an art to life's distraction, to somehow escape the burning wait, the art of scraping through
Four hooves stomp in a discordant, excited beat, a simple joie de vivre overtaking the attuned for a short moment. It’s rare to see new faces here, rarer still to see new faces she knows, especially in Deepfrost. And that joy only grows as the other woman shifts into a winged and fuzzy shape.
I forgot you were attuned! Hester has been more than prepared to shed her wool for a more human shape, was glad that she didn’t have to. Snowcloak may be shielded from the worst of the cold, the winds that could turn skin to ice in moments, but that didn’t mean it was warm. With a bleat, and the clacking my of hooves, Hester kicks out, and begins to clack down the street, along paths that are so familiar she may as well have forged them. Its good to see you.
03-26-2021, 09:50 PM (This post was last modified: 03-26-2021, 09:51 PM by Aisha.)
hold me close smother me, my little dracula wrap your arms around me
The firling wasn't the only thing that provided a joyous aura. Jubilance emits from the sheep with every breath, the clicking of hooves a welcome tune. In the bat's body, she can hear a voice, one she recognizes and only becomes more heartened because of it. Hester! It'd been a while since she'd seen the Halovian, last they'd met Aisha was still a grounder. It felt like she'd been here, cast in the icy realm far longer than that, but it humbled her to remember.
The flying fox swooped around the sheep's fro, nipping at her twisting horns playfully. She followed Hester down the streets, away from the giggling trees, ignoring the cold that kept trying to squeeze the enjoyment out of everything. I live here now, joined the Shields, she replied, flapping quickly against a brisk gust. What've you been up to?
There's an art to life's distraction, to somehow escape the burning wait, the art of scraping through
You moved here? Hester supposes it makes sense that she hasn’t heard, her own season has been busy, but even still there’s a flush of embarrassment that sparks through the bond, quickly followed by a warm burst of welcome. She takes a sudden turn, a rather different destination in mind with this newfound knowledge.
I’ve been working on my quest for Ludo. It’s been... kind of slow though. Sheepishness (Ha) enters her silent voice now, her horned head twisting back and forth in the closest approximation to a shrug she could manage. I’ll get back to it after Deepfrost though.
Stopping in front of a large, warmly lit house, Hester shifts back into herself. From within there’s the sound of voices, of children shrieking and playing and adults talking and sharing stories. ”You have to come in for dinner.” She insists, already pushing the door open and giving Aisha no time to disagree. ”My older brother is in the Shields too, and my da was. They’ll be so glad to meet you.” Theres no hint of a lie in Hester’s voice, in fact she’s proven more than correct as her entire extended family gathered inside the house proves to be nothing but warm and welcoming to Aisha.
