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!
If you see Sunjata again...let him know I'm ready to face him, as soon as he wants.
That's what Remi had said. And whilst it doesn't take long to get Mateo and bring him safely back to Torchline, Ronin has every intention of trying to get ahead on the shitshow he's found himself co-starring in. So he's back at the house carved into the cliffs not long after he left, but this time he's armed and dangerous.
If armed is the same as bringing a bottle of whiskey, and dangerous is the same as bringing a fuckton of food on a tray, stolen from one of the bonfires. He kicks the door rather than knocks, since his hands are full, and when he calls out he hopes Sunjata is anywhere nearby to hear it.
"Hey, Jata! It's Ronin - I brought the homecoming I didn't get a chance to bring you last time!" Also hurry and answer this door because I'm about to drop it all everywhere.
// i had enough, i need your innocence. don't let up. just give me your love give me your release, i need your healing, of your touch, i can take it, i can take the pain //
He isn’t anticipating company. It’s evident in his half dragon half normal form as he’s come accustomed to. It’s easier that way, he finds, to keep the predator out just enough that he hopes it comes off as a warning. There’s a shuffling of wings, of feet, that move toward the door at Ronin’s voice, swallowing hard and opening it to find Ronin alone. But the Star had been alone before, appearing to be at least.
A wing tucks in tight to reveal the rest of the home, to allow Ronin passage before he closes the door and locks it, double checks to make sure it’s locked, before venturing in where Ronin can deposit the items he’s brought. The food stirs something in his gut, the realization he’s been too in his head to remember to eat, and he glances up to Ronin with a similarly hollow gaze as before, but this time not as dead. Still coming to terms, after all. “I didn’t expect you back so soon. What’s all this?” He asks, glancing down to the items Ronin has brought.
it's all for you, for you, for you. it's always been for you
SUNJATA
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.
Sunjata looks like shit, and Ronin isn't remotely surprised. "I promise, it's just me," he says, smiling warmly and juggling the items as he steps inside, having to inch past wings and talons. "Gods, Jata - want to intimidate a guy with no abilities a little more?" he teases, moving to place everything down and shaking the bottle as if to ask if the Flood can fetch glasses.
"This," he says, "is me coming to tell you I'm in Torchline for LongNight. This is also me telling you it's been a long ass time since I had some good Torcher food, and I want you to join me and stop me eating all of it." He takes the cover off the tray to reveal barbecued wings and ribs, baked potatoes and other roasted vegetables, as well as a variety of seafood. Surf and turf at its finest.
// i had enough, i need your innocence. don't let up. just give me your love give me your release, i need your healing, of your touch, i can take it, i can take the pain //
He promises it’s just him, and despite everything that has happened, Sunjata believes Ronin. He visibly relaxes in the slumping of shoulders, the drooping of wings ever so slightly that Ronin’s comment has the edge of a soft smile quirking the corner of his lip. It’s little things, but improvements all the same for now. “Glad it’s working.” He offers, drawing up to a barstool that his wings fit around, he sits at the kitchen bar to peer at what all Ronin has brought. In response to the bottle, he pulls out a drawer (a wine section as it were) stocked with bottles and glasses of all manners, to which he pulls two out of.
He sets them beside the hidden platter of food, watching as he lifts the cover to reveal all the food below. He had missed out last year, and was intending on missing out this year too, but the smell of food hits his senses and it soothes him somewhere within. “I think that’s a fair deal.” He murmurs, forgoing all pretenses of plates and the like, the spear a shrimp with his claw to devour swiftly.
But he nearly choked on it as he goes to swallow it down, Remi’s name on the air having his gaze snap to Ronin. Getting a handle on himself, he swallows and clears his throat, tucking his wings in tight even if he doesn’t realize the portrait of anxiety he’s portraying. “What does he say?” He asks, curious, but his heartbeat thunders in his chest with what it means, his tone edged with a flatness that’s entirely a facade.
it's all for you, for you, for you. it's always been for you
SUNJATA
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.
"Mm, have you considered toning it down a little for around the house? You know... casual intimidation instead of formal?" Ronin grins and slouches down onto a barstool opposite Jata, oOoOoOoing appropriately at the drawer and the glasses. Uncorking the whiskey, he pours them both a generous measure and grabs at a rib to ensure Sunjata doesn't get more than he does (obviously).
He expects a reaction - he even expects this reaction - and so the Star gives Jata as much wordless reassurance as he can. He holds his gaze, and when he speaks his tone is warm and careful. "He says that he's ready to face you, whenever you want." Even if that's right now. Even if it's never. "I think it means that the ball is quite firmly in your court, so... yeah. Whatever is comfortable for you." Raising his rib, he cheerses the Flood before digging in.
"But now I've delivered that message, I'm entirely here to grace you with my wonderful company."
// i had enough, i need your innocence. don't let up. just give me your love give me your release, i need your healing, of your touch, i can take it, i can take the pain //
“This is casual.” He offers, raising a brow to Ronin as if he’s asking the other man if he wished to see the formal intimidation. He spears the shrimp after, however, downing it and nearly choking on it, reaching for the glass as he waits to hear Remi’s words. But his eyes are locked on the Star, feeling the reassurance that he offers, and as the muscles in his jaw feather ever so slightly, he nods, tearing his gaze away to grab the glass and promptly down half of it.
Wincing against the surprising burn of it, he looks back to Ronin. “I’m not sure if it’s better to rip the bandaid off now while it’s still fresh to let it breathe or let it fester.” He offers a bit solemnly, reaching for a rib specifically because that’s where Ronin had gone first, offering the quiet cheers as he mulls it over. “How pleased are the gods going to be to find that you’re here with me and not where you're supposed to be stationed?” He lets the question hang as the alcohol burns on a stomach that hasn’t been filled in some time, diving into the rib with surprising ease.
it's all for you, for you, for you. it's always been for you
SUNJATA
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.
"Is it? Perfect. I'll keep that in mind," Ronin drawls, smirking and choosing not to think about Sunjata's formal intimidation. He isn't sure he wants to be on the receiving end of it, no matter what has happened over the past couple of days to blow the wind out of the Flood's sails. Quickly stripping the meat from the rib, Ronin licks his fingers and grabs a shrimp and a second rib right after, like it's a race. (Is it? Who knows?)
"Rip off the bandaid, Jata," he suggests quietly, giving attention to the food rather than his friend, knowing better than to hone in on the Flood's insecurities more than necessary. "With so much going on in your head already, you can't afford to let anything fester, mm?" He smiles, cleaning off his hands and reaching for his whiskey for another sip.
Ronin smiles around his glass at the mere thought of the gods and their opinions, and he shrugs his shoulders. "It's LongNight. Safrin has already stripped me of all my abilities. One of her favourites is in trouble and I've come to help him. Come FlowerBirth I'll be back at StormBreak - I'll take whatever flack that comes."
// i had enough, i need your innocence. don't let up. just give me your love give me your release, i need your healing, of your touch, i can take it, i can take the pain //
Ronin dives in with a fury that Sunjata is unable to match, but he tries to anyway. The rib is finished and as Ronin grabs a shrimp and a rib, Sunjata’s moved onto the potatoes and the vegetables that are settled alongside the meats, debating whether or not he wants another rib or a bite of shrimp or that glistening filet of what he assumes to be Ahi or something similar. His gaze lifts, however, at the mention of ripping off the bandaid, though, he swallows down the vegetables and nods with a quiet huff of a sigh.
“I think my head is just a big festering hole nowadays.” He offers a bit grimly, reaching to down the rest of the whiskey, sliding the glass over for Ronin to fill again. “But alright.” He begins to think about what day might work best, listening to hear what Ronin has to say of Stormbreak while he spears another shrimp on a claw and downs it.
He says he’ll take whatever flack may come and Sunjata nods to that with a quiet huff of a sigh. “Not sure how much of a favorite I am anymore.” He half rumbles. The amounts of times he’s seen Safrin are small in comparison to Ronin and Amalia. But that’s not all of it. He wants to tell Ronin what he knows of the Order, wants to glean the truths and not, and yet? Yet he can’t afford to shift his mind toward it, as hollow and empty as it feels.
“Will you be here when Remi comes?” He asks abruptly, albeit quietly, as he stares at the spread of food and spears another shrimp.
it's all for you, for you, for you. it's always been for you
SUNJATA
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.
Ronin is unstoppable when it comes to food, something which Sunjata will undoubtedly already know - he's still sucking on a rib bone while he tries to crack open a lobster claw, glancing up only when his friend speaks. "At 'east t's a 'retty 'esterin' 'ole," he says around the bone, finishing with the lobster claw and taking the rib from between his teeth so he can dig in further. "Deal with the little things, one at a time. You got so much on, if you try to deal with it all, you'll go mad." The words are punctuated by Ronin waving around the lobster claw, of course.
"You're still probably more of a favourite than I am," he points out with a dark laugh, reaching out to refill Sunjata's glass (and his own), and raising it in another cheers. The question about his being there comes out of the blue, though Ronin takes it in his stride - he only pauses to swallow. "If you want me to be here, then I will be here," he says simply. "Would you like me there?"
// i had enough, i need your innocence. don't let up. just give me your love give me your release, i need your healing, of your touch, i can take it, i can take the pain //
The way Ronin speaks around the bone in his mouth does manage to spark an edge of a smile on Sunjata’s face, one that breaks through the darkness of it all. “Thanks.” He half mutters, half mumbles as he focuses on the food before them and the talk of festering wounds both mentally and physically. “Some would say I already have.” He says this as he downs the shrimp and moves to snag the ahi, breaking into the flaky fish with some hidden spark of gusto.
“I find that hard to believe. I hardly speak to her.” Though he supposes that might be what keeps him on her good side, given everything that Ronin has gone through. But there’s a filled glass of whiskey and Sunjata abandons everything else to grab it, a slightly less cheerful cheers given from the Flood to Star in return. The admission is a quiet one, one that’s abrupt and not following the thought pattern at all that he assumes Ronin’s mind is (he presumes it’s all over the food), but his gaze lifts as he sets the glass down after taking a drink, to spy his friend.
He’s silent for a moment, his adam’s apple bobbing as he swallows before nodding and picking the bones out of the Ahi. “Yes.” He says quietly, before his head is tilting slightly, wings ruffling a bit. “No dream magic. Or if it is, please tell me.” He sighs, stabbing the ahi by accident, a loosened leash of his tempered frustration.
it's all for you, for you, for you. it's always been for you
SUNJATA
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.
"Well, if you already have, you're in damned good company," Ronin tells his friend with a flash of a smile. "With the shit you've been through, I'd say you were mad if you hadn't been affected by it. That goes for the two of us." Reaching across, he clacks the lobster claw against Sunjata's dragon claws, gracing him with an obnoxious smile for his trouble. Once he's finished with the lobster he moves onto a third rib and some vegetables, sipping whiskey in between without nearly as much need for the alcohol as the Flood.
"I think you should speak to her." Surprising for him to say, perhaps, given his circumstances. "Sure as hell you're playing with fire, but that's the case with all the gods, New or Old. Safrin has her ways... and I think you'll do more harm than good by avoiding it." Ronin reaches out again, this time with his glass so he can clink it against Sunjata's.
It doesn't look as though much can bring him down right now, but the request about dream magic? That'll do it. Ronin winces and nods. "Of course," he says. "I might not be able to stop it, but I can tell you."
// i had enough, i need your innocence. don't let up. just give me your love give me your release, i need your healing, of your touch, i can take it, i can take the pain //
“I suppose.” He agrees tentatively, content to stay in his little bubble, letting Ronin’s cheerfulness chip away at his sorrows. The Star has always been good at that in the way nobody else has been for him, joking and jesting and trying to bring the good mood out of those that need it. The clack of a lobster claw against his own does it this time, sparking a slight snort to leave him as he shakes his head. If he was in a better mood, he might have even snatched the claw from the Star in an effort for a playful brawl.
But he isn’t, though he is feeling a bit better. The claws shift away to his fingers and the armor plating along his neck and shoulders begin to disappear, to smooth white fur tinted blue. “I’m not sure it wise to speak with her until I’ve finished the quest she’s given Torchline.” He murmurs thoughtfully, shrugging his shoulders. “And I’m not typically one to see her for chats alone. A apology, perhaps? I want to find out what happened with Nate… But.” They both know how much Safrin appreciated both their husbands. If it could be negative numbers, it would be.
So he clinks his glass with Ronin’s and takes a sip from it, nursing it as he settles to let the food make way, still unsure of the last time he’d eaten, and instead leans back against the bar stool to pull out cigarettes from that fancy glass drawer. “That’s fine. I just would like to know.” Given everything, he thinks it’s the least that could be granted. He strikes the match and lights the cigarette, taking a deep inhale before letting it sit in his lungs.
“You weren’t kidding when you said you’d eat it all yourself.” He comments, letting that edge, that ghost, of a smile cross his face again.
it's all for you, for you, for you. it's always been for you
SUNJATA
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.
"I suppose, too." He smiles, letting it go from there. Not much more needed to be said once they had reached the we are all mad here stage of things. Safrin isn't a bad subject of conversation though, all things considered. "When you do go, I suggest you bring her something very nice indeed. And don't forget to remind Torchline that it's only thanks to Safrin that they are protected from the monsoons. I think she would like that."
He can't really say much regarding Nate, given that Sunjata is absolutely right about how much the lady of the stars appreciates both of their respective husbands. Ronin hasn't figured it out yet, so he isn't in a position to offer his friend any advice. "Then you'll know, and I'll be there. Just tell me when, and I'll let Remi know." This last part is mumbled around vegetables, and Ronin can only shrug at Sunjata's observation.
"I did warn you," he says in his defence, though he does nudge the tray towards the Flood as if to tell him to go at it. "What's that?" he inquires about the fur that has replaced the scales, not recognising it.
// i had enough, i need your innocence. don't let up. just give me your love give me your release, i need your healing, of your touch, i can take it, i can take the pain //
“I will.” He assures to Ronin, taking in that tidbit of wording that would hopefully keep things sailing smooth for him in the face of their goddess. After all, he doesn’t want Safrin to take the shifts she’d given him (because in his eyes, every attuned shift was granted by her, could be taken away at any moment). “Any suggestions on what to bring that’s clarified as nice? I brought her a necklace last time.” He only ever goes for jewelry or weaponry. The rest? He’s at a loss.
Talk of Remi dies down and Sunjata nods, deciding perhaps it best after he’s eaten and drank a bit, numbed and taken off the edge (stepped back from the edge too, thanks to his family and Ronin). But he doesn’t dive further in the conversation after that, not as Ronin is questioning the sudden change in his skin. He hasn’t realized it, and it isn’t until he looks down that he notices the white fur, the blue hues that trickle throughout. “Oh. I got a new shift.” He says quietly, before his head tilts slightly and he regards his friend.
“I guess I got two since you’ve left. Were you here when I got the dragon shift?” He asks, unable to recall whether the Star had or hadn’t been. “This one’s a Pegasus.” He says, downing the rest of the whiskey to stave off a bit of the pain as the dragon wings meld back into him, replaced by feathered blue and teal wings, one still healing and a bit ravaged looking while the other looks relatively clean and put together.
it's all for you, for you, for you. it's always been for you
SUNJATA
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.
