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!
Tobi is elegant regardless of the depths of the snow, and at her side Finn is a trudging, clumsy thing, trying to fight his way through the deep, dark cold. If this were anyone else he'd have abandoned the task by now; indeed, if it were anyone else he'd have suspected foul play from an external source (Remi) and worried that he was about to slip into the depths of a nightmare. But King's End sprawls before them, stealing the Spyglass's breath and causing his eyes to widen, boyish in his wonder.
Even as the creature in the distance snarls its hunger and its rage, Finn can only shiver a bit as the sound thrums through him. He breathes the Wilds in deep, straightening up, the wind catching on his coat to whip it out behind him even with his hands still buried in his pockets. "It's beautiful," he murmurs into the night, glancing up at the unicorn at his side.
lights will guide you home, & ignite your bones & i will try to fix you
Tobi leans gently against Finn, as she might have done with her shoulder. It is with her shoulder now, though her meaning is different if only Finn might understand it: You can hold on to me, if you need.
Tobi is a sliver of nervous energy. Her muscles quiver, ears twitching as they hear far more than the Spyglass does. Flee, her body tells her, and the doctor wants to obey if only for the swift power she knows she possesses. Like Finn she isn't afraid. These enclosures are lifelike, but they are also safe.
Nickering a quiet sound of agreement, Tobi presses her velvety muzzle against where Finn's ear his hidden beneath his scarf. Huffing a warm breath, the unicorn takes a few steps away from him, before charging off down the hill. The world comes alive around her, the enclosure adding more and more detail the farther in she goes. Nearby a spring gushes to life, bubbling softly beneath a thin layer of ice which Tobi doesn't hesitate to break. Youthful and wide in her joy, she prances upon the ice, crunching it mercilessly and merrily beneath her hooves.
"Hey!" Finn is grinning under his scarf at the velvet snuffling that huffs a breath into his ear, and he brings his shoulder up to try and rub the sensation away where it tickles against his curls. Before he can quite catch himself, though, Tobi is gone, bounding and galloping off down the snowy hillside to frolic and play in the ice in the spring. Finn barely even notices that he's following her, using the deep troughs from her hooves to put his feet into, at least ensuring he doesn't trip and fall on his face.
"How far do you plan to go?" he calls - the Celestine pathway is no longer even visible, and honestly Finn doesn't really know where they are. But that doesn't stop him from fighting his way through the snowfield to get a bit closer, until his feet crunch on the ice. "Are you not cold?" he wonders, trying to ignore his own shivering.
lights will guide you home, & ignite your bones & i will try to fix you
Flicking an ear towards Finn, the unicorn pauses temporarily to consider his question. She...didn't know. They'd come here to let her experience this aspect of herself, and though there wasn't a time limit on it, they certainly couldn't remain forever.
But perhaps just a little while longer?
Trotting toward him, Tobi halts near that he might feel the heat radiating off her body. You wouldn't be cold either if you'd taken me up on my ride. She thinks with a smirk that doesn't quite translate, though there is a sparkly sort of mischief in her honeyed eyes just the same. It's then that a daemon drifts by; a great spectral dragon that mists over the hilltops. With ears suddenly pinned against her skull, Tobi rears, her hooves striking the air between she and the mourning creature. Nearby appears to be Cian, all of a sudden. It's as if the enclosure has suddenly realized that Tobi isn't fully a unicorn, and is trying to compensate. With a slightly panicked whinny, Tobi trudges back toward Finn, nudging his shoulder with her muzzle once again.
Perhaps a little while longer - Finn can deal with that much, he thinks, and though he's cold, as the unicorn approaches and he heat radiates off her form, it's not quite so bad for a bit. For a second Finn almost reaches out to stroke a hand along her neck, wondering if it's like touching starlight, when something shifts through the darkness out of the corner of his eye.
He doesn't see the daemon but he does see Cian, though whilst Tobi is worried and whinnying, Finn merely reaches up to adjust his glasses on his nose. "Don't worry," he tells her gently, and this time his hand does sneak out of his pocket to reach up and pat her on the neck. "It isn't real. I don't know what this is, but... that isn't Cian. Come on, we'll go back the way we came and you can run ahead?"
lights will guide you home, & ignite your bones & i will try to fix you
Tobi is a ball of energy tightly contained within the body of a unicorn. Beneath his fingers, he'll feel the flinch of her skin as he places his hand against her, but also how she relaxes quite soon thereafter. Though her eyes remain on Cian and the daemon, one of her ears flickers back toward him, holding fast to the things he's saying and perhaps more importantly, the calm tone with which he's saying them.
Staring at the man a while longer, watching as he lights a cigarette and pins Tobi with a look, eventually she tugs her gaze away, her nose pressing into Finn's hand for reassurance. With a bit of a snort, Tobi reaches her elegant neck around Finn almost like a hug, but she bops him forward with her chin against his back. Kneeling down again, her tail flicks animatedly behind her as her muzzle all but comes to rest in the snow.
He might have said no to this once, but the hill will be much harder to climb going up than it had going down.
Finn pats at Tobi's nose, unable not to feel amused at the way she presses against him. It's not unlike when she is in her canine shift, but granted the sight of Cian is an intimidating one, and he can hardly blame her. "I'm not that col-- oh!" Finn is cut off by the way she tries to knock him forward, the Spyglass stumbling a bit, unable to even use Tobi to lean on as she moves to lean in the snow again. Huffing out an exasperated breath, Finn can only watch her for a moment.
"If I do this, you will stop asking me to," he says, quietly firm in a way that he's never quite managed before. A little self-confidence and a lot of extra sleep goes a long way, clearly, enabling the Spyglass to draw his boundaries as a line in the sand for the first time in his life. Nevertheless, he does (awkwardly and uncomfortably) climb onto the unicorn, not quite knowing where to hold on without hurting Tobi, so opting to just... not.
02-22-2021, 08:59 PM (This post was last modified: 02-22-2021, 09:03 PM by October.)
lights will guide you home, & ignite your bones & i will try to fix you
Really, for those who know both horses and dogs, they'll know there isn't a massive difference between them. Then again, dogs typically don't have spiralled horns that can impale a man stemming from their brows.
If you're doing it, there won't be a need for me to ask. Tobi wants to reply, but instead stomps one of her hooves into the snow. Remaining completely still despite where Finn might inadvertently kick and nudge her as he climbs aboard, she similarly takes the utmost care when rising back up. Aware that Finn isn't holding on (save for maybe clamping his legs around her flanks, which is a rather strange feeling), the unicorn turns her head around, nosing one of his feet softly. It's as much reassurance as she can currently give.
Shaking her head slightly that her mane might billow into his lap, Hold on, you dummy, the unicorn takes a gentle step forward, and then another, and another. Hyper aware of Finn's balance, Tobi will remain at the walk, not wanting to bounce her rider off. No doubt the snow would make a soft landing, but no doubt she'd also never convince Finn to climb aboard again. If nothing else, she's warm beneath him, and he'll not have to trudge unnecessarily through the snow on his own.
Finn does wobble a bit as Tobi rises to her feet, and as she noses at his foot and shakes her mane into his lap, he finally does take the hint. Sitting up straight and carefully twining his fingers through her silken mane, it doesn't take long for the Spyglass to find his seat, at least, swaying along with the unicorn's movements as they head back up the hill. "Thank you," he says after a while, as if finally able to realise what a favour she's done for him.
Once they've crested the hill again, the Spyglass can't help but glance over his shoulder at the majesty of King's End, letting his gaze linger on it a little longer, perhaps, than necessary. "I can walk again, now it's flat," he suggests. "I wouldn't want you to miss your last chance to run. You can meet me back at the edge of the enclosure, if you like?"
lights will guide you home, & ignite your bones & i will try to fix you
Tobi nickers a reply. She's aiming for companionable snark, but with such a limited vocal range her equine language skills likely all sound the same. Cloven as her hooves are, it's shockingly easy for her to use them as pseudo ice-picks to ensure that she doesn't slip as she summits the small hill. It isn't overly icy and she'd likely have been fine walking regularly, but even with the ability to heal Finn of any injury instantly, she'd probably never live it down if he fell.
Pausing as he shifts, turning that he might properly take in the view one last time, Tobi pauses, struck by the (likely) unintended finality of what he's said.
Your last chance to run. As if it might just be this one and only one time, that she can be like this.
Kneeling that he might dismount, Tobi indeed takes Finn up on his offer, though it's tainted by the melancholy she's brought onto herself. She's already missing this, even though she's still experiencing it, and that strange emotion weighs heavily on her. Even so, once Finn is off, the unicorn darts away toward flatter ground. Starlight follows her as her strides open up, and the doctor, entirely without any sort of muscle-tone or stamina, sinks into this able-bodied form and properly runs.
Of course, Finn isn't to know that's how Tobi has taken his remark. He merely means for now - because doing this once was the hard part. It's a lot more difficult to say no to a second jaunt through the Celestine in the middle of the night when it's already been pulled off once. Still, given that he isn't privy to her train of thought, he occupies himself with the starlit snow scene of King's End, and carefully climbs down off her back. "Thank you," he says again, brushing the snow off his pants as best he can.
By the time he glances up again, of course, she's off, and a breathless laugh leaves his throat as he sets off after her. It will take Finn long enough to reach the edge of the enclosure that Tobi likely would have been able to run its distance to him and back a number of times, and the Spyglass has pulled his scarf down from around his nose and mouth as a result of the unexpected exercise. He hadn't thought he would be accompanying Tobi on her jaunt, and though he has enjoyed himself, it has tired him out a bit to say the least.
let me see you through 'cause i've seen the dark side too.
Tobi bucks and kicks, leaping into the air, turning, and dramatically carrying on. It's as if she's trying to attack invisible falling leaves, the way she lashes out with merry haste. That it has started snowing again isn't something she even realizes, until she pauses and shakes her head, releasing a mini snowstorm from her forelock. Cantering easily back to Finn, Tobi comes to a halt on the enclosure-side of the barrier. Her flanks shimmer faintly with sweat as the whiskers (and drops of condensation thereupon) on her velvety muzzle pulse with every breath. The doctor is most certainly going to feel this in every muscle she has in the morning, but for now, she has never felt better.
Shifting back, Tobi can hardly catch her breath but for the wide smile on her face. Like Finn she tugs the scarf away from her mouth so that she can breathe more easily, and then decides to do away with the whole thing. Unwrapping it from her head and neck, Tobi's eyes roll upwards as she turns her gaze up toward the sky, before her eyes close and she exhales with joyful exhaustion.
"Thank..." Cheeks brilliant pink in the starlight, Tobi continues to try and catch her breath. "..you..!"
When the night falls on you & you don't know what to do Nothing you confess could make me love you less
Tobi's joy is contagious, and not even the stoic Spyglass is immune. He watches through the falling snow as she frolics and canters and is generally gleeful, not bothering to hide his grin as he finally approaches the barrier between the ethereal enclosure and the tranquil Celestine. By this point the unicorn is trotting up to him again and he lets out a chuckle at the sight of her, raising his eyebrows. "I think it is safe to say that you've gotten your exercise for the week," he remarks, only to step back a touch as she shifts back.
It isn't surprise or nerves that causes his movement - it's quite simply that Tobi is ablaze behind Finn's glasses, and the Spyglass has to carefully remove them so as not to be temporarily dazzled by the colour and the intensity. "You are very welcome," he says gently, not underestimating the importance of the chance for Tobi to be herself, even if it is behind a barrier.
"Shall we take a slow walk back to the Tower?" he suggests, stepping back through the barrier and tucking his glasses away into his coat.
let me see you through 'cause i've seen the dark side too.
Tobi is rarely one to hide her emotions, though had Finn been less than he had been, she might have been more hesitant about letting her hair down in quite that manner. She was a unicorn after all; ascended could be graceful and were no less abominations for it. The doctor wasn't so naive as to think the beauty of her shift took away from how it was tainted.
"That felt..." Tobi studies the bleak sky before her eyes drop back to Finn and she's forced to just shake her head. "..I honestly can't describe it." She all but gushes, as snowflakes being to accumulate on her dark hair and the shoulders of her coat. Laughing brightly at that, Tobi nods, before grinning at a snowflake which has perfectly stuck itself to Finn's long lashes now that his glasses aren't there to protect him. "Well, maybe not too slow or we'll be buried before we make it back to the Tower." She suggests cheerfully.
Their footprints are visible, though filling up fast. Now it's Tobi's turn to walk in Finn's footsteps and he in hers, as they leave their strange adventure back in the enclosure. "I suppose the enclosure figured out I wasn't...unless it was because of you that we saw Cian?" Tobi raises a brow, having been quite certain it was her attuned-status that changed the enclosure but realizing it was perhaps Finn's presence that could have done it.
When the night falls on you & you don't know what to do Nothing you confess could make me love you less
