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!
03-06-2021, 12:07 AM (This post was last modified: 03-06-2021, 12:07 AM by Oliver.)
It had been a hot minute since Oliver had been to Torchline and boy, he wanted to get there way before the monsoon season started.
Shit was apparently going wrong with a mob and a whole bunch of other crap and honestly... he really wanted to figure out what went wrong but there were other things to worry about too. Like Monsoons. Ya know... the kinda important things? Not that Sunjata wasn't important...
Fuck. To put it shortly: he couldn't do anything to help the Sunjata situation so he should at least help out in some way.
And what way? Helping to prepare for monsoons! It'd be great, totally.
And that's how Oliver found himself with a bunch of wood and a knife strapped to his waist, preparing to help steady some trees and really just stabilize everything. Based on what he learned, he'd be putting in stakes to ground the trees or trimming off unnecessary branches. He came prepared for both options and now found himself wandering around, looking for some trees to work on.
The beach is probably his favorite place to be and he's gotta soak up what he can of it before shit goes south in a few weeks. Monsoons are fun and all except that they aren't. He's got his hands under the warm sand, just kind of staring off into the water when he notices someone walking with.. wood? And a knife? Hmm. Locke watches him walk by before pushing himself up so he's standing.
"You need help with that? What are you doing anyway?" Probably something with the monsoons but what exactly? Locke dusts his hands off on his pants as he makes his way over to Oliver. "Can give you a hand if you want." He's just being so gods damn charitable lately. Maybe it's because he keeps fucking things up. Seems to just be the streak he's on for this year. Karma is a bitch or something.
There's hardly any sign that Oliver has noticed Locke. He had seen him briefly, but doesn't bother to spare him any attention at first. It's a dude just living his life. From what he's learned in Torchline, a ton of people kind of don't like being bothered if they're waiting around. It often means they're doing... less ethical things and Oliver isn't about to get into another fight.
So it's a small surprise when he's approached by someone he's never met. A brief idea pops in that maybe he's intruding in, but the guy doesn't seem nefarious. He seems rather calm. "I'm working on reinforcing trees. You're free to help me out, sure." Oliver sets the wood on the ground. "Just go ahead and work on this tree, I'm going to work on trimming up a bit... there's some parts that would tear off too easily."
Trusting the dude will do what's right. Oliver shifts down into his leopard form and plucks up the sheathed blade in his mouth. Climbing right on up the tree is a snap and once at the top he shifts back into his human form before getting to work on cutting away at some parts that are just ready to snap.
Locke is surprised when he's actually given the boards but hey, maybe everyone's feeling good lately. He's even more surprised when Oliver shifts. He makes a little noise of surprise, watching him climb the tree before shifting back. That looks.. useful. He's always had a soft spot for the attuned. He doesn't care about the politics of the gods but damn does shape shifting look cool.
He settles into reinforcing the base of the tree with the boards, wedging them into the sand to help keep the trees for swaying and snapping. He kneels down in the sand to make sure everything is secure before getting back up again and dusting his hands off. "This one's done I think.. Feel stable up there to you?"
Hands carefully cut away at unstable branches and leaves, dropping them down onto the ground in a way that would hopefully avoid Locke. The only way to be hit was if Locke actively ran into the dropping area.
Eventually, he finishes on up as does Locke. Oliver tries his best to give the tree a good shake, which was very hard, and managed to stay, well, stable! "Yep, it's good up here." And just like that, Oliver is shifting again and climbing on down the tree before shifting right on back.
"We can pick up the remnants after we are done, lets head to the next tree." And with that, he was moving on, clearly very much in a work headspace right now.
He does manage to not get hit because he's not entirely an idiot. At least with this kind of stuff. But the tree seems stable enough to survive most of the winds. It'll be alright until it's a 100 year storm or something. At least in his entirely non-expert opinion.
He grabs the remaining planks and watches as Oliver climbs back down the tree. If he were younger, he'd be so excited by the idea. He's still kind of excited but he's not gonna say anything. Instead he follows Oliver to the next tree, dropping the wood into the sand. "What's your name? So I don't have to keep calling you kid in my head?"
Finishing up with the tree was easy and he was able to talk while he worked. ”Im Oliver- you got a name too? Or do I call you old man.” A small grin followed suit before he shook his head. ”Im not all that young. Heck, I feel so fucking old now. Like. Shit. I know absolutely nothing about the world and it feels too late to use age as an excuse for knowing nothing.” So oh fucking well.
Unfortunately, Oliver’s time had seemingly run out. Looking at the sky, he frowned. ”Shit- I should get going... thank you for your time... come by my shop in the Greatwood, yeah? I’ll be able to offer you a discount. Plus, I’d like to get to know you more. You seem great- from the little I’ve spoken to you.” Maybe that seemed suggestive, but Oliver had no intention of flirting nor shacking up with the guy. He simply wanted to be kind, that’s all.
Locke scowls, "Name is Locke, not old man." What's wrong with a little light teasing? If that's what you call this. Good thing he's in a good mood because otherwise that'd earn you a fist to the face. Locke waves his hand at Oliver, "Younger than me and that makes you a kid. Usually." Just how it works in his head.
But then Oliver is leaving before he can mess with him more and Locke gives him a half-hearted wave. "Yeah sure, I'll come visit if I ever end up out there." Must've come to Torchline to help? Maybe? Locke scoffs at being called great. Helping someone fix up some trees isn't get but it's fine, right? Whatever. His hands slip into his pockets and he heads home himself.
