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!
Ever since Aisha had told Noah that Korbin was out in the tundra, living in his raven form, the hunter could not stop thinking about it. Each day since, Noah ventured out into the icy wilderness and scoured different places for the younger man. Each time he heard a bird's wings against the wind, or a call in the distance, his heart thumped against his chest like a hammer driving nails into wood. His blood would pump harder and he would run towards the sound, grunting and blowing along the way. Through the attuned bond he would reach out, calling for the Hale.
Today was no different.
He set out just after sunrise, moving away from the Citadel farther than he had gone in the last few weeks in search of the raven. He trotted along with his head low, ears rotating beneath his rack. He chose this form always, knowing that Korbin would find it most familiar. The youngest Hale had only seen him in his lynx form once, and never in his polar bear form. He did not want to be mistaken for a threat -- though, knowing Korbin as well as Noah did, he might be even in this prey-like skin. Especially if the mind of his raven form was taking over the mind of his true form, of man.
Leave my loneliness unbroken! - quit the bust above my door!
Searching the wide expanse of the Tundra for a single, solitary raven was a fool's errand. The odds were stacked impossibly high against the hunter ever seeing the slightest trace of a bird, let alone that particular one. Yet fortune is said to favor the bold, and perhaps that was the reason why the reindeer went this particular direction at this particular day.
Growing slowly on the horizon was a small outcrop of the Fangs, little more than low hills at this point that cut a swath across the white expanse. Small, gnarled trees clung to barren patches of earth, their roots digging deep into frozen soil. Little more than shrubs growing sideways along the earth, they provided precious cover for smaller creatures. As the hunter approached, he would find that the tracks in the snow increased in both number and variety. Showshoe hare, fox, ningo; it might be the perfect place to set a few traps, if one were to hunt for small game.
Though of course, this hunter in particular was searching for a different kind of prey.
Noah was no stranger to these little nooks of solace that dotted along the base of the Fangs. It was outcrops like these that his younger brother had chosen to set his traps and catch his small game, and it was an outcrop like this that Noah had first hunted a hare in his lynx form. Korbin had found him that day, and they had shared the bounty of the plump hare.
Noah lowered his antlered head as he approached, nostrils flaring as he scented around. He was not sure if he would recognize the Hale's scent without having been in his human form at all for gods knows how long. But, he tried anyway. The reindeer snuffed and grunted and let small bellows fall from his lips rom the depths of his chest as he searched. Korbin...where are you... He let the words fall across the bond, glacier eyes moving back and forth among the scrubby outcrop.
Am I a prisoner to instincts or do my thoughts just live as free
And detached as boats to the dock?
Leave my loneliness unbroken! - quit the bust above my door!
The sound of the reindeer's call brought a sudden silence over the thickets. Birds and critters that had been quietly chirping and skittering about grew still, and a deafening stillness settled over the area. It was as if the very earth was holding its breath.
For several heartbeats it persisted, until a black mass of birds suddenly burst forth from the underbrush. Ravens, four of them; they winged their way swiftly upwards toward the open sky, off and away from the shelter. Their flight was hurried, as though chased. No sooner had they taken off than a small figure shot up into the air, leaping high. A fox, white against a white backdrop. It snapped its jaws after the birds, and sharp teeth closed around the tail feathers of the corvid at the very rear of the group.
Yanked from the air, the bird squawked in fear and pain, and a pulse of absolute terror pulsed through the bond. Mindless, thoughtless; blind to anything but the gnashing teeth and the paws - soft, clawed, big against a feathered wing - that pinned the raven to the ground.
Let's decide to be the architects, the masters of our fate
The reindeer jumped at the sudden noise, eyes wide as the ravens flew from their covering. Blood pounded in his ears and as the flash of white followed the sable, Noah instantly felt his body shrinking as he surged forward. Tawny limbs pushed him off the snow and barreling towards the fox, a yowling call leaving his throat. Was that Korbin in his grasp? For Noah, it couldn't not be.
the lynx pounced on the fox, pushing it away from its grip on the raven. He ravaged at its body with claws sharper than its own, his teeth sinking beneath white fur and puncturing hide. The lynx's body vibrated with the anger he felt, the need to protect the bird surging through him with uncontrollable force. When he felt his attack sufficient, the lynx spun on his heels towards where the birds had come from. "Korbin! It's me! Noah!" He called out, desperation lacing his voice across the attuned bond which had been so empty on his journey.
Leave my loneliness unbroken! - quit the bust above my door!
The raven did not lie prone, waiting to be rescued. It fought the fox with fierce determination, sharp talons scratching while the sharp bill pecked at the predators eyes. They were equal in size, the bird as big a specimen as the species allowed. But pinned and at a disadvantage, the fear saturated its thoughts all the same. And then pain, as strong jaws closed around a wing and bit down.
It should have been the end. But something inconcievable happened. Not impossible, for it would not be the first time a predator challenged another for a juicy morsel, but unlikely all the same. A lynx tackled the fox just before it was able to do more damage to the bird, and the vulpine was so startled by the sudden attack that it let go of its prey. As teeth and claw cut deep cut deep into thick fur it yelped, and rather than stay to fight it tore loose and spun. In a flurry of kicked up snow it scampered off into the underbrush. There were far easier meals to find in there - at least ningos did not come with bodyguards.
Meanwhile, the raven had managed to roll up on its feet and away from the scuffle. A trail of crimson droplets and scattered down marked its path in beneath a particularly thorny shrub. There it sat, panting with open beak and stared balefully at the lynx when it approached. There was no response through the bond, only the dread from before, though paler now and less urgent. If there was a mind behind it, it was buried deep, impossible to reach at the moment.
The fox flitted off into the tundra once more and Noah had all of his attention on the raven as it scooted from the attack position. Noah heard no words over the bond, but the raven's feelings spilled over easily and without guard. Relief flooded the lynx, and with one breath he was crouched before the raven as a man. "It's okay," He murmured, tears welling in glacier eyes as he looked down to the unnatural blue of the raven's own gaze, "I've got you."
The hunter moved slowly and cautiously, pulling his scarf from around his neck and attempting to wrap the wounded bird within its warm confines. He did not want the raven to panic, though he knew he probably would. Even when he was fully man, Korbin did not want anyone to dote on him even if it was necessary for his survival. Noah made careful shhh-ing sounds as he brought the raven up towards his chest, keeping his face a safe distance from panicked beak strikes.
Am I a prisoner to instincts or do my thoughts just live as free
And detached as boats to the dock?
Leave my loneliness unbroken! - quit the bust above my door!
Indeed, the raven hissed when hands reached for it, in a tone that was meant to be menacing but mostly came off as huffy. The beak pecked at the hands even as the bird scrabbled backwards. Unfortunately it had trapped itself more than shut out any attackers, and no amount of flapping and squawking - and there was a lot of both - could prevent it from being grabbed. Blood splattered every which way from the injury in the wing during the struggle, but the pain did not even seem to phase the bird. The terror was everything, every avians dread of being trapped and pinned coming to play.
Through the scarf, the tiny heart beat a furious drumroll beneath black plumage. As the raven was held towards a sturdy chest however, it slowly stilled. Perhaps it was the warmth radiating from the man that held it, or resignation; nothing but wary suspicion colored the bond. But hey, at least no eyes had been pecked out. Yet.
The bird struggled, just as he knew it would. He continued on, despite the fighting. He managed to wrap the bird and press it up to his chest, just as he intended. The hunter then stood and turned on quick heels, moving back towards the Citadel. "It's okay, Korbin. I am going to get you help." He bit the inside of his cheek after his statement, mind rolling through his plans and options. Both Loren and Delphine were gone -- disappeared away from Halo. No one knew where either of them were. Those were the only healing mages he knew. Unfortunately, the raven's healing would have to come naturally, rather than at the hands of any abandoned.
The hunter moved with more haste than he could remember having used in quite some time. It was almost a jog he took on the snowy landscape, though careful not to bring his body up to a sweat. He could feel the raven still against his chest as he traversed the tundra. "No, Korbin, don't you dare die on me." He looked down towards the bird cradled in his arms, swaddled in his scarf. He didn't seem to be dying, at least not that moment, but the hurry Noah felt in his heart pounded through his veins.
Am I a prisoner to instincts or do my thoughts just live as free
And detached as boats to the dock?
Leave my loneliness unbroken! - quit the bust above my door!
There was no reply from the raven. Nothing stirred within its mind, or at least nothing that reflected outward. Its eyes were open, gazing distantly out across the landscape, so seemingly barren if you did not know where to look. Its breathing was steady, and the blood from the wound had slowed from a drip into a slow ooze. Nothing life threatening. A fortunate thing, perhaps, as that would have forced a shift that none of them wanted. Noah, because a bird was easier to carry than a grown man.
And the raven... Who knew what the raven truly wanted. Perhaps not even the bird itself.
It stayed like that, still and unmoving in Noah's grasp until the Citadel began to grow into view on the horizon. Only then did the bird stir, twisting feebly within the confines of the scarf. A sense of reluctance bled from its mind, and a deep sadness. Hollow, aching. Far more painful a wound than anything physical.
As the Citadel crested on the horizon and they approached on Noah's quickly moving feet, the panic that rose in the raven was opposite the feeling that rose in the hunter. The raven squirmed in his arms, and Noah's mind was filled with its feelings over the attuned connection. Tears welled in glacier eyes, though he tried to blink them back. "Korbin, you have to come home. Please." His voice was soft and choked from the tears. In his own heart he was elated to have found the younger man, having believed in the seasons of his absence that he had found his death on the tundra.
Noah held on tighter to Korbin's body as he struggled, as carefully as he could while minding his wing. He didn't want the raven to fall from his grasp or to try and take flight. The wound from the fox was enough to keep him grounded, and without flight he surely would die on the tundra. Easy picking. Easier than ningo. "It's okay." Noah tried to comfort him, though within his mind he knew it would be in vain.
Was he forcing Korbin to be where he didn't want to be? Yes. Was he doing it because he thought it would be better for the raven? Yes.
Was he doing it because he was just, at least a little bit, selfish?
Yes.
Am I a prisoner to instincts or do my thoughts just live as free
And detached as boats to the dock?
04-23-2021, 06:34 PM (This post was last modified: 04-27-2021, 02:29 PM by Korbin.)
KORBIN
There was a fierce hiss from the raven as the name was dropped. A little pained as the injured wing was jostled, and a lot furious over being held so firmly that it could not wriggle loose. A tangled snarl of emotions followed suit; humiliation, fear, grief, shame... and recognition. Words may be lost to it, from time too long spent in the raven guise. But the more that name was uttered, the more familiar it became. An echo of remembrance cast back from vast depths, whispering, whispering...
It had nothing good to say.
For the second time, the big bird grew limp in Noah's grip. The feedback of emotions through the bond dimmed, as if the creature was trying to withdraw mentally, now that it was denied physical escape. Only one thing was perfectly clear; if given the choice, this frozen city with its high walls was not where the raven wanted to be.
- FIN
Young and alone on a long road, Once I lost my way
