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!
The Ark is home. She's delivered her cargo, taken stock of all the parts of Torchline that were broken (wasn't someone meant to be doing something about those monsoons, Sunjata) and her crew has been released to enjoy some very welcome shore leave. Yes, even Jack.
It's true that he's had enough spiced rum to warm his bones and dull his sharp edges, but one might be surprised to learn that playing a game of marco-polo with his crew is actually a good way for him to hone his telepathy too. (Yeah, Jack, give everyone that as an explanation, you fucking liar).
And so, in nothing but a pair of shorts that are now soaked given that he's waist deep in the Miana Pool, his upper half already deeply tanned from their voyage, Jack seeks out the rest of the Ark in the water. A strip of material has been tied about his eyes, and he wades forward slowly, intentionally. Like a shark.
full speed ahead 'til i'm dead
Jack being an Abandoned is common knowledge these days, however his Telepathy remains a well-kept secret:
Magic: Passive Telepathy | The user can read the surface thoughts and emotions of those within a 30ft radius. Control is excellent. Note: "Thoughts and emotions" include anything written in a character's narration in a post.
Type: Grey | Rank: Mastered
Also branded with a small star tattoo beneath his left eye.
The bangle from the Fae and their nymphs remained on her ankle, charms and all, quiet on the forefront as she motioned steadily upon the water, striving not to make a sound. Delicate, light, fey-like in her entity, bounding along in her typical attire of a free-flowing dress and utter indifference to what happened to the garment.
All in good fun, anyway. Which was what she craved more often than not nowadays. Diversions, carefree and careless, rather than anything else bundled up in her thought patterns. At least that was the rationale behind her miscreant, devious tactics – stability in amusements, in muffling a giggle behind her teeth, in glancing towards Aurelia and seeing her progress. “Polo!” She called, then dashed across the filaments, the liquid, the veneer, attempting to dodge any potential Jack-infested waters.
Aurelia doesn't have an ankle bracelet to let her glide over the pool, and she's never seen that shit before. She watches Melita with a completely baffled expression, mouth agape. In this, she fails to think about her own positioning for a moment. As Jack's voice rings out, she jumps back to attention. Well, unfortunately she doesn't have any ultimate powermoves to give her advantage. Fine, she can play this fair.
"Polo!" She calls out, too, in tandem with Melita. Carefully, she turns and heads in the opposite direction that her voice might be carrying - hoping that will help her own cause. She gives the other, wayward girl a skeptically raised brow - but says nothing of the cheating. Unfair, she might jeer, if it weren't so important for her to be as stealthy as possible.
Which, in all fairness, is a very familiar position for her to be in. So she stops moving altogether and watches Jack with a small, determined smile.
Jack halts his progress in the him-infested waters as identical polo!s ring out through the air. One would not be mistaken in thinking that the captain has played this game once or twice before, the way his grin creeps across his face, the way he holds himself steady and silent to listen hard to the movements through the water. Or on the water as it may be the case, Melita.
Still, even if he knows she's cheating and even if he knows Aurelia is stealthing away in the opposite direction to her call, Jack can't show it. So it's with a purposeful blunder that he starts to wade just shy of where he heard Melita. "Maaaarco!" he calls again, his feet sure in the sand beneath the water, the sun beaming overhead.
full speed ahead 'til i'm dead
Jack being an Abandoned is common knowledge these days, however his Telepathy remains a well-kept secret:
Magic: Passive Telepathy | The user can read the surface thoughts and emotions of those within a 30ft radius. Control is excellent. Note: "Thoughts and emotions" include anything written in a character's narration in a post.
Type: Grey | Rank: Mastered
Also branded with a small star tattoo beneath his left eye.
Melita had to cover her mouth to muffle the laughter at Aurelia’s expense – gleeful and exuberant as she watched her fellow smuggler stare. The honeybee had performed this stunt on numerous occasions, often enjoying basking upon the veneer’s surface, content and complete. This, however, was a play upon some level of deceit and trickery, a way to manifest it back upon Jack, and she wasn’t about to give herself away by exploding into giggles. Instead, she’d frolic and romp by the proportions of the game, just with her own twist, and a massive, Cheshire grin in Aurelia’s direction.
“Polo!” came again, lunging away from Jack’s area, and then attempting to sprint across to the other side with some manner of stealth – not trying to cause ripples, splashes, or anything else that might further alert and alarm.
Oh, fine, Melita. Find joy in other's disadvantage. Two can play at this trickster game, maybe. Maybe. Aurelia bides her time though, hoping that her stillness will aid in her attempt to go unnoticed. There is a small spark of a plan forming, however, and she awaits the other girl to draw near with patience akin to a predator. It's not just Jack you have to worry about in these waters.
The opportunity presents itself, just after Jack calls out again and Aurelia replies with easy confidence, "Polo." She's not so worried about herself anymore. If she loses this silly game, big deal. But as Melita frolics across the pool, nearer to her, she suddenly springs forth with a splash. Using the rocks at her feet to propel her forward, her hands fling out to snag the other girl's ankle, hoping to send her cascading into the water.
Jack's grinning, and whilst they might believe it's because he thinks he's closing in on his prey, in fact he's thoroughly enjoying the separate game of sabotage going on. "Marco," he calls out again, though it's a little quieter now - even without his magic, he can tell that the voices are a little closer together.
And so, not knowing whether or not he'll actually succeed in grabbing anyone, Jack lunges out suddenly, an arm sweeping across the water both to splash at the two girls. Maybe it'll cause Aurelia to let out a peal of surprise. Maybe it'll snag Melita's leg. Or maybe it'll just be the catalyst for whatever mischief is about to take place above and below the water. Either way, the sun is warm and the water is great.
Long live LongHeat.
full speed ahead 'til i'm dead
Jack being an Abandoned is common knowledge these days, however his Telepathy remains a well-kept secret:
Magic: Passive Telepathy | The user can read the surface thoughts and emotions of those within a 30ft radius. Control is excellent. Note: "Thoughts and emotions" include anything written in a character's narration in a post.
Type: Grey | Rank: Mastered
Also branded with a small star tattoo beneath his left eye.
Aurelia launching at her caused a feral hiss on peals of laughter, and it was difficult to figure out if it was wound in rage, amusement, or a conflagration of other elements, emotions. But in impulsive, due course, the youth aimed to kick out, to warn Aurelia off, striving to remain on top of the water while echoing off a volley of vitriol. “You shit!”
Which gave their position away.
She didn’t even need to say polo as Jack’s splash waged far too close for comfort, and the flame-haired one sprang off the top of the water, launching, leaping, attempting to get the hell out of anyone’s range.
Aurelia snags at Melita's foot, catching her by it and squeezing tight in order to try and rain on her cheating parade. "No you!" She manages in an exclaimed retort, grinning the whole time, only to realize from her peripheral that Jack's come awful close. So she lets go, churning back with a surprised intake of breath.
Well, game's a bit over by now isn't it? Still grinning, she takes her hands and shoves them through the rippling water around her. With an explosive splash that cascades down on him, she intends to get Jack - rather than the other way around.
Well, this has descended into chaos, hasn't it? "Marco?" he attempts, already pushing up the blindfold just in time for Melita to try and prance away on top of the water (Jack, at least, has the good grace to look surprised about that, even if he isn't) and for Aurelia to try and splash him in the face. "Oi!" The captain slinks directly down to avoid it, because he'd rather splash himself than have anyone else do it.
Does that really count when they're all already soaking wet? Yeah, nah. But it makes Jack feel better, at least, and as he surfaces it's with the blindfold bobbing away and the captain trying to splash his way after them. "Melita, if you don't quit cheatin' I'll start to think you're after my job!" he accuses with a sharp grin.
It isn't often that the Ark and her crew get to relax like this. And rest assured, Jack savours it every single time - even if he never shows it.
~FIN
full speed ahead 'til i'm dead
Jack being an Abandoned is common knowledge these days, however his Telepathy remains a well-kept secret:
Magic: Passive Telepathy | The user can read the surface thoughts and emotions of those within a 30ft radius. Control is excellent. Note: "Thoughts and emotions" include anything written in a character's narration in a post.
Type: Grey | Rank: Mastered
Also branded with a small star tattoo beneath his left eye.
