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!
i found hope in a hopeless home found my father but i lost my soul
“Sure.” Sunjata replies rather chipperly, flashing a soft smile her way as he goes to drop a few more pieces of debris into the cart, before he’s pushing it down the beach a bit more so they don’t have to walk to far to dump things into it. Then, he’s offering to let her keep the tray – sure that someone would be able to fix it up if she wanted them to, or she could leave it as is as a decorative piece. He’s sure she isn’t picky and she has all the time in the world to figure it out.
What is intriguing, though, is watching her open up that strange invisible pocket to dump the tray before her hands are available again and he’s staring at her with a raise of his brow. “Well that’s a neat trick, what was that?” He asks with a soft smile, stepping away from the wagon to grab a couple of bottles that have been washed up.
As for what he’s been up to since they’d last met? He makes a whistling sound as he offers a soft laugh. “Almost too much to remember it all, really.” An apologetic smile is cast her way as he sets the bottles into the cart. “Fought a sea panther, got sick with the Climb Fever, got married while sick, got a new house… Uh, my father showed up and all of that. Then Kamaria.”
i tried to trace it, i aimed to scope been tryna kill it, but it's all i know
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.
With the promise of fun things to come once they were done, Seren threw her soul into the cleaning effort. The tray disappeared, and the was already looking around for more debris when Sunjata's curiosity made her turn back. "It's a trick," she offered playfully. "I can put things away in another place, and take them back out. It's like.. a small world of my own." The concept was both complex and simple to explain, except she never knew how technical she could be before losing her audience.
Skipping off a few paces to begin hauling out a errant fishing net that lay bobbing in the surf, Seren grinned back at the Flood as he listed off the tumultuous events of his recent past. "You really know how to keep busy!" she noted, sounding impressed. "Congratulations on the marrying. Was it still a good idea after the fever disappeared?" It sounded to her like a disaster in the making, but perhaps the foundation was solid enough to last through the chaos.
"I've started to train to become a Stormbreak Dragoon," she shared in kind. The net was heavy, and seemed to have become stuck on something under the water. It wouldn't budge no matter how she tugged on it. "As soon.. as the dock is finished.. and I have my dragon.. I'll be going back." Panting and frustrated, Seren dropped the net and began to wade out into the water, to see what the problem was.
Seren
✰ Starlight (Passive) | Starfilled night billow around her like a veil as she moves. It is more noticeable in daytime and when she make sudden movements.
i found hope in a hopeless home found my father but i lost my soul
She informs him that it’s a trick and his head tilts a fraction as he peers at her for it, listening to the explanation with curiosity and confusion as it settles in his chest. “Really?” He murmurs curiously, wondering what kind of small world lived between the pocket of time. “That’s really nice to have.” He agrees, offering her a hum of a laugh – wondering what kind of things he could do if he had an ability like that.
He gives her the shorthand version of what had happened to him since they last met and he mulls over her words with a huff of a laugh. “Yes. It was. We’d agreed to do it before we got sick, it’s just that the date we picked was during the time we were ill and we didn’t want to miss it.” So it had been worth it in his mind, even if he couldn’t really remember it aside from bits and pieces here and there.
Brows raise as she mentions that she’s training to be a dragoon, his steps taking him over to where she struggles trying to remove the net. “Taking after your father, then, huh?” He asks with a hint of amusement in his voice. He steps into the water, reaching down to grab onto the net to try and pull it out too. “And a dragon as well? That’s great, Seren.” He offers her, tugging hard at the net to try and bring it out.
i tried to trace it, i aimed to scope been tryna kill it, but it's all i know
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.
Seren nodded cheerfully. It was indeed, a very practical trick that spared her the necessity of bags, houses and other cumbersome bulk. All she ever wanted or needed was within an arms reach, as long as she remembered to stash it away in the first place. Well, with a few exceptions. "I can go there myself, and bring others along too. But dad says I have to introduce friends to him before taking any over... so I'm not entirely sure you can come." Poking her tongue out at Sunjata, she laughed and turned back to what she had been doing.
Fumbling hands strove to find the edges of the net, and began to trace it off towards a jumble of rocks where coral and barnacles had entangled the threads. "That's good then. You could always renew vows, if you ever feel like something didn't go as you wanted." Seren began to untangle the net, and was so focused on the task that she didn't notice how Sunjata came to help her. "If I could be any bit like dad, I would want nothing more," she agreed, without a trace of irony. The last of the lines came loose from the rocks and she grabbed hold of the net, to carry it back to shore. "The dragon and the soldiering is a start, but what I really want - " was lost as the jumble of woven lines was suddenly yanked forward by the Flood. With a yelp the girl came flying along with it, and splashed face first into the water.
Seren
✰ Starlight (Passive) | Starfilled night billow around her like a veil as she moves. It is more noticeable in daytime and when she make sudden movements.
i found hope in a hopeless home found my father but i lost my soul
Sunjata snorts at the stipulations regarding the strange world Seren can pull people into, and he flashes her an amused smile. “Your father’s a smart man.” Sunjata offers warmly, letting the smile remain on his face even if it grows a fraction more mischievous. “Somehow, despite that, he’s ended up as my best friend.” A dark brow raises, as if it’s news to him too how that happened.
But then he’s moving to help her with the net, not noticing that she’s managed to get it unstuck from the space she had. “We could. We had our reception the following season when we felt better.” He assures her in case she had any worries over it. And as he listens to her explain the dragon and soldiering, hanging onto the idea of what she wants when he promptly tugs the net with too much force given that it’s free now and he sends her sprawling into the water.
Long legs take him over to her in stride, reaching down to help her up, the apology already falling from his lips. “Sorry Seren.” He offers with a soft laugh. “I didn’t know you’d freed the net. What is it you really want?”
i tried to trace it, i aimed to scope been tryna kill it, but it's all i know
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.
For an instant, the feeling of being submerged beneath frothing water and unable to breathe almost made her panic. The memory of water filling the lungs and being helpless against strong currents was fresh, and it was not without power. But the water here was shallow, and as soon as she got her hands against the sandy bottom Seren calmed down. She still spluttered and wheezed as she emerged though, and water rushed off her when she unsteadily got to her knees. Reaching up a hand, she accepted Sunjata's help and let him pull her all the way back up to the feet.
"I'll get you for that," she threatened, and immediately ruined it by laughing. "Eh, what? Oh. I want..." She broke off, a little embarrassed. Dragging her sopping hair back from the face, she tried again. "I want to belong, I suppose. Not because Mother says I do, or because father makes space for me. But because I have earned my place, and serve a purpose." She shrugged. It sounded so grand and lofty to her ears. Simply existing should be good enough, and yet... she longed for more. To be needed, or at least wanted. So that if she suddenly wasn't there, someone would notice and feel the emptiness left behind.
Seren
✰ Starlight (Passive) | Starfilled night billow around her like a veil as she moves. It is more noticeable in daytime and when she make sudden movements.
i found hope in a hopeless home found my father but i lost my soul
He checks her over to make sure that it’s only a bit of water in her lungs that have caused her sputtering and not some other injury. When he’s satisfied that’s the only thing that’s wrong, he flashes her an apologetic smile. “I’m sure you will.” He rumbles to her with a soft laugh, mixing with her own chimed laughter. She pulls her hair back and Sunjata takes a step back once he knows she’s steady on her feet again, bending down to grab the net.
“Mm, I know what that’s like.” Granted, it was more of the opposite. But the whole, wanting to prove yourself despite what your name and relation said about you, was something that Sunjata was very familiar with. “You can do it, though. So long as you have the determination, which I’m sure you have, you’ll get there.” He flashes her a brighter, more confident smile as he steps out of the water to toss the net into the wagon.
i tried to trace it, i aimed to scope been tryna kill it, but it's all i know
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.
Her smile faltered, for a moment. Surprise over the confidence, and the unquestioning support flashed across her face. From her father it was nothing less than expected, but Jata was different, somehow. He was not obliged to love her no matter what. Her mother's lover, father's friend, her sister's father, the Flood was part of her family yet not, in a very complex way... and he was her friend. Her very first one, even after she had grown up. Even though it had been a long time since they last met. Deep gratitude warmed her eyes, and something vulnerable came over her, as cheerful energy was revealed to be part bluster. A facade, to keep from admitting how unsure she had been.
"Thank you, uncle," she replied softly. "Your confidence in me is very reassuring." Inhaling slowly, the girl straightened her shoulders and bent to pick up the net. Together with Sunjata she discarded it in the wagon, and was left empty handed, looking around for something more to pick up. For once, her flow of chatter and questions had run dry, and an unusual silence followed in its wake.
Seren couldn't decide if it was peaceful or awkward.
Seren
✰ Starlight (Passive) | Starfilled night billow around her like a veil as she moves. It is more noticeable in daytime and when she make sudden movements.
i found hope in a hopeless home found my father but i lost my soul
The gratitude from her with the simple words he’s offered her of encouragement only spurs Sunjata on in the realization that perhaps he shouldn’t have been so terrified to imagine that he could be a good person. If his words could spark such confidence in others, if his belief in them could do exactly this, perhaps he should do it more often – create more of those bonds, more of those attempts to continue being a better person.
Perhaps helping in ways like that might help take a few shades of the scarlet blood from his hands. Maybe one day they’d become pink one day instead of black.
“You’re welcome, Seren.” He says gently, moving to give her shoulder a gentle squeeze. “You can do anything you want so long as you set your mind to it.” Dedication was key, and sure there’d be some failures – there always was – but so long as she kept standing up after getting knocked down, she’d get there one day. He’s sure of it.
“Well, I think this is good enough for now. What do you say we head back and sort it into what we can save and what we can’t? I could be convinced to get ice cream…” A playful grin spreads across his face with that suggestion – as if it would be hard to convince him of that at all.
i tried to trace it, i aimed to scope been tryna kill it, but it's all i know
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.
She leaned into the kind touch, and smiled up at Sunjata with pink-cheeked delight. He was hardly the first person to offer encouragement, yet that did not matter in the slightest. He did not have to, but did it anyway; that was the kicker. That meant something.
"Alright, if you are sure." This section of beach looked better than before, but she suspected they could easily keep going for the rest of the day. Would Seren say no to sweets though? Hardly. The mere mention of ice cream made her mouth water. "Are you planning to pull the cart by hand all the way?" That would be slow, her expression seemed to imply, glittering eyes and all.
Seren
✰ Starlight (Passive) | Starfilled night billow around her like a veil as she moves. It is more noticeable in daytime and when she make sudden movements.
“I am sure.” He reaffirms, flashing an easy smile her way before he’s moving toward the cart, pulling a few straps from it to tie around the handle so that it can easily be hitched to one of his shifts to take it back easier. “Oh, gods no.” He chimes with a laugh, shaking his head lightly. “If I recall, I told you I’d show you my Pegasus shift.” There’s a glimmer of amusement that crosses his silver, stormy gaze when he meets her next.
“And, you could tie these straps around it and we can get there faster.” He finishes tying the end of the straps onto the cart before he steps away from her and peers back at her. “Ready?” He doesn’t give her much time at all to respond, before he’s shifting – man becoming equine with those very same feathered wings, longer and vibrant in comparison to his thicker equine shift, a wide neck, curved and curled, black marks that wrap around his bright blue grey eyes that sharpen to a point along his maw, and a long mane that likely needs to be cut down once more. He tosses his head toward her, extending the wings before folding them along his back and paws at the sand, as if inviting her over to inspect the shift.
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.
Perfect. A swift trip to town and a display. This was efficiency at its finest, and Seren could not be more pleased. Eagerly she took a step back and nodded that she was indeed very ready. She watched her uncle shimmer, fade and solidify back into a new shape. Larger, lighter and infinitely more handsome, in her eyes.
"Oh! You are a beauty in this form, aren't you," she breathed, only too happy to oblige the wordless demand invitation to admire from up close. The vast wings, the sleek legs and elegant neck of the pegasus all received proper gasps and exclamations of delight, and it took quite a while before Seren was done. "You really should keep your hair like this when you shift back," she suggested by the time she remembered the harness and where they were going. "Luscious locks like these would be a shame to hide away."
Struggling somewhat with unfamiliar buckles and leather straps with unknown purpose, she had to wonder how Sunjata had planned on attaching these if she wasn't there. Eventually she got it somewhat right, and quickly jumped up into the cart, a mischievous grin daring him to object. "Done, let's go!"
Seren
✰ Starlight (Passive) | Starfilled night billow around her like a veil as she moves. It is more noticeable in daytime and when she make sudden movements.
His body morphs and twists, shifts into something else entirely – something more limbed, bright in comparison to his other shifts, and a bit more arrogant too. So with her praise, as she darts over toward him to inspect the shift, the Flood gives a good old fashioned equine snort, curving his neck just as any preening horse might do. Ears flicker forward at the mention of keeping his hair like that – unsure if she meant the color or growing it out to match the same locks.
If it were the latter, well, Nate had already suggested as much.
She manages to get him hooked up though, and Sunjata is quite patient through the endeavor (and had she not been there he likely could’ve gotten some poor shmuck on the beach to hook him up to it regardless) before his head curves back to watch her climb into the cart. And when she gives her okay, he begins to pull the cart toward Haulani – careful to not jostle her and the junk in the cart too much, of course.
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.
It was, on the whole, a pleasant journey. The cart did not make for the most comfortable of rides, but the company made up for it and Seren filled the silence along the way with happy chatter. If Sunjata's ears got sore after a while from the never ending stream of words, he was either to gracious to shush her, or she never noticed his attempts.
Regardless, they made quick progress with the debris in the cart. Sorting junk from things that could be repurposed - wood, tiles and fishing nets - did not take long, and before long they were off towards Haulani. Towards ice-cream, pleasant conversation and the sad, yet inevitable parting of ways.
- FIN
Seren
✰ Starlight (Passive) | Starfilled night billow around her like a veil as she moves. It is more noticeable in daytime and when she make sudden movements.
