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!
05-06-2021, 08:39 PM (This post was last modified: 05-07-2021, 08:38 AM by Honey.)
RONIN
the dark star
The Dragoons are not playing tag.
That isn't what's happening.
If that's what you think you're looking at, you'd be wrong.
They're playing doing super serious agility training. This is mostly for the dragoons-in-training, admittedly, but Ronin has asked a few of the fully fledged soldiers along to help. Mainly because he's in need of their dragons.
It's a blazingly sunny day in the Dragon's Nest, and the grass is already beginning to brown along this particular part of the training grounds. The recruits have spread out, running and darting here and there, when Ronin blows his whistle. And from high upon the walls, Sugar makes her dive.
The dragons are always It in this game. And if one tags you, you're out. Easy peasy, right? Right.
Eryx had only officially been moved beyond the 'trainee' stage but that didn't mean he still wasn't considered one of the newbies. He had only just with Lyra for a couple of weeks at most and they were still getting to know each other. Still, Eryx was happy to be a dragoon. No longer having a family of his own, he had begun to rely on his fellow dragoons and treating them as family. Even the ones who didn't treat him as such.
It was a hot day and Eryx was already sweating as they worked on 'agility training'. In spite of the fact that this was training, it was actually one of the more fun drills he'd ever done.
He ran around with the other dragoons and spotted Sugar making her dive towards the men. Several other dragoons had gotten out already but Eryx was still fully invested in the game and determined to be the last man standing. He leapt and rolled out of the way just before the dragon managed to touch him and as he got back to his feet, ignoring the dust that fell from his clothing, he smirked up at the dragon.
Ah, but Sugar isn't the only dragon playing in this game; there are a couple of other dragoons flanking the edges of the training grounds, and their dragons are swooping and diving too. So whilst Eryx manages to dodge Sugar (and she lets out a sharp trill of annoyance to realise as much), there's another - much larger - specimen trying to barrel into the backs of his legs.
Ronin, meanwhile, is watching all of this with a crooked grin on his face. There's sweat beading on his forehead and between his shoulder blades, so he has no idea how the recruits running about must feel in the heat. Indeed, most of them are already out, he notices. It's only Eryx and another recruit left, and Ronin blows his whistle again for Sugar to make another dive. She does so, naturally, with gusto.
Eryx caught the movement out of the corner of his eye and turned to see the larger dragon dropping quickly towards him. He cursed and leapt to the side as quickly as he could, unable to make it graceful as he slammed into the ground below him with a painful grunt. He was just in time too as he felt the air sweep over him at the near miss.
He didn't have much time to recover before Sugar was coming at him again. He cursed and scrambled to his feet, dust clinging to his sweaty skin and started to run.
The whistle drops from Ronin's mouth as he spots the dragoon being pursued by Sugar start to run, the Star left in fits of breathless laughter. "I wouldn't!" he calls out - but by this point the only other recruit on the field is out, so Eryx is already the winner. It doesn't seem to stop him from running though, and it doesn't stop Sugar from trying to divebomb him. She's drawn to the way he sprints off more than she would be if he tried to hide, and her trills are almost like laughter as she closes in on him.
Luckily Ronin has set out onto the field by this point, dismissing the other soldiers for a break and to get a drink and some well-earned rest, and he ends up running after the both of them. "He's the winner, you tiny scaly idiot!" he's shouting at Sugar. "Stop trying to pin him!"
Eryx was too invested in the game and his own actions to notice that he was the only one left in the game. Besides, there was a dragon in hot pursuit of him so of course he was going to act on instinct to get away from her. The trilling sound behind him makes grin competitively. If this was a real life situation and a dragon was chasing him in the wild, he'd be utterly terrified, but as this was a training exercise he wasn't connected this chase with his sense of fear.
It was only when he heard Ronin behind him that he slowed and turned to look at the Leader of the Dragoons. He was the winner!? Sweet! He ducked down, his hands over his head in an attempt to avoid the dragon should she make her move to tag him.
It probably helps that Sugar is only the size of a small cat at best, so even if she does manage to catch him, her weight will hardly be enough to throw him off balance. Still, she's determined to get the last touch on this game, and her shriek of defiance at Ronin (that sounds a bit like she's cackling) says as much. Eryx ducks and Sugar lands very proudly upon his shoulders, flapping her wings and getting very comfortable, only to snort a freezing cold breath into his ear. Tag.
"Are you happy now?" Ronin asks Sugar, slowing his steps to catch his breath. "Sorry about her - she knows exactly what she's doing, which doesn't really help, I don't think." He grins and holds out his hand for the other man to shake. "You won, though - congrats! I'm Ronin, and the dragon trying to climb on your head is Sugar."
