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!
Thwack. The dagger landed point first, a finger's breadth from the center. Thud. It's sibling lodged next to it, quivering with force. Seren squinted, and adjusted her stance. Thunk. The third knife finally found its mark, right in the center of the butt. Nodding to herself with a pleased look at the neat grouping, she looked around for archers in action, then went up to retrieved the blades. Apparently, fluke had nothing to do with her victory over Aisha in their game of 'darts'. She was good at throwing. Good enough that she had to struggle to actually free the knives from the target; it made her smirk quietly to herself.
It also made the girl set the knives aside, and cross the training hall to pick up a sword. This weapon she did not feel any confidence with. Even the blunted edges of the heavy sparring sword made her uneasy, all too aware of the cruel purpose for which they were designed. Seren kept adjusting her grip on the handle as she looked out over the room in search for a partner. There were plenty of other people around, from recruits to instructors to seasoned veterans, paired up in spars or grouped, moving through exercises with varying degrees of grace and expertise. A sprawling tapestry of movement, the picture of brisk efficiency and intent.
Her chest warmed with a sense of belonging as she watched them. And her body itched, too, with a need to keep moving; there was no time to just stand around.
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.
"They aren't really my thing either." Ronin sidles up beside his daughter with a sneaky sort of smile on his lips. He both is and isn't looking at her, the Star in his training garb (read: anything loose enough to be able to move easily in) and watching the other recruits as they tackle the various challenges and sparring matches. "Swords, I mean," he clarifies for Seren, grinning and moving to select a blunt training blade for himself as well.
"Though I have been practicing lately. It can't hurt to keep on top of your skills, right?" Even if Ronin did prefer to punch his problems away. Regardless, he nods across the way to where Seren has been throwing her knives. "Your aim is getting really good. You want a practice bout with me? Maybe you can knock me on my arse and show me up in front of everyone."
He surprised her, by appearing like that. A slight frown marked the girls displeasure at being taken off guard, especially when she was trying so hard to actually pay attention to everything around her. It quickly melted away under the praise, however, and Seren soon smiled back at her father. He had been watching her?
"The knives are fun," she admitted, and waited as he retrieved a sword. "This? It feels... heavier." Hefting the length of metal, her slight shrug implied more than the weight of steel. "But, learning it can't hurt. Let's do it." Not that she needed a reason to accept; sparring with her dad was fun, and they didn't do it nearly often enough in her opinion.
Leading the way to a less crowded spot on the field, Seren readied herself and, after receiving the go-ahead, initiated with a light overhand cut towards his left shoulder. She used both hands with almost equal ease, but favored the right a fraction more, and it was with the right hand she held the sword today. "I thought you were good at everything," she teased lightly as they went. "If not the sword, what is your thing?"
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.
"It is heavier, but that is on purpose. If you wanted to take up a sword properly, I would suggest we got you a lighter blade." Something like a rapier might suit his daughter, he thinks, but for now they'll have to make do with whatever the training equipment provides them. He follows her over to the spot she's chosen, and he barely has time to ready his weapon (also in his right hand) before she's aiming a blow towards his shoulder. Ronin is forced to jump back, barking out a laugh and raising his blade to try and bat hers away. "No fair, I wasn't ready!" he protests.
Her teasing earns a grin from him, the Star bouncing his eyebrows across at her. "What do you mean? I am good at everything," he jokes. "My thing, though, has always been hand-to-hand combat. When I was a soldier back in Northaven, I was often sent behind enemy lines to collect intel. It didn't really work for me to have obvious weapons on display, so I learned to fight without them."
Interested in the idea, Seren kept weighing the sword in her hand. To get a feel for the balance, and become accustomed to the way it tugged on her wrist. He was probably right; she was more the type for quickness and surprise over brute strength - as proven by the sudden charge. Seren flashed an impish grin at her father, and offered a wink at his protest.
"Is that what you say on the battlefield too?" she asked sweetly, as she found her blade repelled. Focusing on maintaining her balance and keeping a good distance, she pursued and let the blade sink down in a leftward arc, only to sweep up in an attempted slash across his chest. The blunt edges would hardly do any damage even if a hit was landed, but her movements were tentative all the same. Not relishing the idea of even bruises... it felt too real with the sword in hand.
"Hmm, I see. Could you take on someone who is armed, when you are not?" Seren tried to hide how impressed she actually was about that little tidbit behind a casual smile, but the gleam in her eyes gave her away.
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.
05-30-2021, 09:29 AM (This post was last modified: 05-30-2021, 09:29 AM by Ronin.)
RONIN
the darkstar
"If you can make jokes on the battlefield, you're doing it right," Ronin murmurs with a small smile, realising suddenly that his daughter might be initiated into a bloodbath sooner rather than later. His voice lowers as he continues, "Everyone finds a way to cope. For me, I like to make things into a game. It doesn't make the consequences any less real, but it gives you a bit of space to process things." He hasn't intended to turn this into a philosophy-of-battle lesson, but here they are.
He's more prepared this time, at least, jumping back from her attempted slash and landing low, trying to sweep his blade to catch her across the leg with it. "You most certainly can," he says regarding hand-to-hand combat, grinning at her. "You can use any and every part of your body as a weapon. Good equipment is a must, though - no catching blades on your bare hands."
Point taken. Jokes could only be made while still alive and breathing, after all. Perhaps she should be concerned that her dad had so much time over for chatting while sparring with her, but there were no complaints issued on that. Not when what he had to say was so interesting. "I play games all the time," Seren noted breezily. "Maybe I get that from you?" Though what she might be processing wasn't altogether clear. "Though apparently we look nothing alike." It was said with a bit of a pout - the doctor's comment still rankled.
She grunted with the effort of halting the momentum of her blade, so that it could be turned around and down in time to block the sweeping cut aimed for her leg. The clank of steel on steel was loud and rang through her arm like a bell - both thrilling and deeply unsettling at the same time. It was she who had to turn into the motion and withdraw this time, to regain her posture and reflect on the fact that Ronin had gone for her legs at all. Why hadn't she thought of that?
"Yeah, no, that sounds painful. What is the trickiest weapon to face?" Beginning to sound a little bit out of breath, Seren thought furiously as she raised her sword in en guard. What would he do next?
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.
It's true that Ronin's days of getting breathless and needing a breather between training bouts are long gone, but that doesn't mean he can't remember what it's like. It's probably one of the reasons he'd been stationed here; regardless, as Seren skids back and returns to a guard position, Ronin gives her the time she needs. "I imagine you do," he says with a grin. "If you have to face the danger regardless, why not laugh at it? I just hope you didn't inherit my recklessness." She definitely has, though. That's already obvious.
Lancing forward to try for a lunge, this time, aiming directly for her shoulder, Ronin raises his eyebrows. "Well of course not," he says of them looking nothing alike, "you are much prettier than me. I suppose if you grew a beard, though, people might start to see the resemblance." He grins.
As for the weapons, he nibbles at the inside of his cheek. "Ranged weapons are awful against hand-to-hand. You need to be up close and personal for it to be effective. But things like flails and morning stars are tricky to defend against. It's ranged but it isn't, you see what I mean?"
Reckless? Now what did he ever mean by that. Ronin was granted a very wide eyed look of innocence from his daughter, who would never admit whether he was right or not. Even though it was true.
"Maybe I should just scowl more," she countered, drawing her brows down into a fearsome brood - made truly terrifying by the simultaneously gleeful grin beneath. A slasher face if ever there had been one, perfect for the occasion.
Alas, making faces did not seem to distract her father; as he lunged and the tip of his sword came zipping towards her shoulder, Seren twisted her torso to the side, so that the thrust would miss. Gripping the swordhilt with both hands, she attempted to slip her blade beneath his and stepped in close, attempting to slash diagonally up across his chest.
"Mh, good to know." There was more she wanted to say about weapons, and how to pick ones that were best suited to yourself. But she couldn't quite focus on both the spar and the conversation, and as a result the girl grew gradually quieter as her focus on the bout intensified.
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 consider myself intimidated," Ronin informs his daughter, despite his sunny smile in response to her slasher grin, before his focus is dragged once more towards their bout. Seren is quick, her style so similar to Ronin's that he can't help but be impressed - perhaps it's that which lets her slip in so close, or maybe he's just distracted (or letting her win, who knows). Either way, the strike connects - it's not a deep cut, but it still shreds the fabric of his shirt as he tries to dance back.
"Very nicely done," he says, swatting at her blade in an attempt to knock it from her hand and end the bout. The cut to his chest has started bleeding ever so slightly, not that it bothers him too much, Ronin straightening up and offering her a roguish sort of bow. "I think that gives you first blood, madam."
She had not expected the cut to actually land. That much was evident in the shocked expression, and how long it took for her to react when she was declared a victor. A flicker, an instant of triumph - it would return in full bloom later, in the privacy of her own room - but then it was gone, replaced by apology and concern. "Are you alright? I am so sorry, I thought you would block it, or move away, or..."
Even though it was only a small cut, only a little blood, it was difficult not to hurl the sword away from herself in horror and disgust. The swat separated the blade from her hand anyway, and Seren was visibly relieved; her hand crawled with the lingering sensation of blunt steel on flesh, and it wouldn't leave even as she shook the fingers out.
Was it because Ronin was her father? Because she loved him, and hated causing him pain - no matter how small an injury? Was it because he was alive, and breathing, and she not quite made for the slaying of things, despite how easily she took to weapons and training? All of it, none of it; Seren had no answers.
"It doesn't feel like I won," she mumbled, and tried to smile. But it was a shaky thing, and short lived. Swallowing thickly, the girl stepped over to pick up her sword.
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 perfectly alright - you are not the first person to have nicked me with a blade, I promise," Ronin says with a warm smile, letting his training sword stick point first in the ground as he checks himself over properly. He both does and doesn't expect the reaction Seren gives him, his expression softening further, and he holds up a hand to try and stay her attempt to pick up the sword.
"Hey," he says, "I've got more than a few tricks up my sleeve. Look." His forearms and their constellation tattoos are already exposed, and Ronin touches his fingers to the line of stars which denote Virgo to summon the spirit within. A celestial figure appears, feminine and beautiful before them, and with a brush of her hand, the cut on Ronin's chest fades and is gone.
"See? All better. There's more to training than knowing how to hurt."
Ronin uses this:
Shackles of the Virgin: Summons the Virgo Constellation for one post. The constellation is semi-transparent and appears as a beautiful celestial figure. May heal at a Basic level. Exists as a constellation-tattoo when not in use, but manifests in golden shackles when used.
Halted by his gesture, Seren cocked her head aside and watched, curious to see what he meant. Her gaze followed the motion towards the tattoo, and the stars depicted there was given new meaning when the constellation was breathed to life. The shadow of unease was banished from her by the sight of the lovely lady, and relief bloomed into a smile when a single touch from celestial fingers made the wound go away.
"That is a wonderful trick!" she breathed. Hurriedly fishing up the sword from the ground, Seren bounded back and leaned in to examine first the tear in her father's shirt - where blood beaded harmless on untouched skin - and then the stars scattered across his arm. "Are there others, hiding in there? What else can they do?" She thought of her own little star-critters, and wished they had such wonderful abilities. Perhaps if she trained, if she asked them really nicely...
"Isn't that the point of all this, though?" she asked, as she straightened up again. A hand gestured to the other soldiers around them, recruits and veterans alike. "Learning to handle weapons... they are made for hurting, after all." Frowning softly down at the blade in her hand, Seren half expected it to be awash with blood. But there was no sign of anything where the blunted edge had sliced flesh... and that was somehow worse. As if it had truly been an act of no moment.
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.
"It is, right?" Ronin flashes a smile to his daughter as the Virgo constellation fades away into a shimmer of stardust and the shackles on his wrists become dotted tattoos once more. "There are two others in here. Aries, the ram and Aquarius, the Water Bearer. You might see them another day - Virgo is the only one I have that heals," he explains, letting her make her examinations of his not-wound and the marks that span his forearms.
But then Seren is waxing philosophical, and Ronin turns to watch the soldiers train as well. "Yes, that's true in some way," he agrees, before he slips an arm around her and directs her towards a duo sparring; in particular he points at the one holding a shield. "But on the other hand, it's important to have a knowledge of weapons so you can defend against them, and you can protect others. Knowing how they work doesn't mean you have to use them to hurt people."
