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!
we're all stories unfinished and we die to find some fitting words to write
The air is fresh out here, not needing to breathe has no bearing on her feeling about the difference between the Underground and Kings End. Here, she can take deep, gulping breaths if she wants to, here she can run, here she can see the stars.
Run, she does, letting her speed take her quickly through the hills of the deeply verdant borderland. A blur sometimes, a flash of movement as she brushes past bushes and low-hanging limbs, arms pumping and lungs moving, but no burn comes and no panting, no sweat; there is nothing but pure desire to move taking her forward.
Eventually she slows. Somewhere where there is suddenly a burst of color, even in the dark. Wessex slows and turns in a slow circle, a small, childlike smile on her face as she looks down at the flowers. There’s never been anything like this in the Grounds. After a moment, she sinks to her knees and then lays down, arms akimbo, looking up at the night sky.
I coulda been anyone from anywhere, but I chose to be me, from right here
Nate is beginning to think he may have overshot the shrine. It was supposed to be simple. Easy. He’d carted Kamaria and Sunjata both to the VlamVloed, “Just for the night!”, tucked his supplies in his pockets and set out. The woods were familiar, until they weren’t, until they seemed so far away, until he realized he’d run past them. But he couldn’t stop, what was he supposed to do if he stopped?
So he runswalks through the landscape, thinking maybe he’ll never stop and maybe the night will just keep going and then he remembers himself. Just a little bit. Maybe it’s way he trips over something solid and goes ass over head into the ground, his sensors helpfully telling him that would have really hurt if he could feel it.
“Fuck..?” he tries to say, the sound coming out as nothing more than a strangled wheeze from where he lay, several feet away from the Demi-god who’d brought him down.
we're all stories unfinished and we die to find some fitting words to write
Yeaaaahhh, that might have hurt both of them if they could feel it, but Wessex had lifted her head to see who was tromping her way and when she saw it was Nate, she’d just… not done anything. At all. As a result, she looks mildly over at Nate and then gives a cheeky little wave with one hand once he looks back towards her.
“Where you headed?” she asks, still bemused. “That’s quite a purposeful walk you had going on.” Purposeful enough to not see her. At night. When they can see perfectly well in the dark. It’s clear Wessex doesn’t mind that he’s tripped over her, and also that she’s in a fairly good mood.
Sitting up, she draws her legs into a crossed position and circle her arms around them, looking at Nate with a slightly titled head and expectant expression.
I coulda been anyone from anywhere, but I chose to be me, from right here
It takes a while before the doctor feels up to movement, and just a little longer than that before he twists to look at who he’d stumbled across. Literally. Nate keeps his eye on Wessex for a long moment, shallow breaths panting out of him. “Was uh... the shrine, actually.” There’s still no attempt made to actually get up, but he does twist to look back in the direction he’d been coming from. “Think I mighta missed it.”
Wessex sits up, and all at once Nate feels stupid for still being sprawled on his back. Feels stupid for not having seen her in the first place. “Fuck.” He says, still not moving for a moment, until at once he’s all motion, lifting himself onto the balls of his feet, the rest of his body still curled up. “Fuck.” He says again, shaking his head. “Sorry, are you... you’re okay?”
we're all stories unfinished and we die to find some fitting words to write
“Of course,” waving away his concern with one hand, they both know it would take a lot more to hurt her, but his concern is appreciated. But the shrine? Wessex briefly looks back towards the Grounds - and it’s no small distance. “Mmmm, yep, really overshot it this time. This is King’s End.” Then she takes a moment and really looks at Nate, keenly aware of his state of mind last time they ran into each other. “Are you okay?” That kind of single minded pursuit, the way he was able to get so far before realizing he’d missed the edge of the Grounds - it was a bit concerning.
She remains seated whilst he stands, looking up (and up) at him. Funny, she’s always known he’s tall, but from down here, he seems really tall.
I coulda been anyone from anywhere, but I chose to be me, from right here
Nate mouths the words ’Kings End’ back at the regent, his brows lifting in abject surprise and dawning horror. “Shit.” He hisses, looking away from Wessex and kicking at the ground, wearing a pit beneath the toe of his boot while he tries to think.
Her question has him freezing though, Nate growing still in the way only an ascended can. People keep asking him that, keep saying it with this soft, pitying kind of tone. A grin spreads over his face as he looks back to his fellow Demi-god, his tongue slipping out between his lips for just a breath. “Why would I be anything else?” He asks back, arms spreading wide, giving her the opportunity to look him over.
Cutting it off almost as quickly as he’d opened the opportunity, Nate shifts his weigh, hands finding a home in his pockets while he turns on Wessex. “What brings you out this way?”
we're all stories unfinished and we die to find some fitting words to write
“Well last time you let me hug and I really don’t think either of us are the hugging type, not with each other, sooooo…” Raising a brow at him, she makes no move to hug him this time, whatever had happened then is clearly not at the forefront of his mind now. No need for grand, caring gestures.
“I don’t know, I really like King’s End.” she says simply, looking around again. “Feels like what the Grounds should be, in some other time, you know?” And soon she’d be able to come out here whenever she wanted, for maybe as long as she wants to. Fewer responsibilities. More night to look up at the stars.
“Could also be used to stage larger trainings, if we can ever get our acts together.” Rolling her eyes, the Wraith sighs as the topic (and it’s 100% her own fault this time) inevitably turns to the war. A complete opposite staging ground to Cal’s in the Ruins. It’s good to be prepared.
I coulda been anyone from anywhere, but I chose to be me, from right here
“That was last time.” Nate points out rather smugly. Ignoring the fact that he had run to Kings End without realizing, he did appear to be fine, his grin firmly in place and his expression schooled into one of detached interest.
His one good eye shifts around the landscape, taking in all the little pieces of it before Nate nods. “Grounds could be like it in the future.” He wasn’t going to even pretend to hold his breath. Things would only change if someone was dedicated enough to really put in the work, and that person was not him.
Nate would deny it until his dying breath, but a shudder runs through him as Wessex turns the conversation to war. “Y’think that’ll be anytime soon.” He jokes, no heart in the words. “It’d be a good place for endurance training. Fuck, I ran how far before I noticed?” Fingers twitch at his side, Nate looking over Wessex’s shoulder.
we're all stories unfinished and we die to find some fitting words to write
“Really fucking far,” the other demigod confirms with a wry grin, finally standing up to brush grass and dirt and tiny bugs off her clothes. Turning back towards the Grounds, there’s a moment of hemming and hawing - does she really want to go back right now? Only if they could get something productive out of it.
“Could be, probably sooner if you and I start coordinating and get everyone together for a meeting.” Glancing over and up at him, Wessex’s stare is suddenly quite serious (no shocker there). “You’ve been great with the Shrine and portals and everything, but we’ll both need to do more. Get the others to commit.”
Shrugging, Wessex trails off, the weight of everything that feels like it needs to be done (whether it needs to be or not) growing exponentially as she says. And now she feels like running. Maybe through the Grounds and around the Greatwood and into Hak Etme. Just for shits and giggles.
Breaking into a sudden sprint, the Wraith calls over her shoulder, “To the Outskirts shrine -”
I coulda been anyone from anywhere, but I chose to be me, from right here
“Commit? Commit to... what?” They’re like seeds in the wind, scattered in every direction. There’s no focus. “I mean, war, obviously, but... it’s just,” A hand rises to gesture loosely above them, Nate not needing precognition to see the blade that hovers there. “I mean, how do we... end it?”
Nate is still mumbling to himself as Wessex stands and breaks into a sprint, her voice echoing behind her, understanding lagging a half second behind. “Hey!” The shout rips out of him as Nate kicks into motion, sprinting off behind Wessex. It feels good, now that he can be aware of it, powerful in a way he hasn’t allowed himself to indulge in recently.
It clears some fo the cobwebs from his head, paints a smirk on his face as he starts to catch up, reaching out with false hands to try and trip Wessex from behind, not to hem her, just to make up for her unfair head start.
we're all stories unfinished and we die to find some fitting words to write
Hopefully she’ll have answers for him by the time they reach the shrine, but until then (and it’s a bit of a ways, isn’t it?) there’s nothing but the pounding of her feet over the grassy knolls and the empty, uninhabited Wilds around them.
Wessex laughs at Nate’s indignant yell, thinking that it's time they learn to stop trying to fight fair. Something tickles the back of her feet, enough to make her mis-step and end up hopping ungracefully, arms wheeling, trying to regain her balance. She manages to not tumble forward, and hopefully keeps her lead whilst reaching deep for some more speed.
Somewhere inside, her competitiveness has been activated and like hell she’ll let Nate win.
I coulda been anyone from anywhere, but I chose to be me, from right here
It’s not quite a full trip, but Nate whoops with triumph anyway, the sound peeling away as he manages to pass Wessex by a step, his fellow Demi god already catching herself properly. A bright, hysterical peal of laughter drifts back from Nate, cackling until he runs out of air in his lungs.
Just a few steps is not enough to outrun Wessex though. Nate is unfortunately aware that his sister has him beat on speed, but he decides to learn from her example. Why not use every advantage they can muster? The same glowing arms that had stumbled Wessex reach for the ground, Nate using them for extra momentum as he pushes himself onward.
we're all stories unfinished and we die to find some fitting words to write
Pigs must be flying somewhere, because both Ascended demigods are laughing and enjoying themselves, almost like actual siblings. Almost like the world isn’t on the brink of war and they’re just racing because they can, because of the power they feel at night. If that isn’t a reason to laugh, she doesn’t know what is.
With only the stars and sliver of moon above, there are no shadows to grab at Nate’s ankles and return the favor and everything else on her is too much, much too harsh, too serious for this night. They aren’t fighting (not yet), so the Wraith uses her teleportation to put herself two grassy knolls ahead of Nate (just a quick flash and a cheeky wave behind her as she bolts forward again) hopefully timing it so he’ll see as he crests the one they’re approaching.
I coulda been anyone from anywhere, but I chose to be me, from right here
All things considered, Nate is feeling mighty pleased with himself. This run is something more controlled than his last one, something that he’s aware of, and it’s... fun, to push himself, to lean into his limits. Fun to challenge Wessex, in the kind of easy way it can be with family.
Except things turn all too serious, because apparently, family’s are full of cheaters. A wordless cry of indignation leaves Nate as he crests the hill, spying Wessex ahead of him. He pushes himself that much harder, feet all but flying over the point of the next hill. He’s not going to lose, not like this.
Disaster strikes in the form of a rock as Hes coming down the next slope, and for the second time that night, Nate goes crashing to the ground, rolling the rest of the way down the hill. A ’Fuck! tears itself out of his throat, fast and loud to avoid being strangled as he drags himself up to his hands and knees.
