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!
Paige is full of not so good ideas. She has so many of them that if there was a contest, she could absolutely win. When the first light of morning broke, the girl was quick to spring out of bed, set on exploring. Mother warned her to stay close, but she never was very good at following directions. Especially not directions that kept her from having fun.
So the girl wandered and wandered, climbing over fallen trees and slipping through little places in the undergrowth that only a child could wiggle through, following the sound of water. Paige jumps from stone to stone, using a stick she found to help keep her steady, unaware of any potential danger that could be lurking for her head in the shape of very hungry gourds.
Life was a willow and it bent right to your wind They count me out time and time again
Sah and Lilly had been making their way through the Oerwoud when Lilly sent him a disturbing image. A pup all alone, just ahead at the Waterways. The wolf was worried as she'd scented the vicious gourds. The two quickly made their way over, Sah already drawing his sword. Once the child was in sight, he called out.
"Little pup, what are you doing out here all alone? It's not safe!" Sah asked, brows furrowed as he scanned Paige for any signs of bites or other injuries. Lilly was already sniffing around the area, scouting for any imminent threats. The wolf was still very much a puppy, but she'd grown a great deal in the previous season. Sah could still easily pick her up with one arm however.
The voice suddenly calling out to her made Paige falter, eyes going wide as they landed on the man with a sword and a wolf at his side, freezing on the stone she was currently standing on. Her little hands tightened on her stick, clearly wary of the stranger as she took a tiny step back, "I- I'm just exploring." She called back tentatively, eyes darting away from him and to the sword in his hand, lips pressing into a line. It was one thing to meet a stranger in town. They weren't really strangers then. Everyone knew each other there. Mostly. They all kind of watched over one another.
A stranger out in the jungle? Well that was something else entirely. Her heart started to race a little faster as she took another step back, losing her footing as the rock gave way, dumping her into the water. Paige yelped, scrambling to grip the edge of the stone as the current tugged at her hair and clothes, trying to loosen her grip. Just then a vampire gourd emerged on the opposite bank, having heard all of the commotion, vines whipping and waving above its head as it gnashed its sharp teeth.
Life was a willow and it bent right to your wind They count me out time and time again
Sah cursed under his breath at his mistake. He hadn't meant to startle the pup into actual danger. With a single nod towards Lilly, the pair reacted. Lilly approached Paige, ears folded and tail wagging. The wolf pup was trying to appear less scary. She gave a little whine as she got close. If Paige let her, she would reach forward and try to help her up by grabbing her sleeve, so she wouldn't float away. Lilly wasn't yet strong enough to pull her out.
Meanwhile Sah went for the gourd, sword slashing out to cut at the vines. The creature hissed but before it could react, Sah kicked it away into the water and against a rock. With a squish the gourd was no more. Turning back to the child. Sah held out a hand for her to grab. "Come on, let's get you out of the water." His voice was gentle, trying not to cause another scare.
Fear of getting whisked away by the water was greater than her fear of a stranger now. The wolf pup scampered over to her, grabbing her sleeve to keep her from going any further, but reached out with a wet hand to hold onto the wolf's scruff. Paige didn't even notice the vampire gourd meet its demise until a part of its orange body floated by her. When the man came over to her, reaching down to pull her from the water, Paige was quick to take his help. She held onto him tightly, bottom lip wobbling dangerously as she tried not to cry, clearly shaken by the whole ordeal.
"T- Thank you.." She sniffled softly, reaching up with a free hand to wipe at her cheeks, not daring to let any tears slip down them. Especially when there were more vampire gourds hissing and stirring in the underbrush surrounding them, eyes glowing and vines waving about, bumbling towards the edge of the water.
Life was a willow and it bent right to your wind They count me out time and time again
Sah ran a soothing hand over the child's back, trying to calm her tears. "Shh you're ok pup. We've got you, don't worry." He eyed the surrounding gourds through narrowed eyes. "Lilly is going to stay with you to protect you and keep you warm. Meanwhile, I'll get rid of the rest of these nasty pumpkins, ok?"
If Paige let him, Sah would place her next to Lilly, the wolf pup curling protectively around the child. She would not let any stray gourds touch Page and would spend her time licking away as many tears as she needed to. Meanwhile Sah glared at the gourds, anger painting his features. How dare they attack a pup on her own?
Moving efficiently, he began to cut his way through the swarm, sword slicing through like butter. His lightning was inactive, instead the Abandoned was using his telekinesis. Whenever a smaller gourd came into view, Sah would throw it with his magic with enough force to break it upon impact.
Paige sniffled again, nodding meekly as he rubbed at her back, calming her down a touch now that she wasn't scared of being carried downstream. "Okay.." The girl lowered herself onto the wide stone, kneeling down on the damp surface, letting Lilly wrap herself around her cold body. The water was much chillier now that Leafchange was upon them and she couldn't help the shivers that ran through her tiny frame. Tears slowly stopped as Sah took care of the vampire gourds that appeared from the surrounding greenery. The man did great work at dispatching them, slicing and tossing them this way and that, sending them flying or smashed into pieces.
The hoard thinned out eventually, pumpkins coming less and less frequently until all that was left was tiny babies that Paige could handle herself if it really came to it. She didn't want to just sit there and do nothing. How was she supposed to be an adventurer if she got scared after falling in the water or because a few little pumpkins had snapping teeth? Paige slowly stood up, grabbing her stick from the rock and taking a swing at one of the smaller pumpkins, sending it into the water with a splash.
Life was a willow and it bent right to your wind They count me out time and time again
Lilly backed Paige up, keeping the bigger pumpkins headed towards Sah. That way only the babies got through to the child. The Abandoned did scowl seeing Paige start fighting the pumpkins. But he knew he had to focus on the more dangerous ones. So instead, he called out. "Hold the stick like this! It'll make swinging easier!" Sah quickly showed her how he was holding his sword. If Paige did the same it would make her strikes more powerful, and would require less energy.
Slowly but surely the trio beat back the gourd until only a few remained. After kicking one into a tree, Sah glanced over his shoulder. "Are you two still doing ok back there?" He'd been checking periodically, refusing to put Lilly or the unknown pup in any unnecessary danger.
The hit to the smaller pumpkin definitely didn't kill it. It barely did anything really, but the girl was trying. When Sah offered her advice on how to better hold the stick, showing her with his sword, Paige was quick to adjust her grip before trying to give the next pumpkin a good hit. This went much better and she smashed in its side before it went floating off downstream. Only a few of the vampire gourds got through to her, but it was just enough for her to practice and feel like she was actually helping him.
"I'm okay!" She called back, landing a final blow to the last pumpkin that dared to come her way, lowering her stick as she panted to catch her breath. There was a little scrape on her forehead from where she fell in the water and definitely a few bruises forming, but other than those and some wet clothes, the girl seemed fine.
Life was a willow and it bent right to your wind They count me out time and time again
Sah felt a surge of relief to see that both Lilly and Paige were ok. The child seemed to have heeded his advice after all and was doing a decent job of holding her own. Once all of the pumpkins were taken care of, Sah gave one last check of their surroundings. Judging that the threat was gone, he made his way over to the pups.
"I'm glad you're alright. You did a decent job with that stick. You might want to look into learning how to use a sword one day." He gave Paige a warm smile, making note of the few cuts and bruises. Brows furrowing he put his bag on the ground and began to rummage through it. Puling out a dry blanket he handed it over. "Here. Warm yourself up. I'm Sah by the way, and that's Lilly." He gestured towards the wolf pup who was still hovering protectively around Paige. The wolf pup was taking her guard duty very seriously.
"I won't need a sword. I'm going to be an Attuned!" Paige declared proudly, lifting her chin, crossing her arms over her chest with a little huff. She wasn't a baby. Of course she did a good job with her stick! The girl took a bit of offence at the implication that she didn't know how to take care of herself. She was seven! That was plenty old enough.
The girl watched curiously as Sah began to rummage around in his bag, pulling out a blanket and wrapping it around her slim shoulders, warding off the chill in the air. "My name is Paige." She said after a moment, holding the blanket more tightly around her as a breeze kicked up, causing goosebumps rising on her skin. "Sah is a kinda funny name..." Paige mused softly, pursing her lips as bright eyes studied the stranger, reaching a tentative hand out to pet Lilly.
Life was a willow and it bent right to your wind They count me out time and time again
Sah had to stifle a laugh. "Even Attuned have to know how to fight in human form. Not just as animals. What if your shift is too big to fit where you have to fight?" He countered with an easy grin as the child warmed up. "Nice to meet you Paige."
The unprompted judgment of his name had Sah tilting his head. "Is it? No one has ever mentioned that before." He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "I'm an Outlander so I guess it's not too surprising for my name to be a rarity in Caido." Sah had never even stopped to consider if his name fit in so to speak. It hadn't been a common name back home either, now that he thought about it.
Lilly was more than willing to be pet. She returned to wrapping around the child, offering her head for Paige to scratch. The pup's tail began to wag again, hoping to make a friend out of the human pup.
Her brows drew together, confusion coloring her features at his words, clearly not following his line of thought. Not fighting in her shift? Wasn't that the whole point of having shifts in the first place? "Why would it be too big?" She countered instead, fingers still running through Lilly's fur as the wolf pup curled around her, helping her to warm up along with the blanket wrapped around her tiny body.
"Yeah, it is. Sounds like sigh or 'aaaahhh', but with an S before it." Paige explained her reasoning behind why she thought it was a funny sounding name, wrinkling her nose as she giggled in response to him rubbing the back of his neck. At the mention of being an Outlander, her eyes go wide, perking up a bit. "Oooh. You're an Outlander? That's so neat! I don't know any Outlanders..." Except for Aurelia, but she didn't even know she knew Aurelia, having only met her as a red panda and not a person.
Life was a willow and it bent right to your wind They count me out time and time again
07-04-2021, 01:33 AM (This post was last modified: 07-04-2021, 01:33 AM by Sah.)
yet my blood renders me a King
Sah had no further argument on the debate of fighting with our without shifts. Instead he simply shrugged. "I don't know. But I bet an Attuned could better explain why sometimes it's good to be able to fight in all forms." Clearly he wasn't the best for the job. But knowing how to fight in any situation was important so hopefully someone would be able to explain it to Paige. Meanwhile Lilly just happily enjoyed the cuddle, making it her new mission to warm the child up.
The explanation of his name had Sah gaping for a moment before he burst out laughing. Trying to stifle his laughter with a hand, he managed to reply. "Stars above, it really does sound like that. I'm never going to be able to forget that now." His name was never going to sound the same again. Sah wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not.
Happy to move away from the dissection of his name, Sah latched on to the new topic. "Yes. I'm from a completely different world. And do you know what's crazy?" He whispered the next part, one hand coming to his face as if telling a secret. "I wasn't even human in my world."
