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!
07-08-2021, 02:16 AM (This post was last modified: 07-08-2021, 02:29 AM by Ray.)
Ray
Have you ever heard a shadow? A whisper at night?
Ray was having a shitty day. It'd started out fine with her opening her shop as normal. And then as the sun fully set, things took a turn for the worse. Damn vampire gourds decided that her shop was the prime location for their daily bullshit. And now the Attuned found herself in panther form outside of her own fucking shop, pouncing and swiping at hissing pumpkins.
She was not happy to say the least, and if these pests didn't back off, Ray was going to scream. And then one of them smashed face-first into her window, breaking themselves and not the glass thankfully. But now Ray was going to have to clean that. Having had enough she let out a furious roar.
It was the roar that drew Seren's attention. On her way towards her sleeping quarters, she had taken a detour to enjoy the city at night when the ruckus was heard from a street she had been down before. She was unarmed, which in retrospect was quite foolish of her, but she did have some means to defend herself. As she started to run towards the noise, a pair of wolves coalesced from starlight to lope at her side, and from somewhere high above a dragon's outraged roar announced the arrival of aid.
The girl, the dragon and the magical wolves set upon the rampaging gourds with brave ferocity. The wolves could not take much in terms of punishment, but their snapping jaws and heavy paws were able to both scatter and puncture some of the pumpkins. Umbra, on the other hand, was told in no uncertain terms to land and fight from the ground; Seren was not going to allow Ray's shop to be burned down.
As for defending herself, the girl snatched up a broom leaning against the wall, and began to punt pumpkins left and right, until the street and the walls on opposite side of the shop was splattered in vegetable gore.
"Don't you dare touch my friend!" the young woman snarled to a particularly vicious gourd, large and pale and swollen looking that was bent on getting a bite in on the panther. This time, her swing actually penetrated the tough shell of the vampiric plant, and seeds splashed up to stain her face.
It was, on the whole, a rather gruesome sight.
Battle born they send us Covered in our noble blood
✰ 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.
Ray felt an grateful rumble reverberate from her chest as Seren arrived. With renewed ferocity, the panther turned on the pumpkins, fighting alongside Umbra in a display of fangs and claws. The extra help from dragon, star wolves, and demi-god quickly deplete the number of pests.
However, the creatures are stubborn and more keep pouring in. At this point the street has been painted orange in a rather gruesome paint. Seeing one of the gourds attempt to sneak up on Seren, Ray leapt over her head and crashed into the creature. The two went tumbling down the street until the panther pinned the beast and tore it with her teeth.
It felt... strangely good, to let loose like this. Sentient pumpkins did not inspire much sympathy from the demigoddess, especially not once she had been bitten a few times in the leg, hard enough that blood oozed from punctured skin. She did miss the heft of a proper weapon; the broom was sufficient, but only barely.
Her wolves did their best, but against this number - where did they all come from? - they kept getting overwhelmed. Still Seren summoned them, a pair at a time, and together with the other beasts (yes, you too Ray) she held her ground. The panther's quick work with the pumpkin that came at her from behind earned her a toothy grin in appreciation. No more time was given for sentiment however, because before long another wave of the menacing plants came rolling.
"I need a better weapon!" Seren called to her friend, when the broom handle began to creak and groan under her hands. "Can you get one? I'll hold them off." The woman knew this place better, knew her house and the neighbors; anything would do. A hatchet or axe, or better yet a sword or spear if she could manage it would be a godsend.
As if to put emphasis into the need, one particularly agile butternut squash bounced up from the ground and gnashed hold of Seren's broom handle with its teeth. It clung there, biting and thrashing, grumbling incoherencies despite her frantic attempts to shake it off.
Battle born they send us Covered in our noble blood
✰ 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.
The second the request is made, Ray is already on the move. Her ears flick worriedly as she tears down the street and all but jumps into a shop's open door. The owner of the weapons shop takes one look at her, eyes the hoard and fighting demi-god, and hands the panther a sword without a word. Grasping it in her teeth and giving a thankful nod, Ray sprints back to Seren. She'll come back later with some cookies or something for the man.
Making it back to her shop, she pauses just long enough drop the weapon at the demi-god's feet. Until Seren firmly has it in her grasp, Ray will watch her back before jumping back into the fray herself.
It was right in the nick of time that Ray returned. The broomstick snapped in two when Seren whacked it into the face of an approaching gourd, and the splintered wood left in her hands was far too brittle to keep using. She dove for the sword, rolled across the ground so that pumpkin juice and scattered seeds smeared into her back and shoulders, into the tangled hair, and came up with the weapon in hand.
Not her first choice, granted, but better than a stick. The blade was sharp, and suddenly the process of hacking and slicing the attacking pumpkins became a much easier task. Like a deranged chef the demigod swept across the street to cut up some veggies with a cloak of midnight billowing off her limbs, gleaming wolves at her heel and the dragon leaping and launching in her wake. Ray's growls and snarling teeth added to the small army, until there suddenly were no more gourds left.
Silence fell, and with heaving shoulders and aching arms, Seren let her hands fall. A little dazed, she looked in disbelief at the carnage around her feet, and very slowly glanced around. At her sword. At the last star-wolf remaining by her side, bleeding starlight and panting with silent agony. At Ray, dark and supple by her side... and Umbra, who kept trying and failing to shake sticky pumpkin seeds from his nose.
"Well... that was interesting," she murmured. Not exactly how she had imagined her first battle to be... but Seren supposed it could have been worse. She wasn't bleeding too much. Probably.
Battle born they send us Covered in our noble blood
✰ 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.
Ray stands panting for a moment, catching her breath after the exertion of decimating so many pumpkins. It was incredibly satisfying to see the carnage, but also despairing. She'd have to clean all of it up and that made her want to scream.
Seren's comment however has the panther making a rumble of amusement. Turning towards the shop, Ray nudges the demi-god inside the infirmary before shifting.
"You've got a few nasty scrapes, let me take a look." The herbalist practically orders the second she's in human form. Already grabbing the med-kit and patting a bed for Seren to sit on. Once she begins to scan her friend for injures, Ray gives Seren a warm and grateful smile. "Thank you for the help by the way. I'm not sure what I'd have done if you and Umbra hadn't stepped in to help."
the only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existance becomes an act of rebellion -Albert Camus
Seren half protested as she was herded into the store, with a gesture at the remaining star-wolf... but before she could have it come over and heal her, the critter dissolved with a sigh into so much stardust, set to drift in the wind.
"Oh, alright," she sighed, and let herself be deposited on a bunk. She grimaced as she kicked off the shoe, and again when she had to cut up the hem of the trousers to expose the wound. "It doesn't look too bad, right?" she murmured, trying not to feel queasy as she examined the gouges in the flesh of the calf. It was bleeding quite a lot, and the red seemed much too vivid against her sun-tanned skin.
The gratitude had the demigod look up with a warm smile. "I'm glad I heard you growl, and was close enough to help. I've never seen so many vampire gourds in a frenzy like this. I wonder what's going on." Looking around after Umbra, she found the dragon lounging half out through the door, gorging himself on slaughtered vegetables. Seren shuddered; she did not look forward to cleaning up that much either.
Battle born they send us Covered in our noble blood
✰ 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.
Ray's brow furrowed as she put on a pair of gloves and examined the injury. "It's not great, but we'll have a better idea of it when I get it clean." Taking a bandage and some warm soapy water, the herbalist cleaned the injury thoroughly. It was deep but thankfully not horribly.
Grabbing some gauze, bandages, and ointment, Ray turned back to her friend. "I think you just barely missed out on needing stitches." She then made quick work of the injury and soon enough Seren had a bandaged and healing leg. "You'll want to stay off o fit for a week or so as it closes up, and change the bandages at least once a day. More if they get bloody. Keep the injury clean and dry." Ray explained when she was satisfied with her work.
The herbalist followed Seren's eyes until she too was looking out the door. Ray shook her head, "I don't know what's going on. I can't recall it every being this bad before. Someone might want to check their homeland, something might be going on that's driving them out." She didn't know enough about the gourds to do so. Where even was their homeland again?
the only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existance becomes an act of rebellion -Albert Camus
It was tempting to interrupt Ray's ministrations and just heal her own wound. But Seren appreciated this chance to learn from her mistakes, and the treatment of a wound might be a good opportunity to study the healing process for herself. Harper might approve - or maybe not, since she'd been hurt - and in any case, she could always heal it later if the process became tedious.
"Thank you," she smiled at the apothecary, when the bandages had been applied and she could roll down the trouser leg again. "The gourds come from the Grounds, I think - not sure what could be happening there that drives them all over the continent. At least they're edible... Maybe you should take the chance to stock up on pumpkin preserves while we clean up the mess." She wiggled her eyebrows at the woman, like the suggestion was somehow scandalous.
Battle born they send us Covered in our noble blood
✰ 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.
The demi-god's gratitude received a warm smile as Ray put her supplies away. "You're welcome." She listened as Seren recounted her knowledge of the current pests. "Must be something. Or a migration or, who knows. I hate it though." Her tone is frustrated and just plain annoyed.
Ray sent a forlorn look at the street outside and her damaged windows. "There's so much to clean." The idea of turning the mess into something useful has her humming in contemplation. But Seren's brow wiggle has Ray laughing out loud. "Oh, how improper. To use the remains of our foes to create food!" She states dramatically, throwing the back of her hand to her forehead. Breaking out into more chuckles she adds dryly. "Let's fucking do it."
And with that Ray grabs cleaning supplies, handing some to Seren. She also places her bakeware on the counter for later.
"Mhm, me too. Though I suspect the pastry chefs are having a great time - free supplies everywhere."
Ray's reaction was exactly what Seren had hoped for. She cackled maniacally in response, and rolled up her sleeves before accepting the cleaning supplies.
There was much to do, but at least they had a fun time picking out the salvageable pieces of pumpkin to use for baking later. Seren kept suggesting new and interesting treats to see if they already were a thing - and between the two women, the street was soon passably clean. A thunderstorm would cleanse off the rest, along with Hels, crabs and other habitants on the ever hungry Ahi Coast.
- FIN
Battle born they send us Covered in our noble blood
✰ 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.
