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!
i wish I could say I am a light that never goes out. but i flicker from time to time
"We're going to live in the Woods, just like we always planned to." Remi's words are softly spoken, falling onto the rocks upon which he sits. The roar of the ocean seems to steal the things he says, tugging them away with the tide, but the alchemist doesn't seem to mind. Aoife will hear him, regardless. 'I think you would have liked it here better. With the sea so close and the stars above. In the Greatwood there is just the Stonesong, and the canopy of leaves overhead can hide the sky." He adds softly.
Sitting at the base of the lighthouse on the large stones that slowly give way to the sea below, Remi places small white flowers over a particular crevice in the rocks. A sea breeze tugs at his curls and pulls at his shirt, but he ignores it. Placing his fingers upon the stone, Remi closes his eyes as the idea of tears begins to pulse in the back of his mind. Its been years since Aoife died, and while most days he's able to carry on with only a handful of thoughts of her, on days like today he feels weighed down by guilt and loss.
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
my heart turns as if a tide. let anything happen, it says wash me on the stones, curl me from the edge, cut me from the bone
Tides move in, water splatters on the rocks, and her breath moves in with it. Powerful lungs expel their heat as the waves recede, and again. Seabirds mill about as they always have, but now her attention pulls with predatory inclination each time their wings ruffle. Still she ignores them. For the most part.
Cats have acute senses, it's true, and hearing is their best. So when the soft resonance of a voice drifts in on the breeze, surprise makes her stop in her tracks. Her ears swivel to take in each somber note and tender sentiment meant only for someone he once loved, and has now lost.
It feels like an intrusion but, Aurelia draws nearer. A cat's curiosity is its own downfall, or however that saying goes. With fiery-colored fur that sticks out and steps that are meant to give away her presence, she comes up behind the man sitting on the rocks with no intention of being unnoticed.
Her gaze lingers on the mess of curls that capture his features, something unreadable in her gaze. Abruptly, she steps up beside him to take a seat. As if she belongs here in this moment. She offers him a quiet, calm stare.
Who are you talking to? Her empathetic voice searches for purchase in a bond that she isn't sure is there. Worth a shot?
i wish I could say I am a light that never goes out. but i flicker from time to time
Just as Aurelia was intending not to go unnoticed, Remi was intending not to notice her just the same. The presence of another large cat was enough to irk his predatory senses, but any hackles he might have raised were soothed by the thoughts of Aoife that swam brightly behind his eyes. Even so, when the fiery feline took a seat, Remi couldn't help the slightly disparaged sigh that pushes past his lips.
My daughter is buried here. Beneath these stones. Remi explains with a glance toward Aurelia, before his sea-glass stare returns to the flowers and the rocks. His mental voice is even more thickly accented than his speaking voice is, but even so, mind-to-mind telepathy typically made it so that others understood him well enough. Not recognizing Aurelia's voice or her shift, he takes a moment to shake himself out of the fragile melancholy that visiting Aoife's grave always brought, to bring himself back into the moment.
I..do not believe we have met.
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
my heart turns as if a tide. let anything happen, it says wash me on the stones, curl me from the edge, cut me from the bone
She cannot sense his ire at her presence, or the form of it she has taken at least. That it makes him a bit nervous, or whatever it might be called, would only make her feel more confident anyway. But the sigh; she does notice it, and even one of her ears flicks to punctuate it.
Her gaze moves down towards the rocks and the flowers, alongside his. Understanding makes itself evident. I didn't know there were graves here... she murmurs thoughtfully. Well, there could be graves anywhere. That Remi's daughter is buried here, though? It gives her pause.
She shifts almost uncomfortably and her eyelids flinch into a blink. No, we haven't, she confirms, and a sigh can be heard even in her mental voice, though perhaps we should've a while ago. My name is Aurelia, she tells him, lifting her gaze to look at his face again, and you're Remi..? She's pretty sure he is, but still there's a question in her voice.
i wish I could say I am a light that never goes out. but i flicker from time to time
I think just hers. He notes with an easy shrug. To his knowledge, no one else is buried here. But then, it has been a while since he's been here in particular. Perhaps others have been added. But that's alright, Remi is quite sure Aoife wouldn't mind the company.
Raising a brow slightly at the should've, Remi tilts his head wondering what the context of it is. Her name indeed rings a bell, especially with all that has happened as of late, and it has the alchemist nodding his understand. Oh, Aurelia. Yes, Ronin has mentioned you. As for being Remi? He can only smile somewhat sadly and nod. Congratulations, by the way. News travels fast of course, and especially as it relates to Sunjata or Torchline, Remi (via Ronin) usually hears of it quite quickly. I am not sure a god has ever directly named a ruler before. That is quite the thing. What sort of thing he doesn't say, though through the bond he doesn't at all try to hide is dislike of Safrin.
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
07-09-2021, 08:31 PM (This post was last modified: 07-09-2021, 08:31 PM by Aurelia.)
my heart turns as if a tide. let anything happen, it says wash me on the stones, curl me from the edge, cut me from the bone
A curious rumble warbles in her throat at the fact that he says Ronin has mentioned her. Or that that's what he chooses to say about it, at least. The mention of Ronin is confirmation enough that, yes, this is Remi, and she doesn't need the nod afterwards but she watches it carefully anyway.
When the subject shifts to that of her leadership, and she can keenly sense his disdain, her powerful lungs push out a heavy breath that visibly draws the tension in her shoulders away.
Quite the thing... she echoes, looking away, watching distant waves. It's an opportunity I don't intend to squander, she remarks in humble earnest, ears lifting at the sight of a bird rising up out of the water. It was certainly a surprise to me, though, she admits, I did not expect Sunjata to leave... There's a ripple of sad fondness that can be felt in the bond, even if she tries to hide it.
Her head tilts back towards him, peering down at the flower petals as the gentle push of the breeze makes them shift rhythmically. What was her name? She asks gently after a few moments.
07-09-2021, 08:39 PM (This post was last modified: 07-12-2021, 02:11 PM by Remi.)
i wish I could say I am a light that never goes out. but i flicker from time to time
Remi's cheeks dimple slightly with the smile he offers her, though for all of Remi's encounters with Sunjata and Nate as of late, his interest in the politics of Torchline are at an all-time low. I wish you the best of luck. And all the cleverness in the world. She'd need it, and likely alcohol too, if his and Sunjata's reigns are anything to go by.
Nor did I. But...it sounds like it might be best for everyone. Remi says with a small shrug. Whatever he thought of the whys that went into how emptied of energy the Flood had gotten, it was clear that he was empty. Empty of patience. Empty of resilience. Empty of common sense.
Turning back toward the flowers, Remi pulls in a breath as his teeth worry at the inside of his lip for just a moment. "Aoife." He says out loud. Smiling at himself with a shake of his head, he adds: "I can never say it as well as Ronin could." The words were made for a tongue like Ronin's, just as Mateo's name rang off his lips more easily than it did the Huntsman's.
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
07-09-2021, 09:03 PM (This post was last modified: 07-09-2021, 09:05 PM by Aurelia.)
my heart turns as if a tide. let anything happen, it says wash me on the stones, curl me from the edge, cut me from the bone
Whether Remi's heart is truly in it or not, she is grateful for the well wishes. I will certainly need it.
There's reluctance to accept Remi's words. I know that's true. I still can't help but wonder about how things might be, had they been.. different, she comments, lowering her chest to the ground as she delicately noses a petal back from the edge of the rocks. Would it have mattered, if she had done things different? If her anger had not gotten the better of her. Or would it have only been a matter of time, for something else to come along and shatter Sunjata's resolve?
Was it her fault? The question glares endlessly from the back of her mind.
Her gaze flicks up towards Remi's as she catches the way he chews at his lip, the subtle mannerism telling. If she could smile in return, she would, but a tiger cannot even purr. That is a beautiful name, she says softly, hesitating before she asks, What happened to her?
i wish I could say I am a light that never goes out. but i flicker from time to time
I think you have too many things on your plate now to spend your time wondering about things that will not be. Remi points out, offering the tigress a small smile.
Aurelia's question has him sitting up slightly straighter. It isn't one people normally asked; when you said your child had died, normally you received a pat on the back and an awkward conversational shift away from such dark topics. That Aurelia continued them forward was either a sign of her callousness or something much gentler. Just now, Remi wasn't sure which. With a soft sigh, he tugs his shirt over his head revealing a body well-abused by the world. Scars race up and down his flesh, but as he sits up and turns toward her, the most obvious one is the grotesque mass of twisted flesh in the center of his chest.
Running a hand idly across it, Remi raises his eyes. "Two years ago at the Fiat Lux festival..." He begins. "Aoife and I were making flower crowns..across the field there was a giant gourd rolling about, but it seemed like it was being dealt with." The alchemist's fingers tighten for a moment, and through the attuned bond there is a distinct knot of grief and a lately fury that has never quite burned away. "Someone—" No, not someone. Loren. But even now, Remi can't make himself say the Launceleyn's name. "—threw spears of ice." Raising his hands slightly to mime how he'd been holding Aoife against his chest, directly where the scarring was its worst, he shook his head. "The ice impaled us both." He whispers.
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
07-13-2021, 11:38 AM (This post was last modified: 07-13-2021, 11:40 AM by Aurelia.)
my heart turns as if a tide. let anything happen, it says wash me on the stones, curl me from the edge, cut me from the bone
The little smile that punctuates Remi's point makes her shoulders shift the weight around that they've been carrying. The fur along her nape ruffles upward, thickening, and then lies flat in a massive ripple along her skin. For the moment, at the very least, she lets the sentiment sink in.
There's little visible reaction to the scars Remi reveals. There is no flinch, not a twitch or a pang or a softening or tensing. Scars tell the story of the greater events that have pathed the way of one's life. They may be a source of pride, or shame, but there is something they will never do: lie.
So when he tells her what happened, she believes the words written across his flesh. Empathy is, at first, a small ping that soon grows into a strong and steady wave across the attuned bond they share. Even in the face of his righteous fury. It's not to be mistaken for pity, for sorriness over the pain he must feel. No, it's understanding, it's a shared pain. One Remi is not alone in, and she wouldn't hide that from him - no matter the complications of other matters.
In this moment, it's only Aurelia, Remi, and Aoife. All else falls aside.
No parent should have to outlive their child... her voice is a murmur across their mental link. I am sorry, she lifts her chin to look up at him, the honesty evident - with or without the bond. And if it's a bit ridden with guilt? Well, she can't help that. I hope that Aoife is happy, wherever she is, and can't feel the same pain that we do.
Were you... happy? When you found out about Hotaru's pregnancy? She asks after some time spans, blinking down at the flower petals, Was it something you wanted?
i wish I could say I am a light that never goes out. but i flicker from time to time
Remi shrugs in the wake of that; shoulds hold little sway over his life, such as it is. She is with Mort, at least. I do know that. He murmurs, partially turning his gaze back toward the stone and the flowers thereupon before her words freeze his hand in place.
For a moment there's a blur of something dark, like a ravenous cavern, before the bond between them is as severed as it can be. Blocking every bit of himself from her, Remi turns toward her, his eyes narrowed and his lips in a thin line. "Excuse me?" He asks in a whispered tone, his accent almost entirely falling away as it's replaced by a cold and lingering danger. Feathers crawl up the back of his neck as he stands, peering down at the tiger. Somewhere far away, Ronin will feel the heartbeat ring he wears stutter and then pulse.
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
my heart turns as if a tide. let anything happen, it says wash me on the stones, curl me from the edge, cut me from the bone
It could've only gone one of two ways, but perhaps Remi doesn't realize that she knows as much as she does of the goings-ons of Hotaru. Of her pregnancy. Of their... strange involvement. Not that she has any intention of placing judgement. At least, not here and now anyway.
As stated before, it's only her and Remi here, on the cliffside beside the Aumakua, beneath Safrin's skies. A goddess he so evidently detests.
So when he turns and the mood warps away from Attuned bonds, there's only a brief tension that tides across her back. She rises to her full height slowly after he stands, tail winding around in a semi-circle to counter the movement and balance her out.
To be perfectly honest, she's a bit baffled as to why he's taken such offense to the question, which she'd thought had been innocent enough. For that, her head tilts to one side in clear confusion and the white dots of her brows needle together. I'm sorry? She implores, Word travels fast in Caido, as I'm sure you're aware... I meant no harm in asking.
i wish I could say I am a light that never goes out. but i flicker from time to time
"Word travels fast?" He repeats, the words nearly snarled from his lips. Shirtless as he is now, it's easy enough to see the way the muscles of his arms flinch with tension and how his ribcage expands with every breath that speaks of restraint. "What possible business is it of yours?" Remi wonders, rhetorically. Because the answer is: none. Just as it hadn't been her business how Aoife died.
'You murdered her companion.' Remi adds as wings flare from his back. Aurelia might have the bulk in her current shift, but let there be no mistake about who the apex predator is among them. "Whatever she did to a building, you were the only one to take a life. Word travels fast about that too." With his emotions bloody on his sleeves on the best of days, talk of Aoife, of her death, and now this, is possibly one of the most potent combinations one might conceive of these days to topple what thin veil of restraint and morality the alchemist has left.
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
my heart turns as if a tide. let anything happen, it says wash me on the stones, curl me from the edge, cut me from the bone
Her ears flatten and her eyes flinch in reflexive reaction to the flare of his wings. Even though the pound of her heart is a hammer in her chest, she does her best to silence the rush of blood in her eardrums, to keep her balance even as her skin grows numb with the instinct of fight or flight kicking in.
Yes, she'd murdered Hotaru's companion. At this point, it was no secret, and Aurelia had never tried to make it one. What would you have me do, Remi? She asks gravely in contrast to his fury, gaze hovering toward his face. What would you have me do now?
She takes a pawstep back, though she is hesitant because she's not sure of how he will react to any move she makes at this point. Her head lowers. I'm sorry, I've clearly overstepped. I only wanted to know your side of things.
