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!
Ray had taken a trip down to the Undergrove in search of any useful herbs. Hopefully she'd find some new ones to experiment with, new resources and remedies for the coming war. The herbalist had stumbled upon a blushberry bush and was harvesting a few of the berries into a pouch when she felt a poke. Glancing up, she went wide-eyed to see a vine poking her. Ray put a hand out in curiosity, smiling softly when the sentient vine curled around her fingers. The plant then froze and pointed behind her urgently
Turning around, Ray groaned. Vampire gourds, a trio of them. Reaching over, she patted the vine gratefully and then glared at the pumpkins. Drawing her dagger she grit her teeth. "Well?" Like they'd been waiting for the cue, the gourds surged forward. The Attuned slashed one in half before smacking another away with her elbow. It seemed like she'd have to postpone her gathering for now.
see what you find there with grace in your heart and flowers in your hair
Paige saw the herbalist heading out of Torchline that morning and the little girl couldn't resist following after her. She was making a game of it, honestly. The girl knew that going into the Wilds was dangerous, but if she was close enough to Ray, even if she was being sneaky then she figured that the girl would be able to help her if she did get into trouble. So off she went. Sneaking through underbrush and doing her best to practice her "tracking" the way Sah taught her. Not that it was really hard considering that she basically stayed only about fifteen feet away the whole time.
She was honestly pretty proud of herself. It wasn't until a sentient vine pointed behind Ray's shoulder that she thought she was caught, quickly ducking down to keep from being spotted, but that's when she saw the gourds. Oh no. Not these things again. Ray took out two and was about to go for the third, but Paige wasn't going to not help her friend. Instead she came charging out with her stolen gifted staff from Mr. Jata, swinging at the gourd the way the hunter taught her, sending it falling onto its side with a nice dent and pumpkin guts spilling out. "I got it!"
Ray's head snapped up at the voice. Turning incredulous eyes at the newcomer, the Attuned's draw dropped. "Paige?! What are you doing out here?" She had no idea that the child had been following her, nor had she expected to see the little girl this far from Torchline. And to see Paige emerge out of nowhere with a staff that she seemed to somewhat know how to use? The herbalist was thrown for a moment.
Recovering quickly. Ray let out a small laugh and returned to slashing the pumpkins. "Be careful, ok! Watch out for their vines and teeth!" From what she remembered of Paige, there was no way the little girl would just sit back and safe while Ray took care of the pests. So hopefully this way at least, the child would be somewhat safe. Ray began to maneuver so that she'd end up back to back with Paige.
07-24-2021, 04:01 PM (This post was last modified: 07-24-2021, 04:01 PM by Paige.)
see what you find there with grace in your heart and flowers in your hair
"I tracked you! All the way from Torchline!" Paige exclaimed, feeling rather proud of herself for that one as she gave the pumpkin she knocked down a good kick with her foot, sending it rolling with a hiss. She slowly made her way closer to Ray, grinning brightly as the woman pressed against her back, excitement bubbling through her. This was so cool! Not only had she totally surprised Ray, but she got to fight pumpkins all over again. "It's okay. I know all about fighting pumpkins!" She'd helped Sah and Mr. Jata and Auntie Maeve with some of the ones in her garden too. She totally had this.
Using the long reach of her staff, Paige made sure to keep the gourds at bay, sending them rolling with well timed whacks. Other times she simply impaled them with her staff. That was mostly the smaller ones. Still, the girl did a good job at covering Ray's back. At least in her opinion.
"You did?" Ray screamed internally. Who in the world taught Paige to track that well? She hadn't even heard the kid! The Attuned swore to herself that she'd work on her awareness from now on.
As much as the herbalist wanted to deny the child's claims, it was true. Paige knew how to handle the vampire gourds. Shaking her head incredulously Ray focused on the ones within her own reach. Her daggers slashed at any that got too close, strong kicks forcing others sprawling. She even reached into her pockets and threw a few of her knives to hit the larger pumpkins that were keeping back and using their vines to attack.
Between Ray and Paige's efforts, the swarm began to dissipate. The Attuned flashed the child a smile. "You're doing great!" She then turned right back to the fray.
see what you find there with grace in your heart and flowers in your hair
"Yeah, I did!" Paige chirped in response to her question, feeling rather proud of herself for managing that feat too, having put all of her gained knowledge from Sah to use to keep tabs on Ray.
The girl had been practicing with her newly obtained staff. Not that she was too good at doing any fancy movements with it. The weapon was just a little too big for her, but she did her best to wield it with confidence despite that. Feeling more than a little daring, Paige surged forward towards one of the biggest one, whacking it a number of times with her staff until it was no longer lashing out and with it the rest of the gourds began to flee, disappearing into the surrounding greenery once more.
She turned back to Ray with a bright smile, bounding towards her, "We did it!" Paige couldn't help the giggle that pushed past her lips.
Ray was feeling equally baffled and horrified. There was also a decent amount of relief in there too as the gourds left. But once that was through, the prior two emotions took over.
As she glanced at Paige, she let out a long sigh. It was an attempt to get a grip on the situation. "We did. Good job. But Paige..." The Attuned stated. Ray then shook her head, eyes wide. "Where did you learn that? The tracking? The staff fighting? It's dangerous to go follow someone into the Wilds to fight creatures. Even ones like the gourds. Does your mom or aunt know you're out here?" She questioned worriedly.
Ray had a feeling that the answer to that last set of questions was a solid no.
see what you find there with grace in your heart and flowers in your hair
Uh oh. 'But Paige' was never a good way to start a sentence and she suddenly got the distinct feeling that Ray was upset with her. She had the mind to look sheepish, pursing her lips as she scuffed the toe of her shoes into the damp earth, chewing on her bottom lip. "Well, uhm, I've been practicing. Mr. Jata let me keep the staff and then I met someone at the Wat-
She cut herself off, realizing she was going to get herself in more trouble if she finished that sentence, quickly scrambling to correct herself. "At the water on the beach and they taught me how to hit stuff properly cause there were pumpkins there too."
Her slender shoulders lift in a shrug as she peeked up at her from beneath her lashes, "He's a hunter and he told me about tracking and stuff." Paige finished lamely, knowing for a fact that Ray was not happy with her choices. Whoops. "Yeah, but I was technically with you the whole time! You can turn into a panther!" As if that made it better. To Paige, it did, but she wasn't sure that Ray would see it that way. Her cheeks flushed pink and she shook her head, "No... They don't know."
Ray shook her head, a sigh leaving her. But the smile she gave Paige was filled with fond amusement. "You really are just a bundle of trouble aren't you? I'm glad you're picking up survival skills at least when you go on your wayward adventures. Just, promise me you'll be careful? Please?" It was clear that the child's adventurous spirit would likely never change. But the herbalist hoped that she'd at least try to stay safe on her quests. To set Paige at ease she added, "I'm not mad, just worried."
But seriously. Who found a kid alone and decided to teach them how to fight and track? "Does this hunter have a name?" It was asked kindly, an effort not to betray the herbalist's suspicion. If Paige gave up the hunter's name, the herbalist would likely make a note to keep kids away from them. Who knew what other skills they'd teach Paige. Would the little girl come back knowing how to skin a bear or something else absurd?
Hearing that Maeve and Paige's mom were likely wondering where their wayward adventurer was, Ray made the obvious choice. She grabbed her things and held out a hand to the child. "Will you let me walk you home again?"
see what you find there with grace in your heart and flowers in your hair
Paige pursed her lips, brows knitting together as her toe scuffed into the dirt, hands holding on tightly to her staff. "I'm not trouble! I just like exploring." She huffed, feeling only a touch defensive, but Ray soothed her worries. She wasn't angry at least. That was something. Paige didn't really want to upset anyone. She just liked adventuring was all.
"His name is Sah, but I call him Sigh cause that's what it sounds like. Saaaah... Siiiigh." She explained her logic, grinning all over again when she thought about how it kinda annoyed him to have it pointed out. Just like it annoyed him when she said he couldn't track.
Ray held out her hand and Paige only hesitated for a moment before taking her hand, nodding in answer to her question, "Yeah, you can walk me home. Though, I could totally get us home myself!"
Ray lightly chuckled at the instant defense. Paige really was an adorable child and the herbalist had no doubt that she'd always be a free-spirited adventurer. She could only hope that the child learned how to be careful before then. It was unfortuanly clear that that was something that Paige still needed to learn.
The description of the hunter took Ray aback and she couldn't stop the genuine laughter that followed. "You call him Sigh?" Cackling she had to ask, "Do you call him that to his face? How did he react the first time?" Thankfully it appeared that this hunter hadn't reacted badly enough for Paige to have a negative view of him. But still, surely this Sah had been annoyed?
Ray relaxed slightly as Paige took her hand, still struggling to get her laughter under control. She gave the child an easy smile. "I know. Thank you for allowing me though."Having said that, the herbalist began to lead them along the path to the city.
see what you find there with grace in your heart and flowers in your hair
"Well, I told him that his name sounded like sigh or 'aaaaaahhhh' with an S!" Cause it does. That's just fact and no one could tell her otherwise. Paige giggled, clearly spurred on by Ray's reaction, nodding quickly. "Yeah, I did! He seemed confused, but it was funny. Especially when he said I was right." She recounted, taking a hold of Ray's hand and letting the older woman set them on a path back home.
Easily, Paige smiled up at Ray, skipping along beside her. "It's lucky I was here though! I helped you stay safe!" She chirped, clearly rather proud of herself for doing just that.
Ray shook her head fondly as she chuckled under her breath. Paige never ceased to amuse her. The herbalist felt a surge of relief as the child spoke. It seemed like this Sah was a decent person thankfully, and not some nefarious character. At least he seemed decent enough to let a child tease him and not react negatively.
Letting Paige lead the way home, Ray found herself indulging the small adventurer's pride. "Yes, you did an amazing job. Thank you for looking out for me." Giving the child's hand a squeeze added, "But please be careful and leave the more dangerous quests for when you're older." For no other reason then to stop the herbalist from greying young.
They were making good time and soon Torchline would be visible. Ray was relieved that she'd be getting Paige home before dark. Who knows what the child would do if she was allowed to 'adventure' at night.
see what you find there with grace in your heart and flowers in your hair
Sah wasn't a bad person at all! He was actually very nice. He taught her cool things. Even though he called her pup which was kind of weird to her, but seemed normal to him. "Plus, he taught me how to track and use my staff right!" Paige chirped, hanging on tightly to her hand even as she moved ahead, tugging her along on the trail that led them home.
Paige was positively beaming at Ray's compliment, eyes bright and smile wide, an extra pep in her step, "Thank you! I've been practicing." She hummed, looking back at her from over her shoulder, slowing down to keep pace with Ray instead. "But what if someone needs help?" Paige asked, head cocking to the side and brows lifting towards her hairline, concern clear in her blue eyes.
