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!
Down on the ground? Sure, he can do that. Still, he waits for Wessex to make the first move, watching as she hops down before he’s flaring his wings and hopping off the branch to meet her on the ground. The wings buffer much of his descent, though, and when he lands he shifts back into himself – readjusting the collar of his shirt before letting his steel gaze land over on Wessex.
“Depends.” He offers her by means of whether he could teach her to fly, flashing her a half crooked smile, a playful one that seems at odds from when they had last talked to one another. “Do you have a shift stored up or do you need to borrow one of mine?” This is a much more vital question than before, though it isn’t like Wessex hasn’t bit him before. He still has the scars from her on his wrist that day in Halo when they’d hunted together.
He turns to face her a bit more fully, though, starry tattooed arms crossing along his chest as he awaits her answer. “If it’s the borrowing kind, you have to help me pick an apology gift for Nate.” That’s the deal, he supposes, but he still tips her a wink of amusement regardless – the playfulness of his Pegasus shift still affecting him despite having shifted back.
if i let go, would you hold on?
would we fly?
No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Sunjata, without killing him <3
Sunjata speaks with an Australian accent and has a passive magic that makes him produce a subtle scent that matches exactly to whatever those around him most desire him to smell like.
we're all stories unfinished and we die to find some fitting words to write
This time, she looks adequately sheepish, half-grimacing back at him as an answer. “Ah… no. Sorry. Not a lot of Attuned wanting to play that nice these days.” Anyone she might have gone to before is well on the other side of things and probably wouldn’t want to show the demigod much of anything, lest it benefit her in some way.
“But if you have any other suggestions, I can try them first if you prefer. Maybe someone in Torchline would be willing to trade favors?” If the Wraith sounds hopeful about other options, it’s a bit of a mask. She isn’t, really. She shrugs. “If not, I’m happy to go gift-hunting for Nate. Is he a shiny or a sparkly type of guy?” Her own eyes twinkle a bit mischievously at the question - she truly has no idea what he might like, other than the ability to get drunk again. Which, unfortunately, isn’t in her wheelhouse.
“Mm, well, after I made Nate Governor I caught some heat too.” He snorts, though there’s a roll of his shoulders that loosens him up as if he’s giving her the impression that at this point? He simply doesn’t care. He’s tired of it all already and it hasn’t even started. It’s why he and Nate had decided to go fuck off in the woods with Kamaria. “Doesn’t mean I won’t help where I can.” He flashes her a crooked grin, however, as if their last interaction was far past his mind.
And it was. He’d changed since then, far looser, far lighter, far more… Free. He imagines she can relate.
Her own offer to go to Torchline to find someone to trade it with has him barking a laugh, flashing her a brighter smile that tugs at the scar on the side of his face, bunching it up and twisting it in ways that almost seems uncomfortable. “Obviously he’s a shiny kind of guy.” He offers as if it had been plastered to Nate’s forehead, the ‘obviously’ drawled in a similar way to Nate’s own, the Ascended influence growing more and more on him with the days they’ve spent solely together with nothing else harboring their attentions.
“Suppose you get your pick of the litter, then, huh Wessex?” He teases her, lifting his wrist for her to take. “Bird, bat, pegasus, dragon…”
if i let go, would you hold on?
would we fly?
No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Sunjata, without killing him <3
Sunjata speaks with an Australian accent and has a passive magic that makes him produce a subtle scent that matches exactly to whatever those around him most desire him to smell like.
we're all stories unfinished and we die to find some fitting words to write
Obviously. She should have known, and the look she flashes Jata next is a very bemused of course he is.
“Thanks. So far I’ve been taunted by this dragon shift three times…” it probably isn’t the easiest to learn to fly in, but it’s the biggest, heaviest, and closest to what she’s aiming for. Fuck the little bird and the bat, go big or go home. She grins a bit, the tips of her fangs peeking out from under her lips, as it’s obvious what shift the demigod is choosing.
Bringing his wrist gently to her mouth, she pierces his skin and takes a sip, feeling his entire zoo of species flow through her. Muffling a groan through her lips, she tries not to take more than she needs, pulling away as soon as she thinks she has enough to ensure the change.
That being said, she looks at the Flood with an aha energy. “I knew you were that fucking dog in the LongNight meeting!”
A bark of a laugh leaves the Flood as he watches Wessex, a crooked smile forming on his face that tugs awkwardly against the scar. “Three whole times?” He asks, amused nonetheless, but offers his wrist up for her regardless. Dragon it is, and he hopes she has a good enough idea on how to handle it.
Luckily for Sunjata, he has enough experience getting bit now to be able to handle it when it happens, despite the automatic reaction he has, there’s not a lot more than the way his breath hitches, the way his fingers curl, the way the flush creeps up his neck and cheeks and the simmering smolder skates across his gaze. When she draws away, he blinks furiously to recover, and luckily for him the distraction Wessex offers manages to pull him out of it.
“Hey, fuck you, that’s my spying shift.” A breathless laugh leaves him. “Though I just participated in it for Nate. Wanted to see how many of you wanted a shift to help.” Here he shrugs but the crookedly playful smile remains, before he’s guiding her into a clearing where they might be able to shift and take to the sky.
if i let go, would you hold on?
would we fly?
No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Sunjata, without killing him <3
Sunjata speaks with an Australian accent and has a passive magic that makes him produce a subtle scent that matches exactly to whatever those around him most desire him to smell like.
we're all stories unfinished and we die to find some fitting words to write
Humming a quiet agreement as she wipes her mouth, the Wraith nods. “Useful.” Where that’s for him in acknowledgement of his gifts during the past LongNight or his dog shift - who knows. It all fits. Jata takes the lead and she follows close behind to a suitable clearing, where she then moves across it to give both of them space to shift.
She’s shifted before, certainly, but it’s an alien skin, something that maybe inherently clashes with all her upgrades. Her neck elongates and she comes down to her hands and feet, spine expanding into a tail. Wings stretch out of her shoulder blades and claws and teeth appear - maybe the most natural feeling part of it all. The results is what we’ve all seen before - the black dragon, but this one seems to stretch and examine and peer about itself.
A flex of certain muscles sends her wings out wide, and there’s a sudden burst of surprise from her down the Attuned bond. Does she know how to handle this creature? No. Absolutely not. But Wessex is a fast learner and if she’s going to knock herself out tryin something new, she might as well do it now, like this.
sleep don't visit, so i choke on sun // and the days blur into one
It was useful, and regardless of just how Wessex means the agreeing words, Sunjata doesn’t care. It hits something easier within him, loosens his shoulders all that much more as he guides her toward the clearing where they might be able to shift. He waits, of course, watching her own shape contort and twist into the dragon shift so much like his own. It’s scarred differently than his, though he doesn’t expect it to be the exact same after all.
When she settles and begins to inspect herself wearing his shift, that’s when Sunjata shifts into the shift that’s nearly become a second home by now. His shape twists into something large as a bus, long wings with a bright pale scar that lines through one of his wings where the membrane tugs a bit harder than the others, and the light peppering of lightning scars that dance along the chest and right side of the Attuned.
The dragon approaches the demigod, steel gaze inspecting her just as much as she inspects herself. You’re going to have to let go of some of your control. He informs her gently, nostrils flaring against the scales that dance along his skin. It has a mind of its own and it’ll be easier to fly if you give into the instincts of it. So saying, the Attuned leans back on his haunches, wings flaring, and he pushes himself up to the sky, wings flapping to take him to the clouds above the jungle’s reach, out of the lingering fingers of the foliage.
and the backs of my eyes hum with things i've never done
SUNJATA
No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Sunjata, without killing him <3
Sunjata speaks with an Australian accent and has a passive magic that makes him produce a subtle scent that matches exactly to whatever those around him most desire him to smell like.
we're all stories unfinished and we die to find some fitting words to write
So there’s two bus-sized dragons in the clearing and it looks like the Oerwoud is about to get a hell of a lot more exciting. Wessex is scarless, other than the ironic dragon tattoo that encircles the dragon’s foreleg. If only her blowhard, blustering and fiery ancestors could see her now.
You callin’ me a control freak? she jests, mock surprise and hurt flowing towards him. I can’t believe you’d say such a thing..
But she is listening closely, even though that’s all the advice the Flood has to give on making her hulking mass airborne - and keeping it airborne. Trust the creature. Shut herself off. Like most things, it’s easier said than done but the Wraith nods her dragon-head anyway and tries to go to that reflexive place she lives in when she’s fighting. When she doesn’t think nearly as much, she just lets her body do the thing it’s trained for years to do. Whirling ice-blue eyes watch Jata push himself into the air, and so she focuses on the first thing - the launch.
Coiling her haunches (such massive quads!) beneath her, Wessex tries to funnel all of her strength into her legs before literally jumping into the air. Wings begin to flap furiously, and unevenly, as she careens wildly upward, trying to figure out how to balance herself en wing.
sleep don't visit, so i choke on sun // and the days blur into one
The mock surprise and hurt has the Attuned chuckling – the sound vibrant and bright through the bond, but the only sound audible is the grumbling of his shift. So he offers her the instruction, how to better handle the shift, sure that she’d mess up a few times, and when he takes to the skies, he pulls himself into a lazy circle around the clearing, waiting and waiting for her to meet him up high.
Don’t think about it too hard. It’ll even you out. He calls down to her, his own shift offering a growl of encouragement to her own dragon, a rumbling sound that’s bright as it is deep enough to shake the trees. Give into it, it’ll feel like you’re falling before the wind catches you. You’ve got this. He tacks on, wondering if she needs a bit more help rather than the essential ‘close your eyes, let the instincts take over’ because they both know that’s a difficult thing to do when life was everything but trusting of what comes at you.
He continues his idle circling though and when she does break through (and maybe one or two of the trees in the process) he's ready to guide her along the undergrove from the sky above, a leisurely flight as it were, toward the glittering ocean in the distance, arcing in the sky above before turning back to meet her.
and the backs of my eyes hum with things i've never done
SUNJATA
No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Sunjata, without killing him <3
Sunjata speaks with an Australian accent and has a passive magic that makes him produce a subtle scent that matches exactly to whatever those around him most desire him to smell like.
we're all stories unfinished and we die to find some fitting words to write
Honestly, her wings are fucking huge enough that they better catch her, even if just fanned out. So, much like diving off a cliff, Wessex tries to clear her mind and just let herself fall, for lack of a better descriptor. The Flood’s encouragement is helpful, and she finds that the unrestricted flow of emotion towards her is… nice. Gods, is this what it’s like to not have to continually guess how people feel? What a novel concept. Oh, but wait - there’s something else she needs to be paying attention to -
Her momentary divergence has this body off-kilter again. Fighting the panic Wessex retreats to the mental fortitude she’s gained over the years. It seems like she might truly crash and burn in the trees before her wings seem to suddenly just… start working. There are some minor scratches along her belly as she just manages to clear the treetops, but the Wraith is indeed flying.
So now there’s the steering part. Trying a shallow turn by tipping her body, Wessex swerves to her right a bit, finding her head is a good way to lead right now. Even if it looks ridiculous.This is… amazing. she whispers towards Sunjata, awe at seeing the world like this encompassing her entirely.
sleep don't visit, so i choke on sun // and the days blur into one
He makes lazy circles in the sky, watching with his slit steel gaze as she breaks through the treeline, as the Wraith is using his shift to meet him in the skies. There’s something that’s almost prideful in the emotions that slip toward Wessex, as the dragon lowers himself to meet the other. He’s there to bank for her, to help her remain on a straight path, hearing her whisper and pulsing an appreciation toward the Wraith.
It’s nice, right? He asks, flashing a toothy draconic grin her way, before he’s pulling up toward the clouds in the sky, higher and higher for her to join him. The view from up here is incredible, once they break through the clouds. The sun illuminating the edges of the clouds, far off in the distance a darkening storm lit up from within is on the horizon, and to the far other side, a glittering ocean covering the edge of Torchline from this view. You can try out the lightning if you like, so long as you don’t aim it at me. I’ve been electrocuted enough in my lifetime. He teases her.
and the backs of my eyes hum with things i've never done
SUNJATA
No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Sunjata, without killing him <3
Sunjata speaks with an Australian accent and has a passive magic that makes him produce a subtle scent that matches exactly to whatever those around him most desire him to smell like.
we're all stories unfinished and we die to find some fitting words to write
Nice as an adjective for this sends her into some bemused laughter as she works to follow him higher. Yeah that’s one word for it, though she can think of ten others, and a feeling she can’t yet adequately describe wells up.
It feels like… true freedom. Like… but she isn’t able to finish it, sorry and frustration and the early flickers of anger wash over her. Imprisoned her whole life. Never knowing the beauty of her world, the possibilities that were purposefully kept from them. And not just them, the Ascended, but them, her people. She’s following him on autopilot until they break through the cloud cover, and then the sight of the sun at the fluffy edges, the sparkle of the ocean - even the storm on the horizon.
She’s speechless. Until it becomes too much and something in her breaks, a flood of generations of despair and trauma soaking her through and through. A deep, guttural, heart-rending roar is the only sound she can make to try and express anything, and then the dragon starts to weave a bit unsteadily.
They kept this from us. They stole it, they -
Wessex coils, retracts herself, aims for the imaginary space above them where the heralds and the Gods live, and screams at them in lightning.
sleep don't visit, so i choke on sun // and the days blur into one
If he had ears in this form they’d be lowered, pressed back against the swell of anger and frustration and rage that slips from Wessex – not yet familiar enough with the Attuned bond to shut it out or temper it on her end. He doesn’t blame her for it, and he concentrates on doing his best to damper it. He still soars nearby her, keeping close to her in case she dives, in case she falls. He doesn’t know what he can do against another dragon even if it’s his own stolen shift, but he’s there beside her to try.
But instead of diving, she rises, and he follows her up and up into the clouds, feeling the electricity spur on the air as the wind and clouds race beneath his wings. The lightning crackles out and the dragon within him stirs and rages with, lightning crackling along his own lips despite how he reins it in. Instead, he pulses some understanding toward Wessex – a similar feeling of growing up in a bubble. But he hadn’t been here when the barrier had been up. He’d arrived just after it had fallen.
They did… Sunjata says quietly in the face of her sorrow and rage. I’m sorry.
and the backs of my eyes hum with things i've never done
SUNJATA
No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Sunjata, without killing him <3
Sunjata speaks with an Australian accent and has a passive magic that makes him produce a subtle scent that matches exactly to whatever those around him most desire him to smell like.
we're all stories unfinished and we die to find some fitting words to write
No, she is not used to anyone knowing her feelings; roped off from other Ascended by virtue of her role in the family, even more so from the rest of the world as the Voice’s demigod, she is used to experiencing everything in a vacuum. Only Loki knows these bits and pieces of her, and while Loki is ingrained in the heartfibers of her soul, she cannot speak the way that humans can.
But maybe words aren’t needed for this feeling. Maybe words are unnecessary. Inadequate.
Understanding floats her way and she wants to believe that it’s true, that Sunjata mightcomprehend a little of what this mess inside her feels like. Wessex can’t quite rein her feelings back in yet, but the lightning rampage ends with a static fizz. She can feel the air around them growing thin. Not so bad for her, but for the Flood - she stops climbing, stops fighting it. Suspended here, her neck twists towards the Outlander and something inside her deflates enough to feel exhausted.
Thank you, she murmurs in return after a long, long silence. This was... but again, words fail her. She settles for a multi-hued ball of gratitude, awe, and pure joy.
