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!
she tied you to her kitchen chair she broke your throne and she cut your hair
Maybe not the smartest place for an Ascended demigod to be, but one that affords her peace, as few people find the hot and crusty Climb to their liking. In fact, Wessex isn’t sure she finds it to her liking either, but it’s certainly… unique. Worth studying and looking at its ecosystem.
Loki agrees. She’s just here for the heat, and like the lizard with wings that she is, basks easily on a tall rock, far enough away from the dangerous bits that Wessex feels somewhat okay about leaving her to her own devices. Some worries - some traumas - will probably always have her more on edge. Kiada’s fiery death is one of them.
For now, the General takes a seat with her back to a rough rock, crossing her legs in front of her and settling herself in to try and fade into the background. Not literally, of course, that’s Sam and Neron’s speciality, but to become so still that whatever lives in the Climb might think her dead or fake, or something other than a creature to hide from.
If he were any ordinary cat, he might've missed her, still as she was. But behind feline eyes lies a human brain. For a moment, he hesitates, unsure if he should approach her or not. He's aware of her but not familiar. But then again, maybe it's just the heat playing tricks on him. Even as the weather cools elsewhere, the rocks burn his paws if he doesn't move quickly enough. From ledge to rock to other ledge, he leaps, practicing his footing on new terrain. After his trip here with Melita and Maeve, he only finds it fitting.
He slinks along the ground as he thinks, unsure, at first, if he should approach her. But part of him has questions and another part is just.. curious in general. He likes to pretend it's the whole cat thing but frankly, it's not. Maybe a little. He lets out a low sound, not quite a growl before shifting back.
"S'kinda hot out here, right? For you?" He's not very smart with the whole Ascended thing but he's pretty sure the sun makes them explode. Except Nate didn't.. Maybe he'll ask. Is that rude?
she tied you to her kitchen chair she broke your throne and she cut your hair
She opens one eye first, and then the other, at the sound of a growl, but there’s no creature in front of her. Her eyes end up focusing on a man, and it takes her a moment to make the assumption. And it is purely an assumption.
“What do you mean?” Wessex asks with a brief furrowing of her brow. “It’s hot. Period.” Not that she knows it, personally, as Tanau had granted the group that saved him immunity from the heat of the Climb. “For everyone, I think.” Light blue eyes flicker over him, then to their surroundings, which haven’t changed much since she last closed them. It’s an odd place for either of them to be, but she doesn’t try to pry into the stranger’s business.
Locke simply shrugs, having no other answer to give her. But he grins anyway, almost smug. It's just a facade but she doesn't have to know that. "It is hot, yeah. Grew up in Torchline so kinda used to it." There is no real correlation there except that he is used to being hot, to sweating. Fuck, why is he so awkward. He runs a hand through his hair, wincing slightly at the slick sweat there.
"You just gettin' a tan or somethin'? Can think of plenty of better places to do it." He kinda feels the need to shift or to run away or something. Maybe join the dragon basking in the sun. His snake shift is new and he feels the skin on his arm ripple for a moment, brightly colored scales flashing for a moment before he forces it down. It's still a strange feeling, shifting in general but the partial shifting feels almost entirely out of his control. A whole mess.
she tied you to her kitchen chair she broke your throne and she cut your hair
Ok, now that is funny. Wessex laughs, a sharp chuckle, before stretching her legs out in front of her.
Hemming for a moment, she tries to put into words what she’s doing - which isn’t that complicated, but trying to find a good reason for it all of a sudden seems a bit more difficult than she’d thought. “Just… studying, I guess? All the unique animals in the climb. Not that one,” she says, pointing at Loki. “That one’s mine.” But the others, the lials, the fyrehunds, the gore crows.
Looking around for an example, she finds none at the moment (which isn’t surprising) and shrugs. “You? Don’t find many people here. It’s not fun, like the rest of the Wilds.”
The chuckle gets a grin in return and Locke threads another hand through his hair. It's already messed up, it's fine. His head tilts as she talks, eyes flitting over to the dragon before back to the woman. "S'fair. M'no good at studying though. Can't really help you there." To say he's not the brightest crayon in the toolbox would be an understatement some days.
"Practicin' my shifts. I've gotten pretty good with the jaguar in the jungles but figured I could come practice out here. Got a snake one too I've been itchin' to try." He kind of shrugs. Not really anything special. "Hard to find anything to hunt in the middle of the day though. Guess we're kinda doin' the same thing."
she tied you to her kitchen chair she broke your throne and she cut your hair
“You wanna practice with me?” Wessex suggests, oh so casually, a ghost of a smile on her lips before baring her fangs a little to let him know just how they might practice. Just a little extra step or two, but totally doable. “I’ve never been either a jaguar or a snake before,” she muses, curiosity and excitement creeping in despite her best efforts. “But I’d be happy to try one if you want to focus on something in particular.”
At this point, Loki deigns to raise her head and peers over at the two humans, yawning briefly and fanning her wings before deciding that napping is better than whatever’s got her bonded’s attention.
He raises an eyebrow, simply caught off guard by how forward she's being. The glint of fangs isn't lost on him and he understands how this goes. He and Nate trained like this, except Nate had been using a shift stolen from Sunjata, not him. Maybe stealing on of his shifts would let her find the animals she's looking for. He tilts his head, one way and then the other, thinking.
"Could use my jaguar shift and I could use my snake? Might give you better senses fer findin' things and I can practice some with the snake.. Could hunt me. Or I could hunt you." Just an offer. Casually. Nothing weird about any of this. He steps a little closer to her, head tilted in something like an invitation, long neck exposed. There's already a few scars from bites. What's one more?
she tied you to her kitchen chair she broke your throne and she cut your hair
Truly not caring which shift she’s allowed to borrow, Wessex nods at the first suggestion. A predator (for all intents and purposes) like herself would never turn down something like a jaguar. “Sure,” she easily agrees, “I can take the jaguar. And do the hunting.” Pausing briefly, she looks at him with slightly narrowed eyes. “How far do you want me to go?” Like, she wasn’t going to hurt the guy who’s helping her. “I don’t think a snake bite will hurt me, so -”
So he has free reign. She just needs to know when and where to hold back.
It’s been a long time since a neck was offered. She doesn’t think he realizes the intimacy of that body part,
But, y’know, it would be rude to say no (would it?).
She pushes herself up off the ground and comes ‘round behind Locke. “I’m Wessex,” she adds softly, before sinking her teeth in.
Locke simply shrugs, she's taken his suggestion surprisingly and he didn't really think it through. Her question catches him off guard until he realizes she's asking about their training and not, you know, banging. "Guess just don't kill me? Yeah, the bite shouldn't bother you. Think it does blood stuff." It's hemotoxic but Locke isn't smart enough to know that. Either way, he's probably not going to bite her, not right off the bat anyway.
It doesn't occur to Locke that offering his neck is something intimate, that he should offer a wrist instead. Mostly because no one has ever bitten him elsewhere nor asked to. He watches her, curiously as she steps around him. His heart has already picked up, a thrum of fear coursing through his blood. They're fundamentally on opposite ends of all of this. She could just kill him if she wanted to.
But then she's saying her name almost in his ear and, oh, maybe she doesn't plan on killing him at all. He makes a strangled noise at the bite, kind of laughing, kind of groaning. "Can.. Can call me Locke." She didn't ask but it's only fair to know who your meal is, right? At least she's behind him..
she tied you to her kitchen chair she broke your throne and she cut your hair
Sure, she could kill Locke, but that wouldn’t be a very smart move, now would it? And Wessex is, if nothing else, rather calculating. The Attuned is a means to an end and a potential decent relation. She wouldn’t throw that away - not right now.
The familiar gush of tangy blood and sweaty skin floods her mouth along with her sensors as they start to crank into overdrive. She groans against his neck, strangely intimate for the kind of person Wessex is, and for a moment her grip tightens on his arm. But again, she is the Wraith and she knows how to do this (thanks to Sunjata for the multiple lessons), how much is needed and the impositions of latching on too long.
A pulse more and she pulls away, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand and grinning like an idiot. That was fun.
When she steps away, he slumps forward slightly. The sudden burst of pleasure washing out quickly as it's not pressed any further. He takes a few breathes, trying to calm himself. His heart is racing and while he doesn't feel dizzy, some part of him registers the blood loss. Or maybe he's realizing how dangerous of a position he's put himself in. Doesn't matter though, not really. He's a man of his word, most of the time.
Locke shakes his head, taking another step away before shifting into a snake. He's not as big as some snakes like this, roughly a meter long, maybe a little less. But his scales are keeled and his fangs are sharp and laced with venom. Do I get a head start then? He's not sure if his bright coloration will do anything to hide him amongst the rocks. His best bet is to squeeze into small spaces that kitty claws can't reach. Luckily for him, he's more familiar with the jaguar form than she is. It's almost unfair.
she tied you to her kitchen chair she broke your throne and she cut your hair
Wessex watches Locke shift, the tall, attractive specimen rapidly shrinking and skinny-ing out. It’s honestly quite an odd transition to watch, but she will - for science and research and all that. Then right behind him, she’s turning into the jaguar, coming on to her arms, fangs elongating, a tail sprouting - that, too, would be interesting to watch.
They first thing she does is smell the air - the sulphur and acridity makes her sneeze.
You got five - she shoots back with a flick of her tail before she looks back towards the way she was originally facing, mentally counting backwards. And when she’s finished, the Wraith croons through the bond and leaps up on the highest ‘safe’ rock she can find. Ready or not, here I come… The cat's eyes, almost as good as an Ascended's in the dark, hot place, begins to search for any sign of movement amongst the nearby rocks.
Five, huh? Well then. A flick of the tongue and he's slithering off, winding his way between rocks and crevasses. He is a tad out of season for this area, the bright blues of his scaling standing out against the duller rocks. It's fine though. He has an idea. Not a good idea but an idea nonetheless. The snake begins to wedge himself under rocks, burrowing his way into little openings until he finds himself deep in the rocks. Hopefully she won't be able to find him here, in their little fucked up game of hide and seek.
The goal here is simply to get as far away from sharp claws until she's far enough away for him to slither back out. The rocks are cooler here as well, less likely to burn his delicate scales. Something between excitement and fear floats along the bond. C'mon kitty cat, do your worst. He really should stop taunting the Voice's demigods.. Maybe another day.
