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!
09-03-2021, 01:47 AM (This post was last modified: 09-15-2021, 02:01 AM by Paige.)
Paige
Another trip to Stormbreak, but this time there is snow on the ground. A nice thick layer that blankets the world in white and almost sparkles when the pale Deepfrost sun shines on it. Excitement bubbles up in her chest as she sets off from where she's staying with her mother for the extent of the trip.
Now, Paige was a resourceful girl and that meant that finding Mateo isn't hard for her to do. Especially given who his parents were. Not that she knew that before, but after finding out it really only takes asking on well dressed man who is apparently something called a dragoon to find his home. She wraps quickly on the door with gloved knuckles, bouncing on the balls of her feet, coat swishing around her knees. "Mateo! It's Paige! Do you wanna build a snowman?" Paige calls out, hoping that he's home and remembers his offer from the day at the bakery.
Love you to the moon and to Saturn Passed down like folk songs, the love lasts so long
Mateo is home. Technically he lives at school, given that he's y'know, a child, but his father's shop is still available to him to use as a makeshift greenhouse and to keep clean and ready. And he's there now, luckily enough, tending to the sprouting pumpkins and the other flowers that might just bloom if he keeps it warm enough. Deepfrost, he's learning, is not friendly to his plants, and so as Paige knocks at the door he's quite ready to burn off some steam.
"Oh! Hallo!" She'll see him waving out the bottom window nearby. "Sure - let me grab my coat!"
The boy disappears briefly, only to open the front door a few minutes later in a fitted black coat and a scarf that's much too big. "You came back to visit!"
Paige smiles brightly, eyes lighting up at the sight of him and she eagerly waves back before stuffing her own gloved hands into her coat, trying to keep out the chill. "I told you I would!" She chirps as he comes back outside, rushing forward to give him a hug as she grins before taking his arm, pulling him along into the still falling snow. Paige giggles as she slips and slides on the slick cobblestones before she turns back to look at him, blue eyes sparkling much like the frosty snow that's sticking to the ground, gloved fingers gripping his hand tightly.
Finally she comes to a stop in a place that seems suitable enough, "Okay, so... How do you actually do this?" She asks, turning to him, waiting for the instructions on how to even start. Maybe it was like sandcastles. Paige wasn't too sure, but she was eager to find out one way or another.
Love you to the moon and to Saturn Passed down like folk songs, the love lasts so long
He's just about managed to shut the door to the shop when she's throwing her arms around him in a hug and her gloved hand is seizing his own. More than happy to be trundled along in her wake, it looks almost as if Mateo is noticing the snow for the first time himself, smiling as he lets himself be led through the Pacifist Plaza. "You did," he agrees. "How was your trip? Did you take a skyboat?" he asks.
But then they're at an empty spot with a blanket of thick snow on the ground; around them, there are already a few assorted snowmen and other creations, some much better than others. "Okay, so first we need to roll up a big ball of snow to make the bottom of the snowman!" he announces, as if he knows all about it (he doesn't).
It doesn't stop Mateo from beginning, though, forming a snowball and rolling it along the ground so it picks up all the snow around it. Grinning, he beckons to Paige when the snowball gets too big to push by himself, so they can roll it together.
Mateo does nothing but encourage her antics. Even from the very first moment that they met and she bowled him over in the Celestine. Despite their somewhat rough start, the young Accepted easily took her friendship and offered his own in return. "It was good! When we got closer to here it got really windy and I thought that it would blow the whole ship on its side, but momma said that can't really happen." Paige knew nothing of Skyboats and how they worked. It seemed perfectly logical to her for it to get blow over in the wind or at least off course.
Usually Paige is the one taking the lead, but much like last time, she allows Mateo to lead them both. Just like she did with the bakery escapades. Blue eyes watch closely as he begins to start on the bottom, giving a quick nod as he explains, "That seems easy enough." She finally says, moving to join him, pushing the slowly growing ball through the snow. Her fingertips start to go cold through her gloves, slowly growing numb and she thinks that maybe hot chocolate would be good after this, but first they need to actually finish. "How's school? Learning anything fun?"
Love you to the moon and to Saturn Passed down like folk songs, the love lasts so long
Oh yes it can, is what Mateo just about manages not to say. He has built a skyboat with his Da, and he's very aware of just how the wind could cause trouble to sky sailors. He's not actually sailed his own boat yet, but he's sure when he does that he'll be keeping the wind in mind. But, having kept this to himself for politeness' sake, he merely nods along with Paige's remarks and turns his attention back to the snowman.
Together, it doesn't take very long to give their snowman a solid base, and Mateo steps back and dusts off his hands. His gloves are leather and furlined, so while his fingers are a bit cold, he's otherwise unbothered by their project. Now he's rolling the next section of snow-body, giving Paige a small shrug. "It's okay. It's not so interesting now that it's Deepfrost - we don't go outside as much. We're learning about the gods now. How's Torchline?"
That is something that Paige would have rather liked to know. If only so she could tell her mama that it was, in fact, possible and they should be very careful. Mateo keeps the information to himself and she's left thinking that the Skyboats are safe for traveling. This is perhaps for the best otherwise the girl might have grown nervous about making trips here should she have known. While Mateo starts on the middle part, Paige sets about rolling a smaller ball for the head, lips pressing into a thin line as she concentrates.
Her own gloves are of the knitted sort. There wasn't much time to prepare for proper cold. It's amazing that her coat is as thick as it is, but Paige pushes on. Ever intent on finishing her task. He doesn't have any excitement to share about school and she's a touch disappointed by this, but she does have something rather exciting to share.
A mischievous glint sparks in her blue eyes as she straightens up, leaving her snowman head half formed, "Torchline is good. Something happened though!" She hasn't really shown anyone her shift before and her excitement is palpable as she shifts a little from foot to foot. "You know Ludo, right? Well, I guess they really like me cause now I can do this!" And away she shifts into a little weasel, her fur mostly white now thanks to the change in weather and she scampers towards him, climbing up his leg and eventually onto his chest until they're nose to nose.
Love you to the moon and to Saturn Passed down like folk songs, the love lasts so long
Unaware of her feelings about skyboats or the state of her gloves, Mateo finishes up the middle part of the snowman and heaves it to sit on top of the base, seeming proud of their efforts so far. "Oh?" He turns, expecting the something to be a weird type of palm tree or some new animals on the beaches. What he gets, though, isn't actually about Torchline at all, but more about Paige.
Mateo does know Ludo, though not, like, personally, although there is a strange memory that tickles the back of his head some nights when he's about to fall asleep. Blinking himself back to reality, he's focusing just in time to see her shift, and a soft gasp leaves his lips at the sight of the little weasel. "You're so little," he says with a laugh as she clambers up and against his coat, nose to nose with the furry white creature. "That's so cool! You could be our snowman's scarf."
She can't really talk to him like this which is an utter shame. There isn't a bond to feel along or emotions to share with anyone but herself. Paige chirps in response, making a few soft noises that are mix of squeaks and huffs as his comment on her size. She is rather little, but it's all the better to sneak around and play tricks with. Paige bumps his nose with hers before looping around his neck to mimic his scarf, nuzzling against his cheek and warmth for a few breaths until she finally climbs back down to shift into herself again.
"Pretty neat, right? I haven't really showed anyone, but I wanted you to see." She gushes, grinning brightly as she bends to finish forming her snowman's head, hefting it up onto the next part Mateo built. The body of their creation stands proudly and it honestly doesn't look half bad. "Now what?"
Love you to the moon and to Saturn Passed down like folk songs, the love lasts so long
Laughing brightly at the feel of silky soft fur nuzzling against his cheek, Mateo is careful not to move about too much as he's used as a climbing frame. When Paige finally jumps down and shifts back into herself, he nods his enthusiastic agreement. "Really neat," he agrees. "My friend Everest can shift into a puppy. I bet you could ride him around in that shape." He watches as she plops the head onto their snowman, standing with his hands on his hips to gaze proudly on their creation.
"Now we just have to decorate him! We can use stones for his eyes and his mouth, and we need to get a stick or a carrot for his nose. And branches for arms! But first, do you want to see something cool?" Mateo's smile is wicked now, and he crunches through the snow towards the snowman. "This snow is special. Watch this."
Reaching out, he gives the snowman a shove - naturally, the top two tiers go tumbling, smooshing into pieces on the ground. Except they don't; before the duo's eyes, the snow will reassemble itself, and their creation will come back to life. "Ta daaa! It's called Memory Snow. It keeps its shape."
The mention of Everest has her eyes widening and lips parting, "Oh! I know Ever, too." The idea of riding his shift around like that is definitely an appealing one and she tucks it away for later. "I bet your right." Paige agrees easily, stepping back to join him with a grin, brushing her hands free of snow.
Of course she wants to see something cool. What kind of question is that? Paige nods enthusiastically, her own eyes sparking with mischief at the thought of getting up to something. Not that she really knew how they could get in trouble with a snowman. Except Mateo does something she doesn't expect. He gives their creation a shove and she lets out a noise of shock, hands flying up to cover her mouth and just when she's about to give him a piece of her mind it reforms. "Whoa! That is really cool."
Especially since these things were probably prone to being knocked over often. "Oh! I have something we can use for eyes." She chirps, taking a second to dig into her discarded bag, producing two bright blue stones that she collected the last time she went to the Rainbow Road. Paige puts them into place, giving their snowman the first of his features, "They match your eyes."
Love you to the moon and to Saturn Passed down like folk songs, the love lasts so long
"You do? We ought to have invited him to build a snowman as well. But it is probably too early for him to be out." Ever has breakfast and then he practices his music or reads or studies for a bit in the mornings, as far as Mateo knows of his friend's somewhat rigid routines. It would probably upset Ever more than it would enthuse him to break his plans to come out and play. So Mateo turns back to their snowman and grins as he watches it pop back to life, nudging Paige with his elbow.
"I told you," he gushes, starting to look around for some stones to use for their snowman's face, but Paige is already a step ahead, it seems. "Oh? Oh - they do, don't they?" He grins, stepping up to arrange some more stones in a smile. "I think I have a carrot we can use if you want to look for some branches for his arms?" he suggests.
"Mhmmm! I met him here before. He was playing on his guitar. We talked about the Rainbow Road. He's nice. Quiet, but nice." Paige says with a little shrug, knowing that Mateo probably has his own opinions about the Hart boy too. She sways as he bumps into her, giggling when he balance threatens to give out before she's catching herself once more. "You seem to know a lot of cool things."
She muses while putting the eyes in place, smiling brightly at the sight of the blue stones sticking out from the stark white of the snow, sharing her observation of them matching his eyes. They also match her eyes, but that's not the point. "They do! I'm making a bracelet for Ever for Deepfrost from stones I found. He seemed really interested in the Rainbow Road. I thought about bringing back some water for him to study cause he thinks it could be dangerous from chemicals. I just think it's a nice gift from Frey."
All of this is said while searching through the snow for some sticks, grabbing two good ones that seem big enough for arms and sticking them into the snowman's sides.
Love you to the moon and to Saturn Passed down like folk songs, the love lasts so long
"Mm, he likes to play his guitar. And to take notes on things. We hang out in my dad's shop sometimes, and he helps me plant seeds and water all the herbs. Your vampire gourd seeds are in the soil!" He grins, like she might like to know that, though he can only shrug airily to hear that he knows things. "I just hear a lot of stories," he says. He reads them, actually, but he's been known to eavesdrop too.
While Paige talks about the Rainbow Road and searches for sticks, Mateo is carrot hunting. It's true, he does steal the nose from another snowman, but it's fine right? Right. "A gift from Frey?" he repeats, resisting the urge to scrunch his nose. He tries not to get involved in too much god stuff. "He'll probably do tests on it," he says of the water, plonking the carrot between their snowman's eyes.
