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!
Images flashed into her mind. All of them pulses of the landscape beneath Deimos and the deer they've been following for the last hour or so. It was easy to follow Noah's and Deimos's lead with this. Just as it would have been easy for her to lead if necessary, but she was more comfortable in this position. At least for the time being. Noah's an Deimos's thoughts push into her mind, giving instructions, insights, and ideas. Cordelia snorted softly, bobbing her head at Noah's words, already beginning to shift her path to coincide with Noah's directions.
Got it. I think I can pick off at least one. She replied to both of them, picking up speed as Deimos got into position. She was already itching to strike, but she knew better than to rush. To do so now would only spook the deer.
Cordelia moves to get into position and presses the deer forward.
East it is. Noah agreed and, as instructed before, nodded to Cordelia for her role. He moved in on the flank he assigned for himself, changing his speed to come in up and heavy towards the herd. Cordelia, if you can also get a shot in on one, let's do it. I'll keep the herd moving any way you tell me. Deimos, don't hesitate.
As the hunter approached the deer, the once carefree and slow-moving herd picked up the speed of the reindeer. They did not seem to panic (thanks to the dice), and for that Noah was thankful. He pressed onwards, adjusting his place up and down the left flank of the herd to assure that they left behind no stragglers, and no young, panicked deer fled from the safety of numbers.
Ahead of them the landscape rolled and hills scattered the way. There was a clear path between two hills, narrow and clear. He sent the image of it from his perspective toward Cordelia and Deimos both, a different angle than the one Deimos had already sent. Drive them in!
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Noah heads east with the herd. He instructs Cordelia and Deimos to push them into a narrow path between two hills and take their shots if possible!
feel defiance burning through my teeth it's not enough to drag this blade across the day
Adhering to the command, the eagle descended downward; fast, swift, a sienna blur against the outcrop of dawn. Vestiges morphed and angled into hellhound rapidly – and by the time he’d landed, he was the massive, domineering, Stygian figure the deer should’ve feared.
Then came the driving onslaughts, bending and blending fully into the carnivorous, canine approach – erupting in a long, low, nefarious howl, meant to send the herd funneling onward in between the narrow angles, to tuck and trap. A snap of teeth, a grating of jaws, a threat simply hinged on his very existence meant to propel the prey, and he lent into the reaches of predator in relative ease. Nothing more than the hunt, than the purpose of derision and sedition, echoing and banking over his mind.
And then the Sword thought he saw one drifting in the back; frail, old, digging into the snow but certainly not enough to evade or escape his clutches. An attempt was made, quick, rapid strides intending to gain on the elderly, fragile beast, aiming to pummel into its side with his bulk, knock it entirely askew and off its feet.
--
Deimos shifts into his hellhound form, attempting to drive the herd. He also sees an elderly deer and tries to knock it down.
She wasn't the one being hunted. Not this time. Still, it was hard to ignore her instincts once she began to run with the herd. Cordelia follows Noah's instruction, pressing in on the other side, driving the herd and almost blending in with them herself. She picks up speed, catching sight of Deimos as he dives, feathers melting away and morphing into the skin of his Hellhound. Cordelia almost veers off herself, hooves skittering across the icy ground, but she remembers her goal and when he moves to strike the Attuned hones in on a target for herself.
With another burst of speed Cordelia breaks away, tearing ahead to get a bit of a lead on them before she's shifting mid run, drawing her weapon and knocking an arrow in one smooth motion. Her breath catches, amber eyes tracking the herd and finally she releases, letting the arrow loose to find its mark.
Cordelia runs ahead, shifts, and shoots!
I've been the archer and I've been the prey Who could ever leave me, darling? But who could stay?
The odds did not seem to be in their favor today. It all happened so suddenly that Noah couldn't even blink and wrap his mind around it. The herd scattered, bleating with panic. Hooves scraped and scrambled as the deer all split in separate directions. It might have been the sudden shift in the air, the time it took for Deimos to drop down in canine form. It might have been Cordelia's sudden shift, the nocking of her arrow and the whistle of it in the air. It might have been Noah's onward pressure, hard and steady and against the herd. Whatever it was, Noah hadn't seen a plan go awry like this in years.
Noah skidded, trying to block anything that he could. It was not fruitful, however, as two deer ran smack into him and knocked him to the ground, just as Cordelia's arrow flew over him and dove into the gut of one of the deer that hit him. The hunter scrambled and shifted, arms curling up over his head to protect himself from any more flying hooves or arrows. After a second, there seemed to be none, which was good. He sat up in the snow, blinking and looking around. Deimos seemed to have brought one of the larger, though it still scrambled and panicked beneath his paws.
Noah stood and moved to close the distance between them. "Cordelia got a gut shot. I saw it fly right over my head. The deer kept going." It was rather obvious what he was saying, but he couldn't stop the words from falling from his mouth. He unsheathed a knife, waiting at the ready for Deimos to ask for assistance if he needed it.
---
Deimos got a deer, but it is not dead. What will you do? Cordelia hit one, but it continued to run off into the wilderness! You have a choice: be satisfied with Deimos' catch, and let Cordelia's deer possibly be found by scavengers OR go track her hit!
feel defiance burning through my teeth it's not enough to drag this blade across the day
The quick anthem of crashing hooves and spiraling chaos didn’t reach him. They couldn’t pierce through the rapid senses of the predator, of the hound, registering and measuring within. It was all wilderness in his gaze, a token savagery brought on years and lifetimes ago, embedded deep in his blood, and now uncoiling, unraveling, within an instance. They could have all been miles away, and it wouldn’t have mattered.
The deer flailed beneath him, and he swiftly, quickly, went for the throat. An instinctual, inherent thing, for his jaws to lock over its neck and sink down, to listen to bones breaking, for ivories to clench, and then waiting, waiting, waiting for the creature to take its final breath. Even in its blinded, prey panic, he wouldn’t let go – ruthless in this form, in memories of what he’d once been.
Cordelia cursed as her arrow hit, but didn't strike true the way she wanted to. The Attuned glanced back at her counterparts, torn between pursuing and returning back to them, eventually deciding not to separate herself from the rest of the group. Trotting back towards Noah, Cordelia shook her head, a frown tugging on her lips. "It was a bad shot. Sorry..." She mumbled, ducking her head as she put her bow back over her back, daring a glance up at him as her cheeks flushed.
"Hopefully the one will last us for a bit." She finally settled on, trying to look on the bright side of her shortcomings.
Cordelia doesn't pursue and returns to the group.
I've been the archer and I've been the prey Who could ever leave me, darling? But who could stay?
The scattering chaos seemed to subside as Deimos dealt the killing blow to his prey. Noah stepped forward and began the process of gutting the creature, giving Deimos time to shift and get himself situated to assist. Cordelia came back then, and Noah looked up at her for a moment, pushing his sleeves up past his wrists. "By the time we get this one taken care of, we can set out to track yours. If it survived, we might find it slowed down and we can take care of it. If its dead, we'll find it even sooner." He gave her a reassuring half-smile. All hunters missed, or had bad shots. It was a part of the game they all played. Not everything was clean and beautiful and successful right away. Even though this land was more abundant than the tundra, it was still the same game.
Once the trio had finished taking care of the deer and readying it for transport, Noah thanked each of them for their help and detailed the best plans for preserving the deer for themselves over the winter as they walked back to their camp.
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Thanks for helping in this PQ! You guys are great! FINISHED.
feel defiance burning through my teeth it's not enough to drag this blade across the day
