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!
"Goooing to get water for Luuuudo," Alea sang as she skipped down to the edge of the Drop. "Geeeeetting water for Luuuudo."
She paused to address the primitive Ludo puppet firmly ensconced in her wild, tangled hair. "Are you thirsty, Ludo? Or is the water for the trees?"
Alea's understanding of the quest she was on and why it needed to be done was still ... pretty bad. But she knew that Ludo needed water from the Drop, and that seemed like a task she could do, unlike getting Ascended fluid. (She still wasn't completely sure what an Ascended was.)
Except ... reaching the shore of the drop, Alea realized that she might not be as prepared for this task as she thought. Her face twisted in frustrated thought as it occurred to her, for the first time, that she might actually need a bucket or something to carry water in to give it to Ludo. She had, of course, brought no such thing.
Truthfully? Felix loves this new shift of his. The Peryton made it easy to get from place to place and to hide away and be unseen if the time ever called for it. It made it more convenient to disappear just on the off chance danger was approaching. Because while Felix was a bear, his bear shift was far less predatory than the one of his father’s, and to have an added little touch of comfort with a flighted, deerlike shift?
It helps.
Luckily, however, for Alea, he’s shifted back and grabbed some supplies once he got into the area, arriving with a jug for water and a bucket to help bring some more back for drinking water – not entirely aware of the work that Alea has planned. Still, he sees the girl though, and as he reaches the steep bank he notices her. “Oh, hi!” He calls out with a wave, stepping over a piece of a broken boat with the bucket in hand. “Are you getting water too?” He asks, before his head tilts curiously. “For… Ludo?”
Felix brings a jug for drinking and a bucket ;D
old man, i'm done always abidin' by the plan and oh boy, we knew you never really had a choice
"Looks like this is a party, huh?" Ronin's cheerful greeting rings out as he steps forward into the clearing by the Drop, armed with a couple of buckets and a large branch to hang them at either side and brace them over his shoulders. He has some rope, too, just in case they need to lower the buckets down into the waters.
Having heard the tail end of the conversation between Felix and Alea (and he still has to do a double take when it comes to Vai's son), Ronin sets his supples down and tugs his scarf from over his nose and mouth to smile between them. "I'm here to fetch water for Ludo as well. Shall we collect it all together? More hands makes lighter work, and all that. I'm Ronin." This he directs to Alea, of course, never having met the girl.
10-02-2021, 04:30 PM (This post was last modified: 10-04-2021, 02:29 PM by Alea.)
Alea
would you like to play a game?
The sight of strange adults spooks Alea for a moment; she draws back into the brush as Felix speaks to her, eyes wide. But she remembers Ronin from Ludo's party, so his appearance soothes her. If he was there with Ludo's prince (as she thinks of Remi), then he must be OK.
"Yes," Alea answers both men. She comes out of the bushes, though her body language remains a bit hesitant, not as carefree as it was when she was alone. But there is one reason for her to be glad of their company: "You brought buckets! I was just thinking that I needed some ... Ludo must have sent you."
Alea tilts her head -- like her owl self -- as Ronin introduces himself, vaguely remembering that she's supposed to reciprocate. "Ludo calls me Alea."
“Oh hi Ronin!” Felix chimes with a bright grin, before the young man’s gaze flickers back toward the girl gathering water for Ludo. Apparently that’s what Ronin’s here for too and Felix’s head tilts slightly but he shuffles closer to Ronin, realizing that Alea doesn’t particularly care for his closeness. Which is fine, Felix doesn’t mind.
As Ronin introduces himself and Alea does the same, Felix offers a friendly wave. “I’m Felix.” He offers, shifting the bucket in his hands to nod to Ronin. “I think… I missed the news about what we’re gathering water for, but that’s okay, I’m sure I’ll get filled in.” He chimes with a brighter grin, the dusting of a beard growing on his face since his last shave. “Perhaps we can hold the buckets and fly down to collect it?” He suggests, trying to imagine how that would work with his peryton shift, but figuring it was worth a shot.
old man, i'm done always abidin' by the plan and oh boy, we knew you never really had a choice
"Nice to meet you, Alea. I think between the three of us we should be able to collect more than enough water," Ronin says, smiling across to Felix as he scoots a bit closer. "We're here for a quest for the Greatwood," he explains. "It should help to keep the Ascended out of the woods, but first we need to get this water and take it back to Remi."
Leaning down at the edge of the Drop, he considers Felix's proposition before wincing a bit. "I am a phoenix, and the idea of being around freezing water in the middle of Deepfrost is... not great. Maybe we can tie a rope to the buckets and drop it in? Or you can fly, if you've got a good enough shift?"
Ronin is already tying his rope around the handle of the bucket, offering it out to Alea if she'd like to have a first try.
10-05-2021, 11:42 PM (This post was last modified: 10-12-2021, 02:48 PM by Alea.)
Alea
would you like to play a game?
"I can fly too!" Alea pipes up as Felix suggests flying down to get the water. "Watch!"
She changes into her owl form, clasps her talons around the handle of Felix's bucket, and ... completely fails to take off. Even empty, the bucket is too heavy for Alea's owl form; she's unaccustomed to lifting anything heavier than a mouse or even a rabbit.
Changing back, she sits beside the bucket with a pout, only to cheer up as she discovers that Ronin has a more feasible idea. "That works too!"
Eagerly, she takes the rope-tied bucket from Ronin and tosses it into the Drop, grinning at the sound of it splashing into the water below.
Thankfully, Ronin has the answer Felix seeks when it comes to why they’re collecting the water. And he nods excitedly. “Oh, that makes sense.” It’s an easy enough answer, one that he’s pleased with hearing honestly, before the answer of Ronin’s flighted shift is given and Felix stands over and watches as Alea shifts into a pretty owl and fails to lift the bucket. “Oh, that’s okay.” He assures Alea with an easy smile before his gaze flickers back to Ronin tying the rope. “Mine’s a peryton so I might be able to try…” He offers as he squints back down to the Drop, watching Alea’s new bucket drop into the water below.
He picks up his own bucket again, shifting into the peryton and holds the handle in his mouth, before his wings spread and he flies down across the top of the Drop as close as he can, neck craning to try and get the water within the bucket before he has to rise again. He lands on the edge again and sets the bucket down, checking to see how much he’s managed to get into it.
old man, i'm done always abidin' by the plan and oh boy, we knew you never really had a choice
"A peryton?" Ronin grins across to Felix, visibly impressed, and he watches as the Attuned takes flight and swoops around the Drop with his bucket. "I think he might be showing off a bit," the Huntsman whispers to Alea with a good natured smile. "I bet we could get more water than he can just using ourselves." And she gives it a good throw, honestly, Ronin keeping hold of the rope until he hears the splash!
"Alright, let's see what we've got!" Wrapping the rope around his hands, Ronin makes a show of hauling the bucket up and up towards them, despite it being almost ridiculously easy by now with his strength. Either way, the bucket is brimming when they finally set it down on solid ground, and Ronin grins to Felix. "What have you got?" he wants to know, then nods to Alea.
Alea nods at Ronin's confidence, grinning. She's never seen a peryton before; the sight of Felix's new form wows her for a moment, but she quickly moves on to hauling up the bucket. At least, she thinks she's helping haul up the bucket, even if her strength is inconsequential next to Ronin's.
"I think we can get more than any weird deer," says Alea, speaking rather loudly. It's hard for her to modulate her volume in her excitement, and she wants Felix to hear her anyway, to know that she isn't impressed by his abilities. (She is absolutely impressed by his abilities.)
She starts tying the rope to the next bucket with clumsy fingers, unaccustomed to the work; she hasn't tied a knot in years and wasn't very good at it to begin with. Someone had better make sure the bucket's actually secure before it goes over the edge.
Felix grabs the bucket and darts down toward the drop, trying to collect as much water as he can into it. And that’s about the time he hears the comment from Alea, a thought that distracts him as he almost loses the bucket on the way up. Hey! I’m not that weird! He teases the little girl a little bit as he rises and sets his bucket on the edge, peering into it only to find that while he hadn’t collected much water at all, he did have a rather large fish taking up most of the space.
Huffing a sigh, the peryton turns back into young man and he grabs the fish out of the bucket to toss further against the bank so he doesn’t lose it. He’d caught it, perhaps he can bring it home to Vai and they can all have a nice good dinner. “I got a fish and not a lot of water… Maybe your guys’ idea was better.” Felix offers with a bit of embarrassment but he settles on the edge to tie another rope to his bucket so that he can mimic what Alea and Ronin are doing before he sends his bucket back down.
old man, i'm done always abidin' by the plan and oh boy, we knew you never really had a choice
"Do you hear that? Our weird deer friend has caught himself a fish." Ronin grins brightly between Felix and Alea, though he is rather impressed with the catch - maybe a new way of fishing? - it doesn't really do much for their current predicament. "Well, a little trial and error never hurt anyone, did it?" He winks, reaching out almost automatically to help strengthen the knot that the girl has tied around the bucket, though he does give her an encouraging nod for her efforts.
"Okay, here we go again!" Ronin throws the bucket this time, letting it plunge directly into the water below, before drawing it all the way back up. They've also got a little fish swimming around in it, and he raises his eyebrows at Alea. "Looks like we have a friend swimming about. What shall we do with it?"
Alea giggles at Felix's protest. "Deer with wings are weird. I've never seen one before!"
She peers into his bucket to find the fish wriggling around. Considering for a moment, she says, "Fish are yummy." Alea remembers this fact from her life before; barn owls aren't very well-equipped to catch fish. "But I don't know how to cook. And I ate a mouse before I came. Maybe we should throw it back."
The smaller fish in her and Ronin's bucket fascinates her, though, and she reaches into the bucket to try to catch it, but it slips out of her fingers back into the water. Pouting, Alea grabs Felix's bucket and dumps it -- and the larger fish -- back into the Drop.
Alea makes a great point, truthfully, and Felix does find himself chuckling lightly at the response. “Okay, that’s fair.” He concedes playfully, before his brows raise to Alea with an easy smile crossing his face. “I can show you how to cook fish!” He’s willing to help at least, not at all surprised by the way she mentions she’d eaten a mouse before coming here – not with that Attuned shift. He’d eaten a lot of things in his varying shifts.
As it were, though, he’s more than wiling to help her learn to feed her human self. Until, of course, she dumps the fish back into the Drop and his brows rise. “Oh. Well, maybe I can show you later.” His lips purse a second and his gaze lifts to Ronin with a raise of his brow. A few seconds later, he lifts his bucket back up from the Drop only to find nothing else but water within it this time.
That’s good at least.
old man, i'm done always abidin' by the plan and oh boy, we knew you never really had a choice
