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!
The carnival was loud and huge and sudden. Strange things were always happening but this was a new one. It seemed to stretch out forever. Or at least almost forever. But it was loud and distracting and good gods did he need some distracting. Bright lights adorned various stalls and he couldn't help but wonder what kind of magics caused them.
He was debating playing a game, maybe winning a prize or two. Then he would have something to bring home to Edmund and things wouldn't be so bad, right? He was distracted enough by the various games and bright things that he wasn't exactly paying attention to where he was walking.
A most unusual place for a carnival. The smell of decay that permeated the swamp mixed with the smell of cotton candy in a surprisingly comforting way. When things like this happened Azure tried to make a habit of questioning her own sanity. After all, there were things in the Feverlands that could easily melt one's mind into a carnival. One of these days she was bound to mistake the work of a ravenous hallucinogenic mushroom for the work of the gods.
After that initial spot of doubt, Azure went in deeper, drawn in by the lights and sounds of the grand affair. Soon, her critical eye turned on the attractions. She moved on from the strongman game fairly quickly. It appeared that the only way she could win it was if something of significant weight and size fell out of the sky and onto the hammer as she brought it down. The chances of that were slim. Probably not as slim as the chances of a carnival appearing in the middle of a rancid swamp, but still too insignificant to bet on when there was so much left to see.
Several puzzles caught her eye, all tied together by the appearance of being entirely rigged. Finally, she was lured by the speed and size of the merry-go-round that spun in the distance. She was walking towards it when the movement within a shooting gallery caught her eye. A colorful band of gore crows and swamp rats chased each other around in circles, waiting to be shot by the slings laid out on the counter.
As she stood there considering the challenge something large and heavy (not unlike what she needed to win the strongman game) crashed into her. Managing to catch herself before hitting the ground, Azure looked up at the tall figure, opening her mouth to ask whether she had turned invisible by work of some peculiar magic. Alas, something else entirely came out. "Oops. Didn't see you there," she uttered sweetly, as if she had been the one to walk into him. She was suddenly and truly revolted by herself.
He really needed to learn how to pay attention to where he was walking but running into someone always came with the chance for theft so he wasn't entirely against it. Except this isn't his usual mark, if anything she looks like she needs food or something. Or maybe its his newly found and neglected urge to dad.
He's not sure her face reads as apologetic but it's fine. He's not sure he'd really be nice to guy like him. "S'my bad. I wasn't watchin' where I was goin'." He looks down at the girl for a moment before looking towards where she was looking. "You think you can win that strongman game?" Locke cants his head towards said game, watching it idly as someone tries to play it. This whole thing is unsettling but he might as well try to enjoy it, right? He's dancing somewhere between a challenge and an offer. Maybe he's just bored and needs an excuse.. Who knows.
Dusting herself off, she eyed the tall stranger, brows knotted together in all the annoyance her words couldn't convey. But then he was surprisingly polite, and Azure couldn't help but sigh and resign her irritation. She looked at the stranger, the machine, and back at the stranger again. "I think you can win that strongman game, big guy." She rolled her shoulders back, standing tall. "Games of wit are more my forte." She added with a lopsided smirk, crossing her arms.
She glanced back at the row of stalls that stretched colorfully into the bog, and back at the man. He looked rugged and unapproachable. Dangerous and rough. About the same as the average resident of the remote Halovian village she was born in. He would do, she decided, and her eyes said the same. "Win it for me. As reparation."
He snorts, following her line of vision. "Yeah, I think I could. 'Les it's rigged." He would rig it, if he was the one doing it. Then again, can't have everyone lose or people start to get suspicious. Locke returns her grin, "Least one of us has wit." He would like to think he's got wit but the last year has proven otherwise.
Locke is about to leave but then she speaks again. For a moment his eyes narrow, temporarily annoyed that she would ask him. But it fades quickly, he has nothing else to do, might as well. "Fine, fine. C'mon. Let's get you a prize." He rolls his eyes as he walks backwards towards the machine. This time he manages not to run into anyone.
He's handed the hammer and he takes a breath, a pause before he swings.
Azure snickered, "For a small fee I provide witty remarks and life-changing advice." Happy that he was going along with it, Azure let him lead the way while an easy smile. The prize was an oversized grizzly bear toy with beady glass eyes and what appeared to be pecks sown into its abdomen. She wanted it. She had no idea what she'd do with it when she got it. But she wanted it.
She stopped a small distance from the machine to watch him work: shoulders rolling back in preparation, the muscles in his arms flexing as he steadied the oversized mallet and took aim. Without a doubt, he was a good choice.
She watched with bated breath as he brought the mallet down. The meter shot up toward the bell at the top and... stopped, suddenly, just short of the goal.
Azure sighed. arms crossing in disappointment. The strongman bear remained beyond her reach. Maybe the thing was rigged after all. Well, if it was, there was no reason for Azure to play fair. A simple plan formed, and she made her way over to her defeated champion, patting his back in a consoling manner. She carefully considered what she was going to say, as her tongue remained tied by the work of some devious god or spirit.
"Well, don't beat yourself up." She leaned in close and continued in a low voice, so only he could hear, "Let's try something else. Do this and my gratitude would know no bounds, all memory of injury to my person will be forgotten," she declared with some pomp, gesturing at the game. "This is clearly rigged. Make a big fuss about it. Or about the rising prices of tangerines. Or about anything really. The louder and more distracting it is the better", Her eyes betrayed mischief although her expression was a decent attempt at the portrayal of innocence.
He snorts at her remark, feeling some measure of fondness for the girl. He tries his best at the game but ultimately fails, just a bit too short. His head tilts as he examines the game. Yeah, no, it's definitely rigged. He clicks his tongue in annoyance as she pats his back, turning to look at the girl. He's about to say something but she stops him short, scheming.
Oh. He can do this. He used to live for this kind of shit. "Can do." He's not really worried about paying her back or anything. He can just leave if he really wants. But he's never going to pass up a chance to cause problems for other people. Not at all.
He pushes the man who stepped up to go after him away on his path to the person running it. "Hey! What gives! I should've been able to hit that! I used to be a dragoon ya know? There's no way I couldn't hit it. It's rigged. Watch." He goes from being in the man's face to shifting. If a jaguar can't hit the bell, nothing can. He rears up and drops his fully kitty weight onto the target. Hopefully a giant cat is distracting enough.
A glint of a smile disappeared into a veneer of casual innocence and Azure stepped back, merging with the group gathered around the machine. Her newfound partner in crime was neither shy nor hesitant, and quite admirably devoted to the role. When he pushed the player who was next in line, Azure found herself in the way, getting pushed herself as the man staggered backwards. Her hand slipped into his pocket like it belonged there and sipped out gratefully while she frowned at the perceived insult of being knocked into once again.
When the panther stretched threateningly where the man had stood, Azure had to stifle an incredulous laugh. Those gathered around the carnival attraction moved back as one and Azure began to slowly weave her way through the growing crowd. As she went, she felt under her fingers in the pockets and purses of the unknowingly generous, bits and trinkets that felt interesting or valuable.
People didn't pay her much mind in the commotion the panther fueled with such zest. Azure had the talent, if it could be called that, of being the face you looked past in the crowd. She acted as if she wasn't there, as if her hands weren't feeling the insides of foreign pockets, and everyone else usually acted the same way.
Satisfied with the newfound weight in her own pockets, Azure stopped to watch the rest of the show. When she crossed her arms she felt her latest possessions press against her. Still, she couldn't help but look over longingly at the thing that remained beyond her grasp. The strongman teddy bear, sitting unmoved on its perch, on the other side of the large black beast everyone's attention was glued to.
Things are pilfered and he knows he's running out of time to keep the crowd distracted. Luckily for the girl, he's got one more trick up his sleeve. Not that it's so much a trick but it'll do the job. He spots her in the crowd as he stretches up, using the game as a scratching post before growling at the man running it. He shrinks back a bit and Locke takes the inch and decides to run a mile with it.
By snatching the bear. He tries to hold it as gently as he can as he scales the game before leaping off of it. The stand he lands on creaks under his weight and he vaults off that one too. He lands behind a group of them, shifts, and simply waits. If she wants her bear, she can come find him. Or else it's coming home with him for Edmund.
I can taste you on my lips and smell you in my clothes Cinnamon and sugary and softly spoken lies
Slipping quietly past the onlookers in various states of excitement or distress, Azure found her way to the panther turned man again. "I'm impressed! You have a knack for this stuff." Seeing the big man hug the oversized teddy bear under his arm made her lip quiver in amusement. They even resembled one another.
Azure felt herself warming up to her unexpected champion. Maybe it was because he indulged her, or
perhaps it was his enviable commitment to causing mayhem. More so, it was probably because he'd picked up the toy she'd been ogling since she'd first laid eyes on it.
"Thanks, stranger. The name is Azure, by the way." She offered with an easy smile. "Look me up if you're ever in Torchline. We can have a drink, maybe steal some more toys." With a cheeky grin, she gave him a casual nod and got lost in the crowd.
She left the bear behind. It would have felt bad to separate them. The image of the two brought her such amusement after all.
