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!
"It's okay," Mateo pants, and it's absolutely for his own benefit as well as for Ever's. He smiles, however briefly, as the puppy lays across his feet and snuffles into his neck. "I think we're okay now. We lost them," he continues, grinning and scritching behind one of the pup's ears as he manages to scramble to his feet. Which is about the time that something else starts to rustle in the undergrowth, and Mateo has absolutely no intention of running from more worms.
"Who goes there?" he demands, trying to sound much more booming and grown up than he feels. "Come out and show yourself, or I'll... I'll kick you!" He won't. He'll run again, and probably pass out as a result.
Mateo postures while Ever cowers. With his head low and ears half back, he forces back his lips into a snarl that looks strained instead of menacing, hoping that if they're going to die that it's at least quick.
Three heads simultaneously push through the bottom of a bush, as three forked tongues scent the air in unison. A trio of hanging snakes have knotted themselves together and have seemingly been wriggling as one long enough to have accumulated leaves and twigs in their tangled section. They look uncomfortable (if their rubbed-off scales are any indication) as their dark eyes move from boy to dog.
Not entirely at ease, Ever huffs skeptically under his breath, snapping his teeth together even as his tail raises and gives an experimental wag.
If I told you that you'd do nothing with it I'd still be that cigarette that you couldn't finish
At first, Mateo very nearly does kick the ball of hanging snakes. Luckily enough, he comes to his senses before his foot shoots out, and instead he ends up standing over Ever as he cowers on the ground. "Oh," he murmurs, wincing at the sight of the little reptiles. "Oh, that's no good." Crouching down, heedless of the furry bundle between his legs, the boy reaches out for the snakes.
"I heard a story about a lady whose hair was made of snakes. My nonna told it to me," he explains, all the while carefully disentangling the debris from the snake ball. "Her name was Medusa. She could turn people to stone by looking at them... there." Very gently, Mateo unloops the snakes from each other, smiling and straightening up so he can hold up his arms and let them go back up into the trees.
Barking twice, albeit a touch timidly, Ever hunkers down. There's no real scent of aggression coming off of the snakes, but then as cold-blooded creatures, they don't emit the same type of pheromones that other mammals do. Watching with intensely focused blue eyes, the pup's head cocks adorably to the side to hear of a woman with snakes for hair. Are these bits of her hair? Ever thinks, scenting the air again and letting his hackles lower ever so slightly.
Were all snakes bits of her hair? Why had no one ever told him that before?
With appreciative black eyes, the hanging snakes allow the boy to untangle them, taking the opportunity once freed to immediately climb up his arms. Wrapping themselves around him like bangles (and makes it to his neck and attempts to become a crown), they offer silent kisses as thanks.
Huffing and once again snapping his jaws together, Ever jumps up that he might place his paws gently on Mateo's chest to better sniff at the snakes now making a home out of his friend.
If I told you that you'd do nothing with it I'd still be that cigarette that you couldn't finish
Laughing at the kisses he receives from the snakes, Mateo's cheeks are dimpled and his blue eyes are filled with joy as Ever adds two muddy pawprints to the lopsided bird on his sweater. "Look, they're happy," he tells the puppy, offering out one of his new bangles so he might sniff at it, and if the hanging snake decides to become an accessory for the canine instead, Mateo will have no problem with it.
"Come on little snakes. We need to get you back in the trees where you belong." Rising up onto his tip toes, he tries to direct his crown to the nearest branch, wondering if all of the snakes might be able to slither to safety from his curls. "That's better than those worm things, right?" he tells Ever.
Nostrils flaring, Ever isn't so sure that happy is what he smells on the small green snakes. Before he can really be sure, one is trying to slither between his eyes which sends him yelping away from Mateo. The hanging snake, looking a touch forlorn (or looking exactly the same in all likelihood), silently sends its tongue after the black dog, before once again completing a loop around Mateo.
Skeptically Ever watches as the snakes slowly work their way up Mateo's body. One seems to consider remaining as a permanent ear-accessory, before trailing after the other two who have already made the journey from curl-to-branch. Will they immediately tie themselves up in a knot again?
Probably.
Snapping his teeth together with a low half bark, Ever licks his lips and whines. How could they have forgotten a signal for lunch time?
If I told you that you'd do nothing with it I'd still be that cigarette that you couldn't finish
Mateo does his best not to think about the likelihood of the snakes getting all tangled up again; he's too busy smiling as they leave his curls and slither back up into the trees. Only once they are safe and sound does he lower from his tiptoes back to the ground, the boy watching after them and wondering what it would be like to be a hanging snake, right up until Ever snaps his teeth and draws his attention.
"Oh," he says, gazing down to watch as the puppy licks at his chops. In response, Mateo's belly gives a loud rumble. "Yes, I think I'm hungry too," he decides, beckoning Ever back along the trail and thinking - hard - about his nonna's cottage and what she might be cooking for lunchtime. What more could a boy and his dog want?
