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!
She doesn’t have words for the sensation of dying. The world around her is still defined mostly by emotions, action and reaction. All she knows is one moment everything - and everyone, which is so much worse - is dying, and she hurts, and then -
Hot. It’s so hot. The earth below her is not tundra and ice but rough granules that sear into her skin. How is it getting past her fur? Soleil gropes blindly at the strange ground, little chest heaving as she struggles to open her eyes only to slam them shut again against the bright light that pierces into them. A whining grunt escapes her, pup-noise, searching and extending in hopes of an answering call. She can’t smell anything. Luka, where is Luka? Her other half, her brother. She didn’t see him - she saw - Alpha, and their mothers - she knows she saw them die but she didn’t see Luka and she has to find him.
Her vocal chords feel all sorts of wrong, and so do her paws, but she is young and adaptable and so she forces pup-noise from her strange flat face and forces open amber eyes in search of her brother. Everything looks normal, there’s no adjustment to her vision at least, plopped into this body as she has been. And there - her twin, beside her where he had been moments before (or at least what felt like moments, between the snowy mountains and this new hot environment). He is strange looking, entirely new to her, and yet she knows him as she has always known him; instinctively, souls and hearts intertwined from the moment they were brought into being.
Soleil stumbles as she tries to coordinate too-long limbs, letting them move how they instinctively want to instead of fighting them when that proves useless. She reaches and clings with her new fingers to her brother, whining and tugging him closer to try and snuffle at his nape, frowning when his scent is dull and changed to her new nose. “Luka. Luka. Where are we?” Terror shaking her tone, seeking her older brother’s surety even when he is only minutes wiser than she.
And from the outside, well.
Suddenly there are two young children on the sands of the port where there had been only empty space before. Distinctly alone, and completely unused to the limbs they possess.
everyone around her seemed brighter and better for having known her
Overly long fingers press into the shifting warm snow under him. Childlike curiosity wins out over fear for the moment. Whatever had just happened to him is far from his mind. Soleil is still with him, although she sleeps still. He's pretty sure what happened before was just another bad dream and this is just part of it. Their mothers and Alpha will come rouse them with soft nose kisses and singing, as they usually do. They'll play and roll and learn to hunt. All he has to do is wake up.
But first he wants to play with the warm snow. It feels strange, sliding through his fingers and making neat little piles below. It doesn't melt and it smells like nothing except something he can't quite name. Luka leans forward and takes a tiny taste of the snow before spitting it out. It tastes nothing like snow! He tries to rub the grit off his tongue only to find it coats his paws too. He turns, trying to lick his shoulder but.. Where is his fur? One paw comes up and well, he still has some of it at least. What a strange dream.
Soleil's voice draws him from his reverie and he only has a moment before she's grabbing him. Maybe he wasn't dreaming. She feels warm and alive and different but still the same. Fear ripples through him but at least he has her. He buries his face into her fluffy hair, squeezing her tightly. "I don't know, Sol." He admits softly, sadly. "I thought I was having the strangest dream but.." He whines, not quite but exactly like a puppy might.
"Maybe if we stay here, Alpha or our mothers will find us." He's pretty sure that's what they're supposed to do. Just sit still and someone will find them.
And when I wake tomorrow I'll bet That you and I will walk together again
In all the time that Maeve has been in Torchline, she's never actually witnessed someone appearing on their shores through the portals. Especially not children. They fall through onto the sandy shore, two children no older than Edmund, clinging to each other on the sun drenched sands. Aidon swoops down, landing before them and sniffing at them curiously, soft trills coming from his throat in an attempt to soothe the obviously frightened children. Maeve picks up the hem of her skirt, hurrying forward but slowing as she gets about fifteen feet away, "Are you alright, loves?" The Nightshade asks softly, getting close enough to kneel down in the sand in front of them, giving Aidon a gentle push so he might back up.
She extends her hand to the children, palm up in a gesture that's meant to soothe, "Don't worry. You're safe here. No harm will come to you." Maeve murmurs, instantly attempting to soothe the two children who are clearly from a land far from here if their appearance was anything to go by. Even if she hadn't seen them port in herself.
"What are your names? I'm Maeve. That's Aidon. He won't hurt you either. Promise." Her tone is soft, calming and smooth, almost crooning as she looks down at the children with a gentle smile.
Luka is calm where she is stormy, and Sol clings to him in the hopes that it will somehow physically rub off on her. Everything here is loud she is beginning to realize as the outside world filters in the longer she adjusts. It's overwhelming. Luka's whine draws her back from staring out at their surroundings, and she turns to tuck beneath his chin, allowing him to nuzzle into her hair. "It wasn't a dream, it wasn't," she objects, little body shaking with the terrible memories. "They were dead," she begins to cry, tears bubbling over, the little girl so used to feeling her emotions intensely and without apology. Death is something she doesn't fully understand except in the sense that things must die to feed them, and that those who die go to another place and can never return.
Soleil's tears are forgotten as she shrieks at the sudden appearance of a large, terrifying winged creature, and she skitters back on all fours, grabbing at her brother to try and pull him along with her. Little teeth are bared as a snarl leaves her, garbled by human vocals but still fierce in its delivery. The spoken words that follow the creature's arrival don't register, too focused on this new immediate threat - until the creature is pushed back by the woman who was speaking, easy as anything. Soleil postures overtop her brother, bristling and breathing hard as she tries to calm her rabbiting heart thundering in her ears, making it hard to hear the woman's words. They are soft and comforting, but Soleil can't trust them. She has no idea where they are, what sort of pack politics to adhere to.
It's all too much to consider, so when the woman's hand extends Soleil snaps her teeth at it in warning. "Go! Go away!" Her voice trembles but she shouts it with all her tiny might, still trying to conceal her brother as her amber eyes dart between the newly-named Maeve and the terrible creature she had called Aidon.
everyone around her seemed brighter and better for having known her
There was no way Alpha could have died and they lived. It doesn't make sense in his brain. It doesn't make sense for his mothers to have died either. But maybe this is where they go when they die? Little thoughts cycle through his brain as he tries to puzzle it all together, face buried in his sister's hair. She still smells the same, warm and fuzzy as when they were still furry.
But then there's something landing near them and the crunch crunch of sand. He stares at the woman, eyes flitting between her and the beast that she seems to command. Some part of him puts together that she's also a weird flesh wolf thing but his brain can't quite connect that she's the same as he and his sister. Sol is immediately protective of him and that puts up his hackles. (if he had any.) And he growls in response.
The woman holds her hand out, speaking soft but strange words to them. He understands what she says after a moment but she's so much bigger than they are and the last few.. Moments have been scary so he does what any scared pup does.
He bites the outstretched hand. It meant getting closer to her and wiggling from under his sister but it's all he knows to do.
And when I wake tomorrow I'll bet That you and I will walk together again
As a mother, her first and strongest instinct is to comfort the two children who are clearly terrified, Except these children are not just terrified. They're downright feral. Maeve hisses when Luca lunges forward, latching onto her hand, breaking skin with the force of his bite. She snatches her hand back, baring her teeth in return to the two children, letting out a growl that's not meant to scare them. Instead it's a reminder that she's the one in charge here. They're like frightened pups and they need a refresher on how things work around here. "Hush now." The Nightshade says firmly, narrowing her eyes in warning, giving a silent command to Aidon to back off for the time being.
"I know you're scared. I know that things are different here, but I'm not going to hurt you." She stresses as gently as she can, using her other hand to reach for them again, palm up and unassuming. Maeve wasn't going to just leave them here. She couldn't. Still, this wasn't going to be easy if they couldn't calm down enough to trust her.
What had been warning from Sol is promise from Luka, and she feels a childish pride at his own manner of protection - silent and unassuming, striking from beneath the shadow of his sister. The woman hisses, recoiling, but pups don't have very strong teeth and it seems she's persistent. Sol snarls at her weakly. If they can't scare or fight her off, the best plan is to stay huddled together. The unfortunate side effect of that is Maeve's words more easily penetrate the terror with her words - forcing Soleil to listen. Though the baring of teeth is a language she understands far more, and she cows beneath it, her bravado shaky.
"We're fine," she snaps in the certain, imperious way of all children. But the way her amber eyes dart side to side, trying to keep track of the hundreds of people milling about in the distance, is a clear indicator of her overwhelm. "Mommy will find us, or - or Ma, or Dad. We don't need help!" Surely they'll be right behind them. They have to be. They just need to stay where they are, as they were told to do if ever they got lost, and their parents will find them.
everyone around her seemed brighter and better for having known her
His bite doesn't drive the monster away and he growls softly, mirroring his sister. The woman's words are firm and the way she bares her teeth is as comforting as it is alarming. It reminds him of his mothers, growling at him for misbehaving. Soleil speaks and he wishes he could remember how words worked.
Instead he continues to growl softly. Another hand is offered and he thinks of biting it too. But he gets an idea that would probably suit them more than biting would. "Have you seen them? Mommy and Ma and Dad?" He's still angled to bite again but maybe this "nice" lady knows where his parents might or might not be.
And when I wake tomorrow I'll bet That you and I will walk together again
02-21-2022, 01:38 AM (This post was last modified: 03-05-2022, 02:34 PM by Maeve.)
My dear, we're slow dancing in a burning room
Maeve bites back a sigh, knowing that they simply don't understand what happened to them, but she doesn't let it deter her. They might not understand, but that didn't mean she could just leave them here. She wouldn't. Instead the Nightshade cocks her head to the side almost curiously, jade eyes scanning their features, attempting to notice anything familiar. The chances of their parents being here was slim. She knew this. It didn't stop her from at least attempting to figure something out. "What do they look like? Maybe I can help you find them."
She offers this easily, hoping that they'll take the bait, if only because it will make the process of helping them that much easier. It continues on this way for some time. A back and forth, questions, growls, baring of teeth, and gentle coxing in an attempt to gather information. Eventually she wins them over with the promise of food and it's only then that she's able to get them back to the Halenani and out of harms way.
