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!
He slinks along the trees, just beyond the scars of what used to be a barrier. He'd always heard of it but had never seen it himself. He figured that he might as well see what's left of it, since he's here, right? The sun was sinking low into the sky and he would have to head back to the town sooner rather than later. But the scarring gave the sky quite the stage and he found himself lingering longer than expect.
The cat shifts into a man and he sits his pretty ass down to watch what's left of the sunset. He knows he has to leave soon and he's got a little bundle of things to bring home to Maeve and Edmund. But he doesn't get a chance to come here often so he's going to soak it in while he can.
01-04-2022, 05:25 PM (This post was last modified: 01-04-2022, 05:26 PM by Nikolai.)
Nikolai
Not all truths Belong to the light
Once the sun was setting, Nikolai made his way outside. He'd very quickly noticed his increased sun resistance and frankly, he was ecstatic about it. He could watch sunsets once more. A simple thing but it was something he'd missed. Arriving a one of his favorite places to watch such phenomena, Nikolai spots a jaguar creeping along.
The young Ascended's first instinct is to back up slowly and leave but before he can do so the cat shifts. Tension bleeding out and being replaced by curiosity, Nikolai makes his way over. "What brings an Attuned all the way out here?" There's a wary tint to his tone. And edge of warning as well. He knew there were some Attuned who were friendly with the Ascended such as Sunjata, but he hadn't met many. It was best to air on the side of caution. Nikolai wasn't the best fighter, but he'd do his best to chase off any threat to his family.
A voice catches his attention and he turns, looking at the younger man. "Just enjoying the sights. Really is beautiful here. And I'm from Torchline so that's sayin' something." He grins widely as he makes his way closer. "And came to pay my respects to the Voice. She saved me once." Because it was the right thing to do.
"Not to be... Too forward. But can I ask you something?" He drips with predatory intent, something he picked up from a friend. "The Voice wanted me to share my abilities with the Ascended.. You wouldn't want a bite, would you? Can use my wrist." He holds his arm out, his sleeved rolled up to reveal the pulsing vein. "Or my neck, whatever's most comfortable for you." See? He's already got bites littered all over it.
"She saved you?" Nikola's guard remains up, but curiosity prevents him from stepping back as the man approaches. That curiosity quickly turns into confusion and embarrassment. "You... what?!" Nikolai does take as step back now, eyes going wide with shock. A rather impressive flush for an Ascended stains his face and he finds himself gaping at this man who calls himself Locke.
"Are you insane?! I don't know you! Why in the hell would I want to bite you?!" Nikolai gestures vaguely a Locke's form, "Who knows where it's been." Sending a quick glance towards the bite marks he adds, "Besides in my sibling's mouths that is." Did this man have no shame? No self-respect? How could he offer himself up like that? Had the Voice really asked him to?
"Indeed. Figured I'd pay my respects and then she appeared, asked me to help you guys out." He chuckles lowly, stepping closer. Except, then Nikolai responds in the wrong way. He pauses, head tilting. Most Ascended have had a blast biting him. Maybe he came on too strong. His arm drops to his side and he sighs softly.
"One, I'm perfectly clean but I can go clean my arm if you want. And two, I've been bitten by plenty of ascended I don't know. But you're welcome to get to know me. I'm just trying to help like the Voice asked. I don't know why she wanted me to share my shifts with people but she did."
Nikki was right about one thing. He doesn't have any self-respect.
"And I got some pretty cool shifts. A jaguar, a snake... Gore crow? Bet you'd love flying."
Sputtering, Nikolai tries to get a grip on himself as Locke continues to state his case. "Our Lady really asked you to... oh jeez." The Ascended paces for a moment, restless and nervous. "This is too much..." He's completely overwhelmed by the prospect of actually biting someone. That one incident did not count so this would be the first. Can you blame him for being nervous?
Spinning on his heel, Nikolai threw his hands up in the air, "I... if Our Lady wants this, I'll do it." Marching up to Locke before he can change his mind, Nikolai grabs the Attuned. One hand grips his shoulder tightly, a slight tremble to it. The other grabs Locke by the back of the neck to keep him still. This way he doesn't have to look at Locke's face like he would if he went for his arm.
Swallowing harshly Nikolai grits his teeth nervously, "I've never done this willingly before. So, if I fuck up or hurt you just push me away." With that warning, the Ascended reaches up and sinks his fangs into Locke's neck.
Locke simply watches the other man struggle to figure this out. He's about to dip when Nikolai seems to change his mind, throwing his hands up. He lets himself be moved, staying still as the other walks behind him. Locke grunts in acknowledgement, although he's going to pester the other about this afterwards.
His head tilts, almost instinctively to give Nikolai more room. Fangs sink into his neck and he makes a soft, low noise to himself. No funny business here. The Ascended is already struggling and Locke's not about to make it worse. "Can stop when you're ready. Can handle it." His voice is a little deeper, a little breathier and his hands are clutched as his sides. Sure, he's probably been bitten more in the last season that he has before but it's fine. He can handle it.
Nikolai gives a small grunt of acknowledgment at Locke's words, but he barely hears them. The sudden rush of sensation from biting the Attuned is far too distracting. The last time he'd felt some pleasure, but it was mostly overrun by the desperation of the situation. Any and all sensations or enjoyment had been muddled by screaming sensors and fear.
Now though? Now the Ascended actually feels it. After a few long moments he pulls away just enough to rest his forehead on Locke's shoulder. Nikolai's eyes screw shut as he tries to get his bearings, overwhelmed and overstimulated at feeling any sensation for the first time in months. Nikolai eventually gets enough of a handle on himself to let out a small chuckle. "So that's why the others like this so much." If he'd been anything but an Ascended, the words would have been breathless.
Well, that went better than anticipated. He takes a few slow breaths himself before reaching up to pat Nikolai's head. "See, not so bad. Feels pretty good right?" He has to ignore his own body's reaction to the sensation for entirely too many reasons. Locke turns, reaching up to try to wipe a smear of blood off Nikolai's mouth, if the man lets him.
"Thanks for that. Still don't know exactly why she asked me to do that, maybe to prove I was friendly, I dunno." His face is flushed bright red but he shrugs as if it's not. "Should try the shifts out sometime though. Be fun. Might figure out somethin' I don't know." He kind of envies the ascended, being able to share abilities like that.
Nikolai lets out a rush of air he doesn't need, giving a small nod, "Pretty good, yah." But then Locke reaches and wipes some blood from his mouth and Nikolai takes a step back sputtering and flushing once more. He barely comprehends Locke's words and gives a sharp not, voice a few pitches too high. "You're welcome. I'll definitely give them a try. Thanks."
Pleasantries exchanged he takes one last look to make sure that Locke isn't about to pass out form blood loss. Feeling the echoes of the bite he acts impulsively and reaches up to place a very quick and chaste kiss to the Attuned's cheek. "Thank you." With that, he turns tail and flees into the night, cursing himself out in his head. What the actual fuck just happened?!
