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!
How about a little exploring time tomorrow. Dusk? - W
The note says nothing more than that, but is delivered to Azrael’s doorstep with a mischievous ding-dong ditch. They’ll know where to reach her if tomorrow doesn’t work for them, but otherwise the Wraith is at their door a few minutes before the sun goes down with a grin on her face. “I know I said the Oerwoud is one of my favorite places, but I have some things I need to do in Halo and I thought you might like to fly there with me?” In Longheat, the weather permits that kind of travel and Azrael would have a wonderful bird’s eye view of everything in between the Grounds and the ice-covered region.
She has a little stuffed leather cushion with her - to protect their legs and sensitive bits - from her feather’s razor sharp edges. Handing it to them, she steps away to create some space; her body changes before their eyes, metal parts shifting, skin splitting, and upgrades moving to allow her to stretch, grow, and integrate into something far, far more interesting than her human shape.
i wouldn't know where to start 'sweet music' playing 'in the dark'
They’re always down for exploring, especially when they don’t have to worry about anyone coming after them and them being unaware and unable to protect themself completely. So when Wessex offers, Azrael is there, with far too much excitement glowing on their features, opening the door easily. “I’ve only been to Halo once.” They admit, though it doesn’t dampen their excitement at all.
The second that the cushion is offered to them, they take it and wait for Wessex to prepare herself – gasping at the sight of woman becoming big metal bird. A machine with all the intricacies that makes them appreciate their goddess all that much more. “Wow.” They breathe, stepping forward and allowing their eyes to devour everything Wessex has morphed into.
They place the cushion on her back, strapping it where they need to protect themself – glad that they’d chosen to wear their tall boots for this endeavor. And once they’re sure it’s a secure fit, they hop on up, reminiscent of when Nate had let them ride his dragon shift – only this one has a hint more of an air of danger with the metal bladed wings. It’s exciting. “Ready!” They chime, gripping onto Wessex where it won’t pinch their fingers.
“Okay! We’re going to go to a place called the Sea of Glass. It’ll take several hours to fly there, but we can always portal back.” And with that brief explanation given, Wessex begins her shift, smile turning to an open beak and bright eyes when her shift is complete. Once they climb aboard and are safely tucked atop her, bird!Wessex bops her head up and down to indicate that she’s heard them and tries to make her ascent as smooth as possible. Alright, let’s go. Let me know if you feel yourself slipping, or want to see something closer.
Everything from here on out is done to minimize any danger to Azrael, while still give them the full experience of flying and seeing the world. Heading towards mountains neither of them can clearly see yet, the pair pass over the eastern edge fo the Grounds - the oasis, the very clear bare line that is still working to bounce back, and over the river that flows through King’s End and the Greatwood. Banking left a bit, they’ll give the Greatwood a wide birth, veering over the rolling hills and tombs before the mountains start to loom, dark and tall ahead of them.
i wouldn't know where to start 'sweet music' playing 'in the dark'
“That sounds good!” They chime, their excitement before she shifts and they’re climbing up, making sure they’re secure enough and that their fingers aren’t going to pinch in the shifting metal feathers. Once they’re sure and Wessex bobs her head to let them know that they’re about to take off, the two of them take to the sky with relative ease – Azrael clutching the saddle of sorts tight as their excitement begins to leak from them in the grin they can’t swipe from their face.
Their eyes are the size of saucers as they take in the barren earth around the Grounds, seeing an aerial view for the first time that both surprises them and saddens them. But then they’re moving on, seeing the lush growth of the Greatwood in the distance – a place Azrael has yet to come to terms with being unable to visit – before the rolling hills of King’s End and the mountains in the distance take what figurative breath they have away. “Look at that!” They chime, among other little hints of their wonder, their excitement to look around and let Wessex guide the way, content to be her passenger.
Beautiful, isn’t it? Harkening back to their conversation pre-LongNight (and truly, it seems so long ago) when she told them how amazing Caido really is - and now they can see it for themselves. Dipping lower so they can get a better look a King’s End, Wessex coasts on until they can see the specifics of a rock face in front of them, and then her instructions come with enough warning for them to adjust. Hold on!
And then, because she isn’t a real bird and doesn’t have to flap to rise the way that other birds do, she zooms up the mountain face at a forty five degree angle, burst over the top in a very large swoosh of air that sends some Alpinas bleating in terror away from the edge. A peal of mental laughter bursts from the General as she rights the two of them and starts to chase a few of the fleeing creatures before once again veering to the left.
Don’t want to go over the Draig. Those dragons there are no fucking joke. You encountered dragons when you found the Prince, right?
i wouldn't know where to start 'sweet music' playing 'in the dark'
Their gaze brightens and absorbs, taking everything in at face value, letting it sink into their memory so that they might be able to draw inspiration from it later – in their little sketchbooks they’ve started, a little remembrance and influence from their father. Again, they’re more than content to be the passenger on this voyage, taking the warning easily and readjusting themself so they can grip onto the metal bird easier, far more glued to her in a sense.
They zip up the side of the mountain, spooking some Alpinas, something that Azrael doesn’t know what they are, but Wessex’s laugh is infectious and they can’t help the vibrant chime of laughter that leaves them too, clinging to her as she veers to the left. “Yeah! We found uh… A purple and a green one.” They offer with a pinch of their brow as they recall it. “The purple one kept teleporting us and the green one liked to take things.” But between Nate and Isla, the dragons had perished and Azrael’s prior attempts at befriending them hadn’t gone well.
03-01-2022, 12:14 AM (This post was last modified: 03-01-2022, 12:14 AM by Wessex.)
WESSEX
Oh the purple ones teleport? she repeats back, storing the information for later. That’s good to know. I met a green one in the Draig. It did exactly what you said - stole everything I had. Still need to get it back. And a grey one, it… it might be deadly. Because either it killed Mabel or she couldn’t handle the Voice’s power - and quite frankly, both are logically possible. She tells them this half as a warning and half because it’s part of the world they both live in, and she had promised to show them the world.
Time passes and the wind buffets them about a bit in the mountains, but Wessex is able to clear them without much more than a couple of warnings for Azrael to hold on tight again. She crests the last peak and then there’s nothing but cold, starlit, empty skies ahead of them and the white glow of a frozen sea below. There it is, Wessex announces as she begins to spiral down to the ground. The Sea of Glass.
i wouldn't know where to start 'sweet music' playing 'in the dark'
“Yeah!” They chime, the fact that they had tried to make friends with the dragons to have them help find the Prince and having it backfired definitely left a sour taste in their mouth over the creatures. Loki, however, was one dragon that Azrael adored, but they know deep down that the dragon they know has no ties with the wild ones they’d encountered. Still, the fact that Wessex had encountered much the same as well as a new dragon? Well, that was something interesting. Something they don’t really get to comment on as discomfort settles in the back of their mind over the idea.
Soon, though, they’re at the sea of glass and they lean over Wessex as they hold on tight, eyes bright as they scan the tundra beneath, the spiral down making the body of water become far larger than Azrael could have comprehended from the sky. “It’s so big!” They call down to Wessex, surprise and awe mixing into their voice with the realization.
Their delight is so innocent and pure, it makes Wessex’s giant metal heart ache when she thinks of the rest of the world. It used to be an actual, inland Sea the Wraith begins, Before Halo asked the Eirachi for help. I don’t know if it was gradual or all at once, but her power was great enough to freeze it with ice so thick that it never melts. And as a result, the creatures hidden in the deep were never found. Until recently.
Sliding a fair bit as she lands (ice and metal are not the most compatible surfaces), Wessex laughs her claws scrabble to find traction, leaving tell-tale skid marks along the surface. Once she’s able to stop herself, she gives a very avian shake of her head and extends her wings in a step (or slide) like fashion for Azrael to disembark. Once they’re off, she shifts back to her human self and takes a look around.
“Not sure how much I need, but it can’t be that much. Just enough so it doesn’t all melt.”
i wouldn't know where to start 'sweet music' playing 'in the dark'
They’ve never been to Torchline. They’ve never really been anywhere that they could see a true sea, so all they have to go off of right now is this and if this is so massive and inland, they can’t quite wrap their brain around the size of a true sea. So their awe is palpable, the way that they cling to the information that Wessex offers them. They eat it up easily, storing it away as they start to land – sliding among the ice, Azrael clinging tightly but also snickering lightly with the bumpy landing.
Finally they come to a stop, though, and they slide down the wing to get off of the other demigod, looking back over to her when she shifts back into herself. They trot along the snow to catch up to her, nodding. “Okay!” They reach into their bag, pulling out a smaller bag within that has their tools and things, the bag they brought with was well insulated and their hope is that not too much would melt in the travel.
Opening up the smaller bag, they move toward a piece of ice jutting out of the edge, scanning it curiously before figuring out the point of which they might be able to cut off a big piece. “If we pack snow around it, perhaps it won’t melt the ice as quickly?” They suggest.
“Brilliant!” Wessex declares enthusiastically. “You get some snow to pack and I’ll get a chunk of ice.” Her mech shift doesn’t have the kind of whallop that might break the ice, but her landing did seem to crack through a few layers. Its here that the demigod gets to work, clenching her fist to produce the talons and delicately trying to get under the ice far enough to then push down and, like a lever, crack a chunk off.
It takes some time and effort and a couple of checks to make sure the metal isn’t going to bend out of shape, but the Wraith manages it without breaking a sweat (ha). Triumphantly lifting a lot a chunk of ice the size of her head, Wessex calls out to Az, “Is this too big? For the bag?”
i wouldn't know where to start 'sweet music' playing 'in the dark'
Wessex’s chipperness is something that vibrates through Azrael, it has them incapable of keeping the grin of pride from their face from the enthusiasm that radiates from the Wraith. “Alright!” They chime, moving away from the piece of ice, sure that Wessex has it handled as they regard their bag and how much snow might be able to fit into it. They start scooping some snow in and packing it down, making a little divot in the middle as they start to pack up the sides of their bag.
Soon enough, though, they lift the little bag they’ve been working on and haul it over with them toward Wessex, leaning over the ice to peer at it. “I think it’ll fit!” They run some little mental calculations, reaching in and pressing the sides of the walls they’ve created down a bit more before nodding for Wessex to put the ice chunk in. “Lets see if it needs any adjustments and if not then we start putting more snow on top?” They suggest, looking up to Wessex for her approval again.
03-23-2022, 09:28 PM (This post was last modified: 03-23-2022, 09:29 PM by Wessex.)
I know, I fought you in the dark
It’s a good thing neither of them can feel the cold - it may still be Longheat in Halo, but handling ice and snow like this would make anyone else’s hands white and send frostbite nipping at their fingertips.
Azrael holds the bag open for her and she holds the ice above it for a moment, ready to drop it in if the sides align - and the just do. Releasing the chunk and easing it in, they’ll find that there’s just enough room on top to pack in about an inch of snow and still allow the bag to close. Grinning in satisfaction, Wessex nods and mock dusts off her hands. “Excellent. Good work team.” And with that problem solved (she has no doubt Az will fill the top in) the two of them can take their time getting back to the Grounds.
Turning to face the direction of civilization and the portal, Wessex shades her eyes to look around them. “I don’t see any Ursurs or Frost Giants around… what do you say we walk back to the portal? It’s a hike, but you’ll get to see more of Halo that way.” Not that it was much different than this, but they never know what they might see, or who they might run in to.
