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!
01-31-2022, 09:59 PM (This post was last modified: 02-26-2022, 08:01 PM by Melita.)
Melita
Eating fire is your ambition to swallow the flame down
In between helping with the Ark, ensuring the house along the rocks was safe and secure, and her quest for the upcoming dragon, there’d only been bits and pieces of time where she could fit in her usual training. This opportunity came at dawn, where the light pierced in an elegant gold and blue, before the heat of the day rushed in its effervescent plumes and streaks amongst Torchline. She yawned once or twice as she led Fangorn upon paths she knew by heart, rhythms and beats beneath her bare feet, the twist and turn of sand melding into calloused angles. “What should it be today?” An inquiry lobbed towards the pumpkin behind her, listening as he grumbled something mildly incoherent.
Considering the wares and armaments loaded in her bag, or along her person, she nodded as if understanding him perfectly. “Staff it is.” Even if it was just her out here, she could practice balancing upon the rocks, or find something to hit with enough fury to get her by.
Eventually, they came upon her favored stone – flattened by the archaic reach of the sea. Laying her bag down along the dunes, and with Fangorn a capable guard, she hoisted up one of her favorites, snatching at the staff from Ludo with regular aplomb, hand resting in a comfortable position, and she began going through the motions of her warm-ups – tossing it back and forth, twirling it this way and that, chaotic and wild.
to be lit up from within, vein by vein to be the sun
After a few visits to Torchline, Lilliane had decided that the best time for a walk near the ocean was in the morning, when the heat of the day had not yet settled. Plus, she'd be able to see the sunrise at sea, which was always a sight to behold. Not long ago, she'd never expected to just portal over to the other side of the continent for a morning walk. Then again, not long ago she had thought portals to be a thing of sci-fi movies.
Walking along, she spotted a familiar figure in the distance. It took Lilliane a moment to put a name to the facce. Melita. They hadn't talked that much, but chasing after a water horse together did leave an impression.
Lilliane walked up to the stone Melita was standing on, making sure to stay a few steps away and not disturb her in her training. Once it seemed that Melita made a pause in her movement, Lilliane spoke up. "That looks really professional." She wasn't sure whether it was, she knew nothing about fighting with a staff. But it sure looked like Melita didn't use it for the first time.
Eating fire is your ambition to swallow the flame down
Hand over hand, motion after motion, whirling the staff back and forth, back and forth, until the muscles loosened, under the callouses remembered the grooves, until everything felt right and just and mighty. She only stirred from staring out over the horizon, from performing herself right into a lull of vehemence, when another’s voice spoke through the fluidity. Ceasing for a moment, the sharp volley of the weapon clenched into her grasp, and for a second she might have looked far, far different than the energetic, fervent girl chasing after water horses.
Ferocious, feral, wild, untamed, eternally ready for some kind of fight.
It took half a second for everything else to register. Her gilded gaze followed after Lilliane, recognizing her from before, and Fangorn grumbled something close by, tending to her packs. “Oh, thanks,” she blinked, permitting the compliment to sink into her soul. “What brings you by?”
to be lit up from within, vein by vein to be the sun
As Lilliane watched Melita for that short moment before Mel replied, she thought about how different the woman before her looked in that instant. Maybe a hint at another facet of Mel's personality? Either way, it was again proof that there was much more to people than what was visible at first glance.
"Just going for a walk. I was thinking of taking a walk away from the port and then maybe jogging the way back if it's not too hot by then." These temperatures were something she still had to get used to. "Basically my morning workout." she said with a smile and a shrug. Well, maybe she might change up her plans and ask Melita if she could show her some fighting techniques. It sure would come in handy. Though she didn't muster the courage to ask just yet, instead opting for another question. "Do you live in Torchline or did you also use the portal to come here for training?"
Eating fire is your ambition to swallow the flame down
Morning workouts were certainly a thing in the summer haze of Torchline, and Melita nodded her agreement in the assessment. “Do you know how to handle weapons? Or fight?” The spitfire was never quite sure how many newcomers would find themselves equipped to handle the dangers of Caido – because while Melita had fought for her life at a very young age, there were many who landed in from Outlander ranges in wildly different paradigms. She twirled the staff around again for good measure, keeping the muscles limbered up, ready, fervent, eager for escapades and wilderness, the untamed savagery a building block to her existence.
There were more questions for her though, and the same Cheshire grin landed right back upon her features. “I live in Torchline!” She pointed towards the lighthouse in the distance, then slightly over. “My house is near the rocks.” Or had been her uncles, before they set off for King’s End and just left her there. “I work on the Ark too.” So sometimes she was here, sometimes she wasn’t. She’d only ever seen Lilliane in these proportions though, so she’d assumed the other girl ventured and roamed along the sand. “What about you?”
to be lit up from within, vein by vein to be the sun
02-11-2022, 07:16 AM (This post was last modified: 02-11-2022, 07:38 AM by Lilliane.)
I know I'm just a girl, but can I change lives?
Lilliane thought for a moment about the question. It wasn't like she had no experience with weapons, but it wasn't 'knowing how to fight' either. In the end, she shrugged. "I can defend myself if necessary, but I've never actually trained how to fight." There was a difference between fighting with technique and just hitting at everything coming close to her after all. "Would you mind teaching me a bit? I don't want to slow your down in your own training, though."
As Melita pointed towards the area near the lighthouse, Lilliane looked in the direction as well. It looked like a good place for a house. And a nice place to go for a long walk once it was less hot. Turning back to Melita, her focus changed to the topic at hand. "I've never heard of the Ark. What's that?" It sure sounded like something important, with a name like that.
When it came to answering Melita's question, Lilliane hesitated. Based on what she'd heard, her current place of residence could lead to trouble with some. But it would feel wrong not to answer since she was the one to ask first. "Some people at the Grounds have taken me in for now. I still haven't decided where I want to live in the future." She smiled slightly. "That's mainly why I'm always here and there, exploring all kinds of places. Can't decide when I don't know which places there are after all."
Eating fire is your ambition to swallow the flame down
Melita could remember a very brief lull where she didn’t know how to fight either – very young, naïve, and trusting of the world – daring to go off on barefoot adventures and clamber over cliffs with little forethought to the end result. That was before calamity and ruin. That was before lost mothers and fallen sisters. And thereafter, she would never have dreamed of remaining folly and wholly ignorant to the ways of vehemence, violence, and revenge. Sometimes, all she’d ever had was her feral ferocity, savage tenacity, and unrelenting spirit.
Which was probably why she glanced at Lilliane was something akin to curiosity, and then a wild snort to follow. “Sure. Depends on what you want to learn. I’m pretty good at the staff,” and she twirled it around in her hand again, keeping the muscles properly flexed and limbered. “And the bow.” And some knives. And hand-to-hand. And any other armament she could get her grubby hands on.
Immediately shuffling over to her bag to see if she had anything extra the newcomer could use, she raised her head slightly at mention of the Ark. She withheld a laugh, and only because the humor wouldn’t have made sense to Lilliane (just, simply put, that the ship’s infamy wasn’t as massive as Jack probably would’ve liked). “A ship!”
Thereafter though, she appeared completely nonplussed by the exchange of living situations. “Oh, most of us started there too.” She shrugged her shoulders. “But then the ocean portal opened up, and I saw no reason to stay.” Not when this was available.
to be lit up from within, vein by vein to be the sun
Although surprised at how quickly Melita was ready to change her plans to teach her something, Lilliane was glad about it. She smiled as she answered. "The staff doesn't sound bad, I think? I doubt I'll carry big weapons with me all the time, so something that could be improvised quickly might be best. And I'd like to be able to defend myself without killing, if possible." Sometimes there was no way around it, but she'd definitely try every other option first.
To the topic of the ocean portal, she nodded. "The weather and landscape are definitely nicer here. Though in the grounds, I at least don't have to worry about barfights and pickpockets as much," she said with a smile and a shrug. Afterward, she laid her bag down in the sand next to Melita's bag. It would only get in the way during their training.
Eating fire is your ambition to swallow the flame down
Melita didn’t have any other staffs available, not when she had the one Ludo had entrusted to her. Still rifling through her bag, just in case, her nose wrinkled slightly. “I don’t have any extra of those, but if you want to snag a really big stick,” and here she rose back to her full height, gaze looking out over potential driftwood or lines against the beach, where jungle exploits might have had a fallen branch or two, “Over there might have a good one.” She pointed in the direction, intending to wait until Lilliane returned with what she needed.
The youth didn’t bother to comment on the last line. She might’ve done the same, once, but she’d learned her lesson many times when it came to predators, enemies, and adversaries.
Don’t give them a second chance.
She shrugged her shoulders at the Grounds’ implications. “Eh, most don’t bother me here at all,” probably because she had a preceding reputation as either one of Jack’s, being constantly armed to the teeth, mildly feral, or a loose cannon. All of this suited her just fine.
When Lilliane returned with whatever she could find, Melita began her warm-ups again, though slowed down and modified. “We want to make sure the muscles are stretched for using a staff,” and she began to maneuver it back and forth, from one hand to the other, over callouses long since instigated across her skin.
to be lit up from within, vein by vein to be the sun
When Melita told her to look for a really big stick, Lilliane smiled. "Well, that's why the staff is a good idea, right? Big sticks aren't that hard to find." Looking in the direction Melita pointed, Lilliane nodded. "I'll be right back." Wandering the beach, keeping an eye out for driftwood or branches broken off from trees near the beach, she needed only a few minutes to find something that would hopefully be suitable. It was a big stick, mostly straight, with only a slight angle at one end.
As she returned to Melita, she showed her the stick. "I hope this one is okay." Then she took position a few steps away from Melita, so she couldn't accidentally hit the other woman. Keeping a close eye on Melita, Lilliane started to mirror Melita's movements. At first only very slow, but over time starting to speed up until she had reached Melita's (already slowed down) speed.
Eating fire is your ambition to swallow the flame down
Big sticks retrieved, newfound weapons at the ready, Melita set about as instructor, rather than pupil. Taking her time to watch Lilliane’s movements and orchestrations, she nodded, pleased with whatever she saw. “Good. Over time, you’ll get faster.” Experience had taught her that, amongst a multitude of other things (like necessity).
After several more intervals, and certain Lilliane’s muscles had been warmed up properly, the youth came to a halt before the newcomer, giving away nothing – intending to see just how much the Grounder actually knew before moving forward. “Now, try a stance. How do you think you need to stand in order to face an opponent?”
to be lit up from within, vein by vein to be the sun
Shortly after Melita stopped, Lilliane followed suit. It was indeed a good warmup, and she felt ready to do something. Though she wasn't sure what exactly yet. It made sense that Melita wanted to test how much Lilliane already knew. After a moment of thinking, Lilliane nodded.
She decided to set one foot in front of the other. Not too far, but enough to give her a bit of flexibility. The impromptu staff held with both hands roughly in the middle, with a bit of space between the hands. She didn't want to get in her own way. "Like this, I think." There were probably several things she didn't consider, but that's why she wanted to learn after all.
Eating fire is your ambition to swallow the flame down
Melita, ever taken up with the thoughts of instruction, paced around Lilliane again, inspecting the way she held herself before any launches of assaults or sieges. “This is fine,” and she tapped lightly on the other girl’s hands. “But you want to be more grounded in your feet, so when someone comes to pummel you,” and here she smirked, because it might have been a subtle, conniving promise of what was to come, “you don’t go immediately into the rocks.”
She came back to stand in front of her once more, demonstrating the way she positioned her legs and feet – muscles surging towards the earth, a strength drawn downward. Presuming the fellow Outlander would fix her position, the spitfire carried on in her pursuits. “What would you do if someone came at you like this?” A chance for defense, for arms, for something with the newfound weaponry in her hands, as Melita did just as she said.
With not much power behind it (the youth could fight fair some days), she swung her staff towards Lilliane’s knees, waiting to see the following actions.
to be lit up from within, vein by vein to be the sun
Lilliane nodded and watched as Melita demonstrated to her how to fix her position. She made sure to do the same, readjusting the position of the feet and legs.
Lilliane had gone into the training not knowing what she was up for. As such, Melita starting with an attack was not surprising, yet at the same time not expected. She was glad Melita had given her a warning beforehand, allowing her another moment to react. Still, her reaction was more instinct than actual thought. She swung the staff low, the lower end of it between the incoming attack of Melita and her knee, to block the attack.
