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!
My spores been growing by the day; my days been shining bright
Mateo has gotten it into his head (read: he's probably overheard Remi and Ronin talking about it at some point) that the treehouse in the Greatwood - the one that's supposed to let people know where his fathers work - is almost impossible to find. It has escaped the boy that this might be on purpose, especially given the identity of one of his fathers, and instead he's considering this to be a very helpful task.
They're going to make a couple of signs to direct people along the way, and they're going to make an actual path to the treehouse. Whether the Greatwood agrees to the path remaining clear afterwards isn't up to Mateo, but he's doing his best, okay? Having asked (nagged, bribed, begged?) his fathers to help, and having recruited Everest (sorry) along the way, the boy is standing before the considerably overgrown pathway with his bag of holding slung over his shoulder. "Hurry, come on!" he calls cheerfully.
This is an SE PQ to help the Greatwood government by making it easier to get to the Guardian's Treehouse!
"Hurry?" Ever repeats, carefully navigating his way through the Greatwood. The Wood seemed to know how easy it was to trip him up such that boy was constantly on the lookout for roots that would suddenly rise from the ground to block his path. "What's the rush?" He wonders, more to himself than to Mateo. His friend hardly did anything slowly, and this likely wasn't going to be the exception that proved the rule.
All in all, it took very little convincing to get Ever to help, and not only because Mateo was his best friend. This idea seemed incredibly practical and useful, and though Ever didn't live in the Greatwood, he was a firm believer that everyone should have access to its government and was more than happy to lend a hand to that end.
Ronin, meanwhile, follows in Ever's wake and hides a wide yawn behind his hand, barely needing to look to navigate his way through the woods. If the forest wants to trip him up, he's not going to be able to stop it, so why worry about it, right? Dropping his hand and smiling to hear the two boys conversing up ahead, he glances over his shoulder to where he thinks he'll find the Lullaby lagging behind.
"Listen, we can always turn the signs to face the other way on days when you really don't want to be disturbed, right?" he says, raising his eyebrows and holding out a hand for Remi to take. It's a lazy Longheat morning and they're doing a spot of gardening and crafts. Unlike Mateo, he's absolutely not in a rush.
The thing was, Mateo was the oldest any of their children had ever been. Seren was arguably the exception, but she'd never properly been theirs, even though she had. This was the first time the pair had had to navigate putting their children's wants and desires above their own, and though Remi would do it time and time again, that didn't mean he'd do it without a frown. "Knowing the Greatwood, it will just turn the back around again to spite me." Had the Lullaby gone above and beyond for the Wood in his time within it? Yes. Did that mean it wasn't still tricksy and playful just the same? Absolutely not.
Oria flits ahead, meaning to hitch a ride in Mateo's curls. She approves of his fast-paced plan at least. Reaching for Ronin's hand, Remi tugs the Huntsman to a halt that he might press a kiss that was more sweet and sleepy against his lips than anything else. "I love you, and all of this nonsense." He whispers, smiling despite himself.
THE ALCHEMIST
and i said, "only every other memory".
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
My spores been growing by the day; my days been shining bright
"I'm excited," Mateo says to Ever as if that should be reason enough for them to be hurrying and coming on, though he does raise his head and furrow his brow as he hears his parents approach, but doesn't actually see them. "Stop smooching!" he calls, grinnign to himself and shifting to his knees so he can dig around in his bag.
"I think Dad and Pa will be fine - and you might be as well, with your big paws," he remarks to Ever as he takes out a couple of spades and gloves. "I thought the first thing we could do is clear the path. We need to dig out weeds and move some logs." Raising his voice so Ronin and Remi can hear, Mateo tugs on gloves to begin.
Round 1! Gotta clear the path by either digging out weeds or clearing logs/other debris.
Ever, who rarely sees his parents do more than touch each other's shoulders in the kitchen (and that's mostly just to navigate their way around), turns bright red not only to see Remi and Ronin k-i-s-s-i-n-g, but to hear Mateo scolding them.
"Honestly, you and logs these days." The boy says with a small shake of his head. After all the log-moving on the beach Ever would be happy never to see another bit of wood in his life, canine shift or not. Despite the aforementioned paws, Ever accepts a pair of gloves from Mateo, not wanting to get dirty. So it is that the boy begins to (very slowly) weed the path with varying levels of success: if success is measured in not getting filthy, he's doing a great job. If it's measured in actually having pulled out his fair share of weeds, well...then less successful.
"Oh, probably," Ronin agrees, a lazy grin spreading across his face, his arm slipping around Remi's waist to all but melt into the offered kiss. Mateo's scolding - and the commands suggestions that follow have the Huntsman sighing, though it's not an irritated sound. "I love you too, and every bit of this nonsense. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to move some logs."
Parting from his husband (and sneaking a pat on his ass for good measure), Ronin heads out along the path and makes short work of the debris that blocks the way. He's got a funny feeling that Remi might have put this here on purpose at some point, and so it's with a private grin to himself that he moves the logs to the side where they'll act more like a border than an obstruction.
Running his tongue along his teeth and narrowing his eyes as Ronin removes the obstacles (you have no proof he put them there), the Lullaby huffs out a very childish breath. Still, he trudges after his husband, and although duplicating himself would be one way to help de-weed the path, growing horrific and far too dexterous limbs was Remi's preferred method. Stretching out his tentacles and rooting them into the soil to tug up the weeds by their roots, the Lullaby tries to toss one directly at the back of Ronin's head. Oria, ever watchful in Mateo's curls, flits towards the Huntsman, catching the weed and pretending to dance with it in midair.
"Da che parte stai?" He wants to know with a frown, before turning his attention back toward Mateo and Ever. "What made you decide to...so helpfully want to do this...?" Remi asks, trying to keep his voice curious rather than blatantly annoyed.
THE ALCHEMIST
and i said, "only every other memory".
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
My spores been growing by the day; my days been shining bright
Honestly, Mateo and Ever are more 'helpers' in this endeavour while Ronin and Remi do the bulk of the hard work, but either way, the path doesn't take long to clear. Smiling at Oria in his curls (and wincing an apology in Ever's direction as Remi becomes an eldritch nightmare on purpose), the boy digs in the dirt beside his friend, though he's got no qualms about the dirt.
"Mm? Oh, I overheard you guys talking!" He pipes up brightly, purposely not expanding on the nature of said conversation (because it was probably about how nice it was to have such a hidden away government building) and flinging his weeds off into the undergrowth.
"There, I can see the treehouse!" he says after another little while, straightening up and swiping at his cheek, leaving dirt behind. "Okay, I brought enough wood for two signs. One can go further back there, and one can go halfway up the path."
Digging into his bag of holding again and producing the materials, Mateo smiles at the little group. "Shall we split up?"
Round 2! The path is clear, and Mateo has got timber, nails and paint! He suggests splitting into groups to make two signs.
If Ever thought kissing was bad, seeing Remi suddenly sprout gods-knew how many tentacles (he wasn't counting), has him growing quite pale and silent. Not for the first time in his life he'll wish that he had the nerve (balls, stones, gumption) to try and dissuade Mateo from one of his ideas. He doesn't and he likely never will, so it is that he's left telling himself over and over again that everything is fine, and that Remi won't murder his entire family in their sleep.
'I'm staying with you.' Ever says instantly, gluing himself to Mateo's side just in case it wasn't already obvious what the pairings would be. As for their sign? "Clear communication is key. It can't be too wordy or too long, but it does need to clearly let anyone coming through here know what it's purpose is." The attuned says unhelpfully while reaching out for one of Mateo's markers. (His writing was far neater than his friend's).
Cooing his gratitude to Oria as he shifts the last of the logs, Ronin goes back to collect the material for their sign and gives Remi a clear raise of his eyebrows on the way past, nodding at the numerous tentacles. Hopefully he'll catch the link between those and the Everest looking like a corpse, the Huntsman returning with their lumber and some paint. "Here, I'll write it out and you can do the hammering. I know you like hammering."
Grinning - and for once he can say he's got the neatest handwriting - Ronin paints "GUARDIANS TREEHOUSE" and an arrow, before sitting back on his heels to inspect it. "There. What do you think?" He smiles up at his husband, fully expecting another weed to be lobbed at his face.
'Ah...' Yeah. That sounded about right. If Ronin wasn't looking the alchemist's direction, he'd no doubt still feel Remi's I should have known stare between his shoulder blades. 'I wish you had asked first. What we were saying is...how...well these pathways already work. People always find me when they need me." He lies (poorly).
Returning Ronin's gaze with one that was meant to mean, I am who I am, Remi nevertheless lets his extra appendages sink back into his body. To add insult to injury it's Ronin who does the writing, and though Remi had every intention of stealing the pen that the arrow might face the wrong way, Ronin beats him to it marking the correct direction. "You spelled Guardians wrong." He murmurs, waiting for Ronin to look back at the spelling so that Remi might more blow annoyingly into the Huntsman's ear.
THE ALCHEMIST
and i said, "only every other memory".
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
My spores been growing by the day; my days been shining bright
"I did ask. You didn't have to come," Mateo says brightly to his father, offering him his own dimpled and shit-eating smile for his trouble. "If the paths worked well, then people wouldn't be trying to find you. They'd just be able to go to the treehouse," he points out, all the while sitting back on his heels to wait for Ever to paint the sign. "Just make sure there's a big arrow so people know which way to go," he nods.
While Remi and Ronin fuck around complete their sign, they'll notice some friendly neighbours right where they want to strike it into the ground. It's a couple of elephant beetles come to rest in the shade, large and very much in the way. They'll have to sort that out before anything else.
Ever and Mateo, though, have the equally(?) as complicated task of getting their sign in the ground. "Here, if you prop it up, I'll bash it into the dirt with a rock?" Mateo suggests.
Round 3! Mateo and Ever to bash their sign into the ground, Remi and Ronin to deal with some elephant beetles!
With what will likely cause Mateo to huff in annoyance, Ever studiously measures out their sign to ensure that the arrow is precisely centred. It absolutely doesn't matter at all, and yet he spends a good few minutes measuring, math-ing, and then drawing to ensure it's perfect. Having drawn parallel lines as guides for the lettering, this too he takes more time than is strictly necessarily to complete, but then, that's Ever all over.
'Okay.' Ever agrees amicably, despite thinking there was a better way. Holding the sign on either side, the boy braces himself as best he can to keep the sign completely level. "That rock looks good." He says, nosing his head towards a large round stone. "Just..try not to hit my fingers, okay?"
