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!
Soleil is beginning to understand the strange new world she and Luka have arrived in. It takes time, and it's not easy. She is easy to succumb to her own emotions, heart on her sleeve and unapologetically free with her reactions. She cries often. Sometimes she goes out to the beach and kicks sand and yells at the clouds and then sits down and cries again. It is just so hard. She remembers everything so much more clearly than Luka, and while death is a concept she doesn't know how to attribute to her family, it's a big vague black cloud that follows her everywhere.
The Halenani workers are gentle and kind. They ensure she and Luka are fed and clothed at bare minimum, and spend the time between clients teaching them to read and sharing knowledge of Torchline. The Gods. Races. Anything the children ask, or that the girls feel they should know.
Nobody has said anything to Soleil about these strange, dreamlike ovals hovering in the air.
It's almost like a mirror, with clouds beyond. But why are clouds on the ground, and at her own height at that? So of course Soleil goes to figure it out, hand extended. When it passes right through, the curious girl steps right in and is confronted with a signpost. The surroundings make no sense - there is no real horizon. Losing her bravery and with no exit where she had just come from, the girl skitters forward, and gives a scared shout when the landscape changes yet again into something entirely different.
There's a rush of color, a shock of cold against her skin, and all Soleil registers is falling.
the day will be whatever you make it so rise like the sun and shine
Sah is eager to be home, heart still a bit heavy from the daemon hunt. Lilly pads along beside him, ears flicking as she listens to the tundra round them. It's just as they pass the portal that the wolf turns sharply, her senses picking up on a shift in the scents in the air. Someone is coming through the portal. The Abandoned turns at his companion's beckoning, curious to see who's coming into Halo. They haven't had many visitors since the neutrality announcement, so Sah feels a bit cautious.
Then the person is coming through and Sah has one second to realize that the person is quite literally falling, and a second to register that this is a pup. Dropping his bag in the snow with a curse, he holds out his arms and catches Soleil, pulling her safely against his chest to steady her.
With wide eyes, Sah regards the child that is now in his arms with bafflement and concern, "Are you ok?" This child makes something deep in the Abandoned react. A glint of familiarity and an associated surge of protectiveness. He's not sure why but he goes with his gut and adjusts his jacket so that it further blocks her from the frozen wind.
Arms wrap around her, redirecting the earthbound momentum with a jerk of movement that shoves the air out of her lungs in a huff of noise as she is snagged from the air as easily as a ragdoll. She hangs there like one too, dazed and confused by the swift departure from scorching sun and sand to caverns and air that stings with cold. A soft, hitching whine escapes her, the noise still familiar even when the vocal chords don't utter it the same way. Blinking big amber eyes out at the snow around her, Soleil turns slightly in her savior's arms when the chest behind her vibrates with words.
She scrabbles a little at the arms holding her when she realizes a stranger is holding her, lip beginning to curl with puppy-threat, only for them to wobble before she can flash her teeth in warning. Sol is very disoriented, and very lost, and she doesn't want the stranger to drop her and leave her alone if she bites him. "Where am I?" she whimpers, gratefully curling into the jacket that blocks her from the wind, her bare arms pebbling in the cold as she shivers in her thin sundress.
the day will be whatever you make it so rise like the sun and shine
Sah's stomach drops when the pup whines, chest rumbling before he even registers it. A noise intending to be soothing, not unlike a cat's purr. It felt a little strange in this body, but it was something that was common and instinctive back home. "Shh pup, you're ok." The words are gentle and accompanied by a soothing hand rubbing Soleil's shivering arm. Lilly paces alongside them, nosing the child's leg with her nose encouragingly.
The terror in Soleil's voice, the shivers, and her hesitant curling into his warmth breaks Sah's heart. He adjusts the child into one arm and shrugs off his jacket with the other. In the span of a few seconds, he now has the jacket fully wrapped around the child, with him holding the entire bundle.
Now that she won't freeze to death, Sah answers her question. "You just fell through a portal. It's a way to travel far distances very quickly." He speaks softly as he explains the situation so as not to scare her further, "You're now in a region called Halo. It's a place of ice and snow. Would it be ok if I took you into town to warm up?" What Sah really wants to do is just sprint her over there to get her a good meal and a warm bed to sleep in. But it's always better to ask so he resists the urge.
The chest against her is warm and the rough rumble is far more comforting to her than anything the Halenani girls have tried. Soleil melts closer into the embrace, and thinks nothing of the proper endearment that she hasn't heard in what feels like forever. A wet nose against her bare shin has the girl looking down, cloud of coiled hair already beginning to accumulate flecks of snow carried by the wind into the Fangs. Her eyes brighten and she gasps, staring down at the only familiar form she has seen since this whole nightmare started.
Before she can wriggle free and ask the wolf's name - because surely she can speak - the man holding her distracts her with an explanation. And, blessedly, warmth. Wrapped in a coat much larger than she is, Soleil goes still. Her human nose is weak, but as she turns her face into the warm collar, she finds the scent there is familiar. Like trying to remember a dream as you lay nestled in your bed, or the murmur of a voice saying words you cannot hear as you drift into sleep. Just out of reach, but familiar, and sorely wanted. Turning her head, Soleil stares up into the man's face, little fingers grabbing tight to the front of his shirt as something far stronger than her thoughts alone bids her to keep him close. She searches his unfamiliar features, different from the face she knew, but the eyes. They are the same. They're her eyes.
She's scared to hope, to ask the question she's asked of random strangers in the street, desperate for someone to see her and know her. But this time she thinks she has it right. Here in his arms she is safe, and there is no reason to fear being wrong. "Daddy?"
the day will be whatever you make it so rise like the sun and shine
02-26-2022, 04:46 AM (This post was last modified: 02-26-2022, 04:48 AM by Sah.)
Sah
Both Sah and Lilly feel a surge of relief as the pup seems to settle down. Her curiosity of Lilly is noted and makes Sah chuckle. Thankfully the child doesn't seem as scared anymore so the Abandoned starts the walk to Halo. It's then that she grips his shirt tighter and Sah glances down in concern, wondering if something further has happened.
But then their eyes lock for the first time and Sah's heart stops. Only for it to practically surge out of his chest. His own instincts pushed to the surface, roaring in his ears. Because he knows those eyes. Sees them every day in his reflection. The pup opens her mouth and Sah knows the question she's about to ask before she even gets the chance.
The word falls from her lips and Sah pulls her into a fierce hug, distantly aware of the tears trailing down his face. "Soleil. My little sun... how? I thought I'd lost you." The words are cracked and shaky, as raw as the scars now tearing open in the Outlander's heart. "I've missed you my little pup."
Pulling his daughter closer, Sah feels protectiveness and desperation unlike anything he's ever felt. It's at this moment that he vows. Should Caido attempt to take his daughter, his pup, away like their home world had? Sah would destroy Caido. Burning it to the ground and tearing it to shreds till nothing remained.
Somewhere in her head she recognizes that they’re moving, that he is taking her somewhere - likely the town he’d spoken of - but instead of trepidation there is only a warm blossom growing exponentially in her chest until it feels like it’s going to push out her throat and into her mouth. Because he finally looks down at her, and he sees her. She’s not invisible anymore. She’s not a lost little girl, or the newest Halenani ward, or just a face in a sea of people. As he recognizes her it’s as if her identity is returned to her, and she is Soleil. His daughter, not just an unfortunate child with no home and no family.
Her own eyes well with tears even as the brightest smile she has ever felt on her own face breaks free. Her father pulls her in and Soleil wriggles up to wrap her little arms around his neck, holding on with all her might. It’s worth every moment of cold, because everywhere else she is warm at last, inside and out. Her face presses up under his chin, where his scent is strong and familiar at the soft spot of his throat. Here her own tears are pressed to his skin, shoulders beginning to shake as she hiccups helplessly.
She has tried to be so strong since she and Luka arrived here, and now she doesn’t have to be. Soleil tries to speak through her tears, legs curled up against his chest as she is held close. “E-Everyone was hurting and going black, and I felt s-so awful!” her voice wobbles, the nightmarish moments as the only life she knew ended imprinted on her young mind. “And then Luka ‘n I were somewhere else, and everything was wrong,” her arms tighten around his neck as she cries. Breathing fast and hard with each sob, free to finally break down. “And I couldn’t find you, I couldn’t find anyone, and we were all alone!”
the day will be whatever you make it so rise like the sun and shine
Sah buries his face in her hair, committing her new scent to memory. The sand and salt are a surprise, but he imagines she's been in Torchline lately. All he can truly focus on is hugging her as tightly as he can without hurting her and trying to shush her own cries. It's a bit hypocritical given that he's silently sobbing but he does his best, nonetheless. "Shh little sun, it's ok. I'm here, I'm here."
His daughter's anguish hurts more than any blade, and Sah can't help but let out a small whine. "I know little one, I know. I remember it too. It was terrifying." The collapse of a world, the sensation of death. How could he forget? The fact that his pup has the same memories makes something in Sah die. He knows there's nothing he could have done to prevent it, but it still hurts to know that he couldn't protect her from it.
Sah lets out a sharp gasp at his son's name, "Luka is here too? Where?" Was it truly possible that both of his pups had ended up in Caido? Rubbing Soleil's shoulders, he sighs. "I bet it was so confusing for you both. It was for me too. I actually came into Caido through the same portal you just fell through. I live in Halo now and the people are kind, you'll like them." Because she is absolutely staying with him. Anyone that tries to take his daughter away is getting bit and electrified. Repeatedly.
Sah nuzzles the top of her head as he walks, "I'm so sorry that you were alone. But you'll never be again."Fuck death, he'd find a way to keep an eye on his daughter should the need arise.
It takes a little longer for her to cry herself out, but once she has she pulls her arms back in to fold between their chests, cradled like a much younger child than her current age. Soleil doesn’t care - so long as he can hold her, she will ask him to. She never wants to be parted from him again. Tired out by the sudden expulsion of what feels like every emotion ever made from her body, Soleil rests her cheek on her father’s shoulder, eyes half-lidded and cheeks ruddy with color from tears and exertion.
“At the Halenani. Miss Maeve found us, so we’ve been there with Paige.” Sah likely doesn’t even know the girl, but Soleil’s world for the past season has been filled with nothing but the Halenani and the brave girl who also lives there. It would feel wrong not to mention her.
She melts into the hands rubbing her shoulders gently, limp in Sah’s arms as he carries her. “Will they like me?” she asks nervously, whispered like a secret into his shoulder as she recalls cruel merchants and older children who would shout when she bit them. Surely her dad won’t leave her if they don’t, but until she ended up in Caido Soleil had never had to worry about fitting in or belonging somewhere. Now it’s all she can think about. “Is mommy here? Or mama?” Tentative hope in her voice as she looks up at him.
the day will be whatever you make it so rise like the sun and shine
Sah's eyes widen at Maeve's name, a conversation with the Queen coming to mind. About a pair of children coming into Caido through the portal. He internally kicked himself for not prying further but he never would have imagined it be Soleil and Luka. Not after having basically seen them and himself die.
"Maeve's a good person. I'm glad she's the one who found you. I've met her a few times. Paige too." The other child was full of mischief and Sah imagines she welcomed his pups in with open arms. He'd have to send them both a thank you of some kind.
Soliel's question about fitting in makes Sah throw his head back and laugh. "Pup. They seem to like me. And I'm far weirder than you." He playfully taps her nose with a finger, "So don't worry. And if anyone is mean to you, bite them. Or come get me and I'll shock them." He holds out his palm, letting lighting race across his fingers, "I kept my magic when I came to Caido, so I absolutely can." He'd love it too, but Sol didn't need to know that.
His mirth vanishes at her tentative question. Letting out a heavy sigh, Sah rests his forehead on the top of Sol's head. "No. I... they aren't. I thought... I really thought that I was the only one here." He's so thankful that Soleil had at least had Luka with her. Being on his own to adjust and learn had been incredibly difficult.
Nuzzling her he adds, "But I know that wherever they are, even if they're not in Caido, even if they're gone... they still love you and are so proud of you." Sah kisses the top of her head, "Just as I am. I'm so glad you're here my little sun." His pup, his pack, he never thought he'd have that again.
Lilly nudges his side and Sah glances down with a chuckle. "Oh!" He nods towards the wolf beside them. "That's Lilly. She's my companion and part of our pack." Lilly gives a happy yip and wags her tail. She's incredibly curious about her bonded's pup and is relishing in the joy that Sol has already brought to her bonded just by being in his arms.
A warm little ball in her chest pulses with pride that her dad somehow knows her only friend. In her young mind there is no space yet to worry about how she will keep in contact with Paige. Surely her dad will figure everything out. His laughter alone makes her feel warmer than even his skin or his jacket can manage, and she wriggles in his arms, making happy little pup noises. Giggling when his finger taps against her nose, eyes squinting up and cheeks rounding out with her smile.
Amber eyes go huge as his hand leaves her - though she never wavers in his careful hold - and displays his magic. Another gratefully familiar thing. “Will I have magic someday?” she wonders aloud, excited by the idea of following in her father’s footsteps. Unaware of the connotations of such a thing in this world.
That excitement dwindles immediately as her budding hope is crushed. She wilts against his chest, forcing down her sadness. She has her dad back, she should be grateful for that much. And he is worth so very much. Soleil basks in the comfort of his love, spoken aloud but felt just as strongly from within. For now her sadness is chased away by the introduction of their pack mate, and the girl leans sideways out of Sah’s arms to wave down from her perch. “Hi Lilly!” She wants to touch noses properly in greeting but even the brief exposure to the cold has her pulling back with a heavy frown. “It’s so cold, I miss my fur,” she whines unhappily. While she’d missed the mountains and snow that reminded her of home, they are not nearly so easy to enjoy without the insulation of her precious form.
the day will be whatever you make it so rise like the sun and shine
Sah hums, "You know, I don't know. I think if you were going to have magic in this world, it would have already shown up? Mine activated immediately once I came to Caido." He hates to give his little sun more bad news, but it's better than lying to her. He never wants to lie to her, never.
It pleases the Outlander to see his daughter and companion getting along. Lilly is ecstatic to meet the small child, wagging hard enough to shake her entire body. The wolf stands up on her hind paws, front ones balancing on Sah's hip as she noses Soleil. Lilly happily licks the child's face before returning to all fours.
Sah snickers, pulling Sol in closer to warm her, "I know. You have to wear coats and such to stay warm up here. And always have a fire going inside any buildings too." Soon enough they entered the Citadel's boundaries and the temperature rose. {ssay}"Magic keeps this area a little warmer year-round but you'll still need a jacket."
He glances down at his daughter, "Want to go home and see where I've been the past two years?" It was her home now too. Sah was never going to let his daughter go, not unless she wanted to leave. He really hopes she'll want to stay.
Soleil only allows herself to pout a little because her face is pressed into her father’s skin. No magic either? As happy as she is to be reunited, this world so far seems to be nothing but a let down. Weird new body, neither of her mothers, now no magic? Absolutely unacceptable. At least Lilly is a fantastic distraction from her disappointment, her tongue warm and rough against skin that is far more sensitive than the girl is used to, making her giggle helplessly. The cold is a shock once the air hits the wetness lingering on her face, and so Soleil turns back into Sah’s neck to hide from it, even if it means reluctantly parting from her new sister.
“I hate clothes,” she mutters petulantly, though it’s unlike her. Soleil can’t help but be crabby, merely a child and with an entire upheaval of her life to contend with. “It’s too cold for dresses here. I liked dresses.” Her voice is mournful but accepting of this particular defeat already. What are pretty dresses and bare legs when compared to having her dad back?
Peeking out as the temperature rises once they enter the city walls, Soleil shrinks back immediately upon seeing all the strange people, peering from over Sah’s shoulder at the world instead. Home sounds much better than this crowded space. “Yes, home,” she asserts, wondering what that word will mean now in this new world where there are no dens and piles of warm furs to climb into.
the day will be whatever you make it so rise like the sun and shine
Sah can't help but give a short of laughter, "Me too. They suck. But they're required unfortunately." Giving her a little squeeze, he continues, "But I have seen some winter dresses around Halo. They always have some kind of leggings though. We can maybe get you one?" He knows it's not the same, but if his daughter wants a dress, she's getting a dress.
The Abandoned rumbles soothingly under his breath when Soleil shrinks into his arms. "I got you, pup. Don't worry." Sah eyes the people of Halo as they pass. He loves them all, truly. But if they touch his daughter at the moment? He'll bite them without hesitation.
They soon arrive at Sah's modest home in Snowcloak. He unlocks and opens teh door with one hand before entering. The place is cozy but scarcely decorated. Stacks of books and other gear are present in some places. A table and kitchen as well. The biggest fixture is a large blanket structure, clearly a nest. Sah had never gotten around to getting an actual bed. It just didn't feel right.
Lilly rushes forward and curls up, wagging her tail invitingly. "Lilly and I sleep there. You can too if you want. Or we can build you and Luka your own nests", Sah explains. He'll give his pups whatever comfort or independence that they need.
