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!
Deimos uttered an appreciative snort, eyes going back to the direction of the Citadel. “Thank you. Once we get everything sorted out, we will certainly need all the assistance we can get.” His plans had been drawn up and paralleled to the days before his exile; but there could be more possibilities, more potential, for both Halo and the guild.
Frost giants seemed less of a worry given Tal’s reflection, but he’d make note of it in the journals when he returned. “Fair enough, I suppose,” shrugging his shoulders, giving Zuriel another pat and then beginning to braid her forelock for distracting measures. “Dragons are enough of an issue anyway.” Of the Ascended or natural variety. And he certainly wasn’t going to wander directly into the Fangs looking for those creatures. Not again. The temptation at striving to find Adam and Peter’s bodies had long since gone by the wayside, given the way they’d been brought back to life by the Voice. "Maybe we can go hunt landsharks near the seasonal deity's well," and eliminate some threats around there - given the practicality of it all.
But the bait had been set in other directions anyway, and he couldn’t help the slight grin rendered along his features again. “Sure.”
Tal nodded sharply, his excitement bright in pale eyes at the thought of being able to help out the legendary General and the Monster Hunters Guild. He might not have been much of a hero himself, but that only made him more determined to prove himself in any way he could - especially to those he'd decided were worth impressing.
The thought of failing at that and needing saving instead didn't even cross his mind, though it probably should have.
He finished by giving Bell her handful of kibble and looked up to see Deimos plaiting a braid into his unicorn's mane. It was an oddly quiet scene of a man who had a reputation for such fiery destruction, and Tal watched for a moment before looking over at Boreal with a softer smile. The dragon just snorted fondly from where she was investigating a particularly shiny shard of ice. "Aw, not all dragons are an issue... guess I got lucky one decided to nest down in the Tundra, or I wouldn't have met Boreal. Probably a good thing I never met mama, though." He flashed Deimos a grin that turned a bit skeptical at the other man's claim.
"Land sharks? I thought those were just..." he waved his hand vaguely towards the mountains that ringed Halo, mostly isolating it until the portals had sprung open. "A myth. Have you seen one before?" Excited, eager, and all too innocent of the damage the bogey monsters could cause to man and unicorn alike.
The time and goal for the race were set and Tal just grinned back; he'd be ready to run with his team when the time came.
He snorted, eyes darting briefly to Boreal by way of apology, but meaning the previous statement just as well. “Companions are one thing,” though his natural ease of distaste could always be given to Loki – wondering if it was due to the dragon’s antics or its bonded. Probably both. “The full-grown ones another matter.” Or the snagged shifts from Voice-affiliated attuned individuals, which made him nearly growl. Keeping it smothered down in his lungs, he finished plaiting the ends of Zuriel’s forelock, to which she snorted, easing her muzzle along his shoulder.
At the statement though, his eyes rounded back over to the courier, and then the smallest bit of laughter followed. “Many.” Unfortunately, though the experiences gave him the platitude and endurance of a man who’d seen many monsters, lived to tell the tales, and be incredibly nonchalant about it all. “I saved Zuriel from one and nearly lost my arm for it,” tilting his head vaguely back to the unicorn – who managed to look imperious and defiant even though the story was true. “Another set attacked a luxere,” which they hadn’t managed to save – and the small demonic being becoming Amun’s companion. “And they are common in the desert. Ru and I snagged one for their hide.” Easy enough to pick apart the ground and unearth them from the sands amidst that region, not so much in the Grounds.
Boreal didn't seem the least bit bothered at being the topic of discussion. She ambled back towards the humans, blithely unconcerned with their opinions of her kind - large or small - and stopped in front of Zuriel, settling onto her haunches and sitting up with neck outstretched to sniff a greeting from the other companion.
"Yeah," Tal agreed to the difference between companions and wild dragons with a grin, dusting kibble off his hands as he stood up again. "Guess we're lucky unicorns don't get that big, huh?"
Landsharks of any size sounded pretty scary, and Tal's brows disappeared beneath his snow cap as they rose at the General's casual confirmation of the old legend. His eyes darted from side to side, trying to guess which arm had nearly been sharkbait, and Boreal shook her head as she blinked at the unicorn, feeling her bonded's awe. The dragon looked less impressed but even more curious, and she rumbled encouragingly at Tal.
"What's the hide good for?" He wasn't quite vibrating, but the courier looked as eager as his hounds at the tale. "Do you go hunting them very often?"
Belial continued to sneer from above, but was either too irritated or petulant to join the rest of them, so Zuriel directed her attention to the dragon before her. There was a light snort, as if she might not deign herself towards the creature, before resigning to the notions at Deimos’ slight arch of a brow, and stretching her neck out. For a moment - before breathing heavily over the top of the other companion’s head, subsequently returning to her imperial position and disposition. For his part, the Sword rolled his eyes, but considered Talyson’s question. Unicorns were already one of the few full-size bonded – the imagery of a bigger one somewhat amused him. “Perhaps. It might even the playing field a bit though.” The corresponding grin manifested in an air of machinations and mischief combined.
Notions of landsharks seemed to have the youth intrigued, and Deimos wasn’t certain if he should’ve been encouraging the stalwart enterprise seemingly brewing from hounds and courier. “Armor.” Leather of another variety – for gauntlets and things of such nature. “No.” He paused, pondering if there needed to be more of an explanation behind his guild’s nature. “We try not to hunt down anything without reason or cause. The guild does not exist for mindless mauling. Most of the time, if you leave wildlife alone, it will leave you alone.” A hard lesson learned over many years and lives.
Boreal left Belial the undisputed king of the skies; there were more interesting things happening on the ground, and she hadn't yet investigated the unicorn. Her thick tail swept the snow into a smooth arc behind her with a single wag of delight when Zuriel deigned to return her greeting. Pleasantries dispensed with she then ambled back to Tal and looked at him with soulful eyes until he sighed in exasperation and dug a small white-furred rodent out of an outer pocket to toss to her as a reward for good behavior. She snagged the snack out of the air with a single, economic snap of blunt jaws and swallowed it whole with smug contentedness.
"Is she one of the healy ones?" Tal asked with a nod to Zuriel, since they were on the topic of unicorns, and it was always good to know where one stood with a race on the near horizon.
Landshark armor sounded exotic and plans were already starting to percolate in Tal's brain before Deimos stepped in with his cautionary words, and the courier deflated a little. "Oh... yeah. I guess." He could have sounded more convincing, perhaps, but the mournful loss of his half-formed shark-hunting expedition showed clearly on his face. "Was that the one that attacked Zuriel?" It was hard to imagine luxere in someplace as dry and hot as a desert, so he latched on to the other tale Deimos had mentioned without details.
The king of the skies watched – half mulishly pondering if he could’ve been fast enough to sneak that rodent into his own gaping jaws. The thought was quickly dashed away by another of the Sword’s warnings wandering through, and he pouted from the air once more.
Intrigued and proud she was to be the center of a few inquiries, Zuriel’s head rose even higher, noble and dignified, refined and supreme. Deimos suppressed a sigh, figuring she’d earned the haughty demeanor, and began working on untangling her mane with the breadth of his fingers. With a grateful smile directed more at the unicorn than anything else, he nodded. “Yes. She has saved quite a few of us over the years.” From imminent death or somewhere along the lines – even ensuring he survived sickness and disaster, striving to do her best when he had no one else.
The General’s brow arched at the distinct lack of something in the answering tone. “I understand there would be misunderstandings, given the name.” He hadn’t been the originator anyway. Just the being trying to keep everything together. “No. That one was in the Grounds. They are rare there, but tend to roam the Fields every so often.”
03-31-2022, 12:44 AM (This post was last modified: 04-01-2022, 04:51 AM by Talyson.)
It was hard not to admire Zuriel, with her graceful strength and elegant bearing, and the noble, healing horn that spiraled from her forehead. A flicker of envy crossed Tal's face for a moment before Boreal took his hand in her mouth - gently - and very pointedly didn't bite down on it. The courier bit his lip against the yelp she almost startled from him, and instead very carefully tried to tug his hand free of the sturdy jaws - without success. "She's pretty uh... pretty amazing," he tried to say as nonchalantly as possible, pretending like his hand was in the dragon's mouth on purpose.
He played it cool (more or less), pointedly ignoring Boreal's smug chortling in the back of his mind.
"Huh. Never been to the Grounds." Tal shrugged with one shoulder - still unable to free his hand on the other side. "When the portal opened up a few years and people started coming through, they didn't make it sound very nice. And that crazy Zariah lady was from there..." He wrinkled his nose in distaste at having her name in his mouth. "And those monsters, too." It just seemed like a bad time all around.
And speaking of monsters and the hunting thereof... "What's the most dangerous monster the Guild has ever fought?" Pale eyes brightened again, though he was starting to pick up on the trend of minimal details from the General.
Deimos and Zuriel exchanged a series of glances as the dragon snagged the courier – mostly of the awareness that they were seeing the same thing, and choosing to ignore the bizarre interplay. Perhaps it was something they committed to on a regular basis, some version of amusements – the Sword could only inwardly shrug and carry on with the conversation.
He didn’t expect it to turn to Zariah.
And for all his abilities at masking his emotions, that famed reticence, that iron and steel detachment, he couldn’t help the look of disgust flickering over his features at her name. Nose wrinkled, lips curling into a tangible sneer, his experiences with the woman were rendered into an obvious loathing at best. “I heard you all suffered from her hand as well.” In combination with her obnoxious relative in Neron – why and how she’d managed to ever come into power was beyond his scope of reasoning – she’d been a disaster immediately. Being an inspiration for various coups and rebellions shouldn’t have been on anyone’s resume.
Striving to ensure the manifested contempt was stolen away for better proportions, he unfurled a sigh, pondering the answer. “I only took it over in the previous season, but we fought a daemon in King’s End.” He’d seen far more monsters within his own actions and adventures; when he only had himself to risk.
Tal wasn't particularly good about hiding his embarrassment at Boreal's possessiveness, though he certainly tried. It wasn't until he brought up Zariah, however, that the dragon released him with a faint rumbling growl of disapproval, echoing her bonded's opinions of the woman.
And Deimos's as well.
"Yeah, well... Those were some bad years," he agreed with a scowl that matched the General's sneer. "Real bad." Bad enough to keep him out among the small, scattered tribes of the Tundra and away from the clusterfuck that the Palace had been. He'd heard enough gossip from his sisters when he'd swung by Snowcloak to exchange goods to know he hated what was happening, but was powerless to stop it.
But the fallen Queen wasn't worth further time and Tal turned his attention to more interesting ventures. "A daemon?! Whoa... what was it like?" he asked eagerly, eyes shining once more with excitement for the glamorous life of a Monster Hunter.
“She was a piece of work,” to put it mildly – considering the sanctions, drawn up notices, ridiculous pantomiming of councils, and everything notched and loaded in between. She hadn’t made it more than a few season or two before disappearing anyway, and that’d been more than enough time to sow many layers of discord between one small portion of land. “Hopefully we will never see another of their ilk in power.” Because, at the least, a vast amount of them were capable of dealing some heavy blows, and ensuring the process wouldn’t occur again.
Gaze rising to the proportions of ice out over the sea, the reflection turned back to guild affairs and tactics, memory framing the modest battle they’d encountered. “It was guarding the tomb of its bonded,” which caused a slight frown, considering the companions in their wake, the measures between shared souls. “A griffin, at one point. But it had been attacking passersby.” He shrugged his shoulders. “We baited it, and waited for an opportunity to strike. It did not suffer very long.” Nor had they, given the propensity for shields and power.
04-02-2022, 05:25 AM (This post was last modified: 04-02-2022, 05:25 AM by Talyson.)
"Yeah, well...hopefully Noah lasts longer then the last half dozen Wardens." Tal tilted his head up to the sky with a frown towards the heavens for Halo's track record with rulers. He thought he caught sight of a flying shape high overhead, and his grin started to tug back into place. Halo wasn't an easy land to rule, and neither were her people. There was a certain perverse pride to be taken in that intractability that appealed to the stubborn courier.
Attention returned to the General for requests of tales of derring do, and this time there were a few more details forthcoming. Enough to draw a low whistle of surprise at the daemon's identity and charge - and even more at the casual slaying of the unusual beast by Deimos and his guild. "I hope Boreal knows better than to do that," he said quietly, scratching between her horns with quiet affection as she grumbled happily and leaned against his hip hard enough she threatened to push him right over until he braced himself better.
While Deimos had a short-lived time as Warden, that had been done purposefully, and he’d been very clear about the matter with Morgan, before everything else had come tumbling down. If the Sword had anything to say about it, Noah would remain, but given the parameters of how the world shifted, he knew better than to make such an overt statement. Might, dominion, and strategy could go much farther than delusion. “As long as Halo remains strong,” he reconciled, watching as Belial maneuvered in a quick dash through the sky, chasing after some stray birds.
The General’s gaze meandered to the dragon though at the statement; a sense of his own keen apprehension at the plight of a companion. “I am not certain what makes them turn,” other than heartache, pain, torment, or a committed sense of duty – to protect and guard even those they couldn’t feel, couldn’t cherish, couldn’t bond to any longer. Souls once intertwined, then ripped apart at the seams, might have been enough to sever any remaining rationality. “I hope the same for mine,” and he glanced towards the adrift peryton and the proud unicorn, already feeling the tug of restlessness lingering in his bones again.
Shifting his attention back to Tal, with an arch of his brow and the wry grin coiling back into place, the rumble of his tones echoed the goading challenge once more. “Ready to head back?”
04-02-2022, 06:45 PM (This post was last modified: 04-02-2022, 06:46 PM by Talyson.)
Strength could be such a subjective thing, but Tal nodded earnestly in agreement. "We will," he said with more confidence than experience perhaps warranted. "We've got our General back, yeah?" He grinned mischievously up at the big warrior, relaxed enough to tease Deimos a little before talk turned to more morose futures that didn't bear dwelling on.
Death was a part of life in Halo; that didn't bother Tal. But condemning his companion to that sort of madness after he'd passed... The young man shivered and then shook himself like one of his dogs to throw off the unaccustomed melancholy with a fierce scowl. Boreal crooned, a bass rumble, and bumped her head against his ribs encouragingly.
The suggestion to race was met with an eager relief for the freedom of the wind and snow and Tal nodded enthusiastically. "You're on!" he agreed, a fierce grin lighting up his features to chase away the lingering ghosts of lost companions. He whistled sharply and Bell barked in answer, chivvying the other dogs up as Boreal bounded over to help nudge the team into a semblance of order and help Tal unwind those who'd tangled their lines during the rest.
In a short time, the dogs were ready and Tal packed up the snow hook and raised the brake, hupping the sled around to point back towards home. "Ready when you are!" he called to the General, waiting for the signal to start the run back to the Citadel, laughing into the biting wind as he and the team raced towards the finish line with Deimos and their companions.
