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!
After speaking with the Voice, Amun had gathered up as much iron as he reasonably could transport. Wanting relative privacy for his task, he'd managed to transport it out into the Woodland. Dumping it onto the ground with a groan, he dragged it the short distance to a nearby rock.
Zhanshi pushed from the back, but the landshark wasn't actually contributing much force. However, the potter managed to get the blocks of metal into a position where he could perch on the stone while laying his hands on the iron. Settling down, he rested his palms on the cool surface and activated his upgrade.
Links began to curl out to the left and right of him. However, a flash of movement and color caught his eye. Glancing up, he frowned. "Who's there?"
Amun may have noticed Isla, but the medic has not noticed her fellow Ascended in return. Indeed, his call has distracted her from her task, and she falls almost directly overhead as one of the branches she's standing on (because she's nestled in one of the trees, of course she is) snaps completely.
Not feeling pain is just one of several advantages of being what they are, and so it's with a quick scan and little else that Isla gets to her feet in the fallen leaves, sweeping off her skirts. "Oh, Amun. Hello," she says with a small smile. "Sorry if I startled you." Ha, ha. "I was out here looking for bird nests. What are you doing?"
As Isla plummeted from above, Amun scampered backwards, actually falling off the rock in his haste. Picking himself up and dusting the dirt from his butt, he holds out a hand for Isla, but she'd already recovered. Zhanshi tunneled over to her and began pulling leaves away from the Remedy. Walking over to the iron, the potter arched an eyebrow.
Glancing up at the tree, he laid his hands on the iron for a moment. Some crampons emerged from it, which he held out to the medic. "Why, making chains, of course." He shot her a grin, but it faded almost as quickly as it came. "So, uh...have you heard about my misadventures?"
"Ah - thank you Zhanshi," Isla says to the little landshark, smiling down at him and giving him a small pat as he helps to rid her of leaves. "Mm? Making chains? What for?" Yeah, Isla, because you're absolutely in a position to be asking for reasonable explanations for things. Accepting the crampons with a murmur of thanks, she bends to attach them to her shoes as Amun continues.
"You mean where you, Edrei, Wessex and Nate went rogue and attacked Stormbreak's Tower? And Edrei died and Nate died and it all went to complete shite, and now I have to navigate a political minefield to hopefully stop a war starting prematurely?" Isla straightens up, smirking at her fellow Ascended. "Might have heard a teensy bit, yes. Are you alright, though? That's the most important thing right now for me."
03-19-2022, 05:20 PM (This post was last modified: 03-19-2022, 05:27 PM by Amun.)
Said to follow any dream Be a puppet on a string
Zhanshi did a small circle at Isla's thanks before the landshark dove deeper underground. Snorting, Amun shook his head at his companion. "He says you're welcome," the potter informed Isla.
"Oh you know, secret Voice stuff. The usual." Waggling his eyebrows at her, he started working on the chains again. The links began crawling out of the block of iron once more. "It's for an upgrade."
Sucking in a breath he pulled his lips back from his teeth as he cringed. "Well, when you put it like that, it sounds bad doc." Closing his eyes for a moment, he sighed. Opening his eyes, he met her gaze and shrugged one shoulder. "I'm sorry for the trouble. We were angry and stupid." He pressed his lips together.
Nodding at her question, he glanced down at himself. "Took a hit, but I survived. Physically I'm fine." Which of course, left his mental state unknown, but she could probably guess that for herself.
Smiling sunnily back at Zhanshi, Isla waits for the little landshark to go on his way before she starts climbing the tree again using the crampons. "Oh, an upgrade? How fortuitous - that's why I'm out here, too. Though I'm not making chains - I have to get the shell of something newly hatched," she explains, her voice growing a touch more faint as she climbs higher. "Something better done in Flowerbirth, probably, but here we are."
Pausing, though, as he apologises, Isla smiles back down at Amun. "We've all been angry and stupid. I understand, I just wish I could have been there. I might have been able to help a bit." There's a bit of rustling, then, and an aha! as she finds the nest she'd been searching for previously.
"Mm, ain't that the truth? Physically we're always fine," she calls. "But are you alright?"
"And here I was thinking you got your jollies falling out of trees," Amun quipped. As Isla explained the real reason she was there, his gaze trailed up the trunk of the trees to the branches above. "I'm not a wildlife expert, but I'm pretty sure it would be easier for you to find a chicken coop somewhere, wouldn't it?" He snorted.
Meeting her gaze up above, he continued to make his chains. They were coming along nicely, the links pooling at his feet as the metal under his hands was formed. "All due respect, it was bad enough we were there. Having the leader of the Hollowed Ground along would've been a mess of another sort and...I'm not sure you could've helped Edrei." Nate maybe, but the potter hadn't actually been filled in about that whole situation yet.
Shrugging, he broke their eye contact, staring at the underbrush instead. "No, but I will be. Eventually." Pausing, he added in as quiet a voice he could manage while still ensuring she could hear it up above, "Sam and I were seeing each other before I got trapped. We agreed to give it another go, even went dancing together before..." Voice trailing off, he hung his head so she couldn't see his expression.
"I've never considered getting my jollies doing that, but I suppose it might be possible," Isla murmurs, peeping into the bird nest and carefully removing the shell from around some very upset chicks. She pauses, however, when Amun continues, the medic gazing down at him. "...Shut up," she grumbles good-naturedly, not having considered a chicken coop. She's a doctor, okay, not an egg finding expert.
Listening as she starts to clamber back down from the tree, the smile she gives him is sad as she realises the truth in his words. "I suppose it's selfish of me, to want to have been there just in case I could have helped," she agrees, landing softly on the ground at the foot of the tree.
Isla straightens up just as Amun breaks the news about Sam - and his relationship with Sam, too - the medic frowning and tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. "I'm sorry," she murmurs. "Sam was a good friend of mine. He'll be sorely missed. Do you know what will become of his bookshop?"
Amun chuckled at Isla's words. "Anything's possible as long as you believe in yourself." Arching an eyebrow, he paused in his work for a moment to mime locking his lips and tossing away the key. Winking, he placed his hands back on the chunk of metal.
Reactivating his upgrade, he continued to form the chains. Long coils already rested on the ground, and the iron was significantly smaller than when he'd started. "Hey now, I think we had a monopoly on selfishness with the attack itself." As she hopped down and landed, he eyed her, but she didn't need help in the slightest. "Got what you needed?"
Sighing, he looked down at the ground. "He will, and thanks. Sorry for your loss as well." Shrugging one shoulder he shook his head. "No idea. I'd like to keep it open, somehow. Maybe turn it into a memorial for those we've lost. We can record their stories and leave them there for future generations." Pressing his lips together, he blinked a few times as the tiniest drops of fluid gathered in his eyes.
"Mm, well we can all be selfish at times, I suppose. The important thing is that we learn from our mistakes, and I imagine that you or anyone else won't be rushing in headfirst to attack Stormbreak a second time?" Isla is only half joking as she carefully takes a handkerchief from her pocket, wrapping the eggshell in it and knotting it so it acts like a little cradle for her prize. "I absolutely did. It might not be from a chicken coop, but this will do just fine."
Setting down the egg cradle among some leaves while they chat, Isla glances back across at Amun with a rapidly fading smile. "A memorial sounds wonderful," she says softly. "I think that's a good idea. Perhaps we could get a few of us together and clean the place up, make it into something that would have made Sam proud?"
Eying the chains, Amun lifted the two of them up, one in each hand. After raising his hands as high as they would go, there was still quite a bit of the chains left on the ground. Nodding, he started coiling them up, resting one on each shoulder.
"Yes, I think it's safe to say I won't be launching any more attacks on Stormbreak, doc." As Isla wrapped the eggshell in a small cloth, he paused in his efforts. Bending down, he took the little metal that remained and activated his upgrade again. It warped and shifted until he had a simple box with a hinged lid.
He held it out to her. "I think that might offer a bit more protection that your handkerchief. I'm trying to save you a trip to the chicken coop if that breaks somehow."
Nodding at her suggestion, he resumed gathering up his chains. "That sounds great, thank you. I think Sam would approve." He smiled, though it didn't reach his eyes and faded quickly.
"Well that's certainly good to hear," Isla murmurs, smiling to Amun and tilting her head as he coils the chains over his shoulders, visibly impressed. "That's a very useful upgrade," she remarks - as he proves only a moment later when he makes the box for her eggshell. Collecting it back up in the cloth and accepting the box with a nod of gratitude, she spends a moment or so in putting it away.
"Thank you," she says. "The chicken coop might not be a terrible trip, but I'd still prefer to not have to make it." With eggshell collected and chains created, Isla glances around and gestures to ask if Amun would like to start walking back into town.
"I think he would as well," she agrees, clasping his forearm for a second and giving it a gentle squeeze before starting to walk. "Would you like to come to the Vlamvloed with me? A drink isn't going to do us much good, but it would be good to raise a glass to Sam."
Nodding at Isla's compliment, Amun flashed a grin at her. "It's true, I'm more than just a pretty face." Slipping his illusory cloth against his face, he activated it as he kept coiling up the chains. His features started to shift until he resembled Isla herself, albeit with his own skin tone.
"There's a cock joke in there somewhere." Winking at her, he straightened up with a grunt. One chain was looped around each shoulder and he shifted his weight back and forth a few times as he found his balance.
Nodding, he started stepping towards the edge of the clearing. "I don't drink, but I'm happy to go to the Vlamvlod." He gave a slightly stilted gesture (from the chains restricting his movement) for her to lead the way.
"And so humble, too," Isla remarks with a grin, too busy putting the box away safely to realise that Amun is rearranging his facial features until she spots herself staring back at her. "Oh," she says, stepping back a bit - because eloquence is a difficult thing to come by when one is startled. "Oh, and now you're a pretty face as well," she says, recovering with a soft laugh.
You're a cock joke, Isla nearly says, but she and Amun are still on polite terms (at the moment, anyway). "Poppycock," she says instead, a little smugly, and smiles over her shoulder to him as they head towards the thinning edges of the woodlands. "We'll toast an empty glass, then," she decides about the Vlamvloed, since it doesn't really matter whether Ascended are drinking anything.
Theirs isn't a thirst that alcohol can quench, but she hopes that Sam would appreciate it either way.
