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!
Pihu narrowed her eyes at Darkeye's attempt to brush off the conversation. Shaking her head at him, she tapped a foot against the ground. "And what, ye never once thought about the connotations of calling them easy women?"
Snorting, she cocked her head to one side. "And if he has some way of disguising his appearance?" She shrugged at his claims about being able to hunt down a single person in all of Torchline, which was famously full of hidey holes.
Pursing her lips, she shrugged. "Tell ye what. Why don't ye tell me what ye are and are not willin' to do and I'll choose something from that list?" She gestured for him to make his own offer.
Like you're hanging by a thread But you gotta survive
Darkeye looked at her, somewhat confused. "No, I haven't to be honest. But I've also never thought about why you call a cat a cat and why you're making such a big deal out of it now,"he said sarcastically.
Without looking at her, he made himself comfortable with the dummy. "Everyone leaves traces, there is no way to disappear completely. Everyone can be found again if you know how." He didn't care. He still had what was important to him.
He shook his head. "We'll do what you suggest and I can decide if I do it or not. If not, you have to decide exactly what you want from me. But this back and forth I'm tired. Take it or leave it." He had lost interest in P a long time ago. The information she offered was more important to him.
As Darkeye continued to try and wriggle out of the conversation, Pihu scowled. Shaking her head at him, her nostrils flared. "Because saying easy woman is an insult. There's nothing easy about sex work. It's a hard and honest profession."
Shrugging at his insistence that he could find anyone, she raised her eyebrows. "Someone's full of himself," she observed. Snorting, she glanced over at the boy before her gaze returned to Darkeye.
"If you don't hold up your end of the deal, word will get out and no one from Torchline will work or deal with you ever again." She gave him that warning fully aware that he would probably not heed it. Still, Torchliners took favors seriously, and better he learned that from her than someone who could and would take matters into their own hands. "So we going to talk while we fight?" She jerked her head in the direction of the sparring area.
Like you're hanging by a thread But you gotta survive
Darkeye shook his head again. "Look I never said it wasn't an honest and hard profession," he said. "But you're trying to make it so you can argue with me, P, and it pisses me off when you feel attacked get in the ring with me to defend the honor you think I've attacked. What I have not. So stop and leave it and just go and fight." Darkeye was on the verge of losing it.
"Or knows what he's capable of." He said with conviction. But then he realized again he didn't have the strength he used to. He fell back into the old pattern. He shook his head and hit the training dummy with a strong blow.You're not who you used to be Dwartonarm. Keep calm. He thought to himself.
Darkeye smiled, "I'm a man of my word, but I'm not stupid P. I can forge you a weapon or make you something if you want, but I won't kill or fight for you. These are my conditions if you still think this is a good deal then we can go into the ring. Your choice." He said honestly
Still scowling, Pihu felt her hands bunch into fists. Standing up to her full height, she stepped towards Darkeye, though not close enough to touch him. "Whatever yer intentions, ye insulted me. Is it so hard to just apologize and admit ye were in the wrong?" She narrowed her eyes at him.
Shaking her head at his continued arrogance, she just snorted. When he placed limits on his favor, she nodded. "Fine. Wasn't gonna ask a stick in the mud like ye to do anything untoward or having an ounce of fun anyway." Rolling her shoulders she stepped into the ring and gestured for him to follow. "Take yer best shot and ask yer questions."
Like you're hanging by a thread But you gotta survive
Darkeye did not back away. "I already apologized P wen you don't want to listen it's not my problem. But since you didn't seem to hear it the first time. It was not my intention to insult you, so here it is again clearly. I am sorry. With that, I've done you a favor or you've asked me for an apology, right?" Darkeye smiled and knew it wasn't that simple.
Darkeye laughed out loud. "First the work then the pleasure," he said as he walked back into the ring. He stretched and it cracked once. He put his luggage down in the ring. He had to concentrate. P didn't want him to hold back. There was time for the questions later. "Go ahead, P, I'm ready."
Pihu scoffed. Shaking her head at Darkeye's audacity, she scowled at him. "Me not punching ye in the face for insultin' me is favor enough. Or following ye down a dark alley and stabbin' ye in the back. Ye've already pushed yer luck far enough." She glared at him. "If ye keep acting like an arrogant bastard someone much stronger and less forgivin' then me is going to smack ye down so hard ye might not ever get up again."
Shrugging as he offered her the first blow, she squared off against him. Then she twisted forward, aiming a punch directly towards his nose. However, she really wasn't a fighter and her footwork and stance were terrible.
Like you're hanging by a thread But you gotta survive
Darkeye just smiled at her. "Then at least someone I can blow off steam on will come along. Are you going to continue to be a big talker here, or is there going to be something? Can you put your words into action? Just because I don't take everything from you doesn't mean I'm arrogant, P. I've already apologized. Then I thank you for the warning and will prepare myself accordingly should you try anything like that." It was enough for him.
Darkeye let himself be hit, it was only a good fight when both sides were bleeding. The punch was powerful but because of the poor footwork, he grabbed her outstretched arm and tried to unbalance her with a strong pull.
Pihu snorted at Darkeye's response. Still glaring at him, she pointed a finger at the center of his chest, though this time didn't try to poke him with it. "I'm not the one talkin' a big game tryin' to prove I'm worth somethin' when anyone with half an eye can see yer too big for yer britches. Don't care how full of yerself ye are, if ye don't have a brain to back it up all yer skills mean nothin'"
Given her positioning, it wasn't hard for him to get a hold of her arm and tug her forward. In fact, he was practically able to toss her. However, she didn't try to fight it. Instead, she just let him pull her along. Midway through, she shifted into her raven form. Croaking, she pecked at his hand with her beak, pumping her wings so she didn't plummet to the ground.
Like you're hanging by a thread But you gotta survive
Darkeye smiled. "Your last sentence is the smartest thing you've said so far in our whole conversation. You do have some sense, P, and I wouldn't have believed it from your behavior. I know my worth for me but I don't know now what that has to do with pants."He turned away from her and showed his back. But was ready should she try anything.
Darkeye smiled cruelly. "A Shapeshifter. Well then, I'll just rip out every feather in your body. Hollow bones break easily" He didn't intend to do that, instead, he just tried to hurl her to the ground with a lot of force.
Pihu continued glaring at Darkeye. "It means yer an arrogant bastard an' I'm gonna laugh until I cry when ye finally get yer comeuppance." Narrowing her eyes at him, she tsked her tongue.
Yes, she was a shapeshifter, one with wings as he'd observed. Which is maybe part of the reason why his ploy to throw her to the ground failed. She wobbled a bit in the air, but managed to pump her wings just enough to avoid slamming into the ground. Instead she landed with enough force to rattle and bruise, but not break her.
Immediately, she shifted back into a human. "Ye seem to have forgotten I can fly" she taunted even as she aimed a kick for his knee.
Like you're hanging by a thread But you gotta survive
04-07-2022, 06:40 PM (This post was last modified: 04-07-2022, 07:06 PM by Darkeye.)
Darkeye
Nine strikes
He turned around in a flash and had the dagger at P's throat. The look was full of anger and hatred. "You have no idea what kind of hell I've been through, and if you're going to throw that around so lightly, saying things like that, you have no idea what it means, pathetic little girl." He slowly put the dagger away. She had it, she had managed to bring that side back. "I apologize for that it was not right I am truly sorry. Words are no reason to pull a dagger."He meant what he said. His face was a grimace of shock and disbelief.
He watched her movement closely, trying to discern a pattern in it. He was impressed by the way she used her abilities. She made the best of her abilities. But he would not make the same mistake again.
Darkeye went down on his knees slightly and allowed himself to be hit. He thought that if she came that close, she would change again. One hand grabbed the leg. While the other tried to grab P's throat.
As Darkeye whipped out his knife and pressed it against Pihu's throat, she flinched. The slight movement caused her skin to press against the blade, leaving a shallow cut across her neck. Reaching up, she pressed her fingers to it. Blinking at the blood that stained her fingertips, she gasped. "Apology not accepted ye crazy old coot," she snarled at him.
Unfortunately, her luck was about to run out in other ways as well. He was easily able to get a grip on her leg and her throat without any trouble at all. Hopping on the other foot she felt herself toppling over towards the ground. Eyes widening, she frantically swept one hand at his face to try and scratch around his eyes while the other arm jerked down to try and break her fall.
Like you're hanging by a thread But you gotta survive
A sudden bout of mist begins to swirl rather charmingly around your heels. It’s gone nearly as quickly as it came, followed by the indistinct sound of faraway laughter.
