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!
Chuckling, Pihu shook her head. "Only half, she says, as if that's nothing special." Eyeing Wessex, the raven shrugged. "Maybe it isn't for demi-gods, but for us common folks it's mighty impressive." She grinned.
"One out of two ain't bad. Fifty percent seems to be a common theme with ye." Grimacing at the instructions, she twisted slightly so she could watch the Wraith's demonstration. Groaning, the thief rolled her eyes. "Everyone's a critic." Sliding one leg back, she nevertheless tried to copy the demi-god's movements. "At least yer better than the last asshole that tried to give me advice..." Now it was Pihu's turn to have her voice trail off.
Like you're hanging by a thread But you gotta survive
dont know where the lights are taking us but something in the night is dangerous
Shrugging, Wessex can only call upon her own experiences with the seasonal deities. Pihu might be better off not meeting Eirachi, but who is she to warn the woman off? “You can meet them too - just go a shrine in their homes and pray for them. They might show up.” She has no idea who Pihu might worship… but she seemed friendly enough right now.
“Fighting is kind of what I do” she offers by way of explanation, nodding at what she sees as improvement. “What would you teach me, if you saw me doing it wrong?” With the quick of a challenging grin on her lips, Wessex steps in front of the other and points to her torso. “Hit me. See if it feels better.”
Better... how? Well, that's intentionally left open to interpretation.
Pihu cackled as Wessex suggested the raven go seek out the seasonal deities. "Nah. Gettin' mixed up with 'em seems like a lot of hard work and I'd rather not deal with it if I don't have to." Still laughing, she smirked at the Wraith. "Thanks for yer faith in me though."
Nodding, the thief felt her tongue sticking out of the corner of her mouth as she tried to work on her stance. Immediately, the cold bit at it and she retracted it with a small yelp. Raising her eyebrows at the question, she cocked her head to one side. "For starters, that better not be yer actual belt pouch there." She jerked her chin at the demi-god's waist.
"Seems a rather roundabout way to get me to touch yer chest but whatever floats yer boat." With that, the Attuned tried to pivot and slam a fist into the spot the other woman had indicated. However, Pihu's form was still flawed and her strike didn't have much strength behind it.
Like you're hanging by a thread But you gotta survive
dont know where the lights are taking us but something in the night is dangerous
Sparing a glance down at her belt pouch, which is actually quite painfully empty these days, she looks back up at Pihu with a mildly confused expression. “Why not?” In true demigod fashion, Wessex has become the kind of person people just don’t steal from. Maybe it’s her reputation. Maybe it’s respect. Whatever the case, that kind of thing hasn’t been a problem in years.
“Solar plexus, actually,” the Wraith says with a laugh and indicates more precisely where the other woman ought to try and direct her punch. They’re still fairly weak when they come, but Pihu’s form has slightly improved. Wessex nods. “Better. Just keep practicing. You ever use a knife or anything?” Bending down to pick a small knife out of her boot, she brandishes it playfully, making sure to keep enough distance between them so that it isn’t actually a threat.
Raising her eyebrows at Wessex, Pihu smirked. Stepping forward, she clenched and unclenched her hands a few times. "Because it's a very tempting target." Still moving ahead, she bumped her right side against the Wraith's. "Sorry!" During the brief moment of contact, the thief looked up to meet the demi-god's eyes. As the Attuned did, just two fingers slipped into the other woman's belt pouch to try and nick what Pihu could.
Demonstration complete, she put a short distance between them again. Grimacing, she aimed another punch towards the area Wessex indicated. Eying the weapon, the raven shook her head. "Nah, I try to avoid conflicts an' weapons tend to escalate them."
Like you're hanging by a thread But you gotta survive
dont know where the lights are taking us but something in the night is dangerous
At the moment, Pihu will only find a notebook in Wessex’s belt pouch, which may or may not be too big to easily nick.Aka up to you, friend
But the effort (or the success) does not go unnoticed, and the Wraith quickly catches on with a bright, surprised laugh. “Well fuck me, that’s new.” Not quite sure where Pihu stands on the sexuality spectrum, and the comment about her chest, she quickly adds, “Not literally, of course,” with a hand up between them. Silently putting the knife back where she hides it, Wessex impulsively steps forward again, “Then try and block this,” she says, before throwing a couple of punches: one towards her nose, one towards her stomach, and then another coming around in a hook again towards her chin.
As Pihu's knuckles closed around a book of some kind, she slid them up. However, it proved to be too bulky to fit through the opening, so she slid it down, hoping Wessex wouldn't notice the change in weight. "Yea, if I were ye, I'd wear a decoy on my belt and keep the real deal hidden somewhere." The raven mimed tucking something into the collar of her shirt.
"If ye keep leadin' me on a girl might get ideas," she responded with a laugh. Distracted by the banter she completely missed the Wraith's first punch. It slammed into a nose that was still tender from being broken, despite the healing magic the thief had gotten for it. That knocked her a few steps back.
The slight distance meant that the Attuned's falling managed to actually block the second blow. Although she managed to get in the way of the third punch, it wasn't a clean block, so her arm ended up knocking into her head instead. Rocking backwards even further, she stumbled. As she did, she bent over and scooped up a handful of snow. "I just got my nose fixed." Even as she whined, she lobbed the snowball at the demi-god.
Like you're hanging by a thread But you gotta survive
dont know where the lights are taking us but something in the night is dangerous
It’s convenience that the only thing of real value she has on her can’t be easily pinched. And it’s a terrible reminder of what she needs to retrieve, but now that Deepfrost is on the horizon… ah, well, a problem for another day. “Noted. I travel pretty light these days and not many try to steal from the big, bad, Wraith, but I’ll keep that in mind.”
And maybe start keeping the Knowtbook elsewhere on her person.
She had expected Pihu to be paying attention and either dodge the punch or block it - at least the first one. But that wasn’t the case and she hears a definitely-not-good thud upon impact, sending the Attuned back a few feet, and consequently, away from the second punch. But see, there’s a sequence and she’d already had it in her head, Wessex she doesn’t really stop (and neither would a real attacker). Not until she throws up an arm to block the snowball.
“You’ll be fine,” she quips back, knowing that Torchline has those fancy waters now. “And you’ve got the ultimate escape.” Instead of telling her, she shows her, by turning into a kitsune, and the promptly throwing illusion magic overself to disappear into the background.
Pihu shrugged. Letting out a huff of air that misted before her, she rubbed her arms and then her hands. Finally, she took to jumping up and down a bit to fend off the cold. "Ye may think that, but I've never met a thief that wasn' willing to risk haulin' off a big score." She chuckled and winked at Wessex.
Wincing, the Attuned pinched her nose. "Ye, but that doesn't mean I'm happy. Two visits in one season is not my idea of a good time." As the Wraith shifted and then vanished as swiftly as her namesake, the raven's eyebrows shot up her forehead. Taking up a snowball in one hand and a handful of powder in the other, she'd cast the latter to try and outline the demi-god's location (assuming she was still there) and then chuck the former at the thief's best guess.
Like you're hanging by a thread But you gotta survive
dont know where the lights are taking us but something in the night is dangerous
Oh, she knows the joys of doing the previously-thought unattainable, so the demigod chuckles and nods in agreement. “Fair. I love a good challenge myself.”
And that includes finding the unexpected - like a Torchline thief, all the way out in the Sea of Glass. So very out of place and yet borderline pleasant, at least for the one of them that isn’t getting their nose punched. Wessex actually stays in place, finding it easier to concoct the illusion of a winter wonderland when she isn’t moving. A bit of the cleverly blown snow powder lands on her ears and nose, and as a result, Pihu is able to hit her with a the snowball. And there’s nothing she can really do to retaliate in this form, except create more illusions, like, say, a 20 ft tall kitsune growing in front of the Attuned’s eyes until it looms over her in what can only be called an attempt at intimidation.
"Aye, from what I've heard o' ye, that checks out." Pihu flashed the Wraith a grin. However, as a chill wind sprang up, the Attuned shivered and her smile slipped away. "Why does anyone live here," she whined, kicking at a nearby snowdrift.
Letting out a whoop as her snowball actually managed to smack the demi-god, the raven soon froze as an enormous fox creature appeared. Staring at it, she blinked once before holding up her hands, palm out. "Hey now, was just a bit o' fun, yeah? No need to get all mythical in your punishments and all that." The words came out in a near whisper, but she had no doubt the other woman could hear them.
Like you're hanging by a thread But you gotta survive
dont know where the lights are taking us but something in the night is dangerous
The fox laughs, always amused by herself, and then makes an obvious feint towards Pihu, snapping its jaws in midair. They clap together with an audible sound, and then the illusion disappears, revealing just the black kitsune where she’s always been. After a moment, it’s just Wessex again as she returns to her human form.
“Nah, I wouldn’t really try to hurt you. That’d be rude.” All they’d done is run into each other out here, and even if they end up on opposite sides later, she has nothing against a thief trying to make her own way in the world. In fact, it reminds her of the life she used to live, once upon a time. “I’ve got what I need from this, but I wanted to haul it back across the Sea and leave it for food in the Citadel. You’re welcome to come along, if you want, but do feel free to go your own way. I’ll probably do a bird shift and carry this big boy…” The question lingers in the air between them - will she head back with the Wraith, or not?
As the jaws snapped, Pihu flinced away. She scrambled away from Wessex, but the snow made it hard to move. However, as the illusion melted away and the Wraith appeared, the Attuned froze again. Then she threw back her head and laughed. "Neat. An' I appreciate it."
Rocking to the side, she managed to get upright. Brushing the snow off, well, everywhere, she raised her eyebrows at the demi-god's offer. "I'll go with ye. Safest place in Halo, probably, an' the last thing I want is to end up dragon chow." So saying, the thief shifted into a raven. Assuming the other woman followed suit, Pihu would take off and fly straight to the Citadel.
Like you're hanging by a thread But you gotta survive
Well that was sorted then. Nodding decisively at Pihu, the Wraith adds a small caveat. “I won’t be able to chat in my shift, but it was nice to meet you. Stay warm.” She flashes a final, fanged grin at the Torcher and then takes a step back to give herself some space. Then with a sudden flurry of movement, the demigod’s fleshlike body begins to morph into something entirely shiny and metal. Bits come out, skin separates, and her spine elongates until she’s the length of an SUV and just as big.
Reaching out to grab the Ursur in razor sharp claws, it takes an effort for the mech!bird to get into the sky, but once she does, it’s smooth sailing from there on out as the pair fly back to the Citadel.
