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!
07-20-2022, 03:06 PM (This post was last modified: 07-20-2022, 03:36 PM by Flora.)
never be so kind you forget to be clever
Listen, not everything needs to be so serious even when it's about war. Not only that, but GathEriNg SupPlIeS is hella vague anyways, so why not make the most of this slightly chilly wonderful afternoon by gathering supplies that related to mental health instead of..you know, weapons, bandages, and other obviously war-related items? No one really had a good idea of what war was going to bring to Torchline. What if it was like monsoon season used to be, where everyone was just stuck inside? What if the real danger was from everyone going stir crazy?
Standing near where one of the main canals from the town fed into the sea so that this might be an equal opportunity PQ, Flora waits to see who might arrive to help.
PQ to gather supplies for the war but only stupid ones. Suggestions include: games, makeup, musical instruments, etc
The cold didn't greatly bother Hadama. The water was often colder than the air, and the deeper one swam the colder it became. The Northern Current brought warm water down from the coast along the Climb and Angel's End to offset some of that, but the shallows along the coast and the canals in particularly were noticeably nippy for the season.
Something he was more worried about than the War at the moment, truth be told.
Today the mermanta was on his way into town to do some shopping in the market when a familiar blonde head came into view alongside the mouth of the canal. He swam slowly over to meet the woman it belonged to, steely head breaking the surface as he drew air into his lungs so he could speak.
"Hello, Flora." A quietly friendly greeting as he looked up at her curiously. "Are you waiting for someone?"
A day after demolition in the desert, a good, well-earned rest, and Melita was fresh and invigorated once more, heading along the coast. She wasn’t even bothered by the cold at this point, learning her lesson from previous excursions, and including some more layers as she and her companions sauntered out amongst the tide.
And they might’ve done just that, wading in and along with no true purpose, had she not spotted Flora and Hadama up ahead, near one of the canals. Curious, infinitely nosey, she skipped along towards the modest group, with Sila flying behind and Fangorn on her heels. By the time she ceased she’d careened close to them both, with a hearty wave. “Hello! What’re you up to today?” Hoping she wasn’t being rude and interrupting something, anyway.
Truthfully, Flora had been hoping a certain mermanta would appear. Entirely charmed by the fact that Hadama was older and wiser and exotic, seeing him always seemed to cause a chill to rush up from the base of her spine, splintering outwards such that her muscles felt relaxed and energized all at once. "Nope!" She chirps in response. "I was actually going to get a few things from the market for...hey!" Intrigued by Hadama though she might have been, Flora was a social butterfly through and through and didn't mind at all Melita's sudden interjection.
"I was just telling Hadama—have you two met? Melita, Hadama. Hadama, Melita—that I was going to go to the market and stock up on a few things. I know everyone is stockpiling food and weapons and whatever for the wAr, but I thought we might need other things too, you know? Fun things so that if the war actually means we all just sit inside while the demigods fight it out, that we won't go crazy. Want to help?"
Flora's flightiness wasn't so different from another of Hadama's young acquaintances, but now that he knew a bit more of her history it made a great deal more sense. He simply floated, calmly bemused, as her attention was drawn by none other than--
Ah. Green eyes warmed at the arrival of his fellow pastry connoisseur and favorite sparring partner, and he lifted a hand in greeting to Melita. Before he could say anything about that Flora had introduced them again and his stoic lips twitched towards a smile before he mastered his expression to give her his full, solemn attention.
Even if his emerald eyes sparkled with humor at her idea.
"I do," he agreed. "The Council does not think the war will come to the Underwater City. These games may be needed there, too."
Grateful for the introductions, even though she and Hadama were already well acquainted through food and rock throwing, she nodded and smiled just the same. Besides, it was the after proportions that had her curious - fun things for the war…
You know, pretending she wasn’t going to be participating…
She shuffled her feet absentmindedly, but otherwise, attended to the notions readily. “Sure! What sort of things do we want to grab?” The Honeybee’s versions of entertainment (chaos) might’ve varied from others, and though she’d seen Flora unleashed her own brand of mayhem, that might not have been applicable to the pending circumstances either.
Clapping her hands together delighted not to have to do this task alone, Flora offers each of her counterparts a megawatt smile. How was she supposed to know that Hadama and Melita were basically besties? Listen. It doesn't matter; everyone's a friend, now.
"Well." She begins, strolling next to the canal towards the market. "Let's start with Hadama first. Why don't we all try and find something entertaining but remember—" Grinning over her shoulder, Flora waggles her eyebrows. "It has to be waterproof!"
So saying, Flora dips into a market stall already knowing what it was she wanted to find. (She wouldn't have set a task she couldn't complete, after all). After a moment's bartering, Flora was the proud owner of a backgammon set. The wood wouldn't hold up underwater, but she was pretty sure she could use some of Hadama's fish glue to waterproof it.
Entertaining. Has to be waterproof. With those notions in mind, the young Honeybee nodded, and wandered off with her companions in tow.
Perusal of market stalls was met with the usual wooden figurines (which she figured would fall apart at some point), occasional chess and checkers constituents, and then –
Her eyes rounded over to a couple of balls (no, not those kind, you perv) in various shapes and sizes. Wouldn’t people enjoy tossing them back and forth? Or hitting each other? Or making some sort of game out of ‘em? How many times can you catch and all that nonsense?
Figuring that was good enough, and that some would probably float on the water or sink and that was someone else’s problem, she haggled for a few pieces, before returning to the group, quite proud of her achievements.
If Hadama was surprised that Flora offered to help him first, he didn't show it. Dipping his head in gratitude he watched his two dryland friends head off on their hunts while he swam more slowly through the canals, thinking.
There weren't many vendors selling games near the canals; it made a certain sense, if they didn't want pieces ending up in the water and lost before they could even be bought. It only meant that he had to look a little harder, and enlist the help of a few passersby to point him in the right direction and then get the attention of a woman who was willing to come out of her shop and show him some of her selection.
Green eyes lit up as she brought out one particular board of slate scored with lines to make small squares on its surface, and a bag of mixed dark stones and pale shells. Hadama nodded firmly and some trinkets changed hands. Swimming back to the meeting place he was quietly pleased as he displayed the Go board to the two women.
Hadama secures a Go board and pieces!
It was with bright aqua eyes and a barrage of unrhythmic clapping that Flora welcomed back her friends and their items. That the task should have mentioned something about gravity such that things would stay sunk beneath the water was something she likely should have considered, but oh well. It was the thought that counted and all that. 'Purr voy.' Said in Italian the Travelling Tongue that her father and half-brother often spoke (and even if she got it wrong, it wasn't like Hadama or Melita would know. Wait, would they know? Oh gods, oh gods, oh—) Flora presented the mermanta with his games.
'Okay, now for Melita....!' The girl didn't know the Honeybee very well just yet, but that wasn't going to stop her. "Bring the best thing that requires accuracy!" Can you tell I'm watching TM .
So saying, Flora heads back into the market and haggles for one of those extremely annoying hand-held toys where you have to get the ball through a maze without it dropping off the edge.
Not understanding any portion of that particular language, Melita assumed it was good and shrugged her shoulders.
But when her name was called she stood at a more rapt attention, head nodding along. Accuracy. Based on her recent experience with landsharks and hitting allies with arrows for one reason or another, the notions were easy for her to navigate in her mind. “I’ve got just the thing!” And quickly she hastened back off towards the market – clearly not intending to give away her own.
In the end, she returned with a fairly decent bow and several arrows lined in its adjoining quiver. If someone wanted to practice their sharpshooting during the pending time, the Honeybee had already solved that particular problem.
The merman tilted his head curiously at the strange words and slanted a questioning glance to Melita. At her shrug he simply accepted it with a nod. He took the games with a much deeper nod and a murmured: "Thank you," of gratitude as he tucked them away at the base of the canal so he could take them back to the City when they were done.
There were other tasks to see to first, however, and he listened to the challenge that they'd been given with a flicker of humor in his emerald gaze.
It was a thoughtful mermanta who swam back through the market once more, looking around for inspiration. If nothing else, these errands were helping him to hone his observational skills. In the end it was the sight of a small boy playing with an contraption of wood and string that caught his attention, and he went back to the same toymaker to make another trade.
Hadama returned with a kendama and offered it to Melita with quiet mischief in his eyes. Hadama obtains a kendama so Mel can have a ball of her own to play with ;D
"Ooooh, what's that?" Flora wonders, looking at Hadama's kendama with a bright and curious gaze. As he hands it to Melita her eyes widen further and it only occurs to her at just that moment that perhaps these two have met before. Oh well, whatever.
"Okay, last one! Bring me the best thing to do by yourself." Waggling her eyebrows a bit, Flora offers her friends a bright smile before darting back to the market knowing precisely what sort of thing she wanted.
A book!
Flora might not immediately strike those around her as the sort who liked to cuddle up and read, but actually she did quite a bit. It reminded her of Vai and long hours spent bundled up by the fire in the witch's cottage.
“Oooh, thank you,” she oohed and awed towards the contraption held out to her, sparing a couple moments of distraction to play with it – watching the ball go back and forth and hit against the wooden proportions with absolute glee. “This is great.” For someone with her attention span and violent tendencies, under ordinary circumstances she could’ve been entertained for hours.
But there was work to be done, so she permitted Fangorn to try it with his assortment of vines, while she hastened off to find something to do by herself.
An idea came to her from experiences amidst the Grounds, and maybe as a way to honor an old friend. Recalling Bastien and his ability to create beautiful works of art, the youth skipped her way through the market, snagging at the supplies, before returning with paintbrushes, canvas, and paint, for the more creative minds.
--
Melita brings back paintbrushes, canvas, and paint!
