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!
Unprepared for the unexpected lightning, Amanda gave a start, taking a step back. On reflex, she raised her hand as if to deflect an attack with her telekinesis. Not that it would be able to deflect a bolt of lightning.
She let out a soft chuckle, embarrassed at her own reaction. She ran a hand through her hair, taking a deep breath to calm her suddenly racing heart. She kept on a straight face, however, not wanting to make a fool of herself.
"This is all I can do," she said. "But I have a few tricks up my sleeve. Nothing too fancy, but I bet I could pull out something that would surprise you."
She pulled open her backpack, crouching on a smooth patch of dirt. She pulled out three small wooden cups, and a large tree nut. She placed the nut on the ground, then placed one of the cups over it, the others to either side.
"Think you can find the nut?"
She moved the cups back and forth with her hand, shuffling them about until the one with the nut was thoroughly randomized. She looked up at Sah, smirking, waiting to see how quick his eyes were.
Sah rubs the back of his neck sheepishly, "Sorry. Probably should have given you a better warning than that." It was easy to forget that many weren't used to lightning magic. For reasons he didn't understand, it was rather rare in Caido, even amongst Abandoned. He never really understood why certain magics appeared in people, and not others.
As Amanda pulls out the cups, Sah watches curiously. "I'd imagine so, given that it's your birth magic." When she starts scrambling the nut's location, he locks his eyes onto his target. As Amanda continues to randomize the location, Sah's eyes rapidly track the movement until she falls still.
Sah reaches out and taps one of the cups, "This one." He's pretty sure that he's right.
Amanda smirked as he chose the cup. It was the correct cup, she knew it. Not that it would matter.
"Sorry," she said, lifting up the cup. There was nothing underneath it. "Wrong guess. Try again?"
She set the cup back down and shuffled them around once more, giving Sah another chance to find the nut. Once again, he correctly guessed the location of the nut, yet once again, when she lifted up the cup, there was nothing there.
After the third time messing with his expectations, Amanda let out a chuckle. "I learned this one in the streets of Haulani. Good way to cheat a few passerby out of their valuables. Let them guess right a few times, until they wager something worth a bit more. Then make sure they can't win."
With that, she lifted the cup and tilted it to show him the inside. The nut, previously unseen, was there, held with telekinesis to the inside of the cup. She shook the cup a few times to demonstrate, but the nut stayed where it was without falling out.
Sah's brow furrows in confusion when his guess proves wrong time and time again. Even Lilly shares his confusion. The wolf had walked over and using her own senses, had tried to help her bonded. Yet together, Amanda still won each round.
When she reveals the cause, Sah snickers slightly. "Clever." It's a good trick for sure." Useful indeed, especially when dealing with trade and gambles. He can imagine how it's helped her in Haulani. Still amused, Sah sits down and holds his palm out. "This is more of a parlor trick at the moment. But I hope one day I can master it on a largescale."
Centering himself, Sah lets out a slow breath and channels his magic. Lightning comes easy, wind a little less, water hardly at all. But he creates the first and pulls the other two from their surroundings and centers them in his palm. With a slight grimace of focus he wills the elements to churn until a small thunderstorm floats in his palm.
A small layer of dark clouds a foot above as swirling rain and wind encircle his palm. The occasional lightning strike emerges to strike the pads of his fingers. Sah stays silent as he works, until he's sure that the miniature storm will hold for a moment on its own. "I've managed to make a larger one once. About Lilly's size. But I'm hoping to be able to create a storm that stretches a few yards at some point."
Controlling the conditions of a battle were a key to winning it. Being able to create his own storm to damage and distract his enemies would be invaluable. But for now, he needs practice and time.
Amanda's eyes widened at the sight of the magic, more advanced than anything she had ever done. She had hopes to one day master the elements herself, but nothing like this was close to being within her reach.
"That's more than a neat trick," she said. "One day I--"
She was cut off with a shriek from above, as without warning the zhenniao dove down towards them. It had been startled earlier, spooked into flying away, but it had returned to its nesting grounds, and seemed none too pleased with the intruders that were still trespassing there. Its poisonous beak stabbed straight towards Amanda's neck.
Letting out a shriek, she threw out a telekinetic push, deflecting the beak at the last moment. She stumbled back, the bird swiping at her with its talons. She threw out a burst of magic again and again, doing the best she could to use her power to ward off the sharp talons, though she still ended up taking several deep cuts across her arms, and the bird was showing no signs of giving up its assault.
Sah releases his magic as the zhenniao attacks. "Fucking hell!" He leaps to his feet as Lilly jumps and snaps her teeth at the bird on its next dive. He quickly shoves the bird from Amanda with his telekinesis before glancing over at her. "Use your telekinesis to throw sticks and rocks at it. If we can keep it busy, we can get a clear shot."
Using his own telekinesis, Sah pushes the bird away when it draws to close, waiting till an opening emerges. When it does, he'll channel his lighting to shoot the bird down. But without a clear opening, the risk of hitting one of the others, or starting a forest fire were too high.
Amanda staggered back until she slammed into a tree, getting the wind knocked out of her. Blood dripped down her arms and sweat coated her brow. She kept her hands up, trying to push back against the bird, but it was too big.
She manages to get a quick breath of relief when the bird is pushed away from her. Unused to using her magic to defend herself, she isn't able to think clearly enough to come up with a plan. But when Sah directs her towards a plan of action, she nods and braces herself.
Setting her jaw and straightening her back, she held her hands out to either side. She reached her power down to the ground around her, feeling around on the jungle floor. When she "felt" the sharp contours of a rock, she flicked her hand, telekinetically hurling the rock towards the bird. It struck the bird on the wing, forcing a shriek from the poisonous predator.
Amanda continued flicking her wrists, sending anything she could find hurling towards the bird. She might not have been highly skilled, but she used her magic every day in her scavenging work, and the one thing she did have was a strong focus and vitality. Rock after rock burst up from the jungle floor, pelting the bird again and again. The rocks didn't hurt the creature much, but the onslaught was more than enough to keep it distracted as it flapped its wings in a furious flurry.
"Perfect." Sah notes as their efforts work just as planned. The bird is left dodging in the air for a moment, too busy to dive and attack. An opportunity just as they were hoping for. Taking half a second to double check where Amamda and Lilly are, Sah then channels his lighting.
With a crackle of light, he sends a bolt straight at the bird from where it hovers in the air. There's a shriek and the faint smell of burning feathers as the creature falls to the earth. Lilly easily jumps and catches the zhenniao's body and brings it over to Sah. He takes it and inspects the damage. A few feathers are ruined, but overall, there are still plenty to scavenge. And the bird itself is intact enough for his client, just a little smoked.
"Are you ok?" Sah calls back to Amanda as he walks over with their prize, being mindful of the feathers. "We got it. Still up for removing the feathers?" Reaching down to his bag, he pulls out bandages and a general wound cream, skidding them along the forest ground to stop before the woman. "Here."
With the threat gone, Amanda dropped down to her knees, gasping for air. She took a few moments to steady herself, then looked down at her bloody arms. The cuts weren't too deep, but they stung quite badly, and they were still bleeding. And she hadn't thought to bring any medical supplies.
Fortunately for her, the hunter was better prepared. "Thanks, she said, reaching for the bandages. Moving her arms made the pain worsen, so instead she lifted the cream with telekinesis, gently applying it to her wounds. Once the poultice was applied, she lifted the roll of bandages with her power, slowly letting it rotate around her arms to cover the wounds.
"Feathers," she said with a weak nod. "Right." She'd forgotten all about the original plan for the bird. It took her some time to collect herself, mostly because of her frazzled nerves. She was a tough girl, and she could take a beating, but the adrenaline rush of the assault had left her uneasy. She focused on her breathing until her heart stopped racing, then she got up and joined Sah by the bird.
Her magic was still strong, despite how much she had used it fending off the bird. Now that her mind was focused once again, she channeled the power down towards the bird, carefully plucking one feather after another in rapid succession. There had been a time when such rapid use of her magic would have worn her out, but she was well-practiced by now at using the power for long periods of time. One after another the feathers floated away from the bird, falling into piles on the ground.
When it was done, she smiled, looking down over the haul. Between the water horse and the bird, she would be returning home with quite a bit more value than she'd expected. This day would prove to be a profitable one. Of course, she had gotten herself beat up over it, but it would be worth it.
It's clear to Sah, that Amanda is no stranger to tending to her own injuries, given how efficient she is. But as he watches her, it's clear that she's still shaken, He feels a pang of guilt for rushing her into feather plucking. He hadn't considered the fall after adrenaline or the rush of a sudden attack.
As such he gently kneels beside her and keeps the bird steady as she works, using his own telekinesis to avoid the poison. "You did good. It's hard to snap into action at the drop of a hat, well done." It was true. After the brief initial panic, Amanda had quickly switched gears and aided Sah in his plan. It'd would have been far more difficult to deal with the bird if she hadn't.
Sensing Amanda's anxiety and her bonded's own concern, Lilly approaches and sits beside the woman. The wolf brushes up against her slightly in silent support as Amanda finishes the task.
The haul certainly is satisfactory. Sah has the bird for his client, some meat to dry, and a few feathers for his own usage. And Amanda has plenty to sell and barter with on her own time. A good day's work, despite the twists. "If you feel up to it, you should come hunting with Lilly and I again sometime. Caido is filled with unique creatures that you can harvest parts from."
Plants with useful and or dangerous properties, creatures sprouting scales and talons to forge weapons and armor, and even some with crystals and magical horns on their bodies.
"Well I'm not used to having to defend myself like that, if you don't count an occasional drunkard in the tavern trying to get fresh." She'd learned that men didn't want to pinch her when they realized she was a telekinetic and could "pinch" then back in a rather sensitive area.
Amanda stood up and stretched, working the kinks out of her muscles. It was a long walk back to Torchline still, but she was used to long hikes. She wasn't even tired, just sore.
She secured everything safely in her backpack, strapping it back on. She made sure her small knife was secure at her belt. "I've never gone hunting before, but it sounds interesting. Normally I just gather what I can from the jungle shore." She brushed a strand of hair back over her ear. "You from Torchline? I run a sort of little shop there."
She might have been exaggerating when she called her tiny market stall a "shop." Though she had plans to upgrade to something bigger soon. She just needed to gather some more capital, and maybe a few like-minded souls to help with what she was planning.
"Wouldn't hurt to know someone in the area who's skilled with magic. It's useful for lots of things...like getting into places where you don't belong." She glanced sidelong at him to see his reaction to that.
Sah smiles gently, "That's not necessarily a bad thing." Knowing how to fight was good, especially with the way times were moving. But not putting yourself in a position where you had to fight or finding clever ways around it were also valid skills. Controlling the conditions around you to be favorable and all that.
As Amanda stands, so do Sah and Lilly. "Halo, actually. But we visit Torchline from time to time, especially for hunts. Our regions are allies after all." It was certainly true, and as part of Halo's council it was important for him to retain a good relationship with the sunny region. Though he was less inclined to visit nowadays. Sah isn't sure if he was ready to run into Maeve at the moment. Things were still a little awkward on that front.
The hint of illegal activities simply has Sah raising a brow. "Oh? Duly noted." The slightly mischievous smirk that stretches across his face is answer enough. "Probably helps a lot in Torchline. Things are always more than they appear here."
He's never been one to judge what measures people took to survive. And as long as said activities don't threaten his region and loved ones, then by all means, Amanda can do what she wants.
"Well, be sure to look me up," Amanda said, holding out her hand to shake his. "Ask around the marketplace. They know me there. And if you're ever looking to trade in the city, if I don't have what you need, I probably know someone who does."
She gave the wolf a little scratch behind the ears. "Take care of your person," she told it.
With that, she turned and headed off into the jungle, on her way back to Torchline. She checked her bandages as she went--she'd probably need to seek out a healer in town if she didn't want the wounds to get infected. She was just likely it hadn't been the creature's poisonous beak that had gotten her.
A short distance away, she glanced over her shoulder, but the dense foliage had already cut Sah off from her sight. Either that, or he was just that good at blending into his surroundings. He was a hunter, after all. And a generous one, at that, letting her keep some of the more valuable spoils. She already had a few other traders in mind who she knew would give her something worthwhile for the goods, and she knew how to haggle herself a better deal than most. She just needed a big haul one day soon. Something to give her the edge she needed to start on her more ambitious project.
Hiking through the woods, she looked up through the trees at the sun, making its way down to the horizon. It would be getting dark by the time she got back. She picked up the pace, determined to be home and out of the dangers of the wild before darkness truly fell.
