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!
"You are a lady, Doctor Hart. Not an attack dog," Finn informs her with a serious expression, though the soft amusement in his voice (that would likely be missed by anyone else) reveals his playfulness. He walks alongside her, instinctively offering his arm as she's tripped by the ground, the detective frowning back at where they've been. "Speaking of the Commander, we ought to write to him about this," he adds, trailing off as they make for the Skyport.
Finn's silence becomes more absolute as they peel away from the Falling and move into the bustle of Stormbreak's hub of travel and trade, and it isn't all because of discomfort. With so many more people here - so many more Accepted, too - it takes a great deal of concentration to keep tabs on the trail of their maybe-murderer, and he relies upon Tobi to ensure he doesn't bump into anyone.
"It looks as though he was going this way," Finn murmurs, listing towards one of the docked ships.
"I am a good deal more than just a lady, Finn." Tobi protests somewhat seriously, if only to make the point that he needn't devote all of his mental resources to protecting her. " Besides, I only said I would chase them down. Not attack.' She adds with a grin, before the spongey ground goes and nearly sprains her ankle.
"That's a good idea. " She says of letting Ronin know, though just how she might phrase it she has no idea. Hey Ronin, hope you're doing okay. The ground by the Falling is a bit...weird? Okay, take care. Deciding to think about that a bit more before penning those delightful prose, Tobi wraps her arms around one of Finn's that she might guide him along while looking like nothing more than some enamoured love of his.
"Sounds good." Tobi says with a bright laugh, all in an effort to make it seem as though they aren't actively trying to follow anyone. Whether or not she's being convincing Tobi has absolutely no idea. Lying really isn't her strong suit and thus, neither is any sort of deception. "Is the bread fresh?" She asks casually. "Or is it older than a day?"
Fever dream high in the quiet of the night You know that I caught it
Finn would have loved to spin that in his mind for a while, and perhaps even make a chart devoted to Tobi's percentages of lady, Doctor Hart, assistant detective, secret unicorn, sometimes-attack-dog and all the rest. Alas, here they are in the Skyport and the only thing that has him swallowing his fear of the edge of the cliffs is the prospect of following a stranger's aura.
"Bread...?" he echoes softly, blinking and glancing to her. "Tobi, we are not looking for brea-- oh. OH." He clears his throat. "It, er... I think it is quite fresh, yes. Less than eight hours old, if I had to put an estimate on it. On the uh. The bread." He's peering more intently at the ship now, but it appears to be completely unmanned and empty.
It's one of those comical moments where one might expect Tobi's eyes to grow large as her foot taps out a rhythm. But given that they're strolling towards the Skyport the doctor is unable to do little more than clear her throat and nudge her hip into Finn as if to recalibrate his mind for him. "On the bread, yes." She confirms, wanting to dot his face with kisses of approval.
"That looks like a nice boat, doesn't it? Will you take me and show me its sails?" Tobi asks perhaps a touch too loudly. "Maybe we can stop and have our sandwiches while we're looking." Because..you know..the bread?
Listen, just because Tobi is better at this than Finn didn't mean she was any good.
Fever dream high in the quiet of the night You know that I caught it
In the rocky crags of the Falling, something bright can be seen.
A bit of cloth? It's hard to see from here, but you're quite sure that there is indeed something stuck between the rocks. Almost like a bit of spinach between massive teeth.
The nudge to his hip is almost enough to send him tripping and falling (and having a panic attack and all sorts of other fun stuff), but with Tobi on his arm he just about manages to keep upright. "Mm...? It is an average boat, Tobi. And without the captain on board, it would not be polite to just get on board. Besides, I..." Do not like skyships, he's about to add, before something distracts him.
It's not the fact that he's doing wretchedly at this, either. It's a flutter, of sorts, out of the corner of his eye, and Finn frowns off into the curve of the cliffs. "Do you see that?" he asks softly, tilting his head. Luckily for the detective (or perhaps not), the aura ends before the ship, suggesting that their would-be murderer is long, long gone on a skyship that left prior to this one.
Tobi inhales deeply, twisting her face up towards his and fluttering her eyelashes hard. "But Finn, the bread." She interrupts, or would have, had he not fallen silent. Frowning, the doctor looks in the direction of Finn's gaze, narrowing her eyes to try and make out what he was seeing. "Oh..." She murmurs as her lower lip thoughtfully pops out. "Is it..a flag?" Interesting, but not bread interesting.
Turning towards him, her back to the fluttering whatever lodged in the cliff-face, Tobi again sneaks her hands into his coat pockets to draw them together. "So if it's a perfectly ordinary boat with no bread, then...?" Standing on her tippytoes, she gently presses her lips against his as a torrent of wind tugs her hair into a mini tornado and her scarf flutters around her neck. "..what do we do now, detective Rosencrantz?"
Fever dream high in the quiet of the night You know that I caught it
"Hm...?" Glancing back to the ship and blinking a couple of times as if to get a proper focus on it, Finn's shoulders slump. "I am afraid there is no bread aboard that boat, Tobi," he murmurs, stormy eyes flashing briefly back to the rag fluttering in the breeze. He shakes his head a bit. "It could be a flag," he agrees. "I don't know how it would have gotten there, though."
Suddenly finding himself very close to Tobi indeed and not minding it at all, Finn softens against her (for now anyway, hurr) and lets an arm slip around her waist as their lips meet in a warm and gentle kiss. "Well," he says a touch sadly, "from here I suppose I could do some research to find out what ships were docked here and where they were going. I would need to track down the captain when they return to see if anyone matching the description given by our witness came aboard." All of this, naturally, comes spilling from his lips with ease.
"However," he continues on this imaginary game of cat and mouse, "even if the captain remembered, the trail for my glasses would have gone cold by the time we arrived at the ship's destination." Finn shakes his head. "And then it becomes rather more complicated."
"The wind, maybe." Tobi suggests with a shrug, not minding at all how it was turning her hair into snarls of black. 'Mmmhmmm." The doctor hums, in complete agreement but also entirely distracted by the tingle left from their kiss on her lips. "That does sound complicated. But you know what might help?" Standing on her toes again, this time Tobi's kiss starts out as it had before with her lips closed and pressed against his. However as another burst of wind tried to carry her away, the doctor anchored herself firmly against Finn with her tongue seeking purchase against his.
"Lunch." She whispers after a moment, beaming up at him . "Some food for thought, and we can make next-steps." The thrill of feeling like the only two people in the world despite the crowd of travellers around them had Tobi feeling lighter than air (though that was as much because of the wind and spongey ground as anything else). "We can come up with some better coded-language too." She adds with a laugh as she begins to take a few steps backwards, still with her hands in his pockets to drag him with her.
~FIN
Fever dream high in the quiet of the night You know that I caught it
