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!
Darkeye had put the things that had happened in Stormbreak behind him. He had written his letters to the people who were there to inform Isla and Wessex. But he did not want to see or talk to Sunjata for the time being. So he went to the training ground in the Grounds to cool down a bit. He thought about whether it would have been better to kill Sunjata when he had the opportunity. The next time he would do it. But the war stood before the door and Frey had given him tasks that he had not yet started. He kept throwing the axes at the dummies to get a better feel for them. But the looks and words of Ronin as well as Remi just would not disappear from his head. He did this for a while before he sat down again and looked at his surroundings, the people who were all trying to live their lives.
Should Flora be in the Hollowed Grounds? I mean, maybe not, but also, who cares? She wasn't her father or Ronin; Flora herself had never done anything to the ascended and frankly didn't really care much about the whole war situation other than how it was going to affect her social life. So, strolling through the Grounds on her way to try and find Neron at that bar he'd mentioned, she ended up passing the Barracks where a rather small man was currently tossing around some axes.
The axes, while not entirely like her feathers, were not unlike her feathers, either.
"Hey!" Waving a hand covered in shiny rings, Flora strolled into the training grounds. "Can you show me how to do that?" She asked, nodding towards his axes. "I have these, but--" Pulling out her three magical feathers, the girl twirled them between her fingers before throwing one towards a target and missing completely. With a sigh, she magically recalled it back to her hand. "--I'm not very good."
Darkeye wondered at the new face that he had not seen in the grounds before. He had a lot of thoughts about the last few days. Many things had changed for him. Sunjata had dragged him into something that in his eyes questioned his honor and his faith. Even if Sunjata was not aware of it, he had stirred up the anger of the dwarf.
After the hey, he took a closer look at the lady. She seemed familiar to him, but he could not place it. When he saw the feathers and how they were suddenly back in her hand, he had to grin slightly. "I'm not really any better, so I stand here and try desperately to hit the straw dolls. But maybe if the two of us work together and try to hit the target together, it might work out sooner," he said with a broad grin. he made a waving gesture for her to come to him "I'm Darkeye by the way, and you are?"
Laughing cheerfully and brightly, Flora nodded and moved to come and stand at Darkeye's side. "Yeah..I guess I sort of thought since these were given to me by Frey I'd just..instantly be good with them? But I'm really not." She admits with a self-deprecating shrug before holding out her hand for Darkeye to shake. "I'm Flora. You're that...uhm.." Pausing, Flora's expression crinkles somewhat as she searches her memory for the right word. "Reporter..guy, right? The one trying to write down all the stuff that's been happening?"
Turning back towards the straw dolls, Flora takes a deep breath. Breathing, she'd been told, was part of having good aim. So, with her breath held, she threw a feather towards the center of one of the mannequins, and..
First, he smiled but when she turned into a reporter guy the smile disappeared. "I'm trying to write down the truth and convey it," he said. "Both sides lost a lot when all this shit started. But that's not so important right now. That will only become important again after the war. I'll write it down and we'll see who wants to read it. But Flora is a great name. I haven't seen you around much, I hope you like it here," he said honestly as ever.
Then he made room for her to show how good she was. The posture was good as well as holding her breath was something professionals would do. He often did it that way. "I don't see any mistake, I just think you need to practice more. But they say even close targets breathe out. But that's something you can do personally. Your posture is correct. I would just change the position of your leg. But it's really minor, and overall it looks good." He stands next to her and grabs his axe, throws it, and tries to hit the target. But he only grazes it.
As Darkeye's smile disappeared Flora worried that perhaps she'd mistaken him for someone else. Though the explanation he gave was...well, more or less what she'd been trying to say, so she smiled encouragingly and nodded. "Yeah no, that's totally what I meant. I feel like no one cares about histories though, you know? They all just believe what they want to believe." She adds with a shrug.
"Oooh, that's a good idea." Picking up another feather, Flora breathed in deeply though this time as she flung her weapon, she exhaled. She'd need to work on the position of her leg like he'd mentioned, but one thing at at time. This time, her feather came much closer to hitting the target, and though she still missed, Flora beamed. "I see what you mean! Okay, like this?"
Shifting her leg to try and mirror Darkeye's posture, Flora again threw her feather. This time she forgot to breathe out and so she was only slightly more successful than she'd been the time before.
Darkeye's smile reappeared. "This generation maybe not, they're all looking for a reason to fight and find war as an excuse to do it." he said in a tone that sounded almost pitying. "But the generations that come after I think would like to know the truth and so I write it down. No matter who is the winner or loser. In this way, future wars can perhaps be prevented. If that happens, my work will not be in vain. This war is not because the gods want it. It comes because the people decide for it. Many innocent people will die because of it. " he said, and the smile now seemed like a put-on mask.
His eyes followed her body to see if she was implementing his tips this time. Only then did he look to see if her throw had hit. "I think you understand what I wanted to tell you," he said with a big grin. He stood next to her and tried to show her again. He took a swing. The axe spun quickly and with a lot of force hit the head of the straw doll. He was a little surprised himself. "See what I mean?" He used the axes to teleport to them. He pulled her out and cleared the way for her to make another attempt.
'But you'll be dead by then. You won't even know if you've done any good.' Flora comments, frowning a touch. Flora hadn't been raised to understand the longevity of doing good things simply because they were the right things to do, and so the idea of dedicating your life to something for which you'd never seen the outcome seemed ridiculous to her. "I mean, that isn't what my dad says. He says he has to fight whether he wants to or not." She adds with a shrug.
'Oooooh!' Clapping enthusiastically as Darkeye hit the target right in the head, Flora tries to re-position herself and adjust her breathing. Throwing one of her feathers, she too hits the target. "Ah! I did it, did you see?" Grinning broadly Flora recalls the feather to her hand and stands slightly taller looking quite proud of herself.
Darkeye had to suppress his laughter but a grin was visible. "First of all, my kind live very long up to 300 years is possible there are even said to be rare cases that are over 500 years old. Besides, I'm not doing this for myself, that would be selfish, it's for a higher cause and I don't care who gets the credit for it. It's about making sure that this doesn't happen anymore. That each side gets an insight on the enemy and why people have acted this way and why not. To get a better understanding at the Human behind his Actions" He tried to explain his doing. Of course he could talk about Kor now, but he had learned that the inhabitants of Caido were not interested in that. He took a deep breath and still grinned broadly. "We are all fighting a battle and our worst enemy is ourselves. I don't think everyone has to fight, at least not in war. Sure there are some who fill themselves called to it. I don't want to badmouth your father's words if it comes across that way, I'm sorry. Who is your father?" he asked curiously. He didn't know the girl but he saw a resemblance but from who?
Clapping, Darkeye celebrates Flora's hit. "That's it, and if you can do that 10 times in a row, you can try to do it against the clock. That's what I'm trying to do. So the hits against time I can't do yet, even if the axes are very handy."Darkeye throws an axe and teleports to it just before it hits to use the momentum of his spear to impale the doll.
Type: Grey | Style: Offensive | Level: Basic
Throwing Axes | A pair of throwing axes that only ever deal basic damage. However, they allow the wielder to teleport up to 5ft in distance.
Raising an eyebrow, Flora looks the former-dwarf up and down for a moment. "So you're an ascended?" She wonders; it was the only way he could possibly think he'd live that long here. It made sense with him being in the Grounds, too. "Mmmm, Remi Taliesin?" She hums in response, shrugging her shoulders a touch. "All the demigods have to fight. That's the whole reason that they're demigods, you know?" Flora adds.
Brightening considerably at the applause, Flora's mouth drops open suddenly as he mentions needing to do it 10 times. "I dunno about that. If I can hit with all three I'd be happy." Watching Darkeye teleport, the girl tilts her head wondering if something like that would be useful for her, as well. Deciding she'd rather just have more feathers, Flora shrugs.
"Okay, watch this." Flora throws all three of her feathers; all miss the target, landing behind it. With a grin, she waggles her fingers. As the feathers try to return to her hand, they impale the back of the doll this time. "Sneaky, huh? Even if I miss, I can use the recall ability to try and hit again."
Darkeye grinned even wider. "You're Remi's daughter. You're probably in the most dangerous place for you." His face turned pale and full of panic that she would be attacked for this fact alone. He had to protect her. He breathed in a few times before his face get a normal color "I am a dwarf and come from Aventuria. I don't know if these rules still apply to me," he said honestly, his gaze turned to the sky. "If he says so, then it must be true. I respect your father for what he does. But I have a different opinion about that." He took a breath and looked around to see if anyone had noticed who she was. If necessary, he would have to make some enemies and beat them up to get them out of here. But he didn't know what the grounders thought about her.
His gaze followed her movements. "Impressive, truly impressive. I didn't think that was possible. That means your opponent thinks you're throwing past and his back is open. I find that very useful. The repetition is for me the training to give me the security when it becomes serious that I hit. In dangerous situations, we often rely on familiar situations or reflexes. The throwing movement must become a reflex. That's the important point," he said to punctuate his words.
He stood back up and threw one of his axes at the dummy again, trying to hit it again. He took a deep breath and sent his axe on the tear. The axe split the doll's head as if the axe wanted to reinforce his words.
Rolling her eyes, Flora gives her head a shake. "I doubt it. One I doubt anyone would lay a hand on me, and twooo, it isn't like I've ever done anything to the ascended, so." She shrugs; as far as Flora was concerned, not only would it be an act of war to hurt her, but it would be an incredibly stupid one, at that.
"MMmm, far as I know, none of that stuff transfers with outlanders." She says a touch apologetically. "You'll probably get old just as fast as anyone else."
Grinning at Darkeye's approval, Flora nods proudly. 'Yeah, someone else told me that too. But it's hard to find time to practice, you know?' Which, he probably didn't. Darkeye seemed like the type who would absolutely make time to hone his skills, whereas Flora...had plenty of other things to do.
Speaking of... "Actually, I have to be going. Do you know where the bar is? I forget what it's called, but I'm supposed to meet a friend there. Neron?"
He puts on a smile. "People who are afraid make stupid mistakes. I warned you, that's all I can do. The war is about to start and there are people on both sides, as I said earlier, who want this war. You would be a good reason for some. Just be careful." There was a lot of concern in his voice. Especially when it came to a Neron.
He smiled broadly. "Then I will be striving sooner than expected after all but I guess I will have to make the best of it then. A man is only as old as he feels, as they say among my people, and right now I feel fine. " he said cheerfully.
A curt nod showed up at the old shaggy beard. "You have to lay your prioorities leave the fighting to your father and you take on whatever task you see fit. Each of us is in the world for a purpose. To make the best of ourselves. That is what I believe the gods have in mind for us. If they don't, they don't deserve to be worshipped. " He said harshly, but without reproach in his voice.
He pointed in a direction. "Right over there VlamVloed was the name if I remember correctly. Neron works there as a bartender if I remember correctly. Just ask there and they'll tell you where to find him, but if you like I'll take you there too, it depends on you."
"VlamVloed.." Flora repeats with a nod. The word sounded vaguely familiar on her tongue, though it had been a good amount of time since she'd seen Neron last. "Sort of a funny-sounding name, huh?" Shrugging her shoulders, she recalls her feathers to her hand and then tucks them back into her bag.
"Thanks a bunch for helping me with everything. I super appreciate it." She said of the former-dwarfs tips and tricks when it came to hitting her target accurately.
As for help finding the bar? Grinning to herself, Flora gives her head a shake. The very last thing she wanted was for Neron to think that she was with someone, even if maybe, possibly, she was? But anyways. "Nope! I think I'm good. Thanks again!"
