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!
Sah took a sip of his coffee and then nodded to himself. It was time to have a rather painful conversation. How did he tell his pups that he was sending them somewhere safe, without making them feel like they were being abandoned? They needed to be at the Haven for their own safety, even if he'd so much rather keep them under his careful watch for the entirety of the war. Maybe bundle them up in their nest and lock all the doors and windows so no one could reach them.
But Sah was well aware that that wasn't an option. He had to fight and defend Halo, he couldn't stay and watch over them. And his poor pups would get cabin fever if they were forced to stay indoors. They were meant to run and play, not hide. And Sah would never force them to do if he could help it.
"Pups? Could you come down for a moment? I need to talk to you both."
They are trying to build an addition to their blanket fort when their father’s voice drifts upstairs. Soleil pauses in her attempt to fling the blanket over the shoddy framework they’d made, having tried unsuccessfully to coordinate a throw that would open up the blanket instead of leaving it caught and folded.
Turning wide amber eyes to her twin’s matching ones, Soleil makes a nervous face. “Uh oh. We didn’t do anything, right?” Picking her brain as if she could have forgotten some mischievous deed that would award belated punishment.
Dropping the blanket and grabbing her brother’s hand, Sol traipses down the stairs, expression uncertain but obedient. “Are we in trouble?” she blurts immediately, unable to bear the worry for more than the span of a minute or two that had already transpired.
His eyebrows shoot up at his sister's question, "I haven't done anything." The implication in his tone rather clear. Out of the two of them, Sol always got into more trouble than he did, but he wasn't going to just say that to his sister. That would be rude and not very twinny of him.
Taking a hold of her hand and allowing her to practically skip into the living room, the pup lingers behind her slightly, standing close to her shoulder as he eyes his father curiously. Shaking his head he whispers quietly, "Not in trouble... Something's wrong." Always observant and sensitive to the air around him, Luka shifts on his feet, stepping forward slowly and eventually climbing onto the couch next to their poppa.
And when I wake tomorrow I'll bet That you and I will walk together again
Some of the tension leaves Sah at Soleil's question, a small chuckle leaving him. "No pup, not at all." Of course, his perceptive son picks up on the nature of the conversation first. The Abandoned reaches over and pulls both pups into his side, nuzzling each of them on their temples before he continues.
"I've told you before, about the war. But it's nearly here. And I just.." Sah sighed. "I have to keep you too safe. You know I'll be here fighting for Halo, but I need you two to be as far from the fighting as possible. I can't lose you."
Letting that sink in for a moment he continued, "Frey and their Demigod have set up a safe haven. A place that all the Gods, New and Old have agreed to keep the fighting out of. It'll be the one place in all of Caido that's truly safe. Ilma will be going, and I'd like to send you two with her."
She pouts at Luka for the implication in his tone. Soleil is a very well behaved child, and always well-meaning, but her curiosity and friendliness has undeniably gotten her into trouble before. Luka with her for some of those, of course, so it's not an unfair accusation. The pout dissolves as soon as Sah plucks her up, and she cuddles into her father's side, immediately giving into her desire to hide behind his bulk once the tone of the conversation shifts into something serious.
As she listens, her lip wobbles. Her immediate instinct is to object; they haven't been parted since their...deaths...and she is terrified that they moment they are separated again, something truly terrible will occur. But there is an iron core to his words despite the soft delivery and lack of command, and Soleil knows her father would never abide them staying in Halo for the duration of the war. Ilma will be there, which is a comfort, but Ilma is not him.
Still, Soleil is an obedient child. Even as her heart breaks so fully and quickly that tears streak silently down her cheeks, she nods miserably against his ribs. "Okay daddy," she says in a wobbly voice, biting on her tongue to tamp down the yelling, the pleading, the anger and injustice at this decision being made for her. It is an ugly thing that sits in her chest, and surely will for the entirety of the time she must stay in the haven, and already she feels sick with how it spreads in her veins.
Sah's heart cracks wide open at his daughter's tears and her clearly forced compliance. He sees so much of himself in his pups most days. In their curiosity and sense of adventure. In their loyalty and fierce love. And in their strength. But this? This acceptance of what needed to be done without compliant. This maturity, patience, and gentle inner strength? It's all their mother. All of it.
That thought and Soleil's tears make Sah's own eyes wet. He pulls his pups closer, "I'm so sorry. I never wanted to be away from you again. But I have to defend our territory and pack. And I can't do that if I need to constantly look over my shoulder to make sure that you're safe. Knowing that you two are safe means that I can focus fully on the fight and coming back to you safe."
Sah takes a deep, steadying breath. "I will come back to you. I swear it." Gods be wary, if this Abandoned should fall, his spirit would never rest until his pups were able to stand on their own two feet.
After a painful time of answering what questions, they had to best of his ability and abating their fears as much as he could, Sah tucks his pups back into their nest. Lilly curls up around the pair on one side and Sah stretches out on the other, cocooning the two in safety as they rest.
Though the Abandoned spends hours more staring at his pups and repeating over and over to himself that he must survive and return to them. That he has to be careful. That they can't lose him just as much as he can't lose them.
