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!
Finding a blink hare had been unexpectedly easy. They hadn't even properly started hunting yet, too busy throwing elbows and shoulders and rolled eyes and rough, teasing words before they'd come across a clearing in the jungle where a half dozen black and white bunnies had been grazing obliviously.
At least until Boreal and Lilly had tumbled out into the grass, tussling, and all of the buns had promptly vanished.
That had shut Tal up (well, after the yelp of dismay), and he'd rushed forward. Catching sight of a hare now safely out of reach beneath the jungle's edge, he'd raced after it, calling back for Sah to follow.
They'd almost lost the little bastard a dozen times, but with four sets of eyes looking for it they managed to keep it just barely in sight. The blink hare led them on a merry chase up and up and up until Tal was panting and Boreal was unapologetically flying and then--
The hare blinked out of sight at the edge of a vast precipice and Tal stumbled to a halt, wheezing and glaring around as Boreal looped higher overhead, crooning at the magnificent sight laid out below. "Yeah, I'm sure it's great-- Hey, anyone see the damn rabbit?" he called back to the rest of their little hunting party as he edged towards the dropoff cautiously.
When Tal had agreed for him to join in the hunt, this wasn't exactly what Sah had expected. The teasing and roughhousing were a given. But going on a wild goose bunny chase had not been what he had in mind. When they came to the drop off, Sah chuckled at Tal's clear exhaustion, "Having trouble keeping up, Errand Boy?" The Abandoned had a light sweat gong, but otherwise was unaffected by their impromptu race.
The sight before them was spectacular and it was only when Tal spoke again that Sah was brought back to the conversation. "Hmm? Oh. Let's see..." The Abandoned eyed their surrounding as Lilly began to sniff the air for any sign of their quarry. There was a burst of excitement through the bond and Sah's eyes snapped up to see what had gotten Lilly's attention.
Sure enough, the blink hair was nonchalantly eating some grass at the base of the drop off. "There." Sah nodded toward the rabbit as it lazily munched away.
"I beat you up here, didn't I?" Tal grumped back at Sah's jab with a scowl. He'd been looking frantically for the rabbit's next teleport location, dashing side to side as much as up in pursuit of the damn thing. He figured he'd probably run twice as far as the hunter, when all was said and done. It was basically training, right?
Peering over the Leap of Faith, all Tal could see was a sea of mist and clouds below. Boreal followed Lilly's direction, however, and bounded off the edge of the cliff without a care in the world, sharing her vision as she caught an updraft and circled back to study the stone.
Sure enough, a dozen feet down the rabbit sat contentedly on a ledge that hosted lush grass. The dragon caroled her predatory playfulness and promptly dove at the hare, blasting a gout of flame that passed harmlessly over the grass.
The Blink Hare had teleported again, this time to the safety of Sah's own shadow.
Not that Tal realized that yet, still peering over the dizzying fall below. "Hey! No fire, Boreal! I need to kill it with the knife!" the courier admonished his dragon in exasperation.
"Did you though?" Sah countered, tilting his head with a smirk. "Maybe you just took a shortcut." Tal had absolutely reached the top first, but only because the Abandoned had been moving slower. When hunting something faster than you, endurance and teamwork were the best strategies. At least, that's what Sah's account was.
The Abandoned snickered at the dragon's overzealous nature and Tal's misery. Distracted as he was, Sah failed to notice the hare. But Lilly, who had been tracking the rabbit's scent whipped around as soon as it appeared behind er bonded. Acting fast, the wolf pounced while alerting Sah through their bond.
However, the wolf's paws hit solid earth as the blink hare teleported away once more. "Fucking hell. Good job, Lilly." Sah ruffled her ears in praise as he returned to scouting their surroundings. "Now where did that fucker go?"
"Yeah, a shortcut to the top," Tal scoffed back with an impressive roll of his eyes. "Too bad I can't teleport like that stupid rabbit." Or better yet, like Noah. Noah was still alive and well. If everything went according to plan today, the Blink Hare soon wouldn't be.
But you know what they say about the best laid plans of wolves and men.
The courier pretended not to hear Sah's snickering as he continued to lean precariously over the edge. Luckily his soul wasn't particularly artistic or moved by the sight beneath him, so he was fine when he jerked back at Sah's praise of the wolf - and fresh question.
"It can't be far-" he started to point out, when Boreal arrowed down out of the sky like a pale thunderbolt behind a large stone. Tal whipped his head around, knife at the ready thanks to his companion's warning, and when the blink hare jumped into the open to escape the dragon's jaws the courier was waiting with a well-placed throw.
It wasn't perfect, but it was good enough. The weapon sliced something vital, so that when the bunny flopped into the grass it lay unblinking in every sense of the word. "Ha! Good job, Boreal and Lilly!" he praised the two companions immediately, digging in his pockets for the traditional reindeer jerky treats.
He even flashed Sah a triumphant grin at their success.
When Boreal dived, Sah's eyes snapped up just as Tal's did. He raised a brow at the courier's aim, "You've gotten better." With a grin he walked over and ruffled Lilly's fur again. The wolf wagged happily, taking treats from Tal and nudging her dragon friend with a happy nose. "And good job, Boreal."
The Abandoned matched the courier's grin. "Do you need to skin it or anything?" For his quest, Sah had had to put his kill's skin under the moonlight, and he wasn't sure if such things were the norm or not. The Abandoned rolled his eyes and with a quick hand, snatched up Lilly's scruff right as the wolf attempted to jump down to the ledge just beneath them.
"Lilly, why?" The wolf yipped; eyes locked onto a normal hare below. Sah let out a sigh and released her. With a little wiggle, she pounced. There was a quick squeal, and then she quickly bounded up to stand next to her bonded, holding her kill proudly.
Chuckling Sah nodded, "Good job. Want that for dinner?" Lilly gave a happy yip in response.
"You always say that, Jester." Tal scoffed to hide the warmth he felt at the praise. His expression only dipped towards its more usual glower for a moment though before he was handing out treats and head scritches with a proud grin for the companions who had helped corral the Hare. "You both did great! I'm really proud of you," he informed them, making a fuss over the two for a long minute before he stood to retrieve his knife from the Hare.
"Yup, kill and skin it with the knife." Which honestly was way easier than killing and skinning the ursur had been! He set to work at the task, used to skinning arctic hares and deft at the task as Lilly went cliff diving and Boreal jumped after her - not to land on the ledge, but to fly out a little ways while the wolf hunted.
As flesh parted from muscle, Tal glanced up at Sah and his companion with a grin. "Want to stop at the Peepholes on the way back an' look for treasure?" he suggested slyly.
Sah paused before shrugging nonchalantly, "I guess I do." And he meant it each time. Tal was improving rapidly in both abilities and power. The courier was no longer the squishy and skinny twig he used to be. The hunter would never admit it, but he was proud of him.
He had to restrain a smile as Tal spoiled the companions, Lilly's happiness bubbling up through their bond. Shaking his head, Sah focused on the conversation, "I'm not surprised. I'd wager it's to implement the hare's properties on it. Or something like that." There was magic in blood.
The Abandoned flashed Tal a feral grin, "Oh? Let's." Sah had never gone there intentionally looking for treasure, but the day was still young, and it would be a waste not to go.
Tal rolled his eyes but didn't stretch the point further. If Sah wanted to throw around compliments, who was he to argue? And besides, he had far more pressing matters to attend to, like feeding the companions treats and scratching their jaws and making sure they both knew how good they'd done in their hunt.
"Something like that," Tal agreed slyly, working diligently to slice a foot from the Hare and slipped it into his Bag before cutting neat lines through the fur and peeling it away from the meat. Once the skin was free he sectioned up the meat and stored that, too. Halovian practicality.
He stood up and dusted his knees off, grinning at Sah. "Last one there is a rotten ningo egg!" he called out - after he'd already taken off, of course.
