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!
"Dying would be interesting," Trinket said with the tiniest of nods. "But I don't want to do that yet. I have other things to learn first."
When the stitches were done, Trinket reached up to touch them. She ran her fingers across the entire gash, feeling each and every stitch under her fingertips. They felt interesting. Each one was slightly different in size, subtle enough that one might not notice if not paying attention.
The healer wrapped a bandage around Trinket's head to cover the wound, then gave Sah instructions for the wound's care, perhaps believing him to be the one responsible for the young girl.
Once the healer was done with her duties, and the commotion around them had finally faded, Trinket looked up at Sah and asked, "Do you want to play another game? You're fun to play with."
A few dabs of blood stained the bandage as she said this, though Trinket didn't care about the pain. It was little more than a mild distraction. She had experienced stitches, and now she had moved on, the entire incident faded from her attention.
Sah wasn't sure if he'd ever felt so much relief and dread at the same time. "Yes. There are far too many things to learn before death." Hopefully the child would always find something to entertain herself so that she'd live a long life.
The healer did an excellent job but then caught the Abandoned off guard when they addressed him as the child's caretaker. He let them give out the instructions and go on their way before he addressed Trinket, "Did you get all that? Learning how to tend to and care for your own injuries will help you from dying before learning everything." Maybe this route of persuasion would work on her?
Sah could tell when Trinket's interest faded. He didn't want her running off before the commotion she caused had settled, fearing she'd injure herself further. "So, what have you learned so far in your travels? Is there something in particular you're hoping to learn?" Maybe he'd be able to point her in the right direction. One that would be at least vaguely safe.
I think there for I am, But what if all I do is bleed?
"I've learned lots of things," Trinket said. "I learned how to kill. And how to use an axe to carve wood and split the skulls of my enemies. And about new birds in the Celestine."
But she didn't want to talk about such things. She'd already learned them, and talking about things she already knew was boring. She wanted to see new things.
"Do you think that man almost died?" Trinket asked, looking at the man who'd taken the blow to the head. He was back in his wagon now, getting ready to head off, likely to go rest after the injury and chaos he'd been through this day. "It would have been interesting to see him die. I've never seen anyone die before."
She looked around, scanning the crowd. She wondered if any of them might die today. It didn't look that way, but she was curious to see what that would be like.
A thought occurred to her. "Where do the healers take people who are hurt too badly to save? We should go there."
01-01-2023, 07:19 PM (This post was last modified: 01-01-2023, 09:59 PM by Sah.)
sah
Sah's brow furrowed deeper, "I'm not sure. If he had been alone, he would have died. But he was tended to quickly enough that I'm not sure if he really was in that level of danger. I guess... if it was a bad enough of a blow to the head he may have died instantly, regardless of who was around." Hopefully that would answer Trinket's dark question.
"I have seen people die." Sah noted after a moment, too many emotions flickering in his eyes before fading once more, "I've seen it peacefully and violently. But...they grow still suddenly. Too still." He locked eyes with the demigod before his lips twitched slightly, "Even stiller than you are." Trinket really was like a doll at times, listless almost. It was unnerving but she was still clearly alive, still breathing.
Her next question hardly surprised the Abandoned. "In Torchline, when someone dies, they put them on a ship and cast it into the water. Then one it’s a small distance away they set the ship on fire so the body burns. I’m not sure if there’s really a place that they store bodies beforehand except maybe in homes are hospitals?” Sah was far less familiar with the rites of the dead here than those in Halo. Halo's funerals were the only ones he'd attended in Caido so far.
Sah hummed in thought, “Some people do bury their dead in what’s called a cemetery. There might be one in Torchline. Do you want to go there?”
"Seeing people who are already dead is boring," Trinket said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "I want to watch someone die."
She pointed towards the departing healer. "Let's follow her. She might be going to a hospital. There might be someone there who is almost dying. Then we can wait there and watch them die."
She was curious what it would be like to see death. To look into someone's eyes in the moment they took their final breath. To see how they reacted to the final, most interesting moment of their lives.
Very curious.
"Let's go," she said, starting off down the street towards the healer. She dragged her doll along behind her. A few drops of blood dripped from the doll's face and dotted the ground. Trinket didn't look back to see if Sah would follow, but the doll's black eyes turned towards him. One eye stared through a drying bloodstain that marred the porcelain face, tainting the eye red. One black eye and one blood red watched the man, waiting. Waiting silently.
Sah let out a heavy sigh but followed Trinket. He waved the healer down and explained the situation in a hushed voice. They were clearly unnerved but agreed nonetheless, waving a hand for the Abandoned and Demigod to follow them.
"They're going to show us the place they work. Apparently, there are a few patients that are on death's door. It's possible that if you're patient, they'll die while you're there. But there's no guarantee." Death was a certainty but it's timing was unpredictable to say the least. But hopefully this little fieldtrip would help satisfy Trinket's curiosity. At this point, Sah was going along with it as damage control.
Trinket followed along silently. The healer soon led them to a small, long building. Inside there were rows of beds. Some were covered in clean white cloth, waiting for patients. Others were filled with patients. Some looked ill, others had bloodstained bandages from various injuries, or splints on broken limbs.
The healer said in a hushed voice, "I don't mind you looking around, but do not disturb any of the patients, or I'll have you removed."
They left to attend to their duties. Trinket stood near the doorway, looking around.
This place was interesting.
She walked from one bed to another, studying the people there. The ill ones didn't look interesting. They simply laid there, occasionally letting out a small groan. The bandaged ones looked more interesting, and she spent some time looking at the bandages, studying the patterns formed by the blood that seeped through the fabric. But before long, she lost interest.
She stood in the center of the room, looking around. "No one looks like they're dying."
Curious.
She had come here to see death. There was no death. Maybe she could change that.
She walked over to the most injured man in the room. He had bandages over his arms, face, and chest. It looked like he had been mauled by one of the dangerous creatures that inhabited the wilderness around Torchline.
Trinket stood over him. She stared into his eyes. He looked weak. He looked tired.
He looked like a fun person to play with.
Holding her doll against her chest, Trinket leaned close, very close, to the man. Then she whispered in his ear, "Do you want to play a game?"
Sah shadowed Trinket silently, keeping out of the way of the healers and patients as he did so. The Abandoned didn't know trust the look in the demigod's eyes as she observed the patients and he found himself stepping closer when she focused on the most fire of them.
He was just barely able to hear her whispered question, but he did. And Sah suppressed the shiver that threatened to go down his spine. Thinking quickly, he let out a hum to get Trinket's attention, "A game? What do you have in mind?" She wasn't exactly asking him to play, but he was present. And wary.
Sah gathered his magic beneath this skin, ready to defend the patient should Trinket decide to expedite his coming death.
The smallest, tiniest hint of a smile touched the corner of Trinket's mouth. She held her doll against her chest. Trinket's eyes were focused on the patient, but the doll's head swiveled around to stare at Sah. The light in the room was dim, to keep the patients comfortable. The low light sent shadows over the doll's porcelain face, until all that could be seen was the glimmer of two glassy black eyes. Staring.
Trinket whispered, "This game is called, 'Watching.'"
She stepped back, glancing at Sah. He didn't like some of her games. He tried to make bad rules. Maybe he wouldn't like this game either.
She glanced past Sah, to the next bed over. The patient there was huddled up under a thin blanket. Trinket commanded the blanket: tighten.
The blanket started squeezing around the patient. At first, the person merely yanked at the blanket, trying to adjust it. But as it tightened more and more around their body, it became clear something was wrong. The patient started to flail and cry out for help.
Trinket waited, watching for Sah's reaction. Then--once he was, hopefully, distracted by the flailing man--she turned back to the badly injured one. She glanced at the bandages around his face and neck.
She focused on the bandages around the man's neck. She gave them the same command: tighten.
Sah certainly was distracted by the suddenly crying man, but he also noticed that the heavily injured's one's face began to change color. Knowing that he had to act fast, the Abandoned quickly reached out and firmly scuffed the back of Trinket's neck, pulling her back and immobilizing her. "Enough." The command sharp and demanding obedience.
Using his telekinesis, he forced the blanket and bandage to loosen, competing against the demigod's magic. Trinket might have been the race with more potential for power, but her still budding magic wasn't yet strong enough to counter his fully realized telekinesis. "Killing isn't watching. If you want to kill something, leave."
Trinket didn't so much as flinch at the touch against her neck, though she did arch an eyebrow at the feeling of being held in place. Curious.
She didn't try to fight the immobilizing force. She merely considered the sensation of it. It was something new. Different.
Different was always interesting.
At Sah's words, Trinket replied, "Killing is a game. My friend taught me that. I won the game last time. You won this time. Are you going to kill me now?"
She showed no fear, neither in her eyes or in her tone of voice. Merely curiosity. More than one person had told her that one day, she would anger someone enough to try to kill her. The mershark. The blacksmith. They had told her this might happen. She wondered, briefly, what it would feel like to die.
She would prefer not to die just yet. She had too many more games to play. But she had no fear of death.
She stood there silently, watching Sah, her face expressionless, waiting to see if he would try to kill her or not.
A slow snarl slipped out of Sah against his will. "No." However, he kept his hand where it was as he spoke. "Killing is not a game. It is an irreversible action that should only be done when necessary. Only when it is for the sake of your own survival or the survival of those you wish to protect." In Caido, it was an action that would likely be necessary for Trinket at some point, but not here. Not now.
Turning Trinket around Sah let go of her and dropped to one knee to be eye level with the demigod. "Listen to me. If you wish to survive, you can't kill unnecessarily. Not for fun, boredom or curiosity. You'll just waste resources, food, and your own energy. Or you'll make an enemy out of someone that you can't win against." Sah's face remained stern as he spoke, imploring his words to reach the young demigod.
"Only kill if it's necessary. Do you understand?" He paused, waiting for Trinket's response and trying to decide just what he needed to do depending on what that response was.
"If I make an enemy, I have to split their head open with an axe." Trinket tilted her head to the side. "But I don't have an axe yet."
"If I have to kill to survive," she continued, her tone dead serious, "don't I need to practice? It's hard to win a game you've never played before. Someone is going to try to kill me. If I can't kill them first, I'll lose the game."
She didn't try to push against the telekinetic bonds. She stood so still that even if she weren't bound, she would have been perfectly motionless. Her dark eyes peered into Sah's, expressionless, emotionless.
"If killing is for my own survival, and someone is going to try to kill me, then I need to kill them first in order to survive. But I'm not good at killing, so I need to practice killing so I can kill them before they can kill me." She gave the tiniest of nods. She was sure her logic was sound. "Therefore, it is necessary. I understand."
Sah relaxed his grip as Trinket spoke, finally giving a nod as understanding clicked in his mind. "You're right and wrong. You do need to practice but you're boing about it the wrong way. You have to practice in a way that won't create enemies before you're ready to protect yourself." It was clear that Trinket was thinking logically, but her logic had holes in it that no one seemed ot have bothered fixing yet. The Abandoned decided to give it a try.
Sah made the child sit in the nearest chair and he sat down in the adjacent one, turning so as to face her as he spoke. Hopefully Sah would be able to "Let me explain something. Some things require practice in such that you complete the same task until you master it. Writing is an example. But other things, particularly ones that involve other people and creatures, are different. If you are trying to master, let's say, hunting large carnivores like bears. You have to know how to find animals, set traps, and defend against dangerous creatures before you are truly ready to go and do it on your own."
Pausing, Sah continued, "That's when something called 'training' becomes necessary. It's a way to practice skills like that without putting yourself and others in unnecessary danger. A way to master a skill so that when the time comes to finally use it, you can do so successfully."
"If you want to practice killing and defending yourself, you have to train and not just go and randomly kill people. Training for that includes learning how to use a weapon, how to dodge, and what parts of the body to target or to avoid striking at. Because if you know what won't kill someone, you'll have a better understanding on what will. And if you build that understanding with training instead of risking your life by outright just 'practicing' as you put it, the better off you'll be. The higher your chances of survival will be, that is." The Abandoned spoke to the demigod as he would a peer. She was young but her mentality was far from that of a child and her intelligence was clearly beyond her age.
Sah tilted his head and regarded Trinket "After all, how can you split someone with an axe if you don't know how to swing it properly first? Even if you have an axe and know that you have to swing it to kill them, if you haven't spent time just training how to swing an axe at something like a training target, you'll fail."
He had no idea if he was explaining this correctly or getting through to Trinket. But Gods he hoped that he was. She clearly had a logical basis for her actions, but her logic was skewed and missing steps as well as morals. If he couldn't force the morals on her, maybe this would help her fill in those holes enough that she wouldn't just be running around and committing random acts of violence. "If you want training, I can teach you how to use a sword or wield a knife. I can also teach you how to fight with nothing but your bare hands and magic." He threw the offer out after considering it for a moment.
