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!
Tal had been very patient, waiting for a storm to bring lightning over the beach. He'd waited two whole days before he'd finally given up and sent a letter to Halo.
Not to anyone specific, of course. Absolutely not. They were... well, not friends, certainly! No, he sent the letter to the school, figuring that maybe Hotaru would be able to send someone his way, on the next airship to Torchline.
Someone with lightning magic.
No one specifically, of course. Anyone would do.
But with the school not yet officially open, there weren't many lightning mages to choose from yet, now were there?
And around the time he figured the round trip would be over he and Boreal headed out to the beach with their lunch to wait. Pinching pieces of crust off his sandwich he was tossing them to the birds when he noticed there were. Uh. A lot of birds. And the Hels were a lot pushier than ningo tended to be!
The letter had arrived and Sah had cackled as he read it. He was well aware that the courier knew how rare lightning Abandoned were. Hell, he and Hotaru were the only ones that the Wild Hunter had ever encountered. Even Deimos for all his magic, lacked it. Granted, with how much power he wielded, the Sword had no need for it.
Arriving at the rendezvous site, Lilly raced forward to greet Boreal with a wag and nose boop. Pad trailed after her reluctantly, grumbling under his breath. The pup had grown as swiftly as any other, yet he still only came up to his big sister's shoulder. Sah raised a brow at Tal as he caught up, "You know Errand Boy. Next time you could just send me a letter directly." The smirk on his face was far too cheerful as he added, "Save us both the trouble."
In truth, Tal hadn't really realized the rarity of lightning magic was among Abandoned. If anything, knowing Sah and Ru made it seem like they weren't all that uncommon!
But if asked, he had certainly been keeping his fingers crossed that it would be the latter on that airship headed to Torchline, and he heaved an expressive sigh of saintly resignation when Boreal caroled her special greeting for Lilly. Because if she was saying hello to her best friend, then that meant the best friend's partner couldn't be far behind...
"Oh, it's you again? I was hoping for Ru," he pointed out, turning to roll his eyes at Sah - but offering his hand in greeting even while he was doing so.
And then wincing as an opportunistic Hel swooped by to snag the last bit of crust from his other hand, followed by a dozen others all cawing and screeching for a nibble. "Ow! Hey! Fuckin' winged pests!" he growled, shaking his nipped fingers and examining them for blood. "These bastards are way worse then ningo!" At least Halo's birds were just stupid, not usually malicious!
Sah rolled his eyes, "She had to handle something." Hotaru was faster on wings then he'd ever be on feet or ship so if things required immediate attention outside of Halo, she was often the one sent. Tal's request had come in at the same time as such an urgent one. The headmistress had left to handle the matter, and the headmaster came to deal with the courier. Lucky him.
The Abandoned cackled at Tal's misery. "I don't think they like you very much." As he said this, one swooped down and attempted to tug his ear off. "What the fuck?" He swiped at the bird with a scowl.
"Remind me again why it has to be these fuckers?" Sah questioned the courier as he snapped his teeth at one bird that tried to get too close. The avian squawked angrily but backed off. Surely a far nicer bird would do for Tal's task.
Tal grumbled quietly but he didn't really begrudge Ru helping someone else. Besides, coming to Torchline might have meant her running into Flora and he had no idea how that complicated mother-daughter relationship was going right now. It wasn't any of his business, either, but unfortunately that meant working with this joker.
Jester.
Whatever.
Boreal shot a small jet of flame in annoyance at a particularly ballsy Hel that had landed behind Lilly and was waddling towards her tail, beak open in threat/promise. Tal scowled harder and rested his hand on his knife, fingers tapping the pommel thoughtfully/ "Yeah, well, feeling's mutual-- see??" Ha! So it wasn't just him! But he was too annoyed to gloat over karma's deft wing.
"Huh? Nah, it's got nothin' t'do with these. They just showed up while I was eatin' lunch an' waitin' on you." This time when one swooped towards him he slashed out with the dagger and caught it across the chest. It tumbled to the sand, dying, and the nearest members of its flock fluttered away, calling out in distress at the sudden splash of blood across the beach.
He sheathed the blade again and gestured expansively at the sand that stretched along the beach. "Got some things to do for Frey, an' I needed some lightning-blasted sand. Glass. Stuff," he explained. "Figured we could start with somethin' easy." His grin twitched against the downward curve of his lips as he offered Sah the challenge.
Sah hummed, "For a second there I thought you needed lighting roasted hel for some reason." He shrugged before smirking, "I'm not one to judge tastebuds but I was a bit concerned." Slipping into teasing Tal was familiar and routine, but still as much fun as it was the first time. It was a strange notion. To enjoy taunting someone yet knowing full well that you'd kill for them.
Tal explained what he needed and the Abandond nodded, "Ah. That I can do." Sah glanced at a hel and a bolt of lightning came down and zapped its tail feathers in warning. The bird squawked and fled. Shooting a glance at the other birds, they seemed to get the message and backed off marginally.
Or at least they backed off from the mage. Unfortunately, they turned on Tal with renewed anger, squawking in his face.
Tal looked from Sah to the birds with his brows raised. He knew the other man was teasing him and he tried to instinctively bristle up against it, but his curiosity got the better of him. "I've never tried it," he admitted reluctantly, hating to have to admit to anything in front of his best frenemy. "Is it that bad?" Meat was meat in Halo, and picky eaters didn't survive long. Or, well, hadn't, before. With the changes in the world it was weird to think that they were a lot less likely to starve to death now that the Eirachi's influence had been... broken? Diluted? Something to ask a god the next time he prayed.
He smirked and crossed his arms at first as Sah warmed up the ol' zappy fingers on an annoying Hel, but apparently the lesson he'd taught them a mere minute before had already faded from their sly, malicious brains because they dove for him again as if the Jester's lightning bolt had been his fault. "Hey!" It wasn't quite a squawk of angry protest, but Tal backpedaled over the sand as he drew his Dagger a second time and slashed a few rapid strokes through the air, slicing through feathers and flesh. The flock rose swiftly in dismay, flapping up high out of reach though they stayed overhead, circling.
Waiting.
"Let's get this over with," Tal grumbled, keeping a weather eye on the thieving bastards. "An' I'll buy first round of drinks at the Hanged Man." The last was added a little grudgingly in lieu of a more proper 'thank you' as the courier waited for the magic to happen.
Sah shivered, "Yes. For some reason they turn sour when cooked with lightning. I try to avoid it unless there's no other option." The past year had made it easier to avoid and for that the hunter was thankful. He was never one to be picky or waste meat but having options was a nice change.
"When grilled they're surprisingly good though." He added after a moment. Sah had no idea why lightning versus fire could cause such differences for certain meats but there was no denying that it did. Rhampire tasted better with lightning and luxere tasted better with fire. It was weird.
"Deal." Sah walked around the shore until he found a suitably spacious spot free of vegetation or other things that might get suck in the glass. "Step back." He warned Tal.
Once the courier was safely out of range, the Abandoned took a deep breath. The sky darkened quickly and with a flick of his wrist a series of lightning bolts struck the area around the Wild Thunder. When the sparks and smoke cleared, there was a ring of glass around him.
Huh. He learned something new every day, or some shit. He'd never tried anything cooked with lightning before, at least, or considered how the electricity would affect its taste. His own meat tended to come from less magical means of murder; even the magical reach of his dagger only produced mundane stab wounds in the creatures it punctured; no different than if he'd stabbed them up close and personal, or used a spear.
"I'll have to try it grilled sometime," he decided philosophically, willing to try any food once. And more than once, if the options were that or starving.
He watched Sah walking around curiously; it reminded him a little of the dogs looking for the best place for a lie-down and he hid a grin. The Jester was helping him out, after all and--
Oop. There the companions went, chasing each other down the beach and safely out of the way. Boreal was in the lead with the Hel he'd killed in her mouth trailing feathers, but Pad looked just about to snatch it when--
The crash of thunder drew his attention back to Sah and he whistled in reluctant admiration at the neat circle. "Not half bad. Remind me never to stand next to you in a storm," he teased, kneeling to crack free a section of the glass with the hilt of his dagger for easier transport. "This is plenty, thanks! Now, about that drink..."
