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!
every time i think i've finally made it, i learn i'm farther away than i have ever been before
The lodge may be one of Noah's proudest accomplishments. Built with the helping hands of many of those Noah had fed over the years, and shoulder to shoulder with his fellow hunters, the lodge stood as a beacon of safety and prosperity in the Greenwing. The rolling expanse of green was a beautiful wreath to the dark woods of the lodge. Noah loved it here.
With Cordelia expecting so soon, the Sentinel had spent time hunting in the Greenwing to be able to prepare a storage for them. It wouldn't be long before Noah would want to move his children and wife to this place for rest and comfort, away from the hustle of Snowcloak. With the chores done, Noah took time to rejuvenate himself before heading back to the Citadel.
The sky was dark and gloomy, but the green around him was still somehow brilliant. The wind was bitter cold and it turned his ears and nose bright red, but the demigod stayed in his task. He turned and jabbed and spun and jumped and grunted as he practiced and practiced with his Sun Spear.
The dogsled couldn't run on the ferns and low, lush flora of the Greenwing, but Tal had other means of transportation these days. The Peregrine was only a two-seater, but she was as neat and swift a skyboat as any man could wish, and Tal had spent a year apprenticing with Halo's skyship captains and learning the ropes - both physical and metaphorical - of sailing across Caido's skies.
It was the boat that Tal used to reach the lodge today, and Boreal flew ahead of it, grumbling happily to herself as she dropped to a landing nearby and went in search of Eira. It took the courier longer to bring the little ship safely down to where he could toss the land-anchor to lodge in a pile of rocks, and then the rope ladder over the railing once the ship was secure. Scampering down, he headed towards Noah with a distracted wave as he sorted a few pieces of mail out of his Bag, then did a double-take at the spear. "Whoa! Did Vi make that for you?" he asked eagerly, before belatedly remembering his manners.
"Uh, sorry. Got some letters for you, Mr. Olson," he amended, nose wrinkling in embarrassment as he handed the slim stack over.
every time i think i've finally made it, i learn i'm farther away than i have ever been before
Noah hadn't expected anyone to visit, but the courier's approach was not unwelcome. Noah straightened himself out as Talyson came over, and at the younger man's excitement he chuckled some. "No," he started as his lips turned upwards, "it was Safrin." He turned the spear fully in one hand before exchanging it to his other, giving Tal ample time to feast his eyes on the weapon.
"Thank you." Noah said, and gestured towards the lodge, "You can set anything on the doorstep. I'll tend to it later." He expected that the letters were probably notices and updates from the office of the Wardens, keeping him appraised of their activities and ideas, as well as the concerns of the people. After Tal set the parcels down, Noah lifted an eyebrow and jutted his chin back at the man, his smile glinting. "Care to see how it works?"
Vi was a figure of legend and awe, a god that Tal gave reverence to but never expected to meet. He perked up at Safrin's name, though, his smile widening in bright remembrance of the starlit goddess who had answered some of his own prayers and helped him out when things looked bleakest. "She helped me fuck up that Banshee Queen during the War," he confided to Noah even as he admired the sleek, lethal beauty of the Spear.
He didn't try to touch it, but he had to tear his eyes away to take the mail over to the indicated doorstep, setting the small sheaf where it wouldn't get easily blown away. He was already tempted to ask if he could stick around and watch when Noah seemed to read his mind and the courier's face lit up, losing even the vestiges of its usual scowl. "Yeah! That'd be great! Uh... I don't have my spear anymore, but I've got the knife Frey made me..." He pulled out the sharp little weapon with its diamond pommel stone and lucky(?) blink hare's foot dangling from the hilt, showing it to Noah shyly.
every time i think i've finally made it, i learn i'm farther away than i have ever been before
At Talyson's eagerness, Noah took a few steps back and readied his weapon. The courier drew his own, and Noah watched as the hare foot dangled from the blade. "That's excellent." His smile continued to broaden as he set his stance. He turned his body away from the lodge to indicate the best grounds for their spar, and when Tal was in place, Noah took the first attack.
Noah moved to close some distance between them, and moved his body in a half-circle, thrusting his spear down and towards Tal's hip and out again. It was a move he had dodged from Melita when he sparred with her before the war. Despite how he had mastered the maneuver for his own body, he was not nearly as swift as the Honeybee had been as she danced upon the water and attacked in such a way.
Noah didn't take any space back, but instead readied the end of the spear's hilt to defend against a coming attack.
Tal scampered into place and set himself across from Noah, gripping his knife enthusiastically and then needing to take a moment to remind himself to relax and breathe. He only had a moment, however, before Noah moved in on attack that reminded him of his own training. The courier shifted sideways in a dodge, feet moving in the patterns Deimos had taught him as he pulled his hip back and then kept the momentum going, skipping back and to the side at an angle to maintain distance.
Which seemed a strange thing to do when he had a knife, but his sharp-toothed grin might give his intentions away. He continued to circle to Noah's left and lashed out with the knife in a short stabbing motion. Of course the blade was nowhere near the hunter, but an invisible point of force thrust out in a mirror of his attack, up to ten feet away from where Tal had stabbed the air in front of him and aimed towards cutting a slash in the other man's left sleeve.
every time i think i've finally made it, i learn i'm farther away than i have ever been before
With Talyson able to dodge his attack, Noah felt a little better. While he knew that the man had defended Halo against the Banshee attacks during the war, he wasn't confident of his skills in hand to hand combat. This, for Noah, was two fold:
1. Assess Talyson's skills
2. Show off his spear
Talyson kept a good distance between them and Noah wasn't sure how that was going to work for the courier. In any case, the distance could still work for him. Between his magic and the reach of his spear, Noah was confident he would be able to land--
The tearing of fabric and a nick against his skin made him stop as he readied his attack. The surprise was easy to identify as it broke through his glacier eyes and pushed his eyebrows up into his hairline. His smile broadened, then, and a guffaw of laughter left his parted jaws. "Nice," he breathed out, before taking several quick steps back and letting the full power of his spear be seen.
Noah thrust the spear again in an arc, but this time it was fire that erupted between them.
Tal had initially gone to Frey to request a magic spear, but the god's idea for what was appropriate to the wiry courier was a lot more fitting in the end. The knife might have lacked the intimidation factor of the larger weapon, but it also took a lot less strength to wield; something that Tal's arms - less noodly than they used to be, at least - appreciated.
The surprise factor of his 'special delivery' was a nice touch, too, and he looked as pleased as a cat who'd gotten into the cream at Noah's praise. The compliment from one of his heroes was just enough of a distraction that he was unprepared when the Sun Spear released a little surprise of its own.
"Hot! Hot!" Tal yelped, scrambling back and to the side as his eyebrows were singed by the unexpected burst of fire. All was fair in training and war, so he couldn't really complain, but he still managed a pretty good 'wounded' look as the flames died down. There wasn't even any snow around to cool his burn in!
Deimos had taught him to get in close when his opponent had a reach weapon like a spear, but Tal was wary of the demigod's greater strength so for the moment he settled for prowling around at a ten foot distance before stabbing out with the dagger again - this time aiming his attack to nick Noah's hand or wrist in the hopes that he could dash in close if the spear dipped.
every time i think i've finally made it, i learn i'm farther away than i have ever been before
With his own surprise bringing a wounded look to the courier’s face, Noah laughed. It was a bright laugh that rivaled the warmth of the sun over Torchline, easily translating that this spar was more for fun than it was for anything else to the Sentinel. He had already done what he wanted to do, which was to show off his spear’s capabilities as well as assess what Talyson was working with.
Noah altered his grip on his spear after thrashing out the arc of fire. The hunter followed the courier as the younger man prowled around him like a wolf on the tundra. Noah’s eyes glinted with half a look of mischief and half from the Sun SPear in his hands that sparked with starlight. Like he had done many times before, his stand off with Talyson was done with a keen and sharp focus, and as the accepted tensed his muscle and jutted his arm in a stabbing motion, Noah disappeared from sight.
The stab met nothing but air, and another bright, brilliant laugh broke the silence of the hunter blinking from existence as he reappeared behind Talyson, using the hilt of the spear to try and swipe his legs out from beneath him.
Tal was having fun, too, but he was having to work for it against the demigod's greater strength and battle experience. Still, he was determined to try and show off a little, eager to earn the Sentinel's approval and prove himself capable to Vi's chosen guardian. He was nimble and quick, and what he lacked in raw strength he made up for in stubborn tenacity.
Still, though he was trying to concentrate and his face naturally fell into the lines of a scowl, he couldn't help but grin at Noah's infectious laugh. The man was bright, as befitted Life's demigod, and Tal was hoping to get at least one more good attack in--
Between heartbeats Noah vanished and Tal belatedly remembered the same thing happening when they'd fought the Frost Giant together. Only this time, the tables were being turned on him. There wasn't even time to mentally berate himself for forgetting that little nugget of information before another laugh announced just where Noah had teleported to, and even as he tried to spin around the spear swept and caught him just below the knees, tumbling Tal to the ground with another bitten-off yelp of dismay.
Well, it wasn't the first time he'd been knocked down, and his dagger was small enough to not get tangled up in as he tried to twist with his fall so he ended up on his back. While it wasn't the ideal situation, it still let him thrust up with the knife towards the Sentinal's midsection (though not far enough to do more than nick the other man) in an attempt to force Noah back and give Tal room to kip back up, grinning ferally from the surge of adrenaline from being surprised twice in a row.
every time i think i've finally made it, i learn i'm farther away than i have ever been before
When his swipe brought the intended consequence, Noah surged forward. The spear turned and twisted, the blade coming down as it shone brilliantly in the sunlight. Noah’s laughter may have left the air, but it didn’t leave his face. Mischief lit his eyes and the smile wrinkled the corners of his face.
Taking a calculated risk in trying to close more distance between them, Noah felt the slice of the blade as it caught his shirt and cleanly left a line of crimson on his abdomen. Noah took the attack knowing that whatever was inflicted could then be healed as quickly as it came. He needed to take the hit to keep Talyson from getting up, which was his goal. The tip of his spear swiped down with Noah’s swift movements and, with the control he held over each fiber in his muscles, Noah intended to stop the blade just short of the courier’s neck, hopefully pinning him where he lay prone.
Noah delivered a lesson that Deimos hadn't taught him: that sometimes he might face an opponent willing to take an injury in order to get close. Even a potentially devastating injury, like a gut stab, might not matter to a frenzied animal - or an opponent with healing magic. Tal was unprepared for the grinning demigod to continue his forward rush even after blood was drawn.
He brought his free hand up and over in a surge of panicked strength when he realized that the other man wasn't stopping, trying to slap the spear off to the side so it would plunge into the ground instead of his own soft throat, and for the briefest splinter of a second it almost felt like it would work. Stronger than he'd ever been, his gloved palm met metal and he felt the weapon shudder--
But it still wasn't enough. The demigod's strength outpaced his own and his attempt to deflect fell short.
Barely.
With a spear at his throat and no healing magic of his own to call upon, Tal groaned and let his hands flop back over his head, eyes closing in defeat. "I yield," he declared. Grudgingly, and with a heavy sigh of defeat.
