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!
I believe that the darkness reminds us where light can be
Amongst the many other things on Phoebe's ever growing plate, she had a quest for Frey to fulfill. And who did she call on for that? Noah. In her letter she had promised that this time there wouldn't be any trippy cacti in far away deserts. Just a frivolous game of extreme tag on his home turf no less. And much to her relief, he obliged.
So on a day when Jude was off with his father, the Nightingale made her way to the new forest in Halo. The trees would provide an extra layer of difficulty to keep things interesting - and it wasn't nearly as cold as the tundra. When she saw Noah approach she waved...then disappeared in a swirl of rainbow light.
Reappearing right behind him. "Tag!" she shouted as she tapped his shoulder before flittering away again a few yards away.
Noah was always willing to help Phoebe with the tasks that Frey gave her. A great deal of their interactions had been focused on it, and Noah felt that their relationship was growing in selfless love for each other to help attain goals and quests for each other. Her letter found him at a time when he had actually intended to reach out to her — for just as much as she needed his services now, he would need her’s soon.
Heading towards the forest was easy when all it took was a blink. He appeared several yards from the entry to the forest, and the blonde woman was easy to spot. He returned her wave before she disappeared by cloak of rainbow light. A broad smile broke across Noah’s face and lit behind his eyes — so, this is what she meant by tag.
He laughed a great belly laugh as he spun around at the prompting of her tag. ”Hey!” He said, the word an instinctual response as he lashed out playfully, trying to land his own tag on her hip (the closest point of contact he could make from where his arms had already been). If he did make his target, he would take a few bouncing steps back before disappearing at the blink of an eye into the forest behind them.
I want trees instead of gravestones nothing to confess
I believe that the darkness reminds us where light can be
Unfortunately for Noah, Phoebe was just to quick for him to land a hand on. She reappeared a few yards away in a show of rainbow light, a mischevious grin upon her face. "Where, oh, where will Phoebe be?" she called out, disappearing once more in rainbow light. She appeared again a few yards further away. Then she disappeared and didn't seem to reappear at all.
Because she appeared behind him again. Restraining a giggle of amusement, she shouted, "BOO!" hoping to catch him off guard to scare him a bit. Was it part of the game? Not really. But it didn't make it any less fun.
Unable to land his own tag, Noah let out a playful growl. When she had asked for his help, he wasn’t prepared for this to be the outcome. He didn’t take off, as he was still it.
But Noah was no stranger to teleportation.
Watching as the rainbow light wrapped around the Demi goddess and she disappeared again, Noah turned slowly around. He prepared for her, ready to immediately close the distance between them as soon as he saw any sign of her.
She appeared behind him and, as swift as lightning, Noah struck out his own tag and went ”ha!” before teleporting into the chiming metal forest.
I want trees instead of gravestones nothing to confess
Noah doesn't quite teleport onto his lap, given that the Huntsman is currently prowling through the Hollow Forest on foot, but the sudden appearance of the Sentinel absolutely knocks him on his ass, and his flailing arms are at risk of taking the other man down with him.
"Gah!" Comes his eloquent blurt of surprise. Why is he here, pray tell? Well, Deimos had said something about giant spiders and breath snatches and whatnot, and the hunter in him has been keen to take a look before things get way too cold to function. (So give it an hour, probably).
Except he's not found any spiders or other spooky fauna. Just a couple demigods playing tag, eyyyy.
I believe that the darkness reminds us where light can be
Phoebe spots the commotion in the distance thanks to Ronin's cry. She grinned, happy to see the hunter, but also planning mischief at the sight of him. She knew him to be a playful sort, and quick enough to catch her and Noah despite their teleportation abilities, so why not have him join in the fun?
The Nightingale suddenly appeared next to the two men, who were still quite shell shocked from the sudden tackling. She smiled at Ronin, waving a greeting before leaning forward and tapping the tip of his nose with her finger. "Tag, you're it!" she said with a spriteful laugh, disappering into the forest with rainbow light not a second later.
Not expecting to be literally land on another one of his friends, Noah let out a surprised and equally as eloquent sound as Ronin. He stumbled, caught himself just barely on a metallic tree, and started laughing. "Sorry, man." He couldn't help but continue to laugh. This felt so childish on one hand, but on the other it helped all of the tension release from Noah's shoulder.
He could feel his shoulders soften as Phoebe appeared and tapped Ronin on his nose. He quickly stuck his tongue out at the Huntsman before poofing into nothingness and reappearing deeper in the Hollow Forest.
I want trees instead of gravestones nothing to confess
Given that this is Ronin of all people, of course he's laughing as well even as he tries to brush the snow from his hair and get his feet back under himself. Before he's able to manage it, though, naturally Phoebe appears, and with little more than a boop to his snoot, he's playing tag and he's it, apparently. "Hey, what? No fair?" Scrabbling upright, his friends have teleported away already, but Ronin also has a few tricks up his sleeve.
"Yeah, you'd better run!" he calls, running off into the forest after them (though for all he knows he could be running away rather than towards the two demigods). But that's why he summons an assistant to help out. And with his astral projection setting off in the opposite direction, he's hopeful that they'll run into at least one victi-- er, player before long.
I believe that the darkness reminds us where light can be
It might not be fair, but it certainly was fun! She giggled at his protest as she disappeared into the forest in a swirl of rainbow light. Into the wood she went, Noah and her both like needles in a haystack in the expansive forest. Now she just had to wait and see if she would be found.
And she was inevitably. Real Ronin came up at her from the side and she laughed, a mischievous grin on her face. She attempted to poof away once again before he could speed up and tag her. But her teleportation wasn't fool proof - Ronin was fast and could likely tag her if she wasn't quick enough herself at teleporting away.
05-02-2023, 05:35 PM (This post was last modified: 05-02-2023, 05:36 PM by Noah.)
NOAH
Noah appeared in a small clearing of trees, and as he did, the flashing image of Ronin came into view just a jump and a skip away. The hunter sucked in a breath and ducked behind one of the trees, careful to control his breathing as he watched the projection Ronin run past him.
Noah angled himself around the tree and once projection!Ronin was out of sight, he trotted out from behind the tree. He crouched low and tried to hide some in the metallic timber, keeping his eyes scanning out for Phoebe and Ronin alike. He felt the magic tingling in his bones, and he knew he wouldn’t be able to rely on it quite as readily as he had already today. Not yet having the ability mastered, Noah would need to be sparring with it for the remained of their game.
I want trees instead of gravestones nothing to confess
Ronin is fast, and it's with agile delight that he spots Phoebe and closes in on her. Let it never be said that the Huntsman isn't easy to draw into shenanigans, because as he taps the Nightingale's shoulder and calls out a vibrant, "Tag!" it's as though he's been part of the game all along.
What's more, as soon as he's successfully made Phoebe it, he seems to flicker for a moment in front of her, before disappearing entirely.
What looks like an illusion is more of a bait and switch, however; having swapped places with his projection before dismissing it, there might only be one Ronin now, but he's just as committed to winning. Make no mistake about that.
Not that, you know, they've defined a 'safe' to run to, or how long the game is meant to continue.
I believe that the darkness reminds us where light can be
"Shoot!" comes Phoebe's cry of defeat just as she disappeared into a swirl of rainbow light. She appeared in a little clearing not far away with neither of the boys in sight. Harrumph! Well this was going to be difficult.
So she did what only seemed most logical, teleporting here and there until she spotted something promising. Thankfully she had the endurance to keep using her magic like that. It was when she appeared behind Noah that she grinned. Perfect.
His attention was held elsewhere, so she slowly creeped her way up behind the other demigod, hoping not to be detected. Once close enough she reached out to pat his back. "Tag!" she shouted with a trill of giggles, running back and away before poofing into thin air again.
Noah stalked the projection!Ronin only until there was a small, shifting shimmer. He paused, eyes narrowing and face twisting playfully as he wondered if the Huntsman would find him. It wasn’t him, however, that made Noah turn around. Phoebe appeared behind him and just as he sucked in a breath and jumped back from her, he barely missed the brushing of her fingertips. He growled at her as she disappeared in a beautiful display of Frey’s power.
Then, Noah ran. He ran for where he had last seen Ronin’s body. He pushed himself hard and fast, using every bit of his speed and agility to navigate the Hollow Forest. He lunged for the other demigod, a smile flashing, and he yelled ”Tag!” hoping to at least touch the Huntsman before falling to the ground from his leap.
I want trees instead of gravestones nothing to confess
It's different, being on the not it end of the game, and Ronin finds himself trying to make himself as innocuous as possible against the backdrop of strange, metallic trees. It's useless, of course (even if he'd been wearing clothing that might blend in, which he isn't, his breath fogging the air is a dead giveaway), and at Phoebe's trilling laughter he hunkers into more of a creep through the woods. For all the good it does him.
A yelp of surprise leaves his lips even before Noah is anywhere near him, the Huntsman trying and failing to lunge out of the way. The result is that both demigods end up on the ground, Ronin scrabbling to try and find his footing and sit up. "Taaaaaag?" he calls back, trying to tap the other man on the arm before he can disappear again.
