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!
Trinket was shivering long before she reached the village. The skyship she'd stowed away on, as she often did, had docked just a few minutes earlier at the Observatory, and the passengers had quickly hurried off to get inside and away from the cold. Trinket had waited, as usual, below decks, waiting for the other passengers to disembark. It was easier to avoid notice that way.
Emerging from the warmth of the lower decks and onto the skyport had immediately sent chills down Trinket's spine. She normally ignored the cold; cold was boring, and not worth her attention. But her body had other ideas, and try as she might to ignore the weather, she found herself shivering, teeth chattering, as she trudged barefoot through the snow.
She hugged her doll against her chest, tighter than usual, blinking through the snow that clung to her eyelashes. Barely anyone was out in the snowfall, most of them already having sought shelter indoors. They would be bundled up in front of the fire, drinking warm drinks, and staying comfortable.
Warm drinks in front of the fire were boring...but she realized that was what she needed right now.
Fire, and a warm coat and boots. Maybe some socks as well. And a thicker dress; the old, worn black dress she wore was the only clothing she owned, and it was hardly fitting for the weather.
She looked around, searching for a shop she could steal these things from. Stealing was easy. She simply told what she wanted to come to her, took it, and left. But there were no shops open on the bitter cold day.
Jude is only outside because it is more fun, at the time. While the adults are keen to keep warm, wise and weathered in their age, Jude - one of the few children the Greatwood has in her keep - finds the inclement weather worthwhile in terms of simple enjoyment. He is working at making a little copse of his own, some menagerie of treehouse and fort. It’s a decent example of construction, really; downed limbs fastened together with twine, leaning against a large tree with a hollowed out section near the roots to cozy down into. He is planting rocks at the base of the tied together limbs to keep them secure when, wandering afield to find more materials, he spots a young girl.
Blinking against the snow to ensure he’s not seeing things, Jude glances around for any clues of nearby parents and, finding none, hurries to join her. As he approaches he notices her shivering rather profoundly, and his eyes go big with worry. “Miss! Miss, are you okay? Where’s your house?” They’re of a similar age, but his Maman would lecture him dizzy for calling a young girl anything but an appropriately respectful title.
Trinket watched the boy approach. She expected him to ask if she was lost; for some reason, everyone asked her if she was lost. It was a silly question.
The question the boy asked mattered little to the wanderer, though she answered him through clattering teeth.
"I..d-don't have...a h-house..."
She hugged her arms around herself, holding her doll tight against her chest. She was cold. Colder than she had ever been. It occurred to her that it was bad to be this cold. She glanced around, unsure of where to go. Someplace warm, preferably.
She looked back to the boy in front of her. "I'm c-c-cold," she said. "D-do you want to p-play a g-g-game?"
She blinked away the thick snowflakes in her eyelashes.
"The g-game is called, 'G-g-get warm.' Please h-h-help me play."
She stood still, except for her shivering and the clattering of her teeth. Despite her situation, no emotion touched her eyes. She simply watched the boy and waited, curious to see if he would help her play the game. It seemed like an important game. If the boy wouldn't play it with her, she wasn't sure what she would do.
Didn't have a house? Jude knew some nomadic travelers did not have houses, but all of them had been adults; he'd never met a young girl without one. Immediately concerned, Jude steps closer in the snow, and begins to take off his coat. He'd seen his father do it for his maman enough times to know it was polite for a boy to give a girl his coat if she was cold, so he holds it out for her to take.
It's the 'please help' that spurs him, and he nods a little too hard, brain spinning at full speed with a panicked desire to do so. "I have a fort but it doesn't have any firewood, if you wear my coat do you think you will be able to make it to my house?" He knows his mother would be happy to welcome her in, even unexpectedly. "You're not hurt, right?" If she is, Jude isn't exactly positive that he can carry her given he has always run a little skinny in his youth.
Trinket took the coat and bundled herself up in it. She wasn't warm yet, but it was a start. She continued shivering, though at least the coat blocked out the wind.
"I will go to your h-h-house," Trinket said, giving a small nod. "My f-f-feet hurt." Her bare feet were frigid in the cold. So much so that the snow and ice was causing her pain. She idly wondered if she would get frostbite. That, at least, would be interesting. But she didn't think she wanted to experience that today. She was experiencing enough new things with the cold already.
She stepped forward to follow the boy. The painful cold in her feet made her stumble a bit, but she paid the pain little mind. She knew her feet hurt, she was aware of the pain, but she didn't care for it. She didn't cry out or wince. But despite this, she knew it would be best to get her feet warm as quickly as possible. So she would follow the boy along to wherever he led.
Okay, progress. She's a decisive girl, which is both admirable to Jude, and a boon to their sticky situation. Stranger danger wouldn't exactly aid them in keeping all her toes intact. Though hearing that they're hurting makes Jude's soft heart hurt in tandem, and the second she stumbles he crowds closer, worried. "Can you put your arm over my shoulder? I can help a little," he says, already trying to sidle closer to achieve it. He certainly can't carry her entirely, scrawny as he is, but for someone in need, Jude would move mountains. Maybe right now those mountains were the size of molehills, but consider it strength training.
The wind groans angrily, and Jude bites his lip. Home is not far, he can see the smoke of the fireplace through the trees but not yet the glow from the windows. They'll be okay, but the threat feels far greater in the moment.
