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!
The brief success he feels at having retrieved the man's hand in time to shake (or, that's the version of the story he'd be telling himself) immediately withers as Talyson's expression goes through a delightful spasm from surprise, to disbelief, to something that almost looks murderous if it wasn't for the lines around his eyes and mouth. His own hand retreats to rub at the back of his neck, wincing even as he tries to grin his way back into Tal's good graces.
"I was just going to shift and fly away!" he argues weakly. Trying to strive for optimism, he straightens and gestures widely with his arms. "Or turn into an elephant - they're even bigger than ursur! It wouldn't be fair to kill them when they're just hungry!" No matter how capable he is of it, Harper would sooner try to befriend an ursur by hand-feeding it seal meat and having his arm taken alongside it than killing a poor bear.
Running away was a tried and true method that Tal could appreciate, and upon hearing that Harper could shift into a bird the courier actually started to relax. He wasn't entirely sure what an ellyfant was, but if it was big that was even better... unless there was more than one ursur. It was the last protest, however, that had Tal rubbing the heels of his hands against his eyes with a feeling of helpless despair.
"...I'm guessin' you've never met an ursur," he managed, the words sounding a little strangled as he exerted every ounce of willpower to keep his voice relatively calm. "They don't usually give y'much choice." He took a steadying breath. Then another. Then he dropped his hands to his sides and rested one on the hilt of his Dagger with the lucky(??) blink hare's foot dangling from the pommel.
"Look, I'll get your ice, an' you finish drawin' your Art, an' then we can get you someplace you can thaw, yeah?"
Okay, that's a good argument. "Well no, but I've met a lot of other bears," he argues weakly. "And a giant chicken that tried to destroy Torchline. And I was able to get it back home without killing it either!" Against the desires of some of his fellow combatants, sure, but Nate had gotten a cool name out of it so really Harper can't see why they would complain.
The offer makes him perk back up as if he'd never been scolded in the first place, clearly grateful. "Hey, thanks! It just has to have the sunlight peeking through the section you chop off, and it doesn't have to be too big. My vial is pretty small." Speaking of - Harper fumbles around with his numb fingers to find and withdraw the little tube with the cork stopper to hold it out to Talyson. "I'm almost done! I'm sorry to be a bother." Though he smiles as he says it, it's a bit wry, aware of the trouble he's putting the man through. He was just planning on flying out of here with his bag in his talons back to the Citadel, but getting warm any sooner would be a blessing.
Tal squinted at Harper, not convinced by his answer - a giant chicken? Really?? How dangerous could a big ol' stupid ningo-wannabe be? don't answer that - and filled with questions that, on second thought, he wasn't sure he wanted answers to.
Not if it meant standing around in the cold any longer than they had to, at least. Harper was putting his fingers in genuine danger and Tal didn't want to bother Ru with Healing the golden retriever chatterbox. She'd eat him alive!
"Sunlight... okay," the courier agreed readily enough, knowing better than to question the whims of the gods. And since it didn't have to be very big that made it even easier. He took the offered vial and measured its size with a quick eye before the apology stopped him and was torn between a sigh and a scowl. "Yeah, well... Just be smarter about it next time, okay? At least get supplies in Snowcloak afore headin' out in Deepfrost. Gloves from Torchline..." He shook his head in disgust at the flimsy goods that had been foisted on the good-natured painter, then cast around for a likely looking ice formation. The combination of the Bay and the season made that easier than it would have been elsewhere and Tal found a section of ice along the shore that the sunlight gleamed down on, filtering into the shallow water below.
The courier stretched out on his stomach to carefully crack a long sliver of ice free with his Dagger. He slid it into the vial and then wriggled painstakingly backwards until he felt the black sand and white snow under his toes again before he stood up and trotted back to shore with Harper's prize.
Talyson doesn't argue any further, which clearly means Harper has won this particular argument. Satisfied with that victory, he is more amenable to the younger man helping him out (loser's rights or something) and salutes cheerily as the courier takes the vial in hand and departs with one last grumble. Hurrying to put the final touches on his piece in the time Talyson takes to chip off a section of the sunlit ice, Harper rolls up his charcoals so they won't stain the little bag he keeps them in and breaks down his portable stand back into its travel tube to sling over his back. All that's left is the art itself, which he holds carefully with both hands - mostly because he still can't feel them and doesn't want to risk dropping it.
"Ready!" he confirms jovially, half-jogging back towards the courier with a renewed pep in his step. Whether it's caused by the social outlet or the promise of heat is unclear even to him. "How long is the flight back?" Was this particular skyboat faster because of its smaller size?
Tal was becoming something of an expert at helping other people with their god quests; Flora and Sah in particular. What was one more added to the list? And so he procured the sunlit ice shard without too much trouble. By the time he made it back the other man was ready to pack up, and the courier heaved a sigh of relief.
He waited with surprising patience while supplies were carefully put away and then started to hand the vial with its precious cargo over before realizing that Harper's frozen fingers were full of Art. A second, albeit smaller, sigh followed and he turned to trudge back towards the Peregrine with his new friend passenger in tow. "Not long," he admitted, perking up a bit at the chance to show off his prized possession. "She doesn't have th'canvas of the bigger hulls, but she's nimble as her namesake an' she'll cut through the sky swift as an arrow on a day like today." He couldn't help but boast about the Peregrine's abilities as he scampered up the ladder and then leaned over the side, peering down at Harper and his handful with a furrowed brow.
"Can you, uh... I dunno. Roll it up or somethin'? I'll bring her down as close as I can, but you'll want t'protect that paper once we get up into the high winds."
04-25-2023, 11:08 PM (This post was last modified: 04-26-2023, 03:31 AM by Harper.)
HARPER
Harper is very careful as he takes the vial in his frozen fingers, clutching it to his chest for a moment in excitement before tucking it away where it would be safe for the journey. There was no issue if it melted, so he wouldn't worry about it until they were back in the Citadel. Following behind his surly savior (oooh, that sounded good!) Harper watches the younger man scamper up the ladder and realizes the exact same issue at the same time. "Oh yeah, I just put a different paper on top so it doesn't smudge and then it can be rolled!" Which he does as quickly as possible, and then tucks it into the hard protective roll case he'd brought before ascending the ladder.
With his feet on deck, Harper spins slowly, taking in the skyboat with a fittingly impressed expression. "I can't believe this is just yours, it's such high quality! How long did it take you to make it?" He presumes it was made as he hasn't heard of any sellers of these expensive boats. "Oh, where should I sit so I'm out of the way?" He wouldn't mind sitting near the wheel to keep Talyson stuck in conversation, but perhaps now was the kindest time to give the courier a break from Harper's overly-social self.
After Talyson directed him to a proper seat, Harper took his bag off and held it between his ankles so he could marvel at the view over the side of the Skyboat. As promised, it wasn’t a terribly long ride, and the comforting warmth of the Citadel was greatly welcomed. But Harper kept Talyson’s gifted gloves all the same - if only to remind him to hunt the courier down again to return the kind deed he’d done that day for Harper.
