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!
Noah nodded as if confirming his own suspicions, letting his lips come together as his throat formed a hmm sound. "Do you think she's the type of god to see someone who doesn't follow her?" Noah shifted his weight again, watching as Fox moved some of the bug-like creatures to a new temporary home. "I'll admit that I don't know much about her. I've only gotten snippets." He said, taking the jar of flinthoppers from Fox. He pulled at mental strings and, from where they had come before, Vi'dore stepped from the treeline and nickered.
Then, Noah lifted his head and and his eyes to the sky. There was no sound to announce the arrival of the griffin, just the shadow of her powerful body that loomed overhead. She swooped in, low and quick, and dropped a dead, wild rabbit at the Ancient's feet before flapping her great wings to lift herself on a pocket of warm air, and to the branch of a nearby tree. Mentally she grumbled at her bondmate for having to sacrifice her meal.
Carefully extracting a couple of the flinthoppers from their buddies in the larger jar, Fox makes the transfer and quickly screws a lid back on both, lest all of them escape to wreak havoc on the dry grass. "She didn't seem the type not to see anyone," he says softly of Dygra, straightening back up when he's done. "I confess I've only met her once. I found her... warm, but in an intense sort of way." He's not sure how to describe it. "Dark, but a necessary darkness. Like the moon to the sun."
He has no idea if he's making sense or simply waxing lyrical without meaning to, and luckily he's interrupted by the swoop of a sudden shadow and a rabbit landing at his feet. Having ducked a little (can you blame him?), Fox can't hide how impressed he is, flashing a smile at Noah and offering out the jar. "Two companions, huh?" And both very, very unique. Maybe that'll spark some recognition in the hunter's thick skull soon.
The Sentinel of the North looked at his companions as Fox mentioned them, smiling a little. "That is Eira." He said, pointing to the griffin that had dropped the kill before the ancient. "I found her egg on the Sea of Glass a few years ago." Inwardly Noah was surprised at that realization -- had it really been nearly five years since their bond formed? The way time flew. "I suspect that it was taken from her nest. Glad I got to her before an ursur found it." Taking the flinthoppers from Fox and sticking the small jar in a pocket, Noah then gestured at the unicorn. "You've already met him." The stallion nickered, ears perking at his mention. "I call him Vi'dore. A gift from Vi."
Expecting the unicorn to close the distance between them once more, Noah raised his eyebrows when he didn't. Shrugging mentally towards the stallion, Noah turned his attention back full towards Fox. "I've been thinking about trying to meet her, but wasn't sure how I would be received."
Listening with interest and nodding politely towards the companions as they're introduced, Fox retrieves the rabbit he's been traded, stowing it away in his pack and slanting a second, grateful look towards Eira for giving up her kill. "At least you'll never be alone in your travels," he remarks with a warm smile back towards Noah, only to straighten up a little when the conversation swings back around to his new goddess.
"She didn't give off the impression that she would turn anyone away," he says slowly, though it's a difficult thing to gauge given that of course she'd have wanted to see him, given that he was joining the ranks of the Ancients. "And the only offering she asks is a little of your own blood." As far as he knows, anyway.
Noah nodded some and smiled. "Yeah." They were good partners, and Noah was thankful for them. "Perhaps your Dygra will bless you with one one day." He consoled, looking from his companions to the ancient.
Noah wasn't sure how he felt about that. His own blood? It made his throat tighten some to think about it. He had no logical reason to be averse to such a thing, having given animals as sacrifices to the old gods before, but there was some sort of emotional aversion to giving his own blood to a goddess he didn't follow. Safrin had said she wasn't an enemy, but there was something in the very nature of wanting someone's blood that gave Noah a sense of unease.
"Thanks for showing me this." Noah finally said, taking in a breath that somehow indicated there was little left for the Sentinel to say.
"Maybe so," Fox agrees with a smile that surprises even himself with its sincerity. He doesn't truly believe it, of course, because he's been alone for so long that change is as daunting as it is impossible to visualise, but it's a nice sentiment all the same. Smiling one last time between the Sentinel's two companions, he shifts his pack on his back and glances around as if to check for further flinthoppers - it wouldn't shock him to see some jumping about at their feet, bold as you like.
It's safe, though, and he offers a nod to Noah in response to his gratitude. "Any time. If you want to know anything more about the land, the farms you saw back there will probably be able to tell you more than I can. But if you need anything hunted, there's a board in the Inner Quarter. You can look me up there."
With nothing more to say, Fox raises a hand in a wave and then continues on his way, having a long ways to go before he's properly checked his designated perimeter.
