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!
Harper waved away her excitement, and she made a face at him as he dismissed her eagerness. "Well, I think it sounds marvelous," she told him in a tone that brokered no argument. "And I would love to take classes. What kinds of classes do you offer? Are there many students? Do you... have anyone my age?"
She laughed as he wiggled his dark brows at her, but took his comment about chartering a skyship to heart. She did have a friend with a skyship, after all. Although he'd been one of the people to warn her away from the Feverlands, Soh wondered if she could convince him to take her for a quick flyover. Did she have anything better to offer than swimming lessons? A query for another time.
Harper insisted that he was delicate, thank you very much, and Soh grinned in response. He was tall and well-muscled - attractive, though certainly too old for her if he already had a son - and decidedly not delicate looking, but she supposed that one could have delicate sensibilities despite their outward appearances. "I'm sure you're quite delicate on the inside," she reassured him playfully.
She brightened as Harper offered to show her his elephant shift. "Oh, I wouldn't want to impose," she protested, but her tone was wistful and intrigued. She would love to see something new, something she'd only ready about before. It just seemed like too much to ask of someone she'd just met. If someone she'd only just met asked her to show them her snowy owl shift, she'd think it a bit of an odd request... but then, Harper was offering. "But if you're certain you wouldn't mind, I'd love to see an elephant."
it's just a spark, but it's enough to keep me going
Clearly she has a strong spine beneath all the giggles and gold, and Harper laughs amiably at her insistence. "Plenty of people your age! They usually come to me for specialized classes that help them break into career fields more easily." He'd molded it after a community college of sorts from his home world, and it had found unsurprising success. "Lots of young adults are taught housekeeping, farm tending, and life skills from their parents. But many aren't that lucky - either bad households, losing their family young, or big families where those lessons get lost in the fray." Harper had been forced to learn terrible things from the organization that had stolen him away after killing his parents, so he knew only too well what a lack of a kind, paternal figure could do to a person. "So I teach those as a regular session, and specialty classes on fighting, stealing, bartering, and even music!" There was never any judgment from him regarding the less savory options. Torchline would always be a smuggler's land at heart.
Now it was his turn to wave away her protests though, grinning boyishly at the chance to do it. "Nonsense! I'm a teacher, right? Only fair to educate where I can." Stretching his arms loosely in preparation for such a gigantic shift, he smiles more paternally. "Now, it's a very big animal but don't be afraid. Elephants have great spatial awareness - myself even more so. Okay?" Stepping back to get some room between them, he begins to shift without further ado. It's a longer process than becoming his smaller gore crow self, but within a few moments a towering elephant stands before her, expressive eyes crinkled and trunk waving joyously.
Once I had been wasted land but you have made me meadow green again
Soh nodded along as Harper talked. Of course, she'd known plenty of youths at home who had learned exactly what Harper described: housekeeping and farming. But in terms of formal education, she couldn't think of that many opportunities for many of Caido's youth, and there were fewer still for those from large or broken families. "You teach stealing?" she asked, wrinkling her nose in confusion. "But isn't that, well... wrong?" There was no judgment from the young woman, only a bemused sort of curiosity.
The shift of man to beast might have been strange to experience, but to Sohalia, it was always stranger to watch. She couldn't help but take a small step back as Harper shifted, to give him room to shift and to give herself room to get used to the sheer size of the creature that towered over her. "Whoa," she whispered, awed by the sight. She'd known elephants were big, but not that big! She giggled, clapping her hands before her chest. "Incredible! Is it terribly difficult to move around, when you're that big?"
it's just a spark, but it's enough to keep me going
It's not the first time someone has asked him that question, though usually they are not from Torchline so the pattern is holding true at the very least. Even so, he is clearly not bothered by it, smile ever-present. "Torchline is notorious for smuggling, looting, and pickpocketing. While we're always trying to change that, I won't judge a skill for how it can possibly be used. The skills someone learns from stealing can also help them slip in and out unheard from an abusive household, or get back their own stolen items without confrontation, or ensure a hungry teen has a full belly at the end of the night if they have no money or items to barter with." It's clear by the gentle way he proposes the ideas that he is used to teaching this particular sentiment. "I don't condone stealing for more selfish purposes, but it's not for me to decide who will and will not use it justly on appearances or first introductions alone. I can only try to see the best in people." And so long as it means they are employed, fed, and sheltered, no matter how legally, Harper sees it as a win.
But there are far more exciting topics and experiences at hand, and as the young girl merrily shows her excitement, Harper makes the quietest trumpeting noise he can before lowering his trunk towards her - snuffling up her hair, nudging at her cheeks, and otherwise making an adorable nuisance of himself. Hoping she is Attuned given her previous comments about flying and her insistence on speaking to him in this form, Harper reaches out across the bond to answer her. I am slower, but definitely not incapable of running or spinning or anything else that requires some limberness! Elephants are good swimmers too if you can believe it.
Once I had been wasted land but you have made me meadow green again
Soh listened to Harper's explanation thoughtfully. She'd never thought about stealing that way - in fact, she'd rarely thought about stealing at all - but it suddenly made sense why it was taught. "I see," she said, and her tone implied that she did see. It was certainly food for thought, and something she would always remember before judging others' actions. She smiled when Harper said he tried to see only the best in people. "You and I have that in common, then," she murmured. "I can't say I have much experience, but everyone I've met in my travels so far has been kind to me. It makes me think there is more good than bad in the world." But that was just supposition, really, when it came right down to it. She didn't know enough of the world yet to have an understanding of good and bad, dark and light, and the grey area in between.
She turned her attention to Harper's elephant form, and giggled and squealed as he snuffled her hair and cheeks. While she was usually shy with touch, it was somehow different with him as an elephant, and she forgot to be embarrassed as she laughed with glee. "Are they really?" she asked with interest when Harper reached out across the bond. "How wonderful!" She reached a hand up to touch his trunk, just to see how it felt. Then she did blush and jerk her hand away, thinking that perhaps it would be rude to do so.
it's just a spark, but it's enough to keep me going
Harper brightens a little to hear that her experience has been much the same. "Seems like it's a flip of the coin how people see it, but that's how I've always felt too. And even if we two don't encounter them, we can outnumber them from afar." With silly little encounters just like this one, focused on lighthearted measures and education. And goofiness, of course, like ruffling up the girl's hair with his flexible trunk.
He can sense the echoes of her emotions now that the bond had been activated, and Harper forcefully exudes reassurance, broadcasting it loud enough for her to feel it. You can touch! It's really rough and thick skin, but it won't scratch your hands. Sometimes people ride elephants, though they're intelligent enough that most feel bad doing it if they aren't good friends with them. A slight note of longing comes through here, recalling the elephant he'd befriended as an acrobat with his parents in the traveling circus, how she had cared for him like he was her own. He used to ride around on her back or in her trunk all the time. Harper does that for Jude now, trying to carry on those memories even if they aren't exactly the same.
Once I had been wasted land but you have made me meadow green again
Sohalia had unknowingly found a kindred spirit in Harper, and she found herself relaxing around him much in the same way that a child would relax around a parent, though she wouldn't have put it in exactly those words. It was simply easy to just be around the man, with his cheerful disposition and fun-loving nature. It was exactly the kind of person that Soh hoped to be for those around her.
At Harper's invitation, Soh reached up tentatively to touch his trunk, emboldened by the silent reassurance she could feel through the bond. The skin was rough and thick, just as he'd said, and she marveled at just how different it was from human skin. They were so soft and pink in comparison; it was a wonder that they had managed to survive in a world that could produce such giant, majestic creatures as the elephant, or as fearsome, bloodthirsty creatures as the Ceffyl Dwr.
There was some emotion coming through the bond that reminded Soh of herself, sometimes, when she was missing Auden in a particular way. A sort of sad curiosity sparked in the back of her mind, though she was far too polite to ask outright what had brought that longing out in Harper. Instead, she ignored the emotion, sweeping her desire to know more under the metaphorical rug. "I had read that elephants are remarkable, but it's a whole other thing to see one - sort of - in real life," she said with a smile. "Thank you for showing me!"
it's just a spark, but it's enough to keep me going
After she has had her fill of exploration, Harper steps back a bit and shifts back down to the smiling man she'd first encountered. "There's a small herd in the far east of King's End if you want to make note of it for your future adventures." The only place he'd found that mimicked the territory he'd known of in his home world and as such had sought out the moment his new shift had been revealed.
"I can't linger too much longer, but if you'd like I can walk you into the village if you're heading that way? I have a shop to visit." With his pendant completed it would be just a few small things to complete before he could return to Safrin and receive his gift, and while the extra work had been tiring given everything else he'd been contending with lately, the thought of seeing his goddess again kept him going.
can we go back to the world we had? with a love so sweet it makes me sad
Harper shifted back into his human form, and Soh smiled shyly in thanks. "I'll definitely have to check out the herd! I haven't spent a lot of time in King's End, but I have a friend there I'd like to visit soon." It would be interesting to hunt down the fascinating creatures that Harper had shown her, and she made a mental note to take her sketchbook with her when she went.
"I'd be happy for the company to the village! I'm planning on leaving soon for the Oerwoud, so I have some shopping to do, myself." She turned toward the village and walked with Harper for a time, chattering away with her newfound friend. It had been nice to meet someone who felt so much like her - friendly, outgoing, and genuinely kind. She would be sure to look him up again in the future.
-FIN-
it's just a spark, but it's enough to keep me going
