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!
King's End is still familiar to her even after years in Halo now. The greenery is as plentiful as she remembers, and the breeze from the surrounding water keeps the region easy to explore even in the height of summer. While the traveling they are doing for Frey is always a nice break, a true vacation just between the two of them - no matter how short - has her walking on air, enjoying wearing lighter dresses and comfortable sandals for once.
It has taken a bit of journeying to get to the eastern plains of King's End to the bamboo fields and stone ruins that house her favorite animals she had described to Deimos. Already the view is far different from any other region in Caido, much less Halo. The bamboo is willowy and supple in the wind, and it catches at Evie's hair as she turns and smiles brightly at Deimos, walking backwards. "What do you think so far?" Arms spreading wide and then spinning as she walks, clearly taking an almost girlish joy in the moment.
King’s End had its own designations in his mind – a place of solace during exile, while they plotted and schemed, to serene notions amidst flowers and barrows, to hunting aspects amidst the daemons’ lingering around graves. Warmer than Halo, ripe with hues and blending into tranquil scenes, it loosened the residual stoicism and knotted, gnarled stance he often held. Or maybe Evie’s presence did that.
Lighter clothing, with sleeves rolled well past his forearms, ensured he wasn’t immediately diminished in the summer air; but he habitually put his jaw to the wind. It wasn’t the harsh, frigid outlines of the Citadel’s bluster; an angle in repose and sanctums, another definition of peace. Something he never quite knew what to do with – somehow eerily away from his grasp.
Habitual, keen, and inherent glances along the surroundings meant an avid inspection of anything potentially threatening, yet, when nothing came to his senses, he permitted the ease of his grin, the stare back to Evie’s backwards motions. Watching as she spun, his head tilted, not yet partaking in any of the same mannerisms. “This is already different from what I experienced,” as they’d nestled themselves along tree lines and makeshift cabins; before Noah became Vi’s demigod, and Deimos had been called to guild reconstruction. Instinctually, he was drawn to the outlines of stone, primordial ruins littered across the wakes, but he didn’t meander from the pathway she’d set. Not yet anyway. Hitching his bag further up his shoulder, he jutted his jawline along the roots and bamboo. “Pleasant. Peaceful." So far - ever the pragmatic. "Is this where you stayed?”
Evie is not surprised by his constantly scouting eyes, even with the more relaxed, sedate set of his shoulders. She would never expect him to do otherwise when they are outside of Halo's mountain ranges. It doesn't drag her mood down in the least - she can tell he is content, and merely lets her own joyous expression emanate from her body like sunlight seeking the sky.
"No, my home was closer to Mourn. But I came out here often for foraging and hunting." Mourn is far more resplendent and peaceful, with a few others making their solitary lives in the area. Close enough to the small towns for trading but far enough away to feel alone in the world. Evie doesn't often miss it given the sorrow and introspection that colored those days, but the beauty of it all is nostalgic now that she is back.
Slowing her spin gracefully to sweep in next to him and match his pace, Evie smiles sideways at him. "Most people don't come out this way because they have to pass through the Barrows, and the Last Step is steeped in local legend." Both of them are things she either is unbothered by or does not believe in. As they pass the first clump of bamboo the ruins begin to thin and the plants become more plentiful, so Evie takes the lead once more to guide Deimos on the right path. "Maybe that's why people don't know about the pandas?" It's probably for the best. Evie would hate for their presence to be more well-known lest they become a target for hunting and poaching.
Mourn, with its stone, its flowers, its sanctity, did seem better fitting of the Evergreen, but he only gave her the hint of a smile, a hunter’s mind already setting pace with the potential of the land. He’d done so through here at some point in their explorations, snagging at deer before returning to their small encampment, before the world had ever heard of refuges or pretending to forgo the picking of sides.
As she spun, he took hold of her hand, placing it in the crook of his elbow, so neither seemed as if they were dragged through the long stalks of grass. A boyish grin curled along the dimpling of his cheeks, and she probably wouldn’t be surprised to hear the next statement either. “Flew off the Last Step once,” with eagle wings outstretched and waiting for something to happen. He’d also been a partaker in diving off the Spire when their group of friends were all newly Attuned and ridiculous; so it wasn’t anything new.
The bamboo was though, as he’d never been this far out, and he released her so that she might forge the path onward. He followed close behind, one calloused palm reaching towards the thinner spirals of wood, rumbling something amidst his quick, quiet inspection. “Maybe,” he responded, brow arching, returning to the woven trail. “What do they look like?”
He reels her in by the hand like plucking a spinning petal out of the air, and she slides against him like she was always meant to be there, happy to be captured and held in the grace of his smile. She is far from surprised to hear it, though it makes her grin in turn. "No legends for you either then?" Merely empty, open air and curiosity that went nowhere. She has never had the urge to leave the ground in anything but spirit, happy to watch him fly instead.
Parting is a shame, though the path narrows naturally as the bamboo - younger, on the outskirts - begins to grow taller and more densely packed the further in they travel. "They are like ursur but much smaller. Black and white. Incredibly curious and playful bears." She had spent many days observing them, enough that she had lost track long ago. "Omnivores as far as I can tell, though they eat nearly only bamboo and infrequently fish. Quite harmless, but absolutely adorable." She takes him to the left, tracing a path she hasn't walked in years but would never forget as they venture closer to the sleeping grounds.
And sure enough there they are. Most females will not tolerate other females nearby, so they're decently scattered, but she can spot season-old cubs flopped on the ground near their mothers. Already beaming at their cuteness she reaches behind her to grab at any part of Deimos she can, usher him closer so he can get a good view from the hill they're on. "They just had babies in the spring," she murmurs gleefully, though it's rather obvious.
Another cheeky grin was bestowed and given in return, a mild shake of his head at the stuff of legends. “Apparently not. Tried the Eye of Fire too.” Like a moth to a flame, curling and contorting around the vicious embers – nothing altered or changed. He shrugged his shoulders, unbothered by the notion, entirely sure and certain of his powers and their capabilities, regardless of myths and tales.
He listened again as his eyes wandered over to the bamboo, growing richer, thicker, as they meandered on. Like ursur gave him an adequate pause, for the Halovian bear were wild, abhorrent, and malicious on their good days, and he began to wonder if they were wandering into some sort of death-trap –
Until the description furthered, and he snorted at himself. Munching on vegetation, fish, and remaining harmless hardly pressed in on Caido’s ilk or penchant for threatening creatures; but he trailed after her regardless, the curiosity eternally getting the better of his machinations. The path looked barely worn, grown over, time and nature pressed back upon its folds. He trusted her instinct for the whereabouts, committing the trail to memory, and only ceasing when she did.
Whatever his mind had concocted over the image of pandas, it hadn’t been the fluffy, black and white things at the bottom of the hill. Eyes widening, he instinctively crouched down, though his torso, shoulders, and head were still well above the long grass – even as Evie grasped at his arms. “I can see why you keep them secret,” he noted – not taking out a notebook from his bag, nor sketching anything out. Reminded somewhat of the frost fox kits, the cubs seemed to be completely unaware and unbidden, rolling across the ground without a care, some colliding with their mothers, others reaching for their toes.
She makes a playful tsk’ing noise at the news of a second mythological dud. “Maybe they considered you too blessed already,” she teases, “and they’re saving some for the rest of us.” Everything he has was earned through toil and trial and she would never insinuate otherwise, but it was free game when poking fun.
Though she drinks in her familiar secret friends, Evie watches him all the more, excited to witness his reaction to seeing a new creature that was undeniably cute in nearly all ways. It’s worth it, and she crouches down beside him to lean her shoulder against his, beaming. “They don’t stray far because the bamboo is nearly their entire diet, so they’re easy to keep a secret.” Often they would move a little further east to alternate between leaves and shoots of two different bamboo species, but they never strayed outside of those boundaries.
“When I came here often, they’d let me close and would investigate me. They are incredibly soft, and very lazy.” Sleeping nearly constantly, snoring away like lost cotton balls in the grassy fields. Establishing trust with them had taken up an entire year for her, but it had been worth getting her hands on them.
“Cannot win them all,” he offered in a mocking, sullen sigh. As for his blessings and incantations, of which there were many stoked within his blood, he smirked; permitting her to lean against him, still strong and stalwart even as they crouched down in grass. “Did you ever try?” He could picture her, winding her way through the Queen’s Gambit maze – another labyrinthine conjecture – intending to reach breaches of fire and flame.
All in all, the panda should’ve been an absolutely ridiculous animal, but he couldn’t quite help shaking his head at their antics. The cubs seemed to have found a niche in being chaotic, and he witnessed more than one simply roll into a tree, bounce off and away, and carry on as if nothing had occurred. Perhaps, not unlike many of them, given the way their lives curled and contorted.
Her confession of coming into contact with them didn’t surprise him either, and he allowed one quiet muffled round of laughter – the mental image too great. Moving to sit down on the grass instead of kneeling, he leaned back, hands and elbows outstretched almost lazily behind him. “Shocked you do not have one as a companion.”
Always quick to laugh when Deimos employs his scarcely-used dramatics, Evie's eyes crinkle and her shoulders shake as she tries not to give away their position to the pandas below. "No, my magic was weaker and I was afraid I'd get lost in the hedges." She'd rather tangle with the Labyrinth than risk getting lost in a land she didn't know half as well as the Grounds.
Shuffling to copy his pose - with the exception of leaning sideways into his shoulder - Evie snickers as two cubs begin to tussle down below, pulling on each other's ears and batting thick, furry paws at the plentifully available surface their bodies pose as. "I wonder if they're too lazy for even bonding," she laughs, wondering how they would fare in Halo and deciding they'd simply never leave the house even to accompany her around the city. "Besides, then Zuriel would have competition for the hearth. It would be a bloodbath."
A number of solutions sparked in his mind instantly, eternally one for sudden machinations and calculations, but weaker magic than in the present made him shuffle them to the back of his throat. “Can always try again,” came along insistence and a tease instead, pondering how she’d strive to master it now. Earthen wares that could unfurl before her, vines and hedges that couldn’t escape her control and command. Leaps and bounds over rows and dead ends. “Or I could fly over and drop you off,” insistent, on a juvenile, boyish grin, with the mental depiction contorting about his head.
The cubs were another distraction though, as another cub followed the others, before suddenly plopping onto the ground to take a nap. He wasn’t certain what they’d be capable of either – maybe some half-hearted strength or a steady companion eating someone out of house and home. The notions of Zuriel though left him snorting, eager and ready to defend the sovereign being, imagining the fight wouldn’t go on very long. “She would win with just a stare.”
Continuing to lean back though, he considered and pondered another measure, before his piercing eyes flicked back to her features. “I had an idea of a weapon for you.”
Evie doubts she'll receive a different answer than Deimos did, but she can't help but laugh at the idea of being dropped from the sky from his talons like a parcel of some sort. "If you're offering how can I say no?" They don't always use his larger forms for travel but it never stops being exhilarating for Evie to experience.
Though their conversation continues naturally, neither fully take their eyes off of the adorable scene before them. The cubs run out of energy quickly, and the two who had been tussling fall together in a fuzzy pile and seem to be moments away from an impromptu nap. Definitely not companion material. "She would, but if they're that cute maybe they could convince her." It's clear from her snickering that she highly doubts it though.
The chance in topic is surprising, moreso because of the topic itself. Intrigue colors her expression as she angles her body towards him, attentive. "Yeah? What were you thinking?" He has helped train her in nearly every basic weapon in the barracks, but she is still fond of her throwing knives.
Deimos snorted at the statement, but she would always be well within her rights to say no – especially at potentially being flung down or released over hedges and warrens. With the image ridiculously conjured in his head, he shook his cranium, glancing back over the pandas, watching as they all seemed to simultaneously collapse and falter. Blinking, he reasoned they weren’t unlike cats in some facets – expending energy before deciding they were quite done with the whole thing.
“True. She tolerates Belial and Micah well enough,” more of an insult to the peryton than anything else; and he took another breath – a long exhale flowing through the bamboo, reeds, and long tendrils of grass. The cubs, and adults, sense of ease gave him a modicum of relief too, instilled in his bones, comforted, alleviated, relaxed, far more than he’d been in a long while.
Which was probably how he’d begun scheming out weaponry anyway.
At her intrigue he arched his brow, waiting for her to either spurn the idea away, for she didn’t like taking from him, or to say she had enough. That she seemed agreeable lent to his broadening grin, and he leaned forward only to manifest his air and earthen incantations. From there, bits and particles of grass, flowers, plumes, and soil formed aloft; beginning with serrated edges and sharpening lines. “Maybe a scimitar.” From there, the breeze purposefully assembled a few strips of terrain to amplify the top, where sparks seemed to appear. “With lightning infused.” Capable of shooting within whatever intended target had caught her eye.
Keeping the model overhead, his gaze flicked right back to her.
Evie suspects Zuriel tolerates Micah because they are cut from the same royal cloth. As for Belial, she likely has merely resigned herself to the fact that unless Deimos - and therefore all of them - die, she'll never be rid of him anyway. Evie has to bite her tongue as she shakes with silent laughter, wanting to share this insight but unable to find the breath for it given how deeply amusing she finds it.
Forced to stuff it down in order to focus on the earthen schematic he begins to construct - admirably detailed as always - Evie swallows her laughter manfully and tries to give him her full, serious attention. Which is immediately rewarded by the exciting idea of a lightning sword.
Eyes wide and clearly excited, they flick between Deimos and the figure in front of them. "That would be amazing," she gushes, never afraid to stroke his ego. "I don't know if I'll ever have that magic, so it would be a great offensive weapon. Would it be able to shoot lightning long-range, or is it more of a cloaking thing?" The schematic implies the former, but her curiosity desires clarification.
The Sword had always strived to protect and shield his loved ones – and often it came along with some manner of spoils, in either training, defense, offense, and weaponry. He waited for some inevitable nuance – half-expecting a refusal, for him to save these notions for Halo, himself, someone else…so his mouth split into a Cheshire, boyish, and very juvenile grin as her compliments, and acceptance, came through. A surprise, but a contented one nonetheless, and his eyes flickered downward for a moment, perhaps to silently savor the instant, before rising back to the matter at hand.
“Probably both. My initial intention was to shoot it from the sword itself,” meaning she could tear into someone nearby, or use it from afar, with the same scintillating reaction. Shrugging his shoulders, and narrowing his eyes further upon reflection, he waited for her platitudes and notions on the idea and framework. “Do you have a preference?”
