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!
Though the Greatwood was on the opposite side of the continent, thanks to the continued use of her father's compass, she could just bloop! to the Sidhe village anytime she liked. Normally the girl was only here to visit her aunt Phoebe these days, but on this particular afternoon, she had something else to do. Something quite sneaky and quite clever if she did say so herself.
So, with something small in her pocket and her ring of invisibility activated, Flora had done the thing. It had been quite easy to do given how many little nooks and holes the fae had littered Ludo's Wood with. Flora had also placed it high enough in one of the trees that she didn't think any lingering Cat Sith would bother trying to go after it.
Feeling smug and satisfied, Flora removed her ring and began to stroll through Ludo's Woods in earnest. Her heavily-ringed fingers touched the bark of the trees with an old familiarity that made her smile rather sadly.
Who was it that led you on And makes you want to hurt me so?
Liam's wanderings were not as focused as Flora's; he had no reason in particular to find himself in Ludo's Wood, other than a vague curiosity about his new home and an abundance of time to kill. He'd taken to meandering through different parts of the Greatwood as a part of his morning routine, determined to learn the ins and outs of the region if he was to live here. They were nice, his morning wanderings, quiet and peaceful in a way that he was wholly unused to, having lived in Stormbreak all his life.
He normally found himself quite alone, and so on this particular day it was something of a surprise to run across a young woman in the forest. She looked a little sad, and so while Liam was normally a live-and-let-live kind of person, he was also not the kind of man to leave a damsel in distress, so he called out a greeting. "Hello," he said, his voice friendly and polite. "Are you alright?"
Who do you want to forget? Who forgot you long ago?
Turning toward the sound of a voice, the Doubletake pauses midstep. Of course there was a handsome man just roaming around Ludo's Woods. Why wouldn't there be? Brushing her hair back from her face, Flora fixes Liam with a coquettish smile. "Much better now that you're here." She calls out with an easy laugh, before glancing over her shoulder as if to confirm that she was far enough from the tree where she'd placed Safrin's vial that this sudden Prince-Charming wouldn't have seen her do it. She'd been invisible, but you know, you couldn't be too careful.
"Unless...you aren't one of Ludo's nasty spirits, are you?" Flora asks, taking a step closer and bobbing her eyebrows. "It likes to do that, you know. So if you're here to lure me off to my death, I'll have to decline." She says with the sort of breeziness that came from knowing exactly what she was talking about as well as the certainty she could just call her father down from the mountains to save her should Liam actually be a spirit.
Who was it that led you on And makes you want to hurt me so?
The flirtatious response took Liam by surprise, and he blinked rather stupidly at the pretty young woman as she giggled in the morning breeze. Then she turned serious, and it was Liam's turn to laugh. "I'm not a spirit," he assured the stranger. "At least, not as far as I know." He did glance around, however, just in case any such spirits lingered nearby, prepared, as always, to defend the stranger from certain death.
He regarded her easily, shoving his hands into his pockets. "I haven't seen you around before," he commented, having spent as much time getting to know the locals as he had wandering the forest. He was certain he'd have remembered her. "I'm Liam. Do you live around here?"
Who do you want to forget? Who forgot you long ago?
"But that's what a spirit would say." Flora counters, though as she looks the man up and down with a rakish slide of her aqua eyes, he doesn't really strike her as the type to be one of Ludo's spirits. But then, that would be the point, wouldn't it?
"Mmmm, no." The Doubletake replies with a shake of her head. "I used to though, when I was younger. My nona had a cabin, just that way." Nodding her head toward where Vai's cabin had once been—perhaps still was, she didn't know—Flora's smile turns slightly sad for a moment before she brightens again. "I live in Torchline now. I'm Flora."
Briefly Flora considers asking Liam what he'd been doing out here, but that would almost certainly result in him asking her, and since that wasn't a question she wanted to answer, Flora instead sashayed to his side and began to stroll along one of the meandering paths. "You like living here?"
Who was it that led you on And makes you want to hurt me so?
Liam chuckled at Flora's cheek, though the way she looked him up and down made him flush faintly. He rubbed the back of his neck, a telltale sign that he was uncomfortable, but then fixated instead on the information that she provided next. "I see," he said. "How is Torchline? I haven't been in years." Since... gods, when was the last time he would have been in Torchline? Perhaps he should make time to visit. He'd always enjoyed the beach, even if the region's people were a bit spirited for his tastes.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Flora," Liam said politely, shoving his hands in his pockets as the girl fell into step beside him. Her question made him think, though. "I'm not sure yet. I just moved here, you see. Maybe ask me again in a couple months." His lips quirked up in a playful smile. "I'm from Stormbreak, originally." Because that seemed relevant to the conversation.
Who do you want to forget? Who forgot you long ago?
Seeming rather pleased that her gaze alone could make her counterpart blush, Flora just hums a bright note of satisfaction to herself before shrugging. "Oh Torchline is faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaab." She replied breezily. "Our leaders are a bunch of boring men, but what can you do?" Clearing her throat and angling them away from the path which would lead them to Vai's cabin, so long as the trees didn't interfere, the pair should wander away from where the witch used to live.
"Ewww, Stormbreak? Gross. Well, this is definitely a better place to be." The girl confirms, reaching out a hand to let her fingers brush against the trunks of the trees as they pass. "Have the woods given you much trouble? They're sentient you know, and like to move the paths around so you can't get where you're going." She says affectionately, having dealt with the Greatwood's bullshit on many an occasion.
Who was it that led you on And makes you want to hurt me so?
Torchline, apparently, was "fab" despite being run by "a bunch of boring men," which had Liam raising an eyebrow with a quirk of his lips. He hesitated to say that he'd probably be lumped in with those boring men himself before too long - he wasn't that interesting, and Flora was likely to see that sooner than later - and instead turned his attention to shaking his head at her opinion of Stormbreak. "It's not so bad," he protested. Still, he'd left for a reason, and for his purposes, he had to admit that he'd been happier in the Greatwood.
As for the woods, Liam chuckled. "I've gotten lost a few times," he admitted. "But, thankfully, I've managed to find my way home so far." He thought about it for a moment; with sentient trees, he supposed he should be grateful that they hadn't trapped him somewhere like a fly in a spider's web. "I've been fortunate."
Who do you want to forget? Who forgot you long ago?
'Well, don't let the trees hear you say that, or you might find your fortune changing." Flora warns with a laugh, before glancing at their surroundings with an affectionate if not slightly wistful huff.
Much as she'd like to stay and further interrogate this handsome stranger about his familiarity with her former home, the Doubletake had certain plans she needed to set into motion. Plans which involved the certain something she'd just buried not too terribly far away. Plans which involved handwriting samples, goddesses, and a good amount of lying.
All things the Doubletake was very good at.
Removing the capitol compass from her pocket, Flora flashed her counterpart a bright smile. "Well, it was lovely to meet you, but I have to be off. Don't get lost." With a wink, she presses the button and disappears.
