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!
I feel the pages turning, I see the candle burning down before my eyes
After working with Soleil to break the entryway of the guildhall free from the work of the cloud spiders, Noah parted ways with the girl. She was looking for someone else, anyways. Noah, with the silk now cleared, moved in deeper to the hall. He went into the kitchen area looking for jars that he could use to hold and store some of the silk. He thought it might be a useful item for the guild to have access to, given the strength it took him and the time it took both him and his comrade to tear down what had been laid.
When he stepped into the kitchen, he noticed her first. At the table where they would share meals before or after hunts, go over plans, and even drink together. "Ru." Noah said, his eyes falling on her and his face softening. He smiled, but stepped to the cupboard with the jars. Opening it, he took one down and placed it on the table. Then he took some of the silk from his pocket and dropped it inside.
When she had realized the silkspiders had effectively trapped her inside, Hotaru had debated freeing herself preemptively. After realizing how painstakingly boring that sounded without harming the internal doors or windows, and satisfied with the hours left of tending to her lantern that she had on hand, she had simply decided not to. Clearly, that had been the right choice - she has been saved, so to speak.
Noah comes in first, though Ru spies her goddaughter's stormcloud of hair disappear up the stairs in what will surely be a fruitless search for Deimos. Returning Noah's smile with a warm one of her own, Ru sets down her oiled rag for a moment to watch him deposit some of the silk into a jar. "Noah. I see you've freed me from my prison." She quirks her lips toward him, amused. Perfect timing too or she would have summarily finished her lantern in the next handful of minutes and been forced to handle the task herself - from the inside.
Painful lust Two aching guts
Hotaru has a passive magic that makes her glow with an internal golden light; it makes her appear youthful and her hair seems to look like moving sunlight. Can only subtly illuminate dark spaces.
I feel the pages turning, I see the candle burning down before my eyes
”With Soleil’s help.” Noah turned back over his shoulder briefly as he heard the girl’s quick, lightning footsteps as she ascended the stairs. He shifted from the table back to the cupboards. He grabbed his jar and searched in a drawer for a lid, rumbling around until he found one that would sit tight enough on the vessel to preserve the silks. He turned back to the Valkyrie and offered her a smile, a knowing glint in his eye shared between the two of them regarding the youngling’s tenacity as his keen ears listened to her trotting from room to room.
When he returned to the table, the few steps that it was, he pulled a chair out for himself and sat down. He placed the lid on the jar of silk as he inspected what was before him — before her. Her lantern. His throat tightened slightly and bobbed as he swallowed. ”Who is it for, this year?”
Ru spares a fond look toward the stairs where she can hear her goddaughter traipsing about. For such a petite young woman, she has the feet more akin to that of a wildebeest. It makes her snort a quiet, inelegant laugh. Humor only fizzling away in favor of curiosity as she examines the newly jarred webbing. It has been an annoying new presence as of late, wreaking havoc across the land. Ru wouldn't be surprised to find out it was Ludo's doing given the current season.
It's not an unfair inquiry, though Ru's smile is melancholic as her attention diverts to her lantern. "My firstborn son, Ru'in. He was killed by LongNight monsters just before I arrived in Caido." She has shared much with Noah, but things such as these don't come about easily in conversation. It wouldn't be a stretch to assume he doesn't know. "Mort allowed us to say goodbye to Enzo," she shares freely, as if it is not the highest honor for most non-demigods to meet one of the big three, "but I still hope to see Ru'in again." Even if it could be considered selfish or greedy given the amount of people who will arrive hopeful and grieving to the Festival of Lights.
Painful lust Two aching guts
Hotaru has a passive magic that makes her glow with an internal golden light; it makes her appear youthful and her hair seems to look like moving sunlight. Can only subtly illuminate dark spaces.
08-25-2023, 05:00 PM (This post was last modified: 08-28-2023, 01:31 AM by Noah.)
noah
I feel the pages turning, I see the candle burning down before my eyes
Of the depths and caverns of Hotaru’s heart that Noah knew, there was always another turn. Another carved path that she opened up to him, step by step. The name, the boy’s title, and his relation to the Valkyrie were from a time before him. A life before him. It was the same sadness he knew in her eyes, however, after Enzo’s passing. The same hole in her heart. He palmed the jar with one hand, and his other hand immediately closed the distance between it and one of her own. He grasped it like he had so many times before, his warm skin intending to comfort her. He held her gaze firmly.
”I hope that, too.” Noah’s smile met his eyes, and it was sincere. He rubbed a thumb over the back of her hand, giving it a squeeze before letting go. ”Mort is kind and protective of his gifts from Vi. I know he is tending to your son in his afterlife.” He had no other words to quell the ache in her heart. His own losses were great, but now having two babies, he knew there was no pain that could hold a candle to the loss of a child. Especially to a mother, who nourished and grew and protected and loved the child with every fiber of her being, while Vi formed it—them—in her womb, and after.
Then, Noah noticed the spider. It crawled first over the table then over their hands. Noah noticed it and slammed the jar down on top of it.
Physical connection has always been easy between them, free of the smoke and mirrors Hotaru usually employs when she touches someone's skin, and his hand in hers is heavy and familiar - prompting a squeeze in return that is accompanied by a small smile. She hates to burden him with fears that no new parent should be cursed with, but she would hate lying to him more.
"After having met him, I'm more confident in that," she agrees, and her smile softens at the memory alone of Mort's aphrodisiac-level aura of love and peace. As such she startles from her recollection when Noah slams the jar down suddenly on the table, eyes swiftly riveting to the motion and huffing a small relieved laugh to see it's only one of the pesky spiders. "For once, I pray for Deepfrost. I don't think even these stubborn things can weather cold that intense." Usually, Halo is blessedly free of most pests and insects because of her climate. To say Hotaru has been exasperated by the spider infestation is putting it lightly.
Painful lust Two aching guts
Hotaru has a passive magic that makes her glow with an internal golden light; it makes her appear youthful and her hair seems to look like moving sunlight. Can only subtly illuminate dark spaces.
I feel the pages turning, I see the candle burning down before my eyes
”Im sorry.” He apologized as he watched her mismatched eyes jump from his go his hand. ”I couldn’t agree more. Halo has never been a place for pests, and I’d like to see that returned.” Another creepy crawly extended its legs and pulled itself up the rounded edge of the table. Noah’s jar in hand moved swiftly as he squished the second arachnid beneath the glass. He hated these spiders, and the way they spread their silk everywhere. He hated the idea of one of them crawling on his skin again.
”Do you need anything else for your lantern?” Noah asked then, trying to hold their conversation time together despite the way the spiders invaded their space and their time together.
She waves him away with a grin, his apology sincere but misplaced. "Don't be, my head is just in the clouds today." It always is when working on her lanterns, and it's why she doesn't trust herself to be out on the Tundra today, no matter how nice it would be to distract herself with hunting or exploring. Watching Noah squish another spider makes her giggle low in her chest.
"I don't think so, I was mostly polishing them up from prior years. Thank you though." For the offer was heard, no matter how subtle. Standing and rescuing Wessex's lantern from another intrepid spider, Ru sighs and shoots a narrow-eyed look at it. "I may find a new spot to oil the last one though." Turning away, she steps around the table to lay her hand on Noah's shoulder, emanating warmth and appreciation through the bond even when it's clear on her face. "Give my love to the twins, okay?" Squeezing his bicep, she turns away with a smile, ready to escape the little beasts and find peace elsewhere.
Painful lust Two aching guts
Hotaru has a passive magic that makes her glow with an internal golden light; it makes her appear youthful and her hair seems to look like moving sunlight. Can only subtly illuminate dark spaces.
I feel the pages turning, I see the candle burning down before my eyes
Noah's lips came in on each other as she dismissed the apology. He understood, and the tiniest nod of his head indicated that well. He took in a breath as she stood and rescued her lantern from another spider. His jaw feathered at the thing, but his glacier eyes followed her even as she squeezed his arm. He reciprocated her feelings over the bond -- a love that was welled deep between the two of them, even if it was a type of love without a title. "always." He smiled as she departed.
Pushing his chair back from the table, Noah stood. He wasn't sure if Hotaru or Soleil were out of the building, or if anyone else was in here, but if there was evidence of any of his friends or allies within sixty feet of him, they would receive a beautiful blessing. The dome centered on him but capped around the building, celestial light floating through walls to coat any within it that he accepted with healing and renewed vigor. And the spiders within? Well, the guildhall was littered with their tiny, curled up corpses as Noah went to find a broom and rid the place of them.
