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've done nothing wrong Except for all the atrocities
Melita didn’t frequently float and bob around the Court of the Stars – not since Maeve’s disappearance, and only if she found herself badly injured, to touch upon the fountain and snag at more healing ventures. So she was in a sort of neutral mood as she scoured along the garden section and sanction, having already glossed over the latest notice board posts; fully aware something else was brewing.
If it was the regular bouts of chaos, the Honeybee really wouldn’t mind. But, as with most things in Caido, she figured it probably wasn’t meant to be the least bit amusing. “So uh, have you heard anything about some shit going down?” Her eyes cast back to her uncle, while Fangorn rolled and tumbled about the flowers, and Sila sniffed the edge of the water.
// ships are launching from my chest some have names but most do not //
It’s been a warring bout of emotions from him – but having this tentatively repaired relationship with his niece is as much of a balm as anything is these days. Especially as he meets her in Torchline, following Frey’s orders of seeking out healing water, one of which he only knows about thanks to the woman beside him. In terms of the emotions, though, he seems a little bit heavier, not only for the Deepfrost weather, but because of the bundle of scales and webbed feet that is currently curled up on his shoulder, latched on for proof that she wasn’t going to go anywhere.
He's starting to come to terms with it, at least. “I have,” he begins, wincing slightly at realizing how the information has fallen through and he flashes her a soft and apologetic smile. “Sorry, I’ve had a lot on my plate suddenly because of this one.” He hooks a thumb up toward the ebony ball on his shoulder as they reach the fountain and Sunjata sits on the edge, trying to pull Petronella from her perch to try and get her to walk around and explore, maybe socialize with Sila and Fangorn. “It sounds like Safrin has left Caido to take care of some… Threat? She hasn’t elaborated more than that. She left Ronin and Deimos with bands to warn them and us if things start to go bad.” A soft sigh leaves him as he loses the battle with the sea panther kitten and he looks up to his niece curiously.
“Frey doesn’t know what it could be either, but told us that there would always be a bigger threat. Nature’s way, and all that. So… I’m practicing and upgrading my abilities and I’ve already talked to them about opening the Refuge if we need it again. It’s an option.” He murmurs softly, watching the Honeybee to see what her reaction might be from the deluge of information.
the flood
// if you find one, please, let me know what piece i've lost //
No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Sunjata, without killing him <3
Sunjata speaks with an Australian accent and has a passive magic that makes him produce a subtle scent that matches exactly to whatever those around him most desire him to smell like.
I've done nothing wrong Except for all the atrocities
Her fingers dipped lightly into the fountain, brushing in idle form along the sweeping waters, watching the miniature current ripple as Sunjata began to speak. She wasn’t at all surprised to know he had information, that had always been a thing, but her head still whipped upwards at the insinuation of the companion (they’d get to that in a moment), and the whole Safrin departing Caido thing.
“Okay, so, I didn’t know the gods could do that,” she started, honeyed gaze flickering back and forth, Sila beginning to stretch along her shoulders and look at herself in the pool. Otherwise – why hadn’t the Voice just fucking left when they’d all had enough of her? Everything else though seemed standard and par for the course with this world – prepare for the worst, be surprised when it didn’t fall apart. “All right. Means Torchline will probably have to do something besides getting a rum fountain.” Her nose wrinkled suddenly, as though all the chaotic balances of the past seemed very asinine and stupid. She wouldn’t admit that, of course. “Are you going to add anything on to the Refuge?” It probably went against the code of no abilities or weapons or anything, but who knew anymore.
Thereafter, her attention could turn back to the new companion. Fangorn stirred around the flowers some more, seemingly unbothered by the prospect of a tiny sea panther in his midst. “Where did you get that one?”
// ships are launching from my chest some have names but most do not //
He hums a soft laugh, having the same exact thought process himself. “Yeah, me neither.” He ends the comment with a soft exhale of a sigh, but turns his attention toward the fountain despite how Petronella tries to wobbly move around, dipping her webbed paws into it. She flicks her paw a few times after, shaking water out onto him and Sila unintentionally.
He nods in agreement to the idea of Torchline getting something else other than a rum fountain, mirroring Melita the second she mentions it with a wrinkle of his nose. “Yeah… Probably for the best.” He agrees, glancing up at his niece. “The Refuge will mostly remain the same, but, it won’t be closed off from the outside world this time.” Better to know the threats that are coming versus being completely blind, after all.
As for the sea panther? The second Melita gestures toward her, Petronella wobbles her way over to the honeybee’s lap, peering up at her with mirrored gilded eyes, mewling curiously. “Found her in the Oerwoud. A molten tiger killed the rest of her family and attacked a friend’s companion.” He winces at the recollection. “I didn’t intend or want… Another companion after Haai but she didn’t give me much of a choice.”
the flood
// if you find one, please, let me know what piece i've lost //
No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Sunjata, without killing him <3
Sunjata speaks with an Australian accent and has a passive magic that makes him produce a subtle scent that matches exactly to whatever those around him most desire him to smell like.
I've done nothing wrong Except for all the atrocities
Sila scoffed at the sudden spray of water, but Melita watched the companion carefully – with enough experience amidst the ocean to know sea panthers were formidable beings, regardless of their age. Fangorn seemed relatively unbothered, picking at a few more flowers and wrapping his vines around them. “So everyone will be allowed in?” She supposed they had been before – she didn’t know the politics around it, hadn’t cared at the time, and had deliberately remained out of it so she could fight in the war. Perhaps a good thing too, considering how she’d mauled the KingMaker.
So it was with patient hands that she gently scratched the top of the cub’s head, humming underneath her breath. She hadn’t forgotten about Haai – though the memory of it all made her nose wrinkle. “Sometimes that’s just all it takes,” she offered fondly, recalling better days where she’d merely given the vampire gourd a piece of meat and suddenly had a companion. Her eyes flickered back up, uncertain how or where to tread. “Does it feel different?”
// ships are launching from my chest some have names but most do not //
He waits to respond to her initial comment as he watches Melita scratch the top of the kitten’s head, before the sea panther starts to grow feisty, claws reaching up to try and snag at Melita’s hand.
“Yes,” Sunjata pauses, reaching out to try and corral Petronella back toward him. It doesn’t work, though, the companion evading his lightning scarred hand to plunge into the healing fountain, webbed feet bringing her back to the surface with ease, watching them like a crocodile might their prey. “Everyone and at all times.” He murmurs, before he figures out how to respond to her question.
It did feel different, the more he searches, but it also feels… Stranger than before. “It does. It… Feels like getting a new wound over a healed over scar.” His brows pinch as he thinks on it before Petronella reaches out to plunge her claws into his hand and he curses under his breath, shoving his hand into the water. Might as well, since it’s there, right? And as it starts to heal the little scratches a muscle feathers in his jaw as his attention flickers back toward Melita.
“I didn’t want her to take over the part of me that had Haai in it, but she’s made herself quite at home.” He shrugs, a bit indifferently.
the flood
// if you find one, please, let me know what piece i've lost //
No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Sunjata, without killing him <3
Sunjata speaks with an Australian accent and has a passive magic that makes him produce a subtle scent that matches exactly to whatever those around him most desire him to smell like.
I've done nothing wrong Except for all the atrocities
Sila took some level of offense as the panther’s claws aimed to snag, unfurling a hiss from the Honeybee’s shoulder, but it didn’t seem to matter as Sunjata’s motions ensured the little beast dove into the fountain. Melita watched, brow arched, at the webbed feet and the predacious gaze, pondering levels of danger and intrigue as he murmured and answered. Everyone and at all times gave her some pause, before a swift nod of understanding, growing quiet in thought.
Which it seemed he’d done much the same – upon reflections of newfound companions, and those who’d been lost. Those shared aspects and dominions of bonds severed, destroyed, and then fulfilled again – the response had her snorting mildly. “Did you have a choice?”
// ships are launching from my chest some have names but most do not //
The water from the fountain heals up the little scratches that Petronella has sunk into his skin – superficial, thankfully, but they wouldn’t be the last. She’s fiery, just as Haai was, and is content to sit there wading in the fountain, eyes watching them like they were her prey – which, in a way, they were. At least for a tiny kitten learning her way around the world, Sunjata intended on letting her keep her instincts just as he had with the griffin that had come before her.
A low hum leaves him in response to her question and the snort, a soft sigh slipping from his throat when he shakes his head and withdraws his hand. “Oh I didn’t.” And it had hurt, but he’d swallowed it down because Koa had reminded him that he couldn’t take it out on her. It was unfair. But here they were and Sunjata was dealing, the feeling of invasion growing less so as the days pass. “I went over to her and checked on her and she meowed at me and it clicked and suddenly the hole Haai left behind was just… Full of confusion and relief and wonder.” And he’d panicked.
the flood
// if you find one, please, let me know what piece i've lost //
No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Sunjata, without killing him <3
Sunjata speaks with an Australian accent and has a passive magic that makes him produce a subtle scent that matches exactly to whatever those around him most desire him to smell like.
I've done nothing wrong Except for all the atrocities
Melita was no prey; and she made that very clear by her stance alone. Sizing up the kitten with her residual seditious glance and arched brow, she then set her gaze back upon her uncle; but Sila and Fangorn watched, diligent and uncertain.
The Honeybee had been correct in her assertion anyway, maintaining a laugh despite the painful insinuations that had come before it. She suspected Haai wouldn’t have minded; the fiery little griffin had been stalwart and steadfast, but not petty. Unaware of his feeling of panic from the sudden bombardment of bonds and companions all over again, and having more than enough room in her soul for her own, maybe Melita wouldn’t have understood anyway. Besides, her nosiness inclined, brushing a finger in the fountain and dangling the water from her fingertips. “What’s she like?”
// ships are launching from my chest some have names but most do not //
It helps, honestly. Because while it had felt horrible in the moment and he was still coming to grips with it, Melita’s laugh helps him feel just how ridiculous it was to say aloud. He should be grateful to have a second chance, to have the option to share his soul with something else again, and all he had felt was regret and terror. Still, he snorts in response to her laugh, his hand reaching out to push at Petronella so she can start to swim around.
“Inquisitive.” He starts to say, rolling a shoulder as he leans back and watches the companion dart through the water now. “Infinitely curious about everything and she loves water. She also loves taking up the middle of the bed despite being tiny.” He rolls his eyes with this and hums a laugh, letting the smile finally reflect on his face to bypass the sensation of guilt.
the flood
// if you find one, please, let me know what piece i've lost //
No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Sunjata, without killing him <3
Sunjata speaks with an Australian accent and has a passive magic that makes him produce a subtle scent that matches exactly to whatever those around him most desire him to smell like.
I've done nothing wrong Except for all the atrocities
At the very least he hadn’t gone dour or sour, and for that the Honeybee could shrug amidst the fountain’s waters, hand trailing in its midst again. Enjoying the trickle of the element against her skin, she hummed lightly; for the youth had moved past multiple deaths. She lamented, but never fully fell into despair – there wasn’t time for it. Not when there were so many other things in life – the dwelling fixated more upon action and response. But Melita wasn’t a wallower by trade, so she tilted her head, gilded gaze swinging back to cat and Flood a moment thereafter.
“Haai wouldn’t want you to be alone anyway,” and she shrugged at that too, darting back to the kitten. “Do you think she’ll grow up as big as her counterparts?” The sea panthers out amidst the ocean, a stern bout of stories always attached to their deadly precision; not unlike the ghost whales, harboring bloodshed wherever they went.
// ships are launching from my chest some have names but most do not //
He is trying to be better. He’s trying desperately to not shut anyone out, even if it rebels against his trained instincts. He knows that he needs to get better at it, to open up and share his feelings. But it’s difficult, and he takes his little baby steps with things like this – not trying to dwell on how much it hurts to have Petronella in the same place that Haai had been. And perhaps it’s for the best, because Melita’s words do help. It helps alleviate the guilt, and for the first time since receiving the sea panther cub, Sunjata feels that hurt subside just for a few moments.
It allows a soft little smile to bloom on his face as he looks back toward the cub. “She never wanted me to be alone in the first place, now that I’m thinking about it.” He rumbles gently. He recalls that experiment a while ago with those natural Frey twin demigods; how Haai had told him that she thought he was stupid for pushing people away. And it hadn’t sunk in then, but perhaps now with the second chance of never having to be alone again, he can try and finally listen to her.
“I don’t think she’ll be as big. Still fierce, I imagine. But I figure it’ll be similar to how Pemota was just a fraction of what star whales could be.” He considers it for a moment before he reaches for the sea panther to pluck her out of the water, to lift her up onto his shoulder, even as the fountain water drenches his shirt.
the flood
// if you find one, please, let me know what piece i've lost //
No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Sunjata, without killing him <3
Sunjata speaks with an Australian accent and has a passive magic that makes him produce a subtle scent that matches exactly to whatever those around him most desire him to smell like.
I've done nothing wrong Except for all the atrocities
“Mhm,” Melita hummed under her breath, as if she’d known all along; a sage overseer instead of the rogue, chaotic firebrand. “See?” Her knowledge of Haai certainly hadn’t, and couldn’t be, as vast as Sunjata’s, but she’d rescued the griffin alongside kittens from a burning building, and she figured they’d always had an understanding amidst the mayhem. “And you won’t forget her. She isn’t being replaced.” Just another bond finding its way through the distrust and traumas; more afflictions and more hardships, but different in the way Haai might have dealt with them – just as the Flood was doing now.
Companion sizes weren’t a massive debate, so she flickered her hand in the water again, letting her fingers trace along the surface, extending ripples out to the cub. It scarcely mattered moments later, and the Honeybee shrugged her shoulders. “Ah well. Could be a loyal guard cat for your…place.” Brothel, Refuge, whatever was going on over there.
// ships are launching from my chest some have names but most do not //
With the point made, Sunjata settles easier. And it’s clear in the way his shoulders seem to lose their tension, his gaze focused on drifting between companions and the Honeybee alike, before finally landing back on his niece as she poses another comment, one that sparks a brighter smile to form on his face and the deeper rumblings of laughter.
“She’s already proven to be a perfect mouser.” He says with an exhaled sigh. “She tries to take on birds but she’s a bit too small for that at the moment.” A casual shrug is given before he lets his focus return back to the sea panther, reaching up to run his fingers along her scaled head. “I’m curious how her abilities might change as she gets older.” Sea panthers were ferocious and brutal creatures, from what he remembers from fighting one — and he belatedly wonders if she’s somehow related to the one they fought so very long ago.
the flood
// if you find one, please, let me know what piece i've lost //
No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Sunjata, without killing him <3
Sunjata speaks with an Australian accent and has a passive magic that makes him produce a subtle scent that matches exactly to whatever those around him most desire him to smell like.
