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!
When bright lights fly out of the sky in LongNight, what other logical choice could there be but to figure out where they went?
Right?
They aren't hard to find. Everyone's buzzing about it, after all; a couple questions in the Refuge and Koa is on his way, trekking out into the wilds in search of... he's not sure what. Giant holes, he's been told, which is rather ominous if he thinks too hard. That, or incredibly dull.
Pip, at least, is excited. Perched upon his pauldroned shoulder like a sentinel noodle, her winter coat is dense and resplendent in the afternoon light. It's been rather a duller LongNight than the dragonling expected, and she's absolutely thrilled to be out of Stormbreak and it's spate of storms. The electricity is terrible for her coat.
They're maybe half an hour out, based on the directions they've been given. "Whaddya think," Koa's asking, shifting the pack upon his back. "Is there really treasure at the bottom, like that old man thought? Or toxic waste? Or did the kid have it right, and theres nothing more to it than a normal meteorite?" Pip trills her response, draconian eyes glittering. She's hoping for treasure, the greedy beast
Not much kept Melita from wandering – whether it be shifts and changes in weather, the burdens of LongNight, the bizarre, restless boredom she’d felt within the confines of her home…and as such, the moment the darkness lifted, she was off meandering again. King’s End at least held the intrigue of pestering her uncle, which she felt even more inclined to do, figuring she’d traipse around within the Refuge and stir shit up –
When…there was some giant fucking hole in the ground.
“Huh,” she uttered mostly to herself and her companions, an expression of bewilderment and confusion, with its own blend of the Honeybee’s furrowed brows, narrowed eyes, and pouting jaw to round out the suspicious aspects. “Well, that wasn’t there before,” was cast aside a moment later, and then zero hesitations came in her gait, long limbs swinging across blades of grass, pressing over where others had done much the same.
Perhaps she should’ve long since learned from gaping or thundering ahead immediately into the unknown, but some life lessons hit much harder than others, and took far more implementation. Regardless, she wasn’t the only one there, recognizing Koa and Pip, and feeling Sila still along her shoulders. “Hey,” she offered moments later, not hearing the prior conversation between Dragoon and dragon. Fangorn bobbed and waved his vines around, while the smuggler pressed her bare feet right along the edge of the open sector. “What the fuck’s this all about?”
Pay a little more attention to the healing power of incandescent rage
It isn't long that they're alone - unsurprisingly, given that this is probably Caido's hottest tourist attraction. What does surprise Koa is that he knows the person who's approaching.
Even if the shock of red hair wasn't instantly recognizable, the Dragoon is pretty sure there's nobody else in Caido who walks around with a sentient gourd.
"Hey Miss Melita!" Koa raises a hand in greeting, earning a squeal of protest from Pip. Unseated, the dragon leaps down to the ground with a huff, serpentine body slithering toward Fangorn, eager to engage in play. Meanwhile, Koa laughs at Mel's question, his attention drawing back to the crater at their feet. "Giant fucking holes?" he suggests, shrugging. "Heard some people in the Refuge saying that something must have fallen out of the sky during Longnight, but whatever it was, it's not here anymore."
She wasn’t sure how to react to being called ‘miss’, so she wrinkled her nose in distaste, before continuing and persisting in her exploration. This included inching along the section of broken, discarded land, pondering how deep it was and if she’d be able to find a way back up if she happened to simply meander down and scurry about in the soil.
Fangorn, always eager to play, waved more of his vines and scampered a few yards away, inviting and enticing Pip to chase. Sila watched on with her own apprehensive measures, content to remain by Melita’s side – perhaps because of the Honeybee’s inclinations towards stupidity.
But for once, the smuggler listened instead of scampering off immediately, listening to Koa’s proclamations. “Hm. There was some weird star shit during LongNight. Did you see ‘em?”
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Pipsqueak chases Fangorn with great enthusiasm, slithering and scampering through rough brush that collects and adheres within her dense coat. It's enough to make the inky cat-snake look nearly as floral as Fangorn, and Koa knows it'll be a nightmare to remove, but he can't deny the dragon her fun.
As for the holes, and the falling stars. "The bright lights that fell out of the sky?" He nods, brows furrowing as his gaze drifts back to the great empty scar that stretches at their feet. "I thought maybe it was Safrin coming back, but seems like it must have been something else." A shrug and a crooked grin are thrown Melita's way, Koa gesturing to the craters with a jerk of his jaw. "Or nothing, given how empty these things look."
Kinda underwhelming, if we're being honest. Koa kicks a rock with his boot, sending it flying into the empty, ashy hole in the ground. Catching sight of Melita's bare feet, the boy frowns. "Aren't you cold?" he asks her, glancing curiously up. It may be Flowerbirth, but only barely, and the Dragoon certainly isn't ready for any barefooted shenanigans.
Fangorn grumbled and growled and made all sorts of noises that meant nothing threatening and all the more inviting to fun. The brush didn’t bother him at all, and more than once he snagged at some long stalks of grass and hurled them around via vines – either for the dragon to pursue or be hit with. Whatever worked.
Melita, on the other hand, stayed crouched, contemplative, and studious. A rare example of her bothering to ponder and wonder, rather than exploding into movement and motion. Perhaps it was the information, or lack thereof, that stayed and stilled her figure. “Hm,” she muttered for an instant, having not considered Safrin possibly returning. “I was hoping for…y’know. More.” Her hands pointed directly to the hole that offered nothing but multitudes of secrets and enigmas. “Watch it be something really lame.”
Moderately disappointed, she rose to her full height, and then glanced back at the Dragoon. “Oh. No.” Head tilting, and relatively unbothered, her brow arched again. “Are you?”
Pay a little more attention to the healing power of incandescent rage
"Yeah. A bit underwhelming, really," Koa agrees, watching as his rock hits the bottom with no more fanfare than a puff of dust. "Makes you wonder what made it, though. I mean, something had to have hit the ground. And if it isn't here, well..." He trails off with a shrug, eyebrows raised suggestively.
He grins at her unbothered response, shaking his head in reply. "Little bit, yeah," Koa chuckles, pulling his coat tighter for emphasis. It may be Flowerbirth, but the season is young and the threat of winter chill still stalks the air. "Definitely too cold to go barefoot. I don't think I was built for the cold. Pip loves it, though."
Another rock kicked into the crater, flying further this time. "So what do you think? Did something crash down and then crawl out of it? Or is the whole thing an elaborate prank Ludo's playing for shits and grins?"
The Honeybee’s brows furrowed deeper, striving to imagine what the fuck would’ve made a massive hole, and also just…disappeared. “Well, it was during LongNight,” and her imagination began conjuring rampant possibilities, buzzing about in her brain. “Maybe it was something really dark? And could blend into the surroundings?” Into the abyss, Stygian and stark, where nothing could catch or see or snag at it. Like…well, the monsters from the past.
She watched the Dragoon pull his coat tighter, but the smuggler simply shrugged, remaining unbothered. The other inquiry though gave her a slight pause, because gods, that was something Ludo would totally do. “You know…, we could always ask it.” She hadn’t gone to a shrine in ages, despite knowing she had some tools to use at her disposal. “Ludo and Safrin don’t get along, so this would be something to spite her…huh. Maybe that’s it.” An explanation she could adhere to, at least, for the time being.
Pay a little more attention to the healing power of incandescent rage
"But then the question is, did someone take it out after, or did it take itself?" Koa's dark eyebrows waggle at the mystery, which is much more interesting than the actual empty hole. "Or are you saying it sank into the ground around it? Maybe that's what's up with all those weird plants people've been talking about."
He shoves his hands into his pockets, rocking back upon his heels. "Maybe Ludo stole some of Safrin's stars while she's away. Threw them down to earth." Turning to more fully to Melita, the boy bites thoughtfully on his lip. The idea to just ask Ludo about the crater is... well, honestly, really not bad. "I mean... I'd hate to bother it, but yeah, does seem like the gods are more likely to know what's up."
He's nodding slowly, expression unsure, as though trying to talk himself into the idea. It isn't the wildest plan, and yet... "Y'think we ought to?" Koa waffles. Truth be told, our fearless Dragoon is a little terrified of the raggedy god.
Koa clearly had never experienced monsters at LongNight, for they could’ve done any of those things without much issue; nasty, vile, vehement, and vengeful fuckers. “Maybe it took itself,” she humored him, chin raised in defiance towards nothing at all. “Got right out and left.” Shrugging her shoulders, because that’s all she had, her head tilted vaguely at the other statement. “What weird plants?” She hadn’t seen any – but then again, hadn’t been looking either. Unless he was talking about that isle in Torchline with all the bones…
The Ludo theories proved to at least be far more discerning and amusing, and the tips of her grin became Cheshire. “Eh, I need to talk to it about other stuff.” like healing items and such. She hadn’t been to see it in a while, and honestly, figured it’d been busy gloating about Safrin’s disappearance. “I’ll go anyway. You’re welcome to come along.” Sounded like more mischief – right up Ludo and her own alley.
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It's true: LongNight has historically been a pretty chill time in Stormbreak, and our young man's life a sheltered one. So where Mel might find the idea of toxic sludge crawling out of a crater to be a normal Tuesday, the thought of it has something churning unpleasantly in Koa's gut. As for plants? "There's been reports of plants that used to be harmless going bad," the Dragoon explains. "Flowers making people hallucinate, trees that drip black acid, blood-sucking vines - that sort of thing." Not all of which he believes (rightly), but the rumors are there.
Perhaps it isn't a terrible idea, going to talk to Ludo. Something about Melita's grin has Koa wondering if maybe the Honeybee has more in common with the god of mischief than he'd initially thought, and he can't help but be curious as to what this other stuff might be. "Sure," the boy agrees with affected nonchalance, flashing Melita a grin. "We'd be happy to tag along. Besides, if there are slime monsters from outer space wandering around, I know I'll feel a helluva lot safer in the company of the infamous Honeybee."
The Honeybee huffed a breath, portions of her long crimson hair billowing away and out of her face for a moment. “Of course. Gods forbid we not have a plant trying to eat us every season,” but no worries, she’d probably try to set it on fire. With that in mind, she wiped off any remaining dust and dirt from her palms, discontent with the empty ass crater.
But she was already turning to head back towards Torchline, done with the notions of nothingness, and alas, considering Melita was full of terrible ideas, this future agreement might’ve been a mistake on Koa’s part. Grinning back, though hers as a tad more malicious, vehement, and mischievous, she batted her eyes and continued walking. “How do you know I wouldn’t let the slime monsters get you?” Shrugging her shoulders and waving, she began her saunter away. “I’ll let you know when I’m headed over. See ya!” And with that, Melita would bid exactly as she'd claimed, Fangorn and Sila in tow.
{FIN}
Pay a little more attention to the healing power of incandescent rage
