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 the tasks had been announced, Tal knew which one was going to be the easiest - so long as his partner didn't mind a little traveling. After all, if there was one place on Caido where rainbows could be caught in water without even trying, it was Torchline's famous Rainbow Road.
Soleil's guild being in the region didn't hurt anything, either, and made his frenemy's daughter an easy choice of partner for the work. He could give her a lift to her guildhouse, take some deliveries from Halo to Torchline, and then bring the 'rainbow water' back to the Citadel when they were done. Sol could stay awhile or hitch a ride back with him, whichever she wanted to do.
The courier had dressed for the weather in a crop-sleeved shirt beneath his Vest and pants that ended at mid-calf (thanks to Sascha and Boreal chewing them short on a previous trip). The pounding waves didn't seem as bad here, maybe because the water was so shallow for such a distance around the shores of the southeastern islands, but the bubbling from the geysers was its own constant rumble and the steam made navigation tricky enough that Tal had pulled his Goggles down over his eyes as they neared the mineral-rich waters.
"So, uh... d'you know how much water we actually need t'bring back?" he asked Soleil , wishing he'd thought of the question sooner. He had his travel water skin and a large mason jar in his Bag, but now that they were at the source he couldn't help but wonder if he shouldn't have brought something bigger.
As an adventurer, both big and little A, Soleil is far from daunted by a bit of traveling. The Peregrine is a delight, and far less nauseating than her recent skyboat experiences. Then again, the weather is holding out particularly well today, so maybe it’s circumstantial. Leaning halfway over the railing to enjoy the spray of mist against her face and to marvel at the beauty of the Road, she ignores Diana’s little pings of disapproval and concern emanating through the bond. She’ll be fine.
She definitely isn’t smug when she’s proven right, though Diana huffs all the same as they clamber down to the rocky surface amidst the geysers. In contrast to Tal - who even in lighter clothes is giving a very Halovian vibe - Soleil is in a long skirt and a bikini top, soaking up as much sun as she can after weeks in the dreary deluge of the Grounds.
His question makes her grimace internally, realizing she also doesn’t know. Willing to fake it if it means instilling him with confidence, Soleil flashes him a bright smile and pulls out her own midsize glass jar from her bag. “Jar size is fine! I thought we could catch an extra just in case.” No sense in losing or breaking one and having to start from ground zero. Swinging her arms loosely (jar included), Soleil wanders closer to Tal while peering at the strange rainbow phenomena. “So how are we meant to catch one? Are the rocks themselves rainbow, or is it the water?” For the Road, of course, not in general. Soleil would have to eat her old schoolbooks if she didn’t know the answer to that - though with all Caido’s mystery and magic, maybe catching actual rainbows is possible and she has just been left out of the joke.
At least one of them knew what the gods wanted for the task! Tal heaved a quiet sigh of relief as Soleil made her confident statement, and didn't think to doubt it. Not when she seemed so brightly certain of things. "Yeah, can do that," he agreed, reaching out to absently pat Boreal's head as the dragon came eeling by. The big reptile was clearly fascinated with the bubbling waters, jumping back when one erupted and then pouncing towards it when it subsided - only to be distracted by another eruption a short distance away.
Tal grinned at his companion, then turned back to surveying the stretch of shallow water that spread out all around them, resplendent in shades of red, yellow, green, and blue. Sol's question had him wrinkling his nose, a thoughtful scowl tugging at the corner's of his mouth as he eyed the rocks beneath the water. "Um. I've, uh... never actually been here before," he admitted reluctantly. "So I dunno, really, but..." He leaned down to poke at the water, swirling his finger in it experimentally. "...Maybe we can stick some pebbles in the jars with the water, just to be on the safe side?"
Relieved when Talyson doesn't doubt her in the least, she shares a conspiratorial grin with Diana - only to receive the equivalent of an eye-roll. Clearly, her companion is not as fun and bright-spirited as Boreal, who seems fascinated with the geysers.
Brightening against all odds when Tal admits to not having been here either, Soleil props one hand on her hip and smiles wide. "Neither have I! We can try a few different things then," she proposes cheerily, bolstered instead of daunted by the newness now that it is apparently shared.
Squatting limberly, she scoops some of the water on the ground into her jar to fill the bottom of it first, and then closes one eye and peers through the water to the rainbow hues beyond. They're distorted in a painterly fashion, sunlight creating bokeh spots throughout not unlike a kaleidoscope. "Hey, this works too!" Maybe the rainbow lives metaphorically in the water since it had appeared to be a liquid rainbow before she scooped it up, or maybe the spirit of it is imbued as she looks through the water to the rainbow beyond. Soleil is willing to count both - maybe it's the belief in the idea that matters.
The geysers were like the old classic game of whack-a-ningo as far as Boreal was concerned, and she was enjoying herself immensely amid the the bubbling water and jets of steam. Having scales certainly helped with making her more water resistant than the young wolf, however, and she chortled happily as she unleashed a gout of fire at one particularly cheeky geyser that that erupted under her nose as she was investigating it.
Tal had to struggle not to grin at his companion's obvious delight in the locale, and Soleil's casual courage and determined optimism didn't make it any easier. He ended up rubbing his nose and mumbling an agreement as he made sure he wasn't going to let a smile slip accidentally, but the gravitas of a task to help Halo kept him focused.
He watched Soleil 'capture' a rainbow with a thoughtful wrinkle of his nose, but his nod was one of grudging respect and appreciation for her cleverness. "Yeah, that looks like it'll do," he agreed, gruffly proud of Sah's daughter-- and feeling the pressure to measure up to the younger woman. He cast around with his own jar for a moment and then in a flash of inspiration tied a rope around it before tossing it into a large rainbow pool. He dragged it back towards him, pulling the open mouth through every color from the blue center to the red edges before he scooped it up and capped it with a triumphant grin.
Of course, upon holding it up to the light it was just vaguely orange-colored water, and he glared at it. "Oh, fuck you, too," he grumbled, giving the water inside an annoyed slosh, as if that would cause the colors to separate nicely out again.
Diana watches Boreal as one might watch a particularly gruesome hotdog eating contest; unable to look away, but with both intrigue and disgust in plentiful supply. Soleil snorts a laugh at her primness and leaves her to it, much the same way it seems Tal leaves Boreal to her fun.
Soleil beams at his approval, though she winces slightly when his own effort doesn't obtain the same results. Hopping over toward him, Soleil touches his shoulder and smiles more intimately, something small and encouraging. "I think it just caught some of the silt debris. Maybe if we tie another rope to the other end of the jar and lower it in while I hold it from the other side of the pool?" She would rather find a fix for his own idea than decree hers to be the best solution and force him to fall in line with it. Her own jar is only half-full anyway, so they have at least a few more tries to experiment if they want to.
If Diana wasn't careful, she was going to end up splashed by an exuberant dragon - but then, the same could be said of Tal and Soleil. For the moment the geysers held Boreal's attention, freeing the humans to their task.
Tal didn't jump at the touch, but he looked a bit poleaxed at the intimate smile and ducked his head, ears turning a betraying shade of red. "Um. I dunno. If we just get th'blue water does it count as a whole ass rainbow?" Still, he didn't have any better ideas at the moment, so he dumped the silty water out of his jar and held it out so they could get a second rope around it.
Tal walked the long way around to the other side of the pool so they could dip the jar in to its steaming blue center. With both of them keeping the ropes taut they were able to raise it out again without spilling the contents or contaminating them with anything else in the water...
But though the captured water was perfectly clear, Tal realized a new problem. "So, uh... how do we get it back?" he asked, trying not to let his natural scowl of consternation do more than wrinkle his nose. His rope wasn't long enough to stretch across the pool's entire width!
Accustomed at this point to Talyson's eccentricities around touch, Soleil pays it no mind unless she sees his discomfort heading into deeper territories of rejection, having privately decided that he just needed more people to reach out their hand to him in such displays. Then again that's what she thinks of most any lonely person she meets.
"Once we have it contained we can put the rainbow rocks in like you said, then when you hold it up to the light it'll make all the water look rainbow!" Again, hopefully faith in the idea is the solution, because Sol is betting all her chips on one color at this point. Or an entire spectrum of color? (Ba-dum-tss)
They manage to wrangle the water into the jar with the two ropes, but then it hovers horizontally above the pool with little other movement. Brow furrowing as she thinks, Soleil calls across the pool when an initial idea comes to mind. "How about we both move sideways toward each other and hand-over-hand on the rope as close to in tandem as we can get?" She tilts her head toward the side of the pool where it circles back around. "Then when we get to the middle, one of us can grab the jar?"
"Oh... sure, that could work," Tal agreed, and though he was dubious about the logistics of the whole thing he was willing to give it a try. He'd done weirder shit for god tasks, and he'd seen others do even more bizarre. Harper's whole freezing his fingers off for art came to mind, so if the Stalwart could manage it, surely the Messenger could, too?
He helped sort out the ropes and the jar and everything was going swimmingly until... it wasn't. But Soleil had a solution for that, too, and Tal could have kicked himself for missing the obvious. "...Well... yeah. That's, um. Actually. Yeah." Embarrassed as hail that he'd missed it, he scowled down at his feet in concentration as he made sure he wouldn't trip during the slow, careful journey back together. As soon as it was in reach, Tal made a grab for the jar and exhaled in relief as he got the ropes off it.
"Okay! Now we just need the rocks!" He grinned in triumph - forgetting his earlier decision not to do anything of the sort - and bent down to scoop up a handful of pebbles in blues, greens, and yellows to add to the water.
If Soleil is good for anything it's thinking on her feet and innovating solutions to otherwise hopeless problems. A little optimism and shine goes a long way in her opinion, and she's glad that it thaws Tal out and wins him over the same way it does most others.
It takes a good deal of focus to not trip on the rocks or thin layer of water overtop them while they maneuver in a shuffle to the edge of the pool, but it's worth the triumph in Talyson's expression as he takes hold of his jar and begins hunting for pebbles. Soleil squats down beside him and does the same, cheekily stealing one out just before he grabs it and winking, grinning, as she plops it into his jar instead of her own that she fills just to be safe. As they plonk inside, the half-full glass rises closer to the top, and Soleil stands and peers down into her jar when it approaches the limit. It shines a beautiful hue of shades, which is perfect in her opinion.
Capping it, she presents it dramatically to Tal with a grin. "That's two rainbows in a jar if I've ever seen one!"
"Hey!" His fingers closed around warm water and nothing else as Soleil snagged the pebble he'd been aiming for right out from under him. He stuck his tongue out at her, just as if she'd been her father, but his grumbling faded into an embarrassed huff as she dropped it into his jar instead of her own. "...thanks."
He did shuffle a little further away to continue his hunt, and soon he had several stones and pebbles of every rainbow hue in his water. Some were dull, others sparkled with flecks of mica in the light, and still others had a faintly iridescent sheen, capturing several colors depending on the angle. Tal raised his jar to admire it in the full sunlight, and glanced over at his guildmate with another accidental grin. "Yeah! If this doesn't do it, I dunno what will. Rainbow water with rainbow rocks in it. Frey's gonna love it!" No one could accuse them of doing less than awesome on their task, of that he was certain. And as long as Frey liked it, he didn't give a ningo's ass what anyone else thought.
"C'mon, let's get these back t'Halo. Boreal! Back t'the ship!" He called for his dragon, who had slithered off into the geysers and come around behind Diana underneath the cover of their spray, looking like she was ready to pounce on the young wolf and roll her into the water. Tal's call interrupted her plans and she straightened with a roll of her reptilian eyes, huffing her annoyance at his timing.
Soleil is inclined to stick her tongue out right back, but she's grinning too wide to see him do it in the first place. Even if it means she loses the chance to do it a second time when he shuffles away. Their combined energy at the end of the hunt makes Soleil laugh brightly, head tilted back and face toward the sun.
Meanwhile, Diana swivels her head the second Tal calls out to Boreal, giving the dragon a fiercely unimpressed stare before huffing and trotting off toward Soleil with a look saying 'can you believe that?' Soleil snickers and follows Talyson back to the ship, bottle of rainbow in hand and ready to finish their quest.
