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 I've handled the wood, I still worship the flame
Something about being pre-programmed upsets the aviator's mind in ways he can't properly articulate just now. Later though, alone with his thoughts, he'll realize how close to being an ascended it makes them sound, and he'll lay awake wondering if that's such a bad thing.
Feeling flushed and dehydrated despite his concerted efforts to regularly drink from his bottle, the attuned nods. Stars flash before his eyes briefly, such that when he looks at Isla all he can see are shimmering horns and an aura of gold interspersed with blossoms of white. "I'm not used to this kind of heat." He admits apologetically, and as he gets to his feet, he stumbles a step. Reaching out for the palm tree he'd been leaning against, Everest closes his eyes against the way it feels as if his feet are in the sand and a wave is trying to pull him out to sea.
"I'm alright." He offers instinctively, having been around healer-types like his mother and Mateo enough to know even with his eyes closed, that Isla was likely going to be concerned. Hating the way it made him feel like a burden, he forced his eyes open and tried to offer the medic a tight-lipped smile that looked more strangled than reassuring.
"It's okay - you ought to see me in the snow these days," Isla says with a kind smile, only for Ever to go lurching to his feet. The medic rises after him - of course she does - and while she doesn't touch him given that he's already letting the palm take most of his weight, she does remain nearby just in case. "I'm sure you will be." Alright, she means. "But it's still probably a good idea to get you cooled off."
Closing the box of first aid kits and setting them against the tree, Isla is about to reach for Ever's shirt before considering (hilariously belatedly) that there are first aid kits on hand. "Would you like some of the fountain water from one of these?" she offers, already unpacking one of the kits and offering it out to him.
Though I've handled the wood, I still worship the flame
Should I? Ever might have asked if he could focus on the buzzing in his ears. It was growing louder and louder such that had he not opened his eyes and looked at Isla, he'd have missed what she asked him. Only because he was able to read her lips did he understand, and though he'd have declined had she not already unpacked one of the kits ("those are for people who need them", he'd protest), that she had done so loosened his hand and his objections.
Trying not to let himself pour it over his face or spill half of it as he drank, the aviator took a small sip and then waited to see how his stomach would handle it. Realizing only then, that, because it was magical water he actually might be better served pouring it on his skin, he tilted his head back and did just that. Letting the water rain down his curls before it dibbled in his eyes and down his chin, it was with a self-deprecating laugh that the aviator straightened and exhaled.
"That was very silly of me." He said sheepishly, wiping some of the water out of his eyes before drinking the rest of it. "The heat really does sneak up on you. Thank you, Isla."
01-21-2024, 07:58 PM (This post was last modified: 01-21-2024, 07:58 PM by Isla.)
ISLA
And thus Isla is able to live out a dream that more than one passer-by in Stormbreak might have had at some point; seeing Everest Hart, shirtless, pouring water all over his upper body. Granted, she has no idea why such a thing might be firmly a fantasy - she doesn't know the aviator all that well yet - and so instead she's merely left pink cheeked and smiling as he recovers from his brush with sunstroke.
"You're very welcome," she murmurs, accepting the empty bottle back and leaving it on top of the box so they can remember to refill it. "Perhaps next time we should arrange to do something like this at dusk when the sun isn't at its full strength." In the meantime, though, she bends to pick up Ever's shirt to hand it to him, and then to pick up the box of kits.
"We can still take these to the Hanged Man," she offers. "It would make sense to have them in a central location to hand out to people, especially since I don't have a clinic set up yet."
Though I've handled the wood, I still worship the flame
"My plan was just to shift and pant as a dog. They're much more efficient at cooling down than we are. It didn't even occur to me to use the water." Everest adds, also unaware of what his efforts not to pass out might have looked to others. Instead of feeling attractive, the aviator only felt vaguely embarrassed and also rejuvenated, thanks to the water and Isla's quick thinking.
Accepting the shirt, Everest hangs it around his neck before mirroring Isla and collecting his own stack of kits. "Thank you." Balancing them against his chest with his fingers splayed to distribute their weight, he glanced to measure how Isla was getting on.
"I agree." The Hanged Man hadn't been put back together yet, but it was a central place, as Isla had said, and one people still frequented if only in the hopes of finding liquor again. "Do you have any plans to? I'd be happy to help you set it up."
"Oh - you're an Attuned?" Filled with fresh curiosity but stifling the instant questions on her tongue - what kind of dog? do you have any other shifts? etc. etc. - the medic instead steadies the box in her arms and turns towards the direction of the Hanged Man through the streets below. "And in fairness, overheating would have affected your ability to think clearly, so it isn't surprising that you didn't consider the water," she says kindly.
Beginning to walk towards the tavern, however piecemeal it might be at the moment, she nods gently and furrows her brow. "It would form part of a guild headquarters, for healers, magical and otherwise," she says. "I was originally going to build it along the coast, but I think now it might be better placed up on the floating parts of Haulani." Given the rampant destruction. "I'd really appreciate the help, but first I need to find some other guild members."
Though I've handled the wood, I still worship the flame
"Yes." The aviator confirms with a nod, politely waiting to see if Isla had anything more to ask of him. Shrugging his shoulders slightly, he's forced to admit that she's right, though loathes to realize his own foolishness had led to a loss of his mental faculties. "That's why I don't drink." He says a touch offhandedly, and had Mateo been around he might have gaped to hear his friend offer up personal information (innocuous as it was), without prompt.
Feeling as though it would sound insincere were he to offer himself as a guild member as well as a pair of hands, the aviator just notes her intentions silently as he walks at her side. "I wonder if you could have an enchanted clinic." He says, glancing over his shoulder at her before returning his blue eyes to the way ahead. "A mobile clinic, but one on its own island. Like the way the Spyglass in Stormbreak is its own island. If you could go to where people needed you...but then...I suppose you might be harder to find." Furrowing his brow, Everest immediately fell silent.
This was why he didn't speak his internal musings outloud.
"Oh? I didn't realise you didn't." Isla smiles. "I wasn't able to feel the effects of alcohol for a very long time, so I like to give myself a break every now and then. Permission to not think clearly, if you like," she explains. "Sometimes it makes other decisions seem really obvious." So long as she doesn't get blackout drunk, of course.
Tilting her head - an enchanted clinic, indeed - she finds herself smiling at Ever, remembering suddenly conversations she might have had with Remi in his artisan's headquarters about other magical items. It's lifetimes ago now, it feels, but the memories are still sweet. "No need to apologise," she assures him. "It would make more sense to have it as a skyship, if it were a mobile clinic. Though it would be interesting if an entire island could travel..."
Blinking away the daydream, she shrugs her shoulders. "For now, at least, maybe I'll keep aiming small with a building. After all, the guild members will likely be from all over Caido."
Though I've handled the wood, I still worship the flame
"I don't like to have my mind compromised." Ever says, trying desperately to keep the words from sounding like a judgment. Cheeks flushing but not from the heat, he dips his head slightly. "No, of course. My best friend is—" A raging alcoholic? A connoisseur of all things chemically potable and inhalable? Not able to come up with a word to accurately describe the botanist, the aviator just exhales. "—well, it's Mateo." Though Isla hadn't seen him for a while, Mateo was Mateo was Mateo. "Does it? What sorts of decisions?" Ever asks, suddenly curious, having never heard that particular property of alcohol.
Still feeling foolish about having verbalized such a poorly thought-out idea, Everest bobs his head in an overly agreeable manner. "Of course." Inclined to go and research everything he could about the possibility of a mobile-clinic-island as soon as he got back to Stormbreak, the aviator had to shake himself back into the moment lest he miss something Isla was saying and appear rude.
"Thank you again for your assistance today. Things would certainly have no turned out so well had you not agreed to come."
"Few people do. At least I can control the amount of compromise this way, I suppose." Isla, of course, is leaving out the part where booze = more booze sounds like a great idea! but they aren't going to the Hanged Man to drink, so she feels as though it's a fine enough statement. (More fool you, Isla Lockwood). Hearing Mateo's name from his lips in such a context has an easy laugh spilling from her lips, and she nods agreement with the aviator. "With a best friend like Mateo, it makes more sense that you'd want to keep your own head clear," she says.
As for the decisions, she shrugs lightly around her box of medical kits. "Sometimes my head can be too involved in my decision making," she says, trying to explain. "If I'm not thinking so clearly, suddenly logic matters less than what I feel I truly want to do, and the decision becomes obvious. It's almost like when you can't pick between two things. If someone else picks for you, suddenly it's very obvious whether you really wanted it or not."
Scrunching her nose - it's not the best thought-out response - she steps down onto the sand and heads for the tavern in the distance - what's left of it, anyway. "I'm sure you would have been alright. You might not have stayed out in the sun so long if I hadn't come. But you're welcome either way."
Though I've handled the wood, I still worship the flame
Not inclined to argue, ever, Everest pushes his lips together and nods. Startled slightly by her laughter, the aviator glances sharply over his shoulder at her as if something might be wrong, his blue eyes scanning her features for signs of distress before his understanding caught up. Smiling slowly, he shrugs a touch boyishly and nods. "I like to know he's safe." The aviator agrees, and, having never been intoxicated properly, isn't aware of what he may or may not be missing anyway.
What the medic says next doesn't resonate at all with the aviator, but that shouldn't come as any surprise. "I...have heard others say similar things in other contexts." Tobi on more than one occasion had adamantly tried to get both him and his father to talk more about their feelings and rely on them more than their minds when making decisions. "Ah. I've heard you can do the same with a coin. When you flip it, you know just as you're about to look when you hope you'll see."
Nodding and trying to begin the process of ending the encounter, Everest goes into what was once the heart of the Tavern and sets down his kits, before turning and collecting a few from Isla to make it that much easier for her to set hers down as well.
"I am sure I will see you soon. Have a nice day Isla, and thank you again."
