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!
Ronin recalls a number of meetings, wanderings and other get togethers along the Bone Bridges in his time, but he doesn't think the structures have ever looked quite like this. Even so, it's with his hands shoved in his pockets and his shoulders a little hunched against the Leafchange breeze that he walks across one of the larger specimens the Grounds has to offer; being back here, especially alone, doesn't exactly fill him with glee.
Even so, it's worth double checking, just before he goes, that the void influence hasn't started to creep inward towards neighbouring regions. And you know, so far so good, other than the usual suspects. But how sad it is, to consider varieties of infected flora and fauna so everyday since Starfall hit. Huffing out a curse under his breath, Ronin peers over the edge of the bridge and into the water, as if it might hold all the answers.
It wasn’t a long trip from the Greatwood and its new, wonderful variety of void flora and fauna that now runs rampant. But his curiosity gets the better of him, wanting to see how close the creatures can get into the next region, and it’s what brings him to the multitude of bridges (made of bone, he realizes with delight), wandering and exploring in comfortable silence.
At least until a figure appears, a figure that Pierce recognizes. Not because he’s seen him before, but because he’s a demigod, and those are the few that Pierce has committed to memory as quickly as he could the second he arrived.
There’s a muffled curse he hears, before his footsteps fall heavily enough to grasp the attention of the demigod, his bright gaze focusing entirely on the Supernova, silent for the moment as he draws up a bit closer.
The footsteps do, indeed, draw Ronin's attention, and sharp blue eyes shift from the water right across the bridge to the (arguably intimidating) figure coming his way. Finding himself straightening automatically - for all the good it fucking does - there's something about the stranger that makes his mouth go dry and the tiny hairs prickle along the back of his neck. But who knows - maybe the Nova is just looking for trouble.
Clearing his throat and offering a polite (as can be these days) smile to the stranger, he offers a companionable nod. "Sorry, that wasn't at you," he says of the curse that's previously spilled from his lips. "I'd just spotted something in the water is all." Something violet hued and dangerous, no doubt.
If trouble is what the Nova is looking for, well, Pierce can certainly provide it. Something nearly gleaming in his gaze says as much when the demigod acknowledges him and the bulkier, tank of a man flashes a crooked grin as if he can see straight through it. “Something in the water, hm?” He asks instead, boldly (because what does he have to fear from this dEmIgOd) moving to stand beside him, to lean over the edge of the bridge to peer into the depths below.
And ah, he sees it, but there isn’t fear there. There’s comfort, calm and collected, forearms thick like the trunks of trees resting against the rail of the bone bridge they stand on as he tilts his head this way and that. “Perhaps it has come from the Greatwood?” He suggests, tilting his gaze toward the Nova with that same crooked grin.
Perhaps they both have come from the Greatwood. Perhaps the creature in the water was nothing more than Pierce’s pet, come to explore along with. Who knows.
"Mmhm," Ronin echoes, forced to accomodate for the larger man in his personal space, until they are both fruitlessly gazing back into the water. And again the Nova has the sensation that something isn't fucking right, and he swallows hard and forces himself to relax despite every nerve and instinct screaming for him to put distance between himself and the stranger.
"It seems likely. I imagine you heard about the Greatwood too?" From the broadcast, he means - the warped, strange voice that sees fit to whisper into their minds at every opportunity. Ronin is already tired of it, but he gets the impression that giving such an opinion might not go down well with this man. (Gods if he can say why, though). Were he not caught so spectacularly on the back foot, he might even have said something to see the other man's reaction.
Blessedly, whatever is in the water is already slithering away, giving the Nova a chance to step back from the bridge. "Has the Grounds seen much of this sort of thing?" he asks, referring to the void creatures.
While the Nova deals with the internal struggle that everything is fucking weird, Pierce has no such hardships. There’s no weirdness, there’s no fear, there’s no worry. Just a very large sensation of confidence that exudes from the stranger. “Who hasn’t?” Pierce asks, letting his deep baritone of a voice fill the space, and he watches as the creature slithers away. All part of the plan, as it were, and as Pierce turns to face Ronin a bit more fully, strong elbow braced on the edge of the bone bridge, he lets his bright gaze practically devour the Nova as he steps back.
“I’m not sure. I’ve just arrived myself to see.” He shrugs a broad shoulder casually, lips quirking into a smirk. “But, I figure if the Grounds had, we likely would’ve heard about it, no?” He points to his head, as if to explain the broadcast that had gone out – Vox’s voice a welcome memory for the strongarm of the family, and it’s quite clear he doesn’t seem that put off by the thought of the voice invading their heads.
Humming a response to Pierce's affirmation - and he's right, Ronin realises, because honestly, who hasn't? - the Nova swallows hard and tries to shake off whatever jitters have possessed him. He puts it down to the state of the Greatwood and his own mood (sour, more often than not as of late) rather than anything the other man is doing, forcing himself to become a little more amicable.
"Ronin," he introduces himself belatedly. "I just came from the Greatwood, actually. It... doesn't look good." Understatement of the past few years. "And I suppose you're right about that. No news is good news in this case, huh?" His smile falls short of his eyes, but an attempt is made. "Where did you travel from?"
He doesn’t fault the demigod – he knows his fellow ‘siblings’ enough to know that it could be overwhelming and discombobulating for the general population. For him, though, completely unbothered, used to the voices and influence they harbored. A feat that had him craving it constantly, like a hunger that couldn’t be filled no matter how much he tried.
“Pierce.” He offers, flashing the demigod a lopsided smile – at odds with the subject matter being so dire for the poor big bad demigod. “It’s a pleasure to finally meet the Supernova.” He drawls, extending his hand as if to shake Ronin’s, muscles rippling beneath his skin as he makes the gesture.
As for where he’s from? “I come from a little place south from here. The wilds of King’s End, officially.” The lopsided grin remains, recalling what Dahlia had mentioned briefly in their catch ups. It was easier to keep it all close to the truth, at least, even if he had come with the meteor that had crashed not far from where Ronin and Remi live.
"Ah," Ronin says, a touch bashful, reaching out to shake the other man's hand automatically, "please, just Ronin is fine." Never one to flaunt his status, it's enough to put him on the back foot yet again. "It's good to meet you too though, in any case." And as the other man admits to being from a place close to King's End, he feels himself growing even more at ease.
"How are things down there?" he asks. It's not like he and Sunjata are best buddies again yet, and letters can only say so much. "Hopefully just the same as here, with any luck." Because so far, so regular, compared to where Ronin has just come from. "I'm headed towards Jack Tar Landing, if you're going that way...?"
Pierce’s amusement is abundantly clear in his gaze as he watches the demigod and shakes his hand, watching with quite content as his lie is absorbed easily. Yes, he’s unassuming, never mind the strength that becomes more and more obvious that radiates from the stranger. It wasn’t often someone of such strength was out and about and nobody knew about them. But at any rate, perhaps he’d simply lived under a rock.
“Mm, about the same.” He says of King’s End. It was no Greatwood, yet, but Dahlia had her talons sunk into the ruler there anyway. He’s content with the way things are.
He does, however, shake his head at the mention of heading to the Jack Tar Landing, wishing to remain by these strange bone bridges much longer than Ronin would prefer. “I intend to stay a bit longer. Do enjoy yourself, though.” He says, waving off the demigod so that he might return to rest on the side of the bone bridge, scouting out for that large creature yet again.
