One thing that had surprised Wormwood ever since he had arrived at Tamglewood's border was the variety of creature's that lived here. Not only were there things like domestic cats and dogs, but there was also he and his brother, a wolf, odd ghost boys, a cat with antlers, now a crow, and last but not least, Vathmos. He had met hyenas before, of course. Just because his and Poet's pride had lived in a city didn't mean they hadn't been followed by the usual suspects, and a group of hyenas was no exception. For the most part, it just meant that they had had a group of scavengers that occasionally ended up chasing after them and leaching off of their catches sometimes, and they had only got in one or two fights with the group as long as the hyenas kept their distance. However, needless to say, this had soured Worm's opinion of hyenas a bit.

Still, he hadn't interacted too much with Vathmos yet, so he hadn't formed a solid opinion of her as an individual yet. Sure, he'd been a bit disapproving when she had been dying to jump on Bink and have him for lunch, but other than that his experiences had been neither positive or negative.

The reason he had this all on his mind was because he could smell Vathmos following him. He had been out for a casual stroll that morning, just to stretch his legs out a bit and get some fresh air running through his fur, when he had caught the scent of rabbit jear the edge of the swamp. It hadn't taken a lot of work for him to pounce on the rabbit and grab it, and now he had it clutched tightly in his jaws as he walked back towards his house. Somewhere around the halfway point, he had caught Vathmos' scent, and noticed that it wasn't going away the farther he got, which could only mean she was following him. Pausing, he sighed a bit through his nose and put the rabbit carefully down on a bit of dry land before turning towards the scent, mumbling gruffly, [glow=#793B29,1,400]"Vathmos? Were you looking to share rabbit with me?"[/glow] Or just steal it? He thought silently to himself.

Contrary to what Vathmos might have thought from her past experiences, Worm had no intention of taking over the territory, and he doubted that Poet had any intention of it either. Sure, Wormwood had, at one point, been vicious and ambitious enough to try and take over their old pride, even at the cost of attacking Poet, but those days were far behind him now. The guilt he had felt was excruciating, and truly all that he wanted now was a simple and peaceful life here in Tanglewood, even if the setting where they lived wasn't exactly his ideal. If he ever did end up in charge of this place – which he somehow doubted would happen – it would happen as a result of him being promoted by someone else, not by him trying to take that power for himself.

The lion could also, very easily, relate to the feeling of being exiled from the group that had once been his home, and his safety. While their pride hadn't been quite as xenophobic as Vathmos' tribe had been, it had definitely been similar in that it was a group of his peers and closest friends. Sure, life had definitely been... rough there, given how his parents had never truly loved him, and how he never ended up being the true heir he was supposed to be, he had still had a life there. That had all changed when his Mother had run him out of town, threatening him with death if he ever returned and tried to do anything to Poet ever again. The pride was no longer home now, and nowadays he questioned if it ever really had been.

Shaking his head quickly to stop overthinking, Wormwood gestured towards the rabbit with a paw and rumbled softly at the hyena, his tail flicking slowly behind him as he carefully sat down on the best bit of dry land he could find, [glow=#793B29,1,400]"I suppose I wouldn't mind sharing that much, given how chubby this rabbit is. At least, that's what I assumed you were following me for. You can always tell me if you've got some sort of question for me."[/glow]

Wormwood waited for a long comfortable moment, just watching Vathmos as she took a chunk out of the rabbit for herself. Once she was done, the lion moved forward to grab the other leg and began chomping on it, his large and powerful jaws crunching through everything like butter. He knew full well he could comfortably go forward and take the rest of the rabbit in his mouth without any issue, but he wanted to savor his meal, and he didn't want to take all of the rest if Vathmos wanted anything more. As he slowly settled on the bit of dry land he had claimed for himself, Worm blinked and tilted his head, contemplating Vathmos's question. He hadn't really thought about the long walk to Tanglewood ever since he had left the old city that the pride had resided in.

After swallowing down a large chunk of meat, Worm mumbled softly as he rested his chin on the ground, his tail flicking lazily from side to side as he answered, [glow=#793B29,1,400]"I dont know any exact measurements, but took me around four to five days of walking to get here. I probably could've gotten here in four if I had been running. Poet left a week ahead of me, so I'm sure he was here for at least a few days before I showed up."[/glow] The trek to Tanglewood had, thankfully, not been too much of a horrible fuss to make. He had been able to hunt plenty of food for himself along the way, and the weather hadn't been too horrible until the day he had finally reached the swamp.

Worm and Poet's pride had - thankfully - never had to go too long without a food supply. There were a couple of winters where things had gotten a bit rough, with animals hiding away and not coming to the cold concrete buildings of the city that they inhabited, but those winters were few and far between, and Worm had always been eternally grateful for the constant rodents and other animal menaces that ended up a part of their food supply. However, Wormwood never much liked being alone either. It gave him too much of an opportunity to be bombarded by his thoughts, and even back in the days of the pride – especially in the days of the pride – he had always felt utterly useless and wronged. Like the world had made some kind of mistake with him, like his mother had always hammered into him from childhood. He was trying to get better at being alone with his thoughts, especially since he kept going on his long walks by himself, but it was still hard, and there were still times he had to stop just to prevent the incoming anxiety attack.

When Vathmos mentioned her home, Worm blinked and said in a soft rumbling chuckle that seemed to fill his entire chest, [glow=#793B29,1,400]"That sounds a lot like what most people assume Poet and I's home was like. They figure that since we're African lions, we would've been some sort of blazing Savannah full of wildlife. But our parents had moved from their Savannah years before we were born. We got used to the weather of a cold and sharp city. It's why it has taken me so much to get used to the weather here."[/glow] He watched as she put her head down, and then made a soft baffled noise when she spoke again. He had understood the first couple of words, but the rest of it was utterly foreign to him, and he mumbled softly, [glow=#793B29,1,400]"I don't... I'm not sure how to respond. I've never heard a language like that...[/glow]

Wormwood had always been the cursed child because... well, he hadn't ever really known. He'd never been given a legitimate reason for why he was considered lesser than Poet, or why Judith and his father looked at him like he was nothing but an insignificant speck on the universe that didn't deserve to be in the pride. He had always wanted to ask, to challenge that perspective, but he had never been brave enough to really do it, not even when he had been threatened out of his old home.

At Vathmos's question, Wormwood blinked and said softly as he nodded, his tail flicking at the rabbit as he spoke, [glow=#793B29,1,400]"Yeah sure, I don't have a problem with it. If I'm really that hungry I can go out and get myself something else, just takes a bit of hunting."[/glow] He then said curiously, his ears perked up towards Vathmos in a sort of waiting for an answer way, [glow=#793B29,1,400]"I can definitely agree with what you're saying about the weather. I have to go to the shore pretty often just to get a break from the heat and cool off for a while. The extra fur from the mane really doesn't help... so, barkden, then? I'm assuming that's some of hyena language? Or just canine language? That seems like it would make sense, from the whole... bark, part."[/glow]