Mayari is still dragging the remains of an alligator's hindquarters when she happens upon a willow tree, perched between no man's land and an unidentifiable clan scent. Its roots twist higher than her, gnarled in tangles above the earth, and she quickly slips into the natural shelter that it's made, backing into the gaping darkness until she feels her hindquarters press into something hard and mossy. Satisfied with her temporary shelter, she digs her teeth into the tough skin and begins to pull it off of her pound of flesh, holding the rest of slab of meat down with her paws.

She doesn't quite remember how long she's been roaming Earth; it had begun with a flash of steel, a snarl in her ear, searing pain exploding around her right eye, and then she was falling—or flying? Between the agony and the shock, it had been hard to recognize which direction she was going, except that it was away from Kaluwalhatian. When she woke up afterwards, she did not know where she was, or what body she was in, only that it was different, new.

She had learned over time the nuances of the world, the species living in it; she hungers, she thirsts, she pants when it is hot and shivers when it is cold. It's different from her realm, but she educates herself in what she is, what she can do...

And what I must do, to survive, she thinks, sinking her teeth into the tough flesh and tearing out strips to feed herself. Because of him. Because he betrayed me. Mayari bites a little deeper at the memory, until she feels the tips of her teeth meet bone. She angles her head and pulls, tugs, until the flesh comes off in large chunks, and she busies herself with them to keep her patience from wearing thin.

Bathala has not come to collect her, either; a part of her thinks that this must be a lesson, while the other believes that this must be punishment, but for what she cannot yet fathom.

"Stupid. Walang kwenta," she grumbles under her breath, swallowing the last of the scraps she had shorn from its source and throwing her head up to look at the willow's sprawling canopy. She knows he's watching—he always his, watching but never doing anything od worth. "You hear me, pa? You're useless! If you're so keen on keeping me here, you little puta, don't come crawling back to me when your soilstain son ruins our realm!"

She thinks she hears a rumble in response but soon realizes that it had been her stomach, begging for the remains of the hindquarters laid out before her. With one last grunt and an angry look at the branches above her, she resumes her feast.

ooc. i am B A D at joining threads

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━ [b]MY SKIN IS A STORY┆LONELY. CLINGY. HATEFUL. ━

If Wormwood had looked between Mayari and Vathmos just a bit too fast, he probably would've thought that the two females were the exact same species. After all, they were both canines of a sort, and they had very similar colors, although Mayari seemed to have more of a splotchy nature to her pelt, one that caught his eye and made him examine the patterns a bit closer. He had been out for a walk to exercise his injured legs when Vathmos's scent had caught his attention, only to eventually mix in with a more unfamiliar scent as he got closer. He had immediately tensed somewhat, worried that Vathmos had either been taken by some unfamiliar rogue, or had been killed by one, but soon enough he came upon the pair, and he relaxed somewhat. Not entirely, however, because he could hear the slight aggression in Vathmos's voice as she addressed the new soul in Tanglewood's territory, and he frowned slightly, worried he would have to soon break up another fight. He could somewhat understand Vathmos's anger, especially given her tendency to want any and all food exclusively to herself, but he still felt the need to step in.

Stepping in beside Vathmos, he gently bumped his head against her shoulder in a friendly greeting before saying firmly, his tail flicking from side to side as his gaze flitted over Mayari's form, [glow=#165042,1,400]"While what Vathmos here says is technically true, I don't agree with how harsh she has gone about things.... insteaaad, here, I'll ask some questions. You're evidently new around here, so you should know that you're on Tanglewood land, probably eating a gator caught on our territory too. Cause of that, I'm wondering what your name is, and whether or not you're here to join? If not, we might have to take some issue with you trespassing on our land and stealing potential food."[/glow] Truth be told, Worm had never eaten a gator before and didn't really have any intention of ever doing so, but he wasn't particularly interested in letting Mayari off scottfree if she was trespassing for no reason, especially with how unhappy and threatened Vathmos seemed to feel by her presence. He would be the first to admired that Vathmos could make some unfair assumptions based on species – such as those she had made of him – but he wasn't about to completely write off her opinion as nonsense. She was intelligent, and he very much knew it. He could only help that this newcomer was intelligent as well.

Mayari startles at the laughter-like whoop that echoes around the marsh. A snarl curls on her upper lip as she half-stands, covering the slab of meat with her foreleg and waiting for the creature to approach. When it does, speaking to her directly, she can't help the indignant scoff that whistles past her ground teeth. "Dog? That's rich coming from you," she bites back in response, wriggling out from her temporary shelter to stand taller at the face of potential opposition. She can take on a hyena, she thinks; she's done it before, but before she can even begin to think about how the fight would go, the earth rattles at the approach of another, much larger animal.

Her ears pin to the back of her head as she looks up at the lion, certainly much larger than her. They're familiar, it seems, and she realizes she can't fight her way out of this one. He's asking questions, however, and showing no signs that he might attack if she plays her cards right, so she goes along with it in the hopes that she'll see her pelt unskinned for the remainder of the day.

"I'm called Mayari," she answers, tilting her chin up to face the massive feline. His other questions are not as easy to answer, and she ponders them for a second, sinking claws into the slab of flesh beneath her leg to help her steel her thoughts. When she finds she has no answers, she considers a question of her own. "You are rival species, and yet you inhabit this land together?" It's something she has never seen in the wild before, not with lions and hyenas, at least. "This... this Tanglewood is your shared territory?"

She remembers, in hindsight, the snarling hyena who had approached her first. Mayari looks at her again—the lion had said her name is Vathmos, if she heard him correctly. The indignant expression returns to the painted dog's face, but she pushes the slab of meat towards the other dog anyway. She cannot fight a lion. Bathala-forbid any more of them show up, she might as well make it easier for herself and show that she'd rather not have a target on her back. "There, if you're so eager for your pound of flesh," she grumbles, quiet for a second before adding, "... dog."

Noticing the confusion that filled Mayari's gaze as she pointed out them living together, Worm had to hold back from laughing. It seemed Vathmos and Mayari were more similar than they would've liked to accept, since both operated mostly on assumptions based on a creature's species. Shaking his head a bit as Mayari asked about Tanglewood, he began to explain in a soft and tired rumble, [glow=#165042,1,400]"We do inhabit the land together, yes, because we both know that we shouldn't hate each other just based upon our species. And we do share the territory, but it isn't just ours. Tanglewood is a group made up of many different types of creatures. We all live here as a group and work together."[/glow] He didn't want Mayari to get the wrong idea and think that he and Vathmos were somehow in charge around here. As much as Vathmos probably would've liked to be in charge. He watched as Mayari offered a chunk of meat to Vathmos, and it almost warmed his heart, thinking she was being kind, but then she called Vathmos a dog. Despite the fact that it was somewhat true, Worm still sighed and shook his head a little, hoping that Vathmos wouldnt react too terribly negatively.

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━ [b]MY SKIN IS A STORY┆LONELY. CLINGY. HATEFUL. ━

Mayari listens to the lion's explanation thoughtfully, her ears slowly lifting from where they had been pinned to the back of her head to collect as much data as she can. She figures that there must be enough prey in the nooks and crannies of the swamp for different species to not be in direct competition with one another, but when prey runs out, would they still hold onto their camaraderie? Would they still honor bonds forged in a comforting life when food is scarce and satisfaction takes the form of the creature standing next to them?

He seems convinced, however, based on the way he talks about his group. The tone of his voice paints quite a pretty picture, and while Mayari doubts that it would stay ideal for long, she won't deny the feeling of yearning that springs in her chest at the thought of it. Maybe she's a little interested. Maybe she's a little curious.

Maybe she's a little lonely, too.

"Then I hope you don't mind another hungry mouth to feed," she responds, relenting to the idea of having a safer place to stay; perhaps it might even remind her of home. She straightens her body, thinking that they might need a little more than a verbal confirmation of her intent, and speaks with a stronger voice. "Very well, ginoo, I would like to join your Tanglewood—"

Before she can continue, she finds her sight blocked by the blunt face of the spotted hyena, hot air puffing across her own mouth. Interesting, Mayari thinks, keeping her mismatched gaze on the other canine's and refusing to give any ground. The hyena seems to be showing remarkable restraint for someone of her kind, but Mayari is curious to see just how much of a beating Vathmos can take before she breaks. A little test, she tells herself—these creatures insist on living against their primal instincts, but how much would it take for them to inch back into their old habits?

"Above me?" Mayari eases a grin onto her face but refuses to inch away from Tangler. She only moves to flick her large ears upwards, keeping her stance straight and tall, striking an imbalance to their similar heights and making herself just an inch taller (and only because of the ears, but she doesn't mind the technicalities of it). Vathmos looks so angry. Perhaps pushing her buttons is far too easy a task; painted dogs and spotted hyenas have never gotten along well, anyway. It's only a matter of time, she thinks, before the unruly Tangler shows what Mayari already knows. "You might want to look again, Chuckles. It looks to me like I'm above you."

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— s͢uv̷i͡ ̷k̛iir͜a ó f͞a҉olá҉in | t̢àn̢glewo̧o̷̢d̷͢ | medic —

Wormwood immediately began to smile once Mayari began to say that she would join, but unfortunately Vathmos had decided that it was time to pick a fight with the wild dog. Sighing heavily, Wrom mumbled softly to the pair as he shook his head at the rapidly degrading argument, [glow=#165042,1,400]"As Kiira just said, you're now both at equal standing within Tanglewood, so this is a bit of a useless argument to be having. Especially for you, Vath. You should know better than to go around getting in joiners' faces, even if they are a wild dog."[/glow] Sure, he could admit that Mayari was instigating things somewhat as well, but that didn't mean that Vathmos had to feed into it by getting pissed off in retaliation. He knew full well his friend's low tolerance for things that angered her, but he had hoped that she was getting better at that somewhat as time went on. He had hoped that he had been helping with that, in fact, since he had shown Vathmos that just because you were rival species didn't mean you had to automatically be rivals in Tanglewood, but evidently she hadn't listened too well.

Glancing over at Kiira, he gave her a soft apologetic smile, noticing the slight worry I'm her eyes over the two of them fighting. He gently touched Kiira's shoulder with his tail in order to reasure her that nothing would end up happening, in general or to her and particular, before he spoke up again. He couldn't help the faintly aggravated sigh that left him before he said softly, tilting his head to one side, [glow=#165042,1,400]"How about instead of getting into a metaphorical dick measuring contest, you two break it up so that you can be shown around Tanglewood, Mayari? The swamp is confusing as hell when you first join, and I'm sure that you want to find out where you'll be staying, or where the best hunting spots are."[/glow] He wanted to resolve the situation peacefully, and he even had the idea to assign Vathmos to taking Mayari on a tour around the place, but if he was being honest, he wasn't sure that he trusted Vath not to get into a fight with her while showing her around. Honestly it would probably be best for everyone if the two of them were separated – even if Vath and Worm's relationship had changed from being around each other more often. Worm wasn't really sure that he felt like Vath and Mayari would have a bonding experience if they were in the same place for much longer. Rather, he felt like they would keep antagonizing each other until something went horribly wrong, like Vath bloodraging or something.

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━ [b]MY SKIN IS A STORY┆LONELY. CLINGY. HATEFUL. ━