The lion was startled out of his thoughts while wandering through the territory by the sound of shouting, and his ears immediately pinned against his head when he heard the actual words leaving the other male's mouth. He didn't know what the fuck Redsteel was talking about, with some strange comment about a "witch", but the newly promoted guardsman didn't really like the implication that whoever this asshole was, he was going to set the place on fire. This was his home, and it was now even his job to protect it, so the lion stretched out his wings and ambled over to where Redsteel was, glad that he wasn't in his tiny new form at the moment. When he saw the winged canine before him, his eyes narrowed and he stepped forward from the shadows of the swampland, annoyance clear in his tone as he rumbled softly at the other male, "Excuse me, I don't know who the hell you are, or what you're talking about, but I'd appreciate it if you didn't set our fucking territory on fire, since this is the territory of Tanglewood, and you'll have quite a few people on your ass if you decide to "burn us down to the ground". So would you mind giving me your name and why you're here, or am I going to have to run you out of here?" He knew he was being hostile, which wasn't something he usually did with those that showed up at the border, but Redsteel had started off the interaction with hostility, and his threats against their lands didn't exactly endear Wormwood to him in the slightest.

When it really came down to it, Worm had no goddamn idea what Redsteel was talking about while he waited at their border, threatening someone that he didn't even know if he was familiar with. He didn't know of anybody here who called themselves a witch, and he also didn't know of anyone with someone chasing after them, but he supposed if they had someone coming after them, they probably wouldn't have shared it with everyone around them. He could already see the disgust and claustrophobia on Redsteel's face as the male stood in front of him, and he found himself wanted to defend Tanglewood's territory the best he could, even though when he had joined he had disliked their territory a great deal as well. However, he had grown used to the humid swampy environment that Tanglewood resided in, and even found that he sort of liked it. However, the guardsman was also unaware of everything that Red had gone through to get here, so perhaps he was being a bit judgemental without a firm basis. He couldn't really help it – Red had just made a pretty shitty first impression, which was something that was usually very hard to fix.

Well, wasn't this guy just goddamn charming? Wormwood could feel his frustration growing more and more with every word that Redsteel uttered, and dug his claws into the squishy earth beneath him before he took a deep breath in, telling himself to calm down. Despite the abrasive way that Redsteel spoke – Worm found himself frowning at the fact that this newcomer asked to become Red, knowing it would be confusing since they already had a Red here – there was no real malice behind his words, except for maybe towards the territory that Tanglewood inhabited. That was the only thing that got the guardsman to settle, his wings shifting upon his back as he rumbled softly, his ears pinned back as he flicked his paw to clear some of the mud that clung to his fur, "It's best not to tell somebody's whose territory you're on to fuck off, just an fyi. And I was worried about you actually burning shit because I thought that you could do something like this." He held a paw out in front of him, the paw being enveloped in bright red flames for a moment before he snuffed it back out, settling the pads of his feet back against the ground beneath him. Despite the strong power that fire elementals had, they weren't exactly the most uncommon powers in the entire world, and Wormwood wasn't exactly crazy for worrying that perhaps Redsteel had intent behind his words. It wasn't like such a thing hadn't happened before. Not to Tanglewood, but by Crow directly against the Pitt.

He then shook his head from side to side, rumbling as he flapped his wings a little to settle on top of a nearby log, in order to make sure that he wouldn't get his legs any more caked in mud than they already were, "I personally don't know why we decided this would be our territory, you'd have to ask Beck, as far as I know he's the one who settled us here, but... trust me, you grow use to it, at least. As far as whatever dog you're looking for, no. I haven't met or seen anybody like that, as far as I know. We got a few dogs around here, but most of them don't have wings, and they don't get all ice blocky..." Worm glanced down at the muck beneath him for a moment, trying to figure out if he had seen anybody of that nature and not able to come up with anything. They had plenty of dogs in the group, including himself when he was in his hellhound form, but none of them exactly fit the description that Redsteel had given him. He then said, glancing back towards their main little town and wondering if perhaps there was someone around that he just hadn't met yet... it was unlikely, but it could be true, "As for looking for a place away from the mud... well, this place is Tanglewood, and we've got a town in that direction, so you could either join us or visit for a little while. I should warn you though, we've already got a Red in the group, so some people might get confused."

Worm wasn't exactly the type to just hate somebody right off the bat, and he certainly didn't hate Redsteel just from an unpleasant first impression of the other male. It just probably wouldn't color any future interactions between the two of them in a very positive light, at least not at first. When the other male spoke about how he had met mages and witches before, the lion snorted and rumbled as his tail flicked from side to side behind him, his head shaking from side to side, "Trust me, I don't doubt that I'm not the only "magician" you've met. I've met plenty of others that have the same powers as me. As for the whole fucking zombie thing, I'm not too worried. Trust me, been there, done that. It was pretty goddamn unpleasant." He grimaced a bit as he thought of his hellhound form, the grotesque and twisted "undead" looking body having been his personal hell before the male who had turned him into it had died at the hands of Red. If Redsteel tried to do anything like that? Well, Wormwood would probably kill him thanks to the fact that his desire to turn back into a different undead form was not high on his to do list. Just the thought of it made his claws sink down into the log beneath him, the wood splintering and peeling beneath his razor sharp claws.

The angel then realized that Redsteel... was right. He hadn't even thought to introduce himself, and he immediately felt a wave of shame at that fact. He was usually so good at about introducing himself and welcoming joiners into the group... still, Redsteel wasn't exactly like most of the friendly joiners that just trotted up and waited at the border for someone to come and bring them in with a warm smile. A sigh left the lion as he glanced towards camp before rumbling, his wings shifting upon his back and stretching out to the sides as he moved to pluck a few of his loose feathers and putting them aside, "I suppose that you're right that I havent introduced myself... my name is Wormwood, and I'm a guardsman here in Tanglewood. That would be why I was so hard on your words when you first showed up, since it's my entire job here to make sure that we're all safe." He considered for a moment telling Redsteel about the threats that had been showing up to their borders so often lately, but them decided against it. Just because Redsteel didn't smell of Pitt didn't mean that he wasn't some sort of spy or something like that, and Wormwood definitely wasn't about to risk that shit. He them rumbled, his head tilting to one side, "Speaking of which... should I be worried about this "Witch" that you're here looking for? Is he some sort of threat to our group, or are you just looking for him for funsies?"