the hummed melody of an unknown song made itself known as Abe picked his way through the neutral grounds, occasionally stalling for a moment to remember how the tune went. It was sweet, an odd contrast to the animal it came from, and high, a little too high for his range. Was it a lullaby or just a jaunty little tune? who knew. oh, was he singing now? it seemed so. His voice seemed more of a throaty baritone than a tenor or alto but he was pushing through. "sometimes I think about all the ones that we've replaced."

To any observer, he kept going for a while. He was aimless, not seeming to have any direction or drive to his journey. He just wanted to keep moving. "so, maybe this is what it takes to realise. I am grateful just that I have been alive." It was nice, being able to keep on going, comforting familiarity to someone who had been wandering for most of his life. It wasn't permanent, the wandering, and he knew that he'd eventually need to return to the clan but he was enjoying it for now. There were so many people that he'd never met before, adults, teens, cubs, and it was just, all too much for him at once. He couldn't focus with so many people to think about and remember. Too much possibility for something to happen if he continued to remember them.

The older coyote would eventually come to a stop at a small pond, crouching down to take a long drink. Clean, fresh, no hint of silt or mud, pretty good. Lowering himself down even more to sit, Abe would stare across the small body of water. His wife would have liked this. She liked to stop at watering holes and swim or even just sit on the shore, despite Abe trying to urge her to keep going. He gave in too easy but he wanted her to have whatever she wanted, especially towards the end of their journey. Feeling a little too melancholy, He would move to get up and turn around but startle at the presence of somebody. "I.. Hey. Who're you?"

Despite joining the Typhoon as of late, Roman found himself wanting to wander outside of the territory at times, venturing into the neutral territories once more as he had done for a while when he had been in search of the Halls and in search of Vinny. But he hadn't ever gotten the courage up to go across those railroad tracks once more, and thus, hadn't done what he wanted. Eventually, he had gotten tired of sitting around, and had decided to finally go out and do it, and, after a bit of time convincing himself things would be fine even if he did fall into the water, Roman was finally in the neutral grounds, walking around and exploring.

That was, until he heard a melody come to his ears, and, curiously, the immortal being followed, rounded ears pricked as he pad through the unkempt growth, following the scent trail of another, until he finally reached a stopping point, and finally saw the coyote, stopping his tune to take a drink from one of the ponds in the area, and Roman would begin to move forward to do the same, try and act as though he had a purpose to be here rather than simply following someone.

That was, until Abe turned around, asking who he was.

The cheetah would stop in his tracks, ears going down for but a moment before he would sit, and offer a small smile. "Roman," He would speak in response to the question, "My name's Romanempire, but I usually just go by Roman." Or Ro, or Rome, or any other spelling or possible nickname from his original. There were too many to count. "I heard your singing, and I liked it, so I kinda followed the music."

Oh. He liked the singing. Abe didn't think anyone would hear him, aside from the usual songbirds and squirrels. "I, uh.. thanks, pal." He would start off with slight hesitation. "I'm Abraham but you can call me Abe. Dunno if I've got any nicknames other than that.[b]" Well, there was one other but he'd stopped being called it two years back.

Abe wasn't sure if he'd ever seen a big cat like Roman, tall and lean. Significantly taller than him. Abe had met an assortment of animals in his travels but he'd never met one like this dude. There was a prolonged period of silence before Abe spoke again. "[b]'scuze me, but I dunno if I've ever met anyone like you. What sorta cat are you?" and if it wasn't obvious "I'm a coyote. Not terribly interesting on my side, I think." Abe had grown up with dozens of other coyotes, he knew that he was more common than a cat like this.

He would stay sitting as he awaited a response, yellow eyes scanning over Rome. Cool. As if sensing a lull in conversation, a loud clap echoed through the sky and the clouds opened to release their rain on the lands. "Ah." Abe said in surprise, already starting to feel his fur dampen. "You good with movin' this talk over to some shelter? don't mind the rain but it ain't my favourite thing to be soaked." There were trees nearby, their branches forming a thick canopy to protect those under them from the rain. That'd probably be a good place to go.

Roman couldn't say that in his long life of living he had met very many cats such as himself so he was sure it was possible around here that this coyote hadn't ever met one before. "I'm a cheetah," He'd offer, tail waving behind him for a moment, "I'm usually not one though, I use this one out of necessity due to where I live, since I don't really like wa-" His words were cut short when there was suddenly the loud clap of thunder, rain falling to the ground before he'd look over to the other, ears pinned to his head as he listened. Moving to shelter? Good idea. "I don't mind it at all." He'd speak, backing up a bit before turning to walk alongside the other as they head towards the canopy of the trees. "I haven't seen many coyotes around recently, do you mind if I ask where you're from?" In fact he hadn't seen very many canines in general if he was being honest.

[[ sorry again about the late reply lol ]]

He wasn't normally a coyote? what was he normally? The line of thought was interrupted as the two men made their way towards the treeline, gravel and dirt already beginning to squish underfoot. Abe hoped this was just one of those ones that stormed for passed over, like a quick, violent, moving cloud. It probably wouldn't be though. With the sky rapidly darkening as the rain pelleted the earth, he watched from his shelter of the forest.

Where was he from? geez. "I, uh. I was born in a junkyard with a bunch'a other coyotes. There was a sorta clan formed there but nothin' like the ones here. It wasn't real great so I left with a friend." His wife.. past wife. "How about you? You born in the clans?"

/I don't think you could beat how late this reply was RIP

Ears would prick as the cheetah listened to the other's words, interest pricking at Roman as he listened. So he was from a group originally, but one that Roman didn't know of. It seemed as though there were many places like that popping up more and more. When Abe asked his question Roman would think for a moment before nodding his head, speaking once more. "Yeah, I was born in a group that aimed towards peace. They lived in a big castle and it was beautiful, I used to be known as Tunnelkit then, but it's been so long, the group is no longer around, and the name is only whispers now."

He couldn't quite remember it.

Sitting down under the trees for a moment, Roman would look over towards the other male, thoughts swirling in his mind before finally speaking again. "Have you been able to find a place to live since leaving? I found a home in a group around here temporarily, but it doesn't seem to be the right one for me yet." He doubted any of them would feel right to be honest. The Ascendants felt right, but they were gone now, joined into another group. He didn't mind it, but the same charm was no longer there for him, and he couldn't face WarringKingdoms any time soon.