The marsh stunk.

    That was the first thing that Alaric noticed as he stepped lightly across the damp earth under him. The scent invaded his senses, causing him to turn up his nose in disgust. "What kind of animals would want to live here?" the feline wondered aloud, stopping for a moment to examine his surroundings. Light was scarce in the swamp—glancing upwards to prove that was unnecessary. Nevertheless, he cast his icy blue gaze upwards, but only a singular stream of light was able to filter through the twisted crown of foliage far above his head. It was a wonder that some cantankerous creature hadn't attacked him in the darkness.

    Water was clearly abundant in the weald. Miraculously, Alaric had managed to stay mostly dry by stepping only on the gnarled roots of the trees around him. Despite this, the humidity in the air made him feel thoroughly drenched. It was disgusting, quite frankly, or at least he thought so.

    Cautiously, Alaric ventured on through the marsh. He walked aimlessly for a few minutes, and at some point he decided to take a break on the twisting roots of the tree that he had stopped on. For some reason, he found his eyes drawn towards the tree. On it was a strange symbol carved into the bark. A straight horizontal line, with two shorter vertical lines scratched on top. It was a curious symbol, he thought, and it was too fresh to be from an ancient civilization. Perhaps it meant that there was intelligent life nearby. He had no earthly idea what the symbol could signify, but if it meant that there was someone or something out there... Well, maybe seeking them out would be a good idea. He figured that the chance of being killed by whatever group lurked nearby was pretty low. Perhaps, even, he'd be able to find a home among them. He hoped, at least.

    With a newfound diligence, the tabby pressed onward. As he progressed, he noted that a few traps began to appear; snares here, nets there. The further he walked, the greater their frequency. Alaric kept a wide berth from each of them, bar the few close calls he had here and there. It could be assumed that their increasing rate of recurrence meant that he was getting nearer to the place that the group called home. This was further evidenced by the gradual replacement of the swamp's stench with an unfamiliar scent.

    Unbeknownst to Alaric, he had ventured onto Tanglewood territory.

The regular flow of joiners sort of diminished as of late. Odd, it was, to not have a new face show up on the border every other day - though, to be fair, Leroy rarely ventured out that far to greet joiners anyway. Ever since assuming the role of general, the wolfhound saw his need to patrol the territory's outer reaches as unnecessary. Conducting patrols was a job for the guardsmen and chasers, not the leader.

Nonetheless, Leroy found himself straggling off in the direction of the region's outskirts. Why, exactly? He received intel pertaining to a particular group of mischievous youths, and how they made the decision to demonstrate their artistic prowess by decking the surrounding trees in a blanket of vivid paint. Up until today, he hadn't seen the young Typhoonites' damage; but upon the sight of the trees, which surely sustained a good amount of harm from the colourful chemicals, the canine's neutral expression shifted into a grimace. In fact, he was just about ready to return to the town and order Feza or Beck or another one of those impish types to return the favour. But, in the apex of his chocolate eyes, he saw two figures: one of Selby and Moth's kin, and a stranger.

The hound encroaches, keeping his figure obscured in the surrounding thicket. He is interested in how Ivan would handle this encounter, as he hadn't personally met the feline, and thus, hadn't the slightest clue in regards to how the child's mind worked. As the tyke spews defensive scurrility at the outsider, Leroy couldn't help but break into a smile. At that point, he emerges, and offers a half-apologetic half-facetious glance towards the grey tabby. "What he said," the male's gruff voice adds, flicking his noggin in Ivan's path. It wasn't likely, but the general hoped that the young cat's opposing attitude did not deter the foreigner. "My name's Leroy," he continues, "and I run this place. Who are you, where are you from, state your business, et cetera."

    The tabby's onward progression was marked by unusual sights. Some of the trees, he noticed, were of an unusual shade; purple, blue, yellow—the rainbow was apparently no stranger to this forest. Alaric briefly wondered if he had consumed a mushroom or two somewhere along the way. He shrugged the thought off, certain that he was intelligent enough to not do something so stupid as to eat a random fungal growth along the way. However, if the colors weren't some sort of hallucinogenic effect to due a drug, they must have been yet another sign of a group nearby.

    Alaric's suspicions were confirmed when in front of him stepped a kitten spouting some defensive, accusatory nonsense. He regarded the child with the same seemingly uninterested blue stare that he had looked upon everything thus far with. Tanglewood? thought Alaric upon processing the kit's words. That must be the name of this group, then—or perhaps the name of this forest?

    He opened his mouth to respond to the tyke when from the underbrush a hound appeared. His gaze flicked to the dog instinctively. So the child is not alone. Presently he analyzed the hound, noting that he carried himself perhaps more regally than the child did. Was this person in a position of power, then? Alaric would not know for sure without asking. The apologetic glance from the stranger did not go unmissed, but neither did its flippant undertone. The tabby began to speak again, but was once more interrupted. So the stranger's name was Leroy, and he was, in fact, in charge of... what was it the kitten said? Tanglewood?

    "My name is Alaric," he responded after a moment. Not seeing the need for frivolities, Alaric responded thusly: "I'm not from anywhere that you'd know of, but I mean to join your group." His gaze remained on Leroy, as he figured that the leader's approval to join would carry more weight than a child's.

© LEXASPERATED

    As more and more creatures emerged from the brush, Alaric slowly began to realize that there were likely more creatures lived in this group than he could have expected, and quite a wide variety too; hell, in front of him now sat a kitten, a hound, a wolf, and... something that looked like a tiger and a lion combined. The tabby could always inquire about the stranger's species, but he didn't really care all that much.

    The tabby's gaze flicked to the newcomers as they approached. The first, whose species he was unsure of, seemed friendly. His words of welcome were, well, welcoming, and the smile that the stranger—er, Aurum—offered seemed warm enough. As for Alaric, he did not summon the energy to return the smile. "Thank you," he replied, dipping his head slightly to emphasize his words.

    The other stranger's appearance was a bit more intriguing, if only for the noxious green gas that he exhaled. Alaric's expression did not change, but he was definitely more intrigued by this creature than the others. The satchel around the wolf's neck was interesting as well.

    Having briefly analyzed the wolf, he allowed his gaze to return to the leader and the second-in-command. "Thank you for the welcome, again," he spoke.