Springtime was easily the region's loveliest time of year, in terms of the weather.

Autumn brought forth rainstorms of monumental proportions, as well as high winds that modified the freshly fallen leaves into precarious projectiles. Winter was a blotchy amalgamation of snow and sleet, and the temperature oft fluctuated between far too hot and just a tad too cold. The Summer, however, established itself as the worst of all four seasons. Being within a subtropical climate, Tanglewood's wetlands and woodlands adopted air that is far to muggy to breathe typically towards early June, if not by the end of May. In addition to the humid atmosphere, the sun unfortunately found joy in seeking to boil the nearby residents alive. And, while not a direct factor of the weather itself, the local population of insects replaced The Pitt as Enemy Number One, what with the copious amount of them trying to make a feast out of literally anyone and everyone.

Thus, Spring stood atop the podium as best season. It brought not weather of the shitty variety, nor did it piggyback an unhealthy figure of black flies and mosquitoes. Instead, the season heralded light rains and soothing breezes, livable temperatures and enjoyable air. As should anyone with a brain inside their skull, Leroy comfortably called Spring his favourite. The General got outside the most this time of year, going on hikes and reveling in the adequate conditions. He also loved Spring for the fact that one could finally host bonfires once again - doing so in the Winter months was certainly possible, of course, but you had to evade the awful precipitation in order to keep a steady flame going.

This year, the wolfhound found himself savouring the season somewhat more than usual. Perhaps this was because, for this first time in years, the fine folks of Tanglewood weren't threatened by any hostile group or entity. Last year, at around this time, Ninazu or Stryker or whoever the fuck had the desert-dwelling fucks under their jurisdiction ordered an attack on the forest territory, and Leroy had put his life on the line in order to defend his home. Thankfully, the Pittian threat seemed to fall dormant sometime in the past handful of months, meaning the tribe had nothing to worry about.

Yeah, it's been pretty easygoing, lately.

Two days ago, Leroy took time to relish the land's coastline, getting his paws a bit dirty in the moist sand and soil.

Yesterday, he paid a visit to the cemetery on the town's outskirts. He didn't bother trying to read the headstones, since he's completely illiterate. Instead, he admired the marble statues and busts of humans and their religious symbols.

Today, he watched as an extraterrestrial object hurled through the planet's atmosphere in a huge-ass inferno, slamming the absolute fuck into the Earth somewhere West.

The day was only in its early hours, and just minutes before, the sky had depicted that fact. However, as the foreign body entered the atmosphere, the heavens lit up as if it was high noon, as something brighter than the sun hurled through the atmosphere above. Leroy'd seen nothing of this sort before. He recalled reading newspapers that sported pictures of meteor showers, but never did he observe one in person. Hell, with how close the thing flew to the ground, it's presence could be felt; the male wouldn't be surprised if a couple dozen trees were flattened in the territory's outer reaches.

Feeling the falling object's force whilst it shot across the horizon was only the butt end of what'd be felt this morning. Soon after the meteorite hurtled out of view, the sky resumed its typical pre-morning hue of dark blue. Only a scarce supply of minutes separated the bright sky's diminishing and the following blast. The explosion was obviously a fat stretch away, though the distance didn't mitigate the impact's volume by that much. On a scale of totally quiet to absolutely deafening, the collision sat at an 'ow, my ears'.

Leroy couldn't find a means of mentally processing what the fuck had just happened. The happening played on replay upon a hypothetical screen within his mind. The meteorite entered the sky, lit everything up, before disappearing and possibly smashing into the ground. God, it was going in the Typhoon's direction; unless it crashed into the waves far away from the island's territory, Tanglewood's ally had a high possibility of being utterly screwed.

The worry he had for the Typhoon soon morphed into worry for his own people, as the ground beneath his very paws began to tremble in a treacherous and unreliable manner. He stood at the base of the building he shared with Crow, and had previously left its walls in order to watch the cosmic even unfolding up above. Whilst he attempted to maintain his balance against the shaking earth, the sound of objects falling off of shelves inside his home had reached his folded ears. Fuck, Crow was in there. If this really was an earthquake, then his boyfriend could get really hurt inside the house. The both of them had to get to a spot that's open and far away from structures.

He boldly barged through the doorway and scrambled to the room where the alabaster feline slumbered. "We're gettin' the fuck outta here, pal!" he cried, afterwards picking him up by the scruff and dashing out of their home. And he kept running. Or, at least, he tried to keep running. The ground unconditionally refused to let up with its trembling, causing the canine to lose his footing in a couple of instances. Though he continued to sprint away from his home with Crow's scruff in his maw until finally arriving at the town square, where their closest thing to a hazard was the lump that used to be a statue.

He lowers his posture and places the male down on the ground, saying to him in a tone laced with fear and uncertainty, "I dunno what the fuck's gonna happen next, but we gotta stay here." Then, returning to a standing position, he raises his voice in an attempt to overpower the catastrophic noise of destruction and shouts, "COME TO THE TOWN SQUARE! IT'S SAFE!"

// it's a friggin earthquake thing. due to the asteroid's enormous size and its capability to completely mess up the typhoon's territory, the tremors that tanglewood is facing will result in immense structural damage! this can range from small furniture being broken to houses and homes being crumbled.

// the tremors will continue until stated otherwise in a future post. and even then, aftershocks can still happen

Asvini wasn't in her bed, when Aurum came to find her. No, the cub had gotten up in the middle of the night to sit outside, around the backside of the house, after going to the bathroom. The stars, of course, were one that that could captivate Asvini's mind- which, of course, didn't care for much else. They were such an intricate system, and of course, if the little cub could read, she'd be all over the text about them. But, for now, what she could do is sit and point out the little shapes they made, even if they weren't real. She had spent the night there, wondering at what was truly out there, the little streaks crossing the sky. And she rested, time seeming to pass like liquid.

However, when the bright light crossed the sky, Asvini's instincts told her to run. But, where? Run where? She pushed to her paws, wildly looking about. The earth shook, and the cub did what knew was best- run. She turned, taking off, the lanky body of hers easily picking up speed. An old house she did pass however, and in the wrong moments. It's balcony toppled backwards, crashing over Asvini's body. She cried out with a sharp, bitter noise, her body squirming beneath it's weight. Nails pressed down against her skin, scraping as she tried to squirm and move.

Breathing was suddenly hard, her chest in extreme pain. Asvini fell silent, trying to keep her breathing even, her eyes squeezing shut. Hopefully, Aurum would find her. She hoped.

"speech"

    This marked the second occurrence of a catastrophe great enough to shake the earth, with the first a result of a scientist's incompetence. No blame could fall upon shoulders now, natural wrath plummeting from the atmosphere in the form of a meteor.

    Dull eyes surveyed the trajectory, the owl more reliant on vision until his hearing healed -- no thanks to Caustic. A meteor, or rather meteorite striking the earth often signaled extinction, as it had for the Mesozoic beasts of the past. In this case, it would doom the apparent pirates dwelling on the island. Bitterly, he couldn't help but chuckle. If an apocalypse stalled on the outskirts of society, biding time to catch the population unaware, a devastating plague would be scheduled soon. Perhaps respiratory, from the dust that would be inevitably stirred into the oxygen. Perhaps even the radiation of the condemned town would take effect, forming tumors and metastasizing at remarkable rates, unable to be treated or excised. Slow, silent deaths at the hands of an unseen enemy too small for naked eyes.

      If only Isaac wasn't occupied with another task.

    A heavy sigh slipped from his cracked beak. There wasn't anything better to do at the moment; on muted wings, the owl located the gathering of panicked mammals. In the air, trembling ground did not matter. Circling above, his unfeeling gaze locked on the departing figure of Selby. Despite teaching the tabby the extensive methods of surgery alongside anatomy and physiology, Selby held the position as a medic, while Isaac did not. A twinge of envy wormed its way to his mind, his eyes narrowing in cold calculation. With Selby gone, tending to the wounded in the town square with Leroy present would mightily benefit his reputation, if not at least catch the leader's interest.

    Gliding downward with broad wings outstretched, Isaac perched himself lightly on the worn pavement, talons reflexively gripping the surface in response to the tremors. He remained silent for a moment, beak clicking in thought before a dark wing waved and pulled forth his old doctor's bag from seemingly nothing. Unclasping the mouth of it, his toneless voice informed those nearby his purpose for arriving. "If you're injured, come to me so you can be treated until Selby returns." He paused, head tilting to the right as he tacked on, "Or bring the injured here. Either works."