Judith. The name along was enough to make Aurum's lip curl, and his blood boil. Despite the sorrow that he had felt when he had found his mother's dead body, he couldn't deny the relief that he felt as well. After all, she had practically made his life a living hell, for the time that she had walked the Earth. She constantly spoke about how she only wanted the best for him and his brother, and yet she had pitted the both of them against each other, making them hide things from one another and grow bitter, and resentful. His father, while better, had never exactly been a saint either. Aethelwulf had constantly been focused upon his work and his duties as king, which was obviously fair. Aurum had always tried to be understanding of his father, gradually learning how hard it must've been to lead an entire pride. Regardless of that, Aethelwulf had still failed he and Poetking in many ways, ignoring Judith's abusive behaviors, and acting as if he had the fullest confidence in her abilities. His ignorance had just driven Aurum further and further towards the truth, making the angel's blood boil even as he had tried to take his own brothers life. He regretted his actions now, but he wasn't confused by them. After all, he had been raised to be the precious heir, only to have his entire life pulled out from beneath him because Judith didn't consider him worthy.

Ultimately, however, the lion had ended up in Tanglewood for many reasons. The primary one was for an escape. When Judith had threatened his life and told him to go find Poetking or be killed, it had honestly been sort of a relief. After all, it meant he had an escape from the home that had constantly mistreated him – not to mention the chance to prove himself to the brother he had wronged. His journey had been a long one, involving more than a few stops within the uncharted lands to get his bearings, but he ultimately thought that those were beneficial as well. However, they were ultimately just pitstops on the way to his true home – Tanglewood. He would fool no one in saying that he had loved the place right off the bat, but he had come to love the swamp dwelling group, perhaps as much as he could possibly love anything. The members of the group had gradually become a new family to him, providing him with comfort and safety in a time when he was without both. Hell, the place had even helped him foster a new relationship with Poetking, even if that had ended up crashing and burning, just as the first.

Now, many months – nearly a year, if his calculations were correct – after he had found himself on the border of Tanglewood, he now found himself sitting among the trees, looking downwards. Within his paw was an artifact, the only item that he had actually taken from Judith's body after her death. A golden necklace, with a charm emblazoned with the symbol of their pride, glinting brightly even in the low light. It represented all that Judith had represented, and it felt almost as if it burned the pad of the angel's paw. It was his mother's birthday, if his memory served correctly, and it only seemed proper to go through with what he had been considering for ages on such a day. Taking a deep breath, the shaderunner used his fire elementals, concentrating until the necklace felt weak and malleable in his paw. He then reeled his leg back as far as he could, letting out a roar full of emotion as he slung the necklace forward, into the tree. Pieces of it went scattering everywhere, hitting the ground and sinking into the wet sludge of the swamp. Aurum's breath came out in heavy pants as he stared forward, eventually snarling into the air, "Good fucking riddance."

If one were to ask Aurum if he ever missed his parents, or his pride, his answer would be simple – no. He never missed them, because his parents, nor the pride, had ever truly been a home to him. Tanglewood would always be his true home, even if it had taken him a while to find it.

( prompt: does Aurum miss his family/parents/pride at all? what made him come join tanglewood?
tl;dr, Aurum was sitting in the forest contemplating his past on Judith's birthday, before he eventually flung the last thing he had of hers – a golden necklace – into a tree, shattering it into pieces. he roared while doing it fairly loudly, so most probably heard )

On some level, Aurum had naturally known that his yelling would attract attention. After all, it was pretty hard to ignore the roar of a lion, especially went it went bouncing off the thickly clustered trees. However, he also knew that, deep down, he wouldn't have been able to hold the shout of rage back anyways, far too driven by emotion to be satisfied without it. So, even as the angel found himself wincing when Vig's approaching pawsteps reached him, he didn't have it in him to be too full of regret. Turning his one eyed gaze towards the luminary, Aurum found it hard to miss the concern in the savannah's eyes, and he was quick to offer up a smile of comfort, trying to show that he was alright. Despite this, his voice came out slightly shaky as he spoke up, a sigh leaving him, "Vigenere... I didn't mean to make you come all the way out..." He glanced towards the trees for a moment, his gaze lingering on the glinting pieces of his mother's locket, before he continued, "...I'm alright. I just had a family issue to deal with, and I found myself a bit frustrated. I'm sorry for the shouting – don't worry, it won't happen again." After all, he found it unlikely that he would even remember Judith's birthday next year.