my thoughts were so loud i couldn't hear my mouth

Being in the background, going about a routine day was something the boy had been happy to do. While it perhaps wasn't the best, for his goal to make friends, to stay so attached to a boxed routine, but he'd the choice to be free now, and he was happy to let himself take time doing the small, miniscule tasks in the quiet background. It was comfortable, safe. But eventually, the coati knew he needed to do more. To be louder in a community. And the more he jumped into routine, the more demanding an old voice got. He didn't want to listen to it, he didn't want his father to be around to see him struggle with it. And so he'd decided, a few months ago, that he would leave and find something for himself. Deliver letters, write them - it was so much easier to articulate himself in writing, why not assist others doing the same? And so that's what he'd set out to do.

When he'd left, his father himself had been finding himself, moving between territories, and trying new communities. While he'd felt bad going, felt afraid of losing the attachment, change was something they'd both needed after all, he's sure. Bad things still happened, people still got hurt, and trust was still difficult, but the break from such a tight-knit community groups built was something he needed. He needed to learn more about the world he'd been given a second chance in, needed to meet more people, in his own way. And he wrote. And he read. The letters let him travel back and forth, all around the mainland. They were his gateway to finding more and more around the large island they all resided on, and his chance to learn in his own controlled environment. Earth and fire, no more wildfires, no more demands. Fear still. But he could do better now. And he missed his dad. It'd been long enough, and he was ready to open his mouth, and be louder.

The winged coati landed upon the familiar marshland, long tail swaying back and forth. He shakes himself as he lands, taking in the air, before lowering his head and moving towards the town, looking around in case anyone would try to stop him. It'd been a while, and he'd not been a remarkable member by any means. It was quite possible someone would think him a stranger, and so he silently prepped for the potential interaction of introducing himself.

my thoughts were so loud i couldn't hear my mouth

What exactly had occurred to the group since his leave, the boy had no knowledge of. When he'd gone, things were well. Faces changed, members shuffled in and out as time passes, but nothing unusual. Considering a history he himself can hardly recall at times, political matters - war and violence alike - was not information he sought out. The only times he may learn of any changes to the spectrums of the groups is if someone had mentioned it to him specifically. Nothing like this had ever really happened before either, at least in his lifetime here; the closest being when the groups had raided against the Pitt. He preferred not to recall that time, either, though. So, imagining Tanglewood being too significantly different, or even taken over, simply had not crossed the boys mind. Bad things happened before, but nothing quite like that before. He saw the end of a kingdom, loss in a war, but he'd no freedom in that life. Things were different here, he'd thought. At least, a little bit.

And so, when he's greeted with seemingly hostility, he pauses, not responding immediately. It takes him a moment to gather himself, look the stranger in the eye. "What right does he have" is a question that catches him especially off-guard, causing his head to lower further. A frown becomes ever so slightly on his features, eyes seeming to trail off somewhere long ago and far away for a moment. But he gathers himself. Just enough. "Hello there," he'd greet with a nod and friendly tone, though his voice cracks, young and holding a nervous edge. No stutters, however - the words came clear, were not so quiet they were a whisper. Not loud, not carrying, but enough to hear. "I'm Roy. I used to live here. My dad lives here," or at least, he probably does, assuming he'd not left last time the boy had seen him. "Or at least, I'm pretty sure he still does. His name's Aurum." He explains further, his paws shuffling. He'd hoped his father had not left the swamp, or at the very minimum, if he had, he'd gone somewhere he could be easily found.

my thoughts were so loud i couldn't hear my mouth

As the stranger seems to cool down listening to his words, the boy would relax himself for a moment. Only for a moment, though. Roy listens carefully as she explains what was currently ongoing in the group, his round ears twitching. He blinks, looking around as she introduces the concept of the Coalition of the Condemned. An odd name he'd never heard of before, and based off her warning it was not a welcome visit.

His voice lowers as he speaks again, words careful and unsure. "How did this happen?" he settles on asking, uncertain what to think immediately. Strangers took over Tanglewood - what reason was there to take over the swamp? Did they just want the land? Had his old home been struggling, unable to defend themselves? A world where this was the case had not entered the boy's mind as a possibility before. There had been no real threats to the members of Tanglewood before, other than the Pitt, and even they mostly stayed clear of the territory. He knows what a takeover could potentially mean, at least a little bit. His mind flashes back to the burning, the sunrise, for just a brief moment. This wasn't quite the same, however. "Is it...dangerous?" Had they hurt anyone? Was his father okay? Would he be more useful away from them, finding help elsewhere? His gaze turns, looks out towards the border as they grow closer to the town. But he doesn't know - it almost felt like running away. He's ran away too many times. But he didn't want to fight, either. He isn't sure he could.

my thoughts were so loud i couldn't hear my mouth

The one he'd come back for approached, and he stares as the male pads closer, moving his own body faster as he spots him. He reaches out to the other as he's pulled closer, wrapping one paw around the other's leg and keeping it there even as he pulls away. His eyes close for a moment in his grasp, head lifting now. He takes in the other's presence, a comfort he'd not felt in a while now, and for a second he's afraid when he opens his eyes, it'll go away. There's things he thinks of saying, but ultimately settles for the quiet. There was nothing that really needed to be said. They both understood.

He remains quiet as his father explains the situation in greater detail, looking to the ground as he spoke, thinking to himself. He isn't sure how to respond at first. What the next move would be for him, or the members of Tanglewood, he didn't know. And he didn't know if he would like it even if he asked. "Why are they doing this?" he asks softly - almost a rhetoric, but if an answer existed, he would like to hear it. What was the goal? He hesitates, looking to his paws. This wasn't something they'd just sit by and let happen. They weren't captives, only marginalized. And he had a choice now, on what he decided to do. No one was forcing him to try and be anything but himself, and quietly, he decides, maybe he should decide to be someone who helps. Decide to be brave. Just long enough. It was tempting, now that he was back, to fall back into his safety net, a comfortable bubble that need not be poked. But, that was why he'd gone in the first place. He needed to break out of it himself. He needed to be here, and be brave, just enough. "What should I do to help?" he asks this more specifically to Aurum, not that he didn't think the female could offer good advice, he'd only just met her after all, but he trusts his father, and his father knows Roy's limits as well.

And maybe, after all, they could find a peaceful way to end the conflict. Maybe they could find a compromise, somehow. If he just learned a little more.