It happened so fast. She had realized the tide's rising with the moon as the sun set, but it was already too late. Night was filled with moonlit terror, the strange Spino walking out of the water, their scales set alight with the moon. Her parents already gone, the subadult cowering as the ghostly beast approached. 'Leave, girl. Leave, and never return, or your parents' fate will be yours.' They didn't have to say it twice. She leapt into the water and swam. Fled. She was forever a coward.

She swam for what seemed as months, even though it was only a few days before she found herself approaching another island. Or.. A cluster of islands. An Archipelago. She felt her feet touch sands and she stood in the water, watching the animals working on the shores. Something had hit them, and hard. It didn't seem like a storm, either. Something sentient. Her body shuddered. Slowly did she approach the shore, growing more and more uncomfortable as more and more eyes settled on her. She slowed to a stop, her body above the water, claws working their way into the sand.

She backed up until her belly touched the water and she started to pace. Why did they have to look? The ocean had to have given them many stranger things. So why did they keep staring? Couldn't they just mind their own business? Well, it was explainable. She did just wander up to their shores. But still! Maybe if someone called out and asked her to get onto the beach, maybe she'd feel comfortable enough to come up.

"Speech"

While Michael had never had a real substantial relationship with his own birth family, he knew that some out there held their parents and siblings in extremely high regard. That was something that came up surprisingly often when it came to new joiners, a surprising amount of them forced to flee because of something happening to their loved ones. The dealer always tried to be sympathetic when they did talk about such issues with himself and others, but he'd never been an expert at comfort. His most successful attempt at comforting someone had been when Trygve was upset, and even then, he hadn't actually done all that much. He had just held Ry for a while and let him sort his own emotions out. Truthfully, Michael had some doubts about that really being counted as comforting, considering his presence could've easily been replaced with some sort of large stuffed animal.

In spite of the thief's usual difficulties when it came to comfort or emotions, he was actually a pretty sociable person. It was part of his job as a dealer, and was a large part of why he had chosen his division. Thus, it wasn't too big of a surprise when he heard his name getting tossed around because someone had crawled up out of the ocean and refused to get any closer. With a bit of a sigh at the whole situation, the bobcat had slipped his way through the small crowd of onlookers, raising his voice enough so that Zythos would hopefully hear him, "Hey! I mean... hey there! Do you maybe wanna come up here and talk things out? I promise that most of the people here don't bite." He already had the usual questions in his mind for the beast of a spino that was pacing around in front of him, but they could wait. Michael could tell that she was upset, and that baby steps would need to be taken here. First step? Get her up onto the actual shore.

The beast slowed to a stop as Michael spoke, his tone welcoming. Similar to her father, when he would welcome her to the nest. While she kept her eyes on the onlookers she stepped toward the shore, claws digging into the sand as she ended up on the true beach. Turning her timid gaze to Michael, she sat down, claws working their way into the sands. "I.. uhm... I do not like to be stared at.. though it is understandable.." For such a powerful creature, her voice was but a gentle whisper loud enough for him to hear.

"My.. My-my name is Zythos.."

"Speech"

Considering Zythos's species, there was really no reason for Michael to lower himself slightly in order to look smaller. In spite of this, he still found himself with his shoulders slightly hunched as he grew closer, eventually coming to a seat nearby. He offered her a small smile as she explained why she had been upset, nodding his head before he reassured her, "Ah, yeah, I get that. I... admittedly like plenty of eyes on me, but I suppose that is pretty obvious." He gestured towards the various pieces of golden jewelry that covered him, from his nose ring, to his necklace, to the bracelets clasped around his wrist. He then introduced himself properly, his bob of a tail twitching behind him as he spoke, "Anyways... it's nice to meet'cha, Zythos. My name is Michael Townley-Phillips, and I'm a dealer of The Typhoon. The Typhoon just happens to be the group whose shore you just happened to crawl up onto. You need a place to stay...? He tilted his head to one side, his question accompanied by a another warm smile.

With his words, she seemed to relax, forepaws buried in the sands as she looked to his jewelry. Her tail moved gently as she repositioned herself and then the mention of her arrival on the shores of 'The Typhoon'. A rumble echoed from her, and she nodded gently. "I.. yes, i am looking for a new home.. My family has been taken from me by force.." She shuddered at the thought. That strange moonlit spino..

"Speech"

Michael smiled slightly as she relaxed, although his heart did sink a little at the mention of her family. Taken from her by force...? He certainly knew what that could be like, considering recent events. A soft sigh left the bobcat before he reassured her, gesturing towards the tavern and the rest of The Typhoon's territory, "Well, if you need a place to stay, look no further. We can keep you safe here, I promise. There's lots more of us for you to meet, too. For now, though, you just want me to show you where you can stay?" The rooms above the tavern seemed like the best place for her, at least to start off with. They were mostly temporary, and she wouldn't need to make a big decision right away.