He'd been absent, as of late. He honestly hadn't meant to be. It had actually been more of a matter of circumstance, which had driven him to be cooped up in his den for days on end. It turned out that the series of events that had led to the Coalition's downfall and the Glades thriving had also been rather exhausting for the legate. He wasn't as young as he had once been, and dealing with such things while also navigating in-group matters left a lot of weight on his shoulders. He hadn't meant for that to exhaust him to the point where he had just collapsed in his den for several days, but that had unfortunately been the case. One moment the serval had been upright, trying to figure out what he wanted to address in the next meeting, and the next moment he had collapsed in his den, curled up within his bed. When he finally awoke, he was unsure of how many days had passed, but he figured it had to have been a while, considering the way his stomach snarled at him in hunger.

Obviously, his immediate thought had been to get something to eat, and to see what he had missed during his impromptu absence. However, Rhine took only a step forward before someone emerged from the shadows, a determined grimace on their face. He recoiled, startled that someone had come into his den without asking, and he found a soft hiss leaving him, "What the fuck? Who are y—" He wasn't given a chance to finish, however, because their scent then hit him right in the face. Coalition. Fuck, one of them must've snuck in with invisibility. He was just lucky that they hadn't struck while he was asleep. He would've been an utterly defenseless target, and the twisted looking canine in front of him would've had no problem dispatching him.

Any further attempts to communicate were nought, as the Coalition canine threw himself forward, lunging for Rhinestone's neck. With a curse, the legate barely managed to dodge out of the way, fangs sinking into his shoulder. Letting out a shout of pain, he clawed at the intruder's face, grinning as the other let out a yip of pain. The noises outside had begun to grow louder, and the serval could tell that their fighting was attracting the attention of his groupmates. He opened his muzzle, intent on yelling for help, only to feel the Wanderer's front leg slam into his stomach, sending the Glades's leader flying into the wall. His back connected with hard stone, and he let out a yowl of agony at the pain that spread through him. The Coalition canine seemed to take this as an opportunity, his fangs digging into the side of Rhinestone's neck before long. However, he wasn't aiming to kill – instead, he was trying to put Rhine in a great deal of pain.

This would, ultimately, lead to the dog's downfall. As the other released his grip to no doubt begin monologuing about how the Coalition had been wronged by the Glades, the feline took his chance. He surged forward, using the pain radiating through his body as a motivator as he sunk his claws into the canine's eyes. The Wanderer let out a screech of agony and regret over his actions, but Rhinestone wasn't about to stop there. He moved forward, his own fangs sinking into the dog's neck with brutal force. Unlike the other, Rhine wasn't looking to hurt. He was looking to kill. Thankfully, he was successful, as the canine soon gave in and collapsed to the ground, blood rushing forth from the new wound in his neck. It was at this point that several Glades members came rushing in, gazes full of concern for their bloodied and battered leader.

Not wanting them all to worry too much, Rhinestone slowly stood up on unstable paws, muttering as he pushed through the crowd, "I'm fine, I promise. Just gimme a minute to head to Vaas's place. I'll find... I'll find something there to..." The legate's words trailed off as he stepped into the main camp, his head vaguely spinning from the blood loss he was experiencing. His neck and shoulder were throbbing with pain, and everything seemed vaguely fuzzy at the edges. He could hear his fellow Glades members speaking, but their voices sounded distant and odd, as if they were all underwater. It was only another moment – another step – before the leader collapsed to the ground, pure black eyes falling shut. His body had seemingly forced him to rest once more, unwilling to deal with the pain.

After a couple of minutes, the legate finally seemed to stir. Or rather, his body did. Slowly, his form began to shift, legs twisting and shortening, and fur changing from a dark blue pattern to something more purple, although his backside was still painted in hues of dark blue. Bright pink horns sprouted forth from his head, curling straight backwards before ending in razor sharp points. A mane of fur also sprouted up along his spine in a shade of blueish green, almost like a vivid aquamarine. Finally, his new form was decorated in slate blue stripes, draping over his back and stopping near his neck. The wounds on his shoulder and neck weren't gone entirely in this new form, but they seemed more faded, as if the sudden shift was a defense mechanism. The new body was certainly a stark contrast to the old one, the former blue serval replaced with a tasmanian tiger, strangely mutated with horns and a mane not unlike a maned wolf's.

As those around him stared in awe at their legate's new body, Rhinestonestar slowly blinked open his gaze, freezing when he saw the world was no longer bathed in shades of pink and red. His eyes... were they fixed? Still unaware of his full body shift – and still reeling from just recently being attacked – the male slowly pushed himself up to a seated position. Ignoring the dull ache in his neck and shoulder, Rhine frowned in confusion at the stunned gazes pointed towards him. He questioned softly, head cocking to one side, "What are you all looking at? I told you I was fine..." However, the legate then recoiled in surprise, blinking down at his own muzzle. Had his voice always sounded so... feminine?

( tl;dr: rhine hasn't been around bc he was exhausted by recent events, and essentially passed out in his den for a week. when he woke up, there was a coalition assassin waiting for him, who obviously immediately tried to kill him. he was able to fight the assassin off himself, but ended up with pretty bad wounds to his neck and shoulder, so his body decided to shift him as a self defense mechanism. he is now a mutated tasmanian tiger, rather than a serval + this is also a bit of a return to activity for me! I'm very sorry for my recent inactivity – recent irl events made it difficult for me to maintain muse with rhin, but I should hopefully be back into the groove of things )

Mezrith was the first to arrive, her gaze scanning over Rhinestone's form in a way that made the legate squirm. Did she really look all that awkward? However, her worries were soon abated when Mez mentioned that the form looked nice – a fact that, instead of making the tasmanian tiger squirm, instead just made her face heat up. She let out a short laugh, shaking her head before she spoke, "I... yeah. The guy who got in is pretty firmly in the gone category, now. Thankfully..." She then glanced down at herself, lifting up a paw to smooth down the mane of hair trailing down her back. As she did so, she mumbled, "This is pretty new... it'll take a bit to get used to." At least until her other body healed, she supposed – if she could even shift back.

As Mezrith shifted once more, a small frown tugged at Rhine's muzzle, just the thought of the Coalition filling her with unease. Lifting one of her paws, the tasmanian tiger gestured in the direction of the Coalition's territory, growling, "The Coalition of the Condemned. We made enemies of them pretty recently when we betrayed them, cause their leader was a self righteous prick who tried to conquer everywhere else. I guess they've taken to sending assassins." It didn't surprise him that Ninazu would try such underhanded tactics. Or, if she hadn't been the one to order the assassin out, that Coalition members would do such a thing.

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The entire incident had been quite exhausting, especially considering the energy that had gone into shifting forms. However, Rhinestone found herself vaguely invigorated by Mezrith's words, a soft and slightly weak laugh leaving the legate. She shook her head from side to side, muttering as she glanced in the direction of the Coalition's territory, "I'm sure that's exactly what they think that they're doing... however, they underestimated me. They're underestimating the Glades as a whole. Don't worry, Mezrith. We'll get some revenge once I'm a bit better, I promise." She grinned a bit crookedly in the direction of her companion, ignoring the way that her shoulder and neck were throbbing unpleasantly. Even if the wounds had settled slightly, they still stung whenever she shifted, something that made her clench her teeth slightly.

As if on cue, Sorbet arrived on the scene, the legate glancing in his direction with a bit of a forced smile. While she had been hoping to hide her pain, it seemed as though Sorbet had picked up on what was going on, something that wasn't entirely surprising. After all, Sorbet had been learning a bit from Rosemary lately, hadn't he? That was honestly sort of a relief, considering how Vaas had essentially dropped off the face of the earth. The legate had hoped that she wouldn't have to worry about her actual injuries, but the feeling of warm blood against her neck and shoulder motivated her over to where Sorbet was. She muttered, closing her eyes briefly before she spoke, "Ah... hey, Sorbet. Honestly... I'm not sure I'm completely alright. I think that my injuries closed a little bit when I shifted, but. Theyre still bleeding..." She lifted her paw up to press lightly against her own shoulder, recoiling as more warm blood stained her fur. She questioned Sorbet, her head tilting to one side, "Do you think there's anything you could do? I know you've been training with Rosemary..." Honestly, The Typhoon sage continued to be a blessing, even after everything that had happened.

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