?? ????????? 《》  the beating drum of thunder on high,  crash and burn of lightning tickling her nose. the brine of the sea filling her mouth like an angry wind, the ship beneath her no longer a safe refuge as the waves tore at the structure, wood screaming and creaking as the sea let the voyagers know her rage. she didn't know when, but the ship canted to the side with a mighty roar of water crashing over the hull, sea water knocking her off into its depths. why in the worlds had she even decided to go upon the decks to help the crew? ah that's right, she was too kind for her own good. she had been heading home, back to england via ship from the nordic countries, when this mighty storm had hit.

water closing over her head, the woman would lose her breath, her eyes closed as she fought to hold her breath in the water so deep and heavy. the time passed, even with the suffocation of the water, she was caught in a state of strife, waiting to fall unconscious, her dress weighing her down. suitcase in her grip for whichever reason, she would curl about her most precious belongings as darkness closed in on her body. take that you bastard fae. i can still die ...

《》 《》 《》

the sound of gentle waves filled her ears, watercolors of dawn painting the horizon soothing the tired and stinging eyes of the woman. laying on her back in sands she did not think she would ever see again, her head splitting with a migraine. oh how unfair the world. she should have died, she knew she should have. pushing herself up, she would go to touch her head to inspect for injury. coming up short, she felt something else instead. bringing her limb to her face, she would see fur and leathery pads in place of fingers and skin. surprise flitting across the woman's face, she would sit up with a soft yelp at the tenderness in her right shoulder, the muscle pinching from the angle she held it in. this was certainly something new for her, she had never been in a cat's body, or for that matter, any body aside from her human body. she had not known for sure if such a thing could have been accomplished even with her minor roots in witchcraft.

gaze darting to her suitcase, engraved with runes of protection and longevity. the gods had spared her items, to which she felt joy. she wasn't fully alone, then. though, one item was missing - her sword, amalthia, was nowhere to be seen. tipping her head, she shook her body out as she got to her paws, looking at the soft furred bean shapes below her. this was going to be an odd transition for her, not something that she couldn't enjoy, hells, it was part of the trip. the search for her sword could come within days, she doubted the blade would rust in any waters in which it may be lost. the sound of living beings around her was enough to stir her to her senses as she watched the sun begin it's climb into the sky. paws itching to have her needlework before her, she could only grimace at the aches and pains running through her body. carrying her suitcase with a few drags, the molly would approach the strange scents before her.

maybe these voices knew of where she was. she didn't fear any hostility that may be shown to her despite the aching condition of her body. she had a heavy package in her mouth that may hurt to move about swiftly, yes, but she had her goals and the first was to find out information about this place. approaching the strange scents, she would set her suitcase in the sands to travel up and down what appeared to be some form of a border judging by the path that this string of scents carried along. pausing, something in her mind told her that with a border, someone would have to be along some time soon, and the voices that she heard seemed promising unless she was somehow on the wrong side of the border.

returning to her suitcase, the molly would stand with her ears perked and tail swishing through the sands slowly, patches of dampness on her long furred coat slowly drying. clearing her throat, she would listen to the beginning calls of the jungles animals, calling out herself, "good morn'!", she would call out, hoping to catch the attention of the nearby speaking creatures.

??? ?? ????????? 《》 this is so lazy oh my god ajdjdjfn
she speaks and thinks in #F9E79F

Rat was one of the newer pieces of fresh meat to join Tanglewood, she had joined in quite a clumsy manner and had stepped right into the heart of the town only to be confronted by a few people though she wasn't afraid of those who had come to meet her seeing as her powerful jaws and bat covered with nails would help protect her. The hyena had been trying to familiarize herself with her newer surroundings as a small frown pulled at her maw debating on where to go first "Dare say... I haven't a clue on what ta do," The Irish woman mumbled to herself with the bat close to her side though the sound of someone's voice made the large hyena's ears twitch lightly, she found a grin on her maw as she spoke with a soft chuff leaving her "Ter it is!"

According to the people here it was unheard of others joining their group so maybe this was one of them, she glanced across the floor only to pick up a bone she had been gently gnawing on before trotting over to the sound of the voice. Soon enough, the albino caught sight of the molly and felt her steps growing slower in hopes of not scaring off the feline who had a rather large suitcase. How odd. A business lassie! Well, tat's rather attractive. She mused as her ears swiveled forward, she spat out the bone to the side for now only to speak with a toothy grin "Aye! 'Ello ter lassie," Fuck. What else was she supposed to say here? She was usually pretty straightforward with everyone or the boys but women were a whole different thing. "Aye, you seemed ta be a bit soaked and lost... I can provide ya sum 'elp if ya would like." There she went, she stumbled off without another word.

She didn't care whose it belonged to but she grabbed a towel that was hanging within the town already heading back to where she had left the molly. Her bushy tail wagging to the sides as she returned "Afe herfe daf towlef." She said trying to speak through the said piece of cloth, the hyena waving it up until it fell nicely onto Merlin. It took her a moment to realize she hadn't really introduced herself, ah, the pretty woman was already making her forget her own manners. "Oh right! M'names Rat." No need for her last names, she found no use in introducing herself in full after all. "And tis 'ere is Tanglewood. It's a bit humid and muddy but ya get used te it. I know it 'elps me wit m'eyesight. Y'see I got te most sensitive eyes." With that, Rat lifted up her shades to reveal her ruby red eyes to the molly and let the shades rest on top of her head. They were within the safety of the shade so the sun wouldn't hurt her eyes.

"Te trouble of albinism. A great tragedy really."

If it weren't for the fact that Rat came barging back into camp like some sort of rapid animal, looking for a towel, Atbash wouldn't have decided to investigate and see what was going on. But alas, curiosity got the best of her and she decided to follow after the strange-speaking hyena, though at a much slower pace. Eventually the savannah joined Rat at the border, talking to another stranger. "Hey there! I'm glad Rat got you a towel, but do you need some hot chocolate or anything like that?" Ah, that was her Snowbound habits getting the best of her. But hey, who would complain about hot chocolate? "My name's Atbash Cipher, by the way. What brings you here?"

Although Merlin would likely never know it, Aurum knew a thing or two about changing bodies. Not only through shapeshifting from animal form to animal form, but also through a complete change of spirit, and physical being. At one time, the luminary had been an angel. He technically still was, but back in heaven, he had looked quite different. A creature of dazzling light and brilliant power, with no solid form except for massive white wings, and golden rings shifting around him. His gaze had been endless, and he would never be able to take such a form now that he was in the Beyond. To do so would not only take an enormous amount of energy on his part, but it would likely blind or kill all of those around him if he ever did. The closest he would ever come to that again was his MAMA form, but he didn't feel particularly sad about that fact. After all, there was a reason why he was a fallen archangel, rather than one that remained in heaven. He heavily preferred his current form and place within Tanglewood, as opposed to his form and place within heaven. Although, he wasn't quite in his most preferred form, at this very moment. While he didn't mind his golden tiger form, he would never try to claim that his birth body wasn't his favorite. Still, it wouldn't be long until his pregnancy was over, and he could go back to his lion form after caring for his children.

Even though he knew about crossing spiritual forms, Aurum probably would've never expected that Merlin was a former human. She seemed surprisingly comfortable within her new form - or perhaps she was just so shocked that she hadn't processed it yet. Either way, her light call of "good morn" was enough to draw the angel's attention, his gaze lifting from where it had formerly been focused on the ground. Temporarily putting aside his former plans to hunt, Aurum made his way over to where the feline stood, arriving shortly after both Rat and Atbash. Despite the rather unorthodox way that Rat had arrived, he didn't hold that against her, and was glad that she seemed to be helping. He did have to wonder how Merlin had gotten so thoroughly drenched, though. Had she fallen down in one of the deeper puddles of muck leading up to the border? That didn't seem likely, considering she would then also be caked in mud and anything else that decided to cling to her. He didn't decide to press her on it, though. It wasn't all that important in the grand scheme of things, after all - she could've merely been taking a bath in a nearby pond before she arrived.

Rat had already addressed the most important things, and Atbash had asked most of the questions, so Aurum really just made himself comfortable, tail curling around his paws as he sat. He offered Merlin a smile, rumbling softly as he introduced himself, "Hello there... Rat and Atbash already addressed the other things, so... I'm Aurum Kingmaker, and I'm the luminary of Tanglewood, or the leader. If you have any major questions about the group, feel free to ask... you seem as though you might be a bit lost." He then said, looking Merlin over and offering her a bit of a sympathetic smile, "I hope that the trek to our border wasn't too bad. I know that some joiners or visitors have a bit of... difficulty dealing with the new environment." The edge of the border was hardly the worst muck-filled place of Tanglewood's territory, not by a long shot, but it could still be a shock to the system. Although it had been quite a long time ago, Aurum could still vaguely remember when he had first arrived, and he had slipped and slid in the muck before finally managing to pull himself up onto a log. It was a reason why he had been so overwhelmingly grumpy in his initial joining... one among several reasons, really.

?? ?????????  《》 Head turning to catch whispers of bird song, curiosity flickering across her gaze. Closing her eyes as the sounds filtered over her ears, she enjoyed the simple peace that came with it, creatures moving through the swamp's reaches, soft noises reaching she who stood nearby. so focused on the sounds, did she barely catch the sound of another body approaching. turning her head back to the front, she put on what she assumed to be a smile, not yet used to the different facial muscles. Aye! 'Ello ter lassie. oh. oh. she was a tad lost for thought, her face warming. oh, how she could never get used to being called lassie. gaze falling upon the large albino hyena, her own ears pricking as she was met by a unique-looking creature.

realizing that she was speaking to her after the urge to look around her, she went to answer before the larger woman was well on her way, her gaze following after her tail. pausing to process what was going on, she fanned at her face with a paw for a few moments in rat's departure, oh blazes. calm your heart, silly woman. she's irish, she's not trying to hit on you. desperate creature that i am ..., came the soft thoughts, regaining her composure by the time rat had returned.

keeping her green eyed gaze more or less focused on the red shades rat wore, her maw pulling into a smile at the bushy tail that swept side to side, the other woman's muffled words flowing over her. "blazes, strike me down, lords above. her voice is as sweet as angels' choirs.", she would murmur aloud as the towel fell over her gently like down, peering out from under the towel upon her head. unknowing of her blunder, words pulled from her thoughts, she would reach up with her paw to adjust the towel softly, "rat ... that's a very unique name! my name is merlin, but you can also call me elizabeth if you'd like, 'tis my middle name."

watching her shuffle the shades to the top of her head, she found herself left speechless. ah. red eyes. "albinism? well, if i may, for being sensitive they are very pretty! tanglewood... it is surely an interesting name for this place, miss rat. i don't mind the muck, i was raised with the livestock.", she would offer a kind grin as she felt the presence of another approach. before long a savannah would appear after rat, her unique pelt patterns catching the calico's gaze. "a pleasure to meet you miss atbash! i've wound up on your borders as a traveler. my ship sank a while back and i've been finding my ... footing? yes, footing.", should she be using words like paws? well .. she was originally human after all, so footing seemed most natural to her. flicking an ear softly, her ears swiveled to pick up the sound of larger pawsteps, larger than those of rat's.

taking a breath to answer, she smiled, "i would love a hot chocolate if it is not too much to trouble you for.", came the soft answer, turning her head  as a golden tiger emerged after the two ladies. feeling a thrill race down her spine, she hadn't seen a beast of such majesty face to face. barely able to recognize that this creature was speaking to her, she shook herself from her awe to respond as politely as she could, "greetings aurum! thank you, ah, the journey was fairly easy.", how was she to respond to such a unique beast?

??? ?? ?????????  《》

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Rat was certainly a unique name, that was for sure. Atbash giggled a bit at Merlin's comment on Rat's name, though didn't pay much attention to the wording that the calico gave for 'footing'; it was, at least, natural to Atbash, as well. "Sure, I'd be glad to make you some. I can lead you back to my place if you want, after you're all dried up." Not that it really mattered, mud and grime occasionally got in her home anyway.

?? ?????????  《》 a pleasant smile wormed its way across her maw as she rested a paw against her suitcase, "that would be more than amazing, miss atbash!", she would speak happily as she took the towel carefully to rub it over her fur in order to attempt to dry herself out, "although i'm not sure how clean my boots would be", she chuckled as she looked down to her paws, flicking an ear back as she chuckled before her gaze returned to atbash, her ears pricking back up. looking away as atbash giggled, feeling her face warm in the slightest. blazes, all of these women have such beautiful voices, i'm in really big trouble now', she could only find herself thinking as she gave a warm smile and curl of her tail as she dried herself off the best that she could.

pausing in her drying as she came across the pair of wings she had kept closely tucked to her back, letting them unbury themself from her fur and the seaweed tangled across her back. out came beautiful and delicate wings sectioned off like a dragonfly's, in beautiful pastel shades that shimmered in the sunlight much like stained glass, delicate and membraned, not of much use in flight but gorgeous and pointing out the deal she had made so long ago with lear.

??? ?? ?????????  《》 totally forgot to say she had wings lmao here's a quickly colored thought for her wings -- clicketh meh //

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