yet again, a new month rolled around and with it, the time to convene for a meeting. as far as the injured merchant knew, there was little to trade news of aside from the state of each territory, and the matters of leadership. he couldn't help but wonder how many would appear this time, the mute in his domestic cat body slowly limping to the place that they usually gathered, entering under the arch that signaled tanglewood.

gaze climbing the skies above, watching the dark and tangled clouds gather and roil upon the horizon. it was not the most beautiful day to host this meeting, but it should be done, though he would much rather prefer to be back home and in the comfort of his bedding, resting weary bones before he forced himself up and out to harvest. inhaling, the tom would look back to the arch with a sense of mystified curiosity to it, looking around at the slowly emerging shapes of the other living beings.

narrowing his eyes, he would shake his pelt with a yawn, wincing at the raking pain that raced down through his spine, every nerve screaming to life. one of his hopes this time, in coming, was to see if he could find some hint of ares, of where she'd gone, and if she was okay. he couldn't forgive himself for what had happened, that he hadn't recognized her. limping towards the place where the leaders would usually seat themselves, he sniffed around, finding a shaded location to look and observe as the first meeting of the fall began.

[div style="margin-bottom: 4px; height: auto; font-family: baskerville; font-size: 26px; letter-spacing: 3px; text-align: center; text-transform: uppercase; color: black;"]ARE YOU FEELIN' ME NOW?

ACTIONS | "SPEAKING" | THINKING | TELEPATHY

He made his way toward the clearing with a far different attitude than when he first attended one of these meetings. His earliest attendance to this inter-group gathering had felt forced, as though he were obliged to attend along with his fellow clan members. He hadn't had a single care for clan affairs then. He was a solitary beast and he liked to keep it that way. The sole purpose of these meetings was to familiarize himself with the many faces. Some of them he would eventually do business with; others he felt would meet their fate by his hand if the time came. It was just how his line of work was.

Unfortunately, Blackjack's new promotion to the Pitt's Councilman of Affairs would bring about a drastic change. Now he had to care about these meetings, pay attention to every syllable said. On the contrary, this would be an incredibly vital event to him.

The horned beast entered the clearing via the path that the Pitt had always taken, briefly tossing his immense skull over his shoulder to see if the others were close by before continuing his march forward. Golden eyes illuminated the path, now darker due to the formidable clouds rolling in the sky. He gritted his teeth at the thought of rain, imagining the discomfort he would feel at the pool of water tugging at his pelt and making it sag down. Surely we could do this on a nicer day, he thought with a subtle shake of his head in disapproval. Well, he certainly wasn't the one who put this thing together. Maybe he had no room to complain.

He noticed the presence of an unfamiliar domestic feline limping over and dipped his head to the other in acknowledgment as he processed his scent. It was sharp and vaguely swamp-like — Tanglewood, perhaps? Leaving that space for the other's clan, Jack padded towards a decently-sized tree to claim for the Pitt. In the event of a storm, having some cover would be quite pleasant.