Soft fur is ruffled as the wind, quite strong here, ruffles the leopard's fur, and pale eyes finally spot the abandoned observatory, which she was pretty sure they called home. Joining. It was a strange word for her being here, but at the same time, quite fitting. She was homeless now. Thea thrived in groups, hell, she needed it for her own survival. The female just didn't do well alone, and that was proven by the constant twitching of her tail and whiskers, crouching down, not to hide herself, but to serve for better protection against the strong wind.

For now, she says nothing, a bit unsure whether she should be announcing her presence, or waiting.

For a pack animal such as Imperia, living alone following her escape from her natal pack was both a blessing and a curse. She loved never having to censor herself or hide her true nature, but she longed for connection with another being. Luckily for Peri, the Maker guided her to the Ascendants--a place where she can express herself while never having to be alone. And for that she is grateful. Calloused paws and slender legs carry the elegant young she-wolf through the plains, stopping every now and then to admire wildflowers or to gaze upon the vast expanse of beautiful blue sky. Where she came from, Peri was often too scared to leave the comfort of her family's den. The skies were merely an expanse of flat grey stone, the grass a colony of moss growing upon a rock close to the mouth of the cave. It would be a sin not to stop and appreciate the wonderfulness of her current home.

As she wanders, something--someone--tells her to look up. Superstitious as she is, Imperia does not resist the innate command, allowing her sterling gaze to sweep up from the soft blue petals of a cornflower to observe a stranger lurking near the edge of the territory. Ah, a joiner, perhaps? Eager to meet someone new, the lithe huntress spurs herself into a graceful trot, nimbly navigating the obstacles concealed by the sea of emerald grass. Peri is nearly there when another creature beats her to it: Agent Carolina. She would be lying if she claimed to be totally over the day the beautiful leopardess "joined." Imperia's own experience with people telling her when to talk, what to believe, and how to behave have made her a little suspicious of Carolina's intentions. She cannot fathom what kind of power this woman can hold over Washington and the others, but she is polite enough to keep these feelings to herself. She is not so stupid as to shove her nose in other people's business. It really only took one bite to the flank to learn that lesson.

"Are you joining, perhaps?" asks the dainty she-wolf as she approaches to the right of the other creatures. A friendly smile graces her lovely visage, though there is some tension hidden within those steel grey eyes upon hearing Carolina's explanation of her residence. "Um, my name is Imperia Arceneau and I am a resident of the Ascendants, well."

Wow. So apparently this was a member of the welcoming committee. Already, Thea's fur fluffed up more, if anything, at the tone used, but quickly smoothed back down at the arrival of the next, though the tension between the two, maybe at Carolina's words, was quite easy to see. What if this wasn't the best choice to make? Doubt crossed her features for a few brief moments, and a paw lifted to take a step back, to make a run for it, before Thea steeled herself and set her paw down, tilting her head. "I'm, uh, Thea."

"I'm here to join." She finished, the tip of her tail twitching again.

A single ear rotates backwards as Imperia attempts to resist the urge to fidget. She cannot help it--she can feel the tension and discomfort building in the air as if it were some tangible entity; a monster. Her instinct is to lower her head and hide from it all. If she acts submissively, perhaps the impending conflict will overlook her. But Peri knows that this place is different from her natal pack. She has the power to change, to redirect things down the proper path. "What a beautiful name," comments the soft-spoken creature with a warm smile. It is clear that she is still a touch awkward when it comes to making herself and her thoughts known, but her genuine desire to welcome others overpowers the more crippling effects of social anxiety. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Thea. Welcome to the Ascendants." Polite as ever, the elegant canine offers a polite nod in greeting. "Would you like a tour, perhaps?"

[table][tr][td][/td][td][/td][td][/td][/tr][/table]

© MADI

For the first time since her arrival here, a grin could be found on the young leopard's face, maybe because the feeling of acceptence, maybe due to the tension not rising any higher. Of course, she still felt that lingering feeling of unease, though it was lessening bit by bit.

This was nice. Being around people was so nice to experience again. Just... that feeling of excitement buried deep underneath the relief and happiness that flooded her was easily felt, even in this unfamiliar body, in an unfamiliar land.

Her train of thought was quickly broken by Margaery's question, and the leopard nodded, whiskers twitching. "I'd love a tour, to be honest. Better to do it now than learn to navigate the territory the hard way." A bright, bubbly tone, something she hadn't heard herself use in awhile. It was so refreshing.

These groups were soft. They were too quick to trust those that simply wanted to seek refuge. Which he guessed that would be a good method if they wanted to get into a war soon and fodder all of them off. He had a feeling that there was something that he was missing about a place like this. He didn't know what it was, but as usual, he was suspicious and didn't rust anything that was going on. Having been in the military basically his entire life, almost over ten years in total meant that he knew when he was used to getting yelled at and being told what to do. But that didn't mean that he had to end up liking it, he was just given a job and then he was told to do something else. It was okay to consider strangers to be a complete threat upon arrival if they were pretending to be peaceful when they actually were not. He had experience being betrayed like that when the enemies that they were going up against when he was a human wanted to surrender to them.

Previously when this had happened with just one enemy, one of his men ended up getting shot and killed in the process. Washington had no reason to think that anyone that he would approach in this place wasn't capable of doing the exact same thing. Hence why he was constantly on edge with someone that just joined this place as no one knew who they were. The more familiar faces were more of those that he was used to. Washington remembered said enemies trying to surrender again, and without hesitation, he commanded his entire platoon to kill all of them. They didn't have any room to keep any likes of prisoners, and he knew with the way they carried their honor that the enemies would go down in a fight rather than attempt to surrounding so that they could save their own skin. They weren't cowards and were smart with the tactics that they often tried to use against them. Although it meant more work for him because it kept him on his toes and that he couldn't trust any enemies that he would end up coming across.

With the recent betrayal that he had to go through, the organization that he had worked with nothing but a fluke and complete lie, he wasn't prepared to trust anyone that he came across again. Even if he came across those that he had worked with for years and years, he would consider them to be a threat until they told him others. Even then he would probably just kill them instead of asking questions because it would make it easier on himself and leave him less stress to deal with. Even if Carolina was considered to be his comrade, Washington wasn't prepared to believe everything that she was saying. He was following her just because he knew that if he didn't then he would be punished for not doing so. The wildcat was playing the good guy in the situation that they were in, even if they all had an end goal in trying to go back to being human and get back at the Director that had betrayed all of them. They weren't the family that they used to be, and they were forced to fight against each other for their own moral cause.

Washington didn't want to do that, but he wasn't left much of a choice in this sort of world when they were missing a large amount of their gear. Washington wasn't the kindest that was around, but he was only doing that so that he could manipulate those that he did talk to. There were probably those that lived here now that were obvious to that fact and realized that he was just using them, but if they did then they weren't saying anything about it. They were just civilians, they were hardly a threat for the likes of two Freelancers that could easily wipe the floor with them anyway. He wasn't as kind as he was perceiving himself to be, and Carolina was still getting used to figuring out what these civilians were capable of dealing with anything. If anyone considered her to be rude, they should have been there with him when he had his drill sergeant yelling at him for not cleaning his gun correctly and calling him all sorts of different names. He deserved it of course, and Carolina was basically just doing her job. She had the right to be suspicious just like he did, and Washington wasn't about to offer his shoulder to anyone that suddenly arrived on the border.

He didn't have that sort of empathy, empathy that was removed as soon as they put a computer into his head. Usually, where Carolina was, Washington wasn't all that far behind from the Alpha leader. Washington was used to giving orders given to him in all sorts of different tons. The armored smilodon not really caring how Carolina addressed him since he was used to it. They had worked with one another for years after all until they were dumped in this place. He blinked his golden eyes as he made his way over toward the group. The helmet that he wore on his face hiding any facial expression that he would have been capable of making thanks to the fact that the visor on said helmet was basically a one-way mirror. He easily towered over the leopard, as he was around the size of a lion, although he weighed a lot more than one. Carolina didn't have her armor yet while he did, and Washington wondered if they would ever be able to find the stuff. He flicked his shortened tail as there was now kindness that radiated off of his body. Only a cold demeanor toward the leopard.

He wasn't here to make friends after all. He was just here to get a job done like Carolina, and from the sounds of the female, this wasn't someone that they knew that arrived here without their armor. Pity. He would like to see another Freelancer because it could potentially mean they could get more answers to their questions about what had happened to them. Washington didn't say anything as he let Thea finish speaking, his helmet turning to look at Carolina who seemed to be doing perfectly fine introducing herself. "Agent Washington." The soldier introduced himself curtly and calmly, saying nothing else. In his mind it wasn't exactly his job to deal with animals that would be gone anyway once he became a human. The large armored smilodon dwarfed those that were around the leopard, and he was one of the large creatures that actually existed in the outpost. Washington seemed prepared to leave if nothing else was going to be said to him as he had the rest of his patrols to go on. His gaze lingering on Marg and Imperia for a couple of seconds. "speech"

//So I ended up changing Thea's personality a bit, and will change a bit of the previous posts, which shouldn't affect you guys!

The grin was still on the leopard's face, already quite enjoying this group. A couple seemed grumpy, maybe not up to sparring unless she really pushed them, maybe provoked them, even, but she stayed silent about that. Eventually, they'd warm up to her, and maybe their strengths could be put to the test. But for now, her tail swished, and she chirped, "Pleasure to meet you guys, then. Maybe spar sometime?" It was posed like a question, an option, but in Thea's mind, it was more of something that would eventually happen, and she hopped over the unseen border with this, following the medic who hadn't given her name yet, whiskers twitching. "I don't think I got your name." Head tilting, her green gaze was directed towards the female with the unspoken question held in them.

Plenty cheery, Thea was, and that could all turn in a second, if she met a worthy challenger.