The swamp people were fun. They treated him nice and essentially let him be a hermit for the short time he lived there. He didn't have a valid reason to leave except a gut feeling. Maybe they weren't the right people for him, however nice they were. So, with nothing but his makeshift flag and his painfully empty candy pouch, Kauko carefully made his way out of Tanglewood territory. He only had one candy left, a milk candy one to be precise. It was a sad-looking thing, squished and misshapen. Once he was out of the territory, he popped it into his mouth with a grim expression. 'Onwards.' And so he began his search for another group to call home.

It was several days later that he finally stumbled upon what seemed to be another group. Kauko let out a sigh of relief when he finally scented the tell-tale sign of a border. Thank goodness. He was ready to just die from exhaustion. Not really, but he hadn't had anything sweet, savory, salty, or sour in days. For Kauko, it was a catastrophic event, worse than when his parents kicked him out. Probably, maybe, kind of. Still, he was here, and that was what mattered. Maybe he should be a little pickier when it came to choosing groups, but he was desperate. The sooner he joined, the sooner he could begin to restock his candy stash.

He was quite a sight, with his muddy paws, disheveled fur, and bits of foliage clinging to fur. The reason for his dirty appearance was partly because of Tanglewood's swamp, and partly because he half-assed his efforts to groom himself. His long fur was hard to keep clean but unfortunately, Kauko had a very debilitating disease called laziness. Although, sometimes his fur length came in handy, like right now. His thick coat meant the cold and snow bothered him little, something that he supposed, he had to be grateful for. 'Thanks fur, you don't always suck, I guess.'

Kauko dropped his pouch then stuck his flag in the snow. Thankfully, this time there was wind so it unfurled with the breeze, the words scribbled on the cloth unreadable save for a crooked ''. The Norwegian forest cat cleared his throat. "Hiii, my name's Kauko, I want to join," he said in a monotone, a stoic expression taking shape on his face. "You wouldn't let a poor, innocent cat boy freeze out here, would you?" A beat. "Nyan." He was illiterate, and he could only speak one language, but he picked up on the 'cutesy' way to meow from those deformed cartoons he used to watch. He wouldn't consider himself cute, but to hell with it. Maybe that would be the ticket to convincing these people into letting him join.

A lot of people took advantage of the clans' kindness to stick around and then leave. Honestly, it didn't bother Izuku. He'd gotten used to it, and, honestly, he understood. Izuku, if he'd gotten attached to the rogue lifestyle, might've been like that. But he didn't, because it was shit and he was becoming something awful. Anyways .. well. Maybe this one would be like that, maybe he wouldn't. He didn't seem that enthused, and it's kind of funny. Just .. the mostly monotone voice and face and then his words. The dragon giggles, tail sweeping as he lays hunched in the snow. Nyan -- who said that? The dragon's ears twitch, and he only watches the tabby for a few moments. And then he realized he oughta get up and talk to them. They were probably cold. At least Kauko had fur, though. Izuku used to have fur, and then he shapeshifted, and it was .. okay, not awful, but he missed his fur. Also -- what was with that flag? Izuku's tail thumps in the snow.
"Of course not!" Izuku chirps as he strains to his paws and begins walking over. He stays slightly hunched, because he's kind of big and he doesn't want to scare anybody. He's lucky he's only like .. lion-sized, as it was. Once Izuku is a few feet away, after a long few moments of quiet, he seats himself kind of awkwardly in the snow. Snowbound wasn't gonna leave anybody in the snow. I mean -- they welcomed people with hot chocolate, honestly. Speaking of -- Izuku fumbles to conjure a flask of the stuff. Where did he keep all of the seemingly hot chocolate flasks he greeted everybody with, you wonder? That was a secret. While he was at it -- uh. He could probably get him a sweater. Izuku, once he conjures a red sweater in Kauko's .. general size range, awkwardly balances to hold both items out in his talons, eyes bright and tail sweeping. "I'm Izuku, Snowbound's Frosthealer! Welcome! You can, um, have those 'till we get to the village. Or you can keep it?" Izuku shrugs kind of helplessly. 'It' being the sweater. And I mean. Kauko could keep the flask, but was there a point? Probably not. m .. was there anything else Kauko would want? Izuku isn't sure. Probably not?

ATBASH CIPHER

i should've said what i hear
i should have let myself fear

bio | female | hailcaller [leader] of snowbound

Kauko's attention shifted to the large green...lizard? He tilted his head in quiet fascination, vaguely acknowledging the fact that the other male was speaking to him. Maybe he shouldn't be so surprised to see such an unusual creature, especially after he met Fenrisulfr. Kauko shook himself out of his thoughts, giving Izuku a small nod in greeting. His yellow eyes flickered over to the offerings, confusion evident only for a moment before his features smoothed back to its usual stoicism.

He took the items, gaze lingering on the sweater for a few seconds before turning back to Izuku. "Thanks. I'm keeping them," he said as he opened up the flask to take a whiff of the substance. Hot chocolate. He quickly chugged down the drink, ignoring the searing pain followed. Sure, he could have waited until it cooled down but it was the closest substitute to candy at the moment. After he was done, he wrapped the sweater around his neck like a cape because surprise surprise, he didn't know what a sweater was. It looked like a really sad blanket to him. "Cool. By the way, do you have alligators too?" Kauko rasped, throat burning as he quietly shoved the flask inside his candy pouch for safekeeping.

Kauko's ears twitched as Atbash approached, then visibly stiffened when a voice began speaking in his head. What the hell? He stayed silent for a beat before responding. "Um, yeah, hiya heya. Nice to meet you, are you magic?" He was interested even if he didn't outwardly show it - he'd never encountered someone who could speak in his mind. Unless she didn't and he was going insane. "Yeah, I know him. He was nice when he showed me around. Why? Is he magic too?" Kauko tilted his head.

Then two others arrived, and he switched his attention to them with one last glance at Atbash. Kauko waved his tail in greetings when Kirishima introduced himself. "Can I have more hot chocolate? I'm shaking in my fur," he deadpanned, giving Kirishima an overdramatic shudder. He wasn't very cold - his fur made sure of that, but he was going to squirrel away as much of the sugary drink as he could. Then maybe learn how to make it himself. "Zuzu gave me this blanket already, but thanks," Kauko added, motioning with his chin towards Izuku. It was a sweater, not a blanket, but he didn't know the difference.

And finally, he turned his attention to the older male. Kauko opened his mouth to greet him before pausing. 'What?' Best of friends? Friends? He never had any friends. His parents didn't like him being out of the house, so he never got to play a lot with the children near his home. Was this his first friend? Kauko felt a wave of confusion hit him as he stared blankly at Henri. Finally, he snapped out of his stupor and gave Henri a tiny smile in return. "Yeah, hey, it's nice to meet you too..." He had no way of knowing that the happiness Henri was expressing was false, unfortunately. His first friend, huh?

ATBASH CIPHER

i know i should stop believing
i know there's no retrieving

bio | female | hailcaller [leader] of snowbound