it's a free world / EMERGENCE

[Orion]

On the border of Tanglewood sat a black panther. Snow blanketed their ragged dark fur as they waited. The male's head was tilted, rounded ears perked towards the sky. His green eyes narrowed out towards the horizon. He was awaiting something... someone to come meet him. Standing tall, the bold figure amongst the white background let out a huff. Cold breath seeped from his mouth, rising into the air in a thin mist. Needless to say, he was growing impatient.

With no help coming in time, Raymond shifted and pushed off the ground with his haunches. Gigantic paws trudged through the muddy snow carelessly. It was not long before he reached Tanglewood's forest. Despite his ability to blend into the shadows, he was making himself very noticeable currently. No one had yet to find him too. 'What a pathetic bunch.' Egotistical and self-centered, the panther found himself at a loss. As per usual, matters might just fall into his own hands.

Disappointed, he paused in his steps again. His gaze moved over the area once more. Someone had to approach him soon enough, otherwise he'd just invite himself in. (Not like he already had though.)

// hiya! short introduction post for this boy here. i also play perseus, so this will be interesting!

[wormwood.]

i was born, on the highway, in a train wreck

with a heart, that was beating, out of my chest

The wind was faintly running through Aurum's fur as he approached the edge of Tanglewood's forest, intent on heading all the way out to the border for a patrol. He'd been having fun recently with all of the social events going on, but not doing anything to benefit the group's defense practically made his fur itch, so one again he found himself striding and leaping from log to log, his eyes ahead toward his destination. However, he was caught off guard by a strange new scent, his head raising and his one blue eye narrowing in caution. Wings pinned down against his back, the angel made his way slowly towards the scent, keeping his pawsteps short and silent, just in case this was going to be another problem. After all of the hell attacks on Crowley, he had been fairly cautious as of late. When he came upon Raymond, however, he was caught off guard by how the male was just waiting in place, evidently growing impatient for someone to come and see him. That put Aurum at ease slightly, but only slightly. Taking a deep breath, the lion emerged from the shadows out in front of Ray, rumbling as he inspected the other, one eye bouncing from dark fur to bright eyes and back, "Hello there. Could you tell me who you are, and why you're here? This is Tanglewood territory." He preferred that phrasing to the very formal "name and business" cliche, even despite his rank as Captain. After all, he didn't immediately want any potential new joiners thinking that they were hostile and cold.

template by orion

[Orion]

The panther found himself about to move again when a figure in the distance appeared. A lion presumably. Just like the noble creatures their species were, they approached with confidence. Their blue eye held a glint of valor within them. The wings of an angel, though he didn’t know that literally, graced his vision. To him, it almost seemed cliche. Then again, he was an overzealous cock. His judgement was skewed towards himself. What gave him the right to be so prideful? Even their strut screamed assertiveness. Luckily, since Aurum was also looking him up and down, he didn’t feel so disdainful observing them. Raymond wouldn’t of cared either way though.

Raymond’s slouch straightened out into a bold stance as they grew closer, making himself appear more formal.  They spoke of the usual. ‘Name and business,’ as many would say. At their words, a lousy smile curled upon his lips. ”Hello darling,” he cooed politely, though his greeting truly held a twang of mocking. ”The name is Raymond.” Usually he would reciprocate verbally to ask who they were, but it didn’t seem appropriate currently. After all, he was the invader. Hopefully the lion would introduce themselves later though. ”I’m here to join your ranks.” Notably, he didn’t ask. The panther was assuring himself that he’d be allowed within their humble abode. Any challenge against his request would be met harshly.

[toboggan]

When your territory stank like a noxious concoction of swamp shit and literal shit, sniffing out an individual's scent did not happen as an effortless feat. In fact, he saw it as damn near impossible. Leroy blamed the land's fetid stench for his faulty attendance when visitors came round, for an animal's odour was vanquished with ease by the area's humid, rancid, barely breathable atmosphere. Okay, that last tidbit had been somewhat exaggerated, but the point about it being particularly difficult to pick up someone's smell yet stood as true. The sense of smell didn't qualify as a key player in drawing the General towards the duo over by the border. No, but rather the sense of hearing. Two voices were heard, one belonging to his Captain, Aurum, and the other in the possession of an unknown source. The wolfhound predicted that the mystery voice's owner merely wished to join his tribe, but owing to Tanglewood's still-recent victory over the Pitt, the canine began to pursue the two sources of verbal communication. After all, Leroy didn't want some vengeance-hungered Pittian assassin offing one of his best faces. If the old proverb about strength being found in numbers and shit wasn't a fib, then he could rest assured that no Tangler stood in harm's way.

'Off-putting' quickly described how Leroy felt upon perceiving the panther, who evidently went by Raymond. A creature whose pelt reminisced of shadows, all the while bearing forest green eyes. Proportion-wise, the dude fell on the large side of the spectrum. His forelegs resembled muscly tree stumps, whilst his midsection paralleled the sturdy yet chassis of a fighter jet. "I’m here to join your ranks." Well shit, how could he say no to a proposition such as that? "You definitely got some quirks that we like 'round here, if ya don't mind me sayin' so," he starts with a grin. Somewhere, in the depths of his beating heart, he wished that the male didn't tear him a new one for saying that. "I'm Leroy Starkweather," Leroy introduces with a slight nod, "General of Tanglewood. I'd be thrilled to have ya on board - what say you, Aurum?" Of course, Tanglewood law declared that all joiners were automatically accepted, so the one-eyed Lion hadn't much a choice. That was, unless, Raymond here decided to seriously harm the both of them. Then, he couldn't join.

Leroy doubted that this would happen, though.

[wormwood.]

i was born, on the highway, in a train wreck

with a heart, that was beating, out of my chest

To say that Aurum was prideful would be a bit of a stretch. Sure, he was proud of how much he had grown since he had originally arrived at Tanglewood's border, but he tried not to seem too terribly full of himself. Maybe it was just his frequent warm smiles, or just the way he commonly towered over everyone he met, but Aurum could definitely be a consuming presence, even when he didn't mean to be. The lion cocked his head to one side as Raymond looked him over, resisting the urge to let an unsettled chill run through his body. Aurum knew deep down that Ray wasn't presenting himself in any sort of intimidating way, and he was fairly sure in sheer force alone he could best the other male, but for some reason things still felt... wrong. The Captain had just been pushing down the unreasonable unnerved feeling in his chest when Leroy came over, settling beside him and giving his usual casual grin. The General's words almost made Aurum snort, mainly due to the fact that he knew exactly what quirks he was talking about – strong, intimidating, useful, Leroy had always been the type to appreciate it when Tanglewood had good protection. Hell, it was part of the reason that Aurum had gotten on his good side. The lion listened intently to Leroy's introduction, his one remaining blue eye watching the canine for a long moment before he blinked in faint surprise when he was asked his opinion. He knew of the rule as well, but still, it was new to be asked about his opinion on things. Not an unpleasant sort of new, though. Just... new. Turning back to Raymond, the angel glanced him over slowly before offering a smile, rumbling as he shifted a bit, "He seems alright to me, Leroy. I'm sure we'll be happy to have him." Even if Aurum felt like something was wrong, he knew he was probably just being overly paranoid, and he didn't want to punish Ray for just a feeling in his chest that he couldn't explain. So instead he just dipped his head to the dark furred feline, speaking warmly, "It's nice to meet you then, Raymond. My name, as you may have just heard, is Aurum. I'm the Captain of the Guard around here, so if you need anything important and you can't find Leroy, feel free to come to me." He couldn't imagine there would be many situations where Leroy was hiding away so much that he wasn't available to the average Joe within Tanglewood, but Aurum knew he had to be prepared for that if it ever did happen.

template by orion

[Orion]

A new being approached, catching his weary gaze.  They spoke with a smile, which only triggered a smirk from Raymond in response. Just like he had done with Aurum, the panther looked them up and down before acknowledging them. Satisfied, the male turned his head up towards the canine. His response was quite the opposite of what Leroy expected. "Why... Don't flatter me now," he replied back sarcastically. "I'm not all that." A hidden meaning laid underneath his words. What it meant was unbeknownst to them, but very clear to Raymond.

'Leroy Starkweather,' the other male mentioned next. With their introduction, he offered a nod of his head. "A pleasure to meet you." Now all he had to do was remember that. Thankfully, that was easy enough once they continued on to mention their rank. With their authority in mind, Raymond would surely know their name in an instant.

With Leroy asking Aurum for confirmation, the panther's head craned off to the side. So they were about communication here? Surely, this was no general asking a random civilian on him... Right? That led him to assume that the lion was of importance also. His green eyes just narrowed, awaiting the captain's response to the general's question. Good thing Aurum agreed. "Delightful." Nothing more than that though. As long as he had a place to rest and some lousy faces to converse with, the panther was pleased.

Their introduction only confirmed his suspicion. "Aurum," he echoed back. "That's a new one." Not that it was a bad thing though. Just an interesting name, that's all. "Nice to see you also. Thank you." After all, they made the final decision on his acceptance. "Mind telling me a bit more about this place?" His question was to anyone in general, but since Aurum and Leroy were the only ones here so far, it seemed they were his only option. "Perhaps any notable spots or activities to indulge in?" Initiation seemed ideal.

If they felt something strange about him, Raymond was unsure why. Aurum, being the angel they were, might catch a glimpse of his aura. To anyone else, he was just an enigma.

[wormwood.]

i was born, on the highway, in a train wreck

with a heart, that was beating, out of my chest

It wasn't often that Aurum worried about the auras of those around him. He certainly knew they existed, and if he focused he could see them, but it wasn't something he did often, despite his status as an angel. This was, for the most part, because he didn't see much reason too. Sure, their auras could all be very different, but they were all generally good people with pleasant auras, or at least ones that had a great deal of determination or something else. However, when he focused this time, he was caught off guard by the strong dark aura that seemed to blanket Raymond and the area around him, and the angel had to be careful not to have his ears pin back in repulsion. It wasn't that he disliked Raymond – the other had done nothing to give him a reason to thus far – but something was very wrong with such an energy, and he mentally noted it away for later. He didn't know if Ray would be able to answer questions about it, or even knew of its existence, but... it was good, at the very least, to see what he might have to deal with. The lion was eventually ripped away from his frantic thoughts by the repeat of his own name, his one eye flicking up in response. He nodded almost automatically as Ray tested the name on his tongue, before the other was asking he and Leroy about more information about Tanglewood. Swallowing down the feeling of dread that had come from focusing on Ray's aura, Aurum let a somewhat false smile come to his face, rumbling warmly, "Well... Tanglewood is an excellent place to live with lots to see. Obviously there's the town, with all of the main little houses, as well as the library. You'll probably want to get a house to stay in before too long. In addition to that, recently we renovated our old mess hall into the Deathless Hound Tavern. It's a nice tavern with games, drinks, socialization... it's a good place to go if you want to meet some people since you're new here." He only desperately hoped the Ray's odd aura couldn't strike the same sense of fear or uneasiness in others, since that would be quite the downer on the tavern.

template by orion