I feel so special;; open - injury

[wormwood.]

☆ HUNG PICTURES OF PATRON SAINTS UP ON MY WALL TO REMIND ME THAT I AM A FOOL. TELL ME WHERE I CAME FROM, WHAT I WILL ALWAYS BE: JUST A SPOILED LITTLE KID WHO WENT TO CATHOLIC SCHOOL —

Pain. Sorrow. Mourning.

That was all the creature felt for several long moments, its wails coming out in long, drawn out waves, shaking the trees and splitting the air. MAMA had thought that it would be left alone in its agony, but that did not seem to be the case, as soon other animals began spilling forth from the trees. They all stared up at MAMA, even if only briefly, although she could not tell whether it was in terror or awe. The first was a child. A mere kitten. Family, her mind provided, slowly and softly. The boy had puffed himself up in rage, presumably trying to scare her off. It held little effect, however, the creature slowly shifting itself to lower its head down, a groan of sorrow leaving its toothy mouth. When Atticus accused her of being the one to hurt Moth, she wailed once again, head shaking almost violently from side to side, tears thundering against the ground from her many eyed amber gaze. She would never hurt Moth. Moth was family, just as Atticus was. Family was to be protected, at all costs. And that is what she had done, when she ground up the creature that had dared to touch a hair upon the medic's head. So, why, why, why was he so angry with her? It made no sense.

The wyrm was distracted from its internal struggle by the arrival of another. Another feline. A tangler, but not family. He stepped in front of Atticus, and initially MAMA was filled with rage, worried he was seeking to harm the child in some way. But then the tabby spoke, Alaric's words confusing her somewhat. Violence? There would be no violence today. No, no violence except against those that had hurt her loved ones. Atticus and Alaric had done no such thing. With a firm shake of her head, the creature wailed again, jaws gnashing together in an attempt to form words, "NO. NO HURT." Hopefully that got the point across, even if it made her jaws ache and her teeth scrape together.

The next to arrive after Alaric was a boy, who was also identified as family, in MAMA's eyes. She opened her jaws again, seeking to soothe the youngling in front of her, only for the feline to collapse in front of her. Eyes growing wide, the wyrm let out another sorrowful moan, unsure of what to do for Ivan. However, it seemed as though others had that covered. So many more poured forth from the trees, taking their own positions in the confusing chaos that shifted around her. A wolf, another kit that fell to the ground like the first, and a bigger feline that seemed familiar, but ultimately unimportant. They were all unimportant. The important one was Moth, and... oh. Another child, only this one was so much more familiar. So much closer, and warmer. My baby... her mind uttered, softly.

The young ti-tigon had her head pressed into the monstrosity's side, and MAMA felt peace for the first time since she had seen Moth's body collapsed upon the ground. She felt love, and warmth, and love, and the tears that spilled forth from her eyes grew only more frequent. The wyrm lowered herself to the ground, pressing against soft earth as she curled her tail around Asvini, holding her close. MAMA gnashed her jaws together once again, ignoring the pain as she choked out, "BABY... MY BABY..." She then continued, her eyes moving towards Moth, "THEY HURT HER. IT HURT HER..." The creature was stunned, however, when it saw Moth's crumpled form shifting, and moving. Moth didn't move much, but it was enough for MAMA to see her eyes opening, and see that she was alive. She was hurt, but she was very much alive. The revelation made a burst of relief and joy fill the wyrm's chest, a pleased low noise filling the air as MAMA laid her head down against the earth. Exhaustion suddenly filled the angel, her purpose fulfilled, at least for now. There was no sorrow now, only relief.

The change after that was disorienting, the wyrm's body shifting and shrinking considerably, limbs and wings growing forth and tough scales being replaced with plush fur. Eventually, MAMA was no more, and upon the ground laid only Aurum, unaware of what had happened and thoroughly drained of every ounce of energy within him. He looked down at Asvini for a moment, one of his wings coming down to drape over the girl, before he choked out to the gathered crowd, "Moth... M-Moth, take care of her... a crocodile... it hurt her... I got... I got it..." There was a faint wheeze to his every word, as if he was barely keeping himself conscious. This seemed to be the case, considering how the world spun around him, very confusing and very terrifying. Letting out a low whine, the proxy let his chin fall back to the ground, his eyes immediately closing. The darkness of rest tugged him down under, making him lose consciousness within only a few seconds, his wing still protectively huddled over Asvini. There would be explaining to do and questions to ask later, but for now, there was only silence from the lion.

[div style="text-align: right; text-transform: uppercase; text-shadow: 0px 0px 2px #1B1B2F; font-size: 24px;"][color=#44437F]— AURUM

#psychosocial.

[CAUSTIC.]

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DR. CAUSTIC

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[REDACTED]
TOXIC TRAPPER
MACKENZIE VALLEY WOLF
TANGLEWOOD
"Humanity. It's just a word."

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Caustic feels himself moving, replacing himself to stand over Ivan's unconscious body as Simon slides by, tripping. He watches, straightening his posture as the boy begins to seize. Selby is already delving out commands to take care of things- and the scientist is soon given his own.
Don't let anything happen to him.
It's a reaction, an impulse, and Caustic is disgusted, instinctually obedient to the command. The Wolf's head tilts down, suddenly not in control of himself, grabbing Ivan by the scruff and dashing away into the woodworks with the boy in his maw.
He'd come back, soon, but had to get this one away first.

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Original code by lexasperated / artwork by @R_HillPrime

[alaric g.]

    A firm shake of the head. Yet another pained cry. Gnashing teeth forming words that assured Alaric that they were not planning on hurting anyone gathered. All tension exited his body upon registering the wyrm's almost primitive wording. He felt his muscles relax as much as they could given the situation, though he was still thoroughly skeptical and wary of the creature before him.

    The sound of rapid footsteps behind the tabby alerted him to a new presence that was fast approaching the scene. Alaric was reluctant to remove his gaze from the wyrm despite its inspiriting words. He was only able to rip his gaze away from it once he heard Ivan's familiar voice being cut off by a thudding sound. His head swiveled to face the child, who had collapsed out of what Alaric could only assume to be fear. Alaric pushed down any sense of panic with relentless fervor as he racked his brain, trying to think of what he could do. He needed to remove Atticus and Ivan from the scene in a timely manner, but he didn't want to leave Moth alone with it.

    Another set of footsteps appeared not long after. Again the tabby tore his gaze from Ivan and the spiny creature, only to see one of Aurum's children approaching. It had been a while since he had talked to any of them, but he recognized the child as Asvini. For some reason that he could not place, the ti-tigon cub stepped past Alaric, momentarily stunning him before he could collect his thoughts and words and shout something out at the child. "What are you doing! Don't—" Before he could finish speaking, the tyke stepped up and, of all things, pressed her head to the creature's side. The reaction that this elicited from the creature stunned the tabby; instead of lashing out, the serpentine thing began to moan out that Asvini was its baby. It only occurred to him then that this creature might be the shapeshifted form of Aurum.

    He watched and listened as more and more Tanglers arrived on the scene. Caustic was the first of the new arrivals. He also moved to stand protectively in front of the children behind them. Then Simon, who began to seize. Fuck. This just got worse. Luckily, Selby came to the scene next. He had proper medical training to be able to deal with the symptoms that his two sons displayed, but before he did so he retrieved Moth from before the creature. It didn't take much longer for Moth to stir.

    Suddenly, the creature began shifting—spines and scales morphed into soft fur, and within seconds it had completely changed back into Tanglewood's proxy, who promptly passed out after wheezing out a few words. With Selby occupied with Moth's injuries, Alaric took it upon himself to approach the lion. Someone was gonna need to check his vitals, and he was confident that he could do so even without practical medical training. All the books he read had to be good for something.

    With less hesitation, he approached the lion. A gray paw pressed itself to the lion's left "armpit" and waited. After several moments, he noticed a heartbeat; faint, but definitely there. That was a good sign. The lion's chest rose and fell steadily. He was breathing and still had a steady heartbeat. By no means was his examination the most accurate, but it was enough to know that the lion would live through his change in form.

♔ don't do love, don't do friends

[Atticus Roux]

Caught up in the situation, he barely noticed them arriving around him, but his father's words broke him from his incessant rage. His head snapped towards Selby, a soft growl leaving him in dismissal. He didn't want to leave her. Even so, he knew there was more to this and had to attend to his brother. With that thought, he trailed away from Moth and came up to Simon's side. Atticus pressed up against his side, attempting to keep him stable. For now, he was not shaking. All he could was assist him otherwise. Even so, as he did so, his yellow gaze never left Mama. They would not receive his mercy just yet.

As their wails of pity continued, a low hiss left Atticus. Protective and unnecessarily rowdy, he wouldn't back down from what seemed to be an imminent threat. For a moment though, his fiery gaze shifted towards Moth's body in the distance. She was moving now, speaking to Selby even. A wave of relief flowed over Atticus. With his brother unconscious and another seizing, the psuedo-battle was far from over.

The grey kitten's gaze sweeped back to the snake-like being. To his surprise, they began to shift. Their pointed spines faded into obscurity and paws arose from their being, followed by limbs. Soon enough, a familiar lion emerged. He spoke of a crocodile, but Atticus couldn't help but ignore his truth. "I'll believe you when I hear it from her," he spat, pointing a claw towards his mother.

With the lion now unconscious, he refocused his attention back onto Simon. There was nothing more for him to say.

[ASVINI]

Alaric's words barely came in contact with her. Her breathing was shaking, hauling in and out of her body as she nuzzled in against the Wrym. And, MAMA recognized her. Her body relaxed, shoulders dropping a bit as the protective part of her came free, curling around her. She nodded gently, turning her head and focusing her strange optics upon the group of animals huddling over and around Moth. As Aurum began to shift there was a bit of panic on her face. She knew what was about to happen, despite being held close.

She held herself silent, as Alaric began to check over her mother. Her paws shifted, looking down at the lion's body. But those sharp, crude words brushed at her ears. Anger, burning cold and raw in her chest, made her stand and slip free of Aurum's wings. "Do you really think you understood what just happened?" She spoke, her voice oddly calm, and still breezily cold. She continued to approach Atticus. However, her eyes shifted towards Simon, and she paused, before exhaling and stopping her advance.

"The next time you accuse my mother, our proxy, of such a thing, I'm going to have to question where exactly your loyalty lies." She said, looking back towards him, before wrinkling her nose and stepping back away, slipping her body back underneath Aurum's wings. Burning anger, chokingly cold, still made her eyes glare at Atticus from time to time.

"speech"

[glow=black,2,300]BREAK THE SILENCE; DAMN THE DARK[/glow]

[Atticus Roux]

As he catered to Simon, a sigh left him. For a subject of his size and maturity, there was nothing more he could do. He didn't understand that. Atticus wanted to help, protect his mother, and be there for those who needed him. With his small stature and the restrictions his age held, he seemed trapped. That didn't stop him from stepping up from a challenge though.

With an ego larger than his small, new-born body, the mama's boy fluffed up in response of Asvini's accusations. He momentarily pulled away from Simon and grew close to Asvini's own face as she spoke. His yellow gaze narrowed in on her. Savagery, she spoke of. As if a child couldn't understand what was going on. Was he the enemy for questioning the proxy's suspicious story? After all, he was the first to arrive. She was merely the one who tamed the monster within. "What makes you think you do?" the kitten spat. Unbridled rage surged through his veins. "That's my momma on the floor, covered in her own blood." His voice wavered. Atticus' began to choke on his words. "Don't tell me what I know or what I don't know, you... you..." The grey tabby fumbled to find his words. What had heard before? There were many words he knew he wasn't allowed to say. Then again, he also knew he shouldn't be talking to Sweeney from The Pitt. That said, his debate was easy. In the spirit of Beck's favorite word, he yelled out: "... ENTITLED BITCH!"

His parents were going to beat his ass.

While he wished to continue, his small brain couldn't handle any more frustration or else he'd possibly burst. A child could only handle so much. Plus, if he continued, his impulses would most definitely take control and Simon would no longer be his top priority. With that in mind, he stepped back towards Simon and continued to tend to his seizing sibling. Atticus couldn't help but seethe in place though.

[selby roux !]

[align=center][div style="width: 51%; text-align: justify; font-size: 10pt; letter-spacing: -1px; font-family: georgia;"]He hardly was paying attention to the scene around him as he tended to his girlfriend, ears laying back in surprise just slightly as she stirred. “Stay down, dear, it’s alright,” he murmured comfortingly to her, holding her down gently with a paw. “I’ve got you.”

The rest of it didn’t matter. Asvini’s comments were nothing more than blips on his radar. It was his son’s fiery response that had him looking up from his work. A swear word. Well. It would only be a matter of time. He did not censor himself especially around his children, but such a derogatory term he was certain Atticus hadn’t learned from him. What do I do? Yelling wouldn’t do anything; in fact, it would likely rile him up more. But he couldn’t let him get away with such behavior.

“Atticus Roux!” he scolded gently but firmly. “That is enough. We’re going to have a talk about this later, young man.” There. That wasn’t terrible. He hoped he hadn’t embarrassed him too much.

[Atticus Roux]

With his father's words, the small kitten let out a frustrated huff. His ears pinned back onto his head. Yellow eyes avoided Selby's own. Why was he being punished? He wasn't the one turning into a monster and attacking his mother, nor taming the beast. The child felt disregarded. In fact, he was embarassed. Ready to throw a tantrum, Atticus considered exiting the situation. They would probably be fine without his help. After all, he was a mere child.