my energy and attitude don't really coincide \\ joining

[Atticus Roux]

With his mother dying before his eyes and adrenaline running through his system, Atticus was impulsive. He needed to escape. Facing reality was too much. Hearing his father sobbing and his siblings crying out for their mother caused his stomach to turn. The sight of the body etched into his mind. Practically every minute of the day, the moment of the house crashing on his mother replayed in his head. There wasn't a moment lately where he wasn't felt sick. The kitten had cried for hours after the shock had passed. Feeling guilty and damned to be blamed, he ran. Had things went different, he wouldn't of left Tanglewood. With time, he may return. For now though, he needed to clear his head.

So he went to the only place he knew. A group without anyone involved. Somewhere where his only friend resided and could cry without judgement. The Pitt.

Despite their two groups being mortal enemies, Atticus liked to think otherwise. His ignorance told him they could be different. After all, she was here. Sweeney. Their first approach was pleasant, despite the occasional name calling. The next two were even better. They talked freely, allowing borders to fade between them. It seemed as if they were not enemies, but merely rebellious allies. Her presence felt... right.

Eventually, the kitten reached the very familiar desert of The Pitt. Atticus passed the border, continuing to walk. He was heaving, ready to collapse onto the floor. The fur on his cheeks was matted was dried tears and his pelt was unkempt. Weary eyes looked around, looking for anyone. It was clear he was in distress. For once, he didn't even call out to Sweeney. He just waited... and waited... and waited till someone came.

[trojan g.]

[div style="max-width: 425px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 30px; opacity: 0.70; font-family: verdana; font-size: 11px; padding-top: 10px;"]It seemed as though despite not being called for, Sweeney would be the first to arrive to the scene. Having gotten used to the idea of random members of other groups showing up on the borders, Sweeney had decided that she had wanted to "patrol" them herself, see if she could get into their heads before someone else showed up so she wouldn't get in trouble. Of course, nothing had come of it yet, but one day it would. She'd either get in big trouble and decide to stop and do things more subtly, or something big would happen in response to her ways, and she was excited for either.

So she'd been walking around the perimeter of the forest when she saw a familiar pelt cross the border, and so she waited. Waited for the mooing that had come from one of their previous encounters, and what she heard instead had been sobbing. She'd never seen him cry before. Something was wrong.

Padding forward, the Callahan kid would slowly inch her way towards the boy, ears flattening to her head for a moment before speaking. "Atti...?" She'd speak out quietly, paw moving to reach for his shoulder, albeit a bit awkwardly - she'd never had to comfort someone before and it showed - "Atti, are you okay? What happened?" She didn't like seeing her friend like this, and didn't want anyone else to either.

[align=center]text | "speech"

[deimos]

Day in, day out, another member of another group.

Piers was right. The last time he had seen anyone that didn't belong to the Pitt, he had been mulling over the same fact- they had more visitors from opposing clans then they did joiners. It wasn't healthy. But this was the second time this particular person had returned, and this time, they came with issues. Piers approached, but far slower then Sweeney was, staying silent in the sight of the situation.

He listened to their conversation, before he spoke. "Perhaps.. this conversation should be carried out where you both are safe." That's all he interjected, his tail slowly swaying on the ground behind him, ocean blue eyes shifting between the pair.

"SPEECH"

[DANTE NORTHWEST.]

[glow=white,1,400]I THINK I'M TOO FAR GONE TO SAVE ! — ｡+ﾟ.[/glow]

The Pitt had changed since he had last joined and Dante was patrolling the territory to get used to it. He heard a couple NPCs talking about how kids from other groups came around but at first the hybrid snorted, not believing their words. But he did recall Gael saying The Pitt had changed since he last had been here. For the worse, it seems. Dante thought to himself, his ears flicking as he heard voices. Deciding to investigate, the large feline made his way to where Piers and Sweeney was.

"We allow enemies to just go where they want?" Dante huffed, narrowing his eyes at Atticus. The Pitt sure as hell had changed and Dante wasn't quite happy with it, but it was whatever. It struck him as odd that a warbound group allowed their enemies to prance about the territory, though. Shouldn't we be at least a little wary of them? What if they were a spy? Ah well, that wasn't any of his business.[glow=COLOR,1,400] ━ ✧*:･ﾟ[/glow]

[Atticus Roux]

The sound of paw steps neared. His head ducked low, looking down at the sound. He knew he wasn't supposed to be here. Guilt filled his chest as the movement grew closer, expecting to be ridiculed. The Pittian's enemy did not expect a kind greeting, unlike last time. Thankfully, the girl he yearned for came through first. Sweeney's paw brushed against his shoulder and Atticus stopped in his tracks. A weary stare looked up at the familiar Pittian.

Pointed ears pinned to the back of his head, mimicking her own. His marigold hues gazed into her eyes momentarily, contemplating what to even say. He stuttered gibberish at first. Before the kitten could move forward and describe his sorrow further, she had already taken the privilege away. 'Atti, what's wrong?' she crooned softly. Overwhelmed, Atticus' tired eyes began to swell with tears. He stammered forward with a violent shudder, brushing off her paw and attempting to lean into her shoulder for support. Though his speech were muffled by her fur, his next point was clearly stated. Even if the reality was cruel. "She's dead, Sweeney," he said, choking on his words.  "My momma's dead." Through staggered sobs, the kitten closed his eyes and attempted to press into his friend's side, aching for her warmth and support.

Another voice caused his head to raise up with eyes plastered open. The last time Piers arrived, the hybrid greeted him with no words. This time, he decided to speak though. Atticus swallowed nervously. After Pier's suggestion, he looked over towards Sweeney for agreement. While he wished to unload here, they were probably better off in private. No one wanted to hear his heart-wrenching sobs.

In regards to Dante's comment, his maw pulled backwards into a snarl. Through the tears, he snapped back at Dante. The cigarette-smelling shark hybrid didn't need to imply anything. "Go blow off smoke elsewhere, brat," came his immature comment. With that, he turned back to Sweeney. That was all from Atticus for now.

[DANTE NORTHWEST.]

[glow=white,1,400]I THINK I'M TOO FAR GONE TO SAVE ! — ｡+ﾟ.[/glow]

The kid was here because his momma died? Pathetic. Dante snorted as Atticus told Sweeney why he was here, an amused smile forming on his face when Atticus snapped at him. He's got spunk though. That was nice to see, especially with someone so young. "Ouch, you hurt my feelings." The hybrid rumbled sarcastically, lowering his head and trying to puff out the cigarette smoke at Atticus's face. Regardless if he was able to or not, Dante lifted his head back up and continued to glare down at the Tangler.

"Grow some balls, kid. A lotta people don't have their mother." Dante himself was included in that, though then again he never really met her in the first place. Maybe he would've had a different reaction had he actually met his mom, but alas she had died giving birth to him.[glow=COLOR,1,400] ━ ✧*:･ﾟ[/glow]

[trojan g.]

[div style="max-width: 425px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 30px; opacity: 0.70; font-family: verdana; font-size: 11px; padding-top: 10px;"]When Atticus had blubbered gibberish at first, Sweeney thought that was all they were going to get from him until he finally leaned into her and spoke his words, and her eyes widened. His mom was dead? Moth was dead? She'd met the feline right before she'd given birth, when Sweeney was almost a month old. And now she was dead. Sweeney wanted every so desperately to ask how, but knew that the time wasn't right, especially as others came over, speaking their own words.

She agreed with Piers. Atticus needed to go somewhere else not out in the open, somewhere they could talk in private and not have to worry about others, and where they were safe inside the borders of the camp rather than the territory itself. And then there was Dante, someone Sweeney was about to speak her own words to when Atticus did it for her, an interjection she approved of. That was, until Dante got closer.

A growl left the child's throat as she pushed forward, reaching paws forward quickly and attempting to roughly push the feline's maw away from the two children before speaking once more. "Fuck off, Dante!" The Callahan would spit out, ears pinning to the back of her head for just a moment, "All because your mommy didn't love you doesn't mean you get to be a prick." Would she get in trouble from Kydobi or Gael if they knew what she was saying? Maybe. Did she care? No.

Turning back to Atticus, Sweeney would lash her tail once last time before carefully placing her head atop his own for just a moment before pulling back. "Come on Atti, let's go back to camp. I've got a treehouse you can stay in." It actually belonged to her and her sisters, but they'd suck it up or Sweeney would make 'em.

[align=center]text | "speech"

[deimos]

The interjection was far from welcome.

Piers' ears flattened, watching the situation escalate. From Atticus trying to man up between sniffles, and Sweeney now getting rough, it made his chest clench up. Why did this happen? Literally, the kid just watched his mother die, did he not? Piers stepped forward, finally, his growing body at least somewhere even in size. He thanked his genes, for that much. "Leave the children alone, Dante." He spoke, flatly, his eyes narrowed and ears pushed forward. The mane on his neck slowly pricked up as he spoke.

"You might have no mother, but he just lost his. Leave it be." Piers knew he couldn't win here. He was booksmart, and barely starting to work on his fightsmarts. There need not be a fight, in this case. And, with that, Piers aimed to push between the two children and Dante. His ocean blue optics, while maybe not threatening, were iron hard in the sense he wouldn't take this bullshit.

"SPEECH"

[DANTE NORTHWEST.]

[glow=white,1,400]I THINK I'M TOO FAR GONE TO SAVE ! — ｡+ﾟ.[/glow]

As Sweeney tried to push him back, Dante raised his head and peeled his lips back in a snarl, seemingly disgusted by her actions. He narrowed his eyes as Piers came in between him in the children, somewhat offended that both Sweeney and Piers seemed to think that he'd harm a child. Sure, he though they were pussies and all that they did was whine and bitch about shit, but he wasn't that much of a monster - especially now that he wasn't forced to be in fighting rings. That is to say, he didn't regret killing other animals, but these kids had done nothing wrong to him.

"Yeesh, don't assume shit." Dante snorted, replying to both Sweeney and Piers's comments about his mother. His shark-like tail tip flicked, showing their comments did somewhat irritate him - though it was more or less of them assuming he had no mother or that she didn't love him. He never met her, and she never met him... It was as simple as that.[glow=COLOR,1,400] ━ ✧*:･ﾟ[/glow]

[Atticus Roux]

A low growl left his throat as Dante neared him, but thankfully Sweeney pushed his maw away. Nevertheless, the following words caused him to flare up. His fur raised and the kitten stepped forward, challenging the older feline. Before he could dart forward in retaliation, Piers stepped between them. Atticus would subconsciously thank him, but he kept a smug expression as yellow eyes stared down the Pittian. Mama's sensitive boy was disgruntled. He didn't need another animal raining on his depressing parade.

As Sweeney placed her head atop his, weary eyes closed and a sigh left him. "Yeah," he muttered, "Let's go." 'Please.'