just a stupid phase | joiner

[Felibri]

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    He had lost track of the days he had been in this strange new world. The only life-form that he had interacted with apart from the non-sentient creatures of prey he had hunted had been an android. One could hardly call it an interaction if it was with a machine rather than a living being, but frankly, Machiavelli was growing weary of having nobody to talk to. He was quite a social animal, despite seeming rather reserved.

    At this point, he was somewhat acceptant of the fact that he would never return to his own realm. Though his fur bristled at the injustice he had been served, there was no point in brooding over it. It would only prove detriment for his health. The Anatolian shepherd lived quietly, and every day was a painful search for life. Finally, he had found it.

    Standing on the border of a marsh, Machiavelli inhaled deeply through his nostrils to catch the scent of a group of animals. Not quite ... humans, but he was coming around to the fact he would never see one again. He was wary, too, knowing that this was an unknown group that could potentially be hostile to him. He paced around the scent borders, angling his large black ears forward and backward.

    Should he bring a gift? The thought actually went well in his head. Machiavelli promptly removed himself from the borders and disappeared for a while. When he returned, a rabbit, still warm and bleeding, was hanging from his jaws. The Turkish dog lowered his head and his amber eyes flashed, straining his senses for signs of life. He didn't want to be let down.

[wormwood.]

[glow=#000,1,400]BUT NOW I UNDERSTAND YOU, AND I WILL NOT BE PART OF YOUR DESIGNS — ｡+ﾟ.[/glow]

Wormwood, prior to joining Tanglewood, hadn't been the most social of animals. He had a few friends back in his old pride, but none of them had been incredibly close, and those few friends had been wildly outnumbered by the number of enemies he had, or those who were outright neutral to the abuse or ignorance that was paid to him. However, Tanglewood felt... different. Tanglewood made him feel like he had a real family that he could count on, and friends that he was beginning to want to defend and interact with every day. When he had finally arrived here after following in his brother's footsteps. He had been both surprised and delighted at what he had ultimately been made a part of. And it seemed like this newcomer was seeking some kind of sanctuary as well, from the way that he was just sitting peacefully at the border with a rabbit clenched carefully in the canine's dangerous snapping jaws.

The lion had been out for a walk around the territory to go searching for some sticks to give to Moth, since he knew she liked collecting them, and he also felt bad after she had gotten trapped in one of Beck's many traps around the territory. However, his nose had caught the scent of the strange male at the border, along with the copper scent of the blood of the rabbit he had. Wormwood had slowly made his way over through the marshlands to in front of Machiavelli. He mumbled softly as he sat down, wrapping his tail carefully around his large paws and trying to ignore the faint trembles of pain that were still running through his back legs. It would still be a few more days before they fully healed, he supposed,  [glow=#793B29,1,400]"Hello there. I'm assuming you know there's a group here, since you're kinda just... sitting here all nicely. Could I have your name, and if you're here to join...?"[/glow] He could only assume the canine was, given the "gift" he had in his mouth, but he didn't want to make any big assumptions when this could just as easily be an ally.

[RED]

[align=center][div style="text-align:justify;width:55%;font-family:verdana;"]If there was anything Red could empathize with, it was that strange connection with humans that he shared with only a select few. He wasn't even sure if the creatures here were aware of human society, aside from the aging remnants left behind in town; he didn't enjoy talking about it that much, anyhow.

Approximately twenty years ago he was born unto the Earth a child - though he had dwelt in the depths of Hell (Pandemonium, Hell, to be exact, a few paces to the left of Sisyphus' hill) for centuries longer. Upon arrival into the mortal world, he was raised like his human counterparts, though their differing species led to a barrier that set them apart. The only thing that kept him from being treated like a family pet was the good grace of his adoptive father. Thus, when he passed on, Red saw no other option but to escape and forge his own path. He landed here, far from the reaches of his former home, and it would take a miracle (or a microchip) to track him this far into the Beyond. Like Machiavelli, he was free. The cost remained unknown.

While Red usually doesn't trek out this far, their recent troubles have led him to be more wary of strangers and to check their borders often. It's a chance to be alone, an opportunity he's thankful for when the small town becomes too crowded to bear. The silverback frowns a little and pauses in his tracks when he catches an unfamiliar face on the border. It doesn't help the canine's case when there's warm blood coating his face and a rabbit clamped in his jaws.

"Woah there, hey. I don't really care if you just wanted something to eat, but we've been having problems lately, so -" he settles a hand on his hip, touching the hilt of his knife, "- If this is some kind of intimidation tactic, I'm not buying it." He doesn't want a fight - he really doesn't. But with the Pitt so active and so many of Tangle's members lost, he isn't going to risk it when the dog's offering could just as easily be a threat.

ooc. ninja'd :pensive:

[Felibri]

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The Anatolian shepherd looked tremendously pleased to see an animal approach him. His amber eyes widened and he adjusted his grip on the gray-furred rabbit in his jaws. It didn't quite matter that the animal was a lion. He was a good observer and the way the Tanglewood resident approached him, Machiavelli didn't feel any apprehension.

He was about to answer, but his speech was hindered both by the fur of his prey and the appearance of a gorilla. This one did not seem to take very well to his gift and Machiavelli frowned, curling his tail over his back. However, he was shamelessly intrigued by the human-like appearance of this animal. He knew it wasn't a human, but a gorilla was far closer to a human than a lion was. He dropped the prey and leaned forward to sniff carefully at Red, and then Wormwood. "I-Imitation tactic? It is a gift!" His mispronunciation of the word and melodious accent would likely give away the fact English was not his native tongue.

Gifts were important to Machiavelli. After all, he had been gifted to a Venetian from a Turk back in 1600. He could think of no better way to show friendship toward another than that. Of course, his was just prey, but it was all he could think of at the moment. He decided to answer Wormwood's questions, perhaps that would give them more reason to trust him. He had to decide to keep his name or come up with a new one. As he ran his mind to find a suitable replacement, he could find none. The Venetian had come up with this name. "Machiavelli! He looks like a Florentine, doesn't he?" Giacomo's words rang in the Anatolian shepherd's mind. He couldn't do that. He could turn his back on his own world, but he could ... at the very least, keep his name.

"My name is Machiavelli, and yes, I am looking for a place to stay. I hope you will have me."

[wormwood.]

[glow=#000,1,400]BUT NOW I UNDERSTAND YOU, AND I WILL NOT BE PART OF YOUR DESIGNS — ｡+ﾟ.[/glow]

Hearing Red as the other came up beside him, Worm snorted softly and shook his head a bit, highly doubting the canine was using the prey for intimidation. If he had really wanted to be intimidating, he could have at least gotten something a bit bigger than that. When Machiavelli confirmed it was a gift, the lion chuckled and nodded, his wings stretching out a bit as he dipped his head, [glow=#793B29,1,400]"I figured it was something along those lines. Either that, or you were too hungry to wait until you had joined to get some hunting done."[/glow] When Machiavelli introduced himself, Worm blinked in slight surprise at the rather grandiose name for such a simple seeming – and perhaps a bit lost seeming – dog, but he just shrugged it off and said as he gestured back towards the swamp with one of his large red and gold feathered appendages, [glow=#793B29,1,400]"If you're here to join, then welcome to Tanglewood, Machiavelli. I'm Wormwood, but you can just call me Worm if you want. If you need any help through the swamp getting to our town, I'm sure either I or Red could help."[/glow] He was getting pretty good at this whole welcoming joiners thing, which was surprising since it had been incredibly rare for them to actually get new joiners back in the pride.

[Vathmos]

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VATHMOS

INFORMATION ROLEPLAYER MISC.

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// Hey Feli , this is my new character, trash dog.

She was rarely awake this time of day, being a more nocturnal creature. The combination of a stranger's scent and blood meant two things to Vathmos- was this an injured joiner, who would let her kill them, or someone had hunted on their land and she could kill them anyways. She was excited at the idea. What tasty meal awaited her at the border? Vathmos ducked into the underbrush, her scent hidden by the smell of dried blood and mud. Vathmos smelled unbelievably terrible, as the stench of flesh rolled off of her, and it was obvious she hadn't bathed in any sort of way in possibly months. Vathmos was acutely unaware of the way she looked and smelled, nor did it bother her. 

The mangy hyena watched him for a few more moments, judging if she could take the Shepard on by herself, in case the dog was going to become hostile. Then Wormwood showed up, and Vathmos seemed to deflate, heaving a deep sigh and knowing she wouldn't get to make this a meal now. She considered Wormwood a friend and considered herself stronger than him, but Vathmos was not in a position to do as she pleased in the territory of Tanglewood.

She finally crawled out of the bushes, quickly standing and letting the hideous laughter leak from her throat as she revealed herself from behind Red, looking at the dog more closely now. She rose her head, taking a more confident and attentive posture, a low rumble in her throat now. "Let me see." Vathmos was always hungry and always thinking of food, so this rabbit being a gift already gave the joiner a headstart on acquainting the hyena. Nice, stringy, gamey meat. Mmmm.... Vathmos darted forward, snatching the rabbit from the ground and retreating back. She wondered if her clanmates would ask her to share. Good luck asking Vathmos for food.

She dropped the rabbit on ground, smelling it and turning it over to expect it. "Good meat..." Her tail wagged. "Welcome to Tanglewood..." She was too focused on the rabbit now, her statements with a tone of disinterest and force. "I'm Vathmos... Consider me an ally..."

// also got ninja'd twice writing this

━ [b]MY SKIN IS A STORY┆LONELY. CLINGY. HATEFUL. ━

[Felibri]

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This joining process was smooth and much shorter than Machiavelli had anticipated. He was glad he did not have to launch into an expansive description of his history. He didn't feel the need to introduce himself by explaining how he was framed by his tutelary spirit comrades due to his unlucky place and time of birth, resulting in an unjust banishment. They had thought he was the harbinger of the apocalypse. But with these people, all he needed was his name, which made things so less stressful, but he did have to wonder how they were monitoring the types of people they were letting into the group. Surely they've let in a few bad apples?

Shaking away his pessimism, he offered something like a grin to Wormwood, his tail relaxing into a lowered state. Noticing the lion's initial surprise at his name, as well as the fact he introduced himself with a nickname, the wheels in Machiavelli's head began to turn. Surely his name was quite long. "I suppose you may call me by a nickname as well. I've never had one, so feel free to call me whatever you like." He added.

A terrible scent invaded his nose and he couldn't help the hackles along his spine raising. A female spotted hyena. That and he had already been introduced to a lion and a gorilla ... "So, African animals live in a swamp in this world." He quipped, directed to none of them in particular. "Nice to meet you, Vathmos." He responded in a drawn-out tone, lowering his head to watch the creature take his gift. Perhaps he could get along with her, if she would bathe herself! He forced himself to relax and he took a step into Tanglewood's territory. "I think I may ... need help getting to your camp. I have been lost for a long time and I'm not looking forward to getting lost again." The dog admitted softly.

/owlie!! i love her

[Vathmos]

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VATHMOS

INFORMATION ROLEPLAYER MISC.

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Vathmos had turned the rabbit onto its back, starting to lick its belly and put a paw down on it and holding it in place. Her ears upturned, half listening to the dog's words. "Call you Mac." Whatever his full name was, it was too long for Vathmos to pronounce, so she wasn't even going to try. "We can help you find the camp." She was so excited to get back. She wanted to eat this rabbit so bad, she was practically salavitating.

━ [b]MY SKIN IS A STORY┆LONELY. CLINGY. HATEFUL. ━