LEAN ON YOU — JOINING

[HALO]

ooc honestly this is a mess and i really just jumped into it but joinings are Not my thing

The ground beneath her, which was unsteady from the start, gives.
"What the hel—"

Suddenly engulfed in netting, a clear pout forms on the canine's face as she pushes her nose through one of the holes, huffing. This is a clever trick, she must admit, but she is not happy that she got caught in one of their various traps. In an attempt to discover some sort of flaw in the system, she pulls her head back and looks over the net. She's not entirely sure about an escape tactic, considering her paws are currently falling through and she's getting herself all tangled up, which brings her to her next thought. This was not the type of first impression she was hoping to make. In fact, anyone witnessing this series of events would see a clumsy wolf getting herself more stuck than she had been to begin with. If she was an intruder, she would be making their lives a whole lot easier, but the truth is she's simply a hopeful joiner who happened to wander a little too far into their territory.

With a loud, dramatic sigh, Halo's struggling comes to an abrupt stop. Impatiently, she stares out into the marsh, wrinkling her nose. If someone were to ask her where she saw herself, this would not have been her ideal answer. Perhaps it wouldn't have even been her last choice, but here she is, and why?

Actually... she has no idea.

"Can someone help me get out of this? Please?" The please is somewhat forced, her mild irritation seeping into the word. Having been raised to have proper manners, she does... for the most part. However, she sometimes feels as if her manners aren't even deserved, but if she gets out of this alive, she's sure she can spare a thanks because they would have earned it. Halo feels as if others have to earn her kindness, trust, appreciation, respect, and the list can go on. This fits into that.

[suvi.]

[align=center]
— s͢uv̷i͡ ̷k̛iir͜a ó f͞a҉olá҉in | t̢àn̢glewo̧o̷̢d̷͢ | sawbone —

"A-are you okay?" The petite vixen swallows a lump in her throat, chest tightening.  She stepped closer, ears flattening.  Strangers pushed her into quicker panics as of late, afraid she'd only get herself into trouble again.  Unmatched hues danced, flashing around the net carefully, looking for an easy start to work.

The wolf seemed unharmed, but her initial question still stood.  She couldn't help it.  No one earned her compassion, she simply gave it on impulse, concerned for others' welfare.  Kiira furrowed her brow and sighs softly when she finally finds one of the ends.  At least she had somewhere to pull up now.

Carefully, she began to lift up the net, intent on untangling the wolf.  She offered a sheepish smile, supposing it really was a miracle she'd never managed to run into one of Tanglewood's many traps herself.  "Y-You didn't t-twist anything when y-you went down, o-or anything like that, did you?"

— T͏O̴G͠ETH͏ER̕ ÁT̴ ̸T̕H̶E ST͏ART̶ O͏F̀ ̵TI̡M͏E —

[trojan g.]

[align=center][div style="bgcolor= black; width: 500px; font-family: georgia;font-size:12px;text-align:justify"]Moth hadn't even known that there were traps that were in the territory until she had gotten stuck in one herself not too long ago. When she had done so, she had been lucky that Wormwood and Mikolaj were nearby to help her get out of her predicament, and she had hoped that she wouldn't ever have to deal with a trap again, but she knew that there would eventually be someone else who got stuck in one, or she would even get stuck in another herself - and with Beck gone and in the Pitt currently, there'd be very few who would know how to handle the traps for the most part. Of course, there were some traps that seemed obvious on how to handle them, but the more elaborate ones were where things would get tough, and the female that was now in the territory, stuck inside a trap, was lucky that it wasn't one of the more elaborate ones that Beck had set up long before Moth had even known Tanglewood was a thing.

Padding over towards the noise that she had heard at the border, the small fox would look over to Kiira for a moment, watching as she made an attempt to untangle the other before looking back at the larger canine, ears pricked for a moment as she began to think of things to say. There were many that could be said in a time like this, and Moth wasn't sure as to which would be needed. The other seemed kind enough having used the word 'please' when asking for help, but Moth didn't know if that was actually the case or not. She could be someone here to spy, or someone trying to capture another like the Pitt had done with Sam. She wasn't sure, but she would offer her help if it was needed.

Kiira had already asked if she had been hurt, so there was no need for Moth to do such a thing at this point in time either. "Is th-there a reason you're in T-tanglewood?" The skittish female would ask, head tilting to the side slightly as soon as she had done so. "If you're here to j-join we could try and teach you wh-where the traps that we know about a-are." She didn't know where all of them were, considering it was Beck who had hidden them and Moth didn't know him that well - and at this point wasn't sure if she wanted to know him considering how scared of him she was - but she could certainly try with what she knew.

[wormwood.]

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

Wormwood had to admit that he still wasn't wholly aware of where every single one of the traps around Tanglewood were, especially since it hadn't been their leader that had set the traps, but the mischievous spirit that used to hold the title. In fact, recently the lion had to help Mikolaj in order to get Moth out of one of the multiple traps, having to be extremely careful so that Moth didn't fall and break her neck. Ever since then, Wormwood had been trying hard to catalogue where each of the traps around the territory were, but it was pretty hard when the only solid way to discover them was to throw something into them. The winged large feline certainly wasn't going to use himself to set off the traps, and throwing prey into them seemed like quite a waste, so it had honestly been an odd game of slowly combing through the territory and looking for any odd circles or ropes, or anything else that seemed vaguely off. He had found quite a few of them, but he knew there were still definitely more out there, and searching for them even provided a good opportunity to hunt for prey and see any potential joiners.

As it turned out, one of those potential joiners ended up right in front of his face, as well as one of the traps he had been searching for. He had been walking when he heard the snaps and whoosh of a trap behind set off, and he sped up a bit just in time to see Halo being dragged up into the air within the net. He had to hold back a snort of amusement, not wanting to offend the newcomer, and he slowly moved forward out of the tree and rumbled softly up at her as he flicked his tail lazily from side to side, [glow=#793B29,1,400]"Don't worry, we'll help you out, miss. Sorry you ended up in one of the traps, but if you had just waited for somebody at the border you more than likely would have ended up in this mess."[/glow] Moving over, he carefully moved to help Suvi pull the tangle of netting off of the newcomer, heaving it up with his jaws clamped around one of the thick twisted lines that made up the net. Once the net was off of the female, the lion moved back and asked as he tilting his head to one side, his wings twitching a bit, [glow=#793B29,1,400]"So, since you're not so tied up – heh – why don't you answer Moth's question and tell us who you are, and why you're here? Normally people don't just wander in and get swept up in a Beck trap just because they really like calling for help."[/glow]

[HALO]

They're all talking.

Violet eyes move from one individual to the next, ears twitching in the slightest as she tries to focus on each and every word spoken. She finds it increasingly difficult to focus.

"I'm alright." She doesn't hear herself speak, but the words come out in response to Kiira's two questions. As the net begins to move with help from both Kiira and Wormwood, Halo is able to adjust her position, twisting herself around to get free. When she's finally successfully out of the netting, just having to pull one of her hind legs out, she straightens her stance, attention still loosely upon the vixen. "I'm alright," is repeated lightly before the "thank you." There's the smallest smile that appears on her face, likely in an attempt to show that she's no threat, considering the timid vibe that Kiira gives off. Halo has never been scary, but she can see how she could be somewhat threatening after her sudden appearance in their territory. Stopping at the border had never even occurred to her. She has never been that great with formalities.

She almost completely forgot about Moth and Wormwood's presence, seeing as how her mind is moving far too quickly for her to possibly be able to keep up. Inhaling sharply, the timber wolf turns her head to peer towards Moth and then Wormwood, blinking a couple times. "I would like to join." For a moment, she feels uncertain, but several more seconds pass and she nods her head along as if to confirm her decision. "The name is Halo." A pause. "And you all are?" She's the type to not appreciate missing information. If they get to know who she is, she needs to know the same about them. It's like an eye for an eye but in a completely different context.

Wormwood is the one who has been talking the most, and she's been listening to him without totally paying attention, which means that bits and pieces of what he has said has gone completely over her head. However, she's able to get the point. There's this fleeting feeling of annoyance that falls over her upon his suggestion that she should have waited at the border, and while she understands she's in the wrong, she refuses to fully admit it. Instead, she looks at him in silence for a little while, slowly giving another nod of her head. "Understood." The brief response is her attempt to get off the subject, not wanting to dwell on the mistake that she had made. "Who's... Beck? And I don't like asking for help, let alone calling out for it, but I guess my impatience got the better of me." I guess is repeated in her head. She doesn't have to guess. She knows.

[wormwood.]

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

Halo? It was an interesting, but simple name, bringing to mind not only visions of creatures like him, winged creatures with golden halos around their heads, as well as the halos that travelled slowly around a massive planet's in the cosmos, made up of both suffocating gas and the fragments of not only meteorites but a wide variety of various space junk. Both things that sprang to mind had such an immense power and ornate aura to them, and Worm couldn't help but wonder if this newcomer lived up to her impressive namesakes. He couldn't quite tell yet, with the way she seemed to be processing all of the information coming her way at breakneck speeds. He wasn't absolutely sure, but she definitely seemed as though she was kissing certain things that were said, probably as a result of recovering from the trap she had just been caught in. All he could really hope was that whatever she missed was inconsequential, and not something like a name or information about joining.

Speaking of which, when she mentioned wanting to join, a soft smile came to his muzzle, and he dipped his head to her before rumbling softly, sounding both kind, welcoming, and tired all at the same time. Preparing for the raid had left a toll on him, and while things were finally beginning to look up for his everyday life and relationships, particularly the one that he had with his brother, things were definitely also tiring, [glow=#793B29,1,400]"Well, you're certainly welcome to join us here. My name is Wormwood, but most people around here just call me Worm since that's a bit long."[/glow] At the question of who Beck was, the lion snorted and shook his head in fond amusement, mumbling as he sat back on his haunches, nudging gently at the net that had ended up collapsing on top of her earlier, [glow=#793B29,1,400]"Beck is our resident ghost here in Tanglewood, and he used to be leader around here. The first one in fact, I think. He's the one who set up all the traps around here, including the one you just fell prey to. If you want anybody to show you around to where all of them are, well... nobody except Beck could probably tell you. I'm sure you'll get a chance to meet him eventually."[/glow] As he said that, there was a soft ache of sadness in his chest as he thought about the male. He still hadn't seen the ghost around since Sam had been taken, and he still didn't know if the ghastly boy was returned safe to them yet.