[ LET ME DOWN SLOWLY ⋆ RETURN ]

[guts]

The child hadn't been in Tanglewood long, not until she disappeared. She had met a few of the town's faces, but didn't stick around long enough to get to know any of them, and it didn't matter much when most of them were long gone by now.

Now, dirtied with mud, she sat in the town square, holding her doll and speaking to it. Anyone who passed by would likely shrug it off, deciding it was just some child's play, though most probably pauses when they notice how unkempt her appearance is. She was indeed a mess, to be fair.

"Now what should we do?" she asks, the bell around her paw jingling as she sets her toy down. "I don't wanna go home. Papa's not gonna be happy with us for running away, and this place looks really nice! Can we just stay here?"

Florence looks down at the doll, as if she was listening to it. Then she smiles wide. "Oh, good! I wouldn't want to get lost trying to find my way back." With that, the serval lifts her head and surveys the town, unsure what her next move should be.

[toboggan]

Greeting newcomers wasn't a common activity found on Leroy's exceedingly cluttered itinerary. Greeting old-newcomers, though, that was different. The wolfhound had a knack of straying from the territory, simply due to how engaged he was in leader activities (such as sleeping, gossiping, and eating) elsewhere. However, on the rare occasion of him making his way to the forest border, each time he encountered a familiar face. And today would be no different, it seemed.

Florence was not an individual that the general had interacted with that much in the days of yore. Hell, he couldn't remember interacting with her at all, apart from when she initially joined, of course. Despite that, her figure was nigh-instantaneously recognized upon it entering his line of vision. As always, seeing an old face brought a toothy grin to the male's face, though he knew not to be surprised at more in the wake of her return - the fact that she was in Tanglewood once again, or the fact that she was still a fucking kid after all this time.

"Hey!" he greets warmly as he plants his beefy rump in the ground below. "You're... Florence, right?"

[wormwood.]

Everything stays, right where you left it.

But it still changes, ever so slightly, daily and nightly.

Aurum had taken notice of the fact that more and more familiar faces were returning as of late, and he had been rather overjoyed to notice it. After all, he had dearly missed most of the people who had returned, and even if he hadn't, it was good to see old faces around again. However, unlike most other cases, the proxy didn't actually recognize this particular little one. There was, in fact, a time before Aurum was ever in Tanglewood, and he had no doubt that there were quite a few old faces that he would never even begin to recognize, but he still found himself doing a little bit of a double take when he saw Leroy go up to the child, and seem to recognize her. Curiosity immediately piqued, the lion made his way over with a few long strides, settling down beside Leroy and letting him finish his greeting before he spoke, "Florence...? Hello there, little one. I'm Aurum. Did you live here before?" Part of him had wanted to ask Leroy about her living in Tanglewood before, but he felt it to be rude, to ask the hound instead of her when the child was sitting right there.

template by orion

[guts]

A face she recognizes is the first to approach, the serval lifting her head at the sound of steps coming closer. She smiles as a sense of familiarity washes over her at the sight of the canine, though she can't quite remember the name.

"Hi! Yeah, that's me!" she says, beaming. She was happy that he remembered her! She wasn't sure if anyone would, or if anyone she had met before was still around, for that matter. "And you're, um...David!" she squeaks so confidently, even though it was, unfortunately, the wrong name. She should get points for trying, at least.

Then two others come along, a large lion that was pretty intimidating to the small kitten and a hyena that was silent, save for a grunt. She gives them both a big smile, eager to meet some new people.

Hearing his question, Florence nods in confirmation. "Yeah, I did for a little while. Then I got a little lost out in the swamp, but I'm back now!