a forest of hope - joiners

[fulzanin]

RED

They were still getting used to having wings. It was hard. They'd asked one of their companions about how, exactly, they were supposed to operate them. The other had shrugged, narrowing their light blue eyes with a simplistic 'figure it out. Red considered themself to be quite the leader type. First plucked from the earth, the strongest by far! Sure, with their current form they were slightly more feeble, but such did little to harm Red's fighting spirit. Currently, Red was perched upon the back of one of his group mates, Blue. The forms they'd all taken were still hard to work with. They'd climbed a mountain not long ago, and such had worn on them. A swamp was better for most of them, and that led them to the present.

BLUE

On Blue's back were Red and Yellow. Both were small, but they didn't mind being used as a method of transport. It reminded them of how they'd fling others to shore when they were drowning in water, water that only they could enter without being harmed. It had been prideful work back then. Blue doubted such held true now. The two on their back were not heavy, but Blue certainly was not the fastest of the group. Such belonged to Wing, who they saw flipping around in the sky up ahead, narrowing weaving between the crooked branches of swamp trees. The alligator continued to drag themself along, trailing after the faster members of the group.

YELLOW

"We've been walking for hours now and we have yet to see anyone!" They shrilled, scrabbling from where they had been settled on Blue's scaly back. "I bet that there's nobody out here. We're lost. Again! How many times are we gonna get lost? Seven? Two thousand eight hundred and fifteen?" The jerboa hops on their feet a few times, almost tumbling off of the alligator that they were perched upon. They settle before they can fall, thankfully. Long ears twitch in irritation, nose wriggling and taking in the new smells of this world.

WHITE

"That's an oddly specific number," came the seething voice of White. Unlike Red and Yellow, who had the luxury of riding on Blue, they had to slither alongside the alligator. They weren't slow, by any means, but envious nonetheless of how the two were riding in style. "You're gonna blow us all up, aren't you? I bet you are! Wouldn't be the first time," they hiss, moving around one particular twig that they did not want to try to slither over.

PURPLE

In comparison to the rest of the group, Purple was by far the biggest. The hefty bison lumbered alongside Blue, gaze flicking between their airborne member and the reptilians beside them. "White, you know Yellow likes to flaunt how good they can count. They haven't even had an explosive in, like, a week. We're fine," they insist. Their tail flicks, momentarily lifting up their head. "But I do agree, I think we are pretty lost. Again."

WING

Ceasing in their rapid flight back and forth, Wing finds themself perching on a more flimsy branch of a nearby tree. Their insect looking wings curl to their sides, a mutation that struck the falcon as being even more odd - if their vibrant pink feathers didn't give them away. "If you all would shut up for half a second, we might be able to hear if anyone was around here. But we can't because you all are 'blah blah fight fight'," they wave a wing in a lazy fashion, falling off the branch in a backwards motion to resume flying ahead of the group.

ROCK

Behind them trailed Rock, the slowest of the group. Short legs didn't allow them to be fast, even in the past. They were slow, they were bulky. They didn't mind being slow, it meant they had all the more time to take in the sights. They slowly crawled along on their four feet, looking at the mighty trees above. It wasn't exactly the coziest location for them to stay, but Rock would rather this place than one that led them to be in danger. They followed after the noisy group by a couple paces, ears raised and listening to the sounds of nature around them.

[wormwood.]

Well, this certainly was an... interesting group. The last time they had such a large group of different animals at their border, it had been Beck's siblings, seeking out the young ghost in order to reunite. Aurum honestly really hoped that wasn't the case now, since that entire incident had caused quite a bit of drama and hostility, not to mention Beck crying all over the place. Although the angel had his doubts that such a thing would ever happen again, considering he hadn't really seen Beck since Audrey had died, nor had seen Selby or really any of the family since Moth's death. It was an unfortunate truth, but one that Aurum had come to accept, considering the lion had seen more than a few poor souls come and go in his day. He wished it wasn't the case, but at least if they disappeared mysteriously one day, there was always the chance that they might come back, rather than facing a fate like Moth's. Of course, there was always the chance that someone would come back even after death, like Leroy had eventually done, but those incidents were few and far between – something that was ultimately probably good for the world, considering death was a natural part of life. However, now wasn't the time for such philosophizing. All it would do was depress him, and there being newcomers at the border was a happy occasion. Unless, of course, they were here to cause trouble.

The lion found himself making his way over slowly, mainly due to the hesitance that came with having so many new scents at the border. It was almost overpowering, considering that they were all intermingling, yet still very distinctly separate. He knew it was enough to give him a headache if he didn't take it in individually, so he took his time ambling through the trees, eventually coming to a stop in front of the large group of seven. It really was a ragtag group of creatures, considering their species ranged from bright and dull colored avian to massive, hooved beasts. The bison set Aurum on edge a little bit, mainly because it was one of the first creatures he had seen in a long while that was larger than he was, but he resolved to not make this another Beck's siblings situation. He wouldn't show them outright hostility, no matter how much the large group of animals set off alarm bells in his head. After all, who would he be if he was an asshole to any potential joiner? Snarl? Just the thought was enough to make him shake his head, before he returned his one eyed gaze to one of the creatures in the front – the alligator, "Uh... hello there. I'm not sure if... any of you were aware, but you're on Tanglewood territory. I'd appreciate it if you could all tell me your names, and your business here. Don't worry, we don't bite." You might, however, his thoughts helpfully added on, his gaze lingering on the alligator's jaws for a moment.

[glow=black,2,300]— ✘ —[/glow]

[DELILAH.]

DELILAH EVERGARDEN

"The Gods have forsaken us."

"We certainly do not bite.. Well, maybe the Gators do."

A toothy smile from the dragoness as she slumped through the mud, head lowering to nudge Aurum ever so softly in greeting- a soft purr left the reptilian creatures throat, gentle pink eyes staring at the group ahead. Well, well. It had been.. Quite the group.

"The name is Delilah. Welcome to Tanglewood, as our friend here said."

tags - penned by [member=1260]ryuu-tan[/member]

template by orion

[fulzanin]

RED

Red would not be the first to notice that someone had crossed their path. The woodpecker's eyes would narrow as Wing came to perch next to them and Yellow, making it three small creatures resting on Blue's back. "Tanglewood? Huh." A wing raises, scratching at their beak. "I'm Red." They answer, awkwardly fumbling their words through their beak.

BLUE

Blue does not object when Wing comes to perch next to Yellow. Its additional weight, yes, but considering the small size of the three on them it makes it matter little to the alligator. "Blue. I had no idea this place had a name," they comment, their slow crawl coming to a halt. They note the lion's gaze trained on them, and so they allow their gaze to stare right back.

YELLOW

"Yello!" Comes the shrill voice from the jerboa, hopping a little to make room for Wing. "Wow, you're super fuzzy! Have you ever considered going into the fluffy contest industry?" They chirp, a twitch of their ear accompanying their words. The idea of a contest, much less an industry, certainly went over their own head. Meaningless blathering, but such was the norm for the words that spewed from the newly created mouth of Yellow.

WHITE

"Why aren't we asking them who they are? Look at those teeth, man's a fuckin' hairy bulborb but outside of a cave!" Came the shrill voice of White, their head arching up from where they had ceased their forward movements. Sure, their claim was eased when Delilah arrived, but fury remained unbridled beneath their pale scales. "I ain't telling them shit! We shouldn't be telling them shit! Shit! Fuck! Shit!" They seethe, head bobbing up and down as if somehow it made the snake's anger known.

PURPLE

"That would be White," Purple says, their words tumbling forth as a slow moving stream. "We're looking for a place to stay for the night, if not longer. We've been wandering for quite some time." They then continue. A glance is given to their companions, a small shake of their dense pelt following. "Purple," he answers courtly.

WING

Upon seeing two people approach from the undergrowth, Wing had done what had become normal to them: flee to those who were stronger. Wing knew that when it came to strength, they had little going for them other than their flight abilities. They'd found a nice spot on Blue next to Yellow. "Wing," they answer simplistically, meekly, dipping their head. "Um. We didn't have any idea that we were trespassing. Was there a sign somewhere? I know for a fact I saw no sign. I'd remember seeing a sign."

ROCK

Rock comes to a halt just behind White. Gently they reach forward, nudging the snake's head back to the ground from where they'd continued to hurl swears for a few seconds past their raging statements. "'M Rock," the armadillo answers. Simple, without flair. They do not back away when White hisses at them for the unwanted calming motion, and instead raise their gaze to be steady with the two tanglers that had come to greet the vibrantly hued group of newcomers.

[BLOODHOUND.]

Their fur was dirty and limp. They had not left their home in about a week, after Ivan's disappearance. They'd lost track of the days, of how often the sun rose and fell. Everything was buzzed and blurred into one. As it happened, this was the first day they had ventured out into the familiar lands again, and the first time they'd noticed that some of the traps had fallen into disrepair. They made a mental note, to fix a few of them. To add their own, to the scenery.

Bloodhound had been in a slump just as much as they'd solely been outside at night, mindlessly following whatever remained of Ivan's traces. Hoping to catch him, if he ever returned. Knowing, that he wouldn't. Breaking into Caustic's home one night, when the curiosity struck. Hoping not to find the two of them dead on the floor. What they did find was not exactly shocking, with scorched marks and cages on the basement floor, a great machine seemingly crumbled under its own weight.

No note.

No goodbye.

They had not been close, they suppose.

Bloodhound had also been hunting, for some of the group. Leaving prey on their doorsteps here and there. Letting them know that they were thinking of them. Or, well. Leaving a corpse for them to find, white mottled fur between its claws.

They are not far from the border, after a quick, successful hunt, their jaws snatching up a rabbit, when they hear quite a few voices. Curiosity, and wanting to spend time with others lead them to the scene, where quite a few animals collected. Very large animals, they note, taking in the size of the bison, and the alligator. They notice Delilah and Aurum in the mix, and pick up their pace, eager to see what was going on. They are there, as the group of newcomers introduce themselves, full of personality.

They toss the rabbit onto their back as they near the group, tail wagging slightly.

"Are the winds fair today?" They ask of Red and Wing, excited stumble across birds that seemed to be intelligent enough to speak. "As the others have said, welcome to Tanglewood. I am Bloodhound. Do not worry about trespassing, it is easy to get lost in our swamps."

They at least, didn't seem to be threatening.

THE TRUE TEST IS BEFORE THE ALLFATHER.

[VIGENERE CIPHER.]

[glow=white,1,400]EVERY FEELING IN MY BONES TELLS ME TO LASH OUT AND TELL YOU TO FUCK OFF ! — ｡+ﾟ.[/glow]

Well, this was... Certainly a thing to come across. Vigenere followed shortly after Bloodhound, his ears pricked at the sound of multiple, unrecognizable voices ahead of him. It wasn't unusual for trespassers at all, but multiple of them at once? That was rather concerning, to say the least. Fortunately, though, these strangers didn't seem to be hostile - in fact, they were looking for a place to stay.

"Hey everyone." Vigenere chirped as he came to stand next to Aurum now, his gaze studying the group in front of him. There were... six - no, no, seven, there was a little armadillo trailing behind, poor guy. "I'm Vigenere Cipher, the General here. You all are welcome to stay here if you wish."[glow=COLOR,1,400] ━ ✧*:･ﾟ[/glow]