ALIBI + TANGLEWOOD LEADER

[toboggan]

Next on the list was Elysium.

Previously, the hound trekked to The Typhoon, sharing the news of his return from the dead and subsequent ascent to power. You know, typical stuff. The tropical group was the swamp's most cherished ally, so they were visited first.

But, Leroy also intended to make a stopover in the mountains and converse with those that inhabited the area. Elysium was a neutral group, though one which worked alongside Tanglewood in the climactic siege of the Pitt. Or so he had been told. For that, the general saw the Elysites worth his time, and decided that he'd make the rounds to them as well.

In all the months he resided on the island, never had he ventured as far north as Elysium. And within the first few seconds spent inside Elysium's premises, he felt more refreshed than he ever had up until this point. The atmosphere was nippy, chilly, stimulating his lungs with every inhale. When one made Tanglewood their home of choice, they had to get used to muggy, foul-scented air.

Being away from the fusty aura of the swamp brought a refreshed smile to his face. Hopefully, whoever found him at the edge of Elysium's territory would appreciate his visit as much as he did.

[Warringkingdoms]

  [font=trebuchet ms]/retro to the Warrior

  Rin had been meaning to visit Tanglewood since the raid, but had never found an opportunity to do so. Given that they hadn't come rampaging up to the borders demanding that she take responsibility for the medic's death, she had to assume that he was still alive and recovering from Romanempire's attack. Once she located a suitable candidate for Warden, and thus had someone who could watch Elysium while she was gone, she could probably at least spare a visit to deliver herbs. If that wasn't anytime soon, she could probably forgo assigning someone to watch the clan and just book it to Tanglewood and back, but that was a last resort.

  Judging by the presence of someone smelling of Tanglewood at the border, though, she supposed that visit would no longer be necessary.

  Rin furrowed her brows warily as she headed towards the figure, but relaxed slightly as she saw the smile on his face. If he'd been here to announce that the medic had died, he wouldn't be in the mood to spare a grin. "Hello," she said, twitching her ears. "I don't believe we've officially met. I'm Rin."

  Tilting her head, she asked, "Is your medic recovering well from the raid? I can send some herbs back if it would help." They didn't have a ton to spare, but there were a couple varieties that were common in the mountains and practically non-existent in the swamp- she was sure she could send some of those.

[candorosa]

[align=center][div style="width:70%; text-align: justify; padding: 1px; font-family: helvetica; color: #140D32;"]While Leroy may have been pleased with the overall temperature of the Elysium, Lemy wasn't sure what to feel about it. Sure, playing in the snow was fun and all, but he was fucking cold all the damn time. He needed to make himself a coat or something because he was going to end up freezing one day. But perhaps he would have liked the chill if he'd lived somewhere else; the grass was greener and all that.

Today though, the weather wasn't that bad. At least he hadn't been caught outside during a windy day. It was during one of his random bouts of wanderlust that he'd spotted someone sitting at the border with Rin approaching them. Lemy paused, surveying the figures before changing directions towards them. He assumed it was another joiner; no one really visited for any other reason.

He waited 'till he was closer to give the man a quick once-over. A dog, huh? Seemed like the guy was in a good mood too, judging from the smile on his face. Lemy returned the smile with a friendly grin of his own. Then glanced over at Rin as she spoke. Did she know the guy? He couldn't tell where he was from since he'd never interacted with Tanglewood. Apparently, their medic got their ass beat though, from what he could tell.

"Oooh, are you a visitor from another group? How exciting! We don't get visitors at all, y'know? Makes us lonely, we cry 'bout it every day," he punctuated his sentence with a dramatic sniffle, taking a seat, "sooo, thank you for visiting us! Where ya from? I dunno sorry, I'm new," Lemy finished with an apologetic grin, waving his paw back and forth.

[toboggan]

Not before long, a couple of Elysites had congregated before him, bringing his thin-haired tail to a tenuous wag.

Whilst the first feline encroached, Leroy quickly identified the femme as none other than Warringkingdoms, the one who held this region's tribe underneath her jurisdiction. Humbled, his skull dips forward in a delicate bowing motion. The humility doesn't stick around for too long, however, and the wolfhound found himself promptly elevating his head to its previous position. These mountains were not his domain, though this did not entail he would concede his free will and act out of subordination. He was as much a leader as her. Rin - as she introduced herself - initiated with respect and nobility, thus the cur determined he would do so in return. "Leroy Starkweather," he responds in a cordial tone, before fixating on her question pertaining to an injury sustained by one of his medics - an event which he hardly knew of. "I'm afraid I don't have too much knowledge of this wound," Leroy admits, "hell, I don't even know what went on in the raid. But for good reason, though - I've been dead for about a month."

As he spoke, another figure had advanced to his position, this one inquisitive. This one sprightly. This one slightly, somewhat, ever-so-marginally irritating bothersome. How the Elysite was unfamiliar with Tanglewood, the canine could not comprehend - until he informed Leroy of his newness. That made sense, kinda. "To answer your last question," he says to the the other feline, "I come from Tanglewood. I'm actually in charge of Tanglewood, as of last week's Sunday, and that's sorta why I'm here today."

"Crow Roux appointed me as leader the eve of my return, and now I'm visiting all the groups Tanglewood don't hate to spread the news. So... yeah, that's basically all I got, really. I'll officially thank Elysium for aiding Tanglewood in the raid, though, regardless of my lack of awareness on the subject."

"I'm grateful for the offer, Rin, but I must refuse ya, he then discloses to the Magna. "The swamp is plentiful in medicinal herbs and other remedies, so save your remedies for your people's grief."

[Warringkingdoms]

  [font=trebuchet ms]/just gonna casually reply 11 days later

  Within a few moments, Lemy arrived, and offered a small show of melodrama. This wasn't especially surprising by now, so Rin simply shrugged and turned back to Leroy. As Leroy bowed his head, Rin dipped her head in return, then looked back up and listened. He didn't know? How did he not know about the welfare of his own group mate?

  When he clarified that he'd been dead, though, she nodded. That much sounded familiar- she'd seen creatures return from the dead all the time. She had to wonder if that had to do with the odd phenomenon that had caused the old gods to fall; if the Ferryman was now reduced to making threats on the lives of children rather than simply yanking souls from the mortal plane on a whim, it made sense that death's grip would be weaker here.

  Once Leroy informed them of Crow's decision, Rin gave a low hum of acknowledgement. She wasn't especially well-versed in Tanglewood's affairs, but Idyllfields had spoken well of Crow in the past- she decided it was fair to assume that if Crow had selected Leroy, it was for good reason. "Congratulations on your appointment, then," she remarked. The way Leroy spoke led her to believe that Crow was still alive and well, and that Leroy was okay with being leader; with both of those in mind, congratulations would make sense. "And it was no problem- the Pitt needed to be stopped."

  With Leroy's polite refusal of the herbs, Rin shrugged. That made sense, she supposed- to her recollection, most of the herbs that grew better in Elysium's climate than Tanglewood's were rather situational, more so than the common marigold, cobwebs, and the like. "Well, I won't rush you out the door," she replied, "but if that's all, have a safe trip back."