FINE. + TANGLERS

[OCTANE.]

Octane wanted to get his rey out of here as soon as possible. While Caustic didn’t look awful at first sight, closer inspection revealed deterioration. The wolf’s thick fur hid lost weight, and his eyes were full of exhaustion and hunger. He could see these things in the way Caustic coughed just a little more often, how his paws moved at a sluggish pace and he reacted slower than ever. A Caustic bothered by weakness and unfamiliarity, and Octane wondered every now and then if trapping the scientist here was the best decision for Caustic. The wolf didn’t want to be here, but at least they were alone, away from all the fans, the games, the cameras.

Octane wanted Caustic’s laser focus to be on him, that obsession he was so fond of and the brutal grip of his lover. Caustic was soft in the stomach but cruel in the heart, danger and brutality always on tap and it drove Octane loco. Vulnerability was not Caustic’s brand, far from it. Being here brought the worst out in Caustic, therefore, Octane needed to get him out of here.

Octane couldn’t stand being here another fucking minute. They needed to escape, move Caustic closer, closer to him, he just needed the right opportunity. He needed to get Caustic somewhere with better weather, better food, and better access to equipment. Tanglewood would be perfect, he just needed to get Caustic to leave.

"Caustic, we gotta go."

Octane’s claws sunk into the harness, strapping on the portal maker and clicking it into place. He closed the clasps with his teeth, putting on the canteen and pouch. Caustic was, ever so painfully, slowly, putting the chemical vials into his own pouch, between tufts of monkey skin. Caustic zipped open the fanny pack strapped to the cheetah's side, placing the dog brush, razer, scissors, and voice recorder inside.

Octane took a step, being cautious of his wound, and followed Caustic through the caves.

© LEXASPERATED

[toboggan]

In no time flat whatsoever, Pittians of all sorts came cascading into the fray. A large percentage of them appeared to be caught in a state of swivel-eyedness, especially the little tyke who rashly claimed leadership. Cute. One new aspect of the locals which he immediately recognized was their apparent lack of paramount hostility. This birthed the theory that Kydobi had possibly softened the desert dwellers up a tad, an idea that the wolfhound found appealing. If the jaguar actually taught his associates anything, though, it was how to be as clueless and crude as him. Both a fox and Kydobi himself had the balls to inquire the reason behind their enemies' occupancy - a move that nearly brought forth a disgusted chuckle.

If these buffoons were truly that feeble-minded, then the general would make sure to make his intentions and the logic behind them as clear as crystal.

The tall canine pivots his noggin to face Aurum, whom he shoots a confident nod in the direction of, before doing the same to Raymond and Snarl, two other prominent Tanglers at the current moment. Then, he hacks his throat in a raspy manner, clearing it of the phlegm infesting its interior, so that he may speak comfortably.  "Now!" Leroy asserts vibrantly, albeit the tone of his voice somewhat softer than before, "ya may find it hypocritical for us to be in your home after I made a whole fuss about your little stint to our border, Kydobi - but you better believe I got a good fuckin' reason to be here today." Chocolate hues burnt their gaze onto the ardent's figure, though the speaker's message was moreso directed at the group's entirety.

He continues. "If ya actually dunno why we're here, I'mma put it into simple wordin' for ya. Moth is one of our medics. She is expecting children in the next month. One of your people took Moth and imprisoned her. We know it was one of yours who took her, 'cause one of yours went ahead and kindly returned her. Gas mask fellow. You have HIM to thank for us sparin' your asses from an actual raid."

The male's talking subsides, allowing him to refuel his lungs for a brief moment. Giving spiels was something this body still had to get adjusted to. "Like I said," his slick voice punctuates abruptly, "I got some demands I want ya to adhere to. They ain't too strict, and you'll listen to 'em if ya wanna avoid gettin' this place razed to the ground courtesy of us AND The Typhoon." The closing threat was not one falsely made. He was aware of Goldenluxury's interest in quelling the Pitt's existence, and should a good reason to do so ever arise, he could count on her to get the job done.

"Firstly, I want'cha to start punishin' the folks who do wrong around here - startin' with whoever nabbed Moth. Jail 'em. Throw 'em out. Kill 'em, for all I care. Just make sure the fellas who do bad shit get what they deserve."

"Secondly, I want ya to make it known to all future joiners that this place ain't safe, and by livin' here, they're only paintin' huge targets on their backs." He pauses, yet only briefly. "Actually, that goes for everyone here. By stayin' in the Pitt, you are willin'ly associatin' yourself with treachery and malice, and will not be met with hesitancy if another raid ever occurs. That being said, from this moment forth, all Pittian deserters will be allowed into Tanglewood - if they can prove themselves innocent of committin' misdeeds."

That last part hadn't been discussed with his comrades, but he held faith in his heart that they'd understand where he came from. The Pitt was one of many groups on the island, and associating yourself with them whilst not knowing of their violent past came as a common mistake. Hopefully, with this warning and offer, that mistake would be totally prevented from occurring again.

[fulzanin]

decisions to decisions are made and not bought

The swamp people were here. He could tell it before he'd gotten close. Antennae flicking in the air above his head. He could sense the fury in the air, the dread. The nerves of those that were members of his hives. The swamp hive was here with all their fury and all their flames. Undoubtedly they had strength in numbers - something that Astiar easily grasped. Cicadas thrived on strength in numbers after all, and so it was a concept easily recognized. One that he knew that, for the swamp hive, certainly would not be good for his own. What was the reason for them being here? He didn't know. A lot of things fell into the category for what Astiar did not know, but this certainly was an outlier within that field. Were they here to take more food? They didn't have any. Certainly not the kind that Astiar thought that they were here for. The jungle had been burned. No trees with any nutritional value to their name for certain. A disaster of a territory it was.

Noticing that Kydobi, the hive leader was present, Astiar decided that he would come over. Somewhat. He spotted a familiar and certainly dangerous face and that warranted nervous clicking from his mandibles. He did not want to be burned. He did not want to be hurt. It defied his instincts to want to come closer. A chitter sounded from him. He wasn't going to stick around to see how this confrontation played out. The strength of numbers was not on the hive's side. Large wings buzzed, and he turned and rushed away. The dragon felt bad about not even offering his massive presence to help, but he simply favored not getting burned far, far more.

control yourself and take only what you need from it

TAGS 9/4/19:

GENERAL.
✧ Astiar | Asti, Ast, Bug
✧ physically medium, mentally easy | 7/30
✧ male | he/him
✧ unallianced
— wherever there is food, that is where Astiar will take up temporary residence. Notably most of his time is spent in the Pitt, but has distanced himself from the group due to the lack of food following the raid.

APPEARANCE.
✧ dragon (ref.) | health: 100% | cicada
— a nine foot seven inches tall cicada themed dragon. He has four antennae growing on his head from orange growths on his head. Two grow in front of his twisted horns, and two from behind. Dewclaws point backwards from the body-facing side of all six feet. He has mandibles on either side of his mouth that come from his upper jaw. The top of his upper jaw lays a hardened segment of scales, dotted with yellow dots. These extend as deep green freckles onto the face. A long stinger rests at the end of his lanky, segmented tail. His body has the segmented build of an insect, consisting of a deep orange head, brown body and abdomen, and black spine. His underbelly is a pale navy, with splotches of yellow showing the separation of the sections. His wings are tinted blue, but are translucent. The membrane for them is a bright, vibrant orange. Each wing has one claw at it's second bone, pointing down the rest of the wing's length from the body. His front paws have five fingers, while the rest of his limbs have only three toes. His red eyes are near unblinking, and are built like that of an insect. A series of jagged spikes rise from his black back, and run down his head to his neck.
— tongue and blood is yellow
— current injures: burnt front right leg, deep scratches in his front scales

COMMUNICAION.
✧ Soft Buzzing
— Ambient noise. Pleased. Feels like making noise. Stretching. Curious.
✧ Loud Buzzing
— Angry. Infuriated. Sizing up. Stop. About to strike. Flying.
— IF ALONE: 'Come here'. 'Come closer'. 'Help'. 'Need assistance'. Lonely
✧ Mandible Clicking
— Ambient noise. Hungry. Curious. Nervous.
✧ Hissing
— Angry. Irritated. About to strike. Stop. 'Stay away'. 'I'm uncomfortable'. Testing vocal cords.
✧ Chattering
— Ambient noise. Mimicking speech. Pleasant.
✧ Grumbling
— Irritated. Annoyed. Being pessimistic. Bothered.
✧ Roaring
Angered. Infuriated. Enraged. Sizing up. Stop. About to strike.
✧ Rumbling
— Curious. Intrigued. Friendly. 'Come closer'. Pleased. Happy.
✧ Screeching
— Submission. 'Stop'. 'Go away'. 'I yield'. Panic. Fear. Terror.

PERSONALITY.
✧ Curious, inquisitive, devoted, loyal, open-minded
✧ neutral sided, easily impressed, impressionable
✧ clueless, over-obedient, takes commands without hesitation

RELATIONSHIPS.
✧ adok x yitz
✧ clipyer
✧ demiromantic bisexual | single
✧ friends
— will add

INTERACTIONS.
✧ physically medium | mentally easy | mental manipulation/communication | no weapons | claws, teeth, talons
✧ will start/end fights on command, hard provoke | will kill
— notably this is for instances where Astiar must fight. If able, Astiar will never raise his claws against any other creature unless he has been directly ordered to do so
— commands must be one word. If any words follow the command, Astiar is unable to understand due to his limited intelligence. Heavy presence of emotion will equally tarnish his ability to follow commands.
✧ very limited fighting knowledge
✧ allowed to powerplay peaceful actions | attack in bolded #B21925 | mention [member=7712]Astiar[/member] when attacking

MISC.
— mostly feral
— speaks a wordless bug language
— worker drone
✧ Obeys without question as long as it is a simple command
— eats trees and other hard plant matter
— cannot understand speech

[gael]

[align=center]

♛ GAEL Ó BROIN

The vulpine felt his brows raise, unimpressed by Aurum's immediate outburst and pulling Aine closer to protect her from the sight of flames.  Arrogant 'righteous' fools.

Rather than bother with the lion, Gael let his daughter catch his full attention.  Voicing the question of the day, which the Tanglers seemed intent to believe an unnecessary inquiry.

"Tá sé ceart go leor," he soothed gently, nodding to Kydobi as the jaguar approached.

With a blink of his eyes, the faerie listened to Leroy.  His head continued to rest in its inclined state, considering each word and demand.  He found reason within due process and punishment, but held back a snort at the canine's concluding statements. 

Hell itself would fail to move him to ever join Tanglewood -- surround himself with the very faces who left Aine scarred with nightmares.

The vulpine felt inclined to point that fact out to any newcomers, should the demand be enforced.

"Despite your obvious presumptions," Gael replied after a long moment, his accented voice remaining cool in tone, "I speak for myself 'an Aine, when I say we didn't know of this."

Indeed, he began to wonder who possessed any potential motive.  Many new faces had begun to appear, oblivious to the past -- Gael knew none of the newcomers well on a personal level.

In the end, the decisions fell to Kydobi -- whom he suspected may come to same conclusion as he did.  New members they have yet to understand left many open suspects.

"I see no issue with enforcing justice," he pointed out at length, speaking more to his Ardent.  "But we'll have to discern who did it first."

"ISN'T IT LOVELY?" —-- gael ó broin / faerie / pittian / lamby

[deimos]

Sam didn't want to come. She hated this place, what lives they've ruined just by existing. The fact that none of them had the gall to overthrow Jervis for allowing evil misfortunes to continue to spread, and the malice in their ranks, made them the enemies themselves. The fact they had sat there and watched her, laughed at her while she was tortured, screaming for Beck's life. It made her sick to her stomach, honestly. It reminded her of the Wildmen, and anything about the Wildmen was, yknow. Not. Good.

So when the doecat appeared, her eyes narrowed and ears flat, hearing what Leroy was saying, her breath froze. Mismatched eyes flicked towards the wolfhound. Let them join..? Just let them call themselves guilty, waltz in, and try to atone after what happened? A snarl touched her muzzle, lips pulling tight and hair standing on end. And without fail, the doecat turned and started to walk away. She was sick of the fighting, the constant back and forth. But inviting the Pittians into their home?

Unbearable.

// in, out, and retro to attack!

"SPEECH"

♡♡♡
tags

[THEM]

[align=center][div style="text-align:justify;width:55%;font-family:verdana;"]He did love a good show.

These little standoffs were, at best, a play of instinct. Puff out your chest and look imposing, make a threat of yourself until the other animal cowers and tucks its tail between its legs. You don't want to mess with me. Look at my teeth. Look at my claws. Look how many of us there are, and how few of you. If Leroy had given him the chance - the time, the manpower, the trust - this clan would be a smudge in the sand. He'd like to think himself a reasonable tactician when the situation called. It wouldn't be the first time he'd wrenched a scissor through the seams and pulled an operation into disorganized scraps; he'd have the support to do it. But Leroy was a careful man where Kazuhira was not - and thus they brought their offer to the table and left it without a fight, without charging, weapons blazing, into a desert fray.

He bares his teeth. Snarls like the best of them. Theatrics, like every other actor standing in the sand.

And Leroy speaks - that gravelly voice that delivered Snarl's punishment was now laying out the same conditions for the Pitt. Prove yourself worthy and you'll earn your place again. Don't test the limits, for there are few. The cheetah feels the hairs at the back of his neck prickle, his tail giving an involuntary lash. He hadn't told them he'd be letting the enemy into their home. It's an invitation to send their best spies and sabotage every plan they attempted henceforth, and, to those who cared with greater depth than Miller's tactical interests, a breach of their moral code. His expression breaks, then sets ablaze again as he jerks his head toward Leroy. Indignance flashes on his features. He hears Sam, in the distance, already retreating at the leader's words. He's well-prepared to agree with any dismay that might come from his clanmates; this was a terrible mistake in the making.

[Kydobi]

[align=center]

IM JUST A SOUL WHOSE INTENTIONS ARE GOOD -
♕tags-powers♕

[OOC: once again I’m going to remind y’all to ignore my TERRIBLE typos. All my posts are mobile and I usually don’t notice till wayyy later ????  ]

One thing that would quickly get the jaguar riled up was getting bossed around. Bossed around by idiots who had no clue whatsoever about the more intimate parts of the clan. Who never stayed long enough to even smell of the place.

Kydobi held back a growl, his eyes narrowing at Leroy. Thoughts of how easy it would be to just kill the dog would flood his mind. Natural selection, food chain. Kydobi was on top. Yet here was entertaining a stupid mutt who felt rather bold because of numbers.

The message was clear but it wasn’t going to get the reaction Leroy wanted. Nothing short of killing themselves would please the damn dog. It was all rather hopeless. And when he revealed why he was there Kydobi’s fur pricked and his heart sped up. Thundering in his chest with rage as it fueled the fires within.

What? Kydobi exposed his teeth. Someone had outrightly disrespected him and in turn threw the whole group in danger. Of all people they had to steal a pregnant woman? The whole nature of the crime enraged Kydobi and he would hold back the urge to turn and stare into every single Pittian. But he realized.. they were mostly children. Few adults and the ones here weren’t so brash to do such things. But when Leroy mentioned a man with a gas mask Kydobi had no clue who he was speaking of which further irritated the massive jaguar because it pointed out inadequacy on his part.

Smoke would begin to gently rise out of black nostrils.

He would lean down a little to hear Gael before considering the General’s words. Hoping it would calm him a little but it didn’t. One of the newcomers? Is this how they relayed Kydobi for sharing what little provisions they already had?

Clearing his throat Kydobi would stand up straight again and look at the ashy hound, “First off, you’re not going to tell me anything like I’m obligated to obey you mutt. You could’ve handled this in a more civilized manner and I’ll let you know your little games have gotten old with us all.”

Kydobi flicked his tail, pausing because he knew some sharp words were about to come out and he didn’t want to be the cause of a fight. Diffuse the situation was what he had to do.

“But I understand why you’re angry. Unlike you I’m willing to admit when you’re right. I had no knowledge that one of your own was even snatched from your grounds. Had I known Moth was here I would’ve happily returned her promptly. Myself- because I’m not a coward who needs an army to make a point.”

He snorted, a minor cloud of darkness exited his nostrils, “I’m as appalled as you are for a number of reasons. Trust me when I say I will happily find whoever did this and I’ll give them to you to handle however you may. The Pitt has no need for disobedient troublemakers. I had told my people to keep to themselves and especially leave your people alone.”

He cleared his throat, eyes taking a break from Leroy’s face to stare at the ground. Attempting to calm himself. Everything was bothering him now. Leroy’s little offer didn’t quell his anger either.

“As for my people. I will not blame you for switching sides. But most of you are children and cannot make such a trek but if you wish we will assemble a party to escort you safely. But let me remind you, you know us better than he. Remember these folks are biased as well as blind. You see how he looks at us? How he speaks of us and to us? Do you really think they’ll accept you? You’re better off anywhere else. I suggest Elysium of anything. But not the swamp.”

Leroy was smarter than the jaguar had thought. Attempting to gain numbers? No. Kydobi would curb his little plot to the best of his abilities.

“You’re not going to order me around Leroy. Some of these commands are so elementary that it truly does show what little you know of this place. Mind your own, clearly you aren’t doing too good of a job either.” kydobi always made sure to let people know how they would be viewed if they chose to continue. He didn’t want anyone to be mislead like Jervis had done him. A man only looking for peace within the jungle had been falsely lead to the absolute opposite.

“But remember how we treated you and how we provided for you. Remember the true nature of our people and may you never let any ignorant outsiders warp your truth.”

He looked at Leroy and smiled, “That being said, if you wish to leave now. Go ahead, I will not hate you or stop you. But just know Leroy will expect you to one day harm the people you once laughed with and shared meals with.”

He really doubted people would turn over. Leroy didn’t really make a admirable impression, but everyone searched for different things in a home. The people who would end up leaving? Wouldn’t be missed. Loose loyalty was worse than no loyalty at all.

“Of course Leroy, i would like to speak to Moth in whatever manner you’ll allow me to see if she can identify the piece of shit.”

[sub][W]isker[/sub]