TAKE ME HOME [O: JOINING]

[DORIAN]

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/i am a bit rusty, so please bear with me!

"Kaffas," he swore lowly, a bitter curl to his mouth as he inspected the collar clasped around his neck through his dim reflection in the murky water. The people who had so benevolently donated this horrid fashion accessory had fallen back prior to his delve into this cesspool of all things swamp-related, and now he had a moment to consider their reasoning. Dorian imagined he might have had a higher probability of survival with the captors than in this rubbish-heap judging by the dismal quality of his surroundings. "The least they could have done was cast this in gold." He looked rather dashing in gold. Silver flattered him as well, but not this lackluster grey that he would prefer death over wearing. Or, worse yet, chartreuse.

Disgust marred his aristocratic features, and he hastily smoothed his expression into neutral ground, lest he damage his facial attributes with wrinkles. Maker forbid. Well, there was little to be done for the collar until he procured a manner of destroying it without causing damage to himself, and the more pressing issue at hand quite literally surrounded the lion. Was it conceivable for any semblance of civilization to reside here? Perhaps his imagination was limited to hospitable regions, but he could not believe any individual might fancy this hovel as home.

The smell alone -that of stagnant water and waste- sundered his composure with shudders. "Calling this a shithole would be polite." At any rate, he could appreciate his freedom, however woebegone this swamp was.

[aya]

[div style="margin: 0 auto; width: 55%; font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; text-align: justify;"]Aya was honestly quite the opposite of Dorian. She was nowhere near aristocratic, in fact she was a bastard, and she really didn't care much about the smell of the swamp or its appearance. As such, she practically emerged from it, fur covered in its filth after spending her day trying to catch some of the lifeforms that lived in the swamp - she'd noticed that Abathur was trying to test the swamp itself for radiation, and she thought maybe it'd be interesting to check out the apparent radiation's effects on the animals that lived permanently in the swamp. A frog and its noticeable visible guts hung from her jaws as she approached the lion, throwing it casually at his feet as she began to approach some cleaner water. "You want that? It died before I test it."

The tortoiseshell dipped her front paws into the water, beginning to wash the mud from her fur as she watched the lion from the corner of her eye. "Hot collar. Your master give that to you?" She was joking, but as it dawned on her she didn't actually know this person and the smell of the swamp started to uncover his smell, she said, "Oh, hey, you're not from here. This is Tanglewood, I'm Aya, are you joining or am I going to have to try and fight a whole lion?" She didn't believe she would win that battle.

[MARCELLUS]

HEARTFELT PROMISES { .:*・°☆ } ——— [size=10pt]TAGS

Marcellus had to admit, this was basically the only place he had actually stayed in for a while that didn't want to make him run and hide. That was definitely saying something. He had been only one other place his entire life and that was the enclosed walls made by man and human, disgusting, filthy, scaring and looming. The walls of man made attractions were things he didn't want to be near again, now preferring the open or even an old fashioned den made of logs and shit to sleep in. Call it old school, or him just being a massive crybaby chicken. With the way he spent nearly his entire life in man made walls, he had no room to talk about a disgusting marshland, which he happened to not exactly mind. There was no sunlight and it had been dark, yeah, but that was something he was already used to. The dark with little light. He would hopefully find himself adjusting quickly. Though he had been exploring the territory, and by the way it looked and how dense and compact the undergrowth was, he would barely be able to do things such as daily runs. Though it was good for learning different techniques. Ones he didn't already know.

The male began to make his way through the swamp only to hear voices grower nearer and nearer, his eyes narrowing into a squint to try and make out the figures before he was close enough to make them out without having to squint, his paws carrying him through the wet undergrowth with minimal ease. From behind he must of looked clumsy and stupid, though it would take time for him to get used to this type of territory with him being used to the open. He moved through the bushes to make his way next to Aya, watching silently as he studied the lion. That collar. The steel collar around his neck was no doubt man made, causing the cheetah to flinch. He wanted less reminders of the humans and their destructive oddities, not more.

[DORIAN]

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/late to my own thread smh

Perhaps he had been too hasty in his assessment, for the disbelief was promptly invalidated by the appearance of a creature from the swamp. It was a moment before Dorian arrived to the conclusion that the animal was not, indeed, a swamp beast; she reeked, however, and the frog she very kindly offered did its absolute worst to Dorian's belly. Of the many lands the lion could have been chased into, fate chose the one that assaulted every single one of his senses with ease. Clearing his throat, he smiled thinly at her 'gift.' "Ah, I'm afraid my appetite was lost a few meters ago, but I appreciate the gesture." His gun-metal gaze followed the feline as she sought less-murky waters, soon revealing herself to be not quite as dark as he had previously gathered, but he deduced that was this swamp's effect on those within it.

Her remark had his impeccable posture straightening even further, head a fraction down to veil as great a portion of the collar as he could. "A coarse group of men, actually, with abominable fashion taste." In spite of his circumstances, the mirth was a welcomed distraction, but Dorian soon gleaned her epiphany and sobered a scant bit. She was not a solitary creature eking out an unsavory life as he had hoped. There were more out in this quaint little swamp. How wonderful. "As entertaining as that would be for the both of us," he gave the collar one more unsuccessful tug, "I must confess I'm not in the mood." The obsidian male deliberated over his available routes, chewing on his cheek. It couldn't hurt to begin with an introduction, and he swept low in a well-practiced, fluid bow; upon exiting it, he said, "Dorian, of House Pavus. A pleasure." What was that she had mentioned? "Joining. What would that entail, exactly?"

Motion attracted his stare to a fumbling cheetah, as unaccustomed as Dorian to mucking about in this terrain. The male said nothing, however, and Dorian was certainly a frequent recipient of attention, but he was never suited to the silence. Particularly less so to flinches. "Yes, I'm very pretty, aren't I?"

[VIGENERE CIPHER.]

[Luciferr]

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But Heed this lesson well,
When the weak court death, They find it -

"As am I" the baritone voice drawled as the scent of ash and steel proceeded him - unlike the others his scent never did seem to become stained with that of the swamp that housed he and they, no Fenris always seemed to be carrying the scent of a burning pyre on the battlefield so to speak.

"Fenrisulfr Grimm - and joining is just that, no trials, well, save when you'll earn your mask" they all earned their masks eventually - his own was back home, a grim thing of black and golden colour, designed for added intimidation, not that the giant really needed that.

Fenris eyed the lion - Dorian - vain perhaps? judging by that last line but fenris didn't mind that, there were more unpleasant personalities than a little vanity, though he eyed that collar - hm, he'd never liked chains himself, no matter the form one might say, collars reminded him of that too much.

"I'd recommend following us back closely if you are indeed joining - wouldn't want to stumble into a trap, or the gators" was said matter of factly as he'd said it enough times to many a stranger joining them - at least Drian hadn't wandered straight into one like so many before.

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