CLUMSY HEART | JOINING

[ORPHEUS]

[align=center][div style="max-width: 500px; text-align: justify; font-family: arial; font-size: 9.5pt; line-height: 1.4;letter-spacing:.1px"]/ don't feel like you need to match this! he's just standing around.

When people said that the world wasn't fair, it was typically meant as an excuse. The world isn't fair, so I don't need to be either. The world isn't fair, so you shouldn't bother to fight it. The world isn't fair — the more he hears it, the more sick Orpheus becomes of the phase. He had always been obsessed with the questions that others struggled to answer. Religion and war and the way that people treated each other. But his childhood had ended abruptly, and with a question brought on by something far more personal: why? It was no longer about why people treated each other so awfully, just why he had to be the one facing the brunt of it. Blaming the world had never really been his style, but who else was left to blame? He was a child, he was innocent. He didn't deserve it.

It took a long time for him to understand that again. Even now his confidence in that comes and goes. His dad — his real dad, not the man that he could blame for his creation — had kept him safe long enough to rewrite those memories, the heavy weight on his chest that said it was his fault. Everything out there was cruel and cold, yet Orpheus had always had that safe little bubble, safely between the tiger's gentle, calloused paws. Or — not always. Safety, like security, died a spectacular death in his life. He hasn't washed that blood from his mind, even two years later.

There's no end to loss, it would seem. His dad wasn't his first or the last; there would be many more to come. But just the same, there was no end to new starts. He's not quite sure if that's what he's looking for here, but... maybe. He had spent the last few years losing himself to other people and beautiful places. Now was the time to rebuild. So the lion stands there with his eyes on the horizon, tail flicking behind him. His bright peppermint-like appearance sticks out like a sore thumb in this simpler landscape so he figures someone will be here soon. These groups always did have that in common.

[align=right][b]— INFORMATION

[ATTICUS]

―――― //Welcome!! c:

The world isn't fair. It was an interesting sentiment, and interesting excuse. The world wasn't fair, and yet for many, it was, or more than fair. Were they to excuse the transgressions of others, or of themselves, simply because the cards hadn't been dealt in their favor? Or, was the meaning something far greater than that? What really was fairness in the grand sense of it all? What was family, and family ties, for some who were not lucky enough to have it, or for those whose familial bonds had been more akin to torture? Atticus himself had been lucky to have a welcoming, strong family, one who helped to raise him up to be the best man that he could. Did he always hit that mark? No, he would not bring himself to think that he was near perfect in any regard, yet it was a standard that they were all flawed, one way or another.

Atticus knew what it meant to rebuild, what it meant to go off and discover yourself, to walk far enough, and wide enough to escape the aspects of your past that you wanted to forget, to extend your knowledge and your capabilities as an individual. Sometimes, it was for the best. Even if you had a loving family, you could not simply sit by and allow them to mind you all of your life; you could not sit and be part of a group, rather than understand who you were. As cheesy at the phrasing was, it was like a flower; for most of your life, you could remain as a small bud on a large bush, surrounded by other flowers and buds just like yourself. You could grow, blossom,a nd die all in the same place, or you might fall free from the bush, and become something far greater- a boquet on a dinner table, a flower in someone's hair; but perhaps that itself was far off topic.

Orpherus was on the nose about one thing, however. Atticus was quick to notie him standing upon the border, sticking out against the calm plains as a shadow atop the hillside. Kit, who was making his usual rounds along the border, simply took a breath in as he continued his way forward to greet the stranger, his steps calm and languid, his gaze stark and serious, but yet not unkindly as he soon enough paused at creature in front of him, quiet for some moments as his gaze swept over Orpehus, taking in the small details of his posture and the way he held himself before he dipped his head slowly in some from of greeting, the large melanistic jaguar sitting back on his haunches. "Welcome to the Ascendants, stranger. CanI have your name, and how we might help you today?" Unfortunately, the greeting would be much the same as any other, but Atticus tried to muster up a touch of a smile to his face, awaiting the answer to his questions.

  [color=black][b]

[ORPHEUS]

[align=center][div style="max-width: 500px; text-align: justify; font-family: arial; font-size: 9.5pt; line-height: 1.4;letter-spacing:.1px"]/ thank you!

In his experience, those people who had "more than fair" were the ones saying that it wasn't fair. And they were right, everything was skewed in their favor — even their violence never reached back on them. Fairness was an equal opportunity, not perfection. Some people would always fail and others would succeed, but when success becomes hereditary, things get fuzzy. It didn't mean making sure that everyone had two loving parents and a pure-white childhood, but it meant that they'd never fall victim to a corrupt world. Sometimes he sounds like a broken record, he knows that, but the world isn't a kind place and he's tired of it. That sounds so dark, though, and the young lion is anything but. His expression is bright and warm, body loose and relaxed. Only the scars across his body say anything about what he's been through, and even those stay quiet most of the time. The worst of them hides in the short fur of his mane.

Now that isn't a story he wants to tell, but it boiled down to the fact that he wasn't discovering himself by his own choice. There was no loving family left to leave behind, nothing he could miss. He couldn't really think of himself as a blossoming flower, something that will die come winter — no, Orpheus is more stubborn than that. He's a child learning to play music and a heart learning to listen to it, he's the memories that built him to where he was and he's everything that those memories will inspire. But if they were talking about something like that saying, the one that says an apple doesn't fall far from the tree, this isn't his way of rolling down the hill. No, if anything he finds himself wanting to find his way back to those roots.

Maybe the people here could help him remember. But for now, the heaviness of his thoughts and past don't matter. There's a certain warmth the lion seems to radiate when Atticus approaches, an easy grin lighting up his face as he looks down at the jaguar. [color=#901419]"Did you rehearse that or something? Never mind, I'm Orpheus. Like —" he takes a shaky, quick breath and shakes his head [color=#901419]"— like the myth. I wanna stay, unless you have a problem with that." Not that he's done anything to warrant a problem.

Yet.

[ATBASH CIPHER.]

ATBASH CIPHER

tired eyes, barely open,
crippled by a promise broken !

"I wouldn't be surprised if he did." Atbash's voice came in an amused purr as she came to stand next to Atticus. Honestly, the way he spoke always did seem like he had been rehearsing it for ages - but that was just who he was. "But you're absolutely welcome to stay." She went on. Not only did they have an auto-accept policy, but the guy gave them no reason to deny him. "My name is Atbash Cipher. I'm a Lunar Lieutenant here."

bio | female | lunar lieutenant [hp] of the ascendants

© madi