I mean I used to feel so sure [o, at the border]

[Vathmos]

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VATHMOS

INFORMATION ROLEPLAYER MISC.

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Vathmos had been gone. She wasn't proud of it. She missed her friends, but she hadn't been able to force herself to return. Friends? No. Wormwood had been her only real friend during her time in Tanglewood, and he was a lion.
She missed the companionship of the clan and trying to scavenge by herself had not treated her well. She had eaten many a rotten thing in the past months, and the maggots had disgusted her. Vathmos felt awful, and couldn't force herself to justify her reason for leaving any longer. She had left to find companionship, perhaps from other Hyenas, but she had struggled to find other tribes that would accept her the way Tanglewood did. When she tried to fight up the Hyena social ladder, it only left her with new scars and bite marks. Why did she even leave in the first place?
Vathmos had definitely lost weight since her departure, but her appearance was largely unchanged. Her fur had been turned a different shade of brown due to the pile of built up dirt and blood. Vathmos hunger had only grown more ravenous in her absence. Between the abject horror of watching hyenas eat eachother, and Vathmos still finding herself desensitized to the gore, she wondered if she would eat something alive again, and more importantly, who.
The morality of eating other creatures had never bothered her previously- in hyena culture, everyone was food. This was the way. You fought for your position and you ate whatever and whoever you could. Perhaps, the higher thinking creatures of her kind, had pondered if their prey had families.

That was stupid. Everything with blood was food.

She wanted to go home. Could she still consider Tanglewood home? She highly doubted that they would welcome her with anything but open arms. Did they deserve her? She hadn't come back for them. She had come back for food and a stable home. Tanglewood didn't know anything about Vathmos, except her hyena background and her hunger. She couldn't consider Tanglewood her friends if they didn't know her. Her eyes were directed at the ground and her head low in apparent weakness as her dirty paws trodded in the muddy swamp, adding a new layer of dirt to her body.

Perhaps, she had come back to see her friend. Vathmos wondered if she would stay or not. The pros certainly outweighed the cons. She wanted food, a warm place to stay, and to see if anyone had ruined her bone pile. She stopped, sniffing the border, recognizing the musky, swampy smell of Tanglewood. She sat down, and it turned into her laying on her stomach, head laying between her paws as she waited for someone to arrive.

━ [b]MY SKIN IS A STORY┆LONELY. CLINGY. HATEFUL. ━

[wormwood.]

i was born, on the highway, in a train wreck

with a heart, that was beating, out of my chest

To say that a lot had happened to Aurum since Vathmos had disappeared would be an understatement. So many people had come and gone, Aurum had loved and had his heart broken, and he had even clawed his way nearly to the top of the Tanglewood hierarchy, even if he hadn't really been trying to claw his way. Through all of it though, Vathmos had been one of the faces that Aurum had missed dearly. He tried not to dwell too much on the past anymore, since all it had ever truly brought him was pain, but that didn't mean that the hyena's face didn't show up quite often when he thought of those that he missed, like Red and Sam. For a good long while there, he had searched for her, even if he hadn't truly realized that had been what he was doing. Whenever he had gone out on border patrols, he had faintly strained his neck and his nose, eyes desperately searching for any sight of the hyena's muddled fur, and nose searching for the rustic smell of Tanglewood mixed with rot and prey. Still, nothing had ever come of it, and as time had gone on, Aurum had written Vathmos off as yet another face he would never see again, and would only have to look back on in his fondest memories. Even if the beginning of their relationship had been rocky, he had considered her one of his best friends, and to truly accept that she was gone... it had been hard, to say the least. Perhaps some would find it odd, how close the lion and hyena pair had gotten through the most rough of times, but Aurum didn't really find it all that odd. Sure, in the wild their species were mortal enemies, but... he didn't truly consider Tanglewood to be the wild. He considered them to just be... a family.

The proxy's nose had been to the air as he padded along the border of Tanglewood, intent not only on refreshing the border line, but also keeping his eye out for any intruders or joiners. As he continued along slowly, he paused when a familiar faintly rustic smell reached his nose, although it seemed a bit different, as if time had dulled and changed it. As he rose his head to the sky and looked around, Aurum felt his heart speeding up in excitement despite his best efforts. He knew he shouldn't be so excited – after all, it could've not been her at all – but he just couldn't help it, and before long the one eyed lion felt himself practically flying – although really gliding – towards the source of the scent. When he landed in front of Vathmos, he needed only a moment to look her over before he felt a wide grin spread across his muzzle. It... it really was her. It was Vathmos. She looked faintly bored, laying lazily against the ground as she evidently waited for someone to approach, but that didn't stop Aurum from greeting warmly, happily laughter leaving his muzzle, "Vathmos... Vathmos, you're really back. I don't... I didn't think we'd ever see you again. I missed you..." He knew he was being sappy, probably more sappy than Vathmos ever would've preferred, but he also knew that she knew just how soft he could be, and would probably be expecting it. He said warmly, a chuckle leaving him, "It's Wormwood, if you couldn't tell. Well... sort of." There was so much he needed to go over with her, his name change being one of them, but for now he just wanted to ease her into things. Especially since he looked a bit different, with all the new injuries and missing eye and all.

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[ABATHUR .]

The spider found himself at the border very frequently these days.

The reason as to why was dual - one, because he needed to get out of the house, to get moving, so that he didn't go into hibernation or something similar that would have him disappearing from life for a while. He couldn't do that to his delicate research on how people functioned. The other was closely related to that research, for in his experience, people were often at the border, in one way or another.

Sometimes they were joining, like he did, once upon a time. Other times they had letters, messages, invitations, things of that sort. Either way, the data was always valuable, and he frequently found himself learning of new ways to adapt his personality so as to better facilitate his prime research directive.

It was on one such day that Abathur, the sole arachnid of the swamp clan, wandered upon a curiously familiar scene, his limbs taking him throughout the harshly damp marshlands (which was torture on his sensitive hairs; he hated them getting wet), with a swiftness as if he were trying to outrun the cold weather. The thought made him laugh, of course, because even his top speed probably couldn't outrun a breeze - well, unless it could. He didn't have much in the way of meteorological knowledge, though, so perhaps he was wrong? Only one way to find out.

The main point, though, was the scene he found himself happening upon. As he had already said, it was a familiar one. Aurum was there already, greeting the stranger with that doting manner of his, as if a mother hen clucking after one of his chicks that had stayed out of the nest for too long and given the poor chicken a heart attack - hell, he even had the wings, the spider thought, suddenly amused by such an image. They weren't exactly the size nor build of your average chicken's, but - well, wings they were, nonetheless. The stranger was a hyena - nothing else jumped out at him simply from looking at her, frankly. There was a surprisingly large amount of hyenas in the clan (by which he meant 2), to his knowledge, far more than would be expected, each their own person, isolated from the pack, and yet still managing to exist in a society alongside other hyenas. Very strange, he would say, were they ferals - they weren't, though, so he didn't offer it much more than a passing thought about the irony whenever he encountered another hyena.

"Greetings," the spider said, scuttling over to stand next to Aurum, who managed to dwarf him, but not by enough to make him look small. No, he was enormous for anyone who had managed to see a spider before, a fact that never escaped him, as every person he met had some sort of extreme reaction to his... well, his existence.

Such was the way his life had to be.

tags - "speech"

[Vathmos]

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VATHMOS

INFORMATION ROLEPLAYER MISC.

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Family didn't hold any meaning for Vathmos. Instinctively, Vathmos wanted a tribe. She wanted friends and family, but she struggled to make meaningful connections with others. She couldn't help it. Maybe she had thought she would find better companionship in her own kind. That venture just left her with more scars.

She picked up her head and her ears perked up as the lion approached. Her head tilted to the side, squinting as she assumed it was Wormwood. A lion with wings? Close enough. Wormwood had always been the biggest fucking softie and Vathmos hated him for it. It was weakness and weakness was exploitable. As much as she enjoyed his company, he was just a future meal. Just like everyone else. Vathmos wondered if trying to rebuild a relationship with him would just hurt her in the end.
"Something uh," her brow furrowed as she tried to place her words, "happen to your eye there?" Eyes were good. Squishy and juicy.

Vathmos considered herself to be more feral that most others. In her tribe, her level of viciousness was standard, there had been worse cases though. Some of the most barbaric males barely spoke and only snarled. Perhaps that was one of the few benefits of attempting to return to a tribe, speaking in her own tongue again. However, the scars on her body marked her as an exile from her own kind. While survival brought hyenas together and kept them together, exile was nearly a death sentance. There was only so much a hyena could do by itself, and most opted to commit suicide instead of live alone. In Vathmos' case, she was forced
It crossed her mind. Tanglewood wasn't like other places, with a species diversity. What kept them together? Did they actually like eachother?
For her tribe, sure, you could have friends and families, but in the end, everyone was just food. She stood up as the spider, legs only shaking in the slightest due to her weakness. She had never ate a spider before. She couldn't imagine he would taste good. A hairy and crunchy outside with a juicy inside. "Hi?" She tried to understand what she was looking at. He wasn't food, certainly, but why did he look like that? "I'm Vathmos. You are?"

━ [b]MY SKIN IS A STORY┆LONELY. CLINGY. HATEFUL. ━

[toboggan]

There was a tendency shared by joiners and old-timers alike to arbitrarily appear on the forest's border. Why the border's significance, Leroy came short of understanding. In his eyes, the border could be considered one of Tanglewood's weakest aspects, for it merely consisted of trees, forming something of a barrier between the tribe it encased and the neutral grounds before it. And the tree-blockade stretched as far as the eye could see, no variation whatsoever. So what made it such a hot spot among returnees and strangers? Was there a supernatural force that drew individuals to its location, in lieu of its profuse dullness? It was likely that his question would never see an answer, for time and time again newcomers would merely dwindle and dawdle at the territory's brink rather than venture further past it. Oh well. He never encountered any joiners along the border these days, anyway. For all he cared, that for Aurum to take care of, acknowledging the lion's proneness to do so.

Today ended up being a tad different than he'd planned, though. No, he hadn't intended on meeting a familiar face from way before at the border of all places. But it was what happened.

Her particular scent had yet to be acquainted with his new nose, but once it got picked up, Leroy recognized it immediately. Hyena. There were now a few hyenas residing in his tribe, so in theory, this smell in theory could have belonged to any of them. However, Vathmos carried a relatively distinct scent, with reference to Snarl and that other one. It was a bit on the wild side, with a hint of... bloodthirstiness, if that made any sense. The female hadn't been sighted in a hot minute, thus the sudden appearance of her odour compelled him to find its source as soon as possible.

After a short accumulation of time, the wolfhound located Vathmos, as well as Aurum (of course), and Abathur. His amber gaze falls upon her form, scrutinizing it to find any marks or scratches that were new since she was last in view. He recognizes some nicks and knocks here and there, yet nothing too major. Apart from the minuscule number of bite marks and flesh wounds, Vathmos appears to be in the exact same condition as before. Though, in her metaphorical shoes, the same likely couldn't be said for Aurum and him. Aurum sprouted wings, for fuck's sake, and lost an eye while he was at it. And Leroy... well, he wasn't even in the same body as before. Same species, same breed, though the differences in size, eye and pelt colour, and voice were clearly there. He doubts that she'd notice, however, seeing how the two scarcely interacted in the days of yore.

"Ain't ya a sight for sore eyes," he voices through an elated smirk. "Glad you're back, Vathmos," Leroy continues, "the place has been a bit borin' without ya."

[Blazic]

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SNARL[size=24pt]  [align=center]

Snarl was never, really, the best for wear. Ever. The hyena'd call it her natural state, but well, she could probably stand to do herself better. Eat more. Inhale less smoke. Drink more water. Maybe not consume toxins for the fun of it. But Snarl wasn't here for a long time. Just a fun time. She was wiry, maybe, but she was far from weak. Drank whenever a headache nagged at her, searched for any cure to her inescapable boredom. Fill time. She wouldn't peter out, no. If Snarl dies, she'll go in a blaze of glory.
However, even in her state, she was much better than the gravelly voice being suffocated by Aurum. Ever in her own 'patrols', arriving on every scene was the name of the game, never after the fact. For most, she'd simply check it out, step away. Leave it to others, like Aurum, who were much more ready and welcoming. But this case was... special. Even with the hyena's bad nose, she could smell the stench. It made her fur prickle on end, a patchy mohawk begin to raise at her back. Fuck. No. Okay.

Paced towards it. Aurum was there, as was Abathur. The only blood in the air was old, rotting. They weren't causing trouble. By the time she'd gotten yards close, her fur was smoothed back down, a carefully crafted mask of emotion across her face - not that she had to put on much of one to look uncaring and bitter. Let her nose crinkle just slightly, spoke. Her words were harsh, but, well, here's hoping those simply figured it was her normal bitterness to new members.
"Oi. You here for a reason? Fr'm where do you hail?"
Let the sounds linger in the air. Aurum sure knew... her. But the lion knew a fuckton of people, and she wasn't sure she trusted his judgement. He was too gentle for his own good, too trusting. She found herself stepping forward - Aurum could handle himself, especially against someone like her, but Snarl didn't take any chances. A spotted hyena, one that introduced with their true name? They were odder and odder by the minute, and she didn't like any bit of it. The odor surrounding the 'new'comer only served to shorten Snarl's patience.
[color=red] "What clan? 'S Tangle territory. Should know that."

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[wormwood.]

i was born, on the highway, in a train wreck

with a heart, that was beating, out of my chest

Despite the fact that Vathmos was never really a fan of family or friends that much – as Aurum imagined most hyenas weren't – that had never stopped Aurum from getting close to her. Perhaps it was just because he was such a softhearted sap, something that both Vathmos and Snarl had easily recognized. Or perhaps it was just because he had been deprived of having true family and friends when he was a cub. Either way, he saw Vathmos as practically family to him, and even as she just awkwardly looked at him and gave him her own sort of greeting, he felt a wide grin split his face. A chuckle and a chuff left his throat as he gently butted his head against Vath's shoulder in an affectionate gesture, still overwhelmingly glad to see her alive and well again, "Ah... yeah, Beck happened to my eye. Happened a while ago. He scratched at my eye while he was all bloody and since his blood is essentially acid... well, Selby had to take it out. I've been coping pretty well, I think." He shrugged his shoulders a bit, offering the hyena a curt little smile as he sat back. Sure, maybe it was a bit shocking to hear one of your friends just casually talk about how they got their eye taken out by another one of your clanmates, but Aurum had just grown so used to only having one eye at this point that it was old news to him. Not to mention the fact that he was sure Vathmos had seen much worse things, considering her odd collection of bones, along with the stories she had told many times in the past about eating other hyenas and what tribes did to survive.

Aurum watched with a smile as Leroy came walking up, offering the Gerneral a dip of his head in greeting as the canine welcomed Vathmos back into the group. He knew that Leroy hadn't been quite as close to the female as he had been, but he didn't doubt that the other was also glad to see her, and he was always happy to see others helping him to welcome someone in, or back in. Particularly the General himself, considering the fact that it made the newcomers feel oddly special to have the head honcho around to greet them. He doubted the same was true for Vathmos, but he was also fairly sure that Vath didn't even know Leroy was in charge now, so she probably wouldn't have gotten that feeling either way. Aurum was rolling his shoulders, intent on catching up with Snarl as he led her back into the territory and back to her home, but then there was a new scent on the air, and Aurum's heart sank. Aurum knew very well how territorial hyenas could be, and even if Snarl and Vathmos weren't driven purely by instinct, it did happen to drive their decision making occasionally. When Snarl arrived and began to talk, Aurum could feel himself frowning, the desire to jump to Vath's defense growing by the minute. Still, he held himself back, just glancing back at Vathmos. After all, he was fairly sure she knew how to handle herself, and probably wouldn't appreciate him interrupting.

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[Vathmos]

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VATHMOS

INFORMATION ROLEPLAYER MISC.

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Vathmos had not been in Tanglewood long enough to grow any semblance of a bond with Leroy. If you asked her tell you anything about him, Vathmos could give his name and description, but that was about it. She didn't know him that well. He had been in some position above her, but he didn't hold any other interest to Vathmos. She had lost some weight since they last saw her, she had no idea how much. Vathmos didn't know if they would notice or not.

Her ears perked and head raised as the next approached. Vathmos' tail went up a shrill whoop exited her throat. She stuck her tongue out, showing her teeth and looking the fellow hyena up and down. She looked strange. Her Mohawk was bigger and longer, she had stripes instead of spots. Vathmos' brow furrowed and her voice continued to shrill into her hyena laugh. Vathmos' laugh didn't come with any intent of kindness or joy, it was more in a jeering manner.
"I'm from nowhere. I used to live here." An expression rocked across her face that one could only describe as a smirk. Vathmos' origin wasn't true- she had come from the Spotted Hide tribe to Tanglewood, but they would never take her back. Spotted Hide had exiled her, so she could never return. "Wanted to come back for a bit."

"I know it's Tanglewood. That's why I stopped at the border." Was this someone she would conflict with? Hm....

She felt Aurum butt his head against her and nuzzle her, and she recoiled in the slightest. She sucked in a breath at the touch, lifting her leg up in the recoil, and taking a step back. "Well, sorry to hear about your eye." She tilted her head, looking her friend over. "Listen, uh, Wormwood, I'd really just like to get a meal before doing any catching up."

━ [b]MY SKIN IS A STORY┆LONELY. CLINGY. HATEFUL. ━

[wormwood.]

i was born, on the highway, in a train wreck

with a heart, that was beating, out of my chest

Watching the interaction between Snarl and Vathmos... well, it was certainly fascinating. Aurum had seen one or two interactions between hyenas in the past, mainly when he used to live in the pride, but he had never really been close to any of the hyenas he used to watch curiously when he was just a cub. By contrast, Vathmos was one of his best friends, and he had been becoming closer to Snarl over time, even if he wasn't sure he would ever reach the same level of friendship with her that he had with Vathmos. Looking between the two of them, the lion rumbled softly to Snarl, his fluffy tail flicking back and forth behind him as he playfully scolded, "Just like she said Snarl, she used to live here. This is Vathmos." He doubted Vath would appreciate him introducing her, but since she had decided not to include her name after her little laughing fit, he saw fit to fill in the gaps. He then looked up when Vathmos spoke to him again, trying not to wince too hard or obviously at the saying of his old name. It no longer held any comfort for him, but he didn't want to overwhelm her immediately with things like his new name and rank. Sighing, the proxy dipped his head to Vathmos, rumbling softly as he gestured back towards the town, where he knew the new tavern was, as well as the usual piles of freshkill, "I suppose that makes sense. Well, that's fine. We'll have plenty of time for catching up later, you know? I can escort you back to town if you want, or you can go on your own. I'm sure you haven't forgotten how to get there." His voice ended in a teasing lilt as he spoke, a small smile spreading over his golden muzzle.

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[Blazic]

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SNARL[size=24pt]  [align=center]

Snarl's outward emotions were on lockdown, as she stared down the other hyena. Sure, the other was an inch or two larger than her - but Snarl could see ribs hiding under thick fur, smell the lingering scent of hunger and desperation - Fucking disgusting. Let her muzzle curl, tips of teeth showing, as they laughed. Revolting. She hated that jeering sound, digging holes into her ears, practically begging the hyena to lunge.
Conceded to the fur on her back, stopped caring as it half-rose, marking a black-tipped, patchy mohawk. Kept her face only half as disgusted as she truly was, let a heavy breath rumble out of her throat at the spotted other, the beginnings of a growl she wouldn't let herself fulfill.

Aurum was practically rubbing himself all over the spotted hyena - glanced towards Leroy, coming out of his hole for once, greeting her with familiar eyes. She'd come too recently to have known Vathmos. Hmph. Let out a snort.
Gears in her mind turned of their own volition, as she spoke of her origin. Wrinkled her nose further. Later, when she found herself alone, she might stop to reflect that her reaction was a great dose of ironic.  Now, however, was not the time. Narrowed amber eyes, flicked her ear - the right one.
"A Bit. Best be on, when you're done." She held no real authority - especially with the two highest ranked in Tanglewood greeting her happily - but she spoke nonetheless. Fine. Let her saunter in, catch up with her 'friends', catch a meal. Fine. But Snarl couldn't take having that reek wander about their clan, indefinitely.
"Assumin' you can hold your word, Maken-Kimel." The Gnille slipped off her tongue, already brash accent thickening to accommodate the words.

Snorted and flicked her ear again, willed the ridge along her back to flatten. Didn't acknowledge the others, simply walked forwards, past the hyena's side - opposite from Aurum - and continued through the forest, only slightly outside the confines of their territory.
Spat a word, an insult, simply a statement of fact, near Vathmos' ear, as she passed. Quiet enough that the others wouldn't have been able to hear without straining their ears.
[color=red] "Vekkteman."

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