as iron sharpens iron | open, newcomer

[Felibri]

[align=center][div style="width: 60%; line-height: 100%; text-align: justify; font-family: arial; font-size: 13px;"]Simply put, Virgil never had to think for herself. So, when she saw the dead body of her matriarch, an obvious self-immolation from the seeds of the castor bean strewn about, she felt that her whole world was crumbling right underneath her paws.

There were roars and barks outside, hideous yipping too -- had a hyena clan joined in on the bloodshed? She didn't know. Maybe she didn't hear them at all. Maybe it was her imagination. Maybe she was already dead. Fangs dug into the African wild dog's scruff and she winced. No, not dead. She dangled from a lioness' jaws but was quickly released in favor for the matriarch's body.

Virgil had leapt to her feet then, barking at the lioness to put down her leader's body, but the lioness would not concede. She roared and threw the body on the ground and for a moment there was peace and the fighting stopped. She heard the cries of her clan when they laid their eyes on their fallen leader. Caesar's dead! How could she do this to us?

Virgil felt dizzy.

She didn't know what happened next. She didn't know how to act. The end of the world had never been a concept in her mind. The screams of their second in command, a heavy-set female named Napoleon, rattled in her brains. Bile rose in her throat as she saw a lion take Napoleon's head in its jaws and --

She bolted.

Virgil ran as fast as she could, praying that Caesar would forgive her. Her paws swept across the ground. She didn't even know if she was being followed. She ran to the point of exhaustion and when she stopped, she immediately fell asleep.

-

This had all happened a week from now and during that time period, Virgil had not eaten at all. She was discombobulated and hopeless without her pack mates. They had been a special type of clan, comprised entirely of females, shunning any male wanderer or female unsympathetic to their causes. She and her sisters had been told that they were unique of the African wild dog kind and that they were the chosen population for a new world order. They were all given names by their matriarch, who claimed that they were revealed to her from the universe itself. She was their heart, and Virgil was utterly lost without her and her sisters.

The terrain was becoming more forest-y and had the scent of marsh. Along with it, Virgil could pick out scents of animals. Her satellite-shaped ears caught the sound of something rummaging in the grass. It was some rodent by the scent. If she couldn't catch this, she was done for.

She was tired and malnourished, but her skills didn't seem to dull along with her muscles. After a strategic chase, she had her prey and she devoured it alive within the borders of the marsh. She ate as if she were famished, because she was, and also because she was in a strange territory and wouldn't take any chances for kleptomaniacs.

[charactercemetary.]

[glow=#000,1,400]WE'VE BECOMES ECHOES BUT ECHOES, THEY FADE AWAY — ｡+ﾟ.[/glow]

The teen, too, stumbled onto the land by accident - perhaps it was fate that brought him here. However, without Jii-chan, and his friends, he felt lost as well. Still, he held his poker face, laughing and being dramatic, doing magic tricks, making himself the center of attention.

It was nice to be alone, as he soon learned. Give a chance for his poker face to rest. He was walking around, stretching about and yawning, blue eyes focused on the borders. He was almost there, yet not quite. The smoky Angora managed to finally get some time to himself, or so he thought. He heard a scuffle. What on earth was going on? His tail flicks, almost lazily, behind him as he saunters over, eyebrows furrowed and looking somewhat annoyed.

His oceanic gaze flickers to the tri-colored dog and her snack. Damn, when did she last eat? A month ago? Anyway. it was not always good to eat food in the territory.

He just stands there, hoping not to incur her wrath. "Oi, ojo-sama," the cat begins, flicking his tongue over his teeth. "I don't recommend eatin' that. Don't know if it's tainted by the radiation." He lifts a paw, pointing to the rodent, smirking somewhat. Smug bastard. "You don't wanna get cancer, do you?"

[RB Graveyard]

[div style="background: #646160; padding: 8px; ext-align: justify; color: #D3CECB; padding: 8px; font-family: Courier New;"]EULOGY - Female - Bengal Tigeress - Tag - [member=8943]Eulogy[/member]

[div style="margin: auto; max-width: 600px; text-align: justify; color: #646160; padding: 8px; font-family:Courier New;"] The tigress had been walking around, enjoying the new scenery that she had been helped into; still hesitant to go near the mud hole again. Eulogy, being the big woman that she was, loved walking around. It gave her something to do; kept her paws busy. The feline had walked around the border, she knew it wasn't her job but she also knew that it would give Aurum a day off to rest. The distant echo of chatter caught her black ears. Eulogy rerouted herself over to the chatter, paws moving effortlessly.

The boy and a stranger. The boy, she had seen at the task's meeting. Kaito was his name, but she was unsure. The girl was thin; lithe and obviously hungry. So much so that she had to gut's to eat a strange rodent, probably carrying a number of diseases. A shiver ran down the woman's spine and she laid the tip of her tail on his shoulder. The boy barely reaching past her forearms; she glanced at the small kid with a smile then at the stranger. "The boy is right lass," with a swivel of her ears she cleared her throat. "May i ask what your name is? We aren't too keen on having strangers on our borders.."

[wormwood.]

Everything stays, right where you left it.

But it still changes, ever so slightly, daily and nightly.

There had once been a time when Aurum had been like Virgil. Lost, alone, listless. Thankfully, he had been lucky enough to at least have the goal of finding his little brother in mind, but besides that? It had felt like his world was entirely falling apart, from the moment that Judith had told him he would never be king. Being the next in line for the throne had been what he had trained his entire life for, spending day in and day out suffering through his horrific and terrible circumstances just for that one wonderful end goal, only to have the rug pulled out from underneath him so violently he swore he still had whiplash from it. After that day, things had only continued downhill from there, and he had ended up with not only the entirety of the group shunning him more enthusiastically than they ever had before, but also with a bold red target painted on his back, and a mother eager to drive a knife into it. He hadn't known what the hell his next move was going to be after he returned Poet home, and he had fully been expecting for his life to simply end, and no theoretical plans he could think of going anywhere. However, this had all been before the big surprise plot twist in his life. All before he had found his true home, the place where he had found family and friends and a purpose that didn't depend on just dragging himself alive from day to day. That turning point had been Tanglewood, and hopefully the swamp dwelling group could represent a turning point for Virgil as well, even after the suffering she had endured.

The proxy had been patrolling, eager to get some food and perhaps some herbs for Moth and Selby as well, since he wanted to ensure that Moth wouldn't be out and about looking for things as often, given her pregnancy. He had thought that perhaps he could go searching for something interesting and unique as well. He wasn't sure what exactly yet, but something that he could maybe trade with Feza in exchange for her taking an extended nap. However, the male's search for all three of these things was cut short by the sound of voices nearby. Raising his head, he quickly identified the voices of Kaito and Eulogy, wondering who they could've been talking to. It had to be someone new, considering it would be rather rude to refer to someone already within the group as simply lady, or whatever Kaito's default title was. Deciding to change his route, the large winged lion let his paws guide him towards the smell and sounds of his clanmates, eventually coming upon the scene with a soft snort of surprise. There was indeed someone new, but they seemed to be making themselves rather comfortable, laid out and absolutely demolishing the prey they had gotten their paws on. Still, given the state that Virgil seemed to be in at the moment, Aurum found that he couldn't be too annoyed with her. She must've been starving. Clearing his throat, the one eyed lion rumbled as he settled beside Kaito and Eulogy, towering over even the tigress beside him, "Hello, miss... this is the territory of Tanglewood. As they said, that food might not be the greatest for you... if you're peaceful, we could maybe find you something less dangerous." She immediately reminded him of Vathmos and Snarl, not only because of the physical similarities between painted wild dogs and hyenas, but also because of the drive to survive he saw gleaming in her eyes.

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[Felibri]

[align=center][div style="width: 60%; line-height: 100%; text-align: justify; font-family: arial; font-size: 13px;"]Survival, that term was unknown to her until now. She had thrived under her matriarch's rule. They had made a formidable opponent to any of the neighboring groups. They didn't need males to have pups. They'd just suddenly appear and Caesar claimed that they were a gift from the universe. Everything was. The universe loved them. How simple and proud life had been, before she was thrust into reality. Still, she held on to these beliefs, because they were everything she had known. She hoped that if she could continue living like that, she would feel better about running away like a coward, leaving her packmates to whatever fate awaited them.

She caught the scent of Kaito before he arrived and she hurriedly gulped down a mouthful of food, raising her bloodstained muzzle to look him in the eye. He could easily pass off as prey, with his size. Virgil had taken down animals much larger, but she could hardly see Kaito as a threat. He was male though, and she had been indoctrinated with an intense feeling of hatred and disgust toward their kind. She couldn't trust him. "What do you take me for? Some scavenger?"

Virgil could take some pride in the fact of her African wild dog nature. They always ate their prey freshly killed and never checked decomposing carcasses. Though the rodent, which had long ears and hind legs, was something new to her, she wouldn't have chased after it if it seemed bad. Privately, she did fear of catching 'cancer' whatever it was, but she wasn't going to show fear.

The tortoiseshell canine began to loose a lot more confidence when a tigress showed up and after her, a lion. This put her on edge, and instead of fight or flight, she froze. Just like last time. She glanced back and forth, eyeing their jaws, remembering so easily how their mouths had fit over the skull of her deputy and crushed everything inside. She took everything in, the unique markings of the tigress and the mane of the lion. If she could exploit his weakness of having one eye, perhaps she could hold her own up her. Her distrust of Aurum was rooted in the same reason she didn't like Kaito, which was something that was beyond his power, his gender. He seemed rather laid back, however, considering he had just found a foreigner on his lands.

"My name is Virgil." She said. "What are you, some strange pride of lion-feline things? Why do you care about my well-being?" She was doomed if she couldn't find a community. Her catch today was a lucky one. The problem would be in finding a community that would allow an African wild dog indoctrinated with misandry and absolutism.

[ABATHUR .]

Well - if she was expecting felines, he would certainly be a shock.

Abathur came in on the tail-end of the conversation, approaching with a languid crawl, having noticed Aurum going in a direction, and deciding that he would probably get into some interesting business. He was rather bored, sitting around all day, and his constant attempts at focusing his vision only got him a nice headache and an annoyed attitude. It was time he left the house - web, rather. He hadn't been in his house in a while.

Living in that hammock-like web up in the trees reminded the spider of his years living alone, with naught but a book or two and some research to amuse him, any attempts at socializing with certain groups in the neutral territories being met with harsh retribution for his crime of - well, he hadn't committed any crimes besides looking creepy to most, but apparently that was enough to be attacked for. He supposed he couldn't blame them, in the end - to a cat, the sight of him, a spider dwarfing most domestic felines in size was like seeing an alien, a demon. A monster.

It still spooked him sometimes, whenever someone looked upon him and their heartbeat spiked. He could feel the pulse through the ground, a powerful reminder of his own appearance. He didn't let it keep him down, no, but it was still there, and sometimes that was bad enough. He could only hope that a minimal amount of joiners would look on him with such fear.

As he reached the group, hearing Virgil ask if they were a "pride of lion-feline things," he couldn't help but let out a little laugh. A single little chuckle, deep but quiet, as he realized the ironic value of him popping up immediately after that question was asked. The chuckle was all the noise he made for a few moments, coming to sit next to the lion he had followed, vaguely facing Virgil. He was contemplating what to say - because truthfully, he rather didn't care if the canid stayed or left, but still felt the experience would be valuable data for his studies. "Greetings," he said, "Believe fellow subjects only concerned. Social creatures, naturally empathetic - subject's... hungry appearance assists urge to help." His voice deep and grammar stilted, he spoke, though despite the odd structure of his sentences, his words seemed to have an odd flow, a sense of purpose, an indication there was a rational explanation for his speech. Adding to this effect, he didn't continue with his speech, deciding internally that he had said enough. Everything else was said for him, and he was only a Chaser - he felt it wasn't really his place to go out of the way to invite people into the clan, even if it was perfectly allowed for anyone to do that.

tags - "speech"

[RB Graveyard]

EULOGY - Female - Bengal Tigeress -[member=8943]Eulogy[/member]

Well...Virgil had come off as strong. No she wasn't strong, she was just as scared and confused as her eyes said she was.

Rude, to say the least

After all, she had stepped onto Tanglewood territory, eating Tanglewood food, coping an attitude towards Tanglers. The least she could do was wipe her muzzle. The tigress was sick of rude people; sick of the disrespect people gave her
and her friends. When Eulogy spoke, her voice was soft but her words would say otherwise. "Watch yourself Virgil, your on Tanglewood's border. Just because your here, starving, doesn't make us obligated to give you our magnanimity nor our empathy." At this point, she didn't care if anyone was surprised  by her response; she was supposed to be the sweet one but she was fed up with insolence

Her eyes met the African wild dog's own in an annoyed glare, though she loved newcomer she did not like rude ones. And ones that stared at her like she was going to eat them. "Please lass, do not stare." She blinked and turned her head to Aurum. Disappointment  plastered to her face, she whispered to herself. "I thought African dogs were better than this." She turned back towards the dog, a smile now woven onto her lips; her teeth clicking as she spoke "It's rude."

OOC: Aurum quit making me feel short! And i love the opening line of Abathur's post, haha

[Vathmos]

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VATHMOS

INFORMATION ROLEPLAYER MISC.

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Vathmos normally wasn't awake at this time, but when Aurum had asked her to go on a patrol with him, the hyena initially said no, then changed her mind and went looking for him. When she entered the marshy section of Tanglewood territory, the hyena coated herself in a fresh layer of wet mud. It caked onto her fur, obscuring her scars and spots. Vathmos never washed, so the hyena's front was regularly covered in dry blood and she smelled of rot. Mud obscured her scent from prey.

She had few interactions with Wild Dogs after being banished. They were a nuisance to her tribe, but their legs broke easy, just like everyone else. During her time in Tanglewood, she had met one other wild dog, Maya or something. It seemed she had disappeared in Vathmos' absence, too.
Vathmos had never been lost, at least that was her belief. She had, however, been abandoned. Loneliness was crippling to her, and it had drove her back to Tanglewood.

The hyena watched from cover as the scene unfolding, arriving a bit after Aurum. She laid down, head between her paws, glinting black eyes on Virgil. Vathmos watched, brow furrowing as she studied the expression. Virgil was staring at Aurum like a threat- she was calculating how to fight him. She was defensive and studying her potential threat.

That hysterical, chortling, whooping laughter erupted from her throat as the hyena stood, stepping out of the foliage to bring herself to Aurum's side, slightly infront of him. Her shoulders squared, on leg in front of the lion and the rest by his side. "It would do you good to stop looking at him like that."

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

[wormwood.]

Everything stays, right where you left it.

But it still changes, ever so slightly, daily and nightly.

If there was one thing that seemed to be exceedingly clear to Aurum these days, it was that wild dogs, whether actual wild dogs or hyenas, disliked him very much. At least at first, anyways. Vathmos had certainly warmed up to him, and Snarl was coming around, and he hadn't really met Mrish, so he couldn't form an opinion there yet, but for the most part he was able to at least somewhat mellow out the instinctual barriers that existed between him and wild canines. However, it still made him feel a little shitty, seeing the way that Virgil tensed up and eyed him warily. He brushed it off quickly, taking a deep breath and shaking his head. He was going to explain, figuring everyone else was doing a rather pisspoor job of it, when Abathur came over, being his usual exceedingly smart and strange arachnid self. Aurum watched the male for a moment before he heard Eulogy, giving a simple flick of his ear in response. Usually he might've agreed, and said that it was shitty to be rude when you were intruding. He still somewhat did agree, deep down, but he could also see the fear in Virgil's eyes, and the way that her aura moved erratically if he focused hard enough to see it. He didn't know what exactly had happened to her in the past, but whatever it had been, it had been unpleasant. He could tell why she was staring... she was being defensive. She was expecting them to attack her, and was trying to figure out if she had any way out. He had seen that look in others before, and he subconsciously found himself pulling his wings back, getting smaller and less intimidating. He couldn't truly loom harmless, given the inherent danger that came with lion's and the sheer power he possessed beneath his thick coat, but he could at least try.

Unfortunately for him, it seemed as though being polite and welcoming would be more difficult than he thought. Vathmos soon emerged from the trees behind him, her whooping laugh reminding him that he had brought her out with him. He had been wondering why she hadn't come along with him, but it seemed he now had his answer. She had been watching. His ears flattened a little against his head when he heard her words, a soft sigh leaving him. He really did not want things to escalate into a fight right now. Looking between Eulogy and Vathmos, Aurum rumbled softly, "It's... it's alright. She hasn't made the best first impression, but not all of us do, right?" He managed a weak smile before he turned his attention back to Virgil, speaking calmly to her as he tilted his head to one side, "Like Abathur over there said, we're just concerned for your well being because we're caring. Tanglewood is always willing to take in newcomers who need it... and we're not just a society of cats, if you couldn't already tell. If you need a home. Something to eat... you could consider here." He didn't exactly know the specific details of why she disliked him, and certainly wouldn't have guessed it was because of his status as male, but either way, he was trying his best to smooth things out. Virgil obviously needed help, and just because she was a bit rude didn't mean she shouldn't get that help. If that was how they operated, they'd be down half their member base.

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[Felibri]

[align=center][div style="width: 60%; line-height: 100%; text-align: justify; font-family: arial; font-size: 13px;"]Irony slapped her dead in the face when the next arrival was not a strange feline, but an abnormally large spider. Back at home, she used to squish them under her paws. She could not do so that easily here. Since spiders had never been a threat to her, she wasn't scared. Just only slightly wary -- she still saw Aurum as the greatest threat. Curiosity throbbed in her mind and when he spoke it only furthered her morbid interest. A large spider, a lion with wings, a lion with stripes ... She came to a sudden dreadful realization.

Maybe they were right about the radiation.

Maybe she shouldn't have eaten that rodent.

Virgil snapped out of it when she heard Eulogy. "Rude?" She sputtered. Her hackles bristled. Did they really think she was begging for them to take her in? Did she really look like that, a cowardly wreck of a dog? Perhaps her famished nature had made her a target for pity. She didn't like that. What was more, she was being surrounded by more males than she ever had in her entire life and that was cause for being unnerved. Even with Abathur's explanation, Virgil could not fathom why any group should be hospitable to an outsider. That was precisely why she observed them with such suspicion, which happened to be conceived as rudeness.

Her ears laid back against her head almost immediately when she heard the hyena laugh. Ugly brute, caked in mud. Did she really have to live alongside all her natural enemies here? Her lips curled ever so slightly upwards to show her excessively sharp teeth, "It would do you good to take a ba --" but Aurum somehow managed to diffuse the situation. Ironically, she was having spats with the female kind of this group and finding the males more kind. It caused her morals and ethics to spiral into confusion. She could deal with that later.

The lycaon's golden eyes averted to the ground, eyeing the fragile bones of her carcass. It would be against the code to accept the invitation. But she would also die if left alone. It could be her only chance. Caesar forgive me. She prayed for the second time that week. She was abandoning her life so quickly. No, they weren't giving her good graces. She didn't expect them to. Now she was not only a coward, but a traitor. Virgil averted her golden gaze. She looked ashamed, though it was not due to her rudeness. "P ... Please." She responded, speaking so softly it could barely be heard.