we're not the baddies! // AE visitors

[wuyi]

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Wuyi squatted near the edge of the swampy water’s edge, dabbing a paw in and out of the murkiness. Despite the shade from the large cottonwood’s shade, the sabertooth cub never noticed the autumn chill. In fact, xe had far too much energy to know what to do with. The constant scampering from the riverbed to Bai Shi kept his body warm, and the child adored slinging mud around.

Xe’d even tried painting muddy pictures onto the cottonwood’s bark! That turned out terribly, just a weird stain, really.

After a bit of playing on Tanglewood’s border, Wuyi finally burned off his childish energy and remembered what the hell xe and Bai Shi came here for. Only then did the kid feel sheepish about wasting time, but Bai Shi’s patient aura pushed those thoughts from xyr mind. It was hard to feel in a rush when xyr leader and “personal escort” (babysitter) never rushed.

Wuyi squared xemself up to the border, flaring xyr wings on xyr back. The white feathers ruffled, and he puffed xyr chest up with the largest inhale he could possibly take. “HELLO, TANGLEWOODS?” xe shouted.

Xe huffed. Shouting was hard work! Wuyi shook xyr head, glanced back at Bai Shi for reassurance, and looked back at the Tanglewoods’ border. “Hello, Tanglewoods! We’re from Alithís Evgenis, and we’d like to talk to your leader! Please? We’re nice, I promise! Bai Shi’s our leader, too, and they’re very nice! They’d give you orange candies, if I hadn’t eaten all of ‘em already!”

[teef]

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THE KINGPIN

golden lung dragon & black jaguar w/ vitiligo & platinum silver fox. god of war - ancient. bai shi lynn lingré. proper chinese name is lin bai. prefers lynn if close. they/them. formerly blind. wind element & electric element. firstborn son of jerisidie lingré & current head of family. courting halo mercer. kingpin of alithís evgenis. demiromantic gray-asexual. parent of veris, arvin, leoku, erian, flos, kekhai, evarhi, laeglin, sloan and colwyn. elder brother of ramona and hope, uncle of quennel and cosette. (strike is deceased/unknown status)

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amusement filtered through the dragon, eyes watching wuyi carefully, close enough to move quickly should the child move too deep into the waters, ready to take xyr from danger. it had been forever since they had been here, longer even since they had been attacked by a half-sibling removed from the family tree and recognition, forgotten afterwards. shaking their head, they freed their thoughts, scenting the air for a nearby patrol. they remembered rumors of aquatic predators, and like the hells were they risking their ward. "wuyi, you silly child", they chuckled, the dragon getting up to walk to xyr side and groom the mud from the tufts of fur and hair upon xyr head, purring as they groomed it out, making xyr presentable. warmth blooming in their chest, they nudged the youth softly, assuring xyr wordlessly.

they had come here with a reason, grateful for the child to be there with them, for whatever it meant to others, it eased their worry over leaving xyr at home. oh yes, the candies they had. perhaps, the child would be lucky, and they could trade for something similar here. they had been out of the loop since the raid, and knew very little of what had happened in each group. setting down the panier that they carried in their jaws, the dragon turned their head to itch at an old scale, plucking it away with a slight hiss at the sting, silver ichor beading around the young scale growing in. not much longer and they should be losing their antlers. tossing their head as they shook their mane into place, they relaxed, looking down into the panier, gazing over the honeycombs, herbs, meats and pieces of rare metals. not that they knew what to do with the metals, but perhaps, the other group could make use of them. rumbling softly, they were content to wait, curious to see who would arrive at the border. there was no reason to rush, wuyi was full of energy and should xe need to rest, there was space enough in their mane for the cub to nest between their shoulders while they wandered about.

[VIGENERE CIPHER.]

[glow=white,1,400]A MILLION MILES FROM HOME, I'M WALKING AHEAD ! — ｡+ﾟ.[/glow]

Autumn was one of Vigenere's favorite seasons; he liked how crisp the air was, but it wasn't enough to snow just yet. Which was good, because he didn't particularly like the snow anyway, but the fall leaves were a pretty sight to behold. As true as that may be though, Vigenere wasn't around the border just to admire the sights; no, the savannah was pretty active in patrolling, and today was no exception. Hearing the call of a child, the Luminary paused in his walk, his ears pricking before he headed towards where Wuyi and Bai Shi were waiting for him.

"Luckily for you, I would be the leader." Vigenere chirped as he approached the two, dipping his head in both a greeting and respect towards Bai Shi. "Vigenere Cipher's the name. What can I do for you?"[glow=COLOR,1,400] ━ ✧*:･ﾟ[/glow]

[teef]

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THE KINGPIN

golden lung dragon & black jaguar w/ vitiligo & platinum silver fox. god of war - ancient. bai shi lynn lingré. proper chinese name is lin bai. prefers lynn if close. they/them. formerly blind. wind element & electric element. firstborn son of jerisidie lingré & current head of family. courting halo mercer. kingpin of alithís evgenis. demiromantic gray-asexual. parent of veris, arvin, leoku, erian, flos, kekhai, evarhi, laeglin, sloan and colwyn. elder brother of ramona and hope, uncle of quennel and cosette. (strike is deceased/unknown status)

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Amusement lit up their eyes, seeing the savannah, reminded of their own son and former lover, Regina. Dipping their head in a show of returned respect, the Kingpin rumbled warmly, "Greetings, Vignere. I'm Bai Shi, the Kingpin of Alithís Evgenis. We are a rather small group, relatively new within the year or so, but I hail from The Rosebloods prior to their takeover. I apologize for the trouble and grief that they brought you in the past. I can't make up for what they did, but I hope that I can smooth any hiccups over now. I was a part of the group when it was under Sephiroth's rule.", they began, eyes kind. "I would like to extend an invite, and a suggestion, as well as a plan, if you would still listen to me. Ah. This here is Wuyi, my ward.", their mind must be slipping, too distracted to do introductions. Gods help them.

[wuyi]

[align=center]

Wuyi waved at the luminary, but he waited for Bai Shi to finish speaking before xe interrupted. After all, they came here to do leader-y things, and, while wuyi could assist, he certainly couldn’t leadery-lead-itty-do.

“Hi, Vigenere! Like Bai Shi said, my name’s Wuyi! My pronouns are xe/xyr--or he/him, or they/them, if the first are too hard!--and I like to eat candy!” The cub beamed a toothy grin.

[rhosmari]