THE GUILTY HIDE // JOINING-ISH

[MOJAVE]

[align=center]

"You can't be serious."

[color=#5b1410]"Now, I can be serious. I'm just waitin' on you to quit this song and dance." Mojave gave the snow yet another critical glance, stirring some of it with a paw, and wishing he'd worn a less holey duster. All this white fluff was bizarre, and the texture unlike the sand he spent his life kicking around in, but he took this job to see more of the world, so he couldn't complain. [color=#5b1410]"I'm gonna ask you -polite like- to return the family heirlooms you stole, and you're gonna answer -just as polite like- that you'll give Miss Alison her jewels back." He paused to let that sink in. [color=#5b1410]"How 'bout it?"

"Kiss my ass, errand boy." Errand boy. Not the first time he'd heard that one, but at least she tried, and the coydog watched as his bounty whirled in the opposite direction, taking off for the trees. One Mississippi, two Mississippi, three Mississippi-

She yelped and fell over into the snow, right where he'd planned her to. He took his sweet time ambling over, and when he did arrive, he stared down at the shepherd as she hastily plucked the needles out of her paw pads, spitting them out in the snow. "Is that- did you bury a cactus?"

[color=#5b1410]"Yep. I like to bring a bit of the desert with me. You missed a coupla prickles there." She glared at him, and he stared back, unblinking, until she gave a groan, head landing in the snow with a thump.

"Crazy bastard. Fine, I'll do it, before I wake up buried in sand somewhere."

[color=#5b1410]"That's the spirit."

[div style="width: 500px; text-align: justify; font-size: 9.4pt; line-height: 1.4;"]Once that was all taken care of, Mojave made a note to check in on Miss Alison, make sure her daughter kept her word; then he gave his surroundings another take, knowing she'd been heading somewhere around here to lay low. In fact, he'd reckon that he was already in the territory. He smelled the border, but had gotten preoccupied with the logistics of burying a cactus to think about who had the run of this place. He'd probably find out soon. People liked to keep an eye on what they considered theirs, after all.

Until then, the coydog set about digging up his cactus, positioning the lower half of his duster around as a buffer between his paws and the needles. It wouldn't have mattered if he dug it up bare, though, seeing as he'd pretty much been born with cactus needles in his hide. Painful as they could be, he felt a bit guilty for burying this one out here, in an environment completely alien to it. He'd kept it in its pot, but who knew if it would survive for very long.

Dragging the potted cactus up, he lowered it down and then sat next to it, lean body wracked with shivers. [color=#5b1410]"Kinda hoped the rest of the world would be a li'l warmer."

[ATBASH CIPHER.]

ATBASH CIPHER

i should've said what i hear
i should have let myself fear

No kidding. Atbash could help but respond mentally, although since she didn't have telepathy, she couldn't exactly send this thought to the stranger that made the comment. Though then again, she didn't exactly want to. What she's been through was for her matters only and for those she was comfortable with telling - like Cry and Jacob. "Hey there." Atbash greeted Mojave as she came closer to him, dipping her head in greeting. "I'm Atbash Cipher, the leader here. What brings you to Snowbound?" Her gaze briefly flickered to the cactus he had with him, and confusion filled her eyes. Why would this guy bring a cactus here, of all plants? Would it even survive in a climate like Snowbound's? She honestly wasn't sure.

bio | female | hailcaller [leader] of snowbound

© madi

[arcy]

Izuku finds himself a little more stuck on the cactus part of this. He'd wandered over when he saw the bright pelt of Atbash, and the blur of a stranger. Izuku, of course, needed to be involved in everything. But that was for the best, and nobody complains, so Izuku instead seats himself next to Atbash. .. He must look a little strange, waddling around like he was. But both of his front paws were injured, shhh. His tail curls around his paws as he does so, though, and he tilts his head as he considers the canine. Huh. It's kind of strange seeing so many canines lately. A lot of the time it was felines. Izuku isn't entirely sure why that is, honestly, and he has no plans to overthink stuff again. He did that enough. And that got himself panicked.
"I'm Izuku, the Frosthealer," he offers, taking Atbash's cue. Was the stranger going to join? Or .. not. Izuku doesn't know. He'd like to know. Also, another joiner would be nice. They'd had a lot lately, but one that .. wasn't .. one of Izuku's classmates would be neat. But it could also just be somebody passing by. Most likely. But. Still. ".. Where'd you get ... a cactus .." The little feline's nose scrunches a little. How far was the desert? A desert? Izuku hasn't checked, and therefore doesn't know. But it's probably really, really far from Snowbound. They were like .. polar opposites. Uh ... he seemed kind of cold, though. I mean .. that was kind of a given, but should they get him something??? Izuku's not sure!! Uh .. he could .. get a hot chocolate once he answered Atbash's question, though. Izuku had enough of those, luckily.

[glow=black,2,300]I WONT BE HERE LONG AT ALL ☀[/glow]

[galexiux]

  Oh hey the gangs all here. The raven swooped down and landed beside the two. What the hell was this guys deal anyway. What kind of beef did someone need to bury a cactus in a tundra and then not leave the poor thing to die. It was probably already dead! Plants sorta need this wonderful thing called sunlight? ... ashes to ashes... poor thing. She sighed, blinking. Animals were so careless with plants. It made her sad. She stayed quiet though, opening her wings to ruffle her feathers before calming back down. Izuku and Atbash already finished asking the "required questions" so... blah. this system was dumb.

"SPEECH"

♡♡♡
tags

[MOJAVE]

[align=center][div style="width: 500px; text-align: justify; font-size: 9.4pt; line-height: 1.4;"]"Mornin', friend. Afternoon. Evenin'? Can't really tell." The coydog shrugged and smiled good-naturedly, pleased that the inhabitants didn't reflect their cold surroundings. Of course, did anybody? He didn't think folks back home matched the desert, unless their hardiness counted. [color=#5b1410]"I'm Mojave. I'm just sightseein' is all. Finished up a job along the way. You folks mind guests?" Snowbound, huh? Well, this place certainly was locked down in the stuff, so it was a fitting name. It would take him time to get used to the temperature, although he didn't know if he'd be staying that long. Couldn't see the rest of the world from one spot, right? He hoped they'd understand, and while he was here, he'd do his best not to take advantage of their hospitality. If they did allow him to stay. That bit was up for grabs.

[color=#5b1410]"Nice to meetcha, Izuku. Frosthealer. Is that like a doctor?" The healer part made him assume as much, though with the frost in front of it, maybe he got up to some kinda snow hocus pocus. Mojave wouldn't judge- plenty of folks back in the desert had their own rituals and traditions. Wouldn't surprise him none if they did, although he didn't know how they could live so well in the snow. The coydog kept tucking his duster to try and shield himself from the bite, with little success so far. [color=#5b1410]"You like it? I reckon you don't see any out here, for obvious reasons. I brought this one from the desert, a ways away. Got a few others I left in a sunnier spot a while back." He'd brought sand, too, but he didn't think they cared to know that.

The canine watched as a bird landed by the two felines, but seeing as it didn't say anything, Mojave didn't either. Maybe it was a pet or something.

[ATBASH CIPHER.]

ATBASH CIPHER

i should've said what i hear
i should have let myself fear

Cry was anything less than a pet, although Atbash supposed that she might seem to be, especially considering how she often flew around Atbash and Izuku and didn't say much. But that's just how the raven was, and Atbash didn't mind too much. In fact, Cry's presence soothed her. "No, of course not!" Atbash replied with a purr in regards to Mojave's question about them having guests. "Izuku is the healer, and I'm the leader." She confirmed Mojave's question with a nod towards the green cat. "My name's Atbash Cipher." She quickly turned around, flicking her tail to signal for Mojave to follow. "Could I get you some hot chocolate once we get to camp or something?" Sure, she had conjuration but it wouldn't hurt to actually get to camp, right?

bio | female | hailcaller [leader] of snowbound

© madi

[BUBONICPLAGUE]

[align=center][div style="width: 500px; padding: 10px; height: auto; overflow: auto;"][div style="width: 400px; padding: 0px; line-height: 14px; text-align: justify; font-family: helvetica;"]this place was... terribly friendly. of course he knew that already, having been there for a few days now, but it was something he couldn't quite get used to. his old homes, they had been so violent. and though they were generally welcoming to their joiners, they still were not very friendly. you could be welcoming and rude, couldn't you? 'welcome, dumbass.' that was usually how it was. yet here, they offered cocoa, had simple conversations and exchanged nothing but niceties. it was a drastic change, and something he felt was almost exhausting, but he wouldn't complain. lirim had asked to come here, after all. if this is where they wanted to start a life together, then he would respect that.

bubonicplague was silent in his approach, stopping a generous distance away from the group, sightless eyes drifting over those that had gathered around the stranger. the dire wolf slowly seated himself in the snow. desert, huh? in the back of his mind he wondered which way that could be. he almost missed the heat of his most recent residence. almost. his nostrils flared at the smell of sand clinging to mojave's pelt and the cactus he carried with him, half-wondering why he would bring it, half-impressed by the sheer dedication of it. he blinked slowly and tipped his head to the side, calculating. quiet for a while longer, he finally decided to introduce himself, if he was going to hang around. "bubonicplague."

[Dimitri]

Dimitri found himself sticking near Atbash when he approached. He didn't like being surrounded by bigger clanmates, or bigger strangers. He looked over the lot of them, eyes leading to the cactus.

"That... Won't do so well here."

[MOJAVE]

[align=center][div style="width: 500px; text-align: justify; font-size: 9.4pt; line-height: 1.4;"]The coydog perked up at that, brown eyes brightening a bit. That was mighty fine of her, wasn't it? Hell, it was better reception than he'd get sometimes back home, though to be fair, his reputation didn't exactly encourage likeability. Whenever he showed up, everyone always assumed he was on a contract. Sometimes they weren't wrong, but still, a little courtesy could go a long way. Mojave smiled loosely at finding it here, and then nodded when Atbash gave her explanation. She was the one calling the shots in this town, huh? Good to know the boss was pleasant company, which was more than enough of a reason for Mojave to obey when she flicked her tail. Hot chocolate? What the hell was that? Was it a warmed up bar of chocolate? He'd never had anything like that. Back in the desert, it was a bit difficult to get his paws on anything that wasn't a cactus, like the one he was scooting along in the snow. [color=#5b1410]"'Fraid I've never had that, Atbash."

The mix gave a pause, duster no longer bobbing against the motion of his back legs. There was a coupla other folks popping by to say hello, one of them a towering fellow, with white eyes that must've been blind, except he felt prickles like critters walking across his skin when he gave them a direct glance. He'd have to stay on his toes, just in case. [color=#5b1410]"Uh...pardon? That was a real bad sickness, wasn't it? Are we playin' trivia?" The way the wolf said it was like an introduction, except that couldn't be a name, now. Could it? He didn't have much room to talk, being Dust Of The Mojave, but Bubonicplague was a bit sinister. Mojave reckoned that'd fit. [color=#5b1410]"Is it my turn? Dust Bowl." The coydog gave his cactus another small push, whiskey gaze turning over to a feline, who only seemed to have eyes for Mojave's buddy.

[color=#5b1410]"Prob'ly not, but it couldn't hurt to try. I can get plenty use out of it even if it does die." The one thing they could do in the desert was use a cactus.

[ATBASH CIPHER.]

ATBASH CIPHER

i should've said what i hear
i should have let myself fear

"Really!" Atbash sounded shocked over that, turning her head to blink at Mojave in surprise. "Oh, you've got to try one, then." As she led the guy to camp, Bubonicplague came over and introduced himself. The she-cat stopped walking and laughed at Mojave's response to his introduction, shaking her head. "No, no, that's his name!" She explained. When Dimitri brought the cactus up again, Atbash looked down at the plant. It probably wouldn't do well out here, but hey, it was pretty neat that Mojave was trying, right? "It doesn't hurt to try." She agreed.

bio | female | hailcaller [leader] of snowbound

© madi