SMILE IN THE DARK | open, double joining

[CHERRYWINE]

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★★★

God, how long had she been traveling? Three months? Four? Too fucking long, that was for sure. Cherrywine was sure, if she had been followed after the attack on her group, they must have lost her trail by now- that or they'd given up, because this place sure as hell wasn't the city. It was fucking disgusting, all wet and smelly- despite everything Cherry had been through, from murders to childbirth, this had to be the worst. Her paws were a muddy green, and it smelled terrible. If there was one thing Cherry hated - though, really, there were many -, it was dirt. Dirt, mud, all that shit- she just couldn't take it. Some things were worse than others, like puke and blood, for example. Blood, she definitely didn't mind, but vomit? No fucking way, dude. Luckily, there wasn't any of that here, but it sure as hell looked like it. Gross.

[color=black]"Come on, Clark," the molly called, slowing her gait slightly to place a paw on her son's shoulder, nudging him forward. She didn't know what it was, but something about that kid just wasn't right. His English was still shitty - though he was currently young enough to get away with it -, he was obsessed with rocks, and he just didn't listen to her. Like, at all. Sometimes, when she spoke right to his face, he would react, but otherwise, he just ignored her unless she poked him, or something. How she'd managed to birth such a dumb-ass kid, she didn't know, but she loved him either way. He was... a pretty special kid, to say the least.

As the two of them continued onward, a sharp smell, one that vaguely resembled some of the other groups Cherry had encountered so far, reached the girl's nose, growing stronger as she led her son forward until it was almost overwhelming. "Stop," she told him, holding a paw in front of his chest as she drew to a halt at what she assumed was the border. Mud squelched beneath her paws, and Cherrywine couldn't help but wrinkle her nose in distaste. She couldn't believe she was actually in this nasty-ass place. "Hey!" the cream tabby called, rolling onto her toes ever so slightly as she peered into the trees. "Th' name's  Cherrywine, and this is my kid, Clark." She nodded to the little boy as she spoke, shifting her weight slightly. "This is, like, a clan, right? We're looking for a place to crash."

"speech"

//ayy pls wait for [member=1795]clark f.[/member] to post

[vellichor]

[align=center][div style="width: 45%; text-align: justify; font-size: 12pt; letter-spacing: -1px; font-family: times new roman;"]♡ — Clark had never done anything but travel so he didn't have the same reaction to this new place as his mother did. In fact, the little boy seemed more than excited about it. He was darting all over the place, giggling as his paws were stained with mud and green water. It was so pretty! He jumped up and down a few times, watching as it pooled around his paws and squished between his toes. This was the best place ever! When he dug his paws in the bottom of the mud, there were even more rocks! There were rocks everywhere! He kept going from one area to another, only looking up occasionally to make sure he was generally in the same location as his mama. He was trying to hold all the rocks he found, sticking them everywhere he could think. Some time ago, he'd found a bag and it was almost completely filled with rocks. Now that he was in a place that had so many, it was getting pretty hard to carry them all. However, he didn't seem to let the extra weight slow him down as he ran all around the general area.

When his mother spoke, he didn't react to her voice at all but then turned when he felt her put a paw on his shoulder, pushing him forward. Oh! They were going somewhere again! This was so fun! He loved walking around with his Mama so much! He wondered when they'd be able to stop, though. He wanted to look at all his new rocks and wash the icky stuff off them. "Mama!" It was the only word the little boy could say and it came out in a soft bark-like sound before he hurried forward. He was going to lead them! Surely that was why Mama wanted him to walk in front! He ran forward up until he was forced to slide to a halt when she put her paw in front of him? Oh no, was he doing something wrong? Was that why he couldn't lead anymore? The little boy glanced around until he noticed an especially pretty rock and a wide smile spread across his face. He used his paws to bring together a big pile of the mud and then pushed it towards Cherrywine before placing the rock on top. "Mama!" the odd child barked again, his tail wagging as though he were a canine and not a creature that primarily appeared to be some sort of feline. He looked up at her with a wide smile, clearly waiting for some sort of sign of approval or joy from his mother.

[delphinium]

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☼ - Running away from a place once known as home was a history very familiar to Delphinium. Iota, as well. And in her own respect, Stocking, although Delphi didn't believe the angel had much of a choice being stuck on Earth. How fitting it was that renegades naturally gravitated toward each other, collecting into Tanglewood. Even Beck fit the archetype, or at least as far as Delphinium could tell - the ghost was incredibly secretive and reclusive, it was difficult to decipher what he was truly about. Although it had been little time since Delphinium had first moved to Tanglewood, or rather had been absorbed into the group by Iota, the kitsune had quickly grown to view the overgrown swamps and odd cast of inhabits as her home and her friends. Granted, not all her feelings were reciprocated from everyone. But for the most part Tanglewood had taken her under their wing, and Delphinium tried to return the favor by doing exactly that on particularly hot days in the marshes with extended wings and portable shade. Today was one of those days, the air muggy and uncomfortable but business in Tanglewood continued regardless. How long until Delphinium also adapted to these heats, like Morgan had? The Samoyed could control ice at his whim, but surely the rest of him wasn't given the coolness his face was with his mask. Her clipped wings could only provide so much of a breeze.

It was unusual for the eight-tailed mythic to wander through the dangerous marshes on her own, but weaving through the shadowed underbrush and splashing through shallow water was much more relieving than idling in the town. Delphinium hummed idly as she stepped over gnarled roots, olive green eyes sweeping over the increasingly familiar outskirts of Tanglewood's territory. The "border" she had heard it referred to, a rather archaic term but effective in its definition. What stood out against the muted earth tones were two bright yellow splotches of fur and flesh rather than moss and roots, catching the kitsune's attention as the largest one called out into the swamp. "Hello!" Delphinium called out a greeting in response, spreading her wings and beating them uselessly a few times as she neared the duo. It was an instinctual reaction to reduce distance faster, but with her flight feathers still clipped back so far, it did little more than create a slight whiff of wind behind her. The unfamiliar girl introduced herself as Cherrywine, and the stumbling child as Clark. The girl herself was rather beautiful, much more pleasant to the eye than the swamps and even most of Tanglewood's inhabitants, although she didn't quite compare to - nevermind, it didn't matter. Clark, on the other hand, was quite adorable. Delphi flashed the young child a bright smile, extending her forelegs forward to bend forward into a playful bow toward him. "I'm Delphinium, and this is Tanglewood," she wasn't quite sure what a "Clan" was, but she had heard Iota use the comparison before, and hopefully just the name of the group would answer Cherrywine's question. "You're welcome to stay, of course," although Delphi was speaking to Cherrywine her attention remained solely on Clark, reaching a navy paw out to gently poke at Clark's nose. He was so small! Delphinium had seen children before, but normally they were her own age- the children she had grown up with, never ones so young.

[Luciferr]

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BUT HEED THIS LESSON WELL,
WHEN THE WEAK COURT DEATH, THEY FIND IT

"I'd watch your boy around these parts - there's hidden traps and other things lurking in the undergrowth after all" a dark drawl rumbled from the shadowed treeline as the common scent of ashes and the aura of flickering warmth that belied his approach as War stepped from the dark with an incline of his head to Delphinium - and a brief watchful gaze on the child bouncing around, apprehensive that he might stumble into one.

Silver-blue eyes tracked back to the mother - Cherrywine - and the great candid beast nodded his head once "if you'll follow us - if indeed you are joining - we can lead you back the safest route" he had not been one to run from a once home, rather he'd been violently parted from his via the death of his mortal form, only to wind up in another verse - but Tanglewood was a good second home even if it wasn't home home.

TAGS • PLAYLIST • REF (9FT) • TANGLEWOOD / REGENT

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© LEXASPERATED

[CHERRYWINE]

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★★★

Bright blue eyes followed Clark as he moved away from her grasp to grab... another rock. Incredible. He was covered in the rancid mud, beautiful cream fur stained green and brown- god, this would take so long to wash out. "Mama!" Mama, Mama, Mama; it was all he could say, and while it got kind of old at times, she could sort of understand what he was trying to communicate when he used it, so Cherry tried to maintain a patient demeanor, though it was clear the girl wasn't exactly the parent type. [color=black]"Uh-huh," she mumbled  as she surveyed him, forcing a smile onto her lips and reaching out with one paw to scrape a bit of dirt from his cheek. Hopefully the small gesture would be enough to please him - it wasn't hard to make the kid happy -, for the voice of another had reached Cherrywine's ears, and the molly had her head raised, awaiting the arrival of whoever was able to live in a place like this.

The girl was young, younger than Cherry, and by the looks of it, by quite a bit- five or six months, at the very least. Though perhaps she was older than she seemed, simply untouched by the horrors of the world, at least physically. How cute. Cherry watched Delphinium quietly, unable to help the small twinge of irritation at the younger femme's ignorance of her presence, for the most part, focused more on the little boy and his rocks than the one there that could, you know, actually talk. Cherrywine listened to her words regardless, a hint of curiosity lighting up behind her eyes at the mention of "Tanglewood". The name was vaguely familiar, perhaps she had heard it mentioned once before, by a client, or something, so she thought it was safe to assume that it was something similar to the clans and tribes she'd heard of back in the city. "You're welcome to stay, of course,"

Did she mean to tell her there was no test, or anything, to get in? Hell yeah, that was easy. "Your group doesn't have like, an initiation, or something?" Now that it was a possibility, she kind of hoped not.

Next approached a giant-ass hellhound type guy, one unlike anyone she'd ever seen before. She'd encountered weird creatures in the past, but never one both so hellish and so big. Cherrywine couldn't help her wariness, but she tried to internalize it, feeling her brow furrow ever so slightly as he spoke. "I think I know to watch my own damn kid, thanks," Cherry told him, though she tried not to get too pissy over such a small comment, especially as he was going on to speak of a "safe route" to... somewhere. Their base, or something, she guessed. "Oh, yeah, sure." She didn't really have much of a choice, even if this place was gross, since Clark was still a hassle to deal with on the road and they hadn't truly settled since he was born. "Okay, kiddo," mumbled the tabby, looking over the boy's rocks and then focusing on his azure eyes that matched hers almost perfectly. "We're gonna follow that guy, okay?" Cherry pointed to Fenrisulfr as she spoke, just to make sure her son knew what she was getting at. He'd follow after her, anyway, but it felt wrong to just walk away. "Who are you, anyway?" she went on, addressing Fenris. She didn't think that guy had introduced himself yet- if so, she hadn't been listening.

"speech"