I WORKED IT OUT | o, joining

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Aubrey had thought about leaving her family a lot. The thing was, she had always thought she would escape to somewhere glamorous and lovely. A tropical island, perhaps, or a sweet-smelling field of wildflowers. Maybe a beautiful forest, with a clear blue pond nearby, perfect for catching fish from and splashing around in. She had never imagined she would end up in a swamp. It, from what Aubrey could see, it didn't even have any pretty swamp plants (if there was such a thing as pretty swamp plants- she didn't know, having little prior experience with swamps). It was just dirty water and slippery mud. She had not imagined the nice details of her lower body now having traces of green swamp-slime on it, or that her paws ached and she could feel the gush of mushy earth with each step. The flies buzzing around her ears weren't things for daydreams. It didn't improve her mood, knowing that if she waded too deep into one of the many pools of murky water, she could be in big trouble. Aubrey knew how to splash in shallows and how to kick water up from puddles, but not how to swim. She was trying to be careful, picking the driest spots to set her feet, but she had had quite a scare a few minutes before, missing a step and slipping into a shallow pool of water that rose to her stomach. That had been unpleasant.

Aubrey didn't know how she even ended up in the swamp. One minute she had been running across the landscape and, boom, the next thing she knew, she was in a gross swamp and had been walking in it for a good bit of an hour. There was no sign of life other than a few birds and the occasional frog. It was lonely and boring and she was beginning to wonder if she would just have to accept her new diet of frogs, when she realized she had found a border. Aubrey almost missed it, too busy wrinkling her nose at the mud that was sticking to her paws, but when she paused to rest a moment, the scent hit her.

"Oh, thank you." Aubrey didn't know who she was thanking. Not a god- maybe her paws, for leading her to somewhere other than another pool of gross water and some more gnarled tree roots. Her green-tinted eyes flickered over the area before her, hoping for a sentient creature to appear before her. Out of desperation, she called out, "Hello?" and then fell silent. There was no use in saying anything more; if there was anyone out there, she had alerted them to her presence already.

[ sorry if this sucks, i wrote this way too late for me to be up ]

tags

[COSMIIX]

[glow=GLOWCOLOR,2,300]▶ AMUNET - TAGS - TANGLEWOOD - ROGUE - FEMALE PRONOUNS - JAGUAR ◀[/glow]

Did people like living in swamps? She didn't know and well, frankly, she hadn't cared if several deranged animals wanted to live here no, she just found it a bit dumb that they wished to stay here and complained about how the water was probably unsanitary or whatnot. She didn't mind really even if she was "royalty" and well, she didn't care if her paws would get a bit dirty from the mud or if the mucky water touched her belly. Sure, it brought a bit of discomfort whenever she stepped on some type of mucus from some mutated beast that lurked in the swamps most murkiest of waters. She walked over with both of her rounded ears angled forward at the sight of Aubrey, a nice serval, yet here she was in this place that she called her home. The jaguaress offered a gentle smile and would speak with a light nod of his cranium "Hello there. I assume you have no clue where you are aside from being in a swamp, hm?" There was a pause as she let that sink in and she rolled her shoulders briefly moving the python that rested on her back a bit before continuing to speak in a soft voice laced with an Egyptian accent "This is Tanglewood's territory and the ogre at the head of the group doesn't like trespassers much. No worries, I am here now." She couldn't help but rumble in amusement at herself for calling Beck an ogre though she didn't dwell on that thought for too long finally asking the real questions that demanded an answer "I am Amunet. Who are you and what's your business, dear?"

"speech"

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aubrey had a near heart attack when amunet walked over. she had been waiting for someone to appear, and expecting someone to appear, but when they finally did... well, aubrey hadn't been expecting a jaguar. she had little experience with bigger felines. her family had all been servals, her friends had also been smaller cats, and the most exotic thing she had seen was a dog. she knew big cats existed. she just hadn't seen one before, and seeing something so big, so almost like her and yet so gigantic, was enough to make aubrey's eyes widen and the fur along her spine bristle in alarm. her gentle smile and calm voice soothed her, though, and a moment later, her coat was flattening back down.

the jaguaress's assumption was spot on. aubrey had no idea where she was, and a sheepish expression appeared on her black-spotted face after hearing amunet's words. lucky for her, she got an explanation. the name of the place- "tanglewood"- rolled around in her head a few times. tanglewood. it was catchy. and they were led by... an ogre. an ogre? that was... terrifying. that was downright terrifying and, for the second time since she had found the border, aubrey was spooked. little did she know that amunet wasn't being serious.

she focused on the kind lady's questions. she was pretty sure that amunet wouldn't let her be killed by an ogre, right? she had said "i am here now". yeah. she would be fine. she cleared her throat. "i'm aubrey. i... my business? i don't know. i sorta just stumbled upon here. 'didn't really have a plan." she managed a smile that still looked mildly embarrassed. "you said you're a group. do you accept people in? and, say, if they join, is the ogre still pissed at them?" even though aubrey had said she didn't have a plan only seconds before, one was forming in her head. if she could join a group, that would mean safety. she wouldn't be wandering alone in the woods, unprotected. there would be other creatures in the group, ones she could speak to, so she wouldn't be lonely, either.

she just needed to figure out whether or not she would be eaten by an ogre, first.

tags

[COSMIIX]

[glow=GLOWCOLOR,2,300]▶ AMUNET - TAGS - TANGLEWOOD - ROGUE - FEMALE PRONOUNS - JAGUAR ◀[/glow]

The serval seemed tense at first but with her tone and facial expression, she noted that seemed to reassure the fellow wildcat that she was no threat nor did she intend on harming her. Her eyes were soft as she watched carefully only to notice the tension returning once more at the mention of ogre. Was she really being taken seriously? It made her want to laugh but she cleared her throat in order to prevent it only to give a slow dip of her cranium "It's a pleasure to meet you, Aubrey." She would take a seat curling her spotted tail around her dainty forepaws with a slight twitch of her whiskers listening closely to what the femme was saying about joining Tanglewood and she didn't see a single problem with it "Yes, we accept people into the group and no he isn't. The ogre only stays angry for a certain amount of time before he cools off and becomes a little tick on your ass. Metaphorically speaking, he's pretty memorable. But aside from all of that, welcome to Tanglewood." She was certain if Beck had heard her then he definitely would have made a protest or two, she finally let out a soft laugh "As for the ogre, no need to fear. He's just a poltergeist,"

"speech"

[roman]

to answer amunet's question: fish loves living in the swamp! she loves the mud and the bugs and the crocodiles and the weird monsters. the world is her playground! then again, fish has never known anything other her beautifully disgusting swamp. the spirit has lived here long before the place was polluted by waste, long before any groups moved in. it's all she's ever known. the swamp is her mother, her father, her sister, and her brother. and lemme tell ya: they're all one big happy family. living by herself can get boring though, so sometimes fish likes to entertain herself by interacting with the mud people who she allows to live in her territory. it's a fair deal. fish lets them live here, and in turn they provide entertainment and sometimes (for the unlucky traveler) a delicious snack. fish does not discriminate for her meals: fish, crocodiles, berries, birds, roots, and even the unfortunate passerby. there is a reason why she is so large and terrifying. and it's safe to say that if aubrey had never seen the likes of amunet before, she would never have been able to dream up the monstrosity that is fish.

the wolf-sized beast seemed to appear out of nowhere next to aubrey, though in reality fish just sneaked up on them with her camouflage. "hello!" she chirps. "i am fish--welcome, welcome!" a friendly smile splits her maw as the creature dances through the mud excitedly, although she has no idea what a friendly smile looks like so it could be anything from a terrifying grimace to a constipated expression. sometime during this show of excitement, the water spirit drops her camouflage, revealing a large canine-shaped creature with a hide of iridescent black scales and a mouth full of thousands of needle-sharp teeth. for a supernatural creature who behaves like a child, fish really is impossibly large. but is anything really impossible in a swamp which produces a myriad of mutated beasts? at least this one is friendly.

[username pending]

oh, good. after amunet said it was nice to meet her, she reassured aubrey that she could be join without being eaten by an ogre. and he became a tick- no, wait, that was a joke. aubrey was cool with all of this. she was joining, she was safe, the first creature she spoke to was a kind one, and she was welcomed in. the smile on her face grew wider. "it's real nice to meet you, too. thanks for... letting me join, and the welcome." she paused a moment after amunet told her that the ogre was not an ogre, but actually a poltergeist. first, aubrey wanted to kick herself for not realizing that amunet had been joking about their leader being an ogre. second, they were led by a poltergeist. a goddamn poltergeist, like the type of angry ghost who liked to throw stuff. aubrey had no idea what she had just gotten herself into.

"a... what? you mean, like a ghost?" aubrey's voice dropped on the last word, as if she wasn't supposed to be saying it. her already-large eyes had widened once again, making her face appear as if it was taken up by them. she couldn't believe this. this was no better than an ogre. ogres were supposed to be big and scary and shit, but they couldn't go through walls! they weren't a spirit that hadn't rested! a look of realization took over aubrey's expression. "oh, wait. are you kidding again? god, i'm sorry. i like to think i have a good sense of humor. i guess not?" she managed a weak, awkward laugh, and then laughed genuinely at her own stupid brain.

she looked down and flicked a piece of algae off her leg, and when she looked back up, there was a giant mud creature. that was about all she could think of fish at first. a big creature, with a mouthful of sharp teeth that looks like a menacing grin. aubrey thought she was about to be eaten. fuck the ogre- poltergeist, whatever- this was what was going to eat her. why couldn't she have been born a moose? then she wouldn't need to be scared of all this. but she was tiny, and her instincts were screaming to do something.

all aubrey could do, though, was freeze and stare at fish. upon closer examination, she realized she was not looking at just a giant mud creature, but something that vaguely resembled a canid, only if you shoved a bunch of scales on it and added some alligator-esque touches. oh, heck, there were probably alligators, too! aubrey hadn't even thought of that. at least she knew what they were. she did not know what fish was.

"i... i..." aubrey was frozen, still. run, run, run, her mind was screaming. but she didn't, out of fear and also because she realized that fish had just introduced herself and welcomed aubrey. she couldn't figure out if fish was part of tanglewood or what. she hoped that she was, because members of the same group didn't eat each other- at least, she thought so. "uh... hi. i'm aubrey. are- what... what, uh, what are you? shoot, i'm sorry! was that rude? i don't know. i just haven't seen many, um, big creatures." she was maybe panicking just a little bit, which she didn't think was a good look. yeah, nice, aubrey. show up, get scared multiple times, join a group, and then possibly insult one of their members.

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