took the razor in my hand / joining

[emil]

[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: arial;"]it had been some months since his mother had passed, leaving him alone with nothing to smile for. he'd always been her little boy, the one thing that kept her going, and now she was gone; he mourned her, but he cried no longer. he knew better. she wouldn't have wanted him to dwell. it was time he found a new home, found someone or something else to smile for.

his mother had told him of these groups, living among each other, whether it be in peace or war. the aspect of war was somewhat frightening to him; he'd never found something he hated enough to want to fight or kill. perhaps it was the slightly isolated world he grew up in, perhaps it was just his nature to detest fighting. still, the idea of large groups of animals of all kinds living together intrigued him. after traveling for some time, teaching himself how to survive, he thought it was time to finally join a society. which one, he couldn't be sure.

it was late evening when the sleek, ebony being slipped out from the undergrowth, settling warm brown eyes upon a large, dome-like structure in the distance. he breathed in the scents mingling with the crisp autumn air, jaws parted ever so slightly, before he padded further into the plains of grass. he stopped himself from going too far; the boy wasn't keen on disturbing whoever lived here, but if he wanted to find a home, he supposed it was all he could do. he just hoped they were friendly.

"hello?" he called. almond eyes scanned the area for any signs of life. "my name's loverboy. does anyone live here?" maybe that was a dumb question. he could smell other creatures, and he was almost sure that this area was occupied, but he thought it was best to at least confirm such. the panther slowly seated himself in the grass and curled his tail neatly around his paws.

[MOONMADE]

[size=9pt]It's gotten to the point where Moon doesn't leave the border. When he's not hosting Meetings, finding corpses, or staring at the ceiling of his room, begging whatever allmighty fuck sits in the clouds and calls the shots to give him a wink of fucking sleep, just a wink-- he's at the border. It means he can patrol until his paws trip themselves up against the dirt and his lids fall slack and he can go back to the Observatory and pass out.

The problem with this technique was that patrolling usually resulted in finding joiners. Which was all well and good - Moon preferred to be the one to give them the go ahead, these days, anyway - but the plan began its slow descent to crashing and burning when Moon has reached the point, hour 4 of trudging through the fields, where he's borderline collapsing in on himself with the need for sleep, a well-run shell of a creature. He's not the most welcoming to be around, these times.

"Lover boy?" Says the lion. One side of his lip lifts in a questionable facial expression, glassy eyes glancing the panther up and down. He scoffs a laugh. "Tell me you're fucking joking."

[emil]

[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: arial;"]exhaustion was no stranger to love these days. as a child, perhaps, he was more well-rested. most nights in the previous months ended with him up all night, paranoid and alert, unable to close his eyes without imagining some larger beast coming to devour him at his weakest moment. it never deterred him though, not once. keeping on helped him stay awake, but he wouldn't pass down a chance to nap.

in the fields, his eyes set on a figure moving toward him, and the panther sat up immediately. a smile rose to his lips as the lion came into sight; though the other's words caused him to falter a bit. was there something wrong with his name? "i'm not joking," loverboy tipped his head, giving him a quizzical look. "why, do you think it's funny?"

he paused, lip twisting down briefly before he gives another slight smile to the cute lion. "if you think it's that bad, you can call me lou. i just use loverboy 'cause that's what my mom called me." love explained with a shrug. he shuffled slightly where he sat before finally standing, swaying from side to side as he then hummed out,"what's your name? oh, and, the name of this place." he huffed out a sheepish laugh; it'd probably be a good thing to learn the name of where he hoped to stay. "i don't actually know where i am. just looking for a place to stay." the panther gave a twitch of his tail and offered moon a hopeful grin.

[GABRIEL]

[align=center][div style="width: 500px; text-align: justify; font-size: 9.4pt; line-height: 1.4;"]Any other day, Gabe would be right there with Moon over the kid's name. Loverboy? Was this the 50s? No, he did not want to call someone with an age gap between them as large as the space between Moon's brain and his mouth Loverboy. But he couldn't find it in him to throw a snide remark up alongside Moon's, maybe make a jab about cluelessness. Probably a bad idea to have bothered approaching in the first place when he knew he was going to be shitty company, with a headache that just about crippled him and a raw tear between his ribs that no bandages could reach. To think he'd believed he'd struck rock bottom, that his body falling apart was the worst thing that could happen. A reminder, maybe, of why he'd always been careful not to get too close with the people under his command, because when he did, and when he inevitably lost them to death or discharge or disappearance, he laid himself in the rut and couldn't bring himself to crawl out of it.

"Hell." There was no teasing lilt to the hybrid's voice, or sparkle in his eyes. "Best to just turn around and go back to where you came from. Safer that way." Well, he gave his warning. He could lead a horse to water but he couldn't make it drink, so Gabriel turned and trudged in the opposite direction, wings dragging in the dirt.
[align=right][i]——INFO

[agathe.]

[align=center][div style="width: 500px; text-align: justify; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 11px; color: black;"]Even Agathe, who was renowned because of her quiet judgement, could not find it in herself to make a comment about his name- not negatively, anyways. No one knew how much of a hopeless romantic she was, the mere fantasy of love itself one that often danced through her dreams and left her both bitter and wistful. While she would never vocally announce this, she believed that this stranger had a nice name. A good name, even. But reading the mood of Moon and Gabe left her approaching with only a stoic expression, that burning golden gaze of her sweeping once over Loverboy. He was another big cat just like she and Moon and Titan and that was nice to see- it reminded her of home. She chose not to comment on that either.

Instead, Agathe would snort as Gabe referred to this place as 'Hell', teeth flashing in some type of broken smile before she resumed her careful composure and returned her attention to the joiner. "Hell... The Ascendants... I suppose they're being interchanged nowadays?" She mused aloud, more to herself than anyone else, "I'm Agathe." Unlike the first part of her words, the introduction was directed at Loverboy. Her cloaked shoulders would rise and fall in a casual shrug before she reared upon her haunches, "What's your business here?" She had to remind herself to remain level and calm, that innate urge to strike him to see what color his blood was an incessant whisper in the back of her head. Traditions died hard, and Agathe was constantly struggling to remember that things were different now. That her clanmates all bled red now. She figured that she'd adjust soon.

Hopefully.

[Grimm]

[align=center][div style="width:450px; font-size:8.6pt;line-height:1.2; color:#000;font-family:calibri;margin-top:3px;margin-bottom:3px;letter-spacing:.5px;margin-left:0px;text-align:justify;"]There had been a time the child was the first present, caught up within the want to learn more of each that presented themself upon lines drawn across the land. Simpler had been such times, the gentle heat within the air bringing with it possibility and carrying gentle the tones of life, drawn together until he found himself lingering on the edge of excitement. It had taken only a short frame of time, what seemed days to ruin progress of months until only faint traces of those days lingered about the edges, so like broken glass.

But then had not he changed as well. Almost easy had it been to bare the heat, pain curled within the hollow of throat and about stomach left empty, lighter for a great much had been presented to him. Upon one another things had built, some given the light weight of more pleasant avenues while some bore only destruction, want to destroy a peace that had seemed fragile. And yet none of it had mattered to a child caught up within happy go lucky want and joy, allowing each day its chance before it may be written off as success or failure. So easily had it crumbled, blocks built upon a shaky surface unable to bare weight growing heavier, permitting no warning before it was crashing down about their heads.

He should not be present, well known was such a fact, and yet here the child was, trailing behind one of the few he trusted. Clear was the wear of it all, put upon shoulders that had suffered and felt the strain, grown weary even before all of this, shouldered for the fact there seemed no other willing or able. Mouth parted, though never was there to be audible words anymore it seemed almost a habit, teeth clicking as his voice rose. Almost did it seem as it had once been, teasing words expressing disbelief as Moon addressed the one who stood before him. Creeping closer the presence of the others was almost lost upon Harland, small body ducking until he was wiggling beneath Moon.

Wrong. About him the scene played out, given dull edge as each spoke in turn, elaborating upon former remarks. Gentle sound pushed through pursed lips, all he would offer, looking instead to the unfamiliar panther.

[ONISION.]

Tracking with Onision, since he can't come to the borders!

[MOONMADE]

[size=9pt]"I think it's hilarious." Quips Moon immediately, almost harsh in his tone. He doesn't know why he's acting like an asshole. These days, it comes as easy as breathing. But this kid seems nice, and it's not as if he's to blame for any of the shit weighing on Moon at that moment in time, so by the time the panther speaks again, the lion finds it in himself to knock it off and act like the welcoming committee he's supposed to be.

'What's your name?' "Moon." He says after a brief pause, only realizing once he's spoken that this is the first time he's actually introduced himself at the border in weeks. Usually the creatures who turn up here are all tragic backstories and 'where's my mom's, and it's either all too hectic or he either doesn't get around to introducing himself. He's sure not to add the 'I run this place' because, right now, he's not exactly acting like it.

Gabe's voice pops up to his side and fades just as quick, a subtle reminder of all things bad, and it doesn't take Moon long to agree with the hybrid. "He's not far off." He warns, for some reason not so eager to let someone with a smile as pure as that fall victim to whatever the fuck has been going on in their territory, lately. "Got a ghost problem," They had more than that, but Moon wasn't about to list the murders. "Like fuckin' rats. Place is always cold and there's just fuckin'-- ectoplasm on everything. Wouldn't sit easy on my conscious if you ended up getting a Casper up your ass."

[guts]

Were the warnings and killings gonna stop her from finding herself at the border? Not likely--especially when there was such a buzz. She padded over, peeking through the legs of the older members to get a look at the newcomer. Loverboy? It was an odd name, sure, but she liked it! It was unique, gave him some pizzazz. Frowning at the others' remarks, she simply shook her head and offered the male a big, bright smile. Someone had to actually be welcoming, so she took it upon herself.

"I think your name is nice! I'm Isabelle. Welcome to the Ascendants!" the kitten would chirp, ignoring what everyone else was saying. Everyone had been grumpy lately, and she definitely didn't like it. They were all snappy and it wasn't very nice. Her mothers had always taught her to be nice, so she would be!

"speech"

[ELEANOR.]

loverboy? it was such a strange name, who would name their child loverboy? although it seemed he didn't personally seem to have an issue with it, plus his nickname was simply adorable. eleanor wouldn't have responded in quite the way moon had, actually, she would have responded entirely different but that wasn't surprising, the both of them were almost entirely different in their mannerisms. nelly's bright eyes glanced across those who had gathered around the joiner, a warm smile slipping across her lips. scaring a joiner off probably wasn't the best thing to do, hopefully she could balance out their pessimistic nature.

things had been dreary around here, deaths, curfews, the whole place has a somewhat downtrodden attitude about it, but perhaps their attitudes were part of the issue. they needed to think positively, to welcome newcomers, ah, then again, she was only recently here herself. she barely knew the rest of those gathered, although she was doing her best to try and learn about everyone. "i'm eleanor, or nelly for short," the fluffy, she turned her eyes to moon, a gentle tip of her head contrasting his statement. "ghosts aren't so bad," she'd spent a while studying the supernatural, the souls trapped on this earth. "a caspar won't shoot up your... ah.... ass, maybe." a pout pursed the girls lips, her brows furrowing at her own statement.