STARRY EYES | open, intro/joining

[jabberwocky]

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XIV. TEMPERANCE

HE/HIM

BIO & TAGS

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He had been staring at the creature for at least an hour now.

It wasn't the first time he'd seen another sentient creature, of course. He had had brushes with other loners in his life, and had seen the comings and goings of the nearby settlement, but he had never felt so strongly that he wanted to follow one home.

He had lived on his own for an awfully long time, after all, lurking in the swamp and only venturing out when needed. Perhaps it was a time for change?

Slowly, the mutated fish-dog made his way to the shore, frills flaring as he scrambled up onto solid ground with a huff. Where did it go? He spun around in confusion, having lost sight of the other creature. Did all of the land dwellers move so fast? Frowning, the creature made his way over to where he had last spotted the other animal, sniffing around for a scent trail that might lead him to the settlement. After all, while he may not want to stay permanently, it might be nice to meet his neighbours properly, instead of the borderline-creepy watching he entertained himself with every day.

However, the thought was overtaken by another - he was hungry. Perhaps these people had eggs? One time he had met a loner who could create fire with their paws to cook them, and hoped that there would be another with this ability. After all, a cooked egg was much better than a wet raw one. Suddenly enthralled with the idea of finding a friend to cook eggs, he started padding into the woods, following the weak scent of another animal.

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© LEXASPERATED

[DELILAH.]

//tracking since I'm on Mobile!

[wormwood.]

[glow=#000,1,400]BUT NOW I UNDERSTAND YOU, AND I WILL NOT BE PART OF YOUR DESIGNS — ｡+ﾟ.[/glow]

Despite Wormwood's often walks around the territory, he had never actually seen the mutated fish dog before anywhere near their territory. It was probably just because he had never really been looking for him, because the lion had definitely been able to catch the edge of a rather strong fishy scent every once in a while. He had figured that there was just some sort of fish spawn point in the swamp, and had written it off as something just not to worry about. There were other much more deadly scents that were a cause for concern, and the tangy unpleasant fish scent was not one of them.

Worm had been out around the territory searching for some flowers for his brother to make into more bouquets, when that familiar fishy smell reached his nose again. The fur on his back stood up a bit as he wrinkled his nose, and this time he decided to head towards the scent. After all, he had never smelled it so close to their actual camp before, and that made him... a bit cautious. Eventually he ended up stumbling upon Abe, and he blinked in confusion, his eyes widening a bit. Sure, he had seen some odd creatures so far, like Red and Delilah, with her bright pink fur, but he had never seen anything like a... fish dog before. He couldn't help bit openly stare for a couple of moments before quickly shaking his head to snap out of it. Now wasn't really the time to be staring straight at someone who could potentially be a threat to Tanglewood.

Clearing his throat to alert the fish-canine to his presence, Wormwood heaved himself up onto a nearby log to keep his paws out of any water spillover from the swamp, before he spoke, [glow=#793B29,1,400]"Uhm... hey! Hey, you there. Could you let me know what you're name is and what you're here for? Cause you're on Tanglewood's territory, and I've never seen you around before."[/glow] He really also wanted to ask what the hell are you, but he figured that would be rude, especially considering Red's reaction when some others had asked him something similar.

[RED]

[align=center][div style="text-align:justify;width:55%;font-family:verdana;"]There had been movement in Tanglewood's waters for quite some time. Between the alligators and the mutant catfish, he hadn't paid much attention to it. But the occasional flash of fins cutting through water, a wide eye peering up from the depths when he thought he was alone, they were all filed into the back of his head under the title of Something Unusual. He wasn't unaccustomed to the strange and macabre, no - he fell deep into that category, his body barely belonging to any one discernible species and his powers far stranger. But given his abilities, he had something of a duty to uphold, to use these strengths to protect those who had none. There were creatures out there that were not so kind as himself; the world was a frightening place, and he had come equipped to kill anything that threatened it.

Whether that may or may not include a mutant sea monster today remained beyond him.

Red hears some commotion, and sees that flash of bright, amphibious skin again. He senses something, a feeling he can't quite put a finger on, but it feels as though they might have a thing or two in common. It's like a magnetic field, almost. He walks within range of the creature and he feels as though he is stepping into a personal bubble. Perhaps the dog-fish was sending out some kind of warning. Or, perhaps, it was just Red picking up on something he'd grown accustomed enough to ignore up until this point. He reflexively tenses.

When he sees the dog - the fish - and gets a good look at its face, he's briefly taken aback. Most would agree that bright colors meant poison among feral species, and yet Wormwood had no problem waltzing up to the creature and asking their name and business. And yet the fish is calm, almost curious and thoughtful. There's more behind its large eyes than hunger or death, leading him to the careful conclusion that the creature was not feral nor monstrous at all. Red blinks.

"Hey there," Red tries not to look threatening, but being larger than most creatures had a tendency to intimidate. With his left hand, his real one, he gives a little wave. It's an olive branch. "Where'd you come from?"

[jabberwocky]

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XIV. TEMPERANCE

HE/HIM

BIO & TAGS

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It seemed he would not have to go far to find another living thing after all.

He had been pondering his egg predicament when he heard a noise, pulling his focus out of his thoughts and onto the animal in front of him. It seemed normal enough - well, he wasn't sure how normal a lion in a swamp was, but that didn't matter too much. The other was staring for perhaps a bit too long to be polite, but Abe wasn't one to heckle others on their confusion. He was, after all, a strange looking person, and he couldn't expect everyone to warm up to his gills and slippery form as fast as the catfish in the swamp did.

"Oh, hello there," He murmured, his tone surprisingly soft for his size. "Tanglewood, you say? What an odd name for a place. I'm here because, well, I'm a bit curious on what you all do in the time you aren't lingering on the edge of this swamp. I was hoping you all might have eggs, as well, but that was a bit lower on the list." Had he covered all the questions? Well, there was the matter of name. He didn't often introduce himself, and sometimes his identity was a bit...vague, to say the least. "And, ah, my name is Abraham, but I'd much prefer to just be Abe."

It seemed just as quickly as he had finished with one, another appeared, and this one was much stranger. A tail, hooves, horns - or at least, what used to be horns - all on a gorilla. Abe cocked his head to the side, his expression inquisitive as he openly stared at the other mutated animal. He seemed friendly enough with his little wave, but Abe could sense something more, something he would consider supernatural.

Oh, there had been a question in there, hadn't there been? He paused, as if in thought, before lifting a webbed paw to gesture vaguely behind him. "Well, I came from there." He was sure he had come from somewhere before that, but he had been asleep for an awfully long time before the swamp, and couldn't quite put all the memories in place. "Where did you come from, if not a swamp?"

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[toboggan]

Long ago, in the days of Morgan’s reign, a cleanup event had been hosted along the beach - it was then that the surrounding ocean revealed its bona fide repugnance to Leroy. Hence, the guardsman made an effort to maintain a fair gap was between his position and the shore’s when on his aimless strolls through the territory. Just the sheer inkling of being in the close proximity of all that pollution and active radiation pulsing through the waterfront’s placid waves put nauseating notions in his head. How the caustic environment affected the sea life peaked the hound’s interest from time to time, but given that there was more than enough two-headed snakes and six-legged rabbits ambling about on land, he cared not to pay the heavily mutated fishies a visit. Perhaps it'd be best to preserve the natural order of nature (even if there was scarcely any natural nature left), and keep the landlubbers on land, and keep whatever lay beneath the waves beneath the waves.

The gradually-assembling accumulation of tribemates along the shoreside had caught his eye. All of those present were rather fresh in Tanglewood’s ranks, and likely possessed very minimal knowledge on the topic of radioactivity. He scoffs, looking to continue his trek without moving an inch closer to the sea. That is, until he’d realize that one of the figures didn’t come as recognizable. From a glance, they appeared as a nasty amalgam of fish and mammal. Neat.

Hesitantly, the canine started in the group’s direction. As long as not a single drop of that grimy aqua fell upon his thin pelt, he'd be fine.

The mongrel’s arrival was late, but he came soon enough to catch the tail-end of Abraham's dialogue. "Honestly, I barely remember," he'd falsely answer the fishdog's query. The happening was as vivid in his mind as it was on the day it occurred, how he had been driven from his home and shit. That was all behind him, and he preferred to not be reminded about it. "Don't think any of us are actually from the swamp, per se," Leroy continues, his amber gaze hopping along Red and Wormwood's faces, "if we were, we'd probably be lookin' a li'l like you, if you don't mind me sayin' so."

Abe was quite the abnormality. Gills like a fish's, but a canidae figure. Leroy put up a fight when it came to helplessly gawking at the creature - it really looked like one of those Swamp Things he had heard about.

[wormwood.]

[glow=#000,1,400]BUT NOW I UNDERSTAND YOU, AND I WILL NOT BE PART OF YOUR DESIGNS — ｡+ﾟ.[/glow]

Eggs...? Why the hell would they have eggs, and why did this guy want some? He supposed that some creatures did eat eggs, but... he hadn't met many of them before. Then again, he had never met a creature like Abe before. Sure, Goldenluxury had a set of gills and some more aquatic feelings than say, he did, but it definitely wasn't to the same level as this. After a moment of thinking about this, Worm quickly shook his head at himself, trying to clear those thoughts from his head. After all, this guy didn't seem like he was a threat to any of them, and it was really rude to go on thinking about just how *weird* Abe was, considering that this guy could very well be a new group member in just a few minutes. Although Worm wasn't entirely sure if Abe was actually interest in joining, or if he was just curious about what the hell Tanglewood was doing here.

The lion hesitated before finally speaking once that his brain was cleared of thoughts about strange swamp creatures that went around stealing and eating eggs, [glow=#793B29,1,400]"Erm... I don't really know if we have any eggs. I don't, certainly... and I didn't come from here either. I live here in the swamp now, with Tanglewood, but this isn't were I'm from. I don't really think any of us are... or, at least not most of us, like Leroy said."[/glow] He wasn't sure that he ever wanted to imagine himself with a bunch of weird mutated aquatic parts on him. Sure, he didn't have anything against those like Abe or Red, but himself...? He was pretty happy just being a normal lion, aside from his larger than average size.

Wormwood then glanced at Leroy and mumbled softly, figuring that the other was probably the most senior member here, as far as he knew, [glow=#793B29,1,400]"Do we have some sorta like... protocol for this? If he's just from here, can he stay, or would he be like any other stranger showing up, where he's gotta join or leave?"[/glow] If Abe insisted he came from the swamp... had he been here longer than them? Well, more than likely not here longer than Beck, but still, it seemed a bit fucked up to run him out if he had just... emerged from the swamp, or whatever.

[RED]

[align=center][div style="text-align:justify;width:55%;font-family:verdana;"]Abe. Weird name for a fishdog, but he'd go with it. Red wasn't sure what to make of the situation - how long had he been watching them all? Was there a reason why he'd hidden himself for such great lengths of time? Were there more of them in the depths? He figured it wouldn't be right to hammer him with questions so quickly; they only needed to worry about one thing at a time, but he still tucked his concerns away for later.

"Uh," He was nice, nice in a way that made Red feel stupid for second-guessing himself. His language is stilted, and Red thinks that with such formality, maybe Abe has been around this place longer than any of them could imagine. He looks at the others and watches their measured responses. Abe had essentially pointed out that none of them really owned the territory from the get-go, only inhabited it - okay, that was fair. "I played mascot for a human government. It's a long story."

Oh, he needed something to eat. Red thinks briefly that the request is somewhat absurd - a fish, a dog, some kind of amphibious creature on an everlasting hunt for a good egg - but then realizes that it's perhaps the most normal thing to come of their conversation. He gestures off vaguely in the direction of camp, where the lesser-known landmarks of the territory lie beyond. "...There's a farm in the northern part of the territory. Lots of chickens running around, plenty of eggs. There aren't a lot of waterways up there, so I guess you haven't seen it before." Red pauses, tilting his head slightly. The thought to introduce himself or discuss the joining rules with Leroy doesn't really cross him; he's got other things on his mind. "I could show you the way, but - well, can you breathe out of water? It's a long hike."