we were a beautiful letdown -- open; new body

[trojan g.]

[align=center][div style="bgcolor= black; width: 500px; font-family: georgia;font-size:12px;text-align:justify"]There had been many times where moth had wished to be something else, something bigger. She was small and knew it, especially with all of the other larger creatures in the group. First it had just been Leroy, a dog that was bigger than her, then Mikolaj. They were bigger than her, but not as big as they could be, but then suddenly in came some lions and a hyena, a wild dog, and now a dragon. It made Moth scared. She was not able to handle being one of the smaller ones in the group, unable to protect herself or even protect those few that she was able to trust. When she had been in the raid, she had just stood there, watching as all of the bigger animals fought. She didn't know if it was because those that were actually interested in fighting at the time had already been occupied or because she was just so small to not be noticed, but she couldn't help but think about how lucky she had been to not have been attacked in the Pitt. She wouldn't have done anything had she been, and it would have been horrible.

An island fox was all Moth knew about how to be, but she often times found herself wishing to be something else, something that stood for how she wanted to feel eventually. She wanted to be strong, she wanted to be able to get places quickly, she wanted to be less of a cry baby who was scared of everything.

She couldn't help but think of all of this as she flipped through a picture book she had found in the library. Due to her wanting to learn how to read, she had discovered that there were books meant for children that would show pictures of things and have the word of what they were underneath it. She was using this as a way to understand how to spell different animals at this point of time when her mind had wondered over what she wished could happen. When she reached a large animal, one she'd never seen before but had heard stories about, her mind wandered once more, and that was when she felt an ache in her body, and when things seemed to shrink around her, when in reality it was just her that was getting bigger.

Eventually, the female's ache began to ebb away, and she would look around her room, ears pinning to her head as she realized that she was taller, and, looking down, where the female once saw dark brown paws, she now saw a light gold and white, the pressure from the sudden change causing claws to squeeze out slightly, and she felt a ruffle around her neck. In confusion the female would pad out of her house and head towards the nearest body of water to see if she could see a reflection, and what stared back at her was a murky jaguar, the creature she had just been looking at in her picture book, only she guess her mind had wandered too far, for there were a ring of feathers around her neck, and she could see the sides of wings that were behind her. Turning her head quickly, Moth's eyes would widen when she confirmed that there were, in fact, golden wings behind her, and a gasp would leave the female's maw as she plopped down to a sitting position, defeated. "Wh-what happened?" She would ask aloud, mind clouded with confusion.

[[ again, thank you Andy for letting me have the design that I'm using for Moth now ( here ) ~ ]]

[wormwood.]

[glow=#000,1,400]MY MAMA SAID THAT I'M NOT LIVING RIGHT. YOU RAISED A LION, MAMA, I AIN'T LYING, MAMA — ｡+ﾟ.[/glow]

Wormwood was pretty pleased with his current form as of late. He had always enjoyed being a lion, and had known nothing else but being a lion, but he certainly had changed since he had first arrived. The wings that had eventually ended up growing from his back had definitely changed his stature quite a bit, and that had honestly been as much change as he really needed, or wanted. In fact, he hadn't really been happy about the change that his wings represented when they had first grown, but now they had proven to be valuable assets to him, allowing him to fly in the air and swoop down upon others in battle, and also upon prey that was out in the wild. Needless to say, however, in relation to what Moth had been desiring, Worm had no big plans to change his entire form anytime soon, nor did he really have the ability to do so, as far as he knew. Although, he was pretty sure that Moth hadn't known that she had the ability to do so either, from the confused look that he saw on her face when she emerged from the library. Of course, at first he didn't even realize who she was. He had just figured that she was a new member of the group, one that he had somehow managed to miss, despite often being around for almost every joining thus far.

However, when she plopped down and spoke, his ears perked up in surprise, the tone and slight lilt of her voice striking him as familiar. He looked towards the newly golden large feline for a long moment, the gears in his head seeming to be slowly spinning, before realization hit him. Letting out a soft gasp, he quickly moved over to her and said in a slightly stunned tone, his blue eyes quite wide and surprised, [glow=#165042,1,400]"Moth? Is that you? It sounds like you... but you look so different, and so much bigger! I guess you have that power that let's you shapeshift, huh?"[/glow] He probably would've been quite glad to get that power just in case – despite the fact he didn't really want a different form – but it seemed as though Moth wasn't as enthused as he probably would've been if he had discovered that he could turn into anything he wanted. He then rumbled as he flicked an ear, his eyes going down to the delicate ruffle of feathers that was surrounding Moth's neck, [glow=#165042,1,400]"Not only that, but it looks like you're some kind of mutated big thing... jaguar, if I'm remembering correctly. I guess that means we get to be mutated large cat buddies, huh? Maybe I could help you figure out flying. It can be a but painful though..."[/glow] He didn't usually sound so excited or surprised by new developments that happened in Tanglewood right now, but this being something not overwhelmingly negative actually made him more excited about it.

[trojan g.]

[align=center][div style="bgcolor= black; width: 500px; font-family: georgia;font-size:12px;text-align:justify"]At the sound of her name, rounded ears would prick as her head turned over to look at Worm, eyes widening slightly in relief. He recognized her, that was good. She had been afraid that she wouldn't be recognized in this new form that she didn't have any control over. "Y-yeah. It is." She would quickly answer, nodding her head at the mention of the power. She guessed she did. At the mention of the mutated jaguar, she would look once more into the murky water, waiting for a moment before nodding her head again and looking over to Wormwood. "Yeah, I think I am? I don't know why I have all the feathers and the wings, though I'm not complaining, they're soft." She would push her head into the feathers at her chest as soon as she said so, "And that'd be nice, but maybe later? I don't think I can handle so much in one day." Flying was something she never thought she'd be able to do, but she guessed it could be nice.

[wormwood.]

[glow=#000,1,400]MY MAMA SAID THAT I'M NOT LIVING RIGHT. YOU RAISED A LION, MAMA, I AIN'T LYING, MAMA — ｡+ﾟ.[/glow]

Worm blinked and chuckled a bit, saying softly as he nodded and looked over Moth's new form curiously, circling around her for a long moment to take in the whole of her new appearance, [glow=#165042,1,400]"It's alright, don't worry. You just get some rest and take in the big change... you're not too sore, right? I haven't changed forms at all, but I grew the wings, and that hurt like hell... was this painless?"[/glow] The lion questioned, his head tilted to one side as he rose a paw up to gently brush against the ring of feathers around Moth's neck. Their colors were now very similar, and it actually made him feel even close to Moth than he had felt before – which had already been pretty close, since they had bonded over Poet leaving them behind.

[toboggan]

The male pokes his dull noggin around a corner, his blurred gaze now centering on the duo before him. Wormwood, the gloriously-winged feline perched there in all his golden grandeur, and a stranger... who wore that gloriously-winged feline guise as well. Personally, Leroy had never seen the femme before; the lion must have, however, judging by the amenable nature in which he spoke to the unfamiliar jaguar in.

First, the tiger.

Then, a dragon.

Now, a jaguar.

The facts before him proved his theory correct. With evidence as clear as crystal, the proxy concluded that Wormwood was indeed a titanic skank.

"You'll wanna be careful with this one," he quips on his approach, his playful words exclusively targeting the alleged outsider, "he's a li'l scandalous". He parks his bony rump on a patch of grass, respectfully dipping his head in a bow towards the jaguar as he settles. Once comfortable, the proxy's amber peepers align themselves on her majestic figure. She wasn't that bad looking, in all honesty. Those graceful wings. That fiery pelt. They were all too alluring to be resisted. Hopefully, Wormwood had already recited the initiation tidbit for joiners - the cur wished to waste no time with customary shit. He preferred the good stuff.

"I ain't much of a photographer, but I say you're picture perfect. What brings someone like you t' a grimy ol' swamp?" 

[fulzanin]

[align=center][div style="width: 55%; text-align: justify; font-family: verdana; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 1.4;"]"I think you've, you've gotten a whole lot fluffier since the last time I saw you. And you have wings now! Those are new, right?" The snow leopard chattered as she came bounding on over. Her usual hyperactive energy carried her forth in leaps and bounds. Blue eyes quickly glanced to asses who had already come over to see Moth's new appearance. It was a change, and Feza was more than surprised by the sheer plumage that now coated the feline. "I need to, I need to host a flying class sometime soon. So many new winged people!" A grin spread across her face, and her tail swept behind her in a rapid fashion. Yes, she could host a class, one that would be useful for once. The thought made her gaze glance towards Wormwood, and she forced her focus hastily back onto Moth.

"We can be the mutated flying feline trio!" Feza offered, having taken the time to reflect upon the words that she had barely heard as she had approached. Not that she thought Wormwood of all people would accept her into a group of friends. Not that she'd be accepted into any group, she was too hyper for that sort of thing. Her face scrunched up at the sudden surge of negativity, and she forced it aside as she took a bound to the side. "How does it feel to have that many feathers? You've gotta be, be, be super warm, yea?"

[trojan g.]

[align=center][div style="bgcolor= black; width: 500px; font-family: georgia;font-size:12px;text-align:justify"]As the words came from Worm's mouth, Moth would listen, the words reaching her brain for a moment before words of her own decided to come out of her mouth, only erupting once his own were finished, his questions soon to be answered. "It felt uncomfortable at first, but more of an aching, if anything I guess?" She would answer, thinking once more before nodding her head slightly. Yeah it had been an ache, an uncomfortable one, but it hadn't been anything that had harmed her, and she was glad for that. "But I'm not sore anymore." She would offer a smile to the male before she heard someone else coming forward, and her head would turn towards Leroy, smile still on her maw as she expected the male to greet her as Worm had, though it faded as soon as he spoke, replaced with a look of confusion.

Why was he talking about Worm this way? She didn't know, and although she did care, she couldn't help but have that thought leave her mind as he still spoke, offering his words to her. "L-leroy?" she would stammer, ears flicking back to lay flat on her skull, weirded out by the words he said - something she had never heard the male speak before, due to her relatively short time being in the group. "It's Moth." She would say at last, blinking once before head turned once more to face Feza.

Head would squish itself into her new feathers, listening and watching as the hyperactive feline spoke, and she would nod her head. "Yeah, it's all new." She would offer, listening once more as she spoke, thinking for a moment at the question. Was she warm? Yes, but she couldn't say on whether or not that was the weather or just because she had fur, but she felt about the same as she had before, when she was a smaller fox. "I'm not sure if I'm warm or not.[b]" She would offer, "[b]I just... feel the same, but taller."

[wormwood.]

[glow=#000,1,400]MY MAMA SAID THAT I'M NOT LIVING RIGHT. YOU RAISED A LION, MAMA, I AIN'T LYING, MAMA — ｡+ﾟ.[/glow]

Wormwood had been broken from his thoughts of worrying about Moth's aching when Leroy approached, and the canine evidently did not understand what had happened here. The lion felt a great deal of confusion at first when Leroy referred to him as 'scandalous', and he opened his muzzle to begin questioning the comments, but the Proxy had already moved along to flirting rather cringily with Moth. Worm couldn't help but snort as soon as he heard the line leave Leroy's lips, and he shook his head a bit at the other male, the scandalous comment already forgotten. He contemplated explaining the situation himself, but he also figured that Moth could handle it, and soon enough the newly winged feline was speaking up herself, smiling a little bit at him. He felt a sense of gratefulness when she said that she was no longer feeling sore, glad that her transition had been less painful than his own, and after just a moment she was addressing Leroy. As soon as she explained the situation, the lion began to chuckle just low enough that it wouldn't combat Vathmos's own usual whooping laughs.

He addressed Leroy with a shake of his head, a little crooked smile on his muzzle at the Proxy's mistake, [glow=black,1,400]"I guess your pick up line jsut wasn't good enough to draw Moth in, Leroy. But is that really your first instinct when you see a new tangler – to flirt with them?"[/glow] He was still blissfully unaware of the way that Leroy thought of him and his history with relationships – which wasn't actually as scandalous as Leroy had been led to believe from his encounters – so he didn't feel any sense of irony teasing the other about the way he had reacted to Moth's new form, and what he had believed to be a new presence in the group. He was also vaguely aware of how Feza had arrived and expressed her feelings over Moth's new shape, but Worm didn't want to address her and make her feel upset or as if he was being hostile again. He knew in the back of his mind that Feza had seemed frightened of him recently, and he didn't want to exacerbate that any by making some stupid comment he couldn't take back. Besides, Moth had already said her piece about Feza's questions, so he didn't really need to speak up.

[COSMIIX]

[glow=#000,1,400]THOSE MAGIC CHANGES, MY HEART ARRANGES ! — ｡+ﾟ.[/glow]

Lewis was last to approach with both of his ears perked forward, his eyes locked onto Moth not having met anyone else aside from Wormwood or Selby. His nose twitched a bit sitting down a ways from everyone else and closing his eyes briefly letting the fumes escape his jaws rather freely. She was very pretty he wasn't going to lie but the amount of feathers that she had all over her body made him let out a snort. She didn't wouldn't be getting very cold once winter drew in, he would open his jaws slowly to begin introducing himself with a soft chuckle "I don't think I've had the pleasure of meeting ya. M'names Lewis Grimes, I'm rather new 'ere in Tanglewood." He had grown into such a better mood since he had seen his lover, if that's what he could call them, he was uncertain if they remained being an item after all those years but he hoped so. He couldn't help but be amused at the fact that the canine known as Leroy had decided to flirt with a clanmate or so a presumed newcomer, he didn't know how well he'd take to that if the old wolfhound had been at his own joining. [glow=COLOR,1,400]♛[/glow]