THIS ISN'T GOODBYE, IT'S SEE YOU LATER ☆ vigenere

[wormwood.]

Most around the major groups didn't end up straying very far from their homeland unless they needed to. This was mainly because it was a pain in the ass to go all the way to somewhere else and then make the long trek back just for a simple scenic walk or something like that. However, Aurum wasn't like most. Not only did he thrive on having activities to do – in order to keep his mind occupied – he also had wings. Wings that made it quite easy to get around from place to place, and allowed him to take the occasional scenic flight without much fuss. To most people, Tanglewood wouldn't really be part of any scenic anything. By all accounts, the swampland was a dreary place, with closely cluttered trees that blocked out the sun, and an oppressive and humid environment in the summer that was rapidly approaching. Despite these – very true – facts, Tanglewood had still been Aurum's home for quite a long time, and he couldn't help but still feel attached to it. So, even with the rather lacklustre scenery it provided, he found himself flying over Tanglewood territory anyways, one blue eye focused idly on the ground to see if there was anything of interest around.

Eventually, Aurum did find something of interest. Or rather, someone of interest. Vigenere, one of the both newer and older members of the group. Older in that he had been within Tanglewood for a long time in the past, but newer in that he had only recently returned. The angel couldn't help but feel curious about the other and his life, especially after the whole incident with Caesar attempting to join the group. As much as Aurum wanted to say he could control himself for long enough not to succumb to his curiosity and swoop down... he really couldn't. Besides, it wasn't as if Tanglewood and the Knights of Concord were enemies, and it also wasn't as if he had been exiled, so he wasn't banned from Tanglewood's territory. Taking a deep breath, the lion came to a landing just a bit outside of the border that Vigenere seemed to be patrolling, clearing his throat loudly before he approached, "Vigenere? What are you doing out here? You're supposed to be resting, remember?" He knew that Vig was hardly as injured as some had been during the tremors, but he could still distinctly remember an injured paw that had gone untreated for a while. Vigenere definitely wasn't supposed to be out walking on it over the gnarled roots of the trees.

[VIGENERE CIPHER.]

[glow=white,1,400]YOU FUCKING DISAPPOINT ME ! — ｡+ﾟ.[/glow]

The only time Vigenere went towards the Loner Lands was when he absolutely needed to get something; for example, his son's birthday. When Alan became a year old, Vigenere had gone out and sought after some merchants in the Loner Lands in order to get him a book. Unfortunately, this made Vigenere a tad late to his own son's birthday, but he was sure that Alan understood. That being said, of course, after injuring his paw during the tremors, Vigenere couldn't travel very far. Hell, he shouldn't be walking at all but here he was.

"Aurum?" Vigenere blinked at the winged lion, clearly surprised to see the former Proxy. He frowned for a moment, as if considering something, but obviously decided against it as he approached his former clanmate. At the mention of his injury, the savannah huffed. "You know I don't like to sit still." As if that were an excuse; Vigenere knew that he shouldn't be on his paws at all, but his body was practically itching at the mere idea of laying around in camp and waiting for the damn thing to heal. "What are you doing here?" Ah, passing the attention to something else, as always.[glow=COLOR,1,400] ━ ✧*:･ﾟ[/glow]

[wormwood.]

The lion found himself smiling slightly as he heard the dumbfounded tone in Vignere's voice, the other obviously having figured he wasn't coming back anytime soon. Still, Aurum had his reasons, so he just shrugged it off, focusing back on the injuries at hand. One blue eye focused on the other's paw as he mumbled, frowning slightly, "Hmm... yes, I do know. Honestly, you remind me of myself. I used to constantly go out on injuries because I felt useless when I wasn't doing anything." He then looked up, his eye faintly glimmering with mirth, "Then I realized being stubborn only made things worse for me, in the long run." He wanted to continue his little lecture, but it soon became clear that Vig wasn't interested in talking about himself, so the former proxy let it drop – for now. As he was questioned, the angel let out a soft chuckle, hugging his wings close to himself, "Well... I suppose I was just out for a fly, really. It's not as if I was banned for Tanglewood, so I thought maybe I would check in. That's when I spotted you from up there." He pointed a golden paw upwards, toward the clouds. He could still quite clearly remember the feeling of the wind in his fur as he had dropped down for a landing.

[VIGENERE CIPHER.]

[glow=white,1,400]EVERY FEELING IN MY BONES TELLS ME TO LASH OUT AND TELL YOU TO FUCK OFF ! — ｡+ﾟ.[/glow]

Vigenere almost wanted to huff at Aurum for his comment about the "old days"; as if he were a kit. The savannah wasn't the type to judge by any means, but he almost wanted to ask Aurum if he had ever been in a war. Literally fighting for your life and being damn near close to it, too; not to mention, it was your job to put your life on the line. Luckily though, Aurum seemed to shrug Vigenere's injury off - so he stopped himself from making the comment.

Vigenere chuckled at the comment of being spotted clear from the sky. "Guess it's hard to hide with bright neon fur, huh?" He mused. Yeah, that certainly never, ever helped him in any circumstances, but hey, at least it made him stick out from others. Aurum had his wings, Octane had his stupid ass mohawk... Then again, perhaps it wouldn't be a bad idea to get a 'normal' body and relax sometime. Eh, that was something to ponder for another day. "... Why'd you leave?" Was it accusatory? Perhaps; Vigenere was hurt by Aurum's depart, though it was mostly due to his sense of loyalty more than anything else. "I mean, you had a very important rank there, Aurum. Why throw that away?" Then again, it could be argued that Vigenere had done the same over two years ago, when he left Morgan to go search for Atbash. But that was far in the past, and Vigenere had returned; Aurum showed no signs of doing so.

Loyalty was something Vigenere treated heavily, though that was likely due to his strained relationship with Caesar. Not to mention, being apart of the King's Guard meant you had to have undying loyalty to the King - and since Vigenere was engaged to the Princess, of course he had to keep that loyalty. It was one of the reasons he had been so hurt at Caesar attacking the Shaman, costing Vigenere his position; it meant that the King felt betrayed not only by Caesar, but by everyone associated with him. It was like a stab to the back, both by Caesar and the King, who declared that Vigenere was dismissed from the Guard almost immediately. But Vigenere understood why the King had done so; it was to protect the loyalty within the ranks. Was it the correct decision? No. Was it the only decision that would prevent chaos? Perhaps, though Caesar certainly proved that sentiment wrong.[glow=COLOR,1,400] ━ ✧*:･ﾟ[/glow]

[wormwood.]

If Vigenere had been so bold as to ask Aurum if he had been in a war, the feline probably would've received an answer that he hadn't been expecting. After all, not only had Aurum been in one war, but he had actually been in two. One had been back when he had lived with his birth pride, and they had been in a long and gruesome war with the local hyena pack. It would've been easy for one to assume that Aurum's pride would win, considering their sheer power and superior numbers, but the hyenas had been conniving. They had known when to attack when the pride was least expecting it, and the lion had nearly lost his life because of it. The second war had been within Tanglewood, involving the gritty and lengthy war between Tanglewood – as well as pretty much everyone else – and the Pitt. It had been a long war that had involved so many kidnapped and tortured, and too much suffering for the angel to even recall all of it. He had been proud to be involved in the final battle against the Pitt, practically leading the charge for Tanglewood when they had joined Elysium and the Typhoon in finally putting an end to the desert bastards' ways. Needless to say, Aurum had experience with war. However, he had never believed in soldiers working themselves to death when one could fight another day.

The lion found himself chuckling a bit dryly when he heard Vig's initial comment, nodding his head, "Yes, yes it is. Mine might not be quite as bright as yours, but trust me, it isn't a walk in the part to hide when you're gold and red." He shook his head a little bit, still smiling, before it was wiped away by the turn the conversation took next. The former proxy really should've known where this was all heading, but he still couldn't help but wince, a heavy sigh leaving him. He looked down for a moment, his one blue eye growing cloudy in thought as he tried to figure out how to respond. Eventually he sunk his claws into the dirt, speaking softly, but firmly, "I know. Trust me, I am well aware of how important my position was. How hard I worked for it." He had been trusted, respected, and ready to lay down his life for Tanglewood at a moment's notice, but... he still couldn't stay. He continued, shaking his head, "I left for several reasons, if you wish for me to be honest. That simply... isn't the Tanglewood that I came to know and love anymore. When I first joined, I saw a group that was united. Free. Maybe we didn't have the best morals, and maybe everything wasn't perfect, but at least we had direction. Now, though... it feels as though with every day that passes, Tanglewood loses another part of itself. It becomes more of a lawless land than ever, where people don't have to care about others because they'll be rewarded regardless of their behavior. Every day it becomes more toxic, and I just... I couldn't anymore." He scrubbed at his face with a paw, letting out a little grunt as he accidentally nicked himself with a claw, "I stayed... I stayed for a long fucking time, Vigenere. Because I thought that if I stayed, I would be able to help. But then time kept passing, and all the people I cared about kept disappearing... Moth's death was the last time. Every time I passed by the... remains... of her home. It was too much for me. I couldn't handle it anymore. I'm sorry to have left everyone, but I couldn't have stayed there. Not in the state I'm in now. I just would've ended up lashing out and making things worse anyways. You're better off without me. Ultimately, now, Tanglewood will either end up improving... or devouring itself from the inside out." He hoped it would be the former, but if not... he didn't really want to be around to see the latter with his own eye.

[VIGENERE CIPHER.]

[glow=white,1,400]EVERY FEELING IN MY BONES TELLS ME TO LASH OUT AND TELL YOU TO FUCK OFF ! — ｡+ﾟ.[/glow]

Tanglewood wasn't the same when Vigenere had first joined, he had to agree with that? But could I leave there? No, in all honesty, Vigenere couldn't see himself leaving the place. Not when Alan was there and not when everything reminded him of Morgan. But Aurum did bring up a good point; Moth was gone. From what Vigenere understood, the two were together and loved each other very much. It made sense that it hurt Aurum to stay at a place that would only remind him of what he lost.

"Shit, I forgot about that." Vigenere breathed out, his ears lowering a bit. It was a bit selfish of him to accuse Aurum of being a traitor - albeit internally - when the winged lion had lost so much. "Sorry, I understand why it would be better off to leave." He paused, wondering if he should go on. Aurum already knew about his past, though they were vague details. He wanted to keep that shit to himself truthfully, but Caesar could have been accepted into Tanglewood if he had stayed quiet - and that was something Vigenere was not going to do. "Do you remember the Princess I mentioned that Caesar had killed?" The demon's voice grew shaky, his gaze dimming as he seemed to stare off into the distance.

God, how insensitive of him to even think Aurum would want to stay when the person he loved had died. Could I have done the same? If Morgan were killed, or if he had to be in his Home Dimension after Athena had been killed, could he stay? Could he bare being reminded of what once was? No, no, I wouldn't. It probably was better for Aurum to leave, if it spared some sort of misery. Of course, that wasn't going into the other issues that the former proxy brought up - but they were at least fixable issues. "She was my fiance." He had Morgan now, why the fuck was this still hurting him? Because I still love her. Sure, when the ghosts raided Tanglewood's camp, she had approved of Vigenere's relationship with Morgan and showed that she held no ill will against him being unable to protect her - but Vigenere couldn't help but feel horrible.

"Caesar ripped her throat right in front of me." Vigenere could barely hear his own voice as he went on; he was almost reliving the scene once more. Just as he was about to hug Athena, Caesar leaped out from his hiding place and sank his teeth into her throat. Vigenere tried to pull Caesar off, but once he realized that doing so was making things worse, he let go. Caesar took the opportunity to jerk his head back, ripping out Athena's throat; her blue blood spewing out from the wound and splattering on Vigenere's chest. He staggered backwards in shock, letting out a yowl as he realized what Caesar had done. Enraged, Vigenere lashed out at his brother, who in turn fled elsewhere. Vigenere was left alone to mourn his fiance, knowing that he would be the one to bring her body back to her father. Vigenere laid his head on the tasmanian tiger's body, sobbing into her fur. There were no words to express the guilt, shame, and grief he felt; all he could do was cry.

By now, in real time, Vigenere was trying to hide back the tears. His tail was wrapped tightly around him (or well, as much as he could while sitting down). "If... Caesar hadn't destroyed our home, I don't know if I would have been able to stay." So perhaps in a way, Caesar had done a good thing. But Vigenere certainly wasn't ever going to excuse what his brother had done.[glow=COLOR,1,400] ━ ✧*:･ﾟ[/glow]

[wormwood.]

It wasn't as if Aurum hadn't lost anybody else in the past. After all, his father had died when he was fairly young, Arrow had died right in front of him, and his mother had been murdered by none other than his brother, even if it was in self defense. So, the angel was no stranger to loss, and he especially wasn't a stranger to the pain that came with mourning. Even mourning over those he hadn't really known the status of, such as Red, or Crowley, had hurt him down to the very core. Despite this, Moth's death had hit him harder than most. She had been one of the first other tanglers he had ever met, not to mention the deep connection that the two of them had formed. They would've fought by each other's sides forever, until the world around them collapsed – although it seemed as though Moth's world had collapsed sooner than his. In addition to all of that, her death had happened very quickly in the aftermath of Feza's, a loss that he had already been reeling over. He had actually just been beginning to recover from the loss of his friend when Moth had been yanked from him, and he had lost yet another part of his support system. It had been the final straw for him, and he had known he needed freedom from the raging emotions inside.

Even with all of this in mind, as Aurum listened to Vigenere's story, he couldn't help the ache of sympathy that gripped his insides. Even with all that he had lost, at least he had never been forced to watch his lover, killed before his very eyes. If he had been... he wasn't sure how he would've reacted. Sadness and agony were the first things to come to mind, obviously, but anger also festered, deep down. He knew that he would've wanted to rip whoever did it limb from limb, just so that they would suffer as his love had. He honestly found it to be a bit of a miracle that Vigenere hadn't tried to do that very thing to Caesar when the other showed up on their border. With one blue eye darkened in pain, the angel hesitated for a moment before he stretched a wing out, his feathers gently touching Vig's shoulder, "I... I'm so sorry to hear that. I can't even begin to imagine what that must've been like. You're a stronger man than me, or I think I would've done something... more than a little regrettable." He knew he would, honestly. Aurum's own brother, Poet, was lucky that he had only killed their mother in self defense, or there would've been more than a little hell to pay.

Taking a deep breath, the lion turned his eyes towards the sky for a moment, watching idly as the clouds passed by slowly. It felt unfair for the world to be so peaceful and wonderful, when they were here talking about things so devastating. A sigh leaving him, the male then turned his gaze back to Vigenere, his neutral expression turning to a soft, comforting smile, "At least... at least things will hopefully get better. For the both of us. I mean, you've already got Morgan, and your son. And I have Roy, and the rest of my family, and a whole wide world in front of me. Not to mention the fact that... this doesn't mean that I'll never return to Tanglewood. Ultimately... Tanglewood was the first place I ever truly felt at home. And it's the only place where I'll always know it's my home. However, for now... I just need some time away. Some time to mourn, where I won't wake up every morning and have to walk by what remains of my sister's home. Hopefully that time won't be too long, but either way, I know things will be alright." Perhaps that was a little sappy, but he didn't feel that was necessarily a bad thing. It seemed as though Vigenere needed a little bit of hope at the moment, and Aurum knew that he needed some.

[glow=black,2,300]— ✘ —[/glow]

[VIGENERE CIPHER.]

[glow=white,1,400]EVERY FEELING IN MY BONES TELLS ME TO LASH OUT AND TELL YOU TO FUCK OFF ! — ｡+ﾟ.[/glow]

Although Aurum meant no harm, him stretching out one of his wings and his feathers towards Vigenere made the savannah flinch a little. He hadn't been expecting the lion to make such a move and it surprised him, but he didn't exactly shy away from it. "Trust me, I wanted to." Vigenere chuckled in response, referring to how Aurum mentioned wanting to do something worse to Caesar, if he had been in Vigenere's place. The demon shook his head in amusement, mulling about the idea.

Oh yes, he wanted to tear Caesar a new one right then and there. But what purpose would that have served? Caesar would temporarily been gone and Vigenere could have felt satisfaction in feeling his brother's blood turn cold but... It would end there. Caesar would have been able to possess another form, since his soul would still be alive. He would still be around to terrorize others. "But if I had, it wouldn't have done much good, to be honest with you." Why not explain it to Aurum? Especially since the former Proxy was trying to comfort him. "Caesar and I - and our sister, obviously - we're demons. We have the ability to possess creatures at will. Unless Caesar's soul is destroyed, he will keep coming back." A never-ending cycle.

Aurum's words about looking to the future cheered him up a little though. Vigenere smiled, allowing himself to relax. Aurum was right; they both had things to look forward to. "You're welcome to come back to Tanglewood whenever, if you want to. I'm sure we'd all love to have you back." He paused. "But if you don't come back, we'll all respect that as well, I'm sure." Or he would, at the very least. "You've gotta do what's best for you."[glow=COLOR,1,400] ━ ✧*:･ﾟ[/glow]

[wormwood.]

When he noticed Vigenere flinching away, Aurum found himself frowning faintly, mentally scolding himself. Although the large feline was very much a touchy feely male, and was always willing to offer physical comfort, he hadn't taken into consideration how Vig might've felt. At the very least, it didn't seem as though Vigenere was going to blow up over it, which was a comfort. The angel wasn't given much more time to dwell, however, as Vigenere began to explain what the entire deal was with he and the rest of his family. Aurum's eyes widened the slightest bit, but he didn't seem too terribly shocked, but that was mostly because he had dealt with demons before. Perhaps not demons like the Cipher family, but demons nonetheless. Nodding his head slowly, the lion muttered, "I see... I can understand that. Many months ago, when the war on the Pitt was still raging... I killed Kydobi, the current leader of the Pitt. I killed him out of rage and vengeance, and while it felt good in the moment, he ultimately ended up returning. I was furious... still am, to some extent." He let out a dry and bitter laugh at that, before shaking his head. One day, he swore, he was going to get his final revenge on Kydobi. Surely, the other couldn't be like Caesar, or Vigenere.

After this, Aurum allowed himself to relax as well, letting out a long sigh of fresh air as he rolled his formerly tensed shoulders. He mumbled after a moment, his mouth turning upwards slightly at the other feline's words, "Thank you, Vigenere... as I said, it is very likely that I will return to Tanglewood someday. Maybe sooner than I think. But I just need... an escape, at least for a little while. Hopefully the place won't fall apart without me... I can count on you to help with that, right?" He focused his one blue eye upon Vigenere, the little smirk on his face practically dazzling with amusement.

[glow=black,2,300]— ✘ —[/glow]

[VIGENERE CIPHER.]

[glow=white,1,400]EVERY FEELING IN MY BONES TELLS ME TO LASH OUT AND TELL YOU TO FUCK OFF ! — ｡+ﾟ.[/glow]

To learn that Aurum had killed someone was quite the shock, especially given how fatherly and sympathetic Aurum appeared to be. Obviously, that didn't really mean anything; anyone could snap if given the right mental stress, among other factors. Hell, Vigenere had a body count himself, but they had all been during the war that raged back in his home Dimension. It wasn't a lot, but he was still technically a murderer in a sense; even if part of his 'job' had been to kill enemies.

"It's fruitless if they come back." Vigenere agreed with a sigh. It would be frustrating, to say the least, if someone you killed kept coming back - especially if they were a bad person. It would just be easier if they just stayed dead, but of course some divine intervention prevented that. Vigenere laughed in response to Aurum's comment on keeping Tanglewood in line, giving his friend a wink. "I'll sure as hell try to make sure it doesn't end up like my old home." Hey, making joking about such an event will help him recover from it.[glow=COLOR,1,400] ━ ✧*:･ﾟ[/glow]