MONTHLY MEETING [DECEMBER 2020]

[SirDio]

⸺ BRUTEI TSUNE ⸺

FRATER MEUS - YOU'RE BEAUTIFULLY MADE, AND TO YOU, I'M FOREVER GRATEFUL!

Ever since he killed his brother, finally ending his haunting, Ezr- no. Brutei felt alive. He felt vigor. But vigor was hard to harness into speed, and as he finally managed into the gathering place, he witnessed the Cipher's last moments, unable to witness the killing blow. A disappointed sigh left him as he walked past the masses. He ignored the angelic lion, only sending him a slit look from new, purple eyes. His purple eyes looked over the groups, feather-tipped tail flicking in a bored manner. He carried himself with prowess, with strength, as he stopped beside a fellow coalition member, not caring for who it was, and looked back up at Stryker.

[color=#fe1f14]"Did I miss the best part? Or is there more to come?" He drawled out in his baritone voice.

"TALKING"

[wormwood.]

NOTHING BESIDE REMAINS — ( TW: gore in paragraphs 3 and 4 )

One might expect Aurum to react with dismay at Vigenere's death. And, deep down inside, the angel did feel grief blooming in his chest, moving throughout his limbs and rendering him temporarily frozen, although his paw still weighed heavily on Barei's back. However, the lion was unwilling to let his grief show. He had already shed far too many tears over shit like this in the past, and he had no intention of doing so once again. So instead, he would focus on getting even. After all, he was no longer an archangel of wisdom, or kindness. Instead, he was an archangel of vengeance, made up of grief and fury and a sense of determination that wouldn't quit. A stubbornness that had previously impressed even Ninazu, as he fought against her again, and again, and again. He was not one that went down easily, having come back from death once before. He had already killed one of his most hated enemies a long time ago, and he would be around to make sure that Stryker ended up falling as well. Perhaps it wouldn't be today, but it would be soon, and that was all that mattered. The other lion had a clock over his head, and a bullseye right in the middle of his beady little eyes.

In the past, Aurum could recall hearing the phrase an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind. And in a way, he understood the intent behind it. A cycle of death and revenge wouldn't do anything for anyone, and would only end up causing more pain in the end. However, there was a point where someone forfeited their own life. When they did so many terrible deeds that they no longer counted as a person. Instead, they were just a monster, one that deserved to die. Stryker had definitely hit that point, and so had the Coalition as a whole for following him. No longer were they just people, trying to make ends meet. If that was the case, then they would've come to the other groups for help, instead of killing and taking places over. Instead, they had made their choice, and that choice was what would lead them to their graves, whether it be because of Aurum, or because of someone else. In Barei's case, however, his downfall would come in the form of the angel that stood above him, one steely blue eye focused on Stryker. The other's drawl did nothing but spur him on further.

Flames licked out from the lion's mouth, spreading from between his teeth and causing a pleasant heat through his entire chest. He snarled down at Barei, wrenching the other's head up with a paw, "Sorry, bud. Looks like your leader made the choice for you. Eye for an eye." He then let the other's chin collide painfully with the ground once again. As Barei squirmed beneath Aurum's large paw, the lion leaned down, flaming jaws opening wide until they were positioned over the other's back. There was a moment of silence, and stillness, before the lion lunged forward, his teeth striking down into flesh and muscle, ripping through until he eventually caught Barei's spine. There was a sickening break and a pained half screech half roar throughout the air as Aurum yanked his head up, bringing Barei's broken spine up with him. Blood dripped down freely from the lion's jaws as he released, Barei's limp and dead form collapsing onto the earth, ripped open and stuck in a half curled state of agony. The body was gruesome, and a few of the Wanderers in the crowd backed up, looking either disgusted or on the verge of vomiting.

Without an ounce of sympathy or regret in his heart, Aurum leaned down to pick up the corpse he had made, turning his head and flinging it into the nearby crowd of Wanderers. If the limp structure of death and gore hit someone straight in the head, the angel wouldn't give a shit. They too got to see one of their groupmates die, and know that they weren't invincible, despite what Stryker liked to claim. Shaking off the blood that clung to his pelt and jaws, Aurum then turned his gaze back up to Stryker, looking at him without an ounce of fear showing in his one eyed gaze. There would be time for grieving later, once Tanglewood was free. For now, he just stood there, his claws dug into the ground and his pelt bloodied as he watched, ready for any oncoming attacks from the crowd of Wanderers over what he had just done. Although considering the nauseous look on most of the Wanderer NPCs' faces, the large golden lion wasn't really afraid of any of them.

( permission given by kelp / wag to kill Barei! ) — OF THE MAN WHO WAS BORN AND DIED A KING.

[SirDio]

⸺ BRUTEI TSUNE ⸺

FRATER MEUS - YOU'RE BEAUTIFULLY MADE, AND TO YOU, I'M FOREVER GRATEFUL!

The screech was what prompted the oriental to veer his head. The scene made him simply tilt his head. There was an image in Brutei's mind. Aurum mangled and bloody, the angels blood on his paws. But he knew that would never happen. As he stared on, not moving as the dead body of Barei nearly smacked him over, he felt laughter bubble inside him.

He chuckled, then giggled, then laughed loudly. To the point he nearly doubled over. Soon the laugh died away to a deep rumble. [color=#fe1f14]"Wow, you killed somebody. Good for you! You mark yourself a murderer? That isn't for me to decide!" He let out another laugh, then cleared his throat. Staring Aurum right in the eye, he smiled eerily. [color=#fe1f14]"You don't scare me. Just recently I killed my brother a second time. Now, that should mark me a murderer."

"TALKING"

[gael]

[align=center]

♛ GAEL Ó BROIN

The vulpine released a quiet breath, eyes flashing between the draconic creature he knew to be Trygve and the Typhoon Quartermaster.  The only display of emotion crossing his face yet on the day; wary concern for his own.

The faerie granted Roxanne no visual attention, but for the barest flick of his ear -- listening as she offered her quiet words. A proposition; one that did not surprise him.

"I have little interest in risking the lives of my clanmates for those who have often done nothing but scorn them." Indeed, it often rarely mattered to anyone, when someone joined the Pitt -- whether they possessed any involvement to the Pitt's violent past or not.

Gael certainly possessed little concern, for the lives of those who would rather see his home burn, though he had seen such fire in the Tanglers more often than pirates as of late.  Even there, existed exceptions, as more and more time past since the reigns of those before him.

"However," the Ardent's cool gaze rested on Kian as he quietly spoke, cautious of further outbursts.  "I have no interest in becoming the next target for this ambitious conquest of his.  He is clearly overreaching." A logistical nightmare.  He had seen arrogance like Stryker's before; it never ended well.

"I believe my cousins possess the means to communicate across great distances," Gael would point out after a moment of consideration.  Indeed he had no doubt of the bond between Kian and Séamus.  Neither would he be surprised for either to possess further connections, perhaps to their children, such as Keona.

"We should be able to act with more discretion, through them." A promise for cooperation, but for a different time and place -- this gathering was rife with conflict.

As the Ardent shifted his gaze once more, he observed the Tanglewood luminary's plight with no trace of compassion.  His defiance to the end could be respected however.  As for Stryker, Gael could scoff.  Pathetic.  Turning leaders into hostages, only to kill them outright in some flamboyant 'show' -- destroying the leverage he had gathered and opening the gates to rebellion with no more threat of their loss.

As such, Gael possessed no surprise at Aurum's swift and cold-hearted retaliation.  An eye for an eye.  The Ardent only had disgust, for such blatant dismissal of their own clanmates' lives, in wanderers such as Brutei.  Such a base lack of loyalty only spoke further to the inevitable failure of Stryker's ambitions.

"I AM A STONE" —-- gael ó broin / faerie / ardent / lamby

[ROXANNE R.]

Roxanne let out a huff when Gael hadn't bothered to look in her direction but she knew by the flick of his ear that he was at the very least listening to her speak. She could hear how he began to say that he didn't want to risk the lives of his clanmates but Roxanne knew if they didn't work together then more lives would be lost especially if Stryker decided to turn his attention to the Pitt, which was the last group that was standing. Rox opened her maw to argue with the vulpine only to hear that he didn't want to become the next target and something about the twins that had resided within the Typhoon or at least, one of them anyways. "Yes... That's not gonna be great for you seeing as all the other groups don't really like you after the previous reigns before you... But, I'm willing to work with you given that I have no personal qualm with the Pitt... You took in my son and took care of him for a long time, he is a reckless boy... Continues to be... And as a parent, I want the best for our families. I want to get rid of Stryker and get my children back..." She said looking away from the vulpine as the emotion began to slip into her voice, her eyes locking onto the looming figure that was her son only for it to shift over to Goldenluxury.

"He needs to be taken out." She said with a shake of her head as her claws dug into the soil underneath her though her attention would switch over to Stryker realizing that his attention was on Vigenere. She pressed her ears flat against her skull watching as Vigenere was killed then and there, she frowned. She had never liked how the Savannah cat had always had a stick up his ass or the fact that he reminded her of Caesar due to his appearance but, that didn't mean he had to die. She noticed movement within the crowd noticing that Aurum had proceeded to kill one of the wanderers of the Coalition and her frown would deepen as she hissed under her breath "That fucking idiot." Why did the big men have to act so dimwitted? The draconic feline would adjust her wings at her sides as she drew in a soft breath with a roll of her mismatched eyes "Leave it to the girl," She said in a barely audible voice as she moved away from Gael as she slipped into the crowd using her size to her advtange as she brushed past several larger animals that were currently gathered.

[Stryker]

[TW: gore]

His eyes traveled through the crowd, landing on a smaller lion within. The brute. A huff left Stryker as his courageous and overly confident proclamation sailed through the skies. With a quick crunch, crackling bones echoed throughout the crater. As the crimson liquid came soaring out of the unknown wanderer's back, he merely looked over towards Brutei and the rest of the crowd with an uninterested expression. The overly crude display of so-called victory, despite it's almost intent, was tasteless to the Kingpin. In fact, it was rather... Well... Ironic. So much for a 'protagonist.' Aurum's actions were not forgiving, but they were not inherently good either. An unbothered innocent died in the man's jaws today... and for what? To show Stryker that he was... what... better? Stryker's teeth grinded at the thought. Selfish. Aurum's actions were not because he wanted to stand up for his people, but instead that mindless barbarian was trying to put the spotlight on him. If he was trying to protect his people, he would have done more. He would have kept his mouth SHUT.

And that was the difference between The Coalition of the Condemned and the rest of the savages attending today. While the rest moseyed along on their happy-go-lucky adventure, they worked on restoring their wanders and reclaiming a new territory to call home. Not some selfish proclaimed happiness. Instead the wanderers and their righteous Kingpin progressed towards a goal and seized the opportunity presented before them. While their intent was honorable and virtues good, the method to acquire their goals were... questionable. Even so, these animals wanted a home. Stryker wanted a place for his family and his wanderers to thrive. They were not like the rest. Not like Snowbound had been with his parents. He would not allow The Coalition of the Condemned to get picked off like sheep. Intolerable. No more 'moderate' life. They would never settle for 'just enough.' As their leader proclaimed before all of this started, they would fight for what they deserved... and in any way possible.

Today that stood true. As the rest were parading in their territories, living off their inherited riches, the Coalition of the Condemned was working. Once surviving off the bear minimum, they were now becoming one of the strongest amongst the region. Stryker had fought for them. Perhaps justice. Belonging. An over-achiever, even. Until the day he died, the Kingpin would give it his all for what his family warranted. No matter the cost.

With his gaze steadying on Aurum momentarily, the lion broke free from his thoughts and pulled away to redirect his attention elsewhere. Stryker would not give that fool a piece of his mind, even if he enjoyed berating others with mocking pet names. It was what that ignorant bastard wanted, after all. His neck craned backwards, a figure catching his attention in the corner of his eye. Neon hues shifted. The duo entangled in the roots of the tree squirmed frantically, eyes practically bulging out of their heads. Stryker waved his paw. The roots released them and pushed them forward towards his mocking gesture, causing a hiss to exit their gritted teeth.

The earth began to rumble beneath his paws. The thunder of the earth traveled throughout their body, prompting a shiver to run down their conjoined spine. Front and center now, orange and blue eyes glared out into the crowd with vengeant tears beginning to swell. As the ground bellowed below, Stryker traversed back towards the base of the tree. His eyes attempted to lock with Goldenluxury's own. The turf began to crumble, crack, and creek, only to jolt upwards moments later.

A brute force of stone shot vertically upwards. The serrated edge plunged into Hani and Alani's underside, lifting them up from the soil and into the air for only milliseconds as the blade continued to rip through their body. Sharp stone severed through their organs and bone. Blood seeped onto it's edge as the makeshift blade finalized, breaching through the twins' back and exiting promptly. The separated halves of the twins collided onto the floor with the sickening splat. Moments later, the stone sheathed back into the ground. Blood pooled near it's remains, now only leaving the twins lying opposite of each other with their wide eyes staring out at the crowd and organs splayed about.

Stryker's gaze snapped back to the remains of his work. Slitted eyes traced the clean outline of their divide, only to look out the crowd with a mocking smirk. "Twins being double crossers and two faced liars," he reminisced with a snort. "Who knew."

The camel's back had broken. (Or rather the Elysium leaders'...)

The time to act was now.

Finally.

/permission given from RexAraneo + feel free to cause some revengeeee + chaos now, as implied in other threads <333