the next best thing - open; double joining

[rhosmari]

WOKE UP ON THE WRONG SIDE OF REALITY
AND THERE'S A MADNESS THAT'S COURSING IN ME

God, he could say one thing, he was fucking tired. Flying for this long was starting to put a painful soreness that spread up his spine and back. But what could he do about it save for keep going. Neither one of them expected to fall through one of those damn portals at the end of the world and end up somewhere completely different. It was unprecedented but then again maybe they should have suspected it. The world was full of chaotic magic and unforeseen forces that it was highly likely that the portals that once linked across continents would become detached and spit them out somewhere that seemed basically untouched. Although he was not one to think that the land was completely untouched, besides having to listen to his husband talk about how this all had to be the doing of aliens he was on the lookout for other things as well. That and he noticed that he felt a bit different, powerful he supposed was the word for it. Stronger? Whatever it was he needed to figure their whole situation out and as soon as possible before things grew sour. Keeping himself balanced as he didn't want Mulder to fall off he would go into a low dive across the lands and he sighed gently. ''Desert, desert, and more desert. Almost too familiar..'' He spoke to the smaller vulpine.

Paws coasted the sands, moving along into a run as four wings pulled back against his spine. His long and glimmering tail streamed out behind him as he moved. Golden markings glowed slightly as the pale hued angelhound moved with a steady pace. He had smelled something upon landing on the cold sands. Something was here. A group he figured and he also felt like this was the best place to start their understanding of events. Pulling his wings further in he slowed his large running form into a jogging gaunt before he staggered to a stop. ''Alright, all passengers disembark. This is hopefully the final stop.'' He spoke playfully as he looked about the sands. It was unnaturally cold for a desert but then again he remembered that the other desert he used to be around was also oddly cold as well. Ice pyramids and all of that. Still he was curious for the most part on what they would find here. Settling down he would lightly shrug his shoulders, rolling them to try and relieve the pain that was making his back so tense.

''Do you think anyone is here? Maybe it's those aliens.'' He joked softly as he lowered his nose to lightly boop his against his husband's in affection as he curled his elegant tail around him. He was just keeping him close as an assurance thing but he also knew that the small fox could take care of himself.

— Reggan

[mulder.]

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how could you be what i want to see?・°☆

Well of course it was aliens. What the hell else would spawn a portal to suck them into some alternate dimension seemingly on a whim? Unless maybe it was some sort of time anomaly or a type of glitch in the matrix of reality (though these also are usually linked to extraterrestrials). No matter what angle he looks at it, surely it was the work of something not of this world. Some folks believe in gods or magic, Mulder believes in aliens, and he's certainly giddy with excitement at what sort of strange things they may find in this new reality.

The slight creature holds tight to his husband's fur, occasionally having to shake his snout free of the hound's pale mane flowing in the wind. Despite all of his fantastical pondering, clear practical analysis is filtering through the fox's mind as he tries to understand the environment around them and the most obvious comes out from Barghest's maw first. With his usual sarcasm, the vulpine chuckles. [b]"Nostalgic. Kind of homely even! I'm totally enthused about shriveling up out here. Maybe I'll be a lizard's toothpick in a month or two." He licks his parched lips, wishing their transporters had given some sort of warning so they could prepare for this new journey. Very rude for an advanced civilization and inside he's bummed out to have lost his equipment and books. Still, he's grateful to have not been separated from his husband and if he were dedicated to any deities, he'd be thanking them now.

The fox perks his nose up to old scent markers in the area they coast into and hops from his mate's back on landing with a stretch of his stiff limbs. Mulder sinks down slightly into the shifting sands and he has to tug his stubby legs upward to break the pull until his paws find shallower ground. He's a small and thin mutt of a vulpine with a vivid gaze but an autumnally colored body. Brown points on an orange canvas, a dark cape of fur along his shoulders with a creamy underside, ears, and tail end, along with a hazelnut striped scarf make him look quaint compared to his husband. All except for his pink-purple jewel-like irises taking in the view but seem to be losing that initial excitement about ETs. "Not much of a stop..." Still, a mystery is a mystery and that's his favorite genre.

Knowing well that the eldest canine must be aching from the long trip due to his gestures, he nudges his arm with his nose and smirks warmly. "But you did super keeping us from plummeting to, ya know, certain death, old man, so who am I to complain huh?" On talk of aliens, Mulder closes one eye then at the soft touch and huffs through is red velvet nose. At the very least, Barghest humors his fancies. "Ha-ha. If they are, there's not many places to hide out here." Unless, of course, cloaking technology... "Definitely smells like somebody was out here previously. I don't think we've ever met any desert clans that didn't have a taste for blood-" (including their own former home) "-so we should watch out. If they're still around that is." Should this be or had been a clan in their paradigm's sense, space born or no.

As his squinting eyes scan the sunbaked horizon, Mulder's a little disappointed not to find anything outlandish to his senses lurking in this desert. Looks relatively normal, albeit hostile. Murders, savages, thieves; he's got experience with those. Easy peasy. Still there's time to turn back if they'd want to, but where else is there to go really. Feeling emboldened by his mate's tail around him, he raises his paws to his muzzle and does the only "logical" thing to do out in this situation. He belts out (surprisingly large lungs for a vulpine no bigger than a grey fox), "Hey, anybody skulking around out there?!" It's not like they have any element of surprise in this wasteland anyway, might as well make some new friends. Or to see if there's any stragglers out to kill for supplies (damn, he'd thought he'd gone out of those kinds of thoughts by now).

Preemptively, he pulls his crystal dagger from his scarf with telekinesis and gives it a good whipping around above the sands to see if anything has changed. Like Barghest's silent observation, he too feels somewhat stronger, but it's probably trivial for someone so tiny. But who is he to complain on a net positive. "I'll chuck this knife and my husband at you if you try anything funny, I swear!" Not that he has good aim but no one else needs to know that or maybe they'd be more concerned about a madman yelling in the desert. After some stretching moments of silence, Mulder shrugs and looks up at Barghest for some sort of direction to this situation.

[aine.]

[table][tr][td]

AINE NÍ BROIN
FLESHWEAVER
FAE DRUID
INFORMATION

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[div style="width: 360px; font-family: palatino; color: #2e8b57; text-align: left; padding-top: 15px; padding-left: 10px"]HOW DO YOU RUN FROM Y[color=#5d8e93]OUR OWN MIND?

A knife?  And his husband?  The petite deer-fox twitched her ears.  Slight ire flickered with unease in her hazel hues.  Lone patrol interrupted... Not that she had many herbs to speak for her little trip.  Hardy as desert plants could be, the blizzard had not been kind.

Still.  She did not like the thought of a confrontation.  Wings shuffling at her sides.  Four... Seven... Eight... Breathe.  The Fleshweaver reluctantly trotted forward, a small figure of red, white, and black against the sand and snow.  "If... If you're just here to cause trouble... Then go away."

The fae didn't like threats.  Not to her home.  Her family.  Idly hooves shifted in the sand, the close connection to the earth soothing.  Hardly an intimidating figure, but she meant her words.  "... If not... Who are you?  This is the Pitt's land... Why are you here?"

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© MADI

[rhosmari]

WOKE UP ON THE WRONG SIDE OF REALITY
AND THERE'S A MADNESS THAT'S COURSING IN ME

That other desert had been a place he had personally loathed and he couldn't say he was not happy to see that they were nowhere near it now. His husband's antics were enjoyable to witness and often times it made him laugh, especially his jokes. He could say he was pleased that whatever forces had decided to keep them together and not thrown them worlds apart. Lightly his long and elegant tail would brush the ground as he gave a contemplative huff. ''I'm also pretty happy that it didn't morph our bodies as well. Imagine you being bigger than me.'' He teased gently as he looked out across the desert sands. Though he couldn't help the snickering at Mulder's call about chucking his knife and himself at someone. He watched him wave his dagger he had given him through the air before there was a long stretch of silence. The angelhound shrugged his shoulders a little and he was about to speak up when someone rather small came forward. He tilted his head a bit and already saw no threat here. Especially when the words were spoken. He looked down at the fox before he allowed a humored grin to pull across his muzzle. ''I can't believe she actually believed you.'' Mulder wasn't the type to just jump into frays anyway.

Turning his gaze back to the other he would shrug his shoulders slightly. Rather they were here to cause trouble or not was up to debate. ''Well, I guess I can speak for the both of us when I say we have no idea what the Pitt is. But given the circumstances and the intermingling smells here I can assume it is some kind of group living here. You guys have an alignment or something? Also maybe room for two more?'' If they had to use this group in order to get their bearings then so be it. He wasn't above it and after all they would have protection as well from whatever forces that were out there. He glanced to his husband then and he prompted him to speak up as well, after all they often made decisions together and he wanted his input as he had often gotten it so many other times before.

— Reggan

[mulder.]

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how could you be what i want to see?・°☆

Mulder isn't used to being taken seriously on his threats and so he almost beams a little, expression too goofy to be menacing, and before he can correct it his husband has already spoiled the fun. He huffs his way and pokes his paw with his tiny one, wishing maybe he did get morphed bigger so he could squash his head down into the sands like Barghest will likely do himself at some point. He loathes the idea of sand up his nose, with a dash of humor on the side.

[b]"Hey, I'm plenty scary! Ever hear a fox's scream? And I... Well no, I can't even pretend." Sure, he's been scary before, but only to helpless others or when he was ordering murder. He gives up instantly on a sight and shrugs, a lazy smile stretching his maw as his gaze flicks down to Aine. It's a rarity to find someone near his size or smaller around, his head tilting slowly in pondering. He's seen plenty of hybrids in his time, but none of partly his own species. "No offense, but what exactly are you? A fox like me, I see, but the rest's a mystery to me!" His curious eyes glint over the petite stranger, ears swiveling forward as she reveals their location.

As his husband explains, Mulder leans back against his legs, occasionally flicking his eyes up to the sky to try to gleam anything abnormal. It's a whole new dimension, who knows what manner of monster or alien might crop up here? He nods along with Barghest's words, eyes flicking over his when prompted for his approval. Mulder deliberates momentarily, not seeing anything else they can do out here currently. Who knows how much longer this desert stretches on and they need to get their bearings somewhere. It's not a promise to stay but who knows what might happen. "Yeah, we'd appreciate a place to rest the paws, ya know." The fox stretches a paw forward and wiggles the beans before clearing his throat.

"Oh, and I'm Mulder. This is my mate, Barghest. We're married, both Reavers. What about you?" He's kept his own last name too but it feels irrelevant to bring it up in a land where no one would know it. Reavers seemed to pop out of cracks in the cement back at their home planet so maybe-- The sudden thought almost makes him gasp. Now they're both the aliens. That's a pretty crazy thought but this stranger doesn't seem alarmed so that must mean they blend in with the local fauna right? Definitely things he needs to look into... He zones out before suddenly sucking in a breath and looking forward. "Please tell me you don't live out here. I've had enough deserts in my lifetime." The fox is only a few months over two years old but he's already decided on that.

[gael]

[align=center]

♛ | GAEL Ó BROIN

The vulpine trots over the sand and snow quietly -- quickly with the familiarity of his daily patrols.  His hazel eyes narrow swiftly as called words reach his ears; an unintimidating threat of knives and husband.  The Ardent frowned as he caught up to his daughter, conscious of her ire and unease with the day's strangers.

Gael inclines his head, studying the two as each spoke before answering the important questions.  "We are a group, or clan -- whichever you prefer to call us."  The faerie had found that designations varied from place to place; clan, country, group.  "Our alignment is to ourselves."  Chaotic neutral, in a sense.

"We have room, if you are willing to contribute."  The vulpine did not appreciate lazy bodies, although he knew Aine would accuse him of being a workaholic -- the equally troublesome flip side of the coin.  Regardless, he moved along, ear flicking.  "I am Gael, and I am the Ardent of the Pitt, or leader.  Aine here is my daughter; she is our fleshweaver, or medic."

"Our camp lies within the jungle," he supplied curtly. "But the desert is ours as well; our borders lie here."

BUT I PROMISE YOU I'LL KEEP YOU SAFE ♛  gael ó broin / faerie / pitt ardent / penned by lamby