ENGINES PUMPING AND THUMPING IN TIME || open, founding

[Leigh]

This was getting way too long and to avoid flooding you guys, I made this more short and sweet. Feel free to introduce your characters here, provide backstory or whatever you want. At the time of posting this, you're all free to start making threads of your own which would be set after most of Snowbound's rules have been more or less set into place. Also I'll be setting up a little clanwide event soon so be on the lookout for that within the next few days. Apologies for the garbage starter <3//

The sun is high in the sky, a scattering of clouds floating lazily in the sky. A unicorn stands in the snow, eyes focused ahead of him. This young man's name is Leigh. Nothing fancy, nothing spectacular. Just Leigh. His eyes are focused on the sight in front of him; a gaping mouth of a dark cave of ice and rock leading to Pan knows what. Beside him is a ragtag little group of friends, all about as uneasy as he is, if not more. They have no idea what's in store, but he has an idea. He's been here once before; alone; and that is where this story starts, several months prior to now.

For his whole life, he'd been living in seclusion with your family. Mom explained this to him- something about over hunting and threatening their species with extinction. It was hard to picture there being more unicorns than the few thousand of them scattered around the world. Most likely because he was young- nothing more than a teenager. Naturally he wouldn't know about what had happened those thousands of years ago. Pictures and story was all he had. Everything in his rather uninteresting life had been normal. But there was always that itch- that spark of a fire in his belly that yearned for exploration; and one faithful night, he slipped away from the comfort of his family and friends and set out into the unknown. There was no plan, no goal, just the desire to keep moving. Days melted into weeks and soon enough he was pushing through a thick snowy valley, pearly white face flushed pink from the cold. Of all the paces he could have ended up, fated had decided to dump him in some tundra, freezing his ass off and regretting his choice with every passing minute. And then he sees it; an entrance into a cave, draped in snow and plants. The inside glitters, but just barely. Any attempts to peer deeper in only ends up in a thick darkness obscuring everything. Curiosity overwhelming him, the equine forces himself to enter and become swallowed in darkness. The series of events to happen next are quick and oh so very strange. A whoop and a holler later and Leigh is face to face with an old lady who had just slid down from a hole in the ceiling, grinning from ear to ear. Remember kids, if a polar bear drops down from the sky and starts talking to you, just turn back and go home. Don’t listen to her ramblings of ancestors and ancient tribes of the snow. It’s all fairy tales and hogwash. Don’t be like Leigh, who gathered up a group of misfits and drug them out into the tundra to rebuild an ancient society.

“Let me get this straight- we’re going to live in a cave-” one of the groupies spoke up, shooting a questionable look in Leigh’s direction. “-because some old geezer said so?” She’s clearly upset and its killing the little bit of hope the unicorn had in this outrageous idea. He forces himself to stay calm and return’s the female’s blue gaze. “It’s not just about that. When we talked about this, we all agreed we wanted to live on our own- to- to explore and be free to do what we want! Sure, it may not really be…” he faltered, round eyes flicking around the dark icy walls of the caverns. “…well home yet, but that doesn’t mean we can’t try? If you guys truly didn’t want to come, you wouldn’t have even followed me here. That has to count for something, right?” There’s a rippling murmur of agreement in the group before they split and explore the large central room of the caves. Some of them hessite, but eventually join the others in checking the place out. Ancient paintings are discovered. There’s tunnels all over the place. There are bridges of ice spiraling up to tunnels in the ceiling. Leigh’s heart is pounding in his chest as he hears the enthusiasm pick up ever so slowly. With a little hard work, they were going to have a true-blue home in no time. They could do this. The tall male shuffled his way over to the center of the cave, staring at a large jutting of frost covered rock. “Pan guide me. Don’t make me regret this…” he whispered to himself.

"SPEECH"

☆☆☆

[april .]

LET'S GO SUBOCEANA, TO THE PLACE WHERE THE FISH SLEEP — Mike had to admit that he had been extremely doubtful when he had been approached to join this new group. However in the end, the black lab had decided to come along, seeing as he had no place to go and no one keeping him in his former home. Well- there would have been someone, had they been with him, but... god knew where Vincent had gone off to. Mike had been separated from his friend in a storm and he hadn't seen hide, nor hair of the brown husky since... in fact, he could be dead. Nevertheless, he was trying to remain positive. Maybe Vinny would turn up eventually? Yeah... probably...

Anyway, his anxiety aside, the lab was a little bit wary as he entered the cave with the others, looking around with one nonexistant eyebrow raised. This place was supposed to be their home? It was a cave. A fucking cold, dark cave. How was this supposed to be a home? As much as he didn't want to doubt Leigh, this seemed... pretty shitty. Maybe he would be better off turning tail and going back to the city. Then again... what if Vinny turned up here by some miracle? And there was always the hope that this place could become a home... maybe he should give it a chance? "Fuck, I really hope you're right about this Leigh. I'm putting a lot of trust in you, man..." The lab said with a sigh, setting his small pack of things down on the cave floor beside him as he sat down. This had better be worth it. — PUT YOUR FACE IN MY HANDS NOW, AS THE WATER WASHES US DOWN

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[Deutschland]

[align=center][div style=" background-color: transparent; border: 0px solid black; width: 580px; min-height: 9px; line-height:115%; text-align: justify; padding: 10px"]This felt really strange, and he still was hesitant about everything. He used to be the type of person who would lead small groups to foreign lands. It felt unnatural for him to finally be a follower. At least with Feliciano, he could say they were equals as they traveled together. It wasn't the first time he had been alone with Feliciano. Still, every time, he craved the company of a Clan. There was strength in numbers, after all, and he was in a whole new environment. He had never been one for snow. He liked cold weather, but this was a little too much. He'd live, he'd adapt, but that didn't mean he wouldn't complain about it.

He's seen a lot, too, but he never would have imagined he would have come under the leadership of a unicorn. All his past leaders had been feline. Sure, he had seen plenty more strange things, but in the group he had led, there was not a lot of mythical creatures.

There sounded like there was a story behind this journey. There was something about some ... one telling them to go here. He didn't care about that. He just needed a safe place to think over the recent events that had pulled him away from his comforting home in a redwood forest. The caves felt familiar. He's been in caves before, but he couldn't remember when.

Deutschland snorted. He wasn't even sure if he wanted to stay with these people. He was guided by ulterior motives. He didn't hold any fellowship with the rest of the group, though he supposed he did respect Leigh for taking them this far. "Thanks." The German shepherd would murmur toward Leigh as he walked past the unicorn to go further into the cave. Being polite never hurt, especially when it seemed that Leigh would be his supervisor from now on. Deutschland quickly grew discontent with exploring the cave, gritting his teeth as his stomach clenched with hunger. He didn't want to show any weakness, and he really also didn't want to admit he was feeling a bit homesick.

Homesick ... homesick for what? He couldn't even remember the name of the group he used to lead! He considered himself pretty damn lucky to have even remembered how to speak in English and to know he had a mate. His blue eyes glittered and flickered side to side, hoping that his companion Feliciano would meet up with him. So far, he wasn't really feeling hopeful.

[Feliciano V.]

[align=center][div style=" background-color: transparent; border: 0px solid black; width: 580px; min-height: 9px; line-height:115%; text-align: justify; padding: 10px"]”West...” Murmuring his mate’s name softly in his lips, he nuzzling close to his mate’s side, eyes closed as he let a purr rumble through him in comfort of this rough situation, with them being in a group that would supposedly be off to somewhere they can... live in? Feliciano wasn’t entirely sure about this whole thing, but he trusted Deut’s judgement about safety in numbers, even when he was very much hesitant on this Leigh character, who happed to be a unicorn.

Like Deutsch, there was a wave of what he assumed to be the longing for home, a home amongst the redwood forests, where threehouses flocked in the area and wisps inhabited the trees. Yet, he has no recollection where that home was, or how exactly to get back to it. Still, he followed his mate as they went on to explore the caves. When they were far enough, Feliciano spoke, softly, head turned over to Deutschland, which wasn’t hard because his mind, his emotions and his actions revolved around Deutschland for the time being with him being the only one Feliciano remembers oh so clearly from the day they met, to their trials, to where they were in the present.

”You think we’ll be able to catch a large rabbit or too soon? I feel starved after walking all day... I think I might be able to eat twice of what I should eat at this point.” he stated honestly, trying to feel as to what Deutsch feels for the moment, since his mate hides his emotions well on the outside, but not too well on the inside. To his disappointment, their bond does not seem to work at the moment. Perhaps the unfamiliarity of this place has caused this. Whatever the case, Feliciano hoped it would be back, because then he’d at least know the right words to say to Deutsch and have much consideration in how he’s feeling.

[COSMIIX]

[align=center]

His heart raced within his chest, there was several others and it was just him along with his daughter and brother. The Canadian lynx didn't seem to have any trouble at all when following after those that were already up ahead and his jaws parted slightly to breathe letting out a plume of white as he did so. He was used to this kind of weather and conditions, he wasn't very worried about himself but, rather for his short furred sibling though he was certain that his daughter would be somewhat alright since she had a much thicker coat than her uncle. A cave could provide plenty of safety for them was what he concluded though Jack tried not thinking much about that as he turned to possibly face his family as he offered them both a nervous smile "Cozy, n-no?" God, he was such a failure and he needed to get his gear together seeing as the guy that was leading them was a unicorn and well, the way he took control made Jackalopespry feel more confident about this. They could do this! They could build that civilization if they worked together and he couldn't help but shake as he finally spoke nodding in the direction of Leigh "I put my faith in you as well. . . We will be there with you each step of the way," He finally finished with a polite dip of his head. Here, they go and he just hoped that he hadn't made a mistake. He just wanted to ensure the safety of his family even if his wouldn't be.

"SPEECH"

[Ivylee]

IVYLEE —  SNOWBOUND —  2 MONTHS — SAMOYED PUP

The little samoyed pup trailed closely behind the others, gleaming ahead with eyes widened in wonder at the sight of the massive cave. For someone as young as she, Ivylee was amazed by how vast their new home seemed to be, with all of its tunnels that the kid was sure to explore sometime soon. At first, just as everyone else, Ivy had been a bit nervous. As she looked around, she couldn't help but notice that she was likely the youngest out of them all. She had persevered through it all though, with the help of her family, of course. Her papa, Jack, was always optimistic enough to keep her spirits up - and her uncle Aaron was someone whom she felt could protect them. Then there was their new leader Leigh, whom she had already begun to admire. He was a unicorn, and that meant quite a lot to a young child. There had been times during the trek which the pup had wondered if Leigh actually possessed magical powers or something. Weren't unicorns supposed to be magical? That's what she always had been told, and the very thought of it continued to make her more and more curious.

The cold wasn't much of a bother to the pup, whom had a coat practically built to withstand such harsh climate conditions. In fact, she really seemed to enjoy it, and liked to prance and roll around in it in play. The journey itself was rather difficult for a young child though, who at this point felt exhaustion and hunger bubble up within her so much that she felt her stomach grumble. Whilst breaking into a tired yawn, Ivy bounded up to her father's side, gleaming toward Leigh with an energetic nod. Despite her need for supper and slumber, the little fluff ball was just as enthusiastic as ever. "Yeawh! This iws unna be gweat!" She yipped out, her words slightly altered and muffled by her yawn as she stood, sapphire gaze now drifting towards some of the ancient painting which were on the cave walls. The authentic cave paintings had really caught her eye, causing her to smile brightly. It was quite the sweet distraction to keep the little artist from focusing on her aching, blue paws, and kept her mind at ease for now - or at least until she managed to get some food in her stomach.