BURNING THROUGH THE BLOODLINES | INTRODUCTION

[CLEO R. C.]

CLEO ROUX-CIPHER

Perfect.

She is perfect.

At least that's what the snakes tell her, whispering promises of the divine into waiting ears as they coiler tighter, tighter around a fragile throat. She is wandering, but she doesn't know where she's going, cinnamon capped paws leading her nowhere but deeper into the jungle, deeper into the unknown. Cleo is not afraid though. Fear is relative, and she's a goddess among men. What should frighten her about the dark? The inevitable? She's not like other children, she's darker, twisted, hardly a child at all. It's strange. She knows she's tiny, fragile, easily broken, but she doesn't feel that way.

She doesn't like to think about the things that make her weak either. One ear is deaf and the other... well it seems as if its hearing is going as well. She has to strain to hear the precious words that drip from her reptiles' mouth, too full of herself to insist that they repeat themselves. It's frustrating. So frustrating. She's supposed to be perfect, a half demon with an affinity for herself. Why can she not hear a thing? Maybe that's why she's secluded. Withdrawn. Untrusting. She sees herself as flawed (even though there's nothing wrong with being deaf and a part of her knows that). She wishes things were different.

But this is life.

A faint sound to her right causes her to turn quickly, glowing sanguine colored eyes narrowing. [color=#445544]"It's not nice to sneak up on a half deaf little girl," Cleo calls out faintly, a tail lashing behind her. Her companion for the day - a black mamba with a deadly bite - grows tighter around her petite frame, emitting a low hiss in the direction of the noise. It seems unbothered other than that though, attention easily fixating on the tiny bird that landed so closely to them. Cleo decides to write the noise off as nothing, her snake's apathy towards the situation successful in encouraging her own.

So she continues, a broken tune tumbling easily from tiny lips- lips that now sport a twisted grin. She idly wonders how deep she can go until someone stops her. Maybe no one will and she'll be free to live a wild life amidst the snakes that she cares so deeply for.

That would be nice.

So nice.

(hi i'm trying a new style for cleo bc she's my kid and i want to........ expand with her? so yes here she is,,, i'm sorry in advance she's a Problem™)

© MADI

[VANDAL R.]

Vandal's... doing something; then again, when is she isn't busying herself with one thing or another? It appears that whenever the she-wolf isn't sleeping somewhere, she's got her paws full. No day is ever different from the one before. One might see it as routine, but Vandal spices it up with something new to do every day that it hardly ever feels like she's in a rut - something that she loathes to the depths of her being.

She's deep in the forest, tug-tug-tugging at some rope until the logs are tight and interwoven into branches and trunk alike. Visiting Deldrach had given her an idea - why look for a home when she can make one instead? It's not an easy task, and she knows she'll continue to live in the Capricorn Tavern until she finishes - but she's already got the foundations built among the branches of a particularly large tree. The bamboo, thankfully, is sturdy but flexible enough under her weight that she knows it won't be breaking even if she hosts a little party inside. All that's left is the walls, the roof, and then she can get to furnishing.

It's not nice to sneak up on a half deaf little girl.

Vandal overhears the voice and quickly peers down from her spot, squinting through the foliage until she can see a young girl and her snake wandering through the jungle. It quickly stokes her curiosity, burning bright as she leaves her tools on the barren floor before jumping off the open end, landing on a lower branch and continuing her track downwards. She makes sure to make a lot of noise out of respect to the girl, who seems to have been bothered by the scuffling.

The mutated maned wolf ends up just a few feet off the ground by the end of her branching, spreading her wings out to cushion her fall as she jumps the rest of the distance to the jungle floor, right in front of the interesting little kit. Vandal cocks her head to one side, neon eyes burning vividly with curiosity and a small, lopsided smile dancing on her face. "Well, don'think I've seen ya before 'round here. Vandal Roux! Wha's your and your friend's name?" She quite likes the - the uniqueness of the girl, the snake around her.

[CAESAR CIPHER.]

IT'S ALL IN YOUR HEAD !

CAESAR CIPHER. MALE. THE TYPHOON. OFFICER.

Snakes were weird beings to be around, and honestly Caesar wished he had chosen one of them to be his pet, rather than his 'pet' choosing him. The snapping turtle that hid under his bed was quite infuriating, and every time Caesar reached a paw underneath his bed, he got bit. "Is that a pet?" The demon asked as he came to stand beside Vandal, one of his ears flicking. His hind leg still hurt from where that Snowbounder attacked him, and he still didn't place any weight on it, but fuck it, if he had to balance here for a while, then so be it.

#psychosocial.

[CLEO R. C.]

CLEO ROUX-CIPHER

Cleo most certainly heard Vandal's ruckus loud and clear this time, ears immediately pinning against her head as she stole an innocent look up. She didn't expect to come face to face with the creature that she saw, sanguine eyes widening when she realized that the canine was far from normal. But then again, so is she. Her oddities aren't so much physical though, more so stemming from her withdrawn persona and reluctance to get close to anybody but snakes. She loved her family, but was not the type to be outward about it, preferring to keep her secret ties to each and every one of the Roux's and Cipher's a secret. Instead, she easily sported creatures like Eshe - her favorite of her companions.

The aforementioned snake appeared relatively unbothered by the disturbance, a forked tongue appearing only momentarily as it scented the air. Large ears would perk, an obvious attempt made by Cleo to hear some part of Vandal's words. Another Roux? So they were family? She supposed that that was interesting, but she didn't exactly know who this was, regardless. She had never seen her before (she would definitely remember someone as fascinating looking as Vandal, she was sure of it) but knew that they weren't siblings. Too old. Too different. Maybe an aunt then? Or a cousin? [color=#445544]"I'm Cleo Roux-Cipher," She responded finally, [color=#445544]"And this is Eshe." She paused momentarily, glowing eyes narrowing, [color=#445544]"How are we related?" She wasn't saying that she was suspicious... but she was suspicious.

Before she could interrogate Vandal any farther, Caesar arrived and immediately piqued her attention. The half-deaf bengal would study her grandfather carefully, a scrutinizing gaze softening slightly when she remembered their familial ties. [color=#445544]"Not a pet," She responded softly, a bit appalled that he'd even think to suggest that. [color=#445544]"A friend. A companion. A weapon." But not a pet. Eshe would never be regarded as a pet.  [color=#445544]"Her name means 'life'.... but oh, how she can kill you."

© MADI

[no more]

[CAESAR CIPHER.]

IT'S ALL IN YOUR HEAD !

CAESAR CIPHER. MALE. THE TYPHOON. OFFICER.

"Oh, really?" Caesar looked strangely interesting in the snake now, his gaze flickering over to her as Cleo introduced her. A small smile formed on his face, his tail flicking in thought. "How so?" Of course, he knew snakes could be deadly, he just wasn't aware of the different species of snake. As Aita came over, the demon's gaze briefly went over to her, but it soon returned to Eshe.

#psychosocial.

[coldblue]

[align=center][div style="text-align: justify; width: 55%; font-family: arial; font-size: 10pt; letter-spacing: -1px;"]Jesus Christ. Zeus Almighty. Something-something Buddha. Coldblue doesn't know enough deities to make the amount of dramatic exclamations that he wants, but the feeling is there. There is no fucking doubt in his mind that little Cleo is Aphra's daughter. Listen, Guru was not an angel by any means, but does Blue say shit like "Her name means 'life'.... but oh, how she can kill you"???? The answer is no. No he abso-fucking-lutely does not. At least he keeps that nonsense to himself, no matter how much of a drama queen he can be. Despite the fact that Coldblue already loves his sisters unconditionally, he does not miss out on his duties of playing the role of elder brother. "Easy there, Edgelord," comments the handsome young tomcat with an exaggerated expression of "yikes" decorating his chiseled features. However, a certain warmth shines within those glacial blues as he takes a seat beside his younger siblings--offering his aunt and Aita a friendly smirk. "Glad you found yourself a friend, though." What he doesn't say is that he finds it ironic that her friend is a snake. Isn't that what people call liars? Hmm...well Cleo is just an edgy scene kid stretching her wings. It's okay for now.

[no more]

[bubblegum]

[align=center]

goldenluxury "goldie" roux — female — the typhoon — tags

goldie undeniably loved her entire family. every single one of them. she would do absolutely anything for them. she wanted to grow close to all of them and make their life enjoyable. she wanted to work hard for them and make things as easy as possible for them. and her new half-siblings were absolutely included in this.

she had been walking around, sniffling and coughing a couple of times as she heard the sound of her half-sisters, aunt, and brother. she quickly stumbled towards them, her green eyes a bit tired as she eyed the snake curiously. lynn squawked towards the snake, feathers puffing out, but she gently would tap the harpy eagle. "chill," she'd mutter towards him, standing next to her brother with a small smile. she giggled slightly at his comment.

"pfft, aye, she's a pretty cool companion." the girl said with a nod, her voice still a little strained as she recovered from her sickness. she'd done a little bit of research on reptiles. she mostly focused on fishes, but miss rox's pet caused her to seek out some information on reptiles, too. books on wild animals seemed to be the only proper books she actually liked to read. "isn't that a...whatchamacallit...mamba? black mamba?"

[VANDAL R.]

"Ah, Roux-Cipher! You must be one of my -" Just before she can finish, Aita is wandering in and letting Cleo know the connection between them. Vandal grins at Aita before nodding her head in affirmation. More Roux-Cipher kids - or, simpler, Cipheroux Cuties, which she has taken to calling them in private. "Tha's right! You can call me Aunt or Vandal or Glowy Bitch, whatever suits your fancy as long as it's somethin'."

Would she mind if somebody called her Glowy Bitch? Probably not, Vandal calls herself a bitch more times than anyone has ever attempted to do, and often uses it as a self-proclaimed title when she's really in the mood to say it.

Both Aita and Cleo seem to be growing rather well, filling in their personalities bit by bit and letting their colors show - something which she likes, which she's curious to see. Their deviance in personalities are interesting, and Vandal has taken quite a liking to both of them (although she'd never dare admit it). Another is Coldblue, who she hasn't really interacted with a lot but offers her a friendly smirk; she's quick to flash one back and decides that she likes the way his brain works already.

He seems to have earned Aita's seal of approval, too. Things are looking good.

When Goldie wanders over, she takes note of her condition and is happy to see that she seems to be recovering. The pace might be slow, but she's beginning to regain her old strength - Vandal thinks that that's good. "Seems to be so. I'd have to see the inside of her mouth before I can be sure - black mambas have really cool mouths."