grand scheme / aurum

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Naturally, one had to explore after joining a new environment. Acclimation was key. Especially when someone as juvenile as him wanted to blend in. Finding the nooks and crannies of the territory was key. From the barn to the marsh’s deep pools, Raymond had walked all over. There seemed to be so many areas to adventure through. He barely thought surveying the area once was satisfactory. Hell, Tanglewood’s territory had to have more to it. His curiosity might of just gotten the best of him though.

Nevertheless, the worst was saved for last. It’s stench was atrocious. Needless to say, the panther’s last trip relied on the junkyard. He wasn’t thrilled about i.t. Unfortunately, to be a true ‘Tanglewooder’, or whatever they called their lousy bunch, Raymond found that his trip to the dastardly rubbish landfill was significant. His decision made him dearly question his choice to join, but he proceeded anyways. It seemed better to get it over with now before he was enviably dragged into the junkyard for an unusual occurrence or event.

Wary paws sauntered over towards the entrance. The otherworldly stench graced his nostrils, causing his nose to scrunch up. He stared outwards at the trash, eying the piles strangely before taking a step in. ”I can’t believe I’m doing this,” he grumbled underneath his breath. With no further comments, the panther wandered into the abyss of garbage and began to look around. Perhaps he’d find some company.

//mobile post [member=6838]stilly.[/member] [member=303]Aurum[/member]

i was born, on the highway, in a train wreck

with a heart, that was beating, out of my chest

Aurum didn't actually find himself visiting the junkyard within Tanglewood territory all that often. After all, unless he needed some kind of spare parts for something, there wasn't much to be found within the trash piles that made up the area. He was also, like most, put off by the smell of the place. However, that didn't mean he never visited there. After all, he was the Captain of the guard, and he couldn't risk someone sneaking into Tanglewood and hiding out in the junkyard, as unlikely as such a thing was. So, once a week or so, the lion found himself stalking around the piles of junk, occasionally doing a simple fly over if he didn't feel like plugging his nose and stumbling around clumsily. This was one of the times where he was on the ground, padding around and searching around for absolutely anything besides the rats that enjoyed frequenting the trash piles and munching down on anything that they could find. A sigh left him as he flicked away one of the larger rats that had darted at his paws, intent on either escaping or biting the lion, he wasn't quite sure. As he rounded the corner around one of the large piles, he was caught off guard by the appearance of Raymond, one of the newer members of the group. He wasn't sure how to feel about Ray yet really, but for some reason he found himself hesitant to go up to the other male, an odd uneasy feeling striking him at Ray's dark and sinister appearance. Still, he just took a deep breath inward, letting a smile curl lazily on his muzzle as he trotted up to the new Tangler, "Hey there, Raymond. You looking around to get acclimated? This place isn't that interesting, I'm afraid." He felt a bit more like he was forcing himself to be friendly than usual, but he shoved that to the back of his mind. After all, he didn't even know Ray yet. It wasn't fair to prejudge.

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The sound of crunching plastic caused his ears to point backwards towards the noise. Strangely enough, he didn't feel in any danger. Thankfully, Raymond's prediction was right. A familiar voice rang out in between their loud footsteps, causing his head to shift towards them. He was met with a lousy smile. If they weren't in  a junkyard, perhaps he would be more critical of their expression, but he was also unenthused. The panther barely managed to smile back himself. Instead his expression remained blank. The only sign of interest from him was that his nose briefly shuttered out of it's scrunched up position.

"Greetings," he inquired back. "I suppose I am taking a peek around." Moving to face Aurum, the panther forced a deep chuckle. "Can't say I'm too impressed with this shithole either, Aurum." His paw gestured back towards the trash. Green eyes peered behind him for a moment. He only let out a sigh when his eyes returned to the lion. "But who would be?" Maybe some sick freaks or an artist looking for an underlying meaning that didn't exist. Other than that, the rest of the territory felt homely. Of course there were some downsides, such as the swamp and the infamous stench, but Raymond was pleased. There couldn't have been a better place for him.

A smirk curled upon his maw. "So, big guy-" Aurum's rank, Captain of the Guard, seemed important. "-tell me about yourself." The panther began to navigate out of the junkyard, gesturing for the lion to follow with his tail. "You must of flattered Leroy somehow." In reality, Aurum should of been the one asking Raymond who he was. He was the newcomer. Nevertheless, the larger cat took it upon himself to skip past that. No one needed to know the monstrosity his past held.

i was born, on the highway, in a train wreck

with a heart, that was beating, out of my chest

Aurum... wasn't used to speaking about himself. At least not recently. Although Tanglewood had begun to have a new influx of joiners, for the longest time they had just been one tight knit group, and this pretty much everyone had known him fairly well. That wasn't to say that he never spoke about himself, which he did. After all, Feza was always asking questions, as was Roy, but he had talked far more about himself and his past back when he had first joined the group. He supposed he had become a bit spoiled, with everyone just knowing who he was and what he stood for. Aurum was enthusiastic to follow Raymond out of the junkyard and get away from the smell that permeated the place, giving it one last look over to make sure he had been thorough before he followed the dark black feline from the mountains of trash. Once he was walking side by side with the other, keeping his stride a bit slower so that his long legs wouldn't get ahead of Ray, the lion spoke quietly, his voice a deep rumble from his chest, "I suppose that I did, somewhat. Not so much flattery that got me to where I am now, though. For the longest time Leroy and I didn't get along very well. But I've been here for a while now, and I've been around often, and always tried to protect others and teach them how to defend themselves... Leroy just saw me as the perfect candidate for the position of Captain..." It was a rather simple explanation, but Aurum still felt a bit sheepish telling it, mainly thanks to the fact that he had been taught to never think too highly of himself, yet here he was now, detailing his accomplishments. He continued talking with a shrug of his shoulders, his wings shifting upwards a bit as well, "I guess I never really thought much of it when I was getting promoted. When I first arrived here I was a bit of a prick, and over time I've come to love Tanglewood more and more, and I suppose eventually my activity and dedication just led to... this. I don't mind it though. I'm happy for the rank, and helping Leroy is nice too. He has a tendency to be a bit hotheaded." He considered asking Raymond about himself, but decided to hold off, at least for the time being. Once Ray was satisfied with him talking about himself, then he would be happy to ask... well, perhaps not happy. Raymond still had that odd aura, after all.

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As the lion matched his pace, the panther listened with interest. Though he showed no sign of it, the fact of Leroy and him having a predicament really threw him off. After all, they had been the two to greet him first and the general even asked Aurum for their opinion on his acceptance. What had disturbed the two? Raymond couldn’t help but wonder what pushed their buttons. ”Well, obviously he saw a change,” he nonchalantly replied. ”Otherwise you would of been still on the bottom with me.” If that’s what he thought being a member was. The smaller wildcat’s perspective was skewed anyways. ”At least he’s not using you- right?” he inquired curiously. While his comment was inherently sarcastic, there was some intention of hearing the answer. Something had to cause discourse.

Part of his answer came soon enough. ’Hot-headed.’ Raymond hasn’t known Leroy for the longest time, but the general’s straight-forward attitude had intrigued him. So far, he really had nothing horrible to say about anyone here. Negative words said by Aurum were merely pushed to the back of his mind, but not forgotten. The panther would form his own opinion first. With caution too... He merely nodded along with the other male’s words in the meantime. 

Raymond unintentionally directed the question towards their rank. He really wanted to know about Aurum’s past or even their hobbies. There had to be something that connected the two together. The feeling of certainty laid within him. ”I suppose I should of asked what’s your story,” he rephrased. Certainly there had to be something besides the other male’s rank. Ray could just tell. ”What really makes Aurum tick?” His tail swished playfully past the lion’s back, urging him to go on. Though Raymond was quite the talker himself, he was introverted on the current subject. He’d rather have the other continue until they satisfied themself... It seemed like they both didn’t want to necessarily speak about themselves.

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i was born, on the highway, in a train wreck

with a heart, that was beating, out of my chest

On the bottom. Raymond's phrasing gave Aurum pause, mainly due to the fact that he had never really considered it that way. He had never thought of the normal members of Tanglewood as being on the bottom and he and Leroy being at the too. Sure, they were high positions, but ultimately high positions existed to serve those beneath them and make sure the group was running efficiently, so Aurum had never really felt as though he was better than anyone else. The large lion found himself shrugging his shoulders as he walked along, saying softly as he looked up between the gaps in the trees, "He's not using me, that I'm fairly sure of. We just tend to work well together, at least now. Our old spats were as a result of an outside source." Thw thought of Draekon made a faint frown flick over Aurum's face, but he quickly shook it off, instead listening to what Ray had to say next. It seemed as thought the other was more interested in him than merely the story behind his rank and how he had gotten there, and that surprised Aurum even more. Despite the aura he had sensed that had made him so uneasy around Ray initially, he seemed as though he was a fairly kind person, at least based off of first impressions. Glancing towards Ray, Aurum smiled and said, a hum leaving his throat, "What makes me tick...? Well, I suppose a lot of things. I've lived here in Tanglewood for... hmmm... I think about give months now. Six in January. I enjoy all the friends that I've made here, and I've even ended up with an adoptive sister and son, so I've got family here too. I've changed quite a bit since I first got here, but that's mainly because of the fact that I was finally in a more welcoming and warm environment. My childhood made me into a bit of an asshole when I first arrived." His arrival felt so far off and blurry now, but he still knew that he had been a radically different person than the one he was now, and he found that he was very very glad for the fact that he had changed so much.

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Raymond merely listened. His expression didn’t flicker as he did so, but he did nod once or twice. There was no advantage being taken of when it came to Aurum. Seemed like a damn shame, seeing that the lion was kind-hearted and boisterous, along with powerful. Nevertheless, he was not surprised. The thought of an outside interfering between the general and captain, whatever it may be, confused the panther. Even so, he had done enough pushing tonight. Any further interest in the subject would be suspicious. After all, his curiosity had always stabbed him in the back and he’d like to prevent that within Tanglewood.

His eyes widened in surprise. ”About six,” the panther echoed back. ”You don’t say.” That seemed like such a short time to instill trust in someone, but in hindsight, it made sense. Tanglewood had many members that had stayed around for a long time, but seniority meant nothing. Only the bold stood out. Aurum, unsurprisingly, was someone that made a great impact within the group.

Family was not a topic Raymond took pride in. In the news of their success, he couldn’t help be envious of their environment. He had never had a family that cared for him or a child to cherish. If he could change that, then perhaps he’d be satisfied. That didn’t seem like any time soon though. ”Sounds splendid,” he commented delightfully. There was no sarcasm in his tone, although he would like to hide a hint of it in there.

With the mention of childhood though, his mood happened to fall flat again. They held that in common. Even if seeing that Aurum could change their ways gave him hope, the sinking feeling in his chest said otherwise. His disdain was hidden under a smirk though. ”We have that in common then,” came his cocky remark. ”Heaven help us.” He doubted God would ever do that for him though. Especially now. What he did before was inexcusable in the Lord’s eyes. Little did he know, Aurum was apart of God’s circlejerk and be used to his advantage.

i was born, on the highway, in a train wreck

with a heart, that was beating, out of my chest

Aurum was soft. It was a simple, undisputed fact that had flickered across the mind of quite a few of the members of Tanglewood, and Raymond certainly wouldn't be the first to think that his kindhearted nature could lead to his own downfall. Still, softness didn't mean that the angel was stupid. He still had anger in his heart, and a will to survive when things got tough, and those were both things that worked very well to his advantage. However, he just didn't see the point in putting all the tough front all the time. He much preferred being soft and caring in the moments where he needed to be, just so that he could show his family how much he loved them, or Tanglewood how much he really cared about their wellbeing. Either way, Aurum liked to think that he was able to juggle his two natures together, one brought about by what he was, and one being brought about by how he had ended up being nurtured into this world.

When Ray made a comment about how long he had been in Tanglewood, Aurum chuckled, mumbling as he nodded his head a bit, "I know it seems a bit short, especially considering I've been alive a few years, but really it doesn't feel like it. Over these past six months I've seen so much shit go down that it feels like I've been here my entire life, and evidently Leroy at least thought that I had what it took to be right hand man... and others, I suppose. Lots of people were happy when I received my promotion." That little aspect had been... surprising, really. It wasn't that Aurum had ever seen himself as someone disliked by his clanmates, but so many of them had been genuinely overjoyed or proud of him over his eventual promotion... it had been like an overwhelming wave of positive emotion, enough to nearly knock Aurum off his paws. When he heard Raymond's little quip about heaven and their pasts, a soft chuckle passed through his lips, his voice but a soft mumble as he shook his head from side to side, "Heaven help us indeed... although, to be quite honest, heaven hasn't exactly been the most helpful in my experience." Aurum wasn't exactly... secretive, about his nature as an angel. He didn't see much reason to be, honestly. If he genuinely encountered anything or anyone that had a problem with it, that just meant that he could face them, and hopefully teach them a lesson about judging because of his origin.

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