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 Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2007 10:55 am
PRP (for now at least) Between Manchu the Panda, DareDelvil, Anrea, and TawnyAngel. Pm Manchu or post in the thread while I'm on if you'd like to join!The foxes:KinGinHyldenSoniaTristanRinaRP Colors:Kin=Goldenrod Gin=Gainsboro Sonia=Dark Red Hylden=Green Tristan=Light green Rina=Indigo Setting: In the bustling city of Metropolis, full of life.
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Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2007 11:02 am
 Kin wandered through the streets of a large city, followed closely by his brother. They kept to the side of the towering buildings and stayed in shadow whenever the option was avaliable. They were looking to get back to their fathers' territory, or at least come across other foxes, because wherever they went, they only saw people, dogs, cats, or birds.Gin's stomach began to growl as the brothers passed another bird. He licked his chops, but continued on, lest he be left behind. His head swerved from one side to another, picking out scents from the air that swirled around them. He tilted his head to find one that was particularly promising, but could not see its source.
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Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2007 11:19 am
High above them, part of the way up a metal fire escape, another fox was watching. Dark purple eyes did not narrow, nor did the ragged green tail begin to twitch. No teeth were bared, no claws extended. But somewhere, deep within the tattered and tattooed hunter's body, something was stirring.
These foxes were on her land. Strangers had strayed into Sanguinite territory.
And that, she thought to herself in no language she could articulate, made her angry.
Her descent from on high was near-silent - the first concrete sign of her presence was when she landed front paws first on top of a metal dustbin. The lid clattered as she leaped away, all four sets of pads finding the damp pavement. It had been raining, some part of her noted.
"Identify."
It was just one word, and it was spoken in a flat, emotionless monotone, but that was all the indication of her mood and desires that she would give them. Still her tail said nothing, her eyes said nothing.
Only the very astute would note the slight bunching of muscles beneath the tattered green fur.
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Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2007 11:26 am
Rina wandered the Metropolis, letting her feet guide her. So. This was the land of the Sanguine Syndicate. The single tribe that she had not yet seen, where she might belong. Might. While she did have an appreciation for art, Rina considered herself no artist. So what would this tribe of creators want with her? Possibly nothing.
Yet still, she continued on, jumping at every sound of car and human shout and clatter of trash cans in alleyways and every other noise that was new to her. Perhaps this tribe was not to be her place, either. It was obvious how much the loudness and closeness of the city put her on edge.
Ahead, she noted two kits and an adult modifox. Were any of those members of the Sanguine Syndicate? She was yet too far away to see if any bore the tribe's tattoo, so Rina approached slowly, hoping that were any of them of the Syndicate, that they would not take offense at her wandering upon their lands.
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Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2007 11:41 am
A car rushed by. A man shouted. Pale paws splashed into a puddle and the rhythm went on. One two. One two. The music. The music of the world washing all about him. Tristan hummed in the back of his throat and kicked at the water for the noise it made. One two, one two, splash, hum, splash, growl, kick a a wire fence.
A clatter interrupted his pattern and the dog fox started up. It hadn't come for far away at all. A loping canter brought him within earshot of the green modi's utterance.
Identify.
Tristan trotted closer, a song he had head float out of a window taking over his mind.
"Identify
Please identify
If it's me you want
Standing by your side
Identify
These tears of mine
Am I lonely or am I just alive?"
The pale-furred fox came to a halt and looked slowly about. One. One two. One. Four other foxes and he was one of them. One, two, three, four, five. Five beats, five hearts beating. Who were these themes in the melody of the world? Perhaps they would tell him.
Tristan sat back on his haunches, twitched an ear, and waited.
((The song is Identify by Natalie Imbruglia))
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Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2007 11:51 am
Gin took a suprised step back as the female landed before them, however, he tried to excuse it by sitting tall, as though he had always intended to sit. His tail sat behind him, motionless, and at a glance he may have seemed to be a statue of some sort. He looked up at the green female, quickly glancing her over while hoping she wouldn't notice the quick darting of his eyes. They rested for a fleeting moment on a dagger tattooed on her leg, and associated it immediatly as a tribe marking. His tail made a slow sweeping motion, and it came to rest in a position that hid the tattoo on his own leg. He stole a look over to his brother, seeming to know that he would be the one to answer.
Kin stood steadfast and almost in a proud manner. He met her stare with his own deep blue eyes and said, "Kin and Gin of the Bamboo Tribe, sons of the Elders, Kure and Panda-chan. And may I inquire the lands you heed from, or at least where we are, so that we may find our way home?" He noticed the restless eyes of his brother were on him, and smiled. He knew he was the more eloquent of the pair, even though they were sons of Kure and Panda-chan, whom they had already figured out, were irresponsible and very simple when it came to words.
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Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2007 12:01 pm
Well, this was a pretty kettle of fish. Not only were they outsiders, they were operatives from another tribe - children, even, of the Elders of that tribe. One of them was obviously hiding his tribe tattoo, the coward. Hylden turned so that they could both see her blade tattoo, keeping her stare as level and impassive as before.
"Bamboo Tribe," she said flatly. "Mundane. They send kits to take our food and listen at our councils. The kits make...poor excuses for themselves."
Two other foxes were approaching - adult male, twitching his ear; adult female, moving slowly. Neither seemed threatening, but equally neither were Sanguinites. She could have done with backup. As usual, there was none. The Syndicate was too small and spread too thinly for such luxuries. Well, at least they wore no tribe marks.
"We are Sanguinite," she said, addressing all four strangers at once. "Trespassers are not tolerated." Then, to the two adults, she said, "Identify."
Not once through all of this had her tone changed, her tail twitched, or her expression wavered. Those looking closely might see that there was something under the surface, struggling to get out, but they would be unable to name it.
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Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2007 12:11 pm
Rina inclined her head slightly in respect to Hylden, in apology for trespassing.
"My name is Rina. And I did not realize that others were so unwelcome upon the lands of the Sanguine Syndicate. I apologize, then, for trespassing."
Rina studied the other female carefully. She seemed so against outsiders...Was that true for all members of the Sanguine Syndicate? Rina hoped not. While it was not her life's dream to join a tribe, she still had admiration for the members of the Syndicate, and the art they created. If she was barred from so much as coming here to appreciate that art, she would be greatly saddened.
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Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2007 12:20 pm
Gin's ears immediatly tilted backwards to the point where they touched his skull. To one, it might have been fear, but when he stood and arched his tail over his back, it was clear that he was upset by the female's accusations. Besides, he thought, what food was there to be found in such a modernly barren place such as this? Yet his older sister would probably flourish. His eyes were aimed towards those of the adults, yet they were not looking at her. He was in a place of green with his other sibilings and cousions, but he brought himself back to the present and his innocent navy-eyed stare turned into a glare.
Kin was slightly startled by the words hurled at him without emotion. His tail stayed relaxed, however, and his ears in the same position. "Excuse me? ....Well no matter, my brother and I are simply trying to leave this place behind, and if you'd rather make assumtions than help us, so be it." He motioned to Gin with his head, but when his eyes came to the direction where they were headed, he spotted another adult fox and froze. He calculated about thier position, trying to find a tribe marking on the new fox, wondering-if things were to get ugly-whether they would be safer running or trying to talk things out. But if they were caught....He shuddered at the thought......Would they be hostage? Or worse.....Killed? This female before him had mentioned competition. He regained his outward composure, but his thoughts and his heart were racing equally.
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Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2007 12:30 pm
The words of the song tired to rise in his throat again but the dog bit them back. No, not that song was done and... And the vine-backed she wanted something of him. Green eyes ran over the other foxes as their owner tried to piece together what was happening. Ah. Yes. Identify himself.
"Tristan," he said, his voice soft and far away.
Bamboo tribe kits? Had he heard of... Yes. He had heard of. The Sanguine Syndicate was a new one to his ears though. A good one. Sanguine. Syndicate. Yes. Yes that was pleasing.
“Sanguine Syndicate,” he said aloud to hear it from his own tongue. The dagger on the female’s shoulder looked to be their mark. Tristan looked from it, to the speaking kit's tattoo and back again.
Wait.
Trespassers.
The green female had said that.
"I... did not mean to trespass on your tribe lands. Sanguinite. I seek to steal no food. To drink no water. Only to hear. To hear." The modi turned his face to the sky and tuned back into the sounds of the city. Voices were different enough that they would pull him back, even if he missed what the words themselves were in their sound.
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Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2007 12:44 pm
She wasn't getting through. She wasn't getting through. There was this wall in her way and she wasn't getting through. Frustration was rapidly morphing into rage within her, and Hylden knew only one way of getting that out - only one way besides letting herself explode.
Turning on her heel, the huntress set her sights upon the dustbin she had used to descend from the fire escape and launched herself at the side of it with a snarl. It collapsed under the weight of her paws with a clang, scattering rubbish across the alley. She kicked it again. It rolled away, clankityclankclankclank over the rough ground.
Oddly, she felt more sane for doing it.
"I find communication difficult," she said, turning back, sounding very much like one who is reading lines off a page. Effectively, she was. Atticus had taught her that phrase, and it was the only admission of weakness she would ever make.
"I am not asked to decide," she went on flatly, "only to protect these lands against possible threats. I say what I see. I see four foxes, not of my own, and that is a threat. If you are no threat, convince me otherwise. Consider me Devil's Advocate. Counter me. Raise a paw to me or show me violence and I will kill you. Raise your voice to me and show me sense...and I can then begin to know whether or not you are unwelcome here."
There. She had done her best. The two kits were angry, the female was probably hurt and the male just seemed dazed, but she had tried. The ball, as Atticus would have said, was in their court now.
It would be so much easier, she thought to herself in her hidden heart, if Sonia were with her.
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Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2007 1:15 pm
Gin decided to "raise his own voice", as cliché as it sounded in his own mind and said, "As my brother stated, we are trying to leave. But your idle chit-chat has prevented us from doing so." He stood his ground, should the female attack him, rather than an inatimate object, and watched his brother sway with the pumping of his excited blood.
Kin threw a quick glance at Gin, almost as if to say, 'Watch your words, brother!' He cleared his small throat and pretended to ignore what Gin had said, and the look he'd given him. He spoke in a low voice when he said, "Well, as a parting gift, perhaps you could identify yourself? It is customary to offer your name when asking for anothers'." He could definatly feel his heart pounding, though he tried to convince himself that they were fine. He looked over at the first fox he'd noticed, and to the second. His tail invoulintarily took a lower position as he retreated into the part of his mind that called for his fathers.
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Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2007 1:22 pm
The voice pulled him back again and Tristan blinked. Threat? No. Not he. These others? The dog-fox inspected each in turn. Perhaps they were; you never could tell by the skin. Nevertheless. He had to explain to this vixen that he meant no harm. What words to say? The others did not matter for now; the lead was held by the green and he had to speak to her.
"I am Tristan." He was. "I have wandered since..." When had he started? Where had he started? "Since my first recollection,” he decided. “I followed the music here. I do not know these themes within it; I have not seen their faces before this meeting." Yes; they were strangers to him too, each one.
"I do not mean to make a discord in your tribe's lands,” he continued. “I did not know they were your lands, though I might have followed even if I had." Probably would have. "It is hard to refuse when the melody calls you. This place has a good one. This city. It breathes with lyrics of lives on lives and the whisper of their interplay."
The blue-green modi looked about and nodded. "It is a good place. I do not mean to make its song ring sour. I would not disrupt such a beat and such a melody. Not for my life. It is a good place. I do not mean to anger those who have made it their home. It is good. It is singing to me. Do you hear it?" They probably didn't, most people didn't. Just him. Him and his world-music. Surely it wouldn't have led him here if he wasn't meant to be here.
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Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2007 6:24 pm
Rina took a few steps backwards when the green female attacked the dustbin. If she wished to see more of the lands of the Sanguine Syndicate, she would have to convince this one that she was no threat...Yet how? To prove herself a threat would be simple enough, but that was not what she needed. The opposite of violence, of attack...Some definitive way to prove herself no threat.
She could think of many words that would do that, but they were mere words, and would the green female in front of her accept those words as truth? Lies, after all, were far too easy.
Yet the green female had said 'raise your voice'. It seemed that all she could use, then, was words, and hope that the other female would accept them as truth.
Rina spared a glance over at the adult male--Tristan--when he spoke. He, too, was a wanderer?
Yet the connection she felt forming between her and him due to their commonality was broken as he spoke in terms of music. She envied him, that. She could appreciate music when she heard it, yet it did not surround her, as it did him.
"I mean no harm to the lands of your tribe," Rina started, thinking of how much it would be wise to start with. To say that she had come out of an interest of perhaps joining the tribe, while the other female was so against her...That would be too soon. She would mention that fact later, and hope no harm would come to her because of its omission.
"I wished to see the art of the Syndicate, for which they are much famed. Should that be allowed," Rina quickly amended. She should not presume things when this Sanguinite was so determined to turn them all away. She must carefully watch her words and her actions, so she would not be turned away.
Rina felt as though she ought to add something more, yet what more was there to say? She would wait to see how the green female took her words before so much as hinting at her interest in possibly joining the tribe.
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Posted: Fri Apr 27, 2007 2:44 pm
Hylden's ire was rising. Too many people. Too many words. She should have known better than to try asking them all at once. And these Bamboo kits - who were they to dictate manners to her, barging into her lands uninvited and with their tails held high? And they knew of her difficulties. They knew, and still they pressed her!
Muscles began to coil beneath ragged green fur, and the slightest flicker of a snarl crossed her mouth -
"Hold, Sanguinia!"
At once, Hylden froze. She knew that voice. She knew that scent, whispering its way towards her on the breeze. She knew that tread, and in all this she did not need to turn and see Sonia stepping from the shadows. Oh, and the expression would be dreadful to behold - the look of stern disapproval was somehow worse than anger -
But it was not there, and not a passing glance was spared her as the Boss of the Sanguine Syndicate hurried over to the two Bamboo kits. Her face was a mask of concern.
"Oh, darlings, little darlings...are you well? Unhurt? You poor things...Hylden was not the best fox for you to meet tonight. She enforces the rules of our lands without mercy, and without considering the age of any potential tresspasser. She could not know, as I do, that your irresponsible fathers have likely not warned you against straying into the lands of another tribe. But the Syndicate forgives, younglings; the Syndicate forgives. I hope you will forgive me in your turn for lingering so long in the shadows, watching my Sanguinia do her best to please me."
Her expression was kind now, and her manner as gentle as a mother's. Lightly she brushed the dust of the road from their soft little heads with her tail, and Hylden dropped her gaze to the floor. How weak she felt, having failed Sonia's test. She could have done - should have done better. Sickness rose from deep in the pit of her stomach, making her dizzy with disgust.
After fussing over the kits for a moment longer, the blood-marked elder indicated the building some three doors down. "Go around to the back there - take a little of the meat from the dish to sustain you. I would have you leave for the safety of your homeland as soon as you may. Head towards the sounds of the road, yonder, and you will find a place where you may safely cross it. The human bridge will lead you to the other side, and from there you will come upon a hill: climb it and you shall surely see your way home. And please, tell your fathers that I am...disappointed in them."
And now she was sad, troubled - it was all in those eyes. What Hylden would not have given to be able to express herself so easily, so fearlessly.
"You could have strayed into worse than us, little darlings," she said quietly. "Far worse."
Turning now to Tristan, a soft smile came to Sonia's lips. "Welcome, god-touched traveller," said she, not too loudly - perhaps she did not wish to interrupt his listening to the music he claimed to hear. "You can hear the song of the city? I wish I could. I can only feel it in my heart, and that is a poor substitute for a gift like yours. But nonetheless we Sanguinites are a part of the symphony you hear, and if you would join in our music then we will gladly test your worth. These lands are no peril to you as long as you walk with me."
The last fox, the pale female with the corset piercings, brought a sparkle of recognition to the elder's eyes. Hylden envied the stranger the attention as Sonia approached her.
"And Rina," came her voice once more. "Not since we were kits have I looked upon this sweet face - and how sweetly you have grown, my dear! It has been far too long. My Sanguinites will be pleased indeed to have such a lovely creature grace our gathering tonight. And if you would see our creations, do but follow after me and you shall have your wish - our art is emblazoned all about Metropolis for any friend of the Syndicate to enjoy."
And then she raised one paw, brushing the kitten-soft back of it gently across Rina's cheek.
"Thrice welcome, Galatea," she murmured with a smile. "Thrice welcome."
The dread rose in Hylden's throat as her elder turned away, approaching her now, eyes unreadable. She would be punished, she felt sure - struck, beaten, or simply glowered at in a manner that said You Have Failed Me. But nothing of the kind came, only a tiny whisper in her ear:
"Well done, Hylden. You do better of late...much better."
And perhaps everything was not lost after all.
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