[Ikaika]

OOC Note: Ikaika is at the borders and this is foredated to December 1st. I assumed that he heard about Gemini somehow but I will edit if necessary. Please let me know if any edits are needed! (I'm new to this if you can tell)

       The sun was already on its way to the middle of the sky and the traces of dawn had been chased away by blue skies. A massive beast paced back and forth a few paces away from the borders before stopping. His long tail flicked back and forth as he eyed the forest ahead of him. His fins around his head were flat with the larger ones on his head low as he gazed in apprehension before his face became unreadable. His wings were twitching as he continued his pacing. His satchel was full of his belongings and made muted clinking noises every so often.


       Ikaika gazed across the scented border to the land ahead that would hopefully be his new home. He decided to forge his own path separate from Lyra'eve and the siblings had parted on good terms. He wished that she would join him on this new adventure, but it was her life to lead and he couldn't do anything to stop her from following her own path. He too would spread his wings and joining a group seemed like the best choice for him. He didn't want to be alone anymore and a group offered a better chance at surviving in these lands.

       The behemoth had heard good things about this pack, Gemini, and he hoped that they would accept him into their fold. Sure, he wasn't the typical, run-of-the-mill creature, but he hoped that he would be able to offer whatever was needed to be one of them. He could hunt, he had a slight idea of how to fight, and he knew a thing or two about scavenging and crafting.  

       He remembered his family, as small of a group as it was, it was still a group. His fathers and his siblings lived in a large den. They hunted together with his Père chasing the prey towards his dad who ambushed and were later joined by their children. The memory of his family stole the male's thoughts before he remembered what he was supposed to be doing.

       How was he supposed to do this anyways? All he knew was not to cross the borders, lest he would be welcomed with bared teeth and unsheathed claws. He didn't know how he was supposed to get their attention. Should he wait here and hope that one of them wandered across him? No, that would take too long. On the whim, the titan let out a yowling roar, announcing his presence at the borders. And then the giant plopped down and waited, his tail flicking and his fins perked with curiosity.

[Livid (RP)]

Livid had long ago become used to seeing strange things on the borders of Gemini. 

A human and a certain hellion with a fish (or was it a mammal, who cares?) certainly trumped all so far but the tally could only get more interesting. And exciting. The Strider of Gemini had just finished eating a freshly killed rabbit, so she was struggling with the side effects of a kind of food coma. It did not help that it was midday and the sun was bright in the sky above her. In a way, she was grateful. A raid or an attack was more prone to happen at dawn or dusk, when the Rangers were inactive. She was about to consider sleeping off her itis when a strange scent was blown in her face. Somebody was at the borders. Rolling her powerful muscles to rid herself of a developing cramp, Livid started forward and all traces of exhaustion left her once she sighted the beast.

He was a big one. His powerful build was not undermined by his size at all. It just made him wider than taller. Like a tank. Curious, Livid crept forward, nose twitching. The hellion was mostly feline in appearance, complete with the standard sabreteeth and immense fluff that she felt the urge to touch but, of course, thought better of it. Shaking off her initial uncertainty, Livid let out a growl of warning, as she always did with newcomers. Politeness was beneath her during these affairs. She did not believe in greeting strangers as if they were automatically friendly. Everybody was a suspect. EVERYBODY.

"You're standing at the borders of Gemini," the Strider declared. "State your name and business. Now."

Whether he was here for acceptance or a snack, she knew she had to fight this thing. She'd be a fool not to work out exactly what he could do. All traces of exhaustion was forgotten as she bristled visibly, waiting for an excuse to tear into the feline. Before she tested it, anyway. That would all come later.

[Ikaika]

OOC Note: Ikaika's behaviors are based off of cat body language and I foresee a culture clash between that and wolf body language.

       Ikaika didn't have to wait for long before someone came to his call. His head tilted to the side as he regarded the wolf in front of him. His tail raised in a friendly manner that would indicate that he was approachable and his ears pushed forwards to indicate that he was content. His crimson orbs blinked slowly to show that he felt comfortable and trusted the female in front of him.


       The beast noticed that there were a lot of wolves in these lands. He had been raised in a mixed family of sabretooth and snow leopards but had had little interaction with other species except a human woman named Aldene that had been a family friend. She told him a lot of stories and legends from her people and he had latched onto the idea of creatures doing great deeds and gods and goddesses.  


       Wait, she asked him a question. Or more of ordered him to state his name and why he was here. He thought for a second, taken off guard by her tone of voice. Was she mad at him or something? Were wolves just like that? His head tilted in confusion before he answered.

       "Uh, I-I'm Ikaika. I'd like to join Gemini....please?"

[Livid (RP)]

It was quite comical to see such an intimidating creature so taken aback by a wolf as unremarkable as her. Fear was good, though.

Fear was better than tearing the head off the first border guard you meet.

Sabres had not really been a problem for her in the North. Her pack had mostly dealt with bears or the occasional snow leopard - which were often chased off with ease - so sabres were a mystery to her and anything that was a mystery had the potential to be dangerous. She was not and never would be a happy-go-lucky border guard who would turn every acceptance into a social meeting. It was business, nothing more. Being on her guard had helped her survive, helped her gain her rank. Ice blue eyes never left the creature as he introduced himself.

"Uh, I-I'm Ikaika. I'd like to join Gemini....please?"

"Really?" Livid asked, circling the beast now. Yes, Gemini could certainly use such an fearsome specimen but did the fear impact his skill, his strength? Could he obey instructions? Was he honest? All these were things that Livid intended to find out. As always, she never gave something for nothing or simply gave on face value. Furthermore, she was curious about Ikaika and where he had originated from. Was it a place that Gemini should be weary of? Hellions were a strange grey area for her. On one paw, her friend, Anky, had been a hellion but, on the other, they were... different. Too different. In short, Livid had a prejudice against them. "Tell me about yourself, Ikaika. Where you come from, what you like to do and what you can do for us. Please be honest. It not only saves time, but it makes it far easier for me to test you and for you to do well in said tests."

With her requests (and they were requests, the beast was perfectly free to get the hell out if he didn't feel like talking) made, Livid would resume her spot in front of him, staring him down with evident suspicion and coldness. There was going to be no pity or leverage to be found here. This wasn't amateur hour with her. You're in the big leagues, buddy.

[Ikaika]

       Ikaika's eyebrow raised as the woman voiced some disbelief towards his request to join. Was Gemini a rare place for people to show up at? He didn't know too much about the pack - none at all - but he knew it was said to be a place for misfits. And Ikaika Stormeteer was a misfit - or at least he thought so. He wasn't your normal sabretooth - he had wings, a long tail, and some fin things on his head - and he stood out from his siblings in personality. So he was a misfit.

       The boy's two second zone out was ended when he realized that the woman was circling him. He did his best "owl" impression - short of spinning his head all the way around, though he came close to - as his wide vermilion eyes tried to follow her. She wanted him to tell her about himself? His home and what he could do? He did like speeding things up and it didn't seem too much of a task for him. Though the prospect of tests didn't sit well with him.

       What would the woman make the feline do? He wasn't very good at much but he dabbled a lot in different things. His attention span was short so they were really just a jumble of skills and by no means was he a master. His parents had given them some instruction in the art of survival however the boy was just too impulsive or zoned out to do that well in hunting. Not to mention he had the collective grace of a fish on land.

       And then he realized that he zoned out for a good thirty seconds. Sorry, had to collect my thoughts madame, he said awkwardly and then took a small breath.

       I don't really know exactly where I came from but I know it was up in the north, not like up where it's all ice and nothing but close enough. There wasn't like a sign or anything for the town name or anything - we really didn't exactly have a town. Just a couple of nice neighbors but there was this big place below where my père would go and trade. My père was some kind of merchant, really good one. He's also a great fighter and tells us a lot of stories. My dad is pretty cool too, though he doesn't talk that much. Like maybe three sentences in one go was a record for him. He's a good dad, just a bit quiet and all. He's really good at scavenging and hunting but he was amazing at stealth. Like he's quite a bit bigger than me and he has bigger wings, tail, and he has horns and a bunch of other thingies but he's like deadly silent and stuff. He does other stuff like work with this lady who helps him make things. Her name was Aldene and she's a human and like kinda old - like grey hair and stuff - but she is really good with her paws...hands. And...

       The beast's mouth was open for a second before it snapped shut. S-Sorry, got off track. You wanted to know what I could offer, le bien, I mean, right? Regardless of any response, he spoke again.

       So my père and my dad taught us a lot of things - us being my siblings and me. I have like, he reared back onto his haunches to count off his paw, Lyra'eve, Rosalie, Ikarus, Bestla, Adelaide, Joachim, Marrok, Caedmon, Roarke, and then he returned to a sitting position, Neuf, I mean, nine siblings. Me, Rosalie, Lyra'eve, and Ikarus are the oldest. Though supposedly Lyra'eve is the oldest because she was born first. Ikarus and I are like twins kinda, apparently, like we look really alike. It got annoying a bit since people would confuse us when we don't even act the same and he looked a bit different enough. mon dieux, I am glad to be free of that guy. The twin thing kinda runs in our family since my dad has a twin brother too, he's cool and all but eh, pas vraiment. Guess twins in my family always turn out total personality opposites. I feel sorry for the guy who confused my uncle Iofur for my dad and tried to mess with him and then the guy's nose totally got broken. Me and Ikarus look a lot like our dad though my sisters don't really look too much like him but they look a lot like père. But the other six are somehow like both of my parents combined? I mean we're all still family but it kinda makes my head spin. I mean my dad got kinda bigger before they were born and there was a lot of ro-

       The same process of realizing that he hadn't even answered the woman's question dawned on him and he just totally over-shared. D'accord - I mean, okay, skills.

       So my dad did most of the survival teaching I guess. I mean he was all scarred up so he probably knew a lot about surviving. He taught me and all of my siblings to hunt and stuff though père taught my sisters how to do some really cool climbing things. Me and Ikarus worked really well together, I'd chase stuff towards him and he'd make the kill. Though no one hunted like my dad with how he did it on his own. Oh, oui, and my père taught us a thing or two about fighting though my dad was really against it. Like it was the first time they ever fought...not a 'fight-fight' but more of like openly disagreeing and with some arguing in their room. That was the most I heard my dad talk, like more than three sentences in a row. But like it was the first time I ever saw them disagree. I mean it was like they could read each other's mind sometimes and I don't know a thing about romance but it was like they were âmes soeurs. Like-

       Okay so I can hunt, kind of fight but not very well enough to really win a fight against like a skilled fighter - even if they aren't my size. My dad taught me a thing or two about scavenging - he was really good at it - and I can craft a bit though smaller paw-ed people are a big help if we are working together or something. I can read pretty okay and I can write a little though big paws and all. My dad taught me and my siblings about rituals and stuff like the basic cleansing, blessing, enchanting, and those kind of stuff. All I need are the right materials and the right time and stuff and I can do things if you need...if you're interested in that kind of stuff. I'd never like curse anyone, I don't even know how. Uh, and I know a thing or two about languages and stuff. My père - that's father in his language - taught us so we're can speak it couramment, I mean fluently. I know like phrases and stuff in other tongues though it's nowhere near fluent or anything.

       He searched around for anything else to tell about himself.

       Oh and I know a lot about like farcir...uh stuff. I don't know what to call it but I know stuff about...uh. So the human I was telling you about, Aldene, she traveled a lot of places. Like a lot, a lot. So she told me about things like the Greek gods and goddesses; Zeus, Athena, Hermes, that kind of stuff. But there was also like the stories of Icarus - not my brother, it was Icarus with a 'c' not a 'k' - who was like a human or something who took these wings and flew too close to the sun and fell into the ocean. And not just stories from Greek but also like the ones with pyramids - Egyptians - that thought the sun was this boat or chariot and went to fight some big monster when the sun went down. And like there were gods with human bodies and animal heads and like the gods killed each other, even their own brothers. Noueux, right? And not only that but she told me about a bunch of other places and the stories and legends from there. My père also told us stories like how the first creatures - they changed from cats with my père and humans with Aldene - who were in this pretty garden place but then the girl - Eve, who my sister is named after - rebelled by eating an apple from this really important tree and got cursed.

       The boy paused again, This...isn't like normal for me - going off on that many tangents but you wanted me to tell you about myself and I got a bit stressed 'cause I heard tests and when I get a bit stressed I start to babble and stuff. I've been working on getting better and I'm not normally this scatter-brained but joining this pack, it's all so new to me so I'm kinda worried and stuff. I mean this entire scatterbrained thing happened a couple of times but like I'd normally talk myself hoarse before I get to this stage or someone would tell me to stop talking. I can learn, I really can...

       Then the hellion closed his mouth and looked back at the wolf. S'il vous plaît?

OOC:

Well, this isn't that much of an over-exaggeration of oversharing because I'm pretty sure if I wasn't so shy, I'd be going on and on about my life if asked and feeling awkward. I used Google translate for the French and hovertext translations.

[Livid (RP)]

(ooc: Ikaika's player has requested that Livid deny his character's acceptance)

Livid's eyes narrowed dangerously as the hellion displayed evident confusion at her questioning. What? Did he honestly think he could just stroll on in without even answering a simple question. Gemini was not some little funhouse that you could just waltz into and have a ball. It was a pack that depended on cooperation and order. Just as Livid readied herself to remind this boy that he would do well to answer her questions, the hellion spoke.

"Sorry, had to collect my thoughts madame."

Mistaking the emphasis on her title as a mark of blatant disrespect, Livid felt a growl rumbling in her throat. Not only that, but collect his thoughts? Why? Was 'tell me about yourself' too much of a complex request for him? The more Livid thought about it, the more she did not like it. "No, either spill the beans now or get the hell out," she snapped. "Unless you're planning on lying to me, your life story shouldn't be that difficult to work out!"

After all, if you're not an enemy or somebody who is otherwise trying to take advantage of Gemini's well-known hospitality, there should be no issues with that, correct? Even if he was being genuinely obtuse, the Strider would still be unimpressed. Her pack needed recruits that were quick on their feet and could defend themselves and seek out food. Not idiots who equated telling a bit about themselves to complex arithmetic.

"I don't really know exactly where I came from but I know it was up in the north, not like up where it's all ice and nothing but close enough. There wasn't like a sign or anything for the town name or anything - we really didn't exactly have a town. Just a couple of nice neighbors but there was this big place below where my père would go and trade. My père was some kind of merchant, really good one. He's also a great fighter and tells us a lot of stories. My dad is pretty cool too, though he doesn't talk that much. Like maybe three sentences in one go was a record for him. He's a good dad, just a bit quiet and all. He's really good at scavenging and hunting but he was amazing at stealth. Like he's quite a bit bigger than me and he has bigger wings, tail, and he has horns and a bunch of other thingies but he's like deadly silent and stuff. He does other stuff like work with this lady who helps him make things. Her name was Aldene and she's a human and like kinda old - like grey hair and stuff - but she is really good with her paws...hands. And..."

Livid felt like she was losing IQ points listening to him. The boy could spin quite the tale but none of it was about him? She immediately wondered if he was being deliberately evasive and began to feel decidedly edgy. However, she was ready to give him the benefit of the doubt. It was likely he was just nervous. Eventually, he shook himself free of whatever it was that bothered him and tried to get himself back on track. Tried.

"S-Sorry, got off track. You wanted to know what I could offer, le bien, I mean, right? So my père and my dad taught us a lot of things - us being my siblings and me. I have like, he reared back onto his haunches to count off his paw, Lyra'eve, Rosalie, Ikarus, Bestla, Adelaide, Joachim, Marrok, Caedmon, Roarke, and then he returned to a sitting position, Neuf, I mean, nine siblings. Me, Rosalie, Lyra'eve, and Ikarus are the oldest. Though supposedly Lyra'eve is the oldest because she was born first. Ikarus and I are like twins kinda, apparently, like we look really alike. It got annoying a bit since people would confuse us when we don't even act the same and he looked a bit different enough. mon dieux, I am glad to be free of that guy. The twin thing kinda runs in our family since my dad has a twin brother too, he's cool and all but eh, pas vraiment. Guess twins in my family always turn out total personality opposites. I feel sorry for the guy who confused my uncle Iofur for my dad and tried to mess with him and then the guy's nose totally got broken. Me and Ikarus look a lot like our dad though my sisters don't really look too much like him but they look a lot like père. But the other six are somehow like both of my parents combined? I mean we're all still family but it kinda makes my head spin. I mean my dad got kinda bigger before they were born and there was a lot of ro-"



Livid finally held up a paw to signal the young hellion to stop. She was beyond glad that it had been she who had encountered this joker and not one of her subordinates. They would have probably fallen asleep because of all the rambling and allowed this guy to prance around and probably doom the place. "I'm very sorry, I don't think this is going to work out-!" she began, though she wasn't sorry at all. She just wanted him to stop talking and go away and let her see to the recruits that she could actually make use of. Except the hellion kept on going. It's a shame that their enemies couldn't be talked to death because - damn - she'd accept Ikaika in a heartbeat if that were the case.

"So my dad did most of the survival teaching I guess. ("I'm sorry but can you please just-!") I mean he was all scarred up so he probably knew a lot about surviving. He taught me and all of my siblings to hunt and stuff though père taught my sisters how to do some really cool climbing things. Me and Ikarus worked really well together, I'd chase stuff towards him and he'd make the kill. ("Talking over me is not going to make me-!") Though no one hunted like my dad with how he did it on his own. Oh, oui, and my père taught us a thing or two about fighting though my dad was really against it. Like it was the first time they ever fought...not a 'fight-fight' but more of like openly disagreeing and with some arguing in their room. ("Stop. TALKING!") That was the most I heard my dad talk, like more than three sentences in a row. But like it was the first time I ever saw them disagree. I mean it was like they could read each other's mind sometimes and I don't know a thing about romance but it was like they were âmes soeurs. Like-"

"ENOUGH!" Livid cried, birds taking flight from the trees as her cry echoed throughout the scene. She was left panting, wide-eyed and furious. Just... where had this guy come from? The Strider cleared her throat, smoothed down her bristled fur and considered the hellion coldly. "I asked for some facts about yourself and what you could do, not a novel. Gemini is not right for you if you cannot follow a simple command. I'd like you to leave now, please. Be extremely thankful you caught me on one of my good days."

All this would be said in a low, dangerous tone that indicated Livid was beyond done. If the hellion tried to put up any resistance, she would try and call for the Vanguards but something told her this one would leave. It seemed he had a story to tell elsewhere... and a story to follow. Sure enough, Ikaika would eventually turn and leave the borders of Gemini and Livid would be left with the burning desire to obliterate the meeting from her memory.