Post by zephyr on Sept 14, 2011 18:29:30 GMT
The tranquil expanse of sky above the border was interrupted by a series of screeches and shouts. From the ground it likely sounded just like a restless wind and if one happened to look they'd only see blurred shapes darting in and out of cloud banks in a majestic dance, but if one had very good eyesight one would see that this was anything but majestic. Two winged beings, gryphons were swooping and curving attempting to locate something in particular, something they lost in the whisps of clouds.
"Where'd he go?"
"Find him!"
One gryphon was a royal blue with golden wingtips while the other was bright green, but in a split second a white gryphon burst from a cloud bank and careened into his green adversary. The two clashed and tumbled, the white gryphon behind his victim, his front claws grasping the green's wings and rendering them useless as his hind claws raked the green's back and legs and the green screamed. The blue and gold was diving to rescue his friend, but the white gryphon let go of his victim, but kick so she tumbled, leaving her to scramble to right herself and extend her wings, but by now she was dangerously close to the ground and could hardly get enough powerful strokes to slow her descent before colliding with the ground and tumbling beak over talons for some distance before coming to a stop with a groan.
It wasn't enough to be fatal, or even dangerous, but the fall would see the green gryphon out of the fight. The white flipped upside down and locked talons with the blue gryphon, catching him off guard and he used the momentum to swing him around and released, sending him careening towards the earth. Without a chance to even start to slow his descent the blue slammed into the earth with a dull thud. The white gryphon landed gracefully beside the fallen blue, his broken body mangled, wings outstretched on the grass. The two enemies locked eyes for a brief moment, both knew the blue wouldn't survive, but it would be a slow and painful death. The white swiftly took his talons and tore the blue's throat, crimson blood splattering the ground.
"Be at peace" He said softly. He turned and walked over to the green who was struggling to stand. She had seen the death blow of her friend.
"You...bastard!" She cried before coughing up blood. She had gotten upright at least, her feathers ruffled and matted with blood, a nasty cut sealing her right eye shut and both wings limp by her side, likely both broken. She ambled forward shakily as if still trying to attack, strongly favoring her rear left leg.
"Stop struggling Astana. You can't win."
"DIE!!!" Astana lunged, foretalon extended, but the white gryphon easily sidestepped and struck her injured leg, causing her to cry out and fall forward. His talon quickly grasped the back of her neck, pinning her to the ground as the white gryphon's blueish beak appeared next to her ear.
"Listen to me very carefully" He hissed, and the green gryphon froze. She'd never seen the white like this, never seen him furious. "The only reason you're still alive is because you're not a threat. You're pathetic and always have been, it's insulting to think I trained you. Gere was dangerous, so I killed him, but you are a joke."
Astana broke down, sobs wracking her body as she finally realized everything was hopeless. "Why Zephyr? After everything, why'd you leave? You had everything you could ever want and you threw it away. What happened?" Zephyr removed his talons and stepped a couple feet away. Astana made no attempt to move, just stared at him with tear-stained eyes.
"If you honestly can't answer that, then you never really knew me."
"We were friends once" Astana said weakly, thoughts of a happier time bringing a faint smile to her beak.
"Someone will find you and take you home, but don't ever look for me again, for I will kill you. This is your only warning." With that Zephyr lunged forward, extended his wings and was airborne, flying some distance over the Greenluba plains, the aerial battle had carried him further than he'd realized. He gently landed in a copse of trees, which hid the still-warm carcass of a wildabeast. It was this kill that had provoked the other two gryphons, they had seen what they thought would be an easy meal, chasing off the predator that killed it and taking it for themselves, for wildabeast were no easy prey. Little did they know it had been Zephyr's kill, and as soon as they realized they should've fled.
There was a kill order on his head, the extremely dangerous traitor Zephyr Zaahir. There were probably false or highly exaggerated stories circulating the Cloud Seas in his absence, stories to frighten upstart hatchlings into behaving and the like. Extremely dangerous was an understatement. Not only was he one of the Syr Clan's elite flyers he had an uncanny battle sense. But traitor? Zephyr did nothing to betray his former clan, he expressed his concerns in a futile attempt to change the future of the clan and then he left. No battle, no giving away secrets. He expressed his desire to live alone, apart from the clan and their ways and was branded a traitor. They couldn't chance him giving away any secrets, with all the information he knew he could sell bits and pieces and it would be the end of his former clan.
The white gryphon tore into the wildabeast, alternating between eating a little at a time and patrolling the edge of the copse. This was not his territory, it was in fact dangerously close to the border between the Terra wolves and the Kaldar lynx clan and he didn't want to risk being surprised by any passing patrols. He knew he wouldn't be able to eat the entire carcass by himself, there was just too much meat, but he would be able to tear off large enough chunks that he could carry to his temporary home.
As he ate his fill, he noticed two shadows crossing the ground, too large to be normal birds, these were gryphons. Zephyr instinctively took cover, despite knowing there was no chance he'd be spotted from the air. He peeked out and saw the two figures heading over to where he left Astana and Geere's corpse. He had to see where they'd go next, would they fly to the Greenluba clans and plead for a healer or would Astana tell them which way he flew so they could finally apprehend the traitor?
He watched for several long minutes, from his position his hawk eyes could see them, but unless they knew exactly where to look, he would remain undetected. There were no frantic voices, no immediate activity, no alarms sounding. This would generally be a good time to leave the area. As a rogue, every second that one lingered in one place for too long was another second closer to being chased out. He'd lived all over Albasia, from distant nooks in the Cloud Seas, right underneath the beaks of his old clan, to the harsh environments of the deserts and the aquatic paradise of Hollowbone Lake. He was welcomed nowhere, although he was sure each territory had noticed his presence, and there were some that tolerated his presence.
He watched for a little while longer, and feeling safe went back to his meal and sliced off large chunks with his talons. He couldn't carry it all back to his temporary home, so he'd make a couple of trips, assuming it was still here when he came back. He paused for a moment, realizing just how much trouble he could cause to any one territory, then quickly shook his head. It was fun to entertain such wicked thoughts, but only because he knew he would never commit them unless pushed to an extreme. Survival came first. Survival always came first, honor and pride second. He'd weathered years on Albasia by himself, he could survive for many more.
Zephyr grasped the largest chunks of meat but stopped, flying now would give away his position to the other gryhons and he'd have another fight on his hands. Instead he half-flew, half-climbed into the trees of the copse and wedged the meat there. He might be here for a while. The white gryphon settled on a large branch himself, his front talons hanging lazily over the edge and his beak tucked under his left wing and swiftly fell asleep. Should there be any disturbance, he was a very light sleeper.
"Where'd he go?"
"Find him!"
One gryphon was a royal blue with golden wingtips while the other was bright green, but in a split second a white gryphon burst from a cloud bank and careened into his green adversary. The two clashed and tumbled, the white gryphon behind his victim, his front claws grasping the green's wings and rendering them useless as his hind claws raked the green's back and legs and the green screamed. The blue and gold was diving to rescue his friend, but the white gryphon let go of his victim, but kick so she tumbled, leaving her to scramble to right herself and extend her wings, but by now she was dangerously close to the ground and could hardly get enough powerful strokes to slow her descent before colliding with the ground and tumbling beak over talons for some distance before coming to a stop with a groan.
It wasn't enough to be fatal, or even dangerous, but the fall would see the green gryphon out of the fight. The white flipped upside down and locked talons with the blue gryphon, catching him off guard and he used the momentum to swing him around and released, sending him careening towards the earth. Without a chance to even start to slow his descent the blue slammed into the earth with a dull thud. The white gryphon landed gracefully beside the fallen blue, his broken body mangled, wings outstretched on the grass. The two enemies locked eyes for a brief moment, both knew the blue wouldn't survive, but it would be a slow and painful death. The white swiftly took his talons and tore the blue's throat, crimson blood splattering the ground.
"Be at peace" He said softly. He turned and walked over to the green who was struggling to stand. She had seen the death blow of her friend.
"You...bastard!" She cried before coughing up blood. She had gotten upright at least, her feathers ruffled and matted with blood, a nasty cut sealing her right eye shut and both wings limp by her side, likely both broken. She ambled forward shakily as if still trying to attack, strongly favoring her rear left leg.
"Stop struggling Astana. You can't win."
"DIE!!!" Astana lunged, foretalon extended, but the white gryphon easily sidestepped and struck her injured leg, causing her to cry out and fall forward. His talon quickly grasped the back of her neck, pinning her to the ground as the white gryphon's blueish beak appeared next to her ear.
"Listen to me very carefully" He hissed, and the green gryphon froze. She'd never seen the white like this, never seen him furious. "The only reason you're still alive is because you're not a threat. You're pathetic and always have been, it's insulting to think I trained you. Gere was dangerous, so I killed him, but you are a joke."
Astana broke down, sobs wracking her body as she finally realized everything was hopeless. "Why Zephyr? After everything, why'd you leave? You had everything you could ever want and you threw it away. What happened?" Zephyr removed his talons and stepped a couple feet away. Astana made no attempt to move, just stared at him with tear-stained eyes.
"If you honestly can't answer that, then you never really knew me."
"We were friends once" Astana said weakly, thoughts of a happier time bringing a faint smile to her beak.
"Someone will find you and take you home, but don't ever look for me again, for I will kill you. This is your only warning." With that Zephyr lunged forward, extended his wings and was airborne, flying some distance over the Greenluba plains, the aerial battle had carried him further than he'd realized. He gently landed in a copse of trees, which hid the still-warm carcass of a wildabeast. It was this kill that had provoked the other two gryphons, they had seen what they thought would be an easy meal, chasing off the predator that killed it and taking it for themselves, for wildabeast were no easy prey. Little did they know it had been Zephyr's kill, and as soon as they realized they should've fled.
There was a kill order on his head, the extremely dangerous traitor Zephyr Zaahir. There were probably false or highly exaggerated stories circulating the Cloud Seas in his absence, stories to frighten upstart hatchlings into behaving and the like. Extremely dangerous was an understatement. Not only was he one of the Syr Clan's elite flyers he had an uncanny battle sense. But traitor? Zephyr did nothing to betray his former clan, he expressed his concerns in a futile attempt to change the future of the clan and then he left. No battle, no giving away secrets. He expressed his desire to live alone, apart from the clan and their ways and was branded a traitor. They couldn't chance him giving away any secrets, with all the information he knew he could sell bits and pieces and it would be the end of his former clan.
The white gryphon tore into the wildabeast, alternating between eating a little at a time and patrolling the edge of the copse. This was not his territory, it was in fact dangerously close to the border between the Terra wolves and the Kaldar lynx clan and he didn't want to risk being surprised by any passing patrols. He knew he wouldn't be able to eat the entire carcass by himself, there was just too much meat, but he would be able to tear off large enough chunks that he could carry to his temporary home.
As he ate his fill, he noticed two shadows crossing the ground, too large to be normal birds, these were gryphons. Zephyr instinctively took cover, despite knowing there was no chance he'd be spotted from the air. He peeked out and saw the two figures heading over to where he left Astana and Geere's corpse. He had to see where they'd go next, would they fly to the Greenluba clans and plead for a healer or would Astana tell them which way he flew so they could finally apprehend the traitor?
He watched for several long minutes, from his position his hawk eyes could see them, but unless they knew exactly where to look, he would remain undetected. There were no frantic voices, no immediate activity, no alarms sounding. This would generally be a good time to leave the area. As a rogue, every second that one lingered in one place for too long was another second closer to being chased out. He'd lived all over Albasia, from distant nooks in the Cloud Seas, right underneath the beaks of his old clan, to the harsh environments of the deserts and the aquatic paradise of Hollowbone Lake. He was welcomed nowhere, although he was sure each territory had noticed his presence, and there were some that tolerated his presence.
He watched for a little while longer, and feeling safe went back to his meal and sliced off large chunks with his talons. He couldn't carry it all back to his temporary home, so he'd make a couple of trips, assuming it was still here when he came back. He paused for a moment, realizing just how much trouble he could cause to any one territory, then quickly shook his head. It was fun to entertain such wicked thoughts, but only because he knew he would never commit them unless pushed to an extreme. Survival came first. Survival always came first, honor and pride second. He'd weathered years on Albasia by himself, he could survive for many more.
Zephyr grasped the largest chunks of meat but stopped, flying now would give away his position to the other gryhons and he'd have another fight on his hands. Instead he half-flew, half-climbed into the trees of the copse and wedged the meat there. He might be here for a while. The white gryphon settled on a large branch himself, his front talons hanging lazily over the edge and his beak tucked under his left wing and swiftly fell asleep. Should there be any disturbance, he was a very light sleeper.