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It was an overcast day. David Zauch (he tried not to go by his father's last name, so had adopted a new one. No offense, but, seriously? Meriweather?!) had just arrived on the ferry, and seen his worried mother off to plan a bratty sister's wedding to which he wasn't invited. Rachel's powerful arm of influence, no doubt. Rachel had never liked him. It hadn't exactly helped heir relationship how he'd, in her words, "ruined everything!" about her wedding. It couldn't have been Jess. She was quieter, gentler, sweeter. Unlike Rachel, David sometimes could've sworn she actually liked him as her brother.

But, whatever, he didn't want to go, anyway. He'd stay out here on this little island in the middle of nowhere and babysit his mother's pet griffin. Sure.

"Wow," David murmured, opening the fridge. His mother had prepared for his visit. Instead of trustng him to cook, she had made all of his favorite casseroles in advance. The fridge was stuffed with them. All he had to do was pop one of them in the oven for fifteen minutes, and he'd have a feast just like old times. He nodded to himself, pleased, as he closed the door of the fridge.

Tayte sat ermine-style on the kitchen floor, watching him with his head cocked, wings folded delicately against his back. He chirped as the fridge door closed. David stepped back, wiping his hands on his slacks thoughtfully. He looked over at Tayte and grinned. "I think I'm living the high life for a while, don't you?"

Tayte chirped in agreement. David wasn't sure if the griffin actually understood him, but he figured he might as well speak to him as he would a child. Maybe it would help him develop, or something cool like that.

"So, XAT-Man, where's your food?"

The griffin cocked its head to the opposite side, clicked his beak, then stood up and strolled toward a locked cupboard. He sat down and gazed up at it, making a purring, warbling sound in his throat.

"There?" David asked, stepping up beside him and untying the coiled rope. "That?"

Tayte chirped.

"Mom feeds you Delicacy cat food?"

David had returned for another visit from the mainland, but this time he didn't want to play with Tayte. He apparently had more important things to do, like conversing in a serious manner with Doris, who looked a little sick. Tayte, not at all the empathetic kind, was forced to spend the day as he spent many of his days, digging up the backyard, burying and re-discovering random shiny treasures. He waddled out a little farther than usual today. Maybe he'd discover something new, and hide his hurt that Davod was ignoring him at the same time.

You act so much like a dog it, appalls me.

That was Draike's way of saying good morning. Tayte chirped at him dissmissively. He'd learned to ignore Draike a long time ago. The cat was apparently still holding a grudge against him for something. Or maybe that was just the way he was. Beak and talons busily digging through the dirt, he paid no mind to the cat sitting regally a few feet away, his delicate face twisted in feline disgust.

Really, don't you have anything better to do than dig up the garden?

Draike's bullying fell on deaf ears. Tayte had just found something interesting. Something gold and roundish and shiny...He somehow managed to hook it onto his fron talon and continued digging.

You disgust me.

What was this? A small square of gold...a long blue strap of a leathery material...a dark blue cloth....Tayte's eyes clouded over. He didn't remember hiding these things, but they seemed...important. Tayte continued digging with greater fervor.

What are you doing?

A tingly feeling had come over the griffin. He was completely zoned, his eyes cloudy, his breathing heavy. He had stopped digging, having unearthed...something else. It looked like the corner of a leather pouch, a dark brown in color...Tayte's paw came to rest on it, and then-

He exploded.

Or at least that's how it appeared to Draike, who went streaking off like a bat out of the Underworld, screeching at the top of his lungs.

But Tayte felt a mystifying feeling of peace, a sensation he had never felt before, as blue and gold magic swirled around him. He felt himself lifting off the ground, though he wasn't flapping his wings. Then there was a moment of excruciating pain. Tayte shreiked in pain, a shreik which slowly died down to a cry. Tayte writhed in the air.

And then it was all over. He fell back to the earth, landing hard on his hands and knees, chest rising and falling heavily with each labored breath. Tayte stared down in surprise at his hands, sensitive and strange-feeling. He could feel the moist dirt beneath him with perfect detail. He breathed a sigh of awe, and his eyes widened with surprise. Slowly, carefully, he brought a hand to his mouth, surprising himself to find his beak replaced by soft, sensitive lips. He gasped as he lost his balance, toppling forward onto his face.

The young Aerandir struggled to get back up, but he found himself unnaturally exhausted. He also realized, looking around, that he had wandered out of the sight of the house. Where had he come from? Where was he? Any natural instincts he ought to have were lost on him. He began to panic. Where was home? What had happened to him? Had he done soemthing wrong? Was this a punishment? Was he going to die? Where was david? Where was Dodo? Tayte began to cry, another alien sensation. Feeling something warm and wet against his softly furred cheek startled him, which only made him cry harder.

"What the-!" It was a deep voice that he didn't recognize, crying out in surprise. Tayte bawled in fear and confusion and then, blessedly, collapsed into a welcoming darkness. He had passed out.

David, who had been sitting at the table, leapt up so quickly he knocked the chair down. "What?! There're landmines on this stupid island?" He cried, dashing out the door.

"What the-?" David stammered when he saw the boy, white-furred and blue-winged and crying all over the place. When the child saw him, he gave a sob of fear and collapsed.

Immensely confused, David knelt at the boys side. He'd passed out from fear. David bit his lip.

"Oh my." It was Doris, coming up far more slowly behind her son. "Well, well. Look at him. He's absolutely beautiful, is he not?" She cooed as though this were a very normal thing to happen to a pet gryphon.

David couldn't wrap his head around it. This was Tayte? Whoa. So Doris hadn't been exaggerating when she referred to the gryph as her grandson. He was seriously...like...a kid.

A very pretty kid, too. He was petite and pale, his lashes long and his rumpled hair an attractive ebony black. And then there were the wings, incredible blue and black feathered butterfly wings.

"Well, he looks like he needs some rest. Would you bring him, David? Poor thing. It may take him a while to get used to his new body."

Still in shock of a sort, David gathered the small boy into his arms. He turned and followed Doris back through the forest and into the backyard of her cottage. David stopped in the doorway, the boy still in his hands, and cast a thoughtful look out over teh trees.

Things were going to be...very different now.

Gaia just ate this post. -_- Will try again later.