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 Posted: Thu Aug 09, 2007 9:08 am
That having been the question on Patience's mind, Patience followed Ysa and Creseyda's companion, whose name he still didn't know. Though, to be fair, she knew neither his name nor the name of his griffin. Ambrosia followed him so closely that he nearly tripped over her several times, barely recovering each time.
"What is your name?" Ysa called over her shoulder as she led them into the main portion of the village.
Patience wasn't sure if she was talking to him, and so he made no reply. He would have to speak to these people eventually, he knew, but he wanted to wait until he had observed as much of them as he could. He did not like entering blindly into a situation.
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Posted: Fri Aug 10, 2007 6:50 pm
"My name is Mishu," she said. She wasn't paying strict attention, instead observing the surroundings. There were pictures of griffins on literally everything. Carved into doors, walls, on the roofs, in mosaics on the street. They were obsesssed. "And this is..." She turned to look at her companion, remembering they hadn't met before. She wondered what the chances of them landing at the same time were.
Creseyda was much more at ease, though she was rarely, if ever, distraught. Instead she continually pushed her head against her human, her habit when she was hungry or wanted some sort of attention.
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Posted: Mon Aug 13, 2007 11:36 am
Patience returned Mishu's glance with a neutral one of his own.
"I am Patience," he said. "The griffin accompanying me was called Ambrosia by her former companion."
Ambrosia, upon hearing her name, looked at Patience expectantly. She hoped that he was telling her it was time to leave, but she was not so lucky. He had only spoken her name in passing. It was accompanied by none of the commands he had been teaching her recognize, nor any of the words Niko had used with her. Her ears drooped disappointedly.
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Posted: Tue Aug 14, 2007 9:29 am
Mishu nodded. She liked the name for a man, actually. It seemed to fit him, as he wasn't rash to act or speak, yet had clearly thought of things. Mishu was nearly the opposite, which was why she got along so well with Cressy. They were both impulsive and fast actors.
Ysa led them to a small house. almost a shack, actually, and held the door open, gesturing for them to go in. Mishu shrugged and gave Cressy a final gentle rub on her beak. "Keep Ambrosia company," she said softly. "I think she's nervous." The griffin squawked softly in response, then turned to her companion, stepping near to her side.
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Posted: Wed Aug 15, 2007 6:46 am
Patience followed Mishu and Ysa into the shabby building. He hoped no one actually lived there. He wasn't exactly what one might call snobbish, being of too practical a nature for snobbery, but he didn't care for filth either. In his profession, dirt was the enemy, and he tried to avoid contact with it when he could. It would seem, in this case, that such contact would be unavoidable, however. It did not bode well, he thought, that this was where they had been taken after inquiring after food and drink.
"Thank you," he murmured to Mishu. "I know very little about her, but I suspect she is not used to places such as this."
He resisted the urge to add that he, too, was unused to such places. It would have been ridiculous. He wasn't used to anything but the Eyrie. This place was very little like the Eyrie.
Inside, he was pleased to note that the place was clean and well-kept, despite its diminutive size and unimpressive exterior. In a corner, by a window, a young man sat in a wooden chair, knotting what looked like a net of some sort. Patience couldn't imagine what use they might have for a net. There was nowhere to fish nearby, and the net looked far too small to be effective in trapping anything larger than a griffin chick.
Ysa looked expectantly at the young man.
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Posted: Wed Aug 15, 2007 12:04 pm
Mishu smiled to let him know it wasn't a problem. Griffins tended to be transparent when it came to mood. It was one of the things she liked about them and didn't care for in many humans: they were guileless. They didn't try to lie to you.
Mishu turned to take in the room, noting the man in the corner, but distracted suddenly when the door closed behind her. Ysa hadn't come in. Apparently, they had been sent to see this man. Mishu wondered what was going on.
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Posted: Sat Aug 25, 2007 7:22 pm
Patience managed not to start when the door shut behind them, though he wondered who had closed it. He could see Ysa clearly, and there was no one else present who might have done it. Nevertheless, he did not like such things. They reminded him uncomfortably of his abilities. If he concentrated hard enough, he could do such things, if he didn't mind the subsequent migraine. He spent most of his life trying to pretend he didn't have these abilities.
The man making the net did not look up, and Ysa was clearly becoming impatient. Finally, she spoke sharply to him:
"Coruse, tell me what you're seeing."
Just a note, Coruse is able to watch a person's memories if he concentrates very hard and if the person permits it or is unaware of his perusal. Otherwise, he is largely catatonic.
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Posted: Sun Aug 26, 2007 5:37 pm
"The woman," Coruse said, as if in a trance. "She is walking by the stream dressed in fine silks and satins... There is griffin with her, only a chick... The chick hops from rock to rock in the stream, making the woman laugh. She calls the chick Cressy..."
Mishu gasped, hearing about herself. It clearly was her, from a time that seemed so long ago, before she had left home. Could it be he saw... that time?
He continued. "She pulls berries from a raspberry vine and chews them. Then she hears voices... familiar voices, a man and a woman.... Troilus is his name..."
"NO!" Mishu shouted. "Stop it! Stop it! Get out of my head!" He stepped forward, intending to hit him if he didn't stop. To kill him if need be. That event would never be told. Not if she could help it. Not by anyone.
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Posted: Mon Aug 27, 2007 6:39 pm
Patience's eyes widened in alarm as he realized what Coruse was doing. His lip curled in an involuntary sneer of distaste. He found such use of one's gifts to be an intrusion and unforgivable. To be fair, he had done it on occasion, but only when the Eyrie's flight leader requested that he do so. He had long ago learned to control that aspect of his gift, suppressing it so that he could barely use it anymore.
Instinctively, he moved, physically placing himself between Coruse and Mishu. His own mental shields were powerful because of the control he exerted over himself, and with a great strain he could extend them to others. Usualy it was easier just to force people to try to work through him, however. As he was doing now.
"I believe that's enough," Patience said quietly. "I don't think she wishes others to see what has happened in her past."
He couldn't speak any louder: it would break his concentration. Coruse obviously used this power more frequently than Patience, and Patience would not be able to hold him off for too much longer. Coruse seemed quite single-minded in his invasion.
Patience's head was beginning to ache, and he could feel Coruse breaking through his barriers.
"This isn't necessary," he whispered to Ysa.
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Posted: Tue Aug 28, 2007 9:03 am
Mishu's hand clenched her longknife tightly, her knuckles turning white. She took deep breaths, trying to calm herself. She shook slightly, uncontrollably. She had never told anyone that secret, and to have it almost come out so suddenly, from a stranger, she was terrified and enraged. Her eyes flickered between Coruse and Ysa, not sure which she was more upset with. She tried to keep thoughts of blood from her mind.
Ysa raised an eyebrow. "If he can read your memories you are not gods. What are you?"
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Posted: Thu Aug 30, 2007 6:24 am
Gods? That was something new.
"You might have asked that before. We never claimed to be gods, Ysa."
Patience knew tales of gods that walked in human form, but he had never understood such gods. He lived the human condition, and he didn't find it anything like so appealing as to live it if there was another choice. The only thing he found appealing, really, was getting to heal people and Silence.
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Posted: Thu Aug 30, 2007 9:42 am
 "Yet you ride the divine animals. How is it a mortal comes to have that relationship with a griffin?"
Mishu's jaw dropped. Gods? Divine animals? What was going on here? were these people insane?
"I think maybe it's time we left," she said, taking steps toward Ysa.
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Posted: Fri Aug 31, 2007 8:24 am
Patience was less taken aback by Ysa's assertion that griffins were divine animals. He knew that there were cultures that had revered griffins, after all, he had just never expected that he would find himself in the midst of one such culture.
"We were chosen by the griffins to be their companions," Patience replied, motioning with one hand for Mishu to wait. It wasn't actually the truth in his case, but it was usually the way of things. "Surely you don't question the judgment of such a divine creature?"
The last he had added as a precaution, in case someone took it into their head to try to separate he and Mishu from their griffins. He wasn't sure how Ambrosia would act if someone did try to separate them, but he doubted that Mishu's Creseyda would be anything like agreeable.
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Posted: Fri Aug 31, 2007 12:05 pm
Mishu wasn't normally one to lie, or hold back laughter when others held absurd beliefs, but she sensed something dangerous about the situation. She held still as Patience spoke.
Ysa seemed a bit taken aback by Patience's conclusion, as if she hadn't expected it. "We shall see," she finally said, her tone slightly ominous.
Mishu narrowed her eyes. They might need to play this carefully. Or perhaps she was paranoid. Better safe than sorry though. She looked to Patience to see what his next move was.
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Posted: Mon Sep 03, 2007 5:19 pm
Patience inclined his head politely, but his expression was resolute.
"Actually, Ysa, there won't really be much time for that. Mishu and I are on urgent business, and we will be leaving shortly with our griffins. I do thank you for your hospitality, however." His tone was calm, soothing, and reasonable, the one he used when working with volatile patients whose next actions he was uncertain of.
He was somewhat concerned, saying this in the presence of Coruse, whose abilities could overwhelm his all too easily, and whom Ysa might decide to use to keep them there, but he didn't think he ought to wait any longer to make it clear to Ysa that they had no intention of staying. He also hoped that he had been firm enough when including the griffins in their leave-taking.
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