EndSeveral eggs sat in the griffin nest and the mother struggled to keep all seven warm and safe. Four belonged to her, but three were from another griffin. She glared at those gold eggs, hating them for jeopardizing her own precious bunch. How was she to feed so many mouths in these harsh times?! It was all that wretches fault, if she hadn't gone and had a bunch of nestlings against flock rules none of this would have happened! Then bringing sickness in... It was unforgivable, the blueish-gray griffin hissed to herself. Still, what could one do?
Glaring off into the distance from the building she'd made into her home, tired and hungry with barely any left of her once-proud flock to support her, she allowed herself the thought of exactly what she could do to the troublesome eggs so high above the ground.
Shifting all the eggs closer to the edge and glancing around furtively, she arranged the three so despised ones so they were in danger of falling. Then, feigning sleep, she shifted slightly and brushed two of them off the edge at once, missing the smallest. Her annoyed growl was drowned out by a shriek as her mate, returning home with food, noticed their fall and subsequent smash.
Still, all wasn't lost! With a slightly belated twitch the mother leapt up, being sure to knock the last egg from her nest as she looked around in apparent confusion.
The smallest of the gold eggs tumbled down, but her black and gray mate dropped his catch and flung himself to it's rescue. Hiding her smirk, she wailed in what she felt sure was the proper response to losing three eggs.
Surely the egg wouldn't have survived that! Pleased, she went to her mate, who watched her with faintly suspicious eyes upon noticing the color of the fallen shell shards. Whatever they were, he kept his suspicions to himself when he said, "There's no point mourning over the fallen eggs, just let this be a lesson for those that remain. Our flock is too small to spare any of them!"
Bowing her head, the blue-gray female nodded in apparent grief.
She was pleased, there was certainly no chance of the runt egg surviving and she made sure to make a fuss over it. She'd scream her grief when it didn't hatch too, and make a speech for the tragic loss of all Sidde's offspring.
Her mate watched her, troubled but silent for now.
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||BirthThe tiny griffin mewled at his first taste of fresh air, unaware of the hateful glare of the one who should have welcomed him to life. He had no way of knowing her thoughts, the shame and resentment she felt that a runt dared hatch before her own dear children. Even if his egg had been laid over two days before her own it was no consolation. Luckily for the young griffin, he had a surprising ally.
Ladruel nuzzled his mate, worried by her odd behavior lately. Isn't it supposed to be us males that hate others' children..? He shook his head and sighed, but smiled at his hatchlings. Stormy colored kittens tumbled around each other while the tiny bright yellow one complained loudly.
He purred at them all contently.
Jijia was less satisfied. "Complaining already. Even if it wasn't bright enough to glow in the dark, you'd know which one was Sidde's child."
Ladruel nipped her ear. "Don't speak ill of the dead."
Jijia's annoyed hough was cut off by the largest kit squalling for food and she hurried to placate her while Ladruel stretched and went off to hunt. The yellow kitten watched him with huge aquamarine eyes and chirped trustingly before being tackled by one of his bigger, yet younger, siblings.
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try to make yourself useful." Her words, even in a memory, are cold and, though I didn't know it then, resentful.
"Do I have a name, Mother?" She turns, the haughty glare made me feel like scum.
"What does a
runt need a name for? It's not as though anyone will remember you once you're gone." Never once did she hit me, never would she even touch me if she could avoid it, but even all these years later I feel the claws in those words.
"What can I do to get a name? I'll do it." I glared at her, what a sight that must have been to any witnesses, an undersized yellow chick and the intimidating figure of Jijia.
"Hmph. Even if you became as infamous as a god you'd still be a nameless runt to me. You are nothing, you will never be anything but a bother."
We'll see, mother... One day I'll make you say my name, don't you dare forget. The name I chose with Fathers' and Sis' help, I'll make you realize I'm not worthless.
Sieg...
Sieg, Sieg, SIEG! I do have a name dammit!
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||LossCold reptilian eyes wake me from my dream, a nightmare I haven't had in a long time. For an instant, anxiousness overtakes me and, heart hammering, I look around frantically to find, ah, there. Arcanym slumbers peacefully in an old human mattress.
He claims he's gotten too big to cuddle with me, but on cold, rainy nights he never mentions that. Nilda and the other two children are nowhere to be seen and I hope they're doing well. I haven't seen her lately...
More anxiousness, my bed is too hot, I feel some disgusting little vermin crawling through my feathers and making me itch. There won't be any sleep tonight, I think.
Standing quietly, I walk towards the opening in the north wall, unable to suppress the purr that rides every outward breath when I see my adorable Arc. Kats, ryus, birds, and other more exotic creatures nap strewn about the area, or hunt silently. Loki flicks one ear as I walk by and burrows her head further into her tails. Skaed watches me with glowing green orbs, then stands and follows.
Outside my purr dies away in the cool air, morning is still a few hours off. The dream fades, but the memories it brings don't. With a sigh, I flop on the ground while Skaed goes about her business hunting and being a nuisance.
Meska was the biggest of us, then Kamir, Gariph, and Lahin. I was oldest, and also the smallest. That day dawned cool and crisp, an early fall day that seemed full of promise. "Lets go!" Kamir, always ready to prove something or other, was determined that they were going to bring home supper that day. Meska watched in amusement. She'd take any challenge Kamir could throw at her, and beat him every time. The rest of us groaned, knowing today was going to be a busy day, whether we wanted it to be or not.
Predictably, Meska and Kamir talked us into going with them. Walking through the trees, all of us still too young to fly, though I was quickly getting the hang of it, we tried our luck at catching things. Kamir was first, he caught a lizard, kind of. We watched in bemusement as he pulled his head out of a hole in a tree to find all he had was a wriggling tail. The rest had disappeared deeper into the hole and had no intention of coming out. Meska, of course, got the real prize. With all the skill she'd honed using us smaller siblings as practice, she caught a kat, or perhaps vice-versa.
Yowling, scratching, biting, and stinging each other, they tore the rotting forest floor apart. Meska was only a little bigger then the kat, which obviously had more fighting experience. With outraged screams they chased each other between trees and clearings, leaving a trail of flying fur and debris to mark their path. Cheering our big sister, we followed as fast as we could.
A sudden flash of green and there was an impossibly loud roar, Meska leapt backwards, fur fluffed as far as possible and still screeching as a giant pair of flashing jaws that snapped down on her original position. A gurgling growl echoed through the now silent trees as the raptor slowly raised its' over-sized skull. Too many eyes watched us, brownish-green orbs that could just as easily have been rocks than eyes. The kat sat a few steps back, licking it's wounds and watching us with a smug expression.
Gariph regained the use of his tongue first. "Uh, hi. That's your kat huh? I'm so sorry, we'll just go now, alright?" We started backing off.
"Oh? Is that what you will do?"
The giant lizard's smooth voice didn't at all match his appearance. He shook his head, realigning his jaws, and flexed huge toenails as long as our arms. "I see quite a few wounds on Leahth, but not so many on you little vermin. That doesn't seem fair at all."
Kamir, fur standing on end, glared at him. "This is griffin territory, you and that kat better get lost before our flock comes and makes you into lunch!"
"Heh... HehehehahahaHAHAHA!" Shivering, we backed further away from the lizard, the raptor, knowing Kamir had picked the wrong response but not knowing why.
"I guess I'll have to make sure none of that flock finds out then." Faster then our clumsy feet could turn around the raptor had leapt clear over us and stood between us and the direction of our home. His low laughter echoed strangely in the trees and he padded towards us making barely a sound in the fallen leaves.
Kamir...
There was a shriek too loud to be his, then everything in my mind is a blur of red blood, screams, and low, taunting laughter. I had backed myself under a log, they said later, though I have no recollection. Meska told me the story later, when I said I couldn't remember she looked much older then my younger sister should. She said Kamir had attacked first and been crushed with one vicious stomp of the raptor's talons. Gariph had tried to save him, snapping at the clawed foot and hanging on no matter what, but to no avail. Only Meska's bites and stings kept him from repeating Kamir's fate. She couldn't protect his eyes though, Gariph went blind that day.
Lahin, the second smallest of us, maybe even weaker than I, was the last to join in, but when he did he went berserk and wouldn't let go of their attacker's neck. It was his desperation that bought them enough time for rescuers to arrive and drive off the raptor, but he also paid a deep price and didn't survive the night. That's what I pieced together from Meska and the other flock griffins, Gariph refused to say anything to me about it no matter how much I begged.
The guilt was unimaginable, and Jijia certainly made things no easier for me. The accusation in her eyes was more than I could stand, it mirrored the voice in my own mind. Why didn't I fight too? Why did I survive when my siblings didn't? And most of all, how dare I forget and live on when the pain of those memories wracked my surviving siblings? How dare I..?
Things became much more tense between Jijia and I after that. Ladruel couldn't always be there to protect me, and my siblings needed his attention far more than me. I couldn't stay in the flock for very long and started spending a lot of time wandering.
That was dangerous too, and I didn't want to be a burden, but there was nothing else to do.
I met a lot of people, and learned of the so-called gods.
I thought, if there are beings that powerful, why don't they get off their thrones and help the common people? Why did monsters get to walk free and kill hatchlings? Why weren't they punished, why wasn't anyone defending those who couldn't protect themselves?
I didn't find any answers, so I decided the only thing to do was become a god myself and answer those questions myself. I'd become famous, Sidde's shamed runt would become the most revered kimera in the city!
It didn't work out that way, under my thick feathers there are a lot of scars I've collected from every failure along the way. It was a long, painful trip just to end up back where I started. I don't want to think that time was wasted though, I met a lot of really great people, I found a mate and have three children who might actually be more beautiful than myself. I found homes for creatures that were all alone, and I've met the so-called gods.
The promise I made I haven't forgotten, I'll make Jijia acknowledge me. Is Gariph is still angry at me? How is he doing without his sight?
I should go visit, but the thought still scares me, I haven't been there in a long time. How odd that the infamous Syn is less threatening than an old, gray griffin. Heh.
The sun begins to peek over the horizon, and I finally fall asleep again, but not for more than a few minutes. The air is filled with the complaints of dozens of hungry creatures, and ignoring them just might put me on the menu.
Another day, maybe things will work out this time.
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