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On the far reach of the world there lives a true fable. Woods twisted and blackened have lived in this area so ancient that no one remembers a time the woods were young. The winds that blow cause an eerie whispering sound. Is that even the wind? Or the souls of old the woods have collected over time.

These are the disappearing woods. They only appear during the month of October only to disappear after the month is over.

Why this happens it is not clear.

What is clear is that it is October when the seasons begin to change and Gryphons from all reaches of the lands get ready for that special day on October thirty first where they dress up and scare each other. Oh, and there are all kinds of treats to be had too.

But some Gryphons are thrill seekers. It s a long lived tradition that Gryphons test their bravery by sneaking in to the woods to see what they can find.

It was curious, this patch of woods. Others told her it only appeared once a year. Some said it was haunted.
But she also hadn't heard of Gryphons disappearing. Only tales of the wood, and it's strange disappearing act. A few tales spoke of strange sounds from the wood, the wind in the branches, but that same sound was heard by younglings on stormy nights from the same trees they played in. It was in the mind, not the tree. So that didn’t seem so bad, so dangerous. It just seemed mysterious, and mysteries spawned curiosity. Curiosity needed to be satisfied. And while curiosity may have killed the cat, what most people forgot was that satisfaction brought it back.

And Persea loved the forest, the trees, and woods. It all lead to the inevitable conclusion that these woods must be explored. She entered unapprehensive, but watchful, as the mist between the trees made it harder to see. The canopy of the trees obscured the light, only letting a faint glimmer through here or there. They were so old, these trees, so large. So many years they must have spent growing. Unfortunately she wasn't too far in before she tripped, having been staring at the tree canopy, and fell into a hole...And was somehow back at the entrance?

Persea shook some of the dark dirt from her feathers and fur, proof that she had indeed fallen and not just been lost in thought. She had not imagined the whole thing. Why did it happen, her being sent back? Did the woods not like her? Impossible. Plants may be alive, but they didn’t FEEL, not like other creatures did.

She moved forward, determined to find out the secret here. She was more convinced now that there WAS a mystery in these woods. For good or bad, Persea felt the need to find it out. If it was bad, Persea thought, maybe she could help? She wasn’t sure, but you could never know anything new if you did not try. Once again, nothing stood out. The woods remained dark and still, quiet. The space between their trunks opened up in a clear path, it seemed. She began to pick up her pace between the dark trees, looking ahead instead of at her feet. That was her downfall, as another root tripped her. A hole that hadn't been there opened up underneath and again left her at the edge of the forest.

She now stared at the woods a moment, dark trees standing tall, firm. It didn't seem like they could move, but she knew they were alive somehow. All plants were, they grew! Some even liked music!

"Why?" She shouted at them, not because she was angry, but because she wasn't sure they could hear. "Why do you want to keep me out? What did I do? Or did someone else do something to you?"

And since she wanted to know why, and the trees after a while remained silent, she ventured back between them. For a third time they closed around her, and she continued on, searching for why. The dark woods were silent for a while. Quietly a wind began to blow through the branches, softly rustling them, rubbing them against one another. It almost sounded like words, almost. It almost sounded ominous. She paused, looking up at the trees around her. They still didn’t look like they could move, and it was the wind. Maybe that was the only way they could speak? If they could speak.

But Persea just wanted to know why, and she wouldn't find out by turning back. She kept going, and let the wind rustle the branches around her.

The winds only got stronger as the gryphon would find if she continued forward. The trees wavered in the winds giving the effect that the woods were infact haunted. Stronger and stronger the winds got until as fast as they started a sudden stop happened.

From out of the shadows stepped a dark wild looking gryphon. Seeing the other he lifted a brow. Quickly he turned and took off deeper into the woods. The winds started back up again.

Persea hunched down and dug her claw/paws into the ground as she walked. The wind was getting stronger, and the whispering with it. She knew she was not crazy, but it was starting to seem more like the trees themselves were speaking. It almost seemed like they were shaking in their spots, rooted to the ground unable to get away.

And the wind just blew harder, making it worse. She couldn’t hear anything over the rustling branches. Instead, she glanced around continuously, watching for anything. She was still halfway through taking another careful step when the wind simply stopped, and the trees were silent. She froze, startled. Slowly her head turned, scanning the woods around her, and there! Yes there was movement! And it was… another gryphon? The dark male seemed a bit menacing, looming from the shadows suddenly like he did. His coloring made him blend in, and she couldn’t decipher his expression. He just looked wild. And obviously not expecting to see her, from the quirk of his brow.

Before anything could be said, it almost felt like he was running from her, as he turned back into the woods. The wind returned as he disappeared into the shadows. It was almost like they had stopped for him, but she wasn’t sure. And she didn’t have time to think. She lunged in the direction he had disappeared in. “Wait!” She called out, “Please, wait! Do you know what is going on here? Please talk to me!”

The other voices had gotten drowned out by the blowing winds and the snapping twigs under paw. But one voice got through to the dark crimson gryphon one of a female. She wanted him to stop? He stopped. They seemed friendly?

They wanted to know what was going on. He frowned.

"Okay so.." He took a breath, "We have this tradition of sneaking in to the woods every October... Well I did sneak in but got lost. It was like the woods wanted me to keep going in circles. I'm not sure what you mean whats going on. I just know I've been circling for a very long time. "

So much for being helpful.