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 Posted: Mon Feb 12, 2007 10:28 am
((Anyone want to play? Feel free to jump in! ))
A dark shadow flitted back and forth across the rolling plains and hills. The sunshine was particularly warm this afternoon, though therew as a bite to the wind. Thankfully, Irysin didn't mind. With powerful beats of her wings, the gryphon gave a shriek to declare her position in the world. She was young, she was beautiful, and the cold wind wouldn't stand much of a chance against her thick fur and feathers.
Ebony grey, the rainbow striped female surveyed her domain. At least, what she BELIEVED was hers. Too large to live in town with Liu, the impressionable gryphon had to fend for herself near the mountains, forests and country.
Thankfully, though, Irysin had little to complain about. If she had trouble fetching a kill, Liu always brought her treats and other goodies to spoil her. If she wanted to be left alone, Liu usually let her be. If Irysin wanted company and could find none through her own kind, then a visit from her companion and life was complete. When Liu left town, Irysin was often nearby, guarding her protectively and always within reach.
Even now, the female wasn't particularly far from the small villgae. The town was still easily recognized along the horizon, and her peasant farmhand was oftne out working the fields. Not much of a lady, but Irysin didn't know the difference.
Liu was hers, and had cared for her, and was there for her - that was all Irysin cared to know.
Screeching again, the female dove for the ground, claws extended as if she were about to make a kill. Catching an updraft at the last minute, the females feet barely grazed the long grasses before she skyrocketed back up and away from the earth.
As if in a dance, the gryphon delighted herself upon the updrafts and downdrafts. More steady in her flying now than she had been in her smaller and younger days, Irysin flew confidently and practiced aeriel tricks and maneuvers.
It was quite the impressive display for any whom might happen to see.
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Posted: Mon Feb 12, 2007 10:46 am
Someone did see. Four someones, in fact.
Silence and her three companions emerged from the woods into the wide open expanse where overhead a large creature cast a winged shadow on the grass. Trill was the first to give voice to his discovery of the shadow though Chade, as Silence had come to call the young, dark grey griffin which trotted at her heels like a pet, soon squeaked his astonishment, too. If Meshach had noticed the large creature circling ovehead, he gave no sign.
Silence herself did not notice the circling, swooping, gliding figure until Trill forcibly directed her gaze and brought it to her attention by means of taking his wrist lightly in his beak and hovering a little above her head. He was becoming quite strong. Life on the road agreed with her griffin companion.
"Meshach?" she asked, knowing he could see far better than she.
"A griffin," the dragon replied to her unspoken question. "I could ask her to land."
Silence considered that. In order to do that, he would have to change his form and return to his natural dragon form. It unnerved young Chade when he did that, and she'd just as soon not risk spooking the griffin above either.
"No. She'll land if she wants to," Silence replied, noticing too late that Trill had already jumped aloft, winging his way skyward to greet the strange new griffin. Chade showed no interest in trying to emulate Trill's actions, and chose instead to climb up Silence's pant leg and into her arms. "Ai, that hurts, Chade."
She shaded her eyes so that she might continue to look up at the two flying griffins. Trill was marginally smaller than the strange griffin, but not by much. Presumably, there was not much age difference between them, then. Even if the griffin turned out to be wild, as long as it wasn't hostile, it would be good for Trill to be able to socialize. He had been a very social creature at the Eyrie, and overjoyed when she had acquired Chade.
Far above, Trill pumped his wings to draw up to a level with the black-and-rainbow she-griffin. He crowed a greeting to her.
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Posted: Mon Feb 12, 2007 11:09 am
Enjoying her game of flight, Irysin hardly noticed the crowd far below. Though she kept on guard while on land - in the air, it was difficult to miss any approaching dangers. Besides - there wasn't a heck of a lot that WOULD mess with a grown gryphon. Irysin herself was still growing into the last of her adult size. She wasn't the largest, most intimidating of females . . . . but she was quick and quite maneuverable.
Irysin caught sight of the form as she was wheeling around, preparing to catch another down draft. Her dance was interrupted, though, as a smaller dart of brown crowed at her. Had he been much larger, the female might have confused his approach with that of an attack - not ALL gryphons were necessarily friendly and amicable.
But his friendly call reassured Irysin - whom was still quite naive - and she relaxed. Pausing her antics, she slowed in her flight and hovered for a moment, allowing Trill to catch up. Wings catching a thermal, she slowly, slowly started to lazily circle the newcomer.
Who was he? She'd never met him before, his scent was unfamiliar and a bit confusing. There were others he frequented around, or so the scent seemed to say. Crowing back, delight rang through her voice.
Irysin was still very much so young at heart. It wasn't often she ran in to another gryphon, and the brown speckeled adolescent was a sight for sore eyes. Perhaps he too might want to play?
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Posted: Mon Feb 12, 2007 11:26 am
Silence watched Trill wheel in the air above and sat down carefully, trying to avoid startling the skittish Chade. After a glance in her direction, Meshach did likewise, leaning back on his elbows and crossing his legs at the ankles to watch the griffins flying above.
Above, Trill skreeled with delight. A body close to his own size and strength to play with! With his Silence-human and with the youngling Chade he had to be careful not to hurt them, and it was hard to be careful and carefree at once. The dragon-in-human-form was not good to play with.
Testing this new acquaintance, he spread his wings and pumped hard to rise above her, and then he folded his wings back, dropping into a hunting dive, fanning his wings back several feet before he reached her. After that, he allowed the warm thermal to carry him for a bit.
Fun! he exclaimed with childlike glee, rolling with his wings spiraling at either side.
The Eyrie griffins were far more suspicious, and he was related to some of them, and many had seen him hatch. It was good to be away from that, though he missed some of the people there. Patience-human and Courage-human were nice, but Valour-human made his Silence cry too many times to be nice anymore. He used to be. His griffin, H'raik, Trill's father, had never been nice. Once, he had slashed Trill badly just behind the ear.
These thoughts seemed almost to weigh the adolescent griffin down physically and he drifted lower than Irysin, presenting an easy target for the older female griffin, if she chose to attack. If she did, he had a surprise ready for her.
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Posted: Mon Feb 12, 2007 11:53 am
Irysin was incredibly pleased by this choice of playmate. It had been a long time since she'd had an oppurtunity to meet an amiable gryphon beak-to-beak. She had a few memories of her younger days . . . a gentle male, older than she, and another that she could stand to do without. The snarky one. But the young male that so eagerly joined her in flight . . . This was good.
Indeed it is, she agreed, her eyes bright and wild with delight. The black and rainbow striped gryphon loved to fly - to be truly free, away from the dangers and concerns of the world below.
As Trill dove to attack, Irysin made a hasty backwing maneuver. The female rose up and away from the contact that might have been made had he actually tried to strike. A good dodge kept her away from his talons and her wings caught the air like a parachute, bringing her higher up in the sky.
So - that was the game, was it? She gave an encouraging trill, reassuring him that this game was only in jest. She watched, ignorant of the thoughts that ran through the younger gryphons mind. Part of his body language did cause Irysin a moments concern, but it was a concern she over looked.
Finding him within range of her claws, the female gave a defiant shriek. Pumping her broad wings hard, the gryphon female struck. Closing her wings, she dove at him, talons ready to make contact with the kill. Of course, Irysin had no intention of actually harming Trill, just get close enough to cause him to run. He was the one who'd started this little game of tag. . .
((Two notes: I'll probably drag Liu in to the mix shortly. :3 And B. the gryphons ARE allowed to speak to one another, yes? I know they can't really understand humans, and when I joined it was unclear whether or not BP would let us let the gryphons "talk" to one another. Just curious whether or not letting Irysin actually speak with Trill will be all right once these kidlets land. ))
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Posted: Mon Feb 12, 2007 12:22 pm
I always figured griffins could talk to each other in the same way humans talk to each other. After all, they should speak their own language (unless they were raised totally away from other griffins, I would guess). I've had Trill talk to others before and no one's jumped down my throat. Incidentally, Meshach is a dragon. He can understand griffins, but mostly chooses not to unless specifically addressed.
Trill waited until he could feel the wind slipstreaming around Irysin, as he had learned in his practices at the Eyrie, and then he banked sharply, rolling to snare her talons with his in a grip which would do no damage if she didn't struggle too hard.
It was only a little after this maneuver that Trill realized that his wings were not yet strong enough to support both of their weights for any length of time exceeding a few moments. At least, not if he planned to remain sky-bound, as he did, and so he released his talons' grip and backwinged until he was at a distance to take greater sweeps with his wings.
Below, Silence glanced over at Meshach, totally unsure of what went through his head. She knew little of him, save that he was a dragon who had chosen to assume a human form to travel with her. She had a vague idea of why he chose to travel with her, but it made her blush to think of it. Because he liked kissing her, indeed! What a ridiculous reason for an immortal creature of myth and legend to choose to do anything.
When she looked back at Trill and the dark griffin, she feared that they were fighting, being totally unable to comprehend their communication, as Meshach might have been able to do, were he so inclined. He had never once offered to translate for her the avian and feline sounds (which she couldn't hear anyway) and motions which served as communication between Trill and Chade, though he communicated with them on rare occasions.
Trill felt his Silence's gaze on him and dropped into a controlled dive, worried that she was in some peril, that she stared so fixedly at him, though he was just playing. He wished he could convey that to her, somehow, in case that was what was worrying her. He landed and walked a few feet to butt her shoulder with his head as a cat might to reassure her. She worried too much. She might learn from the dragon-in-human-shape and not worry so much.
Come down and meet my Silence-human, he cried up to Irysin, eager to introduce his new friend to his favorite creature in the world.
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Posted: Mon Feb 12, 2007 12:46 pm
((Sounds good to me! ^.^ ))
Irysin was surprised when her talons were captured by Trill. She surely hadn't been expecting such a maneuver, and instinct did tell her to struggle some. It wasn't a panicked or agressive need to escape, as it might have been in a true attack, but more of a curiousity to see what strenght lie within Trill.
Thankfully, the male gryphon couldn't quite manage hanging on to both. Irysin herself doubted she was quite strong enough to carry the adolescent had rolls been reversed. But perhaps if she grew larger, and continue to grow strong. . .
Impressive. She complimented as he let her go. Wounded pride? Not at all! A new trick she'd learned, or at least a new idea to work with. An imaginative gryphon, no doubt. Perhaps he had a few more tricks he might be willing to share. She'd ask him, after their flight was through.
Glancing over at her new friend, Irysin watched as he parted ways. Was something wrong. . ? Perhaps he needed to go. Banking overhead, the female let the aeriel games come to an end. Eyes focused on the brown gryphon, she only then noticed the few forms that made up others. So he wasn't alone then...
Interesting.
Curiousity beckoning - along with Trill's call - Irysin made lazy circles in the sky. She took her time about landing, caution now entering her movements and decision. She picked out a second gryphon, and a pair of humans. Whatever was a Silence-human? Irysin had a human and yet her Liu was far from silent.
And then there was a second human-thing. None of their scents or features were familiar, and thus the gryphon stayed alert. She doubted they'd cause her trouble or harm, but one just never new. There were still four of them, and only one of her.
Backwinging, the female dropped about ten feet away. She kept her wings open, giving them a good stretch before flipping them lazily to her back. Reaching out with her neck, ears pressed forward, she sniffed the air, picking up and sorting through scents.
Churring softly, almost shyly, the rainbow one glanced from the small gryphon to Trill. A look at Silence, the one her brown companion had stepped close to. Is that the one you call Silence-human?
Liu had caught sight of the familiar black form weaving and diving far off in the distance. She'd been working out in the pastures and had been chastised for daydreaming on more than one occassion. But now, with her chores finished, the peasant girl could go out and spend some time with Irysin.
Her pride and joy, her only lucky lot in life.
As she pressed her way through the small woods, heading down the familiar path that would open up to the clearing, she kept her gaze out for her friend and companion. Her black form had disappearead from sight in the sky - but then, the small woods and surroudning trees didn't give her a complete view of the sky. Irysin was rarely far from Liu, and the brown haired girl took great comfort in the thought.
Making her way through the underbrush, it wouldn't take her long to find the clearing where Irysin - and the others - gathered.
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Posted: Mon Feb 12, 2007 2:26 pm
Silence watched the third griffin (counting Chade) land and held very still, making to effort to climb to her feet. Chade squirmed out of her arms and walked stiff-legged to the other griffin, his feathers and fur standing on end. He had grown during their time walking through the forest, and was really getting much too large to be held anymore, but pity for his skittish nature led Silence to coddle him more than he ought.
The dark grey griffin youngling raised his head and sniffed delicately to scent the griffin who had just landed, and cheeped a query to Trill: Safe?
Safe, Trill agreed, taking Silence's wrist in his beak once more - carefully. He led her by the wrist in an awkward gait to Irysin. In response to the older griffin's query he said, Yes. She is my Silence. My human.
His chest puffed out with pride and his blue eyes seemed to increase in luminosity as he referred to the human he dragged behind her. Chade capered around their feet, pleased to meet a new Safe friend. He and Trill agreed that the dragon-in-human-form was not Safe, and they were not sure if he was a friend.
The dragon watched another point, not the polite and shy meeting of friends. He strained with his human ears to hear the approach of another human being, a real one, like Silence. He wanted to shift to another form with more finely attuned senses, but out of deference to Silence's unspoken wish that he remain non-threatening to this new griffin he refrained.
Silence looked at the black griffin with rainbow stripes and tips. She had not seen a griffin so brightly colored before. All of the griffins at the Eyrie were relatively dull, non-descript in their coloration, resembling the tones of avians or felines for the most part. No bird or cat that she knew of was colored thus. The dark female was beautiful to look at, being clearly fit of body and seemingly fit of mind. She hadn't the manner of a wild griffin though, from Silence's limited experience with H'raik.
Come closer, Trill urged.
It was unclear whether he spoke to Silence, who could neither hear nor understand, Chade, or Irysin, but it was Chade who obeyed most readily, stepping even closer to the strange female whose coloration was something like his own until he was forced to stop, because to come any closer would mean his sight could not encompass the whole of her.
I'm Chade, the youngest griffin present said by means of introduction. For one so young, his tones for speech were surprisingly low, and far more cat-like than Trill's. He's Trill.
Meshach, having determined that the approaching human was young, female, and posed no threat, returned his gaze to the griffin. Had one been able to read his mind, they would have noted speculation on his behalf regarding Trill's behavior, leading and protecting Silence as though she were his mate, rather than his human companion. He wondered if this was a passing fancy of the young griffins, that his and Silence's mutual possession of each other made them like mates, of if one of the griffins at the Eyrie had told the spotted male something like that. His elders always told him that immortals which spent too much time with humans could become warped, unsound of mind.
Perhaps it was merely Silence who inspired this behavior in Trill. She certainly did have an air about her that bespoke a need to be protected and which affected most males in her proximity, inspiring them to want to do just that. Even the strangers they had passed on the road had been oddly courteous and helpful, offering Silence tokens spelled for protection. She refused all such offerings, stating that she was safe enough, with two griffins and Meshach to serve as guards.
In the end, he decided that it made little difference.
Silence held one tentative hand out to the beautiful griffin female, demonstrating the courteous Eyrie protocol for greeting a griffin whose rider was not nearby. She remained in that pose, very still once more, waiting for the female to make the next move.
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Posted: Tue Feb 13, 2007 10:10 am
((Sorry if the post isn't up to par. I had it all written and before I sent it, my computer crashed so I lost it. And I always feel my re-written posts are never as good as the originals. n.n ))
The rainbow-striped Irysin studied the group with a curious sort of air. She wasn't at all intimidated or frightened by them, nor was she hostile or agressive. Her violet eyes were bright and curious, and one could easily see she was finishing up the last of her growth. Her body was in peak perfection - no scars from battles, a healthy glow that made her feathers and fur shine, and the air that she possessed about her was laid back. She wasn't a griffin that lived in fear of her surroundings, for better and for worse.
Ears pricked forward as Chade first approached. The little grey didn't seem nearly as bold as her spotted companion, but be that as it may. Tilting her head to the left, then right, she stretched out her head to get a better look at the young one. A soff churr ruffled through her voice, and she clicked her beak softly at him in greeting.
I'm Irysin, she crooned a response, glancing from Trill, to Silence, then Chade. And it's a pleasure to meet you both. . . A glance at Meshach in the background, And your humans.
The male-one that stayed away held a curous air about him. The scents that made up his definition of being were . . . strange. It was human but seemingly more so. Something she couldn't place, something she couldn't define, like a mystery unraveling before her. Were all male-humans this odd? Maybe he was just special. Whatever the case, Irysin didn't mind that the male-one stayed back. He was a puzzle she could work on later.
Violet eyes met Silence's, and the griffin studied the she-human. Crooning softly in vocal greeting, she sniffed at the proffered hand. Exactly what was she to do with it. . . ? You seem to have a kind friend your Silence-human. You should meet mine some - She stopped, ears swiveling to the right.
Feathers ruffeling, the black griffin turned her head directly at the spot Meshach had been looking. Was that . . . ? Yes, yes of course. Her violet eyes seemed to perk in delight and her tail tip whipped back and forth in pleasure.
What timing! A glance back at Silence, and then at Trill and Chade. Mine comes, and I know her as Liu. The griffin's body language had changed from placid curiousity to a more excited nature. But she didn't move from her spot, nor did she make a scene. For one, she didn't want to startle any in the new group - and Chade seemed a bit more reserved than the rest. Secondly, she wanted Liu to find her, so therefor she could meet her new friends.
Liu finally managed to make it through the last of the surrounding woolands. The empty land that lay before her, the hills of the countryside and plains made the woman smile. She loved the openess of the world before her, and always felt so free. As if her life wasn't attached to her poor village, as if there truly was something more to look forward to. Sometimes, the brown haired woman felt as if she could run away and never look back. Sometimes, she thought of packing up her goods, and racing away with Irysin on a great adventure.
. . . but that was foolish thinking, was it not? Irysin was her love, her pride and joy, but where would she go with such a creature? There weren't many places that harbored griffins.
Still, the thought was fun, if nothing more than a dream.
Eyes to sky, she tried to pick out where her silly girl had gotton to. A familiar whistle, one not man-made but griffin made, caught the girl off guard. Oh - so she wasn't in flight, she'd landed! Rushing over the hill to greet her favored love, Liu paused when the group came in view.
Not far stood a man and a woman, Irysin, and two young griffins! Surprise, then curiousity. Who were they? Friendly folk, she hoped. . . Irysin didn't seem concerned though, and with the close proximity of the woman and griffins, Liu could only trust her friends judgement.
Brushing back her wind blown hair, part of the peasant girl suddenly felt . . . dirty. A shame she'd rushed out after work and hadn't changed her clothes. Looking exactly like the poor peasant she was, Liu tried to hide her stained clothes with a smile. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything. . ."
Irysin crooned reassuringly, eyes only on Liu. Pawing at the ground, almost a bit impatiently, the she-griffin beckoned Liu closer. Come on now, they won't bite. A glance at Chade and Trill, and her own pride radiated throughout. There she is. That's my Liu, my friend.
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Posted: Tue Feb 13, 2007 1:05 pm
Poor thing! I hate when that happens.
Trill chirped with amusement. That one isn't one of ours, he responded to Irysin, referring to Meshach. He's not a very good human sometimes.
Silence, Meshach said mentally. To your right.
Without hesitation, Silence turned her head, suddenly realizing what a disadvantage her deafness put her at. She had not heard the other woman's greeting, and now had to exhibit extraordinarily bad manners and read her thoughts to get the gist of what had been said. Unless...
Meshach, did she say anything? She seems to expect an answer. Judging by her expression, anyway.
She asked if she was interrupting anything. You didn't sense her?
No. I didn't. I don't always.
Silence cut off her telepathic communication with Meshach and smiled at the newcomer.
"You're interrupting nothing, really. An introduction of sorts. I'm Silence. The spotted griffin is Trill, and the small grey is Chade. Is she yours?" By she, Silence meant the griffin Trill had led her to, and who had sniffed her hand.
Trill moved toward Liu and sketch the formal bow which the Eyrie taught its griffins to perform when meeting another griffin-rider. Chade watched Trill perform his trick, his head cocked and his tail twitching with amusement, and sidled up to Silence like a cat. He twined himself around her legs, causing her to trip forward, toward Liu.
At Liu's appearance, Meshach rose gracefully to his feet and moved to stand just behind Silence. He covered the distance quickly, but gave the semblance of having moved at a leisurely pace. His turquoise eyes skimmed over the Liu, confirming his earlier prediction that she was harmless. He had no idea that he gave the impression of being one who guarded Silence, by his position and sudden watchfulness, any more than Chade had that he acted like a cat.
Sorry about all the jumping around. My mom came home in the middle of the post and I completely lost my train of thought.
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Posted: Tue Feb 13, 2007 1:52 pm
((Oh, no worries! I know how getting interrupted can totally crash those trains of thought. n.n ))
Well wasn't this quite the sight! Her eyes drifted over each of the party members, taking a curious look at each in turn. Silence and Meshach weren't the first she'd met whom kept the company of griffins. While Irysin had been nothing more than a chick, a small troublemaker covered in down, Liu had the oppurtunity to meet two others whom kept in the company of griffins. But after those two meetings, her luck meeting others had diminished completely. So meeting Silence, with not one but two griffs, Liu couldn't help but be pleased.
"A pleasure to meet you all," she responded, offering a polite dip to the group. See? She had manners, even if she weren't the most elegent of ladies. At Silence's question on regards to Irysin, the Liu practically beamed with pride. The smile broadened, and she gave a quick nod. "Aye, indeed she is," green eyes drifted over to the rainbow-striped lady in question. "Her name's Irysin, and I'm Liu."
Wings spreading wide, in a bit of a lazy stretch, the playful gryphon moved. Feeling much to lazy to just prance over to her companion, the female chose to fly. Pouncing from where she'd stat, wings spread, she stirred up the air and dust with a few downstrokes of her wings. Catching a slight breeze, wings still spread, she glided down to land neatly beside Liu. Snapping her wings back, Irysin nuzzled Liu's head and hair, violet eyes only for the girl before her.
Liu was always impressed by her love, and a small giggle escaped her lips as Irysin's feathers tickeled her cheek. "She's a bit of a show off," Liu explained apologettically to the woman.
What are you doing? Irysin asked Trill, a violet eye studying the male. Thus far, the female had noticed a few unusual displays. Was he bowing before Liu like some humans did ladies? Or was he merely stretching? The female was as ignorant as Liu about Eyeries, and hadn't a clue when it came to such formalities.
As Trill greeted Liu, the girl couldn't help but laugh. "Such a gentleman!" She asked, dipping in to a curtsie in response. Griffin-riders? Liu hadn't a clue that such forlk existed. She'd heard through stories that the creatures could be tamed enough to be ridden, and she'd even given thought of flying with Irysin. But . . . an Eyerie? Nothing but myths, legends, and fairytales.
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Posted: Wed Feb 14, 2007 5:20 am
Did BP's ruling on griffin speech mean that griffins can talk to one another, just not to humans?
Silence watched Liu's mouth as she talked, though she'd already learned that she possessed no skill at lip-reading. She was forced to use her telepathic abilities to determine what Liu was saying. Along with the greeting and introduction, Silence picked up a hint of self-consciousness. To know more about that would require further probing, and Patience had told her repeatedly that it was not only a dreadful breach of protocol to probe a person's mind without permission, but that it could be dangerous if they knew how to defend themselves against such actions.
"Irysin. Liu," she repeated, nodding to each in turn. "I wouldn't worry about the showing off. Trill does it too. He's doing it right now. That's the formal bow an Eyrie griffin performs when greeting another griffin rider."
It was an effort to maintain a steady voice level, and she had to keep her fingers lightly on her throat to make sure that she was breathing the correct way for sound to come out at all when she spoke, feeling for the tell-tale vibration which meant she was speaking, and not just mouthing words while exhaling.
Trill rose from his elaborate bow and smugly answered Irysin, It's how griffins greet other griffins' humans where I was born. He accompanied this answer with a graceful wing-shrug, indicating that it was hardly worth mentioning.
Chade, having decided that despite Meshach's protective motion toward Silence there was no real danger, relaxed enough to approach Liu on his own. He made no attempt to mimic Trill's bow, instead choosing to catch her scent. She labored, there was a smell of sweat, and outside, based on the other scents. He withdrew and returned to Silence, mrring softly that the Liu-human was safe.
Silence reached down and skritched Chade behind his large tufted ears and started forward. "Irysin is beautiful. Her colors are quite vibrant. We have few griffins which sport such markings at the Eyrie."
Meshach offered an unconvincing smile and said to Silence telepathically, It may be for the best if you refrain from mentioning the Eyrie. It has been my experience that your home has fallen into being little more than legend in this age, and it would undoubtedly attract unwanted attention. Do you plan to introduce me?
Silence made no attempt to reply, as he then took it upon himself to introduce himself to Liu, offering her no opportunity to do so. His smile became charming as he spoke, fixing Liu with his brilliant turquoise eyes.
"Good day, Liu. I'm Meshach."
Silence sensed his speech differently than she did others'. It was because he was a dragon, she supposed, and was understandable to anyone, when he chose to be. When she spoke with anyone else, she had to "listen" mentally to determine what they had said aloud, and sometimes she "heard" more than she was meant to hear. It made answering a bit of a challenge at times, since she still sometimes answered what had not been spoken. Which was why she watched lips, even though she had not learned to read them.
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Posted: Fri Feb 16, 2007 5:50 pm
Liu was more than a little naive when it came to the world around her. Her village, so small and quaint and closed-minded, taught it's children very little about what lay beyond its borders. Life was work, and occassaionlly the gods may bless you with some treat. As far as Liu knew, some things were nothing but legends, a time that had long since passed if it ever existed at all.
Of course, there were some things that she still believed in. Magic, and the energy that manipulated and could be manipulated. The girl had dabbled lightly in some of the arts, and hoped to continue her studies. As for griffin-riders or even dragon riders, the girl thought it was nothing but a fancy until she met Irysin.
The little black griffin chick had been a gift, a blessing from the heavens she was certain. Of course, her village had been torn on seeing the little one scurry close to Liu's heals. Some adored her, while others thought the griffin nothing more than a pest.
Work was all Liu's life was, the monotony interrupted only by time spent with Irysin, her companion and dear friend. How often had she dreamt of running away, of moving to another village, another city, to start a new life?
. . . . . but she couldn't. Not yet. The snares of uncertainty had chained Liu to her family, to everything she knew. Maybe when she was older, wiser, stronger. The only time peasant girls changed the world (or at least effected it) were in fairy tails. . . and those Liu knew were fiction.
As it was, though Meschach caused Liu a wary sort of interest, she was completely oblivious to Silence's deafness.
At the compliment of Irysin, Liu couldn't help but be proud. Her smile grew, her green eyes brightened as she cast an affectionate glance at her friend. "I always thought she were beautiful," Liu admitted with a small laugh, thin shoulders shrugging . "But then again, I must say I'm a bit partial. All the pictures in books that I've seen don't seem to favor rainbow-coloured griffs!"
Irysin, who knew she was being talked about and complimented, couldn't help but arch her neck and offer a pleased churrr. Rainbow-stained ears twitched now and then, but her violet eyes moved liked liquid over each of the party memebers before her. Her great wings shuffeled a bit, spreading a bit ot show off more of her striped markings hidden underneath against her coat.
She was beautiful, the griffin knew, and it only made sense that others admired her so.
"Of course," Liu added with a michievious grin, "your two are quite handsome. I couldn't imagine having two." It wasn't that training Irysin had been difficult - but the little female had her childish moments. The fact that the woman had both Trill and Chade in her company - it was both fascination, envious, and a hassle Liu wouldn't wish upon any.
Of course, then again, her griffins seemed so tame and well behaved! Trill had even bowed.
It was then that the turquoise eyed gentleman fixed her with a stare and introduced himself. "A pleasure!" She greeted cordially, oblivious to the fact tha he were more than a man. Unlike Irysin, who thought Meschach a puzzle, Liu didn't have the senses strong enough to look past the facade. If anything, she assumed Silence and he lovers, or he the bodyguard and she his ward. Perhaps Chade was his griffin? Who knew!
A look from one, to the other, and Liu couldn't contain her curiousity any longer. "So . . . are you both from this . . Eyrie?" She didn't want to poke and pry, and she surely didn't want to get them in trouble! But were there really such places in the world?
Beyond the foothills and countryside that her village rested in - was there really such fantastic realm? What was it like in the larger cities. . .? What was it like anywhere else but here?
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Posted: Tue Feb 20, 2007 12:47 pm
Meshach actually chuckled at Liu's polite query. "I come from no Eyrie."
Silence resigned herself to having to look into Liu's mind to determine what she had said, shot Meshach a glare, and said, "I do, though. I was born and raised there. It's just like anywhere else, I suppose."
That wasn't quite true. It was nothing like living on the road, but few people actually did that, from what Silence could tell. She had never lived anywhere else. She didn't know how others lived. Meshach's knowing smirk failed to phaze her. She knew that he was more worldly than she, and had ceased to let it her bother her almost three weeks ago.
"Thank you, on their behalf," Silence continued. "To be honest, having two isn't much more trouble than having one. The only notable difference is that they eat more. I think that they're not really griffins at all, merely Appetite personified. Do you live around here?"
Trill, sensing that he was being complimented, played up to Liu, being far more friendly than an Eyrie griffin ought to be. Silence wondered where all his discipline had gone, but supposed that, if anything, she had been remiss for not enforcing it if she wanted him to keep it. She didn't believe she would be able to train Chade thus unless Trill decided to help.
Chade stayed close to Silence, keeping his head under her hand, though it meant he had to hold an awkward position to do so, half-rearing and half-seated.
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