Atop the Stone

[Nalyee]

It was a beautiful day, really. The sun shone down gently on the land below, warming the sorry hides of the gryphons; a gentle breeze ruffled their fur rather soothingly. It was just a little humid, not enough for discomfort - a perfect day for flying. So all the gryphons smiled, in good moods, playing and flying and dancing in the air, as graceful as could be. All smiled, and all were happy. That is, except for a one gryphon.

High above all others she soared, wings beating powerful against the thermals, expression rather twisted against the oncoming breeze. Eyes of a ferocious violet peered down onto her peers rather scrutinizingly, only to fill with distaste and wander elsewhere, surveying the lands. Indeed, they were pretty, she must admit. But beauty never lasted long, only the ugly and the strong would survive. Heaving a sigh, she angled herself to the ground, swooping down rather dramatically to cliffs of reddish hue. /Here we go again,/ she thought rather wryly, her movements clearly reluctant. She would've perferred her own company.

Her name was Nalyee. She was a strange looking creature - a hybred. Disgusting little hybred, people called her. Half the blood, half the nobility. Half alive. There were many lables her kin had put on her, sneering, even the nicest of gryphons had little warmth for a gryphon whom would put himself before another creature - eagle, in this case - instead of finding another pureblood. And, as her papa before her was disgraced, so was Nal. Massive brown wings opened wide, she drifted down to earth rather gracefully, head bowed against the wind slowly growing in intensity. Nalyee was cursed a rather ugly shade of a golden-brown, dull, possessing no shine, none of the beauty that was so important to these mythical creatures - that she had come across, anyway. It was the color of her other kin. The eagles she had danced with as a child. At last she alighted onto the platform of stone, her talons ever-so-soft against the cold, rock-hard surface. Up lifted her eyelids, revealing eyes of a fierce, startling violet, and slowly she turned, surveying her surroundings.

Not particularly impressive, really. Nal thought wryly, settling her massive wings against her slender for with a wincing twinge. She had been flying for too long, and it was taking its toll on her winds. But there would be consequences had she not flown in the way she had - Nalyee winced at a sudden image of her bloody feathers drifting, slowly, down to earth, to the maniacle laughter of the gryphons abvoe her. Why she winced, she didn't know. Nalyee was as much the deceiving, dispicable creatue as any of those creatures in the image. So, with a quiet sigh she sat, eyes flickering back and forth, eerily silent once more. Emotions hurt, emotions killed, she had no time for such. Sentimility gone, she simply waited. They would come. They always came.

((Blah.))

[Aquila]

The gentle breezes ruffled the grey feathers of weary wings as they beat against the wind. They were tired and sore; long distance flying really took it out of her. Jade optics peered forward, catching onto the marvellous sight. Hoards of gryphons ruled the skies, riding high on thermals of warm air.

Slowly upon the horizon, came the figure of a petite grey Gryphon, making her way slowly towards the massive red cliff. It towered over anything else in the region. Some of her winged kin flew round the structure gracefully; others sat perched on ledges, ready to dive at any given moment. It was nice to see other gryphons again, she had been on her own for quite a while, travelling in search of an area where she could build a nest and stay happy in company of her species.

Flying forward, a stony shade of grey joined the rainbow. Sure she didn’t have the nicest colour of feathers and fur, a plain grey compared to earthy shades of golds, russets and reds, or luminous tones of white and artic blues, but it suits her well, plain and simple colour, for a plain and simple Gryphon.

Aquila made her way slowly round the cliff, looking for a spot where she could land, and rest her tired wings. No such luck. She couldn’t find a ledge that didn’t have a beast already perched upon it. Her wings flapped harder, thrusting her upwards, to the area where the brown Gryphon had soared alone. Emerald eyes spotted the Platform of Stone, which stood higher than the rest. The only one who rested ‘pon it was a lone female, Gryphon by looks, though pure or hybrid, Aquila wasn’t sure.

Her violet eyes were intimidating, though it didn’t put the exhausted Gryphon off. With a soft thud, she landed on the rock. She was noticeably smaller than the other who loomed over her. Aquila sat herself down at the edge, ready to fly off if the female didn’t take to kindly to her presence.

Dipping her short beak in a greeting, Aquila smiled weakly while folding her soft grey wings back into her body. “You don’t mine me resting here do you?” she asked, in a friendly manner, hoping not to provoke the individual.

[Fubar]

Alone Fubar stood on his hind legs. His cream beak tilted upwards, yellow eyes dancing as they followed the movement of numerous flying beings, bird and gryphon alike. The sun shone on his white feathers, bouncing off of them like spears do to a dragon's hide. His yellow eyes disappeared beneath white eyelids as he tilted his head back down towards the gray stone beneath him. Their beauty would never be his. Sure, those ones thought they were freakish, odd, and ugly, but they were nothing compared to the monstrosity perching on the ledge under and a little to the left of the violet-eyed female. Never since he had left his adopted family had he been loved, welcomed as a warrior, but only because of that. Not only because of his small, but affective, reputation was he feared among others of his kind, and among other species. His bird-like front arms hung limp to his sides, as he risked to glance back up at the skies. He clicked his beak in anger, never would he be able to fly with them and be welcomed. For this reason, he had taken over the remote mountains far from here, where supposedly he could live in peace. Who would want to live under the rule of a 'monster' like him? Maybe there were others out there who felt as miscast, and out of place as him, just maybe. They might seek refuge in the mountains as he did.

He sighed; no, it was not to be. Another thought burst into his head, "Well, if you weren't so depressed. Either that or just deal with it." He would adapt, sooner or later. There was no way he could change the way he was born, ever. A voice rung in his cat-like ears. He glanced over his shoulder and up at the perch where the roguish looking female stood. Another one, gray female it seemed, had asked permission to sit there. He turned ever so slightly to get a good look at them, without getting a crick in his neck. His ears pricked up the best they could. Something he could watch without envy, finally. He wasn't one to like attention, so he kept quiet and waited. His whip-of-a-tail flicked back-and-forth as he listened, his horned head tilted slightly upwards to look at them. How he hoped he could notice them with them noticing him.

[Mephisto]

<sup>The morning glow of the sun cast a silhouette across the clouds, making them hues of pinkish yellows and light blues. There was a buoyant atmosphere about the Cliffs, making Mephisto scowl at all of the adolescent creatures. He wished a cold front would wash the lands in sadness, and covered the sun’s radiant rays with depressing ashen clouds. The only beauty, according to this brute of a gryphon, was the fog that hovered lazily in the lands below, blurring the visions of the beings on ground level. He pitied anything without wings. They didn’t know the feeling of flying--the takeoff, the breeze on your face, the wind winding through your fur and feathers, seeming to wipe off your guilt and worries.

Bloody hued occulli examined the land with a grimace engraved on the rock-hard beak below them. Mephisto had a loathing for all around him; he was superior to them, that was for sure. They were all weak. Not even worth a challenge, he thought to himself, eyeing each one. There seemed to be a lot though….hundreds, maybe even thousands. Why? Gathered here? For what purpose? Was there an occasion he wasn’t invited to? He decided to pull closer, and figure out what on earth was going on. He circled down, watching each creature pass him by.

He ignored his kith and kin surrounding him. Solitary was the way he liked it, and it usually stayed that way; he was superior to any other he met anyway. At least in his experience. Fluttering his wings, he slowed and hovered before landing only yards away from an ashen sahib with horns attached to his head. Crimson pools blinked. Surely it was some kind of…disguise? But then what was the point of that? Pondering if it was some birth defect or something of that sort, he ruffled his feathers, and then folded his wings neatly on his back. Two completely different pairs of bulked legs carried him towards the hessian next to him. “’Scuse me,” he said, eyeballing him as if he was a freak of nature, canid-like acoustics swiveling towards him, “Were you born with those?” he asked rudely, staring at the long curved horns plastered to the brujo‘s feathered crown. Lucid peltage danced in the slight gust that carried through the lands.

ooc; meh….

Is anyone alive?</sup>

[Fubar]

Fubar turned his head around, then slowly turned his body as well. His yellow orbs glanced over the other, narrowing to slits. A slight growl emitted from his throat, but he soon dismissed it. He opened his beak, and his voice came out strong, but cracked from lack of use, for he was used to talking to himself with thoughts. "Yes I was. I wear nothing that is unnatural to me. I do nothing that is unnatural to me. This is the way I am." He replied in a rather snappish tone. How much he hated it when others discriminated against the way he was, but sometimes you could tell he tried to keep his temper in check. After this brief outburst, he closed his mouth. His ears lay against his feathered head, waiting for the other to yell back. Surely this would get the attention of the two further up. Then again, he hoped it didn't. He already had one to deal with.

He told himself not to be a coward and fly away, but be a defiant one and stay there. His long tail flicked. He was just a bit taller it seemed, than the other. But then again, this was easy when you stood on your hind legs. "But that doesn't mean your stronger or bigger." He reminded himself. By now, his eyes were flicking over the brute's frame. He looked strong, and he seemed large. Perfect, wasn't it? Fubar was nothing but fast. Sure, he could attack and do damage, but he was better in agility. What if this one attacked, wanting this 'territory' as his own? "This is neutral territory." He thought, with a silent sigh.

"Stop thinking and concentrate on the one in front of you." And this he did. His black pupils flicked back to the face of the one in front of him. He did not dare look into those crimson eyes, for besides the chill they sent through him, that was usually considered an invitation for violence.