Tyler's Frolic

[T i G E R]

The Magic Caves were wet today, slippery, because it had just rained. Little puddles gathered in the crevices that were set into the stone, and the covering of moss was damp. The air was humid, but cool, and a weak sun was beginning to come out from behind the clouds. It was still morning, and mist was thick.

Tyler was enjoying the weather. He stood on the flat top of one of the caves, surveying the land, and then he extended his huge wings and beat them thrice, sending a fine spray of water in about twenty different directions. In his beak, he held a fat chicken, which he had stolen from the Human Cottages; he now scraped himself, with his talons and hooves, a clean spot in the moss.

Putting his chicken down and staring around keenly with his eagle eyes, he lowered his head and began to tear apart the chicken.

[Rebel Wolf Chris]

All that gave signal of the griffin's approach was the sound of air over feathers. Grey-and-white wings flared as Valefor came in to land, the whoosh of the massive limbs clearing the mist from his landing spot. Clawed paws and talons touched down almost gently, and dark raptor eyes flickered over the hippogriff. "Greetings, cousin." The voice was deep, rumbling, more lion than eagle.

[T i G E R]

((OOC – We could do the flashback one as well xD 'Twould be fun!))

Tyler had heard, faintly, the sound of the griffin's approach, and in response he had picked up his chicken and backed away protectively. He was friendly by nature, but it was winter now and he was hungry, too.

The mist cleared away and Tyler had a clear view, not obscured by vapor, of Valefor as he landed. The griffin's wings were gray and white, and his eyes were dark. Tyler relaxed, putting his chicken back down and dipping his head the way hippogriffs do, in a half-bow. "Greetings," he returned, his voice not quite as deep as his fellow half-eagle's. His eyes held a happy, friendly glint as he looked more closely at Valefor.

He was not one to make small talk – he plunged right into lively chatter. "I like the way you landed," he commented, obviously impressed. He swung his head around to look at his own horse's hindquarters and hooves. "I could really use those pads instead of these clumsy clippety-clops!"

The hippogriff was proud of his strong hooves, which could shatter bones in a single kick, but it was true – he did land rather noisily sometimes, on surfaces not covered with soft moss like the one he was standing on.

[Rebel Wolf Chris]

The grey and white griffin took a long moment to survey his distant relation, clearly cautious. and came to the conclusion easily this was no threat. indeed, his relaxed, friendly manner was almost catching. He arranged his wings carefully along the line of his back. He lifted one in a half-shrug. "Well... landing is as important as the flight itself. If not moreso." He replied philosophically.

[T i G E R]

Tyler let himself be inspected quite comfortably. In fact, he was quite happy about the attention. He considered the griffin's answer for a moment, blinking his dark eyes, and then decided to be agreeable.

"You're right," he said. "I suppose you can fly for miles without getting stuck by lightning or beaten down by rain, only to land and crack your head." He bent down again to eat the rest of his chicken, and then delicately disposed of it by burying the clean bones under a bit of foliage.

He looked up again, ruffling his feathers. "You haven't told me your name," he said suddenly.

[Rebel Wolf Chris]

A glimmer of amusement flickered in the griffin's dark eyes, though it lasted only a flash. He extended his left wing, sitting down with his tail curled around his haunch to preen. This was something he took seriously, running each individual feather through his beak.

"It's Valefor." He replied without thinking. "Yours?"

[T i G E R]

Tyler watched Valefor preen himself, embarrassed, suddenly self-conscious about his comparatively scruffy appearance. He was a messy hippogriff. Not dirty, but not exactly spotlessly clean, either. He twisted his head around and winced at a few patches of mud, hastily trying to fold his own wings over them to cover the dirt.

"Tyler." He said this proudly – for some reason, he had always liked his name. "Nice to meet you, Valefor!" he added, cheerfully, just to see how the name sounded.

Overhead, a grayish cloud suddenly moved, shrouding the land below in a very slightly darker shade. Tyler swung his feathered head upward to look.

[Rebel Wolf Chris]

((OOC| I'm so sorry, Lynxy. Whack me over the head when my memory fails this bad?))

"Yeah, you too." He grunted gruffly. He wasn't typically a social creature, but it was sort of hard to openly dislike the good-natured hippogriff. Valefor shuffled his paws in a subtle show of anxiety, following Tyler's look. "A storm on-way..."

[T i G E R]

((OOC – Haha, 'tis fine! XD *Pats head*))

Tyler nodded, his great big feathered head dipping about a meter. Glancing up again, his eyes brightened with curiosity. "I wonder if it's rain or snow or hail," he mused quietly. "I like rain and snow," he continued in a matter-of-fact sort of manner. "It's a pain-in-the-secondary-feathers when you're trying to find food, but otherwise it's fun to ride the winds. Hail, on the other hand..." He clicked his beak several times, by way of a show of disapproval.

((OOC – They're meant to start talking about the dragon which killed his family XD))

[Rebel Wolf Chris]

Valefor clicked his beak in agreement - battling storm-ridden winds was a notion he could certainly get behind. The sea-eagle griffin padded to the entrance, letting the building wind ruffle the dense fathers around his face and neck. The parting drew attention to the necklace around his neck, upon which hung four feathers. He then drew back. "At least a few hours." He observed, meaning the storm, withdrawing to a more sheltered section of the cave and scratching with paw and talon in the dust for a moment.

((OOC| hmm, he doesn't talk about that much. Maybe have them find an old dragon-bone in the back of the cave or something to get the topic on? ))

[T i G E R]

Tyler blinked in surprise, noticing the parting in Valefor's feathers and the necklace that lay there. He didn't often see accessories of the sort on other wild creatures here. Curiosity sparked, but he didn't ask immediately, storing the question away for later.

He followed his companion into the cave, appreciating the shelter from the winter wind. He nodded in agreement with the griffin's estimation. "Lucky I ate just now, then," he said. He wondered suddenly if Valefor was hungry, and the sort of prey he ate. He looked around the cave, wondering if anything particularly griffin-friendly lived there, and his eyes fell on something peculiar. He stepped closer, peering at the object. "Hey," he said curiously. "What's this?"


Yep, good idea XD That's the dragon bone!

[Rebel Wolf Chris]

Valefor's entire demeanor altered when he padded up behind the hippogriff to see what he'd found. A snarl ripped from his beak, talons and claws digging into the cave ground. The white fur on his shoulders stood up, wings snapping sharply. "That... is filth!" He spat, and with a sudden motion, he lunged. There was so much anger and ferocity the bone might well have splintered on impact had he not snatched up, galloping towards the entrance. His wings snapped out as he emerged outside, and he sprang into the air, the bone in his beak. With moment he as airborne, strong storm currents carrying him high, until he was a white-and-grey speck. Then a small bleached white shape fell, the bone, released from a huge height to plummet to the ground below.

A few moments later Valefor came down for another impressive landing, his narrow chest heaving, his eyes cold and furious.

[T i G E R]

GAHHH I typed out a nice long post and then the thing stopped loading half-way =.= School internet is ANNOYING. Yeesh. *Facepalm*))


Tyler jumped in shock at Valefor's violent reaction to the strange object. He forgot about both his curiosity for the necklace, and his curiosity about the thing itself. He watched in alarm as the griffin snapped up the ivory-white thing and ran to the cave mouth. Being rather slow, he didn't really register what was happening until Valefor took off.

"Hey! Wha- Come back! Where are you going?" he yelped, scrambling clumsily after his companion. He ran to the cave mouth and took off, flapping his wings frantically against the wind. "Oi!"

But before he'd been airborne for more than a few seconds, Valefor suddenly turned back and landed. Tyler made a sharp turn, almost falling out of the air, and then landed back, wings sprawled, at the cave mouth. He gaped wordlessly at Valefor, wondering if he'd done anything wrong.

"Um.. filth?" he squeaked presently.

[Rebel Wolf Chris]

His usual cold composure was returning now, though the dark strip of feathers between his shoulders continued to bristle in unshed aggression. fter several long moment his heaving chest grew more even, and he turned back to Tyler. "It was dragons who killed my family." He said, emotionless,s, one paw raising to brush his necklace with a curved talon.

((OOC| Woah. Tiny, tiny text in the text box, I can barely read it
But I do like the look of the front page!))

[T i G E R]

You mean the sidebar box? I'll make it bigger! =D


At this, Tyler gave a soft gasp. He'd been expecting all sorts of things – in fact his imagination had gone a little wild – but he certainly hadn't expected this. Death. It was a strange thing to switch from a cheerful conversation like the one they'd been having earlier, to something as morbid and... cold as death.

He shuddered. "Wow," he whispered softly. "I- I'm sorry." He didn't know what else to say. He saw that Valefor had calmed down now, and once again he noticed the necklace.

Always having been one whose curiosity overpowered everything, he couldn't stop himself. "Um," he said hesitantly. "What... what's that?"