|
Post by Leafshadow on Jul 22, 2010 20:40:40 GMT -5
Rough Draft (and when I say rough, I'm not kidding XD) I have a ton of this typed up, but I'm only going to post so much at a time (about a scene) because I wrote out my entire plot and there's some inconsistencies in the beginning parts. I love comments and anything that can help me improve my writing!
Shades of Gray
“Moonbeam, my sister…” A hopeless, lonely voice filled the awkward silence of this calm night. “Yes?” A silvery-blue and furry creature replied. Her voice was thick, unconcerned, and possibly even bored. “There’s something I’ve been wondering about for awhile now. I just can’t stop thinking about it. Maybe you can help.” Gloom and angst filled the other animal’s dark amber eyes. “Well, what is it?” His relatively quiet and comforting companion spoke, her voice perking up slightly. Soft, gentle firelight illuminated the small stone cave as the griffin reached over and grabbed a handful of dried pine needles pressed against the smooth walls and threw them onto the fire. The suddenly bright light cast a long shadow across the floor, highlighting her strangely elegant body. Wings, currently folded up as they took too much space fully extended, erupted from the strong back of a lion’s. Her curved face had a distinct beak poking out from a short muzzle and her. Ears, tipped with small feathers, stuck straight up and curved backwards slightly, more triangular than round. The front legs extended out in front of her, fading from lion’s furry legs to the rough, textured talons of an eagle. Her back legs were folded underneath her, nothing strange about them. She was a griffin, a unique creature about the size of a cougar. “Why… Why do they all hate me?” The first griffin wailed loudly, his head tipping backwards and towards the ceiling. “Wait, what? Who hates you now?” Moonbeam said, her feathery tail flicking to the side pointlessly. She glanced over at the other with her washed-out blue eyes. Her older brother—known as Chendar to most other griffins—was throwing another one of his notorious temper tantrums. Moonbeam rolled her eyes dramatically, turning away so that the griffin wouldn’t see. “Everyone hates me. And that’s including you.” Chendar spat, beak clamping together angrily. “That’s ridiculous. I don’t, why would I? Why would anyone even want to hate you?” Moonbeam said in her sugary sweet voice that almost made her sick. As if being her older brother wasn’t enough, Chendar also happened to be the overly-spoiled king of this land they called home. “I-I don’t know. It just seems like every time I look around, every time I turn my back, I can feel the angry vibes radiating off of them. It’s like the hate every part of my being. And I have no idea why either.” “Maybe you’re just looking too hard, Chendar. I think you’re just imagining these things.“ Moonbeam reassured the griffin king. Chendar didn’t seem at all convinced. His brow creased as his thoughts became more and more questioning, making him think harder and harder until he felt as if he was going to explode from the strain. You could almost see the red-hot steam pouring out of his ears. “I’m not making this up.” The king protested. “Yes, you are.” Moonbeam replied instantly, spitting Chendar’s tone of voice right back at his face. That’s what he deserved after all; she wasn’t going to take this attitude from her brother. He always seemed to get whatever he asked for anyways, whether it was attention, love, or gifts. Always. Why? Because he’s a king, obviously. There are a few perks to that job, and one of them is the I-get-whatever-I-want power. Not because he’d worked his tail off his entire life to try and get this far. Of course not, that’d be too hard. He was born into it, that’s what happened. Boom, just like that and the little baby griffin was introduced to a lavish life of luxury. In return, all he had to do was look good and make a decision every now and then. Anyone could do that job. You’d have to be stupid to mess it up. Sure enough though, like every classic king, Chendar was screwing up his kingdom. Then again, Chendar’s lights were on, but no one was ever home. Not a lot went through that griffin’s mind. In other words, he might have gotten the brawns, but it was definitely the younger, often overlooked younger sister that had been lucky enough to get both the brains and the looks. Not that Chendar was ugly or anything. Moonbeam only happened to be slightly more… feminine and thin, not to mention dashingly attractive. She was probably the heartthrob of half the guy griffins around. The sly smile that was creeping across Moonbeam’s face was wiped away instantly as Chendar’s annoying, whiny tone of voice broke her steady concentration. “No, I’m not.” He spat back. “It’s not a joke.” “Chendar-“Moonbeam stated matter-of-factly, but was rudely cut off. “Look, Moonbeam. I’m not as stupid as you think I am. I can see what’s going on right in front of my paws.” “You’re overreacting. If you had just left this drop then I wouldn’t be arguing with you right now. But no, apparently in your little world everyone’s out to get you.” Chendar looked hurt, as if Moonbeam had literally stabbed him in the back. Moonbeam continued, unfazed by the dirty looks he was getting. “I think that you need to clear your head—“ “I think that it’s time I made my own decisions around here.” “Well, I don’t think that that’s true.” She said convinvingly. “Maybe it’s you that needs to get you head on straight. I’m the king around here anyways, not you. Just who do you think you are, trying to tell me what and what not to think?” “Why, I’m your sister of course. I’m practically a queen myself. Besides, Who knows a king any better than his own little sister?” “And who can annoy a king better than his own sister?” Chendar muttered gloomily under his breath. Moonbeam was being a real pain in the butt right now. “I think I can think for myself, Moonbeam. Why don’t you take a break for a little while? Go and fly around the countryside for a few days; find out how things are running throughout my kingdom. I’ve been just dying to know. It’ll be good for you, I promise.” “But-“ Moonbeam protested, paws scraping the ground slightly. This was not the turn of evens she had been planning. Chendar shot his sister a warning look that cut off her speech. “I insist that I stay, Chendar. I promise I’ll stay out of your way for a few days, a few weeks, whatever it takes. Just don’t send me away like a lowly messenger.” “It’ll be worth it, don’t you worry. I don’t think that I can singlehandedly destroy the kingdom in a week.” “Well, why even take the chance?” Moonbeam said just loud enough so that Chendar heard her soft, smooth voice. “Just go, Moonbeam. Don’t make me kick out my own sister by force. And if you’re worried about getting lonely, you could take someone along with you. I bet someone like Kita would be more than willing to tag along. ” He said firmly in his serious voice, trying to hide the subtle smirk. Chendar knew fully well that those two would drive each other off the deep end. “I already told you, I am not taking a week long vacation, not now. I don’t want to go alone... Please...” The silvery griffin begged, falling down onto her knees with a dull thud. Her voice was chock full of distraught, as if it was the worst thing in the world. Maybe, she was being a little overly dramatic. Chendar just frowned slightly, the corners of his mouth drooping. “That’s an order, Moonbeam. Don’t test me right now. You’ve already caused enough headaches for a lifetime.” Tail swooshing angrily and head dropped shamefully, Moonbeam stormed out of Chendar’s private cave with a death glare plastered across her face. The king didn’t seem at all affected by the abrupt change of mood. In fact, he was even happier than when he had started; even his own confidence improved. He was sure that there were a few people out there that were on his side. Now, he could think, he could reflect, and he could imagine. And all without the help of his little sister.
|
|
|
Post by Leafshadow on Jul 23, 2010 16:28:16 GMT -5
This scene goes on FOREVER, so I'm going to split it up a little.
Moonbeam rushed his way out of one of Stonepoint Castle’s few large caves, conveniently located off of a network of trails that ran up and down the faces of the mountains. What a great place to live. She walked around the labyrinth like pathways, stopping occasionally to figure out where he was at that exact moment. It definitely was easy to get lost around here. Muscles twitching faintly from nerves, the silver griffin pulled herself to a stop at a fork on the steep pathway. Her nose tilted upwards, searching and finding the tell tale scent of dusty, stale air that struggled—and for the most part, failed-- to circle throughout the mountain and mix with fresh air. . This meant that she must be close to an entrance—or exit. Her stone gray nostrils focused for once and zoned in on the scent. Left. It was coming from the left side, this time he was one hundred percent sure. Her paws clinked against the cool, rough surface as she tentatively took a few steps into the noticeably small hallway that broke off from the outdoors. She sighed mournfully to himself as the tunnel she was on got narrower and narrower. Her folded wings scraped the sides and her shoulders were hunched forwards uncomfortably. Come on, she mused silently. It’s just a short tunnel; you can get through this. A cave can’t be too far ahead. Her muscles straining, heaving, and pushing against the stone walls, Moonbeam finally realized that she wasn’t going anywhere fast. Her pastel eyes flicked up from their previous position, which was looking at his back paws as they struggled to shove his body onwards. I’m stuck. Man, this is embarrassing. I really do need to exercise more. She thought, glancing ahead. Amazingly, this pathetically undersized tunnel looked as if it connected to another undersized tunnel not too far ahead. I have to turn around and get out of here. This is too small. There’s no way I can push myself the next five feet. I don’t think it gets any bigger than this. He thought, straining against the forces of nature. I’m definitely going to remind Chendar to get some of his buddies to fix this hallway; it’s just too small for a griffin like me to get through, and I know I’m not the biggest. "Come on," She huffed to herself, beads of sweat forming on her furry forehead. "You can pull yourself right back out of this, right back to where you were just a few minutes ago." She said softly, glancing around just to make sure that no one was listening. Her voice rose drastically when after a few minutes of wiggling, nothing seemed to be happening. As much as she squeezed, squirmed, and struggled, Moonbeam couldn't manage to get herself free from the tight, narrow walls. "UUGH!" She screeched, clawing at the dirty ground and walls wildly. Her wings were pinned to his side, useless for now. A small, harmless chunk of rock flew from the cave wall, seared with furious claw marks. Maybe this frantic, crazy squirming was helping him after all. Lungs heaving, limbs shaking, and heart pounding, the griffin took a moment to two to recover her breath. Trying to get herself out of a sticky situation was harder than she ever thought it could be. Once her breathing had returned to a normal, smooth pace she tensed her muscles and braced herself for another shot at freedom. His thoughts raced with a vast amount of unanswered questions. What if I can't get out? It'll be beyond embarrassing if one of Chendar's goons finds me stuck here. I sure don't want that to happen, not when I'm trying to inconspicuously leave this place. What if no one finds me here? This is a less traveled hall; I hardly even knew it was here myself. Moonbeam cut of her thoughts with a shake of the head. No. I can't be thinking like that. I should be focusing on the task at hand. On the count of three, I'm going to push and heave as hard as I can. Ready? One ...Two ... Three. Moonbeam let loose with all that she had. She actually felt a little bit of pity towards the pathetic, frail looking hallway. Moonbeam sure hadn't been expecting that after her full out attack on the ‘castle’ walls, they would still be standing. She had clawed, she had pushed, and she had rammed her way backwards a few inches. It was definitely a step in the right direction. Bitter disappointment clouded Moonbeam's usually calm face. She had at least hoped that the walls beside her were crumbled into an indistinguishable mass of rubble. What she saw, though, was a scene not unlike the one he had seen just a minute ago. Nothing seemed to have changed-- at all. Moonbeam gazed at the sides carefully. More scratch marks had etched their way into the solid rock, but as for overall damage, there were only a few loose pebbles on the ground to show off her hard work. When you don't have room to work with, apparently it's extremely difficult to get enough power to push yourself out of a pickle. Unfortunate in Moonbeam's case, especially considering that that was the only way she was going to get out of this mess. She yelled something unintelligible in frustration, her face wrinkling, scrunching, and twisting its way to an unrecognizable expression. Why had she even taken this off the beaten path route anyways? She had been outside earlier, and that was where she needed to be. Oh yeah. She forgot she'd been attempting a stealth exodus when this unknown cave had caught her eye. That sort of backfired on me, she thought to himself. What was I thinking, trying to go down an obviously too small hallway in a deserted part of the castle. And now I'm stuck, with no one around here besides these puny pebbles, the stiff walls, and the fresh air. Fresh air...her mind lingered on her very last thought, letting it run through her head like a broken record. Fresh air. Fresh air. Fresh air. Wait a second... Moonbeam paused, eyes looking behind at the alluring glow of blue. The outside world was so close, she could almost touch it. Maybe if she just yelled and screamed and roared like her life depended on it, maybe someone would take pity and come over to her little cave. If she didn't get out of here soon, his life might very well be on the line. Besides, she'd rather deal with just one griffin than having Chendar find her a few days later. She'd never live this one down, that was for sure. Shaking her head with disgust, the silvery gray griffin prepared to scream bloody murder. She pried open her jaw as far as they could possibly go, muscles tensed tightly in anticipation. Dark talons firmly grasped the loosened, rougher ground beneath him. Her eyelids were clenched so tightly she felt as if they were going to rip from the strain. She took a deep, refreshing breath, the cool air swirling down her throat and filling her lungs to the brim. She was ready to go. "GET ME OUT OF HERE!" She yelled as loud as any griffin could. The loud sound reverberated off the stone walls, growing in volume slightly as it was projected out like a megaphone. A few loose pebbles near the entrance rattled gently against the ground. It was pretty impressive that he could make any sort of object wiggle with just the power of his voice, even if it was a tiny rock or two. Ears twitching and listening intently, she paused for a moment or two to let the might of her screeching roar reach the rest of the world. Even with her keen, adept ears, she couldn't hear any chatter or wing beats outside. Not that she could normally hear the actual wing beats, as they were virtually silent. It was the distinctive whoosh of air beneath the flying griffin that was so easy to pick up. It was almost second nature to any griffin around. Wing beats in the air were like footsteps in a hallway. Just another way to hear and identify someone's presence. Right now, she wasn't picking up anything. She pried his jaw open, preparing himself for another round of screaming. This time, someone was bound to hear her cry. "HELLO? ANYONE OUT THERE?" Moonbeam screamed at the top of her lungs, kicking pebbles towards the entrance as hard as he could so that maybe he could help make some noise. "I WOULD REALLY APPRECIATE SOME HELP RIGHT NOW." She continued noisily, reverting to her unusually high and obnoxious voice she reserved for just these kinds of occasions. "It's Moonbeam...!" SHe said, feathers shaking as he started to loose it. The griffin stopped herself from another annoying screech. Her ears swiveled forwards, this time he thought for sure that he could hear someone's voice call back along with a set of light wing beats. "Hello?" The voice called softly, tentatively, as if they were concerned that they were talking to themselves and had just imagined Moonbeam's plea for help. "I'm in here!" Moonbeam screeched back enthusiastically, a wide smile stretching across her face. SHe kicked a larger chunk of the wall at the entrance to the cave, talon scraping harshly against the rock. "In where?" The griffin responded, sounding more relieved this time. "I'm stuck inside the cave!" The silver griffin yelled. There was a pause from the other, unknown griffin. "Which cave?" Moonbeam heard them yell, obviously confused. "The small one, of course!" He responded, and then lowered his voice slightly. "There’s no other caves around!" "Umm... Sorry to disappoint you, Sunny, but there's about twenty small caves out here." Sunny? Moonbeam's eyebrows skyrocketed in shock. There was only one griffin on the planet that called her Sunny, and that would be the little squirt by the name of Kita. She was a friendly girl and all, but sometimes she really got on her nerves. She thought calling her ‘sunny’ was downright hilarious. "Kita?" She said, voice hinting at disgust. "Is that you?" "Yes. Kita at your service. Did you not recognize my voice?" "Oh, no." Moonbeam replied hastily. "Oh. Well, can you at least tell me which cave you're in?" Kita still sounded just as confused as she had a minute or two ago. "I already told you, Kita." The griffin said, partially annoyed.' I'm in the small one. I'm kind of stuck, you see." Kita didn't respond, but Moonbeam could hear her murmur something under her breath as she peeked in all of the different scattered caves, looking for a specific familiar face. "Just follow the sound of my voice." Moonbeam sighed loudly. "Sooner or later you're bound to find me." "Right, Sunny. I promise I'll find you, even if it takes me an hour or two." " It shouldn’t take that long though." "I know!” SHe heard Kita squeal nearby. "Good." Moonbeam sighed with mock relief. "I was starting to think that I'd been forgotten." "Oh, no! Who could ever forget you? You're so awesome!" Kita said energetically. “I think you're getting warmer." Moonbeam said her tone of voice softer than before. Hey, at least someone had the energy and time to track him down, even if it was just a kid. "What?" The griffin outside questioned. "I said, I THINK you're getting WARMER." "Whoops, sorry Sunny." Kita said, slightly embarrassed as she peered into another cave opening. "I wonder why they have all of these here, anyways." She thought out loud to herself. "Wait a second! I found you!" Kita screamed as her furry, light brown head poked into the opening of the cave, dark chocolate colored feathers extending from her wings. "Yes, you did." Moonbeam said flatly, as Kita didn't seem at all affected by her mood. Her sarcasm seemed to fly right over her head sometimes. Mouth hinting at a smile, the silver griffin watched Kita prance around with her cute little victory dance. Sometimes, she absolutely didn't act her age. "Now, Kita. Do you think you can help me get out of this? I'm still stuck, you know." He said, interrupting one of her perfectly choreographed routines. "Right. Sorry about that. I'll see what I can do." Kita said, a huge smile plastered across her face. She glanced over at Moonbeam, who in turn lifted all four paws off of the ground just to show how wedged he was in-between the two stone walls. "Wow." She said, eyebrows going up high. "You are stuck." "Exactly. Why don't you come and walk under me, and maybe give me a push or two from that side? Just enough to send me in that direction, so that I can get out of this dead end." She glanced right at Kita, wondering how in the world a griffin like her could fit in a space this small. Kita's attention snapped right back at Moonbeam, she seemed to have been studying the walls. "Hey, Sunny. It looks to me as if you're just in a tight spot in the wall. If you can get all the way back over here, it does get a little bit wider." "Is that so?" Moonbeam replied sarcastically, glancing forward at the walls. Of course they were wider, that was they way he had come in..
|
|
|
Post by Leafshadow on Jul 25, 2010 22:16:11 GMT -5
Here's a little more of that scene
"Yep." Kita said, chest puffing out slightly and expression smug as she was clearly proud of her discovery. "If you get out of this spot, you could go either way." " Kita, it’s a dead end. Maybe if I was you, but I don't really have a choice now, do I? You can only push me one way." "Hmm...." Kita mused, her highly animated face wrinkling as she went deep into thought. "Well, I could go and crawl under you and push you from the front." Moonbeam looked over her shoulder at the space behind her. “That just might work, kid. I sure hope you’re strong.” She said. “It is the only way out of here..” Kita said, backing up towards the entrance slightly. “So do you want me to or not?’ “Sure.” Moonbeam said with no hesitation. “But be sure to be careful. I could pull free of the sides and fall on top of you any moment.” “Okay.” Kita said bouncily; face lighting up with a smile. She whipped around quickly and ran over to the abrupt ledge at the cave’s entrance. With a bound of energy, she fluttered her shady brown wings and took off running towards Moonbeam. “See you on the other side.” She called back to Moonbeam, who in return just groaned faintly. “Great.” Moonbeam said sarcastically under her breath. “She’s just who I wanted to see today.” A boisterous, excited scrambling behind her silenced her thoughts. Then, in a moment, the young griffin was sliding to a stop in front of her. “Oh, Kita. You’re back.” She said with false enthusiasm, flashing a fake smile to her. “Yes I am, and I am going to get you out of here.” She said, gliding to a stop in front of the griffin and sending a few pebbles sliding. Moonbeam steadied her gaze at Kita, who had a dead serious expression across her face. She looked completely set on pushing and shoving until the griffin was free. “Are you ready?” She said, eyes traveling to the tops of her sockets. “Eh.” Moonbeam grunted in reply, bracing herself for the worst. “I’ll take that as a yes.” She replied, coiling back and then dynamically launching herself at Moonbeam’s chest. “Oof.” Moonbeam wheezed as Kita rammed herself into her. The world around her blurred for a moment or two, and her head spun. Her fuzzy ears perked up, a loud throbbing dominating her hearing. SHe took notice of Kita’s too soft voice saying something behind him, something that vaguely sounded like, “Aww., It didn’t work. Oh well, I’ll just try again.” “No, no wait. Please wait a second.” Moonbeam moaned indistinctly, and clearly not loud enough for the other griffin to hear her. It was too late. Kita had already wound up and had thrown herself at Moonmbeam’s front end. The silvery griffin was send reeling backward. SHe landed on her butt a few feet away, groaning to herself. “Owch.” SHe said, readjusting her jaw. “Could you gave been more…I don’t know, gentle?” “Hey, it worked.” Kita grumbled. “You should be thanking me for that.” “Whoops. Thanks, kid.” The griffin said. “It was no problem.” She smiled, glad that she could be of help to the amazing Moonbeam. “By the way, why did you even stop by this cave? I figured someone like you would know their way around here and realize the cave got smaller.” "Kita, I do know my way around here. I live here, you know." Moonbeam said. "So do I." Kita laughed lightly, not at all convinced. "Then why did you get lost?" She said. "I didn't get lost, kid." Moonbeam laughed slightly, studying her face for a few moments. "Sorry, I forgot." She said sheepishly after a dragging moment of silence, and then perked up immediately. "Oh yeah! Now I remember, you got stuck between the walls! I can't believe I actually forgot about that." "Neither can I." Moonbeam said, head shaking and eyes lowered as she walked slowly towards the entrance. "So, back to you getting lost-- er, stuck." "What about it?" Moonbeam wondered out loud. "I mean, why did you come this way if you knew the hallways eventually narrowed in? I thought you said you knew this place from the inside out." She said. "Yes, I do know this place from the inside out. I just happened to forget about that little detail." Moonbeam repeated, gliding to a stop right before where the ground gave way to sky. "Oh, I see. So you didn't get lost, you just plain forgot." Kita said. "Yeah, that's what happened." Moonbeam sighed. "Now, if you would excuse me, I have some business to attend to. VERY important business." Kita's deep brown eyes grew wider, nearly filling up her entire eyeballs. "What kind of business?" She said, voice hardly above a whisper. "Sorry, kid. It'd take too long to sit around here and explain it all to you." SHe said, perching her front two paws on the edge. The little brown griffin was right behind her. "I've got places to be besides here." "What kind of places are you going to?" Kita said in her wondering, wistful voice. "Listen, Kita. I already told you that I have to go. Has anyone ever told you that you're a little too curious for you own good?" Kita's gaze shifted to a more serious one. "Maybe they have. Why would you care, anyways? "Because you are beyond curious, Kita. You're just plain annoying. I've got to go, unless Chendar or one of his thugs will catch me still in the area." Moonbeam didn't wait for the griffin to launch into another question and answer session. Before she could say another word, Moonbeam had already jumped off the ledge and gracefully extended her wings to their full capacity, desperately flapping as they searched for a smooth air current to ride. "Wait! Sunny!" She said, still slightly in shock as she scrambled to the ledge. "Please, wait for me!" If Moonbeam had heard her, she sure didn't show it. "Don't listen to her, she's just another kid." She thought to herself, stretching out her legs slightly as a blast of cold air rushed underneath her. "Why aren't you waiting for me?" She yelled at her, fluttering her wings in the abrupt take off. As soon as she caught the wind, Kita started pumping her wings as fast and as hard as a griffin could possibly do. Moonbeam glanced over her shoulder at the determined, yet small griffin. She didn't look like she was giving up anytime soon. "Go back home, kid." SHe barked over his shoulder. Kita let out a small gasp, too soft for the griffin to hear. "There's no way I'm going back home, not if Chendar wanted her out of his castle. I wonder what she did this time" She muttered under her breath. She put on a fake smile right as the griffin looked back at her. Moonbeam grimaced internally. They'd been steadily flying for a few minutes now, and the griffin behind her didn't seem at all phased by her ignoring her. "Why are you still following me?" SHe said over the noise of his beating wings with the wind. "I already told you." Kita yelled back, in a tone that suggested that she had repeated this to her hundreds of times. "I want to know where you're going!" "You really want to know where I'm headed?" Moonbeam said. Kita nodded eagerly, head bouncing with excitement. "I'm going AWAY from here. There you go, I told you. Now go home before something happens." SHe growled, the little squirt had surprisingly caught up with her and was matching her pace, wing for wing. Or more like one and a half wing for wing, as it took more of an effort when you had a shorter wingspan. "That's not fair!" She said, a dark frown furrowing her face. "You can't expect me to take that as an answer, Sunny." "Whoever said I had to be fair?" Moonbeam said matter of factly. "I'm just telling you what you wanted to hear." "Come on, Moonbeam." Kita whined. She rarely called the silvery griffin by his real name. This, at least, caught her attention. "I want a better reason than that. You said earlier that you didn't want Chendar to catch you, why?" "He doesn't need to know where I am 24/7. It's good to take a break every once in awhile, you know. Get some fresh air." The griffin said, but Kita still didn't seem convinced. "But he's your brother, doesn't he want to know? Chendar is a control freak." "Yes, he does, he is, and that's one of the reasons I need to get out of here. I'm sick of him keeping tabs on me, like I'm about to do something stupid." Kita's ears perked up, but her breath was a little bit short. "So..." She breathed. "Y-You're going to tell me more?" Moonbeam rolled her eyes. "I guess I am." SHe said. "Can you please slow down then? I'm getting tired." She said. Moonbeam immediately slowed her pace, wing swoops growing longer and more graceful than those short, quick, and sloppy ones before. "Thank you." She said, wing beats returning to a normal pace. "But why does Chendar care about you so much?" "I'm his little sister, isn't that enough?" SHe said. "Yeah, but something about it seems sort of weird." She said, clearly confused. "What?" Moonbeam said, looking over at the griffin who was deeply in thought. "The way you said that, before. The way you were talking about him catching you doing something stupid. What could you do wrong? He is the king, after all." "Oh, I don't know. I just need to get out of the castle and clear my mind for a little while." SHe said, completely dodging the touchy subject with ease. "Okay." The griffin said, a small frown still tainting her usually happy face. Moonbeam didn't say anything, not wanting to accidentally bring up something that would prod even more questions. "So!" Kita said, her voice bouncy and enthusiastic. She whirled a few loops in the cool air current, letting out a small giggle before returning to a relatively normal position. "I love flying; it just makes me so happy." Moonbeam sighed. "Me too, kid." "Kid?" Voice raised slightly, Kita questioned the griffin, her head turning to the side. Moonbeam had called her that before, but she had not played attention until now. "It's a only a nickname, you don't have to keep it if you don't like it." She said. "No-- it's okay. I like it." She said enthusiastically. "I don't think I've ever had a real nickname before." "Well, you have one now. I couldn't just keep calling you Kita all the time. Besides, you call me Sunny all the time." Moonbeam said, shifting her position. “One goofy nickname for another.” "I sure do, Sunny. Moonbeam is just too long to say all the time." She complained. "I could call you Beam, or Mobe, or Moony, or even Shiny-" "Wait, Shiny? Where'd you get that one from, Kid?" Head jerking up abruptly, Moonbeam glared over at Kita. "Your fur." She said simply. Moonbeam glanced down, neck craning from the effort. Her bright silver fur looked right back up at her, same color as it always was. "What about my fur?" SHe said. Kita responded immediately. "It's bright silver." "Yes, I'm aware of that." The griffin said frustrated. "And... it's shiny." Kita sqealed with excitement. "... Shiny, huh?" She said gruffly, fur ruffling uncomfortably. She'd been called a lot of things in the duration of his life, but she honestly couldn't say that shiny was one of them. "Yep, it's shiny. You can't get any shinier than that right there." Kita said, pointing delicately with one of her small front two paws. Moonbeam didn't say a single word for a long time after that, letting the thought that his fur-- her beautiful, perfect, and amazing silver fur was ... shiny. "You know what?" Kita exclaimed. The sudden silence was definitely getting to her. Apparently a griffin like her was not used to stretching for such long periods of time without saying even a single word. "What?" Moonbeam grumbled, stopping her flying to glide on a warm thermal that had miraculously popped up beneath her. Thermal currents of air were the best thing to ride on, especially when you had a long journey ahead of you. "I think that I'm going to call you Shiny from now on. Along with Sunny, of course. I couldn't forget about Sunny." "Oh. That's great, Kita." Moonbeam said, his voice chock full of thick sarcasm. "Really?" She squealed, body bouncing up and down happily. Sarcasm was lost on this little griffin. "No." Mini tears formed in the corners of her eyes. The griffin wiped them away with a furry paw, afraid that they would turn into real tears. That wouldn't fly. If Moonbeam found out that she was a cry baby and didn’t handle rejection well, there was no way she would tell her more about why she was getting away from Chendar. "Oh." She squeaked out, words hardly audible. She turned her head away, embarassed. She thought that that nickname seemed to suit him to a t. Moonbeam glanced over at the miniature griffin, a pang of sympathy prodding at her heart. "Look, kid, er, Kita." She said, faking a smile. "You can call me Shiny. If it really, truly makes you that happy, then I think that I can handle it." She winked at her, watching her glowing smile take over the currently gloomy face. "Thanks, Sunny." She said in between soft sniffles. "So, where are we headed anyways?" Kita said, for the first time looking around her surroundings. She gasped in awe, eyes darting every which way in an attempt to take in the beautiful landscape around her. The griffin duo glided out from behind a thick gray cloud. The world couldn't have been prettier. Navy blue skies extended as far as her two eyes could see, gently fading into a soft, pale blue. Almost like Moonbeam's eye color, but this was by far prettier. She glanced up above her, taking in the heavy, dark gray clouds that scattered the upper portion of the sky. "Wow." She breathed, craning her neck to see farther above, letting her vision spiral father and farther upwards until it felt as if she could see the entire sky. That was not a feeling that griffins felt that often, even though they spent a great portion of their lives flying high in it. It wasn't often that one stopped to gaze in pure wonder at the world around them, and Kita was experiencing one of those rare, breathtaking moments. "The sky... It's so beautiful." She gasped, looking over at Moonbeam. Her silver eyelids were closed over her eyeballs; it was unfortunate that she didn't quite know what she was missing. She sighed softly, returning her steady gaze to the world around her. You can't force anyone to enjoy the natural beauty around him or her, otherwise it wouldn't be quite as special. Kita felt her mood skyrocket, even higher than the massive clouds above her head. I've never noticed how beautiful the sky is. She thought to herself, flipping from a horizontal, normal position to a vertical position with her front paws directly above her back paws to get a better view of the sky. She gave a new meaning to watching clouds go by. Her wings fluttered uncomfortably, struggling to flap the wrong way. A gentle cushion of air flowed beneath her, and it was strangely warm for an air current. It was most likely one of those thermal currents that Moonbeam was always talking about, the ones that she needed to stay on. Let the air do the work for you, she would tell her over and over again. But Kita was just a kid, and of course whatever she said went in one ear and out the other one in a matter of seconds. Kita deeply, refreshingly, and happily sighed again, letting the air fill her before releasing it. She could see the air slowly swirling up above her, the cool air from winter mixing with the warm thermal. The griffin glanced over her shoulder, noticing that the griffin was gliding alongside her, her stoic gaze focused straight ahead, and not at all worried about their surroundings. "What do you think about them, Sunny?" She called to her, voice dreamy. "About what?" She said, eyes flicking over in her direction. "The clouds. They're gorgeous today." She said. Moonbeam's eyes glanced up for a moment or two, then returned to her average gaze. "They are pretty." She murmured. Kita flipped back onto her stomach, breaking free from the temporary heaven. The corners of her mouth turned down in a frown for a second. Some griffins were just blind to the world around them. She took in another fresh breath of winter air before carefully looking down at the earth's surface, internally bracing herself for a sight even more spectacular than the previous. She wasn't disappointed. The entire world seemed to stretch endlessly before her, cloaked by mile after mile of sparkling white snow. It looked like a scene from the perfect dream. An uninterrupted coat of snow was seamlessly extending before her, tainted by nothing but the occasional scattered treetop. And even those few trees were dusted with the gentle white powder of winter, still green branches poking out every few inches. A soft gust of wind was currently blowing across the landscape, hauling snow and flinging it every which way, until it finally gave up. Snowflakes swirled everywhere, trying to flutter down to meet with the rest of the snow. Kita glanced up at the heavy, saggy clouds littering the sky. They, too, looked as if they were about to dump a full load of snow any second now. She breathed in the cold, frigid winter air, after the warm thermal had abruptly ended without a single warning. She felt a fresh feeling as the air was sucked into her lungs, then exhaled into the atmosphere. It was strange. Kita hadn't noticed that winter had fully descended upon the kingdom, not until about five seconds ago. It was so strange, how the little things in life could sneak up on you like that. How something so small, like the first snowfall of the winter, could eventually fade into something so large, like the ever changing seasons. It was so strange, to realize how life could completely change when one wasn't paying close enough attention. Kita let her eyes and brain wander, exploring this part of Chendar's kingdom with her senses. She could feel the subtle scents of pine, and of course water, swirled in with the mixture of air. This place was so great, so vast, so free, that the brown griffin began to wonder why in the world was most of the griffin population living close to the Stonepoint Castle? There was an entire, perfect world out here that everyone had the right to enjoy. Her attention span snapped back to Earth when she heard Moonbeam grumble something a few feet away. "...too cold..." Moonbeam shivered beneath her thinner coat. "..shouldn't have...stayed inside so long..." She whispered, referring to himself. Staying within the safety of those walls had an affect on her body. When you are indoors and when it's warm for the most part, developing a winter coat isn't a priority. "What do you mean it's cold?" Kita said, doing a cute little flip before gliding over to the griffin. "I think it is amazing out here!" Fur standing on end from the freezing air, Moonbeam glanced over at the brown griffin and watched her breath swirl out. "I-I'm still cold." She breathed. "I'm not!" Kita said. "Maybe you should have thought of that before you just started flying off in one direction? We are in the middle of the winter, after all." "Well, that is great for you, but for me this cold is bad news." She said. "Hey, Sunny?" Kita said eagerly. She responded with a gentle grunt. "Where are we going, anyways?" "Away from there." She answered simply, not even looking back over her shoulder. Stonepoint castle and the Wingtip Mountains were just beginning to disappear from sight by now. Kita thought about that for a solid minute, letting her thought flow like running water. "What's wrong with you today, Sunny?" She asked. "Nothing, nothing at all. I have already told you a few times now that I just need to get away from Chendar. He just doesn't trust me anymore." Moonbeam said. Kita looked over at the griffin, noting everything about her. Her silver fur, her thin, yet agile build. Her long fur, even though it was incredibly thin for a winter coat. She was crazy to not have spent more time outside than inside. She noticed her tired face, eyes sagging slightly. It had been a long day for both of them, mostly Moonbeam of course. Kita's day had been average in comparison to hers. She kept on analyzing the king's sister, this time focusing more on that exhausted face. At first look, it seemed tired, weary, grungy, and overall not very appealing. But underneath all of the exhaustion and stress, she could see something else. Something that was unique about this griffin. Moonbeam had one of the most amazing faces she had ever seen. It was like a puzzle, a mystery where you never saw anything twice. Her light gray feathers were varied in color, yet not that all different. They ranged from a very light, almost white silvery blue shade, to an almost normal gray like his brother's fur coat. They blended together in a soft gradient of color, fading to the lighter color as you got farther away from her currently frowning mouth. Her eyes were an entire other story. The pale, sky blue seemed to fill up her entire eyeball, as sometimes her eye color almost seemed to be white. Her pupils were the extremely expressive kind, expanding and contracting with the slightest shift of natural light. Kita frowned, her little brown eyebrows furrowing into a deep v engraved on her forehead. She clamped her beak together once or twice, the sound disappearing into he sky almost instantly. Moonbeam's chest tightened slightly as she bit back the words on the tip of his tongue. A concerned expression crossed her face for a brief second, before returning to her normal, average, and charming look. The miniature griffin kept her glare on, looking Moonbeam over from head to toe. Moonbeam felt a tickle go up her spine, making its way right to the back of her neck. She shivered, shaking her mixture of fur and feathers slightly, almost as if she was trying her hardest to shake off the feeling. The feeling you always seem to get when you feel as if someone is watching you. Knowing the probable source, Moonbeam glanced over her shoulder at the confused looking Kita. "Is there something wrong?" She said, pausing in the air for a second, which was just enough time to let her fly over to his side. "No." She said. "Okay, yes there is." "What is it this time?" She sighed, glancing down below her paws at the vast world around them. She felt the cool breeze whip through her thin fur as she slowly escalated back into a normal flying pace. It could be the weather, but Moonbeam didn't think that it was very likely. Unlike her, Kita actually had a winter coat. No amount of cold seemed to bother her. Kita looked away. "I think it's you." "Me?" Moonbeam questioned, pointing a paw at himself. "No, it's that person behind you." She snorted as Sunny quickly glanced behind him. "Yes, you." "What about me?" He wondered, making eye contact with the griffin. "The way you acted earlier. It's almost as if you're afraid of Chendar, or at least afraid of him finding you. Did you do something wrong?” She said, voice growing louder and louder as she continued. “ Are you ever going to come back?" "Wait a second, who ever said that I did anything wrong in the first place?" Moonbeam said, leaning forwards to look Kita in the eye better. She confidently gazed right back into her eyes, her dark brown eyes unwavering. She wasn't at all fazed. "You sure are acting like you did something wrong." She said firmly. Moonbeam's face returned to a stoic glare. "I didn't, and I'm not fleeing this place. I'm too smart for that. You and I both know that Chendar would find me, no matter where on the earth I could fly. That's one of the advantages of being king. You can send other griffins on any type of mission that you want. He wouldn't rest until I had been hunted down, and neither would I." "Then why are you flying so fast? You sure do seem like you're in a pretty big hurry for a little flight through the kingdom." Kita said, eyes full of suspicion. So far, nothing that Sunny had said was convincing enough for her.
|
|