[Elena]

With a somewhat stupid grin plastered on her face, Elena took a comically deep breath so that she could revel in the salty air. And there it was, that gargantuan, unfailingly impressive ocean that she had admired paintings and drawings of during her childhood. She stared at it, slightly disappointed that it wasn't a shining, warm summer's day so that she could lie down with her toes and her fingers in the sand, and wade into the water. But, you know, nothing would ruin this moment for her.

Elena kinda wished that she'd chosen Espur to live in. When she had moved out of Arsenia, her parents had set her up in New Alexandria because of all of the opportunities and business ventures. But she wanted to be by the sea! Don't get her wrong, she loved Alexandria, but she could more imagine herself chilling by the seaside, sipping ice cold lemonade and sunbathing. And as a job, instead of being a healer, she could erm, sell seafood. It would so work!

As they reached the docks, Elena impatiently dismounted before Kiel had even stopped the strider to tie him up, and stared at the harbour in awe. She could so see herself as a swashbuckling, thieving, pillaging pirate. But, erm, a pacifist pirate, because she wasn't allowed to be violent.

“I've never had seafood before, is it nice?” she asked, stroking Ginger in her pocket with one of her fingers. “It's really beautiful! Thanks so much for bringing me here, too. What were you saying before about a pirate, too?” Meeting a pirate would be so amazing. She imagined them as being grizzled and scarred, with the typical eyepatch, and a rough voice and as being unfriendly to strangers. Especially enthusiastic little Anyeli.

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[Kiel]

“Wahahahaha!” Kiel giggled when Elena hopped off the 'strider before he'd even stopped. She really was a chick after his own heart, you know? “How can you not have had seafood, man? For sers!” Okay, so, like, living inland made it difficult for his own family to have seafood, except, like, when he was younger, his dad went on hunts pretty often with his gramps' hunting party, and, like, often brought back exotic meats. Sometimes, that included a kraken tentacle or two, but that wasn't very often. Other times, it was squid or scorpion tails, or, like, griffin tongue or something. Usually, they hunted inland, though.

“It's, like, so yummy, man, for sers.” Then again, some of it was kind of an acquired taste. Like scorpion tails. Barbequed, they could be okay, but they were, like, so awkward, man, for sers. First, you had to drain all the venom out and then, like, cure the meat [m] although, like, Kiel could never figure out why they cured it since it was already dead [m] and then, like, ooh, he was getting hungry.

Like, again.

“What were you saying before about a pirate, too?”

Giggling again, Kiel elaborated, “Like, I swear, I swear. The dude said, like, a million years ago, there was a pirate living where he lives now, you know?” Like, a million was exaggerating. He didn't think even Xanth had been around that long. Or, like, maybe. But, like, not pirates, you know? Even if it was a 'Vari pirate.

“Hey, hey, you think he left some treasure buried in his back yard?” Doubtful, but maybe the guy would let them look...

And then he mentally hop-skipped right back to the topic of food, patting the 'strider one last time before physically hopping onto the pavement and holding out an arm for Elena to take. “Real platters are kinda way expensive, man, you know? But, like, get the Ploughman's Surf 'n' Turf, okay? Like, a regular Surf 'n' Turf gives you half and half, right, but a Ploughman's is, like, way cheaper 'cause you only get, like, a taster of stuff, you know?” It should be cheaper, man. Like, it was designed for kids and the poor, you know? And the Turf part was all, like, run of the mill stuff like beef steak and sausages, so it wasn't like hunters lost their lives to make it or something...

[Elena]

Being so isolated in little Arsenia had meant that it was difficult to experience anything that wasn't part of Anyeli culture, or anything exotic. Her family had never been of the culinary sort, either. If you were hungry, her mother's solution would be to make yourself a sandwich or something, but occasionally her grandmother would make tasty dishes. Other than that, her knowledge of food was poor - except for sandwich making, of course.

Her attention was once again entirely Kiel's. Of course, what he said was probably folklore, but she was very, very interested. She liked to learn, about anything at all. Besides, pirates! Who didn't like pirates? Nobody could be so serious or as stern as to not like pirates.

“There might be. He might not be cool about us digging up his garden, though...” Actually, he probably wouldn't be. People weren't usually cool about people swarming round their houses due to them being tourist attractions.

At this talk of food, she felt quite peckish. Usually at work, she was often distracted by the workload and tasks that she was given by Nate, and had no time to eat or think about being hungry. But when she finished her tasks, she always felt like she was starving and hadn't eaten in ages. That was Nate for you. Starve the employees and maximise work output.

“You order for both of us, Kiel, you kinda seem to be an expert in this matter. Good thing I brought xanthai, though, 'cause usually I don't take money to work.” She paused. “Where're you from?” She'd never asked yet, and that was usually one of the first questions people asked.

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[Kiel]

“You order for both of us, Kiel, you kinda seem to be an expert in this matter.”

“Wah? Wahahahaha!” Elena just made the most, like, terrible mistake ever, man, wahahahahaha! He'd stuff her so full of goodies, she'd be all round and ball-shaped by the time he was done. 'Cause, like, you know. Most people didn't have the metabolism he did. Wahahaha.

“Come on, come on!” He grabbed her hand and pulled and tugged and steered her to the nearest restaurant, trying to keep in mind that she was just an apprentice like him. Well, like, he wasn't technically an apprentice 'cause Zeph wasn't actually teaching him anything, and she probably got paid a pittance compared to him, and he had two jobs 'cause he ate himself out of house and home, like, every day. So the restaurant he picked was a cheap one, at least, and more like a bistro or something.

“I'm totally having coffee, man, for sers!” Because nobody ever let him have coffee when he ate with them. “Come on, come on!”

Finding a small table in a cosy corner, Kiel pulled her over and plonked himself down in one of the seats, letting her have the view of outside. Like, his dad always drilled it into him, sit with his back to a wall 'cause you never know when someone's gonna pull a knife and all that, but, like, Kiel just didn't think that way. And the view of outside was, like, totally awesome, man, 'cause he'd picked a restaurant with a sneak peek of the ocean. And, like, okay, so she had to peer past all the ships and folks in the harbour, and they weren't actually on the sea-front so she also had to, like, look down the street and all, but at least she could see the sea, you know?

Or maybe he should order, like, a wrapped platter or something so they could walk and eat...

[Elena]

As he pulled her along, Elena attempted to swerve and avoid the puzzled people that she bumped into on the way to the restaurant. “Sorry. Sorry. Sorry!” She was relieved when the 'Varian selected an eatery, and followed him through and to the table he selected. It seemed quite populated, so that was always a good sign.

“Coffee sounds good.” The effect that caffeine would probably have on Kiel's already hypersome nature, she didn't think about. To slip into the seat that Kiel had selected, she tucked her wings in and delicately sat down so that she didn't crumple her wings or anything. An Anyelos' wings were their pride and joy, but also it could be embarrassing if you stood up and you'd left little piles of feathers around where you were sitting.

She smiled at him and looked at the window, and as the waitress approached them to take their order, she relayed her drink. “I'll have coffee. Black, please.” Politely waiting for Kiel to order his drink and whatever they were having, she waited until the waitress had left before she began to speak. “Tell me about yourself, Kiel. You mentioned that you grew up on a Landstrider farm...?” She left him open to elaborate, quite interested to hear about his rural upbringing.

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[Kiel]

And boy was Kiel ready to tell her allllllll about his family. “Like, totally, man! Like, did you know they're probably the tamest animal in Elysia?” He wasn't actually sure if that was entirely accurate, but, like, you know. “Like, even before they were domesticated, people were riding 'em. Erk, kinda hard on your butt, though, without a saddle.” He knew that from experience, 'cause his dad's rule that they not ride the "merchendise" had usually gone in one ear and out the other, but as a kid he'd been too small and weak to manage the tackle by himself.

He was just getting into one of the funnier anecdotes about a particularly nasty fall from the back of a totally docile landstrider that balked at the sight of a snake in the grass, tethering him to his bed until one of the better healers in the family could come over 'cause he'd broken his leg in, like, six different places or something, when the waitress came back to set their coffee on the table. Kiel had just picked his up and got a good whiff of the jazzy scent, half-standing and using a foot to turn his chair slightly so he could see out the window too, when something streaked past it —

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh!”

— quickly followed by something else. Like, it took his brain a second to catch up with his eyes, and then it was a good thing he hadn't taken a sip of his coffee yet 'cause otherwise Elena would have been wearing it. “Griffin! Griffin! There's a griffin!”

His body didn't know if he was excited or freaked out. Like, the coast was notorious for being riddled with the flying lion-y type creatures, you know, but he'd never seen one streak up a city street before.

...chasing... somebody.

“Crap!” Kiel was on his feet and half-way out the door before he remembered to put down his mug, and he almost, like, tripped over his own feet as he turned back to splash it down on the nearest table (to the outcry of its temporary residents). And he was, like, all the way out on the street chasing after the yells before he remembered that, like, wait. Shouldn't he have said "excuse me" at least to poor Elena?

---

I hope this is okay! I figured Elena could follow after him. ^^

[Elena]

The view of the sea from here, though slightly distant and distorted, was pretty in the sunlight. Absent-mindedly, her fingers caressed Ginger's fur in her pocket as she listened to Kiel, waiting for her hot cup of coffee. That would be nice on a cold winter's day. Either that, or a frothy hot chocolate with generous helpings of whipped cream and marshmallows.

She was grateful when the coffee arrived, and picked hers up to inhale that rich scent as she looked out at the sea with Kiel. Two blurs passed speedily. It took Elena a few seconds to register what had just happened, but Kiel shot into action. Alarmed, she dropped the coffee and it smashed to the floor, spilling liquid everywhere. She followed him after a second's hesitance - being careful to avoid the pool of coffee -, hastily apologising to the waitress on her flight from the café and handing her ten zanthai in return for the smashing and the coffee.

Kiel was kinda too fast to keep up with. She had tried to grab his hand, but he seemed to be a lot faster than she was, and she had to hold the disgruntled Ginger in her pocket so that he didn't fly out and go on a speedy rampage. In sight, was the poor victim and the griffin, which pursued its victim with unrelenting determination. What would they do, though? She could shield Kiel from attacks for a while with an aura shield, but the duration of that and its strength were a bit hard to determine - she'd never had to use it. And she could blind the griffin, but...

She'd just have to see when she got there. “Kiel! Kiel! Wait!” He was going to get himself killed or something! At least, that's what she feared. She would do her best to protect them both. And what if it chased someone else? And what if it killed them? And what if they couldn't get there in time? All of the worst case scenarios floated through her head.

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[Kiel]

True to form, Kiel totally caught up with predator and prey not far from the restaurant — which was totally a good thing since, like, between the three of them they'd kind of left a trail of debris and angry citizens.

And true to form, completely inconsiderate of all the things that would worry a normal person, he tackled the griffin from behind, wrapping his arms around its lion butt. The creature shrieked, an eagle's cry that totally pierced his ears, man, and it flapped its wings and wiggled in an effort to shake him off.

“Waahhhhh!” It was actually kind of a cool ride, you know? But, like, pretty soon Kiel felt like, “My arms are gonna fall off, man, quit it!” And, totally forgetting that Elena's wings were white, and what that meant, and totally just assuming she'd even followed him (because he'd been too busy running and chasing and deciding to save people that he'd not really been paying attention to the stuff happening behind him), he yelled, “Wah! Elena, do something!”

---

Sorry it took so long.

[Elena]

Out of all the scenarios she had imagined, she had never imagined Kiel would do something so dangerous. Her eyes, widened and alarmed, watched him as he dived onto the griffin and pinned it down as the creature thrashed madly. It was kind of hard to watch, really, she was so on edge that her hands trembled. When he shouted for help, she hesitated; not because she didn't want to help, but more because until now she'd never had to act under such pressure.

Elena sprung into action, running as fast as her little pale legs would carry her. An injured kaunyos probably could have outrun her on land, but she gave it her all as her feet pounded the pavement and her breath came in ragged, panicked gasps. Her destination was to get to in front of the griffin and block its path, but not with her massive hulking muscular mass (sarcasm intended). She had a plan in mind, and as it came into action she shrieked at Kiel, her voice trembling - “K-Kiel! Shut your eyes, quickly!”

To blind Kiel would hinder any progress. The griffin's victim looked at her nervously, having stopped running, as she raised her hand and gathered the winter sunlight to her palm. Using her other hand, she quickly shaped a large orb of the bright winter sunlight. It took a second, but the light seemed to burst forth toward the griffin, in an extremely bright, blinding flash. She had shut her eyes in order to avoid blinding herself, and as the griffin sounded its high-pitched eagle cry, Regaining composure, she skipped to the side. “What do we do now? Kiel?”

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[Kiel]

“Are you for sers, man?! I don't wanna close my WAH!” He'd barely squeezed his eyes shut in time to avoid the brightest of the flash, still seeing spots behind his eyelids. The griffin's shriek totally turned out to be the harbinger of doom, though, 'cause it suddenly thrust its butt to one side with enough force that Kiel couldn't hold on any more.

“Wahhhhhhhhh!” He was thrown, still seeing stars a bit, but turned it into a roll and used the momentum to get to his feet in one fluid move, just like Zeph and Vander taught him. Or, like, tried to teach him. The griffin was still totally shaking itself and rearing up, its head darting forward randomly as if it was trying to blindly stab people with its sharp beak. But, like, so far so good — it was still blind.

What now? “Weh. Well. Like. Uuummmm.” Casting about for ideas, 'cause, like, usually he won these things by sheer luck and didn't have the brains to come up with a plan beforehand, Kiel spotted the guy the griffin had been chasing. The dude totally looked, like, not just relieved to be rescued, but a little smug like he'd done the rescuing himself. But, like, it didn't seem right, you know, 'cause, like, griffin didn't usually come into built-up areas unless they'd been provoked, and, like, “Hey, hey, like, dude. What'd you do?!”

[Elena]

Slightly smug at her successful attempt to save Kiel (though not successful in the sense that she made a miraculous rescue and everybody was safe), Elena jogged over to Kiel after his successful defensive roll-thingy. Her heart was still racing, her breathing still laboured and her disposition still nervous. She wanted to ruffle Kiel's hair and high-five him, but he was probably still shaken up. She sure still was.

He looked pretty much unscathed, and so was she, it was probably just their nerves now. The run from the café had made her heart feel like it was going to explode out of her rib cage, and made her muscles feel incredibly achey and tired. As Kiel addressed the griffin's victim, her smile fell from her face. Before, she hadn't questioned that there was a rampaging, half-eagle, half-lion beast in the middle of such an inhabited town. But now, she realised that it seemed awfully suspicious.

Whatever the man had done, he wasn't going to admit it. He claimed not to have done anything, in reply to Kiel's question, but she narrowed her eyes and registered that griffins had never, ever attacked her or the other villagers at home. Unless they were hunters... As she thought this, she eyed the man and his weapons, and caught sight of a feather peeping out from the little leather pouch on his hip. Gently, she took Kiel by the arm and led him aside after telling the man to stay where he was. “Whatever he's done, he's not going to admit it. My bet is that he's a poacher, though. At home in the Duskies, poaching was considered cruel, is it the same out here? And if so, what do we do?” If the poacher had any sense, he would have done a runner, she just hoped he didn't.

Ooc; slight gmod with your permission, Emma...?

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[Kiel]

“Cruel?” Kiel blinked. He had his head tucked down a bit to keep their conversation all hush-hush, but then glanced up at the dude she'd called a poacher, nodding once for affirmation. Like, he didn't know what'd convinced her 'cause he hadn't seen the feathers, but, like, he wouldn't be surprised.

“Naw, man, like —” It was a fact of life. The warriors in his family got most of their experience from hunting, although, like, they only sold the bits they couldn't use themselves. Some people probably couldn't tell the difference between poaching and hunting, but, like... Well, he'd kind of made the same mistake himself, asking Zeph to go hunting lions with him so he could sell the pelts, but then got yelled at 'cause he'd got so wrapped up in the idea of training for sers that he'd not really thought about it. Hunters didn't waste stuff, you know? They hunted for food and then used the rest themselves or sold it. Poachers did it for profit, regardless, and often wasted what they couldn't sell.

But then it was kind of a moot point for him, 'cause the griffin's shock had worn off and it wasn't flailing wildly any more. Its tail lashed ferociously and it blinked at the crowd that had started to gather, clearly gearing up for another attack. “Quick, shield it, shield it!” he yelled. He would have told her to slam it with beams of light or something, but, like, that thing she'd done earlier reminded him what the white on her wings meant and he'd finally got a clue. Since there was no way to steer it out of the city without getting people seriously hurt, they'd have to, like, keep it at bay and knock it out or something, then transport it.

Or, like, hey, hey, he could see the feathers! 'Cause, like apparently the dude didn't have any sense, and had just stood there kinda gloating while the griffin got whomped.

Trusting Elena to keep the griffin behind a shield that would distract it, if not keep it contained altogether, Kiel threw himself at the poacher's calves and dragged him down.

"Hey, what do you think you're touching?!"

They sprawled and kicked and punched and scrambled and, like, Kiel was pretty sure he'd just lost a tooth, man, for sers.

But then he got his mitts on the feathers and held them aloft with a yelled, “Aha!” that suddenly made him the focus of the griffin's wrath. “Wah! Whadda we do, whadda we do?!” 'Cause, like, in retrospect, it wasn't like they could stick the things back on its butt...

“Dude,” he complained around the hand he'd pressed to his bleeding mouth. “Tha weawy hurs.”

[Elena]

Things seemed so alien out here! The villagers had to hunt, in order to survive, but on numerous occasions some of them had chased off poachers from the village. There was an unspoken sort of rule; to hunt creatures that had reached maturity, and to use all that they could. Poachers were considered cruel, working against nature as opposed to working with it. Not only that, they were often thugs, as well. But then again, you couldn't force people to accept and adapt to your morals. Although outside of Arsenia seemed pretty alien and strange, she was learning to live like her fellow Elysians, and just learning in general. Kiel had definitely helped with that.

Again, things became an adrenaline-fuelled rush. As Kiel shouted at her to 'shield it', she desperately had to decide what to shield: the griffin or the crowd. She settled upon the griffin, quickly forcing her palm outward and creating a feeble wall of light about six feet wide in response to the griffin's attack. It was the best she could come up with in such panicked circumstances, and as the griffin lashed the shield with its tail, it faded. While it recuperated from the shock of the flimsy shield, she hastily prepared another one, gathering as much light as she could and desperately using her hands to mark the outline of the wall.

By this point, the crowd was also panicking and, thankfully, dispersing. To her right, she watched Kiel and the poacher tumble about. It reminded her of the wrestles that her relatives would have when they were fledglings, grappling and rolling about - preparation for becoming warriors. She and Christopher had been laughed out for not joining in, but she vaguely recalled that her brother had broken one of their noses once, and after that never lain a hand on anybody else.

But oh, right, Kiel needed her help! Elena dashed over, keeping one eye on the griffin, which seemed confused as to who to go for. “Kiel!” she cried, snatching the feathers from him and hastily tucking them into her pocket; surely that would make them fall prey to the griffin if he kept them on display. Still panicked, she examined his wound and reassured him that she could fix him up, joking nervously that she had improved a lot since he had last seen her. Her hand shook, but her mind set, and she focused on his wound while gently moving his hand away. “He got you pretty good..” Light emnated from her fingertips, and her heart thudded as the wound caused by the blow weaved itself back together leaving nothing more than dried blood and draining her a little.

Elena sighed, her shoulders sagging a bit. She wiped the blood away from her fingertips and turned once more to the griffin. “We need to get it to leave Espur, before it wreaks more havoc, but without harming it. And also, what do we do about that guy?” As she asked the last question, the griffin once again set its beady, keen eyes on the suspected poacher.


Ooc; Minor gmod to move plot along? You can have temporary gmod permission for Elena for more freedom.

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[Kiel]

Rubbing his jaw and gaping his mouth wide to, like, test the heal jobby, Kiel nodded. Dude, “You're pretty good, haha.” He hadn't a clue how she managed to maintain the shield around the griffin and heal him at the same time, and sure enough as the griffin threw itself again and again at the wall of light, it weakened.

Lightbulb.

“Gimme the feathers, man, okay?” He held out his hand and bounced on his toes impatiently, nervous as hell but hyped up on adrenaline and bravado and the knowledge that he was about to do something that was, like, probably gonna be really stupid. “And, like, gimme a couple seconds head-start and then let it loose, okay?” 'Cause he was going to wave the feathers like a red flag and taunt the beasty, then run hell-for-leather for the sea and toss 'em in there or something. Anything, really, to get the griffin out of the crowd like Elena's said.

Giggling nervously, he touched his face. “And, like, come after, okay, 'cause I think I'm gonna need some more juice, hahahahaha.” He just hoped he didn't wear her out before he was done with the griffin, 'cause he really didn't want to go home looking like he'd been dragged through a lunastur backwards. Again.

[Elena]

They made a pretty good team, fighting crime and defending the people and all that. She grinned, flushed a bit at the compliment, and admired her handiwork. For a minute, she almost forgot about the griffin and the life or death situation, which probably weakened the shield even further.

The griffin's squawking informed her of what was going on again, and at Kiel's request she hastily shoved the feathers into his hands and prepared herself once more. “Go! Go!” she yelled as the griffin looked at them, but this time without a shield to block its vicious attacks. It was a risky plan, but hopefully she could run fast enough to keep up with him. And hopefully he wouldn't get himself injured.

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[Kiel]

And so he went, after waving the feathers in the griffin's face and nee naw nee nawing at it. Kiel ran fast even when he wasn't trying, but, like, full tilt he was fast.

Which was good, 'cause the critter was pretty pissed, you know? Every snap of its beak at his rear end made him “Wah!” and jump forward, both hands clutching at the seat of his pants like they were on fire. He was sooooo glad when he reached an open spit of land where he could skid to a stop and pivot — then braced himself for impact.

He was knocked clear off his feet by a swooping headbutt preceded only by an ear-splitting shriek. The impact made him Oof! and dazed him a bit; as he rolled over and unsheathed his katana the griffin as already swooping back. “Wah!” He ducked, just barely avoiding those nasty claws, and swung up and around at the griffin's rear end. He missed, of course, but that was okay 'cause it was coming right back!

This time, he didn't miss. He wasn't aiming at anything vital 'cause he didn't want to kill it, only scare it away from the city, so his blow only nicked a leg. But, like, it gave the creature pause and it was a tad bit slower when it wheeled around to come at him again. Kiel could only keep up with the ducking and dodging and nicking for so long, though, you know? So, like, “Man, go home, already!”

[Elena]

In a few seconds, Kiel was gone - and so was the griffin. She took off after them, but it didn't take long before she was clutching her side and gulping down oxygen. She slowed down from a sprint to a slow jog, and became relieved when they reached wide, open spaces. Here, she could be of help.

As her legs were fatigued, Elena set off at a final sprint for a few metres. Her wings snapped up and she leaped wildly, stabilising herself with her arms and beginning to ascend so that she was hovering above the eagle and Kiel. He was doing pretty well, but he needed an opening in order to fend off the griffin; if it was hurt and frightened, it might retreat back to its nest.

Like before, Elena gathered up an aura sphere of light energy. She released it on the griffin in a bright pulse, being careful to steady herself in the air. She would be done for if it came after her; griffins were excellent fliers, far more so than she was. As the griffin's eagle cries sounded once more, while it was knocked sideways having been caught off guard, she shouted encouragement to Kiel. He had the upper footing now, but she didn't want to kill the griffin or anything, especially since it had been provoked and taunted into chasing that man - and he had led it into Espur.

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[Kiel]

“Wait, wait, like, no!” Kiel's yell was too late to stop Elena from blasting the griffin with that funky light of hers, and Kiel kinda felt bad. Like, he could only hope she didn't get in trouble, you know? Like, as far as he knew, Peacekeepers weren't supposed to be violent at all, you know? He didn't want to be the guy that got her, like, cast out or something just for helping him.

But it was too late, anyhow, and it wasn't like there was anyone around to witness what she'd done, so it'd be okay. Like, right? And besides, he had bigger things to worry about, you know?

He was knocked on his ass again by another swoop, but this time used the momentum to roll head over heels and back up onto his knees. When the griffin came at him, he spun and swiped at it with his katana, managing to swipe the blade across the creature's front legs with just enough force that the blade came away red, but he hadn't caused enough damage to cripple it.

Between him and Elena, it seemed like they'd managed to scare it off, 'cause it gave one last shriek and lifted itself into the sky.

“Like, that or it's gone for reinforcements...” He really didn't like that idea, though, and as far as he was concerned they'd saved the day, so, like, as he wiped his blade off on the leg of his pants (a habit he'd picked up from Zeph) and skipped back to the docks, he cooed, “Woohoo! Less go less go. I'm so hungry, man, I'm gonna collapse and die right here on the street, you know?”

[Elena]

Their victory was incredibly satisfying. Elena's chest heaved as she unsteadily landed, and she would swear down on her own life that during the past fifteen minutes, a showing of her life had been running through her head - an inevitable sign that she was going to die. Fortunately, that was probably just her own fright, and instead they had pulled through unscathed. Mainly.

She followed Kiel gleefully. Elena didn't know what she was expecting when they returned to Espur. A parade maybe? A marching band? Or,at the very least, a pat on the back and a 'well done'? But everyone was just getting on with their daily lives, and she wasn't usually into getting glory and recognition. She shrugged it off and made a mental note to include details of the event in her next letter home.

There was no sign of the 'victim' of the griffin though, so obviously he had been up to something shady. But, really, there wasn't much they could do now, was there? “Yeah, let's go eat, we deserve it.” She thought of the enjoyable afternoon ahead and smiled to herself.


Ooc; I'm going to busy soon, so I'll have to cut this thread short so I can post in the expedition and the mini quest, and this seems like a good time to end. Sorry Ems.

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[Kiel]

No worries, hon.

---

Nobody was paying attention to them. It was kinda like the whole thing had just been a dream or something, like he hadn't really been chased down a crowded street by a griffin. But, like, that was cool with him, you know? He could brag to Zeph and his family about how he'd been all heroic and saved the day and stuff, and he'd probably tell Elena all about it while they ate, even though she'd totally been right there with him.

“Dude!” But that reminded him, 'cause, like, he realised he was totally still had a death grip on the feathers with his left hand. And, like, “Hey, hey, there's enough to split between us, man, how cool is that?” It was like providence or something, wahahahaha!

So as they settled back down to their table, giving the waitresses an apologetic look, he offered Elena her half and tucked the rest into one of many pockets.