[Lucian]

The midday sun cast down a warm glow on the city, the sound of people going about their business making it difficult to think. The city was alive and the market streets were full of people, sights, smells, and sounds. One such sight and sound was what looked like a Zanaryan playing a lute outside a local bakery. The winged hybrid, who only showed his dominant bloodline in his reptilian, pale blue eyes. But even those held a red outline, denoting his Zanaryan ancestry once more. The sound of his instrument was playful, and matched his attire. The young (at least by his race's standards) man wore a loose fitting tan cloak that seemed to have been patched up multiple times and had an assortment of pockets. Beneath that he had on a cloth shirt and tan cloth pants. Not the most stylish outfit, but he had taken the liberty of stitching coiling dragons onto his sleeves. But because he had no practice with that skill, they were rather poor representations of his grand ancestors. Around his wrists sparkled polished metal bangles, three on each wrist, each made of either silver or what looked like gold. His horns also bore three rings each, catching the sun as he danced around.

As he strummed his instrument, he sung a playful song in Elysian, mixing in words of French. He garnered a few laughs for his antics, and a few people even tossed Xanthians into the wooden bowl at his feet. Unbeknownst to most of his audience, he had opened his mind to listen to they're thoughts. He couldn't always get it to work, but it never hurt to try. Except for when the person had a stronger mind then his and got upset when they found him snooping through they're thoughts.

"I never knew Zanaryans were so musical" "What am I gonna do?" "Mmm, that bread smells good..." "Gah! Don't eat that!" "Man... last night was crazy... I think..." "How'd the little devil get into the pantry!"

Alright, the telepath thought to himself, ending his tune with a bow, I don't know what those thoughts were about, but they sound interesting.

Collecting his bowl and the tips within the trouble maker decided to investigate. He tried to focus on the source of the thoughts that had caught his interest, not an easy task. Blocking out the other thoughts he heard, he listened in on the thoughts that slipped from his target's mind.

"How am I gonna get rid of this thing?" the unidentified thinker asked himself. "Maybe I could pay someone..."

At the thought of money, both his thoughts and the thoughts of this stranger, Lucian's smile grew. His hoarding instincts led him to follow the thoughts, which ranged from trying to decide what to do with an as of yet unidentified creature, and things about finding something in a kitchen. So, he went to the closest kitchen he knew of, which just so happened to be the bakery. As soon as he walked in he heard a crash from behind the bakers counter, and his head cringed as the thoughts suddenly became inflamed with unspoken, and unspeakable, profanities.

"Someone needs to wash their brain out with soap..." he muttered, closing his mind to the thoughts of others as he followed the sounds of a struggle into the bakery kitchen, putting on his best "concerned citizen" face. What he saw completely destroyed his facade and replaced it with a genuine look of shock. In the bakery kitchen was the baker, a rather fit middle-aged man, playing tug of war with a griffin over a baking pan.

"What in Xanth's name..." the hybrid asked, his jaw and wings both dropping in surprise. "Uhm... Can I... Uh..." the young man was speechless, so the baker took over.

"Don't just stand there! Help me pull this pan away from him! Its one of my better ones!" to shocked to object Lucian walked over to where the baker was, grabbed the metal pan and pulled, only to have the griffin pull back, tearing the pan clean in half. Apparantly the griffin wasn't interested in half a pan, so it tossed its half away, eyeing the winged man curiously.

"Damn it!" the baker swore, throwing the other half of the pan down with a clang. "Should've let the poachers take you! But no, I had to be a good person!" the baker sighed, holding his temples as his shoulders drooped. He then turned to the leather winged intruder of his kitchen, who was still in a bit of shock. "Hey, you wanna do me a favor?"

"Uh..." Lucian had yet to fully recover from the shock of playing tug of war with a baker and a bird, so the baker continued.

"Listen this poor animal was being hunted by poachers. I happened upon them when I was walking back from visiting some family in Alexshire. I'm alright in a fight, and managed to scare the hunters off and save this little fella." he motioned to the griffin, who had sat down to watch the two talk, "As far as I know they killed his parents, and I don't have time to take care of him. If you could take him to the coast for me I'd be willing to pay. Just bring me back something to prove you got him their safely." the man's face seemed to be begging Lucian for this favor, and the normally carefree trickster decided he might as well.

"What did you want me to bring back?" he asked, slowly reach his hand towards the creature, who sniffed it then shied away.

"Just grab something when you get there. I'd feel great if he were with other griffins, so how about you bring me a feather from an adult griffin? I hear their nests are full of em."

The Vari thought for a moment, his hand still extended towards the animal in question. As he pondered, he felt it's beak push against his hand, and when he turned he saw the beast about to snap at him, so he pulled his hand back. "How much we talkin?"

The baker, apparently surprised either by the directness of the question or how quickly his request was accepted, remained silent for a while. "I'll see how much I can scrounge up while your gone, I promise a fair price though. And here's a loaf of bread for the road." he said, handing Lucian a large, heavy loaf of hard bread.

"Uhm, I don't think I can eat this..." he said, feeling the breads weight. The butler just smiled.

"Its not for you, I'm afraid." Realization hit the Vari, and he thanked the baker, borrowed some sturdy rope to make a leash for his temporary responsibility, and then lead the, hopefully, restrained griffin into the back alley so as to avoid to many people.

"Come on bird brain. Lets get you home so I can pay my rent this month." he said dryly, only to receive a nip to his cloak that just missed him. He turned towards the griffin and recognized something in its eyes, the same mischievous glint he saw every morning in the mirror. This might be more fun then he thought.

[Aria]

Ennui had forced her out of the apartment. Curiosity had gotten her onto the rooftops. And familiarity guided her movements as she lightly stepped from one roof tile to the next, swiftly but surely navigating the city of Espur from the top of its walls and buildings, effectively avoiding the mass of people who thronged in the streets below. Aria was glad that her climbing skills hadn’t deteriorated during her time at sea – not that she had ever really believed they would, not after years of experience. The young ‘Varian smiled smugly to herself as she successfully made the leap from the edge of one roof to another. Come what may, she thought, at least I know that I can still climb. Makes running errands for Ciel a little more interesting.

The light spring wind was doing its best to tug frizzy brown hair from under her knitted beret, but it at least cooled her down somewhat as she moved under the unrelenting glare of the sun, running across a roof, scaling down a sturdy trellis to leap onto a balcony, climbing up onto the next rooftop and then vaulting a wall to reach another level. Here she finally paused, to catch her breath and appreciate the sight of the city afforded her by a high vantage point. Still. I’ve got to get myself a job. Living off of my sister has long passed embarrassing and is fast becoming fuel for an identity crisis... As she rested, perched upon the wall of a rooftop garden, she looked down into the streets, watching people go about their business. She imagined herself in their place - as the shopkeeper behind his stall, as the girl handing out fliers, as the woman ushering two winged children into the shoe store. ”Feh.” Aria sighed, voicing her distaste although there was no one around to hear her. ”Boring.”

She soon saw something a little less boring being dragged into an alleyway by what appeared to be a Zanaryan. Thoughts of returning home to give Ciel her newly polished jewellery fled from Aria’s mind as she endeavoured to get closer to the alleyway in question for a better look at the creature. A griffin – she had seen them before in her limited travels along the Ao Coast, but never before had she seen one in the middle of a town, and never close up. Curiosity now drew her away from the rooftops, until she had climbed close enough to the alleyway to drop down behind the man and his charge. She didn’t notice the golden ring that dropped out of her pocket as she landed. It lay on the dusty ground by Aria’s feet, glinting in the sunlight.

“It’s a bit risky, isn’t it, bringing a creature like that into such a busy city?” Aria didn’t bother introducing herself, instead going straight for the information. She stood and spoke with the same ease with which she had dropped from the rooftops, her words addressing the man holding the leash but her admiring eyes on the captive creature. “Where’d it come from?” A vague idea began to develop in her mind; Maybe I could get one of my own. Then I wouldn't be limited to exploring Espur - I could fly anywhere I pleased. Who needs a dragon?

—-
OOC: I'm hesitant to GM the griffin without your permission, so I'll just let you know that I wrote the bit about the ring so that the griffin might steal/eat the ring, which would ensure Aria would stick around until she could get it back, and might elicit further mischief? You don't have to go with that, though; if you have other ideas I'm happy to play along.

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[Lucian]

((OOC: I don't mind GMing the griffin, as long as you don't GM Lucian ))

Lucian was not having fun dragging this bird/ devil through Espur's back alleys. The golden-brown feathers of the young monster ruffled at it tried to wriggle out of it's leash. The Varian tried as he might to calm the beast while maneuvering it through the less used alleys, whispering calming words that he knew it wouldn't understand. When he heard a voice behind him he swirled around and let out a yelp, his pale blue eyes locking onto the female Vari, whose eyes marked her as an unsepted. Recognizing her as his kind, well, his dominant kind, set him at ease.

"Yes, I suppose it is a bit of a risk. However, I'm working on getting him out of the city." the winged Varian smiled. Then some movement caught his eye, as the griffin lunged forward. At first he was afraid that he was going to attack this girl, which would have been terrible, but instead he pecked at something at her feet. When he brought his head up, Lucian saw the shine of gold, a ring that the creature held in the tip of it's beak. "I'm going to assume that," Lucian pointed towards the ring now in the griffin's possession, "was yours?" he said "was" because from the glint in the griffin's eye it didn't look like he was going to give it back. "But the baker saved him from poachers. Wanted me to take him ho-" before he could finish the griffin lunged, not at the girl or Lucian, but down the alley way. The sudden jerk almost dislocated Lucian's arm, and he got a nasty rope burn before he managed to release the rope.

"Merde" the winged hybrid swore in french, racing after the creature as it bounded away. He just hoped it was to young to fly otherwise he'd be out of luck. As he ran he turned back to the other Vari, "I'm Lucian, sorry about your ring, gottacatchthatgriffinbye!" he screamed as he turned a corner, chasing the beast. It managed to find an open street where a few people were walking. Some woman screamed as the griffin raced past her and suddenly the street was alive with panic. All Lucian could think was "Why didn't I think of this sooner?" as the griffin turned every block it past into utter chaos. Than Lucian realized something, it kept looking back before it turned a corner, as though making sure he was still there.

"That little devil! He's playing with us!" he thought, wondering if he could risk turning back to see if the girl was following them. He decided not to, not wanting to lose sight of the griffin, as he bounded past a fruit vendor, who through a box of berries into the air in shock.

[Jericho]

Jericho was in town, minding his own business, an apple turnover tucked delicately into his handkerchief so that he could take bites of the crumbling pastry and hot, mushy apple sauce without risking his clothing. Rusty had tagged along like a faithful dog and was chowing down on a sweetbread, his relish evident by the crumbs on his face and in his bird's nest of a beard. His oat-and-honey loaf already packed into his wiry frame, Nin was bringing up the rear.

Until some creature burst out of a side street, by-passed the startled Therians entirely, and took Jericho off at the knee-caps. The world turned upside down as Jeri's feet were yanked out from under him and he was tipped on his back to land, unceremoniously and in quite a lot of pain, in a puddle that immediately seeped through his jacket and into his vest and shirt. Flaky pastry had sprayed everywhere and Jericho now had a face full of mushy apple sauce.

Behind his sunglasses, his eyes were wide with disbelief. For a moment, all he could wonder was why he was suddenly staring straight up at the spring sky. Then he heard Rusty's voice — “Gerrit! Get it!” — and the pounding of several pairs of feet, and the sky was blotted out by Nin's distinctively average silhouette.

“You all right, boss?”

Craning his head up to peer down the length of his body, Jericho's lips twitched and his brow furrowed. “Do I look all right?” His scowl precluded any response, stating in no uncertain terms that the question was rhetorical. Nin held out a hand to help pull him up to his feet. “What in Hel and tarnation was that?”

Nin's shrug was non-chalant. “Looked like a griffin to me.”

Immediately, Jericho's thoughts turned to profit. “Rather small for a griffin. Cub?” Jericho brushed ineffectually at the crumbs and sauce splattering his previously pristine wardrobe, then paused as he realised the Therian was still standing there, completely unaffected by the entire episode. “Which is to say, you should help Rusty capture it, man.”

Comprehension dawned on the Therian's face and Nin — reluctantly — set off after the trickle of chasers.

Still brushing himself off, and at a much slower pace, Jericho followed behind, able to track them purely by the chaos left behind.

---

I figure Jericho was too preoccupied with the sky to have seen Lucian (and Aria?) chasing the griffin. The trio will catch up, though, so prepare for a battle. Jeri wants those feathers!

[Aria]

Aria was quick to step back when the griffin pecked at her feet, and even quicker to plunge her hand into the pocket of her shorts when she saw the ring held in the creature’s beak. Deft fingers fumbled through the pouch in her pocket, counting the rings held inside – one, two, three, four – damn. She glared at the griffin and his annoyingly nonchalant supervisor in turn and took a few steps forward, determined to wrestle the ring from the griffin’s beak if need be. ”It is my ring, yes. And poachers will be the least of its problems if it doesn’t—”

She stopped as the targets of her ire fled, the man voicing her own sentiments just as eloquently as she could ever do – still, she had a go at besting him all the same, and released a string of curse words in fluent French as she followed them into the busy city street. Aria paid little attention to those who experienced misfortune at the paws of the beast as she chased it, still too caught up in her own troubles. She knew her sister wouldn’t berate her too much for having lost one of her many rings; it was instead the thought of having to admit defeat that propelled her through the confused crowd at a purposeful pace, elbowing people out of her way if need be.

The chaos in the wake of the creature provided an easy trail to follow, but it also provided obstructions. Aria was having to jump over upturned carts, skid around corners and weave through bystanders as she ran, all of which made it difficult to catch sufficient breath to talk to the man who’d called himself Lucian. She eventually caught up with him, and when she was close enough to be reasonably sure that he would hear her even over the sounds of panic and mayhem, she shouted out to him.

“Hey, don’t you have any kind of powers to stop it? Couldn’t you—” She stopped to swear at a particularly burly man who got in her way for a too long second, ”—couldn’t you buffet it back with a gust of wind, or make it sink in mud? Isn’t that what your kind does?” She laughed breathily before she continued. “I mean, I dare say I’m actually finding this rather fun, but it has to end sooner or later, and I’m pretty sure the Guard would prefer sooner, so—” Another pause to catch her breath, ”—if you’ve no ideas, might I suggest a pincer approach? One of us remains following it from behind, the other finds a way to get ahead of it – perhaps from the rooftops—” pant, wheeze, “—I mean, it seems determined to stay at ground level, so if we can trap it in an alleyway and confront it from either side it might stop.”

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[Lucian]

Lucian turned a corner, jumping over a well dressed man who had apparently fallen when the griffin collided with him. He happened to notice that a man with a large beard started chasing after him once he passed, but he didn't have time to ponder why. Another corner, the Griffin skidded and knocked over a merchant's stand, send baubles and nick-knacks all over the road. Shiny! No, griffin... But that ones so sparkly! No! Gotta catch the griffin! Damn my hoarding instincts! the Varian mentally swore as, while still running, he scooped up a trinket, but upon realizing that it was a cheap knock off, even though a shiny knock off, he tossed it aside just as he heard the girl from earlier.

"What are you-" he almost asked, before he remembered what his other bloodline was famous for. "Sorry, no elemental powers for me. I'm half Dracovarian. Pete-" he stopped talking to jump over a toppled cart, "Peteulanus sept!" he finally managed. "As fun as this is, you're right. The guard will not be friendly if they see this disaster!" not to mention I'm not on good terms with the guard as is he thought to himself. "How's your climbing skills?" he asked, motioning to a few stacks of crates on the side of the street coming up. Either of them could jump up to the rooftops using the crates as stairs, but Lucian decided to let her do it if she wanted. It was after all her idea.

The griffin, completely oblivious to the growing number of people chasing it, continued to bound through Espur, as if he owned the place.

[Jericho]

It seemed that the griffin was not actually attempting to make a getaway so much as enjoying the chase. Following behind at a more languid pace, trusting his employees to do the dirty work for him (or else not get paid this week), Jericho had time to realise something: They were going in circles.

Armed with this knowledge, Jericho searched the vicinity for tools, chancing upon a fisherman's net. “May I?” Without awaiting the man's startled confirmation, Jericho dragged the net from the fisherman's cart and snapped out his arm to quickly test the length of the net. Satisfied that it would suffice, he took up residence behind said cart and settled in to wait.

“Exactly what are you — ” Shushing the fisherman with a finger to his lips, Jericho peered over the cart, his nose wrinkled against the penetrating stench of fish. He vaguely thought to find another hiding spot, somewhere less offensive to his nostrils, but then he heard the unmistakable chaos of the chase closing in and dismissed the thought. His muscles tensing and his breath frozen in his throat — all the better to hear the griffin's pounding pace — Jericho counted down the seconds...

... and pounced!

[Aria]

The situation didn’t suit a verbal rejoinder, so Aria let her actions do the boasting as she swiftly scaled up the wall to the roof, using the crates for initial footing then climbing the rest of the wall on her own steam. She had been tempted to scale the wall without the use of the crates, just to prove she could, but there wasn’t time for showing off. She felt curiously at ease on the rooftops, away from the chaos and energy of the streets below – although there was no escaping the noise, which allowed her to place and follow the griffin even when she couldn’t see it. The tricky part was anticipating where it was going to run to next, in order to get in front of it. And even then, can I be sure it will stop? If I get in the way it may just run me down. Maybe I should try to jump on it instead?

Aria had plenty of time to doubt her plan as she moved over the rooftops, taking every precarious shortcut possible in an effort to overtake the griffin. Whilst moving with the intention of predicting and pre-empting the griffin’s path, Aria too came to understand that the creature was retracing its steps. The realisation stopped her in her tracks by the edge of a building, where she was witness to the successful ensnarement of the creature by someone other than the winged Peteulanus. Aria felt a brief twang of irrational annoyance at having been robbed of her heroic moment, before the sight of the trapped creature flailing wildly had her first smiling, then outright laughing, relieved at not having to deal with that particular bucking bronco. She sat herself on the edge of the roof nearest the creature, enjoying the spectacle. I’ll let them settle the damn bird down. Then I’ll get my ring back.

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[Lucian]

Lucian was impressed with how gracefully the girl had scaled the wall, and was also left in awe from how easily she traversed the rooftops. It took the boy a moment, but he finally caught on to the fact that he had raced down this street once before. The realization that he had been running in circles after this griffin left him feeling like an idiot. As he scolded himself for not catching on quicker he was to distracted to realize that someone had netted the now struggling creature. He tried to skid to a halt, even spreading his wings to provide more wind resistance, yet he still managed to trip over the griffin, its captor, and getting his foot snared in the net itself.

"The hunter becomes the hunted..." he groaned, rubbing his head as he tried to wiggle his foot free from the thrashing net. He managed to pull it lose, and the wrapped an arm around the griffin, muttering in it's ear to try and calm it down with little effect. Then he turned to the other Varian, who's ingenious plan had captured the mischief maker. "Thanks for," he re-situated his arm to avoid a flailing wing, "catching him. Any thoughts," he paused once more to try petting the creature to calm it down, "on how to get it calmed down?"

He took a moment to look at the latest arrival to this unusual chase, and recognized a fellow member of his Sept. "I'm Lucian by the way. If the guard asks about this later I was nowhere near any of it!" he said with a playful smile, ducking to avoid the griffin's beak. Lucian, feeling he was suitably introduced, resumed petting the bird, making a "shush" sound like one would with a infant or child, hoping for some sort of results.

[Jericho]

“Yes,” Jericho said without preamble, brushing himself off yet again. He was beginning to wish he'd never come to this accursed city. “Kill it.” As if on cue, Rusty and Nin ambled up, the former bending double and leaning his hands on his knees. He'd make an excellent bouncer, but chasing was not his forte. Nin, on the other hand, looked as if he ran marathons daily.

Jericho grimaced at the introduction. If the Zanaryan had said nothing, and the Guard had investigated, Jeri would have nothing to give them. Now, he had the idiot's name and description — more than enough for a bounty hunter to go on. It wasn't like Jericho cared if the moron got himself caught like that, but he really had to question the intelligence of some Elysians.

Feeling superior, Jericho gestured at the griffin vaguely, his eyes on Ninian. The Therian yanked a small knife from his boot and leaned toward the struggling pair, fully intent on sliding the blade across the griffin's throat. “I recommend we split the feathers 80-20.” To pre-empt any protests (and unaware that there was a third party involved — though he probably would have tried to get out of splitting the profits further even if he did know Aria was there), he gestured again by way of explanation, this time at Rusty and Ninian. “I have to pay my friends here somehow.”

[Aria]

The smile still lingering on Aria’s lips died as parts of the conversation below reached her ears. She couldn’t hear everything from her position three stories above the ground, but she believed she had the gist of the suddenly sour situation – now she had to decide what she was going to do about it. She was acutely aware of the option to walk away; it wasn’t her problem, after all, and she usually avoided getting involved in other people’s troubles - but then again, aren’t I already involved? Walking away now would be cowardice, not to mention... Her mind conjured an image of Lucian and the griffin lying in a pool of blood and feathers, their blank stares curiously condemning; and suddenly making a decision wasn’t so difficult.

Acting on that decision was another matter, however. Aria looked once more into the alley below, pointedly ignoring the situation on the ground to focus on the walls surrounding it. “Merde.” She exclaimed as she withdrew from the roof’s edge and began pacing in agitation. There was no way down; or at least, no way down that didn’t involve either dropping down 30 feet to become the first casualty, or running a convoluted route across the rooftops to find a way down elsewhere before making her way back to the alleyway at ground level – following the sound of the griffin’s cries as it succumbed to the knife, no doubt.

The building Aria was on was not only tall, but old. In her frustration her feet kicked at the roof tiles as she paced considering her options, and after half a long minute a clinking sound drew Aria’s gaze down to the roof, where a broken tile fragment had been kicked free by her motions. Her mind still clouded and her mood sour in defeat, Aria kicked the tile again, sending it skidding it over the edge of the roof and down to the alleyway below.

The sound of the tile shattering on the ground was enough to bring Aria out of her thoughts and propel her to action, as she acted on a spur of the moment plan. Kicking and pulling desperately at the old tiles, she managed to pry a few of them free. Aria quickly gathered them up and approached the roof edge once more before throwing the tiles one by one down into the alleyway, aiming for the suit’s lackeys in the hope of distracting them. “Eat tile!” She shouted, unable to keep the burgeoning excitement she felt from her voice.

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[Lucian]

Two words. That's all it took to freeze Lucian's blood in his veins. His smile, normally a permanent fixture on his face, was replaced with a look of shock. This guy, he just wanted to slaughter the poor creature? And then he was going to "share" the feathers with him? Seriously?

Lucian stood, spreading his arms and wings as he made himself a wall between the griffin the would-be poachers. Only in hindsight did he realize that standing between three individuals willing to end a cub's life and said cub was probably not the grandest of plans. "I can't let you do that. I was charged with keeping this griffin cub safe, a commitment I intend to honor." his words certainly sounded brave, but his entire body was shaking with fear, and his voice was a few octaves higher. He pondered his next course of action when he heard Aria's battle cry, and tiles flew towards the other Varian's lackeys.

Without taking the time to make sure the attack had suitably distracted the three crooks Lucian crouched next to the griffin, who must have sensed danger and stopped flailing as Lucian pulled the net off of him. Adrenaline flowing through both their veins, Lucian grabbed the rope, which was shockingly still in tact, and raced down the street, the Griffin on his heels. He looked around, scanning the area for the female Dracovari, hoping she saw him running and took the hint. If he managed to get enough distance between him and the three thugs he very much intended to track her down and thank her for the distraction. But now he focused on running, and not losing hold of the rope. He didn't even look back to see if he was being followed.

[Jericho]

“You were what?” Jericho was astounded. Why would anyone agree to something so ridiculous? The griffin clearly didn't want to leave town. So what if staying meant it died? “Look, if you're planning to raise the thing, I can tell you, eventually it's going to get so big, it'll be snacking on you.” In truth, he doubted even an adult would want to eat a person (he especially doubted that it would eat a Zanaryan), but the idea was moot. If the scaley vlareon wanted to risk his neck, he could do it on his own time.

Come to think of it, why were the Zanaryan's wings scaley? Xanth, don't tell me he's pox-ridden. I need to wash my hands...

Heaving a sigh when it became clear the Zanaryan was not taking "let us kill it" for an answer, Jericho glanced skyward — just in time to see a tile flying straight at him. What the Hel is this, Xanth? Pick on Jericho day?! He ducked, the tile hit the deck, and Jericho straightened — both his spine and his hair. Instantly jumping to the conclusion that the over-protective Zan was a Dao and that he'd brought the tile down upon Jericho's head in an effort to dissuade him from killing the griffin, Jericho humph!d and tugged on his jacket. “Fine, but I want my share now. You can do what you like with the — Oi!”

Forced to duck yet again, his attention brought skyward by a woman's yell, Jericho ducked behind Rusty's huge figure. Nin's curse and the scuff of footsteps drew him back out long enough to elicit his own curse. “Xanth damn all things!” The Zanaryan — and the griffin — were making their getaway, and Jericho was feather-less. “After them! I want those vlareon-blasted feathers!”

[NPC]

Hey guys, this is Hollie posting with Caiden Mays, a Sidhe and a member of Espur's town guard. I'd like for this to be in place of Aria's due post, if that is alright with you both. She's giving me real trouble at the moment. :/ You can of course godmode Caiden, and I can (in fact, I probably will) continue writing as him (and Aria, when she feels like co-operating) for the rest of the thread.

—

Two petty robberies, one case of mistaken identity and a violent dispute about a ladder (the third that week). Caiden Mays, town guard, had had a busy morning; and the afternoon seemed set to follow suit. The unusually tall Sidhe brushed a hand through his closely cropped hair and sighed as he walked away from the woman who even now was still complaining about the damage done to her cart by “that beast”. Caiden couldn’t bring himself to share in her indignation, despite the extensive clean up job quite literally before him. The way he saw it, animals couldn’t be held accountable for their wild behaviour, and he was willing to believe the owner hadn’t meant to (indirectly) cause such destruction.

Striding through the confused street, directing placating smiles at the aggrieved bystanders along the way, Caiden decided that he had amassed enough information about the incident and focused on his next move: stopping the Griffin. Thankfully, animal management was something he was particularly skilled at. He walked on some more, stroking the sleeping Windfur nestled in his jacket as he went, until he had arrived in a wide and empty street. There he closed his eyes – enabling him to ignore his surroundings and focus on his thoughts – and sent out a call, visualising the described Griffin cub as he did so. Come to me. Come, now, swift, safe. Caiden had learned through experience that animal summoning worked best when he gave direct commands, using simple terms. Standing stock still he repeated the phrase in his mind, confident that the creature would soon be on its way.

[Lucian]

Lucian didn't turn to look behind him as he and the griffin ran through the busy city streets. Although, at this point, people had apparently heard of the disaster he and the creature were causing and upon hearing the clack of talons on stone, most people quickly moved out of the way. Lucian could see the gate that would lead him and the griffin out of the city and to a safer place. Sadly, the Griffin decided to take an unexpected U-turn. Deciding that one curse wasn't enough, Lucian began muttering a very colorful oath in french before switching to listing his favorite Dragonic curses, and then through in some Latin for good measure. Rope in hand Lucian tried to direct the Griffin in the other direction, towards the city gate, but it seemed rather insistent on making its way to some unknown destination. The winged Dracovarian tried to find a cause, when he felt a thought in the air. He couldn't quite make out what it was, but it felt like a call. Not for him though, so it must've been for the griffin. "Lovely!" Lucian muttered as the Griffin raced in between fallen carts, that it had knocked over earlier. Lucian just hoped that the well dressed poacher wasn't the one sending out the call. He didn't think Peteulanus telepathy was capable of that, but then he wasn't positive.

Then Lucian saw one of the city guard, standing absolutely still. He looked like a nymph, so Lucian figured he was the one calling the griffin cub that was dragging him along. His suspicions were proved correct when the bird came to a halt at the nymph's feet. "Uhm..." Lucian began, "I can totally explain this mess... probably..."

((Short post is short! D= so sorry))

[Jericho]

Like Lucian, Jericho picked up on the Sidhe's thoughts, and while Rusty and Nin chased after the Zanaryan with the griffin, he kept a much more sedate pace following the trail of the call. When he got there, he almost wished he'd spent more time honing his mind control: It seemed like way too many people were interested in his feathers, damn it.

Seeing the uniform, though, made him hang back, though he didn't make the connection between the Summons and the Guard just yet. He wanted those feathers, but not at the expense of his freedom. (He'd already moved recently to avoid trouble with the local law, he didn't want to have to do it again so soon.)

Rusty and Ninian, on the other hand, were slow to recognise the trouble ahead of them and barrelled right into the guard. Jericho's face slapped into his palm and, as the pair of Therians made their apologies and tried to explain — lying through their teeth — that they'd only been trying to capture the griffin so they could return it to the wild where it belonged instead of causing chaos within the city, he turned and washed his hands of it all.

It seemed that having two Therians crash into him had distracted the Sidhe long enough to release the griffin from his summons, though. It shot off down the street yet again, and Jericho found the world turning upside down once more as his legs were barrelled out from under him. Rusty and Nin immediately took off after it, racing past a spread-eagled Jericho with his already ruined jacket sopping wet from where he'd landed in a puddle.

Again.

He was not ordinarily a praying man, but as he watched the clouds skitter over his head, he found himself muttering a heartfelt request. “Xanth, damn it, please. Lay off the wardrobe already, would you?”

[Aria]

With an empty street below her and her mood buoyant on the swell of her success, Aria allowed herself one more silly quip (“She shoots! She scores!”) before moving away from the edge and over the rooftops in search of a suitable descending point. The old and easily dislodged tiles had been cause for celebration before, but they now begat a careful touch to her tread. She was fully intent on rejoining the chase, but she had to admit that running after a wild animal rather lost its fun when done whilst suffering through a fall-induced injury to both body and pride.

One last jump, and Aria was back at street-level; and completely clueless as to where to go next. She had tried, whilst moving across the rooftops, to keep tabs on the action in the streets below, but it had become impossible when the Griffin began running in the opposite direction. Not wanting to give up the adventure so soon, and for a lack of any better ideas, Aria ran through the city lanes towards the street she had too long ago been watchwoman over, hoping to retrace the steps of the errant creature. She kept an eye on the dirt paths for tracking details, an idle mind on the lookout for the ring she still needed to retrieve.

Minutes passed, and still there was no sign of her ring or the Griffin that hopefully still held it in its beak. Aria began to grow frustrated – until she heard a familiar commotion, and saw at the end of the street a familiar blur of golden brown. She grinned, said to no one in particular; “Love the running”, and rejoined the chase.

PIPER'S BOUTIQUE || GLASGOW UNI || GLOBALPUFFER || ANTONIA THOMAS

[NPC]

Hollie posting with Caiden Mays again. Sorry for the delay.
——

Caiden felt a spasm of movement against his chest as the Griffin approached; the sight of the wild creature rushing down the road towards him had caused Leila to recoil further into the jacket of his uniform in alarm. The Sidhe petted the quivering Windfur, an action that calmed the nerves of both wanderer and bonded enough to receive the bird and the man accompanying it with a placid smile. The man soon began to make his excuses – and Caiden was only to ready to accept them.

“I’m sure you can, sir. Although I would appreciate it if you and your Griffin could first accompany me to the— OOF!”

Both words and thoughts were knocked from the Sidhe’s head as two further men roughly made their arrival known. Caiden frowned a little at the interruption, more concerned with Leila’s welfare than his own. Listening to the two newcomers to the scene, the guard didn’t notice the Griffin making a getaway until the bird knocked over a sharply dressed pedestrian. Caiden winced in sympathy before making his way over to the unfortunate fellow to offer a helping hand. Although chasing after the Griffin immediately would probably be the best way to prevent further misfortune, Caiden didn’t even consider it in his concern for the man in the suit.

“Are you alright sir? Ah-– your jacket got a little wet there, huh? I might be able to do something about that, just sit tight, sir.”

Even before he had finished speaking Caiden had begun to stir the wind into a warm breeze, focusing it on the wet patches of the citizen’s suit. Once done, he smiled in satisfaction before lifting Leila from his jacket and gently propelling the creature into the air, prompting her to ready her ears for flight.

“Leila? I want you to follow that Griffin, and see where it goes. Then come back and show me the way. Alright? Alright. Off you go, then.”

The faithful creature went, albeit reluctantly, after the fleeing party, leaving Caiden with the other man. Caiden smiled in what he hoped was a reassuring manner. “There. The situation should soon be under control. Might I ask, sir, do you know anything about this matter? Any information you can provide for the progress of my investigation would be much appreciated.”

[Jericho]

Crap.

Taking the guard's hand, purely because ignoring it would draw even more attention to him than accepting the help, Jericho faked a grim smile. Once back on his feet, he began to brush himself down.

Again.

“Are you alright sir?” No, he really wasn't. “Ah-– your jacket got a little wet there, huh?” In his mind's eye, Jericho pinched the bridge of his nose between finger and thumb and squeezed his eyes shut. He was growing more and more convinced that he was the only man alive with half a brain.

Outwardly, he scoffed — meant to be a chuckle — and gestured vaguely. He didn't admit that this was the second time he'd landed in a puddle, because that would mean explaining why he'd been in the griffin's path not once but twice. “Just unlucky, I suppose.” Really, really. “Thanks.” He didn't actually appreciate being blasted by air like that, because now his hair was a mess too. The muddy water, which might have come out if he'd gotten home fast enough, was now dried on, making Jericho one very uncomfortable man in his pinstripe slacks and jacket.

Seeing the Sidhe send off his windfur connected the dots for Jericho, and yep, he was definitely unlucky: Not only was he a Guard, but summoner too — which meant it was probably his voice Jeri heard earlier. Definitely time to skedaddle.

He was turning and quietly stepping away when he heard the Sidhe's voice again. “Any information you can provide for the progress of my investigation would be much appreciated.” Pausing with his foot in the air, Jericho rolled his eyes skyward yet again, and turned back.

“Ah, no, Officer, I'm afraid I really don't know anything. I was just walking along, minding my own business, and then I was staring up at the sky. I'm not even sure how I wound up on the floor.”

This time, his fake smile was more believable (he hoped).