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Apricity

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Re: Apricity

Tips: 0.00 INK Postby SkullsandSlippers on Mon Jun 03, 2013 5:42 pm

She heard Hyal return though she could not see him. Verreth jumped a little at the sound of his voice.

“Alright.”

He told her not to take the blanket, he really didn’t need to. There was no way Verreth was going to even attempt to salvage it. She had decided so when he was taking care of the little cub.

She scrunched her face and tried to move around the carcass of the beast. The smell of blood filled the air around her. Verreth gagged a little as she knelt close to it. Her hand brushed along the sand in an attempt to find her pack. Hyal was carrying the much heavier one, the one that held their food and water. Hers only had her clothes and herbs.

Her hand touched her pack, she lifted it and found it stuck. Her hand moved along the material until she found the hairy paw that was snagging her things. Verreth lifted it and quickly pulled her pack to freedom.

She closed it up and pulled it onto her shoulders. She turned and looked into the darkness. For a moment Verreth froze. She couldn’t see Hyal, she couldn’t see anything. Verreth’s heart pounded in her chest, thundering against her ribcage.

What if he has left me? Walked away thinking I was there or intending to leave me out here.

Hyal’s voice hit her ears and relief flooded through her. Verreth walked towards the sound. “Ready.”

She reached out and gently brushed his arm in an attempt to figure out exactly where he was. Confident that he was nearby and they would not be separated she walked. It was silent save the wind as the pair crossed the sand.

Verreth licked her lips. “Hyal. Thank you for killing it and saving me from becoming its dinner.”

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Re: Apricity

Tips: 0.00 INK Postby Monroe on Mon Jun 03, 2013 9:12 pm

It was even harder navigating the Sands at night than it was during the day. The sand was just as fine, and every step sunk just as deep. Only now he could not see his feet; he could barely see his hand when he put it in front of his face. The pinpricks of light in the velvety black sky did nothing to illuminate the dessert, but the longer they plodded along through the darkness, the more his eyes began to adjust. Still, the world was little more than black on black with slivers of shadows that hinted at a dune rising in the darkness or a sudden dip in their path.

"Hold onto my sleeve or some part of me so we don't get separated," he said after they'd walked in silence for almost an hour. He'd looked to his left where he had thought Verreth was beside him, but when he'd reached out she wasn't there. Fortunately she had only been a pace or two behind, but it was unnerving not knowing her location. Worse, were he to lose her at night she'd be impossible to find till morning, by which point it wasn't unlikely for her to be dead. Her court wouldn't look kindly on the prince if his most trusted guard brought back the mangled body of the princess's healer.
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Re: Apricity

Tips: 0.00 INK Postby SkullsandSlippers on Mon Jun 03, 2013 9:49 pm

It was hard for the thin woman to handle the brutal terrain of the Sands at the best of times but right now, not being able to see where she was putting her foot or where Hyal was made it feel like an impossible task.

Verreth reached out and groped for Hyal’s sleeve at his request. She was grateful that he wasn’t looking to leave her there alone in the dark. Worst case she knew she could change but she had no real idea how far the desert stretched and she would likely end up changing back, naked and exposed in the middle of nowhere with the blazing sun above her. It was not the ideal situation by any means.

Her hand grazed material and her fingers wrapped tightly into it. Verreth had no idea where she had grabbed and she didn’t care. As long as they were together and safe the minor details didn’t matter.

She was breathing heavy due to the strain of fight the sand. It was hard for her to keep up with Hyal but Verreth clenched her jaw and refused to slow them down.

“It is blacker than the Elludian sea. I am glad we are at least staying together. I do not wish for either of us to be roaming the darkness alone.”

Verreth stumbled a little, something catching her foot as she tried to keep up. Her body lightly bumped Hyal’s as she tried to stay upright, not wishing to pull them tumbling down.

“Sorry.” It was weak her breath beginning to labour more and making it hard to speak. Sweat formed on her brow but she said nothing, did not complain or ask to rest. Verreth was endeavouring to keep up with the man and not burden him more than he already was.

Her legs were shaking and she wondered how long before they gave out from the strain of the walk. Just keep moving....a few more steps

They had left the old camp a while ago and Verreth wondered how long Hyal would wish to walk before they rested again.

“Hyal?” Her breathing came in hard bursts now. “How far do you wish to trek in the dark? How far should we be from the carcass to be safe for the night?”

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Re: Apricity

Tips: 0.00 INK Postby Monroe on Sun Jun 09, 2013 12:27 pm

Verreth's finger's clenched the material of his sleeve midway between his wrist and elbow, a firm, bobbing tug that assured him that she was still there and not falling behind. They walked in silence for a time, and Hyal's thoughts began to drift.

There had been a time in his life, not so long ago, when this sort of task would have been below him. He'd been a vain, haughty youth and used to getting his way. He would have sneered at the prospect of escorting a foreigner through the Sands on a rescue mission. Some things had changed, but he still wasn't happy about his predicament. The whole affair stank of deception, and he seemed to clash with the princess's healer at every opportunity. Hyal knew he was not easy to get along with under the best conditions, but even this level of animosity was unusual. Rarely had he met someone he felt so naturally opposed to, and Verreth seemed to share the sentiment.

“Hyal?” Verreth's voice broke him from his reverie. “How far do you wish to trek in the dark? How far should we be from the carcass to be safe for the night?”

The man stopped, trying to figure out how long he'd been lost in thought. Minutes? An hour? He wasn't sure. The darkness and the rhythmic journey had lulled him to another place entirely.

"Let's stop," he said after a moment. "If we keep going we might get turned around in the dark."

The pack fell from his shoulders and sank into the sand. He knelt beside it and retrieved the hastily-rolled blanket, then held it out. He felt it brush against her. "You can sleep first. I'll keep guard."

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Re: Apricity

Tips: 0.00 INK Postby SkullsandSlippers on Mon Jun 10, 2013 4:24 pm

Hyal stopped abruptly and Verreth did her best not run into him. She released his clothing and stood in the darkness. Her feet shuffled in the sand. He seemed lost in thought. Verreth hating being so out of her element, relying on Hyal. The way he had pulled her to him to protect her from the beast seemed to counter the way he spoke to her. She had to marvel his ability to separate his personal feelings from his job.

Verreth could hear him moving, recognized that from the sounds he was kneeling or crouching on the ground. Something brushed against her making her jump.

"You can sleep first. I'll keep guard."

She let out a slow breath as she realized it was just a bedroll. Hyal’s bedroll. Verreth nodded, rolled her eyes and found her voice. “Thank you....”

Verreth groped down near her legs, her fingers wrapped around the bedroll and she pulled it up to her chest. She didn’t know if she should argue with him or not. On one hand they should both sleep but on the other having someone to watch in case something else came for them was very appealing.

She began to unroll her bed. Her own pack was put in the sand and she rested her head on it. Verreth pulled the bedroll around her. “Just wake me when you wish to sleep or move on.”

Laying on her side Verreth remained awake. She was trying to listen in case something else snuck up to her bed. She would feel terrible if something else came upon them in the night and ruined Hyal’s bedroll.

A few fingers brushed her hair from her eyes. Her heart pounded in her ears. It would take a while but eventually her eyes closed and Verreth slept.

Her dreams were haunted with shadowy creatures stalking her in the night. She tossed and turned, whimpering as she struggled in her dream.

She ran in the sand, her feet sinking more and more. Something swiped at her heels and she screamed out. Her hands batted at the darkness.

"I will help you."

The voice made her freeze. She shook her head. "No. No..not you. You should be dead for what you did to me."

"Come now Verreth, I can help you. I make it go away and help you find what you are seeking."

"You can't be trusted. I should have never trusted you, I should have never cared for you!"

She was crying and angry. She hated him. She had loved him and she had trusted him with her life.

"Why are you here? You have no business being here Gideon!"

"I can help you, save you....rid you of that arrogant puppy they sent you with."

She swung out at him and sunk more into the sand.

"Say the word and I will help..." He reached towards her as she kept sinking. "I can do whatever you wish."

"Never."

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Re: Apricity

Tips: 0.00 INK Postby Monroe on Wed Jun 12, 2013 6:21 pm

Hyal saw a glimpse of Verreth's silhouette as she arranged the blanket and laid down. He paced quietly over and sat nearby, within arm's reach. He unsheathed the sword at his hip and held it loosely, thumb brushing meditatively over the pommel. The man listened to her breathing and the other sounds of the night. Verreth's breaths became slow and even.

It was difficult sometimes to tell whether he was awake or asleep. The darkness was so complete his eyes may as well have been closed. He dared not actually close them though. Time passed, but it was impossible to tell how much until finally the sky began to go from carbon to a purpled black-brown. The sun would rise in a few hours.

Verreth's breathing hitched and he looked toward where he could see her shadow against the sand. Her breaths became almost labored, and he saw her roll slightly, then roll back, her body minutely thrashing. A nightmare, he thought, reaching over to put a hand on her shoulder.

"Verreth," he said quietly, squeezing her shoulder. "Verreth, wake up."

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Re: Apricity

Tips: 0.00 INK Postby SkullsandSlippers on Wed Jun 12, 2013 7:00 pm

”Come now do not fight so. One word and I can take you away from here, away from him and change things.”

She looked up at him though she was still sinking. “No. Stop this! I don’t want your help. He is here to protect me. You....you....”

She flailed a little.

“I can make him pay Verreth. Every insult, every ill mannered behaviour.”

“You are no better. Worse! You used me! I loved you...I cared...I...”

The sand was swallowing her and a hand reached down to grab her.

“Let me save you.”

She looked up at Gideon’s face as the sand engulfed her. “I would rather die.”


"Verreth, wake up."

The woman’s breath was cut off as in her dream her mouth filled with sand. The hand on her shoulder jarred her enough to make her began to wake, her mind separating the real from the dream.

Verreth gasped as if she really had been drowning in sand and for a moment pushed at the hand that touched her. The part of her mind that was still in the dreamland thought it was Gideon. her eyes opened, finding only darkness and Verreth choked on her voice.

Hands stopped trying to push at the man that was nearby, instead grabbing him and pulling herself closer to him.

“Hyal...Hyal...he isn’t here...it is just you...he isn’t..”

Verreth was shaken. She hadn’t felt this way since she had first flown away from Gideon. For a long time nightmares of him coming for her took over her nights, making it hard to sleep. She couldn’t remember the last time she had dreamed of the mage and never had it been so vivid.

Her face pressed into what she assumed was Hyal’s arm as her body shook. Hot angry tears formed. Verreth gritted her teeth and willed her breathing to slow from its ragged pace.

“I am sorry. I guess I had more of a scare than I thought.”

Verreth moved away from Hyal. “I am sorry. My mind was...”

She ran her long fingers through her hair and sat back on the bedroll. “Perhaps you should sleep. I do not think I can rest right now.”

Her knees tucked up to her chest and Verreth wrapped her arms around her thighs. She rested her forehead on her knees. Why now? Why this dream now? Anger and embarrassment caused her body to feel warm. Hyal already hated her now he would assume she was scare of bad dreams. It wasn’t a normal nightmare...something is not right out here. I shouldn’t be out here.... Everything about it was too real, too present and it shook her to the core.

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Re: Apricity

Tips: 0.00 INK Postby Monroe on Wed Jun 12, 2013 7:42 pm

Verreth woke, pushing his hand away from her. Hyal leaned back, taking a moment to press his sword back into it's sheath. Just as quickly as she had pushed him away she was pulling at him, dragging herself closer to him. He felt Verreth's face against his chest and froze, unsure what to do.

"It was just a dream," he assured her. "A nightmare, nothing more."

Awkwardly he patted her hair, then his hand dropped heavily to his side. “Perhaps you should sleep," she told him, drawing her knees up to her chest. "I do not think I can rest right now.”

"A few hours," he agreed. "Wake me when you can see the sun." He laid out, putting one arm behind his head. His eyes closed and he breathed in a deep, lung-filling breath of dry, dessert air. "Verreth," he added, eyes still closed. "I don't know who you were dreaming about, but you're under my guard until we return."

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Re: Apricity

Tips: 0.00 INK Postby SkullsandSlippers on Wed Jun 12, 2013 8:02 pm

Verreth remained where she was seated, her legs against her body. Her fingers dug into her legs. He wasn't here. It was a dream. Gideon had seemed so real though and it was bothering her more than she cared to admit.

Hyal laid out and Verreth said nothing.

"I don't know who you were dreaming about, but you're under my guard until we return."

"Thank you Hyal."

Her voice was somewhat hollow. She meant it but she felt too empty to put emotion behind the words. He could protect her from beasts and unskilled men but Gideon was a mage and a powerful one. She didn't know if anything could stop him. Verreth had thought herself rid of him years ago and yet he filled her dream on this night.

She stared into the darkness. Her ears were overly alert, her body jumping at the slightest sound. Her chin rested heavily on her knees.
---

A sliver of faint blue appeared in the distance. Verreth's eyes were growing heavy though fear kept her awake. The blue spread, getting bigger and the sky started to lighten. Her eyes closed. Verreth dozed very briefly and when she opened her eyes again the sun was just beginning to bring a tinge of orange to the formerly indigo sky.

She turned her head and looked at Hyal's sleeping form. He looked peaceful but Verreth decided it better to do what he had asked of her. Stretching her legs out she rolled to her side and lightly touched his arm.

"Hyal. The sun is breaking." She kept her voice low not wishing to scare the man awake. "It is dawn"

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Re: Apricity

Tips: 0.00 INK Postby Monroe on Sun Jun 16, 2013 3:33 pm

A touch on his arm woke him from his light slumber. At first it had been fitful, unable to sleep. Every sound had made him tense, even Verreth's tiny sighs and yawns. Eventually he had fallen asleep, but he did not feel rested. He vaguely remembered dreaming of a fight, but he could not see his opponent. His temporary companion had played a role in the dream, one moment an ally, the next an enemy.

Hyal sat up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes, rolling his shoulders to loosen the tenseness there. The sun was just beginning to rise; a comfort after a journey through pitch-black darkness. He looked over at Verreth and his mouth pulled into a smirk.

"Your hair's a mess," he told her. "You look terrible."

He leaned forward and tugged a bedraggled lock that was hanging beside her cheek, then got to his feet and dusted the sand off of his clothes. He ran his hands through his silvery white hair, smoothing it down, and reached for the water bag to rinse his mouth out, then took a long, thirsty drink of it. He handed it to Verreth, then looked at the compass in his pocket. The arrow spun wildly, thrown off by the magnetism of the Sands. The sun would have to serve as their compass.

"Let's get going. Hopefully we reach them today. If not..."

He left the sentence unfinished. If they did not find them by sundown, they would go no further. The Alexandrian dignitaries would be without any hope of rescue.
Last edited by Monroe on Mon Jun 17, 2013 7:17 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Apricity

Tips: 0.00 INK Postby SkullsandSlippers on Mon Jun 17, 2013 4:18 pm

When Hyal started to wake Verreth sat back and waited. She watched as he sat up, hands rubbing at his eyes. At least he seems to have slept. She honestly wished her dreams had been more favourable so that she too could have rested. It was not to be and once they were home again and rid of the desert and each other, life would go back to normal.

I will leave, travel again. I cannot stay there any longer. Verreth stretched her legs out in front of her as she mused to herself where she might go next. The princess might be upset that she wished to leave but in the end Verreth was free to go. Others would be happy to see her gone.

She caught Hyal looking at her, a smirk on his face and Verreth frowned back in response.

"You're hair's a mess.You look terrible."

She tensed as he leaned in and tugged on a loose strand of her hair. “Aren’t you a sweet talker? All poetics and compliments. I bet you make all the women swoon.”

Verreth followed his lead, standing and brushing the sand away. “Would it honestly kill you to, I don’t know, thank me for waking you as you asked?”

She adjusted her clothes and stretched her arms. Her body was much tighter than she expected. I hate that dreaming of him can affect me like this. She was angry still and that didn’t help either.

Wrapped up in her own thoughts she hardly noticed Hyal hand her the water bottle. She took it mechanically, stared at it and then shook herself from her thoughts. No use dwelling there. It serves no purpose. Verreth took a drink of the water and then replaced the cork. She held it and waited as Hyal figured out the direction they needed to move.

She could see the needle swinging wildly. It meant they were almost walking blind, nothing but the sun to help them. They began to walk Hyal’s unfinished sentence hanging between them. There was a chance the dignitaries were already dead, that they would find nothing but bodies but at least it would give them an idea if foul play was involved or not.

“Hyal...I can fly ahead a bit it if would help us but again....I could also carry you. I have carried passengers before. It is why they sent me because I can fly faster than we can walk. It is safe as long as you hang on.”

Verreth didn’t understand his reluctance it wasn’t that he was afraid to fly that much she knew. So it must only be that he really didn’t like her or trust her. She honestly didn’t relish the idea of trudging in the sand again or leaving him behind as she flew off. What if something happened?
“I know you do not like me and that is fine but at least take advantage where you can. Why exhaust yourself?” A thought occurred to her and amusement tinged her voice. “Think of it like this, you will get there faster and I cannot talk to you. Win, win.”

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Re: Apricity

Tips: 0.00 INK Postby Monroe on Mon Jun 17, 2013 7:05 pm

“Aren’t you a sweet talker?" asked Verreth, the sarcasm in her tone evident. Still, Hyal didn't sense any true anger. "All poetics and compliments. I bet you make all the women swoon.”

"I don't do too badly."

“Would it honestly kill you to, I don’t know, thank me for waking you as you asked?”

Hyal raised a pale eyebrow. "I didn't kill you while you slept. Does that count for nothing?"

He watched her stretch, then she took the water bag from him. Her eyes had clouded, her thoughts someplace other than the desert around them. When she finally snapped back, Hyal was looking at his compass with a frown.

“Hyal...I can fly ahead a bit it if would help us but again....I could also carry you. I have carried passengers before. It is why they sent me because I can fly faster than we can walk. It is safe as long as you hang on.”

The pale man looked up from the compass, then slipped it into his pocket. "No," he told her flatly.

“I know you do not like me and that is fine but at least take advantage where you can. Why exhaust yourself?” There was a pause, and Hyal began trudging forward, thoughts already turning away from Verreth and toward the stranded- or dead- Alexandrians.

“Think of it like this," said Verreth, her voice reaching him through the wind that was beginning to pick up. "You will get there faster and I cannot talk to you. Win, win.”

Hyal stopped, took a breath. He weighed his options, then turned and gave the dark haired woman a hard look. "Fine," he agreed. "But only because that's such a good argument."

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Re: Apricity

Tips: 0.00 INK Postby SkullsandSlippers on Mon Jun 17, 2013 7:31 pm

The look Hyal gave her made Verreth paused. It was hard and her heart pounded as she expected him to lash out at her. He accepted conceding to her argument.

A very faint smile pulled at her lips and her shoulders slumped a little. She stopped and shuffled her feet a little.

“I will change here. I have to strip down. If you will toss my clothes into the bag then you can climb on. You can talk to me, direct me where you would like me to fly and I will go there. I am...aware in my other state.”

Verreth suddenly felt self conscious. It unnerved her. Before she hadn’t cared, had not been concerned with him seeing her change but the way Hyal had looked at her before agree made her more on edge.

Turning her back to him she began to undress. Her clothes were carefully folded, unlike the pile she had left on the ship. The sun was hot on her skin even though it was still early morning. With a look over her shoulder Verreth began to change.

It was not long before the griffin stood where the woman had once been. It’s talons dug into the sand and it turned to face Hyal. It lowered itself into the sand as if laying, to allow him easy access to its back. Wings were open just enough so that the man would be able to maneuver around them and make himself comfortable once he climbed on.

The blue eyes of the griffin stared at Hyal.

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Re: Apricity

Tips: 0.00 INK Postby Monroe on Mon Jun 17, 2013 8:13 pm

"I will change here."

Hyal nodded and turned his back to her, allowing her privacy. To him, it was a sign of respect not to leer at her and gaze at her naked body, but for some reason she seemed to take insult. A cultural difference, perhaps, he conceded, though there was still the judgmental part of him that thought her people must be quite barbaric and uncivilized.

He waited, listening, trying to detect when she was done. It had been several minutes and he'd heard no sounds. She must have changed already, he decided, and was unable to speak. He turned his head to look and their eyes locked. Verreth was nude, her back to him, his to her. His lips parted slightly in surprise, then she began to change. It was a bizarre and unnerving thing to witness; her bones took on an entirely new shape, her skull flattened, lengthened. The smooth skin grew feathers, the dainty hands and feet became robust wings and deadly talons. The beast before him was large, dangerous and physically imposing; it was everything Verreth in her human form was not.

Hyal stepped forward and gathered the neatly folded pile of clothes into his hands. No wonder she had taken so long, he thought, looking at the neat folds and uniform pile. He opened the mouth of the largest bag and put the clothes in the bottom, then packed in the water skin and her smaller backpack on top. Shouldering it, he approached her warily.

"Before you decide to throw me off, remember that I've saved your life twice now."

He struggled for a moment with how to actually get on, having never flown on a griffin before or even seen another person do so. He wasn't sure what would hurt her or what places might cause her to lash out with that beak that was more like a steal trap, or those talons that looked sharp as knives. Finally he settled for a small leap that threw one leg over and pulled himself up with one hand on the far side of her neck and one at the crook of her wing to pull him into place.

"Fly toward the sunrise," he told her, and swallowed hard.

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Re: Apricity

Tips: 0.00 INK Postby SkullsandSlippers on Mon Jun 17, 2013 9:05 pm

Its eyes followed Hyal’s every movement. He tucked the clothes into the bag and while it didn’t move a muscle it watched him. The pack was slipped onto his shoulders and still the griffin watched him. It made no noise but simply waited.

It watched the pale man approach, could sense the tension in his body. There was something about his scent that made the griffin nervous. The part that was Verreth, the part that was in control of the beast knew Hyal was wary of the beast. This was the only thing she would ever credit Gideon with. He had helped her, albeit he was charmed, in learning to control the griffin. She remained very, very still as he approached.

"Before you decide to throw me off, remember that I've saved your life twice now."

The griffin’s head tilted, looking at him questioningly. Throw him off? It had never occurred to her to do so and it somewhat surprised her that he thought she might. He thinks me that cruel? Or does he just mistrust me that much?

The griffin’s beak clacked together lightly and it turned its head again to look off into the distance. It waited patiently as Hyal stood there for a time before eventually half leaping onto its back. He was light to the creature. His hands pulled him into place and she wished she could ask him if he was comfortable. His voice carried forward as he seemed to settle in.

The griffin screeched a soft sound of understanding and slowly began to stand. It lifted him on its back and spread its wings. Big flaps lifted them from the ground and stirred up the sand. Talons kept them steady in the shifting dunes until the creature worked up enough air to have them leave the ground.

Without a look back the griffin aimed for the clear blue sky and the wind rushed past. it screeched loudly and turned to face sunrise. they were airborne, the sands now far below them. Shifting waves of sand moved beneath as the griffin carried its passenger towards the clouds and the cooler air. It would not take him too high, knowing full well that he would have trouble breathing and trouble seeing if the altitude was too much but it did want to bring him to a level where the temperature would be more comfortable than that of the sand below.

The griffin kept them aimed toward the sunrise and flew at a speed they had no hope of making on foot.

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SkullsandSlippers
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Re: Apricity

Tips: 0.00 INK Postby Monroe on Tue Jun 18, 2013 7:51 pm

The ground seemed to soar beneath them, though Hyal knew it was actually he and Verreth that were soaring. As they had ascended into the air his legs had tightened their hold, his fingers gripping fistfuls of feathers. Flying on a griffin was nothing like flying on an airship. Being on a ship meant solid ground beneath his feet and a wheel he could steer as he needed to. The beast beneath him was a living, breathing thing with thoughts and impulses, and he wasn't sure how much of the human woman remained.

There was something freeing about it though, and it was certainly more exhilarating than any other way he'd flown. The wind made his sleeves flap against his arms and pushed his fine, silver hair out of his face. He closed his eyes and breathed in the freshness of the air at that altitude.

For a while they flew in silence. He wasn't sure how much good it would do to even try to converse with Verreth while she was not human, and besides, the wind in his ears was making him deaf. Probably, he thought, she would not be able to hear him particularly well. Even if she could, what was there to say? So they flew in silence, but it was a peaceful silence.

Finally, when the sun was directly above them in the sky, Hyal saw a shape far off in the distance. It was indistinct, but it was a point of darkness in the otherwise clear, golden sand. "Up ahead," he called out, leaning in toward the creature beneath him. "I see something up there. Let's get a little closer, then land. I'd rather approach on foot, in any case. We don't know what we may find, and you may need your energy."

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Monroe
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Re: Apricity

Tips: 0.00 INK Postby SkullsandSlippers on Wed Jun 19, 2013 3:39 pm

Freedom! The griffin could think of nothing else. Verreth was revealing in the speed, the air that moved under her wings. No dreams, no Gideon, no snippy comments from Hyal. In this form there was nothing to hold her down.

She could feel the grip of his fingers in her feathers and it didn’t bother her. The griffin screeched out of joy. She felt like they could do this all day long. The griffin banked to the right before catching another air current and soaring upwards again.

Keen eyes spotted the shape and immediately turned towards it. Hyal’s voice carried through the rushing wind. He was leaning more on her neck in an effort to help ensure he could be heard.

The griffin let out a screech of understanding and began to bank towards the shape. The human part of her tensed, fearing what they might find in when they landed.

The creature came in low and the sand coming, closer and closer. It landed smoothly and knelt to allow Hyal to climb off. It clicked its beak a few times. Its talons dug into the sand.

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