FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Part 1

Yogoloth had reared up onto his hind legs and was baring his teeth. His feathery wings moving this way and that to steady himself and to buffet his enemy if required. He swung a fore paw out to ward off the gryphon and got a hiss in return. He grinned around a growl as he stepped to the side, his outstretched wings offering him the balance that he wouldn't have had with hind legs alone.

Lenela held her body low and had partially stretched, her legs a little wide but tensed in readiness. She could quickly recoil in defence, spring up in attack or surge forward to pursue. It was a very low profile stance that Yogoloth had called the Gryphon Stance. Which wasn't a bad name, it was a fairly common fighting technique of the gryphons that lived on her old colony. It could be used defensively or aggressively, but didn't excel at either. She had likewise called his current stance the Dragon Stance and they had called them as such ever since.

They circled each other for a moment longer, the ground gaining more scars to add to its collection. They'd had a few such battles over the last couple of hours. Nearby trees and rocks also showed signs of damage and disruption. Lenela was a good fighter but not as well trained as Yogoloth had been; although she was slightly larger and had hard scales. There were small dark splatters in the dirt too from those few times when blows had not been pulled quite well enough. They both sported minor injuries across their hide and scales, nothing serious though.

Yogoloth pounced forward a fraction, a feign to test her reactions. She quickly hopped back and turned into a side stance, her thick draconic tail whipping around towards the side of his head and neck. A strong pump of his wings quickly lifted his upper body out of range and Lenela pulled her tail back before the male hybrid was able to attack it. She'd caught him out with that once before. He growled and pounced forward again, coming in too close for her to bring her tail to bear a second time.

The female hybrid swung her nearside wing down and drove him into the dirt, at the same time as lifting herself up out of range of his jaws. But Yogoloth quickly drew up his hind legs, tilted his head and drove the flats of his horns into her flank. It was a little risky, if she had anticipated the aggression, then she could have moved into a Dragon Stance and brought her beak and talons to bear. Or perhaps rolled and used her hind paws in defense, although her feline-like hind claws were not the most powerful of her weapons.

Lenela pushed the air from her lungs as his horns struck and then quickly filled them again as she stumbled away trying to regain her balance. She had controlled her breathing just right, but she should have rolled with the blow. 'Now she's more vulnerable than before', Yogoloth thought with mild annoyance. He pushed forward with his attack.

Bringing his hind legs up one more time he pushed forward and pumped one wing wide and the other short. He turned quickly in midair, easily above her wild retaliatory talon strike, and landed clumsily on top of her. Lenela lost her already shaky balance and fell onto her side as Yogoloth's claws were at her flanks and his teeth at her neck. She violently rolled over, trying to shake him off or at least break his grip. But his teeth found their mark, squeezed tight and he let out a short but loud warning growl as they both ended up on their sides.

"I yield!", the slightly larger female cried out, half hiss and half laugh.

Yogoloth released her neck and then quickly licked the small trails of blood that seeped from between the brown scales where his teeth had sunk in. Lenela shivered at the touch and smiled, both of their heavy breaths now the loudest things in the small clearing. She'd beaten him a couple of times, but he still won more often than not.

"You need to be more willing to expose yourself on your own terms! You should have rolled and brought all four legs to bear.", he said not releasing his claw hold on his Sky Sister. Lenela hissed.

"Well get off me and we'll go again! I can only imagine what goes through your mind when you pounce on me.", she retorted with a smirk.

He let her go, rolled away and up on to his feet. Lenela was a little more conservative in getting up, they were both tired and it was getting late. Now wasn't exactly the best time to be training, but it was something he'd done with his mother, with Natanii and now with Lenela. Yogoloth suddenly realised that all of his training partners had been female over the years. He wasn't so sure what to make of that.

"Nothing like what you're thinking about. You're my sister, that would just be weird."

That was the exact truth too. Over the month since he and Lenela had become Sky Brother and Sister, they had become very good friends too and had done almost everything together. Hunting, flying, fighting, sleeping, talking, everything you'd expect. His thoughts had turned less and less towards mating and more and more towards the mutual respect and care they held for each other. It was great to have company on his expedition too, it was just a pity it wasn't Natanii. Lenela smiled and then yawned.

"It's getting dark, we should head back to that rocky cliff we saw earlier. It would make a decent enough spot.", she said stretching out her fore legs along the ground. Her talons flexed and cut grooves into the grassy ground. Yogoloth looked up and frowned.

"You're right, training can wait till tomorrow night. Sleep sounds good-", Yogoloth's jaws were suddenly split by a surprise yawn. He chuckled and licked his snout a couple of moments later. Lenela laughed as they both spread their wings and launched into the sky.

Part 2

Golden light mixed with orange and red, turning the morning sky into a sea of autumn colours. It was not autumn, but the sun didn't seem to care as it slowly rose in the sky. Birds, already long awake, punctuated the air with infrequent song, welcoming the day. The sparse trees clung to the slightly rocky ground in a show of defiance that showed in their muted green hues. A young hybrid let out a long breath and watched it all in silence from a stony cliff.

It had been cool but rapidly warming when Yogoloth had woke earlier. The sun not quite showing itself above the horizon, but the few scant clouds just starting to catch its rays. When the dragons in the east light the morning sky with their fire, prepare for a troubled day. Something his mother had always said and it often held true. But it wasn't a bad weather omen that troubled him right now. He was a little disheartened.

"Sent out another trace?", Lenela asked quietly and then yawned and shook her head.

Yogoloth sighed and nodded. He heard his Sky Sister rise from where they had both slept that night but was too distracted to turn. Lenela quietly padded along side of him and nuzzled her beak against the side of his neck. He idly reciprocated and sighed again, but this time some of his dark mood lifted. Lenela had no idea how much she meant to him, some days it was all he could do to carry on searching.

"How big is the world?", he asked rhetorically to no one in particular.

Lenela took the question and shrugged. She no more knew the answer than he did. The civilised races often made maps to pass on their knowledge of the world to others. Yogoloth himself had read such maps, they had been pivotal in his exploration of the ocean now far to the south west. Years behind him now. But the edge of the world? How long would a dragon have to fly to reach it? What would be there? Did the world even have an end? Perhaps it stretched on forever...

"Your father is clearly a stubborn old bird. It's obvious that you get that and your skill in the air from him.", she grinned. Yogoloth chuckled in spite of himself, turned his head and nuzzled her neck properly.

"Perhaps when this is all over, we should find your father too."

"Oh, no. I once asked my mother who he was. She said if ever I wanted to find him, she had his signature.", Lenela looked off out across the trees. "I... don't know what he'd think of me existing..."

"I think my first father will be pretty damn shocked, but beyond that, I have no idea either. My mother always spoke of him in kind terms, he seemed like a gentle gryphon. A little wise for his age, perhaps a little foolhardy too.", a broad grin slowly grew on Yogoloth's snout. "Sexy enough at twenty to get a five hundred year old dragoness as his mate. I get that from him too."

Lenela laughed and slapped his flank with the back of her talons. "No, that's your dragon ego right there."

"Ow!", Yogoloth exclaimed, giving his flank an exaggerated rub with a paw. "Why do all the females I meet, enjoy hitting me!?"

"Aaw... does the big dragon have a sensitive hide?", she mocked.

"You're... bigger than me!"

"Then you better do as I say.", Lenela laughed. "Lets go hunting."

"We ate the day before yesterday.", Yogoloth reminded her. Both dragons and gryphons only really needed one decent meal every three days or so. They'd eaten well only two days ago.

"Perhaps just one of this year's fawns, enough to make it worthwhile but not so much to waste any.", Lenela suggested as she sniffed at the air as though searching for a scent. "Besides, it'll cheer you up."

Yogoloth rolled his eyes but grinned none the less. "You cheer me up just fine."

"Then you owe me a favour, come hunting with me.", she smirked. She had him now and they both knew it.

Yogoloth did indeed enjoy hunting. Not only did you sometimes get a satisfying meal at the end, but it was also a thrilling challenge. A even greater challenge for a creature of his size to stalk prey, without magic or wings, and be able to get close enough to chase it down before tiring. Dragons and gryphons were built for stamina in the air, not on the ground.

"Fine, you have me convinced.", Yogoloth smiled and sniffed at the air too. Nothing on the breeze yet, but it wouldn't take them long to find prey. He spread his wings and pushed off from the edge of the cliff.

Part 3

Yogoloth's breath came in heavy gasps as he ran between the trees. The young deer dashing ahead of him; its legs, still a little big for its body, desperately pounding against the earth. He risked a glance to the side and saw Lenela to his right heading it off. This sort of direct approach wouldn't normally work; deer had stamina, they were fast and agile. But this one was still young and inexperienced. He and his sister were intelligent predators working together, not some solitary beasts.

Lenela screeched loudly and spooked the animal as Yogoloth went wide, leaping over a partly fallen tree. This was what life was about, the thrill of the chase, the connection between hunter and hunted. The bond between siblings or mates. The sudden tingle along the back of your neck and head? It was a sure sign of magic acting nearby. Yogoloth's ears twitched in confusion as they often did when unexpected magic tripped his senses, even though they played no part in the detection.

Suddenly he felt the familiar magic act upon him. It was his magic, something he had shaped dozens of times over countless moons. He felt a definitive tug on his mind, a firm direction, a great distance. The trace had returned. The trace on his father had finally returned. His eyes widened in disbelief but didn't see, his snout parted in shock but didn't speak. His fore paw caught on an exposed root and he ran head first into a tree.

"Yog?", a distant voice whispered.

His head throbbed and his neck hurt. Where was he and what had happened? He opened his eyes and closed them right away, immediately regretting it. It felt as though his body was spinning gently and he had no control over it.

"Yogoloth!", the voice said louder now, but it felt like the voice was calling to him from above a tide that he was caught in. His head was clouded, laced through with pain and he couldn't even tell which way was up. His nostrils were suddenly wet and he opened his eyes again. A large open grey beak filled his vision, closed and then pulled back.

"Lenela...?", he replied, uncertain of why he was on his back amongst trees. The last thing he could remember was settling down for the night on the cliff they found. "Did you just lick me? Where are we?"

Lenela smiled down at him, clearly happy that he was responding now. "We were hunting, you...", she chuckled. "You ran into a tree."

"That probably explains why my everything hurts.", he replied still struggling. "I don't remember getting up this morning... no wait, I do vaguely...", Yogoloth smiled, "I think I remember you nuzzling my neck."

"Well, no surprise you'd remember something like that. You were being unusually quiet, you'd just sent out another trace, nothing came back.", Lenela said pushing her head against Yogoloth's flank, helping him up.

Yogoloth groaned a little as he slowly rolled over and got his legs under him. It took him a moment to find his balance and he had to close his eyes until the spinning stopped. He had a powerful headache, but it didn't look like he'd suffered any permanent damage. The same could not be said for the tree he had ran into.

It had hardly been the mightiest tree in the forest, but the impact of an adult dragon slamming into it, horns first, at full speed had splintered out its significant trunk. The damage had caused it to crumple under its own weight and it had collapsed nearby. If it had fallen just one wing length closer and it could have easily crushed him. Yogoloth would probably have more than just a headache right now if that had happened.

"So... did our prey escape? Didn't we eat only a day or so ago?", he asked still finding his feet with slow, careful steps.

Lenela chuckled. "Yes, we had this conversation. I thought a good hunt would cheer you up.", she took a critical look at the felled tree and smirked. "I didn't realise you'd try to kill yourself!"

"I didn't...", Yogoloth began, but was cut off by his Sky Sister's laughter. Yogoloth snapped his snout shut and scowled before speaking. "Fine, shall we make a move then. The prey escaped and my father won't find himsel-", Yogoloth stopped mid-sentence and his brows furrowed.

"Yog...? Are you ok?", Lenela slowly stopped laughing after seeing the peculiar look on the feathery hybrid's face.

The trace it had come back, it had really come back. Yogoloth grinned and suddenly turned to look at his own tracks. He quickly jogged forward and looked up and down, judging which direction he had been running when the trace has come back. Facing the tree, off to the left, the morning sun ahead and to the right. He laughed once and grinned, almost ear to ear. Lenela looked at him, deep concern showing in her eyes.

"Everything is fine!", he exclaimed like an excited hatchling. "The trace! It came back... it came back... I found him!"

Part 4

Yogoloth waited eagerly, his deep purple eyes staring into the distant sky. The sun rose quietly on a cool, clear morning as swarms of white and pink blossom took to the air. Summer was past its warmest, but autumn was still a distance away. The weather had been balmy after the exceptionally cold and unsettled winter. Sometimes even too hot, and all Yogoloth and Lenela wanted to do was bask in the odd lake or pool they found as they travel further northeast.

It had been weeks since Yogoloth's first trace had come back giving him the direction and distance to his father. Since then they had flown hard and with purpose in the direction it lead. Every few days Yogoloth would launch another trace and it would come back quicker each time. The feeling of distance becoming less and less, the direction more and more defined.

The trace he'd sent out that morning suddenly came back and Yogoloth closed his eyes and smiled. It even felt closer than his mother's old lair did from Stone Haven. Maybe only another week of hard flying, perhaps ten days if they took it a little easier, it was hard to tell.

"We're starting to enter territory I know fairly well.", Lenela's voice almost surprised him. "I know of a few colonies here and there.", she finished as she sat down beside Yogoloth and leaned into him. The texture of her scales against his hide, comforting an already contented young hybrid.

"How many?", he nudged his snout in the direction that the trace was leading him. "About ten days flight in that direction?"

Lenela looked off into the distance and frowned. "A couple? I only know of them from hearsay or maps I've seen. I generally steered clear. I'll know more the closer we get.", she took a deep breath.

"Are you ok?", Yogoloth asked turning to face her and tilting his head.

"I'm fine...", she forced a smile. It seemed clear to Yogoloth that she wasn't fine at all. Something had been bothering her for the last few days now. It hadn't been obvious at first, but she was worried.

"Really? Are you... worried about meeting other gryphons?", he asked knowing full well that it must be it. He was also quite worried about how a whole colony of gryphons might react to him... to them. Even if his father was there and Yogoloth was able to talk to him, there was no guarantee that they'd be friendly. Lenela smiled a looked away a little.

"A little I guess. Sometimes I felt like the colony I grew up on only tolerated me because of my mother. I worry what another colony will make of me."

"I've never actually seen a gryphon colony before... well, not up close...", Yogoloth decided now wasn't the time to mention that the gryphons on that colony had attacked him on sight.

"Then I should teach you about gryphon colonies. Some basics?"

Yogoloth was tempted to decline, any gryphons he met could either take him as he is or not at all. But the thought of a repeat of his previous encounter didn't sit well with him. To get so far, so close to his father and then fail at the last minute because he lacked some gryphon social etiquette? No, it cannot happen like that.

"Yes, that's not a bad idea.", Yogoloth turned to his sister and wrapped her in a feathery hug. "I'm so glad you came with me. Not just for the gryphon knowledge either, you make me happy just being here. What ever happens, you've got me and I don't want you to be alone ever again."

Lenela had to choke back some minor tears. "Stop being so brotherly... I think I preferred you when you were looking under my tail...", she forced a laugh but hugged back enthusiastically. She reluctantly pulled away soon after and escaped the hug. "Right, gryphon colony lessons."

Yogoloth grinned and tried not to laugh. As attractive as his Sky Sister was in his eyes, she was still his sister now, and that was that. He settled down on his belly in front of her and she did the same. It was very much like the first time they met when they exchanged stories about each other's pasts.

"Firstly, if your father is as old as you say, there's a good chance he'll be an Elder."

"I've heard Natanii talk about Elders before, never did ask what it meant."

"They're the wisest gryphons of the colony, the law makers, the story tellers, those who negotiate on behalf of the colony. They don't exactly lead the colony, but when disputes need settling or there are outside threats, the Elders step in and make the decisions.", she smirked. "My mother was a colony Elder. It gave her, and me by extension, a little more... erm... not respect or power... more... leeway and people tended to stop and listen to you more readily."

"So if my father is an Elder, he'd be able to smooth over any issues with us being hybrids?", Yogoloth suggested.

"Perhaps. But that depends on whether he accepts us or decides we're a threat. It could work either way.", she cautioned. "The other thing is, don't fly to the colony directly. Land out of direct sight and walk there. They'll see you and confront you on the ground. Landing nearby is disrespectful and being part dragon, probably quite threatening. Take your time, don't sneak."

"Ah, that might be where I went wrong in the past.", Yogoloth forced himself to chuckle at a bad yet distant memory.

"And when you meet a new gryphon, bow first and extend a fore leg out. You don't need to look down, just lower your head. While you're an outsider, try to be submissive... hold your wings out low...", Lenela suddenly smirked. "assuming your dragon ego lets you do that."

"I already knew about the bowing thing, Natanii taught me some basics. I didn't know about the wings bit though.", Yogoloth replied, trying to ignore the dig, but smirking nonetheless.

Lenela went on. "Once you're recognised and an Elder says you're welcome to return, then you can forget all that. Or if you're with another gryphon known to the colony. Or you're family or mate of a colony gryphon, if the colony as a whole recognises you then the Elders don't have to."

Yogoloth's head started to hurt as the endless rules of gryphon colony etiquette began to push their way into his brain. Stories, histories, magical shapes and languages were all trivial to remember for the young hybrid. But these seemingly random rules which affected other rules both forward and backwards with various conditions and exceptions...

Yogoloth took a deep breath and let it out slowly and Lenela went on. It was going to be a long day.

Part 5

Yogoloth, like most creatures, enjoyed a good hug. That physical contact, trust enough to let down your guard, warmth, protection, companionship. Dragons may well be mostly solitary creatures, but every dragon remembers what it was like to be held protectively against scale and scute, tight in the warmth of their mother's or father's wings. Yogoloth was also half gryphon which only made that social desire stronger. But someone had to break this hug eventually.

"I'll be fine.", he told Lenela as he pulled away from her grip. Worry was etched on to her face, but she smirked anyway.

"I'm not worried about you, I'm worried about them.", his Sky Sister said looking down a little.

"I'll be on best behaviour. Besides, you'll be there if I need you.", he licked her beak in what he hoped would be a comforting way.

"A lot could happen by the time I get to you."

"A lot has happened to me in the past already. Don't worry, it'll be fine.", he smiled and rested his fore paws on her shoulders. They were still sat on their rumps, facing each other in the hard ground. Lenela looked up and ground her beak a little.

"Go then, don't keep them waiting."

Yogoloth didn't waste any time and turned away towards the colony. It was a good hour's walk away, but this was the polite thing to do, best behaviour. A good first impression and some good gryphon etiquette would make this colony react differently from the last. Back then he'd landed on the opposite side of the valley and had waited for them there. Perhaps that would have seemed quite menacing, especially if they'd had hatchlings too.

He was bigger and stronger now, so if things went badly, at the very least he wouldn't be left as injured as before. Perhaps he could best a couple of gryphons without hurting them and then prove his good intentions by sparing them. Yogoloth shook his head, it didn't bode well that he was already making plans on how to react to a violent confrontation.

He had Lenela on standby if things went badly. It may be an hour's walk, but she could get there much faster by wing. Hopefully when he called her, it would be so they could both be led to the colony. Hopefully. He was worried. He'd tried not to let Lenela see, she was worried enough as it was. But too many unknowns meant too many ways things could all go wrong.

An earlier trace showed that his father was literally an hour's walk away. Perhaps a five minute flight, maybe only three or four if he pushed himself hard. He could literally take to the air now and no gryphon could stop him getting to his father. Three minutes. His wings twitched at the thought and his heart pounded nervously behind his hard chest plates. No. After all these years, he could afford to wait just one more hour and do things properly.

He took a deep breath and focused on his walking and the area around him. It was very lightly forested on this side of the colony and slightly hilly. This meant he could clearly see anything coming from the sky. He couldn't be trapped on the ground and Lenela could easily spot him and assist if needed. What little grass there was, struggled between the shade of trees, the poor quality soil and rocky mounds. One paw in front of the other, how ever long it took. There was a twinge of magic and then a message from Lenela arrived.

"I'm at the cliff. If needed, I can be there in minutes. Be polite. And don't growl at them. And don't rise to any insults! But don't beg either... just... don't get yourself killed...", her voice spoke clearly in his ear.

It was strange to hear such a clear message. Normally such messages were sent from hours, days, if not weeks of flight away. Over those distances the message degraded and sounded distorted. But from such a small distance it was as though his sister was there next to him and the magical cost to her was negligible. It was good to feel as though she was with him, even though she wasn't.

"It'll be fine, I'll let you know once I've got them convinced.", he said out loud before sending it back.

Yogoloth kept on walking, the odd tree providing shade and scents as he passed. The sun warming his feathers as they fidgeted against his flanks. He wondered if his father had made this same trip when he had first approached this colony. If he had walked on this same ground decades ago. A flicker of movement caught his eye in the distance. It was a shadow and he looked up, a little blinded by the sun. A winged shape, silhouetted against the sky, turned and quickly disappeared in the direction he was travelling. He'd been spotted.

But from that distance, would they have identified him as a hybrid or not? From above he generally looked like a gryphon. Wings, mane and tail were all brown and the green of his hide would blend with the patches of slightly yellowing grass. It would not take long for them to send two of their number to greet him and judge his intentions.

What seemed like hours passed, but it would have only been minutes. Yogoloth kept walking, the closer he got the better. He spotted two shapes in the distance and they grew larger against the blue of the sky as they got closer. He was under no illusion that this was going to be as easy.

Part 6

Two dark brown shapes circled high above Yogoloth, their outlines giving little away against the brightness of the sky. Feathery wings tilting this way and that, their heads peering down upon him. The young hybrid had stopped and was looking up at them, waiting for them to land. The two gryphons would clearly see now that he was not a pure blood and were no doubt deciding what to do. Yogoloth wished they'd just land and be done with it. While they were still up in the air, there was the ever present danger that they'd simply attack him like the last colony had.

Soon they changed course and came in lower. They were coming in to land, not to attack. Yogoloth sensed magic being used, but it felt defensive. He could feel the blood pumping hot in his ears. He held his ground and applied his own basic defenses, hopefully stronger than theirs, and waited. He didn't want to fight, but if he had to, he would. Beating two gryphons shouldn't be too difficult if that's what it came to. But beating them without causing serious injury, would be a problem.

They landed directly between him and the colony, a fair distance apart from one another and a good distance ahead of him. They were clearly on the defensive and eyed him cautiously. They were both female, the left gryphoness perhaps about thirty and the other about forty. They looked quite similar, their fur a similar pale brown like Natanii's, their eyes identical deep brown and talons the same rich gold. Sisters perhaps?

"This is gryphon territory. Go back the way you came.", the eldest spoke confidently in decent Low Wurm. Their wings fidgeted, shades of brown and white shifting in the breeze.

"I am a gryphon.", Yogoloth replied a little sharply in the local gryphon tongue that Lenela had taught him over the past few weeks. Then he quickly remembered some of the etiquette he'd also been taught and bowed his head low, extending a fore leg across the ground. "My name is Yogoloth."

"You're a... you're not welcome here.", the eldest spoke up a little uncomfortably in the same tongue. Yogoloth wasn't sure if it was his proficiency in their tongue or his proper etiquette that made her pause, or perhaps just nerves at addressing a larger predator. "Just... just turn around and go."

"I'm here to visit an old friend.", the young hybrid half lied as he stood back up straight. Farasuun wasn't a friend exactly, but he didn't want to cause his father any trouble by revealing the truth of it all to every gryphon he met. "I don't plan on staying long, it'll be a quick visit."

"Well in that case, you would have messaged ahead. You're lying.", the younger gryphoness piped up for the first time, fluffing up her mane and snapping her beak at the end of the sentence.

"We'd have heard of you if anyone on the colony was expecting a... someone like you. Who's your friend and what's your business with them?", the eldest spoke up cutting off the younger as she was about to speak again.

"My friend and my business are my own.", Yogoloth struggled not to growl.

A whole colony of gryphons would have nothing to fear from him. These two on the other hand better not get on his bad side while they were alone. He could take them down now. Unravel his defenses, recycle it and pounce on them. Paralyse one, pin the other, negotiate from a position of power. The dragon way. Then another message from Lenela arrived.

"Any luck? Have they spotted you yet?", her voice spoke in his ear as the eldest gryphoness's own ear turned.

"Who's that? Who just messaged you?", she said looking quickly about, as though expecting attack. "One message from either of us and the colony will be on top of you!", she snapped, her mane fluffing up like her younger sister's.

Things were getting out of hand. He wasn't going to be able to talk them down. He had to think and quick. He'd always wanted to message his father, he had his signature and could easily do so. But Farasuun didn't have Yogoloth's signature and wouldn't have been able to reply. What would he even say? How could he even begin to explain it all? Too dangerous. But this might be his only chance.

"Wait!", he settled down onto his belly, no longer looking down on them. "I'll message my friend, just don't turn this to bloodshed."

What ever he sent to his father now would be overheard by the two gryphonesses. He couldn't afford for them to know who he was messaging, not only to protect his father but also to prevent them sending word back that would put this all in a bad light. He had one shot at this and one shot only.

"You were once friends with Gregory Tyler, many decades ago. His grandson and I are also good friends. I've travelled all this way to meet you. Two of the colony's gryphons are here with me now.", he wrapped the message in and around two trace shapes. One that would take the message to his father, the other would guide his father to him. The eldest gryphoness seemed to whisper the foreign name to herself a couple of times as though testing the feel of it.

"Why don't you want us to know your friend's name?", she suddenly asked, clearly a little calmer now that Yogoloth had laid down and sent the message.

"It's clear you two wouldn't want a hybrid as a friend... I'm trying to be delicate.", Yogoloth said carefully, trying not to scowl nor growl at the two of them. The youngest spoke up, perhaps a little taken aback.

"That's not... we're supposed to protect the col-"

"From what? One sickly half-breed?", he said a little spitefully, his nerves getting the better of him.

"You don't look..."

"No, I'm not. But that's what everyone seems to fear.", he paused to breathe out slowly. "Sorry. I get this a lot for no good reason."

Both gryphonesses glanced at each other for a moment. Yes, they were definitely sisters, Yogoloth decided. They had different personalities, as all creatures did, but they had such similar features and mannerisms that it couldn't be a coincidence. The eldest of the two looked back over to him.

"Even if your friend arrives, we cannot let you go to the colony. We'd need the Elders to decide that."

Yogoloth grinned and chuckled a little. The reaction puzzled the younger gryphoness and the eldest simply frowned. He hoped his father would come soon. He now, more than ever before, hoped he had become an Elder. If he was half as wise as his mother had lead him to believe, then he should be by now.

Then Yogoloth noticed a dark mote in the distant sky. He swallowed involuntarily as he watched it grow larger. The two gryphonesses turned briefly to see what he was looking at. Time passed both slowly and quickly from that moment on. It seemed as though the new gryphon couldn't arrive fast enough and the next minute there just wasn't enough time to take in those wings. His wings. Lightest to darkest browns with scattered charcoals.

He was skilled in the air, deliberate and precise despite his clear age. Dark fur now graying and pale talons making stiff, careful steps as he landed gently.

"Elder? What are you doing here?", the younger of the gryphonesses spoke up formally but surprised.

"I got a message...", the old male's voice trailed off as he walked between the two females. He paused and studied Yogoloth with his penetrating eyes. There was youth in those eyes, a fire that still burned strong despite the sudden wavering in his voice. "You... have her horns..."