Howling Winds (Open To All!)

Rustle! Rustle!

A young griffin leaped over a small fallen log, landing clumsily on the other side with a thud. Dashing through the trees, she rustled bushes and snapped twigs under her lion-like paws as she ran. The trees were thick, too large to spread her wings. But that didn't matter. What mattered now is where she was headed..

The griffin hatchling rushed through a hedge, making a noise loud enough for any predator within the vicinity of the din that cared to hear the hatchling.

On the other side was a long, flat and open cliff, with nothing but the clear, summer sky above. The perfect runway.


The hatchling, breathing heavily, swallowed her fear.. and stretched her wings.


Twenty feet..

Her wings started flapping.

Fifteen feet..

The white griffin ran as fast as she could, her little beak opened slightly to inhale and exhale the air as quickly as possible.


Ten feet..

Five feet..

2 feet..



Then she saw the height. A good hundred foot drop into the woods below. Terror seized her, and she tried to stop, before realizing there wasn't time. She had to jump!


Shrieking an eagle's cry, she stretched her folding wings again and jumped. Her insides went cold as she started to flap furiously, wings fighting gravity with all their might. She could do this.. She had to!

For a moment, it looked as if she was going to fly, but then she started dropping.



The world began to spin as the griffin panicked and started flapping one wing after the other, causing her to somersault and flip. Screaming, the hatchling's cries were swept away by the roaring wind as she fell towards the forest floor. What little breath she had was snatched from her as she tumbled towards certain death.

The air soothed Adelmo as he glided high above the low levels of the forest, his wings spread out and feathers flaring in the wind. Closing his eyes, the middle aged male raised his head, sighing softly as the wind cooled his emotions, reducing all feelings to nothing but a calm, serene emotion. The skies were his gift and home, he was truly happy while he flew here.

Bending one wing, Adelmo performed a wide, leisurely turn to the right, approaching one of the sheer cliffs that held up the highest level of the forest. Soaring through the azure colored skies, Adelmo opened his eyes, gazing at the beautiful jade colored world below, contrasting with the endless stretch of blue above.



A shriek caused Adelmo to flinch, and his insides went cold as he looked down and saw a young one leaping off a clear. He identified it to be a white griffin as she leaped off the cliff, clearly intent on flying. Nonononono! Too high! Too high! He screamed inside his head as the child jumped into the air.

For a moment, it actually looked like she was going to do it, but then Adelmo saw her dip, and fall, and then she started to scream as she flailed around, wings no longer in sync.

Panic seeped into Adelmo's chest and became a cold thing in his center. His expression one of horror, it took him a moment to register what was going on inside his head. The moment he realised what was happening, Adelmo dove into action. Literally.

Snapping his wings to his side, Adelmo felt the wind pick up as he started to fall, pointing his nose at the ground as he tried to go faster. It didn't take long. Soon, he was like a bullet, zooming past the cliff towards the white hatchling.


Adelmo bent his body back and outstretched his claws, and a moment later felt the child in his grasp, light as a feather to one like him.

Stretching out his wings, Adelmo glanced down at the child to make sure she was alright. When he looked up, he gave a shriek of his own. They were headed straight for the trees. He couldn't pull up in time!

Cursing his weight and weaknesses in flying, Adelmo acted on instinct and flipped over, clasping the child to his chest as he folded his wings over her leaving himself unprotected as he crashed into the trees.

He went head first through tree after tree, shrieking and crying out with each time his body hit something. Leaving a path of destruction behind him, Adelmo eventually stopped in a meadow, rolling to a stop.


Closing his eyes, Adelmo groaned softly, before releasing a pained grunt that resembled that of a lion's growl of pain. He went limp, sighing softly as the pain in his body exceeded anything he'd felt before in his life. Well, apart from.. He would not go down that train of thought.

His thoughts were numb and his body in agony as Adelmo laid there, basically knocked out, scrapes and bleeding cuts littering his body like crows littered an abandoned carcasse.

The young griffin watched the world spin and spin, soon ready to throw up because of the constant movement. She was going to die, she was going to die, she was going to-


Suddenly, something snatched her out of the air and she was suddenly held sideways by strong talons. Shrieking in shock and terror, she glanced around, realizing she had been caught by a huge creature. She couldn't make out what it was though..

Faida noticed they were still dropping, and looked down. Soon, she wished she hadn't. The ground sneered as it rose to meet them, and Faida screamed again. This sort of terror she had never felt before. She was so frightened she didn't feel the fear, she just screamed and screamed and screamed as the creature flipped over, clasping her to his chest, and suddenly her world darkened just before they hit the ground.

Faida clung to the chest of the feathered creature, shutting her eyes as they bounced around like ping pong balls. She was barely aware of the creature's cries of pain, right now, her world consisted of warmth and constant movement. Her wings draped over the creature's chest, Faida whimpered quietly as they stopped rolling, and everything was suddenly still.


0pening her eyes, Faida lifted her head slightly with a soft gasp. Placing her little claw on the creature's chest, she felt his heavy breathing as she pushed herself up into a sitting position. Getting into a crouched position, Faida slowly crawled up to a gap in the creature's wings, shuddering like mad.

She poked her head out, and glanced around, her eyes widening and her beak falling open when she saw the path of foliage laid to waste by the creature that had rescued and protected her. She didn't dare to glace up as she turned her head to look at the creature. Eyes narrowed, Faida slowly crawled out, walked along his shoulder and then hopped down by his neck to get a better look at his face. She tried her best to ignore the scratches and forming bruises that covered his muscled body.

When she saw his complexion, Faida was surprised. He was quite tough looking for such an injured griffin, his expression one of pain, but everything about him screamed.. tough and strong. Glancing at his neck, Faida saw a bleeding cut there, followed by many others covering the rest of his body, and guilt stabbed her in the chest. Immediately, her ears pinned themselves to the back of her feathered skull and she sat by her savior, shuddering as she leaned closer to him, glancing all around her. Hearing a twig snap, Faida's ears pricked as she sharply looked over her shoulder with a soft, sharp exhale, eyes wide and afraid.

Fear gripped her and she rushed to the griffin's neck, burying her head in his long feathers, shuddering uncontrollably. What had just happened?

The hatchling was confused, shocked and frightened. She was so frightened.. She had almost died, and now the one who had saved her was conked out. This was all her fault, if only she had waited a few more years she wouldn't be here and this wouldn't be happening..

While she blamed herself, Faida felt tears begin to sting her eyes and she closed her delicate eyelids over them, a single sniffle escaping her beak, followed by a soft sob.

For what felt like forever was just a few moments of numbing darkness for Adelmo, as he laid in the grass, in pain and numb at the same time. It was a strange feeling.

The sound of a quiet sob caused Adelmo's brow to furrow. Slowly, his eyelids fluttered, and then Adelmo opened his eyes.

His world was blurred and distorted, and for a moment or two the middle aged griffin wondered where he was. As his vision came into focus, he became aware of something pressing into his neck. Inclining his head a few inches, Adelmo's eyes found the white griffin, her little face buried into his ruffled, dirt stained feathers.

Blinking, Adelmo lifted his head slightly, grunting quietly. His lion-like tail swished to and fro for a moment, before going limp behind him. "Are you alright?" he asked, voice coated with effort and pain. Despite the state he was in, the older griffin's main concern was the wellbeing of the hatchling. Was she hurt? A quick examination with his eyes told him that she was uninjured, just in shock and very upset.

Hearing the cry of a raven, Adelmo raised his head and looked at the sky, laying eyes upon a crow or two circling overhead. He sighed quietly, before looking down at the hatchling. Even his head dwarfed her. She was tiny..

"What were you doing? You could have gotten yourself.. killed," he managed to scold her through his quick breaths as his heart tried to compensate for the air that had been knocked out of his chest.

Faida felt him moving, and quickly backed away a few steps, crouching down and peering up at the mighty griffin, panic in her blue eyes. She watched him as he blinked, her eyes darting to his tail as it swayed from left to right, before she looked at the griffin's face again. At his question, her ears pricked very slightly. "I-I'm fine," she said softly. The call of a crow caused her to snap her gaze to the sky, eyes widening slightly. She didn't like this, she didn't like being out in the open. Anything could snatch her!

Her breathing quickened and Faida found herself clasping her wings to her sides. Hearing the male speak again, she looked at him and listened as he scolded her. She bristled, her tail lashing back and forth. "I-I was just trying to fly!" she exclaimed, her fluffy coat standing on end a few inches. She didn't have her feathers just yet, which added to her problem. It would be years before she could learn to fly..

Ignoring her common sense, Faida glared at the griffin, before turning and dashing into the trees. It looked as if she was running off, and she didn't come back for two minutes. But then, she came back, a leaf dipped in tree sap in her beak. Bounding over to the griffin, she tentatively stepped up to the wound on his neck and placed the leaf there. Despite the fact it was only a quarter of the size of the wound -the leaf was tiny- and it did nothing to stop the blood, Faida had tried her best to help.

Sitting down beside him, she peered up at him, blue eyes wide. "I'm Faida," She introduced herself, before pressing into his huge feathers, shivering from the cold wind that brushed against the trees and ruffled her coat.

Adelmo watched the hatchling's body language. The way her eyes darted about everywhere like a rabbit on the open plain, the way she twitched at every sound and flinched at every shift in the air, told him she was a very vigilant, and very frightened young griffin.

Adelmo sighed quietly at her protesting against his scolding. But as she turned and dashed off, Adelmo chuckled. She was quite the character. Clearly, she had a short temper, like.. No, he would not speak her name. He would not think of her name. Pushing back the depressing images and thoughts from his mind, Adelmo tried to rise, but fell with a grunt that seemed to shake the earth.

He saw a flash of white out of the corner of his eye, and he turned his mighty head to see the little one coming back, armor fitting her rather snug for a hatchling's 'battle armor.' It was quite an unusual design, the image painted on the forehead simple, yet.. oddly charming. Adelmo blinked and inclined his head, tilting it in bemusement as he watched the white hatchling press the laef she had clasped in her beak to his wound. Adelmo flinched, and bit back a hiss, as the leaf made contact with his bleeding cut.

He looked down at the hatchling,who sat down beside him, then at the wound. He looked at her again, brown eyes meeting brilliant blue, and then he smiled. "Albis angeli," He whispered.

The little one introduced herself as Faida, and Adelmo chuckled as she pressed into his large feathers, which were now outlined by blood that seeped beneath his feathers and clung to his skin. He felt her shivering, and a huge wing came rising off his side, and was draped over her gently, shielding her from the cold wing. The movement hurt, and his shoulders ached and screamed, but maternal instinct blocked the pain.

"My name is Adelmo," He said softly, smiling down at her, before his wounds flared up and he grunted, hissing softly as his shoulders tensed. Powering through the pain, he tried to smile, managing a half, twisted lift of the corners of his beak.

"Where are your parents, Faida?" he asked, concern lining his brow. Surely, if she had parents, they'd be looking for him. And, besides, he needed medical attention, and fast. Soon, he would bleed out, and that wouldn't be good.

Then again, the parents might attack him..