The sunlight filters through the dense covering of smog, turning a murky color that nonetheless glints off his metallic tattoos, a ruff of red gold feathers around his neck and a collar of feathers around his wrists. The smog wasn�t as bad as it usually was, and by afternoon would probably clear off mostly.
He leaps forward then skids to a stop, he was on the boundary of his territory and didn�t dare go any farther. The kid, though, obviously didn�t know the layout of the territories yet and ran through the neutral zone and into the next territory, where a very vicious man ruled. That kid would be lucky to survive if he was caught, but Griffon didn�t care, that wasn�t his territory anymore so he had no say over anything that happened.
Griffon stretches, his muscles rippling under his dark brown skin, then turns and races back off across the housetops back to his lookout spot. Scars accent his sharp features and one pulls his mouth into a permanent half smile.
Settling down on his lookout spot, a building taller than the rest and in about the center of his territory, he fingers the dark tan clothing idly as his golden brown eyes survey the territory he can see.
Many said that Griffon was a proper name for him, since he resembled the creature in more than a few ways. People were always comparing his eyes to the eyes of an eagle and his movements to the majestic panther. He didn�t believe them much, but what had originally started out as a nickname stuck, and so everyone now knew him as Griffon.
�Griffon they call me, so Griffon I�ll be,� he remarks softly, his voice deep and sharp, carrying slightly even though he spoke softly.
Near the outskirts of all of the territories was a university where he visited once in a while. It was a large area of neutral territory, and sometimes he and the other so called street toughs went there and met. Those meetings were never truly neutral, since the occasional fight was expected when they all met, but there were no serious injuries, and almost never any blood spilled.
That was where he had met the strange girl, Tearis. He had arrived early for one of the meetings just to see how campus life was when he noticed a tall man trying to grab a small girl who looked almost twelve. Calmly, he had walked over there and dealt with the man, and when he had turned around to look at the girl again, she was smiling slightly.
Things had progressed from there, he had taught her how to fight dirty so that no man would be able to lay a hand on her if she was unwilling, and both had become friends. He listened to her and she listened to him, it was an easy friendship unlike most of her others.
Griffon rises and strolls to one of the neutral areas and walks out of the maze of territories towards the neutral territory of the university.
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He watches Tearis leave the group of girls then turns to follow her. His sharp ears catch a muttered comment and he smiles, she was obviously a bit put out by the others, which was usual, it seemed like she could never get them.
�The problem with them,� he remarks, �is that they never grew up from high school.�
She turns and looks at him and he steps towards her, his step easy and light despite his size. A person of his type lived and died by how swift and agile they were, and he was one of the top men in the whole area.
�Hey �Rif,� Tearis says as she falls in step beside him. As was usual, she had to take several steps for his one because of his long legs.
He throws an arm around her shoulder like a father, �Hey Te, how�s it going?�
�Right now I�m happy that you gave me that training in fighting dirty,� she answered.
�Another one of those stupid men?�
Tearis smiles up at him, �Of course, what else? I don�t think he�ll be able to have fun for a while though.�
He throws his head back and laughs, �You, Te, are mean.�
�He was asking for it, though.�
�Gerrout you little liar, you probably taunted him just so that you could do that,� he remarks, his eyes dancing with laughter.
He notices her innocent look, and his smile grew slightly wider, she had taunted the man, but to anyone else, the man had started it and she was entirely justified in protecting herself.
�I never.�
�Uh hu, riiiiiight.�
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He perched on top of his lookout spot, surveying his land. He was growing bored with all of this territory stuff, but he knew that if he relaxed even just one tiny bit, the others would be at his throat like wolves to an old deer. And he was getting old for this, twenty-five years old, twenty years defending and expanding his territory. Not many lived that long in this deadly game, but he intended to survive one way or the other, whether by tooth and nail like now or some other way.
What that other way could be, he had no clue, but he knew he could find it if he needed too.
Griffon looks up and catches sight of Tearis flying low over his territory. She was definitely a strange thing, almost seeming to prefer the air to the ground.
He stood and waved at her, it wasn�t always that she took a flight to his territory.
She was closer now, and almost ready to land, when his eyes widened at the sight of something that just couldn�t exist, not in this world. Dragons couldn�t, they absolutely could not. But�
The blue dragon grabbed Tearis out of the air and a green one tried to land on the top of the building, but the building was too small for it, so it seemed to settle for just grabbing him.
He growls to himself, whatever this thing was, he wasn�t going to go through the indignity of being carried in its front claws like a package. Griffon swings himself free of the creature�s claws and reaches up, hauling himself up onto the beast�s back where� a human rode?
Griffon�s eyes narrow and he grabs the human�s proffered hand and finally pulls himself up onto the beast�s back, just in time for everything to go black.
When the world returned, he was flying over the cone of what looked like an extinct volcano. The blue dragon that had Tearis dived into the cone first, then the green one he was on followed.
When they reached the bottom he slid off the dragon and walks over to where Tearis was examining her made wings. He could see that there wasn�t much damage to them, but it was her he was more worried about. Those dragon claws were nasty things if they got you in the wrong spot.
He walks up to her softly, but quickly, when he noticed her glaring at the man on the blue's back. When she gave that icy glare of hers to anyone, they were in for some deep trouble.
�I don�t think we�re on our planet anymore, so don�t try to murder anyone until we know what we�re in for, deal?� he mutters softly to her.
Griffon starts mentally cursing himself as Tearis turns around, glares at him, and then elbows him in the stomach. As the breath rushes out of his lungs, he thinks Yep, definitely time to change occupations if she can catch me unawares.
�I�m sorry about that harsh pick up, but the ground didn�t seem safe enough to land and get you properly mounted,� the blue�s rider remarks as he slides down off of his dragon.
He notices her glaring at the rider again and starts wondering how good the man is at protecting himself, because Tearis definitely wasn�t taking her �harsh pickup� very well.
�Where is this place?� she asks.
�Cathair Fionabhainn, on the planet Danach.�
He looks at the man in puzzlement, �Danach? Are you trying to fool us into something?�
�No, I�m not. Look, there�s a clutch of eggs on the sands and when we,� he indicates himself, his dragon, and the green dragon and her rider, �entered your world, we first felt you,� he motions towards Tearis, �and followed you. The next thing we knew, there were two possible candidates for the clutch.�
He exchanges a glance with Tearis, then shrugs.
�If you want us to be candidates I guess we have to be. If this truly is another world, there isn�t much of any way to get back, now is there?� he asks.
�Not really,� the rider responds.
�Fine, we�ll be candidates. My name�s Tearis and his is Griffon, sometimes just called �Rif.�
Adult