Running mad (Miss Khaos)

[Anonymous]

Iria froze as he slipped down from a rather tricky bunch of boulders, ears flicking as he dropped into a half crouch and glanced around. He could have sworn... There it was again, the same scratching sound of metal against stone. His ears laid flat on his head and he kept frozen, only his eyes moving. Of all the places... Well going back the way he had come was somewhat impossible. Unless whatever was making the metal noise was peaceful, it probably wouldn't be polite enough to give him time to scramble back up there. And he almost definitely didn't have the time to start stripping and change to jaguar... Though if he did that it might throw someone for a loop.

He was in a place where the ground evened out before sloping down more towards a large valley. A fairly boulder filled valley, though it wasn't so obvious between all the trees, but still large. There was a lake there, and that was where he had his camp near... But this wasn't there. This was up the slope, just near a pathway that led through the mountains skirting the valley, and he'd gotten curious enough to go investigate. Of all the times...

Of course, it could just maybe be some peaceful travelers, but even while Iria's mind provided that, Shir caught a flicker of color in the corner of their eyes and his head twisted, fixing on the reflection of colors off of the rock until it moved again, closer and accompanied by the same sound.

Their minds were in utter agreement as they started edging away, eyes fixed on the colors as they moved as quietly as they could in the direction of the trees and the pathway.

They needn't have bothered, since a moment later a fairly large scruffy man burst from the rocks where he had apparently been hiding, brandishing a knife and yelling something that Iria didn't quite catch, though the tone of it made the boys' heart sink. Without even bothering to think he turned tail and took off towards the trees, ears flat on his head but still able to catch the sound of another set of footsteps joining the first.

He was fast... But they were far bigger, and he could hear the pounding of their footsteps drawing all too close as he neared the treeline.

[Rhindeer]

Perched atop a rocky ledge, Cadmus yawned and stretched his wings out to their full span, letting the sun soak into the black fur and feathers while he enjoyed a quiet day alone in the mountains in his own skin. He got to do that so little anymore after years spent living among humans, which he didn't particularly mind, but it still felt good to escape here and there and live as he once had. It had been at least a few weeks since the last time he'd shifted and his shoulder blades had started growing itchy, right where his wings should be. It was probably more of a psychological itch, but it had still felt great to scratch it.

Lifting a front paw, which was actually more like an eagles claw, wicked talons and all, he delicately licked the blood from his talons and then began to preen his wings, removing a few pesky pinfeathers in the process. Behind him, a young mountain goat lay dead and half eaten.

Man, how he'd missed raw meat, too...too bad he couldn't eat it all, but some lucky scavenger would get the remains, at least.

Full, content, and cleaned up, he stretched out one last time, folded his wings along his back, and plopped down with his front legs dangling just over the edge. It was a nice lazy day, not too cold with a perfect breeze blowing. The perfect time to snooze away the rest of the day, digesting his meal, and--

His golden eyes snapped back open before they could fully shut when movement down in the valley below caught his attention, and he tilted his good left eye down toward the figure he saw. Ah, a little human...thing. Part human. With his keen hawk-like vision, he could make the figure out in detail, note the tail and ears and the cautious behavior. The tip of Cadmus' lion tail flicked and his ears perked up, but he otherwise remained perfectly still as he studied the boy curiously. Huh, what was a kid doing way out here? He looked kind of nervous, too, but Cadmus couldn't decide based off his body language alone whether he was hunting or just generally trying to avoid detection. Maybe he was lost? He tossed his head and glanced behind him and off to the side, where his clothing was folded in a neat pile with his sword and baldric laid over it, and then yawned and looked back again.

Too much effort getting dressed and going down there to find out. Besides, if the kid was hunting he didn't want to spoil it for him, so he'd just observe him for a little while longer to make sure--

That was when a man burst out of the treeline, brandishing a knife and yelling, and the boy wisely turned and ran even as a second man joined the first. The kid ran for the trees, but even Cadmus could see he wasn't going to make it, and even if he did, where would he go? He'd be dead--or whatever those guys planned on doing to him.

Cadmus was on his feet and launching himself into the air before he even realized he'd moved. He didn't know the kid, nor did he know whether or not his being hunted was justified, but it didn't matter; it wasn't a fair fight and it was as good as instinct for him to defend younglings. Powerful wings beating the air, he circled high above for a moment as he planned his attack and chose his target before promptly snapping his wings in tight to his body, extending his front talons, and falling into a controlled dive.

He chose the man closest to the boy. The man had barely time to yell out before five-hundred pounds of muscle, claw, and beak slammed into him, knocking him clean off his feet even as Cadmus threw open his wings and soared back upwards before he could hit the ground. The other man had stopped in his tracks, staring at his unconscious companion--who would be lucky if he walked away with only a couple broken bones--while Cadmus circled back around and dove again, this time at a slower rate. He didn't go for the other man the second time around; instead he landed near where the other man had fallen, fluffed up his fur and feathers and spread his wings wide. Then he snarled viciously, snapping his beat.

That did the trick.

The man turned on his heel and fled, and Cadmus gave a gryphon-ish grin, folded his wings, and slowly turned around to see where the boy had gone off to. Vaguely, he was aware of not being able to put his full weight on his right front leg, but he ignored it, the thrill of flight and a good, fun little attack making him feel a bit too giddy to pay attention to the knife wound. He'd miscalculated a little and come from the wrong angle...ugh...

"You alrrright, kid?" he asked.

[Anonymous]

Every footstep put Iria's heart more in his throat, and every moment seemed as though time had decided to be nasty and slow everything down for him. He could feel his heart pounding, a horrible loud sound in his ears that didn't manage to match with his footsteps at all. Every step he tried to stretch his legs more, run just that little bit faster... But his twitching ears could catch the cadence of the running steps behind him, and with every overstretched moment it seemed like they were closer and closer. It was to the point that he was almost positive that any second he was going to to feel rough hands grabbing his shoulder or his hair to yank him back and... do whatever it was that they were chasing him for in the first place.

Right about when the pair had mentally resigned themselves to certain doom, they heard the man yell from behind them, far to close behind them, and the rush of wind at their back.

For a brief moment that just upped the terror level, and the pair actually managed to put on some more speed as they leapt towards the treeline. The only thing that stopped them from running madly off into the underbrush was Shir's quick reminder that it just probably wasn't the best idea to go running from a bigger predator, and that they should be safe now if it was after food... Maybe safer near it than away, since there still was one human who wasn't incapacitated.

With Shir in control, they slowed, dodging behind a tree and peeking out with their ears flat to their head. His eyes were wide as he stared at the... the... griffin? Was that it? Neither of the two boys had ever actually seen something like their apparent savior, only heard things from back when Iria was a normal human. And even what he had heard... Well it certainly hadn't done much justice to the truth of the matter.

Even though the larger predator wasn't looking their way, the snarling had them wincing and ducking back under cover. They'd learned the hard way before that bigger predators were definitely things to be feared; or at least treated with a healthy amount of distance and respect. By this point the two were just assuming that the griffin had been hunting, especially since it looked like it was protecting its prey. The thought that it could have been them instead of their human attacker made Iria shiver violently, staying pressed up against the tree for quite a few moments before they got up the courage to peek back out.

By that point the other man had run, and their regained courage came right in time to hear the griffin speak to them.

They froze, blinking in wide eyed surprise from where they were peeking out from behind the tree. It wasn't so much that it was speaking, it would be rather hypocritical of them to think that way. It was... Well it was that it apparently had been wanting to save them!

"I'm fine..." Iria answered, taking over from Shir and hesitantly stepping out from behind the tree, eyes fixed warily on the griffin. "Why did you..." He trailed off, having been about to ask the creature why it had saved them, but instead he noticed the blood, "Looks like you aren't alright! Doesn't that hurt?!"

[Rhindeer]

Cadmus peered through the trees with his left eye, able to spot the boy peeking out from behind the trees but wisely deciding to let the kid come to him rather than the other way around--if he even wanted to. No pressure. He'd understand if he wanted to keep his distance, honestly; humans tended to be uneasy around this form at first and he couldn't blame them. He was big, he was intimidating, and his whole body was a weapon--well, except maybe his tail, but he needed that, too.

Waiting patiently, his stance relaxed and--he hoped--as nonthreatening as he could make it, he perked up when the boy gathered his courage and stepped out from behind the tree. It was pretty gutsy of him, especially considering how badly he'd been shaken by that attack. Cadmus' tail swished back and forth relaxingly, and as an afterthought he sat down. It saved him the hassle of holding his injured leg up, and it hopefully made him appear more...approachable. He expected the boy to be wary. He expected him to ask why he'd saved him. They were the usual questions, and he was used to them. What he hadn't been expecting was for the kid to express concern over him, a big scary gryphon!

If gryphons had the facial muscles to form incredulous looks, that was the look Cadmus would have been wearing when the boy asked if it hurt. While the answer was a definite, 'yes!', however, Cadmus only snorted in amusement and fluffed up his feathers.

"Thisss?" He lifted his foreleg with a wince and a soft hiss, then licked at the wound delicately to stop some of the dripping. It looked worse than it actually was. "It hurrrtsss, but it'll heal, thank you. What werrre thossse men afterrr you forrr? They would've done you worrrssse than thisss, I think."

Then, remembering the question the boy had almost asked but hadn't, he tossed his head toward the unconscious man and then looked back to the kid. "You'rrre wonderrring why I sssaved you," he said flatly before he licked at his wound again, a statement rather than a question because it was, sadly, a question most people asked when a stranger stepped in on their behalf. Pretty sad that compassion for people unconnected to you was so rare, but hey, that was life. Lowering his leg gingerly, he gave a little shrug, a very human gesture. "My usssual anssswerrr to that is, 'why not?'"

His golden eyes sparkled with amusement as he added the next part, unable to help himself. "Besssidesss, I've alrrrready eaten."

[ooc: whooo, sorry if this bites. xD Work is killin' meh!]

[Anonymous]

((Sorry I took forever to answer! The last week was -crazy-. Fun, but crazy! I won't be disappearing again until thanksgiving though! At least provided I don't have to make another costume for halloween))

Iria's head tilted and he grimaced as he looked at the wound. It really looked horribly nasty, and neither of them were quite sure how the gryphon was managing to be so nonchalant about it. Maybe as things got bigger and scarier looking they got tougher as well? The pair of them certainly still avoided pain as much as they possibly could, especially pain involving wounds which could possibly get infected and end up either killing them or making them search out someone to heal them.

Maybe the gryphon didn't have to worry about that. They were magical creatures... At least the pair was fairly sure they were. Despite all that Iria and Shir were together, neither of them were inherently magical alone, so it wouldn't be too far past what they could believe for other things to have innate abilities they lacked.

"I... Really don't know." He answered, taking another small step towards the gryphon. Now that the creature was laying down, he was a bit less threatening, and it was at least putting some of the instincts to rest... Even if mentally he knew that the larger predator could probably easily be up on his feet before Iria could get anywhere close to safety. It was the visual that counted here, at least to his 'run away!' type instincts. If his empathy had actually been -normal- he might have been able to really tell, but as it was the color could mean pretty much anything; he didn't know if the emotion the gryphon -seemed- to be showing was the right one. "I think it was mostly me being in the wrong place at the wrong time... Who knows what they wanted me for."

Iria's eyes flickered to the unconscious man, shivering a little and twitching his ears at the thought. Luckily before either of the two could really get their mind around the idea their ears caught the gryphon speaking again, and he jerked his head up. "Uh... Kinda."

The answer had their face twisting a little in confusion, not really sure what to answer to an answer like that. "Well... You... You -did- get hurt doing so." He shifted a little, about to add a thank you when he heard the next statement and froze, ears twitching nervously. Bigger predator. Right, needed to remember that, "T-that's good." He answered uneasily, thinking of stopping himself a second too late as he asked nervously, "What did you eat?"

[Rhindeer]

[It's not a problem! I understand! <3 Sorry for my own delay--work is eating me! ;D]

"Mm...prrrobably jussst mountain banditsss, then," Cadmus concluded, wincing a little at his own voice. He'd been in human form so long that, while he still had an accent even then, the trills and hisses were far more subtle and the sound of his real voice seemed horribly harsh now. "You cerrrtainly made easssy prrrey."

Ruffling his feathers, which sent a black down feather floating into the air, he tilted his head in a jerky, bird-like manner as the boy continued to express concern for him. The cut hurt, there was no doubt about it, and if he didn't treat it, it could fester. But to him it truly was minor since he'd sustained far worse over his lifetime, including one injury that had nearly killed him.

Shaking his head, Cadmus blew air harshly through his nostrils, a sort of snorting, gryphon-ish laugh. "You needn't worry, rrreally. I've had worrrssse. Asss forrr what I ate...oh, jussst a goat. I don't eat people," he added, deciding it was time he take pity on the boy. While he'd meant his original statement as a joke, he'd admit it had been in poor taste, especially considering how shook up the boy was. It probably wasn't a good idea to tease him, not in this form, not when he hadn't yet gained the kid's trust. He half feared that if he moved too quickly, the kid would bolt.

There was an easy way to resolve that.

Standing slowly so as not to startle the boy, Cadmus stretched like a cat and straightened up onto all fours--well, threes, technically, since he held his injured leg up off the ground. "I'm making you nerrrvousss, I apologize. I do have a lesss intimidating forrrm. If you like, join me up on that ledge therrre." He pointed his beak in the direction of the cliff he'd been lounging atop earlier. It wasn't too high up, and there was a well traveled goat trail leading up to it. "It'll give me time to change, asss my clothesss arrre up therrre, you sssee..."

Another shrug. "Unlesss you don't mind naked humansss, but I find mossst do."

Obviously, Cadmus didn't. After all, he was naked now. No big deal. Humans were just odd as a rule, though he'd come to love them for that, too.

[Anonymous]

Iria flushed a little at the comment that he'd made easy prey, muttering under his breath, "Well it's hard to -not- be easy to catch in -this- form." The boy wasn't quite brave enough to actually say that at full volume, but at least it was defending himself a -little- bit. Granted, even when he was a feline he was best at attacking when things didn't see him first... But still, he wasn't -totally- helpless.

He relaxed visibly, ears flicking a little so that they weren't any longer pressed as tight to his head. A goat he could deal with. He didn't taste -anything- like a goat... At least he hoped not, judging by the few goats that he'd eaten before, "O-oh... That's good then!" He glanced nervously at the bandit, "So you aren't going to eat him?"

The movement drew his attention back up to the gryphon and he took a small step back, just in case. If the gryphon had moved fast he'd probably have been well back into the trees by now; or else up one of them. As it was... well he -was- just standing on three legs, so could he be -that- dangerous.

Normally the apology would have caught him by surprise, but as it was before the surprise could do more than make him blink, his attention was caught by something else. "You can change shape?!" Their tail twitched as that made Iria a little excited and Shir a little bit confused. Shir couldn't help wondering if that was because the gryphon was like them... Or could people just change shape naturally? And he said -human-, so did he mean he was -actually- human like Iria or that he was just going into a human shape? They didn't know anyone else like them, not exactly at least, but they never really met many other shape changers, and never had the talk to one much.

A bit belatedly, Shir took over, answering for them, "W-- I'm not really around humans enough to care too much. Clothes just keep things from scratching, but you'd get up there faster than u-- me, so you'll be dressed by the time I get there anyway..."

It took most of through Shir speaking for Iria to actually get his mind to get in sync with Shir's again, though that was probably a good thing since the Jaguar tended to be a little bit braver than Iria was.

[Rhindeer]

Cadmus tossed his head and snorted a laugh. "Eat him? No!" he said, half amused and half shocked. Poor kid. He felt a little bad for spooking him so much, but hopefully he'd relax once he was in human form and, thus, on equal ground. "I'll leave him be and let hisss buddy come back forrr him--if hisss buddy isss even that loyal. If not, he'll be fine once he wakesss...ah, that isss to sssay he'll live. Might've brrroken an arrrm orrr a rrrib, though."

But his answer was a little distracted, because he thought he'd heard the boy mutter something about 'forms' or something. His eyes narrowed slightly, not in aggression but in an analyzing sort of way as he studied the boy before he shrugged it off. He'd ask the boy later. He'd probably misheard, especially since the boy seemed so amazed that he could change shape.

He nodded at that, charmed by the kid's enthusiasm--which was much better than his fear; that just made him feel bad--and then laughed again. He didn't notice the boy's slip-ups; he just interpreted them as more nervous stuttering. "Agrrreed. But I'll need to drrresss eitherrr way; it'll be cold once I change. Clothesss arrre alssso good forrr that."

Winking with his good eye, he turned, limped a safe distance away from the kid, and snapped his wings open.

"I'll meet you at the top," Cadmus said, and with that he awkwardly launched himself into the air with a leap and a few powerful flaps of his wings, dust rising off the ground in a cloud from the wind they created. It didn't take long for him to reach his ledge, and he landed gingerly on his back legs before touching his good front foot to the ground.

After that, it was a simple matter to change back into his human form, the only other form he could take on, and before long there was a young, dark-skinned, black-haired human crouching where a gryphon had once been, shivering at the sudden lack of fur and feathers. It was a good thing it would take a while for the kid to make his way up here, because Cadmus needed the time not only to dress, but to adjust and reorient himself with his new body. The first few minutes after switching forms always left him feeling dazed and a little sick, his legs shaky as a newborn calf's, and he had to close his eyes and take a few deep breaths as he waited for the sensation to pass.

Finally, when he felt less jittery, he rose wobbling to his feet, dusted himself off, and staggered to his clothes pile. It was difficult getting his shirt on, because his right forearm hurt like hell where he'd been stabbed and the wound always looked worse without fur obscuring it. Eventually he managed to pull it over his head, and then came his breeches, which he nearly fell over while pulling them, and then he plopped down onto his bottom to tug on his boots and run his hands through his hair, getting it out of his eyes as best as he could.

That done, all that was left to do was sit there and wait, golden eyes fixed on the trail. In human form, it was more obvious that one of his eyes was bad; it was hard to see the scar while he was a gryphon, but as a human the jagged scar crossing over his right eye and down to his cheek stood out pink and new against his dark skin, and more old, faded scars crisscrossed his arms.

Chances were he'd be getting a brand new one after today, too, he thought as, without even thinking, he lifted his arm and licked absently at the wound.

[Anonymous]

"O-oh!" Iria glanced nervously at the man again, "They didn't –seem- to be very nice though... I-I won't really feel sorry for him if he doesn't." If it had been a normal predator that had attacked him? Then Iria would be feeling bad. But human ones were different; they didn't go after people for food, they went after them for other things, things that they didn't need to go after people for. Or at least things that they shouldn't. Shir couldn't understand it at all, and Iria only got it a little; the pair hadn't been around humans enough to really figure out how they thought, nor to learn how to think in the same way.

Considering most humans, that was probably a good thing.

He, barely, thought that he caught the gryphon's eyes narrowing. But the larger predator didn't seem to be threatening still, and Iria didn't know enough about his shape to really be sure. Plus, his colors hadn't changed dramatically, just the normal shifting colors that went with things thinking. At this point they didn't know –what- the colors meant, but they were different colors than had been on the gryphon at first, and unless the gryphon was mad or something now and hiding it, Iria figured that he'd probably be able to spot that sort of change.

"They're good for keeping off thorns too." He added, shifting a little awkwardly and flicking his tail. That was really the only reason he wore them, other than temperature. Too many things were good at scratching human skin.

The wink caught him by surprise, leaving him confused for a moment, then he jumped as the gryphon's wings flared, stuttering out, "A-alright" as the other took off. For a moment he just watched, wide eyed, then he shook himself back to awake and glanced up the cliff towards where the gryphon was heading.

It –was- a bit tempting to just fade into the woods and go hide out back where his pack was. He could change into jaguar; the other didn't nessasarily know that Iria could do that yet... But there was still at least one bandit around, and he didn't know if the gryphon couldn't just track him there, either by smell or the signs he never could manage to not leave in the woods in this form. Plus... He seemed kinda nice, and Iria hadn't been around nice people for awhile now.

Before he could definitively make a decision, he heard a half moaning sound from behind him and realized with a start that the bandit was waking up. –That- got him moving, and moving up towards the gryphon instead of back through the woods.

Scrambling up over the rocks was a lot harder than going down them had been, but the boy was a good climber, and he was well used to getting scrapes on his hands and feet like those the rough surface of the rocks were leaving. Once he found the goat trail it suddenly became considerably easier, though it still would have been much faster as a feline.

Once he got close enough up the trail to see Cadmus he paused, blinking at him. He wasn't quite sure –what- he had expected... But he hadn't managed to predict what the man actually looked like. The colors were the same, obviously, but... Well... He just didn't look like what Iria had been expecting. Somehow he thought he'd been expecting someone more... scary looking.

He moved closer, eyes fixed nervously on the man, though what the man was doing instantly drew his eyes to the wound, "T-that still looks really bad!" Iria managed to get out, eyes flicking over what he thought were other scars under the shifting colors, before looking back at the fresh wound. Maybe the man just got himself hurt a lot... So maybe it wasn't as bad to him?

[Rhindeer]

Cadmus considered checking up on the kid to make sure he was faring all right, because he path did look steep--it was a trail used by sure-footed mountain goats--and he hadn't climbed it himself. Maybe it was too steep? But then he reconsidered. Nah. If the kid needed help, chances were he'd call out for it, and he kind of felt like it was better to wait for the kid to come to him rather than the other way around. You know, let the boy decide if he was comfortable enough to follow rather than pressure him into it. Cadmus didn't want to scare him anymore than he already was, and he wouldn't be offended if the kid opted to split.

He was a bit of a loner himself. He understood.

So he just continued to lick his wound, cleaning it out just like he would have if he were a gryphon. It wasn't bleeding much anymore, but--

A movement out of the corner of his left eye caught his attention and he turned his head, then smiled when he saw that the kid had decided to come. He still looked nervous, though, so Cadmus held still and waited as he moved cautiously closer, inwardly amused. He kind of wanted to laugh, because the boy's behavior was strangely cute, but he bit the inside of his cheek to keep it in. Didn't wanna burst out laughing and scare the poor thing out of his skin; the way he acted, it was like any sudden movement or sound would startle him.

But then the kid spoke, and Cadmus laughed. "Honestly, don't worry about it!" he said, the strange accent still there, but more subtle now that he didn't have a beak. "It really does look nastier than it is..." He glanced down at it and made a face, then shrugged, reached down to his boot to take out a small dagger, and cut out a strip of cloth along the hem of his tunic. He wasted no time wrapping it around his forearm, and then smiled at the kid. That right there was about the extent of his healing and medicinal knowledge.

"Would you mind tying this off for me? It'll be good as new, then," he said, perfectly capable of tying it himself but deciding he might as well make the kid feel useful, in the hopes that maybe he'd stop worrying after. "But before you do, I'm pretty sure we haven't been properly introduced...I'm Cadmus. What's your name? And please, don't be so nervous! Relax, sit down, take a breather. You don't have anything to be afraid of anymore. You're safe...and I really don't bite, I swear."

[Anonymous]

The laughter startled him, making him jump a little with his ears lying flat on his head. He'd never met someone who actually sounded amused at the fact that they were hurt. Behind Iria's startled mind, Shir half noted the colors that were over the man... Which probably were his amused colors. Or at least Iria figured that would be why those colors would come with laughter...

"S-seems like anything that looked that bad would be... um... bad." Iria answered, shifting on his feet a little with his tail flicking behind him. His eyes kept fixed on the man's hands as he moved, especially since he was holding a knife (however small). Sure, if the other had wanted to hurt him he probably would have done so as a gryphon... But as a general rule he liked to be safe, and just because he thought the man was safe didn't mean that could change.

The words took him a little by surprised and he glanced back up to the man's face. Iria blinked at him for a moment before hesitantly moving closer, tail flicking madly as he just said, "Alright...". It would put him in easy reach of the man, which did have him a little hesitant but...

Before he could really rationalize it out, he was pausing, ears flicking as he listened to the man speak again. Safe? Well... Maybe for now, but it wasn't like he'd want to be dealing with Iria for very long. People either didn't want him following or tried to force him to go into some human place, even if they did seem nice at first. Over the years he'd learned that sometimes nice could be something to be wary of too. He supposed he could maybe trust on the gryphon not biting... but that was all he was giving it at this point.

"My name's Iria," He said, only hesitating a moment on his name and deciding to not get into all of the confusion with Shir and him. With normal humans they always used Iria as their name, but did Cadmus count as that? The boy took a few steps closer, head tilting a little as he watched Cadmus, "A-and... It tends to be better to be careful with most people." He hesitated, taking another step closer, not sure if he should say anything more since by now he was almost within reach.

After a few moments of going back and forth with Shir, he added, half under his breath but loud enough to be heard, "And people who say they're safe not always are... It's hard to tell s-sometimes."