Shamgar just laid there. He didn't want to move, he was too upset, too in awe and shack of what had taken place the previous day. The charred ruins he lay in was once his home, his house. His fur and feathers were getting covered in soot; not like he cared, though. The townspeople looked at him suspicion, and even blamed the events of the previous day on him and his 'crazy ideas'.
He wasn't bothered by them, though. He'd just lost his only family, his mother, to a raging inferno, and he could only stand and watch. He didn't even rush in. He was a coward, and he knew it. His tears came not in mourning for his mother; she was in paradise, happy and free of troubles. His tears came from his lack of action, his failure to protect his only family, his own inability to face possible death to save a loved one. He just sat there, in his burned, charred house, his wings hiding his face in shame, crying his tormented heart out....
A gangly girl, tall and stringy for her age moved quietly through the town's darkened alleyways. Amleah had learned at a very young age that she and her family were deemed quite strange and that it was better for all involved if she stayed as much out of sight as she could. Normally she would not even be out during the daytime except her twin brother Ro'or had insisted she go and get him some more herbs. Mother had been faring worse and she could see the toll it took on her other half. She had left without question.
A basket clutched close to her chest and her head hooded bowed low, she made her way through the winding streets as the smell of smoke became more and more a prominent scent. She wondered at what could have caused it and for a moment considered whether she had lost herself in the maze of alleyways and ended up near the blacksmith's place again.
Amleah peaked out of the alley onto the main street only to see she was indeed lost but not near the blacksmith's forge. Seeing no one around, she sneaked out further into the street, feeling tense unsure of herself until she found the cause of the smell. Ahead of her were the smoldering remains of someone's home.
Taking care to avoid the gazes of the milling townspeople, the curious woman inched her way closer and closer to the ruins only to be surprised with the sight of something white and fluffy-looking inside them. Forgetting herself she cried out softly, moving quickly towards the charred remains, fearful that some animal was injured and in need of help.
In the midst of his misery, Shamgar didn't even notice the woman was approaching. His mind wasn't on the townspeople, nor was it even on the charred ruin he once called home. He just wanted to end it.
Sitting up, the young gryphon's face held the look of agony and grief. There were streaks on his soot covered face where the tears had washed them clean. His goggles sat crooked and bent on his forehead. Their presence was a reminder of what the townspeople had blamed him for; his 'crazy ideas', they said, started this. In the rash act of a distraught child, he took the goggles, and threw them against the wall, shattering them. He didn't even care that there was someone watching.
Amleah flinched at the quick movement and the following sound of broken glass. She hurried her movements to climb through the rubble, no longer taking as much care as she approached the being. "Are you alright?" she called nervously, hoping not the frighten it. "Are you hurt? I can help. Just hold on." She struggled with hopping over a particularly charred beam of wood, while continuing to speak reassuringly towards the other being.
Shamgar looked over to where the voice was coming from. He wasn't physically hurt, rather, he was emotionally scarred. In his mind, there was no hope. There was no laughter anymore, only tears; there were no jokes anymore, just insults and lies. The poor gryphon was lost in an ocean of strife and loss. He had no one to turn to.
"Why? Why did this happen?" He muttered...
"What?" Amleah called back, finally making over to the creature's side. She was a it surprised by what she saw though. The girl had not realized that the feathers she was seeing were not part of a costume but actually part of his being.
Startled she just stared down, mouth open in surprise. "Uh, uh. Um," Amleah shook her head to try and clear her shock away. "I didn't catch what you said. Are you alright um sir?" she asked hesitantly, concerned about how to address the creature. She was not even sure it was male.
Shamgar just looked up, finally seeing who had spoke to him. His first thoughts were mistrustful and suspicious, but those were soon dispelled; had this person been here to taunt him, tease him, make him feel unworthy of life, she would have done so already. When she asked if he was alright, he simply shook his head in reply to her question. He had no idea how to reply to her any other way; words could not express how he felt.
The look she saw in the creature's eyes was enough to break her heart. Amleah knew that look as she had seen it before. It was the look of sorrow and despair. Something had happened to this poor creature and judging by the rubble she was standing it, Amleah had a pretty good idea what.
She crouched down, tucking her skirts in around her so as to not get caught on anything and placed a gentle hand on the creature's back in a hopefully comforting manner. "Do you want to talk to someone? I know you don't know me but, I'm told I'm a great listener," the young woman said softly, offering a small smile.
"I-I don't know where to start....." He trailed, searching in his heart for the words to describe the raw emotion that racked his being. His green eyes welled with tears that seemed to speak the words he was trying to speak himself: his mother was dead, and he was blamed. In a gesture that surprised himself as much as it probably surprised her, the young gryphon reached up and hugged the lady beside him. He just needed a loving, gentle embrace. Words failed where action spoke louder.
Amleah was shocked by the embrace but only shifted to hold him better, pulling him securely against her chest. Her hands moved up and down his back in a gesture of comfort as she murmured gentle, soothing words into his ears.
"It's alright. It's alright. You're going to be okay. Everything's going to be okay, I've got you. You don't need to say anything if you don't want to and if you do you have all the time in the world. It's going to be okay, I promise," she whispered softly.
His heart was warmed by the soothing words. Shamgar couldn't think if what he wanted to say, or even if he wanted to say anything at all. He finally had some semblance of peace, at least for now. The tragedy would haunt him for life, but for the moment, he had peace.
"Thank you...." He barely whispered...
"No thanks necessary," Amleah murmured back clutching him closer to her chest and resting her head against his shoulder. "Just take deep, soothing breathes. In....and out....just like me. It'll help I promise."
The young woman rocked them both back and forth gently, doing her best to try and be comforting and supportive of the stranger currently cocooned within her embrace. 'What happened to you to make you so sad, friend?'
In and out... In and out... The words flowed through his mind just as the breath flowed into and out of his lungs. It really was a soothing exercise, simply breathing. Combined with the rocking back and forth, Shamgar could feel all the tension in his life just leave his body; with a few final tears, he nuzzled a little closer and let himself slowly drift into a deep sleep, cocooned in the warm, friendly embrace of a stranger.
((If you'd like me to edit this to keep the thread going, please let me know!))
She felt his tears and felt her own heart break in return. "Poor friend," she whispered softly as she gently brush a hand down his back, tickled by the sensation of his feathers beneath the palm of her hand. Amleah was oblivious to the few passerbys that saw the pair before hurrying on their way with muttered whispers. All that mattered to her right at that moment was helping out someone in need who seemed to need more than anything right then was some unadulterated love and comfort.
"It'll be alright. I promise."
((OoC: Pardon the strong language))
It was really a foolish sight to some of the passerbys; some lady was helping the local fire hazard get over himself. Most just gave curious glances, only stopping for a moment to stare before moving on with their day. One, however, got agitated with the sight; that damned gryphon got his own mother killed and deserved to suffer for it!
Grabbing a large stone from the road, the man took a step back and aimed right for the gryphon's head.
"Hey, fuck-bird, why don't you take this rock and shove it up your ass?!" He shouted, pitching the rock as hard as he could towards the miserable gryphon. Only, he didn't quite hit his intended target.
Amleah gasped at the foul language she was hearing moments before the cast stone crashed into her forehead before bouncing off the gryphon's shoulder. A harsh cry escaped her as she fell into the creature she had been trying to help and her hands came up to clutch her forehead.
"Leave us alone! What did he ever do to you? Can't you see he's in pain?"
Shamgar looked up from his sad sleep, hearing the cry and feeling the rock slide down his back. When she fell into him, clutching her head, the gryphon's began swelling with tears. Leave us alone... Leave me alone.... the words dripped through his mind like the tears streaming from his eyes. The poor creature only pulled himself closer to the woman, sobbing just a little more.
She could feel warm sticky blood burn her eyes as it dripped down her face and onto the poor creature she was trying to comfort and to protect. A harsh look or perhaps her bloodied face soon sent the cruel man away, cursing them both up and down, her for association and her companion for simply existing.
Amleah rocked the poor thing against her, rubbing its feathered back as she cooed softly. "Did he hurt you? Are you alright?" she asked worriedly, trying to pull him back slightly so she could check for herself. "I won't hurt you. You don't need to be afraid of me, friend."
Shamgar pulled himself closer into the lady's embrace as she rocked him back and forth. The gryphon wasn't hurt at all by the man's words, but as soon as he felt the warm blood dripping from his friend, he looked up just for a moment at her face with his teary eyes and saw her bleeding forehead.
"Y-you're hurt..." he sniveled, before sitting up slightly. Slowly, he began licking the his companion's face, to at least clean away the dripping blood.
"I'm alright!" Amleah hurried to reassure him even as he took to trying to clean her face. "No need to worry," she continued with a smile. "Are you alright though? He didn't hit you too did he?" Not really waiting for an answer, she busied herself with checking his face for any wounds. "My name is Amleah by the way. I don't think I caught yours yet my friend."
"N-no, he didn't h-hit me... I'm f-fine..." the gryphon replied, wondering why Amleah was so worried about his face; it was his heart that hurt the most. Given the current situation, however, he didn't interrupt the lady as she scoured his face for injury. "My name is Shamgar..."
((OoC: My apologies, but school and life in general have drained a lot of my creativity lately :( ))
Amleah continued to rub the back of the creature within her back while murmuring softly to him. "There, there, everything's alright. You're alright and you're going to be alright too. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance Shamgar." She smiled down at him with the openness of a young woman who wears her heart on her sleeve.