Gryphon's Keep

Canzone di comodità.

Nocturnal Lullaby

Bonjour and salutations, everyone. Qwerty (My computer) was down for awhile, but she's up and kicking again. *Hugs Qwerty.* This story is an intriguing new sort of venture for me, so I hope you all enjoy the ride!

We're shifting around...and a few rather unsavory creatures are lurking about...not much happens in this chapter. The story REALLY moves along in the next one...

Please, take care, everyone.

Quote:

Sleep that knits up the ravelled sleave of care
The death of each day's life, sore labour's bath
Balm of hurt minds, great nature's second course,
Chief nourisher in life's feast.
~William Shakespeare, Macbeth

There wasn't much else to do other then to watch the boy continue to sleep. His face had broken into a cold sweat awhile ago, which had concerned Malachite, as she was not at all sure if licking a wound was the correct thing to do for a half liveling-deadling child. She had seen plenty of other mothers tend to their young's wounds whenever the hatchlings happened to meander about and place their beaks into trouble.

The creature shuddered in the darkness, feeling a sharp series of pangs accost her own heart. Malachite buried her head beneath her wing for a moment, resisting the urge to cry out. As noble and as glorious she believed herself to be, her frame was shaking violently, regardless of her attempts to cease her endless trembling. At last, she bit into her own silk-like plumage, wincing at the vehement discomfort she felt as her skin beneath the thick layers of fur and feathers burn.

But focusing on the pain helped. Just as focusing on the now slightly receding pain of the wounds that Skulker had left her helped distract from the screams of misery she felt wailing inside of her heart.

She would never be like her friend-and-brood-mate, in terms of watching her eggs sprout forth new life, a life she and Kunzite had created, and mother her children into becoming wise, dignified, beautiful creatures in their hollowed race. She had been so excited-so terribly excited-when she had laid her last egg, and had simply watched them for awhile, Kunzite at her side. He had been so eager, so happy, so proud. She had buried her head in his neck, and purred softly at the thought of the chick-lings hatching into the world, croaking lightly, wet, sticky, dazed, warm, and confused. Oh, how it would feel, to watch and encourage the little ones' progress from outside of the egg as they fought to free themselves of their confines, to hiss in encouragement when their beaks, already as sharp as broken glass, tore their way through the steel-like egg shell that belonged to a gryphon?

What would it have been like, while Kunzite had screeched his proud cry about the castle grounds, letting all know of the wondrous miracle that had just taken place...to have gently guided stumbling chicks to her side, and licked them of the sticky residue that the egg's membrane had left behind?

It had to be marvelous. The best moments of a life to live, to greet others into the world. But Malachite could never know such a blessing, now. Her chicks...never hatched. Skulker had destroyed their brood while they still slept in their eggs, and Kunzite while he was at it! She would never be a mother, not with the creature she loved!

Her species mated for life. There could be no other then Kunzite. Malachite's emerald eyes burned in the darkness.

Even if she could find another, there was...

...no one left. No second chance. She could not adopt a broodling whose mother and father passed away. That had happened before, in the valley. After undergoing a quiet ritual, mother and or father pulled the little one into their circle of plasm.

Malachite was not foolish. Family went so far beyond feathers, talons, and wing colour and size. She lay her head on her side, unconsciously curling into a small ball as the misery churned away at her insides.

...but what could she have, now? There were no other gryphons to be found. She was alone. Alone in the world, with even her entire race decimated behind her! There was nothing and nobody to go back to! Everything she had had been DESTROYED!

It was gone. Gone! GONE! Malachite let out a strangled, soft groaning sound, from deep behind her throat as her eyes continued to soundly burn.

There would be no family, no time to speak of friends. Skulker had stolen that away from her, but the halfling child had captured him in the strange device that lay just inches away...

She had sniffed at it, tapped at it. But whatever odd works that the boy had employed in the little green and platinum box were keeping the hunter bound. Would it do so forever?

Malachite desperately hoped so. There could be no greater punishment then to remain forever locked, with no wings to spread to the sky, in stillness, in silence, with no way to speak, move, or talk. In absolute isolation.

Forever. It was Skulker deserved. She would find a way to speak to the halfling boy, some way or another-and ask him if he could keep Skulker eternally locked in such purgatory.

It was a fate Malachite knew she deserved, but she was far too terrified to embrace it, much to her shame. Was she little better then a coward?

Of course she was. She failed to warn the other gryphons of Skulker's intentions. She had failed her unborn children, who had gone before her to the Ever after. And she had failed her Heart-keep, Kunzite. She deserved death. She deserved blood.

The creature omitted a deep, resounding sigh, loneliness biting at her like a pack of little dogs. Skulker should have killed her as well, but the halfling boy had...either destroyed or captured him. She did not know which.

Speaking of which...

Malachite raised her head, and swiveled her gaze to Danny's trembling form, his arm and leg still looking rather peculiar. Malachite only hoped that she had fixed the splint in a correct position, so that the bones would heal in all the right places. If they did not...the ghost bird did not relish the idea of having to break the teen's bones once more.

The room was dark. No light flooded into the timeworn stain glass window, and the only illumination seemed to be the boy's own pale visage. Did he glow while he was in his human form, too? That seemed unlikely to the bird, but...

She forced herself forwards, doing her best to ignore the chains dangling from her manacles rattling on the ancient stone beneath her as she heaved her aching form forwards.

Her beak dipped to his raven hair, and, out of curiosity, she began to nibble it again. Danny did not move, which pleased her, but she was not at all certain how he would react upon awakening. While Malachite was no longer celestial, but pathetic, she was still a powerful beast, and she didn't want the boy to become frightened and hurt himself.

But if he was well enough to consider attempting to slay her, Malachite wouldn't stop him. She ceased nipping at the raven spikes of hair, and bent to observe him more closely as he continued his troubled sleep in the aracheic folds of the canopy-four-poster bed.

He looked so small. Where could she find his mother and father? Surely they must be missing him. Were one of Malachite's children to be kidnapped, she and Kunzite would steadily seek someone's untimely and painful demise. Would she come looking for the boy?

Malachite thought for a moment, Danny's soft breathing the only sound opposite Malachite's own ragged one. Her eyelids snicked as she looked at him, pondering his outlandish, though not necessarily bad, scent.

If she were as determined as the boy, she would. She must be very proud of such a spirited boy.

A flare of jealously rippled in Malachite's insides, and she shook it off in surprise. Gryphons were far too noble to be jealous of any living should she envy the strange hybrid-boy? Regardless of his being half ghost, he was still half human. Filthy, common, stinking, murderous human. She should not keep her debt with the boy. After all, hadn't she wanted to die at Skulker's hands so that she could join her family in the Ever After and be at peace? She HAD wanted her revenge...but what good was it when a mere slip of a boy had stolen it from her? It could not be hers.

Her green eyes widened, dilated, and then began to turn a bloody red.

The boy should die. Yes. He was a scrawny weakling. Why should she tend for him? Humans had never kept their oaths with Gryphons. Plenty of peace settlements had been made between the two, but the humans always, ALWAYS broke them by slaughtering their young, breaking their eggs, and burning their homes! THEY WERE THE ONES RESPONSIBLE FOR ALL THE DEATH!

Malachite's breathing grew steadily more labored, and the bird raised her bleeding talon, her eyes still dilated, heart beginning to thud beneath her breast like a wild chorus of drums.

Y-Yes. The ghost boy...he...he should go. Humans were...evil. Weren't they? She turned her burning gaze to the boy, suddenly enraged, suddenly wanting to taste rust.

He had captured Skulker! But that had made him just LIKE the ghost-a hunter!

She raised her talons, readying herself to shake the boy so that he turned an even prettier shade of white as he gasped for breath, ould snap him in two, could...could...!

She would tear at him. She would raze the boy where he slept. She was ready. She could kill him. Malachite snarled, and readied herself for the lunge, for Danny's cry as she broke his little figure, so small, so small, so small-!

Malachite let out a screech as she plunged her claws directly towards Danny's face, heart still singing a savage song in her chest.

She felt the need to kill.

Just before they could reach their mark, and scar the boy for life...or for his eternal sleep, Malachite stopped abruptly, the taste of plasm still in her mouth. She stared at the sickly-looking boy, who was still shivering, who still felt hot to the touch.

Hot to the...

For a moment, Malachite's claws trembled, hovering over the boy's form, between life and death.

This was her chance for release. Once the boy was killed, she needn't stay in this heartless and evil world anymore! There would be no debt of honor-she could be done with it all! She didn't want to be alone anymor-

-he was hot. Was he sick? Had the water from the stream proved to be...? Humans were prone to festering infection. What if the boy were sick?

Completely distracted from thoughts of imminent blood and Armageddon, she stared at him, chest still hovering with adrenaline as she quietly considered the water from the grove. It was certainly clean, as the gryphons would have it no other way, on the point of being all but immaculate, but why would the boy not wake? Had his breaks been serious?

Malachite started, and violently shook her head. No! Why was she concerning herself over such matters! She could hurt the boy and be done with it! Be done with it! Be..

...done with...

Malachite's claws began to shake more heavily then ever before. And wild energy began to dilute under fatigue and...something else.

The hybrid-boy was only trying to protect the squabbling, dabbling humans, strange a prospect it was. Who knew...perhaps his Father was a ghost, and his mother a human? Or reverse? Malachite had not believed it possible, but what if a human and ghost had fallen in love, and had conceived the 'halfa' that was still lying quietly here, still looking ill, still so small and helpless and insignificant and odd and significant and...and...

He had trapped Skulker. If there had been no other option, would she not have done the same to protect her young? Or Kunzite?

She turned her softened gaze to the boy, feeling shame heavily multiply in her chest cavity.

The boy didn't know of her blood feud. Most likely, anyhow. He'd probably only been trying to protect his father's family. Or his mother's. Or...both, if possible...

A trembling palm made its way to the bird's enormous, scaly gray ankle. Malachite jumped ever so slightly, and sent him a reproachful glance in his wake.

Danny lowered his now green and red hand.

"S-Sorry…." He muttered, hand falling back to snow once again. He shot the bird a sympathetic glance, regardless.

"Ouch….that had….to hurt."

Oh, fie! Malachite's foot fell to the ground as she hastily took a few steps away, the horrified bird trembling with...the filth...of it all.

She had been about to destroy the boy. When he had done nothing wrong. He had avenged her kin's death, and she had been about to repay him by...!

Malachite let out a mournful keen as she stepped forwards, the boy's face still impassive. She hadn't meant it. The boy knew that, right?

But Danny slept on, face devoid of any knowledge of the violence that had just about taken place; the violence that would have ended his life. Even if the boy did not know of it, the point was that she had still contemplated the child's demise! But...but...she'd...

...she'd been lonely. There was a raging carcass of emotion in the brokenhearted specter's body, and all she'd wanted; yearned and craved for, was a moment of peace.

Her shoulders sagged with a tremendous weight.

Kunzite and her youth would never forgive her, now. She would only go to oblivion at Eternity's doors, and Malachite accepted that. But before she could appease the anguish in her own heart by ending it all, she needed to return the child to where he belonged. It was the least she could do, seeing as how he'd been hurt fighting the enemy that she had lead to him, purposely or not.

Malachite's tongue darted out, and it swiveled to touch Danny's face. He frowned lightly, as if he were being licked at by a dog, and turned ever so slightly, murmuring. Malachite withdrew slightly, her eyes returning back to normal, though now, a hefty sadness was painting the orbs.

Well, at the very least, she had gotten a reaction from him. Perhaps later on, she could go out and retrieve a buck or a cow in the woods, break it, and bring it back for the boy to eat, if he should consume meat.

...that brought up an odd question: What DID a half human, half ghost hybrid, eat, anyway? It had been such a long time since she had associated with humans, but they could go either way, from what she remembered of the Time Before. But what about now? Did she steal from humans to get food?

...that didn't seem right. And besides, only wild Gryphons were so pathetic enough to steal human baubles or trinkets, attracted by shiny or glimmery exteriors or humans' livestock. Her nose sniffed in disdain. Bah! What an idea!

Her eyes swiveled over to Danny once again, sober expression instantly overtaking her puzzled one. When the boy woke, she could find a way of asking. Somehow. If she could be greeted with anything other then a scream, well...

Her heart sank, if possible, even deeper, and she sighed as she clamored up to Danny's side, still glancing down at him anxiously.

After a day or two, she could fly him back home, if he could not get out of the dense ravine of thorns that hid the Gryphon's homeland and castle ruins. He could see a doctor-one that could treat him-on how to tend to his own injuries. Malachite was afraid of simply hurting him by this point, of regardless of what she did to ease the boy's suffering.

She dipped her head as she watched Danny wriggle slightly, endangering his limbs once again. Hesitating, Malachite pressed her beak against the boy's side until he ceased moving.

She shouldn't touch him. He would become as dirty as she was. As dirty and as worthless and as pathetic as she was. He didn't deserve that, but he also didn't deserve to mistakenly dislocate or cause irreversible damage to his arm and leg. Malachite had seen instances where such cases had occurred, and human medicine being so pitiable as it was then, resorted to having the limbs hacked off. The bird winced at the thought of the pale child's thoughtless deformation.

After all these years, humans had to improved medicine. They were always tinkering about with this sort of thing. But the last thing she wanted was to take a chance. She'd had enough of that. If she only had one duty left in life, couldn't she oblige for her mockery of honor's sake?

Laying her head on the fringe of the bed with a small sigh, eyes still fixated on Danny, should he start to move again. Small thing as it was, looking after him still beat doing absolutely nothing at all.

Her eyelids grew heavy after awhile, though the last thing she wished to do was sleep after a day like today. But her exhausted body was steering her towards unconsciousness so quickly that she had little option but to grudgingly oblige as she listened to Danny's soft exhalation and inhalation, over and over and over again...

Her eyes flickered wearily.

It was comforting to watch the boy breathe in and out, and be assured that at least one thing she'd done already displayed some fruits of her labor. That gash on the boy's forehead had long since faded to a lighter cut, which had already ceased bleeding. That was good. It was something.

It was not the same as going home to her family after defeating a threat, but, as Malachite could no longer have such a thing, she'd take what she could get as it was. Feeling a strange, tingling emotion fluttering lightly in her subconscious as she watched this strange child safely sleep was one.

Perhaps, Malachite thought before her body beckoned her to sleep. If that was as good as one could have it now, she'd take it anyway.