This is Griffs Story. It takes place before Stardust's Story. This was written as 2 connecting scenes for my Intermediate Creative Writing course at UW. I really like it.
I now present to you "Griff" written/last updated on February 6, 2001.
Griff
The great gryphon surveyed the town from just under the cloud line. The town was smaller than the one his parents had lived in. There were many people in the fields tending to the corn, peas, and the sweet grass they used to make mats, rope, and woven furniture. There were four large buildings; probably the main store house, town center, dining hall, and a large barn for the livestock during the winter. On one of the many large hills the livestock were grazing. If they weren't domestic sheep, Griff would have sunk his fore-talons into one of their hides and carried it off for lunch. Unfortunately for him, they were and that left him hungry. He circled the town a few more times, trying to see if there were any gryphons living here. He couldn't find any. On his last round he banked to the left toward the woods. Once far enough away from the town he pulled in his wings, unfanned his tail feathers, and leaned into a dive. The wind rushed past his face, pressing his feathered ear tufts flat against his head, as he sped toward the earth and the tall pine trees. Throwing out his wings to their full 20 foot span he caught an updraft and soared along the tops of the trees.
"Dinnerrr," he purred as he spotted a wild deer through an opening in the forest canopy. He followed it to a meadow where other deer were grazing. Griff circled the meadow looking for the old, sick, or injured deer; their absence wouldn't hinder the herd. Singling out an old doe who stood alone at the far end of the meadow, Griff set up his dive. He circle once more around the meadow then came in for the kill. His fore-talons hit first, crushing the doe's neck and sending her to the ground. Griff's hind claws pulled up clumps of grass and dirt as he skidded to a halt next to his kill. He folded up his wings and started to meticulously devour his lunch.
An hour later, Griff awakened in a deer's nest he had found in the forest. He raised his hindquarters first and stretched out his forelegs like a cat. Reversing the motion, he stretched his hind legs out behind him, yawning widely. Finished, he stood up, shook off some leaves that had stuck to his coat, and silently loped down a wide deer path. He used a combination of his long lion tail and his shorter feathered tail to keep his balance as he jumped over a few large trees that had fallen over the path. As he neared the meadow the path widened even further, allowing him to break into a fast run. The trees rushed by in a blurry haze; then blue. He took one more lope and pressed against the ground propelling his body upward. Just then something in the meadow caught his eye. He stretched out his wings, swung his hindquarters around and landed again taking much of the shock in his hind legs.
Across the grassy field stood a strange two legged creature. The sparkly coat caught Griff's attention. Perking up his ear tufts and tilting his head to the side a bit he stared at the strange being. It seemed to be doing the same. Carefully he took a step forward, then another. Sparkly Coat mimicked him. As it neared him, Griff could make out that the Sparkly Coat was actually a miniature human, a child. Gaining more confidence in himself, he straightened up and took longer steps stretching his legs to their fullest. His sire had said this always impressed humans. The miniature human stalled a little when Griff did this but then it started to mimic the way he was walking, swinging its hands like he was his talons. Griff stopped about 5 yards away from Sparkly Coat and sat down, no longer afraid of the creature that was only half his five foot height. The little human stopped and turned its head to the side then back straight.
"Pretty bird!" it squealed. Female, Griff thought, it must be female.
"Prrretty birrrd?" Griff inquired. The girl giggled and pointed to him. "Me?" he asked her in astonishment. She nodded. Griff tilted his head a little and stared at the girl. "Me not birrrd. Me Grrryphon!" With that he sat up straight and puffed out his chest.
The young human got frightened and started to run away. "Come back!" Griff called after her. She didn't stop so Griff moved swiftly in front of her blocking her path. He quickly lay down and rolled onto his back. "Grrriff good Grrryphon," he said. The girl stopped, tears running down her face. She whimpered a few times then wiped her face with dirty hands leaving mud streaks behind. Griff wiggled a bit playfully and the girl smiled.
Soon Griff and the girl were playing games of hide-and-seek and tickle-the-gryphon. Griff was enjoying himself when he heard a distant voice call out. The young girl stopped tickling him and stood up. Looking back at Griff she said, "Momma," and started for the woods. Griff stared after the girl, his first human friend, and longed to go with her.
"Me come?" he called after the girl. She stopped, turned around, and waved a hand telling him to come. He loped over to her and kneeled down. "Want a ride?" he asked. Her face lit up at the thought and she quickly climbed onto his back, placing her legs in front of his wings and grabbing onto his neck. He stood up and slowly walked into the woods. Within moments they were running through the trees towards the little girl's home.
Copyright 2001, K.C. Ramey. Don't take this without my permission. you can read it but don't steal it as your own. If you want to use it as an example please e-mail me with what you want to use it for. sardogmom@yahoo.com