My oh My, Where has the Sanity Gone?

[shikaku]

The silence of the forest remained undisturbed, even as the great looming shadow passed over it. The snow white wings, theit uppers dappled with grey and black, their lowers pure white like the fur of her pelt. A black hooked beak shifted at the peak of the creatures muzzle, a slow and almost cynical movement. Great paws hung limply from the graceful figure, only shifting when they swung to the side as means of navigating her turns. Steadily the shadow over the canopy shrunk and the great beast closed the gap, drawn forward by a love for the forest that could not be detered, yet held in the air and kept from perching in the upper branches of the trees by a secretive fear and a sense of overwhelming danger.

The forest was dark and eerie, in a way it made her feeler safer and more secure, but she didn't blend in with the dark, being almost pure white and reflecting every bit of light, like a blinding, peice of glass being through over a shadow yet still glistening and sparkling. Too obvious against the dark. She had to be careful, for her own safety. Her decent was slow and not even full, as she hung just above the trees, her paws almost close enough to brush against the leaves and feel the whip of the little twigs that stalked out from the thicker branches. It seemed empty, but that could be even more dangerous. Her quick little mind worked over the situation, she had a sense of time, past, present and future. But there and then, the danger seemed to pull her seeing eye into the past, to think of herself sitting alone and fightened in a large, dark forest, unable to comprehend the fact that her parents would not return for her.

In fact she found that every time she tried to refocus her mind it trailed off to that hard day and she was unable to think what would happen if she were never able to make it shift. She knew she had to rest, stop trying and just flicker into that normal state of mind that the average griffon spends most of their time in, the state of mind that does not try to view the future and chooses not to remember the past and thinks only of the present. At last the seeing eyes that resided in her mind closed and let her be, for now at least. Her long tail flicked against the wind and her beak swung towards a particular scent. The golden flower. Most in came to this place in search of it, but she had no desire for the flower, she wanted to find peace for the night.

The great white wings pushed against the wind current and ahead of the female's figure. It slowed her almost to a complete stop, slow enough to take in the canopy and spot the dark opening in the leaves, her paws tucked in beneath her bodice, her wings pulled in toward her body and sent her hurtling down into the darkness. The light was almost complete shut out, it was as though she had travelled in time to see the world just before the sun completely vanished beyond the far mountains. Her paws pushed forward again, her wings opened out and she slowed to a hault just as her paws stuck the ground with a light thud. The femme looked around slowly and the edges of her beak seemed to re-shape into a smile, her tail flicked and auds swirved about in a scanning motion. It seemed clear enough.

She settled by sitting, tucking her wings into place against her back and sides, wrapping her tail about her hindquarters and lifting a forepaw to lick. Of course unlike a pure feline her licking did not consist of mere licking, it consisted instead of a slight rub from the beak, a soft lick over from a small pointed tongue and the dead skin and such being pulled away by the beak. Once such things were sorted she would move on to insulating her fur a little with a fine oil that was formulated at the roof of her mouth and applied with her beak, something she of course inherited from the more snowy owl side of her family. As she did she spoke to herself a little, and as she often did she spoke in riddle. "Gift it is this fine day, that I push away my past and say, future be of company, sanity find way to the."

Number of Words: 767
Things To Know: Obviously she's a lil' bit mad
Character: Shikaku
Anything Else?: Hope the post is ok, 'tis my first post as a seer.

[/blockquote]

[>>Trinity;;]

Trinity circled the woods, unsure of what she had seen. Was another creature really daring to enter those dark woods below? What was even more odd was that the other figure appeared to be a blending of snow leopard. She had seen so few of those since she left Solbania, her homeland, and the sight of this stranger had stirred a longing deep down within her. Should she investigate or should she keep flying?

I haven't seen another gryphon since I met Blade a couple of weeks ago and she may not know of the dangers of this place. Yes, the dangers. So why should I risk it? Because Farlin says to aid others, even if the need for aid isn't apparent.

With a soft sigh, she tucked her black specked wings closer to her pale fur and began her slow descent. Trinity had heard enough about this wood to be more cautious in her landing than the other had been. Some said fierce creatures with slavering jaws and fiery red eyes lived here and still others claimed the secret to immortality lay within. She was curious about this immortality. Not because she wanted to live forever but because of her instincts toward survival and exploration.

She had been one of the few female warriors in her grex and so was not respected like the males. Instead she was often put to work as a hunter, a much less noble pursuit in the eyes of her family. That led to her greatest mistake and her banishment from the grex.

A sharp branch whacking her just above her eye brought her attention back to the present and she rapidly flapped upward. The female had just about flown right into a tree, a large and foreboding one too. That's what you get for not paying attention.

Trinity flew around the tree and found a sturdy branch to perch on. The darkness of the forest was beginning to get to her and she felt those creeping shudders roll down her spine as some creature called out. She jumped to a much lower branch and then another. Soon she was not much but maybe ten feet from the ground and the stranger was back in her sights.

The stranger was grooming and talking to herself just below in a clearing that was littered in pine needles and dead branches around the outside. There didn't seem to be any danger so she began to try and groom the shallow cut above her eye, it had begun to sting but it really didn't seem like anything to really worry about. As she shifted her weight, the branch gave an ominous crack and snapped.

Now instead of looking at the world in a proper perspective, everything was turned upside down. Quite suddenly the earth came up to meet her before she had a chance to twist so she would land standing. Trinity now thought, with a bit of a laugh bubbling in her throat, that she probably looked like a very large and very dead bird. What with her feet tucked to her body and her wings stretched out onto the ground, it was probably the oddest position she had ever been in.

"Hello," She said to the other gryphon, "Mind If I drop in? No pun intended, really."

What a great way to meet others, I probably look like a fool.

Number of Words: 580
Things To Know: Obviously I had no idea what I was doing. lol
Character: Trinity
Anything Else?: Nice post, mine came no where close. =)

[shikaku]

Shi was able to feel the presence of another, near by too, but until she heard the thud of paws against bark she made no move to loook. But once this sound had made it's way into the air and met with her delicate auds she smiled a little and lifted her gaze, turning her head from her wing which she pulled back into it's usuall place. A pair of icey blue hues watched, calmly, softly from below. A slightly melevalent glisten my have caught her hues for a moment, but then they closed and the strange female picked herself up and shifted herself a few paces before sitting again. Her auds pressed forward and she waited. She could hear the second femme shifting in the tree, heading to a lower brach, then stopping on a weaker one, she could hear the slight groaning of the tree. Then the snap then the thud.

When she had moved herself she had made it so that she would be sitting right there at the head of the fallen gryphon. She felt a secret pride for having seen the future successfully and she leaned forward, her head over that of the other gryphon. Her seeing eye trying to open fully and take in more about the character before her. Friendly, but at the moment slightly shy and reserved. It was all she was able to get. When trying to scan through the younger gryphons past to find a name she found much of it blocked out, hidden away. She understood very suddenly, the youth was trying to forget her past and focus on her future. Her eyes opened suddenly as she snagged at the memory she needed and read it, just a simply memory, one where the youth's name had been used.

"Hello Trinity," she said in a voice that came over almost as a purr. Her sharp icey hues gazed intently into the more emerald ones of her company. It was not that she realised her little wish had come ture, the future had brought her company, even if the female was a little strange. Slowly she let her gaze trail over the second female, another snow leopard, not unlike herself but greatly different. This female had come from a place native to the pelt, but Shi didn't even know where she had come from anymore, whenever she tried to see into her cub-hood to find out more about her parents or where she grew up all she could see was that day, alone in the forest, hungry, cold and waiting. And even now, now that she had brought the thought into mind she struggled to push it away, but she managed.

Shi pulled herself upright again and took a step away from the female that lay upon the floor, unlike Shi her markings were smaller, the word intricate came to mind, as they were not only smaller but they were more detailed and had almost a delicate appearence to them. She recognised her to be a snow leopard type gryphon, but she struggle with the avian side of things. She seemed to be more a sort of falcon, but it was a type that Shi had never seen before. Her black beak raised, "I am Shi, Seer and Outcast." She took in the female and felt a creeping mischeif pass over her, she may as well have some fun with her, it wasn't like much was going to happen, the female posed no threat that Shi could see. She blinked, taking in a few of the grphon's thoughts and she smiled.

"Poor Trinity, though I am sure such a fall may have hurt more than your pride," she murred with that sort of purr like voice once more obvious. "You come hither, sipite danger you know, you come hither, to seek out the seer not for Trinity but for seer. Trinity fear for seer and help seer. Seer need no help, Trinity should know this. Trinity seeks the one thing a Seer cannot give, love, family, happiness. Your path is far from mine and far from places like this, find the light and follow it for a single moon, find the sparkle and let it swoon, your stomach will soon later be bare with egg and yolk and young still there." There was a silent pause, "Should you find a brighter light, beware. For the brighter the ligth the sooner it shall burn out and Trinity shall be left in shadow, waiting for sun and stars and moon, none will show for long time. Darkness shall be long for you then."

Number of Words: 777
Things To Know: hehe. There is a sort of riddle there, it dosen't matter what your character does in their fuure because teh riddle actually dosen't mean much. It is basically just something for you to toss and turn over while you try to figure it out mwahaha!
Character: Shikaku
Anything Else?: Madness shall rule all worlds!

[/blockquote]

[>>Trinity;;]

Trinity blinked, she hadn't expected the other to be right there. It was almost like the other had expected her fall. But that was nonsense, only seers could do that and this didn't seem like a seer. She rolled over onto her side, leaves and pine needles sticking to her fur. They were like odd shaped spots and specks that really didn't belong against the finer print. Oh well, I'll pick them out later.

She turned to the other gryphon, ready to give her name when the other spoke it. The pale gryphon sat up, startled. How could she...? Seer. Sure enough, the other introduced herself as Shi, a seer and outcast. Could she be from the eastern lands? They did not stand for seers, she had known one as a kit. That same seer had been "taken care of" by one of the natuk's agents. Trinity had not asked after her after that.

"So, you somehow know my name and I'm not going to ask how," Even as she spoke, the seer spoke of things in a way that is almost sounded like, well, like prophecy, "Well, I'll think on that."

Really, she had no idea what she was thinking. How could a brighter light lead to darkness in the end? What did bare with egg and yolk and young still there mean? Was she to have a child someday? Trinity did not think that a possibility, no one had yet shown interest in her as a mate.

"So, you all ready know why I am here. But why are you here? If I have no need to worry for your safety, clearly you must then know the dangers of this place."

Trinity backed up a bit so that she was not so close to the other. Shi interested her and unnerved her. She wished to learn more about this odd gryphon and whether or not she came from the same lands she originated from.

Number of Words 345
Things To Know Trinity is a bit unnerved by Shi
Character Trinity
Anything Else? Horrible muse, I hope this will suffice for now. I will reply as soon as I return from the camping trip.

[shikaku]

The great shoulders lifted, rolled on thjemselves a little and sank again. It was as though she simply wasn't sure what to do with herself. It was strange having company again after all this time, not only that but company who knew what she was and hung around to speak with her anyway. But this femme wasn't seeking her council or trying to kill her, she seemed not only freindly and concerned a little, but interested and honest. Sharp, ice blue hues flickered. She intended to speak, it seemd the femme was confused by her riddle, it was odd though, she hadn't thought she had made it a particuarly difficult one at all. Nevertheless, it seemed appropriate to leave it for the time being unsolved, the youth would understand soon enough.

The question was raised as to her reason for being in such a place, afterall it was dangerous here and she was aware of that. She lowered her gaze a little. "Shi needs the forest, it is part of her and the only terrain she really understands," the was again that slight madness in the old seer, shown in the way she spoke in the third person. It was how she often did, why? Because it made her feel like it was another speaking, which made her feel less alone. She always suspected if she found long term company many of her crazy little attributes would fade away, but trouble was she doubted she would ever have long term company. At least not willing long term company that wasn't secretly plotting against her.

"Shi lived in a forest, not sure where. Parents left Shi and a an old gryphon came and found her, all alone and frightened. She taught her and raised her. A new grex in the forest wanted rid of the two, they were acused of plotting and scheming and using magic. They killed the older gryphon in their most recent attack and Shi was driven away. Shi find forest here, where she can live short while. No male want Shi, all fear her." The breif history of the seer was confused, obviously emotional. But it somehow made her feel safe to think that most feared and hated her, afterall love seemed a far more dangerous type of emotion.

Her story menat little to her, as that was almost what it was to her, just another story. Like so many others she told, it had with it a lesson and morals, good gryphons and bad gryphons, and like so many of her other stories it had death. It was something that intrigued the seer, death was considered a fear. Many fled from the very thought of it, the idea of dy9ing was a great fear for them. But not for an outcast seer, the idea of death seemed almost peaceful, afterall in death none were feared, because fears can only really exist in life. In death her powers would mean nothing, because there is not time or vision. So she would be just like all the other dead things there. How she wished it was true, it brought her for some reason to think of the time when she was younger, when she had tried to claw the marking from her brow and mask her tue self.

She watched the other female with soft intent, she had backed away from the seer, nothing odd there. Her cool, icey hues seemed almost to glaze over. The female had stayed this long, that was something odd to say the least. She did seem to care which was admirable, particuarly to an outcast who had not felt accepted in years. Then again this didn't really look like acceptance, but more like tolerance. Still it was something and best of all it was company.

Number of Words: 638
Things To Know: Well she thinks the whole world is against her, but she's not paronoid about it. She is slightly miserable and as means to face her past she has sort of come to think of it as though it is just a story about someone else.
Character: Shikaku
Anything Else?: Don't worry about it, there's no hurry ^^

[>>Trinity;;]

We don't need to talk about it anymore
Yesterday's just a memory
Can we close the door
I just made one mistake

Trinity felt pity tug at her heart for the aging gryphon. Pity that she knew the other might not want. After all, she, Shi, claimed to know of this place and that she understood it. It seemed like she was self-reliant, able to take care of herself even if she seemed a little mad. Perhaps her thrid person way of speaking was a quirk born from uncertainty, pain, loss perhaps even the pain of lonliness. Perhaps in the end, she wasn't mad. Perhaps she was just another lost soul tossed and turned in the roaring river that was life.

Yet Trinity wasn't here to judge. Judge not, lest ye be judged yourself, the old commandment she had learned to recite from childhood rang in her mind. Judgement was best left to higher authorities, to the gods, to the spirits, to whatever force it was you believed existed. Few others truly followed this single law out of all other laws. Her friend had been killed due to poor judgement, her own lack of insight and cruel judgement of a situation led to one of the greatest mistakes she ever made. No, it wasn't her place, nor any other's, to judge another. Judgement led to predjudice, predjudice led to fear, fear led to hatred and hatred to eventual death. A twisted chain that tangled many in it's icy, iron grasp and never let go.

Her pine green eyes focused for the first time on the icy hues of Shi. Trinity felt no fear in her presence, for there was no need for fear. Seers were a rare people, hunted by their own kind, ostracized and avoided, killed and maimed because of a judgement passed long ago by voices long since silenced and cruel souls long since faded. They were unique but not to be feared. They had a gift, a powerful gift, that she believed was from the gods. Not just a single god as some had come to believe, but all of the gods. Even the rarely mentioned MoonMaiden. How could the gift be so powerful without blessings from all the gods? Perhaps the darker side if the Seeing came from Zanic's touch? The urge to aid and seek truths from Farlin and Talinie? A sense of order from Lakri's icy breath?

A sense of understanding flickered in her eyes along with pain, sorrow, guilt, frustration and anger amongst so many others as Shi spoke of her history. Understanding and pain for abandonment, sorrow and guilt for her part in it, frustration and anger at herself. The youth wanted to cry to the sky again like she had that night her brother took the blame for her foolish act and fled. She wanted to lay down beside the wise Seer, Calie, and seek council.

But Calie was gone, the grex of her birth was lost, her brother would be long dead by now and it would be unseemly to grovel on the ground like a mewling kit. Trinity was stronger now, though the pain and guilt and other emotions remained fresh despite many moons rising and setting on the events. She knew, deep down, that the wounds would remain fresh until she faced her past but her waking consceince refused to acknowledge it. Nightmares often shook her awake, the leering face of her natuk and the horror etched on her brother's handsome face remained on her mind long after sleep had fled.

She blinked away tears that had begun to form and turned away. Several minutes had already passed on her thoughts and a few more passed as she gazed off into the sickly, eerie forest. The croaking cry of a raven brought her mind back to the present and she gazed at Shi once again. Vaguely she wondered if the raven could be Timur, Calie's aid and a friend. Timur had vanished when Calie had been killed and she hadn't seen him since. Sometimes she fancied she heard his unique cry or that he rested upon her back as she slept but she knew that it was wishful thinking and so turned from those thoughts.

The black specked female moved closer to the other, close enough to show acceptance but not close enough she was crowding. Shi seemed familiar to her or it was just that she could relate in a way to her tale. Either way, she felt a sense of companionship towards the other, more so than she even had with the rogue Blade. Trinity had known so little company sense fleeing Solbania and she desired company. Blade was someone she could speak to but perhaps Shi could be more if both could accept the other.

"In a way, I understand you Shi, One Who Bears Great Gift & Burden," Trinity said after another moment, "Calie was a Seer and one of my greatest teachers and friends. The natuk of my grex had her killed because of his predjudiced beliefs to all bearing Far-Sight. I haven't met a Seer since so I ask your pardon now for any words or actions I speak or commit in the future that may offend you. I do not mean to harm, but sorrow may cloud my mind as her memory returns to me."

Emerald eyes left ice blue to gaze at the scarred bark of the tree from which the she-gryphon had fallen from. She desired acceptance from Shi for she accepted her. Really it mattered not what one was or what path one followed, the only thing that mattered was what you did with your life in the end.

Number of Words: 948 Wow, that's a record.
Things To Know: I'm making up Trinity's history as I go but the one thing that is definite is the crime she commited that got her brother kicked out. Just before Calie was killed, another kit was born with the mark of a Seer. The kit was a male, a rarity, for males are usually never seers. His mother died only a day later of a fever that would not abate. Nito, the natuk, had heard a breif piece of the prophecy Seers hold so dear, the portion that told of a male seer being born and his mother dying. He did not hear anything else. Nito & another tortured Calie to death to learn more of the prophecy but she refused to speak. Trinity had learned the first portion of the prophecy from Calie and attempted to flee with the kit. In her desperation, she bit to hard and killed the child. Her brother took the blame and fled. Nito sent his best assassian after him, Trinity believed (and still does) him dead and fled before her part in it was discovered. Nito coveted power and the death of the male seer angered him greatly.
Character: Trinity
Anything Else?: I really hope this post didn't ramble and that it made sense. Trinity is troubled a bit a meeting another Seer awoke thoughts and feelings she believed gone are at least deeply hid. 948 really is a recored for me and I now have the longest post! I guess this makes up for my last, lame, post. =D

Can you take me high enough
To fly me over yesterday
Can you take me high enough
It's never over
Yesterday's just a memory

[shikaku]

There was an odd little glimmer in the eyes of the old seer. Her hues flickered and faultered this way and that as though looking for something, or rather looking for anything. It is a difficult thing to tell when madness has taken its wake upon the insane. She had company, a new gryphon in her midst, a gryphon not unlike herself. There was so much going on in Trinity's mind. So many thoughts and considerationg of past times long since eloped from the current day. So many memories churning about in their errie cell, tossing and turning in their sleepless slumber. It was enough to drive her mind wild to see and hear the thoughts as well as her own, so she shut them out. For a short while becoming more of a 'normal' gryphon, for a change. For a while she knew only her own thoughts, and those the gryphon had previously thought.

She smiled slowly and began to mutter, not long after Trinity herself had spoken in fact. "Odd young femme, so wrapped up in feelings and thoughts of moments long since gone," her gaze lifted up to the canopy and she looked through the dappled light. "Light, like dark, comes and goes. The only thing we can be sure of is that there will be more light and more dark, but it's never the same," her gaze swung round to meet the darker hues of Trinity. She smiled ever so slightly, her head tilting to the side a little slowly, then suddenly flinging into it's upright position once more. Her feathers seemed slightly more ruffled and while she had that lost look, as she so often did, she did seem alert and rather aware of everything at the same time.

No one can predict everything, she knew that. Seers could see i any direction of time, this like many other things she had learned. But equally she had learned that seeing everything was not only a very distressing and mind tearing exercise, but it also took all the meaning from life. This was odd to her, the female seemed so reminded of a dead friend just because she bore the mark of a seer, were there that few of her kind? She murred ever so slightly, the particular hoot of an owl being muffled into the sound. Icey blue hues flickered anf faultered further about the bodice of their companion, there was still that madened glimmer in those hues, a sparkle amongst the colouration. In such a short space of time, from meeting a somewhat young and clumsy regalt as she fell from the canopy as means of concern for an older, seemingly more vunerable female to this. An absent minded youth, lost in her past, obviously confused.

There was something odd about how fast Trinity had warmed up to her. Usually she was nothing but a freak, a freak with scary powers and a deranged mind. But Trinity seemed to be seeing more than that, much more than that. A normal gryphon perhaps, a possible friend, how exsciting it would seem to be accepted by one who felt a certain understanding for the situation Shi found herself in. She nodded softly, having felt herself to be rambling previously, she had someone to talk to now, so the madness could give way. But the question was, was teh madness able to subside? How long would a friendship with a normal gryphon last, she was outcast. If Trinity was found to be a long time companion of hers then no doubt she would become outcast too. Sanity and friendship didn't seem to be worth the trouble.

"Why do you stay Trinity? You know that I am safe, the thing that makes this place dangerous is the gryphons. The only two I see here are you and I. If there were others here they would be here for you, not a mad old seer. You should find yourself a grex, settle down. Nothing you say could offend me dear. Your sweet, I know you mean no harm. The past can hurt, but it's the present we live in and the future we live for. Why arn't you out their living, and living for?"

Her voice was soft but it still carried that odd tone, as though she thought she was talking to herself. In fact the thought had crossed her mind that she was talking to herself. Afterall, this gryphon was much unlike herself. Her close friend was killed under false beleifs. Both seemed to know little or to have in a way been lost by their heritage. Both stood as loners, eager for the company and well being of another. Indeed it did seem possible that this female was just part of her imagination. In which case she needed more mental help than she had first suspected. Indeed if Trinity was not real then she was seeing things, talking and even touching the mind of...herself. Was it really possible, if this really was just a pigmint other things could be too, her whole world could have been just a though, a dream. Even her own life. And for a moment she wished it was true that her life was just a dream and that she had really been born a normal, accepted gryphon.


Number of Words: 893
Things To Know: Well Shi is beginning to think that she's so mad she's imagining it all, so yeah, she's going a little bit more mad for some odd reason xD
Character: Shikaku
Anything Else?: Yes well, this is my attempt of making an interesting post. Sorry if it dosen't make sence, I was trying to sort of give more of an insight into how mad she really is

[>>Trinity;;]

Trinity sat silent, listening to Shi talk, unsure of what to do or say. Briefly, she fancied that she had felt another within her mind, but then the presence withdrew and she shook the feeling away. She looked up into Shi's pale eyes and again caught that maddened glimmer in her eyes again. Is this what happened to you when you were left alone to you own devices for so long? Or was it the past that made Shi appear mad in her own right? Well, come to think of it everyone had a touch of madness in this lonely world.

Shi spoke again and she tilted her head to the side, considering her words and mulling them over in her mind. Why did she stay? Well companionship played into it, concern and another thing she couldn't quite describe. She had no answer for the second question because she didn't know, honestly and whole heartedly.

"I stay because I am lonely and have found someone that might be a friend," she replied, gazing into Shi's eyes so that she would see that she spoke the truth, "Finding a grex isn't likely, few would want me and I'm afraid....I'm afriad that I'll make a mistake again like I did."

She paused, unsure of what to say. It was hard to describe what she was trying to say, the simplest way would be to just say she was stuck in the past. Trinity wanted to be part of a grex, to find a mate and raise younglings and to forget. But what male would want her? Others believed her to be pretty, but she didn't always agree, and beauty wasn't everything. She wanted someone that loved her for what she was not what she looked like. Ugh, why did everything have to be so confusing?

"Honestly, I don't have any exact answers to your questions. I just don't know." Trinity told her as she padded off back to the tree where she lay down at its base

The hunter needed to think but she didn't know what path to take her thoughts down. For some reason the Seer had stirred many things inside her and was now making her face the question she had never been able to answer. Why wasn't she out there living, and living for?

Number of Words: 381
Things To Know: Trinity is confused now. =P
Character: Trinity
Anything Else: I had a little bit of a hard time trying to form a reply, but it didn't have anything to do with you. Sorry it took a while