Samathan stood on a hillock over looking where a Gryphon sat with her pair of young chicks. He had always thought of them as marvellous creatures, it apalled them that people would want to hunt and kill such charming, majestic creatures. He was simply content with watching them from a safe distance, ever since he had been a young boy he had been inspired by the noble Gryphons. It had been watching two male Gryphons spar at mating time that had made him want to become a warrior in the first place, the Gryphons showed figthing and warfare as an art. He wrote in his journal as he watched them and hummed softly, so it was true, it was here that Gryphons bred.

Left foot, right foot... Left foot, right foot...

It was all Aikanaro could do to keep himself moving. Ever since he "set out" from home, he hadn't had even a scrap to eat or drop to drink. There wasn't a farm house in sight and it had been almost two days now. His lips were cracked, dried blood settled in the crevices, and his stomach called out to him with pain because the rumbling seemed not to be working. His eyes lay on his feet, half closed in a sleepy daze. It was all he could do to keep himself moving, one foot at a time.

Left foot, right foot... Left foot, ri-...

He slumped forward to his knees, exhausted, hungry, parched. His eyes and ears were even deaf to the siren's song of the dried grass caught in the same gentle breeze that wafted through his hair, showing off his genasi heritage. Before he fell completely forward with a thump, unconscious, he imagined the sight of someone standing on a small hill not too far in front of him. His lasts thought laughed at what he believed a mirage, thinking it only too convenient.

Kyrus heard the thump and spun around to see a figure collapsed on the ground nearby. The High Elf ran quickly down the hill to the figure's side, the figure was in a terrible state. His lips were cracked and bloodied and it looked like the unfortunate man hadn't eaten in days. Kyrus propped his head up and getting out his own canteen pressed it to the man's lips, helping him drink. "Slowly friend," he said softly his elven accent strong "don't take too much at once."

The next thing Aikanaro knew was that his head was propped up and water was filling his mouth. In most cases, Aike would assume he was having a nightmare and dreaming he was drowning, but the water tasted so good that he soon started sputtering from forgetting to breathe.

The awakening of his senses overwhelmed him and he sat up quickly, leaning forward with his face in his hands as he rubbed his eyes wearily with his palms. "Thanks... whoever you are..." He scooted around to face the gentleman, not really wanting to stand up yet. He chewed at his lips to clean them out with a hand extended for a handshake. "I really owe you one..." He glanced around the corners of his vision, "Um... Where's the nearest..." He paused, thinking of what he wanted to eat, but grinned at how stupid that was. "Heh...food?" The grin split open a scab and he winced before sucking on the lip.

Kyrus smiled softly at the man as he stirred "Do not mention it friend. I couldn't leave you to die now could I," he said. When he mentioned food Kyrus smiled and dug a hand into his pack and drew out an apple and some sandwiches, he handed them to the man and sat in his range of vision. He smiled at him and watched him as he handed him the food "There you go friend. Tell me, what happened to you? How did you get into such a state?"

Aike's eyes widened to the size of tennis balls at the generosity of this man... The food might have had something to do with it as well. He took it as calmly as he could, but as soon as he has settled with the sandwiches in his lap, he stuffed half of the first one in his mouth; crumbs spilled over his chin.

"There you go friend. Tell me, what happened to you? How did you get into such a state?"

His words were garbled at first, forgetting he had to swallow before his tongue had room for words. He winced at the size of the gulp, but had forgotten about it as quickly as his stomach forgot its hunger. "My old man kicked me out..." He took another bite, though a reasonable one to allow him to continue talking. "Although..." He shrugged and swallowed, "I'm lucky that's all he did. I really messed up back home, and I've been wandering out here for a couple days now trying to find some place far enough away to actually sell me food..." He eyed the hill behind the man. "Out here on business?"

Kyrus smiled at Aike as he gobbled down the sandwiches "That is terrible, I would say I understand how you feel but I haven't had a father for some time," he explained. He watched with a smile as the man continued to devour the sandwiches he had given him "You were close to expiring my friend, it is lucky I found you." When the man spoke of his being out here 'On business' Kyrus grinned broadly "Why yes infact, the Rangers have banned people from hunting Gryphons but they said nothing about watching them," he said "and if they attack then that is self defence is it not."

Aike continued eating placidly, watching the man as he spoke. At the mention of self-defense, Aike stopped with a sandwich caught between both fingers and teeth and eyed him curiously. He took the morsel out, but held it in front of himself for when he finished talking. "Goading a griffin into attacking oneself sounds either brave or very very foolish..." He raised an eyebrow at his next question. He spoke with the previous morsel back in his mouth. "So, which are you? Or am I simply imagining implications?" He brushed his hands together, removing any crumbs from the sandwiches. His eyes caught some tall, dried brush next to him. His glance darted from the grass to the man, then back to the grass. Sticking his hand beside it, he snapped his fingers until a spark caught the small cluster ablaze. "My name's Aikanaro, by the way. Or Aike, if you like."

Kyrus looked at the man, wondering how long it would take him to notice that he wasn't a man but an elf, a High Elf to be exact. He smiled at him "No,no,no friend," he said shaking his head "You misunderstand, I am not here to hunt the Gryphons, rather to observe them, watch them. They are truly fascinating creatures are they not?" He watched as the man continued to eat and he smiled at him "Aike it is then," he replied warmly, he wondered if the man had noticed his pointed ears or the elven accent in his speech "My name is Kyrus Lynin."

"They are truly fascinating creatures are they not?"

Aike shrugged, for he had no idea. "I, uh... I lived a very sheltered life on a farm. All I was ever taught were words and numbers. No zoology, no geography, nothing interesting except how to plant and sell." He scratched an itch on his brow with a sigh. "I was told griffins were dangerous and running was the best option, but I've never seen one..." He plucked another piece of grass from the ground and lit it on fire like a sparkler, watching the all-consuming flames intently. It was going to take quite a bit to slake his current level of lust. "Wait, so... Kyrus... If you're here, then that means there are griffins nearby?" He never looked away from the fire, but his eyebrow raised in suspicion and curiosity.

Kyrus got to his feet in one fluid movement "Indeed you are correct friend," he said watching how Aike set the grass on fire with his hands "in fact they are right over that hill," he said pointing to the hill where he had been but moments before watching the Gryphons. He inclined his head inviting Aike to follow him to the top of the hill so that he could see the Gryphons "You have never seen a Gryphon before? Then this will be your first time then."

Ash fell to the ground as Aike dropped the charred grass and brushed his fingers off. He followed behind Kyrus, only just now noticing a pair of pointed ears on the fellow's head. He cocked his head sideways and made a mental note to ask Kyrus about it after getting a good look at these gryphons.

Stepping up beside what Aike thought was just a man, he took his gaze off Kyrus's ears and followed his gaze. Both of his eyebrows almost shot off his head at the sight of a huge winged lion with a beak. He leaned forward with his mouth gaping open and it took him a second or two to actually say, "Cool!" just a little too loud. He clapped both hands over his mouth and glanced between Kyrus and the gryphon.

Kyrus smiled at Aike's fascination with the Gryphons and jumped ever so slightly when he said a little too loudly cool. Unfortunately the Gryphon heard it to and turned its beaked head to stare in their direction, it strode towards them and sniffed the air apparently not noticing them as a result of some trick of the light. "Stay very still," Kyrus whispered to Aike at his side, after several tense moments the Gryphon turned and went back to the others "Pheww," Kyrus sighed in relief "that was close."

Aike jolted in a bodily flinch when the gryphon looked their way. Kyrus's advice made Aike's eye twitch nervously at the stupidity of getting eaten without defending oneself, but sure enough, the gryphon lost interest and went back to her chicks. Aikanaro sighed heavily. He backed down the hill slowly and kept the gryphon in front of him until it was out of sight, then wiped a bead of sweat from his brow. He made a silly attempt at an apologetic grin. "Heh, oops... Sorry."

Changing the subject, he lazily pointed a hand toward Kyrus with his eyes on his ears, "So, what's with the pointy ears? Did you have some sort of accident, or were you born that way?" It was a good thing Aikanaro was usually deaf to his own bluntness, otherwise he would always be apologizing for something.

Kyrus grinned at Aike as he apologised "Don't worry about it, it's your first time seeing a Gryphon. I did exactly the same thing when I first saw one." Kyrus laughed at Aike's bluntness about his ears, he smiled warmly at the man with a chuckle in his voice as he spoke "No I did not have an accident friend, I was born like that. I am indeed a High Elf," he explained in a warm, friendly voice. This man was a constant amusement to him, not only could he burn things simply by touching them but he was amusingly blunt.

And again with Aikanaro's lack of people skills, he asked, "But aren't elves suposed to be snooty and like... secluded?" He hadn't heard much about other races, if anything at all, and whatever he heard about the elves from his family was less than nice. He had one finger on his chin in thought with a cocked head as he pointed with his other hand to Kyrus and asked, "Were you like... booted out or something? Or are my family just ignorant of more than just... everything?"

He sat down in the dirt, a few grasses crunching under his rump. He lifted him bum back up to reach under it to grab one. He was still tired from earlier, but at least he had a little energy back thanks to this Kyrus. He lit the top of the stalk on fire. "You being out here to watch gryphons seems more of a hobby than a job. Is someone paying for you to just walk around the plains all day? Maybe you could hook me up with a job." He grinned at his comment, but his eyes were glued to the smoldering grass.

Kyrus smiled at Aike softly "No, elves are not secluded nor snooty," he said with a laugh and looked at his friend. "Actually watching Gryphons is more of a past time for me, I just chanced upon them and thought I would watch them awhiles. Unfortunately no one is paying me to do it." He smiled at the man and laughed easily "Yes it would seen that your family is misinformed about elves," he said.

"No, elves are not secluded nor snooty,"

Aike raised an eyebrow and shrugged, "Okay. I'll make a mental note of it. Knowing how..." He paused and made some random hand gestures, searching for the right word, "benighted my father is, I didn't really take his rants to heart."

"Actually watching Gryphons is more of a past time for me, I just chanced upon them and thought I would watch them awhiles. Unfortunately no one is paying me to do it."

He scrunched his face in speculation, "So... if no one is paying you to be out here... How is this a business venture? Any other monetary gains through artifacts?" His thoughts ventured into the realms of, Maybe I can get something out of this if I help him...

Kyrus smiled at Aike "Unfortunately no," he said warmly "although if you could catch someone in the act of trying to hunt Gryphons I am sure that the rangers would reward you for it," he said. He smiled, he himself was not actually hunting these Gryphons, merely observing them and watching what they were like in the wild. He turned his attentions back to Aike "If you are seeking monetary rewards, there is always the possibility of stopping poachers. The Rangers rewarded people who do that as it helps the Gryphons."

Aikanaro shrugged at the comment on monetary gains. He didn't feel like going out of his way to stopping someone that could actually kill a gryphon. After all, his abilities are rather... lacking at the moment, and his supplies aren't exactly exuberant. "Maybe if I see something on the way to Taras..." He shook his head and shrugged again, a little less heartedly. "But I don't know." He cleared his throat and added, "Speaking of which, could you point me in the right direction?" He figured the more people around, the more chances he had at finding a way to survive, but he didn't voice that part.

Kyrus smiled and pointed out the way to Taras for Aike, he was thinking of the ways that the man could make a living "You could take up the life of a warrior, you get paid reasonably well for taking care of things for people," he suggested "or you could get a job in one of the local Taverns. Any number of things really but I personally went for being a warrior, much more exciting than sitting around working in some Tavern," he laughed and smiled at Aike.

With his eyes on the sky, gauging the direction in comparison with the sun. He waved a dismissive hand at Kyrus before his eyes came back to the earth. "Bah. Running around with your sword in the air is a good way to lose one's head, and taverns reek something foul." He glanced in the direction the elf pointed in. "I'm sure I'll figure something out when I get there. Besides, isn't the journey half the battle?" When he looked back at Kyrus, Aike had a questioning eyebrow upturned.

Kyrus smiled at Aike "You are correct, the warriors life isn't the life for everyone but it suits me fine at the moment. Plus it is a good way to meet women," he winked and laughed. He gave a sharp whistle and a Gryphon landed at his side and nuzzled him affectionately "This is Solomon I bought him recently and since then we have become inseparable," he said with a laugh and his friend raised an eyebrow quizzically at him "Oh you want me to accompany you to Taras, alright then, it beats sitting out in these forasken plains."

One eyebrow joined the other as the gryphon landed in front of him. His next thought was that he really shouldn't bother being surprised anymore. Nevertheless, Aike was still taken aback when Kyrus offered to travel with him to Taras. Waving with both hands, Aikanaro knew he wouldn't be able to handle this kind of company all the way there. "No, no... that's quite alright. You mistook my expression." He let out a little laugh, but the thought wasn't all too cheery. As nice as this man... elf... has been, he was a little too nice for Aike's taste. Besides, he wasn't a woman. "Thanks for everything, though. If I'm going to get there, I better start walking." And with a wave, Aike started west, hoping that he wouldn't come across any more gryphons for a long, long time.

Kyrus nodded and patted his Gryphon "Oh I understand," he said with a smile "well we each have our own way forward in Imythess," he said before shaking the man's hand and wishing him luck. He then climbed onto Solomon's (the Gryphon's back) and made ready to take off into the air. He had enjoyed meeting Aike and he knew that the man would do fine, he had certain..talents that would come in very handy in certain occupations.