[Whitetail Wood] Hunter and Prey[ENDED]

[Tempest Rime]

"Yeah, sure you could take a manticore, oh, unless it talked. Then it's much too scary for you." She scoffed. "Besides how is black supposed to be less threatening than earth tones? If it's camouflage, then black or blue would do you a lot better, what with the fact that you can fly. You could easily swoop down on an unsuspecting pony in the night, and there'd be nothing they could do about it. You're practically made to be a nighttime killer."

Malediction rolled her eye at Skye. "Asked, paid, you're still working for her, only this way you're an unpaid sucker as well. And I have in fact seen a forest fire. At least a small one. The light of the flame filtering through the forest canopy like a million glowing emeralds in the night sky..." She got a faraway look. "It was... beautiful."

She blinked and returned to the present. "Uh... brother? Oh, uh, yeah, I haven't seen any griffons around here before. Tough luck, though if you ask me, you're better off without family tying you down."

[MyLittlePonyTales]

"Oh ho ho, so you know ALL about me, don't you little pony?" she said, her voice laden with sarcasm. "In case you didn't know, where I come from, there aren't a lot of ponies. In fact, where I come from, we're pretty much the scariest and fiercest thing around. With the exception of Dragons, but that also depends on where exactly you're living. And so far, I haven't met anything else in Equestria that I couldn't handle."

She picked a small rock out from under one of her claws and flicked it away, then began to clean the other set of talons. She thought of leavingâ€â€Âboth of these creatures were rather irritating and somewhat incompetentâ€â€Âbut they could offer some useful information about the surrounding area. Neither of them seemed very willing to shut up, so with the right persuasion, she might be able to gather information that might come in handy. The Peryton had already told her where he lived, where he roamed.

"The particular coloring that my family and I share is considered a genetic defect. It makes it harder to hunt and blend in. Sure, we can fly, but that's more for ease of travel. When we hunt, we stalk, or even chase. And furthermoreâ€â€Â" she paused, glancing at the claw she had been cleaning, seemingly bored with it all, "â€â€Âif you must know about my brother, he's a Dragon. So if you think I can't handle something bigger than myself, think again. I've fought him plenty of times."

[Skye]

Skye stared between the two girls during their interchange. This was turning out to be weirder and weirder. Here he had been, minding his own business, then suddenly out of nowhere he gets jumped by a family-seeking griffon. Then finds a unicorn that seems to delight in bloodshed as well as learning new magic (Which, he added to himself, wasn't a bad thing, at least they could learn more than one thing!) and now the two seemed to be bickering with each other. Could this day get any weirder? He tried to listen to what was going on. So far, the griffoness (Who's name he -still- did not know) was searching for her brother and seemed to have just made a bad choice about her choice of fare for the day. The unicorn...he had no idea, where she had come from. Suddenly, he remembered a poem way back when about a griffon and a unicorn..or was it a lion and a unicorn? Drat, he couldn't remember and besides, it was irrelevant to the situation at hand.

And all of this inner monologue wasn't exactly getting him any closer to a solution. His wing gave a twinge and he tucked it close to his body. As Kira spoke of her brother (and being a dragon too...will wonders never cease?) he found himself for the first time in a while, at a loss at what to suggest or do. Perytons and dragons didn't exactly have the best of histories together, any more than did with most carnivorous beasts. Pursuading them not to eat you was hard enough but at least dragons were smart enough to understand nightmares. The more that went on, the more confused he got. He didn't even know their names.

"Excuse me, ladies, I've asked this twice already but maybe it got missed in the heat of the moment. Who are the two of you? I'm Skye, and since we've all gotten off on the wrong hoof maybe it might be better to sit back and figure things out. Since you're clearly not actually going to eat me, " he said to Kira, and then looked at Mal, "And I haven't the foggiest idea what's going on here, we're not going anywhere fast, and I'd rather salvage some of what's going on here. I think, anyway. Unless we'd all like to degenerate back to name-calling and posturing, because eventually at least one of us is going to go home hurt. Whether or not we can handle one another seems moot at this point, and I can go on all day about why antagonizing one another is a pointless venture. Truce?"

[Tempest Rime]

Mal glared at the griffon. The fool was just begging to be taught a lesson on underestimating unicorn magic. Unfortunately, letting loose with a firestorm in front of a self-proclaimed servant of Celestia was a lot more trouble than she was looking for. She let out a hissing sound as she held her tongue, fuming.

She addressed Skye's question first, without turning her angry gaze from the griffon. "If you mean my name, it's Malediction. If you mean my profession, it's locksmith, but only because burning things doesn't pay the bills." Mal didn't mind the idea of someone getting hurt, but she wasn't about to start anything now, either. "Truce, then," she spat.

"As for those disgusting lizards, there's a few in Canterlot. Most of them were born there, in the magic academy. I try to avoid their ilk as much as possible, though."

[MyLittlePonyTales]

At the Peryton's mention of eating, Kira's stomach growled loudly. She pretended to ignore it, although the more she stuck around the hungrier she got. Finishing with her claw cleaning, she looked up at the Peryton's mention of his name. So, he was called Skye, huh? Interesting name, considering his color and all...

She ignored Skye's request for a truce. After, it was only words, and words were easily broken. There was no guarantee that any creature present would be bound by any sort of honor. It could all just be a trick. But Kira wouldn't be caught so easily off guard.

Kira nonchalantly looked back at the Unicorn even as her eyes glared back. Such fire and fierceness in those eyes, and yet, without action, they weren't all that scary. Malediction? That didn't sound much like a pony type name. But, Kira was in a different part of Equestria now. Perhaps things ran a little differently. After all, she'd just run into a talking deer-like creature, something she'd never seen before anywhere. She cocked her head at the Unicorn's mention of her love for fire.

"Ya, I wouldn't tangle with a Dragon either, if I didn't know their weaknesses." she threw in casually when Malediction had finished. She chose to ignore the comment about them being disgusting. After all, she didn't know what other Dragons were like. They could be entirely different from Ezio.

[Skye]

Skye looked between the two, satisfied at least he wasn't going to get a horning in the rear by a bloodthirsty unicorn. In all the years he'd been around, he'd never run into a pony of any type yet that was prone to breaking their word once it was given, and he hoped that it would still hold true. The griffon, on the other hoof, left things open and so he remained wary of her. And she hadn't even given her name yet. That was worse, still. Well, if she proved to be less than trustworthy, he was prepared to give her a nightmare she wouldn't soon forget. That one, he kept percolating in the back of his mind. It was never easy to do that sort of thing, that he didn't do it often, but by golly if she proved to deserve it, she'd get what she deserved. But for the moment at least she was making no moves.

At least her attention was now on the belligerent unicorn. Malediction? That was definitely an unusual name. "What are you doing down here if you're from Canterlot? And I know there's a few dragons up there, but none of them seemed lost. Of course, I only spent a couple of days there under care after an attack by a bear, so I didn't get to see much there." then to Kira, after she'd finished picking at those claws. They were fearsome, but as long as he stayed out of her reach, they couldn't do much harm. And he had a much better headstart now that he knew where she was. His inclination to fight had long since been defused since the two had settled into bantering each other instead of with him.

"Look, I really don't think colors are that important, really. Where you come from, maybe they're a big deal but as you can see, I'm hardly the right shade for your run of the mill deer, and ponies around here come in all sorts of shades. What's important is what they can do. Since you're a hunter, you can hunt anywhere you like, just stay away from my area, I'd rather not come across the mangled corpse of someone I knew if you don't mind. As for what you are doing -here-, I'm sorry you don't have anywhere to go. I don't really know much about griffons to give you any suggestions as to what to do with yourself, but since you're new around here, I guess I can forgive you a mistake. Maybe I can help you find your brother, but I don't know why he would be around here. Would you care to tell me anything about him that may shed some light on why he'd be here in the Whitetail Wood? Last I knew, griffon demesnes were way to the west, and you're quite a ways from home here. So I gather he must have been exploring much as you. There are a large number of caves in Equestria, no small number of them beneath our very feet. Could he have somehow ended up lost in one?"

[Tempest Rime]

"Oh I don't know... I find dragon scales aren't immune to my fire. Of course, my fire also burns cold and turns steel into ash like it was paper." muttered Mal. She glanced briefly back at Skye before turning her eye to the greater threat, though at this point she was fairly certain that neither griffon nor peryton were going to make the first move.

"Too many ponies in Canterlot. They get on my nerves sometimes, and I have to get away. I'm sure you've noticed by now that I'm not as foalishly naïve as most ponies. Besides, you never know what you'll find out in the wilderness. I've already exhausted every spell book in the Canterlot Library. For the most part, I am all out of leads. Hence why a peryton slinging magic around intrigued me. Normal unicorn spells just don't work for me, even my fire is something I had to discover myself."

She sat down for a moment and visibly relaxed. Of course, if she needed to, she could throw a curtain of flames down to protect herself, but she was now confident she wouldn't need to. The griffon was just hungry, and not looking for a real fight, and the peryton was some kind of goody-two-shoes who worked for the monarchy. The lack of violence was a bit of a letdown, but she hadn't given up on getting him to show her some spells, even if it was a long shot that she'd be able to learn them.

[MyLittlePonyTales]

Kira ignored Tempest's remarks about her so-called fire. For all she knew, it could've just been a bluff. Seemed the animals around here were all talk and no fight. The Peryton had shown a bit of spirit at first, but all the Unicorn did was try to start a fight that she wasn't going to participate in.

Sure, ponies came in different colors. That was absolutely normal. Pink, green, purple, polka dots, stripesâ€â€Âand no one would bat an eye. It was an entire other world where she came from, but apparently Skye did not understand that. There wasn't really a way to explain it anymore than she already had.

"Well, he wouldn't be in any cities, or anything like that, that's for sure!" she retorted at Skye's remark about Dragons in Canterlot. Wherever that was. Attacked by a bear? Pah, he was probably making that up too! "And he wouldn't be lost! That's so absurd, I can't even believe you suggested that. Dragons are huge!" she spread her claws wide to indicate. "And they're fast, on their feet AND in the air. Sure, maybe a baby Dragon could get lostâ€â€Âbut my bro is no baby. He's the kind you wouldn't wanna mess with."

"As for myselfâ€â€Â" she lightly tossed her head, "â€â€ÂI don't have anywhere to be, so I don't have anywhere to go. It's a choice. And I don't need help from YOU, thanks very much."

She thought for a moment about what he had said about deers... "What's important is what they can do." All deer did was eat and run fast, protect their young, and of course, sleep. This one talked and had wings, sure. He was also blue. But other than that, he hadn't been shown to be much different than the average deer. Perhaps there was something more he was not telling...

[Skye]

Skye was somewhat at a loss as he processed this information. A unicorn that cast fire? And one that could out-fire fireproof dragons? That was definitely some dangerous magic, to be sure. He wondered if Celestia knew. Surely she did, that'd be the the kind of thing the Princess would be apprised of. Little went on beneath her notice and he admired her for that. Though he noticed this unicorn's apparent disdain for the royalty...he hoped she wasn't an outcast who'd chosen to make him her next target. He'd rather not be an accomplice for whatever nefarious deeds an outlaw would have planned. He'd cultivated his reputation very carefully, he wanted to be remembered for the good he did, not for the potholes he helped create.

Too many ponies in Canterlot? Well, he supposed there were a fair number. That was part of why he couldn't stay, after all...among other reasons. He sighed a little wistfully, how close he came to staying by Luna's side for the remainder of his existence...it had been tempting. But only a Princess could release him of his promise. Or an order from one. And this unicorn was one he hadn't been familiar with, and she was supposed to be as read as Twilight? Oh, she'd said they didn't work for her. He wondered why, surely there was a good reason for it. Most magic was innate, maybe it had something to do with the fact that she wasn't a very friendly unicorn regardless of how she seemed to be playing cool.

And the griffoness. He supposed she was pretty, even elegant at first glance, though he couldn't say he cared much for her attitude. And now the bothof them were tossing words back and forth at each other provocatively. The last thing he particularily wanted was a fight, and he'd barely managed to escape from this one with merely a sprained wing and a few dirty looks. Nothing he couldn't recover from. Skye's gaze went back and forth between the two as they bantered, his large ears swung forward to catch the conversation as it went back and forth. "Well, I'd hardly miss a full-grown dragon if one had come winging his way through here unnanounced and I can't say as I recall the last one that did. Most of them usually remain in the Everfree Forest, which is unfortunately, some ways west of here. I'm afraid you're in the wrong wood if you're casually looking for a dragon. And if he's that big, I'd figure he'd be hard to miss. So if you don't need help, and you're not looking for a lost brother, why are you here? Now I'm somewhat confused."

He shrugged as Kira passed on his offer to help. Oh well, he couldn't be blamed for trying. "I've known of at least one little purple dragon who seems to get lost from time to time, or on his own, so I'm sure they're just as vulnerable and awkward as any young at that stage in their life. Even you, I'm sure, went through that stage and you didn't specify he was an adult dragon." Touchy, touchy, she really had a lot of pride, even for a Griffon. "But let me give you a word of advice. Perytons are not normal deer. And our capabilities are at least as varied as unicorns, if single-purposed. I wouldn't advise tangling with one, you might not be pleased with the results. But we give help when it's needed, and even if you don't need mine, the offer is still there. I can't change that fact, that is my purpose here. So, if neither of you actually need me, I was in the search for lunch and I think I'll continue my browsing if you don't mind."

[Tempest Rime]

"Tch, suit yourselves. I've probably said too much to this royalist dog anyway. I'm out, have fun doing whatever boring stuff you were busy with earlier." Malediction began to slink away, glancing back frequently to make sure the other two weren't going to make a move on her. She paused when she'd put a tree between her and the others.

"Oh yeah," she called behind her. "And here's a parting gift to make sure you don't follow me. Unless of course you really want to see another forest fire." With a sadistic grin and a flick of her head, a lance of sickly green flame shot out from her horn, blasting its way into the tree and lighting it ablaze with freezing flame.

"Au revoir!" She yelled, as she cantered off, laughing maniacally. In reality, the flame would only burn as long as she maintained the spell, but the peryton didn't need to know that. She was going to need to lay low now, in case the peryton really did report to the Princess, so after cantering a short ways towards Canterlot, she made a sharp turn and headed west out of the forest.

(Exit)

[MyLittlePonyTales]

"He likes caves, for one thing, and as far as I know he doesn't hang out with other Dragons. Not really his type, I'd imagine." Of course, Kira had no idea what Ezio was up to now. He could've changed his ways entirely, and already have raided a Griffin village or something. Maybe he was in this...Everfree Forest, did Skye say? It wouldn't hurt to look, but if there was more than one Dragon, and full grown ones at that, then that could prove dangerous. One, it was easy to out fly and generally maneuver around. But with multiple Dragons, the odds were stacked higher against her. But, he hadn't been through here, supposedly. That meant that he'd skipped this place altogether, or he just hadn't come that far. Though which, Kira could not be certain.

"Ugh, haven't we been over this?" She replied to Skye's question. "I was looking for something to eat, remember?" she licked her beak once over to emphasize this.

"Where I'm from, you can't afford to go through a so-called "awkward stage." If you do, you get killed, or you starve. That's how things work." And then Skye was blah blahing about Perytons. Kira was thinking this would be a good time bow out, but the Unicorn beat her to it. She watched as the blue pony walked away, and glared at her every time she glanced back, her eyes flicking between her and Skye.

As the Unicorn stopped, Kira's hackles rose. Something wasn't right. She stood and braced herself as Malediction called to the two of them one last time. As the flame shot from her horn, Kira backed away, her head lowering as she prepared herself. She watched as the tree was suddenly lit ablaze, and strangely felt a breeze ruffle her feathers at the same moment. She was far enough away that the flames from the one tree wouldn't reach her. She was safe unless the fire spread to the remaining forest. She waited to see what this Peryton, who had acted so tough and apparently had a bit of power, would do to remedy the situation. And if he couldn't, wasn't that just tough luck for the wood?

[Skye]

Skye shook his head as he finished speaking, and turned to leave just before the unicorn did. Sheesh, what was it with bad attitudes today? Oh well, he wasn't going to let one be a downer on the rest of his day. Since he'd pretty much thwarted becoming someone else's dinner, he didn't have much more to worry about. Especially once the griffon was on her way. Maybe he'd given her enough on her mind to kepe her occupied. As Mal spoke to him, he rolled his eyes. Royalist dog, indeed. She'd get what was coming to her sooner or later, he supposed. He just really didn't feel the need to follow, he had other places to be.

As Kira spoke, he rolled his eyes again. Something to eat, someone to eat, who cared, she was looking for something, either way. In any event, he'd done his duty, so whether or not she took him up on it, was up to her. He didn't particularily care for the griffoness, but it wasn't in his nature to be rude if he could help it. Angry, short perhaps, but not rude. She explained where she was coming from, certainly a talkative griffoness for one who seemed so defensive. He halfways wondered if she had any friends. Maybe not amongst ponyfolk, he doubted.

His eyes swung back to Kira, but then suddenly Mal made her parting shot, and the sudden beam of fire that erupted from her horn, he made a noise of surprise and darted to the tree. Luckily, it was green enough that if it were normal fire, that it wouldn't likely spread but he couldn't take that risk and began to dig up the turf beneath, spraying it behind him towards the noisome flames. He muttered quiet curses to himself, almost ignoring the griffon in his efforts to put the strange fire out, before it faded as the unicorn passed from its range. All the while, he was muttering to himself.

"Strange fillies, bizarre bird-things, monsters from other places, what is this world coming to? Never catch a break, hard enough just getting by without needing a fire." he stopped when he was satisifed the fire wasn't going anywhere, though now there was a large scuffed area where he'd been digging. "Magic fire or not, she should know better than that. Unicorns with fire! As if dragons weren't bad enough!" then his gaze fell back on Kira from where she was standing watching him. He cast her a glare, then deliberately walked past her in the other direction, marching his now dirty and grime-covered self towards the nearest lake. Breakfast would have to wait.

[MyLittlePonyTales]

As she watched Skye put the fire out, she thought just how clever that was. Not that she'd tell him that, of course. But, barring there being any water, it seemed soil would do in a pinch. He seemed rather frantic about it, that was for sure. Such a bit of strength in those little legs. Not surprising, though. She knew that deer could have a powerful kick on them.

Kira relaxed as the fire began to dim, glancing around to try and figure out which way would be the best way to go. Silly, really, since she was just going to fly anyhow. So much faster than walking, and safer too.

Skye finished his task and gave her a glareâ€â€Âwhat for? Oh, right, she hadn't helped him at all. It wasn't her job or responsibility. This was his territory. His problem. He wasn't family, or even friendâ€â€Âthere was nothing to be gained by helping him. Perhaps it was a common courtesy of sorts to help out in these parts, but that was not the Griffin way.

As he passed purposefully by her, she lightly raised a claw. She could just hack into him right there, a farewell before she flew away. But she didn't know how fast he could fly. It wasn't worth it, not when she'd already gone through the effort of sparing his life.

Kira knowing glared back as he passed be, watching him leave in case he tried any funny business. Boy, was he dirty! He looked utterly ridiculous, all covered in dirt and maybe even a few bugs. Kira had to hold back a giggle. He had tried to act so proud in his walk, and yetâ€â€Âit just didn't work this time, not when he was covered in grime. She hoped he might trip, but, there was no such luck as he walked off into the trees.

Glancing both ways again, and perking her ears, she checked to make sure all was well once again. She had let her guard down, and needed to become more aware of herself and her surroundings once again. She sniffed the breeze, taking in the forest scents. There were so many.

And then her stomach rumbled, to bring her out of a rare peaceful moment. Flapping her wings, she soared upward into the sky, up, up, until she was above the trees. She covered her eyes with a set of claws, trying to gauge the distance she would have to go to get something to eat. Eh, why did it matter anyway? She wouldn't be staying in the forest for long, and since the Peryton had a home here, he wouldn't be leaving any time soon to track her down anyway. Still, she took off in the opposite direction of the cliff he'd indicated earlier, in order to put some space between herself and Skye, so that she might be able to eat in piece. If she ever found anything to eat.