Griffons [Closed- apply in OOC thread]

[tacobob]

"Alright everyone, listen up. We are looking for the rare, expensive, beautiful Black Opal. We're going into the territory of the Diamond Dogs because there is said to be opal lined inside of canyons near where they live and they will help us get them cracked open. Our employer is a wealthy investor, a pony of very high standards who could not make it today because of a business obligation. Any more questions?"

"I do.", the young griffons waved a clawed hand at the nurse, "I'm a little confused. Diamond Dogs are known for being some of the best trackers in the world, and they are skilled at birth in detecting gems. I've heard the only thing more reliable than a dog's gem detecting abilities would be a unicorn's 'gem-finding spell'.", the black furred girl shifted back into her seat, "I'm just curious why our anonymous employers doesn't just seek out their aid? While they tend to be, er.", she tried to find a polite term, "Intellectually impaired and generally ethically disoriented in many cases, they can generally be decent workers if you provide proper payment. I can only assume we're going to be bouncing around in some sort of silly 'Daring Do' type dungeon with traps and such, and Dogs are a superstitious and cowardly lot..So I can only hope to guess that they might know of the place the opal is placed, but might fear the place so much that we would be needed.", she grinned hopefully, "Might have answered my own question, but it would be for the best that you can give us everything you know about this little job. The more we know, the better off we'll all be."

She patiently listened to the others as the others spoke up, nodded her head at Falco as he asked for stories, "If this trip is long, you might get yourself an earful. Unfortunately, there's a few kids on this train, so I probably couldn't tell you the more interesting ones, but I at least can throw a few tales your way as long as you promise to spin a few back my way.". The griffon couldn't help but chuckle at Gilda's disappointment in finding out that they would not be snatching the opal from the Diamond Dog's paws. "Are you trying to tell us you're some sort of cat-burglar? Gads, you're really proving yourself to be the bad girl of this little bunch. Not like I have a problem with that or anything."

'Calling me short. I'm not short.' He thought. He hated being called short!

Zelda's smiled quickly faded from her beak as Razor groaned and moaned, "Oh for pony's sake, you're going to have to admit to yourself, that you are short. Or anatomically compact as they would say. Nothing wrong with that!", she gave the male a wink, "You're in good shape and I'm going to assume you're probably a decent flyer and being lighter than the rest of us, you can probably fly circles around even miss 'Snatchy-beak' over here, so be itty-bitty and be proud of the fact! I'm sure all of us have our issues and handicaps, but I would like to believe at our current stages in our own lives, we've all manage to overcome these little problems. So while you might not be able to ride all the really fun rides in a typical amusement park, it doesn't mean you're weak or useless."

[SonicRainboomGirl]

Heidi looked once more at her companions and sighed. The wealthy business-pony she was working for had not wanted her to reveal his identity for privacy reasons. He was quite famous and rich, and simply needed a little bit of help. Heidi didn't understand how that warranted all the negativity she was receiving but she was already tired of it.

She was especially tired of Gilda's ever-present groaning.

[colour=#8b4513]"I'll certainly have it my way, Miss Gilda, or no way at all. Additionally, I don't believe my ego is the one that needs improvement. As for your question, we ARE stealing it. Why else would he hire a group of highly skilled griffons to travel into Diamond Dog territory? And why would the Diamond Dogs just let us take precious gems?"[/colour]

Heidi growled, trying her hardest to stay patient. She turned to Falco Kestrelson next, finding him a lot easier to deal with than Gilda.

[colour=#8b4513]"I understand, Mr. Kestrelson. Don't worry, I'm a trained professional and I'm here to take care of any injuries. Mentally AND physically."[/colour]

Hearing Miasma speak, Heidi grinned. She felt as though someone finally understood, it wasn't about the task or the trials. It was about the money. Who cared if their employer was stuck up or not, he was still paying them!

She turned to all of the griffons, boarding the train as she spoke, and replied to their primary question.

[colour=#8b4513]"Our employer wishes to remain anonymous for now because he is very wealthy and very famous. He doesn't want to raise any sort of media attention. But don't worry, he's very reliable and will reveal himself in time. Our money is safely guarded, and will be delivered to us once we provide him with the Black Opal. He cannot get the gem himself because of his status, so he employed us griffons. The Diamond Dogs have wonderful noses, but this opal is buried deep beneath the rock and has not been detected by their noses yet. It has only been found by a geologist. You see, my friends, our talons and beaks are hard enough to scrape through the rock the gems are hidden in and our wings can fly us out of any bad situations. Any more questions?"[/colour]

Heidi looked from face to face, hoping they could simply board the train.

[RarityDash]

[colour=#008000]“I already got all the medals I need, [/colour][colour=#008000]But I’ll be happy to receive one from you if I need to bail you out of a scrap. Heh, who knows how many times I and my over-inflated flight team had to save some useless punk’s skin back when I was in the Corps.”[/colour]

Gilda had to give it to the old guy. He could bark pretty loudly for his age. She had to wonder how far he could back up all that pride. All the same, she wasn't about to just step off from him. She didn't take likely to some old guy asserting he was the better griffon.

[colour=#996699]"Pfft, you military types are all the same. You play like your all noble and looking out even for sorts like me, but I've seen the kind of cold things you corpsgriffons are capable of. Last time I was stupid enough to put my trust in the words of an Aquelian marine I got played like a fool and... let's just say it didn't end very well for me," [/colour]Gilda started disparagingly, her memory going back to the weeks spent in Captain Stormwing's custody. She had been taken into custody for her part played as that silly pony Pathfinder's accomplice as she tried to reach the prize she sought. She had been promised freedom if she cooperated and helped track the pony down... and while she had been playing all sides through the whole ordeal, the pony had been captured in the end. That hadn't stopped Stormwing from backstabbing her at the last moment and throwing her in that detestable prison for months in the end.

[colour=#996699]"Excuse me if this punk would rather just leave the task of saving her skin to herself,"[/colour] she flippantly added, turning toward one of the others.

​

"Are you trying to tell us you're some sort of cat-burglar? Gads, you're really proving yourself to be the bad girl of this little bunch. Not like I have a problem with that or anything."

Gilda just chuckled at these comments from Zelda.

[colour=#996699]"Heh. I'm the type who does what I want when I want to. Perhaps that includes taking things on occasion, but what of it?" [/colour]she started smugly.

​

[colour=#8B4513]"I'll certainly have it my way, Miss Gilda, or no way at all. Additionally, I don't believe my ego is the one that needs improvement. As for your question, we ARE stealing it. Why else would he hire a group of highly skilled griffons to travel into Diamond Dog territory? And why would the Diamond Dogs just let us take precious gems?"[/colour]

Gilda ignored the first comments from the nurse. She could already tell that this buzz-kill griffoness wasn't going to let her have any fun. She'd stick to just ascertaining more about this illusive task for now.

[colour=#996699]"I don't know. You're the one who first said they'd be helping us crack out these gems. Don't bite my head off when you're the one sending the mixed messages,"[/colour] the aloof griffoness replied indignantly. [colour=#996699]"Either way is fine with me."[/colour]

​

[Bellosh]

[colour=#008000]“Well, I sure got plenty of stories to tell you,”[/colour] Falco Kestrelson boasted to Zelda; [colour=#008000]“Just a month ago, I finally got back from a visit to Unyasai...”[/colour] As he started relaying the tale of his last journey, the ex-Marine dwelled on how unoptimistic this trip’s prospects were already shaping up. Learning that their employer wished for anonymity, Falco figured that this pony will end up ripping them off somehow. On that note, Heidi herself smelled like a weasel too; not only did she claim earlier that this phantom employer had business obligations to attend to, but she also had flip-flopped on her Diamond Dog assessment as well. What else was Heidi hiding from the group?

Mr. Kestrelson couldn’t say he cared for Gilda’s attitude either. As typical of a punk, she didn’t offer specifics on how the Marine Corps. had wronged her. Falco would bet his pawn shop that this Gilda probably backstabbed them somehow; consequently, the griffoness probably got what she deserved. At any rate, Falco would make sure that Gilda wouldn’t pull any tricks on them either.

This expedition was going to be a long one.....

[ShadowWalking18]

Zelda's smiled quickly faded from her beak as Razor groaned and moaned, "Oh for pony's sake, you're going to have to admit to yourself, that you are short. Or anatomically compact as they would say. Nothing wrong with that!", she gave the male a wink, "You're in good shape and I'm going to assume you're probably a decent flyer and being lighter than the rest of us, you can probably fly circles around even miss 'Snatchy-beak' over here, so be itty-bitty and be proud of the fact! I'm sure all of us have our issues and handicaps, but I would like to believe at our current stages in our own lives, we've all manage to overcome these little problems. So while you might not be able to ride all the really fun rides in a typical amusement park, it doesn't mean you're weak or useless."

--------

Razor twitched when Zelda said short. He opened his mouth to say something but got silent when she started complimenting him. He wasn't use to that....it was a bit....embaressing and it had him a bit flusttered.

[colour=#FF0000]"Oh...um...well yeah I could fly circles around any of you and not even break a sweat. Especially around her." [/colour]Razor said with a smirk, now feeling less flustered.

[colour=#FF0000]"No way am I weak. I whacked about a Kraken during a beach trip."[/colour] Razor said with a look of pride. Then he blinked and tapped his beak thinking for a moment.

[colour=#FF0000]"Hey wait...Zelda? You're not the Zelda that filly Wind told me about right?"[/colour] He asked, pointing a claw at the hoodie wearing Griffoness.

[Apolline Allura]

Miasma returned to her own seat after the fracas over the employer ended. This merry little crack-team would either make or break the mission ahead, and she wasn't seeing much in the way of good prospects as far as getting in and getting out. No. There'd be scratches and tears and all sorts of issues if none of her fellow feather heads could hold their horses for five minutes.

"Get in, get out. Badabing..." she said, throwing her lion's feet up on the seat ahead of her and flapping open a newspaper. "...badaboom."

Idly, she wondered if they'd be shipping out in smaller groups to avoid suspicion. Miasma could say for sure she wouldn't mind Gilda, and Heidara's head was in the right place too at the very least. The others would have to earn her trust though, or at least, more than the little she'd reserve for any teammate.

[tacobob]

The hooded griffon sat still in her seat and listened patiently to the others as she waited for the train to restart its engines. She silently hoped Heidi was speaking figuratively when she spoke on how their beaks and claws would be used to chisel through the rocks. While she was proud of her well manicured claws and sharp beak, she was pretty sure they would be rather useless cutting through hard rock. Hopefully this rich pony would be kind enough to throw in a few pickaxes for this job. She wasn't too keen on stealing and prayed these Diamond Dogs were thieves themselves. She remembered being warned by her dear departed grandmother to avoid playing near the southeastern canyons from where she lived. There lived gangs of mean Diamond Dogs who would snatch up little girls and make them work in their mines till they became old and grey.

"Excuse me if this punk would rather just leave the task of saving her skin to herself," she flippantly added, turning toward one of the others.

"If we're going to be successful at this little job, we're going to have to watch each other's backs.", Zelda stated bluntly, "I'm a little concerned about our employer, but for now I'm just going to stick to thinking all positive-like and hope he's really on the level with us.", she had read more than a few suspense and adventure novels where the hero was finally confronted by his secret employer only to discover that he was in fact a horrible mastermind or criminal kingpin who had no intentions of paying the hero with bits, but instead intended on keeping the rescued item the hero found and giving him a quick trip to Breakbeakville and Clobber Island.

Her eyes widened as the teeny-griffon mentioned 'Wind', "You mean Wind Walker? Little scruffy blue kid with wings? She's my best friend's kid sister. Wow.", the griffon let out a chuckle, "Small world! The little blue headache machine told me about her little adventure in Bridleback with your sister. Had some interesting stories to tell me. Didn't believe half of them. Said she enjoyed hanging around with Glimmer."

“Well, I sure got plenty of stories to tell you,” Falco Kestrelson boasted to Zelda; “Just a month ago, I finally got back from a visit to Unyasai...” As he started relaying the tale of his last journey, the ex-Marine dwelled on how unoptimistic this trip’s prospects were already shaping up. Learning that their employer wished for anonymity, Falco figured that this pony will end up ripping them off somehow.

Zelda listened to the elder's story with great interest and once he was finished, she spoke up, "Always wanted to travel to the Zebra's lands. I've heard the people there are beautiful and the art they produce is a sight to be seen. Friend of mine back in Canterlot has a small collection of masks and simple art from that region, but you'd have to really go there and take it all in for the proper experience. The next time I free up some travel time, I need to get my tush over there, hopefully around the time they all have their massive partying holiday seasons."

[SonicRainboomGirl]

Heidiara could tell that Falco Kestrelson and Gilda definitely had their suspicions aroused. There was no need, really, but griffons are by nature suspicious creatures. For now, though, everything seemed to be perfectly in order. Gilda had shut her beak and got on the train, Falco was telling Zelda a fascinating tale, Razor and Zelda seemed to be talking too. Miasma was on her own, and Heidi decided to change that. She liked Miasma's attitude, she understood that the job was pretty easy and manageable. The others were too suspicious.

Heidi didn't come there to make friends, but that's not to say that she didn't like meeting new griffons. Heidi took a seat next to Miasma and started up a conversation.

[colour=#8b4513]"So, how's it going?"[/colour]

[RarityDash]

"If we're going to be successful at this little job, we're going to have to watch each other's backs. I'm a little concerned about our employer, but for now I'm just going to stick to thinking all positive-like and hope he's really on the level with us."

Gilda smirked as the hooded griffon challenged her philosophy. Most of the rest had decided to shut their beaks and just glare at her or make petty indirect jabs. This was a bold one evidently though; not surprising she supposed considering how she dressed. She gave a chuckle and shook her head. She could deal with this she supposed. Enduring months underground locked up with a pony like Pathfinder was sure evidence she could endure any kind of annoyance. She just needed to keep her cool and not let these dweebs get to her.

[colour=#996699]"From my experience, trusting others to watch your back to is a sure way to eventually get it stabbed,"[/colour] Gilda said, flippant as ever.

[colour=#996699]"You can believe what you will, I suppose, but me? i intend to keep my open and make my own conclusions about who is on the level with me and who and who isn't,"[/colour] she added with a harsh scowl.

​

[ShadowWalking18]

Her eyes widened as the teeny-griffon mentioned 'Wind', "You mean Wind Walker? Little scruffy blue kid with wings? She's my best friend's kid sister. Wow.", the griffon let out a chuckle, "Small world! The little blue headache machine told me about her little adventure in Bridleback with your sister. Had some interesting stories to tell me. Didn't believe half of them. Said she enjoyed hanging around with Glimmer."

Razor nodded, [colour=#FF0000]"Yep thats her. And yeah wasn't that much of an adventure. Kraken shows up, caused a stir and I had to help sort it out. Broke my wing during that venture, not something I want to go through again....or what happened after that." [/colour]Razor shivers remembering what happened during his recovery...if it could be called that.

[colour=#FF0000]"Anyway, yeah small world I guess. Glad the kid had fun, Glimmer really likes her as well. And I will admit the kid is fast, almost as fast as me. I got to race her again when she gets a little older. Would be alot more fair." [/colour]Razor smirked remembering that race. Wind was good, but had the endurance of a kid still.

"If we're going to be successful at this little job, we're going to have to watch each other's backs. I'm a little concerned about our employer, but for now I'm just going to stick to thinking all positive-like and hope he's really on the level with us."

Gilda smirked as the hooded griffon challenged her philosophy. Most of the rest had decided to shut their beaks and just glare at her or make petty indirect jabs. This was a bold one evidently though; not surprising she supposed considering how she dressed. She gave a chuckle and shook her head. She could deal with this she supposed. Enduring months underground locked up with a pony like Pathfinder was sure evidence she could endure any kind of annoyance. She just needed to keep her cool and not let these dweebs get to her.

[colour=#996699]"From my experience, trusting others to watch your back to is a sure way to eventually get it stabbed,"[/colour] Gilda said, flippant as ever.

[colour=#996699]"You can believe what you will, I suppose, but me? i intend to keep my open and make my own conclusions about who is on the level with me and who and who isn't,"[/colour] she added with a harsh scowl.

​

Razor rolled his eyes, [colour=#FF0000]'Someone has trust issues,'[/colour] he smirked slightly, not surprised, [colour=#FF0000]'wonder what is up with that. Hmmm, would it strike a nerve if I asked?'[/colour]

Razor thought on it for awhile and decided to save it for later. He didn't plan to be the one that sparked a wedge in this party. Still this was going to be a rather interesting trip.

[colour=#FF0000]"Look Gilda, you can watch the rest of us like a paranoid mother defending her clutch of eggs. I will agree I don't really trust an employer I don't know and if he tries to scam us out of our payment I'll gladly help ya show why you don't cheat a griffon, but for now lets at least try to avoid clawing each other to pieces. At least for now." [/colour]He said, adjusting his posistion on his seat.

[Apolline Allura]

Speaking up again from her seat, Miasma dispensed more of her barely-there wisdom. "Trust issues," she pointed at Gilda.

'

And then she counted each gryphon by name with a talon, "Calm down with all that. You're coming with a flocks' worth just to steal a big shiny rock from some mangy mutts. This is as trusting as trust gets. And if one of you chuckleheads gets outta line-" she rose her voice "-I doubt it'll be long before you end up somewhere you don't wanna. Little public service announcement."

The white-suited gryphon leaned back in her seat and flapped her newspaper back into shape once more.

[tacobob]

“Oh Gilda.”, the griffon dramatically groaned, "You sound like a gal without a friend in the world, which is a shame cause you an't that bad.", she smiled as she glanced away from her window, "I'm not going to try to change your personality. I believe the diverse traits we all have here should be useful for this little job, but you need to stop with the scowling and growling! Those give you wrinkles and nobody wants to kiss a wrinkly griffon!", she sat back in her chair and noticed that Falco was ether resting his eyes or had decided to take a nap and wisely decided to leave him alone for a moment.

She turned her attention to the small male, "Broke your wing? I hate when that happens. Hope it's better now.", she took a good look at his wing, "The little squirt will probably be the first in her family to join the Wonderbolts, that is, if she can work on her stamina. One of her brothers is a decent flyer too, but he had the worst case of stage fright I don't think he was ever able to fix.", she smiled noting that both of his wings were in tip-top condition. Whoever helped heal his wing did a pretty good job.

As she decided that the elder griffon had a pretty good idea, she decided to give her eyes a break, but before drifting off, she did overhear the other female, "Guess she has a reason for being that way. Thankfully I've managed to avoid getting something unpleasant stuffed into my back over the years. Just hope it stays the.....", she slowly drifted off to Slumberland before finishing her sentence.

[SonicRainboomGirl]

http://www.canterlot.com/topic/15369-painted-pinto-desert-griffons-pt-ii-see-ooc-thread-to-join/

^Go ahead onto that thread!