Her weeks of travel had taught Gilda that food was not easy to find. Back in Equestria, she'd never been far from a marketplace or homestead, and even in the so-called wild, there was fruit and small game for the taking. Out here, though, the ground was hard and the dirt thin, leading to precious little in the way of plants. She couldn't recall seeing a single tree past the border, in fact. And game was even scarcer, consisting mostly of mice and stunted mountain hare.
Still, Gilda wasn't about to let a stupid mountain get the best of her, and she had an injured pony to feed, too, so she set out on food, prepared to scour every crack and crevice until she found them both dinner.
Speaking – or thinking, more accurately – of Shadowheart, she really had to wonder what was wrong with him. Ponies were usually total softies, and most of them were in awe of her just because she was a griffin. Shadowheart, on the other hand, seemed to hate griffins, which was an attitude Gilda had never seen before.
Then again, she had first seen him being carried like oversized prey by a griffin. And said griffin had thrown him at Gilda. This wasn't Equestria- maybe griffins and ponies just didn't get along out here? It felt unnatural even to think of that, but it made the most sense.
She spotted movement out of the corner of her eye and, not wanting it to get away, pounced before she was even fully turned. Her claws scrabbled on stone for a moment, hind legs trying to compensate for the awkward angle and the position of her forefeet. Her prize was another mouse, not even fully grown, but it was her first meat in days- she swallowed it whole and resumed her hunt.
~*~
This time, Scars himself came to the outpost. Lantern came with him, trotting lightly through the gates as if they hadn't galloped hard the entire way. Yume met them there and told them what little there was to tell, then stepped back so Scars could take charge.
“Alright,” Scars said, stepping to the center of the courtyard and waiting until he had everypony's complete attention. “Shadowheart's a big colt- he'll have to take care of himself.”
Yume lifted her head, ears slanting backward sharply, but she didn't object.
“We can't afford to waste time, resources, and possibly lives chasing after someone who's probably already dead,” Scars continued flatly. “What we need to concentrate on is how a griffin got this close to the outpost, especially right after an attack, and how to keep it from happening again. Does anyone know where Shadowheart was when he was grabbed?”
There was a pause and the sound of shuffling hooves, then Heavensent limped her way to the front of the crowd. “I do,” she said quietly. She was young, and had been raised in the clouds above the central fort, so she was wary of Scars at the best of times. “He was in the rock maze. I saw him and went down to see what he was doing.”
Scars turned, stepping to stand in front of Heavensent. “Well?”
“You're scaring her, Scars,” Lantern said, stepping up next to him and shoving his shoulder lightly. “I'll handle her.”
Scars snorted heavily, then nodded. “Fine. Yume.” Yume hurried to his summons, not wanting him to get any more annoyed. “We need to set up better patrols- a griffin should never have been able to come so close to the walls without anyone raising an alarm.”
Yume nodded, hanging her head to acknowledge her failure there. She'd known Scars all her life, so his abrupt bluntness was easier for her to shrug off than Heavensent. “Yes, sir. I'll gather up those fit for patrols.”
“Do that,” Scars said. “Bring them here in an hour.” He pivoted in place and started for the gate again, every hooffall radiating pure grim determination. “I'm going to go see what in the blazing skyfire was so important Shadowheart let himself get caught.”
~*~
Gilda caught another sorry-looking mouse and a nearly starved mountain hair, and gathered a small bag of wilting grass before deciding that was all the luck she was going to have and turning to retrace her steps, again not bothering to fly. Mountains had some wicked winds around them, and she'd rather not have any broken legs.
It took longer than she thought it would to see the glow from the fire, and she rushed eagerly toward it. Hopefully Shadowheart hadn't wandered off while she was working her tailfeathers off to find him food...
She pulled up short at the edge of the clearing, because she suddenly realized this wasn't the clearing she'd left behind. Shadowheart was resting in a large, shallow depression in the mountainside with a slight rocky overhang, the fire off to the side where a tumble of fallen stones protected it from the wind. This clearing was much deeper and had the perfect regular outline of something made, not naturally formed. What she'd taken in the darkness for rock piles were actually small trees, thick with leaves. The fire was in the center of the clearing and much bigger than hers, and the creature beside it was most definitely not Shadowheart.
At first, she thought it was a young dragon. The firelight flickered over membrane wings of a muted green, and she spotted a limp draconic tail of the same color. But the head it raised and turned toward her was definitely equine, topped with a silky mane that appeared pitch black.
“Madame Griffin,” it said politely, standing and shaking itself. The voice was masculine enough, but with a body like that, how could she possibly be sure? “Don't just stand there- come join me. The fire's nice and warm, and I still have a few roasted apples to share.”
Gilda's mouth began to water at the mention of roasted apples. When was the last time she'd eaten fruit? She lifted one claw, then set it back down and shook herself.
“Sorry, but no can do. I've got someone waiting for me.”
He – she was going to assume he for now – shrugged, folding his wings against his back. “Suit yourself, then. Try not to get lost.”
Gilda bristled slightly, the feathers of her crest rising in irritation. “I just got confused, okay? I didn't know anyone else was around here!”
“Not my fault,” he said. “I've lived here all my life, so it's not as if I snuck up on you. Better hurry back to your friend.”
Gilda hissed at him, turning and storming off. She'd thought for sure she'd gone in the right direction... too bad it wasn't light yet. Come dawn, she'd be able to fly pretty high and see most everything. For now, she might as well be wingless.
It took her nearly another hour to find her own fire. Shadowheart had fallen asleep again, so she piled the grass she'd found where he'd see it once he woke up and settled down on the other side of the fire, intending to sleep while she could. No telling what the sunrise might bring.
~*~
Shadowheart didn't sleep so much as spend a period of time passed out. Even if Gilda was different from the griffins he was used to, she was still a griffin, and he hadn't intended to leave himself open to attack around her. But one minute he'd been staring at the fire, and the next he was staring at a pile of grass in the morning sunlight.
He sat up with some difficulty and laid into the meal. He was starving, and it was about on par with what he'd have found around the outpost for his breakfast, anyway, so he had no complaints.
Gilda was sprawled across the rock on the other side of the smoldering ashes, deeply asleep. Again, he couldn't help but think: even injured as he was, all it would take was a single spell. Just a quick burst of magic. She had to know that, but it seemed as if she was absolutely certain he would never hurt her, despite being a pony.
His meal eaten, Shadowheart laid his head back down, keeping one eye aimed skyward. Neither he nor Gilda blended in very well, and he needed to be able to wake her in time to counter any attacks. For now, at least, he would just have to... trust her. Alien though the thought might be.