//------------------------------// // A Late Night Visit // Story: The Ties that Bind // by the7Saviors //------------------------------// The full moon was out and getting higher in the sky by the time Den Golden Beak had left the pub. He was in no particular hurry to get back to his cabin just north of Faranda Way, so he took his time with a leisurely roundabout flight. The cool night air through his feathers and the pleasant buzz in his head made for a rather calming flight over the town. He'd knocked back a few, but he made sure he was just sober enough to fly straight and think clearly, which was just as well, he had quite a bit to think about that evening. In his long life, he'd never seen a creature such as the one he'd stumbled across in that pub, and in a town that boasted such a diverse group of creatures, that was a rarity. It wasn't just her strange outward appearance that had caught his attention either. That creature—that... batpony, she positively reeked of secrets. Den had always known when someone was hiding something, it was a trait that he'd honed and nourished over many years. It was how he'd managed to weasel some of the rarest treasures he owned out of the poor fools he bargained with in the past. Yes, the strange pony was an interesting sort, but she was also dangerous. One other thing Den had learned through experience was when to leave well enough alone. Still, old habits died hard and the old griffon couldn't resist listening in to the batpony's conversation, and what a strange and tragic tale it had been. Thestrals they were called, and from what he'd heard, it sounded like they'd all been wiped out by some passing corrupt Dark Mage. All of them except for this Frigid Gale it seemed, and while that was a shame, Den could tell the tragic creature had been holding something back in her story. Then there was the fact that she knew Ancient Scroll, and in fact had been raised by the old stallion for some time. Den knew both Ancient Scroll and Yojimbo from back when they'd traveled together for a time, but neither of them had bothered to visit the old bird until recently. Den thought back to the visit with a bitter snort. The first time either of them had visited in what felt like forever, and it had only been for his Vardo. He was happy to take Ancient Scroll's bits, and those of the Abyssinian of course, but in truth, he would've rather they'd simply come over for a visit, maybe catch up and reminisce about life on the road. It wasn't to be though, and they'd only arrived for business, as everyone did whenever they came to visit the crotchety old griffon trader. His attitude towards others didn't exactly help he knew, but it was something he couldn't help. He'd lived in Griffonstone for much of his youth. Belligerence, rudeness, and avarice were simply the way of things in that city, and years away from his hometown did little to change him in that particular regard. That made it hard for him to communicate what he really wanted to say, and ruined any real chance at a relationship, be it friendly or something more. Despite this however, he'd somehow managed to befriend those two idiots somewhere along the way. He didn't deserve them as friends, and he knew it, but there it was. Evidently they'd grown apart though, because Ancient Scroll had never once thought to introduce him to the thestral that he'd apparently been raising. "Then again, I suppose I can't really blame all that much," he muttered to himself, slowly descending as his cabin came into view in the distance, "not exactly a trustworthy griffon, no matter what the old stallion says..." While he and the thestral hadn't been very much alike when it came to looks, personality, beliefs, or much of anything else really, there was one thing he felt they both shared. He hadn't spoken to the thestral mare and still he was all but certain they were the same in this regard. That mare had a secret, and it was a very dark secret indeed. Perhaps it was something she was plotting right at this moment, perhaps it was something she'd done in the past, but it was obvious that mare was up to no good, he could practically taste it. If her story about her tribe was to be believed, perhaps it did have something to do with revenge, but there was more to it than that, Den was sure of it. Seeing her, hearing her talk, the way her eyes shifted, the look in those eyes, listening to her try to wheedle information out of that diamond dog. It all reminded him of how he used to be, and still was to a certain degree. It reminded him of a life he'd left behind a very, very long time ago, a life he'd given up when he met Ancient Scroll. An old and familiar wave of regret washed over the equally old griffon as he reached his home and alighted upon the doorstep. Thinking of the way that mare had acted had his own thoughts turning back to a time when he was a different type of griffon—a cruel griffon who'd worked in an even crueler business. But that was all in the past, or so Den repeatedly told himself, not that it ever helped. He was a changed bird, he'd remind himself—a better bird than he used to be. Sure his attitude and temper were still rotten, and sure he was still a greedy old bastard, but he'd been that way even before his life had gone awry, and he wasn't about to give that part of him up, changed griffon or no. Still, there were times when the old Den would break through, but thankfully that was rare, and he'd managed to get a much better handle on himself in recent years. Seeing that thestral though... Seeing her dark coat, the leathery wings, those icy eyes, the fangs, just barely visible, and that shock of teal mane. The exotic nature of the mare had dragged the old Den to the surface in a very real and very terrifying way. If he was being honest with himself, he hadn't left the pub because he didn't want to get involved with the thestral or her secrets. He'd forced himself to leave, forced himself to take a calming, thoughtful flight over the brightly lit town to clear his head. He'd left because if he'd stayed there any longer, his thoughts would've gone to some very dark and familiar places—places he no longer had any desire to visit. The names of old contacts Den had thought long forgotten had begun to resurface in his mind, and when he'd caught himself wondering whether or not he should mention the thestral to said contacts, he'd decided it was time to make his exit. He felt better now that he was away from the mare and back home, but when he'd first left, he'd practically been shaking with anxiety and guilt. Shaking his head free of the thoughts, Den turned the knob of his front door and felt it give only slightly before it stopped turning altogether. Grumbling to himself, he stretched out his left wing and held a claw beneath it, only to frown and look back at it a moment later. He jostled the wing slightly a few times before his brows furrowed and he did the same with the other. Not finding what he was looking for, he cast a backward glance towards the way he'd come. "Strange," he muttered with a half troubled, half bemused frown, "I would've noticed if it'd fallen while I was flying..." he turned back to the front door, his frown deepening, "pretty sure I didn't drop it, so what—" "Pssst... hey, up here!" Den jolted and his eyes shot upward at the loud and sudden whisper, and what he saw made his heart hammer in his throat. For a brief moment, the only thing he could see were a pair of bright blue eyes staring back at him from atop the roof of his cabin. In that instant, they seemed to fill his entire vision. The shock passed quickly however, and he could just make out the outline of a pony's head. At least, that's what he would've thought had it not been for the narrow, predatory slit of its eyes and the odd tuft of its ears. Add to that the gleam of sharp fangs visible in the pale moonlight and Den was all but certain this wasn't any ordinary pony. On the contrary, he knew without a doubt exactly who and what this was, and he wasn't at all prepared for an encounter with it, or rather, her. "You," Den breathed, his mouth dropped slightly open. "Me," Frigid Gale replied simply, a wicked fang filled grin splitting her face. She shifted and Den could see more of her as she straightened and stood up, "name's Frigid Gale, and I'd say it's nice to meet you, but you probably already know me from back at the pub." "What in the King's name are you doing hanging around my cabin?" the old griffon demanded, trying to regain some of his gruff and intimidating demeanor, "I've no business with you, and I'll be damned if I let you steal anything of mine, you—" "If I wanted to take your precious loot, I'd have done it and been gone already," Gale drawled before hopping off the roof. She flapped her wings a few times before gently touching down a yard or two away from Den, "you would've never even noticed until I was long gone." Den could see the odd creature in full now, and here in the moonlight, the very sight of her baffled and unnerved him in a way he hadn't felt in the pub. For all intents and purposes, she was a pony—a prey animal, but it was plain as the moon in the sky that she was also a natural predator. The dichotomy of her existence was tugging unpleasantly at his ingrained ideas of what it meant to be the predator and the prey. He had the feeling he wouldn't be the only griffon to feel this way either. Nevertheless, he pushed the unease to the back of his mind and narrowed his eyes at the smirking thestral before him. "Oh, I would've noticed, believe me, batpony," Den growled, "you spend a bit more time around griffons and you'll learn its never a good idea to steal from one." "True, griffons do tend to guard their junk jealously," Frigid Gale conceded, her smirk widening into a grin, "but I've spent more than a little time living amongst the best and worst of them. Even picked up a few tricks from some griffon friends of mine, and let me tell you..." She gave a sudden sharp flick of her tail and Den saw something small and metal sail through the air and over Gale's head, its shape glinting in the light of the moon. Frigid Gale snapped a hoof out and snatched the object out of the air before it could get too far. She held it up for the old griffon to see, the smile never leaving her face. "...if it weren't for unicorns and their magic, griffons would definitely reign supreme as the best damn thieves in the world." Held atop Frigid Gale's outstretched hoof was none other than the key to the front door that Den had been looking for previously. The griffon stared at the slightly rusty key with bewilderment. The gears turned in his head as he searched his memory for any point where Gale would've been able to take the thing from him. Ironically he'd been too busy thinking about the mare herself on the way here to pay all that much attention to his own surroundings. His bewilderment turned to anger soon enough and he took a threatening step forward. "I don't know who you think you are," he hissed, "but you'd best give that here or things are gonna go downhill for you very fast." "So now we've devolved into petty threats, eh?" Frigid Gale mused, idly tossing the key in the air, "well, I only came here to talk, but if you wanna go that route, then I guess there's nothing for it," she tossed the key one last time before letting it fall into her hoof, and eyeing it curiously, "hiding the key in your wings in mid flight, that's a pretty neat trick, not something I could do with my wings." She looked at the key for another few seconds before giving a small shrug and tossing the key in Den's direction. Not having expected the move, Den let out a surprised squawk and scrambled back onto his hind legs in a fumbling attempt to catch the thing in his claws. He'd only just gotten a good grip on the key—barely long enough to notice the piece of metal in his claw was ice cold, before he felt something grab his throat and cut off his air. He managed a choked gurgle before he felt himself slammed painfully against his own front door. He clenched his eyes shut and let out a pained groan as his back pressed into the wood, and it took him a moment to realize he wasn't moving. The pressure on his throat let up just enough for Den to breath and he cracked an eye open. A second later, both eyes snapped open in surprise as he saw the thestral mare. She hadn't moved an inch from where she stood, though her eyes seemed to glow brighter in the darkness. At first he wasn't sure if it was his own imagination, but a quick glance downward revealed that his entire body was bathed in a teal glow. He was trapped, his back against the door and unable to move an inch, no matter how he tried. Somehow, the thestral mare was holding him in place with magic—the kind of magic unicorns used. Den had traveled around the world with Ancient Scroll and his group for some time, and had seen some fairly strange things along the way, but this was a first. He'd been in dangerous situations similar to this one, and thinking back on that, his immediate shock and panic began to recede, leaving wariness and an odd sense of nostalgia in their place. "I know a pretty neat trick of my own," Frigid Gale boasted, "didn't pick this one up from a griffon though. This one I learned from an old geezer way back when." Having remembered the earlier conversation between the thestral and diamond dog, Den didn't have to wonder too hard about who she was talking about. The thought nearly made him laugh out loud, but he stopped himself short, if only because he could barely take in enough air to actually do so. Leave it to Scroll to teach a non-unicorn how to use magic. Causing me all kinds of trouble even when he's not here, the bastard... "Very... impressive," Den managed to croak. Despite the pain and his dangerous shortage of breath, he let himself crack a small smirk, "you really are... full of surprises... but you can't keep... this up much longer, whelp... I can... see it." Frigid Gale frowned at that. It was true enough, and they both knew it. The fur around the mare's face was starting to glisten with sweat and she'd set her jaw tightly against the strain of holding the griffon in place. Frigid Gale didn't reply right away and Den watched with some grim satisfaction as her eyes narrowed. After a brief stare down, the mare gave a heavy, half resigned, half exhausted sigh before letting the griffon drop to the ground. Den fell gracelessly onto his stomach and stayed that way for a few moments, hacking and wheezing violently as he tried to suck some air back into his lungs. "Well buck," Gale exclaimed, brushing her mane out of her face and giving Den a slightly sheepish smile, "guess you called my bluff. Yeah, Ancient Scroll taught me how to use telekinesis, but it's not exactly my strong suit," her smile fell into a serious frown, "that doesn't mean I don't have other 'neat tricks' up my nonexistent sleeves, Golden Beak." "And of course she knows my name," he grumbled before unsteadily rising to his claws and paws. He spoke a little louder as he bent down and grabbed the key he'd dropped, "don't worry, girl, I'm no fool. I know there's a lot more to you than you let on, and I don't feel like testing my luck any more tonight. No reason for me to die when I still got a few things left to live for." He fought back a wince even as he said the words. If the thestral mare had known what he'd been thinking as he sat at his table with his drink and listened in on her conversation, she might have thought differently on the matter. He pushed the thought away and shoved the key into the lock on the door. "Anyway, you wanted to talk, right?" he continued, turning the knob and pushing the front door open. He glanced back at Frigid Gale with a hard frown, "well, it's getting cold so you might as well come in... clucking psycho..." He muttered the last words as he turned and stepped into the cabin. Frigid Gale's ears twitched at the insult, but she only smiled in satisfaction as she followed behind Den. Frigid Gale thought she'd have to intimidate the griffon a bit more, but the old bird was smarter than he looked. If it hadn't been for the fact that the bastard had in fact been a slaver once, she might've even taking a liking to old Den. As things stood however, she wasn't quite sure what she'd planned to do to the griffon once the talking was done.