//------------------------------// // Chapter 9: Restless // Story: The Reader: Book Two // by GnollReader //------------------------------// Purple Haze had left the mice behind with the griffons and the rest of her squad. She hadn't even bothered to come up with an excuse as to why since it was likely obvious to everyone present; she needed to look after Scar. His silent departure had left her more than worried. But as always as when the gnoll disappeared, finding him turned out to be somewhat troublesome. Out in the open, there might have been tracks, some kind of clues to his passing even though he barely left any. In the castle itself though, it was even more difficult. "Dammit," Purple Haze rubbed her brow in frustration. "I should have brought Berryshakes for this," she sighed and shook her head; continuing her search of the castle in the vain hope of finding a clue to Scar's whereabouts. "He left me!" Tag wailed. "Simply leaned me against the wall and walked off! Oh, the sadness it spreads in my heart not to be with him!" "Uhm... okay?" the first griffon tilted his head in complete confusion. "Could we come back to the part why you can talk?" "Oh, never mind the confounded details!" the griffons flinched at Tag's rise in volume. "I can't be without my master! How can we bring our beauty to this world when are not one?! Ahh, how it tears at my heart to be without him!" "Who?" the second griffon asked with a dumbfounded expression. "The gnoll!" the first griffon turned to his comrade with a frown. "Who else?!" "The what now?" "The gnoll!" the first griffon repeated himself with growing frustration. "Didn't you see him?! Huge guy with big teeth! Everyone is talking about him!" "So..." the second griffon rubbed its head. "What's a gnoll?" "Ah! The despair is unbearable! I'm surrounded by heathens and the ignorant!" "A gnoll is like a diamond dog, just way, way bigger..." the griffon tried to explain. "Blasphemy!" "How big?" the other griffon asked with a frown. "Well," he rubbed the underside of his beak with a talon before pointing at Tag. "Big enough to carry that thing around on his shoulders." "Hold on?! That thing is actually a weapon?!" "Well, what else would it be?!" "How should I know?! It looks like a tree growing a rock!" "Ironwood... it's called Ironwood." "So why can it talk?" "I don't know! That's what I've been trying to find out all this time!" the first griffon wailed with frustration. "To be quite frank I'm still surprised you can talk myself." "Yeah, and I... wait, what that's supposed to-" "Focus on the matter at hand, will you?! I have been left behind in the prime of my youth and I need to be with my master! NOW!" "Will you stop yelling?!" the griffon held its head. "You're driving me insane!" "What do I care for your sanity?! I demand to be brought to my master at once!" Purple Haze mentally scolded herself; she should have thought of this earlier. She knew the gnoll long and well enough by now to know what he would do when troubled and it only dawned on her when she heard the soft prattle of the rain coming from an open window. She took a short moment to take a breath of the cooling air, then with a small leap she left the window; her wings immediately catching onto evening air and the upwinds surrounding the castle. Purple Haze slightly adjusted her wings, coming to a slow glide and starting to survey the castle below her as she searched. It took her eyes a moment to adjust to the dying light, but when they did she finally spotted what she was looking for: A black figure, perched upon one of the walls and watching the mountains as the rain continued to softly fall around it. A slight adjustment of her wings, a small shift in her posture and she quickly but quietly descended towards him; catching herself to softly land a few feet from him while he simply stared into the distance. "Hey," she spoke softly and walked up to him. "How are you?" Scar didn't respond at first, small drops of water clinging to his fur as he sat next to her. "Tired..." Scar finally mumbled without turning to look at her. "Scar feels... tired." The gnoll thought for a moment. "No... is wrong word. Scar feels, what is word?" he tilted his head slightly. "What is word for being without rest, Purple Haze?" Purple Haze quietly took a seat under his head, his huge frame protecting her from the rain. "You mean restless?" she asked with sad voice. "Restless," Scar nodded. "Scar feels restless." Purple Haze didn't reply, there was no need for him to explain why he felt restless. She let her eyes travel over the landscape in the distance, searching the mountains lining the horizon. "Were they your home?" she quietly asked, her voice barely louder than the prattle of the rain. "Was home," Scar nodded, several drops of rain falling from his head and making her flinch slightly as they landed on her ear. "On mountain behind that one," he pointed to one of the mountain ranges. "Deep valley beneath with trees as far as it can see, clan lived in burrows high up on home mountain. Warded by earth, snow and stone." "Scar wanted..." the gnoll sighed, "Scar left so he could forget. Wanted to forget ghosts of past, forget himself." He shook his head. "And Scar almost did." "You mean the path of the wild?" Purple Haze asked carefully. "Path of wild," the gnoll nodded gravely, "but not by choice. Was because search only lead to more ghosts and signs of black sleep." "More ghosts?" Purple Haze asked in wonder before understanding. "You looked for other clans..." "Scar did. Went to other clan territories..." the gnoll closed his eye for a moment as he accounted for the lost tribes. "Clan of Blackbacks, clan of Two Fangs, clan of Black Trees, clan of Stoneteeth," he opened his eye again, "and many more. But no matter where Scar went, only found silence, bones and nightmares drawn on stones." The gnoll sighed softly. "And when Scar couldn't find any other, Scar became sadder and sadder... so Scar forgot himself and walked path of wild," he shook his head, "but path of wild only lead to more pain and into cage." Purple Haze was silent for a while, simply watching the horizon with him as the last rays of light caught within the soft rain and skimmed the edges of the mountains. "Scar," Purple Haze started, "you know you don't have to do this." "Scar knows," the gnoll replied with a small sigh but then turned his head to softly smile at her, "but Scar wants to help too." He reached out and softly patted her head. "More than it even wants to forget, Scar wants to help, and maybe... maybe it will find peace along the way." Purple Haze took a moment to smile back at him, enjoying this little moment of peace next to him. "Want to go back inside?" she finally asked with a small smirk. "I'm sure you're hungry after tearing half the castle apart." The gnoll cringed slightly. "Featherclaws aren't mad, are they?" Purple Haze chuckled. "They'll forgive you, I'm sure," she patted his paw and got up. "Come on, let's get you something to eat." "Left! Left I tell you!" "Give us a rest!" the griffon huffed as he and his colleague carried the huge maul down the corridor. "We're doing our best so at least be quiet!" "How did we convinced to do this again?" the other guard's eyes bulged under the weight of the weapon. "We don't even know where to look! Just tell us where you want us to go and we'll give you directions!" "The righteous and faithful need no directions! Love shall be my only guidance!" Tag yelled in defiance. "Onwards! Through that door awaits my master and glory! My heart shall lead the way!" The two griffons gave a final heave of anguish, carrying the huge maul forward and pushing open the doors in front of them in the process; only to feel fatigue wash over them when they saw where Tag's directions had led them to. Before them, an arrangement of ponies, countless little mice and their patriarchs were staring at them with dumbfounded expressions. "Gods, confound it! You led me in the wrong direction!"