//------------------------------// // [12] (Travel) The rivalry begins. // Story: My Little Fortress: Shadytrails // by PersonalGamer //------------------------------// The fresh summer air, the birds singing, animals frolicking, and new migrants to the trading post of Shadytrails. While the place doesn’t live up to its name, with it being not that shady and having no trails for miles, ponies still thought it wise to travel here. Perhaps the idea of a new start attracted them? Who knows. Regardless, the group has two oddities standing out among the group. Two hired blades had come along for the trip, and while the two weren’t on the best terms, they were still friendly enough to not cut their throats over leftovers. One a gryphon, the other a unicorn. The griffon had mostly kept to himself during the trip. He’d occasionally make a jest here and there or a pleasantry, but for the most part he was busy with the job at hand. He was focused solely on scanning the area around the group as they marched on, hoping to spot any potential danger before it happened. He’d go for hours like this without saying a word unless someone chose to intervene in any way. He was very large even for a griffon and was muscular and looked to be an older fellow. His wingspan was equally large, perfectly proportionate to his size. Regardless though he always walked rather slouched over during the trip, which it made hard to really difficult to appreciate how tall he was. The unicorn however mostly stayed at the back, silently resenting her armor bearer and personal servant had been killed in the past week. Along with some slight resentment for the composition of the party, but she never made much of a fuss, seeing that as bad form for hired help. There’d be time for that when they finally reached the destination. She trotted in the clothing she had set aside for off-duty wear, seeing as she had no armor at the time due to the aforementioned incident. The griffon was far more fortunate. He’d been wearing his armor whenever possible. He wasn’t particularly well armed, but it was certainly better than the unicorn’s situation. His chest was clad in bronze chainmail and he had a copper hat and a wooden shield strapped to his back. The shield was particularly beat up and had chips and a cut on it’s rim. Regardless of the damage one could make out what looked to be an X sloppily painted it in black against a green background. Also strapped onto the griffon’s back was a large halberd made of iron. It had some rust on it, but it’s blade was still very sharp and in relatively good condition. The unicorn had been clad in rather bulky armor for the bulk of the trip until a few nights ago, however what had happened was in the past. Now she had a rather fancy -compared to the garbs of the others- set of underclothes to call her own instead of her normal attire. It wasn’t the best, though it certainly wasn’t the worst. It was dyed a light gray with her legs dyed a darker shade. Against her side rested a scabbard with a long sword sheathed inside. Said sword was rather new compared to the gryphon’s halberd, no sign of wear and tear at all. The griffon kept marching on in front of the group, stoic as ever before straightening his posture and seeming very distracted by something. He’d come to a halt soon after his focus was taken away from their surroundings and brought to their front. He’d hold up his claw to signal them to stop before pulling out his halberd and shield and starting to slowly approach a large tree in front of them. He didn’t wait for the unicorn as he advanced. “You’re being quite hasty. Smell a gryphoness in heat?” The unicorn snickers, following him, not caring for if he had seen something or not. Didn’t really matter to her. Any action would be good at the moment. Of course, she hadn’t unsheathed her sword, so anything that could show up would probably get a good few seconds to run or attack before she could retaliate. The griffon tensed up a little when he heard the unicorn’s comment and grumbled a little. By now he was already peeking behind the tree with his shield raised, only to see nothing of interest. It must of been a squirrel or something that made made the noise that grabbed his attention to the tree. Once he felt it was safe he finally was comfortable enough to respond to the mare. “There is nothing behind the tree my friend... and you know a mare like yourself would do good to keep their mind out of the gutter.” He was actually rather angered by her comment, but he tried his best not to let it show. The mare chuckled. “Yes, yes. Provided you keep yourself from going insane before we reach the destination, I’ll keep those comments to myself.” She turned around. “Now, let’s keep going. I’d rather have a more dignified place to sleep by the week’s end.” She began to trot back to the group. He looked at her as she walked away and put his shield and weapon back onto his back. “You call it insanity, but if you were as insane as I right now maybe you’d still have some armor between you and an arrow.” He knew whatever attacked them before may still be out there, following them, looking for another chance to ambush them. It was their... or at least his job to keep these people safe, but this mare didn’t seem to be taking this seriously at all. “I hope you know just how bad of a situation we are in.” His tone wasn’t that of anger and was rather calm. He was trying to inform her as opposed to scold. The mare had turned around by now, trotting back to the gryphon. “I understand just what we’re to be doing, my dear companion, however my main duty is to protect citizens of Shadytrails. Until we reach the place, these ponies are simply aligned to whatever town they left to come here.” She explained, returning the calm voice. “Regardless, I realize you may have problems with my justification. So be it. Now. Let’s get going, yes?” The Griffon stared at her blankly for a few seconds, before making a small sigh and turning around. “Very well. Let us move on.” He said before starting to move forward again. He was very annoyed by this mare. Here she was being critical of others when she’d lost her own gear and made a fool of herself. She refuses to take responsibility for the protection of her party when she’s willing to sleep and eat with them, and to make things worse she wont stop trying to start drama with him for her own amusement. She was like a spoiled child, but made all the worse because someone gave her a weapon. “Also please, do not call me companion or comrade or anything along those lines, those are mutual things...” This time he sounded a bit annoyed, but still trying his best not to sound angry. She begins to follow him, snickering. “It’s quite fun pushing your buttons. Do gryphons back home do this to ya a lot?” While she did know when to stop -preferably before getting beheaded by a giant halberd-, she did enjoy seeing the gryphon angry. Probably a bit more sadistic than she normally was, but it was just a gryphon after all. Stubborn and unable to enjoy the simple things, always looking for some ultimate purpose in their acts. That or this gryphon was simply unable to take teasing for what it was. She never meant the previous statement wholeheartedly. Suuure, she didn’t really like most of the ponies in the group, and legally, she wasn’t obligated to help them should they get in trouble, buuuut… Being chewed out isn’t what she calls a fun day of leisure. The griffon always tried his best not to show her any real signs of distress or anger though he couldn’t help but seem slightly annoyed despite his best efforts. He could tell this one fed off of it, and it only made him hate his time with her even more. People like her always had to make things worse than they had to be, and be problematic whenever possible. “Either you're wrong on purpose, state the obvious, or ask stupid questions. You should try harder not to make a fool out of yourself.” If anything he wasn’t being angry at her, he simply was annoyed. Her existence during the this trip only made things more tiresome than they needed to be for the griffon. The mare chooses to stay quiet, being done with her game, continuing towards the waiting group, motioning for them to continue moving towards the destination. “Come on Gryphon. Let’s go before we kill each other.” He nodded slowly and waited for the group to start moving. “My name is Fargo...” He’s told her his name before, but he had a feeling a gryphon was all he was to her “and I’d never sink so low as to kill someone I have to protect.” He had to. She’d lost her gear and was part of the party regardless of how much he loathed dealing with her. “Yes, yes. I suppose if we’re introducing ourselves again, Lucky Lands. Though I’m sure you need a refresher anyway.” She chuckles. “That was a joke.” “Yes and it was very hilarious.” He didn’t chuckle at all, and just glared at her for a moment before looking back at the group. “Good. Glad you have some ability to understand jokes.” She smirks, rejoining the group. Fargo kept where he was in front of the group and just watched her trot away, fighting the urge to give a remark with all his will. He knew this was a situation where it was best just to let things go, and saying something in response would only serve to make his time here more stressful. He hoped if he kept quiet maybe Lucky Lands would have the grace of keeping herself silent.