James
"Yes! Oh come on baby! Come to daddy! Ooooh perfect!" I cheered with my rod in hand.
The smiling gryphoness beside me burst into uproarious laughter when the line snapped and my fishing pole came back to slap me in the face, wounding little more than my pride. She laughed so hard a tear or two streaked down her her crimson cheeks. "I think you scared it off with your...what was that? Were you trying to seduce it?" She cried out between bouts of laughter.
"Ah! Help me get it! He was huge!" I desperately tried to track the large fish's movements. I couldn't identify fish to save my life but all I could tell was that it looked like it would taste amazing. In a burst of speed I somehow managed to catch the monster in both arms as if thrashed about, smacking me in the face with its tail.
"Gah! Valerie! A little help?" I cried out before trying to bite onto the tail to hold it still. Despite my best efforts it must have been an entertaining spectacle to behold.
"Whew that was hilarious! Yeah I'm coming. Just don't squeeze it too tightly!" Valerie hopped off her rock and bounded across some large rocks in the stream to reach me. As soon as she did she carefully sank her talons into both sides of the fish, careful to not slip and cut my arms even as the fish's movements slowed to almost nothing.
"Wow. That is a big fish." She said simply, holding the fish up as I released my grip. Standing on her hind-legs the fish measured roughly half as long as she was tall. For just the two of us it would practically be a feast. She grinned widely at me and the fish. "Breakfast."
As soon as she said it I almost collapsed. I was barely able to stand unsupported as it was and catching that fish had taken a lot out of me. Keeping one claw in the fish, Valerie caught me in the other one. "I got you. Now come on, you'll sit out and I'll take care of the fish." I could only nod as she held me close. With a hop and a few strong flaps of her wings we were over to the other side of the bank where we had been taking turns fishing from.
Valerie laid me down gently beside a large rounded stone and dropped the fish in my lap a moment later.
"So...how are we gonna cook this thing?" A glance at the pensive look on her face told me that she was likely about to ask me the same question."
"I don't suppose you're skilled enough to cook it with magic?" She pointed a single talon at me with her palm up.
"You're in my head. Best I could probably do is push it away and even then simply throwing it would do more." I shrugged. Even if I could control fire I would probably burn the fish to a crisp, although the idea of building a cooking spit was gaining traction in my mind.
"Hm. Your idea with the cooking spit doesn't seem half bad." I felt surprised for a moment before remembering the gryphoness's unique talents. It would definitely take some getting used to but it would no doubt speed up how fast we'd be able to come up with ideas.
"And that also means you can't conjure it up either...eugh...I'll go gather the stuff for it." She blew a puff of air before walking off searching in the immediate area. I sat patiently and drew pictures in the dirt with a stick that had been sitting next to me. I settled on trying to draw a picture of Valerie while she gathered the materials for a cooking spit, glancing up at the distracted gryphon for a reference. Despite the improvised drawing material I was ultimately satisfied with the simple yet pleasant looking drawing.
"If you're having trouble with the beak a trick that helps is to imagine you're drawing a crescent moon!" She called out to me while scooping up a few stones. Though I couldn't see her face the tone in her voice told me that she was probably smiling about my little image.
Just how far can you hear my thoughts anyway? I focused, intending her to hear the question.
"About as far as if it was in ear shot! It's easier though here since it's just the two of us!" She returned. It was both strange and exciting to think of a question and hear her speak the answer.
I wonder if I would ever be able to read your thoughts like you can mine.
"Actually you can if we make physical contact! It might take a little practice though and I'm not sure but maybe at a distance too with magic or if you had some latent ability for it!" She called out again.
The back and forth continued even as Valerie finished gathering the necessary materials and began assembling a rudimentary cooking spit. Despite my protests she cooked the fish as well, making short work of the scales with her talons.
Soon we were silently enjoying the well-cooked fish as we rested against the large round boulders that dotted the banks of the stream. Valerie was examining the drawing I'd made while I sank into a fish-induced bliss.
"Hmmm...this is beyond amazing. I didn't even realize how hungry I was. You can cook a mean fish." I nearly moaned.
She returned a soft chuckle. "I think that's more just how hungry you must be."
With my mouth full of fish I simply nodded. Before I took another bite I turned towards Valerie. "How did you know I could even eat fish anyway?"
"Canine teeth." She said simply, pointing to her beak where her canines would be if she were a human. "Never seen an herbivore with canines. Plus even ponies eating a fish isn't unheard of. It just makes them feel sick if they eat too much of it."
I nodded again as I returned to my meal, watching out of the corner of my eye as she sheared off large chunks of her own half of the fish with her beak. Once we were finished we took a long moment to simply enjoy the gentle morning sunlight peeking through the trees.
A moment later Valerie let out a long sigh and stretched out her wings. "This was nice. I only wish we could do it again sometime."
"Why don't we?" I offered with a smile.
"I wish we could." She frowned as she tapped a talon on the rock she sat on. "But the caravan is going to be in Canterlot for a week. After that we'll be going back to the Gryphon kingdoms. It could be several months or more before we return." She looked away from me.
"You don't seem like you want to go..."
"I don't!" She burst out. I don't want to be a merchant my whole life! I'm sick of it! I'm grateful that I have a stable future, yeah but it's not what I want!" She jumped off of her rock and paced around as she ranted, her the colors of her feathers almost appeared to shine as they sunlight seemed to roll down her. It would have been rather picturesque if it weren't for the distressed gryphon becoming increasingly frustrated.
"What do you want to do?" I asked quietly, hoping she wouldn't turn her frustration on me.
"I want to have a choice! Maybe I want to be a damned tailor or chef! I really wish I could do something that involves flying for a job!" She continued on without even looking at me.
"Then why don't you stay? What's binding you to them?"
"I've got to provide for myself! I can't just go eat grass all day and sleep outside!" She swung an arm into the air for emphasis.
I understand but maybe we could sit down and come up with something if you simply relaxed. Although I expected the irate gryphon to respond she seemed to miss the thought, too caught up in her own tirade. At the risk of telling an angry female to relax I voiced my thoughts.
Hearing this, Valerie seemed to deflate for a moment before settling back down, although she tapped restlessly on the rock with her talons expecting me to continue. "Well I'm waiting for some brilliant idea!" She narrowed her eyes.
"Okay okay..." I raised my hands, surprised that the timed seeming gryphon I'd met earlier could have such a temper. As soon as the thought crossed my mind I caught her eyes narrow just a hint further.
"Why don't you try out for the Wonderbolts?" I smiled appeasingly.
She let out a long breath and her temper seemed to lose some steam. "Because there's never been a gryphon in the Wonderbolts. Not to mention they're based mainly in Cloudsdale even if my some miracle I got in. Plus I have no idea how I'd support myself in the meantime. On top of all that even in the likelyhood Matriarch Tamarra allowed it my own mother would shoot it down, even though I can legally make my own decisions." She pouted.
"Would there be any way for you to go to Cloudsdale to try out while the caravan was in Canterlot? Maybe they would agree to that much." I made a slow effort to stand up so I could approach her. She tensed up as my legs wobbled but I managed to maintain balance by putting a hand on a nearby tree. In a short half-glide, half-walk Valerie made her way beside me, wrapping one of my arms around her neck and holding onto my hand in a sort of assisted carry.
"Come on. We can talk as we head back." She said in a hollow tone. "And I don't know...what if it doesn't work out?" She glanced at me sadly. "It's been a little dream of mine for ages but even if it's theoretically allowed I doubt all the pegasi would want a lone gryphon in their mix.
"There's a first time for everything." I answered softly.
"I...I'll think about it." She whispered. "But what about us? Not that we really even know each other but I would like to see you again. If I were to live in Cloudsdale..."
"I've actually been living in Cloudsdale. Just visiting Canterlot for a while."
"Really?" She perked up.
"What do you do? Are you staying with anyone?" She asked in a tone that suggested just a bit more than innocent curiosity. Just before I could speak she appeared to read the words in my mind since her eyes opened wide and she seemed at a loss to find words for a moment.
"What's the matter? Do you know her or someth-"
"James!? Valerie!?" The broken tone of a familiar mare cut me off as I looked up to see Fleetfoot and the others a distance away. She stared wide eyed, alternating between Valerie and myself. A glance revealed that she seemed frayed in every sense of the word. Mane, wings, everything about her seemed unkempt. A strange mix of great stress, relief, and shock could be broadcast by the look in her eyes alone. Behind her stood Nova, Vinyl, and Anders and while none seemed quite as distraught as Fleetfoot none of them looked at though they had slept for quite some time.
"Fleetfoot." Valerie returned with a measure of ice in her voice as she held me possessively.
Everything seemed to freeze as all eyes turned on me.