Chapter 9: Restless
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!"
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I can't even start to tell you how good it feels to see this continue. Seeing the update message almost brought tears of joy to my eyes.
Keep up the good work.
Our favorite schollarly gnoll is back.
Is that not supposed to be "Was that your home?"
I still want to give Scar a hug... even if he'll most likely crush me if he returns it.
4535771 But crushing hugs are the best hugs.
4535771 I believe she was trying to ask Scar if the mountains were his home, 'they' simply referring to the mountains as a group.
4536026 Oh... yeah, that makes sense.
Glad to know you're still alive! And it's also good to see that in your long absence, you didn't forget to make Tag the best character
Oh thank goodness you're not dead. When her Majesty sees the two guards carrying the maul she will be a Rabbit Of Negative Euphoria. (Not A Happy Bunny)
THE GNOLL HAS RETURNED!
Thank you great GnollReader! YOU HAVE RISEN AND GIVEN US A TRUE BLESSING!!
Seriously, though, welcome back and all that.
25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m85e5wwU8x1rqfhi2o1_500.gif
davidlampreia.files.wordpress.com/2013/08/epic-meme-generator-this-is-epic-in-more-ways-than-i-care-to-mention-583e6e.jpg
And just because:
Chicken is Awesome
YEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH! HE'S BACK BABY!
lol ^W^
I knew you weren't gone forever! I could feel it in my stank bone
I died in happiness
You're back! Fuck Yeah!
PS. Would this pic be good portrayal of Scars looks (somewhat) and his scale?
38.media.tumblr.com/d6b0dabd58b07bea065a1c154d27aa08/tumblr_n312hdvlMP1ravui2o4_1280.png
4538161 Ui! Fancy! Look about right... where'd you get that?!
4538540 Bottom of the page.
Tag is baaaack~~
And his trollin' agaaain~~
Oh, Yeah! And gnoll~~
LALALALALA
short but promising.
happy to see you again :)
I read it. All of it. Took all my freentime not spent sleeping to do it, but I read all of it. You really need an editor, by the by...
4571010 Hmn. What's this then? Someone who knows the 'by the by'?
4955520 Another term for 'by the way', yes, I do know it and say it quite frequently.
4958786 Eh, not too many people I've met use it.
4959569 I still don't see the reason why you are talking to me about this.
4960585 If only one person besides yourself used a semi-obscure phrase that you haven' seen in three years, wouldn't you?
4960713 No. Its also not that obscure of a saying.
4962349 It really isn't. You have a nice day now. Bye.
4963924 Later bud.
Sanity is overrated
I think I shall add this to my Favorites list. Keep writing good sir.
5908134 And Insanity is underrated.
is this story dead?
7150739 I hope it isn't but....
Kinda sad this story is dead...
-Chessie
Wonderful story, why you so dead?
4538540 Can you please update soon?
Update this Story.
I ended up reading the entire first book yesterday, decided to try the second one today.
PLEASE, tell me there at least some plans to continue this wonderful saga??
It is truly a thing that brings sadness to my heart, coming back and revisiting these old stories that were abandoned by their authors. Untouched for so long and doomed to never be finished despite their glory.
Ah. well i suppose i'll have to say goodbye to one of the most delightful stories on this site. even if it is decades, I will do my best to read whatever updates that I hope will come.
Rip no update sense 2014
Now I doubt the author is dead/gone, even though it's been almost a year since he was last seen and that this story hasn't been updated for four years, but until there are clear signs the author says they are leaving or cancelling the story is when I see this story done... though once they do come back, it'll be awhile for them to update this story.
Update?
11075979
Sadly...I don't think that will ever happen, this story hasn't been updated in 7 years and the author hasn't been seen in 3.