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Feathers Alone RP - Winter Dealings

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:iconfeathers-alone:
An RP featuring Wolphyre's Astreal and my own Milon.
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:iconfizzgryphon:
Milon trotted along the borders of the tropical expanse, the warm earth squishing between his talons. Wings spread so that he could catch the wind without flight, the gryphon hybrid looked as if he were enjoying himself. There wasn't much to do currently as a leader, due to the fact mostly peaceful relations had been established between tribes. The only real danger was those who wandered. Rogues, wanderers, trespassers... they went by more than one name amoung dragon, gryphon, canine, and feline...

They were numerous, as well, and had no loyalties. They were dangerous to encounter, as their sheer unpredictabilty and lack of rules could make them more than a match for any of the more civilized society.

But that was not Milon's concern at the moment. He was enjoying himself in the tropics and warmth, while the whether was not pummling them with rain.

:iconwolphyre:
Astrael drifted above the craggy cliffs of the feline tribe region, far enough in the clouds for him to be concealed from any scouts that may be patrolling. It had been a rough day yesterday, he had made a narrow escape from a group of dragon hunters and scouts who had caught him hunting in the outskirts of their territory. His muscles were sore, but no matter to him. He hadn't been out hunting in a weeks and food he had stored in his hidden lair have long since spoiled with the exception of a few shrews and lemmings from the icelands he scavenged yesterday.

He flew for hours, just stretching out his muscles and rearranging his bones to their proper place. Or at least what he thought was proper, he'd lost track of how he was supposed to look ages ago. A ray of sunlight parted the thinning clouds and warmed his spine, snapping Astrael out of his thoughts. He looked at the land below him. I must be in the tropics... I've really flown a long way today haven't I?

Suddenly, his eye caught a glimmer of gold among the tropic landscape below. His fin perked up with realization. It none other than the alpha of the gryphon tribe, Milon. A mischievous grin spread across the dragon's face, lavender eyes narrowed. It was time to pay an old friend a visit.

With that he dived towards the landscape below, rearranging his bones so a deep hollow howl would emit from the shape of his wings against the wind rushing over them. It's something he could easily fix but he kind of liked the sound it made, plus it announced his presence in a different way. He made a circle around the tribe leader, wingtip barely brushing the ground before landing directly in front of him. He narrowed his eyes and gave a smug grin.

"Milon! Long time no see, old friend!"

:iconfizzgryphon:
The tribe leader swung his head around, trying to locate the noise, and when he had he bared the many small teeth hidden beneath the lip of his beak. The dragon landed gracefully in front of his gryphon -and that was when he recognized it.

"Get out of my territory, Astrael, before anyone gets hurt," he narrowed his eyes, "I would really rather not bloody my claws with your innards, and I'm sure you'd rather not do the same to me."

:iconwolphyre:
Astreal could clearly see the displeasure on Milon's face upon his arrival. "What's wrong, Milon? Feeling stressed?" Astreal subconsciously felt for his missing talon, something he does when he's trying to control his temper. "I won't be any trouble... I promise!" The gryphon narrowed his eyes. "Something tells me that's not true," he hissed.

Astreal cast his gaze up towards a fruit tree a few yards away. "Relax, I'm not here to hurt anyone! I just need to take a bit of... oh... how do I put it? Oh yes, tribute!" In a long, graceful leap, Astreal was atop the fruit tree. Colorful birds that were perched in the tree swarmed out in a frenzy of bright neon feathers. Astreal grabbed one's tail before it could escape, leaving the poor bird flapping madly to get away. He looked down at the tribe leader and could see anger portrayed in his posture. Sighing, he released the bird and watched as it flapped away into the distance.

"You see Milon, with cold season approaching I'm going to need to start collecting a hoard of food to get me through!" He plucked a tropical fruit from one of the nearby branches. "So I thought you would be kind enough to spare me some of your clans food. In return, I can grant you something... anything you wish! What do you say, buddy?"

:iconfizzgryphon:
Milon's brow furrowed with deep displeasure. He hardly trusted the rouge, but at the same time, his better self wanted to help. Astreal wasn't the most threatening in hindsight, but even so... "And what could you possibly have to give me in return?"

He eyed the fruit the dragon had plucked... Fruit from my tree. It took him all his psycological strength not to simply attack. Legs taunt, he was ready to spring, but he tried desperately to control his emotion. Keep it in check. "Especially when you're already stealing from me and my tribe."

:iconwolphyre:
"True, I may be stealing from your tribe. But I'm not the only trespasser you see around here am I? There are others out there taking from you, and I can offer you something that can put an end to that."

Astreal gently tossed the fruit from hand to hand and settled into the tree.

"I can offer you protection. Protection from other wanderers like me who may try to steal from your tribe when they need resources. I get it, you don't trust me, and you most certainly should not. To trust me would be foolish."

His gaze dropped back to fruit, noticing its odd shape and texture.

"But you see... Among the other wanderers I am quite prestigious. If I say that this land is under my protection, not one soul with a brain would dare set foot on your tribe's territory. And those who do? You can just leave them to me, they won't be a problem anymore."

The dragon spread his wings, catching a small pocket of warm air, and floated down to the warm earth below. He slithered forward a few steps to shorten the distance between him and Milon. The fruit was then gently placed at the tips of the griffon's talons. Astreal then backed up and tilted his head as he spoke.

"I stop stealing from your tribe and only steal from the others. I offer protection to your land and prevent as many trespassers as i can from taking from you. And in exchange, all I ask for is a few fruits every few weeks."

His lilac eyes narrowed as he sat back on his haunches.

"Do we have a deal?"

:iconfizzgryphon:
Raising a brow, he considered. Having Astreal's protection might just be a good plan... but how much would the dragon take for himself? He had to place a limit... but where did that limit lie?

Taking the fruit in his talons, he examined it carefully, then placed a steady gaze on the dragon. "If I were to accept this offer, can you estimate how much food you would take to sustain yourself. I couldn't in good concious to my pack and myself just say yes to such a... nonspecific deal." He tossed the fruit to Astreal.

"And how long would this contract last? All winter, all year, to the day you take your last breath? You can't just come to me with vauge ideas with vauge details, friend. I need specifics."

:iconwolphyre:
Astreal watched as the golden griffon examined the fruit. There was a long silence, before the Milon's gaze snapped back up to lay on Astreal.

"If I were to accept this offer, can you estimate how much food you would take to sustain yourself. I couldn't in good conscious to my pack and myself just say yes to such a... nonspecific deal," spoke the griffon. The fruit was then tossed back towards the dragon and he caught it with ease.

He is smarter than he was those many years ago... Astreal pondered, letting the wise spoken words settle in.

Milon continued. "And how long would this contract last? All winter, all year, to the day you take your last breath? You can't just come to me with vague ideas with vague details, friend. I need specifics."

Astreal cleared his throat. "Well said. It seems my offer had more gaps and loopholes then was intended."

The dragon took a moment to consider, before lowering his voice and speaking once more.
"I will offer protection to your land through the winter. Upon the thaw of spring, the deal will be terminated. That is, unless you wish to continue... We'll cross that bridge when we get there. That said, I will be expecting a minor payment of resources from your tribe on the full moon and new moon of each month."

A beam of sunlight struck him in the eye. The sun was getting lower by the second, he needed to return to his lair.

"This will include a half a pound of prey and other winter necessities, like a small bundle of firewood or a few scraps of furs. You may choose what to bring me, but it must be edible and usable. I don't want any rotten fruits or mangy furs."

With that said, Astrael stretched his wings and stood up, leaving the fruit on the earth in front of him. His tail flicked forward and rolled the fruit back across the gap between them to rest at Milon's talons. "Do you object to any of what I just said?"

:iconfizzgryphon:
Pondering the idea yet again, he slowly shook his head. "Your deal seems fair, but if either one of us break our promises-" which won't be me "-then we each have the right to break the deal as well. Does that sound doable, Astreal?"

:iconwolphyre:
Upon the griffon's agreement, Astrael grinned.  He spoke deeply, but with sincerity in his voice.

"You have my word."

And with that, the dragon was gone, leaving nothing behind but soil covered fruit to remember the promise by.
:iconFeathersAlone:
Total Words: 1714

This took a while to complete, eh?  Mostly my fault, too... I took a hiatus from RPs for a while there... ^^;
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Comments2
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Wolphyre's avatar
I like how it turned out in the end! c:
And it's no problem, I was kind of clueless throughout the experience, thanks for teaching me how to RP though!
I kinda want to do it more... Maybe I can find some people on here or a group on FR who I can RP with ;u;