"yes sir." He takes Larissa inside laying her on the bed. He kisses her forehead. He comes back out. He hopes he can get the hang of this. "What would you like me to do?" He asks.

The old hermit eyed the boy's muscles. This was going to be entertaining. He gave of nod of his head towards the side of the house. "Cut me some fire wood. Fill up the bin there beside the house. The axe is there on the chopping block." He appeared to have gone back to sleep in the sun, but was listening closely with a peak under one old eyelid to see how the boy faired.

Kirin picks up the axe, it's not to heavy. He goes to cut the wood but misses. With determination he goes at it again. After about an hour he's got the rhythm down. Soon he has the box full. His muscles ache and twitch, but he is proud of himself for accomplishing this task with out magic.

Once the boy get into the rhythm of things and it was evident that he would finish the task, the old hermit had quietly gotten up and slipped inside. He checked on the girl. She was drained of life energy. How she had hung on this long, he didn't know. Also, though she looked to be in her 20s, she seemed to be less than a year old. There were only a few possibilities for this, but from the drained life energy he guessed she was born one species that was magical and forced to become human. That didn't bode well.

He placed his hand on her forehead and sent her some of his life energy. It soaked into her like water in a desert. She seemed to rest easier for it. He then went and put soup on to boil. Might as well have something ready for them to eat when the wood was chopped. With that started, he went back outside to nap in the warm sun.

When he was finished chopping the wood he stumbles into the shelter and collapses next to Larissa. He notices that she looks better and is releaved by that fact. "Chopped wood without magic." he mumbles to her. " Never done that before." he lets out a yawn drifting off to sleep, a protective arm over her.

The old hermit wakes up from his nap and looks up at the setting sun. It's brilliant rays bath the valley below him in gorgeous yellows and oranges. He enjoys the calm joy of such a scene for a moment, then slowly rises to his feet. He slowly shuffles to the hut. Pausing to grunt approval at the full wood box, he admits to himself that for a pansy of a thing, the boy wasn't so lazy after all. Pushing open the sturdy door, he heads on inside his small home.

Larissa slowly wakes up to the smell of something mouth watering. That and the most comfortable feeling in the world. She marveled with half awake thoughts of just how nice it was to be able to have someone's arm around her. As a gryphon, she had been much too big. It was always a wing, not an arm, that could wrap around her similar to this. A simple joy humans seem to take for granted. Slowly opening her eyes, she watches the old man enter the dwelling. He winks at her before resuming his gruff appearance to go tend the soup. It amused her for some reason and she giggled.

Kirin stirs and wakes slowly. He nuzzles Larissa as he wakes, enjoying the feeling of him in her arms. It was nice to be able to do this. Before it was always her with an wing around him. He smells the soup and his stomach growls loudly. His hands and arms are sore from chopping wood, a look at his hands show blisters. But yet even that didn't dampen the thrill of doing something with out magic.

Hearing and feeling Kirin waken up, she turns in his arms so that she can sit up. Looking over at him, she gives him a light push, "wake up sleepy head." The old man grumbles under his breath, "love birds always so damn cheerful..." as he scoops up bowls of soup to place on the small rickety table.

"Don't want to." He mumbles snuggling into her side. He would be content to stay in bed with her forever. He kisses her side just wanting to hold her forever.

She felt a grin tug at her corners. That was really sweet of Kirin and also kinda tickled. She hesitantly reached out a hand and ran it through his hair, something she didn't have before was definitely a human hand. Then she patted his shoulder and started to get out of bed. It was surprising just how much energy she had.

The old man found an old jar on the shelf. He picked it up and slowly made his way to the bed. "This young one will help your blisters out a bit. If you ever let go of your girl there that is." Was it possible she gave up being, whatever she was, to be human and with him? Surely not.

Kirin nuzzles her side again as he gets up. "Thank you." He says taking the jar. He watches Larissa as she moves. A part of him selfishly wants her to stay human, but he knows he'll do anything to help her become her true self again. He puts the stuff in the jar on his blisters and they do feel better.

Larissa went to the small rickety wooden table and carefully sat at it. "Wow, you must be a wonderful cook. This food smells divine." The old hermit gruffly responded, "Don't thank me yet. You have yet to take a bite." He glanced at Kirin to make sure that the blisters were being cared for properly before taking a seat himself.

Kirin makes sure the blisters are taken care off before going and sitting down next to Larissa. "It does smell wonderful." He leans in and kisses Larissa's cheek. He does wonder what they'll get food when they get home. He could always learn to hunt, and maybe even use his magic to help him. He would deal with that when it came time to.

Larissa blushed and looked down. That was knew. Her heart was doing that flutter thing again too. What in the world was going on with her? With him? She glanced at him sideways, taking in his face. He was definitely toughening up since she first found him crying out in the woods. Of course, maybe it was just because now she was human. The old man cleared his throat and started slicing bread and putting it beside their bowls of soup. "What brings you young ones out this way?" he asked.

"We are heading home." Kirin says. He isn't sure how much he should tell the hermit. He breathes in the scent of the soup. He takes a bite. It was some of the most delicious soup he has ever tasted. He takes a bite of the bread.

"Ah," he said. He quietly ate his soup and bread, appearing to be lost in his own world. Larissa smiled and said, "This is a nice place you have." He grunted.

"Yes it is. Thank you for sharing it with us." Kirin says still eating. He had been hungrier then he had thought. His mind wanders to how much his life has changed. And changed for the better. His life was much better now then it had been before he had met Larissa. He just smiles at this thought.

As they finish eating, Larissa stands and helps the old man with cleaning up. He looks at her out of the corner of his eye. She wasn't born human. She was both old and young. He wondered if he could pry a bit out of her. "You are a wonderful help. What were you apprenticed as while growing up?"

Kirin helps with the cleaning too. He just listens as the two talk. He is ready to come to Larissa's aide if need be. He doesn't like the hermits questioning, it's as if the old man sensed that she wasn't human. But he would let Larissa handle it. A part of him wonders if the hermit could help change her back, maybe even take the horrible spell his father had put on her away.

She thought about it before answering him, "I learned the trade of making people happy." He paused and raised an eyebrow. She didn't mean that in the secular sense. She was obviously a maiden. "Well come along. The sun will be rising a lot more quickly than you would believe." He walked to a far closet and pulled out another quilt. Handing it to Kirin, he suggested, "Best if you get some sleep now, so you can get an earlier start at dawn." He didn't want to add that the news of the gryphon turned maiden was spreading. Her innocence and youth would make her incredibly desirable. He would do his own part if making sure that they fled with all haste, though they would hate him for it. And the fates have pity on them, as they were going to need more magical power before all was said and done.

"Thank you very very much." He says taking the blanket. He takes Larissa's hand and heads back to the bed they had shared earlier. He has a bad feeling in his gut, and he can't explain it. "We're going to be o.k. I'll make sure of it." He says to her. He kisses her shoulder. "You would have been so proud of me." He says with a smile.

She gave him a funny look before crawling in. Curling up there, she looked up at him, "What is all this doom nonsense. Of course we will be fine. And I am proud of you as you are now. What regrets to you have?" She wondered at his attitude. Then shrugged it off. Men.

"No regrets." He says getting in bed with her. "I just chopped wood for the first time with out using magic." He kisses her neck. "I can't wait to get home." He says with a smile.

Nodding in understanding, she curled up against his chest. Hearing his heart beat, she smiled softly. She could get used to these kisses of his. Though she still was unsure how to respond to them. Her hand slowly slid around his side, holding him close.

Kirin falls into a deep sleep. He starts snoring. He wakes a few hours later with a start. He's not sure what has woken him. He looks down at Larissa and strokes her cheek.