Larissa rose up and looked down at the girl. A decent human with polite manners. Someone who would be welcome in gryphon society. She reminded herself of her manners and responded, "Nice to meet you Kassandra. I see you are not worse for the wear. I don't suppose you know why they were chasing you?" She mentally sighed. Well, if she wanted to partner Kirin up with a human, she would do. He wouldn't be as lonely with such a companion at his side.

"I was heading to the nearby village when I was attacked by the bandits. They captured me but I struggled and freed myself. I hate to think of what they might have done to me had you and Kirin not shown up." She said a touch of awe was in her voice at the Larissa's magnificence.

Larissa nodded in understanding. There was bad people everywhere it seemed. The fae was too self important to look beyond their own society. The dwarves preferred their own company underground. It was up to the Gryphons to enforce justice. She suggested, "After we pack everything up, I can give you a ride over there. I'm unfamiliar with this area. Is there anything that would be good to know about local customs or the society?" She couldn't help feeling a fondness for this girl. Kirin would do well to friend her.

"My father, who is the mayor, will be very grateful to you both for saving me." Kassandra said with a smile. "We are a very accepting town and we honor Gryphons, and magic. You will both be well taken care of for as long as you stay."

Kirin was happy to hear he and Larissa would be accepted. "I was thinking of trying to earn some coin while in the town. Do you think that would be acceptable? I don't want to step on another mage's toes." He said.

"You are free to do that. We do not have a town mage, but rely on traveling mages. You're talents will be much appreciated." Kassandra said with a smile.

Larissa nodded her approval to the girl. "Then we will gladly assist in whatever ways you need us. Kirin, show Kassandra how to climb onto my back. You might need to hold onto her until she finds her seat. Take off the first time is a unique experience." She lowered herself down so that they could use her leg to pull themselves up. Humans were so little and weak. She didn't comment on it though. They required all the more care because of this.

Kirin showed Kassandra how it was done. "She isn't lying, it's a very unique experience. Though my first flight with her was in her claws." He said smiling at the memory.

Kassandra had only slight problems with getting on and is soon seated in front of Kirin. "I guess it's a very good thing that I am not affected by heights." She gave out a bit of a nervous chuckle. Even though she wasn't scared of heights this was a new experience for her. She felt safer when Kirin put his arms around her waist.

Larissa heard the nervous chuckle and raised an eyebrow. Not scared of heights? Either she lied or she was scared of something else. Really, that only left the big gryphon. Mentally shaking her head in amusement, Larissa crouched and sprang into the air. Her wings unfurled and she flapped once. As she brought her wings down, she pulled herself and her two riders higher. As she started to bring her wings back up, she stopped momentarily. Then she pulled them higher. Then stalled. Then higher. It was a very rocky and jarring sensation she was sure. However she didn't mind. She had done so all her life. Getting into the air, she found a wind current and settled into a more gentle glide. That should be better on their stomachs.

Kassandra gasped as Larissa took off. It was jarring, to say the least. But once Larissa's flight had evened out Kassandra found she truly enjoyed the flight. Though she was grateful that Kirin was with her. She doesn't know how she would have fared on take off on her own. "This is amazing!" She said with pure joy in her voice.

((Another hint for you. When you are writing from a character's view, don't include information they don't know. Since this last post is from Kassandra's view, it is best to say 'gryphon' or 'the gryphon' or 'the female gryphon' instead of her name since Kassandra doesn't know her name. Just a thought.))

Larissa preened at the words and emotions behind them. Of course the rare experience of riding a gryphon would be enjoyed. She was rather pleased to have brought a bright spot to the young human's day. Kassandra would have something to share with her father after this. Hopefully the mayor knew someone who needed magical services. That way Kirin could start feeling useful. Her sharp eyes picked out the people that were up in the morning hours as they approached the settlement. She saw the village square and aimed her landing to be in the village green.

The people saw her coming and gasped. Though most of them were in reverent awe as she comes in for a landing. They started to mutter among themselves when they noticed riders on the gryphon's back. The mayor came out to see what the commotion was about. He headed to the green when he saw the gryphon land.

Once Larissa had landed Kirin gets off helping Kassandra off.

"That was amazing!" she said giggling.

Larissa regally straightens up and folds her wings at her side. Now came the part to learn exactly why type of humans lived here. Sure there were always exceptions, but the majority of the people would make the culture of the place. As a gryphon, it was her duty to help the good and avert the bad. Looking down on the weak humans, she stretched out her senses to see if any of them smelled of magic. She also checked the magical currents that ran over the earth for disturbances that would tell her if any magical creatures other than herself was here.

((Does anyone in town practice magic?))

((Kassandra had said they didn't have a permanent one just traveling ones. And would you mind being Kassandra's dad so I'm not just rping with myself?))

The villagers slowly approached the gryphon. When the saw Kassandra they broke out into smiles. They went up to her and started talking to her. She hugged many of them, though it was hard to get in a word in with all the noise. But she seemed not to mind this at all.

Kirin watched Kassandra smiling as she interacted with the villagers. He stood with a hand on Larissa's side. "She seems so natural." He smiled.

The Mayor observed his daughter interacting with the townspeople naturally and with the grace of her position in their society. He was proud of her and it seemed he had another reason to be thankful towards her. She brought guests that would be a welcome aspect to their day. Walking forward, he slowly worked his way through the crowd.

Larissa finished her inspection, content no one with magic capabilities was near but unsettled by another disturbance in the magic currents. She gracefully looked down at Kirin and nodded. "It would seem this place is better than your own village." Seeing the a rich man approach in his nice clothing and important presence, she guessed that he was someone influential.

He nodded to them and grandly said, "Welcome to our settlement. You are more than welcome to stay the night."

"I agree." Kirin said with a smile. He stroked her feathers.

Kassandra went to him and gave him a hug. "Hello daddy. Let me introduce you to my friend Kirin and his traveling companion. They saved my life." She said with a smile. "Kirin this is my father, the mayor."

Kirin smiled and bowed. "It is an honor to meet you sir."

The mayor kept an arm wrapped around Kass' shoulders while he acknowledged their greetings. "I assure you the honor is all mine. You will have to tell me the story of how you saved my daughters life over a nice brunch. Will you join me in my tea gardens?" He gestured his hand to indicate the way. He noted that Kirin was almost attached to the gryphons sides, his hand almost never ceasing to stroke her feathers. He wondered if Kirin was frightened to be here and with them.

Larissa kept her wings folded in and carefully walked after the Mayor, doing her best not to move too fast for the humans or to accidentally harm them. Their dwelling places and bodies were so incredibly fragile. It was hard to believe they could survive in this world without intervention of some kind. Well, that was why she was here it seemed. As they approached the mansion, they circled around toward the back, admiring the architecture and decorative flower beds.

"It would be my pleasure to join you." He said with a smile. He walked with Larissa as they made there way towards the mansion. This town was much larger then the one he had grown up in. The little kids seemed most taken by Larissa. A little girl comes up and reaches up and touches her side.

"Father, Kirin is a mage." Kassandra said as they entered the gardens.

"Is he now? Well good. We could use a mage's help around here." The mayor felt rather pleased with himself even though it wasn't anything he had done or said to get the mage to his town. He sat them at down at the tea tables with the gryphon laying in the grass behind Kirin. He signaled his servants to bring in the tea.

Lariss lay there alertly. This was a nice play to be and it seemed protected from the evil outside. Evil she knew only to well since she had done patrols before. She asked, "This is a pleasant town, is it always so peaceful?"

A little girl, the same one who had touched the gryphon before. She sneaked into the tea garden and over to a tree that's near her and just watches her. She was an orphan, her parents had died when she was young.

The servants brought out glass of lemonade and fresh salads. Kasandra turned to the gryphon. "What can I have the servants get for you to eat?" She asked not wanting to leave her out.

The gryphon gracefully declined, "I am fine but thank you for your offer." She mentally sent out a magical touch to the girl, trying to understand her. She seemed a bit lonely, but beyond that Larissa couldn't make anything else out. She returned to the conversation at hand, keeping the girl in the back of her thoughts for observation.

The mayor answered the gryphons original question. "It hasn't always been peaceful. However for the last decade or so we have had little problems. Bandits have been our biggest threat." Larissa thought that over. Another magical creature must be nearby patrolling them. A gryphon? A unicorn couldn't fight large groups alone. A dragon? Elves? No Elves and the fae stayed to themselves unless there was a campaign.

"But perhaps if you and Kirin were to stay in town, we would no longer have a bandit problem." Kasandra said. Despite her fathers best efforts she was still very forward and didn't always think before she spoke.

Kirin ate his salad. A part of him truly wanted to stay here, but he didn't know if the orb with in Larissa would allow it. He spots the young girl. "Hello there." He said to her with a smile.

The girl gasped turning as if to run.

Larissa quickly stand and spreads out the wing nearest the girl, her large feathers effectively creating a wall. She asks the child in her practical manner, "Would you like to sit beside me little one?"

The mayor stands quickly when he sees her. It was inappropriate of her to be here, but it couldn't be helped now. He offered, "You can have some cake if you would like dear."

"Yes I would." She said to the gryphon. She moved and sat next to her, gently stroking her feathers. "You're very pretty." She said looking up at her.

Kirin watched this interaction with a smile.

Kasandra instructed the servants to bring out cake for the little girl and to bring her a glass of milk as well.

The Gryphon carefully sat back down so that she didn't squash her and lowered her wing partway so that she wouldn't smother the little human. "What is your name dear?"

The little girl looked up at her then back down. "My name is Kalia." She said softly. She smiled as the servants brought her cake and milk. She started eating and broke out into a huge smile. The cake was very good.


"So what kind of help would you like?" Kirin asked the major, as they had been talking about him helping the town. He was looking forward to helping people who would be grateful for his help. He had told Kasandra and her father of the hardships he had faced in his old home.

The mayor turned and suggested, "The magical items that we use are running low on magic. Filling those will take time, but perhaps while you are here you could look into those. Also, the fountain in the center of town has stopped working. It was set up with magic and there is no engineer alive who could fix it. I'm sure the people around town could also use your help." He paused for a breath of air as well as to hear what Kirin thought.

Larissa listened on, aware of the girl at her side. What a strange child, to be wondering around and not be in school. Or at least apprenticed somewhere. However the ways of humans didn't always make sense. They were so easily swayed by their emotions instead of thinking things through clearly.