"But why do you have to leave at all?" He asks. He knows he will miss her company when she's gone. He would beg her to stay but he knows that would not go over well.

She shrugged, "I have responsibilities. Things that I do in life to ensure a stable future for those who come after me."

Kirin nods. "I understand." He truly does. Though he hates the thought of being alone.

She grins and thumps him on the head with one of her wings as she heads to the temple. "I'm heading to bed. I have a big day tomorrow." She walks to the big fire she had started earlier and settles beside it. Getting comfortable, she rests her head down and lets her wings spread out.

Kirin watches the water a bit longer and then moves back to the fire. He gets out the only blanket he was able to rescue. It is a bit smoke scented but he wraps it around himself and lays next to the fire.

Larissa peaks an eye open at him and then shuffles herself just a little so that she can move a wing over him.

Kirin smiles at the gesture. Soon he has drifted off to sleep.

The early morning birds were calling to each other in the predawn light. She slowly opened an eye and lazily took in her surroundings. The bits of smoke coming up from the coals carried a tint of pine to it. She slowly got up and tucked in her wings. Slipping past the ruins, she stepped into the woods and started looking for something to leave him to eat meat-wise.

Kirin stirs when she wakes. His eyes flutter open. He yawns and stretches. He had forgotten how sore he got when he slept on the ground. He starts doing his stretches. He then goes to the lake and drinks deeply. He lets out a content sigh. He then heads to the berry bushes to eat some berries.

Flying back with two smoking deer, one in each grasped feet, she swings around the temple area and drops them near where the fire was smoldering. "Little one? I brought some smoked meat for you." She looked past the ruins at the rustling berry bushes and paces over there. "Little one? There is deer smoking and ready for storage near the fire. You just have to slice it up how you see fit."

Kirin comes to her, berry juice staining his fingers. "Thank you." He smiles. "You're helping, it means the world to me. You probably saved my life."


(Just so you know this is Kirin's mule.)

((Hi Kirin's mule ^_^ nice outfit))

Nuzzling his face with her beak, she steps back and wishes him the best. "I'm going on patrol. The last few times I have been out, I have been back within a week. Nothing was ever out of the ordinary. See you then little one." She stretched out her wings and prepared to take off.

((If it is okay with you, something is going to go wrong on patrol and she will be gone almost a month. She will return just before the next new moon... when she transforms...does that plotline sound okay?))

(Sounds great)

Kirin goes to butcher the deer and make himself some breakfast. He knows she said she'd be back in a week but he plans on making the meat last longer then that, just in case. A week comes and goes and she hasn't returned. He gets very worried.

Larissa rose above the burning encampment wearily. Using her sharp eyes to see through the smoke, she looks for any possible survivors. Satisfied that she had destroyed the last of them, she climbs higher into the air and heads out of the desert towards the mountain ranges. The hills were near and there was a spring within them that she usually rested at. It had been over a week. Looked like she wasn't going to be able to keep her promise.

When she left and headed out on patrol, she had flown high towards the tops of the mountain range. Several hours of hard flight at brought her to the pass. Settling there, she had started planning her route. She would swoop down into the hills and the desert beyond. Make sure no one but traders were moving about, then circle around and return to the pass and eventually the glade. That wasn't what happened.

Instead, when she had flown through the hills, she had discovered to her horror a scouting party leading an army from the neighboring kingdom towards the mountain range. She knew she couldn't let them reach the pass for then the human civilization on the other side, no matter how far away, would stand a significant less chance of survival. She had been slowing them down as much as she could. Burning their supply trains and harrassing them, she made it difficult to continue their campaign. They were down to half their strength now, but were less than a day's march from the hills. Time was all the more precious now.

Finally finding the spring by moonlight, she crash landed beside it and crumpled a wing into the springs' waters. Splashing her weary body with the clear water, she slowly cleaned the smells of battle from herself. Tomorrow, indeed this week, was going to be a tough fight. She would get back when she got back. She had to turn back this inhuman and inhumane army first.

Kirin, to keep the worry away, busy's himself with gathering food and preserving it with his magic. He then starts to build a shelter for himself for when the cold weather came. He then takes to pacing. He is truly worried about his new friend, and hopes that she is alright.

She flew overhead in the smoky sky. Ash rose up in the air and glowing fires covered the blackened desert below her. Looking around for any signs of life, all she saw was scorched corpses, burning wagons, and twisted bones. The army of darkness had been stopped successfully. Even the mages that had been sent with them had been defeated, though that had taken more out of her. She sighed in exhaustion and swung to fly back to the mountain ranges. It had been about three weeks since she had left Kirin. Time to get back and make sure he was okay. She swooped low over the fires and then glided up on their warm air currents to gain altitude. Leaving the battlefield behind, she didn't see the one survivor that laying dying behind her.

He was a simple soldier full of greed, hate, and anger. Unlike many of his companions, he had a slight ability to use magic. Now he watched what he perceived as his tormentor and destroyed flying away victorious. Fury fueled energy to his arm. Lifting his hand, he created one fiery arrow that burned bright and hot. Then with the last of his life energy, he sent it spiraling from his body to hers. She felt the burning pain pierce her flexing shoulder. Screaming a screech full of agony, she crumpled in her wing and fought to not pass out. Forcing herself to fight through the pain, she extended her wing out enough to glide on and left the battlefield. She just had to get to and over the mountains. She would be safe if she could just get on the other side. From there she would walk if need be.

((Would you be upset if I said that Kirin shares a psychic link with Larrisa? Cause I had this idea.

((What abilities would that entail?))

(Just him feeling her get hit and him being in pain. Nothing more then that unless you want there to be more.)

(That is perfectly fine. I didn't want him knowing her thoughts or anything, but that works fine. I'll crash land near the shore of the lake next post... and then promptly transform into a human in his arms ^_^)

Kirin is going about his business when all of a sudden he's hit with a burning pain. He screams out falling to his knees.

She inched her way, slowly and painfully, through the clouds. There were no warm air currents up here to help her. She had to fight for every foot of altitude. Reaching the top of the mountain range, she gave one last thrust of her wings and sailed over. It took every ounce of will-powered not to curl up right there and fall. A day had passed since she had gotten injured. Her shoulder was on fire and her mind numb from exhaustion as well as the constant pain.

Gliding, she headed down through the side of the mountain range. Thankful she wouldn't have to force her wings beyond this measure, she looked forward and gritted her beak. Awhile later, the glade came into view. She aimed for the lake. Crashing landing on land would hurt more, and quite frankly she didn't want to destroy the temple and side buildings. Come winter, those were her only shelter as a human.

Reaching the lake, she looked down at it and sighed gratefully. Now she could relax. Almost immediately, her version started to go dark. Feeling dizziness overwhelm her, she didn't really fight it. There was no need. She was here. She dropped and crashed into the water near the shore, sending out a huge spray of water and waves splashing.

Kirin has been in horrible pain for a day, and it scares him since he doesn't know why. He sees the gryphon crash into the water and he rushes to her. He sees her wound and fights back his own pain to go to her. He puts his arms around her pulling more on shore. He just holds her happy to feel her breathing.

Feeling someone's strong arms holding her head and supporting her, she sighs and focuses on breathing. Opening her eyes, she looks with pain up into her friend's face. "Little one... She looks up past him at the twilight sky. Her blurred vision takes in where the moon should have been, but wasn't. It was a new moon. Horror hit her as she sank into unconciousness and the sun set below the horizon. For a moment, nothing happened. Then her body glowed and she shifted into the form of a human female. Laying naked in Kirin's arms and passed out from the blood loss of her injuries, she was now a vulnerable being unable to use her magic.

Kirin is shocked when she changes but he knows he has no time to loose. He works his magic to heal her wounds. As she heals he can feel the pain leaving him. He gets her healed and then starts cleaning the blood off of her. He knows, deep down he knows it was his father who had caused this to happen.