Refugees...aftermath Of The Exodus [aw], I claim first thread on the new board :D

[Solstice]

An infinite sadness. A feeling of blank, heartwrenching emptiness, like something physical had been pulled, torn from her soul to leave an unforgiving void of pain in it's wake. Three months now, and still the feeling persisted, despite the warm rays of the sun beaming down on the water close by and splitting into a thousand tiny rainbows that danced and span on the nearby treetrunks as the waterfall cascaded into it's pool below, despite the constant beutiful birdsong and the heavy perfume of multitudes of wildflowers in the air. Even though the surroundings were beutiful, idiellic, she still could not drop this pain.

She sighed a long, emotion-laden sigh as she stared into the blue water rushing past by her paws, the twinkling of sunlight on it's fluid surface reflected with startling definition in the gleaming blue pools of her eyes. Perhaps...perhaps it wasn't simply that she wasn't able to cast away the sorrow...perhaps it was really that she didn't want to. Certainly she didn't want to forget...the Moorlands had been kind to them, they had been the only home she had ever known since being a hatchling, and now to simply forget about them and move on seemed somehow sinful, as though she were being unfaithful to a true and loyal friend. But surely there was a way to remember without the pain, the sadness of what had been left behind. Surely it was possible to accept this new life now, whilest always looking back in reverance to the place of her birth, Sirius Moors.

Thinking of the name brought a tear to her eye, and she closed her gaze to the world around her, taking a deep breath as she tried to keep her emotions under control. It had all happened so fast...so fast, in fact, that she really didn't know what had caused it. She did know that it had affected all the Prides, not just the Moors...all four of them had been forced from their homes, flying for their lives as refugees, abandonning their terretories and old haunts as they flew en-masse from the lands that had given them birth. All the Prides had mingled as they fled, and had it not been for the fear that day, such a great rush of Griffins from all their various backgrounds would have been incredibly exciting! But most were too scared of the disaster, whatever it had actually been in the end, to think of such things at the time.

They had travelled for many days before finding these new lands, the four Prides, previously at each other's throats, now working together for the first time in their history as they all fled their common fear. But as soon as their new homelands came into view, old rivalries and feuds had reared their heads once again, and the crowd of Griffins had once more begun to split. Many Sirius Moors members had looked to her for guidance then, the old Pride loyalties holding firm, but many others had branched out in other directions, turning to other leaders to look after them, or even setting up as leaders themselves. It was a tumultuous period, and while many had stayed and many had indeed joined, many too had left.

She had lost many friends during that time. Sanu, her honorary son and secret love had gone to follow Abiyram, the large male who had led a group towards the Debonair Gardens...she could not begrudge him in any way this decision, knowing he had to make his own choices and follow his heart, but her own heart had silently broken as he left. Then there was Cornelius, the Moorlands greatest Medic...goodness knew where he had gotten to, as she hadn't seen him since the exodus! She could only hope he was still alive and safe somewhere nice. And so many others, so many more that had gone. For every Griff that had left, another had joined, and now the Moorlands Pride, or rather the Clymetur Range Pride, as they had taken to calling themselves after the place they had finally decided to settle, was pretty much as large as it had ever been back home, yet still, the new Griffins were not the ones she had known, the ones she had befriended. And the desert plains of the Range, while being very flat and open, were not the green savannahs of the Sirius Moors.

So much had been lost, and in such a chaotic and difficult time, it was difficult to see just how much had been gained in it's place.

Slowly she opened her eyes again, looking round at the long chain of waterfalls running up and downstream from her current location. She was still exploring all the new areas in this different, strange land they had now come to call home, and trying to get to know their ins and outs, their secrets and their dangers. It was her responsibillity as Pridemistress, and she had to remain strong for the rest of the Pride until they got fully settled. But it was so incredibly difficult when one didn't feel that strength onesself. She could only hope that it would get easier with time...

For now, she could do little more than try to ignore those terrible, torturous feelings. Blanking her mind to her memories of the Moors, she forced herself to relax, allowing the beutiful atmosphere of the Falls to envelop her like the warm, loving wings of her mother. The past was gone, now all that remained was the future...and maybe, just maybe, the future could still be bright...

[Vixan]

Through the spray of the falls, a fawn huntress slowly dragged her claws as she walked into the water. It was a comfort, a small reminder of the home she had lost, to immerse herself in the cold rushing water, but it was not the same. It smelt different, it tasted different, it even felt different. It was not the headlands that she loved.

With a half strangled sob, Vixan hauled herself onto the bank and started walking again, remembering her home. Her comfortable cave in the cliff face, kept secret for so long, now cold and empty. Abandoned like her prideland. Like her pride. She now belonged to a group that called themselved the Avtime Marsh pride. Even the name sounded wrong, she was a headlander, and always would be at heart.

Only one of her ex-pride members had she seen so far. Sekt, selfless and insecure, was in her new pride. As for the others...she had seen neither fur nor feather of them.

How had it happened? Vixan knew not. She remembered the frantic summons and the order to leave, and then they were flying, all memories left behind. Her parents buried on the mountain. Her secret hollow in the rainforest. Taiya's grave..

At this, Vixan let loose a torrent of silent tears. This memory was still to painful to even think about. And Solstice. Had she gotten out in time, or would she never be seen again? Nobody Vixan had asked could tell her anything new.

Immersed in her own thoughts, Vixan failed to notice the other gryphon until she walked into her. She leaped back, ready to make her apologies-she was in no mood for fights- when a familiar scent assailed her nostrils. A smell of grasslands, moors...

"Solstice!" gasped the huntress. "I never thought I would see you again!" and before the other could respond, Vixan swept her into a tight hug and wept into her feathers.

[Solstice]

Vixan wasn't the only one lost in her thoughts as the two collided, and the touch made Solstice jump several talons into the air as she sprang to her feet and span round, her claws inadvertantly slipping from her paws as she prepared to defend herself should the need arise. Seconds later, however, she found herself dragged into a smothering bearhug that left her gasping and struggling to get free from the other's strong embrace. Only when she had managed to pull back a little and got a clear look at her assailant's face did she realise just who it was that had accosted her, and her eyes grew wide as she caught her breath, beak hanging open in speechless shock for a few moments before she found her voice again.

"Vixan???" Tears were already beginning to form in the corners of her own eyes too, and she promptly swept the Huntress into a powerful hug of her own as her voice trembled slightly with the emotion of the situation. "Oh thank the Plains you're alright! It's so good to see you again!" Eventually managing to tear herself away from the affectionate touch, she leaned back again, her paws still resting on Vixan's shoulders as she stared up into the Huntress' deep brown eyes. "You are alright, aren't you? You made it out okay...nothing hurt?"

[Vixan]

As Solstice pulled away, Vixan dries her face with the back of her forepaw.
"I am fine," she said in a cracked voice, "Nothing is hurt. At least, not physically anyway..." She trailed off as a fresh wave of tears fell down her face, and she closed her eyes to hold them back. She was watering more than the falls she was sat next to!

"But you, how are you?" She said to her friend. She had seen others from the old Sirius pride, but they were scattered, in different places. Just like all the prides. She herself had lost friends who had gone to other parts. She was no longer sure if there was anywhere that the majority of her pride had gathered. She knew she had not yet seen her old PM. "I am gald your leg is looking better now," said Vixan. Then she lowered her head, willing herself to calm down. It was just that the joy of seeing Solstice again had overhwlemd her, and combined with the grief she was feeling, it did not make for a pretty scene.

[Solstice]

"I'm alive." Solstice responded, smiling weakly in an effort to uplift both their spirits. "And yes, my leg healed, we have some great Medics in our Pride." Only after she had finished did she realise that the correct term should probably have been 'had', but she didn't go back and correct it...it would only have depressed her more to do so.

"There's been a lot of change." she murmured quietly as she slowly sat down, letting out a mournful sigh. "I can see you've been feeling it too...but I'm just trying as best I can to focus on the positive aspects. At least most of us survived, and we have a new land to explore, with it's own patches of beuty and wonder." Her gaze suddenly took on a concerned air as she looked up at the larger Huntress. "Do you have a new Pride? Have you found a home yet to go to?"

[Vixan]

"Always look on the bright side...You should make that your motto." Vixan too sat down, chuckling weakly. Solstice was very good at making her feel better, even though she felt almost guilty for being happier. It felt somehow disloyal. To what, she wasn't sure.

"Yes, i have a new home," Vixan said. "Its called the Avtime Marsh. I like it there, it's wet-reminds me of the headlands. But theres also space to run. Its not confining there." Her eyes went misty as she remembered how she had come to be there.

Driven by grief, having finally stopped fleeing, Vixan had left what little remained of her pride. She had followed her beak, desperate to find water. Comforting, soothing water. It would wash away the tears. Nobody could see you cry underwater. And she had come to the marsh. There was a familier face there, the one who had been general in the headlands. She had never known him well before. Maybe that would change.

Shaking herself from her thoughts, Vixi breathed in deeply and let it go suddenly. "Where do you reside now?" She asked her friend.

[Solstice]

"I've heard of it." Solstice responded with a nod as Vixan mentioned the Marsh. She had been kind of hoping the Huntress would say she was homeless, so Sol could invite her to the Range, another friendly face in the area, and a remnant of the past to lean on in this world of change, but it seemed this would not be possible. "It sounds like a nice place."

"Where do you reside now?" came the responce, and Solstice turned her head to the north, nodding to the large arid sides of the mountains towering into the morning sky above the valley of the falls.

"Up there. There weren't many in the area when we moved in, but they've made us welcome. They call the place the Clymetur Range, so when we settles it was voted to rename our Pride to that as well. It's a very dry area, not nearly as beutiful as the Moors back home, but the plateaus are very wide and open, so it's still a great place to run."

[Vixan]

Vixan listened as Solstice spoke, hiding an inkling of dissappointment. She too had hoped to invite the other to her pride, but it was not to be.

"I'm glad you found somwhere pleasant," she said softly. "If only we had not had to move in the first place..." She faded off, sad once again, until a voice floated down from the top of the waterfall.

"It seems to me you are not the only ones suffering after the migration," it said. A young gryphoness, only an adolescent really, flew down to the pair and landed neatly beside them. She was an unusual colour, with silvery grey hindparts and dark brown forequrters which were flecked with the same colour as her rear.

"I am Arianna Dragonpaw, former member of the Midnight Canyon, now of the Debonair gardens," she said by way of introduction. She knew just how these two must be feeling, she herself felt the same, and she wished to offer comfort if they desired it.

((Just to spice it up a bit, it gets a little boring with only two characters...))

[Solstice]

"The Canyon?" Solstice responded as she nodded a greeting to the newcomer. "It even affected your kin too then? It was a disaster indeed." She had already seen some Canyon Pride members in the evacuation when they all flew away, but she had thought with the canyons being far south and enclosed that some might have escaped the chaos, hiding out in their caves until the danger passed. It seemed she had been wrong.

She quickly offered her own introduction and allowed Vixan chance to add hers, before a thought occured to her and she fixed Ari with a deep, penetrating gaze. "By the way, you said you were from the Gardens? When you were settling in there, I...I don't suppose you happened upon a young boy with Moorlands coloring, in his mid teens, thin but quite well built? Goes by the name of Sanu? Have you seen him, perchance?"

[Vixan]

Vixan introduced herslef to Ari in the break in Sols speech, and then sttod back a little. She did ot yet know this gryphon, and she was always naturally a little suspicious of strangers. Solstice seemed to have no such reservations as she spome to the youngster.

Ari cocked her head in thought after Solstices questions. She was new to this land, therefore had not had a chance to really get to know her new pride, but she could vaguely recall a young male, possibly from the moorlands.

"I may have seen your Sanu, but I confess I have not yet spoken with him, I cannot be sure of his identity. I will speak to him as soon as I get the chance, I will let him know that you are seeking news of him. Where might I find you if it is Sanu that I am thinking of?"

[Solstice]

Solstice looked a little dissapointed at the uncertain responce, however she nodded appreciativley all the same. She couldn't...or rather shouldn't...have expected any more really, even the off chance that the Griff Ari was speaking of could be San was more of a coincidence than she really deserved. "Up on the Clymetur Range." she responded, again indicating the tall peaks and plateaus of the mountains towering above the valley to the north. "Just ask for me by name, the Pride will know who you're talking about." Again she hadn't yet mentioned her Pridemistress status to the newcomer yet, as was her custom. There was no need, and it could get in the way.

"I don't suppose either of you know what it was that caused the evacuation, by the way?" she asked, changing the subject to something new. "I'm still in the dark about it...all I know was that I could feel something in the air that I didn't like. I couldn't tell what it was, but I knew it was something coming, something very bad. Do either of you have any more information?"

[Vixan]

Ari and Vixan both responded at the same time to Solstices question, "yes." Then they smiled a little at each other, and Vixan spoke.

"It was the magic. All the dark magic in the badlands. It...returned, to accomplish its original purpose, to destroy all the pridelands and all the others that we have known. In the forest of the unexplained, in the blood basin...te evil magic, laid to rest eons ago, returned." Vixan bowed her head. "We did not see it coming until it was too late to stop it."

Ari shook her head. "Some of us saw it coming. Symbols, haunting our dreams...I was lead to the forest, along with a medic and another alchemist. They too had seen the strange symbol. It warned us, but we did not fully understand. We stood by and let it happen." With a sob, Ari turned her back on the pair. She blamed herslef slightly, for all that had happened, for she was very powerful. Surely she should have been able to stop it, or at least slow it.

"There is nothing left now," sighed Vixan. "Only wasteland. Our pridelands ripped themselves apart..."

[Solstice]

Solstice looked confused at the reply. She didn't really believe in magic, even though she had seen other Griffs at times seeming to do strange things, and the idea of some ancient force returning after many thousands of years for no apparent reason was to her somewhat silly. It was probably just a force of nature of some kind...maybe some incredibly powerful storm, far more furious and dangerous than the one she and Vixan had encountered in the Tranquil Rainforest, that anhiallated the land. She could quite easily see how many of the more supertitious populace could have misinterpreted that as some kind of magical event. Despite thinking through all these thoughts herself, however, she didn't say anything in responce to the other two on the matter...there was no need to offend their feelings or anything, especially considering their emotions were already very turbulent.

As was proved by the newcomer, Ari, turning away in grief as they spoke, and Sol immediately felt her heart pulling once again as her natural empathy and motherly instincts tuned in to the younger Griff's pain, wanting to dispell it somehow and make everything better for the girl. Stepping forward gently, she reached out and put an arm around Ari's shoulders, slowly pulling her close in an effort to comfort her as she extended her wing over the girl's back.

"There may be nothing left of our land," she murmured in responce to Vixan's evaluation as she moved, "but we aren't left with nothing. We survived, we escaped...we have our lives, and our communities...our families and our friends...our loves..." A slight pause as she wondered if she had gone too far - after all, she might not have her own love any more. But she redirected her thoughts back to her point before her own emotions could overwhelm her. "So long as we have those things, we can still live - we can still survive. Vixan, we've been friends for some time now, and Ari, you seem like a nice, kind figure."

She glanced from one to the other for a brief moment, before continuing in her soft, flowing tone, a warm, reassuring symphony reminicient of a mother comforting her children: "If either of you ever need someone to talk to, or a shoulder to cry on, please, come look for me. I'll be here for you. What about if we make a pact, the three of us, together...if ever any of us are in need, the other two will do everything they can to help out. If ever we need help in any way, or need a friend, we'll all be there for each other. And even if this new land should go the same way as the old one and all the Prides should fall, us three, together, will look out for each other, and help each other to survive. So long as we have our friendship, nothing can defeat us. What do you say?"

[Vixan]

With shining eyes, Vixan listened to Solstices speech. She was so gifted with the power to make people feel better. In a whisper she echoed the others final words. "So long as we have our friendship, Nothing can defeat us." It was a solemn promise on her part. She would keep it close to her heart for ever.

Ari too repeated the last sentence, and thanked Solstice for comforting her, despite having only just met. She could see this one would be a true, valuable friend.

After a minute she cocked her head and looked at Solsrice with a curious expression in her eyes. She had sensed disbelief, emanating in waves from her, when they had told her about the magic.

"Why do you not believe in magic?" she asked, interested that she could not believe in something that was a fundamental part of most gryphons lives. Vixan too looked up. "What, don't youreally? After what you saw me do to...in the rainforest?"

[Solstice]

Sol was surprised that the other two had picked up on her thoughts earlier, wondering quite how they had managed it...maybe from now on she should be more careful with her expressions or body language. Still, they had asked, so now there was nothing stopping her answering. "I don't deny there are things in nature that I can't explain." she responded quietly. "Things in this world that seem to defy logic and go beyond understanding, but I believe there is a rational explanation for everything. I know there are those who would prefare to atribute some mystic force to these elements, and if they choose to do so then I respect their views, but I do not believe it myself. Such things are just complicated elements of the world around me that I don't yet understand, like what causes a storm or where wind comes from. Just because I don't yet know very much about them doesn't mean that there isn't a simple, rational explanation behind it."