Disclaimer; Valdermar and anything in it, belongs to Mercedes Lackey.
Despite any trouble he might have caused at home and the need to get away from them, sitting in a makeshift shelter under a tree-- in the middle of a storm which seemed adamant at burying them under tons of sleet. That was the last place that Teirgan would have wished to be, especially in the company of his horse, a wet gryphon, a Companion and its herald. Though he had to admit.., despite the not too easy on the nose smell of wet gryphon, it had so far been more pleasant company that the rather sourly, fledgling herald and the apparently aloof Companion.
Well, until the gryphon had curled up and covered her head with a wing to sleep that was. But at least the creature had been quite willing to carry on a conversation until then, and certainly what the gryphon had told him about the city she came from, White Gryphon or something, had been facinating enough.
The herald to be however, that one didn't appear to be interested in doing anything but looking everywhere but at Teirgan, occationally taking a sip from the much too bitter cup of tea which Teir had provided. Other than providing the information that she had recently been Chosen and was on her way to Haven with her Companion, the young woman had hardly uttered a word. Not that Teirgan cared, making a living as a trader and whatever else that could earn him some money, he didn't much care about the Heralds and what they stood for. Well, he had to admit that they did some good for Valdemar and its people, but in day to day matters he didn't exactly care much about them and their white 'horses'.
And you..., stay out of my thoughts, he thought as the Companion looked over at him.
Teirgan sighed as he tossed aside his now empty cup, those 'white horses' were even worse than their riders. Having traveled quite a bit throughout Valdemar and elsewhere, he knew better than to believe that those Companions were nothing more than clever horses. They also had that inconvenient ability of picking up stray thoughts if one weren't careful..
Placing another few pieces of wood in the fire, Teirgan frowned as he looked outside, where sleet was still dropping from the sky in buckets. Well, the thought of going outside was hardly tempting, but there of-course emptying his bladder inside the shelter was out of the question.
Leaving his temporary traveling companions in the shelter, he pulled the hood of his jacket over his head as he pushed aside some branches and walked outside, shuddering as some of the sleet found its way onto his face. It was bad enough in the shelter, despite the fire they had managed to light, but outside it was many times worse. He would have to get done with this quickly, the sooner her could get back to sitting by that fire, the better. Keeping his hands inside the wool-lined sleeves of his jacket, he made his way over to the next tree as quickly as he could through the slush covering the ground.
There was a snort, its source being only inches from Teirgan's right ear, and as he startled and turned in the direction it had came from-- he found himself face to face with a huge creature. For several long moments, he was unable to recognize what the creature was through the falling sleet-- and he could only stare with eyes wide open in a mix of surprise and fear.
Head held high, a horse was standing in front of him, looking at him with strange, tawny eyes.
At least he thought it was a horse...
Not that he had really seen a horse that had to be nearly two meters tall at the shoulders, and upon getting a proper look at it-- neither a red dun horse with a blaze of white running down its broad chest, or with similary colored stripes at its legs either.
The horse looked at Teirgan, and Teirgan looked at the horse.