The Griffith of Griffonstone
Chapter 1 - No Wings
Did you ever think a grand kingdom could fall so quickly? Probably not. What was this grand kingdom? Griffonstone. Griffonstone is the only sign of civilization around for miles out in this ring of ancient icy mountains; though, the kingdom was very medieval, that was for sure.
Anyway, Griffonstone was under great rule; all the subjects treated each other fairly, no matter their class. And the reason there was so much peace was because of the grand rulers King Gerard and Queen Grace.
They were by far the best rulers of the generation…but even their wonderful reign would come to an end, and that was why the king and queen wanted a child. But that was easier said than done because it would be…'difficult' for them to conceive any children, so they needed to adopt.
And now, on a cool spring night in mid-March, the king and queen were throwing a royal ball, where all were welcome, in honor of the hatching of the adopted child. So, every subject was flying over the kingdom as fast as they could to get to the grand castle…oh, did you think the subjects were human? No, no, no.
All that dwelled in this kingdom were Greek mythological creatures called griffons. Why do you think the kingdom was called 'Griffon'stone anyway?
It didn't matter if you were high, middle or even low class; ALL griffons were welcome, as they would still each get a quick visual exam from the big guards at the castle's entrance. But everyone was let in anyway because all subjects were good people; there wasn't ONE bad apple in the giant kingdom.
Music and beautiful lights would pour out from nearly every window in the castle ballroom, and it was the largest ballroom in honor of the new prince or princess' hatching; there was a huge banquet of many varieties of foods on tables that stretched from one end of the room all the way to the other; griffons were everywhere either dining, talking or dancing.
But as King Gerard waited for his wife Queen Grace to arrive with their adopted, and hopefully ready to hatch, egg accompanied by some guards, he waited by the buffet while talking with a commoner that he had never met, but seemed like a good guy.
"So, how is your son, Grayson?" the king asked with a smile, as the two male griffons held their cups of mild wine in their claws; King Gerard's cup was big and golden while the commoner's was wooden.
King Gerard's voice was also perfect for a griffon of his stature; it was calm, but it could also be very intimidating when needed. But why must he be intimidating during an event like this? There was no need for it.
The king had grand feathers that only the royal family griffons were born with; he had bright brown feathers, fur and eagle claws, and on the tip of the feathers on his head, giant wings and on the tuff of his tail, it was all tipped with a glimmering gold color.
Grayson, the griffon King Gerard was talking with, was not just a commoner, but he was also the captain of his royal guard, but he had never been able to meet him with both of their important duties. Grayson was…well, more or less a grey griffon, with dark grey feathers and front eagle claws, and light grey fur on the rest of his body.
"Gaston? Oh, the young lad is fine; a tad troubled in knight training with his unfortunate lazy eye, but he's trying his hardest, and he IS improving quite well, Your Majesty."
"Well, with a father like you, I'm sure he'll amount up to GREAT things someday, Grayson. And might I add that it was quite the pleasure to meet you; with all my royal duties lately, it seems small conversations like this are just impossible."
The king and captain suddenly turned toward the front of the ballroom when everyone suddenly went quiet, but only because Queen Grace had finally returned with royal guard escort, and cradled in her arms was a football sized, pearl colored egg; it was the new prince/princess.
The queen and her escort gracefully flew over the silent ballroom, as all of the griffons bowed in respect for the queen AND the future ruler of the kingdom. And Queen Grace could even start to feel the sudden movement inside the egg; it was definitely ready to hatch.
Soon, Queen Grace flew up to the front of the ballroom, where there was a tall, golden and grand podium, and at the top was a comfortable blanket shaped into the podium's bowl, as to make it comfortable for the hatchling. And King Gerard soon flew up to his wife; many of the royal guards were all now hovering by in a firm and quiet stance with their spears and armor ready. The king and queen each wore a smile after Queen Grace had gently placed the egg into the blanketed podium top, and just at that moment, the egg started to shake even harder.
The entire ballroom was still and silent; no one even wanted a breath to escape their lips in the anticipation of the hatching. But then…
CRACK
As faint as it was, it almost seemed like the first egg's crack echoed throughout the entire ballroom, bit it was the first and last crack, for the hatchling had split its entire egg open in one giant push, and the soggy little hatchling spilled out onto the podium, as well as pools of amniotic sac.
"Oh, it's here…it's finally here," Queen Grace sobbed with tears of joy.
"It's a girl…my little girl," King Gerard said as he also started to cry tears of joy; even a grown male griffon like him couldn't hold back his tears.
The queen immediately let her motherly instincts take over, as she flew down and gently started licking their new daughter clean; the newborn mewing helplessly, as she tried to stand and open her eyes.
Griffons were a lot like horses after being born; they somehow learn to stand and see after very short periods of time after birth.
Moments after soft licking, Queen Grace helped the hatchling to stand by gently nudging it with her beak, but it only flopped back down onto its back, and it was so cute that it made the king and the queen chuckle.
After being licked clean, the newborn's features were finally revealed; she was part lion and part eagle like most griffons, and she had the most ordinary brown colorations of feathers and fur, but her feather and fur design was rather unique; the hatchling's front half of her body was all covered in dark brown feathers while the back half was covered in a lighter shade of brown fur, and instead of an eagle beak upon her face, the newborn had a long and thin muzzle to replace the beak. The new parents didn't know what to think of this, but they decided to just brush it off.
And the moment became even more cute when their new daughter suddenly started taking a few deep breaths in as if she was about to sneeze, and when she did, it was just the cutest little high-pitched sneeze. Not only that, but the impact of the sneeze suddenly caused the little griffon's eyes to finally open, revealing sparkling, deep blue eyes.
"Awww," Queen Grace cooed as the leaned down again to nuzzle their new baby's tummy, in which the little thing giggled and wiggled while on its back. And the queen that decided to pick up their new daughter.
But when the queen held the baby up to her nose, she was suddenly greeted with a gasp from her husband.
"Dearest…"
"What?" Queen Grace asked while not even looking away from their new child's eyes.
"She…she…she…"
"What is it, Dear? Spit it out!"
…
"The hatchling has no wings!" the king accidentally yelled, and every single griffon gasped in horror when they heard the king's statement.
But the queen was confused as to what the king was talking about, so she decided to turn the hatchling around in her claws, and…she was horrified…her husband was right…the hatchling had NO wings on her back.
Everyone knows that a griffon is not a griffon without a pair of wings; a griffon's wings were its true pride, but if there is a griffon in the kingdom with no wings, then…their kingdom really wasn't as perfect as they thought it was.
"This can't be right."
"What does it mean?"
"It's a sign."
"It's a bad omen!"
Negative feedback was starting to quickly emit from the crowd.
But what if they're right…what if a wingless griffon really IS a bad omen?
King Gerard and Queen Grace didn't know what to do; not once during their reign or in the history of Griffonstone has something like this EVER happened. The kingdom was not prepared for this...for curses like me.
This is an AU as to what actually happened to Griffonstone and how it became the place you saw in the show. The griffons lied. They didn't lose a sacred treasure...what happened was much worse, and they didn't want to lose their dignity.
Until the next chapter, I'm TRikiD, bye-bye!
