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My Little Pony: Where Griffons Go to Die
Chapter 3: The Mountain is Tall, but the Fall is Short
With a start, Vultur awoke.
Maybe it was instinct. His body, yearning for an end to its suffering. A message to say "get up and die – the sooner the better." Or maybe it was the dreams. Dreams that were already on the edge of his memory, like water leaving the shore.
Did you dream when you were dead, he wondered? Did the consciousness exist in some form? Did it go somewhere else? Or did it dissipate along with the rest of the body?
Slowly, the griffon got up, flexing his wings. His claws, his joints, his whole body…it was aching. Crying for it to end. Yet his wings felt fine. They were ready for the death flight. Looking up at the sky and squinting, Vultur saw the sun was not yet at its peak, but nearing its destination. Apparently Celestia wasn't taking the day off on his deathday. How considerate. Come midday, and his life would end. There was no requirement, but tradition dictated that he meet his end then. And even now, Vultur supposed he might as well follow it.
But for now, there was nothing to do but wait. Slowly, Vultur walked over to the edge of the ledge on which he was perched. Mount Altai wasn't particularly steep or tall, but up here, he could still see the scrubland spreading out for miles. Birds in the sky, beasts on the ground…it would be so easy to join them, he thought. To step out and fall. To cancel out the death flight altogether and end it there and then.
But he didn't. He just stood there. And stared. Looked at the ground, eventually speaking.
"Will I dream?"
Vultur looked up at the sun.
It didn't have an answer.
"Crawshay? Have you seen Oromo?"
"No. Why?"
"Because she's meant to be with you, you feather-headed hippo."
They were harsh words, but Selous didn't care. He was busy. He had to go on a scouting trip with Zacora ("Hard Wanderer") and Zegara ("Kind One") and he expected his daughter to be studying that which would allow her to treat her fellow Quagga if anything happened. He also expected the elderly zebra before him to be equally concerned, not preoccupied with whatever foul broth was stewing in the clay pot in the centre of her hut.
"Say, what is that?" Zagara asked, walking forward. "It looks-"
Selous held out his staff. The zebra hung back.
"I'm sure Oromo is fine," Crawshay said softly, hobbling to her shelf and clasping a withered plant beneath her teeth. "Give your daughter credit."
"For what?" the warrior asked. "For missing her education?"
"One can learn about the world through means other than hiding away from it," the wise woman intoned, dropping the roots into her pot. "You should know that of all people."
Selous's back-hairs bristled. Exploring the world…was this where his daughter had got all her nonsense from? Stories of far-off lands, of creatures besides those of Borensisia? When he left the village, he did it because he had to. Not because he wanted to. Not to follow in
Gritting his teeth as well, Selous glanced back at his comrades, Zegara looking impassive and Zacora barely keeping his eagerness in check. If only Crawshay would be so loyal.
"I have to go," the zebra said to the elderly Quagga before him. "But if Oromo turns up, do…"
"Do what?" Crawshay asked, not looking away from her pot.
"Something. Something to make her understand discipline. Something…something…"
A green mist puffed up from the cauldron. Through it, Crawshay turned to him.
"Do something," Crawshay intoned, "can be the same as doing nothing."
Selous stared at her.
"Selous, your name means 'straight and narrow,'" the elderly zebra said. "It is the name you chose when you received your sun mark. Someday, Oromo will receive her own sun mark."
"It's a day that can't come soon enough," the warrior said. "The sooner Awambi reinforces her path, the better."
"And if her path is not on the straight and narrow?" Crawshay asked. "What then?"
Selous stared at her.
"Selous, I'm not as senile as you think I am," the wise woman said, making her way to some dry leaves on a shelf. "I know Oromo isn't happy here."
"Happiness has to be sacrificed for the greater good."
"Straight and narrow, as always," Crawshay said, dropping the leaves into the pot. "But I am wise enough to see that the river may bend before it breaks on the banks."
Zacora tapped Selous on his shoulder. The warrior ignored him.
"Oromo is bored," Crawshay continued. "Everything I teach her comes naturally. She can become a healer. She can help the Quagga. But we are but one village. Her talents are liable to be wasted."
"My daughter is not a waste," Selous growled, entering the hut proper and putting his staff between Crawshay and a shelf.
"I did not say that. I said that she has potential. And I will say now that a day may come where her path may bend…"
The zebra moved around Selous, grasping some roots.
"Before she breaks."
Selous remained silent. Remained silent to Crawshay. Remained silent as he trotted out. As he gestured to Zacora and Zegara to follow.
He would neither bend or break. But as soon as Oromo returned from whatever on earth she was doing, he would make sure she bended…to his will.
Or be broken.
Awambi was being kind to her, Oromo thought.
It was a pleasant time of morning. Warm enough to keep her moving up Uhuru, yet not so warm that she felt tired. If anything, the sunlight made the zebra feel invigorated. She was here. On Uhuru. Defying every limitation the Quagga had placed on her. Seizing her destiny. Glancing at Awambi's light, Oromo uttered silent thanks. Awambi was with her. Awambi would guide her. Once she found the thing that had defiled this mountain, Awambi would bless her with her sun mark.
Unless…
Unless the thing had flown away. Unless it had moved on to another area of Borensisia, or whatever mythical land it had originated from. Unless she was up here for nothing, fated to return to her tribe with a tale that no-one would believe. No evidence apart from…the black feather that landed on her nose.
What in the-?
Oromo looked upwards. There, on a ledge, was a claw. Sticking out. As if the creature was resting.
On instinct, the zebra increased her pace, moving up the slope of Uhuru to find her prey. She became parallel with the ledge. Drew out her staff. Found the creature.
And just stared.
It was like no creature she'd ever seen, and yet, also reminiscent of every creature she knew of. At its front were two large claws, like that of a bird of prey, yet large enough to give those birds a run for their feathers. Yet its rear half, rear tail f and rear legs were like those of a lion. Strong. Muscular. It even had paws. Yet its fur and feathers were jet black, like that of the black panther. And indeed, the feathers were most prominent on its two wings, and head. Like a bird, but no bird she knew of. Did birds exist in other lands?
It was strange. It was majestic. And yet, Oromo drew her staff. For once, she could get the drop on her foe…if it was her foe.
It is my foe, isn't it?
Oromo looked up at Awambi. The sun goddess remained silent. Was this a test of faith, the idea that she had to rid Uhuru of this intruder? Or was it one of compassion? Because looking at this creature, sleeping peacefully, Oromo wondered if it was necessary to strike at all.
It has to leave though, she reminded herself. Perhaps not through force, but…
Slowly, the zebra moved towards the sleeping beast. Slowly, she extended her staff forward, doing her best to stay balanced on three legs. Slowly, the staff approached the creature's beak…
The beak opened and grabbed the staff.
Oromo let out a yelp as she stumbled back, the creature glaring at her with two amber eyes. It spit out the staff, sending it hurtling to the scrubland below. It slowly got up…very slowly…
Is it wounded?
It didn't seem to be. But it was moving slowly all the same.
"Unafanya nini?" it asked.
Oromo stared, even as she kept slowly moving away. The language seemed vaguely familiar, but it certainly wasn't the one the Quagga spoke, or indeed, most of the animals of Borensisia. There were old dialects, true, but over time, they had converged to one core dialect. As was Awambi's will. Even the lions and their ilk had the courtesy of talking to their prey in the same language.
"Kwa nini wewe?"
"I…I don't…"
"Nijibuni!"
The creature was getting angry. Oromo kept walking back, but stumbled.
"Mbona hapa?! Je, si wewe kuzungumza?!"
The creature leered down at her, its eyes radiating menace. Tears trickled down Oromo's eyes, but if that was swaying the creature, it wasn't showing. All that was left was to try and communicate.
"Kuacha kilio! Nijibuni!"
Nijibuni…it had said that before. And that was all Oromo needed…she hoped. The language sounded…lionish? She wasn't too familiar with it, but taking the plunge, she began to talk.
"Tafadhali…" the zebra began. "Ji…ni…laganu…Oromo?"
The creature took a step back. It stared at her.
"Mimi…wa…wan…Quagga?"
The creature kept staring. It had backed off, but Oromo could tell she was struggling to communicate. Maybe she had to go down to a baser level.
"Oromo," she said, pointing at herself. "You?"
Did it understand what "you?' meant. Possibly not, but it did point a claw at its feathered chest.
"Vultur," it said.
Oromo nodded. This was a start at least. But names were a far cry from the words it had exclaimed earlier. How on earth was she going to communicate fluently.
"Ulisema…walikuwa wa Quagga?" the creature asked.
A case in point. Apart from "Quagga." Oromo didn't understand a single word. But yet…
"Oromo," she said, pointing to herself again. "Of Quagga."
"Vultur," the thing said, pointing to itself. "Griffon."
Griffon? Did he mean "of griffon?" Or that he was a griffon? And in Awambi's name, what was a griffon in the first place?
The zebra shifted her gaze to Awambi herself for a moment. Still in the sky. Still silent. Perhaps still waiting to get this Vultur of Griffon off Uhuru. An impossible task without her staff. But maybe…maybe a staff wasn't needed.
Oromo lay down, folding her forelegs under her body. Slowly, the one called Vultur did the same. And with the same level of speed, Oromo took out one of her earrings, using its curved edge to cut away the grass on the ledge, exposing the dirt. She drew a circle with lines from it.
"Sun," she said.
"Sun," the griffon said.
Oromo watched as he drew a small circular object by it. "Moon," he said.
"Moon," Oromo responded. She drew a star. "Star," she said.
"Nyota," the griffon said.
Oromo smiled. It seemed that whatever language Vultur was speaking, there were some root similarities to it. "Sun" and "moon" for the same, while "star" was different.
Awambi was high in the sky. She would set before they'd be able to communicate properly. But Oromo didn't mind.
Right now, she felt like she had all the time in the world.
A/N
I'll be honest in saying that the language Vultur utilizes is indeed Swahili. Kind of a cop-out I admit, but as per my 'dubbing' the zebra language into English in this story, I reasoned it was the logical choice bar creating a language of my own. Having read Planet Word this year, it was a task I didn't feel up to.
And in other news, season 3 of Friendship is Magic has begun airing. To be honest, I don't think the season 3 intro held a candle to its predecessors, but hey, it's early days yet.
And in case you're wondering, this chapter title was too long for it to be entered in the chapter upload option, hence why it's shorter in the tab than in the chapter heading itself.
Update (18/06/14): Made some writing corrections.