Chapter Four: Three Girls and a Gryphon
The three Wordsworth girls were wide-eyed at their first sight of Illishar and the cat tree their father and his boss had set up in the living room; Shelley arched a brow at her husband, demanding an explanation.
With a grimace, he did. "We're hoping he sticks to the tree and doesn't start ripping up the house."
"Why not just make him stay human?" Shelley inquired, a touch of frost in her words.
Illishar, gamboling around Ally and Lilly, looked up at Shelley's remark. An instant later, he blurred, yawning and completely oblivious to the shocked expression on Lilly's face; Ally just shrugged and kept petting Lance's back.
Greg scooped his nephew up, giving Shelley an apologetic look. "He's shifting instinctively, Shelley, and so far, once he changes, he stays in his form for a few hours."
"I can take the couch tonight," Alanna offered as her brother snuggled close to his uncle and fell asleep.
"Thanks, mia nipote," Greg agreed. "Let's hope he sleeps through the night."
"Don't hold your breath," Shelley grumbled in an undertone. Children that small never did what you wanted them to do…especially when you wanted them to do something as silly as sleep the night away.
Sunday morning's wakeup call consisted of an excited, hyperactive gryphon hatchling who took great delight in dive-bombing his uncle, his sister, and a squealing, just as excited Ally. The elder Wordsworths escaped the wakeup call by the simple expedient of having their door closed. Greg, reluctant to wake his teammate, decided to handle the early morning duties himself; he started the coffee pot, asked Ally what she wanted for breakfast, and located the eggs in the refrigerator for his own breakfast.
"Illishar, if you want breakfast, you'll have to shift back and tell me what you want," Greg informed the gryphon cub on the kitchen table.
Illishar gave a hiss of protest and mantled his wings, snapping his beak at an imaginary carcass. Sapphire eagle eyes regarded Greg and he added a soft, whimpering cheep in plea.
"No, I will not give you raw meat to eat," Greg refused. "If you want breakfast, you have to shift back."
The gryphlet curled up, hiding his head under one wing as he sulked. Greg looked down as Ally tugged on one leg, holding up her sippy cup. "What would you like, Ally?"
"Owange juice," Ally replied shyly, giving Greg a tiny smile. Of the three Wordsworth girls, the three-and-a-half-year-old was the closest to Lance's current age. She had brown hair, much the same shade as her father, blue eyes that were just like her mother's, and, even at her young, age, her features were a touch broader than most girls', though they suited her.
"Okay," Greg agreed, taking the sippy cup and pulling the carton of orange juice out of the 'fridge; he filled Ally's cup and fit the top in place before handing it back to her.
Illishar uncurled, making another plaintive cheep.
Greg arched a brow at his nephew. "Lancelot," he said warningly, before he paused. "Are you having trouble shifting back?" To be honest, he didn't think that was the issue; Lance didn't appear to have even tried to shift back.
Illishar nodded solemnly, though his solemn attitude was spoiled when he lifted one forefoot and delicately licked a talon.
Unconvinced, Greg pointed to the floor, waiting for Illishar to hop down before he ordered, "Right here, show me."
If a gryphon could beg, Illishar did; the gryphlet drew back, then cast up sapphire eagle eyes that gave off the impression of going wide and pleading. His wings spread, then slumped down as much as they could; the hatchling shifted to balance on his rear paws, both forefeet coming up like a dog's front paws. A pitiful whine rose from the cub's chest and he raked the air for an instant.
"Show me, Lancelot," Greg ordered sternly, tapping one foot.
The stand-off continued for another few seconds, then Illishar grumbled to himself and finally blurred, an unhappy four-year-old appearing on the floor.
"That's better," Greg remarked. "Now, what would you like for breakfast, mio nipote."
Lance pouted, crossing his arms. "Sausage," he finally decided. "And bacon."
"You can have one or the other," Greg decided. "And I'd like you to have some fruit and vegetables as well."
A whine rose from the four-year-old, then Ally offered, "You ca' have ceweal wi' me, Illieshaw."
Mentally, Greg facepalmed; trust Wordy's little girl to have picked up on Lance's Animagus nickname. "Ally, I only called Lance 'Illishar' because he was in his animal form," the Sergeant corrected gently. He switched his attention to his nephew, asking, "Would you like to share Ally's cereal, Lance?"
The brown head shook 'no' and Lance sullenly pushed himself off the floor and went to the kitchen table. "Sausage," he decided, but he didn't voice any fruit or vegetable requests.
"Okay," Greg agreed, deciding on a banana and carrots to keep the preschooler busy while the sausage cooked. Lance made a face when Greg set the fruit and vegetables in front of him, but the Sergeant's warning expression kept him from saying anything. Ally, watching the older boy, made a face of her own, giggling at Lance after a few seconds. When Lilly and Claire tumbled into the kitchen, Greg suppressed a sigh; three little girls and a four-year-old gryphon Animagus, wonderful.
After breakfast, Lance wasted no time at all in shifting back to his gryphon form, to the dismay of all three adults. Alanna sighed to herself, shaking her head at her brother, and the three Wordsworth girls immediately started to play with the enthusiastic baby gryphon.
"Okay, in the living room," Wordy decided. "You four can play in there, but nowhere else, understand? And girls, be careful of those talons; Illishar can draw blood without even trying, all right?"
"We'll be okay, Daddy," Claire reassured her father; an agreeing cheep rose from Illishar. The ten-year-old was growing up to be rather similar to her mother, though her eyes were brown and her hair several shades lighter than her father's brunet. For now, she wore her hair long, in a not-so-accidental imitation of Alanna, but Wordy suspected it was just a phase; no, actually, he hoped it was a phase…he'd already had to talk Claire out of cutting her hair right after Alanna's hospital ordeal – Claire had been utterly dismayed the first time she'd seen Alanna with her auburn locks all but shaved off.
Ally and Lilly ran to get their dolls, eager to play with a real life animal, mythical or not. Claire opted to stay with Illishar, petting him and leaning in close to see his feathers and claws, both eagle and lion. Illishar held still for a minute or two, then slipped out from under her hands to prowl over to his cat tree, rumbling as he stepped up onto the lowest platform and inspected the stout poles that led upwards.
The gryphlet crouched, then sprang up onto one pole, scrambling up to the cat house on the first level; he was perched on top of the house in seconds. Small wings flared and Illishar leapt to the second set of poles, his wings providing balance as he climbed to the second level; the gryphon cub didn't even pause on the second level, just hurled himself up to the uppermost platform.
"Illieshaw, play wi' us," Ally called, reappearing with several of her favorite dolls and what looked like a preschooler sized t-shirt.
Lilly, just behind her younger sister and carrying her own dolls, added her own two cents. "Yeah, play with us, Illishar. We'll have lots of fun." The middle Wordsworth daughter's blonde hair had the merest hint of brown and she already possessed a mix of her mother's willowy frame and her father's solid build, which gave Lilly a rather athletic look. Gray eyes peeked out from a face rounded with remaining hints of baby fat; pert features gave her a snobbish look, but her friendly demeanor counteracted that natural look.
Illishar inspected the two little girls from his perch, his head tilted to the side like a curious bird. After a few seconds of consideration, he leapt from his perch and flew over to the girls, landing right by their dolls with a inquiring mer-reap?
Little Ally squealed in excitement and dropped her last two dolls to hold up the t-shirt; Illishar, seeing her purpose, backed away with an indignant hiss. "Wear shirt, Illieshaw," Ally ordered. "Then we have tea party!"
Illishar mantled his wings, hissing louder before he turned and darted away; Lilly snatched for the gryphon and missed as he fled back to the cat tree, flying up to the top platform and out of reach. Claire jumped at Illishar's abrupt retreat from her sisters and looked up from the book her father had gotten her after her kidnapping; it was a book about magical creatures and she'd wanted to see if the book's description of gryphons matched Illishar.
As soon as Claire saw the t-shirt, her eyes widened and petite features drew together in a frown. "Oh, no, Ally," she scolded. "You can't put that on him."
"Why no?" Ally questioned, disappointment obvious.
Claire swooped down on her little sister, taking the shirt away. "You'll hurt his wings, Ally," she explained. "They're really strong, so he can fly, but they're hollow, too, like a regular bird's. And he's a baby, so they aren't as strong as they will be yet." Inspecting the shirt, Claire grimaced. She didn't think Illishar was interesting in wearing a bright pink shirt with hearts all over it, anyway.
"But we want a tea party," Lilly complained.
"Lilly, he's not a doll," Claire retorted. "You can't make him do what you want to do, just like you can't make me do what you want to do all the time." Looking between the unhappy gryphlet and her sisters, Claire bit her lip; she really didn't want to deal with an Ally temper tantrum special – the littlest Wordsworth was also the loudest Wordsworth. "I have an idea; how about we take Illishar outside and see if he'll play with a ball or something."
When both Lilly and Ally looked happy with Claire's proposal, the ten-year-old sighed in relief, then went to find her parents for permission to take Illishar outside.
Illishar hissed to himself, pawing at the 'collar' around his neck again. But after a minute or two, he gave up and returned his attention to the two humans he was playing with. And the ball! The ball was very odd: instead of being a regular ball, it looked like seven balls mashed into one ball and when it hit the ground, it bounced anywhere and everywhere!
Lilly threw the ball, giggling and laughing as it hit before Illishar could catch it; the ball bounced sideways, so low to the ground that the pouncing gryphon saw it skate right under his forefeet. Illishar twisted in midair and squr-kked in determination, landing on the ball in the next instant. Wings spread as the gryphon shoved the ball down into the ground, growling and snapping his beak.
After a few seconds, Illishar let the ball up and carefully picked it up in his talons. Little wings carried him over to the human fledglings, but he flew low to the ground, wary of making baby sister mad again. Once he reached the fledglings, he landed on his back paws and held the ball up.
Ally took the ball from Illishar, her laughter spilling out, and she drew her arm back to throw the ball again; the ball was snatched out of Ally's hand and she nearly fell as another girl added a shove to the ball snatch. Illishar shrieked in displeasure and Lilly caught her younger sister before she could fall.
"Nice ball," the newcomer taunted, turning the blue ball over in her hands. Glancing down, she sneered. "You're playing fetch with a cat? Talk about stupid."
Illishar hissed loudly, mantling his wings at the new girl; she was the same age as Lilly, with dark brown hair, a smug, superior look, and a stance that reminded Illishar of how baby sister stood. The human was insulting his fledglings and he didn't like it, not one bit. Lilly moved to be between the thief and Ally, biting her lip and giving off a scent that Illishar identified as 'fear'. For his part, Illishar crouched, judging how high he needed to leap to get the ball back from the thief.
"Leave my sister alone," Lilly snapped, her hands clenching as she faced off with the neighborhood girl who'd been making her school life miserable for the past month. "And give us our ball back!"
"Or what?" Erin taunted, stepping back. "Or you're gonna call your daddy? Cry-baby, cry-baby, has to go running to daddy for everything."
Lilly fumed at the insults and stepped forward, grabbing for the ball.
"Oops," Erin called, tossing the ball up and catching it as she skipped backwards. "Too slow, cry-baby." She flicked another look at Illishar and a wicked grin crossed her face. "Fetch, you stupid cat," the girl yelled as she threw the ball as hard as she could at Illishar.
Illishar sprang forwards, over the ball, and Lilly saw the briefest flash of Illishar's wings as the gryphon cub flapped them once; Illishar hit Erin's chest and bowled the girl over, shrieking indignation and outrage. Fortunately, Erin fell on the grass rather than the sidewalk and Ally darted away, catching the ball before it could bounce too far.
"Illishar, no!" Lilly cried, jumping forward and grabbing Illishar around his waist, though she was careful not to snag his wings. She lifted the spitting, snarling cub off Erin and scrambled back, clutching Illishar to her chest; the girl flinched as the schoolyard bully pushed herself up.
"Your cat scratched me!" Erin screeched. "I'm gonna tell my Mom on you!"
"You throw ball at Illieshaw," Ally accused, returning to the scene with Claire in tow. "You push me and steal ball."
Claire took in the scene, scowling fiercely at the badly disguised fear on Lilly's face, the angry yowling coming from Illishar, and the way Ally was hiding behind her. "I think you should leave," Claire snapped at Erin, putting her hands on her hips. "Leave my sisters and our cat alone or it won't be Lilly telling our father; it will be me."
"Cry-babies always run to daddy," Erin sneered.
Ally blinked, then asked, innocently, "Cwy-babies run to mommy, too?"
Erin flushed brightly, then took a step forward, towards Ally. "Shut up, you little freak!"
Illishar snarled; wriggling free from Lilly, he made to launch at Erin, only to be caught by his sister. "I think," Alanna decided, striding forward until Erin was forced to backpedal, "That is enough." At fourteen, Alanna was twice Erin's age and had thrice her experience. "I'd make you apologize, but a forced apology is no apology at all, so we'll settle for you making yourself scarce and never coming back, capiche?"
Though the redhead's tone was light, almost airy, her expression was not and Erin found herself backing up until she'd reached the sidewalk. Then she regained her belligerence. "Your stupid cat attacked me!"
Alanna pointedly swept her eyes up and down Erin. "I don't see any blood, so it must not have been that bad." The redhead passed Illishar off to Claire, then stalked right up to Erin, violet eyes glittering as they went amethyst hard. "And I believe Ally when she says you pushed her, took the ball, and threw it at Illishar. You're lucky he didn't draw blood, so run along little girl."
As Erin scrambled away, Alanna smirked and rocked back on her heels. Without turning around, she remarked, "I think you three had best take Illishar back inside, but…" slowly, the redhead swiveled, "No tea parties, you copy?"