I just wanted to take a moment to appreciate all of you who have commented and favorited or alerted... and to apologize for the long delay in posting more. I got sick AGAIN (yeah, seriously) and then I also had to repost all of my stories on another site I often go to.
I am really grateful to all who read, and for all of your patience and kind understanding. Thank you so much, and I'm really sorry it's been so long.
Part 34: Seeking Alistair
"Sheri, wait!" he cried after her, but she left him standing there with that kicked-puppy look on his face.
It hurt her that he thought they would go from pretty much him hating her to him kissing her without skipping a beat. The part that bothered her the most was that he didn't recognize that feelings should be a part of that physical closeness. And anger and hate wasn't one of those feelings, either.
So she left him standing there and climbed up the cliff. It was a long climb, and somewhat dangerous, but she had gotten to the point where she knew it well. She got to the top and started down towards her camp on the lower plateau.
When she got there, she headed towards the glistening pool in the distance, reflecting the shine of the waxing moon in a bright path across its surface. But before she could get there, she was disrupted by two agitated griffons.
This was a whole new pair, she thought, but couldn't be sure, their bodies were too pale to see the color of in the moonlight.
They snorted and jumped in front of her, rearing and scrambling. She had no idea what they wanted.
"Stop it!" She snapped at them finally. "I have no idea what you want, and I won't, so long as you just keep freaking out!"
Something in her tone of voice must have gotten through to them, because they stopped, snorting and wheezing.
The female squawked at her, then flew over to the edge of the plateau. The male squawked at the female several times, fluttering his wings and prancing. Finally, Sheri decided to go see if the female perhaps was trying to get her to follow. Did they have a nest as well?
As she went to the female, the male leaped into the air, flying over her head and missing her by a hair's breadth. He swooped down and disappeared beyond the edge of the plateau. Keeping an eye on the female, Sheri laid down on the edge and looked over.
Below, she could barely make out another nest. Perhaps these little ones were ill, she thought, and decided to climb down and find out. She wasn't sure whether or not they were so far gone that immediate help was all that could save them.
So, she got ready, gave the female griffon a dirty look, and started climbing down. She realized quickly that she'd had an advantage on the previous descent because it had been an area she'd climbed down before. But here, she didn't know the area at all, and needed some light. So she climbed back up and took care of that issue before starting back down again.
The other thing that bothered her about it was that this area was almost sheer, where the other section had a grade to it. This was precarious and demanding climb, and there were a couple of times her heart was in her throat.
Part 35: Seeking Alistair
As he'd climbed in her wake, the sun had gone down, causing the climb to become treacherous and frightening for Alistair. He knew that he'd faced death for months on a daily basis, and so he shouldn't be so terrified of it… yet he had to admit that he was.
He was very afraid. He didn't want to die this way. He didn't want to plunge to his death, rolling and bouncing down the side of a cliff to land broken and bleeding on the ground—if he didn't die on the way down.
A soft breeze brushed at his face, silent and soft. The only sound was his labored breathing as he struggled over yet another bounder. He looked back again and shuddered. He was so high now that even the distant roar of the sea was drowned out by his exhausted panting.
And beneath him, he could see only darkness. It was as if he was detached from the world and launched to a lofty height.
He leaned forward against the stones and groaned in fear. Why had he ever followed her? He was going to die here, and who knew how long it would be before she found him? Would she find him? Would he be torn apart, fed to those baby griffons he'd passed?
He stepped up onto another rock, its surface sloping enough to make him fearful, and pushed onward. When he reached the top, it was sudden, and he stared in surprise. Grasses, small and stunted, met his surprised gaze, leading to darkness beyond.
He pulled himself up to the plain and walked out onto it. It felt strange to him, disorienting, to be so high and yet on a flat, wide plain. Beyond it, he could see the shimmering line of the moon reflecting off of the sea. Enchanted, he walked towards it, until he reached the far side of the plain—not nearly so large as he'd first thought.
As he reached the edge, he could see by the light of the moon that there was another grade here that led to another long, flat plain, this also shrouded in darkness. He wasn't sure which way Sheri had gone, and he had just decided he would rest there before going on when a bright light flared off to his left.
Caught by it, he looked to see her, small and distant, with a wisp now circling her head. A griffon was beside her, and his heart flew to his throat as it challenged her, dancing and squawking so loudly that he heard it even from where he was.
Then to his horror, she laid down and eased over the side of what was obviously another cliff and vanished. His heart was seized by terror, until he realized he could still see the glow of the wisp over the ledge.
Sighing, worn out from long illness, climbing, and the rush of adrenaline-laced fear, he started carefully down the side of the cliff towards the second, lower plateau. By the time he got there, he could only make out the barest glow, and headed that direction.
Plodding along, he nearly stumbled right over the edge, so abruptly did he reach it. He stopped, once more fully alert, and looked over. He sat down, dangling his feet over the edge.
Not all that far below him, he saw Sheri, hands on hips, haranguing the pair of adult griffons. He grinned and settled in to watching it. For whatever reason, he found it immense fun to watch her when she was in her bossy, businesslike state.
Part 36: Seeking Alistair
Sheri managed to make it down to the ledge where the griffon babies were. They lay curled in the nest, sleeping. It was nothing short of adorable, with their bodies tangled together.
But the problem was the one below. She laid down and looked over the edge. She saw movement and could make out the small creature's plaintive cries. This group was older than the other ones, and Sheri realized immediately what had happened.
It had gone exploring and fallen to the lower ledge. She cast a Heal, gratified to hear its surprised, curious chirp. But then, it immediately got up and started wobbling towards the edge again! With a curse, she cast a paralyze spell just in time to keep it from falling off that cliff—this time with certainty, to plummet to its death.
Then she took the belt off of her robe and fashioned a loop out of it. Reaching down, she found that she couldn't quite get it around the tiny creature's belly. Straining, she finally decided to try using her hair clip to grasp the rope and pull it around so that she could then pull it through the loop and snug it around the baby griffon.
For long, agonizing moments, as the duration of the spell ticked away, she struggled to get the rope onto the fragile clip. She grasped it once, pincher-fashion, but the rope slipped further from her. Groaning in fearful despair, she tried again.
Fortune smiled upon her, as she managed to entangle a frayed big of the rope on the clasp. Quickly she summoned it towards her with deft fingers working the clip sideways. At last she was able to grip it with the clip and lift it up. Grabbing it with the other hand, she pulled the end through the loop and pulled it snug around the griffon's belly.
She let out a huge sign of relief and began to pull the little griffon up when the paralysis spell broke. She hadn't readied herself to use it yet, so she could do nothing but pull the struggling, hissing, squawking thing up as quickly as she could.
It wasn't far, of course—the matter of just over an arm's length—but by the time the little thing was up, it was spitting and fighting, and the male was fully mantled, screaming at her with a father's pure rage.
She set the protesting baby down, still wrapped in the robe rope. Then she put her hands on her hips and rounded on the angry male adult.
"How dare you?" she yelled at him. "You come pestering me to save your kit, and when I do, this is the thanks I get?" She pointed at him, "This is your fault, anyway!"
Too angry to notice, she carried on even as his feathers began to droop back into place and his head began to lower.
"What kind of idiot puts his children on a ledge when they're going to be walking soon? Clearly, you should know by now that they're not born with some instinct that will keep them from falling. How many times have all of you made nests on ledges and let your kits walk right off?"
His head was positively drooping now, and the female landed beside him as the kit at Sheri's feet began wrestling with the rope around its ribs.
"You would think that creatures as smart as you would learn better the first time and move them! It isn't as if there are any predators on this island that could kill them if you did it in a reasonable place. Don't you come snarling and snapping away at me when I save him, after you nearly knocked me off the ledge to begin with!"
The female was now looking equally as wilted as the male. But Sheri wasn't done yet, her heart was still thundering from the fear that the baby would fall before she could rescue it.
"It's no wonder you're nearly extinct when you do stupid things like this!"
She whirled in surprise when she heard Alistair's voice behind her, "That's a little harsh, isn't it?"
Part 37: Seeking Alistair
"I don't think so," she defended herself. "They almost lost a kit! It nearly died. And I don't think saying so is harsh! Fools, the lot of them, I say." She realized then that most of her anger was really coming from her own feelings towards herself and towards Alistair.
"I'm going to hand them up to you, and we're going to take them back to my camp." She picked up the one she'd just rescued and pulled the robe belt off of it. She began to climb up to Alistair.
"I don't think mom and dad are going to be too keen on that," Alistair argued.
She scowled at him. "Just do what I tell you, can't you, please? Just this once?"
"Sure, sure," Alistair said. Then he raised an eyebrow and grinned. "Do I get a reward later for my unquestioning obedience?"
She gasped and stared at him, mid-climb. Then she clasped her mouth shut and glared. "Yes, Alistair," she said sweetly. "I'll let you live through the night. And maybe even the next day!"
"Excellent!" he said. "That's more than I can say for that cliff you made me climb."
She climbed up and handed him the end of the belt. "You'll need to lower it to me. I'll put the kits in, and you'll haul them up one at a time. I'm going to paralyze them all, so we'll have to act fast. We won't have much time after the spell wears off."
He nodded, and when she got down, she used the spell that would paralyze everything near her chosen spot. She focused to include the mother and father, as well… she wasn't sure how they'd react, and she didn't want to know at the moment.
The sad truth of the matter was that these kits would die if they stayed where they were. She didn't want to see that happen. She decided that she would fight with the parental griffons after the kits were safe.
They did the work quickly, Alistair lowering the belt so that she could wrap it around the next griffon kit. She was slightly amused at the positions they'd frozen in, but didn't let it deter her from getting them quickly up and to safety.
There were only three, so it was quick enough that she was even able to scramble back up and they had started towards her camp before the little things began to squirm and wail piteously in their terror.
Wrapping the two she was carrying in her arms, she pulled them close and comforted them.
Part 38: Seeking Alistair
The pair of adults whirled around them in the air, squawking and diving at them. None of their swoops came close enough to hit, but it was unpleasant and fearful for both Alistair and Sheri. Sheri pushed quickly for the camp, and Alistair, despite having been sick, hurried in her wake.
When they got there, Alistair grunted and looked around. "This looks cozy," he told her.
"It's not perfect, but it'll do," Sheri told him, sitting down with the two kits.
Hers were still squirming, but when she looked over at Alistair, she was surprised to find his was snuggled into the crook of his arm, head burrowed through so that the beak was poking out the other side.
"He likes you," she said with a grin.
She sat her pair down, one of whom ran straight for the parents, the other of whom turned around and started scolding her immediately.
"Me," she said, "not so much, I guess."
They both laughed, some of the tension draining out of them, especially as the parents were sniffing at their offspring and not attacking—yet. The little one left Sheri and waddled towards her parents. When she got there, she apparently hadn't said all she'd had to say, and started scolding them in loud, bossy little squawks.
"We should call that one 'Sheri'," Alistair said. "She's just like you—with more legs."
At Sheri's glare, he lifted an eyebrow again and continued with a cheeky grin, "But not as cute?"
"Ugh, Alistair, I'm still mad at you. Stop trying to charm me."
"Is it working?"
"No!" she snapped, though with little genuine denial.
"Well, Buddy says you're lying," he told her.
"Buddy? You named it 'Buddy'?" She laughed at him.
He tried to look wounded, "Well, he's my little buddy! I mean, look at him, he's all wadded up and sleeping already!"
Sheri fought a yawn, possibly brought on by the mention of sleep. "I'm going to go to sleep, myself," she told him.
"Oh, can I come?"
She sobered and scowled at him. "Sure, if you want to be Buddy food."
"Are you suggesting that I might lose a limb if I try to cuddle up with you?"
"Or something…" she left the statement hanging pregnantly in the air as she went over to the bedlike nest she'd made of grasses and leaves.
"Where's my bed?" he protested.
"Down the cliff," she muttered before rolling over away from him. "Good night, Alistair."