Flights of Fancy

Disclaimer: I deny any ownership of any adult or adolescent transformed shadow warrior chelonians.

Chapter Twenty One: Keeping Neutral…with demons

Leo faced Pride, who had a strange stern look under the feathers, one talon like claw tapped on a rock causing white scratch marks to show up on the dark coloured surface of the stone, the lines criss- crossed the rock in a random fashion. Pride might be waiting but he was by no means doing it patiently.

Leo swallowed hoping to find a way to explain things, without hopefully offending the griffin leader, right now he didn't need to end up in another predicament similar to what he had with the dwarf back at the corn meadow, besides Leo was quite sure that one could only offend a griffin once, because after that you probably wouldn't be around to do so again.

"It is true that my brothers and I don't have to join Shanza and the others on their quest to save the alicorn. We could return home and wait hoping that Shanza and her allies will prevail" Leo admitted, "But it is not our way. It was not what we were trained for. We are ninja and as such it is considered almost an honour to join in this quest and help them where we can. We vowed to help them and by our honour we will do so" Leo spoke with kindness, but a hint of pride, " I confess that to some we may have had little choice on if we joined them or not, but in my mind no matter what choices we had there was but one path we could follow."

"Honour means different things to different beings of Necron. It is said that the great wyrms of Necron hold to an honour that is unique" Pride's eyes grew hard and narrowed as he spoke.

Leo glanced over and upward to the lounging Gimod, hoping for some clarification on that remark that could be interpreted any number of ways. Gimod's lips curled into a large toothy smile.

'We dragons are only honourable under certain circumstances,' he informed Leo privately, 'A large wyrm just might keep his word to another dragon who is larger and more powerful, but for the most part it is every dragon for himself.' Gimod huffed and a small tendril of smoke escaped his mouth and nostrils, 'Of course we runt dragons are different, we do tend to keep our word, but most inhabitants of Necron don't realize that difference between the lesser and greater wyrms.'

Leo nodded subtly, taking careful note of the word might and how Gimod had put a great deal of emphasis on that word.

Gimod made a deep rumbling noise, which sounded oddly like a chuckle that couldn't be restrained. Leo saw that Gimod was eyeing Shanza, as the dragon spoke privately once more,

'Unicorns on the other hand are totally honourable.' Gimod rolled a large eye, 'It is a rather sickening trait. They are easy to deceive but you can't fool them the same way twice. I'll give them that.'

Leo realized now that the word honour didn't have the same meaning to the inhabitants of Necron, or Earth for that matter, as he and his brother's held.

He stood up straighter and cleared his throat, "My brothers and I live by a strict code, it isn't so much as spoken or written, but it is still a code of the heart" He explained, "We take it seriously because in a world where we have so little, honour is the only thing we really have to hold to, next to caring for one another. Our father taught us to not make promises lightly, and that if we ignore a problem, one that we can correct, it won't necessarily go away" Leo pointed out, as he paused momentarily to figure out what to say next, "By ignoring Shanza, and essentially all of Necron's plight then the problem may escalate and find us on Earth. By then it may be too late to stop the dark forces."

Pride rumbled a deep and threatening sound in his throat at those words.

Leo sensed a slight shift in the griffin's attitude and he hastened to continue hoping to ease the griffin, or at the very least not to bungle things too badly.

"This may not be our fight now" Leo stated firmly, "But by joining in we help to preserve the way of life for those who are unable to fight, because they are too ill, too weak, or even because they prefer a quieter life style. Where I come from people are free to make those choices for themselves," he concluded.

Pride ruffled his feathers and shook out his mane, his eyes narrowed to mere hard slits as if not impressed in the least by Leo's words.

Leo stood his ground under the griffin's hard baleful glare, he secretly found strength in the silent reassurances that both Gimod and Shanza were sending him.

Pride seemed to hiss his beak clicked together a few times in succession. " Not everyone cares to join in every battle that arises" Pride screeched, "there are times that it seems that those who crave peace, seem to cause the most wars and upheaval promising that it is all for a good cause." He turned his eyes to Shanza, who barely flicked an ear in return.

Leo nodded agreement "I grant it is often the same where I come from, but I believe some things are worth fighting for." He declared emphatically.

"I do not think I can permit you to pass through our mountains unscathed for that is asking too much" Pride decided suddenly, "To do so, might make some believe that we are on your side, and that would be false."

Leo considered these words carefully, turning them over in his mind as quickly as possible knowing he had to respond soon or else, lose what ever ground he may have gained in this meeting so far.

"Yes, but in the same instance if you kill us, then you won't be remaining neutral and isn't that what you desire the most?" Leo challenged.

"How do you figure that?" Pride inquired a perplexed look crossing the griffin's feathery face.

"Easy" Leo smiled a bit, "If you or any of your prock injures any one of us, you may end up destroying Necron and allowing it to fall in the powers of the dark ones. After all the loss of just one of our members can mean the difference in freeing Shaman." Leo theorized, "If such a thing were to come to pass it could be traced back to the griffins who allowed such a thing to happen."

Gimod let out a curl of fire and a satisfied, dare I say smug, smile crossed the dragons face. Shanza tossed her head and pawed at the ground with a fore hoof her eyes sparkling with merriment.

Pride's lion tail smacked the ground in frustration, as he silently replayed the turtle's words in his mind, knowing that the griffins could not aide the travelers, or hinder them, if the griffins were to remain truly neutral. To remain neutral, truly neutral, as Griffins were supposed to be, under such circumstances Pride had but one choice, to allow the travelers to pass through his mountain range.

"Fine you will be allowed to pass unscathed" Pride grumbled with a great deal of reluctance on his part.

"That is all well and good, I truly appreciate the offer" Leo remarked politely as possible, "However I must know one thing, can we trust your words? Are you honour bound to keep them?" Leo wondered suspiciously, his brow furrowing with concern.

Gimod rose to a standing position, unfurling and stretching his wings as he lowered his head to speak 'None of the griffin prock will aide or hinder us in anyway, for it is the only way for them to remain truly neutral as you so kindly pointed out Leonardo.'

Pride made a chuffing noise, "It is so. But give me time to warn the rest of my prock otherwise I can't be held responsible."

'Fair enough,' Shanza allowed, 'I think some of our group have gone off exploring and we must find them.'

Lobo licked his lips as he gave a large panting smile, wagging his tail slightly "Hopefully they hunt well, for I am hungry."

"Hunting?" Pride asked suddenly turning his head around till it almost pointed backwards, the griffin had been ready to fly back home.

Lobo's hair bristled along the nape of his neck "Don't tell me that we can pass through your mountains but are not permitted freedom to hunt?" he snarled.

Pride screeched as if amused at the toshe's aggressive display "Hunt if you wish in the mountain range for it is full of food, like the nimble-toed woolies, the ramda but the lowlands are only inhabited by the Devarkion lizards and the Black Buck."

Gimod blew a few smoke rings 'You forget the toshe hunt any meat.'

Demon Wing snorted "Besides you don't want to help us remember?" the peg couldn't resist teasing the griffin.

Marina flirted her tail, "Got to watch that bird brain. Me, I hunt Black Buck all the time" the catafly boasted proudly.

Symbia scowled "Watch it catafly," she hissed out the side of her mouth in a low voice, "We don't want this deal turning on us."

Leo waited patiently until the griffin had left the area before turning on the others, letting loose the many questions he didn't want to give voice to around Pride "Just what is a Black Buck? Or a Devarkion lizard for that matter? Why is everyone so worried about the Black Bucks, what is it that they do?" he queried his friends with a bit of apprehension.

'Devarkion lizards are about my size,' Gimod replied calmly,' they have three horns on the brow of their head, and two horns on the nose, as well as having large spikes on their tails. They don't really worry me.'

Leo didn't feel very assured by Gimod's words, after all he had a feeling there was little that did worry Gimod in that sort of sense. The turtle's brow furrowed a bit for a moment or two before commenting, "But the Black Bucks do."

Symbia trembled a bit "Black Bucks are half demons; they can take your soul to the netherworld. One can not go against a black buck and expect to survive totally intact, for they can transform themselves to goblins or wraiths and catch you unawares" Symbia explained her eyes growing large and round, as her words started coming in short sharp gasps. It was clear to all that she was trying not to shake in fear.

Leo didn't care for those words quickly demanded, "Will the rest of the toshe avoid the Black Bucks?"

Lobo shook his head, "Trina will know what they are and will avoid them if at all possible, but in a hunt the pack spreads out and she may not have time to warn the others. Traba he may know what they are but may not accept it, until it is too late," Lobo growled a bit, "The rest of the pack is no more then pups, and they would have no knowledge of what they are up against." Lobo paused and howled a bit listening for a responding answer.

The old toshe's ears swiveled for a bit as he waited, when he got no reply he stood up, "Let us hurry, for the Black Bucks feed exclusively on the lizards and they don't care for anyone to hunt their prey." Lobo insisted as he leaped off in the direction he was sure the others had gone to.

"Looks like we have to find them before the Black Buck do but, if the Black Buck feed only on the lizards then…" Leo stated, "shouldn't the other toshe know this?"

'The Black Bucks are not numerous, so one often finds Devarkion lizards that are not owned by a group of the dark ones.' Shanza answered, 'Forgive me, but I can not face them.'

Gimod nuzzled her gently while allowing Leo to climb aboard, Gimod knew that Shanza would be in extremely grave danger to go into an area with Black Bucks, and while the unicorn might prevail it wasn't the wisest choice of action, especially under the present circumstances. No, it was far better for Shanza to wait here, with Demon Wing and Symbia until the group returned.

'Wait here and wish us luck then, for we shall return quickly' Gimod rumbled.

Marina was not one to follow orders of anyone, even if those orders happened to come from a dragon, determined not to be left behind, and see everything she eagerly took flight after Gimod.

XXX

Don gazed at the herd of large lizards grazing on the grass and leaves of the small meadow, he knew the toshe were working their way into position before the attack and for a moment the huge beasts seemed calm and at peace. From the looks of them, very similar in some respects to ancient dinosaurs, Don had no doubt that the placid nature could vanish quickly if the beast thought they were threatened in any way, after all those horns and tail spikes couldn't be for show alone.

One of the Devarkion lizards raised its head, chewing methodically on a mouthful of grass, it grunted once and made a low noise to a younger beast before turning back to its meal.

Don watched in rapture, a part of him starting to resent the fact that this was the decided on prey, he would much prefer studying these creatures, if only time allowed.

Suddenly Don felt something prick at the edge of his mind, it was like an itch, starting slow and barely noticeable, but the more he ignored it, the stronger and more persistent it became. This was not an unfamiliar feeling for Don, he had felt it before, many times to be exact, and he knew better then to ignore it now. He turned and carefully scrutinized the area, using all of his ninja senses to probe the bushes and surrounding area he was in but he detected nothing out of the ordinary.

He shrugged indifferently, 'Probably nothing more than one of the toshe.' He mused silently to himself as he turned back to watch the lizards and waited for the cue to attack.

There was a rustling of leaves and branches, Don scowled uneasily the noise and the by now almost maddening itch were demanding precedence.

Suddenly he noticed a form leap towards him.

Don wasn't quite sure what it was, it seemed more shadow then a living breathing being, but years of training told him to dive to one side and he obeyed it without hesitation. It didn't matter that he acted immediately on the defensive for, the form moved with him as if it had sensed Don's intentions.

The creature moved so fluidly and leaped crashing hard into Don, bowling the turtle over onto the ground just as he pulled his bo staff off his carapace. he had to push the bo staff up and out in front of himself to stop the creature's teeth from connecting with his throat.

Don gazed at the strange beast it had eight legs, and a canine head, but the snout was growing longer as if desiring to reach his throat no matter what obstacle laid in the way. The beast was heavy and Don could feel the warm, fetid breath and wet slobber along his arms and skin above his plastron.

"This isn't good. I could use some help here" Don announced through gritted teeth as he tried to throw the beast off of him.

"Ask bro, and you will receive" Mike declared as his chucks came flying from somewhere and rapping around the beast snout. The animal scrambled backwards clawing at its mouth, pulling the chuck from off its nose just in time to be attacked by Traba.

Traba's hair bristled as he barked quickly "Black Buck."

"What the devil is a Black Buck, besides the thing standing there?" Mike asked curiously.

Traba though didn't have a chance to answer he only howled for assistance quickly as he spotted other Black Buck closing in from other areas.

Indeed all the shadows around them seemed to be giving birth to strange half shadowy black creatures, all of them were quite unique for no two looked a like, there was one that looked snake like, one more of a bat, and so on, but it was quite clear that no matter their differences in looks, they were all Black Bucks.

"Hey bro ever get the feeling that you're in trouble?" Mike asked warily. "They call Ninja Shadow warriors these things really are!"

"Yeah," Don readily agreed, as he stood with his back to Mike's carapace, "Only this time I think we are in over our head." Don concluded quickly as the beasts closed in around them.

TBC