A New Set of Talons (closed)

[Ambrosios]

Hawthorne and Aeolus had left Royal Rocks around midday, taking an airship to the ground below the mountain. It was surreal considering Hawthorne had just been down here a few days ago, though his intentions for each trip were quite different. The griffon had changed as well, at least in appearance. It was a side effect of a shadowy triad wanting you dead. He had been lucky enough to find someone who knew how to make him completely unrecognizable. There was no denying Aeolus had done a good job.

As far as Tempest and her cronies knew, Hawthorne was dead, and at none other than the talons of his and Aeolus's new criminally-inclined personages. The story (and "evidence") and had gotten the two an invitation to Stone Valley, and the prospect of even better work. That wasn't why they were really there, of course. The whole point of the ruse was so Aeolus could discover Tempest's HQ and report it to his superiors. And the sooner she was taken care of, the sooner Hawthorne might be able to go back to his old life, that one he had only been thrown out of two days ago.

It had already become afternoon by the time the two had landed, and dark when they finally started heading towards the stone circle. "Any idea what to expect?" Hawthorne asked, more to break the silence than because he was expecting an answer.

[Red Charge]

"No. I doubt Tempest will show herself, but if she does... going to get complicated." Aeolus answered. "I suppose we might finally find out why they need your journals so much. Maybe even learn what's the Triad's game. You're going to be famous if we pull this off Hawthorne. Probably will be the coolest professor in the kingdom. Could write a book about it." Aeolus glided on the breeze, picking up thermals as he headed for the stone circle the shadowy griffon in the warehouse mentioned.

"Wonder if the 5th fleet's sudden incursion into Equestria has anything to do with Tempest..." He muttered as the valley seemed to stretch on before them. It was beautiful. Lakes, forests, hills and meadows all passed beneath them as they glided towards the large stone circle. What they called now the Stone Circle, was actually once a group of Equiterian pillars built in a circle and rising high up into the sky, almost as tall as the mountains themselves. At least so the clan history tells.

Sometime in the past however, they had collapsed and became nothing more than a circle of dilapidated stone, earning its name as the circle of stones. What had caused the collapse of such an architectural feat was unknown. It was speculated that they were demolished as the empire fell.

And there they were, what was once 8 pillars surrounding in perfect symmetry the one pillar in the middle on a stylised stone platform was now nothing more than ruined stones collapsed in a circle.

"We're way early." Aeolus stated.

[Ambrosios]

The two had soon arrived at their destination, the collapsed remnants of an ancient architectural wonder. There was no one here but them. "Guess we wait then," Hawthorne said simply, choosing his words very carefully. As early as they were, he didn't want to chance someone from the triad showing up and catching them out-of-character. The griffon took a few steps back, his back now to one of the collapsed piles of stone.

Hawthorne lifted his sun goggles from his forehead, letting them hang around his neck. He had been mostly keeping them up there to begin with, but the lack of sunlight now made them look even more ridiculous. He waited in silence as the nighttime ambiance of the valley soaked in around them. Normally he would have tried to say something, anything just to be conversational. He couldn't particularly think of something, though, that wouldn't be glaring obvious that the two weren't who they claimed to be.

[Red Charge]

They waited around wordlessly for a while, just listening to the sound of crickets and waiting for anything to happen. Finally Aeolus signalled that he heard something, and indeed not a few moments later, several heavy set griffons arrived on the scenes, and with them a griffon female in a very stylized ring armor. Over the rings themselves were smooth scales of metal, giving her appearance, despite her light armor, a much more dignified tone.

Aeolus muttered something inaudibly to himself as the griffoness known as Tempest approached them. She, like her brother, Tesla, was a royal griffon, white eagle with a golden lion. Her head feathers were organized neatly in a long, wind-blown style with a bang running down her brow, not obscuring her eyes however. She grinned at them, "It is my pleasure to finally meet the duo of trouble-makers who offed two of my contractors." She said, "Of course, you didn't think you fooled us for one moment with those disguises, right? I mean, seriously, 'sleeping with the wolves'?"

Aeolus opened his mouth, but the grifonness held up a talon to silence him, "Now if you'd look around you, you'll see you are, quite in fact surrounded, with harpoon guns trained on you from every direction."

"Oh crud..." Aeolus said.

"Indeed," She replied. "I bet you're wondering, Professor, why we have been so intent on killing you so suddenly. First I would like to apologize, we're not in the habit of killing the innocent, but this case is rather unique. But now, since you are here, in front of me, alive, I feel we can both benefit from the situation. What do you say?"

[Ambrosios]

After waiting around for a while, the two were eventually joined by some more griffons, including none other than Tempest herself. Hawthorne finally had a good look at the griffon that wanted him dead. She certainly had a commanding presence about her, but Hawthorne didn't think it would be too difficult to keep her fooled. That is, until he heard her first sentence.

Hawthorne looked helplessly at Aeolus, having no idea what to do now. Their plan had been shattered before it had even been put into motion. They were now caught, at harpoon-point, in their act, alone and defenseless. His attention turned to Tempest herself the instant she had addressed him and made the professor an offer.

Hawthorne looked over at Aeolus again, who looked just as helpless as he was right now, and then at the harpoon-wielding griffons surrounding them. Could he really say no? Tempest obviously had some use for him, which meant Hawthorne had leverage. Maybe not much, but some. He wasn't sure how much he would get out of using it, but it was better than both he and Aeolus getting speared by harpoons. "I'm listening," he answered simply.

[Red Charge]

Tempest and her goons laughed, "He's listening, well, listener." She said, gesturing at the griffon immediately next to her, who took out a satchel filled with Hawthorne's journals and tossed it on the ground. "As a professor of natural history, you've been all around the area, seen all sorts of natural landmarks. I need to know where these landmarks are. See, I have come into possession of a certain letter, a very ancient one depicting the way needed to find a powerful artifact. Ironically, the artifact is called the Tempest Talons. Dragon Magic. This artifact is very important to what I am trying to achieve. However, reading your journals in detail would take far too long, in my opinion. We do not need you for this, but we could certainly use your help in the matter. Should you help, I will let you go free. There might even be a spot in my good graces for you." She explained, it was barely an offer if at all.

"Needles to say if you refuse, our conversation ends here." She stated, waiting for his answer.

Aeolus shrugged at Hawthorne, they didn't have much choice. Helping her find what she needed to find was the only way they could somehow walk out of this alive.

[Ambrosios]

Hawthorne watched as his journals spilled out of the satchel in front of him. So much for leverage. Tempest had made it very clear that as convenient as it would be to keep him around, she didn't need Hawthorne at all. So the whole thing was less of a bargain and more of a command, not to mention she could get rid of him at any time she wanted. He had been able to catch Aeolus's shrug, so at the very least he wouldn't feel like he was hanging the other griffon out to dry.

Hawthorne was about to speak when an idea came to his head. Maybe there was a way to salvage some of his bargaining power. "If I've run into any of these landmarks, I'm sure I'd remember them. But that doesn't mean I've written down every one of them in here," he said, tapping one of the covers of his journals. "So depending on what you're looking for, these journals may not be useful to you at all. And without me you're back to square one."

Hawthorne wasn't sure how close to a bluff his statements had been. He wouldn't know until he actually knew which landmarks Tempest was so eager to find. But at the very least, this was no longer a one-sided deal. He would still have to help her, but she couldn't get rid of him at a moment's notice either. "If that's understood, I'd be more than happy to help you find your landmarks."

[Red Charge]

"Quite frankly, I don't need you and I will most definitely not be back at square one without you." The griffoness said, sighing, "You attitude is disappointing. If you can't even understand the situation you are in, you really are worthless. Kill them both. Let's be off." Tempest commanded, turning around to walk the other way. cracking her neck joints and stretching her wings.

The harpoon guns cocked all around the duo, and Aeolus ducked down, talons over his head, even his armor would not protect him against harpoons. One of the heavy griffons who was standing next to Tempest raised his talon in the air, they could hear the clicks as the harpoon guns locked over their head, one fired prematurely, hitting Hawthorne straight through the wing, pinning it to his side painfully.

[Ambrosios]

Hawthorne froze in fear as his attempt to gain leverage backfired horribly. This was either going to be a one-sided deal or no deal at all. Tempest had made that clear by brushing aside Hawthorne as if he was nothing.

As the harpoon guns clicked around him, he opened his mouth to make a final, desperate plea. "Wai-" his first word was cut off by a yell as a harpoon pierced his wing, landing in his side. The momentum knocked the unprepared griffon to the ground, lying on his side painfully and sure that more were to follow in an instant.

It took him several seconds to realize that more hadn't followed the original harpoon, and he quickly took his last opportunity to beg for his life. "Please, I'll help you, I'll do anything. J-just call them off." The only thing left in the professor's voice was genuine fear and submission. It was perfectly clear who was in control of the situation, and that he had been an idiot to try and bargain to begin with.

[Red Charge]

"Well, since you asked so nicely." Tempest said, turning back and waving a talon to stop the harpooners from ending him. "I don't want to hear any more backtalk out of you. You, soldier boy, take that harpoon out of his ribs." She commanded Aeolus, who complied hastily, putting one leg on Hathorne's side, grasping the harpoon with both hands and yanking roughly, causing a small spray of blood to stain his cloak.

"I am not here to play games or muck about. I am here to ensure the continued safety of the Griffon Kingdom, and if you won't follow my word to the letter, I'll have no qualms about ending both of you where you stand. Now get your journals and lead me to the Maiden's Shield." She was referring to a landmark, while Hawthorne did not know the name, he could easily assume she meant a disc shaped stone located right there in the vast expanses of Stone Valley.

A group of harpooners landed behind them, while another group was in front. Tempest's heavy griffons grabbed Aeolus and removed his armor and weapons violently, injuring him in the process. Then they turned to yank Hawthorne from his neck back to his feet. "Move." One said threateningly.

[Ambrosios]

Hawthorne nodded obediently at Tempest's command about no more backtalk. There was no way he was going to push this griffon in any way. Aeolus had soon appeared next to him, putting a leg on his side and ripping the harpoon out. Hawthorne cringed when he did so but remained silent otherwise.

Taking only a few seconds to recover, Hawthorne quickly scooped up his journals into the satchel at Tempest's command. The harpooners stripped Aeolus of his armor and weapons, but they were nice enough to help Hawthorne to his feet... by grabbing his neck and yanking upwards. The griffon quickly stepped forward at their one word order, looking around quickly to confirm his bearings.

"Maiden's Shield," he said to himself. He'd never heard of the place, but quickly listed in his head natural landmarks that might fit the description. The most likely was the large, disc shaped stone in the valley. "That's going to be to our south-east." The griffon took a few steps in its direction, lifting a talon to indicate where he meant. "That way."

[Red Charge]

The group began moving quickly and wordlessly, the harpooners behind Aeolus and Hawthorne shoving them forwards every time they slowed down. More harpooners were flying above, weapons trained on the duo in case they tried any funny business. Tempest kept a steady pace ahead of them. Despite the dire situation they were in, Hawthorne noticed Aeolus admire her rear as they walked. Typical.

"You're leading a criminal organization for the benefit of the Kingdom?" Aeolus asked suddenly after about half an hour of walking. Tempest did not turn her head, instead she ignored him.

"Don't have any good lies to tell?" The soldier griffon risked, and was stabbed painfully in the back by a harpoon gun, unfortunately loaded with a harpoon, causing his back to bleed.

"Crime stays at a steady rate when you have someone who controls it. Violence goes down quite a bit when all of the criminals work for that someone. It's far better when the profits of said crime, go to strengthen the Kingdom, rather than into the pockets of common thugs." Tempest answered simply, not bothering to explain further than that.

[Ambrosios]

Hawthorne continued walking with the group, occasionally getting shoved from behind by the harpooners when they thought he was going too slow. He looked over at Aeolus, catching him getting a good look at Tempest's rear-end. He didn't do more than frown at the other griffon, both because this was hardly the time to be doing that sort of thing and because he was risking his neck if Tempest made so much as a quarter turn and caught him.

Aeolus later tried asking Tempest about her organization, though a smart comment had gotten him a stab in the back with a harpoon. Just more reinforcement that the two needed to keep their mouths shut. He was somewhat interested in Tempest's justification for her criminal activities, though he was only able to follow her logic half-way.

"The Maiden's Shield is going to be a large, disc-shaped stone," he said, deciding it was best to just change the subject. "You said you got the names of these landmark from a letter, an ancient one. It seems like most of the names are going to be outdated. I've never heard someone call this landmark the 'Maiden's Shield'."

[Red Charge]

"No kidding?" Tempest asked sardonically, "I can see how you earned your place as professor." She had her men look around the disc, digging, scrubbing and otherwise roughing up the landmark. The process went on for several more minutes before one of her men finally called out. From a nook inside the rock holding the 'disc', he pulled out a round stone with an engraving in Equiterian.

Tempest took one look at the seemingly illegible writing and turned to Hawthorne, "Spider's Maw." This one was trickier, there were several landmarks that he could think looked like spider pincers. All were nearby however. But which to pick? Picking the wrong one could get him killed. One was in a forest, another was on a hillside and the last was overlooking a small lake. Which was more likely to be connected to spiders?

[Ambrosios]

Hawthorne didn't quite appreciate Tempest's comment, but knew better than to talk back. The group had soon reached the Maiden's Shield, and it didn't take Tempest's men more than a few minutes to find what they were looking for. And not a moment after they had, Tempest had presented Hawthorne with the name of a new landmark.

"Spider's Maw, he thought to himself, closing his eyes and pinching the bridge of his beak. There were at least three such landmarks that fit the description, meaning Hawthorne had only a one-third chance of getting the correct one. And he was sure Tempest wouldn't be happy if he guessed incorrectly.

A forest, a hillside, and a lake. Purely in terms of where spiders lived, the forest was the natural pick. Hawthorne could only hope that whatever civilization wrote that letter hadn't named the landmark purely based off appearance. "It's going to be in a forest to the west," he said, lifting his talon from his beak. "Not to far of a walk. The griffon turned towards the direction of the forest, beginning the trek to it's location.