[Jaykobell]

When the griffon tried to latch onto her muzzle, the Ambia withdrew her nose away. She couldn't afford to have the baby grab onto her, because then she wouldn't be able to warm her up. Not only that, but she would be hindered by the baby hanging from her nose.

Pushing herself away, however, sent the baby into a crying fit. When she realized that she couldn't latch onto the comfortable hot air and whatever was making it, the griffon screeched an ear-splitting sound that made the Paragon wince. High-pitched and loud, the cry could most likely break glass all on its own. While the baby didn't struggle to try to grab the muzzle anymore, she pawed blindly at her new caretaker, screeching out with sadness and displeasure.

"Ah, no, stop! Stop crying!" the Ambia hissed, narrowing her eyes from that high-pitched cry. Her ears were already ringing, and she could barely hear herself talk over the hatchling. Words failed to calm the baby down, and quite suddenly, the Ambia found herself with a hysteric baby that just wouldn't take no for an answer. Then again, what was she supposed to expect from a newborn? She didn't even know how old this griffon was, but she was probably just a few days old, at the very most. "It's all right, it's all right! See?" The last word was obsolete to the baby, but she probably hadn't gotten the reference regardless. As she said that, the Paragon quickly focused and blowed some more hot air to the screeching griffon, and fortunately for the both of them, it seemed to be enough to please the baby again.

The Ambia let out a sigh as the baby calmed back down, this time letting her try to reach out for the muzzle. It was a little awkward, but with the baby stretching her arms and grabbing onto her nose, this gave the Paragon a chance to dry off her arms and belly. Before long, the Ambia found herself with a baby griffon that was crawling all over her, trying out different places and positions to see just where the hot air would blow next time. Goodness, that baby was a handful already.

[Jaykobell]

It took a little bit of effort and a lot of careful planning, but given enough time, the Paragon had managed to keep the griffon on the ground. It was easier to dry her that way, considering she could just turn the baby this way and that and blow on different parts of her body. Even though the hatchling was small, just breathing on her wasn't drying her very quickly. Still, it was better than nothing. Down the line, if she had to keep this baby — because at this time, who knew what was going to happen to this griffon? — she would probably be able to start an actual fire once she got used to the concept.

Speaking of fire, it was while drying off the griffon that the Ambia noticed something particular from the baby. While breathing down on her back, the hatchling started wiggling and craning her neck forward. With that, she also opened her beak as wide as she could, but that was the end of it. The Paragon was certain that she could hear a very faint vocal sound coming from the little bird's throat, and it took her a few seconds to truly register what the baby was trying to do: she was trying to imitate her. For all she knew, the griffon was trying to breathe fire, or just trying to breathe loudly like the Ambia had been doing this whole time. When her breathing seemingly didn't yield any success, the griffon started to cry, screeching again with that high-pitched sound filled with sadness and confusion.

As for the Paragon, it was a relief to know this little baby couldn't breathe fire... yet. Well, could griffons breathe fire? Or breathe anything, for that matter? It was hard to tell. "Ah, I'm afraid that's not going to work," she told the baby, breathing a little on her back again. "Maybe when you grow older," she added, although whether or not the griffon would end up breathing fire was entirely up to Mother Nature herself.

No sooner was the baby warmed up and done trying to breathe her own hot air, that she started trying to flap her wings. The Ambia shrieked with surprise as the wings suddenly started to move and flap, although very awkwardly. Unable to focus properly, however, the griffon could only afford to flap her wings; she couldn't focus to flap them and walk at the same time, which left her curved at an uncomfortable angle from the Paragon's point of view. The griffon could screech, however, and after a little bit of that, the Ambia gently pushed the baby back down on the ground. "Ah, you're a little too... little... for that just yet, too." She could only thank Mother Nature for having been born with wings, for chasing that hatchling once she learned how to fly would've been quite the challenge without wings of her own.

[Jaykobell]

What followed after finally drying off the baby was relatively peaceful. The Ambia kept an eye on her, but for the most part, the hatchling had fallen asleep after the drying. The Paragon couldn't quite move away from her spot, however, since there was no telling if the griffon wouldn't wake up while she was doing her rounds. Fortunately, all that time spent finding the hatchling and heating her up had made time go by fairly quickly, and before long, the sun was a little higher in the sky. She didn't have to wait very long before it was time for her to pick up the hatchling and go talk to Izotz. "Hopefully he'll know what to do with her... And maybe he'll know what she is," she mused to herself before slowly getting up and stretching her wings. The hatchling was asleep, so maybe if she picked her up slowly and gently enough, she wouldn't wake up and be frightened. Aside from some wiggling and a few confused and groggy chirps, the griffon didn't struggle.

With a powerful flap of her wings, the Ambia and the baby were now off to the sky. Elevated up high, the Ambia had a good view of the forest below her, including where it started and where it ended. The Hive mountain was impossible to miss, getting its name because of its very hive-looking design from having so many tunnels dug into it. The biggest hole, the one that opened up to a large suspended plateau, was where she needed to go: that was the leader's den.

It was a gentle and quick flight from the farm to the Hive. The Ambia tried to keep her flight steady and her wings flapping slowly and quietly, so as to avoid frightening the baby. She wasn't the motherly type; admittedly, she was getting a little old by Paragon standards, but hatchlings had never been of interest to her. That was another reason why she'd agreed to take care of the farm animals; settling down with a male and having little ones wasn't interesting to her. She liked her freedom and her peace of mind. That wasn't to say she didn't like babies, she had nothing against them: they just weren't for her personally.

Luckily for her, the griffon said nothing during the whole flight. If she'd been washed down the river and ended up lost and hungry, it wasn't really surprising that sleeping everything off sounded great to the baby. In retrospect, the Ambia had been lucky that the baby hadn't given her too much trouble overall.

[Jaykobell]

The clearing of the Hive wasn't very busy at this time of the day. It was still relatively early in the morning, but there were still some Paragon around. Some that had just finished their night shift were going to sleep, and the others that were starting the day shift were coming out of their dens. The Ambia could sense a few eyes turning to her, many probably questioning why she was coming so early, and especially wondering what she was carrying. She hoped they would leave it at an animal, for an early delivery. She didn't want to get interrupted and have some Paragon ask her questions about the baby.

She landed gently and slowly on the plateau, letting her wings soften the landing. She hurried inside the large mouth of the den, once again to make sure no other Paragon would be able to interrupt her—

"Can I help you, Taniqua?"

The Ambia stopped dead in her tracks as she came nose to nose with the small Sailfin. "Um," was all she could muster through her surprise, as she hadn't expected the second-in-command to intercept her so abruptly. It was a fact that Izotz, the leader, shared the leader's den with his supportive leader, a female Sailfin known by the name of Slavica. Admittedly, the Sailfin was far from being as friendly and understanding as the Frost leader.

Slavica gave Taniqua some time to give a proper answer when the Sailfin's eyes darted down to what she was holding. Even the stoic Sailfin couldn't keep her confusion in check as she noticed the griffon. "What in the world are you carrying?" she asked, expecting that to trigger the Ambia to finally state why she was here, so early in the morning.

"Oh! I..." the Ambia started, but then she tilted her head to the side. "I... honestly don't know. That's why I'm here. Have you or Izotz seen anything like this?" Izotz and Slavica were about the same age, with the Sailfin being perhaps a little older, so asking both sounded fair.

[Jaykobell]

When she was asked the question, Slavica craned her neck to get a better and closer look at the griffon. Hearing another voice had stirred the baby awake, chirping away curiously as if to ask what was going on. The Sailfin ignored the cries, instead narrowing her eyes and observing the hatchling from this way and that. "I can't say that I've ever seen this creature before," the second-in-command eventually answered, straightening back to face the Ambia. "I doubt Izotz has seen it before, either. He never spoke of it." The two had known each other for a very long time, yet the mention of the Frost ever seeing a mythical, unknown species had never been brought up.

"Oh... That's disappointing," Taniqua answered, admittedly a little crestfallen. Still, she still had to ask Izotz himself; while Slavica was probably right, there were other things she had to discuss with the leader himsef, such as what they were going to do with this baby. "Can I still speak with Izotz? There's more I want to ask him about," the Ambia asked, smiling a little sheepishly. While she was comfortable with Izotz, Slavica had always been known for being difficult and sometimes downright unfair. While they were just rumors, the cold and distant attitude of the Sailfin typically gave the rumors some truth to them.

Slavica stared at Taniqua for a few heartbeats before looking down at the baby griffon, who was still chirping about groggily. "He's not here," the Sailfin finally answered, looking back up to the Ambia. "He woke up early to go speak to Balthazar. He must still be there."

Taniqua blinked at the Sailfin's clear reply, one that wasn't against the Ambia speaking to the leader about this matter. "Is he? Oh... Should I just—"

"No. Go see him there," Slavica instructed, cutting the Ambia's question short. She could already tell that the other female was going to ask if she should just wait here until Izotz came back, so there was no need to make her waste her breath. "Let me go with you," she added right after as she stretched her wings, ignoring the dumbfounded look on the Ambia's face. "Izotz and I may not have seen this creature before, but perhaps Balthazar may know what it is."

[Jaykobell]

Taniqua was certainly surprised to hear the Sailfin offer to go along with her to meet Izotz, but she didn't have any time to question it. Being a very no-nonsense Paragon, Slavica simply walked past the Ambia, expecting the other female to follow along. Despite that, Taniqua did her best to keep the baby steady while having to keep up with a Paragon who had seemingly forgotten that the Ambia had a fragile package to carry along with her. Still, the idea to show the griffon to the oldest Paragon of the entire Hive might prove fruitful. Balthazar was an old blind Sandshark, and honestly a rather grumpy and harsh one, but he was a vast ocean of knowledge. If they described the hatchling to him, perhaps he would remember something or know about her species.

In retrospect, it was a good thing for Taniqua to travel with Slavica. More eyes darted towards them as more Paragon awoke and noticed the farm Paragon flying off with the supportive leader. They were burning through Taniqua's skin, but Slavice's hard glare was enough to make everyone else turn their heads the other way. Every time a Paragon tried to head for them, the Sailfin would glance their way and silently dare them to get in their way. Despite her small frame, no Paragon in their right mind dared to cross Slavica when she was busy doing something important. No sane Paragon dared to cross her period, if you really thought about it.

It was another short flight to the Sandshark's den, which was most commonly known amongst the hive as the Advisor's Den. Whenever a Paragon needed advice or help, Balthazar was the one to go to. He was the leader of the Hive for a period of time before losing his sight, and he still retained some of his healing knowledge that he'd since passed on to his daughter, Nyala. He was a bit difficult, but at the end of the day, his knowledge was too valuable to pass up.

The two females landed just a few feet away from the entrance to the den, Slavica barely waiting for Taniqua to get her balance back before moving on. The hatchling was still tired enough to not struggle in her arms, but she did chirp out the occasional cry.

With the Ambia barely following in toe, Slavica stepped inside the elder's den to meet the Frost and the Sandshark inside upfront. "Izotz, Balthazar," the Sailfin greeted simply, by which time Taniqua had caught up to her, "my apologies for interrupting, but we must talk."

[Jaykobell]

The moment Slavica entered, both male Paragon turned their head towards her, including the Sandshark. Balthazar was blind, but certainly not deaf; he could tell from a few miles away if anyone was coming close to his den.

While it was clear that Izotz was a little surprised at the sudden appearance of his second-in-command, it was harder to read Balthazar's initial reaction. Having no eyes, the Sandshark was near-impossible to read, but it was clear that Izotz was curious to know what was going on. "Hi, Slavica," he started with as he tilted his head to the side curiously. "What's wrong? Did something happen?" He paused for a moment, suddenly noticing Taniqua standing there behind the Sailfin. "Oh, Taniqua, hello! Is something wrong?" With the Ambia standing behind the Sailfin, he couldn't see anything out of the ordinary.

The Sandshark, however, immediately picked up on it. "What did you bring here?" he grumbled, with a hint of unhappiness in his raspy voice; perhaps he was a little displeased at being interrupted during his conversation with Izotz, whatever they had been talking about.

"This is why we are here," Slavica answered, moving away to let Taniqua be the center of attention, therefore revealing the baby griffon in the process. "Taniqua found this creature on her farm, by the outskirts of the forest barrier," the Sailfin explained, looking from Izotz to Balthazar. The Sandshark reacted curiously, but Izotz was the most obvious of the two with an expression that spoke of pure surprise.

"What creature is this?" the Frost questioned, getting up and making his way towards the Ambia and her discovery. "I've never seen anything like it." It looked like a bird, and yet he couldn't really call it that. "You found it on your farm?"

"I found her in my chicken coop this morning," Taniqua explained, specifying the gender of the baby so they could stop describing it as an it. "She was wet, so I think she fell in the river, wherever she's from. Her eyes aren't open yet," she pointed out, although only the latter part could be considered as fact. "Amongst other things, I was hoping you might know what she is."

[Jaykobell]

Izotz's reaction to the question was exactly the same as Slavica's: confusion, and no idea what to say. Just like the Sailfin, the Frost had never seen that kind of creature before.

"I said," Balthazar suddenly rasped from behind the three youngsters, getting a little grumpier in his tone, "what did you bring here?" he finished, craning his neck forward and sniffling towards the group. "That's not the smell of a Paragon," the Sandshark pointed out, refusing to let the young ones leave him out of the conversation. If anyone could help them with their problem, it was him.

"Taniqua found a strange creature in her chicken coop," Slavica repeated, although she knew what the Sandshark wanted to know. "It seems to be a bird, but it also appears to be a mammal, due to the four limbs and the fur," she described, wondering if that would help the Sandshark get a better idea of the creature. While he might not be able to imagine it for himself, the description might match stories of old or ancient hearsays of the past.

Upon hearing the description, Balthazar didn't answer right away. He seemed to be lost in thought for a moment, up until he started speaking again. "Bring it to me," he requested, motioning his head for Taniqua to come over and leave the baby to him.

The Ambia did as instructed, and the closer she got to the Sandshark, the more uncomfortable the hatchling got. Perhaps it was the new smell, or maybe it was just the elder's presence that was startling her. She started to screech and latch onto the Ambia's chest, seemingly unwilling to go near the old Sandshark. That didn't stop Balthazar from waiting for the Ambia to drop the baby down to him, and the farm Paragon had no other choice but to comply. Balthazar honestly seemed to know what the griffon was, so a little crying and indignation wouldn't stop her from getting the answer she wanted. By that point, maybe the baby was just grumpy herself from having been carried this way and that while trying to sleep.

[Jaykobell]

Since the Sandshark could no longer see, his sense of smell was about the only thing that could allow him to identify others. While sound was useful to figure out who was talking to him, smell could go much further and deeper than that. Different creatures had different smells, and Paragon all smelled relatively the same, at their core. The bird didn't smell like a Paragon, which was why he could tell from the beginning that something strange had entered his den. It was useful to know if a predator had entered his home, or if food had been left for him.

Of course, there was another way for him to really figure out what something was, although he couldn't quite do it very often. His sense of touch was just as useful, but of course, not many creatures liked to be groped and turned all around. His intent was never malicious, but that didn't stop others from feeling uncomfortable.

In this case, however, touching and smelling the bird from up close was the best way to figure out if he knew, for sure, what the creature was. He could sense and hear that the baby wanted nothing to do with him, but that went right over his head. He gave a very powerful presence, which often put the hatchlings on high alert: Paragon or other creatures. The fact the bird was crying out for a parent or for help didn't stop the Sandshark from grabbing onto the hatchling to turn her this way and that, snuffing his large muzzle through the fur and feathers of the baby to get a better idea of the creature.

Being turned this way and that — and this wasn't nearly as gentle or comforting as when Taniqua had done it earlier — the griffon started to shriek and screech loudly, obviously trying to struggle away from Balthazar's grip, giving small, sudden movements of her arms, legs and wings to try to make an escape. She would screech especially when he stuffed his muzzle against her, the pressure making her panic.

While Slavica and Izotz didn't seem to mind the display, Taniqua quickly got agitated the more the baby screeched and cried for help. "C-can't you be more careful?" she asked the blind Sandshark, although she was a little insecure about calling out to the eldest Paragon of the entire hive. "You're scaring her!"

[Jaykobell]

Despite the Ambia's words, Balthazar didn't budge from his observation. He continued to smell the baby from every possible angle, running his paws all over her body to get a better feel for her shape, her limbs, her face, her legs, her tail, her scales, her skin, and everything else that the bird was all about. He could feel a pointy beak on her face, and tiny ears on her head. Bare feet, ones with only three toes — more like those of a bird. Soft, tiny scales that were still too fresh and young to protect her from anything. They were only on the legs; then it turned to fur. Soft, much like that of a mammal; then to a tail, with a small tuff of fur at the very end, like that of a lion. Little feathers were sticking out at her elbows and ankles, and even by her haunches. Her head also had feathers, and while her wings were covered in flesh and fur for a good part of them, there were definitely feathers at the end of it all. They went down in a curvy pattern, going from the primaries and ending close to the little feathers of her haunches.

Izotz and Slavica simply watched quietly, and while the Sailfin didn't seem to mind the cries of the young bird, the Frost was getting a little bit more worried. Still, he did know that this was one way for Balthazar to really get a good feel of his surroundings, especially considering none of them knew what this bird creature was. Taniqua had given up on trying to speak to Balthazar again, but she was clearly displeased by the way he was handling the griffon. Being an animal caretaker, her philosophy was that you always had to be gentle with the animals: even the ones that were agitated or that didn't want anything to do with you. Being rough with them would stress them even more, and would decrease your chances of having a cooperative animal. You had to let them come to you: not the other way around.

Balthazar, however, obviously couldn't care less about that said philosophy, but fortunately, the test in itself didn't last very long. The screeching and the struggling of the baby had made it seem like an eternity, but in retrospect, the Sandshark hadn't spent that much time smelling and feeling the bird. Once he was done with that, he let the kicking and crying baby go, and immediately the griffon started to beat her wings and crawl in a panic in order to try to find something comforting.

Taniqua quickly volunteered herself, taking a few steps towards the griffon and spreading her wings to stop her from scrambling away. If this baby managed to escape to the Hive in the midst of so many dragons, the griffon wouldn't stand a single chance. Fortunately, the baby quickly caught on to the feathers, and while she still struggled against them for a few seconds, she eventually realized that they meant no harm.

With the baby calmed down just enough, the Ambia wrapped her arms around the baby and picked her up. She wasn't exactly motherly, but she saw the griffon more as an animal than as a Paragon: and to the Ambia, the two were different.

[Jaykobell]

The whole ordeal had put the griffon under such stress that even with the Ambia holding her in her arms, the bird was still screeching and kicking a little about. Her instincts told her to use her wings, probably to try to escape. If only from her chickens, Taniqua had noticed that they typically ran away from her instead of trying to peak her or attack her. Some of the other animals would try to bite the Ambia or kick her, but the hens and the rooster always preferred to run away.

With the baby crying like that, however, the Ambia had no choice but to try to calm her down before they could proceed. It would be impossible to hear anything over the shrill cries of the baby, but it was beyond her as to what Taniqua could do to make it better. The only thing that came to mind was to pet the griffon, petting from the head to the neck while holding her with the other arm. She withdrew her Angelic wings closer, thinking it might relieve the baby to be within familiar barriers. It took some effort, but given some time and the opportunity to latch onto something warm and comforting, the bird eventually stopped crying. She was still breathing hard, her beak wide open, but the high-pitched cries had stopped.

Taniqua withdrew her wings slowly, tucking them back to her sides. While Balthazar's den was fairly big, she was still taking quite a bit of space with her wings stretched out. Speaking of the Sandshark, she also found herself glaring right in his direction after having calmed down the baby, narrowed eyes burning through the elder. "You could've been gentler," she pointed out, even if the Sandshark didn't want to hear any of it, or even if he didn't care.

Balthazar didn't react or reply to Taniqua's words, but seeing the tension that was building up, Izotz stepped forward to try to change the subject. "I'm sure Balthazar had no ill intentions, Taniqua," the Frost assured the Ambia, giving her a small sheepish smile. "This is about the only way he can get a good feeling for things."

Just as he finished speaking, the Sandshark blew his nose loudly, complete with smoke coming out. "Humph," Balthazar mumbled, but without adding anything else. Whether he had been too rough or anything else, he truly didn't care. "You want to know what she is, or not?" he croaked, reminding the others exactly why he'd wanted to touch and feel the bird.

[Jaykobell]

With the younger Paragon brought back on track, Izotz and Taniqua both looked at Balthazar with a look of surprise. Although she hadn't liked the way he'd handled the bird — admittedly, she was always a little wary of Balthazar, regardless of the situation — it sounded like the Sandshark knew what creature she was. Perhaps that was why he'd been so thorough: he wanted to make sure he was really telling them the right creature. Considering his age, he'd probably heard and seen — before his blindness truly set in — many different creatures that could've looked similar to this griffon.

"Do you know, Balthazar?" Izotz urged on, taking a few steps forward, and then turning to the small hatchling in Taniqua's arms. "Have you heard of this kind of creature before?" Hearing about a new creature was definitely an exciting thing; not only that, but hearing about what this griffon was would probably lead them to her family, and her clan, if she had any.

"She smells of stuffy chicken eggs and fish, that's one thing," Balthazar started with, grumbling unhappily as they all caught the very, very faint hint of the Sandshark wrinkling his nose in disgust.

The answer left the other Paragon to stare back in silence, but it took just a few seconds for Taniqua to catch on. "E... Excuse me?" Stuffy chicken eggs and fish? The latter made sense, considering the poor baby had been probably washed up from the little river by her farm, but the stuffy chicken eggs? Did he mean to say her chicken coop was dirty? But it also made the Ambia self-conscious, as she had had to blow on the baby to dry her up. Was the Sandshark saying that her breath smelled bad? Then again, none of them knew she'd had to blow on the baby, right? No, so he meant the chicken coop smelled bad. Was he saying her produce wasn't fresh?

While the Ambia had all those spiralling thoughts in her head, the Sandshark went on, angling his head towards Izotz. "I didn't just hear of them: I've seen them," he started with, before turning back to face the group in general, tilting his head to the side ever so slightly. "I saw creatures similar to whatever this one feels like, many eons ago. Before any of you were even around — before even your ancestors."

Upon hearing that, both Izotz and Slavica blinked at the Sandshark before looking at each other, and then back to the elder. "You've seen them?" Izotz repeated, putting an emphasis on the fact that Balthazar had seen creatures like this bird. That meant that that had happened many, many seasons ago, more than the Frost could even imagine. "So? What is she?"

[Jaykobell]

"Not sure if she's exactly that," Balthazar started, admittedly not certain that the griffon was what he thought she was. It had been countless moons since he'd seen anything at all, so it was entirely possible for him to be mistaken. He had only seen such creatures a few times, and it was entirely possible for them to have evolved since then. The same way new Paragon species and mutations were born and discovered over time, it was possible the creatures he had in mind had also evolved from their appearance of olden times. "She feels like a Soveris."

There was silence, and then all three younger Paragon looked at each other. All three then turned back to the Sandshark once they realized looking elsewhere wouldn't do any good. "A Soveris?" Izotz echoed, the name ringing no familiar bells. "That's what she is? And you've seen her kind before?" That alone was surprising; if the Frost had seen creatures like this griffon, he was certain that he would remember. He'd never seen such a creature; how long ago had it been since Balthazar had seen those Soveris creatures?

"I was just starting to lead the Hive when we got in a feud with a group of birdfolks," the Sandshark rasped, telling the story of old, regardless of whether or not the youngsters wanted to hear it. "They were small chickens," the Sandshark added, grinning and chuckling just a little. "Or so we thought. They were nasty war beasts, those birds. Small, but graceful and intelligent," he recalled, his grin fading to give place to a more serious look. "They were looking for land to settle down and form their clan. Thought the mountain was pretty good-looking, so they wanted it."

"What?" Izotz interjected, surprised to hear this story that he'd never heard before — and that was quite a feat, for he was certain that he knew quite a fair share of Balthazar's stories. Yet, this single one about a short war with another species had never been mentioned. "You never mentioned that."

The Sandshark huffed at being interrupted, and he felt the Frost tense up. "No need to mention it if they don't ever come back," Balthazar clarified, grumbling a little. "We compromised, and they never came back. Never saw them again, didn't hear of them again," he finished, giving a short pause afterwards before turning his nose towards the hatchling. "Not 'til now." Although he had managed to strike a deal with the birds so that they wouldn't settle on their mountain, it was entirely possible to assume that they had ended up finding a home. No griffons were ever seen again by the borders, but if that little baby had survived getting washed up in the river, then it was fair to assume that wherever that colony was, they couldn't be very far.

[Jaykobell]

"Taniqua, you said that the baby probably got washed down the river, right?" Izotz asked, turning from Balthazar to the Ambia, whom had since calmed down the griffon to sleep.

"I think that's what happened, because she was wet when I found her," the Ambia confirmed, turning to Izotz and tilting her head to the side curiously. "Why?"

"If that is what happened," Izotz continued, getting up on all fours as he started, "then that means her home must be somewhere along the river." He turned to Balthazar, then to Slavica and back to Taniqua. "If we follow the river, we ought to find her home, and those Soveris that live there."

There was no answers initially; only the reaction of Slavice and Taniqua looking at each other. "Oh... That's a great idea, Izotz!" the Ambia cried out, eyes stretching wide with the realization of what the leader was thinking. "If we find their home, we can bring her back to her family." It felt like the most sensible solution, considering how young the griffon was. She wasn't a Paragon, and raising her like one probably wouldn't be a very good idea.

Slavica spread her wings as she turned to Izotz. "I find that reasonable. Shall I round up some Scouts to search for this clan?"

Before Izotz could answer and give his orders, Balthazar let out an earth-shattering roar from the back of his den. All three Paragon jumped and turned, with the griffon waking up in a panic from the loud noise. "You will do no such thing," the Sandshark growled dangerously, baring his teeth ever so slightly at the three Paragon. "Do not mingle with the birds."

Izotz was visibly surprised by Balthazar's reaction, and he honestly couldn't figure out why the Sandshark would be so categorically against this idea. "I... what's wrong? Why shouldn't we bring her back to her home?"

Hearing Izotz tense up, Balthazar calmed down and let go of his snarl. "Didn't you listen? The birds are aggressive," he reminded the Frost, pointing out that one detail that the Sandshark had clearly stated in his story just a few minutes ago. "You will endanger the Hive if you mingle with the birds." If they were still as battle-ready and aggressive as they were back then, trespassing on their territory would bring danger to the Hive. Not only that, considering the miracle of the hatchling's survival, the birds could try to explain it as the Paragon of the Hive stealing one of their young. "Nothing good will come out of it. I am warning you, Izotz."

[Jaykobell]

"But what about this baby?" Izotz asked, bending his neck down to take a closer look at the agitated child. "What are we supposed to do with her?" Balthazar's worries were legitimate: if the birds were known for being aggressive, then it would be dangerous to interact with them. However, keeping the little one here didn't sound like the best of ideas, either. Only Balthazar had seemingly heard of those birds, so how were they supposed to take care of the griffon and raise her?

The question seemed to get the Sandshark thinking, for the answer didn't come right away. "Keep her, or throw her out in the wild," he finally answered, and the last comment left all three youngsters baffled — he could tell by how tense they got, again. Every tiny little "controversial" suggestion sent those youngsters flying into a panic. If the Sandshark had eyes at all, he would've rolled them enough times in his entire lifetime to roll them out of their sockets. "Let the birds come for her. If the Hive lost a hatchling, do you truly believe a rival clan would return it?"

It was Izotz's turn to think, and admittedly, he didn't like the answer he could think of for Balthazar's question. "I... No. I don't think they would," he answered quietly, giving a small sigh. It was rather disheartening to realize that was the truth, but there was nothing he could do about it. The Sandshark was right: no rival clan would go out of their way to endanger their own members just to bring back a lost baby. "So you suggest that we raise her?"

If the Sandshark had any eyes, he wouldn't narrowed them; his presence changed to doubt, and he grumbled slightly. "I wouldn't," he admitted, and again he felt a distinct change in the air as he gave his honest answer. "But do what you want." If the bird grew up to peak their eyes out, he wanted nothing to do with it. He didn't want to take the blame for bringing in a dangerous war beast of a bird in the Hive, and so, he was leaving that decision to Izotz.

"We can't just leave her in the wild," Taniqua pointed out, looking down at the defenseless baby she was holding, one who didn't have her eyes opened yet. "She'll get killed." If they truly wanted to get rid of the griffon, then the least they could do was decide to let her go once she was older, and once she had learned how to defend herself.