Storytime- "Scratch"

The wind rider cub that my sis got me is Kal's only in character pet, and this is how she found him. Enjoy!

Kal reined in her gryphon, wheeling in a tight circle over a tiny dark spot on the pale dead-grass plains outside of Warsong Hold. She landed, dismounted, and slowly approached the squalling creature, keeping an eye out for both the orc guards and the roaming undead that patrolled the area. Once she was close enough, she saw that the source of the plaintive cries was a tiny baby wyvern, young and very thin, but otherwise healthy-looking. She approached carefully, only to have the tiny thing scamper away, staying a few steps out of reach. Kal followed it almost halfway around Warsong Hold before she finally stopped, staring at the cub in frustration, and sighed. She turned in disgust and took a few steps away, then glanced back and stopped. The cub had followed her, and was still only about four steps away. The warrior quirked her eyebrow, then took a few more steps, watching as the baby toddled after her. She stopped again, and the cub stopped too. She absently scratched at the scar on her cheek as she considered what to do next.

Finally, she looked up and whistled, signaling Wings, who dropped from the sky to land next to her. The wyvern cub took a few steps away at the sight of the gryphon, then sat staring with his head cocked almost sideways. Kal dug inside one of the saddlebags and found some of her trail rations. She then waved Wings back into the sky, and turned back towards the cub. She held up a strip of jerky, and made a show of nibbling on it, then held her hand out. The cub stared, and took a step closer. Kal knelt down on the rough grass, and waved the dried meat at the cub again. A couple drops of saliva fell from it's tiny jaws, and it came closer, stopping again just barely out of reach. Kal broke a bite of jerky off, and tossed it next to the cub. It pounced, practically inhaling the tidbit. It's mind made up, the baby wyvern then scampered up to Kal and ferociously 'attacked' the hand holding the rest of the jerky. Kal gave a chuckle that was quickly interrupted by an "Ow" as the sharp claws missed the meat and found her wrist. She let him yank the jerky out of her hand and watched as he wolfed it down. He then looked up at her with an inquisitive "Rawr?", obviously wanting more. Kal slowly reached for him, and he stood still, only flinching slightly when she touched him. He allowed her to gather him up, and she whistled for Wings again. The cub had a brief moment of panic when the larger predator landed, scoring Kal's arms with his claws again, but she held on and crooned softly to him until he calmed. She climbed into her saddle, and urged Wings into the air and towards Valiance Keep, earning more scratches as the cub panicked again.

- - - -

The cub 'rawr'ed playfully as he swatted at Arien's hands. She giggled at him, and let him have the tidbit she had been hiding inside one fist. Kal chuckled too, and the paladin grinned up at her friend. "He sure is a cutey. So what do you think happened to him?" she asked. The warrior shrugged. "Most likely thing I can think of? The orcs tossed him out the door 'cause he's a runt. He ain't much bigger than a kitten, but his appetite and claws are big enough that I think he's older than he looks. He'll be lucky to reach half the size of the war mounts they're breeding out there, and they didn't want to waste space and food on him." Arien looked almost angry for a moment, then she shrugged, resigned. "Well, it's their loss. He'll get more than big enough for a good 'guard dog'. And even if he can't carry anyone, he can still follow you on Wings." Kal nodded, smiling at the baby contentedly. "Oh," Arien said, "What are we going to call him?" "I already thought of that, on the way home." Kal replied, and held out one arm. "His name is Scratch." Her arm was covered from fingers to elbow in thin, red lines, most of them small, but one or two of the claw marks were deep enough to possibly leave scars. Her other arm was in pretty much the same condition. Arien winced at the sight. "Um, do you want me to heal those? They have got to be pretty painful." Kal shrugged one shoulder unconcernedly. "They look worse than they feel. Besides..." She gave her friend an almost wolfish grin. "Sympathy from a certain someone is worth a few scratches." Arien blinked at her for a moment, then quietly covered her face with one hand, but not before Kal saw that she was trying hard to stifle a laugh. Scratch looked up at both of them, then gave a loud 'rawr' and pounced on Kal's boot.