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"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Shanae asked her fool of a friend the same question she'd already asked multiple times on their climb up.
"Of course," Rahaad replied without even a hint of annoyance at the repetition. He was used to having to reassure her about his harebrained schemes. And he was also the reason she needed so much reassurance, as they did not often work out in his favour. "The griffins are off hunting, we saw them leave, and you know they're always gone for hours. We've got plenty of time."
"I mean, that wasn't really the part I was questioning..." Shanae said under her breath, wondering once again how she had gotten herself into this. Why did she even still talk to this fool of a boy, let alone let him talk her into things like this?
Rahaad reached the ledge they were aiming for and hauled himself up and over it, his back muscles rippling in the sun as he did so. He reached back down to help Shanae up and as she took his hand she felt her whole body tingle with the contact. Right, yes, of course. That was why.
And then there they were, on the ledge, higher than Shanae had ever been in her life, stood in front of a griffin nest of all things. The two younglings inside were strange, ugly little creatures, all scraggly white feather-fluff in front, and all gangly and misproportioned in the back.
They were also about the size of large dogs, with sharp beaks, talons, and claws, and were staring at them with shock and malice, clearly not happy about their ledge being invaded.
Shanae gulped and almost backed away from them before remembering she was stood on a godsdamned ledge. She shuddered and sat down to feel safer. "Go on then," she whispered to Rahaad. "This was your fool idea."
"Uhhh, right," Rahaad replied, and stepped forward in a crouch, hand outstretched with palm upward, like you would to a strange dog you wish to make friends with. "Good birdies, good kitties, you want to be friends right?" He cooed at them as he crept closer and closer. "Gooood kitty-birdies, that's it. You're nicer than your mama and papa, aren't you?"
The young griffins had remained frozen until that moment, watching and wary but not actively reacting to his presence, but as soon as Rahaad said that about their parents they both shrieked high-pitched warning cries, and the one that was closest to Rahaad reared up on its hind legs, flailing its talons in a clear threat display.
"Woah! Woah there, it's okay," Rahaad crooned, soothing them like he would a spooked and rearing horse. He reached in his pack to bring out some dried meat, waving it back and forth to get the creature's attention before tossing it towards them. The one that had been rearing tried to catch the meat and fumbled, then dropped to all fours to snap it up off the ground and opened its beak for more food. The noise it made then was more squawk than shriek, still high-pitched but quieter and more indignant than aggressive.
Rahaad grinned and turned back to Shanae. "See? Anything's tameable if you get them young enough!"
"I hope you brought enough meat!" She called back.
Fortunately it looked like he'd brought a whole side of beef in dried strips, and by the time he had fed them every single scrap of meat he had on him he had managed to get into the nest with them and they were both cuddling up to him and letting him pet them.
"Okay, now how do we get them home?" Shanae asked from her vantage point on the outskirts of the nest, still closer to the ledge than the baby griffins and all their sharp little points.
"Uhhhh..." Rahaad answered. Of course, he hadn't thought that far ahead. Why oh why had she come with him on this fool quest? "Maybe they'll follow us? They're part cat and cats can climb, right? Even if they can't fly yet?"
"Oh sure, cats get stuck in trees all the time, but baby ones can totally climb down a cliff-face." Shanae rolled her eyes.
Rahaad climbed out of the nest and the baby griffins mewled and followed him. "See? They'll follow me home. No problem!" He declared. "If worst comes to worst they can just keep hopping down to the next ledge until we get to the ground. Cats land well at least."
Shanae scooched back to the ledge to start climbing down when a great burst of wind pushed her down to the ground as two giant forms swooped over her and paused there, hovering in the air above.
What are you doing here, mortals? One of the griffins demanded, a loud clanging voice in her brain. Leave our cubs be!
"No, they're mine now!" Rahaad shouted at them in desperation. "You don't want them anymore anyway, not now they've been touched by mortal hands!"
The other griffin rolled its eyes and dropped the carcass of a deer it was carrying into the nest before replying with a slightly higher pitched clanging. Of course we do, you mortal idiot. Why on earth would we not? The younglings quickly scampered back into the nest to start on their second feast of the day, and their mother joined them happily.
"B-but everyone says..." Rahaad stammered.
The first griffin narrowed its eyes at him. Wait, don't I know you?
Rahaad merely stared back at it, eyes wide, too scared to say a word.
"You, uhh, killed his family." Shanae piped up. "A few years back."
Ah, I see. The griffin landed on the ledge and looked at them both solemnly, no longer quite so angry. And you are here to seek revenge by stealing mine own family, young one?
Rahaad nodded, still dumbstruck.
My apologies, young one. We do not kill for fun or profit, you know. The humans we killed a few years back had killed many of our own first. We do not wish to continue the cycle, and as you do not seem to have harmed our young---indeed they tell me you have fed them quite well---we will let you leave this place unscathed.
With that the griffin walked past them to join his family in the nest, saying not another word to them. They climbed back down in silence, Rahaad's face betraying the storm of emotions that the griffin had stirred up in him, and Shanae wondered how long it would take for the carefree idiot of a boy she'd known that morning to come back to her. Maybe she should be the one to come up with the next harebrained scheme, to get his mind off things.