"Again?" said Fierce Warrior.
Render shot him a look. Then he used his front hoof to gently nudge Broke forwards, the little gryphon stumbling slightly as he skittered across the grass towards the mossy pond ahead on unsteady legs. He stopped just before he tumbled in, then stared wide-eyed down at his reflection, head cocked first to the left and then to the right as if trying to understand what exactly he was seeing.
"Yes," said Render, "again."
There was a slight pause. Then he added, "Though, to be fair, she's a little hard to resist."
Fierce Warrior was much too kindhearted to roll his eyes, but the feeling of it was there anyway. He was a daunting creature on the outside, all hard edges and sharp points, but inwardly Render knew him to be as soft and squishy as moss on a rotting log. He said, tone dry, "I see. Well, are you at least happy with this turn of events? It's not like you had planned for this. At least, I don't think you were."
"No, no," said Render, carefully catching hold of Broke's tail before the gryphon slipped too close to the water. "I didn't plan for it. Thunder was there, and she's, you know, exciting. Sometimes grumpy. Sometimes she's probably a little intimidating, if I'm being honest, but she's still pretty cool, and, well, one thing led to another, and - "
"Yes, thank you, I know how it works."
" - here we are now." Render grinned, flashing sharp teeth. "Now are you going to give me a blessing, or what?"
Fierce Warrior, who was currently surrounded by the biggest group of mismatched familiars that Render had ever seen, exhaled a breath that may or may not have been a sigh of exasperation. He carefully extracted himself from a cluster of squabbling shuppies, stepped over a basking ray that was snoozing in the late afternoon sun, bypassed a pair of snuggling wolves, and eased himself between two dozy fat fish who were bobbing aimlessly somewhere near his head. His long, spiked tail flicked as he gave Render a look, which Render returned, with extra innocence."
"Fine, fine," said Fierce, and Render thought he could hear a suppressed laugh in that second fine. "I bless that your children - this next batch of them, as I see - will be blessed with a love of life, a joy for excitement, and the wisdom to make good choices."
"Well, that's no fun," Render protested, and dragged Broke back from the edge of the puddle again. "What if I want them to make bad choices so they live and learn from their experiences and all that? What if I want them to choose the most ridiculous, wildest, craziest choice so they can see what life is like when you live on the edge and go for the lesser known path?"
"Take it or leave it," said Fierce briskly, "Also, your gryphon just escaped."
There was an ominous splashing sound as Broke fell into the pond.
Render shot him a look. Then he used his front hoof to gently nudge Broke forwards, the little gryphon stumbling slightly as he skittered across the grass towards the mossy pond ahead on unsteady legs. He stopped just before he tumbled in, then stared wide-eyed down at his reflection, head cocked first to the left and then to the right as if trying to understand what exactly he was seeing.
"Yes," said Render, "again."
There was a slight pause. Then he added, "Though, to be fair, she's a little hard to resist."
Fierce Warrior was much too kindhearted to roll his eyes, but the feeling of it was there anyway. He was a daunting creature on the outside, all hard edges and sharp points, but inwardly Render knew him to be as soft and squishy as moss on a rotting log. He said, tone dry, "I see. Well, are you at least happy with this turn of events? It's not like you had planned for this. At least, I don't think you were."
"No, no," said Render, carefully catching hold of Broke's tail before the gryphon slipped too close to the water. "I didn't plan for it. Thunder was there, and she's, you know, exciting. Sometimes grumpy. Sometimes she's probably a little intimidating, if I'm being honest, but she's still pretty cool, and, well, one thing led to another, and - "
"Yes, thank you, I know how it works."
" - here we are now." Render grinned, flashing sharp teeth. "Now are you going to give me a blessing, or what?"
Fierce Warrior, who was currently surrounded by the biggest group of mismatched familiars that Render had ever seen, exhaled a breath that may or may not have been a sigh of exasperation. He carefully extracted himself from a cluster of squabbling shuppies, stepped over a basking ray that was snoozing in the late afternoon sun, bypassed a pair of snuggling wolves, and eased himself between two dozy fat fish who were bobbing aimlessly somewhere near his head. His long, spiked tail flicked as he gave Render a look, which Render returned, with extra innocence."
"Fine, fine," said Fierce, and Render thought he could hear a suppressed laugh in that second fine. "I bless that your children - this next batch of them, as I see - will be blessed with a love of life, a joy for excitement, and the wisdom to make good choices."
"Well, that's no fun," Render protested, and dragged Broke back from the edge of the puddle again. "What if I want them to make bad choices so they live and learn from their experiences and all that? What if I want them to choose the most ridiculous, wildest, craziest choice so they can see what life is like when you live on the edge and go for the lesser known path?"
"Take it or leave it," said Fierce briskly, "Also, your gryphon just escaped."
There was an ominous splashing sound as Broke fell into the pond.