Bramblepoint Keep a bluebird in my heart

Maia settled in eagerly to listen.  She loved not only hearing the story, but also the manner the other wolf told it in!!! Stories from family were especially delightful to her; if Toad's story was really from her grandmother, that meant she was opening up a piece of her past to Maia.  There was nothing more special.

The way she told it was very matter-of-fact, but she added expression and tone, and Maia could almost picture Toad's grandmother telling this story as it had happened to herself.  She was mesmerized.

That was amazing!!! She said at the end, beating her tail against the ground in applause.  I woulda been terrified to meet a creature like that, ohmygosh.  Your grandmother must have been a cool wolf!  Courageous as heck at least.

Okay, now a griffon story.  Hmmmm....  She wished she had one to offer from her own past, but she did not.  So instead she'd make one up and hope it served okay!  

There was once a griffon named Kieran.  She began, choosing the name at random.  If she had to pick one that sounded fit for an eagle, that was it!  He was young and powerful, and he loved to soar over the mountains and valleys of his home!!  But he was also very lonely.  Even as a child, he had never made many friends.  Griffons are hard to get along with because eventually, truths that aren't meant to be said get out.  And those truths tended to hurt the ones he tried to get close to.  As she laid it out, Maia thought of how sad it would be to never find your 'place' or a family to surround yourself with.  Her tone was appropriately sad, but this was definitely not a tradgedy!

He'd resigned himself to a life alone, deciding it wasn't that bad after all.  He had the sky, and the wind, and the view of the beautiful land below!  And that was enough, because in a way, they were friends to him.  They made him feel free.  She paused.  Now might have been when she would have asked for a contribution of what sort of creature might enter next, but she'd offered a telling.  So this one she'd do herself.

That all changed one day, however!  A beautiful storm spirit crash landed in one of his valleys.  She'd been injured and the mountains were too tall for her storms to rise over.  Her wings were the color of darkened clouds split with lightning, and her voice cracked and rolled like thunder.

At first, Kieran was afraid! He had never had a friend before, after all, and storms were dangerous to creatures of the sky.  Maia raised a paw, bringing it across and above in an arc.  Imagine being a bird and caught in the air, with all that wind and rain!  But he couldn't just leave her.  He was the guardian of the skies and she needed his help.  Suddenly, Kieran took on a different image in Maia's mind... eyes of bright green.  As she thought of @Eljay, the story took on a new quality, as did her voice.

He swooped down and at first, the spirit crackled lightning at him.  She was afraid and vulnerable on the ground, though in the sky she was a force to be feared.  But his kindness and honest quality won out, and after a while, he learned her name.  It was Tempestas.  The name, at least, was from her father's stories.  He hadn't often told them, but when pressed he'd occasionally given them glimpses of the gods and goddesses of his home.

Kieran hunted for her and helped to heal her, and before long, the two became close friends.  He found that storms can never lie, and that their power and honesty also frightened others.  But he wasn't afraid because he was the same.... a perfect match.  When she was able to fly once more, the two would dance through the skies together, and she gave him powerful gales to ride and rise upon, faster than ever before!  Maia grinned, and her telling grew with intensity as she reached this thrilling end to the tale... before returning to normal for the conclusion.

Eventually, Tempestas would need to leave, to roam and bring her storms to the reaches of the world.  Sometimes Kieran would go with her, and she would show him the beautiful places and wonders that lay beyond his mountains.  Sometimes he would remain as guardian, waiting and knowing that when she had finished, she would return.  And never again did either of them feel alone.

She let out a soft sigh, then smiled.  I... really like happy endings the best.  It was cheesy maybe, but now that she'd felt it, the stories hit differently.  She hoped that Toad was similarly a fan and not too bored of her sappy romance.