Aric

As shadows are birthed from the dusk she watched them approach. Her skin twitched as she thought of the seasons that had passed since their last meeting. The nobleblood, Aleallus, stepped out a few steps behind his guards. He was a pegasus who had more riches than what he knew to do with and he had been determined to press his boundaries. Aleallus was so rich that he believed he could throw his worth against the laws of the land to get what he wanted. The impressively winged stallion wanted a companion to match his own plumage but had decided he wanted to bond with a creature more exotic, more worthy of his status, than a what simple bird would be. Despite being told that it was not possible Aleallus wanted a Gryphon. A lion of the softest cream color with wings like his own.

Aric was a beast tamer. That was the truth but she had been bluffing whenever she told those that she was meeting that she had been the best. Aric's version of the 'truth' was as crooked as the horn upon her brow. The mare had failed to be a beast tamer worthy of residing in her mother's shadow. Aric had decided to leave her home for someplace new after a Masked Wisp that she had 'tamed' swallowed the companion of the one who had commissioned her to tame it whole.

Since leaving she had been hired for much simpler tasks. Tame a squirrell, tame a songbird, tame a whispering fae. Once she had even been asked to tame a fish, a little thrown off by the request she had simply bottled the animal, but this request had not been so simple. Aric bore the scars to attest to that. She had been unable to find a Gryphon of the correct coloring so she had decided that she would breed for one. A female was found with the correct coloring and a dark colored male was found with the correct wings. None of the already hatched offspring had been right; one had only a single wing, another with no wings, there had been one who had been right but that had been still with death shortly after hatching. The egg at Aric’s hooves was the last that she had been provided with before the Gryphon mating pair had escaped from her.

"Eric long ha--" Aleallus seemed to be genuinely stumped by her protesting how he said her name. He was so accustomed to his way being undisputed.

"AH-ric," she eyed the stallions without any friendliness,"My name is Aric." He could at least say her name correctly.

"But I like the sound of Eric more." The pegasus looked to his guards for guidance. Aric sighed and chewed on her lip. She was eager to hand the egg over and to head out of the reach of the stallions before her. Doubt filled her whenever it came to the quality of the beast within the egg. Aric did not care to be anywhere close whenever Aleallus would find out she had failed.

"Welp.." she nosed the egg over to the hooves of the nobleblood. "This is what you requested. It should hatch soon. I am going to head out. Business calls." She dipped her head with her crooked horn making the formal motion look almost goofy.

"Not until it hatches." It was no wonder that the guards were only called 'the twins'; there was no point in separating them by name. The pair only echoed one another. Aric mouthed what she assumed the second would follow with and rolled her eyes. "It has to hatch first." Aric gave herself a tally for having correctly guessed. She had only been one word off from guessing it word for word. "It could be a week before it hatches." She did her best not to show her discomfort. For all she knew it may not ever hatch. "If it does not hatch within two weeks then seek me out where you found me the first ti--"

Fate frowned upon her. As the guards stepped forward to stop Aric's retreat the egg wobbled towards her too. Silently she said a prayer to the gods that it would not hatch yet. Aleallus dramatically fell to his knees before the egg. He was consumed by his eagerness.

The egg did hatch. Through the crack there first came a single feather. On that feather Aric's hopes soared! Perhaps this egg would be her miracle. All of those gathered, except for Aleallus who babbled, froze with eyes on the egg. Aric stood still poised to flee and the guards merely craned their necks to look behind.

Out of the egg came a dark coated lion cub. No wings in sight. No traits of a gryphon whatsoever save for the feather. What is this?! Aleallus' shrill shriek woke everyone from where they stood frozen. Aric tried to dash away but the guards slammed into her knocking her to the ground. Could you not even get the color right? The noble pegasus lurched to his hooves. He spit at the cub and turned a suddenly cold gaze to where Aric lay. What are we to do about this situation?

"Obviously a lion cub." Aric cursed her sarcastic tongue as a hoof belonging to one of the guards struck her and tensed up for the copy cat blow that she knew would follow.

Crooked Born