It wasn’t long while she was in the air with the griffin that she began to feel the pain that swelled in her shoulder from the talons. They loosened and gripped tighter as her flames writhed as angry snakes with snapping jaws. Khairi’s incessant shrieking muffled her ears from the other sounds around her, from the other foal’s own screams and her father’s booming voice. But there was another voice that screamed into the air after her, one that seemed to eerily close to her fathers but younger, that she had begun to realize was her twin’s. She wondered momentarily among the fit of rage that burned in her chest and the pain that seared her shoulders, if he too could feel the pain she felt.

Then, as if the mother griffin had begun to lose its grip, she was descending toward the ground. Instinctively, her legs stretched out to reach the earth to try and pull herself from the mother griffin. Dark hooves dug into the ground in her effort, but she failed as she was soon pushed to the ground by giant clawed paws. The air fell from her lungs and she gasped for breath, feeling the pressure of the paws on her chest. Her ears remained back against her skull as she kicked out with her hind legs, oceanic gaze watching as the mother griffon tried to bite into her neck. Another shriek was let loose as she furiously kicked further. Khairi had come to terms with trying to distract the griffon by using his own talons against the mother griffins head.

And while it was a great thought, it hadn’t worked perfectly. Pain and blood burned against her chest as the mother griffin bit into her shoulder. She kicked further, feeling helpless in this situation, but before long the mother griffin left her alone and trailed after the family. She laid there for a few moments catching her breath and relaxing her sore muscles before attempting to get up. As she rolled onto shaky legs, while blood dripped from her shoulder and back, she glanced around first for her companion. He had already vanished, however, noting how bad the wounds were and flying off in search of a bit of yarrow. Quickly, he returned with the plant gently in his beak and Kiada rest her head along the earth. “Good call, Khairi.” She thought to the bird, as she closed her eyes. She hadn’t been the only one learning in her trips to the greenhouse and her small lessons in the Basin. Gently, the vulture began to apply the leaves to her wounds while she winced, pausing momentarily to seek out her brother first and then her father.

"Talk."

— she wears fire for skin,

but a storm lives in her soul.