A piercing scream tore the air, breaking the norther silence of the Frostbreath Steppe. Response was instant, instinctive; tiara was flung into the air, nostrils flared and searching as harsh and agonized vibrations reverberating against alert caverns. The noise terrified me; the cry, so primal and broken in its intensity, strummed a chord in my heart both foreign and familiar. How many days had it been since I broke down beneath the frozen arch, old memories and cruel scars overwhelming my defenses, sending waves of tormented emotion crashing against my chest and tearing apart my defenses? And now I felt all of my loss and pain and hurt magnified tenfold, vibrant tones bleeding across the sky.

I could not ignore such a cry.

Immense against the void of the Northern plains, the sound echoed; I followed it with my own onyx gaze, trying to pinpoint the source, calm beneath the frantic beating of blood against my skull. The first wave of shock had passed, and my mind retreated behind its carefully maintained walls of clarity and focus. Something catches my attention: dark, circling, crying. From so far, I cannot recognize the bird; it looks odd, graceful and larger than any eagle I had encountered. Hooves move, hesitant at first, then faster, and then I am running, moonkissed figure weaving swiftly through the melting snow, ebony gaze transfixed upon the sky. The growing figure dipped low, temporarily evading my sight. Worry beat against my brain, infiltrating the adopted focus, fueling my actions, injecting adrenalin through my bloodstream.

When, some minutes later, I reached my destination, the painted tragedy forced my breath to hitch. Against the stark blue of the cloudless sky, spiraling cliffs reached towards the blue ceiling, gorgeous and deadly. Upon the spire, a figure - distant, bloody, shattered. At their foot lay the creature I assumed had unleashed that summoning cry. Forefront of an eagle and and hindquarters of a cat, the animal would have been beautiful and feral, but for the pain that radiated from him. Beside him, an egg sat discarded, unloved, forgotten. He was broken, in mind and soul; I could see it, and it penetrated deep into my heart. It was odd, this sudden concern for a complete stranger, let alone one of a species I did not recognize, yet I felt some inexplicable kinship with the creature. He mourned. I feared that he would not emerge from his mourning.

I approach him, quiet, compassion in my eyes. There is no call for cloaks, and I left mine upon the snow when I took my first step towards the prone feline. Nose is dropped to the ground, abject and nonthreatening. My mind screamed, warning me off - what could I do? I ought to turn around now, to leave him in peace. And yet, the egg beside him spoke of a life that perhaps could not be fulfilled now, of a reminder that he would not want to live with... just as I had been unable to live with the reminder of my own pain. I blocked out the memories of what I had forgotten. Perhaps this child would give me a chance to fix the tears ripped in the fiber of my own being.

But I was getting ahead of myself. At the point of contact with the fallen beast, the only thoughts in my head were how to help the father, not if I might care for the child. Emboldened by my concern, I continued towards the hybrid, only stopping when he lay just feet away from me. "Gryphon," was murmured into the air, warmth of my breath blowing across the feathers upon his face, low and sympathetic. "Your cry called me here. I do not know you, but I would offer you my friendship in your time of need. What might I do, to ease your pain?"