He sat there, broken. He sat in the snow and in the muck without love. Past him walked the old, the young, the rich and the poor. None caring, none loving, for they had no more love to give.

Blinking away the tears, he stood up. His legs trembling under his own weight, he hadn't eaten a real meal in days, making do with meager scraps and the occasional finch. It gurgled in yearning, for anything edible whatsoever. He was starving and he knew it, but what could he do?

Looking to his left, he walked into the alleyway shrouded in darkness. Being so small offered some advantages at least, especially as a street urchin. Passing by the ramshackled huts of the slums, he eventually weaved through them, arriving at the familiar sight of the stables. Perhaps he could find a rat or two amongst one of the few dry areas in this snow covered bog of a city.

"Alright now you just cut them like this."

"Careful with the cans, don't burst them with those talons."

"Helena, get me those canned tomatoes would you?"

Voices broke him free from his thoughts, looking out at what he thought was an empty stable, he found it occupied. He didn't recognise these creatures however, at least not three of them. Two griffons walked among them but the strange sight of a drakar, a wolf and three… things… had his eyes widening.

It seemed like he was not the only one who thought so though. Out of his periphery he saw several more griffons looking on with mixed expressions, from curiosity to worry. Yet as he watched them work, stocking their fire, making their food. The temptation grew too strong, and so he approached with a tint of nervousness.

…

Placing the lid on top of the massive pot I wrangled out of the kitchen, I leant back a little on the chair I had brought out. Now it would just be a waiting game, but before that.

"Hey Helena! How're the baked potatoes looking in there?" I yelled with my eyes closed, resting the back of my head on the palm of my hands.

A bit of clattering was heard from inside the wagon, but surely enough, Helena along with the kids came waddling out of the carriage with trays of baked potatoes in hand.

"Looking fine and dandy! You sure you don't want any?" She said as they placed the trays down on a foldable table and joined me by the fire.

Placing my arms around her and Illarion, I let out a sigh of contentment. "Not until these folks have had their fill, my food is to do the will of he who sent me and to finish his work."

There was a pause as the crackling of the fire was the only sound in the air, before I spoke once more.

"Has Leona had any luck?"

"Unfortunately no. We are strangers to them ,father, let them come to us."

Looking up at the cloudy sky I can't help but to pity these folk, starved, homeless and ruled by fear. Sure, fear is a useful tool at times but to let it rule your entire being? Useless.

And so we waited, until the light crunching of snow appeared on the periphery. Looking over my shoulder, the crunching stopped as I looked into the eyes of a griffon child. By god, he looked awful, yet so beautiful. Dirty, with a fearful look in his eyes, he trembled as he stood. His form was marked by starvation, his stomach looking as if it would almost meet his spine.

Looking up at me, he opened his mouth to say something but quickly closed it again. This stretched into seconds as he continued, as if frozen. Remembering what I could from my teachings, I turned back to the pot. It is said when a being is met by fear or terror, they do one of three things. They either freeze, run or fight. I was not gonna let any of the latter two happen as I reached over to grab a wooden bowl.

I acted slowly in my actions so as to not raise any alarm, lifting the lid off the pot, I dipped the bowl in the soup. Bits of sausage, vegetables and peas floated inside, a good start, but not enough. Lifting the cloth from the baked potatoes, I grabbed one enduring its almost burning warmth. Placing all the items on a tray with a wooden spoon, I let out a sigh of relief as the little griffon still stood in place, its gray feathers and brown coat looked disheveled as he shivered in the snow.

Thankfully during this time, Helena had led Illarion off to the other side of the fire, so as to not frighten the griffon off. Placing the tray next to me by the fire, I was careful to not let it get burned or covered in snow. I then scooted off to the side, looking into the flames.

I waited, and waited. And finally movement came as the griffon approached, looking between me and the tray. Keeping my voice low, soothing and as calm as possible, I looked at him.

"Go ahead, little one." I said just above a whisper. "Do not be frightened, for there are none who may harm you here. Do not go hungry, for I will feed you until you can give your bread to another. Do not go cold, for the embers of our hearth shall give you warmth."

He looked at me with doubt but curiosity, the fear slowly pouring out of him before he turned to his food. Grabbing the spoon, he dipped in the soup.

"I'd be careful with that." Helena said from across the fire as Illarion rested his head on his lap. A gentle smile adorned her face as the griffon looked at her through the flames. "It's best to blow first, don't wanna burn yourself, no?"

Pausing but eventually nodding, he did as told before tasting it. It was as if he had an epiphany, his eyes almost seemed to dilute as he did the cutest little prance in place, cooing in delight like a dove.

"Did you like it?" I asked with a smile.

Nodding furiously, he began to dig into it as if possessed. My, what gusto! Reminds me of Mark in his teenage years.

Chuckling a little at the sight, I turned back to the fire, waiting until he was done. Didn't need to wait long however, as the little lad swallowed the last bit of the potato and gave off a satisfied sigh.

Plomping himself down next to the fire, he looked so warm and happy. I suppose eating really does burn calories, the little guy looks like he's run a marathon. Not wanting to ruin it, I let him rest for a while.

…

It had been another ten minutes before I finally saw Mark come back with Lucia and Fiddie. Flying low and weighed down by firewood, they landed before us. I would've used Adolphus, but he was tired after a week's march through the snow.

"Welcome back, everything went alright?" I asked

"Not a frost spider in sight, must've scared em off. Anyway, we got your firewood." He said as he set down the two bags he was carrying with a heavy thud. Lucia and Fiddie then ran forward after adding their bags to the pile.

"Elijah, Elijah! Look what we found!" They exclaimed in unison as Lucia held out her talon for me to see.

Looking within her grasp I saw a peculiar sight. A single little dove, uncommonly tiny for its age. Extending my hand next to her talon, the little dive jumped across and settled into my warmth.

"My… hello there little fellow." I said in a hushed tone as I gave what I assumed to be a he, a pet. "Must've gotten stuck in the valley from the outside. Poor little thing, no wonder he's so tiny, barely any food around."

Lucia and Fiddie gave a sad frown at that as they looked at one another, this gave me an idea however.

"Tell you what though," I started as their gaze turned back to me. "If you wish to keep him, I'd be more than happy to let him live in the carriage."

"Really?!" They asked in unison, eyes lighting up at the prospect.

"Really." I said placing the little dove down onto Lucia's talons. "Just run along and get Helena to help you out, she'll teach you how to take care of the little guy."

Nodding in response, they scampered off to Helena. Sighing at the sight but with a smile on my face, I looked back to Mark.

"They really are something, aren't they?"

"That they are."

Standing up, I went over to unpack the firewood, Mark helping as we added it to the pile a little ways away from the fire. As we chatted however, I looked back to the half awake griffon child and got an idea.

"Hey Mark?"

"Yes, father?"

"Do you remember John 14:18?"

…

15 minutes later

Out of the normal gloom of the streets of the slums of Iria, a merry figure strode through the streets. Standing on two legs and with a large coat over him, Mark sang with a smile as he wandered past the gawking populous.

"-One day he took a brick in his hand and he dandered up the falls! He was mutterin' up the Rangers and hummin' Derry's walls! He broke the big shop window to annoy the pope of Rome!"

Taking a large stride over a sheet of ice in the middle of the street he continued.

"He took a record player out and then he started home! He took a record player out and… then he… started home…"

His singing slowed and then stopped altogether as he finally found what he had been looking for. His face morphing from a smile into a neutral expression as he looked on with pity at the sight of three griffon children sitting in an alleyway, completely alone. They were clearly underfed. Were it not for their plumage, Mark was sure he'd see the ribs. Cold and shivering, they laid in the dark, trying to warm one another through body warmth.

Approaching them slowly, he entered the alleyway. They paid him no mind however, too focused on trying to keep warm than anything else. Crouching down, he got at their level and thought of an idea.

Reaching out with his hand, wisps of light appeared around it, which soon concentrated into a ball. Focusing on it, Mark morphed it into a trio of beautiful blue butterflies. An ethereal glow surrounded them as they fluttered in the light breeze. Faint bits of light falling down from every wingbeat, akin to glitter, yet they disappeared as soon as they got too far from the butterfly.

Fluttering along, they landed on top of the beaks of the little griffons. Not reacting immediately because of their closed eyes, the butterflies spread their wings over the beaks. Feeling something tickling their nostrils and a light behind their eyelids, they eventually opened their eyes and blinked multiple times at the sight in front of them.

Taking off from their beaks, the butterflies flew in circles around the trio. The sight made them giggle, especially when they landed on one of the griffs, covering her mouth and both her eyes in a blue haze. Yet eventually, their playful act ended and they took off to the end of the alley where the griffons froze up at the sight of Mark, sitting against the wall of the alleyway. Looking back at them, Mark gave off a warm smile as his voice reverberated through the narrow space.

"Hello there."

The trio blinked and looked towards one another before one of them took a step forward and gave a cough.

"H-hi" She managed to stammer out, her voice having a lot less bite than she thought it would. "What do you want?"

Mark looked up in thought for a second, resting his chin on his hand as the butterflies landed on his head.

"Now that is a good question, what do I want… but a better question is…"

He turned his head back to them, and opened his coat, revealing row after row of smoked sausages dangling down from it. Giving off a wide smirk he spoke.

"Kielbasa or Kabanoss?"

Author's Note

Sorry for the delay, had allot of schoolwork.

Anyway I used this for the inspiration for the soup.
https://www.yummly.com/recipe/Hearty--Meaty-Black-Eye-Pea-Soup-for-a-Crowd-2416080?utm_medium=yummly_amp_site&utm_source=yummly_amp_site#directions

And I got the tiny dove idea from this video.
https://youtu.be/BsO5k9_Ed0c

Such an adorable feathery bean.