Author's Note

As the title suggests, this is an extra side chapter that doesn't focus on the main character, but Gallus. As one of the gryphons who works for the Society, I thought it would be good to get a bit of his perspective, and introduce some parts of the story that will soon become important through him. Gallus, for those who might have forgotten or overlooked his parts in the story so far, has not fared will among his peers. A simple mistake in accepting a sexual bet from a minotaur while inebriated has made him a target to be picked on and accused of prostituting himself out for favors. Under all this pressure and embarrassment, en continues to work, but towards what end and what reason. Surely his gryphonic greed is not all that guide him, but if not that, then what does?

Extra Chapter: Gallus

The second Gallus had finished his assignment for the day, he flew away from his two female coworkers as fast as his wings could take him. The blue gryphon didn’t want another word from Gilda’s beak, and while Anya had not said anything to demean him, she didn’t make a move to defend him, and in his frustrated state that made her complacent with Gilda’s insensitive teasing as far as he was concerned.

Gallus was far too familiar with mockery sent in his direction by this point, over a simple mistake that he had made when under the influence. Every time he was around one of his peers, they would make snide remarks, or laugh at the mere sight of him as if his presence alone was a joke to them. It was all so tiring, to be teased and ridiculed every day by those who he should be able to relate with the most, but he was aware that this intolerable trait was not only directed at him.

Gryphons had a terrible nature of being greedy, selfish, disinterested creatures, that made themselves feel better by making others around them feel worse. Grandpa Gruff always attributed that shared attitude to the collapse of the Griffonstone Empire, which left the once great nation impoverished and destitute, but that was an event so far in the past that Gallus couldn’t agree. Sure, having nothing but dilapidated shacks to live in didn’t make life any easier, but after all this time it felt like the others of his species only didn’t improve the poor conditions of their lives because they’d rather have an excuse to be angry than find a means to fix things.

Not every gryphon was like that though, particularly those like Gallus, who had the fortunate misfortune of being abandoned as a child, so he could be raised by the only adult gryphon in Griffonstone who seemed to give a damn. Under the watchful eye of Gruff, Gallus avoided acquiring the most extreme negative gryphon traits, desiring all the things the old avian recounted in his tales of Griffonstone’s lost glory, namely riches, loyalty, and most of all, something to be proud of.

Each of these were eluding Gallus at the moment. The pay working at the Society was far better than anything Griffonstone could offer, but his job as doing manual labor around the supply warehouse wasn’t going to make him rich any time soon. He couldn’t find any solidarity among those few coworkers who were not gryphons, which consisted of creatures he rather not associate with in the first place, such as trustee slaves trained to do as they were told, diamond dogs who were just here to satisfy their greed for gems, or minotaur who he had bad experiences with. As for pride, it was hard to be proud of anything with all the hen pecking constantly coming from his own kind.

Seeing how disappointing this career path of his had become, Gallus might have considered quitting if the terms of his contract didn’t include a terrible penalty if he attempted to terminate it. While he wasn’t aware of the fine print at the time of signing his work agreement, he at least knew that wanting to prematurely end the commitment had consequences, as there was a single gryphon that had tried to quit after finding the work too strenuous for their taste, and demanded to be allowed to leave. As she openly expressed her disapproval towards the demanding conditions of working for a pony trafficking ring, a pair of minotaur came to collect her, so she could see first hand how it compared to how the slaves of the Society were treated.

Gallus had not seen her since, and through this, he learned it was better to keep his nose to the grindstone. He was determined not to end up bound and blindfolded in a birdcage somewhere in the Society’s dungeons, letting that be the top thing on his list of motivations. If there was one common trait he did inherit from his kind though, if to a lower degree, it was that he had little care of what happened to others. So he felt no moral qualms about another gryphon being forced into slavery and even saw it as a bit of karma for getting into this kind of underhanded work, only to complain when they found out exploiting other creatures was not easy. Of all the reasons he would quit if he could, seeing another gryphon being dragged off was not one of them, but even then it was possible, he did not see it as a good option, as all that would do have him crawling back to Griffonstone with nothing to show for it.

So for now, he had to accept that he was going to be the laughing stock of all his peers until he could qualify to be a hunter in his boss’ eyes, where the real money laid in kidnapping ponies and other creatures to be trained, packaged, and sold to the highest bidder, who would probably be some rich snob who had far too much spare change. However, just because he knew he’d have to receive insults and heckling from other gryphons while around them, that didn’t mean he had to be where they were.

Flying to the area where all the equipment for capturing creatures was stored, Gallus made his way through the shelves, staying near the ceiling as he stayed out of sight of anyone working below. His shift wasn’t ending for another twenty minutes, and while he could clock out early, he had a more clever way to spend his last remaining minutes, while still getting the full pay for his time. Flying to the large shelves standing at a far end of the warehouse, ones that stored the crates used to transport tools the hunters used when obtaining new slaves, Gallus avoided the sight lines of the other workers as he made his way to this out of the way corner.

He had done this many times prior and knew exactly where he was heading. A tiny space pressed up against one of the outer walls of the building, where several of the empty crates had been set at the top shelf. Since anyone would rather take the easier to reach crates at the bottom, these ones in particular had remained undisturbed since they had been placed there, save for a single time Gallus altered how they were arranged. Reaching this place, the blue gryphon slipped himself between the wooden boxes, into a vacant space hidden behind them.

The space he entered was a bit cramped, requiring him to be on his knees as he disappeared into it, but it was just open enough that he could twist his body and lay down if he folded his wings around his body. He had taken quite a few unscheduled breaks like this, being out of sight and out of mind of those he had to call co-workers. It was the one place in the facility where he didn’t have to take orders from the bulls that ranked above him, the gryphons that made comments and jokes at his expense, and the diamond dogs and trustee slave workers that were so far beneath him that he didn’t want to be around them either.

He only came here when he thought he wouldn’t be missed, such as now when it was the end of the day and all his work was finished, so he would not be noticed by anyone who might make this minute breach of the rules into something far bigger than it needed to be. The one place that, despite the discomfort caused by the gridded metal platform he was lying upon, made him feel the most relaxed in this facility.

He intended to stay here until the work bell rang, which sounded the time that work was typically finished. Then he’d join in with all the other gryphons going to punch their time cards, and go eat the free dinner provided to all the gryphon workers by their boss, a minotaur by the name of Titanius. The meal was always something basic to satiate the workers after building up an appetite over the course of the day, and while they got three such meals each day, it was never anything to look forward to, unless one was particularly hungry.

“Shouldn’t be too long now, anyways,” Gallus said quietly to himself, aware that the work day was almost finished by the time he left Gilda and Anya. At most, he’d be waiting another fifteen to twenty minutes, but any time away from the mocking words of the other avian felines was a relief to him.

Closing his eyes, he started creating depictions of a more favorable reality on the back of his shut lids. One in which he was actually respected by the other gryphons, in which he did some grand accomplishment that made him rich, famous, and admired. It was not an overblown fantasy, with hens throwing themselves at him as trophies while the cocks bowed at his feet in jealous awe of his clear superiority like so many like to imagine themselves in. Instead, a more obtainable one where he had accomplished some important capture job for the Society, and was paid a substantial amount while being promoted to the rank master hunter, garnering an appropriate amount of esteem and a round of apologetic words from those he worked with for said accomplishment.

While achievable, this was not a very thought out fantasy from Gallus, as he didn’t even think about what he would have captured to reach his desired status, nor did he know if ‘master hunter’ was even a rank in the Society. He had never been selected to be a hunter, so his understanding of that role in his work was a bit lacking, but what he did know was that those who had proven themselves capable of kidnapping ponies or capturing more dangerous species were seldom seen in toiling in the warehouse, as those good at the job were requested personally by the clientele the Society served.

Outside of that, all he knew was that to be picked, you had to display an impressive degree of skill at the mandatory training practice the minotaur held every week, which was how Gilda had been enlisted to join in on the occasional capture mission. Despite having joined at the same time as Gilda, Gallus had never been given the same invitation, which did bother him a bit, but he believed that was just because her boss had lower standards than his own. He might not have gone to the training grounds as often to hone his skills as she did, which seemed like an everyday occurrence as she used it as a means to blow off steam, but he had a mindset that even without putting in the effort, he could perform at least as well as her, if not better. He just had to wait until his own minotaur employer recognized his talents, and then he’d show everyone.

Gallus gave his body a stretch, as much as he could with the room he had, and allowed himself to get lost in his daydream. As it went on he thought about all the things he would spend all the gold he would earn on, such as his own tree house somewhere away from Griffonstone, and lots of delicious meats that most gryphons never got the chance to so much as taste, and maybe he’d purchase a slave of his own to serve as a companion. Maybe he’d put out a capture request for Gabby, a gryphon he knew from Griffonstone whose personality couldn’t be further from a normal gryphon. She wouldn’t be a bad option, though other hens were more attractive than she was, but she was always eager to please, so he did wonder how she would act after going through the Society’s training. Then again, having a pony or some other species might have been better, since it wouldn’t be as awkward to own one of them as it might be enslaving another gryphon. Maybe a dragon, since those seemed to be the most valued slaves the Society had to offer, at least for the time being.

Then again, maybe we should stay away from that part of being successful, Gallus thought as he wiped away the idea of personally owning another being.

While he had no moral issues working for the slave trafficking ring that currently employed him, he wasn’t sure if he had it in him to indulge in it himself, even if having servants was a status symbol that denoted power. It was one thing to make a profit off the suffering of creatures who could care less about you, but owning one bore the risk of forming empathy towards them, and that would complicate things if it happened, and Gallus didn’t see himself as evil or uncaring for that to be impossible to occur. So perhaps he would just stick to a nice home, fine food, and the respect of his peers as an end goal. It would weigh less on his conscience.

“That will be nice.” Gallus said, seeing his fantasy as his inevitable future.

The gryphon got so wrapped up in his plans for the future, that he didn’t pay attention to the sound of something scraping across the floor below, accompanied by a soft vibration going through the platform he was resting on. Had he noticed, he would have dismissed it as someone pulling something off the lower shelves anyway, but his complete lack of awareness made it all the more surprising when the crate he was hiding behind was pulled off the shelf in a solid motion, and he was confronted by the visage of a bull staring in at him, caught in the act of slacking off. This alone left the gryphon panicked, pressing himself against the wall like a cornered prey animal, but his fear heightened even more when he took in the bull’s features and realized it was his boss, Titanius, who had discovered his hiding place.

The minotaur slave master had pulled over a sturdy object to use as a step stool, his height allowing him to easily reach the top shelf, to remove the empty crate Gallus used as cover with ease. The bull let out something between a huff and a sigh as he took in what he had discovered, but then looked down to the ground, at a diamond dog waiting below.

“Looks like you were right, boy. He’s hiding up here,” said Titanius to the dog, reaching into a pouch at his side to pull out a small ruby and toss it to the hound, before turning his eyes back to the gryphon. “You. I would like to have a word with you, in private.”

Gallus gulped as he shook in place, terror gripping him. He wanted to try and explain his way out of this, come up with some kind of reason why he was back there that might get him out of this situation, but his voice was caught in his throat. The only thing he could do in the face of this creature who could claim this was a violation of their work agreement, and possibly get him enslaved for it, was nod in compliance, in hopes that he could get off with a warning if he did what he was told.

It took Gallus a moment to get down from the shelf after agreeing to speak with Titanius, with the bull standing patiently, though verbally expressing Gallus’ need to hurry along through the use of “come along now”s and “hurry up”s. By the time Gallus had placed his feet on the floor, the work bell had rung, and everyone else was making their way to punch out for the day. This made it so that quite a few of the workers caught glimpses of the blue gryphon being walked in a different direction by the bull, which Gallus presumed wasn’t doing him any favors when it came to rumors of minotaur favoring him, not that those mattered at this time.

Titanius guided Gallus to a door that the gryphon knew was an area normally restricted to all by those in charge of operations, which meant everyone below the status of a slave master’s second in command. Not even other minotaur ignored this restriction, so if he was being taken into this place, Gallus had to assume it was for the worst reasons.

“Look, sir. I know what I did was inexcusable,” Gallus said, finding his voice in the face of this looming threat, “But I promise, I won’t-”

“Save what you have to say for when we get inside,” Titanius said, not permitting the boy to plead his way out of this before they reached this isolated area, “You’ll have plenty of time to say whatever it is you want to say once we’ve discussed the matter.”

The minotaur placed his hand on the blue gryphon’s shoulder, which Gallus took as him saying that he wasn’t getting out of this so easily. Having no other option than to submit to his impending doom, Gallus stepped through the door when opened, and flinched when he heard Titanius step inside after and close it behind him.

The room they entered looked like a large conference room, in the sense that it was made to house many minotaur inside it, with its massive table in the center, and seats made for huge creatures like the bovines. This was clearly where the minotaur slave masters discussed business and made deals with one another, collaborating and coordinating their actions so none of their affairs interfered with one another, since the warehouse, slave processing facility, and creatures targeted for enslavement were shared by all those who utilized Schorl’s facility as a base of operations.

“Take a seat,” Titanius demanded, “Any will do. None are claimed by any particular minotaur, and they would not be offended if a les-, ahem… worker took one when they weren’t here.”

Gallus caught that he was about to be called a ‘lesser creature’, but didn’t bring it up. To be fair, at this moment he felt pretty small, and he didn’t want to compound any trouble he was in by speaking out about the minotaur’s thoughts on gryphons. He chose the closest seat to him, finding it a bit too big for him to comfortably sit in, but he had the idea that his comfort was not important.

With the gryphon’s seat chosen, Titanius made his way to the other side of the table, so he could take the seat across from him. This moment held a frightful silence to it, and not being able to bear the few seconds of only hearing the bull’s hooves stomp across the floor, the avian took another look around the room, so he might take his mind off things. Gallus spotted a bulletin board on a far wall, and saw that it had several names on it, including Titanius’ and that of Gilda and Anya’s boss, Rubric. Underneath each name were pinned papers and pictures, which no doubt listed their objectives for the upcoming day, week, or even month. While his eyes were sharp, and he could make out the images on the board, a majority of which held the image of random ponies, with others showing a variety of non-pony creatures, and a single stand out showing what looked to be a fortress city in the middle of a snowy landscape, his vision was not so adept as to make out any associating notes to any of these pictures.

“So, boy…” Titanius said while slipping into his chosen chair, his expression stoic as he locked eyes on the gryphon, “Would you like to explain to me what I caught you doing?”

Hearing the bull’s deep voice, Gallus shot his gaze back to him, before looking down at the table to avert looking him eye to eye, and answering. “I was taking an unscheduled break.”

“An unscheduled break?” Titanius repeated back in the form of a rhetorical question, “While on my time?”

“To be fair, sir. I wasn’t on your time, I was loaned out to another minotaur today.” Gallus said, not trying to be cheeky, but looking for anything that might help his case, “But I guess that doesn’t really make a difference, does it?”

“It certainly doesn’t,” the bovine replied, “If you were working for one of my peers, then that means that you were contracted through me to perform the duties assigned to you today, and to do so while abiding by the same standards I would expect from you. When you do something like this, it not only looks poorly on you, but on me as well, and it’s possible that I might have to pay a fee for your insubordination, which would in turn come out of your payment.”

Gallus was partially relieved to hear the bull imply that the punishment he was intending was a cut in wages, but his gryphon greed didn’t like the thought of having his pay docked when he had completed the task he was assigned.

“Now wait a moment, sir.” the gryphon said, “I’ll admit that I shouldn’t have gone to hide away and slack off, but I did all my work today before doing it. Me and two others had to put together thirty large steel cages in an eight hour work day, with a single thirty minute lunch break, and we did it with twenty minutes to spare. I only flew away to relax a bit because I had nothing left to do until my shift was over.”

“Is that so?” Titanius said, “I suppose checking inventory tomorrow will confirm that, but you’re still not allowed to just fly off and hide away in the storage area. You should have informed Brutus you were done, and if he had no more jobs for you, then you should have clocked out for the day. It’s not like you’re working an hourly wage, where your timesheets matter.”

“Yeah, but…” Gallus was about to give the reason he didn’t want to do things that way since he was not guaranteed time to himself if he just finished his day. Everywhere he’d go, there would be other gryphons around, ready to give him crap because he was an easy target. He didn’t see how admitting to that could help though, so he detracted the complaint he was about to make by instead saying, “No, you’re right. I won’t do it again.”

“I have to say, I might not have cared so much if this was the first time I suspected you did this, you’ve been noticed going missing several times now.” Titanius explained, letting it be known that Gallus’ secret getaways were not as secret as he assumed, “Trust me, you’re not the only gryphon here who has made an unscheduled and extended break, but if I let you get away with this, then others would think it was fine for them to do the same. Or even worse, they might think I was playing favorites.”

Gallus mentally rolled his eyes, since the others already made assumptions that he was well liked among the minotaur. This belief didn’t just stop with those he worked with and thus had contact with, but implied that he was sleeping with Titanius as well, when this was the first time he had ever spoken to the bull face to face. Even when being selected to work under the slaver, Gallus only saw the minotaur point him out in a large crowd of other gryphons, before being ushered into a room to sign paperwork with one of Schorl’s trusted servants.

“You know, boy,” the minotaur proceeded to say, “I look at you, and while I see a gryphon and know how… unmotivated your kind can be, I don’t see someone who is bad at his job. I might not watch you like a hawk, but each time I see you on the floor, you are doing your work to the best of your abilities.”

“Could you not call me ‘boy’?” Gallus muttered under his breath, finding that title belittling, to a degree that the compliment given was completely ignored.

The gryphon had assumed that this would have either been ignored or gone unnoticed, but the minotaur spotted the movement of the avian’s beak, and how he looked away as if he did it.

“If you have something to say, then speak so it can be heard,” the minotaur said, having no issue doing this himself.

“I said…” Gallus wanted to speak his mind, about this in particular, but was a little hesitant. After all, this was his boss, and upsetting him could lead to all sorts of negative consequences. “Look, it doesn’t matter. Just give me whatever punishment you want to give me. I just want this day to be over.”

Titanius raised a brow, as it was usually much harder to get a gryphon to concede on something they had done wrong. Usually, they were far too arrogant and combative to accept their mistakes, and it was strange to see one submit themselves for any sort of corrective action. This was a unique interaction that peaked the bull’s curiosity.

“Boy, wait here. I’d like to discuss this further, but I need to grab something first.” Without another word, the minotaur got up from his seat and left the room.

As Gallus heard the door close, he realized that he was trapped there. Not in a literal sense, as he doubted the room had locked as the bull left, but because he’d surely be in even more trouble if he tried to leave. Knowing how things worked in the Society, he had to assume that his employer was going to get something related to his punishment, with his thoughts drifting to the idea that Titanius was going to get something to discipline him like a slave, since he had heard stories of minotaur who enjoyed dominating those that they saw as ‘lesser creatures’, and Titanius had already almost addressed him as that earlier.

While he had never heard of one of the workers being punished physically, the gryphon could see the bull coming back with a paddle, and offering to let him off the hook if he submitted to a series of solid swats on the ass. As he sat and waited, Gallus couldn’t help but think of what if that wasn’t the full extent of what Titanius would want to do. The minotaur could want to set an example and get him to agree to a harsher punishment like a whipping, or perhaps something more humiliating. Gallus’ mind wandered over all the things he had overheard other gryphons say they had seen minotaur do to slaves to get them to become obedient, picturing himself in their positions, as he envisioned Titanius doing painful, embarrassing, and even lewd things to him.

It was terrifying to think that things could be done to him over wanting to take a moment away from everyone, but he had no reason to think otherwise. He had already seen a gryphon be taken away for breaching their contract, and he wasn’t aware if what he had done counted towards something like that. If the minotaur came back in with a ballgag, a butt plug, and the girliest dress in Equestria, Gallus would put all three on in front of him if termination of his contract was even implied as an alternative. It would be shameful and emasculating, but he knew worse would happen if he ended up enslaved.

He had to sit alone with these thoughts for only ten minutes, but that was more than enough time for the gryphon to be shaking so hard his minotaur sized seat was jittering with him. When he heard the door open and close again, he had his mind set on this being the most horrible moment of his life, as the sound of massive hoof steps got closer, he found himself cycling through the best ways to plead for forgiveness.

Soon the minotaur was standing at his side, his large, muscular body towering over the avian, casting a shadow that covered Gallus’ body. The gryphon’s heart was beating fast, as he assumed the minotaur wouldn’t have gotten so close unless the bull needed to ‘make contact’ with him in some manner. Judging by his previous interactions with minotaur, he was expecting that he would have to re-enact what he had done during his drunken bet, only this time sober. With no other way out of this situation, Gallus considered it the best means to bring this to an end, if that was what Titanius wanted. Turning his head to face this male who possessed his work contract, and thus had absolute power over him, the gryphon expected to see something large and meaty being presented to him, and in a way, he was correct, just not as he presumed.

“Is that!?” Gallus said, his eyes wide with confusion, “A sandwich?” The minotaur was holding in his hand a partially wrapped piece of food, comprised of two pieces of wheat bread, a lettuce leaf accompanied by a slice of tomato, and a grilled chicken breast that was so freshly prepared that Gallus could see steam wafting off it. This sandwich came with a medium sized paper glass of soda, which the minotaur held in his other hand as he offered both items to the avian.

“I know you gryphons usually eat after work, so I got you something from the meal hall.” Titanius replied, placing the food on the table in front of Gallus.

The gryphon’s bewilderment over his boss going to get him food got him, while he was in the middle of being scolded for poor work behavior, got him to calm down a little as he grabbed what had been given to him. “Th-Thanks.” said Gallus, as Titanius made his way back to his seat, giving him enough time to slip a quick peek into the sandwich to make sure nothing had been slipped in that shouldn’t be there.

“I hope you don’t mind it without condiments,” Titanius said, his head still turned away from Gallus, “I didn’t want to ruin it since I didn’t know what you liked on your food.”

“No, this is fine.” Gallus replied, taking out the lettuce before biting into the sandwich, finding the cooked meat somehow better tasting than usual, if only because of his relief that he was not wrapping his beak around a minotaur’s dick at that moment instead.

“Good,” said Titanius, returning to his seat, “Then let’s continue.”

“Are you gonna punish me?” Gallus asked, in between another bite of his meal, “If so, this is a weird way to go about it.”

“No, I don’t think that disciplinary action is needed… this time. The fact that the others saw me pull you aside should be enough to dissuade them from doing what you did,” the bovine replied, emphasizing that he might not be so merciful if this behavior repeated, “But I don’t want you to leave just yet, as there are a few things I’d like to discuss with you first.”

“Like what?” Gallus asked, letting the bull be the one to direct the conversation.

“I’m just curious why a boy like yourself would get involved in something like this.” Titanius answered, “I know that your species have a habit of being greedy and disinterested in others, sometimes even other gryphons, which makes a high paying, if illegal, business like this perfect for them. However, you seem a bit different from the usual group of opportunistic vultures we get. I suppose I’m curious as to what goals you have working here.”

“Isn’t making money enough?” Gallus answered, but since the minotaur certainly wanted a better answer than that, he followed up by saying, “I suppose I would like to be able to move away from Griffonstone with what I make here.”

“Ah, yes.” Titanius replied with a nod, “I hear that is a common goal of you younger gryphons. I’ve never been there but I hear it’s-.”

“Awful?” Gallus said, cutting off the minotaur this time, “That it’s less a city or a kingdom, and more a pile of wood planks put together to pretend they’re houses?”

Gallus had no issue talking poorly about his hometown, since Griffonstone never did anything for him but caused him pain. Simply living in the gryphon’s ancestral home was a financial drain on those unfortunate enough to have no other option, as Griffonstone hardly produced anything of their own on the craggy mountain top they lived on, and thus what money they acquired was often spent in other nations, which required travel time, or to have them imported into the kingdom. That Equestria, the closest neighboring kingdom in which they got a majority of their needs, happily exploited this dependency on others was probably why no gryphon working for the Society had any issue exploiting the ponies back. Still, most gryphons did begrudgingly grasp that most of their plight was due to their own failure as an empire, brought about by the failings of some long dead king, and go as far as to readily describe it as the shithole it was.

“I suppose I can relate with not being happy with the circumstances life has thrown you into,” said Titanius, not objecting to Gallus’ claims since he had no first hand experience with the gryphons’ lands. He did, however, know of hardships that came from being born into a poor situation, “There was a time when the men of my tribe were nomadic. We didn’t have lands to call our own, and thus we traveled across Equestria and its surrounding lands as traveling merchants.”

“You’re not gonna give me a history lesson, are you?” Gallus asked, taking a sip of his soda.

“I suppose not,” Titanius replied, “I’m just trying to say that while you might feel like your home doesn’t feel like a home, there was a time when my kind felt that no place was our home, and so I get a need to find some place you belong.”

“Where I belong is in a mansion, with a pile of gold coins, and some girls around to treat me like a king.” Gallus said, lightening up a little with his employer, “But I suppose you understand that too. Being a slave master, I bet you have lots of women who heed your every word.”

“Not quite,” Titanius said, “I’m more into males than females, but I do keep one around in order to… Well, perhaps that’s not important. Though I’ll say, I didn’t think you were the type to be so ambitious as to want to be a slave owner yourself.”

“Do you need to be in order to own someone?” Gallus asked, not understanding why that trait was important.

“Well of course you do,” Titanius said in declaration, “Taking care of another creature, even one bound to you by chain or contract, requires lots of resources. With each addition to your household, you’ll require more resources to maintain them. Food, water, clothing… if you intend to dress them that is. Sleeping arrangements. Even if you want to share your bed with them, you’ll need to get one big enough for all of you, or at least a room big enough to accommodate several pet beds. All these things cost money, and to acquire more money one must be determined to do what they need to in order to keep what is theirs.”

Gallus gave a small, nervous chuckle in reply, “Now that you put it that way, it makes a lot of sense. For some reason in my head, it always felt like they’d take care of themselves, or the cost would be something I could brush off. So I guess I shouldn’t be worrying about getting slaves till I’m really rich.”

“Being rich isn’t the point,” Titanius said, “Among my tribe, those who are not as well off as others can still have a servant or two at their disposal. The point is that you need to determine how you’re going to achieve your goals, and if it’s actually what you want.”

“Trust me, every gryphon in Griffonstone wants to be rich.” Gallus replied, but there was a slight sound of annoyance in the statement. A notion of ire in this well known truth about gryphons that Gallus couldn’t pinpoint the origin of.

“Well they certainly crave money, but money is often the symptom of a greater desire.” Titanius said, as if explaining the drive of gryphons in a philosophical sense, or the closest thing a minotaur could come to discussing things in such a manner, “For instance, most may want it because they see having it as their only way out of the poor circumstances of their lives in Griffonstone, but maybe a few see the possession of countless coins as a symbol of status or power. Money is hardly ever the end goal, and what most creatures fail to grasp is that money is often not required to get what they truly want.”

“And what do they really want?” Gallus asked, his interest peaking as the minotaur spoke of the reasons one might want money aside from mere survival.

“Security, freedom, comfort. To have something to show for the effort one puts into living, and be able to get something out of it. Have you ever felt the heft of a well filled coin purse, and simply felt good about the fact that no matter what came your way, you’d be able to handle it, if only for that day?”

It was hard for Gallus to say he had that exact experience since this was pretty much his first job outside of doing random errands for Grandpa Gruff, which only got him a few coins to blow on whatever trivial thing his younger self would want at the time. Though the amount of coins he got this way was never very large, he could relate to some of the feelings the minotaur was describing, as many felt when earning their first bit or had saved up more money than they felt they deserved.

“And while money is something that can aid in all of these things,” Titanius went on to say, “It can also complicate things at the same time. Some creatures are just not cut out to manage their own business, or be the head of a large household, which managing a bunch of enslaved creatures can seem like at times.”

“Ok, but what if I think I can be,” Gallus replied, believing that his future happiness lay within being rich, “How do I get to that point when all I do is grunt work?”

“Well, first thing you have to do is prove that you’re capable enough to be trusted with the tasks that would give you higher pay.” Titanius answered, “I never see you at the training grounds after work, so I assumed you were disinterested in becoming a hunter.”

“You… you scout out talent by watching them in the training grounds?” Gallus didn’t know what else to say when told this, as he wasn’t aware that this was how they vetted who was hunter material. Training was usually voluntary, save for a bi-weekly one just to make sure each gryphon met physical requirements to perform their jobs properly, so Gallus avoided it just to stay away from the other gryphons. Had he known, he would have been running the courses every day.

“There’s hardly any other way to determine who would make the cut,” Titanius reiterated, “And believe me, you're not the only gyphon who doesn’t do daily practice. This is why I said you didn’t seem the ambitious type before.”

Gallus couldn’t believe that all this time he’d been sabotaging himself. He had worked so hard in the warehouse, assuming that was how other gryphons like Gilda got selected, but he had missed out on this detail.

“I can see you’re not pleased with this news,” said the minotaur, reading his expressions, “But there is nothing saying you can’t make up for lost time. Why, a boy your age has plenty of time to carve his fate and make his fortune.”

The minotaur was right, and all Gallus needed to do was change his course to improve his role in the organization, but the avian was too frustrated at himself and the circumstances skewed his decisions towards choices that made him miss out on the opportunities he could have had. While he was far from the breaking point, his gryphon nature told him that the appropriate action now was to lash out at others for his own mistakes.

“Could you stop calling me a boy?!” Gallus blurted out in a fit of anger, only to instantly become aware of how yelling at your boss was typically not a way to impress or gain favor from them. His rage left as quickly as it came, and Gallus sank in his seat, feeling very sheepish while enduring the piercing stare of the bovine male.

“Ah,” Titanius said, as if he had just made an important discovery, not phased by the outburst itself, “So that’s your goal. It’s not for wealth, or power, or anything as frivolous and fleeing as those. You want the one thing that truly matters in this world, to be respected and seen as a man.”

“I… uh… I just don’t like it when others look down on me.” Gallus replied, hoping to restore the neutral atmosphere he had broken, “And that’s something that’s been happening since I started working here.”

“Hmmm… And who’s been looking down on you?” Titanius inquired, “None of my boys, I hope.”

“Your… boys?” Gallus asked back, “Are some of the minotaur here your sons?”

For the first time during this conversation, Titanius’ eyes went wide, as it dawned on him how his words came out to the gryphon. “Oh, no. At least I don’t believe so. Minotaur culture doesn’t keep much stock in paternity. I just use the word ‘boy’ to refer to any male I hold responsibility over. That’s all I meant when I called you that as well, not as something to belittle or insult you.”

“Oh,” Gallus replied, now getting that it was just a term of endearment, or something similar, “Well it’s not a minotaur that disrespects me. Its…” A part of Gallus wanted to hold back, seeing this as proving those that mocked him right, but having let this much slip, it would only be a matter of time before Titanius looked in on it himself, “The other gryphons.”

“All of them?” Titanius asked.

“A lot of them,” Gallus said, “And before you ask, I won’t name names.”

“Commendable,” the bull replied, respecting Gallus’ wishes to want to handle this problem himself, “But if you won’t tell me ‘who’, then tell me ‘why’?”

It shamed Gallus to tell the minotaur the reason, but it was another thing that could be easily found out if Titanius decided to do some digging, “I made a stupid bet shortly after I started working here. Some minotaur learned that I turned old enough to drink, took me to the employee bar, and got me drunk enough that I’d agree to anything. I pretty much sold my first experience with sex for fifty bits.”

“I see,” Titanius said, “That would be an embarrassing thing for others to bring up. Drinking to the point that you lose control never feels good.”

“Pretty sure the sex thing is the more embarrassing part,” Gallus said, pointing out what he saw as the problem, since it felt like the minotaur was tiptoeing around it, “I don’t know why I did it. I’m not even gay.”

“And if you were, would it make a difference?” Titanius asked, “I like males, and I still think that getting so sloppy that I’d put out to anyone would still be humiliating. It’s not the sex that’s the problem here. It’s that you, in your youthful naivety, got put into a position where others could control you. You feel tricked and used, and that by having been tricked it diminishes your masculinity.”

“Maybe you’re right about that,” Gallus said, finding nothing incorrect about what the bull was saying, “But when I’m teased, me doing… what I did is always the thing people focus on. They even have a name for it.”

“You mean ‘Swallow’,” Titanius said, “I’ve heard the term tossed around, as the minotaur working under the slave masters had picked it up after hearing your kind say it. If it makes it any easier, I assure you that you’re far from the only one who is called this.”

“Yeah, but I’m the only one who gets picked on daily over it.” Gallus replied.

“That’s because they see how it gets to you.” Titanius said back, “But an attack on your masculinity is only effective if you allow it to be.”

“No offense, sir, but I’m not in the same position as you.” Gallus said, “You’re one of the ones in charge here. You have money and power, and others have to respect you if they want to get even a bit of that from you. Even with the sex stuff, you say being gay doesn’t matter, but that’s because you’re probably the one doing the fucking, and not the one getting fucked. For me though, I’m the one who always gets fucked. Not just with sex, but in every part of my life.”

“Judging by your background as a gryphon, I can see how you could think this.” said the minotaur, “Born into a ruined kingdom that offers you nothing, surrounded by those who harbor that loss after centuries, spreading their bitterness with anyone they can find. If you’re trying to prove yourself as a man though, you can’t let yourself be held down by these things. A man is not measured by what he has, but by how he acts in the face of adversary. Take those stags we have in our service, for example.”

“You mean the enslaved ones that work around the facility?” Gallus asked.

“Yes, them.” Titanius confirmed, “I think we can agree that being someone else’s slave is a far worse life than what you have right now, and like you, some of them were born into their poor situation. Yet, despite being enslaved, despite having their nation taken over by my brethren, their women used as breeders, and some of them being used as sex slaves regardless of their own sexual preference, the lot of them take it in stride, and go about their daily duties with a smile on their faces.”

“That just sounds like they're brainwashed,” Gallus stated.

“Far from it,” Titanius said, “As when given the ability to be autonomous, they often figure out their own ways to complete whatever tasks are given to them. I’ve even had a few come to me with desires to renegotiate the terms of their enslavement, once they believe they have proven themselves as invaluable assets to my house.”

“A slave can do that?” Gallus questioned, finding that a bit absurd when it came to what a slave was supposed to be.

“Well, they can at least make the attempt.” Titanius said, chuckling a bit as he acknowledged how silly it sounded, “And I’m certain not every master would humor the notion, but in the minotaur lands it's not uncommon to hear of a slave trying to adjust their contracts.”

“Their… contracts?” Gallus asked again, “Why do they have contracts?”

“It's a continued practice of a bygone era.” Titanius explained, “We minotaur used to use contracts to finalize a lot of agreements between our kind and others, this ranged from trade agreements, breeding contracts, and other such deals. It would probably be better to call it a ‘deed’ nowadays, but ‘slave contract’ just sounds better to us. Besides, the practice hasn’t fallen completely out of fashion, and when we discover someone willing to do so, we still utilize these kinds of contracts to ensure fair treatment of both parties.”

“Okay, but why would you let those you already own do this?” Gallus asked, confused about the reasoning behind that. It sounded dumb, maybe even made up in order for the minotaur to prove some kind of point.

“Because it can be beneficial to forge a mutual understanding between those who serve you, to grant them some level of respect, however small that might be, if it leads to them being happier and being motivated to work harder for your sake. Now these contracts do come with their own clauses, terms, and conditions that must be met, and an enslaved creature doesn’t hold that much negotiation power to get everything they might want, but I find it a simple concession to ease their burdens or appeal to their desires, if the end result leads to a better understanding between us.”

The bovine’s eyes drifted to the upper left corner of their sockets, it dawning upon him that he had derailed from the point he was trying to make with this crash course on minotaur ownership rights and slave/master relations.

“Ahem, what I’m getting at is that it's up to the individual to improve their way of life, even in the slightest ways, and doing that is how males prove they are men. There is nothing stopping you from changing how you live, except your own self doubt.”

“Okay,” Gallus said, having received the message, “Then I’ll try harder to improve on things.”

“That’s a good b-,” Titanius had to stop himself, and then corrected with, “Man. Now you might have heard, but in case you haven’t, allow me to give you some advice. Not long from now we’ll be scouting through every able bodied creature at our disposal for those with the ability to be slave hunters. What we need them for is still months off, but we’ll be seeing who qualifies in just a few weeks. This will be a golden opportunity for a gryphon wanting to prove themselves and change their life, as our targets have high prices on their heads, and there are a lot of them. So long as you can show us you have what it takes, I’ll gladly recommend to the one in charge that you be part of this.”

Of everything said during this conversation, that was one of the few things the gryphon could get behind completely. Not only could he boost himself to the top of the Society’s hierarchy quickly this way, but it sounded like this was the way he could get a large amount of money from a single job. Even though he didn’t know what it entailed, this was exactly the kind of break Gallus was looking for.

“So all I need to do is go practice, show I’m capable, and I’ll be able to get what I wanted from the start?” Gallus said, ecstatic at what the minotaur was offering.

“There is more to it than that,” Titanius said, “But that would be a step in the right direction. For now though, why don’t you go to your quarters and rest for the evening? I’ll expect to see you after work in the training area though, that is if you were serious about not wanting to be a stock boy from now on.”

“Yes sir,” Gallus said, taking the final bite of his sandwich, before making his way to the door, determined to be a part of whatever this upcoming capture mission was.

“And Gallus,” Titanius said, making the gryphon pause as his talon touched the doorknob, “This was a constructive conversation. I think that it has allowed us both to see a little more eye to eye.”

The meaning of that statement was not lost on Gallus, and he gave a silent nod as he accepted the minotaur’s small concession to his needs, when the bull could have foregone them and made his life worse had he wanted. With nothing more to say, the avian left the room and prepared for the day to come.

The next day Gallus made his way to the practice grounds right after his post work meal. He had been looking forward to this all day, his anticipation and elevated outlook on his situation allowing it to fly by as he completed the tasks he was assigned to. He entered the room with his determination showing in his facial expressions, ready to display that he could be just as good a hunter as any other gryphon, if not better.

“Well, well,” said one of the gryphons waiting with several others for their turn to run an aerial obstacle course made of suspended hoops, “If it isn’t the swallow. You here looking for some minotaur dick?”

“Yeah, tell us again how many licks does it take to reach their center?” asked an owlish looking male a few spaces ahead, as the group turned to face the bright blue feline bird standing at the back of the line.

The lot of them laughed, expecting these words to get to Gallus as they always did, but instead of being put off and disheartened, he found himself smirking at their feeble attempts to demoralize him.

“Sorry, guys,” he said, spreading his wings, “I’m not gonna make myself choke because of a bunch of giant cocks today. Though, it’s a good thing a lot of you skipped lunch to get here early, cause you’re about to eat crow.”

Just as the gryphon currently using the course finished, Gallus took off into the air, zipping right past the one who was supposed to be next. If his cutting pissed off those who had been waiting, they could take their objections and sit on them like an egg, after all the crap they put him through until now.

The blue gryphon flew right through the hoop that acted as the starting point, which initiated a timer at the end of the course, and then made a big flap of his wings to reach the next one above him, before diving down to the one after that. The course continued on like this, testing his ability to control his course in flight by making him go in all directions, while keeping a forward momentum. He was far from flawless in this, as his speed was just slightly above average, and his maneuvering led him to graze a few of the hoops, but his brazen display of confidence while performing at acceptable levels managed to impress a particular onlooker.

As Gallus reached the end, a timer stopped and displayed a mediocre time. The blue gryphon wasn’t trying to break records though, just the barriers that had been limiting him for so long. Touching down to the ground, Gallus spotted that he was being approached, by the very minotaur who had inspired him to work towards his goals.

“That wasn’t too bad for a first try,” Titanius said, “But you shouldn’t disrespect your fellow gryphons by cutting in line like that.” The bull then turned his head slightly, seeing many of the gryphons that Gallus had cut in front of stewing in their anger. “Even if it is warranted.”

“Just wanted to show them that I wasn’t gonna let their words get to me, sir.” Gallus replied.

“Well good. Now why don’t you go and work with some wing weights? No one is using them at the moment, and you’ll need to get your strength up if you want to fly at the pace we’re looking for.”

“Yes, sir.” Gallus said, taking to the air to go to where the weight training equipment was stationed.

“That’s a good boy,” Titanius whispered, waiting for the young gryphon to get far out of ear shot to show his endearment towards him. Once that was done though, he turned to those still angrily glaring at Gallus. “What are you all standing around for? If you gaggle of grunts are gonna gawk, get out of the line and let someone who actually wants to improve take their turn.”

While most of the gryphons didn’t work for Titanius personally, his loud words were drawing the attention of the other minotaur there to monitor their physical abilities, and those who trained often knew that the minotaur took notes that would reach those they were contracted under. So while they were steamed that they had been shown up by Gallus, even if he had actually done nothing special, each relented and went back to the reason they were here.

“Heh, and maybe that will teach you all not to target the weakest member of your group,” Titanius whispered to himself, assuming that was the real reason these gryphons had been teasing the blue bird boy, as he knew from a rumor that many of them were swallows themselves, and had done far more degrading and demeaning things for a small amount of coins than run their tongue across a minotaur’s girth.

Furthermore, they did it far more frequently as well, so the only explanation for persecuting Gallus was to divert attention to their own shameful acts. If only Gallus knew, he might have been able to laugh this off sooner, but they were far better at keeping their disgraceful dealings out of public knowledge, and it was probably better for Gallus to be able to dismiss their words without being able to throw them back. If he was aware of the hypocrisy of his peers, he would have gotten over his issues for a day, but assuming that the taunting of these gryphons held no weight to them altogether had solved his problems for a lifetime.