Chapter Five: Gryphon One-Oh-One - Part One

Thomas emerged from the kitchen, only glancing over to Gareth and Beke, giving them a respectful nod. “Class time, or so I’ve been informed. If you’ll excuse me,” he said tersely, and continued on his way out of the cafeteria, visibly trying to compose himself into a poker face. The pair watched him go, and then looked over as Tiyo settled next to Beke with a sigh.

“What’s the damage, brother?” Gareth inquired. Tiyo rubbed his eyes with a claw worriedly.

“Extensive. ‘I can’t afford to trust anyone because they’ll be used against me’ kind of extensive. This will take work. Jenna and Jason are less issue. Jenna’s nervous, but put a bow in her hands and she shows remarkable aim for a human. Jason seems rather suited to my spear-fighting. What of Thomas?” he reported.

“Definitely meant for the sword, according to Tesseth. I’m curious how he handles a bow or arbalest though,” Beke answered with a nod, then tilted his head, “don’t know about the new guy, though.”

Tiyo turned to look at his younger brother. “New guy?”

“Kevin Porter. Came in while Tess was making Thomas regret wanting to fly with us. Very solid guy. Derani’s personal project, so he’s another new addition for now. I like the feeling I get from him though,” Beke explained, splaying a claw in confidence.

“Hm. Should be interesting...” Gareth murmured into his water contemplatively.

Thomas found the appropriated ‘classroom’ on the second floor, opening the door and slipping inside without a word, but still nodding to Derani. She watched him carefully, and then leaned against the heavy Equestrian oak desk, folding her forelegs across her chest. Thomas sat in a desk, then all but squeaked in fear when he happened to look up to see her gaze boring into him. She glanced at the clock, and there was an almost imperceptible nod to herself. Twenty minutes to ten a.m. Time enough to say what she needed to, for now.

“Thomas. I’ve been told that you’re feeling guilty, that you feel like you can’t get close to anyone for fear of reprisal from your... former allies. We’ll be getting into this with the first day’s lessons, but I want to make this clear to you personally. Do not feel sorry for yourself. Do not feel guilty for the path you have traveled on up until now. The fact you are here is proof that you want to change, that you want to find strength in a new way. Strength isn’t always physical, either. It’s emotional, and psychological. You can’t do this alone. Our clan is proof of this. I’m here, and so is everybody else. You want to fly with us, you need to understand that you don’t go it alone. You don’t need to. As a Gryphon, you’ll always have family and friends at your side,” she said firmly, gold eyes piercing into his blue-gray.

“Tiyo... said something similar a little bit ago,” Thomas mumbled, dropping his gaze. Derani stopped leaning and moved over to his desk, putting a claw gently under his chin to make him look at her... and the fact she was smiling at him.

“Family takes care of family. You have to let go of the past. Learn from your mistakes, but don’t ever think that who you were defines who you are, either. That was then, this is now. All right?” she said encouragingly. He just nodded, swallowing nervously, and offered a shaky smile. She clacked her beak in approval, and the stern look faded to be replaced with warmth.

“I just... this is all so new. I’m scared I’ll do something wrong. The HLF is already gunning for me, and they’re using Barry as a living bargaining chip. I’m worried for him. He’s my best friend,” Thomas said, a concerned tone entering his voice.

“Use that fear, Thomas, to be better. Stronger, faster, more skilled. We’re not just teaching you combat because it’s a workout. You control your emotions as a Gryphon, or they will overwhelm you. You need to master it, or it will master you. And that is unacceptable. I’m not saying to be soulless and emotionally closed off, just to be wise. Everything with us is amplified. Remember that!” Derani said firmly, poking him in the chest gently.

“Yes ma’am,” Thomas almost whispered.

“Hey, Thomas?” Derani asked quietly. He looked into her eyes. The golden gaze held him, and it was almost as if he could see his hidden secrets displayed for her to examine as she pleased. The look softened, and she bent down to embrace him, hugging him comfortingly, wrapping her wings for good measure, as if to shield him from the world and all its ills. Perhaps she was. “It will be all right. I promise you. Fly straight and true. We’ll be here to guide you every step of the way.”

Thomas was at a loss for words, so he simply nodded against the warm blue and green feathers filling his vision and inhaled the scent of hot winds and teasing salt air. She gave him a squeeze, and released him as the door opened to admit the others in the program, Jason and Jenna, followed by a well-built, stout man in jeans and a plain gray t-shirt that Thomas didn’t recognize.

“Ah, good, you’re all here. Since Thomas has been busy dealing with some personal business,” Derani said, gesturing to him with a claw, “I suppose formal introductions are in order. Thomas Lawrence, Jason Andrews, Jenna Ronson, this is Kevin Porter, our newest applicant to the program. Play nice, and Tesseth and I won’t have to use any of you as moving targets... yet.”

Thomas waved to the new guy in greeting from his desk as Kevin took a seat and nodded back at him. A small notebook thumped down onto the desk, drawing attention back to Derani. It was quickly followed by three more, and a series of old wooden pencils, complete with classic sharpened lead points. Each of them picked one up. Thomas stared at his, then smiled a bit. This was... nice. A strange feeling, but that was the best way to describe it.

“Yes, those are real wood. Since pencil sharpeners haven’t really been a thing over here for some time, and Ponies are more inclined to quills, never mind us and using our own molted feathers, this is a new experience for most of us. There’s a pencil sharpener here if you need it. Let’s begin, shall we, newfledges?” Derani asked in a rather motherly tone. Pencils raised over notebooks attentively and she smiled, clapping her claws together. “Then welcome to Gryphon One-Oh-One. We’ll begin with one of the more important aspects of Gryphon culture today, and that’s forgiveness. Forgiveness of self, forgiveness of others. Forgiving ills done to you, even by friends and family. There are unforgivable things of course. Lying. Cheating. Dishonor... there aren’t any known rogue Gryphons in our species history, but needless to say, it’s never happened, and likely never would. It is one of those, how would you say, an ultimate sin.”

Jenna raised her hand, and Derani quirked an eyebrow, before nodding at her. “Question?”

She dropped her hand, looking curious. “I’ve heard that Gryphons are rather... religious. Is that true?”

Derani let out a slow breath through her nares, and gave something of a sad smile. “Do you want the comforting answer, or the truth?” the aquatic-colored Gryphoness asked into the silence.

“The truth!” Thomas snapped out before he could stop himself. The others stared at him. Even he seemed surprised by his outburst. Derani stared at him, and he looked back. She nodded to herself.

“The truth, then. We dislike the term 'religious.' We don't believe good works can earn enlightenment. Faith is a better word for it; in our view, the enlightenment creates good works, instead of, as humans say, putting the cart before the horse. The ponies, at least from what I’ve seen, many of them - if not all - worship Celestia and Luna as Goddesses. I believe they’ve said themselves not to do so, but even if they don’t do it intentionally, it’s how many of them unconsciously behave...” she trailed off, shrugging. Thomas and Kevin swallowed in unison. Jason looked positively disturbed. Jenna was pensive. Derani shook her head a bit. “Enough heavy discussion for today, I think. Back to lighter things. Forgiveness is a key component for Gryphons. One of our primary tenents of life, to be perfectly blunt, even if it’s admittedly very, very hard to forgive anyone that’s done you and yours harm. The Gryphon tolerance level for ills done to us and ours is miniscule. You’re all here because you want to put your old lives behind you, in one sense or another. You want to look to a new future, not be constrained by your past. An admirable thing. However, we can learn from it, too. You humans probably have a saying along the lines of ‘those who do not remember the past are doomed to repeat it’, right? same goes for Gryphons.”

The lesson continued, and all four found themselves taking copious notes. Some of them, like Thomas, more than others. Thomas himself seemed determined to write down every single thing that came from Derani’s beak to try to commit it to memory. The clock chimed eleven, and Thomas snapped out of his reverie of work and listening, flexing a greatly sore hand and flinching at the tingling and cramping he was experiencing.

“We’ll have a short break here. Get up, walk around, stretch, get a drink from the cafeteria, use the facilities and all that. Be back in ten minutes, please. We’ll be concluding today’s lesson at noon. You have things to attend to today, except for you, Kevin. We still need to give you a proper orientation afterwards,” Derani called out. Thomas rose, stretched a bit, and then headed out to do a lap around the second floor to get a little exercise in his legs. He wasn’t sure if he was looking forward to or dreading the lesson with Gareth. After his experience with Tesseth, he was nervous, that was for darn sure. On his second lap, he ducked into the facilities and took care of business, washed, and then continued. As he neared the door for the classroom again, he had to stop. His stomach was twisting in knots, and he was twitching. Something was wrong, and he didn’t know what.

He leaned against the wall, then put his back to it, sliding down to the warm, thick carpet and staring through the clear glass of the railing for the section he was walking through. He couldn’t breathe, couldn’t concentrate. Things felt fuzzy. He started as someone else knelt next to him.

“Thomas? Are you all right?” said a quiet voice. He looked over dazedly to see Suture watching him, and she blinked. “Celestia’s mane, you don’t look so hot. Follow my hoof with your eyes, please” she said, raising it as he would his hand, and moving it first left, then right, then back to center, before feeling his forehead and chest. “Pupils are dialated, eyes aren’t quite tracking, you have a slight fever, and your heartbeat is erratic. Come on, let’s get you some fresh air. On your feet. Lean on me,” she said, her horn glowing and helping him up. She led him to the elevator bank, just a bit back the way he came, and he shakily pressed the button, while she tapped a small microphone headset tucked into an ear, then the button for the fifth floor when the two of them were in the car.

“Suture to Derani,” she called out. The earpiece chirped a tone.

“Derani here, Suture. What is it?” came the audible question.

“I found Thomas not feeling so well just a bit outside the classroom. Taking him up to the fifth floor for some fresh air. Apologies for the delay,” she explained.

“Noted. I’ll inform Tess. We can wait a little longer. Thomas, can you hear me?” Derani asked.

“Here, Derani,” he said, unable to keep a quaver out of his voice.

“Take your time. This is a lot to take in. Deep breaths,” the Gryphoness instructed.

“Yes, Derani,” he answered.

“Good boy. Derani out,” she replied, and the earpiece chirped again. The car dinged, and the doors opened onto the fifth floor.

The floor, such as it was, was mostly unfinished, save for several standard reinforced framing walls and the elevator shaft. Suture carefully guided Thomas through the beams and worked stone, to an opening in the wall that was exposed to the outside air, and helped him to sit down on the unfinished duracrete, hanging onto a wall partiton.

“Close your eyes. Breathe slow and deep,” Suture said calmly, a hoof on his back. Thomas still shook as he tried to breathe. He felt raw. Quiet paw-steps reached his ears, and he sat up a little, only to have a warm, ice-blue claw on his shoulder.

“Hey... do what she says. Take it easy, Thomas,” Tess said, looking at him gently. He nodded, and closed his eyes. Breathe in. Hold. One, two, three. Breathe out. Repeat. After several rounds of this, his jangling nerves calmed, and he opened his eyes again. Suture’s horn lit, and he could feel the tingle of her magic rippling through him.

“Better. In my professional medical opinion, it was an anxiety attack. Probably a little too much, too fast. Right?” she asked. Thomas rubbed his eyes.

“It didn’t feel... real. Not until I was in that classroom and taking notes. I... I want this so badly... but some part of me is screaming that it’s not right. I don’t know if it’s my upbringing, or what...” he said quietly, trailing off.

“I’d bet money on it. Credits, bits or octals. What you were raised to believe versus what your heart aches for. Mind and soul at war,” Tess said calmly. Thomas looked at her in surprise and she smiled. “What? It’s not unique to one species. We all have regrets and things we wish we’d done differently. The thermal never flown, and all that.”

Suture checked a small watch wrapped around her left hoof, before blowing her mane out of her eyes. “I have things to attend to. We’re getting more beds and equipment in for the incoming personell after Hearth’s Warming and I have to help Poultice move things around. Are you okay to get about on your own, Thomas?” she asked. Thomas looked at Tesseth, who gave him a critical look-over, before she nodded.

Thomas turned back to Suture and smiled. “Yeah. I think I’m okay now. Thank you, Suture. I really appreciate it.”

The medical pony patted him lightly, and trotted off. As soon as Tess’s ears stopped twitching, she squeezed Thomas’s shoulder lightly.

“That’s not all of it, is it?” she asked. Thomas hung his head with a sigh.

“I just don’t know how to really put it into words. I’m sorry for being such trouble,” he said.

“Nothing to apologize for. Everyone has times they’re unsure in life. For what it’s worth... I’m not sure how much to really tell you, but so far, for all you’re being ‘emotional’ and however that may be seen as a weakness by much of humanity or some of the Pony nobility in Canterlot, you really just need stability in life. Something you haven’t had very much of, from what you’ve told us so far. Stick with us, and we’ll get you nice and settled, though. By the time the end of the second week of this rolls around, you will be as close to a Gryphon as can be possible without having been hatched. And we’ll be fixing that, in a sense, by you getting offered a dose of potion. Assuming you don’t screw up, of course. Come on, on your feet, newfledge. You still have to finish class. Do you want me to stay, or are you all right?” she asked, helping Thomas up. He brushed himself off, and took a deep breath.

“I’m good, now. Like I told Suture, I really appreciate it. Thanks, Tess.”

“Hey, anything for a friend,” she answered with a smile, and mussed his hair.

Thomas snorted, and smoothed it out, and the pair went back to the elevator shaft, returning to the second floor. At the door to the classroom, Tess stopped him. When he turned to look at her, she wrapped a wing around him tight. “You have a good soul, Thomas. Don’t forget that.”

With that, Tess reached back with her beak, and plucked a molting feather free from her right wing, twirled it in her talons for a moment, and offered it to him quietly, calamus-first, as one would offer a sword. He took it reverently, looking at the feather, then up at her.

“Tesseth... what...?” Thomas started, looking confused.

“A sign of trust among our clan, Thomas. A feather from each of us means we trust you. A measure of faith in you, but moreso on behalf of you. That we’re certain of our decision to take you under our clan’s protective wing, even if you seek your own path after Conversion. Consider this my vote on your behalf, moreso because you are my ward during this time. See you tonight, hmm? Tiyo tells me you have something planned for dinner... I look forward to trying some real human cooking for a change,” she said, and headed off down the hallway, humming to herself.

Thomas opened the door, and smiled sheepishly at Derani, ignoring the pissed off look from Jason. “Sorry about that. Had to sort myself out. Didn’t mean to keep everyone waiting,” he explained meekly.

“Take your seat, Thomas. We only lost a couple minutes anyway. Nothing dire. Shall we continue?” Derani asked as Thomas resettled himself with a deep breath.

The clock chimed noon quickly, and Derani smiled. “A good first day, everyone. Classes are every morning at ten AM. Please be punctual. Dismissed!” she called out. The quartet collected their notebooks, slotting their pencils into a small divot in the desk for just such a purpose. Thomas inhaled deeply as he stood. Now came the point where he was worried even more than combat with Gareth. Talking to Merkus. He’d made a promise, and he intended to keep it, even if he wasn’t sure what to say. He left the classroom and headed down the hallway, stopping in front of Merkus’ temporary office. He steeled himself, then knocked twice politely.

“Enter, Thomas! The door’s unlocked!” Merkus called out from inside. Thomas blinked, and opened the door, stepping inside.

Merkus’s office was tastefully furnished, even by human standards. Two Gryphon-style stool chairs in front of what had to be the Equestrian equivalent of a purple heart wooden desk. It looked heavy enough to crush a small car, even resting on the chocolate-brown plush carpet that complimented Merkus’s own wheat and leather coloration. A decently-sized sofa, also another Equestrian import, was against one wall. Behind Merkus was a kite shield with a symbol upon it that could only be the clan crest, made of some thick, dark metal. Gryphic alloy, Thomas assumed. The sword that Thomas saw Merkus taking care of hung from the wall elegantly, and a longer blade on top of it that looked like the Gryphon equivalent of a great sword. That had to be Merkus’ personal blade.

“Sit. Please. We have things to discuss,” Merkus said, gesturing to a seat. His tone brooked no disagreement. Thomas sat nervously. Merkus clasped his claws, watching him. Thomas swallowed, attempting to look anywhere but at him. Finally, he gave up, and looked at the Gryphon meekly. “You’re scared of us,” Merkus murmured. A statement, not a question.

“Terrified, sir,” Thomas squeaked.

“Why?”

Thomas blinked, then stared. “Why?!” he replied with a strangled voice. “Why?! Look at you guys! You can fly rings around most fighter planes, the talons, never mind the bow and sword proficieny, and I’ll count Tiyo’s spear expertise in there for good measure, you’re HUGE and could crush any of us humans with I’d bet not even a quarter of your natural strength and you’re wondering why I’m terrified?! You scare me to pieces! I can understand why my dad fears you guys even more than the ponies!”

“And yet, you’re still here. You could have walked out at any time. We would have been disappointed, of course, but not everyone is cut out for this. It takes a certain mindset, and not necessarily a military one. An adaptable one. And you’re sitting right here, in front of me, and being perfectly honest. We do scare you... and there’s something deep inside you that wants what we offer even more to pass that fear by and want to fly with us on wings of your own. We respect that. We admire that greatly. I see in you the fire and will to be a magnificent Gryphon, wings spread wide and ready to take on all comers against those that would threaten all that you hold dear. You want family you can lean on, people like your friend Barry to be a part of it, and freedom. And, if you would desire that so badly to work past the fear of your father, and the fear of us and what we are capable of to be standing in front of that which scares you even more... then you have no fear truly left in you. You face your fear head on and sword ready to cleave the darkness and evil from whatever realm it crawls from. To decimate it utterly, so it may never rise to present a challenge to your way of life ever again. That is pride in home and family that a Gryphon can appreciate. You are a strong, brilliant person, Thomas. You will be an amazing Gryphon. I see that you have what it takes. The potion will accept you, without a doubt. I will be perfectly honest with you, in the few days we have known you, you have displayed that which we prize. The eagerness and strength of will that shows you know how to land on your paws and claws and then take flight. The classes are, as such, rather just a formality in your case, but the knowledge is important too. Trust in us, Thomas, as we trust in you, and you will never fear falling again. We’ll catch you.”

Merkus sat back, watching Thomas, who swallowed and worked his jaw wordlessly, visibly trying to come up with something to say. Finally, his eyes met Merkus’. “Thank you,” was all he said. Merkus smiled.

“Go on, Thomas. That’s all for now. Go enjoy your time with Gareth. You’ll learn a lot from him. He was one of my best students,” the Gryphon said.

“You trained him?” Thomas asked, tilting his head as he got up from his chair.

“Tesseth, too. They both served under me in a few campaigns and distinguished themselves in those conflicts. Gar will take it easier on you. Not by much, but he will. Tess believes in ‘learning through pain’, while Gar will just swat you with the flat of his blade when you screw up. Go on, now. Don’t want to keep him waiting!”

Thomas nodded respectfully, and turned to leave. He almost made it to the door.

“Thomas?” Merkus called out.

“Yeah?” he asked, turning his head.

“I’m glad you’re here,” the soldier said.

Thomas couldn’t hide the smile. “Me too, Merkus.”

The door closed behind him, and Merkus smiled in the quiet of his office, alone again.

“You would be so proud to call him brother, Harkom...”

Author's Note

Chapter five, here at long last! Six will be getting worked on in the morning if it kills me. No more waits like this if I can help it!

... by the way, guys? Attend Everfree Northwest or Bronycon next year if you can help it. You won't regret it.

OST for this chapter is as follows:

Derani’s theme - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_r2jqib5EXU

Tiyo’s theme - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3OM1AvMuUy4

Thomas’s nightmare alternate - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDtuUgigtQE