*sneaks in* I maaaay have overdone it on my form for Azizi
Pet's ID Tag: 58
Name You'd Choose for It: Azizi
Gender: Male
Reason You Want It: The design is so unique, I'd feel special just owning it. I'd use him for RPG's, but mostly in writing stories. When I was writing his backstory I didn't want to stop! If I get him I'll definately continue with it and see where it goes from there. If you like, I can keep you updated on his story by PM (If I get him)
History/Background/Other: (sorry It's so long xD)
With a groan, Azizi rolled over onto his back, breathing out a half-growl, half-sigh. Yet again he suffered through another sleepless night, and now he was bordering on the edge of insanity. Well, at least more so than usual. He chuckled at the thought. Had there ever been a time where he had been truly sane? Perhaps even from the moment of conception he was forsaken to living a life such as this.
Rolling back onto his stomach, he looked forward into the dry, dreary night that surrounded him. Tendrils of light were beginning to grab into the darkness as the sun battled the moon for rightful owner of the sky. This wasn't the first night--or series of nights, for that matter--that his dreams had stolen any hope of rest from him. There had been plenty of night where the night-terrors overtook him, many of those filled by the same exact dream. His past love, Ilika, calling out his name repeatedly, and right before he could cross the great expanse to reach her, a great dark beast would swell up and swallow her whole. The beast would then settle into a mortal-sized being. And the being was always him, or what he had become, that was. A saddened smile was permanently fixed on Azizi's face, eyes not their typical sapphire blue, but blood red, and burning.
It was a short dream but it always stopped him from falling back asleep, for as soon as he fell back asleep it started again. Lately, though, it had taken on an odd twist. It played forward to the part where he would be staring into the other Azizi's face, but after perhaps 30 seconds a look of pure pain would contort that face. A growl of agony would emit, followed immediately by a blast of blinding pure white light that obliterated this Azizi. The first few nights that was as far as he got in the dream, not knowing who or what had destroyed the monster. Then a few nights later, he would catch a glimpse of a figure standing in the light before waking, and only this night had this mysterious being revealed itself. Stepping from out of the blast of light came the Gryffon he had always loved, yet the one he must always forget.
He sat in silence, watching the sun climb higher, breathing slowly as to bring his racing heart back to a normal rate. Once accomplished, he allowed his mind to take his heart's place as it ran through ideas to come to a conclusion on the matter. He knew nothing of the girl, aside from that she was made for him and him only. She knew it as much as he.
But was it just that after all? He had closed the matter with no thought to it whatsoever, not wanting to contemplate it. Yet of course his mind was a demon all its own, stealing his sleep in order that he should find an answer. A pretty young gryffon Ilika was, perhaps not much younger than him. But what did that matter; on his travels to become himself again, he had played upon the hearts of plenty of girls just like her, they believing he loved them all before he either left the flock or chased another, prettier, more naive tail. Several times this landed him a one-way ticket right out of whatever flock he had settled by, for he had played upon the hearts of alphen daughters. One of these daughters hadn't even been that played upon, but grew jealous that her obvious attentions to him were not returned in favor. That particular memory made him grin.
So no, her looks were not it. And he knew almost nothing of her personality, besides that she could be quite the spitfire. Then what the world was it about her that caused him to spend so many times with bloodshot eyes and a sluggish gait? Frustrated, he stood then, groaning as his tired wings protested for rest, shaking the dust from his azure feathers. He demanded answers so that he finally gain some peace. And the only way he would get those answers would be to find this princess. Perhaps even just seeing her would give him some sort of answer.In the early hours of sun he ran towards the border. He zig-zagged through the lands, catching scents where he could.
Azizi stopped short of it, looking forward at the plains that laid at the feet of the grand mountains. He knew well that crossing this border could bring his death for the scent that he carried upon, but it had a long time since he had cared about any set of rules. What mattered to him was what he wanted at that moment, and nothing was going to stand in his way. Besides, he'd sweet-talked his way out of plenty of worse situations. He would manage.So he could those first steps forward without a second thought, legs pumping as he trespassed full-force into enemy territory.
"Pain is weakness leaving the body." Ilika muttered to herself. Her body radiated with pangs of hunger, her acid churning in the deepest corner of her stomach. She could feel the acrid taste on the back of her tongue as her stomach threatened to drown out noise of the surroundings. It was night fall now, and she had watched the sun set, unaware that at its very rising a Gryffon had set out in search of her. In her homelands she'd been "elevated" to the status of baby sitter. While she cared for her siblings, as was bred in her very nature to do so, she was more than tired of them.
Their own mother had abandoned them, taking up flock duty versus raising them. While the eldest, Solon, often accompanied her on her duties, that still left 4 other rambunctious youngsters in her care. To condemn a five month old chick to the confines of the dens was torture on their curious nature, and so made Ilika's job as difficult as possible; she was responsible for knowing their whereabouts at every minute of every day. She was worn very thin, broken of her spirit by being forced into a role prematurely; she had not wanted chicks, not wanted to care for any other but herself, and not the weight of 4 other lives depended on her.
And her heart ached with betrayal... the loss of Azizi. This flock had chosen her, they offered her more safety and comfort than a lone Gryffon could ever give her. They were a dying species, so Ilika had no right to endanger herself any more. Ilika's heart ached, for she was nothing more than a tool to strengthen the flock. She would never be good enough, not in anyone’s eyes... and not even like there was anyone to prove herself to. No one expected anything great, they simply expected her to perform her duties, without question or qualm. This life... it was not enough for her, she wanted more or she wanted out.
The lithe female continued along the open plains, trying in vain to keep her thoughts from running over flock matters. She did not want to think of Azizi in such a precious moment of solitude, and so forced her thoughts on something else. Ilika looked up to the night skies, searching the stars for faces of her ancestors... such a silly notion, talking to such far away things which were probably dead anyways. While Gryffons believed the sky held all of the souls of those long gone, Ilika rejected such a notion...
...but the longer she stared, the more she felt a tangible pull in her heart. She stared at one star, glittering more brightly than those around it. The female wondered the soul's name, wondered if she knew it, or the ghost's past. But the longer she stared, the more the surrounding twinkles took shape. What was once a random array was now the stern face of her protector. She slowed to a stop and looked at the face... he had saved her, but why? Azizi, that was his name, she thought. In her dreams, the few she had, she had seen him, watched him from afar. He had always called out, a lonely caw echoing, asking for the end of a searing pain, and after reaching him there was a burst of white light... then she woke up.
What was there to it, this dream? Could she not even help herself heal? Ilika again growled, shaking away the stars, and sprinting through the grasses. Her amber eyes shut as she ran blind, feeling the long blades pass with her beak... but as her claws clacked against hard stone, she slowed, stopping yet again. From ontop of the rock a wind rushed past, ruffling her feathers; it was one of those warm, balmy summer breezes, the kind which cooled one to just the right temperature. The sweet blossoms of the mountain flora mingled with the scent, and the crisp, icy waters could almost be tasted on the air.
It was such a perfect night, one of the countless in this paradise... and it seemed Ilika's eternal curse to share it with not a soul. But to all the surrounding crickets and birds, she raised her face to the heavens and released her lonely song.
The steady rhythm of his claws against the air was the heartbeat of the land in that moment. Wings moving like a well-oiled machine he soon put the wastelands behind him, soon feeling the brush of a breeze underneath his stomach. When flying, Azizi could forget. He could forget everything. Yet what respect had he for life anymore? More of a contempt for it. He had learned that it could be taken just as easily as it could be created. Speaking of creation... The wind that swam through and around his body--another sensation he was ill-accustomed to now, for the air was always so still--carried a myriad of scents towards him, some from far away and others closer by. The smell of chicks was the most intoxicating, as it came from several different directions, as was to be expected.
The irony seemed to pile onto this situation. While the presence of chicks shouldn't have bothered him so, with thoughts of Ilika so prevalent in his mind lately, it drove a stake into the black hole where his heart should be. So often he remembered her speaking of chicks and her deserve to have her own one day. They were still but chicks themselves back then, and yet she spoke with such passion about them. Azizi couldn't have cared less about chicks or a family, after what had happened to his own. But for Ilika, he would've done just about anything.
Azizi hadn't even noticed night begin to fall above him, and as the stars lit up the sky, he hung his head back to take them in. He had become so malicious, so cold, sometimes it even shocked him what he had turned into, what life had forced him to be. Yet if there was one well-meant wish he had left, it would be that Ilika was not there among those stars, that even with what he had done to her she had been able to go on with her life and fulfill that wish of having a family. She deserved an untainted life, which he had already ruined her hopes of having, but perhaps it could continue happily past that point
On many of his sleepless nights, he had searched the stars for answers, believing for a time, as many Gryffons did, that one's dead ancestors resided among the stars. He had soon found the practice to be ludicrous. He had always been left just as lost as before, if not more so. And what answers could his ancestors give him anyway? Azizi knew very little of them, but from the information he had, they were no better than he. The ocean male growled to the sky, even if there was no one to answer back. There was never anyone to listen to his frustrations anyways. He was always alone, and always would be.
He was about to turn away from the heavens when a movement out of the corner of his eye caught his attention. A shooting star trailed across the sky, pulling Azizi's attention with it as it disrupted the tranquility of the aerial landscape. The phenomena only last seconds but left behind its disappearance was an image outlined by its still brethren. Azizi scrutinized it carefully.
A song interrupted this pour of outrage. The sound was exquisite, pulling at his heartstrings towards its source. Once again the wind wafted scents towards him, and one so familiar floated to his nostrils. He had found her. His body returned to motion, following the musical notes to where they first made birth, finding the Gryffon which shared his heart standing like a beacon in the night."Well if it isn't my little princess. And out alone once again, I see."
How long she sung her tune the Gryffon could not definitively answer, but what she did know is that her tune echoed long after she had stopped singing. Her blue eyes looked across the dark plains, watching as the grasses bent under gentle summer breezes. It seemed that with her cry left her despair, disappaiting on the wind somewhere, along with the sound. Now she stood under the starlight, looking at everything almost as clearly as if it was day. The moon was full in the sky, illuminating the dark with a soft, opalescent glow; everything seemed a shade of blue, a fuzzy, milky hue surrounding every edge. And here in the mountains... it was as if you could leap of the highest of the mountain’s peak and sink your beak into the moon itself.
"Well if it isn't our little princess. And out alone once again, I see." His voice was smooth, charming even, and nothing like the bitter tone of their parting. He drew closer, and she stared down at him from her boulder, blinking, trying to make sure this wasn't a trick of her mind. His form did not waiver or blur, the blood which coursed through his veins was as real as that which pumped through hers... and how fast her heart was now beating. She looked into the face of her wildest dreams. .
And like star crossed lovers the two now stood, not knowing of the irony in their meeting. Though neither was a Montague or Capulet, the stakes were just as great and so the rewards well worth it. He thought he was charming, and while the flutter of pulse indicated this was true, Ilika made sure her countence revealed nothing. With a coy elegance, the tawny feathered female leapt from the great stone, meeting the ground with a soft thud. She stepped forward, coming close enough to the if either so desired, a single lunge would allow them to seize the other's throat.
At this proximity, one was either extremely confident or extremely foolish, and it was not apparent to Ilika which one was exactly which. She responded with a casual air, but kept a certain regal coolness to her tone. "I am not alone, for I have the stars, do I not?" She smirked, a playful smile gracing her beak. Ilika circled around him, tail swishing against his body. Drawing up alongside him, she brushed against his shoulder before walking off a ways, calling over her shoulder dismissively. "Why have you come, Azizi? Did I not make it clear enough last time we met?" Despite her bold words, tears burned in her eyes.
Actually, Ilika wasn't even sure Azizi could win against her wishes, she could probably persuade him to leave. She could lie, and say she despised him. Resting against the stone, neck stretched out, her feathers bristling with mad desire and pain, she stared into those smouldering eyes, Ilika swallowed hard, trying desperately to numb the burning pain radiating from her throat. And just as quickly as she glanced toward Azizi, her wide eyes turned their gaze elsewhere, as she lengthened her strides, displaying the full length of her body as it softly glowed under the moonlight, she walked away.
Azizi watched her go. Something inside his chest tore into shreds, like a ravaged beast wanting its own end more than survival itself. His eyes widened, the expanse of pupil concealing his irises in a declaration of his terror. Azizi began choking. “No...No Ilika, don’t walk away from me!” He lunged forwards after her, using his anger to his advantage. Azizi snatched her flank with his beak, leaving a furious red welt.
The tawny Gryffon began to growl, a threatening rumble from deep in her throat, merely fed by the pain in her heart. “Who do you think you are?” She hissed, leaping away from him with a graceful competence. Her tail flicked with the cool irritance of an angry feline. Her flaming eyes bore into his, their souls so close that they may well have been touching; despite the barrier of hate and betrayal that danced between them. Azizi prowled forwards. “I’m you...” He stated, a desperate softness overtaking his voice, something that would’ve melted Ilika a few years ago. Not now.
“You are nothing like me!” Ilika shrieked, her normally smooth vocals cracking in sheer agony. “I used to know you Azizi, I used to love you. Now I’ve realized you are no better than the feeble chicks I’m forced to care for, no better than the Alpha that claims to care for me! You are no different!” She was sobbing now, and Azizi clenched the dirt beneath him in his strong talons. “I could be, Ilika. I~”
Ilika cut him off. “NO!” She screamed, again and again, her earth-shattering cry exploding in the silence of the night. “You don’t get to call me that, ever! You're selfish, you know I couldn't handle seeing you again” Ilika was beginning to become hysterical. Azizi frowned at her, beginning to become unnerved. Though it constricted his throat with sheer death itself, the male Gryffon took a step back, watching desolately as the love of his life fled for her own.
Azizi began to cry, gazing helplessly at Ilika’s own blood on his claws.
I understand that by adopting this creature I take full responsibility for it. Absolutely