This unicorn hunt had been a bust. A fool's errand, right from the bleedin' start. Sure, the pieces went for a hefty sum, but the time and effort hardly ever saw the whole ordeal being worth it. IF you could even find a buyer, that was. So many people held the stupid arrogant horses in high regard, for some winds-begotten reason. Humans! happy to slaughter and abuse cows and other 'lesser' animals, even regular horses, but stick a horn on it, and oh no suddenly, that's special. The griffon grumbled, clacking his beak in irritation as he perched within the branches of a towering pine. He was lucky he had found a man with more money than sense - wasn't that all nobles, though? - who had a rather embarrassing problem he fancied powdered unicorn horn could solve. Tsiaa knew it was all moulted down on the wind, but hey, if the idiot was going to pay him, and pay him more than the asking price on the backstreets long as the griffon kept his beak closed, well, he'd pretend to be a nun and go to church if that was what would get him paid. Ah, but that had fallen through, hadn't it? Not because the nobleman finally realised dusting himself in powdered horn wasn't doing much for his personality, but because the sodding unicorns had gotten smart. Sure, Tsiaa had picked off a great number of their herd, but he was hoping to have nabbed a couple more before having to track down another lot. Now he was stuck, looking for another herd of gold on hooves, and finding it increasingly hard to track any down.
Stupid bloody poncy horses!
Frustrated, Tsiaa thwacked the branch above him with his thick, bushy tail, cackling to himself as a cascade of snow tumbled down, burying an utterly unaware snow-hare. Served it right for not looking up, really. Nimbly the griffon clambered down the tree, using his claws and talons to dig into the bark of the trunk until he jumped the last few feet into the snow drift he had caused. A quick motion of his head, and the hare was in his beak, before, with a toss of his head, Tsiaa swallowed it whole. That was lunch sorted, now, maybe he should look into those rumours - the whole reason he had bothered coming out to this place at all. Tales of gold raining from the sky and jewels growing from the ground were sure to catch the attention of even the most skeptic of folk, let alone the profit driven hunter-thief extraordinaire. Maybe if he found enough, he could hire some other bugger to track down unicorns for him. Let someone else wear their eyes out. Tsiaa felt he had earned a break. Maybe a nice holiday somewhere. Some therapeutic redistribution of wealth perhaps? He hadn't had a good heist in a while.
While he was compiling a 'shopping' list - he wanted to find an egg sized ruby, a chain of opals, and a very large cushion - something plummeted from the branches above, cracking into the griffon's skull with a loud thunk! Hissing in surprise, Tsiaa reared onto his hind legs, wheeling about to glare behind him. Finding nothing there, he looked above him. Nothing. Either side? Nada.
Looking forward, golden eyes narrowed as they met, stark against the discarded, browned needles of the pines, a hefty gold coin.
"Knock me down with a feather," Tsiaa muttered, picking the coin up between two talons. Well, well, well, maybe that holiday was closer than he thought.
