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" Older and Wiser"

From within the shell of his stone sleep, Hudson could feel the daylight fading. It was almost instinct at his older age; knowing when he was to awaken, and after years of being freed from the curse that kept he and his clan locked in this hibernation for one-thousand years, he was finally returning to his original instincts and habits. He felt the shell around his body begin to crack, the cold touch of the night air exploding open along his thick arms, his stout form, freeing him for another night. It was like an alarm clock, but with a jolt of energy shooting through his body, he

couldn't simply hit the snooze button and continue to sleep. He felt compelled to awaken, to stretch his massive, leathery wings. And he did;

"RAWWWWWR!" He emitted to the heavens as the stone shattered off his body and he howled into the night sky. His stretch turned into an elongated yawn, he was just waking up after all and he rubbed his eyes sleepily, feeling that familiar gnawing hunger at his stomach. "Oy lads, were ya still plannin' on havin' those pancakes for breakfast? Last time we had them, they were messy, but delicious." One of his eyes popped open. "Lads?"

There was a flash of thunder, Hudson realized it was pouring down rain. That didn't happen too often, as the castle rested atop a skyscraper looming over the city. He noticed the familiar lights of the city weren't bright as they usually were and he glanced down to see the ground immediately at his feet. It was a muddy, dirty mess and his claws were sinking directly into it. As he snapped awake, Hudson realized he wasn't in the castle at all; but in the middle of a massive line of trees, he was in a dark forest. His heart skipped a beat. "What the? Where am I?" He said after a moment. "Goliath!? Lads! Are ye here?" His voice echoed, but was quickly drowned out by the rumble of thunder that filled the skies overhead. Hudson was soaked and now the water was beginning to chill him as he crossed his arms over his chest and looked around. "Alright, Hudson. Just relax... ya've been in scrapes like this before, let's just get someplace warm..." He said to himself before making his way closer to the trees. Immediately, the shelter overhead dissipated the rainfall and he shook his arms off, soaking wet he took some solace in the cover he'd found as he made his way deeper into the darkness.

This land wasn't entirely unlike Scotland, from which his clan was based. In fact, it looked like an area that could be considered close to where Castle Wyvern once stood, but as Hudson's instincts took over and he sniffed the air, he could smell nothing familiar about this place. Even in a thousand years, he would recognize his birthplace by the smell alone; no, wherever he was, it was not Scotland. The trees had a strangely different texture too, though they weren't completely alien, they were a variety he didn't recognize. Coming across one particular fallen trunk, he slid his talons across the bark and could feel something almost coarse about its layout. "Where the devil am I?" He asked himself again, as if speaking only to hear himself speak. As if it took on some sort of a comfort that he was still there and talking.

It took a couple hours before Hudson was far enough in the woods to relax a little more, it was at that point that the chill under his clothes were getting the better of him. He sneezed, and realized that if he didn't get warmed up soon, he could catch a nasty chill. The rain beyond the forest canopy had stopped, though the thunder and lightning remained an almost perpetual annoyance, lights shooting across the treetops like one of those dance clubs that Broadway always told him about. Hudson found a small clearing and began to gather bits of wood to start a fire. Piling them up on a small stone circle he'd laid out, Hudson mentally calculated how much tinder it would take and went about setting up a roaring campfire. He sat down in front of it, the soggy chank of his armor making him somewhat uncomfortable as he tried to dry himself. Hudson pulled off the tunic he wore and laid it neatly by the fire. "I may be old..." He said to himself. "But it is a warrior's instinct to survive..." The rustling of leaves captured Hudson's attention and he glanced around. "Even when th' odds're against me..." A chill descended Hudson's spine and his hand slowly drew itself to the hilt of his sword, his good eye scanning the foliage just beyond the campfire. "And it would seem I am not alone..."

Two sparks flickered, indicating a pair of eyes flashing in the light of the campfire, immediately followed by a massive creature lunging out of the darkness and flying straight toward the Gargoyle. Hudson drew his blade and deflected the beast's claws before being flung back onto his back. The uncomfortable landing bringing pain to his wings as he landed chest-to-chest with a massive orange gargoyle-looking creature. Hudson's sword was pressed against the creature's neck while the beast's claws felt ready to rip the older gargoyle's scap clean from his skull.

"Easy, laddie..." Hudson said. "Don't be makin' any decisions we'll soon regret."

"Who are you? Why have you brought me to this place?" The large orange creature's breath was hard, his chest pressing against Hudson's was pounding away as his heart raced underneath the flesh.

"I don't know m'self, and frankly I'd be askin' you the same question." Hudson could feel every inch of the beast pressed against him, he was easily over seven feet in height, a good head bigger than him, but as Garr laid against him, Hudson could feel the thick press of his crotch up against his own and he was trying his best to resist his body reacting to it. "My name's Hudson, friend. Now if you'll kindly back away I'll put my sword down and we can talk..."

"Hmmph..." He replied with a grunt before observing the gargoyle and sitting up, removing his claws from their position. "Garr." He said before seating himself beside Hudson.

"Is that ya name, lad? Or some sort of a growlin' noise?"

Garr smirked a bit, amused at the gargoyle's snarky comment. "It is my name." He said. "Not any less bizarre than 'Hudson' though, I must admit." He said. "So if you aren't responsible for us being here, then who is?"

"Your guess is as good as mine. I'm sure my clan is lookin' for me by now, but I'm not even sure where here is for them to find me."

Garr was an interesting creature; he was a massive, orange, winged beast that resembled a gargoyle; but Hudson figured this beast wasn't entirely the same kind of gargoyle that he was. He had brilliant blue markings under his eyes, large blue beads that dangled around his neck. He wore a bright red vest that resembled the color of his back-mane and sported a pair of large spike-tipped wings, but there was something in that bird-shaped beak of his that made Hudson understand that they weren't at all the same species. "So, what are ya?" He asked after a long period.

"Me? I am a Guardian." He said, his posture stiffening to exemplify his pride.

Hudson raised an eyebrow. "A guardian? Of what?"

"Huh?"

"You said you're a guardian, what are you a guardian of?"

"That is the name of my race, and my duty I suppose..."

"HA!" Hudson guffawed a bit louder than he'd intended. "Well lad, I'm a guardian as well, but my kind are called Gargoyles."

"What are you a guardian of, Hudson?"

"Manhattan."

Garr stared at Hudson for a moment, the look of confusion on his face was profound. It then relaxed a little as he let the information roll off. "I'm sorry I attacked you before." He said. "I simply woke up in this storm, I've been wandering around for hours now, lost and confused until I saw your fire. Thinking about it now, I guess it was silly of me to think you'd have something to do with this, as mysterious as I came here, I doubt whoever brought us would be so out and about."

"Perhaps. Or perhaps they just wanted us to find one another." Hudson shrugged. Garr nodded in response, then yawned wide, stretching his muscular body out in a massive display of exhaustion. "Lad, perhaps you should get some sleep." He suggested. "We'll continue this investigation tomorrow night, it'll be dawn in a few hours and... well let's just say that I sleep during the day."

Garr mused for a moment, then nodded. "Perhaps you're right." He said, his eyes scanning the older gargoyle's more portly but thick figure. "Tomorrow is another day, after all." He yawned again. "And I am exhausted."