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Description: Amerith Rainfeather, an avian living in a small, tight knit community alongside gryphons, dreams of taking wing towards the vast, endless skies. Yet he can only do so upon the back of his gryphon partner, Autumn. A life-long partner that seems intent on remaining ground-bound. Follow along in their journey as hot, steamy secrets are uncovered, and deeper bonds are forged through the sweetest kinds of affection.

Story written by me , Siranor

Commissioned by MysticJay on discord

Art by CoLor https://www.furaffinity.net/user/coior/

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Autumn's Feathery Love

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Amerith Rainfeather was not particularly entranced by the idea of waking up to yet another extra ordinary day. As he made his way out from the gentle warmth infused into the furs he covered himself with during his longer-than-usual sleep, the avian pondered on the day's tasks. He thought of the fields that still needed to have their dirt turned over, his gryphon soulbind that had yet to fly, and...other things he would resolve later.

Once his orange, scaly feet spread against the cool flooring of the cave-dome he inhabited, the avian grabbed a fabric shawl to better protect himself against the cold chill of the morning. He adjusted a little to feel comfortable to the longer crest feathers sporting along his nape and slowly made his way to the living room. At some point, the way his claws tangled with the fabric carpets his mother crafted annoyed him as much as the vestigial feathers sticking from the sides of his forearms where the proud wings of his ancestors were said to have sprouted from. Tales, really, painted an ancient mythology of a time when his race ruled the skies. But no modern day records told of an avian that could truly fly. Instead, one could only rely on a member of their sister race, the Gryphons, for flight. A race that has been entwined with the avians throughout hundreds of generations without the misfortune of their flight dwindling. Amerith's medium-long beak might've looked like a gryphon's, his plumage might've been just as lush, he might've even looked like a bird...but he never could be free from the ground's pull as they were.

They flew, while he walked, his claws gently sinking their tips through the delicate weaving and embroidery.

He exited his sleeping chamber into a wider room with a colorful carpet of less bothersome hay strewn with many dried flowers and herbs and a large log for a table. No chairs surrounded it, for avians hardly practiced the habit of dining by themselves. Accompanied by their gryphons, they gathered around bonfires every night to share a joke, tell a tale, or let go of whatever burdens weighted down their moods over a hearty meal. That way, their gryphons never felt excluded. Whether they listened carefully to the words spoken by their partners, wrestled with each other in various contests of strength, or glided through the star speckled skies of the night, gryphons always tended to be around, for they were more than simple beasts of burden. Their presence complemented the lives of the rather simple avians to perfection. Their wings allowed a race not meant to explore the mysteries of the sky realm to soar! In many ways, a gryphon was the reliable, loyal partner many other races would be envious of, as their attributes often mirrored the personality of the avian they accompanied. Bonded through ceremony to avians from a very young age, the two became inseparable. They ate together, rested together, played together, all in all, lived as one until death put a fork in their common path.

Indeed, such close connection to an intelligent creature as reliable as a gryphon could only be envied. Yet for Amerith, his ascent into the skies came with a delay that threatened to stretch into eternity!

"Another bright morning worth stretching your wings for. Isn't it, Autumn?"

Autumn's white tipped ears perked up at the sound of his voice. Larger than the average steeds known to carry the many other species inhabiting the lands beyond the avian's valley, the gryphon was quite a sight to behold...even if he barely did anything to show the avian's words sunk into receptive ears. Flopped with his head on top of a lazy, brown, scaly foreleg, the gryphon's entire frame stood still. Amerith took a moment to admire how glorious his chestnut colored plumage looked in the morning's spilling light, a stark contrast to the watery blue nuances of his own feathers.

"Very well, you lazy bag of feathers. I'll let you shake off the dust of your dreams a while longer while I ready myself for yet another exciting day in the fields!"

With a bright attitude, Amerith went through his muscle-strengthening exercises before his gryphon roused himself from his lazy slumbers. Between the sets of back-bending and muscle straining movements, the blue-feathered avian dreamed inwards. He imagined himself returning back home, satisfied after another long work day to find his soulbind with his wings already stretched, yearning for the two of them to embrace the skies together. The feeling of absolute freedom, of your life balanced upon the wing tips of your gryphon...that was something no one could fully explain to you. For too long Amerith dreamed to have what their peers already came into possession of. A kind of exhilarating freedom they have enjoyed for weeks, months, even years...with endless possibilities at wing tips of their gryphons, while he...he remained...

"Grounded for yet another day, it seems," Amerith spoke his words with mild frustration, but still remained calm and understanding towards the chestnut gryphon whom emerged from his nesting room to greet his partner with a chirping rub of his head. "Worry not, my friend." Amerith wrapped his neck tight within his embrace. "Even the quickest fliers learn how to sail upon the winds at their own pace. Our time will come."

Once they broke contact, Amerith went about the rest of his morning routine. He washed himself in a barrel of cold water by the mouth of the dome while he stole a glance here and there at his gryphon. Autumn loved water. He usually joined him for the morning wash, yet today, he seemed even more aloof than usual, his wishful gaze focused on the freedom of the skies. Peeking through the hollow air-holes chipped into the clay-made caverns they called home, the gryphon caught a speck of the clear morning sky.

Amerith's heart sank a little bit at such a sorry, wishful sight. For a long time, the gryphon began his days with a kind of yearning that burned his fragile heart; a yearning Amerith never fully understood. His parents, bless their kind, feathered hearts, left him with the same mantra Amerith imparted upon his companion. Soon, my child. In time, you too shall be one with the winds.

Sound advice, if it ever materialized! Frustrating as the wait might've been, Amerith still learned better than to dwell on such short term frustrations, a discipline hardened by hardships. He had suffered much in his younger years from putting to heart all the sharp wit his boastful friends taunted him with. Swooping jests as witty as their soaring gryphons made Amerith feel like a pariah among his own people. An earthworm with a defect of a gryphon. A dirt-crawler who would end up alone, with only his own gryphon to love in the absence of a mate, for who would take a Grounded avian like him?

They had one thing right. Not even the village's Dreamer could recount with precision the tale of an avian past their twentieth summer yet to Greet the Sky. Besides Gronn the Slow and Karr, the Grounded, two emblematic figures mired in legends and mystery, none recent example existed. None that could offer Amerith hope. Gronn, a simpleton of simple origins, lived the meekest of lives together with Karr, a wan gryphon whose most remarkable achievements came in the masterful ways he worked the fields each day. Time and again they toiled with the tasks they were given, until one day, reward came to them at last. Gronn FLEW upon the back of Karr, so far and so quick, nobody ever heard of them again. The fable had different endings, all bearing different lessons. But one remained central to them all. That even the laziest of birds could surpass the expectations of their peers and perform unmistakable feats of greatness... if only they tried.

Amerith gave this tale great heed. For many years he tried providing nothing but the best to Autumn. His beloved soulbind tasted the smoothest bristles crafted in the White Mountains upon his auburn surface. His tongue sampled flavors that would make even a cook scratch their heads at how wide a gryphon's tasting palette could stretch. Amerith even got tips from a Feliri concubine on what areas of a gryphon's body to stimulate with massage...but neither meal nor massage, song or rousing speech seemed to make a dent in Autumn's resilient apathy. Perhaps the tasks he'd been subjected to every day caused him to fall so deep in love with the earth he worked that a desire to always touch the soil with the pads of his avian feet; the bliss of sinking his claws through its semi-hard surface and to pull the heavy, cleverly constructed ploughs in long lines along its crust caused his gryphon to choose ground over sky...or perhaps he was just plain spoiled. History certainly painted Autumn as a different kind of gryphon, however, 'different' not always meant defective, and he wanted to be the supportive partner Autumn deserved.

Amerith put his washcloth back into the basket and quickly dried himself with another piece of thick cloth stitched together from rough hemp. After his quick bath, he quickly buried himself under the wing of his gryphon. Mornings here in the Sunrise Valley could be pretty chilly, even during the Blooming festival that marked the beginning of the end for the spring season. Autumn trilled with glee once he was given a reason to shift in his nest. He welcomed Amerith in his feathered kingdom, wing squeezing tighter around the smaller source of chirps that began caressing him with both sweet words and rubs alike.

"Few mornings seem to find us together like this, my dear windseeker. You cannot form the words you hear, yet still, you grasp their meaning. So I ask of you to paint a picture of what manner of yearning sunk beneath these silken feathers. Feathers that used to vibrate with such sonorous joy when the snows started to melt... Are you ill? Has some dark, stubborn thought lodged itself into your mind like a thorn? Please, help me understand. I only wish to help, nothing else..."

Autumn chose silence. Besides a dim chirp of satisfaction from having his nape scratched with suave movements of gentle talons, he gave no response. None...besides a gaze that kept flying where his wings never could.

Amerith wished he were a gryphon in moments like these, for he felt truly powerless. As a gryphon, he could do so much more! Armed with a pair of strong wings to lift him from the repetitive nature of his current life, he could perhaps understand more on what his soulbind went through, rather than just watch, brush, think and speak.

"Still nothing to add?"

Autumn's lack of reaction was answer enough.

"Alright then, I shall insist no further. Let us prepare for what we can do, and dwell less on what we can not. The sky will be there long before we become speckles in its infinite expanse, but our tasks...our tasks can hardly wait that long."

His humorous attempt on tackling the responsibilities weighting both of their minds made Autumn rip his eyes away from the hollows. Amerith reached for the gryphon's beak. A few rubs under his beak got him to push further into the caress, allowing the avian to gently pull his partner's head towards his feathered chest.

Chirps, churrs, and other vocalizations denoting the trust the two had in each other filled the makeshift cave they called home. Amerith felt so protected in his gryphon's warm embrace. Autumn's wing was another type of home to him. A reprieve he'd seek shelter under whenever his mood, the temperature, or life itself took a plunge. Could home follow you wherever you went? Yes. Yes, it very much could, for no avian ever parted ways willingly with their gryphon companion. Amerith certainly never intended to. Not until...

"I will always be with you." He spoke his thoughts out loud. It felt right, to reaffirm his unbreakable bond to Autumn, even if the gryphon heard variations of this a thousand times. With his claws gently sinking into the gryphon's feathers, Amerith began to caress him with both words and touch. "Treading upon the fertile soil that fills our valley with life, or up there, kissing the winds I can never ascend to without your wings. if the time ever comes. If not, let us be different. I would rather suffer the scorn of the world than to ever force you to be something you aren't, my dearest companion."

The large gryphon almost knocked the wind out of his small, blue speck of encouragement. So fiercely he pushed his beak into Amerith's chest that the avian struggled to contain the gryphon's sheer might, put to bear against the force of his arms with an insistent preening filled with some kind of...loving desperation.

"H-hey, take it easy." Amerith laughed. It took strength to push back Autumn with both hands and feet! "You know they'll stick out like a hedgehog's spines if you pull them up like that."

Autumn paused very little from his assault. With gooey tongue and lots of determination, he skillfully straightened out clumps of feathers all over his partner's body. Amerith ceased his struggles after a few failed attempts at resisting, happy to just let Autumn finish whatever he wished. Whatever pushed his partner into this sudden bout of affection intrigued him. He figured that, if he waited, the answers would come to him. And sure enough, some clues presented themselves to his keen avian eyes. The gryphon's eyes were wide, but not unfocused. They bore a glint Amerith often peeked at, but never fully decoded, his insistent beak nibbling with purpose that mystified the chirping avian.

"Alright. We will play more after we finish our duties."

With a finger pointed at his intelligent head, Autumn paused his onslaught. "Kraak." He squawked in agreement.

"That's a deal, then!" Amerith chuckled. He continued to administer a few more of his counterattack rubs over the eager gryphon's neck feathers, but rather than a content churr, a long, weary chirp left the gryphon's beak. Not the sonorous enthusiasm Amerith expected. What...what went wrong?

"Buddy, I-I didn't mean to say I prefer work over your...I...I...aaark.." Amerith's heart sank with worry at how quickly Autumn left his perch. Wordless, he watched and waited while his gryphon's lazy steps took him back to his nest, where he dropped with a long, tired sigh. His eyes once again flew through the hollow in the walls, towards the thin white clouds sailing across the unreachable skies.

Stuck back inside a default state that persisted for almost an entire season already, Amerith realized something more than just kind words and gentle rubs were needed.

"I have something that might make you feel better." Amerith's face brightened up with determination. He went over to his travel bags and began rummaging through his treats compartment for a thin chunk of herb-smoked dried meat.

"Here!"

Autumn's eyes widened with glee. Jumping up on his fours like a spooked feline, the majestic creature flared out his wings and caught the flying treat mid-air.

The excited reaction put a smile on Amerith's face. "Seems even the freedom of the skies is no match for an empty belly's demands. Wait here." He happily thrust the travel bag over his shoulder. "I will return with something so juicy, you'll challenge even the winds of the high skies for!"

While Autumn began to steadily pick away at the hard meat with his golden beak, Amerith ran out of his home at a very brisk pace. He knew he had some time to implement his plan of action. Dried smoked meat counted among the treats every gryphon loved, no matter their age. He crossed the moist reed fields in a rush to Moonpetal lake, home to many amphibious creatures. The cooler air immediately enveloped him once he passed the first dozens of trees, the lush wilderness making him feel so very relaxed in this oasis of tranquility. Once he climbed down the incline leading towards the lake's muddy banks, Amerith's eyes quickly scanned the banks for river darters, terrestrial lizards with a taste for frogs and warm sunlight upon their emerald bellies. Small as a rat in size and about as dangerous as an angry gryphon fledgling when caught, Amerith struggled little to procure a couple of these morsels. On his way back home, he rehearsed various ways to encourage his gryphon while his muddy claws slowly shed the weight they carried once they traded mud for grass, waving his free hand at the industrious workers or chirping out a warm greeting whenever a close acquaintance noticed his brisk rush back home. Sun's blessed light! How could he, Amerith Rainfeather, one of the few avians with true love for the earth that fed his flock, be so late in tending to his tasks?

His pace quickened into a full run. Reprieve came to him only when he sat in the entrance to his home, his wet tongue drooping like a hound's from a most exhausted beak.

"Look...what I got for you." His hand disappeared into the bag. When it came out, it no longer stood empty. With his fingers fastened around a lizard's long tail, Amerith wriggled one the knocked-out river darters. Sensing movement, Autumn's eyes temporarily took a break from the skies, his pupils widening with excitement once more upon seeing his favorite treat dangling a few leaps away from his beak.

"Nothing like a fresh catch to start your day with, right?" Tired, yet happy, Amerith began to back away slowly. "Come now. Come after me. All you have to do is follow me one...step at a time."

Like a feline focused on its prey, wings tucked close to the sides, eyes focused on the only thing that motivated him to leave his nest, the gryphon's bird-like feet carried him smoothly towards the avian. Amerith led him halfway towards the half-worked field they started a few days back, then threw one of the darters high above Autumn, chuckling with glee at the impressive sight of the veiled predator that leaped towards his catch with the grace of a true hunter. Landing back on his feet as easy as a cat, Autumn swallowed the morsel whole, his eager eyes focused on the other one left in Amerith's wriggling hand.

"Come on, you lazy pile of feathers. Follow me and earn your reward."

The ploy worked better than expected. With the promise of instant gratification leading the gryphon closer to the flock he envied from afar, Autumn slowly got entangled in the games of the winged pests that took notice of his presence. Gryphons as varied as a rainbow's colors landed around him, pecking at various parts of him with the intention to steal him for a dash through the flower-sprouting plains or a few feather-displacing games of chase.

"Go. Go!" The sky-feathered avian laughed while his gryphon awaited his permission among the storm of beaks that sought to preen his feathers. "You deserve to have a bit of fun before we get working. I'll find myself something to do."

Autumn gleefully chirped his approval and snatched the last river darter straight from Amerith's grip. Greedy vulture. Always making sure he never undertook any physical task without something in his belly!

With the gryphons entangled in their own affairs, Amerith headed over to the farm he grew up in. The little part of the valley that he called, for the better part of his life, home.

He stepped carefully between the rows of torn earth prepared to receive the seeds of late spring, greeting his father and two brothers from afar on his way to the feeding hollow. Delicious scents of baked seeds, seasoned meat, and other midday treats tempted his grumbling belly for a hearty fill as soon as his head pushed through the tough leather tarp hung over the meal hollow's entrance.

"Chirp!" the bluejay colored female presiding over her stove exclaimed with joyous surprise upon turning her gaze upon the unexpected sight waiting in the entrance of her home. "Amerith!" She quickly wiped her hands off the juices of the vegetables she recently cut with a rough fabric towel. "What prompts you to surprise me so?" The jay's joyous expression descended into concern, "I expected you to be out in the fields. What will Skarran think, if he were to find you here, a fledgling returned to his sire's nest, without any notice?"

"It's not important what he thinks. Family. That is what matters." Amerith moved to embrace his mother. "I missed you, Ma. Father too."

Although reluctant, the jay's arms took no less than a second to embrace him just as tight. "It's only been a day, wee chick. No need to concern yourself for our welfare!"

"Even a day seems long when you live by yourself."

They disentangled from each other with a bit of reluctance on Amerith's part. Though he loved Autumn dearly, he never felt fully prepared for a journey that any avian eventually undertook as they approached their thirty years of life within their family's bosom. He still missed his mother. He missed...everyone.

"How's our flock?" The sky blue avian took a seat on a small stool at the edge of the spacious cooking hovel. "Are Adryn and Aloren still enamored with the idea of visiting the lands beyond our borders?"

"It's all they talk about." The female chuckled. She quickly returned to her cooking, the sound of chopping filling the air along with her words...although her eyes never remained too much away from her hatchling. "Come summer, I'll be left with only one child. Assuming Autumn ever finds his wings."

Most would've fallen for the clever way she concealed the impending fears and loss of aid of two sons in their prime. Amerith, however, saw right through his mother's care-free humor.

"Only the Great Shepherd knows for certain. It may be two more seasons until he grows confident enough to spread his wings. Or maybe five." He looked with longing at the sky showing through one of the several air-holes drilled in the wall of the hovel. "What we know is that we must remain steadfast in fulfilling the duties ordained by the Shepherd. To seed the earth with our bounties and safeguard our lands from falling prey to raiders is what you and father-"

"Wanted. That much is true." The jay spoke over him. "But a bird, a wolf is not. We may not have wings of our own, dear hatchling, yet we have been granted a second chance by the Great Shepherd to touch the infinity of the skies like any of the windseeker race.All through the grace of our gryphons! Sometimes, they decide where the winds take us. You'd better be ready if yours gets a taste of adventure. It's never too late!"

Amerith nodded in pleased understanding, emboldened by his mother's faith in Autumn. "He certainly owes us a surprise or two. But speaking of gryphons, I've yet to catch sight of SlateTail."

"Oh, yes, she's taken with more pressing concerns!" the bluejay chirped a few sonorous notes akin to laughter. Her attention turned to meat now, sprinkling the pre-cut pieces in a hurry with an array of aromatic herbs "Her own hatchlings are keeping her busy from day till dawn. I'm so indebted to her for coming down to put the remaining day's work in order every night. She works so hard. And Greytuft, your father's valiant protector, is always by her side." Mother's voice softened with joy. "You should linger past the moon's ascent over the northwind peak when you catch some free time to see how they dance and peck at each other. Like two doves they are. So, so sweet."

"I can only imagine." Amerith turned his eyes upon the busy Jay. Burdened with tasks every day, she still found so many reasons to smile. To brighten not just the atmosphere of her home, but also shine a light on a future that looked lonely and bleak for the still single Amerith.

She noticed his gaze linger at nothing in particular, lost in worries and dreams alike. Wiping herself from the succulent vegetables she began to dice in a big clay bowl for her hearty salad, she embraced her hatchling once again.

"Oh, take heart, young lad. The Shepherd's ways might be tangled, yet with all their twists and turns, all journeys reach their destination. There is a path for you out there...and I've little doubt it leads exactly where you wish it to."

Amerith chirped in laughter. "A mate? Or a new home so far away you'll all need to fly as a flock when you come visiting?"

"Why not both?" The jay smiled.

For Amerith, the warmth of her feathers was all he needed to instantly focus back on the present, with all the beauties and opportunities it still offered. He still had a mother. A family united in purpose. A gryphon that rarely invited him into a clash of opinions through his subservient attitude. Not all the avians in the valley knew such easily overlooked blessings.

Yet when his desires fugitively wandered towards what would brighten up his days further, his vibrant wishes flew not to an exotic beauty sprinkled with dashes of emerald along the blues of her feathers, warm as a summer's day and witty like a river sneaking around obstacles, but to Autumn. A gryphon of simple desires and exceedingly complex yearnings.

"What's the matter? Already have a lass you fancy?"

Startled from his musings, Amerith quickly brushed off his mother's hands off his shoulders and answered in the most honest way he could. How would he, a loner, have a sweetheart without anyone catching wind of this?

"No, no, just thinking about Autumn and his own lack of a mate."

The mention of his gryphon's name got him a tilted head from his mother, but she looked concerned rather than jovial.

"Ah, nothing to worry for. He'll come around." Amerith quickly tried to brush away any dark notions that might've taken hold of her brightened thoughts. "What ails him extends beyond the knowledge of any healer."

"Still dreaming inside his nest, is he?" The jay trilled silently.

"Every waking moment when we are by ourselves, yes. I-I'm not sure how to comfort him. If it's pain he suffers from, we can devise a cure. But with matters of the heart, I am left Grounded. What if...what if the problem is... me?"

His mother's warm smile immediately pushed such silly notions out of Amerith's head. "If kindness is an affliction, then might as well awe me with the idea that our Creator, the Great Two-headed Gryphon, wears the guise of those winged reptilians that plague the far west. Dragons. Drakes. Something akin to dread."

The jay's feathers rose on end shortly before she shrugged the unpleasant images of those dreadful reptilians off. "The only thing to concern yourself with is your duty towards the earth, my dearest hatchling, for I can feel the love you bear for each other. Stronger than any bonds formed through loyalty or friendship, it burns. Autumn has his own Path to follow. Give him time. Let whatever shadow came over him uncurl itself from his feathers through no intervention than warm words. He loves you! Never doubt that."

Amerith's beak hung open for a few moments, tongue itching to spew out a most awkward and tangled of thoughts. Yes, mother, I know. But what if he...loves me too much?

"If another doubt is creeping upon that sly tongue of yours, you better seal it shut." Amerith jumped back in surprise at the touch of her beak burying itself between his cheek feathers. "My tasty midday Pakora is waiting after no one. And so...do your tasks. Shoo. Shoo! Off to the fields, with you, and maybe you will be back in time to savor my Pakora!" She had been right. It was almost noon and there was still so much to be done!

Amerith found the chestnut gryphon waiting outside and greeted him with a hug, pressing his head against his feathery breast before readying him to return home for work. Suddenly, a shadow passed over their field. Father's garbled warning came too late, for the passing shadow turned out to be none other than Skarran Sunfeather, overseer of the Seeds and the Reeds.

"Bright day to you, Ardron."

"Same to you, fine fledglings." He dipped his head towards the two other males that came at the side of their parent. "You know what wind brings me here, right?"

"I have an idea or two." Ardron, the head of their family, laughed.

With greetings said and done, the sand colored avian's eyes immediately flew to the only member of the flock out of his element.

"Warm day this must be, to see you skulking in the shadows when the sun is still young. Last I checked, your sire had ample help from your two older brothers. Unless he changed the law of the land in the absence of the flockleader's notice-"

"I-I'll head to my fields in a moment. Apologies for the delay." Amerith quickly intervened before his father -or worse- his brothers- got any chance to embarrass himself for his sake. "My gryphon wasn't feeling well. Mother made him a poultice, but...it takes time...to see its effects..." Amerith's courage diminished further with each step Skarran's snowy gryphon took towards him. He felt petite and frail before the keen eyes of not just one, but two perceptive overseers, but he wasn't alone.

As if staring back at a hungry wolf eager to unleash his teeth upon his friend, Autumn interposed himself between Amerith and the Master of Seeds and Reeds, his unfurled wings giving even Skarran's gryphon reason to slow down his advance.

"Hey, no need to get your feathers unfurled when you're needed there too, Autumn. Witty as he is, Amerith needs the strength of a... kraaaw!" The avian's verbal expanse of responsibilities came to a sudden end when Autumn lunged forth towards his gryphon. Snow reeled back in surprise from the sudden attack on his feathered cheek, his broad wings beating back hard to put distance between his retreat and the strangely irritated attacker. Skarran almost fell from his gryphon's back much to the shock of all the witnessing parties, but fortunately, Autumn's pecking attack came only in the form of a warning.

"Autumn!" Ardron slammed the earth with the butt of his pitchfork. "What devilry took hold of your senses?"

"He's-I don't know what got into him!" Amerith quickly moved in front of his gryphon to take control of this strange situation. "Rainful apologies for whatever that was, Skarran. He's been erratic ever since raging beasts took control of his gut. I'll make sure he learns his lesson after today's work is done."

"Krahaha, no need, lad. I've met my fair share of gryphons throughout my days." The master of seeds and reeds chuckled as he heartily brushed his hand along his affectionate gryphon's scruff. "Indeed, even the tamest hatchling can become fierce when instinct envelops their senses. Oh yes, I can tell exactly what got your Autumn in this ornery mood."

"You...can tell that by...looking at him?"

Skarran dipped his head. "Love makes fools of us all. Even more so when it comes unrequited. Your bird seems to have found himself a dove!"

"R-really? I never saw him with anyone..." Amerith clacked his beak clean of any stray thoughts that might've escaped his restless tongue. "I mean to say, I think I understand what you're hinting at. We'll reflect on this piece of wisdom over the verdant fields with the sun on our backs."

"Do that. I will return to my own responsibilities. Fare you well!"

After Skarran turned his attention back to the other onlookers, Amerith quickly rewarded his prone gryphon for allowing him an easy way to climb upon his back with a quick rub under his beak.

"That was mightily thoughtless of you," he mumbled silently while he climbed on the powerful creature's back. "Eliciting a conflict with the flockleader's overseer? You're lucky he feels in bright spirits today, otherwise we'd work the fields even on celebration days."

Autumn squawked something back. Whether he approved his misdeeds or contested the disciplining words that fell upon him, Amerith couldn't tell in the heat of the moment. "Fare you well, Skarran. And you too, my former flock!"

While he waved his goodbyes on the back of his trotting gryphon, Skarran's voice screeched from behind, unleashing one last pearl that put a smile on Amerith's face.

"Put that excitement to use, Autumn! As my own sire taught me, those who have the energy to run can work the fields from dusk till dawn!"

"Certainly seems to be our fate for today." The blue avian sighed.

He tried to enjoy the little leisure time he had left until he reached the farm, but his thoughts were aflame with a disturbingly accurate hypothesis on who Autumn's 'dove' was. His mother picked on it. Skarran followed the same hypothesis with stunning accuracy. Who knew how long it would be until the entire village pointed their fingers at them?

"No. no!" Amerith pushed back his gryphon's preening attempts as they slowed down to a stop between fields filled with working avians. "We can't display this sort of affection in public! Nor can we afford to pick fights with our friends." He jutted a finger right to the tip of Autumn's golden beak. "Our community prides itself with the unity we've achieved ever since we let go of our own pride and stubbornness. We may have different names, wear different outfits, or speak in different pitches, but one thing must be established right now. We're all family!"

With Autumn bowing his head in understanding, Amerith softened his voice. He caressed his gryphon behind an ear to let him know their bond still held strong. "Skarran only enforces the flockmaster's desire for a prosperous bounty, so that none of our flock finds themselves with an empty table this coming winter. We work not because we wish to, not because of love for the earth, or ourselves, or anybody. We work because we must. You understand that?"

The gryphon's black tipped crest flattened along his head, just like his ears. Tepidly, he inched his head closer into Amerith's chest until the top part of his beak connected to the avian's white, feathered chest.

Amerith wasted no time to lean forward and hug his gryphon's neck, fingers traveling all over his feathered neck to stir the most beautiful serenade of chirps. "Oh, my dear Autumn. You sure have ways to melt my heart, my dear, silly sack of feathers! Now off we go. On foot, from now on!"

After he almost grew deaf in his ears from the gryphon's sonorous song of affection past his dismounting, Amerith tried to retreat from the gryphon's equally stubborn embrace, finding it hard to do so with his partner's talons tightly pressed against his behind while a wing shadowed him from above.

"Ok, a few more scritches for a prosperous session!"

A few turned into a dozen, and even then, Autumn refused to relent. Blanketed by the gryphon's love and preened in gooey ways that left his feathers damp, he started to feel like Autumn grew more...taken with him. The way he composed himself had an intensity to it, a type of affection he hadn't tasted upon his own feathers so far. While he had been mate-less for years, Amerith was by far not uneducated in the courting rituals of gryphons. He knew exactly what Autumn wanted...and that one thing made his blood heat up several degrees hotter even in the company of the one creature he never felt awkward around.

"Alright bud, enough drooling on my feathers for now. A long day awaits us, and this soil awaits its turning."

Somehow, the sense of duty finally got to Autumn's bird brain. Clacking his beak with positive eagerness, the gryphon's embrace receded, replaced by the excitement of a quick riding session. He blazed across the fields like a streak of earthly red, his wings offering him great momentum even if his four avian feet remained firmly rooted upon the life-giving soil of their valley. Once they reached the half-worked fields they called their own, the duo set to work the earth, with Autumn handling the heavy work while Amerith closely supervised the even nature of the lines split into the earth by the gryphon's plough. After a few hours, he started joking about how their great contribution will be the talking point of the summer fruit festival - of how everyone will gorge themselves on the succulent melons sprouting from the very field they threaded upon - the sweet fruit of their labor. Autumn recognized the importance behind his partner's humor. With a confident push of his head, he urged Amerith to keep up his concentration as more and more of the flat ground started to look like the even stripes of a tiger's coat.

As the sun's light started to acquire the increasingly defined golden colors of sunset, the heat of the day started to feel increasingly more bearable. Amerith and his gryphon stepped over the boulders of earth with their spindly feet, chirping to each other as pride filled their feathers as much as dust. Skarran even passed by to not only confirm what they already saw with their own eyes, but grant them an unexpected boon in the form of an earlier departure from their daily duties.

The two avians chased each other through the valley in glee, venturing thoughtlessly into the wet farms, where reeds trapped their feet all too easily. Amerith became the first victim of the thicker mud. With his hooked, avian claws sinking their tips too deep into the clay-like soil, the young avian found himself helplessly diving face first into a thick concoction of water and earth no sane avian ever wished to bathe in.

"Quark!" He spat the earthy mixture that flooded his beak, yet he neither complained nor cursed the horrid state of his feathers. Instead, he turned his gaze upon his partner, chirping his glee on his own, steady, superior four feet.

"Amused, are you? Let's see how your claws protect you against this!"

Autumn screeched in terror as a ball of mud found a new home on his proud, feathered chest.

"Chirp now, you teasing weasel!" the drippy avian chuckled.

The gryphon's plunge into the wicked fields of watery mud came as no surprise, but his relentless determination to prove himself as the stronger male certainly took the avian through a more exerting game than he wished to participate in. Even so, the fatigue of a long day of work quickly took a step back in the face of such jovial games. Amerith wrestled with Autumn in the unappealing pond for so long his arms prickled with fatigue from all the pushing, stroking, and rubbing they did, for a lazy pile of feathers like Autumn would have easily been content with a wash in the cleaning bucket unless he found himself soaked to the very base of his feathers in the watery crust of the earth he tilled.

"Alright, alright. I think we had about enough of this senseless squabble." Amerith said as he worked on ridding himself of the thicker clumps of mud that clung to his feathers. "We need to climb upstream before the sun sets, otherwise even our feathers shall not protect us from the encroaching night's chill."

With no other choice left but to ascend towards their favorite creak engulfed in the lush cape of green wilderness, Autumn begrudgingly put his legs through another round of heavy work, meandering through the forested incline while Amerith happily rested upon the gryphon's back. He loved how the air acquired a slight chill after their forms disappeared inside the temperate forest. Joyful birds sang all around them, buzzing with the same energy as the insects that still took advantage of the sun's last rays of light before darkness would engulf their world. Mud started to dry upon both of their bodies halfway through the journey, yet in such a virgin, serene place, Amerith cared little for how he looked, more brown than blue. Few avians climbed along the secret path he and Autumn discovered since their childhood, and since the gryphon was the only one who could gaze upon the sorry state of his feathers, Amerith had nothing but a refreshing bath to worry for...among a few other wishful things.

With his eyes flying often to the small birds zipping between the beams of light piercing through the canopy of the forest, his feathered crest perked with excitement at the idea of finding himself up there one day, sailing upon warm winds basked in the sun's benevolent light.

"Krawk?" The gryphon slowed down to a stop, as if sensing his rider's melancholy.

"Oh, nothing," the gryphon's concern quickly was answered by a few quick scratches along the back of his head. "Just thinking how much faster this journey would be if you could move these lazy flappers."

Autumn vocalized a serenade of chirps and churrs as the avian started to massage the joints of his wings next. He proudly spread them both as much as he could in the thicker foliage, much to Amerith's surprise.

"You feel the itch to stretch them? Good. You'll have plenty of space once we get to our lake!" He patted the gryphon on the head, urging him forward. With Autumn settling back into his uphill trot, Amerith too continued his monologue. "We can practice more flapping movements when we're back in the fields. Perhaps today is the day when we can finally open ourselves to the skies of possibilities. Imagine not only our valley, but a whole world stretching beneath us, with snow-capped mountains and deserts and everything our mother told us! We can be adventurers, or seekers of knowledge, or even part of the Sky's Reach Skyguard!"

That last one seemed a bit far-fetched. Wingless farmers and working gryphons made for sad recruits in the ranks of a kingdom's army. He ever admired one Lerankar Brightbeak, an overseer rising in ranks far beyond his station. He inspired others with his acts of valor unknown to the world at the time, but the rest, he considered daredevils, recklessly risking their lives for no certain gain. Even so, the possibility of seeing one of the larger cities built by the other races intrigued him, so much so that he remained stuck in a self-made dream world up until Autumn's thumping talons wrestled him back to the surrounding forest...and the tranquil lake that now bordered the shore he found himself upon.

"Oh, here already? Alright," Amerith looked around for the washing and brushing tools they stashed hanging in one of the nearby trees. "Help me look for...that!" He chirped with glee upon noticing the flecking fabric sack dangling a short distance away. "Rear up, snatch the brush and the rough sponge, and I'll- Autumn, no. no! Don't you-" Amerith anchored his grip on the neck of the gryphon that turned not towards the cleaning tools, but towards the intimidating body of water. "Don't you dare stroll in until I jump off. You know how much I hate the deep water!"

Hearing nothing, the gryphon's legs disappeared further into the lake. Water started to embrace him as it embraced Amerith's legs, the tall position he enjoyed on the gryphon's back slowly reducing itself to about an arm's advantage as the water started to creep up further past his elbows.

"Skraa!" the avian jumped off and quickly made his way back to the shallower parts of the lake while his gryphon continued his silly descent until his legs completely left the lake's bed. "Fine! Soak your feathers all the way to their roots if you wish. YOU will be returning to me for a long brushing session. Mark me! You're going to beg for the brush you so eagerly abandoned!"

That said, Amerith too cleansed himself off the superficial mud as best as he could before his feet took him ashore. Water dripped onto the grassy bank from his soaked, naked body, the colder touch of the wind prickling his plumage to form a ridiculous sight for anybody that stole a glance in his direction. Fortunately, complete loneliness was the main advantage of this serene spot, and as such, Amerith had no qualms about walking about naked as a newborn chick.

"Yes!" he happily gripped the two short handle brushes between his fingers from the sack's innards. He also found a disgustingly molded bread along with a ration of dry fruits they forgot to eat during their last visit.

With the essentials in hand, Amerith walked back to the lake's shore. He barely waited two minutes before Autumn scurried back to him, his wide pupils focused on two things that brought his feathers more pleasure than his partner's delicate claws.

Amerith smiled inwards upon being so right, "Washing first, brushing after. Proper washing. Not the wing splashing you think is swimming."

He directed his gryphon on a warm, sunny spot on the shore, grabbed the hard, yet malleable sponge, and began to roughly run it along the gryphon's feathers, much to his partner's trilling pleasure.

"H-hey, no preening!" Amerith chuckled. "I can't...focus on my work...if your beak is all I'm seeing!"

Working with an affectionate gryphon slowing you down was difficult, even annoying at times. The front part was easy enough to scrub. Leaning his head into the motion of the sponge, Autumn behaved well for the first part of the cleaning. The challenge came later, when Amerith got to his wing muscles and beyond. Besides flaring his wings for ease of access along with many trills of delight that spoke clearly of his enjoyment, Autumn launched counter-preening offensives that not always ended with happy chirps.

"Calm down, you eager beaver! I barely even got to your haunches yet! Do you want the night to catch you uncombed?"

The threat deterred the gryphon as effectively as the avian could stop a stubborn beast like him to cease his adoration. Amerith even believed he lost a feather or two to Autumn's insistent efforts to reciprocate his partner's cleaning efforts.

"Raak- that's it!" He grabbed his gryphon's head between his hands and pressed the top of his beak against the gryphon's. "I love you too, my dear squawker, more than I have shown you out there in the fields or even here, in our secret nook. But you have to let me work, ok? You know the sponge is only the first part of the pampering ritual."

Listening with wide glistening eyes glaring up at him, Autumn looked so incredibly cute, softening the avian's determination.

"Alright, alright, I will try to be more patient with you, but please, remember how this goes. First, we brush off the superficial layer of whatever sediment got between your feathers, then we rake the remains from root to tip. However! If you'd rather say no to the brush in favor of some manual preening labor, then alright. We can preen each other until the sun sets and our beaks grow slack with fatigue."

That was a lot for Amerith to say, and even more for Autumn to digest. The gryphon could've understood a myriad of things from that drawn-out soup of thoughts, yet the one meaning he focused on was not even something that could be said. Only felt in the most strangest and unexpected occurrence. His beak met the avian's sideways, nibbling with the intention to...kiss him! Shocked by something he only saw between courting gryphons, the avian stood still as a statue, with no idea whether to push Autumn away or open his beak in acceptance. So he waited, and waited, until the magic of the moment slowly dissipated.

Autumn pulled back, his beady eyes looking for answers that came in the form of a warm hug around his neck. A hug, as strong as he could ever ask for...but even so, not the answer he expected.

"Oh, you silly chirper. How can I ever say no to that stare? I love you so much. You know that! But such mysteries are not meant to be revealed here, in the heart of the forest. It's scary when the night falls over our peaceful valley, and here...there's wolves roaming about." Amerith laughed. "You wouldn't want the love of your life to become a wolf's dinner, right?"

He quite expected the gryphon's soaked wings to envelop him. For a talon to rush behind his back and smash him against the gryphon's wet, confident chest. Autumn would die before he let that happen, something Amerith always knew deep in his heart.

"Point...proven. Now please. Let me...finish you off properly. See?" The avian presented both the brush and the sponge, each held in separate hands. "I can make use of both of these at the same time. Sponge for your finer parts like the paws and the beak..." he teasingly slid it along the scales of the gryphon's hind feet. "And brush, for this mound of feathers!"

Strangely enough, Autumn paid little attention to the brush's surprise attack on his proud tail, waiting for the avian to finish his thing before headbutting his chest lovingly. Amerith chuckled. He brushed the gryphon's head with both brush and sponge, leaving his feathers nice and tidy on his way towards his neck and beyond. The dance of softer sponge and hard workbrush seemed to work better than expected, eliciting trills of appreciation among chirps of joy from the spoiled gryphon. Autumn swayed with the movements made by Amerith's practiced hands, his soaked feathers almost combing themselves upon the teeth of the brush. Autumn seemed to enjoy showing Amerith exactly where his touch was needed. He did such marvelous work, all by himself! But...why?

Answers as sweet as they were curious soon revealed themselves to Amerith's eyes once he shifted his efforts to the gryphon's underside. His sponge barely got to even flatten those spiky-looking feathers left in disarray by the gryphon's vigorous shaking when Autumn suddenly dropped on his haunches, a stubborn squawk answering Amerith's pleas for a smoother continuation of their almost-finished task.

"Come on...we're almost done." He said to the stubborn bird. "Up you go. Up! There's only the belly and the haunches left!"

Defiant, Autumn vocalized his disagreement with a few snaps of his beak.

"What got into you? Have I pulled one by mistake? Is a tooth stuck in your plumage" Confused, disheartened, Amerith went around the gryphon, his cerulean eyes meticulously scanning the auburn feathers for displacements or other oddities.

He found none. The only oddity came in the very form of the feathered mystery standing before him like a weary feline with its tail wrapped around its limbs. With beady eyes, he stared at nothing in particular, hot air rolling across a tongue that refused to fully retreat back into the gryphon's half parted beak.

How...could he be tired??

"Having your feathers brushed sure seems to exert you more than an hour out there in the fields." Instead of allowing the negative sort of feelings to filter through him, Amerith opted to lift the mood instead. "Aaaalright, alright, we'll give you a moment to catch your breath. Unless something else is at play here."

He moved to stoke the gryphon's courage for a second brushing session after two long minutes of waiting...yet as his fingers began to play along Autumn's chin, some strangely intense smell hit him in full force, followed by the wet sound of a spurting discharge over the softened soil.

Shaking his head off the strange miasma that almost dazed him with its potency, Amerith caught a much too obvious peek at the gryphon's painfully obvious problem. Something he dealt with in the past, during a heated night of unspent passions or out in the fields where a female's scent so easily drifted upon the winds.

But never had it ever manifested in such a harmless, relaxing, tender feather-brushing situation! Autumn's bulged cloaca glistened with hefty secretions meant to keep his tender parts protected from the outside elements, yet right now, nothing could fully shelter the gryphon's cock from the avian's sight. A tapered, fleshy thing that rubbed along the ground in ways that could not possibly appease its owner. Yet still, it throbbed, tensed, and leaked, pulsating hard in rhythm with Autumn's quickened breaths.

"O-oh, you're...pretty worked up, heh heh," Amerith scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. "Did I do this with my brush or..." his words were cut short by a shudder that almost raised all feathers on the gryphon's body. Autumn jerked forward as if pushed by an invisible force, forcing yet another sharp discharge to explode from the jerking tip of his heated member with a very audible smear across the ground.

It was at that moment when Amerith realized he did not truly need to be here to witness such...exotic sights.

"Kraaa, you know what? I'll give you a bit of time to...while I'll...in the lake for a couple of moments."

His bumbling, half coherent excuse came to an end once invigorating coldness embraced him, stifling the embers that awakened all over his bristling feathers. Sky's windy embrace, was it hard to witness such sights without feeling heated prickles down there. Amerith's heart still rammed into his chest with the same heated passion it did once he drew in that musky, familiar scent deep into his nostrils. His cloaca still convulsed around his emerging tip, stirring his maleness to a rude awakening he never wished to experience in front of his gryphon. Not so suddenly, not during brushing.

Not outside the intimate comfort of their secluded nest.

"Come on...why can't you go back?" Amerith crouched lower into the water as if to shield himself further from the indecency he suffered from, covering his protruding member within a closed fist. He knew why this happened. His own passions burned as hot as Autumn's whenever he had a whiff of the gryphon's delightful scent. The first time he sampled it forever remained in his mind as a wicked, recurring fantasy. A stamp of shame and lust that haunted him in his weakest, most aroused moments. To wake up in the embrace of hay and feathers, with your gryphon eagerly pressing his spurting member upon your slimy, seeded feathers was not something one can easily forget. Ever since that moment, Amerith's usually reserved mind opened its shuttered gates to possibilities that left him feeling dirty whenever he conjured them.

And the possibilities were vast. So vast! What sane avian imagined his beak cascading along the leaky length of his gryphon? Kissing their bountiful rod, or feasting on its warm, life-giving juices? What decent male entertained a scenario where they would drop down on their fours in order to become a female for their partner? In his strangest, hottest of moods, Amerith imagined himself blessed with the same warm, sticky seed that flooded his feathers during that night...only in his secret fantasies, his gryphon's seed would not be pouring over him, but IN him. He'd take Autumn more intimately than one ever could, allowing his member to bury itself down to its vent and spurt a stream of heat and love that would course into the very essence of his being.

Though embarrassing in the extreme, these sort of thoughts were not only inevitable, but necessary for a mate-less avian like Amerith; one who still needed sexual release, mated or not. Avians all across the world knew tales of those few who shunned a partner of their species in order to cement their commitment to their gryphons by taking them as mates. A criticized, yet not forbidden practice. Harmless as it might've been to their society, such unions stifled the growth of a family that relied on sons to further its lineage. Amerith himself never got far enough with a female of his own kind to mate with. All he had -the closest thing that took his lusts away like a mate should have- came in the form of a long, narrow vegetable coated with oils that gave his male-hole much relief in those warm days and even hotter nights when his own member refused to retreat back into its home.

Yet this time...this time, things could be different. In this quiet, secluded place, Amerith Rainfeather, farmer of fields and lover of gryphons, could experience love like never before.

"I...I can't bury my dreams forever. Nor can I pretend certain impulses aren't there." The avian softly whispered to himself as one of his hands softly slid down his body until he found the in-between of his legs. He gently pressed a finger against the now-sealed opening of his cloaca, shuddering at the heated thoughts that clashed with the surrounding water's chilly feel.

"He wants me. Out of all the possible gryphons he can court, he chose...me! What can a wingless urchin that will forever be a burden upon his back provide that a gryphon can't?"

This time, Amerith mashed his beak shut in rightful anger, directed not at his beloved companion, but at the silly path he set himself upon. Amerith cared about his gryphon greatly. To see him stuck on a farm, in a secluded nest, with no mate to preen and no hatchlings to further his lineage made Amerith feel not only pissed with how little he could offer Autumn. He also felt dejected and small!

Small like any avian that dreamed to embrace the skies, yet forever remain parted from the reach of the high winds.

Even so, Autumn chose him. Him, of all the other options! Perhaps he saw something about him, or...he simply knew better?

The irritation soaking beneath his feathers started to dissipate the more Amerith reflected upon all the happy times the two of them shared. Sure, their life together had not been by any means perfect, but no matter what hardships came their way, the two of them drew strength from each other. They endured...and so did their bond.

"I like him too. Perhaps more than one of my own. Sky's light, what am I thinking..."

Indeed, what was he thinking? Taking a gryphon as his mate? A male one, at that. One that might very well turn out to be bonded to him for life! He'd have no hatchlings of his own too, just like Autumn.

How could this be anything but a strange choice forged in the crucible of instinct and lust?

"I need to change his mind," Amerith chanced a look back at Autumn, perched on the grassy shore, curious eyes waiting for his return. "Even if I fail, I have to try. We can't be lifemates. It's just not meant to be."

Autumn received his return with gleeful chirps and more than the usual round of presentable preening. He strutted around, eagerly displaying his neatly brushed feathers as if to impress one that needed no further reasons to admire his partner's entrancing plumage.

Amerith waited for his excitement to die down, then cupped his head between his palms, massaging his sensitive, feathered cheeks. "It's alright. You don't have to try so hard to convince me of how beautiful you are. You already had my heart since the day we were joined, my dear skyborn gryphon... my friend, my...partner."

Voice quivering with emotions, Amerith wasn't sure he could speak what he needed to. Autumn had such love for him. To shatter his dreams of a mateship he seemed so keen on seemed...unfair.

"The two of us...we've been through so much together. Known each other for almost two decades now." He started to comb other areas of his head with his sharp, yet gentle claws "I know the place of every one of your feathers by heart. And you know mine. So why pause when your gender graces my gaze? Unsheathed as it may be, that too is part of you. A small one. A part of a much greater whole, a gryphon I love with all my heart."

With a long relieved breath, Autumn further released the tension that kept his wings rigid and his legs too close together.

"That's it. Relax." Amerith chuckled. "Let it hang out, if you must. The sight of it can't disturb me any more than the time we stumbled upon our neighbor Krelda, in her family's barn, getting herself ploughed by two of her suiters!"

That was years ago, when neither of them fully understood the need for copulation.

Autumn chirped some manner of agreement, but his head still remained low, and his wings sagged.

"It's all fine. I promise." Amerith stroked his neck tenderly. "Look, I won't even peek at it if that soils your feathers, ok? Even if I want to. Even if I think it's quite...larger than my own, your peeking problem is no problem at all between males far too familiar with the painful mess of a wet, sodden dream."

Autumn still remained unconvinced.

"Want me to prove it?"

Surprisingly enough, the gryphon voiced out his agreement! Amerith sneaked under him on his fours, coming face to face with his gryphon's half erect beast. It was a rather monstrous thing compared to his own, yet retained a similar feel and look, and more particularly, the same tapered, prehensile shape and feel. Though about the size of the avian's scaly forearm and twice thicker near its base, Amerith felt like he knew where to start. The gryphon's tip was so thin and unimpressive that the avian hardly felt anxious about grabbing the smooth tip of the gryphon's tapered penis right inside an enclosed fist, stirring a bunch of excited cries and equally enthusiastic thrusts!

"There. Easy, take-take it easy!" his eyes widened as his gryphon shuddered fiercely, his mounting instincts immediately forcing his spine to arch and his member to spurt its lubrication! But no sooner than he held his gryphon's maleness fast within his grip had Amerith rescinded his silly proof of utmost courage.

"S-sorry, I only meant to show you I'm fine touching... kraaak! Aaaak!" squawks of surprise and joy alike rolled out of his beak like an avalanche. Fueled by lust unleashed by that devious hand, Autumn turned his eagerness upon the hand's owner, shoving Amerith out from the in-between of his legs and putting him through a passionate round of eager preening.

"Alright, I know that feeling the heat of your maleness inside my grip deserves some debauched celebration, but you don't have to drool all over me so shortly after I bathed!"

The gryphon had none of it. He trapped Amerith under a powerful foot, nibbled and preened his way however he wished along the avian's prone body until their beaks met once more. Amerith felt rather vulnerable right now, held prisoner on his back with such an intimidating predator staring right into his eyes.

"Are you...going to..."

He very much was, his larger beak gently nuzzling against the avian's smaller one. This time, just like when he felt the heat of his gryphon's very needs throb within his palm, Amerith no longer thought or planned or even hesitated! His parting beak allowed Autumn to finally lock his beak with his and for the very first time, their tongues were given free reign to brush along each other, taste, and touch, more intimately than they ever had before.

"Mrrfff..." Amerith churred under the warmth that enveloped his body once the gryphon settled down on his belly. As their tongues brushed gently against each other, beaks clacking together with gentle nibbles, Amerith grabbed onto the forepaw that held him in place and twined his fingers with the gryphon's, talons curling together in the heat of their wet, chirping exchange of mutual affection. They separated briefly to catch their breath, staring at each other for the span of three long breaths before their beaks once again met each other.

"Rrrhhh..." the gryphon's trills mixed with the avian's in a display as passionate as their kiss. Amerith's free hand roamed through the wet feathers of his gryphon's neck, seeking to grab onto a fistful of those delightful feathers as ripples of passion tore the avian's shyness apart. He lay in a nest formed by his gryphon's feathers, tasting his love, his lusts, his emotions through the wet bridge formed by their coupled beaks. As saliva poured from along the edges of Amerith's beak, his member raged with equal passion, smearing its pre within Autumn's steamy chest feathers.

They shared three more separate kisses, including a quick cleaning session for the saliva that managed to trickle down each other's jaws, before the scents of the avian's passions became too strong for the gryphon to ignore any longer.

"Go on. I saw yours." He told the reluctant gryphon. "It's only fair for you to have a look at mine."

Autumn slowly crawled backwards to gain better access to the throbbing member secured by the avian's messy hand, pecking gently at the fingers that held the angry meat trapped in their embrace.

"Start from the tip, you greedy bird. I'm doing your feathers a favor by..." Amerith squeezed his eyes shut from the moment his gryphon's beak welcomed his tip inside. Autumn was not one to loiter. He skipped the inspection phase and jumped straight to tasting, the wonderful motions of his skilled avian tongue already sending his smaller partner into a world of hot, steamy, feathery pleasures.

"Nrrrfff...don't...I need to...aaaaahhh!"

With the gryphon insistently pushing the tip of his beak against the avian's entrapping fingers in search for more cock to feast on, Amerith slowly unfastened the grip that held his member secure, safe from throbbing and spitting hazards alike. And that...felt absolutely amazing! No sooner than his grip receded, Autumn's large, hungry beak replaced the tightness previously applied on the better part of his cock, more than two thirds of the avian's member finding itself engulfed within the gryphon's scalding embrace.

"You're...aahhh! I can't believe you're really....uffff!" Amerith's legs bucked with instinctual weight under the oppressive bliss that took hold of his body. For a virgin male that only knew the feel of his coarse hand, the insides of his gryphon's accommodating beak felt nothing short of divine! It came hard...too hard to resist the temptation to bury himself deeper.

So thrust he did, delving his member further into Autumn's careful beak. But the gryphon neither choked nor complained about the shudders, jerks, and thrusting motions that turned his beak into a thing to mount and...spill into. No. He kept on sucking, his own pleasure manifesting in loving sounds and unfurled feathers that vibrated with the satisfaction of servicing his friend.

"Skies...this feels so...I can't...stop!" Amerith winced, possessed by the instinctual need any male suffered from once they tasted such delightful combination of moisture and heat. To thrust. To mate. To cum and spread his seed inside his lover. Thrust by thrust, he worked himself near the edge of bliss inside Autumn's squelching beak. Copious amounts of pre and saliva trickled down the gryphon's chin, making a real mess on Amerith's lower belly, but none really minded that. None...cared about it. Especially not the naughty gryphon! Eyes closed, Autumn's lost himself in a dazing world of scents and tastes he could only dream of before this moment, the rhythmical squeezes of his throat muscles coupled with the hungry slurps of his tongue coaxing out increasingly rougher whimpers from his partner.

"I...aaahh! Autumn, stop, pleaaase!" the avian squirmed in a pile of moans and sex-induced shivers. "You're...you're making me soar too close to my...aaaGHH!"

Amerith's vision fizzled among the myriad of speckling stars that blanketed the image of his gryphon copiously dining on his member. All he felt, all his senses could focus on...were the bobbing movements made by his gryphon's head, the sliding motions of his penis rolling back and forth along the gryphon's tongue, and that wet, messy sound of slurped up fluids that kept his groin tight with pleasure. It wasn't every day that your gryphon partner welcomed your cock within their beak, and that single prospect of seeding his partner's throat with the very essence of life made Amerith's lonely desires yearn to experience the fantasies conjured by his warm, desperate mind. To finally ejaculate not on a scrap of cloth or on the grass, milked by his own hand...but in the presence of his partner. More particularly, inside a beak that obviously thirsted for his seed.

His toes curled hard once the last vestiges of his resistance melted in the slithering hot cum racing towards the curling tip of his hardening penis. With his beak split open by moans and his finger claws raking long lines into the ground that seemingly shifted under him, Amerith embraced the few more seconds he had before his seed would leak, tethering on that blissful edge where pleasure still kept building up without any diminishing returns.

Then, something happened. A shove from his gryphon sent his entire member sliding into that cave of wanton wonders that was Autumn's beak. The gryphon had no qualms about fitting Amerith's whole girth inside his gulping throat. His gag reflex never manifested when he swallowed river darters by the bunch, all in one gulp. And that showed! With nothing else to worry about, Autumn found great interest in the twitching motions made by the avian's spasming cloaca. If Amerith could speak, he would've screamed out a desperate NO! But of course his gryphon HAD TO press his beak against his cloaca. Of course he had to nibble and to massage, creating a dazzling explosion of pleasure that echoed through the forest in the form of a loud, desperate squawk.

That first lancing jet of semen shooting out of his rock-hard member almost caused Amerith to faint with pleasure. Spurt over spurt he shot, each thicker than the last. Urged out not only by a blanketing sea of stimuli that ticked off every box that satisfied a male's requirements to seed their partner, but also by the mental comfort of spending one's seed in a safe, warm, wanting place a horny, pent-up avian could hardly make any mess in. Barely any strings of cum escaped Autumn's beak during this great feast of rampant passions, his throat easily downing the hefty ropes of semen ejaculated by his partner as easily as any mouthful of cold, refreshing water. That, in turn, encouraged Amerith to cum his hardest, his desperate hips mounting jagged thrusts against the gryphon's beak in an attempt to get his seed even deeper.

"Ahh...you can...you can pull back now." The avian groaned once the haze of heat that kept him captive started to dissipate. The immense relief of his orgasm refused to die down even as his member started to retreat back into its home, much to Autumn's growing disappointment.

"Come on...I gave you all I had." Amerith complained over his gryphon's efforts to extract more tasty life essence from the receding penis. The eager gryphon snuck his beak tip into Amerith's cloaca, seeking to scoop up whatever traces of cum remained in there with his pointy, lapping avian tongue...yet those were just scraps compared to the feast he just swallowed.

Ultimately, Autumn's eagerness to taste more had been robbed by his own desire to relieve himself of his bothersome urges, one of his forepaws slammed hard by a sharp discharge of precum.

"Why? Why...did you let me...release in your beak like that?"

Autumn completely ignored the question. He began to clean the messy sides of his beak on the back of his other, cleaner forepaw, his member raging with lust. His eyes, unfocused.

"I can help you release, if...that's what you want."

The gryphon's dreamy gaze immediately focused back on him. Not sooner than he got up on his fours, Amerith quickly found himself pulled closer towards the gryphon's engorged problem by sharp, insistent talons.

"H-hold on. Let me get familiar with it first."

But Autumn didn't wish to wait. He clacked his beak and squawked indignantly, his lust to breed manifesting in the shudders of his loins as well as the ample amount of mess made by his fully erect phallus.

On his fours, Amerith got under the needy gryphon, the smells of his musky, lonely lusts hitting him in full force once he found himself with a curtain of hot steamy pre-cum drenched feathers above his head and a needy cock throbbing eagerly inches away from his beak.

"Stay put!" He cautioned as the gryphon flexed his paw on top of his exposed rump, still eager to push him closer to the very source of his need. "This procedure requires a delicate touch, alright? Let me work at my own pace you silly featherbag!"

When the delicate scales of his hands made contact with the gryphon's flesh, Amerith gasped at how warm it felt, and how easily it slid across his fingers thanks to the ample amounts of lubrication pouring down from his leaking vent. He inspected the first half of the member with touch and smell alike, even nuzzling the gryphon's length with the side of his beak to feel him throb as intimately as he did back when his own member stuffed the gryphon's throat. What if...he could taste him in the same way?

Bowing his head to the gryphon's cock level, Amerith parted his beak, salivating for a taste of warm, gryphon pre-coital juices. Yet instead of hitting his beak, a sharp spurt took him right in the face, forcing him to squeeze his eyes shut and gasp as the back of a hand smeared the fluids further into his tiny face feathers. Autumn sure leaked a lot! Something that...aroused the avian more than it put him off. Enamored by the sheer need of his partner's yearn to release, the avian took the leaky tip into his mouth and began to gently suckle on it, employing head movements that turned the simple tasting gesture into a whole romantic affair. Such varied attack on his penis worked up the gryphon's urge to ejaculate, his contained thrusts becoming more and more wild until a shove stuffed Amerith's beak with not only more cock than he could take, but a hefty spurt of pre too!

"Kah!" He was still in the process of ridding his air-hole of his gryphon's mating fluids when he found himself pressed on his back with a wet, fleshy, very pent-up cock slapping against his belly. "Oh," he chuckled. "We're doing the humping game now?"

Sure enough, Autumn started grinding his hefty rod along his belly with no complaints on either side. His member, although large, slid smoothly along the avian's lubricated feathers, huffs and chirps escaping him every so often. Though he seemed content at first with the simple grinding motion, Autumn soon began to show the color of his true desires. More than once had his tip hit Amerith in the place where his cock slept, but never once it succeeded...until now.

"Ahhh, n-not there!" the avian screeched over the gryphon's blissful moan at finding a wet, tight shelter for his cock. His silly eagerness bore no fruit, however, as his cock tip slid out of the prize it found immediately after...yet the act of being taken by his gryphon so unexpectedly stirred something in Amerith. He wanted it to happen. Just...in due time.

"Keep doing this." He crossed his legs over the gryphon's cock, bent his head towards his tip and grabbed it between both hands, and once again took communion, kissing the gryphon's member as if it was a precious, sacred thing. "I don't mind if you allow your seed to spring forth...all over me."

The erotic act soon got Amerith's member out of hiding, thrusts of his own pairing with those of his gryphon. It all felt amazing until Autumn tried to stick his tip into his cloaca a few more times, forcing the avian to safeguard his special place better by fastening the gryphon's length between both hands. Kisses on the tip, massages along the silky smooth length of his penis, even furious grinding of cock against cock all sought to rid Autumn of his burdening seed...but it soon became clear no amount of external stimulation could unburden the gryphon in the ways that he wanted.

Retreating with his leaking shame dangling between his legs, he resorted to his own beak, awkwardly trying to fit his own length inside a hollow that could hardly fit his own cock as well as it fit the slender avian.

"Stop. Stop that!" Amerith leaned forward with a scowl on his face. "You're only going to hurt yourself."

The gryphon looked at him, desperate and lustful.

"We'll find a way to sate your needs. I promise."

They needn't search too meticulously, for the answers were written all over the avian's crotch in hefty smears of penile lubrication...and Autumn still had a thirst for fresh birdseed. Amerith squawked when he found his cloaca invaded a second time, on this second occasion by a much bigger and hungrier assailant. He spread his legs and slouched over his gryphon's neck within seconds, his legs already growing weak from the humongous waves of pleasure Autumn stirred in there with his skilled, hungry tongue!

"Krrahhh, t-take it easyyy!" he groaned lustfully as his rapidly expanding maleness flopped out of its home along with thin gushes of hot lubrication. The gryphon immediately switched his attention to the avian's cock, drawing it within his beak for a few intense suckling moments before he let it hang back in the air for yet another go at Amerith's hole.

The blue-feathered avian's eyes went into the back of his head, the pressure and heat exerted upon his male entrance so raw, so instinctual, so very arousing once he noticed the effect his taste had on his gryphon. Autumn's member slammed against his own belly like a wild, eager snake, raining lubrication upon the grass beneath his thrusting haunches. Amerith could only theorize what would come next while he chirped, moaned, and squirted his liquid lust on his gryphon's face...yet that moment wasn't too far off.

Strings broke off between Autumn's beak and the avian's vent once Autumn had his fill, his usually dreamy eyes full of determination. He knew something. Oh yes, he did. Amerith could tell that from his insistent nudges. He was being led into something...no... Grabbed!

The avian chirped with concern when he saw the earth and sky switch places. Within moments, he found himself pressed with his belly against the gryphon's soaked plumage. Autumn's eager shaft probed -and throbbed excitedly- against his midsection in search of a hole to fill. Strong, confident paws wrapped around him, hoisting him up by a bit. He believed Autumn wished to bring him closer for another kiss. And in parts, he was right.

Autumn did want to kiss his other pair of lips...with his cock!

"Are you sure about this?" the avian asked, afraid for his cloaca's sake whenever his gaze lingered upon the gryphon's sizable cock.

Warm licks and eager chirps were his answer, his neck turned into a spiky mess of feathers studded with gryphon saliva. Autumn was so thorough. So...sneaky! He tried to comfort him from one end and mate with him from the other! Prickles of lustful heat and anxiety alike rushed beneath the avian's feathers upon seeing, no, feeling his gryphon's tip press against the bottom part of his member, where his cloaca was at its stretchiest.

At last, his greatest fantasy manifested right in front of his eyes, with his partner's leaky member gently knocking at the gates of his innermost passage. Yet instead of embracing this magical moment from its inception, Amerith felt anxious. What if...it wouldn't feel that good?

What if mating with his gryphon would hurt?

He barely had time to ponder on those consequences. With a stronger push from the gryphon, Amerith's squelching cloaca had no choice but to spread open, forcing the avian to fully embrace his instinctual side, as well as his gryphon. A fierce hug took place as soft folds parted all too eagerly with a squelching sound before their wet invader. Autumn released a victorious shriek, while Amerith froze up from the onrush of stimuli that tested his cloaca in ways never felt before..

"Kraa-" he choked on the spearing sensation of a hard, eager cock impaling into his cloaca for the very first time. The shock lasted but a moment until a long "aaaaahhhh..." followed.

As with anything, the first part always proved to be the hardest. No more than a few more thrusts later, Amerith relaxed against his gryphon's breast, spreading his legs further with an eagerness to take more.

"More," his soft voice demanded as pleasure inundated his senses. He loved to look at how his gryphon thrust in and out of his squelching hole, adoring how his body bounced up with every motion made by his lover. Each push inched deeper and wider, stretching and massaging his cloaca to a size and extent he didn't know possible. Bit by bit, his naturally stretchy muscles adapted to the gryphon's girth, and soon, any feelings of discomfort within his cloaca vanished as his entire genital region started to blaze as warm as their feelings. At all points during the mating, Autumn's warm eyes presided over him, ensuring no harm would come to his prized possession while his increasingly eager thrusts made a wet mess over the avian's nether regions.

"You mate so...gently." Amerith whimpered for more, happy to see his gryphon taken by such delightful pleasures. He chirped lustfully between every few thrusts...and when he didn't chirp, he kissed, lustful and loving and beautifully gentle to his increasingly sonorous partner. As he further adjusted to this different, more pleasant type of ploughing, Amerith started to demand a more vigorous pace, eliciting sonorous screeches from his gryphon every time he pushed his body downwards in an attempt to shelter more than the gryphon tried to offer, squeezing the widening girth as tightly in as his stretching orifice allowed.

"I can take it," he panted confidently, hands fastened on his gryphon's shuddering limbs. "Please...give yourself completely to me. Take me whole...just like you did when I erupted inside your beak..."

Autumn chirped something in understanding. Then, he thrust, not trepid like before, but strong and confident, just like he used to rake the dirt in the fields. Amerith found his breath taken by the intense ramming...but not in a bad way! His own prehensile cock even began to wrap around the gryphon's, eventually reaching and also prodding into his lover's cloaca as they squeezed closer together. With each gulp of warm, musky air he inhaled through his greedy nostrils from the gryphon's precum-covered chest, more of his own lusts seeped forth in abundance, yet clearly, not as abundant as what Autumn prepared to bless him with. Between kisses and musk and love, Amerith sailed across skies and seas he never EVER explored with his own two hands. This type of ...love was so intense, it completely enraptured his mind and body alike. Trapped in his own bubble of bubbling bliss, he never thought this pleasure would know an end.

Yet, end it did, with a blast as strong as the first penetration felt for either of the two. It all started with a passionate kiss, then a shove that made Amerith's half lidded eyes burst open with the shocking realization of something really BIG filling his cloaca. He screeched in panicked bliss at the fulfilling notion of being the first avian to ever take their entire gryphon in from their very first try...but the pressure that filled him felt too warm, too strange, too...runny to be his Autumn's member.

That could only mean one thing- he came! His gryphon came inside him! Narrowly had he managed to see a cascade of white overflowing from his cloaca before his own member bloated with the weight of finality, the scents of the act, the sight of his gryphon liberating himself at last of his abundant cum inside his own body pushing him hard into a surprisingly intense fit of ejaculation.

Chirps, screeches, and moans of passion resonated through the forest during this most intense and wicked union of cocks, tongues, and seed alike, neither of them willing to let go of the other. Two souls entwined as one, in the most intimate way possible.

"I think...we need to wash ourselves properly before the night is upon us." Amerith chirped lazily once their vigor spent itself down to the last drop.

With great reluctance and difficulty they separated from each other once their passions stopped flowing so freely. Autumn wobbled into the deeper waters with Amerith close by, as no scrub, no matter how fierce, could wrestle that much seed from any of their feathers.

After a long, tiring wash, they emerged on the lake's bank even more tired than they were after their mating, yet not...quite drained of surprises. Freed of the water's embrace through a few vigorous shakes, Autumn walked further inland bearing a sly glint in his eyes. Amerith looked with a bemused stare at how he settled his hindquarters against the ground that would stain them mercilessly within less than a breath, but then...he saw his wings, spreading proudly to show their magnificent span.

His jaw almost dropped as Autumn motioned for him to climb on.

"No...it can't be. It-It can't!" he rushed towards his gryphon like an excited chick to mount him faster than even Autumn did during their love session! Together, as one, they broke away from the earth they knew all their lives to ascend into a world of beautiful possibilities. A new step in their lives, as vibrant and warm as the sun's smoldering embers engulfed by the night's mysterious veil.

***The End***

Dear followers, readers, and lovers of all fluffy things. my landowner is forcing me and my brother Nulkurrak to find a new place to live. More so, they struck us with extra spendings from 2022 that only now we are being made aware of in a desperate attempt to avoid refunding our deposit. With only until 28 of this month to move out, time is of the essence. Please, if you can lend a paw and share a few shinies to help us out, I would be eternally grateful to you. Here is the kofi link where you can help https://ko-fi.com/nulkurrak0114

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