Changling of Heart. (Open)

Leo was exhausted. He'd been flying through the day and night to reach his destination, a doctor called Winter Bell. He hadn't stopped, not once, always in the sky and always on the move. He'd had to loose a Griffon pursuer which had cost him allot of energy, but it had been worth it to keep them both safe. The creature on his back had remained unconscious throughout the trip and he'd made frequent checks on her condition to make sure she was still stable, though stable maybe wasn't the correct term. She would die if he didn't get to Winter in time and it was for that reason he'd been flying straight without rest.

When he finally reached Winter he hit the ground hard, his legs bending and struggling to support him slightly as the fatigue caught up with him. But he held himself strong as he quickly made his way to the massive house under the cover of night. He raised a paw, knocking hard twice before he gave a look around to see if he was being watched, which from what he could tell, he wasn't. Minutes passed before the door swung open to reveal a small blue unicorn mare who gasped at the site of them, "Come in at once!" she said in her refined accent as she pushed the door wide, Leo entering without hesitation as he headed through the familiar halls to the back of the mansion sized house. Winter followed close behind him and entered behind him as they entered the back room, a large medical theater.

Leo set the Changeling down gently on the bed and Winter immediately got to work as she took out some tools, dowsing them in healing potion before she started. Carefully and skillfully she stitched up tears and gashes using magical thread, pulling the torn flesh together and rubbing it over with a cloth dowsed in potion. Her work took nearly an hour but by the end of it she'd managed to repair the physical wounds of the Changeling. All the while Leo stood, watching and waiting, his face stained with exhaustion, yet hardened without emotion. "Alright, that should do it" said Winter as she rubbed a fore hoof across her forehead before looking to Leo, "We'll just have to wait and see now" she said with a sorry look. Leo nodded in understanding and moved towards the door. "Where are you going?" asked Winter as she cocked her head to the side, "I'll wait in the next room" was all he said as he left, finding himself a spot to rest as he left Winter alone with the Changeling. He knew he could trust Winter, he'd been here plenty of times before and she'd saved him on more then one occasion.

Nightmares, she always had them, for as long as she could remember they had swarmed her subconscious, destroying her good dreams. This time they were fueled by pain and the feeling of falling a lot. That was until they were washed over by a feeling of warmth she's never felt before. Her pain forgotten she stopped, suspended in mid air as if gravity had decided it no longer wanted her. So she did what any changeling would, she opened her wings and let them buzz. To her surprise she moved, at first slowly in the direction but now it was a willing movement. So she continued down at her own pace, eventually the black nothingness pulled away revealing a large field. When she looked back the black nothing consumed the sky, like a giant blanket that hide the stars, clouds, sun, moon, and everything else from view.

It scared her, immensely, and just when she thought her fears would overwhelm her, a voice stole her attention. It came from behind a seemed to melt away the fear but when she turned there was nothing. Still she could hear the voice, it called to her beckoned her to draw near. So she did. She slowly glided down till eventually her dark grey hooves touch the grass which died upon contact, or it was all already dead and she simply crushed it she couldn't tell. She strode forward non the less following the voice which was now complimented with a series of whispers. Ever foot step made a soft crunch from her weight crushing the dead plants below her. The walk seemed to take forever and every step seemed to increase the number of whispers and the single voice.

The sight she caught at the top of the hill was nothing short of breath taking. It the Grand Hive, it large black towers stretching to the sky, the thick deep purple wall that surround the all 5 of them. She was standing at the northern entrance, the large sealed cave system that lead down a kilometer and a half before opening up into one of them many level of the large underground city. The voices were coming from within it, hundreds of them. She felt her heart race she took her first step, but that one step seemed to mark the collapsing of the central tower. Her eyes widened as it fell over hitting another causing both of them to fall. They yet the second held for just a second causing their direct to change and swerve... right at her. She took in a deep breath, her wings buzzed and her eyes widened yet she couldn't get away her body wouldn't move and just as she was about to get crushed beneath her home...


She lurched forward in the bed, her whole body lifting up which only cause a large number of sharp pain to shoot down her back. She winced her blue eye and leaned back slowly, her wings were forced spread to keep them out of the bandages. It was then she realized she was laying in a bed. She took a quick glance around at the unfamiliar settings, this certainly wasn't prison. She stared at the curtain that surrounded her bed noting her couldn't see through them.

Then she did the most courageous thing she could think of. "H... Hello?"

Winter pulled back the curtain and stepped inside as she heard the Changeling call out, clearly having awoken. "Hey" she said softly as she approached the bed side, "How are you feeling?" she asked before adding "Don't worry, you're safe here" she reassured, noticing how the Changeling looked slightly afraid.

Slightly was a mild understatement. As soon as the curtain had moved she jumped and pulled herself close, the others word did little to console her. "Who... Who are you? What do you want?" She pulled herself up closer to the pillow her head had been laying, several green putter spark shot from her horn yet there was no magic that didn't stop her from trying. "P-please don't hurt me, I'm sorry, I don't know how I got into your home, or..." It was clear she was start to slip into panic, that last thing she remember was fighting. How did she get here!?

Winter continued to smile, but didn't move any closer as she didn't want the Changeling to feel threatened. "I'm Winter, I'm a doctor and I healed you up. You were in quite a bad way when you were brought in" she said before levitating up a chart, "Severe lacerations, external and internal bruising, minor green stick fracture" she said as her eyes read the list, "It's a good thing you got here when you did" she said with a smile, "But I promise you, you're safe here, no one will harm you".

"I was running... There was fighting, we were trying to escape. How did I get here?" She asked her eyes looking over the mare, she was trying not to shake, trying to feel safe. It hard to relax when you've been in prison as long as she has, maybe there was a griffon right on the other side of the wall over there, maybe there was one right outside, or walking up as they spoke. "You.... You're not going to give me back to them are you?"

Winter put up a hoof "No, I can assure you no one plans to hand you to anyone, you're free to come and go as you please" she said as she put the chart back down on the table near them, "As for you getting here that would be Leo's doing, he found you and brought you here" she said before tilting her head a little "You, don't remember?" she asked.

She slowly shook her head, she didn't really remember anything, after the fight. None of the Prisoners she knew were named 'Leo'. "No, I was flying then someone grabbed me, then I woke up here with you talking about how hurt I was. I don't even remember getting hurt." She paused to look down at her hooves. Then realized she didn't even know what she was in the presence of, the only unicorns she'd seen were muscular and bitter. She'd never seen a mare outside of her own species before. "Um... I'm Reflected.." She managed to make not really wanting to say the last part to someone she only just met. "Are you a real unicorn?"

Winter give her an odd look for a moment before nodding, "Yes, I am" she said as she brought a hoof to her horn, tapping it twice, "At least I'm pretty sure I am" she said with a smile, "You already know my name, just call me Winter, or Bell, either is fine" she said before her face turned a bit more serious, "So you have no memory of getting here... what is the last thing you remember?" she asked.

She paused her white pupiles seeming to dart around for a moment she searched her memories opening her mouth she let her words and the tears she'd been holding back flood from her.

--=-==-==-=--

I had woken that night in the the cell I had been recently transferred to you know, sense I broke the last one with my face. I had learned to sleep lightly to prepare for the beating and forced magical backlash the griffons often put me through for amusement and when no beating came I opened my eyes to see one of the prisoners had gotten out and opened my cell. I thought he was going to hurt me but instead he rested his hoof upon my back the ripped apart the apart the steel chain with his magic. I couldn't tell if I was scared of excited, but being as he meant me no harm I followed him. The other prisoners were loose to, they had killed the two guards that patrolled the cells to make sure we didn't try anything. I don't know how, I don't know when but they had done it. I wanted to feel bad for the guards but I couldn't help but be happy they were dead. So we snuck to the armory one of the guards tried to squawk and give away our escape but another one of the unicorns had use a weak silence spell, even I didn't hear it. Against all of us, he didn't last long, and with him out of the way we had enough weapons for all of us from the armory. I was scared and couldn't use the huge crossbow very well but I tried. We made it all the way out into the court yard before they ambushed us, they knew we were coming. I think it's sick that they let their guards die to lure us into a trap but they did. So the group rushed them, and we fought over the courtyard and the large prison gate. That was the first time I'd ever killed anyone... So I ran I wanted to get through the gate, we couldn't fly yet, not with those ballistas watching the air, waiting for us. What I didn't know is that everyone else had followed me, and when I tackled the gate so did they. We had to beat on it a bit to get it open and even then we were met with more griffons on the other side but we could fly then, with the open space and the ballistas not being able to see against the unlit city, a lot of us tried to fight in the air, but there were so many griffons... I stood there in shock just watching my allies get cut down, I should've helped I could've but I didn't...

--=-==-==-=--
The changeling wiped away one of her tears and turned to the unicorn. "The last thing I remember is there was a griffon, he was going to hurt me, then there was a bright light, I wasn't looking at it and it hurt my eyes, then a white wing covered me. When I came to, I was here." She shrugged nervously. "You aren't going to tell the griffons I'm here are you? I don't want to go back." She asked her voice still quivering as she tried to stop her own tears.

Winter listened as Reflected explained her traumatic experience. The story was awful and she could tell from the way she spoke that she carried allot of pain inside of her, and not the kind of pain you could heal overnight. It would likely take her years to get over it, maybe longer, or even shorter. That would be up to her. Winter thought to put a hoof on hers to let her know she felt for her, but stopped herself short. A moment had passed before Winter began to speak in reply to Ref, but her words were cut short buy the smooth deep rumble of Leo's "No... we wont" he said as he entered the room, his paw cuffs clinking against the tiles of the floor.

Her eyes widened as the massive thing walked in. Golden and easily more then twice her size. Her first thought was griffon because of the wings, but that didn't make sense because he looked like a pony... griffon... griffony? She started at him with a mix of fear and confusion. "Are... are you Leo...?" She asked not sure what to make of the creature, but he told her he wasn't going to turn her into the griffons, that was enough to allow her to swallow her heart. "You're... Huge, bigger then most of the prison ponys."

Leo regarded the Changeling, noting her attitude and general demeanor. She seemed timid and 'meek' for lack of better words. Even as she looked at him he could sense the fear being held deep inside of her. She just seemed so fragile, delicate... like a small flower in a bush that had been sheltered from sunlight and denied the chance to grow strong. He nodded his head in reply, "Yes, and that's because I am a Hippogriff" he responded as he moved further inside and up beside Winter.

"Hip... Okay..." She nodded before giving a small glance around then focusing her gaze back on the two. She used her rear hooves to shove the blanket off of her from and sat upright on her hooves. "If you aren't going to take me... take me back to the griffons..." She paused looking from ones eyes to the other. "...does that mean I can go home...?" She asked slowly, carefully as if the question would offend them somehow. Her hope was slowly rising, if the big thing had brought her here would he help her get back to the Grand Hive, provided it still existed.

Leo stayed silent for a moment, Winter too as she decided to remain quiet while they spoke. Eventually he nodded "Yes, if that is what you want" he replied.

She wanted to fly, to jump, to scream with joy. It was the first time in forever she felt anything but pain and numbness or fear. She wept openly but not in sorrow and a few muscles on her face she forgot she had pulled her snout into a smile. "I can go home..." She said not really to anyone as she simply looked up at the big golden... hippogriff. Actually thinking about what he was didn't sit well. Anything with the word "griff" in it was a bad thing. The big golden kitty, that's what he was now. "Th... Thank you... I..." It was only then she realized she was breathing heavily, she took a deep breath to calm herself and tried to relax. "I... I don't think I'll be able to leave now but maybe there are things I can do around this place..." she turned her head Winter giving her a slight nod before turning to the 'kitty'. "...Or where ever it is you live. I'm not useless I promise I can do whatever it is either of you ask." She nodded her gaze shifting between the two.

Leo turned to Winter, "I wont be able to stay here, I'll have to return to the outskirts" he said casually. Winter gave a single nod, "I understand Leo" she replied before looking to Ref, "I'm afraid I don't have anything for you here, aside from patients to treat I don't spend much time here" she said honestly. Winter usually spent most of her time in the market downtown and if she wasn't there it was at a friends or at the spa.

She nodded at the kitty. "Then I'll go back with you to the outskirts, if you give me a day to recover, I mean, I can try to fly with you if you want. Honestly I don't even know where home is from here, I'd do most of my time wandering anyway." She stated with another shrug. They'd helped her she had to help back, that's what changelings they gave what they took or they took nothing at all.

Leo thought about that and everything inside his head told him to say no and walk away. He was danger, trouble and not the kind of creature you wanted to spend too much time around. He was a killer, a weapon to be bought and aimed.. and worst of all he was good at it. There were plenty others after his head, contracted and not. So taking her with him would be a stupid move and one he knew he would only come to regret, "Fine, but I'm leaving now. If you can't keep up, then... I guess you can ride shotgun until your better" he said before looking to Winter, "Thank you, and... it was good to see you again" he said with small bow. Winter nodded in reply and with that Leo turned to leave, "Come on, time to leave" he said as he walked to the door.

"Thank you, Winter, for taking care of me." She stated slowly before hoping off of the bed with a wince then trotted after the 'Kitty'. She didn't know if she'd be able to keep up, but she would try, after all, he saved her life, she owed him the best she could offer. As they exited the door she couldn't help but ask. "Why do you have to leave so soon, are you running?" She stated, then started her wings and gave a little hop to put herself in the air. For Changelings it was harder to get into the air then to actually stay there. One they were there the buzzing became like breathing, a thing of habit that they quickly forgot about. "Or trying to catch someone?"

Leo didn't look at her as they walked from the back room and down the corridors to the exist, "You could say something like that" he replied as he opened the door, letting her pass out into the night air before he followed. The moon was clear in the sky, surrounded by only a few clouds, the rest of the sky was lit with constellations here and there. Leo stretched his wings a little, he was still quite exhausted but the hours rest had done him well. His massive wings stretched wide and with a lazy flap he was in the air, heading higher. He kept a medium strength wing speed as he ascended before leveling out into a steady glide.

For now she was able to keep up with him. It was clear he wasn't flying at full potential something with a wingspan like that could out pace her in a heart beat. Instead she chose to hover above him to his left, so he could easily turn his head a little to see her, yet she would still be able to come into for a landing if she needed it. She sat silently slightly afraid to ask him any more questions, making the only sound his occasional flap to keep him air born and her wings which were moving slower then normal making it sounds more like a tiny motor.

She hated the white noise, it reminded her of the nights in the prison. "Why...? Why are you running, or chasing..? You didn't specify." she looked down at the ground for a second then with easy hovered in the air, her wings making a brief pause then resumed their humming, her speed not any slower with her moving backwards. She could see Winter's place shrinking off in the distance and for the first time she was able to see some of the city she had lived outside of for who knows how long.

Leo gave a flap of his wings and began to bank as he glided through the air. His feathers flickered and aligned themselves to the wind as he moved, everything controlled into a single movement learned only through the discipline he'd learned from his self teachings and experiences. "Contracts" he said simply as he looked ahead, taking a pause before elaborating. "Ponies, Gryphons, both just as bad as each other, both take a look at me and consider me enemy or monster... I run because I am different and I chase because it's the only work I can do that keeps me alive with food on my table" he said without even a tinge of anger or hurt, if it bothered him, she'd never know at that moment. "Does that answer your question?" he asked before looking to her for the first time since they took to the sky.

"Yes. I wish I could've ran away because I was different." She's turned with him though without really banking, her turns were more just slowing down one wing a bit, his was a graceful turn. She was jealous. She gave him a concerned look. "Have you tried..." She thought about past for a second and bit off her sentence she'd experienced being an outcast to many times to understand that nothing work when people want to hate. "I'll help you then, I'll help you complete whatever jobs you have."

Leo thought about that, trying. The amount of times he'd tried to help or tried to fit in and it had only resulted in getting hurt, or getting others hurt. He'd guessed one of the reasons he stayed away from others with the potential to be 'friends' was because wherever he went usually brought trouble.. and as cliche as it was he'd had to stay away from getting close to people, for the very reason that it would only end in getting them hurt.

Leo completed the bank and once again leveled out into a smooth glide after two powerful flaps. He raised an eyebrow at her offer, "Can you fight?" he asked, his eyes slowly taking in her body structure. From what he saw she didn't look very strong and even her flying was somewhat rough edged.

She let her mouth hang open for a second before closing it to think. No she couldn't fight, she could shoot. She'd had basic survival and evasion training but that's all scouts were supposed to get unless there was a war. "Ye-No. No very well I mean I learned how to take a bunch and scratch pretty well in prison, and I know how to dodge fairly well, but other then that, not really. Oh I shot a griffon once! I killed him with two arrows." It was true she had, but she was also going to leave how how she's missed with the other 18.

Leo remained silent for a minute as he though on this. He even closed his eyes, allowing his senses to listen to the fibers of wind, flowing around the dynamic curvatures of his feathers. It was almost like a type of meditation, though Leo was far to conflicted be able to do such practice. He opened his eyes and spoke, his tone very serious. "The contacts I'm paid for are mostly for the baddest of the bad, the contracts no one else will take or are smart enough not to" he began "And by that I mean the things I do aren't easy and are very dangerous" he finished taking another long pause, "If you're going to come with me, then I'll need to show you how to at least keep alive, otherwise you could get hurt" he said without looking to her,

"You're worried about me getting hurt? I may be small, but I'm not useless..." She shook her head and looked forward. "So I'm not a fighter, that wasn't my job, my job was to stay alive. So far I've completed my job right, I know when things are too thick and when they can be easily handled. I..." She her tongue inside her muzzle and thought her accuracy with a crossbow. "I would like to learn to shoot a crossbow though, at least then I can help without being in your way."

Leo just grunted. If she was saying she could handle it then fine, but if not then she'd pay for it. Especially with the next contract he had in the que. He heard what she said about the Crossbow and simply nodded once. Leo didn't like to use weapons but that didn't mean he didn't know how. He had his own Crossbow she could use, maybe even have... he'd not used it in years. As they reached the outskirts again Leo began his decent towards an old pre war store complex. The building was still battered and eroded but the structure itself seemed sound. "We're here" he said as he descended towards the ground, his paw cuffs clinking as he touched down.

The entrance of the place was... strange. There was a pull down metal shutter which would have been used to close the place up for the night, now it remained down permanently, with a gaping hole blown in the center. The rest of the outside had been fortified with metals struts and other things to make the place more durable and more likely to repel and attack. Weather it had been put there by Leo you would never know. Through the hole was a short hall with before two double doors made from metal. Leo pressed his paw against a few parts of the door in some kind of sequence and they parted, allowing them access.

And now they were really here, Leo's home, or 'den' as he would call it. The floor was covered with rugs and blankets and there was a bed setup at the far side. There were a few furnishings like draws and cupboards, even a fridge. On a wall was a few weapons mounted, collecting dust, "This is it, make yourself at home" he said as he looked around. It wasn't much, but it was definitely cozy. It looked like Leo had even installed a make shift fire place to warm the room and as the place was covered with blankets it held the heat well.

Her first thought when they had approached the place was that it had been attacked, she wanted to tell him she was sorry but when he didn't change facial expression she rose an eyebrow. He wasn't worried about someone having ruined his home. When she landed, she didn't she hovered just behind him as he moved up to the metal shutter of the building that covered it most obvious way in, instead of inspecting the whole he simply moved through it.

Note to self: Big guy can fit in little places, wonder if he's flexible to. She shook off the thought and landing to walk through the hole, just in time to watch the two large metal door open. The site inside removed the whole 'attacked' thought. A while they still may have been it was clear that if someone had attacked, they didn't make it very far.

Back in the hive they didn't have carpets everything was the consistency of black marble illuminated by green or blue magic lamps... or love lamps. Everything was cold, and built to last and be as solid as possible. The only difference between it and the hive was that the floor wasn't smooth and the lights had turned yellow but the floor certainly felt just as hard, if she ever got a new home the first thing she would do is carpet the place. Her hooves patted down on the soft carpets, she could help but like that the place looked fuzzy, everywhere.

"How long did it take you to set all of this up? I mean something like this must've taken forever to acquire. She stated trotting now silently over to the weapons that where collecting dust.

Leo moved to the back of the room and pulled out a wooden box carefully with his paws. "I collected some of it from contracts, and some of it from places around Equestria where my adventures had taken me" he said as he took each of his paw cuff and placed them safely into the box, "I enjoy culture and history, some of the things on the walls go back to the first eras of Equestria" he said before he moved over to the corner where blankets had been made into a den of sorts. He laid on it and looked over at her by the weapons, "Those were some instruments I picked up from the Gryphon Kingdoms. They're contraband in Manehatten" he said as he stretched his wings.

"I don't understand, the more you tell me about yourself, the harder I find it possible to hate you. You live alone, you co-operative with those that don't try to hurt you, you like history and you're humble." She spoke carefully. Then turned to look at him, her face filled with obvious confusion. “What have you don’t that’s made you so hated… you’re not small, certainly not slow, and you can easily survive on your own…” She sat down and let her ears droop as she watched him stretch his wings. “Why…?”

Leo exhaled a long silent breath as she spoke. That had been the only time anyone had ever really complimented him... it was, nice. "I'm seen as an abomination. In the current Gryphon law it is forbidden to mate with a pony. And since my mother and father broke that law to have me, they refuse to accept me. Even the civilian Gryphons look at me like something disgusting" he said and reeled his wings to his sides, "As for the ponies, well, the war saw to it that anything remotely related to Gryphons are to be hated, so they would never accept me either" he paused for a moment before his eyes narrowed slightly, "I live alone because I have to, not because I want to" he finished.

Nods slowly in understanding. She knew all to well how it felt to be hated for what you are. "I know how that feels, to be unwanted and to not fit in anywhere." She moved to him but did not step into his den. "Well now I have another reason to stay with you, because if I don't, then you won't have anyone who likes you." She gave a small but very sincere smile, something she herself hadn't done in a long time, before sitting down at the edge of his blanket.

Leo watched her carefully as she spoke, looking searchingly for any indication that she might not mean what she meant by understanding. In his line of work he'd seen many people attempt to lie to him about a contract or lie their way out of death and because of this he'd been very good at picking the truth and lies from conversation. When she spoke he saw nothing but truth and to know she understood meant a great deal to him. Though when she implied staying with him he had to take a moment to consider that. He'd always been alone, never spending any time with anyone else unless he needed them to survive or a contract required them to be there. He had to admit the idea of having company was appealing.

In the last hour he'd spoken more then he probably had the entire week. He studied her for a moment, she was certainly quite pretty, cute even. He'd never known one of her species to possess that kind of trait without having stolen it from something else. But what he was really looking at was her in the entirety. What it would mean for her to stay and what could happen to her if she did. Without a word he got up and made his way over to a large chest on the other side of the room. He opened it and pulled out a crossbow, but not just any crossbow. It had silver plating along the arms and seemed to be made of deep mahogany wood. The hinges and bindings were also silver and the weapon looked to be kept in great condition. The final detail to the weapon was the name embedded with red across the side of the weapon. the word 'Heart'.

He took the crossbow in his paw and ran his other down the smooth frame as he brought it over to Flec, "This belonged to my mother" he said and paused before looking to her, "If you're going to stay then you should probably have this to defend yourself. I have some bolts you can use to practice with" he said, extending the weapon towards her.

She took it in her faltering magical grip carefully, and when she felt that wasn't enough she wrapped her hooves around it to make sure she had it. She studied it, her hoof running down the silver string weapon.
She carefully ran her hoof over the string before looking up at him, slightly worried.

“You… Are you sure…? I mean… You’re letting me have something so valuable, I…” She paused look down at it. She’s never been given something that didn’t mean imprisonment, so to be given something that could assist her freedom was a bit overwhelming. She looked up at him, it was clear she was on the verge of crying, but not in fear, or pain, but in joy.

“Th-thank you.” Was all she could stammer out as she looked down at the weapon now pressed to her form.

“Thank you.”

Leo nodded with the faintest glimmer of a smile "I'd like to think of this as a means to help make sure your safer around me. I trust you to look after it and you can't do that if your dead. So in short as long as you look after it, it will save your life. And I guess it's not going anywhere if you're going to be staying with me" he said with a raised eyebrow and an amused look at the light humor. He looked at the other weapons that hung on the walls "I don't really like to use weapons anyway, so it was only going to sit there like the others" he said before he looked back to Flec, taking a moment as he considered asking something. He waited a moment before deciding to go ahead with it "You know... I told you I liked culture. Would you mind sharing a little bit about changelings with me?" he asked with genuine interest.

She sniffed and looked up at him. She'd forgotten how close to home she was; or wasn't... she didn't know. So she nodded and looked up at him.

"Well um... Where do you want me to start? I mean there's a lot to changelings I guess. Most of my life I was hated because I was too slow, or small to be useful. In a hive, every changeling has to have a use, otherwise we don't grow, the only reason I was allowed to live is because I'd never given up." She shrugged some before looking back up at him with a smile. "I'm pretty sure if I did go back no one would care so all the more reason to stay."

Leo let out a low breath of a growl in thought at what she said. It didn't sound like a very nice place. "I'm sorry to here that" he said before he gave a piece of mind about it, "Life in all forms is important, no matter what it's purpose or how small it might be. I know it might sound hypocritical for me to say considering what I do... but it doesn't make it any less of the truth" he said, his voice deep in a low rumble as he spoke.

"Well your head is in the right place, and it wasn't so bad, yes I was alone, but it was still a place to sleep, and there was still food to eat. Plus I learned to do a lot with my risen in all the spar time I had, like if you had a stove I could refine some of it into metal plates for armor. Though I'm not very good at it." She gave a small laugh still holding the crossbow to her chest. "I just have to find out how I can be useful. I can be useful..." She felt her smile fade, she wasn't in a prison where all they needed was something to vent their multiple types of frustration out on, she was in a real world where she would need to work, she had to get good at something, and fast.

Leo listened to what she said and couldn't help but focus in on the feelings she had towards herself. He moved back over to the chest without a word and picked up a stack of bolts before turning back to face Flec as he counted them in his head, "Well, let's start with getting you familiar with that weapon" he said as he headed towards the front door, "You never know, you might be a natural" he said in an attempt to boost her confidence.

"Well I've already used a crossbow before, if I was a natural at it, I wouldn't have killed a griffon with two arrows." She looked down at the weapon, it was clearly smaller then the griffon crossbows, and much easier to handle. "Though I might be able to learn, maybe not within the next week or so, but I can still try." Her gaze turned to the crossbow bolts, she hoped there was more then 20 in there.

Leo led her out into the decayed ruins of the outskirts, around the back of the building where a courtyard stood with a dead tree at it's center. At one time the place was probably used as a hang out spot for those visiting the malls that sat on the outskirts, or even as a place for the older folk to sit around feeding the birds. Now all that remained was a decayed ruin. He stopped and took in a breath of air, closing his eyes as he listened to the sound of the wind and the feel as it passed through his wing feathers.

After a moment he looked to Flec and lifted the end of the crossbow, pushing a bolt into it and leading it as the strings locked into place. He then turned and made his way down the courtyard gathering objects from around the area, from smaller rocks to pieces of paper which he placed onto the decayed tree. He returned a few minutes latter and looked back down at the distance. His face showed no emotion as he faced her, to him this was quite serious as it meant the difference between life and death. "See the rock on the far right, I want you to aim for it. Don't take the shot until you feel you have it. Concentrate on the wind and pick your moment when the wind changes" he said simply. He knew it was allot to ask for the first try but he merely wanted to see how she shot it before he began helping.

She had followed him outside of the sanctum and in to the back area. She hadn't really payed attention she'd only followed him and then stopped when he started picking up a few random things.

With the crossbow loaded she she wrapped her magic around it to keep it as steady as she could, her whole form shivered as she aimed the thing at it. She'd never used the sight on a crossbow. The other crossbow she had was far to large and the site was more like an obstruction then a sight. Still she let out a deep sigh before using a hoof to pull back on the trigger.

It let lose with a thwang, and flew, the roil liked her back and caused the arrow to go high and when the wind took it, it only seemed to go further from it's mark... Really high. After a moment she lowered the crossbow and watched making sure she saw where it landed, and when she realized it has vanished off into the distance somewhere, she didn't know how to feel.

Leo watched her stance and how she handled the crossbow. He then looked down range as she fired watching the bolts trajectory as it sailed off into the unknown. He put a paw on his head and raised both eyebrows. He certainly had allot of work to do. "Here watch me" he said as he took the crossbow in his paws. He loaded it and aimed it in a single paw, he kept his stance solid and slowed his breathing down into a smooth rhythm. He waited for the wind to change before he squeezed the trigger, a whoosh sound followed by a twang as the bolt sailed into the piece of paper on the tree, nailing into the wood with a dull but powerful thump. "Notice how I stood and how I held my stance, I want you to try that" he said as he loaded it and once again handed it over to Flec.

She shook her head nervous and took the weapons back before trying to mimic his stance, little flicks of green fire appeared briefly around her form but they vanished as quickly as they appeared. Again she let out a deep breath trying to remain calm.

This time when she squeezed the trigger she was vastly closer, they were able to actually that the arrow went past the tree and probably somewhere in the recovery zone but even so she was still very far off of her target. He made it look so easy. "I'll get it the hang of it eventually." She mumbled, not looking depressed but it certainly wasn't happy.

Leo nodded a silent approval. It was definitely an improvement and he was glad to see she was a fast learner. "Alright, one more" he said as he took another bolt and loaded it into the bow for her, "Now move into the same stance again" he said and waited for her to do as he asked. He watched her as she did so and moved forward, gently nudging her hooves with his paws, adjusting her stance a little before he placed a paw under the weapon lifting it higher and further forward to make the stance more dynamic in it's appearance and how it performed, "Now try" he said and looked down range for the results. .

To her the stand felt, wrong, exposed but she trusted him enough to know what he was doing after all he'd just shown her how to do it. She once again let loose another deep sigh and aimed down the sight before letting squeezing the trigger.

She could tell just by the way the arrow flew past the tree that it was going to be a long day and she was going to run out of bolts. The arrow has one again flown past the tree no closer then it had the second time, if not a bit lower. She gave a nervous smile but didn't move her hooves as she held the crossbow out for a reload.

Leo didn't show any emotion to the results and simply reloaded the bolt. He glanced at her before he had a thought. "Alright, let's try something else" he said as he stood back, "Try imagining that the tree is one of those Gryphons, a Gryphon that is going to hurt you if you don't do something about him... imagine that you know your life depends on this one shot" he said as he studied her.

Pointed the crossbow at the tree her ear giving a twitch as he spoke. Each word that came out of his mouth caused her stance to fall apart a little more. She let her over active imagination kick on. The cross bow shook in her grip before she reach over, removed the bolt from the quiver, and promptly threw them at the tree, most of which hit but bounced harmlessly away.

The bolt on the cross bow was glowing green at the end, she pointed it at the three, closed her eye and pulled the trigger letting the arrow fly. Out of the 17 bolts she threw at them, the only one that stuck was the one she blindly fire, and it still missed the piece of paper.