Armand travels east to investigate a monster, and discovers self-esteem along the way

The sun shone in between the trees and vines above. Half of the small flock was along the foliage, while the other half was jumping between branches looking for eggs and mushrooms.

As Armand pawed his talons into the thick grass, beetles and grasshoppers flew past him and he felt bad for digging through the earth on a mission for crystals.

The soil was soft beneath him and he suddenly felt the need for a dust bath. He restrained and turned to Parhelion. “Have you found anything yet?” He crowed above the wind. It was still a bit chilly, despite the sunlight.

Parhelion shook his head and ladybugs fell off his beak. Ignoring them, “I may have found a burrow, if you want to help me out here.” 

The two hawks bounced across trees, neither of them caring about the assignment. 

Cheeky was small enough to perch on the vines and he took advantage of it. He swung on the vines and chirped as he did so. Dusty was hanging upside down on a branch nearby.

“Say, Dusty, do you remember what they wanted us to get?” he chirped, bouncing to the branch closest to him.

“Eggs, I think?” Cheeky shuddered in response. “I’ve seen a few eggless nests, they might have good materials, though.”

Dusty flew a few meters and Cheeky followed. “See? They’re everywhere.” he crowed excitedly.

He carefully pulled apart the nest, examining the elements they’re made of. Twigs, fresh cotton, hay… He kept digging at the nest, making sure the wind wouldn’t blow the whole thing away.

“Hah, yes!” he exclaimed, showing Cheeky what he had found.

“An entire bird of paradise flower!” He said, waving the flower in front of Cheeky’s beak.

“Oh, I see! I’ll keep looking for things like that, then!” He chirped, and turned to fly to another tree.

Parhelion dug his talons into the soil, widening the burrow. Armand had to maneuver around bushes and heavy foliage, but he eventually made it next to him.

The hole was large already, but not quite large enough for either of the Gryphs to fit their head into.

Armand started to dig as well, feeling a bit apprehensive.

“I would be careful, Parhelion. This burrow reminds me of--”

Parhelion screeched and Armand bounced backwards as a Hunting Tarantula scurried quickly from its burrow, crawling over Parhelion’s talons. “Great Galyx,” Armand tried to hold back a laugh, mostly in response to the shriek.

Parhelion shivered just as a cold gust blew in, amplifying his shaky reaction. Armand couldn’t contain his laugh after that.

Cheeky and Dusty perked and quickly flew back to the two Gryphs, making sure they were alright. Shortly before arriving, Cheeky got distracted by a neat rock formation. Dusty landed in front of Parhelion and Armand, breathing quickly. “Is everything alright?”

Armand clicked his beak, “For the most part. Hey, be careful where you step. There’s a Hunting Spider loose somewhere.”

Dusty made a concerned face as Parhelion hissed quietly and slipped his beak into the burrow.

At least it wasn’t for nothing, he thought as he carefully grabbed the spider’s egg sac and lifted his head out of the burrow again. He made sure the web stuck to his beak so he wouldn’t drop it before speaking.

“Where’s Cheeky run off to?”

Dusty looked around for a moment and groaned.

Said Hawk was still looking at the neat rock formation.

He shook his head and came out of his trance, looking around him. “Where’d everyone go?”

Cheeky hopped to the top of the formation and before he could process it, it was crumbling beneath him.

He let out a quick, shrill shriek as he tumbled. He looked around him after he had a moment to realize what happened. 

He was sitting flat on his tail, and he felt something smoother than the rest under him. He stood up and saw a very shiny stone, maybe a Tiger’s Eye? No, it was too yellow. Oh well. It’s pretty!

Just as he was picking up the stone, Dusty squawked behind him. Cheeky spooked and the stone flew from his beak.

He turned around and the three other birds were standing there. “Where’d you come from?!” He chirped, and backed away when he noticed Armand walking towards him to pick up the stone again.

“We heard you yell, we had to track you down and make sure you were alright,” Parhelion responded.

“Well, my neat rock formation is ruined,” he said, looking down at the pile he was standing on. Armand praised the stone he had found, and suddenly Cheeky didn’t care. Affirmation! Yes! He did that!

“Okay well, three of us have found something now. It’s just Armand who has to get his talons on something. I can’t believe Cheeky found something before you did. ” Dusty said teasingly. “Ha ha,” Armand said sarcastically, giving the stone back to Cheeky.

“Alright, why don’t we head back? I don’t know how much more there is in this area. Not to mention how cramped I’m feeling down here.” Armand said, attempting to stretch his wings. One of them hit a tree.

The other one nearly got tangled in vines.

He sighed.

The two Hawks took off the ground, careful to hold onto their items.

Parhelion took off next, and Armand carefully followed his movements to weave between the crowded branches and vines. Most of which are now snapped and his wings are sore.