Abraxas let out an indignant chirp as Renny bumped her from behind as she hadn’t been expecting it. She glanced over her shoulder to see if Renny had heard her rather undignified noise, she hoped he hadn't heard her but still quickly turned back around. Then rounded ears listened as Renny complimented her fluffy plumage. It might have been cute, yes, but it wasn’t pretty or useful. ”I still want them to be useful.” Abraxas chided sadly.

As she approached the bush, she heard Renny pause in his movements as she approached the bush. He quickly confirmed that these were indeed the berries they had been looking for. The little griffin-like creature perked up and reached out, picking five of the berries from the bush she held them up to place in the bag. As Renny leaned down so she could put the berries in the bag, she did so with a soft purr.

Abraxas tilted her head to one side as Renny looked in the bag assessing what they had gathered. He seemed to be pleased with what he found there and so she perked up as well. They had done a good job! It hadn’t taken them too terribly long to gather what it was they needed for their colorings.

As Renny nuzzled her she returned the gesture with a happy chirping purr. She was overjoyed at this little adventure between the two of them. Then Renny suggested heading home and Abraxas nodded in agreement. ”That’s a good idea.” She agreed turning and walking past Renny heading back towards the treehouse from the way they came. She was following their scent back so they wouldn’t get lost, thankfully she had gained the lion’s sense of smell.

@James

James trotted after her, excited and eager to get painting. He shook out his head and snorted gently, looking around at all the trees, light streaming through. Beautiful.

Once they arrived, her fluttered up like he always did, watching for Abraxas before turning and making his way inside. He dumped out the contents of the bags and got to work crushing them up, pulling over a pelt.

"What will you paint?", he asked, crushing up some of his brown, nearly black feathers, "I'm going to see if I can paint our family."

Though he wasn't expecting great things. He had hooves, after all, and hooves weren't great for painting things. But it was the thought that counted.

@Abraxas

Abraxas happily trotted forward, her small stature not exactly carrying her very fast. She was at a slight run and Renny could easily keep up with her at a brisk walk. The little griffin-like creature looked around as they made their way home, her brilliant golden eyes took a moment to take in the scenery around her. The soft light streaming through the canopy, the soft lilt of bird song, and the sweet scent of the world around them. She had to admit, when she took a moment to actually just stop and look at the world. It was actually rather beautiful.

As they arrived back home, Abraxas watched Renny show off by fluttering his pretty wings and flying up to the balcony. The little fluffy griffin-like child once again walked up to the wall and leaped up onto it. Using her sharp claws and dexterous digits the girl easily climbed the wall and up onto the balcony. As She reached the room she trotted over to her broken chrysalis and dug down inside pulling out four what looked to be furless rabbit skins. Dragging them over she looked up at Renny and a smile sparkled in her eyes. ”I’ve been saving these for just this occasion! I used my claws to scrape the fur off to hopefully make the color stick better.” The little girl explained as she turned to watch Renny begin making the colors to paint with.

”I Want to paint this big blue things that I’ve seen in my dreams. Sometimes it’s all light blue with this big bright single orb in it, and a bunch of shifting white fluffy things. Birds and things with wings like us can fly as far as the eye can see without ever hitting a ceiling.” She had dreamed this many times. Of course there was land too, but it was always far below and less of a concern. In these dreams she had beautiful wings that carried her along with the birds. ”I can’t wait to see what you make of our family!” Abraxas chided happily as she walked over and nuzzled Renny’s forelegs before going and spreading out her canvas’.

@James

James left to go get a flat stone, quickly returning with one and setting the berries on it first, crushing each kind before cleaning off the stone to get the juices off from the previous one. He looked up as Abraxas spoke, ears perked forward in interest.

"That sounds interesting," he hummed, reaching down to brush his nose against her as she passed.

He laid out the different dyes on separate rocks, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, black, and white. Some of the things, like his feathers, were harder to grind up, but with effort he'd managed. It was perfect, now.

He picked up a hoof and dipped it in blue, making a vaguely Abraxas-like shape. He made a black shape with pink wings, and then a white shape with a blue ear, and a golden shape with a long tail. Then he made another golden shape with a colorful body, and a light purple shape and another golden shape. Finally... a grey shape, with a pink mane and a long tail.

"My boy Pegasus," he said softly, "He's shy, but I hope you'll meet him."

@Abraxas

Abraxas watched Renny leave and return with a flat rock. The little griffin-like creature tilted her head as she watched him work and she talked. She was curious about how to make colors to draw with. She was watching the process, with wrapped intent her sharp golden eyes watching his every movement. Though she looked up when he made the blue and looked at his face. ”Can I draw a few things on you?” She wasn’t sure if it would wash off, but she wanted to paint something on his beautiful black hide in that pretty blue color.

As Reny finally admitted that her dream sounded interesting she looked at him and tilted her head. ”Interesting? It sounds absolutely wondrous Renny! Open air with nothing to stop us from moving around! No walls, no ceilings, just the ground, the foliage and you!” She chirped excitedly, her brilliant golden eyes shining with enthusiasm as she looked up at Renny. She let out a soft purr however as she felt his nose pass over her.

Abraxas would have grinned if she could have as she looked at the layout of colors they had. Abraxas grabbed one of the rabbit skins and sat it in front of her. WIth one hand she dipped her entire padded palm into the color and began smearing it over the leather canvas. She kept going back and putting more until the entire canvas had been painted blue. She wiped her hand on her fur to rid it of the blue on her own fur. Then she grabbed the white and made several little puffy things that would be clouds. Again she wiped off her paw now she was using only one digit. Outstretched she made the yellow orb she spoke of. She wiped her finger clean on her belly and dipped her claw in the black making several little squigglys for birds.

When her masterpiece was finished the little griffin-like creature picked up her canvas and held it up to show Renny. ”See this is what I see in my dreams. But sometimes it’s different. I may make that one too. What do you think?” She asked looking up at Renny expectantly.

Abraxas leaned over looking at Renny’s drawing and beamed up at him her eyes excited. ”It looks so great!” She cried bouncing happily. ”I’m sure I’ll meet him someday if we all move in together.” She assured him as she bumped her head against his leg.

@James

James huffed and bumped her gently, "My apologies, you're absolutely right. Being able to fly as high as we want sounds wonderful."

He closed his eyes to imagine it, feeling the wind in his feathers and warmth on his back. He sighed and opened them again to peer at Abraxas' piece, ears flicking up.

"Oh wow, now that is magnificent, darling," he cooed, peering at it to catch every detail, "And of course you can paint on me. It'll come off, I think."

James peered at the painting for a bit longer, and set both aside to dry before laying down and lifting his wings so that Abraxas could get at his black fur and feathers easier. He couldn't stop smiling, his eyes crinkling and his lips drawn back in a soft smile. His heart swelled, so full of love for this tiny little creature.

"I love you, Abraxas," he said softly.

@Abraxas

A soft giggle left Abraxas as Renny huffed and bumped her. Her eyes shone with happiness. She looked up at Renny expectantly, hoping he understood this desire she felt to see this place. She wanted to fly, but she wanted to fly in this place in her dreams so badly she could taste it. ”And no tunnels to force up to the ground unless we want to land.” She breathed dreamily, her thoughts riddled with these dreams she had been having.

Abraxas stared at Renny, hope beginning to fill her golden eyes. She hoped he could get the feeling of her dreams from the picture, but she didn’t exactly know how well it had turned out. It looked great to her. She wondered for a moment, if he could feel what she felt when she was in her dreams. The clear blue coolness on her fur of air rushing past, the warmth of the one single massive orb. She wanted to know what those fluffy white things felt like when you flew through them. Then Renny spoke up admitting that her dream did actually look good. Her eyes sparkled proudly as she glanced from her painting to Renny. She couldn’t help the swell of joy and pride she felt with Renny’s words of approval.

As Renny agreed to let her draw on him, her rounded ears perked happily as her eyes glimmered excitedly, her brows raised as she gazed at the palette of colors. She wondered what she would put on him. A strange rolling purr left the little girl as she watched Renny lay down to allow her much easier access to his body.

With that she began. First she dipped her digits in the blue and made a single circle going around Renny’s left eye. Then she made three lines across the bridge of his nose. Then wiping off the blue on her own fur, now she was becoming a mottled painting of multiple colors. But she dipped her full elongated paw in the red and then placed a print on both of Renny’s shoulders. Next she wiped her paw free of the red and dipped a single digit in the yellow, and surmised to make a zigzag going down his neck. Dragging the color palette with her she moved to Renny’s haunches where she made four horseshoe shapes going in a walking line down his left haunch.

Stepping back she admired her work on Renny and every bit of her perked enthusiastically. He looked amazing! ”I hope you like it!” Abraxas chirped brightly as she wiped her hand clean on her thigh.

@James

James watched Abraxas intently, keeping as still as possible so she could paint her heart away. Suddenly he had more colors than he had before, and he smiled. He was a rainbow, now.

He looked over to her and smiled gently, "You're so colorful now, dear. You're like a little rainbow."

He nudged his nose against her belly and laughed gently, wings fluttering happily. He pulled away as she continued, and stood up once she was one, peering at himself and posing, wings spread and one front foot lifted.

"How do I look?", he preened, his tail and twin crests raising, "I love what you've done, darling."

And he truly did. He couldn't stop looking at the little designs, looking down his nose at the stripes and peering back at his neck. He laughed gently at himself and shoved his nose into the red dye before squishing it against Abraxas' head, painting her red.

"There!", he exclaimed, giggling uncontrollably, "Now you're painted too!"

@Abraxas

Abraxas hummed softly to herself a little lilting tune as she moved this way and that, dipping her digits and full paws in the dye. Then she used it to draw more designs on Renny who was patiently waiting for her to finish. She couldn’t explain how excited and happy this actually made her. Just spending this time with Renny, it was so wonderful she was happy beyond explanation.

A soft giggling laugh erupted from the little griffin-like creature as Renny made a note on her new look. She looked down, taking in the sight of herself. She was covered from shoulder to rump in mottled patches of color on her currently tan colored body. He was right; she looked just like a rainbow had been thrown on her from a distance. ”I do don’t I?” Abraxas questioned as she laughed lifting her legs to look at her also mottled belly. A soft happy purr left the girl as she felt Renny nudge her. The more he showed her affection the more she became okay with it.

Finally finished with her designs on Renny she stepped back as he stood up and she looked him over. Her golden eyes beamed and her rounded ears pitched forward eagerly. Stepping back she took in her work on Renny, and found herself to be quite pleased with it. He looked quite handsome to be honest. If one were to assess it it would look as if he had been given a Navajo styled dye job. ”You look so great Renny!” She chirped happily in answer to his question. At least she thought he looked nice, but she was a child and proud of everything she did. The little girl beamed happily as Renny admitted that he liked what she had done to him. ”I’m so glad.” She breathed a sigh of relief, she didn’t know how long the dye would last but she was happy she had done it.

Abraxas watched as Renny dipped his nose in the bright red dye. Then when he squelched it against her forehead she scrunched her eyes closed, the dye smearing over her gem. She laughed brightly as he pulled back pronouncing that she was now painted too. ”I love it! And I love you Renny!” She cried happily as she threw her nimble forelegs around Renny’s leg and him purring. ”I’m so glad I have you.” She let out a happy sig, truly ecstatic in having James around.

@James

James laughed softly and nuzzled the top of her head, one wing reaching down to rest on her back in his own hug. He pulled his head away and perked up suddenly.

"Oh! I have an idea!", he said, and fetched the bag from before, throwing it over his head and neck, "Do you think you can fit in here? If you can, then I can take you flying!"

He lay down quickly again so she could get in, ears perked forward in excitement, "Just you and me, little one."

He just couldn't wait to teach her to fly, but this was probably the next best thing. Maybe he could take her all the way to the top of the cave! They'd fly high and fast (if Abraxas wanted), and they'd be free as birds all the way up there!

"I've only taken Comet flying," he hummed, "Or at least I think so?"

@Abraxas