Skyheart flew around the mountain. Just like her name, Skyheart's felt like the sky was part of her. That it was in her heart.

"Skyheart!" her uncle called. Stormbreaker stood at the edge of a cliff. She landed right beside him.

Her uncle has never been cruel to her. He was her guardian ever since the storm that killed her parents. The other eggs were smashed with her parents. Skyheart was the only one.

Stormbreaker loved her like a daughter. His sworn oath to his sister, Goldrim, still stands. Nothing will harm her as long as he lives.

"Yes, Uncle Stormbreaker?" She was pretty young, but close to adulthood.

"A storm was spotted off at the North. The wind is directly at us. We must find shelter and supplies soon."

Skyheart just nodded. "I will gather the supplies."

She jumped off and snapped her wings open. Exhilaration filled her. This is what freedom was for her. Just to fly around. Not to be stuck on the ground and look up at the sky in wonder, it was to fly in it.

"There goes Weirdsquawk!" someone yelled.

"I wonder what weird thing she is doing today."

"Probably going to get lost! I know I would if I was her!!"

The taunts and insults didn't cut through her. She had been hearing them all her life.

Then something someone said made her stop.

"Maybe that's why her parents got themselves killed!! They knew she was weird before she even hatched!!"

Skyheart turned in her fury. "What did you say?" she whispered ominously. The familiar anger and revenge filled up. Oh, how she agreed with it this time. They were now in sinc.

It was a male chestnut colored Griffin. His eyes were the common brown-gold. That was one of the reasons why she was different, she was the only one who had different colored eyes than the common color. They were cloud white, not the other gray, brown, gold, and gray-brown.

"I said, your parents got themselves killed because they knew you would be weird!! That's also why they tried to kill you and your siblings as well!"

Nothing held her back. Skyheart was just a blue blur, another weird thing about her. She was sky blue, not the common colors, just like the eye colors.

She took him out of the sky. Her talons cut in his skin. They were cutting through as easy if the skin and feathers were just water.

The Griffin tried to get away, but Skyheart had no mercy. Blood seeped through his feathers. He looked more red than chestnut brown.

"Skyheart!!" The Elder Griffin came crashing through. "What are you doing?"

Skyheart looked down at what she had done. The poor Griffin was curling inside his wings.

The Elder, Spikefeather, towered over her. She backed away. What has she done? "I don't know what overtook me. I didn't mean to!" Every face she saw was hostile, nothing new really, but now she was scared.

To her surprise, he didn't yell, or punish her, or anything. "Skyheart," Spikefeather said soothingly. "Please come with me."

Her uncle pushed through the crowd to the front. "Spikefeather! Please just let me take her home!! She's the only family I have left!"

But Spikefeather was shaking his head. "I'm sorry, this is between her and me."

Stormbreaker faltered. "Please.... She's all I have..." He just wanted to break down, but he was standing to fight for Skyheart.

"Why would you want her anyway?" A young Griffin yelled. His shoulders were broad, his steel gray beak glowed sharp, and his feathers were the color of gold-brown.

Skyheart snapped her attention to him. Something about him was familiar, but where?

"Stay out of this, Cliffjumper." Spikefeather put a wing in front of Skyheart. No more violence was going to happen today.

"Why not?" he screeched. "No one likes her. She is just a freak."

Skyheart wasn't just going to stand there. No matter how much trouble she was in, she had a right to defend herself.

"So what if I'm different?" Skyheart said. "You know what? I don't care what you say. I have heard it all before. And I'll just leave when I'm old enough." Her red tipped wings fluttered.

"Skyheart," Spikfeather interjected. "Please come with me."

She looked at him. This was the only other Griffin, besides her uncle, who treated her with kindness. "Okay."

They flew off. The crowd murmured.

Stormbreaker watched as his niece became just a small speck in the sky.

Not knowing that this might be the last time he will ever see her.