"Let's go see Hlin, Morana."

Morana peered up from her book. Studies and more boring studies. She hated it. She wanted to soar through the air with Wooyoung and Mulberry, wanted to hunt basiliks for their hatchlings and wanted to best the deafening waves rolling over the ocean.

Even the explanations of the mushrooms growing on Yeosang were more interesting than these books.

But Hlin, she liked. As soon as those words left Yeosang's mouth, she perked up, book forgotten.

"Today?" She made sure. Her excitement had her tongue catch in her fangs and she grinned brighter at Yeosang's nod. The dryad had Onyx on his shoulder, ready to depart.

Wooyoung finished saddling Mulberry and joined in to fasten his coat around his shoulders and put on his green scarf he carried everywhere. Eagerly, Morana slammed her books shut to shove them under the bed and fetched her cloak as well. She got her horns tangled in it in her enthusiasm to wrap it around her and Yeosang chuckled as he helped her to get free. The thin branches of his hands were soft and bendable whenever they came near her, so cautious not to scratch her.

Morana's family was an odd bunch.

Yeosang was a dryad, a walnut tree come to life. He often appeared as a mixture between an elven man and the tree, sprouting a crown from his shoulders and growing bark and moss along poorly shaped arms and legs. The thrift flowers on his neck and chest matched the stormy cliffs of their home. When he was cold, his plants huddled away and when he was happy, he sprouted colourful blossoms. Morana appreciated the ever-changing spectacle of him, and the earthy scent of his mushrooms was deeply soothing to her.

Wooyoung was part gryphon, with fleshy thighs morphing into the powerful claws of an eagle. His wings were a marvel of grey, layering like a stormy sky to be specked on the underside with dark patches and white dots. His grins were bright and his character warm. The adventure to Yeosang's calming wit. He and Mulberry, the gryphon with a matching feather dress, were twins and it was rare to find one without the other. This was the home of their people. The windy Cliffs of Zephyr.

And then there was Morana, the oddity with horns and glowing skin. Who shunned the light and preferred the night to day.

She wasn't stupid. She knew these two weren't her parents, even when most of her memories started with them.

In her understanding, they were uncles. They knew so much about her real parents that they must have been very close to them.

But for today, the endless mysteries of the past and her origin didn't matter. Morana would learn as she got older. Instead, she wanted to see Hlin, the rugged chieftain of the gryphon-borns, who always made Morana's heartbeat quicken with her steadfast personality and unfathomable strength. She was a woman like no other, and Morana deeply admired her. Once she got older, she wanted to be like her. Brawny. A good leader. Unafraid of the skies and the ocean. She was as lively as Wooyoung and spending time with her was always fun.

Morana didn't understand why, but the silent gloom lingering in their home lifted whenever they went to the surface.

Wooyoung lifted her onto Mulberry's back and Morana ran soft fingers through the small feathers around his neck. A clicking beak greeted her while Yeosang shifted, containing all his branches and plants animals liked to visit with a lot of effort to form proper hands and legs to cling to the gryphon. He wrapped an arm around Morana, holding her steady as Wooyoung walked by their sides to the entrance of their home.

Morana grew up to these stormy skies and the mighty ocean. She appreciated their rushing and roaring, the many thunderstorms while she was safely swaddled into their cave.

And the nights when it was clear and the stars twinkled down on them were even more captivating. In Morana's constant need for adventure and to break out of these bonds to explore the world and its people, the stars brought calmness.

Today, the sea was rough, and a light rain came down on them through the mists. Mulberry spread his wings with a caw and Wooyoung launched off the edge first, twirling through the air in a spectacular rush of grey.

Morana loved flying. Loved the wind in her hair and the sights of the landscape rushing past. At the same time, it was deeply unsettling to her. The loss of ground beneath her feet, the endless horizon. She liked being shrouded in caves where she knew each end and each beginning. Flying was exhilarating, but so scary.

Having Wooyoung and Mulberry with her assured her. So Morana sunk into Yeosang's chest to relish the cliffs soaring past as they made for the skies, as if they wanted to touch the clouds.

On top of the stormy cliffs towered a small village. The longhouse dominated the area, mostly used for gatherings and communication with the outside. Yeosang said this area didn't get destroyed by the war, so the few huts sprinkled about with mismatched patterns were the charming personality of the gryphon-borns.

Their people lingered about when Mulberry landed and paraded over to the biggest building. Wooyoung waved back at their greetings and Morana also earned many grins. Everyone was friendly here, welcoming even when Yeosang and Morana didn't belong there.

As soon as they arrived at the longhouse, the door opened and another familiar face came rushing out. The last stranger among the social gryphon-borns. His tall height towered among them, but his delicate build meant no threat or jealousy to the tribe.

He was Seungyoun, another friend of the past.

Morana always felt oddly drawn to him. Was invested in the arch of his tall ears and his temperate nature. When she asked Yeosang about it once, he told her Seungyoun was a snow elf. Not exactly her kin, but close in origin.

He was an old friend of the two adults. A servant of the palace they lived in, which Morana couldn't remember. He had suffered an injury during the war and limped ever since because all the other elves went into hiding and their excellent healing couldn't help him in time.

Ever since, he stuck around. Yeosang made a big deal of bringing him to the cliffs and though the elf didn't fit in, he helped Hlin around the longhouse and occasionally took care of Morana when her two uncles left for their rare voyages.

He wasn't as educated as Yeosang, but he knew many things about elves. Listening to him brought a sense of a home Morana never had.

When he spotted them, his face lit up, and he greeted Wooyoung before helping Morana out of her saddle. Yeosang got much softer legs from flying than her and Wooyoung chuckled about him when he lifted him off Mulberry, hugging the mess of wobbling branches against his warm body.

"How have you been, Morana?" Seungyoun asked, rushing her inside to flee the chilly rain. Delighted, Morana shook out her long hair as the warmth of the longhouse greeted her. The air was stuffy and smelled of meat, but the fires burnt without tiring and the wood of the chairs was worn and comfortable. Massive furs of various forest beasts decorated the floors and walls with pride. Though Morana asked countless times to join a hunt and catch her own animal, she was refused. Too young, they claimed, even when they took kids much smaller than her who could barely hold a weapon along.

Morana was too important, Yeosang told her all the time. But she wasn't interested in her importance if it meant she didn't get to enjoy life.

And what importance could she have if the empire had crumbled, and the elves were gone? Hidden in the cave, she wasn't going to serve any significant purpose.

"So much studying... Yeosang has me grinding as if a druid would spawn to taunt me with their riddles," Morana whined. She matched her pace to Seungyoun's as they made it to the fire. In a room nearby, Hlin stirred with a boisterous holler to get out and meet her guests.

"You can ask me after dinner if you are having trouble. Let's keep it a secret from Yeosang." Seungyoun winked at her and then spun on his heel when the door to the upstairs chamber flew open and Hlin emerged. She tugged a fur around her bare shoulders, donning only a bandeau around her chest and some soft leather pants on her steely body of bulky muscle. Eldrid, her partner, followed right behind. She ran her hand through mussed-up hair and sent Morana a blinding grin. She was gentler than Hlin, wiser. The brain to her brawns. Morana doubted anyone could lead better than the pair of them.

Hlin leapt over the railing of her balcony overlooking the innards of the longhouse. Her boots thumped onto the ground as she stormed over to wrap Morana in a tight hug.

Always crushed by her hot, sweaty muscles, Morana hugged her back, full of delight.

"There is our favourite doeling! Sit down, you look old enough to drink already!"

"She isn't," Yeosang pleaded with her, not yet leaving to connect with the earth and soak up the daylight as he so often needed. To him, it was a source of life like Morana relished her darkness. But it could wait for him to keep everyone from having fun.

Hlin called Wooyoung a chick and Morana a doeling, like the kid of a goat. Morana liked the nickname. It was endearingly personalised among the other children of the tribe.

Ushered onto the bench by the fire, Hlin argued yet again with Yeosang about what she deemed an appropriate age to drink. Though Morana didn't hate the sips she had taken so far, she didn't see herself drinking as much as Wooyoung or his tribes-people could.

While the usual noise livened up the hall and Yeosang went mad for the umpteenth time, trying to reason with the thick-headed leader of the gryphon-borns, Seungyoun took a seat by Morana's side and turned her head to face the wall. His fingers weaved through her locks, bringing them back in order after the rain curled them up.

Seungyoun was the best at braiding her hair. As if he had done it countless times before. His fingers were gentle and their touch like a pleasant massage that always made her so drowsy. Once he was done, Morana petted her fingers over her hair with a giddy grin, feeling pretty.

While the girl warmed up by the fireplace, Seungyoun joined the kitchens to help with the cooking. The gryphon-borns notoriously had no talent for it and lived off half-burnt meat and alcohol, but the elf preached a more balanced diet to their non-gryphon halves. He always made sure the hunters returned with vegetables and fruit for Morana, and eating at the longhouse became even more of a feast thanks to him.

As always, visiting this place spirited Morana. She liked to be alone, and she liked the dark. The gryphon-borns were boisterous and Yeosang always winced about their blunt speech and lack of manners that Morana picked up with such joy.

But the cave could get lonely where this community never was.

During dinner, Yeosang spent his well-deserved time relishing the evening sun. Wooyoung sat next to Morana to squabble with his people and she did get her own horn of beer, ultimately, even when she sipped it sparingly.

Heady from the dense air and the alcohol in their veins, the gryphon-borns made every evening a banquet. They told their hero tales and piled food onto Morana's plate so she would get big and strong. Seungyoun helped her cut the stubborn meat off the bones of the animals they boasted about killing.

Morana was old enough to pick up on the occasional comment about her origin. About her elven father and his visits to this place. About them teasing Wooyoung how he never fathered a child.

It didn't matter to Morana. She had fun with Hlin and glowed whenever the mighty woman extended praise her way. Perhaps one day, they could hunt and drink side by side.

Whoever her parents had been, they left Morana behind. Hlin was the leader there for her, teaching her about the world.

Morana couldn't bring herself to care about people she couldn't remember meeting.