Her dark green eyes were filled with wonder as she soared over the brilliant
lights and sounds. Her face was set in an expression of awe as the city of
New York passed beneath her. She had never imagined that New York was
this big and so bright even at night.
She assumed she was somewhere around Manhattan when she saw a building that made her gasp. It was a castle set upon a huge skyscraper. The gargress couldn’t help but catch an updraft and start towards it.
When she reached the building she began to circle it. Should I land? Who lives here?
She glanced over at her companion who circled beside her. "Well Noah, do you think we should?"
The black and white striped feline creature beside her made a trill sound. It angled its wings and dove down to the castle.
"I guess thats a yes." The gargress said sarcastically. She too angled her wings and began a swift decent to the tower of the castle.
She alighted a few seconds later beside the feline creature. She
glanced around nervously, but with wonder. She walked over and perched
on the edge of the tower. She glanced down at the rest of the castle.
"Wow. I’d love to live here." She smiled. "Could you imagine that Noah? Our own castle in the middle of a city like this? I can guarantee you the residents here are your pretty rich people." She smirked and her pet purred at her.
Together they sat on the edge of the tower. The feline called Noah sitting contentedly beside the gargress.
Suddenly Noah’s ears perked up at a swooping noise. Both the pet and
the gargress watched as a brick red gargoyle landed in a lower part of the
castle.
A gargoyle?! Oh my gosh! ...I can’t believe it!
She watched the gargoyle intently as it began to walk into the castle. She quickly reached into a bag that hung at her side and pulled out a small camera.
Just as she took the first picture a growl erupted from behind her. She slowly sat down the camera and turned to Noah beside her. The pet had turned around and was staring behind his master. His black gargoyle-like wings were flared and all his fur was on end.
The gargress slowly turned and gasped as she saw a strange creature. It looked like a tiny blue gargoyle, but without wings, and it was on all fours.
She backed slowly away from the creature and could feel the edge of the tower below her talons.
The creature barked and she lost her balance.
She could hear Noah release a desperate wail as she fell off the tower.
She tried desperately to open her wings as she fell. However the straps of her
bag had wrapped around one of her wings and their was no way she could
glide or even slow her decent. She screamed and covered her face with her
arms as the ground was only a few feet from her.
This is it.....I’m going to die now.
Her mind whirled with thoughts and images. However one thought
pushed itself through all the confusion. I never felt impact...
The gargress slowly opened her eyes and looked into the lavender face of a male gargoyle. She jerked and tried to get away only to realize that she was being held in his arms. She also realized that they were gliding.
He must have caught me....I’m not dead!
The gargoyle landed in the courtyard of the castle. He gently sat her down. The gargress stared at her savior. He was lavender with pure black hair, he was massive and was at least a foot taller than her. For a while they just stared at each other, both wondering where the other had come from.
Then gargress jumped as several other gargoyles burst into the courtyard.
"Goliath, we heard a scream, What happen....." an aqua male started to ask. He stopped cold however when he spotted the new gargoyle.
The gargress was average height with tan skin, long gold hair, and dark green eyes. A gold tiara lay on her forhead, blue jewel sparkling in the center.
"Who is she?" a small green colored gargoyle asked.
The lavender gargoyle they called Goliath answered, "I do not know." He smiled at her. "But her and Elisa have a few things in common already."
After a momentary pause of wondering who Elisa was, the gargress spoke up. "My name is Kristia and this is......" She stopped, for the first time noticing that her faithful pet was not at her side. She made a trill-like sound to all him.
A second later Noah came bursting into the courtyard, the blue dog-like creature at his heels.
Noah jumped into his owner’s arms and hissed at his enemy. The oldest gargoyle of the group stopped the garg-dog before it could knock down Kristia trying to get her pet. "Ach Bronx, leave the cat....or whatever it is... alone!"
She laughed. "He’s a garg-cat and his name is Noah." Noah nodded at the gargoyles infront of it, but kept a suspicious eye on Bronx.
Goliath spoke up. "As you’ve already heard my name is Goliath. I am the leader of Clan Manhattan. This is my second in command Brooklyn, my daughter Angela, her mate Broadway, Lexington, my mentor Hudson, and..." He smiled. "You’ve definitely met Bronx."
Each member nodded and smiled as they were introduced. Bronx whined apologetically at Kristia.
Brooklyn stepped toward Kristia. "Where are you from? Do you have a clan?"
"I’m from......from...well I’d rather not discuss that, and no, I don’t have a clan. In fact you all are the first gargoyles I’ve ever met."
Angela, noticing a similarity, asked, "So you were raised by humans?"
Kristia nodded. A warm breeze ruffled Kristia’s long gold hair and she looked around.
Goliath motioned toward a door. "Come. Let us take this conversation inside."
Everyone nodded and Kristia followed them into the castle.
Once inside, the clan began to flood Kristia with questions. Finally
Goliath silenced everyone.
"She cannot answer all of your questions at once." He bellowed.
Everyone was silent for a moment and then Lexington piped in.
"Kristia, if were the first gargoyles you’ve ever met do you know about gargoyle traditions and things like that?"
Kristia looked sad for a moment but shook off her frown and answered. "I know most things and have gargoyle instincts, however I act pretty much human most of the time."
"Whats the jeweled thing on your forehead?" Broadway asked.
"This?" she pointed to the blue jewel that hung from a gold chain on her forehead. "This was given to me by the humans that raised me. It was their custom that a gargoyle wear this everyday." She started rummaging through her bag. "Also on special occasions I wear this tiara."
She pulled out a small gold crown with the same jewel in the center of it.
"You wear that jewel a lot." Angela commented.
Kristia nodded and glanced down at herself. The same blue jewel hung in the center of her necklace and in the center of a gold ring on her tail. "Its only found in the mountains of where I lived. It is very special to the humans there."
Brooklyn opened his mouth to ask Kristia again where she was from, but then decided not to since she hadn’t wanted to discuss it earlier.
Goliath suddenly spoke up, "Do you have somewhere to live?"
Kristia smiled at Goliath. "Actually I came here looking for gargoyles to live with. I had heard rumors and...well....." she laughed nervously.
Goliath stood up and looked at the other members of his clan. They all smiled and nodded. He stepped up to Kristia. "We would be very happy to have you live here with us."
Kristia grinned. "I would like that very much."
After the clan had showed Kristia and Noah around the castle,
including a bedroom she could use to keep her things in, everyone had
assembled outside the castle. Dawn was approaching and pretty soon the
gargoyles would take their places.
Kristia had awed at the whole castle and had loved it all, but everynow and then a nagging thought would come into her mind.
I’m going to have to tell them sometime. I can’t get around it like I have other things.
She shook herself out of her thoughts and asked Goliath, "Do you own this castle and this building?"
"No, a man named David Xanatos and his wife Fox do. This was our castle one thousand years ago however."
When Kristia gave him a questioning look he proceeded to explain.
After he was finished, Kristia smiled. "You’ve had a pretty interesting life."
Goliath smiled at her. "Yes, you could say that."
A frown crossed Kristia’s face.
"Is something wrong lass?" Hudson asked.
Kristia shifted her feet nervously and glanced around. The entire clan was staring at her, they would all know. What will they think?
"I have something I need to tell you all."
Goliath glanced over his shoulder. "It will have to wait, the sun is rising."
Kristia sighed. "But it can’t."
She closed her eyes and a look of deep concentration formed on her tan face. Suddenly her wings began to shrink. Her talons began to mold themselves into human hands and feet. Her tail disappeared and her ears were now rounded and smaller.
Everyone gasped as they also glanced at Kristia’s feet. Noah’s wings
were gone and his size had diminished. He was an ordinary cat. The clan
stood shocked. No longer did a gargoyle and garg-cat stand before them, but
a human wearing a gargoyle’s clothing and a cat.
The sun casts it’s rays over the clan. Leaving them in a frozen state of
shock and leaving Kristia awake and human....Noah purring at her feet.
Kristia frowned at the gargoyle statues before her. They look so shocked....
So betrayed.....
I wonder what they’ll say? Will they make me leave?
She shook herself out of her thoughts and looked down. The ring that usually hung on her tail now laid on the ground. She picked it up and clasped it around Noah’s neck.
She sighed. "Now what do I do?" she said to herself aloud.
"It would be nice if you could explain what just happened."
Kristia whirled around to face the new voice. A handsome man in a tailored suit stood before her. Beside him stood a very attractive red-haired woman and a expressionless blonde-haired man.
"Who are you?!" she asked surprised.
"My name is David Xanatos. This is my wife Fox and my assistant Owen."
Kristia relaxed slightly. "Oh, Goliath told me about you."
Xanatos smiled. "I’m sure it wasn’t all good."
Kristia frowned. "No....not really."
There was a momentary silence which was eventually broken by a loud, impatient meow.
Kristia glanced down at Noah. He looked up at her with pleading yellowish-green eyes. She glanced back up at Xanatos. "He’s hungry. Do you have any food he can eat?"
Xanatos guestured toward the castle. "Of course. Follow us."
Once they were inside the castle and Noah was delicately munching on
a bowl of tuna, Xanatos wasted no time in asking his earlier question again.
"Well?"
Kristia looked at him puzzled. "Well what?"
"Well, what happened out there?"
Kristia sighed and took a seat at the nearby kitchen table. The Xanatos’ followed and listened patiently.
Kristia took a deep breath and explained.
"I’m not a full blooded gargoyle. I’m actually half gargoyle, half human. My mother was human, my father was gargoyle."
Fox’s face took on a confused look. "I thought that the two species couldn’t have children."
Kristia nodded solemnly. "There not suppose to be able to. I guess I’m an exception."
"Anyways," Kristia continued, "along with being these two species I can take either form I wish at any time, although the rules of both species still apply to me."
"That means...?" Xanatos asked.
"If I am in gargoyle form when the sun rises I will turn to stone for the day and will be unable to turn back into human form until the next night. However if I am in human form when the sun rises I can stay human throughout the day."
"What if you were human during the day and wanted to turn into your gargoyle form?" Xanatos inquired.
"As soon as I was completely transformed I would turn to stone. At night I can change from either form at will...it doesn’t matter. Also some of the traits from each form linger in the other."
Fox leaned in closer and asked, "Such as...?"
"Well... in human form I still have the strength and instincts of a gargoyle. In gargoyle form I still have the coloring and face of a human."
"Is that it?" Xanatos asked with a smile.
Kristia returned the grin. “Well...I have a last name...but I only use it when in human form. My full name is Kristia d’Alene."
Fox smiled. "I think you are extrodinary. Plus I believe the clan will understand."
Kristia frowned. "I hope so."
After Xanatos and Fox had left Kristia went to her room and changed
from her gargoyle loincloth and halter top, into a pair of flare jeans and a
tight, dark green baby tee. A quick glance in the mirror reminded her that
she was still wearing her forhead jewelry. She removed it, put on her Adidas
tennis shoes, and glanced around the room. Noah had found a comfy spot
on the large canopy bed and was laying there happily. His bright
yellow-green eyes lit-up as Kristia started to put things into a leather
backpack.
The sleek cat jumped off the bed and leaped into the backpack as soon as Kristia had put it on. Kristia smiled.
"Sure you can come. Thanks for asking." she said sarcasticly. Noah purred at her.
"You always come in the backpack, I know." she said lovingly.
With a quick brush of her hair Kristia walked out of the room and into the elevator. Once out of the Erie building she smiled.
"Lets go site seeing Noah." Kristia said happily. Noah meowed lightly and hid himself inside the backpack...leaving just enough of his head sticking out to be able to see.
The sun slowly set over the island of Manhattan. As its final rays
disappeared over the horizan the gargoyle inhabitants of Clan Manhattan
awoke from their stone sleep. Their roars echoed over the castle as they
shook off the last of their stone skins.
After they were awake everyone stared at the spot where Kristia had stood when they became stone. The clan just looked at each other, none of them knowing what was going on, or what had happened last night.
"Maybe she was a fae." Lexington said...breaking the silence.
Goliath, his face still showing his confusion, spoke next. "Whatever she was, she’s not here now. Hudson, come with me. We will see if Xanatos saw her. Everyone else split up and search the castle for her."
Everyone dispersed quickly. Goliath immediately went inside and started towards Xanatos’s office, Hudson right behind him.
"What do ye think she is lad?" Hudson asked.
"I don’t know...but I intend to find out."
Xanatos was sitting at his desk looking over some papers when he
heard a heavy knock at his door.
"Come in." he said.
Goliath entered followed by Hudson.
"Hello Golaith, Hudson. To what do I owe this visit?"
Golaith answered. "Have you seen a woman today? She has blonde hair, green eyes, and a pet cat."
Xanatos smiled. "Ah....you mean Kristia? Yes I saw her. We all had a chat."
"We?" Golaith asked.
"Fox, Kristia, and I."
"And what exactly did ye discuss?" Hudson asked.
Xanatos motioned to the 2 chairs infront of his desk. "Its long. Would you care to take a seat?"
Golaith shook his head. "No thank you."
"Alright." Xanatos proceeded to tell them everything Kristia had told about herself earlier.
Once finished, Xanatos had to try hard not to laugh at the looks on the gargoyles’ faces. They were completely astounded.
"Do you know where she went?" Golaith asked.
"No. She left shortly after dawn with Noah. I’m sure she’ll be back sometime though."
Golaith nodded. The two gargoyles then left the room and went to find the rest of the clan.
She had never laughed so hard in her life. She was sure the enraged
man was going to shoot her as she ran down the alley away from his store.
Noah was clutched in her arms and scared to death.
Finally Kristia rounded a corner and quickly, with the help of a few gymnastic tricks, made it to the roof of a building. She sat Noah down and peered over the edge. The man was looking all around for Noah and her. Eventually he gave up and screamed while walking back down the alley.
“STUPID CAT!!!!!!”
After she was sure that he was gone Kristia finally collapsed in laughter.
"Did.....did you see the look on his face?! It was hilarious! Expecially when you looked at him with those bird feathers in your mouth!"
Kristia laughted til it hurt, the scene of what had happened still running threw her mind.
She had made the mistake of stoping at a crowded bus stop. She
hadn’t noticed the man standing beside her with a tropical parrot on his
shoulder.....but Noah did. The cat had sprung out of the backpack and
knocked the bird off the man’s shoulder. Kristia, who hadn’t felt Noah
leave her backpack, turned when she heard the man scream. Noah had the
bird pinned between his paws on the side walk, the bird squaking loud
enough for people down the street to hear.
She had immediately picked Noah up and tried to apologise to the man. However when she started trying to grab noah from her, insisting that the "horrible beast" be killed, her protective instincts kicked in. Kristia kicked out the man’s legs from under him, sending him on the ground next to his shocked parrot. Ater that she had ran a block trying to get away from him and ended up on the rooftop of an apartment complex.
Kristia finally managed to quit laughing long enough to look at the sky.
The sun had set. The clan is awake by now, I have to go back.
She sighed sadly and reached into her backpack. She pulled out her gargoyle clothing.
"Noah...next time don’t get so comfy." She smiled at him and brushed all of the cat hairs off her clothes. She also reached over and took her tail ring off of Noah’s neck.
She found a small shed on the top of the roof and ducked into it and changed. Once back outside she began to concentrate. Suddenly her ears became pointy and long, wings sprouted out of her back, her feet and hands changed, and her tail immerged.
Noah changed also. After he had doubled in size and had wings, he looked up at his now gargoyle master. She smiled as she reached into her backpack and pulled out her forhead jewelry. Once it was on her head, she reached down and clasped her tail ring in the center of her tail.
Kristia grabbed her backpack, stood up, and sighed. "Time to go face everyone."
She jumped off of the roof and started gliding to the castle, Noah soaring beside her.
"So she was half gargoyle, half human?" Broadway asked.
Goliath nodded. "That is what she told Xanatos."
"Do you think she’s dangerous?" Lexington asked with a sad face.
"I would never harm any of you."
The clan spun around at the voice. Kristia emerged from the shadows, her face serious and sad. She had landed in the courtyard seconds earlier. Hearing the voices of the clan she had crept over and listened, making sure to hide herself in the shadows.
"I never meant to upset any of you. I just thought you should know." she stated sadly. Noah stepped out of the shadows and stood next to Kristia.
"Are you magical?" Brooklyn asked.
Kristia shook her head lightly. "No. Besides the magic that allows me to change, I have none."
Goliath sighed. "I understand why you did....what you did, and thank you for telling us."
"Are you still going to stay?" Angela asked, her eyes hopeful.
"If is is alright...I’d love to." Kristia looked at Goliath and smiled.
Goliath grinned. "Of course. Welcome to Clan Manhattan, Kristia."
Email: kayhines@yahoo.com
