It was a long and tiring climb to get to his destination, yet he had done it, he had finally reached the top and was at the doors to the Headmaster’s Loft. Why the mighty bull would be this high up is a bit of a mystery to those who don’t know why the Game Keeper did most of the things he did. But Mulgron wasn’t just roaming around aimlessly or getting lost at every turn. No, he never went anywhere he hadn’t meant to be in, even when he appeared to be lost or in trouble.

Mulgron rolled his eyes as he thought about his terrible luck. True, he had gotten lost quite a few times, and he knew the excuse ‘I meant ter be there, really I did’ was quite overused, but he couldn’t help it.

Today, however, he was at the Loft to have a chat with the Headmaster, the kind Anthro Drake that had hired him when no one else would, that had given him a place to stay and a job that needed doing. It wasn’t an inportant talk, no, he just wanted to chat with someone and the Headmaster just seemed the type, who like Mulgron, loved to have a good time.

At the moment, Mulgron stood, winded, outside the doors, just staring at the nameplate on it. The poor bloke wanted to catch his breath before he entered, just so that if there was anyone else up there at the present time, they wouldn’t start off on how mental he was to cause himself that much discomfort when all he had to do was catch Drake when he was downstairs.

‘But tha would be ridiculous’ Mulgron thought. ‘The whole reason o' comin' up to see someone on their own turf was to surprise 'em’

Mulgron looked down at his pet, a Gryphon chick, or cub as some would call it, and ruffled its head feathers with one of his massive hands. The creature was a mix between a Maine Coon and a Barn Owl, giving it a very interesting look. It wouldn’t get much bigger than a large Maine Coon male, but it was still a rather dangerous animal should it get loose as an adult. Currently, it was no bigger than a half grown Barn Owl. It’s almost completely feathered, white head looked too big and its brownish grey wings too small in comparison to the body. Her reddish brown eyes were huge, and blinked slowly at her owner as she tilted her head almost all the way to one side and upside down. Her coat was deep gray with black tuffs on her ears, tail and feet. The forelegs were owl feet, yet they too were covered in black fur and feather mix. She was, in one word, beautiful.

Five minutes passed before he decided it was time to collect himself and head in for a chat. Drawing his pet up to his chest, Mulgron raised his free hand up to the door and knocked loudly.

The headmaster wasn't busy at all, and when he heard the knock it wasn't like one he was used to. Students were always afraid and gave a light tenative knock, or a frantic "for the love of god let me in" knock. His typical teachers usually gave some sort of odd code knock of their own, or a basic three taps. This one was more like an inadverdent pounding on the door, someone big and strong or very angry. He walked to the door and opened it with a smile, wearing his standard brown cloak wrapped tight around him over a green shirt and gray shorts. "Oh, hello there. Please do come in, and I see you have a little friend with you too. Does your pet need a drink or a snack? Or do you? I know it can be a bit of a hard climb up here." Many were out of breath or leaning heavily on the door, practically falling in when he opened it.

“Oh no sir, she don’t need nothin' right now” he said excitedly, holding the now curiously looking about gryphon up for the Headmaster to see better “cept a place ter lay down. Don’t like bein' held all the time mind yeh” Mulgron then entered and started to look around the place, having to duck his head a little to one side in order to keep his horns from touching anything that hung from the ceiling. “Jus tea fer me, please” he added distractedly, now taking in random facts about the room in the hopes of getting a better idea of the type of drake he was dealing with.

The Gryphon chick started to squirm a bit in his grasp, but he had a good hold on her so all she could do was look back at him with sad eyes and flap her tiny wings in protest. “Now yeh settle down, yeh don’t need nothing” Mulgron slowly revolved on the spot, the place was full of all kinds of trinkets, bits and bobs, making it a good place for him to relax in; tons of good subjects to bring up in conversation. “Her name’s Soot if yeh’re wonderin, looks like she had a bad fall down a chimney.”

Soot just let out an Owlet hiss and tried yet again to escape her handler, now that she had all this open space to explore.

"Heh, well if the little one isn't too eager to go flying around there's a nice wide stone table over here, can set little Soot up on there with a little bed of blankets." Drake always had plenty of space in his loft, and even his bed set up in the room off to one side, near the sliding glass door out to a little balcony. The headmaster smiled as he walked over to a little kitchen area, laughing. "Just tea huh? Well let's see... black tea, red tea, green tea, white tea. iced or fresh brewed? Honey or lemon? Or lime? Or sugar? Or anything else you might like in your drink? I try to keep well stocked for all instances... even a drink or two of a more intoxicating nature locked up. So what's your preference?" It was certainly nice of him to have brought the little gryphlet along rather than leaving it stuck in a cage or anything.

Mulgron nodded his head a little and then set the beast on top of the table so that she could explore the new area. The small gryphon wobbled as she stood stiff legged on the stone table; it was obvious now as to why the great bull had her with him, she appeared to be deformed and needed the extra care. Soot’s leg joints - what would be her knees and elbows - looked to be fused or at least had a little more tissue in places it shouldn’t be, for she was unable to bend her knees or elbows very much at all. Her wings were folded tightly against her tiny body, as if she were worried they would break off if she spread them out for any reason. Mulgron smiled down at the fluffy creature, before bringing his attention to the Headmaster once more.

“Oh no sir, jus' the strongest tea with no sweetening yeh got fer now, don’t want to fall down the stairs or nothin. Or wake up someplace I shouldn’t” he added the last bit quietly, averting his eyes some. He took a seat on a rather large sofa and set his hands on his knees, which were quite above the table he was in front of. His deep brown eyes glittered in humor as he noticed just how big he was compared to this place.

“So, have anythin' big planned fer soon? Seems the place is a bit too quiet, though tha' might jus' be me, I’m used to loud places. Not much to do in way o' game, grounds are pretty easy to keep up, no trouble makers messin around or nothin” Mulgron shifted in his seat, glancing at Soot for a second. “Heard yeh had some kind o' trouble with a mean old dragon a while back?”

"Okay, one strong tea coming up." Drake brewed up a nice fresh pot of black tea and poured a cup for each of them, smiling as he watched the little gryphon. It might not be perfect right now but when it grew up it'd be able to manage. Certainly would be nicer to have around than a huge dragon that would want to smash the castle. "I don't think there's anything big planned soon, not for at least a month. Dragon? Oh yeah, that whole thing. Well it shouldn't be too bad, my sister said she'd handle that whole thing and prevent any future problems. No idea how she plans on doing that but if she says she will, trust me she'll find a way." Drake sat down opposite his groundskeeper and smiled. "Oh, there's a young green dragon student, not sure if you've met him yet? Verdegris? He's usually helping out in the gardens when he can."