Alex spent the night in his cave and didn't even realize it until the first rays of sunlight touched him waking him up from the jolt of energy. alex stretched as he got up his body sore from sleeping on the ground. eating a small breakfast bar from the shop alex was startled to hear the sound of someone knocking on his plastic door. walking over to the door alex opened it with a confused expression. standing there on the small ledge outside the door was an old looking man in overalls and thick cotton clothes with green scales around his eyes.
"Ahoy there little one might i trouble you for a bit of shelter from the rain?" the man asked with a smile and smooth voice. looking past the man alex did indeed see that it was raining fairly hard "i suppose ,but mister how did you get up here?" he asked confused. the old man walked into the cave and looked around before nodding in appreciation. "it's a nice place you got here lad , as fer your question." the old man said before showing alex his hands which had thick grip lines on the palm of each hand.
"I myself got lucky havin' been born a gecko faunus ,what of you lad?" the man asked while taking a small fire tool from his pack. "griffin faunus , half lion half eagle" alex explained while stretching out a wing. the old man whistled at the sight "seen a few hybrid like you in my time none from two very different typing's like you though." the old man says honestly. "dad said he knew of a lizard bat hybrid with red scales and large ears." alex says trying to be helpful. the old man seemed interested "that so? seems like an interesting fella." he says with a chuckle.
"A lady actually , according to dad she needed special ear covers otherwise she got sick from how good her hearing was." alex explained. the old man nodded "met a mole faunus had a similar issue with his hands , man needed surgery to cut off the excess nail." the old man said sharing his own story. "i got lucky i suppose" alex admitted. "always remember that others might not be , helps keep you grounded." the old man shared some wisdom. "now then i know why i am here but what brings a young lad like you out here?" the old man asked seriously.
Alex didn't know why but he felt that the old man could be trusted so he told him about the incident with his mother the day before. the old man listened quietly and it was only after alex narrated up till he showed up that he interjected. "looks like you didn't get as lucky as you thought lad." he said seriously surprising alex. "what do you mean?" alex asked confused. the old man sighed "lad can you tell me what a lion and an eagle have in common?" he asked calmly.
Alex thought about it but couldn't come up with an answer "i don't know what?" he asked curiously. "they are both kings lad , they rule a part of the beast kingdom pridefully" the old man said wisely. alex instantly figured out what his problem was and couldn't help but voice it out "i have all that pride huh?" he asked rhetorically. the old man nodded "aye lad yours is a problem far worse than the two we spoke of , no amount of equipment can fix what you've got." he said seriously. "the deadly sin of man ,pride huh?" alex muttered.
"It's not all bad lad , prides a powerful force and if you master it the world will bow to you." the old man said sagely. the old man looked outside and stood up "well i best be on my way now the rain let up. mind if i tell folk about this place in case some fella also gets caught in a sudden storm round here?" the old man asked while walking to the door. alex said it was fine but he'd need to set up a rope ladder though it was a big deal.
Alex watched the old man scale down the cliff face to a small boat anchored bellow with several nets and a cooler to hold the catch in. as the small boat took off alex notice a nevermore heading towards it and controlled the air around it sending it plummeting into the waves. the old man seemed to see this and waved in thanks to alex for the assist. alex couldn't help but remember the mans advice and knew he needed to tell his parents so they could help him control himself. he still felt bad about almost killing his mom but decided not to run from the problem.
Before heading back to the town though alex made sure to thank the old man for his advice with a small egg of rainbow salt that he was saving. the old man pocketed the crystal that fell into his nets and just watched as alex flew over the top of the cliffs with his silver eyes. the air next to the boat rippled and a black smoky figure with horns on its head appeared out of seemingly nowhere. "must you interfere so soon brother?" the figure asked calmly. "you could also have given him the same advice brother , after all it's the first time we've had a younger sibling." the old man said before both of them and the boat vanished like it was never there.
