YO! Mah PEEPS! Please entertain my newest fandom! the GUARDIANS OF GA'HOOLE! *squeals like the disgusting fangirl I am*
Turnfeather
Chapter One
"We can't stay here." A voice whispered into the darkness.
"Where on earth can we go?" Another questioned.
"Anywhere is better than here." A third voice.
"Here is all we know." The second spoke again, denying the option.
"But they didn't even care about Algie! We need to leave." A fourth. It was heated and emotional.
"And what of the forces that they will send for us? You know they don't allow for deserters." Second.
"Are you saying we aren't strong enough to handle a bunch of simple soldiers?" Third.
"I'm saying that we should think this through." Second.
"If they didn't care about Algie, who has been loyal to them since hatching, why would they care about us who have been loyal just as long? We begged the High Tyto and Her Pureness to allow us a burial or ceremony in his honor. They didn't even know whom we spoke of." The first spoke again.
Silence greeted this statement until it was broken by the second voice.
"When will we leave?"
On the edge of the great Forest Kingdom of Tyto, a great gathering of owls was happening. They were all members of the Pure Ones, a group of owls who believed that all owls of the Tytonidae family of Owls to be superior to all other.
In the tallest tree close to the castle that the Pure Ones called their base, a fir tree, stood a Barn Owl who bore a metal mask and beak that covered half of his face. He was the new High Tyto, Kludd, leader of the Pure Ones. Next to him was a Barn Owl whose beauty surpassed all other, for her facial disk looked as though all the Moon's brightest light had been sealed into the feathers. This was because she was born on the night of a lunar eclipse. She was Nyra, the mate of the new High Tyto.
On the branches below them were the High Tyto's highest ranking generals and personal guard.
On the fir tree to the left perched the Nyra Annihilators, Nyra's personal regiment, and the High Tyto's own elite regiment. At least 40 owls perched on that one tree.
On the fir tree to the right sat four owls. They were the elite squad all foot soldiers wished to one day join. They were the "Elite Wings" assasins of the Pure Ones, experts on using feather blades, a type of specialized wing-armor weapon that hid in the primary feathers of an owl by appearing to be shiny, silver feathers.
Their leader was a young, but proud, female Barn Owl by the name of Khrys, who had white plumage with large chocolate-brown spots, and light brown wings, with tan and dark brown spots smattered through her feathers. Her facial disk was white, but she had two tan colored dots, one above her right eye, and another right next to her beak.
Her second was Marl, a male Golden Masked Owl who was much larger than his leader. His facial disk was a light brown that in the moonlight was a beautiful shade of amber. His plumage was a mocha brown with darker brown spots layered all through them, and his wings matched his spots. The spots on his wings were the same shade of brown as his facial disk.
The navigator of the Elite Wings was Sagax, a male Sooty Owl. His facial disk was a dusty Brown, and the spots on his underside, a natural off-white color, and wings, a darker brown, matched. Oddly enough, the plumage in the center of his chest was completely devoid of spots.
The last member was Nerda, the only other female in the group aside from Khrys, and she was a Grass Owl. Her facial disk was tree bark brown, and so were her wings. Her plumage was a lighter shade than her wings, but her spots were hazel, that in the right light seemed a bit more green than brown, and they seemed to heavily decorate her wings and back. She served as the information gatherer.
Despite their standing in the Pure Ones' army, however they were depressed. It showed in the dimness in all four sets of dark eyes, the lack of luster in their feathers. They had lost Algie, a member of their team and another Sooty owl, in a skirmish with St. Aggie's over the flecks, thin pieces of iron that had magnetic properties and a drastic effect on the gizzard, the organ that sets owls apart from other birds.
But no owl had time to think of such things, they wished to know what their new leader had to say.
A screeching call from one of the High Tyto's general's resulted in immediate silence. Once they were sure that all the attention was on them, Her Pureness began to speak. "Tyto's!" She called. "I have the great honor of introducing you to your new leader and my Mate, the High Tyto Kludd!" Immediately, calls of approval were heard, and their new leader raised his metal beak high in pride. But Lady Nyra wasn't finished yet. "Now, in the light of the full moon and in the sight of Glaux, the first Tyto, you are here to swear your oaths of allegiance to the new High Tyto."
And then the swearing began. First, one was to speak their oath to the High Tyto. If his wing swept over One's head or they gained a nod, one had his acquiescence; your oath was well, but it wasn't all that pleasing. If his beak graced your feathers, or he spoke to you, you had his sublime approval; he enjoyed your oath and believed in your loyalty to both him and the cause.
However if you got no reaction you were shamed: They could either take their punishment like true Tyto's or flee and die when the proceedings were over.
First the generals spoke of their allegiance, only one did not garner a reaction, and decided to flee. Enraged hissing filled the air. Then the Nyra Annihilators and the elite squadron did theirs per regiment. Both garnered a nod. Finally, it was time for the Elite Wings' oaths.
They rose as one and landed on the small tree in front of the High Tyto's tree that had served as a stage all night. They bowed low; one leg straight, the other bent, beaks nearly touching the branch in front of them, wings open. When they straightened, they kept their eyes submissively downcast. Khrys stepped forward. As leader, she would speak for them. "Lord High Tyto, we beg to be of service to you and your goals," She began. No one noticed, with her eyes sufficiently downcast, the disgust that swam in their dark depths. "We beg the honor of fighting for you, we beg the honor of being of use to you. We thank you for the honor of being in your presence, for which we are not truly worthy. For you, Purest One, we forever swear our humble lives; for without you, Greatest One, we are nothing but Impure, and deserve not even the depths of Hagsmire."
And with that they bowed low again, and didn't rise, for all appearances awaiting his judgment. Kludd himself was both pleased and stunned. Who knew that these owls were so loyal to the Pure Ones, so loyal to him. He stared hard at them, before speaking. "You may rise and retake your place as loyal members of the Pure Ones, the truly Pure and Righteous."
They rose and began to flap back to their station, a simultaneous 'Thank you, my Lord.' emerging from the formation of owls. As they flew back, cheers arose from the common soldiers, and continued until Kludd himself called for silence.
If any would have bothered to look, they would have noticed how all of them seemed bigger than before, because they had fluffed their feathers up in their aggravation. Khrys' near-silent murmur was almost too quiet to hear, but her team heard her and understood.
"We leave a week and a half from now, just before the new moon. I cannot stand to be here any longer."
And personally, they all agreed.
Sagax was nervous as he did his last perimeter check for the Pure Ones, just before daybreak as was required, because just before the edge of the sun touched the horizon they would fly out. Out of the castle, out of the Forest of Tyto, and out of the Pure Ones. Forever.
It wasn't that he didn't want to leave the Pure Ones; he did! They had forsook Algie so quickly, not even allowing them a time of mourning. But he was scared! He knew, they ALL knew, what happened to deserters. Good Glaux, they themselves had meted out the punishment for the owls that had been caught! But Khrys was right. She was almost always right. They were not truly cared for here! Yes, the common owls in the army looked up to them, but that was only because they were the only truly integrated unit in the Pure Ones army. They didn't understand the stress. The things they'd witnessed… the things they did. All, apparently, for owls who didn't care about them. For a cause they couldn't honestly say they believed in.
They had met other owls while on missions for the former High Tyto. Owls that weren't Tyto's. On missions in the Desert nation of Kuneer, they had met a family of Elf Owls who taught them about the dangers of the full moon.
A family of Spotted Owls in the forest Kingdom of Ambala taught them about what could happen to unborn chicks when exposed to flecks, about how if a young, immature owl was exposed to flecks they could change, or "Shatter" as they called it, resulting in a unmoving gizzard.
What made these owls that had knowledge beyong their own any less than owls of the Tytonidae family? It was a question that haunted their minds for a long time now. A question that plagued Algie until his death.
When Sagax landed in the hollow the Elite Wing's shared, he was met with the unmoving forms of Marl and Nerda, the empty nest of Algie, and the mask-like face of Khrys. He wilfed, a thing most owls did when scared or nervous where their feathers seemed to become plastered to their bodies. He opened his beak to say something, anything, when she shook her head and gestured to him to follow her outside, before leaving. He blinked before following, and found her perched on a branch nearby, not far from the hollow, gazing out into the distance at the rising sun, not really seeing it.
He didn't have to wait long for her to speak her mind. "Sagax," She hooted softly, "I'm scared." She turned her dark eyes onto his own shocked pair. "And I'm pretty sure it's for the same reason you are. I don't want to lose anybody else either. But if we stay here, we'll grow to hate this place even more, and even come to hate each other. We'll have to watch each other die slowly on the inside. And I think that's the last thing any of us would want. The last thing that Algie would have wanted."
Sagax nodded slowly, sadly. "Yeah," he warbled. "Yeah, I think that would be the worst. I'm scared about that but I'm also scared about leaving home." Just thinking about leaving made him wilf, and his eyes shine with desperation.
Khrys blinked at him and then scooted closer to gently preen at his right wing flight feathers, soothing him enough to relax. Once she felt that he had calmed, she posed her final question to him, not stopping her gentle movements. "But when has this place ever truly been a home?"
Sagax froze, thinking this over. Had it ever felt like a home? No, it did not remind him of the monetary comfort he had in his family's nest, something he couldn't tangibly recall, but it was a feeling he'd been bereft of for a long time, until he met his unit. His family, which had a huge hole in it since the death of Algie. It didn't have the warmth, the life, the love that so many of the hollows they had visited had.
Taking another great sigh he stepped away from Khrys and her care and gently clacked beaks with her. Understanding that he wanted to be alone with his thoughts, she flitted back to the hollow, and lay down in her own nest, silently pleading to Glaux that Sagax could gain the understanding he needed to make this change-she did not want to lose another of her brothers.
What cha think? Too much, too little? More umph? Less bleh?
Results people, I need results for my new fandom!