Chapter one: Inception of dawn
In the beginning, early spring in the most southern part of the Forest Kingdom of Tyto that faced the vast ocean known simply as the Unknown, a full moon shone over the almost silent, majestic woodland, it was indeed a peaceful sight. Insects enjoying the darkness could be heard as they buzzed, danced amongst the damp dew covered ferns and other undergrowth plants. The light of the full moon radiated through the tops of the grand fir trees creating bright columns of light cutting through the mist lighting the vegetation below. Light hitting edges of hairy leaves glowed with a silver lining. Long shadows smeared into the gloomy midnight mist, dissolving into the endless sea of thin tree trunks. Stars of all brightness and sizes covered the whole sky, shining and sparkling like a million tiny holes in a black sheet giving wonder to all those who lived in the great forest. Silently, two barn owls glided through the calm but frigid night air high above the canopy of luscious tree tops that swayed in the light breeze. Their eyes carefully scanning the land below, piercing the darkness with night vision in the wake of the full moon behind them. Their ear slits listening in to the rustle of dried bristles of countless fir trees with their acute hearing. Not making a single sound not from their wings or two each other. They slipped into a steep angle with moon lit feather tips, glowing intensely like a silver lining of a cloud. In the talons of the larger owl Zava, held a chubby light brown vole. The smaller owl Jax, who strangely held a pine cone from a lodge pole pine tree gripped in one foot and in the other was a small dark brown Mouse. Jax turned his head smoothly to the beautiful owl with the auburn shades to her plumage, his eyes as black and mysterious as the night. The moon light casing on one side of his brilliant white facial disc as it caught the fine feathers on its ridge above his beak.
"Zava, I wonder how the youngsters are doing," troubled Jax with a soft voice breaking the silence.
Zava looked towards her mate who was now looking ahead of him, his white feathers stood out from the night. Zava stared at him for several seconds as she glided; wondering what was on his mind. She noticed that something was abnormal in his thoughts as if something was disturbing him.
"I am always thinking of them, Jax. Without them, I do not now know where I would be," reinsured Zava gently as one of her eyes caught in the moonlight.
An aged grand fir tree stood tall and lofty into night, poking out from the thick canopy of pine trees; it bathed in the light of the moon as a gentle breeze flew through its bristles creating a rustling noise of dried leaves rubbing together. With the moon now behind them, two little silhouettes swiftly moved across the tree tops, silently, the pair adjusted their flight pattern, making miniscule movements, banking; they took a dive, bursting through the canopy of thick trees. Suddenly a darker and duskier world appeared full of thin trees that faded into the enigmatic darkness. Beneath the canopy of trees was a different world, looking tranquil yet so much was going on, insects and other birds could be heard all around singing their songs. Almost half way up the fir tree, the pair landed on a thick branch making abrasive marks into its dry rough bark. The tree covered in dense pine bristles that never fell of, even in the unkindest nights of the winter the tree endured. Behind the thick coverage of the pine bristles in the trunk of the tree a large dark hollow with a splintered rim that split down the tree could be seen. The hollow was big enough to fit a whole family of owls and more, inside all around the walls where drawings carved into the light soft wood, made by talons that had hardly harden off. Four nests all neatly made with mainly twigs of fir trees, moss and owl down taken from an owl's breast placed in the back of the hollow. Owls do not usually make nests, but this was one odd thing this family did. The nests where all so tidily put together, any other owl would think of them as a work of art. Except for one, the one nest on the end sitting in the darkness, it was a mess with everything shoved into the centre, a pellet that had been yarped up recently on the side outside the nest with a very warm and cosy sleeping owlet sitting init. The owlet, Eve was her name looked very much like Zava with the dark ruddy tones to the feathers on her head and pure white facial disc that was almost completely developed. Her down had almost completely fallen off and was about 10 nights away from flying. The nest to the right looked like two nests fused together, one larger than the other, two almost completely white owlets sat in it, they were awake, babbling away as they sat side by side pressed up against each other, keeping warm each other warm. Eve was the youngest then Avia and then Altair was the oldest.
"I bet Mum and Da will be back soon! I can feel it!" Said Avia, bursting into excitement as he jumped up and down in the nest, pushing his older brother by flapping his fledging wings about, causing down beneath him to fly into the air. What Avia didn't know was that the feeling he was feeling was coming from his gizzard.
Altair laughed softly at the sight of his younger brother dancing around, swinging his almost fully fledged wings about. Altair was glad that he was so excited even though he was being budged almost out of his nest by all the movement.
"You always say-" Altair was suddenly interrupted as he twitched his head this way and that, his sensitive hearing picked up the noise of two sets of talons scratching into the dry bark of the branch outside.
Two owls; one followed the other in landing. There was a brief moment of complete silence as both owlets waited in the darkness with anticipation, all the owlets eyes where fixed onto who was about to come through the splintered rim of the hollow, Avia began to bob his head about to try and get a better view. The silence was broken instantly as Avia suddenly shot up into the air as soon as he caught glimpses of owls that he recognised as Mum and Da. He was also getting awfully good at distinguishing sounds from one owl from another. Altair was again being budged out of the way by Avia, some down spun, floating weightlessly to the ground. Even though Avia was the second oldest he sure did not act like it.
"I told you Eve!" Screeched Avia pointing his fledging wing at Altair then jerked his wing to point at Eve who flinched at the piercing noise.
Opening one eye she squinted at Avia, idly peering at him as if to tell him to shut up and then slowly close her eyelid again as she tucked her facial disc deeper into her white puffed up breast feathers out of irritation. Avia watched Eve in confusion for a moment before his attention was taken away by the noise of his parents outside.
"Yeah, whatever Avia," mumbled Eve shifting her feet beneath her.
Jax's white heart shaped face with poked in; to the owlets his facial disc seemed massive, Altair and Avia gazed at him for a moment in awe. Stepping in over the rim of the hollow Jax made his way in, followed by Zava who held a vole dangling lifeless by the neck in her beak. They both seemed very happy to see there owlets again as they both looked at each other as if you say that they had done a good job with bring them up. While Avia was busy looking at Zava with the vole, Altair could see that Jax held a pine cone from a fir tree tightly gripped in his foot, his talons where wrapped around it. And in the other foot held a mouse; Altair stared intensely at the pine cone as he oddly found it more interesting than the mouse. Suddenly tipping his head up Altair eagerly looked at Jax as he placed the pine cone and mouse gently on the floor.
"Woah, Da, you have a fat head!" exclaimed Avia as he ran across the hollow gripping Jax in a tight hug with his wings. Even though Jax and Zava had not been gone for long to Avia it seemed forever. Altair would often have to remind him that they would return with food and not leave him behind.
"You'll be as fat as me one day," said Jax churring as he found it amazing how owlets would grow up so quickly, this must have been his second lot of owlets with Zava.
"You got me another pine cone Da," warmly said Altair with joy. Jax would return home with a pine cone almost every night he would go on the hunt for food, so Altair ended up with a pile of them near his nest. Altair himself never knew why he liked them so much; he just liked to collect them.
Avia being naturally noisy screeched out of sheer excitement as he looked up at Jax and tightly hugged him again, almost squeezing the air out of him as if he was some kind of warm cosy owlpoppen.
"Not as fat as your beak Avia," sneered Eve in the background as she sniggered softly to herself as she often would, the sniggering sounded like a series of short raspy hisses. Only tytos made this sound when they laughed or sniggered.
Avia smoothly spun his head to look behind him to see Eve squinting at him from within the darkness, her eyes where just two dark slits in her face. A cold stillness ran through his fledging feathers, as he looked away he took a step forward into Jax's feathery breast feathers out of fear. He felt that the closer he was to Jax the further away he was from Eve.
"Eve, why are you sleeping at this time?" questioned Altair tipped his head towards Eve, sighing as he looked at her with discontent.
Eve suddenly stopped sniggering as she grew serious, she gazed at Altair for a brief moment before closing them tightly shut, and she did not want to hear Altair complaining again about how she was not supposed to be sleeping at this time. She was tired after spending time awake during the day with her friend Mark, a newly fledged grass owl who lived nearby. To provoke Altair she shook her feathers vigorously, ruffling them all up till she looked like a ball of feathers and down. Preening herself she realigned all the feathers neatly before sitting comfortably puffing her feathers out again to keep herself warm.
Altair sighed, lightly shaking his head in disbelief, his warm breath was like smoke in the cold "Eve, you are a waste of time," said Altair, despondently slowly turning his head to look the other way paying no attention to his younger sister. Eve then opened one eye again looking Altair before she huffed back to pretending to sleep.
"Now, now, No need for that Eve," said Zava in a soft tone as she walked out from behind Jax away from the entrance and towards Eve.
"But, he does have a loud beak," quietly mumbled Eve squinting as she turned her head away.
Zava looking at Eve noticed that she was sleeping. "Great Glaux Eve!" screeched Zava, shocked at the sight of Eve sleeping. "Wake up, you are meant to sleep in the day!" snapped Zava with a slightly harsher tone, she just could not believe the nerve of her daughter. Eve responded with nothing but shifting one of her feet beneath her and a heavy sigh.
"Also, Altair, look what I have for you," said Jax breaking the tension as he held a pine up between two Talons. Everyone looked towards him, ignoring Eve.
Being very warm and snug in her downy nest Eve slowly began to open both her eyes. "Another cone?" questioned Eve stupefied, jolting awake she looked down at the pine cones around Altair's nest, there must have been a dozen of them or so. She could never understand why he had collected so many; it was really quite odd to her.
Standing up Eve shook her feathers, various bits of dust lifted into the air, like plankton in water. Down flew weightlessly through the cold air of the hollow, some of it floated towards her facial disc, watching it until it became too close for her eyes to focus on, she pushed it away with her wing but was unsuccessful making it fly everywhere in all directions.
"Yes, another one," heavily sighed Altair, cocking his head to the side to get a good look at Eve. He had enough of Eve picking at little things about him and his brother; it was starting to irritate him. Eve never acted like this before half a moon cycle ago, he could stand the odd joke or two but these nights it was starting to turn into a constant issue with her after she had met that grass owl known as Mark who hand been banned from the hollow after he had found him talking about the Pure Ones to Eve. Jax and Zava said that Eve only started on Avia because he was submissive to her torment or maybe she was in a bad mood or just simply bored. Altair didn't think it was any of those things, he thought it was Mark who had filled her head with the ideas of superiority of tytos as she acted as if she was the best owl at everything in the hollow often talking about how tytos where the best.
Suddenly with a burst of speed Avia ran pass Jax and towards Zava like a dart, dashing across hollow. The sounds of talons starching the wood could be heard in all the owls' sensitive ear slits. Zava then lifted her right wing up Avia ran underneath hugging close to her breast feathers as she put her wing back over Avia as she started to preen his feathers on his head. Small bits of down began to twirl in the still air of the hollow.
"I caught this mouse for Eve, and Zava has a vole for Avia and Altair to share," explained Jax looking at each owlet as he spoke of them.
Eve walked over to Jax quickly snatching up the mouse by the tail with her beak without saying a word to Jax; walking back to her nest she stopped to grab the dangling mouse from her beak with her left foot and flipped it around, grabbed the flesh of the neck with her beak. Jax looked over at Zava with a cold worried expression as Eve had just literary snatched the mouse without saying anything or even looking at him with the slightest of interest. Eve got to her nest, sitting down she began to pick at the flesh on mouse's head. Jax let what Eve had just done fly over his feathered head as he walked over to the two older brothers who he hoped cared just as much about him as he would.
"Woah, that's a big one da!" screeched Avia taking a good look at the vole as he bobbed his head this way and that.
"Nice catch! You are very good at hunting," complimented Altair who always acted mature for his age.
"I think you will all be better than I one day," said Jax, patting Altair and then Avia with his wing on the sides of their heads.
Altair picked up the vole with his foot laying it down flat in front of himself and Avia. Altair then gave a quick glance over at Eve as she began to eat her mouse whole, he began to think of how greedy she was; Eve had her first meat on bones. His mind then wondered back to a time when Eve had snatched the vole from him and Altair and ate it in front of them out of spite, this made him cry. Altair ended having a fight with her because of it, Altair found it hard to ever get close or know Eve because of her behaviour and what she would often say about the legends not existing. It was Jax's idea that Eve would have her own meal from now on to stop the fights from happening again. But of course she saw the reason she got her own meal was because she was better than her brothers. After Eve had ate her meal whole she could feel her gizzard making short work of it and soon it would be yarped up into a nice neat pellet. Jax watched Eve for a moment as she finished up her meal, thinking about her recent behaviour, thinking about how he could make her realise, make her snap out of her rude habits then it suddenly clicked.
"Ah, I have an idea," thought Jax to himself walking over to Eve, leaning in towards her he spoke, "Eve, I saw what you did earlier, your older brothers were so happy when I gave them their catch. But not you, you did not even look at me," paused Jax as he fixed the gaze of his dark eyes on Eve. "So, I thought that next time I will not get your food, next time you are coming with me and getting it yourself so you will understand what kind of effort it requires instead of sitting on your tail feathers all night," snapped Jax quietly.
The first thing that came to Eves mind was how she could possibly catch her own prey if she couldn't even fly yet. She had only begun her first branching lesions a few nights back. But looking deep into Jax's dark eyes Eve knew deep in her head that he was right, the fact of him being right made Eve feel irritated and uncomfortable, she hated being wrong. In her mind she had to be always right about everything. Jax waited for what Eve was going to say, but from the looks of it Eve was thinking too hard to make a response. Instead she stared at the floor just beyond his feet; she did not want to look up as she felt embarrassed with herself. "He's right," thought Eve, trying not to look at Jax. "Da…" softly said Eve pausing. "You watch I will be the best!" eagerly piped up Eve as her head suddenly tilted up, gazing deep into Jax's eyes.
"That's it!" boomed Jax as he tapped Eve on the side with his wing as he liked her change in attitude. Jax had a habit of tapping his owlets; he did it to the last ones. Eve grew happier by Jax's response. "I am sure you will be a better hunter then I when you grow old, when you have owlets of your own it will be your job to protect them," explained Jax as he wanted Eve to feel proud and not beating herself over her silly behaviour.
Avia walked away from under Zava's wing and over to his nest to eat his vole with Altair.
"See! I can share with Altair now, you have your own, you big fuzzy meanie!" screeched Avia, hissing at Eve. Indeed, Eve did have the most down out of all the owlets and Avia would often make fun of this. Although Eve had her own insults that made Avia just as upset.
The noise irritated Eve as she cringed as the high pitched noise entered her ear slits, she blinked slowly to trying to push aside the rising anger, but it did not do her any justice. She felt like she desperately wanted to express her anger towards Avia, it was boiling up inside her.
"That's it! I cannot stand his fat beak anymore!" thought Eve, tuning her head slowly to look at Avia narrowing her eyes at him. Eve had suddenly come alive; this was the first time she showed any activity so far.
She tried to control herself but the temptation grew too great as she finally decided to stand up; spread her wings out low, dipping her head towards the ground letting out a demonic hiss at Avia, it ripped through the hollow. Avia immediately wilfed to half his size, Altair cringed at the sight and sound, he also felt himself become slimmer as he held onto his brother. No one had expected Eve to react in such a way. Jax and Zava where talking to each other near the entrance of the hollow when they heard Eve hissing at the other owlets. They could tell it was Eve as her hiss was always the most frightening out of all the owlets. Eve then started creeping towards Avia from foot to foot, snapping her beak; forcing Avia to back against Altair who then put his wings around his younger brother but it was no use Eve kept coming closer. Altair began to be pushed against the wall of the hollow as his feet slipping under him pushing himself against the wall, trying to find more space.
"Eve! Cut it out you freak!" Shrieked Altair in a mixture of fear and anger, he stood up straight and gave Eve a hard stare looking deep into her emotionless eyes.
Jax suddenly sprung to life as he swiftly hopped across the hollow spreading his wing out between the two just before Eve would lash out. Separating them both before Altair snapped as he did last night. Eve then folded her wings back against her sides with a smug look on her face. She then suddenly moved forward, spreading out her toes she lashed at the air in front of her brothers with her foot, pretending to scratch them. Avia hissed as they both lurched back away from Eve. Avia ran passed Eve and threw himself cuddling against Jax; Eve smoothly twisted her head as she followed Avia across with her eyes slowly. Altair breathing heavily as his feathers slowly returned laid flat again, returning back to his normal size. He glared at Eve, remembering the look in her eyes, he saw it, it was terrifying, and her eyes had turned as black as coal.
"You freaked out," slyly said Eve with a giggle that slipped into a throaty snicker and faded out.
"I freaked out!" snapped Altair giving Eve a hard stare. "Look at Avia! He's horrified!" angrily screeched Altair pointing his wing at Avia snuggling up to Jax.
"He's annoying, he needs to be taught a lesson," simply said Eve, smirking at Altair.
Altair squinted and cocked his head slightly as he was baffled by Eve's response.
"He's, annoying?" questioned Altair in utter disbelief. Breathing in deep he continued, "Your own brother?" doubted Altair looking at Avia. "You think he's annoying! Well, guess what, I think if anything is annoying it's you! Get out of here!" Screeched Altair as he stomped his foot on the ground taking a step forward and firmly pointed his wing straight at the entrance to the hollow.
Eve looked Altair up and down and then gazed out of the entrance of the hollow, it did seem very inviting to Eve. Turning her head to look at her flight feathers, most of them where there. She could not fully fly yet, only mange short flights and hopping from branch to branch. "Someday," Eve thought to herself as she imagined what it would be like to soar high into the sky away from here, away from Altair and her family. As Eve's thoughts drifted off, away from all the noise within the hollow she thought of what she would do once she could fly. She certainly wouldn't look back at Altair. "If I could fly I would come and see you Mark," thought Eve looking deeply outside the hollow. Mark was her only friend and he was banned from the hollow by her parents just because he kept bring the subject of tytos being the purist of all owls into the hollow.
"Calm down Altair, I know, I know," said Jax with a sigh as he then told Eve to go sit down in her nest and that he would talk to her later.
Altair tucked his wing back against his side and took a deep breath to calm down. He then watched as Eve stomped over to her nest kicking Altair's neatly placed pine cones across the hollow floor, sniggering as she did it. Altair felt himself want to retort out of sheer anger but instead he just shuffled from one foot to the other. Altair gave a deep sigh using his third eyelid to clear any debris from his eye, it was a habit he did when he was anxious. In the end he decided not to react to Eve as he saw her as immature, he was the oldest owlet in the hollow and he thought he should set an example for Avia and Eve if she ever had paid attention to him for once. Altair then shrugged off what had just happened. He looked down at the vole that lay at his feet and continued to rip the fur and flesh at it for Avia as he was too shaken to do it himself. Jax then pushed Avia lightly with his wing to tell him that Altair was ready to give parts of the vole to him. Avia stumbled forward in fear, stopped glancing at Eve then back at Jax who gave him a nod of reassurance. Eve smirked at Avia that sent him suddenly running over to Altair like a dart hopping into the nest next to Altair. Avia looked at Altair and then at the vole wiggling his tail feathers in excitement, Altair and Jax churred softly as they looked at Avia having fun. Eve hunched over slightly as if a cold breeze blew through the hollow.
"This is the best vole ever because Da caught it!" said Avia in content.
Altair looked at him; he found it amazing how he had cheered up so quickly, compared to him he was still shaken up, Jax then decided to let them be. Turned towards Eve giving her a stare of disappointment sighing as he walked over.
"Now, Eve. What was that about?" sternly asked Jax looking intensely at Eves face.
Eve looked at her Da with a feeling of regret in her gizzard, it felt like a stone. Jax saw how sorry she looked and calmed down a little. At least she was sorry about it.
"He called me a meanie," quietly muttered Eve as she titled her downy covered head to the ground, looking at her feet shuffling them as an anxious reaction.
Jax sighed in response to Eve. He then patted her on the wing with his wing and Eve looked up at Jax's facial disc with a look of sorrow.
"That's hardly an insult Eve, it doesn't mean much, and you are all young, things like that would happen. But getting angry like that is unnecessary, you almost made Avia yeep on the spot and he is your own brother. Altair did get angry at you, but that is his normal reaction, he wanted to protect his brother. I don't think he really means for you to leave the hollow, I believe it was his frustration talking," explained Jax calmly, Eve listened carefully for once and Jax could tell. "I am glad you are listening, as you usually don't listen to what anyone else to you," Jax added. "I know you are most likely upset about be not allowing Mark to come and visit you every day, but he is full of lies Eve, so is his family, sorry to put it that way."
Eve then nodded as she felt much better inside; the regret had begun to disappear.
"OK Da, I am sorry, I promise I will be the best listener you will ever know!" said Eve as she perked up a little from her usual grumpy self. "And, I will not try and talk to Mark or his family again," said Eve as her mind began to wonder about Mark and his family; she began to wonder why Mark had said the Guardians where evil.
"Oh, I should tell you this; did you know that we, barn owls have the greatest hearing of all owls?" explained Jax.
"Really?" asked Eve in awe as she did not know. Jax nodded at Eve for a yes. Eve had completely forgotten about thinking about Mark.
"Now, go and sort your nest out Eve," said Jax reassuring Eve, patting her with his wing.
"Sure thing Da!" said Eve hopping over to her nest with delight. As Eve turned her back, Jax's mind also began to wonder about Eve and her connection with Mark. It had worried him, had Mark said something to Eve that changed her mind set? He knew that Eve being a young tyto herself made her vulnerable to such owls as the Pure Ones. He was very glad that they no longer existed, but they still remained close by since Marks grandda was a Pure One who died in the War of the Embers.
Eve stepped into her nest and started pushing the down and moss around, making it messier then before, with the twigs falling out from the side along with moss and down being pushed into the centre. Zava saw what Eve was doing and sighed, she then came over as she saw what Eve was doing.
"Here, Eve, I'll help you out," said Zava as she started to preen Eve down the side of her wing.
After she had lightly preened Eve she started to reorder the nest by putting the twigs back in place with her beak and then pushed the down and moss out evenly as she had made it in the first place.
"See, that's how you do it," said Zava softly turning her head to look at Eve, Eve was watching carefully as how her Mum was doing it so she could remember for next time.
"Oh, that's good Mum!" Said Eve excitedly as she sat back down on the nest and ruffled her feathers to get cosy. She noticed how much better it felt. "This sure is a lot better," thought Eve to herself.
Zava turned around looking at all her owlets, Eve looked warm, comfortable and hassle-free while Avia had his part of the vole Altair ate the rest whole. Avia still looked tensely towards Eve every so often. Altair had caught him looking over and told him not to worry because he was at his side.
"Who wants to hear more about the Legends?" excitedly said Zava from Eves nest as she looked around, waiting for the uproar of excitement.
"Me! Me!" said Avia almost jumping out of his nest. Zava churred as it was always Avia who was the most outspoken of the three owlets.
"Me too!" said Eve jumped up with down flying everywhere. "Don't forget me!" screeched Eve in excitement as she sat flopped back down again.
Altair twirled his head to the left, churring softly as he watched how enthusiastic his brother and sister where. He was older than they so he had moved on a little but he found it still great to watch them grow up he finally understood what his Mum and Da meant by it was fun to watch owlets grow and he could also understand the legends better too, so he would often help the younger ones understand it too. Jax and Zava then went between where the two nests where.
"I told you all before that my younger sister is a Guardian at the Great Tree, remember? She is in the search and rescue chaw lead by Twilight. You know the great grey who was part of the band with Soren and Gylfie?" said Zava.
Eve and Avia looked towards Altair looking at him for answers, wondering if he knew what a great grey owl looked like as they had never seen a one their lives. Eve and Avia thought that every tyto was a barn owl and every owl was a tyto. Only Altair knew the difference between tytos. Eve vaguely remembered Jax explaining that a great grey as a large owl with grey feathers and yellow eyes but she found that very hard to believe as she had only ever seen a grey owl with black eyes, being a sooty owl, so she stuck with the image of a sooty owl in her mind thinking that they looked just like a great grey.
"The owl who defeated Kludd of the Pure Ones," paused Altair "Twilight is so amazing," added Altair as he knew a lot about the legends. Unlike other owlets and parents they thought that the legends where just legends but to Altair they meet so much more having a parents who have met the Guardians. Altair would often have long talks well into the day with his Da about the legends. He found it hard to believe that the grass owl family Eve had liked so much hated the legends, he couldn't imagine what they had been teaching their owlets. He was glad that Jax had stopped them from twisting Eves mind.
"Woah… that's so awesome!" said Avia in awe as he looked at Zava.
"I know right, I want to be a Guardian like her too!" said Altair in response.
"Yeah, I want to meet her one day! Can I Mum?" enthusiastically said Avia.
"Me too… I am going to work hard to become a Guardian and when I can fly I will go the Great Tree!" Said Eve with zeal as she looked at the carvings on the wall of the hollow at what she had drawn. Carvings of Soren and Pelli, the monarchs of the Great Tree, she even did carvings into the hollow of herself as a fully-fledged owl, as a Guardian with battle claws, she would really want her own pair of battle claws one day even though Jax said they are not amazing since they are used for killing other owls.
"I am sure you will all make fine Guardians!" enthusiastically said Jax.
All the owlets looked at one another churring, mumbling about what they would do if they were at the Great Tree. Every so often one of them would suddenly shake with laughter.
"Oh, oh, I'd wanna met Soren and Twilight coz he kicks so much tail feathers!" said Avia thrilled.
"I know right! He was like this," said Eve as she jumped into the air pretending to be Twilight with her wings and feet attacking the thin air down begun to sail everywhere.
"Gylfie and Otulissa are so intelligent. Don't you think?" question Altair but Eve and Avia had grabbed everyone's attention, talking about Twilight and the rest of the band. He then sighed and slumped down his down at his sides as he watched Eve and Avia giggling away.
"Eve, calm down, you might hit Avia," worried Jax as he came forward attempting to hold Eve in her place as he had watched Eve slashing the air with her talons as she danced around.
"Yes, yes they are. I have met them both with my sister. I think one day I will take you all to see my sister once you are all strong enough fliers," said Zava paying attention to what Altair said.
Altair's eyes lit up from the thought of going to the Great Tree. He was happy to have such an amazing Mum and Da. Looking over at Eve for a moment, he wondered if Eve felt the same way about her parents.
"Oh, sorry," mumbled Eve quietly as she quickly sat back down in her nest and looked up at Jax.
"Yeah, just like that. He killed the evil owl Metal Beak," said Avia excitedly.
Eves head spun around towards Avia and Altair, some down had fell off her head in the process.
"I don't think Metal Beak is evil, he did what he thought was right," said Eve simply, as those exact words where what Mark had said to her.
Avia and Altair went very still and gazed at Eve in silence, Avia then cringed at what just hit his ear slits. Altair looked at Avia with a worried glance. He then looked at the floor at his pine cones to think. He knew something was not quite right with Eve; his feelings about her grew with each passing day.
"Seriously?" grilled Avia as it broke Altair's train of thoughts and his head snapped up to look at Avia.
"Can't be that-" wondered Altair's thoughts as he gave an apprehensive glance at Eve. He was amazed that she was still going on even though he had said to her that Mark spoke nothing but false words of the Pure Ones returning to the land once more.
Altair looked around him discreetly as he noticed how the others did not take what Eve had said as seriously as he did. He thought that maybe it was just him being paranoid.
Zava then noticed how Altair was in deep thought, noticing that he was peering around the hollow, and his gaze always returning to Eve. They were thinking about Eve, Zava felt the need to correct them.
"No, Avia, Altair, I don't think she means it in that way, she's still young, like you. But you haven't met any other owls yet," said Zava, pausing as she turned her head to look at Eve. "There are many different Owls out there, they are diverse, and you'll get to meet them when you get older and can fly like me and Jax can." explained Zava.
"Diverse? What is that?" queried Avia as his trail of thoughts had already wondered off as it happened to most owlets his age.
Eve then took advantage of Avia's disadvantage by churring slyly, provoking his anger, rubbing the fact that he did not understand in his face. Altair noticed how quickly Eve jumped on him and felt his anger boil.
"Shut it Eve, you most likely don't even know the meaning of the word either," snapped Altair as he suddenly come out of his trance of thoughts.
Eve suddenly went quiet, being bored of her two brothers she decided to look outside instead as the warm colours began to creep up the horizon pushing the millions of stars back as the mighty blazing sun peeked over in the cloudless sky. Eve then began to think of the Guardians how they would rise up into the darkness every night to do noble deeds. She then thought of mark and all he had said about the Pure Ones, he even said that they had returned to the land and that he had seen them before. Jax had said it was all false, but what if Mark was right? What if they had returned? To her the Pure Ones made more sense than the guardians. She noticed that her older brother, Altair had an almost perfect understanding of the legends. The thoughts began to make her head hurt as they mulled over for several minutes. She finally fell asleep. As Eve dozed off in her downy covered nest Altair watched her carefully in a world of his own, the soft golden light shone on her giving her down a golden glow.
"What is she thinking about? I wonder, I don't care what Mum and Da says about her, something isn't right," thought Altair to himself as he also nodded off as well.
Everything was quite until blistering noises filled the air, screeching, shrieking, and hissing all the noises barn owls made in distress, the sounds of talons scratching rough bark, voices of his brother and blood splattering across the bark could all be heard in the middle of a very cloudy dream that made no sense, the images didn't match up with the noises.