The Capturing of the Robins

By: NoctisStella20

Disclaimer: I do not own these characters. They belonged to their respective companies, except for my own characters.

In those days when the sky was free, the woodland creatures build a small circus inside the woods. For many years, the animals entertained its audience through various acts that the circus animals had performed. Many animals were delighted to see the small performances that these animals have brought. They would laugh at the silly jokes by the monkeys and sighed at the courteous dance by the stags that some can't wait to see what else they had in store for them. However, it was a pair of robins that were far more favored by the audience.

Every day, the robins would soar through the air, singing and gracefully dances through their aerial movements. They would sing of the life of the forest or stories of mankind outside their territory. As they performed, the woodland creatures and the other birds would watch them in admiration.

One day, the mother bird lays three eggs on her nest. The other woodland creatures were delighted, as the same with the father, for they would have new additions to the performing family. The mother bird then sat still on top of the eggs, waiting for her little ones to come out while the woodland creatures tried to offer assistances to the mother bird.

The mother bird waited. Hours passed, but nothing comes out from the eggs. Days turned into weeks and weeks into months. Finally, on the first day of spring, the eggs cracked and out came three tiny baby robins.

The baby birds chirped loudly in hunger but their father had arrived just in time to feed the robins with a handful of small worms on his beak. The little robins began ate their first food. Though feathers ruffled and the little creatures deemed so pathetic-looking, the two parents had never been so proud to witness the birth of their children. There was a small celebration held by the circus animals that night which seemed to last for years to come.

Seasons withered and the cycle of life goes on. The three birds began to developed their own characteristics that many are so familiar of; the eldest was a prodigious boy with responsibilities that held him to take care of his own brothers; the middle was arrogant, often rushes into actions without even considering any physical harms to him or others; the youngest child aren't as strong as his brothers but his intellectual mind and sensitivity made up for him.

Although the family had to cope with their children, they lived a happy life on their small circus. Sadly, a tragedy occurred.

Morning was at its darkest when an owl picks up a strange sound that neither belonged to a terrible beast or a hurricane. The sounds started rumbling at first, and then it turns into several neighs and gallops of metal hooves. The owl took a moment to realize that the sounds are belonged to humans; the horses that they ride indicated that they came from the royal bloodline. He remembered that on a certain occasions, humans would enter the woods to hunt its creatures, especially birds and stags.

Although owls are nocturnal animals, the owl braved himself to fly at the daylight, announcing the coming of the humans. First, he flew through the hills where the rabbits are.

"Hoo-hoo! Hoo-hoo! Flee from the hills, the trees and the rivers, for the humans have come to hunt you!" The owl screeched.

The rabbits hopped away as fast as they can, into the burrows they go.

Then, the owl visited the deeper parts of the forests where magnificent deer and stags reside. Besides that, there were also small animals inside the trunk of dead trees or burrows.

"Hoo-hoo! Hoo-hoo! Flee from the hills, the trees and the rivers, for the humans have come to hunt you!" The owl screeched.

Alarmed, the woodland creatures began to flee. Groundhogs burrowed their way down to the ground, the squirrels sprinted past through the trees for their lives and the mice tried to find a hiding space. Nearby, the butterflies and the insects laughed at the animals for during the hunting seasons, humans never hunt for butterflies and insects. Most stags and deer are quite haughty and refused to move for they are certain that they can take care of themselves but some urged their kind to flee immediately. Pretty soon, only half of the stubborn deer and stags are left in the area.

On one part of the woods, the father bird and the mother bird along with their children are feeding on their berries when came the alarming announcement by the owl:

"Hoo-hoo! Hoo-hoo! Flee from the hills, the trees and the rivers, for the humans have come to hunt you!" The owl screeched.

The family was terrified, for many of their friends had died under the human's hands. The father bird told their children to leave their berries and fly as quickly as they can. The family flew higher and higher above the grounds. Soon, the skies are packed with terrified birds that were flying for their lives. The youngest tried his hard not to shed a tear when the sound of a musket claimed his friend, the deer's, life.

Time seemed to hold still for the birds. On the ground, a man stood, aiming his musket at the birds. Bang! Bang! Bang! The birds began to fall one by one.

A nightingale was first to be shot in her abdomen, blood pouring out like waterfalls. She fell down to the feet of the man, never to be awake again. After that, the beautiful blue bird that the eldest had ever so admired was next. Her blue wings were ripped and as she falls down towards the ground, she was good as dead.

"No!" The eldest cried at the loss of his love.

Then, through a horrifying event, two bullets shot from their behind and claimed their parent's life: one for the father bird and another one for the mother bird. The three birds watched helplessly as their parents fall to their doom. Red blood stained on their parent's wings. Now the three of them are orphans.

It was the matter of time that the population of the birds in the air began to decrease. Most half is dead by the bullets while others had survived but lost. On that same day, the rain poured from the sky, sobering the robins through their tragedy. Their feathers were soaked with water but they stopped at nothing to find a resting place.

Later, the second eldest spotted a small cave, not far from where they are and suggested that they should rest there.

"I don't know," The eldest said skeptically. "It could be belonged to someone."

"It is better than to spend the rest of the night out cold." The middle argued.

While the brothers argued, the youngest shivered in cold. The eldest saw his youngest brother shivering and finally gave in to the middle's request. Pretty soon, the three brothers settled inside the cave, feathers linked to one another to provide warmth and comfort.

That night, there was a tremendous silence in the darkest part of the woods. Foxes, wolves and other nightly creature are hungry for some mongrels. Animals like them had no problem of finding a little 'midnight snack'. They would silently crept behind the poor, unsuspecting animals and ate them in the bushes. Yet, tonight, the predators lay in silence to hide their appearance from one animal.

A large bat.

The bat was grey and black colored, with eyes as deep as a pool of a black lake. His teeth were sharp and his ears aid him to find its prey. The bat sees and knows everything. He knew danger, he knew death and he knew that his appearance may carry fear amongst the predators. He moved through the night like a shadow, deadly and swift. The predators are wary of his appearances for he had injured their kind more than just once.

Despite the infamous reputation he gained, the bat lives alone. He prefers a lonely life than to be accompanied by another creature, turning his heart into a cold stone. So it was a surprise for him to find three sleeping baby birds inside his cave when he returned from his night patrol.

The eldest bird was first to wake. He saw an ominous, towering figure before him. His heart shrank once he realized that he was sleeping inside the bat's den. The eldest bird wakes his brothers up; upon the sight of the large bat, the three of them huddled in fear of what is to come to them.

The bat's eyes slit like a fox, he carefully observed the winged creatures before him and spoke in a deep voice, "What are you three doing here at my den so late at night?"

The middle bird spoke bravely to the bat, "We wish to stay inside your cave for a while, for we have lost our home due to men."

"My place is not your home," The bat muttered angrily, "As soon as the sun rises, it's best you three get out of my cave and build yourselves each a nest. Also, weren't the trees had holes in them for you to rest?"

"Mister Bat, sir," said the eldest one, "My deeply apologies to what my brother had just said. Certainly there are other living spaces where my brothers and I could rest for the night, but your cave is the closest one that we could ever find. There was a huge storm outside, so we have no choice but to fly in. We do not know that this den belonged to you."

But the bat remained suspicious. He looked at the three young birds and spotted the youngest one. The little bird had never been so scared in his life before. The bat moved the bird and faced the frightened avian on his face. "I'm going to ask you, little one, a question," the bat spoke gravely at the youngest bird. "And you better answer it, from what I hear from the animals; all of the youngest ones tend to be the truthful one."

The youngest bird nodded. There was a small scowl coming from the second eldest one, probably insulted by his comment. The eldest remained caution to the bat's action, he could claim his brother's life at any second.

The bat, sensing the youngest bird's fear, soothes him quietly then spoke in a gentle voice. "Did you lose something else beside your home?"

"Yes," the youngest answered, "We lost our parents. The men gunned them down"

Struck with pity, the bat decided to keep the little birds in his home, only if the birds would learn to fend themselves and to help others as necessary as they can.

Time passed and the bond between the bat and the birds began to grow. The bat treated the baby birds like their own father, a substitute, at least. He taught them how to fight against the predators using simple tricks and mind plays and the baby birds grew into handsome young birds. At times, the bat would tell them stories about his childhood and how the fire was so dangerous that it had claimed thousands of lives, including his parents. The birds, feeling so grateful, returned his fatherly affection by fighting along the predators beside him.

Changes happened, the eldest children began to rebel but the youngest remained meek and trustful to the bat. Soon, the bat replied that it was their time now to leave the cage and started a new family. As the bat guides the three robins into an area, he did not realize that another hunting season had begun.

In the nearby kingdom, there lived a ruthless king on his throne. This king wasn't an ordinary king because this king was formerly a court jester, who trained in the magical arts of alchemy. One night, after the nobles had ridiculed him, the court jester received an accident from his alchemy. Skin bleached in white, hair green turned as a moss, the court jester was so astounded by his transformation that he became mad. As revenge, he killed all the nobles and took the throne and the life away from the former king. The king's former concubine was happy that she doesn't have to deal with the dirty old coot again and spends happily with the insane king.

The king also had a general, silent and ruthless like the mask that hid his features. He was a former assassin and had mercilessly claimed thousands of lives in his hands, thus the king was more than interested to hire him. The general was stoic but proud and cruel at the same time. He also owns the red hawk with a cross-shaped scar on its forehead. The Jester King shared half of the kingdom with the general, enabling the citizens to follow him at the same time the Jester King does.

This month was another hunting season. The Jester King gleefully travelled along with his companions; the general and his female harlequin included. One of his servants pointed a strange sight in the sky: a bat and the three robin birds following him.

"What pretty birds they are, my king!" The harlequin chirped. "And what a huge bat in the sky!"

"Quite right, you are!" The Jester King grinned, displaying his yellow teeth. "General! Hand me that musket! We got a bat and birds to capture!" The general handed the king his musket silently without any words. The king aimed the musket right below the flying animals.

BAM!

A stray bullet nearly hit the birds and the bat.

Sensing the danger below them, the bat hurriedly told them to flee as far as they can. The birds refused to leave the bat's side; they urged him to come with them when a huge net trapped the birds inside. As the servant carried the three robins to be presented to the king, the bat flew down and bit the servant on his nose.

"Wretched bat!" the servant shouted angrily at the creature. "Stay away!"

But the bat wouldn't. He tried to save his birds; the bat can't afford to lose his sons that he had already raised for a long time. The Jester King noticed this foolishness with his servant and swatted the bat away, just like that.

"Ah, ah, little bat!" The Jester King moved his finger back and forth at the beaten bat. "These birds are mine, now." With a cackling laugh, the Jester King took the birds away from the bat's sight.

As soon as the birds were brought into the castle, they were separated by the harlequin inside three different golden cages. The eldest was trapped inside harlequin's room; the second in the Jester King's room and the third in the throne room.

The eldest bird felt trapped. He can't get out of the cage; they key was inside harlequin's dress all the time. Day and night, he was forced to sing by the harlequin. He is sure by now that his brothers had done the same thing as well by the mad king.

He did not want to sing to these tyrants, but he had no choice. The Jester King had the power to take away his brother's life. So he had no choice, but to sing. His songs were flawlessly magnificent but they always represented the hopelessness that all the living things have to endure. When he sings, tears came out from his eyes.

At times, he heard stories from the birds in the courtyard, whose hearts were black as the Jester King's. They often admired the robin's voice, but at the same time, they mocked him for his hopeless attempt to be free.

All of the tales that he heard about his brothers weren't very pleasant either; the second refused to sing to the king that his majesty would smack the bird around and left him very few scraps of bird seeds for him. The middle had almost died in starvation if he didn't sing loudly about all the anger that he hold on to. The third one was forced to sing in the court during feasts and gatherings. He was frightened; many had wanted to touch the pretty bird from its cage.

And what about him? The harlequin became bored with him and she sends the bird to the general as a gift. He too, like the harlequin, demanded the bird to sing for him. At first, the eldest stay silent. The general would beat the bird down and threatens to clip his wings off if he did not utter a single song. Better than to lose his wings, the eldest robin reluctantly sings as the general watched from afar in amusement.

He sings and sings and sings until his voice grew raspy. The bird stays silent for days to recover his voice but he is also severely beaten by the red hawk that belonged to the general. The red hawk often maliciously plays around with the bird, complimenting on his looks and trying many times to scratch the little bird off its cage.

The eldest prayed day by day that the bat would come and save his brothers from the Jester King and they shall soar in the skies again.

But the mockingbirds and the red hawk always told him the exact same words each day: "You shall never be freed; you shall stay and sing until you die." And they would laugh at him after their chant died.

One day, the bat did come. The eldest bird watched hopefully through the window as the bat demanded the Jester King to return the birds to him. The Jester King calls his servant to bring the middle's cage. Out stepped the servant, carrying the battered body of the bird.

"Let him go." The bat spoke coldly to the king.

"Very well then," The king smiled maniacally. "He's yours."

The bat was about to embraced the bird in front of him when the Jester King took the bird in his hands and snapped his neck. He then throws the lifeless body to the bat. At the window, the eldest bird let out a long cry of anguish, followed by a cackle from the mockingbirds and the general. The red hawk, however, gave a slight surprise at the scene.

The eldest bird gripped his wings harder at the cage. His brother, the one that he spends his life with, the stubborn, reckless and the most foolish one…

Dead.

"But I'll take the life…" The king cackled, "…and you shall take the body to the grave with you!"

Burned in infernal flames of fury, the bat attacked the Jester King, who was laughing all the way till the ends of the Earth. The Jester King throws the bat and the dead bird outside, where it was cold and the snow beginning to mold on the ground. In the midst of snowflakes, the bat picked the small little body that was now no more than a rag doll. The bat held the bird closely, shedding out his silent tears. All the time, he apologized to the little bird of how he can't save him and his brothers. His guilt was carried on all the way, never to forget how he could not safe his very own son that he loved.

The bat buried the body beneath the large oak tree, where the spirit of the great animal said to reside. Then, the bat spoke final farewells to the little bird before setting off to his cave.

That night, he eldest bird sobbed and cried, forgetting his attempts to be freed from the cage. How can he think himself of doing such things when he or his surviving brother could receive the same treatment as his deceased brother did?

Then, the eldest sang. Voice as beautiful as always but his song was neither of tragedy or comfort. It was about his past, the happiness they receive and how tragedy robbed it all. Nearby, the red hawk glanced at the eldest robin in pity. Leaving the eldest robin alone, the red hawk flew from his place and into the throne room to see how the third brother went.

There, the red hawk finds the youngest robin being driven to insanity. The news of the death of his brother reached to him and the youngest couldn't be any more anguished. He wanted to scream along with his brothers, demanding to be let out from their prison. Yet, his other mind told him that all his efforts are useless and tried to accept that his brother had already dead. He did not want to accept this fate, he did not want to…

Crying, laughing and infuriated at the same time, the youngest robin rolled back and forth inside his cage, breaking his point of sanity. Nothing but laughter of anguish, it echoes through the dark throne room, through the mirrors, through everywhere.

The red hawk couldn't feel anymore remorseful. In those days, when he was hunting with the general, the red hawk would witnessed the Jester King killing innocent people and at sometimes, driving them into insanity. He would stand and do nothing, they are not his concerns. These three brothers however, was part of his concerns over his act of moral.

Before the sun rises the next morning, the red hawk stole the key from the general while he's asleep and woke the eldest robin. The eldest robin gave the hawk a dirty look, but to his surprise, the red hawk opened the cage for him.

"Go." The red hawk said.

The eldest robin stared at the hawk suspiciously, "What is the meaning of this?"

"This is not a trap or one of my attempts to mock at you. I'm asking you to escape this place with your brother and never to return again." The red hawk explained somberly.

"How do I know I could trust you?" the eldest robin panted, "How?"

The red hawk closed his eyes and sighed. When he opened his eyes again, there was a glistening ray of hope that the eldest Robin sees. "I cannot let you three brothers suffer again, that's all. I'm being very kind this once and I want you to leave right this instant before everyone awakes."

The eldest brother stood there. He gave the red hawk a small hug, not caring if the red hawk was a man. He whispered, "Thank you."

So, the eldest robin leaves the bewildered red hawk behind him, but the red hawk can only nod and smirk at his freedom. After he picked his frail younger brother from its cage, the eldest bird gave a full effort to bring both of them outside, free and out of sight.

At sunrise, the Jester King was furious. His two little birds were gone and one of his idiotic henchmen had stupidly set them free outside. The keys on their beds were proven to be the king's own evidence. No one, but the red hawk himself, knows who the true culprit was. The henchmen were sentenced to death afterwards.

Meanwhile, the bat sat on his cave, alone, remembering all the memories he had with the little birds. He had lost one, he thought, and now he lost all of them.

Suddenly, came the flapping of the wings on the cave's mouth. The bat turned to see the two robins, alive and well. The bat hurriedly tended their injuries and for a long time, they stayed inside the cave, giving warmth and comfort to each other.

Years passed and the eldest Robin grew again. He and his youngest brother are now lived separately on their nest. They still visited the old bat on his cave, sharing their stories of past, present and future. One time, the eldest robin spotted a raven, whose eyes reminded of his brother. The raven holds bitter grudge at the bat for unknown reasons. At times, he also gave a glimpse of the red hawk soaring in the air, searching for the general's prey. But the hawk had never touched the robins or anything else in their area.

Never the less, the robins lived in peace until years to come. All was well.

Author's Note:

First of all, thank you for reading this story. My aim is to create a short story or a fairy tale based on my picks on WB Animation and Cartoon Network. That's right, those two. The stories that I wrote is some sort of a little twist between the cartoon's universe and kind of based on a particular folklore or something original. However, I will not do any kind of clichéd fairy tales like Snow White, Cinderella or something else… no. My picks are on the forgotten folklores and fairytales… so that you can actually learn a bit about the story. However, I may do a twist of a particular fairy tale.

1. The story itself is based on the events on the DC animated universe, particularly in the case of Batman: The Animated Series or other animations based on Batman. The three robins represented the three key characters who became Batman's sidekick, Robin; the eldest was Dick Grayson, the middle was Jason Todd and the youngest is Tim Drake. You may know who the bat and the Jester King are, but if you don't know, it's actually Batman and Joker in order. The general is Slade from the Teen Titans continuity while the Red Hawk is Red X from the same continuity as Slade's. The harlequin or the former concubine is Harley Quinn's role in this story.

2. Dick as the eldest robin is portrayed in his Teen Titans series counterpart and a little bit from his DC Animated Universe. I want him to be a little angst in this story. Jason Todd is kind of based on his persona in Batman: Under the Red Hood movie. Tim Drake is the same as in the animated universe and the part where he goes insane is a notable homage to the thrilling scene in Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker. Joker had the Mark Hamill persona while Batman is the same as in the DC Animated Universe.

3. One of the notable aspects and differences in the story far from the original comic book timeline is the symbolic relationship between the three Robins and the bat. While Tim Drake or Dick Grayson had never encountered Jason Todd in the real continuity, the story here focuses on the bonds between the three brothers. Here, Dick and Tim were shown to be close to Jason Todd and I want to create this as a representation of a possible subconscious mourning when Jason Todd is symbolically died under the hands of Joker. Not to mention that the continuities of the series is also clashed in here. So blame me for staying off the continuity but, hey! All writer need to be original, right?

4. Some similarities that we have here is the relationship between the bat and the three robins. Batman is shown to have a close relationship with his sidekicks, like a father. When one of his kids died or injured, he would go completely shock and tended their wounds as fast as he can. That was one of the aspects of Batman that I felt he was close to human to: fearing of losing his "children", the same way he loses his parents in the alley. In fact, the bond here is what the central point of the story about: father and son and brotherhood.

5. Lastly, the story here has nothing to do with any fairy tale. This is just a story based on the continuity of Batman that I made it looked like a folklore or a fairy tale.

Oh, and please gave me reviews, opinions or any ideas. Critiques are encouraged! Readers are humans after all.

UPDATES:

I'm sorry for many updates to the story. I want to make this story both entertaining and at the same time, giving a powerful prose for the readers. So, if you had seen any changes, just go on and read it. The story is still the same as the previous one.