Me: Nothing really to except this is the official FIRST chapter for Beyond the Crimson Eyes! :D
Everyone: YAAAAAAAAY!
WARNING: OOC, AU
DISCLAIMER: I own nothing and its quite clear that I never will even if I tried.
X.X
1 year later
A pair of friendly yellow eyes cracked open once the last of the sun's rays finally vanished beyond the horizon. The barn owl stood up to his full height and stretched out his wings. Beside him he felt his mate stirr before she too opened her eyes and smiled when she looked up at her mate.
"Good evening sleepyhead." Outlissa said with a sly smirk.
Soren smirked back before stepping to the side to allow her room to stretch herself. It's been almost two years since he's become a Guardian. And almost a year since he's been married to Outlissa. At first it wasn't love at first sight. But as time went on their friendship took another turn for the better. Eventually they confessed their love for one another and are now happily married with a pair of twins.
Yes, twins.
It was a miracle that Outlissa was able to conceive a pair of eggs. At first, Soren wasn't sure about the idea of them having hatchlings. But once they hatched they were the loveliest looking owlets he's every seen. They were barn owls like himself, except they took on their mother's color scheme. Their son was a bit darker while their daughter was a bit lighter. Of course the other owlets often made fun of them for being hybrids, which was extremely rare in owl world.
Only a very, VERY, few accounts have been told of hybrids ever existing. But they were mostly shunned from the owl world for the way they look or acted. Which was why they didn't last long. It's rumored that sometimes their parents would abandoned them in fear of being shunned themselves. Soren found it horrible that an owl would do that to their own hatchlings. Luckily his friends and family welcomed them with open wings. Gylfie especially had taken a liking to them. Speaking of hatchlings, Soren and Outlissa yelped when they both fell on their bellies.
"Gotcha!" the twins giggled in unison.
Soren and Outlissa laughed. They're been pounced, again. This was an evening ritual for all of them. The twins would try to pounce on them whenever they had the chance and give them a morning scare. Soren chuckled, "Okay, Marcus and Aurora, okay."
The twins giggled before jumping to the side of the nest. Once Soren and Outlissa shook the down and moss off their feathers the family went to the Dining Hall for tweener. There they met up with the rest of the family and settled down to eat. The twins were happily chatting with their Uncle Digger when an unsettling feeling suddenly shrouded Soren's gizzard. "What's the matter dear?" Outlissa asked after noticing the sudden change in her mate's mood.
Soren looked over to his mate with worried eyes. "I don't know. I just have a bad feeling all of a sudden." he whispered, not wanting the others to hear. Outlissa was silent. There hasn't been any Pure One activity for three years now. Not since Metalbeak was slain by Soren himself. Now there were rumors of Nyra no longer alive as well. But they had to keep their guard up.
"If you want you can talk to me about it while the hatchlings are at chaw practice." Outlissa whispered back.
Soren nodded
Ambala
A black barn owlet eagerly ran outside just as the sun begun to set before happily running back in the cave, careful not to wake the others.
"Dad!" he whispered to his father, who was aleep. Victor frowned. "Dad." he tried again. He still didn't get a reply. He then started to repeat the process again and again.
Victoria smiled slightly. "He's awake." she whispered to her mate.
Kludd groaned quietly. "We agreed that before dusk they're your twins." he murmured tiredly.
"Except Katrina is still asleep." Victoria whispered back. Kludd groaned tiredly.
"Dad! DAD!" Victor was unsuccessful in waking his father up. So this time he tackled him, only to fail miserably and roll off the nest. Finally, he tackled his father hard. "Dad! You promised you'd let us branch tonight!" Victor whined.
Kludd opened one eye before sighing in defeat. He did promise him and Katrina last night. "Alright. Alright. I'm up." he yawned.
Soon the whole owl family was up. Allomere and Gruff remained asleep. Kludd and Victoria carried their hatchlings to a tree and placed them on a branch. Soon Kludd went over the basics of branching. "Now remember, no one's perfect on their first try. So just take your time and try not to rush." Kludd finished sternly. The twins nodded in unison before watching their father fly to another branch and perch next to their mother.
"Lady's first." Victor said to his sister. Katrina nodded before she spread her wings and jumped from the branch. Katrina had a rare genetic disorder known as Albinoism. She had her father's red eyes and could see and hear perfectly. But the only problem she had was that she was born mute. Meaning she couldn't speak for those who don't know what being mute means. So she communicated by gestures or taps. Katrina struggled to stay in mid-air but she managed to safely land on the branch. Victor was next. Victor, too, had a rare genetic disorder. He was jet black.
Everyone in the cave was amazed by this. The chances of having hatchlings with rare genetic disorders was one in a million. They believed it was because they were both born on the night of a Half Moon, where one side of the moon is black while the other side is white. But Half Moons weren't really rare. So they thought it was mere coincidence. Or because Victoria was a Barn/Greater Sooty owl hybrid. They may never know.
"Good job you two!" Victoria cheered from her perch.
Kludd smiled as he continued to watch their children jump and glide from branch to branch. They still had a long way to go until they could fully fly. Watching them reminded Kludd of when he had to branch. His gizzard tightened at the memory. But he merely shook the memory off and concentrated on his own children. Victor and Katrina seemed to be having a good time. A half hour later they returned to the cave to find Allomere and Gruff awake.
After they exchanged 'good evenings' they gathered around the fire for tweener. After that both Victoria and Kludd went hunting, leaving poor Allomere and Gruff to deal with the twins. Much to Allomere's 'joy'. Gruff felt a bit pitiful for his brother. The wolf got to all fours and trotted over to the chest he had in the back of the cave. Flipping it open with his snout he rummaged through the stuff he's collected over the years before taking out a pair of old, wooden toys he and Allomere found in the castle ruins when they were younger.
The figures were expertly carved and carefully smoothen to look like humans. Some looked as though they were carrying weapons called swords or crossbows. Others had shields or were on horseback. Some of them were even on chariots. There was one big one that looked like a horse made of wood. From what he's learned it was called 'The Trojan Horse'. From a book he once read, it was used by the greeks during the Trojan War to invade the city of Troy. And it worked. But Gruff was disgusted by what they did to the citizens of Troy. So disgusted that he'd rather not talk about it.
Carrying the toys in his jaws he walked over to the twins and dropped them. There they eagerly picked them up and started to play with them. "Thanks." Allomere muttered to the wolf as he settled himself down beside him. Gruff nodded and resumed staring at the fire. It was habit he developed ever since he first started using it. Something about the dancing red and orange flames just intrigued him. An element so beautiful yet so deadly.
Allomere noticed this and chuckled slightly. "Still have that habitat I see." he churred.
Gruff, not looking away from the flames, smirked. "It appears so." he said gruffly. While the two engaged in a friendly conversation, Katrina suddenly dropped her toys and was drawn to the mouth of the cave. Victor was concerned about her sudden change in behavior and followed her. It was raining now and Katrina watched the droplets fall from the moonless sky.
"Katrina?" Victor asked, even though she couldn't, verbally, reply to him. The ghostly owlet looked at her brother with blank red eyes before pointing at the rain outside. Victor stood beside her and peered outside, his beak mere inches from the water. "I don't see anything Katrina." he said.
His sister never replied.
X.X
Me: Oooooh. Kinda spooky there, don't ya think? Anyway, there will be more coming up in the story. There's gonna be reason why both Kludd and Soren's twins get snatched.
Everyone: Peace! ^-^
Nyroc: And give us money!
Everyone:...
Me: *Face-palms*
