DISCLAIMER: I don't own the Guardians of Ga'Hoole series or any of the characters in the books. I do own the characters Cory, Max, Holly, Rikard, Anna, Hugh, Robert, and Onyx as well as their personalities and descriptions.
This story takes place two years after the War of the Ember.
As I had promised, I was at Soren's hollow at First Black. After eating tweener, we set off in search of a new mate for Soren. We flew to Tyto, looking for any females that were single. We found one, but she wasn't interested. So, with determination, we flew on throughout the owl kingdoms. It seemed that almost every owl had a mate. After returning to the tree, we landed in the Great Hollow and perched in one of the upper balconies. After waiting for what seemed like hours, a lonely female Barn Owl flew in and perched near Soren.
"Well, aren't you going to introduce yourself?" I asked him.
"Okay, I will. (To the other owl) Hi, I'm Soren." He said.
"Hi. I'm Holly. I got here a couple of moon cycles ago." She said.
"I got here over five years ago. I flew in with my friends. We're nicknamed 'the Band'."
After talking for the rest of the night, they set up a date. It went well. The next one, not so much. Holly forgot and Soren was so nervous that he couldn't go even if he was forced to. Weeks went by. Soren noticed that Holly disappeared for days at a time. After the third disappearance, Soren flew after her at a safe distance. After a couple of minutes, he realized that Holly was going to the Shadow Forest. There was nothing there except a Rogue smith and a couple of grog trees. She angled towards the border with St. Aggie's.
Holly landed in a large spruce and found her hollow. Her actual mate, a Snowy named Rikard, was waiting inside on a nest with three eggs.
"Evening, Rikard. I managed to slip away without anyone noticing. How are the eggs?"
"Two haven't changed at all since you laid them. However, one is developing."
They don't know that the one egg that isn't sterile would be taken by Soren and taken care of.
"Shall we go on the hunt, dear?"
"Yes."
And so the two owls, one a Barn, the other a Snowy, flew off to find food for their small family. After they left, Soren entered the hollow. He saw the three eggs and noticed the largest one started to shudder. Without thinking, he grabbed an egg from an abandoned nest and took the shuddering egg with him back to the tree. After reaching the tree, he called for Mrs. Plithiver, his ancient nest-maid snake.
"What would you like me to do, Soren?" She asked; the thrill of service coursing through her.
"I need help raising this egg. The original parents couldn't have done it."
"Of course, Soren. One question, where did you find this egg?"
"The Shadow Forest, near the border with St. Aggie's. The owls who laid this are a Snowy and a Barn. They probably laid it about a moon cycle ago."
"I heard a piece of gossip from Audrey that she has been known to flirt with another owl when she has a mate."
Three nights went by and the egg didn't move at all. Another four went by and the egg shook once or twice. After the tenth night, the egg shook so hard that it seemed like it was going to break. Finally, after waiting for twenty nights, the egg finally started to hatch.
"Mrs. Plithiver! Get Gylfie!" Soren shouted out of his hollow.
Gylfie flew in almost immediately.
"What is it, Soren?"
"The egg that I rescued in the Shadow Forest is hatching."
After rocking for a couple of minutes, the egg tooth punched through. The egg split soon after. The slimy blob that came out was odd. Instead of a normal beak like a Barn Owl, it was black. The chick's eyes were the richest color of yellow instead of black. Its talons were huge and were completely feathered.
"What shall we call her, Soren?"
"How about Onyx, for the color of her beak."
"That's beautiful. She looks like a hybrid between a Snowy and Barn Owl."
"Yes, that's true. Her father is a Snowy and her mother is a Barn Owl."
Onyx grew into a beautiful owl. She was larger than most female Barn Owls. She had very faint coloring, with occasional black bars inherited from her father. Onyx was intelligent and learned very quickly. Due to her intelligence, she was put in many advanced classes, including Ga'Hoolology. It was during one class that a Great Grey called her a 'half-breed'.
To be continued…