A/N: Just so you know, I know that Pellimore's nickname is Pelli. You'll see why its Pella, you'll see. :)

Chapter 2 – Kludd

The young owl scanned the dense forest undergrowth below. Forest sounds seemed to echo and bounce through the shreds of air. Pellimore could hear the windy drafts of air brushing its way past the sharp tips of the fir trees below, and dim, erratic pulses of several heartbeats. Her beak watered at the sound of baby rabbits mewling at their mother in hidden pockets of air underneath the forest floor, and whisperings of the River Hoole rushed through her ear slits like faint stirrings of a shadow in a beautifully bright light. Pellimore saw a grassy meadow, covered inconspicuously by a stand of dark firs. The grass seemed to shimmer on the meadow, and ripples shuddered through the surface of it like crests of waves in the Hoolemere Sea. A distant memory erupted in Pellimore's mind…

"…and on that island far, far away between the foaming tridents of the sea, there was a great tree –"

"But Mother, the Great Tree is just a legend. It doesn't even exist."

"It does, Pella, it does. When one holds these legends dearly in their heart, the legend becomes reality."

"That's racdrops, mother – OW!"

"Pella! Do not EVER let me catch you talking like that!"

"Mama, what's 'racdrops' mean?"

"Hush, Noctus. That's a bad word. Don't ever use it. And Pella, do try to set a good example for your brother. Glaux knows where you learned that word."

Pellimore sighed, her breath puffing out in small torrents of steam in the chill air.

Glaux knew, she thought, that I learned it from the Society.

Just days before, when mother was out hunting in the snow, and Noctus had been sound asleep (molting periods seemed to drain his energy), Pellimore had been visited by that strange group of barn owls. Of course, now they were no longer "strangers". Pellimore remembered her first meeting with the recruitment patrol.

"Hello, young'un."

"My name is Pellimore."

"Very well then, Pellimore. I am Stryker, a Pure Guard Lieutenant."

"A Pure what?"

Pellimore had watched the large moon-faced owl intently. He was a giant, and was rather well built. She could clearly make out the stiff, rippling muscles that bulged through his upper wings, and Stryker's talons seemed to have been sharpened and blackened to an extremely fine point that could probably shred a maple sapling in half (she later realized that these were battle claws, and had gazed in admiration at the gleaming tips). Several large, pink-rimmed scars cascaded through Stryker's down-scarce belly, as if some sort of wild cat had cruelly clawed him. The guard chuckled at Pellimore's round eyes, and went on to explain about the Tytonic Union of the Pure Ones. Pellimore listened as Stryker talked about the force's recent capture of an old Others' ruins, and her beak dropped lower and lower in awe at the sound of all the battles the Pure Ones had faced against other gangs of enemy owls.

There was still a waver of doubt in her mind, though. Killing sounded dangerous, and Pellimore wondered, if she joined, what would happen to Mother and Noctus?

She was convinced when she met Kludd.

"And you are…Pella, I assume?"

He had used her nickname!

"Yes. I'm Pella. Pellimore to be exact."

"Such a lovely name." His voice was soft, and his drawl was heavenly. He looked over Pellimore, and his eyes lingered in hers for a moment; black against black. She felt his eyes harden and turn metallic black.

She had shuddered in joy as he complimented her, and she blinked rapidly.

"Racdrops," he swore, as Stryker told them to get on their way.

Kludd was a moon cycle older than she was, and had already completed his Tupsi (Pellimore was still not sure what this phrase meant, and she was sure that it was going to be as easy as catching a bat on the fly). When Pellimore first set eyes on the handsome barn owl, her heart had started to beat at an incredibly fast rate, and she felt woozy. Just looking at his coal black eyes made her want to faint over. She was captivated by his white, firm face, and his tawny feathers. When he ruffled his feathers, she had the urge to run her beak along his feather shafts and straighten them all out.

And Pella was sure that Kludd liked her, too.

"What's wrong, Kludd?" Pellimore asked. The two barn owls were perched side by side on a fir tree near Pellimore's nest.

Metallic black eyes met hers again. "You're so beautiful."

She shivered, and fought the action to try and preen his down feathers.

So that was how Pellimore started with the Pure Ones. She had proven herself a great strategist, after battling with another Pure One trainee, Wortmore (he was a slim, wily owl, and his facial disk resembled more of a waning moon that a full one) and winning in just three moves (a jab in the belly, a hook in the wing, and a slash with one talon while the other one gripped Wortmore's neck), she had shown brutal strength as she attacked the little elf owl, and now she just proved herself even more worthy by killing this nest maid snake (the pink coil was still flopping around like a truce flag in the air).

Ah! There it was! The stone hollow, its giant stone tower leaning precariously to the north. The first time Pella visited this Others' hollow, she had been afraid of stepping into it, but Kludd vanquished the fear by nudging her forward softly with his beak (she had nearly fainted, and fell into the threshold without a thought of being frightened).

"Come on, Pella…nothing to be scared of…I'm with you here…"

She gulped at the sound of his voice in her memory. It seemed to awaken her to her surroundings, and she realized that she had just landed on the stone wall.

Following the legends of a couple of elderly Tytos, the castle the Pure Ones occupied had once contained a large, round stone block that the Others had carved a long time ago, even before Glaux. Many a festive banquet was held around the round stone tablet, and there were even more far-fetched stories of there being important meetings held by brave warrior Others to discuss something they called, "The Quest for the Only Gale" (this was utter racdrops to Pellimore; she had dismissed this old tale as nonsense that scared little owlets).

Exactly ten Pure One sentries encircled the castle walls, keeping a lookout for enemies and simultaneously swapping wet-pooper jokes (laughter was forbidden within the castle walls; the High Tyto had commanded it, but he couldn't enforce the rules outside the confines of the stone hollow). One of the guards made his way towards Pellimore, power-flapping upwards in a few graceful movements that made Pella's breath catch in her throat.

"Pella!" He hooted in the dusky breeze.

It was Kludd Alba, the love of her life.

A/N: I'll try to post more often. Unlike other authors, I allow flames, so flame all ya want!