Chapter Seven: A visit to Ezylryb
It was a stormy night, the lightning flashes, thunder crashed in the air, rain poured hard. Waves roared the seas. Rapunzel looked outside It's was a miserable weather. She saw the old whiskered screech owl flying the thundering sky along with his students.
"Perhaps," she said "this is a weather chaw. It looks so dangerous."
Looking above seem like it's a terrible chaw for the young owls flying in the storm. She saw one of Ezylryb's students get separate from the group and the owl was being pulled to the sea twister. Rapunzel gasped with terror seeing the owl almost closer to the twister, but suddenly two birds flew in and rescue the young owl taking her back to the Tree. They don't look like owls Rapunzel ever seen before. She look closely their feathers are white, black grayish color. Their beaks were not curved yet theirs were hooked and has a red color and have flat webby feet. The seagulls sentenced the young owl to Ezylryb. Rapunzel couldn't hear what they're saying sound of the thunder makes it hard her to understand. She sees the old whiskered screech owl thanking the two seagulls and they fly off. Ezylryb gave a talk to the young owl and dismissed his students and flew into his hollow. Rapunzel decided to visit him until the rain stops. As the storm passes she swung her hair, wrapped around the Tree branch and climb up.
On the top curved of the Tree, swinging branches to branches, by her long golden hair, more climbing Rapunzel made it on the high top right limb of Ezylryb's hollow. She passed in the old screech owl's hollow saw him writing on his book unaware of her visit. Rapunzel walked quietly towards the old owl and said "Hello, Mr. Ezylryb."
Ezylryb turned and said "Well, hello there. Coming to visit did you?"
"Yes." said Rapunzel "And I saw you and your students flying in the thunderstorm. Is that part of the chaw?"
"Huh-uh." said the old screech owl "Why you ask?"
"Um… nothing just curious." There was an awkward silent. "So, she said "what happen in your chaw? I saw your student pull by the sea twister and the birds saved her. Is she okay?"
"Oh, she had an injured her wing. But she'll be fine in the infirmary."
"That's good to hear. And what are those two birds. I never saw them before?"
"They're seagulls."
"Seagulls," said Rapunzel. "What are seagulls?"
"The seagulls are seabirds live in colony nesting on the ground. And they're wet-pooper birds."
"Wet-pooper?" said Rapunzel raise her eyebrow.
"They don't yarp pellets like we do." Ezylryb replied.
"Oh. Ugh!" said Rapunzel making a face.
Ezylryb chuckled and said "And I make wet poop jokes."
"You mean like funny seagull jokes?" said Rapunzel. Normally she hears Digger making owl jokes and some were funny.
"You could say that"
"Oh, tell me one of your jokes, Mr. Ezylryb" said Rapunzel looking forward to hear the joke.
"The wet pooper," Ezylryb began "flies above a group of crows and splats." The old whiskered screech owl did a churr sound that's how owls do when they laugh.
"That's a good one," said Rapunzel laughing. She then looked around the hollow. There were books with golden art novena, scrolls, and the small gadgets. Rapunzel was curious of these things and asked Ezylryb. First the old screech owl shows her a small world globe, three different sundials one bowstring equatorial and one sphere armillary and one flat horizontal on the lower bookshelf. There a candle lantern on top of the books, a RNA molecule model shaped like a coiling snake with Nitrogenous Base pairs and glass graduated cylinder, and on top of the large root a small microscope. And hanging on the top ceiling, two wind chimes one sea glass and two marble balls hanged from the seaside ropes wrapped. "You have a lot of stuff, Mr. Ezylryb," said Rapunzel. She climbs up on the large root and look into the small microscope seeing the owl pellet.
The whiskered screech owl put his battle claw on his right talon, pulling it with his beak, then he flew onto the torch raked the hot coals and fill the hollow toasted warm. Took off his battle claw, went back to his book and starts writing. Rapunzel climb down and walk back to Ezylryb, seeing him writing.
"If you don't mind me asking, but what are you writing?"
"Writing poetry," said Ezylryb, eyes on his book.
"Oh, what kinds?" said Rapunzel.
"Why, all sorts."
"So these books you wrote are all poems?"
The old whiskered screech owl turns to Rapunzel and nodded.
"May I have a look at them?"
"You may," said the old screech owl.
Rapunzel walk cross the hollow, picks a book lying on the floor and reads it, turning pages. Poet of wars and bloody fights which Rapunzel didn't like. She closed the book and read the next one with poet of beauty and passion. "These poems are quite lovely," Rapunzel's thought. She read the other books and afterwards Rapunzel finished reading, went back to the old screech owl as he stamped the page with the Tasmanian devil head carved. Rapunzel look at the Ezylryb's missing toe of his right talon and she gasped with horror. The whiskered screech owl turns to Rapunzel and soon sees her reaction.
"Sorry, I… I… didn't mean-"
"Oh, this," said the old screech owl raising his right talon still holding the wooden stamp. Rapunzel nod slightly and lowered her eyes. "I see your shock. That's okay."
"What happen to your toe if I may ask?" said Rapunzel curious about the old screech owl's past.
"Well, it's not a pleasant story I have to say," said the old screech owl. He took a deep sigh and told the story.
The story of the Battle of the Ice Claws,
"Long ago in the old ages, there was an army called the Pure Ones. They were led by a sooty owl named Metal Beak. The Pure Ones were evil owls who wanted take control of all the owl kingdoms, hurting and murdering the innocent. All the species of owls found themselves in despair. But the different kind of owls who live in mist of the Sea of Hoolmere wouldn't let Metal Beak's reign be control anymore. We were called the Guardians of Ga'Hoole.
On a cold blizzard night, the Guardians left the Tree flew to the sea, followed by me. To face the Pure Ones and their leader Metal Beak. I was a young soldier once named Lyze of Kiel."
"Then you are lyze of Kiel," said Rapunzel interrupted. "Don't stop now. Please go on."
"As we fly towards the enemy," Ezylryb continued. "There I saw the greater sooty owl for the first time. Oh, he was large like the size of a raven and the left side of his eye was slivery grey. Talons opened then all hell breaks, his soldiers and mine fought. Battle claws clashes, feathers covered in blood stains in the battle. Metal Beak and I seize each other with both of our talons hold onto, circling around, around and around. The high Tyto did a head-but on me but that didn't stop me. We broke off, went on fighting. Until, he slice off my toe. I cried out in pain as my toe landed down in the basalt rock as it stand with the blade.
I flew back and turned around flying away from the Lord Tyto High. Metal Beak followed me. As the battle begins to grow into darkness, the enemy of the Pure Ones was great, outnumbered my soldiers and were soon to gain the advantages. When the large greater sooty owl got nearer, I only had one change. I turn around hover upwards with the moon rising behind me and swung my battle claw and cut off the Lord High Tyto's upper beak."
"Ouch," said Rapunzel make a wince look.
"Metal Beak fallen scream out in pain of his upper beak, he and all of his soldiers retreat and never to be seen again. The Guardians won in that snowy night. And I became a hero and a legend. That's my story."
Rapunzel was astonish yet frighten at the same time.
"So that's what happen to your toe. Ouch," said Rapunzel.
"Yup," said the old screech owl.
"Sorry about your toe, Mr. Ezylryb."
"Aw, you don't have to say sorry. That's what happens when you fight in a battle."
"I guess."
A short silence between the two, then Rapunzel said "I better go now. Soren's probably wondering where I am." She walked out of the old whiskered screech owl's hollow and said bye to Ezylryb.
Rapunzel swung her long hair to the thick Tree branch next to her, wrapped around it and she took a jump, rappelling herself down to another limb of the Tree. Then she did it again only swing with her hair to the branch, Rapunzel surfed on foot to the curved parts of the trunk and swing across the branch, back inside the sleeping hollow. But Soren and the others weren't there. She remembered the young owl that was put into the infirmary. Rapunzel rappelled down went into healing hollow to check on the young owl.
