Like the surface of a brook's waters flowing with great disturbance over the rocks and unknown structures hidden below its surface, so was Stellaris' mind breaking against undercurrents of her subconscious as she existed in a state of slumber. It hardly should be called a sleep though, for there was no rest to be found nor any comfort to be sought. Images and voices flashed before her mind at incredible rates whose speed were only matched by the degree of how distraught this little chick was.

She had a fleeting sense of her father leaving, flying back for Flint. But not for rescue nor even anything of a positive sort, but rather seeking goals of some unknown darkness that threatened to consume Mercury in the depths of cruelty. But there was something far worse lurking in the depths of her mind, but yet it was intangible. It was something that once existed but does no more; its nature was fleeting and dark, yet indefinite and fuzzy.

Whatever this manifestation may be, though, Stellaris knew through the netherworld of consciousness that one resides in during the state of dreaming that this entity she sensed was not something of her own mind.

She awoke with a scream, or at least she thought she did, for once a wingbeat's worth of hazy seconds had passed, she realized that the voice was to low and mature to be hers.

The scream was her mother's.

Fear flushed through Stellaris as she jumped from her cozy nest, sending the feathers that her father had lovingly tucked next to her flying into the air. Even with this owl's phenomenal perceptions, though, she had no inclination that those would be the last feathers her father would ever tuck around her.

Her gaze fastened to the hollow entrance, then she stopped. She knew an owl was going to come in in only a few moments. She must hide, but where?

Quickly scurrying over to the darkest recesses of the burrow, close to the wooden trap door, she began to press up into a groove in the wall, but a quick flash of insight and a number of images filled her mind. In response to this, Stellaris quickly scurried around the piece of wood to the wall located on the other side. She forced herself to fill in a slight indentation, closed her eyes, and held her breath just as a Masked owl wearing a set of battleclaws and a helmet stepped in.

He turned his head back to look outside the hollow and yelled, "Private! Be certain that owl is bound well, and get her beak tied up too! We don't need her biting through the vines."

From outside, a muffled, "Yes Sir." fell upon Stellaris' earslits, though she dare not move to see who it was that had spoken.

The owl walked with a certain military stiffness and straightness that showed confidence, though his posture also showed subtle signs of an owl with a degree of caution as he slowly moved about the burrow.

He saw no one, but he kept his attention traced on the large opening where Mercury and Windy had retrieved their weapons some minutes earlier. He stepped over to it and slowly, he paced a circle around it looking intently down below. Stellaris, pressed against the wall blended in perfectly with the darkness and was unseen as as the owl slowly orbited around the opening closer and closer to where she stood hiding. Stopping in front of Stellaris, he carefully bent down to look at what may lie inside.

It was completely dark within causing the cavity's volume to be unknown. Curiosity and the objective of meeting his quota of 'recruited' owls drove him to investigate if there be any 'candidates' inside. Yet the owl remained outside, knowing that should there be someone inside when he investigate, that he would be at a tremendous disadvantage when he entered.

He bent over further, trying to get his eyes to adjust to the darkness and sticking his tail up in the air to keep balance.

Stellaris, directly behind the owl, took full advantage of the owl having such a tender region within such easy striking range.

Fully knowing what was about to be, she had taken the prior moments to adjust her position and get a firm footing on the ground where she stood. Once ready, she lept forward with her full might and slung both of her feet up, striking the aforementioned tender area with surprising force, then latching on with her talons for one brief moment before pushing back off, her backwards velocity creating a forwards velocity that pushed the stunned and limp owl toppling over into the cavity.

Quick to get back to her feet, Stellaris sprinted over to where the wooden door had been pulled open and propped up. There, she wedged herself between the slab of wood and the wall it was leaning against.

It took all her might to force the wooden door up vertical, but after being propped perpendicular with the ground, gravity took over and slammed the wood shut on the cavity holding the groaning and stunned owl.

Exhausted by that moment of pure exertion, Stellaris could only lay on her back and churr. Though she knew not what was so funny, she was letting out long, trailing laughs of pure satisfaction.

But these churrs were slowly losing strength as an intense mental weariness took over and she began succumbing to a comatose like sleep. It felt much like being pulled under water and having one's foot tied so drowning would be guaranteed. The initial minute strikes the soul with pure terror, but once the lungs refused to hold their air any further and fill with water, your last sights are the tranquil refractions of sunbeams whose beautiful playings across the surface of the water sooth your soul into the transition to the world that lay beyond.

And so Stellaris fell asleep like this, her last thoughts before slipping into a deep slumber being a sky filled with lustrous, glimmering stars, secretly whispering their secrets into her ear.

But other owls were still wake, most notably the owl that was spoken to outside the hollow by the now trapped owl.

Having his attention caught by the initial slam of the door in the ground followed by a haunting chorus of churring, the owl quickly lofted over to the hollow entrance, battleclaws at the ready to strike the heart of what had created such a racketous noise.

His initial peer into the hollow yielded no sight of any creature to produce such a noise, obviously setting off alarms in his head because he saw his commanding officer enter without exiting only moments before. Quietly fearing supernatural influence because of the strange laughter and odd disappearance of his commander, the owl said a quick prayer he had learned in the beyond from a collection of hireclaws. This prayer, directed at no deity in particular, is believed to dispel hagsfiends and protect the owl from the forces of Naftur.

With indescribable caution, the owl tiptoed into the burrow, comforting himself by reminding himself that this tree was not a dead drop, so it would not be unconditionally haunted by scrooms or hagsfiends.

His eyes glanced over Stellaris' unconscious form, almost missing it. He shrunk back startled for one brief moment once he realized that her body was not just a clump of moss or dirt.

He stepped closer, the quick shot of adrenaline from being startled being replaced with the much worse primal dread of true fear.

It was not a crow's chick, or any other Corvid's for that matter. The face, the budging feathers, the shape or the body - all were clearly of that of a species of raptor.

He stepped closer to the chick, eyes rapt on it, mind accelerating to new places so quickly that he failed to notice that he was standing on the wooden slab.

Now only a mere foot away from the black creature, the owl stared at it with terrible thoughts running through his mind. "What are you?" He asked, fearing in the back of his mind that somehow this creature had made his comrade vanish, or worse, had banished him to hagsmire.

Though even through this fear, the owl slowly reached out to grab the chick, half expecting it to spring to life and call upon him some terrible enchantment. His goal was to drag it out into sunlight, for he knew no hagsfiend could be seen on the nights with full moons, so what if they are exposed to sunlight?

The tips of his claws hoovered only an inch from the creature, and as he was overcoming his fears of touching it, a terrible screech from unknown location befell his earslits.

In a moment of pure panic, the owl instinctively reacted by heaving his wings into flight, causing him to collide with the burrow's ceiling only inches above. He screeched a shrill cry of terror as a reaction and flailed legs about, carving deep gouges into the wood below.

As he was flailing and stumbling about in a life or death attempt to flee the hollow, the Sooty owl realized that the scream was from his commander, and it was more of a bellowed order to move the piece of wood.

Shaking, he stood halfway between the burrow's opening and the wood covering the cavity in the ground. The black chick simply lay in the same position it was in, but it had a clearly audible heartbeat so it must be alive.

"Private!" The commanding officer screeched, "What's the situation! Are you okay?"

The Sooty owl gulped down a mouthful of thick saliva that then proceeded to slowly make its way down his throat. "Yes sir. I was just startled, that's all."

"Soldier, you won't last on the battlefield if you are startled that easily. Did you see who closed this on me?" He asked indignantly.

Now seeing that the black creature had not actually cast some form of enchantment, the Sooty owl felt an incredible surge of bravery and walked over to the chick. "Yes sir, I see it right here. And believe me, I had good reason to be startled."

"You' had better have a frinkin good reason to act in such a cowardly manner. What is it?"

Carefully grabbing the creature and pulling it out of the way so it would not be smashed when the door was opened, the soldier shook his head. "It's unconscious but... Major Henson, I don't know what it is. You have to see it. I don't know what it is..."

"Well get me out so I can See!" Major Henson bellowed.

So without further delay, the soldier began pulling open the door, grateful that the top side would be facing upside down. In the solitary moment of pure panic, certain key muscles had tensed in terror and caused a generous helping of his splat to find a resting place on top of the wooden door.

Major Henson promptly lofted out of the dank hole and looked his underling in the eye.

"Private, what frinkin' owl or whatever it is did this to me!?"

The soldier, discreetly knocking a mound of dirt over on top of a drop of splat that had missed the wooden door as to hide the accidental discharge. He held a firm eye contact to ensure his commander would not look down to see such a humiliating sight. "Sir, I don't know what it is. I don't know." Only after he had finished talking did he look down at Stellaris.

Major Henson was almost taken off guard by this little chick, "What in hagsmire..." He muttered, not finishing his sentence. "Is that... A black Barn owl?" He asked.

The Sooty owl shook his head, "I don't know." He paused, "But it would have to be if the female we caught is the mother."

Major Henson wilfed, "Private, if this is a family, where is the father?"

They both turned and quickly walked to the opening, though they thought they had no reason to run because they knew not for sure even if there was another owl. But there was indeed reason to be alarmed once they reached the opening and peered out.

Mercury stood over Windy, cutting her bonds. However, she was still unconscious and Mercury knew that it was outside his capability to carry her and outrun these owls. However, doing so would still leave Stellaris in their custody, and that something that he would never allow.

"I should have killed them when I had the element of surprise." Mercury chewed himself out, despising his own guts. He had grown soft, he had lost his lethal edge. But he had good reason not to attack them in the burrow, the primary being that he could not risk Stellaris accidentally being hit by a stray battleclaw.

This was the second time today he had choked up on the blade, and now he will pay for it.

Major Henson pressed his wings against his side and stood tall, both movements being the posture of a proud and strong military officer. Speaking in a condescending and very sarcastically droll tone, the major spoke, "Well now, aren't you brilliant? I am sure that your unconscious friend will be of great help in fighting us."

Mercury glared at the major.

"The Pure Ones officers are always so frinkin' arrogant." Mercury said to himself said with great contempt. He had always hated them and how they always so very egotistically believe that their dry sarcasm is both elevating and amusing.

Saying nothing, Mercury adjusted his posture into an advancing threat position and slowly started walking towards them, studying their reactions and daring them to leave the hollow and attack. In a face to face ground confrontation like this, the experienced fighter knows to never attack first unless there is a very perceivable weakness. Mercury could name several specific ones about each individual owl that he could see, but the two together more or less nullified any weaknesses. An attack like that would be foolish.

Both owls casually stepped back into the cavity.

Like a tree scarcely held tall by a week stump, so was Mercury's gizzard. Likewise, when the tree falls with tremendous destruction to itself, so did Mercurys gizzard. He knew what they were planning.

"Ignoble Cowards!" He screeched vehemently, "Face me like the soldiers you claim to be!"

"Why should we face you if there is a better solution?" Major Henson called back flatly.

Mercury, nearing a fit of rage, rushed to the burrow's opening in a half flight, half running frenzy.

Reaching a point where he could see inside, Mercury froze as he observed with great horror Major Henson with his battleclaws pressed into the back of Stellaris laying unconscious on the ground.

"An owl like you might possibly leave his mate behind in such a situation..." Major Henson smiled grimly, "But you would never let anything happen to your chick."

At this moment, were it within Mercury's power, he would let the most primal beast inside of him lose and break the neck of this owl and then place the severed head some place high... But such a power was not within his grasp.

The tender love he felt for his daughter stopped him, knowing that in the process of killing these two owls his daughter might too be killed. So like a fallen tree, Mercury's willpower was now dead; however, leaves on fallen trees remain alive for some time and can perhaps even fool some observers that the tree is still alive. So in an attempt to convince both the Pure Ones and himself, Mercury replied quickly with an acute rebuttal. "I'm sure that a Dirtfaced Tyto like yourself would receive a great reward from your commander for killing a pure Alba."

The face of Major Henson twitched at the comment. A moment passed and Major Henson rebutted "An Alba is not an Alba unless someone of power knows it."

The threat cut Mercury to the core in one fell swoop. This owl had no reason to report the death of an Tyto Alba's, or in other words a Barn owl's, chick to his commander, and it is doubtful that anyone would ever find out.

Mercury stood completely motionless, staring down an owl he will forever loath as said owl began putting greater and greater pressure on the battleclaws resting firmly on Stellaris' back. Distraught to the core, the infinitely concerned father felt greater and greater despair as he heard the muscles of the Major Henson's leg tense tighter and tighter, signifying greater and greater pressure being exerted on his daughter's skin by those terrible weapons of war.

"It's your choice. Resist us and she dies." The major commented matter of factly.

A quiet popping sound of the skin being broken reached Mercury's earslits and he broke fully.

"Please don't hurt her." Upon uttering these words, Mercury's throat clenched and his voice cracked and squeaked. Words could not describe the disparity, anger, rage, malice, hatred, and so many other deadly and hurtful feelings he was feeling towards these two owls.

Mercury laid himself down onto the ground and Major Henson's subordinate began the process of binding him as Major Henson himself remained with his battleclaws at Stellaris' neck to ensure Mercury's cooperation.

As the final knot was being tied, Mercury wished deeply that he could have just managed to stay strong and say the last sentence without giving these owls the pleasure of seeing and hearing the breaking of his gizzard.