Chapter 9: The Rogue Smith and the Meat-on-Bones Ceremony

"Do you think we'll ever find him?" I heard Soren asking as he and his friends were flying over the Beaks just as the dawn was breaking. From what I could see, they were searching for something below, for what and why I didn't know. Probably as a starting point or a landmark.

"Her," Gylfie said. "It's a her."

"Oh, sorry, I just can't get used to a female being a blacksmith."

"Well, get used to it." She replied rather testily.

"Rotate positions," Soren called out. "Let's look for a rest spot. Crows will be up soon. We don't want a mobbing." From what I could remember in the stories, I read that they once had been mobbed by crows, before they came to the Great Tree. It was then when Digger got injured and I know that it was an experience that none of them wanted to go through again. It was a known fact that owls wouldn't be safe flying during daytime, except maybe over water, and one of the reasons would be due to crows.

Crows had a system, I heard, in which that they would alert one another to an owl's presence before swooping down at the poor fellow with overwhelming numbers, dealing devastating injuries such as pecking his eyes out, stabbing from behind or crippling the wings. But at night, it would be the owls that mob the crows.

Below I saw Soren about to take over the point position(1) when Twilight spotted a fir tree below, a perfect place to catch up on a day's sleep. Immediately the group began to descend, intending to regain their energy before night came. Grimble and I then decided to get a little closer, making sure to keep watch over them while they rested. When they landed, they then began to make themselves comfortable. Yet I noticed Soren hesitating for a while, looking around the fir tree with longing and sadness.

"Soren," I 'muttered'. I think I knew why he's like this. In Tyto forest, Soren's home, there's a lot of fir trees like this one. So staying in a fir tree, even if it was for a day, must have reminded him of his home, his parents and all the good times he had. Then I saw Soren shaking his head, clearly stopping himself before he got too far in his reminiscence.

"Before we take a snooze," he started, "we have to plan. I've been thinking that when we met the Barred Owl, he was not just on a border, he was really on a point where the corners of four borders touched, those of Kuneer, Ambala, The Beaks and Tyto."

"A convergence point." Gylfie offered.

"Yes, I think we should look for such a point of convergence. Gylfie, you're the navigator. You've studied the map. Which way should we head?"

"Well," Gylfie looked up for a while, remembering the map and pinpointing the best place for their search. "For a convergence we need to head toward the point where Silverveil, the Shadow Forest and The Barrens meet." Looking out, she took note of the stars and the landmarks before looking back at them. "Tonight, when the constellation of the Great Glaux rises, we have to fly two degrees off its westerly wing, just between that and the claw of the Little Raccoon."

"All right, everyone get a good rest." Soren ordered. "We'll leave at First Black." The others nodded and settled down, exhausted from the party and then the long flight. Laying their heads, they closed their heads and began to sleep.

"Well," I said, turning around and getting ready to take off. "That's that. There's nothing more we could do or watch now. So if you need me, I'll be back in my nest sleeping."

Grimble glared at me. "What are you talking about?" He said. "We have to stay here to make sure they're safe."

"You may want to but I don't want to spend the next few hours watching my friends sleep the day off. Not only is it creepy, but it's also rude since it's considered 'spying'." I retorted, glaring back. "Besides, I really want to get some real shut-eye and you know I need it." It'd become a well-known fact among my chaw- and hollow-mates that I hadn't got much sleep recently.

Ever since Ezylryb disappeared, I couldn't help but feel guilty about it. I knew that I couldn't rat out Ezylryb's location even if I wanted to, but because of that it felt like I was some sort of accomplice for it. So whenever I could, I helped with the search, just like Soren did. But whenever it's time to take a break, I just... couldn't sleep. My daymares came back twice as often, this time including Ezylryb, being pictured in a grim and horrible manner.(2)

It was like the guilt was eating me from the inside out, always reminding me that I had a part in this, telling me that because of my inaction, an innocent life was being harmed.

With his absence haunting my dreams, I had been brought out of my sleep more times than I could count until that there were times that I'd even dozed off during my lessons. It had gotten so severe that Boron and Barran ordered me to go to the Infirmary for a sleeping draught whenever that happened.

"But still..."

"Grimble," I cut him off before he said anything. "I can assure you that nothing is going to happen to them until First Black because they are sleeping up in a tree. Which means they aren't going to do anything nor is anyone going to disturb them in any way possible. Besides..." I raised a wing to cover a yawn that was making itself known. "There's nothing we could do as spirits anyway and I really do need that sleep."

"That may be so, but what about after they woke up?" He challenged. "If you hadn't forgotten, your mission is to 'watch as the events take place', in which you know that it will happen after they woke up."

I hesitated, hoping against hope that maybe this time he'll relent this time around. "But that will happen while I would be awake back at the Tree." I pleaded. "So why can't you do the watching instead?"

"Because it's not my place to do it. My job is to 'assist you while you are watching', so that would mean that I would be taking your place back at the Tree while you'll be here watching over them."

"Say WHAT!" I looked at him in bewilderment, my mind staring at him for about a minute before finally finished processing his statement. "Oh nonononono, I am NOT letting you take over my body just so you could make a fool out of myself!"

"You don't have a choice, kid." He retorted. "Besides, I'd been watching you long enough to know how you would act...probably."

"Sure, that is very reassuring." I rolled my eyes. "I'm still not giving you my body, Grimble!"

"You do know that you don't have a say in this, right? " He lifted an 'eyebrow', glaring at me to make sure that every word was drilled into my head. "As long as it would mean that you will be made to watch over them, then I will take over your body and live as you as long as it needs be."

My glare challenged his own for a while, before faltering and hanging my head in resignation. I knew that he was right; that no matter what I say, I had no way out of this as long as the mission was concerned. "Then at least give me the day to rest." I pleaded once more, still looking down in tears. "Please...I just want to..."

Whatever I was going to say next was cut off when the older owl placed his wing over my shoulders. I met his eyes and all I saw was understanding and concern, as if he knew the pain in my heart and accepted my guilt. Hugging me, he said soothingly, "Go and have your rest, in the comfort of knowing that soon that this ordeal, this nightmare, would be over soon. That your actions, now and later, would save the lives of many and lead them into the future it was meant to be, and that the pain and suffering you have right now would only make you a stronger, kinder owl that you could not have known."

He then broke the hug and made a 'shoo-ing' motion with his wing. "Go, get your rest. I will take over for now whilst you sleep for the day. And when the night comes, I will call for you and bring you back."

Nodding in gratitude, I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, relaxing as much as I could and feeling my spirit dissipating before slipping into unconsciousness.

"So...no dreams, no daymares today?"

"Nope, no dreams, no daymares today. Just a peaceful sleep, which is what Matron said I needed!" I remarked, feeling energetic. Looking towards the sea reflecting the beautiful night sky, I took in the wondrous salty air. "A peaceful day's sleep, another beautiful night and a promise of a warm meal after eating raw meat for so long, I have a feeling that tonight is a good night for me."

Baron matched my grin with his. "If you say so."

We headed towards our usual spot the moment we touched down onto the Dining Hollow, seeing Joseph and Lilica already there and waiting for us. "Wonder what we're going to do today?"

Joseph chuckled before answering the question. "I heard that later, some of the owls would be singing a few songs before performing some kind of show for us," he listed, ticking off the items in his mental list, "with Madame Plonk and the Harp Guild providing some of the music. Then after that would be the sorting and grading the milkberries that we harvested."

"I heard that there would be some sort of award ceremonies after that," Baron piped up. "Probably for those who did well during the harvest, I guess."

"And we were told that sometime today," Joseph continued, "we would be making our own owlipoppen(3). We would also be making something called lanterns(4) which we would then release it into the sky during Deep Gray(5). After that, we would have our breaklight before heading back to sleep."

"Don't forget!" Lilica added. "Boron said that our breaklight tonight is going to include a special event as well. Whatever it is he didn't say." The way she said the last part sounded as if she was hiding something, something very suspicious...

"And the best part is..." Baron paused for a moment to let the suspense set in before cheering with the other two owls, "...all chaw classes are cancelled!"

I nodded in great excitement, watching Matilda slithering over with four plates with what looked like cooked squirrels and baked voles and their accompanying tea set. "Blueberry tea," I said, taking a whiff after pouring the milkberry tea into my cup. Not my favourite tea, I reflected, but it's alright all the same. Taking a sip, I looked out of the hole and towards the moon, wondering about Soren and the others. I hope they're doing alright...

"Come on, guys!" Baron said as he dove into his meal. "If we could finish this quickly, we might be able to get good places at the Harp Guild's hollow!" The rest of us sighed in unison before eating our voles.

Suddenly, I felt my chain tugging. Sighing mentally, I looked back as subtly as I could to see Grimble there. "It's time to go," he said, "they are getting ready to hunt for their tweener."

"Alright, alright. Hurry it before..."

"Hey, Matthias," The mention of my name jolted me out of my 'talk' with Grimble. "Are you going to eat your squirrel?" I turned back to see Joseph, Lilica and Baron looking at me. "Aren't you hungry?"

"Erm...hehe," I laughed nervously. "That's not it. It's just that...erm..." My eyes shifted to the right, hoping that Grimble would at least give me an excuse. But the spirit coult only shrug, earning a glare from me before returning to them. "...Just...admiring the moon."

"If you admire it even longer, I'd say you are going to make the moon your mate!" Hearty churrs and hoots filled our tiny area as my three hollow-mates laughed their guts out, their infectious laughter causing Matilda to giggle in her own hissing way.

"Ugh, go stuff yourselves fat the lot of you!" I scowled, throwing a withering glare at them. Their laughter soon diminished to giggles before returning to their meals, with Baron occasionally throwing me a smirk or two.

"Grimble, if you are going to do something, you'd better do it now." I 'muttered'. Pretending to look at the moon again, I closed my eyes, feeling Grimble pulling out my spirit once more.

"Now, go," I heard two voices this time, the first being Grimble's voice in my head, the other my own in a quiet whisper. Opening my eyes, I saw my own body moving on its own. The ends of my beak lifting up into a smirk not on my own will, but by it's new master.

"If I find one scratch on my body," I threatened. "I'll make sure you regret it."

Turning towards the sea, I was about to take off when I heard Grimble whispered to me. "Take care of them, for me."

I looked back, seeing his saddened face. "They must have grown on you," I mused, before my expression saddened as well. "For you, for their families...and for Ezylryb."

Turning back towards the sea, I took flight to search for my charges.

Three hours after First Black, four owls flew in formation over the region of conversion, still scanning the ground fruitlessly for two hours already. I sighed in helplessness, seeing the frustration on Soren's face. As much as I wanted to help him, there's only so much a spirit could do. I knew what was at stake, we all knew, that was why this mission was important: to know who Metal Beak was.

Digger flew up to Soren. "Permission for low-level surveillance, Soren."

"What for?"

"Tracking, Soren. I'm used to low-level flight for finding downed owls and anything else on the ground. Look at me. We blend in everything, desert sand and fallen leaves in autumn. And I can fly slow, really slow, noisy but slow. And," he paused, "I can walk."

"All right, but I expect you back within the quarter-hour."

"Yes, Captain."

I saw Soren's expression as one of disturbed as he saw his friend going into a plunging dive. Quickly diving after him, I saw him level with the ground and began his search. "It should be easy," I theorized. "After all, he is looking for a white owl in a dark background. Like a walk in a park..."

"Seriously though," I muttered, my patience almost reaching its end. "How can it be this hard to find one blinkin' owl in a forest. She's a bloody Snowy for Glaux's sake!" Looking below, I could see Digger getting more determined in his search as the minutes passed. His fifteen minutes almost up, he pushed his senses to the limit, intensifying his search as much as he possibly could.

By rotating his head, he was able to scan his surroundings, just as how he was taught to do in tracking. With that, he was able to dodge bushes, tree trunks, rocks and other ground obstacles just in the nick of time, sensing them almost before he got to them. But he didn't sense the large black mound up ahead. Just moments from colliding into it, the top part suddenly swiveled to face him, it's yellow eyes glaring at the incoming Digger. "Watch where you're going, idiot!"

Seeing Digger froze at the shout, the mound then muttered 'Racdrops!' before being knocked over, both tumbled a few times before rolling down a small incline.

"Glaux almighty! You splat-brained idiot!" A scathing voice rang out. A river of curses and swears then gushed from her beak, words so vulgar that made me wonder if there were enough soap to wash that tongue and silently thanking Glaux for giving the author the forethought of redacting most of the rant. "Great stinkin' Glaux, I might have known - a Burrowing Owl with most likely a small burrow where your brain should be. What happened? Did it fall out?"

"I beg your racdrop pardon! You wretched piece of wet poop." Digger swore fiercely, drawing himself to his full height.

"Wet poop! I'll splat you." Face-planting into my wing, I couldn't help but sigh at the immaturity of those two. I need an adult here...

"Truce!" Digger said. Finally someone got the sense of stopping this pointless verbal cat-fight. Thankfully, the creature stopped and stood still. "Who are you? What are you?" He asked.

"A bird, you darned fool."

"A bird?"

"An owl. A Snowy at that."

"Snowy?!" Digger gasped and nearly laughed out loud. "You are the blackest Snowy I have ever seen."

"What do you expect? I'm a blacksmith, idiot!"

Did it just say 'blacksmith'? "A blacksmith," Digger's voice was drenched in awe and relief. "The rogue smith of Silverveil?" I gave her another look over and finally remembered her from the stories. Why on earth didn't I see this coming? I moaned, face-winging again. I am so very stupid sometimes.

"What business is that of yours? You want battle claws? I rarely make them for Burrowing Owls. They're lousy fliers. It's a waste."

Digger's feathers puffed up in anger for an instant before forcing himself to stay calm. "No, no, Bubo told us about you."

"Bubo!" The owl suddenly exploded. "You're from Ga'hoole? Bubo sent you here?"

"Not exactly."

"What does that mean?" The Snowy narrowed her eyes until they were two yellow slits.

"Uh...I better go get my friends." Digger stammered and quickly flew off. Looking at him go, I sighed, wishing that I was doing something fun back at the Tree. If I remembered correctly, they are probably making something called a owl...owli...what did Joseph called it again? Ehh, I'm sure it'll come to me, I shrugged.

Grimble's POV

It felt great to be alive once more , the ghost-that-possessed-his-partner's-body reflected, smiling all the while. Each step was just as he remembered; each breeze that touched his borrowed feathers were as if those greeting an old friend, and every breath he took was like a joyful memory coming back to him. So indulged in the memories he was reminiscing that he was barely paying attention to the doll he was making.

"Wow," A voice said to him nearby. "For you to smile like that, you must really be enjoying yourself." He turned around to see Matthias' Snowy hollow-mate talking to him. "It's kind of rare to see you smile, you know that."

"Is that true?" He replied. "Then I must be enjoying this more than I thought." You have no idea how true that is.

"Which song do you like so far?" Matthias' female hollow-mate asked. "I like the one about Glaux. That song make me feel that Glaux is always watching over us, protecting us."

"I like the one about them when they were going into battle!" Baron hooted, one wing raised and quickly brought it down, sending down and loose feathers everywhere. "After hearing that, I just can't wait to fight any enemy we'll be facing!"

"Too true mate." The last of Matthias's hollow-mates, Joseph, bumped wings with him, grinning all the way.

"Boys," Lilica sighed. "What about you, Matthias? Which part do you like?"

It took Grimble a while before he remembered that he was currently in Matthias' body. "Oh, me? I liked the whole play and all the songs up there, they are all quite good. But if I had to choose a favourite..." He looked down, his eyes glazed over, giving him that far-off look. "It would be... that song. " He muttered the last part as memories of his family flashed before his eyes, a time he was happy before being forced to serve the owls of St Aggie.

The other three looked at each other. "Which one?" Lilica asked.

Those two words jolted Grimble out of his trance. "Well, erm...you know, the one at the end; where all of the warriors burned away their dead. What did they called it for that one? 'The Last Goodbye'?"

He then heard a chuckle coming from Baron. "You know, I once heard someone say that emotional owls love emotional songs right?" Then the three of them burst into guffaws. He glared at them before going back to his doll, wondering how did his partner managed to tolerate them. But as he continued to listen to them laughing joyfully, buried memories of his family began to resurface. He remembered his daughter's Bess sweet laughter, his mate's sparkling eyes and bright smile in the moonlight, the many meals they ate together, Bess' many ceremonies...

His wings absentmindedly working on his doll, a tear flowed down and instinctively he wiped it away. But more fell in its place but he ignored them. Not caring if the others heard him, he began singing.

I saw the light
Fade from the sky
On the wind I heard a sigh...

Matthias' POV

"So what brings you here, young'uns?" The blacksmith asked. "I take it that you're not here on a sanctioned visit."

"No, this is not an official visit." Gylfie answered, probably the only owl, besides the Rogue Smith and I of course, who knew what the word 'sanctioned' meant. "As a matter of fact - "

The annoying owl then cut her off. "Sneaked away, didya? A little escapade, I imagine. Dreams of glory? Huh?"

I could see Soren fluffed up his feathers, the annoyance plain on his face. "It is not an escapade." He stated firmly. "It is a mission, and we do not dream of glory. We hope for peace, for we have been warned."

"Warned of what?" I could hear the disdain in the smith's question and narrowed my eyes at her. From the moment I first saw her, I disliked her already. Belittling others, that damn owl. If I was the one down there, I would have thrown a pellet in her damn face!

Soren then took a deep breath. "Metal Beak."

A tremor ran through the black Snowy and little puffs of coal dust sifted down from her feathers. "What'cha doin' messin' with that creep for?" She screeched. "He ain't around these parts. And I'll have you know, I don't sell to him. Not on your life. Not on my life. Course these's a risk in itself, not selling to him."

"What do you know about him?" Gylfie asked.

"Very little. I steer clear of him and his gang. And I advised you too as well."

Soren tilted his head, confused at what she said. "Gang?"

"Yeah, gang. Don't know how many."

"Is he part of St Aggie's?" Gylfie asked.

"You only wish." When those three were said the four owls immediately froze, as if in terror. Racking my brain, I was trying to remember why they froze like that. If I recalled correctly, it was because those three words were the exact same words said by a dying Owl in the Beaks, after they killed a bobcat. In fact that was his answer and last words when Gylfie asked whether it was St Aggie who did him in.

But now they knew that there was something out there that was worse than St Aggie and this shocked them to the core. I could almost imagine them thinking: 'how could this be possible?!" That the 'you only knew' could not only be tied to Metal Beak, but a third factor in this crazy mess.

"Did you know about the murder of the Barred Owl of the Beaks?" Twilight asked.

"I heard a thing or two about it. I don't go poking into things that ain't my business. Not my way."

"Where's your forge?" Gylfie asked, looking around.

"Not here." The way she said it made me think that she wasn't used to talking to others for an extended period of time. That and she could out-curse even Bubo, as easy as breathing. "Man," I thought "she is one tough owl." Then out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Soren narrowed his eyes as if in concentration, a common sign of someone trying to connect a few dots.

"Well, may I be so bold as to ask where your forge is?" Gylfie persisted.

The smith was taken aback at the bluntness of the question for a moment before turning her head and indicating somewhere behind her shoulder. "Yonder." I couldn't help but smile at the sight, no one would ever expect someone small to be bold or aggressive, and Gylfie was one bold owl.

"Might we see it?" Glyfie took a step forward. The Snowy towered over her, looked down and blinked.

"Why?"

"Because we're interested. We've never seen a rogue smith's forge before."

The Snowy paused, as if considering if Glyfie's reason was good enough to warrant a visit. "It ain't fancy like Bubo's."

"That doesn't matter, do we look fancy?" Twilight said, puffing himself up. From what I could see, the white feathered 'X' at the center of his face was framing his eyes and beak making his fierce glare even fiercer. With that, he looked anything but fancy.

The black Snowy turned to Gylfie. "You're small to be out here with a bunch of hooligans."

"We're not hooligans, ma'am." Gylfie replied.

"Why'd you call me that?" The smith glared at Gylfie, but the tough Elf Owl stood her ground and met her gaze with one of her own.

"Oh, wow," I commented, "that owl looked peeved." And it's true, Bubo once said that that rogue smiths liked living wild, answering to no one but themselves and the same held in reverse. So to be called 'ma'am' would mean that there would be some sort of a hierarchy, and she didn't like it one bit.

"We aren't hooligans." Gylfie asserted. "We are a band. Soren here is like a brother to me. We escaped from St Aggie's together. Shortly after we escaped we met up with Twilight and Digger. Soon we shall have our Guardian ceremony and become true Guardians of Ga'Hoole." Turning around, the Elf Owl swept her wing towards the three living owls who seemed almost spellbound by her words. "And I called you 'ma'am' because underneath all that coal dust, I know there is a beautiful Snowy. As beautiful as the most beautiful Snowy of the Great Tree, Madame Plonk."

The only thing I could do at that moment was a slow clap. "Oh, wow," I whistled in admiration. "That is one bold owl." At that last statement, the blacksmith seemed to choke and tears began to leak out of her eyes. "How did you guess I was Brunwella's sister?" she asked.

"You mean Madame Plonk? Is that her name?" Soren asked.

"Yes. Come, follow me to the forge, young'uns. I'll tell you the story." She then took flight, followed by Soren and the rest. I quickly flew beside them, knowing they wouldn't notice me eavesdropping. The smith turned her head around, glancing at the company. "I have some fresh voles." She stated. "Mind you, I don't roast them here like you do in the Great Tree."

"Don't worry," the Barn Owl replied. "I fly weather and colliering with Ezylryb – or did – and we always have to take our meat raw."

"Oh, yes. I heard about Ezylryb. No sign of him yet?"

"No." Soren muttered sadly, eyes gazing at the ground passing by beneath him.

"Dear old fellow. We go back, way back." At this Soren tilted his head in confusion, wondering what she meant by that. But for me, my beak lifted into a mysterious smile as I knew the story behind those cryptic words.

Grimble's POV

"Wow..." Baron muttered as the four of them looked up into the skies in awe at the beautiful sight. Just like their many neighbours, they perched on the branches outside of their hollow, watching the lanterns they made ascending into the night sky.

Grimble, eyes moist from the sight, shifted from the lanterns to the moon. Bess, Lucille my love, he prayed, how I wish you both were here to see this as well. I'm sure you two would love it as well. He then returned to admiring the lanterns, so caught up in his gazing that he would have stayed there long after the lanterns disappeared from sight had not a voice called out to him.

"Hey Matthias, you coming or what?" Grimble turned around and saw Baron waving at him to come back in. "We still got breaklight to go for and I heard it's going to be great!" He said excitedly.

Youngsters these days have too much energy, the old Boreal mentally sighed. He then went in and sat in his nest, his borrowed eyes came across the owlipoppens they made, sitting on a shelf next to the opening, so that the wind wouldn't blow them away. He smiled at the sight of it, his mind began reminiscing the hours which he spent making the doll with his friends...No! He quickly shook his head. 'They are Matthias' friends, not mine.' He thought sullenly.

But still, he must admit, they were great friends. His beak curved into a smile once more as he recalled that while he was singing the somber words the discussion between the three owls grew quieter, respectfully listening to him singing his heart out as all four worked on their owlipoppens. They'd even refrained from asking why he'd sang that song, knowing that that question would be deflected, just like the other questions they had asked regarding his past. Too bad for them that they were thinking of his partner, not him. But still, it was nice...

"So, where are we going next, Baron?" He asked.

The Snowy Owl's grin got bigger, eyes some with a spark of mischievousness. "That would be time for our breaklight, but I heard there was going to be something special included into this."

The way he said the last part made Grimble suspicious, his instincts on full alert, ready for any tricks they might pull on him. He tensed up, looking at him with a scowl before he remembered that he was Matthias' friend. There was no way he was going to do any life-threatening stuff on him. Additionally, if he were to attack now, not only would they think that something was going on, but that Matthias' reputation would seriously drop. He then resorted to just sighing. "You aren't going to tell me, are ya?"

"Nope!" The Snowy grinned. "But it's gonna be a great surprise, I promise!" The Boreal turned to the other two owls in the hollow, spotting them having similar grins despite their best efforts at hiding them. He sighed before turning back around towards the opening.

"Then let's get going. The dawn is almost here and I think I can hear Baron's stomach grumbling already." He shot back, inwardly chuckling at the mock pout the Snowy gave. Opening his wings, he took flight towards the dining hollow, with the others flying behind him.

Matthias' POV

"What is this?" Digger asked as the five owls landed in the stone ruins. Lighting down behind them, I looked around to see two-and-a-half walls still standing, even after the countless years that humanity had left the place. The ancient stones were piled up nicely on one another with old vines crawling over them and in the center of the floor was a pit, in which the smith used for her flame. Hanging on one of the walls were a new set of battle claws and a helm, shiny and well-crafted. If I were to compare it with our resident blacksmith, they would be just as good as the other. A little run down, I mused, but still works for a smithy.

"It used to be a walled garden." The smith replied. "At least, that's what I think. Maybe part of a castle."

"The Others?" Soren asked.

The smith looked impressed that he knew of them. "Oh, you know about the Others do you?"

"Just a little," he admitted, "from the books in the library when I was reading about castles, churches and barns..." The conversation then evolved into a short discussion about humans and their ability to work with the stones. Moving to the wall with the helm and the battle claws, I whistled in admiration since as a blacksmith apprentice myself, I know quality when I see one.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw the smith busied herself with a few freshly-killed voles and a couple of ground squirrels. She then chuckled as if she thought of something funny. "So it's hard for you all to believe that I am the famous Madame Plonk's sister eh?"

Of course I wasn't, but I couldn't say for the rest of them. "To put it mildly," Gylfie admitted, the other three nodding in agreement.

"She's a good soul, but she's very different from me." She began telling her story of her past. "We were born, my sister and I, deep in the Northern Kingdoms, far beyond the Ice Narrows, on the eastern coast of the Everwinter Sea. Some say that is where Snowy Owls originated. But there were others up there. Your teacher Ezylryb came from an island near where I was born. And he's a Screech Owl. Anyhow, there was always a lot of fighting up in those parts. Warring clans. The fiercest warriors came out of the region of the Everwinter Sea. My father and my mother being two of them.

"But despite their warlike ways, my parents were artists, and for generations the line of Plonk singers were renowned. For thousands of years in every community, in every kingdom there has been a Plonk singer. But the singer for the Great Ga'Hoole Tree is an inherited position and it is given to only one Snowy in each generation ─ the one considered the finest. Well, that was my sister, Brunwella. I could have lived with that, but what I couldn't lived with was my stepmother."

She then went on to tell about how she was being ill-treated by her stepmother after her father 're-married' to her while fussing over the 'next singer of the Guardians'. However no matter how badly treated she was, that even our Madame Plonk could see as clear as day, her father was besotted with her that he didn't noticed it or just brushed it off, thinking that his new mate could do no wrong.

Feeling unable to escape from her family as well as taking up a new line of work, she felt as if she was judged being compared to his sister. Her voice couldn't hold a candle to most Plonks before her, which meant she couldn't be a good singer, that's if she wanted to be one in the first place. She wasn't pretty enough due to some if her feathers being grey, giving her unsightly splotches in what should be a pristine white coat of feathers. Due to this, her stepmother called her Splotch.

"How mean!" Gylfie said, the rest of us nodding in agreement. "What is your real name?" We all looked at her closely, gulping in anticipation.

"My true name?" The Snowy asked.

"Yes," Gylfie said softly. It was so soft that even the others who were beside her could barely hear the word. Will she say it? The question buzzed in everyone's mind.

"That's for me to know," the Snowy said bluntly, "and for you to find out." Wow, talk about being stiff! I sighed in exasperation. Asking someone as secretive as her for her name would be like getting Dewlap to talk about anything that wouldn't bore us to death.

"So as I was saying," she continued, "I was looking for something new and different. I really wanted to separate myself from the Plonks. My sister had been good to me, but my father seemed not to care. I really had no one else to turn to. So I just left. I flew about in the Northern Kingdoms for a year or more, and then I came upon Octavia. You know Octavia, don't you?"

"Of course," they all cried, I merely nodded.

"She's Ezylryb's and your sister's nest-maid snake," Soren even emphasized on that fact.

"Oh, she's working for my sister now, is she? Well, she's a good old soul. I, of course, met her before she was blind." Their eyes opened wide in surprise as they processed the news.

"You mean," Gylfie asked, "she wasn't born blind?"

"I had heard a rumor that she had not been born blind, but I really didn't believe it. I thought all nest-maid snakes were born blind." Soren said.

"They are – except for Octavia. Haven't you noticed that she's not rosy-scaled like the others?" I then saw Soren eyes widen in realization, probably because he did noticed about her pale greenish-blue scales, had once wondered about it and yet dismissed it. To me, since I already knew about Octavia beforehand, this wasn't much of a surprise. But to the others, it came to them as a shock.

"But that's a whole other story." The blacksmith then explained that it was Octavia who introduced to her the blacksmith who eventually taught her all she knew about black-smithing. And she did went to him, learning the arts, all the while dreaming of taking her revenge on those who killed her mum. It came easily to her, according to her, more naturally than singing. "And I did kill my stepmum with some magnificent claws I made." She murmured the last part, a faint smile graced her beak as she said it.

"You killed your stepmother?" Twilight seemed to be the only one hyped by the tale, especially by the part of the evil stepmother. He then looked down at his talons, as if he was being shy of something. Twilight, shy?! I was amazed, staring wide-eyed at the Great Grey. Who knew he knows how to be shy about something. "I don't want you to think I'm a violent sort of bird."

"Ha!" The rest of the owls , including me, laughed.

"Well, I'm not!" Twilight said stubbornly and blinked at his mates. However we all could see that Twilight could hardly contain himself. He then turned back to the blacksmith, eagerly asking, "But how'd you do it? Quick slice to the gullet? How? Talon to talon? Stab with the beak to the nether down?"

"I don't care about how," Soren interrupted. "But why? I mean, I know she was bad, but that bad?"

"She betrayed my father. Turned out she was a slipgizzle for the other clan. Had planned to marry him from the start — as soon as they got rid of Mum." At that last part, I furrowed my eye ridges in anger, cursing the Blacksmith's stepmum to the deepest, darkest pits of Hagsmire. For all I knew, she deserved it.

"How did you learn of this?" Digger asked.

"I had my ways." She snarled, didn't want this sort of the conversation to trail off into private grounds. "Working for a master rogue smith you find out a lot of things. All sorts come to you by the by."

The Burrowing Owl looked at the coal-dusted Snowy carefully. "Did Octavia have something to do with this? Or maybe — " But the blacksmith quickly cut him off, a bit too quickly from my point of view. She then clammed up, ending the conversation for them. She directed them to the pit, where she had finished cooking the voles. Giving them the juiciest and tastiest parts of the voles, they began feasting, yet it was a silent feast, not like the ones we were used to back at the Great Tree. The Band kept their silence, not wanting to anger their host with their endless questions, while the Rogue Smith uneasily kept hers as well, not knowing how to placate their questions.

After they had finished with their breaklight(7), the smith then led them to a perch nearby. 'Damn,' I muttered, looking at the place they were going to sleep for the day. Soft moss for the claws, a gigantic overhang to provide shade during the day while the thick walls would keep the heat out, not to mention that the forge itself was situated in a forest, I instinctively knew that this would be a positively comfortable spot. Providing good food, good service and a good resting spot, the Rogue Smith proved to be an excellent host.

However, she wasn't the only one I observed being a little uneasy throughout the day. For the whole time ever since the blacksmith had ended the conversation, I could tell that Soren had a few more questions he wanted to ask the blacksmith but for some reason he didn't speak it out. Whatever they were, they must have been important to him, that they kept him from going into a peaceful sleep throughout the day. Only when just before First Black, when he noticed the Snowy was stirring that he decided he just had to ask. So when he flew down to meet with her, I flew down as well, a silent and invisible observer to a private conversation.

"I knew you'd come and ask," she said, taking some coals from a niche in the wall to build up her forging fire. "You want to know if Metal Beak had something to do with Ezylryb."

"Yes, how did you know?"

"Never mind that," she snapped. "The fact is I'm not sure, but Ezylryb, well, how to explain? Ezylryb has a past. He is a legend. He does have enemies."

"Enemies?" Soren repeated, clearly not understanding what the blacksmith meant. I wouldn't blame him though, if I hadn't known who he was, I wouldn't have understood as well. I mean, it was a well-known fact back at the Tree that he was probably the most non-violent owl there was. Sure he might be a little...gruff, looking as if he'd been through war and back, but he didn't own any battle claws. In fact, he even said that he despised them, thinking that the owl kingdom were too reliant on them for most of their problems. 'Give them books,' I remembered he once said to the Parliament, 'give them tasty milkberry tarts, teach them how to cook, teach them the ways of Ga'Hoole and every cantankerous owl will be on our side.' To think of him as violent was next to impossible.

"One last question." Soren said.

"Yes?"

"Why do they call that owl Metal Beak?"

"He got half his face torn off in a battle. A rogue smith had to make him a mask and a new beak."

Soren looked as if he was going to throw up his stomach. When the rest of the Band woke up to fly back to the Great Tree, the grimace was still on his face.

Grimble's POV

When Grimble reached the dining hollow, he was shocked to see several voles lying in the middle of the room, dead but raw and still in their fur. "What's going on?" He asked, puzzled.

"It's your First-Meat-On-Bones ceremony of course!" Lilica said.

"My...First-Meat-On-Bones ceremony?" Grimble stuttered.

"Yeah," Baron nodded. "Well you see, Boron had asked those owls whom we rescued from the Great Downing –" Grimble gave him a deadpan stare at the name, "– don't give me that look – anyway, they all mentioned that they were snatched a few weeks before they learned how to branch, just like you, but mostly they were snatched just a few days before their First-Meat-On-Bones ceremony. So he decided that we should hold a big ceremony for all those who missed out on this owl stone event(6). Then we figured, since you were snatched at about the same age as them, we thought maybe you could have your own First-Meat-On-Bones ceremony as well."

If his eyes could get any bigger, they would have popped out of his skull at the fact that he had completely missed out on one crucial flaw in this whole scheme; which was Matthias' physical and mental growth.

True, he might have been a...what the Others called him?...a teenager when he was brought into this world and in owl years, Matthias should have been several months older than he was back then. However King Hoole thought that it'd be best if they gave him a younger body to explain his inability to fly, at least it would be better than coming up with a story as to how a grown and flight-capable owl wasn't able to fly at all. They allowed him to retain his mind, so that he would be able to perform his duties as a mature owl who knew what he was doing, not as an impulsive hatchling who would botch them up and generally make things worse than it was supposed to.

But it was because Grimble had always interacted with Matthias as who he was, a teenager, that he forgot Matthias was in a body of an owl who was, by rights in Other years, several younger than a teenager. And thus, he forgot that as per owl custom, he had missed out on the last few Ceremonies, one being his First-Meat-On-Bones ceremony.

"Oh...oh right," he said, putting as big of a smile as he could force to bring out. "Thanks for the consideration, my friends."

"Well, I must say though," Lilica said, looking out of the opening in the wall and into the horizon, seeing the sky turning purple with a hint of red breaking through, "this is really a beautiful time to have a Ceremony such as this with a wonderful view like that."

"You're right," Joseph added, " the twilight before the dawn is really breathtaking view to behold. Even the name sounds beautiful."

"Ah-huh." Grimble agreed, looking out into the dawn. "The Twilight before the Dawn..." Suddenly he heard a gasp behind him. Turning around he saw a elderly Burrowing Owl dashing away towards Boron and Barran, speaking to them in a frantic manner. After hearing what she had to say, the two then quickly looked around, scanning the crowd. They must have not found what they were looking for, judging from when their jubilant smiles turned into one of disappointed frowns, and they then quickly moved towards a Barn Owl and a Northern Pygmy Owl stood, passing by the crowd and greeting them with fake smiles.

Having no idea what was going on, Grimble stealthily strolled towards the group, standing a little way away from them, just enough to eavesdrop on their conservation but far enough to look as if he was minding his own business in the crowd.

"Eglantine," he heard Boron asking the all-important question, "where's your brother?" At the corner of his eye, he could see both the Barn Owl and her friend stuttering in an effort to come out with a proper lie. "They...um, they...well..." Eglantine struggled to say something, but she couldn't.

Barran sighed, knowing what was going on. "Just as we thought; they went out in search for Ezylryb, didn't they." Well, somewhat knew what was going on.

"It's such a pity that Soren had to miss out on his sister's own Ceremony." The other monarch added. This struck Grimble as well, once again reminded that there was another who wasn't present for this Ceremony. "We'll have a talk with them later, but for now I wish you well for your First-Meat-On-Bones Ceremony." Just as sudden as they came, they left, probably to get the event starting.

Grimble then slowly headed towards them. "Is it true?" He asked. "Is it true that your brother isn't here?"

Eglantine jumped, both from hyped-up nerves and surging adrenaline, and spun around quickly. Upon seeing Grimble, she froze up once more. "...Probably still flying, I guess..."

"I see. That's alright, he's probably coming back quite soon, I guess." Grimble said, inwardly shaking his head for the brother's absence. "In the meantime, why don't you two join my friends and I for a while? This way you won't feel alone or left out in this whole event."

The two owls then brightened up and nodded, relieved that they were no longer in trouble for now. The Boreal Owl then brought them over to his friends, who welcomed them and greeted them kindly, just in time for the two rulers of the Tree to began the Ceremony.

Matthias' POV

It had been over half the night when I saw the Great Tree in the distance. "Finally!" I exclaimed in relief. "Never thought I would be so happy to see this place. Thank Glaux we're back!" Below I saw Soren and the others flying stealthily, their eyes scouting for anyone who would spot them flying back to the Tree. I knew why they were acting like that, after all I did get what I deserved for 'sneaking out with an injured wing into a hurricane'.

With the Tree within reach, the four gave one last push, trading stealth for speed as they flew towards their hollow. Seeing them sped up to get to safety, I quickly increased by pace as well, not wanting to be left behind. When I reached inside, I saw Eglantine laying in her nest, waiting impatiently for her brother to come home. The moment the younger Barn Owl saw Soren coming through the opening, she immediately jumped up and nuzzled her brother. I grinned at the sight, knowing that Eglantine had probably been missing her brother dearly.

"Where have you been?" She asked. "You were taking so long, I was worried something might have happened."

"Sorry Eg, but it wasn't easy finding the Smith but what we heard from her was astounding."

Eglantine got really excited after that and, much to the amusement to everyone in the room, began to plead with Soren to tell her everything that happened on their journey. With a chuckle, he told her everything that the Rogue Smith of Silverveil had told them.

"It's the part about Octavia not being born blind that absolutely blows my gizzard." Gylfie spoke up, a minute after the tale was told.

"It's the enemies thing for me," Digger admitted as well. "It's unbelievable that the Rogue Smith told Soren that Ezylryb has enemies, and that's why Metal Beak might be connected to his disappearance."

"I know," Soren said, "that's what gets me, too." Then the silence began again.

Throughout the story, I could tell that Gylfie, Twilight, Soren and Digger were still quite mystified with what they had learned from the blacksmith. Judging from their expressions, they probably felt that they hadn't got all the answers they needed. 'Were they any closer to Metal Beak?', 'What about the scrooms' warning? Would they be able to do anything about it?' These questions flashed through their minds, and admittedly, so did in mine.

"Tell me about the Rogue Smith's forge again?" Eglantine asked for the fourth time. For some reason, she was fascinated by their description of the place. So once more Soren described the place, of the stones that were stacked into walls and used to, as the Snowy blacksmith thought, to have enclosed a garden. "Did she say anything else?" She asked once more.

Twilight sighed, bored of the conversation, but the two siblings ignored him. "What do you mean by anything else?" Soren replied.

"Did she say what it might have been other than a garden?"

"Well," He paused to think, trying to remember what else the blacksmith might have said. "Now that I remember she actually did say that it could have been a walled garden that was part of a castle."

"A castle!" Eglantine gasped, her eyes blinked in shock.

"You know, one of those things that the Others built."

"Yes, I know..." Her voice was tremulous, suddenly seemed agitated as she shivered in fear, drawing everyone's attention to her. She looked down and closed her eyes, trying to banish the fearful memories that was brought up by Soren's description.

Soren immediately stepped up to her side, his wing bringing her to his side in a brotherly hug. "What's wrong, Eglantine?"

"I'm not sure. It's just that the way you described those stones, those walls remind me of something." Her answer felt forced, as if she was trying to control her jumpy nerves, struggling to keep the stuttering and hesitation out of the words.

At those words, I saw Soren's eyes lit up, whether in shock, realization or something else I did not know, but his sister's fearful shivering quickly tugged him out of his pondering. "Gylfie, quick! Bring some milkberry tea for her. It might calm her down enough to get some rest." The elf owl jolted in action and immediately flew out of the hollow while Soren firmly tucked Eglantine to his side, whispering words of comfort to her. Eglantine tried to put on a brave face, sniffling in her tears, but Soren's words kept tearing at her wall until she could hold it in no longer. With a sob, she dug her face into Soren's feathers and began crying.

The tears that flowed down her cheek took my mind back to Eglantine's first days in the Tree, just after she was rescued in the Great Downing, I remembered how...unresponsive she was to everything. Her pain, her surroundings, her brother, all she would do was singing those horrendous songs. It was like someone peeled open her mind and took everything that made her her out, turning her into a mindless slave.

And it wasn't just her, it was every single one of those owls we brought back at that time, staring blankly into nowhere, reacting to nothing and mindlessly singing those damned songs that were drilled into them. Gradually my thoughts went further back to when I was on Earth as a normal human, reading the first book of the Guardians of Ga'Hoole series, which depicted Soren's early life before he and Gylfie came to the Great Tree. It was then when they were captured by St Aggie and went through a similar version of brainwashing, however they managed to pull through it and escaped with their minds intact. Yet that was just a part of what they went through, the rest was just as despicable. They had to endure working like a brainwashed slave and adopt their evil doctrines. It was fortunate that they managed to escape, but for the others still trapped at that horrible place, they weren't so lucky.

"DAMN THOSE PURE ONES!" My rage exploded, just like the many times I did before whenever I remembered about what they had went through. "THEM AND THE ONES AT ST AGGIE'S. WHY CAN'T THEY JUST DIE AND LEAVE EVERYONE ALONE!" Hot breath came rushing out of my nostrils like an angry bull, my beak gritted as if they had teeth and my claws would have dug (or maybe crushed the wood) they were standing if I was truly standing on them.

Then, for some reason, thinking of both what Soren and Eglantine went through brought unwanted memories up to the surface. The time of my own captivity flashed before my eyes, when I was first taken away from my own family after a stupid quarrel, then I was forced to work like a slave, being treated like property instead of a person. Tears sprang unbidden from my eyes, flowing down my cheeks like gushing rivers, as I recalled all the abuse I suffered, ranging from the whipping and kicking for 'motivation' to keep on working to their torturous 'punishments' whenever I showed the slightest defiance, and it wasn't just pain they inflicted on me. But what's worse was the experiments they conducted on me, changing my body into one like an anthropomorphic wolf, completed with a snake tongue, a third eye, a monkey-like tail with a retractable sting and four arms. There were other modifications they did on me, but the last time I looked into a mirror that's what I saw myself; a weapon, a freak of nature, a...monster...

Oh, how I hated that name, just thinking of that brought up more tears. I hated what they did to me, of how they broke me and violated me, with every cell in my body. And I couldn't stop them, I was helpless to them and that was what I hated the most; of how utterly helpless I was to them.

"We've been discovered!" It was those three words that shocked me out of my reminiscing. I quickly brushed the tears away, not caring if anyone could see me or not. It just wasn't manly to be crying out in the open, and being a spirit or not, that didn't really matter. With that done, I refocused my attention back on the matter at hand. Looking around, I could see everyone had been shocked by the sudden news, even Eglantine had stopped crying and stared at Gylfie in horror.

"What?" Soren almost shrieked. "What are you talking about?"

"I didn't tell, I swear!" Eglantine spoke in a desperate whisper.

"Of course you didn't. I trust you, Eglantine. I know you'd never tell." His reply made Eglantine sagged in relief, so much that she looked like she's going to melt into a puddle. The trust her brother had of her must be really precious for her to feel that way, I mused.

At that very moment, Primrose flew into the hollow. "It wasn't Eglantine, and it wasn't me."

"Otulissa!" Twilight hissed, figuring it was her big mouth that sold them away.

"No, not Otulissa. Dewlap."

"Dewlap!" We all gasped at this unexpected outcome. "But how?!" I wondered, "how could Dewlap have known that they were gone? I wonder what could have tipped her off..."

"Oh, racdrops!" Twilight cursed, slapping the air with his feathers and sending a hearty gust to sweep through the hollow. "Dewlap gave me a flint mop for acting up in class the other day. I completely forgot." "Of course he did," I muttered, slapping my wing against my face. It was a known fact that the Great Grey had always been getting into trouble during Ga'Hoolology class. Be as it may be that the class was as easy as it was boring, but Twilight's antics always seemed to brighten up the lessons, to the point that his antics were the ones we looked forward to each lesson. "I was supposed to go help her bury pellets at tween time(8)."

"Well, she started snooping around and found all of you gone," Primrose said.

"Do they know where we were?" Soren quickly asked, hoping that they weren't tracked.

Gylfie shrugged. "I don't know. But the four of us are to report immediately to Boron and Barran –" suddenly Gylfie paused for a while before continuing, hesitantly though I must add, "– in the parliament."

"Oh, Glaux! In front of everyone?" Digger exclaimed, shocked at the outcome, while the rest of the Band were equally stunned. I winced, both in pity and understanding. I remembered that I once got summoned to meet the Parliament for flying into a storm with an injured wing. Sure it was stupid, but it wan't like I had a choice for that matter. Still, I told myself, it was for a good cause, no matter how much I hated doing it... Because of it, I was banned from flying for a week, plus I had to help Matron with her duties. The flint-mop wasn't bad per se, it's just that the no-flying ban was torturous for me.

"So we have to go to the parliament right now?" Soren asked, slightly trembling in fear.

"Right now." Gylfie nodded. "And I don't think we should be late." With that, I could see all of them began shivering in fear. "I feel sorry for them," I said, shaking my head.

"ENTER!" Baron's loud resonant hoot echoed within the Parliament Hollow and out through its bark doors. Yes, doors. There were actual doors used for this place, since matters of the parliament were often top secret. However though these things was meant to be kept hush-hush, I for one also knew that this hollow wasn't truly soundproof. It's because that from the stories Soren and his friends had discovered a place deep within the tangled roots of the Tree around the back side and slightly below the hollow, where the roots could be used as listening devices to listen in on said conversations. Like that time they used it to listen in on the discussion about the search of the Barred Owl Smith's smithy.

When the four owls entered the Parliament Hollow, I followed behind and stayed by their side. "Now that I think about it," I muttered, taking a glance around the place, "I never really take a good look around this place the last time I was here."

At the centre of the room, Boron, Barran and Dewlap perched proudly on the white birch branch that had been bent into a half circle, encircling a map of the Southern Kingdoms, with the two monarchs right in the middle, atop of a raised platform, and the ryb standing a little ways away. Several lit blazers hung from the walls with each of the chaw's symbols, made of bronze even, were nailed onto the walls and judging from how big this place was, I could say that the place was about just a little bigger than the dining hollow. Isinglass and leafy vines decorated the ceiling as they hung from branches to branches, completing the authoritative presence while retaining its forest-like heritage.(9)

"Young'uns," Barran began. "It was brought to our attention by the good ryb Dewlap that Twilight was absent from his flint-mopping tasks of burying pellets, which nourishes our Great Tree. Upon further investigation, it was found out that all four of you, the entire 'band' as you are known, had left the Tree on the night of the festivities. So not only was Twilight unavailable for flint mopping but the rest of you could not participate in the sorting and grading of milkberries, as is customary after the harvest festivities, nor to mention the award ceremonies, which follow the sorting, for those who have distinguished themselves at the harvest through their diligence."

From their looks, I could tell that they were confused, because I was as well. I mean; sorting? Grading awards? What kind of weird ceremonies were those? I even saw Soren getting a subtle look at Gylfie, only to find that she was as bewildered as he was.

"Yes, young'uns," Barran continued, as if she knew what we were thinking, "there are things you do not yet know about — practices and ceremonies that we have here at the Great Ga'Hoole Tree. For example, Soren, it was while you were gone that we had a First-Meat-on-Bones ceremony(10) for your sister, Eglantine, and other young'uns from the Great Downing who had missed that owl stone event."

Truthfully, I didn't fully know the significance of the event, all I did know from the book was that it was an important event, something about being a milestone in an owl's life. My guess that it was somewhat similar in terms to the Others getting their exams, driving tests, jobs...I quickly shook my head in shock. "Since when did I start calling humans 'Others'?" I shook my head again, clearing it of the shocking revelation. "I must have been into this whole owl business a lot more than I realized."

"I missed Eglantine's Meat-on-Bones!" I heard a sob coming from Soren. "Why...why..." he stammered. "This ceremony must really be important to him for him to cry over him missing out," I muttered.

"Why didn't she tell you about it?" Barran finished Soren's question before proceeding to answer it. "Because isn't it always a surprise when your parents come home with that first whole vole or ground squirrel and say 'Beak up! Down the gullet!'? No more of their stripping out the bones like when you were a baby. So why shouldn't it be a surprise here?"

From where I was standing, I saw Soren merely blinked, tears welling in his eyes and started flowing down his cheeks, but he didn't care. All he could see was the blurry image of the old Snowy Owl through the teary veil. "But she didn't even tell me about it when I got back." Seeing him like this made me pitied him. I went to him and immediately pressed against his side, comforting him as much as I could, even though I knew he couldn't see, hear or felt me.

"Eglantine is a sensitive young owl." Barran stated. "I'm sure she knew that you would have felt awful for missing her First-Meat-on-Bones ceremony, and the last thing you sister would want is for you to feel bad. She loves you too much, Soren." Soren's wings hung limply by his side, their owner feeling horrible due to guilt. Feeling bad? I thought. It's too late for that.

"Now, young'uns," Boron spoke for the first time since the court begun. "You were off looking for Ezylryb, I'd wager?" I saw Soren nodding his head, the only answer he could give. "Well, that's to be expected."

In my peripheral view, I noticed Dewlap puffed up in indignation. "I beg to differ, Boron, but duty is what is expected."

"Oh, you are right. You are right, of course." The monarch agreed, but he agreed dismissively, as if he didn't fully think she was absolutely right. Whatever reasons why he did that were only for him, and maybe Barran as well, to know.

"Where have you been?" Dewlap squawked.

"It doesn't really matter where," Boron said. "What matters is that in going away, the band missed the sorting and the grading of the milkberries, Soren missed his sister's First-Meat-On-Bones ceremony, and Twilight missed his flint mop for you. Thus, the tree suffered as a whole."

"I would say," Dewlap's voice thundered, "it's payback time! The four of you are on pellet-burying detail for the next three days, twice a day."

"Dewlap!" With just one word, spoken commandingly, Barren was able to quell the Burrowing Owl's temper immediately. The ryb bowed her head meekly, not wanting to anger the monarch any further. "But still," Her attention returned towards the four owls before her. "I would say the flint mop was good enough for such an offense."

"I agree," Boron said before raising his tone. "And so: Soren, Gylfie, Twilight, Digger, you four are to report to Dewlap when the sun is about to set, a few hours before tweener, for you flint mop! Dismissed!" He then lifted a stone that was right beside him and banged it on a flat stone, signalling the end of the session.

Heaving a sigh of relief of my own, I walked out of the Parliament Hollow with them and together, we flew back to their hollow. Midway on our journey, I heard Soren muttering under his breath to the others, "We can't complain... We can't complain... We got off light."

"'Got off light' is right," I snarked, glad that he wasn't able to hear it, "I got a no-flying ban for a week!"

"Light?" Twilight hissed, evidently not happy with their predicament. "You call having to bury pellets a 'light' flint mop?" That complaint got a glare from Gylfie, and from me as well.

"Look," the Elf Owl retorted, "it was because you forgot your flint mop that we were discovered in the first place. So just shut your beak."

"You know," Digger cut in, just in time to prevent any quarrels to grow any bigger. "In spite of my being a Burrowing Owl and Dewlap being a Burrowing Owl, I feel I have nothing in common with that old hoot."

"How could you?" Gylfie asked. "She is so boring" I nodded in agreement.

"And mean," Soren added.

That comment made me rear back, flapping in the air for a while. "Mean?" I blinked. "Dewlap was...mean?" I had never thought of her that way before, just that she was a boring owl. That was, until she asked the band where had they been. Seeing them getting further away, I rushed to catch up, reaching the hollow with them.

When we reached the hollow, I saw Eglantine was already sound asleep, but she was twitching nervously in her sleep, as if she was having nightmares, or should I say, daymares. I empathised with her, knowing that she was probably dreaming of when she was captured by the Pure Ones, stirred up by the mentions of the walled garden of the forge. Very soon the rest followed Eglantine's example, sleeping in their nests until the night came again.

Or so it seemed. I heard a sound of frustration coming from my left. Turning my head towards the noise, I realized that it was Soren who made that noise. Beneath those closed eyelids, he twisted and turned his head, trying to fall asleep despite his head filled with many thoughts. What could have been going on in there, all I could guess was about Metal Beak and Dewlap's flint mop.

Suddenly, I heard another noise and across the hollow, I saw Gylfie was shifting in her 'sleep' as well. "I guess she was just as 'sleepy' as Soren, with what they had heard and went through today." I surmised.

"Gylfie, why do you think Boron and Barran didn't ask us where had been?" Soren asked.

"They knew that it had something to do with Ezylryb. They know how you feel about him. They didn't have to know exactly where you went."

"You know," Soren said slowly, "I have a feeling that in some way Octavia might be important to all that stuff the Rogue Smith of Silverveil told us." I smiled mysteriously, knowing that they were about to open a can of worms that had been sealed for a very long time.

"How?" Gylfie asked. "What's the link?"

"I feel it in my gizzard," Soren continued, thinking aloud, "that she somehow is connected to Ezylryb's past when perhaps he was a different kind of owl."

"Go on," I urged him, my smile getting bigger, "you're getting closer." My heart soared as I watched the Barn Owl piecing the clues together, just like the time he answered Ezylryb's question during the lesson in the forest fire. "He's growing up."

"Different?" Gylfie asked once more, her curiosity piqued.

"Remember how the Snowy told us that she met Octavia before she was blind?" Gylfie nodded at the fact. "And it was Octavia who told her about the Dark Fowl Island where the master blacksmith nested. There's a connection there, a link with Ezylryb. Did Ezylryb know her then, too, before she was blind? And the Rogue Smith said they came here together years and years ago. She was blind then, but what was she really before that? What did she do for Ezylryb? How does a snake know about a forge on an island that makes battle claws?"

There was a short pause as Gylfie took the moment to take in the questions and facts that were presented to her. "What are you suggesting we do, Soren?" She asked

The Barn Owl turned to her and, with great reluctance, said simply, "I am suggesting that we get into Ezylryb's hollow when Octavia is not around."

The gasp he got from his best friend was so loud that I was so sure it could have woke Twilight from his sleep. "Soren, I can't believe it. That's trespassing, snooping, spying, and Ezylryb is your favourite teacher. It's so...so..."

"Scummy," Soren offered.

"Well, yes. I was going to say unethical. But yeah, 'scummy' just about sums it up. Soren, you surprise me. I mean, that's really asking for a flint mop."

"Who cares about flint mopping? This is life or death. If we can discover something that would help us find and save Ezylryb, it can't be scummy, unflecktual!"

"Unflecktual!" Gylfie whispered hoarsely, causing me to frown at the unfamiliar word. "Flecks, Soren? Do you think this is connected with flecks?"

I saw Soren blinked in confusion, as if he hadn't meant to use that word in the first place. Then, his expression shifted to one of questioning, that was as if flecks were really somehow connected to this mystery. "I have to go," Soren said after a while.

"I won't let you go without me," Gylfie insisted.

"It should only be the two of us," the Barn Owl agreed, glad that his best friend was on board with his decision.

"No." A third voice spoke up. The three of us turned our heads towards the owner of the voice, which turned out to be Digger.

"You awake?" Gylfie asked.

"I just woke up." The Burrowing Owl admitted. "Listen, I want to be in on this. You'll need a lookout. I'll stand guard. What are you two going to do if Octavia slithers in? I could distract her long enough for you to get out. Ezylryb does have a few sky ports(11) in his hollow, doesn't he?"

"Of course." Soren replied. The three then discussed among themselves and quickly arranged that they would go to the ryb's hollow after Dewlap's flint mop after tween time. That was when the Harp Guild would be practicing their songs, and since Octavia was one of the harp guild members, she would be attending as well.

With the plan set, the three owls laid back in their nests and finally fell asleep, needing to regain as much of their strength as they could for the flint mop ahead. Seeing that my shift was done for now, I flew back towards my hollow, where the occupants were sleeping in their nests, including Grimble, who was in my body.

"So, are you having lots of fun in my body or do you need a little more time? " I asked sarcastically, mentally prodding him awake.

The ghost-that-currently-possessed-my-body jerked with each prod, and by the fifth prod, Grimble groggily came awake. "That was the best sleep I had in months! Sadly it couldn't last any longer." He muttered wistfully.

"Yeah well, too bad for you. Now give me back my body so that I can get my sleep." I snarked. Maybe I was still a little grumpy that Grimble was inhabiting my body for two days while I was busy watching Soren and his friends. I knew it was necessary but I still didn't like someone intruding on my personal space, no matter the reason. That and seeing my body moving without my control reminded me of something terrible long ago...

Grimble sighed. "Alright, alright. I'll give you back your body." He was about to separate himself when he suddenly remembered something. "Hold on, let me take care of something first. It's important." With that, he motioned me to follow him as he jumped off and flew away. I huffed impatiently before following him.

Landing on the platform to the dining hollow, I followed Grimble in. "So why are we here?" I asked, my curiosity pushing aside my irritation.

"Just give me a minute, boy," the older owl replied, heading towards a snake. He seemed to say something to the snake before coming back to me whilst the snake slithered off towards the kitchen. "Now that we're alone, let's share about what had happened for the past two nights."

I nodded and a second later I found myself surrounded by fog, with Grimble out in spirit. The older Boreal then told me to concentrate on my past memories and immediately my surroundings shifted to match them. "Wow, it's like watching a 3D movie," I commented, amazed. Grimble smiled as we watched four familiar figures flew ahead, beginning their search for the Rogue Smith of Silverveil. Memories flashed by as the scene changed to the forge in the walled castle garden, where the Rogue Smith recounted the story of her tragic past to the Band, followed by the minutes of when Soren comforted Eglantine in her break down and the subsequent court hearing.

"And that's that," I told Grimble once the memories ended. "What about your end?" The spirit just smiled and said, "First things first." He directed me to look up, just in time to see the snake from before exiting the kitchen with a dead rabbit on a plate. At the back of my mind, I was a little surprised as I realized that watching those two days worth of memories in that foggy place only took up a few minutes in real life.

"Erm...Grimble, I'm sure breaklight is already over and I feel full from whatever you had last, so..."

"This isn't just another meal, Matthias. It's for your Meat-on-Bones Ceremony." At my bewildered expression, he sighed before explaining. "When I was going through this ceremony as you, I realized that I haven't been giving you much of a fair treatment." I was about to protest and said that he was doing fine, but he raised a wing and stopped me. "All this time I have been treating you like an adult, but the truth is I had completely forgotten that instead you are just a child who was forced to mature in a hard place. Even so, I had been so focused on watching over Soren that I have put you into difficult situations without giving a thought about you."

"Grimble, I..."

"And seeing Eglantine and the other owls participating in the Ceremony, I also realized that I...never got to go through with it with my Bess...and...and I just thought...I...I..." I noticed that out of the corner of his eyes, tears were coming out of them. Realizing what he had spilled, he promptly apologized. "I'm...I'm sorry, Matthias. My beak just slipped and..."

"It's alright...dad." The last word shocked Grimble out of his monologue. He turned around and met me in the eyes, tears flowing down unrestrained.

"What...what did you call me?" He stuttered, his earholes couldn't believe what he had heard.

"Let me be your son for today and get this Ceremony, like a real family. Shall we?" I smiled gently.

He answered back gratefully, mirroring my smile. "Yes, please. Thank you...son."

I nodded subtly, my attention returning to the snake who had just arrived. "Thank you," I said to the snake, and to the ghostly owl beside me, "let's begin." Soon, the surroundings began to become foggy for a second before it changed back to the dining hollow, but with a slight difference. Instead of an empty hollow, the illusion had the hollow filled with owls and bright lights from the lamps hung on the ceilings. My three hollow-mates were there, and so were Eglantine and Primrose, with a illusionary vole in front of me.

"Let the Ceremony begin!" I heard Boron's baritone voice over the general buzz of the hollow, resulting in a loud cheer. I grinned excitedly as I approached my food, both physical and illusionary, with my 'friends' surrounding me.

(1): It is the position in front of the v-formation in which the bird leads the the others behind to wherever the destination is.

(2): I wanted to include this but it felt like it would break the story: 'He would stand in a misty forest, much like the Spirit Woods and just as gloomy. Blood and long, deep cuts were all over him and when he turned to look at me, his eyes were blank and his expression was neutral. "Why did you do this to me?" He would say. "Why didn't you tell anyone?" I would have tried to answer him, saying that I wanted to but I was forced not to. But he wouldn't accept the answer and rushed to attack me, just like every other nightmares I had. And that was when I woke up.'

(3): Owlipoppen are little owl dolls that were made from down and molted feathers

(4): Inspired by that one scene in the song 'To the Sky' in the movie.

(5): It means just before dawn, when the black has faded but the sun has not yet spilled its first sliver of a ray over the horizon.

(6): An 'owl stone event' is the Hoolian phrase for 'milestone', an event that was considered of great significance in a young owl's growth.

(7): Breaklight - a meal before the dawn

(8): Tween time - the time between the last drop of sunlight and the first shadows of the evening, the twilight after sunset

(9): I got this idea from the scene where Soren and Gylfie explained what had happened to them at St Aggie in the movie.

(10): Directly quoted from the Rescue: ...was one of the most important of all ceremonies that marked a young owl's passage through life from hatchling to fully fledged flier to adept hunter.

(11): Directly quoted from the Rescue: ...are openings directly to the outside of the tree from which the owls could fly from their hollows. There were smaller holes called trunk ports which the nest-maids usually came through.

A/N:

FINALLY DONE! WOOOOOHHOOOOOO! YEEEAAAHHHHH!

Sorry for taking a long time to complete this chapter. For the past year I was going through my National Service, and a few gaming phases during the weekends my breaks.

That and procrastination had always been my number one enemy...so please don't kill me...

So what do you think of this chapter? Please review and tell me where I could improve in my writing.