A/N: Okay, this chapter marks a momentous milestone in my story writing, since it is my tenth chapter! In this chapter, there won't be much progress in their adventure, but there will be a story that used to define the two brothers' relationship...
I do not own Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole, I only wish I did, for I would without hesitation make a sequel.
Bluecatcinema owns New Beginnings, Ruffled Feathers, Dark Feelings, and Worlds Apart.
Note: It is heavily recommended to read the abovementioned stories by bluecatcinema in order to understand parts of this story.
FeoranPride (a deviantartist) owns Nix, the grass owl, but Mic O'Malley used it, so he deserved to be mention.
I own Samuel, the snowy owl, Skarmoris, the Sulawesi Masked Owl, and Biggs and Wedge, the barn owls, Alice, the Whiskered Screech Owl, and LaRoche, the Elf Owl, and Pip, the Little Owl
Chapter Ten: The Story of Two Brothers
The fire burned brightly, as the heroes rested after traversing the accursed Poison Briar Bog, well, just four of them at least. Kludd, Nyra, Twilight stayed behind at their resting site to watch over Digger, who was still suffering from the venom of the snake, as his mind has regressed to that of a young owlet who was afraid of flying, while Soren, Gylfie, and Ezylryb were busy foraging for food. Kludd was busy kindling the fire while Nyra preened her feathers due to a certain Elf Owl shoving her in the bog a while back, and was still fuming over it, while Twilight merely chuckled, watching Digger entertaining himself by chasing a moth.
Kludd rolled his eyes at Digger's childish antics as he made sounds as he leap at it, and then said to Twilight, "How did you deal with him when you two were kids?"
Twilight merely said "Well, we didn't have any parents so we looked out for each other like brothers, well I did at least. But there was one thing I liked about little Digger over today's Digger."
"Which is?" Kludd asked with a raised brow.
"Observe. Hey, Digger, want to listen to big brother Twilly play a song?!" Twilight asked in a mock child tone.
"YAY! I wuv Twilly's songs!" Digger cheered as he stop chasing the moth and sat in front of Twilight, who started playing a little tune. (Your Heart Will Lead You Home by Kenny Loggins, that song would fit perfectly.)
Kludd would have object to the idea, but due to what happen back in the bog, he just let the big owl play this time, but there was something different about the song Twilight was playing; it was good, very good, so good that it caused a feeling in Kludd's heart that he hadn't felt for a few years. He watched Digger moving in rhythm to Twilight's music as it started to remind him of a time between him and his brother...
Flashback starts (Note: I am going on a limb that Kludd was 18 in the movie, and Soren was 16, in this story, they are 19 and 17 respectively)
Twelve years earlier...
Back in the Forest Kingdom of Tyto, young 7-year old Kludd (played by Zachary Gordon, who played Greg Heffley in Diary of A Wimpy Kid) was busy playing around with his little 5-year old brother Soren (played by Bradley Steven Perry, who played Gabe in Good Luck, Charlie) in the nest.
"Tag, you're it, Soren!" Kludd said playfully as tagged Soren.
"No fair, Kludd, you know I had more poofy feathers than you." Soren pouted.
"Don't worry, Sorey, you'll grow out of them, it is the first pellet you got to worry about." Kludd warned with a grimace.
"Now, Kludd, no need to scare the little boy." Kludd turned around to see their nurse-maid Mrs. P with a slightly stern, slightly amused look.
"Sorry, Mrs. P, I was just trying to cheer him up." The young Barn Owl shamefully stated.
The black mamba chuckled as she patted him on the head "Oh it is all right, dear, I just find it sweet that you care about your younger brother."
"Well, Mrs. P, I am his brother," Kludd declared put his stubby right wing around Soren, "and brothers always look out for each other, like da always said."
"Hey, Kludd, you think one day I might beat you at something like tag?" Soren asked innocently, with his big cute brown eyes.
The older brother chuckled as he said "I don't know Sorey, but you are welcome to try, but for now...let see you survive my tickling."
With that, he start tickling his little brother and started rolling around laughing, while Mrs. Plithiver look upon with a smile, hoping that they would forever be like that...
Flashback ends
Oh how Kludd regretted those words all those years ago. They were once so close, yet now they were on opposite sides of an aging war, and his brother had effortlessly surpassed him in many things that just made him want to yarp up a pellet. Soon, Twilight's song came to an end, and Digger started to play around again.
Nyra, while cleaning her feathers of the gunk she had got on her feathers, listened to the song Twilight played. Even though he played badly the last time, he miraculously played this song very well, and she saw it's effect on her king, who was merely nodding his head to the music as it played. However, she was mainly focused on her feathers. "Why did that sprinking owl have to be so pushy? I know we are enemies, but I wouldn't push someone into a bog that could have kill someone. I may be malicious, but I am not heartless."
Soon, she was finished, and said to herself with pride "Well, that is much better." All of the sudden, she is hit by a few patches of dirt.
Sputtering out the dirt, she glared at the origin of all the flying dirt and see Digger digging holes around the fire, and she then screeched "Do you mind?!"
Digger suddenly stopped and woefully said "Sowwy..."
"Now, Nyra, there is no need to be harsh on the boy, he's currently doesn't know any better. He's a Burrowing Owl for crying out loud!" Twilight scolded, "Besides, you don't need to be clean every hour on the hour!"
Nyra glared at him, what does he know? She is-er-was the queen of the Pure Ones, she had an appearance to keep up. She wasn't vain, but she felt more comfortable when clean, especially when it came to being around the opposite sex. All the Pure Ones, always turn their head at her, thinking very 'pleasurable' thoughts of her, however though, they all knew that she belonged to their leader, Metalbeak...well at least before a certain owl impaled him on a stick.
Even after his death, no one dared attempt to court her for two reasons. One, any owls that tried to make any boisterous or suave moves on her were never heard from again. Two, there was already another owl that Nyra had her eyes on, and that owl was none other than Kludd. She couldn't afford to look less than perfect in front of someone she loved...unfortunately, that was happening right now as Kludd look at her with an amused look.
Nyra looked away shamefully as Kludd chuckled "No need to be uptight, Nyra, it is just a bit of dirt, easily dusted off..." as he approached her and started dusting her feathers, but then as soon as he felt her feathers, both of them jolted. "Wow...her feathers feel soft...Metalbeak was one lucky owl..." Kludd said in his mind
The queen on the other hand-er-wing, felt his touch, she quivered a little and thought "Oh glaux...his touch is so...so...I wonder how his beak would feel..."
The two Pure Ones looked at each other with those eyes, and since they were both by the fire, it was a romantic moment, and then as they did back in St. Aegolius, they started to lean in for a kiss, and they were so close that Nyra was shivering even more from the new Metalbeak's breath on her neck, but then a mere "excuse me?" shook them out of their moment. (AHAH! De-wait for it-nied!)
Kludd and Nyra looked at Digger, the owl who interrupted the moment, and Kludd, really frustrated that their moment was ruined once again, asked in a shaking tone. "What?"
"Do you know when Giffie will be back?" Digger asked in a cute, childish tone.
"You interrupted a possibly sacred moment, just to ask that?!" The masked Barn Owl asked astounded.
"Well...I miss her..." Digger replied in a quiet tone.
"Don't worry, my boy, Gylfie and the others should be back right about now." Twilight said, reassuring the Burrowing Owl, and as if on cue, Soren, Gylfie, and Ezylryb walks in, while dragging a makeshift bag.
"GIFFIE!" Digger cheered as he charged at Gylfie, who in turn was caught off-guard as he started cuddling more with her.
"Calm down, Digger! I am happy to see you, too!" Gylfie said, while blushing more as her crush childishly rub his head against her feathers.
"Aw, looks like he took a liking to you." Soren joked, "Now if only Digger was in his right mind..." he thought as he saw the two.
"Well...he is quite affectionate..." Gylfie blushed even more, as she merely patted the burrowing owl's head.
Soren chuckled, and then he looked at Kludd, who was busy standing near one of the trees surrounding the fire. "Kl-Metalbeak? What are you doing?" He caught himself once more as he asked his older brother.
He got his answer when he heard a sound of metal clawing a tree, and Kludd responded "If you must know, I am sharpening my battle claw. When we see Skarmoris again, I intend to rip his..."
"METALBEAK! There is a child here!" Gylfie scolded, as both Kludd and Soren looked at her and Digger, who was quivering from what the Pure One was about to say.
Kludd, feeling awkward, corrected "I mean, kick his tailfeathers...", fortunately, the child-minded owl was immediately satisfied as he returned to cuddling Gylfie once again.
Twilight asked "Had any luck finding food?"
"See for yourself." Ezylryb smugly replied as he open the bag to show grubs and berries, and as soon as he did, Digger stop cuddling the Elf Owl and leapt at the grub and started gorging on them.
Everyone stared in disgust as Soren quipped, "Well, at least Digger hadn't lost his big appetite."
Soon, everyone else started to dig in, except Nyra, who was still slightly disgusted from Digger's eating habit, and Kludd, who was still busy sharpening his claw. Ezylryb noticed and asked "Aren't you two going to eat something?".
"One, I refuse to eat with owls with no table manners..." She glared at Digger, who was oblivious, "Two, me and Kludd already have something in mind." Before the old Screech Owl could ask, Nyra suddenly sent her claw down on an unfortunate mouse who was running by.
Then she presented it to Kludd, who was still focusing on sharpening his claw, with a bow, "Dinner is served, milord."
Kludd didn't turn around, but to not sound ungrateful, he said "Thank you but I am not hungry." Nyra frowned at the king's refusal, but by the way he look when Digger interrupt their second attempt at kissing, she didn't blame him, as she was equally disappointed that the moment was ruined yet again, so she swallowed the dead mouse whole.
Soon, after all the food was eaten (mostly thanks to Digger), everyone merely sat down and stay silent for a bit (well Digger was merely laying his head next to Twilight), when Twilight asked Kludd, still sharpening his claw, "So Metalbeak...I know this may sound like out of the blue, but how was things back at St. Aegolius over the ten months, you know, before he came and took everything?"
Kludd stopped clawing the tree for a moment and pondered a bit, before resuming his action, saying "Preparing, we were in a bit of a slump, so me and Nyra spent the last couple months training our soldiers, making new equipment, and over the last two weeks...preparing a feast of my coronation..." His expression then turned sour remembering how that turned out.
Silence ensued once more, when Gylfie asked "How powerful do you reckon Skarmoris is? The way you describe him, you made him out to be a powerful adversary."
Nyra, who was busy watching the fire danced, said "Well, considering that he slaughtered ten soldiers on the way in, and cut down about twenty before we were betrayed, he isn't a foe to take lightly, the way he wielded his two swords were masterful..."
"Swords?" Soren asked, remembering those weapons from the armory back at Ga'Hoole, "That is quite unusual, even though we use them, most owls often chose claws over swords, due to the flexibility of the claws."
"Tell that to him, he was able to swing his swords with sheer precision, I think he might have something wrong with his talons." Nyra replied.
"Yeah, I heard some owls having very flexible talons, thus making them expert swordowls. Hopefully, our own skills will be enough to defeat him." Ezylryb stated, with a grim aspect.
"Why, Lyze, you never rubbed me as a kind of owl to be afraid of a Pure One. Where were that owl when you ripped off my mate's face." Nyra asked in a surprised and annoyed tone.
"I did not rip his face off, I merely gave his face an improvement," This prompted another one of the queen's death glares, "besides, this owl sounds like a hagsfiend in comparison to any Pure One or villain I had come across..."
"Let's not forget that he has two well-trained owls as his personal bodyguards. They manage to take down a couple of soldiers on their own without breaking a sweat," the she-owl reminded, matter-of-factly.
Kludd, listening in on the two's discussion, then sneered while he scraping his claws against the poor tree "It doesn't matter who he has serving him or how good he is, all I know is, the moment I get my talons on him, he will cease to exist."
Soren sighed as he replied "You shouldn't be so cocky, Kludd, it's those kind of attitude that prevented you from defeating us all those times, like when we teamed up with our alternate selves..."
Kludd immediately froze when he mention them, and then Nyra asked "What on earth are you talking about?"
Soren looked at Kludd, who had finally stop sharpening his claws (which I'm guessing is pretty sharp right now) and was glaring at him, and asked "You hadn't told her, Kludd?"
"Told me what?" Nyra demanded, in a frustrated tone, as she gave a questioning look at her king, who was looking away in shame.
"Well, one day while I was patrolling around the border, I ran into him..." Soren gestured to his brother, "We got into a little scuffle where I was able to subdue my brother, while I was trying to get away, I found a bright light in the side of this one mountain. Then suddenly, someone came from that light, and before I knew it, I was staring at none other than Kludd, except with a helm of a Guardian."
"WHAT?!" Nyra screeched, "How in Glaux's name is that even possible?!"
"Oh, that isn't even the most shocking part, this Kludd was from another alternate reality, in which he became a guardian, and as for me...I became the new Metalbeak and leader of the Pure Ones."
"WHAT?!" Gylfie and Twilight screamed, and Ezylryb had an atonished look upon his face, and Nyra was even more shocked.
"Yes, and to make matters worse, that said Soren came from the light as well, and the Metalbeak we knew..." he gestured to Kludd once more, "and let say that he and my other self hit it off real well. Soon, me and other Kludd were fighting against Kludd and other me, and we eventually manage to beat them by exploiting our own weaknesses in our other selves due to their unwillingness to accept their weakness..." Kludd snarled at that remark, "and soon other Soren was flung back into his world and Kludd fled, and after a few words of farewell, the other Kludd return back to his world and that light disappeared...and that was the last I saw of either Kludd till a few hours ago." Soren finished.
When he did finished, everyone was astonished with what Soren had just told them; they did believe him without a doubt, but still, it was quite shocking.
"Wait..." Nyra enquired, "That means Nix was telling the truth about you meeting your other half after all?" she asked Kludd.
"Nix did tell you?" Kludd was just as surprised, as he thought Nix was keeping his secret, well, a secret.
"What do you mean tell me?" Nyra repeated, feeling betrayed that her king hadn't told her this, even though she told him to never lie to her, "Nix came to me one day saying that you apparently defeated by your brother and another owl that was you, except from another world. I didn't believe him, since I know he hated you, but now...you're telling me that all Soren and Nix said were true?"
"Well...if I did tell you, you would have thought I was crazy!" Kludd said in a defensive tone, "It was already humiliating that I was beaten by my younger brother, but to be beaten by him and myself..." He couldn't finish the sentence.
"Kludd..." Soren tried approaching him.
"DAMN IT! IT IS METALBEAK! DON'T THINK I DIDN'T NOTICED THE LAST FOUR TIMES YOU CALL ME THAT! NOW IF YOU EXCUSE ME..." Kludd then turned away angrily as he went back to the tree and started clawing the crud out of it.
Soren was about to comfort him when Nyra stepped in front of him, saying "Haven't you done enough?"
The Guardian was appalled by her gall to say such thing, "How dare you! I was trying to tell him what happens when he gets too cocky, which he became because of you owls!"
Nyra rebutted "Us owls? We had nothing to do with Kludd..."
"Don't you dare use his name! He is my brother! You have no right to call him that!" Soren interrupted, with a fierce glare.
"I have no right?!" Nyra repeated, "I've been at his side for a year, being a fateful follower to him! I was his general as he was my king!"
"That is rich!" Soren spat with sarcasm, "I know that if you didn't exist, Kludd would have never joined the Pure Ones, I know he wouldn't have!"
Then as if she had spoken with Kludd's voice back at the Forest of Beak, she said "Then you don't know him...at all." with one of the most venomous glare she had ever gave someone. "And..." then she smacked him hard with her right wing, "that was for Metalbeak..." as she then went to the other side of the fire.
Silence had struck for the third time as everyone stared at Nyra, who was silently fuming, and then at Soren, who was rubbing his sore cheek, thus creating an awkward atmosphere.
Kludd, who was hearing the fight between Soren and Nyra, gave a quiet sigh, as much as he want to correct Soren on calling him Kludd once more, he couldn't have, and thought "How can he still think of me as his brother? After everything I did, after all the pain I caused him, ma, da..." He just shook the thought as he noticed the tree he was clawing had a huge dent in the side, and decided to switch to another tree right next to it.
Ezylryb then broke the silence by saying, "Well, all of us should get some sleep, the sun will be rising soon and we have a lot more ground to cover."
Everyone, including Nyra, nodded to that notion, and Kludd merely continued sharpening his second claw. Ezylryb was going to tell him to get some sleep, but opted against, he couldn't ask the once leader of the Pure Ones to go to sleep, as he probably still fuming over some stuff.
As everyone was settling down to go to sleep, Soren looked back at Kludd and then at Nyra, and then sighed to himself before he felt a nudge. He looked down to see Digger, who then asked in a cute tone, "Sorey, could you tell me a daytime story?"
Soren, not sure how to response, since the only owls that would ask him of that were Eglantine and other owlets who want to hear about the story of how he defeated Metalbeak, never had another grown owl had ask him to tell him a bedtime story, then again, Digger wasn't really in the right mind, so he guess it wouldn't hurt... "Okay, Digger, I can tell you one story, then it's off to sleep." Soren said in a mock parental tone.
"Great, another story about the bloody Guardians, I wonder how this story will end..." Kludd sarcastically spat as he continued working on the tree.
Soren was about to scold him, but then remember the conversation he had with Nyra, "Then you don't know him...at all." He knew that Kludd had little regards for the Guardians even before meeting the Pure Ones, and telling the one of him defeating Metalbeak will surely anger Nyra (which he didn't cared...well, at least, he think he didn't) and Kludd, and it wouldn't help him in trying to save his brother.
"Brother...brothers...That's it!" Soren realized, as he remembered a story that his father used to tell him and Kludd before Eglantine was born, a story that both of them had cherished for a long while. "Well, Metalbeak, you'll be happy to know that I won't be telling any stories regarding the Guardians tonight." Soren declared with a hidden smirk. "The story I will be telling is...The Two Brothers of the North."
Immediately, Kludd stopped with his clawing as he heard the name, "No...Soren couldn't possibly remember..." and soon everyone, who were trying to sleep, arose when they heard the name, even Nyra was interested.
"The Two Brothers of the North? I never heard of it." Gylfie said, mystified.
"Quite right, Gylfie, in my time of serving the Guardians, I never once heard a story such as that." Ezylryb admitted.
"Pwease tell me the story, Sorey!" Digger pleaded, obviously excited by the name of the story.
Soren gave a glance at Kludd, who had stopped clawing, then thought of a way to get Kludd more into this story.
"I'll try, but it had been years since I had heard the story..." Soren confessed, and with a clear of his throat, he began.
'A long time ago, there was an evil owl known as...known as...' Soren pretended to forget the name, and then said "Windbreaker!"
This immediately caused Kludd to correct, "No, no, no! That was not the owl's name!"
"Winchester?" Soren played stupid.
"No, not that." Kludd said becoming even more annoyed, while joining the group.
"Deadbritches?" Soren guessed.
"Damn it, Soren, do I need tell the story instead? Because obviously you don't remember squawk." Kludd asked with an annoyed glare.
"Sure, Kludd, be my guest." Soren willingly complied, giving him a smirk.
Then Kludd realized that his brother had tricked him into being the one to tell the story, and said "Oh, he is so dead once this is over!"
Digger turned to the Barn Owl and said, "Yeah, Beaky! Pwease tell the story!" while giving him puppy eyes.
The scarred Barn Owl, unable to get out of the situation, sighed as he then said, "Alright...allow me to tell you the story of two brother's battle against one of the greatest evil the owl kingdoms had ever faced..."
'A long time ago, before the time of the Lyze of Keil and Metalbeak, there was an evil owl known as...the Deathbringer, an owl whose heart whose colors matched the blackest nights, and whose eyes matched that of pure blood.' This prompted a nervous glance from Digger, 'The owl was truly powerful, as he killed many owls with only his own two claws, and had terrorized the owl kingdoms. He killed anyone who stand in his path, may he or she be a Guardian or a Pure One, a grown owl or a owlet, it mattered not, as the owl, with feathers of eternal night and an army of the strongest yet ruthless owls, continue his conquest for supreme power.'
'This had caught the attention of the Guardians, as well as the Pure Ones, as the evil owl made his way from the south, and as for the first time in owl history, the two greatest rivals in known history had joined force to defeat this darkness. However, this new partnership had changed nothing, as despite all their efforts, the combined forces' power was not enough to stop the Deathbringer, as he and his army defeated them both without a second thought. The two groups of owls were at their darkest hour, and had lost all hope, as all they could do was pray...'
This prompted a gasp from Digger, as well as nervous stares from Gylfie and Twilight, but Soren and Kludd, as if in sync, both gave a smirk as Kludd continued, 'Then, as if a miracle sent by Glaux himself, two snowy owls from the far northern reaches of the owl kingdoms, had appeared before them. The younger owl had the speed of the hummingbird and the cunning of a fox while the older owl had the strength and leadership of an eagle, together, they were an unstoppable force. Hearing their pleads and prayers, they had come to smite the darkness that threaten the entire owl race, and the older brother said with pride, "It matters not whether you follow the path of light and order, or the path of darkness and dominance, it matters not whether you have the strength, the intelligence, or the courage, all that matters is that you follow your heart and dreams, as no matter how dark the path it leads you on, it will always guide you true."
'With those words, the Guardians, the Pure Ones, and the two brothers took to the sky once more, as they confronted the monster and his legion, and as if the words of the older brother gave them newfound strength, they were defeating the legion. Angered by the two brother's meddling, he personally took them on in a two-on-one battle; the fight was long and brutal as the three owls exchanged blow after blow, but with the teamwork of the duo, they have managed to defeat the Deathbringer, and brought peace to the owl kingdoms...' Kludd finished with a proud smile, and the others clapped at such a great story, Digger cheered, and Nyra gave a smile, forgetting about her king not telling her the truth, and her fight with Soren; she never thought that Kludd would be an excellent storyteller as well as a good fighter and leader, like the older brother in the story.
"Exemplary storytelling, lad, you obviously share Soren's gift as a raconteur!" Ezylryb complimented.
"I'll say, that is one good story for the ages, I wonder why I hadn't heard of it." Twilight said.
"You know, that does bring up a point, why wasn't this in the library back in Ga'Hoole?" Gylfie asked.
The old Lyze of Keil shrugged, "Well, our librarian has a strict policy against fiction, I suppose everyone thought that story was all it was, a story."
"Well, it doesn't matter. All I know is that me and Kludd used to love that story, and we always pretended to be the two brothers, remember Kludd?" Soren asked. Indeed, the older brother did remember the fun they used to have being the two brothers like in the story, and he smiled.
Then Soren said, "Although I wonder why da haven't told us that story in years."
Kludd, whose expression changed from happy to sad, then answered, "You don't remember, do you? About how the story truly ends?"
Suddenly, it hit Soren, he remembered one day when Noctus was telling them the story, Kludd asked if that was how the story truly went, when he noticed that he told the end differently each time he told the story. It was then when Noctus sadly told the true unabridged version of how the story ended.
"What do you mean, Beaky?" Digger asked, while growing a bit tired.
Kludd sighed as he told the end 'However, their victory was short-lived, as the Deathbringer, still living despites all his wounds, summoned the last of his strength and charged his blade at the younger brother. Then in a flash, the older brother took his sword, and pushed the younger brother out of the way as he took the blade to his body and with a final blow, he killed the Deathbringer. The monster was slain, but the older brother suffered a mortal wound from that stab, and...' the new Metalbeak said with a heavy heart, 'he died in his younger brother's wings, and soon after his burial, the younger brother was never heard from again, and they were both forgotten by history.'
Everyone stared, agaped at the extended version, and Digger, shaking his head no, said "No...no, that can't be the ending, it can't."
"What do you want me to say? No matter how what we do, the end is the same, the older brother dies, while the younger brother lives..." Kludd said, as he then returned to the tree he was clawing and merely laid against it.
"Kludd...I...I..." Soren tried to explain himself, when Ezylryb put his wing on his shoulder.
"You tried your best, lad, just let him sleep it off." He said, as Soren then laid against another tree trunk and tried to get some sleep.
Twilight and him soon followed suit, and Gylfie was about to go to sleep when Digger asked "Giffie, may I sleep with you?"
The Elf Owl, caught completely off guard by the question, but then she remember that Digger was thinking like a child and said "Uh, sure..." while trying not to blush anymore than she had tonight. Digger then scooted up to her, and despite being slightly taller than her, he put his head next to Gylfie and then placed his wings around her, and closed his eyes.
Gylfie, about ready to close her eyes, when Digger asked "Giffie? Can you promise me that you won't go away?" the small owl was confused by what he was asking, when he continued "I'm afwaid of losing my fwiends, Sorey, Twilly, Ribby, even Beaky and Ra-Ra, but I will be weally sad if you die, promise me you won't die, I wuv you."
The smaller owl felt tears come to her eyes and a bit of joy in her heart that her crush said that, even though it was probably the venom talking, it felt that he really mean it. She then chuckled, "I'll promise, my little digger." With that, Digger went to sleep and Gylfie whispered, "I love you, too." as she, too, went to dreamland, and everyone was fast asleep.
Everyone, except Nyra, who was busy kindling the fire and was thinking about Kludd, who by the way, was still awake. Then, she went to Kludd's side and when he didn't acknowledge her presence, she then said, "Well, if it counts for anything, I thought the older brother was kinda cute, like a certain older brother I know."
Kludd gave a slight smile, before reverting to a blank yet sad stare, when he then said "Look, I am sorry for not telling you about meeting my other self and other Soren, it just...it just that losing to them was just another add on to the list of things I have failed at, I was already doing a terrible job as a leader, and this...this was another failure I didn't need.
Nyra sighed "I am no longer angry about that, I admit, I was a little hurt, but I suppose that anyone would be uncomfortable saying you had been beaten by yourself, and besides, you were a great leader, Skarmoris just said all that to get in your head."
"But he's right, I had done nothing for the Pure Ones for over ten months, and the things I did do ended in failure. It is no wonder why my soldiers abandoned me. I don't even know why you would stick with me," Kludd moped.
Fed up with his self-loathing, Nyra then grabbed his shoulders and made him look at her and snarled, "Look here, Kludd, you are the new Metalbeak! The reason the soldiers abandoned you were because they are disloyal swines! Sure, we had drawbacks in the past, but that does not make you a bad leader! As for why I stay by your side is..." she wanted to say 'because, I love you', but seeing how now was not the time, she just went with... "because I owe it to my mate to see that his legacy lived on in you, he would have been proud of you, just as I am, Kludd, you honor him everyday by just wearing that helm. If that isn't being a great leader, then I don't know what is..."
The Barn Owl, touched by her devotion, smiled, and then, he turn to the rising sun and said, "I used to take what the elder brother said to heart, about how your heart and dreams will always guide you true. I believed in it for so long, but when I finally found out that he died, he just proved his words wrong." He then stared at Nyra with crestfallen eyes, "He believed in his heart and dreams and look what happen to him! That is when I stop believing in them; I taught myself that you carve your own path in life, and relying on anything such as dreams, your heart, or anything else would be a waste of time, because all you need is a goal, and with that in mind, all you need to do is give it your all to see that goal to the end."
The white Barn Owl, taking in what he said, asked "And that goal is?"
"To take back my kingdom, defeat the Guardians once and for all, and finally, show everyone I am the better brother, not Soren." He declared.
"Words well put, my king, we should get some rest." Nyra stated, as she then laid against the trunk Kludd was leaning on, and then said to Kludd with a smirk "Well, aren't you going to get some sleep?"
Kludd, merely gulped as she was asking him to sleep next to her, back at St. Aegolius, they had different hollows, despite rumors that were going on about them, and this would be the first time that Kludd slept next to a female, well, if you don't count your little sister. Summoning all his courage, he merely laid down next to her and said "Uh...goodnight, Nyra."
Amused by her king's nervousness, she then whispered in his ear-hole and said "Good night, my king." as she then went to sleep.
Kludd slightly blushed when she did so, and then looked to the sky once more and said to himself, "One day, I will give you a true reason to be proud of me, Metalbeak, and..." as he stole a glance at Nyra's now sleeping figure, "I will protect your mate with my life," and with that, he finally went to sleep, as it was still a long road to Skarmoris, and he plans to defeat him by any means necessary.
Looking down upon the group atop a branch of a tree that had no briars on it, Samuel gave a smile, and said "I have no doubt in my mind that you will, Kludd." as he faded away again...
A/N: Whew... another long and brutal chapter done, but I am quite pleased with how it turned out, we had Kludd/Nyra moments, as well as Digger/Gylfie moments, and a tender Soren and Kludd brotherly love moment. For characters' ages, I am going with Kludd being 19 (18 in film), Soren being 17 (16 in film) in human years, but I have no idea how old Nyra nor Eglantine and the others are, so could you guys possibly tell me how old Nyra, Eglantine, and the original Metalbeak are in human years? As for the story part, I am sorry for giving the story a sad ending, but I had to for there to be a reason for Kludd's disbelief in dreams. I also like to say sorry to you Kludd/Nyra fans for teasing you yet again with another almost kiss, but I assure you, this is the last time I will tease. Well, I don't know what else to say other than READ AND REVIEW! (P.S. Did you guys like how cute I made Digger and how I fit Samuel into the last bit?) (P.S.S. The part about other Soren and other Kludd is in Worlds Apart by bluecatcinema.) Bad news guys, this is the last chapter that I had written, so it going to take a while for me to get another chapter up, I hope you guys will be patient with me...