"Alright, Tytos, back to business. You will all be pleased to know that this exercise will not be physically strenuous."
"Uklah must be happy," Kludd sneered.
"Although it will give your brains a bit of a workout."
His smug grin disappeared and found itself on said leia's face instead.
"You were saying?" she retorted.
"In this regiment, I will be testing your knowhow; almost like a...shall we say pop-quiz sort of thing. Now, the questions might seem trivial, but such knowledge has the potential to save lives, should you ever be caught in such a situation. Ready, owlets? Minds sharp? Attention focused?"
"Yes, your Pureness," Vaygar confirmed.
"Alright. To begin...You're flying low above a stretch of field; tall grass extends for miles. You hear something within the greenery that sounds like the flapping wings of another bird. Is there any chance at all that this could be another owl pursuing you?"
Ginger was about to very confidently answer 'no.' Owls had special fringes along their flight feathers that silenced their beating wings as they flew, so it couldn't possibly-
Her train of thought was cut off when she heard Uklah speak up.
"Yes; there is a chance," she answered, earning her a wide-eyed look from Ginger. "Elf and Pygmy Owls lack the combs on their wings that allow for silent flight."
"Absolutely correct, Uklah!" Nyra congratulated.
Ginger was amazed; she never wound have guessed.
"Alright, next up. It's the dead of winter. You're squadron is stranded and starving, and you volunteer to go out to fetch for a kill. You'll need to find something big to sustain all of you. Something like, shall we say...a beaver. But then you realize; it's the dead of winter, isn't it? Don't beavers hibernate?"
"No! They don't!"
This time, Ginger was far more confident in her answer. Her own parents had stated this, and on multiple occasions, brought beavers back during to make use of their massive amount of meat and conveniently warm pelts.
"I mean...they're not as out-and-about as they are in the warmer months, but they're still around," she continued.
"Ah, so you know that, do you, Ginger? Well, I'm impressed...Now, since you know for sure that they're still around, where should you go to find them?"
"They live around rivers and lakes, don't they?" she continued.
"Also correct. So, you stumble upon the lodge where they make their home, and there, swimming toward the shore of the frozen pond, lo and behold, you see one. Why don't you go right in for the kill?"
"Absolutely!"
"Absolutely not," the Ablah General corrected, and Ginger's excited smile fell.
"Why?"
"Does anybody else know?"
Phillip raised a wing, and the white owl called on him.
"Bad idea," he explained, sounding very grim. "Going into a kill dive over any body of water is a dangerous thing to do, let alone a freezing one in the middle of winter. You get your wings too wet and you'll end up stuck in the water. And if there's one thing I know from seeing failed attempts out on the lakes, it's that owls can't swim. And even if you do miraculously manage to reshore, you'll probably die of the hypothermia unless anyone's around to help. And that's not likely, during this time of the year. You'd have to wait until the prey gets to the shore, and then you go in for the kill."
"Splendid, Phillip. You really do know a thing or two about hunting...So, once it gets onto firm ground, you're free to approach for the kill. The thing with beavers, or any large prey for that matter, however, is that there's a certain way to go about it. How do you kill the beaver in a conveniently quick and painless manner?"
"Easy," Kludd answered. "You aim for the thing's back and break its spine. Dies instantly, and from behind it'll never see you comin'."
"Ahh, well put, soldier. I do believe your finally visiting the library."
He puffed his chest out.
"Alright. Different scenario," Nyra announced. "Say you've just run into a mob of crows in the middle of the day, and there isn't a soul around to help you. How do you handle this delicate situation?"
"I say you just fight them off," the young buff continued, sounding a bit arrogant. "Crows aren't that much trouble, are they?"
"True, their fighting methods are primitive, but crows often band into mobs of two dozen or greater, and it only takes eight to completely overpower a Barn Owl, like yourself. Alone, and against perhaps forty of them, you'd be torn to bits; a flock of crows is called a 'murder' for a reason, you know. Plus, if you fight, you may end up attracting more of them by mistake. Not the best way to go about it...So, does anybody else have a different idea?"
Kludd rolled his eyes; he could take on fifty crows by himself if he wanted! As long as they didn't all come at once, that is...
"I think I've read about this one before," Uklah replied. "If a mob of crows attacks you, the first thing you should do is try to locate a shelter of some sort, be it a tree hollow, rock notch or even a small cave. Anywhere that's either dark or small enough to prevent a swarm. And once that's out of the way, you stay there and call for help until either someone passes by and hears you or the crows have all given up."
"That's what I'm looking for. Excellent, Uklah."
"Thank you, your Pureness."
"Now, a few more random questions. How long does an owl need to be exposed to the full moon before it is considered 'moonblinked'?"
"At least seven hours, right?" Vaygar estimated. "Granted the owl would have to be asleep and face fully exposed to it."
"Correct, indeed. And what of this one; if one follows the path through the hoolespyrrs over the Sea of Hoolemere instead of keeping between the Whale's fin and the Eye of Glaux, where will they end up, instead of the Ga'Hoole Tree?"
"That would lead to the Ice Narrows," Uklah responded.
"Quite right, young one. And speaking of the Great Tree, if, say it is winter, and the air masses from the north are descending, making Cape Glaux too risky a takeoff spot? In that case, what would be a more favorable place to get there from?"
"Broken Talon Point! Moving in from the south and following the winds of the Northern Kingdoms would not only make it easier for us, but also get us there quicker!"
"Right again. Now, something a bit more out there; far less probable, but more dire, I can tell you now. Say we hear word that the guardians are plotting to send someone to dive for the Ember of Hoole. Which volcano would have to be guarded?"
"Dunmore, right?" Vaygar answered.
"Correct, Vaygar. And the wolves. Which clan is currently watching over the Sacred Ring?"
"The MacDuffs," Phillip responded. "They usurped the MacDuncans after they abandoned the Ring, right?"
"Nicely done, Phillip. And now, the last question."
All five owls peered intently at the Ablah General.
"You're in the infirmary. A Tyto Alba lies there, plagued by a dangerous disease. His fever is worse that that of any bird flu. The pungent stench of liquid yarp is present, and there are painful open sores all over the owl's body, showing through bare spots that have formed in the plumage...What do you suppose it is.
Ginger's eyes widened. This sounded all to familiar.
"...Alba Pox," she beaked.
"Pardon me, what was that?"
"Abla Pox. I...My parents say I had it when I was a chick; too young to remember it myself, though. My mother said they worked day and night just to keep me alive."
"...You..."
Nyra was in awe; she had thought that Alba Pox was confined to the Hoolian Kingdoms, seeing just how rare it was. But this owl, from the mainland, claimed that she herself had once been plagued by the disease. And furthermore, she had lived to tell the tale.
"...You mean to tell me that you had Alba Pox? As an owlet?"
"That's what my mother said," she answered. "And I don't think she'd have lied about something like that."
The other four owlets were staring at her just as wide-eyed as the Ablah General. Kludd nodded to mask his mild confusion(probably having never even heard of Alba Pox to begin with, knowing him)Vaygar was significantly impressed, Phillip's beak hung open in utter disbelief, and Uklah just looked...
Haunted, to say the least. But for what reason, Ginger couldn't begin to imagine.
"Well...This certainly comes as...a surprise," Nyra remarked. "Ah...So, tell me, owlet. Are the rumors about the disease true?"
"Which rumors?"
"That if an owl were to battle and defeat the disease that it alters the immune system, making it practically impenetrable to any and every pathogen?"
"Erm..."
"In other words, young one...you can't get sick?"
"Oh. Um...Well...Yeah, I think that's true."
"You've not fallen ill at all since then?"
"I can't remember a time I was."
Silence shrouded the hollow again. But only briefly; Nyra broke the dead quiet with her announcement.
"Well, I suppose that wraps up this competition. I'll give you all a few more minutes to break before the finals. As for you, Ms. Wingren, I...must say, this revelation definitely gives me a few ideas for you...I'll call you all when I finish my business."
The Ablah General departed, leaving the five trainees alone again. Vaygar, Phillip and Kludd exchanged glances with one another, and then the latter most whistled in awe.
"Wow..." Kludd whispered, genuinely impressed. "That's...quite an achievement."
"Do you remember any of it? What's it like?" Vaygar prodded.
"I...I don't know, I was, like, two or something. I don't remember now."
"Must we talk about this in front of...certain owls?" Phillip butted in, a concerned frown on his beak. He motioned over to Uklah, who had not joined the group; instead, she'd wandered a bit further away from all of them, back turned to them.
"What's wrong with her?" Ginger asked them.
"...Why don't you go ask her yourself?" Phillip suggested. "She can tell you more than I can. 'Will she?' is the question I have. though."
The three buffs stepped away from her, then formed their own conversation. Deciding to follow Phillip's advice, she approached Uklah from behind, making sure the sound of her talons clacking against the stone floor was obvious enough as not to startle her.
"So...You did pretty well with that, huh?" she congratulated. "...Are we still on at your place later?"
"...Can I ask you something?"
"Um...Sure thing."
"Why exactly did you leave your hollow and go out into the ocean?"
Ginger tensed; Nyra had asked her this the previous morning, and she'd become too upset to give her all the details, it's been so soon after she'd arrived...But almost a full day had gone by since then, and now, seeing that it seemed important to her fellow Tyto Alba, she decided to try it again.
"...Family issues, to put it plainly. My brother basically drove me insane, and...I snapped. I had to leave, knowing I might...be dangerous to them, isn't that funny?"
She forced out a laugh, trying to take it lightly.
"...You have a brother?"
"Yeah...Unfortunately," she mumbled.
"...Is he still alive?"
Ginger's gaze hardened just the tiniest bit; this was an odd question...But, then again, when she said that she'd 'snapped,' perhaps she should have made it more obvious at just who she lost her cool at.
"As far as I know," the owl answered. "Last time I saw him, he was under my mothers wing, fast asleep in the nest. He was like that as I was leaving."
"The last I saw of my sibling was in the nest, too."
"...What do you mean?"
There was a long pause before Uklah continued. Finally, she sighed, then rolled her eyes a bit at herself.
"My sister, Lila...I only knew her for five years, but she was wonderful. Loves me to pieces and was...She was just so soft-spoken for someone so young...but she was lovely, I tell you. An absolute angel...And then she caught it."
"She...Oh..."
"Alba Pox, I mean. Nobody expected it, nobody knew where it came from...My mother and aunt worked their down clean off doing everything they could for her. Same for me. And...she was just...so frightened when she found out she might..."
She shook her head.
"I told her night in and night out that no matter what happened, we'd heal her, make her well again. Promised her every single day for ten days straight that she'd live. That she'd be alright...Then, one night, it looked like some of the sores were starting to close up, and she was awake just a bit more often that day; less pain, less tears...It looked like she was finally starting to heal, and she told me...She told me I kept my promise, and that I was right when I said she would be fine, that I was right all along...I stayed right there with her all that night and all through to the next morning, and I didn't just hope she was getting better...I thought I knew it. Thought my prayers had finally been answered. When the moon rose that evening, the first thing I did was check to see how much better she'd gotten over the day..."
That was where she stopped. And it didn't take a doctor to know what happened next.
"...Dead," Uklah finished, the last word barely coming out a breath, and her expression blank.
Ginger was at a loss for words. She never would have imagined it...
"That's...not good," she answered.
"...You don't know how lucky you are, to be standing here right now. So few owls have ever been known to recover..."
She trailed off, and turned her head away, shaking it in sorrow.
"So...What happened afterward? What brought you here?" the other leia inquired.
Uklah drew in a deep breath, then let it out through her nares.
"...After Lila passed on, I was an only child. My mother and aunt didn't want to lose me, too, so from then on, they were a bit...overprotective of me. They were afraid I might end up choking on a bone sticking out of a kill, or fall from the nest somehow. You know...To compensate for my restrictions, they started to get their talons on books from wandering traders...That's how I got to be such a bookworm, as Madame General puts it. It wasn't that bad. They were just trying to keep me safe."
"So...Did you have a father?"
She shook her head 'no'.
"Overheard one evening between Mum and Aunt Canterbury he was an adulterer; I was hatched out of winglock. They never spoke his name, so...I never knew it. And I can't say I ever knew him...But whatever. It was me, my mum and aunt all living in the same hollow. For a few good long years, that is...Then, the time came where I was about to start branching. They were nervous; thought I was going to fall onto the forest floor and get snatched up by a raccoon. The night before they were going to let me step out onto the branches, they decided to celebrate. They said to me they were going to get a nice, big rabbit for breaklight in honor of my First Branching Ceremony to-be, and the two of them left."
"And...?"
"...They...never came back."
"What happened?"
"It's a mystery to this day. I waited a full day for them. I knew something was wrong; it didn't take this long to fetch a rabbit. So, I...I tried to go out and look for them."
"So...Did you fly, or did you..."
"You can imagine. I didn't know how to flap, when to flap, or how to work the back rudder," she answered, tilting her tail feathers to one side to insinuate this. "If they hadn't disappeared, their worst fears would have been confirmed right before their eyes...Then again, if they'd been there, then...They probably could have done something about it. I managed to grab hold of a lower tree branch of another tree before I could get to the forest floor. I wasn't sure who I could turn to for help, but...I started calling out for it. Wasn't too long before a couple of Pure One patrols came to my aid, and they brought me here. And I've been here ever since."
"I'm...I'm sorry all that happened. Nobody should have to go through all that."
"Oh, I've really bounced back, though," Uklah replied. "Do you know just how amazed I was when I saw the library here for the first time? I was mesmerized; I wanted to pull every single book from every single shelf and not stop until I'd skimmed through every page. Ha! Ah...I'm almost a quarter of the way there. Anyways, Nyra explained it all to me and I happily accepted the offer to join them. It was just Vaygar, Kludd, and a Masked Owl named Gebbles that was with us for a short while. He was only here for around two weeks; left the squadron. I hear he's working somewhere in the Canyonlands, now. The frontlines made him squeamish...I'm content. Happy here, even. And it seems to me that happiness can be contagious in some ways. So, I just...keep smiling. I've a lot to look forward to, now, don't I? A new purpose, future success, a nice hollow to call my own, friends...It's everything an owl needs, ain't it?"
"Hm..." Ginger hummed thoughtfully, "Yeah, I guess you're right."
"I mean...I'll be completely honest with you; whenever something about my old home comes up, I'm a bit...turned off by it for a bit, as you just saw...But like I said, I bounce back; not a problem. You can't keep me down for long, you know?"
"Guess not...So, whadaya think the next round's gonna have us do?"
"Hmmmm..." Uklah fake-pondered, a sly grin inching its way across her beak. "Well, maybe she'll have us go picking through owl's pellets to find things the mice ate."
"Augh, gross...! You can't be serious, can you!?"
"No."
"AHHHH. Had me for a second, there."
The two leias continued to chat, and Nyra wrote down the new scores on her piece of parchment. The ink on her quill was beginning to run low; she thought it wise to dunk it again before the final round, seeing that she barely had enough to write down the new numbers with.
-Kludd: 8
-Vaygar: 13
-Ginger: 15
-Phillip: 12
-Uklah: 12
It looked like Vaygar had this in the bag. Even if Kludd came out on top the next round, he would still end up being at the bottom, if not tied with Phillip or Uklah if they ended up doing poorly. Maybe the Grass Owl hadn't been so wrong to refer to himself as the leader of the squadron, after all. Besides, he was a splendid flyer.
It likely wouldn't take much effort for him to soar over the rest of the competition in the final trial.
