Moon Blinked
A/N Hi everyone. This one-shot is about the owl Rocmore who Gylfie mentions is the owl who got moon blinked in the Desert of Kuneer. If you need more reference, turn to Page 46 of Book One in the Guardians of Ga'Hoole series. Also, I don't remember if the book ever says which kind of tree Rocmore lived in, so let's just assume he lived in a cactus just like Gylfie!
Though I wish I did, I don't own Guardians of Ga'Hoole anymore than I do to Christmas. Remember to read and review especially if you're reading this!
Out on the Desert of Kuneer, near a big gulch sat an ancient Smoke Tree, whose roots had sprouted up and over the dry ground. They eventually criss-crossed each other back into the ground. The final result was a grand tree that provided lots of shade between its roots on the ground, and with that shade many small voles and mice hid from the hot sun.
Nearby the Smoke Tree an eight-foot wide and long giant cactus with a six-inch wide and long hollowed middle. This hollow housed over five owls, two parents and their hatchlings, of which included the Elf Owl Gylfie.
Gylfie had just started branching that night. Her parents had taken a break from hunting that night to help teach their chick to branch. Gylfie hopped over from her moss bed to her parents. "Let's go let's go let's go!" she squealed. "Let's go branching!"
"Now now Gylfie," her da began, "Branching may sound fun, but it can be dangerous if you don't watch where you're going. Am I right dear?" Gylfie's mum was standing beside her husband. She nodded.
"But! I find it especially wonderful when you two lift me up from our hollow to the top of the Astrophytum Myriostigma!" Gylfie whined.
For those of you who don't know, Astrophytum Myriostigma is the scientific name for 'Star Cactus' which is the cactus Gylfie and her family should live in. Back to the story…
"Good good, you're learning your words properly. Well, enough of these dilly-dallies. Shall we?" Gylfie's mum smiled. Together, Gylfie's mum picked her up between her talons and flew her out and up the cactus. Gylfie's da briefly followed after making sure Gylfie's siblings were fed.
Up on the top of the cactus, Gylfie and her mum flew towards the Smoke Tree near their hollow. The Smoke Tree provided lots of room and branches for branching, and this was where the parents taught all their hatchlings how to branch.
"Squee!" Gylfie rejoiced as her mum set her down and alighted beside her. Her dad continued to hover around the tree ready to catch her if anything happened.
"Alright Gylfie, remember what we taught you. Extend your talons as you jump from one branch to another. If you don't, you may be caught hanging like one of those repulsive bats. That a girl Gylfie." Gylfie's father beamed. His daughter was a fast learner; she would be able to start flying as soon as her flight feathers grew.
The moon shone brightly that night. After an hour or so, Gylfie was getting really tired, and her talons ached. She alighted on a branch, and before she knew it, she was dozing off. She fell into a deep sleep, but only for about five seconds, as her father gave the side of her beak a weak slap.
"Gylfie! Don't fall asleep here!" Her father urged.
"Eherm? Why da?" she mumbled, waking up a bit.
"I'll explain after we get back to the hollow." He picked her up in his talons and flew her back to the hollow. Her mum flew after them with a panic-stricken face.
Back at the hollow, Gylfie's mum quickly asked, "Are you okay Gylfie? How are your wings? Is your gizzard feeling alright?"
"Yes mum." Gylfie answered. This was the fifth time her mum had asked her that this evening.
"Alright." Said Gylfie's da. "Let's begin the story. This is a true story, as it happened with the other Elf Owls living near us before you were born…"
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In another cactus down the desert, two owls were in a hollow watching a shaking egg. The egg hatched, and out came Rocmore and Erin's first owlet.
"Aww, isn't it adorable?" Erin pointed out. "It's a boy!"
"Yes it is dear." Rocmore gave his wife a hug. "Let's name him Nate."
"That's a nice name." Erin agreed, and then she poked a feather at Nate, "Hi Naaaate! You like your new name? Oh! I almost forgot! He's hungry! Rocmore! We forgot to get the worm! Get your tail feathers to the Smoke Tree and get a worm NOW!"
Rocmore, being the lazy Elf owl he was, complained. "But why dear? Why can't YOU go, and I watch Nate? I've got stories to tell him!"
His complaint was answered with a swift kick to his side, a really hard one, one that sent him flying out of the hollow and into the ground. Thankfully, not many animals wandered in this part of the desert, it was far too hot even though it was nighttime now.
Erin peeped her head out of the hollow. She gasped. Her kick only sent him that far out of the hollow? She'd better work on that. She waited for him to stop faking pain and to go get the worm. Nothing happened for a minute, and Nate was still crying.
"ROCMORE! GO! NOW!" Eric roared down from the hollow. But Rocmore couldn't hear her, he was unconscious and in a deep sleep. Erin sighed. Maybe she did kick a bit too hard, but he was always lazy and this was the last straw. She looked at Rocmore, then at the owlet, then back at Rocmore. She decided to put the owlet in front of Rocmore for her priorities, as it is always easier to carry an owl between your talons when you don't have an owlet screaming for food.
She lifted off from the hollow and flew as fast as she could to the Smoke Tree. It didn't take her long to find a worm as the full moon helped light her way to a fat worm struggling to crawl into a hole it had made for itself. Within another 5 minutes she had made it back to the hollow, and the owlet had now had its First Insect Ceremony. Now to get Rocmore, she thought. She looked down. Rocmore was still in the sand, unconscious. "I guess I'd better wake him up first," she told herself, "Or he may start sleep-singing."
She lighted down beside him, and gave him a small slap to his face. "How are you feeling Rocmore?" she cooed at him, trying to show she still loved him.
Rocmore opened and blinked his eyes. Erin noticed they were a bit glassy for some weird reason. She decided not to push it. "I, Rocmore am feeling perfect, wife Erin."
Haha, Rocmore knows how to make an owl laugh, Erin thought to herself. "Alright, let's get you back up to the hollow. Stand up." Erin instructed Rocmore. But instead of standing up, Rocmore started to dig with his talons deeper into the dry ground.
"Hey hey Rocmore! Stop digging and stand up!" Erin ordered, but Rocmore just dug faster. "Argh, here, give me your left wing." Rocmore uselessly started to flap his right wing and hopped on his right foot. Hmm, Erin thought. He does everything that's opposite to what I tell him, good thing he wasn't out in the moon that long…wait a minute…the moon! Could it be the moon that's causing malfunctions in his brain? Erin closed her eyes for a brief minute. Rocmore was still acting stupid. Sure enough, her gizzard stilled a bit, and she opened her eyes with a shock. Lesson learned, she thought. Don't sleep in the moonlight. Back to Rocmore. If he does everything the opposite, I should be able to fix this. She turned to Rocmore.
"Rocmore!" Erin called, "Stay the glaux AWAY from me!" She smiled. Rocmore should start coming to her. But instead he started flapping his wings, and he soared upwards, up to the top of a small cactus. He didn't go to Erin, but he was close to the hollow.
"Okay Rocmore! Fly AWAY from the hollow you see." Erin instructed. Rocmore spread his wings, but instead of flying upwards, he flew straight into the hard ground. Erin heard a loud CRACK as Rocmore crashed into the ground. Dead she thought. She flew over, and inspected his body as tears flowed out of her eyes. She said a few prayers and buried Rocmore. She left her crying owlet in the hollow and she started flying. Anywhere would be better than this stupid desert and its stupid full moonlight. She only stopped flying once to tell a passing owl why not to sleep in the full moonlight.
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"And that owl was me." Gylfie's da said proudly. "From that day on, I don't know where Erin went, and I don't know what happened to her owlet. But I do know why you cannot fall asleep while there's a moon out there Gylfie. Hopefully you can pass this information to all the future owls you'll meet, and tell them all about what I call moon blinking!"
Gylfie nodded and went to sleep in her moss blanket and bed as the sun slowly crept over the horizon.