Infiltration: Part One
A/N Hello everyone again! This is Aru reporting that he's almost finished with his Third Extra's of Ga'Hoole fanfic! Hooray, let's all dance and share biscuits! Anyways, this fanfic is about the life of Hortense to her infiltration into St. Aggie's and finally to her meeting with Soren and Gylfie.
If you want to look up the Hortense bits go to Page 121-123 of Book One: The Capture
I found this fanfic was really hard to make since Hortense gives but a few paragraphs of how she grew up. I hope you all enjoy this fanfic better than the last one, which got un-satisfactory reviews. Also, since I think this is a really important "Extra" of Ga'Hoole. I'm splitting this One-Shot into a Two-Shot special!
PS: Just so all you legal people know, I own the Guardian's of Ga'Hoole series as much as I own West Jet. D Let the fanfic begin! Also, the name Cedric will be mentioned, so I don't own Harry Potter either :)
It was a dark night. The crescent moon hung high in the bright night sky and shone across the Forest Kingdom of Ambala. In the hollow of an ancient Fir Tree, a female Spotted Owl was ushering her owlet out for his First Flight.
"Come on Nacar, you can do it! Flap your wings down hard to take off, then instincts will kick in and you'll soar in the light of the moon!" The Spotted Owl gave her son a small push and he was off!
"Mum! Mum! Look at me! I'm flying!" The young owlet squealed.
Inside the hollow, another Spotted Owl could be found staring in awe as she watched her little brother do loops and sharp turns. She wilfed, as she always did at least once every other day. She lifted up her own wing and sighed when she saw that she was still full of down and the primary feathers were just starting to poke up from the skin. She was over a month and a half old and was a fortnight older than her sibling Nacar, and she still wasn't fully fledged!
Nacar was still flying high in the sky when he saw a baby vole on the soft grass below the hollow. I'm going to show Mum I can hunt, he thought. He dove sharply and extended his talons. He pulled up at the last moment and sliced the vole. It lay on the ground, blood staining the grass. He picked up the vole up brought it back to his mum in the hollow. She beamed when she saw her son come back with a vole. He had just started flying a couple of days ago as well!
"Good job Nacar!" She patted his head. "Here, give it your sister for a present, seeing as she can't fly yet."
The female owlet in the hollow wilfed even more when she saw her little brother approaching her with a dead vole in his beak. She couldn't help but envy him for learning how to hunt so fast.
"Hortense! Hortense! Look what I brought you! Do you think I did a good job of killing it? Do you? Do you?" Nacar exclaimed.
"Of course I do Nacar. I'm nothing but proud of you little brother." Hortense returned to her normal size and preened Nacar. Nacar beamed with pride and snuggled up close to Hortense.
"How I wish I could fly…" Hortense whispered so quietly not even Nacar could hear her.
A few months later…
"Yes! The day has arrived! Look out world, Hortense has fully fledged!" Hortense danced around the hollow, showing off her feathers to her da. "Though they are quite rickety-shaped…"
"Hortense…" Her da warned, "I don't think you should be flying just yet."
"Nonsense! I feel perfectly well Da!" Hortense hopped over to the edge of the hollow. "Give me a push Nacar!"
"Sure." Nacar responded up higher in the hollow. Nacar was glad this day had finally come. Now his sister could share the joy of flight with him! He glided down to her and gave her a small push. Hortense fell over and plummeted straight down. She beat her wings furiously and managed to break into a hover above the ground, moments from a crash. Why couldn't she fly properly? She had seen Nacar do it a million times and she had what her da called 'belief', but she just called it willpower. By the time she had returned to the hollow, she was tired beyond 'belief'.
"Hortense! Come here!" Her mum called, and she began to preen her. "Hmm…I see your flight feathers have grown in at an odd angle. I'm afraid you'll only be able to fly short distances since you'll be so tired out from flapping your weak wings. Sorry Hortense." Her mum shook a sad face to Hortense.
Hortense was about to go yeep, but she managed to quaver, "B-but, this i-is only t-t-temporary right m-mum?"
"Sorry dearest, but this flight feather arrangement is for life. They'll always grow out like this even if you molt them."
Hortense went to her moss bed bawling her eyes. She would never be able to fly like a normal owl, even if she had the 'belief'.
Four years later, Nacar and Hortense's parents have past away. Just recently, Nacar has flown away to live with his new mate…
Hortense was living with a family of Short Eared Owls for a couple of weeks. They had heard her story of how her feathers had grown at an odd angle and why she couldn't hunt properly without totally exhausting herself first. She ate peacefully with them each night, thanking them deeply each time they brought her a dead vole or squirrel, but inside, she hated herself for having to always rely on other owls to help serve their needs, and she wouldn't be able to repay them in anyway, except maybe preen them. Today the owls feasted on a gigantic fat vole that the female Short Eared Owl Nirma had killed.
"My, this vole that you killed is wonderfully delicious Nirma!" Hortense was in one of her better moods, and she gratefully thanked Nirma.
"Oh don't thank me. It was Cedric who spotted the vole hidden underneath a tree root." Nirma snuggled up next to her mate, but he didn't smile back.
"There's been news, Hortense." He said gravely, "Owl eggs and owlets are being snatched right in the open night." Hortense was appalled.
"No!" she gasped, "What kind of wretched bird would commit such an act? Perhaps a bunch of crows? It wouldn't be some bald eagles, that's for sure. I know a pair of them who live near here."
"Actually…" Nirma had picked up the grave tone, "An Sooty Owl that we met while hunting told us it was a group of evil owls who run a place called St. Aegolius Academy for Orphaned Owls; St. Aggie's for short. Inaccurately named for an academy for kidnapped owls!" Nirma was angry, as she had begun to puff up, making her look twice as large. "I outta teach those owls a lesson in how to care for your own owlets!"
Nirma stood up and flew over to the nest, where the eggs were. "Don't they look adorable?" She asked softly. "It's such a shame that one of them will be gone tomorrow."
Hortense's ears pricked up. "What? Your egg shall be gone tomorrow? But why? They all look in perfect condition!"
"You see, Hortense." Cedric began to explain their plan, "Nirma and I, and the rest of the Forest Council want to get to the bottom of these dirty deeds of St. Aggie's, but we don't know where they're keeping all the snatched owlets." Hortense nodded. "So we've decided to let one of our eggs go. Tomorrow, I will take an egg and place it near the ground. I'll stand guard to make sure only two identical owls come to pick it up. We learned that these two owls are twins and are high-ranked within the academy."
Hortense felt immediate sorrow as she heard their plan to give up one of their eggs. Something twinged within her gizzard, and she knew what to do. She spoke. "I'll get your egg back! I promise!"
"But how Hortense? How will you get into St. Aggie's after the egg is in there?" Nirma asked.
"All my life, I've been depending on other owls. At first, it was just my parents, which was just fine. Then my brother Nacar had to support me, even though he had met another owl he had wanted to mate. Then one day, I met you two, and you are the most sweet, kind loving owls anyone could be acquainted with, friends in my case. But, I'm also sick of always having to rely on other owls! I want to make something of my life! Not just saying the usual "Thank you dear.", or "You're so kind!" and so on. Please, let me do this! It's not just my head that's telling me this; it's my gizzard as well!" Hortense finished her speech, and Nirma and Cedric were speechless.
Cedric looked into the eyes of Hortense and saw nothing but the courage he wished he had. He himself wanted to infiltrate St. Aggie's, but he was too scared he'd never make it in. It was said St. Aggie's had deadly weapons called 'battle claws'. He saw the fire in Hortense he wished he had. He looked at Nirma at the nest, who gave him a silent nod. Cedric stood up.
"Alright Hortense. I understand completely how you feel. I only wish I had the same courage as you. I'll take you to the council. Just remember this. My next owlet, be it female or male, shall be named Hortense in your honor." Cedric gave a wide smile to Hortense, who returned the gesture.
They flew a few trees down the forest, Cedric offered to stop several times for Hortense to rest, but all Hortense would say was, "No more relying. I need to take control."
They arrived at the council, where a guard hovered outside.
"State your business." He opened sternly.
Hortense flew forward and proudly said, "I have the plan to free many owl eggs from St. Aggies."
Cedric gaped. Hortense had volunteered to only retrieve his egg, and now she was telling she would retrieve other eggs as well! Could she have other plans as well?
"Please proceed." The guard flew aside for them to pass.
The Council was made up of three elderly owls, full wisdom and good judgment. The owls smiled as they saw the stunted Hortense fly in. She didn't give them a chance to say anything.
"I wish to infiltrate St. Aegolius Academy for Orphaned Owls and to free as many owl eggs as I can." She lighted down on a branch in front of the Council branches and perched proud. The Council saw that she was dead serious.