A Guardian's Revenge

Hello again. I'm here again with another chapter and I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed reading it.

Disclaimer: I don't own Legend of the Guardians.

Chapter 4: Adina

As James turned to leave his new hollow to get something to eat; he saw a familiar looking barn owl leaning against the entrance. She was carrying a wooden bowl with some caterpillars and grubs within her talons and she was looking at James almost disbelieving and slightly surprised.

"What did you say to them? It's not every day a seagull is allowed to stay at the great tree," she asked suddenly.

"I told them something's," James replied not wanting to revel too much to this new barn owl.

She looked James over with a suspicious gaze and said "You sure don't say much,"

"I don't say much to strangers," James replied with a smug smile.

She let off an annoyed scoff. "Well I won't be a stranger for long, James,"

The look of surprise James gave her was enough to make her smile smugly herself.

"And how the hell do you know who I am?"

"His majesty was very specific with who I was taking care of," she said.

"He told you tha… wait, what do you mean 'taking care of'" James asked emphasising the last part.

"It means that I have been instructed to look after you whilst you're still recovering from your injuries," she said.

"Well I hate to break it to you but I really don't need a baby sitter," James said. He took a few steps towards the hollow entrance, as if to leave, but a piece of the floor that stuck out tripped him. He fell with a surprised yelp and hit the floor with a loud thud. He groaned when pain shot threw his injured wing. When he got his bearings he found his head at the base of her talons. She had moved from the entrance to the edge of the nest where James had fallen and still had that smug look on her face.

"Yeah, you clearly don't need a baby sitter," she said clear with sarcasm.

Scrambling to his feet, James brushed himself of with his good wing and tried to salvage some of his pride.

"That doesn't prove anything," he said quickly.

"It's proved enough to me," she simply said "Now sit down in the nest or I'll push you there myself,"

"I doubt you could push me miss," James said.

"Really?" she had a barely noticeable smile on her beak "I doubt it would be difficult seagull,"

With that she threw her one free talon under the joint between his good wing and the rest of his body and pinched down on the spot.

"What are you…" James froze instantly when she pinched down. His body grew stiff and he couldn't move. He felt the barn push him into the nest and then she released pressure on the spot and he was able to move again. He moved his limbs about, trying to shake of the stiff feeling and looked at the barn owl that had placed the bowl on the table.

"What the hell did you do to me?" he asked stunned.

"I used a little trick we use to deal with struggling patients," was her answer and James sighed loudly.

"Well you got me here so now what?" James asked with slight annoyance.

"I need to check a few things." Another simple answer.

"Such as…"

"Oh I don't know, maybe your injured wing for example," she said with a roll of her eyes.

"Ok, can we get this over with?" James asked not wanting to waste time stuck in a hollow.

"Certainly," she replied and began to check the bandaging around James' wing.

A few minutes passed by and whilst she was doing the various checks, they remained in silence. As more minutes passed the silence grew more awkward for the two of them. James tried to keep his attention on something other than the barn owl fiddling about with his wing, but the lack of interior and there being literal nothing interesting within sight he just watched her do her job.

As she was checking on how James' injured wing was healing, she couldn't help but feel him staring at her and decided to say something.

"You know it's not polite to stare," she said.

"Er, sorry," he said turning to look outside the hollow entrance. The barn owl could sense the awkwardness between them and thought it was best to break it.

"So, James, you never exactly told me why you're here,"

James was surprised at the sudden statement but sighed when he realised what she was indicating.

"Well I don't really want to share much besides it's a long story," he said. He turned to the barn and saw that she had stopped working on his wing and was now staring into his light blue eyes with her hazel ones.

"I've got time," she said, trying to get him to tell her what happened. As James continued to stare into her eyes he found himself unable to resist telling her. Something told him that he could trust her.

"Well, I going to put it in the shortest way I can," he said and she nodded in agreement.

"I lost everything in one night. I saw what hell was in one night. I was only a small chick from what I remember and I remember it to well. I remember seeing my mother dying in the burning chaos of smock and fire. She told me to come here. She said it would be safe," James stopped there. He thought that was enough story telling for one night. The barn owl only looked at him with a mixture of shock and sorrow.

"I'm sorry I asked," she said looking away felling somewhat guilty.

"Don't be. It's about time I share my story anyway."

Seeing James becoming more miserable, she decided to drop the topic and change the subject but couldn't think of any way how. But James did that for her.

"You know I never caught your name miss…" he said trailing on the last part to get her to tell him.

"Er, well it's Adiena," she replied.

"Adina, huh, that's a nice name," James said and caused her feathers to bluff up in a slight blush.

"Um, th-thank you." She could fell the awkwardness rise again. Her mood had just changed from being sour to being much lighter and she had no idea why. From what she had heard, seagulls weren't very nice creatures but to her this one before her seemed different somehow. She didn't know if the sad story of what he had been through was to blame or the fact that he was being nice to her.

"And what exactly do you do around her Adina?"

"Well I,er, I'm working with the infirmary. Well actually an apprentice at the infirmary. I'm still learning," she answered.

James took a very quick look up and down her. He noticed that she looked around mid teens, which he thought was a bit young to be working with sick and injured owls.

"How old are you Adina?" he asked to confirm his thoughts.

Adina looked slightly taken back by the sudden question but decided to answer it anyway.

"Well I'm fifteen years, why?"

"Well isn't that a bit young to be working with sick owls?"

"Well if you were listening I said I was learning, I still have at least two and a half years left before I'm actually allowed to work properly at the infirmary," Adina said sounding slightly annoyed at James' comment.

"I didn't mean that as an insult. I was just asking," James countered trying not to annoy her any more, he was just getting on her good side.

"Okay, I believe you James but don't make judgements like that,"

"Sorry, but I didn't say you were bad. I mean look at how well you bandaged me up, I didn't even notice it until it was pointed," he commented which caused her feathers to rise again slightly. This seagull was defiantly different to what the rumours told her. She didn't say anything after that she just finished up putting on a new bandage and checking to see if everything was fine, which it was, and then decided to pick up the conversation again.

"So what do you think of the great tree James?"

… No answer.

"Er, James?"

… Still no answer.

"Hello?"

"Huh, what?" James finally answered her. He hadn't been paying attention because he had gone back to looking her over whilst she started working on him again. He had noticed all her features including her sleek golden brown feathers that had tiny spots of dark brown scattered amongst them which covered her wings and her back. She had Black tail feathers that were as dark as the night sky and, like most barn owls; she had bright white feathers that seemed to glow in the small amount of moon light that crept in through the hollow entrance. James didn't know why but something kept his eyes glued to her.

He was brought back from his staring state when Adina had called out to him and he noticed that she was now looking at him in a confused way.

"What's wrong James," she asked after he had come out of his trance.

"Um, nothing, nothing's wrong," he replied hesitantly and let out a nervous chuckle when her confused look turned into a suspicious one.

"Okay, you seemed kind of zoned out there for second, are you sure nothing's wrong," she questioned him. James looked for some kind of excuse but found none. He then tried to find a way to change subject, which came when his stomach gave of a small growl. He chuckled lightly at the noise.

"Wow I completely forgot how Hungary I was, could you pass me that," James asked and pointed his good wing at the bowl of grubs on the table Adina had put it on. She glanced over to where James was pointing and then back at him. Her suspicious look still gazing at him, clearly she knew this was just him changing subject but decided to go along with it for now. She grabbed the bowl and passed it to him. He grabbed it with his talons and started to eat the content.

"Sorry if it's not what you seagulls usually eat but…" she was cut off by him holding out his wing to stop her.

"Don't be sorry, when I was in Tyto forest this was what I usually had,"

Adina looked at him with slight surprise but then remembered what he had told her. She figured that he must have gone somewhere after 'that night', as he called it, and Tyto forest must have been it.

"You really have been through a lot haven't you James?" she asked feeling somewhat sorry for the poor injured seagull before her. James stopped eating and looked dead into her hazel eyes. His gaze made it impossible for her to look away so she just stood there and waited to see what his answer was.

"I've been through hell and back mate, on many occasions actually. Some of those occasions have brought me much closer to the end than I would want. But this journey of mine is one hell I can't escape from. It's changed me and made me into something I never thought I would become. I told you I came here because I thought it was safe. But that wasn't actually the reason I came here for."

"Then why did you come here?" she managed to ask.

"I came here because it gets me closer to the one thing my journey started because of. And that thing is revenge on my family's killers," James said coldly and caused Adina to give a slight shudder. James noticed that she was getting scared and stopped. He didn't want her to be afraid of him. She had just brought him food and had re-done his bandages and he was scaring her in return.

"I'm sorry if I scare you," he said with remorse, "It's just the fact that hell changes birds. It turns them into monsters… It turned me into this monstrous killer that I have become."

Adina looked at James in shock. To think this young seagull was a killer just about stretched imagination. But the look in his eyes showed her how serious he was. She saw James look away from her, ashamed at what he had revelled, and she couldn't help but pity the seagull.

"James, you shouldn't be ashamed for what you say you are," she said only look get locked in James' stare once more.

"It's nice for you to say that, but kind words don't change the things I've done," he said with a small smile.

She was about to ask him to tell her more she noticed that she had done all she could on his wing. She decided that she would press the matter further later on. After all, she was his baby sitter.

"Well I've finished my checks and you're fine, I'll be back later. King Boron also told me to give you a little tour of our tree since you will be here for a while."

James nodded and said "Well it's been nice talking to you, Miss Adina, have a nice night." With that he turned his attention back to his stomach and began to eat the meal he had been given.

Adina turned to look at him once more when she reached the hollow entrance and looked James over one more time. In a matter of minutes she had changed her mind about the crippled seagull. From thinking that he would be nuisance to thinking that the king had made a good choice in making him stay. There was something about him but she couldn't put her talon on it. She quickly departed after and left James alone in his new hollow.

He watched her leave and sighed. He almost felt sad when she left but thought he was just thinking those strange thoughts you get when you're lonely. He was confused now. What was this new feeling he now suddenly felt?

Well there you go another chapter finally. I don't really have much to say so, please leave a review and feedback.

Till next time.

crafty-boy-FTW. :D