Chapter Three: Alone
Griffin stood upright; wings stiff and cold, wrapped tightly around his furry body, claws locked onto the branch of an old oak tree. He ceased to move, speak or blink. If one didn't look closely at him, he could pass for being dead.
He grit his teeth, chest heaving with heavy breaths, breathing in the cold, crisp, but stale winter air, letting it fill his lungs with chills and shivers. He might actually die if he didn't breathe. But what's the matter, anyway? Is that even such a problem?
Some time ago, the only friend Griffin had was Luna, and then after she was gone, Marina became a more careful mother, always constantly making sure he was okay; staying out of trouble. The attention had been a little annoying, but now he wished to have that attention more than ever. Marina wouldn't even speak to him anymore now. It was like he wasn't even there.
Maybe he had made the wrong first decision. He had decided never speak of his father's death or anything even slightly related to him, because he thought that might just hurt Marina, but the more he talked about things having nothing to do with Shade, the more cold and distant she grew. Now she could barely be called a mother. The only thing she would say to him now was 'good night' even though he slept in the day time. Griffin started to get the impression Marina was slowly falling prey to her dark emotions, digging herself deeper and deeper into a pit that would never end.
The crows cried mournfully above him and the harsh wind whistled sharply, making his teeth chatter. Griffin's blank, dead eyes watched the soft rolling hills in the valley that were covered in snow, as a flock of geese flew across the gray skies. He should go inside and warm himself. But he was stubborn. It's not like Marina even cares anymore. If he went in now, fur caked in snow, nose runny, eyes teary and wings stiff with ice, she would just shake her head wait until the snow melted from his fur, the whole time never even meeting his eyes. If she really cared for him she would come out of their roost and tell him to get out of the cold. And if she didn't, he would know what to do. Griffin would freeze himself to death. Maybe she was better without him.
As silent as a whisper, a young owl settled beside him, watching him with wide, fascinated golden eyes. Griffin tensed a bit because even though she wasn't that large, she was still much taller than him. She was a beautiful owl, completely snow white except for some a small sprinkling of black speckles on her breast feathers. There was snow and ice caked in her feathers, but she didn't appear the slightest bit cold. The owl hooted softly and wrapped a warm wing around him. Griffin jumped with surprise.
"Aren't you cold?" She asked quietly, confused.
"Oh. Yeah, I'm freezing, actually," Griffin mumbled.
"Then why did you get so scared when I wrapped my wing around you?"
Griffin blushed, red with embarrassment, but not for the reason you'd expect.
"Well, the war against owls and bats weren't too long ago, so I sort of forgot that, well, you know…"
The owl couldn't smile because of her beak, but her eyes warmed a bit.
"Well, the war is over and peace is restored, so we are equal, we can be friends now!" She said happily.
"Yeah…But, hey, how come you're alone too? Don't you have parents or friends or something?"
The owl jolted in fear, her feathers suddenly sucked in, sticking close to her body, and she appeared to have shrunk much smaller than she was before. She was almost as small as Griffin was and it frightened him, just the same.
"It's the Humans. They've discovered something. The forest I once lived in is now overrun by their flying machines and other machines of destruction. Several moons ago they were digging a huge hole in the center of the woods and now it looks like they found what they are looking for. They're destroying the entire forest, just to obtain this object that they deem is so important! What could they possibly have found that would make it necessary to burn down everything…?"
Griffin sighed and shook his head, glaring at the ground, his claws digging into the bark.
"It doesn't have to be important. When you are a Human, you believe you are so superior, so powerful compared to everything else, that you do ridiculous things for no real reason. My father told me about this when he was still alive. Shade told me all about how the Humans tortured hundreds of bats, capturing them in some artificial forest and then attaching bombs on their bodies by sewing them onto their bellies, so when they landed onto ground they would explode. But what can we do? We are nothing in their eyes. We are not as strong as they are and we don't have the ability to create the machines that they make to destroy us. We can only go along with what life brings us,"
She looked at him with disbelief, squinting her large golden eyes at him like he was crazy.
"So you are…fine with it…? You're…okay with what they are doing to us…? Do you even have the slightest voice of your own within you that tells you something is horribly wrong? Why can't you see that we can't keep living with these Humans always using us, always killing us to their advantage?"
"I know that it is horribly wrong but what can we do…? If they torture us more than what do we do, attack them with brutal strength…? They'll just spray one of those sweet poisonous gas tanks my Dad told me about and we'll all get knocked out one by one. They have dangerous weapons and not all of them have to harm us physically on the outside, like knives or bullets to kill us. If they fed us poisoned bugs or small animals we would die just the same. Face it, no matter what we will always be outnumbered by either how many of us against how many of them, and by brains. Clearly, they know more than we do,"
She stood their silent, but her anger didn't go down one bit.
"So that is supposed to reassure us, encourage us…? Knowing that if they ever decide to harm us there is absolutely nothing in the entire world that can help us, that there is absolutely nothing we can possibly do to save ourselves…? It's all over and there is absolutely no hope anymore… Are you seriously giving up on life…?"
Her round gold eyes bore into his and Griffin started to get a bit creeped out.
"Well, enough about that. Can you at least come with me and let me show you what they found? You'll probably know more about it than I will and who knows? Maybe it can help us in some way,"
"I don't know. Marina might end up searching for me and then-
"Who's Marina? Your mate-
"No!" If Griffin's dark fur didn't cover his face, she might have seen his face turn bright purple from a mixture of embarrassment and frustration. "...she's my, well,"
"Parent or guardian, right?"
"Something like that…" Griffin muttered.
He wouldn't call Marina his Mom anymore. She would never talk to him and she didn't even seem to care that he returned to her. She was always staring out into the distance, just silent and unblinking. She lost her title as Mom. Who knows? Maybe Griffin might not roost with her anymore if she was always going to be acting like his existence never meant much. She seemed so happy when he first arrived back home, but that was just because she was anxious to see someone return. Now it was like she didn't even care.
"Alright, I'll come with you. I am a bit curious, when I think about it,"
She brightened up, swelling back to her normal size, eyes shining.
"Great! Follow me; we have a long way to go!"
With no effort at all, she took off, so silent it was unnerving, as Griffin flapped noisily behind her, because although his wings were long, it was rather difficult for him to maneuver them. He suddenly envied her feather covered wings, they looked so much lighter, easier to fly with and she could also hide herself perfectly against the snow. That would certainly be a useful trick for him, especially for hiding from predators in the winter like wolves, wild cats and some of those bears that would wake up in the middle of their hibernation because they didn't stuff themselves enough.
Griffin's stomach grumbled, complaining about how he had never eaten since last night but he kept it in. He was curious.
What could the Humans have found?
Would it help or would it destroy?
There was something deep within him, something deep inside that pleaded oh, so hard that the object could be the answer.
Maybe Marina could smile again.
Maybe he could bring his father back.
Maybe he could save Lun-
"Hey, my name's Luna, by the way," She called behind her back.
Griffin froze and suddenly began plummeting towards the ground, hundreds of feet in the air, until he finally regained his balance, trying to spread his wings evenly, trying his best to fly smoothly.
Seriously.
Ever since the owl came, there was no end to the surprises.
Hey, guys. I really didn't think this chapter was that good, it kind of went a bit off the topic and it didn't really help move on the plot, so this is the rewrite. Oh, and by the way, I think I'm gonna hit a writer's block really soon, so it would be a huge help if I had some more feedback about my work so far, any ideas, or suggestions. Thanks! :)))