Chapter 9: New Life

(Tyler's P.O.V.)

I don't know what happened, but I soon felt like I was lying on the ground and as odd as it felt, I don't think I was wearing any clothes. The wind was blowing over me, and someone was running a feather up the middle of my stomach and up my chest. I felt tired, yet full of energy, and when I opened my eyes, I saw a stunning site; a lightly colored brown spotted owl with the moon outlining her head, Outillisa. I stared in disbelief, since she was standing above me, and she looked like she had almost cried recently, "Outillisa…?"

I don't know why, but she suddenly lifted me up gently and gave me a tight squeeze. I don't know how, but she wrapped her wings all the way around me. A few moments later, she released me and giggled. I looked down and gasped, "Outillisa am I really an owl?"

She looked me in the eye and said, "Yes, a spotted owl like me. You are lightly brown, with a stripe on your front, but with black spots on your back, and I must say," I saw her feathers start to stand up, "quite handsome."

I felt my feathers stand up, "T-thanks…" I opened my beak a few times, but each time I quickly closed it. I saw her feathers go back down as she looked away and smiled.

She suddenly turned back towards me and I saw a sly look flash in her eyes. She placed a feather on top of my white stripe and I could feel the sparks start flowing into my body, she quickly ran her finger up until she reached my chest. I could feel my feathers stand up, and then it clicked. My eyes went wide, "Outillisa! Don-" and then she started to rub and scratch me in that same area I had her, and I felt a chill run up my body that quickly spread into my feather tips, and I fell backwards.

I could hear her laughing uncontrollably, and then I spoke up, "So that's how it feels… and where are we and where's everyone else?"

"Uhh… umm… *cough*…" I looked at her as she stiffened; her feathers had instantly stood up upon realization. As I turned my head, I saw everyone else watching us closely, but what drew my attention were two large white owls flying towards me and Outillisa.

"Hey. Outillisa, watch this…" I whispered just as King Boron landed with Queen Baran next to him.

"Hello Outillisa, who is this visitor that you… dropped?" I heard King Boron chuckle afterwards.

"That is T-…" Outillisa started, but I soon cut her off.

"Bonjour Monsieur et Madame. Ça-va bien?" I smiled, because I knew they wouldn't have any idea what I had just said. I had greeted them in French, but I don't think owls had different languages around here.

I couldn't hold it back, but when I looked over at Outillisa, she was wide-eyed and her beak was slightly open; and I myself started laughing how she had not too long ago. I looked back at the King and Queen, and they were looking at each other.

"I'm just joking. I was speaking in another language I know. It is me… Tyler."

It looked like they had instantly relaxed upon hearing the regular language they knew, and they looked at me with smiles, but slightly scolding. King Boron spoke, "We enjoy a good laugh now and then, but please don't make a habit out of it." Queen Baran then continued, "And how did you come to be and Owl?"

"It is a long story," Outillisa said, "and with your permission, I request that I can train him in the ways of being an owl?"

(Outillisa's P.O.V.)

The King and Queen had granted me of my request and stated that I could start immediately. When we had started to walk away from the dining pavilion, I had to support him since I had done that thing to him earlier, but now he was walking next to me, albeit wobbly. I had been thinking of what I would teach him first, and I decided it would be best to teach him how to fly first. We had just started nearing a small clearing that was surrounded by roots all the way around a flat space.

As soon as we reached the edge of the flat area, I stopped and faced Tyler, "Okay, tonight, your first lesson will be flight, for you will not be able to get around anywhere if you can't fly. Now then, go ahead and face me." He turned to me, and I had to look to the side; I felt my feathers start to rise but managed to will them down.

"Now, go ahead and open your wings to your sides and I'll show you what you will be doi…" when I had looked back at him, all my thoughts were blown away and I just stared at him. I followed his stripe from where I could see it up to his chest and looked at his wings. The way the wind blew his feathers like a wave, his smile while he was looking into my eyes, and when I heard his voice, it sounded musical, "Ooooutillllisaaa, hhellloooo?" I faintly paid attention to what he was saying but then I saw his wings push down wards, and I felt a cold gust blow into my feathers… cold air…

I gasped and shivered, my feathers where standing up so much that the wind had reached my skin, I glared at Tyler and he just smiled back at me. "Are you ok now?" he asked.

I huffed, and replied, "Yes, so do you want to learn how to fly or not." He nodded. "Ok, so when you open your wings, you will want to spread your primaries apart and close your wings as much as you can while keeping them spread wide. Watch how I fly and try to mimic me as best as you can."

I opened my wings, and pushed down and angled myself forward as best as I could and did dramatically slow wing beats to show him how he should spread his wings, I did two loops around the small area and landed closely to him and said, "ok, now you go ahead and give it a try."

As he spread his wings, he lifted himself off the ground extremely well, but he was a bit wobbly in the air. I saw him circle two times and heard him mutter to himself, "ok, now to try and land…" and I saw him angle towards me. When he reached 3 of his wingspans from me, he rolled his wings back and forcefully flapped his wings, but he angled his primaries the wrong way and he started to speed up… "Uh oh." Was all I could hear him say before I felt a painful yet soft crash.

I don't know how many times we rolled, but I soon felt feeling return into my talons, then slowly go up my body until it reached my face, and that's when my vision started to clear up, and I felt my wings wrapped around a feathery mass, and when I my eyes started to focus, I could see mine and Tyler's face were extremely close, and I felt like my beak was pressing into his, and when I looked down, I could see we were kissing. I felt my feathers ruffle up and saw him open his eyes, and he suddenly jumped half-flew backwards and hit the ground with an audible thud. We both got up and I just stared at him.

He quickly turned his back to me and I heard him say, "hmmm…. I-I-I'm sorry-y-y. C-can you forgive m-m-me?" his voice sounded nervous and shameful. I couldn't say anything, and when he glanced over his shoulder, I could see the guilt in his eyes and managed to say, "g-good job on y-you're… flying. You just need to learn how to land… Come on, we need to wash up, we are covered in dirt…"

My feathers would not go down, and even after we had been walking for a while, I still felt my Feathers standing on end. We had reached a shallow spot that the sea's waves wouldn't disturb unless on the roughest days. There were separate pockets where owls could wash themselves in privacy, but no one except me knew about it.

Without turning around, I said, "Ok, we are here. Go ahead and wash the dirt out of your feathers." And then I started to walk down into a fairly large pond like area, it was my favorite since it was deep enough for me to be comfortable, and the sun would usually warm the water up during the day. I slowly walked into it and when I reached the center, I lowered myself into the water and lowered my top area into the water so I could get the dirt out of my chest feathers. I stretched my wings out so to soak all my wing feathers.

When I felt I had soaked enough, I stood back up and lowered my head and started to preen my chest feathers, and out. I had always admired my feathers when I could get them to shine, or even appear glossy at times… was that a wave? I slowly turned around, and my feathers would have stood up, but I was soaked. "Uhh, how do you preen with a beak an-" Tyler had started, but before he could finish, I made a strangled gasp/scream and I wrapped one wing around my body and used the other to block his vision. Quickly…

"Sorry, but I should h-have told you t-t-this before. Bathing is also like preening, but only mates will bathe with each other T-Tyler…"

Since he didn't wet his body yet, his feathers stood erect, and I think I even caught a glimpse of skin under his feathers. "ooo…." He quickly turned around, but before he walked away, he asked, "Before I go, could you…show me how to… uh… preen my feathers?"

I had to think about it, I did like him, but did I like him enough to show him. I guess I should show him since everyone is probably getting ready to sleep, he wouldn't be able to find someone willing to help. "Go ahead and turn around, but don't stare at me. Ok?"

He nodded, and slowly turned around, but as soon as he saw me, he was a staring at me… "TYLER! PLEASE!" he chuckled and looked to the side.

"Ok, so go ahead and wet your feathers until you can feel it on your skin." He did as I instructed, "ok now, come here…" he glanced at me with a confused gaze, but slowly made his way over to me.

I leaned over and slowly ran my beak through his feathers and I felt him shiver, I slowly worked my way away from the center of his chest and when I finished with his chest, I looked at his feathers and nodded with a smile. "That is how you preen. Now if you don't mind, I'm going to finish myself."

As I turned around, I heard him making noises as he preened himself… then he yelped rather loudly. I turned around and saw he had messily, but effectively cleaned his right wing, but he had pulled out a primary from his left wing and was holding it in his beak, I chuckled and turned back to cleaning my wing. I heard him still moving, but not quite as fast, and then I think he started to do his back. I was just starting on my other wing when I heard him say, "Finished."

"Okay, well just wait for me to finish and we can leave." I told him. I was almost done with my wing, and I would soon start on my back. When I felt something run through the top of my back feathers, I stiffened and asked, "What are you doing Tyler?"

"I'm getting your back. Consider it my thanks for teaching me how to preen, and fly." He said after he removed his beak, but as soon as I heard him stop speaking, he started to continue his preening. I felt a shiver run through my back, or was it just the sparks? I could see green light coming from behind me on the reflection in the water. And I felt a small, but noticeable ache in my heart. It was relaxing, but it felt weird to have someone preening my back for me.

A few minutes later, he stopped, and I slightly felt a feeling of regret swamp my body and I heard him say, "Whew… now I am not only clean, but tired. What about you Outillisa?"

I nodded and said, "I agree. Well I guess I should be heading back to my hallow before first light…"

"OK, but do you know where I should go then?" he said.

I hadn't really thought about it until just now, but he didn't have a hallow yet, and the King and Queen were bound to be asleep already. I considered it, and it would be rude if I didn't help him, or he could be mobbed by crows while he tried to sleep, "why don't you come with me, you can sleep in my hallow for the day."

I then started to fly with Tyler following me from behind, and when we had spiraled up the tree halfway, I landed in a hollow located on the end of one of the top branches and quickly moved in it so Tyler could land. When I turned around, I saw him land with so much grace; it seemed like he had always known how to fly.

"OK, go ahead and choose anywhere you want to sleep. I can show you how to make a nest tomorrow night." I sleepily told him.

"Thank you Outillisa."

As I walked over to my nest, I lowered myself into it and was quickly dozing off, aware that Tyler was as well.

I was sleeping well when a cold breeze swirled into my hallow and awoke me from my pleasant dreams, I shivered, and looked outside and from what I could see, it was windy outside. Another gust of cold air whipped through my feathers, and I knew if I didn't find anything warm soon, I wasn't going to go back to sleep today. As I scanned my hollow, I spotted Tyler sleeping near the entrance, and a thought went through my head that had me mentally debating on if I should do it or risk being awake the whole day. I finally decided to just ask him.

I got out of my nest, and surprisingly, it hadn't warmed up at all, which meant I had been cold the entire day so far. As I approached Tyler, I could see his chest rise and fall rthymatically, and felt bad for what I was about to do. I nudged him with my wing and when he just grunted, I did it again but harder. When he opened his eyes and looked at me, he smiled sleepily and asked, "And how may I help you Outillisa?"

I looked to the side and asked, "Could you come sleep with me in my nest, I'm cold… again?"

He just looked at me, and said, "Sure, it's no problem."

After he got up, we both walked over to my nest, and I estimated it would be a small, but doable fit. As I got in, he gently got in himself and lowered himself down and wrapped his wings around me. I was instantly engulfed in his warmth, and started to feel drowsy, "Tyler?"

He looked at me and said, "Yes?"

I wrapped my own wings around his feathery body and brought my face close to his and said, "Thank you for everything you have done. When I first saw you, I thought you were just going to be a problem for every owl at this tree, but I'm glad that I was wrong for once."

"Your welco-" he was cut off almost instantly. I had moved closer and kissed him full on the beak, and this time it was on purpose we kissed.

"I forgive you from earlier, now let's go to sle-" I felt myself falling asleep before I finished, and I snuggled closer into Tyler's warm body.

Before I completely fell asleep, I heard him chuckle and felt him tighten his wings around me…

A.N.: how was it, did you guys like it, love it, adore it? This is my longest chapter again at a whopping 3,100 words. If you haven't guessed yet, I will soon be making Those two a couple, I had originally planned to put them bathing together in a later chapter, and him to only learn how to fly in this chapter, but you tell me what you thought. Should I have let those be two different chapters, or do you like it the way it is. I've been staring at this screen so long, my neck hurts… in the wrong area, and I have been laying in this one position so long, I'm in pain from my leg, but it was worth it. I got a few chuckles from this chapter myself. I won't be writing about those two getting… Intimate … any time soon. Also, I had the dream for this story at the last chapter, so I will try not to get that deadly disease known as –readers Block-. Alas, time for me to reply to my reviewers that have accounts.

Airman0007: How was that for a new chapter, this would have been the first chapter of a new story if you hadn't left such an AWESOME review. And just for the record so everyone else can see, I give YOU full permission to create any type of sequel to my story, just don't make Tyler a jackass.

Tic234stars: I know you can't wait and I know you love it XD. Hopefully you chew slowly through my next few chapters, that way you can enjoy it better. Like tasting your food while you eat, but instead it's a story.

Read and review, I left the filter off so those without accounts can review, but I will only reply to those with accounts if you review multiple times, or I will forget your name.

P.S. in the 'M' area of the rio movie, look for Life After the jump… I got a few ideas from his story. But that bathe and preening thing was entirely by accident. lol