The sound of resonating notes echoed throughout the forest this morning. They were carried gently throughout the leaves. It was quite a familiar sound, one that brought Nix a noticeable sense of calm, even in times such as these. I remember watching him as a newborn hatchling stare with wide eyes at the long wooden poles as the breeze knocked them about. This wind chime had been in our family longer than can be remembered, a statement of tradition and beauty as it hung outside the low hollow where we stood.

"I would have rather been left to fall to my death." Nix spoke in a tone that I'd never heard from him.

"What did you just-?" The words disintegrated in my mind. "Nix, don't ever speak like that. I ought to bend your beak."

Despite my harsh stare, Nix kept his gaze out and away. He seemed to be staring intently at nothing - his brow locked in a frown over half opened eyes.

"No more will I go there."

I attempted to exhale the stress away but only to run out of breath. "If Radley didn't react as quickly as he did, you would have been killed." A noticeable twitch came from Nix's face, a ripple of small feathery features.

"I don't think you understand what death really means for you…for those who love you."

The muscles in Nix's small legs flexed as he dug his talons into the tree. Whether or not he truly understood, I'm uncertain.

We retreated inside. The sun's rays were dancing through the leaves in this unfavorable hollow, though sleeping came easily for Nix as it always seemed to. My eyes remained open, refraining from the harsh brightness outside.

What the community must have thought of Nix. Even Radley, one who hardly ever raised his brow, seemed completely taken aback from Nix's blind leap of faith. After the commotion settled, Radley resumed his tired composure while stating that "an owl's brain matures with his feathers."

Radley's connection to our family was very distant, despite him being directly related. Though, telling this to Nix would surely spark more confusion into an already confusing family situation. Our parents were also very distant at this time; always off on community service runs and patrols on local traveling lines. Sid, our older brother, was a member of an unofficial and rather troublesome fire control team. He obsessed over it as a means to keep away. Seems rather silly…all this.

I, well, I look after Nix most of the time. As I watched him sleep, I couldn't help but feel motherly in my position. While most of my friends had gone off and made nests of their own, I felt satisfaction in my responsibility. If Nix had fallen on that night, my heart would have died with him. In this thought, a glaze covered my eyes and a shutter ran through my body. I rested my head briefly against his to remind me of the hope that still existed for him, just as he still existed for me.

A pygmy and two grass owls were exploring the forest floor as they conversed. The young pygmy owl, Paddock, skipped along trying to keep up with Nix and Mabli's longer strides.

"I don't understand why it's still such a big topic. I mean, a week ago now?" Nix spoke as he gathered small sticks with his talons.

"C'mon, Nix" Mabli stopped to wait for Paddock to catch up. "You performed a nose dive off the council tree…in front of everyone. I think it was pretty brave."

"Brave, ha!" Paddock stopped to catch his breath before moving on again, "You did exactly what they tell young owlets not to do. That wasn't brave, it was senseless."

Mabli, in her sly fashion, extended a foot before Paddock's path causing him to stumble to the ground. "I'm not sure you even know what that word means." A smirk stretched across her beak.

Behind his grumbles, Paddock stood and brushed himself off. "Of course I do; sense and less. You have less sense, thank you very much."

"Sure, sure. Though remember this, Nix, sense and ability are two different things." With a flick of her wings, Mabli lifted into the air to hover above the others briefly with a few more powerful flaps. The winds she produced almost knocked Paddock over once more, but Nix gazed in amazement at her new skill.

"Who taught you this?" Nix dropped the sticks he was carrying as Mabli touched back down.

"Gail, the spotted council member. She challenged me to hover for as long as I can while staying in one place, which isn't as easy as it looks. Makes for a good hourly exercise, I say."

Mabli's wings and feathers were well developed. Though she was slightly younger than Nix, she looked more owl than owlet with dark feathers framing her golden face. In comparison, Nix's adult colors were well in place. But even so, there was still a frailty to those used for flight.

"An exercise I surely could use." Nix glanced under his own wing, trying to shrug off his disappointment. He carelessly began leaning the collected sticks against a tree, not quite like his brother showed him for building a fort.

"I'll go get some suitable foliage." Paddock hopped away.

Almost expectedly, the sticks collapsed before Nix. He rounded them up and started again, though no less carelessly. They collapsed once more.

Mabli broke from her quiet observation, "Is everything right by you?"

"Right?" Nix chuckled sarcastically, "Not by me, no." Again, he began stacking.

"What say I help? You won't get these up right with haste about you."

Nix shook his head, "Mabli, I got it." A gentle touch of his wing collapsed the structure, once again.

"For Glaux's sake!" Nix shoved the sticks away with enough strength to snap a few.

A gasp was heard from Paddock across the way, "Nix!" he appeared through the foliage, "You know what happens to owlets who take the name of Glaux in vein, what are you thinking?"

"Give it a rest," Mabli shook her head, "I don't think Nix really cares. C'mon, let's find some better sticks."

"He ought to care," Paddock moved in close as if to tell a secret, "you'll get snatched up and carried off by those evil black eagles to.."

"Anywhere's better than here," Nix leaned himself against the tree, tending to a small scrape on his talon. "All I have to do now is curse and get snatched by mythical story-birds, eh? Sure sounds more possible than flying myself out."

Mabli poked Nix in the side, "I think you just need to try again. Don't be judging your abilities after only one go."

Nix momentarily looked up at Mabli. She certainly was maturing, but it was her newfound confidence in him that stood out. "Perhaps you're right. But whenever I'm up high, my sister or another adult is watching over me. I don't think continuing to dive off of trees would work well for me, seeing as half the forest already believes I'm a reckless freak who shouldn't leave the nest."

"Well I don't see why they wouldn't. Just saying." Paddock lowered himself for the inevitable lashing from Mabli.

"Shut your beak! Nix just needs some help, perhaps a more controlled environment and a little less of owls like you."

"What'd you have in mind?" Nix leaned in, intrigued.