a candlelit retreat

[vae]

Puffins, albeit not the brightest creatures, were enormously kind. He actually knew a few of them by name and visited them often, not that they ever remembered him past "That owl who comes down here, right?". Even though puffins could be infuriatingly slow, he enjoyed them. They were the kind of birds who could, if nothing else, survive. The way they could dive off cliffs into freezing, churning waters and return with a beak-full of fish was almost like a dance. Perfectly routine, well choreographed, executed with allure and agility. That is, until they start talking.

The crash of the ocean waters far below his ice-cave was perfect white noise to read by. His humble yet spacious hollow was filled with things he had set up long ago. Beds filled with soft lichen collected recently stood, empty, near the back of the cave where it was dim enough for an owl to sleep all day. Various supplies lay scattered in an organized matter around the hollow. This was one of him many designated pilgrimage spots. It was located so that he could easily see any owls flying injured and sick nearby within a half-circle radius of a few hundred leagues.

A small candle, which was undoubtedly very bright when you weren't sitting right next to it, illuminated an old but sturdy book. This book, one Paxius had not finished yet, was not his usual hard fact books. It wasn't exactly fiction, not exactly historical, it was something he called lore. A book about legends from the Southern Kingdoms. By the fourth chapter, he could not believe some of the things going on in the South. A furious group called St. Aggies stealing owlets! It was barbaric.

I wonder, he thought to himself, Just what it is that they are after? The book was proving vague, the author undisclosed. He was curious to see how many secrets would be revealed by the time he finished. Outside the wind howled, not exactly merciful yet not unforgiving. It was just powerful enough to ensure a struggle during flight.

[Cam]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,0,true][atrb=width,400,true] He'd been fighting the whole way here; every wingbeat a pained struggle between his own physical ability and his willpower. His flight was awkward, drifting to one side, and he would constantly have to adjust his angle into the wind. The swirling invisible currents kept knocking him askew. A closer look would reveal why; shredded wingfeathers, probably from a crow attack. The stroke of his wings put pressure on the damaged feathers; he was even missing a few, and it was through sheer luck that Loki had not yet been knocked from the sky and drowned in the water below. Even as the wind knocked one more feather loose from his wing, he adapted; changed his angle once more, flapped a little harder with the off-side wing. Anything, anything, anything to keep himself from the prolonged, suffering death that was drowning. Loki panned around jerkily; although he didn't know where he was precisely he knew he was north, and that was the important part. The owls here were different, more accepting - at this point he'd even accept the aid of a puffin, although he would berate himself afterwards for such a shameful action. He didn't really have a choice, though; it's not like he could stop at the Tree of Ga'hoole. Loki was a known Pure One, orange-tinged face nonwithstanding. He'd be shredded on the spot. But then-- there was a clff suddenly, and when he looked closer there was- was that a hollow? Not that it mattered, it was now. Loki adjusted his angle the best he could and with a few mighty flaps he propelled himself towards the cave - and then there was an unexepected gust of wind, and he was fighting to fly straight. He gave one final desperate push towards the mouth of the ice-cave and managed to get himself inside. It was by no means a graceful landing, it was more a sliding-crash stop; but it got him into the shelter of the cave, where he laid, dazed and trying to figure out where he was.

[Ayama]

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[bg=80c4bd] A ghost white owl flew through the icy and cold landscape of the Northern Kingdoms. She had been flying for almost a whole day now and she had crashed into how many trees? One couldn't even count. She flew almost sideways as her tail shaft was nearly broken after hitting a few trees backwards. Her wings were still bleeding, a little bit, but still bleeding after she had flown through what was called, the shredders. Someone might say that she was very weak for not being able to handle something small like crashing into trees the way she did and she would agree. She wasn't a warrior so her body was fragile and she could easily break bones. What I'd give to be at the Great Ga'Hoole Tree right now she thought as she unsteadily flew by and ice cave. Wait a minute, what am I doing? I could rest there and start flying later she thought and attempted to make a U-turn but instead she just crashed into the wall of the cave. Artemis sighed and got up with a lot of pain. "Uh...." A sound came out of her beak full of her pain but she wasn't one to complain. She walked through the wide mouth of the cave and saw a barn owl and another owl who she didn't seem to know the species of sitting inside. She fell backwards with surprise. Quickly, she picked herself up and walked in. "M-May I join you?" she asked, her voice quivering as the pain she had felt less than a minute ago rushed through her again. She only now realized that her face had a few scratches on it and the pain rushed through her like blood pumping through someone's body after they've lied.

[vae]

His head twitched to the left, habit when he thought he heard someone approaching. Sure enough, he heard sloppy wing beats and the inevitable crash of an owl into his hollow. He slipped the thin piece of cloth that always served as his page marker into the comfortable niche between pages, he set the book aside. With a few short hops, he made his way to the entrance of the cave. There, on the ground looking as pained as he did exhausted lay a Barn Owl in rough shape.

Paxius opened his mouth to speak when, what are the odds, another owl came crashing into the hollow. This one, unlike the other, was a female. His unusual eyes widened in a moment a shock before he leaned down next to the owl who had crashed, using his beak and wing to help nudge the poor fellow up. "Of course you can stay here. My name is Paxius, but call me Pax. I'm a Glauxian Brother on pilgrimage. You're safe here for as long as you want."

He turned his attention to the other owl, a snowy, who was bleeding from multiple scratches and looked utterly exhausted. "Come, come, the beds are just a ways towards the back of the cave. You can rest. Are either of you hungry? Or thirsty?" he inquired, wanting to make his two new patients as comfortable as possible. His Krakish accent was irrelevant to the fluent Hoolian he had learned years ago.

[Ayama]

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[bg=80c4bd] OOC: Sorry for going before you Cam. Didn't realize I had until now. Artemis gave as much of a nod as she could to the kind owl and then walked into the cave as far as she could. There was blood coming down the side of her face from when she crashed but she wouldn't cry or scream in pain. She just waited for Pax to come and help her. She looked at the barn owl that was on the floor. Poor fella she thought and looked around a bit. The cave looked pretty cozy. She walked over to a nest that was empty and she collapsed onto it, no energy to properly put herself on it.. How nice it felt to feel a warm nest again. She looked at herself with sleepy eyes that had few scratches on their corneas. Her normally white feathers were getting stained by blood. She wiped the side of her head with one of her wings and looked at the blood. I really should stop crashing. It's taking it's toll on.... her thoughts were unfinished as she drifted off to sleep.

[Cam]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,0,true][atrb=width,400,true] OOC // I don't mind since I away Words- there was the hooting of an owl, and then the hooting of a second beside himself. He couldn't distinguish their words, but he shook his head and tried to rise, tried to focus on what they were saying. After a moment their words became clear, and Loki managed to get himself standing - albeit wobbly, and he was leaning against the cold cave wall for support. His chest worked hard with every breath, still trying to recapture the air he had lost in his fight through the storm with his damaged wings. Still, his brain was working, processing this creature before him, and-- What in the name of tyto-- his eyes, they were freakishly bizzare. He'd never once seen an owl with eyes that color. Was it a disease? Loki jerked his head back a bit, then fruffed his feathers the best he could, trying to settle them back into shape. He wasn't a Barn, of course, or even a tyto, and his gizzard gave a twitch at that - how shameful, turning to a dirty species to treat his injuries. And this second injured owl; a snowy? Ew. "--of you hungry? Or thirsty?" Loki ruffled his feathers unhappily against the cold, then spread a wing to show the damaged pinions to the - scholar, Loki guessed, from the books strewen about. "Crows while flying over Hool--" Don't say that, you fool, he'll want to know why you didn't stop at the tree! "Crows," he finished bluntly, throwing a look to the white owl, his gaze lazed with thinly-veiled disgust. "Water would be nice, my friend, as would a bite. I've been flying a long way like this."

[vae]

(OOC: Wow. I suck. So. Sorry for the delay.)

Paxius shook the shoulder of the snowy that had fallen asleep on the bed of moss. "I'm sorry, but I can't let you fall asleep until I have a good look at you. You might have a bad head injury, and if you sleep, you might never wake up," he finished seriously. It had happened before. Once. He would never let it happen again.

Doing his best to manage two patients at once, he turned back to the barn owl. "Follow me, there's a rainwater drip pool farther back in the cave. It's perfectly clean and quite cold, very refreshing." He nodded to the dark puddle a few leagues away from where the snowy was resting. "I'll be just a moment! I'll get you both some fresh, tasty food." With that, he took off, soaring out of the ice cave and toward the place where the lemmings ran richest. He would only be gone for five minutes at the most. Oh, I hope they'll be okay until I get back.

a

[evergreen]

Evergreen was sheltering from the harsh wind in a small ice crack where some Puffins had once used as a nest no doubt. She shifted some feathers with her talons. She looked at the skinny lemming that she had caught on her way to the Ice Narrows. Her stomach rumbled with hunger as she took a small chunk off of the lemming. She listened to the swirling wind and the crash of waves outside of the ice crack. She was just staying in this ice crack temporarily, just long enough for her to rest her wings and maybe take a quick nap before setting off to look for a more permanent home to settle in. She finished gulping down the small lemming. She sighed as she tiredly closed her eyes. I might stay in the Ice Narrows for a little longer before I set off, she thought, this might be the place where I will live. She slowly slipped into sleep. 


(Sorry, this is one of my first times RPing about Guardians, so I might not be too good at it yet.)