A Single Secret (Open!)

[cloudy]

Esther tried to hide her over enjoyment of the news that her help would be appreciated but couldnt stop from puffing up in pride, breast feathers ruffling out and finally looking up to Feliah, black eyes scanning across the rest of the group. This was going to be a very memorable adventure.

As the group took off into the sky, Esther opened her wings and pushed off from the branch only to fall underneath the shade of the tree canopy. Before crashing to the ground, the speckled owl spread her wings out and beat them so they almost met at the downstroke., powerful, deep strokes that helped her rise quickly into the air but still until the trees, moving expertly between tangled branches. Just by glancing up, she could see the other four owls above flying in formation, Feliah in the lead, armor lit by a different light, sunlight. The fact that she had been flying day and night practically suddenly made her wings feel like stones and eyes weary. It was probably best she join the group and continue with they until time to roost.

Having been safe in the shadows, the sudden glare of light brighter than the moon threw Esther off a bit and she wavered in her flight. Narrowing her eyes to slits, pupils shrinking, the barn owl saw the shape of her new found friends and quickly pulled up next to the little owl, Cleef. "Are you tired or nervous at all? I've never flown in the day-time..."

[Cleef]

"I'm a tad tired and maybe a little nervous, but I travel a lot, so I know how to endure it for a little while," said the burrowing owl to Esther, the newest member of the whole group. Cleef noticed that the speckled owl seemed to be struggling against the light and creepy weariness. So, Cleef being Cleef, the burrowing owl positioned himself to where the winds curved off of his body rightly enough so that the speckled owl could fly with the least amount of effort. "Better?" asked Cleef as the group continued on.

[Gabjas]

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[bg=6a2100] As the conversation drew to an end; the owls took flight, immediately falling into a make-shift position. Prue flanked between Cleef and Esther. Prue felt her eyelids struggle to hold themselves open as she beat her wings against the crisp morning air, gliding with ease. Cleef angled himself as to aid Esther with her flight; she was still quite young, a strong flier for her age yet still prone to exhaustion. Young or not, Prue was sure it was unanimous; they needed to roost... and soon. Esther and Cleef spoke to each other as they flew, but their voices were drowned by a chorus of hoarse, cruel caws. Uh-oh. Prue thought. "Crows at twelve-o-clock," she intoned, "We should find a hollow. Fast."

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[Felidae]

Feliah had been so fixed on her mission, she had forgot about her and the groups needs. Noticing that everyone was growing tired, she was about to suggest resting for the day when a cacophony of loud and harsh cawing filled the air.

"Follow me!" Feliah called, taking a steep dive down into the trees as the crows flew towards them. She folded her wings in as she dropped and immediately opened them when she went below the canopy. Finding a safe hollow, she flew in and watched as the rest of the group followed her in.

[xxxskyfalconxxx]

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[bg=000022] “Follow me!” Was all Naraky heard before his instincts took over and he went into a stoop dive to follow the others. They flew into the canopy, crows fast on their tales as they weaved through the many trees. Eventually a hollow came into sight and Feliah took it as an escape and flew inside with the rest of the band following. Naraky landed inside, panting along with the rest of the owls. A single crow landed on a branch located near the entrance of the hollow, he had a crafted wooden band around his leg with symbols engraved on it. He didn't seem to want to bother or harm the owls in any way, he just perched there and preened. Naraky was getting agitated by his presence, even though he didn't mind crows, it just seemed awkward for a crow to sit their and watch them. “What are you doing here” he simply asked, but the crow ignored Naraky and continued preening. Naraky eventually just ignored him also and started looking around the hollow. On the walls there were carved images of the ga'hoole tree and other historical owls; this had once been a family hollow, but now it lay empty with nothing but some downy feathers scattered around the wooden floor. Naraky stroked his wing on one of the carvings, wondering what might of happened and why; feeling nothing but sadness as these thoughts went through his mind. Suddenly something caught his eye, an envelope in the corner of the hollow that was covered with downy feathers. Naraky walked over and clutched it in his talons, as he did this he also saw that on the front of it was feliah's name, “this letter was meant for her,” he thought to himself, but unfortunately as he turned it over the envelope had already been opened with all contents removed, the letter was missing or taken. Suddenly the crow made a loud kaw sound, looked towards the owls and gave a small nod then flew off. Did he know something? Did he and his flock of crows chase them to this hollow on purpose?

[cloudy]

Esther sighed a little in relief when Cleef moved infront of her and was allowed to cease flapping and glide majorily. "Yes, a little, thank you." She smiled, even if the little owl couldn't see, her like of him growing even as she thought and she hoped they would remain in touch despite parting ways later.

The sudden harsh caws filled the air and the sun seemed to be blocked out. Stiffening and wilfing, the young barn owl searched the air frantically to find one of her fears: crows. Those black birds could drive any owl out of the sky, and no one was sure why. Many thought they did it just for sport, but the outcome was more than rough play for owls, it could lead to death by plummeting from on high with wings useless. So when Prue gave the warning and Feliah gave the cry, Esther dived after the rest of the group, ignoring the wind biting at her face and focusing on the hollow everyone was disappearing into, the crows coming in after them.

She could almost feel the beak of one of her tail feathers when she went under the canopy and bracked hard into the hollow, breathing hard and shaking like a wet leaf. Eyes wide and focused on the opening, Esther half-expected the crows to come in after them, no way of escape for the owls. Unable to feel nothing but fear, the young owl backed up against the wall of the hollow and tucked her head underneath her wing, finding comfort in the darkness. But as she got settled, she could feel the uneven surface of the hollow interior. Finding the courage to, the speckled owl peeked out from under her gray and gold wing to see the walls decorated with carvings of the Great Ga'Hoole Tree and what seemed to be epic battles. The downy feathers beneath her confirmed that a family had once lived here, but what would cause them to leave? Owl parents didn't normally leave the hollows they raised their chicks, even after they left; And it was far past day-break so they should be here if they did indeed reside here still.

Her infinite black eyes looked over the group and fell upon Narasky, off to a corner, holding a broken envelope between his talons, the abrutly turning when a single caw come from nearby, followed by the sight of a crow with a leg-bracelet leaving his perch, disappearing into the sunlight. Esther would have asked questions but she was far too tired to think straight. Eventually, her eyes closed off to the world, her last sight being the Great Horned Owl with a letter in his claws.

[Cleef]

Cleef heard the young owl's reply of gratitude right before he heard various sharp kaws of the crow communication. He swiveled his head quickly to see several of the black birds flying towards the group that he flew with. Cleef's good nature and instinct took over. Instead of speeding ahead with the rest of the other owls, Cleef spread his wings into the braking position and fell behind the young Esther that had been behind him.

The burrowing owl swerved in front of the crows tauntingly, diverting their attention from the rest of his friends. Unfortunately, one of the crows, he appeared to be wearing some sort of band around one of his legs, slipped to the front of Cleef and pecked at Esther's tail feathers. What was odd, however, was that the crow seemed to be trying to get the owl's attention rather than harm her.

Cleef's own attention was quickly broken from this odd spectacle has he felt several sharp talons lock into both of his wings. It seemed as if two crows wanted to go for a ride. Well, Cleef was a nice owl, he'd give them a ride. The owl, who had been hatched in the hot climate of Kuneer, dived towards the trees, finally, taking the crows along with him. He did not, however, go towards the same tree the group had gone. He did have two crows and a flock with him. Instead, the burrowing owl lined up a tree branch just right and shot, as fast as he could with the extra weight, towards it.

Two simultaneous thaks resonated through the branch and its tree. Several pained kaws followed as the crows decided that this burrowing owl wasn't worth it and flew off with their wounded.

With that done, Cleef flew above the tree canopy and searched for the way that the other owls had gone. He tensed slightly as another crow, the one that had pecked Esther, Cleef noticed because of the band. It was on the black bird's right leg and had some sort of archaic engravings. The strange bird flew up and hovered in front of Cleef. Peering into the owl-who-was-on-the-verge-of-going-yeep's eyes wisely, it pointed its beak and nodded into a specific break in the trees. It looked back at Cleef, blinked in a way that somehow made it seem all the wiser, and flew off.

The burrowing owl watched the peculiar bird until he could no longer see it, then flew towards the break that it had indicated. Cleef located the hollow that his friends were in and entered. A look of awe on his face as he wondered what exactly had just happened, and not appearing to notice that small amounts of red from the wounds caused by the talons of his hitch hikers began staining the feathers of his wings.

[Gabjas]

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[bg=6a2100] Prue dove after Feliah and the others and lit down on the rough wooded surface of the hollow. Cleef had intentionally fallen slightly behind the rest as to deter the flock of persistent crows. She peered from the jagged opening, a single crow perched just beyond, gazing knowingly at Cleef before taking flight once more. "Cleef, your wing." Prue grimaced as the red stain of his blood blotted the feathers that lined his wing. He didn't appear to be aware of his wound, so Prue allowed her self a moment to survey the hollow. On the crevices of the walls, dramatic scenes of infamous Ga'Hoolian battles were engraved. "An abandoned family hollow, huh?" Prue muttered as she traced her talon on what appeared to be a depiction of The Battle of the Ice Claws. Prue noted as Naraky shuffled towards a corner of the hollow and plucked an envelope from the ground; Prue was slightly disappointed when it was found to be empty. Momentarily forgetting the peculiar events of this day, Prue found a suitable spot to roost. "Good light, everyone." she whispered, and her eyelids fluttered shut. And though stiff and exhausted from a long night and partial day, she found it hard to sleep as thoughts began to whirl in her mind.

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[Felidae]

Eventually, all the owls made it into the hollow. Feliah stood in the corner, her sides heaving from the burst of energy that she had forced out when the crows had appeared. She really needed to rest.

Looking around the hollow, she could see carvings in the wood. Carvings that told stories of the Ga'Hoole Tree and the Guardians.

Suddenly, it hit her. This had been her hollow when she was an owlet. She had only been here for a short time, but now she was positive that this was the hollow she had hatched in.

Feliah wandered over to the back of the hollow where a giant carving of the Great Tree loomed up the wall. She traced the lines that made up the trunk of the tree with a claw, her eyes wide in amazement. She had found her home.

Turning around to see what the rest of the group were up to, she saw Naraky holding a letter. Going over to see what it was, she noticed that her name was written along the front.

"Naraky, may I have the letter please?" Feliah asked. The other owl nodded and handed the envelope to her. Her breath was caught in her throat as she turned the letter around, but she let out a sigh of disappointment when she saw it was empty. She had hoped this had something to do with what happened to her parents, or at least tell her if they were alive.

Going over to the back of the hollow by the carving of the Ga'Hoole tree, Feliah settled down and placed the letter by her side. Closing her eyes, she slowly fell asleep, disappointment still fresh on her mind.

[xxxskyfalconxxx]

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[bg=000022] Feliah walked over to Naraky and asked for the the envelope; and of course he handed it to her. But the disappoint that came after he had handed her the letter also made him regret not just hiding the envelop from everyone; but that would be wrong and would of made his new friends loose a lot of trust towards him. The crow would have been long gone before Feliah received the envelop and none of the owls seemed to have any energy either to chase after him; Esther had already even fallen asleep, cleef had injuries, and naraky was just extremely exhausted. And so he closed his eyes and quickly entered the realm of dreams.

[Cleef]

Cleef watched, half consciously, as the resolute-like activity from the recent event took place in the hollow. Prue found a comfortable corner to sleep in as the sun began to leak over the land, while Feliah looked about the hollow with a familiar gaze and received a found envelope from Naraky.

Cleef's conscious, however, was not within the hollow. He was thinking back to the raven. Not only had the bird seemed strangely wise, but it had also seemed familiar to him for some reason.

The burrowing owl tensed as he felt something prickle his back. Relief went through his body as he realized that it was simply his crow feather that he always carried around........wait a minute.

Cleef flipped his head around and detached the feather from his own back feathers. He flipped his head back to its forward position and dropped the black feather into one of his talons.

The feather had been flipped out, hadn't it? So why did the birds still attack....or...had it even been an attack? Cleef looked to his, now blood stained, wings. Although the wounds hurt and were still drawing blood, Cleef could hardly feel the pain at the moment, they weren't as deep as attacking crows would have made them, and thinking back to the heat of the action, it had felt almost as if the crows had wanted to guide him to....somewhere.

The Athene Cunicularia's eyes went back to the feather in his talons. A sudden flash of memory going over his eyes. The raven, it's leg band and wise eyes, thought Cleef, it-it had been the same one that had given me this feather

The burrowing owl's eyes riveted on the piece of envelope that Feliah had laid by her side. Was it just him, or did the handwriting on the letter look familiar.

Cleef reattached the feather to his back and smoothed it under his own, walked over to Feliah, and looked at the letter that had been laid on the ground of the hollow. Another memory flashed through his head. This one of a piece of paper with a talon and quill moving over it. The handwriting that was left behind by the quill was the same handwriting as the faded handwriting on the front of the envelope.

The burrowing owl closed his eyes. The talon and quill was attached to, oddly enough, a Tyto Alba. His beak moved, but Cleef couldn't remember quite what he was saying, but he new that it had been important. It had been an important favor asked by the owl. Cleef had been obliged to take the favor, not only because he was Cleef, but because he felt that he had owed a dept to the Tyto and his family.

This had been a few days before Cleef had received a crow feather to show protection and friendship between him and the crows. The young burrowing owl had been flying, naively, during the day, and had been mobbed by crows. Crashing into the tree that housed a Barn Owl family, Cleef had been lucky that the family hadn't had the mindset of the Pure Ones, who were reigning fairly heavily on barn owls at that time. He had woken up within their hollow. Both the male Tyto and his mate had chased the crows off and brought Cleef into their hollow so that he could rehabilitate.

At first, both owls had denied that they owed him anything, but Cleef had insisted that he had to do something for them, anything. The male Tyto had looked to his mate, then to his daughter, who had been asleep in a corner, and then back to Cleef.

The daughter in the corner. Cleef opened his eyes. His breath caught in his throat. It was as if he had suddenly warped over to the daughter, who had aged a bit as Cleef passed through the space-time continuum.

Feliah opened her eyes and stared at Cleef curiously. Seemingly to ask, "Why is this bloody burrowing owl standing over me with wide eyes and an unhinged beak?"

Cleef stuttered as he found his words, "I-I knew your mum and da."

But what had happened? Cleef obviously hadn't completed the favor. What had it been? The burrowing owl looked outside the hollow. Something beginning to compel him within his gizzard. He looked back to Feliah. "We have to catch those crows," he said, and hurried out of the hollow. Hardly even waiting to be on the outside branch before he took wing.

(OOC: Feliah, I hope you didn't have any major plans for this. If you did, I hope this doesn't bother then to much. If it does, I can change it.)

[cloudy]

Esther was asleep for long enough to enter the world of dreams. Clashing battle talons, flights of chaws, and owls with red stained wings filled her mind and those were normal for her. Except for the owls with firey eyes and wings stained with such unnatural colors. She had never heard of those kind but the very sight, even in her dream reality, gripped her heart with iron claws and rumbled her gizzard so fiercely it was sickening. But that even did not wake her. It turned out to be the ruffling of feathers as Cleef rearranged himself.

She pried open her vast black eyes to spot the little owl putting a black feather amongest all his earthy and white tones. How curious, She could not help thinking through the haze of sleep. Now what may he be doing with that? All the other owls she had met were now sleeping, as it was still daylight, but Cleef was awake and seemed quite occupied with whatever it was he was doing. Esther saw it best to just stay silent and see what he was up to.

Oh how noisy of her, she shouldn't be trying to eavesdrop! It was like a slipgizzle getting some spronk information...no good, no good. Eventually, she saw that Cleef went over to Feliah and she looked quite shocked, probably even to the point that she would've gone yeep. Now that was quite curious as well. And then the little owl turned and walked out of the hollow, saying something about 'catching crows', and his bloodied wings glimmered in the early light. It took a moment for it to register and then Esther's eyes widened like a new moon. Cleef was going to go after crows. With wings in that kind of condition? He had to be stark raving yoicks!

Finally unable to without herself and feeling quite driven, the young golden barn owl hurried after Cleef and arrived on the outer branch just in time to see him take wing. "Cleef! You need to rest!" She called after him but was disappointed to know he was out of range. Confused but worried, she paced the branch and bobbed until finally she remebered the great horned owl, Cleef's friend.

Practically flying into the hollow, Esther walked over to the large form and shook him urgently with a foot of talons so as to rouse him. "Na...Nar.." Oh racdrops! What was this owls name again? Nara? Nooo. Norosk? Suddenly it clicked and Esther whispered loudly, "Narasky! Wake up, Cleef has gone after those crows! His wings are bloodied and hurt, he's going to get himself killed flying like that in sunlight!"

[Gabjas]

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[bg=6ba900] Prue felt herself drifting through a dream; she had once had many a peculiar dream that would taunt and torture her mind. But she had grown immune to the screams of terror and the owls with their faces like the moon itself reaching down with bloodied battleclaws. And once she had sought out the meanings of these dreams as if for comfort from their grasp, if they only would mean something maybe she could find a way to stop them. But those were just the antics of an owlet and she had pulled away from it. She knew they were nothing. Insignificant. And that is somewhat of a meaning in itself. As she flew with labored wing beats over the vast darkness that stretched before her eyes, the silence was rippled by voices. Panicked and urgent. Voices that did not resonate from her mind. Immediately, Prue found herself awake and facing Azalia who was just finishing a worried sentence to Naraky. "What seems to be the matter?" Prue shuffled towards the hollow entrance and peered out, squinting as the harsh rays of sunlight met her eyes. Beyond the glare she could see the brave little Burrowing Owl, her friend Cleef, soaring with blood-stained wings over the trees. He was glancing around desperately at the cluster of trees below, searching for someone or something. Without pausing to explain to the others for she felt they were all too aware of this predicament, Prue stretched her wings and dove from the hollow. The winds sifted through her pale feathers and a delighted quiver arose in her gizzard. She flew towards Cleef and hovered at his side, staying aloft with ease. "How can I be of service?" she smiled.

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[Felidae]

Feliah awoke from her slumber to see Cleef standing over her, his beak open and his eyes wide. She was about to say something when Cleef spoke.

He what?! Feliah sprung up after Cleef had spoken, "What?!" She exclaimed, "You knew my parents?!" But her words were unheard by the Burrowing Owl as he said something about crows and flung himself out of the hollow.

"Cleef, wait!" Feliah shouted after him as she proceeded to fly out of the hollow after Prue. She arrived by Cleef, breathing heavily from her fast flight, "Cleef, what do you mean you knew my parents? And why are we chasing crows?!" Feliah had so many more questions to ask, but kept with the most important two.

[xxxskyfalconxxx]

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[bg=000022] Sudden screaming interrupted Narakys dream. He quickly opened his eyes to see a worried Barn owl, “Esther, calm down....” he turned his head to look around the hollow. Prue flew out with Feliah right on her tail. “come,” he instructed Esther with a gesture of his wing and the two hurried to catch up with the rest of the owls. The two of them were able to quickly get to cleef and the other owls just in time to hear feliah ask cleef why he was after the crows “Cleef, are you yoicks! Your wing needs rest!” His eye squinted from the blinding sun. Naraky stared at his friend noticing he was filled with anxiety. “Cleef, whats happened?” (OOC: if im not able to get internet while im gone i give permission for cleef to temporarily control naraky.)