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Post by Gabjas on Jan 31, 2013 8:54:15 GMT -6
Claudius
Claudius inhaled deeply, his chest heaving as he drew himself up to his full height. He surveyed the owlets before him with a frown. It was his duty to introduce the recently snatched owlets to the utmost generosity of St. Aegolius. The full moon bathed the gathering in its eerie light. He inhaled once more, his nostrils flaring ever so slightly as his frown morphed into a sickly sweet smile. "Ahem." he cleared his throat to get their attention. "Welcome to St. Aegolius. I am afraid that all of you have been orphaned, your parents have either perished or abandoned you." he fixed a few owlets with a grim stare."But there is no need to fear, because due to our generosity, you will once more have a home."
A few of the young owls whispered amongst themselves frantically, a few began to cry at the thought of their lost family. "We will feed you and protect you! And all we ask in return is one little favor." he held two of his talons an inch apart to emphasize the 'little'. "That you serve us with physical labor; now, there are several jobs that need doing so tomorrow you will be assigned one to work on for the rest of your days here with us. Unless you get a promotion, of course."
Owlet brows began to furrow and a few angered cries arose from the sea of children. "I want to go home!" Roars of approval chorused about the stone cavern. Claudius shut his eyes, a few twitches of his beak hinting at his frustration. He was easily angered.One of the guards, a burly Great-Horned shouted for the owlets to cease their yelling. The volume plummeted to a mere whisper over one's shoulder.
"Now then." Claudius continued, his muddled brown ear-tufts twinged as he began to pace around, wings folded behind his back. "But before we choose your positions, I thing you all must be very tired, aren't you? Hmm, yes. So I need you all to tip your beaks to the moon and sleep." As one by one the owlets began to yawn and their eyes fluttered shut beneath the full moon, Claudius and the other staff began to chant the sacred oath of St. Aggies'.
"Hail to St. Aegolius. Our Alma Mater. Hail, our song we raise in praise of thee. Long in the memory of every loyal owl, thy splendid banner emblazoned be. Now to thy golden talons, homage we're bringing. Guiding symbol of our hopes and fears. Hark to the cries of eternal praises ringing. Long may we triumph in the coming years."
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Post by Felidae on Jan 31, 2013 13:24:59 GMT -6
Keenai shuffled as she tried to sleep. She knew that most of the raiding parties had been successful, as she could hear a large amount of voices echoing around the hard stone walls of the cramp room she was forced to live in.
She sighed as she heard a cold voice silence all the young and innocent owlets. She could tell they were all terrified, yet they all quieted their voices as one by one the fell into a deep sleep... although they would never wake up the same.
Keenai screwed her eyes shut. Listening to the helpless young owls be Moonblinked brought back painful memories of her brother and her long lost family. It had been quite a while ago now since she was stolen from her nest, and she had been through a lot. Keenai sighed as a thought popped into her head. Her sister had probably survived, seen as she didn't get taken with her siblings. Maybe she was living a happy life now, oblivious to the torture her siblings had gone through.
Rolling over on the stone floor, she drifted off into an uncomfortable and lonely sleep, her thoughts still on her long gone family.
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Post by Gabjas on Jan 31, 2013 17:17:16 GMT -6
Claudius
The fish owl peered with austere eyes from beneath the feathery tufts that protruded from his pate. Sunlight cascaded over the canyons as morning gazed from beyond the horizon. The owlets were beginning to awaken and he was met by several glassy stares; moonblinked. Each face that his eyes met all held the same unblinking gaze. Except one.
At first Claudius did not notice, but he soon realized what he had seen in her. The young Elf owl that now rose from her sleep was not moonblinked. The only other owlet that had survived moonblinking in all of his years at St. Aggies' was himself. Partially. "Alright everyone, please follow the owls to your right." he said as he gestured with his wing towards a group of Pit Guardians.
"These owls will take care of you once we figure out where you will be working." The owlets followed his orders obediently, shuffling along in single-file lines. He locked his eyes on the Elf owl.
"You there! Yes you. What is your name, dear?"
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Post by Felidae on Feb 1, 2013 13:43:22 GMT -6
Keenai rose from her makeshift nest, her wings and back aching from sleeping on such uncomfortable nesting. She blinked open her sleepy eyes as she was shoved forward by the other Pit Guardians.
She was about to follow their orders when she was stopped by a voice.
"You there! Yes you. What is your name, dear?"
The young owl cautiously turned to face the older owl and she gulped as she met his cold and hostile stare. Her voice seemed to be caught in her throat as she attempted to reply. All that came out was a half choked squeak.
The other owl's gaze intensified and Keenai forced herself to speak, "Keenai..." She said quietly. The fish owl didn't seem to hear, so she repeated it louder, more confidence in her voice, "Keenai. My name is Keenai, sir." She stood up tall, but shrunk down again when she remembered she was supposed to be Moonblinked.
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Post by Gabjas on Feb 1, 2013 13:52:08 GMT -6
Claudius
Claudius bent over and gave a malicious grin to the young owl. "Keenai, huh?" he said coldly. He knew it. Any moonblinked owlet would have responded with their number, not their name. "I would like you to come with me today. Don't worry about your job." He gave her a small smile to reassure her.
He put his wing at the back of the Elf owl and gently guided her along, pulling away from the crowd and into a small cavernous hallway. When he had determined that the two were completely alone and well beyond the range of prying ears, he bent down and whispered. "Now Keenai, I know you are not moonblinked." he breathed quietly. The fish owl glanced around cautiously before continuing. "But don't worry, it will be our little secret."
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Post by Felidae on Feb 1, 2013 14:09:07 GMT -6
"Keenai, huh?"
As soon as the older owl spoke those words, she knew her cover had been blown. How could she be so stupid?! She let out a small frustrated sigh and returned her gaze to the Fish Owl.
He ushered her away from the crowd of owlets, saying something about not needing to worry about her job. But Keenai wasn't listening. She was too terrified to think. What would they do to her? They had brutally murdered her brother, so would she end up with the same fate? She shuddered at the thought.
They stopped in a deserted corridor, away from the other owls. What happened next completely took her by surprise. "How... How did you know?"
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Post by Gabjas on Feb 1, 2013 14:25:13 GMT -6
Claudius
"How.. how did you know?" Keenai whispered, Claudius could see her eyes brimming with both fear and confusion. Claudius inhaled deeply and shut his eyes, as he tended to do when he was thinking. "Because I survived moonblinking too." he muttered. "Partially." he said as he pointed a talon to his one moonblinked eye.
"They were befuddled by my complete resistance to normal moonblinking, so they moonscalded me. And that is how I got this. I was never quite the same, some say it made me... crazy. I was alone." Claudius began to pace around, his wings folded behind his back. "And from there on I vowed that if any other owlet would be strong enough to resist the moonblinking as I did, I would take them under my wing, I would raise them." His voice faltered and his eyes were stung with tears, he turned away so that the Elf owlet would not see him cry.
"Give them the family I never had." he whispered under his breath. The Fish owl blinked away the tears and drew himself up to his full height once more. "So Keenai, it is up to you. Would you care to continue your dull work and pretend you are just another moonblinked slave..." he loomed over the Elf owlet. "Or, would you like to come with me... your choice."
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Post by Felidae on Feb 2, 2013 3:34:23 GMT -6
As the older owl told Keenai his story, she couldn't help feel a small bit of sadness for him. If he had survived Moonblinking, and then also partially survived Moonscalding, he was just like her. An owl that had once had a happy, caring family that was torn to pieces by the owls at St. Aegolius. He, too, was alone in this place... Just like Keenai.
When he told her of his promise, she knew what she would say, "I will stay with you." She said rising up to her full height (Which wasn't much seen as she was only and Elf owl).
She knew one thing, though. She wouldn't be alone any more.
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Post by Gabjas on Feb 2, 2013 13:38:53 GMT -6
Claudius
Claudius was hit with a wave of surprise at the young owl's response. "You will?" he gasped. He beamed at the young owlet. "Splendid." The fish owl froze as a guard passed, the Spotted owl casting him a supicous glance.
"Sir, may I ask what you are doing with this owlet?" the Spotted owl frowned and inspected Keenai. Claudius gulped and he could feel beads of sweat form beneath his feathers. "Ahem." he cleared his throat anxiously. "This one is having a little trouble memorizing her number." he stammered, wincing in fear that the guard would see through his ill thought-out story.
"I see." the Spotted gruffed and continued past them. Claudius released a breath of relief. "We simply can't let anyone else find out that you are not moonblinked. If they do, they would take you to the moonscalding chamber and..." he sighed. "And you would end up like me." Claudius once again guided the Elf owl with his wing towards one of the separate rooms.
"This is where we will be staying." he said as he pointed towards a two nests, one significantly larger than the other. Soft moss lined the inner rim of the nests; a type of moss this soft was quite rare in St. Aggies' and was only available to the authoritarians. "Now, Keenai, can you fly yet?"
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Post by Felidae on Feb 3, 2013 4:21:56 GMT -6
Keenai smiled at the Fish Owl's expression. She had obviously surprised him with her answer, but she was glad he was happy with the decision.
Suddenly, a guard passed behind her and she froze. Her instincts kicked in and she immediately began to act Moonblinked again. Luckily, the Spotted Owl passed by and she relaxed.
They headed towards a room, which the older owl told her they would be staying in, and she gasped at the sight. There were actually nests in the room, not scraps of hard and scratchy moss that she was forced to sleep on back in the old cramped room. She let out a little squeak of joy and ran over to the smaller nest, examining the softness of it with glee.
"Can you fly yet?"
Keenai turned to face Claudius and shook her head sadly, the joy from the nests almost gone, "No... I never had any experience with flying before the raiding party took me and, obviously, I couldn't really practice here." She let out a saddened sigh at how lonely and deprived her life sounded. But, maybe with this owl's help, she could turn it around.
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Post by Gabjas on Feb 3, 2013 13:19:05 GMT -6
Claudius
Claudius ruffled his feathers and watched with a slight smile as Keenai admired the luxury of her new nest. Her response did not come as a surprise, he too had not known how to fly at her age, unfortunately no one had shown him the kindness of teaching him; he had to learn on his own.
"Well then, we still have quite a bit of daylight to spend so let's get started. Now, I need you to try and lift yourself off the ground." he instructed the Elf owl. He spread his own wings and began to demonstrate wing strokes. "Don't feel disheartened if you fall the first few time, trial and error is only natural."
Claudius was almost startled by the kindness in his own words, he might have even made a good father, but those days were far behind him now. He had been in love once; in his early days as a Lieutenant, with a Pit Guardian his age, but he had been to shy to ever admit it. He shook his head and cleared these thoughts from his mind, lighting down on the stone ground beside he little Elf owl.
"Now, you try."
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Post by Felidae on Feb 3, 2013 14:56:28 GMT -6
Keenai did as instructed and flapped her wings in an attempt to copy Claudius' movements. But, it did nothing and she stayed rooted to the spot. She tried again, only to get a few meters into the air before falling down onto her face.
She huffed and stood up, returning to trying to fly. On her third attempt, she managed to get into the air, "Look!" She chirped happily, "I'm flying!" But her loss of concentration caused her to fall, hitting her back hard onto the floor.
But, being the headstrong and determined little owl she was, she stood up once again. "I will learn to fly." Keenai promised herself.
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Post by Gabjas on Feb 3, 2013 15:06:51 GMT -6
Claudius
Claudius churred inwardly as the determined little owlet attempted to lift herself off the ground, managing a few meters. "Good, good." the Fish owl nodded in approval. "Now, you see those up there?" Claudius gestured to a series of small wooden pegs that protruded from the walls of the chamber , they started just beneath the cieling and gradually descended towards the ground.
"We are going to do some branching." he said. "First I need you to fly up to the top 'branch' and then slowly work your way down to the ground." he turned to Keenai with a reassuring nod.
"You will be flying in no time."
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Post by Felidae on Feb 4, 2013 11:27:42 GMT -6
Keenai nodded and stood up straight, focusing on the top 'branch'. She opened her wings and took off from the ground, flying to the top peg. Her flight was steadier, but she still had a bit of trouble landing.
She took in a deep breath and opened her wings once again. She then gliding down from the 'branch' she was on and landed gracefully onto the other one below her.
"I did it!" She exclaimed, looking down a Claudius. This was the first time she had felt proud of herself after she had arrived at St. Aegolius. In fact, this was the only time she had felt happy.
Keenai then continued with her branching, getting better and better as she descended towards the floor.
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Post by Gabjas on Feb 4, 2013 19:37:07 GMT -6
Claudius
"Bravo." Claudius cooed as Keenai managed to glide quite gracefully down from peg to peg. "You are a natural." the Fish owl mused as he examined the Elf owl's technique. The two owls continued their practice for the majority of the day; Claude demonstrated various tactics and little tips he had for lying with certain winds.
"You've earned a break, care for a vole?" he offered her a particularily plump one from a small pile of fresh kill. The Fish owl tore at a batwing, which he had taken a recent liking to, and swallowed with a satisfied gulp. It was certainly a nice feeling to have good company for once; he often spoke with the Pit Guardians but he tended to get frustrated with their inferiority. As for the Ablah General, he barely cast a glance in his direction nowadays, but the two were thick as thieves is his past days. Glaux, I am getting old!
As the two sat together in silence, Claude found it suiting that he strike up a conversation between them. "So, Keenai, do you, erm... did you, have any siblings?"
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