Relic of the Past

[Deleted]

Dimitri stood alone in his hollow, feverishly writing with a quill, a slightly tremble in his left wing irritating him to no end. It had been four days since he had presented his offer to Thalia: assist him in removing Tytus from the position of High Tyto and she could live happily with Sentes. He had thus spent the last few days, awaiting her ultimate decision, though he was getting a feeling that she would be revealing her answer soon. In the meantime, he had been hard a work on his manifesto against Tytus, which he would present to the entirety of the Pure Ones as reasonable grounds for the immediate removal of Tytus. By himself he knew he'd be considered just an old owl who had gone yoinks. But with the backing of Thalia, he would have more than enough followers to usurp the throne and finally put the Pure Ones back on track.

Even now his mind still flashed back to Nyra, to the Pure Ones he had grown up with, before she herself had went yoinks. It would be a return to those values, to that way of life that would return the Pure Ones to greatness. But to do so, he had to purge the current group of all the negative influences, starting right with Tytus. This was a project he had spent much of his time on, ever since he had first abdicated the position years ago. But as he was sidelines for younger officers and the policies Tytus enacted turned away from what was good for the Pure Ones, he knew he had to do something. It had all just been a matter of opportunity...

[Gabjas]

Paige hummed softly to herself as her talons shuffled across the wood floor. She had been experiencing terrible bouts of insomnia of late, and her mind was constantly clouded. Fortunately, she had spoken to Thalia, whom had graciously offered her time away from work to regain her health.

The owl ruffled her wings as a shiver snaked up her spine. Dusk loomed upon the horizon, spreading across the sky like an ink blot on a parchment. Soon enough, the time for owls to spread their wings and wear their glorious crowns would arise, and yet Paige had no intention of enjoying it. Her eyes were heavy with sleep, or lack thereof. Her whole face drooped with exhaustion, and she could hardly bring her ragged wings to fly.

Nonetheless, she had one task before nightfall, and she was determined to push past the barrier of sleep to complete it. Her eyes skimmed across the various jars coated in a film of dust and collected gunk, their labels torn and faded into a yellowish hue with her untidy scrawl smudged with time. She struggled to make out the letters through her blurred vision, let alone comprehend them at all . Her talons gripped and lowered a glass filled with spices and shreds of flowers and fruit rinds.

She took to her cauldron, rusted over the years, and piled kindling and logs beneath. Paige plucked a match from a packet beside her. Such wonderful things: matches. They were a rarity among owls in the Southern Kingdoms, and she had traded several rather nice squirrel pelts to a Northern owl just for a box. The exchange had been made in general silence for his Krakish accent was far too thick. She struck the match against the rough patch on the box and the blue stub at the end instantly lit with a brilliant orange flame.

Soon enough, the cauldron was bubbling and frothing and steaming like no owls business. The owl doused the flame and dipped to empty pitchers in. A talonful of her homemade tea blend tumbled into each glass and soon enough, the water had clouded into a reddish brown. She inhaled the delightful aroma before setting out of her chambers.

Save for the guards that worked the morning shifts, the halls and twisting cavernous halls were seemingly forgotten. She made her way sluggishly to the east quadrant, passing openings and archs lit with torches until she came upon a rather large door. She curled her talons into a fist and rapped gently on the wood, the resounding noise hopefully finding the ears of the inhabitant.

This was the room of Dimitri, an older owl that had been about the Pure Ones for many moons. He had often proudly recounted the moons he served under the glorious reign of Nyra. He was highly respected among his fellow Pure Ones, renowned for his outstanding service in battle and his teachings. he had made many a brave and strong soldier. As he had grown older, he had taken up the task of raising young owls.

Paige couldn't help but let a faint smile of nostalgia curl upon her beak, for she had once been one of these owlets, staring expectantly up at Dimitri as he recounted the many wars he had fought. She waited patiently with the steaming mugs, her mind wandering to the musings of the frivolous young thing she had been.

[Deleted]

Dimtri's concentration was disrupted by a knock on his door and the old owl slowly turned his head to the side, staring at it. He certainly wasn't expecting any guests, especially not this early. Though, to be fair, he didn't get many to begin with. He gently set his pen down and folded up the manifesto he had been working on. He dared no reveal his intentions, at least not until he knew he had the back of Thalia. He was still technically engaging in treason by even suggesting that Tytus was unfit to rule, but in his mind it was the only course of action to take. The very fact that he had to hide such an objection was solid proof of the downward spiral that Pure Ones were in, in old Pure Ones would never had suffered such incompetence to fester.

The old owl tucked his work away and walked over to the door, for an owl of his age, he was still fairly fit. Sure, he wasn't able to maneuver like he could in his younger days, and he was much slower in flight now, but he had yet to be afflicted by some of the worse symptoms of old age, like arthritis. He gently slid his door open, expecting a guard or some other annoyance, but instead found the warm eyes of Paige. He couldn't help but smile, of all the owlets he had raised, Paige had somehow stuck in his gizzard far better than any others, a notion she seemed to share. She was, in fact, really the only owl of the Pure Ones he still got along with without incident. While she was not a his blood, or even of his species, she was as close to a real daughter as he ever had. It was actually ironic, considering how he had been raised to worship purity above all else, at yet the only owl he cared about would have been regulated to a mere slave by the old regime. Despite his loyal devotion to the old ways, Dimitri has still, inadvertently, changed in his own beliefs. "Coming to make sure the old bag of bones is still hopping around?" Dimitri asked, wrapping a wing around Paige in a tight hug and shoved the door wider, giving her more room to join him inside.

"I might as well ask what has brought you all the way here to my humble hollow, it's almost been ages since you've last been here, especially after having so many injured to care for due to that battle in the desert," Dimitri remarked and lead Paige inside, wiping away some books and papers from the slab of rock that served as his desk. "Of course, I'm not implying that I despise your visit, yours is the only face in this entire canyon who can still bring a smile to my face." He went back over and closed the door behind her, making sure the two of them would have their privacy.

[Gabjas]

Paige's anticipated frown cracked into a heart smile as her old father pried the door open. Though his bones were already feeble with age, and scars littered his once-glorious plumage, one thing about this great old soldier had not been altered in the slightest from the day she first glimpsed it: his smile. Many owls would consider his large grin peculiar and unbecoming of an owl of his status, but to Paige, it was nothing but a great comfort. The familiarity brought her mind dancing back to times of old.

As he spoke with evident pleasure gracing his beak, she felt safe. The smile, though rusted with age and misuse, would always stand to represent Dimitri.

She laughed at his odd greeting, embracing him with equal gusto. "Most soldiers are well on their way to recovery, so I thought it best to pay you a visit this fine evening. I brought some herbal tea." Paige answered with a hint of guilt, for she felt ashamed she hadn't paid a visit to him in so long. She could only imagine how dreadfully lonely he must be cooped up in his hollow, feverishly writing away his days. He seemed to be expecting something, she could tell it on his face. And not the type of anticipation that glows on the face of an owlet on its first day of branching, but the grim acceptance of higher things at work.

When you were a measly little medic, toiling away in your humble shop, you heard things best not heard by lowly owls like her. She would see things, gather the clues, and soon enough the pieces would simply fall together. Something grand and sinister was afoot amongst the Pure Ones. She could only hope that Dimitri wasn't caught in the middle, though she feared the worst. It would be bad for his already deteriorating health to get caught in such affairs.

And speaking of affairs... Paige thought, why is it that in Tytus' absence, Sentes and her highness, Thalia had been casting each other such longing glances? The fools! Had they fallen in love?

She nodded with slight sadness at his last phrase, only deepening her sympathy for the old owl. He whom, despite his strong belief in the ancient code of Nyra's dying age, had cared and loved an owl of such low status from the day of her arrival.

"I often worry for this place, and I have known for quite some time that you share this belief with me. Since Nyra's defeat, we have become a shadow of a once great legion. I never was fortunate enough to glimpse this era of victory, but from your stories and the retellings I have read in the chronicles... it sounded so... perfect, no?" she sighed, taking a sip from her cooling tea. "Glaumora knows this place has fallen to ruin when valiant soldiers like yourself hardly receive their proper dues."

[Deleted]

Dimitri's smile turned slightly and he turned away slightly. "Not entirely..." The old owl let out a sigh and sat down, extending a wing toward the table, indicating where she should place the cups. "You know more than any other owls besides me of the times of Nyra... but I can't help but admit that there are plenty of things that I have chosen to omit. Deep down, there were things about Nyra's reign that I wish to forget... but now, more than ever, I can't help but see the Pure Ones devolve in a similar manner, albeit in a different tone." Dimitri paused and looked at Paige, his mind trying to figure out the best way to explain. Paige's eyes were always filled with concern and love towards him, unlike any other owl. He'd raised many Pure Ones over the years and trained almost just as many, but none besides her had ever showed him such affection.

"As you may recall, Nyra took a younger Barn Owl named Kludd as her mate, replacing the old High Tyto with him. It was under their reign that the Pure Ones at their greatest. But, Kludd was killed sometime later by one of the Guardians, leaving Nyra as leader of the Pure Ones. While bruised and beaten, many of us still maintained our pride and determination to take our rightful place as kings among owls." Dimitri paused and let his gaze lower to his scarred talons, his eyes almost glazed over as his thoughts took him back to years long gone. "But then came the one called Nyroc... or Coryn, as he would later be called. I do not know the circumstances of his betrayal... but I know this, after he left, Nyra completely lost her mind. She became obsessed with her lost son and it was this obsession that led the Pure Ones to ultimate ruin. We lost sight of our true goals, instead of moving forward, we were completely paralyzed, victims to the whims of Nyra. Worst of all, Nyra herself abandoned her own purity... she twisted herself into a horrible abomination... and had she survived, I'm convinced she would have done the same to us all."

"The Pure Ones lost sight of what they were, they lost sight of their divine right to stand above all other owls. We flat-out rejected our purity in our blind devotion to Nyra and her obsessions. The same thing has occurred now, we have become soft and weak, just look at Katara. Her soldiers lack the discipline that made my generation of the deadliest in Pure One history... she instead tolerates the weak, the clumsy, the failures... under her our army has become a joke. But, worse of all, the absolute biggest insult to the Pure One name, is the fact that our fellow Pure Ones tolerate having a Guardian as our High Tyto! He can never be a true Pure One, he did not grow up here, he wasn't raised to value his perfection..." Dimitri stopped and shook his head. He had played this speech before, many many times before in his head and before his fellow Pure Ones. But they did not see, they didn't understand his warning, they had instead followed blindly in the shadow of Tytus.

"I... I must apologize... I know you didn't come here to listen me rant and rave, sometimes I let myself drone on for far too long." Dimitri said, his gaze turning towards her. "I just hope the Pure Ones can return to glory before my ashes are scattered in the air."

[Gabjas]

She listened intently, though she rather wished she hadn't for it was not at all what she had hoped to hear. As an owlet with a mind astir with frivolity and dreams strung with otherworldly imagination, she had always found it rather difficult to maintain a friendship. While others were donning their first pair of battleclaws, smiling proudly as the moonlight caught the metal with a satisfying glint of destruction, she was hovering alone in the library, hidden amongst shelves of ancient stories, cloaked with dust and yellowed with time.

It was there that Paige, hovering over a cracked-open tomb and hungrily absorbing each verse of triumph and pure glory, had developed a fanciful taste for history, and especially of all, the chronicles detailing the battles of the Pure Ones.

They had not been modest recollections in all fairness, and Dimitri, whom would keep her company when he could, would warn her to take with a large grain of salt. These books had been written by long-deceased lords and High Tytos, royalty whom had held their perfect vision of their army with such importance that they had failed to recount the... less fortunate encounters with Guardians or the other enemies. Dimitri had often told her of these losses, choosing not to hide them away in hopes that future generations of purity would learn from their ancestor's mistakes, but alas, never before had Paige known every last detail of Nyra's defeat.

Apparently, it had been less than glorious.

When Paige was young, she had greatly envied Nyra. They always depicted her with such an elegant demeanor, feisty and powerful to boot, but a great beauty despite her scars. Hearing this from Dimitri crushed that dream.

Nyra, the very embodiment of Pure One bravery, strength and wit, had been very much a statue. A relic, to say the least. Every day, she was polished and adored by her loyal subjects, but as soon as the foundations of her pillars faded to dust, she crumbled to nothing. Paige could not help but feel deep pity for the lost queen, rambling on to her army that had once respected but now looked down upon her and murmured the worst into each others ear slits, led her doomed soldiers into a battle of futility against her greatest foes.

Paige reveled in the history, savoring the mental battle cries as they charged in her brain to their imminent deaths. With a gasp of sudden realization, the medic broke out of the odd historical trance, and stared for a spell into the empty air.

"I'm sorry, I missed the last of what you said, I got lost in my thoughts again." she said with a nervous giggle, "I suspect I ought to get my head checked, for I can be as brainless as a vole from time to time. I was just... thinking about Nyra. It seems dreadfully sad to think of such a great owl, a queen I admired all my life, to have had her life ended at such a sad point for everyone. Really makes you think."

Her beak mouthed a few empty words as she wrestled in her mind whether or not to continue. "Perhaps we do need change, and quickly. Perhaps we will make a few changes to the old regime but I believe that if we learned from past mistakes...

the owl kingdoms would finally be ours."

(Ugh, sorry I rambled so much. I find it so easy to slip into Paige's character and just ramble on about whatever she pleases)

[Deleted]

"Well, with all due respect to Nyra, she's evidence of the peril one would find if they loose sight of what is really important. Maybe, in the end, she never was fit to rule over any of us... but that's a pointless debate now. She's gone, her failures have been wash away, it's only important that we do not repeat the same mistakes as she did." Dimitri took a cup from Paige and took a drink. It was a long time since she had made any for him and it was one real luxury he allowed himself to have. He didn't know what she put into it, but it tastes like nectar straight out of Glaumora. His daily meals were always the same bland-tasting mice he always caught himself, so he would allow himself the delight of this one drink from his beloved daughter.

"But I must apologize, I know you didn't come here to listen to an old owl drone on and on about the faults of today's generation. Sometimes I can't help myself, since all the others refuse to heed my advice," Dimitri remarked, a subtle jab towards Commander Katara and her lackeys who held most of the military power in their talons. Despite being a former High Tyto himself, he had been routinely sidelined in favor of those Pure Ones who followed Katara's more soft command. Add to the support she had received from both Thalia and Tytus and Dimitri might as well be a mute owl, all his words were wasted breath.

"I've heard some rumors that you're one of the owls considered to take over training the fledglings, apparently the position has been recently vacated." He walked over towards the small hole and served as a window for his cave and stared outside, watching the full moon in the sky. "While they technically has not made a final decision on the matter, I have no doubts they will decide to offer you the position, your competitions isn't... what you would say, as gifted as you are."