Completed Hunting accident

[Aaze]

54, Spring, 515

It was sunset. Aaze watched with an unwavering gaze, as a fiery red orb of light slowly sank beneath the horizon, and threads of light lingered in the sky, mingling with the rolling clouds, dyeing the heavens first orange, then red, then dark blue, until all that was left of the sunset was a chalky mauve, and then that melted away in turn as stygian darkness took over the sky. Sequin-silver stars like the glowing embers of a dying fire winked down at him, illuminating the atramentous curtain of sky, and then suddenly the clouds parted, and Aaze found himself looking at a lustrous, argent disc casting brilliant rays of moonlight onto the dark grounds...

The hooting of a young owl could be heard during this sunset, down in the wilds near Wind Reach. The owl was well hidden among the treetops, though at closer inspection a small, off-white shape could be seen hopping about on the branches of the great, towering oak tree. His wings would come out every few seconds, gliding easily after his hops to new branches that sprouted from the trunk. A quick hop, a flash of a wing, and a small glide took the owl deeper into the tree, unable to be seen.

"Guys, I'm hungry! I feel as if I could eat an entire cow!" Well, the cow is more like to eat me, honestly. Those things are huge... Aaze glanced at two other owls, the two owls that had their wings wrapped about them. Both of them looked older, but not by much. The bigger of the two, much bigger than the small form beside him, looked to be a great horned owl, its ears sticking up like horns as he raised his head.

"Go back to sleep, little bird. It is too early for all of that, yes it is." The big owl allowed an almighty groan to come from his beak, shifting his massive form slightly to get a better grip on the branch. He opened his left wing slightly, giving the miniscule pygmy owl a gentle nudge. "Natoi, awake and play with Aaze. He's waking me up."

The small pygmy owl cracked open a wild looking eye, staring at the bigger owl in slight anger. "Don't you dare tell me to 'play with Aaze', Taofin. I'm older than you, so I have seniority. You go play with the hatchling." With an indignant hoot, the pygmy owl moved higher up on the branch, until she was above the great owl. Closing her eye once more, she turned her head, until she was faced away from them both.

A puff of his chest and a hoot of anger, the great owl opened its wings giving one powerful flap of his wings so that he was above the smaller owl. "I swear, I do swear, that you are utterly ridiculous. Being two seasons older than me does not give you that much right over me! The nerve of her, I swear."

Gosh, these guys never stop..... Maybe I should just go hunting myself. I will never catch anything with these guys around. The two annoyed the feathers off of Aaze, and he had no qualms about stating so. He never really met owls like these two, who shared a love-hate relationship. A stupid, annoying love-hate relationship. Sometimes, he had the idea of leaving them to their love-hating and tell every creature he encountered to stay away from them, but he hadn't seen any other animals that he could glide with. At least, not any other friendly creatures with wings. The hawks and eagles that he occasionally saw acted oh so superior, as if Aaze was just someone who should clean their pellets after a bit of sport. Gah, the nerve.

Aaze hopped up slightly, flapping his wings quite a bit as to gain altitude. Reaching the highest branch of the tree in a few ticks, he alighted upon the branch easily, wrapping his wings about him. He tilted his head up slightly, his full black eyes turning and staring in contemplation at the giant, lovely white orb.

20 chimes later

The great owl shook slightly, his eyes opening one before the other. He turned his head, all the way one way and then the other, glancing at his surroundings as he woke. He looked around for the two smaller owls, the annoying pygmy and hyper barn. Glancing up, he saw the pygmy owl still sleeping, but higher and higher up was the barn owl, staring at the moon.

Aaze glanced down as he heard a ruffle of feathers, before looking up to stare back up at the moon. Mama, papa, where are you? I haven't seen you since the old one started teaching me, and I was less than a season old. I have become a strong, strong owl, and a good Kelvic, though I have never seen another human before. I hope to go and find that great city of the volcano you told me stories about when I was a tiny chick..... Are you proud of me? He ruffled his own feathers slightly before glide-hoping down to a branch near the waking owl.

Nari | Common|Owl|Thoughts

[Aaze]

"Are you ready to hunt, little bird? It is a nice night out, nice and quiet. None of those humans to disturb us." Taofin gave an amused hoot, watching as Aaze hop-glided down to a lower branch. He did so a little gracefully, though he was still learning. Bunching his skinny legs up and letting go of the branch, he propelled himself a tiny flap of his wings, keeping his wings open slightly to create a small gliding affect. A small twist of his wings, one slightly above the other made him do small spirals as he attempted to not touch any branches on his way down closer to the great horned owl.

"C'mon, Aaze, remember: tail feathers do more than you think to make it easier." Taofin nodded wisely, watching the youngster in his flight attempt.

Aaze gave a slight nod of confirmation, wagging his tail feathers sharply. This created an undesired effect, throwing him way off balance and crashing into a branch. He squawked, grabbing at the branch sharply with his talons. He straightened himself, picking at his flight feathers to put them back into position.

I'm never going to get the hang of this..... Stupid over-twitching butt. Aaze never liked being unable to grasp flying as well as other birds, but he thought that was understandable. Being a Kelvic, he thought he had to keep part of his mind on human functions, or he might forget how to walk as one. Though, being incredibly stubborn, he never gave up at things, which he wasn't about to do now.

"Once more, Taofin! Watch me!" He ruffled his wings in preparation, making sure everything was work properly. Giving his rump a few shakes, he gained a little control over it, so he wouldn't send himself off again.

With a small hop and twitch of his wings, he was off again, tilting his wings. Right wing, too high, lower it down... With a slight twitch of his right wing, he lowered it slightly, listening to his inner-owl, which he was pretty sure he had. Tail feathers, lets try this again. Tiny twitch to the left to straighten the course, big twitch to the right to create a tighter circle..... Now. Time seemed to slow to the Kelvic Barn Owl, as he gave his tail a small twitch to stop his circle, and a bigger one to create a tighter circle going in a different direction. Too much! Bail out. The big twitch sent him going in a circle too tight for him, his off-white body a blur as he spun faster and faster. He opened his wings quickly, but as he couldn't see where he was going, he left wing clipped a branch, sending him toppling over branches. At every branch he hit, he gave a pained squawk, probably collecting bruises on every hit.

"I got him..." Taofin gave a huge flap of his wings, bringing him near Aaze's craching body. He snatched him from the air, flying out of the tree before banking back and reentering the tree. Landing with one foot, he waited until Aaze had situated himself on the branch before letting him go. Natoi had been watching the entire thing with bright eyes, her head turning nearly all the way around as the flew past her.

"You'll get it soon, hatchling. It takes time." She nodded wisely, before resuming to preen her feathers. She took her beak and opened it slightly, letting a feather enter her mouth and gently straightening it. Aaze watched her, before letting go a small hoot of annoyance.

"C'mon, lets go hunting already! I'm hungry." He looked around, twisting his head slightly to the left. He commenced in bobbing his head now, attempting to get better distance information on the small creature that he just saw. "I have one! I'm gonna go get it." Stopping his bobbing, Aaze flapped his wings once, the silence unbroken as he did so. He closed them slightly again, before diving. The branch he was on was about 40 feet in the air, so he kept his dive for about 10 feet, before easily leveling out with another twitch of his wings and finished off the small maneuver by opening his wings all the way. The little creature he had saw was a vole, and the thing was running now, probably to another place to get food.

Just watch him.... Let him get to the feeding place, and remember it. Might be more delicious voles coming to the same place. Listening to his 'inner owl', Aaze decided not to attack, but to glide silently. He never had to look down, as he used his ear slits to track him. The smallest squeak or rustle from a plant was what he could hear, and he let it guide him through the forest.

Nari | Common | Owl | Thoughts

[Aaze]

Bank left, small twitches with tail feathers and lower yourself.... Don't be scared. Aaze obediently listened to the voice in his head, tilting his left and right wing accordingly to follow the vole. He made his tail feathers give a little shake to point up slightly, so that, little by little, he was lowering himself. He fell back a bit, now using his eyes to watch the vole as he lowered himself even more, until he was a little more than ten feet above the ground. Giving a strong, eerily silent flap of his wings, he sped up, so that he was right above the vole and was now tracking it by hearing alone.

The vole gave a squeak, alerting the owl that he was flying right above the tiny creature. He cocked his head around slightly, bobbing it up and down as to get an estimate of the tree growing larger in front of him. Forgetting the vole for a crucial tick, he zeroed in on the status of the growing stuff under the tree. As he loomed closer, he saw a bunch of tiny seeds inside of small hallow in the tree. With another twitch of his tail feathers, he dropped lower, so that he was now only five feet above the ground, yet his proper distance and silent flying let him go undetected.

The vole altered its course slightly, his tiny head looking around frantically. He didn't know if any predators were around. But, he didn't check the sky.... And all those really low thumps could have been something dangerous!

The tiny creature looked up suddenly, catching the young hunter by surprise. He had failed! He had gotten too close, too close and entered the voles range of vision. But it was too late for the vole to react. Only a few feet above the tiny thing, Aaze kind of sat up in the air, tilting his wings so he would still glide. Opening his sharp, gleaming talons, he closed in on the target. The weight of him stunned the vole for a small instant, the small instant marking his doom. Closing his talons rapidly, Aaze gave a powerful flap of his wings, uprooting some grass and a bit of dirt that he had grabbed while catching the vole.

Flying the creature to the nearest tree, he alighted upon the branch with one talon, the other already bringing the vole closer to his beak. Turning his leg slightly, he sent a quick, hard jab downwards to the back of the voles neck, sending his beak into its brain. The vole was killed instantly. Having looked over the vole sufficiently, he opened his beak wide, stuffing the entire thing into his mouth. Looking up and jerking his head in hard thrusts, he ate the entire vole, not taking one bite.

About 15 Chimes later

"And then, he looked up! And in one beautiful swoop, I grabbed the sucker real easy like. The thing was scratching and biting like no ones business, messing up the undersides of my feet bad." At this, Aaze lifted up his leg, showing the tiny scratch on his foot.

"I then flew up to a tree, and did the jab thingy you showed me, Taofin, and poked its brain REAL hard! I think I put a new hole in its skull, man! That thing was the best I ever had, too." Taofin looked at Natoi, before uttering a deep, rumbling hoot that was supposed to be a laugh. He kept laughing and laughing, while Natoi looked as if she wanted to, but wouldn't for Aaze's sake.

"Whats so funny, you big oaf? I'm a natural born hunter, not to be taken lightly!" Aaze gave a shrill hoot of annoyance, glaring at Taofin.... Or, just staring at Taofin in what he hoped was a really mad expression.

"No, no. Its just that I remembered my first catch. Woo, boy, it was nice. Really nice. Was it not nice, Aaze? Taofin nudged Aaze roughly in a friendly manner, bringing the light mood back to the young owl.

"It was incredible! The best thing in my life, by far! Aaze nodded slowly, trying to look older than his days.

"Good. Hunting is in your blood. I know that for sure." Taofin gave a hoot of knowing, his eyes sparkling with amusement.

Wait, does he know? I thought I was being really good, not shifting at all! How did he find out? Aaze looked at the big owl, contemplating him before moving his wings upward in a shrugging manner. No matter. He can tell everyone, I don't care.

Aaze nodded at what Taofin had said, thinking of his mama and papa, the strangely unbonded ones. They were excellent hunters, and he believed he got his skills from them. He always wondered what and how they hunted. He remembers vaguely a few arguments they had, growling and barking and yipping at each other in that wolf tongue. He learned a little of it, but not enough. The only word he knew was 'pack', and he thought that what mama and papa were a part of. He tried to find wolves during his small travels across different parts of the mountains, but he only ever saw the regular animals in the regular forest.

Tilting his head slightly in deep thought, he allowed Natoi and Taofin to talk to each other about their favorite hunts. Big things.... Lots of them. With very sharp teeth and small but also sharp talons..... C-c-cl-claw. Claw, they had, not talons. So, if there was many of them, and they were really dangerous, and they were pretty big, what did they eat...... He looked around, pondering. He glanced at the mountain again, seeing a small empty cave he had stayed in for a few nights....

"Guys, I'm going to go hunt wolverines! Not the big ones, I'm just going to eat a baby one."

The only response he got was blank stares and speechlessness as he looked at his two friends.

Nari | Common | Owl | Thoughts

[Aaze]

Taofin looked at Aaze with surprised and angry eyes, and he had no idea why he was angry. Other than the fact that Aaze was risking his life for no apparent reason other than to go and eat a freaking wolverine which was totally insane and stupid and what kind of owl thinks of eating a wolverine?

"You petching idiot! After all I told you, you're gonna throw your life away like that?!?!" Taofin was infuriated, because to him, it wasn't even funny if it was a joke. Owls don't joke around about going to eat something that probably kills owls all the time! Sure, it could be vengeance for past brothers and sisters who were killed by those things, but just because he was hungry?!?!? Taofin was ready to tie the hatchling up until he got this absurd idea out of his shyke-for-brains head. Taofin said all of this out loud, too, curses and all. He was that angry. Taofin never really swore, or yelled in anger; he was just too jovial for that type of thing. Sure, he did reprimand little ones when he had too, but that was for their own good. They usually got an extra mouse at dinner, or even a vole if they corrected themselves, and if he was feeling extra generous.

Natoi, on the other hand, approached it differently. "Aaze. Why are you thinking of doing such a thing? You do know there is a big chance you could die?

Aaze gave a nod, thinking all along in his head: And there is a chance I will eat so good I will be as big as Taofin.... Instead of stating this, however, he merely said, "I know, Natoi. I'm just going to do it because I want to eat a wolverine. Haven't you ever had the urge to eat something other than voles and mice?

The pygmy owl gave the larger barn a small stare, before stating easily, "Yea, the occasional piece of grass, stupid boy. She flew closer to Aaze, perching on a branch that put her slightly above him.

She then commenced to rage at the boy.

Flapping around his head and buffeting him with her wings, she screeched at him, scarring the living ghost from him. She pecked at his wings, and hit him across the head with her wings many, many times, but never got him with her talons; those were too dangerous.

"Stupid, stupid boy! What kind of owl are you?!?! You dare call yourself a mighty Tyto Alba, and then start plotting things like that? You should be ashamed of yourself. We should let you go and get eaten by a wolverine, might teach you some common sense!! But, you'll be dead, and being dead ISN'T FUN!" Aaze cowered away from the onslaught, squawking in fear and hurt, trying to get his wings up to shield himself. Taofin, on the other hand, flew to Natoi quickly and grabbed her with his talons, she was so small. He flew to a branch a little farther away from the boy and waited until the pygmy was done shouting obscenities and threats at him. He let her go, and she just perched on the branch, glaring at Aaze. She believed he had so much potential, so much hidden strength, if only he would realize it and give up this poisonous dream. It wasn't even a dream, it was more like an illusion of super-false grandeur. No owl smaller than a fully grown big horned owl could possibly eat an entire wolverine, but they were to big to actually get in and kill them. This went through her head, staring at the medium owl with disdain.

"Gosh, Natoi, I was just kidding. I just wanted to see how you reacted, and now I wish I hadn't said anything. I was never going to try a wolverine, no one does that anymore. Gosh, honestly, that hurt.... Aaze rubbed his head with a wing, touching a spot that got hit more times than others. He lowered his wings and commenced preening them, straightening them out and removing any blood on them.

Taofin looked at the young hatchling, and burst out laughing. Natoi and Aaze just looked at him, watching the big fat oaf laugh to his heart's content. It actually did take awhile, as Taofin was one of many laughs and japes.

35 Ticks Later

Taofin finally started to calm down, his stomach hurting from it now. He had started choking on a pellet at one point, which he yarped up and continued to laugh like an idiot. Looking at Aaze, he pointed with a wing, still laughing in small bursts. "You... You had..... You had me there, man. I thought.... I thought you were really.... Going to go and eat a freakin' wolverine, man. Oh, you got me good...."

I still am going to go eat that wolverine, man. Just wait....

45 Chimes Later

Aaze looked around, his head swiveling slightly to the left and right as he scanned his surroundings. It was almost dawn, and Taofin and Natoi had went back to sleep after their hunting, grumbling about wolverines. Aaze had stayed back, preferring to listen to the crickets chirp and the vole under the tree rustle around and squeak with a mouse. He could have gotten them, yea, but he was waiting for his deluxe meal, the one that would keep him full for possibly weeks, if he felt like stretching it.

He shook himself slightly, letting a few old feathers fall to ground. The mouse and vole there ran off in fright when the feather landed, squeaking way to much to be stealthy. Aaze glanced around again, looking at Natoi and Taofin again. He hop-glided upwards, again and again, trying to reach the top. It took him less time, as he was really trying to utilize his tail feathers, but he still hit a good amount of branches on his way up from mistakes. Looking around, he obviously noticed the sun was still down, but the moon was falling slowly through the sky. He had to make it to the den before the sun came up, or before Taofin woke up for his light-time flight around the forest.

Gripping the top branch with his talons, Aaze jumped, flapping his wings rather quickly to gain speed as he headed towards the wolverine's den.

Nari | Common | Owl | Thoughts

[Aaze]

His wings outstretched, the young Aaze can be seen gliding in a fast pace above the treetops. The sky is getting lighter, so the need for speed is greater upon the Kelvic's 'quest'.

Using his tail feathers to maneuver and still keep his glide going, he adjusted them so they would point up as far as they could go, the air going under him now the force that is pushing him down. He descended rapidly, becoming a blur as the action gave him even greater speed, though the idea of crashing was very real. If he were to even clip a wing, the damage would be immense at this velocity, and his momentum would take him spinning even faster out of control to hit something very hard. The possibility of death was a very real thing indeed, both now and at his destination or, as Aaze liked to call it, 'his Great Quests End'.

Still being only about 15 feet above the ground due to his excessive head bobbing for perception, he proceeded an attempt to slow down, shifting out of his flying form by creating an attack position and slowing his momentum down considerably, though he would still be going really, really fast. He closed his wings and titled them up slightly, though wincing as a wall of air felt like a fist to his wings when he move too quickly. I'll have to work on that later...... Always move slowly when trying to do semi-complicated maneuvers. He gave a small chuckling hoot as he drastically slowed, but he was unable to move around much because of his position. He was severly vulnerable now to crashing which was..... Really, really bad. I need to learn how to slow down properly.... Gah!

Slowing to a pace where he could actually see where he was going and able to maneuver even better, he continued his journey, his mind set on the task ahead.

About 34 Chimes later

That morning’s sunrise was a breathtaking display of radiant colors. Bright streaks of red, pink, and orange slowly overcame the dark blue and purple of the twilight sky. The sky resembled a prism; all the colors blended perfectly into each other. The sun itself was just peeking out of the horizon, and its brilliant rays already shined brightly and began to warm the air.

Aaze gained at the sun, his transparent eyelid sliding smoothly down to reduce the sun's light. He looked around, his ears picking up faint traces of small snuffling. Its the wolverines.... He knew this only because he had watched them pass on their way to their den, the big one make louder snuffling noises. He engraved the sound into his brain, waiting until breeding season was over so that he could taste one of the babes......

Following the small noises, he banked slightly to the left, coming up towards the mountain. Of course they are in the mountains..... Or near them. He averted his path so that he was pointed straight to it, his asymmetrical ear slits giving him awesome hearing abilities. He tracked by his hearing alone; his eyesight was really good in both forms, too, but his hearing.... That gave him better information on location. None of that senseless bobbing of his head to see the depth.

Wait, wait..... Where is that coming from? He stopped, hovering in mid-air with strong flaps of his wings. The snuffling noise was getting louder, aye, but it was coming from two different directions, and he couldn't tell which! He did a small dive and flap to continue his gliding to the nearest tree, where he perched.

Tilting his head curiously, he move his head around in all directions, stopping when he got his head in the middle of the air waves. Noises were coming from the left and the right, so he was able to discern it better..... But he had to listen closer......

Left...... It's moving. Bound...... East, towards that small pond! Away from the mountain.... Lots of crunching..... Big creature! Er..... Two..... No, one, its running. Faster thumps than two walking, not enough for two running. One big wolverine.... The... Mother? The babies are alone, to the right! Lets do this.... He alighted from the branch, keeping his head positioned so that he would always lead with the right ear. One would think how he doesn't crash, but really, his hearing was so good that he could move out of the way using the sound of rushing air. Barn owls were that good.

About ten chimes, later, he found the den. It was under a huge maple, and the young owl could barely see in it. He landed next to the entrance, before hopping in.

Darkness..... Complete dark. This was all he could see as he entered the short tunnel to the round chamber, where the babies were kept. He crept along slowly, and as he entered the end chamber, he heard deep snoring. Wow..... So much snoring for such little babies... But the sounds couldn't have been more helpful. Now, he was using his ears to approximate distances and edges and all the like. Exactly like a bats ultrasound, but very, very much inferior. He only got basic shapes and sizes out of it, and a lot of the time, he was wrong as to how things looked. This was a case of not using his ears properly..... Moving closer to the deep snoring, he reached out with a wing, softly brushing a partially round object. He brought up his other wing, softly brushing it and getting the general shape... He was looking for a head to beak-jab for the kill.

That is.... the snout! Okay.... I've got front of the neck.... Wow, these babies have thick necks, honestly. And finally, the back of the head! I can feel the ears... He scooted closer, so that he could make a powerful downward thrust....

Aaze jabbed his head down, aiming for what he thought was the neck of a baby. He couldn't have been more wrong. It was the neck of the mother wolverine! With a huge roar, the beast sat up quickly, its back brushing the ceiling. The roar woke up the tiny babies, who mewed. Mewed!

The only thing going through his head was one thought: What kind of wolverine MEWS?!?!?

The mother wolverine sent a viscous slash at the young bird, who hadn't seen it coming. The claws tore across his chest, giving him a deep, blood wound across his feathered chest. He squawked in agony, trying to take to the air, but the small space only allowed him to hit his head and fall back down. He was at a sever disadvantage in the small place, unable to fly, so his talons would not be as useful as they could. His beak could be used as a weapon, but it was pointed down on his face, so he'd have to get above the thing.... But he couldn't because he couldn't fly! Aaze, you petching son of messy poo! How did you end up here? With stupid stupidity, you stupid.... Ergh!

The young owl raised a leg, holding his wings out in an attempt to gain balance. He swung his legs, his talons grazing the big creature. His could see the few pieces of hair that fell from the beast, but it acted unaffected...... While Aaze was sent swinging off balance. His leg buckled from under him, and a few feathers from his wings got caught together, slightly pulling on his wings. This usually irritated the young one, but he was concerned about other parts of his body. Namely his chest. The wound was now positively gushing blood, the red liquid matting his remaining feathers and staining them, creating a bloody river going down his upper body. The world was slowly darkening, and he knew he didn't have much time left. If only he could get out, have the few seconds to phase and maybe the thing would leave him alone..... Just maybe.....

The fierce roar of the wolverine brought him back from his hazed planning, the sound of the thing hurting his ear slits at such close quarters. The petching babies were still over there mewling annoyingly, which earned a stare from Aaze, though he didn't know if he was looking at them, his hearing was so off..... The flop upon the ground that happened next saved his life.

He was heading towards the exit, his wing attempting but failing to stem the flow of blood from his chest. His wings were also slightly bloody, matted with dirt and mud and other substances found in a wolverine's den. He looked like he crawled from a nightmare..... And to him, he really did. This was his own personal nightmare, his own personal quest that was going to result in his own personal death..... Which he dreaded with all his young heart.

A roar. Coming from outside of the den.

No, please.... No! Don't.... don't come... Just... His mind was in a frantic state, and he was definitely panicking. He felt a shiver up his spine, as if someone had walked over his final resting place........

The male wolverine came charging in, his paws swinging in a wide, random arc. The arc, lucky, fortunately, was too high to hit Aaze's already battered form, the paw instead hitting the female. The father wolverines momentum sent him forward during his arc, and instinct told Aaze to drop like a bit of messy poo. He did so, and narrowly avoided getting crushed. The two wolverines crashed, giving Aaze the opportunity to escape.... He struggled up as fast as he could, his partially undamaged wing used as support. He half crawled, half ran down the small tunnel, before bursting into the full light.

As the world faded around him, he shifted. Becoming a young boy that looked to be only 12, he ensured his own life, as the wolverines wouldn't dare come out when the human smell was about. The boy was in horrid shape, the same downward claw marks from his owl form present on his human form, bleeding freely. His right arm was partially broken in multiple places, the left being more or less undamaged save for a few scratches, but was covered in blood, like most of his body. His breathing was ragged, his black hair matted down on his head.

The last thing he saw before he lost consciousness was a figure that seemed to have red hair, sprinting towards him..........

Nari | Common | Owl | Thoughts

[Vizayas]

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