Grace

Chapter one

The Pure

A fiery-feathered owl stared into the darkness. His head was covered by a metal mask, his claws were enclosed with a pair of iron claws that could rip an owl to pieces and perhaps knock out a human with a single blow, if enough strength was forced behind them. This was a Pure Owl. This was a leader. The owl standing here was Metal Beak, the new leader of the Pure ones.

That should have brought peace to an owl's mind, to be so high up, so untouchable. Alas, fortune favours those on the 'good' side. That he was not.

Thus he found himself standing inside of the throne room, staring straight ahead blankly, his eyes lit with amber flames as a memory rushed through him.

[Flashback]

Owls fighting in scorching fire. Trees burning wildly. The screeches of scared, burned and hurt owls echoed through his ears. He fought his hardest, his best. He wanted to show that he belonged. That he was a Pure owl. His reddish-amber eyes sensed some movement.

An owl that he knew very well closed up on him. "Don't do it Kludd, just return to our team and all will be forgiven," the voice tried, sounding pleading and weak.

He shook his head in resentment. "No I am one of the Pure ones now!" he replied fiercely, denying all of his past, his family. The fight had begun. He would not be swayed by a past that had never really felt like it had been his. That phase, that desperate expression did not phase him in the least. The heat may have burned around him, but under his skin, all was cold, even his beating heart. Hatred, he knew was the key to victory. One's anger gave one strength. This is what he had been taught. A lesson he would not forget.

Kludd tackled his brother first, but Soren was faster. He cursed his brother silently, irritated by this.

Why was his brother always the better one at everything?

Kludd despised his brother right now, craving nothing but to prove himself the stronger owl. He was the elder brother! It was he who should be winning this fight. He punched Soren with his wings. Yet, it was no use. Soren didn't plan on giving up any more than he was, and the Pure were losing.

Now wasn't the time to give up!

If Kludd had learned something from his Pure brothers, it was not to give up and use your darkest emotions as your ally in battle. But that wasn't even the main thing; not giving up was.

As they fought amidst the trees, the older sibling used all his strength to hit Soren. Too late he realised that something pushed him.

He felt his feathers burning, his wings weighed down and heavy. Suddenly he couldn't fly any more, unbalanced, searing hot pain crawling up his singed flesh. He fell into the greedy flames, the darkness enclosing him...

[End of Flashback]

The masked owl blinked and then opened his eyes to the present. His body shifted, his feathers ruffled, beads of sweat forming beneath his flesh as though the fire was very much real and indeed present within his home. This he knew, he realised, was not true. Exhaling sharply, he calmed, his body dropping slightly.

He had almost died a month ago.

It was by chance - perhaps lady luck had for once favoured him over his enemies - that he somehow survived, able to then returned to the owls that had truly raised him. Owls who had managed, perhaps not to win, but at least keep their kingdom. They'd fought for it beak and talon. St Aeglious was the least they deserved for their efforts. Now, he was their ruler, a king that sought revenge for all the wrongs done to him. Starting off with those scars that burdened his face, grotesque in his mind.

Elsewhere...

An owlet was flying over the fields and trees, quite a distance away from St. Aeglious. For an owlet, she was an exceptional flyer and was almost as good as her parents, gliding with ease in the sky.

She was passing a group of humming birds that were flying over the flowers before they would close their petals in for the night, sighing softly to herself. Her voice was tinged with melancholy.

Granted, her home was great and she had a loving family. The most peaceful life you could imagine was one she had lived for years. No arguments, no fights, no great misfortune - unless you count those few times when she bruised her wings against the tree during her first attempts to fly, or her great grandmother Silva passing away - seemed to have ever passed her way. Nonetheless, she felt as though she were missing something. After all, all being crave something. It is nigh impossible not to desire anything in the world. If perhaps she could at least get friends. She had met no other owlets. Not ever. She lived here only with her parents and had no brother she could mention. Many a times had she been told what had happened and why she ended up here, but that didn't make her any happier. It tore her heart every time she thought about it. What could have been, elsewhere. The opportunities there where in the outside world, beyond the meadow.

As small group of trees appeared in her view, broad-leafed, with stable, thick trunks and rough, wrinkly bark. The golden owlet landed with grace on the top of a beautiful oak, tucking her wings behind her, with practised ease. Hiding her sorrows behind a more neutral mask, she stepped inside the built in home she had slept in and eaten in all her life.

To no surprise, she could see her mother and father waving at her. "Mornin' sweetheart," they both greeted her. It strangely lacked some of the usual merriment around it. Living with them so long, they were close. Close enough for her not to want to worry her parents with her own desires.

"Mornin' ma, mornin' pa," the owlet responded, with a faint smile. They too smiled and went back to their newspapers.

To be sure, not all owls could read. That being said, her parents had been raised much closer to human society, at the edges of human towns. They had achieved their reading skills when they were young, before realising the true amount of usefulness the written language would have, even in an owls life. They were right. Many a times would there have been forest fires near by, or accidents involving other animals, or even humans. To be aware of them, meant having the option to escape before it was too late.

"Grace, your breakfast is on the table," her mother told her daughter, in a soft voice. The golden owlet bobbed her head in acknowledgement and stepped over the wooden floor of their home, the part of it they considered to be a dining room of sorts. She gulped down the mouse and licked her beak.

"Mmm... mouse," the younger owl approved enthusiastically.

Her father and mother chuckled to themselves, eliciting an embarrassed flush from Grace and then started whispering something to each other, in a concerned tone. Finally, they turned towards her. Well, it was about time. She was still there, after all. "Grace, darling, ma and I need to tell you something," her father announced. He didn't look too happy.

"Father, is something wrong? Did I do something wrong?" Grace inquired, frowning.

The male Tyto shook his head. "I know it is your birthday today, your sixteenth. Unfortunately, we need to move out, starting tomorrow," her father quickly explained.

Holding her breath, shocked, the owlet didn't know whether she should be pleased by this turn of events, or worried about what events might have led to this decision. She had lived here almost her whole life, so why would they move now? Her father and mother were both very homely, stay-in-the-one-place sort of owls, as far as she was aware.

"Your mother had been patrolling the area last night and she saw some strangers. From the way they acted, they seemed to be one of the 'Pure'," her father continued, sounding more distressed with every word. His daughter understood. From the tales she'd read and been told, Grace had grown to detest the Pure owls, for their cruel and manipulative ways. They were a nasty bunch. A group of owls that gave Tytos a bad name. "And I had heard of a forest fire. A very strange one too. I suppose I did not see it, but I most certainly read about it. Believe it or not, it happened in the wood next to ours!"

For a while, a heavy silence floated over the family. No one spoke, until the daughter chipped in.

"But surely, those owls were just passing by," Grace tried to convince her father to let them stay. For all her wishes, this place truly was lovely. A sudden fear gripped her when she thought about what seeing the outside world meant. She'd never realised this until now, but change was a terrifying thing at times. Her father shook his head.

"I very highly doubt it, daughter. The Pure ones only 'pass by' if they want to steal our owlets and murder innocent owls," he disagreed, immediately dismissing the very idea of a harmless Pure owl. When it came to the owls of St. Aeglious, there was no changing that male's mind. "I know this is hard for us. Particularly for you, Grace, but we can't just stay here and die," he reasoned.

With there being no sense in attempting to win her father over with counter arguments, it was clear they would have to move. They quickly packed whatever belongings they could carry in their claws and as the sun rose, the owlet fell asleep for her last time here. Only briefly beforehand, did she at the beloved meadow, within a valley that had been so long undisturbed. Until now that was.

Little did she know that a red feathered owl had been watching her all day from the shadows, seeing her potential.

This one is bound to please the king and queen! It thought with a menacing smile. His eyes gleamed with a familiar shine, that could only belong to one of two owls: Jatt... or Jutt.

A/N - I know you'll hate me for it, but I have some explanations to make. As well as some editing to do. So before anyone who by chance is re-reading this reads on, beware: the grammar in the following chapters will likely be awful. As for word choice and sentence structure... don't get too hopeful. I will try to keep the plot the same, but this definitely needs tweaking. Also, if you find any plot holes, please inform me of them.

Owls in this universe age the way humans do. And so Grace is sixteen. Yeah, changed the age somewhat, because of the events of the story and the pacing.

I don't entirely know the sequence of events from the film, because I have only seen it a small amount of times. So it will not necessarily be accurate.

Grace's parents can read, because it is possible hear for an owl to learn how to... in this universe. If an owl can be a blacksmith, an owl can also read newspapers. This is not a common ability and is usually less rare with owls living close to human civilisation. Though humans will not feature in this story. Or at least, this instalment.