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- Story Listed as: Fiction For Teens
- Theme: Action & Adventure
- Subject: Courage / Heroism
- Published: 02/07/2017
Prologue
A warm hot sun breeze flew through the forest. All the nests of the Mothertree, the tallest tree in the forest, were occupied by soundly sleeping birds. There was no need to line the nests with feathers and moss, because the nights were so warm. The only bird who couldn’t sleep was Jaywing. She was the leader of all the birds of the Mothertree: The leader’s aide, the fighters, the hunters, the tenderfoots…all of the birds in the Flock.
But for once, Jaywing didn’t feel at peace with herself, as she usually did when she tried to sleep. She was trying to figure out the feeling that wriggled inside of her. She could feel a strange urge to protect her flock, and she felt the presence of a newcomer, soon to arrive. No matter how hard she tried, she could not figure it out, and she fell into a fitful sleep.
In her dream, Jaywing was flying through an unknown forest, but a forest that had much better hunting and flying space than her forest. Suddenly the sunny sky turned a dark shade of gray, and rain started pouring. All the trees she saw burst into flame, and didn’t go out in spite of the rain. She saw nests and birds falling into the foaming sea that the rain had created. She tried to reach out for a screaming chick that had hardly opened its eyes, but her own wings were drenched, and were pulling her down into the whirlpool of destruction…
Just before she hit the water, she thought she heard a whispering voice in her head say, an oncoming storm of fire and water…the ultimate destruction of the Flock. Then she hit the water, and all was dark.
Chapter 1
Talon woke to the sound of scuffling right next to him. His sister, Feather was wriggling around. “Do you mind? It’s not even midnight!” he muttered through his feathers.
“Sorry, Talon. I just can’t stop thinking about chicks,” she whispered.
Talon jerked his head out from under his wing completely. “You’re expecting chicks? Finally it might’ve worked,” he started ranting on enthusiastically.
“Talon, don’t get so happy. We don’t know for sure if these are actually chicks coming. I felt this last time, and there were no chicks!” Feather said. She felt horrible about spoiling her mate’s excitement again, but she wasn’t sure if she could ever have chicks.
“Come on, be more optimistic! We could finally be able to raise our own children.” Talon was obviously not thinking.
Too late, the dove realized that the chicks would be raised in the presence of Noflights. No bird would want their children raised with Noflights, eating their pellets, and drinking the metal-tinged water.
As he thought, he realized that he himself was hungry. His belly was growling loud enough to disturb Feather, who had settled and started to breathe more slowly.
“Go get something to eat,” she said. “That way we can all get some rest.”
As Talon made his way to the seed dish, he wished he could get into the real world and eat berries and actual seeds, drink pure fresh water that didn’t have the metal tinge to it…
He bent his neck down to grab a pellet in his beak. The seeds tasted bleak in his beak, and they rubbed on his tongue. After a few meager beakfuls, he scooted over to the water dish. He eyed the water distrustfully and finally took a drop of the water to wash away the food. Drinking Noflight water was like chewing the bars of his cage.
After a couple more sips, Talon made his way back to Feather, who was soundly sleeping. “Get some rest now, Talon,” she murmured. Talon settled down next to her and drifted into a deep sleep.
That night, his dreams were filled with terror. He was in an unknown forest and the trees were burning bright, despite the rain that was pouring down. The water was swirling down into a churning sea of foam. But what really scared Talon was all the birds that were being sucked down into the water. From the oldest bird to the newborn chick, they were all falling down so far. He tried to help any birds that were near him, but his sodden wings were dragging him down, too. As he hit the water he heard a voice, so soft it was almost impossible to hear, whisper, an oncoming storm of fire and water, will be the ultimate destruction of the flock.
When Talon woke up, the first thing he saw was Feather’s face. He jerked his head out from under his wing and started gasping for breath. The cage he was in suddenly seemed too small. Frantically, he flapped down to the door and stuck his beak out through the metal bars.
“Talon, what’s wrong?” Feather called. She sounded panicked, and that just made Talon more upset. Finally, he slipped the lock open and fluttered out, landing on the windowsill of the Noflight nest. “Bad dreams,” he replied, panting.
As he watched out the window, the milky light of dawn was spilling into the nest. Talon watched as a flock of birds passed overhead. Feather flew over next to him and eyed him carefully. Talon glanced back. “Really, I’m fine! It was just a bad dream.”
“’Just a bad dream’,” Feather mocked. “The way you were twitching and gasping would have made anyone think it was a bad dream.”
“It was nothing, really,” Talon mumbled.
“If you say so,” Feather sighed, then flew back to the cage.
Talon looked out the window again. The flock had gone. He sighed; he could have watched it all day. He longed to be out of the Noflight nest, feeling the wind in his feathers as he flew through the open air. He was startled out of his thoughts by none other than the very Noflight he was thinking about. It lumbered down the hallway, still in its sleeping feathers. Its huge eyes were bright, and brightened even more as the Noflight saw Talon.
It stretched out a fat, plump fingered hand and Talon knew it was a sign to step up, literally stepping up onto one of the fingers. Talon hated this part the most, because the fingers were so fleshy and it was hard to get a grip. He was relieved when the Noflight set him down on its shoulder and lumbered away.
Talon sat on the Noflights shoulder for the whole Noflight morning routine. They ate by shoving the strange food in through their huge pink beak-if you could call it a beak. It was set right into their flat faces, underneath a nose that protruded from the middle of the face. The food was held on a metal stick with a wide end, and they put the food in their mouths using it. There was also another thing almost exactly like it, except it was split into prongs. Like a snake’s tongue, only split into thirds instead of halves.
Talon hardly paid attention to these things. He was always busy watching out of every window he passed on the Noflights shoulder. He saw the trees of the forest, and the busy towers of the Noflight city in the distance. Though mostly he watched the shadow of birds flitting through the trees, and wished with all his heart that he could be out there with them.
The worst complication about his dreams was Feather. She thought she was going to lay eggs, and she was not as keen as Talon to enter the wild. She would be even less keen now that she knew she would be laying soon. Talon sighed. He probably would never get a chance to see the world. Little did he know how wrong he was.
Chapter 2
Talon looked out the window at the overcast, rainy day. There were no flocks flitting about; they were probably all in their nests. Talon couldn’t stop feeling guilty and selfish, as he had a nice warm nest with heat and shelter from the rain, and they had dripping trees to live in. No matter how hard he tried, he could not get the feeling of betrayal out of his head.
Feather stirred next to him. “When will the rain stop?” she grumbled. “It’s been going on for days. That stupid Noflight won’t take us outside at all, and I haven’t had a whiff of fresh air!”
“Calm down, Feather,” Talon soothed. “It’ll stop soon.”
“That’s what you said two days ago,” she muttered.
Talon gave her a glance through narrowed eyes. She didn’t seem herself. Ever since one of the Noflights left, and an elderly Noflight had come to take care of them, she had seemed grumpy about everything. She probably misses the Noflights, Talon thought. He hardly missed them at all. But he knew how different Feather felt.
As the old Noflight came out from the place where she slept, she limped past the doves’ cage and waved her pudgy, featherless wing at the birds. Talon didn’t even notice. She went into the kitchen, where the Noflights prepared all their meals, and started making a sweet smelling liquid. Whatever, Talon thought. Why am I even thinking about it?
The day progressed by, slowly and steadily, though the two birds knew nothing to do. Feather kept her distance from the old Noflight, and from Talon, too. Whenever the Noflight wanted her to step up, she backed up until she could no more, and eventually was forced to step on to the fleshy finger. When Talon tried to talk to her, she either pretended that she was asleep, or she just scaled the cage to the other side, forever keeping away from him.
Finally, as the days went by so slowly, the original Noflights came back, and the old Noflight left. Talon hoped with all his heart that Feather would be back to her original self. Fortunately, the rain did stop, and the Noflights took Feather and Talon outside a lot more. As Talon hoped, Feather slowly turned back to her lively self.
* * * *
So many days had passed, but Feather didn’t think that there were any chicks. She hoped that it did and that there were tiny lives stirring inside her, but she didn’t feel anything. She wasn’t tired and she could fly normally without being dragged down by her weight.
She knew that the time would come to break the news to Talon that there was a very high chance that the chicks would never come. But perhaps Feather was just being impatient. It hadn’t been that long, and maybe- hopefully- she would have her very own chicks. But the thing that bothered her the most was the fact that Talon had his sights set on leaving, and if he did leave, it might be before the chicks had opened eyes. If Talon did leave, the chicks would never know their father.
Feather was so caught up in her turmoil that she didn’t notice Talon was still sitting on top of the cage, staring out the window, at the forest beyond. He had been sitting there for almost the whole day, neglecting food and water. Feather made her way up to where Talon was perched.
“Come down and eat some food, or at least have a drink of water,” Feather pleaded. Slowly, Talon turned towards her, and Feather gasped. Talon’s eyes where misted, all the way around the pupil. “You are not going to have chicks, are you?” he asked, looking back through the window. Feather felt sick, seeing her mate in this state. But she had to tell him.
“No, I’m not going to have chicks,” she whispered. Talon sighed wistfully. Then he blinked, and all the mist in his eyes left them. “It doesn’t matter,” he shook his head. Feather felt even more sick, seeing Talon shrug it away like he just did.
“How can you say that!” she cried. Talon looked her straight in the eye.
“If you look back on all the times we have tried, and then progress from there to this, it just makes sense, that you-“
“Can never have chicks,” Feather finished, looking away. “Say no more. I get it.”
Now it was Talon’s turn to feel sick. A dreadful feeling of guilt passed over Talon, and stayed there. He had managed to make Feather feel even more horrible over herself, plus feeling guilty that she could not have Talon’s children. Talon knew he couldn’t go on like this. As he made his decision, he vowed never to make Feather upset again.
Chapter 3
As the days passed, Feather still did not recover from what Talon had said. Also, Feather had not been seeing Talon during the day, only in the morning and evening. When she did see him, he would be flapping around the Noflight nest, examining every window and door. Feather knew he was looking for a way out, but she didn’t feel the tiniest twinge of regret.
Finally, after so many days of flying and searching, an opportunity presented itself. One morning, the Noflights all came out with huge lumps of cloth and a very thick fabric. They all loaded the lumps into their “vehicle” as the Noflights called it. The word still felt strange on Talon and Feather’s tongue. But as the Noflights all filed into the vehicle, Talon felt joy bubbling up inside him. This could be the chance he was waiting for!
The Noflights took Talon and Feather and put them in their night cage. The birds knew that when they loaded the night cage into the vehicle it meant that they would travel away from the Noflight nest. The cage was loaded into the vehicle, in between two of the Noflights. They took the two birds out of the cage and onto the shoulders of one of the Noflights. Feather immediately scrambled off the Noflight, across the cage and on to the other Noflights far shoulder.
One of the older Noflights inserted a shiny stick into a slot in the front of the vehicle, and when he turned it, the vehicle rumbled into life. It rolled out of the Noflight nest and onto a huge stretch of, hard, black material. The vehicle sped up until it was zooming down the black path. The two birds didn’t feel any wind, though they were going so fast.
After rolling along for almost a whole day, with occasional stops in between, the Noflights finally rolled the vehicle down a dirt path, down to the end. The rumbling stopped. They were in a grassy meadow, with forest surrounding all sides. On the far end of the meadow, there was a small creek that ran into a smooth puddle.
“Talon?” Feather asked.
“Yes?” Talon looked at Feather.
“Please don’t go. I would hate to lose you. And have you ever even though about how the Noflights would feel? They take care of us, and they love us. We were born with them. It makes them part of our home.”
“Feather, I’m sorry,” Talon said. “But I can’t stand sitting at the window, watching all those birds flitting about. I won’t rest until I know what it’s like to live in the wild.”
Feather gave up trying to make Talon stay. She knew that if Talon left, she would most likely have to go too. As the Noflights took all of their stuff out of the vehicle, Feather tried to think of ways to make Talon stay.
The oldest male Noflight took out a huge lump of strange Noflight fabric. His mate came to help him take an even bigger lump out of the case. All the Noflights helped to spread the fabric out flat. Then two of the Noflights started to piece together long pieces of metal together, then they attached both ends to two opposite corners of the flat fabric. They pushed both sticks up until the fabric formed a small shelter. A Noflight opened a small flap in the side of the shelter and then started loading all the packages into it.
The last Noflight took the cage into the shelter and set it down in one of the corners. As all the Noflights left the shelter to go back to the vehicle, a shadow passed over the shelter, and Talon and Feather heard the flapping of winds. It was quiet for a while, then they heard the harsh cry of a hawk. The two birds pressed close to each other.
“It’s all right,” Talon murmured in Feathers ear. “The cage will protect us.”
“I hope you’re right,” Feather whispered.
As the cry sounded again, a Noflight burst into the shelter and ran over to the cage. The shadow of the hawk was circling lazily down in a circle. Then, without warning, the hawk dove.
Chapter 4
As the hawk dove with a terrifying cry, it ripped through the fabric shelter with claws that glinted in the sunlight. The cage shook as the hawk grasped it by the top. The two doves saw the hawks eyes. They were burning bright with hate. The Noflight was scratched by the hawk’s razor sharp beak, and he fell to the side.
The hawk took off with the cage in its talons, but the extra weight did not seem to hinder its flight at all. As the two doves watched, the ground and the Noflights seemed to get smaller and smaller, and they could hear the Noflights yelling. Then, to the doves’ luck, the top of the cage popped off. The bottom part of the cage fell back down to the ground, and the hawk shot up, with less of a load to carry.
Talon maneuvered himself toward the open side of the cage. “Come on, Feather! Let’s get out of here!”
“How can you say that, Talon?” Feather screamed back. “Didn’t you see how upset the Noflights were?”
“Feather,” Talon confessed, yelling to be heard over the wind. “I am not a bird that is to be handled by Noflights. I can’t stand it! I need to be able to be free and independent. I’m not meant to be a tame bird!”
He jumped out of the open side of the cage and plummeted towards the fast approaching ground. He righted himself and slowly spread his wings. The farther out they were, Talon slowly swooped out of his dive and started flapping around the falling cage. “Get out of there, Feather!” he screamed at the top of his lungs.
Feather was struggling to get to the open side of the cage. When she did, it was only a matter of seconds before the cage hit the ground. At the last second, she launched herself out of the cage just before it crashed into the hard earth. She spread her wings and tried to gain her altitude, just skimming the long, wavy grass. She pulled up and followed Talon’s slowly fading form. As she did, she took one last regretful glance at the Noflights who had raised and taken care of her. Then she took after Talon, trying to ignore their voices of despair.
Chapter 5
The day was almost out when Talon touched down on a tree, a fair way from the meadow that the Noflights were camping in. He felt so good to be free, and he felt no guilt over leaving the Noflights. Feather came up behind him, panting like she had been flying for miles, which she had.
For a moment she didn’t talk, but when she regained her composure, she gave Talon an icy glare.
“It wasn’t my fault that you chose to follow me!” he exclaimed indignantly. He regretted the words as soon as they came out of his mouth.
Feather looked as shocked as Talon was. “Why wouldn’t I follow you!” she exclaimed. “We’re mates!” But her look turned hard again. “If you didn’t want me to come after you, I guess I’ll just go back.” She turned and prepared herself to takeoff, ignoring Talon’s pleads
“I didn’t mean that, Feather!” he was saying. “I just can’t live with Noflights. I need to be free!”
But Feather wasn’t listening. She was already flying away.
* * * *
Feather reached the meadow where the Noflights were. But to her dismay, the Noflights and their vehicle were nowhere to be seen! It was like they had just vanished. In determination, Feather rose higher into the air and flew in a huge circle, where she could see miles in every direction. The dirt path that the Noflights had taken to get to the meadow was vacant. Feather flew down the path until it became the hard black stuff, the ones that vehicles usually traveled on. Every couple of seconds a vehicle would speed down the path, but other than that, it was quiet. Very upset, Feather turned around and started flying back.
Talon waited for Feather for what seemed like ages, and after a self-struggle, Talon decided to go and explore the area around. For most of the time, Talon thought he must have been in a dream, because every tree he passed seemed exactly the same. It was this way until he found an abandoned squirrel nest in the trunk of a huge tree. And this wasn’t at the peak of a small mountain, this was a tree that rose above the forest canopy, with branches that stuck out and covered the other forest, like a weed blocking the sun from other plants.
It took him several minutes for him to fly around the circumference of the trunk, it was so big. He spotted several other birds and holes scattered about the tree. As he came back to where he started, he chose a more solitary hole, as he didn’t want to attract too much attention. As he settled in, he suddenly realized: Feather. She was still out there. Talon had never heard of prey-hunters of the forest, especially at night, but he didn’t want to find out the hard way.
Feather was still flying back when she saw the first stars begin to appear, and she began to quicken her pace. When she reached the branch where she and Talon had first stopped, the sky was mostly covered in velvety black sky, scattered with little bright stars. In the bright moonlight, she could see the silhouette of a bird flying towards her.
“Talon!” she called out. “Where have you been? I’ve been looking all over for you!”
But the other bird did not stop flying towards her.
“Talon, quit it,” she said. “This day’s been too hard for me.”
But still the other bird did not stop flying towards her. As Feather started to make another comment, the bird put on a sudden burst of speed, knocking Feather off the brach.
“Hey!” she exclaimed. “Stop that! You’re hurting me!”
But the other bird kept battering her, and eventually Feather had to give in. This bird had obviously known the perfect fighting moves. He backed up slightly, then charged Feather, hitting the top of his head against Feather’s, knocking her out cold.
Chapter 6
Talon arrived at the place where he and Feather had argued, but Feather was nowhere to be seen. She had gone to find the Noflights, but by the feathers strewn about the branch, the evidence of a struggle was clear. A sick feeling settled over Talon. Feather had been taken.
As Talon mulled over what could have happened, he didn’t notice the shadow that was slowly descending on him. He was so lost in thought that he didn’t hear the flutter of wings as the bird quietly perched behind him. The voice of the bird startled him.
“What do you think you’re doing here?” a sharp female voice snapped. Talon whirled around, scattering his line of thought.
“I asked you a question,” the bird said, sounding impatient. “What are you doing here?”
“I- I was just trying to find my mate,” Talon stuttered. “She was here, but the feathers all over make it seem like she was taken, and I was trying to figure out where she had gone.”
The other bird narrowed her eyes. “But why are you here?” she spoke threateningly. “Don’t you know that this is our territory?” she asked.
“This is your territory?” Talon asked incredulously. “It seems huge for one bird.”
She rolled her eyes. “Ever heard of flocks, feather-brain? Big groups of birds?”
“Of course I’ve heard of flocks. I’ve seen them all over.”
“Well, obviously you haven’t seen this one. Our territory stretches from the Mothertree to far around.”
“How far?”
“As far as we please.” She said, sounding final. “Now enough talk. There’s business to be done.” Right after she said that, she rushed at Talon, hitting her head on his and throwing him off the branch, hitting the ground that knocked his air out. The last thing he remembered was the bird diving towards him, and that’s when he blacked out.
Talon woke up in a hollow opening in a tree trunk. The light that was there was mostly blocked by a bulky figure, perched on the rim of the nest.
“Where-“ Talon’s voice was abruptly interrupted by a very familiar voice. As he turned, he saw the other figure spread wings and fly away, letting light flood the hole.
Talon saw the same bird that had knocked him off the branch the night before. “Who are you?” he asked.
“My name is Rose. Now come quietly; Jaywing would like to see you.”
Despite all the questions running through his mind, Talon managed to stay quiet. Rose led him through a network of tunnels. Talon hadn’t seen them in the nest. As they walked, Talon noticed many other tunnels leading off into the darkness. If his eyes weren’t trained on the hardly visible shadow of Rose, he would have no idea where he would be.
They passed many more tunnels before the one they were in widened out into one huge chamber. In one corner, a beautiful dove perched on a natural ledge, but she was surrounded by many bulky, fierce looking birds, most likely her guards, Talon thought.
Rose approached the cluster of guards, and they parted to let her through. “The intruder, Jaywing.” She gestured with one wing towards Talon and backed away. Jaywing fluttered off the perch and slowly approached Talon, her brown, keen eyes trained on him the entire time. As she approached, so did the guards, but more slowly.
At last, she stopped in front of Talon and, with a voice like a smooth-running stream, asked him, “Why did you trespass on our territory?”
“I didn’t know I was trespassing, honest. I was just escaping from Noflights-“
Jaywing’s expression changed and her eyes narrowed. When she spoke, her voice was harder. “Why were you with Noflights?” she asked.
“We were born with them, and I wanted to escape.”
“What’s this Rose tells me about your mate?” she asked him.
“She came with me, but she didn’t really want to. So she went back to try to find the Noflights, so I went to explore. When I came back, she wasn’t there and there were feathers everywhere, like she had been taken against her will.”
“Feather is her name, I presume?” she asked, her voice back to normal.
Talon’s eyes widened. “How do you know that?”
“Because she was also found trespassing.” She turned and let out a sharp whistle. Right after that, the sound of scuffling was heard and the shape of two moving birds. The voice of Feather was also heard.
“Stop it!” she was yelling. “Why are you doing this?” She was pushed into the chamber, and she stopped short when she saw Jaywing. She was in a horrible state; her feathers were everywhere, and the huge bird behind her didn’t look like he helped her any.
At first she didn’t even notice Talon. She just stared at Jaywing, trembling.
After what seemed like an eternity, Jaywing spoke. “You, and this other bird have been accused of trespassing on out territory. Was there a motive behind it?”
Talon spoke up, and Feather finally seemed to notice him. “We were escaping from Noflights and we ended up here,” Talon explained.
“Talon,” Feather whispered, her voice coarse.
“Shut up,” Rose snapped.
“So you were trying to escape from Noflights, but their homes are far away from here. I don’t think a house bird could fly this far. So tell me, how did you get here?”
“The Noflights were staying at this meadow a ways from here. A hawk saw us and lifted us up in the cage we were in. The cage broke and we got out.”
“And the hawk didn’t get you?” asked Jaywing. Talon shook his head.
“Bring in the Reader,” Jaywing suddenly turned and one of her guards sped down a tunnel big enough to fly through. “We’ll see if the Reader agrees with my suspicion,” she said, turning back to Talon.
Chapter 7
Soon after the guard left, he came back with a small, very elderly bird. Talon gasped. The “Reader” had hardly any feathers left, and the ones he did have were spread out all over, and it seemed like he didn’t preen at all. But he did look wise.
“This is the Reader,” announced Jaywing. “He interprets strange goings on and finds divine or reasonable answers.” She lowered her voice, so that the Reader couldn’t hear her. “He believes in the ancient spirits of the birds that used to live in this forest, and that’s why most of his answers involve strange beings and spirits. He thinks that sometimes they send signs to us, to tell us how to do things. Frankly, most of us don’t believe in them, but don’t tell him that.”
When the Reader spoke, his voice was high pitched and slow. He gasped when he looked up from his book and saw Talon. “This is Talon. He was the trespasser.” Said Jaywing, her eyes hard.
“yes,” started the reader. “This was prophesied, that a young bird and his mate would trespass.” As much as Talon didn't want to believe what the Reader was saying, he did anyways and wanted to know more about this prophesy.
“What about the trespasser?” Asked Talon.
“Well, the prophesy says that the trespasser will soon become our strongest warrior and save the ruler from destruction.” As the Reader was talking, Talon started to piece things together about this, his fate, and surprisingly, his dream. He remembered a small detail and saw a large, female bird falling into the water and fire as well, one who looked like a queen, like Jaywing!
“Jaywing, please let me say something.” Rose looked at the pleading Talon looking like she was going to beat him over the head with a branch.
“ok?” Said Jaywing.
“Did you have a dream a couple nights ago about falling into an ocean and the whole forest was on fire despite the rain?” Jaywing had a shocked look on her face.
“Everyone out! I need to privately talk with Talon.” Everyone left except for Rose. “Rose, as much as I appreciate you here, I need to to leave.” Rose nodded and went behind a leaf curtain still listening. “how do you know about this dream?” Asked Jaywing.
“I had the same dream! I saw you in the distance and I wanted to help you, but I kept falling!” Jaywing stood up.
“You must have been the yellow and black bird I saw as well! You are a very special bird young Talon.” Rose heard this from behind the curtain and was full of envy. She didn't like Talon at the start and then she hated him even more. “We will also give your mate a very nice nest to stay in while you work here and train.”
“Work and train? What kind of working and training will I be doing here? I'm not from here and I don't know where anything is and…”
“Talon!” Said Jaywing. “It's ok! You will have a guard and a partner to help you until you can figure out our tunnel system.” Rose frowned peeking in through the leaf curtains.
“He doesn't need a partner or guard! He was raised with noflights!” Rose said to herself. “He can figure things out himself.” Right as Rose was about to walk away from the curtain, she heard Jaywing talking to Talon some more.
“Your partner will be Rose, she grew up here and knows these tunnels and trees better than any other bird here besides me.”
“What!” Called Rose as she burst through the curtain. “So what if you guys had a dream! We all have dreams!”
“Rose, calm down!” Said Talon.
“Shut up, Talon! You don't know anything, and you will never be leader of our nest because that job is going to go to me!” Shouted Rose.
“ROSE!” Boomed Jaywing. Rose was instantly silent. “Get out.” Said Jaywing.
“But… Jaywing- I…”
“Rose. I said, ‘get out’,” Rose held her head high and stormed out of the room. Jaywing smiled. “stay here, I’ll be right back.” Said Jaywing as she flew into another deep and dark tunnel which led to probably somewhere he couldn't even explain. Talon looked around at the careful sculpting work that the worker birds, thousands of years ago built. There were also what seemed to be hidden pictures in the sculptures and walls of the throne room. There were even pictures of noflights which surprised Talon because from the looks of it, no one here liked the noflights. After what seemed like half a second, Jaywing flew back into the throne room.
“close your eyes.” She said in a gentle voice. She smiled as Talon slowly closed his eyes. In front of Talon, Jaywing placed her present to him. “Ok, open.” She said. Talon opened his eyes to see a new, beautiful, set of iron armor and a gold sword. “Do you know what this is, Talon?” Asked Jaywing.
“a new set of armor and a golden sword?” Answered Talon.
“yes,” started Jaywing. “But this armor belonged to the strongest, bravest, and most well trained warrior bird. His name was Shiftbeak because he could shift his beak into different positions no other bird could tto capture prey easier. You are much more than just a noflight’s pet, Talon. You are something much, much better.”
“thank you, but where is Feather? She's my mate, and we love each other.” Jaywing smiled.
“she will be able to live with you in your wing of the mother tree.” Talon was shocked.
“m- my wing of the mother tree?”
“yes, Talon you get your very own wing of the mother tree, now that you are a warrior bird. And I know it may seem like we're moving fast and it seems like I hated you less than an hour ago, but this could be really good for our territory, trust me, Talon.” Jaywing and Talon had a ‘moment’ then Jaywing smiled her gentle and relaxing smile. “Well, put your armor on, then meet in the dining hall. I will have Ferret help you around, he’s my assistant. Ferret!” Called Jaywing. A big booming sound was heard all the way from the throne room. Then, a big, long mammal came ramming down the wide deep tunnel.
“hia mate. My name’s Ferret. Im an Australian Spotted Ferret. I’ll be showing you around the mother tree and helping you get used to this place until you get the hang of… Wait a moment, where's the big warrior bird Rose had told me about? All I see is Jaywing and the trespasser.”
“well, Ferret, to your surprise, this trespasser is a very important bird. It was prophesied that he would come and save the mother tree. This is Talon.”
“Sorry mate.” Ferret bowed the front of his body. “Hop on and I’ll take you to your wing of the mother tree. Feather can come along too.”
“I will get Feather.” Said Jaywing.
“wow, this is all moving so fast. First I was a wanted criminal and now I'm the strongest warrior bird in all of your territory.” Said Talon in disbelief.
“It's your mother tree now,” started Ferret. “Now that you are the second Shiftbeak. Everything is going to be so much better with you here. We will all feel more protected. Guess the crazy reader was right about something.” Ferret laughed a soft Australian laugh then Talon got on his back. Feather came in too.
“Feather!” Called Talon running over to her.
“As much as I love that you got me away from the crow, don't touch me and don't get near me. If we would have stayed with the noflights, none of this would have happened.”
“but, Feather, this will be good for us! We can live here in the mother tree of our territory!” Convinced Talon but Feather didn't want to hear it.
“our territory? Talon! We don't belong here! Less than an hour ago we were waned criminals! We do not belong here and that means we probably shouldn't be here! Something bad could happen to you or me! And I don't want that.” Feather gently claimed on Ferret’s back.
“welcome aboard the Ferret Mrs.” Said Ferret. Talon got on too. “Welcome aboard Talon. I will be like your guy’s taxi! Just call my name and I can take you anywhere in the mother tree, but just know, I don't go outside… Ever.” Feather giggled. “I'll take you two… Uh… Mates to your wing of the mother tree.” Ferret started walking out of the throne room. “Your wing used to be called the Shiftbeak wing but before you came it was the south wing. Now we can call it the Talon wing!” Said Ferret.
“Why don't we just keep it as the south wing. I would prefer it to be just the same.” Ferret continued to walk.
“yes, sir!” Said Ferret.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
when they finally arrived at his wing of the mother tree, Talon walked over to a hole which at the top was labeled with Shiftbeak.
“Shiftbeak? Is that you?” Said a common bird. Talon turned around.
“no,” said Talon.
“Oh, okay then. Sorry sir.” Before Talon turned to walk into Shiftbeak’s old nest, he noticed that there was a tag on the common bird’s foot.
“uh, wait!” Called Talon as the bird walked off. “Can you not fly?” He asked. The common bird turned around and nodded side to side to say no.
“I got my wings clipped. This tag on my foot lets a noflight know who's pet I am, or was.”
“I'm a noflight’s pet too! Well, I managed to escape last night and somehow I became the next Shiftbeak.”
“so, I'm talking to the new Shiftbeak?” Asked the common bird. He bowed. “What is your name, oh warrior?” The common bird looked up at Talon.
“well, my name’s Talon, but I think you’re looking for a cooler warrior name like Shiftbeak. Want to come into my nest and help me think of a name? You can also meet my mate!” The common bird looked down sadly. “What's wrong?” Talon asked.
“common birds aren't allowed in warrior’s nests.” He said.
“well who made up that stupid rule?” Talon asked in disbelief.
“Shiftbeak.” The common bird replied.
“and is Shiftbeak here?” Talon cleverly asked.
“no. He’s dead. He got eaten by a house cat two years ago.” Talon smiled.
“welcome to my nest.” He said as he gestured the common bird into his nest. The common bird skipped into the nest and in awe looked around.
“what’s your name?” Asked Talon.
“the other common birds call me Littletweets.” He said.
“that's too cute for a warrior’s assistant.” Littletweet’s jaw dropped.
“you want me to be your assistant?” He asked.
“of course! Now let's see, we will call you treetopper because you look like the kind of bird that could fly above all of these trees, despite your size.” He smiled. Feather wanted to chime in too.
“And you are so brave and you are now a warrior so for you, Talon, what about Eaglepeak.” Talon thought about the name Eaglepeak since he knew he would be called that for the rest of his life.
“I love it, Feather!” Said Talon.
“and I love my new name!” Treetopper exclaimed in excitement. “Do you want me to show you the marketplace and town square?” Said Treetopper. “It would be super useful.”
“I would love to!” Feather said in excitement. And they all walked down to the marketplace.
Chapter 8
The sun creeped slowly behind the trees as the marketplace closed and everyone flew back to their nests in their own wings of the mother tree. “Thank you, Treetopper, once again for showing us the marketplace.” Feather said.
“Its no problem at all.” Treetopper replied.
“I think it’s time for me to hit the hay,” Eaglepeak started. “I have training in the morning and have to get up early. Goodnight treetopper.”
“Goodnight Eaglepeak.” Treetopper flew away into a deep, dark tunnel.
“Talon, um, Eaglepeak, do you have to meet Rose in the morning?” He looked down at his claws.
“I hope not.” He said with a sigh, and opened the door to their nest to allow feather to walk in.
That night seemed strange. As much as Talon hated the noflight’s cage, he wanted to be back home. He wasn’t in his normal “habitat” or one that he was used to anyways. Eaglepeak tossed and turned all night thinking about tomorrow’s training and work, and being praised by all birds in the mothertree.
Morning slowly came. For Eaglepeak, it seemed like an eternity, but he was also worried about the training and work.
The sun showed that it was about 8 in the morning. Talon woke up Feather to tell her that he was going to talk to Jaywing.
“Feather, I’m super nervous.” Eaglepeak quietly spoke.
“How come?” She replied in the moaning, tired voice.
“I don’t know what Jaywing will have me do and if the birds of the mothertree will like me. Or why because of a dream, I am now a huge, famous hero and warrior. I just don’t get it. Why me?” Eaglepeak sounded worried.
“Talon, everything will be okay. You’ll have me and Treetopper to cheer you on despite the other birds but because of your personality, they will have no reason to hate you. You are their hero! They haven't had a hero in a very long time! Just think, some birds have lived their whole lives without a hero, they’ve been living in fear that something could happen to them…”
“Feather! I’m not a hero! I had a dream the same as the leader of the mothertree! So what? I am a noflight’s pet.” Feather puffed up her chest in anger.
“I, Talon, am a noflight’s pet also. If I had the same opportunity as you, I wouldn’t be complaining.” She lied back down and stuck her head under her wing. Eaglepeak nudged up against her and lied down next to her.
“I’m sorry.” He whispered in her ear. She didn’t give him a response so he stood up and walked out to go talk with Jaywing before training started.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
“Hello?” Eaglepeak called as he walked into the main room where Jaywing’s throne was. “Jaywing? Are you here?” He asked.
Flock(Avalon Strummer)
Prologue
A warm hot sun breeze flew through the forest. All the nests of the Mothertree, the tallest tree in the forest, were occupied by soundly sleeping birds. There was no need to line the nests with feathers and moss, because the nights were so warm. The only bird who couldn’t sleep was Jaywing. She was the leader of all the birds of the Mothertree: The leader’s aide, the fighters, the hunters, the tenderfoots…all of the birds in the Flock.
But for once, Jaywing didn’t feel at peace with herself, as she usually did when she tried to sleep. She was trying to figure out the feeling that wriggled inside of her. She could feel a strange urge to protect her flock, and she felt the presence of a newcomer, soon to arrive. No matter how hard she tried, she could not figure it out, and she fell into a fitful sleep.
In her dream, Jaywing was flying through an unknown forest, but a forest that had much better hunting and flying space than her forest. Suddenly the sunny sky turned a dark shade of gray, and rain started pouring. All the trees she saw burst into flame, and didn’t go out in spite of the rain. She saw nests and birds falling into the foaming sea that the rain had created. She tried to reach out for a screaming chick that had hardly opened its eyes, but her own wings were drenched, and were pulling her down into the whirlpool of destruction…
Just before she hit the water, she thought she heard a whispering voice in her head say, an oncoming storm of fire and water…the ultimate destruction of the Flock. Then she hit the water, and all was dark.
Chapter 1
Talon woke to the sound of scuffling right next to him. His sister, Feather was wriggling around. “Do you mind? It’s not even midnight!” he muttered through his feathers.
“Sorry, Talon. I just can’t stop thinking about chicks,” she whispered.
Talon jerked his head out from under his wing completely. “You’re expecting chicks? Finally it might’ve worked,” he started ranting on enthusiastically.
“Talon, don’t get so happy. We don’t know for sure if these are actually chicks coming. I felt this last time, and there were no chicks!” Feather said. She felt horrible about spoiling her mate’s excitement again, but she wasn’t sure if she could ever have chicks.
“Come on, be more optimistic! We could finally be able to raise our own children.” Talon was obviously not thinking.
Too late, the dove realized that the chicks would be raised in the presence of Noflights. No bird would want their children raised with Noflights, eating their pellets, and drinking the metal-tinged water.
As he thought, he realized that he himself was hungry. His belly was growling loud enough to disturb Feather, who had settled and started to breathe more slowly.
“Go get something to eat,” she said. “That way we can all get some rest.”
As Talon made his way to the seed dish, he wished he could get into the real world and eat berries and actual seeds, drink pure fresh water that didn’t have the metal tinge to it…
He bent his neck down to grab a pellet in his beak. The seeds tasted bleak in his beak, and they rubbed on his tongue. After a few meager beakfuls, he scooted over to the water dish. He eyed the water distrustfully and finally took a drop of the water to wash away the food. Drinking Noflight water was like chewing the bars of his cage.
After a couple more sips, Talon made his way back to Feather, who was soundly sleeping. “Get some rest now, Talon,” she murmured. Talon settled down next to her and drifted into a deep sleep.
That night, his dreams were filled with terror. He was in an unknown forest and the trees were burning bright, despite the rain that was pouring down. The water was swirling down into a churning sea of foam. But what really scared Talon was all the birds that were being sucked down into the water. From the oldest bird to the newborn chick, they were all falling down so far. He tried to help any birds that were near him, but his sodden wings were dragging him down, too. As he hit the water he heard a voice, so soft it was almost impossible to hear, whisper, an oncoming storm of fire and water, will be the ultimate destruction of the flock.
When Talon woke up, the first thing he saw was Feather’s face. He jerked his head out from under his wing and started gasping for breath. The cage he was in suddenly seemed too small. Frantically, he flapped down to the door and stuck his beak out through the metal bars.
“Talon, what’s wrong?” Feather called. She sounded panicked, and that just made Talon more upset. Finally, he slipped the lock open and fluttered out, landing on the windowsill of the Noflight nest. “Bad dreams,” he replied, panting.
As he watched out the window, the milky light of dawn was spilling into the nest. Talon watched as a flock of birds passed overhead. Feather flew over next to him and eyed him carefully. Talon glanced back. “Really, I’m fine! It was just a bad dream.”
“’Just a bad dream’,” Feather mocked. “The way you were twitching and gasping would have made anyone think it was a bad dream.”
“It was nothing, really,” Talon mumbled.
“If you say so,” Feather sighed, then flew back to the cage.
Talon looked out the window again. The flock had gone. He sighed; he could have watched it all day. He longed to be out of the Noflight nest, feeling the wind in his feathers as he flew through the open air. He was startled out of his thoughts by none other than the very Noflight he was thinking about. It lumbered down the hallway, still in its sleeping feathers. Its huge eyes were bright, and brightened even more as the Noflight saw Talon.
It stretched out a fat, plump fingered hand and Talon knew it was a sign to step up, literally stepping up onto one of the fingers. Talon hated this part the most, because the fingers were so fleshy and it was hard to get a grip. He was relieved when the Noflight set him down on its shoulder and lumbered away.
Talon sat on the Noflights shoulder for the whole Noflight morning routine. They ate by shoving the strange food in through their huge pink beak-if you could call it a beak. It was set right into their flat faces, underneath a nose that protruded from the middle of the face. The food was held on a metal stick with a wide end, and they put the food in their mouths using it. There was also another thing almost exactly like it, except it was split into prongs. Like a snake’s tongue, only split into thirds instead of halves.
Talon hardly paid attention to these things. He was always busy watching out of every window he passed on the Noflights shoulder. He saw the trees of the forest, and the busy towers of the Noflight city in the distance. Though mostly he watched the shadow of birds flitting through the trees, and wished with all his heart that he could be out there with them.
The worst complication about his dreams was Feather. She thought she was going to lay eggs, and she was not as keen as Talon to enter the wild. She would be even less keen now that she knew she would be laying soon. Talon sighed. He probably would never get a chance to see the world. Little did he know how wrong he was.
Chapter 2
Talon looked out the window at the overcast, rainy day. There were no flocks flitting about; they were probably all in their nests. Talon couldn’t stop feeling guilty and selfish, as he had a nice warm nest with heat and shelter from the rain, and they had dripping trees to live in. No matter how hard he tried, he could not get the feeling of betrayal out of his head.
Feather stirred next to him. “When will the rain stop?” she grumbled. “It’s been going on for days. That stupid Noflight won’t take us outside at all, and I haven’t had a whiff of fresh air!”
“Calm down, Feather,” Talon soothed. “It’ll stop soon.”
“That’s what you said two days ago,” she muttered.
Talon gave her a glance through narrowed eyes. She didn’t seem herself. Ever since one of the Noflights left, and an elderly Noflight had come to take care of them, she had seemed grumpy about everything. She probably misses the Noflights, Talon thought. He hardly missed them at all. But he knew how different Feather felt.
As the old Noflight came out from the place where she slept, she limped past the doves’ cage and waved her pudgy, featherless wing at the birds. Talon didn’t even notice. She went into the kitchen, where the Noflights prepared all their meals, and started making a sweet smelling liquid. Whatever, Talon thought. Why am I even thinking about it?
The day progressed by, slowly and steadily, though the two birds knew nothing to do. Feather kept her distance from the old Noflight, and from Talon, too. Whenever the Noflight wanted her to step up, she backed up until she could no more, and eventually was forced to step on to the fleshy finger. When Talon tried to talk to her, she either pretended that she was asleep, or she just scaled the cage to the other side, forever keeping away from him.
Finally, as the days went by so slowly, the original Noflights came back, and the old Noflight left. Talon hoped with all his heart that Feather would be back to her original self. Fortunately, the rain did stop, and the Noflights took Feather and Talon outside a lot more. As Talon hoped, Feather slowly turned back to her lively self.
* * * *
So many days had passed, but Feather didn’t think that there were any chicks. She hoped that it did and that there were tiny lives stirring inside her, but she didn’t feel anything. She wasn’t tired and she could fly normally without being dragged down by her weight.
She knew that the time would come to break the news to Talon that there was a very high chance that the chicks would never come. But perhaps Feather was just being impatient. It hadn’t been that long, and maybe- hopefully- she would have her very own chicks. But the thing that bothered her the most was the fact that Talon had his sights set on leaving, and if he did leave, it might be before the chicks had opened eyes. If Talon did leave, the chicks would never know their father.
Feather was so caught up in her turmoil that she didn’t notice Talon was still sitting on top of the cage, staring out the window, at the forest beyond. He had been sitting there for almost the whole day, neglecting food and water. Feather made her way up to where Talon was perched.
“Come down and eat some food, or at least have a drink of water,” Feather pleaded. Slowly, Talon turned towards her, and Feather gasped. Talon’s eyes where misted, all the way around the pupil. “You are not going to have chicks, are you?” he asked, looking back through the window. Feather felt sick, seeing her mate in this state. But she had to tell him.
“No, I’m not going to have chicks,” she whispered. Talon sighed wistfully. Then he blinked, and all the mist in his eyes left them. “It doesn’t matter,” he shook his head. Feather felt even more sick, seeing Talon shrug it away like he just did.
“How can you say that!” she cried. Talon looked her straight in the eye.
“If you look back on all the times we have tried, and then progress from there to this, it just makes sense, that you-“
“Can never have chicks,” Feather finished, looking away. “Say no more. I get it.”
Now it was Talon’s turn to feel sick. A dreadful feeling of guilt passed over Talon, and stayed there. He had managed to make Feather feel even more horrible over herself, plus feeling guilty that she could not have Talon’s children. Talon knew he couldn’t go on like this. As he made his decision, he vowed never to make Feather upset again.
Chapter 3
As the days passed, Feather still did not recover from what Talon had said. Also, Feather had not been seeing Talon during the day, only in the morning and evening. When she did see him, he would be flapping around the Noflight nest, examining every window and door. Feather knew he was looking for a way out, but she didn’t feel the tiniest twinge of regret.
Finally, after so many days of flying and searching, an opportunity presented itself. One morning, the Noflights all came out with huge lumps of cloth and a very thick fabric. They all loaded the lumps into their “vehicle” as the Noflights called it. The word still felt strange on Talon and Feather’s tongue. But as the Noflights all filed into the vehicle, Talon felt joy bubbling up inside him. This could be the chance he was waiting for!
The Noflights took Talon and Feather and put them in their night cage. The birds knew that when they loaded the night cage into the vehicle it meant that they would travel away from the Noflight nest. The cage was loaded into the vehicle, in between two of the Noflights. They took the two birds out of the cage and onto the shoulders of one of the Noflights. Feather immediately scrambled off the Noflight, across the cage and on to the other Noflights far shoulder.
One of the older Noflights inserted a shiny stick into a slot in the front of the vehicle, and when he turned it, the vehicle rumbled into life. It rolled out of the Noflight nest and onto a huge stretch of, hard, black material. The vehicle sped up until it was zooming down the black path. The two birds didn’t feel any wind, though they were going so fast.
After rolling along for almost a whole day, with occasional stops in between, the Noflights finally rolled the vehicle down a dirt path, down to the end. The rumbling stopped. They were in a grassy meadow, with forest surrounding all sides. On the far end of the meadow, there was a small creek that ran into a smooth puddle.
“Talon?” Feather asked.
“Yes?” Talon looked at Feather.
“Please don’t go. I would hate to lose you. And have you ever even though about how the Noflights would feel? They take care of us, and they love us. We were born with them. It makes them part of our home.”
“Feather, I’m sorry,” Talon said. “But I can’t stand sitting at the window, watching all those birds flitting about. I won’t rest until I know what it’s like to live in the wild.”
Feather gave up trying to make Talon stay. She knew that if Talon left, she would most likely have to go too. As the Noflights took all of their stuff out of the vehicle, Feather tried to think of ways to make Talon stay.
The oldest male Noflight took out a huge lump of strange Noflight fabric. His mate came to help him take an even bigger lump out of the case. All the Noflights helped to spread the fabric out flat. Then two of the Noflights started to piece together long pieces of metal together, then they attached both ends to two opposite corners of the flat fabric. They pushed both sticks up until the fabric formed a small shelter. A Noflight opened a small flap in the side of the shelter and then started loading all the packages into it.
The last Noflight took the cage into the shelter and set it down in one of the corners. As all the Noflights left the shelter to go back to the vehicle, a shadow passed over the shelter, and Talon and Feather heard the flapping of winds. It was quiet for a while, then they heard the harsh cry of a hawk. The two birds pressed close to each other.
“It’s all right,” Talon murmured in Feathers ear. “The cage will protect us.”
“I hope you’re right,” Feather whispered.
As the cry sounded again, a Noflight burst into the shelter and ran over to the cage. The shadow of the hawk was circling lazily down in a circle. Then, without warning, the hawk dove.
Chapter 4
As the hawk dove with a terrifying cry, it ripped through the fabric shelter with claws that glinted in the sunlight. The cage shook as the hawk grasped it by the top. The two doves saw the hawks eyes. They were burning bright with hate. The Noflight was scratched by the hawk’s razor sharp beak, and he fell to the side.
The hawk took off with the cage in its talons, but the extra weight did not seem to hinder its flight at all. As the two doves watched, the ground and the Noflights seemed to get smaller and smaller, and they could hear the Noflights yelling. Then, to the doves’ luck, the top of the cage popped off. The bottom part of the cage fell back down to the ground, and the hawk shot up, with less of a load to carry.
Talon maneuvered himself toward the open side of the cage. “Come on, Feather! Let’s get out of here!”
“How can you say that, Talon?” Feather screamed back. “Didn’t you see how upset the Noflights were?”
“Feather,” Talon confessed, yelling to be heard over the wind. “I am not a bird that is to be handled by Noflights. I can’t stand it! I need to be able to be free and independent. I’m not meant to be a tame bird!”
He jumped out of the open side of the cage and plummeted towards the fast approaching ground. He righted himself and slowly spread his wings. The farther out they were, Talon slowly swooped out of his dive and started flapping around the falling cage. “Get out of there, Feather!” he screamed at the top of his lungs.
Feather was struggling to get to the open side of the cage. When she did, it was only a matter of seconds before the cage hit the ground. At the last second, she launched herself out of the cage just before it crashed into the hard earth. She spread her wings and tried to gain her altitude, just skimming the long, wavy grass. She pulled up and followed Talon’s slowly fading form. As she did, she took one last regretful glance at the Noflights who had raised and taken care of her. Then she took after Talon, trying to ignore their voices of despair.
Chapter 5
The day was almost out when Talon touched down on a tree, a fair way from the meadow that the Noflights were camping in. He felt so good to be free, and he felt no guilt over leaving the Noflights. Feather came up behind him, panting like she had been flying for miles, which she had.
For a moment she didn’t talk, but when she regained her composure, she gave Talon an icy glare.
“It wasn’t my fault that you chose to follow me!” he exclaimed indignantly. He regretted the words as soon as they came out of his mouth.
Feather looked as shocked as Talon was. “Why wouldn’t I follow you!” she exclaimed. “We’re mates!” But her look turned hard again. “If you didn’t want me to come after you, I guess I’ll just go back.” She turned and prepared herself to takeoff, ignoring Talon’s pleads
“I didn’t mean that, Feather!” he was saying. “I just can’t live with Noflights. I need to be free!”
But Feather wasn’t listening. She was already flying away.
* * * *
Feather reached the meadow where the Noflights were. But to her dismay, the Noflights and their vehicle were nowhere to be seen! It was like they had just vanished. In determination, Feather rose higher into the air and flew in a huge circle, where she could see miles in every direction. The dirt path that the Noflights had taken to get to the meadow was vacant. Feather flew down the path until it became the hard black stuff, the ones that vehicles usually traveled on. Every couple of seconds a vehicle would speed down the path, but other than that, it was quiet. Very upset, Feather turned around and started flying back.
Talon waited for Feather for what seemed like ages, and after a self-struggle, Talon decided to go and explore the area around. For most of the time, Talon thought he must have been in a dream, because every tree he passed seemed exactly the same. It was this way until he found an abandoned squirrel nest in the trunk of a huge tree. And this wasn’t at the peak of a small mountain, this was a tree that rose above the forest canopy, with branches that stuck out and covered the other forest, like a weed blocking the sun from other plants.
It took him several minutes for him to fly around the circumference of the trunk, it was so big. He spotted several other birds and holes scattered about the tree. As he came back to where he started, he chose a more solitary hole, as he didn’t want to attract too much attention. As he settled in, he suddenly realized: Feather. She was still out there. Talon had never heard of prey-hunters of the forest, especially at night, but he didn’t want to find out the hard way.
Feather was still flying back when she saw the first stars begin to appear, and she began to quicken her pace. When she reached the branch where she and Talon had first stopped, the sky was mostly covered in velvety black sky, scattered with little bright stars. In the bright moonlight, she could see the silhouette of a bird flying towards her.
“Talon!” she called out. “Where have you been? I’ve been looking all over for you!”
But the other bird did not stop flying towards her.
“Talon, quit it,” she said. “This day’s been too hard for me.”
But still the other bird did not stop flying towards her. As Feather started to make another comment, the bird put on a sudden burst of speed, knocking Feather off the brach.
“Hey!” she exclaimed. “Stop that! You’re hurting me!”
But the other bird kept battering her, and eventually Feather had to give in. This bird had obviously known the perfect fighting moves. He backed up slightly, then charged Feather, hitting the top of his head against Feather’s, knocking her out cold.
Chapter 6
Talon arrived at the place where he and Feather had argued, but Feather was nowhere to be seen. She had gone to find the Noflights, but by the feathers strewn about the branch, the evidence of a struggle was clear. A sick feeling settled over Talon. Feather had been taken.
As Talon mulled over what could have happened, he didn’t notice the shadow that was slowly descending on him. He was so lost in thought that he didn’t hear the flutter of wings as the bird quietly perched behind him. The voice of the bird startled him.
“What do you think you’re doing here?” a sharp female voice snapped. Talon whirled around, scattering his line of thought.
“I asked you a question,” the bird said, sounding impatient. “What are you doing here?”
“I- I was just trying to find my mate,” Talon stuttered. “She was here, but the feathers all over make it seem like she was taken, and I was trying to figure out where she had gone.”
The other bird narrowed her eyes. “But why are you here?” she spoke threateningly. “Don’t you know that this is our territory?” she asked.
“This is your territory?” Talon asked incredulously. “It seems huge for one bird.”
She rolled her eyes. “Ever heard of flocks, feather-brain? Big groups of birds?”
“Of course I’ve heard of flocks. I’ve seen them all over.”
“Well, obviously you haven’t seen this one. Our territory stretches from the Mothertree to far around.”
“How far?”
“As far as we please.” She said, sounding final. “Now enough talk. There’s business to be done.” Right after she said that, she rushed at Talon, hitting her head on his and throwing him off the branch, hitting the ground that knocked his air out. The last thing he remembered was the bird diving towards him, and that’s when he blacked out.
Talon woke up in a hollow opening in a tree trunk. The light that was there was mostly blocked by a bulky figure, perched on the rim of the nest.
“Where-“ Talon’s voice was abruptly interrupted by a very familiar voice. As he turned, he saw the other figure spread wings and fly away, letting light flood the hole.
Talon saw the same bird that had knocked him off the branch the night before. “Who are you?” he asked.
“My name is Rose. Now come quietly; Jaywing would like to see you.”
Despite all the questions running through his mind, Talon managed to stay quiet. Rose led him through a network of tunnels. Talon hadn’t seen them in the nest. As they walked, Talon noticed many other tunnels leading off into the darkness. If his eyes weren’t trained on the hardly visible shadow of Rose, he would have no idea where he would be.
They passed many more tunnels before the one they were in widened out into one huge chamber. In one corner, a beautiful dove perched on a natural ledge, but she was surrounded by many bulky, fierce looking birds, most likely her guards, Talon thought.
Rose approached the cluster of guards, and they parted to let her through. “The intruder, Jaywing.” She gestured with one wing towards Talon and backed away. Jaywing fluttered off the perch and slowly approached Talon, her brown, keen eyes trained on him the entire time. As she approached, so did the guards, but more slowly.
At last, she stopped in front of Talon and, with a voice like a smooth-running stream, asked him, “Why did you trespass on our territory?”
“I didn’t know I was trespassing, honest. I was just escaping from Noflights-“
Jaywing’s expression changed and her eyes narrowed. When she spoke, her voice was harder. “Why were you with Noflights?” she asked.
“We were born with them, and I wanted to escape.”
“What’s this Rose tells me about your mate?” she asked him.
“She came with me, but she didn’t really want to. So she went back to try to find the Noflights, so I went to explore. When I came back, she wasn’t there and there were feathers everywhere, like she had been taken against her will.”
“Feather is her name, I presume?” she asked, her voice back to normal.
Talon’s eyes widened. “How do you know that?”
“Because she was also found trespassing.” She turned and let out a sharp whistle. Right after that, the sound of scuffling was heard and the shape of two moving birds. The voice of Feather was also heard.
“Stop it!” she was yelling. “Why are you doing this?” She was pushed into the chamber, and she stopped short when she saw Jaywing. She was in a horrible state; her feathers were everywhere, and the huge bird behind her didn’t look like he helped her any.
At first she didn’t even notice Talon. She just stared at Jaywing, trembling.
After what seemed like an eternity, Jaywing spoke. “You, and this other bird have been accused of trespassing on out territory. Was there a motive behind it?”
Talon spoke up, and Feather finally seemed to notice him. “We were escaping from Noflights and we ended up here,” Talon explained.
“Talon,” Feather whispered, her voice coarse.
“Shut up,” Rose snapped.
“So you were trying to escape from Noflights, but their homes are far away from here. I don’t think a house bird could fly this far. So tell me, how did you get here?”
“The Noflights were staying at this meadow a ways from here. A hawk saw us and lifted us up in the cage we were in. The cage broke and we got out.”
“And the hawk didn’t get you?” asked Jaywing. Talon shook his head.
“Bring in the Reader,” Jaywing suddenly turned and one of her guards sped down a tunnel big enough to fly through. “We’ll see if the Reader agrees with my suspicion,” she said, turning back to Talon.
Chapter 7
Soon after the guard left, he came back with a small, very elderly bird. Talon gasped. The “Reader” had hardly any feathers left, and the ones he did have were spread out all over, and it seemed like he didn’t preen at all. But he did look wise.
“This is the Reader,” announced Jaywing. “He interprets strange goings on and finds divine or reasonable answers.” She lowered her voice, so that the Reader couldn’t hear her. “He believes in the ancient spirits of the birds that used to live in this forest, and that’s why most of his answers involve strange beings and spirits. He thinks that sometimes they send signs to us, to tell us how to do things. Frankly, most of us don’t believe in them, but don’t tell him that.”
When the Reader spoke, his voice was high pitched and slow. He gasped when he looked up from his book and saw Talon. “This is Talon. He was the trespasser.” Said Jaywing, her eyes hard.
“yes,” started the reader. “This was prophesied, that a young bird and his mate would trespass.” As much as Talon didn't want to believe what the Reader was saying, he did anyways and wanted to know more about this prophesy.
“What about the trespasser?” Asked Talon.
“Well, the prophesy says that the trespasser will soon become our strongest warrior and save the ruler from destruction.” As the Reader was talking, Talon started to piece things together about this, his fate, and surprisingly, his dream. He remembered a small detail and saw a large, female bird falling into the water and fire as well, one who looked like a queen, like Jaywing!
“Jaywing, please let me say something.” Rose looked at the pleading Talon looking like she was going to beat him over the head with a branch.
“ok?” Said Jaywing.
“Did you have a dream a couple nights ago about falling into an ocean and the whole forest was on fire despite the rain?” Jaywing had a shocked look on her face.
“Everyone out! I need to privately talk with Talon.” Everyone left except for Rose. “Rose, as much as I appreciate you here, I need to to leave.” Rose nodded and went behind a leaf curtain still listening. “how do you know about this dream?” Asked Jaywing.
“I had the same dream! I saw you in the distance and I wanted to help you, but I kept falling!” Jaywing stood up.
“You must have been the yellow and black bird I saw as well! You are a very special bird young Talon.” Rose heard this from behind the curtain and was full of envy. She didn't like Talon at the start and then she hated him even more. “We will also give your mate a very nice nest to stay in while you work here and train.”
“Work and train? What kind of working and training will I be doing here? I'm not from here and I don't know where anything is and…”
“Talon!” Said Jaywing. “It's ok! You will have a guard and a partner to help you until you can figure out our tunnel system.” Rose frowned peeking in through the leaf curtains.
“He doesn't need a partner or guard! He was raised with noflights!” Rose said to herself. “He can figure things out himself.” Right as Rose was about to walk away from the curtain, she heard Jaywing talking to Talon some more.
“Your partner will be Rose, she grew up here and knows these tunnels and trees better than any other bird here besides me.”
“What!” Called Rose as she burst through the curtain. “So what if you guys had a dream! We all have dreams!”
“Rose, calm down!” Said Talon.
“Shut up, Talon! You don't know anything, and you will never be leader of our nest because that job is going to go to me!” Shouted Rose.
“ROSE!” Boomed Jaywing. Rose was instantly silent. “Get out.” Said Jaywing.
“But… Jaywing- I…”
“Rose. I said, ‘get out’,” Rose held her head high and stormed out of the room. Jaywing smiled. “stay here, I’ll be right back.” Said Jaywing as she flew into another deep and dark tunnel which led to probably somewhere he couldn't even explain. Talon looked around at the careful sculpting work that the worker birds, thousands of years ago built. There were also what seemed to be hidden pictures in the sculptures and walls of the throne room. There were even pictures of noflights which surprised Talon because from the looks of it, no one here liked the noflights. After what seemed like half a second, Jaywing flew back into the throne room.
“close your eyes.” She said in a gentle voice. She smiled as Talon slowly closed his eyes. In front of Talon, Jaywing placed her present to him. “Ok, open.” She said. Talon opened his eyes to see a new, beautiful, set of iron armor and a gold sword. “Do you know what this is, Talon?” Asked Jaywing.
“a new set of armor and a golden sword?” Answered Talon.
“yes,” started Jaywing. “But this armor belonged to the strongest, bravest, and most well trained warrior bird. His name was Shiftbeak because he could shift his beak into different positions no other bird could tto capture prey easier. You are much more than just a noflight’s pet, Talon. You are something much, much better.”
“thank you, but where is Feather? She's my mate, and we love each other.” Jaywing smiled.
“she will be able to live with you in your wing of the mother tree.” Talon was shocked.
“m- my wing of the mother tree?”
“yes, Talon you get your very own wing of the mother tree, now that you are a warrior bird. And I know it may seem like we're moving fast and it seems like I hated you less than an hour ago, but this could be really good for our territory, trust me, Talon.” Jaywing and Talon had a ‘moment’ then Jaywing smiled her gentle and relaxing smile. “Well, put your armor on, then meet in the dining hall. I will have Ferret help you around, he’s my assistant. Ferret!” Called Jaywing. A big booming sound was heard all the way from the throne room. Then, a big, long mammal came ramming down the wide deep tunnel.
“hia mate. My name’s Ferret. Im an Australian Spotted Ferret. I’ll be showing you around the mother tree and helping you get used to this place until you get the hang of… Wait a moment, where's the big warrior bird Rose had told me about? All I see is Jaywing and the trespasser.”
“well, Ferret, to your surprise, this trespasser is a very important bird. It was prophesied that he would come and save the mother tree. This is Talon.”
“Sorry mate.” Ferret bowed the front of his body. “Hop on and I’ll take you to your wing of the mother tree. Feather can come along too.”
“I will get Feather.” Said Jaywing.
“wow, this is all moving so fast. First I was a wanted criminal and now I'm the strongest warrior bird in all of your territory.” Said Talon in disbelief.
“It's your mother tree now,” started Ferret. “Now that you are the second Shiftbeak. Everything is going to be so much better with you here. We will all feel more protected. Guess the crazy reader was right about something.” Ferret laughed a soft Australian laugh then Talon got on his back. Feather came in too.
“Feather!” Called Talon running over to her.
“As much as I love that you got me away from the crow, don't touch me and don't get near me. If we would have stayed with the noflights, none of this would have happened.”
“but, Feather, this will be good for us! We can live here in the mother tree of our territory!” Convinced Talon but Feather didn't want to hear it.
“our territory? Talon! We don't belong here! Less than an hour ago we were waned criminals! We do not belong here and that means we probably shouldn't be here! Something bad could happen to you or me! And I don't want that.” Feather gently claimed on Ferret’s back.
“welcome aboard the Ferret Mrs.” Said Ferret. Talon got on too. “Welcome aboard Talon. I will be like your guy’s taxi! Just call my name and I can take you anywhere in the mother tree, but just know, I don't go outside… Ever.” Feather giggled. “I'll take you two… Uh… Mates to your wing of the mother tree.” Ferret started walking out of the throne room. “Your wing used to be called the Shiftbeak wing but before you came it was the south wing. Now we can call it the Talon wing!” Said Ferret.
“Why don't we just keep it as the south wing. I would prefer it to be just the same.” Ferret continued to walk.
“yes, sir!” Said Ferret.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
when they finally arrived at his wing of the mother tree, Talon walked over to a hole which at the top was labeled with Shiftbeak.
“Shiftbeak? Is that you?” Said a common bird. Talon turned around.
“no,” said Talon.
“Oh, okay then. Sorry sir.” Before Talon turned to walk into Shiftbeak’s old nest, he noticed that there was a tag on the common bird’s foot.
“uh, wait!” Called Talon as the bird walked off. “Can you not fly?” He asked. The common bird turned around and nodded side to side to say no.
“I got my wings clipped. This tag on my foot lets a noflight know who's pet I am, or was.”
“I'm a noflight’s pet too! Well, I managed to escape last night and somehow I became the next Shiftbeak.”
“so, I'm talking to the new Shiftbeak?” Asked the common bird. He bowed. “What is your name, oh warrior?” The common bird looked up at Talon.
“well, my name’s Talon, but I think you’re looking for a cooler warrior name like Shiftbeak. Want to come into my nest and help me think of a name? You can also meet my mate!” The common bird looked down sadly. “What's wrong?” Talon asked.
“common birds aren't allowed in warrior’s nests.” He said.
“well who made up that stupid rule?” Talon asked in disbelief.
“Shiftbeak.” The common bird replied.
“and is Shiftbeak here?” Talon cleverly asked.
“no. He’s dead. He got eaten by a house cat two years ago.” Talon smiled.
“welcome to my nest.” He said as he gestured the common bird into his nest. The common bird skipped into the nest and in awe looked around.
“what’s your name?” Asked Talon.
“the other common birds call me Littletweets.” He said.
“that's too cute for a warrior’s assistant.” Littletweet’s jaw dropped.
“you want me to be your assistant?” He asked.
“of course! Now let's see, we will call you treetopper because you look like the kind of bird that could fly above all of these trees, despite your size.” He smiled. Feather wanted to chime in too.
“And you are so brave and you are now a warrior so for you, Talon, what about Eaglepeak.” Talon thought about the name Eaglepeak since he knew he would be called that for the rest of his life.
“I love it, Feather!” Said Talon.
“and I love my new name!” Treetopper exclaimed in excitement. “Do you want me to show you the marketplace and town square?” Said Treetopper. “It would be super useful.”
“I would love to!” Feather said in excitement. And they all walked down to the marketplace.
Chapter 8
The sun creeped slowly behind the trees as the marketplace closed and everyone flew back to their nests in their own wings of the mother tree. “Thank you, Treetopper, once again for showing us the marketplace.” Feather said.
“Its no problem at all.” Treetopper replied.
“I think it’s time for me to hit the hay,” Eaglepeak started. “I have training in the morning and have to get up early. Goodnight treetopper.”
“Goodnight Eaglepeak.” Treetopper flew away into a deep, dark tunnel.
“Talon, um, Eaglepeak, do you have to meet Rose in the morning?” He looked down at his claws.
“I hope not.” He said with a sigh, and opened the door to their nest to allow feather to walk in.
That night seemed strange. As much as Talon hated the noflight’s cage, he wanted to be back home. He wasn’t in his normal “habitat” or one that he was used to anyways. Eaglepeak tossed and turned all night thinking about tomorrow’s training and work, and being praised by all birds in the mothertree.
Morning slowly came. For Eaglepeak, it seemed like an eternity, but he was also worried about the training and work.
The sun showed that it was about 8 in the morning. Talon woke up Feather to tell her that he was going to talk to Jaywing.
“Feather, I’m super nervous.” Eaglepeak quietly spoke.
“How come?” She replied in the moaning, tired voice.
“I don’t know what Jaywing will have me do and if the birds of the mothertree will like me. Or why because of a dream, I am now a huge, famous hero and warrior. I just don’t get it. Why me?” Eaglepeak sounded worried.
“Talon, everything will be okay. You’ll have me and Treetopper to cheer you on despite the other birds but because of your personality, they will have no reason to hate you. You are their hero! They haven't had a hero in a very long time! Just think, some birds have lived their whole lives without a hero, they’ve been living in fear that something could happen to them…”
“Feather! I’m not a hero! I had a dream the same as the leader of the mothertree! So what? I am a noflight’s pet.” Feather puffed up her chest in anger.
“I, Talon, am a noflight’s pet also. If I had the same opportunity as you, I wouldn’t be complaining.” She lied back down and stuck her head under her wing. Eaglepeak nudged up against her and lied down next to her.
“I’m sorry.” He whispered in her ear. She didn’t give him a response so he stood up and walked out to go talk with Jaywing before training started.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
“Hello?” Eaglepeak called as he walked into the main room where Jaywing’s throne was. “Jaywing? Are you here?” He asked.
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