Guardian's of Ga'hoole: Out of the Ash

Chapter Eight

   I flew along some canyons until my ear holes picked up on the scuffle sound of little feat on stone. I pinpointed it to a mouse sitting on top of a rock.
   It wasn't looking in my direction so I pulled my wings together to dive bomb it. I was a good yard away from it so I flapped my wings and remembered how my da had told me to do it.
   I glided towards it and my talons stretched out on instinct, allowing me to grasp the mouse, killing it. I landed with the mouse still in my claws.
   "Nice catch." I hear and I turned to see Vaygar. "You saw that?" I asked and he nodded. "Every feather." He complimented.
   I looked at him through narrowed eyes. "Why are you being so nice?" I asked him, he smirked. "I don't know." He said.
   I started to become uncomfortable so I excused myself and flew off to finish my mouse.
   Once I had finished it, I heard wing beats and started to worry that it was Vaygar, but when I looked it was Kludd.
   "Oh, hi Kludd." I greeted and he looked at me with a worried look. I was surprised that he showed this emotion so I began to feel worried.
"I watched while you hunted." He started carefully. "What's up between you and that masked owl?" He asked and I sighed, for I had worried it was something else.
   "His names Vaygar, and he was just complimenting me on my wing strokes." I explained. Kludd nodded.
"Nyra has called for all the soldiers to armor up. Metal Beak said that Allimere will be leading the guardians here soon." Kludd said.
   I looked down in worry and Kludd used his beak to nudge me. "What's wrong?" He asked.
   I glanced at him while opening and closing my beak. "Nothing." I mumbled before opening my wings and going top the armory room, Kludd followed me.
   We flew to the armory to see Vaygar walk out with a helmet on. He sent a smirk in my direction before he continued on.
   "You want a helmet?" A voice asked. Me and Kludd looked to see a Tyto owl handling a rack of armor.
"Yes, and nast battle claws." I answered. The owl looked at me with amusement. "You seem to know your weapons." He complimented before going top get the items.
   Kludd looked at me in confusion. "What's the difference between nast and basic?"
   "Not much, just the fact that basic are for more aerial slashing movement and nast are for grabbing. There's also the E ones that resemble thorns but I don't use those ones, because I ends up cutting myself." I explained, showing a scar I got from the said weapon.
   The owl came back with the helmet and battle claws so I put them on. "How do I look?" I asked Kludd. He didn't answer.
   "Kludd?" I asked, he snapped out of his daze. "What?" He snapped, sounding slightly agitated.
   "I rolled my eyes. I asked: how do I look?" Kludd looked me up and down. "Like a soldier that knows what she's doing." He answered, good enough for me.
   "Do you want anything?" The owl asked Kludd who shook his head. "I don't need a weapon to fight my idiot brother!" Kludd exclaimed.
   I couldn't help but let out a short snicker. "He obviously isn't much of that if he found the guardians as Lord Allimere has told us." I mentioned.
   "What's that suppose to mean!?" Kludd grunted in irritation. "It means Soren's come far... And so have you. Kludd, what if Soren does beat you?" I asked.
   The other Tyto in the hallow, sensing that we needed to speak alone, went out and Kludd looked at me. "Your..." He trailed off, trying to find the right words.
   "Worried." I answered. He sighed but didn't say anything else as he flew off. I then realized that I had feelings for him, even if he might not return them.
   I jumped off the ledge and flew off, getting ready for the fight of the century that will come.