The Story of Tiberius

Chapter 41

"It's been so long. Your uncle and I... we heard rumors of what had happened and we looked everywhere for you both. After months of searching... we lost hope..." Sleet explained as she and the other birds of prey led Tiberius and Rosa towards a clearing surrounded by trees. A giant oak tree really caught their attention. And there were birds of prey everywhere. Some on the ground, some perched in the trees. Some elderly ones were laying on a rock. There were bald eagles, peregrine falcons, ospreys, great horned owls, red tailed hawks and turkey vultures. All had their eyes on the newcomers. Looking over her shoulder at the two hawks following her, Sleet whispered, "It's alright Thunder and Rain, ignore the stares."

"Actually, we're called Tiberius and Rosa now," Tiberius corrected her. A soft smile crept up on Sleet's face as she remarked, "Those are nice names." As she was saying this, she was leading them towards the giant oak tree. Taking a closer look at it, there were several holes in it. Many birds were heading inside of them. The largest hole of all was at the base of the oak tree, big enough for three eagles to walk in with their shoulders touching. Sleet entered it without hesitation. Rosa stayed close to Tiberius as they followed the ancient bald eagle and the others.

They were greeted by a large hollow space expanding quite a ways up in the tree. Tipping his head back, Tiberius estimated about one fourth of the tree made up this cave like hollow. It even had small branches growing inside, in which several birds of prey were currently perched upon. Ground level, only a few were gathered by a small pool of water. Among them were Eddie, Striker, Pierre and Flash. Dodger was standing nearby while the two owls, hawk and osprey from earlier made up the rest, along with a peregrine falcon and a very elderly osprey. All stood behind these fairly medium sized rocks. The largest one had no one behind it while a small section of dry land was surrounded by the pool of water. Sleet motioned for the two hawks to go there before she took her spot behind the large rock.

Gazing around at all the birds, big and small, gathered in the hollow, Sleet called out in a crisp and clear voice, "I, Sleet, leader of the New Council, calls this meeting into session!"