Guardians of Ga'Hoole 02 - The Journey

were, which treesthey had fallen from. But then it became apparent that in the nearby trees there were no hollows, no possible nests for these young owls. So where had they come from? Had they been snatched by St. Aggie’s patrols and then, in flight, somehow mutinied and escaped the talons of their captors, falling to the ground? But why would St. Aggie’s patrols not retrieve them? It was all quite mystifying. The other thing that was peculiar was that they were all Barn Owls, not just Tyto alba like Soren, but Masked Owls and Grass Owls and Sooty Owls, all belonging to the Barn Owl family.
    Twilight divided his attention between Digger below and Primrose, who was flying over him. He had retracted his battle claws, because there did not seem to be any St. Aggie’s agents around and it was necessary to pull them in when picking up a fallen owlet, so as not to hurt it. Another Great Gray was wearing his battle claws fully extended and circling in case of ambush. They traded off. This was how the search-and-rescue chaw operated—in pairs, with one owl flying in full battle suit while the other was prepared to pick up an owlet in distress. When one was found, it was taken to a gathering spot in a large hollow presided over by one of Barran’s assistants, who could administer medical attention before flying the owls back to the Great Ga’Hoole Tree. When there were enough owlets gathered, they set off. But now there were morethan enough. That is why backup had been requested. More of everything was needed. More search-and-rescue workers, more assistants at the gathering spots, more trackers. It was an almost overwhelming situation. Never had they dealt with so many nestless owlets. Where were their parents? Where were their hollows? They seemed to have dropped out of nowhere.
    Twilight spotted a Sooty Owl on the ground. This was the most difficult time of the day for owls to spot downed owlets. And Sooties were the most difficult of all owls to spot. Neither black nor white but indeed a smudgy ash color, they seemed to blend in with the twilight. But Twilight himself, with his peculiar gift for seeing at this time, was well suited for the task. Making sure his battle claws were locked back, he began a quick plunge. He hoped the little fellow wasn’t dead.
    Cautiously he poked it with his beak. He detected a heartbeat. Then gently he scooped it up in his talons. It stirred a bit and tried to lift its head. He thanked Glaux, there was life in this one. There was nothing worse than picking up a dead owlet. Despite their small size, they seemed to be especially heavy, and if their eyes weren’t closed and they were dead, it was awful! Barran had not expected that they would encounter any dead owlets on their first mission. She was very upset for the new membersof the chaw. “It wasn’t supposed to be like this,” she kept saying.
    “Now you take it easy, little Sooty,” Twilight spoke gently to the owlet. “We’re going to get you nice and fixed up. Don’t you worry. You’re in the talons of a champ here!” Twilight couldn’t resist a little exhibition of his finer flight maneuvers. Besides, an owlet might find them comforting.

Hush little owl,
    You’re with Twi.
    I got the moves to get you by.
    Big bad crows.
    St. Aggie’s scamps
    Ain’t got nothin to show this champ.
    I’ll pop a spiral
    With a twist,
    Do a three-sixty
    And scatter mist—

    In the middle of what Twilight considered one of his finest poetry compositions that he had ever made up midair, the little Sooty began to make a sound like a weak whistle.
    “My Tyto, my Tyto, why hast thou forsaken us in our purity?”
    Twilight looked down at the limp little Sooty in his talons. “What are you talking about? Forsaken? You call this forsaken? Look, I’m not Glaux but you’re safe right here in my talons. Safer than you were down on the ground.” But the little Sooty just stared at him with vacant dark eyes.
    Strix Struma was suddenly on his upwind side. “Don’t be upset, Twilight. All these owlets are babbling some kind of nonsense. It’s all very weird. This is not like what they did at St. Aggie’s with the moon-blinking business, but it’s strange. Very strange talk all the time about Tyto. Bubo and Boron are on their way and Ezylryb is coming as well.”
    “Ezylryb?” Twilight was surprised. Ezylryb never left the Great Ga’Hoole Tree, except for forest fires and weather interpretation. A lot of owlets falling out of nowhere