Keep Your Coins!, I Want Change!

[Micky'Lenz]

Carlisle yawned loudly as he glided past the border between the Beaks and the Forest Kingdom of Tyto. It was almost dawn, and he’d been flying aimlessly since midnight. Ever since the Pure Ones had split up, he’d been lost. He didn’t know where he belonged; he didn’t know where to go. It was absolutely miserable. Everything he’d ever known was with the Pure Ones, and now he was about to lose his mind. He was a fully-fledged Grass owl now, and desperately seeking a home, and a friendly face. Carlisle had made friends with a couple of Great Grays back in Ambala, and a family of Burrowing owls in the Desert of Kuneer, but he never felt at home. His conscience forced him to keep moving; never settling anywhere.

Carlisle felt that flying into Tyto was the first step in discovering where he belonged. Maybe it was called the “Forest of Tyto” because Tytos were meant to live there. Maybe it had special accommodations that only pertained to them. Well, at least it gave him something to think about as he flew into the forest. Perhaps he might even meet someone special…it was just a thought. He knew no one would want to even be near an owl that had once been a Pure One, except for, of course, other Pure Ones. He’d been raised by Candark to believe that Tytos were superior, but now he wasn’t quite sure. He’d been away from them for what seemed like forever, and now he knew more about other owls, and knew that they weren’t all as bad as he made them out to be. Most of them were quite hospitable and were never cross, unlike most of the Pure Ones. Nevertheless, the Pure Ones were his…well, family. Until just recently, he’d felt that they had done something terrible to him when they stole him from his nest. However, now he decided to accept them as part of who he was, and that that part of him would never change.

Carlisle sighed as he thought about his situation, and looked up from his lane above the treetops. It would soon be morning. Perhaps he should find a decent place to sleep. With this being the “Forest of Tyto”, there were bound to be multiple choices of vacant hollows. He began his search and was pleased to find a very suitable spot almost immediately. The Grass owl entered the cozy hole in the tree, and fluffed up his feathers to keep warm before closing his eyes to sleep…

[ForestOwl]

"CARLISLE!"

Henry the Masked Owl poked his head through the hollow entrance. He was much different now, he'd grown up and he was now wearing his badge: a star with a swirl of colors in the middle and different colors on the different "legs" of the star. He hadn't expected to find his old friend sleeping in his hollow. "How did you get here? Where have you been? Oh, there's so much to tell you...Candark's not evil!" Henry grinned, unaware that he might be telling his tale too fast for Carlisle to follow.

"You remember Bylyric and the rest of the Ice Talons chasing him out of Tyto, right? Well, he was being posessed by a demon! But he got rid of the thing. He came back, and I formed the Lumenpullus League...we're basically the Ice Talons' allies now. Alphonse is Bylyric's second-in-command now.

"And Candark...well...he drowned in a tunnel trying to save a few owlets."

[Micky'Lenz]

Carlisle nearly went yeep while asleep when he heard Henry. Wait, Henry?! Why was he in Tyto? Carlisle didn’t know what he thought would’ve happened to Henry, but the Masked owl was probably the last owl he thought he might see in this forest. Henry still talked a little bit too fast for the older Grass owl to understand, but it was nice to hear him again. Carlisle walked out onto the branch that was near Henry’s hollow and tried to take it all in. Candark wasn’t evil, Henry formed a league, and Alphonse was second-in-command to something. And, hang on, what did he say last?? Candark drowned????

“What? Why was Candark trying to save owlets? Is everyone else still alive?”

Carlisle was secretly very discouraged that Candark appeared to be dead. Candark was the father he never had, possessed or not. He had given him all his ceremonies, and even taught him how to fly. Carlisle always believed that really, Candark was a good owl. He was just putting on a show to appear frightening to gain other owls’ respect. In Carlisle’s heart, he wanted to see Candark again. Carlisle looked at Henry's badge closley.

"What's this?"

OOC: Short, and crappy. However, I have to have a thread going where I know it doesn’t have to be ultra-long.

[ForestOwl]

Henry nodded. "Oh yes, everybody else is still alive...but...yes, it was Candark who drowned...I formed the Lumenpullus League, basically a group of warriors who fight for good and all of that. When I showed Candark the tunnel that leads to our headquarters, apparently a few owlets followed him. There was a flood, and then Candark and Lemmy--you remember him, right, the tiny polar bear?--saved them all. But right after that Candark threw himself into the tunnel. He didn't come out...he's drowned..."

The young Masked Owl seemed to immediately brighten up when Carlisle asked him about the badge. "Oh, this, this shows that I'm the leader and founder of the Lumenpullus League! All of the colors in it show that we support unity in diversity, you know, not just thinking that Barn Owls are the 'pure' species.

OOC: Short!

[Micky'Lenz]

"Oh really? Good for you, Henry!" Carlisle was trying to process all of the information about Candark's death, and blinked a few times in surprise. It was an unbelievable story, but Carlisle didn't think Henry capable of lying to a friend. Carlisle was a bit older than Henry, so he'd known him since he hatched. He was put through all of the same horrific ceremonies that Carlisle was, but he seemed to be more okay with them than Carlisle. It surprised him that the masked owl could form such a league.

Carlisle still didn't believe the Candark story. Someday, he would get every detail of the event and put everything together. It just didn't seem possible that Candark would do such a thing.

"So, the League must be nearby if this is your hollow. Where is it?"

Maybe Carlisle would see old friends again? The only name he'd heard was Alphonse, whom Carlisle wasn't insanely keen to visit again, but at least he was familiar. Ferai, maybe? Who knew. He simply wanted to see what this League was all about.

OOC: Short song time! -sings-

[ForestOwl]

Henry grinned. "Oh, that's the best part, seeing the League's HQ! I sent some scouts in there a few days ago, they said it's not flooded any more, so come on!" Before Carlisle could respond, Henry grabbed him by the wing and dragged him off through the sky.

~~~~~

The Masked Owl lead his friend to the edges of Tyto, where the forest met the Beaks. "'Kay, it's somewhere around here..." Henry muttered. He wandered around one of the huge rocks that made up the Beaks, and he smiled. "Okay, come on, it's over here!"

There was a little cave entrance hidden by a shadow and a few dead vines. "We haven't been using the HQ for a few weeks now. The Herr af Loki attacked, and we're just sticking around with the Ice Talons to help them." He pushed aside the curtain of vines and lead his friend into the dark cave.

Henry waited a second so that his and his friend's eyes could get used to the darkness. Then he looked at Carlisle. "Ready? This is going to be a bumpy ride."

[Micky'Lenz]

Before he knew it, Carlisle was being pulled through the air towards the League's Headquarters. Carlisle and his old friend landed on the ground between the forest and the Beaks, searching for something Carlisle was unaware of. He was simply following Henry.

When Henry found the entrance, it looked a little treacherous. Carlisle didn't understand.

"A bumpy ride?"

Henry seemed really excited. Carlisle had always known him to be a very happy owl, but never so much as now. Sure, Carlisle was happy to see him, but wow. He smiled and laughed quietly.

"Whatever can you mean?"

He'd said the cave was flooded before...Carlisle wasn't fully convinced that it wasn't anymore, so maybe that's why it would be a bumpy ride. Oh well, Carlisle would just have to wait and see.