Pick Up Your Swords and Fly!, The Herr af Loki is attacking!

[ForestOwl]

Half an hour earlier, at Cape Glaux...

Dimitri and Dervla perched in a tree on Cape Glaux. Loki hovered over them in his favorite form, an owl made only of black smoke, with glowing red eyes. Below the trio was their vast army, the Herr af Loki. There were hundreds of wolves from all of the clans the Herr could conquer. There were also thousands of owls, snakes, pine martens, ferrets, stoats, and weasels.

The Herr was going to attack Ga'Hoole. Lorelee Lei, one of their most important slipgizzles, had informed them that an Ice Talon had come to Ga'Hoole and warned the Ga'Hoolians of the Herr af Loki. It had taken a lot of diamonds, but Dimitri had eventually been able to get other information out of her, such as the fact that the Prince of Hoole was away and the Ice Talon had been a young Barn Owl. Dimitri doubted that the Ga'Hoolians were much of a threat, though. They were still split between the Communists and the Parliament's members and followers. Loki had insisted that they attack, though, so that the Ga'Hoolians wouldn't have time to put aside their differences and rally themselves together.

So here the Herr was, waiting for dawn, when most of the Guardians would be tired and half-asleep.

~~~~~

The present, at the Ga'Hoole Tree...

Annaryb was in her hollow, ready to relax and sleep for the day. It had been an exhausting night with the tracking chaw. Rosa, her student, hadn't shown up, and most of her other students were arguing with eachother about Communism. Once she'd finally gotten her class to stop talking about Communism, Cantaber Agrippa and Victoria Revithilp had come along, asking Anna if she wanted to join the Communist Party. The ryb had politely declined, but after that she just could not get the rest of the chaw to focus.

She was just about to fall asleep when Lily slithered in. The blind nest-maid didn't say a word, just went around cleaning Annaryb's hollow. The ryb blinked and looked at her. "Is something wrong, Lily? You usually have something to chat with me about."

Lily sighed. "You wouldn't believe what a racket the Communists are making in the Great Hollow. I can even sense them chanting from here. You're lucky that you're all the way over here, away from the Great Hollow."

Anna frowned. "They were giving me trouble during my class too...at any other time I wouldn't mind them asking me if I wanted to join their Party, but I don't appreciate them disrupting my class..."

The nest-maid all of a sudden slithered out onto the branch outside Annaryb's hollow. "Something's not right..."

"What is it, Lily?"

Lily didn't need to speak. Annaryb could already see the dark shapes flying through the pink sky and swimming in the sea. There were thousands of them. "What are those!?"

"LOKASOOOOOOON! LOKASOOOOOON!"

As the creatures got nearer, Annaryb could see that the figures in the sky were owls, crows, and ravens. The figures in the seas were wolves with snakes, stoats, pine martens, ferrets, and weasels riding on their backs. All of the creatures who could hold weapons were armed to the teeth. Both Annaryb and Lily could see that they were definitely not friendly. They heard screams from behind them and saw snakes, eagles, and owls flying through the tree, trying to get away from the attacking army.

Anna and Lily looked at eachother. "We need to go find Queen Strix," Anna said.

~~~~~

The Communists' protests in the Great Hollow were interrupted as half of the owls in the tree came rushing in, shrieking. Dorota Ramirez, who had been watching the Communists from a safe distance, growled and shouted, "Everybody shut up! What's going on?"

Anna and Lily came in last. "Ramirez, we're being attacked! There's all these weasels and stoats and ferrets and snakes and wolves and owls--"

"THEY'RE ATTACKING FROM ALL SIDES! WE'RE SURROUNDED!" another owl screamed as he flew into the Great Hollow. All of the other Ga'Hoolians were pouring in. The sound of the Herr's battle cries came from all around the tree, and the nest-maids sensed that the snakes, mustelids, and wolves were beginning to climb up the vast trunk of the Ga'Hoole Tree.

"Everybody, calm down!" Ramirez growled, silencing the hollow. "Right. Now, where's Queen Moonwing?"

[Sinty]

"There's no such thing as blue blood! No such thing as blue blood! Let the people decide!" Vlad was shouting out slogans with the rest of the Communist Party, and they had a voice too loud to be ignored. Vlad noticed an agent of the oppressors - that Little Owl with the oddish name, watching the protestors. He shouted out, "Oppressors: leave the Tree!" and soon that cry was taken up by the rest of the Communists.

When several of his snake comrades stopped crying slogans, Vlad cocked his head quizzically. Snakes were normally the most fiery Communists, due to centuries of servitude. After all, they were even called nest-maid snakes, a name the Communists were trying to replace with "blind snakes".

Vlad hopped over to one of the snakes, Comrade Horner, and said, "Comrade, what's wrong? Why have you stopped trying to reach the oppressor? In order to reach Communism, all voices must cry out as one. Only then will the capitalists hear the workers' cry."

"I know, Comrade," the snake said, tilting hs head like a Barn Owl hearing prey. "It's just that I... sense something. Like.... a thousand wings flapping, and hundreds of waves lapping against something. It's odd, but..."

"Well, Comrade Horner, if you think something is wrong, something very possibly could be," Vlad said. "The Communist Party makes full use of the talents of all its members. 'From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs', after all." Vlad swelled as he quoted The Communist Manifesto.

Then Vlad heard it also. Hundreds of wings flapping, hundreds of paws lapping against water. "I hear it, too, Comrade!" he exclaimed. "Come, let us alert the Comrade General Secretary."

Before Vlad and Comrade Horner got that far, though, a feirce cry broke into the protests of the Communists, a cry that sent fear into the hearts of every creature present. "LOKASOOOOOOOON! LOKASOOOOOOOOON!"

"What is that?" Vlad exclaimed, and he tried to get to the entrance to see, but before he could, a crowd of owls flew into the Great Hollow, screaming. Vlad, being rather petite in build, was shoved to the ground as owls of all sizes flew over him, trying to reach the safety of the Great Hollow.

Someone was screaming about being attacked from all sides when a voice screeched out, quieting the crazy mob. It was the Ramirez bird, the Parliament member who'd been watching the protest. She announced that she would go find the Queen.

Vlad stood up, puffing out his chest in an attempt to make himself visible to all. "No!" he announced, trying to make hisd voice as loud as possible. "Do not go to your blue-blooded monarch! Do you know what she will do? She will decree that we must fight those outside, and spill blood! And do you know whose blood will be shed? The blood of the workers! The workers without this Tree and within! That is not right! We must not shed blood as red as our own! It is all a game to the capitalists, a way to direct our rage towards a foe, but we shall not be deterred! Come now, my comrades! Let us NOT face the aggressor! Let the capitalists deal with that! We, my Comrades, shall strike!"

~~~



Normal was in her hollow, reading her mother's law books, when a crowd of screaming birds flew by her hollow. She shrunk back, wondering what was going on. Was it another civil war, like the one Mother had fought in? Normal shrank back. Mother had hid her then, but now she had no Mother, no Lawriseria...

But she did have a place to hide. She picked up the law book and the candle she had just been going to blow out, and hurried to the wall. She pulled a book out of her mother's small bookshelf, and it swung back, revealing a dark space. Normal ran in and shoved the bookshelf back into place. She then hunkered over her mother's law book, muttering prayers to Siv, Mother of Hoole, that it would all be over soon - whatever it was.

[ForestOwl]

"NO BLUE BLOOD!"

The Communists cheered at Vladimir's words. But there were still the sounds of the Herrbeasts climbing up the side of the tree. All of the non-Communists panicked, with the exception of Ramirez. Anna and Lily looked around. What would the Ga'Hoolians do? They looked confused and frightened. They agreed with what the Communists said, but they had to fight. Otherwise, they'd be killed by the Herrbeasts.

Outside, Dimitri, Dervla and Loki were perched on the edges of the tree. Their attack was going perfectly so far. None of the Ga'Hoolians seemed to be doing anything. The owls, crows, and ravens were outside of the hollows, waiting to attack if any owls tried to escape that way. The mustelids reached the entrance to the Great Hollow, and entered, quickly surrounding the Ga'Hoolians.

Ramirez growled at the Communists. These stupid creatures refused to fight, even now that the Herrbeasts were closing in on them! And where was Strix? Well, somebody would have to take this problem into their own claws. Ramirez decided to be that somebody. "You know what, you idiotic Commies can stand there while you get murdered, but I'm gonna do something about this! All owls who are willing to fight, to me!"

At first, there was silence, except for the Herrbeasts getting closer. Then Anna and Lily, to Ramirez's surprise, moved to the Little Owl's side. Slowly, a few more owls walked over too. Soon, about two dozen owls were at Ramirez's side. Hardly a large army, but Ramirez would take whoever she got.

"Right then. Chaaaaaaarge! Ga'Hooooooooole!"

Ramirez and her little band of followers rushed at the Herrbeasts, slashing with their claws and ripping with their beaks. They took the Herrbeasts by surprise, though the Herr af Loki fought just as fiercely. The rest of the soldiers in the Great Hollow began to cut down the Communists and the owls who refused to fight. Ramirez's group was getting scratched up too. Suddenly a big weasel growled and grabbed Ramirez. "Time ta end this," he growled, and lifted his sword to her throat. The Little Owl just glared at him.

Perhaps that would be the night that Ga'Hoole fell...

[Sinty]

When the creatures began to kill Communists, Vlad puffed out his chest and screeched, in the loudest tone he could muster, "STOOOOPPPP! ALL OF YOU, STOP THIS VERY INSTANT!"

The creatures stopped fighting, and Vlad walked out into the middle of the floor, glaring around him. "I am ashamed of you," he growled, "killing innocents! The Communist Party of the Great Ga'Hoole Tree does not condone violence and killing, whether by themselves or of themselves! Do you not realize that all of you, mustelids, owls, snakes, are merely being used by the capitalist oppressors?"

Vlad pointed to the entrance of the Great Hollow, where the owls of the foreign army perched. "Look at those owls! They are the ones who truly run your army, aren't they? I do not see them fighting, spilling blood. Why not? Because they are using you, using you to attain their desires. What will you personally gain from killing us and taking this Tree? Nothing! They will get what they want, but you will get nothing!"

Several of the foreign creatures seemed swayed by his argument, and set down their weapons, but the majority were growling, hungry for blood. "Aw, let's just kill the little blabberbeak!" one weasel cried.

"I put it before you that you cannot!" Vlad declared. "You shall never kill my spirit, my spirit to stand against the capitalists, and to proselytize to their blind followers! I may not be telling you what you want to here, but you know that I am telling you the truth! All are equal, but this is not what your group says, is it? Why else would you be fighting whilst your leaders perch and look on?"

Several of the owls of the foreign army were glaring at Vlad, but the vast majority were churring. They stopped churring when Vlad took his red scarf from his throat and impaled it upon a nearby twig. "Now, come to me, Comrades! For no longer does there exist a Kingdom of Hoole, or a Great Ga'Hoole Tree! I now declare this Tree the Great Tree of Worker's Unity, and the Kingdom which rules it to be dissolved! Come to me, Comrades! Come to the Peoples' Republic of the Great Tree!"

Vlad smiled to himself as several mustelids did walk over. Tonight, he thought to himself, was the night Ga'Hoole would fall.

OOC: SDWI.

[ForestOwl]

The ferret who had been holding Ramirez was distracted by Vladimir. The Little Owl twisted her head and looked at Vladimir with a glare. If looks could kill, the Communist owl would have just keeled over and died. Every creature there was certain of one thing: somehow, the Ga'Hoole Tree would never be the same again. Only time would tell if that was true.

Loki drifted down to the Great Hollow. Something was amiss. He entered one of his soldier's mind and learned of Vladimir's little speech. He laughed, making the Herrbeasts jump in surprise and cower in fear of the god. "Don't listen to him if you value your life. Do you know why you should be fighting for me?" He glared at all of the creatures in the hollow. "Because I give great rewards to those who follow my orders. As for those who don't..."

He flew over to one of the pine martens who had joined the Communists. He wrapped a black claw around the pine marten's neck. The creature squirmed and his eyes bulged. Suddenly he went limp. Loki let him slide to the floor. "...bad things tend to happen to them."

Annaryb's eyes widened. Lily shivered. Whatever they were dealing with, it was definitely not a normal owl.

OOC: SDWI.

[Sinty]

As the black owl flew into the Great Hollow, Vladimir felt a little chill, that he could not explain. There was something about that owl that wasn't... natural. That was it, it was not natural.

Vladimir watched as it strangled a pine marten, shocked. How could someone do something like that? That was barbarism, not culture! This owl was a monster, more than a capitalist! He was a... a... a feudalist! Vlad labelled him with the worst title he could think up.

But there were times when one had to do unpleasant things. Vlad stepped forward. He did wish that the Comrade General Secretary were around - where was she? "Are you the.. 'leader' of this army? I will presume so."

He drew himself up once more, trying not to look small before this unpleasant owl. "I am Vladimir Korasin, Workers' Hero in the Communist Party of the Great Tree of Workers' Unity. Please tell me, why are you attacking us? We have done naught to you. We merely wish to bring all the workers of the world to true Communism. But first, we must set our own affairs in order. And to do that, we will need you to leave."

Vladimir still felt rather uneasy in this owl's presence. "Surely there is something we can give you? If you want gold, you may take ours - gold is an unnecesary frippery, only worn or used by the bourgousie. If you want the former Royal Family, I am afraid you cannot have them - they may choose to live life as common workers or they may leave. And I would ask you to do the same."

~~~

Normal cocked her head. She no longer heard the sounds of fighting. There was no more screaming, no more clashing. Perhaps the battle was over? Surely not this quickly... But maybe. Normal had read of the Battle of Small Inlets, which had only lasted one minute. So perhaps this war truly was over.

She drew in the bookshelf slowly, glancing out to see if any foreign warriors heard or noticed. It seemed not. Hope began to grow in her gizzard. She walked out of the secret hollow and shut it behind her. She breathed in heavily. Nothing had changed. Not a trace of a fire, like the last battle that had taken place in her lifetime.

She walked over to the hole and peeked out. There were owls perched along the Great Hollow's entrance hole. Were they watching the enemy retreat? Normal looked up. No fleeing owls there. Could they be enemy soldiers? Surely the enemy could not have won the battle? Perhaps she had better go back into her secret hollow for a while...

Suddenly, a black face popped up, cawing in her face. Normal fell flat on her back, and the black bird landed on top of her, head cocked. It was a raven, and it had a look of mischievous glee upon its face.

"My name, little birdy," the raven cooed softly, "is Karakold. And you and I are going to have a lot of fun together. Isn't that right, my sweet little Sooty?"

[ForestOwl]

The Great Gray Owl perching next to Karakold, Logbert, sniggered and lifted his sharp ice sabre. "Hurhur, let's get 'er, wonder what color 'er insides are." The rather dimwitted Great Gray flew over to the other side of Normal and poked his ice sabre at her beak.

~~~~~

Loki glared and turned to Vladimir, his red eyes digging into the owl. Dervla and Dimitri had swooped down to see what was going on. They watched their ancestor and Vladimir. Loki suddenly laughed. "What do I want!?" He drifted over to the owl and began to wrap his talon around the Communist's neck.

"Listen to me, owl," he snarled. "You aren't a threat to me. You aren't even a thorn in my side. I could kill you right now, I could wipe out all of you annoying Communists. But I won't. Yet." He paused for dramatic effect, and then continued. "Now as for what I want, I have one word: revenge. You can thank the Aesir gods for all of the suffering you shall experience. They were the ones who threw me out of Asgard and strapped me to a stone, underneath a serpent who drips poison from his mouth onto my face. My wife Sigyn...she kept most of the poison off of me, but it was torture for us both.

"We escaped, though! We escaped and gathered my wives, my sons, and my daughters. We conquered whatever and whoever we could. I will destroy all of the Aesirs' followers on Earth, and then I will rise an army more vast than any other in history. When Ragnarok comes, the Aesir will fall! I will destroy the sun and moon, I will destroy Asgard, I will destroy Midgard, this Earth, and create my own world!"

Loki paused and closed his eyes. All of the creatures in the hollow were even more frightened. Nobody except for Dimitri and Dervla, not even the soldiers of the Herr, had been aware of Loki's true intentions. And now they all knew. Loki opened his eyes again. "Enough of this talk. It is time for you to die!"

"NO!"

Everybody looked to where the voice had come from. There, glaring defiantly at Loki, was General Secretary Victoria Revithilp. "Hey, I'm the General Secretary of this Communist Party. I think I'm the one you want. So leave my comrade alone, you barbarian!"

Loki growled and let go of Vladimir. Victoria smiled. But then, the god flew over to the snake and began strangling her. She coughed and screamed and her eyes bulged, just like the pine marten Loki had just killed. Victoria looked at Vladimir. "Vlad...new General...Secretary..." She was just able to choke out the last four words before she went limp.

Comrade Victoria Revithilp, General Secretary of the CPGGT, was gone forever.

OOC: I have killed off a character in a Sinty-like way! XP

[Strix Moonwing]

"Strella! Oh, Strella, where are you?" The forlorn queen cried, sticking her head through her daughter's empty hollow in a vain attempt to locate the Ga'hoolian princess. It had been a couple hours since Fenryb had informed her that Princess Strella hadn't shown up for any of her chaw classes; neither had another young owl named Babus. The eagle ryb had also mentioned that Strella's hagsfiend friend, Rowan, had gone missing as well. There was no doubt in Queen Moonwing's mind that the three disappearances were connected. For some reason, those three, who had never been actually close friends, had gone off together or had been taken. The princess's mother noticed that many of Strella's things were missing from their usual places in her normally tidy hollow; further indication that whereever Strella had gone to, it had been intentionally. That was some relief on the Ga'Hoolian Queen's mind, but wonderment on where her precious daughter could have gone and why burned in her mind, worrying the mother to the depths of her heart. Strella was the only child she had left at Ga'Hoole; with Will gone to help save the Middle Kingdom and her mate dead, she was alone.

Suddenly the tree was filled with the sounds of shouts and screams of fear. The whole tree seemed to vibrate and shake as if the entire islands was being trampled upon. A violent gust of wind shook the towering branching as hundreds of wings beat against the night and howls and yells of oppressing creatures filled the once still air.

"Queen Strix!" Came a terrified scream. It was silenced by a savage snarl and the sound of wings beating against fur filled the hollow as well as the clanking of beak and fang.

"Fenryb!" Queen Strix recongized the sound of her dear friend's voice anywhere. She hastily abandoned her daughter's hollow and hurried in the direction of Fen's voice. It was coming from her own hollow! With spotted feathers flared, the queen bursted into her hollow, shocked to stumble upon the sight of her Head ryb in a battle to the death with a large marten. Crimson blood splashed upon the hollow floor as the battling fowl and beast tumbled about, beak tearing at fur and claws ripping out tan feathers as furious screechs and snarls filled the hollow.

Strix quickly flew the battling duo and landed in front of her late mate's shrine. In a flash, she wrapped her talons around the hilt of the scimitar that once belonged to Liberwill. With a furious screech of a battlecry, the queen slashed out, slashing open the Herrbeast's throat. The marten let out a gurgled cry before going limp. Fen pushed the dead marten off her and struggled to her feet. The young ryb let out a gasp of pain and gripped her bleeding side where claw marks gouged upon her flesh.

"Don't worry, it's just a flesh wound." Fenryb reassured the queen, catching a glimpse at the worried look on her face. "A few dock leaves and some bandages and I'll be as light as rain."

"Fen, what has happened? What is going on?" Strix asked, her voice rising over the sounds of battle.

"It's the Herr of Loki!" Fen explained. "There's thousands of them! And the Communists are trying to stop us from attacking!" There was an uproar of screams that drowned out her voice for a second. "The Guardians need you, Your Majesty!"

"We can't beat them alone." Strix said as she grabbed her battle claws and snapped them onto her talons. If there was a battle, she wouldn't let her guardians fight without her. "We need our allies more than ever. Where's the Ice Talon messenger?"

"I sent him out when the I saw the Herr creatures coming." Fen said. "but I'm not sure whether they'll make it in time." The eagle blinked in surprise when the queen threw her a sword.

"Keep that handy. You'll need it." Strix paused and slowly turned towards the ember of Hoole. With only a moment of hesitation, she grabbed it. "Something tells me we'll need this." The queen turned to Fen, her usually gentle and wise face furrowed into that of a warrior's.

"Well, we'll just have to stall the Loki creatures until they arrive." There was no fear or hesitation in the queen's voice, only steely determination. With most of her family and friends gone, there was no way Strix was going to let her home fall as well. The Kingdom of Ga'Hoole will leave on...

...she would make sure of it.

"Come on! We have to get to the Great Hollow!" She cried, waving the ember of Hoole like a banner. Flames flared and sparked from the ancient cinder, giving off a light brighter than any star in the sky as the queen and her faithful ryb flew out of the hollow and towards the battle.

When both they had entered the Great Hollow, both were shocked and horrified by the carnage that they saw. The tree was filled with enemies and most of the Guardians weren't doing anything but standing in fear. Only the brave and loyal few who sided with Ramirez were fighting and were quickly falling under the Herr army's vast numbers. The tree mustn't be divided with they were to win this battle, only unity could save their home now.

Cold fury filled the Ga'hoolian queen at the sight of the slay guardians and she knew exactly who to take all the anger and frustration that she had felt out on. Queen Strix turned to face the dark spirit that she knew was Loki and stared at him with fearless, narrowed eyes.

"Go help Ramirez, Fen." Strix ordered. "I'll take care of this."

"Your Highness..." Fen didn't want the queen to face the evil Northern spirit alone.

"GO!" The queen's voice was unusually sharp and demanding, but Fen knew that that only meant that the queen was worried for her. "I'll be fine." She added in a softer tone.

Fen bowed her head. "Yes, Queen Moonwing." Fen began to fly off to fight when Ramirez when she noticed the red cloth that served as the Communist's flag. Fen stared hard at it before tearing it off the twig it was on and throwing it into the flames. Though Vladimir's and Victoria's intentions had been ones of good, they had served has pawns to others who wished for darkness and had only divided the once united Ga'Hoole tree. If they were to win this war, then the entire tree would have work together like it once did and only Queen Strix could unite the tree once again in its darkest hour.

Suddenly the eagle ryb bumped into someone. For a second, she thought that it was an enemy Herrbeast and raised her sword in a threatening manner, but realized that it was only the young hagsfiend, Arche. The sight of Arche quickly reminded Fen of the missing trio, Rowan, Strella, and Babus, who were lost and alone, unaware of the battle taking place within their home. Worry filled the young ryb and a sudden impulse drove her to grab Arche by the shoulders to turn and face her.

"Arche, listen to me," Fen demanded in a stern, but urgent voice, "you must leave the tree and go find the princess. She's traveling with another hagsfiend named Rowan and a student of mine named Babus. You must warn them about the danger and bring them home. Please! While there's still time! Go!"

"LOKI!"

Queen Strix's cry rang out, loud and true, over the hollow and many of the battlers fell silent and ceased their actions to stare as the spotted queen flew forward and stood boldly in front of the dark leader, Loki.

"I am Strix Moonwing, Queen of the Kingdom of Ga'Hoole and one of the many noble Guardians that protect this tree and this kingdom." There was no fear in the spotted leader she spoke, only quiet determination. She looked every inch a true leader with one talon gripping the gleaming scimitar and the other holding the flaming ember.

"Take your army and leave our home or pay for your actions. The Guardians of Ga'Hoole will never allow your evil ambitions to succeed. We and our friends and allies shall fight to protect all that is noble and true. Your darkness...your plague shall spread no more."

Suddenly, the queen felt a soft and gentle presence by her side. Warmth and courage filled her soul and Strix faintly saw a glimpse of dark feathers out of the corner of her eye. A soft and beautiful voice whispered quietly to her,

"Help is arriving, young queen." the voice whispered, radiating in warmth and kindness, "Use the light of the ember....it will weaken the darkness that threatens your home."

Instantly trusting the spirit the spoke to her, Strix raised the case that held the ember and let it flames scorch through the night. Nearby Herrbeast snarled ande hissed, leaping away from flames that threatened to burn them. None could get close to it without being burnt by it heat. Would the light of goodness and noblity radiating from it be enough to withdraw the dark spirit of Loki?

While Strix handled Loki, Fen and Ramirez dealt with the rest of the attacking Herrbeast.

"Rise up Guardians!" Fen shouted, encouraging all the Guardians, even the ones that had once followed Vlad and Victoria. "We can't let our home be destroyed by these barbarians! Fight for Ga'Hoole! Fight for all that's good and right! Queen Moonwing is fighting for us! We can't just stand aside and watch her as well as our home and everything that we worked for be destroyed by the Herr of Loki!"

Many of the Communists looked at each other and found the truth and wisdom in the eagle ryb's words. They couldn't just stand there and let their home be destroyed. Queen Moonwing had helped them through all their darkest times, not for herself, but for all of them. They couldn't just abandon her and the rest of their fellow guardians.

"Yes, fight for Ga'Hoole!"

"FOR GA'HOOLE!"

That single cry was taken up and many of the guardians went over to fight with Ramirez and the rest of their fellow guardians. However, even united, the tree was still heavily outnumbered by the Herrbeast. And then....

"EULALIAAIAIAIAIIIIIIIIIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

A warcry as loud as thunder echoed through the halls of the tree and about fifty burly owls, yelling and striking like beserking demons, flew into the tree and started to attack the Herrbeast. The creatures of Loki near the tree's entrance began to drop like flies as the newcomers hacked away to join the center of the battle. Outside, the roars of polar bears could be heard as well as the pitiful yelps of wolves being tossed around and smashed into bits by the small group of bears that had arrived.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" came a gruff, burly voice. A giant of a Snowy Owl strolled through the Great Hollow entrance, waving his black axe and grinning like a mad-beast. "Seems that we Ice Talons are late for a good, old-fashion battle. Tis a good night to fight, yeh lads?"

The group that had come with him all yelled out their battle cries in agreement and continued their attack on the Herrbeast. It didn't matter to them if they were outnumbered or not; they were fight to their last breath. Their northern blood was boiling with battle-wrath, ready to attack their enemies of the North no matter what the odds.

[TurquoisePheonix]

Ah, yes. That idiotic Snowy. Valtar knew that he was his leader, but he found it hard to take him seriously sometimes. And Bylyric also seemed to think that Valtar was completely loyal to him – that however, was not the case. He had higher goals in mind, though being a part of the Ice Talons at least allowed him to observe them. He hadn’t been taken seriously by them – they all thought he was a wimp because he was small. This however, was not the case. The first time someone had made the mistake of calling him small, they had been beaten to a pulp. Still, even Valtar, who hated Bylyric, was always ready for a good fight, and was as excited as the other Ice Talons about the incoming battle. Still, the carnage was horrible – Valtar had killed before, but only in self-defense. He didn’t really know if he was ready for any of this – he was excited, but a little queasy. He didn’t advance on the Herr af Loki, like the other Ice Talons, but waited for them to advance on him. At least that way he was only killing in self-defense. There was little difference, but it consoled him at least somewhat. It settled his insides and made him able to kill.

Valtar’s technique was much more careful than the in-your-face style of the Ice Talons. While he was fiery in a duel with only one or two opponents, now he was careful and calculating. The Herr af Loki was holding back the Ice Talons, and the battle didn’t look like anyone was winning, yet. This was all so stupid, all so pointless. Valtar waited for the first one to advance, a young owl - slowly, carefully advancing. Valtar felt his eyes well with tears. This owl was so young, had so much more to live for. He lunged, swinging his blade at him. Valtar appeared unarmed, but in a flash, a dagger was out, hidden in an Ice Talon uniform, parrying the blade away. Another dagger came out, and Valtar plunged it into his opponent’s chest, his speed much too great for him to defend. He leaned in close to the owl, knowing that he would die soon. It was awful – as if he could feel the life leaving him through the blade. He hated it – this owl and he could’ve been friends, had they met somewhere else.

“I-I’m sorry…” He apologized, hoping that the owl would accept his death, and not blame him.

“Another time, another place, we could’ve been friends. I’m sorry.” He said quietly. The owl’s eyes closed, and with a sickening noise, Valtar pulled the dagger from his chest, the crimson pulsing from the open wound. He closed his eyes as the owl hit the floor. He took a deep, shaking breath, steeling himself. He knew he would have to fight. There was no more trying to hide from it, no point in trying to deny it. He would fight. He wouldn’t like it – after all, what was he fighting for? Why had he become a part of the Ice Talons? He had only joined because Alphonse was there, and he had wanted to see Cecil again. There was no point in fighting, but he couldn’t run now. He only let himself fall into a low stance, waiting for the next two opponents –an ermine and a marten. Valter didn’t dare charge like the Ice Talons – he wasn’t suited to that, and he rather thought them idiots for charging in and fighting for nothing. He chanced a look at the battlefield, but he couldn’t find Alphonse anywhere with his quick glance. He looked back at the slowly advancing creatures, hoping that Alphonse was alright. He knew his brother had lived at the Tree for a time, too, though the last time he had checked up on him was when the Pure Ones disbanded.

He opened his eyes, smirking at them. Now he had something fight for.

“C’mon! What’re you, scared?” He asked. The pair growled at him before attacking.

~

Arche had been looking for Rowan when the battle had started – Rowan had always reminded her of her brother, and though he could be snide, even around her, he sometimes showed her his soft side – not like that was often, though. Still, Arche clung to him as she had once clung to her big brother – he was one of the only hagsfiends in the Tree, after all. He helped her get settled in, and she often spent time with Rowan, trying to keep him from getting too angry, trying to be the ice to his fire.

She had been looking in the library, where she had seen Rowan a few days before yelling at a bookish Spotted Owl with glasses about how books were useless. She had spoken to him, and had begun to mellow him out, when the Princess showed up. Arche liked Strella – she was everything that Arche wasn’t – beautiful, fairly smart, royalty, brave…Arche wasn’t any of those. She cried a lot, even she would admit it, and she wasn’t too smart, either, only barely knowing how to read. She certainly wasn’t beautiful, with her black hagsfiend feathers, even though she tried to make them more attractive. She began to wonder if Rowan was developing a crush on her, and when she thought this, Strella had greeted her. Something in Arche made her despise the owl for a few moments, before greeting her pleasantly.

But then, looking through the shelves for her friend, Arche felt the ground shake. She fell, but quickly picked herself back up. She had hurried out to the Great Hollow, weaving her way through passages that she was still struggling to remember. She heard clashing blades, and the ignored the tears in her eyes. She continued to rush through the halls, until she eventually reached her destination – the Great Hollow. She gasped – the place was filled with the bodies of many creatures – some, she even recognized. She closed her eyes, not wanting to believe that this was real. It couldn’t be real. Her home was being destroyed. There was nothing she could do to help it, either. She couldn’t fight.

Unable to believe her eyes, Arche could only stare at the carnage before her, her heart filled with grief for the Guardians that were dying for nothing. Suddenly, someone bumped into her, and she shrieked in terror as they raised a scimitar against her. But after a moment, she realized who it was – Fenryb. Arche’s eyes widened – there was blood staining Fen’s chest. She listened as Fen ordered her to go after Rowan, Babus and Strella. She nodded, knowing that if she spoke, she might have just burst out into tears. So, they had all gone off on their own? Rowan hadn’t even told her of his departure…

She turned, taking off into the night, dodging Ice Talons and Herr af Loki left and right, sometimes getting a little nick here and there, hoping that Rowan and the Princess were all okay…

~

Flametip had been gone for some time, completely unaware of the fighting in his home. He was at a burial hollow, where his King was entombed. He was praying there for him, like he always did. He knew it was stupid to leave Strix’s side, if even for a moment. But he was certain that she would be safe without him, even if it was only for a little while. He stood, hearing the sounds of battle not far off. He wasn’t alarmed, though, like he thought he would be. He was perfectly calm. Flametip felt a little tingling in his right wing, the crimson-red one. He ignored it, instead focusing on Liberwill’s shrine. There were a few flowers he had placed there for him – he and Strix often visited there together. Of course, this was a public shrine – the other one was in Strix’s chamber, where the King himself was entombed. But Flametip believed, somehow, that Liberwill was here, at this shrine, too.

“I couldn’t protect you, my King. I’ll not let your mate suffer the same fate. I will defend her. Please, give me strength. For Strix, and for Ga’hoole.” Something in Flametip changed, then. His wing tingled again, and the scar on his face was warm again. It was fresh. When he reached a paw up to touch it, he drew it away. It was blood. He looked up, the scrooms cackling darkly. The phoenix must die, they said. Lover of the destroyer, they called him. It was just like that night when he had protected Strix from getting sliced open, and he wound up with a scar on his forehead. He blinked, and the vision was gone. He looked to his left, and saw Liberwill. But he wasn’t the same…he was close, but if Flametip looked very closely, he could see through him. The King placed a wing on his shoulder, and Flametip stared at him, the feeling so very different than before. When Liberwill had been alive and had talked to him, he felt like comrades with the King. Now, he seemed to have so much more wisdom in death than in life. Flametip felt like a chick under the now-wise owl’s gaze.

“You have become brave, Flametip. You have grown, for my mate. I would ask of you that which I asked you the day I died – protect her. I know you love her, and I know she cares very much for you. You have become a brave Guardian, Flametip. I am proud of you.” He said. Flametip nodded, smiling at the spirit, feeling a little proud himself. Liberwill spoke again.

“Let go of your grief, Flametip. You did not fail me.” He said. Flametip became alarmed – he was fading. But he knew how Flametip felt, and it was as if a great weight was lifted off of his shoulders.

“I died to save the Tree and my beloved. If anyone failed, it was I. But I died the way I would have liked. Let go of your grief, Flametip. I will give you what power I can. Use it to protect Strix. And, Flametip?” He asked. Flametip looked at him, not wanting him to fade.

“Tell Strix that I love her, always have loved her, and always will love her. Tell her to live out life here, unburdened by my fault. We’ll see each other again, one day. So let her live life to the fullest.” He said, his form becoming more and more translucent, his words becoming harder and harder to hear, before he disappeared entirely. Flametip nodded.

“I will.”

~

“Hey, Al! How’re ya doin’?” Valtar asked casually over the fighting. He had finally found Alphonse, and the two were having a competition to see who could beat more Herr af Loki by the time the battle was over. Valtar was still sickened by the fighting, but he fought on. He had been in a battle with the same opponent for a while now – a young otter. Another one that had so much to live for. The otter and he traded blows again and again, though it was clear that neither of the fighters had an advantage. This one was odd – all of his other opponents had called him ‘scum’, or something similar, or preached about Loki. This one did not speak, but only focused on the battle. But Valtar could tell that there was another reason that he wasn’t speaking. It didn’t matter, though. But he decided to ask anyway:

“What? Too scared to taunt me, like your buddies?” He said snidely. The otter shook his head, but lunged. Valter was able to parry it with one blade, and get inside the otter’s stance, closing the distance between them, grabbing the otter by the scruff of his shirt. That was when Valtar’s beak dropped.

“Got a problem? Why don’t you kill me?” The otter asked. Valtar only stood there, dumbfounded, the knife an inch from the Herrbeast’s throat. Valtar knew now why the otter hadn’t spoken.

“You’re a girl.” He stated stupidly, unable to believe it. The otter growled at him, showing her teeth.

“Yeah, I’m a girl, ain’t you ever seen one before?!” The otter spat. Her eyes were fiery, hateful at Valtar. Yet, unlike with the rest of the Herr, Valtar didn't care about that look of hatred.

“Uh…I can’t kill you.” He stated simply. The otter glared at him – but he could tell the she was sort of relieved. But she definitely wasn’t satisfied by his sexist statement.

“So, if you’re not gonna kill me, what do you plan to do?” The otter asked, glaring at him still. Valtar ignored the battle around him, focusing only this tomboyish otter. Why had she hidden what she was? But Valtar had already guessed it – the Herr af Loki probably wouldn’t want a female in their ranks, though this girl was very skilled. She was young, though – only a little younger than Valtar himself. He knew it would be wrong to kill a female, especially one so young.

“I dunno…” Valtar said quietly.

(OOC: New otter-girl is 16. You know we’ll need it. XD)

[Sinty]

Vladimir stared at Comrade Revithilp, eyes watering over. The founder of the Communist Party of the former Great Ga'Hoole - dead? It could not be so, could not be so! And to think that she had entrusted him - him - to continue her legacy, to spread the truth of Communism to the four corners of the world! He was unworthy - he was but a Communist, that was all.

When Comrade Moonwing appeared at the entrance to the Great Hollow - the Kingdom being dead, she could naturally no longer be called Queen - Vlad took the opportunity of Loki's distraction to fall at Comrade Revithilp's side and stare at her cold, dead eyes in dismay. Surely it could not be true - surely Comrade General Secretary was not dead? He lowered his head and slowly took her red scarf from her neck, then rolled her body into the flames.

He watched with mournful eyes as the red flames - red as the flag of the new People's Republic Comrade Revithilp had worked for for so long - lapped at her scales, slowly devouring them. He gave a sigh and turned, back to the battle. Mourning could be saved for later. Right now, he had a Republic to preserve.

He noticed that the flag he had put up was no longer there. Searching for it, he saw it in the flames. He smiled. "Very good, Comrade," he muttered to himself, sending the thought to whichever Communist had thrown it into the fire. There was still much left to be done before the Republic was truly arrived at, as the burning flag symbolised. The chains of the oppressors were yet to be truly cast off. "Well done, Comrade!"

Vlad looked out over the battle. Comrade Moonwing had made a short speech, which Vlad had been to absorbed to hear, but now the fighting was starting up once more, except for the Communists, who sat over in one corner of the hollow, waving their scarfs.

As Vlad watched, the former eagle ryb, Comrade Fen, began yelling at the Communists, calling for them to abandon their beliefs and the People's Republic they had struggled for so long to attain. Vlad scoffed as a few of the owl comrades left the silent ranks of the Communist Party. They had never been true comrades, as was shown. Now only true Communists, tested by the fire of battle, remained within the Party. A more perfect Republic would arise from that.

The former comrades let forth battlecries, attempting to encourage more comrades to join the side of the capitalists. But the good comrades, the majority of the Communists, just stared at the departers with cold eyes. They would not be welcomed back to the Party, or within the People's Republic. Not unless they later proved themselves to be true Communists.

Vlad joined the large ranks of the Communists, staring at the battle going on between the small "Guardian" force and the Herr af Loki. Whoever won, Vlad thought, would still ultimately lose, for the combined power of the proletariat would overthrow them, and the People's Republic of the Great Tree of Workers' Unity would arise from the ashes of disaster, bringing peace and harmony to the Tree and, ultimately, the world.

As Vlad thought this, a foreign call reached his ear slits, a call resounding from voices with an indecipherable accent. He cocked his head, staring out of the Great Hollow's entrance. Surely it could not be -? But it was!

The Ice Talons flew into the hollow, led by the Snowy with the battle-axe. Vlad sneered. A more disgusting relic of feudalism was hardly to be found. The very reason for the barely-organized Ice Talons League was fighting, a practice which was in itself a symbol of the washed-out past, to be tossed onto the ash-heap of history. The proletariat of the Ice Talons were simpletons, too absorbed in the booty of battle to realize that they were being lied to, cheated by the bourgeoisie who ruled them. And the sole member of the Ice Talons bourgeoisie was Bylyric.

~~~

Karakold, a large black raven with raggedy feathers and a sharp beak - in both meanings of the word - turned to Logbert, his dimwitted companion, and sent out a large black claw. It dug into the Great Gray's flesh, then drew a line down his side. It was just deep enough to hurt, but not deep enough to damage.

"No, you stupid idiot!" Karakold snapped, clacking his beak in anger. "We need to have fun with her first." He turned a crafty eye to look at the Sooty Owl. "She looks like one with a nice voice? Do you have a nice voice, little Sooty?" He clacked his beak before Normal could reply. "Never mind answering. I'll just find out, won't I?"

He took a mass of her belly feathers in his claw, then slowly, ever so slowly, began to pull them out. Normal screamed, her cries echoing around the hollow she possessed. By the time all the feathers were out of her belly and in Karakold's claws, she had fainted from the pain. The raven cackled with a dark glee. He turned to Logbert, a light glinting in his eye. "She does have a pretty voice, doesn't she, Logbnert?" He cackled once more. "While we wait for her to return to us, why don't you go get a stick and hold it over the fire for a while?" He cackled once more. "This is going to be a lot of fun, Logbert, so hold onto your battle claws."

[ForestOwl]

Loki growled at Strix Moonwing and was about to move towards her when the Ice Talons entered the Great Hollow. His scowl became even worse as he filled with hatred for Bylyric, that Snowy Owl. He thinks he's so great and mighty, but he's not invincible! And neither are his warriors! There were Herrbeasts falling left and right, and Loki intended to do something about it. "FIGHT, YOU FOOLS! IT'S GA'HOOLE OR YOUR LIFE!" he roared.

His surprised soldiers recovered from the shock and charged forwards at the Ice Talons. "LOKASOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON!!!" Soon the Herrbeasts had gotten themselves into a frenzy like the Ice Talons. It was getting harder to fight them, but the Herr af Loki was definitely not winning yet.

Loki looked towards the Queen of Ga'Hoole. "You may think the Ice Talons' arrival is a blessing, but it is not. They have only sealed your fate. I'm past negotiating! I will not rest until each and every one of you stinking Ga'Hoolians are dead and I have captured this tree!" He flew at Queen Moonwing, deadly black talons glistening...

A brown-feathered owl pushed Loki away from Strix Moonwing. It was Annaryb. The formerly peaceful tracking ryb now had the same fire in her eyes as Ramirez and the Ice Talons. "Queen Moonwing! The tree isn't safe for you now! There's too many of them!" Loki got up and flew at Annaryb this time. She shrieked as his beak pierced her neck. She managed to scream at Strix Moonwing, "GO! GO!"

~~~~~

Logbert blinked as Karakold's words made a long, slow journey through his mind. "Dur, yeah, she's got a nice voice. Lovely," he chuckled as Normal screamed. "Um...stick! Right!" He grinned and broke off a nearby branch. "Stick!" he said, pointing at the branch.

[Strix Moonwing]

"Doing quite fine, if I do say so for myself." Alphonse said with an smug smirk on his face as he dodged and slashed with his sword at an oncoming Herr weasel with grace and calmness not found in most Ice Talon soldiers. Despite Bylyric's encouragement, Alphonse chose not to learn the art of Beserking; it was not that he didn't find it effective for the Herr bodies around the hollow floor clearly showed how effective the strange, wild way of fighting was. No, it was that he preferred his own style- calm, collected, swift, and graceful. Usually, Alphonse was not fond of battles. In the Pure Ones, they had attacked innocent owls just because they were not of Tyto breed, however, now the flame of battle had been lit in Alphonse's dark eyes. These were just opponents who were trying to take over a good kingdom by force. This was a battle worthy of fighting and winning.

He smirked in Valtar's direction as he slashed at another opponent. He and undersized Barn Owl were having a competition to see who could defeat the most opponents. Alphonse was by far winning since Valtar seemed to fighting the same opponents- a strange, silent otter.

"Better speed it up, Valtar. You're losing." Aphonse said causally as he battled against sword-bearing marten. "And while your at it, try not to get stepped on." When he didn't hear a wisecrack being shot back at him, he momentarily shifted his attention to Valtar. Too his surprise, the small soldier wasn't fighting, but instead was staring with beak agape at a Herr otter.

The Ice Talon deputy narrowed his eyes suspiciously, wondering why neither of them were attacking. "What's the holdup, Valtar?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Queen Moonwing narrowed her eyes, the fire in their depths inflamed by Loki's words. "As long as the guardians live, Ga'Hoole shall never belong to you!" Strix's clear words rang out over the sounds of the battle. The Ga'Hoolian queen's spotted feathers bristled as she faced the dark spirit, bracing herself as he lunged at her, dark talons gleaming....

Suddenly there was flash of brown feathers and Queen Strix saw their beloved tracking ryb, Annaryb, push Loki away from her.

"Annaryb! NO!" The queen rushed forward to save her, but it was too late. She watched in horror as Loki pierced her neck. "I WON'T LEAVE MY GUARDIANS BEHIND!" She wouldn't abandon the ones that were risking their lives to defend the tree. She was their queen- if they died then she would die along with them, if the tree fell, then so would she.

"LOKI!" roared a booming voice that could easily be heard above all the noise around them. Strix turned away from the horrible sight of Annaryb's lifeless body to see the giant form of General Bylyric come swooping down towards Loki. At first glance, it may have seemed that the Ice Talon general was coming to help the queen, but Queen Strix knew different. There was no concern for her life burning in his amber eyes, only the lust for revenge.

The Ice Talon leader drew his black axe, his blade gleaming in ember's blaze as he faced Loki. His eyes were pits of ice and hatred as he growled to the spirit.

"You and I have a debt to settle, demon!" Like a rising blizzard cloud, Bylyric approached Loki, ready to take out the demon that's forces had taken away the only living creature that had been worth loving and protecting.

At that moment Strix felt the same presence that had spoken to her earlier. She turned turned slight and saw, amidst the battling, there in a small patch of moonlight shining from a hollow entrance, was the faint outline of a raven. Though the image only lasted a heartbeat, a voice full of grief and lost echoed throughout her mind, chilling her heart.

"No, Bylyric....no..."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Fen wanted to feel relief in the fact that at least Arche as well as Stella, Babus, and Rowan were safe, but the horror and realization of the battle weighed too heavily upon her. When she was younger she had heard stories about how the tree had once been destroyed by Sklardrog during the battle for the ember. She hadn't been able to imagine what it would have been like to lose their beloved home, but now it seemed that that old story would soon become a living nightmare. The Ice Talon forces were helping hold the Herr of Loki off for a while, but it was only a matter of time before one side forced it's way through. The sprinkin' Communists weren't doing anything to help. Didn't those mousebrain idiots realize that if Ga'Hoole fell then Loki would kill them all. Loki didn't care about equality...that he made clear. Loki's ambitions were set on solely destroying this world to rebuild a new one....one that in which he would rule.

Right now, the eagle ryb had a mission to accomplish in this battle. There were many young students in the tree that need to be escorted out before they got hurt. A group of scared and crying chaw students were huddle close behind Fen as she snuck through the tree hollows for an exit.

"Hush now little ones. I'll get you somewhere safe." Fen whispered in a comforting voice, trying to sooth the children's fears. The eagle ryb turned a corner and let out a gasp of shock when she saw what looked like a young Great Gray Ice Talon soldier locked into battle with an much large Lokason Great Horned owl.

"Aaaaaarrghh!" The Great Gray let out a grunt of pain as the Great Horn owl heavily threw him against the hollow wall. The young soldier collapsed to the ground in a feathered heap. Growling in anger, the Great Gray soldier slid open one eye as he slowly tried to get back up.

"Say good-bye, scumbag!" Snarl the Great Horn, raising his hammer to crush the Ice Talon's head in.

However, the blow never came...

The Lokison owl felt a sharp pain go through him and looked down to see the bloody end of a sword coming out of his chest. A drop of blood dribbled from his gaping beak before he fell lifelessly to the ground, revealing the sword-wielding Fen standing behind him.

The Great Gray Ice Talon soldier stared at Fen in irritated disbelief. "Who are you?" Barkin demanded, his voice still arrogant and gruff even when he was in deep pain.

Fen rolled her eyes in an annoyed manner. "Are all Ice Talons such boar-headed idiots? Honestly, is that any way to greet the eagle that just saved your life?"

"I was doing just find without you, Ga'Hoolian!" Barkin snapped before wincing and crying out in pain. To his surprise, he felt the eagle place a tan feathered wing next to his side. He quickly scrambled back and glared angrily at her. "Get away from me!"

"It felt like you broke a rib or two." Fen said in an icy tone. "You shouldn't go back to battle or else it might pierce something."

"I'm an Ice Talon warrior!" Barkin said, yellow eyes flashing, "Unlike Ga'Hoolians we don't run away from battle."

"I'm not running away from battle!" Fen snapped, returning Barkin's glare with one of her own. "I'm getting these kids to safety and if you want to do something useful for this battle, then you should help me!"

Barkin blinked, surprised by eagle's furious tones. However, the surprise was quickly replaced by sourness as Barkin reluctantly moved to the back of the group.

"I'll guard the rear..."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I'd put that stick away and leave her alone if I were you..." came a soft, yet dangerous voice coming from outside of Normal's hollow.

The sound of clanking metal echoed through the hollow that Logbert and Karakold were along with the fainted Normal. Like footsteps, they came closer and closer until they finally stopped near the hollow entrance. Slowly, a tall figure stepped through the entrance and the light shining from the fireplace revealed something that was both bizarre and completely frightening....

An owl covered in a suit of shining grey armor.

Hector had always been an unusual owl. In the world of the Pure Ones, there was no room for someone like him. He wasn't a fighter like his older brother, Valtar, nor did he possess the ambitious nature of the old Pure One Colonel, Alphonse Stag. He was a gentle, kind-hearted boy that would rather be friends with other owls than destroy them for being different. It wasn't as if he and his brother had much choice but to follow the Pure Ones; when their parents disappeared, the Pure Ones were the only ones that offered them a home. However, what kept them in the Pure Ones was Colonel Alphonse Stag. Colonel Stag had always kept Hector's gentle nature a secret from the more blood-thirty Pure Ones and had helped him and his older brother survive in the harsh, military world of the Pure Ones. Alphonse had a vision of making the Pure Ones a better, more kinder race and Hector admired the colonel for that.

However, when he got separated from the Pure Ones, as well as from his beloved brother, Hector found himself in the one place that he was always taught to hate- Ga'hoole.

Never had he found more of a paradise than on that island in the middle of the Hoolemere Sea. Ga'Hoole was nothing like the horrible place that Candark and Sintmore had described it to be. Yes, it was filled different species of owls and birds, but it had them all working together in peace and harmony. There was no fighting and everyone seemed happy- the queen and guardians were very friendly too. They had welcomed him with opened wings and he was grateful to them for that.

Not only did he have a home, but he also started to actually learn stuff. Reading and metalworks in the Metal chaw had become part of Hector's life. It filled him with joy and pride to know that he could actually create something at Ga'Hoole instead of destroying stuff in the Pure Ones. The only thing missing from his new happy life was his brother, Valtar....

To keep his mind away from his missing brother, Hector, for the last few weeks, had been working on a new project for his Metal chaw class. He had gotten the idea after reading a book about these Others who were heroes called 'knight's that rode around saving people like the guardians of Ga'Hoole did. In order to protect themselves, they wore a suit of armor. What if the guardians of Ga'Hoole could wear armor as well? They'd be better protected then just flying out with just a pair of battle claws on. The simple thought turned into a mission in which Hector happily embarked on- to create a strong, lightweight suit of armor for owls.

It had taken Hector weeks, but finally, he had been able to forge a suit with armor just light enough where an owl could fly short distances in. He had been dying to test it out to see if it was strong enough to endure a battle.

However, he hadn't expected to try it out on a real battle....

"You heard me," Hector repeated again, his usually gentle voice sounding darker and more dangerous coming from inside the metal suit.

"Let. Her. Go. NOW!"

[Sinty]

The Tree was turning red, but not in a way that pleased Vladimir Korasin. The recently appointed General Secretary had hoped to bring the infant Great Tree of Workers’ Unity together under the red flag of Communism, but now, the Great Hollow – and doubtless other parts of the Tree – was flowing red with the blood of owls and beasts.

He looked out over the melee taking place in this once-peaceful place of welcome comfort. It was despicable, how the bourgeoisie could twist the minds of the workers and bring about such a terrible thing as war. And what truly turned Vlad’s stomach was the delight with which the Ice Talon soldiers welcomed war. Marx had once said that religion was the opiate of the people, but, Vlad knew, for the Ice Talons, this was not true. War was all that was needed to satiate an Ice Talon.

Vlad turned his head from the general battle when he heard a scream. Had his eyes been capable of widening, they would have done so. That dark spirit, Loki, had pierced the owl Anna with his beak, producing a spurt of blood that shocked the Rufescent Screech with its brilliant ruby sheen. He shivered, the blood in his hollow bones suddenly feeling cold as ice. The sight was terrible, and Vlad could see Anna’s eyes, glazed, staring ahead.

A roar burst through the tumultuous cries of battle, and General Bylyric burst through the battling crowds, bloodlust burning in his eyes. Vlad had heard tales of the strange Ice Talon form of fighting known as Beserking. Even the name sounded somehow frightening, but not in the normal way. It was not true fright, but rather a fright stemming from the power evident in merely that name… It seemed to Vlad that Bylyric was Beserking as he pulled out his black battle-axe, preparing to face the cruel, red-eyed spirit that had dark red blood, slowly blackening, on the tip of its not-fully-temporal beak.

Vlad looked back at the group of loyal Communists Comrade Revithilp had put under his protection. They looked to him as an interpreter of the works of Marx and Engels, as someone who would know the right, Communist way to do all things. But now, Vlad felt himself conflicted, torn between Marx’s teachings on the spilling of blood, and his gizzard, which urged him to stop this shameless display. But stopping this battle would require the spilling of more blood. What to do, what to do?

If only Comrade Revithilp remained with us, Vlad thought, staring at the dead body of the snake he had considered his mentor. She would surely be fully aware of what a good Communist would do in just such a situation as this.

~~~

When the disembodied voice wafted into the hollow, Karakold’s head jerked up as if attached to a puppeteer’s strings. He looked around the hollow, eyes cocked for any kind of secret passageway or suchlike. When he found none, he hopped over to the edge of the hollow and looked out, spotting no one. He stared at the other entrance to the hollow, the one leading to the inner walkways of the Great Tree, and gulped.

Then he heard the clanking sound, and he truly began to feel fear. His dark, speckled body shook beneath his feathers as fear overtook him. Karakold was not particularly bright, but he knew that no natural creature could make such a sound. And in his tiny, almond-sized mind, that left only one option as to what the being in the hallway could be.

“Logbert,” he said, shrill voice cracking, “do you know what that is? It’s a… It’s a ghost!” His animal instinct demanded he flee, demanded he lift off and fly far, far away from whatever heinous spirit existed beyond the hollow’s walls. But his fear froze him to the ground, kept him there as firmly as if a metal ball was shackled to his legs.

The rhythmic clanking came closer and closer, approaching the petrified raven, who by now had abandoned all thoughts of Normal, and was now focused merely on the sound of approaching footsteps.

The shadow cast by the creature that appeared in the hollow entrance was frightening enough, stretching across the hollow, a menacing black demon sent by Morrigan herself to terrorize the Earth. But the creature itself brought Karakold to tears, so great was the fright it inspired.

It was a large, metal, owl-shaped spirit, devoid of facial features except for slits that Karakold took for eyes. The raven shrunk back, the metal owl a behemoth in his eyes, despite it only being a small amount larger than himself. Fear had overwhelmed him, and, though he was a sadist, he was not a masochist. He desperately desired to escape from the metal ghost, to escape any pain it might inflict, but he was still rooted to the ground, as immobile as the tree he was within.

The command came once more, and there was not the slightest hint of the workings of a mouth on that metal face. Did this ghost communicate through thoughts, Karakold wondered? Was it reading his very thoughts right now? He opened his beak and tried to speak, but at first, all that came from the feeble exercise was a clacking of the said utensil together in fear.

“Ummm,” he finally managed to mumble out, “lord ghost…. Please… p-please don’t hurt us. We were just doing what master Loki told us… honest-t-t-t. We didn’t want t-t-to hurt this little Sooty. I said she had a nice voice, didn’t I, Logbert?” Karakold cast a fearful glance at Normal, and was able to move himself further away from her body, closer to the exit to the outside world.

He cast a glance out of it, saw the air, right there, in front of him, and thought of taking off – but then he looked back at the ghost, at those cold, black slits that revealed nothing, yet apparently saw all. Escape: the word reverberated in his miniscule mind. Escape, yes, that was what was needed, as he had earlier thought. He needed to escape this hollow, to escape this Tree, to escape this ghost! He needed to find Loki, to tell him of this frightful spirit, to be protected by a black god, with power over the other world. And all that he needed to do was raise his wings and take flight, but somehow, that simple act was beyond his control.

He watched the ghost, then, with a sudden flash of raggedy black, was off into the night, laughing like a maniac as he realized that he had escaped from the hollow alive, that he had tested fate and emerged the victor. He flew away from that hollow, the dark evil he imagined within it slowly receding from his mind as he twirled and danced in the air. Free and alive! How good it felt to be free and alive!

But for some reason, his excitement and gaiety died sooner than it should have, and he cast glances to his sides. Cruel and sadistic though he was, he had always felt a responsibility for the dim-witted Great Gray who served as his combination servant/companion. Logbert was still in that hollow, facing that dark spirit alone. Shivering, Karakold turned, to go back to that pit of despair, that he might rescue the stupid Great Gray who could not save himself.

~~~

Normal came to wishing she hadn’t. There was a deep pain in her stomach, as if someone had dug their fireclaws into her gizzard and left them there for a year. Her back also ached, though with a lesser intensity. What had happened? She struggled to bring her head off the hollow floor. Wait… why was she laying down?

When she spotted Logbert, it all came flooding back to her, and the pain in her stomach seemed to somehow intensify. She looked around for the raven, who seemed to be the crueler of the pair, but did not see him. She looked again at the Great Gray, Logbert, and noticed that he was not moving. She cocked her head, then turned it to the direction in which his eyes pointed.

Normal nearly jumped with shock, but was restrained by being in no physical condition to do so. Lying flat on one’s back with broken bones does not often lead to excellent movement, after all. The image before her was shocking: It was an owl shape made entirely of shining metal. Never before had she seen something so strange. No wonder her tormentor was frozen with fear.

However, upon looking more closely at the metal-shrouded shape, she realized that for some reason, she did not feel fear. The creature seemed rather… familiar. Though Normal did not often fraternize with others of the Tree, being a Royalist and restrained snob, she did hear the rumours that the Guardians of Ga’Hoole lived off of during boring intervals between chaw exercises. And one of the crazier rumours Normal had heard was that a certain member of the metals chaw was trying to build a “suit of armour”, reminiscent of those worn by the knights described in the Others’ books. What was that owl’s name, again? Ah, Hector! A distinguished name, Normal reflected, in her cold, detached way.

“Is that you, Hector?” she asked, her voice weak, her refined accent – picked up from her mother – nearly undetectable.

It was at that moment that Karakold the raven flew back in, an expression of nobility that Normal found repulsive painted upon his face.

~~~

Vlad was still wracked with indecision as the battle went on, engulfing the Tree, but leaving the large group of Communists untouched. They still believed that they were simply striking, but right now, Vlad was in a fierce battle between the fiery, passionate Communist and the kind owl who hated to see such a terrible thing going on before him as this war.

He looked up, and once more saw General Bylyric facing that dark spirit, with Queen Strix Moonwing, looking gentle and delicate amidst the passionate hatred of battle, and his gizzard lurched. She looked so innocent, so unassuming, that Vlad knew that he could not sit here idle while the Tree that belonged to all – including the Moonwing owl – was burned around him.

He turned to the massed ranks of the Party, and gave a cough, feeling awkward, despite his feverish assurance just seconds earlier. “Comrades,” he declared, “I have told you not to fight for the good of the bourgeoisie. However, this fight is no longer a fight of the bourgeoisie, of the upper classes. This fight is now a fight of the proletariat!” He gestured at the Great Hollow. “This is our home, where Communism first grew, and where our Socialist paradise will be created! We cannot let the forces of this dark, malignant spirit, this one who calls himself Loki, destroy all that! Though we have declared that we shall not shed blood, this is different. The blood of the innocent is being shed all around us, and we can no longer merely stand here watching! We must go forward, and face this enemy of progress, this enemy of the proletariat, and his dark forces! We must drive them from hence, and bring back peace and Communism to our Great Tree of Workers’ Unity! Come, Comrades! We fight for Communism!”

The creatures of the CPGTWU gave out a cheer, and were soon embroiled in the ferocious battle, helping the Ga’Hoolian-Ice Talon force slowly drive back the Herr af Loki hordes. As for Vlad himself, he flew towards Loki, claws outstretched. This hagsmire-sent spirit would never attain his dark victory, would never crush the spirit of the proletariat.

But Vlad could not stop himself from worrying that Loki just might take this Tree.

[TurquoisePheonix]

"Alphonse..." Valtar began, his beak agape. The otter girl was looking down, her blade had long ago dropped to the floor. She kenw that if Valtar intended to kill her, he would have by now.

"So what? You're not going to kill me because of that?" She snarled, angry. Valtar watched, her eyes full of hate. But Valtar saw past it - it was empty hatred, contempt for his reluctance to kill her. Valtar had a problem with killing to begin with, but this? This was something else entirely. He doubted that even the heartless Bylyric could do anything like what the otter girl was asking him to do. He watched her as she looked down again. Valtar continued, still in shock.

"Alphonse, this otter...." He glanced at Al, who had long since defeated his opponent. "It's a girl! And not only that!" He looked back at her.

"She's pregnant, too!" He said, nearly growling at the girl. He was staring at her, but he couldn't say anything here. It was too dangerous. He seized her by the scruff of her shirt - she was only light infantry, and wore no armor. He dragged her - but she walked in tow behind him, the fiery girl resigned for once. She didn't speak at all. Valtar found the nearest hollow, not caring if Alphonse followed or not. It wouldn't change what he said. He just needed to get this Herr otter out of the battle. He looked about the hollow - no Herrbeasts were there. He shoved her against the wall, a little more gently than he would have had he not known she was pregnant.

"What do you think you're doing?!" He growled. She didn't answer, instead looking down, not looking the Barn Owl in the eyes. Valtar couldn't believe it - she was so very young, and she was pregnant. Not only that, but she was fighting! He felt anger boil up within him, threatening to burst. It was so careless, so absurd and stupid.

"You're pregnant! Don't you understand that?! That means you're supposed to take care of your child...you're carrying it around within you, and you're here fighting, risking both of your lives?!" He roared, his young voice cracking a little.

"Why?!" He growled. She didn't answer, her eyes down. He struck her squarely across the cheek - while he wouldn't hurt a pregnant girl, he would get her attention. She looked up quickly, her fangs bared. There was a sort of outline where he had hit her. She began to yell at him, spitting, her eyes wild with hatred.

"What do you know?! You don't know what I go through! You don't know about my responsibilities! And," She continued - glaring icily at Valtar, her brow wrinkled, her face a contortion of anger. She leaned in close, her face right before his, a mixture of anger, hatred, but also of deep sadness and helplessness.

"And most of all, you don't know anything about me or my baby. So you just forget about it." She said, before drawing her head back, apparently done with her rant. Valtar glared right back at her, clutching his dagger in anger. He was so angry at her, but he wouldn't dare hurt her. And yelling at her and trying to convince her of her wrongs didn't seem to be working on the stubborn girl. Instead, he watched her as she found a corner to slouch down into, winding her webbed paws about her shoulders. From this angle, the new Ice Talon could see that her belly was just slightly swollen. Valtar wound up standing by the door.

"Hoo, boy..." He said, shaking his head. "What'm I gonna do with you...?" He wondered to himself in a low breath. A thought occured to him. He looked curiously at her face - really, when she wasn't snarling or glaring, she must have been very pretty by otter standards. He spoke louder now, looking at her.

"Why'd you join the Herr?" He asked. She looked up, giving him a spiteful look, before sighing and speaking, her eyes softening. Apparently she had given up being angry all the time.

"Because I didn't have a choice." She said simply, looking back down. She didn't seem to want to say anything else on the topic, so that left Valtar to speculate. Which he did, for a moment - was she there against her own will? Why would the herr have a female among their ranks? And why was she pregnant at such a young age? His thoughts were interrupted when she spoke.

"Since I'm in the Herr, why don't you kill me? I saw you fight the rest of the Herr. Why not me?" She asked, looking up at him.

"Well, when I saw that you were a girl, I just couldn't believe it. And then, you were pregnant, too...I don't think anyone would want me to kill a pregnant otter, enemy or not." He explained, crossing his wings over his chest, looking down at the floor of the tree. He heard the battle going on outside, but he needed to stay with this otter. He looked up.

"Don't worry. I won't let them hurt you." He said. She snorted, looking back at him.

"Won't that General Bylyric get angry? You're disobeying orders." She explained. Valtar shrugged.

"I don't care. Sometimes following orders is necessary, but I'm no slave of the military. I'm not hurting you." He said simply she gave him a confused look, but her her eyes drifted to the floor.

"What's your name?" Valtar asked. She continued to look down. She muttered it in reply.

"Lilina." She said. Valtar had never heard any name like that before. He heard the battle outside, however. He wanted to go back, to help Alphonse, but he had to protect this otter from the other Ice Talons. He didn't know what to do to the otter, either. If only his brother was here. If Hector was here, he would know exactly how to speak to the otter. Valtar was unintentionally blunt most of the time. But he was trying to act a little like his brother was, right now. To help Lilina.

(OOC: I'm gonna have Flametip come in next post. Need to see what Strixy does, here. ^^)

[ForestOwl]

Logbert stood there, staring at Hector. He was petrified, like Karakold had been, at the sight of the armour-clad owl. Was it even an owl? With all of those layers of metal, there might as when have been a seagull sitting there. The Great Gray was convinced that this thing was a ghost. What else could it be? Was there an owl alive strong enough to fly with all of that metal? Logbert scream, "Karry!" That was his 'affectionate' name for Karakold.

The Great Gray clumsily turned around and zipped out of the hollow. "Karry! Wait for me!" He never wanted to go back in there. He would just stay by his friend/master...Karakold...

~~~~~

Loki looked up from Annaryb at Bylyric and yawned. He sensed Vladimir coming at him too. The god simply floated back a foot or two. Both Bylyric's axe and Vladimir's claws slashed at nothing but air. "Oh, good job, Bylyric, good job," Loki mocked and laughed. "My army should be terrified if all of your warriors are as slow as you."

He would've gone on making fun of Bylyric and the Ice Talons, but something caught his eye. Something brown-furred, rather pretty, and it had a round stomach. "Lilina!" he hissed. He glared at the Ice Talon leader, ignoring Vladimir. The Screech owl was of no interest to Loki. "I don't have time for this," he growled at the Snowy Owl. Then he flew on towards Valter, turning back into his black owl shape on the way.

As he rushed in front of Lilina, a million thoughts flashed through his mind. One was the thought of his children. All of them. There were his Aesir wives and daughters. The first one was Glut, who wasn't very famous or anything, but she'd borne him two daughters, Einmyria and Eisa. Loki had heard that they were somewhere in the fiery realm of Muspelheim. The second one was actually an giantess named Angrboda. Her children were among Loki's favorites: the Fenris Wolf, Jormungand the Midgard Serpent, and Hel, the ruler of Helheim. Loki knew that Jormungand still had the earth in his coils, and Hel was still in her dark halls, greeting every soul unfortunate enough to come to her. But Fenris had broken free from his bonds and was in the Beyond the Beyond. Loki planned on meeting with him soon. Last was his other goddess wife, Sigyn, mother of Narvi and Vali. Loki remembered that the gods had made Vali turn into a rabid wolf who'd killed Narvi, which had only made the god even more angry at the Aesir. Sigyn was probably still weeping by Loki's former body, the one he'd escaped from.

There were also his many mortal wives. There were probably hundreds of Lokasons or Lokadottirs, as Loki called his offspring, running around, but there were only a few he valued. Nacht Lokason had been his favorite. The Barn Owl had been just as cunning and decietful as Loki, but then he had become a turnfeather and fallen in love with that forest spirit...Loki growled at the thought of Nacht. He'd tried to make Candark just as great as Nacht had been, but then that Barn Owl had to become a turnfeather too. There was also Dimitri and Dervla now...

But they'd never lived up to Loki's expectations. They were, honestly, spoiled brats, expecting Loki to do all of the thinking. They were both capable of great thoughts and plans, but they refused to do any of the thinking. So Loki had decided that he needed an successor...he needed someone who'd be just as cunning and ruthless. And so he'd come upon Lilina. Soon, she'd become pregnant. Loki remembered the day he'd come across her....

He'd been in the form of an otter, as he usually was when he wasn't leading his army or lecturing Dervla or Dimitri. Otters fascinated him. They were so strong and swift, and they were great swimmers too. He was swimming in a river that flowed through Silverveil, near Cape Glaux. There, he spotted the most beautiful otter maiden that he'd ever seen standing on the banks.

He thought her brown fur was lovely. Loki grinned and waded up to her. She hadn't seen him coming. "Hello," he said, "what's your name?"

She had blinked. "Lilina."

Loki gestured to himself. "Brander." He had lied to her about his name. What was one to expect? He was the trickster god, after all. He reached a paw out to hold Lilina's. She looked rather confused. But Loki knew what his feelings were for her. This was probably the most he'd ever loved a mortal.

And Loki was not about to give her up to these Ice Talons. He growled and flew in front of her, shoving Valter away. "Don't take another step near her," he hissed, scowling at the Barn Owl.