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Description
"Amazing Vito, you're becoming quite the little flyer." Sumitra congratulated. She hung on to every word Vito had told her. Ugo had a bright twinkle in his silver eyes. Ugo wondered what it must be like to fly against the autumn winds. He was half molted and his mature feathers were coming in nicely. But Moon-eyes were known for a crest on their bodies somewhere. And that somewhere for the siblings were on their chests. Vito, a horseshoe shaped splotch that's upside down, Sumitra, a three pointed star and Ugo a correctly place horseshoe shape that barely shows from under his chick fluff. It was a common thing with Moon-eyes but Papa said it meant something more. Whatever that 'more' was?
Vito quickly downed the last of his dinner and asked if he could explore. Mama was a little worried but Pa loved the idea as long as he was back before the first morning glow. Vito agreed and soared through the launching window. He then settled on a maple tree branch and ruffled his feathers. "Vito, wait up!" screeched a familiar voice. He cocked his head to see Ugo running and hopping after his big brother.
Vito saw the trouble of bouncing on the fragile branches and flew over to his brother's rescue but the branch had already snapped off and Ugo was sent into a stream which flowed right through Home base. His parents always told him don't get caught in a puddle or stream, owls can't swim. It was true, these words, owls feathers pulled an owl down if they got wet and that was already happening with Vito's dear brother. Summoning all his bravery, Vito plunged toward the stream levelling off at just the right moment and clutched one of his brother's cold, wet wings with his talons. He called upon Echo to give him strength and he effortlessly pulled little, cold Ugo to safety along the bank.
Vito fell flat on his back, panting heavily. Ugo sat up and shivered. There was no sign of Home base anywhere. Ugo began to get scared. He huddled closer to his brother. Vito nearly screamed at Ugo but remembered it wasn't his fault; he just wanted to be with him. He calmed Ugo down and sat up, standing on his feet.
"Where are we Vito?" Ugo said nervously.
Vito had no idea. But remembered his Pa say something about using landmarks to help an owl navigate. "Well," he said acting tough and brave in front of his little brother. "If the stream took us here then all we have to do is follow it back to Home base." There a rustle in the bushes and ferns behind them.
"Vito, I'm getting scared." Ugo admitted.
Vito was also getting spooked but he had to remember his strategy of getting back to their home. "Come on, there's nothing really to be frightened of, it's probably just the wind. Come on." He gestured for Ugo to follow him.
Then suddenly, a howl startled the two owlets and a wolf jumped from the shadows. Its ear was ripped off and a sneer ran across its face that Vito had never experienced before. It was a large grey male and clawed toward the owlets. Another wolf pounced out of the bushes, followed by another then another. By the time all the wolves popped out, Vito counted up to six male wolves within the pack but only three stood behind the grey, alpha wolf while. The alpha, the leader, stepped forward, his torn stump of an ear twitched and almost made Vito spit up a pellet, owls usually did this to keep their gizzards clean.
The wolves all pawed closer, but the alpha was the closest and the most terrifying. He chuckled as the wolves chuckled along with him. Their voices were deep with mocking in the tones. "Look at what we got here." Said the alpha as the three other wolves drew closer pushing and shoving trying to get the closest to the owlets. All had tags on their ears and where should have been an ear with a tag the alpha must have ripped or clawed it off.
"Leg or wing?" said a skinny blonde wolf with hunger in his eyes nudging the alpha.
Ugo hid behind Vito as if he was going to stop the giant dogs. Ugo began to cry and Vito comforted him as the mocking laughter echoed through the canine's throats. "Aw, look who misses his Mummy." Spoke a jet black wolf with a scratched out eye, on the alpha's left and a dark brown one on his left. He had two tags and a strangely coloured marking on his side that seemed brighter in the sun's light. "Mama's not going help you now, bird!" he barked and snapped his fangs at poor Ugo's face. Vito had never seen such strange and deformed mouth's before. Owls didn't grow teeth they didn't need it when it came to swallowing their food whole. But the dog's mouth looked as if a million beaks were placed inside and ready to tear their meat off the bone.
Vito gulped at the thought of being the pack's next meal. "I want the juicy bits!" nudged the dark brown canine waiting too long for his next meal.
"I get the fat!" the skinny one pushed.
"I want the skins!" the black one spoke in a deep, dark voice that seemed like it was thunder amplifying from his gullet.
The alpha got frustrated and nipped at the others to shut their mouths. Vito gulped and Ugo wept silently. "Oh shut up!" he barked. "If anyone's getting the best bites it's me!"
"But, One…"
"Quiet!" he snapped again. Vito looked for a way out of the predicament, when he saw a small hole in a log that was big enough for the owlets and too tiny for the wolves to squeeze through. He just had to figure out how to get there. Ugo was told the plan and got excited but Vito clamped his brother's beak with a wing and instructed him to be quiet. He would have to by some time so he and his brother could make a break for it. But even if they could run and get in the log, there was still the chance of the wolves waiting them out. "I get the big one," the alpha known as One spoke with droll dipping out from the sides of his mouth. It was disgusting; the way it would pour down and touch the ground before spitting off and smacking the dust and dirt. "Now," he said pawing every so closer.
"Wait!" blurted Ugo.
"What?" One said getting frustrated.
"What happened to your ear?" he asked trying to make conversation so the boys could safely stow away in the old tree hollow.
"What, this?" One asked pawing his stub.
"Yeah, what happened to it, did it get ripped off by another?" Ugo said walking backwards toward the hollow safe spot. The predators seemed like it because they continued to claw forward after their meals.
"What?" One said shocked. "Of course not!" he growled.
"Come on One, I'm starving!" said the skinny one. Vito could plainly see why that wolf was so hungry; it looked as though he hadn't eaten for weeks upon months.
"Shut up, Three! The little guy asked me a question and a question like that needs an answer. So shut up and wait!" he turned back to Ugo and whispered. "I got one word for ya, and it's a simple word at that, aliens."
"Aliens," muttered Vito stepping back still.
"Aliens, what are aliens?" Ugo asked in awe.
"Aliens are horrifying, and smart, smarter than every animal in this forest."
"How would you know?" it was Vito who spoke instead of Ugo.
"Because I've been captured by them, we all have. Two's been caught twice even," he pointed to the one with the strange, bright marking on his side, "and sooner or later, so will you!" he said as if it was a demon from the Neitherworld that said it through the alpha's tongue.
"Unbelievable," Ugo said in amazement. Vito was also very intrigued by the alpha's story, never had he ever heard of aliens before. And the tags and marks that glistened in the mornings glow couldn't have been made by paws or talons; so what were they?
"What do you mean, Unbelievable?! Everything I will tell you is true."
"But you still haven't told us why you have no ear on your head, or who ripped it off."
"I clawed it off!"
"Why?" Ugo said stunned.
"Because, that tag gave away my position to my prey. And besides I didn't want any part of those beings that attacked me and played with my life! It was a nuisance so a tore it off along with my ear! But now, I am respected and well treated and soon to be well feed!" he snapped his jaws in front of Ugo and Vito's faces. They were right behind the hollow. All they needed was more conversation to let their stubby, feathery legs do their thing and climb into the hollow.
The alpha closed in to bite into Vito's flesh when he blurted out, "Wait stop!"
"What?!" One roared.
"Shut up, I'm hungry!" Two screeched.
"Just wait and listen!" Vito flared his wings grabbing the pack's attention. "What are aliens, what did they do and what did they look like?"
One laughed and stared mockingly at the owlet. He paced back and forth, glaring at the two Moon-eyes with a grin that seemed to stretch for one ear to the other, or what was left of it anyway. He stopped and sat on his tail, he licked one of his paws with a greyish pink tongue as long as the smirk that drew his face. "You really want to know?"
The owlets looked at each other than fixed their gaze on the alpha waiting for their response. They both bobbed their heads, rapidly as if their lives depended on it, and it probably did. Three groaned in boredom and fixed the owlets with a hungry and fierce stare that cut through their hope like a razor-sharp talon. Ugo gulped and huddled closer to Vito who was very interested on what One had to say. Although he was very frightened and the idea of flying silently into the forest's branches and leaves bored at him like a starving spotted caterpillar, he also would be forgetting his baby brother to perish by himself alone and scared. How could he live in the shadow of his horrible deed? He had to wait and hope Echo was watching them. One nipped at Three and screamed, "Shut up, or my next dinner will be you! Understand?!" he snapped coldly. "Now kid, there are beings out there; bigger, smarter and uglier than nothing ever before seen." He began backing the owlets up as if herding them into a trap. But, although wolves were smart, they couldn't make a trap even if they wanted to. Vito and Ugo turned their attention back on the wolf's story. "As if big, pink owls on long, furless legs with no talons or claws in sight. Fat, flabby heads with only a minimal amount of fur on top of the skulls; short, pushed-up snouts and rosy lips that spread across their hideous, flat faces."
Vito was most intrigued by the alpha's tale. What if the wolf's description was true? Could animals as ugly as these beings really exist in this world? But why would Echo make such hideous creatures such as the canine says they are? Or maybe Echo didn't create them, is it possible that Basilisk formed these beings with enormous bodies and brains and lack of fur and feathers? Vito continued to listen taking in every detail almost forgetting what the dogs were about to do to the owlets and how he was going to escape the murderous canines.
"These creatures were strong and slammed me on a perfectly polished and square stone. Its paralysing, freezing touch locked my paws and lungs and for the moment I truly believed I was in Death's claws. They held me down with, not paws, talons or fins, but long stumps with sausages that gripped my body that were as tough as the bodies they possessed. With sticky strips they cuffed my legs and clamped my jaws shut, they pierced, what was, my ear and speared my rump with clear long tubes injecting liquid into my flesh, vines and blood. Then, without warning, my eyes felt heavy and closed although I wasn't the least bit sleepy." The hollow was still a few wing strokes away and the alpha was nearing his story's conclusion. The advancing predators still pushed the owlets back, and none wanted to interrupt the speaking leader. "My body went limp and I found myself just outside my den. I cursed those beings and swore to kill them the next time I saw their disgusting, pink flab again. Now there, happy?!"
"Quite content, yes. But one more thing."
"Enough!" One roared in anger of the chick's curiosity. "No more! I told you what you wanted now it's time for what I want, and that's food!" the wolf lunged forward only to be caught in mid-air by a yellow blur as bright as the sun that peeked over the horizon.
The surprised alpha's eyes almost popped out of his head when he saw a female wolf with a pure white underbelly and a stunning yellow top coat. She stood with the most grace yet she was clearly powerful. One struggled but stood in wonder that turned to hatred. "Seven, what are you doing? You should be resting, you are in no shape to be scrolling around in the forest, and you could get seriously hurt." it was then Vito noticed the bulge of her stomach and knew then she was expecting puppies. "I will not fight my mate or my children. But why are you protecting these, owls?" he said in a disgusted tone, "They are no more important than the other prey we catch and feed on."
"One stop! And do not say one more criticizing quote about these lost infants. They are babies that belong to a mother and a father and if you love me, and your children, then do not harm these poor owlets. You can feed on something else." she said as though an angel sent by Echo herself to protect the brothers.
One sighed in annoyance and snapped at his pack to follow him back home. The female known as Seven, laid down beside the owlets and softly licked each chick's feathers in the sign of trust and love. Her stomach was large and she looked as though she only had a few more weeks before she became a mother of a new litter. Vito tried hard not to stare but he couldn't seem to take his eyes off her round belly. Seven smiled and leaned closer to the owlets. "I'm actually a late breeder as some would call it. Most of the mothers had already given birth and the pups are nearly two months old now, but I'll make sure my litter stays away from owl. Okay?" she told them.
"Okay," both said together.
"Now do you need some help home? I'll make sure no one else tries to harm you." She said with a smile that warmed both the boys up with shivers and chills. She took some time to stand but soon she was up on her feet. Vito was worried she might have her children during their trek to Home base but she said she still had some time left before that special day. Vito and Ugo felt safe with Seven by their side and soon they could see their home open up in front of them as though a cloud had lifted revealing their home.

Description
"Amazing Vito, you're becoming quite the little flyer." Sumitra congratulated. She hung on to every word Vito had told her. Ugo had a bright twinkle in his silver eyes. Ugo wondered what it must be like to fly against the autumn winds. He was half molted and his mature feathers were coming in nicely. But Moon-eyes were known for a crest on their bodies somewhere. And that somewhere for the siblings were on their chests. Vito, a horseshoe shaped splotch that's upside down, Sumitra, a three pointed star and Ugo a correctly place horseshoe shape that barely shows from under his chick fluff. It was a common thing with Moon-eyes but Papa said it meant something more. Whatever that 'more' was?
Vito quickly downed the last of his dinner and asked if he could explore. Mama was a little worried but Pa loved the idea as long as he was back before the first morning glow. Vito agreed and soared through the launching window. He then settled on a maple tree branch and ruffled his feathers. "Vito, wait up!" screeched a familiar voice. He cocked his head to see Ugo running and hopping after his big brother.
Vito saw the trouble of bouncing on the fragile branches and flew over to his brother's rescue but the branch had already snapped off and Ugo was sent into a stream which flowed right through Home base. His parents always told him don't get caught in a puddle or stream, owls can't swim. It was true, these words, owls feathers pulled an owl down if they got wet and that was already happening with Vito's dear brother. Summoning all his bravery, Vito plunged toward the stream levelling off at just the right moment and clutched one of his brother's cold, wet wings with his talons. He called upon Echo to give him strength and he effortlessly pulled little, cold Ugo to safety along the bank.
Vito fell flat on his back, panting heavily. Ugo sat up and shivered. There was no sign of Home base anywhere. Ugo began to get scared. He huddled closer to his brother. Vito nearly screamed at Ugo but remembered it wasn't his fault; he just wanted to be with him. He calmed Ugo down and sat up, standing on his feet.
"Where are we Vito?" Ugo said nervously.
Vito had no idea. But remembered his Pa say something about using landmarks to help an owl navigate. "Well," he said acting tough and brave in front of his little brother. "If the stream took us here then all we have to do is follow it back to Home base." There a rustle in the bushes and ferns behind them.
"Vito, I'm getting scared." Ugo admitted.
Vito was also getting spooked but he had to remember his strategy of getting back to their home. "Come on, there's nothing really to be frightened of, it's probably just the wind. Come on." He gestured for Ugo to follow him.
Then suddenly, a howl startled the two owlets and a wolf jumped from the shadows. Its ear was ripped off and a sneer ran across its face that Vito had never experienced before. It was a large grey male and clawed toward the owlets. Another wolf pounced out of the bushes, followed by another then another. By the time all the wolves popped out, Vito counted up to six male wolves within the pack but only three stood behind the grey, alpha wolf while. The alpha, the leader, stepped forward, his torn stump of an ear twitched and almost made Vito spit up a pellet, owls usually did this to keep their gizzards clean.
The wolves all pawed closer, but the alpha was the closest and the most terrifying. He chuckled as the wolves chuckled along with him. Their voices were deep with mocking in the tones. "Look at what we got here." Said the alpha as the three other wolves drew closer pushing and shoving trying to get the closest to the owlets. All had tags on their ears and where should have been an ear with a tag the alpha must have ripped or clawed it off.
"Leg or wing?" said a skinny blonde wolf with hunger in his eyes nudging the alpha.
Ugo hid behind Vito as if he was going to stop the giant dogs. Ugo began to cry and Vito comforted him as the mocking laughter echoed through the canine's throats. "Aw, look who misses his Mummy." Spoke a jet black wolf with a scratched out eye, on the alpha's left and a dark brown one on his left. He had two tags and a strangely coloured marking on his side that seemed brighter in the sun's light. "Mama's not going help you now, bird!" he barked and snapped his fangs at poor Ugo's face. Vito had never seen such strange and deformed mouth's before. Owls didn't grow teeth they didn't need it when it came to swallowing their food whole. But the dog's mouth looked as if a million beaks were placed inside and ready to tear their meat off the bone.
Vito gulped at the thought of being the pack's next meal. "I want the juicy bits!" nudged the dark brown canine waiting too long for his next meal.
"I get the fat!" the skinny one pushed.
"I want the skins!" the black one spoke in a deep, dark voice that seemed like it was thunder amplifying from his gullet.
The alpha got frustrated and nipped at the others to shut their mouths. Vito gulped and Ugo wept silently. "Oh shut up!" he barked. "If anyone's getting the best bites it's me!"
"But, One…"
"Quiet!" he snapped again. Vito looked for a way out of the predicament, when he saw a small hole in a log that was big enough for the owlets and too tiny for the wolves to squeeze through. He just had to figure out how to get there. Ugo was told the plan and got excited but Vito clamped his brother's beak with a wing and instructed him to be quiet. He would have to by some time so he and his brother could make a break for it. But even if they could run and get in the log, there was still the chance of the wolves waiting them out. "I get the big one," the alpha known as One spoke with droll dipping out from the sides of his mouth. It was disgusting; the way it would pour down and touch the ground before spitting off and smacking the dust and dirt. "Now," he said pawing every so closer.
"Wait!" blurted Ugo.
"What?" One said getting frustrated.
"What happened to your ear?" he asked trying to make conversation so the boys could safely stow away in the old tree hollow.
"What, this?" One asked pawing his stub.
"Yeah, what happened to it, did it get ripped off by another?" Ugo said walking backwards toward the hollow safe spot. The predators seemed like it because they continued to claw forward after their meals.
"What?" One said shocked. "Of course not!" he growled.
"Come on One, I'm starving!" said the skinny one. Vito could plainly see why that wolf was so hungry; it looked as though he hadn't eaten for weeks upon months.
"Shut up, Three! The little guy asked me a question and a question like that needs an answer. So shut up and wait!" he turned back to Ugo and whispered. "I got one word for ya, and it's a simple word at that, aliens."
"Aliens," muttered Vito stepping back still.
"Aliens, what are aliens?" Ugo asked in awe.
"Aliens are horrifying, and smart, smarter than every animal in this forest."
"How would you know?" it was Vito who spoke instead of Ugo.
"Because I've been captured by them, we all have. Two's been caught twice even," he pointed to the one with the strange, bright marking on his side, "and sooner or later, so will you!" he said as if it was a demon from the Neitherworld that said it through the alpha's tongue.
"Unbelievable," Ugo said in amazement. Vito was also very intrigued by the alpha's story, never had he ever heard of aliens before. And the tags and marks that glistened in the mornings glow couldn't have been made by paws or talons; so what were they?
"What do you mean, Unbelievable?! Everything I will tell you is true."
"But you still haven't told us why you have no ear on your head, or who ripped it off."
"I clawed it off!"
"Why?" Ugo said stunned.
"Because, that tag gave away my position to my prey. And besides I didn't want any part of those beings that attacked me and played with my life! It was a nuisance so a tore it off along with my ear! But now, I am respected and well treated and soon to be well feed!" he snapped his jaws in front of Ugo and Vito's faces. They were right behind the hollow. All they needed was more conversation to let their stubby, feathery legs do their thing and climb into the hollow.
The alpha closed in to bite into Vito's flesh when he blurted out, "Wait stop!"
"What?!" One roared.
"Shut up, I'm hungry!" Two screeched.
"Just wait and listen!" Vito flared his wings grabbing the pack's attention. "What are aliens, what did they do and what did they look like?"
One laughed and stared mockingly at the owlet. He paced back and forth, glaring at the two Moon-eyes with a grin that seemed to stretch for one ear to the other, or what was left of it anyway. He stopped and sat on his tail, he licked one of his paws with a greyish pink tongue as long as the smirk that drew his face. "You really want to know?"
The owlets looked at each other than fixed their gaze on the alpha waiting for their response. They both bobbed their heads, rapidly as if their lives depended on it, and it probably did. Three groaned in boredom and fixed the owlets with a hungry and fierce stare that cut through their hope like a razor-sharp talon. Ugo gulped and huddled closer to Vito who was very interested on what One had to say. Although he was very frightened and the idea of flying silently into the forest's branches and leaves bored at him like a starving spotted caterpillar, he also would be forgetting his baby brother to perish by himself alone and scared. How could he live in the shadow of his horrible deed? He had to wait and hope Echo was watching them. One nipped at Three and screamed, "Shut up, or my next dinner will be you! Understand?!" he snapped coldly. "Now kid, there are beings out there; bigger, smarter and uglier than nothing ever before seen." He began backing the owlets up as if herding them into a trap. But, although wolves were smart, they couldn't make a trap even if they wanted to. Vito and Ugo turned their attention back on the wolf's story. "As if big, pink owls on long, furless legs with no talons or claws in sight. Fat, flabby heads with only a minimal amount of fur on top of the skulls; short, pushed-up snouts and rosy lips that spread across their hideous, flat faces."
Vito was most intrigued by the alpha's tale. What if the wolf's description was true? Could animals as ugly as these beings really exist in this world? But why would Echo make such hideous creatures such as the canine says they are? Or maybe Echo didn't create them, is it possible that Basilisk formed these beings with enormous bodies and brains and lack of fur and feathers? Vito continued to listen taking in every detail almost forgetting what the dogs were about to do to the owlets and how he was going to escape the murderous canines.
"These creatures were strong and slammed me on a perfectly polished and square stone. Its paralysing, freezing touch locked my paws and lungs and for the moment I truly believed I was in Death's claws. They held me down with, not paws, talons or fins, but long stumps with sausages that gripped my body that were as tough as the bodies they possessed. With sticky strips they cuffed my legs and clamped my jaws shut, they pierced, what was, my ear and speared my rump with clear long tubes injecting liquid into my flesh, vines and blood. Then, without warning, my eyes felt heavy and closed although I wasn't the least bit sleepy." The hollow was still a few wing strokes away and the alpha was nearing his story's conclusion. The advancing predators still pushed the owlets back, and none wanted to interrupt the speaking leader. "My body went limp and I found myself just outside my den. I cursed those beings and swore to kill them the next time I saw their disgusting, pink flab again. Now there, happy?!"
"Quite content, yes. But one more thing."
"Enough!" One roared in anger of the chick's curiosity. "No more! I told you what you wanted now it's time for what I want, and that's food!" the wolf lunged forward only to be caught in mid-air by a yellow blur as bright as the sun that peeked over the horizon.
The surprised alpha's eyes almost popped out of his head when he saw a female wolf with a pure white underbelly and a stunning yellow top coat. She stood with the most grace yet she was clearly powerful. One struggled but stood in wonder that turned to hatred. "Seven, what are you doing? You should be resting, you are in no shape to be scrolling around in the forest, and you could get seriously hurt." it was then Vito noticed the bulge of her stomach and knew then she was expecting puppies. "I will not fight my mate or my children. But why are you protecting these, owls?" he said in a disgusted tone, "They are no more important than the other prey we catch and feed on."
"One stop! And do not say one more criticizing quote about these lost infants. They are babies that belong to a mother and a father and if you love me, and your children, then do not harm these poor owlets. You can feed on something else." she said as though an angel sent by Echo herself to protect the brothers.
One sighed in annoyance and snapped at his pack to follow him back home. The female known as Seven, laid down beside the owlets and softly licked each chick's feathers in the sign of trust and love. Her stomach was large and she looked as though she only had a few more weeks before she became a mother of a new litter. Vito tried hard not to stare but he couldn't seem to take his eyes off her round belly. Seven smiled and leaned closer to the owlets. "I'm actually a late breeder as some would call it. Most of the mothers had already given birth and the pups are nearly two months old now, but I'll make sure my litter stays away from owl. Okay?" she told them.
"Okay," both said together.
"Now do you need some help home? I'll make sure no one else tries to harm you." She said with a smile that warmed both the boys up with shivers and chills. She took some time to stand but soon she was up on her feet. Vito was worried she might have her children during their trek to Home base but she said she still had some time left before that special day. Vito and Ugo felt safe with Seven by their side and soon they could see their home open up in front of them as though a cloud had lifted revealing their home.