Fishing for Hatchlings

Bold = Seasonal

Italics = Biorhythm

Underlined = Background

 

There was a certain hidden majesty to the twilight hour. The point in time at which it was neither day nor night, but something that balanced the best aspects of both. A time where the more unusual creatures ventured out into the world. From moths to bats to fireflies and other, more mysterious creatures that seemed to roam the world in the half-light of twilight.

Hidden slightly by the encroaching dark Void flew on silent wings through the darkening sky. She had been told by others that she looked slightly like a ghost, flitting through the sky on gusts of wind. It was an idea that she took advantage of from time to time.

Frightening other stryx into behaving themselves never got old. Rumours of the ghost of a royal tyto that roamed the skies during the twilight hours when the veil between the worlds seemed thinnest. It was particularly amusing to catch the younger hatchlings off guard. Those who hadn’t yet heard the whispers that circulated about her.

Most of the time she was merely amusing herself, but on occasion there were some stryx whose nature truly troubled her. These dark souls she secreted away from the rest of the world. What she was gathering them for even she wasn’t entirely sure of just yet.

Either she was saving the world from them or, perhaps, saving the world for them. If ever there came a time where she decided that she should be rule over her own parliament. Or become queen for a day.

Considering she was royalty she didn’t see at as impossible that one day she would need her own loyal subjects. What better way was there to make one loyal than to make the entirely dependent on her? The only one who would supply everything they could ever desire.

Void was no seducer, luring away stryx with nothing but on her whiles and charm. Instead she was a certainty in their lives; constant and unchanging. A royal standard that they could never hope to measure up to. One that kept them in line by making sure each and every one of them knew what she would not accept.

It wasn’t that she wanted to be a tyrannical leader, but she was proud of her heritage. Void knew her origins and she would have the respect that her status deserved. It was as simple as that. If she could do so while exercising her wings she figured it was more power to her. Particularly power over the unknown.

After all, no one exactly know what to do when confronted with a ghostly white royal tyto that appeared out of nowhere during the twilight hours. It was the variability in the reactions that she received that made it so entertaining.

So far she had not seen anyone this flight that looked like they might be worth a visit from her. A few hunters and one corva that was either lost in a cave or scavenging; yet no one truly interesting had shown up on her radar.

It was slightly disappointing that after flying over so much forest she was yet to find any likely candidates. The absence of other stryx led her to far too much contemplation of the forest she flew over.   

The trees were either in bud or had a new canopy of green leaves. While during other times of day the presence of spring were more evident there were still traces to be seen. The wind blew drifts of blossom petals away from fruit trees, sending them swirling up and around her.

It would have been a pretty sight if anyone else was around. That thought had here angling towards a small clearing in the forest to land. There were flowers blossoming in that clearing, ones that were slowly closing as the remaining daylight continued to dim. As she landed Void could hear the buzzing of bees as they made their way back to the hive.

Settling her wings comfortably back down Void took a moment to look around and see where it was that she had come to. It was a small clearing, the grass was thick on the ground and it was enclosed by the forest on all sides.

In the middle of the clearing was a small pile of rocks. It was as if a boulder had erupted from the ground and crumbled away long ago. Rising above the rock pile, all but hiding it under its branches was an ancient oak. Its bark was rough and twisted.

The leaves cast a shadow so thick that it was almost as dark as night underneath them. It was the perfect place for her to wait for someone interesting to come along. Ducking in under the lowest branches of the oak Void settled in, making herself comfortable.

While her patience was endless Void was surprised when it didn’t take all that long for a potential victim to appear. A young harpia wondered through the clearing. It was obvious by the way she seemed to stumble slightly over the ground that the twilight was not her preferred time of day.

That she stumbled at all was a clear indication to Void that this harpia was not nocturnal. In fact, Void was pretty sure that what she had here was a day dweller. It had been a very long time since one of those had crossed her path.

Curiosity as to why the harpia was here drove Void to follow her as the youngling ventured further into the forest. Traversing a forest on foot was always something that Void had found interesting. The canopy above blocked out the last twilights light making it dimmer beneath the trees than it was to fly above.

Many times Void had stalked another stryx, but none that had been quite as oblivious as this hatchling. She appeared to be entirely oblivious to the fact that she was being followed. Void spent the entire time wondering where this daytimer was trying to get to; the question was finally answered when she stopped on the bank of a river.

That was were the fun really seemed to begin.

The harpia stood on the bank of the river, watching the water. At first Void thought that the hatchling was trying to figure out how to cross it to get to the forest on the other side but the harpia just stood there.

Watching. Or perhaps waiting. When a fish jumped out of the water the harpia lunged forward; landing in the water with a large splash. The spray of water seemed to make the hatchling loose track of where the fish was because she proceeded to peer into the river, moving around and tilting her head as if she were trying to peer beneath the murky surface.

After a while she seemed to give up trying to see that one particular fish and instead started walking up and down in the water. It almost looked as if she was pacing except for the way she occasionally dipped her head into the water.

The way she was almost diving head first into the water made for a comical sight. After watching the hatchling do it a few times Void finally realised what it was that she was trying to do. The hatchling was trying to catch the fish by ducking her head underwater.

Void inched her way closer, coming out of the shelter of the forest to watch the hatchling as it attempted to catch something in the water. When she went from trying to catch the fish to trying to spear the fish with her beak Void couldn’t help but speak up.

 “That is not how you fish.” By this time she was all but next to the hatchling. When she spoke the harpia jumped straight up into the air. Landing in the river with an undignified splash.

“AH! Oh, sorry. I didn’t see you there! You scared me.” The young harpia said with a nervous chuckle as she made her way to the river bank. Void thought it odd that she didn’t immediately run away after being confronted with the ‘twilight ghost’ as others had come to call her.

True the youngling had been afraid but she had not fled in a panic. Neither had she challenged her as those she collected tended to do. This was interesting, a completely new response to her presence. Void was curious now as to how far she could push this youngling before she would flee.

“Perhaps I should show you how a real hunter catches its prey.” Void let her voice start of empty of all emotion before dropping it into a threatening tone. Still the youngling did not run.

“Oh, would you? That would be so good if you could! I just don’t want to waste your time, you know, if you’re busy or something.” The cheery response was not what Void was expecting. Apparently the implied threat had flown over the younglings head. Well then, perhaps if she was more direct.

“Move hatchling.” Void all but snarled this. As she expected the harpia darted out of her way, but she didn’t leave. The hatchling just stood there, watching. As if she expected Void to take her place on the river bank…this was an unexpected development.

Slowly it dawned on her that this hatchling was actually going to take her up on her threat as if it was a genuine offer. Growing incredulity had Void wanting to simply take off leave the youngling to her own devices. Another growing part of her was considering taking this as seriously as the youngling seemed to be.

What would happen if she did give the youngling a fishing lesson? It wasn’t as if Void herself didn’t know how to fish, even if it wasn’t something she did particularly often. The novelty of having a willing, perhaps even eager, student was growing on her. Rather than simply flying home Void moved forward toward the river bed. She had made up her mind that a practical demonstration couldn’t hurt anything.

Fortunately it was spring and some of the fish were migrating to their breeding grounds otherwise Void would have had to wait a lot longer for the water to calm and the fish to return. As it was it did take a short while for the river to return to normal. Still, soon enough there were once again fish travelling up the river.

Perching on a rock on the river bank Void stared blankly out over the river, keeping her gaze deliberately unfocused. It would be the movement of the fish jumping out of the water that would catch her attention. By not focusing on anything her eyes would pick up on that first flicker that indicated a fish jumping.

Waiting patiently while the harpia fidgeted nearby Void kept her attention on noticing the movement of the water. Most of the motion was simply the river current rippling the surface of the water. It took patience to wait for something that was truly caused by a fish.

There!

Void was airborne and driving herself forward through the air. Shifting as she flew she extended her talons. A silver fish had just leapt out of the river. She kept her vision fixed on its shining scales even as she twisted to snatch it out of the air.

Closing her talons around the fish Void was careful to grip firmly but not too hard. A long time ago she had made that mistake and she had no desire to repeat the experience. Particularly because she had an audience this time around.

Circling back towards the river she dropped the fish on the harpia as she landed. Leaving the youngling scrambling to pick it up before it flopped into the river. Once she had it at least loosely gripped in her talons the hatchling turned towards Void.

When her mouth opened the hatchling didn’t seem to be able to stop the torrent of words that poured out. Somewhere amidst the outpouring of noise Void managed to catch a ‘thank you’ and something about ‘cool’ and then there was ‘fishing’.

Needing to escape the overflowing thankfulness that the harpia was bestowing on her Void took to the air once her back was turned. Flying away and leaving the harpia alone by the river bank as the twilight turned to night Void found herself reflecting over the encounter she had just had.

This whole ‘day’ had been an excursion into the unusual. In the end she had neither terrorized nor acquired a new stryx. Instead she now had a third category for her encounters; those who amused her.

Left behind alone the young harpia blinked at where the royal Tyto had been only moments before, wondering where the other had gone. Scota had intended to thank the other for teaching her such good fishing techniques. Now she’d have to some how find the helpful one again…if only she had gotten the Tyto’s name!