Noctis’ heart skipped as he came to face the sky.
He tried to move his body to hold onto something but the exhaustion crept into him, freezing himself.
As he realised his fate he just closed his eyes.
The next thing he felt was something hard grabbing onto all his torso and stomach and his arms and legs drooping downward as if he was being held by it in mid-air.
Sounds of intense growls and shrieking came from underneath him that got fainter and fainter with time.
After the fierce sounds completely drowned out, he opened his eyes, surprised as well as confused.
Opening his eyes, the first thing he saw was a wing with pure white feathers. The next, he was high up in the air, flying at incredible speed.
He moved his eyes towards his torso, finding giant claws with black talons holding onto him.
Looking up he found a white bird piercing its way through the wind hauntingly silently.
The wings of the bird flapped yet no sound could be heard.
Noctis saw as it, along with him moved through the sky finally reaching a ridge with a sharp cliff.
The giant bird came to rest in a cavity high up the cliff-side of the ridge.
The bird hovered into the edge a little, dropping him gently before landing himself.
Noctis took in a full view of the bird.
A pure white body with serrated black points on the wings. Two black orbs on its flat head stared at him intently.
Coupled with its huge body and his upclose position, the image burned itself into Noctis’ eyes with surreal vividness.
It seemed like the giant owl had saved him from his fate of being torn to shreds.
Why tho? To eat him himself?
’Out of the frying pan, into a fire?’ Noctis swallowed his saliva.
The owls stared at him before strutting backwards and going deeper into the cave.
Noctis laid seated at the edge as he saw another giant bird nestled into the cavity with a few smaller birds around her, all curiously watching him as he did them.
It was the nest of the giant owl.
Far above the jungle, far above even the tall ridge, in the abode of clouds two pairs of eyes watched all this ordeal.
The two had the presence that stilled the air around them.
A doe, silver-pelted and luminous, eyes dark as midnight skies. Looking like the most harmless creature with slim and delicate visage, it held the power to make even the most unruly things tame.
Along with her sat a majestic white stag with golden horns that felt like the primal wilderness itself.
The doe looked at the scene unfolding below and cast her eyes towards the stag. Eyes narrowed and nostrils flared the doe gave the stag a suspicious glare.
The stag looked at the gaze, back towards the boy and again at the eyes of the doe.
Her own eyes went a little wide as she furtively shook her head side-ways.
{What did I just say about this challenge?}
[It wasn’t me! It’s a sentient being, how could it be me!? If anything this is your domain.]
{Why would I myself undermine my own challenge?}
Two graceful voices bickered internally.
After a bit of thinking the stag implied,
[Well... if it’s an owl, then perhaps it’s your...sister?]
The doe’s eyes frowned as it looked down towards the family of owls.
{That meddlesome insufferable know-it-all! Why is she interfering in my lair?}
[Providing advice when all hope is lost is kind of her thing amiright?~]
{It must be you who asked her since you can’t help yourself!}
The doe looked at the stag once with a deep frown on her face.
’Great. I’ve been adopted by a bird now.’
Noctis stood on the edge of the cavity with his legs dangling downwards as two smaller; actually normal sized, just much smaller to the giants behind him, poked his body and pulled his ears.
It didn’t hurt, just itched a bit but it gave him a feeling he had become something of a pet to the kid owls saved by the parent owl.
He was out of danger at least but the question of food and now even freedom remained as did the way to get to his home.
The sun had almost set as the sky covered the forest in a beautiful crimson.
’At least the view is pleasing.’
He felt a poke at his sleeve. He looked towards to see a fledgling owl holding some berries into his mouth staring at him.
Noctis tilted his head at the owl.
The fledgling tilted back.
Stepping a bit closer the owl looked as if it wanted to give him the berries.
Noctis’ eyebrows twitched, he looked back at the parents who looked like they were resting, they didn’t intervene.
Noctis sighed at what he had come to and took the berries from his mouth.
He reclined lower onto the edge and started eating.
’Better than nothing.’
Some more time passed as the sky turned pitch black with numerous stars lighting it up.
At this time the parent owls came out of the cave and looked towards him and the owls idling onto the edge.
A deep whistling sound came out of the larger of the parents, likely the father and the one who saved him.
The fledglings beside him chipped back at him, communicating something for a while before they all started taking off.
Noctis saw as all the kids slowly but surely took flight just as silently as their parents.
In the deep darkness, their white coats gave a very striking contrast and no auditory sense unsettled the heart further.
Noctis saw the kids going ahead with their mother and thought to himself if he had left to watch the house or something.
Not quite it seemed as the owl that saved him stood still for a bit before going a bit down the ridge, settling its back where his feets were.
"You want to piggyback on you?"
"How generous of you. I wonder where we are going though.."
Noctis sat on the back of the giant bird as it also started moving with the rest towards the dark forest.