Pheonix: Hey guys! This is the first ever rated M Guardians of Ga'Hoole fanfict. You wouldn't believe how hard it was to make this! I had to buy the movie, then write down stuff! Woo! If you want to know what the story is actually talking about, see the movie. This fanfict is based off the movie, NOT the book. Start!

Chapter 1: Feathers

"Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You."
— Dr. Seuss (Happy Birthday to You!)

"My talons are upon you! Your days of terrorizing the Air Kingdoms are over!"

"Not so fast! You're no match for my army of evil ones!"

"Well perhaps, but I, am Lyze of Kiel, and I have assembled my own army! The Guardians of Ga'Hoole!"

"But Soren-"

"And I swore an oath, to mend the broken-"

"Soren-"

"make strong the weak, and vanquish evil!"

"Ohh."

"Eglentine, what is it?"

"Soren, you said I could be Lyze of Kiel this time."

"Come on. Next go, alright?"

"I hope you're not lying, to Metalbeak! Roar!"

Soren chuckled as his little sister, Eglentine, charged at his stomach. With his leg, he lightly threw her off.

"My beak!" Eglentine said as she stared at the unfolded piece of leaf hanging on her beak. "Da!" She whined to her father, who laughed.

"OK," he said. "Enough young owlets, time for bed." Eglentine groaned.

"Yes, please," said their brother. "Enough stories about the Guardians."

"Now Kludd, stories are part of our culture," said their father. "And our history. We learn from them."

"Even if we've heard it 700 times?"

"Yes even then, unless, son, you already know all there is of our history."

"I know the Guardians win!" Soren piped in, which aggravated Kludd, his brother.

"Soren, it's just a story." He said

"It is not!" Objected Soren.

"Here we go again." Said their snake nest maid, Mrs. P.

"I mean, Da, have you ever seen the Guardians?" Asked Kludd.

"Kludd, just because you can't see something doesn't mean it isn't real." Said their father. "It's like feeling something with your gizzard. You know, through our gizzards, the voices of the ages whisper to us and tell us what's right."

Kludd groaned as Ma said, "Now, that's enough for one night dear. Tomorrow's a big day. It's first branching. Now off to bed."

"Now come along children." Said Mrs. P. "I've made the down extra soft for you Elgentine."

As Eglentine got into bed, she asked, "Soren, do you think Metalbeak is real?"

"You remember," whispered Soren, "it was the Battle of the Ice Claws. The Guardians were outnumbered. Things looked dark. But then, Lyze of Kiel struck down the the leader of the evil owls. The Guardians were victorious. The owl kingdoms were free once more. And then they returned home, to the Great Tree of Ga'Hoole."

"Wow." Said Eglentine.

"But some say," continued Soren, "that the evil king still lives, and he wears and metal mask to hide his missing beak."

Eglentine gasped as Kludd said, "Stop! You're gonna give her daymares."

"But this is my favorite part." Eglentine whined.

"I know, we've heard it a thousand times. You have a soft head Soren." Kludd said as he turned towards his brother. "I think Da has filled it with stories and dreams."

"There's nothing wrong with dreams." Soren said.

"Well, that's the difference between us. I have mine when I'm asleep. Now would you just go to sleep?"

Soren sighed. "Soren," said Eglentine, who yawned. "Da says our dreams are who we are." She snuggled close to her brother as he took her under his wing, and stayed silent to let her sleep as the sun came up.

Twlight

"So as I was- Kludd wait!" Soren said.

"No!" Kludd said as he sloppily took off from the branch next to his brother. "Look Da! I'm going to be the best flyer!" Kludd sloppily swooped around. "That's because Tytos are the best at everything." Kludd managed to land on a branch. "Right Da?"

Da swooped in to land in front of Kludd. "You have strength Kludd, but owls make the best hunters for one reason alone-"

"Yeah, I know. Their silent flight. By the time I have my claws out-"

"The mice will have run away and you and your hatchlings will go hungry."

"Da!" called Soren. "I'm ready!" He came up the branch wearing his leaf helmet, which made Da chuckle.

"Young Guardian," he said, "I don't think your first branching lesson will be that dangerous." He said as he took it off with his talons. He took Soren under his wing and walked him to the edge of the branch, as Kludd looked on with envy. "Now, don't worry about how much noise you make in the beginning. You just need to stretch your..." But Soren took off before he could finish, gliding silently down onto the lower branch. "wings. Heh, well done." Da said, looking evidently pleased.

"Beginner's luck." Said Kludd. He took off on not-so-silent wings, grunting with the effort. Flapping, he managed to get next to his brother, almost slipping in the process while trying to steady himself.

"Woah." Soren said in awe as he looked down towards the branch pieces that fell down below the tree and onto the ground. "You know Kludd," Soren turned to face his brother, "it helps when I picture where I'm going to land.

"Come on!" He said, suddenly excited. "I'll race you!"

"OK." Kludd agreed, then quickly said, "Go!" Kludd took off immediately, but Soren held back, then swooped. In seconds, he had silently glided down first to the branch, Kludd a few seconds behind.

"Ha ha ha!" Gloated Soren.

"You had a head start!" Argued Kludd.

"No I didn't!"

"Yeah you did! Da, he cheated!"

"Boys." Said their Ma, who had been watching them from their home. "No more fighting." She turns towards Da. "Let's get the boys inside. It's time to go."

"Can we come with you on the hunt?" Soren asked.

"Not tonight." Said Da. "But when the time comes, at least you'll have the helmet for it." And he put the leaf helmet on Soren's head.

Kludd chuckled as he taunted, "Nice helmet." And bumped into Soren.

"Get off!" Soren said as Kludd laughed.

"Boys." Ma warned, but they continued to scrabble as they went inside the tree hollow, their home. When they were inside, Ma turned to Da and said, "Noctus, I know Soren's a bit of a dreamer. Do you worry for him?"

"Oh, I worry for both of them. Seems like yesterday they were hatchlings, and now, well, you know, they'll soon be grown and leaving the hollow." He sighed. "I just want them to be prepared."

"Mmm. They'll be fine."

"Mm."

"Come on." And they took off into the coming night, in search of prey as they glided around the treetops.

At the Hollow

Soren and Kludd came into the hollow to see Eglentine gagging.

"Eglentine, are you alright?" Soren asked as he got a closer look at her to see what was wrong. But Eglentine kept gagging.

"Oh, it's alright dear," Said Mrs. P. "If it wants to come out let it.

"That's it!" Said Mrs. P as Eglentine started burping. "That's it dear, keep going. Oh, it's going to be beautiful!"

Finally, Eglentine burps one last time as her pellet plopped onto the floor. "There you go."

"Eg, that's gross!" Soren said.

"Quiet an achievement." Kludd said.

"W-what is it?" Eglentine asked, panting.

"Why, it's your first pellet." Answered Mrs. P.

"First? You mean there'll be more?"

"Don't you recognize it Eg? It was the mouse you ate. It's fur and bones anyway." Mrs. P slithered beside Eglantine. "Every owl yurps up pellets. In fact, I might have your brothers' first pellets."

"No no!" Objected Soren and Kludd.

"Maybe you'd like to see them?"

"No," Said Soren. "Oh Mrs. P not again, please."

"Oh come on dear." Said Mrs. P as she slithered around Eglentine, who was wide-eyed fromt the pellet. "Such a big night for this tree. First branching, first pellet."

"(burp) Excuse me." Eglentine said.

"Kludd," whispered Soren, "do you want to go out and try some more branching?"

"What? So you can go out there and show off again? I don't think so."

"Oh, maybe you're right. Maybe we should just, I don't know, play Battle of the Ice Claws again." Kludd growled softly before giving in, but Soren just smiled. He walked towards the edge of the hollow, looked at Kludd, and took off, gliding silently past every other branch until he decided to land. Kludd came behind, grunting.

"Kludd, can I just show you how? Without you getting angry?" Soren asked.

"Fine, show me how." Kludd said irritably.

"Well, before I leap, I picture myself standing on a great cliff with the Guardians," Soren said as he spread his wings over his head, turning away from his brother. "Ready for battle." Kludd sighed and rolled his eyes as Soren continued. "We leap down, floating silently like Lyze of Kiel. The air's just carrying us as we-"

"That's enough!" Kludd had had enough and pushed his brother, a little to hard. Soren slipped backwards into Kludd, grunting. They tried to use their talons to hand onto the branch, but they both lost balance and fell.

They yelled as the fell, but Soren managed to spread his wings and glide , chuckling nervously. But it only lasted for a second, before he started yelling as he lost his balance and plummeted towards the ground with his brother.

They landed on their backs and groaned in pain.

"Kludd, are you OK?" Soren asked.

"Oh no." Kludd whispered to himself.

Soren, who had gotten back on his feet, said, "We're on the ground."

"We can't be here." Said Kludd, who also managed to stand up. "It's-it's-t-this is the worst place for an owl."

"Yeah." Whispered Soren, looking around and taking in his surroundings. All he saw were dark green leaves and the bottoms and trees everywhere. "It's weird down here."

"You know, if we could just make it to that branch, then we could climb our way up." Soren said this as he looked up at the great large tree that they fell from. "Yeah, here, let's see." And Soren flapped. And flapped. And flapped. And flapped, until he could go no higher and hit the ground a second time.

"Shh! Quiet!" Said Kludd, and Soren immediately quieted down as best as he could. He got up as rustling was heard in the bushes nearby, and both owls turned their heads towards the sound, which was followed by a growl. "What was that?" Kludd asked. A few seconds later, he got his answer.

Out of the bushes, jumped a big, black-furred, red-eyed animal. It charged at the two birds with razor sharp teeth.

It targeted Kludd first, chasing him as he tried to take off. As he was turning around, the creature jumped on him, pinning him to his back. "Soren!" Kludd yelled desperately, trying to kick off the creature that was preparing to bite his face.

"Kludd!" Soren yelled as he launched himself at the animal, throwing him off his brother. He bit the animal's ear, which made it buck and scream in pain. Kludd just backed into a tree, not helping him. Soren jumped into the air with his wings to avoid being bitten, and slid back against the opposite tree.

"Kludd! Kludd!" Soren yelled at his brother to save him, but Kludd just hid behind a tree root. Soren, realizing his brother wasn't going to help him, turned towards the animal to die.

Suddenly, an owl screech filled the forest, and one huge owl swooped down towards the animal, knocking him away from Soren. As he killed it, Soren felt talons dig into his wings, forcing them against his body. One second, he was on the ground, and the next, he was in the air, held hostage by an owl bigger and stronger than him. He saw his brother beinh carried by the other owl, who flew beside the one that held him.

"Where are you taking us?" Soren asked fearfully. "Our home's that way!" But the owls didn't answer, and they flew farther and farther away from Soren and Kludd's home.