“Flap those wings now son said the father”. They'd been at it for days and had the bruises as a mark of his determination but unfortunately that would not be enough to leave the earth behind. The older of the two hawks performed a seemingly effortless array of aerial maneuvres for his son to imitate but the fledgling sat atop his favourite perch trying to fathom how he would become such an adept of the wing as his father and his father before him , however he did show potential to become an adept of the claw . His father touched down light as a feather and simply eyed his son with an expectant gaze . The son recited a silent prayer to the Bird God of Swiftness and Agility and took off somewhat unsteadily , only to be outflown by a young swift. The father made a sound as what would pass for idle chirping , but in fact was laughter , the young hawk returned to his perch next to his father , rather sheepishly , and upon his father's request recited the four tenets of flying . Upon their completion the father wishing to lighten the mood had this comment to make .

“ I think we should should make a fifth one , never be outflown by dinner”. He son couldn't help but laugh as his father was not given to displays of lightheartedness. “ Well what are you waiting for , go get him ”. I had no choice but to take to the air under my father's watchful but stern gaze. All I could scrounge up was a scrawny field mouse ,but hadn't the heart nor the desire to consume him , so there he was snuggled in my thick tail feathers , out of sight and out of reach as well.

The nightly gatherings were in full swing upon my return to the barn . These gatherings usually consisted of progress reports regarding fledglings , any squabbles between hawks concerning mate selection , nesting grounds and the like. However , tonight was different , there was a buzz in the air for a hunter had been spotted by one of the scouts and it was him who was about to address our kettle. I knew him . He was of the same feather as me , we often hunted together and chased an occasional female hawk or two . Tonight however was for far more serious matters .

“ I followed him for as far as I could fly , it was about three wings before I came to his lair . He's not alone , he had fledglings with him , they are not far , by the training tree ”. I silently rejoiced because this meant flying lessons would have to be put on hold for the time being . The mouse was getting restless . “ I can't hear , your moving your feathers too much ”.

“ You think you could better hear from inside my stomach?” After that he seemed to quiet down.

“ Wait a minute mouse, you know my tongue?”

“ Of course all mice do , we are taught it very young , it helps keep us out of harm's way.”

“ Well , a lot of good it did you . I suppose you speak human equally as well ?”

“ Yes as a matter of fact I do , I could teach you if u like?”

“ Yes why not , it might even keep me out of harm's way”. The meeting was at an end and it had been decided , the hunter would have to be dealt with most conclusively but as we had never encountered his kind before we were at a loss as to how to proceed . At night me and mouse whose name I found out later was Mozzarella on account of his penchant for it , however I had taken to calling him Motzi for short , would keep an eye on this new threat to our community . This partnership seemed to work quite well , I would observe him with my keen eyes while Motzi would listen for anything that would help us defeat this trespasser as I was still a novice in the tongue of humans. We had to speak in hawk tongue because I had yet to master the mouse's language or human tongue for that matter , the most I could manage before I reverted to hawk once more were simple words such as run , stop , go and dinner's ready .I think Motzi just did that to have a bit of fun with me then of course I felt the express desire to chase him for an hour or two then I made him beg for his life but of course I was joking , and I needed the flying practice , I was becoming a bit rusty.

Many hunters had come and gone and we had survived , this would be no different I thought to myself but somehow I knew that this did not ring true and I could tell my father exactly the same way I did , maybe it as the set of his head , the way he rustled his feathers or the way his talons bit into he branch he rested on but I knew he was worried and I hoped soon his worries could be put to rest. A decision had been reached by our esteemed elders. This new hunter would always be watched by two or more hawks at any one time in case of capture or death.

As it turned out it was my night at watch and of course my ever – watchful father requested to join me this night. Unbeknowst to him there was a third addition to out little duet. Motzi was hidden deep within my tail feathers for if my father only spotted him there' d be one less pair of eyes.

The hunter moved with a fluid efficiency even for the simplest of acts and without a doubt he would put that same efficiency towards killing our kind. We watched him from our vantage point well out of his line of sight , you never could be too careful, there seemed to be something different about this particular hunter, something I couldn't quite put my finger on if hawks had fingers that is but I chucked it away to the back of my mind. I hoped this would not prove to be a mistake.

He was a puzzling creature as humans go, he danced around his fire and made strange shadows on the ground which seemed to amuse the smaller ones of his breed, I thought to myself perhaps they are small enough to pluck them from right where they sat so safe beside their fire but my father thought it unwise.

back to Rori's page