Warriors Of Ga'Hoole Book One: Wings Of Fire

Feel It In Your Gizzard!

Hollypaw In The Fire -->

The Training Song -->

Two days had passed.

Hollypaw had gotten the hang of sailing, (she had been purely flapping before), and was now allowed to be in a chawlet.

"Being part of a chawlet allows the instructors to see if you belong in their specific chaw." Rachael had explained.

And now, was her first night.

Prince H'rathruyan and Princess Rachael had already found their chaws. Prince H'rathruyan was a collierer, and Princess Rachael was in the Navigation Chaw.

However, Hollypaw had met a Barn Owl named Kallik, and the two of them had become fast friends.

First up, they had Navigation.

And Eagle Owl, Sir Bors was the teacher. He was explaining the constellation to the group of young owls (and Hollypaw).

"The Golden Talons," Sir Bors began. "Is how you can determine North, East, West, and South. Now, does anybody remember just what direction they are in?"

A Screech Owl named Mason raised his wing. "I know a monomial expression for it!" He said.

"Let's hear it." said Sir Bors. Mason puffed out his chest.

"Never Eat Sour Worms."

"That's a very good way to learn it." Sir Bors praised. "And, if that idiom didn't help, up is North, starboard is East, down is East, and port is West."

Hollypaw had learned from H'rathruyan that starboard was right, and port was left.

"Each talon is pointing in a direction." Sir Bors continued. "And continuing with Whale's Fin...."

"I see why his name is Sir Bors." Kallik whispered to Hollypaw. "He's boring me to death!"

Hollypaw nodded in agreement.

However, though, she remembered how dreamy eyed Rachael got whenever she spoke of the constellations. Just how does she find this so interesting? I mean, I get that it could be important, but..."

After that, they had blacksmithing.

Theo, a large Great Horned Owl, was hammering on a pair of battle claws as they came in.

Kallik started to say something, but a Masked Owl named Matty, who was detirmened to become a Blacksmith, glared at her. "Don't distract him, or he could accidentally burn his face off!'

After a while, Theo noticed the group. He lifted his mask off of his face, and grinned. "Welcome to the forge!" He said cheerfully. He grabbed some tongs and set the battle claws in a tub of water. He then grabbed another pair. "These are some custom claws for a certain cat we all know." He explained. "Considering that she can't grab things with her paws like the rest of us can with our talons, King Hoole had me make these... they're retractable, so that they're usually blunt, but whenever she unsheathes her claws, the sharp edge comes out and covers the blunt... and they move with her toes."

Hollypaw was stunned that an owl would do that for her. Matty's eyes widened.

"Wow." he whispered.

"You have to have a sharp eye and fine hearing to be a blacksmith." Theo continued. "Better than the average owl, so you can hear if something begins to melt that shouldn't be melting."

As he talked, he gestured Hollypaw to come closer. He continued to speak as he fastened the claws over Hollypaw's paws.

"Of coarse, as you shape a piece of metal into something, it is going to glow yellow or orange." said Theo as he pastened leather straps around Hollypaw's ankles. "If it glows red, however, that is when you place it in water to let it cool down."