Owned: An Eternal Flame

blue quill discoveries

Morning came along slowly, I had managed to have a decent sleep despite the chaos of last night.

I sat up and left the cocoon of Julian's paws, it was a lovely day, my mind wandered to what he said last night, the area seemed so familiar, Julian woke up and hurried to his feet, transforming quickly, and stretching widely.

He handed me a pill, I swallowed it and stared at the trees, he began walking ahead, I followed, my arms crossed and my body strangely tense, I know what he said he had to do, but I don't think I'd be able to deal with it.

We walked at an angle, deeper into the shadows, the tall trees partly blocking out light, animals ducked and weaved, fleeing from us, he looked at each creature and bird with extreme interest, this was his job.

I knew this path, it was a common trail to a large watering hole, animals love using it, but we're heading away from the watering hole, the horror of the realisation filled me.

I hadn't yet forgiven him for what he did, and now he's going to ruin my colony? I couldn't find it in me to attack his back, I'm not that kind of person.

We entered a large clearing, huts and a dying fire easily noticeable, people went about their business, pushing wheelbarrows filled with produce, wood and fur were around in the early morning.

The mood immediately shifted, a horn blared and Julian winced, covering his ears.

His job was to get them to run into the trees, split up, so there must be either traps set up, or other animal control workers sitting in wait.

This is a large colony, Julian wouldn't stand a chance, we spent more time becoming a united people, other colony's failed in that aspect, they always thought they could survive by brute forcing everything.

Julian transformed, prowling into the town, I jogged after him, the guards were already prepared, wearing their heavily layered leather armour, spears in hand.

Julian paused, he was making a mistake thinking this colony would act like every other, this area has remained untouched for so long, we had plenty of time to grow and create strategies.

The main square of the colony was a large oval, huts dotting around, tree houses sitting in the tall trees, the archers must be preparing themselves.

Julian looked up briefly as one of our blue messenger birds flew off to send out the warning to all hunters.

"Claire?" Called a familiar voice, I looked at Noelle, her wild brown hair and pale blue eyes unmistakeable.

She stood in armour, calling a blue bird to send a message, bluey, it was her personal bird.

Julian growled, preparing to startle the assembled guards, this wasn't going to end well.

I ran in front of him, holding my arms out, I closed my eyes.

"Stop! You're going to get hurt!! They're strong" I shouted, he growled at me, I ignored it.

"Besides I can't let you fight them, no, I can't" I mumbled, he growled, Noelle appeared behind me, placing a hand on my shoulder, bluey stood on her finger, waiting expectantly.

Julian transformed, he looked at me, his eyes fell onto the bird, a strange look taking over his face.

His whole demeanor changed, as if he wasn't surrounded by guards with spears.

Noelle eyed him skeptically, not ordering her men to attack.

He jumped and fist pumped the sky, looking like a child getting their favorite toy.

He grabbed my shoulders and I winced, watching him cautiously.

"Do you know what this means? Of course you don't, maybe we won't have to do anything" he mumbled, excited at the sight of the bird, that's right, he called them blue quills.

"The blue quill? Oh yea, we breed them as messengers" I muttered, he gazed at me as if I started speaking a strange language.

"How?" He uttered, I looked at Noelle, she glared at Julian before offering a polite smile.

He looked around, putting out his finger, a well trained blue quill quietly sat on his finger, waiting for a message for it to carry, Julian eyed it in amazement.

It waited but decided there was no message, so it flew off, living its best life.

Noelle stepped in front of me, I watched her, I may love her with all my heart, but if she decided to harm Julian, I don't know what I'd do.

"Oh, you just want to see our nesting set up? I'd be delighted to show you! Its quite a simple little thing" she said, Julian brightened, he followed her to the bird shed.

Little holes lined the top of the walls, birds flew in and out, bringing in stuff for their nests and chicks.

The heavy door was opened and a tornado of feathers hit us, Julian stared in amazement.

"This is incredible, these guys are endangered, this could save them" he gasped, he picked up his phone, fumbling it, spears were raised as Julian used the strange object, Noelle, examined me, brushing my hair out of my face.

"Hey, we need to pull the plug, we need boss down here, yes the boss, come on!" Exclaimed Julian.

"Claire! Its been ages! Are you ok? You went missing and we all presumed the worse, what happened?" She asked.

I glanced away slightly, not willing to tell the story of what's happened, I put a hand over my gut slightly.

I watched Julian, he didn't seem to want to do this in the first place, more interested in dealing with animals, but I still was aware that he may have decided the colony was a bit to powerful for him, and he's waiting on backup, I can't be sure.

"Girl, you been spending time with that stud?" She asked, the question was designed to snap me out, and it definitely worked, I sputtered, eyeing her in disbelief, she laughed joyfully.

"Stud?" I croaked, she giggled to herself, Noelle is a strange person, smart, a bit of a bitch, well a major one and a big slut, she can talk about most guys in the colony and she'd have slept with them.

"Oh I'm kidding love, well kind of" she giggled, I rolled my eyes.

"If the chieftain saw you saying that comment on a wolf, he'd lock you in your room" I pointed out, she pouted

"He'd never, he got food poisoning so he's bed bound, the old man didn't listen to Nancy" tutted Noelle, her eyes sparkled.

"So I'm in charge while he's incapacitated" she explained.

She turned away from me, eyeing Julian up and down, she had so much confidence to her, I don't think he's ever seen a human so confident.

"Hey, big boy, you've been treating our darling Claire right, haven't you?" She asked in a somewhat accusing manner.

He looked away, he looked guilty.

"Though, she's a bit of a pest, so locking her in a backroom is fine" she giggled.

"Excuse me! You did that, during a game of hide and seek" I pointed out.

"Well the details don't matter" she stated simply.

"This isn't how I expected today to go" grumbled Julian.

"Nobody ever does when it comes to me" teased Noelle, my face flushed red in embarrassment.

"Noelle!! That's disgusting" I wailed.

Julian raised his eyebrows.

"Never been flirted with by a human before" he commented, I groaned.

"She flirts with everyone" I grumbled.

"I've been plenty of guys firsts" she stated

(This chapter is designed to be anticlimactic, as there are some major things to come, fighting, and danger and so forth, this small colony arc is a slight moment of peace before the coming storm)