The Elemental Luna

Owls

Huntress POV

Huntress was still in her tiger form, crouching on the ground. She realized that she had been in this form for days without shifting back to her human form. This amused her and she smirked at the thought. She had hunted a deer and discussed with the other members of the pack about finding new hunting grounds. It was necessary as the pack was moving away from the small brook where she had first met the brave she-wolf. The territory was too small to support the pack. 

As Huntress carried a massive deer home, she heard a faint flapping of wings. Without hesitation, she dropped the deer from her large, salivating jaws and decided to pursue the other prey instead. She stealthily moved through the dense undergrowth, adopting the Shifter's Crouch, a technique that the fierce yet cowardly cheetah-shifter, Spots, had taught her.

 Suddenly, she lifted her head and heard the weak flap of wings nearby. The trees parted for her, revealing an injured barred owl. The beautiful brown-grey owl feebly raised its head and hooted a warning cry. Huntress sensed that this owl was an owl-shifter. She tried to communicate with the owl-shifter telepathically and asked, "Are you okay? Are you an owl shifter? If you are injured, I can bring you back to my camp. There are only two other shifters, both female - a wolf and a young fox cub." All she received in response was a muffled buzz. Nevertheless, the owl hooted softly and attempted to spread its wings to fly alongside the tiger shifter.

"No, you are too weak to fly. Stay down" Huntress ordered. She then grabbed the owl by its neck, prompting it to thrash around. The owl then tried to scratch the tiger on her neck. "Hold still" the tiger growled, more annoyed than scared. " I am trying to bring you back to my pack grounds to heal your mange pelt!" the big cat hissed. The magnificent owl stopped struggling, understanding in its bright amber gaze. Suddenly her mind cleared, as a fuzzy link teased through their minds. A weak voice chirped, inside her head, " I am a shifter, owlets here, bring me back to your camp." Then, the owl went limp against her powerful jaws. 

Huntress was hurrying towards the camp, feeling worried. She had found a female owl that had owlets, and she needed to inform Artemis. She also wanted to ask Artemis to bring back the deer she had hunted, which she could use to feed the owl family. Huntress contacted Artemis and Hazel through the mind link, saying, "Artemis, Hazel! I found a new family of shifters - owls! The female owl has owlets in the same place where I found her earlier. Can you please bring back the deer I hunted just now, Artemis? You can find it by tracking my scent trail. And Hazel, would you mind warming up the owl with your body by curling yourself up around her?" Hazel agreed and went to the owl, settling her tiny body around the brown-grey owl and stroking it to sleep. The owl thanked her sleepily with a chirp.

Huntress had one clear thought in her mind: she needed to find her owlets so that the family could stay together. She sniffed around the area where she had last seen the owl and heard two tiny yet musical voices calling out, "Mama? Mama? Are you there?" Huntress smiled, knowing that the little owls didn't realize their mind-link was open to the world to hear. She asked Hazel to wake up the owl so she could mind-link her and convince her owlets to come back with her to the pack. "On it," Hazel grumbled. Suddenly, a new voice entered Huntress's mind. "Hi Tiger, let me see my babies through your eyes, wherever they may be hiding," the voice said dryly.

She nodded and allowed the owl-shifter to access her eyes. "Tiger, do you see that little branch over there, towards the side of the big boulder? The little branch is quivering slightly. My babies are there, right at the very edge. I can call them out through the link. They will be able to fly down, and then bring them back to camp."  the owl-shifter chirped. 

"Hi Owen and Olivia, Mama is back at camp with some friends. They found me, and now I'm resting with them," she cooed. A miniature brown and grey owl, just like the owl shifter, appeared at the edge of the branch. "Mama, there's a big scary meanie cat down there. We can't fly without it gobbling us up!" said the owl in a squeaky voice. Huntress realized that this must be Olivia."That big cat is a friend, silly owl. Now fly down and let her hold you by the neck. She's going to bring you little ones back to camp," said the owl shifter sternly through the mind-link. "Okay," said the owls with a hint of sulkiness. They were way too comfortable up in the tree. Huntress huffed with laughter.

She purred through the link as the little ones fluttered down the old creaky beech. "Come on little ones," she said. "I'm going to bring you back to your mother, okay?" 

The little owls looked up at the tiger-shifter with longing eyes as she picked them up in her large jaws. Minutes later, the odd trio arrived at the pack grounds, crossing the border that marked the familiar territory. "We're back!" exclaimed the little owls as they saw the amber-grey barred owl shifter, along with Artemis and Hazel beside her. "Mama, are these your friends?" they asked curiously. "They are now," she replied. 

"May I come with my little owlets and join your pack? They can be great friends with your fox cub. Besides, I know all the best places to hunt or nest around here. If not, we will have to find new nesting grounds far away from here." asked the owl shifter hopefully."

"Of course," Hazel exclaimed. Artemis growled long and low, interrupting the fox cub. "I make the decisions here, Hazel," she said. "But yes, you may join the pack," she smirked, licking Hazel's hurt expression off her face. "Artemis, that tickles! You are a human!" Hazel shrieked. "No Hazel, I'm a shifter, not a human, dear Hazel."Artemis corrected. Huntress, the owl-shifter, and her babies shook with laughter.

"Owl shifter, I have realised, we do not know your name, may I ask what is your name?" Artemis asked. " My name is Willow. And my babies are called Owen and Olivia. " Willow answered. "Where is your moon-mate? The mate who you were supposed to be with to create these cute owlets?" Hazel asked through the link as she stroked the sleepy owlets feathers.

"Moon-mate? Oh! You mean the mate we are supposed to be with for the rest of our lives. I haven't found mine yet. Owen and Olivia, they are adopted." Willow said.