Tylisia awoke from her much-needed rest. Her wings were still sore from the afternoon's burst-flying lessons, but she shook it off and gently flew down to the center of the Great Tree, where the owls were gathering for the evening dinner. Tylisia, because of her sore wings and exhaustion, had never realized how hungry she was until she finally saw a dozen owls, one by one, flying in with one or two meals in their talons; voles, mice, snakes, moths, and anything else owls enjoyed eating were being caught by owls who volunteered every night to help out with hunting for the evening dinner, and being flown to the center of the Great Tree for everyone to eat.
Tonight was an especially large dinner, for it was a special night. It was the night of the New Moon, when, of course, the moon disappeared from the sky for a few days before returning as a tiny white sliver, and slowly growing back into a full moon. Not only was it the night of the New Moon, it was the night when before the Great Hunting Trip of Basic Skills. The young owls, including Tylisia, who had been in basic training for a month or so were to use all their skills that they had learned on an exciting journey with several older adviser owls. The group would take flight, and travel from kingdom to kingdom, stopping and resting on the way and practicing hunting skills. They would have friendly competitions, and would learn how to put their survival skills to the test to show what they've learned. This special New Moon evening dinner was for good luck to them.
Tylisia's feathers fluffed up in excitement at just the thought of it; she couldn't wait to finally be able to go on a real adventure! Adventuring was one of her favorite things to do.
-------
When Tylisia reached the center of the Great Tree, she spotted a nearby branch. Hundreds of different owls of varying ages surrounded the inside of the Great Tree's trunk, where it was hollow. The younger owls chattered cheerfully amongst themselves, their eyes bright and full of excitement. The older owls hooted to each other, sharing some of their wise knowledge with one another and cooing about some of the more important topics, compared to the cheery banter of the young owls. And if some owls weren't talking to each other, they were either sleeping, preening their feathers, or just simply gazing at the scene around them. The center of the inside of the Great Tree was loud with hooting and cooing and the flapping of wings.
Tylisia listened contently and watched as several owls flew in at once with more fresh meals, caught directly from the forest floor, and placed them in the center of the tree. Her crop grumbled hungrily and her mouth watered; all the hard work she had done during her burst-flight lesson had definitely given her an appetite! Oh, how I wish I could eat just one vole at least for right now! Tylisia thought as she eyed the freshly killed food lying in the center of the tree. But she knew it would be extremely rude to do so; it has always been a tradition and a common courtesy to wait until all the owls of the kingdom who wanted to join were there before anyone got a single bite.
Tylisia's anxious craving for food was temporarily interrupted when she saw one of her owl friends fly in to join the evening fiest; Sanga.
"Hello, Sanga!" Tylisia hooted cheerfully to her.