Jay sat tentatively on a small pine tree branch, his eyes carefully skimming the landscape before him. Then, he suddenly saw a tiny flicker of brown fur on the ground. Silently he glided down to the unknowing mouse below, his wings beating quickly yet noiselessly. As he approached the foraging mouse, he thrust his claws forward, spread them, and grabbed the mouse. With his beak, he expertly bit the back of the mouse's neck, instantly and painlessly killing it. With his talons wrapped securely around it, he flew upward. This mouse would be for dinner, but not his. He flew back to Tylisia's tree hollow, where she awaited patiently.
"Here you go, I caught a mouse just now for your dinner." Jay said as he landed at the entrance of the tree hollow.
"Thank you," Tylisia smiled warmly at him. "But really, I can get my own food. You don't need to go out of your way to catch it for me." She assured him, not wanting to seem helpless.
"Well, you'll be able to catch your own prey tonight. And I've had plenty to eat all day, and there's nothing else for me to do...So catching food for you gives me something fun to do," He said, then added, "And it's what owl pairs do for each other. They take care of each other when one cannot do it themselves for the time being...But for now, I need to be off to see what's going on at the center tree. I'll be back tonight, at sunset, so we can go to the center tree and meet up with everyone else to go on the night flight." And he took off out the tree hollow entrance.
Owl pairs. The words rang in Tylisia's mind, and her gizzard had a funny tickling feeling that she didn't quite understand. She smiled to herself, and ate the mouse her new owl mate had brang her.