Brrrrrrrrrooooooom... flash!

A long, steady roll of thunder woke Topaz from her daytime slumber. Half asleep, she stretched her fluffy, half-gray starboard wing and mumbled, "Mum? Da?"

Blinking her heavy eyes, the little Barn Owl squinted up at the dark mass of stormclouds. Something was off... they didn't seem dark enough...

Topaz's sluggish mind struggled to form the thought, It's still daytime. As soon as it succeeded, Topaz's eyes widened in surprise and shook off the sleep that had clung to her like damp moss.

To help her along, another clap of thunder shook the tree and nearly made the owlet jump out of her feathers. She shook out her wings and tottered to her feet to make sure that the noise of thunder wasn't one of trees falling instead. She peered out the edge of the hollow and looked around.

A raindrop landed on Topaz's beak and she startled. She tried to cross her eyes and watch it roll slowly off the tip of her beak, but owls couldn't cross their eyes. Instead, she resumed taking in her surroundings.

Rain was pitter-pattering down all around her, and the bark on trees with sparse leaves looked slippery and wet. She shuddered at the thought of trying to perch in this weather. The leaves on the deciduous trees were turned a shiny, wet green. The branches bobbed up and down, the wind howling through them and spraying water all over Topaz's face.

A flash of lightning lit up the cloudy day and was soon followed by a roll of thunder, the third Topaz had heard since waking up. Suddenly sleepy, she yawned, remembering again that it was the middle of the day and she was supposed to be dozing off in her nest right now. Careful not to wake her siblings, she settled back down, settling her head beneath her shoulder blades and folding her growing wings over it. The owlet shivered in the damp air. She fluffed up her down feathers and waited for sleep to come.

Her eyelids were drooping...

Bang! A loud crash of thunder startled her awake again, but this time she was on the ground, nestled under some ferns. Nestled? Why did the stems look broken, like something had crashed through them? And why did everything hurt?

With a panicked gasp, Topaz realized that she must have tried to fly and fallen from the nest. She struggled up through the ferns, flapping her wings, until a sharp pain ran through her bones. Her port wing was broken! Her primaries were parted where the break was and the fluffy down surrounding it was soaked with blood.

"Help!" Topaz screamed in a high-pitched shree. With the ongoing thunder, she doubted anyone would hear her. The air was so cold her legs were shaking, and her down feathers were plastered to her back because of the rain.

How could she find a way to get back to the tree, to her warm nest? Out here she could be eaten by a raccoon or snatched like those poor owls in the Shadow Forest. She could even be crushed by a falling tree!

Just as she was thinking about what could happen to her, a lightning bolt darted out of the sky toward her. It suddenly slowed down until it was approaching in slow motion as Topaz realized that her down was that of a chick still branching... she was dreaming!

The lightning bolt completely stopped with this realization. Topaz let it continue its course after a moment, knowing that it would wake her up. Sure enough, that imaginary electric shock worked.

She woke with a start, then checked behind her to see her nearly-fledged wings. The stormy day that had made these dreams start coming had been weeks ago. She didn't know why, but she had been having dreams about falling out of her nest in a storm since she had woken up in the middle of one the day after Diamond had arrived. Diamond was back in the Shadow Forest now, trying to find the missing owls and discover the cause of the downed trees. Topaz admired her sister's bravery.

Yawning and stretching, Topaz watched the last rays of the sun drip away until the sky was a dark gray. The hollow seemed eerily quiet, the only sound Quartz's breathing.

Topaz scanned the quickly-darkening sky for the one constellation she knew- the Golden Talons. Looking out over a grove of maple trees, she spotted the gold-tinted stars glittering at her from millions of leagues away. She found fascination, awe, and even comfort in the fact that no matter where they were, every owl was looking upon the same twinkling canvas, be their view of the Golden Talons upside down, right side up, or nonexistent. Every Strigiform could either see this beautiful night sky, feel it in the coolness of the air, or fly in it, and if they were lucky, all three. The night was a blessed time for owls, their sacred haven. Topaz knew it would remain so for eternity.

The owl tilted her head. It wasn't like her to have philosophical thoughts. Usually, her life was too noisy and bustling with the noise of siblings and the worries of learning to fly to ever just perch on the edge of the hollow and think. Why was it so quiet this evening? She surveyed the hollow, taking a head count.

"Quartz? Check," she mumbled under her breath. "Diamond? Been gone. Mum and Da? Probably hunting or something. Agate... not present. Huh." It was odd for Agate to be gone, especially if both of her parents were away and it was early evening. If he were hunting with them, Jack or Jill would have been sure to tell Topaz so that she wouldn't wake up like this and go looking for them on her own.

Becoming anxious, Topaz glided to a perch just outside the hollow and waited for her family to return. What if Agate has disappeared? Sure, her brother had been anoying at times, but she would certainly miss him if he was obliterated from her life.

"Look out!" Topaz looked up to see a ball of buff-colored Barn Owl feathers barrel into her and knock her back into the hollow. She and Agate slammed into Quartz and woke her up as well.

"Agate! I've been worried, where were you?" Topaz scolded.

Agate rolled over and sat on his tail feathers, looking frazzled. Soon, he leapt up and started pacing the hollow, fidgeting wings tucked behind his back. "I- I was invited to Twig's hollow this afternoon, you remember Twig? My friend who used to live in that beech tree a ways down?"

Topaz nodded slowly. She definitely remembered Twig. He was the mischievous owlet who had placed pinecones in her moss when she was still a helpless chick. He had learned to branch fast, and apparently there was an easy branching shortcut between the beech tree and Topaz's family's oak.

Agate continued, "I told Mum and Da where I was going, and they made me promise to be careful, adult owls had been disappearing, blah blah blah. So Twig and I flew to his hollow and we talked for a while and caught up, we hadn't seen each other in forever.

"At some point we got hungry and split up to catch something. Topaz, you should see how much prey there is around northern Ambala in the daytime. The sun began to set, and as I returned to Twig's hollow, I found his nest trashed, as if there had been a scuffle, and he was gone. I- I don't know where he is. Where are Mum and Da, I need their help to search for him!" With this he stopped circling the hollow and thrust his heart-shaped face forward.

Topaz stared at her brother, bewildered. "Mum and Da are out hunting, at least, I think they are. I've just woken up." She didn't mention the reoccurring dream. She never had.

Agate’s dark eyes blazed. "Well, I have to find them! Twig is in danger!" He started pacing again, this time more frantically, with his wings partially extended. Quartz cowered in a corner.

Topaz watched him, wilfing slightly. A disappearance in Ambala had been so far unheard of! It was frightening to think that it could happen to anyone she knew.

The three young owls waited patiently in silence for their parents to arrive. The hours dragged by, with Agate watching the dwenking quarter moon and claiming that he could see it getting smaller. Quartz was trying unsuccessfully to fall back to sleep even though the sky was dark, and Topaz kept anxiously clacking her beak. Finally, two owls, silhouetted by the moonlight, entered the solemn chamber.

Agate spilled all he knew about Twig's disappearance and the adults agreed that they should go try to find him immediately. They praised their son's levelheadedness in not flying off on his own. Topaz and Quartz watched wide-eyed.

Just as they were about to leave, Topaz piped up. "Can I come? I can nearly fly now, and my First Flight Ceremony can't be but two days off." She knew she was exaggerating a little, it was more like a week off, but she was sure she could fly if she really tried.

Jill shook her head. "No, sweetheart, I'm afraid not. It is too dangerous for an owlet like you. We would hate to lose you as well as Twig. Twig is like a son to us, and losing one chick is enough." They took off, quickly beating their wings to get them to Twig's hollow to look for clues as to where the Tawny Owl might be. Topaz watched until she couldn't see them anymore, and even then she stared after them.

Uneasiness rose inside her. A storm was brewing.