An Owl's Rise

She had waited for days for her parents and siblings to come back. Following their mother\'s last command to her and staying inside the nest.

Yet on the third day she became far too hungry to wait any longer, and the reality that no one was ever coming back set in for her.

With no other option she left the nest in search of food. Even though at this point she had only ever practiced hunting once, and that had been under the supervision of her mother.

Still her instincts were sharp, and she was able to find some prey to eat and fill her belly.

The days went on like this for her for nearly two weeks after her family had been captured, until the day her life was uprooted.

One day when she returned home after hunting, she found that a new resident had taken over her nest, and it was one of those chameleon-like beasts that had nearly killed Evelyn when she was still a child.

Unfortunately for Evelyn\'s sister, this was a full grown one that was a peak wild beast that she had no chance against.

In fact, when she returned home, she was almost tagged by its tongue, and only managed to avoid it thanks to her heightened senses that warned her of the incoming attack.

With her home now occupied by a beast she stood no chance against and with no one else to rely on. She was forced to seek shelter elsewhere, and had to leave the home she had always lived in.

Still, unlike Evelyn who had a human mind, her sister still only had the intelligence of a normal owl. Which while not insignificant, was not enough for her to become highly emotional about her loss.

Her instincts kept her going, giving her drive to survive in this harsh and unfair world full of dangers.

She simply kept on living her life in the woods. Finding a place to stay where she could, until something stronger pushed her out.

Truthfully, she was lucky to have survived. But she strived on and slowly began getting strong.

Of course, she did not have a rapid explosion of growth like Evelyn had, thanks to being given resources everyday by those at the facility. Though, after months of surviving on her own, she eventually reached the peak power she could as a wild beast.

She had fought many difficult battles and barely was able to survive at times, but she managed to keep on going and gained strength for her efforts.

Nevertheless, it was at this point the woods that had once seemed so full of resources, were now devoid of what she needed to get stronger. Which she had an innate desire to do as all beasts did.

This was when she began her own journey out of the deadlands, that was nearly devoid of magical energy. In search of a place that could make her stronger.

However, while Evelyn\'s sister\'s life was not a walk in the park, it was like a happy fairytale in comparison to what happened to her brother.

He had undergone the same torment that Evelyn had. Being captured by humans and locked away in a cage.

Just like his sister he had watched their parents be brutally killed, before watching Evelyn undergo the same experiment.

Luckily she had managed to survive, but after that day he did not see his sister again for quite some time.

His days after that were spent locked in a small cage and given just barely enough to not die.

Quickly he became filthy, and the captivity began to drive him mad.

He had been all but forgotten, and in some ways his treatment was worse than Evelyn\'s.

Certainly, she may have been poked, prodded, cut open, and electrocuted, among other things. But she was given a large enough encloser to fly around in, and more than enough to eat every day.

Her brother was instead left in a small, confined space given barely enough to survive. Just in case he was needed for any future experiments.

His life during this time truly was pitiful.

Sadly, it only got worse from there. When the facility came under attack from an outside force, his cage was broken free from the wall, but it still stayed closed, locking him in.

Yet a glimmer of hope did arrive, when he saw his sister appear out from a large hole that had been created by one of the human\'s magic.

He tried calling out to her, but his beak had been damaged, and he was unable to open it to let out a sound.

Rattling his cage was all he could do in a bid to get her attention, but she just seemed to ignore him from his point of view.

Surely, he had thought she would come to rescue him now as she had when he had been caught in that trap.

But she did not. He watched as she did not even look for him, and he saw her escape on her own. Leaving him to die a horrible death confined in a cage.

After that all that was left was bittiness and hopelessness.

There was little doubt in his mind that he was going to die here.

Not long after though, one of the humans that had attacked the place found him and took his cage.

He wondered if maybe they might set him free, a glimmer of hope coming to him.

Unfortunately, when he was presented to this other human with blond hair, they quickly threw him away like trash. Leaving him in the cage to rot.

This seemed like it was likely to be the end, but two days later, after the humans that had attacked this place had long since left, another man showed up.

He came down from the sky and began looking around the place, mumbling something that Evelyn\'s brother did not understand.

"This is just great. I finally got my hands on a treasure that fell from above and, it gets taken before my incompetent subordinates have even figured it out. I told them to be careful not to leave any trail.

DAMN IT!"

Having been watching the man intently, Evelyn\'s brother went wide eyed as he heard the man yell loudly, before slamming his foot into the ground.

This man generated enough force with that one move to shake the ground and split it open like an earthquake had just hit the area.

Fear welling up inside him, Evelyn\'s brother thought he was going to be swallowed up by the earth as it cracked apart.

However, before he fell to his certain death, the man seemed to warp in front of him and catch the falling cage.

"Hm, looks like one of the beasts they were researching on. I suppose that you will tell me what I want to know."

The man then said something which obviously Evelyn\'s brother did not understand. Then in an instant, the door to his cage was ripped off by this man.

Thinking that he was being freed, he moved to leave the cage only to be grabbed by this man\'s hand and forcefully yanked out.

His grip was like a vice and there was no means of resistance that Evelyn\'s brother could offer.

A moment later he felt as if his mind was being crushed as this man invaded his memories and searched through them.

"I see, so that is what happened. Those empire scum attacked and destroyed my facility. But at least there is some good news. They did not get their hands on the item."

Now done with Evelyn\'s brother who he had left in a vegetative state after ripping the memories right from his mind, the man paused before throwing him away.

This owl in his grasp was the brother of the one that had his divine item in it, and it was possible that it could be of some use still.

\'I will go check their original nest, and if it is not there. Maybe this brother will be able to help me find his sister eventually.\'