"Come on Xaver! You can do better!" Clarissa teased as she avoided each attack thrown by Xaver, her body moving gracefully  as if she were dancing. Xaver grunted as he tried again to land a single blow, but none of his strikes landed. “Will you stop dogging?” Xaver gasped as he threw a winged fist at Clarissa’s shoulder. Said girl just laughed as she once again evaded him. Xaver fell to his knees, his seven year old body covered in sweat, each feather dripping with the liquid. With a single punch, Clarissa made Xaver fall all the way to the ground, his body raked with fatigue. “Looks like I win for the, what, 27th time in a row?” Clarissa smirked as Xaver laid on the ground gasping for air.

Lisa flew down from her branch to tell them what they did wrong and right, something that she did after every one of their sparring sessions. “You did a good job Clarissa, but you are going to have to go the offense early in the fight sooner or later; you won’t be able to avoid all of your opponents attacks all of the time” Lisa told Clarissa as said girl helped Xaver to his feet. “As for you Xaver, you need to learn to observe what you are looking at. Watch your opponents movements, search for any weaknesses that could give you the advantage; mind you, I’m not telling you to fight dirty, but try to predict your opponents next moves” Lisa said as Xaver wiped sweat away from his scarlet eyes, still trying to regain his breath.

“Go freshen up and we will continue to our next lesson: medical herb identification” Lisa told them. Xaver and Clarissa took off for the stream, the closest source of water to Lisa’s hollow. “That was a good fight! You nearly hit me at least six times” Clarissa teased as they flew; Xaver just grunted, really not in the mood to talk.

They soon reached the river, the cool liquid looking inviting. Xaver was the first one in the water; in fact, he just dove into the water, content to just float there, his body screaming with relief. The cold water relaxed his sore muscles as he flipped to where his he could breathe; his body shaking with a continent feeling. Xaver felt like sleeping at that moment; the sun was warm on his developing chest and the water cool on his back. He was about to when the moment was ruined by a certain macaw sending a wave of water over him, the cold of the water shocking his warm torso, forcing him to awareness as he thrashed up. “What was that for?!?” Xaver yelled at Clarissa, his scarlet eyes having a rather pissed off look in them. “What? Do you mean me?” Clarissa said in a sarcastic tone, her eyes holding only playfulness as she glared back at Xaver. “Yeah! Why did you do that?” Xaver hissed as he made his way to Clarissa, oblivious to the fact that his second change was taking place within his mind. “What, do you mean THIS!” Clarissa said as she once again sent a wave of water at Xaver, expecting it to hit him.

Time seemed to slow as Xaver watched the water get closer to him, his mind clicking into place. The last thing Xaver remembered was raising his wing before the world went black. Xaver woke up on land, his body dry from the sun and with a huge head ache. Xaver sat up slowly as he looked around, his head throbbing with pain.

Xaver saw Clarissa sitting on the ground, her entire body soaking wet. "What happened?" Xaver asked groggily. "How did you do... that?" Clarissa hissed back, her sapphire eyes dark with anger. "Do what?" Xaver asked with clear confusion, his eyesight still blurry. "What? You practically threw the whole river at me, that's what!" Clarissa yelled as she tried to shake all of the water out of her feathers, the end result being her look like a soaked periwinkle marshmallow; if Xaver did not feel like his head was about to rip open, he would have laughed. Xaver was about to retaliate when Lisa appeared, her golden presence calming any retort Xaver had.

"What's taking you so long? Why is Xaver all dry while you are all wet?" Lisa asked, her eyes showing slight ticked-off ness. "Xaver threw the river at me, that's why I'm soaked" Clarissa told Lisa as she tried to shake more water out of her plumage; she was slightly successful. "What do you mean he 'threw the river at me'?" Lisa asked. "He- I don't know, just picked up the water at threw it at me! All that I saw was his eyes turning a darker red before the water crashed into me" Clarissa told her as she flattened her feathers.

Lisa said nothing, but Xaver knew that she was processing it in her head. "Okay. After you dry off, come to my hollow; me and Xaver have something to discus in private" Lisa told Clarissa as she took off: Xaver soon followed suit, shooting an apologetic at Clarissa as he flew away.

Only when they were a good distance away from the river did Lisa speak. "I have spoken with the tribe elders and I may have figured out what you are. You are the Chosen bird" Lisa told Xaver. "Chosen bird? What does that mean? Chosen for what?" Xaver asked. "You are destined to join the Guardians, the ones who defend our world from a entity who will break the balance and throw the world into chaos: you remember that lesson right?" Lisa questioned. It took Xaver a moment, but he recalled the information.

"If I recall correctly, the legend tells of a entity capable of swallowing the world and casting the world into infinite darkness. Only a single bird will be capable of destroying the being, a bird with eyes of red and the spirit of a warrior" Xaver recalled. "Yes, that is correct. The elders all believe that you are the bird of prophecy, the bird that will aid the world, or help destroy it" Lisa said gravely as they landed on a branch outside her hollow. "What do you mean, destroy it?" Xaver asked. "Like ever battle, there is a a light side and a side of darkness. Only you can decide your fate" Lisa told him as they walked into her hollow.

Xaver was about to respond when Clarissa walked in. "So, what did I miss?" Clarissa asked them.