The young owlet blinked awake, his eyes heavy after a long day of sleeping and marching continuously. He turned his head to look around, blinking a few times as he realized that everything was hazy. A screech sounded. Go back to your Pits.

The owlet did not turn to find the source of the sound, but only turned as did all other owlets and began marching towards his designated pit. Lash greeted each of them in turn. When the owlet reached her, she chirped happily.

"Your first night! I hope you rested well!" Lash giggled.

"Not too good, I'm afraid, Lash," The owlet replied slowly.

"I apologize about that, dearie. But there is no time for rest now. Each of you are going to be assigned to a specific work ethic today! And I'd bet you want to know what yours is!"

"I would, Lash!"

"You get to learn to fly! Yes, you heard me right! You're not a DNF! You get to stretch your wings!"

The owlet blinked a few times. "Lash, I don't know what a DNF is."

"Destined Not to Fly, dearie. But you mustn't worry about such things. Now, hurry along, you won't get a lot of time to get there! Your class is going to be along the same route as the Glaucidium, but turn right just before you get there. After that follow the right path all the way until you get to a ledge-type area, and that's the right spot. Off you go!"

The owlet nodded and hopped off. He followed Lash's directions perfectly. Turning right at the Glaucidium and keeping right after that. He started to feel the altitude growing in his hollow bones, and he felt a rush of wind above him and looked up sharply. His eyes locked on the air.

Wh-What is this called? You know this... You know this... Think... Sky. It's the sky... Who am I? What happened...? The owlet shook his head and looked down at his talons. Flying Class. He had to go. Who knew what they would do to him if he didn't show up. He took one step forward, then another. His brain felt muddled. His gizzard... Did he even have one? He pushed one of his talons lightly to the spot on his stomach where his gizzard should be. He felt a small shudder of life as his gizzard twitched. Kludd. I'm Kludd. He took a few breaths, then continued forward towards Flight Class.

As soon as Kludd emerged from the canyons and onto the cliff, the wind gust nearly knocked him off balance. He flapped his wings to center himself and sighed quietly in relief when his talons rested firmly back on the rocky ground. He looked around and saw three other owls; another young Barn Owl, like him, a Snowy Owl, and a Great Gray. The Great Gray and the Snowy were looking up to the sky, but the Barn Owl was looking directly at him. He fluffed his feathers uncomfortably and the Barn Owl -a female- turned her head away from him. He took a few deep breaths then flapped his wings once, which propelled him to the Barn Owl.

"Hello." He clicked, settling himself down to await the Flight Instructor.

"Hello," She whistled back at him. Turning her head towards him, she blinked her huge black eyes. "I am not familiar with you or your number designation."

"My designation is 14-31. I am not familiar with yours either."

"18-36. You must be proud, not to be a DNF."

"Pride in my work only, pride in my work," Kludd answered, dipping his head modestly. In doing so, he saw that her feathers were a lovely amber and tawny mix with dapples of darker colors. "I can't help but notice how beautifully your primaries are growing in."

She ruffles her feathers a bit for him to get a better look. "I have preened every day, hoping not to be deemed a DNF. It seems my efforts have paid off."

Just then there was a loud screech. Kludd jerked his head up and saw a huge Snowy flying high above the owlets. Her yellow eyes were fixed on them like prey. She circled twice, then came in for a quick landing, her talons clicking loudly on the canyon flooring. After settling, she fixed her yellow gaze on the owlets and clacked her beak a few times to make sure she had their attention.

"I am Karish, and I will be your Flight Instructor. Now owlets, the first thing you must know is that you must have endurance during flights. You will be carrying owlets and other things on long journeys, after all. Now, try and catch the winds up here, and simply try to glide on them, for as long as you can."

Kludd blinked a few times and hopped around the rock until he found an air current, then spread his wings and felt himself start to lift. Then the air current suddenly died down, and he dropped back onto the ground with a soft click.

Karish glared at him. "I said, 'As long as you can!' This is training, not practice time! Come on, pick yourself up, boy!"

Kludd sighed softly. Glaux willing, he'd survive this.