[2009 – October]
Hopping forward while surrounded by large trees on all sides, the only reason her tiny body wasn't vanishing in the tall grass was that the fallen autumn-colored leaves that covered the ground could support her light weight.
"Hu hu hu!", hooting happily, breathing in the moist forest air, the tiny owlet strutted around carefreely.
The sun was still high in the sky, though it was slowly starting to come down again, causing the shadows to dance amongst the rays of light in the small forest next to the Hellion Mansion.
This was where Arya had been born and now she was back to explore the place, her sharp amber eyes looking around with exuberant curiosity.
Her instincts were telling her to be careful, innately warning her of the dangers in the forest. But with Elijah as her father, Arya naturally tried to imitate him and the result of that was that she had adapted his fearlessness and confidence into her own personality, as well as other traits.
So, while most other tiny owls, especially infants, would be cautious and careful when exploring, Arya wasted no thoughts on this.
She was only cautious around new people since she usually liked to take her time when it came to differentiating between threats and prey.
Now though, she strangely didn't have this kind of thought when hopping around the forest, as if knowing that humans were much more dangerous than any creature that she could come across in the wild.
There was a sense of freedom welling up in her heart as she hopped around the woods while singing, a carefree and adventurous spirit awakening inside of her that was incredibly similar to Elijah's yearning for the sea of stars.
Her eyes were shining brightly as her bubbly attitude became more and more obvious in her hooting.
Suddenly though, a snake darted out from under the blanket of leaves, its jaws wide as it tried to sink its fangs into Arya's fragile little form. It was too fast for her to react at all and her eyes barely managed to widen in surprise before the snake had reached her.
Curiously enough, even at this dangerous juncture, there was not a hint of fear in the eyes of the tiny black owlet.
Just as the sharp fangs were about to pierce through her coat of coal-coloured feathers though, an invisible force stopped the fangs a hair's width away from Arya's feathery coat, not allowing the snake to close its jaws at all.
Instead, the snake drew back its head and let out agonized hissing sounds. Its fangs felt as if they were close to shattering, its gums bloodied and torn open. Writhing on the ground, the two feet long body curled up warily as the unfortunate predator hissed and hissed.
The snake stared at the tiny black owl, not understanding how its tender form could make it feel as if it had tried to snap at a block of tempered steel.
Arya on the other hand had already recovered from its surprise, her fearless temperament making her mood flare up in indignation. Eyes narrowing, she started to vent her anger at the snake by hooting nonstop, scolding it for its attempted sneak attack.
"HU HU HU!!"
Hopping closer and closer, she didn't even think to retreat as she swore at the snake that had dared to attack her, her fierce advance being met by a fearful and somewhat confused retreat.
Arya was hardly taller than the length of an average adult's ring finger and she could fit comfortably in her father's hand, but that didn't seem to matter as she scolded the two-foot-long snake into retreat.
Her anger only marginally appeased, she continued to call out fiercely every so often while she cleaned her little wings, seemingly still in disbelief that such a 'little' snake dared to bare its fangs at her, who was the daughter of her father.
Arya hadn't wanted to bully the 'little' snake by drawing on her father's strength though since it had already retreated quickly and did not dare to enter her sight again, which she felt should have been the case from the very beginning.
Still, she wouldn't show mercy next time, if the snake didn't know what was good for it and proved itself unrepentant. After all, she had her own bottom line and a reputation to uphold.
Additionally, this was naturally only the case since Arya wasn't hungry at the moment, so she didn't consider the 'little' snake as prey.
A bit distracted by those thoughts, as well as her grooming, Arya didn't notice the fox that silently approached her from behind until it was too late and the jaws of her attacker closer around her, seemingly intent on swallowing her whole.
But with a small eruption of black smoke, she disappeared from between the fox's teeth and reappeared in front of it, her amber eyes nearly bursting with fire.
Feeling as if her tiny chest couldn't even contain the anger that she felt, Arya promptly decided to teach that cunning fox a lesson that it wouldn't forget so soon as she hopped and hooted indignantly, her tiny black wings flapping as she bristled.
Drawing on her father's strength, she materialized a shadowy wing the size of an adult's hand above the fox's head and controlled it to slap down.
Wholly astonished, the brown fox couldn't comprehend what it was seeing before it felt itself become the target of a tiny owl's vengeance, not even a tenth of its size.
Frightened by the sudden slap that hit its head, the force barely above a light clap, it sought to retreat and distance itself from the tiny black avian.
Arya though, would have none of that as she turned into black smoke and reappeared in the fox's path of retreat again and again, the shadowy wing slapping down on the poor fox with precision, not really doing any physical damage but leaving it with untold trauma that even years of therapy might not be able to resolve.
The sunlight slowly becoming scarcer, Arya finally let the poor fox off the hook and no longer drew on her father's power to teach it some manners, letting it return to its den with its tail fearfully tucked between its legs and pitful whimpers escaping its jaws, without following it inside.
Though she still scolded it fiercely for some time while looking down into the dug-out hole under the roots of a rather large tree, making sure the fox knew that she was only letting off because she had to get home soon, not because was afraid or anything of the sort.
Turning around, Arya quickly shook off her anger and started to hop around the autumnal foliage for a few minutes again while hooting carefreely, her tiny beak poking at a few interesting-looking leaves every now and then, knowing instinctively that she had to return home when the sun was setting.
Before long, the shadows in the forest become longer and longer, so the tiny tyrant once again drew on her father's power and disappeared from the woods in the next moment.
...
Eyes fluttering open, Arya reappeared on the small coffee table in the living room, her amber gaze scanning the room but not finding her father.
She did find her mother though, her fiery locks and gentle smile making it impossible to overlook her while she sat on the soft leather couch with a book in her hand.
Naturally, the most important person to Arya was her father but after her initial vigilance and caution had settled down somewhat, the tiny owlet had found herself enamored by her mother's warm and loving temperament and eventually 'allowed' the redheaded beauty to stroke and pet her, as well as provide her with a shoulder to sleep on.
"Hu hu!", Arya called out happily in greeting before immediately 'swooshing' into her mother's lap with a tiny eruption of dark smoke.
"You're back. Did you have fun?", her mother greeted softly, her intentions being transmitted to her through the gentlest touch of her mind.
Unable to contain herself, Arya naturally had to tell her mother about her adventure, making sure to emphasize how she had bravely beaten back a whole group of evil snakes and dozens of cunning foxes.
Yawning exhaustedly halfway through her epic tale, she couldn't help but snuggle close to her mother's hand, the warm palm enveloping her making her drift off into a restful sleep soon.