Aestu sat in his tree, bored. His mother and father were out at their Tree Elf farm ,and Verum was hunting. The only other Demon Owl around was Custodibus, who was his babysitter. She just sat around in the entrance and watched the branches move in the wind. He walked up to her. “Custodibus?” He tugged her wing.
“Mhm?”
“Can I go explore?”
She turned around and stared at him, (Which, was the first time she looked him in the eyes,) “No!” She grabbed him rather hard on the arm. ”Imperium and Hostis asked me to watch you. Your parents are the most powerful Demon Owls in Southern Hemlock. If I let you leave, then I would be right out there with the Tree Elves. Now go back to the tree, here-” She reached up her arm, grabbed a glowing spider, and threw it at him. ”Play with this.” Aestu shook it off.
“I hate glowing spiders.” He mumbled. He went to the back of the tree and snuck out. Months ago, he had found a secret exit in a rotting part of the tree that he was just small enough to get through. The only other time he used it was when he thought he saw a Tree Elf outside and Custodibus wouldn’t let him through. He was grounded for months after that, and this was the first time he’d seen Custodibus after that. She noticeably had a horn missing.
He snuck out into the open forest. Aestu looked up at the sky. It was a bright orange, fade into pink ,fade into red, fade into dark blue. It was sunset. He started walking forward, breathing in the fresh air and before he knew it, the moon was high in the sky. He looked around. And suddenly, he saw a shadow. He looked at the place where he thought he saw it, and there was a Tree Elf footprint. He gasped.
Looking around at the nearby trees,he saw a muddy,once white,boot that Tree Elves wear go into the leaves of a tree. “It’s time to test out my flying.” He muttered, and lifted up his wings. Fortunately, Demon Owls have wings that are in full function no matter what since they are 6. Unfortunately, Aestu was 5. He lifted his small wings and flapped them. He rose to about three feet before he fell back down. He frowned. “Guess I’m climbing.” He sank his claws into the tree and started climbing. He heard whimpering as he got closer to a large branch and started smiling. He got to the branch, pushed back the leaves and saw…
A Tree Elf.
It was a female, he could tell because of her ripped,pink skirt under a black belt. Her eyes were bright, emerald green and her antlers were a maple brown. Her skin was a woody brown and she had a ripped white shirt with dirt all over it. “Come at me, Owl. I don’t care anymore. At least I go with honor.” She hissed, and started to run at him head first. He flinched away.
“WAIT WAIT I’M JUST A KID DON’T HURT ME I WON’T TURN YOU IN PLEASE.”
She stopped.
“Hmm..Fine.” Aestu sighed with relief. “BUT, if I get caught today, you won’t have to worry about getting your wings when you’re 6.” He gulped. “So,what’s ya name-” All of a sudden, she pushed him down and covered her mouth.
“H-Hey, what's the big idea?” I said.
She pointed down, and then I heard it.
“Hello? Is someone there?” It was not familiar to him, but it was no doubt a Demon Owl.
Finally he left, and the Tree Elf relaxed.
“Anyways, what’s your name?”
“W-What? Oh. A-Aestu.”
She snorted. “Mmm. Big name. Son of Imperium and Hostis?” He nodded. “Big Owls. Imprisoned my family, y’know. Good times. Anyway, my name is Maples Giving, call me Maple.”
“O-Oh, o-ok M-Maple.S-sorry a-about your f-family.” He looked down at the ground, embarrassed.
“It’s fine. Jerks anyways. At least it consoles me to know they’re better than yours.” Aestu frowned. “So, tell me about them.” He looked at her, confused.
“M-My family?”
“Mhm.”
“Why?”
“Just a little thing. Go on.”
“O-Ok… Well I have an older brother. His name is Verum. He’s going to inherit the farm. He’s always been the favorite, it makes me really- “
“Mhm, mhm, but how’s the farm? And where are your parents right now? That brother of yours, too?” He frowned
“Well… My parents are at the farm, or at least that's what they told me. My brother is hunting, and the farm is fine.”
She thought for a moment, then said. “Have you ever been there? What’s it like? Also, have you ever met prisoners named Birch, Oak, or Willow.”
“W-Well, I’ve only been there once. It's dark, and k-kind of scary. And…” He paused. “I think I recognize Willow. They said they were gonna test the new ‘Flaming Storm’ on her.”
Maples faced turned from neutral to “gonna murder every demon owl I see starting with you”.
“I can’t believe it! They kill my mother, I kill them! They messed with the wrong tree elves. I’ll burn it to the ground! I’ll burn this entire place to the ground! I’ll-”
Aestu looked away. “I’ll help you…” He mumbled
She stopped rambling and looked at him. “Excuse me?”
“I-I’ll help you.”He squeaked. “I’m tired of being treated like a baby. I want to show them who’s really in charge. B-But maybe not the killing p-par-”
She grinned. “Yes, Yes, an inside force! I have a plan. You will bring me to the farm. Say that you caught me, and they will bring me to my cell. You follow, see where I am, get a flame going, and give to me. They’ll think twice about who they test fire on now.”
All of a sudden, another voice could be heard.
“They were right here, a Tree Elf and a Demon Owl, I swear!”
“Mm. Probably hiding around here somewhere. Lets look.” Maple was silent now, peeking out of the tree, barely hanging on. All it would take to get to land in their hands was a slight nudge. Aestu inched closer to her, and as they got to the tree they were hiding in,he pushed her out, right into their cart. They gasped, and Aestu came out. One of the Demon Owls smiled.
“Good job. Aestu, is it? I’ll make sure to report this to your parents.” He nudged Aestu on the shoulder. All he did was stare at Maple. “Listen, I’m really sorry-”
All she did was look away, but as the cart started to leave, he heard her whisper.
“In the forest you can never know, who is your friend and who is your foe…”