Styrxvent 2019: The Bringer of Blizzards

Nixis was out in the snow, a night sky glittered above her and there was a light snowfall. The silken tyto would happily play in the snow, her thicker silky feathers sheltering her from the cold. She was jumping through the snow, her mostly white feathers were covered in small delicate snowflakes and frost. Suddenly the snow started to pick up, this didn’t bother Nixis at first, she was fine with some extra snow to play in. That was until the snowfall continued to get heavier and heavier until it blocked out her vision in a blizzard of white snowflakes. Nixis had to squint her eyes closed to avoid getting snowflakes in them, frost and ice was quickly building around her feathers. She decided that she needed to go and get some shelter before she was turned into an ice statue, so she looked around for any shelter that she could see. However with how thick the blizzard was she was barely able to see a foot in front of her, Nixis started to grow more worried. If she couldn’t get out of this blizzard then she’d be in real trouble, so she just started moving forwards in hopes of heading out of the blizzard. However it seemed as though the blizzard was only getting harsher as she moved forwards, soon enough she was walking with her eyes pressed closed and back arched as she fought through the thick snow. Wind, snow, and ice whipped around her and tugged at her feathers, the further she walked the stronger the winds grew. She felt sharp shards of ice smashing against her body causing her to wince.

Suddenly the howling of the wind stopped and all the snow and ice dropped away, Nixis cautiously opened her eyes to see she had made it to the middle of the storm, the storm continued around here but the small area she was standing in was completely calm. The storm sounded oddly distant and muted here despite it only be a few steps away from her, as she looked around she spotted quite the breathtaking sight. Perched on a large stone being flooded in silver moonlight was a hawk stryx who’s feathers were a deep blue and bright snow white markings. The hawk would turn their icy blue gaze onto the mostly white tyto, Nixis felt as though her breath had been snatched away, something about this particular hawk felt powerful and raw. All she could do was stare at them as they fully turned around and stepped off of the rock they were perched on, the moon shone brightly behind them. The blue and white hawk stared at Nixis for a few long moments before turning their gaze to the blizzard that was wrapped around the two of them, which was undoubtedly a result of them being here. It seemed as if the hawk was thinking something through, Nixis just sat there as an eerie silence hung out between the two birds, the only sound to be heard was the muted whistling of the blizzard. The hawk eventually gestured for Nixis to follow them and began walking towards the blizzard that they had produced, Nixis cautiously followed the hawk. They flinched as they neared the blizzard as they expected the snow and ice to crash into their feathers. However it never did, instead the blizzard seemed to wrap around the hawk. This left them both protected from the harsh and icy winds that swirled in the blizzard. Nixis was quite relieved that they wouldn’t have to force their way through the blizzard, the two stryx walked for some time before coming upon a small cave.

Nixis glanced at the hawk, the hawk connected their gaze with hers for a few moments before gesturing towards the cave that was dimly lit by moonlight. All the tyto could do was thank the hawk for finding her shelter and scurried into the cave, ice and snow still clung to their feathers but at least they had some shelter. Once it was daytime again Nixis would head home, but for now she was content to stay in this cave for the rest of the night, with nothing better to do Nixis watched the twinkling stars. The hawk just stood outside and watched the tyto, with them being so close the blizzard they were producing wrapped around the cave and didn’t enter it. It was impossible to say if the hawk was happy or not as their expression was unreadable. The hawk would stay with Nixis until daytime came, once it did they would fly away and the blizzard followed them, Nixis would call out another thank you as they flew away. Nixis was caught in the blizzard once for a little bit until the hawk had flown out of range, now that she wasn’t caught in the blizzard she would head home. Since her feathers were much to weighed down with snow and ice she was forced to walk all the way home, which wasn’t the easiest thing to do but she did end up managing. Once she was home she was able to warm up.