suspects that a spotted owl named Hortense is not moon-blinked. Soren and Gylfie then befriend her, and find out that Hortense is sneaking out eggs stolen by the owls of St. Aggie's and is returning them back to their parents with the help of two eagles, Zan and Streak. Hortense's intention is then discovered by the owls of St. Aggie's, and Hortense is then killed. Soren and Gylfie also find a partly moon-blinked boreal owl named Grimble and plan to escape with Grimble teaching them how to fly. Grimble is murdered the night Soren and Gylfie escape by St. Aggie's leader Skench the great horned owl and her lieutenant Spoorn the western screech owl. After escaping, they then meet Twilight, an orphan great gray owl who learned his survival instincts from the "Orphan School of Tough Learning", Digger, a burrowing owl, who lost his family to the St. Aggie's marauders and is extremely sensitive and philosophical, and the old Mrs. Plithiver, Soren's former nest-maid western blind snake. With the help of Hortense's two bald eagle friends Streak and Zan, they kill two of St. Aggie's patrols, the cousins Jatt and Jutt the long-eared owls, and then the newly-formed band decide to head to the Guardians of Ga'hoole and inform them of the monstrosity of St. Aggie's. The Journey The four owls form a band and fly away in search of the Great Ga'Hoole Tree, where legend says the great knight-owls live who are dedicated to doing good deeds and eventually find it. Soon after the band arrives at the tree, they begin their training as guardians and soon are proficient in their selected chaws, or classes. They also meet other owls, such as Otulissa, a spotted owl, Primrose, a northern pygmy owl, Martin, a northern saw-whet owl, and learn many secrets such as colliering, navigation, search and rescue and weather navigation. Ezylryb, the old whiskered screech owl weather chaw ryb, or teacher, becomes good friends with Soren. After a long period of time passes, hundreds of owlets are found abandoned in the middle of an uninhabited forest, all of them "babbling of the purity of Tyto". Among these downed owlets, later called "The Great Downing", is Eglantine, Soren's lost sister. When she and the others regain full consciousness, they have no memory of what had happened, where they were from and why they were in the literal middle of nowhere.