"In flight, strong wings come from will, and light ones come from experience."
Archimedes' life as an owl was one of long-lived rest and careful tending. He had been a familiar to Merlin for many decades and as he was growing older, youth did not show any signs of leaving him. It happed one day, though, that a problem had been reported to the castle's guard regarding a rodent issue within the grounds of the courtyard. He had helped with this kind of thing before, but this time seemed different. Upon the coming of the night, he flew from the high, high reaches of the tallest tower to light, adeptly on the well positioned branches of the lower gardens just in time to see a number of rats scurrying from the kitchen. Right before he was about to sweep down to scare them away, a dark, keenly quiet owl of black and silver feathering landed just shy of the traveling rodent pack and appeared to coo and whisper softly unto them. It was not long after until the rodents produced a sizeable loaf of bread from their small rolling hoard to give to the mysterious bird whereupon the creature lifted gracefully into the air and powerfully flew away. Archimedes did not waste a second after witnessing the event, and immediately took to flying after the unexpected nighttime visitor. Hunting him down to a red tiled roof right outside of the courtyard's inner garden saw to their meeting face to face. The bird, though large and highly impressive, was not much bigger than Archimedes, but unlike the gold and brown speckled feathering of Archimedes' coloration, he was dark, silver, black and coal-fashioned. Archimedes' first voiced concern was with the bread that was exchanged, but Oliver, as he had let his name to be, was affronted by the notion and responded with a clear indication of not concerning his person with Archimedes in any way. As he was about to eat the stolen bread which he had been given, Archimedes asked how long the rodents had been pilfering the kitchen. Oliver, taken aback by the assertion, responded with a clear threat, but before he was done, Archimedes had lunged at him. The two birds were powerful flyers, and while flying ferociously about the nighttime air, they were eventually caught in a deathly embrace. Locked at the talons, the pair tumbled in a raucous blister of feathers, until they were separated by a thin wire lining a short alleyway stretching from one side of the path to the other. By this time, Oliver had dropped his bread and was enraged at not only his loss but the trouble he had been given by Archimedes, but Archimedes was showing no signs of letting up. After the two had huffed and puffed for what could have been an eternity, Archimedes extended an olive branch to Oliver by way of inviting him to be a friend to the grounds. Oliver was surprised by the idea, but given the back and forth which had resulted over bread, it came to be of mind to let go of any conflicts that would potentially result from continuing to fight wherein he graciously accepted Archimedes' invitation to be a friend to the grounds. With the agreement, the two flew back to the castle where Oliver did away with the rats and with Archimedes' help, ensured that the kitchen was again made safe. The two then rested for the evening in the warm night air, as companions in flight to be owls of good company and friends, the same.
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