A pride of peacocks notices that a flock of swans can both swim and fly, skills they do not possess. They wonder if the swans will use their superior strength against them. Soon they convince themselves that they are in danger, and begin stockpiling weapons. In response, the swans gather their own weapons. Fear and tension increase until the battle they have been preparing for breaks out. Two eggs survive, two chicks hatch, a swan and a peacock. They recognize one another as fellow birds, more alike than different, and stumble away to begin again. Clarion Books (2000).