Disclaimer: I own nothing about Silverwing or Sunwing or whatever. Just something I thought of while reading Sunwing for the millionth time(I love that book).
This story's mainly devoted to an old friend, Omei. It's main character is her fav. bat. Others are welcome to read and review this.
It was a few days into the journey. Bats and owls...migrating back north...together. A young Brownwing (little brown myotis, aka little brown bat.) was not use to being so close to her natural enemy.
They had escaped from the cannibal bats' prison. She had survived because she was one of the last captured. When she was taken to the dark sacrificial chamber, she was more terrified than she has ever been in her life.
Then suddenly, panic spread throughout the entire room. When a giant vulture bird appeared out of nowhere, the cannibals restraining her let go and she instantly made a break for the escape. She didn't even bother to ask herself questions about anything. She just wanted to get out as soon as possible.
She just barely got out of an explosion's range. But other than a minor clump of fur gone from the nape of her neck (made when she struggled to free herself when the cannibals first took her), she was in great condition for her situation.
She looked around herself. Bats of every species seemed to have gathered. Some were even southerners that want to come to keep in close touch with their new friends, bats who saved their lives or kept them from going crazy in the prison cell they were kept in.
Up ahead were the owls. Most were great horned owls, with a few barn owls and even snowy owls. They formed a protective arrowhead just in front of the vulnerable bats. She frowned to herself, wondering how long this truce will last.
The day was coming and the horizon brightened. She snapped her eyes shut and turned her head the other way. Most other bats did as well. Not only was the light painful, but she still felt unsafe in its blaze. With her echoes, she saw several owls looking back at them.
It was obvious they weren't used to this stuff either. She didn't blaime them, all this takes a lot of getting used to.
Some of the bats, especially newborns, started to yawn. Flying nonstop is really taking it's toll on the smaller of the two types of creatures. The little Brownwing herself started to become dozy. Suddenly, the owls zoomed for the trees and the bats instantly followed. Each species settled in seperate trees as a whirling noise was heard.
A human flying machine zoomed over head. Both owl and bat waited so still, it's like they were frozen solid. After it past, the little Brownwing bats let out a deep sigh, as she has been holding her breath. Looking around herself, she saw almost all the bats sleeping where they were, obviously to exhausted to continue.
She was about to follow their lead and close her eyes, but a young owl with lightning plumage on his chest flew over and landed beside a family of Silverwings and a Brightwing.
"We're sorry, Orestes." she heard the young male Silverwing mutter. "We're tired and just want to sleep."
The huge bird nodded and made a hooting call to his fellow owls. At that moment, she began to doze off. But as she was about to enter a deeper sleep, she felt something big gently pulling her off her roost. She moaned in protest, tightening her claws' grip instinctively. However that move was useless and she was yanked off.
She hissed, still not fully awake. She was too tired to put up a real fight. She can still smell and the unmistakable odor of an owl made itself known. She relaxed a bit and moved into the welcome darkness of sleep.
---
She awoken on a very soft...thing. She used her thumbs to feel where she was. She perked her ears up when she didn't reconize it. She sniffed. Owl...she can smell owl over everything else. Sending out sound, the images didn't make sense to her. With no other option, she opened her eyes and, looking around, couldn't believe it.
She had been sleeping on the back of a great horned owl. She must still be dreaming, but her memory flooded back and everything fell into place. That Orestes owl must have gotten his fellows to take the bats from their roosts and continue the journey. It would be more effective than waiting for the bats to get rested up and then continue on.
Though her initial reflex was to shoot off and fly on her own, she decided to stay where she was. It was still afternoon and she didn't have the courage to fly in broad daylight. And although the feathers made her nose itchy, it was actually quite comfortable. It reminded her of when she clung to her mother when she was little.
She gripped a few feathers with her thumbs and rustled her wings. She gazed at the owl's wings sleepily. They were so quiet, it was scary. Looking beyond, she saw each owl had at about three bats, maybe even five or more, though she could see that some of the mammals were waking up and taking off to join a small convey of bats brave enough to fly at this time of day.
Looking behind herself, she saw two other bats, a Long Ear and a Graywing, sleeping on the same owl as herself. Yawning she laid her head down and fell back into oblivion.
---
Something's in the air and it made the Brownwing wake up again. It was evening and the sun would just be setting...if the sun's even noticable. She noticed cloud cover and knew a storm's coming.
She heard a nervous squeak behind her and saw that her two riding buddies were awake and staring at the sky. She shifted her weight nervously. The owl hooted to a nearby companion and they looked equally uneasy.
The Graywing flung himself off, but the Long Ear was too frightened to get on his own. The little Brownwing was reluctant to get off her safe haven as well.
Another fearful smell came up. It was the smell of high winds. The entire group was thrown backwards by the wind. The Brownwing pinned her ears flat and closed her eyes, not letting out any sound so she won't see any horrors.
They should be trying to seek refuge but the owls were so determined not to waste time that they refuse to set down and instead they fought against the wind. Many bats already in flight threw themselves at the nearest bird and clung for dear life.
The Brownwing flattened out as much as she could and the wind whistled loudly in her flattened ears. Her grip on the feathers became tighter. She tried to distract herself by trying to think of happy thoughts. Almost instantly, a huge gust knocked against them and the owl was jerked upright and almost onto his back.
The Brownwing's grip was in vain as the feathers she held was plucked off. She was blown back off the owl, but the Long Ear locked his hind claws into her fur. The fellow bat hung on with his thumbs as the owl righted himself. However, another violent wind came and the giant bird couldn't keep the bats from losing grip.
The Long Ear let go of his distressed companion and flew back to the owl. But, the bird of prey shook him off and flew towards the Brownwing, who was thrown screaming into the forest below.
---
The little Brownwing tried to open her wings to slow, or stop, the fall but the suddenness of it and the fear kept her limbs plastered to her side. She closed her eyes and ears as she neared the ground and landed on a pile of rotting leaves. She poked her head clear and looked at the sky. The entire convey was flying out of sight and she knew she had no chance of catching up in these winds.
A shadow, something was coming. She hid back into the leaf litter. The owl she was riding came flying, or stumbling is a better term, over. He was about to go right past her, but she showed herself before then.
With a sigh, the owl plucked her up in his beak and attempted to fly back up above the treeline. However, the winds became feircer and refused to let the owl rise without endangering his life. Plus, the group was already out of sight, as most have been too caught up in their own troubles to take much notice of anything else.
The owl landed back on the ground after making another vain effort to get off into the air. He bobbed up and down and made one last try, this time succeeding in landing on a nearby branch.
Satisfied, he placed the Brownwing down and looked around. They felt the need to be higher, but better not to push their luck with the wind.
The Brownwing nodded when he turned his staring gaze back at her.
"What's your name?" the bird asked in his deep gruff voice. The bat managed to jump onto a higher branch and hung eye-to-eye. Clearing her throat, she talked for the first time since her capture by the cannibals.
"I'm Rossa."