Chapter One
Escape
When he was born, he had been bare like the rest of his siblings, blind and hungry for his mother's milk. As his eyes opened and fur covered his body, it was starkly obvious that the similarities between his elder brothers and himself stopped there. His fur was not the chestnut brown and sleek black that was expected, but a dusty white, with eyes that were red and poorer then the rest of the newborns. The young bat's wings, when held before the moonlight, looked nearly transparent, nothing but a sheet of veins and bones. His skin was always an angry pink as if just born, pale fur doing nothing to hide the abhorred tinge around his ears, muzzle and forearms.
His mother had named him Ghost, perhaps to forever remind him of his unnatural and unwanted appearance.
A Vampyrum Spectrum shouldn't look like this- that was what the others had always whispered. His own father whispered of such things. To have skin that looked so tender, wings that looked so breakable, Ghost agreed with the whispers. He was different and dislikeable for it.
What he wouldn't have given to look like his brothers, Zorn and Plague. They were both mighty creatures who could strike opponents down with ease. Ghost felt that he must have been unhealthy at birth, or poorly fed, because he had been a fair deal smaller then the rest of the newborns. This only added to his misery. No doubt his mother saw it unnecessary to ensure he ate well, putting him after his brothers. He couldn't blame her though- he might have done the same. Who would care for such a misfit thing?
The gap between him and the rest of his kind continued to grow as muscles built beneath his pinkish skin and his blood-splashed eyes failed to improve. He could leave if he wanted to- he could survive on his own. But the undeniable urge for acceptance from his family prevented him from departing.
Almost a year after his first hunt, an event occurred that set things in motion for the young Vampyrum.
Ghost was sailing through the darkened jungle forest, searching for appropriate prey to chase when a strange sound invaded his pink ears. It was not unlike a cry of a bat- one in pain. The screech of dying kin shot through his vision and shocked the pale furred bat. Had someone been attacked? Killed? What happened?
If this unfamiliar bat was still alive, he should help them. To abandon a fellow night flyer in need- no honorable Vampyrum could do that.
Ghost veered to the side sharply, following the fading echo within his silvery vision. Twisting and turning skillfully through the wild branches, his smaller size provided him with more maneuverability then most- one of the few differences he could find happiness in. Beating his vaporous wings, he burst through the light flared trees and entered a small clearing, where another Vampyrum was feeding on its prey.
He did not see any injuries on them, so Ghost gave a small sigh of relief.
The white bat noted that the dark furred figure was his eldest brother Zorn, and decided to greet him. They were not close, but blood tied them together and Ghost wanted to pretend he was loved.
Flapping up to Zorn and his meal, Ghost opened his mouth to speak, only to find that he had already been noticed.
The elder brother stopped chewing on the meat in his jaws abruptly, lifting up his head to stare at the pale bat hovering near him. He flashed his bloodied teeth in a bat-grin, a silent hello, his muzzle covered in the sticky redness. Soon he continued eating, while Ghost looked down at the scene with horror.
Was Zorn eating a bat?
The thin, leathery membrane and bone encased in skin, soft looking fur, tiny claws unmoving- it was unlike anyone else he had seen, even himself, but no doubt a bat. The fur was a different color and the face-what was left of it, maybe- was built different. It was tiny compared to the hunched figure devouring it. Ghost's wingspan reached one and a half feet, and even he felt he could say it was small.
A memory suddenly sparked in his mind. His kind ate creatures smaller then themselves. Birds, rodents- he had heard of bats becoming prey, but to see it was-
Smaller bats were hunted, because they were smaller creatures. They were different- not Vampyrum Spectrum.
Being different makes you prey?
Paranoia took hold of him, and Ghost looked down at himself- at his white fur and pink flesh beneath, at his evanescent wings. Everything about him was unlike his brother except for body shape.
He was different. He was a smaller creature. He wasn't like what a Vampyrum Spectrum should be.
Logically, he was prey.
Are you going to eat me next, brother? Ghost asked the feeding bat silently, staying where his wings kept him in fear. Or will it be mother? Father? When you tire of me and the prey starts to dwindle, will I enter your jaws? Your son?
Did you name me Ghost to let others know that I was already considered dead?!
"No!" Ghost shouted in to the air, making his brother- no, his predator- jerk his head upwards.
They made eye contact, and with blood and hunger dripping from Zorn's teeth, Ghost gave a raspy cry of fear.
The young bat's wings pounded hard, carrying himself away from the fellow Vampyrum. He didn't know where he was going- it didn't matter. Anywhere but home. Anything was better then where his family and other bats alike were waiting to tear into his raw looking skin and stain his hated fur red.
He was finally doing what he had thought about for so long. Hesitation and a yearning for affection had held him back- now the only thing that could hold him back was the sharp teeth and claws of others. It wasn't simply leaving his home, now.
It was escape.
Eating another bat, finding it sensible because they were smaller? Because they had different fur or body structures?
Never, Ghost pledged to himself. Never will I do such a thing, and never will I allow another to commit such an act with my body.
He would run from these cannibals and escape his fate as prey.
I hadn't known that Oppel had written a new book until I wandered into the bookstore the other day and saw it in all its hard-covered glory! I bought Darkwing right away and thought it was simply amazing, finishing it in only one day. I tried to be rid of my bat-adventure cravings by rereading Firewing (to my displeasure I don't have Silverwing or Sunwing- buying them is next on my to-do list). Reliving the excitement ignited my old desire to write a story of my own for this series, so on my day off of work I got typing.
I wanted a character that was physically strong, but mentally weak and insecure. So, I had chosen a member of the Vampyrum Spectrum. Albino bats are rare, and the Vampyrum seemed to display a sort of pride that held them above other bats. Should a newborn end up looking unlike them, I feel it would cause quite a bit of alienation. This then leads to extreme paranoia of being driven away, which sparks Ghost's ideas of departure. Once he sees his brother eating a bat that was smaller and weaker, with a different appearance, Ghost's paranoid thoughts turn in a completely different direction. He is horrified at the reasons for hunting other bats because it has so much potential for putting him in danger.
I can't have him eating the rest of my cast, after all.
My memory of the terminology used in the series is a bit weak right now, but I'll do my best until I manage to pick up the first two books and refresh myself.
Next chapter, Ghost thinks about things while exploring a boreal forest.