Where are the reviews?? I'm review-less. It makes me sad… Oh. And I noticed my last Author's note was all messed up. It's supposed to be "sPRinkles" and "cHerry
Chapter Four
-Fallon Love-
When I woke the next day, it took me a grand total of a minute and a half to remember last night's events. After recounting them, I stretched and pushed my wings away from my back. I flapped them and pushed off from the tree, landing softly on the ground. I looked up into the tree, and smiled softly; The Flyers were a sight when they were asleep. See, since we are bat kids, our natural instinct is to sleep upside down. So we all sleep with our legs hooked around a branch. It's very, very funny. We all also slept with our wings out by our sides. I had noticed Max and her Flock had the ability to hide their wings. We did, too, but it was much more comfortable to leave them out for long periods of time.
I wandered away from the tree, walking to the edge of the outcropping, and thinking still of Max's Flock. Strangely, the one that I could picture the most was the one that hardly spoke—what was his name? Fang. What a perfect name for him. I giggled giddily. No! What was I thinking? I was two years older than him. But he seemed so…mature. I shook my head, forcefully. He was probably already taken. Max and him seemed like brother and sister, but maybe he had met some human girl who he was smitten for. I would not—not—barge into his affairs. I sighed, then took a deep breath, forcing all thoughts of Fang and the Flock from my mind. They crisp mountain air chilled my lungs, and wakened me fully. I stepped off the outcropping, and free fell straight down the mountain—falling closer to the ravine bottom, which was laced with some type of bright green tree. I caught myself about two feet above the highest tree, and soared upwards, my wings warm from being pressed so tightly together the night before. I glided back up to the outcropping, stretching as I flew. I noticed a cooking-fire issuing from the flock's outcropping. I knew I should land on our camping ledge and start breakfast, but landing would mean responsibility and being mother-like, something I didn't feel up to in the morning. I soared up, closer to The flock's camping spot and touched down gracefully on the edge of the outcropping. Max looked up from putting wood on the fire she and Gazzy and Angel were building, and waved. Gazzy smiled at me, but Angel gave me this creepy look. I wondered what she was trying to say, but eventually I forgot I was going to ask her about it. Nudge was sitting close to Iggy, chatting away while he alternately cooked something that was roasting on a spit over the fire, and putting his hand over Nudges mouth. I noticed that his antics didn't stop her flow of words, however"I like food, but I'm hungry now. Whens breakfast going to be ready? It's not like—" Iggy covered her mouth for a second—"Mean, but I'm just really hungry. Do you think if we put more wood on the fire—" Iggy stemmed her flow of words for another second. "cook faster?" I noticed every time he covered her mouth, she didn't stop talking, but continued, so her speech was missing pieces.
Finally, I glanced over at Fang. I felt a row of shivers go down my spine when he grinned. I shivered, to shake off the feeling, then said shyly, "Hi, Fang," He nodded, and I looked away. "Hi, Angel, Gazzy, Nudge, Iggy. Hey, Max."
"Where's um..Falcon? And um, Feather? And um..Andromeda? And Ariana?"
I chose not to correct Max. "Their still asleep." Max nodded, accepting the answer, and looked around the small outcropping. "Mind if I hang with you till they wake up?" Max didn't reply, but Iggy said "Sure. But you have to bring your own food to this potluck." I turned to look at him: Was he jesting? "You don't have to catch it, however. It can already be dead. We're like, roadkill café—You kill it, we grill it."
Gazzy laughed loudly, Nudge and Angel looked utterly disgusted, And Fang and Iggy grinned. Max rolled her eyes. "Don't listen to him," She warned. "And sure, you can sit with us."
I nodded gratefully and lowered myself to the ground, curling my wings around my slim frame like a huge blanket. "Do you need more food? I could wake the flyers and we could hunt. We're really good at it."
"Don't worry about it," Max said. "We can always nab more, when we need it." She sat down next to me. "We can hunt, to you know. I'm really good at Stalking McDonalds." She said sarcastically. I rolled my eyes, wondering if she was teasing me or not. "So, um, are you guys, like, based on different species of bird, or something?" I asked, steering the subject away from hunting. Max pondered a moment. "I'm not sure," She said after a while. "I mean, we all obviously share the same Bird senses. But we all have different feathers and wingspans. I've never really thought about it." She looked away and I noticed her gaze was rested on Fang. "Why do you ask?"
"No reason. Just, like, we're all based on different bats. Er...we have different Bat DNA." I nodded, then stopped talking, feeling stupid. Nudge appeared beside me. "Cool!" She said, enthusiastically. "Are you a Vampire bat? Is it true they suck blood? If you drank my blood, would I become a Vampire bat?"
"No," I replied, suppressing laughter. "I'm not a Vampire Bat. That's Andromeda."
"Really??" I saw Nudges eyes widen. "That's so cool! Max, can I meet Andromeda?? Please??" Max eyed her warily. "Didn't you meet her last night?"
"That didn't count; I was sleepy."
"Yeah, but you still met her. Besides, she's sleeping right now."
"Oh, fine. Hey, why do you guys sleep in the night, not the day?"
I shrugged. "I don't know. Ask Feather. I think he'll give you some scientific term for it."
Nudge nodded. "Are you guys eating with us?"
"No," I said, catching Max's eye, at the same time she said "Yes," Nudge stayed silent, waiting for the verdict.
"We can't stay with you, we bring problems." I said, uncomfortably. "Like Fenz. You haven't seen them. You don't know what they are like."
"You bring problems?" Iggy snorted, overhearing me. "It's us that can contract the bird flu—I didn't think Bats got that." I appreciated Iggy's light-hearted jokes, but I still didn't want to stay with them. We couldn't. We'd be a burden, and five more mouths to feed.
"So? You could catch your own food." Angel said, in response to my mental worries. I stared at her. "What?"
She giggled and rolled her eyes. "Right. Forgot to tell you—I can read minds."
"Seriously?" She nodded, but had a look on her face that said there was more to it. I would have continued to question her, but Max cleared her throat.
"It'll be no problem for you to stay with us." She said, quickly. "Please?"
I glanced at Fang, and he caught my eye. I turned back to Max, and gave a sigh of defeat. "Fine."
PLEASE don't hate Fallon cause she loves Fang! That's like you hating your self because you love Fang, and he can't be taken away from Max. I don't want to spoil the story for you, but I promise: Max gets Fang. Somehow. Near the end. After a Twist….