Gone Batty

Chapter 21: The Power of Sleep Compels You!

"I...I...erm..." Melody stammered softly as she propelled herself backwards away from Goth. She had to come up with a lie, otherwise, from the looks of things, she could be killed on the spot. But seeing the impeccable fury in Goth's eyes was keeping her from thinking straight. "Listen, Goth...I was just...um..."

"You were what?" he hissed as he neared her, his teeth bared. "Trying to escape again?"

'Yes...'

"N-no!" Melody shook her head as she flew down to the floor, purposefully playing up her defenseless and submissive image by grounding herself. She smiled nervously up at him as he landed in front of her, cowering in his shadow. "I was hungry and wanted to find something to eat and...and...did I mention how beautiful the moon looks tonight?" she asked quickly, batting her long eyelashes sweetly. 'That's it. I'm dead.'

Goth crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes, clearly not buying her lies, "you are hungry, you say?" He dared her to continue.

"I didn't really get to eat last night," Melody replied, "you know how it is in this weather, food is getting scarce." She inwardly grimaced as Goth towered over her and her mind raced as she kept a tense smile plastered on her face. It took practically everything she had to keep from moving away. 'Aw, come on! I need something to back me up! Anything!'

Answering her prayers, her stomach decided to wake up and gave a low growl. "Aha! See?" Melody exclaimed, a bit too loudly and pointed at her stomach with exaggerated movements. "Hungry!"

'Just kill me now before I embarrass myself any further.'

Goth didn't attempt to slash at her. Instead, his anger quieted down until it was under his full control all thanks to her ridiculous charade. The tension in his shoulders disappeared and he smirked, "I see. In that case, allow me to be your escort for the evening while you hunt."

"Oh, you don't have to go through the trouble," she protested, scratching herself behind the ear.

"No trouble at all," Goth bowed deeply, taunting her, keeping his eyes at level with hers. "I cannot think of a better pleasure, Me-lo-dy."

'He really hates me...' Melody looked up over to Throbb and said, "I think I'd rather wait for Shade and Marina to wake up. I lost my appetite."

"Is that so?" Goth came up to her and placed a claw under her chin, pulling her face back to look at him.

Melody became rigid. All jokes were now aside for his expression was dead serious.

"Try that stunt again, and I will kill you."

She gulped heavily and nodded in understanding. Melody had no doubt that Goth would keep his word.

The prince pulled away and bellowed up at his brother-in-law, "Throbb! Wake up!"

Startled, Throbb grunted and accidentally let go of Shade and Marina who both woke up screaming as they fell. Luckily they managed to catch themselves in the air before landing next to Melody.

"Are you okay?" Melody asked them as the two tried to calm down their racing hearts. She noticed that they both had dark bags under their eyes. "Didn't get much sleep?"

"He wouldn't stop snoring," Shade grumbled as he yawned. "I was tempted to remove that stick out of his mouth just to shut him up-..."

"But we decided not to. Who knows if Throbb eats in his sleep," Marina finished, rubbing her tired eyes.

The brunette watched the fat bat warily as he flew down to them, "I wouldn't put it past him."

The brightwing leaned over close to the girl, "you seem to have slept well though…" Marina whispered as she curiously examined Melody's replenished features.

Melody didn't know what to say to that and just shrugged. She wasn't about to admit that Goth made a very comfortable bed. Nope-nopity-nope-nope.

Throbb tugged on Goth's wing and pointed at the stick in his mouth once more- but his brother growled in annoyance and elbowed Throbb away roughly.

Melody frowned. Related or not, those two were family and Goth has been treating him no more than the dirt beneath his feet. Throbb's jaw had to be killing him by now. Melody gave a small sigh and walked over to him, ignoring the confused looks she was getting from her friends.

"Melody?" Shade asked.

The girl was now right in front of Throbb who narrowed his eyes down at her, unsure why she was approaching him. The concern that was on her face puzzled him greatly. When she reached for the twig in his mouth, he recoiled and hissed at her.

"Oh stop that," Melody snapped at him. "Do you want help getting that out or not?"

"What?" Marina and Shade both said in bewilderment. Was she seriously considering…?

Throbb's eyes widened at her words, "uhh?"

Melody didn't wait for his permission and grabbed the stick with both hands and pulled as hard as she could. She will deal with the consequences later.

The giant bat grunted, pained- but he didn't reject her help. He held his ground as Melody tried to loosen the stick. No good, it was stuck tight. She let out a breath before letting go of the twig, "we'll have to break it." Calculating carefully on how to do this, Melody grabbed the stick once more, but this time from the middle. She began to pull again, willing the twig to bend. Luckily, it did so. "Bite down as hard as you can!" she ordered.

Throbb squeezed his eyes shut as he forced his mouth to close. The twig gave a creak of protest before splintering and snapping in half. Thankfully, the force sent Melody falling, saving her hands from being being caught in Throbb's teeth.

"Ow…" Melody winced and rubbed her head as her friends quickly rushed over to help her back up.

"Why did you do that?" Marina whispered frantically, "that stick was the only thing that kept him from eating us!"

"I felt bad for him...I guess," Melody said quietly. "Besides, Zephyr told us not to underestimate the power of a kind act."

"I don't think he had cannibals in mind, though…" Shade muttered.

Throbb massaged his sore jaw, looking very relieved.

"Now then," Goth began as he rubbed his hands together in anticipation. "Shall we continue our journey, amigos?"

"Hold on a moment, what about the bargain?" Shade reminded him.

"Bargain?" Goth stroked his beard as if he had forgotten.

Being sleep deprived, the silverwing was not in the mood. He scowled at Goth, "yeah. The one which you promised to think over during the day."

"Oh that bargain," the prince chuckled, irritating the young bat even more. "It is a big thing you are asking of me, muchacho. This is not something I can decide in a day."

"No!" Shade snapped and pointed at Goth, "if you want me to deliver my colony, I need an answer now!"

'You go, Shade!' Melody mentally cheered him on, impressed by his bravery.

Goth's smile faded as he stared down at the defiant glares of the smaller bats. He thoughtfully glanced over at Throbb, who looked astonished to see his brother actually considering it. Surely he wouldn't be degraded to a servant!

After a long silent moment, Goth smirked and crossed his arms. "You have a deal."

"Huh?!" Throbb's mouth dropped open in disbelief. "Goth, you can't be serious!" he exclaimed.

Shade nodded in satisfaction before flying out of the cave with Goth and Melody following after him.

Marina hesitated but then shivered as she felt Throbb glaring at her, very pissed off. She backed away as he growled at her. "I'll end up serving you all- for dinner!"

Marina gave a small scream and dashed out of the cave with Throbb not too far behind.

They had to be flying for hours as Shade led them in the wrong direction. Melody could only wonder how long they could keep this up before Goth figured out that this was all a hoax. Not to mention that all this flying was starting to tire her out. She was in the middle of trying to think of a plan when she felt something hovering over her and saw that it was Goth smiling evilly down at her.

"Eep!" Melody rushed away from him and accidentally bumped into Shade.

"Oof!"

Melody gave Shade an apologetic look and he returned one of understanding back at her. She could hear the villain laughing behind them at her reaction and she clenched her jaw in annoyance. Why did he enjoy tormenting her so much?

Sensing her discomfort, Shade led them all to rest on a branch. He didn't want her to get sick again.

However, Goth did not appreciate the delay. He snarled at Shade as his patience wore thin, "we had a deal!" The vampyrum spectrum grabbed the boy by the throat. "You are still taking too long!"

"G-Goth!" Shade stammered, "I-I never migrated before! Maybe I should check my sound-map again?"

Goth gave a growl but let go of Shade with a sigh, "very well. I am off to hunt." He was about to leave when suddenly he turned back around to face Shade, and just in time too as a certain colony of silverwings were flying by in the far distance behind him. He did not catch Marina's sudden gasp either, or if he had, he assumed that it was because of him. "But, I swear on the soul of Zotz that if you try to trick me-!"

Melody did not move a muscle and held her breath. 'Don't turn around...don't turn around...' God, this was worse than the time she tried to steal cookies from the kitchen while her mother's back was turned.

Shade thought fast and blurt out, "uh- hey come on! Let's hunt together. I- umm.. I'm pretty good, you know?" he smiled at Goth, trying to keep his attention.

"Really?" Goth asked, interested.

Shade nodded, trying not to let his nervousness show.

Goth was prudent for a moment before he leaned back with a smile. "Then perhaps you can prove it by killing something for us all to eat, yes?"

Shade flinched at looked back at the girls with a gulp. He did not think that far ahead.

Marina shrugged back at him, not knowing what to suggest.

Melody bit at her claw lightly as she tried to find a loophole. "Uhh, when you say 'kill something,' do you mean…?" she trailed off.

"You don't expect me to eat mere insects, do you?" Goth raised an eyebrow.

'I was afraid of that,' she looked over to Shade with a grimace.

Goth noticed the young bats fidgeting uncomfortably and his grin widened, "unless of course it's just another of your lies, in which case our deal is off," he said softly, leaning towards Shade. "And then we'll take Marina and Melody for lunch," Goth chuckled darkly and ran his tongue across his own mouth hungrily, "yes…"

"What? Me too?!" Melody pointed at herself, eyes wide.

"Think of it as incentive, my dear," Goth casually wrapped an arm around her shoulders causing her to stiffen up. "If your good friend Shade is telling the truth, then you have nothing to fear."

The brunette glared sharply at Shade, clearly sending him the message of, 'fix this. If I die, I will kill you.'

And so, being put in such a predicament, Shade flew through the forest, looking for something to eat. He had never killed anything that had less than six legs before. There was no way that he could kill an innocent mammal or bird. His thoughts traveled back to Marina and Melody, who were currently being held captive by Goth and Throbb as they awaited his return. If he didn't return with prey, Goth and Throbb would simply settle with eating his friends!

Shade sighed and closed his eyes helplessly. He really had no choice…

After ten minutes of flying, he was having no luck with finding anything and the silverwing was growing bored. After being lost in his thoughts, he quickly snapped out of them when he noticed that he was flying straight into a green snake! He quickly pulled up as the reptile struck at him, just missing him by an inch. "Whoa!" he cried.

He looked back at the snake until a pair of acorns hit him on the head. "Ah- ow! Hey!" Shade glared up at a pair of squirrels who laughed down at him before they retreated back into the hole of their tree. Shade scowled but kept on flying. To his delight, he eventually spotted a few tiger moths flying around bushes of red leaves. He smirked and shot down at them only for him to fall into a bush as the insects avoided him.

"Ugh!" Shade groaned as he pulled himself out of the bush. That was when he noticed that the leaves looked familiar. A brilliant idea formed in his mind and he smiled sneakily. 'Melody, Marina… I'm getting us away from those brutes.'

While Shade was busy hunting in the woods, Melody was given the opportunity to hunt for herself and Marina. The brightwing was confined by Throbb who kept his hands gripping her shoulders as they waited on the ground. Originally, Goth was supposed to keep an eye on Melody- but he ended up slipping away into the forest himself without much of an explanation. Throbb, to Melody's surprise, gave her permission to hunt on the terms that she didn't leave his sight.

Melody managed to eat her fill of mosquitoes and flies before she caught a plump moth for Marina. She even offered to catch one for Throbb, just to be polite. For a second, he did seem to consider it, being hungry as he was. In the end he refused.

There was an awkward silence that spread between the three bats as they waited for Shade's and Goth's return. Feeling uncomfortable, Melody tried to start a conversation. "So...Throbb?"

He grunted, not looking at her.

"Why do you let Goth boss you around like that? Aren't the two of you brothers?"

"Brothers-in-law," Throbb corrected her gruffly. "He's the crown prince which still puts me below him."

Intrigued, Melody tilted her head, "which means...he has a sister?" She tried to imagine it- however all she could come up with was just another buff large female bat that looked exactly like Goth and she shuddered.

"An older sister. Her name is Itzel, and she is the most beautiful bat that Zotz has ever created," Throbb sighed dreamily, the tension in his expression vanishing. Melody could practically see hearts form in his eyes.

"Really? What does she look like?" she asked. It seemed that Throbb had no problem talking about the love of his life.

"Oh! Her hair is long and red as rose petals. Her eyes shine like the golden sun. Her fur is like velvet!" he was literally gushing with the goofiest smile on his face. "And she's-"

"None of your business," a low growl came from behind Melody, causing her to jump. She swirled around to see an annoyed Goth with his wings crossed over his body like a cloak.

Melody forced on a smile and gave a nervous laugh, "hi, Goth. Where did you disappear to?"

That smile disappeared when the giant bat gently scooped up a few strands of her brown hair in his claw and played with it, rubbing it between his thumb and forefinger. "You are quite the curious one tonight, señorita. Usually, you keep that pretty little mouth shut," Goth plucked out a strand of her hair.

"Ow!" Melody yelped and covered her head. "What's the big idea? That hurt!"

Goth ignored her and turned to Throbb, "has Shade returned yet?"

Throbb shook his head 'no.'

The prince snorted and looked down at Marina, who was still held in place by Throbb. "If he doesn't come soon, we will just have to start with the brightwing."

Marina's eyes widened in horror.

"What? No!" Melody exclaimed angrily. "Shade will come back! He would never turn his back on his friends."

"Like you?" Goth glanced at her with a disgusting smirk. "I recall you trying to run away twice before."

"I wasn't- that was-!..." the girl gritted her teeth together. "I would have come back for them!"

"Is that so?" Goth asked with amusement, "and what if you came back to find nothing but the bones of your friends?"

Melody clenched her trembling fists and glared at Goth, "you are a monster…"

"Shade!" Marina broke their conversation as her eyes lit up at the sky. The bats looked up to see Shade flying down to them...empty handed.

"Uhh.. I think the prey must be scarce in this part of the forest," he told Goth.

The vampyrum prince chuckled at the boy and took a deep breath, "I thought you'd might say that. That is why I took it upon myself to bring you this…" He unfurled his large wings and pulled out a small rabbit by the ears. Melody gasped, placing her hands over her mouth. So that's what he was doing when he left.

Goth dropped it in front of Shade and demanded, "kill the rabbit, now!"

Shade looked up at Goth in disbelief and then back down at the rabbit, who was too terrified to run. It only stared at Shade with large frightened eyes, awaiting his death.

Goth saw Shade's hesitation and scoffed, "heh, I thought as much." He crossed his arms, glaring at the silverwing.

Throbb chuckled, increasing his hold on Marina.

"You have no intention of leading us to your colony," Goth said with a calm smile. "You have lied to save yourself some more time. Well now, your time has run out." With that, Goth grabbed an unsuspecting Melody by the throat tightly, causing her to choke and struggle against his hold as he dragged her to him. At the same time, Throbb leaned down, ready to take a bite out of Marina.

"Wait!" Shade yelled in a panic. "I'll gladly kill this rabbit, Goth!"

Goth's eyes turned away from Melody to Shade, but his hold did not loosen. He didn't flinch when Melody began scratching at his wrist to get him to let go. "Then what's stopping you?" he hissed at him.

"It's just that here in the northern forest, we have a custom of beginning every meal with…" Shade glanced over his shoulder to see another red bush nearby. "A...a salad!"

"Salad?" Throbb asked dumbly while Marina looked completely puzzled.

Shade quickly flew over to the bush and plucked off a few leaves, "how do you think we stay warm in all this cold?" he flew back to Throbb and Goth and handed them each a few leaves, causing both of them to let go of the girls. Marina quickly backed away from Throbb while Melody fell to the ground coughing and rubbing her neck. She crawled away from Goth as fast as she could.

Goth inquisitively stared at the leaves while Throbb simply stuffed them in his mouth without thinking too much about it.

"Hmm, not bad," Throbb smiled.

Melody blinked at the leaves in confusion. Weren't they the same leaves that could knock a bat out cold if they… oh… 'Shade, you are a brilliant genius!'

"A custom you say? Keeps you warm?" Goth asked, looking rather suspiciously at the red plant. He smelled the leaves before taking a cautious bite out of it. When he deemed that the leaves tasted fine, he began eating the rest.

Shade gave Marina and Melody a victorious grin while Melody gave him two thumbs up.

"There, I honored your custom," Goth growled after he swallowed the last of the leaves. "Now kill the rabbit!" he snapped, starting to lose his temper.

"No!" Marina gasped.

Shade leaned over the rabbit and opened his jaws wide, showing his sharp fangs, ready to bite its neck. He glanced hesitantly back at Goth, who was quietly watching him with a frown. Shade looked down at the rabbit and slowly bent his head, trying to stall as much as he could.

And wouldn't you know it? In the nick of time, Throbb began to groan and everyone turned to look at him. The fat teal bat slowly swayed back and forth and then fell to his knees. His eyelids were half-closed and he drowsily slurred, "I don't feel so good."

Goth gasped and took a step back as he looked at Shade with wide eyes. He saw the boy release the rabbit, allowing it to run away. His vision began to swim around. Goth blinked a couple times, trying to make sense on what was going on. He glanced back at the red bushes and the realization set in that it he was outsmarted.

Throbb gave a final groan before he finally slumped to the ground, fast asleep.

"He has tricked us!" Goth exclaimed before another groggy spell took over him. He wobbled in place but fought himself awake. He roared angrily and swiped down at Shade. The silverwing flew out of the way, leaving a deep cut in the earth from where Goth slashed with his clawed finger. Then he snarled, his attention focused on Marina and Melody.

Marina quickly escaped and Melody tried to run, but Goth easily caught her by the arm. Melody cried out and tried to pull away, but he held fast. He raised his claws to strike down at her and the girl's mind raced. What would it take to put this guy to sleep?! She heard her friends scream out her name and she took a deep breath. She could only pray that this crazy idea would work.

"Loo-li loo-li, loo-li lai-lay. Loo-li loo-li, lai-lay."

Goth stopped his hand in midair and blinked at Melody in dazed confusion, startled by the beautiful sound that came out of her mouth.

Seeing that she had Goth's full and undivided attention, Melody gave him the loveliest smile that she could conjure up and she began to sing, "lay down your head and I'll sing you a lullaby. Back to the years of loo-li lai-lay. And I'll sing you to sleep and I'll sing you tomorrow. Bless you with love for the road that you go."

Melody's voice seemed to have a hypnotic effect on Goth. His raised arm relaxed and fell to his side. The girl gently swayed side to side and his eyes drooped as they followed her. "May you sail far to the far fields of fortune with diamonds and pearls at your head and your feet. And may you need never to banish misfortune. May you find kindness in all that you meet."

Goth's hand loosened on her arm and she slowly pulled it away. She softly took him by the wrists and pulled down at them ever so slightly. Goth's legs buckled beneath him and his forehead fell upon Melody's shoulder as he fell to his knees before her.

Marina and Shade were completely mystified by Melody's power over Goth. In fact, both of them were beginning to feel sleepy as well, and they hadn't even eaten the leaves.

"May there always be angels to watch over you. To guide you each step of the way," Melody ran her fingers through his reddish-brown hair, leaning her head against his, giving this performance all that she had. "To guard you and keep you safe from all harm. Loo-li loo-li lai-lay." She rocked him back and forth and she heard Goth let out a soft sigh.

Melody shifted uncomfortably under his weight and as gently as she could manage, pushed him off her until his back rested against the bark of a tree. She looked down at him only to meet his weak sleepy gaze. He looked as if he had no idea what was going on anymore. Melody smiled and caressed his face with the back of her palm. She actually prefered Goth like this a lot more. "May you bring love and may you bring happiness. Be loved in return to the end of your days. Now fall off to sleep, I'm not meaning to keep you. I'll just sit for a while and sing loo-li lai-lay."

"May there always be angels to watch over you. To guide you each step of the way. To guard you and keep you safe from all harm. Loo-li loo-li lai-lay." At last, Goth's eyes closed and Melody gave a heavy sigh of relief. He was finally asleep. She then gave him a devilish grin and said sweetly, "pleasant dreams." She leaned down to give him a soft peck on the cheek before pulling away and sticking her tongue out at him.

"Psych."

Melody got up and stretched before turning to look for Shade and Marina… only to find them asleep on a nearby branch. The girl raised her eyebrows in bafflement before she climbed up to them. "Guys! Wake up!" she hissed as she shook them. "This really isn't the time or place!"

Shade moaned and cracked one eye open, "huh? Melody?" he gave a big yawn and rubbed his eyes. "What's going on?"

"What's going...what do you mean, 'what's going on'? Get up!" Melody gave him another push for good measure.

"Whoa! I'm up! I'm up!" Shade yelped as one of his feet slipped off the branch and he clung on with only one. His voice woke Marina.

"Did we fall asleep?" Marina asked groggily.

"Apparently," Melody crossed her arms. "We should be flying the hell out of here, you know, before Goth and Throbb wake up."

"It's not like we could help it, Melody. I don't know what happened, but I think your singing was a bit too convincing," Shade flapped his wings and flew into the air followed by the girls.

"What do you mean?" Melody asked as they flew, leaving the two giant bats behind.

"I don't know...it was like you were casting a spell or something."

Melody rolled her eyes and smirked, "are you sure it's not because you and Marina didn't get any sleep this morning?"

Shade and Marina looked at each other and flushed.

"Well...maybe...if you put it that way…" Marina muttered, feeling rather embarrassed causing the brunette to laugh.

"Don't worry guys, I'll make sure the two of you get plenty of rest once the sun rises."

"Please do…"

A/N: Hi guys! I wish to apologize for not posting in a while. A lot of things have been happening, such as bronchitis, work, classes, catching up on classes that I had missed three weeks of due to said bronchitis, midterms, group projects and other crap that I'd rather not go into. So what did you guys think of this chappy? Personally, I felt it could have been better...but this is what you get. The song that Melody sings is called "Sleepsong" by Secret Garden. I just found it fitting. :)

And oh my goodness! I have so many reviews! You guys have reached over 100! Thank you so much! You all are amazing! I never even dreamed of getting this far.

As a thank you, I shall post a youtube link on my page of a music video I made for Goth not too long ago. It's just something I made for fun. :)

Carlisle Fan 22: Thank you so much! I hope you enjoyed this chapter just as much.

mchap1154: Again, I absolutely love your reactions to my chapters. xD It simply makes me want to write more. Oh, and thank you for the suggestion of Melody singing a lullaby to Goth. That was a fun part to write. Ooh, and I'll definitely have to check out your deviantart page. Thank you once more for such a wonderful review.

Guest Melissa and Alejandra: Oh, okay then. I understand now. Sorry, I felt a little protective of Elliot there for a moment. And yes, Goth is starting to catch on that Melody is human. Not a really good thing for her. xD And the part where I made Goth ticklish was just the randomest (if that is even a word) idea that I had on the spot while typing this. But I love it. Thank you guys!

Guest: Is this going to be an OCxGoth story? For the moment, no. Hint hint...'for the moment.' -wiggles eyebrows and winks to the rest of the audience- 8D If I'm being completely honest here, you probably will have to wait until the sequel.

SageofLife: Cliffhangers is what I do best. ;) Mwahahaha.

Cold-heart-Angel23: I think the shock made him crazy too. xD Yes, I'm dropping mini hints all over the place with Nocturna and Zotz. And watch out Melody, Goth is onto you! Thank you for the review!

RandomCitizen: Oh, if Melody knew Goth's thoughts, she would be keeping such a distance from him like no other. Thanks for reviewing!

Thoseotherguys: It's not like she can resist. ;)

PalaeoPanthalassa: Yes, dearie. I know exactly the amount of suspense I put my readers through. -cackles evilly- Well, your wait is over! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Now you just have to wait for the next one. Bwahahaha!

G'reth the Air Dragon: First of all, I love your username. It sounds awesome! I am so happy you enjoyed my fanfic to this extent. I am sorry about the spelling/grammar errors, they are always something that will end up popping up in each chapter because I can never catch them all no matter how many times I reread. I will probably end up going through a fixing/editing mode once the fic is finished. Oh, and I named the pigeon Dolly. It wasn't Zephyr who made an echoprojection of her (at least I don't think so), because if you think about it, illusions don't have mass and therefore, Dolly couldn't have broken the wooden plank with her weight if she was just an echoprojection… unless Zephyr had managed some skill we don't know about. o.o Haha! Thank you for the review!

devildog452: When indeed…? It's a question that even I can't answer.

Ranger Danger: Woohoo! Thanks a lot Ranger! And yes, Goth has a Spanish accent in the show. You can find the episodes on youtube and check it out. :)