Chapter 7
The Ways Of The Northern Forest
It was nearly dusk, in the city of Montreal, with the streets echoing with the honking of cars and the crying sirens of police cars and ambulances. Back in the artificial forest of Hart Chiropterology Research And Rescue Conservatory, the Goldwings were all sleeping in their roosts. Everyone, except Rachel's mother, Sharyn Goldwing. She couldn't find it in her heart nor in her right mind to sleep peacefully. She was constantly worried about Rachel's safety, while she was on her journey.
Giving into her constant worries, Sharyn decided to leave her roost, while her husband and her eldest daughter were sound asleep. As she spread out her wings, taking off from her perch, she flew high up the tall tree to clear her mind. Suddenly, in the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of something that she recognized all too well. It was the very same branch that her youngest daughter would routinely roost at, when she wanted to get away from it all.
Her heart sank and her eyes welled with tears, as she missed her daughter terribly. With her thoughts on Rachel, she decided to fly over to her personal perch and roost there. 'Oh, Rachel. My brave, free-spirited daughter... I miss you so. Please, be safe.' She thought to herself. Even though her worries of her daughter's safety in an unknown, dangerous new world outside the human city was overpowering and overwhelming, a mother's love and faith was stronger.
Sharyn's faith was so strong, she couldn't help but gaze up at the sky through the tiny glass dome and pray to the goddess, Nocturna, in song.
I pray you'll be my eyes
And watch her where she goes
And help her to be wise
Help me to let go
Every mother's prayer, every child knows
As she sang her prayers, she began to have a flashback of the very day Rachel was born and was so small and innocent.
Lead her to a place, guide her with your grace
To a place where she'll be safe
While Sharyn gazed continuously at the evening sky, the sun sank down on the horizon until it could no longer be seen. Then the moon appeared, brightening the night sky, followed by the stars as they danced and sparkled like diamonds.
The stars were sparkling so much, it was almost as if they were forming in the face of a bat. Sharyn felt as if Nocturna, herself, was listening to her prayers as she continued to sing.
I pray she finds your light
And holds it in her heart
As darkness falls each night
Remind her where you are
Sharyn began to have another flashback, this time, it was of the day Rachel hugged her and her family before taking off into the unknown and experiencing her first migration.
Every mother's prayer, every child knows
Need to find a place
Guide her to a place
Give her faith so she'll be safe
As both the flashback and Nocturna's face within the constellations faded away, Sharyn finished her prayers with tears streaming down her cheeks and a voice that strong.
Lead her to a place, guide her with your grace
Then she closed her eyes as her voice descended both softly and soothingly like a silent prayer.
To a place where she'll be safe
Meanwhile, back in the Northern forest, the Silverwings were roosting in their Tree Haven. Soon it would be time to wake up and go hunting. Shade and his mother, Ariel, had just woken up from their slumber, and Shade looked to his right to see that Rachel was still sound asleep. He couldn't help but smile, seeing how peaceful and comfortable she looked. However, he had to get her to wake up, especially if she was going to migrate with him and the rest of the Siverwing.
Shade shook her shoulder a little to wake her up as he whispered softly "Psst. Hey Rachel, wake up."
She moaned as she was slowly waking up, "Mmmh huh? Wh-what is it?"
"It's time to wake up," he added, "and to start your first day of learning before we leave for Hibernaculum." He reminded her with a smirk on his face before he shook her shoulder a second time. "C'mon sleepy head, let's go."
Rachel finally woke up after the second shaking. "Okay, okay. I'm up, I'm up." As she spoke, she detached herself from her roost and landed on a flat branch below the roost. She then stretched out her arms, while she gave out a big yawn and rubbed her eyes. After blinking a few times to adjust her eyes, she turns to Shade and asks "So, what's the first thing on our to-do list before the migration?"
Before Shade could say anything, Rachel's stomach rumbled like a roaring thunder. She blushed sheepishly with a slight hint of embarrassment and chuckled.
Shade couldn't help but smile as he joked, "I'd say our first priority would be to go hunting and get you something to eat."
Rachel smirked back at him and chuckled. Then an idea came to Shade, "Hey, I know. I'll teach you to hunt. I can give you a few pointers along the way. What do you think?"
Rachel just looked at him dumbly, as if telling "are you kidding me?" like he thinks that she doesn't even know how to hunt. She crossed her arms and smiled, "Shade just because I was born in human captivity, doesn't mean that I don't know how to be a bat. I know how to hunt."
"Oh," was all Shade could say, now feeling more sheepish than her. Apparently, he was willing to teach her everything he had learned from his mom and his elders. Probably because he wants to be more independent.
Rachel giggled finding it both sweet and adorable of Shade to willingly try and have some experience of teaching her. Then she hummed in thought, while placing her left index claw on her chin, "Well then again… I did leave my colony to gain experience out here… and to learn from another bat's point of view." She smiled, while gesturing him to lead the way. "Care to show me the ropes?"
Shade's eyes lit up and he smiled back with glee. He had been wanting to teach her from the moment they met. "C'mon. Let's get started," and with that, he and his new best friend spread out their wings and took off towards the exit.
As they continued on, they flew past the lake and an old log. The two teens landed on the branch of a nearby tree preparing to start the Goldwing's first hunting lesson. "Alright teacher, what's the first step in our little hunting lesson?" Rachel friendly teased Shade, while awaiting on his instructions.
Shade laughed and decided to play along. "Well my young pupil," he instructed in a deep voice trying to sound like an adult, "let's see you master your echolocation. Allow me to demonstrate. Like this… "
He took a deep breath and let out a high pitched screech allowing the echolocation to travel into the distance humming softly like it was singing. It sounded so harmonious that Rachel felt enchanted by the sweet sound. When it bounced back, they could both see a moose munching on grass.
"Alright." She smirked. With that, she looked to her left and let a screech. Her echolocation bounced back in the image of a tiger moth. Then she turned back to Shade, while crossing her arms, "How's that, teach?"
"Hey! Not bad," he complimented. Suddenly, their little hunting lesson was cut off when something fast, fuzzy and orange flew past them. It was a tiger moth. Shade licked his chops as he watched the moth fly around until it landed on a flower and began drinking it's nectar.
"Mmm, tiger moths," he explains to Rachel. "They taste way better than weevils. They're a lot harder to catch but worth it."
Rachel was quite fascinated by this knowledge, "Are they really?"
Shade nodded his head. "Yup."
She hummed in thought. Then an idea popped into her head. "Well, I do like a challenge," she admitted. Shade didn't quite understand what she meant by that. Before she could say anything, the Goldwing spread out her wings took off after the tiger moth, without hesitating.
She used her echolocation and it bounced back to her with a vivid, colorful image of a tiger moth. Hearing the echolocation, the moth flew from the flower trying to get away from the gold-wing hunter. The Goldwing sped up fast, dodging the trees, not taking her eyes off of the moth as if her instincts were taking over. And then, without hesitation, she clinged onto a tree and zoomed in on her prey. She stunned it by swiping it down with her wing, and snatched it in her mouth in mid-air.
She flew back to Shade on their shared branch. When Rachel bit off the tiger moth's head and upper torso, her taste buds went wild. Before swallowing she exclaimed, "Mmmm! Shade, you were right! These tiger moths are the best!" Then she began to shove the rest of the moth into her mouth while she continued to talk with her mouth full, "This totally beats the mosquitoes and crickets I eat back home!"
Shade just stood there, speechless. His eyes were wide and his lower jaw dropped, shocked and amazed by what he had just witnessed. "Wow!" was all he could say. Then he exclaimed with a wide smile on his face, "Rachel, that was amazing! I have never seen a move like that before! Where did you learn that?!"
"Practice," she smirked while shrugging her shoulders, "I'm a fast learner."
Shade smirked as he teased, "Are you sure this is your first time out here?"
She gave him a sarcastic look, "Ha ha. Very funny."
Shade couldn't help but laugh. Then he heard the flapping of wings heading towards them. It was Frieda.
She landed right beside Shade and Rachel. "Ah, there you are Rachel. I take it that Shade is teaching you something interesting?" she asked the Goldwing.
"Yes, he is Frieda."
"Excellent." Then the elder turned to the young Silverwing, "Well done Shade. I am so glad that you volunteered to teach Rachel our ways. You two keep up the good work."
Rachel smiled and giggled seeing her new best friend looking bashful. Just before Frieda was about to take off to go hunting, Rachel stopped her in her tracks. "Frieda wait. Before you go, I've been meaning to ask you something."
The elder turned to hear what the young Goldwing had to say, "Yes?" she asked, waiting for the girl's question.
"Well… You see, when Shade first brought me to your colony, I only saw the females and their pups, but I didn't see any other males besides Mercury. Where are all the males?"
Somehow, Frieda knew that Rachel was going to ask that. "The males of our colony are roosting, while waiting for us at Stone Hold." she answered.
"Stone Hold?" Rachel asked, sounding a little confused.
"Yes. It's where they go to a week after their mates have their offspring." Frieda explained.
Rachel felt a little puzzled and concerned. "So… all of the pups in your colony haven't met their father's yet?"
"That is correct. That's how it is in our colony." Frieda could sense the girl's disappointment and she quickly reassured her sympathetically. "But do not fret, Rachel. Once we begin our migration, we will be stopping at Stone Hold to join with the males and then we will continue our journey to Hibernaculum."
Rachel smiled back at the elder. At least she'll have a chance to meet Shade's father on the way to Hibernaculum.
After Frieda took off to hunt, Rachel turned to Shade. "I'm so looking forward to this trip, Shade," she said. "We both get to meet your dad along the way."
Shade looked away, sounding both uncertain and upset, "Actually Rachel, I… uh… I-" He paused for a moment and he gave a sad sigh.
Rachel's eyes lit up, her heart sank, and she slightly placed her left hand over her mouth, finally understanding his silence. He lost his father. "Oh… Shade I am so sorry. I had no idea."
But before he could say anything, somebody called out "Hey runt!" Shade and Rachel turned to their left and noticed three Silverwing teens flying towards them. Two of them were male, and one of them was a female. Rachel had to assume that they were Shade's friends.
Shade, however, grumbled when one of the three teens called him a runt and he knew right away who it was that said that. "Hi Chinook," Shade greeted one of the male teens in annoyance, while rolling his eyes.
The female teen landed on Rachel's right, while two male teens roosted on the branch above them and Shade .
The female teen had violet fur, a light purple mane, dark purple wings, blonde hair, and light yellow eyes.
"Hi," she friendly greeted the Goldwing, admiring her hair and her wings. "You must be the Goldwing girl that everyone's been talking about?"
Rachel felt a little weirded out as the female teen was staring at her wings, but she tried not to show it. "Yes, I am. My name's Rachel."
"My name is Breeze," the female teen responded. She then pointed to her friends. "And this Todd and Chinook."
Chinook was taller than Rachel and Shade. He had dark blue fur matching his wings, blue hair matching his mane with streak of dark blue, and green eyes.
Todd was about Shade's height, only a few inches taller. He was a chubby bat with light blue fur matching his wings, dark orange hair matching his mane, and light yellow eyes.
"We heard that you were out hunting with Shade, and we thought we would drop by to say 'hi'." Todd added. "We've never seen a Goldwing before."
Breeze continued to admire Rachel's gold-dusted. "Wow. Look at the gold dust in her wings. They're beautiful." She then took a glance at the silver band on Rachel's left arm. "And she's banded just like Frieda."
Chinook smiled at Shade with a hint of jealousy. "You're showing the new girl the ropes and didn't invite us?" he teased, annoying Shade. Clearly there was a rivalry going on between those two.
Chinook walked over to Rachel, shoving the runt aside. "Well, you are pretty enough... for an odd, unfamiliar bat I mean." he smiled trying to impress her.
Unfortunately, his idea of impressing her didn't go exactly as well as he had hoped. She gave him an annoyed expression, lifting one eyebrow and crossing her arms, as she did not find that amusing... at all. This was because, according to Rachel, she was not into big hotshot flirts. She never was.
"And you are more than arrogant enough," she retorted in annoyance.
Chinook was a bit stunned that she rebounded his little flirt. Shade secretly snickered and gently covered his mouth with his fist, trying to hold his laughter. 'Ouch.' He thought. Well, at least Shade wasn't the only one who finds Chinook's showing-off irritating.
Chinook's cheeks were slightly blushing with embarrassment and he cleared his throat. "Anyway... rumor has it that you wanted to get out more. Is that true?" He asked her, deciding to change the subject.
Rachel nodded. She did her absolute best to explain to Shade's friends as they each asked her about her life, living among the humans, and so on.
"Do the Goldwings in your colony have gold dust in their wings like yours?" Breeze, who was still amazed by Rachel's wings, asked with both curiosity and excitement.
"Uh, no. I'm the only one." Rachel shook her head. She then continued to explain how she was the only one in her colony who wanted to be more experienced. She even told them about her parents, her sister, and of her wise elder, Nicodemus.
"Wow. You're lucky. You and the other young Goldwings get to see your dads everyday." Todd added. "You must miss your colony by now, huh?"
The young Goldwing didn't want to deny it. "Yeah. I just wish they were here to experience this moment with me. They would've loved this."
"So… how are you liking it so far?" Chinook asked with wonder.
"I love it," she exclaimed. "There's so much I wanna see and do out here. Feel the sun's warmth on my wings an-"
The three Silverwing teens, including Shade, all gasped in fright by what she just said. Rachel stared at them with one eyebrow up, looking a little confused. "Wha-what did I say?"
"She doesn't know." Breeze said to the boys.
"I don't know what?" Rachel asked, still a little confused.
Chinook looked at Shade with a worried expression on his face and asked "You didn't tell her, did you runt?"
Rachel continued to stare at the Silverwing teens with confusion and concerns, wanting to know what they were talking about. Then she turned to Shade with concern. "Didn't tell me what? Shade what's going on?"
Shade just stood there rubbing the back of his neck, guilty for leaving out a very important detail about the Northern forest. Well, she was gonna to find out sooner or later, so he decided to let it out and tell her. "Uh... Rachel... we're... we're not allowed to see the sun."
Goldwing16's Notes(s):
Hiya guys! That's Chapter 7!
So far Rachel is learning something new every wingbeat AND she is loving it... except for the sun law, which she had just found out. One word... "YIKES!" What will she think now?
Find out in Chapter 8. Stay tuned.