Chapter 8

The Law

Rachel just stood there stunned, puzzled and confused. She couldn't believe what she had just heard. She didn't understand what Shade meant by the "We're not allowed to see the sun" part. She was quiet for a moment before she finally spoke, "What do you mean you're not allowed to see the sun? I-I don't understand."

Shade and his friends tried their very best to explain. "Well…" Breeze started, "We bats of the Northern forest are forbidden to be outside during the day."

"Forbidden?" Rachel still couldn't believe what she was hearing. "What do you mean 'forbidden', and by whom?"

"That's the law," Chinook added.

"And the punishment is..." Todd gulped before he continued, "... death."

"What?!" Rachel gasped in shock of this horrifying, yet outrageous news. A law that forbids bats to fly in the daytime! This made her heart sink in disappointment, before it shattered. Then she turned to Shade, desperately, wishing it wasn't true. "Shade...? Tell me this isn't true."

Shade sighed as he sadly let his head hang from his shoulders. He didn't want to lie to her nor did he want to disappoint her, but she was bound to find out about the law sooner or later. After a brief moment, the small Silverwing looked his new friend in the eye, before he regretfully answered her question. "I'm sorry Rachel... but," he sighed, " ... it's true."

It took a few minutes for the Goldwing to process all she was hearing.

Shade continued to further explain, "We can't be out in daylight because of the owls. They patrol the entire forest to make sure we don't break that law. And ... the law is also the reason why I rushed you to come back to Tree Haven with me. I should've told you about the law sooner. I'm sorry."

Rachel stammered, "But I-I still don't understand. I-I thought the bats of the Northern forest were all free. That's why I left my colony and came here... to be free."

All four Silverwing teens only shook their heads. "Sorry new girl, but it's been like that for a thousand years." said Chinook. "That's the way things are around here."

All this time, Rachel had both assumed and believed that all Northern bats were free bats, only to find that they don't really have complete freedom.

This brought back a familiar feeling that Rachel was far too familiar with. Back at the conservatory, she felt that Daria and the humans were not giving her and her colony the actual freedom that they deserve. Plus the other Goldwings have always made her feel like an outcast.

No! Rachel refused to let the Silverwings and other bats be treated the same way she had been treated her whole life. Plus she wasn't going to back down from what she had always believed in, for she stayed true to her opinion. "But that's not fair!" she argued, taking the young Silverwings by surprise. "The owls shouldn't be treating you all like outcasts. I believe that all bats of the Northern forest deserve to be treated with the same amount of respect as the owls, and they should have every right to see the sun."

Three of the four Silverwings looked at her for a second and then at each other. Then Chinook broke the silence with a sudden burst of laughter, followed by Todd and Breeze, as they thought that it was a joke.

"Ha! Yeah... g-good luck with that new girl." Chinook joked, calming down his laughter.

Shade did not find that funny. In fact, he gave thought to what Rachel had said just now. Maybe it's time for the bats to be treated equally and have the right to fly during the day.

As Shade gazed at the horizon, still having his thoughts on Rachel's opinion, Chinook decided to change the subject again by talking about his dad. But while he was boasting, Shade's thoughts were suddenly cut off by the rumbling of his stomach. He was so busy showing Rachel the ways of the Northern forest that he completely forgot to eat for himself. Rather than listen to Chinook's constant bragging, Shade decided to go hunting.

Before taking off, he quickly turned to Rachel, who too was getting irritated by Chinook's bragging. He whispered in her ear, informing her that he was going to grab a bite and be right back. She nodded and watched him take off into the air as he quickly spotted a tiger moth drinking nectar from a nearby flower and he zoomed after it.

The young Goldwing followed Shade's every move as he constantly used his echolocation, keeping track of that tiger moth. Of course to him it was no easy task. That bug just wouldn't keep still.

Then Rachel blinked when she suddenly noticed a swarm of tiger moths appear out of nowhere. 'What? Where did they come from?' She thought in bewilderment. But just as Shade took a bite, one of the moths faded, as if it wasn't really there to begin with. He tried the other few but they too faded away. Then the rest of the swarm vanished without a trace.

Rachel was stunned and amazed by what she had just witnessed. 'What was that?!' She thought to herself. It was as if the tiger moth used some sort of illusion to outsmart its attacker. Clever bug.

Shade exclaimed "Hey!", after realizing that he let his meal slip past him, but that did not stop him from licking his chops hungrily and he tried again.

Rachel cheered for him with encouragement. "C'mon Shade! You can take 'em! I know you can! Don't give up!"

Chinook noticed that Rachel was watching Shade trying to catch a tiger moth, and a hint of jealousy went into his head thinking that the runt was trying to impress her.

In order to impress the Goldwing better, he took off from his roost and went after the very tiger moth that Shade was hunting. Rachel saw Chinook in the corner of her eye and was about to protest "Chinook wait don't-", but he ignored her.

In that moment, after gaining enough speed, Shade had finally caught up to the moth. He opened his mouth and was about to bite into the tiger moth when all of a sudden... SWOOSH... Chinook had swooped in and snatched the insect at the last minute, causing Shade to yelp and spin in the air.

Rachel groaned in defeat, "No! So close!"

Chinook flew back to where Rachel and his friends were, and roosted between her and the others. Todd and Breeze cheered Chinook on for catching the moth so quickly.

"Woohoo! Way to go Chinook!" Todd congratulated.

"Who's the bat? You the bat!" Breeze added, "Cool technique!"

Chinook munched on the moth he stole from Shade and swallowed it down before he spoke with an arrogant smile, "I know."

"That tiger moth never saw what hit him!" Breeze swung her fist in the air with encouragement.

"Ha! Neither did Shade." Chinook and the rest of his friends began laughing. Rachel only glared at him, while crossing her arms, not at all impressed by what he just did.

Shade flew back to join his friends, completely out of breath. He roosted on Chinook's right, both hurt and frustrated by him stealing his moth. "Hey, I could've had him," he protested.

"Coulda-woulda-shoulda." Chinook taunted and roughly poked at Shade with his right clawed index finger, making him lose his balance and fall onto the lower branch.

"Chinook that tiger moth wasn't yours to begin with," Rachel retorted in protest. "It was Shade's fair and square. He never had a chance to eat anything all night, because he was teaching me."

Chinook thoughtlessly chuckled at her words. "Oh please. He was just trying to impress you by showing off his so-called 'hunting skills'." He crossed his arms before he continued, "Beside, you still have a lot more to learn around here. I'd be happy to be a better teacher than Shade."

Rachel continued to glare at him for his obnoxious behavior towards her and Shade. Chinook most certainly reminds her too much of Roland back in the artificial forest.

Chinook smirked at Shade, who in turn glared back at him. "Don't sweat it runt. Only the best hunters can see through the moth's echo protection."

Shade scoffed in reply before correcting the big jerk, "Echo protection? The word is echo projection, and don't call me runt!"

"Really?" Chinook sneered in his face, acting like he didn't know that. He then turned his back on Shade, blocking him out while giving his full attention to a not-so-impressed Goldwing and his friends. "Now, where was I before I was forced to eat yet another tiger moth?"

Shade rolled his eyes as well, followed by a sigh. He was really getting tired of Chinook constantly stealing his grubs and then rubbing it in his face.

"You were telling us about your dad." Breeze recalled. Rachel thought that Breeze was acting like she was one of Chinooks admirers. This kind of reminded her of the Roland fangirls back home.

Chinook reminisced of where he left off about his father. "Oh, he's big. Big enough to kill an owl!" The bragger swung around and stood on top of his branch with his wings spread out, making himself seem bigger.

"Wow…" Breeze swooned.

"That's... even bigger than what you said last time." Todd said, sounding unsure.

'Last time?' The Goldwing thought. Then her eyes lit, finally getting the big picture as she continued to think, 'Oh I get it. He's making all this up just to get attention. And I thought Roland was annoying!'

"Kill an owl?" Shade laughed as he wrapped himself in his wings. "I don't think so."

Chinook repositioned right between Shade and Rachel. With a challenging glare, he roughly shoved Shade to his knees. "You calling me a liar, runt?!"

Rachel was beginning to feel like this whole rivalry thing between the two teens was getting way out of hand, and was gonna try to stop it before somebody crosses a line. "Uh, Chinook..."

Shade tried to choose his words more carefully as he got back up on his feet. "Not... technically?"

"My father's huge!" Chinook shouted as he spread his wings, shoving Shade off his feet again, only this time it was on purpose. "You'll see him once we get to Hibernaculum." He continued as he grabbed Shade by the arm, picking him up to examine his wings and then tosses him a little, "If your runty little wings can make the migration. But then again, why bother when you don't have a dad anyway?"

Rachel had her hands over her mouth as she gasped. Chinook had most definitely, thoughtlessly, crossed the line.

Shade's eyes flared with anger. "Don't talk about my dad like that!" he snapped at Chinook.

"Your dad was bad news!" Chinook retorted. He then grabbed Shade by his mane and shoved him some more, before he continued. "He was a troublemaker and a coward."

Shade growled at him with a scowl on his face. "My dad was not a coward! You fruit bat." He muttered that last part.

Rachel got in between the two rivals and pushed them apart. She had to break up the fight, before things went too far. "Guys! Knock it off." she protested.

"Yeah! Listen to the human's pet." Chinook mocked with a smirk on his face.

Rachel's eyes flared in an instant by what he just called her. That name really struck a nerve. She firmly grabbed Chinook by the scruff of his mane and turned her gaze towards him, still having that frightening glare on her face. The jerk was then taken by surprise, completely shaken by her sudden anger.

'Uh-oh. Bad move, Chinook.' Shade thought nervously, seeing Rachel so livid.

"Alright buddy, let's get a few things straight shall we?" Rachel snapped angrily. "First of all... I am many things, but I am nobody's pet! You got that!?" She let go of Chinook's mane before she continued, "Second of all... just because you're bigger than someone, it doesn't mean that you can look down on them. A true friend is allowed to tease one another, but he is never allowed to bully. And to top it all off, I know for a fact that you and all the other pups have never actually seen your dads. Frieda told me that he and all the other males are waiting for us at Stone Hold right now. So please, for the love of Nocturna and everything that is holy... KNOCK IT OFF YOU ANNOYING, ARROGANT, SELF-CENTERED SON OF A WEASEL!"

Chinook and his friends flinched when she bellowed. They would all agree that when Rachel gets angry, she can be really scary.

Shade was completely stunned. He had to admit that he was pretty scared of her anger, but he was also quite impressed by how she handled Chinook. No bat has ever stood up for him like that before. 'Wow.' He thought as he smiled softly.

Breeze looked up at the horizon and noticed that dawn was coming and just in the nick of time too. "Sun's coming up!" She alerted nervously, quickly changing the subject. "Gotta get back to Tree Haven."

"Come on Chinook. Let's go." Todd agreed with Breeze, as he didn't want things to get any worse.

Chinook tried to put on a brave face to cover up his fear and his wounded pride. Then he gave the Goldwing a warning glare. "You better watch your mouth."

"You first, dingbat." She crossed her arms, glaring right back at him.

"Let's fly!" He spread his wings out almost knocking out Shade and Rachel out. Luckily, neither of them fell from their perch. Then Chinook and friends took off, heading for Tree Haven, while leaving both Shade and Rachel behind.

"Come on, you two!" Breeze called out to them.

"You guys go!" Shade yelled back, making himself more comfortable by roosting on the branch. "Rachel and I are going to hang around here and see the sun."

Well that certainly took Rachel by surprise. 'Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! Did he just say...?' She thought with a puzzling look.

Chinook was even more surprised than the Goldwing that he skidded in midair, making Todd and Breeze accidentally bump into him from behind. The three teens rushed back to the branch to where Shade and Rachel were at. Shade flew up from his roost and landed in front of the Goldwing.

"See the sun?" Chinook asked, sounding surprised just as he and his friends landed.

"You heard me." Shade taunted him with a smug smirk.

"I heard you. I don't believe you." Chinook retorted.

Breeze pitched in with terror in her eyes, trying to convince the Shade to not go through with the idea. "You can't be outside when the sun comes up! The owls will kill you!"

Shade ignored her, while he still had a smirk on his face. "Don't believe me Chinook? Then join me. Aren't you curious?" He dared him.

Chinook stood there for a moment and then he pointed at Shade trying to be cool. He certainly wasn't going to let the runt steal his thunder and impress Rachel any further. "Maybe I am, runt." he retorted, accepting his dare.

"Are you out of your mind? It's against the law!" Todd exclaimed.

"So? It's a stupid law, right Chinook?" Shade asked Chinook but he didn't say anything. Then Shade continued, "Besides, Rachel is right. We should have every right to go out during the day. The bats have been living in the Northern forest as long as the owls have, and we should be treated as equals. I'd say we help Rachel feel more free than she has ever felt in a lifetime." Then he winked at her in support.

Rachel was touched by his words. She was heartened that he was on her side and shared her beliefs. She was even happier to know that he wanted to help her make a big change in the world.

"What do ya say, Rachel?" Shade encouraged her. "Are you up to the challenge?"

"I'm all in." She replied excitedly.

Chinook just stood there, feeling a little unsure about this whole dare. Todd, on the other hand, did not want to get involved and preferred to head back to Tree Haven. "Guys, it's morning and we should really be inside," he said nervously as he took off into the air.

"I'm with you Todd." Breeze agreed and she took off to join him.

After Todd and Breeze were gone, Shade, Rachel and Chinook just stood quietly on their branch for a few minutes. Then Chinook broke the silence with a forced carefree tone, despite the scared and nervous look in his eyes. "So, what are we gonna do? Just… hang out?" he asked with a hint of hesitation.

"I thought that maybe we could fly up top. Get a better view." Shade replied as he opened up his wings. He looked over his shoulder at the Goldwing, "You ready, Rachel?" She nodded, and the two rebel friends took off to a higher branch without saying another word.

Chinook hesitated for a moment before following them. "Really?" He asked, sounding puzzled. Then he took off to join them on the high branch. Chinook roosted on the right, while Rachel roosted on the left, leaving Shade right in the middle as they all faced east at the horizon glowing a beautiful yellow.

"Well, I guess that's the sun." Chinook said with obvious uneasiness as he looked over to his companions with a nervous smile, "let's head back."

Shade sighed, "That's just the preglow."

"Oh." Chinook was starting to get all fidgety. "Well… sure hope there's no owls around. Right?"

Shade only gave the little show-off a mischievous smirk "What do you care? According to you, bats can kill owls."

"He's got a point," Rachel added.

"Hey, you know what I was just thinking? We could… not see the sun and say we saw it? How about that?" Chinook cowardly suggested, wearing a fake smile and tapped his claws together; hoping that Shade and Rachel would change their minds.

"Oh, really?" Shade asked with a knowing look, while Rachel mischievously hummed with a smirk.

Chinook eagerly nodded but then he began to tremble with fear. Neither Shade nor Rachel dared move a muscle. The two rebellious teens smirked at each other, for they both knew that they would win this fight. Before long, that little chickenwing Chinook couldn't take it anymore and he cowardly zoomed off back to Tree Heaven.

Shade and Rachel watched as the "scaredy bat" continued to fly as fast as his wings could carry him. 'Chickenwing,' the young Goldwing thought as she giggled at Chinook's reaction. Shade turned back to watch the sunrise with a triumphant smile. Then Rachel scooted a little closer to him as they both watched the sun slowly rising.

Within minutes, the sun finally poked its head above the horizon. As it did, the two friends both hissed and shielded their eyes with their wings. Neither of them have ever experienced something so bright before. The sun was so bright that it could easily blind a mole. After adjusting their eyes to the sun's blinding light, Shade and Rachel gasped in astonishment. From that very glimpse of the sun, it was love at first sight. This remarkably wonderful experience was beautiful beyond compare.

Shade exhaled in satisfaction and a smile broke out on his face. "It's so beautiful," he softly exclaimed, "… and warm."

"Yes… it is," Rachel agreed, while she was under the enchantment of the gleaming sun. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "I could stay up here forever." she breathed.

Rachel was savoring this life-changing moment and letting the sun's warmth sink into her gold-dusted wings, unaware that they had suddenly begun to glow on their own, as the gold dust sparkled in the sun's light. Shade had secretly noticed right from the corner of his eye and was amazed by her glowing wings. Then he stared back at the sun, not wanting her to know that he was staring at her wings.

Suddenly, their magical sun-gazing moment was broken when a shadow appeared followed by a ferocious screech. It was a huge grey owl and it was charging right at Shade and Rachel. The two teens gasped in horror as they detached themselves from their perch and quickly took off into the woods, right before the owl's talons pierced through the branch.

"Fly!" Shade shouted at Rachel, as they both flapped their wings as hard as they could. Rachel looked back to see that the owl was still pursuing them and she quickly looked away. As they desperately continued to fly in an attempt to lose the owl, Rachel caught a glimpse of a hollow log.

"Shade, down there!" she yelled out to him. He looked down and saw the hollow log, knowing what she was thinking.

"Come on!" Shade yelled back to her and they both swooped down into the tunnel of the log.

The owl continued to chase them, and its strong, powerful talons crashed through the log, but the young bats managed to exit to the other side without getting crushed. Shade and Rachel dodged through the trees in their continued attempt to escape the owl's clutches.

Rachel felt her heart racing so hard that she thought for sure it was going to burst. When she saw a branch up ahead, a light bulb lit up in the Goldwing's head. With no second thought, Rachel grabbed the branch with her feet. She then called out to Shade to help her pull. The two strainly grunted and gritted their teeth as they bent it as far as it could go and then they let it go. The branch sharply swung back and then… WHAM… it smacked right into the owl, sending him flying backwards.

Rachel let out an exciting laugh as she and Shade continued flying. "YES! Did you see that? Direct hit!"

Shade looked behind and he was happy to see that there was no sign of the owl. But just as he looked ahead, the owl suddenly reappeared in front of them and the two teens cried out in surprise. Rachel skidded to a halt, but Shade didn't stop in time and smacked right into the owl's feathery chest.

"Shade!" Rachel shouted fearfully.

The little Silverwing poked his head out and looked up to see the owl's penetrating eyes as it screeched mercilessly. Shade gasped before he dove back into the owl's feathers, but the owl grabbed him by the wing with its beak, trying to pull him out. But Shade kept a tight grasp on one of its feathers. When the owl finally got the small Silverwing out of its chest, Shade plucked out a feather, which angered the owl even further and it went after him again.

Shade cried out and tossed aside the feather he plucked and then he and Rachel flew around a tree and made their way across the lake towards Tree Haven.

Rachel looked over her shoulder at him. "Shade! Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Rachel. Just keep going!" Shade flapped next to her. "Go, go, go! Head for Tree Haven!"

Rachel panted heavily as she continued on trying to get to safety. The teens were half way across the lake when the owl pinned Rachel on a huge rock underwater, attempting to drown her. Shade gasped in horror and plunged to rescue her, but she managed to free herself from the owl's grasp. Once Rachel was free, she burst out of the water, gasping and coughing for air. In anger, the owl had the huge rock in its talons and tossed it aside in anger.

"Almost there! Almost..." Rachel cried out desperately, as the owl drew closer, talons at the ready, until finally she and Shade managed to dive straight through the knot hole of Tree Heaven. As they made it through the entrance, Rachel hit the ground, rolling a couple of times.

The owl tried to use its talons to snatch them from inside the tree. As they were raking across the wood of the entrance, Shade grabbed Rachel's left hand and pulled her away. Her right arm was slightly scratched by one of the owl's sharp talons in the process. Shade pulled her back against the wall and spread out his wings in an attempt to shield her.

With one last irritating screech, the owl finally gave up and flew away.

Golwing16's Note(s):

Here it is... Chapter 8!

FUN FACT(S):

1. When it comes to Rachel... if you want to stay on her good side, never and repeat NEVER ever call her a "human's pet". She hates that. No, I mean she REALLY hates that.

2. Now if you guys recall a unique, MAGICAL detail about Rachel back from Chapter 1 and 3... her gold-dusted wings glow whenever she sings, like Rapunzel's magic glowing hair from Tangled. But when Rachel looked at the sun and savored the moment... they started to GLOW ON THEIR OWN! "Now how is that possible!?" you're probably wondering right now. I guess, like God, Rachel's wing work in mysterious ways.

Will Rachel unravel the mystery of her wings throughout the trip? Will she be banished from the Silverwing colony for breaking the law? Find out in Chapter 9.