Chapter 16
The Bat In The Belfry Part 1: Zephyr/Nocturna Help The Outcasts
Rachel, Shade and Marina flew further away from the pigeon court, until Marina heard the chiming of church bells. The Brightwing turned her gaze towards a building with two belfries… and a cross! It was a cathedral!
"Shade. Rachel. There it is!" Marina exclaimed.
"What?" asked the wounded Silverwing.
"The tower… with the cross. It's from your soundmap."
"That's where they were meant to stop." he exclaimed. Despite his torn wing, the little Silverwing forced himself to speed up his pace towards the cathedral, followed by Rachel and Marina.
As they were drawing near, Marina noticed something on the belfry. With her echolocation, she gave out a frightful gasp. Rachel quickly noticed and gasped as well, gesturing the Brightwing to grab Shade and follow her to the ledge of a nearby building. Marina nodded and quickly grabbed Shade by his mane which made him jump in surprise.
When they reached the ledge of the building, Marina gently landed Shade behind Rachel, and then looked over the corner.
"Hey! What's the big deal?" Shade protested, but Rachel quickly covered his mouth and shushed him before gesturing him to look over the corner.
When Shade peeked over Marina's shoulder, he finally understood why. There were three pigeon sentries perching on the belfry. No doubt they were scanning for any Silverwings in the area. One of the pigeons Rachel recognized was Hegland. Poor guy was still scared stiff from witnessing his friend's murder and now he is forced to find the Silverwings, especially when he knew for certain that they're innocent.
Noticing a lamp illuminating the belfry from below, Marina got an idea and a mischievous smirk spread across her face. Both Shade and Rachel, noticing Marina's smile, looked down to the lamp and knew right away what she was planning.
"Ooh… I see where this is going." Rachel smirked, with a chuckle.
Marina nodded, then turned to Shade. "Follow me."
Without drawing any attention, Rachel carefully followed Shade and Marina as they secretly flew over to the lamp. Marina explained to them the plan on how to scare off the pigeons above them. And knowing that Rachel's gold-dusted wings would draw the pigeons' attention in the light, like they did before in the clock tower, Shade volunteered despite his injured wing. Now Rachel never really liked being told to stay put, but she knew that he was right and agreed to stay out of the light.
Meanwhile, the nervous Hegland was all willy-nilly while on night guard duty, especially after what he'd been through. He whimpered as he scanned his surroundings, afraid he might run into those giant bats again and wind up like his friend. His fellow sentries didn't take him seriously and found his fearful state amusing.
One of the sentries laughed at Hegland. "Quit being such a scaredy bird."
"They were like these stone monsters come to life." Hegland said as he nervously stared at the decorated gargoyle sitting on the ledge of the belfry. While he wasn't looking, the sentry smirked mischievously and gently tapped his back. This caused poor Hegland to jump and gasp, and the sentries laughed at his reaction.
Hegland stood there looking rather annoyed and unamused. "Laugh all you want." he said, his annoyed face grew to fear as he began to shiver. "I know it's not safe out here."
As he trembled with fear, Hegland noticed something moving from the corner of his eye. He turned around to see two giant bat-shaped shadows and screamed from the top of his lungs. His sentries looked back to see what he was screaming at and saw the giant bat shadows too. Screaming and panicking, three pigeon sentries flapped their wings like crazy, bumping and tripping into each other. They took off, flying away from the belfry as fast as possible, shouting "We're all gonna die!"
When the night guards were out of sight, Shade and Marina, who were flapping over the lamp, began laughing at the pigeons' reaction. Rachel held onto her sides and had a hard time breathing from laughing too hard.
"They fell for it!" Shade laughed.
Marina couldn't stop laughing. "I-I thought someone was going to break a wing trying to get away first!"
"Oh man! I think you guys did that a little too well!" Rachel said with a hearty laugh.
After a good laugh, three teens flew up to the very ledge the pigeon sentries were posted at and took the time to calm down their laughter. Suddenly Shade's torn wing caused him to cry and wince in pain.
"Shade!" Rachel quickly hopped over to him worriedly and held out her hand. "Here, let me see." Shade carefully opened up his right wing and let Rachel examine his injury. She groaned and inhaled through her teeth by how badly torn it was. "Wow. That looks really painful." Then she noticed that Shade was looking rather distracted. He kept looking back and forth searching for something. "Shade, what is it? "
The young Silverwing turned to his friends, looking disappointed. "The colony isn't here."
"Do you think we've missed them already?" Marina asked softly.
Shade sighed and looked down, "I don't know."
Rachel hummed in thought with her one claw on her chin. "They probably must've found out that something was going down when they arrived in the city and so they had to skip here and move on to their next resting stop… just to be safe."
"Could be, Rachel." Marina shrugged unsurely.
Trying to figure out what to do next, Shade noticed that he was standing next to the stone gargoyle with its mouth wide open and sticking its tongue out. "Heh. Check out Mr. Ugly over there," he chuckled, pointing at the gargoyle. "Tell me that he doesn't look like a giant bat."
Rachel looked up at the statue and smirked. "Shade, I've seen ugly long before I left home. Believe me." she joked as she was referring to Jenner and Roland back home. Then she and Shade laughed.
Marina rolled her eyes. "Come on, Shade. You don't really believe in giant bats do you? That's just some story made up by scared birds."
"I don't know, Marina." Rachel debated, rubbing her chin in thought. "Something is definitely not right. Back at the pigeon court I noticed the cut on the side of that pigeon… Hegland's neck. It definitely looked like a bat's claw mark, but bigger. That pigeon might've been scared out of his wits, but I think he might be telling the truth."
"Please." Marina rolled her eyes before hopping onto the ledge of the cathedral and spreading out her wings, pretending to be a giant bat. "Ba! You better dash before I dine!" she mocked in a vampire impression.
Rachel couldn't help but give out a hearty chuckle. "Hey, that's not bad."
Then Marina landed next to Shade and put a comforting hand around his shoulder. "Really, Rachel. Giant bats don't exist."
Rachel was about to speak when suddenly…
"Really?" an echoed voice boomed, which made the three teens gasp. They all turned to see that the voice was coming from the stone gargoyle. "You'd be surprised."
Startled, Shade and Marina jumped but Rachel tumbled and landed on her rear end. The statue chuckled gleefully at their reaction. This made Rachel puzzled. 'What the…?' she thought, then she noticed something or someone standing inside the gargoyle's mouth. It was a male elderly bat.
"The world is filled with strange and wonderful things." the elder added as he stepped a little further out of the gargoyle's mouth. "Just because you've never seen them, doesn't mean they don't exist."
"Like… giant bats?" Shade hesitated.
The elderly bat gave a kindly smile to the teens, his eyes shining like two opals, and then he headed back inside the gargoyle's mouth. Rachel and her friends shared puzzled looks to each other before following the elder inside the gargoyle's mouth.
As they entered, Rachel and her friends found themselves inside the belfry where there are dried up herbs and roots hanging from the wooden support beams. At the other side of the belfry was an elderly albino bat, his white hair as long as his height. He was hanging from a wooden beam, scribbling something on the wall with his claw. Rachel and her friends didn't know it, but those scribbles were actually fly patterns and migration routes for different migrating colonies.
"Ah… Greywings leaving right on time." the albino elder cheerfully said to himself.
"Uh… who are you?" Shade asked.
Hearing Shade's voice from behind, the old bat detached himself from his perch and turned his head towards the three teens. Rachel noticed the elder's eyes and she realized that he was blind.
"My name is Zephyr," he greeted warmly, "I am- uh… um…" he paused for a moment and lightly tapped his chin, trying to think of how to describe what he does in the cathedral. "... the bat traffic controller for the migrating colonies." He walked over to the three younger bats. "This city is the central hub through which all colonies pass."
As he explained, Rachel and Marina flew down to closely observe Zephyr's migration chart. Rachel was quite impressed by how one blind elderly bat can accomplish something like this. 'Wow. Amazing!' she exclaimed in thought as she placed her hand on the chart.
Zephyr walked over the girls and continued to explain. "Those are the flight paths my dear… "
"Marina," the Brightwing introduced herself. "My name is Marina. And these are my friends, Rachel and Shade." She pointed to her friends.
Shade flew over to join his friends and Zephyr by the migration chart. "You know where all the colonies are? So… where are the Silverwings?" he asked hopefully.
"Uh… They passed by here about two hours ago, heading south." Zephyr scratched his chin in recap.
"I knew it!" Rachel slammed her fist in her palm. "With everything that's happened in the city, I knew the Silverwings would move on to the next landmark. We're not too far behind!"
"We can catch up with them in no time! Let's go!" Shade beamed.
"Well… off you go then." Zephyr shrugged his shoulders before posting to Shade's injury. "Unless you think that ripped wing of yours will slow you down."
Shade had nearly forgotten about his torn wing. He looked at it and started to feel woozy and fainted. Marina rolled her eyes thinking he was being dramatic. Rachel couldn't help but giggle a little, finding his reaction adorable. 'Big baby,' she thought. Then she kneeled down to inspect Shade's wing. She hissed through her teeth again, "Shade's wing is not looking too good."
Zephyr walked over to Rachel with his hand on her right shoulder, and he gave her a reassuring smile, "Not to worry, my dear. I have a healing poultice for your friend's wing, along with a special herbal flower for that cut on your right arm. I'll be right back."
Rachel was completely dumbfounded. She had completely forgotten about the scratch she got from the glimpsing-the-sun incident. Come to think of it, how did Zephyr know about her scratched up arm if he's blind?
Even Marina was surprised. She had never even noticed the scratch on Rachel's arm. "Hey, yeah! How did that happen, anyway?" she asked curiously.
"When Shade and I saw the sun and got chased by an owl, I got scratched as soon as we made it to Tree Haven." Rachel replied. "Funny thing is I didn't even feel the owl's sharp talons. He got me real good. Luckily it was just a scratch."
"Are you kidding? You're lucky you made it out alive in one piece."
"Heh. You and me both." Rachel chuckled.
At that same time, exhausted from all the flying, the tired Silverwings had reached a valley south of Montreal City. Frieda anxiously waited for Mercury's return from his search for shelter. Her worries withered and an anxious frown turned to a reassuring smile when he finally returned from his search.
"All clear!" he called out to Frieda and then he pointed in the direction where he had found shelter.
"Finally, a place to roost." Frieda sighed happily. She and her scout led the colony down to a water tower which was near the humans' sawmill.
Every Silverwing chose a spot beneath the water tower to rest, the females cuddling close to their pups.
Frieda accompanied the faithful Ariel at her roost as the mother waited for the arrival of her son and the Goldwing. "Frieda, I'm sure Shade and Rachel will catch up." Ariel assured her elder.
"Ariel, we can wait here a few days," the elder suggested.
Bathsheba intervened and landed underneath them. "Frieda! This is no time for the colony to be lazing about!"
Frieda frowned and looked over to see her tired and exhausted colony. Even the stronger flyers ran out of energy. Most of the Silverwings were already fast asleep and a few elders took off from their perch to go hunting.
"The weak should be left behind." The bitter Bathsheba heartlessly suggested.
"The colony arrived together and it will leave together," Frieda insisted with a disapproving stern retort.
Bathsheba gave a furious sigh, sneering before flying off to her roost. Frieda and Ariel were left alone, hopefully waiting for Shade and Rachel to catch up to them.
Back in the belfry, Zephyr had gathered a couple of red berries to heal Shade's wing, along with a white flower-like herb for Rachel's arm. Rachel sat beside the passed-out Silverwing until Zephyr came back with the medicine while Marina sat on a wooden support beam above them.
When the blind elder returned, he first placed the herbal flower on the Goldwing's cut arm and covered it with a special paste to keep it on the wound. After tending to Rachel's arm, Zephyr turned to Shade, who was still out cold. Zephyr squished the poultice in his foot and spread its thick juice on top of the rip in Shade's wing. It had an unpleasant odor which had woken up the unconscious Silverwing.
Rachel caught a whiff of the poultice's oder and she scrunched her nose in disgust. "Ew."
"It smells bad, yes, but it helps heal." said Zephyr, as if he knew what the young Goldwing was thinking.
"When are you going to migrate?" Marina curiously asked the blind elder.
"Never," he replied. "My full name is Zephyrnaia - which means 'protection.' I believe it is my destiny to protect other bats as they migrate."
"But don't you miss your colony?" Marina asked the elder.
"I was abandoned as a baby." he answered before turning towards the Brightwing. "Perhaps you know what that is like?"
Marina sighed as glanced at her band, knowing that Zephyr was referring to her unduly banishment. Rachel's heart sank by Zephyr's backstory. 'Another outcast…' she thought to herself, '... just like me and Marina.'
Shade sniffed at the poultice on his wing. "Ugh! Yuck!" he exclaimed in disgust and shook off the medicine from his wing. "Get this off of me! My wing is fine!"
"That stuff is a healing poultice," Marina corrected the stubborn Silverwing as she flew down to her friends, "and your wing doesn't hurt because it's working."
But instead of listening, Shade simply tried moving his wing, only to gain painful results of his failure. "Ow, ow!" he groaned in pain, then he passed out a second time.
Sighing in annoyance, Rachel shook her head with one hand on her forehead. "Okay, his reaction was adorable in the first fainting episode, but now he's just overreacting."
Zephyr shook his head as well, and then he walked over to the passed-out Silverwing to apply more medicine. Rachel and Marina noticed a red, leaf-like herb rolled up on the floor. The moment Marina picked it up, Rachel was about to sniff the herb curiously when…
"Careful! That's strong medicine!" Zephyr turned towards the girls cautiously as he reapplied the healing poultice onto Shade's wing. "That herb kills pain." Then he turned back to face Shade, who had just gotten up from his little episode, and instructed, "Now, don't lick your wing or you'll be out cold for a week."
Shade sighed, getting back on his feet. "Let's go, you guys. We've got to find the colony." But as they were flying towards the exit…
"Oh by the way, if that poultice falls off and your wing rips in half…" the elder albino bat began in a light tone, causing the three teens to stop in their tracks. "Just come on back and I'll be happy to give you some more." He innocently shrugged his shoulders with a smile.
"My wing… in half?!" Shade's eyes widened fearfully at the very thought. Then his eyes rolled to the back of his head and was about to pass out a third time when Rachel caught him.
"Whoa! Easy there, big boy." Assured the Goldwing before joking, "You know, they say the third time's the charm. And this is the third time Shade has fainted… only it's not the charm."
Marina couldn't help but chuckle. Then Rachel added, "Maybe we should stay and rest here for a couple nights. That should give Shade's wing enough time to heal. Plus, the Silverwings will probably be exhausted by now, and they'll be needing a couple days to rest and eat before moving on as well."
"I agree." Marina nodded. "And they're only a couple hours ahead anyways. Once Shade's wing is healed, we'll leave a couple hours early and catch up to the colony in no time."
"Perfect." Rachel nodded back.
The Zephyr stepped in. "Well then. In that case, I might be needing some assistance around here while you and your friends are here."
The girls agreed, "Sure." And with that, the plan was settled.
Meanwhile, as the Silverwings were eating and resting, Frieda stood on the very top of the water tower on night watch duty, while waiting for Shade and Rachel's safe return. As she waited, her thoughts turned onto Rachel. She was headstrong, free-spirited and good hearted. And yet… for some reason, the young Goldwing reminded Freida of an old friend of hers back in her youth.
But then… "Hey! This is my mosquito hunting territory!" A seemingly rude male cardinal called out to Freida, cutting her off from her thoughts.
"We Silverwings are just here to rest and eat before we move on," the elder reasoned with the cardinal peacefully.
At the very mention of "Silverwings", the cardinal's attitude swiftly changed, wearing a fake smile, masking his intentions of selfish greed. "Oh, uh… You're uh… Silverwings? Well then, please. Stay as long as you want." The cardinal brushed his head feathers back like a charming gentleman and took off into the forest without saying another word.
As the cardinal left, Frieda was joined by Chinook, who landed beside her, and they both furrowed their eyes as they watched the cardinal making a suspicious sharp left turn. Both Frieda and Chinook couldn't help but think that that cardinal had a hidden motive for allowing the Silverwings to stay.
Back in the belfry, Shade was roosting from a beam, gently stretching out his injured wing without hurting himself or accidentally shaking the poultice. Marina and Rachel on the other hand - or wing in this case - were in a corner assisting Zephyr with gathering some herbs while he scribbled more on his migration chart. Seeing the pile of red berries on the floor, Marina picked one and was about to help herself to a little snack until…
"I wouldn't eat that…" Zephyr caught the girls' attention with his sudden warning, "But you might wanna squeeze a little of its juice under your band. You too, Rachel."
Marina hesitated with uncertainty while Rachel gave the albino elder a puzzling look. 'How does he do that?' she thought to herself.
"Go ahead. I can hear your skin chafing against the metal." the elder gestured.
Rachel and Marina exchanged hesitant glances before following Zephyr's instructions. Rachel picked up a berry and then she and Marina squeezed the berry juice under their bands, and - to their surprise - they felt a relieved, soothing sensation.
Marina sighed happily, "That feels good."
"Wow! That was refreshing." Rachel agreed.
A thought came to Marina's mind and flew over to the blind albino. "Zephyr? Do you know why the humans banded me and Rachel? Is it a curse?"
Rachel flew over to her in concern, "What? Marina, where is this coming from? I thought I…"
"I'm sorry, Rachel." Marina replied. "I couldn't help but ask. I just wanted to know what he thinks about humans."
"My child," Zephyr intervened, "the actions of the humans are inconsistent and... eh, difficult to interpret." Sensing the Brightwing's disappointment, the elder flew down towards the girls and placed one wing around Marina's shoulder. "Marina, you and Rachel are special, but that has nothing to do with any bands." He reassured her and tapped her band gently before walking off in another direction, while leaving Rachel lost within her thoughts.
Shade watched as Zephyr accidentally walked right into one of the hanging herbs, which doesn't seem to bother the elder, and then he picked up a rolled up herb from the ground. Shade glided down to Rachel and Marina before whispering to them, "The old guy is as blind as a mole."
"Technically, I'm blinder," admitted Zephyr, upon picking up on Shade's whispering with his keen hearing.
"Who in their right mind would put a guy who can't see in charge of air traffic control?" The young Silverwing huffed as he sat down, crossing his arms.
A stern Marina sat down next to him and said "Because maybe sometimes hearing might be the best way of seeing."
"Incredible insight for one so young," the impressed Zephyr complimented her. Of course, this caused Shade to roll his eyes and scoff. "I heard that."
"Huh?" Shade's eyes widened in surprise but then he slouched, followed by an annoyed grumble. "I'm going to go to test my wing. Maybe catch a bug or two." He got up and took off for the exit of the belfry.
Zephyr just shook his head at the young Silverwing's arrogance and stubbornness before resuming his work.
Just as Shade left, Marina turned around to see that Rachel was nowhere in the belfry. "Rachel? Where'd she go?"
"I believe that she has gone to clear her head, my dear." Zephyr responded.
"What?! No! She shouldn't be out there all by herself. It's too dangerous for her to be out there, especially when the owls and pigeons are out looking for us."
"Now. There, there." He reassured her. "Give her time. She needs some time to think some things through. I can sense that she's going through something personal." That didn't seem to ease Marina's worries though. As if sensing what she was thinking, Zephyr suggested "If it makes you feel better, I'll go and check on her."
Marina gave him a warm, empathetic smile and nodded her head in thanks.
Rachel flies over to the park, but she does it carefully because her good-dusted wings would attract too much attention. As she arrived at the park, she was once again lost in her thoughts. She couldn't help but feel a little depressed and discouraged by everything that's been happening.
First, that stupid sun law and the Great Treaty, then there was Tree Haven's destruction, then Marina's unduly banishment due to the Brighwings' ridiculous superstition, and now she and her friends along with the Silverwings are wrongfully being accused of pigeon massacre.
'Ugh! And I thought Jenner and the Goldwings having issues with me was bad enough.' she thought. 'But why is there so much prejudice and negative pride in this world? Why?' Suddenly, Rachel's thoughts were cut short by the snapping of a twig, which caused her to gasp. It was coming from a bush… right behind her. Cautiously, Rachel crept over to see who or what was hiding from within the bush. As she got closer, two yellow eyes appeared, staring at her menacingly. All of a sudden, just when she thought it might be the "giant bats", something orange popped out of the bush, snarling, causing her to yell and fall on her back with her arms guarding her face.
"Boo." said a familiar voice, as it began to snicker and then laugh.
When Rachel took a peek, her face shifted from fear to annoyance. Hovering over her was, not a giant bat, but a familiar feline face. That's right, her old feline buddy Ambrose.
"Ambrose?!" She exclaimed. "You gave me a heart attack! Why did you do that? I hate it when you do that."
The jester of an orange tabby couldn't stop his hysterical laughter that began rolling to his side. To him, her reaction was absolutely hilarious. "You should've seen your face. You were like 'Ah! No! Don't eat me! Please!'"
Rachel's face looked rather annoyed than amused. She groaned, "Ugh. Come on, Ambrose. You're like 3 years old. I can't believe that you would pull such a childish, immature- is that a mouse?!" She pointed at a random distance.
"What?! Where?" Ambrose reacted in alarm. At the very mention of the word "mouse", his tail puffed up and his cat reflexes got the better of him.
With a smirk, Rachel laughs at his reaction. "Are you ever going to not fall for that?"
Then Ambrose gets annoyed and retorts "I don't know. Are you ever going to let it go? That was one time!"
Rachel calmed down her laughter. "I know, but for some reason it's always funny." Then her face turned to seriousness. "But seriously, what are you doing here Ambrose?"
Confused, Ambrose asked Rachel, "What am I doing here? What are you doing back here in the city? I thought you were joining the Silverwings to experience your first migration, but now you're back in the city? What happened?"
Rachel rubs her neck with her hand and sighs, "Well… It's kind of a long story."
Curious, Ambrose looked at her straight in her face, "Try me, kid. Start talking."
Rachel nodded and took a deep breath before she began to explain everything to Ambrose of what happened… in speed-talk. She told him that she had found the campsite he described, where she met her friend, Shade Silverwing and his colony. Rachel then told Ambrose about her history lesson on the Battle of the Birds and Beasts, the Great Treaty, and sun law. Then she mentioned General Brutus and his owls burning down Tree Haven, therefore forcing the Silverwings and herself to migrate to Hibernaculum early. Then she told Ambrose of how she and Shade got caught in a major thunderstorm, causing them to be blown off course and wound up on an island where they met Marina. Rachel finally came to the point where she and friends are now fugitives of the law for murder.
Ambrose just sat there, his face completely dumbstruck from Rachel's experience so far. "Wow, you weren't kidding. That was a long story! Although, that would explain why I saw some owls flying in the city earlier. That would also explain why I found a couple of half-eaten rats in an alleyway just outside of Daria's apartment building, and how I got this." Ambrose showed her a nasty-looking scratch on his right shoulder blade.
Surprised, Rachel gasped "Ambrose… Who did this to you? What did this to you?"
"I have no idea." He replied. "I don't know if it was a 'giant bat' that did this, but whatever it was… it was really fast and it got me real good. "
Rachel sighed, but then a thought came to her. If giant bats are real, could they have…? Her eyes lit up with a hunch. "Ambrose, if there are giant bats loose in the city and on a killing spree, could it be possible that they escaped from the same conservatory as I have?"
Ambrose hummed in thought. "It is a possibility, Rachel… but I'm afraid I'm not 100% sure."
Rachel sighed, "Why am I not surprised? And even if there are giant bats killing pigeons, that revenge-obsessed, prideful feather-brained General Brutus still won't believe me and my friends. Everything he did was out of vengeance and yet he claims it was out of 'justice'. If General Brutus thinks he can go and arrest someone for a crime they didn't commit, he's wrong."
"Don't act rationally, my child." Zephyr, who arrived with another healing poultice, intervened.
Rachel and Ambrose quickly turned their heads towards the blind elder's direction. "Zephyr." Rachel exclaimed.
"Marina told me how you stood up to the owl general." Zephyr continued, while applying the medicine on Ambrose's wound - which made the cat cringe his nose from the medicine's terrible odor. "You stood your ground with heart and valor and have made quite a stir at the pigeon court. But it would be unwise to arouse Brutus's anger further."
Rachel couldn't help but let out her feelings about the owl general's unduly actions. "You and Ambrose should've seen - or heard - the oppression and injustice he inflicted on the Silverwings. When he destroyed Tree Haven, he said that emotions have no place when it comes to the law. And when he just assumed that the Silverwings committed murder… I thought if just one bat could stand up to him and then-" She sighed in frustration. "What do they have against those who are different anyway?"
"You cannot write all the wrongs of this world by yourself." The blind elder reassured her.
"Well, no one out there is going to help that's for sure." She gestured to the city.
"Well, perhaps there is someone here in this world who can." Zephyr chuckled, gesturing to the park and the night sky - hinting that the young Goldwing should seek Nocturna for guidance - before flying back to the cathedral.
After watching Zephyr leave, taking his words of wisdom to heart, Rachel walked over to a tree and leaned on one side, with one hand touching its bark. She looked back to see Ambrose sitting a foot behind her, wearing a warm sympathetic smile on his face. She then turned her gaze towards the night sky. She could almost see the stars taking on the form of a face of a bat.
Feeling the starry face is the goddess Nocturna, gazing down at a lost soul in need of guidance, Rachel's wings began to glow ever so slightly as she sang her prayers in song.
I don't know if you can hear me or if you're even there
The praying Goldwing pushed herself away from the tree and walked as she sang. The starry face smiled with sympathy and warmth.
I don't know if you would listen to a Goldwing's prayer
Yes, I know I'm just an outcast. I shouldn't speak to you
Still I see your face and wonder, were you once an outcast too?
Unknown to Rachel, her voice had caught the ears of a tall giant carnivorous bat - who was searching food in the park from afar, and remembered hearing that very same voice back in the conservatory.
Rachel continued to walk through the park with Ambrose as she sang.
Nocturna help the outcasts, imprisoned since birth
Show them the courage and freedom of this Earth
Nocturna help the colonies, we look to you still
Nocturna help the outcasts or nobody will
Rachel then began to imagine both the Silverwings and the Goldwings singing their prayers to Nocturna for her guidance and wisdom.
I ask for wealth. I ask for fame
I ask for glory to shine on my name
I ask for love I can possess
I ask for kind Nocturna to bless me
The imagery of the praying colonies faded and Rachel's gold-dusted wings glowed brighter in the full moon's light, as her empowering voice ascended to the night sky with her prayers before walking towards a nearby lamppost.
I ask for nothing I can get by,
But I know so many less lucky than I
As Rachel walked towards the light of the lamppost, the giant carnivorous bat who was listening, tracked down the source of the voice.
Please help the colonies, the poor and down-trod
I thought we all were your children, Nocturna
Rachel stopped in her tracks - standing underneath the lamppost, allowing its light to make the gold dust in her wings shine brighter and glimmer.
Oh please, help the outcasts
Kind Nocturna
After her song ended, despite the magic glow fading from her wings, the light from the lamppost continued to make Rachel's wings look like they were still glowing. Ambrose approaches her and rubs against her in comfort, purring. Feeling cheered up by Ambrose's comfort, Rachel wraps her arms around his neck and he continues to purr in her embrace.
"Feel better?" asked Ambrose.
"Yeah," Rachel answered. "I needed that." Then she decided to wrap up their reunion. "Well I'd better head back before my friends get all worried."
Ambrose agreed. "And I gotta get back to the apartment before the landlord realizes I'm missing."
After the tabby and the Goldwing bid their goodbyes with one last hug and took off in different directions, little did they know that they were being watched by the two giant bats who were roosting within the shadows of a tree. The obese bat licked his chops, his eyes focusing on the cat. But his taller partner's focus was on the girl.
The taller bat's eyes widened slightly and his breath was caught in his chest. Never would've guessed that in his quest of solving two mysteries, he would make such an incredible discovery! He had finally found the mystery owner of the voice he desired, but he never would have imagined that the owner was a species of such beauty and rarity.
The mystery female, who was singing underneath the lamppost's light, was unlike any other bat he had ever seen. Her rich brown hair flowed ever so freely. Her faithful brown eyes so full of hope and warmth. Most of all, her wings glittered with dust as pure as gold. How they sparkled in the lamppost's light, making them illuminate and shine like the sun. This reminded the tall giant bat of his warm, beloved jungle before he was captured by humans.
'Such beauty.' He thought. 'Such rarity! Truly a treasured sight to behold. But what sort of bat are you?" He hummed while rubbing his chin in thought. Then a dark, sinister, lustful smile formed on his face. 'I must find out more about her.'
Without a second thought, the tall carnivorous bat gestured to his partner and the two secretly followed the mysterious golden female.
Goldwing16's Note(s):
Hiya guys!
I must apologize for parting this chapter, but when I was writing this… it was 22 FREAKING PAGES LONG! So, I'm afraid that Goth's entry will have to be pushed to Chapter 18 (SPOILER ALERT). I know guys want to get to reading that part of my fanfitcion, but I don't want to keep going over 12-16 pages or more when I'm writing my chapters and I don't want to keep wasting A LOT of ink when I'm printing. So, please bear with me for just a little longer. Thank you.
So, in other news… time to get to the best part of my chapters:
FUN FACT(S):
1. If you recall from the passage: "She was headstrong, free-spirited and good hearted. And yet… for some reason, the young Goldwing reminded Freida of an old friend of hers back in her youth," it almost sounds like another Goldwing left the colony to see the world long before Rachel's time! But who? And why didn't anyone else notice him/her before?
2. How many of you are a fan of the Netflix series She Ra: Princess Of Power? Well if you are... then I think you're gonna love this. I used one of my favorite Adora and Catra "Is-That-A-Mouse" scenes from Season 1 Episode 1, as a reference for Rachel and Ambrose's little reunion in the park. I couldn't resist! I Thought it was perfect AND hilarious!
3. I have always loved the scene from The Hunchback Of Notre Dame, where the Archdeacon gives Esmerelda some wisdom and encourages her to seek God's guidance, which leads to Esmerelda's song God Help The Outcasts. That scene was so beautiful, I believed it was the perfect reference for this chapter and a perfectly beautiful start to Nocturna Help The Outcasts.
4. As you guys may recall from Chapters 1, 11 and 15, Prince You-Know-Who sought out to solve two mysteries: the owner of the inspiring beautiful voice he desired AND the source of flashing golden light. Now he's finally discovered a Goldwing, in particular... Rachel! Now when he saw her glimmering wings, he just assumes that it was due to the moonlight and the lamppost's light; making it the perfect illusion and cover to protect Rachel's magical secret.
Thank you so very much for your patience. I hope you enjoy this chapter and stay tuned for Chapter 17 AND 18!