Chapter 6. bat in the bell tower
we stood still listening to the voice in the gargoyle say "you'll be surprised the word is full of strange and wondrous things, and just because there is someone who thinks they don't exist doesn't mean they aren't real" inside the gargoyle's mouth I saw a small shape moving, he was speaking into the statue's mouth "does that mean you've seen giant bats too?" asked Shade, the voice with a slight chuckle said "oh boy being able to see would be the greatest gift for someone like me "having said that he turned and entered the mouth of the statue, me and the boys were perplexed by his words
" in your opinion he is serious or is he making fun of us "Shade asked
" I think we should listen to him maybe he knows more than he wants to do believe, we will have to follow him "I said pointing to the statue, at that moment Marina had a thunderbolt, she approached me and said
" Frisk don't you understand, that statue is the rock beast that you ... that is whoever has possessed you wanted that we found "I looked at her confused" you don't understand the pigeons, the giant shadows and now the rock beast were all premolitions of the future "" Marina is right so far everything she said has been "
I was perplexed if it was true that quancosa revealed the future then because I don't remember anything like that, I shook my head not to think about it, now we had to find out what was hiding inside that gargoyle
"guys let's go and meet our mysterious friend" I said getting up in the air flying towards the statue, the guys they followed me and together we slipped into the gargoyle's mouth. the first thing we noticed was that the statue was hollow and inside there were some plants hanging, we wanted to go further inside reaching the inside of the church bell tower inside there were many plants, as if it were a sort of herbarium for medicinal plants, hanging from a wooden plank next to the wooden plank wall was a little white bat that was looking for something on that wall full of symbols and math
"gray wings even right on time"
Shade walked over and said "who are you? "
the little white bat I landed and said "I my name and Zephyr, I am" he paused before saying "i'm the bat traffic controller for the migrating colonies this city is the central harbor through which all colonies pass" Marina approaches the wall where those symbols are, Zephyr approaches her with a friendly smile
" those are the flight paths, my dear .. "
" Marina, my name is Marina and they are Shade and Frisk "
Shade and I went to the wall to see the signs, I was not wrong they were really mixed symbols between math and physics, I didn't know anything because of my bad attitude towards both subjects, but I was surprised to see that they were so accurate and precise since it was a bat that wrote them
"do you know about the colonies? do you also know about the migration of silverwings?"
"ah they passed by here about two hours ago heading south" explained Zephyr "we can catch up to them in no time let's go" Shade exclaimed excitedly, but I stopped him "wait Shade we can't go now"
"what why?" that I could explain to him that his wing was not in a position to do so, Zephyr intervened saying
"well off you go then-unless you think that ripped wing of yours will slow you down, or worse it becomes infected and you could lose a wing forever" at that moment Shade looked at his wing with fear and stammered "lose..you mean that .. that" Shade rolled twice before passing out in my arms
"Shade!" I exclaimed holding him from under his arms "it was necessary to scare him like this, Zephyr" asked Marina "no,but it was the only way to keep him calm while I take care of his wing" Zephyr finished with a small chuckle.
Third Person Pov
The silverwings managed to leave the city, they had heard, thanks to Mercuro that the owls were looking for them for murder and for this they were forced to leave the city more quickly but this tired the members of the colony who after a large journey found a human city where they could rest for a while, Mercury went into pelustration to make sure there were no eager owls, he come back ten minutes later and with a broad smile said "all clear" the colony allied flight to the city. finding a servatory of the water and they decided to rest under it by resting on its solid wooden boards, some decided to rest others took advantage of it to hunt some moths that were in the surroundings so as to refuel and regain their strength. Ariel perched next to Frida
"Frida, i'm sure they will catch up"
"Ariel we can wait here a few days"
at that moment Bathsheba flew around two and said in a reproachful voice
"Frida is no time for the colony to be lazing about, the week should be left behind "but the leader looked at the colony she noticed the tiredness on their faces they were too tired to continue they needed to rest" the colony arrived together and it will be together "to those words Bathsheba said nothing just flew away grunted.
Shortly after Ariel was left alone to rest when she saw Chinnok approach her and leaning a few steps from her, the embarrassed young man began to speak in a dark and incriminating voice "Ariel I have to do you something" "have you seen Shade and Frisk?" the young mother asked hopefully, but he shook his head in denial, the thing that attracted the attention of the female was the young man's face was dark and dull like that of a repentant criminal, she looked at him strangely what was taking him ?
"is everything okay?" she asked worried
"no" he replied, she looked at him even more confused than before "what happens to you?" "Ariel it's my fault that this happened" she squints
"what?" he in a soft voice said
"I often have Shade around with my jokes and sometimes I insulted her height and on some occasions I also made fun of her dad" with every word he said, Ariel was more and more surprised she had no idea that he bullied his son Shade had never said anything to her and didn't understand why
"and then in a certain sense I also behaved badly with Frisk, even if it didn't directly offend him, when she scolded me I realized that like Shade too she had to suffer a loss "
Ariel at that moment said "she is an orphan" Chinnok was surprised
"I heard her talk to Shade, she told him that she lost both her parents in an accident where only she survived" Chinnok at that moment understood why Frisk took this His words were very close to heart, he felt really stupid, he had made fun of Shade by teasing him with his father's story without however understanding his feelings, instead Frisk who understood that feeling well took his side
"I was a real fool , not sure if Shade was convinced of what he was doing, he wanted to prove that he was not just a weak little bat and that is why he was persuaded to do so, Frisk blames himself for what happened, but if it wasn't for me , if only I had convinced Shade not to do it or even just apologized to him, maybe nothing would have happened, and by now Shade and Frisk would be here with us all, but like a coward I was afraid to do it "
Ariel could see that and the boy's eyes were red from the tears he was holding back,
"Ariel I know you'll hate me for that and I'm fine I don't deserve to be forgiven, but I want you to know I'd give my own life if it was necessary to bring them back here with you "a tear fell down Chinnok's face as he said this, Ariel seeing the genuinely repentant givane approaches him with a comforting smile
" it may be that you have behaved badly, but you have assumed your responsibilities it does you honor boy , if braver than you think "Chinnok smiled
" thank you Ariel, I'm sure they're alive "
" and I hope you're right "
Frisk Pov
I put Shade on the wooden floor while Zephyr took some red leaves which he used to create a viscous red mush which he smeared on the wing of the sleeping handsome
"what's the use?"
"it serves to sharpen the wing, it serves to heal the wound so it can fly without problems" the strange thing is that while he spoke he observed in bulk but did not look directly at us "Zephyr listen why don't you look us in the face when ..." but just at that moment he raised his face revealed, two eyes as white as milk completely lifeless
"you ..you are"
"what my dear? very old? or short?" he said with a really nice smile
"no, blind" I said with embarrassment, Marina looked good and actually she noticed that Zephyr was blind, Zephyr while spreading the cream on Shade's wing said
"oh it's true, this is something that I I always forget "at that moment I said with confusion
" but if you are blind how can you treat bats and monotorate the colony's migration? and how can you read the wall? " he smiled at me and said in a reassuring tone
"my dear only my eyes are dead, but not my senses, I was abandoned as a newborn, because of my blindness, but over time my curse became my gift, I learned to develop all my senses and my echolocation has developed and now thanks to it I can see beyond mere appearances "I had already heard of people born or become blind but who have learned to get by with only their senses, but I did not imagine that they could go so far as to behave as if they weren't blind at all was something less than phenomenal aldir, but perhaps this only applies to bats.
Once I finished the dressing, I flew to the exit (the gargoyle's mouth) I stood looking out for a minute looking at the city illuminated but huge and almost infinite, for a small bat like me, but a thought teases me
"if here giant bats are here too Chara was here, I know it's risky to go alone, but I only have this opportunity I have to, now or never "I took a sigh and spread my wings" Frisk! " you hear a voice calling me I turned to see, it was Marina who walked towards me "where are you going?" I looked at her and said calmly "I was going to town" Marina with a quill said "are you going to look for your friend"
"yes"
"but it's risky if there are owls or pigeons that patrol the skies could catch you again"
"I know, but it is the only chance I have, once Shade has recovered we will have to leave and we will not return to this city"
"but you are not sure if they are the ones who took it"
"I know but, look to understand me, if you had a dear friend you love as if she were your sister, wouldn't you do everything to not lose her? "
Marina looked down in understanding "I know it's risky but it's my only chance"
"Is it if it's not them or if there really aren't any giant bats at all?"
"in that case I'll forget it and look in another place" I said giving her a smile, she smiled in turn and said "okay but if you don't come back I'll come and look for you" "there will be no need, I'll be back before the clock tower sounds again "after saying this I flew down from the bell tower and flew into the city.
It was certainly not a walk, but deep down I knew that it would not be, but I did not imagine that it would be a feat to move, the owls of Brutus monotored the west area of the city while the pigeons the east, moved in groups of three or more. four soldiers and everyone was moving up between the buildings and alleys of the city, there was no way to fly without being discovered, "uh Brutus must really care about us or the colony" I thought sarcastically, hid under a lamppost access, hidden by the round and flat overhang of it so that they could not notice me, but I could not stay there and wait for them to leave or for any of them to notice me, I had to move quickly, the only way I had to do it was to fly low near the road.
I went down to the street glided fast and low,
hid in an alley under a box, just in time to see a patrol of owls passing by, made a bicycle with the claws of my hand to check their movements, they remained observing the area for about three minutes, watching the area carefully, I block my heart when I saw the eyes of one of them looking at the box where , was hiding and slowly approached it, I instinctively held my breath so as not to hear while they looked at him, but, a metallic noise attracted the attention of the owl that let go of the box and walked towards the source of the noise, approached and suddenly jumped out a huge rat that ran away squeaking, the owl with a look furiously he said "scummy parasite"
after which he walked back to the box and lifted it to see what was hiding inside, but found nothing. taking advantage of the owl's distraction, I went out of the box and headed under the garbage cans near where I was, it was a disgusting choice but thanks to the stench of the garbage my scent was covered so that he could not track me. it worked perfectly, the owl dropped that area and flew away with his companions.
I let out a sigh of relief I was safe, at least for now, but now I didn't have to distract myself I had to stay focused on everything I did to overcome obstacles, "uh it looks like a video game" I thought with a slight smile,
I ran out of my disgusting hiding place and I flew into the alley, if I were a giant bat and I was hiding something would hide it in a little frequented place, I thought trying to reason as a policeman would in a similar situation, but as headed further and further into the alley began to hear a very peculiar sound, it wasn't a tridium or falling garbage noises, was it ... music?
I listened again .. yes it was music, but who was playing? , curiosity invaded me, follow the sound to look for the source of it, but I stood with my glass open when I saw what it was, on a small stage made of rubbish there were two small animals, one looked like a cocoa-colored ferret with white spots and the other a green killing with shades of black and a yellow beak playing and singing in front of a crowd of animals who listened with attention . I have to admit they sounded good and not even the melody is very beautiful, I joined the crowd so as not to get too noticed, but before I knew it I was dancing with the spectators to the sound of their music.
after the music was over the ferret playing what sounded like a homemade drums walked over to the edge of the stage and said "if you liked our song then give us a big loud Yes !"
all the audience scream "YES !"
the green bird came up and said
"very well, the two of us are Tuist and Spaik, I'm Tuist"
"and I'm Spaik" said the ferret "and we're the Vagabond Singers" they said in unison,
I smiled I would never have imagined that there were bands even in the animal world
"and now it's time for you to show your talent" said Tuist
"one of you will be allowed to go on stage and sing with us a song of his choice" I hope you don't touch to me, or I would be out of tune for sure
"to choose will be our little friend, it's up to you Shine"
from above the stage a small firefly comes out that shone with a very beautiful but also very unusual bluish light, fireflies usually have a light greenish yellow, the firefly approached the public, the animals called her supplicant they wanted to be chosen ardently, in the hustle and bustle a mouse hit me making me fall to the ground, I did nothing luckily just a small scratch on the elbow, got up calmly and when lifted my face the firefly was next to me staring at me with its big whitish eyes, there was silence and on the faces of some animals saw disappointment, it didn't take me long to understand that he had chosen me
"hey you young bat come up here ! " Spaik said, I blushed and said
"sorry but I can't" I was about to run away but the firefly blocked my way and weakly pushed me towards the stage "okay, okay, I'm going" I said to the firefly and I can't believe I have done it.
I went up on stage with the help of Spaik who held out his hand and pulled it slowly making me go up, once in front of all those animals ,I began to tremble with embarrassment wanted to hide my head in the ground like an ostrich does
" listen, I can't sing, not in front of all these people "I said with embarrassment
" quiet, baby ... eh your name? " Tuist asked
"call me Frisk"
"well Frisk you just have a bit of stage panic, but we have the cure" Spaik approached the edges and said
"ladies and gentlemen, let's all do as much as a cheering applause to our shy Frisk" all animals started clapping with their paws and wings, but the blush on my cheeks only grew
"oh I guess we'll have to do a little better" now besides applauding they started shouting my name, I took a breath and walked over at the edge of the stage to sing, hoping not to make a fool, there was silence for a moment, I had all eyes on me and this made me blush even more "sing" Tuist whisper
I took a breath, closed my eyes and thought about a song that liked, opened my mouth and started singing
"there is only one me, which exists without a reason, yes me, I'm here" the audience opened wide when they heard my voice
"there is emptiness inside me, it fills my heart, I can't breathe anymore and my world dies .. but if I wanted to go on living, tell me what flower would give me love, I would like to believe it but, I don't know how to do it "at that moment the notes became much more other" I remain here trembling a heart that cries because knows how to live, the voice that guides me is real I feel it, and a tomorrow will be made for me, it will find me and I will be there to wait, there is only one me that exists without a reason, I am still here "in that moment the two musicians took the instruments and started playing the melody for my song "I will not forget the people I have lost, and I will not understand who I am now .. but if I want to fight and survive, I know there is a song that it will give me strength, I will find it if I look for it .. I want it free even if I know that lies are born and nothing d most, I will close my eyes and then I will tell myself that I am wrong, and gungera a tomorrow that is made for me will find me and I will be there to wait, there is only one me, which exists without a reason, I am still here "in that moment the firefly begins to shine in rhythm with me "I know there is a world that is waiting only for me" I sang in a lower voice
"I know that there is a sun, that only for me, this world that shines on me, has hidden many little things from me !" I sang with a high-pitched voice,
it was time for the final act
"I remain here to hold a heart that cries because it no longer knows how to live, the voice that guides me is relate I feel it, and gungera a domano that is made for me will find me and I'll be there to wait, there is only one me, which exists without a reason, yes I'm here"
I concluded by making a modest bow to the audience when the music stopped, an avalanche of applause hit me, they liked my song, which made me smile
"you attended the performance of a real musical talent, let's make a big applause for our Frisk" shout Spaik, everyone they applauded making me smile even more I've never felt so appreciated before
"you were great Frisk, do you have something to say to your fans?"
at that moment an idea flashes into my mind, I went to the stands and said
"here I have a question to ask you"
I said in a serious voice, had to think carefully about what I was saying could not say if they saw a human in minature so I said
" Has any of you seen a girl named Chara? she is my best friend and she was kidnapped by giant bats that are now here, please if anyone sees her or just knows her please tell me it's important "
animals they talked to each other to ask if anyone knew her or had seen her but nobody seemed to know anything, a female finch approached and said
"sorry girl but none of us have any girl with that name, very sorry baby"
I looked down disappointed
"but if any of you find it then come and report it to us and we will report it to our little friend" said Spaik "really!?" I asked
"Certainly the artists help each other in time of need and if you need help looking for your friend we will give it to you"
happy embraced them "thanks thanks, a thousand times thanks !"
the two reciprocated my hug, we remained closed in a strong embrace until the clock sounded, an entire hour had passed I had promised Marina that I would be back before the hour
"I have to go!"
" what why !" Tuist asked
"I'm sorry I have to go, my friends are waiting for me!" I spread my wings and flew to the bell tower.
third person Pov
While Frisk was flying the animals watched her go, but unbeknownst to everyone, even the two giant bats were there watching the exhibition, hidden in the darkness, the plumper one turned to his companion and said
"giant bats? referring to us? but we have not kidnapped anyone and then why would we have to do it? what goes around that girl "
but her partner was not listening to him he was fixed to observe that girl with curiosity, the way she sang moved was particular for a bat even if he had to admit that she was very attractive, a sneaky smile appeared on his face, he turned to his partner and said
"maybe we should go and talk and solve the matter"
the companion smiled licking his mustache at the idea, they both spread their wings and flew to the unsuspecting girl