chapter 8. echo projections

third person pov

the colony rested peacefully consuming the mosquitoes that are in the surroundings, on top of the water basin Frida observed the zonna making sure that everything was fine, at a certain point a red bird approached her and said "hey you! this is the my teritory and my mosquitoes "Frida turned to him and with a calm and respectful voice said to their guest" we Silverwings are just here to rest and eat before we move on "the bird with a smile replied in a very friendly way" oh! your silverwings hold it, please stay as long as you want "that said, he spread his wings and flew off the water tank.

Chinnok at that moment landed next to Frida watching that bird fly away "I don't trust" "not even my boy is too suspicious that he left us in peace so easily" "what do we do then Frida?"

"We will rest a little longer, after that we will leave this place, if it is as I think, we will have to do it as quickly as possible, but for now we regain our strength we will need it "

having said that she flew down leaving Chinnok alone. The boy took one last look in the direction the bird was taking, after which you followed

Frisk pov

I watched sitting on a plank of wood, Zephyr explaining to Shade how echo projection worked

"what i have to show you, you must be ready to see, only one in a million bats can echo project it" this explains why I've never heard of it before I thought to myself "will see first there are a few skills you need to master "

" like what "Shade asked Zephyr as he put a red leaf in its place

" oh like le sound mapping, star navigation herbal remedies "

" herbal remedies what do i do get cornered by an owl throw leaves at " Shade answered with a small chuckle, but Zephyr didn't think like him, Zephyr use sonar and hit a book inside the shelf, what good did it do him? I thought "you obviously cannot use your size to overpower the enemy" I saw Marina whispering something to Zephyr but i didn't understand what it was, at that moment the albino approaches Shade with a sly smile "the more you know the better chance you'll have against much stronger opponents "as soon as he said this, Zephyr grabbed Shade, put his foot behind his leg and threw him to the ground

" do you understand "to that scene I couldn't help but laugh, it looked like a Karate Kid scene, but Shade was not amused at all he looked at me with a frown that made me stop laughing

"if you find it so funny maybe you should try it too" Shade told me "sorry Shade, I didn't want to be offended you"

"the idea is not bad, you too my dear could you learn the echo projection "Zephyr told me, I flew down towards them and landed near Shade

" I admit that I would like the idea, but for my reasons I can't, I don't know if it has an effect on me different, than the other bats"Zephyr looked at me and said with a smile "I admit you're not like other bats I know, you have something different and unusual that no one else has" it made me uncomfortable "but, this is natural in a young woman who is finding her true nature "I opened my eyes when he said" woman "and so did Shade and Marina, but then I thought that maybe he meant only female" you by woman mean female? " he gave a slight chuckle and said

"if that's what you think, then yes but I think you know what I mean" I don't believe it is impossible for him to know about my human nature, but maybe..no I pushed that thought away and answered " however my answer is still no, sorry "" you don't have to my dear, all things need its time "then he turned to Shade and asked" do you still want to try? " Shade replied "yes, I'm ready" Shade replied.

third person Pov

"ok I'll tell you where the silver wings are, if you give me exclusive rights to hunt mosquitoes throughout the valley," the red bird said to Brutus and his entourage.

Brutus looked at him with a dark face that made the bird tremble "okey even half the value would still work" said the bird with a trembling air, Brutus stared at him and said seriously "you will lead a squadron of miles to the water tower" a smile that I begin to paint on Brutus's face "we will talk about hunting rights after the entire colony of Silverwings is annihilated" the bird smiled and said "oh thank you General Brutus, yes I'll do it with pleasure" said the bird starting to go

"uh sir , do you really think its information is right? maybe the colony has already left the water tank?" Artemis asked

"even if that were the case, they won't go very far find them and follow them until they stop at that point, well you know what to do Artemis"

"yes sir"

Frisk pov

I was sitting on the ground as I listened to Shade and Zephyr's discussion of atral navigation, they talked about the usefulness of learning it for use of echo projection. while I was listening to them I got distracted for a moment thinking about that giant bat I saw, it had the same red hair but it was a male and what I saw in the tunnel and in my nightmare looked like a female, surely a dream is not concrete proof but even the face was similar to a female, I could not forget the sensation I felt, it was a desire to attack that I cannot explain, maybe I wanted to attack unconsciously to know about Chara.

uh already Chara who knows what those monsters are doing to her, the more time passes the more I feel that only I can save her from them, my thoughts started to go further thinking about all the times she was saving me,

I closed my eyes remembering like in middle school Maggi classy bully grabbed me by the hair and pulled me hard,

I remember well how she laughed at my freckles and pimples on her face and called me ugly duckling, which made me angry, and then Chara came along and she defended me from her by giving her a taste of her own medicine

obviously all three of us ended up in prison but I was happy because afterwards, Chara told me something beautiful

"I'll be here to help you, you'll always be my best friend"

I concluded the promise saying "nothing will ever tear us apart"

I smiled remembering that moment

, I opened my eyes and I saw in front of me the face of Chara who was looking at me with the same warm smile he had that day

"Cha..Chara!?" I exclaimed with my mouth wide open, she raised her hand and then touched my shoulder, but I did not feel her touch, no pressure, nothing almost like it was made of air, she walked over and whispered in my ear

"come on Frisk, you can" said this has disappeared into thin air .. an echo projection! but how ?

"Frisk!" Marina said

I turned to the voice and I noticed Marina looking at me in surprise and Shade standing a few steps from me, at that moment he could understand what had happened, with a smile on his face, I turned to my friend happy for him

"good job Shade, you have created a perfect copy of Chara, you have learned well to use echo projection now Chinnok can no longer make fun of you"

but he looked at me confused as if he did not know what I said "ah Frisk is not Shade did it "answered Marina, I was surprised, then I turned to Zephyr and asked him" Zephyr then you .. "

but at that moment I remembered that neither Zephyr nor Marina knew what Chara looked like,only Shade knew him from the photos he showed him, but if it wasn't him it meant that

"Frisk I think it was you who did it" Shade replied,

I knew, but how did I do nothing to create one

"but how? I've never studied astronomy or herbal medicine and then I can't even use the sonar map without feeling sick "I said completely shocked, at that moment Zephyr approached me and gently took my shoulder to try to calm down, it was strange but as soon as he touched me I stopped talking, she gently stroked my shoulder until my head recovered from the shock

"better?" he asked me, I nodded, at that point and in a sweet voice Zephyr said to me

"tell me dear in that moment in which it happened, did you think of something in particular, do you have a thought full of emotion?"

'I looked and nodded

"uh I understand, and tell me did you think of anything in particular at that moment?" with a little blush I replied "here I was thinking of Chara and I wanted her here" "uh as I thought" said this walk towards the wall leaving me with a question.

I followed him and frowning I asked "what does it mean? Zephyr what does it mean" as I thought "what!"

he turned to me with a cold look and replied "there is one last thing I didn't tell you about echo projection, to use it in its purest form, besides a lot of concentration you need imagination and feeling "more with a smile continued

" if you focus these two things in your mind you will be able to create an exact image of what you want "Shade listened to Zephyr's explanation and decided to try, closed his eyes and tried all ways to concentrate about something "calmly boy," Zephyr exclaimed, Shade tried but nothing happened

"see something?" he asked

"see what?" Marina replied,

frustrated Shade said "giant bats like gargoyles, with huge claws and teeth"

"eh the word is no" she sighed frowning

"starts with something as simple as a leaf" Shade decided to try again to calmly concentrate the sound waves as best she could.

at that moment I saw a slight blurry image of a leaf "it works" I whispered under my breath so as not to disconcert him, but it disappeared before it could even finish. Marina giggled slightly "uhm" Shade moaned discouraged "hey you were almost there it's a half win" I said to console him "well done Shade" Zephyr said

"uh but I couldn't hold it, it must be longer and bigger scarier" Shade replied

"Your emotions are getting in the way, Shade, then they'll take a break and they'll both stretch their wings"

" but "

Shade exclaimed

"You can pick some nettle for me, a piece of it grows in an alley not far from the cathedral," Zephyr stopped.

the three of us flew up and left the gargoiles' mouth and headed down the alley.

while we flew Shade looked at his reflection through the glass of a building with a smile on his face, surely he had never seen a mirror in his life, I could understand

" guys over there " Marina intervened pointing to the alley, we landed near a nettle with the roots growing in the alley and sticking out from under the asphalt

"I'll come get you" Marina exclaimed to Shade as she approached to tear the nettle off the ground "what will I protect from the plant" Shade replied, with all his strength he began to pull the plant to detach it, he did it in seconds but ended up tripping and falling to the ground like a sack of potatoes, he stood up calmly looking at us carefully, I said with a laugh "canvas said you had to be on your guard" Shade replied with a embarrassed chuckle at my joke, she calmly approached

"well, now it's better to leave earlier .." Marina couldn't finish the sentence because an owl appeared just behind Shade, she looked at us carefully co n a hostile look "what? what happens? "Shade asked without noticing the owl behind him,

I turned his head towards the owl showing him that we were in great danger.

we stood a minute, staring at the owl, unable to move a single muscle in fear, the owl looked at us one last time before letting out a loud scream, its cry made Shade react who grabbed the nettle root and used it like a baseball bat to hit the owl straight in the face, the owl screamed as if it had hurt him, backed away and fell to the ground disappearing into thin air, Shade from the shock dropped the root, it was an echo projection, the a sound of applause caught our attention, Zephyr was cheering and jumping merrily on an old rusty cart, even though it scared us to death, we couldn't help but laugh at it and sigh with relief.

once we returned to the tower we gave Zephyr the root as a last memory, it was time to say goodbye, Zephyr before leaving us said "this will be my last lesson for all three, you can only feel the world around, you with emotions that are calm and an open heart "

at that moment a comet passed in the sky, illuminated the night with the light of its wake, we were enchanted by that show, when it disappeared, Shade asked Zephyr "you hear a star" he answered with a smile " not here but I can sense it "" can you sense what's happening to my colony? "but Zephyr replied with his eyes closed to focus

" there are so many colonies and there is so much interference in something wrong, very wrong that I am in grave danger "he exclaimed opening his white eyes

" where!? where am I? " Marina asked

"in the valley south of the city"

"I must warn the theme" Shade Churches

"beware that there are hours to patrol this area" Zephyr replied

we turned to see the way to go, then we turned to Zephyr who smiled at us softly and then motioned us to leave, Shade and Marina did so and they began to move away from where they were, I stayed a minute in my cell phone

"don't you go?"

"yes sure .. it's that ..." I was silent for a moment out of shame

"you're afraid"

"yes I confess, I'm afraid and if I can't find the person I'm looking for and if we don't find the colony"

Zephyr took my hand and said "it is not wrong to be afraid, everyone in this world is afraid, but when you find the will to face it then you can say that she is gone"

"I don't think I will ever succeed, not even where I come from I am able to defend myself, let's imagine now that we are in constant danger "I replied

but Zephyr gently put a hand on my shoulder

" Frisk believe me you hide more value than you think, right now you are like a child who learns to fly but like any child you hide a light that is closed inside you but with every experience, every quarrel or new friendship that you will face in your own way, you will bring it to light and then ... well then you can say that you have grown "

i feel much better Zephyr's words they managed to restore my strength, I embraced the albin o and he returned my hug, I walked away from him and walked over to the edge of the gargoyle's mouth "oh one last thing, pay close attention to your new body changes you may need it someday" when he said " new body "I turned to him" wait, you mean "he nodded at me and winked at me, I smiled at him and left I went to my friends.

I quickly reached Marina, Shade had passed ahead, when she saw me she came up to me and asked me

"why did it take you so long?"

"I was saying goodbye to Zephyr"

"thank goodness, I was afraid you had seen an owl ... aaah" she shouted, I turned to Shade and right above him an owl was approaching "Shade watch out behind you !" I screamed. he turned to see but didn't care at all

"Zephyr thinks he's still scaring me with his echo projections" no! it was not an echo projection, at that moment without thinking I flew faster until I reached them, I passed under the owl without the latter noticing me and with a blow from the shoulder I moved Shade before the owl captured it, but I finish to be caught in its sharp claws

"aah!" I screamed as the animal dragged me away with it.

Third Person Pov

Shade and Marina watched in horror as their friend was taken away "oh no!" Shade screamed trying to chase the owl, Marina was behind him when she saw a huge shadow flying above her and Shade

"but what!?" she exclaimed.

Meanwhile Frisk was wriggling between the paws of the owl in an attempt to free himself, but at that moment she saw in front of him the figure of the giant red-haired bat looking at her with his dark green eyes

"Hola" he said with a smile on him face