Chapter 9 . Giant bats

third person Pov

in the forest near the water servant Chinnok was hunting some moths when he encountered two flying scabbards that landed on a felled tree trunk near him, the young Silverwing clung to the bark of a nearby tree when the two squirrels started talking

" hey you "

" yes you "said the other squirrel with one eye closed, drawing the attention of the silverwing

" what's going on between the bats and the owls "

but Chinnok replied" eh i don't know "

" we flying squirrels are sick and tired of being mistaken for that "

" it's harassmet just because we have fur and flying doesn't mean the owls can pull us over on whim "

" yeah the word on the treetop is there's this colony of silverwing going around killing pigeons "

"general Brutus has decreed that all bats be questioned and any silverwing be imprisoned" said the male squirrel approaching Chinnok "what kind of a bat did you say you were?" asked the female approaching

Chinnok think about it for a moment and only one thing came to mind "a chicken wing"

"ok then, well, we got a fly"

"right here" greeting the female.

when the two squirrels left Chinnok realized that there was no time to waste he had to return immediately from the servant and to notice the colony, while he was flying he saw that what was flying towards the colony, he used the sonar to understand what they were and with it individual that red bird with a squadron of owls in tow, Chinnok growled in anger he knew that bird was hiding something, but he didn't have time for this he had to warn Frida and the colony before it was too late

Frisk pov

I couldn't believe my eyes, the red-haired giant bat was in front of me, staring at me with that sneaky look of his, he passed forward and launched himself in the air over the owl, the latter gave him a hostile scream, but the giant bat did not run away, no, as soon as the owl charged against him with great skill the giant bat managed to dodge him and then launched himself at him grabbing him and throwing him violently into the air, at that moment the owl's grip was loosened and I opened it to get out of its claws, at that moment I thought quickly.

I didn't want to be caught again so I walked away as fast as possible from there, flew to the nearest building and landed on the ground next to a chimney, I was breathing heavily with the effort and fear of that moment, how could he find me again? Was he following me from the start? these questions froze me from the deepest neander of my mind, i left my thoughts when i saw my friends approaching me

"are you okay?" Marina asked

"yes but ... be careful!" I screamed, the owl charged back, with a war cry he launched himself at us, but he could not touch us because the giant grabbed him and pushed him away from us, I saw how hard the bat threw at him the bulbs of a billboard breaking them all in the act, a cruel and malignant laugh came out of that giant's mouth making me tremble, the owl tries to regain control and throw down the bat, unsuccessfully the strength of the bat exceeds that of the owl until it crashed on the roof.

Me and the boys couldn't help but watch that scene, wondering who will win between the two, if I have to be honest I was hoping that the owl would win, it will confirm that giant bats exist, but seeing the abominable strength of that bat I feared the worst. the owl managed to free himself and with his paw tried to hit the club, but with a sprint the giant managed to dodge it before it hit him and threw himself quickly at the owl scratching his chest with his sharp claw, the owl groaned in pain the which made the bat laugh mischievously, but the owl did not give up and tried to hit it, but because of the wound it could not even touch it. the bat approached the wall beside them and held on tightly at that moment.

the owl and the giant bat looked at each other intently as if studying each other's movements

the bat attacked first followed then by the owl, but the latter could not react because the bat's feet grabbed him and pushed him to the ground, quickly the bat grabbed him with his hands and pushed him violently behind the wall, not we could see what was going on back there, but we heard the owl scream in pain and shortly after a wing protruding from behind the wall, it was clear that the owl was lost and is now dead.

the bat came out from behind the wall dragging with it the lifeless body of the poor little bird that reflected an expression of terror the same that I saw on the face of those dead mice, the bat turned towards us looking at us carefully,

I was frozen of fear wondering if he would now attack us too.

At that moment the plump bat appeared from behind us and landed next to his mate and he looked at the owl with a hungry look, but before he could bite the corpse, the mate stopped him and then turned to us with a calm look

"ah sorry my manners, I'm Goth and he's .. he's my brother-in-law Throbb" I noticed a hint of shame when he introduce his brother-in-law

"eh hi, it's Shade and they're Marina and Frisk" introduced Shade

the two they flew to us and landed next to us three "we're far from home" said Goth

"oh we too"

"seriously? we have so many things in common" said Goth smiling at him, Shade came back with a smile

"we try to go home but not we can understand the .. stars of the north "

" we travel with Marina, Frisk and me and we headed south to find my colony "

but Marina stopped him and said" Shade no, you don't remember that they kidnapped Frisk's friend , they are criminals "

Throbb said at the time" someone can explain who are you talking about? we didn't kidnap anyone "

But Marina didn't believe him so she turned to me" Frisk it's them you saw when they took your friend away "

I looked at them and with a sigh of disappointment i said" no, it's not them, those I saw they had red eyes and dark fur and there were three of them "

Throbb gloated saying" I said "

Goth turned to Shade and said" anyway for your question, it seems like a great idea and in exchange allow us to offer our protection "

" is a deal "

at that point I react" no! "the boys and the two giants turned to look at me, embarrassed I replied" I mean ... er ... you can excuse us for a moment "i said taking Shade and Marina by the hand and moving us away from those two,

Shade looked at me confused "Frisk what are you doing !?"

"Shade we can't trust those two"

Marina nods "yes she's right, we can't trust those two"

"but Goth saved Frisk's life and then they can protect the colony"

"Shade you can't believe him even if they're not the giants who took Chara away, are still responsible for the murders "

" but surely they had their reasons for doing so "

" Shade then explain to me why the hell they would have followed me in the alley "but he doesn't answer

" we can't believe him "

" listen, let's do this if they turn out to be a danger then we will leave them, but for now let them come with us "I will get frustrated and was about to object when Shade intervened and said" Frisk I told you I trust you, do you trust me? "

"of course I trust"

"then trust me now I know what I do" oh friend I hope you really know what you do, at that moment you realize that I had no choice "ok but I will continue not to trust"

"you will see that you will trust sooner or later" oh Shade I hope you are right or we risk our skin too.

we went back to those two who were waiting for us eager to know our decision "well then you have decided?"

"as I said it's a deal"

at that moment I noticed that Throbb was looking at us with a happy smile but as he did I heard the clicking of his tongue as if he was drooling with hunger, it made me moan in fear, instinctively I walked away from him and I approached Marina to feel safer

"well now it's better to leave before the owls find the corpse of their mate" I said trying not to sound tense

"don't worry Senorita, we'll take care of it" Goth replied, before I could understand what inetendesse the two took the body and tore it to pieces like two ravenous wolves, I turned my face away from those two, I didn't want to see those cannivores eat like that.

shortly after they came back to us and said "well I think it's time to leave this place"

"yes I think so too" Shade replied.

we took off, moving away from the city, I was immersed in my thoughts that I had not noticed that I was flying side by side with Goth, as soon as I noticed, my heart was speeding up rapidly, I saw how he looked at me carefully with a strange look, you feel me like if i were a helpless little rabbit about to be eaten by a hungry wolf but the worst part is that it seemed like goth was enjoying my discomfort, it made me nervous, i flew forward to get over it, i didn't want to be next to that beast.

Chinnok Pov

I reached the tank in time, the owls hadn't arrived yet luckily, as soon as I arrived I shouted loudly "owls !" the colony heard me and started shaking, I landed up on a wooden beam, at the same time Bathsheba landed next to me

"what about the owls?" she asked me

"there are bounties on our head us" but Bathsheba stopped me and said "have a bountie don't be ridic.."

but Frida blocks her and said "silverwings get ready to evacuate the roost" the colony starts moving to leave " Chinnok soon let's go! " "yes mom" he said flying away with her. but a question was hammering in my head "why do they think we killed the pigeons?"

Frisk Pov

We stopped in the valley near the city, landed to rest after the long flight.

I sat on a branch next to Shade and Marina who were perched upside down as Goth landed on the next branch

"Goth, am I freezing because the weather is so freezing?" asked Throbb cold,

at that moment Shade replied "it's always cold right now so we're migrating south" Throbb was shaking like a chick surely they were exotic bats and so unprepared for climates like this, poor boy, I was sarcastic

"like you little bats you can survive this cold "asked Goth

I said sarcastically" who knows maybe we are stronger than you think "

Goth looked at me with that superior smile that makes me angry" where we come from it's hot all year round and life grows up to a reasonable size "he said proudly then spread his huge wings laughing

" as a prince I am a magnificent specimen for my colony stand this "

at that moment Throbb laughed slightly but hid it pretending to cough

" so are you a prince? " stared and replied "yes senorita, I am the prince of my colony not that future king, so I would like you to show me a little more respect"

I rolled my eyes and with tone sarcastic replied "sorry majesty, I did not know who you were, but I should have known by observing your presumptuous and arrogant attitudes"

I noticed how Throbb giggles again, but as soon as Goth turns to him, the obese bat pretended to cough to save himself buttocks again

"why are you in this place so far from home?" Marina asked

"oh the royal guards weren't acting with their ears open when those dirty humans caught and blindfolded us and brought us here to be imprisoned" Goth replied showing a bronze band

, at that moment Marina pulled out hers showing it to everyone

"I understand, you too have been imprisoned by those stinking humans, senorita" at that moment I wanted to answer him but I thought about what to say, I didn't have to make him understand that I was human, I calmed down and said

"eh I don't think all human beings are bad"

when I said that sentence I noticed how Goth's gaze frowned slightly you trying to stay calm "why are you saying such a thing" he said, with a bit of tension I said

"a long time ago I was stuck in the trap of some human hunters, I thought I was going to die I felt doomed to an atrocious end, when a human girl appeared out of nowhere, at first I was afraid she would hurt me, but then i noticed how gently she tried to calm me down to prevent me from hurting myself further and once i calmed she freed me from the trap, meanwhile i flew away even though i was grateful to that human for releasing me, it could have killed me but he didn't do it for that i think not all humans are bad "

I noticed how Goth was scratching his red beard like he was thinking about my words" interesting senorita, but I find it harder to believe in the existence of good humans, definitely you were lucky enough to survive humans, not like life in the jungle "

Shade curiously stood up and asked" what is jungle? "

Goth with a glimmer of joy in his eyes began to tell us about his homeland "the jungle, the jungle is an explosion of colors, born from the heat and the sun"

I noticed how passionately he spoke of his land, I admit that this was fascinating in a way, I wanted to know more

"we live as we wish, without having to consider anyone and our bellies are never empty, we eat what we want, including the best of birds, the most gluttonous lizards and also" at that moment he stopped, lowered his face to Shade's and in a fluid voice said "small animal " I didn't like how he said it I don't know why but there was something strange in those words as if they meant an omen of danger, but luckily for me Marina was also in my opinion and looked at him with suspicion

"but enough of me, let's talk a little about you" Goth looked at Shade and asked him "tell me boy how is your colony"

answered Shade happy "oh well, we silverwings live as we choose to do, but with the rule of not looking at the sun, but I did, and an owl attacked us "

at that point I kept replying" Shade is not something to be proud of, the owls have burned the our tree "

" why didn't the males save you? "Goth asked with a curious air

" because they weren't there, we would have met at the Stronghold during the migration, but Frisk was with me instead and with her claws she blinded that owl "

I feel it and at those words I feel terrible it was not my intention do it

"and then what happened? "

" the owls came to our roost and wanted me and Frisk but Frida our boss refused to do so, so those cowards burned the tree ... uh I hate owls because I hate the treaty "

" treaty? "

"it's a stupid law that forbids us bats to see the sun just because we haven't fought in a stupid war" Shade flew over a branch near Goth as the latter looked at him interested, then with a smile he stood up and said

"I could bring my army here from the south and put an end to this once and for all ... and you Shade could be my commander and leader "

Shade listened to him completely fascinated by his words

" you would be hailed as a great warrior .. your father would be proud "

at that statement Shade became sad "I ... I don't have a father, Cassiel my dad disappeared one night and never came back" when he finished Goth flew to next to him, approached calmly and with a look of compassion he said "ah , a boy, without a father "

approached his huge wing and took with it Shade, the boy closed his eyes and allowed himself to be comforted, I admit he was cute all over a, but this thought disappeared when looking up I saw a smile on his face of the giant, in his eyes there was an evil gleam as if he was amused by this situation, Marina was no less she began to whisper something, she too knew that something was wrong

"thank you Goth"

"de nada mi amigo" answered Goth in his fluid Spanish accent, then shook his head at me making my heart leap

"tell me Senorita, what relationship do you have with the colony and with the little amigo" why did he want to know? maybe he wanted to have fun with me, savoring my fear, but I didn't have to think about it I just had to stay calm and think about something "well, Goth ..she .. well she is" exclaimed Shade

"I'm Shade's sister"

to this Marina and Shade turned to look at me with an expression of amazement on his face "well tell the truth I'm his stepsister, Cassiel is not my father, here I tell the truth I don't know who my father is, our mother tells me it was only a one night stand, the next day he disappeared and it was some days after she found out she was pregnant with me "Shade did understand the reason for my lie but decided to keep up with the game

" oh yes that's what I was going to say, big sister "

Goth observe Shade with doubt , "please let me fall for it" I prayed in my mind hoping that Goth didn't get suspicious

"uh, well that explains why you don't look much alike" I sighed in relief it had worked for now.

A few hours later Shade and Marina went hunting with Goth and Throbb as protection in case owls appeared out of nowhere, I instead stayed nearby by the river to have a drink and try to calam my nerves, I never felt so stressed even when I had to go to an interrogation and I was not ready and the fact that those two hate humans puts me in serious danger, especially with Goth, I don't know why but he seems tiredly drawn to me maybe he feels that I'm afraid of him and think I'm easy prey, I noticed that somehow he wanted to get close to me, it scared me all these questions were tightening my stomach, I tried to take deep breaths to try to calm me down but they didn't work, so it came to me another idea in mind, closed my eyes and started singing

"From the day we arrive on the planet And, blinking, step into the sun "my anxiety began to fade as I continued to sing" There's more to see than can ever be seen More to do than can ever be done "with every word I said it was as if an energy strengthened inside me and with it I too" can eve More to find thanr be found "I stood up to sing the loudest verses" But the sun rolling high Through the sapphire sky Keeps great and small on the endless round "and now the chorus" It's the circle of life And it moves us all "I said turning on myself forming a circle" Through despair and hope "I looked around it was as if the wind was blowing on me like in the movie" Through faith and love "I looked up at the night sky" 'Til we find our place On the path unwinding "then I looked at the moon" In the circle The circle of life "finished closing my eyes feeling better,

I have to love it singing it calmed me down a lot now I think I'm better

" you have a beautiful voice senorita "I turned around just to see Goth above me, perched on a branch" I spoke too soon "I thought, I turned to him and asked frowning

" how long have you been watching me? "

" since you started singing "well, what a shame, I sang and danced in front of him, I wanted the earth to suck me in at that moment

" I hope you enjoyed the show "I said sarcastically

" in reality this is the second time I hear your song "my eyes widened as it was possible, but then I remembered

" were you maybe at the concert? "

" yes to tell the truth we were there by chance, just to rest a bit and by pure coincidence I heard you sing senorita "

I blushed in embarrassment and looked away from him, he heard me sing, it feels like someone has discovered an embarrassing secret of mine and told it to everyone

"believe me your performance is the nicest thing that has happened to me since I'm in the north "at that moment I looked at him surprised by his words" seriously "

" yes you should sing much more often it makes you more fascinated "I shook my head and said seriously

" and tell me, can you explain to me why you are your brother-in-law were you following? wanted another taste? "he stepped off the roost and approached me

" I apologize again for this misunderstanding, we just wanted to talk to you, to solve the kidnapping issue "at that moment I turned to him and I said instinctively "the matter is that Chara my best friend was taken away by three bats of the same kind as you and when I tried to save her a female hit me in the face away from her and I hope for you that you don't Neither have anything to do with them or I swear I ... "but before I could finish the sentence, Goth started laughing heartily as if I said a" what are you laughing at! " I said growling

"you are really funny senorita, you are small and less strong but despite everything you have the courage to threaten me"

"do not underestimate me maybe I will not be very strong physically, but believe me I can be very smart especially in deadlock situations" Goth looked at me interested and then he said with a smile

"I see"

I don't know why but seeing that smile of his made me nervous, as if he felt superior to the others and it made me angry

"anyway senorita, your name without offense I don't find it much feminine "

" if it can console you you must know that Frisk is just my nickname, my real name is Serena "I said with an annoyed look

" Serena, uh a really lovely name for you "

" thank you my mother "

my real mother

"well she has great taste in names"

"thanks, now can i ask you a question"

"claro"

"why are you here? didn't you have to make sure Shade and Marina were safe from owls?"

"if you worry about your little amigos you are to taking care of them Throbb, I couldn't leave you alone, you could have been attacked while we weren't there "

no he was lying I know that's not only why he came here, he was lying, I could see him in that sneaky look of his as a treacherous snake

"Oh thank you my brave knight, but I'm not a girl in danger that needs to be saved, I can defend myself" he smiled and replied "I know, after all you blinded an owl"

at that statement I looked down feeling sick

"it was an accident, I didn't want to do it it was on a sudden impulse"

"you didn't do anything wrong senorita, you did what was right to do for you and your brother to survive" he was right next to me and said

"remember this senorita advice, in the jungle there is only one rule, the strongest survives and the weakest is killed, if you don't want to die you have to be stronger and you have to be ready to do everything the necessary to survive "

I didn't like it, being willing to do horrible things just to survive caused me horror, but I smiled at him and said" thanks for your life lesson I'll keep it in mind "

he replied with a broad smile showing his sharp fangs making me shiver "I'm very happy" I walked away from him

"ah listen, I have an idea tell me a little about your house how your colony lives" he with a smile replied "my colony lives in a huge pyramid ant ica created by a human tribe that inhabited the jungle centuries ago "

" wait pyramid do you mean a Mayan pyramid? "he seems surprised by my question" yes senorita I see that you are informed "

" only because I happened more than once to meet bats without colony coming from various places in the world and they told me about their travels and places they have visited "he looked at me for a moment

" I understand, as I was saying in my colony we are all great warriors, powerful and valiant, we have learned to resist the adversities of the jungle, under the blessing of our god the almighty Zotz "

that name provokes like a strong pulsation in my chest, I can't explain why, but it was as if my shot had suffered a sudden adrenaline rush, I looked down for a moment and touched the spot that struck me

"senorita you're listening to me"

I shook my head and answered " sorry, you were talking about your god and then "" thanks to our lord, my race was able to thrive and grow up is feared, we are the favorites of our master and to demonstrate the our loyalty we perform acts of devotion for him "

" what kind of acts of devotion "I asked curiously, but he didn't answer he just said" oh you'd better not know, for your sake senorita "something tells me that these ceremonies they are not Sunday prayers, but I listened to Goth's advice and didn't ask for more information "you know senorita, I must say that I enjoy talking to you, it makes me feel better than my situation, swaddled by those disgusting humans"

oh amigo if you only knew who you're talking to I think you'd be blown away by shock...

but at that point I risk ending up in the grave, I thought to myself sincerely I hope to stay in this body as long as possible, if I transform myself back into human in front of those two giants I don't even imagine what

"one last thing Goth" could do him he looked at me waiting for my question "you have already told us about your land and your role but you have not told us what species you and Throbb are, here I have heard about bats of bigger stature than those of my species but I don't know the their name "he looked at me before answering me with a broad smile

" we are Vampyrus Spectrus, also called spectral bats "to that name I remembered in the meantime where I had already heard it

Flashback

during the lessons of the first year of high school, the professor of natural sciences explained the nature, habits and feeding of the animals of the southern jungle

"another dangerous species of the jungle are the spectral bats" Chara raised his hand and said " that is the vampire bats "

" exactly Charlotte, but the vampire bats are divided into various types among these the spectral bats, this species is very voracious, its diet is based on lizards, birds, mice and in some cases they feed on small .. . "at that point I did not remember what the prof said about it because Chara told me

" this species is very interesting, don't you think Frisk "

" I don't like animals that eat animals that are not able to defend themselves "" I remind you that in jungle animals that cannot survive are devoured and the law of nature "

Now

at that moment that memory came out when you hear a familiar voice "guys !" Goth and I looked up and saw Shade, Marina and Throbb land next to us "you have done with your business mis amigos"

"yes"

at that moment Marina turned to me and asked "are you okay Frisk?" "yes it's okay" "has something bad happened to you?" she asked me pointing with her eyes towards Goth but I just said "no me and Goth we just talked about nothing bad"

do not lie, until proven otherwise Goth does not it hurt, but I wasn't okay, because now that I talked to it it became clear to me that Goth and Throbb were planning something evil.

a drop of rain hit me on the nose and then another and then another "guys it's better to leave or could begin to" before I could finish the sentence a thunder interrupts me and the rain started to fall on us "raining" I said with eyes semi-closed and with an angry air, it looked like a cartoon scene

"is better find a place to shelter before leaving "exclaimed Marina

Goth smiled and said" excellent idea "

said that, the giant spread its wings and flew up and we, having no other choice, followed him.

Third Person Pov

Shade, Marina and Frisk had come forward to argue away from those two

"Shade don't you wonder what our friends eat?"

"meat, bugs I don't see what the problem is"

"the problem is that they are planning something"

Shade looked at her and asked "why do you think that?"

"when I talked to Goth I noticed a strange mischievous look, I feel something is wrong, we have to get away from them as soon as possible"

at the same time the two giant bats flew behind them.

Throbb shivered from the cold water that fell on his wings, the fur and the head "this is so cold and wet and cold" he said with trembling teeth

"we will have to resist just a little longer"

"why don't we eat them now!" Throbb trembling growl

"why eat them now when we can eat the whole colony" Goth replied with an evil smile, Throbb looked forward understanding his brother-in-law's purpose, and this made him giggle with enthusiasm he couldn't wait to feast on lots and succulents silverwing all for him.

author's note: I hope you enjoyed this chapter if you noticed the song that Frisk sings is the cycle of the life of the lion king, tell me what you think about it in the comments