Chapter 36
A Changed Leader and a Bat Breakout
Making Artaois follow them wasn't a hard task and it was mostly because he was now attached to Kassidy. The four friends didn't need to worry about wolves and predators seeing that Quacey was now accompanying them until the cub found someone to stay with. The cub enjoyed having Quacey around and it was cute to the friends to see Artaois looked like he was bonding with Quacey and Quacey was friendly with the cub. Even though the cub couldn't speak as the rest of them could, Quacey still made a friendly chat with him.
To Holden, seeing a cub and a wolf bond was cool. Sure, he's seen stuff like these in movies but not in real life. Kassidy was even bonding with the cub and she was checking on him to see if he was doing alright and he looked fine. Holden really couldn't help but admire Kassidy acting like a Mother towards the cub. He didn't have the touch that Kassidy had but seeing how she was handling it made him wonder how she could do it. He did remember her telling him about how her cousins didn't have magic one time when they were back at Tree Haven and it probably did make sense that she probably got that touch when it came to her cousins. He didn't know how old they were but he could probably guess pretty young.
Kassidy then joined the three bats again as they were flying back to where they last saw of Ursa and even though she wasn't happy about trying to talk to Ursa she was still smiling at the cub weakly. Holden couldn't help but smile at her weakly because she was pretty caring. She was gothic but she had the kindness that a lot wouldn't imagine her having.
Kassidy's smile then faltered and she looked at Holden, Shade, and Marina. "It might've been a good idea for Artaois if he would've been taken in by Quacey, but he can't because of Quacey's pack."
"Yeah, he does seem like he'd be a good fit for Artaois," Holden said. "But like you said: Quacey's pack would've been a problem."
"You know I've been thinking about something," Shade said and the three bats looked at him. "Quacey not only looks like he could be a good alpha in his pack but he also looks like he'd be a better leader of the beasts than Ursa."
"I don't think the beasts would've liked it if Quacey was the leader of the beasts," Marina said. "Even though I agree he might've been a good fit to be the leader of the beasts, Ursa's still the leader. Although, I think we should listen to what Quacey said about Ursa. He does seem like he's right about her."
"I hope so," Kassidy said. "But I'm not going back on my word about going any further near Ursa because I can't find it in myself to even want to talk to her again after what she said."
"Are you sure?"
Kassidy looked at Marina. "Absolutely." She then looked ahead. "And speaking of what I said now I'm going to land here."
Kassidy then swooped down to a nearby tree and planted her feet on one of its tree branches that was the lowest to the ground and swung upside down with her arms crossed. The three bats glided near Kassidy as Quacey and the cub stopped to look at Ursa at a pretty far distance to see her still eating kibbles from the bear feeder and it looked like she was trying to reach farther into it to get more. Holden honestly couldn't blame Kassidy for not wanting to go anywhere near her again, in fact, he didn't want to either.
It reminded him-and he wished it didn't-of when he last spoke to his Mom. He remembered it clearly and they were yelling at each other until Holden finally had enough and yelled at her that he hoped she would burn in Hell and walked away never looking back at her or speaking to her again. It's been a long time since the last time he spoke to her and no one knows for sure what happened to her but Holden didn't care. His Mom was dead to him.
Holden then looked at everyone. "I'm going to stay here with Kass. I don't feel like dealing with Ursa as well."
Kassidy shrugged her shoulders not caring. "Well, be my guest then."
"And I'll keep them company," Quacey said as he sat on his haunches. "It'd be better for me if I kept a safe distance away from Ursa anyway."
Artaois stood up on his legs and placed his paws on the bark of the tree as he looked at Kassidy and he made his little bear call. Kassidy smiled weakly and pat his head gently like he was a puppy rather than a cub. "Don't worry, Artaois, I'll be right here watching. I'm not going anywhere."
The cub smiled cutely at Kassidy and then he licked her hand and after he did he got down. He then looked back at Ursa who was still eating kibbles and started to walk towards her slowly.
"Alright, Marina and I will accompany the cub," Shade said. "We'll let you know how it goes." Shade and Marina then quickly hurried to catch up to the cub so they could also talk to Ursa.
Quacey then looked up at Kassidy. "I heard what you said to Ursa some time ago, you know how to speak your words with passion."
Kassidy looked at Quacey with a blank expression on her face. "Umm… thanks."
"You're welcome." Quacey then looked back at Shade, Marina, and the cub. "I think you might've made Ursa realize something because of your speech."
Kassidy tilted her head in confusion. "What do you mean by that?"
"After you and your friends left, Ursa looked like she was ashamed about something and it might've been because you made her realize what a leader is supposed to be like."
"She actually looked ashamed?" Holden said.
Quacey nodded. "I think you should watch Ursa very carefully."
Holden and Kassidy looked at each other but they then heard something hit against some metal and their eyes widened. They looked to Shade, Marina, the cub, and Ursa to see that Ursa was rubbing her head in pain. Holden guessed she hit her head against the bear feeder again. They then saw Ursa look at Shade, Marina, and the cub but when she saw the cub they heard her gasp real loud from where they were roosting and she said something they couldn't hear. Shade and Marina looked like they were trying to reason with Ursa but Ursa did not look like she was in a good mood as she was talking to them and the two Silverwings couldn't hear what they were saying.
With the two bats and the white bear talking, the cub was trying some kibbles that were on the ground, however, when Ursa finally looked back at the cub the two Silverwings heard Ursa gasp but she was looking at the cub furiously and they could hear her yelling at the cub. Ursa then pushed the cub with a hard force away from the kibbles and the cub looked at Ursa surprised but hurt at the same time.
Holden couldn't help but look at Ursa with his eyes narrowed as she went back to eating her kibbles. Ursa pushed the cub away from the kibbles like they were her prized possessions. Once again, Kassidy's prediction was right.
Holden's ears flicked forward and he heard Kassidy growl. He looked at her and he saw she was staring at Ursa angrily and her hands were turned into fists. She looked like she was going to burst into flames and Holden was ready to brace himself for the worse for he thought he could also see fire in her eyes.
"Don't jump to conclusions yet, you two," they looked at Quacey and he was staring at Ursa carefully. "Watch."
Holden and Kassidy blinked their eyes a few times but they then looked back at Ursa and watched her carefully as Quacey did. As Holden watched carefully, he noticed Ursa was looking at the cub without Shade and Marina realizing it with some… pity, as she was eating. Now that Holden was watching Ursa, he could see she had shame in her eyes, and to his surprise, she flicked one measly piece of kibble towards the cub and it was pretty big. The cub sniffed at the kibble and then he licked it up from the ground.
The two Silverwing friends looked at each other and didn't know what to say but they both couldn't believe that Quacey could catch onto what Ursa was really feeling. It was but a sight to see.
A little bit of mist began to spread slowly and leaves were starting to blow in the wind with some dancing grace. They could all still see through the mist and they could practically taste it. However, for safe cautions, they stuck as close as they could together, with the four bats flying in the sky and the wolf and cub walking on all fours on the ground.
Time seemed to be ticking by fast for the four friends needed to find Artaois a home fast so they could get back on track. In all honesty, Kassidy wished that Ursa took the cub because she actually looked like she wanted to take the cub in as her own but she still didn't want him. Kassidy sighed and didn't know what to think of Ursa now that she saw what happened a little bit ago.
"My colony's barely an echo from here and we're stuck with this cub," Shade said looking irritated.
"We can't just leave him," Marina said.
"Don't worry, we'll take care of the little guy," a voice spoke.
The group stopped in their tracks and to their shock, they saw Luger the alpha, with two of the wolves that the four bat friends recognized and with Quacey telling them that their names were Kiba and Virtuoso. What was even more shocking was that more wolves were appearing and they were growling in hunger staring at the cub. Kassidy counted and she saw that there were about eight wolves in total.
"You've got to be kidding me," Holden said.
Without a second thought, Kassidy landed on the ground near the cub and began to snarl at the wolves as her other bat friends landed next to her. The alpha saw her and grinned at her. "We meet again, witch. Pretty quick we'd be seeing each other again and it looks like you asked my cousin here to help you seek me out."
"I wasn't seeking you out," Kassidy said angrily.
Luger laughed. "Then I guess we bumped into each other in perfect timing." The alpha looked at the cub and the cub was shaking in freight but he then looked back at Kassidy. "So I guess since you weren't seeking me out you still haven't thought about what I said?"
"I told you before I'm not the leader of the Silverwings, and I'm not planning anything that'll harm anyone. What you've been told about me is a lie and it's because of the giant bats. Now you and your pack scram and let the cub be."
Luger and his pack looked at Kassidy with some annoyance. Luger then took a couple of steps towards Kassidy. "Why should we? If you hand the cub over to us he won't be a problem for you anymore and why do you have to lie about yourself? We all know who you truly are."
"I'm. Not. The. Leader. And we're not handing you over Artaois, you're not going to lay a grimy paw on him."
"That's right," Marina said. "You're not going to have him and Kassidy has nothing planned to harm anyone."
"You want Artaois?" Shade said as he looked at the wolves angrily. "You'll have to go through us."
"Yeah, you wolves will be sorry if you don't leave right now," Holden said with his eyes narrowed.
The wolves looked at one another and started to whisper with each other, however, Luger looked at the four friends amused, and then he started to laugh. One by one, wolves began to laugh along with their alpha, and the four friends stared at the wolves not finding this funny. The alpha then looked back at the four bats. "You flying mice don't know what you're dealing with. Don't make this any more difficult than it already is. Just give us the cub and we'll be on our way."
The four friends stood their ground and didn't move an inch. "No," Kassidy said firmly, "and that's final."
Luger looked at Kassidy with his brow furrowed and began to growl. "Fine… have it your way, witch." Luger was about to do something but before he could, Quacey all the sudden got in front of his cousin. Luger looked at him with frustration. "What do you think you're doing? Get out of the way!"
"Luger, it's not worth it," Quacey said calmly. "I think you and the others had enough to eat for today."
The wolves looked at Quacey with confusion but with frustration at the same time and began to whisper about him coldly. Luger looked like he was getting fed up with his cousin. "I've about had it with you. You think you can just walk right up to me and tell us what to do? I'm the alpha and you're not!"
"And I realize that, but you want to know something? Since you're the alpha you're supposed to be telling everybody things and I mean everybody."
Luger looked at his cousin confused. "What're you talking about?"
"You never told me you were also planning on expanding territory. Don't you realize what you're doing? If we eat more beasts in this forest and expand territory the population of beasts will decrease more leaving us with nothing to eat on besides herbs."
"Small risk, but one I'm more than willing to take."
Quacey furrowed his brow at Luger. "Well, I'm not."
Luger looked at his cousin surprised but he then furrowed his brow at him. "Then I guess you're out of the pack." The four friends were shocked and gasped and the cub looked shocked as well. Quacey looked at his cousin with his eyes widened but Luger and the other wolves didn't seem to mind what Luger's choice was. "Now get out of my way, one-eared freak!" Before Quacey could do anything, Luger jumped at his cousin and pushed him real hard towards the ground off to the side and Quacey groaned on the ground.
The friends were looking at Quacey worried but then they heard growling and the wolves were coming towards them now even hungrier than before. Kassidy looked at her friends. "Don't let them get the cub. We have to keep him safe no matter what!"
Her friends nodded and then they looked back at the wolves and were ready to protect the cub. Then, the pack started to run towards them. Kassidy, Holden, Shade, and Marina took off from the ground and started to defend the cub. Shade got on a wolf's face and began to claw at it and the wolf howled in pain and whimper trying to shake Shade off him. Marina got onto another wolf and she was on its neck and she then bit its neck and the wolf howled in pain like she was a vampire trying to suck his blood. Holden managed to find a stick to his size that was sturdy and he swung it at one wolf's face with his clawed feet like he was swinging a crowbar and the wolf hit the ground hard. Another wolf tried to pounce on Holden but Holden saw him coming and swung his stick once again and it hit the wolf square in the face.
As for Kassidy, she summoned her fire spell and began to try and scare some of the wolves with it and some of them backed away whimpering. "Back off!"
Without knowing it, a rabbit and a raccoon were watching the fight shocked but what was surprising to them was that these bats were defending a cub. They continued to watch without being noticed.
"Stop fooling around and take them down," Luger shouted snarling.
Shade and Marina tried to sneakily fly behind Luger to try and attack him but to their bad luck, the alpha saw them and he then kicked Shade straight to the chest like he was a horse and Shade started to fly out of control and he knocked into Marina and they then crashed to the ground and groaned. Holden kept trying to swing his stick at the wolves but then, the wolf named Kiba managed to grab a hold of Holden's stick and Holden tried to rip it out of Kiba's mouth but Kiba easily managed to hold onto it and he then flung the stick with Holden still holding onto it towards Shade and Marina and Holden screamed and he then crashed into Shade and Marina and he groaned. The wolves still kept trying to get the cub but Kassidy wouldn't let them. The wolves no longer looked like they were afraid of the fire Kassidy had in her hands so she knew she had to try and think differently. A couple of wolves ran towards Kassidy and before they could do anything, Kassidy summoned her snow spell and aimed it at them and it blew at them like a snowstorm and the wolves got knocked off their feet and they crashed to the ground.
The cub tried to run and go find a hiding place but what Kassidy didn't know was that Luger saw him try to go hide and so he began to go around Kassidy and a couple of wolves followed him. Luger managed to block the cub's way and so did two of the other wolves and Luger grinned menacingly at the cub and the cub made frightful noises and tried to call for Kassidy. Kassidy heard the cub and she looked over her shoulder and gasped when she saw the cub was in trouble. Luger and the other two wolves had him cornered by a tree. One wolf was about to walk towards the cub, but Luger growled at him warningly. Luger then walked towards the cub but before he could get anywhere as close to try and kill Artaois, a wolf got in front of him and snarled with his fur bristled and it was none other than Quacey.
Luger looked surprised, but he then snarled at Quacey. "Get out of the way!"
"Leave the cub alone," Quacey said, standing his ground.
They stared at each other angrily but Luger then looked at the cub and the cub was looking up at Quacey. Luger then looked back at Quacey. "Fine, I'll take you down first."
Kassidy heard a wolf running at her and just in time, she summoned a light spell towards the wolf and when she did it practically almost went blind and she started to whimper and she was rubbing her eyes off to the side. Kassidy's friends managed to recover and began to help her once again. Kassidy looked over her shoulder again and she saw Quacey and Luger circling around each other snarling and then Luger pounced at Quacey and they rolled to the ground and then they began to fight while snarling and barking. While they were fighting, Kassidy saw the two wolves advancing towards Artaois and she gasped.
"NO!" Kassidy shouted.
Then, one of the two wolves pounced at Artaois, and time seemed to have slowed down and Kassidy's heart and blood seemed to have stopped working as the wolf leaped towards Artaois. Her breath was stuck in her throat as she felt very slow to try and use her magic on the wolf to knock him away from the cub. She couldn't fail him. She just couldn't. She couldn't fail him like she failed her parents.
But then, something swiped at the wolf and he yelped and crashed to the ground and whimpered. Kassidy was shocked to see who it was, protecting the cub. Standing on her two legs and roaring at the two wolves was none other than Ursa. The two wolves looked at Ursa shocked but they then snarled at her and tried to attack her as they barked. Ursa hit the first one she hit again and the other pounced on her but before he could rip anything off of her, Ursa pushed him off her with both of her feet and the wolf crashed into a tree and hit the ground hard.
"Kass, look out," Shade shouted.
Kassidy saw a wolf try to pounce at her but she somersaulted out of the way and got back on her feet. The fight continued with the four bat friends, the one-eared wolf, and the white kermode bear versus Luger and the other wolves. The rabbit and raccoon continued to watch scared but amazed at the same time at what they were witnessing.
Then, Kassidy jumped onto one wolf and when she did she used her levitation spell and concentrated on one wolf that was Virtuoso and when she did, the wolf was floating and she was freaking out and then, Kassidy threw her at another wolf and they collided into each other and crashed to the ground. Then, in a fast movement, Kassidy jumped off the wolf she was on and in perfect timing, a wolf was trying to get her but instead, he ended up crashing into his companion. Kassidy then ended up doing a summersault once again.
The wolves were now whimpering and they began to retreat with their tails between their legs, all except for Luger. Quacey and Luger were still fighting and they had wounds and were bleeding all over themselves. Then in a quick movement, Quacey used his body to knock Luger off his feet, and Luger crashed to the ground and groaned. Quacey breathed hard and as he did he then spat blood out of his bleeding mouth to the ground.
Luger looked up at Quacey and he slowly got up and as he did he snarled at Quacey. "This isn't over, Quacey! You'll be sorry for ever defending that cub!" And with that, Luger ran off to catch up with Quacey's ex-pack.
The bats, the one-eared wolf, and the two bears watched as Luger ran off and when he was gone, Kassidy's friends whooped. "Yeah, that's what I'm talking about," Holden shouted cheerfully and he and Shade high foured and they and Marina continued to whoop.
Kassidy smiled weakly at her friends but she then looked at the cub and he was making a cheerful sound towards Ursa. Ursa was looking at her paws with a shocked look on her face as Quacey was trying to catch his breath. Kassidy was relieved that the wolves were finally gone and the cub was safe.
They were all back at the bear feeder and joining them was a raccoon and a rabbit that was watching them fighting off the wolves. It was a brutal fight but they managed to get out of it alive.
Ursa gave Artaois a share of her kibbles in a metal looking plate and when she did, the cub smiled up at her gleefully and then began to eat and Shade, Marina, the rabbit, and the raccoon watched. Quacey watched too as Kassidy was mending his wounds with healing poultice and leaves and Holden offered to help as well. Quacey told them that they didn't have to but they insisted they would and in the end Quacey allowed them to mend his wounds.
Then, Ursa pushed another metal looking plate with kibbles on it towards Quacey and Quacey looked surprised. He then looked up at Ursa. "Is this for me?"
"Of course it is," Ursa said. "Why else do you think I pushed this towards you?"
"Well I appreciate it, but I'm not hungry."
"Don't try to fool me, I can tell you barely had anything to eat today. Besides you need your strength again."
Quacey looked at the kibbles and he looked back at Ursa and started to think. He then sighed and looked back at the kibbles. He sniffed at them and he then slowly took a bite out of the kibbles and began to chew and swallow. His eyes widened and he looked up at Ursa. "This is… pretty good."
Ursa smiled at Quacey. "Well of course it is, now don't waste it."
Quacey went back to eating as Kassidy and Holden were finishing up mending his wounds and when they did, Kassidy dusted her hands off. "Well, that takes care of it."
"That was incredible what you all did," the rabbit said. "You showed those wolves."
"Yeah, I've never seen bats, a bear, and even a wolf working together to fight off wolves," the raccoon said.
"You actually took charge, Ursa," Marina said encouragingly.
"Yeah, but there's something I need to know," Kassidy said as she crossed her arms and looked at Ursa. "Why did you do that? After all you said and you helped us fight off those wolves."
Ursa looked at Kassidy and she sighed. "It was all because of you. After what you told me your words caught me off guard but it is you I can also thank for. After you and your friends left I was thinking things over and the more I thought about it the more I realized that you were right… and I will admit that I was acting selfish. I now realize that I need to act more like a leader and I'm sorry about everything. I hope you can find it in yourself to forgive me. I probably don't deserve it but just know I'm willing to act like a better leader."
Kassidy looked at Ursa with surprise and she saw that Ursa looked like she meant what she said. She looked at her friends and they looked like they were now alright with Ursa. If they were fine with it then maybe she should be too. She after all did help them with the wolves.
She looked back at Ursa and smiled weakly. "I think we all deserve second chances and because you risked your life for Artaois I'll forgive you."
Ursa looked surprised but she then smiled weakly at Kassidy. "Thank you."
"No, I should be thanking you."
Ursa then tilted her head. "I have one question though. Brutus told us that one of your Silverwing friends and you are humans. Is that true?"
Kassidy looked shocked. How did Brutus know? Kassidy slowly looked at Holden and she saw that he was acting like he was focused on something and he was whistling a tune. Kassidy narrowed her eyes at Holden. "You got something to say?"
"Huh?" Holden looked at Kassidy and he then began to laugh nervously. "Umm… about what?"
"Don't give me that look." She then looked from Holden to her other friends. "Would someone explain something to me?"
"We can explain later," Marina said and she then looked at Ursa. "But yes, Kassidy and Holden are humans."
The beasts looked at Kassidy and Holden in amazement. "So it is true," the raccoon said. "Those two are actually humans, but how?"
Kassidy sighed but knew there was no point in trying to deny it and so she told the beasts how she and Holden were turned into humans and she had to explain some things but the beasts listened carefully. In the end, the beasts thought that was quite a story.
Holden got next to Kassidy and asked: "So, what happens now?"
"Well the wolves are gone for now," Ursa said as she lied down on her stomach. "But they'll be back."
Quacey sighed and stood up. "I'm afraid what Ursa says is true… and I can guarantee that there'll be more of them next time…"
"We have to cross the human road," the raccoon said. "Find someplace safe."
"No," Ursa stated firmly and this took everyone by surprise. "Running away won't solve this. We'll go to Brutus; we'll tell him Shade, Kassidy, and Holden's story and get him to stop this war."
The four bat friends looked surprised but they then looked at Ursa gratefully for what she was going to do. Kassidy couldn't believe that Ursa was willing to do this but she was happy to hear that Ursa was going to try and convince Brutus that they were innocent. She hoped that this time Brutus would call this whole thing off.
"What a night this has been," Holden said.
"Yeah, but it's a good thing that we now have the leader of the beasts on our side now," Shade said.
The four friends were continuing on their way to find the colony and with none of them hurt they had some strength left to go further. Although they lost some of their energy from trying to protect Artaois they continued onwards. Before they left they said their thanks to Ursa and said bye to her and the other beasts that they were talking too. The best part was that Ursa was going to take care of Artaois. Kassidy was going to miss the little guy but she hoped to see him again soon.
Even though Kassidy was glad Ursa was going to take care of everything, she had something bugging her. If Orestes did tell some owls about the giant bats and where they were shouldn't they have also seen Martin's corpse? Kassidy thought about how the owls should've seen the body too and then they probably would've believed that she, Holden, Shade, and everyone else they found guilty was innocent. She started to think that maybe some sort of animal dragged Martin's corpse somewhere and ate his burnt flesh as if it got it from a barbeque party. It would make sense but that would mean the corpse would be somewhere else decayed and she knew the chances of the owls finding it was a low one.
What was also a low chance was Martin surviving. If Martin could've survived he would've been moving without difficulty. She could still see Martin's lifeless body, with the burnt smell and the smoky wreckage coming off it. At least she wouldn't have to see that body again. However, she couldn't stop thinking about what happened to the body.
"Will Brutus believe Ursa, that Martin and the other three giant bats are the actual causes of this?" Marina asked.
"I hope so," Shade said. "But at least the giant bats won't be a problem."
"That's true but I think we can all realize that they didn't see any evidence of Martin's body," Kassidy said. "I mean without the evidence I can see why they would also think we're still guilty."
"Shit, she's right," Holden said. "We probably should've told Orestes to take the body somewhere so no animal could try to eat him."
"Well it's too late now," Marina said. "Although, putting Martin's body somewhere would've been hard for Orestes to do, and let's not forget he also had to tell the owls about the giant bats."
"Look, what matters is that we might have another chance to get out of this messed up situation," Shade said. "At least I hope so."
Another thing that was on Kassidy's mind since they talked with the beasts a while ago was the information Ursa said that Brutus said to the beasts. She then looked at her friends. "So you guys now mind explaining yourselves about why Brutus has information about Holden and I being humans and yet doesn't believe that?"
Holden, Shade, and Marina looked at each other and they looked uncomfortable about something. They then looked back at Kassidy. "Oh… that…" Holden said seeming a little nervous.
Kassidy looked at them seriously and waited for one of them to answer. She wanted to know and she wouldn't let them try to change the subject and if they did she would keep asking them. She wanted the full story.
But to Kassidy's relief, they started to tell her what happened after she got kidnapped by the giant bats. They told her about the argument they had with Brutus and how he still didn't believe them even after they saved Orestes and Holden got mad at him and ended up blurting out that he and Kassidy were humans. Kassidy wished she told Holden that they couldn't tell anyone else that they were humans unless they were trustworthy enough to be told so. Now she could tell that this was going to be spread around and she didn't want that but it was too late now.
After they told their story to her, Kassidy breathed through her nose and sighed. "I wish I was there at that time with you guys…"
"Don't blame yourself, Kass," Marina said. "At least we're all still here if it weren't for Orestes getting us out of that prison."
"It's also a good thing that getting arrested by owls won't go on my records," Holden said and Marina and Shade looked at him confused. Holden then looked at Kassidy. "Kass, can you explain what I said to them?"
Kassidy sarcastically smiled at Holden. "What am I, a dictionary now?"
"Hey, you explain things better than I do and you're looking at someone that has a D in world literature."
"One of you going to explain to us what you're talking about?" Marina asked.
Kassidy and Holden looked at their curious and confused friends and Kassidy then explained to them what Holden meant by records and she and Holden then explained to them the best they could about what they just talked about but Kassidy mostly did the explaining. They told them about what high school was like including, classes, grades, sports, and clubs. Kassidy told them how she was known as the lone wolf and the gothic girl and Holden told them how he was known as the popular, party boy. Shade and Marina looked excited as Kassidy and Holden told them about high school but what didn't excite them was that there was always drama at high school but they still enjoyed what Kassidy and Holden had to say.
"You guys are strange, you know that?" Marina said.
"That's quite understandable," Kassidy said.
"What else is there that we don't know about?" Shade said.
Kassidy laughed. "We'll tell you more tomorrow." Kassidy then looked to the sky. "I think we should find somewhere to roost though, the sun's going to be up soon."
Shade looked to the sky surprised. "Wow, already? Alright, guess we'll find a roost then."
"You guys wonder whatever happened to the three giant bats Orestes said he'll take care of?" Holden asked curiously.
"I try not to," Marina said. "But whatever the owls plan on doing to them I'm sure they'll get what they deserve."
Kassidy hoped Goth, Throbb, and Dianna were getting what they deserved. They might've successfully told a remarkable lie to Brutus but that didn't mean they weren't going to get punished. She might not be able to teach them a lesson at this moment but at this moment she was willing to put the fate of the trio of giant bats in the owls' talons.
One day passed and Goth thought that the prison he was stuck in with Throbb and Dianna was probably much worse than the fake jungle the humans put him and Throbb in. In the fake jungle, it at least had warmth, more room to fly in, and food that sort of filled them up, even though it was just mice and they tasted bland. But here in their prison, it was much worse.
There was barely any warmth and Goth and Throbb had to warm themselves up to any way they could and they had to do it often because the prison they were in was not getting any warmer but it seemed like it was getting colder and the coldness felt like it was trying to tear off what was left on their bodies until they were just bare skin. Dianna didn't warm up every so often as Goth and Throbb did but whenever she did she just warmed her hands with her breath or she just rubbed her hands together. Goth and Throbb had the worst sleep of their lives because of the coldness. They tried to get the warmest spot they could on the ceiling of their prison so they couldn't feel the cold wind but they didn't have any luck and they were shivering and clattering their teeth all night. Goth covered his whole body up tightly the best he could while he was trying to get some sleep but the wind seemed like it knew how to freeze him no matter what. When he and Throbb woke up they had bags under their eyes and their eyes were bloodshot.
There was also barely any room to fly in here and the only places that the three of them could fly to were the ceiling or back down to the floor from the ceiling for it was crammed. They could pretty much only move on the ceiling or the ground using their feet or both the feet and hands but that pretty much annoyed all three of them because they sometimes had to move out of the way so the other one could get by and that was a pain in the ass for them. What made matters worse was the amount of food they've had since they were in prison. They didn't get any big or small juicy animals to eat that could fill their hunger and all the owls gave them to eat were worms and there were barely any for them to eat.
Goth and Throbb were on the ceiling trying to warm themselves up while Dianna was on the ground looking out through their cell door. Goth was breathing through his hands and as he did cold air was visible to see and after he did he began to rub his arms tired and hangry. He was at the point where he wanted to kill Dianna and eat her because she told him and Throbb that Martin would find them but he still wasn't here yet. Where the hell was he? He wanted out.
"Goth… did I mention to you that I'm freezing cold right now?" Throbb asked while shivering.
Goth growled in irritation and rolled his eyes. "You may have mentioned that once. Or was it once too much!" Throbb flinched at Goth's outburst. "Be lucky I haven't ripped your hide off yet, otherwise I would've used it to warm myself up more…"
The wind blew once again and the brothers started to shiver once more and cover their bodies more tightly with their large wings. Dianna didn't even flinch as the wind blew at her figure, making her black hair flow along with the wind as she kept staring out through the cell door. Goth caught a whiff of Dianna's scent and when he did he thought the smell was strange. It didn't smell anything like a Vampyrum Spectrum bat. Instead, it smelt like… a scent of a human. Now that Goth thought about it, her scent wasn't the only scent that was strange to him.
Martin's scent was like Dianna's as well. At first, he didn't think too much about it but their scents were driving Goth crazy. He hated the smell of humans and smelling humans on Martin and Dianna made him furious. Were they with the humans that long to be stuck with that smell? He also managed to get a good whiff at the insectivore bats they were with some days ago and Shade and Marina had the bat scent that Goth would've expected but as for Kassidy and Holden their scents were like Martin and Dianna's. This confused him because neither of those two mentioned being anywhere near humans. Marina did say she was near humans but she didn't have a human smell on her. Goth thought the north was not only a hell hole but also messed up at the same time.
He didn't say anything about the human scents to anyone but decided to keep it to himself for good reasons. Very good reasons.
As Goth was warming himself up he noticed that Throbb was staring at Dianna in a very confused but suspicious way and this got Goth confused. Usually, he's seen Throbb look at Dianna uncomfortably but this time he wasn't and that was the first. What was he thinking about?
Throbb then looked at Goth. "Goth, I need to talk to you about something." He whispered.
Goth furrowed his brow at him. "Why are you whispering?" He whispered back.
"Because…" Throbb then used his head to indicate towards Dianna.
Goth looked at Dianna and she was still looking outside. Not knowing what this was about, Goth decided to let Throbb explain himself through whispering even though he wasn't in the mood for this. The brothers then turned their backs to Dianna.
"What's this about?" Goth asked annoyed.
Throbb rubbed his neck as he looked back at Dianna and then he looked back at Goth. "Remember that bird that was in the human place that Martin wanted me to get?"
Goth blinked his eyes a few times confused. "Why are you asking me this?"
"I didn't catch him. He was too fast for me. I tried but he ended up getting me instead. I thought for sure he was going to kill me but he didn't."
Goth crossed his arms. "The bird caught you but he didn't kill you?"
"I know it sounds stupid but it's true. Goth, I've never seen a bird like this one… he talked to me."
"So what? Every animal can talk."
"Not like this one… he talked to me but he didn't move his beak. I could hear him clearly but it felt strange the way he did it."
Goth looked at Throbb like he was crazy. No animal could talk without moving its mouth/beak. He then grabbed a handful of Throbb's mane roughly. "I think you're out of your mind. Animals don't talk without moving their mouths or beaks and you're losing it this time!"
Throbb's eyes widened but he tried to stay calm. "I'm not lying, it's true! I saw and heard everything. H-He told me something…"
Goth started to snarl. "My patience is running thin…"
"I think what he told me involves Martin and Dianna."
Goth stopped snarling and looked at Throbb confused. He played back what Throbb just said inside his head and Throbb said it without hesitation. Goth had no idea what to think at this moment.
He looked at Dianna and she was still looking outside and didn't even move from her place like she was no longer living. Goth looked back at Throbb. "What do you mean?"
"He told me not to trust them. He also told me that they may look like they're a part of our kind but they're not at all what they seem they are. Goth… I think he was talking about Martin and Dianna."
Goth thought about what Throbb said carefully. Why would a bird warn Throbb about Martin and Dianna? Goth was now for sure that Throbb lost his mind. Who in their right minds would think of such a thing?
However, Goth thought about Throbb saying they're not at all what they seem they are. Those spouses were crazy no doubt about it, but if this bird told Throbb what he said to him what did he mean by, "They're not at all what they seem they are?" He rubbed his eyes with two of his fingers finding this frustrating to think about. He didn't want to believe what Throbb told him, it just sounded ridiculous.
Goth then looked back at Throbb. "And do you expect me to believe a story like that? Do you honestly believe your own story you told me is true? Because I think your mind is playing tricks with you right now."
"I…" Throbb looked hesitant as he began to think. "I don't know… but what if that bird was actually trying to tell me something?"
Goth was getting fed up with this conversation as he was now growling to himself and he looked away from Throbb trying not to pummel him to the face. He would not believe that story. All he was concerned about was getting out of here. He didn't know if this King Boreal was on his way here or not but either way he just wanted to get out of here.
He looked at Dianna and glared at her and while he did he glided down from the ceiling and landed on the ground. "Señorita," he hissed while whispering.
Dianna sighed annoyed and she scowled at Goth. She walked up to Goth and when she got near him she stopped. "What!?" She whispered angrily.
"You said Martin would find us but he still hasn't shown up!"
"And he will."
"Then why hasn't he? For all we know he could be dead and any time or day now this King Boreal is going to be deciding our fates!"
"My husband is not dead you fool! Like I said: he will find us and we won't have to worry about this King Boreal."
Goth was about to retort but the then heard one of the owls guarding their jail cell shout: "Hey, bat! Stay where you are!"
Goth thought the owl was talking to one of them but he saw the owl wasn't even looking at him, Throbb, or Dianna. Dianna looked at him annoyed one last time before she walked back over to the cell door. Throbb joined Goth on the floor and as confused as they were they went over to the cell door to see what was going on. They looked out to see the owl guards were looking at something and they were in defense.
Goth looked to where the owls were looking and he saw a shadow of a bat figure gliding towards them and he couldn't see who it was but it was definitely a bat figure. But as the bat got closer he started to notice that the figure looked feminine. This figure looked familiar and as she got closer he could get a better look at her and when he did his eyes widened.
Gliding towards their jail cell was the witch.
"J-Julius… is that…?" One of the owl guards said now looking a little freaked out.
"Dear god…" the owl named Julius said shocked. "It's the witch!" Kassidy landed at a far distance away from the owl guards but close enough to them and as she did the owls tried to look aggressive. "Don't come any closer witch!"
To more of Goth's surprise, Kassidy chuckled-which he's never seen her do-and it made the owl guards look uncomfortable. "Now, now, I'm not here to hurt you two. I just came here to collect these three." Kassidy said with a smirk. "Just hand them over."
Goth blinked his eyes confused to be sure he heard her correctly. Why did she now want to help them? This was something Goth would not have expected from her.
"I said do not come any closer," the owl named Julius shouted a little louder.
Kassidy hummed as she crossed her arms. "Perhaps you didn't hear me correctly. Let me repeat myself differently."
Kassidy then looked like she was concentrating on something and as she did the owl guards were looking at her confused as to what she was doing. And then, in a matter of moments, Kassidy's ocean blue eyes started to glow. The owls looked stunned by what she was doing but then their eyes started to glow as well and they stood still in place. Goth and Throbb didn't know what was happening but Goth couldn't bring himself to move as he watched what was happening. The owls still didn't move or speak any further as their eyes continued to glow and their bottom beaks hung open.
Kassidy then sneered. "Now, isn't this better?"
The owls slowly nodded. "Yes…" They said simultaneously.
"Good, now I'm here to collect those three." She then looked at one of the owls and pointed at him. "You, would you mind letting them out?"
The owl Kassidy spoke to slowly nodded. "Of course, I'll let them out."
The owl that Kassidy spoke to then turned around and then he used his talon to lift a latch to the cell door and when he did he started to open it more widely for Goth, Throbb, and Dianna. Goth had no words to say as he and Throbb looked at each other. Dianna already got next to Kassidy without any hesitation and they saw she wasn't surprised about this. Not knowing what else to do, Goth and Throbb flew over to where Kassidy and Dianna were and landed next to them.
"Now shut it," Kassidy said to the owl she talked to. The owl obeyed her and he shut the door all the way. "Good, and that's all I need." She then looked from both the owl guards and she looked like she had an idea. "Now, fight each other." The glowing in Kassidy's eyes then faded and as it did so did the glow in the owls' eyes.
The two owls looked at each other and then within seconds, the two began to tackle each other. They screeched loudly as they fought brutally like actual savages. Then one of the owls flew up in the air and grabbed the other one and threw him very hard and the owl he threw started to spin out of control but he managed to keep his flight steady and then they continued to fight in the sky.
Then out of nowhere, something black started to surround him and as it did his body started to feel weird. He couldn't feel it and Goth wasn't liking this and it was like he was becoming part of the black cloud that was surrounding him. He was then completely in the black cloud and he couldn't see anything on him. What was happening?
Just as he thought he was going to be stuck in this black cloud it disappeared and he felt and saw his body again. Saying that it was all a dream would be nonsense and even though he barely had any sleep he was certain he wasn't sleeping, although if it was a dream, Goth wasn't sure if this would be a good dream or not. He even wasn't sure if he wanted this to be a dream or not.
Goth took a moment to process what just happened and as he did he noticed that he and the others were no longer in owl territory. Instead, he saw that they were all in a cave. A big one for that matter and it was at least not crammed like it was back in the prison cell. If he had to spend at least a few more days in that prison he might've gone mad and try and eat Throbb or Dianna so he could survive. Goth was relieved he won't be spending any more time in that prison.
The confusion started to swarm more around the inside of his brain and it was like his brain was in water and he could tell Throbb was having the same confusion as him. The brothers looked at Kassidy and she was staring at them with no emotion as was Dianna. Wouldn't she have liked it better if they were in prison?
"Señorita, why did you get us out of that prison?" Goth asked. "I would've thought for sure you didn't want anything to do with us after that whole incident a couple of days ago."
Kassidy rolled her ocean blue eyes as she sighed annoyed. "It's not the orphan, it's me, Martin." Kassidy-or Martin for that matter, lifted his hand towards himself and when he did he flicked his wrist and a black cloud engulfed around the figure and spun like a tornado would and it was over immediately and standing in the cave with the other three giant bats was no longer Kassidy but Martin himself, looking like he always did. He then moved his head from the right to the left and as he did his neck cracked. "That's better." Goth and Throbb had their jaws dropped and when Martin saw it he furrowed his brow at them. "Don't be surprised, my wife even told you two I was coming. Were you actually expecting the orphan to come to the rescue?"
Goth and Throbb looked at Dianna and she had her brow furrowed at Goth. "I told you so. Why else do you think I made up that story?"
So, Martin must've listened to the fake story she told to the owls, Goth thought to himself, by using his magic... He realized that Dianna's story also meant that Martin had the advantage to disguise himself so no one would suspect him.
Goth rolled his eyes as he looked away from Dianna and he then looked back at Martin and so did Throbb. "What exactly did you do to those owls back there?" Goth asked.
"Simple," Martin said as he walked more into the cave, "I hypnotized the owls into doing my biddings. I was going to kill them but them killing each other makes things much more entertaining."
Goth crossed his arms as he then thought, So it seems…
"B-But, what was that whole black cloud thing?" Throbb asked. "We went from that owl territory to here and you also used that black cloud to go from the witch to your normal self."
Martin slightly looked over his shoulder at Throbb in a creepy way. His snake looking eyes were boring into Throbb's normal eyes as if he was planning on having him for dinner and it was working because Throbb was looking nervous as he usually did. He then looked away and had his winged-arms on his back with the huge snake drawing on there as he looked like he was thinking about something. Goth didn't know what he was thinking about but from the looks of it, he could tell he was thinking about something.
"Clearly your brain is smaller than that potbelly of yours but I might as well explain those actions to you," Martin said. "That 'black cloud' you speak of is part of my magic. One of the spells I used for us to get us here involving that magic was the transportation spell. The other spell I used with that magic is called the transformation spell. Two spells even that redhead orphan can't even do." Martin chuckled with a sinister smile.
Before Goth could say anything he started to smell something strong. It smelt of blood and this blood Goth was smelling seemed to be coming nearby. He could smell it all around the inside of the cave. It smelt of the same repulsing human stench that Goth hated. He thought maybe his brain was screwing around with him ever since he was in that cell. He hoped his instincts were right because he did not believe that he was smelling any sort of human blood. After all, there was no sign of any human being here.
He could also smell it below him and he looked down and when he did he noticed some sort of line. His eyes followed the trail and it seemed like this trail was making a very odd shape. Goth kept following the trail using his eyes and he had to turn his body every so often for this odd-looking shape was taking up almost all of the floor of the cave. He wanted a better look at the shape and so he lifted from the ground and went to the ceiling and he then planted his feet on the ceiling and he then looked down at the shape he was trying to make out and when he did he couldn't believe his eyes. On the very floor was a large shape of a star in a circle and it was all in red. Red blood for that matter and even though it was red it looked like Martin and Kassidy's markings on the palms of their hands only their markings were black. It was like looking at one of the symbols back at the pyramid.
Throbb came up to the ceiling to get a better look at the shape as well and like Goth, he couldn't believe what he saw. Goth heard Throbb whisper to himself in Spanish and Goth didn't pick up on what he said but he was sure he was saying something about that symbol. What was it doing in a cave like this?
"I see you two are admiring my masterpiece," Martin proudly admitted. "Took me some time to do this and it was mostly why you two and my wife had to wait a little longer in that owl made cell."
Goth furrowed his brow in confusion at Martin. "And what was the purpose of doing this?"
"This was the purpose."
Martin then held his hand out and as he did a small looking black cloud formed and as it did it quickly dissolved into something else. Goth wanted to get a better look at the object that was in Martin's hand and so he and Throbb glided back to the ground near Martin and looked at the object. When they could get a better look at the object they could see that it looked scaly and golden. It had eyes red as Zotz's eyes that Goth heard from stories from his home but for some reason, the eyes looked strange. They were… shining. In fact, the whole object looked shiny like a piece of treasure that a human would've likely taken, at least that was a story that Goth heard about.
This object that the two were seeing was a snake. The only thing was that this snake was not moving. It seemed to Goth that it might've been dead but for some reason he thought he could hear some hissing. The snake was not making any signs of hissing but Goth could literally hear the hissing. What's wrong with me lately? Goth thought to himself.
"A snake?" Goth then crossed his arms. "What for exactly?"
Martin looked at the snake as he continued to smile his sadistic looking smile like it was precious to him. "This snake here is something I created using blood magic. It's not alive but it will serve a great purpose. This here is a little gift for the orphan."
He could hear the snake again and he and Throbb looked at it again. If it wasn't alive then what exactly? However, as they continued to stare at it, the snake's eyes then slowly started to glow a brighter red and it kind of glowed like Martin's disguised eyes did. Whatever this gift was for the witch, Goth was glad he wasn't going to be the one to receive it.
A/N- Back with another chapter! So in the last chapter I said I might be making changes and corrections in my other chapters and I will be. So I might be gone long as I make changes and corrections to my chapters but I hope that it won't be a problem for any of you. I just want my chapters to make sense to all of you without having some errors. If there's a chance I won't be gone long then I might be able to get in another chapter as soon as I can. Well that's all there is to it and have a nice day.