Disclaimer: I don't own anything except for my characters.
Bold lettering is Spanish sentences translated to English for readers benefit.
Chapter 6
The Meaning of a Dream
"Let us go! We didn't do anything!" Hazel continued to protest. The owls ignored her. They opened the wooden bars that blocked the prison cell inside a tree. They threw the bats in the chamber and closed it. Hazel clunged to the bars.
"Get us out! Please! We did nothing!" she pleaded. It went unheard. Atlas landed next to an owl.
"Orders from General Brutus. Guard these two until he thinks of punishment." he said.
Hazel cringed. What kind of punishment? Atlas took notice of her discomfort. He smiled.
"Maybe we might tear the limb from limb while they're still alive." he mentioned to the other owl, who laughed.
Atlas was just trying to scare Hazel and it worked. She screamed and flew against Tachetee, needing a friend for support.
"Tachetee! I don't want to be torn to pieces!" Hazel exclaimed, crying and shaking in fear. Tachetee hugged her tightly to stop the convulsive shaking.
"It's okay. That's not going to happen. I'm sure that owl was only playing with you." she comforted. Hazel sniffled.
"They're mean. We did nothing wrong. Right? What did we do to them?"
"I don't know Hazel...I don't know." Tachetee answered softly, looking out at the guard. After a few minutes, Hazel calmed down and looked at Tachetee.
"Will we ever get out alive?" she asked. Tachetee shrugged.
"This is probably just a misunderstanding. We'll just tell them our story and I'm sure they'll let us off easy." she explained. Hazel nodded, having some hope.
A thought hit her.
"Tachetee...I don't remember you feeding." she brought up. Tachetee noticed the emptiness in her stomach. She totally forgot all about that.
"You're right...can you share?" Tachetee begged. Bloodwings share regurgitated blood with those who couldn't feed. That way, their companions can survive.
Hazel smiled. "You know the rule. Groom me first." Hungry one have to groom a bat to get it's blood. That was their meal ticket.
Tachetee groomed her friend on the face, ears, and back, taking care of those hard to reach places. Once satisfied, Hazel gave Tachetee some of her meal, which Tachetee took happily.
"Thanks Hazel."
"No. Thank you. Now I feel squeaky clean!"
They laughed softly, trying not to attract any unwanted attention.
"How long will it take to get ourselves out?" Hazel continued to ask.
"Hopefully soon. We can only starve ourselves for so long. But we should get some sleep. It's starting to get light out." Tachetee informed.
Hazel nodded. She didn't feel vulnerable to sleep in this situation. She knew Tachetee was an extremely light sleeper. Any noise won't go unnoticed. Nor any silent movements.
Hazel never knew how Tachetee knows when something moves while she sleeps. She has her eyes shut and doesn't use any echoes.
Tachetee herself can't understand how either. She just knows. And now she has an advantage and she'll use it if necessary.
Cuddling, they slept, pressing themselves against the bark opposite of the owl.
---
Nightfall. Hazel and Tachetee woke with a yawn. Tachetee was startled awake a few times during the day, sensing movement from the owl guard. Turns out, they were just taking shifts.
"Sleep good?" Tachetee asked.
"I had a bad dream." Hazel replied, rubbing her eyes and twitching her ears and nose.
"About what?"
"Getting eaten by owls."
"Describe it." Tachetee always had an interest in Hazel's dreams. They don't actually come true, but they normally mean something. Hazel sighed.
"I'm flying, but not using my wings. I'm feeling happy when suddenly, an owl grabs me and takes me to it's roost. It rips off my wings and swallows me. I'm coughed back up, dead but undamaged with my wings back. And I'm smiling."
"How would you know? Normally, when you die in a dream, it goes black and you wake up."
"Yeah but the weird thing is, I saw myself in my dream. As if I was some invisible bat watching a twin get eaten. I'm confused."
Tachetee paused.
"Okay...Flying without the use of wings means you will accomplish something soon. But seeing yourself die in a dream means that something horrible will happen." she interpretated.
"So..."
"Altogether, the dream is saying that you'll do something great, but it will go terribly wrong. Something's going to mess it up."
"An owl?"
"It doesn't have to be. Anything can do it. Anyways...But then the owl coughs you up in one piece. That means that after the disaster, things will get better. Something lost will be gained back."
"What would that be?"
"I don't know. But it must be important if you dreamt it."
Fortuneteller Tachetee...it's got a ring to it. Intro to the main conflict...Sorry it took so long. I was trying to work on everything else...