Disclaimer: I don't own anything except for my characters.

Bold lettering is Spanish sentences translated to English for readers benefit.

Chapter 9

Trouble

"I'm getting hungry... For real food this time..." Hazel muttered to Tachetee, still following Shade and Marina. The other Blooodwing nodded.

"True that...but how can we sneak a meal with them around. We don't want them to freak out and abandon us." she reasoned. Hazel's stomach practically roared and the young bat moaned in impatience.

Marina heard the hunger sign and swung back alongside them."You hungry?"

Hazel let out a scream and clung to Tachetee in fear of the prospect of attempting to eat another bug. Tachetee almost fell out of the sky with the burden of carrying her pal.

Marina gave them a weird look as Shade circled back as well.

"What's wrong with her?" he asked. Tachetee tried to give a smiled while holding her friend up.

"Nothing...she's just really edgy at the moment." she covered. "Just startled. Now she's all better and will get off my back!"

Shade and Marina cracked a smile as Tachetee forced Hazel off to fly on her own.

"Sorry." she muttered.

"It's alright." Shade said comfortingly. Marina looked at the sky and understood the signs.

"We should find a roost for the day. Then we'll be able to feed for a bit."

The other three nodded and they went off in search for a roost. They practically made a game out of it, Hazel's idea.

Try to find the best roost in fifteen minutes. Hazel was flying about a foot from the ground when something caught her eye.

Dinner...a sleeping rabbit. Hazel looked around. The coast was clear...for the moment. But should she risk feeding? Shade or Marina might show up, then everything will be ruined and Tachetee would be really mad.

It was a really tough decision. Naturally, she hates going for long periods without food. Her insides were aching for a meal right about now. And what's easier than a sleeping rabbit?

Finally, her stomach decided it was time to eat. Risks wasn't important. With a tight feeling in her chest, Hazel flew closer to the rabbit and alighted about a yard from it.

Crawling near her intended victim, she also kept a sharp eye for danger or for her friends. Nothing of any concern showed itself. Clearing her throat and swallowing nervously, she clipped the fur off after finding an ideal spot to feed.

She made the feeding bite and was only slightly relieved when the rabbit didn't even flinch.

As she took in her dinner, a far away hoot made her pause. She bristled. Looking and listening, she could tell the owl was too far to be a threat. She resumed her meal, still keeping alert around herself.

Something landed in a nearby tree, and Hazel picked that up. She immediatly turned around and sent out various echoes. Nothing peculiar. Hesitantly, she turned back toward the rabbit. She sighed.

"Get a hold on yourself, Hazel. You're being paranoid..."

"What are you doing?" It was Tachetee. Hazel jumped into the air immediatly. Shade and Marina was staring at the two with wide eyes.

"It isn't what it looks like!" Hazel tried to defend. "This bunny's hurt and I wanted to help it..."

But she can tell that the northern bats were far from convinced. They flew away, making no attempt to hide their paniced haste.

"Wait!" Tachetee yelled, flying off after them. Hazel followed her friend. The Brightwing and Silverwing zoomed as fast as they could as if retreating from an owl. The Bloodwings made every effort not to lose sight of them.

"Just listen to us! We- WHOA!!!" Tachetee doved instinctively as a giant bat fell upon them and grabbed Hazel.

"Goth!" the young bats exclaimed in surprise. The cannibal bat smiled as he flew off with his target, followed by Throbb. Tachetee was so shocked by this. She looked around. She's alone. She sucked in a breath and yelled for all she's worth.

---

"HAZEL!!!!!!!"

Shade and Marina stopped at the call. They reconized the voice and they didn't like it. The newborn bat was about to resume his retreat, but Marina stopped him.

"What if something bad happened to them? We have to help." she said. Shade looked at her in disbelief.

"Are you crazy?! Did you see what they were doing to that rabbit? We could be next!" he told her.

"But we can't just leave them. They could be in huge trouble." she explained.

"But that could be like saving Goth from...something that eats cannibals!" he pointed out. This made Marina pause thoughtfully. Finally, after a few minutes of silence, the female bat turned tail and flew back towards the call.

"Hey! Wait up!" Shade rushed to catch up, not wanting to finish his own journey alone.

---

Tachetee circled around and around in circles, wondering what to do next. She was startled when Marina and Shade broke out of the canopy and flew by her side.

"Go-" The Bloodwing paused. These two might not know who the cannibal bats was. "A giant bat took Hazel."

"Goth and Throbb." Shade muttered the words darkly. Tachetee nodded, not beliving her luck right now. These two came back, obviously to help her find Hazel.

"We got to save her." Marina pointed out. Tachetee broke out into a smile.

"I think we can take our time. Hazel might actually enjoy her quality time with her boyfriend." She chuckled at the thought, leaving the other three confused. "I'll tell you two about it while we look for her."

With that, they flew off towards where Goth, Throbb and Hazel went, not knowing what to expect.

I had lots of motivation reviews for this story, but one really broke to me. Thank you animatedrose! And of course thank you to everyone else who reviewed, especially you Omei and Emerald Isle124.