Chapter 3

A Change in Circumstances

When evening came, she realized she was alone in the barn.

Dawn blinked slowly as she tried to process this, mind still lying somewhere between sleeping and waking as she looked around the abandoned building. And it wasn't that she was comfortably half awake, but rather the air was so cold she felt as if she had never been fully asleep, and it left her feeling disorientated.

The last traces light were just disappearing through the cracks in the roof of the barn, indicating evening's departure. Time to fly again.

But where was Goth?

It didn't make any sense. Had she imagined up a companion - having gone crazy from being stuck out in the winter alone?

No, she knew he was around somewhere.

Her shoulders were aching from the cold, she stretched instinctively, trying to remember exactly what she was supposed to do now. Fly, right? Yeah, flying sounded good. Fly where? She decided that was not immediately important, best thing to do now was to go outside and have a look around. That strange bat had to be around somewhere.

She flew up through a hole in the ceiling, climbing up out onto the roof. Snow crunched beneath her wings and feet, icy cold. She looked around, scanning the treeline hurriedly for owls. But she saw nothing living the snow laden branches of the conifer trees.

The world around her was scentless and quiet, the cold seemed to have frozen things in time.

Evening looked as if it had only just arrived, surely Goth hadn't just flown off into broad daylight? But that was what it was beginning to look like, as she could tell that he had been gone for a while.

There were also a thousand other thoughts bouncing around her head now. Such as, had this actually been a good idea? Sure she had no clue in which direction her colony was, but was flying southwards really any safer? And was Shade okay? Did he ever find his way back to the colony? Or was he wandering lost like she was now, or worse... What if this whole situation just ended with their mother losing both her children?

And once again Dawn found herself wondering if she should just abandon the crazy idea of flying south. Fly in circles, and hope to find Hibernaculum before death found her.

There was a rapid clattering of wings, and Goth abruptly dropped down upon a metal chimney. She caught the scent of blood in the air, crisp in the winter wind, and she saw him flicking away a small grey feather that had gotten stuck to his face.

Somehow though she was still finding it hard to believe he fought owls. The idea seemed so ludicrous as to be almost comical, something newborns would talk about amongst themselves along with spooky stories about haunted roosts and bat-eating tigermoths. Dawn looked around quickly, trying to see where Goth had flown down from, surprised that she hadn't noticed him until he had practically landed; either the cold was beginning to freeze her ears or the other bat was very stealthy.

"I've been waiting for you, senorita," he called down to her to her cheerfully. "Shall we go now?"

Goth was a strange bat to say the least, he seemed to have come from such an extreme background; captured by humans and fighting owls - it was almost as if she was traveling with a figure out of legend. He was not like anyone she'd ever met before, both powerful and bristling with confidence; where any other bat might be freaking out over the mere uncertainty and danger of winter without a permanent roost, he showed little concern. When he spoke he sounded so sure of himself, so in control, and this was a good thing, as she was not feeling confident about the situation at all. It reassured her.

"Just give me a moment," she said as she looked to the stars and picked out their route. It was just a matter of orientating herself now, the sole goal being to head southwards. Whatever obstacles lay in her way, be them mountain ranges or fearsome storms, she knew she'd have to deal with them as they came.

Where was Dawn?

Now that the whole peace treaty situation had finally calmed down again, now that the owls had left and Hibernaculum was no longer under siege, Shade came to realize that his sister had never come to welcome him back.

He hadn't noticed her absence at first, having been so carried away with all the excitement of his adventures. But now that everything was back to normal, her absence was noticeable. He had seen several of her friends from a distance, but he hadn't yet spotted Dawn with them; and despite his new title as hero, Shade was still a somewhat shy newborn who found the lofty second-yearers too intimidating to simply approach and talk to - so he hadn't asked them where she was either.

"Where's Dawn?" he asked his mother the evening following the agreement of the peace treaty - this was one of the first opportunities he had had to talk to Ariel on her own, as Marina had been a near constant presence. Currently said brightwing was watching Chinook's stupid balancing tricks, not that he cared...well, sort of. "I haven't seen her since before the storm."

His mother hesitated in answering, Shade didn't notice this though, he was too busy glaring at where Chinook was currently hanging from a stalactite with one foot - showing off to a small audience. Had everything really reverted to normal so quickly? Chinook was the centre of attention again, even though Shade now had the title of hero? Heh, some world.

"Shade, I don't know how to tell you this, but something happened to your sister while you were gone," Ariel told him.

"Oh, wait, wait, wait! Let me guess! She's paired off already?" Shade laughed and looked around at the bats in Hibernaculum. "Please tell me he's not related to Chinook, and she's forgiven."

Shade knew most second-yearers paired off in the spring, but just before hibernation wasn't unheard of. Even so, he was a little disappointed that she hadn't come to see him in person yet, surely after his dangerous adventures she would be worried about him, right?

"Shade, Dawn is no longer with us," Ariel sighed. "Shortly after you vanished, she disappeared as well. I think she might have gone back to look for you. This was just after the elders agreed that the colony could not go back to search for you."

He felt his heart sink. Everything had been looking up, sure he had been irritated with Chinook and the colony a mere few moments ago but it had been a pleasantly familiar irritation, not anything serious.

"And...no one has seen her since?" he asked tentatively, he already knew the answer, it was only too clear. If Dawn had been seen again then she would be there now.

"No. But don't despair," Ariel wrapped a wing around him. "Like you, she is quite resilient. She could be outside right now, she might be just a few hundred wingbeats away, she is probably making her own way back right now."

"Yeah, I'm sure she's fine," Shade agreed uncertainly. He looked up as he heard someone approaching. Marina had just flown over to join them; Shade was glad to note that Chinook was not with her.

"Bad time?" she asked after seeing their sombre expressions.

"No, stay, Marina," Ariel said. "You're always welcome here, you are one of us now."

"My older sister has gone missing," Shade explained to the brightwing. "No one's seen her since shortly after I got caught in that storm."

"I'm sure she'll turn up sooner or later," Marina immediately reassured him.

"There is also a possibility that the owls may have gotten her," Ariel explained mournfully. "On the night she went missing, we were attacked. She vanished in the confusion without a word."

"But there's a chance she might had just gone looking for me, right?" Shade asked, his old hatred of owls threatening to rise up again. He managed to force it back down again by thinking of Orestes and the new peace treaty that had just been made. Things had changed.

"Like I said before, we can only hope she will return on her own accord. Till then, we must consider life as it is. Winter is already on us. Soon, we will need to hibernate."

They were crossing open fields now, a few leafless trees and shrubs were dotted about the sparse land, dark against a thin blanket of snow. In the distance, lights lit up the horizon in an artificial day, indicating the presence of an immense human city overrunning the valley ahead.

"So earlier, were you looking for your friend? The one you said went missing?" she asked as they flew.

"He was more of an acquaintance," Goth commented, Dawn couldn't help but notice how he seemed to draw the last word out, it was clear the two hadn't been friends. "And, unfortunately, my brother-in-law. It's only for my sister's sake that I thought of searching for him at all."

"You quite close to your family then, your sister? You must be missing them," she said sadly, thinking of her own family.

Goth paused, as if considering whether or not he wanted to share this information, but then he smiled easily. "Let's just say my sister is not of the mildest temperaments, she will blame me for the loss of her mate. But in the end, she should be grateful, Throbb was not a wise match."

Dawn didn't know what to say to that, this was obviously something personal to Goth, and she had never met the bats he was talking about.

When Dawn picked up on the sound of a thudding engine she didn't think much of it. Planes, while rare, had flown over the forest on occasion back at Tree Haven during the summer. They were a strange oddity which were somehow associated with humans, but were not bird nor beast, and possibly not even alive. But that was all planes were, an oddity to see once and then ignore in the future.

Goth though, didn't share this view.

Abruptly he dropped out of the air like a bird of prey.

"Hey, where are you going?" she called after him. She looked around hurriedly, half expecting to see a host of owls chasing them. When she saw nothing but empty snow covered fields, and the small plane puttering away in the distance, she was confused.

"Get out of sight!" Goth hissed from somewhere below in boughs of a lone tree. Dawn dropped down as well, but only to find out what the big fuss was about, she still had no idea what they were trying to avoid.

"What's got your fur all ruffled?" she asked landing upon the same branch as Goth. He didn't answer her, ears focused on the distant whirring of the small plane, the sound of which was now diminishing as it flew further away.

"Why are we hiding?" she demanded a bit more loudly. "Is there something after us?"

"After me," Goth corrected her. "The humans' metal bird."

"Metal bird?" Dawn honed her own hearing on the fading sound of the plane.

"I was transported north in one of them," Goth snarled after the plane, by he seemed to have calmed down somewhat now. "I remember the sound only too well!"

...

Once they reached the city, they briefly parted ways to go hunting, agreeing to meet back on top of a tall building with fluttering flags on its side. Goth claimed to have had already eaten that evening, but Dawn hadn't and she wasn't traveling anywhere until she caught a few bugs at least.

The amount of bugs in the city area pleasantly surprised her, and as she flew about snapping up the crane-flies and mosquitoes she could help but notice the air here wasn't quite as icy as it had been in the forest. And the thought did occur to her, after having slept in the cold with so little food for the past few days, whether it might be a good idea to stay here a day or two before continuing the journey south.

It was with this thought that she inspected a few of the buildings she passed, noticing many nooks and crannies sheltered from the wind which could make good warm roosts. Though she saw no sign of any other bats there were a few sleepy pigeons that ignored her. It was just her and the bugs in the air. The idea of staying a few days began to form to one lasting till spring.

'Oh what do I do, what do I do!?' she asked herself over and over. 'Do I just continue traveling south? What if it leads me nowhere and I'm just flying in the cold forever until I die?'

Perhaps she could winter away in the city, and then fly north when spring arrived once more. The only two times she had been over a human city before was with her colony, and they had never stayed long. And though there would never have been enough bugs at this time of year in the city to support an entire colony, there were enough to sustain one bat; namely herself.

It was tempting idea to stay.

And this solution seemed so simple. She wouldn't have to risk flying to an unknown destination - possibly dying on the way or never finding the place - and in staying here it was entirely feasible that she would be able to make it back next spring. Flying further increased the risk of her losing her way back altogether, and if Goth was telling the truth about the stars in the North being unreadable to him then it was likely the stars in the South would be unreadable for her.

This was a risky situation, and Dawn really didn't like risks.

So after snapping up a few more slow crane-flies, she headed back to the building she had agreed to meet Goth at. They hadn't agreed on a time, so she planned to just wait there until he turned up. Flying her way over though, she spotted him on her way, gliding silently over the rooftops. He was hunting, skimming close to the roofs, keen eyes searching the shadows for movement.

Suddenly he dropped from the air, and a few seconds later she heard the hysterical squealing of a mouse, which Goth now had trapped in his claws.

She flinched, she had almost forgotten, Goth had told her the night before that he ate meat.

"Uh, Goth?" Dawn asked tentatively as she landed nearby. He turned, releasing his hold on the mouse; which Dawn was relieved to see then scamper away out of sight.

"Hola, senorita," he called out to her. "You finished your hunt, no?"

"Well...yeah," Dawn, looked away and thought about how she was going to redirect the conversation. "There is a surprising amount of food here, I always thought that human cities were barren places."

"No concrete jungle could ever rival the promise of my homeland," said Goth simply. "Will you lead the way now, senorita?"

It was going to be awkward to say, but it needed to be said. Dawn did not want to continue this blind journey any further!

"I want to stay here," she announced.

For a few moments Goth just stared at her.

"You joke?" he asked quizzically.

"It's too risky to continue flying, I have no idea where we're going other than south. With every wingbeat we fly further away from my home," she told him assuredly. "If I can outlast winter here, then I will."

Goth narrowed his eyes.

"We had a deal," he never raised his voice, but this was somehow just as menacing.

"An agreement," she corrected uncomfortably. "But circumstances have changed."

"So your word meant nothing? You northern bats have no honor," he was no longer crouched but standing, towering over her, head reared back angrily.

"Hey, I'm being realistic. This is a matter of life and death, honor has no place here," she tried to reason; standing her ground. "And it's not like I'm abandoning you. Just stay a few days here, there's enough food around. Let me teach you the northern constellations, then you won't need me as your guide."

Goth was obviously not impressed with this proposition, if his scowl was anything to go by.

"Obviously you need time to think," he told her coldly. "You know, there are creatures out here that will eat small animals, like mice, and like you. If you choose to stay here, you will be on your own. Speak to me in a few hours, till then, think wisely about your next decision."

And with that he took off into the air.

...

Dawn actually felt quite guilty. But the truth was, and this she argued with herself, she had never actually promised anything.

In times like these she needed to think of herself first, and if Goth seriously wanted to return to his home then he could damn well tough it out in the city for a few days until he learnt the northern stars for himself. She'd still be helping him, it was a win-win situation. If only he wasn't so damn impatient...

If she stayed here she could start the search for her colony again as soon as spring arrived. There were many places to roost here, roosts sheltered from the wind and warmer than the woods. There was also food here, and she doubted there was anything that might try to hurt her living in the area. The only large animals - ignoring the presence of the humans in the streets far below - she'd seen in this city were pigeons, and she'd never heard of pigeons attacking bats. Owls rarely left the woods where they hunted, so she doubted she'd see any of them here either.

So it was relatively safe here, and staying was the safest option.

It would be stupid to do anything else, she told herself.

Sighing she shivered and looked out from the roof top. The city stretched out before her in every direction, lit up from below in dazzling light, almost as if it were day. Was this similar to what Shade had seen when the sun had risen? She wondered, then quickly redirected her thoughts. If she was staying here she'd be able to gaze at the human lights whenever she wanted, but right now she needed to figure out how to sort things out.

Maybe she could make Goth see sense, he'd be able to travel faster on his own.

There was a noise nearby. The skittering of claws upon rock, followed by silence.

"Goth?" she called out.

There was no response, but Dawn wasn't particularly worried. It was probably a sleepy pigeon or another mouse. Just to be safe though, she clicked several echoes. The first volley bounced back revealing nothing living, but on the second she caught sight of a long narrow tail. A mouse?

Mice weren't dangerous as far as she knew, so she lost interest and looked back out at the city. It was only when the skittering of claws abruptly started up again that she looked back and saw the owner of the tail bolting towards her.

The creature was much bigger than she expected.

Not a mouse at all, but a rat!

She hesitated for a split second. Dawn had never heard of rats attacking bats before, but one was attacking her now and that was all there really was to it.

Instinctively she lept off the roof, spreading her wings to take to the air.

"You'll not escape, spy!" it shrieked at her.

It should have been easy to escape, rats couldn't fly, but she hadn't reacted quickly enough. When the rat lept it caught the thick fur upon her shoulders in its teeth and held on. Dawn was already in the air by this point, but rat was both bigger and much heavier than she was, and as soon as she had that extra weight upon her back she plummeted from the air.

Dawn managed to slow her fall by angling her wings upward, she redirected her path towards another rooftop rather than the ground far below, but she was still falling fast.

Her left wing took the brunt of the force when she crash-landed upon a lower rooftop. The rat had let go of her at the last moment, falling to land a small distance away, but it didn't seem quite as badly affected by the fall as she was because it immediately rolled to its feet and began to advance towards her once more. Dawn scrambled up, putting on a brave front, she faced the rat.

"What's the meaning of this?" she snapped, ignoring the stinging ache in her left shoulder. "You had no reason to attack me!"

"You don't fool me, spy, I know the black owls near!" the rat spat hysterically.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Dawn replied honestly. Black owls? The only owls she had ever seen were snowy grey and brown. She began to back away from the rat, readying herself to try flying again, but she could tell her left wing was hurt and she had no idea how bad the damage was.

"Don't lie! I know you're spying for them, feeding them smaller beasts!" the rat continued. "It's unnatural! You think that because we smaller beasts are not as big as wolves that we will just go down without a fight?"

Just then a piece of the night itself appeared to break and fall away from the sky above, like a shadow Goth silently swooped down through the air and pounced upon the rat.

There was a sharp crack, and the rat stopped moving.

It was over so fast that Dawn barely had time to blink.

In retrospect, she knew she should have felt gratitude - Goth had just saved her life - but at the time, looking at the crumpled form of the rat, the only thought that passed through her mind was: "That could have been me!"

Dawn had to get away, she was reminded in that moment that Goth was a dangerous and unknown entity, what if he was angry at her?! But as soon she tried to lift her injured wing she cried out, the sudden pain shocking in its intensity.

"I can't fly!" she exclaimed aloud in a panic, so horrified, so shocked by the prospect that she couldn't think of anything else.

To be grounded was to be immobilized, to be grounded was to starve, to be grounded was death!

And Goth looked back at her vacantly, as if from a great distance. Whatever his thoughts were on this, she couldn't even begin to guess.

A/N: So I finally managed changed the title of the story (I never planned to keep the old one), not that the new title is any more creative than the last, meh. For those who haven't read the books, the "black owls" refers to Goth and Throbb, as the rats had been fed incorrect information and think that silverwings have banded together with owls. While I'm keeping within the TV series universe, I may pick a few small details here and there from the book to include in the story as long as they don't contradict each other.

I feel as if I kind of rushed this chapter, but honestly its been sitting in my files so long I felt I had to publish it already.

Thanks for the faves and reviews! :)