Author's Note: So how many times has it been that I've tried to write a silverwing fanfic now? I don't even know anymore, I think this is like the fourth or fifth attempt. Well, let's try one more time. On with the show!

This fanfic was somewhat inspired by Vexia Iceflower's "Naughty Bat" - which unfortunately doesn't look like it's ever going to update now, but we can dream *sniffles*, we can dream.

Edit 18/02/15, I added a segment at the beginning as I felt the chapter jumped too rapidly into the story before. I originally chose not to include this scene as I thought there was no point dwelling on characters that weren't likely to appear again, but in doing so I think I might have cut the main character's personality with it.

Chapter 1

Lost

"Hey, stop that! Dawn, you're worse than mum!" Shade exclaimed as his older sister fussed over him. "I can catch my own food!"

"I'm just worried about you, Shade, there isn't much food to catch on the journey to Hibernaculum," she told him. "You need to eat as much as you can now."

"You know you could just say you don't think I'm big enough to make the migration," Shade huffed.

"That's not it at all," Dawn reassured him. "I was really worried before my first migration, just like all newborns are."

"That's sort of encouraging," Shade mumbled, looking unsure. He was hesitant to be more open about his concerns right now, they were not alone on the branch. Two other second-year silverwings were perched with them - friends of Dawn, who were politely pretending not to be listening in; but Shade knew they could hear him. Shade took a step back with a determined look on his face. "I'm going to catch a tiger moth, I am a good hunter."

And he took off into the forest.

Dawn watched after him silently.

Presently, one of the two other silverwings cleared their throat.

"Talking about the migration, how are you two looking forward to the journey?" Nettle spoke up.

"Once you've made the journey once, you've made it a thousand times," replied Audacia dismissively. "I'm not worried at all this time, not like last year when we'd still not made the journey."

Dawn hesitated in joining in the conversation, crossing her wings and frowning.

"Dawn?" Audacia questioned. "You're not worried, are you? We all made this journey just fine before."

"It's not me I'm worried about, it's Shade," Dawn replied.

"Shade?" Nettled asked. "Oh, I'm sure he'll be fine. I think he might have grown since the last time I saw him."

"Speaking of little brothers," Audacia grumbled as three newborns alighted on the branch opposite them. "Hello, Chinook."

"Evening, ladies," Chinook said cheerfully to them, Breeze and Todd crowding around him. "How are you finding the hunting tonight?"

"Go away, Chinook," Audacia replied simply.

"We were just wondering if any of you had some tips to surviving the migration?" Chinook continued, smiling and ignoring his grumpy older sister. "You were the newborns of last year, so you must know what it's like making the first migration."

Nettle let out a rather un-batlike squeak, earning her a raised eyebrow from Audacia.

"I'm sorry," Nettle said to her. "But it's just your little brother is so adorable! He's asking for help because he's frightened and he wants you to look after him."

Audacia narrowed her eyes and sighed. Chinook didn't look too happy either being referred to as adorable, but he passed it off as a yawn.

"There isn't really much to say other than eat as much as you can now, and when the journey begins stick close to the middle of the colony," Dawn explained to the younger bats. "That way you're less likely to be blown off course or tire from the stronger winds."

"And don't fly too close to the ground or a wolf might eat you," Audacia added unhelpfully.

"Anything else I might add is rather obvious," Dawn continued. "Like don't stray from the convoy, listen to Frieda, stick close to your mother, you know, intuitive stuff."

The three newborns were very clearly hanging on to every word. Nettle squeaked again, Audacia poked her irritably in response this time.

"Ok, you've heard the wise one talk, now go play or something," Audacia shooed the newborns away. Chinook and the other two young bats thanked Dawn, then sped off into the forest.

"You know, I wish Shade would listen to me like they did," Dawn said. "I'm worried he's not taking this migration seriously enough."

"Don't be deceived by Chinook's charm," Audacia told Dawn. "He might act the little gentlemen, but he's really a little git."

"Aw, come on, don't be so harsh on him," Nettle joked. "Chinook is the sweetest newborn I've ever met, he's just still quite young."

"You only say that because he's not your brother," Audacia countered. "You've only got sisters. But Dawn knows what I'm talking about, dontcha Dawn?"

"My brother is a sweet young bat too," Dawn replied innocently. "Did you know he looks up to Chinook?"

Audacia rolled her eyes, she looked as if she was about to throw a tantrum, but then again she always did like to act the drama queen.

"As much as it makes me sound like an old hag," Audacia began sagely. "All newborns are the same. Arrogant, bratty little things. Can you remember how we were last year? How obnoxious we were when we actually completed the migration? As if not millions and millions before us had done exactly the same thing?"

"Talking about old hags, Bathsheba is right pain," Nettle groused. "She told me off again for flying too close to the ground. Who does she think she is, the leader of colony?"

"Technically she is an elder, so she outranks us all automatically," Dawn replied. "Anyway, it was probably for your own safety, and you know, not to give a bad influence to the newborns."

"She's out to get me, I swear," Nettle shook her head. "But that's enough complaining. Who's up to catching a few of those last summer beetles before sunrise?"

They flew off into the forest, laughing amongst themselves, joking and chatting interspersed between pursuits of beetles, moths and mosquitoes. Dawn forgot about her concern for Shade for the time being. She remembered that as the eldest child, she had had no one but Ariel to look after her during last year's migration, but Shade had her and she would do everything she could to make sure he made the journey unscathed.

She didn't think she had anything to be worried about yet, there were still several more days before the colony would depart from Hibernaculum. But as it turned out, she was wrong.

That sunrise, a small young silverwing, spurned by a need to prove himself, broke the most ancient law and looked at the sun.

The air was filled with the sound of churning wings as the colony flew southwards towards Hibernaculum.

It was a strange thought that only a few hours before Tree Haven had still stood tall, brimming with cheerful happy bats, but now it was nothing but a burnt husk to be forgotten and lost with time. Most of the colony were still in a state of shock, Dawn herself couldn't quite believe that they were already migrating. It was like some weird daymare in which she was neither fully awake nor completely asleep.

"What was Cassiel like?" Shade asked her unexpectedly. "You knew him before he went missing."

The acrid scent of smoke and burning was still seared into her nose, as was the sight of Tree Haven in her mind. Dawn look back at her younger brother irritably.

"I don't really think now is the time for questions like that," she replied, then she saw how downcast he looked and added: "Besides, I didn't know him that long. I met him before the last year's hibernation, then he vanished just a few weeks into the spring this year."

Ariel was flying just ahead of them, and Dawn knew that Cassiel was still a touchy subject with their mother and wasn't about to start talking to Shade about him when she was within earshot. Their mother had already been through enough for that day. Earlier that evening Ariel had hurt her wing during the burning of Tree Haven, Dawn had not been around at the time as she'd been roosting higher up in the tree with the other second-years, but Shade had said it had been bad. And it was worrying Dawn, though so far Ariel's flying didn't seem to be slowing.

"Do you think he would have been ashamed?" Shade asked her even more quietly.

Dawn's heart nearly broke at his words. Her poor little brother, only just starting his first migration and already he thought himself a failure.

"No, no, he would have understood," she reassured him, drifting back so that she was flying right beside him.

"Understood that I did something stupid."

"No, understood that you acted impulsively. It wasn't like you took wing with the plan to anger the owls, you didn't mean to do anything wrong," she smiled comfortingly. "Anyway, let's focus on more important things. Are you tired?"

"I'm flying fine," he frowned. "Don't you start again! Mom's been trying to fatten me up for weeks now."

"Oh don't worry Shade, you're doing very well," Ariel said, slowing down to fly with them. "Dawn was much more anxious than you were when she made her first migration last year."

"I was not!" Dawn defended herself hastily, she narrowed her eyes warningly at her brother when he sniggered.

Ariel laughed merrily: "She made me carry her part of way. She was convinced she would run out of energy abruptly and simply fall out of the sky."

"Really? My big tough sister? That's a laugh," Shade grinned at Dawn cheekily, irritating her. But it was good to see him smile after all the colony had been through that evening.

Still, Dawn was just contemplating making an immature remark about the correlation between tiny wingspans with tiny brains when two other bats swooped low overhead. Dawn looked up. Nettle smiled back at her, but Audacia glanced uncertainly at Shade as if he might suddenly catch fire and spit poison.

Dawn sighed; there had been more than a few venomous looks sent her little brother's way that night, but it couldn't be helped after what had happened.

"Yeah, well, talking about big tough sisters," she said to Shade with finality. "This one has got to go now. Catch up with you later, and take care of mom!"

"I will!" Shade called after her as Dawn banked away, before losing sight of him behind others in the colony.

"You feeling homesick yet?" Nettle called as she swooped in to fly beside her.

"No, of course not," Dawn immediately lied. "It was a boring old place anyway, maybe they can find a better roost this time." This too was a lie. As far as Dawn could see, there was no way the colony would ever be able to find a nursery roost as good as Hibernaculum.

"Hmm, well I'm homesick," Nettle replied wistfully. "All those long warm summer nights, the fat tiger-moths, the slow stream down by the fragrant pine trees..."

"The colony will find a new roost next year, and it will be just as good," Dawn answered dismissively.

But the truth was, that the way she saw things, it was easier to lie to herself about how she had felt about the place – well hey, you couldn't miss something you didn't care for, right?

Dawn had cared for Hibernaculum a lot.

...

Hours passed and the weather took a turn for the worse.

"This storm is going to blast my fur off!" Nettle was shouting to be heard over the howling wind.

"Oh, hush! You're doing fine!" Dawn shouted back irritably as the wind snapped at her wings. She could feel the strain in her arms, muscles threatening to give up on her. "I'm more worried about my family, I don't know if Shade's got the wingspan to cope with this storm!"

"You wouldn't be able to help in this weather, just finding him would be a task enough, and you would be falling out of formation. Wait until we veer away from this coastline, then go back and check," Nettle told her. "I'm sure your mother has got it covered."

"My mother's got an injured wing!"

"Well, do what you think is best then. But I still really don't think there would be much you could do in this weather. I'm worried about my own family too, you know!"

Dawn briefly looked back over her shoulder, looking amongst the whirling mass of wings and tried to spot her brother or mother amongst them, but could see no trace. Nettle was probably right, if she flew off course now just to find them she'd be hindering other bats too.

So she didn't go looking. A decision she would later regret.

...

"Gone?! What do you mean, he's gone?" Dawn exclaimed in horror at Ariel's distraught face. "He's...he's not dead, is he?"

"He was snatched away by the wind, I don't know what happened to him," her mother cried. "One minute he was flying next to me, and the next he was just gone! Mercury tried to save him, but it all happened so fast!"

"Are we going to go back and look for him?"

"I've spoken to Frieda," Ariel shook her head sadly. "And her answer is only reasonable. We will slow our migration and delay for a few days, hopefully he'll catch up again once he's got his bearings. To do anything more would be to endanger the colony."

"But what if he's hurt? What if the storm grounded him?"

"Dawn, there is nothing we can do," Ariel shook her head. "We can only hope that he will catch up with us in time."

But when the third night grew in strength and there was still no sign of Shade, Dawn made up her mind.

The colony had come in to roost under an old water tower on their journey, when owls had attacked unexpectedly. The colony had managed to escape by hiding under the material of a moving human vehicle transporting logs. In the chaos that followed as the bats tried to orientate themselves again and seek a new roost, Dawn broke away silently, and began to fly back the way they had came.

As far as she was concerned, she was going to find Shade before daybreak, and then she would bring him back to the colony, safe and well.

Only somehow, instead of playing the hero she found herself the victim within less than an hour.

Dawn quickly came to appreciate the fact that she was lost. The colony had headed off course when they had chosen to roost at the water tower, and in the panic to escape the owls, Dawn realized she didn't even know where that was now.

No sign of Shade, and with no idea where she was, Dawn flew close to despair.

Dawn looked up to the stars, seeking her way, they twinkled distant and cold. They should have been her helpful guides, but they weren't for one simple reason – she had no idea which direction to head. Sure, she knew how to head south, north, east or west but she had no idea where her current position was in relation to anywhere else. And she could see no landmarks that she recognized which she could use to orientate herself.

There was no question as to whether or not she might never find her colony again, Dawn refused to let herself dwell on such thoughts. Logically, or so she told herself, if both she and they were flying southwards then their paths were bound to cross at some point, and if not then she was bound to come across a landmark that she recognized and then finding her colony again would be easy! And by then...maybe Shade would have caught up with the others, and she could tell him all about how her stupid attempt to go back and rescue him had resulted in her becoming lost herself, and he would probably laugh but she wouldn't mind because she would be laughing too.

...

Luck was not on her side.

Several days had passed and Dawn had seen no other bats apart from herself. The only living creatures she had seen on her journey so far were roosting day birds, and once or twice the heart stopping sight of an owl in the far distance.

To make things worse the cold of winter arrived abruptly without warning. Snow began to fall and soon covered the ground. And the cold affected more than simply the temperature, it also affected the bug population. Though there was no competition for food without any other bats around, there was also very little food now to begin with.

Wind once welcomed for gliding was now dreaded for the biting cold it brought with it. Dawn made sure to stick well below the tree line, flying almost at ground level to shelter from the harsher winds.

The forest seemed almost lifeless, at night very little moved at all, and Dawn was alone on her journey, like a ghost she seemed to haunt the landscape, a flying streak of shadow over the white snow below.

Dawn was surprised when the dark waters of a lake stretched out below her in the otherwise uniformly white landscape between the trees. It was not a landmark she recognized, and it wasn't the river - the landmark she was currently looking for - but it drew her curiosity nonetheless, and she swooped over it a few times to take a drink from the cold water.

Looking glumly at her reflection in the water below, Dawn was almost able to convince herself that she was not alone, that there was another bat flying beneath her. So when she heard the beating of wings she initially thought she was imagining it. It was only because she caught their reflection in the water that she spotted them:

Owls.

And they were chasing something.

Quickly she darted away from the lake and landed upon a thick branch of an overhanging tree, pressing herself into a small hollow and hoping that they wouldn't see her. Cautiously she peered out, looking down to see what exactly the birds were chasing.

They were chasing a bat in broad moonlight, and after the event at the wood mill, this did not shock Dawn as much as it might have done normally.

It wasn't just any normal bat either, perhaps it was just a trick of the light, but he looked bigger than any bat she had ever seen before. But even so, there were three owls and they were all after him. It was only too clear to her that the owls would kill him if they caught him.

So far though he was doing a good job of evading capture, dodging amongst the tree tops, and even as she watched to her amazement he struck out at one of the owls and knocked it back. But there was something tired about his movements, she could see even from this distance that his wings were torn in places.

Abruptly the big bat dove towards the water, attempting to trick the owls into flying into the lake, he pulled up just in time to avoiding colliding with the water and flew on into the wood. Unfortunately, so did the owls.

"Here! Up here!" she hissed to him, "Hide!"

The big stranger heard her, circling the tree once like a shadow he landed, and scuttled up to the hole in the tree she had found. He was even bigger up close, and Dawn found herself nearly shoved out of the hollow as she had to make room for him to hide. The stranger smelt of blood, and up close she could see an open gash upon his shoulder, his fur was missing in places as if it had been burnt off or pulled out, but she had little time to contemplate this, the owls were a higher priority.

The owls screeched as they flew on past, and then they were gone, flying off into the horizon.

Dawn barely had a chance to breathe a sigh of relief though before a great weight suddenly crushed down upon the back of her neck. For a moment she thought one the owls had doubled back and found her, but then she realized it was the stranger had pinned her like a bug!

"You know, you seem strangely familiar, señorita."