Chapter 6:

Paradise (Part I)

Shade's wings cut through the cold winter air, as he banked in and out of the bares trees of the skeletal forest. Ahead of him was Ariel, Freida, Mercury, and Hector. Marina and- as always- Chinook were behind him. Surrounding the bats, owls flew in a protective formation. As their small group had left Hibernaculum, an owl convoy had met them. Orestes, who had tagged along, had claimed it was to protect them if Goth showed up agin. And to help make up for Brutus's war on bats, although the later had been off record. A shiver ran through his body. He hadn't realized how truly cold it was. He had never been out in the open winter air long enough to really notice it. He felt a slight pang of jealousy for the bats back at Hibernaculum, probably already in their nice, warm, long winter sleep. He almost regretted leaving...

Shade was brought back to reality rather rudely as Chinook dumped snow on him, almost knocking him from the sky. Shaking snow from his fur, Shade glared up at a the larger Silverwing.

"Hey! What was that for!" he demanded.

Chinook only laughed harder. "Oh come-on, Shade, I'm just messing with you." He sailed down to fly level with Shade.

"Yeah, Shade," added Marina, who swooped in to join them. "You really need to lighten up."

"What! Lighten up?" Shade huffed. "Did you already forget the giant cannibal bat that tried to eat me yesterday?"

Marina banked to soar closer to him. "Shade," she started reasonably, "Did you forget that we going to go look for your father? You of all bats should be happy."

Shade sighed, realizing she was right. Then, just a suddenly, he realized who he was talking to. He felt his cheeks begin to burn. He tried to stammer out an answer.

"Shade? Are you alright?" Marina moved even closer to him.

Shade swore the tips of his ears must be turning red. "Er... I, uh... I mean..."

Chinook suddenly muscled himself in between them. "Yeah, runt," he said, "Can't handle the cold or something?"

Although Shade gritted his teeth at the larger bat's comment, he was actually glad to see Chinook for once. Taking the opportunity, he flapped ahead, escaping both Marina and his embarrassment. He hated this. When he wasn't around Marina, he wanted to be. When he was around Marina, he was so embarrassed he could barely pull together a single sentence. Determined to distract himself, he flew to talk with Orestes.

"Hey Shade," said the young owl, "Why aren't you with Marina?"

"I, uh..." Shade started, but the problem was, he didn't know to finish.

"Is it Chinook? Because it looks like your jealous of him"

"What!" exclaimed Shade, surprised at the owls insight, "No. I mean, he may be bigger and stronger than me, but that doesn't matter if a moth can think circles around you. Why would I be jealous of Chinook?"

"Marina, " Orestes answered simply.

"But, I..." Shade sighed in defeat.

Orestes smiled knowingly. "Don't worry. I won't tell anyone." With that, he soared away, leaving Shade alone again. As he flew from ear shot, the owl added something under his breathe. "Like I need to tell anyone."

Shade growled in irritation. Did everyone know about his feelings for Marina? Beating the air with his wings harder, he speed up, hoping to get to their destination as soon as possible. Trying to kill time, he began imaging what wondrous place his father had discovered.

…

Shade's daydreaming was interrupted by Hector's voice.

"The human building is up ahead!" the elder shouted.

Shade blinked in surprised. Hag they really been flying that long? His mouth pulled into a wide smile. Frantically pushing against the cold, think air, the runty Silverwing made his way to Hector's side.

"Where is it? How far?"

Hector nodded to a tree bank about a thousand wingbeats ahead of them. "Just behind-"

He stopped, his mouth in a "O" of surprise. He almost fell in mid-flap. They all did. The bats couldn't believe their ears.

It was singing. Beautiful, beautiful singing. The owls could hear it too.

In an almost trance-like state, they followed the tempting sound, eyes focussed solely ahead. Soaring over the trees, the source of the music became clear- the human building. It was amazing to Shade that such an exquisite noise could come from such a dull, gray place. The singing got louder and louder as they approached the structure. They landed on the roof of the building. The sound was almost deafening now, but the group seemed to care very little about this. As if they were being controlled by some outside force, both bats and owl started to desperately look for a way into the structure, a way to that heavenly sound.

Shade suddenly shouted. "Hey! Over here! I found an entrance!"

The others crowed around him. He was standing in front of what seemed to be a portal or tunnel.

"Well," Marina questioned, "What are we waiting for?" Their was an excited gleam in her eyes.

"I don't think we can fit in there," said one the owls dubiously.

For the first time, Shade realized how small the entrance he had found was.

"Oh," Shade mumbled.

Marina sighed. "Maybe you guys will just have to wait for us outside."

"No, wait!" It was Orestes, waving his wings in the air, several yards off. "There's another one over here. And it's big enough for us!"

The owls all shared a look of joy and hopped off to join him.

Marina poked Shade with a wingtip. "Go on." She grinned at him. "You found it, you should be the one to go in first." Ariel, Hector, Mercury, and Freida all nodded their agreement. Chinook opened his mouth as if to argue, then quickly closed his mouth into a small frown, as if thinking better of it.

With one last glance at the owls, the last of which was disappearing into the portal, Shade took a deep breathe and jumped.

…

Shade tumbled through the tunnel, unable to fly in such a tight place. Warm air suddenly rushed past his chilled body. A bright light suddenly blinded him from the end of the tunnel, causing him to squeeze his eyes shut. He hit open airs and unfurled his wings on instinct. He opened his eyes to an amazing sight.

Shade's jaw dropped open. As the others tumbled in behind him, they all gave similar reactions. It was ariel that finally spoke, her voice barely a whisper.

"Impossible..."

In the dead of a bitter winter, they had discovered a summer day.

The building was filled with warm air and green trees. Wildflowers and bushes dotted the ground. A stream babbled somewhere below. Insects of all kinds jumped and skittered through the foliage. Shade's mouth began to water at the though if eating.

"Is... is it real?" Marina question uncertainly.

Shade flapped forward tentatively, approaching a treetop. He gave a quick sniff. It smelled real. He poked a single claws through a leave, plucking it from the tree. It felt real too.

"Yeah," he said, rather stunned, "It is."

Freida was suddenly at his side. Shade almost jumped in surprise. Despite her age, the head elder was still quite the lithe flyer.

"Incredible." Old eyes sparkled in delight. "A living forest in a human building. Never in all my years have I seen such a thing" Her face wrinkled as she narrowed her eyes. She calmly pointed one wingtip. "Look."

Shade peered down. Hundreds of bats were rising from the trees. There were all kinds; Graywings, Brightwings, Silverwings, Small-foots, Fringes, Long-ears, and even some Shade had never heard of. They spiraled around them, smiling and calling greetings.

"Newcomers!" they said, genuine happiness in their voices. "Welcome!"

An old Hoary bat rose from the mas of fur and leathery wings. "I am Arcadia." She dipped her head in respect. She was molted gray, with silver streaks running across her chest and back. Her level gaze was fierce and penetrating. She looked like a natural leader.

Freida returned the gesture. "I am Freida Silverwing." Her tone took on an air of question. "What is this place?"

Arcadia gave a ghost of a smile. "Paradise."

…

I'm back and so in Sunwing! I'm really sorry to take so long for such a short update, but what can I say? I'm lazy. You can expect maybe one or two more chapters from me, before I have to sit down and do some serious thinking as to where to go. I also working on a few other writing projects, so updates will most likely be few and far between.

So, what do you think?