• Previous Chapters:
    Chapter One - 'Thoughts'
    Chapter Two - 'Rebirth'
    Chapter Three - 'Flying Nightmares'
    Chapter Four - 'A Rogue Echo'
    Chapter Five - 'The Medical Roost'
    Chapter Six - 'A Chance to Think'
    Chapter Seven - 'Interrupted Dream'
    Chapter Eight - 'Condolences'
    Chapter Nine - 'A Pleasant Distraction'
    Chapter Ten - 'Passing the Torch'
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    ‘A Rash Decision’[/iu]

    --Various Characters--

    Silently, Noxx thanked Nocturna that Mist didn’t see anything Aria and the other two elders were doing, his friend was already so devastated, and he didn’t want anything else upsetting her now. He followed Mist and kept up with her rather well, however, he couldn’t help but admire the way her fur reflected the moonlight.

    The admiration was preplaced with fear when she disappeared into the nursery roost…what if Muse and Lyre were right? What if Katarra really had died? What if he was asking Mist to take him to a roost where she was going to find another dead body? The certainty he had felt about Katarra being alive faded more with each beat of his wings…but would the dead mother Silverwing had worked so hard to get to the Tree if her daughter was down there too? The thought of his dream calmed him a little…but he was still afraid of hurting Mist even more.

    He opened his mouth to possibly try and stop her, but she was already flying upwards and she was already quite a way ahead of him…he cursed his small wings for not being able to carry him faster. As he flew upwards after her, the sharp smell of medicinal herbs filled his nose; they had already passed the medical roost, there really wasn’t any turning back now.

    As he turned his attention back to Mist, he realized he was getting closer to her…she was slowing down. His heartbeat quickened, had they really reached her late grandmother’s roost already? She let him pass her, this was the moment of truth…either he would be able to comfort his friend and get some answers…or ruin Mist’s life by showing her that the last bat in her family that may have cared for her was gone forever…

    He landed gently, almost timidly, on the roost; at first glance, everything seemed fine…he didn’t see the white female; he assumed she had recovered from whatever it was Aria gave her and went off to hunt. With a quick flick of his wing, he signaled Mist that it was okay to come up…and he immediately regretted it…

    Mist raised her wings up to cover her mouth and stifle a scream; Noxx didn’t see the pile of leaves towards the back of the roost…but Mist picked up on it the minute she landed…she saw the traditional burial shroud… the little white claw still sticking out of it…

    She collapsed on the ledge and sobbed loudly, “Liar! You told me she was still alive! I’ll bet the echo picture you sang to me was a lie too!” she looked up at him, tears already soaked her fur, anger and hatred burned in her eyes, “I hate you, Noxx! I hate you!” anything else she tried to say was lost in her sobs.

    Tears filled Noxx’s eyes, he didn’t want this to happen…this wasn’t supposed to happen, she had to have been alive…she just had to…he sniffed, trying to hold back his own tears, but an odd scent caressed his nose. It wasn’t nauseating, it was a little nasty, but it wasn’t something he couldn’t handle. He looked to the pile of leaves, the source of the scent, it was different than the medical roost…it didn’t smell of death…as he approached the pile, a small dark puddle spilling out from the bottom told him what he smelled was blood.

    Fresh blood…

    From the stories spread around, his visions, and his short time in the echo chamber, he knew that dead bats don’t bleed. He pushed his nose into the leaves and moved them away, he did not smell the stench of a slowly rotting bat corpse, he smelled blood and the familiar scent of Tree Haven on her and that was all.

    His heart leapt, could she still be alive after all? He needed to be sure before he tried to get Mist to cheer up again…For a moment, he stared at her, she was so different from the other bats in the colony. Even after what she had been through, her white fur was so soft and clean. The fur covering her head as interesting as her color; it was long, but it wasn’t shaggy, it looked like she took great pride in her appearance…it was a shame to think such a pretty bat was dead…

    Cautiously, he poked her with his thumb claw. He was almost afraid that, dead or not, she’d lash out at him and yell at him for coming up to her roost; but she didn’t. She did, however, stir slightly as if she were dreaming. Katarra was alive!

    “Mist!” he cried out, “Mist, come here, please! She’s still alive! Your aunt is still alive!”

    Mist was still crying, but she slowly stumbled over to them both. Her eyes widened when she saw Katarra’s chest rising and falling with her gentle breathing. Without thinking, Mist nuzzled into the white female, who responded with a wince and a, “wha--?”

    As Katarra’s eyes fluttered open, she smiled weakly, “Mist, it’s good to see you again…” tears began to run through her fur as what had happened crashed against her conscious mind like a strong wind, “…mother would have been happy to see you again…”

    Mist stayed curled into Katarra’s side, she enjoyed being close to someone who cared about her, “That’s what we came here for, Auntie Katarra…we, Noxx and I, know something about grandma…we just thought you…you were…” she broke into gentle sobs again, thinking that her aunt could have been dead.

    Katarra cooed softly to her as she tried to roll over onto her stomach, “Shh…shh… it’s okay…you won’t be able to get rid of me that easily.” She smiled and touched her wing to Mist’s face. Any weakness she may have had due to the herbs or her wound seemed to have faded for the sake of calming her young niece, “Now, what was it that you and your friend came to tell me?”

    Mist smiled, “Noxx had a vision, he does that a lot, but I think this one was real!”

    Noxx wasn’t sure if he should take offense to that, but again, he let her have that one, “It was about grandma! She’s okay now! She made it to the Tree and she’s probably here right now, watching over us!” tears still flowed from her eyes as she spoke, the thought that her grandma was still with her helped, but it still hurt.

    Katarra glanced curiously at Noxx, “Is that true, Noxx? Did Nocturna show you that my mother made it to the right spirit world?”

    Noxx nodded, “Yes…I didn’t see her very well in the medical roost, but I felt what she felt; the determination to see you again…” he took a deep breath, “I think I can try to show you, but it won’t be very good…I can’t use sound like I should…”

    Katarra laughed, “You remind me of someone I…used to know…” she sort of drifted into thought, “he was always so clumsy with his sound…but he was such a strong, caring bat…” she shook her head, bringing herself back to the present. “I’m sorry; I lost myself for a moment…please, show me what you can…”

    Noxx barked out the picture of Corona flying through the underworld she had been thrust into. This time, everything was a little sharper, like he had practiced a few times earlier. He was actually able to show her, and eavesdropping Mist, everything he had seen in his vision. When he finished, he felt dizzy and out of breath, but very proud of himself nonetheless.

    “That was better this time, Hero!” Mist exclaimed, “How did you learn to do that so quickly?” she didn’t even give him a chance to answer as she looked to Katarra, “that means that they don’t have to…” she swallowed against the lump of coming sobs, “…to burn grandma’s body...”

    “You might still have the chance to bury her like you wanted.” Noxx interrupted, letting on that he had seen the spat her and Aria had earlier in the medical roost.

    Katarra gasped, “Oh Nocturna, the Burning!” she struggled to get up, obviously still slightly feeling the effects of the herbs given to her, “We have to get to the medical roost now! Her body still might be there…” she didn’t seem happy about going to see her mother’s dead body again, but she wanted to do what she had seen the humans do many times before as it seemed more fitting…and far less destructive.

    Both Noxx and Mist moved to her side, “do you think you can fly?” Mist asked, concerned, “we can go down there for you…” she didn’t seem too thrilled about going either.

    Katarra shook her head, “I can’t let you go down there by yourselves, I won’t do that to you both…” she stretched her wings, the wound on her side still bleeding slightly, “I can make it, I’ll be fine…”With that, she glided quickly down to the branch harboring the medical roost with Mist and Noxx close by her.

    In the hollow branch of the medical roost, a wide path between the beds of leaves and the neat piles of herbs had been cleared…the pile covering Corona was no longer there, “No! They’ve already taken her down!” she sighed, trying to calm herself, but she had already started shaking, “m-maybe we can get down there and take her back before--…”

    The mournful hoot of an owl cut her off; Bacchus, Dionysus, and Liber were already above the lake that Tree Haven rested near. Bacchus carried the large, lit branch proudly within his talons. To his left, Dionysus flew clumsily with a large amount of herbs in his talons. To Bacchus’s right, his brother Liber flew just as clumsily as his father and he held just as many herbs in his claws. Bacchus hooted again, this time, his father and brother echoed him. This signal caused Tree Haven to erupt as bats flew out of every hole in the old tree; many seemed to be there for lack of anything better to do so close to dawn, but more were there to pay their respects to their fallen friend.

    As nearly every bat roosted on the outside of their summer home, Aria broke away from the colony and greeted Bacchus and the others in mid-air, “Thank you for coming this night, it means a lot to the colony that you help us send our loved one off…” her expression and tone said she was being sincere, but anyone who knew her well enough, which is why she did not have Muse or Lyre with her, would know better.

    Bacchus hovered before her, “It is my pleasure, High Elder, I will do my best to see that your traditions are carried on correctly…” he scanned the edge of the lake, “where is it that the ceremony is to take place?”

    Aria jerked her chin towards a large rock that rested in front of a small pit, “the poor girl is waiting to be sent into the nurturing wings of Nocturna over there…” she turned and started to descend towards the rock, “Follow me.”

    Bacchus hooted and nodded towards the rock, Dionysus and Liber took the hint and broke away from their leader. Dionysus banked to the left, Liber banked to the right and together, they flew in a spiral pattern, each occasionally crossing over the other. Despite the clumsy flying of both owls, it was a very impressive display of their mastery of the skies.

    Several newborns, unaware of the actual purpose of the ceremony, chattered excitedly to their nearby friends. Still not completely secure with their own flying skills, they were impressed by the owls’ flying patterns. These silent compliments made Dionysus ruffle his feathers in pride; he had rarely ever been complimented, even by newborn bats…tonight felt like a good night, even with the conditions of a funeral.

    Swooping downward towards the pit, Dionysus and his youngest son crossed paths as they flew in front of the rock Aria stood on, dropping the herbs they had clenched in their talons over the dead bat’s body. Once their talons were empty, they crossed in the skies one more time before landing behind the elder bat in nearly the same position they were in as they flew behind Bacchus; several inches behind her, Dionysus to her left, and Liber to her right. Bacchus hovered in the air several feet above the large rock and the creatures standing on it, it wasn’t his time to perform his duty just yet.

    Through a quick scan of the large number of bats roosting outside of Tree Haven, Aria could tell that a few members of her colony were missing. She spotted Serena, the young mother still didn’t seem quite awake, but her eyes darted about as she looked for her son. A smile worked its way onto the High Elder’s face; she found Serena to be a loving mother and she admired her for it. Though, her smile faded quickly as she spotted Mist’s mother; the girl didn’t seem to care at all where her daughter was…she just groomed herself in an attempt to make herself presentable for her mate’s mother’s funeral…

    Aria shook her head, chasing all thoughts about the other bats in her colony away; she felt that it wasn’t her duty to worry about the personal lives of every bat in Tree Haven. All she needed to care about was what was for the good of the entire colony…everything she did was for the good of the colony…

    Her joints creaked softly as she raised her wings to silence the low chattering of her colony. When silence reached her ears, she began to speak in a loud tone, “My colony, we have all gathered here this night because we have suffered a great loss…” her voice quivered in false sorrow, “Corona was a beloved mother, grandmother, and friend to us all…”

    Aria’s voice traveled to the ears of not only every bat gathered outside, but also to the three bats who remained in Tree Haven. Katarra gasped, “She’s already started!” tears were once again beginning to well up in her eyes, “…I’ll…I’ll never get to lay her to rest…My mother is going to get burned all because of some stupid tradition that should have never started!” for a moment, it looked as if she was just going to break down right there, but she remained strong not only for herself, but for the two young bats accompanying her.

    She stood, hunched over slightly in the narrow roost; determination shining in her misty eyes, “I’m going to stop this…” her voice squeaked slightly as she spoke, “I will rip the fire from that owls talons if I have to!”

    She quickly began to claw her way to the knothole the medical bats used for quick entrance in an emergency on the far side of the roost. The way she moved showed the two young bats following her that she no longer cared about what happened to her or her relationship with the colony, all she wanted right now was to ensure that her mother’s body wasn’t destroyed.

    Her actions concerned Noxx and Mist, but before either of them could open their mouths to protest, Katarra opened her wings to take flight and her body protested for all of them. She opened her wings as wide as she possibly could, hoping to glide down there so she wouldn’t stress her wounded body, but merely spreading her wings stressed it too much.

    The bite wound Muse and Lyre had given her opened up as if it were completely new, blood soaked her white fur and dripped onto the wood she stood on. She hissed in pain as the lightly smoke filled air hit her wound and she began crying again…there was no way she’d be able to do anything in this condition…

    “No!” she hissed through clenched teeth, “…I’ll…I’ll never get to them now…” tears now flowed freely from her eyes once again. Through her sobbing, she managed to choke out, “…I’m sorry mother…I’m so sorry…” despite how she was acting, she didn’t collapse in a sobbing pile of fur on the wooded ledge; she still looked like he was going to try to take off. Needless to say, this greatly worried the two pups with her.

    Mist crawled slowly over to her aunt, tears filling her eyes, the little newborn wanted so much to somehow help Katarra, and she wanted to stop her from possibly hurting herself. Mist gently nipped at Katarra’s wing membrane, trying to get her attention, and then moved up to cling to her aunt’s soft fur, “…Please don’t go…please…” she sobbed, “…I lost grandma, I don’t want to lose you too.”

    Katarra sighed softly; she didn’t want to worry her little niece, “…You…you won’t lose me, Mist…” She lowered her wings to gently scratch Mist’s head with her thumb claw. The small newborn had her mother, but other than nursing her, Hail wasn’t a good mother at all…without Corona, Mist would need to turn to Katarra more now…she couldn’t risk losing her life when there was a pup depending on her.

    Tears dripped slowly from her fur onto the wood of the medical roost as she held her niece, “…I won’t go, Mist…I won’t go, for you…” she took a deep, shuddering breath, “Still, I just…I just wish there was something I could have done…I never wanted this to happen to mother…”

    While the two females cried, Noxx stood there, tears slowly filling his own eyes; he never wanted his best friend to feel like she did. He wanted to do something for her, but she was already being held and comforted by Katarra, he couldn’t intrude on that…though, after a moment of thought, he knew what he could do.

    He turned away from Mist and Katarra, facing another knothole that overlooked the ceremony, “…I’ll go…”