Soar to New Heights~ A Bat 1x1 with Moony and Firebird!

[✖ＨＥＳＴＩＡ]

Moonbeam felt warmth invade the cold den and she opened her eyes, then shut them quickly against the glare of the sun's rays. The female yawned and stretched but was stopped by another pair of wings, she turned her head and then noticed it was her brother, Onyxwing. Her movements caused the male to wake and he unwrapped his wings from around her. Moonbeam giggled and then she unfurled her wings with a sigh, it was spring already? She felt like she had just closed her eyes to hibernate, she heard other voices and looked around. She smiled when she noticed it was Luna and Borealis, she chuckled when the male went back to sleep. Males and sleep. she thought with a giggle and then she yawned.

[~Firebird Rising~]

"Huh? Wha?" Graphite muttered drowsily, blinking awake. Gradually, his blurry vision focused and Luna's face came into view. "Whoa!" he yelped, surprised, losing his grip on the cave roof and plummeting several feet before regaining his balance and flapping back up, red under his fur in embarrassment.

"H-hey Luna!" he stammered, perching in his spot once more. "Happy spring!" Now that he was fully awake, Graphite could fully appreciate the warmth that now permeated the cave and the flowery scent upon the air. A grin spread over his face. They'd made it through their winter's rest successfully, with no more interruption from vampire bats or evil bat demon-gods or owls or whatever else! He turned to where Obsidian had been sleeping, exclaiming, "It's spring, Obsidian! Wake up!" However, when he looked at her usual spot, his sister wasn't there!

"Obsidian?" he said. "Obsidian!" Panic clutched at his heart. He knew it was too good to be true! Something had abducted Obsidian as she slept! "Obsidian! Obsidian!" he called frantically, flapping through the crowd of gradually waking bats. Suddenly, his sensitive hearing caught the sound of a familiar voice on the opposite side of the cave. He flew full speed in that direction until he drew up, sighing with relief. Obsidian was awake, safe, and well, making rounds among all the Sky Prism Tribe bats and gently waking them, sending them one by one to go out and enjoy the new spring sunshine. She turned from rousing one elderly bat when she heard him approach.

"Hello, Graphite!" she smiled. "Happy spring!"

"Yeah," Graphite panted, glad his overreactive assumption had been false. "Happy spring!"

"Happy spring to you too, Luna!" Obsidian called, spotting the other female across the cave. "And you, Moonbeam!" she added, turning to see that the other leader had awoken as well.

[Moony-Mae]

"And to you as well!" Luna called to Obsidian. She looked back at Borealis's roost, but he wasn't there. He finally got up! She saw him greet and awake others in his Tribe. Then, she noticed he was only speaking with females. He was looking for a mate already? Well, 'twas the season...

Nocturno opened his orange eyes, completely unaware that his father had been in the cave while he was asleep. He stretched first one wing, then the other, and flapped around for a moment to get readjusted to the feeling of flight. He soon located all of his friends and flew over to say hello. "Hey, guys!" he called. "Happy spring!"

[✖ＨＥＳＴＩＡ]

Moonbeam smiled as she noticed all of her friends were now up and mingling among the tribes. She noticed Luna and Graphite, a knowing grin spread across her muzzle. Young love. she thought with a sigh and her eyes became distant as she remembered when she too was in love. It wasn't so long ago, and she would do anything to have that feeling again. To be loved unconditionally. The dark red-brown female unfurled her wings and began flying around her tribe mates waking them up one- by-one.

[~Firebird Rising~]

"Hello, Nocturno! Happy spring!" Obsidian called back. Her voice faltered a little in the end as she remembered the events of winter. Their capture by Vincent... Their escape... The revelation that he had been eaten by Bone... How were they supposed to tell Nocturno this? How would they explain to him what happened to his father this time? She cast a glance over at Graphite and Luna, trying to figure out what to do.

"H-hey, Nocturno!" Graphite stammered, thinking the same thing as his sister, but far less subtle at hiding it. "Happy spring! How'd you sleep?"

[Moony-Mae]

"Nice to see you again, Nocturno!" Luna called to him. "Have a nice sleep?" She tried to sound cheerful and pleasant, but she wasn't sure how to tell him about his father. She caught Obsidian's look, and decided to change the subject. "Well, I'm a bit hungry after hibernation! I'm going hunting! Anyone want to come?"

"I will," called Borealis, who flew over and hovered next to them. "I'm famished! We can catch up with each other after not speaking for months. But we won't stay here long. I expect we'll head home tomorrow." He flew out of the cave entrance, and immediately, the rest of the Crescent Moon Tribe followed. As the crowd scattered to hunt, Borealis came back into view and whispered to Luna, "How will we tell Nocturno about his father?"

"Well," Luna said thoughtfully, "the last time he mentioned his parents, he said that he was glad to be different from them. He had finally realized how cruel and barbaric they are. He probably won't mind too much if we tell him the truth. We'll just have to break it to him gently."

"I'll tell Obsidian and the others what you said," her brother replied. "I think that's a good plan."

[~Firebird Rising~]

"Well, let's go hunting too, before all those Crescent Moon bats gobble up all the insects!" Obsidian laughed, keeping her tone lighthearted. She let out a high-pitched squeak, which echoed around the cave. Sky Prism Tribe bats heard their leaders call, and swarmed to follow her out of the cave. As she flew at the head of the crowd, Obsidian felt a deep sense of happiness, momentarily obscuring her concern over Nocturno. After such a hectic start to winter, it felt so good to be at the head of her Tribe again, with the smells and sounds of spring in the air!

As they exited the cave, she planned on looking for Luna and Borealis, but was distracted by her grumbling stomach. She turned her focus to the hunt instead. As usual, she dove and swooped with deadly precision, snapping up juicy prey and swallowing it quickly before finding some more. Spotting Graphite hunting nearby, she was impressed to see he was catching quite a bit too. Usually, Graphite was just as clumsy hunting as he was doing... well... everything else! However, now she could see him using his newfound heightened sense of hearing, pricking his ears to catch the sound of insect wings and catching them before she would have ever spotted them. She was proud of her brother, but also a little jealous. Graphite had found his unique ability, but she was supposed to have one too. When would she discover hers?

She shook the thoughts from her head. The year was new, and young. She was sure she would discover them eventually. For now, she and her Tribemates needed to feed to be ready for the migration back home.

[Moony-Mae]

Luna nodded at Borealis and swooped off, snapping up mosquitoes in her mouth along the way. She spotted a hawk-moth-- a delicacy! She snatched it up and ate it hungrily. She fed until satisfied, then, seeing that everyone was still hunting, seized an opportunity to do some serious thinking. She hung from a tree to rest and pondered about her power. Or, was it an illusion, a hallucination? She tried to remember what her flashes of the future had predicted. She had seen the four bats with powers, Vincent, and a cave. Well, she had been come to the conclusion that there would be a fight and there was. Perhaps that was her special power. It hadn't really helped, like Graphite's did, but it was special, she supposed. She wondered what Obsidian and Moonbeam's talents could be.

All of a sudden, Luna experienced another ''Future Flash". She saw flashing images of a horned skull, a feathered wing and sharp talons, the four bats with powers, the sun being blocked by a dark, foreboding cloud. Luna gasped and tried to remember what she had just seen. She felt dazed. She immediately flapped off to Borealis, who was busy pursuing a moth. She hurriedly tried to keep in sight, and explained what she had just seen when she caught up with him.

Borealis instantly halted. "You saw what?!" her brother cried. Luna nodded. "We need to tell Obsidian," he said urgently, abandoning his moth. Luna followed.

She soon spotted the Leader. "Er, Obsidian?" she asked. "I just experienced my power for the second time." She explained her vision to the female. "Something bad will soon happen," Luna said when she finished, "unless we use our powers to stop it. I'm sure of it."

[~Firebird Rising~]

Obsidian stopped short, hovering midair, and listened to Luna's story with a concerned frown gradually growing deeper on her face. "B-but Vincent is gone! Without him, Blood Tribe should have disbanded!" she gasped in a hushed voice. "What else would cause any more trouble for the Amberwings? What are we supposed to stop? And how are we supposed to stop it? You and Graphite seem to know your powers now, but Moonbeam and I don't yet! How can we stop something we don't know yet with powers we don't all have?!"

Obsidian's voice rose in panic with each sentence, as she frantically tried to come to a conclusion, or a solution. She took a deep breath, and continued in a calmer voice, "I-I'm going to find Graphite. Perhaps he's heard something in relation to your vision. If you see anything else, let me know. And make sure you don't let any of the bats hear a word of this! They went through enough last year, and we can't let them panic over this now." With that, Obsidian swooped off into the swarming crowd of hunting bats, searching for the sight of her brother's familiar speckled gray pelt.

[✖ＨＥＳＴＩＡ]

Moonbeam was now flying around the caves waking the other tribes from their slumber, she swiveled her ears as she flew. She heard many pieces of conversation and then her orbs find her friends. She could see an upset expression on their faces, she became very confused and worried. The female flew over to them, just as Obsidian flew away. "Guys, what's wrong?" she asked them softly, hoping that it wasn't Vincent and the carnivorous bats again. They had to be gone, it wouldn't make sense.