Bat Island- Part two of Chapter 2

Yeah, it's been way too long since I've posted this. Anyway, here's the rest of where I left off. Any and all comments encouraged.

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“P-please don’t eat me,” Cody pleaded, trembling.

The bat snarled and bared it’s teeth. It stepped closer, Cody was now on the edge of the branch. He could jump off and fly, but he knew the bat would catch him almost instantly.

“Wait!” Cody shouted.

The bat hesitated for a second- not long, but enough for Cody to see.

“Whatever you want- I’ll do!”

The bat snorted, mouth still open in attack. It was close enough to see the saliva in it’s mouth.

“Stupid shrimpy bat. What could you possibly do for me?” Cody noticed it’s voice had a thick Dark-landian accent to it. He couldn’t figure out if it was a male or female, it could be either.

“Well . . .” Cody eyes darted as he frantically searched for a reason.

“Be quiet!” roared the bat, flaring it’s huge wings.

Then Cody saw it- three long tears on the bat’s wing.

“I could-” he took a tiny step back as the bat drew closer. They were now practically nose-to-nose. “Fix the tears on your wing!” he finished quickly.

Involuntarily, it folded his wing so he couldn’t see them.

Yes! Cody silently cheered. He had found a way. “It’s infected, isn’t it?” Cody asked slyly.

A low growl rumbled from the bat’s throat. Cody swallowed, every instinct screamed to run. But he had to do this.

“A puny bat like you could do nothing.”

Cody noticed a hunger in it’s eyes.

There is an estimated few seconds left to my life. He thought. Drat, I wanted to eat a big moth first.

It reared up once again for the kill.

“If you eat me then your wing will rot off!”

That stopped it. Now, to get through the next minute alive.

“You lying,” It snarled.

“No, I’ve seen it before. Eventually, you won’t be able to fly.”

“I had enough of this!”

“Look, there are these berries that can heal it. Trust me.” Cody pleaded.

The larger bat seemed to consider this. It closed it’s mouth and looked thoughtful. After a minute it said:

“Nah. I’ll just eat you,”

Once again Cody trembled as it displayed it’s huge fangs. The bigger bat plunged forward. Cody braced himself, waited for the last second, and threw himself out of the way. It would have worked except that he had miscalculated how fast the other bat was. Something sharp grazed Cody’s forearm and he cried out in surprise. With a crash, he fell back onto the tree branch.

The bigger bat wasted no time on pouncing on Cody.

“Stupid, puny bat-ling,” It seemed to be enjoying this. The big bat lowered it snout towards Cody. This time he was ready. With an instinct he didn’t know he had, Cody bit down on the bridge of the bats nose. He bit hard, until he could taste blood.

The bigger bat screamed in fury and backed off Cody. The instant he felt the weight leave him, Cody sprung into the air; his wings beating furiously at the air. It was an act of pure desperation and he knew it. The other bat had bigger wings, in seconds it would be upon him. But hopefully, just maybe, he’d have enough of a head start to get someplace where he could fit and it couldn’t.

His frantic eyes fell on a jagged boulder. It was the only thing within range so it’d have to do. He swooped down and landed, barely slowing himself before touching down.

I’ve had softer landings, He thought.

A horrible screech told him the big bat was on the way. Cody looked around and saw a crack in the boulder. It was a tight fit, but he managed to get in there. And just in time too. The larger bat thudded down where he’d been seconds ago. Almost immediately, it spotted Cody’s hiding place. It reached in with it’s fore-claws and tried to reach him. Cody draw himself back as far as possible, but the claws were still too close to his face.

Then the claws stopped scratching for him. Cody thought he might have given up. But seconds later a shrill sound pieced his ears. Cody flattened them to his head. The shrill sound kept going, louder and louder. With sickening realization he felt himself lose control over his body. The bat was using his paralyzing sonar again!

The claws appeared again, this time they reached his sagging body. Cody tried to struggle as he was dragged out, but he couldn’t. He’d lost all control of his body.

Why didn’t it do this earlier? He wondered. Perhaps it took a lot of energy? Stop! This isn’t a good time for reflecting! Cody scolded himself.

But just as Cody thought the big bat was about to take a bite out of him, it didn’t. Instead it lowered him to the ground and held his tail down with one fore-claw. It’s black eyes stared down at him. Was there a sign of admiration on it’s face?

“You’re a strange bat,”

“W-what?” Cody struggled with his voice. Control was beginning to come back now but his voice still wasn’t steady- the fact that he was terrified didn’t help either.

“I’ll not eat you,”

“Really?” Cody asked. He was unsure whether or not this was a trick.

“Only if you heal my wing,”

“Well-” Cody started.

“Can you?” It demanded.

“Yes,”

“Good,” The bigger bat lifted it’s foot off Cody’s tail. “You don’t run away, heal my wing, and I won’t eat you.”

Cody shrugged. It was better than being eaten. “You’ve got a deal, uh . . .”

“Mask,” The big bat said flatly.

Cody decided that meant it was a male. “And I’m Cody.”

Mask didn’t look amused.

Cody realized being friendly was going nowhere. “Deal.” He sighed.

“Now, fix my wing,” Mask opened his wing. The gashes looked even worse up-close.

“That’s the problem. I need a special berry for it.” Cody braced himself.

To his surprise, Mask spoke calmly, “Then I’ll go with you,”

“It’s way back in the woods though,” Cody knew arguing was with this creature was dangerous. But if the bat took back to the woods, and he couldn’t find a berry, it would be even more dangerous. The other bat would think he was trying to escape.

A vicious snarl rose from Mask’s throat.

“Okay, okay I’ll try to find one!”

That seemed to satisfy him. Cody pushed himself into the air and began to lead Mask back to the woods.