[ Love Challenge ] Alkira

Votaru the bat 

A bat that lives in a camp to himself. He was shunned from his clan due to his defying the old traditions and customs. He hunts alone, lives alone. The other clans attack him on sight due to his now renegade status. He tries to trust others but the only one he can trust is his pet and friend naturu.

Sounds good to me. Votaru was actually inspired by alkira. Except the colony being scatter and th personality

Take your time missbat)

I don't know exact species. But he would have to be a type of fruit bat. I was thinking that's what alkira was but then again I don't know

Technically he's a renegade and has no clan. But I see your point. I can make him just a regular fruit bat.

As the sun began to lose it's daily struggle with the moon for its place in the sky, a bitter cold clutched the jungle and it's inhabitants. Even here, in this tropical morass of plant life, winter's harsh effects were felt by all. The mindless, feral creatures of the Mystic Ruins crept back into their nooks and burrows instinctively for the night, huddling themselves in their homes to escape the danger that was the jungle after nightfall.

The darkness didn't come alone-- no, with it it brought a wintry, uncomfortable cold that washed over the Mystic Ruins, soon gripping the area in a numbing chill. Winter was creeping in on the area, giving the jungle life a diluted taste of what was to arrive in the coming weeks. 

Huddled in a wind-shielded crook in the canopy, Alkira seemed reluctant to head out into the increasingly frigid world, though her stomach protested otherwise. The cold would soon make fruit harder to come by as well.

Reluctantly, the fruit bat left the comfort of her temporary shelter, venturing out in search for fruit-bearing trees.

As the frigid night fell, some creatures stirred for the hunt. For an attempt to find food a red and white fruit bat held his spear, prowling around in the night. The hunter looked around. "We need to find food soon naturu" 
The large direwolf growled in response. 
"Don't worry we'll get some food" the bat smiled as he petted his companion. They continued to walk. The bat sighed. Fruit may not be an option tonight.

Luck seemed to be in the little bat's favor tonight, as she seemed to happen upon some fruits that had not yet been killed by the cold and compelled to fall to the earth with the others to rot. 

Eagerly, Alkira climbed higher into the treetops to reach them, occasionally kicking down weaker branches and leaves down onto the jungle floor. Even as she finally reached the fruits, she wasn't quite done yet. She searched through what little the tree offered, casting the more unpleasant ones down to ground below which landed with loud splats.

Both the bat and wolf looked to where the fruit was falling. The bat silenced his companion flared out his wings and took off to see. Once he got to the top he hid seeing something moving near the fruit. Let's see what we have here."he mutter looking to the shadow covered creature that picked the fruits. He called out to naturu with  a bird call. But also used it to see if it would draw out the creature from the shadows.

Alkira fell still, silent as she heard the sound, her ears perking up sharply and flaring about to take in the noise around her. Admittedly, a bird call should have been nothing to worry about-- a noise that blended in with the rest of the jungle's ambience. But... Now it was night, and the bird song that usually filled the air in the daytime was hushed, dead.

Suspicious, the bat's hackles raised slightly, sending the fur on her shoulders and neck bristling outwards like needles. She began retreating from the fruit she was collecting, grabbing only what she was currently holding as she shifted away from the direction of the sound.

She winced momentarily as moonlight, which had filtered down through the leaves and branches, washed over part of her form momentarily, partially revealing the bat in the darkness. The female quickly scuffed away from the opening of light, trying to keep herself hidden from whatever was out there.

The bat saw her partially in the moonlight. 'A bat. Part of the nearby clan no doubt' he thought looking around. He chirped again to tell his wolf to go back to camp and wait. He started to slowly follow the other bat. 'Why is a clan bat out here alone?' He asked himself as he held his spear. He tried to keep hidden but he didn't know how well that would work with his own kind

Her ears twitched. There it was again, that sound.. This definitely wasn't some coincidence. Something was out there. Unease bubbled up inside of her, and the instinct to flee nagged viciously at her muscles.

Her wings flared open loudly, creating a gasp of air as she prepared for flight. The female continued edging backwards on the limb, until finally her back pressed to the trunk of the tree. If she wanted to put any distance now, she'd have to fly. But navigating through the branches in the dark could be messy. 

The bat inhaled, holding her breath as she waited another moment, lingering just a minute longer to see if the other thing out there -- if it was pursuing her -- would pass under the same moonlight she had, exposing itself.

He hid in the leaves above her. "What's a bat like you doing so far from her clan" he spoke up. He sat waiting for and answer. He looked Down casting his shadow . In the moonlight. "Cause last I checked one doesn't leave the clans safety unless banished."

Alkira nearly jumped out of her skin as she heard his voice, and her head snapped up in his direction. She could see that he was a bat, from his silhouette in the moonlight. Another bat.. She wasn't sure if she should feel comforted by this fact. He was still a stranger.

"Should I ask you the same thing?" She knew her own reasons for being without her colony, but him.. Were other colonies in the same condition as her own, scattered and broken? Or was he a bat banished by his breed? She knew some colonies marked their banished, but she couldn't see him quite clearly in this light, only his form.

"I have no clan." He said. His voice calm but the anger could still be heard. "I'm a renegade. Branded as such cause I didn't follow tradition." He said droping into the moonlight in front of her. "You on the other hand have a familiar look.... A bat from your clan was found near my former colony." He said keeping his distance. But he held his spear just in case

Her ears flattened back against her head as he confirmed his colony-less condition. When he dropped down in front of her, she flared her wings wide in an instinctive attempt to make herself seem larger, more intimidating. 

As he spoke of another bat like her, however, her demeanor changed immediately. Her ears flared back up, and she advanced a step toward him. "What?! When?"

"A good year ago. He lives. The shamans made sure of that. But he was attacked by something. The wounds were very unusual" he said he looked to her wings. "And you don scare me. I've taken down bigger than you" he said roughly. A howl sounded in the night. "Naturu..." He said making a bird call in reply. "I must go my friend says it's only goig to get colder... I need to finish my hunt" he opened his wings taking off. He thought for a moment while he flew. 'Why was she all alone?'

"W-wait I still..--!" Alkira watched as the other bat took flight, leaving her there to her thoughts as he left. 'Had questions...'

Part of her knew she should have known better than to converse with a bat from another colony, especially a bat that had been banished. But, if he knew about another bat of her colony's whereabouts, she needed to get the information.

Making up her mind quickly, she took flight after him, following him at some distance in the dark.

The bat landed on the forest floor walking into the fire lit camp. "Naturu? You find anything " the large direwolf shook his head. "Damn then we wake early tomorrow get a head start on checking traps." He sat by the fire. Naturu barked "what do you mean what was takin so long? I was chasing the thing that threw the fruit down."
The wolf growled
"It's was a bat, i can't hunt them I'm not a canabal."
The wolf laid his head down. Whimpering.
The bat went over to his companion petting him. "We'll get some food buddy I promise"

Alkira was, to say the least, surprised to see the bat land on the ground, and even more surprised to see him interacting with some feral creature on the earth's surface. It seemed too unnatural, too taboo to even watch. But then again, the bat did say he had been banished for going against customs.

She listened carefully to the two from the treetops, holding her breath a little as she tried to remain inconspicuous in her hiding place above them.

The female shifted her wings back onto her back, over the small woven pack she kept tied between her shoulders. She had six, maybe seven fruits that she had collected inside... If the other bat needed food and she needed information.. Perhaps she could convince him to trade.

On the other hand, he was a bat of another colony, and a banished one at that. Could she trust him? Alkira inhaled sharply, summoning her courage as she dropped to a lower branch.

"Hey!" She called, "Banished bat!"