[ Love Challenge ] Alkira

Alkira's lips twitched into a smile for a brief second before she assumed a rather blank expression, raising her brow at the other bat. "Oh? I thought you wanted nothing more to do with us." She said aloofly, turning up her nose a little to him.

"Why would you possibly want our help, then?"

"Naturu talked me out of it. Besides strength in numbers" Votaru said. "That and if I have even the slightest chance of saving my family.  It's with you guys"

Lux looked between the two. "I'm gonna check on Najara" he climbed up

Her expression softened a little and she heaved a soft sigh as she glanced over at him again. "It seems like your plans will be put off for a bit longer, then." She murmured, "Until you heal, that is."

"I suppose that sort of slows our own plans, too. But, that may be for the better, with winter soon the set in. It'll be better to have a more established camp for that." She glanced briefly at Naturu, her ears flicking about curiously. "Can he climb?"

Naturu looked to her. Suddenly he spoke. "Can I climb? What kind of question is that."

"Yes he can. He can follow me up all the time." Votaru said sighing. "And I must apologize for how I acted last night..."

Alkira stared, wide-eyed, at the wolf, her ears jerking straight upward. "Y-you..! Since when can you talk?!" she almost yelped. 

Votaru's apology caught her attention, and she quickly collected herself as she returned her gaze to him, occasionally giving the wolf a quizzical side glance. "No.. There's no need to apologize. It's only reasonable that you would be upset.." She murmured, shaking her head. "I can't change what my colony has done. But I am sorry."

Votaru shook his head. "It wasn't your fault alkira. My rage was misdirected... My father would have hit me for acting like that" he looked to naturu. "You can understand naturu?"

She nodded, "Yeah. Since when can he talk?" she huffed, obviously not quite grasping what the bat meant as she eyed the wolf suspiciously.

"To be honest, this whole time I just thought you were a little crazy."

"I was born with the ability to talk to animals. Naturu and I have been talking this whole time. But I'm surprised you can hear him" 

Naturu sighed. "Sorry if I startled you"

"W-wait, but I've never been able to..." She murmured, looking up at Votaru. "Why is it I can understand him, then?"

Votaru shrugged. "I don't know. Your the first person besides me to actually hear him talk

"Maybe I'm just going crazy too.." She joked softly, giving him a small smile. Alkira shifted awkwardly after a moment, giving her cheeks a soft rub as she retreated a few steps. "I uh.. Had better go out and get some more fruit, then.. We won't have enough for everyone to eat at this rate."

"I brought my own... I only had enough time to grab my fruit bag" he said handing her the bag full of fruit. "Naturu picked some before we came here as well."

"O-oh.." She murmured, grunting softly as she took the heavy bag from him. "Thank you."

Her cheeks seemed to grow a little red, and she kept her gaze down as her bare feet shifted a little in the dirt. "So.. Should we, uh, head up to camp?"

Votaru turned a little red himself. "Y-ya we probably should" he said spreading his wings. 

Naturu began to climb the tree.

Alkira did the same, flapping her wings a few times before taking flight up to their makeshift camp. Najara was, to her expectation, still soundly asleep.

"Lazy little fur ball.." She grumbled, turning her attention to Lux. "Thanks for watching him."

"It's my job isn't it" lux said chuckling

Votaru looked around as soon as he got up. "Not a bad place to camp"

"Well, it's where bats are supposed to stay, after all. Not on the ground." She mumbled, raising a brow at him as she took a seat next to Najara. Alkira scooped the limp little pup up into her arms, setting him comfortably and protectively in her lap. The youngling barely reacted, far too deep into his slumber to care that he was being shifted about.

"So.. What's the plan now.." Alkira murmured. "I guess we're going to have to set our previous plans back a bit.."

A roll of thunder sounded in the distance, signaling that rain would come soon.

"We need to let Votaru heal for now if he's goin to come with us. Once hes healed we can head for the colony" lux said

Votaru nodded "it would give me time to tell you what to expect"

She nodded, "That would be nice, yes.." Alkira murmured, "Will it be hard for me to enter your colony? Clearly I am not one of your kind, so it will be quite obvious that I don't belong there.."

"Our only enemy is the ghost bats. All other colonies are welcome into it. "But lux Naturu and I won't be able to accompany you inside." He said. "We will enter through an entrance I made years ago. You and Najara can enter through the gate"

"Is it safe for me to bring along Najara, though?" She asked, her voice carrying with it a great deal of concern.

Rain began to lightly drizzle overhead, though the group was mostly protected at the moment thanks to the foliage above them.

"Theirs a law. Children can't be harmed. Punishment is death for those who wish to harm any child. He will be safe. And so will my sisters. Until they come of age"

She nodded slowly, "And, will we be meeting up anywhere in the colony? Or will we be staying separate?" Alkira asked, shivering a little. The rain seemed to have only made the area colder.

Votaru shook his head. "We'll meet at night in my old house. They made it for guests and I can get me and lux in and out to discuss strategy"

"Sounds like a plan." She murmured, shaking her head lightly as a few droplets landed on her ears and hair. "With the rain like this, though, it seems like we'll be stuck here for a while. There's no way to smell if anyone's out there. Not to mention trying to focus your hearing."

Najara squirmed a little as he slowly woke, opening one of his eyes groggily to peer around at the others. His gaze eventually settled on Lux, and the little pup held out his arms toward the feline and whined softly.