When Wings Are Broken

Chapter 1

The sun glimmered between the towering trees of Ferngully, splashing gold against the forest floor. Birds chirped, the breeze hummed, and somewhere above, a very loud, very erratic bat was streaking through the air.

Batty Koda's flight pattern was never exactly graceful, but today his aerial acrobatics were worse than usual.

"Okay, left! No, no, right! OH NO, no, no, LEFT!"

His head twitched, his body jolted mid-air, and the little patch of tech jammed into his brain sparked faintly. His antenna flickered with a low bzzt.

"NOT GOOD! Not good! Circuit frying! Bat dying!" Batty screamed, spiraling helplessly. His antenna glitched again, fizzling like a broken radio. His wings flapped furiously, but it was no use. He was careening downward in a tailspin.

CRACK!

Batty slammed headlong into a tall eucalyptus tree with a painful thud, bounced off, and dropped like a stone into the underbrush below. His body hit the earth with a sickening snap as his left wing twisted unnaturally beneath him. His eyes fluttered, his mouth twitched as if to make another frantic quip, but unconsciousness swallowed him.

Nearby, Crysta hovered in alarm, Pips close at her side.

"Batty!" Crysta gasped, speeding toward the crash site.

"I knew he flew weird, but that was really weird," Pips muttered, brows furrowed.

Crysta was about to descend when a rustling sound from the human trail made her freeze in place. Pips grabbed her arm, pulling her behind a tree.

"Hold on! Someone's coming."

Through the trees, a woman appeared, clad in hiking boots, a light backpack, and a sunhat shielding her face. She was humming faintly to herself, taking in the beauty of the forest, until her gaze dropped to the crumpled shape in the leaves.

She gasped and hurried forward, kneeling beside the unconscious bat.

"Oh my god," she whispered, gently brushing leaves aside. "What happened to you, little guy?"

She reached out carefully, tilting Batty's head to check his breathing. When she saw his shallow breaths, her expression softened with concern.

"Poor thing... your wing's broken." She glanced around, as if half-expecting an owner to appear, but of course, no one was there. "I can't just leave you here."

With gentle hands, she slid off her backpack and retrieved a clean flannel shirt, wrapping it loosely around Batty's trembling form.

Crysta watched from her hiding place, her heart hammering.

"What's she doing?!" Pips whispered. "She's taking him!"

"I know," Crysta whispered back, biting her lip. "But... she's being gentle."

"Humans aren't gentle," Pips snapped. "Remember Zak? He didn't even know he was killing the trees! What if this one is worse?"

"I don't know..." Crysta admitted. "But we can't just let her walk away with him."

Pips huffed. "Then what do we do? Knock her out? Swipe Batty and run?"

"No. I think... I'll follow her. See where she goes."

Pips crossed his arms. "You're crazy."

But Crysta's eyes stayed fixed on the woman, who was now cradling Batty against her chest, whispering soft reassurances. There was a strange tenderness in her voice that didn't match the human cruelty Batty always described.