The Bards song

4. Mangrove Salt

Liesl's gaze glanced up at the sugar gliders that passed by above us before she looked back at him, their bags and cheeks full of food for the others at Roost. "Have you collected the leaves yet, Bard?" she asked trying to sound nonchalant but her breathing was quick and tired as she then made her way over, reached for a grasp of mangrove leaves and began to lick them.

Dolf continued to frown and stare at her, panting and watchful. As if on queue then, the branches rustled above them as the sugar gliders ran, pounced and glided off.

"Yes" Dolf answered quickly, keeping an eye on the sugar glider. Watching the sugar glider continue away, picking up speed, they both scrambled up the mangrove branch and prepared to take off to follow. "Damn," Dolf panting as they both paused longer, exhausted. He eyed the tube nosed again. Neither of them had travelled with the possums before, had been warned about their foraging techniques, energy and abstract travel. It had been difficult to keep track and stay with them throughout the night for both of them.

He strained to differentiate the sugar gliders from the other noises around them. Closer to the ground, the noises of Pad-foots walking over the ground below them, the insects, birds and chatter surrounded them.

The mangroves were the second place he had come with the Bards and Millaa, the sugar gliders were a lot faster and harder to follow than an ambling Tree Kangaroo and the patient, elderly bards however. They travelled in a scattered path, racing higher into the top of the canopy then gliding across to the next tree in their sights, and in no way linear. His wings ached as he quickly landed again in a patch of low gum leaves and nectar rich inflorescences, close to one of the sugar gliders as they raced up the trunk of another gum tree adjacent a mangrove tree, and tapped into the sugar rich sap to feast on, pausing for a few precious minutes. Licking up the rich nectar food, Dolf was exhausted but they had made it to the edge of the mangroves. From what he had seen of Liesl, she hadn't fared well either.

Flopping down the bunch of leaves, Dolf half flew/half jumped down again to the mangrove tree leaves, chewing and pressing some of the salty leaves against his pallet, sucking out the juice and nutrition from the leaf before spitting the small rounded pith, while he put another good handful into his satchel for trade. Looking around, he could see the sugar gliders racing around a few of the mangrove trees, occasionally going down to the mud flat, taking advantage of the low tide they would grab a small soldier crab, fruit on the ground, or licking some of the salt rich leaves close enough by and allowed himself to rest a little longer. He flexed his fingers and looked up. The night sky had remained clear, despite the clouds he had seen gathering before, thankfully. He hadn't had to fly in the wet weather yet and was glad he didn't need to try to learn that skill tonight. Dolf had seen a few leather-wings flitter through the skies, listened to their feeding chatter as they chased, hunted and caught their insect prey throughout the night, but none had either noticed or cared enough about seeing a Bard out with the sugar gliders to care.

Dolf quickly glanced back around, a little anxious to try to stay as close as possible to his guides. The sugar gliders hadn't minded him tagging along, and he hadn't been spotted by the Roost or Snatchers either, but they didn't make it easy trying to keep up with them. His arm and fingers ached. He knew he needed to have more breaks, take it a little slower, but unlike Millaa and Cuscus who he usually went out with when he wasn't with the Bards, the sugar gliders didn't pause or wait for him. If he didn't keep up, he was lost. What's more, when a Green Tree Python had snapped and missed one the sugar gliders earlier that night, they had scattered and hid without warning, leaving him to quickly out manoeuvrer and then try to find his 'guardians'. And again, when an Owl had swooped nearby to claim an antechinus.

Turning back to glance at the Tube Nosed, Leisl hadn't fared as well either. Eyes wide, quiet, and her body hanging from both her feet, her legs clenched tight and bent ready to take off in a moment, she was just as anxious as he was with the fleeting sugar gliders. This was the first time he had really been out foraging with her. The last few times he had been out with the rest of the pups, Bards and canopy Pad-foots, he hadn't really noticed her. Of course he hadn't really stuck all that close to there others either. She stayed relatively close by, quiet, careful, as he had come to expect from the little he knew of the Tube-Nosed. She had a knack for smell though.

Throughout the night, her characteristic tube-nose; small extended tubed like nostrils on either side of her nose would independently twitch, turn and move about, finding different fruits and nectar a distance away. On their way out of the rainforest, they found and collected a few easily distinguishable plants; waria waria, a strong herb Dolf knew well because it helped clear the chest and airways from smoke inhalation they passed. Along with the strong lemon-scented myrtle, easily distinguishable with its scent and a common anti-inflammatory tea they had regularly drunk during Die-back. It was always a welcome extract for the nursery. Through the drier scherophyll forests and found Bright pink and sweet lily pily flowering, They both had their satchels full of various treats, l

"Why did you follow us out?" he asked her again, confused by her new behaviours and their escalation. Her body and expression remained unmoving as her ruby eyes flashed and shifted quickly to his. "Because." She simply said again.

Annoyed, Dolf folded his wings tighter and faced her directly, "I didn't ask you to follow me," he told her.

"So?"

Dolf glared at her.

-A large raptor shrieked a loud, quick high pitched pulsated call nearby, and then he could hear its wings. Dolf's body froze and he panicked. Blood rushed to his head, his heart, his breathing, pounded in his chest. Eyes wide, Dolf frantically looked around for the Sugar gliders, but they had completely disappeared. All that went through his mind was they were all alone and in danger.

"L-Liesl!" Dolf called out, his voice shaking with fear and shock. She was frozen in shock and Dolf had never seen her react like that before. Panicked, he nudged her with his good foot. They needed to hide. They had already been sitting out in plain sight too long. There were very few clans that were meant to know where they were, that they still existed after the fire. After 3 months and more suspicions of foul play at foot with the disappearance of not just the bards, but other pollinator bats, they couldn't afford to be the ones to let it slip out. wouldn't be the ones that would lead or endanger the lives of the number of bats that were hiding and healing.

Liesl screamed, her wings flapping and feet kicking alive in a flurry.

"Hey!" Dolf hissed quietly and grabbed again for her, catching her as she lost her grip. Unbalanced, scrambling and panicked, they both fell through the bottom mangrove branches and falling in a clump half in the mud within the same seconds of that feather-winged shriek. The floor was never a good place for a leather-wing, especially when there was danger.

"Shit." He cursed, tears brimming in his eyes. He stared hopelessly up into the sky, vulnerable, terrified and trapped. The mud was thick, unknown and with Dolf and Liesl's damaged limbs from their own accidents, they were stuck and the sugar gliders were no where to be seen.