My Ticklish Adventures 2

Over The Orchard

Jake was only an hour into his slumber when he suddenly sprung awake, sitting upright on his bed. He had an inexplicable feeling that something was wrong. He looked out towards the orchard, though it was hard to focus in the moonlight, he could clearly see my shadowy figure descending on the trees.

Whatever I was, I had to be stopped.

Jake hopped into his boots and ran out of the barn as fast as he could, grabbing his lasso and a flashlight as he went out the door, dashing towards the orchard.

Jake heard the distinct sound of someone, or something, biting into an apple. His sprinting quickly halted into a cautious tip-toe, hoping to catch whatever it was by surprise. Once he thought he was close enough, he turned on the flashlight, hoping to catch the intruder. By the time he turned the light on, he felt something jump over her head.

"What the-?" By the time Jake turned around, it was gone from his sight.

Jake managed to track down the intruder again. Whatever it was, it was so engaged in the apples on the tree that Jake managed to get within lasso range. He shined the light on the figure, hoping to catch them red-handed.

Jake's jaw dropped. "Are you serious?" He didn't want to believe it, but it was hard to deny what he was seeing.

I was perched atop one of the branches. Though my appearance was significantly altered from my usual look. My teeth had fangs that tore into the apples I was eating. I had bat wings.

Jake didn't have time to figure out how or why Mari-bat managed to return, as the moment I heard Jake voice his confusion, I took off.

"Oh, for the love of-" Jake started sprinting, keeping his eyes trained on the airborne Mari-bat the whole time.

The pursuit was difficult for Jake, seeing as I had a significant advantage with my flight, but Jake knew the layout of the orchards like the back of his hand, allowing him to keep up and concentrate on where I was going while effortlessly avoiding running into the trees.

Once the chase returned back to the path, Jake took out his lasso, twirling it above his head, aiming for my torso so he could bring me back down to the ground.

I looked behind me, flapping my wings faster in an effort to outspeed the lasso. The sudden speed boost was partially successful, as the lasso wrapped around my ankles instead.

With a quick tug of the rope, Jake closed the loop around my ankles. Once he secured the lasso, he yanked back hard on the rope to try and ground me.

Though I had been caught by the rope, I refused to give up. Though my speed slowed, I kept flying forward towards my goal of more apples.

Jake kept his grip on the rope as he tugged back, his heels making tracks in the dirt as I dragged him forward. He tried to keep his feet planted on the ground, hoping that the traction would help slow me down. His arms were starting to feel strain with how much of a fight I was putting up.

Seeing as I wasn't getting myself loose from the rope, I tried flying upward, trying to lift Jake off the ground instead.

Jake could feel his body trying to rise. He dug his heels into the ground to try and anchor himself. He gave the rope a little slack, then yanked it backwards.

The trick seemed to work, as I was suddenly caught off-balance by the sudden tug and crashed into the dirt, seemingly out cold.

Jake ran over to the downed Mari-bat. "Sorry 'bout that, but I gotta get you fixed somehow..."

Henry would probably know how to fix this, but given how much of a fight I could put up, it would be a challenge to keep me under control while dragging me to the house, but it was the best option he had.