Warning before reading! idk yet- Veneen and his soldiers located the hidden bat colony shortly after. Starting an ambush. While Veneen's soldiers managed to capture the majority of the bats, a few scrambled and escaped, including Quince. After hours of searching the area, Veneen ordered two of his soldiers back to the kingdom to imprison the captured bats. "Continue searching the area," Veneen commanded to the remaining guards. "This can't be all of them. There has to be more." The soldiers looked around for a few more hours, but as the hours go on, they found nothing but empty branches. "Oh, forget it," Veneen muttered. "If any of them managed to get away, they couldn't have gone far." He flew over to a high boulder, up above his troops to command their attention. "Everyone! We will camp here for the night and wake up early. The survivors are weak. We will track them down tomorrow morning." Tulun, and Redu had safely moved Quince beneath the roots of a big ancient tree They stayed quiet, keeping watch over Quince. Tulun gave Quince a handful of wild figs she had gathered earlier. "Here," she said gently, offering them to Quince. "I figured you must be starving." Quince looked up. "Thanks. I really appreciate it." Tulun gave a warm smile and sat back down next to Redu. "You are very welcome!" It was clear from the way Quince ate that she hadn't had a proper meal in a while. As Quince finished the last of her fruit, Redu’s curiosity got the better of her. Quince hesitated. She wrapped her right wing around her left arm, shifting her gaze to the dark floor of the tree. "Well... as you know, I'm Mango's mother. I'm six years old, and... I'm single." "It's a pleasure to meet you, Quince!" Redu replied. "We were guessing you haven't seen Mango lately, either... We actually came to find him in this forest." Quince took a deep breath, trying to get herself together. "That wouldn't be possible. Ever since my son chose to leave our colony, the elders decreed they would never allow him to come back. But I miss him so much. I-I just want him home..." As Quince starts to sob again, they begin to hear footsteps outside that get closer and closer... END OF CHAPTER 16 Collab with @foxesdragons ! if you follow them i MIGHT pet your pfp on my screen!
