Backstory of my bat character, his father taking him away from what he saw as a dangerous situation when he was 8 years old.

This fantastic artwork is by  StarfallHybrid

Story is written by me.

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Thunder echoes fiercely through the cloud-darkened sky, amidst the storm a bat and his child struggle to flit through the torrential rain, their path to the safe haven of the mountains continuing above the forest canopies.

The elder bat's features are full of exhaustion, he'd been flying for long, too long.
"Hold on, Rolan... We're almost there." He utters, the child on his back gripping tighter onto his fur. "I'll keep you safe... Safer than those damn feathered bastards will."

The father's desperate flight sallies forth, he can't give up, not so close to finally reaching the far off goal. A flash of light brighter than the two have ever seen encompasses the area, a screech of agony pierces the air as an intense pain sears through the flier's left wing.

Wind and rain rushes past them as the two fall, terror in every fibre of the smaller one's being. The elder looks to the side to find his wing scorched and torn, there's no way to save himself. With the last of his strength he drags the child's wings clasped around his chest away, one forceful twist of his body and he knocks the smaller bat off of his back, and as he falls he yells one final time to his son.

"Fly, Rolan! Fly-!"

The child's instincts kick in, floundering against the heavy rain in some attempt to stay aflight.
"DAD-!" He calls, to no avail, he can't see or hear him anywhere. Rolan's hovering wanes as the weather beats down on him, losing altitude and control, no other destination than the floor.

So greatly he tries to keep his flight steady, though his skill as is young as his age, further down into the trees he travels before his legs and wing catch on branches. The stumble upsetting his form, without control he barrels downwards, yelping in pain as he slams against the forested floor and crashes his back and head against the sturdy bark of a tree.

Rolan grips tightly onto his head, staggering to his feet to find his way. A wound streams blood down his face, wanting for help he squeaks and chirps pitifully, the unrelenting torrent drowning out his cries.

The pain builds more, he just wants to rest, no more walking. When he collapses to the floor his ears pick up one sound, the last he heard before all went dark.
"I saw somethin'. Over here-!"

---

The child wakes and this time there is no forest, no thunder or rain. He lays upon a soft bed under the roof of an unknown building, he squeaks again in a call for help only for a new face to arrive through the room's door.

A lizard, a blue-scaled one with a set of fins curved down her head. "You're awake! Dea, we were worried..." The reptile claims, though her steps towards the bat were met with fearful cries and cowering.

The woman holds her hands out reassuringly, her voice soft as she tries to calm the frightened child. "Shh, there's no need to be scared, I'm here to help. We cleaned up the cut on your head, see?"
Rolan responds to this by feeling around his head, a bandage wrapped around it. He soon calms down enough for the woman to approach, though still harbours hesitance.

"There, I'm not that scary am I?" She jests with a gentle smile. "Now what's your name? We found you out in the forest."

The child flinches and holds onto his head once more, he looks as if further pain coursed through. "I... I dunno... Can't remember..."

"You don't know your own name? Oh, you poor dear... Well don't you worry, we-" A heavy knock on the door interrupted her, a voice called through. "Selki, got somethin' important, need you now."

The woman shakes her head and stands up, looking back at the bat as she walks to the door. "I'll be right back, just rest for now."
The moment she leaves Rolan lays back, the situation almost too much for his mind, pain aches through him due to his landing.

Outside the room another lizard speaks to Selki, a brown-scaled man with simple horns. "Good news, we found a larger bat that looks just like that small guy in there. Bad news... He's long gone, bones're shattered, wing burned with a huge tear in it. Must've got struck in the air and fell straight down."

The woman holds a hand to her chest, the truth can hurt more than a lie. "Then he's alone, the poor boy, lost his memory too. ...I say we keep it this way, we speak none of this to him, he doesn't need the trauma."

The man nods bluntly in response. "Whatever you say, I'll get the body buried, you sort out what's goin' on with the kid."

The two lizards part ways with the woman returning to Rolan, she smiles to hide the truth and kneels down at the side of the bed. "So, we don't know where you're from or anyone else like you. But we would be happy to take you in as one of our own, we'll give you a name of your very own."

The child looks straight to her eyes, he doesn't really know all what's going on but this lady is nice enough to him, he smiles gently and nods.

During this Selki looks at his wings, such bright colouring causes words in her people's tongue to rise up in her mind, 'Zirkah.'
"Then welcome to Yannelm village, Zirkah."

The small bat's grin widens and suddenly his wings are held around the lizard in an embrace, and like this he stays for a while yet, the beginning of his new life.