"Just jump."
     Ocarion knew there was no turning back. He'd only been born a few weeks ago, and now, Orion, his older brother, had to teach him how to fly. The tree picked just happened to be one of the tallest trees in sight of the Tallwing colony. Ocarion looked to his sibling and frowned. Orion replied with a solemn, tacit nod, letting him know that if he weren't able, his brother would save him.
     "It's so… high," murmured Ocarion.
     "Oh, c'mon. Don't make me push you," Orion joked. He made a motion towards his little brother, the newborn flinched back with a yelp, and fell off the branch. Air rushed past Ocarion's ears and nostrils, and he started to panic. His echovision had little use, flashing silver trees all over, in all directions. He heard a faint voice from where he thought was up above, saying to flap. "Flap! Flap your wings!" It was Orion's voice. Ocarion straightened his body and flared his narrow wings. The membranes caught air so quickly and fully, he thought his small arms were being pulled out of socket. It didn't take long for Ocarion to notice that he was gliding at a stifling speed toward the tree he leapt from. He angled his right wing up just enough to lose a few hairs on the left side of the tree as he banked. It wasn't long until he had to bank again to miss another tree. Flap! He felt the muscles in his arms beat once, up, down, then again, slowly. Faster, he began to feel lighter. The ground began to shrink as he lifted through the air. Ocarion's heart lifted with everything else. He was flying! What a feeling he felt, that he could go anywhere now! He didn't want to stop soaring through the forest. He bolted up along the tree he leapt from, and saw Orion roosting there on that branch. Ocarion slowed a bit, and merrily tackled his brother off the branch. The two dashed through the night air.
     "I take it you like flying?" Orion asked, knowing the answer. Ocarion smiled.
     "What do you think? I love it!"
     "Alright, we'll spend a few nights with flying, and then I'll show you how to fend for yourself. I'm tired of catching bugs for you."
     Orion Tallwing was among the best hunters of the colony. He was born blind in his right eye, but that never hindered his echolocation. His ears matured within a month of being born, and he developed deadly accuracy while hunting. Even the smallest gnat in the darkest night wasn't able to escape his jaws. Orion would've preferred to be an only son, and when news of Ocarion's birth came, he knew he'd have to get used to something he didn't want: being a big brother. He wanted a solitary life, but Ocarion probably wouldn't have let that happen. He didn't even want to think about the migration with a newborn sibling, keeping the pup in line, telling him to keep up, encouraging him to get as much sleep as he can before setting off the next morning, it seemed a nightmare to Orion. Migration was only one week away, so he'd have to make it last.
     Ocarion couldn't get over the euphoric feeling of flight.  Every night, he'd excuse himself from his roost, inside the great hollowed tree the Tallwings called home, just to take wing through the forest, careening around the trees, dodging leaves, and soaring toward the moon. He noticed another newborn, Alonzo, fluttering around the Tree, alone. The two Tallwings had been born on the same night a month ago. Ocarion banked around to meet him.
     "Don't you just love flying?" Ocarion asked, looking for an equally cheerful answer.
     "Oh, hey. Yeah, it's a great feeling," Alonzo mumbled.
     "My older brother's gonna teach me his hunting skills tomorrow night, wanna join?" Alonzo's eyes lit up a bit.
     "Really? Orion? He's teaching hunting lessons?"
     "Well… He said he wasn't going to give out his secrets as long as he was an only child," Ocarion bragged, "So now that I'm here, he has to!"
     "Then count me in! I'm up for it!" Alonzo beamed.
     "Great, I'll go tell him," Ocarion broke from the synchronized flight, toward the Tree.
     The Tree didn't look very large from the outside. Ocarion never understood how many Tallwings took residence inside, when the Tree wasn't even tallest in the forest anymore. The old oak has been growing there for centuries, until a great storm blew by, lightning striking the tree, splintering bark until half the tree fell in defeat. Wood-consuming insects invaded the lumber inside, eating away everything but the outside bark. It was the perfect place to raise newborns, in this abundance of termites. In time, the Tallwings have shaped the Tree to house them. Roosts jutted out from the inside; populating the entire height of the Tree with bats and their newborns.
     With his family's spot in sight, Ocarion flew up through the chamber to meet with his brother, who was roosted, savoring a moth.
     "Hey, Orion, my friend wants to come with when you teach me how to hunt!" Ocarion exclaimed. A dull white eye opened, and told the newborn not to disturb Orion.
     "Really?" sighed Orion, "I guess I can handle it…"
     "Cool! You're the best," Ocarion affectionately nudged his brother and lifted to fly around some more.

     The next night came too quickly for Orion. As soon as he waked, Ocarion and Alonzo were next to him, asking when he was going to start.
     "Let me wake up, first, jeez," Orion mumbled, yawning and stretching, "Patience is the first thing you need to master when hunting. Now go fly around to warm up." The two newborns immediately disappeared for the gloaming. Alright. First off, I need to eat. These newborns… Orion wasn't looking forward to these lessons. Spanning his arms out, he stretched, and let go of the roost. Breathing deeply, he sent out a few echoes. He always flew with closed eyes, by echovision alone. With every blast of sonar, a new, silvery image erupted in his mind's eye, bright as day. He could identify the shape of a leaf without opening his eye. Orion dashed for an opening to the forest outside, and immediately started searching for insects. There's one. He spotted a beetle, ungainly buzzing over a stream. More echoes sent out, Orion descended upon the unfortunate bug, and snatched it up with pointed fangs. He gulped it down, and instantly saw another one. Stupid beetles. They're so easy to catch, Orion thought as he clutched the insect with his hind claws. After tossing it up and catching the large beetle, he felt content. With an inward sigh, Orion took wing toward the two newborns.

     "How is Orion so good at hunting? Was he just born that way? Or was it some sort of Human contact that made him mutate?"
Alonzo had always wondered about Orion's skill.
     "Oh, he was born with it. Just take at look at his right eye when he arrives," Ocarion exclaimed,
     "Speaking of my bro, he's coming!" The two dropped from the branch to meet with the hunter.
     "Stay on the branch! Keep your patience, pups," said Orion. The newborns obeyed.
     "What're we learning?" Alonzo anxiously questioned, glancing at the hunter's right eye. It was dull and white.
     "Didn't Ocarion tell you? We're hunting…"
     After a long sigh, Orion started the lesson. He began explaining everything from how to time the echoes to pinpoint an insect to steadying the wings to fly in for the kill. He flew out, caught a tiger moth, brought it back, and clarified how the insect was also capable of a form of echolocation, which could fool a newborn such as Ocarion. Despite this playful explanation, Ocarion and his friend kept listening, intent, determined to become as good as Orion was.
     "Well, that's the basics. Remember to keep your breathing slow and steady, and keep your wings trimmed and ready. Shoo, and go practice" Ocarion smiled at Alonzo, and they both dropped from the tree, into the night.

     It didn't take long for the two friends to become competitive. Ocarion was in the lead, with countless mosquitoes and two tiger moths. Alonzo had no moths to boast, and his mosquito count was negated with a caught beetle.
     "C'mon, I thought you listened to my brother more than I did!" Ocarion shouted, gulping down another group of mosquitoes. Alonzo rolled his dark eyes, and sped off. The pond wasn't too far away, and it had an abundance of insects around it. This unseasonably warm night brought with it even more bug life. There, Alonzo knew, he had a much better chance of catching more bugs than his friend.
     "I'm gonna beat you, Ocarion!"Alonzo shouted, as he swallowed multitudes of gnats and mosquitoes down, "There're more insects here than you'll ever find!" Ocarion was busy chasing another tiger moth, intent on getting it. Alonzo shrugged and continued feasting.
     A few hours later, the two newborns filled themselves. Ocarion had a final tiger moth count of five, without many mosquitoes. Alonzo failed to catch any moths. Must be because Orion's his brother… he sniffed, glancing at the content look on Ocarion's face.
     "C'mon, wasn't that fun?" Ocarion asked, cocking his head to one side.
     "Yeah, but you still won."

     The migration was to begin at the next dusk, and Ocarion couldn't wait. Nita, his mother, told him that he'd see things he has never seen, large rivers, Human cities, high mountains, even other colonies! It sounded so adventurous. His father, named Rath, was to lead the colony along with the Elders, so he was away from the family roost, planning. Nita called Ocarion back to the roost, and gave him exciting news.
     "I need to give you something that you're going to need for the migration," She said, being greeted by a beaming Ocarion.
     "Oh! What is it?"
     "Alright, I need you to close your eyes and open your ears. I will sing the Tallwing map into your mind." Ocarion closed his small eyes, flared his tall ears, and braced himself. A dull note reverberated through his skull, and a silvery world blasted in front of him. He was inside the Tree, about to leave. Suddenly, he was flung from the Tree and was flying through the air at impeccable speed through the forest. He passed a small pond, the one Alonzo found the previous night, and exited the forest. The first thing he saw was a trio of exceedingly tall towers, erected by the Humans. They looked to be fabricating clouds from their tops. He was flown between the two tallest towers, and across a wide river, littered with soot and dirt. He was flying over another forest, and to the right was a lengthy stretch of flat, gray land, on which Human machines whizzed by. The speed of his silvery flight increased, and soon the landscape changed from flat to hilly. Large rocks dotted the foliated hillsides, and other bat colonies revealed themselves, spiraling out of small cave openings. Another shift of speed, and he was faced with more Human towers, this time they were wider and taller. To his disappointment, he never neared the towers, and he flew around them. Ocarion's speed slowed, and a dark hole shown through the silver echoes; a cave opening. He had reached the Tallwing hibernaculum. Suddenly the visions ended and he came back to reality.
     "Woah…" Ocarion caught his breath.
     "You got it all?" replied his mother, faintly smiling.
     "Heh, I think so."
     "Good, now after you hunt, get some sleep. It's a long flight you have to look forward to!"