Montimer

Montimer is a main character of The Angel in the Forest.

Appearance
Montimer is a bat with dark blue fur, and pink inner ears. He bears a striking resemblance to his father, Mardoqueo.

Personality
Montimer is an introverted bat who normally keeps to himself, staying distant whenever he interacts with others. He has a hatred towards his own species, which inevitably lead to his own self hatred. Montimer hates cold water, but was willing to ignore that hate to help Larry. He loves helping others, even if he doesn't get thanked for helping. He's very sympathetic and emotional, so when he causes fear within others, it makes him hate himself even more.

History
Born into a family of four, his mother, Grace, and father, Mardoqueo, work together to raise their two children Montimer and Oliver, him being the oldest and Oliver being the youngest. They are happy for a while, until a tragic incident results in the death of Grace and Oliver's disappearance. Montimer was unaware of this tragic incident, and continues to be unaware for most of his life. But Mardoqueo knew exactly what happened. Mardoqueo spends most of his time looking a missing Oliver, leaving Montimer at home for extended periods of time.

One night, when Montimer is eating meat, his father swoops in and finds an excited Montimer. But instead of embracing his son, he scolds him for making a mess and throws him into a bath. After a few minutes, he take out Montimer and leaves him on the floor, cold from the water. Montimer whines and says he's cold. Mardoqueo tells him to deal with it, but Montimer can't, so he again says he's cold, this time with more sadness. Mardoqueo gives in and throws him a mouse pelt, and immediately leaves again to search for his son. This makes Montimer even more sad. Since Montimer didn't know why his father was barely home, he came to believe that his father simply abandoned him.

Years pass, and Montimer learns to fly. With this new ability, he decides to leave the house that he feels a prisoner in. He attempts to interact with other bats, but it doesn't work out. Other bats begin to bully him and beat him up because they believe if they win a fight against the son of an alpha, then they themselves will become alphas. But Montimer never fights back. Not because of their beliefs, but because of his own moral compass. He never cried in front of them as to not give them satisfaction for hurting him.

One day, when flying around, 10 year old Montimer hears someone yell out in struggle. He investigates further to find a mouse's rear end sticking out of a tree hole. He asks if they're okay, and the mouse is frightened by the sudden voice of another animals. Since she's stuck, she's vulnerable to predators, and this makes her very nervous. She asks who's there, and Montimer tells him her name. She asks what species he is, and he mistakenly tells her his age instead. She asks for his help in getting unstuck, but Montimer was unsuccessful. So she asks to use wood to cover her rear end so no one will see her, in which Montimer is able to succeed in doing.

He gives her an apple through an opening in the tree, and the two talk for a while. Ronnie thanks Montimer for trying to help and for the apple, saying he's super nice. He says he's not sure about that since he has no friends. She's surprised by this, and then he explains that he has no friends because of the nature of his species, but he's careful not to reveal he's a bat. Ronnie offers Montimer her friendship, to which he accepts. Sometime after this, Ronnie tells Montimer her name.

Eventually, Montimer builds up courage to break open a hole in the tree to pull Ronnie out from the inside. When he jumps inside, Ronnie is startled to find out Montimer is a bat. Montimer successfully pulls Ronnie out of the hole and gets her unstuck. He exclaims that it's fantastic that she's unstuck. Ron is stunned for a second, but then smiles and agrees with him. Thus, a new friendship is born.

Whenever Montimer was bullied, he always went to her for comfort. He never cried in front of his bullies, but was always willing to let his feelings out, stating that it wasn't until he met Ron did he start letting tears fall.

One day, Montimer's father, Mardoqueo, found Montimer hanging out with Ronnie. Wanting to teach Montimer a lesson about the nature of predator and prey, Mardoqueo killed Ronnie, who was 14 years old at the time, forever scarring Montimer and sparking his refusal to eat meat. He refuses to eat meat to annoy his father and to honor Ronnie.

As 15 years go by, Montimer is on a personal mission to save as many mice as possible from bats in honor of Ronnie. Most mice he saves are afraid of him, so they never realize that he's actually trying to help. Since he no longer eats meat, he's grown skinnier and weaker than the average bat, but is able to sustain himself on fruits and insects. He stays alone for most of his life, until one fateful day.

One day, while flying through the forest at night, Montimer spots a mouse. Seeing the mouse in danger from another Bat, he lands over the mouse to protect it from the other bat. Montimer assures the mouse that he won’t eat him, but wants him to stay nearby. The mouse leaves, and Montimer finds him in a tree hollow. He takes the mouse to an island with a tree, where a baby mouse rests inside. He coerces the adult mouse to take care of her, and heads off to get food for them.

Montimer continues to bring food for the two mice at night. One night the baby mouse awakens to meet him, but Montimer runs outside to avoid contact. The next night during a storm, Montimer makes a crash landing into the tree burrow, leaving him unconcious. He awakens to an injured wing, and the two mice looking over him.

Montimer notices the adult mouse is visibly scared of him, and moves away to the burrow entrance. The mouse approaches and affixes a sling to Montimer’s wing. It is here when the mouse tells Montimer his name is Larry. Montimer finds out the baby mouse girl hasn’t been named yet, and suggests “Ronnie," as a subtle acknowledgment to his childhood friend, Ronnie. Montimer is approached by the baby mouse Ron, but distances himself. After Ron cries, he comforts her with a hug. The next morning Montimer struggles to sleep with the disturbance from the mice.

Some time passes, and Montimer’s wing is still healing. Ron gets Montimer to eat with the mice at the table. He relents and eats fruit with them, to the adult mouse’s discomfort. With this wing healing up, he heads out at night to get more food. In a past memory, Montimer is shown coming to Ron’s rescue, after she is left alone in the cold and snow.

During one night, Montimer shivers from the cold, sleeping upside down. He awakens in suprise from Ron, and knocks his head. Ron invites him to sleep among the mice. He declines, but as Ron begins to tear up, he agrees. After awakening, Ron offers him some food she made. Montimer eats it, but begins to feel strange. He begins to writher in pain as he learns from the adult mouse, Larry, that he consumed poisonous mushrooms. He begins to contimplate if he is going to die, and looks to Larry for help. Larry reassures him he will survive, and montimer passes out.

Montimer awakens to a guilty Ron crying. He re-assures the girl that he is not mad at her, and embraces her. Overheard by Larry, he goes to talk to him. Larry offers him tea, and Montimer heads out. Later, Montimer is walking through an abandoned human labratory, with bats residing inside. The bats question his motives for living with mice, with one mouse recounting Montimer protecting Larry from him, but Montimer brushes them off. Montimer finds a case, and takes a tea bag out, and flies back into the forest.

Hearing Larry call out “Angel”, he swoops into the tree burrow concerned, onto the shocked Larry. Finding that Larry only concerned if he was still around, he gives him the tea bag for the shock. Montimer is happy to see Larry is estatic over it. Ron comes over into his lap, and calls Montimer “Angel”, but he corrects her with his actual name. After seeing how the two mice bonded, he is hesitant  to see them seperate.

Montimer awakens one night to see Larry distraught. He questions him, but Larry backs away, scared. Feeling rejected, Montimer runs out of the tree burrow, and flies off to a tree. The next morning, he returns, after tying a rope bridge across the island lake, which Larry leaves on. In a past memory, Montimer recalls as a pup how his father treated him. He would return briefly, and leave, leaving the young Montimer lonely. Back in the present, Ron asks why Larry left. Montimer reassures her that even Larry is gone, he will be there for her.

After finding out from Ron that Larry fell into the frozen over lake, he jumps into the water and rescues the drowing mouse. Feeling guilty for removing the bridge, Montimer is desperate for Larry to recover. He brings the mouse close to him, to share his body warmth. Larry awakens, and the two hug. Montimer confesses his guilt in tears for scaring and trapping Larry on the island, and causing him nightmares. He notices Larry has a black eye and questions him. He learns of the alteraction Larry had with Maurice. He explains to Larry that he had a mouse friend named Ronnie, and seeing her killed by his father became the reason to not hurt mice. Montimer smiles after Larry confirms he will stay.

Time passes and Montimer and Larry are on a venture outside. Montimer spots a mouse, and dives in to protect it. Montimer notices the bat is Mardoqueo, his father. Mardoqueo dives straight onto him, possibly breaking one of Montimer's bones. To his distain, his father wants to return home, and force him to eat meat. He declines, but is taken by force. He gives in, as to get Mardoqueo out of there so he doesn't spot Larry.

At Mardoqueo's home, he's forced to eat meat so he doesn't starve to death. Montimer awakens with blood on his chest and mouth. He mutters over breaking his promise, and eating meat out of hunger. Noticing Larry is indeed in front of him, and not an illusion, he snaps out of the daze. Montimer attempts to persuade Larry to leave, but Larry is deeply concerned over him. After Montimer is freed, the two head to the entrance, and Montimer tells Larry to ride on his back.

Montimer flies back with Larry to the tree burrow, but passes out in exhaustion. He is carried by Larry into a bed, and they go to sleep. He is woken up startled after Larry raises alarm to an intruder. He goes to confront them, only to find and pick up a young bat. Montimer wants to rid them of the bat, but Larry stops him. Montimer later finds out the young bat boy was abandoned by his parents, and that there is a need to migrate from the cold. Montimer heads to his father’s home and takes some pelts from him. His father confronts him on his intentions, but Montimer pushes back, and leaves.

Montimer hears a rumor of a human house as shelter, and Larry and the children leave for it. Montimer takes the young bat, but stops for a moment as the young bat murmurs for his father in his sleep. The young bat bites him along the way. They find refuge, and Montimer gets in a discussion with Larry over the situation. While talking, Montimer engages in an unexpected kiss from Larry, but breaks away. Montimer heads over to the children and contemplates the matter for the night.

Montimer and Larry with the kids arrive at the house. Montimer decides to cover his ears to disguise himself, being considered a predator. As they walk through a busy market, a squirrel bumps into him. Noticing his fur pelt, she scolds him, but Larry intervenes to defend him. Montimer is touched by the action. Offered shelter by the squirrel, they accept. Montimer embraces Larry, and takes up first watch of the night. He scolds the young bat after thinking he was nibbling Larry’s tail, but mistakes his intentions. He swaps night watch with Larry, and ends up reflecting on his childhood memories of him with the other bats, and Ronnie. The loss of Ronnie made Montimer hate bats and self-resent.

Awakening the next morning, Montimer narrowly avoids detection from Debbie, thanks to Larry. He finds out from Larry that they will need money to stay in the shelter. Montimer agrees to remain with the children while Larry works; to avoid detection. Larry laters returns from his first job search exausted, with Montimer relaying a hopeful message to cheer him up. After a deflated Larry returns for more attempts to find a job, Montimer comforts him. Montimer decides to head out at night, encountering heavy wind. He reaches his father’s home and heads to take more pelts. His father approaches with worry, but Montimer brushes him off. He learns from his father that he was left alone as a child, while his father searched for his brother. Montimer heads back to the home, as the pelts are too heavy to fly with.

As Montimer worries about Larry, he has flashbacks to emotional times with Larry. He remains doubtful that Larry intends to stay with him. Montimer returns with the pelts to Larry, but Larry is disappointed that Montimer left without notice. Montimer sorts the pelts for sale, but breaks down crying, clutching the pelt of his childhood friend, Ronnie.

In Montimer flashes back to the memory of meeting Ronnie stuck in the tree. He's pulled out of his flashback when he realizes that Larry was also crying. When he asks why Larry was crying, Larry says it's because it hurts when he sees Montimer this way. He finally tells Montimer that he loves him. Montimer doesn't respond back, making his true feelings unknown, yet the two share a heart-felt hug anyway.

Montimer and Larry take a seat and Montimer begins to tell Larry his story about Ron. When he finishes, he admits that he can't bring himself to sell the pelts, and Larry understands, saying they're a team. They eventually burn the pelts, and Montimer finally gives Ronnie a proper farewell.

Days later, Montimer encounters an estatic Larry telling him that he found a job, as a carpenter’s assistnant. Debora comes in, and Montimer quickly covers his ears using Ron. At night, Montimer is awoken by Larry, told that the young bat has left; likely to the attic in search of other bats. Montimer deflects, with loathing of bats and himself. As Larry heads out, Montimer stops him and goes instead, saying it's more logical and safer. He encounters the young bat, and overhears his parents reason for his abandonment over a wing defect.

The two bats return, with the young bat depressed. Montimer is left to try to get him to eat. Montimer tells Larry about the young bat’s experience with the parents, and Montimer trys again to feed the bat. In his failure, Montimer cries and apologises for treating the young bat differently than Ron. The bat comes to Montimer, accepting him, and Montimer consoles him. In the days to come, Montimer and the young bat, Richie, bond well. Montimer encounters an anxious Richie, and reassures him that he will be there for him.

Montimer later comes into the home wounded and bloody. He is caught by Larry, and put to rest on bedding. Montimer believes he won’t make it, but Larry heads for help. After passing out, and getting healed from a Doctor, Montimer awakens in a struggle. He is concerned that Ron is being taken, but finds out the Doctor was only curious with her origin. He settles in with Larry, as Larry tells him about his past worries and fears over him. As Larry aplogises, Montimer looks up, and gives Larry a kiss. He falls asleep in Larry’s chest.

Montimer is recovering well, and has to eat bird meat to sustain it. While resting, he overhears Larry concerned with his Boss’ offer to marry his daughter, and Larry’s intention to quit to prevent it. When Larry returns, Montimer is preparing food for the children, despite recovering still. Montimer tells Larry he feels like a burden, and believes they should part ways. As a violent commotion happens outside, Montimer grabs Larry’s arm and the children with concern. As Debbie enters, and leads them to hide, Montimer intends to stay back and defend their retreat. As Ron and Richie get upset over this, Montimer relents, and joins them in hiding. As Debbie mentions the bat attacks, Montimer looks down to Richie in gloom.

During this, Montimer thinks back to an earlier incident, seeing a bat pass by the home entrance. As he goes to investigate, he sees the bat swoop and knock down a passer-by mouse down below. As the bat picks up the downed mouse, Montimer has flashbacks to Ronnie’s capture by his father. The memory pushes him to action, and he descends, clawing the bat’s cheek. As the bat reacts, Montimer stands stunned.

Relationships
Larry - Larry and Montimer start off with a complicated relationship. Larry fears Montimer, but relies on him. Montimer is helping Larry, but isn't being recognized for it. After a snowstorm sends Montimer flying into Larry's den/prison, he breaks his arm, and Larry is forced to help him. Montimer is extremely uncomfortable with this, so Montimer keeps his distance.

Over time, through the struggles, the two start to grow closer, especially when Montimer comes back with tea for Larry. But one night, Larry has a nightmare about Montimer killing him and Ronnie. He wakes up disturbed, and when Montimer tries to help, Larry backs away, showing fear. Montimer takes the hint, and leaves the den. The next morning, Larry leaves the den, and Montimer is left alone with Ron. In the same day Larry left, Montimer drinks the tea that made Larry so excited to reminisce about him. When he learns from that Ronnie that Larry fell in the cold lake, he immediately flies toward the lake to save Larry from death. He brings him back to the den and uses his own body warmth to keep Larry from freezing to death. When Larry wakes up, he immediately hugs Montimer and apologizes for leaving. Larry reveals he knows about the day Montimer saved him from death. Montimer cries, saying he's sorry for instilling fear in Larry. Larry says he's not afraid anymore, instead he trust Montimer now.

The relationship between the two continues to grow, to the point that Larry was willing to risk his life to save Montimer from captivity. When Montimer tells Larry to forget about him and leave before he gets hurt, Larry tells Montimer that could never forget about him and that he cares about him. Larry frees Montimer, and Montimer flies the two of them back to the den. The two share another moment together, strengthening their relationship even more.

When they are stuck in a small cave in a tree, the two talk about how hard parenting is. After more talking, Larry kisses Montimer for the first time. But Montimer becomes unsettled and the two head to bed, though neither of them can sleep due to embarrassment.

Ronnie (daughter) - When Ronnie was unconscious and slowly being buried by snow as a baby, Montimer immediately came to her rescue and kept her safe. He cares deeply about Ronnie, especially since her name is the same as his childhood friend. Even though he would never, he made Larry believe he was going to eat her, when in reality, he just wanted her to have a parent of the same species. When Montimer is trapped with Ron during a snowstorm, she doesn't hesitate to get to know him better. She eventually gives him the name "Angel."

Richie -

Ronnie (best friend) -

Debora -

Mardoqueo -

Oliver -