"You told them everything?"
His voice was soft and malicious, and the recipient shivered slightly. He perceived the question as a rhetorical one, and stayed silent.
"You were trained from birth to be completely loyal to the tribe."
The statement bore a tint of anger.
"How can you be so weak?"
The question was yet again rhetorical, but the recipient didn't get the hint this time.
"But sir, the information I provided is harmless to the tribe!" He protested, before realizing his mistake.
An aura of dread hit him hard as the chief dropped from the branch, flipping back to the right side up. As he towered above his subject, the teenager froze in his tracks.
"You have the gut to talk back to me, but no gut to shut up in front of a few weak birds!" The chief spat in disgust.
"I don't want to hear it again." His face returned to an eerie calm and he flew past the now shivering bat. He landed on a branch not too far off, and lazily handed out two orders in whispers. Two heavily built bats nodded, and took flight to execute the order.
Bia shrieked as she shot around the tree with all the toucans chasing her. In Tiago and Carla's attempt to get her to join the game, the toucans were accidentally involved, and things escalated quickly. Tiago and Carla laughed as they followed, a little guilty, but mostly amused.
"Stop chasing me!" Bia panted as she shot forwards in her continued attempt to escape.
The kids weren't even trying to catch her, just getting her to move more, as Tiago put it. It was glaringly obvious that Bia was slower than her siblings, and everyone had to fly at a slower pace to keep her running. After what seemed like the fifth round she made around the aviary kitchen, the toucans finally decided to go at their full speed, and soon they caught Bia.
"I am going... to boil... you two... alive!" Bia wheezed at Tiago and Carla, who snickered at her threat, with all the toucans squirming in a pile above Bia.
"Oh come on! You were reading for 4 hours straight! Just come out for a moment," Carla attempted to justify the accident.
Bia opened her mouth to argue, but closed it and groaned.
"Cheer up! Since you're already out, you can join in the game!" Tiago laughed.
"But I'm so tired!" Bia whined as the toucans got off.
"Aw come on, it was just 4 laps around the kitchen," Tiago replied.
"I'd like to see you fly around it four times at top speed with a pack of birds chasing you!" Bia huffed, flipping onto her back.
"Hey guys, wanna see how Tiago looks like after he flies around the kitchen four times?" One of the toucans asked eagerly.
"Oh no," Tiago immediately stopped laughing, and shrieked and flew as everyone except Bia shot after him.
Two black silhouettes spied on the playing birds from the cover of a tree's shade.
"That one is alone," one of them observed.
Bia stared in amusement at Tiago protesting as he flew his second lap around, and didn't notice the silent danger looming behind her. Not until it was too late. A shadow darkened where she stood, and she turned around in dread. Bia's eyes widened at the sight. She screamed, and immediately tried to run, but the bat picked her up in his claws and shot off toward the trees. Bia's screaming halted the game the kids were playing, and they whitened at the sight.
"Bia!" Tiago screeched and shot after her, with Carla and the toucans following close behind. The adults shot out of the rooms upon hearing the commotion, and took chase.
As the bat flew off, the birds tried to follow, but the kids, who had the head start were in front. Just what the bats had planned. Out of nowhere, a net shot from a hole in a tree, trapping Tiago, Carla and two of the toucans. The net was thrown to the bat, and he swooped down to catch it, and resumed his escape. The other bat slapped away the rest of the kids, and with a snarl, turned to face Jewel and Rafael. He was huge, towering over even Rafael, at almost double his height. His fangs glistened in the slight hint of light that reached him.
"Stay back!" Rafael ordered his kids, and they reluctant obeyed, watching from a distance away.
"Go after the other one, we'll hold him here!" Jewel stood her ground, and Blu and Eva rushed after the escaping bat.
The large barrier spat at Jewel and Rafael, and took a stand against both. Jewel lunged at the bat sticking out a talon toward her target. Rafael followed, but with his beak spearheading the attack instead. The bat swerved expertly, and grabbed Jewel's tail and slammed her into Rafael. The bat turned to continue the fight, but was knocked back by a wave of bodies. The toucans pecked and ripped at the mammal's skin, and the bulky opponent roared in frustration, tossing the kids away group by group. Jewel landed close to him, and began swiping at the bat while he was distracted, aiming for the thin sheets of skin that he used as wings. Her opponent noticed her, and grabbed one of the toucans and used him as a shield. Jewel halted and hesitated a second too long, and was thrown back by the bat, along with the remaining toucans still attached to him. Rafael slammed his beak down on the bat's shoulder, and he hissed in anger, grabbing Rafael's beak with a large claw at the end of his wing. With a head butt , he slammed into Rafael's stomach, crippling the toucan. A muffled scream tried to escape, but the bat didn't loosen his grip on the toucan's beak. He threw Rafael at Jewel again, knocking the two away from him. With a final snarl, he escaped into the trees.
Blu and Eva were zooming after the bat, who was surprisingly fast for his size. The surroundings blurred at the speed, and Blu could hear his heart pounding and his lungs burning. He persevered on, beating his wings harder. Eva was visually the same, but a flash of anger was in her eyes.
The bat lurched on, rushing toward the tribe base. Once he reached, there was no way his pursuers could follow. Blu and Eva knew it, and were trying to go faster.
"Eva watch out!" Bia called from the net. Eva's eyes widened as a branch swung at her from behind a tree. It made a heavy contact, and Eva plummeted toward the ground as a result. She knocked against a tree, and fell into some shrubbery below. Blu halted reluctantly. More than five bats appeared from the darker corners around them.
"Capture them both," a sinister voice instructed.
The voice came from a particularly large bat, two times and a head taller than Blu. His wings spread out, covering a large area. His dark body seemed to absorb all light nearby, and he radiated an aura of authority and fear. Blu quivered as he looked up. A long jagged scar ran through one side of his face, through an eye socket. That eye was gray, and it occurred to Blu that he was blind there. Even with his disability, he was a fearsome sight, and his glare froze Blu in the spot. He was snapped out of his trance when something slammed onto his head. He flew around disorientated before dropping to the ground, unconscious.
Tiago was thrown into a rusty cage by his captor, and the door was locked before he could get out. For each bird, a separate cage was used, a total of seven. Two were empty. Tiago flinched as they threw his sisters with equal force into a prison of their own each, followed by the two toucans, which he recognized as Carlos and Gary. He gasped as he saw a bat placing a limp Blu and Eva into cages. Soon, they were left alone. Except for one dreadful presence. Tiago felt his heart bump faster as he approached, observing the prisoners. The gray eye seemed to move along with his normal one, as if it still functioned flawlessly. Tiago winced as he stared at him, noticing the long jagged scar on his face. The bat grunted, and moved away, such that he was roughly at an equal distance from all the cages.
"What are you doing all the way out here," he asked in a deep, and throaty voice, which sent shivers down Tiago's spine.
"You brought us here, and then you ask that?" Tiago boomed, forgetting his place.
"I mean what are you doing in Rio. Your kind are in the Amazon," he continued, peering at Tiago, Carla, Bia and Blu.
"You are scouts of some kind?" He guessed.
"You think kids are scouts? Are you out of your mind?!" Bia yelled.
"Silence," he replied curtly, silencing Bia. He landed on her cage, peering down at her, causing her to quiver slightly.
"My sanity is not in this discussion, child," he whispered threateningly. Bia flinched as he flew off the cage.
"Your parents attacked a patrol of mine. Why is that," he asked from his distance.
"We didn't attack! Your patrol attacked us! We were defending ourselves!" Carlos hissed.
"I guess they were too embarrassed to admit it," the bat replied lazily.
"Last question for you. The human establishment beside your home. It will be an ideal spot for my tribe. What do you know of it?"
The question made the blue macaws quiver a little as they realized that the sanctuary could be attacked by the bats, and overrun. Bia quickly thought of a lie to try and scare the bat.
"It's a military base."
The bat seemed to frown, deep in thought. But he wasn't convinced. Without the kids notice, he was thinking on how to get them to tell the truth. Just then, a tarantula crawled across the floor, and Bia noticed it, and couldn't peel her eyes off. Tiago and Carla were slowly getting fearful, and made subtle gestures for her to stop it. Unfortunately, it was too late, and the interrogator traced her eyes to it.
"Like spiders?" He asked slyly, plucking the tarantula from the ground. The hairy arachnid wriggled it's legs at the new environment, attempting to scramble away, but the legs only kicked out at thin air. Bia felt her heart pace increase as she realized what he was going to do.
"Seems lonely there. Don't you want a new room mate?" The bat asked, observing his catch in minor fascination. Bia quivered as he dropped it on top of her cage. Tiny clinking noises were made as the spider stumbled around the rusty metallic surface.
"Careful," the bat warned. "large spider bites hurt terribly."
The statement seemed to drain color from Bia as she whimpered in the cage. The kids watched on in horror, all unsure of what to do next.
"Sir!" A bat landed nearby, dragging the attention away. His much smaller build suggested that he was some kind of scout.
"There is a gang of marmosets closing in! Their leader wants to discuss with you."
The chief scowled, and spat toward the floor. He nodded, and the bat gestured toward a direction. The chief signaled two nearby large bats to follow, and the trio went to intercept the unwelcome guests.
"Guard them," the chief instructed before disappearing into the trees.
The silence that ensured was near deafening, except the same few noises.
Clink... Clink... Clink... Clink...
Bia jolted at each disturbance, looking around her, hoping that the spider wouldn't fall off and crawl inside the cage. Abruptly, the clinking stopped, and Bia inhaled sharply as she saw the dreaded crawler hop off the cage. It was a large on, with dark orange hair covering most of its legs and body. It stumbled around briefly, then turned at looked at the cage Bia was in. Bia muffled a squeak as she saw the front of the animal. The clinking soon continued, as the spider entered the cage, squeezing through the bars. Bia paled, and shifted to the opposite corner, staring at the intrusion with fear. The rest watched on, careful not to make any noise to shock the arachnid. There was a dreadful silence, all except the clinking, and the sound of Bia's heavy breathing. A claw grabbed the spider through the bars, and hurled it away. The kids sighed in relief, but tensed up a little when they noticed who it was.
"Aren't you the one Mom and Dad captured?" Carla asked apprehensively.
He was indeed the same one. An apologetic look flashed in his eyes as he turned away. Coughing and spluttering brought his attention back. Blu was conscious again. He crawled up in his cage, groaning. As his head finally stopped spinning, he rubbed his eyes, and got a good look at his surroundings.
"You gave us up!" Blu growled at the bat, who was near Bia's cage.
"No I didn't," he replied with a hint of anger. "My partner did. He called for help. The chief didn't regard you as a problem, but he wanted to know more about that human building nearby."
"Why would he want to know about that?" Blu demanded.
"He said this area is too bright. He said that the human building would be good for the tribe as a base."
Blu realized what it meant. Countless injured birds were already there. Tulio, Linda and Fernando could be there.
At the edge of their new found territory, the three bats found the marmoset escort and Mauro. The marmosets seemed to have suppressed stormy expressions. They were obviously not too pleased with the new tribe. But at the same time, they knew that angering a trigger happy tribe wasn't the best idea in the world.
"Well, first off," Mauro started in a forced neutral tone, "welcome to Rio. I am Mauro, the leader of the marmoset tribe here. But pleasantries aside, your patrols have been attacking my tribe."
The bats looked down at the marmosets, not impressed by their size.
"I do not bother with pleasantries. And my patrols are attacking, because your pests are in my land." The chief replied curtly.
Mauro was taken aback by the bat's bluntness. This was like the Nigel situation. Except that there was no way the marmosets could overwhelm an army of warlike bats.
Defeated, Mauro reluctantly gave in to the pressure.
"Mark out the borders," he sighed.
The marmoset tribe had never been in a full scale tribal rivalry before. The area never had another tribe, and things like borders were fairly alien to the rest of the tribe as a result. There were no clear land markings, and anywhere was shared land. The bat chief spat at their leaving guests, and left to check on the prisoners again. He pushed through the leaves, and retuned to the base, only to get a shock.
The rusty cages were empty and open, with their previous contents missing. Only the spider remained, crawling around the empty cages.