There were shouts of warning and angry commands echoing through the jungle. Blu's heart pounded faster as he realized that the bats had noticed what happened. Heavy flapping confirmed his fears as a group pursued the group. Tiago and Carla were in his talons, grabbing on tightly as the wing rushed past. Carlos and Gary were being carried by Eva, and Bia was in their helper's grasp.
"This way!" He swerved into another direction, causing Blu and Eva to follow suit.
"But the nest is that way!" Blu protested, but still followed anyway.
"You want to lead them to your nest?" He asked, somewhat dumbfounded by his stupidity.
Blu didn't reply. His wings were starting to burn in the strain of the speed, and he soon began panting heavily. The voices behind seemed to close in, but faded away slowly as the pursuers went the wrong way.
"This way you blunder heads!"
The voice was heard far away, but still too close for comfort. Blu and Eva stopped as their lead grinder to a halt. He let Bia grab on to Blu's leg, and told the two to continue flying straight.
"What are you doing?" Blu asked.
"I am going to lead them away. Now GO!" He demanded.
"Wait! What is your name?" Bia called after him.
The bat seemed irritated at the question in the heat of the situation, but answered before shooting away in another direction.
"Licorice."
As Blu and Eva continued forwards, they faintly heard Licorice shouting at the patrols.
"They're over here!"
"Don't just stay there! Chase on!" Another voice demanded.
The shouting dimmed down as the bats were led further and further away.
At the bat's central base, bats were running amok, spreading the news, and many had automatically joined the chase. The chief was desperately trying to re-establish the order within the tribe.
"Stop leaving! Recall the pursuers and patrols! The prisoners weren't important," he commanded.
Four bats with smaller builds shot after the chasers at full speed, racing to spread the order.
"Are you sure about this?" Another bat asked.
"I highly doubt those adults were going to crack anyway and scaring those annoying kids isn't getting anywhere," he growled. "Send someone to go scout the human dwelling. If it is a viable target, we strike at the cover of night."
The silence that awaited Blu was rather deafening as they hid in a hollow. Everyone was dead quiet, not dating to make a sound, listening intently for any signs of the pursuers. The silence continued for a few more minutes, before Blu finally sighed in relief.
"I think I recognize this route," Bia commented. She was still shivering slightly, still not recovered from the stress of the escape.
The rest turned to look at her, waiting for answers.
"It's on the way to the club isn't it?" She continued.
Blu peered outside, and noticed that she was right.
"Let's make our way there, it's our best bet at safety," Blu suggested. Eva nodded, still quiet in all the stress. Carlos, being the oldest of the eighteen children, was helping to calm the rest of the kids down. Tiago and Carla were still shocked silent, and Gary was sobbing a little.
"Come on," Eva cooed, leading the kids out with Blu.
The club was surprisingly empty, with only a few marmosets along with Nico, Pedro and Eri in it. As Blu, Eva and the kids entered, they saw a welcome sight.
"Mom!" Eighteen toucans yelled out in joy and tackled Eva, and Rafael rushed forward as well.
"Jewel!" Blu called out as the toucans flew off, revealing Jewel.
"Blu! Kids!" Jewel hugged her reunited family, but flinched as she made contact.
"What's wrong?" Blu noticed in worry.
"It..it's nothing," Jewel denied, and turned a little.
Blu wasn't convinced, and noticed a weird sort of patch on the wing she was trying to hide. The skin under the feathers was an alarming shade of blue and black.
"Your wing," Blu murmured, and gently held up the wound.
Tiago, Carla and Bia looked on in worry, not sure what to do next.
"It's just a bruise. It'll heal," Jewel retracted her wing, hiding a wince as she did so.
"Are you able to fly?" Blu still worried.
"Yes, I can. Just not as fast," Jewel admitted. "How did you get out?"
"The bat we freed helped us escape," Blu explained.
"Blu! Thank goodness you're safe!" Nico, Pedro and Eri landed nearby, and it was clear that they were heavily worried.
"Good timing too. We were about to try and send a rescue."
Blu turned around to see Mauro and a few marmosets nearby.
"What are you doing here?" Blu inquired.
"Marking out a plan. I fear those bats may attack, so we're planning defenses," the marmoset leader replied.
"They're planning to attack the sanctuary," Tiago reminded. The three had mostly recovered, now that they were safe.
"What sanctuary?" Mauro asked.
"There's a human-run building near our home. Injured and sick birds are taken care of there," Jewel described, as simply as she could.
"We could still solve this peacefully," Blu said. "They want a better place to live in isn't it? What's wrong with any old cave? There's tons of caves around the jungle."
"Why don't you ask them?" Jewel replied sarcastically.
"We could ask them through Licorice," Blu warmed to his idea more and more.
"And who is that?"
"The bat that released us and let us escape."
"And how do you plan on reaching him?" Jewel asked, still using an irritated cynical tone.
"Maybe you should suggest something, other than continue shooting my ideas down?"
"Don't you know more about this?"
"Are you saying you have no ideas left?"
The kids, Nico, Pedro and Mauro looked from Blu to Jewel to Blu to Jewel as the two bickered, and the discussion edged into an argument.
"Guys! Not the time!" Rafael separated the two, and stood between them.
"You are both stressed. Go and cool your heads off," Rafael suggested. He almost told them to 'tell each other exactly what they thought', but he recalled the disastrous results all that time ago. Jewel shifted away, rubbing her forehead with her good wing, mumbling to herself. Blu went the opposite direction and stared out the entrance in silence.
Rafael looked at the two, shaking his head slightly.
"Why are they so volatile?" He directed the question to nobody.
The kids were shifting awkwardly. It was the first time they saw their inseparable parents arguing, and Rafael felt some pity for them.
"Don't worry about them, they'll cool off in no time," Nico whispered to the kids, petting Tiago gently.
"You can go stick around the toucans for the meantime kay?" Pedro suggested, nudging the trio toward the other kids.
"I've got it!" Mauro boomed, beaming along with the rest of the marmosets.
Blu and Jewel whirled around, and stared at him, waiting. The rest of the birds did the same.
At the sanctuary, Tulio had noticed that the blue macaws were no where in sight. Without their consent or knowledge, there was a small hidden camera to spy on their daily life to understand more about them. He frowned. They have never been gone till so late in the evening. He studied the footage, rewinding until a point where he could see the problem. He soon found out. On the screen, an unnaturally large bat was attacking Bia. Tulio gasped as the macaws flew after it, along with some toucans. He adjusted his glasses and replayed the footage. He didn't see it wrong. A bat twice Blu's size did kidnap Bia. He raced to the phone, and began dailing.