Chapter 33- another rebel against the Witch joins Trotterhoof's group, and his reason for his turning against her
Meanwhile
Snow had begun to fall once again and the winds were picking up. A small critter (a dumb, non-Talking creature, specifically a mouse), was out digging for food in the snow at the foot of a tree when suddenly, it was disturbed by the sound of metal blades slicing through snow and the pounding of hooves and feet on it. Startled, the mouse darted into a crevice of the tree trunk moments before a sled carrying a few black cloaked figures with some more pulling it appeared and glided right past the exact same spot where the mouse had been. Trotterhoof the Pig, Cyril the Hippogriff, Link the Peryton, Desdemona the Griffin, Milky Way the Pegasus and Thundersparx the Raiju were pulling the sled along while Alexandrite and Padparadscha "Paddy" the Nekomata, Molayne the Dog, Obsidian the Wampus Cat, Dashiell the Cheetah and the only biological family member he had left aside from Sandstorm; his daughter Amberpaw, and Citron and Eureka the baby Otters who were being cared for by Paddy, and also Nanu the Wolf who still had his feet tied together in the cargo section of the sled at the back, were still on the move, desperately looking for Kushanku and the other villagers of Green Leaf to reunite with them (in the case of Trotterhoof, Alexandrite, Cyril, Paddy, Link, Desdemona and Molayne anyway, while Thundersparx, Obsidian and Milky Way want to simply seek refuge with the other evacuated Aslan-believing Narnians with Gandalf the Kitsune, his mate Kyukon and their group in their base and hopefully wait for the next step in the wise nine-tailed Kitsune's plans based on the Great Lion's guidance from there). While the group continued to sled along with the pullers pulling it like reindeer or yule goats, Amberpaw was very disgruntled.
"Are we there yet?" asked the Cheetah cub.
"Look, just sit quietly and behave will you?" said Alexandrite in rebuke as she helped Paddy feed the orphaned baby Otters Citron and Eureka some baby milk the group had managed to salvage, along with a variety of other foods such as meat and fruit, from an abandoned village during their travels. Like Green Leaf, that village was deserted and had either been overrun by Jadis's cronies or the villagers had left for Gandalf's base. Alexandrite and Paddy, along with Cyril, Link, Desdemona, Trotterhoof and Molayne, were still dressed in their Banshee-like outfits while Obsidian, Thundersparx and Milky Way still wore their invisible cloaks, and Citron and Eureka had been wrapped in some fresh cloths while Dashiell, Amberpaw and Nanu had been given coats, both of which had also been salvaged from the deserted village the group had passed through during their journey.
"Your attitude is seriously starting to annoy the rest of us, Amber," said Obsidian as she watched over Nanu with Molayne. Amberpaw flashed the near-black and vivid fiery red-orange marked six-legged Mountain Cat a mocking smirk.
"And I think you need to eat some chicken or beef, Panther-face, and get over your dislike of meat," said the Cheetah cub snidely and mockingly, deliberately striking one of Obsidian's most sensitive nerves. This sent hot rage tearing through the Wampus Cat and she shot Amberpaw a volcanic glare. Her fiery orange-red markings glowed brighter like magma and also her anger and she bared her teeth and flared her orange eyes. Amberpaw's mocking attitude immediately flashed to immense fear when she found herself on the receiving end of a fiery glare from an enraged six-legged creature resembling a fiery creature from deep under Narnia's surface and backed away towards Dashiell. However, Obsidian had good restraint on her rage but she was still fiercely glowing with it.
"You mock my vegetarianism and why I had turned against eating meat again and I'll claw your spotted fur out," growled Obsidian threateningly. Amberpaw swallowed a lump in her throat and shuddered as the Wampus Cat then turned round and returned to Molayne's side, her fiery orange-red markings dimming as her anger subsided, though the pain from Amberpaw's mockery of her hatred of meat due to her traumatic experiences at Jadis's place still lingered like pain from a burn. Molayne then angrily jabbed Amberpaw in the shoulder, making the Cheetah cub yelp in pain and clasp her paw over the impacted area.
"Stop mocking Obsidian and Thundersparx's vegetarianism, Amberpaw," hissed the Dog as Amberpaw shot him an angry look, "How would YOU feel if I mocked the loss of your brother Gingerfur in the arena a few days ago…"
The moment that question left his mouth, a Cheetah cub paw appeared and struck the puppy hard across the face. Molayne flinched and yelped in pain as the force of the slap threw his muzzle in the direction of the paw's flight. Amberpaw, her face saturated with pure offense and anger and her eyes weeping tears, then turned her back on Molayne and retreated towards Dashiell's side where she laid down and began to weep. Molayne looked on dumbfounded as he rubbed his slapped cheek, which was stinging quite badly, with a paw.
"Just leave that brat and Mr Dashiell, Molayne," said Alexandrite as she cradled Citron in a low voice, a flash of annoyance at the two Cheetahs, "They're too stuck-up to listen…"
"I heard that, you two-tailed MONGOOSE!" screeched Amberpaw in a tearful shout.
"Yeah, we CAN HEAR you, you know!" put in Dashiell. Alexandrite just flashed the two Cheetahs a glare and brought Molayne over to Paddy as she cradled the other baby Otter, Citron. Obsidian, who had been watching the whole incident including Amberpaw's stunning blow to Molayne's face, gazed at the two Cheetahs with a sympathetic look.
"Looks like Thundersparx, Milky Way and I are not the only ones with seriously deep wounds," said the Wampus Cat to herself and with a sigh, she turned to the two Nekomata sisters as they cradled the two baby Otters in their arms and also to check on Molayne as he continued to rub his hurt cheek.
The group continued to sled along when suddenly; the sound of an uproar began as the group ran through another grove of leafless trees and shrubs.
"What's that noise?" asked Obsidian when she heard a sound.
"Sounds like a riot going on," said Thundersparx as he ran at the front, his head being the only part of him visible for he was wearing his invisible cloak, and the reins connecting him to the sled snaking over his hidden body. Then Alexandrite and Paddy cocked their ears to listen to the uproarious noise.
"I… don't think… it's a… riot… guys," murmured Alexandrite with uncertainty. Then suddenly, the POOF noise was heard, and Milky Way, Desdemona and Link spotted a flash of light erupt and then disappear in a blink of an eye through the shrubbery. Startled, the group slowed to a stop as another flash of energy erupted through the trees again, flashing at the base of one of the tree trunks. From that flash and the tree's base, a blur jumped out and dashed on.
"That was another blast of a magic spell," cried Milky Way, "and it looks like someone's trying to flee something chasing it."
At this, Trotterhoof squinted his eyes and examined the fleeing form. The form was a quadrupedal (four-footed) creature and it resembled a Canid but it also appeared to have traits like a Reptile as well. Its fur was scaly and metallic blue-grey, like a fish's but then the Pig noticed that the creature's paws resembled the hands of an Ape, complete with an opposable thumb, a trait that Apes, Monkeys and Humans had. Furthermore, the Dog-like creature had a fifth hand on the end of its thrashing tail and some spikes were strewn over its sleek fur with a row of stiff spines running along its back like the spines of a Dragon or Wyvern. The fingers on all five of the creature's hands were clawed, like talons, and the creature's eyes were a menacing amber colour and resembled a Cat's or a Reptile's, as well as the eyes of some of the evil Witch's cronies such as the Manticores and the Lizard-Men, but when Trotterhoof examined the creature's eyes closely as the Reptile-Dog flashed a glance behind it as it ran along, showers of snow being kicked up by its Ape-like hands, to his surprise, the creature's eyes were saturated with pure terror. As this clicked in place with the way the creature was running and dodging the spell blasts, Trotterhoof arrived at one conclusion and he also identified the creature's species, especially as the chasers of the creature, who were also riding in sleds or flying along, appeared with some of them throwing the spell blasts at the creature and shouting at it. And the riders of the sled were Black Dwarfs, Chubacabras, Ghouls, Gorgons and another type of horrifying humanoid-like creature with mouthparts resembling a three-petal flower but rimmed with sharp teeth along the lobes and a whip-like tongue protruding through the petal mouthparts' (these creatures were called 'Triffid-Mouths' and their tongue was highly venomous and could be deployed like a whip which can inflict serious injury and inject the victim with venom) while the flyers were some of the Skvader-Jackalope hybrid-like Wolpertingers, a Manticore and a Gargoyle. Some of those creatures were carrying some sort of wand and were firing the magical energy blasts as the fleeing Ahuizotl only to miss as the Ahuizotl dodged and ran on.
"That Ahuizotl looks like it's in danger," said the Pig, "We should rescue it right away!"
"But what if that creature is on the Witch's side?" asked Paddy.
"Most of the Ahuizotl have fallen for the Witch's side," put in Alexandrite. Then Thundersparx gazed at the terrified Ahuizotl as it dodged another spell blast launched at it from the Manticore who also launched brutal threats at the aquatic monster-like Dog from its fanged mouth.
"I know that Ahuizotl," said the Raiju, "His name is Ahhuayo (pronounced AH-wa-yoh) and we've met him before. The last time we saw him before we met you guys was when we were observing him walking past the participants of the previous Massacre Event before they were launched into the Bloodbath Arena and had wanted to help them but could not. He had been particularly concerned for the especially distraught individuals, such as that Cheetah cub, some of the younger animals and that pregnant Bear…"
"That Ahuizotl would have helped some of the poor Narnians forced into the so-called Fighting League to escape, among them Gingerfur?" asked Desdemona. Thundersparx nodded.
"But unfortunately he could not for the participants were so closely guarded by their 'supervisors'," said the Raiju sadly, "But he was especially upset for them when he was commanded by Gollum to leave for the arena seats, especially for that Cheetah cub…"
As he said this, Dashiell and Amberpaw looked up but then turned away while Nanu, who was still bound, shot the Raiju an astonished gaze.
Ahuizotls were a species of Dog-like creatures easily characterised by their metallic blue-grey coats, though they sometimes came in shades of metallic green, purple, brown and even red as well but the most common was metallic blue-grey. Their backs were smattered with a few spines similar to those of a fish with many of them sporting a complete row of them down their backs like a Dragon or Wyvern. Ahuizotls had Ape-like paws complete with opposable thumbs on all four of their limbs with a fifth hand and opposable thumb on the end of their tail (right-handed tail-hands were far more common than left-handed tail hands, with more than ninety-percent of individuals having right-handed tail-hands, similar to how right hands were dominant for writing than left hand in us humans). They were aquatic creatures and ate mostly fish and water plants, and a small clan of them lived in the marshlands near the River Shribble, alongside a small clan of friendly Kappa, Gillmen (aquatic humanoid creatures covered in scales capable of living on both land and in water) and Marsh-Wiggles, another type of humanoid creature who resembled men and women but had webbed hands and feet like a frog's and straw-like hair. However, since the Witch came into power, most of the Ahuizotls, Gillmen and Kappa had fallen for the evil Snow Queen's side and had become corrupted just like the Dwarfs, Kitsune, Nekomata and individuals from other Narnian species who had also fallen for the Witch's side, while the Marsh-wiggles, few of which had also fallen for the Witch's side, had fled. And like every almost Narnian that had fallen for the Witch's side, some of them had developed dark tastes such as the flesh of Talking-Beasts and watching the oppressed Narnian slay each other in the Arena of Blood during the Decadal Massacre Event (called deceptively by the Witch and her cronies 'the Fighting League', which we now know to be a blatant, shallow misnomer). However, some had remained loyal to Aslan and/or had eventually turned against the Witch and had either fled or were unfortunately found out and killed. And it appeared that this Ahuizotl was one such individual, and Trotterhoof and company saw that it was getting tired as it was puffing and panting, and was struggling to run further and dodge the spell blasts fired at it from its chasers.
Trotterhoof and company then picked up speed and began to run alongside the fleeing and petrified Ahuizotl as it jumped off one of the tree trunks to avoid another spell blast, and continued running. As the group slowly closed in on the Ahuizotl as it ran out of the shrubbery and into open land, Thundersparx commanded Trotterhoof, Desdemona, Cyril, Link and Milky Way to carefully run alongside the aquatic creature and for Obsidian to seize the Ahuizotl the moment they were close enough. As the Ahuizotl, now revealed to be named Ahhuayo, a male, slowly turned his head in the direction of Trotterhoof's group while puffing and panting and saw a group of Shadow-like figures running with a sled behind them, he at first let loose a terrified bark and tried to bolt but then Obsidian reached out, seized his hand-tipped tail with two of her paws and pulled him into the cockpit of the sled, just before another spell blast appeared and exploded in the exact same spot he had been moments before.
"Calm down, it's only us!" said the Wampus Cat when the Ahuizotl was about to enter defence mode. The hand-tailed Dog, at this, calmed down when he recognised the Wampus Cat and her bright orange-red markings. He was puffing and panting and still in adrenaline-mode and was finding it difficult to suppress his fear.
"Ob-Obsidian?" said he with surprise. Obsidian, with Alexandrite, Paddy and Molayne with Citron and Eureka in their arms looking over her shoulder, nodded. As soon as Ahhuayo was safely in the sled, Trotterhoof, Link, Desdemona, Cyril, Milky Way and Thundersparx picked up speed to drag the sled faster from the group of wand-armed Black Dwarfs, Chubacabras, Ghouls, Gorgons and Triffid-Mouths and their aerial Wolpertinger, Manticore and Gargoyle comrades who eventually broke off the chase. They had been fooled by the Banshee-like disguises worn by Trotterhoof's group and did not see Thundersparx, Obsidian and Milky Way due to their invisible cloaks and had assumed them to be some Hags, Banshees and Shadows who had collected the fleeing Ahuizotl while they were chasing him. Assuming that the Ahuizotl will be dealt with, the mixed group of gruesome creatures moved on.
As Trotterhoof and company continued to sled on, Alexandrite stole a glance at Ahhuayo's chasers and saw them retreat.
"They've given up," said the Banshee-dressed Nekomata to the others, "They must have thought of us as Banshees and Hags who have captured this Ahuizotl and had arrived on the conclusion that we have done the task for them."
At this, Dashiell and Amberpaw let loose scoffing laughs at this remark while Nanu, who was still bound, shot the new arrival with an astonished look. Trotterhoof then replied, "That's excellent. Now let's continue our search for Kushanku."
The others nodded and with that, they rushed off through another patch of shrubbery. Moments later, Ahhuayo had finally calmed down and come out of his adrenaline-induced state of panic and urge to flee when he examined the riders and pullers. When he recognised Obsidian (still in her invisibility cloak) properly and examined Alexandrite, Padparadscha and Molayne dressed in their Banshee-like disguises with their makeshift ragged black cloaks, surprise washed over him.
"What are you guys doing way out here?" asked the Ape hand-footed Canid-like water creature with a handed tail before his gaze turned to the charcoal-black and fiery orange-red marked Wampus Cat, "Especially you, Obsidian. I-I-I thought you guys were still back at the White Witch's palace grounds spying on her while you folks," he turned to the two Nekomata and Molayne, "are settling into your new home after one of your family members won the previous Bloodbath Event," the Ahuizotl shuddered as he said this and he shed a tear from one of his menacing-looking amber eyes that strongly resembled those of a Lizard-Man, but without the piercing, intimidating glint those sometimes-bipedal tailed humanoid Reptiles had.
"We, that is, myself, Thundersparx and Milky Way, who you see are pulling this sled," said Obsidian with a point to those two pullers, to which Ahhuayo rose his upper body and stole a glance. Though the Pegasus and the Raiju were wearing invisibility cloaks, the Ahuizotl made out their distinctive ears (sparking for Thundersparx and pure white for Milky Way), "escaped with these seven from the most recent victor's family," Obsidian gestured to Alexandrite, Paddy (who held Citron and Eureka the baby otters), Molayne and then to Cyril, Desdemona, Trotterhoof and Link pulling on the sled with Thundersparx and Milky Way at the front. Ahhuayo examined the ragged black cloaks worn by the two Nekomata and the Dog.
"I think I can tell how you seven had managed to slip past that Witch's crowd of followers and traitorous Narnians," said the Ahuizotl, "You guys resemble Hags and Banshees very well indeed."
"It was the only we could escape unnoticed," said Molayne, "While Obsidian and her two friends resorted to using their invisibility cloaks to skulk through that macabre crowd."
As the puppy spoke, Nanu the Wolf, his legs still bound, interrupted, his glare fixed especially on Ahhuayo.
"You should be back at Her Majesty the Queen's palace, Ahhuayo," said the Wolf, "what are you doing out here."
At this, Obsidian, Alexandrite, Paddy and Molayne shot the Wolf stern looks while Ahhuayo's gaze was saturated with trauma and trouble. The aquatic handed Dog then began to tremble all over and break down.
"Queen!?" he retorted, much to Nanu's eye-flash of surprise, "She's no Queen, Wolf."
"My name's Nanu," snapped Nanu.
"She's a MURDERER, a SADIST who absolutely LOVES watching innocent Talking Beasts gorily kill each other in that Bloodbath Arena, while her palace is nothing but a Slaughterhouse of Horrors…" shouted Ahhuayo. He then turned his gaze to the other listeners and before Nanu could speak, he swept on, "I've attended the most recent Bloodbath Event, one that the Dog named Soran won," he turned sympathetically to Alexandrite, Paddy and Molayne as he said this, "and believe me, what I saw happen in that arena plunged the final icicle into my heart. However, I could not escape from the palace grounds directly or I'd be caught and possibly killed or turned to a stone statue by the Witch herself.
"Will you STOP calling her a WITCH!" shouted Nanu but Obsidian gave him a hefty elbow to the shoulder and yelled at him to shut up. Nanu, at this, glared at the Wampus Cat and began to lick his shoulder where Obsidian had struck him as it ached dully. Ahhuayo continued.
"The opportunity only came when we were going out to erect one of these golden idols that the Witch had ordered to be constructed out of gold and jewels in one of the villages," he said, "and we were told to bow to it but I and some of the other villagers refused. The rebelling villagers allowed me to escape while they themselves were caught and burned to death by the Hellhounds and evil mini-Dragons or envenomed by the Basilisks, Triffid-Mouths and Xenojaws, and I fled for what seemed like forever until you guys rescued me. Anyway, continuing, this is how I decided to rebel against the Witch…"
And so Ahhuayo began his backstory. Alexandrite, Paddy, Obsidian and Molayne began to listen while the pullers continued to pull on the sled, obviously unable to listen for they were focussed on looking where they were running, or they would likely run into a tree or stone if they tried to listen to the Ahuizotl's backstory.
"When I was a very young Ahuizotl called a pup ten years ago, I lived with my family on the Witch's palace grounds. My parents and older siblings were very loyal to the Witch and thus brought me up in the lies of the Witch's history such as her rescuing Narnia from a war and locking it in the Eternal Winter to keep the enemies of Narnia away, and so on. That year, it was the year of the so-called 'Decadal Fighting League', the one that Raiju called Lightningflash had won. However, I was strictly forbidden from watching the event for reasons I did not know and was never told. Over the next ten years, and meeting you, Obsidian, with Thundersparx and Milky Way creeping around in those disappearing cloaks at some point, I was still curious about the 'Fighting League' and what it was about. Then when the next 'Fighting League' event arrived, the most recent one, that is, I and my siblings were allowed to watch the event for the first time, starting from seeing the participants get brought in for the feast and finishing with the emergence of the victor. After observing the participants as they ate at the banquet with the Witch and her followers, and witnessing some of them looking nervous or distressed, especially some of the younger ones, I became very concerned for them, but one of the Kitsune who was also loyal to the Witch, kept telling me that they will be alright and that they will fight fairly in the arena, and nothing more as they will only be focussed on the goal and nothing else. My parents said the same thing to me but that didn't quell my concern for the participants."
"Just before they were sent out into the arena and after the massive banquet, I dropped by to check on them as commanded by Gollum the Black Dwarf, and as I saw them up close, I saw that some of them looked very distraught and frightened. Amongst those frightened individuals were a Cheetah cub, a pregnant She-Bear and several young Animals, a few of them barely a few years old. I felt so concerned and worried for them that I wanted to go and free them but I was stopped by a Manticore in charge of the participants" (Ahhuayo began to shake and weep as he said this, while Dashiell and Amberpaw raised their heads to listen to his backstory when he mentioned a Cheetah cub) "and I was told to leave as soon as the participants were ready to be launched into the arena. As I was leaving, I saw those that were especially distraught break down and become more frightened as they were led away to the launching zones of the arena. Then a while later I was in the seating with the other followers of the Witch, the Witch herself and my family. I sat in one of the rows of seats closest to the front of the seating. As I sat next to my brothers and sisters who kept on assuring me that things will be all fine and that the participants will be alright, I still remembered the distraught and terrified looks on the faces of some of those participants. Then the countdown began and at the signal, all the participants were launched into the arena…"
As the Ahuizotl continued, his voice began to break as extreme distress came upon him, and his amber eyes began to ooze massive tears. Molayne, Alexandrite, Paddy and Obsidian looked on with sympathy as Ahhuayo struggled to continue.
"Go on," said Alexandrite. Ahhuayo did so.
"And moments after the participants were released and converged on each other, what happened next was the most… TRAUMATIC THING I had ever seen…" as he spoke, the Ahuizotl's mind began to recall the extremely gory and gruesome bloodbath when the participants turned on each other and began slaying each other in the goriest of ways, with some of them escaping. Images of the terrified individuals, among them very young, and the pregnant Bear and also the Cheetah cub Ahhuayo remembered seeing looking extremely terrified in the crowd of participants before their launch, escaping the carnage desperately flashed in his mind. In those flashbacks, the distraught Ahuizotl saw massive splatters of blood flying everywhere, claws attacking victims and so on. Not to mention some Manticores flying to the front of some fleeing individuals, some of them very young, and forced them back in the direction of the massive bloodbath where they were either slaughtered or barely escaped again. He also pictured himself looking on in extreme horror while everyone else around him in the stands including his siblings and the Kitsune who told him earlier that the participants would fight fairly, cheered in sickening excitement as they watched the carnage. Then Ahhuayo remembered himself being unable to take in the bloody carnage any more, feeling extremely sick to the stomach and darting from his seat, rushing through the seating despite commands from the older followers of the Witch that he return to where he was; rocket away from the arena and towards a log where he dived behind, slumped down and began to sob uncontrollably from the indescribable trauma from what he had witnessed. As the flashback ended, Ahhuayo continued to sob hard, tears falling in massive amounts from his eyes like snow in a heavy blizzard and his forepaw hands over his eyes. Alexandrite, Paddy, Molayne and Obsidian looked on sympathetically and placed comforting paws on the sobbing aquatic Canid-like creature's back.
"I-I-I could not BELIEVE what I was WITNESSING," wailed Ahhuayo, "Th-th-they were fighting… a-a-and killing each other… like mindless KILLING THINGS… while those who did not want to… participate… in the fight… were TRYING to DESPERATELY ESCAPE… for their very LIVES… only to be forced… back into the slaughter… by those Manticores…" he slowly looked up at his listeners with tear-stained Reptilian eyes, "Honestly… I SAW it… the TRUE NATURE of the so-called FIGHTING LEAGUE… up CLOSE... the GORE… the SLAUGHTER… something I was NEVER told by my family, that Kitsune OR anyone else…" he continued to sob and wail, "That was when I decided to rebel against the Witch and turn against her, even if it meant risking my life… a-a-and you know what hurts the most, to add more vinegar to the wounds?"
No-one answered so Ahhuayo answered his own question.
"I have been told by that Kitsune, my own FAMILY and my so-called FRIENDS that I had been UTTERLY STUPID in backing out of that event," he wailed again, "not to mention IMMATURE. Furthermore, my so-called friends and family seemed to have thoroughly ENJOYED that event…"
After he had said this, he broke down once again. Obsidian put a comforting paw on Ahhuayo's shoulder. It was obvious that the Ahuizotl had witnessed an extremely disturbing scene similar to how she, Milky Way and Thundersparx had witnessed some Talking Beasts get slaughtered against their will and then butchered for their meat. Then Obsidian tried to assure the distressed and badly traumatised Ahuizotl.
"Well, you are with us now, Ahhuayo," said the Wampus Cat in a low, soothing voice, "And we're gonna get you to safety once we find Trotterhoof and company's friends and reunite with them…"
At this, Ahhuayo managed a small smile but because he was so flooded with the blizzard of his distress and guilt, it only lasted a mere few seconds. Then Ahhuayo found himself on the receiving end of a pair of hate-saturated glares from two certain Cheetahs in the sled. At this, the Ahuizotl looked up and found Dashiell and Amberpaw just look away and in the opposite direction. It was obvious that the two Cheetahs harboured a bitter grudge against Ahhuayo for Gingerfur's demise, but it was obviously not the Ahuizotl's fault. He had been barred from interacting with the participants before they were sent into the arena, among them Gingerfur, and Thundersparx, Obsidian and Milky Way would have been spotted if they had taken action as well. It truly was a difficult time for the Ahuizotl and it was going to take a long time for him to recover from a LOT of things.
While Ahhuayo continued to weep in the cockpit Molayne, Alexandrite, Paddy (who had the baby Otter pups Citron and Eureka in her arms) and Obsidian heard Trotterhoof say, "Look, a group of migrating creatures being led by an electric Element Bird, over there."
At this, the group excluding Nanu, Dashiell and Amberpaw all peered out of the sled and looked in Trotterhoof, Thundersparx, Cyril, Link, Milky Way and Desdemona's direction. As they did so, they saw a group of Narnians, consisting of a variety of aquatic creatures, walking along with an electrical Thunderbird, its magnificent golden yellow and beige plumage flying ahead of them, walk along like a group of migrating animals in our world. Milky Way squinted as she struggled to identify the species of some of the creatures, among them a type of humanoid with frog-like hands and feet.
"Aren't they the inhabitants from the North, where the Great River Shribble divides our country from that of Ettinsmoor?" said the Pegasus, "I've seen a few of those creatures amongst the followers of the wicked Witch."
Thundersparx squinted and gazed at the walking aquatic and semi-aquatic creatures who, like every other migrating Narnian group, were on its way to Gandalf's base, and under the guidance of an Elemental Bird.
"Yes, it's the clans of Marsh-Wiggles, Gillmen, and the Kappa and Ahuizotl who are loyal to Aslan from the Marshlands near Ettinsmoor," said the Raiju, "Looks like they've been migrating south from Jadis's palace as well."
At this, Ahhuayo, his eyes still tear-stained, looked up and saw the migrating Marshland inhabitants as well.
"I think we should follow them," he said, "I believe they may be heading to someplace safe."
"That sounds like a good idea but we can't follow them while dressed like this," said Trotterhoof, showing his ragged black Banshee-like cloak and also Thundersparx and Milky Way's invisibility cloaks, "They might think we're a patrolling group of Banshees or Shadows or Hags and that Thunderbird might fly in and zap us to a crisp if we're spotted."
"Then we should slowly follow them unnoticed, and keep out of their sight," said Thundersparx, "if they are migrating to some safe place, away from the Witch and her clutches, I would like us to head there too."
"Yeah, I've been itching to get out that Witch's domain for ages, especially after what we've been witnessing for ten years," said Obsidian, before her gaze turned to Alexandrite, Paddy and the rest of Trotterhoof's group of seven escapees, "And Trotterhoof's group could do with being taken to safety after escaping their traitorous family as well."
Then after some discussion and rebuking Nanu, Dashiell and Amberpaw when they complained and that they were going to follow the Marshland clans whether they liked it or not, Trotterhoof and Thundersparx's groups all reached an agreement and then proceeded to follow the migrating group of River Shribble clans, keeping a good distance from them so that they were not spotted and thus mistaken for a patrol group of the Witch's cronies.