ENEMIES FRIENDS

Shen woke up with a big headache. As soon as he remembered everything jumped up only to swear immediately after giving a deadly head shot to the bars of the cage in which he was. Were there also Shu and Lang Min, Xian ...? He as we had finished ... also Chong, Gan and Kun were with them! How they managed to make a raid of those proportions without anyone noticing! The roar of thunder was constant and Shen had to try very hard not to let the tail open which, because of the fear he felt, threatened to open wide at any moment!

Whoever is caught by poachers does not end well! This was what he knew! Now he had to try to find a way to change the statistics in their favor!

"Great!" A voice made him crash into the bars again and turned to see Xian sitting in the center of his cage looking around bewildered and nervous. "Can I know what you're doing here?" Shen asked "I could ask you the same question, brother!" He replied. "Shen, Lang Min, stop fighting, I want to sleep!" Shu said curling up on herself. "Poachers!" The peacocks said in chorus and the she-wolf jumped just a meter because of the bars against which she slammed which prevented her from going higher. "Damn it!" He complained rubbing his head. "Well! They discovered the plan! The situation improves visibly! "Gan complained as soon as he woke up. "I think it's poachers!" Xian said, showing no sympathy for the reptile. "Even better!" Said the python sarcastically. "But ... nobody raised the alarm!" Shu observed. "So they managed to defeat our foolproof defenses! How can we think of running away if we can't protect ourselves in a closed and well-guarded place like the reserve? "Asked the snake furiously. "Oh, please! Human! Kill him, or kill me so he doesn't have to endure it anymore! "Shu said putting his paws on his ears. "Where are we?" Chong had regained consciousness too "I don't know!" As well as Lang Min. "Hi brother! Apparently the training was interrupted to test us on what we learned in this period of intense training! "Xian said, finding himself next to his friend.

Chong did two and two and said "Poachers!" The peacock visibly trembled "At this moment I suddenly want to go back to the reserve!" He admitted. "Ironic, isn't it? As soon as we are out we are attracted to what we previously repudiated! "Gan said making Shu growl. "What's going on?" A seventh voice made everyone turn to Kun. "We were caught by the poachers!" Chong replied as if it were completely normal. "But ... there was no alarm! How did they catch us so by surprise? "Asked the confused gorilla" That's exactly what I said! "Shu observed" Stop everyone! "Then added" We don't move "replied Gan with bad humor. "Then the others are in danger too!" Said the wolf in concern. "I don't think so!" Shen admitted "How?" Shu asked "They captured us. By now the others are in no danger! "Explained the peacock. "Silence, thank you!" An unknown voice made everyone jump. "What is he doing here?" Asked Shu growling in the direction of the human who had just emerged from under a pile of straw. "Sorry, but when I saw this van I couldn't resist and went up!" Sam confessed. "Furcone?" Gan asked bewildered. Realizing, from the various confused expressions, who had no idea what he was talking about, he decided to broadly explain what he had just said "To make you understand ... we humans are lazy. We hate walking and we invented wagons that move on their own! Before, we used animals, but without their help we can go much faster! Now we are on one of them! "Said the boy lying down inside his cage. "Instead of saying nonsensical things he should get us out of here since his cell is open!" Kun said grabbing the bars with his mighty hands. A sharp whistle and a sudden movement made everyone fall to the ground. All those present did not say a word, intent on catching any sound coming from outside to understand what was happening. Noises preceded the opening of a large steel door and saw the poachers enter without the slightest fear. Kun punched the bars in a threatening manner, earning a loud laugh from their jailers.

"Hurry! He paid salty for these sacks of fleas! "Said a human who checked the work. "Come on, we took one more, so we can take it easy!" Said another while he was in front of a small and strong cart thanks to which he lifted a cage with poor Lang Min inside and brought it out to rest it on a field. Once they were all taken outside of what they called a "van" another human began to observe them and take notes on a sheet of paper. "Why do they dress like penguins?" Xian asked seeing a group of men approaching. "You are right! They have the same colors! "Lang min said, barely laughing. One human being in particular approached with more interest than the "penguins". He was dressed differently and Shen understood that he was the boss. "I asked for six animals!" "Yes, sir. But we wanted to surprise her and ... "" Taking a very common female peacock? If it was albino I would have appreciated! ... Bring them in! "The servant obeyed without saying a word and Shen had to admit that the scene was to his liking. Derek was without a shadow of a ruthless doubt, but he had never had the opportunity to see him interact with his men! Seeing one of their race in a condition of such submission was pleasant! "Female peacock!" Chong repeated, clearly spelling out the words "Apparently ignorance is rampant among human beings! Think that the guards are afraid of the Master because they don't know what kind of animal it is! "Gan said. "Don't they know what a peacock is called? Sorry, but I didn't even know what animal the Master was, are you giving me ignorant? "Lang Min asked offended, showing his proud side.

"No, only that, as often happens, the rich are ignorant just because they don't need to find a good job to earn a lot, given the great wealth they enjoy squandering!" Gan said making it clear that he was of humble origins. Shen made a face when he heard that comment. He was not an ignorant, quite the contrary. His parents had joined him with the best teachers in the province! "Sir, if the two peacocks mate with the female we would double our heritage!" A penguin's phrase made him return with his feet on the ground. These humans had the fixation of procreation ... no, simply that of money since they had that value and that's it! "Now we have to run away from them first and then from Derek!" Gan said. "One question: where's Derek?" Chong asked looking around. Shen's crest rose as he surveyed the landscape. Out of the reserve it was completely different! There were the mountains, while where they were at the moment, only green grasslands that stretched to infinity. "We have to look for a map!" Shen said before the humans started transporting them again. This place was much more secluded. There was no window through which tourists could gaze at them and even the high and protected balconies! They were taken to a tiny cage when compared to the reserve. Poor Shu was placed in a confined space with Gan, bordered by thick bars, while Shen and the others found themselves in a slightly larger garden. "Do they think I can tear you up?" Shu asked furiously. She hated being locked up, but if the space she was in was low, the tension skyrocketed. "I think the sooner we leave, the better!" Chong said noting the wolf's nervousness. "Shu, I have to talk to you!" Lang Min said approaching the bars. From the look of the peacock Shen understood that her intent was to distract her and so she decided to indulge her "Gan checks that there are no weak points in these bars, while we will inspect the rest!" Shen said. To his surprise the snake obeyed without saying a word and the peacock sighed with relief. Maybe that was an opportunity to bring the reptile to his side and finally be able to stop attacking each time they spoke!

"It will be one hundred and fifty or two hundred square meters!" Kun said after making the complete circle of the perimeter "The cage of Shu and Gan just under a hundred! It's a big change from the reserve! "The slightly afflicted gorilla noticed. "About the reserve ..." Xian said approaching "... have you seen Sam? I have lost sight of him since we were put in here! " "I hope he ran to warn Derek, so it will save us the trouble of running away from this place too!" Kun said before taking a fruit from a tree and eating it avidly. Seeing this, Shen was also hungry and climbed a tree. "It's so beautiful seen from up here!" A voice made him end upside down so he could experience how a bat felt! He looked up and saw Lang Min laughing. Holding her robe so as not to remain naked, she pulled herself up, reserving a cold look to her friend. "What's nice about a cage?" Shen asked, embarrassed by the bad figure he had just made. "Landscape beyond bars!" Lang Min replied without taking his eyes off the immense spectacle offered by nature. The peacock snorted as if he wanted to make it clear that he didn't believe it in the least. A landscape seen from the bars can be splendid, but Shen did not want to pause to observe, he wanted to see it more closely, passing beyond them! As if he had perceived the reasoning of his friend Lang Min asked him a question "Tell me a little Shen, how did you spend your time before we met? You know, it's almost normal for me to observe things from afar since there was my father who controlled every single day of my life! Did your parents abandon you before they put the chains on you, perhaps? "She asked sourly. The peacock became tense like a violin string: that was a delicate topic, he would not have won it for any reason in the world! He pretended to reflect on his answer "Thinking about it ... my life was empty, without a purpose! I was only fighting for money! But now, thanks to you, I can even find watching a stone exciting! "Shen answered gruffly. "I hate you to death!" Lang Min said taking a threatening step towards the peacock. "I fully reciprocate that feeling!" He said back. "Crazy!" Lang Min shouted "Better crazy than moody!" Shen said furiously. "Are you giving me moody?" She asked more and more angry "You say?" He asked with obvious sarcasm.

"He died mad, but he was born stupid!" Lang Min said with a smile "How dare you ..." Shen stopped abruptly and stood still staring at an indefinite point on his left. "What's up? You don't know how to answer anymore? "She asked mistakenly believing she had won. The intensity of his friend's gaze was such as to make her turn too: Sam was watching them! He was also on top of a tree, but he was outside the cage! The boy was intent on wiping away his tears, but from the smile that the peacock had printed on his face he realized that they hadn't been shed because of the sadness ... he was ... laughing at them? "How long has he been there?" Lang Min asked, embarrassed and embarrassed "As far as we know, there could always have been!" Shen replied furiously at such a lack of privacy. Even if the boy did not understand what they were saying, it certainly did not take a genius to guess that compliments were not being made! After fulfilling his initial purpose, that is to take a fruit, Shen got off the tree as quickly as possible, followed closely by Lang Min. "More and more friends, huh?" Xian asked, who had witnessed the whole squabble. "Shut up!" Shen replied, still angry at the fight.

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"I'll never eat from there!" Shu said, looking with disgust at the bowl full of small biscuits which gave off a nauseating smell. Evening had arrived, even if they didn't know exactly how long they had been unconscious and how much they had traveled Shen and the others had identified five vanishing points! One on the wall: at some point the barbed wire had been damaged and having been hurriedly repaired Chong had ascertained that it could be easily broken. The second was an old wooden door. Even if she was small, she could have put the peacocks through who would run for help. The third was a grate through which the water passed, if broken it would free them all. The penultimate consisted of slipping into the manor house, full of undoubtedly humans, since an immense window overlooking the garden would have been easy to break and enter the human home even if extremely dangerous. The last one consisted of an old hole in the Shu and Gan cage, patched with heavy stones. Among them, the she-wolf could clearly see an access point created by the previous occupants. Perhaps even the penultimate prisoners had tried to escape! Gan was too robust to go through the cracks between the boulders and to avoid getting stuck he had decided to listen to other proposals for the escape plan. In addition, the bars that divided the wolf and the snake from the others were ridiculous: being without barbed wire on their top, it was easy to climb over them, indeed, Shen wondered why they had been put! Maybe the animals before them were small or didn't know how to jump ... "There are two crocodiles and an orangutan, two small snakes and a golden eagle, the cat, the mouse, the elephant: nobody is missing anymore; you just can't see the two unicorns "Sam's voice came from outside and Xian climbed up a tree to see him sitting on a trunk while he sang that strange song. "We rack our brains to try to escape and that sings!" Kun observed with amazement. "Should we really team up with him to escape the reserve?" Gan asked, whose skepticism had skyrocketed.

"One day Noah went into the forest and all the animals wanted around him: "The Lord got angry the flood will send: you are not to blame, I will save you" Sam was aware that the song was for children, but in such a situation nothing else had occurred to him! "First we have to go back to the reserve in order to escape from it!" Shu pointed out. "Do we have to choose the one there as an ally? Rose wouldn't be better at this point! "The snake insisted. "Don't you think that leaving now is the wisest choice?" Chong asked, also annoyed by the out of tune notes emitted by the human. "There are two crocodiles and an orangutan, two small snakes and a golden eagle, the cat, the mouse, the elephant: nobody is missing anymore; only the two unicorns are not seen "the refrain was fundamental! Without it it was like bringing a cake to the party without the filling, the one that melts in your mouth while you eat it! Unforgivable! "And as the animals went up Noah saw a big cloud in the sky and drop by drop it rained began:" I can no longer wait for the ark to close. "It was nice to think that in one of the elementary school performances he had been the lion that is one of the many animals saved by Noah. Now he was on the opposite side! If everything went well, he would have saved the animals and not vice versa. "There are two crocodiles and an orangutan, two small snakes and a golden eagle, the cat, the mouse, the elephant: nobody is missing anymore; only the two unicorns are not seen. And as he continued to climb the sea and the ark was far away with all the animals Noé thought no longer of those who forgot: since then no one has seen the two unicorns anymore. "The song was about to end! It was a nice problem! When one writes to you I will arrive in ten minutes you expect ten minutes! Instead, it always ends up waiting for double if not triple the time! At first he had been against the idea of writing down the cell phone of his friend's father, but in the end his father had given it to him and therefore he had given up. Now he had found himself mentally thanking the parent, because it had been enough to send a message, with their position, to the collector, that the answer had arrived after less than five minutes. "A few hours and we will be there to pick you up! Make sure that no harm is done to the animals! "

The last recommendation was bizarre, especially because it was impossible for him to do such a thing, but luckily everything had gone well and he had not had to expose himself to any danger. Aside from being captured by those strangers, of course! As if that weren't enough, an infinite wait awaited him! "There are two crocodiles and an orangutan, two small snakes and a golden eagle, the cat, the mouse, the elephant: nobody is missing anymore; you just can't see the two unicorns. "Song ended. Security there was bad! He had sung loudly and nobody had noticed. Or they had seen it not considering it a danger! It was better and less humiliating, to think that it was for the first reason that nobody had tried to arrest him. Of course, he did not break any law by being outside of that private home, but not to let him say what he had seen who knows what they could have done to him! These new doubts made his jaws tighten and abandon the idea of choosing from the phone album, some other song to sing, for the joy of the animals! A few hours passed and the moon had been high in the sky for many hours now. Even though it was late they were all awake and perhaps intent on organizing an escape plan. An intermittent red light in the sky made him look up and a smile was printed on his face: Derek had arrived! And not with a very common machine, but with its formidable airship. Double the size of a normal one, armed to the teeth and extremely capacious, Sam considered it an engineering masterpiece! For the first time he would have set foot there! This simple realization managed to wake him up completely from the abbiocco that for a few minutes risked making him fall asleep as well as from the tree on which he was. It was time to go home! I wonder if Rose would appreciate what she had done, or her father, or Derek. Even if more than for them it was curiosity that pushed him so far! Maybe now the animals would stop avoiding it! The time had come to do the right thing!

Yes, I know that all the chapters have been republished!

My fault! By mistake I deleted the first one, unable to correct the error, I had to delete and reload all the chapters to have them in the correct order!

Aside from this confusion, I hope the story is going well!

I await your judgment!

See you soon,

X-98