Chapter 10- meeting old friends
Two days or so later
Carla and her group were not too far away from Rio's outskirts, having arrived at last. As the familiar city lurked in the distance just above the treeline, the group of 21 birds looked ahead. Like usual, the group flew in two groups, both in V-formation to make flight easier for the group.
"Here we are, everyone," said Carla, "We're close to our destination."
"That's brilliant," said Bia, "We're almost there."
"That place is where you were born, isn't it?" asked Estelle as she flew alongside Alexandre.
"Yes it is," said Tiago, "It is also where Mom met Dad and where Uncle D'Artagnan, Uncle Athos and the others met their mates."
"I remember the story Mom and Dad told us," said Justin with a smile, "It was really romantic."
"Yeah but I still find it gross when they kiss," muttered Matilda. Justin and Virgil tittered at their sister's remark.
"You're not on your own, Matilda," said Tiago, "I sometimes still find my parents' kissing a bit icky too."
"Well, just wait until you meet a special female and fall in love, T," said Alexandre with a smirk, "You might change your mind."
"It could possibly be Matilda," added Estelle, "Since you often hang out with her a lot."
Revulsion tore through Tiago and Matilda and they flinched.
"Ew!" snapped the former repulsively with his tongue sticking out. He then stole a glance at the Aurora lookalike, "I can't stand the thought of kissing Matilda here. She's a FRIEND of mine."
"Yeah," said Matilda, "It would be a bit strange at best, and disgusting at worst."
Bia gazed at her brother and Matilda with a sad look on her face, the memory of Raul betraying her entering her head and making her heart, which was still bruised, twisting slightly. With a sigh, she returned her gaze straight ahead. Then Miranda shot Matilda, Tiago, Alexandre and Estelle a look.
"Why are we talking about kissing and romance, anyway?" she muttered, "Don't you guys realise that we're close to our destination?"
"Yes," said Azul nearby, "As soon as we arrive, we'd better start focussing on looking for the cottage of my Dad and our uncles and aunts' former owners, Susan and Lucy."
Alexandre and Estelle gazed at the female Lear's macaw and male blue-and-gold macaw.
"Sorry, Miranda and Azul," said the latter with a smile, "We were only having a bit of fun."
"Yeah," said Alexandre. Tiago and Matilda just rolled their eyes. Nearby them, Spinel, Sheldon, Chlorophyll and Brooke all released silent titters.
Then seconds later, as the full cityscape of Rio became visible, Estelle, Finnick, Lavender, Sheldon, Alessandro, Neytiri and Brooke all drew in awed breaths.
"Welcome to Rio, you seven," said Justin as the group flew on.
"Woooow," gasped Neytiri as she took in the amazing sight. It truly was an awesome landscape to behold for the seven newcomers and Finnick saw a grey figure on one hill overlooking the city.
"What's that thing?" he asked.
"That's the Christ the Redeemer statue," said Virgil, "It's the biblical figure of Jesus, the Saviour of mankind."
"So it's what humans call a statue?" asked Lavender. Virgil nodded.
"It's an awesome piece of art," said Finnick as he examined the Christ the Redeemer figure, "I never knew humans could make things like that."
"Oh, you'll be even more surprised at what things humans have invented," said Tristan as he flew with Trixie, "Just wait until you see what they call technology."
"Technology?" repeated Sheldon in confusion.
"The Ipods of Carla, me and Justin have are just one example of human technology," said Spinel, "But they have other devices what humans call 'electronics'. We'll show you some of those electronics when we fly to our parents' former owners' cottage and meeting our city friends."
"Oh, I look forward to meeting those city companions of yours," said Sheldon excitedly, "And I would love to meet your dog and vegetarian cat friends."
"And also your cockatoo friends," said Finnick.
"Wait until we get to Susan and Lucy's place first," said Justin.
"Yeah, we will have a lot to think about when we arrive there," said Matilda. And with that, the group continued their flight.
The small flock of birds then flew over the busy city. Below them, the usual business of Rio continued to flow with people travelling to various destinations such as work, shops and schools, and the roads were full of four-wheeled things known to the chicks who were familiar with human things as vehicles such as cars and trucks. On the paths (also called sidewalks in the Americas) flanking the roads, people walked on foot. Some people were running stands selling various things while some called out advertising shouts to sell their products.
"So this is where you lot grew up?" asked Alessandro as he observed the activities below the group. He had never seen so many humans gathered in one place.
"Yes, Alessandro," said Chlorophyll, "But we lived mostly in the jungle next to the city."
"Uncle Blu and his family lived in a birdhouse," added Azul, "While the rest of us lived in tree hollows in the jungle."
Then Neytiri wrinkled her face into a repulsive look.
"It sure is acrid here," she muttered, "It's like the smell of smoke from a fire."
"Air pollutants from human activity," said Tristan, "It's not like the air above the rainforest where the air is clean."
"But it isn't half repulsive," said Neytiri with her face still twisted into one of repulsion.
"I think that's the thing with big cities like Rio or the English city of London where half of our parents grew up with Aunt Sunset, Uncle Travis and Mr Dash and Mr Veggie," said Zebedee, "So many pollutants due to the use of fuels for transport and heating the homes."
"Where is this 'London'?" asked Alessandro.
"It's not a city of Brazil or any other country in South America," explained Tristan, "It's a city of a country across the Atlantic Ocean."
"When we get time, we'll show you some of the pictures from that city if you like, for Susan and Lucy still have photos of that place?" said Trixie but then her face hardened, "But that's not important. What's most important is this quest. Now let's find Susan and Lucy's house."
And with that, the group flew on.
As they passed by some trees, Neytiri slowed when she saw a group of colourful macaws dance in the air through some branches. It was a group of green-winged macaws and a few scarlet macaws, the former community in which Athos, Ruby, Alexandre, Spinel and Poinsettia lived before moving to the Amazon with the rest of the group. As Neytiri continued gazing at the dancing mass of red feathered macaws with green, yellow and blue or teal wings, Azul flew in and grabbed her by the wing with a talon.
"Come on, you're lagging behind," muttered he as she dragged the young glaucous macaw chick away. Neytiri pulled her gaze from the green-winged and scarlet macaws and continued after the others. Then within moments, Carla's group finally reached the outskirts of Susan and Lucy's cottage, the place emerging into view. The cottage seemed to have changed quite a lot over the past three years. Its outside was covered with fresh new paint, and there were new plants growing in the garden, having been planted by the occupants of the building. On the trunk of one tree in the garden, Travis and Sunset's birdhouse was built, but it was a new one. In the garden, a group of greyhounds were playing with a toddler while a woman was pegging some washing on a clothesline. There were four greyhound puppies while the other two were adults. With the greyhounds were three cats, and they were sat with the two adult greyhounds watching the pups playing ball with the toddler. The cockatoos were also present, but they were perched on a branch. There were a male sulfur-crested cockatoo, a female Major Mitchell's cockatoo and three now-grown-up sulfur-crested/Major-Mitchell's hybrids. However, the five cockatoos weren't the only cockatoos present. Two more cockatoos, an orange crested one and another sulfur-crested cockatoo were with them. The cockatoos were Travis and Sunset and their offspring, Eustace, Milo and Rosa while the two others were friends of the latter three and around the same age as them.
Much like their macaw friends over the three years, Eustace, Milo and Rosa had not changed much except for their size, though their plumages had brightened. Eustace was whiter but his wings and tail still sported the peach coloured marks. His crest feathers still had the alternating shades of yellow, his mother Sunset's crest bands blending with his father Travis' single-coloured crest. Eustace had become close friends with a female sulfur-crested cockatoo named Serena, whose father was a show bird like Nigel had been but unlike Nigel, her father was not arrogant and did not take his career for granted. Serena was white with yellow markings and crest and had a slender build and green eyes. Milo had remained a faint pink colour and the peach patches on his wings and tail had also remained unchanged. His crest was still a vibrant vermillion-and-yellow banded set of feathers similar to his mother Sunset's and the hybrid features he had inherited from both parents were more visible. Rosa was still a pink and white bird whose peach blotches on her wings and tail had gained a more pinkish tinge. Her crest was still orange and yellow and she had a pretty look. Her friend was a male citron-crested cockatoo named Clemont, and he was white but his crest was orange. His cheeks bore a faint splash of yellow-orange that were visible up close, but the undersides of Clemont's wings and tail were golden yellow coloured. His eyes were a shade of blue and he had a chubby build similar to Carla. However, he also had some knowledge of human technology and was at times scientific like Bia and Poinsettia.
Travis and Sunset had also not changed much in appearance though they were beginning to show signs of aging, such as a few slivers of silver in their plumage and Sunset's striking red and yellow banded crest was less vibrant than it had been when she was younger. The two had tried for a second brood of chicks but found themselves facing some fertility problems and were struggling to conceive. Even when Sunset had laid a clutch of eggs, none of those eggs proved viable and the cockatoo couple had to eventually discard them. The reason for the couple's infertility could be their age and they were past chick-bearing years but Travis and Sunset had been utterly disappointed by the fact. However, they had eventually come to terms that a second brood wasn't to be, and they had learned to be happy with the three children they already had, and they looked forward to becoming grandparents if their two sons and daughter decided to find mates and have their own chicks. Travis and Sunset stood with their only three children and their two closest friends on a branch watching the greyhounds, which were Dash, Ginger and their third litter of puppies of which there were four, as these puppies played with the toddler who was the son of Susan and her husband named Bruno, with the three cats Veggie, Broccoli and Collette sitting with them. Dash and Ginger's second litter of puppies which had been born three years ago had all been sold to owners who lived up and down Rio, and were by now young adult dogs, one or two with mates and puppies of their own. The name of Susan and her husband's son was Henry, a very English name whom Susan had given him when he was born and he was about a year old. He giggled excitedly as he chased after the ball with Dash and Ginger's four third-litter puppies, which were three sons and a daughter. Two of the sons were light grey like Dash while the third and the daughter were ginger coloured like Ginger. Inside, Bruno and Lucy were dealing with the housework and the cooking.
As Henry pursued the ball with the four young pups, Veggie, Collette and Broccoli sat with Dash and Ginger. Veggie looked notably older. His brown, black and orange striped fur was strewn with silver hairs, and his eyes had small bags under them, while Dash and Ginger looked close to middle age. Broccoli and Collette, who were two of the three kittens of Veggie and the late Catina, were now fully grown cats. Broccoli was clearly a spitting image of his father Veggie and even took after his vegetarian nature while Collette resembled her deceased mother Catina but had Veggie's stripes interspersing her calico patches. Both the brother and sister had been sterilised by the vet at Susan and Lucy's request so that the two could not have kittens, having decided against breeding any more cats, and Susan and Lucy had opted against getting a female cat for Veggie to replace Catina in addition. Broccoli and Veggie had been glad with the decision but Collette had been disappointed for she wanted to have her own kittens. However, she had learned to accept it, especially for the sake of the cat family's bird friends. The third cat, Daisy, had been sold to another owner and had not been sterilised so she may have kittens in the future. However, she sometimes dropped by to visit her family and friends and if she got lucky and her visits were timed right, her bird friends as well.
As they watched Dash and Ginger's latest brood play with Henry, Ginger leaned onto Dash's shoulder lovingly.
"You know something, dear? Thomas, Micky, Sam and Rosie may be our last litter of puppies," said the ginger coloured greyhound, "We might not be able to have any more."
Dash observed the four puppies as they continued playing with Henry, his head leaning on Ginger's crown.
"Yeah, I agree," he said, "We are getting old."
Veggie gazed at his greyhounds friends with a smile.
"Despite it being three years now, it sure seems like yesterday when you had your first litter of four puppies, the same size as this one, which were Esperanza, Avellana, James and Danny," he said, "Those four, and your second litter of five puppies, are doing well with their current owners in their current locations. James' club for cats and dogs only, which he runs with his two friends Pelusa and Nevado is thriving well; Esperanza is expecting a litter of her own pups and Avellana has opened up an ecology school for dogs and cats to teach them about the environment and ecology."
"Daisy is doing well as well," said Ginger.
"It's a good thing her new home isn't too far away from here, otherwise it would have been awkward for her to drop by and visit us," said Veggie.
Broccoli and Collette smiled at their aging father before the former's eyes travelled to the cockatoos perched on a branch watching the greyhounds, named Thomas, Sam, Micky (the sons) and Rosie (the daughter) play ball with Henry. Suddenly, Collette swiped the ball back at the group after Micky sent it flying her way, much to her brother, father and the aging greyhound parents' amused titters.
"And it's hard to believe that Travis and Sunset's three kids are now grown up," Broccoli said, looking at Eustace, Milo and Rosa who stood with Serena and Clemont. "It won't be long until they are young adults now."
"They also like their new birdhouse," said Collette, gazing at the construction nailed to the tree trunk, "I believe it's better than the previous one they had."
Dash, Ginger, Veggie and Broccoli all breathed irritated sighs.
"Especially after some of Rafael and Eva's naughty grandkids turned the previous one into a pile of wreckage," muttered Veggie with an angry frown at those misbehaved chicks, "Mind you, the way those rambunctious toucan kids treated the old one was ten times worse than the berry juice graffiti Zephyr and Aurora's four kids smeared on it years ago."
"How many offspring have those breeding-like-rabbit toucans had lately?" muttered Collette.
"Well over a dozen in the case of six of Rafael and Eva's grown up offspring," said Ginger, "Honestly; it's a wonder the other birds of the Blu Bird Sanctuary have so much trouble from those big-beaked hoodlums. Luckily, a few of them such as Diantha are sensible and not like that lot."
"When Avellana came to visit us the other day," said Broccoli, "She told me that a group of those toucan kids had wreaked havoc in her ecology class tent and turned it into bombsite lookalike with hollow crates used as learning desks, books and other things inside overturned and the walls plastered with heaps and heaps of graffiti, some of it stupid pictures. It took five days for her and her pupils to clean up the mess."
Dash, Ginger, Collette and Veggie gazed at the like-father-like-son cat with agreeing eyes. Just then four shapes appeared in the bright blue sky, one of which was carrying something in its talons. Ginger looked up and smiled.
"Oh, it's Cometa and her family," she said, "Looks like they're having a hunting session."
"Yeah, Cometa and her mate Lightning will be training their two offspring, Orion and Velocity, in catching prey such as pigeons," said Dash.
"Lightning and Cometa's two chicks will soon be young adults as well," said Veggie, "They're around eight months old and will soon be ready to leave the nest."
"Looks like the family has caught a pigeon," said Collette as she observed the four falcons then fly toward a tree and perch there to eat the catch, managing to catch a glimpse of a prey carcass in Cometa's talons.
"Pigeons are quite common in cities," said Dash, before his face formed a frown, "But sometimes they can be a real pain, especially if there are large numbers of them, and when you have a lot of pigeons, you have a LOT of mess as well. Cometa and Lightning are a part of a group that helps keep the pigeon population under control. It is a team of birds of prey, most of them falcons and merlins and with a few of them being owls and they are all trained to hunt pesky pests like pigeons and rats, another common pest in this city."
"I often hate pigeons," hissed Broccoli in disgust, "I think they're dirty birds, often releasing their droppings that land messily on windows and surfaces."
"They can be disgusting I suppose," said Ginger who seemed to somewhat disagree with Broccoli's opinion of pigeons. Veggie, Collette and Dash just said nothing.
On the branch above the garden, the group of seven cockatoos were talking though one of them, Rosa had noticed the falcon family perch in a tree just outside the garden.
"Hey, guys," she called, "Look, it's Cometa and her family."
The other six followed her gaze and saw the falcons as they began to feast on the pigeon carcass which had been freshly killed. The largest of the falcons was Cometa for female falcons were larger than the males, and she wore a smile on her nasty looking beak, but it was not an evil smile, but a proud one.
"I wonder what they are doing here," said Travis.
"Maybe they've come to visit us?" said Sunset, "Knowing them to be friends of ours."
"Shall I go over and greet them?" said Eustace.
"I'm not sure if Lightning and Cometa would appreciate you intruding on their meal with their son and daughter, son," said Travis uncertainly. However, Eustace had already taken off in the direction of Cometa and her family's location, Rosa, Milo and Clemont and Serena in tow. Travis shot Sunset a slightly irritated frown and sighed. He sometimes found his offspring's occasional disobedience irritating but since they were now old enough to make their own choices, he had learned to let them do just that.
In the tree, Orion and Velocity were eating the pigeon their mother Cometa had caught and killed during the hunting trip and lesson. As the two young falcons pulled pieces of the bird carcass with their beaks and consumed them, Cometa and her smaller mate, Lightning looked on. Unlike their parents due to their age, both Orion and Velocity had brown plumage and their undersides were pale sandy brown with darker brown specks scattered throughout, indicating that these two were immature falcons, but as they reached maturity, the plumage colour will change. However, Orion had a distinctive pattern on his belly. There were three black blotches lined up in addition to a larger black splodge below the line of three. The arrangement of these blotches resembled the three star Belt and Sword of a certain constellation which earned the young male falcon his name. Lightning gazed at his son and daughter proudly.
"You know, when they come to hunt their own food, sweetie," said he proudly, "They'll soon be utilising us peregrine falcons' most dangerous weapon: the supersonic speed dive."
"It took me two years to master the technique when I was learning to hunt prey," said Cometa, looking down at her smaller mate, "That was before I was recruited into catching macaws and other exotic birds and poaching them."
She then shook her head and breathed disgustedly at her former life. "I loathed that job, you know," she muttered, "Snatching those hapless birds just to smuggle out of Brazil to be sold as mere objects, which is what most poachers seem to view animals as rather than living things. And funnily enough, my story parallels that of Veggie's mate in so many ways."
"Poaching is a horrible thing inside and out," growled Lightning disgustedly at the subject, "It's one of the factors that puts a species, especially critically endangered ones, in greater danger of facing extinction."
"Tell me about it," said Cometa in agreement. Just then, flaps from five pairs of wings attracted the falcons' attention. Cometa and Lightning turned and saw Eustace, Rosa, Milo and Clemont and Serena perch on a branch next to them.
"Hi, Cometa and Lightning," said Eustace, "Not intruding, are we?"
"No, of course not," said Cometa, "We've just decided to drop by and visit you anyway."
When Serena saw the pigeon carcass get butchered by Orion and Velocity as they ate it, she drew back repulsed at the sight.
"I don't like seeing carcasses," she whispered, her face twisted into a look of revulsion, "especially when they get torn apart into bite-size pieces for consumption by the predators eating them."
"It is rather gruesome to birds who primarily eat fruit and insects and nuts, such as you cockatoos," said Lightning with an understanding smile, "But in birds that eat meat, such as us falcons, it's the norm."
"What sort of animals do you eat then?" asked Clemont the citron-crested cockatoo, "I suppose it's certain birds from the Passariformes class besides Columbiformes, am I right?"
When Cometa and Lightning heard these taxonomic terms, they shot Clemont a confused look.
"He means songbirds and pigeons and doves," said Rosa with a smile, "He's a lot like Blu, Bia and Poinsettia actually."
"Yeah, he loves ecology and also electronics," said Milo. The falcons tittered slightly.
"Looks like we have another scientific minded bird in the group," said Lightning.
"I remember listening to Bia as she described how we peregrine falcons are built for catching prey at high speed," said Cometa, "And honestly, she talked like a human biologist and aerodynamicist."
"She certainly IS a lot like her father," said Lightning, "Like father, light daughter, I suppose."
"Poinsettia isn't too far behind though neither Athos nor Ruby show any strong interest in the sciences," said Cometa. Just then, Travis and Sunset appeared, displeased looks on their faces directed at the five younger cockatoos. However, they shot the falcons an apologetic look.
"Sorry, you two," muttered Travis; Milo, Rosa and Eustace backing away warily at their sulphur-crested father's authoritative glare, "But we've come to rebuke our two sons and daughter and also their two friends for disobeying us."
"They may be three years old and probably close to leaving their nest but they still need to respect their elders," said Sunset.
"It's alright," said Cometa, "We weren't offended."
When Travis and Sunset saw that the falcons did not mind the five younger cockatoos' presence, they removed their parental scowls. Then they gazed at Orion and Velocity as they continued eating the pigeon carcass.
"I can see that your son and daughter have grown strong and big," said Travis with a smile, "They'll soon be epic hunters when they eventually leave the nest."
"They absolutely will," said Lightning, "But it could take several years for them to master the techniques we falcons use in catching prey, including our signature move, the supersonic speed dive."
As Lightning said this, a colourful group of macaws lurked amongst some leaves, watching the falcons and cockatoos have the conversation. Carla had directed her group to here, having decided to speak to the falcons and the cockatoos first. Alexandre saw the two young falcons as they feasted on the pigeon carcass.
"Those two must be Orion and Velocity," he said in a hushed voice, "Lightning and Cometa's son and daughter, respectively."
"Wow, they certainly have grown the last time we've seen them," said Spinel, "When they were at their parents' nest, they were nothing more than bundles of fluffy white down with eyes and a beak."
"So, when are we going to show ourselves, Carla?" asked Justin who hid with Matilda, Virgil, Finnick, Lavender, Bia and Tiago.
"Well, first we must not make them jump," said Carla.
"And look at the two cockatoos accompanying Eustace, Milo and Rosa," said Bia, spotting Clemont and Serena, "They must be a citron-crested cockatoo and a pure sulfur-crested cockatoo."
"They must be two of their friends from the cockatoo club," said Tiago with a smile, "I especially like the citron-crested one."
Neytiri, Estelle, Sheldon, Brooke, Finnick and Lavender and Alessandro, who have only briefly met Eustace, Milo and Rosa several times before, all smiled.
"So those three are the hybrid cockatoos you were telling me about," said Alessandro.
"Yes," said Miranda, "They're half sulfur-crested and half Major Mitchell's."
"That older sulfur-crested cockatoo over there," said Azul, pointing to Travis, "Is their father while the pink cockatoo named Sunset is their mother."
"Interesting," said Alessandro intrigued.
"They look like an exact mix of the two," said Sheldon, "Exactly how my plumage shows that I am half-scarlet, half-green-winged."
He gazed at the contours dividing the blue from the red on his wings and smiled at the green and yellow bands, which were mainly yellow in scarlet macaws and mostly green in green-winged macaws.
"Alright, let's reveal ourselves," said Carla, "As we have an important request to ask of them. Who would like to go first?"
At first, none of the macaws replied but then Tiago and Bia volunteered.
While the macaws prepared to reveal themselves, the falcons and cockatoos continued talking, the conversation having changed to another subject.
"I'm really disappointed to hear that the Sanctuary de Amazon is in danger of losing its status as a nature reserve," said Cometa with a frown, "Tulio and his team have worked ever so hard to find those Spix macaws and then the Lear's and glaucous macaws, as well as the other macaw flocks that live with them, and set up their homes as a protected reserve so that poaching and logging are outlawed."
She shuddered at the memories of illegally entering the sanctuary to poach macaws with her former group led by Lysandre years ago, and her former owners' sly technique in disguising as conservationists made that feeling worse.
"But the debt problem is so immense," said Travis, "Even though the team has managed to find sources of income, it's still not enough to pay off the debt by the deadline which is a month away."
"This is just like what almost happened to the Blu Bird Sanctuary," muttered Sunset, "Just before Blu and his family found that colony of bats of an undiscovered species, now named Linda's orange bats, which granted them access to funds that paid off the price to buy the land."
"I've been observing Susan, Lucy and Susan's husband Bruno worry about the crisis for a while now," said Travis, "And our furry friends, Dash, Veggie, Ginger, Broccoli and Collette are also concerned. The money Susan and Lucy had received from the selling of Dash and Ginger's second litter of puppies had mostly gone to paying off the debt."
"I'm also particularly concerned for the macaw tribes and clans and other residents on the Sanctuary de Amazon as well," said Lightning, "Based on what Blu told us, those flocks have faced frequent problems with poaching and logging before their homes were set up as reserves. And before the Spix macaw tribe had found their ravine home, they had been wanderers trying to retreat deeper into the rainforest to escape those loggers."
"When I heard about a clan of hyacinth macaws that had been completely decimated by loggers," said Cometa, "I was utterly horrified."
"Logging destroys the trees essential for most species of birds and other animals," said Clemont who obviously knew about ecology, "It takes away their food sources and homes."
"And occasionally causes fires," said Eustace, "The previous one almost took us by surprise and nearly killed some of us."
"I heard all about that on the news while I was at home with my falconers and the Control de Pragas Squad," said Lightning, "But I'm surprised that you cockatoos apart from Serena and Clemont have experienced that fire."
"We were there when it happened," said Rosa, "And you should have seen the devastation the fire caused after it had died down. Every bit of greenery had been stripped."
"It was like a disaster zone," added Milo, "In fact, it reminded Mom and Dad and the others who had grown up in London, the UK of the Great Fire of London and what the city looked like after the fire had died down."
"Well, rainforest or human places," said Cometa, "Fire is extremely destructive if allowed to go out of control."
The other birds nodded in agreement just as Orion and Velocity had finished their pigeon meal, the carcass now nothing more than a skeleton. Just then a pair of Spix macaws appeared and greeted Travis and his family.
"Hi, Travis," said one, a female.
"And Sunset, Rosa, Milo and Eustace," said the other, a male. Travis turned round and almost fell off the perch in shock at the unexpected appearance of Tiago and Bia. However, he recovered when he saw who they were. Cometa folded her wings and smiled amused.
"Looks like another of Tiago's pranks, I believe," she tittered. Lightning just looked at her and said nothing.
"Tiago, Bia," gasped Travis, his wing clasped onto his chest, "Boy, you made us jump."
"Sorry but we did try to avoid startling you," said Bia as the other macaws appeared. First Carla came out of the vegetation, followed by Justin, Matilda, Virgil and Finnick and Lavender, then Miranda, Alexandre, Estelle, Spinel and Sheldon, then Azul and Brooke, Chlorophyll, Zebedee, Tristan, Trixie and Neytiri, and then Alessandro last of all.
As the group of macaws appeared, the cockatoos and the falcons all opened their beaks in surprise.
"What are you guys doing here?" asked Cometa, "I-I-I thought you lot usually come in the summer."
"It is a bit early for you lot, anyway," said Lightning, "Especially since you are around three years old and not yet adults."
"And Zebedee far from it," said Sunset, her gaze on the young hyacinth macaw who was still like a human kid despite him being the same age as the others, "Since hyacinth macaws reach puberty at around age six years."
"Sorry to startle you lot," said Carla, "But we have decided to come here earlier."
"Why?" asked Eustace, "Has something happened in the jungle?"
Carla shook her head. "No, it's something else," she said. But before she could explain the reason why her group was here, Eustace, Milo and Rosa went around greeting the newcomers including Alessandro. Clemont smiled as he noticed the latter.
"Wow, a chestnut-fronted macaw," he cried excitedly, "I've never seen one before."
"And that red macaw must be a cross between a scarlet and a green-winged macaw," said Serena as she examined Sheldon's wings.
"I am, yes," said Sheldon, "My mother's a green-winged and my father's a scarlet."
"I presume you must be Eustace, Milo and Rosa's friends, am I right?" asked Estelle who stood with Alexandre.
"We are, yes," said Serena, "I'm Serena and this is Clemont."
The female sulfur-crested and male citron-crested cockatoos shook wings with Sheldon, Alessandro and Estelle while Eustace, Milo and Rosa hugged the others. Then Bia saw Orion and Velocity.
"And I can see your two chicks have grown," she said to Cometa and Lightning.
"Yeah, they're eight months old now," said Lightning, his proud smile beaming at his son and daughter.
"We've just fed them a pigeon," said Cometa, "We're out showing them how to hunt."
Bia smiled as Tiago, Justin, Matilda and Virgil came in. Finnick and Lavender, however, hid behind some of the other macaws, among them Brooke and Azul, fearful at the nasty looking talons and beaks arming the falcons' heads and feet, their head feathers spiked out somewhat.
"Don't worry, you two," said Chlorophyll with assurance, "These four falcons are macaw friendly."
"They mostly hunt songbirds and pigeons," said Tristan, "They wouldn't want to hunt macaws due to their size."
"We have no intentions of hunting macaws anyway," said Cometa. Their nerves calmed by this assuring statement, Finnick and Lavender warily crept out from behind the wall of macaws and slowly walked towards the falcons.
"Those two must be very shy, aren't they, Mom and Dad?" squeaked Velocity.
"It's probably because they have never seen falcons before and because we're predatory birds," said Lightning. Then Cometa looked at Lavender and Finnick and said, "And I assume these two are Roberto's son and daughter, am I right?"
"That one," said Lightning, nodding to Finnick, "Looks a lot like Roberto."
"He is the son of Roberto and Brisa," said Alexandre, "And Lavender's their daughter. They have another brother as well named Felix but he's back home."
"Back home?" repeated Cometa confused.
"He decided that he wasn't ready to come to Rio yet," said Spinel, hiding the real reason why Carla's group had come to Rio, "But maybe in time you'll meet him."
"I see," said Cometa. She then noticed Trixie, Tristan, Neytiri and Zebedee.
"And I believe the glaucous macaw with the human-like braid crest is one of your friends," she said. Neytiri just stood there, too shy to reply.
"Yes, this is Neytiri," said Tristan, "She's one of our friends from the glaucous macaw tribe."
Cometa smiled as Neytiri shyly raised a wing in a greeting. Just then, a shout sounded from below the tree.
"Is that Carla, Bia and Tiago? What are they doing here?"
Broccoli's voice, and upon hearing this, Carla, Bia, Tiago and the others all looked down and saw Broccoli, Collette, Dash, Ginger and Veggie look up at them with smiles on their faces. Seeing the five land mammals gaze at them, the birds all took off from the branch and fluttered down before them. Finnick and Lavender landed with Justin, Matilda and Virgil.
"So those are your mammal friends?" asked Finnick as he looked at the two greyhounds and three cats, "How interesting."
As he said this, Travis spoke to the five mammals.
"Yes," said the sulphur-crested cockatoo in response to Broccoli's question, "Carla and some of her friends have come to visit us."
"Really?" said Veggie with a perplexed look, "It's a bit early."
"I know," said Carla, "But we have an important reason why we're here but let's first introduce some new friends and relatives of ours."
She then nodded to Tiago who then introduced Sheldon, Estelle, Brooke, Neytiri, Alessandro, Finnick and Lavender. When Ginger saw Finnick and Lavender, she smiled while Collette, Veggie, Dash and Broccoli greeted the seven.
"These are two of Aunt Brisa and Uncle Beto's offspring named Finnick and Lavender," explained Tiago, gesturing to Finnick and Lavender, "The other one is called Felix but he's not here."
"Wow, so Roberto has finally had some chicks?" said Ginger with a wide smile, "I'm so glad for him."
"So you're the dog friend of Dad who helped him escape that abusive girl owner he had when he was younger?" asked Finnick. Ginger nodded.
"That's true," she said, "It was a terrible time we went through, especially for him. In fact, he suffered more than me."
"It's a good thing you managed to help him escape," said Lavender, "When Dad told us what he went through as a young macaw at the hands of this human girl, we were horrified."
"It never does an animal good when they're at the mercy of a cruel human, especially an owner." said Ginger with a firm frown, "It destroys them. Alexandre and Spinel's mother Ruby also suffered at the hands of a cruel human as well."
"Did she?" asked Serena and Clemont together. Rosa turned to them.
"She used to be a performer and starred in a few films, one of them starring that infamous cockatoo Nigel as the lead character," she said, "But she was mistreated as she was disobedient since she hated the role."
"It's not for every bird or animal," said Serena, "My dad, who is also a show bird, told me that."
Suddenly Dash whipped round and shouted to one of the puppies.
"Rosie, can you release that T-shirt please? That is Bruno's best one." he commanded. The others turned and saw one of the puppies, Rosie, the female ginger one and the only daughter of the litter, shoot her father a look while her teeth was sunk into a piece of clothing Carla and the others assumed was a T-shirt. When she saw the hard gaze on Dash's face, Rosie released the T-shirt and ran off. Dash rolled his eyes.
"Our four new pups can be a little rambunctious at times," he said, "Once, they ripped apart Lucy's fleece and believe me, she wasn't very pleased."
"So you have had a new litter of pups?" said Carla.
"Yes," said Ginger, "They're three boys and a girl. The boys are called Tom, Sam and Micky and our daughter whom you saw pulling at the T-shirt is our daughter Rosie."
"They're our third litter," said Dash. Then Justin, Matilda and Virgil smiled.
"They're not as mischievous as most of those toucans, are they?" asked Justin.
"Thankfully, they are not," said Ginger with a frown, "But we did have a few incidences at the clutches of those big-nosed hoodlums several times."
"Did you?" asked Matilda. Travis then nodded to his family's new birdhouse.
"One incident involved a group of them totally destroying our old birdhouse two years ago," he said, "I believe they were the offspring of Rita, Sofia, Marco and their mates (Rita, Sofia and Marco are three of the older offspring of Rafael and Eva), but they were outright naughty."
"Yes," said Eustace sourly, "Those menaces and minxes graffiti-ed all over our birdhouse, tore it apart and literally smashed it to pieces."
"It was an utter mess, honestly," said Sunset, "We were on an outing with some parakeet friends when it happened, and James had come to fetch us."
"And when we returned," added Milo, "Our old birdhouse was nothing more than a pile of rubble. Thankfully Bruno, Susan's husband and Fernando, the adopted son of Tulio and Linda, have managed to construct the replacement that you now see."
Carla, Bia and Tiago, Justin, Matilda, Virgil, Finnick and Lavender all then looked up and saw the new birdhouse, some of the others also taking a moment to take in the new construction.
"I see," said Alexandre, "I wondered why it looked different when we first saw it."
"Have you had any more incidences from those pesky toucan kids?" asked Spinel.
"Not anymore," said Rosa, "But some of the other avian residents and some mammals also faced trouble from those pesky toucans."
"Clemont, Serena and even Cometa and her family were among them," said Milo, nodding to the citron-crested cockatoo, sulfur-crested cockatoo and the four falcons.
"You were?" asked Chlorophyll, his gaze on the citron-crested cockatoo. Clemont formed a scowl on his face.
"Yes," said the orange crested cockatoo crossly, "They tore out some of my head feathers and made me look like I had gone mad with berry juice after they pelted me with acai berries; Serena here," he nodded to the female sulphur-crested cockatoo, "was used for target practice for flying seeds…"
Serena rolled her eyes as she remembered that.
"And the peregrine falcon family faced some real pelting with fruit as well, didn't you?" said Clemont, his gaze on the falcons. Cometa, a lour on her face, nodded.
"Not only that, some also pulled Orion's feathers out and scared Velocity with scarily carved wood-masks after tying her up with vines," she added. Her son and daughter said nothing.
"Those hoodlums think what they do is funny," muttered Lightning equally crossly, "But it is absolutely not. Time and time again we have told their parents to discipline those kids of theirs, but after so many months, they hadn't bothered or listened."
"But a few of them are well-behaved though, such as Diantha and a few of Rafael and Eva's other kids and grandkids," said Cometa, "One of Rita's daughters saw what her siblings were doing to Orion and Velocity and managed to fetch us, Rafael and Eva to the scene but by the time we had arrived, her siblings had scattered."
"Excuse us, just a minute would you," said Dash as he and Ginger left to keep an eye on Tom, Micky, Sam and Rosie, the four puppies, leaving the others to talk.
"Oh, so you lot have had a hard time with those toucan kids," said Carla. Cometa nodded a disgusted frown on her face, as did the cockatoos, Veggie, Collette and Broccoli. Then Travis moved on to the main subject.
"So, why are you lot here?" he asked.
"Ah, we were about to come to that most important part," said Carla, "You see, we have come with a request."
"Request?" repeated Veggie, "What request?"
"Well you see," said Carla. She then stole a glance from her companions and they nodded.
"We want to go to Guyana," said Carla, revealing the real reason why she and the others had come to Rio. The faces on the cats, falcons and cockatoos all morphed into disbelieving looks.
"You want to go to Guyana?" asked Veggie incredulously.
"Why do you want to go to Guyana for?" asked Cometa.
"Is this some sort of holiday?" asked Travis.
"Also, do your parents know that you want to go to that country?" asked Sunset. Then Bia came forward.
"Um, let's not worry about that for the moment," she said, "You see, we are on a quest to a mythical place."
"Mythical place?" repeated the falcons, cockatoos and cats together.
"What mythical place?" asked Sunset. Rosa, Milo, Eustace, Clemont and Serena all exchanged confused glances with Orion and Velocity. Bia nodded to Zebedee.
"I'll let you explain this, Zebedee," she said gently, "Since you know the reason more thoroughly than the rest of us."
Zebedee nodded and stepped forward to explain the story of the Bizarre Birds and Treasure story to the cats, falcons and cockatoos.
"It's an old story told by my clan the Navyfeathers," he said, "It might take some time to explain it as there are two versions to the story but both have the same start and finish. Okay, here we go…"