Chapter 19- Eustace's group overhear a key change in the flying foxes' kidnapping plans

Morning

Dawn came upon the Sanctuary de Amazon and the diurnal animals were waking up. As the sun rose into the sky from beneath the eastern horizon to greet the day, in a certain patch of the jungle, Orion and Velocity the falcons and their cockatoo friends Eustace, Milo, Rosa, Serena, Clemont and their toucan friend Diantha were having breakfast in their hiding place with the other birds. Some of them had been out on a foraging trip and had hoarded more fruit into the cave while Velocity and Orion went out hunting for an animal. Though Orion's chest still bore the claw marks, they had healed enough for him to fly, albeit with some difficulty due to his tattered tail from his fight against the flying foxes during his phone call with Blu, so he accompanied his sister on hunting trips. Then after finding another tapir and successfully killing it, the falcon brother and sister dragged it back to near the mouth of the cave to feed on its meat.

The falcons and their group had had rather a rough night last night but had managed to get some sleep, and last night had been the fifth one since Eustace's group's arrival in the Amazon and their first encounter with some of the bats. Over the past five days, Eustace and company had been foraging for fruit, caring for the birds and Orion had had his scratch treated by some of the birds skilled in medical training. They had managed to prevent his scratches from getting infect and now they were in the process of healing, hence he was now able to fly. Also over the time period, Eustace and company had been wracked with worry for their jungle friends and had hoped they were alright. They had got around three or four more glimpses of more of those giant flying mammals with scars slashing through their pelages and weapons in their clutches flying about the jungle and luckily, the group had stayed out of sight. And against Blu's advice and command that they return to Rio for their safety, the eight had decided to stay to find out what was going on but during the past five days, they had had no luck at all. Furthermore, with the phone that Orion used last destroyed during his narrow escape from a group of bats who had attacked him, Eustace's group had no chance of contacting Blu and company now and the group was seriously worried about them and the other friends. However, an opportunity to truly help which would eventually lead to Eustace and company's major role in the flying fox threat in the coming days, was about to arise.

While the group was having their breakfast, Orion and Velocity feasting on their tapir outside, their eyes constantly scanning the surroundings for any flashes of drab coloured fur and membranous wings in the trees, Eustace, Milo and Rosa were chatting with some of the birds, a family of emerald toucanets inside the cave while Clemont, Serena and Diantha sorted through the gathered fruit. The birds in hiding continued caring for each other and their chicks. They had built makeshift nests using moss and other material also gathered during the foraging trips for they were too frightened to leave the cave for fear of running into a group of armed flying foxes, and during one trip to some guava bushes, on which Eustace and Clemont went, they had got a glimpse of a group of some bats armed with deadly weapons, one or two of them with a ball of porcupine spines attached to one end of the stick via sturdy cement-like mud or clay. Those weapons reminded Eustace and Clemont of a lethal medieval weapon known as a mace they had once seen in a book of medieval England history at Linda's bookstore back in Rio during Sunset and Travis's lesson on the history of England, in which Eustace, Milo and Rosa's parents had lived and grew up. Seeing those weapons, along with spear-like sticks and dangerous clubs (sticks with rocks tied to one end with very strong material like coconut fibres), alongside the murderous looks in the faces of their owners had sent shivers down the group's spines. As a result, the foraging trip had to be called off due to safety reasons, though the group had managed to pick some guavas and carry them off in bags constructed with sturdy vines and twigs, as well as the fanny packs Eustace and Clemont had brought along with them. Since then, Eustace and Clemont had become even more confused as to why those bats carried weapons but one of the amazon parrots had told him that the flying foxes used those to kill their feathered victims. After this, the killer or killers would then harvest a flight feather from their dead victim and attach it to their weapons as a trophy, which explained the flashes of colour tied to the bats' weapons Clemont and Eustace had also glimpsed. However, everything else had been affected by the flying foxes' constant intrusions and trespassing as well.

"The Amazon Pit of Games League was supposed to be continuing as well," said the male toucanet, "But I believe that would have been cancelled due to the issue of those flying foxes roaming about."

"Well, I wouldn't be surprised," said Eustace, though inside he was surprised, "Especially after how many groups of bats armed with those horrible weapons we had seen during our foraging trips."

"When one of your amazon parrot friends explained to us why those flying foxes had weapons," said Milo, "I had a vision of Roberto and his family facing a group of armed flying foxes that attacked and slaughtered most of them with Roberto barely escaping."

"Aurora had had a close brush with death with those bats as well," said Rosa, "It was right after the fire had died down."

"They're absolutely savage, honestly," said the female toucanet, the male's mate, disgustedly, her gaze flashing at the chicks in the makeshift nest, "Honestly it seems that killing as many birds as possible and harvesting their feathers as trophies is the only goal they seem to have."

"It is also rumoured that the colony patriarch's mate had once taken on a female harpy eagle singlehandedly and all by herself as well," said the male toucanet. Eustace, Milo and Rosa's beaks dropped open in shock and Milo shuddered as he remembered taking on one such dangerous bird in Guyana but that was with a group of macaws and Velocity who went with him and not by himself. Obviously a cockatoo or even a hyacinth macaw or enormous fox-faced bat measuring twice the height of Eustace and his two siblings would be instantly killed by a single slash of those fishhook-like talons of those birds if they ever attempted to take on one alone. Because of this, most birds believed it to be an exaggeration and the flying foxes' way of showing them how powerful and skilful they were at fighting any bird when in fact, there were some bird species that not even a flying fox would dare attempt to combat. However, it was possible but extremely marginal that a flying fox has taken on a harpy eagle singlehandedly.

As the group talked, Diantha, Serena and Clemont walked in.

"There's enough fruit to last us for a couple of days," said Clemont, his eyes travelling over the colourful sea of various birds as they ate. Parents fed their chicks in makeshift nest constructed from moss, twigs and soil.

"At least that lot will be satisfied," said Serena. Her worried gaze then moved to Velocity and Orion as they continued feeding on the tapir carcass. "As for those two since they only eat meat," she said, "I'm worried for their safety since they have to go out to hunt for an animal every day."

"Those two are gonna be so vulnerable if any of those bats catch them," said Diantha and she shuddered as she remembered Orion's close brush with death at the wings of a group of them during the first day, especially after seeing him covered in a few cuts and bruises, a patch on his back where feathers had been torn out and the scratch across his chest, which was now in the process of healing. However, the situation had become more dangerous and the group knew why.

"With all these armed bats roaming around the trees and everywhere, absolutely," said the male toucanet in agreement to Diantha's statement about the two peregrines' vulnerability.

"That trip to Guyana and Jurassic Jungle to find the treasure to save the sanctuary was risky enough as it is with all those predatory animals that are supposed to be extinct prowling around the land and air," said Milo, "But foraging in a bird-hating bat-infested jungle where there's a possibility of a group of flying foxes armed with dangerous weapons lurking around every corner? That seems to be a different matter entirely."

As he said this, a pattering of two pairs of falcon talons alerted them. Milo, Eustace, Rosa, Clemont, Serena and Diantha turned their gazes to Velocity and Orion as they crept into the tunnel leading to the cave. The pair wore wary expressions on their faces.

"What is it?" asked Milo. Velocity's wing shot up in a 'be quiet' gesture, her gaze fixed on the mouth of the cave partially closed off by the rock. Wondering what was making Velocity and Orion so alarmed, Milo, Eustace and Rosa walked over to them while the emerald toucanet family stayed with Diantha, Clemont and Serena. The other birds also kept quiet as the three half sulfur-crested, half-Major Mitchell's cockatoos and two peregrine falcons began to cautiously approach the entrance, their ears cocked to pick up the sounds of what or whoever was outside. Orion, who was the nearest, also began to watch through the slit between the rim of the left side of the tunnel's mouth and rock as a group of large furry creatures with dog-like faces, membranous wings and scars crisscrossing their fur as well as some sort of weapons held in their wings walk in and begin to talk. These creatures were what prompted Orion and Velocity to enter the cave and hide, and there were three of them.

All three creatures were adults and were taller than Orion and Velocity with wingspans probably two or three times as wide as the falcons when fully opened. One was a brown male while the second was a reddish male with a white patch on his chest and the other, a brown female with a large white patch covering most of her chest and belly.

"I can't believe the attack on the Bluewing hyacinth and blue-throated macaw clans went very well last night," said one of the three bats, the female, in a delightful voice, "You should have seen the faces of those bundles of navy blue, rich blue or turquoise and yellow feathers when the invaders drove them and the other avian residents out. They were absolutely petrified."

She then emitted a chuckle as one of the males, the reddish one, spoke.

"Yeah, the process of taking over the wretched macaws' territories has finally begun," he said in a voice tinted with excitement, "At least we have captured the first area we are after."

When these words reached Eustace's group's ears, they all drew in quiet but horrified gasps.

"Oh, no," whispered Eustace with dread.

"Now the next thing we gotta do is drive out the other bird tribes, clans and groups including those lizard-like birds with the wing-like legs but we're are not gonna do that until we have kidnapped at least two members from each of them and have interrogated them in our territory about their tribes or clans and how big they are, their territories and habitats and most importantly, why their land hasn't seen any deforestation for so long," continued the female, "But that is the riskiest part especially since those pesky feathered vermin have tripled their patrol and foraging group sizes."

Orion, Velocity, Eustace, Milo and Rosa continued to listen.

"However," said the female in a quite a different tone of voice, a more sinister one, "Ratigan has found a way we could use to get around this obstacle: he had recently discovered a species of plant that has knockout properties when injected into a victim…"

As she was about to explain what this knockout property-bearing plant was and how it worked on the victim, the third bat, the brown male, walked over to the location of the cave's entrance.

"Hey, you two, sorry to interrupt your discussion but look over there," he said. His two companions, perplexed gazes exchanged with each other, then followed him as he approached the cave's tunnel's mouth and its rock. Orion ushered his sister and three cockatoo friends back from the rock as the three bats came within dangerously close proximity to the entrance. However, the bat's eyes were on something lying on the ground. Diantha then attempted to creep towards Eustace, Milo, Rosa, Velocity and Orion but Orion stopped her with a 'stop' gesture.

"That's interesting," said the male brown bat as he examined what he had found, "A few slate grey feathers and a half-eaten tapir carcass," he then picked up a slate grey flight feather and examined it as the other two bats walked in. "Maybe some harpy eagles have been hunting and feeding here?" The reddish male, however, shook his head while the brown female rolled her eyes.

"Those feathers and the beak and claw marks on the tapir carcass definitely aren't the doing of a harpy eagle," the reddish male said, "One, harpy eagles normally eat their prey in the treetops and two, those beak and claw marks and feathers are too small to be from a harpy eagle anyway."

When Orion and Velocity heard this, they began to carefully examine the feathers held by the brown male bat before turning their attention to their own wing flight feathers, holding them up to the sliver of light entering the slit of the uncovered part of the cave's mouth. They then realised, to their alarm, that the feathers the brown male bat held were the exact same feathers from either their wings or tails.

"Maybe these feathers are from a smaller species of eagle or perhaps a falcon?" asked the brown male as he examined the feathers closely, sending shivers down Orion and Velocity's spines, especially at the word 'falcon': their bird type. Then the brown female changed the subject, easing the tension tightening inside Orion and Velocity much to their relief.

"Look, we don't have time for insignificant guessing games like what bird species those feathers originated from, guys," she growled in rebuke, "We have more important things to focus on: searching for a patrol group of macaws or those four-winged lizard-like birds…"

"Archaeobirds," whispered Milo quietly. What other bird species had a solid lizard-like tail ending in a fan of flight feathers and legs like a second pair of wings like Andromeda and Eragon's clan?

"…and shooting a porcupine spine dipped with the paste made using the knockout plant Ratigan had discovered to dope our feathered victims and knock them out so that we could take them back to our territory without them fighting back," said the female. Five horrified gasps entered the two falcons and three cockatoos' beaks.

"And after we had interrogated those victims and have extracted enough information about the bird tribes and clans and small groups living on the land we are targeting, we will be planning on driving out the next bird tribe," continued the female, "Either it will be the Lear's macaws, the blue-and-gold macaws or the green macaws since they're nearest to our territory boundary, and then the Spix and red macaws, then finally, the glaucous macaws, the Navyfeather hyacinth macaws and those four-winged birds with the lizard-like tails…"

"And after that, the whole land that those feathered varmints live on will be ours to dwell and thrive in," said the brown male excitedly.

"Not to mention it being the future land and home for our future pups," said the reddish male.

"That's right," said the female in a sinisterly gleeful voice tone and with that, the three bats moved away, carrying their weapons with them.

"Cicatriz and Iracebeth certainly have concocted an excellent plan," said the female, her voice's volume dropping as the three bats moved further away from the cave's entrance. "Cicatriz and Augustus's parents would have been so proud of them if they were still alive, especially since all the Amazonian birds are…"

The rest of the sentence became too quiet to be picked up by Orion and the other four.

"Did any of you hear the last part?" asked Eustace.

"That bat either said that all the Amazonian birds are to be driven out or are responsible for something," said Velocity, "But she was too far away for us to make out clearly."

"The Amazonian birds, responsible for something?" asked Rosa confused, "Whatever for?"

"Maybe something horrible and major has happened between the flying fox colony and a group of birds, leading to the bitter enmity between them?" asked Milo.

"Well that's not important," said Orion in a serious voice, "We have to tell the Spix macaws and everyone else what has happened to one of the hyacinth macaw clans and the blue-throated macaws and warn them what those bats are planning to do and how they are going to do it."

The others shot him a 'What!?' glare.

"Are you meaning to go out into the jungle where there could be groups of armed flying foxes lurking in every shadow?" asked Velocity in disapproval, "I don't think so."

"Especially after your narrow escape with a group of them while you were contacting Blu," added Clemont. He shuddered at the memories of the scene and Orion's delayed turning up that filled him and Rosa with dread. Orion gazed at Clemont, Serena, Rosa, Eustace, Milo and Velocity who gazed back at him with disapproving frowns. While they did that, one of the green-billed toucans began to talk to Diantha about something. He indicated to a patch of wet mud near the wall of the cave. As he did that, an idea entered Diantha's head.

"We can't afford to end up in danger with those bats again, Orion," said Velocity, "Especially now that so many more of them are armed. If those savage winged furballs EVER catch us, our very lives could be jeopardised."

"Most of those bats are highly skilled in close combat with their weapons," said one of the Jandaya parakeets nearby, "You city birds might not stand a chance against a group of them if you end up running into one."

"Not to mention the fact that your brightly coloured plumage would make you easily visible against a green background," said a sun parakeet.

"That's right;" said Serena in agreement, "A pair of slate grey falcons with ivory undersides and five cockatoos with bright white or pale pink plumage and brightly coloured crests would be easily seen in a drab environment like this. Seriously, Orion we cannot take on a bunch of armed flying mammals that have a lifetime's experience in the jungle."

Orion was about to reply when suddenly, Rosa's voice cried out, "Diantha! What on earth…"

Hearing this, the male peregrine falcon and the others all turned their eyes and to their surprise, they saw a brown toucan-like figure walk towards them.

"Look, guys," said the figure in a familiar female voice, "Do I look more obscure against the drab background in this muddy covering?"

Orion, Velocity, Clemont, Serena, Eustace, Milo and Rosa looked at their toucan friend up and down and saw that her body was almost invisible against the brown-grey background of the cave. Without the suit of mud, Diantha's rich black plumage, pale reddish-white underside and brightly coloured beak made her stand out like a brightly coloured mushroom against a sea of black soil or green grass. "Why don't we cover ourselves with mud?" continued Diantha, "We'll be less noticeable by those bats should we run into any of them when we fly out to tell the bird tribes, clans and small groups what we have heard."

"I say, that is an excellent idea," said Clemont with a smile. Diantha nodded to the green-billed toucan who had suggested the idea.

"It was thanks to her over there," she said, "She told me how most of the birds on the Sanctuary de Amazon used mud to camouflage themselves and cover their brightly coloured plumage to slip past enemies and predators unnoticed."

"Oh, yeah, they do," said the sun parakeet.

"We never thought of that," said the Jandayan parakeet. Then Eustace, a reluctant but determined frown on his face, walked over to the mud suit-clad Diantha.

"So, how did you coat yourself in mud?" he asked. Diantha, in reply, pointed to a muddy puddle by the cave wall. Eustace then walked over to the mud puddle, Clemont, Serena, Rosa and Milo following. Velocity also went along reluctantly while Orion remained where he was.

"You know something," the female falcon muttered to Diantha, "Our parents aren't gonna appreciate us getting dirty like this but if a job demands it, then I suppose we must."

Diantha just smiled as Velocity followed the five cockatoos to the mud puddle. Then soon, the mud puddle became alive with six birds, five cockatoos and a falcon, as the group began to roll around in it like how dogs would in a puddle in a garden or street. It was quite an amusing sight and some of the other birds smiled as they watched Eustace and the others roll around, some feeling rather embarrassed doing this. Orion went to join but an emerald toucanet blocked his way.

"It's not recommended to coat yourself in mud, falcon," he said, nodding to the half-healed scratch on his chest, "Especially if you've got a wound like that."

"It's not good for wounds like that," said the toucanet's mate, "You might get it infected."

"And besides," said Diantha, "One, we don't want you getting hurt again and two, we could do with someone staying behind to look after these birds."

"But what am I gonna do for meat?" protested Orion. However, some green-billed toucans came over to him.

"We'll help you find some tapirs or capybaras," said one.

"Yeah, especially since we can't risk you going out there by yourself and risking running into another group of those bats again," said another. Orion smiled gratefully at the toucans' desire to help him find food. Then a few seconds later, five mud-clad cockatoos and one mud-clad falcon joined Diantha. Milo looked at his wings and body plumage, smiling.

"This stuff will certainly make us less noticeable to those bats while we fly out to warn the tribes and clans," he said.

"Absolutely," said the sun parakeet. Then an emerald toucanet ushered the seven towards the entrance.

"Now go and fly like crazy to the macaws and those bizarre four-winged birds and deliver the warning," he said, "We'll look after ourselves and your falcon friend."

"And your bag things," said a female sun parakeet, her eyes flashing to the pile of fanny packs, also called bum bags, Eustace and his group had taken off and placed by the cave wall. Eustace then walked to the front of the group and began to lead them through the tunnel towards the cave's mouth but not before saying goodbye to Orion as they passed him. Orion hugged Velocity.

"You be careful out there," he told his sister firmly, "We don't want you getting hurt like how I did."

"Don't worry, bro," said Velocity in reply, "We'll be as quick as we can."

And with that, she turned and followed the toucan and the cockatoos. Soon, the seven had pushed the rock aside to widen the gap in order to leave the cave and then next, the mud-covered group flapped into the air and were airborne. They struggled at first for the mud felt heavy on their feathers but they eventually got used to it.

"I just hope we deliver this warning to Blu and Jewel's tribe and everyone else before those bats put that new and horrible idea into action using that tranquiliser-like plant they had found," said Eustace as the group entered the tree canopy.

"What's a tranquiliser?" asked Diantha who had never heard of the word.

"It's a substance or thing that makes you drowsy," replied Milo, "Vets or humans who look after the health of animals sometimes those to make a dangerous animal that is unwell or injured easier and safer to handle."

"But based on what we have heard that bat say about this plant that has a drowsing effect on its victims and how they are going to use it to help with the kidnapping of birds," said Velocity, "That doesn't sound good at all. The tribes and clans need to know about this on the double."

"Plus what has happened to the Bluewing Clan and the blue-throated macaws," added Rosa. She shuddered as she felt dread prick at her as the thought of Ariel and her family, especially the two new additions to them, Peitro and Wanda, and also Ariel's boyfriend Eric came to mind. Rosa and company had met these blue-throated macaws and had also met their two new chicks during a previous visit. Pushing those thoughts aside, Rosa followed her two brothers and four friends into the trees.