Chapter 20- the holdups for the night
Later, after the chaos
The remaining caged birds were brought up the stairs and placed in the poachers' room where the cats and crows will keep a closer eye on them, even while they were asleep, to make sure that they did not attempt to escape again. Because the cats had sharp hearing, they would be able to hear rattling noises whenever a macaw tried to pick the padlock on their cage. As Blu and Jewel, and Levi, Aurora, Aramis, Phoebe and their families (this time with Levi and Aurora with their mates and chicks in the same cages) were carried in their cages by the cats and crows and placed in a tight cluster nearby the cats and crows' beds, Otis and Tom were treating the scratch on Nigel's face inflicted on him by Athos during his escape. Otis wiped away the blood as it oozed from the claw marks while Tom supplied the fresh tissue. Cazador had insisted that Nigel wash his face but Nigel, being the disgusting cockatoo he was, rejected it harshly for he hated, LOATHED, being washed in ANY way so Cazador left the treatment to Otis and Tom instead. While Tom and Otis continued wiping away the blood weeping from the claw marks, which were larger than Jewel's claw marks, on Nigel's face, the remaining bird families had huddled together. Now that they were with their families, Levi and Aurora were huddling against Lapis Lazuli and Zephyr, clearly terrified while the others looked on. Blu watched Otis and Tom as the two cats continued to try and stop more blood oozing from Nigel's brand new scratch, a scornful and bitter expression creasing his face.
"Looks like scarface will be having a nice new addition to the collection of scratches on his face," he crooned nastily, "And I hope those claw marks Athos had given him will leave behind and EXTREMELY ugly scar indeed."
Jewel did not hear him for her attention was on the thoughts about Carla, Bia and Tiago who were with Porthos and the others, especially Carla whom Nigel had scratched. This act had finally sent Jewel over the edge regarding Nigel and now she was more eager than EVER to lash at the cockatoo and score her claws through his plumage once she and Blu got out of the cage, and was especially glad that Athos had managed to make the first brutal mark. Her volcanic WRATH against the cockatoo for attacking one of her chicks was boiling dangerously inside her and sooner or later, that wrath will eventually explode violently. Jewel absolutely did NOT tolerate anyone hurting her family, especially her chicks, and if she EVER caught anyone tormenting her children, she could explode into a lethal feathered clawing machine and possibly even become like Brutus. However, she ALWAYS channelled her wrath at the offender and believe me; that offender was sure to end up needing hospital treatment. NEVER EVER mess with Jewel or her family and friends... EVER. Blu was also just as aggressive but he was rarely as violent as his mate but still, he was a force to be reckoned with if ANYONE ever hurt his family and friends. And both he and Jewel were trembling violently as they glared maliciously at Nigel.
Around the group, the falcons, crows, the other cats and their owners the poachers were preparing to return to bed, the cats and crows retreating to theirs. Jewel, though her wrath towards Nigel was boiling dangerously within her, began to hope that Porthos would look after her and Blu's chicks.
"I hope you take good care of Carla, Bia and Tiago until we get out, Porthos," said Jewel dreamily. Zephyr gazed at his friend.
"If we do," said he, his eyes on his still frightened mate and wing slung around her. He then bitterly eyed the cats and crows as they prepared for bed. "Those pests certainly aren't going to get away with this, that's for sure."
"Say that about sulfur-crested slime ball over there," said Blu scornfully. Jewel turned and saw Tom and Otis speak to Nigel. It seemed that the scratch inflicted by Athos, which was longer than the claw marks than the ones Jewel and Esperanza had given him, had healed up but Jewel hissed with a rancour that was had a far lower pH than any acid you could think of. Nigel was really in for it now but then Nigel then began to pick at the scabs much to the disgust of Otis and Tom. It was clear that he had a habit of picking his newly healed wounds but that did not do the wounds any good. Then Blu shot Jewel a regrettable look.
"Jewel," he said.
"Yes," said Jewel, her wrath towards Nigel pushed to the background for now. She will deal with that wretched cockatoo later.
"I'm sorry about our little fallout earlier," said Blu, "I was behaving like I was blaming you for this mess but… after thinking it through, it is clear that it was no-one's fault."
"It isn't anyone's fault, not even Veggie or Catina's," said Lapis Lazuli as she hugged Levi, Tristan, Quincy, Larimar and Trixie, "We didn't expect Nigel, the cats and their new friends to find us and catch us and it is not our fault that Nigel didn't listen to Catina and Veggie when they warned them…"
"Nigel never listens to anybody," snarled Jewel bitterly. She then looked back at Blu and said, "I accept your apology, and I promise that we will work together to get out of this mess and put an end to this."
Blu nodded in agreement and then hugged Jewel lovingly.
"We've got those that have managed to escape, and also that wily calico behind us, you two," said Aramis, drawing the Spix macaw couple's attention to him, "I'm sure Travis, Sunset, Porthos and Athos will plan on rescuing us and perhaps work alongside Catina to do just that…"
"Yeah but remember that Athos might have a badly injured foot," said Blu, before his rancorous glare turned to the cockatoo, "That (bleep) Nigel bit him rather badly."
Aramis and Esmerlda exchanged glances, remembering Athos screaming in utter agony when the savage cockatoo clamped his beak onto his left foot. That was the same sort of attack the cockatoo had inflicted Broccoli on his paw back at Susan and Lucy's house when he tried to defend Carla, Bia and Tiago but unbeknownst to the macaws, Broccoli had suffered a slight fracture from the bite. He was now being taken care of at the vet's along with Esperanza who had received a scratch down the side also by Nigel. Nigel's beak strength was unbelievable and he was a very strong cockatoo, capable of suffocating a bird to death in his iron-pincer like talons. Jewel knew that all too well when the cockatoo first captured her moments before she was chained to Blu, and Ruby, Alexandre, Spinel and Poinsettia had hoped that Athos's foot wasn't too badly injured.
Then suddenly, an oily voice as slick and as sickly as a puddle of water contaminated by thick black liquid reached the macaws' ears.
"You know what disgusts me the most, pretty birds," crooned the disgusting cockatoo, the scratch inflicted on him by Athos partially healed with still some blood weeping from it for he had been picking at the scab; Otis and Tom flanking him like a pair of bodyguards, his brown eyes piercing Zephyr and Aurora, Lapis Lazuli and Levi, and Aramis and Esmeralda and their chicks as they huddled close together, before they darted to Phoebe and Cobalto, D'Artagnan and Sapphire and their chicks as well. Aramis glared at the cockatoo, his green and colourful plumage bristling like a cat's fur whenever it got angry while Petunia and Chlorophyll hid behind their mother Esmeralda, clearly intimidated by the cockatoo. However, Chlorophyll had a streak of boldness bubbling within him and he glared bitterly at Nigel as he approached the group from behind his mother.
"What disgusts you the most you foul piece of work!?" snarled Aramis stormily. He felt an urge to lash at Nigel and slash the sadistic and scornful look off his face with a talon like how Jewel and Esperanza had done but rebuked himself for thinking that thought. Aramis may at times become aggressive and use his beak and talons to attack and draw blood but he only did this for self-defence or to defend his friends and family. Fighting and drawing blood unnecessarily was not in the great green macaw's nature. Esmeralda also resisted the urge to attack the cockatoo. Nigel turned and sauntered towards the great green macaws and shoved his icy gaze right into Aramis' face. Aramis winced in revulsion at the claw marks on Nigel's face and his smelly breath.
"Pretty bird couples fallin' in lurve and becomin' mates and havin' chicks, that's what. Families, in other words," crooned the cockatoo in a sickly sweet voice that was as foul as his breath. He then glared at Chlorophyll as he emerged from behind his mother. His sister Petunia cowered behind Esmeralda to avoid Nigel's malicious glare raking over her like a laser. Aramis, aware of his son's proximity to the highly dangerous cockatoo, spread his wings protectively across Chlorophyll in case Nigel decided to harm him like he had done Carla, the others looking on. And Nigel showed no qualms whatsoever about abusing chicks. In fact, he had done that to countless young exotic birds before in the past, including a group of certain macaws when they had been that age.
"What's wrong with us having families!?" snapped Aramis bitterly at Nigel's scathing statement. Nigel then shot Blu and Jewel a bitter glare and then darted his eyes back to the lithe male great green macaw.
"I cannot stand the thought of my most detested birds on the planet living happy lives," said the cockatoo in disgust, "Certainly not finding mates and having chicks, but in any way shape or form, ALL pretty birds deserve to suffer, but I oughta tell you something, skinny, I'm glad I don't have a family."
"Well I'm glad to hear that, you brutish white-feathered rotting pineapple," snarled Chlorophyll, ducking under Porthos's wing and standing up in front of it, directly in front of Nigel, "You wouldn't make a very good mate to any female cockatoo, or a father to any cockatoo chick, if you have any."
"That's right," squeaked Petunia from behind Esmeralda in agreement during a brief flash of boldness.
"Especially chicks," put in Indigo from Phoebe and Cobalto's cage. Zebedee then glared viciously at Nigel.
"What brood of chicks would want YOU for a father?" he snarled. Cobalto and Phoebe flashed their chicks a look in case Nigel lunged at them.
Nigel flashed the two hyacinth macaw chicks a brief glare before returning it to Chlroophyll. The son of Aramis and Esmeralda just stood there, steadfast; despite the enormous cockatoo towering menacingly over him but Aramis was fiercely aware of Nigel's proximity to his son. If Nigel even showed the slightest signs of wanting to harm Chlorophyll, Aramis would not hesitate to change his mind and claw the cockatoo's face like a savage cat, which would add a fourth set of claw marks to the three he already had on his face.
"Let me tell you a little something before I took to smuggling pretty birds like you," growled Nigel, tearing his gaze from little Chlorophyll and taking a step back from Aramis and his family's cage so that all the macaws could see him, "When I was the famous film star cockatoo, Cocks 'Nigel' Cockatoo, I did once have a brood of chicks with a female cockatoo of my species."
"You once had a MATE AND CHICKS!?" shouted Zephyr incredulously but Nigel ignored the male green-eyed Spix macaw. Zephyr, Lapis Lazuli, Ruby, Esmeralda, Cobalto and Sapphire then covered their chicks' ears to prevent them from hearing Nigel's rather adult subject, and Chlorophyll returned to his mother's side at her command.
"It was no family at all," growled Nigel shamelessly, "We just happened to conceive a brood of chicks that night and when that female cockatoo told me that she was expecting that brood, I wanted nothing to do with it as my career was far more important than a bunch of burdensome brats."
"What!?" snapped Zephyr incredulously.
"Having a family is a BIG responsibility," said Aramis, "If you didn't want to have a brood of chicks with that female cockatoo in the first place, then you shouldn't have had that um... one night stand with her in the first place."
"How could you just abandon that female cockatoo to raising that brood of chicks by herself and put your career first and foremost when she would have needed your help to carry the burden of raising those chicks, even if it were just a single chick in that clutch!?" asked Phoebe disgustedly. Nigel then glared at the macaws.
"I don't suppose any of you planned on having YOUR chicks in the first place, did you?" he growled.
Tom and Otis exchanged glances and shrugged while the macaws glared back at Nigel in shock that he would ask such a question.
"We all DID PLAN to have chicks," retorted Lapis Lazuli angrily, "And we made sure that we were all prepared for it."
"We did not just take the plunge without planning things first," put in Sapphire. D'Artagnan nodded in agreement.
Zephyr looked on and said nothing. Having chicks had been one of Aurora's greatest desires but he daren't tell Nigel about that. Lapis Lazuli also kept her beak shut about her and Levi having their four chicks Tristan, Quincy, Larimar and Trixie. Based on what Nigel had put Levi and Aurora though as chicks themselves when he helped to smuggle them out of Brazil, Zephyr and Lapis Lazuli both had thoughts on what Nigel might be planning to do to Levi and Aurora now, and to Blu and Jewel if Carla, Bia and Tiago had been captured again but they were ideas they both didn't like, but nothing could prepare them for what Nigel was about to boldly say a few seconds from now.
"Let's move on from the subject of having chicks, shall we," said the cockatoo, his voice tone changing from oily to acidic, "Ever since that pretty parakeet named Petricious came along and kicked me off the set and sending my beloved career world crashing and burning, I have since come to loathe exotic birds like you, especially when they are happy and enjoying life. So, I took to catching and smuggling birds so that I could torture and abuse them and make their lives a living nightmare, hence why I am working for these guys."
He then shot Aurora and Levi a bitter look. "And whenever exotic birds, especially Spix macaws, now my most detested macaw species on the planet, have a family and live happily, I always do anything to tear it apart, even if it means ripping chicks away from parents and slaughtering their parents to make them orphans. Chicks are far more easily devastated than adults, which is why I killed those two pretty birds' (referring to Levi and Aurora) mothers and fathers."
Levi and Aurora looked up, terror and heartbreak entering their eyes, the trauma reignited once again, but Nigel began to go the extra mile.
"I really did enjoy throwin' the father of that pigtailed Spix macaw against that tree and watching him die instantly as his neck broke when he struck the tree," continued the evil cockatoo in his most maniacal voice, "And also killin' her mother, and then the parents of that glaucous macaw with the turquoise feathers."
And with that, he burst out laughing, sending utter anguish flashing through Levi and Aurora and tearing their hearts in two like a knife cleaving straight through a big block of butter. Lapis Lazuli and Zephyr finally snapped when their respective mates finally let loose anguished cries and began to sob much to Nigel's enjoyment.
"This has gone FAR ENOUGH, you sickening VULTURE!" snarled Zephyr and with that, he began to throw himself against the cage door in an attempt to break out of the cage and attack Nigel. Lapis Lazuli was also hissing like a cat. Zephyr continued bashing against the cage door when suddenly; cat paws appeared and restrained him.
"There's no point in trying to escape, pretty bird," crooned Nigel sickeningly, "You're padlocked in."
He then turned to Aramis, Phoebe and D'Artagnan and said, "As for you lot and red macaw friend who had the audacity to claw me across the faces, I also enjoyed slaughtering your parents when we took you out of your birthplaces as well."
Disgust tore through the three macaws while their mates Esmeralda, Cobalto and Sapphire looked on bitterly, their feathers puffed out. Then Sapphire raised a talon and said threateningly, "Don't make me claw that scornful look off your face, cockatoo!"
Nigel ignored the female Lear's macaw and turned to her mate, D'Artagnan.
"I'm not sure about you as I wasn't there," crooned he evilly, "But I sure hope your family has been killed as well…"
D'Artagnan hissed bitterly and in disgust as Nigel then burst out laughing before sauntering over to the upset Levi and Aurora, the others including Blu and Jewel looking on, wrath against the cockatoo boiling dangerously within them.
"And I certainly do look forward to putting you two through the same trauma you both had suffered as chicks," crooned Nigel evilly, obviously enjoying the distress he was causing Levi and Aurora, "But that, I'm afraid is still a surprise…"
He then chuckled wickedly which was met by an extremely acidic glare from Lapis Lazuli and Zephyr. The two macaws had never had such acidic glares like these in their lives but if they were actually acids, they would be concentrated sulfuric acid. Blu and Jewel's glare, however, had an even lower pH than Zephyr and Lapis Lazuli's glares. Aurora and Levi continued crying and shaking in anguish and fear while Tristan, Quincy, Larimar and Trixie, Justin, Charlotte, Matilda and Virgil looked on silently, too young to understand the atmosphere much. However, under the silence, they shivered and dreaded what Nigel had in store for them. Further, they were hiding behind Zephyr and Lapis Lazuli, not wanting to be pierced by one of the digesting cockatoo's wicked glares. Then Jewel took the opportunity to poke fun at her nemesis.
"You know something, Nigel," she crooned, her beak creased into a scornful, icy grin as cold as a fridge, "You look fantastic with that new scratch on your face."
"It sure was hilarious seeing you get badly scratched by Athos when you bit him," put in Blu equally scornfully.
Aramis shot Blu and Jewel a glare, repulsed by their scornful attitude. He clearly did not like these two Spix macaws' mocking Nigel and laughing at his pain. Then Jewel's attitude morphed from ugly scorn to even uglier hatred as acidic as vitriol.
"But when we get out of this wretched pile of trash," she snarled, her feathers puffed out and teal eyes a blaze with acidic fire, "I'm gonna TEAR MY CLAWS THROUGH YOUR RAGGED FEATHERS!"
"I hope she's not going to enter another episode of spewing acidic words at the cockatoo this time," said Phoebe warily. Aramis also looked on; ready to take action in yelling at Jewel in case she decided to spray abuse all over Nigel like a spitting cobra. Nigel shot Blu and Jewel a glare and sauntered toward them. Otis warily looked on.
"Careful, Nigel," he said, "Those two have a hair-trigger temper."
Tom also looked on and actually took a four-legged step back at the sight of the acidity in the gaze of Blu and Jewel, shivering, but Nigel didn't care. He loved taunting his top two nemeses and making them angry, but still, he was playing with fire. Or rather an extremely pressurised canister on the verge of exploding.
"As for you two," growled Nigel, bitter hatred entering his eyes and his feathers, including those on his head, rising, "I can't wait to make you both feel the utter loss I felt over my ability to fly. You both have reduced me to nothing more than a humiliating mess after that plane incident…"
He then eyed Blu bitterly. Blu, in response, let loose a sneering laugh, raised a wing tip to his left eye to pull down his lower eyelid and stuck his tongue out to make a face at the cockatoo while Jewel let loose a scornful laugh.
"Well, I'm glad to hear it, you disgusting cockatoo," she crooned mockingly, "Maybe you should join a poultry farm and live with the chickens!"
She then nastily laughed as that hit a nerve in Nigel, making him flinch harshly. Blu also joined in the laughter at seeing Nigel's shocked and offended face, even going as far as making chicken sounds.
The other adult macaws reacted.
"Oh, no, here we go," cried Ruby as Nigel then poised to attack Blu and Jewel, the two also preparing a counterattack. This was exactly what the Spix macaw couple wanted, to lure Nigel in close enough so that they could SAVAGELY claw him for how he had treated their children. But then expectantly, and to the utmost chagrin of the Spix macaws, the cockatoo stopped and his icy brown gaze shot Ruby's way. Then Nigel began to walk towards her, making Alexandre, Spinel and Poinsettia cower behind their mother. Then Nigel stood before Ruby and gazed at her face. Ruby spread her wings protectively across her three chicks.
"I remember you, pretty bird," Nigel bitterly crooned, "I remember you… participating as a secondary character, in one of my films…"
"I don't wanna talk about it, former film-star boy," snapped Ruby coolly, "But for your information, I HATED that role, NOT loved it like you did."
Nigel did not react. He just turned his back on the female scarlet macaw and sauntered off back toward Tom and Otis. He then turned around.
"I wish you all sweet nightmares and we'll see you lot in the morning," crooned he before his voice morphed into a more threatening tone, "But you'd better not get up to mischief or you WILL be facing the consequences,"
Phoebe then formed a look of thunder on her face and raised one of her large talons threateningly. "You even think about using that nutcracker beak of yours," she hissed, her tone of voice as deadly as a piranha fish ready to strike, "and you'll be on the receiving end of this talon of mine."
Nigel ignored the hyacinth macaw and turned his back on the group to head off to one of the perches. The other animals and the poachers had all settled down and ready to go to sleep by now. John then went over the caged birds one last time when he noticed that some of the macaws from the group were missing.
"Lysandre, sir," he said.
"Yes, John," said Lysandre as he climbed into his bed.
"I've just realised that the family of blue-and-gold macaws and also three of the Spix macaw chicks are missing," said John, gazing down at the macaws who glared back at him fiercely. "Might've they escaped?"
When Nigel heard this, he shot an incredulous, and outraged, glare at the remaining caged birds. Lysandre, however, wasn't too worried.
"Look, let's not worry about that for now, John," said the lead poacher, "Let's just get to bed and prepare for tomorrow as it's VERY late. We have a lot of preparations to make for we'll be off to the Amazon the next day."
"Yeah, and besides that," Said Ernesto, "We've still got four Spix macaw chicks and blue-and-gold macaws are worth mere cents compared to the rare Spix, Lear's and glaucous macaws in terms of price. Furthermore, we'll be catching more blue-and-gold, scarlet and Spix macaws on the Sanctuary de Amazon, alongside other bird types including more Lear's and glaucous macaws."
"Correct, Ernesto," said Lysandre, "Now John, you go to bed and get some sleep."
John nodded and left the birds for his bed.
Then after a while, everything and everyone in the room was plunged into darkness, including the caged birds. Then snores filled the air as the poachers, cats, falcons and crows, and Nigel drifted off to sleep, sickening dreams of himself brutally torturing exotic birds flooding his twisted mind. Cometa also drifted off, too tired to shoot the macaws a sympathetic glare. They were obviously tired from the ordeal of retrieving the escaped macaws earlier. The caged birds looked on as their capturers went to sleep.
"Looks like we're gonna have to settle onto these hard surfaces of these lousy cages," muttered Sapphire as she prepared to put Miranda, Phoebe and Jasmine to sleep. The other remaining macaws did the same with their chicks while Blu and Jewel, their revenge plans against Nigel put aside, also settled down. D'Artagnan then gazed at a window which had unbroken glass panes and thought of Athos, Porthos, Orquidea Travis and Sunset and the chicks that had escaped.
"Oh, you lot," he moaned, "I hope you lot are okay, especially you, Athos."
Downstairs, Catina had chosen a place to sleep. She will try and formulate Rescue Plan B tomorrow.
Meanwhile
Porthos carried Orquidea through an open window of Tulio's Aviary and into the medical room where several guards and doctors were at work on their nightshift jobs. Sunset, Travis, Eustace, Milo and Rosa followed with Azul, Ariel, Wilbur, Bia and Tiago. Carla was carried in Sunset's talons for Porthos had handed her to the Major Mitchell's cockatoo so that he could carry Orquidea. The artificial light from the main bulb of the medical room poured into the birds' faces upon entry, but despite this, Porthos squinted aroundthe room looking for one of the doctors. As soon as his eyes landed on one treating a bird with a broken wing, he carried his mate to him, Sunset following with Carla while the others touched down. It had taken Porthos a lot of convincing of Orquidea to seek medical treatment for her worsening wound on her stomach. On the way to here, the two had argued, the latter telling the former that she was fine and didn't need treatment and the former insisting on the opposite. After some time, and with backup from Travis and Sunset, Orquidea relented. She was a stubborn macaw at times, which sometimes led her to petty arguments.
As soon as Porthos was near the bird doctor, he gently placed Orquidea onto her side for the bird doctor to see her belly scratch while Sunset placed Carla nearby. The moment the bird doctor's eyes had landed on the two macaws and their injury, he had immediately called for one of the nurses over. Then seconds later, a nurse appeared and Porthos allowed her to examine Orquidea's belly and Carla's side where Nigel had struck her. After checking the scratch marks on both macaws and how Orquidea's were showing signs of infection, the nurse carried both her and Carla away. After this, Travis, Sunset, Eustace, Milo, Rosa, Bia, Tiago, Ariel, Azul and Wilbur touched down beside him.
"Looks like we're just in time, Porthos," said Travis, a wing on the burly blue-and-gold macaw's back as the latter watched the nurse carry his mate and Tiago and Bia's sister away, "We could see that Orquidea's scratch was showing signs of infection.
"We were particularly worried for Carla as well," said Bia as she stood with her brother.
"We've successfully nipped the potential threat in the bud," said Porthos, "Glad we saw the initial signs early."
"What's nipping something in the bud mean?" asked Azul.
"It means to stop something in its early stages before it becomes serious," said Sunset.
"Like, for example," added Bia, "pulling up a weed in its germinating stage before it grows into a large plant and threatening the other garden plants, particularly if it is toxic."
"Or in this case, your mother's injury's infection becoming worse," added Sunset. Wilbur gazed up at the Major Mitchell's cockatoo with a worried look.
"Will Mom be okay, Dad?" asked Azul.
"Yes, she will," said Porthos, "And I think she'll recover quickly as well. All she has is just a half-healed scratch, as does Carla. That Spix macaw chick being young, she should recover quickly too."
This made hope for their older sister bubble within Bia and Tiago and also Azul and Wilbur and Ariel as well for the blue-throated macaw chick had become a close friend of Blu and company's chicks including Eustace, Milo and Rosa. These three hybrid cockatoo chicks also wore hopeful smiles.
"You know, it took us a lot of convincing to get Orquidea to agree that she needed treatment," said Travis, "She can be so stubborn at times."
"One of the things I have to handle at times," muttered Porthos with a sigh. He sometimes found Orquidea's stubbornness hard to handle but he was glad that she had finally agreed to get her scratch looked at and treated even if the scratch was not serious. The chicks, especially Ariel, then began to shudder.
"Oh, that cockatoo was horrible," said Eustace in a shaky voice, "I hope we never meet him again."
"We're gonna have nightmares for weeks," added Rosa.
"Especially of him eating those disgusting mouse carcases like a vulture," groaned Milo. He felt his stomach churn as those memories of Nigel eating mice and picking on the macaws and cockatoos with it came to mind.
"He was honestly like one of those psycho bats," put in Ariel, "If Mom, Dad and my sister Fernanda EVER encountered that horrid parrot; they'd have swept me and my sister away as fast as a dragonfly."
"I actually thought I was gonna be sick when he was eating those falcons' food," said Azul. Wilbur flinched as he felt his stomach churn too as his brother said this while Bia and Tiago just shuddered, not wanting to remember that vile cockatoo's eating habits and his tormenting them with them.
"To be honest with you," he said, "I was going to refuse that friendly falcon's offer of food due to a loss of appetite because of that cockatoo, but I knew I had to eat so I accepted that offer."
"Parrots may sometimes eat meat products," said Travis, "Such as me and Sunset sampling some chicken and beef once before and I have heard that rainbow lorikeets sometimes eat a bit of meat," the young sulphur-crested cockatoo then shook his head, "But mice... THAT type of prey is something I have never known a parrot or cockatoo eat at all."
"That Nigel guy certainly is abnormal, I can tell you," growled Sunset disgustedly, "Foul, to say the least."
"The others are going to be facing abuse from that foul piece of work, I can tell you," said Porthos. Then thoughts of Aurora, Levi and Athos and their families came to mind. "I hope the others whom Catina and that falcon managed to free have managed to escape too. If so they'll be looking for a place to spend the night."
"We're going to go after those poachers again in the morning," said Travis, "We don't want those criminals infiltrating the Sanctuary de Amazon and poaching macaws from that protected nature reserve."
"Can't we convict these humans, Dad?" asked Eustace. Travis was about to reply when the sound of frantic wing flapping reached their ears. The group of cockatoos, Spix macaws and blue and yellow macaws including Ariel flinched, before turning to see a red macaw with teal wing flight feathers explode through the window and then crash-land onto the table.
"Athos," cried Porthos, Travis and Sunset at the same time and with that, they all ran over to inspect the scarlet macaw, the eight chicks following. When they gathered around their unofficial group leader, Porthos, Travis and Sunset saw that Athos was breathing heavily, obviously out of breath from flying so fast. Athos, his face twisted from tiredness but also something else, gazed at each of the three birds.
"Hi… you three…" he said between breaths, hissing through a gritted beak.
"Athos, what is it?" Travis asked when he noticed how he spoke. Then Sunset's eyes saw a few tiny droplets of red dotting the table. Worried, she examined the droplets; an awful thought cloaking her like a shadow as she saw how these droplets formed almost a straight line from Athos and the edge of the table. Athos had flown in this direction before crashing onto the table top. Sunset's eyes then travelled from the droplets to Athos's left foot which was clasped in his wings. Athos had his eyes screwed shut and his beak gritted in agony.
"Athos, are you alright?" asked Porthos but Athos was in too much pain to answer. Sunset then tried to pry the teal and red flight feathers away from the left foot, dread bubbling within her. When Athos's wings remained tight around his left foot, Sunset turned to him.
"Athos, you need to release your foot so that I could look at it," said the Major Mitchell's cockatoo. Athos reluctantly did so and the teal-tinted turquoise bandage of feathers was unwrapped from the foot, exposing what lie underneath. Sunset then examined the skin on Athos's left lower leg but when she was what was on it, a sharp gasp entered her beak.
"Sunset," asked Porthos.
"What is it?" asked Travis. Azul, Ariel, Wilbur, Bia, Tiago, Eustace, Milo and Rosa looked on silently as Sunset then showed the two male adults Athos's injured foot. When the baby blue eyes of Travis and the beige eyes of Porthos saw the state of Athos's foot, they expanded with horror and their beaks dropped open. There were two pairs of bright pink-red lines running back and forth on Athos's ankle, the area where Nigel's beak had clamped onto it, two on top and two underneath. All four lines were red and angry and weeping a bit of blood, as well as firing pain down Athos's leg. Athos clearly was in agony, his face twisted with his eyes tight shut and beak clenched. Travis then began to fire him several questions.
"How did you end up with this injury?" he asked, "And have the other freed birds escaped?"
Athos slowly turned to him and managed to produce some words despite the agonising pain flaring from his wounded left leg as though acid had been poured onto it.
"No," he hissed, "And Ruby and… my chicks have been caught. I tried rescuing them but Nigel attacked me and bit my left leg... AAAHH!"
He then grasped his extremely painful left leg again and breathed in agony. It was then that a bird doctor came by. When she saw that Athos had an injured leg, she gasped and ran over to him. Travis, Sunset and Porthos backed away and joined the eight shuddering chicks; their looks of worry aimed at Athos as the doctor then began examining Athos's leg. As the group watched the doctor do this, Porthos gave the cockatoos a look.
"This is the same sort of attack Broccoli received while we were away," he whispered, "Isn't it?"
"That Nigel is a brute, honestly," muttered Travis bitterly, "I hope the others especially Ruby, Alexandre, Spinel, Poinsettia and also Blu and Jewel who will be without their family members are gonna be alright."
"They're going to have to spend the night at that place I'm afraid," said Sunset sadly, "It's too late and too dark and I don't want to risk us getting caught. We'll have to go after them tomorrow morning."
Then the bird doctor picked up Athos as gently as she would handle a fragile glass object and carried him away.
As soon as Athos was out of sight, Travis turned to the others and said, "Right, let's look for a place to spend the night."
"But what about Mom, Carla and Uncle Athos?" asked Azul and Ariel released a wide yawn. The other chicks also yawned.
"They'll be fine, son," said Porthos, "Let's just look for someplace to sleep like your Uncle Travis said."
And with that the cockatoos and the macaws left. Bia and Tiago stole one last glance from behind and then followed the others. The eleven, along with Carla, Orquidea and Athos once they were well enough to join them tomorrow morning, will return to the poachers' hideout and try and rescue their friends and relatives with Catina.