Chapter 12- boarding the plane and off to Guyana
Tulio and his assistant finally arrived at the airport, which was named Rio de Janeiro Galeão International Airport. Planes were flying in from and taking off to various destinations, both in South America and overseas and it was where Linda and Blu had touched down after flying in from Minnesota in the United States, and also where Susan, Lucy and their cousins Blake, Drake and Jake flew in with their pets including Aurora, D'Artagnan and Levi from London several months later. As soon as Tulio and his assistant had parked the truck in the car park, also called a parking lot, Carla and her group immediately took off from the trailer, carrying their fruit-filled fanny packs and two bags with them and hurried off for the cover of the parked cars. Galeão certainly was busy and there were swarms of people walking in like floodwater into the 'Departures' section of the airport while more people emerged from the 'Arrivals' section. Carla, Bia and Tiago looked around while Justin, Matilda and Virgil kept a close eye on Tulio and his assistant as they unloaded the truck of their luggage. Some of the macaws, especially Neytiri and Alessandro, were amazed by the place and the flying things that took off and landed.
"So this is an 'airport'?" asked Neytiri fascinated.
"Yes," said Tristan, his from eyes on the young female glaucous macaw, "And those things flying above us are called planes."
"I never thought that humans could build something that could fly," said Alessandro. He flinched as a plane flew overhead, its roaring engines ripping the air apart and assaulting his ears. Planes were indeed loud, but the macaws had not expected this.
"Oh, there are other flying things humans have built besides the plane," said Azul, "There are helicopters, biplanes…"
"'Helicopter'?" repeated Finnick as he hid with Lavender, Miranda, Azul and Brooke, "Are those flying things with the spinning things on the tops?"
"Yes," said Azul, "But let's focus on getting aboard the plane our human friend is going to board."
"You're sometimes bossy you know, Azul," said Brooke in irritation. Azul didn't reply and continued looking over the others to make sure that all were present. While he did that, Spinel, Alexandre, Estelle and Sheldon examined the surroundings.
"We are going to need a way to get through the airport," said Spinel, "Do you guys have any ideas?"
"Hey," said Alexandre, "What about those plastic pet cages?"
He indicated to a stack of plastic boxes in one corner by the entrance. They were the same sort of boxes used to carry small pets like cats and rabbits. Sheldon and Estelle looked at them.
"Right, but we cannot use just one of those due to so many of us and the baggage we have," said Estelle, gazing at the two fruit-filled bags.
"We could perhaps split into groups," said Miranda, "And use more than one of those cages."
"That sounds like a good idea," said Spinel. As she said this, Carla saw Tulio and his assistant.
"Tulio and the other person are heading for the entrance," she told the others. The other birds spotted the two people and saw that they were walking towards the doors. Spinel then tapped a talon on Carla's shoulder and pointed to the stack of cages. Carla smiled at the plastic boxes.
A little while later
Carla's group were in the plastic cages. They had gone along with Miranda's suggesting at splitting into groups and using more than one cage. In one cage were Carla, Bia, Tiago, Finnick, Lavender, Virgil, Justin and Matilda, in a second cage were Alexandre, Estelle, Sheldon, Miranda, Spinel and Brooke and one of the bags, and in a third cage were Zebedee, Trixie, Neytiri, Tristan, Chlorophyll, Azul, Alessandro and the other bag. Some of the macaws were uncomfortable in the cramped space.
"I honestly don't like being in a human container," muttered Estelle, "It's making me feel claustrophobic."
"Finnick and Lavender's dad (Roberto) wouldn't have liked this one bit," said Sheldon. "In fact, he'd probably freak out and have a panic attack if he were in one of these."
"Can you see Tulio, Spinel?" asked Alexandre. His sister Spinel gazed through the flood of legs and saw the familiar ornithologist as he stood at the check-in desk. In Carla's subgroup's cage, Bia read the monitor screen above the person at the desk before turning his gaze at the list of flights and their take off times, finding the one bound for Georgetown, Guyana.
"That's it," she said, pointing to the plane Tulio was to catch and then at the screen above the flight attendant at the desk, "That's the plane we are to catch."
Carla then smiled while Tiago passed on the message to the other birds in the other two cages through the holes.
"Okay, here we go," Carla said, "Let's head for the conveyor."
"What's a 'conveyor'?" asked Lavender.
"It's a moving belt," said Virgil.
"Belt?" repeated Finnick, "I thought that was the name of the thing some humans wear around their waist."
"No, not that sort of belt," said Matilda, "The one on which items are placed and moved."
Finnick and Lavender just said nothing and Matilda and Virgil just shrugged as explaining what a conveyor was seemed pointless. The three groups then advanced towards the conveyor where Tulio and his assistant were when suddenly, Alessandro in cage three saw someone approach the group from the side.
"Uh-oh, here comes someone," he said and with that, his group stopped as a couple of human boys approached. Carla and Alexandre's groups in their cages, however, continued.
"Hey look, are they toys?" said one of the boys as he gazed at the cage containing Alessandro's group. Suddenly, Chlorophyll and Zebedee sprang into action and made cat-like screeching sounds. They sounded so convincing that the two boys screamed and ran off, assuming them to be vicious cats. After this, the group breathed a sigh of relief.
"Man, that was close," said Tristan, his wing on his chest as his heart beat fast from the little fright, "Good job, Chlorophyll and Zebedee."
"Yeah, you've impersonated a pair of vicious cats really well," added Azul. The great green and young hyacinth macaws flashed a smile each as they accepted the compliment. Then the group group continued after the other two cages and within moments, all three cages were placed on the conveyor.
As the conveyor carried the three cages towards the system where all the passengers' baggage were carried to different planes, Carla said, "Right, as soon as we reach the other end, we're gonna fly out and head for the plane. But we must say together, as always!"
The others with her nodded and prepared for the trip through the system. Behind them, Alexandre said the same thing to his group in the second cage and Trixie also said this to her group in the third cage.
"We must spot the others and follow them," said the smaller-than-normal little glaucous macaw firmly, "And after that, we're gonna board the plane."
The others nodded though Alessandro wasn't sure. The human place was making him feel uneasy for he had never been in one before, certainly not an airport. Putting off the unease, he prepared for the next stage which was through the conveyor system of the baggage handling section.
Sometime later, the three cages containing the groups of macaws finally reached the other end of the luggage sorting system to be collected by another baggage handler and loaded onto an airport vehicle trailer to be transported with dozens of other suitcases and the like toward the plane. However, before the plastic box-like cages reached this point, Carla and company had left the cages and carried their fanny packs and two bags out the cages with them. The three cages, now empty, were carried by the conveyor belt to the exit and they slid down a slide towards a baggage handler. When the baggage handler picked up the three cages and saw that they were empty, he put them to one side before resuming picking up the other bags and placing them onto a baggage trailer. While the baggage handler did that, Carla and her group hid behind the collection point of the conveyor system and prepared to make their move as soon as the baggage handler had finished with loading the rest of the baggage onto the trailer. Once the last suitcase had been loaded onto the trailer, the baggage handler left for the vehicle and climbed into it. As he started up the engine, Carla and company prepared to fly after it and across the airfield to the plane.
"Here we go, everyone," said Carla to the others, "Make sure you stay together."
"Is this what our parents had to go through when they came to Rio from London?" asked Justin in amazement.
"I think it is," said Spinel, "But let's stay focussed on following that baggage trailer. Look, there it goes! Let's go!"
As the macaws saw the baggage vehicle leave, the macaws immediately took off after it but they flew alongside and close to it, being careful not to get seen by the baggage handlers.
As the group crossed the airfield, some of them, among them Tristan and Neytiri, stole glances in various directions and saw various planes taking off or landing. However, they did not have time to admire the size of the airfield and continued flying alongside the trailer and keeping with the other macaws. Then soon, the driver arrived at the plane, the same one bound for Georgetown, Guyana and the one Tulio and his assistant had boarded. As soon as the driver of the baggage vehicle had stopped and pulled up so that two more baggage handlers who stood at the entrance to the cargo bay of the plane could start unloading the trailers, Carla peered out from behind the trailer while Bia read the labels on one or two of the suitcases. The labels had three letters which read GEO.
"This plane's bound for Cheddi Jagan International Airport in Guyana," she told the others.
"We're on the right track then," said Tiago with a smile.
"How could you read that?" asked Finnick with a frown as he looked at the label, "It's just a jumble of markings."
"We've grown up in the human environment and our parents taught us how to read and write," replied Azul.
"Shh! Here comes an opportunity to board that plane," hissed Carla firmly. The other macaws followed her gaze and fixed their eyes on the open cargo bay. The three baggage handlers including the one that had driven the vehicle to the plane were busily unloading the suitcases and bags from the trailer and putting it onto the plane. Carla then nodded to Bia, Tiago, Sheldon, Brooke, Azul, Alexandre and Spinel, the latter four who had one of the bags for the macaws took it in turns in carrying the bags. They were going to board the plane first.
"Ready, you seven?" she asked. The macaws nodded nervously.
"We'd better be quick," said Spinel in a low voice, her talons firmly around one of the straps of the bag, "Otherwise one of those baggage handlers could spot us."
"Those three are called baggage handlers?" asked Brooke.
"Yes," said Azul, "They are in charge with transporting the baggage and loading and unloading it to or from the plane."
"Shh, here we go," called Bia, snapping the three blue-and-gold macaws' attention to the cargo bay entrance. The three baggage handlers were talking, their backs turned to Carla's group's location. This was the opportunity to rush for the cargo bay. Sheldon and Brooke trembled with nervousness.
"Right, on three," said Bia, "One… two…"
And then as soon as she said 'three', she, Tiago, Spinel, Alexandre, Azul, Sheldon and Brooke took off and hastily made a beeline for the entrance to the cargo. The macaws carried the fruit-stuffed bag by both the body and the straps to help distribute the weight of the container among them. The group of seven macaws flew past the trio of baggage handlers who didn't notice them, and crossed into the cargo and hid among the baggage. As soon as they had landed and breathed sighs of relief, Bia signalled to Carla to indicate that they had made it. Carla smiled.
"Well done, Bia," she said before turning to the next group consisting also of seven macaws, which were Miranda, Justin, Charlotte, Matilda, Finnick, Lavender and Estelle. They also had the second fruit-loaded bag. Carla watched the baggage handlers as they resumed loading the plane with more baggage. Then as soon as another opportunity arose with the baggage handlers not looking, Carla gave the signal and Miranda and her group rushed off for the cargo bay, taking the other bag with them. The nine macaws did not stop until they were finally on the plane. After they had landed near Bia's group, Miranda gave Carla the 'We've done it' signal in the forms of a thumbs-up like gesture with a wing. Carla smiled and turned to the remaining six macaws with her, which were Chlorophyll, Zebedee, Trixie, Tristan, Neytiri and Alessandro. However, the last group was going to sneak aboard differently. Rather than all at once, they were going to go one or two at a time.
"Ready, you six?" asked Carla. The others, despite the nervousness bubbling within Neytiri and Zebedee's bodies, nodded. Chlorophyll then decided to go first. The male great green macaw prepared to make the dash for the cargo bay at the right moment.
"Make sure you are swift," said Carla, "I can see the baggage handlers are looking in the direction of where the last two groups flew."
In the cargo bay, the nineteen birds ducked and kept well hidden from the baggage handlers. Miranda peered out and saw that Chlorophyll was poised to fly for the cargo bay to join them.
"Here comes Chlorophyll," she whispered. Then as soon as the three baggage handlers turned their backs to the specific spot of the cargo bay, Chlorophyll's wings sprang into action. The Buffon's macaw dashed like a green, yellow, red and blue comet wearing a fanny pack and entered the cargo bay, moments before one of the baggage handlers turned round. Chlorophyll then landed next to Bia and Tiago and breathed a sigh of relief.
"That was close," said he between pants, "I thought I was gonna be spotted for sure."
"At least you've made it," said Bia. Then Chlorophyll slumped onto the floor and began to relax. Zebedee and Alessandro then took their turn and made it onto the cargo bay while the three baggage handlers had their backs turned. Then Trixie and Tristan, and then last of all, Neytiri and Carla herself. However, as the glaucous and Spix macaws were about to enter the cargo bay, one of the baggage handlers happened to turn round. When the other macaws saw this, their hearts leapt into their throats as the handler, a man, uttered "Que?" when he saw two feathered forms with brown things hover above the rim of the entrance. Carla and Neytiri in a blink of an eye dived among the nearest cluster of suitcases and hid. The man, upon seeing the two birds suddenly disappear, looked around, confused. Then he shrugged it off and resumed his job. Carla and Neytiri, after seeing the man resume his job then finished their journey to Bia and the others. Their hearts were pounding like insect wings at the near miss.
"I thought you'd be spotted for sure, sis," said Tiago in relief. Neytiri then hugged Tristan and Trixie, relieved to be out of the sight of the baggage handlers. The near miss had frightened her.
"Well, at least we made it," said Carla and with that, she did a headcount of the other macaws. When the number 20 was reached, she smiled. After this, Spinel breathed a sigh.
"Well, folks," said she, "It's Guyana, here we come."
"Yep," said Justin.
"So how long will it take us to get there?" asked Matilda.
"Based on my calculations," said Bia, "I'd say… um… 15 hours."
"15 hours!?" repeated Finnick incredulously, "That's a long time."
"Yeah, and it looks like an overnight flight as well," said Lavender, "I've just noticed that the sun is soon to set."
"Then let's have some of the fruit we have collected and then find a warm spot to get some sleep since it will be very cold when the plane reaches a high altitude," said Carla. The others nodded. Then a bang sound was heard as the hatch to the cargo bay was slammed shut. The three baggage handlers, their task with loading this plane done, moved on as the plane began to head for the runway. A loud whistle flared from the engines of the plane as it was taxied towards the runway. In the cargo bay, the macaws huddled together and prepared for take-off.
"It sure is loud and noisy," said Alessandro.
"It's the engines," said Bia, "They have to spin really fast so that the plane can move fast enough so that the rush of air flows faster over the wing than under it, generating lift and making the plane take off."
"What do you mean by that, Bia?" asked Alessandro.
"She means that the plane has to move fast enough to fly, Alessandro," said Spinel.
"I see," said Alessandro but he was still a little confused. Bia then, made a saddened face when she saw Alessandro's look. Virgil, when he noticed this sad look, looked on worriedly.
Outside, the plane continued towards the runway and as soon as it was on the beginning, the plane accelerated to high speed. The macaws inside the cargo bay felt the movement and were pushed against the baggage and jumped around slightly.
"Whoa," gasped Estelle in shock as she huddled against one of the two bags.
"Do planes have to move THIS fast?" asked Sheldon.
"Yes, in order to fly," said Alexandre.
"It's also not comfortable," said Finnick as he and the other macaws were rocked by the bumpy ride. Then seconds later, the plane was in the air. Its landing gear withdrew into the fuselage and the plane headed for the skies. As soon as the macaws felt that the plane was in the air, Carla called the group together.
"Okay, everyone," she said, "It's going to be a long wait until we get to Guyana. Until then, let's eat some of our fruit and then get some sleep. We will then find the legendary place by flying from Georgetown."
The other macaws nodded and then the whole group unzipped their fanny packs and took out some of the fruit they had packed before the journey and began to eat. However, Carla and her group were unaware that two more birds, also wearing a fanny pack each, had also stowed away on the plane.
Meanwhile
Dusk was approaching and the darkness of the night was slowly eating away at the day of the sun which was setting in the western horizon. In the Sanctuary de Amazon, the macaws and the other animals continued their lives. The atmosphere of much of the soon-to-be-former sanctuary was gloomy, and sadness and disappointment continued hanging over a lot of the animals like a black cloud. In the Navyfeather Clan and glaucous macaw tribe's home patch, hyacinth and glaucous macaws continued their usual business. Flavio had organised a meeting with the high-ranked birds of the hyacinth clan and also with Rudi, Valeria and their inner circle birds of the glaucous tribe to discuss their future once the Sanctuary de Amazon becomes obsolete. The hyacinth and glaucous macaws were indeed miserable but a few of them were also sad for a few other reasons. In Levi and Lapis Lazuli's hollow, Larimar and Quincy were helping their mother Lapis Lazuli to stock up on food while the pair also prepared for bed as it was getting dark. Levi was at the meeting for he was the mate of Rudi's cousin and this cousin-in-law. Because of this, Rudi had included him in the inner circle group. The two young glaucous macaws greatly missed their brother and sister, Tristan and Trixie, and the choice not to go to Guyana had been very difficult for them. That, together with their month-long grounding, made the two siblings very despondent indeed.
As the two young macaws placed some berries in a storage compartment of their family's hollow while Lapis Lazuli was out foraging, Larimar asked, "Do you think our brother and sister and the others with them will find the treasure?"
"I hope so, sis," said Quincy, "It's gonna be unbearable if they come back empty-taloned."
Larimar made a sad face at this possibility. Then she returned to packing the berries into the storage space. Not too far away from Levi and his family's hollow, Juan, the cousin of Neytiri and Michelle's son, was having papaya dinner with his mother and was close to finishing it. He had been awfully quiet over the past three days and had done everything his mother told him to do. Like Quincy and Larimar, Juan missed Tristan and Trixie, and also his cousin Neytiri. Like his friends, he hoped that the myth was real. Juan then downed the rest of his papaya and as soon as he had finished the last piece, Michelle commanded, "Right, son, off to bed."
Juan breathed a sad sigh and obeyed while Michelle cleared away the seeds and skins. The young glaucous macaw trudged away into his room and slumped into his nest, knowing that this was only the beginning of the difficult time until Carla and her group return from their trip to Guyana.
In the Navyfeather Clan, Phoebe had just returned from a patrol group with three other hyacinth macaws including Pedro, Victor's father. As she landed on the rim of the hollow entrance, Phoebe felt a thought pop into her head, but it made her nerves tremble. Nervously, she entered her and her family's hollow. Inside, Cobalto had put Indigo to bed when he heard the sounds of his mate's talons gently thump on the floor. Hearing those thumps, he turned round, exited Indigo's room and saw Phoebe saunter sadly into the hollow.
"Is something wrong, Phoebe?" he asked. Phoebe looked up at him.
"I feel we need to talk," she said. Cobalto, at first shot her a confused look but then went along with it. A minute later, Phoebe was discussing her thoughts and her worries with Cobalto. While the two talked, Indigo stood just outside her room and listened in, pressing her head against a protrusion of wall dividing the entrance of her room from the main part of the hollow.
"I'm planning on leaving the Sanctuary de Amazon and returning to Rio," said Phoebe.
"Leave?" repeated Cobalto in shock, "Why?"
"Look, Cobalto," said Phoebe gently and sternly, "I have been troubled by thoughts of Flavio planning to evict us from our clan due our son and daughter influencing the other macaws of Carla's meeting group into believing in one of our myths to be true. If he is planning on such, then at least we will leave without being driven out…"
Indigo flinched and drew in a sharp and frightened gasp when she heard this.
"Look, Phoebe," said Cobalto, "I think you're being a bit paranoid. Carla and some of the others had just gone to Rio for a few days. That is all. I think they have enough sense to believe that the Bizarre Birds and Treasure story is nothing more than a fairy tale…"
Indigo allowed a breath of relief to escape her beak and prepared to return to bed. But her attention was pulled back to her parents' discussion after Phoebe proposed a question.
"But what if they think otherwise?" asked her mother worriedly, "What if they have gone to Guyana instead of Rio?"
Indigo shuddered with dread.
"Oh, no, please don't mention that," she whispered. Cobalto sighed irritated.
"Your worries sometimes get on my nerves sometimes, Phoebe," he muttered, his wing on his forehead. "They have gone to Rio, and that's it. Will you please stop worrying about that group going to Guyana?"
Cobalto then lifted his head and turned to face Phoebe once again. "Let's just go to bed, okay? And as for Zebedee, when he returns, we're gonna give him some outright discipline for going off without our permission, especially since he's supposed to be grounded along with his sister."
Indigo then breathed another sigh of relief and returned to her nest while Phoebe, having admitted defeat, went with Cobalto to their nest to get some sleep.
The Bluewing Clan and blue-throated macaw clan's territory
Close to the edge of Reynaldo and Demetrio's clan's area bordering the flying fox colony's territory, a group of Spix, red, blue-and-gold, Lear's and green macaws were on patrol with some of the blue-throated macaws and hyacinth macaws from the two clans. With the group were Athos, Porthos, Aramis, Zephyr, Roberto, Nuvem and D'Artagnan and some of their friends including Maximillian from the Spix tribe. A number of chicks were with the group but they were kept well away from the border to the flying fox colony's area, and their parents had decided to take them out for a little while. It was better than to leave them cooped up in their hollows throughout their entire grounding period for if a macaw remained in its hollow for a long time without going out, it was bound to go crazy. While the group of young macaws were being looked after by some hyacinth macaws from Demetrio's clan while their parents scanned the border for any suspicious flying fox activity, Charlotte, together with Felix, Ricardo, Tyler, Turquesa, Músculo and Garrett, as well as Miranda's two younger sisters, Jasmine and Annette, and Poinsettia from the red macaw tribe, Wilbur and Bastian from the blue-and-gold macaws, Ariel from the blue-throated macaw clan and Chlorophyll's sister Petunia from the green tribe, stood together on some branches. A cloud of sadness and worry hung over them, and they were very worried for their friends who had left three days ago. Around them, the jungle was getting dark and it would soon be time to return to their tribes and clans for the night.
"I wonder how Carla and the others are doing," whispered Charlotte as she started into an orchid. Charlotte had been feeling totally miserable for the past few days since Carla and her group left and already, she deeply missed her two brothers Justin and Virgil, sister Matilda, cousins Finnick and Lavender and the others with them.
"I know how you feel, Charlotte," whispered Felix, the only cousin remaining, who sat beside her, "I miss my brother and sister terribly too."
"It had been an extremely difficult decision to stay behind," said Poinsettia, "I miss my brother Alexandre and sister Spinel as well."
She then stared out into the darkening jungle. "They certainly are brave to venture out into a strange country, so far away from the familiar grounds of home and where there is an increased risk of poachers about, to help save the sanctuary."
"Yeah," said Petunia as she fiddled with a leaf, "I just hope they don't run into any dire situations such as danger from poachers or predators."
Poinsettia flinched at the thought of Estelle, Alexandre, Sheldon and Spinel and any of the others with Carla, Bia and Tiago getting caught by a harpy eagle or poacher, and what had almost happened to Larimar, one of Lapis Lazuli and Levi's chicks, during their trip to Rio with Phoebe's family made her shudder.
"To be honest with you," she continued, "Because they will be going to a country outside any protected reserve, they are more vulnerable to getting caught by poachers," Poinsettia's eyes travelled to Charlotte, Felix, Ricardo, Tyler, Turquesa, Garrett, Músculo, and Jasmine and Annette, and she also thought about the glaucous macaw, "Especially the Spix, the Lear's and glaucous macaws."
"You're not kidding, Poinsettia," said Ricardo. Then his brother Tyler's eyes travelled to Roberto as he delivered the report on the border to Demetrio and Reynaldo.
"You know, when the truth eventually comes out, Uncle Beto (that is, Roberto)," said Tyler, "Is not gonna like this when he finds that Finnick and Lavender are gonna be in a strange country."
"Dad absolutely despises the thought of us getting caught by poachers after his experiences with getting caught by one which led to his nightmarish time as a captive bird," said Felix, "In fact, he was against the idea of going to Rio with us for fear that we might face the same situation as Larimar, one of Levi's chicks, faced last year."
"We agree," said Turquesa. Garrett and Músculo nodded in agreement. Suddenly, a few alarmed shouts caught the attention of the chicks, causing the gazes of all of them to snap in the direction of the patrol group.
"We've seen a group of four flying foxes flying due east," said one of them, D'Artagnan, "But thankfully they're a good distance away from our border."
"That's good," said Demetrio, "Do you know where they are headed?"
"No, but it seems like they are just out foraging or something," said Zephyr, "But despite them being so distant from the border, we saw that all four of those bats are unmarked and scar-free, unlike most of their colony-mates…"
When the chicks heard this, they exchanged glances.
"Unmarked flying foxes?" repeated Jasmine confused.
"Maybe they haven't been in a fight with any birds yet," said Annette.
"Well, looks can be deceiving," said Garrett, "Maybe those bats are out looking for a bird to kill in a practice hunt and earn their first trophy."
"First trophy?" repeated Bastian confused. Wilbur turned to face him.
"Those flying foxes, whenever they kill a bird with a weapon," he said, "Take a feather of their victim and tie it to the end of their weapons. If a group of bats kills a single bird, then each member of the group takes a feather from their victim. Mr Soleado explained that to us," Wilbur's face then formed an annoyed scowl, "It seems that you haven't been paying proper attention to his lesson about the flying foxes and their danger, Bastian."
Bastian just breathed a sigh in response to this. He sometimes found lessons boring and his attention sometimes wandered. Then Petunia's voice caught his attention.
"Looks like they are done," said the female great green macaw. The other chicks looked up and saw the mixed group of adult macaws fly in their direction. The two hyacinth macaws who had been looking after the chicks while their parents examined the border, went over to the patrol group while the chicks' parents gathered their offspring. Petunia heard her father call her name.
"It's time to return to our territory," said Aramis firmly. Petunia turned and looked at her friends.
"I have to go," said she, "I'll see you again another time. It is getting late, anyway," she gazed at the twilight sky of the western horizon as she said this. After this, she hugged her friends and followed Aramis before leaving with her father to the green tribe's home with the other great green and military macaws present.
Zephyr, Nuvem, Roberto, Maximillian and their friends then came in and collected Charlotte, Tyler, Ricardo, Felix, Turquesa, Garrett and Músculo and left for the Spix tribe's territory, while Athos ordered Poinsettia away. Poinsettia then left with her father for Felipe's territory with some other scarlet and green-winged macaws. Wilbur and Bastian then followed Porthos and Bastian's father after they called their names while D'Artagnan called for Jasmine and Annette and the two sisters followed him. As the group dispersed, they all said goodbye to each other before leaving, while their parents thanked the two hyacinth macaws for watching over their chicks. Only Ariel was left, and she sadly watched as her friends dispersed with their parents and the other macaws. The young blue-throated macaw then turned her attention to her father, Eriko, as he talked with Demetrio and some of the other blue-throated and hyacinth macaws from the Bluewing Clan, including the two babysitters.
"Do you think we need to keep a closer eye on that part of the border, Demetrio?" asked Eriko.
"Well if those bats are not planning anything suspicious," said Demetrio with a firm voice, "Then it's not necessary, but we'll keep a continual and daily eye on the border just to make sure. I think those bats are out a patrol or perhaps looking for some bird to attack and kill based on their unmarked appearances."
"But they were adults," said another blue-throated macaw, a female, "I would have thought they would have been covered in a lot of scars by now, like every other adult flying fox from the colony…"
"One of them also appeared to have had white fur as well, implying that it was an albino," said a hyacinth macaw. When Ariel heard this, her eyes flashed a look of confusion.
"Albino bat?" repeated she to herself, "Didn't Mr Athos say that he had seen an albino bat with two other flying foxes amongst a group of birds after his brush with a watery death?"
She then heard her father call her. Obediently, Ariel opened her wings and took off towards Eriko. Then the father led his daughter in the direction of the blue-throated and Bluewing clans' home patch. Ariel gazed into the direction of the flying foxes' turf one last time.
"I wonder if there are any good flying foxes who are against the colony's teachings that we birds are vermin that deserve to be driven out," she said to herself, "And are perhaps even friends with birds?"
As this unlikely thought bubbled within her mind, Ariel resumed following her father.