Chapter 25- plunges into darkness
The blue-and-gold tribe's home patch
The sun was slowly sinking towards its setting point of the western horizon. In the home grove of the blue-and-gold macaws, dozens of blue and yellow birds continued to bring in fruit and check on the non-tribe and clan residents of their territory. Soleado had entrusted the leadership role to his inner-circle birds, among them Porthos and Orquidea, to keep watch over the other tribe members and the smaller group birds while he and some of the other members went to Alonso's tribe's home patch to discuss the flying fox situation as invited by Alonso's messengers as well as the command that no-one leave the home grove except the patrollers and foragers. Now, the inner circle birds lead the tribe until he returned. The air hanging over the blue-and-gold tribe's grove of trees was a dull grey cloud filled with uncertainty, despair and worry. None of the tribe members other than the foraging and patrol groups had been outside the home patch but encounters and narrow escapes from groups of armed flying foxes intent on kidnapping birds had increased. Fortunately, none of the tribe members had been kidnapped, yet.
Tobias, the oldest son of Soleado and Zoie stood on the rim of the entrance to his parents' hollow, his saddened eyes sliding over the dull atmosphere of depressed birds. He had hoped that Alonso will have come up with some sort of solution and plan of action against the ever increasing flying fox threat. There was no doubt that the flying foxes were going to go ahead with their invasion plans now, especially after what happened to the Bluewing Clan and blue-throated macaws last night, and what was even more worrying was that there was nothing stopping the bats now. Tobias then turned his gaze towards the approaching sunset. The sun hovered as an amber circle, like a giant pale orange or grapefruit, right over its setting point. Tobias breathed a despairing sigh. Night was approaching and he hoped that Soleado and Zoie would not be too long there. As Tobias continued gazing out into the grove air, a voice sounded behind him.
"Is everything alright, bro?" it said. Tobias turned and saw Bromelia (the one who had spoken) and Amarillo approach him. They were accompanied by Felicia who had been given the task of looking after the hollow and the three siblings by Soleado before he and Zoie left and Felicia was the scoremarker for the blue-and-gold macaw tribe's Pit of Games team.
"You look very down," said Felicia. Tobias sighed and returned to gazing at the scenery stretched out before him.
"Just worried about the situation with the flying foxes," he replied in a sombre voice. Felicia walked up to the young blue-and-gold macaw and sat down beside him.
"We all are," she said sympathetically, "That's why our leaders and your parents have left to discuss this with the other tribe and clan leaders in Alonso's tribe's home patch."
Amarillo then flashed Felicia a very worried look. "Could it mean leaving our homes?" he asked timidly. Felicia gazed down at him.
"I hope not," she said, "One, we've lived here for generations and two, our territories have been set up as a protected reserve from loggers and poachers and if we were to leave everything behind…"
She trailed off, not wanting to mention the consequences. Tobias then hardened his gaze as he thought about the Lear's macaw tribe.
"Waldo and Monique's tribe are NOT going to like the sound of leaving their beloved ravine, I can tell you," he said, "Especially since they've lived in that ravine for generations as well since their ancestors from a large colony in Bahia migrated westward to that spot and settled there."
"It's their most valuable heirloom," said Felicia.
"What's an heirloom?" asked Amarillo.
"It's a valuable belonging that is passed down through the generations, Amarillo," explained Felicia, "And that is exactly what that ravine in which the Lear's macaw tribe lives is."
"And if those flying furballs," said Tobias, saying the two 'f' words with pure bitterness and malice, "were to invade that ravine, drive the Lear's macaw tribe out and make it their own land, then they'd be stealing that heirloom from the Lear's macaws."
Felicia nodded in agreement.
"That's right, Tobias," she said, "Those bats are nothing but thieves, they are. But the Lear's tribe's ravine is not the only invaluable habitat they have. The homes of the other tribes and clans as well as the other birds living on the Sanctuary de Amazon, including our own, are also very valuable. Not just because they're our generation heirloom though, but because our human friends, those who care for the environment, have set them and our lands up as a nature reserve to protect us from habitat loss from loggers and whatnot."
Tobias nodded while Bromelia and Amarillo smiled. Felicia then sighed.
"But why those flying foxes have set to intruding in our land in the first place is anybody's guess," she said.
"Maybe because they are jealous of us being protected from logging?" suggested Bromelia. Felicia only shrugged. Just then the sounds of wing flaps reached the quartet's ears.
"Felicia!" cried a familiar voice. elicia looked up and saw a young male macaw and a friend of hers, Romeo, shoot in like a blue and yellow comet. Romeo was one of Soleado's most trusted inner-circle birds and another childhood friend of Orquidea. He looked very alarmed and terrified, his dark green eyes widened and his plumage flattened. Because of this Bromelia made a remark under her breath about how he looked as though he had been pursued by a predator.
"Whoa, Romeo, slow down," called Felicia as the macaw managed to brake before crashing into the tree beside the hollow entrance. Romeo then touched down and began to gasp for air.
"Something urgent?" asked Tobias.
"You'd better come with me right away," cried Romeo, "Or things might spiral out of control!"
Felicia and Tobias flashed a concerned and dread-filled glance at each other and then took off. Bromelia and Amarillo followed with Romeo in tow.
As the five blue-and-gold macaws approached a certain tree, they could hear screeching and shouting from within its hollow.
"It's NOT safe to go into the Bluewing Clan's territory, Orquidea! Soleado and Zoie ordered us to stay within the grove!"
"But our son Wilbur has been MISSING FOR WELL OVER A DAY! We HAVE TO GO OUT THERE AND LOOK FOR HIM!"
"But THAT territory will have been TAKEN OVER BY THOSE BATS NOW! HAVE YOU NOT HEARD WHAT CLEMONT AND SERENA HAVE TOLD US!?"
Tobias widened his eyes in surprise. He had never heard Porthos and Orquidea have such a heated argument like this before. However, Romeo was insistent.
"Come on!" he cried, "Before either of them gets hurt!"
And with that, the quintet accelerated towards the tree. Inside the tree hollow, Porthos and Orquidea glared at each other with furious eyes, shouting at each other loudly. From the sidelines, their two second-brood daughters, Amalthea and Desdemona, continued watching the argument go on with Serena and Clemont standing beside them. All four were afraid as they helplessly watched the argument continue to rage like a storm. Porthos and Orquidea had started bickering a few hours ago, Orquidea insisting that she fly into the Bluewing Clan and blue-throated macaws' territory to search for Wilbur and also Ariel and her family and Porthos not wanting her to run into danger. However, over time, that bickering had exploded into a heated argument. Orquidea's eyes were blazing pink fire while Porthos's eyes were beige coloured. The couple were indeed at complete loggerheads with each other. Orquidea's stubbornness was sometimes a problem for Porthos, especially regarding danger. Orquidea then turned and stormed towards the entrance of the hollow.
"I don't CARE!" she bellowed as she stomped away from her mate, "I WANNA find our son and bring him back."
Before she hopped onto the rim of the hollow, Orquidea shot Porthos a scorching gaze. "And if he is EVER found dead because of those BATS, YOU will be the one to blame for allowing HIM to go over there in the first place!"
Porthos flinched harshly at the comment, while Clemont, Amalthea, Serena and Desdemona looked on in horror. Clemont then began to look for a way to intervene but was too paralysed by fear of getting caught in the crossfire to do anything.
"ME!?" retorted Porthos in shock, "It's NOT my fault that those FURBALLS have DECIDED to DRIVE OUT THOSE POOR HYACINTH AND BLUE-THROATED MACAWS IN THE FIRST PLACE!"
His anger then really got the better of him and he shook with it. "I think you're an… EXTREMELY… STUBBORN and HARD-HEADED MACAW who DISREGARDS DANGER!"
Orquidea flinched harshly, offended by this comment but Porthos swept on. "If you WANNA go over there and GET INJURED BY THOSE WINGED FURBALLS, you GO AHEAD, but DON'T BLAME ME IF YOU DO, because I've HAD ENOUGH of your STUBBORNNESS!"
"STOP IT!" cried Serena, darting between the arguing couple, her pure yellow crest characteristic of her cockatoo species flaring. Porthos and Orquidea shot her a flabbergasted look. At that moment, five more blue-and-gold macaws appeared at the hollow entrance. Porthos and Orquidea looked at the five newcomers who were Romeo, Felicia, Tobias, Bromelia and Amarillo as they gazed back at the pair in surprise. Serena, however, ignored the five new arrivals and continued protesting against Porthos and Orquidea arguing.
"Falling out like this is not gonna achieve anything," she continued, "And besides that, it's nobody's fault. We just didn't know that the flying foxes had planned an attack on those two clans to begin with."
"That's right," said Felicia as she stepped into the hollow. Her gaze then landed on Porthos and Orquidea. "Seriously, you two, you need to get a grip."
There was a moment of silence in the hollow. Orquidea, however, was too stubborn to listen to anyone. Blinded by rage and hurt at Porthos's scorching remarks about her, she made for the hollow, barged past Tobias, Bromelia, Romeo and Amarillo and took to the air without even acknowledging anyone. Porthos dashed off after her.
"Orquidea, come BACK!" he cried but his mate refused to answer and was eventually out of earshot. Felicia shot Porthos an angered gaze.
"Now you've DONE IT, you MORON!" she barked, "You've pushed her into leaving!"
Porthos felt guilt splash over him and he began to tremble. Around him, Serena, Clemont, Desdemona, Amalthea, Felicia, Bromelia, Romeo and Amarillo could only look on. Then Porthos felt the urge to go after Orquidea come over him. Without another second's hesitation, he made for the hollow, forcing Romeo, Bromelia, Tobias and Amarillo to step aside and then lofted into flight.
"Porthos, come back here," cried Tobias, "Porthos? Porthos? PORTHOS!"
However, Porthos was already out of earshot as he had flown away so fast. Then moments later, the sounds of flaps from two more pairs of wings reached the ears of the group. The group turned and saw Ignacio fly in with Azul and Brooke.
"Ignacio," said Felicia with surprise.
"Where are Porthos and Orquidea?" asked Ignacio urgently. Tobias, Bromelia, Romeo and Amarillo pointed in the direction in which Porthos and Orquidea had flown.
"They need to know that Wilbur is alive and is in the Navyfeather hyacinth Clan and glaucous macaw tribe's territory," said Ignacio. Hearing this, the group exchanged shocked glances.
"Is he?" asked Tobias. Romeo then turned to look into the hollow for Clemont and Serena but the two cockatoos weren't with Desdemona and Amalthea. The two sisters were left confused as to where the cockatoos had gone. Dread consuming him, Romeo snapped his gaze from inside the hollow to outside until his eyes landed on a pair of pale shapes as they flew off at high speed.
"CLEMONT, SERENA!" he barked. Clemont and Serena, however, did not hear Romeo's voice and continued flying after Porthos and Orquidea.
"CLEMONT, SERENA, GET BACK HERE!" barked Azul.
"Now what are we gonna do!?" asked Felicia angrily. Ignacio was about to reply when suddenly, another voice reached his ears.
"Ignacio, Felicia, a patrol group's been attacked by some flying foxes and two have been kidnapped!"
Ignacio breathed a seriously frustrated sigh and turned to two macaws approaching him.
Later
Night was beginning to fall on the rainforest for the sun was in the process of setting. Opposite the setting sun, the daylight was being eaten away by the darkness of night and stars were slowly stepping out of the light from the sun. The moon hovered close to the eastern horizon, slowly ascending into the sky. In the jungle, night time animals were preparing for their nightly business while the diurnal (day-active) animals were preparing for bed. The jungle was eerily quiet as well except for the sounds of some wing-flaps coming from a certain blue and yellow macaw as she flew through the darkening jungle. Orquidea scanned the evening surroundings with wary eyes. She was now in the territory of the Bluewing Clan and blue-throated macaws but to her surprise, everything was eerily quiet. Surprised by this abnormal quietness Orquidea slowed to a hover and perched onto a branch and began to listen for any hyacinth or blue-throated macaw calls. However, there was none. Orquidea opened her wings to continue when suddenly, she heard the sounds of wing-flaps. Alerted, she stiffened. The wing-flaps became louder and louder, making Orquidea's nerves shudder all the more. Warily, the blue-and-gold macaw looked around until… "Orquidea?
Orquidea turned round to the speaker and when her eyes met the form, she let loose a startled shriek. However it were only Porthos, Clemont and Serena. Orquidea breathed a sigh of relief but then her gaze turned to a glare as she eyed her mate. She was obviously still angry with him for the things he said back at the hollow. Porthos, however, wore an apologetic expression.
"Look, I'm gonna look for Wilbur, before you start protesting," Orquidea growled but Clemont stepped forward.
"But Orquidea, this place is now likely owned by the flying foxes," he said, "You've heard what we've been telling Soleado and Zoie."
"And besides that, it is extremely unwise," said Serena. She flashed a glance here and there as though expecting an armed flying fox to come jumping out at them. "If you run into any of those bats, you could end up in mortal danger."
Orquidea, however, was too stubborn to listen to the warnings for she was desperate to find Wilbur. Then Porthos began to try and apologise.
"Look, I'm sorry about the things I've said back at our hollow but," he began, "We should head back to our tribe's territory."
"Yeah, it's not safe here," said Serena. She shuddered at the eerie quietness of the trees. What made things even more eerie was the fact that there were absolutely NO birdcalls whatsoever. Porthos then looked around and noticed that the trees were lacking birdcalls. Unnerved, he shuddered.
"Do you hear any birdcalls, Orquidea?" he asked. Orquidea, forgetting her anger at Porthos for saying those remarks to her back at the blue-and-gold tribe's territory, stopped and began to listen to the surroundings. Clemont also listened for birdcalls.
"This is definitely not normal," said Orquidea, "Normally, the Bluewing Clan's territory air is flooded with all sorts of birdcalls, among them blue-throated macaw and hyacinth macaw calls but now," she looked around, "It's indeed awfully quiet."
"It's almost l-l-like a ghost-town in a-a-a human settlement," said Clemont, a slight shudder in his voice and his orange crest partially raised, "Or an abandoned habitat."
"I definitely don't feel safe here," added Serena. Porthos then prepared to take the quartet back to the blue-and-gold tribe's territory but the sounds of wing-flaps as Orquidea had taken off deeper into the abnormally quiet Bluewing Clan and blue-throated macaws' territory tugged him away from doing this.
"Orquidea!" he called and with that, he opened his wings and lofted into flight after her. Clemont and Serena flashed each other a gaze and followed.
A little while later, the four had reached the outskirts of the home patch of the Bluewing Clan and blue-throated macaws. Serena and Clemont timidly looked around, their crests partially raised and their eyes wide with fear. The same abnormal quietness and lack of birdcalls persisted and it was making them feel agitated. It was then that Clemont's eye caught sighted a flash of navy blue in one of the trees. Curious, he turned and looked at the flash and realised it was a feather.
"Clemont?" asked Serena when she saw Clemont fly towards the spot where he had seen the feather. Ahead, Porthos and Orquidea flew further towards the home groves that belonged to the Bluewing Clan and blue-throated macaws. Clemont then touched down onto the branch and picked up the feather. Serena flew in and looked at the feather closely. The feather was a rich navy blue and based on its shape, it appeared to have come from a wing. However, Serena saw that the tip was dipped in red.
"It's a hyacinth macaw wing flight feather," Clemont whispered, "Looks like it had been shed by an injured hyacinth macaw."
Serena then began to look around for Porthos and Orquidea in the trees until her eyes landed on a pair of aqua blue and yellow forms. The two were hovering over something before descending through the canopy. Then Serena heard Orquidea shout a familiar name. Wondering why she was saying that name, the sulfur-crested cockatoo opened her wings and took off after them. Clemont subsequently followed, dropping the feather in the process.
Orquidea continued descending through the canopy, her eyes on a familiar macaw with Porthos following closely behind. Behind Porthos, Clemont and Serena followed. As the pair of blue-and-gold macaws touched down, Orquidea went over to the familiar macaws, which were a pair of scarlet macaws.
"Orquidea, Porthos," said one of the scarlet macaws, which was a female, "What are you doing here?"
"I was gonna ask the same question, Ruby and Poinsettia," said Porthos. Ruby and the other scarlet macaw, her daughter Poinsettia, then began to enter into conversation with Orquidea and Porthos. While they did this, Serena touched down, also surprised to see Ruby and Poinsettia present.
"Looks like Aunt Ruby and Poinsettia have come to look for survivors as well," she told Clemont as he touched down. Clemont, his eyes on Poinsettia and Ruby, then began to take a few steps back until his left talon landed on something feathery. Feeling this, he looked down and saw a set of navy blue flight feathers. However, Clemont was in for a nasty shock. As Clemont's eyes followed the set of feathers and landed on their owner, the citron-crested cockatoo drew in a sharp squawk of fright and leaped about a foot into the air. His orange crest flared up and his plumage bristled. His squawk alerted Porthos, Orquidea, Poinsettia and Ruby and they gazed at the two cockatoos.
"Clemont, Serena?" gasped Poinsettia in surprise, "What are you two doing here?"
Ruby, Orquidea and Porthos, however, had their eyes on what Clemont had just seen. Serena then came to see what had startled Clemont.
"What is-?" she began but before she could finish, she drew in a sharp, horrified gasp. Her pure yellow crest also flared up. Porthos, Orquidea, Poinsettia and Ruby then walked in and also drew in a sharp gasp each.
Lying before the two blue-and-gold macaws, two scarlet macaws, the citron-crested cockatoo and sulfur-crested cockatoo was a large navy blue bird whose height was almost twice that of Clemont and Serena. Based on its features, the hyacinth macaw was a female but she lay lifeless, her eyes like glass. Gashes crisscrossed her navy blue plumage and her beak hung open. A dried pool of blood had formed under her beak. Sickened by the very sight of the corpse, Poinsettia shuddered and drew closer to her mother Ruby who had her beak covered with her wings, eyes wide in horror. Clemont felt his stomach churn while Serena swayed with her head spinning. Orquidea also shuddered while Porthos went over to the dead hyacinth macaw. She was familiar and Porthos had seen this macaw with one of Demetrio and Violeta's sons and their daughter.
"Ligia, Vincente's mate," whispered the muscular blue-and-gold macaw as he looked at the lifeless eyes closely. Porthos then looked up and saw more navy blue forms scattered along the forest floor. Among the corpses, Porthos thought he saw a few dashes of white, like those of a broken eggshell. Porthos then stood back and gazed at Ligia's lifeless body and the bodies of some of the other hyacinth macaws once again.
"You weren't kidding about what had happened to the Bluewing Clan last night," whispered he to Clemont and Serena who shuddered at the sight of the carcass and did not reply, too stricken by horror and revulsion to get any words out.
"There seem to be more dead hyacinth macaws than blue-throated macaws," said Poinsettia as she hovered a few feet off the ground and examined more of the forest floor. She had seen only one or two blue and yellow forms, clearly blue-throated macaws, among the navy blue carnage dotting the undergrowth.
"What Ariel and her family have been through to cause this carnage must have been an utter nightmare," whispered Orquidea. Then the reason of why she came here in the first place returned to her. "Oh, are we gonna return to finding Wilbur?" she asked. Porthos, Clemont and Serena shot her a 'What!?' look while Ruby and Poinsettia's gazes were surprised.
"Wilbur was here when it happened?" asked Poinsettia.
"Apparently so," said Clemont. Porthos then breathed a sigh.
"Well, I feel it's time we head back," he said, his wary eyes scanning the surroundings, "I don't feel safe here and I have a seriously bad feeling about this..."
Suddenly, a scornful voice laced with extremely acidic mockery exploded from above the group, making all six jump.
"Well, that bad feeling you've got sure has a good reason, you filthy feathered jungle worms!"
Porthos drew in a sharp, startled gasp while Orquidea, Poinsettia and Ruby flinched. Clemont and Serena's crest flared out and all six began to shoot terrified glances at the air above as dozens of furry creatures with membranous wings descended from the air towards the group, their eyes which were flooded with acidic scorn and malice, fixed on them. Then Porthos's talon darted out, seized a nearby stick and pointed it at the enormous flying creatures, some smaller than others due to their age, as they lighted down onto the ground around the six birds, the fronds of ferns and light leaf litter kicked up by the draughts generated by their large charcoal-black membranous wings.
"You come anywhere near us and I'll BLUGEON YOU!" snarled Porthos hostilely, his feathers bristled and his stick hovering threateningly at the flying foxes. However, the response Porthos got were scornful and mocking laughter as one of the flying foxes, a brown female, gazed at a hideous male with a muscular build with a crooked smirk.
"Who is that burly blue and yellow pile of capybara dung talking to, Voldemort?" she asked nastily.
"I don't know but he certainly is playing with fire, Cruella," replied the male meanly, making a snide reference to the macaws' intense dislike of fire as a form of intimidation. Then mocking laughs rolled through the flying fox crowd, much to Porthos's offended flash of his eyes.
Behind Porthos, Clemont and Serena quivered at the sight of the large male bat named Voldemort. This bat was enormous, around twice their size though he was not as big as an adult hyacinth macaw. His face and body fur was crisscrossed with countless scars including some fresh ones he had received from the most recent fights, such as the one with his nemesis Roberto, and his body was highly muscled, more so than Porthos much to the blue-and-gold macaw's dread. The hideous appearance of the flying fox made Ruby, Poinsettia, Orquidea, Clemont and Serena wince in revulsion. Clemont and Serena's eyes then darted about and examined the other flying foxes, all who wore the same malicious expression as Voldemort and Cruella. Most of the flying foxes were large, like Voldemort and Cruella but some of them appeared small, some smaller even than Clemont and Serena. Seeing these bats' sizes, the two cockatoos deduced them to be young pups and adolescent flying foxes but like the adults, their faces bore malicious and sadistic looks. Then Clemont and Serena's eyes landed on a group of five flying foxes in the crowd, an adult brown male, an adult red-brown female and three smaller, white bats, an adolescent male and two young females. However, there was something different about the facial expressions of these bats. Instead of being full of scorn and mockery like the other flying foxes, the faces of these five were laced with concern and fear. Clemont and Serena, together with Poinsettia and Ruby, blinked in confusion. Were these five bats really concerned for them? Then Poinsettia felt recognition come over her but Voldemort's threatening voice snapped her and the others out of their thoughts.
Voldemort, his face now a look of thunder, then began to advance towards Porthos, his sharp-stick in his enormous wings, given to him by one of the flying foxes. Porthos, who wore a defiant and hostile facial expression, and Orquidea, Ruby, Poinsettia, Clemont and Serena whose facial expressions were flooded with immense terror, backed away and huddled close together as the enormous bat towered menacingly over Porthos, his sharp-stick's point aimed for his chest. Porthos, however, kept his stick held high, poised to whack Voldemort across the face.
"Now, since you and your five friends over there," growled the hulking bat in a voice that sounded like the growl of a jaguar, his hostile gaze flashing from Porthos to Orquidea, Ruby, Poinsettia, Clemont and Serena, "have stepped into flying fox territory, you are to be put to DEATH!"
The other flying foxes apart from the five that wore concerned looks, nodded in agreement. At Voldemort's mentioning of 'flying fox territory' when this was in fact the territory of the Bluewing Clan and blue-throated macaws, Ruby felt an immense flash of outrage burn through her. Her terror immediately became replaced by that anger as she began to retort at Voldemort's statement.
"Your territory, YOUR territory!?" she snapped, "This territory belongs to a clan of HYACINTH AND BLUE-THROATED MACAWS, NOT YOU!"
"This territory is part of our land now, red rodent," retorted Voldemort, "Those two clans of feathered worms have been driven out, and now their land belongs to us."
The other flying foxes apart from five of them laughed evilly. The macaws and two cockatoos, however, were not amused. Then Porthos's eyes briefly darted to Ligia's corpse and then back to Voldemort's hideous gaze.
"Don't you realise what trauma you have put those poor birds through!?" he asked furiously, his stick still poised to lash out defensively. Voldemort stood up and nonchalantly shrugged.
"Oh, that," he said shamelessly and casually, "Well, if any of those macaws have survived, I'm sure they'll get over it eventually."
Clemont, Serena and Poinsettia felt a flash of utter outrage burn through them, as did Orquidea and Ruby.
'He's obviously not ashamed of what the bats have done to those poor macaws!' growled Clemont in his mind.
''They'll get over it eventually'?' thought Serena disgustedly, 'It's likely that many of those poor macaws will be scarred for LIFE after what those bats had put them through last night'.
A quiet hiss filtered through the sulfur-crested cockatoo's beak as she simmered in silence. Behind Clemont, Serena, Poinsettia, Ruby and Orquidea, the five bats also blinked and flinched.
Porthos then flashed Ligia's corpse a glance before returning his thunderous glare to Voldemort.
"That hyacinth macaw over there was the mate of one of the Bluewing Clan leaders' SONS," he snarled. Voldemort shot Ligia's corpse a shameless glance and gazed back at the smaller, less muscled blue-and-gold macaw.
"Oh yeah, and how does that entail to that son of the hyacinth macaw clan leaders?" he asked casually, the tittering of some of the flying foxes subsequently following. Porthos hardened his gaze. His temper was boiling furiously inside him and Poinsettia saw that he was reaching breaking point. The middle first-brood daughter of Athos and Ruby remembered the muscled blue-and-gold macaw barely restraining his temper when Nigel the cockatoo taunted him and Orquidea when she, her brother and sister and 'cousins' were chicks.
"He'd be severely HEARTBROKEN by now if he had survived that night," reported Porthos stormily, "And his daughter will have lost her mother, as a CHICK! Do you know how that feels, to lose a parent in a violent siege?"
"Oh, I know how painful a loss of a loved one can be," crooned Voldemort evilly and sarcastically with that, he burst out laughing. The other flying foxes apart from five also giggled, sending disgust tearing through Porthos, Ruby, Poinsettia, Orquidea, Clemont and Serena once again. Then Voldemort turned serious and resumed his original intentions.
"But enough of that palaver and straight to the chase," he snarled, his sharp-stick hovering dangerously close to Porthos's neck, "It is time for you to bed put to death. You know birds like you shouldn't be roaming around flying fox territory."
The other bats except five all wailed in agreement. Then Porthos felt a flash of fear pulse through him while Clemont, Serena, Orquidea, Ruby and Poinsettia shuddered and whimpered, huddling ever closer together as the flying foxes closed in on them. Then one of the flying foxes, another muscular male but with reddish fur, stepped in.
"Wait, everyone," he called, stopping the murderous advances. Interrupted, all the bats' eyes turned to him.
"What is it, Ratigan?" asked Voldemort irritably, "Don't you realise that these trespassers need to DIE?"
Ratigan gazed at the four macaws and two cockatoos. The other flying foxes exchanged confused glances while the five sympathetic ones looked on.
"Do you suppose those six would make great sources of information about the other bird tribes, clans and bird groups?" asked Ratigan. Voldemort paused, his acidic gaze fixed on Porthos and the other five as hard as a glare from a jaguar. Then his smile widened into a crooked, toothy streak across his face. But before he could answer, Clemont felt a surge of anger course through him. Breaking away from the other four and standing next to Porthos, he boldly stepped towards Voldemort in a confrontational manner.
"No, Clemont!" cried Poinsettia when she saw the citron-crested cockatoo do this.
"That bat's extremely dangerous!" added Ruby. Porthos, Serena and Orquidea looked on with astounded looks on their faces as Clemont began to confront the monstrous bat, his orange crest fully raised.
"You are NOT gonna jab those porcupine spines smothered with that tranquiliser-like stuff you had recently discovered into any of US, you HIDEOUS BRUTE!" he screeched. Voldemort's eyes blinked in confusion.
"Tranquiliser!?" he retorted at Clemont's choice of vocabulary. Serena then felt a flash of boldness course through her, so she stepped forward.
"In translation, you dog-faced creep," she snarled, her yellow crest flared, "A substance that puts its victims to sleep."
Ratigan's eye flashed with astonishment as did the eyes of many of the other flying foxes including the five sympathetic bats.
"How did you know about my DISCOVERY of the DORMINDO PLANT!?" Ratigan snarled incredulously. Serena immediately translated that Portuguese word (dormindo) in her mind: 'sleeping' plant. Then Porthos intervened.
"Well, we have no time for this riffraff and palaver with you bats," he growled, his talon placed onto Clemont's wing. "It's time we were off."
"We're not finished," said Voldemort. Orquidea, in response to this, stepped forward.
"Forget it, mutant vulture with fur and membrane wings," she snarled, "We're out of here."
Voldemort's wrath began to boil dangerously inside him and his eyes blazed into brown infernos.
"What did you just CALL ME!?" he snarled and with that, he released a loud snarl. Cruella looked on timidly.
"I think that blue and yellow rodent's turned Voldemort into a fireball," she told the others nearest to her. Voldemort then snapped his gaze from the birds to Cruella and her companions.
"Look, don't you stand there like mosses staring, you lot," he bellowed, "SEIZE THEM!"
Then before Porthos, Orquidea, Ruby, Poinsettia, Serena and Clemont could loft into flight to escape, the bats dived upon them while Voldemort attacked Porthos. Porthos's temper finally burst. With an enraged screech, he jumped up and as hard as he could, he slammed the stick onto Voldemort's torso. However, due to the heavy muscle under the bat's skin and despite Porthos' strength for he was the strongest macaw in his group after Phoebe the hyacinth macaw, Voldemort was completely unfazed, much to Porthos's shock and disbelief.
"Was that ya best shot, blue and yellow feathered slug?" he crooned, saliva dripping from his mouth, before turning savage. "Now let me show you MINE!"
And with that, Voldemort's wings rose and seized Porthos by the neck before pulling him to the ground. Then before Porthos could act, Voldemort was on top of him.
"PORTHOS!" cried Orquidea as she struggled with some bats. Porthos struggled under Voldemort's massive body but Voldemort refused to budge.
"I'm gonna CHOKE YOU INTO UNCONSCIOUSNESS!" growled Voldemort and with that, he wrapped his wings around Porthos's neck and began to strangle him. Porthos's eyes bulged out of his sockets as his air supply was cut off. His name exploded from Orquidea's beak as she watched her mate struggle to pry Voldemort's iron grip wings from his throat. Then Clemont turned and when he saw Voldemort attempt to strange Porthos into unconsciousness, his fury exploded. Voldemort laughed devilishly as he watched Porthos's movements slow and his struggles for breath.
"I sure lurve torturin' birds," he crooned, "Just wait until we take him back to our Interrogation Pa… AAAAGGGGRRRHHH!"
His crooning voice became replaced by a screech of agony as excruciating pain exploded from his back. Voldemort then leaped off of Porthos as Clemont hovered nearby, his talons covered with blood. Then with an enraged screech and his orange crest fully flared, the slightly chubby citron-crested cockatoo pounced onto Voldemort and began to tear his claws and beak through his pelage. Porthos then began to gasp for air, flooding his body with the desperately needed oxygen he had been unable to provide during Voldemort's strangling of him.
While Clemont furiously raked his claws over Voldemort's skin, his blue eyes completely engulfed with flames, Poinsettia, Ruby, Serena and Orquidea continued fighting off more bats. Serena found herself face-to-face with Cruella and began to struggle for her sharp-stick. However, Cruella was having none of this and viciously tore her weapon from Serena's grasp. Then Ruby began to bellow to the other five to flee when suddenly, an ear-piercing screech exploded from her beak. Poinsettia turned to her.
"MOOOM!" she cried and went over to her. Ruby's wing then went to her side and her face twisted in agony. Poinsettia, Orquidea and Serena went over to her and tried to pry her wing around whatever was stuck into her side. Nearby, a young orange male bat with a leaf-bag full of brown sticks covered with a weird green substance stood by, his face twisted into a look of thunder.
"We've just had about enough of THIS!" he bellowed. Poinsettia continued trying to get Ruby to respond.
"Mom, are you alright?" she asked. Ruby looked up at her but then her behaviour began to slow as the green paste on the porcupine spine stuck into her side began to take effect. It was then that Poinsettia felt a sharp stabbing pain explode from his lower back. She released an agonised screech and her wings went to where she had been stabbed. Another flying fox had jabbed another spine into Poinsettia's back. Then Orquidea and Porthos were stabbed with porcupine spines smothered with the green paste while Cruella began to viciously attack Serena, resulting in a vicious brawl between her and the sulphur-crested cockatoo ensuing.
While all this happened, Voldemort's temper exploded and he began to dislodge Clemont as he continued attacking him off his back.
"GET OFF OF ME, you WHITE-FEATHERED, ORANGE-CRESTED SLUDGE-LEECH!" the muscular bat bellowed and with that, he bolted to toss Clemont into the air, whirled round and without hesitation, he slashed his food claws across Clemont's stomach the moment he came back down. Clemont released an ear-splitting screech as he then crashed onto the forest floor. His wings flew to his wounded stomach and his face twisted in pain. However, another sharp pain, this time a literal stabbing one, exploded from his upper back near his left shoulder. Clemont released another cry of agony and grasped the spot where he had been stabbed. When his wing felt something rigid, a horrible feeling came over him but it was extremely painful. Clemont staggered away, one wing on his scratched stomach and the other on a brown twig jutting from his shoulder. Then another cockatoo screech exploded nearby as Serena was also stabbed by another porcupine spine. Clemont flashed the female sulphur-crested cockatoo a look and saw that she was doubled over on the floor, her wings grasping her hip, the flying fox named Cruella standing near her with some more spines, implying that she had been the one to jab one of the spines into the sulphur-crested cockatoo's hip. However, as Clemont gazed at Serena, his head began to feel very weird. It started out with light-headedness, followed subsequently by dizziness as though Clemont had been staying awake for nights on end. His body became weak and Clemont collapsed onto his front, his legs buckling. As Clemont's head felt more and more dense, his vision then began to blur and his hearing became echoed as though he were in the large hall of a human building. It was obvious that the substance on the quill jabbed into Clemont's side, the paste of the dormindo plant as Ratigan had named it was indeed extremely potent for it was only taking a few seconds for its properties to take effect, and that paste was doing just that on the cockatoo's system. As Clemont's senses grew weaker as the dormindo paste began to eclipse his consciousness, he could barely hear the voices of the bats.
"Are you alright, Voldemort?"
"I'm fine, Cruella, thanks… ow, ow, OOOWW!"
"Your back needs to be treated. Let's get you back to our infirmary."
"That orange crested mud-rat certainly has done a good job in clawing you, hasn't it?"
"Anyway, which of these six feathered rodents would you like to take?"
"Well, I've just had news from Shinzon that they already have some red and blue-and-gold macaws as captured from a patrol or foraging group but I suppose one or two more wouldn't hurt."
"We'll take the adult female blue-and-gold and the adult female scarlet."
"What about the adult male blue-and-gold, the young adult female scarlet and the two crested parrots?"
"We'll take them away and feed them to a predator such as a snake, crocodile or jaguar or something."
"No, you lot go ahead with your choice of the female scarlet and blue-and-gold macaws. We'll see to the other four."
"Okay Augustus and make sure that you put them to death pronto. The last thing we want is those four letting their comrades know..."
Clemont shuddered as his weakening ears picked up these words. He had deduced that Orquidea and Ruby were to be taken away while he, Poinsettia, Porthos and Serena were to be put to death by 'Augustus'. Then the air around him became filled with the flapping of membranous wings as the flying foxes disappeared, moments before Clemont's world began to fade into blackness. However, before blackness engulfed him, what he heard next stunned him beyond belief.
"Melissa, Stella, Luna, Sebastian!" cried the voice, "Get some clean water and damp moss for the orange crested parrot and some large leaf hammocks, QUICKLY!"
Then the next thing Clemont knew was he felt the touch of membranous wings on his hips. He was then rolled onto his right side and felt the porcupine spine get pulled out of his back but Clemont only had enough time to see the bat's face, which was a brown face with sympathy-flooded blue eyes before blackness completely enveloped his vision, plunging him into the depths of unconsciousness, the dormindo paste having sent him into a deep sleep like an anaesthetic.