Chapter 27- explanations and suspicions
A brown and black comet shot through the air with a blood red comet with teal and yellow wings in hot pursuit. Alexandre, Poinsettia and Spinel, together with Porthos, Azul and Wilbur, Eustace, Milo, Rosa, Clemont, Serena, Diantha, Orion and Velocity, stood with Melissa, Stella, Luna and Sebastian cowering behind them as they watched as Athos furiously chased Augustus through the air, screeching furiously at the top of his lungs. Nearby, Carla, Bia, Tiago and Kira stood with Blu, Jewel, Zephyr, Aurora, Roberto and Brisa and Justin, Finnick, Tyler and their siblings while Alonso, Felipe and the other clan and tribe leaders and inner circle birds stood back watching the scene with immense surprise and fear. Chlorophyll, Petunia and their 'cousins' including Carla, Bia and Tiago were especially terrified. They had never seen Athos this furious before and his outburst was even more violent than Felipe's and even Eduardo's occasional temper explosions. Furthermore, Athos's outburst even startled Felipe and Pearl and they shuddered.
When Augustus had finished explaining what had happened during the confrontation with Ruby, Porthos, Poinsettia, Clemont and Serena in the now-former Bluewing Clan and blue-throated macaws' territory alongside his colony-mates including Voldemort and Cruella, Athos had immediately exploded into such a volcanic rage that he had leaped at and tackled the flying fox off the branch without a second thought. Now he was savagely chasing the terrified bat around the night trees, spewing the most caustic and vitriolic words and threats he had ever formulated in his life and threatening to use his claws and talons full force once he got hold of him. He was practically on fire with extreme wrath and Carla, Bia and Tiago had come to the conclusion that if Athos were one of the Emotion characters from a certain Pixar film, he'd be the one whose head ignited whenever he got angry. And those flames would be about a metre high above Athos' heads if he was this.
"HOW COULD YOU LET THOSE SAVAGE DOG-FACED FURBALLS DO THIS TO MY MATE AND DAUGHTER!?" bellowed the apoplectic scarlet macaw as he shot past Blu, Jewel, Monique, D'Artagnan, Sapphire and Andromeda as he chased Augustus, forcing them to duck. "HOW COULD YOU AND YOUR FAMILY JUST STAND BACK AND LET THEM JAB THEM, ALONG WITH THOSE TWO COCKATOOS AND MY BLUE-AND-GOLD MACAW FRIEND AND HIS MATE WITH PORCUPINE QUILLS AND KNOCK 'EM OUT!?"
Augustus bellowed in terror and pain as Athos rammed into his stomach.
"Good grief," cried Jewel as the six rose back up from their duck. "He's even worse than my father."
Blu shuddered as he remembered once being on the receiving end of his father-in-law's wrath. But Athos's wrath was worse, much worse, and seeing him in this immense outburst made him tremble all over. Athos lashed at Augustus's feet and tried to clamp his beak onto it to inflict injury but Augustus dodged and flew on.
"LOOK, LISTEN, I CAN EXPLAIN!" protested Augustus but Athos was too blinded by immense rage to stop and think. With an extremely enraged, ear-piercing screech, he lashed his talons at Augustus's face and tried to slash his claws over it but Augustus dodged, releasing a startled, terrifying shriek before flying on. Some of the macaws cheered for Athos and shouted all kinds of suggestions to him on how to attack Augustus.
"Rake your claws through his wing membranes!"
"Break his wings!"
"Claw his face in!"
However, some of the others tried to break through Athos's giant hurricane wall of fury to snap him out of his rage.
"Uncle Athos, come on!" cried Eustace as Athos chased Augustus past him but Athos didn't listen. Then with a savage tackle, Athos flung the flying fox against a tree trunk and slammed a talon square onto his neck to the point of completely cutting off Augustus's breathing. Augustus writhed under the iron-grip of Athos's talon but Athos refused to slacken it. His eyes were brown firestorms and his feathers were puffed out. Behind him, Poinsettia came up.
"Come on, Dad, snap out of it," she cried, "I'm sure him and his mate and three pups have a reason for this."
And with that she stole a glance at Melissa, Sebastian, Stella and Luna who continued to duck behind Eustace and company, too frightened to intervene. Athos did not hear his daughter's voice and continued strangling Augustus whose movements were beginning to slow. His eyes were bulging out of their sockets and his mouth was wide open as he struggled for breath while his membranous wings were firmly gripped onto Athos's iron talon desperately trying to pry it off of his neck but to no avail. Seeing that her father was not hearing her, Poinsettia tried to approach him more to protest louder.
"Dad, PLEASE!" she begged but Athos's wing rose and without thinking, the still-enraged red macaw gave his own daughter a hefty shove in the chest. Poinsettia, with a surprised gasp, stumbled backwards and fell on her back, before clasping her wings onto where Athos's wing had made contact. The push was hard enough to cause some ache and reduce Poinsettia to tears. Then Porthos came in with Azul, Wilbur and Brooke to help the weeping macaw to her feet.
"Seriously, Athos, you need to get your act together," he barked. He then led Poinsettia, who was beginning to cry, away, Alexandre and Spinel, a quick glare at their father, following with Azul, his brother and girlfriend close behind. Then Andromeda came forward. She had a method that she regretted choosing but it was the only thing she could think of to effectively snap Athos out of his enraged frenzy. Without hesitation, she stormed up to the still-enraged scarlet macaw who still had the struggling Augustus wedged under his foot and the method she applied stunned everyone.
"SNAP OUT OF IT, YOU NITWIT!" bellowed the archaeobird and with that, she raised a wing hand and slapped Athos across the face with it. She did it another few more times, throwing Athos's head back and forth with each impact. Athos, stunned by the pain from each slap, released Augustus and stumbled away. Jewel prepared to jump at Athos in case his wrath was still burning but when she saw that the fires in Athos's eyes die down, she lowered her guard cautiously. Athos then stared with a stunned and stressed look at Andromeda and Augustus, who was now slumped onto a branch and drawing in a huge lungful air and choking. Warily and guiltily, Athos backed away before turning round and retreated to a quiet spot in a nearby tree, trembling and flooded with immense distress. Melissa, Sebastian, Stella and Luna came in with Jewel and Carla and helped the shaky and still-gasping Augustus to his feet.
"Good job, Andromeda," said Jewel firmly, "You've managed to quell Athos's fury."
As she said this, Alonso, Soleado, Monique, Reynaldo and Rudi appeared while everyone else gathered round Augustus to listen. Seeing the opportunity to explaining everything now, especially after he had got his breath back, Augustus seized it without further hesitation.
"We… we would have rescued those two blue-and-gold macaws, two scarlet macaws and those two crested parrots," said he, "But that would only have been possible if we weren't surrounded by so many of our colony-mates."
"Like how we rescued that scarlet macaw from getting kidnapped," added Melissa and with that, she flashed a gaze at Alexandre, who was near the weeping Poinsettia, to refer to him. All ears then cocked to Augustus and his family as they continued to explain.
"But why didn't you act when you saw Porthos, Poinsettia, Clemont, Serena, Ruby and Orquidea in the Bluewing Clan's former territory?" asked Soleado, "And prevent them from getting injured and then jabbed with those porcupine spines dipped with knockout plant paste resulting in their getting knocked out?"
"Not to mention your colony-mates subsequently making off with Ruby and Orquidea shortly after that," added Blu firmly. Melissa went up to the audience of birds. Nearby, Athos listened in, a look of serious distress plastering his face. He was trembling like a leaf and from that facial look, Carla, Bia, Tiago, Kira and their friends could see that he was on the verge of heartbreak and entering another meltdown.
"Well, had we intervened," said Melissa, "It would blow our cover of our allegiance to you birds. Do you know what would have happened if we did that?"
The birds said nothing, only gazing back at Melissa with stunned looks. Augustus then continued.
"Our colony-mates would put us to death there and then," said he, "And with us out of the way, you lot wouldn't stand a chance, at all, against our colony. Our colony is very sly and cunning, especially in regards to planning to grab land from their next target tribe or clan of birds. Therefore, you guys need a double agent to help you in this impending war and without one; you'd be at a serious disadvantage."
Exchanges of confused glances rolled through the crowd. Then Blu began to ask Augustus a question.
"But… you're the younger brother of Cicatriz and the second son of the late and previous colony leaders Bruto and Sombra," he said, "Why are you… not like the other flying foxes who detest us birds and see us as nothing but vermin that deserve to be driven out and their land for the taking?"
Augustus shot the formerly domesticated Spix macaw a dark look.
"Our colony doesn't just see you birds as vermin and wastes-of-space," he said, "There's a deeper reason under that."
"What is the deeper reason?" asked Jewel and Roberto together. But nothing could prepare the birds for what came out of his mouth next. Augustus made a sorrowful look at the crowd of birds.
"They actually blame you for everything that affects the colony in a negative way," he said, "Such as habitat loss from logging which we have faced for years… poaching problems… forest fires including the two previous ones… among other things including the natural disasters like storms."
Horrified and flabbergasted gasps rolled through the crowd.
"You're JOKING!" shouted Felipe. However, the look on Augustus and Melissa's faces confirmed that they weren't. Stunned, Felipe staggered backwards while Jewel and Pearl almost fainted. Blu, D'Artagnan, Aurora, Athos, Porthos and also Aramis, Phoebe and Levi felt immense disgust tear through them while some of the others, such as Eragon and Andromeda, felt utterly nauseated at this revelation.
"It's been a teaching of our colony about you birds for a number of generations," added Augustus, timid eyes darting from one bird to another as though he expected them to jump at him and attack him like how Athos did, "We don't know how and when it started but… that's all we know."
"That is what motivates our colony in driving out so many bird tribes and clans," added Melissa, "and most of us actually enjoy doing that," she breathed a sad sigh, "Because of that immense motivation, so many bats have died as a result, and you know why…"
She opened her large membranous wings and then nodded to the talons and beaks of the macaws.
"And that's not the only thing," she added, closing her large cloak-like skin wings, "Young pups are taught these lies about you birds as well."
"They also have fighting classes in which they train pups to fight you birds," added Sebastian. He then nodded to Stella and Luna to fetch a stick to reinforce what he was talking about. The twin sisters left and within moments they returned with a stick. Sebastian took it and showed it to the birds. "In those, pups are given sharp-sticks or other weapons like this, if you imagine one end of this stick to be sharpened to a sharp tip, and they practice on bird dummies made from fruit, plants and seeds and bludgeon them with these weapons. I have attended several of those classes when I was young but I did not like them one bit."
"And after that," said Augustus, "When a pup reaches adolescence, he or she is taken out on a trip to attack a bird to earn their first trophy. You'll have seen those clusters of feathers most of our colony-mates have on their weapons."
"Yes," said Blu.
"Just continue," said Felipe slightly bossily.
"Well, those feathers, usually wing or tail flight feathers, are taken from a victim the owner of the weapon has killed," said Melissa. "If a group of flying foxes have participated in killing a bird, each individual in that group harvests a feather each."
Aurora had images of such clusters flash through her mind when she actually met a group of flying foxes for the first time when she heard this. Roberto also had images of his family's murderers harvesting the feathers of his deceased family and adding them to their trophies. He then felt a wave of disgust tear through him. In the crowd, Casper, Gloria and Wilbur shuddered as well, and the latter two, together with Casper's brothers Buddy and Matheus, had actually seen Casper's mother's murderer take one of her wing feathers during the night of the siege. Then Augustus and Melissa's eyes caught sighted Reynaldo and Anita standing next to Alonso and Verde.
"Oh, you two leaders of the blue-throated macaw clan," said Augustus, "We owe you and any survivors of the hyacinth Bluewing Clan and the other birds that lived with you a sincere apology," he and Melissa shuddered and began to shed a few tears, "We're sorry about what our colony has done to you last night but I know that won't be enough. We weren't aware of Cicatriz and the invaders' early plans to invade your land but by the time we found out, it was too late to warn you."
"Had we been aware of that sooner," added Melissa, "We would have warned you right away and you wouldn't have faced so many tragic deaths and deep scars inflicted on you by those invaders…"
As he said this, Eriko, together with Fernanda who had also come here, came forward. Carolina was back in the Navyfeather Clan and glaucous tribe's home patch, caring for Wanda and Peitro who were still traumatised from the ordeal last night.
"I don't think you realise what damage it has caused the remaining members of our clans and groups," Eriko said firmly. "We have been to visit our other daughter and her boyfriend at the animal hospital a short while ago with a few other blue-throated macaws and based on Ariel's injuries, she is likely gonna have a large scar on her forehead, above her right eye, and a long one down her left side because of what she's been through last night when she was separated from us."
"Not to mention the emotional trauma that's likely to leave my sister scarred for life," added Fernanda, "In addition to the fact that over three-quarters of Violeta and Demetrio's clan had been slaughtered by those marauding furballs."
"Just for protecting the smaller and more vulnerable clan of critically endangered birds that is us," said Anita who stood next to Reynaldo. Augustus and Melissa both broke down and wept hard. They knew that the damage, especially emotional damage, inflicted on the blue-throated macaws and any surviving Bluewing Clan macaws would likely be permanent.
"I still CANNOT believe that your colony would aim the blame of the problems they frequently face at the Amazon birds such as us," said Blu in disgust.
"Especially if they're using those lies to drive out countless bird tribes, clans and groups," added Jewel. Augustus looked at the pair with tear-filled eyes.
"I'm afraid it's true," he said.
"Are there any other flying foxes in the colony against those lies?" asked Porthos, "That is, those who disagree with the teachings and the fighting classes?"
"There is, yes but they're few and far between," said Augustus, "Furthermore, there's the fear of death that hangs above us like a storm cloud."
"If you're a flying fox that is against those anti-bird teachings in our colony," said Melissa, Stella and Luna flanking her, "You're not only treated as an outcast and a coward but you risk losing your life for interacting positively with birds…" another tear came to her eye but for a different reason and her voice became splintered and quivery. "It has happened before that flying foxes have died because of their helping of birds rather than slaughtering them, and one such bat is my cousin Lily."
"Lily?" repeated Blu in surprise. At the mention of the name, Athos raised his head and gazed at Augustus in his family in surprise. Melissa then launched into an explanation about this flying fox.
"Lily was my cousin," she said, "The only daughter of my Mom's sister, my aunt Eclipse. Like me and Augustus, she was against the anti-bird teachings and hated the fighting classes. However, she did not just stop at that. She actually went much further than just disagreeing with those teachings and took helping innocent birds and protecting them from slaughter from her colony-mates to a whole new level."
The avian audience listened as Melissa continued.
"Anyway, when she was a pup, Lily was caught in a poacher's trap during an outing with a class of pups into the jungle when she wandered away from them and got lost. However, she was rescued by some parakeets who then took her into their group. There, Lily made friends with some chicks and adult birds which further solidified her hatred of our colony's teachings."
"Let me get this straight," interrupted Alonso, "Your cousin was actually close friends with a group of parakeets?"
"She was," said Melissa, "Very close indeed, almost like siblings in fact. Anyway, continuing, Lily began to spend more and more time with her bird friends, making friends with more species such as a few Spix and red macaws and eventually, a few more flying foxes, among them Ana and Marcus, who were close friends with my cousin, joined the group."
"Then as Lily became an adult and had witnessed the savage siege on the parakeet group that her rescuers lived in," continued Melissa, "She finally snapped and decided to completely rebel against the colony. How she did that? She decided to help protect birds with her friends including Ana and Marcus."
"And that's when she established an underground secret hiding place that none of the other flying foxes apart from her friends including me knew about," said Augustus.
"What hiding place was this?" asked Blu.
"It was an enormous underground cavern that had a network of tunnels extending from it," said Melissa, "Perfect for keeping birds safe and away from the murderous intentions of most of the colony. Lily had kept a large variety of birds in that hidden place. Among the species were some particularly rare and endangered species of bird such as Cuban red macaws…" as she said this, Blu mouthed this in confusion while Porthos, D'Artagnan and Aurora, together with Aramis, Phoebe and Levi who stood in the crowd, shook their heads in disbelief.
"…A couple of families of Spix macaws… and some other bird species that have not yet been discovered by humans, such as that group of magenta-and-pink macaws and neon coloured macaws," said Melissa. As she said this, Athos came up to her. Augustus backed away, expecting him to lash out at him again.
"Cuban red macaws?" he repeated, "But… those macaws are extinct."
"Yeah, they did out well over a hundred years ago," said Blu. Melissa gazed from Athos to Blu.
"There is a small group of them still alive here," she said, "But they are descended from a group of Cuban macaws that had managed to migrate south to the Amazon rainforest from Cuba…"
Then Athos's mind began to have flashbacks. He had a fuzzy image of a group of birds gazing at him, along with three furry faces. They were blurry but Athos could clearly tell that they were a group of birds and a group of bats.
"…But then a couple of years ago," said Melissa, her voice falling to a tearful one once again. "Something tragic happened…"
"What happened?" asked Blu. The others continued to listen. Melissa gazed back at them with tears falling from her eyes.
"Some of Cicatriz's spies somehow managed to sneak after us and discover our hiding place;" she said in an edgy voice, "And after their reporting of Lily's antics to Cicatriz and Iracebeth, Lily was seized and then brought before the colony leaders…"
However, she began to break down. Augustus went over to her to comfort her and continue to story.
"And that was when she died," said Augustus, "She was brutally slaughtered in front of the colony. As for those birds, Marcus and Ana, they had managed to escape but where they went is anybody's guess. We never witnessed Lily's death but our friends told us about it…"
This sent waves of immense sympathy splashing through the crowd of birds and some were in so much shock that they could not believe their ears.
"So there ARE some flying foxes who care about us," said Monique in disbelief.
"And some who are even willing to risk their lives to protect birds, especially those of critically endangered species, from their colony-mates' murderous tendencies based on those lies about us being the cause of the disasters that affected the colony," said Blu. Jewel then decided to take things back to the main flight path where they left off.
"Sorry to interrupt but," she said, "What are those bats going to do with the kidnapped macaws?"
"Such as my and Brisa's cousin Nuvem and Alfonso who is one of Felipe's sons," said Zephyr, "and now Porthos's mate and Athos's mate?"
Tyler and Ricardo, Benjamin and Regina looked on with sorrowful eyes as did Felipe and Pearl. Augustus gave Zephyr and the other birds a very dark look.
"They're gonna interrogate them," he replied, "They want to know about your tribes and clans, your habitats," he then gazed at Andromeda who stood with Ophiuchus, Spock and Anakin, "And also those bizarre four-winged lizard-like birds and most importantly," his gaze returned to the sea of macaws and other birds, "why your territories have not seen logging or poaching for years and the only way they do that is to force the kidnapped birds into giving them information."
"How are they going to interrogate those kidnapped macaws?" asked Orion curiously, the others looking on with dreaded looks. Augustus then made another dark look. However, he did not want to go into detail about the terrible processes but he managed to think of a way to summarise it.
"Through extreme and brutal torture," he said, "I-I-I won't describe it but that's what they're gonna do to them."
This sent immense dread flowing through the crowd like another wave and some of them began to shudder. Porthos, Azul and Wilbur began to worry for Orquidea while Athos, Spinel, Poinsettia and Alexandre began to worry for Ruby. Felipe and his family and also Zephyr, Aurora, Brisa, Roberto and their offspring worried for Alfonso and Nuvem and Levi's family shuddered at the thought of Lapis Lazuli. D'Artagnan, Sapphire, Monique, Miranda, Jasmine and Annette also shuddered as they thought about Waldo. While the macaws were troubled by this, Augustus continued.
"Torture has always been used as a way by our colony in obtaining information about a targeted bird tribe or clan and their land," he said, "They very rarely use any other method. Oh and there's another thing you need to know…"
All ears prepared to receive the next piece of important information.
"When my and Cicatriz's mom and dad, Sombra and Bruto," said Augustus, "led our colony, they did actually want to invade your territories even after the truce between them and our colony, and you birds have been made…"
This sent disbelief tearing through the crowd.
"Never," cried Felipe, not wanting to believe it.
"I thought they had stuck to the truce and prevented their bats from wandering into our land," added Alonso.
"That is true but they still had in mind to drive you flocks out and take your land," said Melissa, "But they never really got down to applying it. They haven't done so for years due to the colony's targets being some other bird clans…"
"Bruto and Sombra never really got down to applying those plans of invasion for the rest of their lives since the truce had been made," said Augustus, "But when Bruto, my and Cicatriz's father, was on his deathbed and had passed his leadership role to Cicatriz and Iracebeth, he had told them he had hoped that they (Cicatriz and his mate) would eventually set to the plans he (Bruto), and his mate Sombra had set up; that is, the plans of invading you tribes and clans' territory and driving you lot out…"
"Well, we're so glad to have kept a constant eye on our border to your colony's land then," said Alonso.
"Looks like our doubt of our trust in Sombra and Bruto in keeping to the truce had been for good reason as well," added Soleado.
"We have never trusted that truce my mate's parents had made with you flocks anyway," said Melissa. Augustus nodded in agreement while Sebastian, Stella and Luna just stood there. Then Augustus felt it was time to go. He rose to his feet, a serious look on his face.
"We'd better be off," he said, "Cicatriz will be wondering where we are and we don't want to rouse any suspicions and blow our allegiance to you birds."
"Or else we could face the same demise as my cousin Lily," said Melissa. She gazed at the dark jungle as though expecting some flying fox spies to come out at them. Before leaving, Augustus said, "But in the meantime, I want you lot to decide on an effective rescue plan to get those kidnapped macaws out of the colony's territory."
"And make sure that you formulate one as quickly as possible as well," added Melissa as she gathered Stella, Luna and Sebastian together, "You've got until sundown of tomorrow to have that plan ready."
"Okay," said Alonso, some of the other leaders such as Blu, Jewel, Pearl and Felipe standing around him. None of the others said anything.
"And after this, we'll discuss the next stage but that river won't be tackled until we come to it," said Augustus as he prepared to drop from the branch to enter flight, "Until then, we'll see you tomorrow evening."
And with that, he nodded to Melissa, Stella, Luna and Sebastian and with that, the five bats all took off, flashing a 'good luck' glance at the birds as they disappeared into the dark jungle. The crowd of macaws, archaeobirds and other birds were left in a moment of silence at first but then Alonso broke it.
"Alright, everyone," he shouted for all to hear, "Let's return to our territories and get some sleep. We've got some very important tasks to deal with, starting tomorrow morning."
And with that, the crowd began to disperse. As the night air became flooded with the sounds of flapping wings, Athos flew along with Alexandre and Spinel while Porthos flew with Wilbur and Azul and also Poinsettia for she was still upset at Athos for pushing her over while he was blinded by fury at Augustus. Athos shot Poinsettia a guilty look while Spinel, who was being assisted to fly due to her wing still missing a few of its flight feathers, wore a mistrustful look on her face.
"I'm not sure if we should trust that bat and his family to be honest," she muttered, "I had a feeling that he was planning some sort of trap."
"We have to, sis," said Alexandre nearby, "We don't have a choice."
Just then he heard Athos murmur something under his breath.
"What is it, Dad?" he asked. Athos snapped out of his thoughts and gazed at his son.
"Oh, it was… nothing, Alex," he replied, "Just repeating 'Cuban red macaw' and 'Lily' and mulling over something."
The name 'Lily', along with the names 'Ana' and 'Marcus' did eerily sound familiar and Athos had meant to ask Melissa about those bats and the hiding place. However, he eventually pushed those thoughts away.
"Let's just return to the red tribe's territory and get some rest," said Athos to his son and daughters, "We've got some important things to deal with tomorrow."
He said this with an edgy voice and Alexandre and his two sisters immediately knew why; Athos was missing Ruby already and was wracked with worry of what horror she was about to face with the other kidnapped macaws. Augustus had refused to mention what he meant by 'torture' but Athos did not want to think about that one bit. Furthermore, he was painfully worried about Lapis Lazuli who had suffered a traumatic experience with the flying fox colony when she was young and her tribe had lost their original home. His mind clouded by the storms of worry and stress, Athos followed the other red macaws in the direction of the red tribe's territory, his three first-brood offspring in tow.
Later
It was now past midnight. The near-full moon continued hovering in the star-studded sky, bathing the jungle below it in a mass of silver. In his family's tree, Cicatriz sat outside the hollow, his left eye gazing out into the night. He wore a grumpy look on his face and was very fidgety. Something was on his mind but it was something he didn't like and it was concerning a certain family member of his. Cicatriz had sent his mate Iracebeth on a search mission with some other bats such as Shinzon, Ratigan and Cruella a few hours ago after Voldemort had reported him and his family missing longer than usual and now that search party had been looking for those five flying foxes since. In their room inside Cicatriz's family's hollow, Iago and Veruca were sound asleep, both hanging from a tough vine in their room as all bats did when they rested. While Cicatriz continued gazing into the night air, he finally heard his name get called by a familiar female voice.
"Cicatriz!" she shouted. The scar-faced bat turned his functioning left eye in the direction of the shouter who melted out of the shadows and into the silvery moonlight, several other flying foxes behind her.
"Any luck, Iracebeth?" asked Cicatriz as the shouter, his mate Iracebeth, slowed to a hover before him, the other bats including Ratigan, Shinzon and Cruella (who bore some new claw marks inflicted on her by Serena during her fight with the cockatoo earlier), close behind. All the searchers wore disappointed looks on their faces.
"Not a sign, dear," replied Iracebeth, a lour on her face, "We can't find him, his mate and his son and two daughters anywhere."
"And that is confusing to say the least," added Cruella, "It shouldn't take long to find a predatory animal and dispose of four feathered worms by feeding them to it, as there are plenty of snakes, jaguars, crocodiles and other predators around."
"I would have thought that those five bats would be back right now," said Ratigan.
"We even asked some of the flying foxes who have moved into that territory that belonged to the hyacinth and blue-throated macaw clans but none of them have seen any of those five bats at all," said Shinzon, "So who knows where those five have gone..."
As these words left his mouth, the sound of flapping of five pairs of membranous wings reached the ears of the group. Iracebeth, Cicatriz and the other searchers darted their gaze in the direction of the owners as they melted out of the shadows and the moment they recognised them, they bolted into flight and rushed to meet them.
"Augustus, Melissa, Sebastian, Stella, Luna!" cried Iracebeth in a flustered voice as the five said bats slowed to a hover, "Where have you been, it's getting LATE!"
"You got us worried sick," said Cruella. The other searchers also voiced their concerns while Cicatriz looked on at his brother, sister-in-law, nephew and two nieces with a stern and disapproving look.
"What took you so long?" asked one of the other bats.
"Did you manage to dispose of those four birds?" asked Ratigan. As the group fussed over them, Augustus rose his feet in a stopping gesture, making the other bats stop their fussing.
"We did, yes," he said, lying to cover up the fact that he, Melissa, Sebastian, Stella and Luna had helped them; "However, it took us a while to find a predator on the forest floor."
"A while?" repeated Cruella confused.
"But there are plenty of alligators, jaguars, anacondas and pools full of piranha around here," said Cicatriz, "It shouldn't take long to find one of those predators and dispose of those four feathered rodents."
"Um…" began Melissa but she froze as her tongue stuck in her mouth. Finally, she found something got say. "We couldn't... decide on which predator to feed those birds," she said. Stella, Luna, Sebastian and Augustus nodded to back Melissa up. Cicatriz frowned at the five while Iracebeth and the other searchers just smiled wickedly at them. However, under Cicatriz's gaze, suspicion was beginning to manifest.
"Well, at least you've got rid of those four birds, Augustus," said Cicatriz firmly, "But it is getting late," his single eye then gazed at Stella and Luna who cringed at the hardness of the single-eyed gaze. "You and your family should be back at the hollow and those two young daughters of yours should be asleep by now. It's WAY past their bedtime."
"Yeah, and besides that," put in Iracebeth, "We have plenty of important work to do tomorrow. We're gonna start interrogating those kidnapped feathered worms by daybreak."
At the mentioning of the 'kidnapped feathered worms', which Augustus, Melissa, Stella, Luna and Sebastian immediately knew to be the prisoners, the five felt revulsion tear through them and they flinched.
"Problem?" asked Shinzon when he saw this.
"Oh, nothing," replied Augustus immediately. He then flashed a glance at Stella and Luna and said, "But I think that subject is not an appropriate thing my daughters should hear."
"Yeah, they're too young at the moment," added Melissa.
"Well, they're gonna have to learn to put up with violence and gore sooner or later," said Cicatriz nonchalantly. This made Stella, Luna and Sebastian wince again and Augustus and Melissa made sad faces.
"W-w-we'd better be off to our h-h-hollow," stammered Augustus slightly timidly, "Like y-y-you've said before. It is getting late. I'll see you guys in the morning," he then flashed a glance at Iracebeth and the searchers, "Thanks for showing your concerns for us, anyway."
And with that, he darted off, Melissa, Stella, Luna and Sebastian in tow. Cruella stared after the five as they melted out of view.
"Well that was abrupt," she said flatly.
"Huh, they always abruptly cut off our conversations each time it is about birds or something," muttered Shinzon. "They're pathetic cowards, like always."
"Yeah, especially since they wouldn't allow their white-furred oddballs to attend the important fighting classes," put in Ratigan. The other bats nodded in agreement. Cicatriz gazed after his brother and his family. He, however, had a different feeling bubbling within him. He had an idea about Augustus and his family's behaviour, an idea that he didn't like.
"Ratigan," he commanded. Ratigan fluttered forward in response to his name.
"Yes, sir?" he asked.
"Gather some muscular bats and station them around every entrance to Augustus and his family's hollow, including the window-holes," commanded Cicatriz, "Make sure that they keep those five confined at all times. And also organise a foraging group to bring them food. I've got a bad feeling about them."
Ratigan, at first was a little confused but then set to obeying the command.
"Okay, Cicatriz," he said and with that, he flew off to carry out the task. Cicatriz then dismissed the other bats and sent them back to their hollows to go to sleep while he and Iracebeth entered their own.
"You believe that Augustus and his family are hiding something, aren't you?" said Iracebeth. Cicatriz turned casually to her.
"Yes, I do," he said firmly, "I have a feeling that they're up to something that is no different from the abomination that wretched cousin of my sister-in-law had committed until we found her out, and I want to make sure that it is nipped in the bud before it gets any worse."
Iracebeth looked on in wonder and then prepared for bed with her mate.