Chapter 15- vicious chases and stormy conditions
Carla, Bia and Tiago stood there in the middle of a step, frozen in horror and their dreaded eyes fixed on the stunned and dumbfounded gangsters led by Ilosovic the frigatebird. Next to Carla and her brother and sister, Finnick, Lavender, Virgil, Matilda and Justin were alarmed, Finnick and Lavender's Roberto-like crest feathers and ponytail flaring out; Spinel, Estelle, Alexandre and Sheldon, Azul and Brooke and Chlorophyll, gripped by fear that the group had been spotted, had frozen with one talon in the air. Trixie, Tristan, Neytiri, Miranda, Zebedee, Alessandro, Milo and Velocity also froze mid-step. Milo's vermillion and yellow banded crest was flared and the eyes of the 23 birds were wide with dread with bring spotted. Then Ilosovic's eyes travelled from the pieces of string that lay snaking over each other like worms from the bundle wrapped around the tree trunk to the severed tethers tied to each foot of the macaws, peregrine falcon and cockatoo, before realisation washed over him and his gang members.
"Where do you lot think you're going!?" asked Ilosovic angrily.
"Not sneaking off, are we?" asked Morgana.
"You know you belong with us now," said Butch, his black crest raised. The crows, magpies and ravens all tittered in agreement. Then Carla shot the gangster group a furious glare.
"We don't have time for meaningless palaver, you lot," she snapped, "We have a HUGE mission to complete."
"We told you that's not IMPORTANT NOW!" retorted Ilosovic, his single green eye flaring like a green flame and his sleek black feathers bristling.
"You're to join our gang," said Jafar, Elektra and Valack flanking him, poised to pounce onto Carla's group.
"And then what?" Tiago rhetorically asked, "Go around causing humans trouble by attacking them for no reason at all, I think not."
"Not to mention cause trouble for other animals," added Matilda, "We always avoid crowds like that."
"Now do us a favour and let us GO!" growled Justin. The others all shouted in agreement. However, the determined looks on Ilosovic and his gang's faces to get Carla and company to join their group remained.
"You leave us no choice," said the frigatebird, before his voice tone flared with threat, "Now return to your tree or face our fury."
"Face your furry?" said Neytiri timidly, her head tipped to one side in confusion.
"Not 'furry' as in a furry mouse you glaucous brat," snapped Ilosovic, "FURY! Fee-yuur-reee, get it!?"
"And like we've said in our introductory song," said Kira, "If you anger us, you're in deep trouble."
Gaston, Butch and Drizella backed this statement up by flexing their muscles or showing their talons. Neytiri whimpered and ducked behind Chlorophyll and Azul. Then Velocity boldly stepped forward and flared her sharp talons.
"You dare attack us," she growled, "And some more of you will be receiving some nasty marks like those first three magpies."
Then Gaston stepped forward and flared his large claws. The black eagle was almost twice the size of Velocity and his claws were much, much larger, making Velocity's claws small fry in comparison.
"I think you ought to reconsider that statement, falcon," snapped Gaston condescendingly. Velocity, intimidated by the size of the massive eagle, his strength and the size of his claws, felt shivers course down her spine. Whimpering, she retreated to Carla's group and hid behind Alexandre and Spinel.
"I don't like this group," she whispered to the two scarlet macaws, "Not only are they dangerous in their attitude, but they are also dangerous in their weaponry."
The scarlet brother and sister and Poinsettia's siblings shot her a look.
"Look, for the last time," snapped Carla, her temper starting to boil now, "WE DON'T WANNA JOIN YOUR GROUP!"
That did it. Ilosovic's own temper cracked like the thunder in the above storm clouds. Tiago, however, found a pile of wet mud.
"Wish granted," snarled the frigatebird and with that, he nodded to his underlings and corvid assistants. At their leader's command, the entire gangster group launched at Carla and her group. Tiago quickly picked up a talon-ful of wet mud and hurled it at the charging gangster birds, splattering Valack in the face and sending him flying out of control. As the barn owl careened away and slammed into a patch of ferns, the others charged on but Carla and her group had already lofted into flight. Azul, Brooke, Spinel, Alexandre, Estelle, Sheldon and Chlorophyll veered round a tree, seized the two bags by the straps and took off with them. Then Carla's group began to fly like the wind. However, above the forest in the sky, the rainstorm's gates had already opened to the point of torrential downpour but Carla and company did not care about that. They had to get away from the wicked frigatebird and his gang, and that group of rogue birds were hot on their tail feathers. Valack followed as soon as he had recovered from his crash and cleared his face of the mud.
As the 21 macaws, peregrine falcon and cockatoo increased their height and began to fly through the canopy, their bodies flooded with adrenaline, Ilosovic and his gang gave chase. The frigatebird nodded to some magpies, Kira and Morgana.
"Get some vines and see if you can lasso them," he barked. The group of black and white corvids, the Spix macaw and the caracara nodded and seized the first vines they laid their eyes on from the trees. Then the female Spix macaw, black caracara and the magpies rocketed after Carla's group, tied a loop in the ends of their vines using their feet like hands and began to try and throw the looped end at Carla's group to ensnare them. However, some of Carla's group had already armed themselves, ready for a counterattack for they still had some fruit and meat in their fanny packs. As Morgana closed in behind Miranda and Azul, her vine-lasso poised to throw at the Lear's and blue-and-gold macaws, Miranda tossed an apple at her. The apple careened towards Morgana and bopped her on the head. The caracara cried in shock and lost control of her flight, her lasso flying out and ensnaring one of the magpies instead, the loop wrapping around its midsection. Then the two careened through the canopy and crashed into Butch and Gaston, much to Ilosovic's enraged frustration. Then Kira and the other magpies homed in on Finnick, Lavender, Virgil, Matilda and Justin. Kira then prepared to fire her looped vine at one of them. However, Finnick prepared to throw a pineapple at her when he froze when he saw the female Spix macaw.
"I don't fight girls, especially if they're a Spix macaw," muttered the Roberto lookalike. Kira, a sneering smile on her beak, threw the lasso at Finnick and ensnared him by the neck, making Finnick bolt as the choking loop tightened, much to the alarm of the others.
"I can see why, floppy feather head," crooned Kira nastily. Suddenly, a light purple blur shot in and tackled her in the side.
"YOU LET MY BROTHER GO, YOU MINX!" snarled Lavender as she knocked Kira away, making her release her vine lasso and freeing Finnick. The oldest son of Roberto and Brisa then snapped through the vine with his beak to free his neck, the vine then dropping through the canopy like a thin green snake. Then Aiden the glaucous macaw flew in and dived in at Lavender but a small azure and grey blur shot in and tackled him away. Then Aiden and little Trixie entered into a vicious fight with beaks connecting to feathers, claws wildly tearing and enraged squawks exploding from their beaks. Though she was smaller than an average glaucous macaw her age due to how she hatched, Trixie was a vicious fighter.
While the two glaucous macaws fought, Carla and her group slowed down and prepared the remains of their fruit and in Velocity's case, her remaining chicken and duck meat pieces.
"Ready, guys," shouted Carla, "GO!"
And with that, colourful missiles flew out of the talons of Carla's group and flew straight towards Ilosovic and his group. Apples, guavas and other hard fruit bounced off the faces and upper bodies of the birds and one of them hit Ilosovic square in the forehead, making him yelp in pain. Softer fruit such as berries, however, splattered against their targets, exploding messily on contact. One of them flew from Tiago's talons and struck Gaston square in the face, blinding him as its juice entered his eyes. The black eagle cried in shock and began to try and clear his eyes of the blue juice but he crashed into Drax the fulmar and the two crashed into a tree. However, they recovered quickly and were airborne within seconds after Gaston had cleared his eyes of the juice. Velocity then scored a bullseye on Drizella by striking her in the head with a chicken leg. The horned owl who had a bratty personality then began to erupt into a tantrum. Screaming like a baby owl, she began to throw a fit. The magpies, crows and ravens also dodged the incoming missiles flying from Carla and her group's talons but soon, the group will have to resume their escape.
As soon as she had run out of fruit, Carla blew a loud whistle, calling for the others to retreat. At the signal, the others, including Trixie, stopped their skirmish with Ilosovic's group and made a break for it, but it wasn't easy for the rain was now very heavy. Lightning flashed in the sky, lighting the scene in a few split-second blinks and cracking the air with a loud bang and raindrops pelted against the group of macaws, falcon and cockatoo but because they were blinded by desperation, Carla and her group continued to fly on through the canopy, a flock of colourful comets as they rushed through the green trees, Ilosovic and his gang in hot pursuit. However, both groups were about to face a third party, one consisting of the most frightening predatory bird in the entire Amazon rainforest. As Carla and her group continued their desperate escape, their wings beating at a fast rate despite the aches setting into their muscles, suddenly heard a loud and piercing cry. Hearing this, Spinel shouted, "What was that?"
"Was that you, Velocity?" asked Virgil.
"No, it wasn't," said Velocity. Behind Carla's group, Ilosovic's group also heard the noise.
"What was that loud cry?" asked Kira. Ilosovic told her to hush as he scanned the dark and rainy canopy with his single eye. Gaston, Jafar, Valack, Drizella, Elektra, Morgana, Butch and Drax and the ravens, crows and magpies all looked around as well, eyes wide with alarm. Then Aiden, his body covered in a few scratches and bald patches from his skirmish with Trixie, flew in.
"I'm sure it's… a loud falcon cry… from… the trees?" said the glaucous macaw warily in a voice rising with a dreaded tone as deduction took hold. Ilosovic was about to reply when suddenly, loud shrieks of horror erupted from the beaks of some of the corvids. Seeing the crows, ravens and magpies screech at something, all gazes in Ilosovic's group, and those in Carla's group as well, darted in the same direction and, to their horror, they saw two massive shapes emerge from the rainy canopy. They were eagle-shaped but they were larger than Gaston. The two large birds swooped in and charged into Ilosovic's group, making them scatter. Then Carla and her group slowed down to look at the two eagles as the gangster group dispersed like a frightened shoal of fish.
The birds were massive, far larger than an adult hyacinth macaw with a wingspan four times as large as one. Their backs were slate grey like Velocity's parents' back plumage and their undersides were white. Crests flared on the backs of their heads and opposite those plumes were large moon-like eyes and sharp, cruel looking beaks. The talons of the creatures were armed with lethal, fish-hook like claws. These claws were three or four times the size of Velocity's claws, and they were long, sharp, capable of disembowelling a monkey, a macaw and even inflicting serious damage on a human if one was unfortunate enough to be on the receiving end of this bird's wrath. And Velocity and Milo had never seen birds like these two but they, along with Velocity's brother Orion, and Milo's siblings Rosa, Eustace and friends Serena and Clemont, had been told about these dangerous birds, and Carla, Bia, Tiago and the others with them and their friends and siblings back home by their elders and parents. These birds normally hunted capybaras and monkeys, but they also sometimes hunted feathered meals such as macaws. Because they were the apex aerial predator of the rainforest, they were greatly feared by all the birds of the Amazon, and even most of the flying foxes often avoided them. The pair of eagles appeared to be a mating pair, for one of them was smaller than the other. Based on what she had read in an ecology book, Bia deduced that the smaller of the two was a male while the big one was female.
"I didn't know harpy eagles lived THIS far to the north," cried Spinel in utter disbelief, "I-I-I always thought they were restricted to areas in Brazil and Peru and the countries further south."
"No, they can be found in Central America too," said Azul. Suddenly, alarm exploded through Carla's group when Chlorophyll cried, "Look OUUUUT!"
At the great green macaw's shout, Carla's group immediately scattered as a huge feathered shape swooped at them, crying loudly. Its talons slashed through the air only to miss their targets. Behind Carla's group, the smaller male continued wreaking havoc for Ilosovic's group, Ilosovic and his gang trying desperately to drive the creature away. As the other harpy eagle, the female, turned round for another attack on Carla's group, Carla, Bia and Tiago and some of the others saw her large moon-like eyes. They were flooded with hunger, which meant only one thing.
"It and its mate are on the hunt," cried Matilda, "We'd better get outa here, FAST!"
Suddenly, talons latched onto her wing and pulled her down as the harpy eagle's massive talons slashed at her, only to miss at the last second. Matilda gasped as Estelle pulled her down, her talons latching on her left wing, her heart beating wildly. Velocity shuddered violently, her large eyes filled with terror as she examined the size of the massive bird, especially her talons. It was obvious that she would be killed outright if she ever attempted to challenge a bird like this one to a battle, as those talons could also easily break even a super-fast peregrine falcon's spine or crush its skull. Then the harpy eagle flew off to turn round for another attempt.
"It's a bit unusual for a pair of harpy eagles to be hunting in this weather and time of day," said Alessandro, shaking his head to rid the rainwater collected in his feathers.
"They must have spotted or heard us and decided to go after us while we were fleeing that gang of birds," said Sheldon as he hovered with Spinel, Estelle and Alexandre.
"Never mind about that, let's just get outa here before one of us becomes that pair of eagles' dinner," shouted Carla and with that, the group charged on, those carrying the two bags desperately clinging on to them as they flew. However, the female eagle began to chase them.
Back with Ilosovic's group, Ilosovic and his gang had also retreated as the male eagle proved to be more than a match for them, even for the muscular Gaston and Butch. However, they pursued Carla's group. Like his mate, the male eagle was driven by hunger and it seemed to see the magpies, the crows, the ravens, Kira, Aiden and Butch, or perhaps even some of the meat-eating birds like Drizella as a potentially tasty meal for it and its mate's dinner. Ilosovic and his gang continued rocketing on with the male eagle in hot pursuit. The eagle then raised its talons and attempted to slash them at Butch but they missed the black cockatoo by inches, making Butch panic and fly on. The wild chase between Carla's group and the female eagle and Ilosovic's group and the male eagle then began to continue for a frightening while. Rain continued pouring from the thunderous sky and it was proving difficult to fly through the dark jungle and the rain. As Carla's group flew on, they weaved in and out of the branches, desperately trying to keep out of the rain for parrots and falcons cannot fly well with sodden feathers. The female harpy eagle lashed its talons at Virgil but Bia pulled him out of the way by grabbing his wing, resulting in a narrow miss of the claws within inches of Virgil's stomach. Then the harpy eagle lashed its claws at the red, blue-and-gold and green macaws, going for Azul and Chlorophyll but the pair dodged, Chlorophyll tackling Azul out of the way. As he did that, the eagle's claws caught his tail and sent two aqua blue, red and yellow feathers falling into the rainy air. The eagle tried again but its third claw swipe also missed, narrowly missing Finnick and Lavender's heads and catching a lilac feather from Lavender's ponytail pulling it away, much to her utter shock and terror.
"Those eagles certainly don't know when to give up, do they!?" shouted Finnick, "They must be really determined to get their beaks and claws into us."
"Just shut up and fly!" shouted Carla as the eagle swiped its claws at Miranda only to miss, making her shriek. Near Carla's group, the male eagle continued its pursuit of Ilosovic's group, wildly slashing his claws at the magpies, the ravens, Morgana, Valack and at times Kira and Aiden.
"When are those pesky giant buzzards gonna break off their chase!?" snarled Butch angrily.
"We didn't need these two oversized vultures interrupting our chase of that group over there!" shouted Drax, referring to Carla's group. Then the eagle lashed its claws again and this time, the claws made their mark on one of Ilosovic's group members. However, that target was Aiden and the claws made contact with his wing, but the glaucous macaw was not close enough for the slash to be life-threatening and instead, the claws only inflicted a light scratch, but it was still enough to cripple him. As Aiden felt searing pain explode from his right wing where the claws of the eagle made contact, he screeched and began to lose control of his flight and then plummet through the canopy towards the forest floor and sent Ilosovic's group flying into chaos. Aiden's cries of pain alerted Carla's group as they continued dodging the female eagle's claw slashes, one of them inflicting a small scratch on Spinel's back, making the pinkish-red scarlet macaw cry in pain and terror.
"I'VE BEEN HIT!" cried she, "I'VE BEEN HIT!"
Then it was Carla's group's turn to fly into chaos as extreme panic and terror exploded within them. Then what happened next shocked everyone. As Carla's group scattered, a dark brown and ivory blur shot in and, with a slash of her small-fry talons, she inflicted a scratch across the eagle's face. The eagle cried in surprise as Velocity then began to unleash her fury on the bird of prey despite being only a quarter the size of the monster. The instinctive urge to protect her herself and her friends had volcanically erupted thanks to the pressure of desperation that had been building up inside her all this time.
"VELOCITY, are you MAD!?" bellowed Bia in flabbergast. Velocity, however, was too blinded by fury to even hear Bia's shocked cry. With an enraged screech, the peregrine falcon began to score her claws on the harpy eagle's back, drawing blood in the process.
"Oh, NO!" cried Finnick in terror as he watched the scene, "You'll be killed!"
The other macaw sand Milo also watched horror as Velocity continued brutally scoring her claws over the harpy eagle's back. Her beak then closed onto the eagle's crest as the eagle, crying and screaming in agony, began to bolt and thrash like a mad bull. One of the thrashes then flung Velocity into the air, but she pulled some feathers from the eagle's crest. Then Velocity found herself at the mercy of the enraged eagle.
"Someone, DO SOMETHING," cried Finnick and without thinking, he charged in and jumped onto the eagle's back.
"FINNICK!" cried Lavender and with that, she rocketed in and attacked the eagle as well. The eagle screeched and cried as the two Spix macaws then began to attack her back, Velocity jumping onto her neck. Carla, Bia, Tiago, Virgil, Matilda and Justin then exchanged glances, all terror replaced by determination to drive away this big bird, before joining in the fray. Then Estelle, Sheldon, Alexandre, Azul, Brooke, and Chlorophyll rocketed in, followed by Spinel despite her back scratch which oozed a bit of blood. After Spinel rocketed Miranda, Trixie, Tristan, Neytiri, Milo, Zebedee and Alessandro. Soon the harpy eagle was smothered by a colourful cloud of blue, red, green, yellow, grey and orange feathers, and a splash of brown and white from Velocity and pale pink-white with a vermillion and yellow splotch from Milo. The young macaws, cockatoo and falcon then began to work together to mercilessly claw and bite the eagle to drive it away, while some beat the eagle with the two bags. The eagle screeched and writhed to shake off the blanket but the group continued their relentless attack.
Meanwhile, Ilosovic and his gang had also launched a group attack against the male eagle. However, theirs was not as co-ordinated as Carla's group and the gangster members kept being thrown off. Drax tried head-butting the eagle but the eagle dodged and slashed its claws at him, narrowly missing Drax's torso as lightning flashed in the sky, and the ravens and magpies kept being thrown everywhere. Then Gaston flew in and slashed the eagle's back with his claws. The male eagle screeched and cried as the others then piled on top of it and began to beat it up. The eagle then began to lash its talons and bite at its attackers and one of the slashes of its talons caught Kira on the torso. Screeching in agony, the Spix macaw plummeted like a stone towards the forest floor through the canopy while the others continued attacking the eagle, unaware that Kira had been injured.
At the same time, Carla and her group continued viciously attacking the female eagle until Tristan delivered the final blow by clawing it right across the face. The eagle, stunned by the attack, then gave up its hunt and retreated into the rainy canopy, its tattered grey and white plumage bloodied and slashed with bleeding scratches. Carla's group, puffing and panting and covered in a few scratches, the worst being Spinel's scratched back, saw it leave.
"That'll teach that beast not to mess with us when we've got an important trip to carry out," growled Azul smugly. Carla then shot a glance at Ilosovic and his group as they finally drove off the male eagle. Seeing this, she commanded the others the dive into the canopy, which all 23 birds including herself did. Moments later, Ilosovic and his gang flew in. However, they were missing two members, Kira and Aiden. Puffing and panting and shaking off excess rainwater collected in their feathers, the gangsters began to examine the surroundings, looking for Carla and her group.
"Can you see them anywhere, guys?" asked Ilosovic. Drax, Morgana, Drizella, Elektra, Gaston, Valack and Butch and the magpies and ravens flew around looking for any splash of colour. However, the pouring rain and the dark night was making it a serious challenge.
"Can't we wait until tomorrow morning?" asked Drax.
"Honestly, our feathers are becoming soaked," said Morgana.
"Especially yours, Ilosovic," said Gaston, "And since you frigatebirds don't like wet feathers, you might as well call off the search."
"Especially after that skirmish with those eagles," said Elektra, "It really has taken a lot out of us."
The other birds also gave Ilosovic with the same begging look. Ilosovic gazed back at them for a while until finally, he relented.
"Okay then. Let's find somewhere to spend the night and when the rain finishes," he said. The other birds smiled with relief at this suggestion and with that, Ilosovic and his gang flew away to look for shelter to spend the night.
As the frigatebird and his mixed gang left, Chlorophyll who had been watching the group from a cluster of leaves for his green plumage camouflaged him, saw the gangsters disappear into the rainy canopy.
"They've gone, Carla," he said. Hearing this, Carla and the others, who had been hiding concealed on the forest floor, rose into the canopy. Azul was treating Spinel's scratch with moss and a leaf. Esmeralda, Chlorophyll's mother, had taught Azul and some other chicks the basics of treating injuries and what plants to use, especially for scratches and grazes, and that moss was one of the best plants to treat blooded wounds for it had excellent absorption properties. Spinel winced as Azul dabbed the moss on her scratch, making the blue-and-gold macaw apologise each time. As Azul continued treating Spinel's scratch, Carla formed a smile at Chlorophyll's reply.
"Good," said she. Then Velocity breathed a sigh of relief.
"That was not one, but two close calls," she said, "Glad we escaped both of them."
"Let's get out of here and get as far away from those gangsters as much as possible," said Carla.
"What? In this weather and the dark?" said Tiago with a disbelieving look, gesturing to the dark and stormy skies.
"I'm sorry, T," said Carla firmly, "But if we stay here, that frigatebird and his gang might find us and I don't want to see their faces again."
"That's right," put in Zebedee in agreement, "We managed to escape them now but the next time we meet them, we might not stand a chance."
Tiago sighed when suddenly; Alessandro saw something move on the forest floor.
"Guys, look," the chestnut-fronted macaw said, pointing to the splotch of blue through the green leaves, "Isn't that the Spix macaw from Ilosovic's gang?"
The other macaws, Velocity and Milo followed his point and saw the blue splotch.
"It is," said Bia. Then Velocity saw another splotch, an azure blue and grey one, struggling with the blue one.
"That glaucous macaw's also present and I think it's carrying the Spix macaw," she said. The others gazed at the other splotch and saw that Velocity was right.
The two blue splotches, which were Kira the Spix macaw and Aiden the glaucous macaw, were struggling through the canopy. Kira was clutching her scratched torso while Aiden, who had been struggling to fly with his scratched wing, helped Kira get to safety.
"Ilosovic," cried Aiden through the stormy rainforest as he helped carry Kira along, lightning flashing in the sky, "Morgana, Butch! GUYS! WHERE ARE YOU!?"
Kira was in too much pain and her face was twisted as she clutched her bleeding scratch. It was not too deep but it was still very painful. Just then the sounds of multiple wing-flaps reached the two macaws' ears. Hearing this, Aiden and Kira turned and when they saw the owners of the wing flap sounds, they flinched in shock for they expected those wing flaps to be from Ilosovic and his group.
"Here, let us help you," said Finnick, a wing extending to the two macaws. Azul also had some moss ready to treat Kira's wound. Aiden and Kira, however, wore hostile scowls on their faces.
"No, leave us alone," snapped the former, the male glaucous macaw, "We would rather DIE in this dark jungle than to be saved by you!"
"Yeah, go away," snarled Kira, wincing from her painful scratch. Finnick eyed the other macaws and Velocity and Milo.
"Well, what would you guys rather do?" he asked. Carla, in response to this rather silly question, rolled her eyes and nodded to Velocity. The peregrine falcon then took off, wrapped her talons around Kira's body and took her away from Aiden despite the glaucous macaw's vicious protests. Then Velocity placed Kira beside Azul. Bia and Trixie then began to examine Aiden's injured wing but he snatched it from them while Kira crawled away from Azul as he held some moss to treat her scratch.
"Are you deaf or sommat!?" snarled Kira.
"We said we don't need your help," growled Aiden, his azure feathers raised. He winced from his scratched wing and grasped it.
"Well, you're getting it, so there," said Spinel with narrowed eyes despite the pain from her scratched back, "Now let Bia look at your injured wing."
However, Aiden refused to allow Bia anywhere near him.
"My wing's fine," snapped the feisty glaucous macaw, "It's just a bit of a scratch."
"But you're struggling to fly with it," said Azul. He then looked at Kira, "And she's been injured. If we leave you two here, you could die."
"And besides that, you both are part of two rare species," put in Justin. Kira shot Zephyr and Aurora's oldest son and chick a glare.
"What's it to you, buffoon?" she snapped obnoxiously. Her eyes then travelled to Carla. "And it looks like you've been eating an awful lot of fruit to put on that much weight, fatso."
Clawed by this offensive remark, the chubby Spix macaw raised her wing and slapped Kira across the face. When Kira raised a wing to her face where Carla had hit her, stunned at the slap, Carla's flaming green eyes fixed on her.
"You say anything like that about me or call me fatso or related again and I'll tear your wing feathers out!" the Spix macaw hissed threateningly. Justin also stepped forward, his amber eyes which he had got from Aurora on fire as well. He loathed derogatory remarks about Carla or his friends, while Bia and Tiago and the others also shot Kira an angry glare each. Kira admitted defeat.
"Alright," she growled. Then Azul smiled as he set to treating Kira's injury.
"So, would you and your glaucous macaw friend care to join our expedition?" he asked.
"I don't think Ilosovic and his gang really care about you," said Chlorophyll, "They seemed to have left without a second thought for you two."
"Look," snapped Aiden. He then paused to examine the group. "A peregrine falcon (Velocity), a Major Mitchell's cockatoo (Milo who is actually half Major Mitchell's), eight Spix macaws (Carla, Bia, Tiago, Justin, Matilda, Virgil, Finnick and Lavender), four red macaws (Spinel, Sheldon, Estelle and Alexandre), two blue-and-gold macaws (Azul and Brooke), three glaucous macaws (Neytiri, Tristan and Trixie), a military macaw (Chlorophyll who is actually a great green), a Lear's macaw (Miranda), a young hyacinth macaw (Zebedee) and a chestnut-fronted macaw (Alessandro), eh? You lot look like more of a parade than a bunch of expeditioners."
"Well," growled tiny Trixie, "We're going to help you regardless of what you say, brat!"
Suddenly, an azure and grey blur pounced on her, much to the shock of the others. Trixie then found herself pinned by the larger Aiden against a tree trunk with a talon to the throat.
"Don't you EVER," hissed he aggressively, "Call me a brat, Tiny."
"Sorry," replied Trixie sarcastically and with that, the little glaucous macaw tackled Aiden and pinned him against a rock face with a talon to the throat. Though her talons were smaller than Aiden's and did not wrap around his neck, Trixie's claws were dangerously close to the area of the vital vessels running through the area.
"Brat," hissed the little glaucous macaw into Aiden's face. Velocity glared at the two glaucous macaws.
"I hope those two aren't gonna kiss," she muttered, "If they do, I'm gonna faint."
Trixie and Aiden shot the falcon a glare and the former immediately released the latter.
"Let's just get outa here and find someplace to spend the rest of the night and until this storm ends," said Carla with a frown.
"Yeah, the sooner we get away from those gangsters the better," said Tiago. The others nodded in agreement and prepared to take off. Carla shot Aiden and Kira a look. Kira, a sulky scowl on her face as Azul continued to clean her scratch of blood with his moss, glared back at the chubby Spix macaw.
"Those two will need carrying as they might not be able to fly," Carla said. This was met by stunned looks from Kira and Aiden. Finnick and Lavender rolled their eyes and reluctantly took off to pick up the pair. Aiden and Kira then reluctantly allowed Lavender and Finnick to wrap their talons around their wings and pick them up. However, they were griping and moaning sourly under their breaths. Then soon, the group was back in the air.
Sometime later
The storm had worsened. The deluge had increased to a torrential downpour and winds were howling. Lightning flashed furiously in the sky with loud cracks, making the sky appear to fissure and thunder rumbled angrily. Carla and her group had flown some distance, and had flown over some shrubby forests where the canopy was sparse. Because of this, they had to fly in the stormy and windy air, which was proving to be a formidable challenge. Lavender held tightly onto Kira while Finnick carried Aiden as they flew along and the bag carriers clung onto the two bags. Streaks of rain poured onto the birds and winds threatened to send them flying out of control. It was also so dark that everything looked unrecognisable. As Carla led her group through this stormy surge, she began to regret her decision to continue. Suddenly a huge gust of wind blew some of the macaws into the others, making those bumped yell in shock, but they still pressed on. Aiden and Kira both shouted and moaned immaturely in Lavender and Finnick's talons as they were carried through the deluge and winds.
"We're gonna have to find shelter NOW!" bellowed Azul through the dark storm, "The storm's just too dangerous for us to fly through!"
Spinel then yelped as another gust of wind pushed her far to the right of the group.
"Carla, can you see anywhere where we can shelter?" called Justin, his voice just heard over the howling wind. Carla then began to scan the dark area below but because it was so dark and the rains were so thick, she could not make heads or tails of things. The other macaws, Velocity and Milo all cried in fright as the wind blue against them again and threw them to one side.
"Oh, can we please find some sort of shelter out of this nightmare!?" barked Alexandre bitterly. The lightning flashed furiously in the sky.
"We didn't think that the storm would be THIS bad," cried Sheldon. Then suddenly, another gust of wind blew and sent Chlorophyll crashing into the two macaws. The bag carriers struggled to hold the bags as they swung in the winds and Bia and Tiago, who helped to hold one of them, were almost blown away. But the group still struggled on. Carla's green eyes which were wracked with terror and desperation and she continued to scanning the pitch-black land below for any suitable spot to shelter. To her frustration, she could not see anything. Furthermore, the group wasn't sure how far they were in the sky, and their feathers were getting more and more soaked every second. Soon they will be forced from the sky once their feathers become too wet, combined with the exhaustion that was beginning to set in upon the group. Then the winds began to increase in intensity and soon, they were too powerful for Carla's group to fly against it. Carla, Bia and Tiago then heard screams from someone through the pitch-black, rainy air.
"HEEEELLLLP!" cried the voice who they recognise to be Spinel's.
"Spinel!" cried Alexandre's voice. Carla, Bia and Tiago's glances snapped in Spinel's direction but to their horror, they could not see her or Alexandre or any of the others at all. Then suddenly, a huge gust of wind caught the trio and also Finnick, Lavender, Aiden, Kira, Justin and Azul and they began to fly out of control. The group clung onto the bag as they were sent spiralling towards earth.
"HANG ON!" cried Carla as the nine began to fall and get tossed about in the high winds. The others obeyed and clung onto the bag and each other. The eyes of all nine macaws including Kira and Aiden were flooded with terror as they spun in the wind. Not too far away, Miranda, Matilda, Sheldon, Brooke and Tristan clung onto the other bag as well as they wildly flew about in the wind. As they flew past Neytiri, the female glaucous macaw latched her beak onto a strap of the bag and was carried away with them. The other eight, Virgil, Chlorophyll, Estelle, Zebedee, Trixie, Alessandro, Milo and Velocity, however, were blown in another direction. They had no idea where the others were, much less how far they had been blown by the wind.
"THIS IS A NIGHTMARE!" cried Chlorophyll as he clung onto Zebedee and Trixie.
"CARLA, BIA, TIAGO!" cried Virgil, "LAVENDER, FINNICK, JUSTIN, MATILDA, GUYS!"
He struggled to stay aloft in the wind when suddenly, he was sent into a tailspin by a powerful gust of wind. Virgil cried out in terror as his world spun wildly around him. His stomach twisted with nausea for spinning like this made him feel sick. Then suddenly, talons latched onto his wing. At first, Virgil was alarmed but when he saw it was only Chlorophyll, together with Zebedee and Trixie; he breathed a sigh of relief.
"Do you have any idea of where Carla and the others are?" cried Chlorophyll.
"No," said Virgil, "It's so dark I cannot even see a metre away."
"I can't see any of the others at all," cried Trixie, Zebedee clinging for dear life onto her and Chlorophyll. Then suddenly, another gust of wind caught the quartet and sent them spinning wildly again. The four screamed as they were blown like a cluster of leaves by the wind. Velocity, who was on her own, began to look around for the others as she was also blown about by the winds.
"Guys, where are you!?" she cried, her voice almost drowned out by the screeching winds. Suddenly, the winds picked up and Velocity was violently flung into the air. She screamed as she lost control and was carried by the wind.
Virgil, Chlorophyll, Zebedee and Trixie continued to be blown violently by the wind when Milo, Alessandro and Estelle, who were also clinging onto each other, were blown towards them. As soon as the two groups met, they grabbed each other. The winds were now too strong and the rains too heavy for any bird to fly in and the group of six macaws and cockatoo prepared to be blown to an unknown place. As another huge gust of wind blasted against them, the seven braced themselves.
"HANG OOON!" cried Virgil and then the seven all screamed as they spun wildly as the wind carried them through the stormy, dark air.
Meanwhile, Carla's subgroup had managed to find a small cave in a patch of forest. As the storm went from bad to worse, the group of nine touched down clumsily and then hastily scrabbled for the cave, pulling the bag with them. As soon as they were inside, out of the rain and had begun to shake their sodden feathers of the rainwater as well as wring their wet fanny packs and the bag, Carla said, "It's far too dangerous. We're gonna have to wait until the storm passes and when morning comes."
"Trust us to fly through a storm like that," muttered Bia.
"This'll be a lesson we'll never forget," put in Tiago. He then felt exhaustion set in and he released a huge yawn. Finnick, Lavender, Aiden, Kira, Justin and Azul, however, had just collapsed onto the cave floor, too tired to moan anything. The enormity of stress they had been through with Ilosovic and his gang, being chased by two harpy eagles and then flying through the storm had taken its toll on them. Then within moments, sleep came over them. Azul tiredly gazed out into the stormy outside.
"I hope the others are alright," he moaned. Carla, Bia and Tiago just dropped against the cave wall as tiredness took hold and within moments, they had drifted off to slumber land. Azul crept by them and within moments, he followed suit.
Miranda's group had managed to take shelter in a large tree hollow and as soon as Miranda, Matilda, Sheldon, Tristan, Brooke and Neytiri had settled into it with the other bag, they only had enough energy to shake their feathers and wring their fanny packs of the excess rainwater before dropping one-by-one from exhaustion. Then within moments, sleep enveloped them as well. They will go out and look for the others tomorrow morning and when the storm had ended.