Chapter 29- the initial mini-storms before the main one
Tulio and his team had made it to the glaucous macaws' home patch but as they arrived, they noticed something a bit odd about the behaviour of the glaucous macaws. All the eyes from the human group saw the glaucous macaws fly around in the trees, emitting squawked panics. Darker, navy blue flashes indicated the presence of hyacinth macaws.
"What's going on?" asked Linda.
"Looks like something has spooked the glaucous macaws," said Susan.
"It's not us, is it?" asked Fernando. Tulio did not reply. He was equally puzzled by the behaviour of the glaucous macaws and the hyacinth macaws and could not figure why they appeared so frightened. Then a few minutes later, many of the glaucous and hyacinth macaws flew away in a particular direction.
"Could they be sensing a threat or something?" asked Lucy. Tulio then shot his team a suspicious look.
"Don't tell me loggers have intruded into this part of the Amazon rainforest, have they?" he asked sternly, "Because you know how valuable those macaws are and how important it is to protect them from going extinct."
"Or it could be something else," said Francisco. Tulio then paused until finally, he turned to his group.
"Let's see where those glaucous macaws are headed off," he said, "I have a feeling that it is definitely loggers afoot. We'll see to the project later."
And with that, the group of humans turned round and prepared to trudge back through the clutter of vegetation.
Meanwhile
Catina continued observing the activities of the poachers as they continued walking around like hunters waiting patiently for a prized animal to appear. During her observations, she saw two of the falcons and some crows return empty-taloned. They were all covered in a few bruises, cuts and bald patches but one of the falcons had a scratch marking her face. Aramis also saw them. He still had his screwdriver on talon, ready for freeing the macaws as soon as Catina formulated a plan.
"Looks like those two falcons and that group of crows have put up a pretty nasty fight with some of the macaws," he said.
"At least they have come back with nothing," said Catina with relief. Then Levi and D'Artagnan remembered that Rudi's tribe lived alongside Flavio's clan.
"I just remembered," the latter said, "I think the reason why those two falcons and those crows with them have returned battered and bruised is because of Flavio's clan, the Navyfeathers."
Catina shot him a surprised look.
"Those hyacinth macaws must have helped protect the glaucous macaws from being attacked," said Sapphire, "Given how formidable they are when it comes to combating them, especially a flock of them."
Levi and Lapis Lazuli nodded in agreement. Phoebe and Cobalto stared at their size and the size of the other macaws and saw that D'Artagnan and Sapphire were right.
"I'd agree," said Phoebe, "A peregrine falcon is probably around half the size of a hyacinth macaw, and a crow smaller. I mean, two small falcons and a group of small crows against a flock of, say, dozens of hyacinth macaws is a total mismatch."
"Glad the glaucous macaws have a powerful ally to help defend them then," said Daisy excitedly.
"Look, let's just focus on busting those macaws out from those cages over there before any of the poachers' pets, especially Nigel, does anything to them," said Catina and with that, the group returned to discussing their rescue plan.
At this moment, in the cargo bay of one of the poachers' chinook-like helicopters, Veggie, Dash and Collette continued murmuring. Avellana, Danny, James and Esperanza were nearby in their cages with the pilot (the same person who drove the helicopter and transported Tulio and his team to the Sanctuary de Amazon), their limbs tightly bound together by ropes and netting material.
"How are we gonna get out of here?" groaned Collette, "Tulio and his team have yet to be alerted to the presence of these poachers and I have a horrible feeling that they will have already caught some macaws…"
As she said this, the pilot had leaned over to Avellana, his tied hands close to her mouth. Avellana was tugging at the ropes binding his hands, the strings in her teeth. Then James bowed his head.
"We're sorry, Dad, Veggie," he groaned, "It's all our fault."
"It's not, son," said Dash as he struggled in his cage. He and his puppies were packed tightly into their cages, "It's just unfortunate that things went spiralling out of control…"
"We foolishly exposed ourselves to the poachers while we brought in the pilot," said Danny, "And ended up caught."
Veggie licked his wounds he had received from his earlier skirmish with Nigel while he listened. Then a thought about Zephyr and Lapis Lazuli entered Esperanza's head.
"We've got to rescue those Spix and Lear's macaws before Nigel implements his plans to hurt any of them," she said worriedly, "I've a feeling he'll have attempted to do just that even as we speak…"
As Esperanza said this, Avellana had managed to get the ropes binding the pilot's hands loose and the pilot wriggled his hands free of the ropes. After this, he set to untying his legs and feet. Then Danny gazed at the padlock locking him into his cage as Veggie said in response to Esperanza's worry.
"Well, before that savage sulfur-crested piece of work does anything to the remaining birds," he said, "We have to get out of here and rescue them…"
"But… how?" asked James. Just then, Avellana's voice alerted him.
"I think our human friend here is going to help us escape, bro," said the hazelnut coloured greyhound. Dash, Veggie, Collette, Esperanza, James and Danny all looked and saw that the pilot had untied himself and was free. Then the pilot, his eyes on the cats and dogs, began to think of a way to free them from their cages. As he thought about this, he began to search the cargo bay for any possible device to unlock the padlocks. As he did this, Collette clicked a claw and went to fiddling with the padlock locking her in her cage. However, she was quite impatient and desperate and so was struggling.
"Try not to rush it, Collette," said Veggie, trying to calm Collette's impatience but his caliby daughter continued to struggle. Her face was twisted into a frustrated scowl with her teeth bared as her eyes fixed upon the padlock. Then the pilot returned with something in his hand. It was a piece of sharp metal, like the steel part of a screwdriver. Dash smiled as the pilot walked over to him.
"I hope this works, dog," said the man in Spanish as he inserted it into the padlock and began to twist it to unlock the device. "It's the only suitable thing I could find that might break you out of these cages."
Dash smiled as the pilot set to work. Nearby, Collette continued fiddling with her cage's padlock until finally, its locking mechanism jolted out of its socket. The caliby smiled enthusiastically at this achievement.
"I've done it!" she said.
"Well done, Collette," said Veggie. Collette then opened the cage door and escaped her cage before setting to helping the pilot free the other cats and dogs…
Meanwhile
Outside the copter in which the pilot and Dash and company had been stashed, Lysandre and his poaching group continued stalking the periphery of the deforested area, eyes fixed on the trees for any flashes of colour and net guns ready to fire nets at any macaws or animal they find. One of the poachers had managed to net a parakeet and that bird had been caged and put with the other caged birds, and Xerosic, Bryony and Swoop had been sent back out to grab more Spix and Lear's macaws. Cometa was nowhere to be seen and Cazador and Aliana, and their accompanying crows who had been tasked with catching some of the glaucous macaws, were among the cats and other crows. The group of two falcons and few crows were indeed covered with cuts, bruises and bald patches from torn out feathers, and Aliana's face was streaked with three gashes. The cats and other crows had been surprised that the two falcons had returned emptyhanded and now they were helping to treat the birds' injuries.
"What happened?" asked Otis as he dabbed some wet, clean tissue onto Aliana's facial scratch to clean it of some blood. Aliana flinched from the stinging sensation each time the material touched the sensitive wound.
"Those glaucous macaws are gonna be a challenge to catch," said Cazador as he allowed two crows to treat some cuts on his shoulder, "They've got a flock of massive hyacinth macaws living right near them. When we launched into catching the glaucous birds, the next moment was we came under attack by these massive navy blue macaws."
"They were huge, they were," said one of the crows that had gone with Cazador and Aliana, "Just like the two hyacinth macaws that had escaped. There was no way we were gonna fight against a flock of such massive birds."
It then shot Aliana a glare and added, "I actually thought Aliana was gonna break a wing or something."
"The scratch wasn't from one of the hyacinth macaws, it came from a scarlet macaw," said Aliana.
"Scarlet macaw?" repeated Otis.
"That red macaw with the teal wing feathers," said Cazador in a growl, "I was gonna attack him but when I became confronted by a wall of hyacinth macaws, I decided to forget him and retreat."
He then smiled and said, "But at least Swoop, Xerosic and Bryony have caught three Spix macaws and two Lear's macaws which is a start."
But then Cazador's face fell to one of wonder as Cometa came into his head. "By the way, where is Cometa? I wonder why she is still out there and has not turned up yet."
Nearby, Nigel stood with his back against a tree trunk, a sour glare smearing his face. He did not look at the crows and cats as they treated Aliana and Cazador's injuries, and wanted to go against Cazador's orders not to touch any of the Spix and glaucous macaws. Then Moggy shouted, "I think that's her coming, Cazador."
Cazador and the cats all looked and saw a grey and ivory form fly in towards them. Cometa then touched down before them. When Cazador saw that Cometa had turned up empty-handed, he frowned.
"How come you've not returned with any macaws in your talons, Cometa?" he asked. Cometa looked up at him sorrowfully. However, under the façade of sorrow and disappointment, smugness lurked.
"I did catch two Lear's macaws but they got away," she said, covering up her true intentions, "They managed to writhe out of my talons and when I went after them to re-catch them again but I was confronted by a huge flock of angry Lear's macaws and decided to retreat."
Cazador allowed a sigh of frustration to escape his beak before looking up at the sky. Grey clouds were swallowing up the aqua blue.
"I hope we catch more macaws soon before it starts raining for one," he said, "And before that Tulio guy becomes suspicious for another…"
"This is proving much more difficult than we planned," said Cometa, "It could possibly take forever to catch up to twenty macaws..."
As she talked with Cazador, Nigel finally shot the group a glare and strode off towards the caged birds. He was going to put his plan into action, regardless of Cazador's orders of keeping his talons off the Spix macaws or what anyone else said. His obsession of seeing Aurora and Levi in utter misery and devastation he had nurtured all this time finally got the better of him, and he planned on devastating Aurora first for she and her family were still caged. As for Levi, his turn will come later when he and his family were caught but it had frustrated Nigel that they had been snaffled.
Around Cazador's group, Lysandre and his underlings continued pacing around the periphery of the deforested area, eyes scanning the trees for any flash of colour. To their dismay, they found nothing, and Lysandre's patience was running out. However, the poachers were too busy scanning the trees for any macaws or other animals to notice the door to the cargo bay of one of their helicopters had been opened. Dash's group had managed to escape their cages and their ropes thanks to the pilot's idea of using a piece of metal to pick the locks and now, Dash, Esperanza, Avellana, James, Danny, Veggie and Collette were on their way towards Catina and their group while the pilot had sneaked in the direction of the other clearing where Tulio and his team's copter was to call Tulio and report the poachers to him. Catina and Dash's group had shared a brief union moment before breaking apart, and then Catina, having thought of a rescue plan, led the group in the direction of the caged birds, Aramis ready with his screwdriver to pick the locks while the rest apart from the chicks and Ginger got prepared to attack the cats and crows. Catina's plan was to involve stealthy combat and retreat as a diversion instead, but Catina was not so sure about the poachers. If the humans spotted the group, they would all be netted within minutes, and there were a lot of them pacing around for Lysandre's group was massive.
Before they moved out of their cover amongst the vegetation, Catina kept an eye on three of Lysandre's underlings as they continued scanning the trees for any animals to catch. To her relief, their backs were turned to them. As soon as Catina saw that the coast was clear, she whispered to the others.
"Okay, go," she said in a low voice. And with that, Dash, Veggie, Esperanza, Avellana, James, Danny, Collette and Daisy and Aramis, Esmeralda, Phoebe, Cobalto, D'Artagnan and Sapphire went ahead, stealthily heading towards the location of Blu's group. Ginger, Levi, Lapis Lazuli and the chicks Carla, Bia, Tiago, Miranda, Jasmine, Annette, Tristan, Quincy, Larimar, Trixie, Zebedee, Indigo, Chlorophyll and Petunia stayed behind as the others left with Catina.
"Be careful, you lot," said Ginger in a low voice. Catina nodded and continued following the others. Meanwhile, Blu's group continued to sit there in their cages. Blu had begun to fiddle with one of the padlocks locking him and Jewel into their cage with a talon claw while Jewel tried to help Zephyr calm Justin, Charlotte, Matilda and Virgil who were very frightened, and assure them that they will get out of here. At the same time, Jewel had hoped that Carla, Bia and Tiago were safe. Nearby, Brisa was gazing out into the trees through her and Roberto's cage bars.
"I hope help comes in time," she said, "I'm beginning to feel more and more nervous by the second."
"It will, just give those that had gone into the Amazon time, sis," said Zephyr. Brisa shot her brother a look while Roberto continued cowering in the cage corner. Felipe, Enrique, Benjamin, Alfonso and Regina just looked on as did Roxie, Elena, Maximillian, Ray and Monique. Above the group, the sky continued to darken as rainclouds continued to gather and thicken. However, the air above the caged group was about to darken as well, especially for Aurora.
Zephyr, with Jewel's help, continued comforting the frightened Justin, Charlotte, Matilda and Virgil and also the terrified Aurora. The four Spix macaw chicks were very scared, especially of Nigel. His scratched face and battered look from his skirmish with Veggie had made him look more terrifying than ever. Not to mention his deranged behaviour threatening the lives of Zephyr and also Lapis Lazuli if she were ever caught. Nigel knew that there was a very strong loving bond between Aurora and Zephyr, and Levi and Lapis Lazuli, and each of the parents with the chicks, like there would have been between Aurora and Levi and their parents and siblings. If anything happened to Zephyr and Lapis Lazuli, Aurora and Levi's hearts would be torn in two, and Nigel knew this very well. He knew what devastation that would leave Levi and Aurora and their chicks if he killed Zephyr and Lapis Lazuli in front of them, but it would also devastate Jewel, Blu, Roberto and Brisa, especially the latter since she was Zephyr's sister. However, Zephyr, along with Lapis Lazuli, will ABSOLUTELY refuse to allow that sickening cockatoo to kill them just to hurt their mates and their friends.
Then Enrique, Benjamin, Regina and Alfonso saw something approach the group. The latter three began to cower behind Enrique while Felipe looked up. When his eyes landed on the approaching form, Felipe's green eyes flared up with fury once again. Blu and Jewel's eyes also fired up volcanically, while Roberto, Brisa, Roxie, Elena, Maximillian, Monique and Ray cowered in horror. Zephyr looked on in wonder.
"What is it?" he asked. Jewel shot him a glare.
"You'd better get your talons ready, Zephyr," she growled, "That crested slime-ball's coming."
Zephyr became alarmed while Aurora and the four chicks began to panic. Justin, Charlotte, Matilda and Virgil cowered behind Aurora who began to breathe uncontrollably as a tacky, vest-wearing cockatoo strode in. Nigel's brown eyes were ablaze with the most maniacal sadism the group had ever seen, and they flared up when they fixed upon Aurora, one of his targets. When Nigel saw Aurora cower in fear, a very devilish grin crept into his beak and his crest rose.
"Yep, pigtails," he crooned sadistically, "The time has come for your heart to be broken once again and your lil turquoise glaucous friend will be following soon after."
His eyes then travelled to Aurora's four chicks. "And for history to repeat itself for them and for Turquoise boy's four chicks too," he added. The eyes of Justin and his three siblings glinted with immense fright but then Virgil, a wave of boldness suddenly taking him over, stepped forward from behind Aurora. Zephyr spread his wings protectively across his family but Nigel knew this was futile for he was one of his prime targets.
Next to Aurora and her family's cage, Blu and Jewel looked on with the most acidic hate-filled look they had ever had. Then Zephyr raised a talon and flared its claws.
"Get away from us this minute, Nigel," he growled, "NOW!"
Nigel stood there, the devilish grin revoltingly smearing his beak.
"Or what, pretty bird?" he crooned.
"Or I'll brutally CLAW YA!" snarled Zephyr volcanically. His blue feathers were on end and his green eyes were volcanic ash plumes. Nigel's taunting of Aurora and his boasting of how he had traumatised her and Levi by killing their families when they were chicks, in addition to his rubbing that into them had finally sent Zephyr to boiling point. Nigel grinned at Zephyr's threat and sauntered towards him.
"You really think that's gonna change my plans, pretty bird?" he crooned mockingly, "That lovely pigtailed mate of yours deserves to be severely heartbroken, just like how she was when I killed her father and mother all those years ago. It sure was funny watching her break down and I had fun terrorising her and her little friend who's yet to show himself with his pretty lil' family, when I beat them up and frightened them to shut them up."
Zephyr's eyes flashed with revulsion. Nigel had just had the audacity to poke fun at the scars he had inflicted on Aurora and also Levi, AND enjoy doing it just to frighten the two macaws he had scarred for life and not regret it, and Nigel certainly did not have even a sliver of regret in him whatsoever. Zephyr's talon continued to hover with its claws flared poised to lurch at Nigel. Blu and Jewel also got ready to attack Nigel too.
"I mean it; you savage cockatoo," growled Zephyr, barely able to control his temper which was at boiling point, "You come one step closer, I'll brutally claw you."
"'You come one step closer, I'll brutally claw you'" crooned Nigel mockingly, repeating Zephyr's warning immaturely, "You sure do make me laugh, pretty bird."
Behind Zephyr, Aurora stood up. Her frightened face then became replaced by one of immense fury. Nigel continued taunting Zephyr but his voice tone then changed from mocking to threatening, more acidic.
"And you sure do DRIVE ME MAD!" snarled the cockatoo and with that, he raised his talon, darted it like a bullet through the cage bars and grabbed Zephyr by the neck once again. Zephyr gasped in shock as he was then yanked towards Nigel's face. The other macaws including the chicks screamed as Nigel's blazing maniacal eyes glared into Zephyr's like icy lasers. His crest was also fully raised.
"I'm gonna slit your throat right in front of pigtails and your precious little kids, you filthy blue macaw," hissed the cockatoo murderously, but before he could even harm Zephyr, a maya blue head with two pigtail-like crests darted in and her beak clamped onto Nigel's talon… hard. A piercing screech of agony erupted from Nigel's beak as Aurora clamped her beak as hard as she could. The toes around Zephyr's neck went slack and Zephyr escaped. Nigel then began to struggle to free his talon from Aurora's beak but the pigtailed Spix macaw, her yellow eyes blazing volcanoes, refused to let go. Blu and Jewel could see the fire in them, and Aurora's puffy maya blue plumage added to her terrifying angry look. Aurora had never been so angry in her life. Nigel's taunting of her and also of Levi who was still absent has gone far enough.
"You know something, Nigel," snarled Aurora stormily, her beak firmly on Nigel's talon, "I think you should have stayed back in Tulio's Aviary rather than come out on some pointless revenge quest on Blu and Jewel because of your loss of the ability to fly. You should have learned a very important lesson from the plane incident and gone off torturing exotic birds altogether."
Nigel shot Aurora a corrosively malicious glare.
"Have you not been paying attention, pigtails?" he growled in irritation but when he felt Aurora's beak clamp ever harder onto his talon, Nigel gasped in painful shock.
While Nigel was distracted with Aurora holding him by the talon, Collette, D'Artagnan and Esperanza, who had been sent in by Catina to help draw the cats and crows' attention away from the caged birds, watched on in horror.
"That cockatoo's threatening Aurora's family, Esperanza and D'Artagnan," hissed Collette bitterly, "Shall I…"
And with that, she leapt towards Nigel but Esperanza blocked her way.
"Not so suddenly, Collette," said Esperanza in rebuke. D'Artagnan then lifted a talon.
"Leave that cockatoo to me," he growled, "You two seize the caged birds."
Collette and Esperanza looked up at him and returned to their preparation position. Elsewhere, the rest of Catina's group apart from Ginger, Levi and his family, and the chicks who remained hidden in the vegetation had positioned themselves to attack as well. Nigel continued struggling to release his talon from Aurora's grasp but Aurora kept her beak in an iron grip on it. A small bead of blood emerged from the spot where Aurora's beak cut into Nigel's skin trickled down Nigel's ankle and onto the floor. Nigel glared at Aurora with blazing brown eyes and crest raised.
"If you will NOT release me, pigtails," he snarled, "I WILL get violent."
In response, Aurora jerked her head sharply downward, pulling Nigel's talon down and making the cockatoo fall onto his back near the cage's floor. Then another talon appeared and clamped onto the cockatoo's neck. Nigel looked up in shock to see a pair of green flames glare at him. Zephyr then tightened his grip around Nigel's neck and lowered his face towards the cockatoo's.
"Do you want Blu and Jewel to brutally claw ya? Cos' they're SERIOUSLY itchin' to plunge their talons into some cockatoo plumage for his abuse of their chicks," he snarled. Nigel glared back at him.
"Why don't you and your pretty pigtailed girl do that instead?" he asked. Aurora winced at the thought of doing that. As vile as Nigel was, she did not want to viciously attack him for no reason for it was not in her nature. Blu and Jewel, however, relished that idea, and the vengeful urge to claw Nigel outright for his treatment of Carla, Bia and Tiago was boiling dangerously within them. Soon it will violently explode. Then suddenly, the sounds of cat and crow screeches erupted from nearby, with some dog barks and parrot squawks thrown into the mix.
"Now what's going on?" snarled Brisa who had been watching Zephyr and Aurora restrain Nigel. All eyes turned and saw the source of the noise. To their surprise, it came from the cats and the crows and they were chasing some animals across the clearing. Those animals were some greyhounds and some macaws and they appeared to be luring the cats and crows to somewhere.
While Blu's group including Aurora and Zephyr glared at the commotion going on with the animals, Nigel seized the opportunity to break free from Zephyr and Aurora's restraints. He raised his head and bit down onto Zephyr's foot as hard as he could. Painful cries exploded from Zephyr's beak and he jumped and grabbed his wounded talon. As soon as his neck restraint was free, Nigel jumped up and attempted to claw Aurora with his free talon to get her to release his foot but she promptly raised a talon and brought it down hard across Nigel's stomach, opening more gashes to his already-tattered vest. Nigel gasped in shock as more gashes opened up in the only thing that was supposed to conceal the unsightly mess on his ragged torso plumage. Nigel then spat directly into Aurora's face and made her release his foot. Aurora gasped in disgust and began to wipe her face of the saliva. Then Nigel prepared to grab Zephyr in order to injure him, not aware that a dark navy blue form with a teal-tinged face had crept up behind him.
"Now ya gonna DIE, you filthy BLUE BIRD!" he snarled and with that, he reached a talon into the cage and grabbed Zephyr by the neck once again. The others gasped in horror and Aurora got prepared to attack once again when, "Drop that Spix macaw at ONCE, you psychotic piece of work!"
Then before Nigel could deduce the voice's owner, searing pain exploded from his lower back. The cockatoo released Zephyr and leapt into the air, grasping his scratched back. D'Artagnan looked up smugly as Collette and Esperanza dashed in. The caliby and the greyhound's paws darted towards Blu and Jewel's cage and the cage hold Zephyr and the others and the two mammals rushed off for the cover of the ferns, taking the caged Spix macaws with them. Then a green, blue, yellow-green and red streak appeared as D'Artagnan continued tackling Nigel and knocking him down each time the cockatoo stood up. Aramis made a beeline for Aurora and her family and shoved the flat chisel-like end of the screwdriver into the padlock.
"Aramis," cried Aurora with joy and relief. Zephyr, Justin, Charlotte, Matilda and Virgil looked on as Aramis, after briefly shooting them an approving glance, picked the padlock with the screwdriver. After a few seconds of twiddling the padlock with the tool, the U-shaped lock clicked out of the padlock's locking mechanism. This done, Aramis tossed the padlock away and opened the door, allowing Aurora and her family to flee. Aramis then set to freeing Roberto and Brisa when suddenly "Put the screwdriver down!"
Aramis' eyes darted this way and that when suddenly, a yellow talon with lethally sharp claws appeared and grabbed him by the neck. Brisa and Roberto cried in horror as the great green macaw was plucked away from them like a fly, his screwdriver clattering onto the floor in front of Roberto and Brisa's cage. Felipe and the others winced in horror as Cazador then looked Aramis in the eye.
"You're not freein' any MORE of these birds, you escaped green pest," hissed the falcon fiercely. Aramis struggled in the falcon's talon, timidly aware of how close his claws were to the vital blood vessels that ran through his neck. Nearby, D'Artagnan continued battling Nigel, too engrossed to see the danger Aramis was in at Cazador's clutches. Collette, after setting Blu and Jewel's cage down in the ferns, looked back and drew in a horrified gasp when she saw Cazador hold a familiar great green macaw by the neck. Then that horror flashing to volcanic rage, the caliby dashed back towards the area of the caged birds, making a beeline for Cazador.
"Collette, get BACK HERE!" cried Esperanza but Collette did not reply. Then as soon as she was out in the open, with an enraged cat screech and a powerful propulsion off the ground with her hind legs, Collette leapt towards Cazador, her forepaw claws protracted ready to scratch.
"You release that Buffon's macaw this MINUTE, you ROTTEN VULTURE!" she bellowed as she flew towards Cazador. Cazador turned his attention from Aramis to Collette as she continued flying towards him, throwing on an astounded look as he spotted her. From their cages Brisa, Roberto, Felipe, Enrique, Benjamin, Regina, Alfonso, Roxie, Maximillian, Elena, Monique and Ray watched in utter astonishment as the young caliby pounced onto Cazador and knocked him away from Roberto and Brisa's cage. Cazador cried in shock and his grip on Aranis became slack, allowing Aramis to be released. Hastily, the great green or Buffon's macaw darted away, snatched the screwdriver from the ground and inserted it back into the padlock locking Brisa and Roberto in their cage as Collette and Cazador landed onto the brown soil and tumbled violently.
D'Artagnan continued fighting Nigel, using his flying ability to keep out of the way of the deranged cockatoo's beak and talon attacks much to Nigel's utter disgust and dismay when the Lear's macaw heard the sound of a cat screech and a falcon grunting. Curious, he stopped combating Nigel and turned his eyes in the source of the sounds' direction. When he saw that one of Veggie and Catina's daughters had pounced onto Cazador, horror tore through him. Nigel also saw Collette as she recovered from her tumble with Cazador and rose to her feet and rushed off towards her. However, also seeing that D'Artagnan's focus on him was broken, the wicked cockatoo picked up a rock and threw it as hard as he could at the Lear's macaw. D'Artagnan was struck hard on the head by the rock and knocked out of the air, much to the horror of Esperanza in her hiding place and she flinched. D'Artagnan fell limply on the ground, unconscious and with some blood oozing from his head where the rock hit. Nigel shot the unconscious male Lear's macaw a sadistic grin.
"I'll be back to slit your throat, filthy pretty bird," he crooned and with that, he strode off in Collette's direction. When Esperanza saw Nigel leave D'Artagnan, she dashed over to the out-cold Lear's macaw's side to take him to safety.
As Collette stood up and shook her head to eliminate the dizziness from the tumbling, Cazador eyed her with his large, piercing eyes ablaze with rage.
"You sure don't know when to quit or keep your pesky little kitten noses out of this business, do you, cat?" he snarled and began to pace towards Collette. Collette then took up a defensive stance. Her fur which had a mix of her mother's calico blotches and her father's stripes painted across the white canvas puffed out and her hazel eyes became hazel flames. Her mouth dropped open, her back arched and her claws protracted from her paws. A hiss then began to flow through her mouth. However, Cazador continued advancing towards Collette, unfazed by her threatening posture.
"Your cat defence doesn't scare me, feline brat," he snarled. Collette continued hissing and then gently backed away as Cazador continued approaching her. Nigel continued advancing towards the caliby. Tens of metres away, Catina and the others continued luring the cats and crows away from the caged birds, Lysandre and the other humans walking in, the commotion caused by the animals having alerted them. As they continued to lure the cats and crows away, Catina hidden by the group such that Otis and his gang have yet to see her, Veggie shot a glance across the clearing. When he saw Collette confront Cazador, horror tore within him. Collette continued trying to intimidate Cazador with her defensive pose. Behind Cazador, Aramis had managed to set Roberto and Brisa free, his screwdriver unlocking the padlock before he subsequently seized it, tossed it aside and opened the door, allowing the pair to escape. Roberto and Brisa escaped into the ferns while Aramis moved onto rescuing Felipe, eyes darting to Cazador and Nigel who were distracted by Collette.
Collette then increased the intensity of her hiss towards Cazador, though wary of how dangerous the falcon was with his lethal beak and talons, but unaware that Nigel was walking towards her. While she kept Cazador occupied, Esperanza took D'Artagnan's limp body to the ferns and left him to the care of Roberto and Brisa before turning her attention to Nigel as he continued advancing towards Collette. Nearby, Aramis had managed to free Felipe and then Enrique and Felipe's chicks in a short while and they escaped into the ferns to hide with Roberto and Brisa, Aramis turning his attention to Maximillian, Roxie and Elena. The great green macaw continuously stole glances at Cazador as Collette continued to keep him occupied. However, the caliby was too engrossed in keeping Cazador occupied to notice that a deranged cockatoo was heading her way.
"You know something, falcon," snarled Collette bitterly, "It's not normally in my nature to hurt birds, and neither is it with Dad, Mom, my sister and my brother, but given the choice, I could seriously injure you with one swipe of a paw."
"Oh, yeah, and how are you gonna manage my lethal talons and beak, cat?" retorted Cazador rhetorically. He then raised a talon to show Collette the lethal sickle-like claws on the ends of the toes. Collette flashed a look of alarm.
"These talons are sharp enough to fatally disembowel a pigeon," snarled the falcon threateningly, "If they can do that to a pigeon, they can kill a cat, and I won't hesitate to use these claws if you don't do as I say."
Collette continued standing there, despite the danger she was putting herself in. Nigel continued striding towards her, a murderous, deranged, rabid and feral gaze flaring up on his face as he prepared his talons to possibly kill Collette the moment he pounced onto her. As he continued advancing towards Collette, Esperanza ran towards him from behind and then as soon as she was close to Nigel, she raised a paw and swiped the cockatoo down. A cry of surprise escaped Nigel's beak as he found himself flying for about a metre and crashing into the dirt. Then Esperanza rushed towards Nigel and took up a threatening position like she had done before the last time she was locked in a confrontation with the cockatoo and despite the danger, her teeth bared and her throat and lips vibrating to the waves of a growl. Esperanza's attack on Nigel had attracted the attention of Collette, Aramis and Veggie and Dash. When they saw that the young greyhound was confronting the highly dangerous cockatoo again, immense horror tore through them, especially Veggie who remembered what happened last time when Nigel slashed her down the side.
Nigel then stood up and eyed Esperanza with the most murderous look Esperanza had ever seen. With Collette distracted, Cazador was about to attack the caliby when he heard the voice of one of the crows.
"Cazador," called the crow, "Swoop, Bryony and Xerosic have returned and they look like they've been beaten up."
Cazador, frustration exploding within him, then abandoned his idea of attacking Collette and took off after the crow to meet his three minions. Nigel locked his brown flames of eyes onto Esperanza. His crest was flared and his messily scratched, scabby face was saturated with murderous wrath.
"So, you have decided to risk facing my fury in attacking me like last time when you refused to let me capture those three brats of those Spix worms, huh?" growled the cockatoo aggressively. Esperanza glared back at Nigel, her eyes ocean blue firestorms. She looked as terrifying as last time and once again, she was utilising the dog's natural defence posture. Her back hairs were on end and her tail was tucked between her back legs. Her ears were pointed back and her teeth were fully exposed.
"You seriously have caused us enough trouble for everyone, you disgusting vulture," Esperanza snarled fiercely, "Especially for Veggie's family, Blu and Jewel, and Aurora and Levi's families as well."
A mocking snicker escaped Nigel's beak.
"Well, that's a brilliant thing," he crooned, "I love seein' pretty birds suffer immense heartbreak with a deep emotional scar carved into them, be it watchin' their loved ones bleed and die in utter agony, or torn away from their kids or parents. The screams of distressed pretty birds are purely music to my ears."
Esperanza winced at how murderous Nigel was and had become. Not wanting to hear any more of Nigel's evil and bloodthirsty remarks about 'pretty birds' and not caring about the possibility of facing Nigel's feral and rabid rage again, Esperanza lurched forward and lashed a paw at the cockatoo. Nigel dodged and retaliated with a snake-like hiss right into Esperanza's face, his crest flared, eyes bulging like grapes and spittle flying. Esperanza flinched harshly and backed away before resuming her threat posture. Then the cockatoo and greyhound began to circle around a point. Fierce growls escaped Esperanza's throat while a snake-like hiss filtered through Nigel's beak. Both opponents were locked in fighting postures, eyes piercing each other like lasers and feathers or fur puffed out. Collette, Veggie and Dash watched on in horror. Nearby, Aramis had managed to free the last of the caged birds, Monique and Ray and they escaped into the ferns as well. Then after a few more seconds of circling, Esperanza lurched forward and attempted to bite Nigel but the cockatoo jumped upward to avoid her snapping jaws. Then what came next sent horror tearing through the watchers, especially Dash. Nigel then landed onto Esperanza's back and then with all his might, began to score his claws into the greyhound's skin while clamping his beak onto Esperanza's shoulder. An extremely agonised howl erupted explosively from Esperanza's mouth. Esperanza's name exploded out of Dash's mouth as he watched the feral-minded cockatoo injure his daughter again. Then Nigel knocked Esperanza down and began to unleash his furious wrath over the greyhound, his mind completely warped by his explosive temper. This time, Esperanza got the full dose of the cockatoo's feral, Brutus-like apoplexy.