Attack of the Flying Foxes and the Battle for the Sanctuary- edited

by VPVPVP

The Sanctuary de Amazon becomes threatened with takeover by a colony of winged mammals who view all birds of the rainforest as vermin. When all peaceful shots fail and the threat becomes critical, the avian inhabitants are left with no choice but to resort to extreme measures to protect their homes, even if it means using violence and waging the biggest war in history.

31. 31- shocking revelations

Chapter 31- shocking revelations

Meanwhile

The crowd of birds continued to wait anxiously for the rescue group in the green tribe's home grove. The rescue group had been gone for well over an hour now and nervousness and dread were approaching boiling point. In one area, Carla and company were lounging around with some of their parents, immense worry bubbling within them. Aurora and Roberto sat with D'Artagnan and Phoebe, their first-brood offspring crowded around them, their minds swimming with all kinds of dreadful things that could have happened to the rescue group, as well as fearing the worst, especially if that group did not turn up. Aurora, who sat with Justin, Charlotte, Matilda and Virgil and also Carla, Bia, Tiago and Kira, was deeply troubled by the absence of Zephyr, as was Roberto, Finnick, Felix and Lavender with Brisa's absence. Roberto had been prevented from going with the rescue group due to his phobia of the flying foxes after what happened to his family at the membranous wings of a group of them when he was a chick, so his mate Brisa had opted to go instead of him. Especially if the group were to run into Voldemort, Roberto's most detested enemy and one of his family's murderers. Nearby, Cassia sat with Tyler and Ricardo, a look of extreme worry plastering her face. Cassia had wanted to help on the rescue mission too but she had been told to stay behind due to the dangers involved for one and the Spix tribe needed her for their nurse team for another, and Tyler and Ricardo had been extremely worried about their father Nuvem who had been one of the victims successfully kidnapped by the flying foxes.

Next to the Spix macaws, Alexandre and his sisters Spinel and Poinsettia sat huddled together, worries about their parents Athos and Ruby storming their minds. D'Artagnan, sat with Miranda, Jasmine and Annette and also Azul and Wilbur, the first-brood sons of Porthos and Orquidea; Levi and Lapis Lazuli's four first-brood offspring, Tristan, Quincy, Larimar and Trixie, and Aramis and Esmeraldas's first brood offspring, Petunia and Chlorophyll. These macaws also lounged around, some asleep as they waited for the rescue group's return. Tristan and his siblings were also especially worried for both their parents, Levi and Lapis Lazuli. Like the red, the blue-and-gold and the green macaw siblings, both parents of this glaucous macaw sibling quartet were missing. The mothers of these four sibling groups had been taken to the dreaded flying fox territory while their fathers had volunteered to go on the mission, and there was worry that those parents might not make it back. If that were to happen, Alexandre and his sisters, together with their younger brothers Cinnabar and Oliver; Wilbur, Azul and their younger sisters Amalthea and Desdemona; Chlorophyll, Petunia and their younger brother Edmund, and Tristan and his three siblings will end up orphaned.

Nearby, Phoebe, Zebedee, Indigo, and Eriko's mate Carolina and other daughter Fernanda (Ariel was still in the hospital) waited with the closest friends of Carla's group. Turquesa, Músculo, Garrett and Annie of the Spix macaws, Finn of the Lear's macaws, Estelle, Sheldon, Regina and Benjamin of the red macaws, Brooke and Bastian of the blue-and-gold macaws, and Ashley of the green macaws, Penelope, Victor, Casper and Gloria of the hyacinth macaws, Neytiri and Aiden of the glaucous macaws and the smaller group friends, Caspian and Citrine from the golden conures, Alessandro and Rhiannon from the chestnut-fronted macaws and Mariposa and Kiawe from the blue-headed macaws all sat with their parents, some of them hugging their other halves (such as Neytiri with Tristan, Indigo with Victor, etc.). Nearby this group of parrots, Orion, Velocity, Diantha, Eustace, Milo, Rosa, Clemont and Serena stood with Stella, Luna and Sebastian as they also awaited the rescue group's return.

To pass the time, the three young albino flying foxes were talking with Eustace's group about the customs of the flying fox colony and their anti-bird teachings, as well as their family history. The only positive thing in the dismal black cloud was Sebastian, Stella and Luna making friends with birds for the first time.

"When I was a young pup," said Sebastian, Eustace and the other eight listening while eating some fruit or in Orion and Velocity's case, some tapir meat brought to them by some of Alonso's tribe members, "I was forced to attend these bird fighting classes…"

He then nodded to Stella and Luna who brought a carved fruit shaped like a bird. Seeds were placed on the head to represent eyes while two halves of a nutshell was used to represent a beak. Sebastian nodded to the model.

"We were trained to fight against bird dummies similar to that model," said he.

"It wasn't training you in self-defence or anything, was it?" asked Eustace. Sebastian shook his head.

"No," he said, "It's to sharpen our skills for when we take on real birds, even innocent birds, so that we could earn our first trophy in the form of a collected flight feather from our first victim…" Sebastian breathed a disgusted sigh and sat down. "I absolutely loathed those lessons. I never really saw any point in attacking innocent birds based on what Mom and Dad told me…"

"But you'd still need the basic skills in self-defence in case you run into a rogue bird that might attack you for no reason, or even a predatory bird that might want you for dinner," said Milo.

"I don't think any predatory bird would attack any flying fox anyway since they're also on their kill list," said Rosa. Sebastian gazed at the former cockatoo with his reddish eyes lacking in pigment.

"It was nothing at all relating to self-defence," he replied sadly, "This was actually to fight birds without their provoking us whatsoever. And if I were to say who would be the rogue creatures, it would be us flying foxes, not the other way round."

"Especially when we have to use these horrible weapons," added Stella, "Such as those sticks with a sharpened end."

"Countless innocent birds have been killed because of teenaged pups going out and earning their first trophy, combined with the bird tribes and clans losing their homes to our colony when they drive them out," added Luna. Her gaze then landed on Roberto as he sat with his family and nephews and nieces. "And I believe the family of that blue macaw with the set of leaf-like head feathers were some of those innocent victims…"

"Mom and Dad told us that Voldemort, one of the nastiest and most aggressive and violent bats in the colony," said Sebastian, "had participated in slaughtering that macaw's family when he was a teenaged pup. Apparently, he had killed most of them and had fatally stabbed his father…"

Clemont shuddered at the mentioning of that psychopathic bat, the one that had slashed him across the belly with his foot claws during the confrontation in the former territory of the Bluewing hyacinth and blue-throated macaws before Orquidea and Ruby were snatched over four days ago. The scratches across his stomach, though they were half-healed, had served as a reminder to their barer of his near life-risking move to attack such a savage bat. However, that savage bat was strangling Porthos into unconsciousness so Clemont knew he had to do something.

Then Stella and Luna moved on to another subject, the few flying foxes of the colony that were against the anti-bird teachings alongside their parents and also their late first-cousin-once-removed who was their mother's cousin and also had albinism like them and their brother.

"There are some flying foxes in our colony that disagree completely with the teachings you know," said Stella, "Us three and Mom and Dad aren't, and haven't been, the only ones to despise the teachings about birds of the Amazon, such as them as being the cause of all the disasters that negatively affected the colony in some way such as logging, and vicious storms."

"That's obviously just a fabricated story, isn't it?" said Rosa as she stood by Clemont, "But it's horrifying how so many bats believe that."

"Not to mention generations of them," added Luna. Eustace's group felt shock spark within them when they heard this.

"Generations!?" blurted out Diantha incredulously. Sebastian, Stella and Luna nodded.

"Us flying foxes reach maturity at age two years," said Luna, "Far earlier than you birds except perhaps a few species."

"Anyway, coming back to the few of us that disagree with those teachings," said Stella, "Even fewer flying foxes actually took to protecting as many birds as they could from the rest of the colony." "Mom's cousin Lily was one of them, along with her friends Marcus and Ana," said Sebastian.

"Really?" said Orion as he ate a piece of meat with Velocity.

"Yes," said Stella, "She kept quite a large number of birds, especially those of the rare and near-extinct species, hidden from the other bats for a long time. Only Mom and Dad had known about the secret hiding place but then…" Stella's face then fell.

"But then what?" asked Velocity.

"Then Lily's hiding place was found out and she was brought before Cicatriz and Iracebeth," said Sebastian in an edgy voice, "It happened shortly after my twin sisters here were born and she was put to death before the higher ranking bats and most of the colony," he breathed a sad sigh, "And that brings us to another depressing trait of our colony. If you're a flying fox that disagrees with the anti-bird teachings and even worse, friends with even one creature that has feathers, you're treated as an outcast, a coward and a hopeless case and even threatened with death."

"And if you're found to be helping birds furthermore," said Stella, "You were ACTUALLY killed there and then. It's honestly an extremely difficult life living in that colony that believes a massive web of lies that have been taught through the generations, the basis of our colony's driving out of so many bird flocks and grabbing their land…"

Eustace, Milo, Rosa, Clemont, Serena, Orion, Velocity and Diantha looked on, saddened by the facts.

"And that's not all," added Sebastian, "Because of what our colony does, earning us the notorious reputation as being every Amazon bird's sworn enemies, there is extreme discrimination hanging over each and every one of us bats even if we mean no harm. The vast majority of the bird tribes, clans and groups just see us as barbaric, savage winged furballs, rats and worse as a result and if any friendly flying fox was caught on a bird's territory, they were either violently driven out or even put to death."

"It seems that your colony's notorious history of driving out so many bird flocks has painted a horrible picture of even friendly bats like you and your parents…" said Velocity.

"It has," said Sebastian with a sad face, "It absolutely has. That was why it has been extremely difficult for us five to show our allegiance to you birds and attempt to help you protect your homes against our colony. There had been difficulties for on every side; from you birds because of of image to you and from our colony because they despise flying foxes who disagree with the teachings about birds..."

As the adolescent albino bat said this, a tear welled in his left eye and rolled down his cheek. Then he sat down. "The homes of your macaw and other jungle friends are at risk because of our colony now. It has been a difficult time for you lot because of them…"

"We're not surprised," said Eustace, "It has interrupted our visit to see our jungle friends for we are from a human city called Rio... the Pit of Games championships…"

Stella and Luna shot the cockatoo a surprised look while Sebastian flinched with the same emotion.

"You're from a human's place?" asked Stella. Eustace nodded, while Rosa continued.

"And also the daily life and activities of the bird flocks here," added she. Sebastian, Stella and Luna, the shock at the revelation that Eustace's group came from a human city put aside, nodded in agreement. Then another thought entered Sebastian's head as he gazed at the colourful sea of waiting birds and the night sky, and also at Carla and company. "Mom, Dad and the rescue group should be back by now," he said. "It sure is getting late…"

No sooner had he finished saying these words when suddenly, an uproarious cheer rose from the flock of macaws and various other birds. Sebastian jolted his head up and he gazed at the stirring sea of colourful feathers. Carla and company also sprang into action and were taking off, apart from a few who could not fly well, such as Garrett with his tattered tail and Spinel with some flight feathers missing from her left wing.

"Sounds like they are, Sebastian," said Eustace as he, his brother, sister, girlfriend and other four friends opened their wings and also took off. Sebastian, Stella and Luna followed by climbing onto a tree trunk and dropping into flight.

Within moments, the night air was absolutely flooded with uproarious cheering, along with several hundred colourful streaks as macaws and other birds converged towards a group of lookouts who had been on the lookout for Augustus, Melissa and the rescue group. Among the crowd, Alonso, Verde and also D'Artagnan, Aurora, Roberto, Carolina, Phoebe and Carla, Bia, Tiago, Kira and all their friends rocketed towards the incoming rescue group as they were swamped by the crowd of cheering birds and guided towards the announcement boulder where announcements were made to the green tribe. Alexandre, Spinel and Poinsettia were the first to arrive along with Sheldon and Estelle. When their eyes landed on Athos who was being carried in the talons of a hyacinth macaw as the rescue group lighted down onto the boulder, Athos being placed onto the surface by his carrier, Alexandre and his sisters all cried out "DAD!" and rocketed off towards him. Ruby was nearby; also being carried by one of the other macaws for Athos had been unable to carry her due to his wet feathers. Benjamin and Regina also rocketed off after Felipe and Pearl as soon as they had spotted them with Alfonso.

Azul and Wilbur darted off after Porthos while Chlorophyll and Petunia made a beeline for Aramis. Indigo and Zebedee, together with Phoebe, rushed for Cobalto while Tristan, Quincy, Larimar and Trixie met Levi. Miranda, Jasmine and Annette also met with Monique and Sapphire and Justin, Charlotte, Matilda, Virgil, Finnick, Felix, Lavender, Tyler and Ricardo, together with Aurora and Roberto, hurried off to see Brisa and Zephyr. Then as soon as all the relatives had met those that had participated in the rescue, they were immediately locked in a group hug, tears streaming down their faces. Sebastian, Stella and Luna also collided with Augustus and Melissa in a group hug as well while Carla, Bia, Tiago and Kira also met with Zephyr and Brisa with their friends and hugged them while Carolina and Fernanda hugged Eriko. However, when Carla and company saw the state of Ruby, Orquidea, Esmeralda, Ted, Lapis Lazuli, Waldo, Nuvem, Alfonso and the young hyacinth macaw as they were gently placed onto the surface of the boulder by some of the participant macaws, horror and disbelief tore through them. Alexandre, Spinel and Poinsettia broke the hug with Athos and went over to Ruby to hug her as well, despite being appalled by her bedraggled and gaunt look.

"I'm so glad that you've managed to make it out of those furballs' territory, Mother," cried Spinel as she broke the hug with Ruby, calling her 'Mother' instead of 'Mom' for she, her brother and sister rarely called Ruby this. Athos was too tired to say anything. His entire plumage was sopping wet and his entire mud and vegetation disguise was missing, having been washed off completely during his daring rescue of Ruby in the stream. Furthermore, he was trembling and was struggling to stand up. Then Eustace and his group arrived.

"Good grief," cried Eustace in horror when he saw the state of the nine prisoner macaws. The other seven were too stricken with disbelief to even say anything about the prisoners, some of them even clasping their beaks with their wings and their eyes inflated. Then Azul and Wilbur appeared with Porthos as he talked to them.

"Those nine, including your mother, are gonna need to be taken to the animal hospital right away," said he, a nod to Orquidea, Ruby and the other seven.

"I cannot believe the state they had been reduced to," said Wilbur, his horrified gaze on the state of the nine. Porthos, however, only replied with a weary gaze. Like Athos, he was exhausted and all he could think about was sleep. Behind him, Aramis, Zephyr, Brisa, Levi, Sapphire and Monique all wore the same look and Levi actually collapsed on his front. However, Rodrigo helped him to his feet.

In the crowd, Cobalto was being fussed over by some of his friends and especially Phoebe, Indigo and Zebedee who had been horrified to see the bite wound on his side, Ophiuchus and the other archaeobirds and their bat-birds were being fussed over by their clan-mates and the other participants of the rescue had received congrats and pats from their friends on their bravery and a successful rescue. Augustus and Melissa had also been congratulated. For the first time in so long, the two felt that the image that they were forced to bear based on their colony's attributes was finally crumbling and that the birds saw them who they truly were. The other rescuers were also extremely happy but like Athos and some of the others, they were also extremely tired. Their disguises had run, the brown mud suit having formed holes and revealing spots of brightly coloured feathers, and some of the vegetation pieces they had donned as part of their disguise were also mostly gone, one or two pieces of twigs and leaves remaining on the rescuers, and sleep was threatening to overpower them for they were so tired. However, the rescue group had to remain awake for there was a VERY serious matter to discuss first.

Then Augustus's attention turned to the nine prisoners as the crowd backed away from them. The rescue group retreated to one side.

"Those nine need treatment right away," he said firmly, "Do you have any place where they could go?"

Orion came in. "The animal hospital's the best place," he said. "At least they'll be safe there."

"Well before they go anywhere, we need to know what has happened," said Alonso's voice. All eyes turned to the green tribe patriarch and his mate as they walked in, a firm look on each of their faces. Zephyr and Brisa who stood with their respective mates Aurora and Roberto and their first-brood offspring shot Alonso a look.

"But Alonso," protested Zephyr, "These nine are in critical condition!"

Alonso calmly raised a wing as if to say, "In a minute," before clapping his wings and releasing an extremely shrill squawk to gather the crowd's attention. Zephyr, Brisa and their families then joined the crowd to listen what Ruby and the other eight had to say. As Zephyr and company left, Alonso realised the number of macaws to be smaller than the original number when these macaws were kidnapped.

"I'm afraid we could not find any of the others," explained Augustus sadly before he could ask.

"Yes," added Melissa, "These nine are the only ones left."

This made Alonso and Verde gaze at the flying fox pair with sad eyes.

"We'll have to have a funeral for those deceased birds then but that will have to wait," said Alonso in a low voice.

"In the meantime, you join the other rescuers over there," said Verde. Augustus and Melissa nodded and did so. Then Alonso called the crowd's attention with a short, loud squawk. As soon as everyone had become quiet in response to the call, Alonso began to give his opening speech.

"Well, I'd like to genuinely thank our rescue group for successfully getting these nine macaws out of that hideous territory of those furballs," he shouted, his voice echoing throughout the air above the gathered crowd, "And I especially would like to thank Augustus and Melissa for helping us in the rescue as well. I'm so glad there are some flying foxes in the colony who are willing to help us birds after all…"

Augustus and Melissa smiled as they sat with Sebastian, Stella and Luna and also the rescue group. Then Alonso turned serious and nodded to Ruby, Orquidea, Esmeralda, Ted, Lapis Lazuli, Waldo, Nuvem, Alfonso and the young hyacinth macaw and said, "But next, we need to know what happened from these nine during the horrible, horrible four-day period in those rotten bats' territory."

He then nodded to the nine prisoners and they prepared to speak to the crowd. They struggled to stand but some of the macaws helped them. Felipe supported Alfonso while Pearl supported Ruby. Ruby opened up as all ears were cocked to receive the important information.

"After Orquidea and I found ourselves in the territory of the flying foxes, tied to some trees with some unbreakable vines tough enough to withstand even a hyacinth macaw's bite with the other kidnapped macaws," she began, "Cicatriz and some of his minions came in, prepared to interrogate us."

Nuvem, supported by a Spix macaw for he was too weak to stand by himself, then stepped in and said, "Those flying foxes asked us questions about our tribes, clans and groups, and also our territories. They asked us about the size of our tribes and clans, what sort of habitat each tribe and clan lived in and also who lived with each of those tribes and clans in their territories."

"They also asked us about the archaeobirds," said Lapis Lazuli, a nod to Ophiuchus and some archaeobirds accompanying him, "Including what sort of bird they were, where they came from, what their bat-birds were and where they lived."

Ophiuchus flashed a surprised glance when he heard this but then he put it aside.

"Go on," he said.

"The bats asked us about why our territories had not seen logging activity for so long as well," said Esmeralda, "And also why the glaucous macaw tribe was still living."

Ted, Waldo, Alfonso, Orquidea and the young hyacinth macaw all murmured in agreement. Levi, Tristan, Trixie, Quincy and Larimar blinked in surprise, while Aiden and Neytiri looked on and said nothing, fearing the worst. Then Waldo began to tremble and weep. His weak, gaunt, near-featherless and beaten body began to shake like a leaf.

"When we absolutely refused to answer their questions," he said in an edgy, quivery voice, "They did all kinds of horrible things to us."

Horrified gasps rolled through the crowd. Felipe and Pearl also glanced at each other in horror as they continued to hold up Ruby and Alfonso, both of them also nearly featherless, starved, tired and brutally beaten.

"What sort of horrible things did they do to you?" asked Athos from the rescue group, his first-brood offspring Alexandre, Spinel and Poinsettia sitting around him. Sheldon also sat with the four scarlet macaws while Azul and Wilbur sat with Porthos, Brooke, Bastian, Chlorophyll, Petunia, Aramis and Ashley, all with horrified looks on their faces. Orquidea then spoke and began to show the crowd the extent of the damage she and the other eight had received from their flying fox interrogators. In full view of the moonlight, it was clear to see that their near-featherless skins were covered with mottled black-blue blotches of bruises and half-healed pink-red cuts and gashes and also dots, indicating tooth marks. Flecks of feathers dotted their skins and their wings were almost featherless, like those of a newly hatched macaw chick's.

"They beat us hard, either with sticks or their own wings or feet," said the traumatised and almost naked blue-and-gold macaw shakily, "They spat on us, slashed us with their claws, bit us and tore out large clumps of feathers."

More horrified gasps rolled through the crowd. Then Ruby spread her featherless wings out and said, "The flight feathers of our wings and tail were viciously ripped out," she groaned. This sent flinches rolling through the crowd as they winced from the pain that must have been, and Spock who sat with Ophiuchus, and Athos especially winced. The former had had some of the flight feathers from his fore-wing, leg and tail torn while the latter remembered the late Brutus the cat tearing some flight feathers out of his wing as well, so the two had a good idea of how painful it was to have flight feathers torn out of their wings or tail. Spinel also faced a limited version of this type of injury during her skirmish with a group of flying foxes resulting in Alfonso's kidnap, and she gazed at her partially-tattered left wing and winced.

Ruby then continued. However, she began to tremble and weep as she continued to describe the horrific treatment her and the other macaws' interrogators had inflicted on them.

"They also threw us about, threw stones and mud at us," she said in a shaky voice, "And they sometimes tied us with a vine and suspended us from a branch where they beat us with sticks…"

"They also starved us," added Esmeralda in a weak, strangled voice, "deprived us of sleep for four whole nights, and even strangled us…"

She then showed the crowd a ring of dark bruises on her neck. Waldo, Lapis Lazuli, Ruby, Alfonso and Nuvem also had these dark blotches encircling their entire necks. One or two of them also had bruising around their eye were one of the strikes of their interrogators had landed.

"Those bats would take a strong vine, wrap it around our necks and pull it so tight that we could not breathe," said Nuvem shakily, "They kept choking us until we passed out and they would repeat it until we told them what they wanted to hear."

"And that's not all," said Ted, "The flying foxes also took us to the edge of the stream nearby and forcibly submerged us and kept our heads underwater until we're almost at the point of drowning. They would bring our heads out of the water so that we could breathe and then shove us back under the water again. The only time when they would stop doing that was when we answered their questions…"

This sent shivers down the spines of most of the birds in the crowd and Augustus and Melissa looked on in horror.

"The bats also did not just torture us into answering their questions either," said Nuvem, "The bats also tortured us for the fun of it. They would taunt us with food by holding a piece of fruit near our beaks and when we tried to snap our beaks onto it, they'd move it away and repeat the process… they would terrify us at night…" he then nodded to Lapis Lazuli, who was trembling violently and said, "They gave her the worst of it. They had her suspended in a tree via a vine at night and they would scream at her and beat her up in the most terrifying way possible. We often heard her scream in terror every night…"

More horrified gasps rolled through the crowd, especially the glaucous macaws, and Levi shuddered violently.

"No," cried Cobalto as he sat beside an equally Phoebe, Indigo and Zebedee, the first two shedding tears, "They couldn't have…"

However, the look on Nuvem's face confirmed it. Lapis Lazuli had been especially abused at night by the sadistic bats. And this was likely to have a devastating effect on the scar she had received when she was young and her tribe had been driven out by the flying foxes. Rodrigo also felt nauseated and daren't say a word, before shame and guilt at his abandonment of her during that time took hold and he began to weep and sob. Then Alonso asked the next important question.

"What did you tell those flying foxes?" he asked. This made dread boil within Augustus and Melissa, and also Sebastian, Stella and Luna and they expected the worst. Ruby looked up guiltily at the green tribe patriarch and shuddered violently.

"Well, at first, we refused to answer those bats' questions or gave out useless information but when our interrogators began to use more violent abuse on us," she said in a strangled voice, "We were forced to give truthful answers, otherwise we'd have died had we not done what they told us."

"That happened to the other prisoners when they refused to speak," said Nuvem. His eyes then began to ooze tears and he shuddered, "They were tortured to death through means that I won't describe."

More horrified draws of breath rolled through the crowd, and the macaws that were the loved ones of those deceased prisoners began to break down heavily.

"Did you tell them anything important?" asked Felipe in a slightly demanding voice to Ruby. Pearl also looked at her starved and beaten sister expectantly. All ears in the crowd tuned in more to receive the important information. Ruby then began to tremble. Felipe was obviously not going to like this.

"I-I-I-I told the bats about our tribe, the red tribe, what sort of habitat they lived in and how big they were," said Ruby.

"I did as well," confessed Alfonso. This sent dread tearing through Felipe and Pearl and their beaks dropped open in immense disbelief.

"We're so sorry but we were put through so much agony…" said Alfonso shakily.

"I also told them about the Spix macaw tribe," said Nuvem, "And also about our ravine…"

"And we told them about the green macaw tribe and our home as well," said Esmeralda in a guilt-laced voice. Ted nodded in agreement, a tear falling from his eye. Alonso and Verde looked on in flabbergast, not believing their ears.

"I also told the bats about the Lear's macaw tribe and our ravine as well," added Waldo, much to Sapphire, D'Artagnan, Monique and the other Lear's macaws present's utter horror. Orquidea also confessed to telling the bats about the blue-and-gold tribe and their home, as did the young hyacinth macaw about the Navyfeather Clan, and Lapis Lazuli about the glaucous macaw tribe. However, she and Nuvem had more to add as well.

"I was also forced to tell the flying foxes about the history of the glaucous macaw tribe," said Lapis Lazuli but then she began to break down.

"Lapis," said Levi, "What did you tell the bats about our tribe?"

The others, especially the other glaucous macaws present, listened intently as the distressed glaucous macaw managed to regain control of her sobbing to speak.

"Everything," said Lapis Lazuli, "I told them about how we had survived out in the wilderness before moving in with the Navyfeather Clan, and I-I-I…" her guilt-ridden eyes then travelled to Ophiuchus and his companion archaeobirds. Andromeda's older brother felt dread come over him when he saw the macaw's facial look.

"Oh, no, I hope you haven't…" he began but Lapis Lazuli, great tears falling from her eyes nodded. "I'm sorry, Ophiuchus," she whispered, "I've told the flying foxes about your clan, your habitat, the bat-birds and that you've come from some legendary place in Guyana as well…"

She then began to break down and sob bitterly. Then when Ophiuchus's brain had absorbed this, he jumped to his feet.

"Andromeda and Eragon are GONNA GO INSANE WHEN THEY HEAR ABOUT THIS!" he bellowed, a look of immense thunder on his face, frightening Lapis Lazuli greatly. Then before anyone could stop him, the distressed archaeobird turned tail and dashed off, his bat-bird following. Carla went to comfort him but Spock and Anakin jumped into her way, shaking their heads. Lapis Lazuli then began to break down all the more, tears falling from her eyes in great amounts. Then Nuvem began to tremble.

"I-I-I also told them about why our habitats had not seen logging activity for so long including how it came to be that way," he wept. This sent immense horror, this time in a bigger wave, sweeping through the crowd.

"Nuvem," said Zephyr in a low voice, "What did you tell them?"

However, everyone knew what Nuvem was going to say before he even said it, especially as he began to shake and tremble. Augustus and Melissa looked on in dismay.

"I-I-I told the flying foxes that after our fight against the loggers that some humans who care for the environment had set up the Spix tribe's home, along with the red tribe's home, as a protected reserve," cried Nuvem, much to the immense horror of the crowd, "And also how the green and Lear's macaw tribes' homes had been added shortly after the most recent fire, and how the glaucous macaw tribe had been included in the protected reserve as well at almost the same time. Oh, I-I-I'm so sorry…"

He then broke down. The young hyacinth macaw, Waldo, Ted, Esmeralda, Alfonso, Ruby and Orquidea did not say anything but only broke down more as well. It took a few seconds for the crowd to register this information but as soon as it had been absorbed, Felipe began to tremble with rage as he gazed at Nuvem. Any sympathy he had had soon became overshadowed by rage.

"Don't you realise what you have JUST DONE!?" he bellowed, startling Nuvem into jumping a foot into the air and scrabbling away from the enraged red macaw, "HONESTLY, you have seriously JEAPOARDISED ALL OF US AND OUR HOMES, ESPECIALLY YOUR OWN TRIBE!"

"YES!" put in Pearl furiously, "AND because of YOU, THOSE FLYING FURBALLS are gonna be more EAGER THAN EVER TO DRIVE US OUT AND TAKE OUR LAND!"

Nuvem whimpered and scrabbled away all the more from the enraged scarlet macaws, tears falling from his eyes as heavy as heavy rain on a stormy day while Lapis Lazuli shivered. Then Zephyr and Brisa jumped to Nuvem's defence.

"Don't you DARE blame our cousin, you two!" bellowed Zephyr angrily. Felipe shot him an infuriated glare.

"I'm sorry but it's TRUE!" he retorted, "You Spix, the glaucous and the Lear's macaws are in grave danger of losing their homes to those rotten winged furballs with the possibility of facing logging and poaching all over again…" his gaze flashed at the other macaws, "Not to mention the rest of us!"

The crowd, especially Carla, Bia, Tiago, Kira and Tyler and Ricardo then began to tremble violently. This statement was indeed true. If the flying foxes drove out the bird flocks and claimed the entire Sanctuary de Amazon, they would not only lose their homes but also their protection from poaching and logging as well. Furthermore, the flying foxes would stop at nothing to grab the protected land. As this realisation his especially Augustus and his family, their hearts sank like stones in the Amazon River. Then Alonso stepped in before things could spiral out of control. Though he was at breaking point like everyone else, he maintained his composure.

"Well, I think these nine ought to be taken the animal hospital to be treated," he said firmly, "I would like to thank you nine for telling us everything that you have told us but I think it's time for you lot to be moved to safety for the sake of your health."

None of the prisoners said anything but continued to sob their eyes out as some macaws wrapped their talons around their almost-featherless and battered bodies and lifted them off the ground. Then Alonso dismissed the crowd and the sea began to disperse, all the birds who didn't belong to the green macaw tribe preparing to make their way back to their homes.

As the crowd dispersed, Eustace flew over to the deeply troubled Carla, Bia, Tiago, Kira and Zephyr, Brisa and their families, and also Tyler and Ricardo as they flew with Annie, Garrett and Músculo. Dreaded looks were plastered on their faces.

"Blu and Jewel are gonna go berserk when they hear about this," whispered Músculo. Eustace, Milo, Rosa, Serena, Clemont, Orion, Diantha and Velocity could not find the right selection of words to reply to this but inside they agreed that he was right. The Spix macaw tribe's reaction was not going to be a good one, that's for sure. As Zephyr, Brisa, Roberto and Aurora led the group away; Orion looked on, an anxious look on his face.

"The situation's definitely gone from bad to worse, I can tell you," he said.

"I couldn't agree more, my falcon friend," said Eustace. Just then, the group heard their names get called. Eustace turned to the speaker.

"Looks like someone wants us," he said and with that, he took off towards the speaker, the other seven following. Diantha, who was the last to leave, then gazed down at Augustus, Melissa, Brnaco, Stella and Luna as they stood alone on the boulder. Breathing a sigh, the toco/keel-billed hybrid toucan followed her friends.

Augustus and his family stood by themselves, their sorrowful eyes gazed upon the dispersing crowd of colourful feathers when Alonso walked in.

"I'm sorry it's come to this," said the flying fox sadly and guiltily while not looking at him. "If only we'd have escaped being confined to our tree sooner…"

"Look, Augustus," said Alonso firmly, "It's not your fault. You've been a big help in getting as many of those prisoners out of that graveyard of a place and I can't thank you enough…"

"It's not that, sir," said Augustus, his gaze, along with those of Melissa, Sebastian, Stella and Luna, turning to him, "It's the delay that's led to this even bigger mess…"

"It was Cicatriz who had us confined to our tree and despite all our efforts," added Melissa, "Our confiners wouldn't allow us out of our hollow."

Alonso then opened his beak but then closed it, having changed his mind.

"Well, what's next for all of us?" asked Augustus, "Now that we're no longer able to return to our colony without getting caught and put to death and your homes in grave danger…"

"I would like your help in the coming days, Augustus," said Alonso suddenly and expectantly, cutting Augustus's sentence off. Augustus shot the green tribe patriarch a surprised look.

"Help?" he asked.

"I'll explain tomorrow," said Alonso firmly, "But in the meantime, you get some sleep while I see the non-green macaw birds off and I'll see you five in the morning."

And with that, he opened his wings and took off before Augustus could ask. Giving up, he said to Melissa and his son and daughters, "Let's find somewhere to spend the rest of the night, my family."

Melissa stifled a yawn.

"I'm glad you've said that," she moaned tiredly, "It's been a long and hectic night."

"But what about the birds?" asked Sebastian. Stella and Luna also looked on, their facial expressions asking the same question.

"We'll have to see to that tomorrow," said Augustus firmly and with a gentle shove with his wings, he ushered his three offspring into the air. Within moments, the five flying foxes began to search for a tree to spend the rest of the night. They knew they had a big and important request to grant tomorrow as based on Alonso's statement on needing their help.