Chapter 14- a place to spend the night in the jungle
The group of fifteen macaws, tabby cat, greyhound and two cockatoos finally made it out of the slums of Rio and into the jungle. However, it was getting late, the darkness of the night having swallowed up the sky. As the group walked into the eerily quiet and dark realm of tall trees and dense vegetation; D'Artagnan gazed around at the surroundings nervously.
"Seriously, folks," he said, "Do you think it would be a better idea if we settled in a shelter of some sort for the night?"
"Look, D'Artagnan," growled Sapphire, "We'll be safe right here!"
"And besides," said Zephyr, "The jungle is where we macaws naturally live. Besides that, if we stayed back in Rio, those smugglers could easily find us and catch us again."
"Ugh, that's something we could do without, especially that feral city cat," muttered Brisa nearby as she grasped her sprained wing, the result of that cat's attack on her. Next to her, Athos examined the scratch down his flank, the work of that same cat with his claws.
"Oh, good, it's stopped bleeding," he said gladly.
"I hope that scratch doesn't become infected," said Veggie, "I'm just worried it might come into contact with the dirt on the ground and provide bacteria with access."
"You could do with a bandage or something," said Porthos.
"Yeah, but since we're far away from Tulio's Aviary and most of us are grounded, including myself for my tattered left wing," said Athos, his gaze on said wing that had only a few flight feathers remaining, "How are we gonna access first aid?"
Esmeralda then shot the scarlet macaw a glare.
"Andy," she muttered.
"It's Athos," said Athos with a frown.
"Whatever you're called," snapped Esmeralda, "You seriously don't know anything about the wild do you?"
She then rolled her eyes and began to search for some fresh moss.
"Why do we have to put up with birds that have spent all their lives as humans' decorative items rather than free-flying birds in the jungle which is what they should be," the female great green macaw moaned, "Especially if they are friends with animals birds should avoid!?"
And with that she shot Veggie a hostile eye, making the tabby cat flinch. Then Esmeralda pulled her scowl from the cat and picked some moss from a patch of it nearby.
"Look, while it's true that cats are a natural enemy to most birds," said Veggie, "Not all cats kill and eat them for food. I'm one of them, and I'm a vegetarian. I've never killed and eaten a bird, fish or mouse my entire life."
Esmeralda just let loose a brief laugh of mockery in response to this. Orquidea, Ruby, Zephyr and Brisa did the same while Cobalto, Lapis Lazuli and Sapphire looked on with scowls or frowns on their faces.
"Yeah, right," muttered Sapphire as she walked alongside D'Artagnan, "But at least you're not like those wretched cats of those smugglers, I suppose."
Veggie smiled at her at first but when he realised she said this out of sarcasm, he erased the smile and replaced it with a frown. Esmeralda continued looking for some more moss and when she had found enough; she went over to treat Athos's injury.
"In the Amazon, our tribes and clans have a group of medical macaws or birds," explained she as she applied the leaves on Athos's scratch to clean it of the dried blood, "They're called tribe or clan nurses or healers and they help to treat injuries such as broken wings, scratches and insect bites and we use a variety of suitable plants and pieces of sticks and vines and other suitable materials as our medical equipment. My mother was one of the nurses of my tribe, the green macaws and she taught me basic medical skills such as how to clean bleeding wounds with moss as moss is an excellent plant for soaking up excess blood."
Athos winced and made a face as Esmeralda treated his wound. The moss was damp, which provided it with excellent properties for cleaning Athos's scratch of the dried excess blood. While Esmeralda continued cleaning Athos's clotted wound, Dash was examining the chain linking Lapis Lazuli and Levi together, the object in his paw.
"I don't know how we're going to get this off you two," he said to them with uncertainty.
"Do you have any idea of what it is, Dash?" asked Levi. Dash shook his head.
"I'm afraid I don't," he said, "I've not seen chains like this thing before but based on how those smugglers have chained you two together to supposedly keep you two together," a scowl formed on the greyhound's face, "It's clear they don't even care about the animals they're trying to smuggle out of Brazil."
"Tell me about it," growled Levi angrily, his glare also on the chain, "I cannot even fly while chained to Lapis Lazuli who is injured."
Lapis Lazuli then glanced down at her scratch and groaned.
"We'll have to see to that chain tomorrow," said Dash, "And at least that scratch has healed up. I just hope it doesn't get infected."
As he said this, Esmeralda came in and asked, "Does that glaucous macaw have a scratch too? I have a few spare clean leaves left."
"Oh, I could do with having it treated; miss," said Lapis Lazuli, "Thanks."
Esmeralda then tossed away the moss she had used to clean Athos's wound and applied whatever moss she had left to Lapis Lazuli's scratch. Lapis Lazuli winced and twisted her face as Esmeralda continued cleaning her injury.
"Is it any wonder you cannot fly," said Levi sympathetically. Then after Esmeralda had finished cleaning Lapis Lazuli's injury, she threw away the rest of the moss and examined her work.
"There, that should do it," she said, "We might have to find a stream or somewhere to give those scratches a proper clean but in the meantime, we're going to need large leaves to protect that scratch from the dirt while we sleep. Just don't get that wound dirty, okay?"
"Thanks, Esmeralda," said Lapis Lazuli gratefully, "I'm so glad that one of us is good at treating injuries."
Esmeralda made an approving smile. Sapphire, however, glared at Esmeralda with a hostile look. It was clear that she did not like the great green macaw at all and it was as if she wanted to pounce on Esmeralda to attack. This same hostility was also obvious between Ruby and Zephyr and Brisa as the three also eyed each other fiercely. Aurora formed a perplexed look at the hostile squaring off.
"Why are you glaring at Ruby like that?" she asked. Zephyr ignored her before tearing his gaze from the female scarlet macaw and walking on. Sapphire then began to approach Esmeralda with her dark navy blue and teal feathers on end and her face saturated with hostility and fierce hatred.
"Huh, if I EVER saw those wretched cats and their smuggler owners again, I'd tear their hairs out," muttered Esmeralda, "Especially for treating us birds like dirt."
"You know, that's exactly what I feel like doing to you, green feathered wretch," growled Sapphire as she approached Esmeralda. And with that, she lunged at Esmeralda but Athos jumped between her and the female great green macaw, spreading his enormous wings out to block any impending fight.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, what do you think you're doing, Sapphire?" asked Athos in disbelief.
"I'm gonna give that green macaw wretch a piece of my mind," snapped Sapphire as she tried getting by Athos but the large male scarlet macaw mimicked her moves and blocked her path. Esmeralda glared back at Sapphire and opened her wings out.
"Well, come and get some, you dark blue Lear's brat," she snarled, "I wouldn't mind tearing YOUR feathers out like how we sometimes did when we lived in the Amazon."
And with that, she began to advance but Phoebe stepped in and grabbed her wings to prevent her from flinging herself into a fight with Sapphire. Athos continued blocking Sapphire's path while D'Artagnan, Aurora, Porthos, Aramis, Levi, Travis, Sunset, Veggie, Dash and Lapis Lazuli looked on in confusion. Zephyr and Brisa also continued glaring at Ruby as though ready to fight as well.
"What's up with them?" Aramis asked Cobalto and Orquidea in a low voice. Cobalto rolled his eyes and reluctantly explained why Esmeralda and Sapphire were hostile to one another as well as Ruby with Zephyr and Brisa.
"Esmeralda's tribe have had a bitter rivalry and enmity with Sapphire's," Cobalto explained, "The green macaw and the Lear's macaw tribes have faced frequent conflict over food and territory. Each time a green or Lear's macaw meet, they always glare at one another and sometimes end up in a fight."
Cobalto then nodded to Ruby as she glared fiercely at Zephyr and Brisa.
"The same is true for Zephyr and Brisa's tribe, the Spix macaws, and Ruby's tribe, the red macaws," continued he, "Those two tribes have a bitter relationship too and the reason is the same: food and territory conflict. The Spix macaws ran into territorial dispute with the reds when they moved close to their territory to escape those loggers."
"Do the macaw tribes and clans have any restrictive ways to prevent vicious fights?" asked Porthos.
"They do, we have territories," said Orquidea, "But while the green and the Lear's macaw tribes and the nomadic Spix and red macaw tribes hate each other, the rest of the tribes and clans and the smaller groups living around them get along fine. Cobalto's hyacinth macaw clan, the Navyfeathers get on very well with every other macaw flock living with us including the Spix, the red, the Lear's and the green macaw tribes despite their hatred for one another. However, we don't get involved with their conflict. We've tried convincing those two pairs of tribes to make peace but they've showed no signs of listening. The blue-and-gold macaw tribe, which is the tribe of macaws I'm from, and the other hyacinth macaw clan, the Bluewings and their co-inhabitants, the blue-throated macaw clan, live in peace with one another and also with the Spix, red, green and Lear's macaw tribes..."
Suddenly, Athos's voice interrupted as Sapphire's urge to leap onto Esmeralda became more aggressive.
"Will you two STOP this right NOW," shouted the male scarlet macaw as he tried harder to block Sapphire's urge to claw Esmeralda's green feathers out, "We've had enough conflict and fighting as it is with those cats and smugglers. Do you want to make this worse for each other!?"
"Let me past, scarlet macaw boy," shouted Sapphire as she tried barging past Athos's large bulk. Esmeralda also fiercely struggled in Phoebe's large navy blue wings, yelping in pain as her sprained wing flared up. However, she didn't care about this for she was blinded by her urge to attack Sapphire.
"Let me at her," shouted the enraged great green macaw.
"You can't," shouted Phoebe, "You're injured and so is Sapphire! If you and Sapphire fight, you'll end up hurting yourselves even more."
Esmeralda did not hear what Phoebe said, too blinded by the urge to pounce onto Sapphire to initiate a fight.
"That's right," shouted Athos as he continued trying to restrain Sapphire, "Honestly, you two, fighting won't get us anywhere except even more injuries."
Sapphire refused to listen to Athos's persistence and continued trying to fight past him. Lapis Lazuli then rolled her eyes and walked into the scene of the four struggling macaws. Levi was forced to follow her due to the chain linking the two.
"Will you both snap out of it!?" she shouted, "Andy's right."
"It's Athos," snapped Athos in annoyance at the glaucous macaw's getting his name wrong again as he struggled to restrain Sapphire.
"We don't need this unnecessary conflict," shouted Lapis Lazuli. But then Sapphire managed to barge past Athos and lash at Esmeralda. With an enraged squawk, she jumped up and attempted to claw Esmeralda across the face but Phoebe pulled the female great green macaw out of the way in time. Lapis Lazuli then rolled her eyes and rushed over to Sapphire. She raised a wing and slapped Sapphire across the face to snap her out of her rage.
"Sapphire, STOP IT RIGHT NOW!" she screeched as she did it. Sapphire did so and calmed down, especially when she was faced with stares from the others with her apart from Ruby who continued glaring at Zephyr and Brisa. As soon as Sapphire had calmed down, Lapis Lazuli went over to the two Spix macaws and scarlet macaw and interrupted their faceoff as well.
"You three stop it as well," she snarled in rebuke. This was met by surprised stares from Ruby, Zephyr and Brisa.
"Who rattled your branch?" shouted Ruby fiercely.
"SHUT UP!" retorted Lapis Lazuli angrily.
"I beg your pardon?" asked Ruby, taken aback by the female glaucous macaw's boldness.
"I said shut up," snapped Lapis Lazuli again, "In other words shut your beak and stop talking!"
Ruby loured at the female glaucous macaw and begrudgingly complied. Zephyr and Brisa did the same, especially Zephyr after Lapis Lazuli slapped him during his temper tantrum before the group escaped the smugglers' den. Levi stood there, astounded. He could not help but admire Lapis Lazuli's assertiveness.
"Bold macaw," he said in a low voice. Veggie and Dash were also awestruck.
"Now," said Lapis Lazuli, "Let's get this straight, shall we? I agree with Andy..."
"It's Athos, for the second time," shouted Athos even more annoyed.
"Whatever," said Lapis Lazuli, "We've been through enough as a group as it is when we were captured by those wretched smugglers and their filthy cats and held in their sickly room and then when we had to escape from it. Don't you think you'd make things worse by getting into a fight without reason, especially out here in the jungle at this time of night?"
The other macaws, especially Sapphire, Esmeralda, Ruby, Zephyr and Brisa, and Travis, Sunset, Veggie and Dash stared at her.
"Also, we've still got other things to worry," continued Lapis Lazuli. Then she raised her injured wing, the one with the scratch, and then picked up the chain holding her to Levi with her other, uninjured wing.
"Look, a lot of us have come out suffering the consequences at the hands and paws of those wretched humans and their cats," she said, "I and Levi here have suffered the worst with us being shackled with this chain and me not being able to fly because of this scratch. Not to mention Levi here not being able to fly due to me being chained to him."
"Lapis is right," said Levi, "We seriously cannot get into unnecessary conflicts now."
These words were enough to convict Sapphire, Esmeralda, Ruby, Zephyr and Brisa and they cooled off much to the relief of the other animals with them. However, they still had their hostile hatred for each other bubbling within them, and they glared at each other as the group moved on to look for somewhere to spend the night. Ruby purposely stepped onto Zephyr's foot as she walked past him.
"Ouch," shouted Zephyr in pain, and to his anger the scarlet macaw continued walking on without even acknowledging the male Spix macaw. As Zephyr held his foot, he glared at Ruby maliciously.
"If she does that again, I WILL give her a piece of my mind," he snarled as Aurora walked in, "But let's just find somewhere to spend the night."
And with that, he limped off, followed by Brisa. Aurora put on a confused face before following.
Soon the group was moving deeper into the jungle. The pets were especially unnerved. D'Artagnan inched closer to Veggie, eyes filled with fear as he examined the dark and still surroundings.
"I don't like this place, Veggie," he whispered, "It's likely to be full of predators lurking about searching for a meal, and we could be that choice meal."
As D'Artagnan said this, he gasped in fright as he saw a small snake pounce onto a nearby mouse and chomp down on it. D'Artagnan then quivered as he watched the little serpent slowly swallow its victim whole. Veggie also saw the snake eat its meal and winced slightly.
"That's why we want to be up in those trees;" said Orquidea with a frown nearby, "Down here is not the place for macaws and other canopy birds at all."
Veggie and D'Artagnan looked at the female blue-and-gold macaw. It was clear that the group had a rather big problem. Apart from Travis, Zephyr and Sunset, all of the macaws were either injured or have had damaged wings, especially Athos for his left wing was mostly missing its primary flight feathers and without those, he will never be able to fly properly until they grow back. And Levi, though he could still fly, was grounded due to Lapis Lazuli being grounded with her scratched right wing.
"That's a thought," said Veggie. He then ran after Athos and said, "Athos, how are you birds going to get up into those trees if you can't fly?"
As he said this, Orquidea called out.
"Hey, guys, how about this tree?" she said, indicating to a tall tree with a talon. The group gathered around and looked up. The pet macaws, Dash and Veggie, especially Veggie were amazed by the height of the tree.
"We have had tall trees back in England," said Veggie in awe, "But I've never seen trees grow THIS tall."
"Look, tacky cat," snapped Cobalto, "It's where we macaws live. They weren't meant to be cooped up in human homes in cages, you know."
"Look, while that is true," said Porthos, "Humans who care for their birds know very well that they need exercise so they allow them out..."
Ruby sighed mournfully as Porthos said this.
"Let's just get up there and spend the night," she said in a low voice.
"But how are you going to do that, like I've asked before?" asked Veggie, "Especially since most of you cannot fly."
Athos stared down at his tattered left wing, the tabby cat having re-highlighted the problem.
"I'm afraid Veggie has a point," he said, "We cannot fly with the damage those smugglers have done to you at all. We're going to have to be carried up."
And with that, he eyed Travis, Sunset and Zephyr, the only three birds that could fly.
"What? You want us to carry you birds up?" asked Travis in disbelief.
"But we cannot carry you macaws up, especially you and the two hyacinth macaws," muttered Sunset with a glance at Cobalto and Phoebe.
"Well, you cockatoos and Zephyr are the only three birds not chained to an injured bird and able to fly," said Athos sadly, "So can you help us up there please?"
Zephyr then stared at the sulfur-crested and Major Mitchell's cockatoos.
"Well, I'm able to carry Brisa," he said, "And there is no way I'm going to be staying down here, so bring it on."
And with that, he took off, wrapped his talons around Brisa's wings and lifted her off the ground. Sunset and Travis reluctantly obliged and gazed at the group of macaws as they lined up.
"Well, who would like to be carried up first?" asked Travis. Sapphire put her wing up but Esmeralda did the same.
"I'll go first," said Sapphire.
"No, I will," snapped Esmeralda and with that, she gave Sapphire a foul glare. Sunset then looked from the female great green macaw to the female Lear's macaw.
"How about we carry you both up together instead?" she muttered, clearly sick of the two macaws' constant conflict and arguing. And with that, she flew over to Esmeralda while Travis flew over to Sapphire. The two cockatoos then picked up the two macaws and lifted them off the ground. As the two cockatoos disappeared into the trees with Esmeralda and Sapphire in their talons, Athos looked at Dash and Veggie.
"Well, since you two don't sleep in trees," he said, "Where are you both going to sleep?"
"Don't worry about us," said Dash.
"We'll look for a derelict animal burrow," said Veggie.
"Are you sure?" said Athos with uncertainty, "Because you know it's dangerous down here."
As he said this, Travis and Sunset returned and picked up D'Artagnan and Aurora and took off with them.
"There could be deadly snakes large enough to swallow animals the size of you two whole and all sorts," said Athos.
"Look, we appreciate your concern but we're fine, Athos," said Dash insistently, "We'll find an animal burrow and cover its entrance with rocks and vegetation to camouflage it from any wild animal that could be lurking around here."
Athos was hesitant to let the tabby cat and greyhound sleep on the ground but he relented and gave them the go ahead. Dash and Veggie smiled and began to look for somewhere to spend the night.
"Could you send Travis or Sunset down in the morning to indicate which tree you're staying in please?" asked Veggie as he and Dash left to begin their search for a burrow.
"I will," said Athos, "We'll see you in the morning."
Dash and Veggie quickly returned and gave Athos a hug. Then they gave Porthos, Aramis, Phoebe and Levi a hug as well. The wild macaws looked in disgust.
"Domestic cats and dogs," muttered Ruby, "They're filthy animals."
"Glad we're not owned by any humans," said Orquidea.
"Tell D'Artagnan, Travis, Sunset and Aurora we tell them goodnight," said Veggie as he broke the hug with Levi, Lapis Lazuli backing away with a disgusted look on her face.
"I will," said Levi as he prepared to ascend into the tree when Lapis Lazuli was picked up. Dash and Veggie then said their final goodnight and left to find an animal burrow. Within moments, Zephyr, Sunset and Travis returned.
"Right, who would like to go next?" asked Travis. Zephyr then went to pick up Orquidea. Ruby glared at him.
"I'm not picking you up, red brat," growled Zephyr nastily and hostilely as he lifted Orquidea into the air.
"If you're smiling while you're saying that, blue-face," snarled Ruby furiously before raising a talon and flaring its claws, "I shall purposely scratch it off!"
"Stop it, you two," shouted Orquidea as Zephyr held her, "We've had enough quarrelling for one day."
Ruby then watched with a childish and sour scowl as Zephyr then carried Orquidea into the trees. Up on the selected tree, the macaws were preparing to settle. D'Artagnan was amazed at the view.
"Wooow," he said in awe as he gazed into the cityscape of Rio, "I never knew that being up here could provide such an amazing view."
"You've never slept in a tree like this at all, pet?" asked Sapphire with a nasty tint to her voice.
"I don't know if I have," said D'Artagnan, unaware of Sapphire's mockery of him. Then Aurora looked at the cityscape of Rio.
"Strangely enough," she said, "This feels... eerily familiar..."
"Familiar?" said Brisa with a confused frown, "How...?"
"It just does," said Aurora. Then she began to try and focus on the brief flashbacks the scene triggered but could not put a wingtip on them. Then when one flashback brought images of colourful feathered comets flying everywhere, Aurora flinched and snapped back to reality. D'Artagnan also felt the same weird familiarity feeling at this scenery. However, he shrugged it off as he felt tiredness wash over him indicated with a wide yawn.
"Well, it's time to turn in for the night, anyway," he said, "I'm very tired."
"Join the perch," said Sapphire sarcastically. She then prepared to settle onto her chosen spot but a green bird came in and pushed her aside. Esmeralda had come in and had taken the spot from her.
"HEY!" snarled Sapphire, "That's MY spot!"
"Find your own, Lear's brat," snapped Esmeralda as she settled in the spot she spitefully snatched from Sapphire. Sapphire, seeing that fighting would result in a fatal tumble towards ground, reluctantly allowed Esmeralda to sleep in her place and began to look for another place to sleep just as Travis and Sunset placed Ruby next to D'Artagnan and Aurora.
"Oh, Veggie and Dash say goodnight, by the way," said Travis to D'Artagnan and Aurora.
"Alright, thanks," said Aurora tiredly.
"Huh, one of these days," said Orquidea nearby as Zephyr placed her on a branch near Sapphire, "When you lot decide to venture out into the jungle, you're going to think that they're like cities complete with cats and dogs but the wild isn't like that, you domestic pet macaws."
D'Artagnan shot the female blue-and-gold macaw a glare.
"For your information, miss," he retorted assertively, "We know very well that the wild is totally different to the domestic environment."
"And how do you know?" asked Orquidea with narrowed eyes full of a condescending attitude.
"Because we've read books about various jungle habitats like the Brazilian Amazon and the jungles of India!" snapped D'Artagnan angrily. Orquidea snickered mockingly and then turned to tuck her head under her wing to sleep.
Next, Travis appeared again with Lapis Lazuli with Levi hovering nearby, trying to keep within range the chain would allow him while Sunset carried Athos. However, it was proving very difficult for Travis to keep a hold of Lapis Lazuli due to her being chained to Levi. Levi flinched each time he unintentionally flew within the length of the chain, causing the chain to tighten and pull on his leg.
"Oh, keep up will you," muttered Travis as he held tightly to Lapis Lazuli's wings, "You'd drag this female macaw out of my talons and go plummeting towards earth again."
"Sorry, but I can't help it," said Levi as he struggled to keep up, "I'm trying not to fly too close to you and..."
He felt the chain tug his leg again which forced him to flap a bit to keep up. Sunset then flew in to help Travis after placing Athos on a branch.
"Are you alright, Travis?" she asked. Travis then slowed to a hover, his talons firmly clutching Lapis Lazuli's wings.
"It's very tricky," he said cautiously and warily, "I can't risk dropping this female macaw in my talons or I'd send the last pair of glaucous macaws plummeting as she'd take Levi with her, and Levi's struggling to keep up."
Sunset sighed and flew over to help. She then began to shift Levi while Travis continued carrying Lapis Lazuli up into the trees. As soon as they were in the trees, Travis said, "Where do you two want to be?"
"There please, next to Athos," said Levi. This made Lapis Lazuli enter a grumbling episode.
"But I want to sleep in a spot away from the pets," she muttered. Travis, however, placed her next to Athos while Levi perched between her and the scarlet macaw. Sunset then left to fetch another macaw.
"I'm afraid you're going to have to do there, miss," said Travis, "You're chained to Levi. So you'll have to put up with sleeping next to his friends for the night."
"My name's Lapis Lazuli," snapped the grumpy female glaucous macaw. She then glared at the chain holding her to Levi. Travis also gave the chain a bitter look.
"Boy, what those poachers have done to you both; I cannot even think of a SINGLE word that fits," snarled the angry sulfur-crested cockatoo with his yellow crest raised, "I hope we could find a solution to unshackle you two of that thing tomorrow morning."
"Not to mention the fact that they deliberately ignored Lapis Lazuli's injury," put in Levi, "I mean those cats of theirs could have killed her."
Lapis Lazuli just gazed at her scratched wing and sighed. Travis then looked at Levi with a frown.
"Well, you should have seen the battered faces of those three smugglers while we were being chased, Levi," he said, before nodding to the macaw that had done the work, "Athos here must have given them what for with his claws during his and Dash's own escape from the smugglers' den."
"Then how did he end up with a tattered left wing then?" asked Levi. Athos revealed his wing and spoke.
"This was done by that savage grey cat, Levi," he said. When he saw Athos's tattered left wing, Levi flinched. Then Zephyr appeared, a hostile glare on Athos due to him being a scarlet macaw. Then he pulled his attention from the scarlet macaw to another macaw species.
"The hyacinth macaws are going to be much more difficult as they are larger and thus heavier," muttered he. Then he and Sunset left to take a break and then turn to the next macaw. Travis followed.
"You're gonna need help in bringing Cobalto and Phoebe up for they're almost twice our size, but we'll see to them when we've brought up Porthos, Aramis and Ruby," he said. And with that he followed Sunset and Zephyr back to the forest floor. Athos then began to explain to Lapis Lazuli and Levi about what happened to him and Dash as they were escaping the cats and their smuggler owners.
"After you lot had escaped through the window," said Athos, "Dash and I were forced to attack those three humans and their cats to fend them off and buy the rest of you time and also I wanted to give them a good hiding for their cruelty to us and the other birds and to show 'em what would happen if they mistreated us. I immediately set to slashing them on the faces and arms with my claws. However, that grey cat jumped on me and I was forced to fight him. He slashed me down the flank and kicked me in the face and when I saw that he was more than a match for me, I was forced to retreat but that cat had clamped his teeth onto the feathers of my left wing."
And with that, he pointed to his tattered left wing and continued, "And what came next was the most agonising pain I had ever experienced as the feathers were ripped from my left wing, but I and Dash had managed to escape."
Athos then retracted his left wing and began to shudder.
"I had never known a cat as vicious as that one," he muttered, the shock of seeing the face of such a monstrosity flashing in his mind, "I've come across aggressive cats before back in London but they're NOWHERE near as aggressive as that savage creature. He was honestly like a feral wolf. Had I not escaped, I would have probably been mauled."
Levi and Lapis Lazuli shuddered at Athos's description but then the latter felt smugness at Athos' attack on the smugglers well within her, displacing the horror of Brutus' attack on the macaw.
"Well at least you've given those wretched humans what for," snarled Lapis Lazuli angrily, "I'd have done the same had I had that chance."
"No, you'd probably get caught in that grey cat's wrath," said Athos firmly, "And once you're in his claws, you'd probably never escape."
Just then Zephyr, Travis and Sunset appeared with Porthos and Aramis and placed them next to Athos.
"Now for Ruby and the two hyacinth macaws," said Travis.
"I'm not going to see to Ruby," said Zephyr spitefully, "You two see to her. Besides that, I'm gonna go straight to sleep."
"Not until you've helped us with the hyacinth macaws and Ruby, Zephyr," said Sunset firmly. Zephyr let loose a grumble and reluctantly joined the two cockatoos as they descended down toward the forest floor. Aramis rolled his eyes at Zephyr's attitude.
"Their fighting's not going to get us anywhere at this rate," he muttered, "Especially if we're going to have to get through this together."
"They're going to have to team up, whether they like it or not," said Athos firmly, "And that includes that female great green macaw and Sapphire."
And with that he glanced from Esmeralda to Sapphire who were asleep.
"Let's just get some sleep," said Porthos and with that, he tucked his beak into his back feathers. Aramis, Levi and Lapis Lazuli did the same. Next to the glaucous macaws, D'Artagnan and Aurora were already asleep. Athos sighed and stared out into the distant sea of stars formed by the cityscape of Rio.
"I sure hope Susan, Lucy, Blake, Drake, Jake and the ornithologists are working to find us," he said in a low voice. He then began to concentrate on getting to sleep himself. Just then, Travis, Zephyr and Sunset managed to heave Phoebe and then Cobalto onto the branches, the branches bouncing under the weight of the heavier macaws. The two hyacinth macaws then thanked their carriers and went straight to sleep. Zephyr then went to sleep next to his sister Brisa while Sunset and Travis returned to get Ruby. Then after they had hoisted Ruby onto the branches with the others, Travis and Sunset retreated to another branch and went to sleep as well for they were very tired.
Back in Rio
Susan, Lucy, Blake, Drake and Jake were indeed trying to organise a search for the missing macaws as well as Veggie, Dash, Sunset and Travis with Tulio and his team. However, the group was hit with one large wave of good news: the majority of the birds that should be in Tulio's Aviary had returned. However some of the birds, especially the seven highly valuable macaws: the three Spix macaws including Aurora, the two Lear's macaws including D'Artagnan and the two glaucous macaws including Levi were still missing much to Tulio and his team's sadness and disappointment. However, Tulio and his team had work to do with the other birds that had returned. While they did that, Susan and company, together with Francisco, had left to print dozens of 'MISSING' posters of the eleven pets with one of Susan's pictures of all of them together as the picture. After they had done that, Francisco, Susan, Lucy, Blake, Drake and Jake stuck up some of the posters and asked passers-by if they had seen any of the pets by showing them one of the pictures. However, to their dismay and disappointment, all they got was no from each passer-by. Susan and company continued until late into the night where they finally gave up and returned to the hotel. They were going to have to wait until tomorrow morning to continue their search.