Carla and company in A Serial Killer in the Midst

by VPVPVP

Sequel to Paradise Sanctuary. Carla and co's offspring and their cohorts are now grown up. However, in the Sanctuary de Amazon, an incident has happened and it is revealed that it was no accident, and animals start to mysteriously disappear and turn up dead when found. As time goes on, it becomes clear that there is a killer on the loose but it is not a predator.

14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14- various visits

Nightfall had finally enclosed the Amazon Rainforest and all the daytime, or diurnal, animals including the macaws, pterosaurs and mini drakes had gone to their nests or roosts to turn in for the night. The flying foxes and pterobats had also mostly gone to bed but since they were also partially nocturnal and were able to see in the dark, some stayed up later to help with the night patrols or assist Falkor in further investigating the harpy eagle case and the three killings. Tonight was partly cloudy and a large silvery gibbous moon was hovering against a black canvas smothered by a backing of a sea of stars. On nights like these, avian and bat-bird patrollers were able to go out on night patrols for the moon provided sufficient light for them to navigate the cluttered environment in the upper canopy and treetops but on completely dark nights like cloudy or moonless nights, birds and bat-birds very rarely ventured out into the dark due to limited night vision. Flying foxes and pterobats on the other hand had excellent night vision and were able to see better in low light and when Augustus and his clan of flying foxes had been established on the Sanctuary de Amazon after the breakup of the flying fox colony following its defeat after the Battle for the Sanctuary, the avian residents had had better help in night patrol jobs thanks to the flying fox friends who leant their night vision ability to help in the patrols during nights where the moon was not visible or barely.

Back in Lily's Village

The inhabitants of Lily's Village had also gone to bed except some, most of them flying foxes and pterobats; among them Augustus who was setting up night patrols to send out into the territory to keep an eye on things at night. In one area of the village were several large trees with massive trunks, and kapok was one of the species. These trees were not quite as large as the archaeobird clan's home tree but were large enough to house multiple families. They were lodging trees used by Augustus and his mixed clan to host visitors such as Virgil, Bia and company who were staying in the hollows of the trunk of one of them right now. A few of the group members, such as Sandalwood and Connie, had decided to stay up later to spend some time together or some family time in the case of Stella and Sebastian and their respective mates Soren and Anabelle with Augustus and Melissa and help them to send out patrols, while a few others were asking around for auditions for the Blu Bird Sanctuary Untamed, or BBSU, back in Rio. However, not all of those who had decided to stay up late were adults.

In one of the hollows of the tree trunk, a female teenaged red macaw chick with colourful wing bands was sneaking out of her family's place of stay after her sister and parents had gone to bed, alongside many of the other members of Virgil and Bia's group. Rigel had decided to go out into the night to get away from her family and once her parents Sheldon and Io and sister Betelgeuse were asleep, along with most of everyone else in the other hollows including Europa, Byron, Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka next door, she quickly and quietly crept out of her family's hollow and ascended up the hollow shaft of the tree trunk and as soon as Rigel was outside, she slowed down when she heard a familiar voice outside. Pressing her back against the wall just near the rim of the entrance/exit hole, Rigel listened intently and peered just past the lip. It were Lorenzo, the father of Soren, and Rutile, his granddaughter for Rutile was Soren and Stella's daughter and Sandalwood's sister. The two flying foxes were discussing about possible auditions for the BBSU from the Sanctuary de Amazon and some groups from Augustus's clan had come forward. Because of the moonlight, their eyes glowed like the eyes of cats due to a reflective membrane in their eyes known to the scientific-minded Rutile as the tapetum lucedum. However, unlike the colony flying foxes who had used this eye-glowing trick to frighten their feathered enemies, Augustus and his clan NEVER used it as a scare tactic and since it was completely natural, there was nothing that could be done to dim the eye-glowing effect. In addition to this, it made the clan flying foxes both pretty and a bit creepy at the same time though they were NEVER as frightening as the colony bats when they savagely drove out bird tribes and clans to take their land.

"We have the Cuban Red Five brothers who are excellent singers and drum players, Rutile," said Lorenzo, his eyes aglow with silvery white light from the moonlight, "I'm sure they'd be more than happy to sign up as one audition. They are one of the popular acts at Jairo and Skyla the blue-headed macaws' club."

"They sound like an awesome Cuban red macaw band, Grandpa Lorenzo," said Rutile, her eyes also agleam with light from the moon, "I think they would certainly make an excellent addition to our list of auditions..."

Rigel flashed a look at the two shadowy glowing-eyed forms of the large bats as they continued their chat and dropped into the air before making off to the forest beyond the edge of the Village, the two bats too engrossed in their discussion about the BBSU and possible auditions.

When Virgil, Bia and company had been inducted into their place of stay in this tree, Sheldon had had another bitter argument with Rigel and Betelgeuse over their grounding and desire to participate in the BBSU but Sheldon had declared their banning from the event as punishment of approaching Tybalt and his gang to be final. Io had tried to interject and tell Sheldon that he was overreacting but it was clear that Sheldon was adamant. Even after four years since the Blu Bird Sanctuary fire and almost losing both daughters, especially Betelgeuse to the disaster thanks to Sofia and her stupid gang of toucans, Sheldon was still extremely overprotective of his daughters and at one point, he even quashed the two's attempts to make friends with other birds including macaws for fear that they might endanger the two daughters' lives again, and when Rigel was asked out by a male green-winged macaw from one of the green-winged macaw families living in the Blu Bird Sanctuary rainforest, Sheldon had intervened and squelched that, telling the green-winged macaw male to stay away from his daughter. Betelgeuse on the other wing, had been banned from ever going out with any male macaw for Sheldon had arrived at the wrong conclusion that she may be severely made fun of for her missing left foot, and that had put tremendous strain on the relationship between him and his daughters, especially now that they were passing through the transition tunnel from chicks to adults. Because of this, Io had tried to remind Sheldon that their daughters will not be their little girls forever and will eventually have to move on into independence but sometimes Sheldon's stubbornness had ignited arguments between the couple as well, and one such argument had taken place between them before bedtime when Sheldon declared his daughters' banning from the BBSU, as well as their adventures into the forest and hanging out with the other macaws and youngsters including flying foxes for the rest of the trip here, final. As a result, the couple were sleeping at opposite ends of their room, Io having had enough of, and cross with, Sheldon's stubbornness and over-the-top punishments. But their father's banning of Betelgeuse and Rigel from these areas had been the final porcupine spine for them and they had grown bitter and exasperated. Even persuasion from Bia and the other parents did not budge Sheldon from affirming his too-extreme penalty on his daughters. This was the main reason why Rigel wanted to get away from the family. Though she knew it was wrong and disobedient to venture out of the room and tree into the night without her parents' permission, Rigel did not care one bit during this time. She had been so crushed by Sheldon's penalty that she had grown to despise him.

Rigel flew to the outskirts of Lily's Village and touched down on a branch of one of the trees to spend some time alone. Unlike Nagini, Rigel was sensible enough NOT to wander out into the nighttime jungle alone for she knew FULL WELL how dangerous that was, so she stayed within the vicinity of the village's periphery. As the adolescent three-quarter scarlet gazed at the flapping forms of some flying fox and a few avian and bat-bird patrollers as they left the village and into the night jungle for their tasks, she sucked in a breath, exhaled and slumped against the tree trunk, disgruntlement at Sheldon's punishment gripping her hard, before she finally sank into a sulk.

"It's just NOT FAIR!" she muttered to herself, "How can Dad do this to us? And NO hanging out with the other teenaged animals, especially macaws for the rest of this trip, EVER? It's just NOT FAIR!"

As she shouted the last words of this sentence out, some sobs escaped her beak as she threatened to break down into tears. She then breathed a sigh and spotted two young adult macaws, apparently Cuban red or pink-and-purple macaws from the clan, as they returned to the village, their beaks nuzzling indicating that they had just been on a romantic night out. Rigel breathed a sad sigh, the immense disappointment of the possibility of being asked out on a date been blocked by her father boiling within her. As it did so, she slumped with her back against the tree trunk and slid down, her wings wrapped around her body as her eyes began to ooze tears.

However, as Rigel sat there, a lovely gentle breeze brushing her red feathers and colourful wings, the sounds of wing-flaps began in her ears. At this, the youngest daughter of Io and Sheldon stood up and stiffened. As she did so, the sounds of feet gripping wood replaced it, and the volume of the sound was loud, indicating that somebody had flown to her tree and perched nearby. Nervousness welling within her and displaying her disappointment her father's suffocating punishment, Rigel pressed her back against the tree trunk and began to creep slowly to where that someone, possibly a macaw or a toucan, had touched down. She had hoped that it were either one of the clan members from Lily's Village, one of the other birds from her group (Virgil, Bia and company) or perhaps a visitor from one of the tribes and clans on the Sanctuary de Amazon for some friends of those flocks, among them Greg and his family after Sardonyx had been treated of her injury inflicted on her by Tybalt, had come to visit Bia and company, some of them showing an interest in the BBSU event taking place in Rio. As Rigel crept slowly to where the newcomer had landed, she suddenly heard a male voice.

"Hey, little miss," it said. This sent alarm tearing through Rigel and she launched a few centimetres from the branch. As she landed back on her perch and took a moment to calm her startled nerves, she shot timid gazes this way and that. She continued to do this until her eyes connected to a pair of eyes coloured brown gleaming at her from within the shadows of the leaf clusters, and those eyes belonged to a macaw based on its shape. The moment Rigel's eyes met the cloaked macaw's pair, she drew in a startled gasp and backed away but the shadowy macaw tried to calm her down.

"Hey, hey, don't be afraid," he said in a gentle voice, as gentle as the night breeze, "I'm not gonna hurt you."

Rigel, at this, calmed down but she suddenly sensed that the voice was familiar. She then took a moment to examine the macaw's shape but the moment familiarity took hold, her feathers bristled. Then the male macaw stepped out into a shaft of moonlight and as he did so, the shaft lit up his face, revealing it to be an incredibly handsome red macaw based on the white skin mask around its face and black and white beak. Rigel quivered slightly. She had seen these features on a macaw somewhere before.

"Brick?" she breathed in surprise but then that surprise flashed to hostility and anger. "What are you doing here RIGHT near the periphery of Lily's Village? I-I thought my group's elders told you to NEVER come back, along with your two minions Boomer and Butch."

The red macaw, Brick, at this, slowly and cautiously came over to Rigel and sat beside her.

"I have come to apologise for my incredibly inappropriate behaviour and those of my so-called 'friends'," he said, "Especially when that (bleep) Boomer tackled your toucan friend into that porcupine after that stupid hyacinth macaw chick called that flying fox a disgusting name. I should have known better..."

Rigel, at first, was hesitant to talk with Brick, but seeing how caring he sounded and looked, especially as he gazed at her with sympathetic eyes, she lowered her hostility.

"That slur is incredibly offensive to the flying foxes, you know," she said, "You risk getting evicted from the sanctuary if you EVER say that to a flying fox..."

"Sounds serious," said Brick, "Glad I wasn't the one to say that name to your flying fox friend; otherwise I'd have been in trouble..."

Rigel nodded in agreement, but then she felt a bubble of warmth inflate within her, especially as she gazed at the macaw. It was clear that a crush was simmering within her. Then Brick gazed at her. "By the way, I don't know your name. Would you like to tell me what it is?"

"It's Rigel," replied Rigel, "I'm named after a bright star."

"I'm Brick," said Brick, "I'm named from 'brick red' for my red feathers."

"Interesting," said Rigel with a small smile, the first one she had managed since Sheldon's issuing of his punishment on her and Betelgeuse for approaching Tybalt and company. Though she was still wary of him, Rigel felt her wariness fade as she felt sure that Brick was safe and caring and was truly apologetic for hanging out with that gang of birds. And Brick knew that he was strictly forbidden anywhere near Lily's Village so he wanted to make sure that his meeting with Rigel was short but he had something to give to her.

"By the way, why are you not with your family?" asked Brick, "You know it's getting late."

"It's my father, Sheldon," growled Rigel, resentment and bitterness against her dad Sheldon boiling within her, "He has banned us from taking part in an event in Rio de Janeiro and hanging out with other macaws..."

"'Us'?" asked Brick.

"Me and my sister," said Rigel. Brick shrugged and then put on a sympathetic face. "It doesn't sound fair at all, does it?"

Rigel shook her head in agreement to this. Then Brick gazed at her with a smile. "By the way, I'm interested in hearing about this Rio place. What is it? Is it a city?"

"It's a human city, yes," said Rigel, "And we are from the forest that grows right beside it. Rio is sometimes described as being magical and colourful, and it hosts the most awesome parade in the world, and that parade is called Carnival."

"That sounds fun," said Brick with intrigue, "I would love to visit that place."

"I don't think Dad would allow you to accompany us, Brick," said Rigel, wary of Sheldon's possible wrath if she brought him along, "After all, I shouldn't be hanging out with other macaws."

Brick flashed her a saddened look but then pushed it aside. He then reached for something beside him.

"Would you like to come out on a date with me, Rigel?" he asked. Rigel blinked with disbelief at this question.

"Uh... a date?" she asked.

"Yes," said Brick, "You did gaze at me in awe from that crowd of your friends when I was stupidly confronting you with my so-called friends before Tybalt insulted your flying fox friend and I was wondering if you were showing an interest in becoming my friend and eventually girlfriend. And maybe we could go back to Rio together and perform in the Carnival. What do you think?"

Rigel, at this, felt happiness boil within her but at the same time, she felt uncertain. However, she did not want to miss this opportunity for one and two, she still resented her father Sheldon's punishment so immediately, she accepted and said yes, much to Brick's gladness. Then Brick pulled over something, a leaf bag. Rigel gazed at the bag in Brick's talons in wonder.

"I have a special gift for you," said Brick in a grateful voice and as he said this, he opened the bag and presented its contents to Rigel. Rigel gazed at the contents but the moment she did, her eyes widened in awe. They were brightly coloured berry-like balls.

"What are those?" she whispered in awe.

"I call them my Sweetie Pie berries," said Brick with a proud smile, "I made them myself."

Rigel reached into the bag and picked up a yellow ball. Her eyes gazed at the little sphere in utmost awe, especially at how it was professionally made. Brick continued. "They come in various flavours as I've used different fruits and insects to make these berries. Go on, try it."

Rigel clamped her beak onto the ball and began to chew it. The moment her beak took in the sweet, a lemony taste exploded throughout her mouth cavity and excited her tongue. It was clearly delicious and immediately, Rigel had taken like in Brick's sweets. After swallowing the sour-tasting lemon sweet, sour tastes being one of Rigel's favourite ranges of flavours, she begged for another one and Brick gladly offered her another, this time an orange flavoured one. Then soon, the pair began to eat Brick's homemade sweet berries, laughing and chatting.

Sometime later, the bag lay empty by Brick's side, all the sweets devoured. Rigel was slurping her tongue and rubbing her belly. She had never felt so happy since her excitement in going on this trip to introduce the eight Rio fruithawks to the true wild.

"Well, that was indeed delicious," said she, before her gaze turned to the village, "But it's time I returned to my family's tree. They'd be wondering where I've gone."

"Well, you've got a new friend now, Rigel," said Brick as he tossed away the empty leaf bag, "And I hope we will meet again. Hopefully, I will give you more of these homemade sweets if I have time to make more."

Rigel smiled and looked forward to sampling Brick's sweet berries again.

"Where do you live?" asked Rigel.

"That's currently confidential," said Brick firmly, "But if you want to know, it's NOT on the sanctuary. It's somewhere in the outlands but don't come looking for me as you've said, you don't wanna worry your parents and sister..."

Suddenly, the pair heard the sounds of wing flaps. The two red macaws snapped their gazes in the direction of the flapping noises and saw a few membrane-winged creatures fly past. At first Rigel thought they were flying foxes when she saw the umbrella-like wings supported by four long digits but when she made out a bird-like body, a head-frill and a long tail ending in a pair of winglets, she saw that they were a different type of flying creature. Brick also saw them, especially as the creatures flew through a shaft of moonlight and lit up.

"Now I've never seen bats like those," he said, "Long necks... tails bearing smaller wings..."

"They're called mini drakes," said Rigel, "They're dragon-like creatures with bat-like wings, long tails ending in a pair of winglets, and bird-like bodies. There's a clan of them living here in the sanctuary and they have three hawks with them."

"Three hawks?" asked Brick.

"It's a long story," said Rigel. Then Brick felt it was time to leave.

"Well, I'll see you hopefully tomorrow or later," he said with a smile, "And as I promise, I'll take you out on a date. See you."

And with that, he spread open his wings and lofted into flight. Rigel smiled warmly as she watched her crush recede into the dark jungle. Brick flashed her one gaze that made her heart bounce before continuing his flight.

As soon as he was gone, Rigel heard another voice call her name. At this, she turned in the direction of the caller and saw two red macaws her age, one of them missing the toes of her left foot, two toucans, an auburn coloured flying fox, her eyes glowing in the dark, and three young hyacinth macaws but they were NOT Penelope and Brock's offspring but the offspring of Neptune and Ultramarine's first-brood son Triton and his mate Iris. The moment the eight newcomers' eyes found Rigel, they rushed over to her and hugged her.

"Rigel, sis!" shouted one, Betelgeuse, who, like, Rigel had snuck out of her family's lodging while Io and Sheldon are still sleeping, "There you are."

"What are you doing out here?" asked the other macaw, Steven who was Greg and Sardonyx's son.

"You know it's not safe for young birds like you to be hanging around outside the village," said Acerola.

"Yeah, it's dangerous, Ri," said Gladion, one of the toucans, the other being his sister Lillie. The three hyacinth chicks, Celeste, Mizar and Alcor nodded in agreement. Rigel just gazed at the seven as they broke the hug with her.

"I..." she began, "I was just having some lone time out here. I just wanted to get away from Dad for a bit."

"So was I," said Betelgeuse, "I was just talking with Steven here about the BBSU, and also what had happened between us and Dad."

"We also talked about what happened between us and Tybalt and company including the troublesome trio, Brick, Boomer and Butch," said Acerola. Rigel felt a wave of nervousness wash over her and she raised a beak to wipe away some juice from a certain berry sweet type she had eaten that had stained her beak.

"Brick, Boomer and Butch?" she nervously said.

"Yes, those three," said Lillie. Then Steven hardened his glare.

"They may seem nice and would like to be your friend, but they really aren't," he said in a dangerously low voice, "Especially Brick. He's a charmer and a looker who may put on a sweet personality at first, but in time, he'll eventually show his true colours as a toxic bird. As Mom often describes him, he's like a poison dart frog or an extremely toxic butterfly: charming on the outside but intensely poisonous on the inside."

This made Rigel's stomach wince and because Rigel had eaten so much of the sweet berries, she felt a little queasy, and the rest of her quivered slightly. Celeste noticed her nervous behaviour.

"Are you alright, Rigel?" she asked.

"You look nervous," said Mizar as se and Alcor saw Rigel's slight trembling. At this, Rigel pushed aside her nervousness and denied it.

"Um, no, I'm not nervous," she said, "I'm just a little cold. Um... maybe we should return to Lily's Village," she said.

"It's a good idea," said Acerola, her eyes glowing in the dark from the moonlight, "After all; it's not safe for you young daytime macaws to be hanging about in the dark. Let's head back."

Betelgeuse, Steven, Lillie, Gladion, Celeste, Mizar and Alcor nodded in agreement and within moments, the nine opened their wings and either lofted or dropped into flight. Rigel, as she got airborne, lagged behind the others and flashed one final longing glance in Brick's direction. Despite Steven's warnings that he may be 'like a poison dart frog' Rigel didn't care and certainly didn't believe this statement about Brick.

"Rigel?" called Betelgeuse, the others with her hovering and waiting for her. Rigel pulled her gaze from where Brick left and flew after the other eight and within moments, the group was back in the safety of Lily's Village where they bade each other goodnight and scattered to return to their lodging trees, Steven going to Greg and Sardonyx's assigned hollow.

The Spix tribe's ravine

Most of the Spix macaw tribe, like the rest of the tribes, clans and smaller groups that were mostly active during the day, had also retreated to their nests to spend the night. The only members of the blue macaw tribe that were awake were those carrying out night patrols, and Roberto was doing this job, his mate Brisa back at their tree seeing to Chilro and Ophelia. In the trees of Blu, Jewel, Zephyr and Venus, a certain group of eight fruithawks had also turned in for the night. Because tonight was their first night in the Amazon, it was quite an unnerving time for the siblings. Rigil Kentaurus, Perseus, Gardenia and Autumn slept in Blu and Jewel's tree, using the rooms that once belonged to Carla and Bia while Linda slept in Tiago's former room. The other four siblings, Comet, Tristan, Levi and Gylfie slept in Zephyr and Venus's tree, taking up the rooms that formerly belonged to Justin and Charlotte. Though Linda, Azurite and Aquamarine were initially reluctant to allow the eight fruithawks to live as guests in their family's hollow, their parents had insisted that they allow them to sleep in the unoccupied rooms, which they agreed, and so the fruithawks were given their temporary rooms. In Blu and Jewel's hollow in what used to be Carla's room which was now currently being used by Rigil Kentaurus and Perseus, the former fruithawk sat gazing through a hole in the sub-hollow, some of the silvery light of the moon seeping in like liquid silver and illuminating his yellow and golden feathers. He was quite restless and could not get off but it was not just the nervousness of spending his first ever night in the Sanctuary de Amazon that was making his nerves bubble with trepidation. His brother was asleep not too far away from him, but Rigil Kentaurus was too nervous to drop off. Having eventually giving up on trying to do so, and with something else on his mind, he decided to leave Blu and Jewel's tree and get some fresh air. Gazing at the sleeping form of Perseus and making sure that he was sufficiently in dreamland, Rigil Kentaurus prepared to sneak towards the entrance of the room.

The oldest sibling of the Rio fruitthawks rose to his feet and carefully and slowly stepped towards the room entrance, flinching when Perseus stirred or made a small chirp. Then as soon as Rigil Kentaurus was near the entrance, he exited the room and climbed down the wall of the tree. As he did so, he saw the blue sleeping forms of Blu and Jewel in their nest, the former blanketing the latter with a rich blue wing and the moonlight lighting them up like blue crystals though they did not sparkle like Rigil Kentaurus and his siblings did for their golden feathers had a metallic sheen. Making sure that Blum and Jewel were too much in dreamland to hear him, the fruithawk crept towards the hollow entrance/exit and stepped outside. Once he was out of the tree, he opened his wings and took off in a certain direction of the ravine. In another area of the ravine where Aang, Petyr and Cersei slept, one of them was also awake and was perched on a tree branch gazing at the stars and gibbous moon. The fruithawk was easily recognised by her frontal scars and leaf over her empty right eye socket. Cersei was also quite restless and had decided to spend some lone time away from her adopted brothers before returning to try and get some sleep. Near where the three wild golden fruithawks slept, Bra'tac and his family including Thor and Kion, his sons, were also asleep in a hollow, and the tree in which the mini drake family and the three fruithawks slept was also occupied by a few Spix macaws for this tree had multiple hollows. Few trees in the Spix tribe's ravine were large enough to have more than one hollow and thus house more than one macaw or even families of macaws, and Cersei had been examining the trees' roots. Those roots were exposed when the water in the ravine pool was shallow but completely submerged when the depth was at its maximum, and Cersei had found it hard to believe that the Spix macaw tribe used to live in other habitats before settling here when Jewel's ancestors, even before her father Eduardo became a leader, led the tribe, but those previous habitats had been abandoned when loggers and poachers threatened the tribe time and time again, forcing them to move deeper into the rainforest. This was also the backstory of some of the other tribes and clans, including the mini drake clan who wanted to remain out of sight of the humans as much as possible and along the way, the drakes had rescued and adopted a diversity of rare and critically endangered creatures, among them a family of rare forest falcons, Cersei, Petyr and Aang themselves and a Spix macaw, Zazu. The mini drakes were still finding and taking in as many critically endangered creatures even now and now that they had found a sanctuary set up by humans, they had settled here.

While Cersei continued to recall the backstory of the drakes' journey that B'Elanna or the other elder members of the bat-winged reptile clan had told her and the other younger members when she, Aang and Petyr had been a chick, a sound startled her. At this, Cersei snapped a hostile glare in the direction of it and released a fierce hiss like a cat. However, the sound maker, which was another golden fruithawk, tried to calm her.

"Whoa, calm down, ma'am, it's only me. I've brought you a gift," said the speaker and with that, a yellow talon extended out from some leaves and placed something onto the branch near Cersei. It was a mango and the fruithawk, Rigil Kentaurus, had been to a mango tree that grew just outside the ravine walls on his way to here, and he had picked this mango to give to Cersei as an apology gift in the hope that he could start mending the damage caused by his brother. Cersei glared at the large green and red fruit. On the other side of the large leaf cluster, Rigil Kentaurus nervously waited, but then a large green and yellow lump was passed through the leaves by a yellow talon and placed disdainfully onto his branch, much to Rigil Kent's disappointment, and the verbal response came as an acidic topping.

"I don't want ANYTHING from you, city boy," growled Cersei from the other side of the leaves; "not after what that stupid and insensitive brother of yours had said about my disfigurements anyway."

"I-I-I only want to apologise for my brother's insensitivity, ma'am," replied Rigil Kent nervously. He was not willing to try and Cersei's name for he still forgot it and didn't want to unintentionally add more salt to Cersei's still-fresh wounds. "It's true what he said about you was UTTERLY inappropriate and I agree with you completely there. In fact I and my three sisters and three other brothers are still cross with him for insulting you like that..."

He flinched and backed away from the leaf cluster when he heard a loud hostile hiss erupt from the other side.

"Don't make me launch myself at you and throttle you like how I did your insensitive brother, city fruithawk," growled Cersei on the other side, "Or worse, fetch Mr Bra'tac and Mrs B'Elanna here and have them drive you off instead. After all, weren't you told not to come ANYWHERE near me and/or Aang and Petyr?"

"Yes, but I only want to start making amends now," replied Rigil Kent timidly, picking up the rejected mango in a talon for he planned on taking it back with him for breakfast tomorrow morning. He then changed his mind, "But if my presence upsets you so much, then I'll be glad to leave and leave you and your adopted brothers alone for a while until we can meet again for another try..."

And with that, he turned and spread his gold and yellow wings but before he could perform the lofting down stroke, Cersei's voice called him.

"Wait, I'll take the mango," she said. At this, Rigil Kent retracted his wings and handed the mango to an extended yellow talon. The talon took it and dragged it through the leaves into Cersei's side and seconds later, the sounds of hooked beak piercing mango flesh hopped from through the leaf cluster and into Rigil Kent's ears. Rigil Kent ignored the rather impolite-sounding noises and closed his eyes.

"By the way, your backstory on how you took on one of the most lethal birds of prey in this highly dangerous jungle to save some of your clan mates including the matriarch is astounding," he said, "I can't believe you made such a life-risking rescue of those cornered clan members..."

"You don't understand just how DANGEROUS harpy eagles are, city fruithawk," came Cersei's voice, accompanied by another bite and slurp into mango flesh and swallowing it.

"It's Rigil Kentaurus," replied Rigil Kent, "Or Rigil Kent for short."

"Rigil Kent then," said Cersei flatly, "As I was saying, you just don't realise how DANGEROUS harpy eagles are."

"Actually I do," replied Rigil Kent, courage finally welling within him and beginning to displace his nervousness slowly, "I've seen how those lethal birds dispatch their prey."

"Yeah but try coming face to face with one," said Cersei as she continued to devour the mango, "You'll wanna eat those words if you do."

Rigil Kent lowered his head and exhaled. It was clear that while he was aware of how dangerous and lethal harpy eagles were from being told by Carla and company, he had little to no practical understanding of the lethality of those feathered monsters for he and the other seven Rio fruithawks had NEVER encountered one in their entire lives. However, Rigil Kent did had some idea based on Cersei's loss of her right eye and the massive scar streaks on her front. Pushing aside this subject, he continued his conversation.

"But change of subject, I find it hard to believe that we have met three more members of our species," he said, "We thought we were the last eight fruithawks in the entire world. In fact our deceased parents were the last pair of fruithawks in existence until they had us," Rigil Kent's face then faded to one of sadness, "But according to Mrs Carla, Mrs Bia, Mr Tiago and the rest of our elders, our mom died while laying our eggs while our dad died in the fire that ripped through the city sanctuary..."

"There's a sanctuary where you were born?" asked Cersei.

"It's called the Blu Bird Sanctuary," said Rigil Kent, "And it encompasses the forest growing near the human city called Rio de Janeiro. It is named after a Spix macaw who was believed to be the last male of his species known to the humans..."

"It's strange to hear that there are humans who actually care for the environment and its animals and plants," said Cersei, "for my, Aang and Petyr's entire lives, we have been taught that humans were highly dangerous creatures that destroy the environment and treat us creatures like objects. In fact our clan has a tale of how a merglint clan that lived out in the open sea had lost their habitat due to oil pollution long ago, and how that oil spill had destroyed the reef near their habitat and affected their food source..."

"What's a 'merglint'?" asked Rigil Kent.

"It's an aquatic creature that resembles a dolphin but their tails are formed by their fused legs and the tail fluke, their feet," said Cersei, "sort of like an imaginary creature humans call mermaids only the merglint does not literally have a fish's tail and are NOT half human and half fish. They are egg laying creatures, are partially or are completely metallic, hence their name, and the females possess longer head hair than the males and also a venomous bite..."

Rigil Kentaurus stiffened as this sounded familiar. He remembered Ryn, Procyon, Castor, Pollux and Mira apparently spotting a strange water creature before their departure into the rainforest form the tour boat. However, Rigil Kent put aside this thought as Cersei continued.

"But as I was saying about humans, we often see them as habitat destroying pests," she said, "but now upon hearing that this sanctuary has been set up by some caring humans, we have reconsidered our views on humans. But all the same, we still don't wanna show ourselves to them."

"But if our human friends find out that we have found three more golden fruithawks, they will wanna ensure that they are healthy and..." began Rigil Kent but Cersei cut him off.

"We're NOT gonna risk our safety in showing ourselves to your two-legged friends, Kent," she said, "It's a strict rule Mr Bra'tac has made for our clan and we must stick to it. Sorry to disappointment you. Now can you please leave me alone and return to where you're staying?" she then finished the rest of the mango and prepared to return to her place of stay, "It's getting late and we wanna be up early tomorrow morning and I'm sure you city fruithawks have that same aim as well."

"Okay, goodnight," said Rigil Kent as he opened his wings and lofted into flight, "It's nice talking to you though."

"And thanks for the mango as well," said Cersei's voice. However, it didn't sound very appreciative, much to Rigil Kent's disappointment. Not wanting to bother the female wild fruithawk any further, Rigil Kent departed for Blu and Jewel's tree, his golden sheen feathered glinting in the moonlight. Cersei turned and saw that glint as the fruithawk left. Shrugging and exhaling a sigh, she left for her room.

Back in Rio

It was night time also in the city of Rio and the artificial lights of the city glowed under the dark star-studded and partly cloudy sky. In one area of the city at the edge of the forest, a gathering of animals had congregated with a group of certain animals looking over them and examining them. Carla and company had managed to gather a number of auditions for the BBSU and the current audition performing was a group of friendly city cats who were knowledgeable in Shakespeare's plays, and the play they were performing was Hamlet. One male cat, a white Persian male was portraying a famous scene from the play; he had a model of a cat skull in one paw and gazed at it, uttering the famous line. As he did that, Justin, Carla, Charlotte and Músculo and the adolescent Spix macaw chicks with them, Sonia, Melody (two of Carla and Justin's daughters), Jason and Petunia (Charlotte and Músculo's son and daughter respectively) gazed at him from a branch, smiling.

"He sure has got some talent in portraying Hamlet, hadn't he?" said Músculo, "Him and the rest of his troupe, the Shakespeare Cats."

"The female black cat and her tabby boyfriend are awesome in portraying Juliet and Romeo respectively," said Carla, "James and Ebony have done really well in finding such a talented troupe of city kitties."

"Too bad they can't any of the bird clubs," said Justin, "Knowing what most cats are like with birds like us."

"Exactly," said Charlotte, the others nodding in agreement. Sonia, Melody, Jason and Petunia also smiled before the first one had thoughts for her sister Spica and her group in the Amazon.

"I wonder how sis, Aunt Bia, Uncle Virgil and the rest are doing in the Sanctuary de Amazon," she said.

"Possibly overlooking the meeting of our eight fruithawks with the three that had grown up in the mini drake clan," said Melody.

"Yeah, but with that harpy eagle case going on," said Jason, "I bet things are rather complicated for them."

"Not to mention that family of pesky wretches who keep picking on Uncle Triton and his family," said Petunia. Her brother and cousins who knew who she was talking about nodded. Then Melody moved onto another subject.

"Well, at least we're gonna have a place on the auditions as well," said she a little dreamily, "I can't wait to perform with Spica joining us when she and the others return from the Amazon."

"Same here," said Jason. Petunia and Sonia nodded in agreement to this. Then the sounds of wing-flaps reached the quartet and their parents' ears. Carla and the others turned their gazes from the performing cat to three scarlet macaws as they perched beside them.

"How are the other auditions such as Basil and his troupe, Finnick the macaroni penguin and his band of tap-dancing penguins and Sugilite and her troupe of budgies, lovebirds, cockatiels and cockatoos including Milo, Eustace, Rosa and their families doing, Callisto, Katiniss and Athos," asked Carla, her face beaming.

"They're doing just fine," said Athos.

"You should have seen Sugilite and her troupe," said Callisto, "They really danced somewhat like your tribe to your theme 'Beautiful Creatures'."

"Uncle Eustace told us that he was inspired by that dance to formulate their own," said Katniss, "Yolanda, Vincent, Oscar, Peach and Bruno were epic."

"As were the tap-dancing penguins," added Athos, "After all, that emperor penguin from the Antarctic with the upper body resembling a juvenile chick did tell us that dancing was a regular part of many penguin species' way of life, such as finding and pairing up with mates."

"Mumble and his family," said Callisto as memories of the emperor penguin came into her head, "I wonder how they are doing."

"Probably continuing with their lives," said Carla. Then another thought came to her. "By the way, I wonder how my youngest brother, Luke, is doing in Tulio's Aviary."

"I'm wondering if he has signed up for the auditions as well," said Justin. Músculo, Charlotte, Sonia, Melody, Jason and Petunia exhaled in sorrow for the unfortunate individual, especially over the loss of his ability to fly due to the loss of his a wing, his left one, as a result of Nigel's heinous scheme involving those dogs. However, a smile formed on Katniss's beak.

"Titan, Aimee, Agate, Poppy and a few others are visiting him in the Aviary," said she, "and they are going to ask Luke if he would like to participate in the BBSU."

"Yes, but he will need help in transport," said Athos.

"Since after all, he cannot fly with a missing wing," said Callisto.

Carla and the others, at this, perked up.

"That's good," said Carla, "At least that's that sorted."

"We're planning on visiting him tomorrow morning," said Músculo, "He could do with some family company, especially from his older sister, brother-in-law and two of his nieces," and with that, he gave Carla, Justin, Sonia and Melody a smile. The four smiled back and made a mental note to make that visit tomorrow morning. That aside, the group resumed watching the Shakespeare Cats continue to rehearse Hamlet though Callisto, Athos and Katniss had taken off to check on Basil the bat and his troupe's performance.