Chapter 34- struggle in the stream and the aftermath part 1
Athos did not expect the water to be so cold, but due to the temperature difference between the water and the hot and humid air of the Amazon, the shock of facing a sudden temperature change sent his body into overdrive. Furthermore, the stream was surprisingly deep, probably about two or three metres and because Athos and Nigel had plummeted from quite a high drop, they plunged about a metre from the surface of the water. Once the pair was submerged, the current began to carry them away. A cloud of red mist formed around Nigel as his many wounds continued to bleed, the blood dispersing like sediment in the water, and Athos continued struggling to free his neck from Nigel's shackle-like talons. As the two tumbled violently from the rushing water, sometimes hitting the side of the stream, the cockatoo and scarlet macaw continued fighting, Nigel trying to keep Athos under the water while Athos tried to escape. Bubbles escaped their beaks as they exhaled during their fight and as Nigel yelped in pain from his broken wing and many wounds, his cries garbled by the water.
The water was also murky and brown, and as the two birds smacked against the sides of the stream, sediment billowed up into a cloud that enveloped the two birds and Athos thought he saw two or three silvery flashes of startled fish as they swam out of the way of the brawling birds. Above the water, Ruby, Alexandre, Spinel and Poinsettia flew above the surface with Porthos, Aramis, Phoebe and Aurora, shouting for Athos while the rest had flown over to inspect Catina's injury. Blu was horrified at the severity of the scratch inflicted on Catina's body by Nigel. Travis, Zephyr, Orquidea, Jewel and Sapphire kept the kids back, not wanting them to see the injury on Catina's body and that injury was very serious, far more than Esperanza's first scratch. Esmeralda and Cobalto, meanwhile, had gathered some moss to try and help slow the bleeding.
"We'd better get her out of this place to the humans now," cried Blu, "She's losing blood at a fast rate."
"But how are we gonna carry her to Tulio and his team?" asked Orquidea as she held her wings out in front of some of the chicks, one of them being Bia, to prevent them from seeing Catina's state and as Esmeralda and Cobalto tried slowing the rate of blood leakage from Catina's injury using the moss. Catina looked up at Veggie and her bird friends, her face twisted in utter agony. Then Veggie saw D'Artagnan hover nearby, torn whether to help Aurora and the others search for Athos or help tend to Catina.
"You go help Aurora find Athos and Nigel," he said, "While we try and get Catina to our human friends."
D'Artagnan obeyed Veggie's suggestion and followed Aurora and the others. Then Cobalto and Travis flew in to help carry Catina to safety.
While Veggie's group prepared to transport the seriously injured Catina from the rainforest, Aurora's group including Ruby and her three chicks continued scanning the surface of the rushing water of the stream for any flash of red, teal, grey-white and yellow and green, Ruby continuously shouting Athos's name despite how dry her throat was becoming. But it was not easy flying about in the rain and it was now chucking it down, the torrent finally fully unleashed. Furthermore, the winds had picked up and were howling through the jungle. Then Aramis had an idea.
"Hey, you guys," called the green macaw, "Do you think the current may have carried them downstream?"
"It's a possibility," said Porthos, "Since this current is quite strong and the water appears deep. Let's follow the river and try and find Athos."
And with that, the group left. Phoebe called to Veggie's group including Cobalto.
"We'll be back when we find Athos," he called. Veggie and the others with him shouted in reply and soon, Aurora's group was out of sight, while Veggie's group began to transport Catina out of the rainforest. Some of the chicks began to cry.
"Make sure you find Uncle Athos," cried Azul distressfully, "I don't want him to die at the clutch of that horrible cockatoo."
Wilbur and the others also broke down. Travis began to hug each of them to comfort them.
"I agree, you lot," he said, "But let's focus on getting Catina to safety first."
The chicks all nodded and with that they followed their elders and Veggie as they removed Catina from the rainforest, Esmeralda and Cobalto keeping a close watch on Catina's wound and trying to control the blood loss with more moss.
Back down the stream, Aurora, Ruby and her chicks, Porthos, Aramis, Phoebe and D'Artagnan continued flying over the rushing water, looking for any signs of Athos and Nigel and calling for him. Ruby was in utter horror and anguish. She could not believe this was happening to Athos but had he not reacted in time when Nigel charged them, she, together with Alexandre, Spinel and Poinsettia would have been attacked and possibly killed instead of Athos but Ruby did not care about that. She just wanted to find her mate as quickly as possible before he drowned. Desperately, Ruby continued her search with the other macaws.
Nigel and Athos both broke the surface of the water, gasping for air but Nigel still maintained his iron grip on Athos's neck. It was clear he was trying to drag him back underwater to drown him. Nigel shot Athos the most murderous look the scarlet macaw had ever seen and the still-bleeding claw marks on the cockatoo's face made that leer even more terrifying.
"Release me THIS MINUTE!" barked Athos loudly, "Or I'll claw or bite you to make you!"
Nigel smiled menacingly, clearly not going to comply for he had one thing in his severely decayed and decomposed mind.
"Not a chance, pretty bird," he crooned evilly and murderously, "Not until you DIE!"
Then before Athos could reply, a rush of water came over them and they were both submerged once again. Athos and Nigel then began to writhe underwater again, bubbles billowing all around them as they tumbled and struggled. Nigel's talons remained tight around Athos's neck with no signs of letting go, and despite the agony exploding from his broken wing and injuries; Nigel maintained his grip on Athos's neck, determined to drown the scarlet macaw. The two continued tumbling and flailing as the current continued to carry them down the stream, and soon, Athos's body was shouting for oxygen. Athos knew that he had to get to the surface and take a breath immediately or he would drown, but he could not with Nigel's talon shackled around his neck. Faced with a choice: free himself of Nigel's grip and get to the surface or die, Athos glared stormily at the evil cockatoo who looked back at him with an EXTREMELY evil and murderous leer and then did something drastic. Without thinking, the scarlet macaw lashed out and closed his beak as hard as he could onto one of Nigel's legs. A garbled howl of extreme agony escaped Nigel's beak in the form of bubbles and the iron talon grip around Athos's neck went slack. After this, Athos made a break for the surface and took in a deep breath the moment his head was above the water. But soon he was swept underwater again by another rush of water. Macaws weren't designed to swim, which meant that although Athos was now free from Nigel's grasp, he was not out of danger yet. He continued flailing and struggling to stay on the surface but found it a grievous challenge for the water was rough. Soon the river came to a bifurcation. Nigel was carried down one split while Athos was carried down the other. Athos continued struggling to stay on the surface and tried to squawk for help but was continuously swept under it by rushes of water each time, his cries for help drowned by the water.
Upstream, Aurora and the others continued flying over the rushing water of the stream, scanning every square inch of the surface for any flash of colour before moving on.
"Can you see him?" called Porthos from one side of the stream.
"No," shouted Phoebe in reply. Ruby, Alexandre, Poinsettia and Spinel began to freak out and panic.
"I hope he's not drowned!" cried out Ruby in distress and with that, she retreated to a nearby tree, her chicks in tow. Aurora, seeing Ruby retreat, followed her to comfort her. She landed beside the distressed scarlet macaws and put a wing around Ruby as she began to sob her eyes out.
"Don't worry, we'll find him," she said.
"I hope we do!" wailed Ruby as tears fell from her eyes as heavily as the rain. She then began to break down in anguish. D'Artagnan looked at Aurora but she told him to continue the search. D'Artagnan nodded in obedience and continued to help the others search for Athos.
Meanwhile
Tulio and his team had managed to apprehend Lysandre and his group and capture the remaining falcons, crows and cats. The security from Manaus has finally arrived and had come to arrest the poachers. The macaws had all dispersed and returned home as Tulio and his team arrived, but some had remained behind. As the poachers, whose hands were cuffed, were made to board the helicopters, the same ones they had used to fly to the Sanctuary de Amazon, Tulio, Linda, Jack, Jill and Lucy looked on with unsympathetic eyes. The poachers were all in a hideous state. Their clothing were tattered and torn, making them look as though they had been dragged through a briar of thorny plants, and their heads and arms were crisscrossed with bite and claw marks they had received from the macaws. The hair of most of them was also out of place, bedraggled and messy, with bald patches where hair had been torn out dotting their hair, and Lysandre looked the worst. He looked as though he had been in at the mercy of a furious cat based on the number of scratches on his face and body and his tattered and torn clothes and hair. The cats, crows and falcons apart from Cazador and Cometa were also battered and bruised. Bald patches dotted their bodies where feathers and fur had been torn out and scratches slashed through their plumage or pelage, and some of the crows were even missing flight feathers from their wings and tails. All the poachers and their pets winced in pain from their wounds as they walked. The macaws, together with Dash and company, certainly did reduce the poachers and their pets into seriously bedraggled mess.
As Lysandre limped towards a helicopter in hand cuffs with a policeman behind him, he shot Tulio a pained look.
"Nice try on getting us fooled and sneaking into a protected reserve to poach critically endangered animals pal, but you have failed miserably," said Tulio with no sympathy.
"B-b-but we were only…" began Lysandre but the policemen barked at him to board the helicopter, which he did. Nearby, the cats including Otis had been caged with the same cages used for holding any caught macaws, and they were being loaded into the cargo bays. Otis was terribly shaken. He was covered in scratch and bite marks as well as torn out fur and his front left leg was broken, the result of Eduardo and Jewel's wrath and Eduardo had been the one to inflict damage on his front leg. That attack from the enraged Spix macaw and his daughter had left Otis in hysterics. His eyes were saturated with extreme terror as though he had seen a ghost or monster, and he was trembling and wincing from the pain of his injuries. Nearby Tom and Moggy, who were in the same cage, gazed at Otis with sympathy.
"He won't be going anywhere near another macaw or possibly any other bird again, I can tell you," whispered Moggy, wincing slightly from her injuries.
"Neither will the rest of us," replied Tom as he looked at the scratches slashing through the fur on his front legs. The two cats then fell silent as one of the authorities placed them into the cargo bay.
While the clean-up operation continued despite the rain, Dash, James, Danny, Avellana, Collette and Daisy watched on from the shelter of some vegetation out of the rain. With them was Cometa. She had been allowed to stay behind for she had given Tulio the unconscious Lapis Lazuli and had helped the macaws to escape. She breathed a sigh as she watched her now-former group continue to get arrested and loaded onto the helicopters.
"How is your daughter, Dash?" she asked the light grey greyhound, "Have you checked on her yet?"
"You mean Esperanza?" asked Dash, "She's in a horrible state but she'll be alright. She's been cared for by some of the vets back at Tulio's helicopter."
"As are Sunset, Levi and his family," said Danny, "At least they are in safe hands."
Then a thought entered Collette and Daisy's heads.
"But the others aren't," said Collette, "Neither are Mom and Dad," she then gazed out into the clutter of the vegetation, "They've been missing for quite a while now."
"I hope they are alright," added Daisy worriedly, "Especially since they are dealing with such a dangerous cockatoo."
Suddenly, Cometa heard the rustling of leaves. She snapped her head in the direction of the sound's source. When she saw a few flashes of colour through the vegetation, she felt worry grip her.
"Um, guys I think it might be them," she said. At this statement, the cats and greyhounds turned round and followed Cometa's gaze. When they saw the flashes of colour through the vegetation and heard voices coming from them, Dash recognised their owners.
"I think it's Blu's group," he said, "It sounds like they are in a rush."
"Really?" said Cometa. Then dread hit her. "Don't tell me someone has been hurt, have they?"
"I don't know but we'll find out," said Dash and with that, the group abandoned their spot and rushed off after the flashes of colour and their voices, which indeed belonged to Blu and the others. However, half of the adult macaws were missing.
While Dash and his group rushed off after Blu's group, Tulio and some of the others continued watching Lysandre's group as they boarded their helicopters with police officers behind them when some frantic footsteps and shouts reached their ears.
"Dad," cried someone, a young man. Tulio turned to the young man at the mention of the word.
"What is it, Fernando?" he asked. Fernando screeched to a halt with two other young men behind him. As he caught his breath, he managed to get the words out.
"There's a Spix macaw that needs your help," Fernando cried urgently.
"Blu?" asked Linda.
"No, it's one of the wild ones," said Fernando, "It's been seriously injured."
Tulio, Linda, Lucy, Jack and Jill exchanged worried glances. Then Tulio made his choice.
"Take me to my helicopter as fast as you can," he commanded Fernando. Fernando nodded and he and his two companions rushed off. Tulio's group then followed but not before Tulio told the chief of Manaus security about the situation and to continue to keep an eye on the poachers. The chief nodded and with that, Tulio hurried off.
Back at Tulio's helicopter, Blu, Jewel, Zephyr, Orquidea, Esmeralda, Cobalto, Sapphire and Travis, together with all the chicks apart from Tristan, Quincy, Trixie and Larimar who were in the helicopter with their parents, and Alexandre, Spinel and Poinsettia who were still out in the jungle with Ruby, frantically entered the medical facility of the copter. As they did that, Veggie stood by when he heard the sounds of greyhound and cat paws patting the ground. He looked up and saw four greyhounds and his daughters run towards him with Cometa close behind. When Collette and Daisy saw Veggie, they cried out, "Dad!"
And with that, they rushed over to him and hugged him. Dash, Avellana, James and Danny also hugged Veggie. Ginger then came out of the cargo bay where they had been hiding all along and hugged Dash and the other three greyhounds. After the mammals had broken their hug, Dash looked at Veggie with demanding eyes.
"What happened?" he asked.
"We heard and saw you lot in a rush," said Ginger.
"Where are Mom and the others?" asked Collette. Cometa landed next to Dash. Veggie then gave the group a sombre look.
"Catina has been badly wounded by Nigel," he said sadly. Horror tore through Dash's group and Cometa flinched.
"How bad is it?" asked the falcon. Dash and the others also looked at Veggie with the same question. Veggie daren't tell them the details but he decided to give them a short answer.
"Catina has lost a lot of blood. That is why we were in such a rush," he replied, his ears drooping and his eyes beginning to ooze tears. "Nigel had completely lost his mind and in his insanity, he violently attacked us. He almost went for Blu, Aurora and their families but Catina intervened and pushed them out of the way, resulting in her getting brutally clawed instead. Furthermore…"
Just then, the macaws and their chicks including Blu, Jewel, Carla, Bia and Tiago, came out of the helicopter after handing Catina over for treatment. They had just shared a brief reunion with Levi, Lapis Lazuli and their four chicks and had come out to see Dash and the others. When Dash saw the macaws and that half of the adults were missing, he threw on a worried look.
"Hey, where are Aurora, Athos, Porthos, Aramis, Phoebe, D'Artagnan and Ruby," he asked, "And Alexandre and his sisters Poinsettia and Spinel?"
As Dash asked the macaws this question Brisa, Roberto, Gael, Nuvem and Viento flew in but then the sound of human footsteps on the ground reached the group's ears. Cometa looked up and gasped.
"Someone's in a rush, everyone," she said, "Move out of the way, quickly!"
The group did so as the owners of the sounds, Tulio and some of the other humans, hurried towards the helicopter and climbed aboard it.
In Tulio's arms was a bundle wrapped in towels but none of the mammals got a glimpse of what it was. As the group of humans boarded the copter, the five new Spix macaws touched down beside the group next to Zephyr, Justin, Charlotte, Matilda and Virgil. The seven shared a reunion hug when Gael noticed that someone was missing.
"Where's Aurora?" she asked her son. Zephyr gave her and the other four with her a sombre look but then they were distracted by the commotion from inside the copter. In the copter, Tulio, Linda, Lucy, Fernando, Jack and Jill were in a frantic rush. The bundle was Tornado, the macaw that had been brutally wounded by Cazador during the fight. Tulio placed the macaw onto a sterile table.
"Fernando, can you get me a clean towel please?" he commanded. Fernando obeyed and fetched one while Tulio removed the old towel which was covered in blood and tossed it into a special bin. Linda then came in with a stethoscope to check Tornado's heartrate while Fernando applied the fresh towel to the wound on his torso. Tornado's weakening eyes darted about the medical facility but Fernando offered him comforting words.
"Don't worry, birdie, everything's gonna be alright," he said, petting Tornado on the cheek. While Tulio's group ran about to try and slow the loss of blood coming from Tornado's injury, another team was seeing to Catina and a few injured macaws.
While the humans did this, Dash and the others including Cometa and Ginger peered in. Brisa, Zephyr, Gael, Nuvem and Viento looked on in hope. After Tornado had been taken out of the battlefield, he had been under the care of some Spix macaw tribe nurses until Tulio and his team had become available but they had been attacked by three crows who had tried to cage them towards the final moments of the poacher and macaw fight. The tribe nurses had managed to drive the crows away but one had inflicted damage on top of Cazador's scratch on Tornado's body, and the tribe nurses had been struggling to control the blood loss, eventually turning to Tulio and his team for help by handing him to Fernando to take to Tulio. Fernando continued holding the towel to Tornado's torso until it became so covered in blood that it had to be thrown away and replaced with a fresh one. Fernando did just that while Linda continued listening to Tornado's heartbeat through the sound-collector part of the stethoscope. Tornado continued examining what was happening around him, his strength fading away as more blood was lost. Fernando continued comforting him as Tulio came in to try and help control the blood loss, but he could tell that the Spix macaw was weakening.
"Is he okay, Dad?" asked Fernando. Tulio told him to hold the towel firmly over the wound.
"He's lost a lot of blood," said he, "Just apply pressure over the wound. Hopefully we'll be able to save him and get his wound treated…"
As he said this, the macaws, cats, dogs and Cometa continued watching. Lapis Lazuli, who had recovered from her strangulation at the clutches of Nigel, also looked on with Levi at her side. Outside the helicopter, rain continued hammering down and winds gusted. Zephyr, Brisa and Gael continued to watch as Tulio and the others continued trying to save Tornado from dying but despite their best efforts, Tornado's strength continued to slip away, and his movements continued to weaken. Linda continued listening to his heartbeat through the stethoscope while Fernando continued trying to control the blood loss. A few more seconds passed and Tornado's movements slowed more and more until finally, they stopped and the Spix macaw became still. Linda, who continued listening to his heartbeat, heard the macaw's heart's beat get weaker and weaker until finally, she could no longer hear it. A horrible feeling coming over her as she knew what that meant, her face fell. Tulio and Fernando looked at her while Lucy, Jack and Jill looked on.
"That's it?" Tulio asked. Linda only replied with a sombre, "I'm sorry, Tulio."
Tulio, hearing this, looked down at Tornado's lifeless body. Fernando and Linda also backed away. Tears began to well in their eyes as thunder sounded outside. Then Tulio, overcome with grief, retreated to a corner and began to sob. Linda and Fernando came over to him and comforted him. Outside, Dash, who had been watching Tornado, then shot the others, especially Zephyr and his four chicks, Brisa, Gael and Viento and Nuvem, a sombre look.
"Could they save him?" asked Zephyr. Dash sadly shook his head.
"The blood loss was too much from them to control," he replied. When he heard this, Zephyr, together with his family and chicks, felt tears well up in their eyes until they finally broke down. Roberto, Blu, Jewel and the others all came around them and hugged them while Veggie, Collette, Daisy, Dash, Ginger, Avellana, James and Danny and Cometa looked on with sad and sympathetic eyes as they continued to listen to Tulio's sobs from within the copter. It was clear that Tulio hated seeing a macaw, particularly one of a rare species, die despite his best efforts. It always broke his heart. Then Orquidea turned to Veggie to ask him an important question.
"By the way, you were gonna tell us where the missing ones are?" she asked.
"Oh, yes, I was," said Veggie. Then all ears turned to him as Veggie began to explain the rest that had happened during their final confrontation with Nigel.
Meanwhile
The rain continued pelting down and the wind gusted through the trees. Branches and leaves wavered in the gusts and thunder sounded in the sky. Most of the animals had retreated to any shelter they could find to escape the downpour. However, one group of macaws was still flying in the rain desperately searching for a lost friend in the rushing stream. Aurora, Porthos, Aramis, Phoebe, D'Artagnan and Ruby who had Alexandre, Poinsettia and Spinel in her talons continued searching for Athos in the stream, trying as much as possible to keep out of the rain for macaws could not fly well with sodden feathers, but the wind was proving to be a challenge. The group had divided into two subgroups when they had come to the bifurcation in the stream. Aurora, D'Artagnan and Porthos went up one split in the stream while Phoebe, Aramis, Ruby and her chicks followed the other split.
A little while later Aurora, D'Artagnan and Porthos were well past the bifurcation, continuously searching for Athos. Aurora hovered over a shallow part of the stream by the bank, flapping like mad to regain her balance as a gust of wind almost blew her off balance and she shook her head to shake rainwater from her head feathers and pigtails before resuming her search.
"Athos!" cried Aurora as she scanned the shallow patch for any flash of red, sulfur yellow or turquoise, "Athos!"
Porthos and D'Artagnan searched the other side of the river, calling Athos's name and scanning the surface of the water. D'Artagnan was becoming more and more aware of how risky this search was becoming due to the weather.
"He's got to be somewhere," he muttered, "We can't continue searching like this in this downpour."
He then yelped in shock as a sudden gust of wind blew him towards a tree trunk. He halted in time before he could crash into it. Glancing briefly at the column of brown wood, D'Artagnan flew on. Then Porthos had an idea.
"Do you think we should find one of the macaw tribes or clans or bird groups to help us in our search?" he asked the other two. Aurora and D'Artagnan looked around for any flash of colour in the trees.
"In this weather, they might not want to," said D'Artagnan, "As far as we can see, there aren't any animals in the trees anyway because of this downpour."
"Then we'll have to keep searching ourselves," said Porthos, "If we see any macaw or other bird fly past, we'll tell them to keep an eye out for a red scarlet macaw with teal wings and a flat sheet of head feathers."
Aurora and D'Artagnan agreed to this and the trio resumed their search for Athos, flying further and further downstream.
Then another good while later the trio were further downstream, continuously scanning the surface of the rushing water for any sign of Athos. But their hope that he was alive was soon beginning to fade, and it was beginning to show on the three macaws' faces. Porthos felt dread prick at him like a sharp thorn as he realised that this search was becoming more and more futile. Aurora and D'Artagnan were also becoming more and more flooded with despair. If Athos had indeed drowned and carried away by the current, Ruby and his three chick's hearts will be torn in two, which was exactly what Nigel wanted. As this thought bubbled within the three, especially Aurora, they felt disgust boil. Causing immense heartbreak for the mate and offspring of the victim was what Nigel had in mind and he intended to inflict this on Aurora and Levi by killing Zephyr and Lapis Lazuli, but it seemed that he also had that in mind to devastate the other families as well and he seemed to have succeeded in doing just that with Ruby's family, even though it was unexpected. Crashing into Athos hadn't been in Nigel's mind. He was aiming for Ruby and the three chicks and was intending to devastate Athos by killing his family, but his mind had been too warped with fury and the desire for revenge to even care and as a result, he ended up taking Athos with him instead, the father having tackled his three kids and mate away. Though Ruby and his chicks have survived, there was now a possibility that the former will lose her beloved mate and the latter, their father. As the three macaws thought about this and the consequences Nigel's actions on taking Athos with him into the stream on his family, the sound of flapping wings reached their ears. They had reached a part of the forest where the canopy above was thicker. This provided more shelter from the wind and rain but the trio of macaws were alerted to the wing flap sounds to notice this.
Porthos, Aurora and D'Artagnan slowed to a hover to listen to the wingbeats. However, there wasn't just one wingbeat, but several.
"What's that flapping noise?" asked Aurora.
"Sounds like a group of birds nearby," said D'Artagnan, hope welling within him.
"In the rain and wind?" asked Porthos with a perplexed frown.
"Well, if those wing flaps are of some macaws, perhaps a patrol group," D'Artagnan said, "Maybe they will be able to help."
"Alright," said Porthos, "Let's wait here until they turn up."
And with that, the male blue-and-gold macaw, female Spix macaw and male Lear's macaw retreated to a patch of ferns to wait for the wing flaps' owners to come into view. The sounds of the wing flaps continued to increase as the owners got nearer. Porthos began to trace the noise to the source as it continued approaching while Aurora and D'Artagnan took the opportunity to rest.
"What a day it's been," muttered the latter as he shook his head to rid the raindrops collected in his feathers.
"I couldn't agree more to that," muttered Aurora in agreement, "But seeing Nigel finally lose his mind had been the most terrifying thing we have had to face." She then leaned back against the tree trunk. "I'm gonna have nightmares for days, especially after all that abuse that cockatoo had heaped on me and Levi about his killing of our families..."
"He was honestly like Brutus," said D'Artagnan with Aurora nodding to this. The two shuddered as they remembered the cockatoo's those burning brown eyes saturated with the hunger for revenge, particularly on Blu and his family, and the hunger for seeing her and Levi break down at the deaths of their mates, and when things didn't go his own way, Nigel seemed to have become more and more like Brutus which was why he brutally attacked Esperanza, one of Dash and Ginger's puppies back at the clearing where the poachers had landed. Aurora had hoped that Nigel would have learned his lesson after she and the others apart from Levi and his family had confronted and attacked him though she did think that Blu and Jewel went totally over-the-top with their attacks on the cockatoo, especially when they mocked his injuries. As vile as Nigel was, Aurora would not take clawing and scratching him that far, but she could not believe that he had refused to learn his lesson, and what he had done to Athos could leave Ruby and her chicks, especially her chicks Alexandre, Poinsettia and Spinel, scarred for a long time to come, and that reminded her of how she and Levi were scarred by Nigel when he had killed their families.
As these thoughts bubbled within Aurora's mind, Porthos suddenly whipped round and raised a wing feather to his beak. His aqua blue and yellow plumage was flattened and his beige eyes wide with alarm.
"What is it?" asked D'Artagnan,
"SHHH!" hissed Porthos more harshly. His head then turned and looked out. Wondering what could make Porthos so alarmed; Aurora and D'Artagnan crept slowly out of the patch of ferns and followed his gaze, thunder sounding in the sky and rain continuing to pour down from the sky. The sounds of the flapping wings had stopped and now the owners were perched in one of the trees near and above the three macaws, but when Aurora and D'Artagnan's eyes landed on them, their hearts, especially Aurora's, leaped into their throats. The creatures that had been the sources of the flapping wings did not have feathers, beaks or talons. Instead, the bodies of the creatures were covered in fur, like the macaws' cat and greyhound friends. Their wings were not made of feathers, but of membranous skin stretched over four highly elongated digits and their feet were clawed toes. The creatures also had ears, a conical snout and mouths instead of beaks. Porthos immediately recognised the creatures. Bats. There were four of those bats sitting in the lowest branches of the tree and Porthos could see that the head features of all four of them resembled an English dog-like creature with reddish fur and a bushy tail he and the other two had seen several times in the countryside of England when Susan, Lucy, Blake, Drake and Jake sometimes took them out on trips to the country. As recognition of these creatures crept in, Porthos shuddered. D'Artagnan also gulped but Aurora was the most on edge. As her amber eyes gazed at the four creatures, she heard maniacal laughs, felt her back get scratched and saw scornful eyes and mouths, and also sharpened sticks with a cluster of feathers attached to one end. Aurora felt her stomach churn in terror. She wanted to flee but could not for her frantic flapping could alert the four creatures. Then D'Artagnan spoke.
"Are they…?" he whispered.
"Flying foxes," whispered Porthos, finishing his sentence. As these two words uttered from his beak, Aurora shuddered all the more, her maya blue feathers bristling, and she struggled to control her frantic breathing. Indeed these membrane winged furry creatures were flying foxes, and they were massive. They would easily stand taller than Aurora, D'Artagnan and possibly Porthos as well but their wingspans would be up to a metre and a half on average. Porthos then looked closer at the four flying foxes as they conversed on the branch and shuddered as he saw scars slash through the pelages on their faces and bodies. He had heard of how the flying foxes had an extremely bitter hatred of all birds of the Amazon and that they saw them as vermin, and how a lot of them have been in vicious fights with birds to earn a lot of scars. Porthos then felt a flash of anger as he continued gazing at the flying foxes as he remembered another fact about them.
"Those bats are renowned for violently driving out bird tribes and clans in order to grab their territory," he whispered. He then imagined what the red-fronted macaw clan must have faced when they faced such a siege a few days before the most recent fire, and also Lapis Lazuli's tribe, the glaucous macaws which resulted in them becoming nomads. Then another horrible thought came to Porthos's mind, but it was one that sent shivers down his spine.
"What is it?" asked Aurora.
"Is it those bats?" asked D'Artagnan nervously. Porthos then shot them a dreaded look. Aurora, D'Artagnan, from that facial look, both knew what Porthos was about to say before he even said it.
"I think we may have strayed into…" whispered the blue-and-gold macaw but he daren't say the last three words. Then suddenly, the sounds of flapping membranous wings, four pairs of them, reached the ears of the four macaws. Porthos turned and saw the four flying foxes leave. Once they were out of sight, he turned to the other two.
"Let's get out of here before any of those bats see us," he said.
"But what about…?" began Aurora.
"I'm not risking our lives, Aurora," snapped Porthos slightly harshly and quietly, "Let's leave this place, now!"
Aurora, and D'Artagnan, despite reluctance to break off the search for Athos, obeyed based on the harshness of Porthos's voice. Then soon, the three macaws took off and began to fly back the way they had come, following the stream and against its direction of flow. They made haste for they were desperate to get back to the safety of macaw territory. On the way, Porthos made sure that any feathers shed by himself and his two companions were collected to remove any evidence of their accidental presence.