Chapter 15- Athos meets Blu, Jewel and Rafael
Next morning
As the sun rose into the sky, so did a lot of the citizens in the city of Rio. As the morning progressed, the streets became more and more filled with the citizens as they drove in their vehicles or walked along the paths (called sidewalks in the Americas) to go to work or take kids to school, or in the case of tourists, to travel about the city to go sightseeing. However, in one particular workplace a group of bird experts, while they were beginning the dayshift work on the birds that had returned from the smugglers' den (which they did not know about yet), they still pondered over the whereabouts of the missing birds, especially Susan, Lucy, Blake, Drake and Jake for their seven macaws, two cockatoos, tabby cat and greyhound were still missing and had been so since last night. They and Francisco had been searching for the eleven pets until midnight until they were forced to call off the search for the night after no luck. Susan and Lucy had also prayed to God that the missing animals would soon turn up. However, they weren't the only worried people. Tulio and his team were saturated with worry too but for a different reason: the missing three Spix macaws, the two Lear's macaws and most importantly, the last known pair of glaucous macaws in existence. They just had to be found as soon as possible before anything could jeopardise those precious birds' lives.
Later, Tulio's Aviary was alive with a crowd of people talking. Police cars were still present and yellow and black 'Do Not Cross' banners still closed off the premises to the public. Detectives had been called onto the site to collect samples and investigate how the birds had disappeared as well as how the thieves had managed to have their cats enter the building last night. While employees were being interviewed by the police and the detectives, Susan looked sadly at the picture of the eleven pets on one of the 'MISSING' posters with tears in her eyes. Lucy came and put her arm around her shoulders to comfort her and Susan returned the hug. Nearby, Blake, Drake and Jake were talking and Tulio was still trying to get his head around how the second group of thieves had managed to enter his aviary despite all the latest instalments after the theft of two previous Spix macaws, Blu and Jewel. While he pondered this, he could not help but continuously flash sympathetic gazes on Susan, Lucy, Blake, Drake and Jake as they continued to fret about the pets' whereabouts. The five owners clearly felt guilty over leaving their pets at Tulio's Aviary, especially Veggie, Dash, Sunset and Travis who had remained outside when the theft took place, and the owners had assumed that they must have been caught by the thieves too. The guilty mood felt by Susan and her sister and cousins exactly mirrored that of Linda when Blu had been taken with Jewel during the previous theft. It truly was a sad and baffling morning for Susan and company. However, they were about to met by someone who apparently knew where the missing birds were.
In a street outside Tulio's Aviary, a couple of young people, a boy and a girl, and a calico cat were walking. Jack, Jill and Catina had decided to escape the stresses of the smugglers' den and the constant nagging from the other smugglers and cats. They had got up early, had snaffled some food for breakfast and had left the den at sunrise to avoid running into their comrades. Both Jack and Jill had orangish hair with Jack's being redder than Jill's, and they both had dark tan coloured skin. Jack had blue eyes while Jill had green. The two were twin brother and sister but they were fraternal or dizygotic twins, not identical or monozygotic twins for those pairs often shared the same, often identical, appearance, hence their common name. The brother and sister were orphaned and homeless, and were clearly desperate for a home, so to survive, they had joined a group of smugglers to earn money similar to how another young man Fernando had done. However, it was clear that though Jack and Jill were earning money from the business to survive, they were clearly not happy with the job. Smuggling was wrong and illegal which they knew, but what was adding to their immense guilt was stealing birds from places where they shouldn't be and mistreating them, especially the hyacinth macaws and how they had stuffed them into cages too small for them, and Jack and Jill still had the guilt of breaking into Tulio's Aviary to steal those birds, among them the seven valuable blue macaws, last night biting and snapping at them. However, they had no choice for they had nowhere to go and didn't know where to go. Catina the calico also felt guilt at stealing and mistreating the birds gnaw at her and she was depressed.
As the three continued to walk with Catina tagging along, Jack breathed a sad sigh.
"Boy, I really wish we'd never stolen those birds, sis," he told his sister who nodded in agreement. Then a concerned gaze formed on Jill's face.
"I hope those birds that we stole last night are alright," said she. However, she, Jack and Catina were unaware that all the birds had escaped from the den, having gone to bed before those birds' breakout and they hadn't heard a thing when Marvin and the others were forced to take action, sleep enveloping them too well. With guilt marking their faces and also that of the calico, the trio continued their walk, and how those birds had been handled by their so-called comrades jabbed at them like needles. Those birds had indeed been handled very roughly with some of them getting hurt in the process. When the female glaucous macaw (Lapis Lazuli) had been hurt and chained to the male (Levi), Catina had been mortified and Jack and Jill, saturated with disbelief, and that scene still made all three shudder even now. Furthermore, how the two hyacinth macaws were stuffed into the small cages disturbed the three even more. Not to mention the unconcerned looks on the faces of the smugglers and the other cats who did NOT show ONE BIT of remorse whatsoever.
While these thoughts and feelings of guilt continued to trouble them, Jack gazed at the few feathers he had picked up from the floor last night. Two of the feathers were maya blue, three were a dark navy blue and two were a soft teal-tinted turquoise. The remaining feathers were either blue or cerulean, and they belonged to the seven valuable blue macaws. Jack sighed and continued walking when Jill saw something.
"Hey, Jack, look," she said, pointing to what she had found, "There's a 'MISSING' poster on that lamppost."
Jack followed Jill's point until his eyes landed on a sheet of paper stuck on a light grey pole topped with a glass container holding a bulb. Spotting it; him and Jill ran over to it, followed by Catina. Jack then examined the sheet closer and realised that it had a picture of seven macaws, three of which were three of the valuable seven blue macaws they had stolen last night; two cockatoos, a cat and a greyhound. One of the macaws was dark navy blue with a teal tinted face and chest and orange-yellow eye rings, another had maya blue feathers and a pair of pigtail-like set of head feathers. The third macaw was red with turquoise flight feathers and parts of its tail, and a band of yellow separating the red from the turquoise on its wings. The fourth macaw was aqua blue and yellow with a green forehead, and darker blue wing flight feathers, and black throat mark and a muscular build. The fifth macaw was green and had a red forehead, cerulean blue wing flight feathers and yellow tail underside, and its build was slender and lithe. The sixth macaw was tall, had navy blue feathers, a ponytail in addition to a small tuft of feathers before it on her head, and yellow eye rings and beak lappet. The seventh macaw was teal-tinted turquoise and had a grey head and neck, with yellow facial markings similar to the large dark blue macaw. One of the two cockatoos was white with a yellow crest, while the other was white and pale salmon pink with a brilliant red, pinkish and yellow crest. The cat was a black, orange and ginger striped tabby while the greyhound was light grey. The eleven pets' names were written under each of them.
Jack took the poster off the lamppost and examined the macaws on it closely. He then looked at the maya blue feathers in the set of feathers he had collected and compared it to the macaw named 'Aurora'. Jill and Catina also looked at the eleven animals and within moments, recognition took hold and as it did so, their guilt flared up within them and scorched them, making them wince. Jill then glanced this way and that until she saw Tulio's Aviary down a road flanked by a row of trees on either side.
"I think we should help the owners of these pets, Jack," she said.
"But how?" protested Jack, "We're the ones who stole them. Don't you think we're in enough trouble as it is already?"
Jill looked at him with insistence despite this fact while Jack gazed back with reluctance. Finally, Jack admitted defeat and followed Jill. Catina also ran after the twin boy and girl. As the three approached the group of people almost swamping the building of Tulio's Aviary, Jack, Jill and Catina crossed the 'Do Not Cross' banners with the first two pulling the ribbon over their heads upon entry. Then as soon as the trio was within the closed off area, Jack and Jill began to search for the owners of the eleven pets. When their eyes landed on Susan, Lucy and three identical triplet young men as they talked with Francisco, and seeing a poster held by one of the three men, a poster matching the one Jack held in his hand, they went over to the six. As they approached the six and stood near them, Francisco turned and flinched, startled by the unexpected appearance of the two twins and the calico cat.
"Whoa," he blurted out as he recoiled. His eyes then caught the calico. Seeing her to be a cat, a frown crossed his face.
"Hey, get that cat of yours off the premises, you two," said Francisco sternly, "This is a bird zone and cats aren't allowed."
Susan, Lucy, Blake, Drake and Jake only gazed at the twins in curiosity. Then the boy, Jack, lifted the poster.
"Are these pets yours, ma'am?" he asked Susan. Susan took the poster from his hand and looked at it. She then turned her gaze from this poster to the one held by one of her cousins, Blake.
"They are," said Susan.
"We know where they are," said Jill. Jack nodded in agreement while Catina just gazed at the owners. Lucy, hope welling within her, shot the pair a look filled with it.
"You do?" she said to the girl.
"Yes," said Jill in a low voice, trying to conceal her guilt that she and Jack had stolen the seven macaws owned by Susan and company. Susan and Lucy considered following the twins but Francisco stopped them, his hands on their shoulders.
"I wouldn't if I were you, you two," he said suspiciously, "You don't know who those two are."
"But Francisco," said Susan, "These two believe they know where our pets are."
"We have to go with them," said Lucy. Francisco looked from the two sisters to Jack and Jill. Then Blake, Jake and Drake agreed.
"I think it's best if we trust them, Francisco," said Blake, "If we know where they are, we should find them."
Francisco continued looking at the five with uncertain eyes. Then Tulio and Linda came in.
"What's going on?" Tulio asked the six.
"This boy and this girl know where our pets are," said Drake, "We want to go with them and find them."
Jake then saw the feathers in Jack's hands.
"Are those from-?" he began. Jack then went over to Tulio and gave him the feathers. Tulio took them and looked at them. He then began to place each one in his mouth to taste them. Susan, Lucy and the triplet brothers looked on with surprise while Jill was a little repulsed by Tulio's action with the feathers. Catina was also slightly repulsed but she was curious at this strange act. Then after Tulio had tasted all the feathers, his eyes lit up as recognition took hold.
"These feathers are from the seven valuable macaws that were kidnapped, including the last pair of glaucous macaws," said he.
"What!?" shouted Francisco in disbelief. Linda then came forward.
"Well, whatever these two say is true," she said, "then we'd better follow them and find those birds."
"Definitely," said Francisco, "If D'Artagnan, Aurora and Levi are there, the other two Spix macaws, the other Lear's macaw and the other glaucous macaw will also be there too together with the other missing macaws and hopefully that tabby cat, the two cockatoos and the greyhound."
When Francisco mentioned tabby cat, Catina's eyes flashed with guilt as she remembered attacking Veggie while he was trying to rescue the birds and allowing her owners to cage him along with Dash, Travis and Sunset. Just then an assistant called Tulio, pulling the lead ornithologist's gaze to him.
"Oh, I'm needed," he told Francisco and the others, "An injured bird is in need of my assistance. You'd better be off right now. The sooner we find these invaluable seven macaws especially the two glaucous individuals, the better."
"Okay, we'll get going right away," said Francisco. He then turned to Jack, Jill and Catina after Tulio and Linda left to help the assistant with an injured bird.
"Take us to wherever you know the birds right away!" he commanded. Jack and Jill nodded and ran off with Catina in hot pursuit. Without hesitation, Francisco, Susan, Lucy, Blake, Drake and Jake took off after the three.
"As soon as you find the missing birds," shouted Tulio as Francisco left, "Phone me okay?"
"I will," shouted Francisco just as he exited the range of earshot. Tulio then returned to helping the injured bird, which was a toucanet. As the six ran after Jack, Jill and Catina, Susan began to fret.
"Oh, I hope we're not too late," she cried. Then the eight humans and calico disappeared down the road to Tulio's Aviary to look for Francisco's jeep in the car park.
Meanwhile
A serious outburst was exploding from within the smugglers' den and it was coming from the lead smuggler.
"ESCAPED!?" Frank yelled at Vera, Luke and Marvin who cowered in the heat of his wrath, "What do ya mean they've escaped!?"
The three accomplices just grumbled in reply, the looks on their faces matching their growls and displacing the fear of their boss' anger. Their faces and arms where Athos had unleashed his fury on them last night were covered in plasters and bandages and they had almost used ALL those medical materials from the only first aid kit they had in the building. Around the owners' feet, the cats including Brutus either wore scared or angry faces. Some of the cats still bore a few scratches from last night's activities.
"But it's true, Frank," said Marvin, wincing from the pain of his wounds which were now healed, "All the birds including the three Spix macaws, the two Lear's macaws and the two glaucous macaws have somehow managed to find a way to escape their cages and out of the storeroom."
"Now, Marvin," snapped Vera, "Birds ain't that smart. How could they possibly figure out how to unlock a cage?"
Marvin just shot her a glare while Frank threw his hands into the air and turned around so that his back was to the three accomplices. He then slammed a fist on the table, startling some cats and they flinched, and uttered a foul word under his breath.
"Great," he snarled, "Just (bleep)in' great. Now we've gotta catch those birds all over again including those seven invaluable macaws."
He then glared at Vera, Luke and Marvin and continued, "Do you know what time of year this is?"
"Carnival?" replied Luke.
"Yes," snapped Frank, "And with that annual event on the way, the main roads will be blocked off, which will make driving to the airport IMPOSSIBLE! I'm gonna have to ring the dealer and tell him that there's been a delay and believe me, he's surely not going to be impressed."
His accomplices and cats just looked back at Frank as he seethed. He then cooled down and said, "But that doesn't matter. We're going to just have to catch those birds again, including those seven valuable macaws and the Spix macaw family."
"Will we be doing that?" asked Luke.
"No," said Frank with narrowed eyes, "Our four-legged companions will."
The cats including Brutus all smiled delightfully at this while Vera shot Luke an annoyed glare.
"When are you gonna learn to think before you speak, you bonehead?" she growled. Luke just shot her a sour lour.
"Well, if our cats are going to be the ones to re-gather the birds, how are they going to do it without the aerial help of their cockatoo friend Nigel?" asked Marvin. Frank entered into a thought cloud. After thinking, he exited it and said, "Well, when our team and Marcel's were one, Marcel's cockatoo Nigel used to help our cats search for birds from the sky and direct them to those targets where they would wait until those birds were shot out of the sky by nets or Nigel himself."
"But," he glared at his accomplices, "ever since we split up after dispute over profits and the number of birds we captured, we had to adapt and train our cats to find birds without Nigel's help, or the help of an aerial companion. It was difficult at first but our cats eventually got used to it."
He then called Brutus over. Brutus obediently walked forward and jumped onto the table next to Frank. Frank then gestured to the wickedly smiling grey cat and continued, "Brutus here is a very smart cat, probably as smart as Nigel. He has become capable of searching for birds without the cockatoo's eyes in the sky, and the rest of our cats," he gestured to the other feline pets as he said this, "have also adapted to manage without the aid of an aerial helper. Because of this, there's no reason why they can't hunt down those missing macaws and do it again," a thought about Nigel then entered Frank's head. "By the way, I don't know what has happened to that cockatoo now and his owners have been jailed so..."
"But Frank," protested Luke, "Rio is HUGE! It could take days for our cats to search for so many birds to bring back to us, especially those seven macaws in addition to the Spix macaw family. And with Carnival on the way..."
"That is why I'm going to send our cats out right now," retorted Frank irritably. He then turned to Brutus and began to give him orders.
"I would like you to take your cat group out into the city and split up," he said, "And find as many birds as you can. But I want those two Lear's macaws, three Spix macaws, two glaucous macaws, and that Spix macaw family of five found and caged for they are ultra valuable. Do you understand my orders?"
Brutus, with a wicked smile on his face, nodded to show that he understood and then dropped down from the table. He then went over to his group of cats and began to relay to them Frank's orders. The other cats nodded and within moments, the entire mob of cats left the room to gather some cages which they will use to hold the captured birds. This done, the entire mob exploded out of the den through the window with a large hole in it and scurried into the streets to begin their search for the birds, their sinister screeches erupting into the air and shaking it as they left. After the cats left, Frank began to think of a way to deal with the next important step: getting the airport unnoticed and undetected and before Carnival.
"Now all we need is some sort of transport vehicle for our loot," he said to his accomplices.
"Can't we sneak through Carnival?" asked Luke.
"I'm afraid we cannot Luke," said Frank, "It's too risky. There could be police personnel in every corner of the street."
He then turned around so that his back was to his accomplices.
"We seriously need to think about this, you three," he said, "This is where I need your help."
Vera, Luke and Marvin exchanged glances. This was going to be a tough challenge for the smugglers: getting to the airport unseen once their cats have captured as many birds as they could, including the seven valuable macaws and the Spix macaw family of five, and have brought those birds to them and it was going to take a LOT of brains to figure out this obstacle.
Meanwhile, back in the jungle
Athos and his group were awake. They had been trying to figure out how they were going to get back to Tulio's Aviary or the jungle but they could nowhere for all the birds apart from Sunset, Travis and Zephyr were still grounded. Veggie and Dash were with the group, having left the animal burrow in which they covered with a large rock to prevent any potentially dangerous jungle animal from finding them, and had spent the night. Dash was looking over the injuries of some of the macaws while Veggie was trying to detach the cuff of the chain attached to Levi's leg with one of his claws. Levi was lying on his back while Veggie held his ankle with one paw and fiddled with the cuff with a claw from his other paw, that claw inserted into the metal ring in an attempt to pry it open and release Levi's leg. While he did that, Sunset examined Lapis Lazuli's scratch while Dash examined Phoebe's flight muscles by pressing a paw along his wing and where his flight muscles were.
"Does it hurt?" the greyhound asked the hyacinth macaw.
"The flight muscles in my chest do," said Phoebe. She then twisted her face as Dash gently pressed the area, causing pain to emit from the sprained area. Dash frowned.
"It's definitely a sprain," he said, "We're going to have to get you and the other injured macaws back to Tulio's Aviary for further examination, since I'm not a bird doctor and have VERY limited knowledge on medical treatment."
"But we cannot fly back there, dog," muttered Cobalto nearby, "Far too many of us are grounded."
"And secondly, we'd rather not be back at Tulio's Aviary after what those wretched humans tried to put us through with having chicks," snarled Zephyr as he checked Brisa over. After this, he shot Aurora a stink eye. Aurora just gazed back at him while Dash frowned.
"They were only trying to save your species from going extinct," explained the greyhound, "You Spix macaws are extremely rare and precariously close to the brink of extinction. Levi and Lapis Lazuli's species is even closer to that brink."
"What are you expecting us to do, dog?" muttered Lapis Lazuli, "Breed just in the name of conservation? We're not ready to become parents."
"Absolutely not," said Zephyr in agreement, "Especially after only meeting a few seconds ago."
Sapphire nodded also in agreement. "Last of the species or not, we're not ready to have chicks at all," she added. Sunset continued examining Lapis Lazuli's wing.
"Well at least it's not bleeding and it's not got infected which is good," said the cockatoo, before her face turned serious, "But we really need to get you back to Tulio's Aviary just in case."
"And because you and Levi are the last glaucous macaws alive," put in Veggie as he continued fiddling with the cuff on Levi's ankle, "Ornithologists have searched and searched for more birds like you two but have found none."
"There was a tribe of glaucous macaws in the Amazon," said Lapis Lazuli, "But we were violently attacked by a huge swarm of flying furred non-bird creatures around four years after the fire. I was separated from them and was forced to flee for my life. Since that attack, I doubt that my tribe is still alive."
"What do you mean by flying furred non-bird creatures?" asked Veggie. Then he realised what sort of winged animal Lapis Lazuli was describing. There was only one other type of flying creature that did not have feathers but could still fly.
"Bats," he said, "Your tribe was attacked by bats?"
"Yes," said Lapis Lazuli, "Very large bats. They had faces like wolves and massive wingspans, and were dangerously armed."
She then glanced from Phoebe to Aurora nearby. "Their heights were sort of half way between that female hyacinth macaw's height and Aurora's height with a wingspan probably that hyacinth macaw's width."
"Good grief," said Sunset in shock.
"There are massive bats out there," said Veggie, "The flying fox in Australia is one such example. Sometimes the wingspan of a flying fox can reach a metre and a half."
"That's what those bats that attacked by tribe were," said Lapis Lazuli, "Flying foxes."
"Flying foxes in Brazil?" asked Veggie confused. Lapis Lazuli then began to shudder.
"I'd rather not talk about it," said the female glaucous macaw in slightly quaking voice, "It's just too frightening. Every time I think about those creeps, I end up with nightmares."
Veggie gazed at the female glaucous macaw sympathetically before refocusing on the cuff around Levi's ankle with his claw.
"How are you doing with it?" asked Levi as Veggie began to try and undo the cuff.
"I think... I'm just about... getting there," hissed the tabby cat through his teeth as he gritted them in effort, tugging at the mechanism locking the cuff around Levi's ankle. Lapis Lazuli and Sunset watched as Veggie then began to pull at his claw harder and harder until Veggie's paw flew upward after a snap, catching Levi's flank in the process, much to the cat's alarm such that he drew in a sharp gasp. Lapis Lazuli and Sunset flinched with surprise.
"Yeouch," cried Levi with a jolt from the pain of the accidental scratch from which a bead of blood emerged. However, the cuff still remained around his ankle. Then Veggie felt guilt well within him at the accidental scratch he had inflicted on Levi.
"Oh, I'm deeply sorry, Levi," he said.
"That worked, cat (!)," said Lapis Lazuli sarcastically. Veggie then turned to Sunset. "Can you get a clean leaf please?"
Sunset nodded and took off to look for one while Veggie examined the cuff, frustrated that it was still locked around Levi's ankle.
"Well, I guess the idea of using my claw is out of the question," he hissed angrily and with disappointment, "I can't risk injuring you again."
Sunset then returned with a leaf and handed it to Veggie. After receiving the leaf from the Major Mitchell's cockatoo, the cat applied it to Levi's scratch. Athos then came over.
"Any luck in undoing that chain, Veggie?" he asked. Veggie, who had a leaf on Levi's small scratch, shook his head with a sombre look on his face.
"It's just wedged on," he said, his gaze on the ring on Levi's leg, "I cannot unlock it at all."
Levi sighed in despair as Veggie said this.
"What are we going to do?" he groaned.
"I don't know," said Athos as he scowled at the chain as well, "We're going to have to get our human friends to undo this."
Levi and Lapis Lazuli just sighed disappointed.
"How are the other macaws doing?" asked Sunset.
"Well, D'Artagnan, Aurora, Porthos and Aramis are fine," said Athos, "So is Phoebe but her wing is still quite badly sprained. Zephyr, Brisa, Sapphire, Ruby, Esmeralda, Orquidea and Cobalto are doing fine as well but Zephyr and Brisa are very grumpy."
"I'm not surprised," said Levi, "What those smugglers have put us through was disgusting."
He then looked down at his chained leg and said, "But we glaucous macaws I believe suffered the worst. Not to mention your tattered wing."
Athos sighed and gazed at his tattered left wing, some of the flight feathers missing as a result of Brutus's brutal attack on him.
"It's going to take weeks for those to grow back," he muttered before retracting it, "Until then I'm grounded. We birds need our primaries to fly properly. Without them, we cannot fly at all."
"It must have been extremely painful to have those torn out," said Veggie.
"It was," said Athos, "It honestly felt like someone was driving a number of needles fiercely into my wing."
He then looked at the scratch down his flank, also inflicted on him by Brutus, and continued. "Well, at least that has healed up."
"Definitely," said Veggie. Then Athos sighed. "I'm going to go for a walk and perhaps see if I can find any bird that lives around here who could help us," he said, "I'll be right back."
And with that, he walked away. As Athos walked past the other animals, he turned and saw Dash break up another bitter argument between Sapphire and Esmeralda, their rivalry having flared up again.
"Will you two just STOP QUARRELLING," snarled Dash to the bickering Lear's and great green macaw, "Arguing like this isn't going to solve things."
"Look, I just can't believe that that Lear's snob had ended up in the same place as me, dog," snarled Esmeralda, her acidic glare on Sapphire.
"Who are you calling a snob, fern-head!?" retorted Sapphire and with that she attempted to lunge at Esmeralda but Dash jumped in her path and blocked her much to the Lear's macaw's outrage. Then Dash placed a paw on Sapphire's beak and the other paw on Esmeralda's beak and began to keep the two enemies apart as they tried to lunge at each other, screeches of insults against each other and protests exploding from their beaks. Athos rolled his eyes and continued on.
"When are those two gonna stop quarrelling?" he hissed under his breath, "It's honestly driving the rest of us around the trees."
He then continued his walk.
As Athos was just a few metres away from the others, he began to look around. He was amazed by the trees, and they seemed to ignite some familiarity within him but he ignored them and those feelings. His main focus was to seek help from any bird that lived around here. However, he need not stray too far when he thought he heard singing in the distance. Athos stopped dead and cocked an ear to listen. At first, he thought he was hearing things but then he realised that the singing was very real. Furthermore, there was not just one voice, but several, and those singing voices were getting louder as the source got nearer. When they became loud enough, Athos was able to pick out meaningful words.
"What is love, if is not with you... I know when you're alone you feel it too?"
"In your wings is where I... um... I... don't know what the next lyric is, Rafael."
"Oh, you almost had it, Blu. It's 'in your wings is where I long to be'."
"Sorry, I just forgot. It's hard learning a song sometimes.
"Oh, Blu, you're good at memorising scientific facts but you can't remember lyrics of a song?"
Then the voices laughed. Athos raised an eyebrow intrigued. Then the voices grew louder until finally, three forms appeared around one of the trees. One was a black male bird with a white front and large orange beak with a black tip. He had brown eyes and a cluster of feathers at the back of his head. The other two appeared to be macaws. One of the macaws, which was a male, had a stocky build with blue feathers, like those of Zephyr's. He had a blue-white patch around each eye bordered by a dark ring. His neck had a large tuft of bushy feathers and there were three more feathers at the back of his head. His eyes were a shade of brown like the first bird's, the toucan's. The other macaw, a female, had a slender build and smoother feathers which were a light shade of blue, like Aurora but slightly brighter. Her face mask was almost white and completely enclosed her beak and eyes. Her eyes were a shade of turquoise or teal and her crest was a bushy ruffle with a flick to them. Both the macaws' beaks and feet were dark grey like Aurora, Zephyr and Brisa's. Athos's eyes widened as he gazed at the two blue macaws, recognition of them clearly taking hold. They looked just like Aurora, Zephyr and Brisa but they also resembled the pair of macaws he had seen in a picture of an article back in London.
'Those two must be the same Spix macaws we saw in that article before we came here from England,' he thought, 'Aurora is going to be shocked to see this.' The trio of birds, which were a toco toucan and two blue macaws, then descended toward the ground near where Athos was, unaware of his presence at first.
"Carla, Bia and Tiago certainly are becoming fast friends with your eighteen offspring, Rafael," said the female macaw, "I'm so glad that our three chicks are socialising even though we're the last known five Spix macaws alive."
"I'm so glad as well, Jewel," said the toucan, whom Athos presumed was called Rafael, "Me and my dear Eva's eighteen offspring are good company for your three little chicks, I can tell you. Eva's just taken them for a little sightseeing of our home..."
'Eighteen offspring?' thought Athos with his eyes wide when he heard this, 'What a lot of babies.'
"Well, when our three chicks become old enough," said the male macaw, who Athos assumed was named Blu and the female, Jewel, "I want to take them to a New Year's Celebration some time. However they're too young at the moment and Carla is so persistent in going to a party..."
"We'll let your three chicks go to a party when they become old enough, Blu," said the toucan with a smile. The two blue macaws also smiled. Athos then found the confidence to talk.
"Excuse me, you three," he said. Taken by surprise by the voice of an unfamiliar macaw, the two blue macaws and toucan looked up and almost jumped into the air upon seeing a large red macaw gazing at them.
"Whoa, where did you spring up from, buddy?" asked the toucan named Rafael in shock while the two Spix macaws remained silent; their beaks and eyes wide open at Athos's sudden and unexpected appearance.
"Sorry," said Athos, "I didn't mean to startle you. I heard you three talking in the distance."
He then looked from the toucan to the two blue macaws.
"And I assume you're Blu and Jewel, aren't you?" he asked with intrigue. The two blue macaws, astonishment taking hold, exchanged glances.
"Why yes we are," said the female macaw.
"How did you know our names?" asked the male macaw.
"We heard about you and also saw your picture in an article with your three chicks," said Athos, "You're... Spix macaws, aren't you?"
"Why yes," said the male macaw named Blu, "We're apparently the last pair of Spix macaws alive with three chicks."
Athos smiled. "Well, you need not worry that you two are the last Spix macaws alive anymore. There are three more Spix macaw with us."
When Blu and the female macaw named Jewel heard this, they exchanged glances again while Rafael's eyes widened in shock.
"Really?" asked the toucan in disbelief.
"Yes," said Athos, "One of them is a male named Zephyr and the other two are females named Brisa and Aurora."
When Jewel heard Athos mention Zephyr and Brisa, her eyes widened in shock.
"Zephyr and Brisa!?" she gasped, "A-a-a-are they alive?"
"Why the shocked reaction?" asked Athos, "Is it because you're no longer the last Spix macaws alive?"
"No," said Jewel, "Zephyr and Brisa were two of my childhood friends. I thought they died in that fire that tore through the jungle when we were young and escaping those pesky loggers. Do you know where they are?"
"Yes, they're right with us," said Athos.
"'Us'?" asked Blu, "What do you mean by 'us'? You're not alone?"
"Of course not," said Athos. Then he realised that he had not introduced himself.
"Oh, my apologies," he said, "I suppose introductions are a must based on courtesy. My name's Athos. I'm a scarlet macaw."
"Athos?" said Blu, "That's the name of one of the Musketeers from that French novel."
"It is," said Athos, "And I'm named after one of those characters. There are three more macaws that are also named after three more character from the novel. There's one called Porthos, and he is a blue-and-gold macaw. Another is called Aramis, and he is a great green macaw and we also have a macaw named D'Artagnan. He's a Lear's macaw..."
"Lear's macaw?" repeated Blu, "I've never seen one before. They're ultra rare birds, those macaws even though they may be more common than us Spix macaws..."
"Are those macaws the only birds with you?" asked Rafael. Athos shook his head.
"No," he said, "there are a few more animals with us. Another macaw is called Aurora, and she's a Spix macaw like Zephyr and Brisa, a hyacinth macaw called Phoebe and," he hardened his gaze into a serious one, "you're not going to believe this but there is a glaucous macaw called Levi."
"Glaucous macaw?" repeated Blu in surprise, "Those macaws are extinct, aren't they?"
"Oh, no," said Athos with a headshake, "In fact there are two glaucous macaws with us. The team of ornithologists have found a female and we've only recently found out that Levi is a glaucous macaw. Both of those birds are with us."
"Strange really," said Blu, "I always thought that the glaucous macaw is completely extinct."
"There used to be a tribe of glaucous macaws living in the Amazon, we've been told," said Jewel, "But I don't think I've ever met them."
She then saw Athos's battered state. When she took in his tattered wing and half-healed injuries, a frown formed on the female Spix macaw's face.
"What has happened to you?" she asked, "Especially to your flank, eye and left wing?"
Athos, in response to the question, opened his left wing to gaze at it once again, and then turned his gaze to the scratch on his belly. His eye was still bruised but it was less black than before. However, he felt reluctant to tell the trio about the second group of smugglers, but he had to.
"Me and my group have just escaped from a group of smugglers last night," he said, "However, a lot of us have either been injured or have had our wing feathers damaged. I'm one of those victims and one of their cats has clawed me before subsequently tearing feathers out of my left wing."
When Athos mentioned smugglers, Blu, Jewel and Rafael's eyes widened and beaks opened as the three reacted in utter shock and horror.
"S-smugglers!?" shouted Blu incredulously.
"B-but they've been imprisoned!" shouted Jewel.
"How can there be group of smugglers when they've been caught?" asked Rafael.
"Well, this must be another group of smugglers as we've been told that the first lot had a cockatoo that used to assist them," explained Athos, "However, these ones are assisted by cats."
Disbelief flared within the toucan and the Spix macaw couple and they exchanged glances.
"Cats?" asked Blu.
"Oh, quite often tacky creatures, cats," snarled Jewel with disgust. She then turned to Athos. "Have... any of the others in your group been injured by those animals?"
"Yes," said Athos, "Some of the macaws have sprained wings, especially the hyacinth macaws. The female glaucous macaw has a scratch on her wing and she's chained to Levi, the male glaucous macaw..."
"Chained?" repeated Rafael. Blu and Jewel then looked at each other in horror. That statement was eerily similar, identical in fact, to what they had been through at the hands of the smugglers.
"Why, when we were kidnapped by the first group of smugglers before we became mates and had Carla, Bia and Tiago," said Jewel, "Blu and I had been chained together as well."
"Were you?" asked Athos.
"We were," said Blu, "I didn't fly back then and believe me, it was a struggle to get around."
"And for me to fly," added Jewel with a slight growl.
"Well, Levi and Lapis Lazuli, which is the name of the female glaucous macaw, are suffering the same restrictions with the chain," said Athos, "Lapis is injured and cannot fly at all. Because of that Levi is also grounded. We're in trouble here and are desperate to get back to our owners and Tulio's Aviary so that those of us that had been injured can receive treatment. Do any of you three know how to help?"
"Well, first, we would like to meet your group, Athos," said Rafael, "And then we'll see what we can do."
This was the first piece of good news Athos had heard since him and his group's capture by the smugglers last night, and upon hearing this, the scarlet macaw was flooded with joy at having finally found help.
"Oh, thank you," he shouted, "Come on, let's meet the others."
And with that, he walked off. Blu, Jewel and Rafael followed.
"I hope our three chicks hadn't gone too far with Eva and their friends, Blu," said Jewel in a low voice.
"Don't worry, my precious Jewel," said Blu with an assured smile, "They're in good company."
Jewel didn't look assured however. Then the pair of Spix macaws and Rafael followed Athos in the direction of the latter's group.