Chapter 36- interceptions, panics and explanation

Meanwhile

Sebastian, Orion, Velocity, Milo and Diantha continued following Ratigan's group of infiltrators as they flew through the blue-and-gold tribe's territory. They still wore their camouflage outfits and were keeping a safe distance from the group of weapon-armed flying foxes. Ratigan and his group continued flying on until another group of flying foxes turned up through the trees to meet them. Ratigan and his group, as well as their five still-hidden spies, slowed to a hover as the group of flying foxes met them. The second group of flying foxes wore baffled and frustrated looks on their faces.

"There's no SIGN of any of those blue and yellow feathered worms," snarled the one at the front, a female. "All the trees in their grove are empty."

Ratigan and his group exchanged confused glances before Ratigan gazed back at the leader of the second group. Sebastian, Orion, Velocity, Milo and Diantha continued listening from some leaves.

"Can't you find any of those other tribe members at all?" asked Ratigan. Then one of the male bats from the second group came forward.

"No, Ratigan," said he, "We've looked in every single tree and cave and there's absolutely no sign of any chicks, old birds or even eggs."

"Every single one of them has disappeared," said another bat. As he said this, another group of infiltrator bats turned up. They had been in the red tribe's territory and home grove.

"The entire red tribe's missing as well," said one of the bats in that group. As he said this, one of his comrades came forward with a flight feather in her foot claws. Alarm flashed within Orion, Velocity, Milo and Diantha when they saw that it was coloured navy blue like a hyacinth macaw's feather but the length of it was too short for it to be from a hyacinth.

"However, we did find evidence that some Lear's macaws have been roaming in the red tribe's territory," said the bat as she handed the feather to Ratigan who took it and examined it.

"We have found dozens of their feathers dotting the red tribe's home grove along with countless red macaw feathers," said another bat. The other bats looked on confused.

"Are you meaning to say that the Lear's macaw tribe might have left their ravine to seek refuge with the scarlet and green-winged macaws?" asked Ratigan. None of the bats replied for they were as equally as baffled as he was.

"It seemed that the Lear's macaw tribe had somehow become aware that they were next on our list of macaw tribes and clans to drive out," muttered one of the bats in the second group. "How they managed to find that out is anyone's guess."

Ratigan gazed at the infiltrator groups including his own. In their hiding place, Sebastian, Orion, Velocity, Milo and Diantha prepared for action as Sebastian's reddish eyes had spotted some vines nearby.

"Well, despite the fact that those feathered worms' home areas are empty," said Ratigan, a determined look on his face, "Cicatriz did command us to search the entire sanctuary for any birds taking refuge from us while the colony dealt with the feathered fighters, so let's do it for I believe that they are still on the sanctuary somewhere."

The other bats all shouted in agreement and waved their weapons in the air but before the lot could resume their search for the birds in hiding, a squawk rang out, making them all jump. Then a brown comet with green spots of leaves on its head, shoulders and talons rocketed in.

"And I believe the Sanctuary de Amazon has absolutely NO place for barbaric bats like YOU!" it shouted in a female voice. Ratigan and the other bats turned round just in time to spot a small brown bird of prey, her large eyes blazing golden fire of wrath and her talons stretched out before her, charge in towards them. Then without hesitation, Velocity, still in her mud and vegetation disguise, ploughed through the group of flying foxes and slashed her sickle-like claws over the faces and bodies of some of them. Screeches of surprise and agony exploded from the flying fox group and Ratigan had ducked just in time before one of Velocity's talons could slash over his head, while those that were struck were knocked out of the group. Velocity then rocketed off into some trees to turn round for another strike. Some of the bats then grouped together and raised their weapons as the peregrine falcon prepared for a second strike but before Ratigan could give the command for the group to attack, Orion, Diantha and Milo had struck. The second peregrine falcon, the cockatoo and the toucan, all covered with camouflage suits of mud and vegetation, came surging from a nearby tree, a piece of vine in their talons then a second later, Sebastian made his appearance and joined in the fray. Then seconds later, flying fox screeches erupted into the air above Ratigan's group as Velocity, Orion, Milo, Diantha and Sebastian began to wreak havoc on them.

The three vine tendrils held by Diantha, Orion and Milo flew forward towards some flying foxes as their owners flung their talons and their ends clutched in them and like whips, the other ends of the tendrils struck the flying foxes in the faces, back, wings or fronts. One of Orion's carefully aimed whacks of his vine tendril struck the feet of Ratigan, sending shooting pain through his feet and making him drop his sharp-stick while the other flying foxes tried deflecting the whips with their weapons. Ratigan clasped his feet with a wing when suddenly; an adolescent flying fox dressed in mud and vegetation leaped onto his back and began to attack him. Ratigan bolted and struggled as Sebastian began to viciously tear hair from his head and back while Velocity caused havoc for more flying foxes. Then after a few more minutes of fighting, Sebastian, Velocity, Orion, Milo and Diantha stopped their assault and began to retreat.

"AFTER THEM!" barked Ratigan and with that, the sounds of flapping membranous wings filled the air as the group of flying foxes gave chase. Sebastian and his four feathered friends then began to fly for their lives as they were pursued by a group of weapon-armed flying foxes. Orion and Velocity flew above the treetops for they were not built for flying through a cluttered environment while Sebastian, Diantha and Milo continued flying through the canopy, Ratigan's group in hot pursuit. Soon, the young flying fox, the cockatoo and the toucan were weaving in and out of various branches and other obstacles while the two peregrine falcon siblings flew on straight ahead, both with flying foxes hot on their tails. Ratigan's eyes blazed with wrath as they remained fixed on Sebastian, Milo and Diantha.

"When I get hold of you three," he bellowed, flying downward to avoid hitting an outstretched branch, "I'm gonna…"

And with that, he began to spit all kinds of vitriolic and gruesome threats, much to the utter flabbergast of Milo, Diantha and Sebastian. Above, the flying foxes pursuing Orion and Velocity also shouted the same threats.

"Those flying foxes are gonna need bars of soaps in their mouths to wash 'em out if they keep pouring out that dirty stuff," shouted Milo.

"What's 'soap'!?" asked Sebastian who did not know the meaning of the human term.

"It's the stuff humans use to wash themselves with," replied Diantha.

"LOOK OUT!" barked Milo to Diantha. The toucan saw an outstretched branch head her way. Gasping in alarm, she flew upward, narrowly avoiding a horrible collision with the branch. Seconds later, the group of flying foxes led by Ratigan flew up or down to avoid that same branch and continued their chase. As the trio flew on, Diantha flashed a glance at Orion and Velocity as they continued flying through the obstacle-free air above the trees with their pursuers giving chase.

"Good job they're not flying with us," she said, "Otherwise they'd keep crashing into things."

"Peregrine falcons weren't made to fly through a cluttered environment," said Milo, flapping to the side to dodge another branch, "They prefer open spaces."

Suddenly, Sebastian's voice rang out, "They're closing in!"

Indeed the trio's pursuers were. The gap between Ratigan's group and Sebastian's group was beginning to close and Ratigan, his murderous eyes fixed on the three ahead of his group.

"We've got you now, you three feathered worms!" he bellowed.

"Ratigan," shouted one of the female bats when she noticed something odd about one of the three 'birds' in front of the group, "One of the birds appears to be one of us."

Ratigan flashed her a shocked and thunderstruck glanced.

"WHAT!?" he bellowed. Then another bat made out the body shape of Sebastian, especially his wings.

"It's true," he shouted, "It's one of those wretched traitors."

"Is it Augustus?" asked Ratigan. Sebastian flashed an enraged glance at the pursuers when he heard this.

"I'm his son Sebastian actually, you BIRD-SLAYIN' MONSTERS!" he retorted. This sent shock and then rage tear through Ratigan and his group.

"Well, when I GET HOLD OF YOU, YOU LITTLE BRAT," bellowed Ratigan at the top of his voice, "I'M GONNA FEED YA ALIVE TO A POOL OF PIRANHAS!"

This threat was enough to make fear flare within Sebastian and he continued flying on with Diantha and Milo, Ratigan's group gaining on them all the time. Above, Velocity and Orion were struggling to keep ahead of their chasers as well, and the chasers were ready to attack and kill the two falcons as soon as they caught up with them. As Ratigan's group was only within a metre away from Sebastian, Milo and Diantha's tails and feet, Diantha shouted, "It's no good! We need some sort of obstacle to slow them down!"

As she said this, Sebastian began to scan the passing canopy hoping to find some sort of natural obstacle to do just that until his eyes landed on a massive web of vines melting into view to the left of the group. Seeing them, he called to Milo and Diantha, "Are you two ready?"

The cockatoo and the toucan shot their flying fox friend a confused look.

"Ready for what?" asked Diantha. Suddenly, Sebastian darted off. Alarmed, the two birds shot off after them, Ratigan and his group swerving after them. Sebastian, Milo and Diantha rocketed towards the enormous webs of crisscrossing vines with Ratigan and his group in hot pursuit. This was the trio's only hope of hindering Ratigan and his group for them to get away.

Then as soon as the three were near the beginning of the vine web that stretched for a few metres, Sebastian led Milo and Diantha right through the gaps between the green vines. Because of their smaller size, they were able to slip through easily. However, Ratigan and his group, whose average height was twice that of Milo and Diantha's, were too big to pass through the small gaps in the vine web and before they even knew it, their membranous wings and bodies ended up caught in the green net! Screeches and curses of rage and shock tore through the group as the green tendrils ensnared their wings and bodies. Ratigan was almost choked as one of the vines pressed against his neck but he soon realised that he and his group were brought to a standstill. Then Sebastian, Milo and Diantha came round and began to throw out more vines to entangle the flying foxes further despite being bombarded by derogatory words by their chasers.

"YOU FEATHERED WORMS AREN'T GONNA GET AWAY WITH THIS!" bellowed Ratigan. Suddenly, a small flying fox leaped at him and spat his retorts into his face.

"These birds are NOT worms," barked Sebastian as he wrapped another vine around Ratigan's body and bound wings, "Worms are creepy-crawlies that live in the dirt and BIRDS DON'T LIVE IN THE DIRT LIKE THEY DO!"

And with that, he pulled the vine tight so that Ratigan could not escape, before flying away with Milo and Diantha who tittered mischievously at them.

"That's what you get for messing with birds, you brutes!" shouted Milo. Diantha then blew a raspberry at Ratigan's group as they began to protest. Above, Orion and Velocity had managed to shake off their chasers by diving through a narrow hole in a web of branches, sending their chasers crashing through them and injuring themselves. After this and their hi-fiving of each other, Orion and Velocity joined Sebastian, Milo and Diantha as they rocketed off in the direction of the Spix tribe's ravine and the evacuating chicks, leaving Ratigan and his group to struggle in the massive web of vines as some mischievous monkeys then gathered round. Ratigan let loose a frustrated and enraged howl.

Meanwhile

Back with the group of chicks, adolescents and parents with young chicks and eggs, the evacuees from the Navyfeather Clan, blue-throated macaw clan, glaucous macaw tribe and the archaeobird clan as well as the chicks and parents of young chicks and eggs from the smaller groups of birds continued their journey to the Spix tribe's ravine under the guide of their escorts, most of Andromeda's clan and some of the young adult macaws, among them Zebedee, Tristan, Fernanda and their siblings, and Eric. On the way, they had been joined by the chicks, adolescents, young adult macaws and parents with under flight aged chicks and un-hatched eggs from the red, the green, the Lear's and the blue-and-gold tribes and the other smaller groups of birds. Among the red macaws were Alexandre, Spinel, Poinsettia, Sheldon and Estelle and their younger siblings and friends; among the blue-and-gold macaws Azul, Wilbur, Brooke and Bastian were present as were Chlorophyll, Petunia and Ashley with the green macaws, and Miranda, Jasmine, Annette and Finn from the Lear's macaws, as well as Caspian and Citrine the golden conures, Kiawe and Mariposa of the blue-headed macaws, and Alessandro and Rhiannon of the chestnut-fronted macaws with their group members. These macaws helped to look after their younger siblings and keep an eye on the younger chicks to ensure that they did not wander off. The whole lot were now in the Spix tribe's territory and were converging towards the ravine. However, they were not out of the woods of danger yet for there were still some flying foxes flying around searching for any bird in hiding to slaughter. Because of this, immense nervousness hung over the flock of evacuees and their escorts like a cloud and wary eyes were constantly scanning the environment for any flash of forms with membranous wings. Augustus and Melissa, together with Stella, Luna, Eustace, Rosa, Clemont and Serena, were especially wary. Sebastian, Orion, Velocity, Milo and Diantha were still missing and the escorts had several hundred lives, some of which were un-hatched, riding on their backs. They knew they couldn't face up to a group of savage flying foxes should they be found.

At the entrance of the Spix tribe's ravine, Tiago, Virgil, Músculo, Finnick and Felix were keeping watch for the chicks from the other tribes, clans and small groups. In the ravine's waterfall cave, the elderly from said bird flocks were being sought to by the other Spix macaws under the leadership of Carla, Justin and some of their friends including Tyler, Annie and Ricardo, while Tiago and the other four kept a constant watch on the outside trees for any flash of colour, indicating the signs of the second group of evacuees.

"They should be here any second now," said Virgil, his eyes scanning the trees.

"I hope they haven't been found by any of the flying foxes," said Músculo worriedly. He flinched as flashes of horrible imagery blinked in his mind, imagery of chicks and elderly slaughtered in their own homes by furry, membranous winged brutes and eggs smashed. He could not stand the thought of the other tribes and clans being in scenes like these. Furthermore, chicks, especially archaeobird chicks, were incredibly vulnerable and defenceless and although they had escorts with them, the sly tactics of the flying foxes, should a group of them find them, would be too much for even Eragon and Andromeda's clan's smartness to overcome and deal with, and the flying foxes were definitely a sneaky foe not to be underestimated as Augustus had warned the birds. Finnick and Felix sighed,

"I wonder how our parents are doing in the battlefield," said Finnick, flashes of his father Roberto and mother Brisa appearing in his mind.

"I hope they're alright," said Felix.

"Look, let's just keep watch for the young evacuees," said Tiago firmly. The two brothers snapped out of their sad trances and resumed their duty.

Not too far away

The large flock of chicks, adolescents, young adults and parents with chicks and eggs of a wide variety of species of bird living on the Sanctuary de Amazon continued moving through the forest. Augustus and Melissa flew at the front with Stella and Luna, Clemont, Serena, Eustace and Rosa, and Andromeda on her bat-bird mount Rouge flying alongside them. Close behind, Ophiuchus, Eragon, Honeydew, Anakin and Spock flew on their bat-bird mounts, guiding a group of toucans and parakeets with young chicks and eggs in their bags along with a few macaws.

"The Spix tribe's ravine should be coming into view by now," said one of the hyacinth macaws who flew alongside Andromeda and Rouge, her bat-bird. Somewhere in the crowd, Zebedee and Indigo carried Violet, Bellerophon and Pandora while Spyro flew close to them on his bat-bird mount Garnet, Hedor, the son of Fedor and Rafflesia the hoatzins, behind him. Tristan, Quincy, Larimar, Trixie, Neytiri, Aiden and Penelope, Victor, Casper and Gloria flew alongside some green, red and blue-and-gold macaw friends, Casper flying with Azul and Wilbur who carried their sisters Desdemona and Amalthea, and also, Benjamin and several others. Nearby, Fernanda and Eric, who carried Peitro and Wanda, flew with Buddy who carried Matheus in his talons. Petiro and Wanda had their terrified eyes flashing this way and that at the trees, afraid that a group of furry monsters with wings might jump out at them. Since the flying foxes' siege on their clan's home and the Bluewings that night, the baby brother and sister had been severely traumatised.

Near the blue-throated macaws, Miranda, Jasmine, Annette, Finn, Sheldon, Estelle, Alexandre, Spinel and Poinsettia flew. Poinsettia carried Oliver on her back while Alexandre carried Cinnabar. Bastian and Brooke flew with Chlorophyll and Petunia who had Edmund on her back, and also Ashley who kept close to her great green boyfriend. The young chicks were clearly terrified and they desperately clung to their older siblings and relatives for fear of separation. Next to Zebedee and his sisters, Citrine, Caspian, Kiawe, Mariposa, Alessandro and Rhiannon and their friends were helping to carry their siblings' eggs and chicks. Kiawe had an older sister named Amara who was a mother to two very young chicks that had hatched yesterday; both sons. He was helping his sister and brother-in-law to carry their featherless sons in a specially designed nest-like bag filled with moss to keep the chicks warm. Mariposa flashed a worried look at Kiawe's nephews.

"It's a good thing we didn't consent to having chicks of our own right now, isn't it?" she said. Kiawe breathed a sigh.

"Too right, my sweetheart," he replied in agreement, "Especially with the threat of those membrane-winged furballs hanging over us like a giant predatory eagle."

"Those bats show no qualms about attacking and killing chicks and young birds, and smashing un-hatched eggs, I can tell you," said Alessandro.

"Those furballs are brutes," growled Rhiannon bitterly, "We've lost quite a few birds to them already."

She shuddered as she remembered the incident involving a friend of hers and Alessandro's, a male chestnut-fronted macaw named Jorge who ended up attacked by some intruding flying foxes at the strawberry guava grove. He had eavesdropped on them and they turned and attacked him, clawing him across the face and breaking his wing. He had sadly died two days later.

"Are we nearly at the ravine yet?" called Caspian to the leaders at the front. His nerves were beginning to shudder all the more and he was losing patience. Andromeda, Augustus and Melissa looked through the clutter of vegetation when Anakin called out, "There it is."

The other leaders followed his gaze and saw a faint sandy brown wall through the vegetation. It was clearly one of the walls of the Spix tribe's ravine's outskirts.

"There, ahead of us through the foliage," called Andromeda to Augustus. "Can you see it?"

"Yes," said Augustus, "I see it now."

Melissa, Stella, Luna, Eustace, Rosa, Clemont and Serena all smiled while breaths of relief coursed through the crowd. They were almost at their destination. However, that relief was immediately shattered when one of the archaeobirds spotted something emerge out of the shadows of the trees, heading straight towards the flock. The two dreaded words exploding from his beak immediately sent everything into chaos.

"FLYING FOX ALERT!" he bellowed, "HIDE!"

Alarmed greatly, all eyes turned and saw black shadowy figures with red marks on their faces, as well as sticks held in their feet, appear from under a thick clutter of canopy. Their membranous wings swept out to the sides, propelling their owners towards the chicks and in the eyes of those creatures were pure murderous desires, bloodlust and malice. Terror exploded through the crowd as chicks let loose ear-piercing screams. Chicks able to fly then began to scatter in their panic.

"DON'T LET THOSE CHICKS SCATTER!" barked Augustus. The escorts and older birds sprang into action and began to shoot around to stop the younger chicks from scattering too far. If the scattering was not restrained any further, the chicks could get lost with disastrous results. Zebedee immediately seized Violet to prevent her from flying off in the wrong direction while Clemont, Serena, Eustace and Rosa seized some young toucan chicks as they tried flying in the opposite direction to the Spix tribe's ravine. Archaeobirds on their bat-bird mounts flew like sheepdogs to the front of more young macaw chicks and stopped them in their tracks. Eric and Fernanda also seized Peitro and Wanda and fled into a large cluster of leaves in the trees. Soon, the other birds were doing the same. With the chicks and the precious under-flight aged chicks and eggs tightly in their clutches, the flock surged into the nearby trees' leaves and hollows, filling the air with multi-coloured comets as the group of war-paint donning flying foxes continued to approach them.

"I'll fetch help," barked Andromeda and with that, she commanded Rouge and her mount rocketed off in the direction of the ravine. Alexandre, Spinel and Poinsettia with their brothers Cinnabar and Oliver in their clutches, together with Sheldon and Estelle, and their other friends including Benjamin and Regina, two of Felipe and Pearl's offspring, and Bastian, Brooke, Azul, Wilbur (who had Amalthea and Desdemona in their clutches), Petunia, Chlorophyll (who had Edmund) and Ashley darted into the trees' leaves with other scarlet, green-winged, blue-and-gold and hyacinth macaws including Vincente and Arlo, Violeta and Demetrio's sons who had come with the group. Seconds later, the group of flying foxes arrived just as the final few dived for cover.

Meanwhile

The screeches of various macaw species and flying foxes continued to shake the air, accompanied by the clashing of weapons made mostly from wood as the macaws and the flying foxes continued their immense battle. As Aurora swiped more bats with her stick, she suddenly stiffened when she came face to face with a familiar furry face. That face also froze as she recognised the pigtailed Spix macaw.

"I remember you… shortly after the most recent fire…" said the flying mammal in a slow voice, her eyes inflated as they locked with the pigtailed Spix macaw. Aurora suddenly had images flash in her mind of the chase that night. This female bat had been part of Voldemort's group that had chased Aurora through the singed forest right after the fire after she had got lost. Then Aurora's face morphed from a look of shock to one of bitter scowl. Clashing her stick against the sharp-stick of the bat, named Cruella, Aurora scowled right into her face.

"If you THINK it's a joke to scorn us birds after the fiery disaster a few years ago, you furry hag," she snarled, her maya blue feathers puffed out, "THINK AGAIN!"

Then with a powerful surge of strength, Aurora forced Cruella backwards, making her lose balance briefly. Then Aurora, with an enraged screech, surged towards Cruella and began to try and beat her with her stick but Cruella blocked it with her sharp-stick.

"I would have made one of your feathers as part of my collection that night, you feathered scum!" snarled Cruella. Aurora hissed through a gritted beak as she forced her stick against Cruella's sharp-stick.

"Well I would have TAKEN THAT STICK AND DESTROYED IT, ALONG WITH YOUR INSULTING COLLECTION OF TROPHIES!" retorted the pigtailed Spix macaw and with that, she heaved against her stick and pushed Cruella backwards. Cruella then spun her sharp-stick, aimed it for Aurora's abdomen and attempted to ram it through the macaw but Aurora dodged and clashed her stick with the bat's.

While Aurora continued fighting Cruella, Jewel mercilessly slashed her claws across a number of bats' faces, spitting venomous comments and names at the bats on the go. Nearby, Athos, after bashing down a large muscular bat with his stick, shot alarmed gazes at the number of bats as they continued fighting the birds.

"We need backup!" he barked.

"What backup?" asked Porthos nearby confused, his talons wrapped around an enemy bat's throat. However, Athos had already rocketed off.

"Oi, Athos, GET BACK HERE!" barked Felipe.

"I'll be back in a short while!" cried Athos as he left. Felipe and Porthos, confused, gazed at each other before resuming their fight against the bats. They had no idea what Athos meant by 'backup', but Athos knew. He had met the certain group before with Melissa and Diantha.

While the macaws continued fighting the bats, Falkor rallied the smaller macaws and other birds to do their part in the war. Turning to a flock of chestnut-fronted, blue-headed and red-fronted macaws, among them Skyla and Jairo, the parents of Mariposa, and some golden conures who were armed with slingshots and ball-shaped leaves, Cegador Powder balls made by the archaeobird clan and given to the birds for the fight, the milicinth macaw gave the flock the signal.

"Right, off you go!" barked he with a fling of a green and navy blue wing. And within seconds, the sounds of flapping small wings beat the air as the group took off, their slingshots and Cegador Powder balls in their talons. Skyla and Jairo led the group as the birds moved into a v-shaped attack formation as they flew over the sea of fighting macaws and bats. Some flying foxes saw the small birds and tried to rush to intercept them but they were stopped by some Spix, hyacinth, Lear's and red macaws. One adolescent flying fox armed with a hammer-like weapon, a stone tied to a stick, took off from the crowd of flying foxes and flew towards the incoming group of small parrots. However, Alonso stopped him by yanking a stick from one of the flying foxes and tossing it at the young bat. The bat was struck in the belly and knocked like a bird out of the sky just as he neared Skyla and Jairo and their group who continued flying towards the sea of bats. Then moments later, Cegador Powder balls were loaded into the slingshots and then at Jairo's shout of "FIRE!" the fungus and dirt-powder filled balls were sent flying from the slingshots and shooting like little bullets towards the flying foxes. Billows of smoke-like clouds exploded in the crowd of flying foxes as the powder balls smashed into their targets. However, the shooters were careful to avoid hitting their allies.

Dozens of flying foxes then began to screech and splutter as the irritating concoction got into their eyes, noses and mouths. The effects of the Cegador Powder then began to blind the bats, allowing their feathered opponents to gain the upper hand over them. As one of the Cegador Powder balls struck Cruella square in the face, smothering her in the irritating powder of its contents and causing her eyes to burn and her lungs to cough and splutter, Aurora rushed in as soon as the powder began to disperse and began to beat the flying fox mercilessly with her stick. More Cegador Powder balls continued to fly from the slingshots held by the group of blue-headed, chestnut-fronted and red-fronted macaws and golden parakeets until finally, they retreated to the other shooters after their supply had ran out. Sounds of coughing and spluttering continued to explode from the flying foxes as their feathered opponents continued attacking. Fedor who stood with Rafflesia watched the result with a smug look on his face.

"SEEEE-IM (EEE-YEEES)!" he barked in Portuguese. The other small birds and Falkor and Ámbar continued to watch as some of the flying foxes continued coughing and spluttering. As the irritating cloud began to disperse, Iracebeth had some of the larger bats fly up and flap their wings to generate a draught to do away with the cloud quicker. Then soon, the flying foxes had recovered from their stall by the Cegador Powder balls and had resumed fighting the macaws.

While the war continued to rage, a group of ten birds had flown into the Sanctuary de Amazon. They were the city friends of Athos, Blu and company and six of them were the parents of Eustace and his group. Two of the birds were peregrine falcons; two were cockatoos, one a female Major Mitchell's and the other a male sulfur-crested; two were toucans, one a pure toco and the other a pure keel-billed, and two were canaries, one of them wearing his trademark bottle-hat cap and the other two were red-crested cardinals. Cometa, Lightning (Orion and Velocity's parents), Travis, Sunset (Eustace, Milo and Rosa's parents), Rafael, Eva (the parents of Diantha and her many, many siblings), Pedro, Nico and their respective girlfriends Rose and Sparkle had flown all the way from Rio to the Sanctuary de Amazon. They had come looking for Eustace and company after realising they had been absent for quite some time.

"Boy, I can't believe that our older son and daughter have been absent for this long," muttered Cometa as the group flew along, "Although they are young adult falcons now, we still worry about them."

"The Amazon Rainforest is not the place for peregrine falcons such as us to be, you know," said Lightning, "I just hope that our first-brood son and daughter hadn't run into trouble."

"That's exactly what we are worried about regarding one of our daughters Diantha," said Rafael as he flew alongside Eva. Sunset rolled her eyes scornfully at this statement.

"Yeah right," she muttered, "Despite the fact that you already have seventy-something other offspring back in Rio, rabbit toucan?"

Travis sourly nodded in agreement. Rafael shot the two cockatoos a glare. He was clearly sick of Travis and Sunset calling him and Eva 'rabbit toucans' which had been going on for some time but Cometa, Lightning, Nico, Sparkle, Pedro and Rose, along with the mammal friends of the birds, Broccoli and his sisters Daisy and Collette and greyhound friend James, need not be surprised. Rafael and Eva, despite being well on in their years now, were still having baby toucans, something the two claimed loved doing. However, this has made Travis and Sunset, who were also well on in their years, feel small because they realised that they could not conceive any more chicks a few years ago and seeing these two toucans continue to produce one clutch after another has caused a rift between them and the toucans. Travis and Sunset were no longer very friendly towards Rafael and Eva as a result.

"You can't take your disappointment of not bein' able to 'ave any more cutesy lil' babies out on Rafy and his mate, Travis and Sunset," said Pedro, trying to both comfort and rebuke the two cockatoos at the same time.

"It's just one o' dem thingies," said Nico.

"Exactly," said Rose in agreement.

"But it's not your fault," said Sparkle. However, the sour looks never left Travis and Sunset's face. Then Lightning turned to the canaries and cardinals.

"Yeah, but even so," he said, a look of sympathy glanced at the two glum cockatoos and a stern glance at Rafael and Eva, "I think those two toucans have been having FAR too many kids, to be honest."

"Sooner or later, they'll be reaching the hundreds if they keep at it," said Cometa. Rafael and Eva just didn't say anything. Cometa and Lightning hated to admit but they kind of agreed with Sunset and Travis's description of these two toucans as being like rabbits. They seemed to love having as many kids as possible. Cometa and Lightning only had three offspring: their first-brood son and daughter and their single second brood son, who they had named Spike, back in Rio who was being looked after by a babysitter while his parents was away looking for his older brother and sister. There was no way this couple was going to breed like Rafael and Eva liked to do.

The two falcons then turned their attention to the trees below. However, they noticed something rather odd about them.

"Well, we should be in the Sanctuary by now," said Travis but he stopped when he saw the two falcons gaze at the trees.

"Cometa, Lightning?" he asked confused. The others also stopped.

"Sommat wrong, Speedy Falcon-zales?" asked Pedro, calling the peregrine falcon by her nickname based on her species' ability to dive at extreme speeds, Rose hovering beside him.

"The trees are awfully quiet," said Cometa. The others exchanged glances. Then Lightning gazed at them.

"Can you hear any birdcalls at all?" he asked. Travis, Sunset, Rafael, Eva, Nico, Pedro, Sparkle and Rose cocked their ears to the quiet trees below them to listen. To their surprise, they heard no bird sounds whatsoever. Normally the trees were filled with a variety of birdcalls but now, it was completely quiet save for a few monkey calls and a roar of a jaguar in the distance.

"This is definitely not right," said Travis.

"Don't tell me something has happened, has it?" asked Sunset worriedly. It was then that Rafael and Eva heard something in the distance. The toucans cocked their ears to listen to that sound. It sounded like an uproarious roar of squawks. Compelled by curiosity, the toco/keel-billed couple shot off to trace the noise.

"Rafael, Eva?" asked Cometa and with that, she and the others took off after the toucans.

The group flew on for some time until the noise was loud enough for the others to pick up.

"What's that noise?" asked Sunset.

"Sounds like a Pit of Games soccer match going on," said Travis, "Eustace had told us that the inhabitants of the Sanctuary de Amazon were going to have a Pit of Games Soccer League."

However, Sparkle, who had sensitive hearing, heard something else in the roar.

"Wi' de clashin' o' sticks thrown in?" she asked sceptically. The others gazed at her, dread beginning to well within them. It was then that Cometa let loose a shriek of horror.

"Guys, come and have a look AT THAT!" the female peregrine falcon barked. The others shot up to her. Cometa, with her sensitive eyes, had picked out a mass in the distance. With a point of a talon, she showed the others what she had seen. The others then saw a colourful mass in the distance where the Pit of Games was, and that mass was writhing like a restless flock of colourful starlings.

"Sounds an' looks like some sorta fight goin' on!" cried Nico.

"A FIGHT!?" barked Travis in surprise.

"B-b-but all the bird tribes and clans have made peace!" said Sunset. "How could there be a fight going on."

Then Lightning began to scan the contents of the cloud, using the telescopic vision he and Cometa possessed which was better than the other birds' eyesight.

"What can you see, Lightning?" asked Rafael. Lightning did not answer at first. Finally, he began to give out his observations.

"There's definitely a fight going on in that cloud of birds over there…" he said, "I can see some Spix macaws, some red macaws…"

Cometa also observed the cloud as Sunset, Travis, Sparkle, Rose, Nico, Pedro, Rafael and Eva watched on.

"…some green macaws, and some hyacinth macaws…" continued Lightning, "And they're armed with some sort of stick-like weapons, fighting something…"

Dread tore through the others.

"What something?" demanded Eva.

"Another bird tribe from outside de Amazon Sanctuary?" asked Pedro. Lightning continued examining the cloud.

"Wait, I see another type of flying creature fight back against those macaws…" he said. The others exchanged confused glances.

"What other type of flying creature?" asked Rafael. Lightning and Cometa continued observing the cloud and began to describe the other type of flying creature.

"They have wings but they are not feathered…" said Lightning, "They are black with red markings… their bodies are covered with fur…"

"Bat-birds?" asked Sunset. However, Cometa gave a key piece of information that ruled this possibility out.

"…Their wings are shaped like a human's umbrella…" she said, "Their faces are like those of a husky dog…"

"Umbrella shaped wings?" said Nico.

"Husky dog-like faces?" said Rafael in confusion. Then Travis and Sunset flinched as they realised the answer to the puzzle.

"Flying foxes," whispered Sunset. Cometa and Lightning then gazed at the others, horrible looks on their faces. That meant only one thing and they remembered that a colony of those winged furry creatures lived right beside the Sanctuary de Amazon.

"Looks like those flying foxes are fighting the macaws," said Cometa. She then drew in a sharp, horrified gasp when she saw a familiar burly blue-and-gold macaw, Porthos, get violently thrown back, whacked by one of the flying foxes' weapons. Then suddenly, Marinho and Phoebe appeared out of nowhere and tackled the highly muscular bat, the one that had attacked Porthos and drive it away.

"What are those bats fighting the macaws for?" asked Rafael. It was then that the group heard the sound of rushing air accompanied by frantic wing flapping. The group turned and saw a familiar vermillion macaw with teal and yellow wings rocket through the trees. Recognising him as Athos, Cometa and the others darted off after him, hoping he had answers to their questions.

"What's going on?" demanded Travis. Athos' gaze snapped to Travis and company when the macaw heard this.

"Hey, Milo, Rosa, Orion, Velocity and Diantha," he said, "What are you doing out here? You're supposed to be escorting the chicks and the others to the Spix tribe's ravine."

However, when he saw that the two cockatoos, the two peregrine falcons and Eva were older and that they were accompanied by two canaries and two red-crested cardinals, he realised his mistake and slowed to a hover to identify them properly.

"Lightning, Cometa?" Athos gasped incredulously, "Rafael, Eva, Travis, Sunset, Nico, Pedro, Sparkle and Rose!? What are you guys doing here at such a dangerous time?"

"What's going on, Athos?" asked Travis. Athos flashed glances this way and that, torn between talking to Travis and company and finding someone else.

"He asked you a question, Musketeer Macaw," said Pedro. The others looked on; the same explanation-demanding looks on their faces aiming at Athos. The large scarlet macaw, however, made his decision and flew on.

"I'm afraid I don't have much time to explain anything, folks," he said and was about to accelerate off. However, Lightning darted off and intercepted him by flying into his path and stopping him in his tracks.

"We DEMAND our questions be answered REGARDLESS, Athos," he growled. Athos gazed at the falcon, then turned and saw the others glare at him, their faces bearing the same demanding looks. Finally, he admitted defeat and began to explain everything.

"The Sanctuary de Amazon has become under the threat of invasion by the flying fox colony who had been planning to drive out its avian inhabitants and taking it over based on a huge lie that we birds are vermin and the cause of all the disasters that has affected them," he said. "That's what this whole war is about."

This made Travis's group exchange confused glances.

"Vermin?" repeated Nico.

"Disasters that affected the flying foxes?" asked Sparkle in confusion.

"What do you mean?" asked Cometa. Athos rolled his eyes.

"Those bats just want to drive us birds out and take our territory because they view us as vermin and the causes of the disasters that has affected them for generations which had placed us birds at extreme loggerheads with those bats that eventually escalated to this war," said he, putting the explanation into another set of words, hoping that Travis and the others would pick up on this easier, "I hope this is easier for you to understand."

"Why?" asked Sunset, flying over to Athos, "Why would those bats target the Sanctuary de Amazon?"

"Never mind about that," said Cometa seriously, her thoughts about a certain group of city birds, "Our top priority is finding Orion, Velocity, Eustace, Milo, Rosa, Clemont, Serena and Diantha."

"They have been missing for quite some time," said Rafael. Then dread came over Athos as he realised that this would lead Travis's group into danger if they ever ran into any of those bird-loathing bats.

"If you're looking for those eight birds," he said, "They'll be with a flock of chicks currently on their way to the Spix tribe's ravine but be careful," Athos's gaze turned hard, "Those flying foxes are armed and they absolutely detest us birds with the most vitriolic rancour."

Then before Travis's group could ask any more questions, Athos was off, a red, teal and yellow comet. Nico indignantly watched him leave.

"Musketeer Macaw certainly can be rude sometimes, canne?" he muttered.

"Never mind about that, let's just find Eustace and the others before any of those flying foxes do… FAST!" barked Travis and with that, the small group darted off in the direction of the Spix tribe's ravine.