Chapter 34- crumbling emotions

Meanwhile, back in Rio

Spinel flew in the direction of a patch of jungle, the city of Rio far below her. White cotton-like puffs of clouds smothered parts of the cityscape for she was flying so high up. Behind her, Athos, Ruby and Ónix tried catching up to her.

"Spinel!" called Athos firmly, "Spinel, STOP!"

However, his youngest first-brood daughter and middle child since Oliver and Cinnabar's hatching refused to slow down and continued accelerating, much to the trio's frustration. The pink-red scarlet macaw named after a certain family of gemstones was in a right state. Tears were streaming like heavy rain down her cheeks and sobs were pouring uncontrollably from her beak. Spinel's heart was in complete tatters, like a wounded animal covered in countless severe wounds as a result of a vicious predator attack that had left it within an inch of its life. The first deep cuts resulted from Betelgeuse, Rigel and Antares getting captured together by those poachers alongside Sandalwood and the other 22, while the second set were inflicted by the acidic words of Sofia and her gang regarding her decision to have kids. Now Spinel's heart was torn again with her fallout with Sheldon, derailing the two's relationship and putting it in jeopardy of severing completely. And this was the last thing Athos and company, especially Athos and Ruby and also Poinsettia and Wilbur, and Alexandre and Estelle still in the Amazon rainforest, wanted. Spinel and Sheldon's relationship had been badly lacerated, clawed and burned by Sofia and her gang's acidic and long, sharp thorn-like words and it had had a devastating effect on Spinel's already volatile emotions.

As the three continued chasing the sobbing and wailing Spinel, Ruby was boiling with outright fury.

"When I GET MY TALONS on that SOFIA AND HER GANG," she snarled, "I'm GONNA…" she then spewed a set of threats and names too caustic to write. Athos flashed his outraged mate an utterly astonished glance at her choice of words for he had never Ruby spew such stuff like this, and Ónix actually winced and flinched at every caustic word that flew from Ruby's beak. Her crest was fully fanned out and her eyes were sometimes screwed shut. However, she, as was Athos, was unsurprised.

"I'd just be as… equally enraged... as she is… if those toucans EVER said… something like THAT to my own daughter… about having chicks…" she said between flinches, "Bella is a mother of… three chicks…"

"Spinel, PLEASE!" shouted Athos, too engrossed in getting his daughter to slow down, "Let's DISCUSS THIS!"

His heartstrings were strained by the massive fountain of sobs that continued to erupt from Spinel's beak like a massive geyser and his insides felt like water from the stress but Athos continued to fly on, determined to help his daughter.

"PLEASE LEAVE ME ALONE!" wailed Spinel in a fragmented, distressed, raucous voice ahead of the trio, "I WANNA BE ON MY OWN!"

Athos felt his stomach lurch at this sentence but he still carried on, his wings aching from flapping so much.

"Look, daughter!" he retorted, "I'm NOT GONNA LET you BOTTLE UP THOSE NEGATIVE EMOTIONS to the point of having a MASSIVE MELTDOWN, and as your father, I ORDER YOU TO SLOW DOWN AND DISCUSS THIS!"

When Spinel didn't reply for her mind was too warped by the massive whirlwind of negative emotions, Ruby lost patience.

"SERIOUSLY SPINEL, GET A GRIP!" she bellowed. Spinel did not reply this command either. Instead, the young pink-red scarlet macaw abruptly stopped accelerating ahead of her parents and Ónix and rocketed straight down to some trees below, sobs still uncontrollably escaping her beak and tears flying everywhere. Athos, Ruby and Ónix followed, cornering sharply in midair straight after her.

"Spinel, please!" shouted Ónix as the four descended towards the trees, "We're SERIOUSLY concerned about you."

She released a frustrated grunt when Spinel shut that demand out as well.

Then after a few more seconds of descending from the sky, Spinel dived into the canopy and made a beeline to the nearest hollow she laid her tear-stained eyes on. After that, she disappeared into the shadow of the hollow, seized some leaves and quickly blocked off the entrance, moments before Athos, Ruby and Ónix turned up. Ónix, who had seen where Spinel had vanished, pointed to a hollow with the leaves blocking the entrance. From behind the leaves, sobs were erupting. Athos and Ruby, puffing and panting from flying so fast along with Ónix, then touched down on the branch leading to the hollow and began to beg Spinel to leave her confinement. Their daughter's immensely heartbroken sobs tugged on their heartstrings and the pair had never, EVER seen Spinel in such a distressed state since she was born. Not even the previous episodes when she was bullied by Sofia when they had been chicks could compare to this, but Athos and Ruby knew that it was the WORST thing Sofia had EVER done to their daughter... EVER. After taking a minute to get their breath back, Athos began to speak through the leaves, this time in a gentler voice.

"Spinel, please," he said, "We're only trying to help you."

"Yes, we wanna get something very important across to you regarding what that rotten toucan said about you and Sheldon having your daughters and son," put in Ruby equally gently but firmly. No answer, except only sobbing from within the hollow. Ónix stood back, a worried look on her face as the parents continued trying to coax their daughter into coming out of the hollow. Much like Athos and Ruby, she bore a burning fire of outrage at Sofia and Marcel and their gang for saying such a horrible, acidic, claw-slashing thing to Spinel and Sheldon and also Neytiri, Aiden, Trixie and Tristan, especially Aiden for he had just come out of the Aviary after recovering from his knockout from the skirmish with then poachers, and Trixie because she had always doubted that she would have even one egg because of her small size. Those four glaucous macaws had also been badly affected by Sofia and her gang's scathing words as well and Ónix wanted to give those toucans a piece of her mind. However, she kept her mind focussed on sorting this big problem out. 'These problems always seem to pop up everywhere,' thought the female red-tailed black cockatoo in despair.

"I was wrong in having Betelgeuse, Rigel and Antares," cried Spinel from within the hollow, "I'm a BAD parent and I MADE THE WRONG DECISION IN HAVING THOSE THREE CHICKS!"

"That is absolute CODSWALLOP!" snapped Athos from outside the hollow, "You were very happy in having those two adorable daughters and son, as were your brothers including Cinnabar and Oliver, sister, in-laws and everybody else."

"What Sofia said is a total PACK OF LIES," put in Ruby, "SHE'S a bad parent as ARE HER MATE AND RELATIVES, NOT YOU, NOT any of the others including Carla, Bia and Tiago!" she paused for a moment, "AND TO ADD, it is NOT YOUR FAULT that YOUR THREE CHICKS HAVE GONE MISSING…"

"YES IT IIIIIIS!" screeched Spinel from within the hollow.

"NO, it is NOT," retorted Athos who was getting frustrated at his daughter's stubbornness to listen, "Again, that's a pack of lies and a pile of DUNG AS WELL! Sofia and her gang had absolutely NO RIGHT TO BLAME YOU AND THE OTHERS FOR those KIDS' CAPTURE BY THOSE POACHERS!" his voice then turned to desperate pleading, his eyes beginning to weep tears, "Please BELIEVE US!"

Sobs continued to erupt from inside the hollow, tensing the atmosphere above Athos and Ruby and making Ónix's insides and the muscles in her wings and legs feel like jelly such that she could not support her own weight on her talons. Athos and Ruby also continued to shake as several more torturous minutes past until finally, the leaves blocking the entrance came down, revealing a seriously tear stained-eyed and still-distressed Spinel as she emerged from the hollow. However, her sobbing was not as loud but she still continued to weep. Upon seeing Athos and Ruby before her, the pink-red scarlet macaw leapt into their wings, causing Athos and Ruby to lock her in a tight embrace.

"There, there, Spinel," said Athos gently as he allowed his daughter to sob into his chest feathers, "It's alright."

"We will sort out this mess," said Ruby comfortingly as she also hugged Spinel, "We WILL get those toucans punished and also get those kids, including your two daughters, son and Sandalwood, back as soon as we can. 'We've just GOT to,' she thought, 'We seriously HAVE to at all costs.'

As SpinelQ continued sobbing in her parents' embrace, Ónix looked on, the strength seeping back into her wings and talons from the relief she felt for the parents and daughter, but then her mind travelled back to the glaucous macaws that had been lacerated by Sofia's acidic remarks. 'What about Neytiri, Aiden, Trixie and Tristan?' she thought. However, the red-tailed black cockatoo remembered Larimar and Quincy, Trixie and Tristan's sister and brother still back in the Amazon, telling her during one of their previous visits to Rio that Tristan was very tough, as was Aiden whose stubbornness and boldness which he had developed during his and Kira's time as members of that frigatebird Ilosovic's gang before meeting Carla and company. Neytiri was also extremely tough but Trixie was more vulnerable due to her insecurities about her small size. However, she was under Aiden's tough protection and Aiden had told her that those stupid lies were a pile of smelly dung and far more caustic words. Despite having bad beginnings as a gangster bird, Aiden had developed into a more caring and protective macaw since his forsaking of Ilosovic's gang along with Kira who was now Finnick, Roberto and Brisa's oldest son and child's mate. However, Spinel and Sheldon were both much more fragile and thus more prone to being torn down by caustic words, even than the sensitive Trixie, and worse, Spinel has a tendency to believe scathing remarks to be true, especially after a devastating event such as her three chicks Betelgeuse, Rigel and Antares and the other kids including Sandalwood getting snatched by those poachers, and Athos and Ruby believed that she had unintentionally took the excess hurt out on Sheldon, resulting in their heated falling out and subsequently departure. Athos and Ruby had hoped that the relationship between their youngest child of their first brood and her ruby mate would be fixed but they knew that Spinel might have to stay away from Sheldon for a while until her emotional wounds healed and she was more stable. Then the father, mother and daughter continued in their embrace as the daughter continued to sob hard, Ónix looking on.

Meanwhile

Sheldon had rocketed off to the area near the Vista Chinesa (and Tulio and Linda's cottage not too far away) with Blu, Jewel, Zephyr and Aurora chasing after him. There, the green-winged/scarlet hybrid dropped from the air and landed in a tree near the monument where Blu and Jewel had spent their first night together after escaping the smugglers while they were chained together. Blu flashed a glance at the iconic monument as he, Jewel, Zephyr and Aurora chased after Sheldon and thought, 'That was some years ago'. He remembered that he didn't fly back then but that sparked a painful memory of a certain flying fox pup who now suffered the same problem he (Blu) had during his first days with Jewel. Blu flashed a brief moment of sadness as Sandalwood came into his head but then he pushed it away to see to Sheldon. It was now coming close to evening, the sun slowly descending towards the western horizon in preparation for setting and ending the day. As soon as the four Spix macaws had managed to locate Sheldon, who had a combination of anger, heartbreak and frustration boiling within him like an unhealthy brew, the quartet fluttered to the branch he had perched and touched down. Zephyr was the first to speak. On the Vista Chinesa monument, several humans were surveying the bird population and also keeping an eye out for any flocks of toucans to help Tulio and his team to locate them, but the five macaws had failed to spot them, not even the familiar faces of Jack and Jill who had come with this group of humans to help in the survey, among that group.

"Sheldon, come on, snap out of it," Zephyr said firmly as Sheldon began to shed tears and breathe in and out at a rapid pace, "We understand the devastation those spiteful remarks Sofia and her gang said of your decision to have chicks had on you and Spinel."

Sheldon did not reply and continued hyperventilating and weeping. The past few days had taken its toll on him and now his relationship with Spinel was under threat. Aurora then stepped forward.

"Seriously, Sheldon, get your act together," she said firmly, "We'll sort this out together."

Still Sheldon refused to answer. Instead, he began to break down.

"How could Spinel say SOMETHING LIKE THAT to me!?" he wailed, tears falling from his eyes and his head thrown back, "It's as though she doesn't LOVE ME ANYMORE and also BLAMES ME for our little girls Betelgeuse and Rigel and boy Antares going missing."

And with that, he entered an episode of uncontrollable sobbing as his emotions volcanically erupted. Then Jewel came forward, a stern look on her face.

"That is ABSOLUTELY not TRUE!" she shouted, "It is just that…" she paused briefly, "It's just that those STUPID BRATS thought it would be funny to cause you and the rest of the parents including Carla, Bia and Tiago and their mates Justin, Virgil and Matilda TROUBLE after what had happened by PUSHING YOUR SENSITIVE BUTTONS."

"Can you imagine how Spinel feels as well?" put in Blu. Hearing this, Sheldon snapped round and glared at him, Jewel, Aurora and Zephyr with teary but also enraged blue eyes. From the Chinesa Vista, one of the humans, a young boy who seemed to be in his early teens spotted four splashes of blue and one of red in the tree and called for Jack and Jill.

"Don't you DARE mention the name of that brat, Blu!" snapped the ruby macaw much to the appalled flabbergast and appal of him and the other three.

"What did you just say!?" hissed Zephyr angrily.

"You heard me," snapped Sheldon bitterly, tears falling from his eyes, "I said don't mention that scarlet macaw's name!"

Utterly astonished glances were exchanged by the four macaws but then Jewel's face morphed into an outraged scowl.

"How could you say something like THAT about your own MATE!?" she bellowed but Sheldon quickly turned her back on her and stormed off.

"She asked you a question, Sheldon," said Aurora angrily. Blu and Zephyr continued to look on when suddenly; Zephyr caught sighted some familiar humans out the corner of his eye. The green-eyed Spix macaw turned and to his surprise, he saw Jack and Jill standing on the Vista Chinesa, observing him and the other four. Concern laced their faces, especially as they watched Sheldon's distressed behaviour. Jill then whispered something to Jack which Zephyr deduced from the movement of her lips that she was referring to Sheldon. Putting that aside, he returned to helping Jewel, Blu and Aurora reason with Sheldon. However, the ruby macaw was having none of it and kept snapping at the Spix macaws' attempts to console him. The last straw finally came when the comment that came out of Sheldon's beak, something he'd regret later, in retort to a fact in Aurora's sentence.

"Spinel might need you in the coming days, Sheldon, as you're the macaw closest to her even than her sister Poinsettia and brother-in-law Wilbur," said the pigtailed Spix macaw in frustration, "Until we find out where Sandalwood and the others including Betelgeuse, Rigel and Antares have been taken by those poachers, she might need your support. She is your mate after all."

Sheldon snapped. With a scowl on his face, he hissed, "She's NOT my mate anymore, Aurora. Don't you EVER call her my mate again! I think she's a SPOILT BRAT, just like that BRAT SOFIA!"

And with that, the ruby macaw stormed off, sobs erupting from his beak. Aurora stood there, totally taken aback and dumbfounded by Sheldon's sudden outburst and declaration for what he said. Blu, Jewel and Zephyr also came in. The two males were as dumbfounded as Aurora but the other, the female, was utterly outraged.

"He's gonna regret that remark now," Jewel snarled as she glared after Sheldon as he flew off into the next tree to sob his eyes out. Aurora didn't say anything. As Sheldon's words about Spinel's relationship repeated in her mind, the pigtailed Spix macaw began to feel her head get lighter to the point of her balance being affected. Finally, the shock reached critical and Aurora finally lost her balance and fell. Zephyr caught her in his wings and gazed at her as the facial skin under her maya blue feathers began to lose colour.

"I think I'm gonna be sick," whispered Aurora weakly.

"Let's get her back to Tulio and Linda's cottage which is nearby," said Blu.

"But what about Sheldon?" asked Zephyr. Jewel glared at the ruby macaw as he sobbed in the adjacent tree. After what he had said about Spinel, she knew that there was nothing that could be done now.

"Let's leave him there and give him the silent treatment," she hissed, "Hopefully it'll give him time to think about what he said and prompt him to apologise to, and make up with, Spinel."

"I hope the two DO make up," whispered Blu warily. However, after this sentence left this macaw's beak, a scornful and bratty, "I doubt it, Uncle Blu," reached the group's ears. Hearing this, Blu, Jewel and Zephyr flashed glances this way and that until their gazes landed on a flock of black birds with reddish cream fronts and large orange and black beaks like Rafael. Two of them were the same toucans that threw the accusation at Tiago and Matilda as being parents of Bellatrix the 'murderous psycho- chick' the other day when those two, along with Jewel, Stella, Soren, Augustus, Cometa and Athos had gone to their hollow to discuss their kids' behaviour, especially regarding what they had done to Sandalwood. There were about a dozen adults including the two at the front. Then the familiar male's brown spite-laced gaze found the dazed Aurora. A small laugh escaped his beak.

"Looks like Pigtails has seen a monstrous eagle or sommat," he crooned. Laughter rolled through his comrades and his mate beside him. However, the Spix macaws were not amused.

"If you think this is funny, Marco and Anastasia, it is certainly NOT!" snapped Zephyr who was struggling the urge to lash at the toucans and slash the scornful smiles off their beaks. Jewel was also on the verge of this breaking point, especially as her fiery teal glare was pinned on Anastasia and Marco.

"We heard what had happened to Sheldon and Spinel from our friend Sofia," said one of the two toucans' comrades, "She said that she had seen the couple argue violently and then storm off in a huff."

"Yeah, it sure was funny, hearing about that couple having a heated argument," put in another comrade before more laughs rolled through the flock. Blu then stepped forward, a furious look on his face.

"I hope you're happy now, you horribly naughty lot," he growled, his blue feathers bristled, "You've finally sent one of the couples whom Sofia had severely damaged with those CAUSTIC, LOW-PH words over the edge."

To his disgust, the faces of the toucans, especially Marco and Anastasia, creased into mock sympathy.

"Awww," crooned Marco meanly, "We're sorry to hear about that."

As he said this, Anastasia's eyes found a flash of red in the tree behind the one the Spix macaws were perched in as sobs escaped his beak. A fiendish look on her face, she opened her wings and took off.

"Did they break up?" asked one of Marco and his mate's comrades immaturely. Then more laughs escaped the toucans' beaks.

"That Spinel has always been an outright (bleep) since we first met her anyway," said one of them as laughs continued to roll through the group. That did it; Jewel's cerulean feathers bristled, the fires in her teal eyes began to burn higher and her talon rose. Her talon then shot out a toe like a bullet and pointed with deadly laser accuracy at Marco's face, making Marco and the other toucans with him stop laughing when they saw the threatening appearance of the volatile tempered Spix macaw whom they knew was not a macaw to be messed with, especially after how she and Blu had dealt with Nigel years ago after the torture he had inflicted on them and their group, including their children who had been chicks at the time, during the events of that group of poachers' infiltration into the Sanctuary de Amazon. Blu and Zephyr just looked on while Aurora, the shock still gripping her, gazed into space with a stunned look still plastering her face.

"Don't you EVER…" hissed Jewel in a dangerously low voice, "Insult one of Athos and Ruby's daughters when I'm around."

It was then that Zephyr caught-sighted a small orange and black beak peak out from behind a branch behind Marco and company. His eyes travelled to the group of humans as they continued observing him and the others with him and noticed that two or three of the humans, all adults were holding a familiar barrel object he remembered were used in catching birds in nets. During this, Jewel's ears picked up Anastasia's scornful remarks from behind the tree. The teal-eyed Spix macaw turned and, to her incensed fury, she saw the nasty toco toucan hurl some mocking remarks at the already distressed Sheldon, pushing his buttons about Spinel and his still-missing chicks Betelgeuse, Rigel and Antares and laughing at his furious outbursts and demands to leave. A hiss filtering through her beak, Jewel opened her wings, took off and made a beeline for Anastasia. Then as soon as she was near the toucan, Jewel shot at her like a comet and without hesitation rammed as hard as she could into Anastasia's side much to the horrified screams of the other toucans, especially Marco as he watched his stunned mate fly through the air and land hard onto a branch, her wings clasping her impacted side. Black comets rushed over to Anastasia as she continued to clasp her side, her face twisted in sheer pain and her eyes weeping tears as Jewel glared down nonchalantly and without a sliver of sympathy. Blu, however, gazed down with an appalled and flabbergasted look. At the same time, sounds of net guns going off erupted from behind Blu and Aurora, who was lying on her back on the branch for Zephyr had gently placed her down and was starting to come to. The net gun sounds were accompanied by sounds of terrified toucan chick screams. Blu snapped his head around and saw some of the humans standing in the Vista Chinesa as they shot down several dozen toucan chicks with a flash of blue zooming back and forth and luring the chicks to the humans. Sheldon, however, continued sobbing his heart out to notice the commotion.

Marco stood over Anastasia as she continued holding her side where Jewel had viciously tackled her, her weeping eyes screwed shut in pain and her breath filtering through her gritted beak. Snapping his gaze from his battered mate, he shot Jewel an extremely caustic glare.

"(Bleep) you, you savage (bleep)!" bellowed the toucan before resuming seeing to his injured mate with his comrades. Jewel just spat onto a branch at them and flew away.

"I've always wanted to do THAT to her after what she said about my granddaughter Bellatrix the other day, anyway," she crooned nastily as she left.

"Rafael and Eva aren't gonna be pleased if they hear what you've done to their son's daughter-in-law, Jewel," said Blu rather sternly. Jewel, however, flashed him a smug look. Then Blu helped Aurora to her feet as Zephyr appeared, the commotion between the toucan chicks and the humans at the Vista Chinesa still happening as more toucan chicks were netted down.

"Let's get back to Tulio and Linda's cottage," he said firmly, "We've got some very important tasks to do."

"But what about Sheldon?" asked Blu, bringing up the subject about the ruby macaw again. Jewel turned and saw Sheldon fly away into the darkening jungle, intending to get away from the toucans, roughly in the direction of where the other Blu Bird Sanctuary residents had retreated.

"Let's leave him be for now," she said, "He's not in the mood for talking with us anyway, especially after what he said about Spinel."

Zephyr, Aurora and Blu nodded in agreement and with that and after making sure that Aurora was well enough to fly which she replied with a nod, the recovery from her shock somewhat showing, the four Spix macaws opened their wings and took off.

Meanwhile, back in the Sanctuario del Paradíso

Sandalwood sat at the foot of a tree, his back against the trunk, a very sombre look on his face and with a flower in his membranous wings. Above in the tree, Acerola hung by her feet from a branch, a sad look also on her face. Nearby Sirius, Bellatrix and Regulus loitered around, their faces also laced with sadness and frustration. Sylvester was having his tattered tail examined by a couple of cockatiels who were trained in basic medical skills while Vega was having the small scratch on her belly treated with moss and plant mulch. Not too far away, Atreyu, Finnick, Tiana and Jacques sat under the supervision of some adult penguins, a few Galapagos, and a Humboldt, all with their faces twisted into stern looks. Sandalwood gazed sadly at the penguins and then back at the flower in his wings, a sad sigh escaping his mouth.

During the confrontation by Dundee and his inner circle animals back in the leader's tent, Sandalwood and the others that had been with him in the Compartment of Carnivores with Atreyu, Finnick, Tiana and Jacques had tried to explain the events leading to their entry into the forbidden area. Dundee, along with his younger brother Nick, Reepicheep the platypus, Kiara the echidna, Gus, Sparky and Lilo the cockatiels, Flax and Harakeke the kiwis and Greg, Sardonyx, Shade and Sadie the scarlet macaws and grey-headed flying foxes had not been very pleased but when Sandalwood had tried to explain what had happened, Dundee had dismissed their story as unlikely, much to the shock of Sandalwood and the others with him that had been in the forbidden Compartment. Gladion and Lillie, who had been present had also been stricken with immense flabbergast. It was obvious that Lusamine, Guzma, Cato and the rest of their gang of lizards, fruit bats and monkeys had been telling Dundee and the other inner circle animals first but Sandalwood, Acerola, Sirius, Bellatrix, Sylvester, Vega and Regulus and also Atreyu, Jacques, Tiana and Finnick and Gladion and Lillie clearly felt their tale had been fabricated.

Lusamine had told Dundee and the inner circle animals that Sandalwood and the others had deliberately provoked Dalek the parrot-detesting chameleon into chasing them to the mesh separating safety land from the Compartment of the Carnivores, as well as how they tried to intervene and get Dalek to stop his chase but the chameleon refused to listen. To Sandalwood and company's outrage, Lusamine and her gang had deliberately left out the part where they had been picking on Atreyu about his tragic ordeal involving his near-death experience with a fishing net, and then subsequently the chase to the mesh with Dalek alongside them. It was clear that the Madagascan fruit bat had told Dundee and the inner circle this pack of lies while Sandalwood and company were in the Compartment desperately trying to escape Carnassial and his gang. Despite Sandalwood's protests, Dundee had issued him and the other kids and also the four penguins a punishment of grounding for two full weeks where they were not at all allowed to leave the vicinity of the flying fox and birds' 'village' or play with the other kids, much to the outrage of Sandalwood and company and to Lusamine and her gang's smugness. This punishment had left Sandalwood, and also Acerola and the five macaws completely gutted and devastated. They would never be allowed to play or even talk with their new friends Steven, Lars, Kevin, Opal, Roxanne and Connie again until the two-week penalty was over. As this reality struck Sandalwood and the others, including those that hadn't been in the Compartment of the Carnivores, such as Adenine, Cytosine, Thymine and Guanine, the poor chicks and two flying fox pups began to feel the desire to return to Rio and their families boil within them all the more. Overwhelmed with emotion, Sandalwood tossed aside the flower and broke down, his face buried in his membranous wings as his mind flooded with images of his parents Stella and Soren and also his grandfather Augustus, grandmother Melissa, aunt Luna, uncle Sebastian, aunt Anabelle and his little cousin Ferdinand as well as the flying fox family's friends including Blu, Jewel, Carla, Bia and Tiago.

"I wish Mom and Dad were here!" wailed the amber flying fox pup as he continued to sob his heart out, some animals around him flashing him a concerned look before moving away, uncertain as to what to do.