Chapter 49- the ugly truth under the surfaces of Dalek the chameleon… and the Paradise Sanctuary humans' intentions
Back at the Paradise Sanctuary
Sandalwood, Sirius, Spica, Cytosine, Thymine, Sugilite, Steven, Lars, Connie and JD continued to follow the catlike creatures with glowing eyes as they continued to carry the struggling Betelgeuse through the dark jungle of the Compartment of the Carnivores. The surrounding artificial jungle in the compartment as seen during the day resembled a graveyard with piles of bones scattered here and there on the floor and the trees and bushes were often riddled with various carnivorous or meat-eating animals such as dogs and cats, meat-eating birds such as vultures, and reptiles such as serpents and giant lizards. However, at night, the compartment looked even creepier than ever. Like in Dundee's jungle, the daytime animals had turned in for the night and the nocturnal animals had come out. The Carnivore Compartment in essence resembled a haunted, sinister forest with danger written all over every tree. Bare trees and skeleton piles sent out spiky appendages that kinked and curved like long claws into the dark air, sending shivers down the spines of Sandalwood and the other nine animals with him, and the bushes resembled ugly monsters. Flashes of star-like light indicated the presence of nocturnal animals, their eyes gleaming in the darkness, as they darted through the dark leaves and branches but they did not have a beautiful aspect to them; they were far more terrifying than the nocturnal animals in Dundee's jungle.
Spica cowered against Sirius as she gazed timidly at one of the trees, its bare branches stretching out like thick arms and ending in claw-like twigs. In between the branches, three holes, two rounded and the third shaped like a large melon slice with jagged edges running along its top edge appeared to be arranged into a face, giving the tree the appearance of having a leering glare with its arms spread wide as though to pounce.
"I clearly don't like this area, guys," whispered the timid daughter of Carla and Justin, her azure blue feathers and Jewel-like crest flattened and spiked out and her amber eyes inflated with immense fear.
"This place honestly resembles Mom, Dad, Grandpa and Grandma's description of what the colony flying foxes' territory had been like before the colony split up and abandoned the land," said Sandalwood as he also gazed timidly at the dark jungle, especially at the piles of bones that lay sprawled out beneath some of the bushes or in the clearing, indicating the previous meals the carnivores had eaten, and live animals were sometimes fed to the carnivores that preferred fresh meat from freshly killed prey. Sandalwood also shuddered at the fate the two kakapos and the yellow-crested cockatoo, and perhaps dozens of other parrots, in these highly dangerous grounds. Pulling his gaze from the bone piles, he re-focussed his attention on the cats as they continued through the dark jungle, one of them with Betelgeuse in its paws.
"We've gotta get Betelgeuse out of this place before any of those cats decide to turn her into a snack," said Sugilite, the fear brought on by the creepy jungle pushed aside.
"That Dalek chameleon has definitely shoved dat scarlet macaw chick through th' barrier into th' paws of dose cats on purpose," squeaked JD. He then began to shudder as a deduction of Dalek's possible connection to some of the carnivores in this place entered his head, but the question was which group? Pushing that question aside, the macaroni penguin chick continued following the cats with the Brazilian flying fox, two Spix macaws, two Catalina macaws, hyacinth macaw, the grey-headed flying fox and two scarlet macaws, being careful not to alert the catlike creatures, their eyes glowing menacingly in the dark, of their presence. At one point, the ten had to hide behind a rock or tree trunk as one of the cats turned its head to examine the area behind its pack as though to check the group wasn't being followed. Its eyes glowed like harpy eagle eyes, striking fear into Sandalwood and the others as they carefully peered out from their hiding places but the cat could not see them. Taken to the conclusion that no-one was following the group after seeing nothing, the cat continued after its pack-mates. Sandalwood and the others, after breathing sighs of relief, then resumed their careful following of the cats.
Then moments later, the cats, with Betelgeuse in their clutches, arrived at some sort of burrow lined with leaves and thorny snakes. Sandalwood, Sirius, Sugilite, Cytosine, Thymine, Spica, Steven, Lars, Connie and JD crept quietly towards a bush and entered it. Then Connie and Steven reached for some leaves and pulled them down, allowing them and the other eight to look out and take in the shady scene. A large shaft of moonlight shone through the window above the burrow, lighting up the area and making it appear creepier and more sinister. Several cat-like figures, all with glowing eyes, sat around the entrance to the burrow but their bodies were too obscured by the darkness for Sandalwood and company to make out their species.
"Looks like some sort of den," whispered Connie. Sandalwood, Sirius, Spica, Sugilite, Cytosine and Thymine gazed at the burrow entrance and shuddered. The burrow, which indeed appeared to be an entrance to a den, resembled a mouth. The hole was lined with fearsome-looking leaves and thorns and its top rim had jagged rocks protruding from the top. These leaves, thorns and rocks gave the mouth-like entrance the appearance of being armed with sharp, deadly teeth, like a predator's mouth. Sandalwood shuddered, reminded of how Sylvester was almost eaten by Carnassial the other day the last time he was in the Compartment of the Carnivores. The group's eyes then turned to watch the cats as one of them set Betelgeuse down onto the floor before the mouth-like den opening. Betelgeuse looked saturated with fear, and she indeed was. Her orange-red plumage was flattened and the feathers in her pineapple stalk-like crest were spiked out all over the place and her yellow-orange eyes were fully inflated out of their sockets by immense fear. The little three-quarter scarlet macaw chick was trembling all over and her breathing rate was off the charts. It was clear that she wanted to flee but her routes of escape have been blocked by the cats. Sirius and Spica then got a glimpse of Betelgeuse's left wing. That wing was in tatters, the majority of the flight feathers, especially the primaries, having been torn out by Dalek. Sirius felt a flash of hot rage burn through him like a fireball.
"After we have rescued Betelgeuse and have returned to Dundee's land," he hissed volcanically, his bright white-tinted electric blue feathers bristling, "I'm gonna find that chameleon, take his hat and shove it down his throat and make him choke on it."
"Make him choke on his hat!?" snapped Spica in a low and enraged voice, "I wanna skin that chameleon alive!"
"HUSH!" hissed Connie, prompting the two Spix macaws to be quiet. The two chicks did so and returned their attention to the cats and the burrow entrance. One of the cats had gone over to the den entrance and had tapped a paw on it.
"What is that cat doing?" asked Sandalwood quietly. None of the others answered but continued to watch the cat as it retracted its paw and called to whomever lived in the burrow, but what came out of its mouth sent shivers of immense flabbergast down Sandalwood and company's spines.
"Hey, Carnassial," called the cat, "We've got a little treat for us."
JD mouthed the name in disbelief while Sandalwood, Sirius, Spica, Cytosine, Thymine, Sugilite, Steven, Lars and Connie watched on speechless, especially as they began to connect the dots between Dalek and Carnassial. First, Dalek shoves Betelgeuse, after tearing out the flight feathers from one of her wings, into the Compartment of Carnivores to those cats and then those cats take the red macaw to Carnassial. Does that mean that Dalek knows Carnassial and his gang, and that Carnassial and his gang know Dalek? Sandalwood and company did not want to find that out but they continued to watch the scene unfold.
A moment later, a number of small cats emerged from the mouth-like burrow entrance. Some of them had entirely sandy brown fur with tufts on the tips of their ears while some of the others bore a pale gold and white pelt with black spots and stripes strewn and scattered all over it as though they had had ink, or black paint, splattered all over them. As these cats emerged from the burrow and stopped before the cat that had set Betelgeuse down on the floor, Sandalwood, Sirius and JD shuddered.
"Those caracals and servals are the same ones you've met the other day with Bellatrix and some of the others, am I correct?" asked Connie.
"Yes," said Sandalwood darkly before pointing to the caracal at the front with a membranous wing, "And that's Carnassial, the leader of that cat pack."
Thymine, Cytosine, Spica, Sugilite, Steven, Connie and Lars, who had never seen Carnassial in the flesh before, gazed at the fiercest caracal at the front of the new arrivals. Then said caracal, his caracal and serval companions with mean and sinister facial expressions mirroring that of their leader flanking him on the sides and behind, gazed at the cats that had brought in Betelgeuse with his companions and Sandalwood managed to recognise several other servals and caracals, Alecto, Shenzi and Banzai.
"Unfortunately, our chameleon friend had only managed to catch one," said the cat and with that, its gleaming eyed glare was directed at Betelgeuse. Sandalwood and company managed to stifle a horrified gasp.
"So it's TRUE!?" hissed JD in a low voice.
"Dalek is friends with Carnassial and his gang?" put in Sirius. Things were starting to fall into place now as the group continued to watch the dramatic scene at Carnassial's gang's burrow.
"That's okay, Narcissa," said Carnassial, his wicked glare also fixated on Betelgeuse, who cowered towards her secondary captor's front legs only for the cat to lift a paw and shove her back towards Carnassial again, "We'll give Dalek a request for more parrots tomorrow morning. For now, let's be satisfied with just this red macaw chick."
Immensely shocked and disbelieving glances were exchanged amongst Sandalwood's group. Is Dalek working for Carnassial and company in bringing them prey from Dundee's land into the Carnivore Compartment? If so, was that how that yellow-crested cockatoo named Claude and those two kakapos met their end? And did Dalek intend the parrots, among them Sylvester who was almost eaten by Carnassial, and also Sirius and Bellatrix, to fall into the paws of Carnassial and company when the group was forced to enter the dangerous grounds when Dalek, along with Lusamine and her gang, had them cornered? Then Carnassial's voice pulled the ten's attention back to him and his gang as they glared menacingly and hungrily at Betelgeuse as she continued to shudder and shake.
"Yep, you might be utterly shocked and frightened, little morsel," said the lead caracal, his gleaming golden eyes fixated menacingly on Betelgeuse like a harpy eagle's moon-like eyes on its prey it is about to kill, dismember and consume, "But Dalek is our close friend who has provided us with some tasty treats, mainly parrots," Carnassial's glare hardened, "Which are our fa-a-a-a-avourite food!" he finished this sentence with a licking of his lips.
"And he's very good at catching those birds and shoving them into here, especially with his camouflage ability and quick movements," said one of the servals, Alecto. Betelgeuse shuddered.
"W-w-why p-p-p-parrots?" she asked timidly, her fear breaking up her speech into a stammer and causing her feather-flattened body to shake like a leaf, "W-w-why n-n-not the f-f-food provided to you by the h-h-h-human carers?"
"Why parrots, you ask?" asked Carnassial, his appetite pushed aside for now. The caracal then turned to the left and sat down. Sandalwood and the others continued to watch as the other cats also sat down.
"Well, it's a long story, little meatball," said Carnassial, the word sending more chills down Betelgeuse's spine, "But to cut it short, it's because…" his gaze morphed into a scowl, "parrots are Dalek's most DETESTED creatures on planet Earth."
The way he said 'detested', send a shockwave coursing through Betelgeuse and also Sandalwood and the other nine with him like a jolt of electricity, making them flinch.
"Yes, whether it is macaws… parakeets… lovebirds... budgies… cockatoos… even the lowly flightless parrot species from New Zealand, the kakapo," explained another caracal named Shenzi, "Anything that has feathers… is very clever… and has a hooked beak and talons like yours… Dalek sees those birds as mere scum and vermin."
Sandalwood flinched harshly. This description brought to mind a certain cockatoo's hatred for exotic birds, the majority of them being parrots, and yet he was one himself. The colony flying foxes' detestation of all the birds of the Amazon Rainforest and how they viewed them also flashed through his mind, while Sirius, Spica, Sugilite, Cytosine, Thymine, Steven and Lars flashed offended looks, and Connie and JD flashed a look of outrage.
"That's horrible!" hissed the grey-headed flying fox in disgust. The others said nothing and continued listening.
"So he is putting his hatred of parrots into good use by capturing those birds and shoving them into here to be tasty treats for us," crooned Carnassial. He then closed his eyes and licked his lips greedily, "Hmmmm… I remember us sinking our teeth into those two kakapos and that cockatoo Dalek had managed to drive into here for us. They certainly were de-e-e-e-licious."
As he continued to lick his lips, his tongue sweeping the edges of his mouth, saliva dripped disgustingly down his chin. The other caracals and servals also greedily licked their lips and nodded to each other in agreement, one of them rubbing its tummy with a front paw in circles. Sandalwood and company hardened their glares.
"So… Dalek was DEFINITELY th' one who had driven dat cockatoo and those two kakapos t' their demise by drivin' them into 'ere?" whispered JD.
"We would have had a tasty Cuban macaw chick as well…" said another caracal, Banzai, "In fact, Carnassial here would have eaten that extremely rare, supposed-to-be-extinct treat but unfortunately, it got away like a lil' fish."
"As did the tasty Spix and Lear's morsels," put in another caracal. As these words reached the cats' eavesdroppers' ears, something finally clicked into place.
"Dalek DEFINITELY had intentions of shoving us into this place to be eaten by those cats," hissed Sirius disgustedly.
"I think that's why he tore out Sylvester's tail feathers as you've explained to us," put in Sugilite, "To prevent him from flying properly and make it easier for those caracals and servals to catch him should he try to escape."
"And it appears that he has done the same to Betelgeuse's wing to prevent her from flying away," put in Cytosine. Then Sandalwood frowned.
"We're gonna have to rescue Betelgeuse and report what our findings to Dundee PRONTO," he said but before he could set to constructing a plan, Betelgeuse's screech pulled the group's attention back to the scene.
"WHY DOES THAT CHAMELEON HATE US PARROTS!?" screeched the red macaw chick at the top of her lungs at Carnassial and his gang, her tattered left wing flapping with her right wing as she forced the words out of her beak. Fury was exploding through her fear and she demanded to know why. Her cat captor, which was a serval, then darted in its paws and seized the red macaw out of the air to stop her flapping. Betelgeuse struggled in the serval's paws as Carnassial then sauntered towards her, a scowl on his face.
"You really wanna know?" he asked. Betelgeuse, her eyes blazing yellow-orange firestorms, glared back at the caracal and nodded harshly. Alecto turned to the lead caracal.
"I think it's best if we tell that chick before we, or one of us, consumes her, Carnassial," she said.
"In other words, her last-minute request," put in Shenzi. Some of the other caracals and servals nodded in agreement. Carnassial, at first, hesitated but then he relented.
"Alright," he said, "Since Dalek's backstory and how he came to detest parrots will be delivered to a pair of ears that will not be surviving, let's go ahead then. After all, that sulfur-crested cockatoo wanted to hear it so let's grant the same request asked of this little scarlet macaw chick…"
Sandalwood and the others, when they heard this, cocked their ears to receive this important information as Carnassial and his gang sat down and began to tell Betelgeuse Dalek's backstory.
"Before our chameleon friend was brought here, he had been a pet of a wealthy boy who loved sci-fi movies," Carnassial began. Sandalwood and the others, and Betelgeuse listened intently, "Like his owner, Dalek loved sci-fi movies as well, particularly the series containing that fictional race of aliens resembling the things humans call peppershakers with a horizontal stick protruding from their tops from which he got his name. Dalek and his owner did plenty of things together. They loved going out, they celebrated birthdays together, went to plays, and even went to school together…"
"Sounds similar to what Grandpa Blu did when he was Linda's companion in the US…" whispered Spica but Steven hushed at her to be quiet. Carnassial then smiled, "It truly was the best part of Dalek's life; it was. Furthermore, the boy spoilt the chameleon with a wide variety of treats, toys and outings, and even brought him that Dalek dome cap you'll have seen him wear whenever you met or saw him. However…" Carnassial's smile faded to a frown. Sandalwood and the others intensified their intent listening. "One day, the boy's parents purchased their son three new pets, all of which were parrots. They were a hyacinth macaw, a scarlet macaw and a sulfur-crested cockatoo for the boy had wanted one since seeing the TV shows of the famous Nigel the Cockatoo, and as soon as the boy met these three new pets, it was love at first sight. That's where things took a turn for the worse for poor Dalek. Over time, the boy began to lose interest in Dalek and spend more and more time with the three parrots and soon, Dalek found that the two macaws and the cockatoo were beginning to displace him from the top spot as his owner's favourite pet, and all the activities he used to do with his owner like going out, going to school and plays and celebrating birthdays…" Sandalwood and the others felt a pang of pity for the chameleon when they heard this before continuing to listen to Carnassial as he continued, "And eventually, the boy's interest became so fully focussed on the scarlet and hyacinth macaws and the cockatoo that he eventually lost interest in Dalek altogether, much to the chameleon's immense jealousy. He was ignored… and any treats Dalek received were given to the three parrots in the form of fruit and not the chameleon food he used to receive…"
"Then…" continued Carnassial, "After an incident in which Dalek injured the cockatoo out of his burning jealousy much to the boy's distress, the boy's parents took the chameleon to a pet store where he was kept there for a while. It was there that he had developed his intense hatred for all parrots, especially after seeing the parrots in that pet store get more attention from the customers. Then eventually, Dalek was found to be a rare chameleon species and was brought here," Carnassial's mouth widened into a wicked smile, "Since then, he had been putting his sheer hatred of all parrots into practice by forcing them into the Carnivore Compartment for us to eat; he had made a deal with us to do just that after meeting us…"
Sandalwood and the others blinked in surprise. That seemed to explain Dalek's volcanic hatred for all parrots and his love for torturing them very well. He had been a favourite pet of a wealthy boy but that position had been taken from him by the cockatoo, the scarlet macaw and the hyacinth macaw. Furthermore, these events paralleled Nigel's position as show bird to a great extent. Like how Dalek had been his owner's favourite pet, Nigel had been popular, and he adored that career until that world was shattered when that parakeet came in and displaced him from that position, leading to the cockatoo's toxic, acidic hatred for all exotic birds and his application of it in capturing and torturing them the moment he joined Marcel's smuggling gang. Then after finishing Dalek's backstory, Carnassial shot Betelgeuse a glare.
"Happy now?" he asked. Betelgeuse said nothing, only replying with a silent lour of acidic rage.
"Oh, you're not gonna answer?" said Carnassial, "Well, that was a waste of time in telling you Dalek's backstory but now…" his gaze hardened, "It's time to prepare you for your fate as our rare treat. Narcissa," the serval, Narcissa, sprung to attention.
"Take that red macaw chick and make sure that she doesn't get away," commanded Carnassial, before his gaze landed on Betelgeuse's tattered left wing, "Hopefully, Dalek would have made a start in hindering the chick's ability to escape aerially should she ever slip out of our paws."
Then before Betelgeuse could protest, Narcissa's paws locked her in a grip and she was taken away. The red macaw chick squirmed and screeched as the serval carried her off.
"Let me go, you WRETCHED… VILE..." shouted Betelgeuse and with that, she began to spew an incredibly caustic concoction of foul words and threats. However, her feline captors deliberately deafened their ears to her caustic screeching that had the pH of battery acid. Sandalwood, Sirius, Spica, Sugilite, Cytosine, Thymine, Steven, Lars, Connie and JD exchanged glances and moved away to formulate a rescue plan.
Meanwhile
Blu, Jewel, D'Artagnan, Aurora, Athos, Aramis, Phoebe and Levi, together with Carla, Bia, Tiago and Kira; Spinel and Poinsettia; Stella, Soren, Augustus, Benjamin, Indigo and Victor; Jasmine, Finn, Aiden, Frodo and Spyro, all flew close behind the truck on which the intruders to Tulio's Aviary drove. The night jungle (that is, the NATURAL jungle, not artificial like the one in the Paradise Sanctuary) resembled a black mass lit up by moonlight shafts. The sky was partly cloudy and the moon was a partial circle hovering in the sky like a silver berry against a sea of stars. However, Blu and company were not in the mood for stargazing. They had more important things to focus on. In the back of the truck, under a large cloak were the caged animals: the captured birds this group of humans had managed to nab with their dogs and crows. These captured animals were the two golden fruithawks, Neytiri, Trixie, Tristan, Eragon and Luna. Five of them were still asleep, the effect of the sleeping gas still lingering in their system but the other two were not. Around the covered animals were several of the humans, along with dogs and crows, and they clung onto the truck's sides and the cages as the truck drove along the bumpy road to prevent themselves and the prizes from tumbling out. As Blu's group flew along, Victor and Indigo glided alongside the truck, being careful not to get spotted, and began to listen to the riders in the trailer as they chatted triumphantly. The front of the truck was illuminated by streams of artificial light from the front lights.
The trailer riders were chatting in Brazilian Portuguese and Victor was translating it into English for he was better at it than Indigo even though she had spent her entire life living in Brazil. As the two hyacinth macaws translated the humans' conversation, Blu called out to the pair.
"What are they saying, Indigo and Victor?" he said, prompting Phoebe to raise a talon to tell him to be quiet and not distract them. Blu did so and continued to watch Indigo and Victor as they continued to translate the conversation of the trailer riders. Then after a few more minutes, the two hyacinth macaws returned to the others, but the looks on their faces implied that they had picked out something not good.
"Those poachers' clients seem to be the humans who work at the Peruvian conservation area for rare animals," said Indigo, "In other words, the Paradise Sanctuary place."
"And it is to them that the poachers are going to give the two golden fruithawks, Eragon, Neytiri, Tristan, Trixie and Luna when they arrive," added Victor, "To take to the Paradise Sanctuary to add to their collection of rare animals."
"Especially Neytiri, Trixie and Tristan since they are glaucous macaws, and Eragon because he is an archaeobird," added Indigo. That made the colour drain from the skins under the feathers of Blu and the other birds' faces and the facial fur of Augustus, Stella and Soren as they took in this information.
"Is that what you've heard?" asked Blu in disbelief and convincing himself that Victor and Indigo had misheard the talking poachers.
"You're kidding us," said Jewel. However, Victor and Indigo shook their heads to confirm that they were not. Then D'Artagnan frowned suspiciously.
"Don't tell me those Paradise Sanctuary humans are collecting animals like items rather than conserving them, are they!?" he said.
"Tulio and his team would never, EVER treat rare animals that way," said Blu, before his brown glare rested on the poachers in the truck.
"Wait, there's more," said Victor, "We have also heard the poachers discussing something about another team capturing some adult breeding pairs of macaws of the rare, unheard-of and supposed-to-be-extinct species like the Spix, glaucous, Lear's, Cuban red, Dominican green-and-yellow and the purple-and-pink macaws, some breeding pairs of archaeobirds and other rare creatures from the Sanctuary de Amazon for the Paradise Sanctuary group as well…"
"What!?" snapped Jewel incredulously.
"Now our HOME'S being targeted!?" asked Augustus. Blu's face then creased into an immense scowl.
"It seems that these poachers, along with their dogs and crows, are hired by those humans at the Paradise Sanctuary based on the sounds of things," he said to the others. The younger adult macaws, among them Carla, Bia and Tiago, all shuddered.
"Hiring!?" asked Carla.
"Tulio and his team would NEVER hire animal thieves to poach rare animals for their own gain," snarled Bia.
"It would go against their aim to protect rare animals," said Tiago.
"Correct, Bia and Tiago," said Athos, "But let's just resume following those thieves and focus on getting to Peru," he then gazed ahead into the dark road and the truck, "Looks like we've got an even BIGGER problem to deal with besides those poachers roaming the Blu Bird Sanctuary, the Sanctuary de Amazon and Sandalwood and the other kids going missing."
Blu and the others nodded in agreement.
"And I sure hope the others back in Rio will help Tulio and company deal with the rest of the problems on the Blu Bird Sanctuary and also alert Travis, Sunset and Andromeda at the Linda's orange bats' cave home of what is happening as well," put in Aurora.
"Tulio and his group are honestly NOT gonna believe who are behind these poachers running amok in Rio's sanctuary," added D'Artagnan.
"It obviously explains those humans' persistence in the pair of golden fruithawks being handed over as well as their near kidnap that resulted in Merlin's death the other day," added Jewel. Then the group continued following the truck towards the poachers' base where Blu and company will then follow the poachers' clients to Peru… and hopefully to Sandalwood and the other missing kids.