Sandalwood and his Friends and the Paradise Sanctuary- edited

by VPVPVP

Carla and company's trip to Rio goes badly wrong when some of their kids are caught by poachers. The kids get rescued and placed in a conservation area with various animals from around the world, but they soon suspect something off about the area. In Rio, Blu and the others must deal with another problem on the Blu Bird Sanctuary while figuring out a way to rescue the poached kids

72. 72- interrupted moment, horrible feeling

Chapter 72- a badly interrupted romantic moment and a horrible feeling while at the Vista Chinesa

The day passed quite quickly since Tulio and company had touched down in Rio airport from their ten-or-so hour flight from Peru with the rescued animals, among them Blu, Jewel, the two fruithawks and Sandalwood and the missing kids, in tow, as well as the reunion of Blu and company's entire group, the families all back together at last, but quite a lot has happened. Those that still had some healing to do, such as Athos, Finn, Eragon, Neytiri and now Gladion, the son of Diantha and Tom, as well, had been taken back to Tulio's Aviary while everyone else had settled back in Rio after the massive ordeal beginning with Sandalwood and the others' capture by poachers and their pets, now revealed to be workers of the false conservation group the Paradise Sanctuary people, who had now been arrested and will be facing the consequences for collaborating with their fraudulent clients in poaching animals for mere collection and staining the name of true animal conservation, and their pets who had assisted in their deeds in catching the animals, the crows and the dogs, had been sent to animal homes.

Atreyu had reunited with Mumble, Balthazar and Ginny at Tulio's Aviary, Gylfie and Aurum the fruithawks had had their first dance at Nico and Pedro's 'Welcome to Paradise' bird club, Spinel and Sheldon had made up after some difficulty and everyone was back together again. Furthermore, Orion and Hermione had laid a clutch of two eggs at Luiz's garage, and Velocity had started dating Merlin's younger brother named Riker though she and her new boyfriend still grieved for the loss of Merlin who had died at Tulio's Aviary trying to protect the two golden fruithawks. And Tulio, Linda, Fernando and Tommy's house windows which were smashed by the group of savage toucans the other night and the birdhouses of Blu and company especially that of Eustace and company which had been set alight by the same toucans, were being replaced. However, Eustace, Milo, Rosa, Clemont, Serena, Yolanda and Peach, the trauma of almost getting burned alive still lingering in them, had opted to live in more natural hollows of the trees on the Blu Bird Sanctuary, that trauma having slashed open a fear of birdhouses in them. Things certainly were beginning to look up for everyone in Rio, especially for Blu and company, but there were still some several problems left to deal with: the enormous number of beyond-mischievous toucans still ravaging the Rio sanctuary, and several other things.

Evening

The sun was slowly descending towards its setting point in the western horizon and the darkness of the night slowly corroding away at its light, allowing stars to come out as the day was nearing its end. The moon also hovered like a silver human fingernail in the sky for it was still in its crescent phase. Tulio's Aviary was alive with the sounds of Tulio's team working and birds chirping as the usual activities continued in the building, the atmosphere having pretty much returned to normal. Not too far away, a certain pair of scarlet macaws, one with his left wing in a cast, sat at the foot of one of the trees that grew along the sides of the road leading to the conservation centre (a TRUE conservation centre that is!). Athos and Ruby smiled as they watched Betelgeuse, Rigel and Antares play together with Spinel and Sheldon looking on and talking, as well as Atreyu learning to dance under the tutoring of his uncle Mumble while his parents Ginny and Balthazar taught him how to sing. Athos, along with Blu, Jewel, Aurora, D'Artagnan, Aramis, Phoebe and Levi, when they first saw the emperor penguins were surprised to see Mumble and his apparent immature feature-retaining features (called 'neotenous' by Blu and some of the other scientific minded birds like Poinsettia and Bia), such as his blue eyes, grey downy feathers, and solid black and white facial features characteristic of an emperor penguin chick. However, Mumble had an AWFUL singing voice and every time he tried to sing, he would always emit an AWFUL screechy noise that was no different from Eva's and loud enough to assault anyone's ears and shatter glass, yet he was an excellent tap-dancer, a talent as described by Atreyu as being compensatory for his lack of a 'heart-song', a term for the emperor penguins' songs used in courtship back in Emperor-Land, the Antarctic.

"Well, it won't be long until those penguins are taken back to their rightful habitats, eh, my red rose, such as those emperor penguins to Antarctica," said Athos as he watched Atreyu perform an elaborate dance trick in imitation to Mumble's moves.

"I'm still astonished as to how those three penguins have managed to travel ALL the way from Antarctica to here," said Ruby as she watched the penguins as well, "I mean, the South Pole is well over 8000 kilometres away according to Blu and yet those three have developed the rock-heard nerves to travel this far north."

"That chick was torn from the rest of his group during a fishing trip by a fishing boat incident according to that half downy feathered penguin actually," said Athos with a nod to Mumble as he released a light-hearted laugh as Atreyu nearly stumbled only to be caught by Balthazar. Then Athos's attention travelled to Spinel, Sheldon, Betelgeuse, Rigel and Antares as they talked with Poinsettia, Wilbur and their Catalina chicks Adenine, Cytosine, Thymine and Guanine, before thoughts for his son Alexandre and his mate Estelle and their son Sol back in the Amazon rainforest came to his head. But there was one thing Athos was particularly glad for.

"I'm so glad that Sheldon and Spinel have made up," said he with relief, "I actually thought they were gonna break up for good but after some stern talking to from us and of course Rafael and Eva, as well as apologies made between the two of them and Spinel's explanation that she had gone with us to retrieve Betelgeuse, Rigel, Antares and the other missing kids, the two had made up."

"I hope their relationship will be repaired to its former glory," said Ruby. With that, she leaned lovingly onto Athos's right shoulder for she sat to his right and did not want to hurt his damaged wing. Athos in return leaned onto her crown and draped her with his right wing. Then the couple saw Sardonyx and Greg with Steven and Kevin emerge from the window and join Poinsettia, Spinel and their mates and chicks and greeted them. Steven and Kevin looked forward to meeting the other cousin of the seven chicks, Sol, as well as the other chicks that had not come to Rio on this trip. However, they, along with Atreyu, Roxanne the galah and JD the macaroni penguin, as well as Connie the grey-headed flying fox, were getting to know the chicks and pups they had not met at the place and Athos and Ruby smiled as Atreyu began to playfully chase Diego, who had come in to play with the penguin, around with Mumble Balthazar, Ginny, Finnick, Kira, Achernar and Polaris proudly looking on. However Athos knew that the playtime Atreyu had with Sandalwood and company and their families will not last long for he and his parents and uncle must be returned to the Antarctic and their colony where they belonged.

As they continued watching their first-brood two daughters and their mates watch on as their offspring continued to play with some of the other chicks, among them Sirius, Einstein and Miles, the three sons of Bia and Virgil who were finally reunited, along with Sonia, Spica and Melody and Bellatrix and Byron, the chicks of Carla, Justin, Tiago and Matilda, joining in, Ruby began to move on to another subject.

"You know, while you were away with Blu and the others to bring back the missing kids from that fraudulent Paradise Sanctuary place, I was just going over our past together before we had Alexandre, Spinel and Poinsettia and shortly afterward including where we lived before moving to the Amazon," cooed Ruby romantically.

"Yeah?" said Athos.

"And I thought we'd spend some personal time together going over those events as soon as you got back," added Ruby as she nuzzled against Athos's shoulder and head. Athos put on a small smile.

"Well, I remember one romantic time we had together and that was when I showed you the bird's eye view of all of Rio from a high branch at night," said he. Ruby stole a glance at her mate's loving look.

"Oh, I remember that too, it was so-o-o-o-o romantic indeed," cooed she as the memory of that night came into her head. She then gazed up at her mate's face and then found herself gazing into Athos's deep brown eyes and he into her liquid amber eyes.

"But having said that, it sure is awesome to have a big… strong… brave… loving macaw for a mate who has made an awesome father to his chicks," cooed Ruby lovingly as she started into Athos's eyes and her wings around his shoulders. Athos returned the hug with his right wing.

"Sorry I can't fully return the hug my red gemstone rose, but my other wing's still healing," said Athos romantically. However, Ruby didn't mind.

"But I'd never thought I'd be a good father when we discussed about having chicks," cooed Athos in a low, love-laced voice.

"Well, you proved yourself wrong, my handsome love-hawk," replied Ruby in a slightly cheeky voice. Athos flashed his mate a stunned look but before he could reply, Ruby's wings hooked onto his head sides and he was pulled into a passionate kiss, his beak connecting with Ruby's. Instinctively, Athos returned the kiss and his right wing snaked around Ruby's back. Then after breaking the kiss, the couple stared once again into each other's eyes lovingly, the romantic air hanging over them and as a couple of smaller birds darted by, flirting with each other, and as a gust of wind brushed through the scarlet macaws' feathers, ruffling them like deep red and vermillion leaves. However, Athos and Ruby's romantic moment was suddenly and unexpectedly shattered as a stone flew in and struck Athos' casted wing. Athos jumped upward, accidentally pushing Ruby away from him and sending her head knocking into the bark of the tree they were sitting under, and let loose a short screech as pain tore through his broken wing where the stone struck.

"Athos!" cried Ruby as she clutched the impact point of her head where it struck the tree while Athos clutched his broken wing with his other wing, his face twisted in pain. Then before either scarlet macaw could figure where the stone came from, the most scornful voice saturated with pure disgust and rancour, emanated from nearby.

"Dis-GUSTING!" it said. Athos and Ruby snapped angry glares at the speaker, the latter still clutching his casted wing.

"What's the big idea of interrupting our romantic…" demanded Athos but the moment his brown eyes landed on who spoke, the scarlet macaw stiffened. Ruby also stiffened, especially as they glared at the pair of familiar brown eyes piercingly glaring back at her and Athos but unlike Athos's sweet, love-filled eyes, those eyes were saturated with the most acidic rancour and hatred just like its voice, but those eyes did not belong to any bird. Those eyes were owned by another parrot that had ragged grey-white feathers, scars strewn through his plumage, a tatty pale yellow crest and red bags under his eyes, and his left cheek bearing half-healed and scabby scratches. The beak of the parrot which was a cockatoo, then hurled a glob of saliva at the floor at Athos and Ruby to further show his detestation of the pair.

"Pretty birds kissin' and cuddlin' romantically like what YOU two red rats with teal and yellow wings makes me wanna BE SICK!" shouted the cockatoo hostilely, his brown eyes bulging and his tattered crest flared. One of his talons then shot out, seized another stone and prepared to throw it at the scarlet macaw couple. It was then that both Athos and Ruby felt recognition of the cockatoo flare within them but it made Ruby absolutely furious and Athos saturated with fright and agitation.

"NIGEL!?" barked Ruby in utter outrage and astonishment. Athos said nothing as Nigel then launched the stone out of his talon and hurled it at the scarlet macaw couple. Athos and Ruby ducked as the lump of hard rock shot their way, missed them and struck the tree trunk, clattering to rest at its foot. Athos and Ruby then slowly stood back up and glared at Nigel as he began to examine the couple.

While the confrontation between Nigel and Athos and Ruby took place, near Tulio's Aviary's entrance, Spinel, Poinsettia, Wilbur and Sheldon were made aware of the sounds. Immediately, the four shot worried gazes in Athos and Ruby's direction along with Carla, Bia, Tiago, Matilda, Virgil and Justin. Betelgeuse, Adenine, Sirius and the other chicks present also gazed in Athos and Ruby's direction.

"Uh-oh, I sense trouble afoot," said Spinel to the others and with that she, Sheldon and Wilbur left to investigate but not before leaving the chicks in the care of Poinsettia and the Spix macaws present.

"Do you want us to fetch Blu, Jewel and some of the other older adults?" asked Poinsettia.

"Yes, please do," said Sheldon fiercely, "I've a feeling you-know-who's out to cause us trouble again."

Carla, Bia and Tiago flashed worried gazes and took off to find Blu and Jewel, Poinsettia following. These four had already deduced who was causing Ruby and Athos bother and wanted to deal with it before it escalated into consequences that could spell serious injury for Athos and his mate, especially for the former's broken wing. As Spinel, Wilbur and Sheldon left in Athos and Ruby's direction, Sirius attempted to follow.

"Can I come, Auntie Spinel?" called he.

"No, Sirius, you stay with your father, brothers and the others," said Spinel sternly.

"And besides that, we can't risk you kids putting yourselves into danger again," put in Wilbur. Then Virgil's wings appeared and hooked onto Sirius as he sulkily glared after the trio as they left in Athos and Ruby's direction.

"Let us grown-up birds deal with this, son," said Virgil firmly as he placed Sirius back with Einstein and Miles. Then Adenine gazed worriedly after Spinel, Sheldon and Wilbur as they left. He, along with Cytosine, Guanine, Thymine, Betelgeuse, Rigel, Antares and also Sirius, Einstein, Miles, Sonia, Melody, Spica, Bellatrix and Byron had never seen a certain bird in the flesh before but they had a feeling of who was potentially threatening Athos and Ruby, especially as Matilda said, "I hope that's not who I think it is…"

The fifteen chicks just gazed at Tiago's mate and the mother of two of them and said nothing.

Athos and Ruby dodged another stone thrown at them by Nigel and glared at the cockatoo once again. Nigel returned the glare, especially at Athos.

"I thought YOU scarlet bird had DIED in that stream all those years ago when I plunged into it with you," growled the cockatoo bitterly, his bulging eyes and flared crest striking immense fear and anxiety into Athos and sending him into a panicked state. Those two traits were bringing back a torrent of bad memories of that incident and it sent Athos's breathing and heartrate skyrocketing.

"Athos," said Ruby as she watched her mate begin to enter a hysterical state, "Athos, GET YOURSELF TOGETHER!"

Nigel's beak then creased into a devilish smile and his eyes became saturated with pure scorn and mockery, especially as Athos began to feel light-headed, lose control of his breathing and his legs began to feel jelly-like.

"Wassup, pretty bird?" crooned the wicked cockatoo sadistically, "Don't ya remember when I tried to drown you?"

Athos flashed his attempted murderer a frightened look and stumbled to his left but before he could fall onto his injured wing, Ruby caught him.

"Athos, PLEASE!" begged his mate as she helped him regain his balance, "Don't LISTEN TO THAT FOUL VULTURE."

Ruby then shot Nigel a volcanic look. "Look, just do us a FAVOUR AND BUTT OUT OF OUR BUSINESS WILL YOU! YOU'RE BRINGING my mate BACK BAD MEMORIES!"

However, the smug and mocking look on Nigel's face remained steadfast.

"Good," crooned the cockatoo cruelly, "And I sure hope he gets nightmares about it for a LONG TIME TO COME!"

He then let loose a maniacal cackle as Athos's legs gave out and he stumbled, the stress of Nigel's presence and the bad memories brought with him overwhelming him. Ruby caught him and tried to beg him.

"Come on, Athos!" she cried desperately, "You're a lot STRONGER THAN THIS!"

Athos's brain struggled to hear his mate's voice and he flopped over Ruby's wings. Ruby continued begging him to snap out of it and pull himself together but then suddenly, a set of toes appeared and seized her by the neck, gripping her throat so hard that Ruby's breathing was almost cut off. Then Ruby was yanked from Athos and over to Nigel's face, her amber eyes staring right into the cockatoo's brown ones, and unlike Athos's brown eyes which made her feel settled and relaxed, Nigel's brown eyes struck stark fear into her mind. This was compounded by Nigel's smelly breath and feathers and it made the poor mate of Athos begin to shudder as her turn to become afraid took hold.

"There's no point in tryin' to pick ya beloved man back up onto his feet, my dear," crooned Nigel sadistically, "He's USELESS… FEEBLE…" he practically spat these words, along with some small drops of saliva, right into Ruby's face, "AND ABSOLUTELY NO GOOD TO BE YOUR MATE!"

And with that, he tightened the grip of his foot around Ruby's neck and totally cut off her breathing. As this happened, Athos managed to rise to his feet and glare at Nigel, his stress caused by Nigel's presence having been partly subdued but he still felt weak. However, as he watched Nigel begin to strangle his precious and beloved mate and say, "JUST LIKE YOU. YOU'RE USELESS, WORTHLESS AND DESERVE TO DIE!" before finishing with a massive cackle as the cockatoo then lifted Ruby into the air and threw her down as hard as he could onto the pavement. Then Nigel inflicted Ruby with a slash across her face with a talon, making her cry in pain, cackling as he did so. That did it. Despite the overwhelming fear and stress boiling dangerously within Athos, something volcanically erupted inside him and his brown eyes flashed from a look of stress to pure outrage, his instinctive urge to protect his mate and the rage at the constant appearance of the cockatoo and his attempts to cause the group trouble having taken control.

With a fierce hiss filtering through his beak along with some salivary drips emerging from it, his eyes blazing brown infernos, his feathers puffed out like a furious cat's fur and his body trembling from the volcanic rage so violently that it overruled his stress and fear of Nigel, Athos stood up and began to storm towards the cockatoo without a second's hesitation, especially as Nigel picked up Ruby and slammed her head against the tree trunk, laughing maniacally. Nigel continued tormenting Ruby as she continued whimpering in fear and trembling, much to Nigel's sickening delight but that delight consumed the cockatoo so much that he was unaware of the danger about to leap upon him. The cockatoo then glared at the terrified Ruby in the eye and said, "I should have done this to YOU, rather than HIM, a LONG time ago, pretty bird. That way he'll have suffered THE BROKEN HEART I INTENDED FOR HIM AND NOT YOU! Maybe NOW IS MY OPPORTUNITY AND I AM GONNA BREAK YA NECK…"

A frightened whimper emitted through Ruby's beak as Nigel cackled one more time and prepared to slam Ruby into the tree trunk with all his might to do just that but before he could deliver the deathblow, a blood-curdling screech erupted from behind him, followed by the appearance of a talon that slashed right over Nigel's cheek, the right one, opening a wound in the process. Nigel let loose a surprised screech as he was thrown back by the force, releasing Ruby in the process, and was sent crashing on his back on the floor. Ruby then recovered and looked up just in time to see the volcanic red form of Athos storm over to Nigel and before Nigel could get up, one of Athos's talons slammed hard onto his throat and the toes tightened around his neck like a fist. Nigel then looked up and saw the extremely VOLCANIC glare blazing in the eyes of a FURIOUS scarlet macaw but instead of throwing on a smirking, mocking glare, Nigel felt immense fear, genuine fear, flare within him, especially as Athos's talon tightened around his neck to the point of cutting off his breathing.

For perhaps the first time since Blu and Jewel's extremely savage attack on him years before, Nigel felt extreme terror tear through him and he began to struggle in the conflagration-fuelled Athos's grasp, struggling to take a breath but Athos refused to slacken his iron grip on his neck. While this happened, Sheldon, Wilbur and Spinel appeared but when they saw what was going on, horror and consternation tore through them while Ruby looked on in astonishment. Nigel's brown eyes gazed pleadingly into Athos's extremely volcanic glare but Athos was so blinded by extreme rage that he failed to see the desperation building within the cockatoo's gaze and his talon grip on Nigel's neck remained extremely tight, the pressure making Nigel's eyes bulge out of their sockets. Then Nigel's movements began to slow, his lungs screaming at him for air, something Nigel was unable to give, but still Athos failed to see Nigel's desperate struggle. When Spinel and Wilbur saw this, they were at first stunned at their father's extreme fury but then they began to beg him to release Nigel.

"Dad, DROP THAT COCKATOO!" called Spinel, "This is GOING TOO FAR!"

"YOU'RE KILLING HIM!" added Wilbur, "SNAP OUT OF IT!"

Sheldon also begged the same thing while Ruby just looked on, her facial scratch inflicted on her by Nigel weeping a bit of blood, speechless. Athos continued to volcanically erupt in fury and strangling Nigel until his movements became slower and slower still, indicative that his consciousness was slipping away from lack of oxygen. If this continued any longer, it is likely that he would never wake up if he passed out. However, as the cries of his daughter and his blue-and-gold and ruby sons-in-law penetrated the blood-red cloud in his eyes, and seeing what was happening to Nigel, Athos felt his volcanic fury subside and slackened his grip on the cockatoo's neck. Then the scarlet macaw threw the cockatoo aside and backed away, especially as Nigel began to suck in huge gasps of air of much-needed oxygen, stunned at what he had almost done. However, he was still outraged at the cockatoo. Then as soon as Nigel had recovered and shot Athos a terrified look, the scarlet macaw angrily approached him.

"Get out, and don't you DARE BOTHER US AGAIN, or you'll face DIRE CONSEQUENCES, PERHAPS EVEN DEATH, and Blu and Jewel WILL BE THE ONES to KILL you!" snarled he, sending timidity coursing through Nigel and he whimpered. Then as another squawk rang out, indicating the appearance of other birds, Nigel got up and bolted like a terrified cat. After Nigel had fled, Carla, Bia and Tiago appeared and made a beeline for Ruby as she continued shaking in terror from the ordeal Nigel had put her through, while Blu and Jewel appeared with some other macaws, among them Aurora, D'Artagnan, Zephyr, Porthos and Sapphire.

"What happened?" demanded Zephyr. Athos gazed at Aurora's mate.

"Nigel attempted to kill my mate," he said simply. Fury and rancour tore through Blu and Jewel.

"Tell us where he had gone!" demanded Jewel savagely.

"We're gonna GIVE HIM A PIECE OF OUR MINDS!" put in Blu, the urge to slash his claws into Nigel's plumage flaring within him. Athos reluctantly pointed a talon in Nigel's direction. Then without hesitation, Blu and Jewel rocketed off in Nigel's direction.

"You're not gonna actually kill him, are you?" asked Spinel as the Spix macaw couple left.

"No, but we're gonna teach him the most EXCRUTIATING LESSON we are gonna MUSTER UPON HIM, something we wish Indigo and the others with her should have done!" retorted Blu as he and Jewel left in Nigel's direction, leaving a stunned Spinel to look on.

"You take Ruby to Tulio's Aviary while we deal with that cockatoo (bleep)," said Jewel to the others. Carla, Bia and Tiago flinched at the foul word that had left Jewel's beak but Zephyr took in the order without question.

"Okay, we will," he called and with that he, Carla, Aurora, Porthos, D'Artagnan, Sapphire, Tiago and Bia, along with Spinel, Wilbur and Sheldon, Virgil, Justin and Matilda and also Athos helped a visibly shaken Ruby to her feet and escorted her to Tulio's Aviary.

Meanwhile

At the Vista Chinesa, some of Tulio's workers were examining the wellbeing of the birds in the jungle. Some were armed with net guns while a few had clipboards on hand. These humans were talking amongst themselves about the progress of dealing with the toucan overpopulation and surveying their efforts. Three of them had gone out into the jungle to carry out the survey. With the group of humans were Aramis, Esmeralda (who had recovered enough to fly but still had a few bandages on her body), Petunia and her scarlet mate Benjamin and their hybrid chicks and sons Aldebaran and Altair. Aramis was taking his mate, daughter, scarlet son-in-law and two grandsons on a trip to the Vista Chinesa for a small tour on how it came to be the holder of the Blu Bird Sanctuary's plaque and birdwatching tower while at the same time Aramis and Esmeralda wanted to keep Blu and company informed of the updates of the toucan overpopulation and Tulio's team's progress in reducing it. Aramis had planned to take Chlorophyll, Ashley and their hybrid great green/military daughter Perdita out on this tour when they came to visit Rio as well.

"That picture," said Aramis with a point to the circular plaque on the wall of the Vista Chinesa and its picture, "is your Spix great-uncle Blu. Tulio, Linda and Fernando have named this sanctuary after him when they had set it up."

Aldebaran gazed in awe at the image of Blu's face in the centre of the circular plaque. His brother Altair, however, was paying little attention and was peering into the bags of the humans set on the wooden bench bordering the edge of the birdwatching tower.

"So Mr Blu had had this jungle named after him when he was the last known macaw of his species at the time, Grandpa?" asked Aldebaran with an intrigued smile, "He looks awesome in that pic."

But then he tipped his head to one side in curiosity. "But how come you guys didn't have your pics included in that plaque?"

Aramis gazed at Esmeralda and Petunia and shrugged while Benjamin said nothing. Then Esmeralda came forward.

"I believe it was because Tulio and our other human friends have set up this sanctuary before they met us," she said.

"Blu and Jewel were the last known Spix macaws at the time, I guess," said Aramis, "but anyway, all you need to know is that this sanctuary is named after Blu."

"The primary purpose was to protect him, Jewel and their offspring, as well as the rest of the animals living in this part of the jungle, from poachers," said Petunia. Aldebaran formed a smile on his beak at this fact. Not too far away, Altair had removed something from one of the bags and had begun to examine it, curiosity welling within him. It was a small box of sticks. Altair then peered into the box and saw a pack of the sticks, one end of each of them a small red knob. The side of the box itself had a rough strip and when Altair brushed the blue flight feathers of one of his tiny, colourful wings along it and discovered that it had a sharp, prickly feel. His eyes widened in fascination as he took in the weird feeling of the strip but then a voice exploded at him, snapping the younger brother of Aldebaran out of his curiosity and turn his gaze to the shouter, Petunia.

"ALTAIR, PUT THAT DOWN!" barked she angrily. Altair flinched and dropped the box of red-tipped sticks as a pair of scarlet macaw wings then shot in and scooped him away from the box and the bag.

"I-I-I was only…" he began to protest but Benjamin shot him a rebuking glare with Aramis and Esmeralda joining in for they knew what those sticks were. Aldebaran looked on and said nothing, and Benjamin had seen a box of these things before, shown to him by Aramis and Esmeralda and told what their function was.

"Those things are NOT FOR CHICKS TO PLAY WITH!" shouted Petunia, making Altair flinch. As these words exploded from his mother's beak in rebuke to Altair, Aldebaran's eyes happened to pick up some movement out of their corner. The older son of Petunia and Benjamin turned to the movement's direction but he found nothing.

"Yes, they are extremely dangerous and can be destructive if misused," put in Aramis sternly. He was trembling violently, knowing what those sticks Altair was examining could do if they WERE in the wrong or careless hands. Altair bowed his head in shame while Aldebaran looked on in utter disapproval, but he was also feeling uneasy. Nearby, the man had packed away the box of the sticks Altair had been examining, alarm in his eyes at having seen the chick fiddle with them. While Altair continued to be scolded by his family, the man then asked his colleagues about the toucan population as three of them climbed the Vista Chinesa ladder after a survey out in the jungle. As the three surveyors stood before the man and the others with him, Aldebaran pulled away from Aramis and the others and cocked an ear to listen.

"There are still quite a lot of those toucans in the forest, Bill," said one of the surveyors, a woman, "I don't know how many there are but… it seems that the toucan population reduction is gonna take longer than we thought…"

"We've seen one of the toucan families flying through the trees and believe me, that family must have at least thirty chicks," said another surveyor, a man. Aldebaran breathed in a short sharp gasp just as Petunia came in, a frown on her face.

"That doesn't sound good at all," whispered she. Aldebaran gazed at his great green mother.

"How many of those rabbit-breeding toucans have they caught, Mother?" he asked. He, along with Altair, Sandalwood and the other rescued kids had been told by Blu and the others about the toucan overpopulation just before they touched down in Rio. Petunia gazed at her hybrid son and said nothing. Then Aramis came in, a frown on his face.

"We need to report this to Blu and Jewel now," he said. As Aramis spoke, Aldebaran thought he saw another flash of movement out the corner of his eye, this time a bigger one. Startled, the macaw chick snapped his gaze in the movement's direction but again he saw nothing. However he did see a bird from the jungle fly by and assumed it to be the movement. 'Perhaps it's my mind playing tricks on me?' asked Aldebaran to himself in his head. Just then, Petunia's voice pulled him out of his worried gaze.

"Aldebaran, it's time to go," said she. Aldebaran gazed at his green mother and then at his great green grandmother, grandfather, scarlet father and brother and saw that they were prepared for departure. A sigh leaving his beak, he complied and joined them. But as Aramis and his family were about to take off, they were stopped by the shout of one of the humans. Hearing this, the blended-species family turned round and saw the man, Bill, look in his bag.

"Hey, folks, have you seen my box of matches?" he asked.

"No, we haven't, Bill," replied one of the other humans. The others also denied seeing those things. Bill then shot his colleagues a glare.

"I'm having a barbeque tonight at my son-in-law's house to celebrate his and my daughter's ninth wedding anniversary," he growled as he fumbled through his bag, "so I packed my box of matches before setting off so that I didn't have to return home to fetch them after my shift and then rush straight to my son-in-law's house. The matches were right in here and now they've gone."

Aramis and Esmeralda shot suspicious glares at Altair and Aldebaran but the brothers shook their heads to indicate that they hadn't taken anything.

"I was only examining them…" Altair said.

"J-j-just learn your lesson and do NOT go anywhere near those things again," snapped Esmeralda, making Altair flinch.

"The last time I saw that box of matches was when I found them lying on this wooden bench," continued the man named Bill before his gaze returned to the pocket where he had packed the box, "and I'm sure I've returned them in here after that colourful chick fiddled with them…"

The other humans gathered round and gazed into the pocket on Bill's bag, curious looks on their faces and shrugged their shoulders, and Altair flinched at Bill's mentioning of him. Aramis also gazed at Bill's bag in curiosity.

"He did pack that box of matches back into his bag after we removed Altair from them," he said, "I saw it without a doubt."

"Then how could it go missing?" asked Esmeralda. Then Aramis felt unease prick at him and make his skin crawl.

"I don't know, but I don't like this one bit," hissed he. Mysterious happenings often unnerved and even frightened him and it was one of the things he hated most. However, this skin-crawling feeling was more intense in Aldebaran and he shuddered as he felt a strange feeling well within him. It was like the feeling of being watched… or followed. Unnerved by this feeling, Aldebaran heard his name get called.

"It's time to go," said Aramis, especially as he saw Bill and his team pack up to leave for Tulio's Aviary. Then as soon as Bill's team had packed up, they climbed down the ladder of the Vista Chinesa and prepared to leave, while Aramis and his family had lofted into flight to return to the same destination. As the blended family of scarlet and great green macaws flew along, Aldebaran flashed on last glance at the Vista Chinesa, the unnerving feeling still bubbling within him. He felt the urge to tell Aramis, Esmeralda, Benjamin, Petunia and Altair about this but then another thought came to him. 'They might not believe me,' he thought in his head, 'they might think I'm just being silly.'

Despair and frustration at being tugged one way or the other hanging over him, Aldebaran followed his grandparents, brother, mother and father in the direction of Tulio's Aviary.