Chapter 35- night talks
It was now night time in Iquitos but the city was alive with the nighttime activities of the humans living in the city. In the artificial indoor jungle compartment of the Sanctuario del Paradíso, many of the daytime animals had gone to bed while the night time ones had emerged from their nests and hollows to begin their nightly activities. The five grounded macaw chicks, Sandalwood and Acerola had been ordered to bed and roost by the clan leaders Greg, Sardonyx, Shade and Sadie with Sandalwood sleeping at the foot of the tree of the flying fox group's home due to his fear of heights. However, some of the grounded kids were finding it very difficult to drop off. Sandalwood, who rested at the foot of the tree, was one of them and he was restless. After giving up, the amber coloured fruit bat pup sat up and gazed at the sleeping forms of the other flying foxes as they hung from the branches by their feet, their wings wrapped around their bodies and snores escaping some of them. Sandalwood felt a wave of longing well up within him as he saw the bats sleep like they usually did, one of the things his fear of heights prevented him from doing. He had difficulty picking out Acerola who was also up there but he imagined that his cousin was also restless. Pulling his gaze from the sleeping bats, Sandalwood slowly slinked from his sleeping spot and into the clearing of the artificial jungle.
The artificial jungle was dark except for silver streams of moonlight pouring like liquid silver through the windows from outside. It was a partly cloudy night and the black star-studded canvas was partly smothered by patchy clouds, along with a half-moon hovering like a silver semicircle halfway between the sun's midday and setting points. However, Sandalwood was not in the mood for stargazing or admiring the beautiful silvery shafts of moonlight shining onto the jungle floor. The air was riddled with cricket chirps and the peaceful nightly activities of the nocturnal animals but Sandalwood didn't care about these either. The flying fox pup was very sombre, his mind in turmoil despite the peaceful paradise-like air surrounding him and his eyes were bloodshot from crying so much from the shame Lusamine and her gang had splashed over him and Acerola, Sirius, Bellatrix, Sylvester, Vega and Regulus and penguins Atreyu, Jacques, Tiana and Finnick through a while ago by telling Dundee and the inner circle animals only part of what happened leading to Sandalwood's group's near-death at the claws of Carnassial and his gang. This was the second time the flying fox pup, along with Bellatrix in particular, had been made a shame of by a group of bratty animal kids. Lusamine and her gang's actions were very similar to those of Isabella and her group back in Rio, and it had carved another gash into the confidence of Sandalwood and Bellatrix and had upset the other kids, both those that had been involved and the others who hadn't been with Sandalwood and the others during the incident with Carnassial and Dalek. Furthermore, the incident had made Sandalwood and the others long for home and the comfort of their families more than ever.
As Sandalwood continued slinking through the dark jungle air, a very depressed look on his face and the yearning for home with his family bubbling within him, a familiar voice called him from the dark.
"Sandalwood?" it said, making Sandalwood turn and face the speaker. Then several forms, two black toucan chicks with orange and lime green beaks like Diantha and eight blue macaws, three with yellow facial features and grey heads all melted out of the darkness. All ten wore sympathetic looks on their faces as they gathered around him.
"You okay?" asked Lillie. Sandalwood just turned his face away and breathed a sigh.
"No," he moaned in a low voice, his eyes threatening to weep tears again, "Just been going over the events of today and the mess that Livingstone's fruit bat and her gang has left us in…" his ears then dropped and he lowered his head, wiping his nose with a membranous wing as he sniffled. Then the group of ten, which were Lillie and her brother Gladion, and Sirius, Spica, Bellatrix, Achernar, Polaris, Canopus, Katniss and Arcturus, the latter three who were glaucous macaws and who had managed to sneak out of their hollows of stay and gather around Sandalwood, then clustered around the depressed bat as he threatened to enter another episode of sobbing. As they placed comforting wings onto the flying fox pup's back, Achernar's face morphed into a look of total outrage.
"This is exactly no different from what that wretched toucan kid Isabella and her comrades have put you through," he hissed, his teal-tinted cerulean feathers, especially those on his head which resembled his grandfather Roberto's head feathers bristling.
"Yes," put in Polaris, her blue-purple feathers similar to her aunt Lavender also spiked like a cat's fur as rage burned hotly through her. Her short ponytail, however, didn't flare out as much due to the feathers' length. "First they put you through a traumatic event and then spew lies about it just to direct the trouble at you away from them."
Bellatrix shot her two second cousins an agreeing look. For much of the evening since the confrontation with Dundee and the inner circle animals regarding what happened, she had been shunned and glared at by many of the kids as well. The only ones who had not shot Bellatrix or the others a glare were Connie, Steven, Opal and Roxanne and they appeared to be on Sandalwood and company's side. These four had reacted in disbelief and had tried to defend the group but had been ordered to shut their beaks or mouths. Then Katniss stormily but quietly stomped a few steps away from the group, her talon lashing out at a nearby stone and kicking it away. Her emerald green eyes blazed green fire and her turquoise and grey feathers bristled.
"When I see that Lusamine bat and her comrades," the younger daughter of Tristan and Neytiri seethed, the volatile temper she had inherited from her grandmother Lapis Lazuli beginning to manifest, "I'm gonna give that brat a piece of my mind!"
She then lunged at a rock and swiped it away with a turquoise wing in her anger. The rock clattered near a cricket, startling it into hopping away.
"Katniss!" hissed Sirius in rebuke as he watched his glaucous 'cousin' continue to seethe and also seeing that she had almost flattened a nearby cricket with a rock. Katniss, in reply, snapped around and glared at the eldest son of Bia and Virgil.
"I'm sorry to swipe that rock, Sirius, but what that Madagascan fruit bat and her gang had done to Sandalwood and the others is utterly cowardly to say the least!" she hissed, her voice threatening to explode but Katniss knew that it would wake up some of the sleeping animals and had already had uncertainty well within her that she may have done so already, so she spoke in a quieter voice, "And based on what that emperor penguin chick said when he explained that Lusamine and her gang were bullying him and three other penguins until you decided to intervene until that horrible chameleon showed up and decided to lash at you, it was clear that he was being honest…"
"We didn't know anything about that chameleon Dalek anyway," said Bellatrix. Her face then changed to a look of trauma as shivers ran down her spine, especially as she recalled the blood-red colour of the horrible chameleon and the green flames in his turret-like eyes that pierced the macaw chicks including her like lasers, not to mention the hatred-acidified hisses that escaped the chameleon's mouth during this. Bellatrix and Sirius, and also Sandalwood, shuddered at the memories of Dalek when he exhibited that fiery behaviour and Bellatrix felt her stomach lurch as she recalled what he had done to Sylvester by tearing most of his tail feathers out which almost resulted in the Cuban macaw chick getting eaten by Carnassial in the Compartment of the Carnivores.
As these thoughts continued to churn in the thirteen kids' minds, a voice said, "Are you lot okay?" The heads of the five Spix macaws, three glaucous macaws, flying fox pup and two toucans, all snapped in the direction of the new speaker as he and someone else melted out of the shadows. To the group's surprise, it was an emperor penguin chick and an adolescent macaroni penguin.
"Atreyu, JD," said Sirius in surprise as the pair of penguins approached the group, sympathetic looks on their faces.
"What are you doing up at this time of night?" asked Bellatrix.
"You know you're banned from speaking with us for two weeks," said Sandalwood in an edgy voice. Atreyu and JD ignored Sandalwood's reminder of Dundee's penalty and continued approaching the group until they sat down before them on the edge of a silvery patch of a moonlight shaft on the floor.
"We're totally sorry for what happened to you newcomers today," whispered Atreyu apologetically, a tear beginning to well in the corner of his left eye.
"We didn't think it would end in 'dis mess," said JD in his squeaky voice such that Sirius and Bellatrix were reminded of the effect helium gas had on human voices when inhaled and spoken with. As JD said this, Katniss stormed over to the macaroni penguin.
"You didn't think it would end like this," she hissed, her plumage spiked out, "You have no idea of the impact it had on those involved," one of her turquoise wings gestured to Sandalwood and Bellatrix, "Most especially these two!"
"That's right!" put in Arcturus who was equally outraged.
"Why did Lusamine and her gang have to put them through such trouble when we've already got enough as it is already!?" asked Canopus. Gladion and Lillie said nothing but they also wore fiery scowls as they glared at the two penguins. JD breathed a sigh and began to explain.
"I think some o' th' elder animals, possibly includin' Dundee, will 'ave told you dat some o' the kids 'ere," he said, "But most 'specially Lusamine an' her gang, 'mong them Guzma th' spider monkey an' Cato th' galliwasp, are very spoilt, prideful and think is funny t' pick on those that 're weak or 'ave 'ad a tragic ordeal," he nodded to Atreyu who sat beside him, "Such as 'im 'ere."
Sandalwood and the other nine shot JD a disbelieving look.
"Tragic ordeal?" asked Achernar, Polaris and Spica saying nothing nearby. Atreyu stood up and walked a couple of steps away, his back to the group and face laced with sadness.
"They love to make fun of me and how I had almost drowned after getting entangled in that fishing net during a fishing trip outing," he replied. Sandalwood, Gladion and Lillie, Bellatrix, Sirius, Spica, Achernar, Polaris, Canopus, Katniss and Arcturus exchanged horrified glances.
"They do not!" hissed Spica in disbelief, trying to deny it but when Atreyu turned round and shot her a confirmatory look, her beak dropped open.
"That's utterly horrible," said Polaris, a flash of outrage sparking within her.
"And it's insensitive," said Gladion, "Mommy and Daddy had always told us not to make fun of someone who has been through a traumatic ordeal leading to the development of their fear of something."
"The term for that is post-traumatic stress disorder," said Spica. She then nodded to Sandalwood and added, "That's exactly what this flying fox pup suffers from as a result of being shoved off the end of that branch with his wings bound to the sides."
"Done by some very mean and utterly stupid toucan chicks who were cousins of mine and Gladion's," said Lillie, saying that sentence with pure malice. After what they had done to Sandalwood and the subsequent pack of lies they told leading to the tarnished reputation of Tiago and his family, both Lillie and Gladion had begun to despise Isabella and her comrades. JD and Atreyu then shot the Spix macaw and toucan chick a horrified, disbelieving look.
"Is that true?" asked Atreyu. Sandalwood stood up and nodded.
"It all started when those toucan chicks led by Isabella wanted me to participate in pranking some macaw neighbours by throwing fruit at them and their tree and stealing their gathered food as part of a 'pirates' game," he said. JD and Atreyu then cocked their ears to the flying fox's story as he continued. "When I refused to go along with the plans, they took me and bound me in tough vines with my wings tied to my sides and feet tied together, and then placed me on the end of a branch," Sandalwood then shuddered and began to weep again, tears welling in his eyes, "Th-they threatened to push me off the end of that branch end and into a lake below if I didn't explain why I refused to go along with the prank…"
Sobs then threatened to escape his throat so Bellatrix took over, JD and Atreyu gazing at each other in disbelief. "Then when we heard that he was in trouble, we rocketed off," her face then became dark, "And the moment we arrived, I was the first to arrive on the scene, all chaos broke loose. When I, along with Byron who is my younger brother, saw Sandalwood tied up with his wings bound to his sides, I surged forward in a moment of panic…" Bellatrix then began to shudder as guilt then began to well within her. Sirius, Spica, Achernar, Polaris, Canopus, Katniss, Arcturus, Gladion and Lillie, and Sandalwood looked on as Bellatrix's turn to break down threatened to come upon her.
"Go on," said Atreyu as JD sat next to him.
"And… and… and… those toucan kids scattered," said Bellatrix in a fractured voice as her emotions threatened to spill, "One of them… bumped into Sandalwood and knocked him off the end… of that branch…" that was it. Her emotions reached critical and she began to break down, so Gladion took over.
"That was succeeded by a series of more disasters," he said, "A cockatoo crashed into a tree trunk and broke his wing, a falcon friend was forced to plunge into a thorn bush by pushing Sandalwood free of it, sending him flying into the lake," JD and Atreyu flinched when they heard Gladion say what had happened to the cockatoo (Vincent) and Hunter (the young falcon who sadly died from his injuries later). Gladion then nodded to Bellatrix as she continued to sob, Spica, Achernar, Polaris and Sirius comforting her, "And then Bellatrix dived into the lake and managed to haul him ashore. Since then, Sandalwood has been afraid to fly and of heights."
Sandalwood, tears falling from his eyes, nodded. After Gladion had finished Sandalwood's story, JD and Atreyu looked on in sympathy, a new understanding about Sandalwood's fear of heights taking root within them.
"So that's why you refused to take to the air during Carnassial and his gang's chase of us in the Compartment of the Carnivores," said Atreyu.
"No' to mention sleep th' natural way bats do, which is hangin' upside down from branches by their feet," said JD.
"That incident has built up a barrier against every aspect of a flying fox's life," said Sandalwood in a teary voice, "Being afraid of heights and flying means I cannot fly with my friends and family… cannot sleep the usual way bats do… cannot snuggle up to my mother… and in the future, cannot forage for food by myself…"
The other ten nodded in agreement, much to the sadness of JD and Atreyu. However, Polaris brought up something.
"But you managed to climb that tree trunk and help seize that lump of meat belonging to Mina and her family of Tasmanian devils from some of those lizards, Sandy," she said.
"You didn't even notice that you were on an elevated location," said Achernar. Sandalwood nodded in agreement but then his face changed to a doubtful frown.
"Yeah, and then I realised where I was and freaked out," he said.
"You were still brave though," said Sirius. Sandalwood, however, shrugged it off. JD and Atreyu then smiled in admiration of Sandalwood's bravery but made sombre looks at his backstory. Then Canopus moved on.
"You mentioned that you were almost drowned by that fishing net during a fishing trip?" he asked. Atreyu nodded.
"Then where are you from?" asked Katniss. Atreyu sighed, reluctant to explain his backstory.
"I was rescued as a chick from some poachers and brought 'ere," said JD, "And I believe tha's 'ow you lot ended up 'ere as well, am I correct?"
The eleven animals nodded.
"But we were torn away from our families and home in the process," said Sirius.
"We seriously miss them and wish we were back by their sides," added Spica. The brief joy became eclipsed by sadness as the eleven animals thought of their relatives.
"They'll be seriously worried about us by now," said Gladion, "Especially those who have lost an entire brood in a short space of time."
"What are your parents' names?" asked JD. Lillie gazed at the macaroni penguin.
"Gladion and I have a half keel-billed, half-toco toucan mother," she replied, "Her name is Diantha and our father's name is Tom. He's a full toco toucan."
"Quite 'n interestin' pairin'," said JD with intrigue. Arcturus then stood up.
"Some of us macaws are hybrids," he said, "For example; the four Catalina macaws you met have a scarlet mother and a blue-and-gold father."
"Their names are Poinsettia and Wilbur respectively," said Canopus. JD's intrigued smile on his beak widened.
"An' who else in your group are hybrids besides dem?" asked the macaroni penguin in his squeaky voice.
"Aldebaran and Altair are half scarlet, half great green," explained Sirius, "Those two are called Verde macaws."
"And Betelgeuse, Rigel and Antares are three-quarter scarlet and one-quarter green-winged," said Katniss, "However; their heritage is harder to make out due to the similarity of their parents' heritage."
"Spinel, their mother, is full scarlet while their father Sheldon is half-scarlet, half-green-winged," said Canopus.
Atreyu flashed JD an intrigued look.
"I guess that explains the odd appearance of some of those macaw chicks," he said.
"I 'ave been told by one of the hyacinth macaws that genes mix when a couple from two different species 'ave kids," said JD, "I 'eard that it 'appens in the big cats as well."
"Oh, yeah," said Sirius with a brief smile, all sadness and grief over missing his family pushed to the background for a short time, "We've heard of lions and tigers having cubs called ligers."
The others nodded in agreement, the grief also briefly forgotten.
"Anyway, moving on," said Spica, her gaze on Atreyu, "Where are you from exactly?"
Atreyu bowed his head as he felt grief flood back.
"I'm from the Antarctic continent," he replied, "from a place known as Emperor-Land."
"Emperor-Land?" repeated Sirius with confusion while the others exchanged glances, some eyebrows slightly raised. Atreyu gazed at the Spix macaw.
"Yes, Emperor-Land," he said, "It is where a colony of emperor penguins live and I was born there."
Sandalwood, Gladion, Lillie, Bellatrix, Sirius, Spica, Achernar, Polaris, Canopus, Arcturus and Katniss all sat closer together to listen to Atreyu's backstory.
"My father's name is Balthazar and my mother's name was Ginny," said the emperor penguin chick as he launched into an explanation, "Ginny is the older sister of Gloria by several years which makes Gloria my aunt, her mate Mumble my uncle and their son, Erik, my cousin."
"What is life like there?" asked Spica, intrigue boiling within her. JD also smiled at Atreyu as he prepared to explain his homeland.
"We're a very musical colony," he said, "Most of our lifestyle involves singing and dancing together but before Uncle Mumble was born, all penguins used to sing which they used to pair up. We call them heart-songs."
Intrigued glances rolled through Sandalwood's group.
"However, Uncle Mumble was unable to sing at all," said Atreyu, "Apparently as a result of being exposed to the freezing temperatures of the Antarctic winds as an egg during winter down there when his father Memphis accidentally dropped it. However, he retrieved the egg before Uncle Mumble died from the cold. But despite his lack of ability to sing, Uncle Mumble made up for it through tap-dancing, an ability that no emperor penguin has ever had before, resulting in him becoming an outcast until he saved the colony from a food shortage problem by communicating with humans, which we called aliens, with his dancing."
The group continued to listen as Atreyu continued, "Then after that, Uncle Mumble and Aunt Gloria had Erik and I was born to my father Balthazar and mother Ginny after another incident, the trapping of the emperor penguins in a massive iceberg until that was destroyed through the efforts and dancing of Uncle Mumble, my cousin Erik and loads of other animals including a whole bunch of elephant seals. Then sometime after that, I was born along with a cohort of other penguin chicks and when we were old enough, we went out on a fishing trip," Atreyu's face then fell, "but that's where things took a turn for the worse."
"Go on," said Sandalwood. Atreyu then gazed at the listeners. "We were taken by surprise by a fishing boat that appeared out of nowhere. Uncle Mumble, Aunt Gloria, and Mom and Dad, who had been there at the time, had been utterly horrified. We thought that fishing in those seas had been dealt with…"
"You can get illegal intrusions in protected areas," said Bellatrix, "I've read it in a book once that marine protected areas, ocean regions that had been set up as protected reserves for the sake of the ecosystems living in those areas and their recovery and the fish stocks in them to replenish, that fishermen groups carry out illegal fishing despite those fish shoals and schools being in poor condition through low numbers…"
"I guess that explains your encounter wi' dat boat, Atreyu," said JD. Atreyu's face then twisted into a scowl.
"It seems that humans are very fickle," he growled.
"That's not always true," said Sirius, "There are still humans who care about the environment and want to preserve rare species but at times, there are some humans who just want to continue poaching them for the things humans call money…"
"Money?" repeated JD with Atreyu raising a confused eyebrow.
"Slips of paper and metal discs humans use in trading," said Canopus, "But there are humans who will try and catch those disobedient people and deal with them," he then paused as he thought about the poachers outside the Blu Bird Sanctuary, "I'm wondering how our families and friends back in Rio are dealing with those poachers prowling around outside the fence of the Blu Bird Sanctuary now…"
"Blu Bird Sanctuary?" asked Atreyu confused.
"It's a nature reserve in Rio set up to protect the jungle's inhabitants from poaching," said Sirius, "It is named after my, Spica and Bellatrix's grandfather Blu, a famous Spix macaw thought to be the last male Spix macaw in existence, along with Grandma Jewel before more were discovered in the Amazon rainforest."
"I've never actually heard of so many birds outside Emperor-Land before I was rescued from that fishing net ordeal," said Atreyu, "Until now."
"Anyway, we're going off on a tangent, can we resume your story please?" asked Sirius. Atreyu did and continued, "And after we saw that fishing boat, everything was thrown into chaos. Uncle Mumble was calling back us younger penguins but I was unable to make it and before I knew it," Atreyu shuddered as he recalled the near-death ordeal, "I got caught in the tough mesh with a massive number of fish, and that was where I thought I was going to die through drowning," the listeners shuddered as Atreyu described his nightmare. "However, just as I awaited death to come and take me, I was hauled out of the sea in the net and thrown into some kind of box thing with the fish. However, the fishers didn't bother throwing me back into the ocean and instead dragged me out of the fish box and caged me," Atreyu then began to weep, "And that was when I was separated from the others. Next, I was taken to some sort of animal place but then I was rescued by some of the humans from here and then brought here, and here I am now."
"At least you didn't get sold to an animal place like some sort of object," said Arcturus. However, he flinched as Atreyu's distraught glare pierced him.
"Sold!?" he snapped, "I was separated from my group and torn from my home by a bunch of intruding humans intent on stealing from our fish stocks," his eyes then began to well tears and shed them, "That's why I loathe the humans here even though they may care for us," the emperor penguin chick stood up and kicked a stone away, "That's why I yearn to be returned to Emperor-Land… to be back with my family and friends, especially my cousin Erik who I imagine is distraught over my disappearance…"
With that, his wing-flipper went to his beak and he began to sniffle, the others looking on sympathetically.
"That's why you sing that song with the words 'So lost, I'm faded,' as reported by our hyacinth group member Sugilite" said Katniss. Atreyu turned to the female glaucous macaw chick.
"That's correct," he said, "That song is called 'Faded', and whenever I feel the depressing flood of memories of my beloved home and colony fills my mind, I always erupt into that song to express my grief…"
Sandalwood, Gladion and Lillie and the five Spix and three glaucous macaws gazed at the emperor penguin with surprise. That was exactly how they, along with the others felt, lost and alone, faded… without their parents and relatives. Then JD moved on.
"'Nyway, change o' subject, I wanna tell you guys 'bout Dalek," he said.
"Dalek?" repeated Canopus confused.
"You mean that horrible chameleon that chased some of us into the forbidden Carnivore Compartment hours ago?" asked Bellatrix. Her feathers bristled as she said this.
"Yes," said JD with a nod.
"I've wanted to know why he just went at us when we've done nothing at all wrong to him, despite what that bratty bat Lusamine said about us deliberate provoking him," muttered Sirius, a scowl of disgust on his face. Bellatrix and Sandalwood also nodded, as did Gladion and Lillie while Achernar, Polaris, Spica, Arcturus, Canopus and Katniss, who hadn't been there when all that happened, looked on.
"Dat chameleon detests ALL parrots," said JD. Shock came over the group.
"Really?" asked Sandalwood. The macaroni penguin teen then shot the flying fox pup a dark look, "Yes, but it ain't just macaws like your friends. It's EVERY species o' parrot… from the small budgie t' the largest parrot which I b'lieve is the hyacinth macaw."
"Has something happened to Dalek involving a parrot in his past?" asked Sandalwood.
"We don't know, but it's likely," said JD.
"Mrs Sardonyx told us that she once got into a tussle with that chameleon and had managed to escape with some torn out feathers once," said Katniss, "The evidence of that fight is present on her torso."
"Dat was when she went t' forage for some fruit," said JD, "While she was pickin' some mangoes, Dalek jumped her in an unprovoked attack."
Horror and disbelief tore through the group.
"Never!" gasped Sirius. Atreyu, however, nodded.
"It's true," he said, "And after a fight, Dalek tore out some of her feathers but Mrs Sardnoyx managed to escape."
"Since den, Dundee had decreed that all parrots, includin' th' cockatiels such as Sparky, Gus an' Lilo," said JD, "Stay away from th' area where Dalek lives, which is why they are'll concentrated in dis part o' th' jungle."
"Have any other parrots suffered at the clutches of Dalek at all?" asked Sandalwood.
"Yes but we only know three other major incidences," said JD and with that, he began to explain, "One involved Dalek attackin' a young yellow-crested cockatoo named Claude an' viciously chasin' him in an attempt to traumatise him, while another involved Dalek attackin' a group of kakapo adolescents while they went ou' t' play, resulting in two o' dem gettin' chased away an' since that incident, those two kakapos were never seen 'gain."
"Did they end up in the Compartment of the Carnivores like how that yellow-crested cockatoo did?" asked Canopus.
"Yes," said JD darkly, "While th' two kakapos' whereabouts was bein' investigated, Olympia th' cassowary, one o' Dundee's inner circle animals, had brought back a report that a pile of kakapo feathers had been found by th' human carers in th' Compartment of Carnivores, implying that they had been caught an' eaten."
Horror tore through the listeners.
"It must have been totally devastating for the little clan," said Polaris.
"It was," said JD, "It absolutely was. Since den tha' group o' flightless parrots from New Zealand had moved to live with th' kiwis for their safety."
"And what was the third incident?" asked Achernar.
"Th' unexplained death o' an adult hyacinth macaw," said JD, "Her body had been found near th' barrier dividing our land from th' Compartment of th' Carnivores. We had no idea how she ended up there an' died but it is implied that she 'ad gone down that part of th' jungle to forage like Mrs Sardonyx."
"Do you think Dalek had something to do with it?" asked Sandalwood.
"He was involved but we believe that he hadn't been th' one to cause th' death," said JD, "You see, all th' parrots here have always experienced trouble from dat 'orrible chameleon, an' because he is of an extremely rare species, we cannot put him to death."
"I wonder if Dalek intended us to enter the forbidden Carnivore Compartment so that we could be eaten by Carnassial and his gang," said Bellatrix. However, JD and Atreyu shook their heads.
"I doubt it," said JD, "Dat chameleon just detests parrots an' will not hesitate to viciously attack them but as far as we know, he 'as not killed any parrot."
"I think our forced entry into the Compartment of the Carnivores must have been accidental and unintended," said Atreyu, "Nothing to be suspicious about," his face then twisted into a scowl, "But as for Lusamine and her bratty gang, I'm gonna see if we can sort it out tomorrow. You lot definitely didn't provoke him deliberately."
"We absolutely didn't!" snapped Sirius. Suddenly, the group heard the sounds of a pitter-patter on the floor. Atreyu and JD flashed whatever was crawling in the darkness a glance.
"Oh, looks like a group of nocturnal mammals are heading our way," said Atreyu, "We'll have to go back to bed and roost before they discover us."
"Yes, an' the last thing any of us want is another tellin' off from Dundee," said JD. With that, the group stood up and shook wings and wing-flippers.
"We'll talk 'gain 'nother time, but in th' meantime, goodnight," said JD as he shook wings with Sandalwood. He then smiled at the flying fox pup, "An' as for your fear o' flying, we'll figure out a way t' help you overcome your fear."
"Oh, thanks, JD," said Sandalwood with joy, the first flash of true joy he had experienced in a long time. However, under the joy, he felt very nervous. 'Will I ever be able to conquer my fear of heights and flight?'
"We'll figure this out together," said Sirius, "But let's head back to our nests and roosts before any of those nocturnal animals see us and report us."
"It was nice talking with you lot, anyway," said Lillie, her brother Gladion nodding in agreement.
"Maybe you could teach us how to sing that song, 'Faded' next time?" asked Sirius.
"We'll see," said Atreyu, "But let's disappear," he flashed another glance at the movement in the darkness as some nocturnal mammals began to talk, "I don't want those furry creatures hearing us. We've been in enough trouble as it is already."
And with that, Gladion and Lillie, Bellatrix, Sirius, Spica, Achernar, Polaris, Canopus, Katniss and Arcturus and Sandalwood all left and returned to their respective sleeping spots while Atreyu and JD left for the penguins' area.