Chapter 52- the explanation and the taking of the safety measures of the parrots begins
The Paradise Sanctuary
Back at the barrier and the exact same area where Betelgeuse had had her wing flight feathers torn out by Dalek and subsequently shoved through the mesh, a group of chicks and adult birds and some other animals waited anxiously for Sandalwood's group. Arcturus and the other kids of Sandalwood's group with him including Bambi, GLadion despite his broken wing, Acerola, Adenine, Guanine, Rigel and Antares stood with several adult animals including Greg and Sardonyx, the parents of Lars, Steven and Kevin; Shade and Sadie, Connie's parents and Mulan the panda, Reepicheep the platypus, Kiara the echidna, and kiwis Flax and Harakeke. The group stood peering through the mesh into the dangerous compartment, worried looks on their faces but then relief swept through them when they saw some of the missing youngsters return safely. Spica, Cytosine, Thymine, Sugilite, Connie, Steven and JD had arrived back safely with Betelgeuse in their clutches but there were no signs of Sirius, Sandalwood or Lars, which made that gladness and relief fade. Despite this, the group continued to wait for the remaining three youngsters to show up.
Betelgeuse was having her tattered left wing looked at while Sugilite was having her head bump treated by some chimps, among them Herbert, and some other animals who were skilled in treating injuries, while a patrol group, six Tasmanian devils led by Mina, and two chimps, had entered the Compartment of the Carnivores to search for the missing three youngsters for it was too dangerous for any of the other animals to enter for the carnivorous animals on the other side of the barrier had many of Dundee's community members on their menu, especially parrots, and Dundee did not want to take any chances.
When Rigel, Antares, Bellatrix, Sylvester, Lillie, Acerola, Guanine, Adenine and Atreyu arrived back at the animals' 'village', they had been confronted by Sardonyx and Shade who were anxiously searching for Connie, Steven, Lars and the other missing kids along with a number of other adult animals including Dundee after they had been alerted that those kids had been missing. Adenine and Guanine had been the ones to explain their observations and finds in the human area to Dundee and the other searchers, including how Dalek had literally grounded Betelgeuse and deliberately shoved her through the barrier to some catlike creatures. Arcturus had also turned up and had added that Sandalwood and company had gone after Betelgeuse, much to the immense alarm of the adults and also the other kids of Sandalwood's group such as Bellatrix, Gladion and Lillie, Acerola and Atreyu. Then without hesitation, Dundee had organised a search group consisting of the six Tasmanian devils and two chimps to enter the Compartment of the Carnivores, commanded Arcturus to take them and some of the other adult animals to the barrier while he set up the meeting tent. Arcturus had obediently darted off with the selected animals following while Dundee commanded Olympia the cassowary to organise more search groups to hunt down Dalek and also set up the meeting tent. After hearing that two of their sons had entered the dangerous grounds, Sardonyx and Greg had been flooded with immense terror and worry, as had Shade and Sadie regarding their daughter Connie and thus had left with Arcturus to the barrier to the Compartment of the Carnivores. Rigel, Acerola and the rest had also followed.
While Betelgeuse and Sugilite were being looked over, Spica, Cytosine, Thymine, Steven, Connie and JD were being fussed over by the other adult animals, and some of them were getting annoyed by this.
"Seriously, Mom and Dad," grumbled Connie as Shade and Sadie constantly checked her over for injuries, "I'm fine."
Shade's wings seized the little grey-headed flying fox pup's side and violently shook her.
"Connie, you've been wandering around the Compartment of the Carnivores!" retorted the stressed father as he shook his daughter, "Of course you're not fine."
"You could have been KILLED!" put in Sadie, before her flustered gaze travelled to Spica, Cytosine, Thymine, Steven and JD and also Sugilite, "And so could the rest of you!"
"We had to do something," protested Sugilite who had recovered from her daze from flying into a branch, "Otherwise, Betelgeuse would have been eaten."
"Not to mention the fact that we've picked up some vital information in the process regarding Dalek and his association with Carnassial and his gang," put in Steven.
"We'll get to that later," said Kiara, before the echidna's gaze turned to the barrier and the dark, forbidden lands beyond, "Our top priority is waiting for Lars, Sandalwood and the other Spix macaw chick to return alive and well."
"Mina, Maxie," called Sardonyx through the mesh at the search group frantically, "Have you found any signs of the missing three yet?"
She said this in an edgy voice, the worry for Lars clearly saturating her speech. Greg also gazed at Mina's group anxiously. Mina then turned to look at the orange scarlet macaw and company.
"I'm afraid not, Sardonyx," said the Tasmanian devil, "But we'll continue our search."
However, as if on cue and to reverse Mina's statement, a chimpanzee's voice rang out, "There are two of them."
Hearing this, Rigel, Antares, Bellatrix, Sylvester, Lillie, Acerola, Guanine, Adenine and Atreyu and also Cytosine, Thymine, Steven, Connie, Spica, Sugilite and JD, as well as the others with them including Arcturus, Canopus and Katniss all scurried to the mesh to the alarm of the adult animals and peered through the holes. Some of the other animals did the same. Then within moments, out of the darkness, an electric blue macaw chick zoomed towards Mina's search group with an amber furred flying fox pup in his talons. Immense relief tore through the waiters at the barrier.
"Sirius, Sandalwood!" cried Connie, Steven, Spica and the other kids together. Mina's group followed the late arrivals, which were indeed Sandalwood and Sirius, the latter carrying the former in his talons, as they made a hasty beeline for the barrier.
As the two passed through the hole in the corner, both Sirius and Sandalwood were enveloped in a blanket of colourful wings and paws. However, the Spix macaw and the flying fox were both too shaken to relish the relief of the hugs from their friends, siblings and cousins. After the group broke the hug with Sirius and Sandalwood; Kiara, Flax, Harakeke, Greg, Sardonyx, Shade, Sadie and Reepicheep gazed at them, as did the others.
"Did I just see you get carried in Sirius's talons?" asked Cytosine in surprise.
"I thought you hated being carried since you're afraid of heights," said Connie. Sandalwood, however, did not reply. He was too consumed by immense grief and stress to even care, and Sirius was no different. Then Kiara and company moved onto the next big thing.
"Where's Lars?" asked the echidna. Hearing this, Sandalwood and Sirius's faces fell and their eyes began to well tears. Sardonyx, Steven and Greg, as well as Connie, Shade and Sadie, gazed desperately at the Spix macaw and the Brazilian flying fox. The rest of the group also gazed at the pair.
"Please," begged Steven, "You have to let us know. What has happened to my brother?"
"Is he still in the Compartment?" asked Reepicheep. Cytosine, Thymine and the others including Connie and JD gazed at Sirius and Sandalwood as they began to quiver, reluctance blocking their choice of words at first. Finally, Sirius spoke.
"I'm afraid you're not gonna like this," he whispered, a tear falling from his left eye and a sob escaping his beak. Sandalwood also felt sobs threaten to erupt. The others exchanged dreaded glances.
A few minutes later, a heart-wrenching scream pierced the night air of Dundee's artificial jungle. This scream was far more ear-piercing than any screech claws made across wood and the hearers had to cover their ears to block out the ear-stabbing scream. Sirius, Sandalwood, Spica and the others with them did just that, their eyes screwed shut as the piercing screech continued to erupt from Sardonyx, the one who was doing the immense screaming. However, it was not from physical agony, but from the heart. After Sirius and Sandalwood had explained how Lars had sacrificed himself to save these two from Carnassial's minions, resulting in himself in getting swiped and subsequently eaten by Carnassial himself, anguish immediately took hold of Steven, Connie, Greg, Sardonyx, Kevin (who had woken up to the commotion), Shade and Sadie and Sardonyx had fallen to her front, her wings on her head, and had entered into the extreme scream. Sandalwood and Sirius felt extreme guilt pierce them like long thorns laced with poison, and had begun to tremble at the possibility of facing a fiery maelstrom from Dundee and the other animals of the community for Lars's death as well as entering the forbidden Compartment of the Carnivores, along with JD, Spica, Cytosine, Thymine, Sugilite, Steven and Connie, for rescuing Betelgeuse and their attempts to escape Carnassial and his gang leading to Lars's demise, and these nine actually trembled with immense fright, and Steven felt especially guilty for allowing Lars to participate in the rescue.
While Sardonyx, Greg and also Steven and Kevin continued to grieve the loss of Lars, Sardonyx now having entered into an uncontrollable sobbing fit with Shade and Sadie placing their wings on the orange scarlet macaw's back in consolidation, Kiara turned to the others, a stern look on her face.
"We have to head back to Dundee's tent now," she said, before her glare travelled to Sirius's group. Sirius and company all flinched but Kiara did not bellow at them. However, there was severity in the echidna's voice as she spoke.
"We need YOU guys as well," said the echidna, making the group flinch. When she saw how frightened Sirius and the others looked, she said, "Don't worry, you're not in trouble."
This eased the fear of Sandalwood, Sirius and the others and they allowed the relief to flow through. Then Reepicheep came forward.
"Since you guys, along with this young scarlet macaw here," the platypus said; his gaze on Betelgeuse as well, "will have overheard some vital information regarding Carnassial and his gang's connection to Dalek, we have to know at once."
"Let's return to Dundee's tent," said Herbert, a severe and urgent look on his face.
"What about Greg and his family?" asked Mina, her sympathetic gaze on the weeping scarlet macaws with Shade, Sadie and some of the other animals surrounding them and consoling them. Kiara gazed at the family too.
"You take those scarlet macaws back to their tree," she said, "While the rest of us take these kids to Dundee's tent. Steven!"
Steven, grief and anguish saturating him, turned and gazed at Kiara, his eyes flooded with tears.
"I know you're devastated over the loss of your brother but you're needed as well," said the echidna, "Since you've likely been a witness to Carnassial's connection to Dalek as well."
"Um, Kiara," objected Flax.
"I don't think Steven's in the right state of mind for this important meeting," said Harakeke. Kiara gazed at Steven as he broke down and began to sob uncontrollably. Seeing this, she reconsidered her decision. Steven was clearly not mentally fit in the meeting with Dundee ahead.
"All right," she said, before turning to Mina. "Mina, can you also escort Steven back with his parents and brother as well. He's too anguished for this important information reveal."
The Tasmanian devil nodded and went over to Steven.
"Come," she said. Steven obeyed and went with Mina and as soon as the two were with Sardonyx, Kevin and Greg, Mina's group escorted them away, before Kiara and company began to make their way back as well.
Although it was not their fault that Lars has met his demise at the teeth of Carnassial, Sandalwood, Sirius, JD, Spica, Cytosine, Thymine, Sugilite and Connie still all felt extremely guilty for the heart-breaking loss, but also extreme rage at Dalek for causing the whole mess in the first place by shoving Betelgeuse into the Compartment of the Carnivores to be eaten by Carnassial and his gang. Tears continued to fall down the eight kids' faces as guilt continued to burn within them but then another thought came to their heads: will Dundee and the other animals believe their observations and what they heard come out of Carnassial's mouth? The group hoped so but out of these two troubling sets of emotions, it was the guilt as Lars's demise that churned the most. JD, Spica, Cytosine, Thymine and Connie and also Steven felt extremely guilty for not returning to help Sandalwood and some of the others when Sugilite had her accident; the hyacinth macaw chick herself felt guilty for not looking where she was flying and causing the delay, but the one who was one who bore the most immense guilt of all was Sandalwood. His insides churned at the boiling and burning acidic pool of guilt at his decision to distract Carnassial and his group from Sugilie, Sirius and several others after the former had hit his head on the branch and fell to the floor as well as climbing up that tree though Sirius was the one to suggest it, much to the Spix macaw's immense guilt as well but the most largest contribution to the boiling guilt within the Brazilian flying fox pup and the Spix macaw chick was seeing Carnassial seize Lars and swallow him alive, leading to the two to be the only witnesses to the scarlet macaw chick's demise, having substituted himself in their place to save them from that potential fate. Pulling their focus from this devastation, as well as the heartbreak it had caused Lars's family and friends, Sandalwood and company turned to focus on the more important and upcoming task as they left with Kiara and the others in the direction of Dundee's tent.
Meanwhile
Blu hid amongst some crates, his worried brown gaze fixated on the stash of caged feathered, furred or scaly cargo as they tried to miserably sleep, and among these caged animals, Blu managed to pick out the familiar bundles of grey and blue or turquoise feathers of Neytiri (her wing in a cast), Trixie and Tristan in one cage; the metallic feathers of Eragon in another; and the bundle of white fur of Luna in a third as they continued to sleep. Nearby was the pair of fruithawks in another cage, their golden feathers shining beautifully in the shaft of moonlight that shone through one of the windows. Two humans lay nearby with their eyes fixated on the caged cargo, obviously keeping an eye on the animals and making sure that they were alright. However, Blu had suspicions bubbling within him that the two humans weren't just keeping an eye on the animals' wellbeing, and it troubled him as this scene brought back memories of his own smuggling as a chick out of Brazil.
Blu and company which consisted of Jewel, D'Artagnan, Aurora, Athos, Aramis, Phoebe, Levi and also Carla, Bia, Tiago, Kira, Spinel, Poinsettia, Stella, Soren, Augustus, Benjamin, Indigo, Victor, Jasmine, Finn, Aiden, Frodo and Spyro had followed the poachers all the way to their base where they hid and watched from their hiding place as the poachers and their pets sorted out their newly caught animals, among them Neytiri, Trixie, Tristan, Eragon, Luna and the two fruithawks named Aurum and Gylfie. Tristan and Trixie were supposed to actually go along with Blu and company but since these two had been found and caged by the poachers along with Neytiri, Eragon and Luna, Blu and the others had decided that these two will go 'along' with the poachers instead while they followed. Then when the clients of the poachers, which turned out to be some of the humans from the Paradise Sanctuary place in Peru based on Indigo and Victor's translation of the conversation of the poachers, Blu and company prepared to follow the second group as they took the fruithawks, Neytiri, Trixie, Tristan, Eragon and Luna and some other animals, paid the poachers and congratulated them on getting the fruithawks in addition to a breeding pair of glaucous macaws plus a third, and left. Blu and company then followed these humans all the way to their plane where they snuck aboard during the loading process, hiding among the crates and keeping out of the humans' range of sight all the way.
As Blu continued gazing with a troubled and shivering look at the caged animals, Levi and Aiden crept up behind him. The rest of the group was asleep amongst the crates and other equipment.
"I guess seeing that scene brings back vivid memories of when you were smuggled out of Brazil as a chick, am I right?" asked Levi. Blu snapped his gaze to the two glaucous macaws.
"Um, sorry," he said, "I was too engrossed in gazing at those caged animals over there," a sad sigh entered and escaped his beak, "If you think this is a strong reminder of that event in my childhood, you're right."
Blu then returned to gazing at the caged animals as Levi and Aiden sat on either side of him.
"Before we boarded the plane," said Levi in a low voice to make sure that the watching humans did not hear him, "I, along with D'Artagnan, Aurora, Athos, Aramis and Phoebe almost freaked out and became reluctant to board the plane."
"Especially you and Aurora," said Aiden, his gaze turned back at a certain pigtailed macaw as she slept, "remembering how you two had suffered a severely traumatising time when you were smuggled out of Brazil as chicks."
"It seems that D'Artagnan, Athos, Aramis, Phoebe and also Porthos," said Levi, "have also suffered a similar incident as chicks," the glaucous macaw shrugged, "I think Nigel was right in…" suddenly Blu's talon appeared and seized him by the beak. Levi gasped in surprise as he found himself dragged into the face of the talon's owner and into the fiery brown eyes of an angry Spix macaw.
"You mention the name of that sewer cockatoo again and I'll give ya a good hiding!" hissed Blu ferociously, much to Levi's alarm. Aiden also flashed an alarmed look.
"Hey, hey, easy!" he said as Blu released Levi with a hefty shove. Aiden then shot Blu an indignant glare. "You didn't have to do that!"
"Sorry but I can't stand the mentioning of that sewer cockatoo (bleep)," whispered Blu, before he shot Levi another glare. Levi, however, threw on an indignant look as well before resuming his explanation.
"Um, as I was saying," he said, "it seems that we somehow have suppressed memories of our traumatic ordeal in getting smuggled out of South America and to the UK but on the way, those memories had been erased when we were subjected to violence of…" he poised to react in case Blu seized him again, "THAT parrot's violence…"
"It seems likely," said Blu, all hostility faded, before his gaze returned to the caged birds, "Just like how I seem to have suppressed memories of when I was smuggled."
Levi and Aiden just sighed. Then Levi moved on, a glare at the two humans as they continued keeping watch on the cargo. "But to hear that a 'conservation' group has hired poachers to kidnap specimens of rare species for their collection is utterly shocking, I think."
"It's disgusting at worst," growled Blu, "Like I've said before, it would NOT be something Tulio and his team or any other true conservation human groups who genuinely care for the environment and its inhabitants, especially rare species, would EVER do."
"But wasn't Jewel caught and brought to your human friends' Aviary?" asked Aiden. Blu gazed at him.
"That was different," he replied, "That was because Jewel and I were the last pair of Spix macaws known and Tulio and company wanted to breed us," Blu breathed another sigh, "They were too insistent, I know but Tulio and company never had collecting us as mere rare objects in mind. They treated us as living things as every conservationist should."
"The same applied to me and Lapis Lazuli, Zephyr and Aurora and also D'Artagnan and Sapphire," put in Levi, "Though Tulio and company did have in mind to also establish a Lear's macaw population on the Blu Bird Sanctuary but they would never, ever treat us as rare objects."
Aiden nodded in understanding, before his gaze turned to the pair of fruithawks as they timidly and disgustedly glared at the two watching humans from their cage. It was clear that these only two known golden fruithawks left alive in the world wanted out of here but were trapped. Aiden could not imagine Sandalwood and the others having to go through that on their flight to Peru but the very thought of those humans from the Paradise Sanctuary place hiring poachers to collect them as part of their rare animal collection under the guise of conservation, especially his and Trixie's son Arcturus and nephew and niece, Tristan and Neytiri's chicks Canopus and Katniss, sent utter disgust tearing through him.
"That sort of business those Paradise Sanctuary humans are running is gonna make Tulio and his team and everyone else who work to preserve rare species and their habitats look bad, you know," whispered the young Mohawk-crested glaucous macaw and Levi's son-in-law indignantly, "And it's not just their treatment of the animals they are collecting as mere rare items despite any good care they may give them…"
Levi and Blu gazed at Aiden and had to agree with his statement. What really made the Paradise Sanctuary business so criminal was the fact that they were hiring poachers to steal animals to bring to their conservation region. 'No!' thought Blu indignantly, 'the word 'conservation' does NOT apply to what those Paradise Sanctuary people are doing. They're a bunch of ANIMAL COLLECTORS in DISGUISE and their place is nothing more than a collection PLACE!'
Furthermore, the name 'Paradise Sanctuary' seemed to be nothing more than a mere sham, a façade Blu theorised was purposely designed to cover up the true intentions of the group. Not to mention the reinforcements they had in caring for the animals to make it look to the public that they were helping to conserve the rare animals and hide their real collector intentions. However, Blu, Levi and Aiden had hoped that amongst the dark clouds was a silver sliver in the form of some humans who had developed a conscience and see the error of the Paradise Sanctuary's ways similar to how Fernando, Jack and Jill had done when they worked with Marcel and Frank's smuggling groups.
Back at the Paradise Sanctuary
Sandalwood, Sirius, Spica, Cytosine, Thymine, Sugilite, Betelgeuse and JD stood before Dundee and many of the other animals, especially the parrot community in the gathering tent. Among the crowd of listeners were Bellatrix and the others in Sandalwood's group including Gladion despite his broken wing, and Atreyu and some of the other penguins. Olympia had gathered many of the other animals to come to the tent in order to hear what Sandalwood and the others had to say. Now that they were standing before the gathering of animals, the amber flying fox, two Spix macaws, two Catalina macaws, the hyacinth macaw, the red macaw and the macaroni penguin had just started delivering the vitally important information to the listeners including Dundee as they braced themselves to hear the shocking findings.
"Carnassial and his gang are definitely responsible for the deaths of those two kakapos and yellow-crested cockatoo," said Betelgeuse. She had decided to do most of the explaining for she had been the one to directly receive the information from Carnassial.
"Claude," said Kiara the echidna. The kakapos present also gazed at the red macaw chick in shock.
"According to him, they were purposely driven into the Carnivore Compartment to be devoured by him and his gang," continued Betelgeuse.
"Who was the culprit who shoved those three parrots into the Compartment of the Carnivores? Did he tell you?" asked Dundee. Flanking him were Olympia, another emu and some other inner circle animals. Betelgeuse shot the lead emu timid look.
"Dalek the chameleon," replied the red macaw. Shock tore through the listeners. Among the crowd were Lusamine, Guzma, Plumeria, Cato and their families and they were utterly flabbergasted.
"WHAT!?" barked Lusamine's mother in disbelief while her daughter and her friends exchanged horrified glances.
"What do you mean Dalek's the one who is responsible for Claude and the kakapos," said Reepicheep the platypus, "and perhaps countless other parrots, ending up in the Carnivore Compartment."
Sylvester stood up and went to the front. He showed the audience his tattered tail.
"This, and Betelgeuse's tattered wing," he said, "were done purposely to prevent us from escaping Carnassial and his gang should he get hold of us," the Cuban macaw's face then formed a frown, "I, along with Sirius and several others, had been forced into the Compartment of the Carnivores by Dalek and it is clear that he had done it deliberately so that we macaws could be eaten by those caracals and servals."
Sirius, Bellatrix, Vega and Regulus nodded. Then deep regret pierced Lusamine and company and they winced violently.
"Dalek, in fact, tore feathers out of Sylvester's tail and the primary feathers from my left wing to prevent us from flying away to make it easier for Carnassial and his gang to catch us should we attempt to fly away," added Vega, backing up Sylvester's statement. Horrified glances were exchanged amongst the crowd while Lusamine and her gang continued to feel the sting of regret stab at them. They had been totally unaware of Dalek's true intentions and just thought that he was merely attacking them.
"That's why that chameleon refused to listen to us when he forced Atreyu and the others with him through the barrier to the Carnivore Compartment the other day," said Guzma quietly and in disbelief. The others said nothing. Then Mina shot Dundee and the other inner circle animals an immensely awed look.
"It seems to make sense, Dundee, leaders," said the Tasmanian devil in a dodgy voice, for the shock of the revelation was beginning to overwhelm her. Vega, Regulus and Sylvester could clearly see that the Australian Tasmania island wolf's skin under her fur was losing its colour, "Dalek, who we know to detest parrots, seems to be putting his hatred to use in catching parrots for Carnassial and his gang."
"That's true, Mina," said Sandalwood who had managed to gather the courage to speak, "Dalek used to be the beloved pet chameleon of a rich young human boy until he was displaced from that position by a hyacinth macaw, scarlet macaw and a sulfur-crested cockatoo, leading to his bitter hatred of all parrots."
"Which is why he treats all parrots here like dirt and occasionally catches and delivers them, or rather, drive them, to Carnassial and his gang to eat," put in Sirius, "Like he had done to Betelgeuse who would have been that group of caracals and servals' latest 'treat' before Lars sadly became that."
Betelgeuse sighed. She clearly did not want to be reminded of almost getting eaten by those ghastly wildcats.
"In fact," added JD in his squeaky voice, "Dalek is friends wi' Carnassial and his gang and has made a deal to bring the caracals and servals parrots whenever possible."
Then Mina began to sway as though she had been spinning around. The other Tasmanian devils, including her four offspring, and some of the chimps gazed her way. Dundee and several others did the same.
"Mina, are you alright?" asked the emu.
"You've gone a funny colour under your facial fur," put in Mulan the panda who sat with her panda comrades. However, Mina tried to deny it.
"I-uhh…" murmured the doglike marsupial but then her legs gave out. Gasps rolled through the crowd and also Sandalwood, Betelgeuse and the others as the black doglike mammal collapsed into the forelimbs of her older cubs and the hands of Herbert, one of the chimps.
As the other animals, concern for Mina, gathered round, one of the other Tasmanian devils began to prevent them from coming closer to the passed out Mina.
"It's alright, everyone," he shouted, "Mina's just fainted."
"Get her out of the meeting tent," commanded Dundee, "And take her to the medical zone."
The Tasmanian devils and some of the chimps did so and began to drag the limp Mina, who had indeed fainted, past the crowd and out of the tent. Mulan followed for she was one of the medical animals. After this distraction had been sorted, everyone else retook their seats and Dundee gave the command for Sandalwood and company to continue. "Go on," he said.
"Will Mina be alright?" asked Sandalwood worriedly.
"She'll be fine, she's just fainted," said Olympia, "Please continue."
Sandalwood and company did so and launched into the next part of the explanation.
"Before we escaped those savage servals and caracals after rescuing Betelgeuse," continued Sandalwood, until his face fell, "with Lars not being able to make it, we heard that Carnassial and his gang are going to meet Dalek and request that he capture and bring in larger, grownup parrots for Carnassial and his group to eat…"
More horrified gasps rolled through the crowd and the parrots all shuddered huddled together, especially the kakapos.
"Are you meaning to say that that chameleon might be prowling around looking for potential parrot victims to nab and shove into the Compartment of Carnivores?" asked Reepicheep in utter disbelief. Sandalwood and the others nodded. Flax and Harakeke then gazed at Dundee.
"We cannot allow that to happen to the parrot residents here, Dundee," said Flax.
"That chameleon's now a serious threat to them," put in Harakeke.
"Got that, my two kiwi friends," said Dundee. He then turned to a group of monkeys and apes led by Wally the orangutan.
"Wally," commanded the emu, "I want you to evacuate ALL the parrots and bring them into here for their safety. Also, I want you to establish some search groups to find Dalek and bring him to me. I do NOT want to risk any more parrot individuals getting caught and potentially killed."
Wally nodded and turned to the other apes and monkeys with him to deliver the instructions while Dundee turned to Sandalwood and the others. Then something popped into Lillie and Acerola's heads.
"Dundee," said Acerola.
"Yes," said Dundee in a gruff and stressed voice.
"There's something else you need to know," said Lillie.
"While we, along with Betelgeuse, Rigel, Antares, Guanine, Adenine, Bellatrix, Sylvester and Atreyu were doing some investigating in the humans' rooms," said Acerola, "We discovered something else. Those humans are collecting us rather than conserving us."
Lillie nodded in agreement as did the other kids mentioned by Acerola. Dundee flashed another disbelieving look but he pushed it aside.
"We'll talk about that later," said the emu firmly, "Let's just get this parrot thing out of the way first. You lot stay here while I help evacuate the parrots and set up some nests and gather some food."
Lillie and Acerola nodded and left. Sylvester, Adenine and Guanine were about to follow but Flax and Harakeke stopped them.
"You're parrots, you three," said Flax, "You need to stay here with the others that are also parrots."
Harakeke then turned to the other macaw chicks in Sandalwood's group and called them over. As the macaw chicks obediently gathered around the kiwis, Sandalwood walked over to Atreyu, Lillie, Gladion, Bambi and Acerola, a worried look on his face.
"Things aren't becoming good, folks," said the amber flying fox in a dreaded voice, "I feel strongly for all the parrots including the kakapos."
"Finding Dalek is going to be easier said than done," added Lillie worriedly, "He's excellent with his camouflage skills and is capable of eluding even the most skilled of searchers including those with an excellent sense of smell."
"Hopefully, Mr Dundee's plan of evacuating the parrots will move them out of the reach of that horrid chameleon's grasp… and subsequently that of Carnassial and his gang," said Bambi. The archaeobird chick then felt his skin prickle. Sandalwood, Atreyu, Lillie, Gladion and Acerola nodded in agreement as they began to watch Harakeke and Flax begin to sit with Sirius and the other macaw chicks while everyone else left to help the other parrots to evacuate into the tent.