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

62. 62- Dalek's attempted catch

Chapter 62- an attempt to catch Dalek…

Meanwhile

Kiara, together with the rescue group she had set up, among them Herbert and his chimp gang, Wally the orangutan, Mulan the panda, Mina the Tasmanian devil and some of her older family members, and several flying foxes that lived in the 'sanctuary's' jungle, were now close to the dividing mesh between Dundee's land and the land of the Compartment of the Carnivores. With this group were D'Artagnan, Aurora, Trixie, Soren, Augustus and Luna for they had come to help in the rescue of the kidnapped seven victims, among them Carla, Bia and Tiago. Some of the rescuers, especially the chimpanzees, had armed themselves with sticks and Herbert had a net made from interwoven sticks and twigs attached to the end of a larger, thicker stick ready for catching Dalek once the group had caught up with him. D'Artagnan, Aurora, Trixie, Augustus, Soren and Luna had been intrigued by Herbert's chimp group's ability to make and use tools much like how their tribes and clans did back in the Amazon Rainforest, especially the highly talented archaeobirds. However, they had pushed aside the fascination and had resumed their concentration on the rescue.

As the group approached the dividing mesh, they slowed down after spotting a trail of footprints in the sand. These footprints were rectangular shaped, indicative of chameleon prints but there was something else present. Red dots and spots lay scattered with the prints, alongside some small trenches, which Kiara identified was drops of blood after she, two chimps and Mina (who was also armed with a stick) examined them closely, and the trenches turned out to be sack trails, implying Dalek's cargo. This trail had started from a hole in the wall, indicating that Dalek had sneaked back into the artificial jungle from the humans' zone, but the presence of blood spots had stricken immense fear and worry into Augustus and the other six.

"That chameleon has put up a brutal fight with its kidnapped victims?" asked the Brazilian flying fox and Stella's father.

"It would seem so," said Kiara. Then Mina put on a dark look.

"But that wouldn't be unusual," said the Tasmanian devil, "Now that we know that those previous parrot victims would have struggled in that murderous chameleon's clutches, Dalek would have received some cuts, bruises and bite marks."

"But not like this," said Herbert doubtfully as he and his chimp gang of seven examined the trail again and pointed the tip of his net handle to it, especially at the red spots, "There's quite a bit of blood scattered around the chameleon footprint trails."

"Implying that the chameleon has had an even more brutal fight with his victims as he dragged them away," added one of Herbert's companions, a female. This sent chills down the spines of D'Artagnan, Aurora, Trixie, Soren, Luna and Augustus, making them want to rescue Carla, Bia, Tiago, Finn, Jasmine, Aiden, Stella and Spyro from that chameleon's grasp more than ever. What if the chameleon had injured them? None of the six dared think of the possibility. Pushing this worry aside, the group, together with Kiara's rescue team, carried on following the trail of chameleon footprints and blood drops.

While Kiara and D'Artagnan's group continued following the trail left behind by Dalek, Sandalwood, together with his cousin Acerola, and Sirius, Spica, Bellatrix, Achernar, Polaris, Arcturus, Canopus, Katniss, Vega, Regulus and Atreyu, their emperor penguin chick friend, continued scurrying through the clearing in the artificial jungle in the direction of the dividing mesh.

"This is where we first met that horrible chameleon," said Atreyu as they passed a familiar spot, "While that Lusamine brat and her gang were taunting me."

Sirius, at the mentioning of this, seethed in pure anger. His only thought was sinking his beak and claws into Dalek's scales the moment the group caught up with the chameleon for torturing Betelgeuse and shoving her into the Carnivore Compartment, among other things. His brown eyes were ablaze and his electric blue feathers which he had got from his father Virgil were puffed out.

"The only thing I wanna do is FLAY THAT SNAKE WITH LEGS AND STICKY TONGUE!" screeched the Spix macaw chick loudly. That flash of pure rage also flared within Arcturus, Canopus, Katniss, Regulus and Vega. After the three glaucous and two Lear's chicks had heard what Dalek had done to that poor red macaw chick, and now with the Finn, Jasmine and Aiden were in danger of potentially facing the same torture at his clutches, these five blue chicks were practically burning with the insatiable desire to give Dalek a piece of their minds. Adenine and his siblings also had this back at the main 'village' but they had opted not to come, having faced enough danger as it was. The rest of the group, including Sandalwood who ran along with Atreyu, only had their minds focussed on rescuing Carla, Bia, Tiago and the other five from the clutches of the evil Dalek. The group of thirteen then continued their dash towards the dividing barrier and the Compartment of the Carnivores.

Back with Kiara's group, Kiara and company continued cautiously following the trail of prints and blood dots, the armed members with their sticks poised for striking in case Dalek jumped out at them suddenly. The eyes of all the members were focussed, scanning each and every tree, bush and other plant present for any sign of movement. The flying foxes except Soren and Luna, which were mostly grey-headed and Madagascan Livingstone's, among them Lusamine's father who was armed with a branch ending in two smaller branches like a hayfork, moved ahead of the group, their eyes constantly scanning the surroundings with Mina, Mulan, the other Tasmanian devils and apes close by doing the same. While these animals scanned the environment with Kiara and the other team members helping them, Trixie and Soren approached a shrub after noticing a dash of colour lying at its trunk. The moment the two were close to the sliver of colour, Soren picked it up and examined it. It was a feather and it was cerulean, like those of Carla and Bia.

"I believe this has been shed by either of Blu and Jewel's two daughters," said Stella's mate.

"What have you found, mate?" came Kiara's voice. Trixie and Soren looked up and saw Kiara come in with D'Artagnan, Aurora and Augustus.

"A feather, presumably from Carla or Bia," said Trixie. Aurora took the feather from Soren's wing and examined it up close.

"This is a Spix macaw's feather," she said, "It's definitely not from Aiden, Jasmine or Finn for this feather is not dark navy blue or turquoise."

"Looks like those two Spix macaws would have put up a brutal struggle with Dalek as he carried them off," said Mina. Trixie, Soren and Aurora just gazed at the marsupial wolf with worried looks. Suddenly, a shout sounded, making the heads of all the group members jolt their gazes in the direction. It came from the route to the Compartment of the Carnivores and the dividing barrier. Mina cocked an ear to listen, as did her Tasmanian devil comrades as another shout erupted from down that route.

"Sounds like a macaw squawk," said Mina. The others also cocked their ears to listen.

"A macaw squawk of wrath or terror, perhaps?" asked Augustus. However, D'Artagnan, Aurora and Trixie felt dread come over them like a tsunami. Those screeches did not just sound like screeches of anger or terror, but they bore something else within them. As the moment hit D'Artagnan, Trixie and Aurora, the wings of all three macaws shot out and lofted the trio into a frantic flight, Trixie slower due to her smaller-than-average size. Kiara and the others reacted in alarm.

"You three," called the echidna and with that she and the others bolted after them.

Behind Kiara's group, Sandalwood's group also heard the macaw cries as the followed Kiara's group.

"Did you guys hear that?" asked Acerola as the group ran or flew along, "That sounds like someone crying in horror."

"Horror from what?" asked Sirius.

"From excruciating pain?" put in Bellatrix sceptically. Then Acerola's head slowly turned in the direction of the dividing barrier and the Compartment of the Carnivores. As it did, something cracked within her.

"IT IS!" she barked and with that, the auburn flying fox suddenly turned into a comet, much to the others' alarm.

"ACEROLA!" cried Sandalwood as he saw his cousin shoot off speedily. Then Sirius, Polaris, Achernar, Bellatrix, Arcturus, Katniss, Canopuas, Regulus and Vega all charged off after Acerola while Sandalwood and Atreyu were forced to pick up speed on the ground.

"Hey, flyers," called Atreyu as he and Sandalwood struggled to keep up, "Wait for UUUUUSS!"

However, the flyers were out of earshot, forcing the two grounders to run along and catch up themselves.

Kiara, Mina, Mulan, Herbert, Wally, Trixie, D'Artagnan, Aurora, Soren, Luna, Augustus and the other animals continued running or flying in the macaw squawk's direction but as the barrier mesh to the Compartment of the Carnivores melted into view, the group slowed down and resumed their creeping pace. The team all flinched as they traced the footprints and randomly-scattered blood spot trail to the steel mesh dividing Dundee's land from the Compartment of the Carnivores until their eyes landed on a form positioned at the end of the trail. Some of them, especially Trixie, D'Artagnan, Aurora, Soren, Luna and Augustus all stifled the urge to gasp loudly as their eyes picked out a lizard-like form. Its tail was curled and a metallic brown domed cap rested above the creature's head opposite the tail. This domed cap bore two stubby bumps which brought to D'Artagnan and Aurora's minds a certain alien race resembling giant peppershakers from a certain sci-fi show they had sometimes seen on TV back in London and sometimes in Rio as well, and Trixie had seen a toy of one in the shops back in Rio too. Then Kiara's group's eyes began to examine the midsection and the lanky legs between the domed cap and the tail but as they did, the group recoiled in horror and Kiara trembled. Much of the creature's body was laced with red, dripping stripes, stripes of which reminded Augustus, Soren and Luna of the marks borne by the majority of their former colony-mates led by the former's tyrannical brother Cicatriz after they had recently fought a bird, the precursors to the scars they had. The weeping red stripes were claw marks, but then the three flying foxes noticed a few weeping bite marks as well. These marks were v-shaped, indicating they had come from a certain bird type's beak. The claw marks and bite injuries were dripping a few drops of blood onto the sand. The seemingly bloodied creature was up to something, especially based on a discarded cloth to its left, its body turned away from it. As Kiara's group continued examining the creature, a voice belonging to someone familiar in front of the head and domed cap, especially to D'Artagnan, erupted.

"LET ME GO, you LIZARD BEAST… WHAT ARE YOU…" however, it was cut off by the sounds of a struggle to breathe as the speaker was strangled. As the form spoke, struggled and writhed, a massive snake-like hiss, one saturated with the purest sadism Kiara and the others had ever heard and which reminded Trixie, Aurora and D'Artagnan of a certain sadistic white crested parrot back in Rio whenever he tortured 'pretty birds', sounded from beneath the domed cap. Then Mina's eyes landed on the writhing form under the creature, which turned out to be a deep blue macaw, its feathers like those of D'Artagnan, in the creature's front pad-like hands and restrained against the sand on his back.

"Oh, come on," growled the Tasmanian devil in utter disbelief, especially based on how the macaw was held with one of the creature's pad-like hands clamping his wing, and the other on the macaw's throat which was responsible for the gagging noises. The others, especially D'Artagnan, looked on in utter horror as the creature's pad-like hand on the macaw's wing proceeded to do something that was unthinkable. Horror then boiled within Kiara and company as the scratch and bite-covered chameleon, which was indeed Dalek, began to pull on the wing of the macaw, which D'Artagnan identified was his son-in-law Finn, to his immense horror.

As the chameleon, his face laced with extreme sadism and pure insanity, pulled as hard as he could on Finn's wing, an extremely piercing and bloodcurdling scream volcanically erupted from Finn's beak but strangled due to the chameleon's pad-like hand on his throat. Kiara and the others screamed loudly as they watched Dalek attempt to wrench Finn's wing out of its socket while at the same time relishing the young male Lear's macaw's screech of excruciating pain as the agony exploding from his shoulder.

"FIIIIIN!" screeched D'Artagnan in utter anguish as he watched the horrible chameleon successfully pull his son-in-law's wing out of its socket. After this, the chameleon promptly shoved the now- injured Finn, who was screaming and crying in agony and clasping his dislocated wing, through a hole in the mesh into the Compartment of the Carnivores to a group of awaiting figures that the chimps and Wally had just spotted. The others continued screaming in extreme disturbance as the evil chameleon then eyed them with an extremely devilish glare on his face. His mouth was widened into a fiendish grimace from which saliva dripped. That did it. The wrath boiling under the immense and sheer horror of Aurora, Trixie, Augustus, Soren, Luna and D'Artagnan exploded.

"D'ARTAGNAN, ATTACK THAT ANIMAL!" bellowed Aurora volcanically. D'Artagnan, without hesitation and especially based on what Dalek had done to his son-in-law, surged forward with an extremely enraged screech, his claws aiming for Dalek's face. However, the chameleon dodged, sending D'Artagnan's claws plunging into the steel mesh instead. D'Artagnan then lunged again at the chameleon and attempted to slash him but the chameleon ducked and darted off.

"HERBERT!" commanded Kiara as she watched the scaly monster with a domed cap scurry by like a rat. Herbert and his chimp gang then rushed forward towards the chameleon and attempted to ensnare him with their sticks but the chameleon managed to dodge them by accelerating on despite the pain in his injuries which Herbert had deduced was inflicted upon the chameleon by his captured victims, sending the chimps' sticks and Herbert's 'net' crashing into the sand. Augustus, Soren, Luna, Trixie and Aurora, together with D'Artagnan rushed over to the mesh and peered through the steel net to search for Finn but to their horror, Finn was nowhere to be seen. Then Soren spotted a hole in the corner.

"Through THERE!" he called to the other five. Then without hesitation, the three flying foxes, Lear's macaw, small glaucous macaw and Spix macaw all dove for the hole and squeezed through it one by one. Kiara saw the six enter the dangerous grounds while the other animals, among them Mina, Mulan and Wally and the flying foxes, began to search for Dalek.

"Where did he GO!?" barked Mulan to the chimps to which the chimps replied with a confused expression. While they did that, Kiara called to D'Artagnan and company.

"Where are you six GOING!?" she barked in astonishment, "GET BACK ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE MESH, WILL YOU!?"

Augustus glared at the echidna through the mesh and said, "You deal with that chameleon while we rescue Finn and the others!"

Then before Kiara could protest, he was off with D'Artagnan, Trixie, Aurora, Soren and Luna in tow. Stunned, Kiara turned and resumed helping her group to search for and catch Dalek.

Acerola continued rocketing ahead of the group with Sirius and the other macaws close behind her. Behind the macaw chicks, Sandalwood and Atreyu continued to scurry along despite the shortness of breath beginning to set in as their leg muscles strained hard to propel them after the flyers. They were moving at an even faster pace than before, the cry of a familiar macaw having reached their ears, alarming them, especially Vega and Regulus who had both screeched "DAAAD!" in response. While Sandalwood and his group continued their frantic rush to the barrier mesh and the Compartment of the Carnivores, Kiara and company continued chasing after Dalek, looks of thunder lacing their faces.

"Now we've found proof of that little flying fox and some of his friends' claims of that hideous chameleon shoving parrots into the Compartment of the Carnivores for ourselves," shouted Mina as she hopped over a rock with two of her Tasmanian devil comrades following.

"Sandalwood, Betelgeuse and the others weren't kidding when they told us about that chameleon's evil intentions," put in Mulan as she sidestepped a log and continued to run on all fours. Kiara and the others did not reply and continued their chase of Dalek who had two of the stick-armed chimpanzees hot on his tail.

"GET BACK HERE, you MURDEROUS, PARROT-KILLING, OVERGROWN SKINK!" bellowed one of the chimps and with that, she lunged forward and attempted to slam her stick onto Dalek's back but Dalek darted to the right, making the chimp's stick miss and slam into the sand instead. However, the chimp darted off after the chameleon with her companions in tow. As Dalek dashed by Kiara and the other animals, Lusamine's father and two of the other Livingstone's flying foxes lunged forward and tried to pounce onto the chameleon only to miss and crash into the sand. Mulan then dived at Dalek with her front paws outstretched but she also missed and was sent sliding on her front into a bush. A bushy crash, accompanied by a yelp of pain from Mulan's mouth as her face and upper body were scratched by the plant's branches travelled from their source and to Sandalwood and company's ears, prompting them to halt abruptly. Katniss flashed the others a look.

"Was that Mulan the panda?" asked the little glaucous macaw with surprise. As she said this, her brother Canopus and cousin Arcturus spotted some familiar forms as they began to search for something. The two gasped and commanded the others to dive into hiding, which they did behind a cluster of more bushes. Atreyu and Sandalwood, who were puffing and panting from running behind the flyers followed. After this, Sirius parted some leaves and peered out. Sure enough the group of kids' gazes found Kiara and company as they entered search mode.

"Where did that chameleon go!?" asked one of the chimps which Sandalwood, Sirius, Bellatrix and Spica identified was Herbert.

"Chameleon?" whispered Bellatrix in confusion. Then it struck her.

"I don't know," replied one of the flying foxes which Sandalwood and Acerola identified was Lusamine's father, "He just darted past us so fast that we missed him."

"Search for any footprints," commanded Kiara, "We've GOT to catch that lizard and bring him to Dundee on the double!"

The other animals obeyed and began to spread out to look for any clues as to where Dalek had darted off to. When Sandalwood and company heard this, smug chances were exchanged.

"Looks like they've finally found that rodent in scales," said Acerola with a hint of spite against Dalek in her voice as she said this.

"But it looks like he has managed to outrun and outwit them," said Atreyu sadly.

"Let's get a move on before any of those grownup animals sees us," said Sandalwood warily. The others were about to move when suddenly, a rustle of leaves was heard, making the group freeze and scan their surroundings.

"Now what?" growled Regulus.

"I hope no-one has spotted us," said Vega nervously and with dread. Sandalwood and Acerola continued to scan one cluster of leaves after another with fear-laced eyes while Bellatrix, Sirius, Polaris, Achernar, Spica, Katniss, Canopus and Arcturus, and Atreyu, their faces laced with suspicion and defiance, did the same with the leaf clusters opposite the two flying fox pups. Katniss had even picked up a small stick and had it poised to attack in case the group came under threat of anything suspicious. However, they were currently unaware that something had dove into hiding in a bush near them but neither it was aware that Sirius and company was nearby. A lizard-like creature was piercing Kiara's group as they continued to search for it with its turreted eyes under a rim of a sparkling object worn over the head. A mouth was widened into a smug grimace under the turret-eyes as it watched Kiara and company continue to scan their surroundings for any trail it might have left but to no avail, but because it was so engrossed in watching Kiara and company, it failed to notice that a certain macaw chick and his cousins were unwarily stepping towards him, their eyes also scanning their surroundings.

As Sirius, Spica and Bellatrix slowly paced towards another bush, Spica felt something gently hit her on the back of the head. The Spix macaw's head snapped round and she drew in a gasp, alerting Sirius, Bellatrix and subsequently Sandalwood and the others. The others in the group then stopped to stare at Spica as she froze stiff in astonishment, her widened amber eyes fixated on something.

"What have you found, Spica?" asked Sandalwood but this sentence was ended with a gasp of his own as the flying fox pup's eyes also landed on the thing. Then the eyes of Sirius, Bellatrix and the others including Acerola and Atreyu picked out the thing. The thing that struck Spica on the back of a head was a thin, slender, curly vine but on closer inspection, it appeared to be scaly, and it was moving and flicking at the air like a cat's tail. Dread and worry welling within them, Sandalwood and company then slid their eyes along the flicking vine and saw that it thickened. Then from the thick part of the vine, a lanky object emanated and ended in a flat pad in the sand. The skin of the entire vine and lanky thing was covered in scales but also some red stripes. Sandalwood shook his head in disbelief.

"Isn't that…" he began but then the group was made aware of some hissy sounds. These sounds were short and formed a sequence, like a laugh. It was then that Sandalwood's gaze travelled further from the thick vine, along a scaly log and eventually to the opposite end of the tail where a metallic dome was resting. Shock tore through the little flying fox as recognition of the thing set in. This thing was no log and the vine flicking at the air was no vine at all, and it was the thing that must have rustled some of the leaves. Sandalwood backed away and ushered the others on.

"Let's continue before that chameleon spots or hears us," said the Brazilian flying fox quietly, his wary gaze fixated on the thing which was indeed a chameleon. Vega and Regulus then popped their heads just above some of the bushes and saw Kiara's group continue to search for Dalek, the Tasmanian devils sniffing out the chameleon's scent.

"Don't those lot know that Dalek is here?" asked Regulus in a low voice. As he said this, Sirius came in, his brown eyes ablaze with pure malice as they locked on the chameleon's body.

"No they don't, but I have an excellent idea to blow that scaly rat's cover," hissed the Spix macaw, vengeance dangerously boiling within him. Atreyu deduced what Sirius was planning to do.

"Oh, no, don't tell me you're gonna…" whispered the emperor penguin chick but Acerola's wing tapped on his shoulder, promoting him to move along. Atreyu then followed Acerola who followed Sandalwood with everyone else except Sirius in tow.

As soon as 12 of the 13 animals were away from Dalek, Sandalwood gazed at Sirius and nodded to him, his green eyes also laced with pure rancour on Dalek. It was the most acidic hatred the flying fox pup had ever borne. Sirius, a fiendish grin forming on his beak, then quietly crept towards Dalek's flicking tail but before he could launch a painful attack on Dalek's back leg or tail, he froze suddenly when a hiss blew his way, ruffling his electric blue feathers. This hiss was laced with a familiar acidity but there was something else in the hiss as well. As he realised this, Sirius' gaze snapped to the head of the chameleon and to his immense horror, he found himself on the receiving end of an extremely rancorous and volcanic glare from a pair of turret-like eyes. From not too far away, Acerola and the others flinched harshly when they realised that Sirius and Sandalwood had been spotted, and Sirius only managed to stifle an alarmed gasp as Dalek continued piercing him with a laser-like glare of pure wrath and hatred, his mouth emitting an extremely angry hiss. However, Sirius' alarm gave way to pure anger and vengeance as he returned Dalek's rancorous glare. Sandalwood also came up beside Sirius and gave the chameleon an acidic glare as well.

"Hello, you… s-s-s-s-slimy s-s-s-s-s-slug in s-s-s-s-scales-s-s-s-s-s-s!" hissed Sirius tauntingly, bitterly mocking Dalek's hissy sounds. This sent immense shock tearing through the chameleon and he recoiled in utter surprise and offense. Then without hesitation and the savage temper he had got from his grandmother Jewel taking control within him once again, Sirius lashed at Dalek's hind leg and with all his might, sank his beak HARD into the chameleon's ankle. A massive hiss of sheer agony erupted from Dalek's mouth. Acerola and the others all backed away as Dalek's massive hiss reached the ears of Kiara and company as they snapped around in the direction of a certain bush. Then Sandalwood, pure wrath also volcanically flaring within him, rushed around, seized a twig of a branch near Dalek's face and bent it back as far it would go. Then as soon as he had pulled it at that point, Sandalwood shouted, "Hey, lizard lips!"

Dalek stopped hissing in agony and turned in Sandalwood's direction, a pained look on his face just in time to receive a painful snap to the face from a twig. Dalek jerked his head back and let loose another cry of pain as the thin slender piece of wood snapped hard in his face. As the chameleon covered the area of impact with his front padded hands, Sandalwood released an extremely loud hiss to attract Kiara and her group's attention before retreating after Acerola and the others with Sirius in tow.

"There!" came Mulan's voice.

As a pattering of various animal foot types sounded on the sand, Dalek, his padded hand on his face where Sandalwood had snapped a twig into it, looked up just in time to find himself on the receiving end of a large number of furious gazes from different animals, among them an echidna, a panda, some chimps, some flying foxes and a few Tasmanian devils. Sticks held by the chimps and some of the other animals were also aimed at Dalek, Herbert with his makeshift net poised to catch the chameleon as well. Dalek flashed a, "Oh, bother!" facial look as Kiara said, "We've got you now, you PARROT KILLER!"

"Time to catch you and bring you to justice for the deaths of Claude the cockatoo, those two kakapos and countless other parrots you have given to a pack of caracals and servals to be killed and eaten," added Wally the orangutan. Then Herbert surged forward and tried to snare Dalek in his net but the chameleon darted away, making the chimp's net miss.

"AFTER HIM!" bellowed Kiara, "DON'T LET HIM GET AWAY!"

With that, a massive thundering of chimpanzee, panda, Tasmanian devil, flying fox and other animals' feet pounded on the sand as Kiara's group rushed after Dalek. Dalek, panic tearing through him and his right hind leg injured where Sirius had bitten him hard emanating agonising pain along with his scratches and bite marks he had received from his eight victims threatening to hinder his attempt to escape, dashed for the nearest tree, which happened to be the one situated by the wall and a window. Desperately and with his wounds crying in pain, the chameleon scrabbled up the tree trunk, his padded hand frequently hitting his precious namesake aliens' dome hat to keep it from falling from his head on the way up. As Dalek scrambled up the tree trunk, Herbert and his chimp gang swiped their sticks and hands after him only to miss. Nearby, Lusamine's dad and his flying fox companions scrambled up another tree and took to the air to fly at Dalek and catch him from the air. As these winged mammals came his way, Dalek ducked and dodged the furry, membranous winged missiles and continued to a branch nearest to the window, which turned out to be open. Then as soon as he was on the branch, Dalek made a break for it as the flying foxes continued trying to attack him and knock him off the branch. Behind the chameleon, Herbert and his chimp gang had managed to climb the tree and were now hot on the chameleon's tail while from the ground, Mina and the other grounded animals including Kiara tossed stones and fruit shell pieces at Dalek to slow the chameleon down and help their flying friends and the chimps to catch him. However, the chameleon continued his frantic escape towards the window, lashing his harpoon-like tongue at the flying foxes in an attempt to defend himself. Lusamine's father was struck by the slimy harpoon and was knocked into a wall where he slumped down and landed in the sand. Two more flying foxes were sent flying in the chimps' direction where one of them slammed into Herbert's face, almost knocking him off the branch while another chimp caught the other stunned flying fox. However, the other flying foxes continued their relentless attack on Dalek while the ground animals continued shooting stones and fruit shell fragments at the chameleon from below.

Then after a few more minutes of dodging everything that came his way, Dalek reached the window, jumped onto the ledge and scrambled through the open pane to outside much to Kiara's group's chagrin.

"BOTHER!" shouted Herbert in anger and hurried over to the window, his chimp companions and the remaining flying foxes close behind. On the ground, Kiara and the others including Lusamine's father, who had recovered from crashing into the wall and the floor, looked up.

"Can you guys see him?" asked Kiara as the others looked up worriedly. Herbert cautiously approached the open window, pushed it open and peered outside. The chimps behind him kept a hold on him so that he did not fall. Herbert then carefully peered out of the open window and began to scan the outside environment. A gust of wind blew through his black fur and ruffled it and he flinched at the sheer drop below him for the artificial jungle was on a floor above the ground. Chimpanzees were tree-dwelling apes as well as ground-dwellers and were thus normally used to heights, but this spot was clearly not a safe place to be, even for a chimp. Then after a few more minutes of scanning the outside environment for any signs of Dalek and fearing the drop below him, Herbert was about to give up and return inside when his eyes caught-sighted a flash of metallic glinting. The chimpanzee turned and spotted the metallic object.

"Herbert," called one of his female chimp companions, "Let's get you back inside. It's not safe out there."

"Hang on a minute, Marge," replied Herbert, his hand in the air to reinforce his message. Marge flashed the other chimps and bats behind her and allowed Herbert to cautiously approach the metallic object which lay discarded on the edge of the outer window ledge. As he did so, he realised that it was metallic brown, domed and had a pair of bumps on it. The chimp seized the hat and returned inside, not wanting to be out of the safe zone any longer and his urge to back away from the massive, straight-vertical drop below him taking over. As Herbert returned inside, Kiara and the others gazed at the chimps.

"Did you find that chameleon?" asked Kiara. In response, Herbert showed her and the others the discarded domed hat. This sent dread tearing through the rest of Kiara's group and some even shuddered as Herbert put on a saddened look. However, under that sadness was a sliver of gladness at the implication of finding Dalek's discarded hat. Then after a while of gazing at the hat in utter astonishment and sadness, Kiara said, "Let's report this to Dundee and then turn our attention to the Compartment of the Carnivores."

The others nodded and prepared to make their way back to Dundee to report their findings regarding Dalek's apparent demise.

Meanwhile

D'Artagnan, Aurora, Trixie, Soren, Luna and Augustus cautiously crept through the lands of the carnivores, hiding amongst the bushes and shrubs, their wary eyes constantly scanning the variety of animals living here and their activities such as eating their food, resting, and in the case of the youngsters, playing. The Compartment of the Carnivores was busy today and all the diurnal meat eaters were active and as the six sneaked by, D'Artagnan, Aurora and Trixie had managed to identify some of the meat-eating animals, among them the dingo from Australia, the cheetah and leopard from Africa and some rare and endangered species of carnivorous birds such as vultures and meat-eating hawks.

"Those collectors' poacher-workers certainly have done a good job in bringing those exotic animals from abroad and from various parts of the world, haven't they?" whispered Aurora in a low voice as she examined the diversity of rare animals present.

"Let's just focus on rescuing Carla, Bia, Tiago, Stella, Spyro, Finn, Aiden and Jasmine," said Augustus in reply. Aurora pulled her gaze away from the variety of carnivorous animals and resumed her concentration on the task. As the six ran from one bush to another, Soren happened to spot a familiar form lying amongst some stones. It was a bundle of white fur with greyish-white membranous wings, and her reddish eyes were plastered with immense fear and trauma as they examined the carnivorous animals. This was accompanied by the shaking of her body and her fur was practically on end as though she had seen a ghost or monster. Soren felt immense joy and relief tear through him.

"STELLA!" he shouted in a whispered voice and rushed over to his terrified mate. Augustus, Luna, Trixie, Aurora and D'Artagnan followed. Stella, upon hearing her name get called, looked up to see Soren run her way. Relief tore through her as well and propelled her from her hiding place, and she ran to meet Soren. Then as the two flying foxes collided, they locked each other in a tight embrace and began to shower each other with passionate kisses and release sobs of joy. Augustus, Luna and the three macaws joined in the embrace.

"W-w-we thought we've lost you," cried Augustus at point-blank range into his daughter's face. He ended the sentence with a kiss to her forehead and a hug.

"We were told you were kidnapped," cried Luna. Soren continued giving Stella one kiss after another and hugged her tightly, but Stella was too traumatised and frightened to even reply. As she trembled in the embrace of her sister, mate, father and the three macaw friends, Stella finally found the urge to speak. As she tried to form words, Augustus checked over her for any injuries. To his relief, Stella only had one or two cuts and bruises, but his worry was now directed at the remaining missing seven.

"Dad, Soren, Luna," Stella cried in a strangled voice, "Aurora, D'Artagnan, Trixie."

The six backed away and gazed at her. Stella's eyes then began to weep tears, "Carla, Bia, Tiago, Spyro, Finn, Aiden and Jasmine! They've been taken by this pack of small margay-like cats. Some were pure sandy brown with tufts on their ears while the rest had black spot-and-striped golden pelt like a jaguar. They made off with us the moment that lizard with that weird-looking hat resembling that of Victor dislocated Finn's wing and shoved him into here with us…"

"Who else was injured?" asked D'Artagnan.

"And how did you manage to escape those wildcats' clutches?" added Aurora. The other four cocked their ears to listen to the important information. At first Stella was reluctant to explain the other things that had happened but she had to.

"I was tossed aside by one of those plain ear-tufted wildcats, who claimed me to be 'useless and unpalatable' to them," she continued, "And I was chased by some of that cat's comrades. Thankfully, some wild-dogs stopped them and chased them away when I shot past them, and I dove into this hiding spot," Stella then shuddered as she went on to explain about the other seven, but tears welled in her eyes as she formulated the words.

"Stella," said Augustus gently, "Where are Carla and the other six birds?"

Aurora, D'Artagnan, Trixie, Soren and Luna gazed at Stella as she struggled to formulate an answer to this question.

"Finn's had his wing… dislocated as I've said," she replied, tears falling down her cheeks and more seeping through her closed eyelids. Augustus and the other five exchanged glances; they had witnessed Finn get his wing pulled out of joint by the chameleon. However, they wanted to know of the condition of the other six.

"Carla, Bia, Tiago, Jasmine, Aiden and Spyro, and of course me," said the albino flying fox sadly, "However, did not suffer any serious injuries but we did put up a savage fight with that chameleon on the way and while he was forcing us through that fence-like thing…"

This prompted more glances to be exchanged between Augustus and the other five: the trail of blood and the gashes borne by that chameleon when they saw him at the barrier mesh.

"But before we could get away and while Finn was still on the other side," continued Stella, "Carla, Bia, Tiago, Aiden and Jasmine were bound with some sort of vines to prevent them from flying away while Spyro was shoved in some sort of bony cage…" she trailed off as her emotions began to overflow and she broke down. Augustus pulled her into a hug to comfort her. Soren and Luna joined in and Stella began to sob into Augustus's chest. Aurora, D'Artagnan and Trixie then gazed at each other.

"Well, that's provided us with some valuable information," said Aurora, "We'd better find those wildcats and rescue those birds from them right away."

"We'll take Stella back to the safety of the other jungle," said Soren as he, Luna and Augustus broke the hug with Stella. Augustus then joined the three macaws' side, a firm look on his face.

"Well, you two do that while we go after the seven birds," said he firmly. Soren, Stella and Luna shot the older flying fox an alarmed look.

"But Father," said Luna with concern, "Those wildcats could be extremely dangerous. What if you or D'Artagnan, Aurora and Trixie get hurt?"

"Look, just do as I say, daughter," said Augustus in an authoritative voice, "And once Stella is back in the safety of our friends and the other friendly animals in the other jungle, I want you to get backup for us, okay?"

"That's an order, Luna," said Aurora when she saw Luna hesitate. At first, the three flying foxes were reluctant to leave, but after receiving four firm looks from Augustus and the three macaws, they relented.

"Okay, but you be careful," said Soren as he helped Stella to her feet, "and we'll be back with backup as soon as possible."

"Hopefully, that lizard that dislocated Finn's wing will have been caught and dealt with," added Luna, a glare on the direction of the barrier mesh to Dundee's land. Then after sharing a few last hugs with each other, Augustus's group split up with Stella, Soren and Luna leaving for Dundee's land and Augustus, D'Artagnan, Aurora and Trixie going after Carla, Bia, Tiago, Jasmine, Aiden, Finn and Spyro.