Chapter 67- the group splits up
The man that had captured Augustus in his net continued to hurry back in the direction of the other compartment, his catch writhing viciously in the mesh of his net held tightly by one of his fists to close off the entrance to the mesh and prevent the flying fox from escaping. Augustus continued screeching and flapping like a flying fox having a seizure in the mesh in an attempt to escape and even savagely went for the man's hands and sinking his teeth into them to get him to release the lock on his prison, but despite the needle-like wounds and blood-weeping scratches he kept giving his captor, to his dismay, the man refused to slacken his grip on the net holding Augustus in his 'cage' of flexible mesh but still Augustus continued to writhe and bite at the man as he was continued to carry him along. However, the man was about to cross paths with a certain group of animals heading in the opposite direction to his destination.
While the man continued fleeing with Augustus in his clutches, Blu, Jewel, Athos, Aramis, Phoebe and Levi and Dundee and the other rescue group members, continued to hurry through the Compartment of the Carnivores. With the group were Gylfie and Aurum the golden fruithawks, Spinel, Poinsettia, Benjamin, Tristan, Kira, Indigo, Victor and Frodo and also Eragon who also ran or flew alongside Olympia the cassowary, Wally, Herbert and the other chimps and orangutans, Mulan the panda, Reepicheep the platypus, Flax and Harakeke the kiwis, Kiara the echidna and Mina the Tasmanian devil and some of her family members, among several other animals including some flying foxes not from Brazil. Around the group, various eyes watched on as an audience of animals living in the Compartment watched them rush by.
"We should be almost in Carnassial and his gang's space now," said Kiara as she ran at the front.
"I sure hope D'Artagnan, Aurora, Trixie and Augustus will have rescued Spyro and the six kidnapped macaws from those servals and caracals' clutches by now," cried a seriously stressed and flustered Athos as he flew alongside Phoebe and Aramis.
"Especially our Carla, Bia and Tiago," put in Jewel furiously, her mind flooded with the desire to sink her beak and claws into those wildcats' pelts and the skins of the humans that worked here.
"We will, we just need to pick up speed," said Dundee who was seriously flooded with the stress of what was happening as well as the revelations about this place and its connections to poaching and animal collecting. Olympia, Kiara and some of the other animals flashed their emu leader a worried and concerned glance. Dundee was clearly stressed and distraught. It was though he was going through a serious storm of various crises but it was understandable. The revelation of the ugly truth behind the Paradise Sanctuary's façade and what they were doing, as well as the shock of Dalek's true colours in his attitude towards every parrot species had sent the poor emu over the edge. However, Dundee pushed these thoughts aside to stay focussed on helping Blu and company in rescuing Carla, Bia, Tiago, Spyro, Jasmine, Finn and Aiden and also in finding Sandalwood and the other missing kids, another thing that added to the worries of Blu and company besides the kidnapped six birds and Augustus, Trixie, D'Artagnan and Aurora as well. Just then, the sounds of screeching reached the group's ears, making the group abruptly brake to a halt. Dundee threw on a seriously frustrated and snappy look.
"Now what!?" he growled, making Athos and some others hovering nearby flinch and flash the emu a brief glance but then the six macaws cocked their ears to listen to the screeching in the distance. On the ground, Eragon (his wing and shoulder still in a cast) stopped to listen alongside Flax, Harakeke, Reepicheep and the Tasmanian devils who also cocked their ears to the screeching sound which had begun to increase in loudness.
"What's that sound?" asked Eragon.
"Sounds like a bird screeching in distress," said Flax. Eragon flashed the kiwi a hopeful look.
"Could it be one of the macaws or perhaps my son Spyro?" he asked. Flax, however, only gave the archaeobird a slow gaze which read 'I don't know', much to Eragon's disappointment. Nearby, Phoebe, Levi, Kira and Benjamin had reached a different conclusion about the screaming's owner.
"That screech sounds more like it's from a mammal than from a bird," said Benjamin.
"Like from as bat or something?" asked Kira. Benjamin slowly turned to face Carla, Bia and Tiago's cousin, dread welling within him. Levi and Phoebe also felt that same dread come over them like a wave and that dread soon spread to Blu, Jewel, Athos, Aramis and the rest of Blu's group. Mulan then began to issue her own guess.
"Could it be from one of our flying fox members or something?" she asked, "Like one of the grey-heads or the Madagascan Livingstone's flying foxes?"
Then Indigo and Victor shot in; horrified looks storming their faces as realisation of the screamer gripped them hard.
"That screeching is NOT from a grey-headed or Livingstone's flying fox," said the former.
"It's from a Brazilian flying fox," added the latter and with that, the hyacinth macaw couple and the parents of Sugilite both rocketed in the direction of the screeching which was by now louder than before for the source was closer.
"Indigo, Victor!" called Levi and he darted off after them. Blu and Jewel also came in; dread also swamping their faces as they recognised the screeches' owner.
"It's AUGUSTUS!" cried Blu.
"And he's in TROUBLE!" barked Jewel and with that the Spix macaw couple darted off after the glaucous macaw and two hyacinth macaws.
"Blu, Jewel," called Athos and he gave chase with Kira and some of the others not too far behind.
"I hope he hasn't been caught by one of the PREDATORS that live in this horrible place," cried Spinel as she followed her comrades. Gylfie and Aurum followed, leaving behind Dundee and the other animals.
"Guys," cried Dundee and with that he and the other animals with him charged off after Blu and company.
The man continued to run with the screeching and flailing Augustus still in his net and clutches. By now, his hands were both covered in bleeding scratch and bite marks, the result of Augustus's savage use of his foot claws and teeth on them through the mesh in his attempts to get the man to release him and he still continued to add more and more of those wounds to the man's hands but still the man refused to release him. Augustus glared volcanically at his kidnapper, his eyes blazing blue fire and continued his savage attack on his captor's hands and screeching. However, his desire to be freed was about to come true. As Augustus continued his relentless biting and clawing on the man's hands, the man refusing to release him from his grasp and net, a very loud squawk rang out, stopping the man in his tracks and making him shoot an alerted glare in the direction of the sound. Augustus also gazed in the same direction and before he could deduce the owner of the squawk, that owner had already stormed into his, and also his captor's, range of view, but there was not just one squawker, but three.
Levi, Indigo and Victor came rocketing in like a trio of grey-headed turquoise or blue comets, their eyes ablaze with wrath and as soon as those fiery eyes landed on the man and Augustus in his clutches, the three macaws charged straight towards the man's head and before the man could act, Levi and the hyacinth couple's talons slashed like flying cat claws right over his face and head, Victor's beak also seizing some of his hair and tearing them clean out of his scalp. A massive scream of sheer pain erupted from the man as a few cuts opened in his face and scalp and agony exploded from ripped out hair roots and in his agony, he flung his hands into the air, tossing his net with Augustus in it, upward in the process. Augustus, terrified and surprised from the sudden throw, clung desperately to the metal loop supporting mouth of the net, blue eyes inflated with fright as he spun like a fruit in the air, the threads of the mesh entangling around his wings and body. However, as the netted flying fox tumbled downward after a second of floating from being tossed upward, Augustus felt the firm grip of bird talons, seize his wings, body and the net and abruptly stop his fall. At first, the flying fox was alarmed but when his eyes landed on the talons' owners, which turned out to be Blu, Jewel, Athos, Kira, Spinel and Poinsettia, his alarm faded to relief.
As the six macaws placed him gently onto the ground, Poinsettia, Spinel, Kira set to biting through the netting to release Augustus from his trap while Levi, Victor and Indigo and now Gylifie and Aurum as well, continued to savagely attack the man nearby to drive him away. The other animals also gathered round as Augustus continued to be freed from his entanglement. Then as soon as he was completely free of his binds, he was swept into a brief hug by Blu and Jewel.
"Oh, Augustus, you're alright," said Blu.
"We've been so worried about you," said Athos nearby as Blu and Jewel broke the hug with Augustus. Dundee and the other animals just smiled and exchanged looks. Then Aramis came forward with the most important question.
"Where are D'Artagnan, Aurora, Trixie and also Spyro, Carla, Bia, Tiago, Aiden, Jasmine and Finn?" he asked.
"And Sandalwood, Acerola and the missing chicks," added Phoebe. The other animals of Blu's group excluding Levi, Victor and Indigo who continued their vicious attack on the human with the two golden fruithawks, also asked the question via their facial expressions. Augustus gave the group a dreaded look.
"Carla has been freed but we suddenly came under attack from a group of those humans," he said, "Some of the sandy brown lynxes…"
"They're caracals," said Olympia, correcting Augustus's guess of the species of Carnassial and some of his gang.
"Whatever they are," said Augustus, "Have managed to slip away with Bia, Aiden, Jasmine, Finn and Tiago in their clutches, especially during a brawl between some of the other wildcats and some of the rare dog species that lives here. I tried following them but I was caught…"
Blu and Jewel flashed each other a dreaded look, and more looks were exchanged between Athos, Aramis, Phoebe and the other animals present. Then Dundee stepped in.
"Do you know where Carnassial and company have slipped off to?" he asked. Augustus was about to reply when suddenly, screeching erupted from nearby and reached the group's ears, alerting them. That screech was also from a flying fox but it sounded younger this time.
"NOW what's up!?" asked Dundee in frustration. As he said this, Mina saw something rush towards the group. The Tasmanian devil felt alarm and horror explode through her.
"Guys, LOOOK!" she called, calling the others over and throwing a point at what she had spotted. Dundee, Blu, Jewel, Augustus and the rest, now including Levi, Victor, Gylfie, Aurum and Indigo after they had managed to knock the human that attempted to take Augustus and was now covered in countless bleeding bite and claw marks from the three macaws and two golden fruithawks' attacks on him, out and he lay on the floor, unconscious. As soon as all eyes landed on the incoming screamer, which was indeed a flying fox pup with amber fur and black membranous wings, alongside a pure sandy brown form behind him which was releasing massive cat screeches, its face streaked with blood and pure anger, and its ears in tatters right behind him, horror exploded through them.
"SANDALWOOD!" cried Augustus, Blu, Jewel and Athos together. The flying fox pup, which was indeed Sandalwood, zoomed past the group like a speedy mouse, screaming loudly. He only had a few seconds to flash the onlookers a terrified look before rushing away.
As Sandalwood zoomed away from them, some of the macaws came forward.
"He's still not yet learned to fly by the looks of it," said Benjamin which was met with a glare from some of the others. Then suddenly, Wally's voice rang out.
"Quick, GET OUT OF THE WAY!" bellowed the orangutan. Then Kiara and Reepicheep surged forward and seized the group of macaws and pulled them back as the screeching and hulking bundle of sandy-brown fur and muscle that was Carnassial, his cat eyes ablaze with amber flames, zoomed in. Jewel was about to surge at the caracal to land a slash to his face but Herbert wrapped his hands around the Spix macaw and restrained her and the other animals restrained the other macaws and Eragon to prevent them from going anywhere near the volcanic caracal and Victor was prevented from throwing his fruit-shell hat by Mulan who feared for Carnassial's savage temper flaring up all the more. However, one of the macaws managed to get free and wind up right in the savage caracal's path to the horror of the others. Fury at the caracal chasing Sandalwood was consuming him and clouded out his thinking.
"Benjamin, MOOOOVE," barked Athos. Benjamin, however, was too blinded by sheer rage at the caracal as he continued to chase Sandalwood and as soon as he was in Carnassial's path, the son of Felipe and Pearl glared viciously at Carnassial, raised his talon and flared its claws but before he could lunge at Carnassial, the caracal, upon seeing the red, yellow and teal form in his way, released an extremely loud screech, raised his paw and without hesitation, smashed it into Benjamin's side as hard as he could to swipe the scarlet macaw out of his way. The other animals screamed in horror as Benjamin was sent flying a few metres and into a log, where he slammed into it, hard.
"BENJAMIN!" cried Athos as he watched the scarlet mate of Petunia flop onto the sand. The other animals shot forward and gathered around the stunned Benjamin and as they did that, Frodo looked on after Carnassial in utter alarm as the caracal continued pursuing the terrified Sandalwood.
"Look how vicious that wildcat is," said the Cuban macaw in utter horror, wincing as a massive screech exploded from the caracal, "He reminds me of a certain poacher's cat whom I've been told has had a savage temper…"
Augustus and Blu came in and glared after Carnassial as he receded further from the group after Sandalwood.
"We've gotta rescue my grandson and FAST, before that cat does him any harm," said Augustus.
"Benjamin, are you alright?" asked Spinel's voice. The Spix macaw and flying fox turned round and saw through a parting of the animals the red form of Benjamin. The scarlet macaw's face was dazed and his wing was clasping the side where Carnassial's paw had made contact. Dundee flashed Blu and Augustus and the others a dreaded look.
"He needs checking over to ensure that he hasn't suffered any serious injuries from Carnassial's attack," he said, "We've gotta get him back to the safety of my land pronto."
"But what about Sandalwood and the others?" protested Spinel. Then Jewel had an idea.
"I know, some of us will go after Carla, Bia, Tiago, Spyro, Aiden, Jasmine and Finn and rescue them if they hadn't been already, some of us will rescue Sandalwood and some of us will take Benjamin outa here to safety," she said, "I've been waiting long enough to give those savage cats a piece of my mind after all."
"But Jewel, it's too dangerous!" protested Athos.
"What if you get hurt?" put in Aramis.
"And besides that, those caracals and servals are extremely dangerous and there are humans prowling around here," put in Wally. However, Jewel's wings had already darted out and she had lofted into flight.
"No time to argue," she snapped. Then Blu glared after Carnassial and Sandalwood as they receded more into the distance.
"And WE'LL go after Sandalwood," he said before flashing a 'Right?' look at Augustus. Augustus nodded in agreement. This was met by alarmed looks from Kira and the others.
"But Uncle Blu…" began Kira.
"We don't have time to decide who's going to do what, Kira," snapped Augustus. Then Spinel and Poinsettia gazed after Jewel as she continued to recede from the group.
"We're gonna help Jewel," said the former.
"Yeah, especially if she is gonna run into danger," put in the latter. Kira gazed at the two sisters of Alexandre as thoughts about Carla, Bia and Tiago flashed in her head. She had immediately reached a decision.
"Then in that case, I'll go with you," she said, "There's no way I'm gonna lose my cousins again like what almost happened in the Great Battle for the Sanctuary at the clutches of you-know-who flying fox…"
She gazed at Augustus who nodded in understanding at who she was referring to. Then Athos put on a determined look.
"And Aurora, Trixie and D'Artagnan will need our help too," he said, before gazing at the other animals, "Who's with me?"
Poinsettia and Spinel stepped forward. Then Aramis, Phoebe and Levi stepped up, as did Indigo, Victor, Tristan and Frodo.
"We're gonna help too," said Victor, the others nodding in agreement. Then Gylfie and Aurum came forward as did some of the animals of Dundee's group.
"You're gonna need some help in case you lot run into danger," said Reepicheep. Blu was about to reply when suddenly, Sandalwood's cries in the distance alerted the group, startling them all into looking in the distant flying fox pup's direction.
"Time to get some air under our wings, I think," said Augustus and without another second's delay, the flying fox ran to a tree, climbed up its trunk and dropped into the air. Blu followed by lofting into flight but not before giving the others a stern look.
"You lot be careful, especially around those caracals, servals and other carnivorous predators in this place," he said as he left, before his eyes turned to Eragon who had made the choice to help some of Dundee's group members transport the dazed Benjamin back to safety, "And you look after Benjamin and the others until we've sorted out this mess."
"Okay, you be careful," said Eragon and with that, he turned to help Benjamin who was still dizzy from Carnassial's powerful swipe, stand up. Athos, Aramis, Phoebe, Kira and the others then lofted into flight and split apart to either follow Jewel or fly after Aurora, D'Artagnan and Trixie with some of the other animals including Olympia, Mina, Reepicheep, Flax, Harakeke and Kiara following on the ground while Dundee ordered the remaining animals to help take Benjamin back to safety, while Blu and Augustus gave Sandalwood and Carnassial chase. As he was carefully lifted into one of the chimp's hands with Eragon helping, Benjamin wearily gazed after Blu and Augustus.
"Make sure… you don't… end up… on the receiving end of… that lynx's… fury, you two," said the scarlet mate of Petunia wearily.
"Try not to speak, little macaw," said Herbert gently as he took a large leaf from a grey-headed flying fox to tend to his wound, "We're gonna take you outa here."
"Yes, you didn't half take a massive blow from that wildcat," put in Eragon as he patted Benjamin on the forehead with his wing claws. Benjamin breathed a sigh as he was then transported away from his crash site.
Meanwhile
Bia found herself cornered against a large rock, one wing which appeared to be scratched in the other, one of the caracals glaring murderously and hungrily at her, its tongue painting the lips of its mouth with saliva that dripped grossly from it and its paws moving its body towards the terrified Spix macaw. In the background, Acerola continued causing trouble for the other caracals while Atreyu attempted to get to Aiden, Jasmine, Finn and Tiago who were still tied to their sticks. Bia had also attempted to rescue these four but a caracal had blocked her way, swiped its claws at her, catching her wing and inflicting a scratch and had chased her to this rock where it had cornered her, and since Bia had been grounded due to the scratch, which were two streaks on the bony part of her wing where the caracal's claws had made contact and were weeping some blood and painting a red trail down the cerulean feathers of her other wing, Bia was trapped. The middle daughter of Blu and Jewel's first brood shuddered, her terrified hazel eyes fixed on the piercing glare of the caracal's cat-eyes as their owner continued advancing towards her, a hissy laugh of triumph no different from that of Dalek the chameleon escaping through its drooling mouth and sending shivers coursing through Bia's nerves, spine and skin and making her tremble and hyperventilate with immense fright.
Not too far away, Acerola managed to convince the group of the other caracals into pursuing her and abandon Aiden, Tiago, Jasmine and Finn to allow Atreyu to reach them and untie them.
"There you go, Atreyu," called the auburn daughter of Sebastian and Anabelle as she led the caracals away, "Untie them NOW!"
Atreyu, after seeing Acerola fly away with the caracals in hot pursuit and seeing that the four tied-up macaws were now free to rescue, wasted no time. Quickly, the emperor penguin chick darted over to Tiago, Aiden, Jasmine and Finn, with a bony hook he had found earlier, began to try and loosen the binds of Tiago from his stick, the male Spix macaw, his beak bound by a piece of vine, looking on with a mixture of relief and hope. While he did that, Acerola continued bravely leading the caracals away from the remaining three macaws when she saw Bia's situation. When she saw that the Spix macaw was trapped against a rock with an injured wing with her predator closing in on her, alarm tore through her.
"Oh, no, MISSUS BIA!" cried Acerola and with that, the flying fox pup sharply darted from her flight path in Bia and her predator's direction, her pursuers following.
"Get back here, you little winged RAT!" bellowed one of her chasers. Acerola did not flash a glance back and continued rocketing towards Bia and her predator but as the flying fox pup approached the pair, Bia saw the auburn and black comet of fur and membrane wings heading her way. Her caracal predator also noticed her, having picked up the sounds from the flying fox pup and her chasers.
"Acerola, CHANGE DIRECTION!" barked the alarmed Spix macaw, "DON'T WORRY ABOUT ME!"
Acerola, however, was too blinded and deafened by her determination to rescue Bia to hear her warnings and continued to surge towards Bia's predator, an enraged screech exploding from her mouth and her foot claws poised for attacking but as the flying fox pup approached Bia's predator, the caracal, a flash of outrage taking over its face, bellowed, "Oh, no, you DON'T, you little RAT WITH WINGS…"
Then without a second's hesitation and to Bia's horror, the caracal raised a paw and as soon as Acerola was near, the paw swiped the air like a tennis racket, a human thing Bia was familiar with and knew was used in the sport of tennis to swipe a ball back and forth. And that paw struck Acerola just like one of those balls, hard. Bia let loose a massive scream of terror and shouted Acerola's name as she watched the ball of auburn fur and black membranous wings careen away from her and land in a shrub. This done, the caracal resumed its attention on Bia as the others gathered around her.
"Good job," said one of the other caracals, "You've saved us a heap of trouble from that winged rat."
"Let's just focus on turning this macaw into dinner," said the caracal and with that, the group of caracals began to advance on Bia, much to her fear. Nearby, Atreyu had managed to free Tiago's beak of the vines binding it shut with the hooked bone and he had begun to work on biting through the rest of the vines to free himself but in the process, he had heard a brutal swipe of a small furry body and a scream of horror. Dread flaring within him, the emperor penguin chick flashed a glance in Bia's direction and to his horror, he saw that Bia was now trapped not by one, but SEVERAL caracals, the others that had been Acerola's chasers. Seeing that Bia was running out of time, Atreyu gazed at Tiago as he bit through the vines binding his legs.
"You free the other three macaws," he told Tiago, "I've got to…"
Suddenly, the emperor penguin chick was cut off by a massive screech, making him stop midsentence. Tiago also popped his head up as did Aiden, Finn and Jasmine who were still tied up. At first, Atreyu thought it was a caracal screech but then he saw that the caracals and Bia's would-be eaters had also stopped and had begun shooting suspicious glares in every direction. Furthermore, none of them had done the screeching. That screech came from a parrot, and an EXTREMELY ANGRY one.
Jewel surged forward, her eyes blazing tear infernos and her cerulean feathers puffed out like a porcupine's spines, towards the pack of caracals that had cornered Bia. Seeing that her daughter was trapped and that her wing had borne a scratch, her temper violently exploded like a MASSIVE volcanic eruption as it always did when one of her relatives or friends was injured. With an EXTREMELY loud, ear-piercing screech and without hesitation, the apoplectic Spix macaw, as soon as she was near the caracals, zoomed past the face of the one at the front and nearest to Bia like a cerulean comet, and as she did, she scored her claws right over the caracal's face. Bia let loose a stunned shriek as the caracal at the front was thrown in Jewel's direction, screech erupting from its mouth as Jewel flew away. The other caracals also cried and backed away in utter shock and surprise when all of a sudden, more macaws and some other animals suddenly appeared out of nowhere and pounced onto them as Jewel swerved round and threw herself at the first caracal, latched onto its face with her claws and began to savagely bite and claw her, screeching loudly. Bia ducked as a massive fight erupted between the caracals and the newcomers, which were two chimps, two kiwis and several macaws who Bia recognised as Athos and several others.
As Athos, Spinel and Poinsettia, together with the two chimps, one of which was Herbert, and Flax and Harakeke the kiwis began to viciously attack the caracals with Jewel mauling the face of one of the caracals that had cornered Bia, a scarlet-like macaw appeared with four more Spix macaws and a glaucous macaw. Bia gazed at these new arrivals with a mixture of surprise, joy and relief.
"Frodo, Kira, Tristan!" she cried jubilantly as the newcomers began to check her over.
"No time to explain," said Frodo as he and Kira flashed a horrified look at her scratched wing.
"We're getting you outa here," added Kira. Tristan then flashed Jewel and the other animals as they continued their assault on the caracals, Flax swiping at the feet of one of them with his own and knocking it down. Just then, a massive cry of agony erupted from nearby, but it was not from Jewel's group. Frodo, Kira, Tristan and Bia all jolted their heads up and turned in the direction of the screamer and realised that it was Finn who was screaming in agony from the pain of his dislocated wing as Levi freed him from his binds while Trixie freed Jasmine and Aiden. Despite being disturbed by Finn's constant cries of agony, Bia was relieved to see the last two finally get freed. Then as soon as Finn was freed, Mulan took the opportunity to examine his dislocated wing while Dundee checked Jasmine, Aiden and Tiago for any injuries they might have. While the lead emu did this, Atreyu came in, an alarmed look on his face.
"Acerola," he cried, "Where's Acerola?"
Bia flashed the emperor penguin chick a horrified look. Acerola, who was swiped away by one of the caracals! Horror sweeping through her, the Spix macaw darted off in the direction where she believed she saw Acerola fly and crash land after being swiped.
"Bia!" cried Frodo and with that he, Kira and Tristan ran after her with Atreyu close behind.
At the foot of the shrub in which she had flown into after being swiped, Acerola lay limply on the floor. From the battle cloud of animals and caracals nearby, Victor shot in, having noticed a flash of auburn fur out the corner of his eye while attacking one of the caracals. As he flew in, he cried, "ACEROLA!" and touched down beside the bat pup's limp body and picked her up. Moments later, four more macaws turned up with a penguin chick. Bia, Frodo, Kira and Tristan gathered round Victor as he examined the limp Acerola in his wings. Tristan and Kira examined the pup and checked her pulse.
"She's unconscious but she's alive," said Kira much to the relief of Bia.
"Let's get her to safety," added Tristan. Atreyu gazed at the limp Acerola and sighed with relief. Just as the group of six were about to leave with Acerola in their wings, Jewel and the others had managed to drive off the rest of the caracals but one of them was struggling to find its way, its face badly mauled by Jewel who unsympathetically glared at it as it bumped into a tree and covered its mauled face with its front paws. Jewel spat at the floor at the caracal smugly as she strode away.
"That's what you GET for threatening and injuring one of my KIDS, you FLEA-BITTEN CAPYBARA!" she bellowed scornfully. After this, she turned to face Bia and Tiago as they came running towards her and as soon as the trio met, they locked each other in a hug, the others looking on. The others did the same with Jasmine, Finn and Aiden as relief also flowed through them at her wellbeing but the group had been horrified at Acerola's condition and what had happened to her. Then after the union hugs were broken, Dundee came in, a stern look on his face.
"We still have some other individuals that need help and rescuing," he said, "as the job is still not complete."
"I was gonna say that, whatever bird you are," said Jewel as she stood with Bia and Tiago.
"He's called Dundee and he's an emu," said Herbert with a frown.
"Whatever he is," said Jewel casually. Then Bia noticed that someone was missing.
"Where's Dad?" she asked.
"And also Trixie, Aurora, D'Artagnan and Augustus," put in Jasmine. Then Phoebe shot her, Bia and Tiago a look.
"Blu and Augustus have gone to save Sandalwood while Aurora, D'Artagnan and Trixie were supposed to be rescuing you," she said. As she said this, a massive screech of distress erupted from nearby, sending dread shooting through the group. Phoebe felt horror wash over her like a tsunami. She recognised the owner of that screech. Driven by alarm, the hyacinth macaw's wings shot out and she lofted into flight.
"PHOEBE!" cried Levi.
"That was AURORA!" cried Phoebe as she took to the air "Sounds like she's in TROUBLE!"
Then Jewel, along with Bia, Tiago, Kira and Aiden also felt alarm tear through them.
"Then that means Athos and the others that have gone to help Aurora, Trixie and D'Artagnan will need our help as well," said Jewel. She then shot Frodo and the others and said, "You lot return to safety with Acerola and Finn while we go and help the others out of this horrible mess. Furthermore, Blu needs my help in rescuing Sandalwood as well."
"But Mom," began Bia but Jewel hardened her glare.
"That's an order, Bia," said her mother. Levi also flashed the same commanding glare at Bia and company. Bia reluctantly turned to the others, nodded and turned to leave. Tristan gazed at Jewel, Levi and Phoebe and said, "I hope you come back in one piece and with the other missing members of our family as well."
"We will, Tristan," said Levi, "Now go before anything else shows up and put you guys in danger again."
"And also escort this emperor penguin chick back to my land as well and look after him and the others until we return," said Dundee, his gaze on Atreyu. However, as the emu said 'My land', he felt his gut turn. He didn't feel this place was his home anymore after the ugly truth about its use had been revealed. Atreyu then came over to Bia and her group and as soon as he was with the macaws, Bia's group began to make their way back while Jewel, Phoebe, Levi and the other animals including Dundee continued further into the Compartment and in the direction of the screams.
As Bia and the others left with Acerola in Poinsettia's wings, Finn with his dislocated wing and Atreyu by their side, Jasmine flashed a worried glance at Dundee and company as they receded into the distance.
"I sure hope they rescue the others including the missing kids and Sandalwood," said she, worry gripping her.
"Let's just get outa here," said Bia, desperation to leave these horrible grounds, especially after almost getting eaten by the caracals and servals, biting at her like their teeth. Jasmine turned her head round and obeyed. As the group left, Atreyu also gazed back at Dundee's group.
"Please, save the others and come back," he whispered. Then thoughts for Sandalwood especially churned in the little emperor penguin's mind as he followed the macaws back to Dundee's land.