Chapter 71- a massive reunion back in Rio at last!
Later
Nightfall had consumed South America in its shadow of darkness and stars and Tulio and company were on their flight back to Rio, Brazil. Some of the humans on the plane were asleep except for the pilots who were in the cockpit controlling the plane, set to autopilot but not without human supervision. Linda, Tulio, Fernando and the other humans were asleep in the seating section while in the cargo bay, Blu and company were also asleep; some of them outside their cages and in the soft blankets packed in the cargo bay by their human friends alongside their cages and the boxes.
Blu, Jewel, Aurora, Carla, Bia and Tiago were all snuggled together with Bellatrix, Spica and Sirius under the latter three's wings just outside their cage in a bedding of one blanket set up by Blu before the Spix macaws turned in for the night with Kira slept nearby with Polaris and Achernar snuggled up in her wings. Nearby, the Lear's, glaucous and hyacinth macaws were still in their cages also snuggled together with Sugilite, Arcturus, Canopus, Katniss, Vega and Regulus sleeping comfortably in their mothers' wings. Finn was asleep outside the cage containing the Lear's macaws, his fixed wing in a cast, under a blanket. Augustus, Stella, Luna, Soren, Acerola and Sandalwood were also outside their cage and were hanging upside down from one of the rims of the crates with Sandalwood snuggled against Stella's breast and wings for the crate was a low height which was to his liking, for now and Frodo, Sylvester, Bambi, Spyro, Eragon, Gladion and Lillie were near the glaucous macaws also asleep, Eragon and Gladion's wings, as well as Neytiri's, in their casts. These wings will be checked on by the humans as soon as they touched down in Rio in nearly ten hours from now.
On the other side of the cargo bay, Adenine, Thymine, Guanine and Cytosine were asleep with Poinsettia, all snuggled together, again outside their cage while Spinel, Betelgeuse, Rigel and Antares slept near Athos whose fixed broken left wing was in a cast. Athos and Finn had been returned from the hospital as soon as their operation on their wing and shoulder had been completed. Nearby, Aramis, Benjamin, Aldebaran and Altair were asleep in a shallow box that was large enough to hold all of them and Gylfie and Aurum the golden fruithawks slept in their cage close to the Spix macaws. Finally, the new additions to the group consisting of mostly parrots and penguins, among them Greg, Sardonyx and their two remaining sons Steven and Kevin, as well as Atreyu the emperor penguin chick, JD the macaroni penguin chick, Roxanne the galah, and Connie the grey-headed flying fox, were all sleep also in their cages.
Blu and company and the newcomers were all, or nearly all, sound asleep. The former group looked forward to reuniting with their other family members and friends back in Rio, such as Carla and Spica with Justin, Sonia and Melody; Bia and Sirius with Virgil, Einstein and Miles; Tiago and Bellatrix with Matilda and Byron and so on. A few of the kids, however, were only sleeping shallowly. Sandalwood, who was in his mother Stella's wings, was one of them. He was just dozing and not in a deep sleep unlike his mother, father, grandfather, aunt or his cousin Acerola who slept soundly next to Luna.
Sandalwood continued snuggling against the fur of his mother's breast and relishing the warmth of her embrace, something he had been longing for since the incident at the clutches of Isabella and her comrades jabbed the fear of heights and flying into him some days ago now. Sandalwood was slowly overcoming his fear of heights and flight and had managed to ascend vertical walls, such as a tree trunk and even flew and glided by himself several times while at the fake 'Paradise Sanctuary' place, and also had been carried by other flyers such as Blu and Sirius. Sandalwood had also overcome his fear of hanging upside down but only from small heights and not yet large ones but he still had one massive obstacle to overcome: standing on a large overhang and dropping into the air to get airborne, something Sandalwood still dreaded facing. However, that was to be tackled when the group arrived back in Rio, and Sandalwood was not looking forward to it at all. Sandalwood continued to doze, whispering in his shallow sleep. The plane's engines continued to roar in the background and the sounds of bird snores also filled the air, the roar of the plane's engines obviously not bothering them due to the barrier of the their sleep blocking it out, but Sandalwood was somewhat restless. He continued dozing for a few more seconds until he let loose a small sneeze which jolted him awake. Sandalwood let loose a small and startled gasp and snapped open his eyes. His eyes then began to scan the upside down surroundings of the plane's dark cargo bay, save for a few streams of silvery moonlight shining through the holes in the walls, and dart from one group of sleeping forms to the next. Then Sandalwood's gaze turned to the floor which was only a few centimetres from the tips of Augustus's ears, the box's rim from which the flying foxes hung not being very high, but high enough for the flying foxes to hang from for it was the only suitable perch for the bats to sleep.
Sandalwood released a small yawn and quietly slipped out of Stella's wings until he was free and he dropped onto the floor. The little amber flying fox pup then began to creep around, his eyes moving slowly from one sleeping form of the others to the next, some in their cages and some not. Sandalwood was feeling unsettled and uneasy. He had been since seeing that flash of movement back in Peru before he and the other flying foxes were taken by Linda and placed into the cargo bay but the flying fox pup kept assuring himself that it was just that spider monkey being guided by those two true conservationists to a cage, ready for sending off to another sanctuary or to be released into the wild in its rightful place. But another part of Sandalwood argued that the flash of movement was something else, something far more sinister. Sandalwood shook his head at the feeling. 'Sinister?' he thought to himself, 'What do you mean 'sinister'? There's nothing to worry about. We're out of Peru now.'
As Sandalwood continued to debate in his mind, he was suddenly made alert by a sound: pop! This sound sent a jolt down the flying fox pup's spine and made him stiffen and bristle his amber fur. Then Sandalwood's green eyes began to scan the dark, partially moonlit surroundings. That popping sound was unfamiliar to Sandalwood but it came from something hard, presumably from something manmade but Sandalwood could not place a wing thumb on it for he was still not very familiar with human things, but it still sent discomfort coursing through his body and turning his nerves and blood to a mild frost. Sandalwood continued examining the dark environment and the sleeping forms of the others including Blu, Aurora and Jewel and the other Spix macaws with them who were not too far away, all snuggled in a blanket and against each other. Sandalwood's eyes then moved from the Spix macaws to the Lear's macaws in their cage before moving from them to the other animals as he scanned them again, his body stiffened with unease. Then suddenly, a small 'whoosh' sound and a flash of movement came by, startling the little flying fox pup into darting his gaze in the movement's direction but to his trepidation, he saw nothing.
"Um… A-A-Acerola?" whispered the little bat timidly, "W-w-was that you?"
Sandalwood then snapped his gaze to the upside-down forms of Augustus, Stella, Luna and Soren and saw that Acerola was still by Luna's side, still asleep. This ruled out Acerola being the cause of the sound but then a third sound, this time a grunt, snapped Sandalwood's attention from his cousin to a new direction, his head whipping around as though it had been stung by a bee. Sandalwood soon found himself gazing at Blu, Jewel, Aurora, Carla, Bia, Tiago, Sirius, Spica and Bellatrix in their blanket once again, Kira, Achernar and Polaris sleeping near them. Sandalwood then timidly and cautiously began to slink towards the Spix macaws to investigate, his body shaking like a leaf. As he crept closer to Blu and the other Spix macaws, he slowly sneaked past Frodo's group and the glaucous macaws who continued to blow Z's into the air. However, as Sandalwood crept past the glaucous macaws, the eyes of one of the glaucous macaw chicks, Katniss who was under Neytiri's unbroken wing as she in turn slept under Tristan's wing, flicked open. As Katniss' eyes landed on the creeping form of Sandalwood as he crept past the glaucous macaws, the glaucous macaw chick and daughter of Neytiri and Tristan quietly slid out from under her mother's wing and rose to her feet.
Sandalwood continued gazing at Blu and the other Spix macaws as they continued to sleep. Blu was asleep with his wing wrapped around Jewel while Carla, Bia, Tiago, Sirius, Bellatrix and Spica were asleep around Aurora separate from the first two. Sandalwood then thought he heard a hissing sound which made his skin crawl and the uneasy feeling grow like a flame but then he noticed that the hissing noise was escaping through a sleeping Aurora's beak as she exhaled, or so he thought but still it made the unease within the flying fox pup boil all the more. As Sandalwood continued gazing at the Spix macaws, a turquoise macaw chicks with a grey head, yellow facial features, a plait that faded from grey to turquoise towards the tip, and emerald green eyes slowly crept up behind the flying fox pup and also gazed at Blu and the other Spix macaws. Then Sandalwood's eyes happened to travel in the glaucous macaw chick's direction but the moment they landed on Katniss, Sandalwood flinched harshly, bristled his fur and stifled the urge to shriek. Katniss did the same but when the two kids managed to register each other's identity, their feathers and fur lowered.
"Oh, Katniss, you've frightened me to death," gasped Sandalwood, his membranous wing clasping his chest as his heart beat rapidly from the shock. Katniss also held her chest as her heart had also accelerated. Then after taking a few seconds to calm down, the glaucous macaw chick and flying fox pup began to talk.
"What are you doing away from your mom Mrs Stella and the other flying foxes?" asked Katniss, "You should be asleep. We're not back in Rio yet."
Sandalwood breathed a sigh.
"I couldn't sleep," he said. Katniss also breathed a sigh.
"Neither could I," she said but then a saddened and rather uneasy look came upon her face.
"What is it?" asked Sandalwood in a low voice, jolting as Levi stirred in his sleep.
"I've just been having a funny dream," whispered Katniss, "We were flying through a forest… and then…" the little glaucous chick then began to shudder.
"Then what?" asked Sandalwood. Katniss gazed at then flying fox pup.
"Have you ever felt the feeling that something might be following us?" she asked, "I certainly do."
Sandalwood gazed at the glaucous macaw chick with surprise that she would ask this question so abruptly. However, before the bat could reply, the glaucous macaw chick's green eyes caught some movement out of their corner. The glaucous macaw chick's gaze darted in Blu and company's direction and as they landed on the Spix macaws, especially Blu and Jewel, the little chick froze and her eyes widened. Sandalwood followed Katniss' gaze, wondering what had made her freeze, but the moment his green eyes landed on what Katniss saw, the little flying fox managed to stifle a startled gasp.
Near Blu and Jewel, part of the blanket on which they and the other Spix macaws slept appeared to lift itself into the air. That part of the blanket then hovered like a sheet over Blu and Jewel's heads like a ghost sheet as the couple continued to sleep in each other's wings. Frightened by the sinister sight, Katniss and Sandalwood began to creep towards it. Their fur and feathers bristled and their bodies began to shudder.
"L-l-looks like a g-g-g-ghost i-i-i-is a-a-afoot," stammered Katniss at the sight of the moving blanket piece as though it had a mind of its own, two parts of it hovering above the rest as though some invisible being was holding it in two places. Sandalwood also shuddered violently but the immense fear has blocked his choice of words, the sight of the moving blanket piece striking immense fright into him, but he and Katniss continued to approach the moving blanket but what happened next plunged their blood and hearts into pure ice. The hovering blanket piece, the two corners hovering above the rest of the sheet, then leaped over Blu and Jewel's heads and upper bodies and enveloped them completely; resulting in an ensuing struggle as the Spix macaw couple began to struggle for breath under the blanket piece, their access to the air suddenly cut off. This time Katniss and Sandalwood really did scream as they watched the terrifying sight. A pair of high-pitched screeches, one from a glaucous macaw chick and the other from a flying fox pup, tore the cargo bay air apart and carried to all the walls of the room, jolting everyone else awake.
The first to be startled awake were those nearest to Sandalwood and Katniss. Aiden, Trixie, Tristan, Neytiri, Levi, Canopus and Arcturus all jumped awake with screeches erupting from their beaks as though the blanket they were sleeping in suddenly turned extremely hot and the latter two, the other two chicks and Katniss' brother and cousin were actually knocked out of the blanket and onto the floor; Jasmine, Finn, D'Artagnan, Regulus and Vega all jumped awake in their cage and flapped madly within it, wondering what had hit them with Finn striking the cage bars with his injured wing twice and releasing cries of pain both times; Aurora, Carla, Bia, Tiago, Bellatrix, Spica, Sirius, Kira, Achernar and Polaris all also jumped awake and Bellatrix and Sirius were accidentally thrown into Gylfie and Aurum's cage; Augustus, Stella, Luna, Soren and Acerola's claws clutching them to their crate perch gave out and the five flying foxes collapsed like fruit onto the floor with Acerola screaming in shock; and Frodo, Sylvester, Spyro, Eragon, Bambi, Gladion and Lillie were also jolted awake, Eragon accidentally landing his still-healing shoulder, making him let loose a short screech of pain for that shoulder was still sensitive.
Throughout the rest of the cargo bay, Poinsettia, Spinel and their chicks Adenine, Betelgeuse and their siblings, and the other animals were also startled awake. Sardonyx, Greg, Steven and Kevin rocketed upward in their cage so hard that all four of them banged their heads on the cage top and Connie, Atreyu, JD and some of the other parrots including Roxanne the galah were also startled awake. As everyone jolted awake, Sandalwood and Katniss continued screaming until a familiar voice rang out, accompanied by a stream of yellow light as it shone onto them.
"SANDALWOOD, KATNISS, WHAT IS IT!?" cried the owner of the voice and the holder of the stream of light which was a device called a flashlight or torch. Sandalwood and Kaniss, extreme fright still gripping them like a snake's jaws, gazed at the holder of the torch, which was only D'Artagnan but the sight of the older adult Lear's macaw's sudden appearance only sent the fires of terror within the flying fox pup and glaucous macaw chick burning higher. The pair let loose another piercing scream and darted off towards Blu and Jewel who were still squirming under the blanket, their heads and upper bodies enveloped by the sheet. Sandalwood and Katniss collided with the parents of Carla, Bia and Tiago and the four bowled over towards Sirius, Bellatrix, Aurum and Gylfie much to the immense shock of Aurora and the other Spix macaws. The little chaos whipped up by Katniss and Sandalwood continued to occur until finally, things began to calm down, especially as Aurora, Carla, Bia, Tiago and Kira, having noticed Blu and Jewel wrapped up in the blanket, then began to help the couple out of their entanglement.
As soon as the two macaws' heads were free, their beaks began to suck in the much-needed air in a series of rapid gasps. Following this, Blu and Jewel began to shoot confused glances this way and that while Bia and Tiago retrieved Bellatrix and Sirius and apologised to them for throwing them during the startled awakening.
"Wow, what happened?" asked Blu in a startled voice.
"AN INVISIBLE FORCE WAS TRYING TO SUFFOCATE YOU with that SHEET THING!" cried Sandalwood, the immense fear still burning within him and causing tears of terror to spill down his cheeks and his body to shake violently as though he were in an earthquake. Katniss also trembled violently and wept terrified tears. Blu and Jewel shot the pair a confused look and gazed at the blanket while more confused looks were exchanged amongst the rest of the group.
"An invisible force?" repeated Bia with curiosity. Carla, Tiago, Aurora and Kira, however, only shot Bia a tired and irritated look and soon, Sandalwood and Katniss found themselves on the receiving end of dozens of annoyed and outraged looks.
"Sandalwood, Katniss, STOP FOOLING AROUND!" barked Trixie angrily with Aiden, Neytiri, Levi, Tristan, Arcturus and Canopus looking on with furious and agreeing looks. Stella, Soren, Augustus, Acerola and Luna also glared at the flying fox pup and glaucous macaw chick in agreement.
"B-b-but…" began Sandalwood but Augustus hardened his glare.
"SANDALWOOD, listen to YOUR ELDERS!" he rebuked in a very loud voice that carried throughout the cargo bay, making Sandalwood and Katniss flinch harshly. Then Stella stepped forward.
"Into my wings, son, NOW!" commanded she and with that, she spread her wings open. Sandalwood flinched again and obediently jumped into his mother's wings and was carried back to the flying foxes' chosen sleeping spot with Acerola, Luna, Augustus and Soren in tow. Katniss was also commanded by Tristan and Neytiri to return to the makeshift nest to which she obeyed without hesitation. As soon as Sandalwood and Katniss were removed, D'Artagnan, who had the torch in his talons and the shock of Sandalwood and Katniss screaming into his face subsided, went over to Blu and Jewel with Levi.
"Are you alright, you two?" asked the Lear's macaw as the pair continued to sort themselves out. Aurora looked on with the other Spix macaws including Sirius, Bellatrix and Spica. Blu gazed at the blanket piece, the part that had enveloped him and Jewel, as he held it in his wings.
"We're fine, thanks D'Artagnan," said the brown-eyed bird friend of Linda, "We seemed to have wrapped ourselves up in this blanket too much."
"We were breathing normally at first but then," put in a rather shaken Jewel, "we were suddenly smothered."
Aurora then gazed at the blanket and frowned.
"Well if this is a suffocation hazard then we might want to return to our cages," she said. Jewel shot the pigtailed macaw a glare.
"Oh, no, not for me," she growled, "I don't like sleeping in cages."
"Neither do some of the rest of us," put in Kira and with that she glared at the open cage belonging to Blu and company.
"Maybe you could sleep perched on those cube things?" asked Aurum from his and Gylfie's cage, a pointed talon to a row of boxes. Jewel gazed at the boxes and smiled.
"That's a good idea, Aurum," she said, "I think we'll sleep on those."
And with that, she called together the macaws who were against returning to their cages for the rest of the trip while Blu returned to his group's cage.
"Don't forget, we should be back in our cages by the time we land in Rio," he issued the reminder to Jewel and the others and as soon as he was on the cage, he closed the door but didn't lock it while everyone else returned to their spots to get back to sleep, D'Artagnan switching off the torch and putting it away in the process.
Sandalwood hung upside down held in Stella's wings against her white breast fur, an ashamed and frightened look scanning the environment as the other animals returned to sleep. He didn't mean to startle the others awake with Katniss but the uncertainty feeling had returned with a vengeance, especially after seeing that part of the blanket rise up by itself and then envelop Blu and Jewel's heads ass though trying to smother them. Frightened, the little flying fox pup snuggled against his mother's breast and tried to doze off. It was apparent that something had sneaked aboard the plane with Blu and company when their human friends were packing them into the cargo bay before their departure from Peru. Could that thing possibly be behind the smothering of Blu and Jewel? Sandalwood daren't find out.
Around seven more hours later
In the eastern horizon of the Atlantic Ocean east of Rio and its signature beach of Copacabana, light from the sun flared into the night sky and had begun to eat away at the very dark blue colour; the sun not far from peering out from the horizon though it was still under it with only its light shining through. Opposite the impending sunrise, the night still dominated the western part of the sky with the stars dotting the dark blue to black canvas but that part of the night sky will soon by smothered by the sun's overwhelmingly bright light and the Atlantic Ocean's rippling surface mirrored the imminent sunrise, the sun's ivory light reflected in the water. As the sun prepared to rise into the sky, along with many of the citizens of Rio and the animals living in the jungle next to it, a certain plane was approaching Rio's runway. Tulio and his group with Blu and the others on-board were not far from touching down in Rio now, after a long flight from Peru.
In the cargo bay, the animals had woken up and were awaiting breakfast being prepared for them by the humans in the human seating area for the cargo bay was connected to the seating area via a corridor so that the humans could access the bay to check on the animals. One of the humans, Linda, had come down from the seating area last night to check on Blu and company. Apparently she had been awakened by the chaos inadvertently caused by Sandalwood and Katniss and had decided to go down to the bay area to check on the animals, appearing shortly after the animals had returned to their cages or had found new places to sleep, away from the blankets after Blu and Jewel apparently almost suffocated themselves in one of them, which Linda decided to pack away for she did not want them to be a risk to any of the other animals before going to sleep herself near Blu and Jewel and some of the other animals in a makeshift bed. However, now that it was morning and the plane was due to land in Rio shortly, Linda was awake with the animals and was ready to pass the breakfast from Tulio and company to the birds and other animals.
As the animals waited for their breakfast, D'Artagnan, who sat near Linda, stretched his wings and released a yawn before gazing at one of the small windows. A small amount of sunrise light streamed in through the holes and lit up the cargo bay. As Linda began to check over the animals starting with the Spix macaws including Blu and Jewel, D'Artagnan lofted into flight and fluttered over to the window and peered out of it. The size of the window restricted his range of view but to his joy, he managed to catch a glimpse of some of Rio's landmarks, among them the lump of green, brown and white rising up from the murky, dull grey and brown sea of human buildings: the Sugarloaf Mountain just visible on the edge of D'Artagnan's range of view. As D'Artagnan continued to gaze at the familiar cityscape of Rio, Aramis and Phoebe came in.
"We're not far from touchdown in our home now," said Aramis with excitement.
"And reuniting with our relatives and friends waiting for us," added Phoebe. She looked forward to seeing Zebedee, Violet, Cobalto and Iris again and them reuniting with Indigo, Victor and Sugilite as well. The same was true for the other birds and the flying foxes as they looked forward to seeing the kids that had been captured by the poachers and taken to the fraudulent conservation area, among them Sandalwood, reunite with their friends and relatives who had opted not to go to Peru and retrieve them. Carla, Bia, Tiago and Kiralooked forward to reuniting with Justin, Virgil, Matilda and Finnick waiting back in Rio with Sonia, Melody, Einstein, Miles, Byron and Diego with Sirius, Bellatrix, Spica, Achernar and Polaris by their sides, the rescue mission a success and the families being back together once again; Spinel looked forward to reuniting with Sheldon with Betelgeuse, Rigel and Antares by her side as well as fixing their damaged relationship once they met, and so on. However, sadness and guilt was mixed in with the imminent joy and excitement of some of the kids.
Sandalwood clutched to his mother Stella's breast fur, a sad look on his face as Stella talked with Luna, Augustus, Soren and also Eragon, Spyro and Bambi who had left their cage to have a wander around and stretch their wings and legs, as well as having a meeting with Greg and Sardonyx who were thrilled to meet new animals and the relatives of Sandalwood and company. Though Sandalwood looked forward to meeting and reuniting with Melissa, Ferdinand, Anabelle and Sebastian back in Rio again, the guilt of inadvertently causing the others a seriously chaotic disturbance last night with Katniss still boiled in his mind. However, fear and worry also plagued his thoughts, the flash of movement he had seen in Peru before being packed into the cargo bay with his family and the other members of Blu's group and animals and the unease brought with it having returned with a vengeance. Not to mention the movement of the blanket and its ascent above Blu and Jewel's heads while they slept and enveloping their heads and upper bodies, cutting off their breathing which led to Sandalwood and Katniss screaming their heads off in sheer terror and waking up everyone else adding to his fears. However, no-one else believed Sandalwood and Katniss' story of the blanket enveloping itself over Blu and Jewel's heads and Blu kept insisting that he and Jewel must have turned over and got the blanket wrapped around their heads and were grateful that Sandalwood and Katniss had woken them up before anything worse happened. But Sandalwood and Katniss still believed that something had attempted to smother Blu and Jewel with that blanket and had been grateful that no other incident had happened for the rest of the flight.
As Sandalwood continued to sulk on his mother's breast, Connie had flown over to the window where D'Artagnan was to get a glimpse of Rio de Janeiro for the first time. As she got a glimpse of the approaching city, she asked, "So THAT'S the Brazil city of Rio?"
"It sure is," said D'Artagnan with a smile.
"We'll be landing in that city shortly," said Aramis. Connie gazed at the great green macaw and Phoebe as they stood on the top of the box, "What is it like?"
"Ah, you'll have to see, little bat," replied Aramis.
"But to give you the gist of what Rio is like, it's a colourful spot and very musical," said Phoebe. Connie's eyes glinted with excitement as she looked forward to seeing and hearing such. However, inside, Phoebe and Aramis felt a flash of uncertainty: how were the stayers and Tulio's team members who had stayed behind doing with those countless and now-beyond-mischievous toucans plaguing the Blu Bird Sanctuary? The two macaws had hoped that many of them will have been caught and sent to other sanctuaries, TRUE sanctuaries that is, by now. As this worry and concern plagued the two macaws' mind, Connie gazed at Sandalwood, a look of annoyance on her face.
"And as for him over there and one of the glaucous macaws," she grumbled, "I hope they feel ashamed for causing that chaos for the rest of us last night."
However, under this annoyance, Connie felt a flash of uncertainty. Aramis and Phoebe also gazed at Sandalwood as he continued to clutch Stella's breast and frowned.
"We're gonna give him and Katniss some discipline when we get to Rio," growled Phoebe in a stern voice.
"For waking the rest of us up and making up a story about some silly 'ghost' trying to strangle Blu and Jewel as well," put in Aramis.
"I think those two must have turned over and got the blanket wrapped around their heads," said Phoebe, "Like and those two Spix macaws, have said before."
Connie's face flashed from annoyance to surprise as she directed it at the great green macaw.
"Those two Spix macaws got that blanket wrapped around their heads by themselves?" she said but then a look of suspicion came upon her face, "According to Sandalwood and Katniss' description of what they apparently saw, that doesn't sound like those two Spix macaws have got themselves entangled in that blanket sheet thing…"
"Well, Sandalwood and Katniss…" began D'Artagnan as he touched down with Aramis and Phoebe, a stern and disbelieving look lacing his face, but before he could continue, Linda's voice rang out.
"Breakfast time, animals," called Blu's human companion as she brought in some fruit and fish with Fernando and Lucy accompanying her. As the cargo bay air became flooded with the sounds of excited bird squawks, flying fox squeaks, foot patters on the floor and wing flaps, D'Artagnan gazed at Connie and said, "Look, we'll discuss this after breakfast. Let's just go and get something to eat."
Connie nodded and ran off to join Steven and his family as they and the other birds and bats surrounded Linda, Fernando and Lucy as they began to distribute the food amongst the animals, the latter lining up to receive the fruit from Linda. However, as Athos took some fruit from Linda with Spinel, Poinsettia and their chicks Betelgeuse, Rigel, Antares, Adenine, Thymine, Cytosine and Guanine gathering around him, Betelgeuse thought she saw something out of the corner of her eye as she stood the furthest from the group.
"Good boy, Athos," said Linda as Athos took a mango and handed it to Spinel, Lucy handing some fish to the penguins nearby. Betelgeuse then turned to the something's direction but the moment her eyes landed on the spot, there was nothing.
"Come on, Betelgeuse," called Spinel as she, Rigel and Antares left with the mango. Betelgeuse obediently followed but the flash of movement had made her skin prickle and her pineapple stalk-like crest spike out somewhat. Then she shuddered. It was the same feeling she had felt when she and some of the other kids of Sandalwood's group were investigating the Paradise Sanctuary's human area.
"Something wrong, Betelgeuse?" came a voice. Betelgeuse snapped her gaze to the speaker which was Steven as he stood with Sardonyx, Greg and Kevin in the queue.
"Um… nothing," said Betelgeuse in reply, "I've gotta go. Mom's calling me," and with that, the colourful red macaw deserted off after her scarlet mother, leaving Steven and Kevin to gaze at each other and shrug. As Betelgeuse touched down with Spinel, Rigel and Antares to prepare to eat the mango, unease began to well within the little three-quarter scarlet chick and she stole a gaze at the spot where she thought she had seen the something again. Unnerved and shuddering slightly, Betelgeuse sat down with her brother and sister as Spinel began to bite into and slice the mango into portions for them with her beak. Nearby, Gylfie and Aurum the golden fruithawks were sharing some berries, a pineapple and some guavas together, much to the joy of Spinel and some of the others of Blu's group as they began to eat their breakfast.
A few minutes later
The plane carrying Tulio and the others finally touched down on the runway of Rio's airport. It then began to slow down and eventually stop as the pilot pulled up the air vehicle. On the edge of the airport from a safe distance, a gathering of humans, some of Tulio's team members who had chosen to stay behind, stood. Amongst these humans were some animals, the stayers of Blu's group. Justin stood with Sonia and Melody; Virgil stood with Einstein and Miles as did Matilda with Byron, and Finnick with Diego. Also present were Porthos, Esmeralda, Sapphire, Zephyr, Brisa, Aurora, Ruby, Orquidea, Cobalto and Lapis Lazuli, together with Sheldon, Wilbur, Petunia, Violet, Zebedee, Iris, Ellie, Marella and Anabelle with Ferdinand and Melissa. Also present were Andromeda, Diantha, Tom and the bat-birds including Spyro's mount, Garnet and Andromeda's one, Rouge; Rafael, Eva, Nico, Pedro, Sparkle and Rose; cockatoos Travis, Sunset, Eustace, Milo, Rosa, Clemont, Serena and Vincent, Yolanda and Peach; Cometa, Lightning, Velocity, Spike and Zelda the falcons, and Broccoli, Collette and Daisy the cats, and Dash, Ginger, James and Ebony the greyhounds. Orion and his merlin mate Hermione were absent for they had gone to have another clutch of eggs to replace their deceased son Hunter while Avellana and Rusty were occupied with their two pups Cleo and Fido.
The gathering of humans and the animals, the latter anticipating the sight of Blu and the others as they were unloaded from the cargo bay, watched as the plane was taxied to a specific spot and stopped there. Then as soon as the plane had stopped, Tulio and company began to disembark. The humans departed from the plane with some going to the cargo bay door to open it. While those humans did that, Tulio ran over to his waiting team-members to greet them. While he did that, Linda and some of the other humans set to unloading Blu and the others from the cargo bay, the animals having returned to their cages to be released. Blu, Jewel, Aurora, Carla, Bia, Tiago, Sirius, Spica, Bellatrix, Kira, Achernar and Polaris were the first to be unloaded and released, done so by Fernando and as soon as he had opened the cage door, all twelve Spix macaws escaped in an explosion of blue flapping wings fuelled by excitement and began to charge towards the waiting animals. The moment Justin, Matilda, Virgil, Finnick, Brisa, Roberto and Zephyr's eyes landed on Carla, Tiago, Bia and Aurora and the missing chicks with them, they, together with Einstein, Miles, Byron, Sonia, Diego and Melody, who released screams with excitement at their missing brother and sisters/cousins, charged from the crowd of waiting animals to meet Aurora's group.
Virgil charged ahead of the group with Einstein and Miles in tow, making a beeline for Bia and Sirius. Bia frantically rocketed towards Virgil and as soon as the two collided, they locked each other in a huge embrace, Virgil showering Bia with a series of passionate kisses. Then the couple swept up Sirius, Miles and Einstein and entered a family hug, all five crying and laughing jubilantly as they relished the long-awaited reunion. Carla, Justin, Sonia, Spica and Melody did the same as did Matilda, Tiago, Byron and Bellatrix. Zephyr also swept Aurora in a huge hug and delivered a series of passionate kisses while Blu and Jewel were met by Roberto and Brisa who also swept them in a hug. The same happened with Kira and Finnick and also Diego, Achernar and Polaris nearby. Wilbur ran to Poinsettia, Adenine, Thymine, Cytosine and Guanine and swept them into a hug the moment he met them, and the same was repeated for the other families the moment the other birds and flying foxes were set free from their cages, especially Diantha, Tom, Gladion and Lillie for they were reunited at last and Rafael and Eva shared in the hug as well. Poinsettia, Spinel and their families were glad to be back together after so long as were Augustus, Melissa, Stella, Luna, Sandalwood, Acerola, Sebastian, Ferdinand and Anabelle.
While the split families were relishing their reunion moments with the cockatoos and Cometa and company joining, D'Artagnan, Athos (who was last to appear due to his injured wing), Aramis, Phoebe and Levi were met by Sapphire, Ruby, Esmeralda, Cobalto and Lapis Lazuli who showered them with kisses and a hug, Ruby being careful with Athos due to his broken wing which she had been utterly horrified when she saw that her mate had suffered the injury during the quest to the fraudulent Paradise Sanctuary, in addition to Finn and Gladion, which Diantha had also horrifyingly noticed. Porthos and Orquidea also greeted the returners with hugs and wing-shakes. While the reunion of Blu's group continued, Atreyu looked on with Roxanne the galah, JD the macaroni penguin, Connie the grey-headed flying fox, and Steven and Kevin and the other newcomer birds and penguins, Atreyu gazing at the group with a mixture of jealously and joy.
"I sure hope to meet my Mom and Dad and Uncle Mumble and the rest of my family and colony," said the emperor penguin chick longingly.
"You will when we are returned to our homes," said Sardonyx nearby, Greg by her side, before her gaze travelled to Linda and the others as they sorted through the other crates, some of the team-members who had stayed behind helping, "I overheard one of the humans talk about sending you penguins back to your rightful habitats."
A small bubble of joy appeared within Atreyu as he looked forward to uniting with his emperor penguin colony in the Antarctic, and he was cheered up. Then JD flopped down onto his backside and fanned a wing-flipper to his head since it was quite hot.
"It sure is toasty here," he said.
"It's because we're in a tropical area," said Greg, "In these regions it tends to be warmer."
"And rainier," added Sardonyx. JD just gazed at the parents of Steven and Kevin and shrugged. He had obviously never been in a tropical zone before except Peru perhaps but he pushed that thought aside and was glad to be out of that animal collector's place disguised as a sanctuary and looked forward to seeing the habitat where his species, the macaroni penguin, belonged.
Soon, it was time to leave the plane. After Blu's group had finished their reunion, they prepared to depart for the city of Rio, Tulio and the others taking the newcomer animals to his Aviary for sorting and returning to their rightful habitats, as well as the still-injured animals so that they could recover. As Blu and company and the other animals prepared to leave with Tulio and his team, Gladion and Lillie stared at the plane one last time when Diantha and Tom came in with Rafael and Eva.
"Come on, you two," said Diantha firmly, especially to Gladion whose wing was in a cast, "It's time to leave."
"We've gotta get Gladion to Tulio's Aviary to check his wing," added Tom.
"Absolutely," put in Rafael as he glared at his grandson's injured wing. Gladion and Lillie flashed their gazes from the plane to their parents and maternal grandparents.
"S-sorry, Mom, Dad, Grandpa," said Gladion, "We were only giving that plane one last look."
"We're just glad to be back with our family and friends," said Lillie with a joyful smile. Diantha, Tom, Rafael and Eva just smiled and commanded the two chicks to come along.
"I think we'll have a family outing once Gladion's wing has healed and as soon as the number of those mischievous toucans have been reduced enough in the Blu Bird Sanctuary," said Rafael, before his gaze travelled to the two chicks of Diantha and Tom, "I can perhaps take you two to the places where I met your grandmother if you'd like?"
Excitement at this idea flashed within Gladion and Lillie who were eager to learn more of Rafael and Eva's backstory including how they met in more detail. However, they only knew that Rafael and Eva had met during Carnival and not much more.
"We would love to," cried Lillie excitedly.
"We would love to see Carnival though," put in Gladion, "That's how you two met isn't it?"
Rafael a smile on his big orange and black beak and with a wing around his beloved Eva, whose scratches she had received from the crows during the skirmish leading to Sandalwood and the others' capture by the poachers in the beginning now healing, nodded. Just then the six toucans heard Aramis call them.
"It's time we moved out," said Rafael and with that, he commanded Gladion to climb onto his back since he could not fly with an injured wing and took off with Eva, Tom and Diantha on tow. Lillie was about to follow but before she could leave, she thought she saw a flash of movement out of the corner of her eye. The little toucan stopped and turned round in the direction of the flash and the plane but saw nothing. However, it spooked her and made her skin crawl with unease.
"Come on, Lillie," called Diantha. Lillie snapped her gaze from the plane and fluttered after her family, the unease slowly fading within her.
As the toucans followed the other animals and Tulio and company as they left the airport, something hid under the fuselage of another plane parked in the airport. A glare saturated with extremely strong acid pierced Lillie and the other toucans as they receded into the distance but its attention was largely on another type of bird, the type that formed most of Blu and company's group. Then as soon as Blu and the others had travelled enough distance, the something darted out from under the plane's fuselage and began to follow. Its presence sent unease and fear coursing through a small group of seagulls visiting from the ocean and the seabirds shuddered as the thing darted past and knocked over a discarded can or tin. It was though the something had carried a fear-inducing cloak wherever it went.