Chapter 80- found and rescued
Back with Marco's group and their six victims, Aldebaran's breathing had begun to spiral out of control as panic began to take hold. From the tree trunk, Bellatrix, Byron, Altair, Bambi and Sylvester writhed, especially Altair as he continued to watch the drama unfold but the toucans still yelled at him and the other four to keep uiet. Then Bambi, Sylvester and Bellatrix tried to scream but toucan wings appeared and slammed over their beaks to prevent them from screaming as well. Altair and Byron's beaks were also clasped shut so that they couldn't scream either. Aldebaran then whimpered and breathed rapidly as he gazed at the rippling silver surface glaring at him from below as Marco suspended him over it. Aldebaran saw his reflection ripple on the water's surface.
"Hmmm, I believe this brings to mind a few similar incidents," crooned Marco as he saw the panic boil dangerously within Aldebaran, "Didn't your scarlet 'great-uncle' plunge into a river with that deranged cockatoo and almost drown?" his beak creased into a wicked smile, "And didn't that murderous daughter of Tiago and Matilda dive into that lake to save the flying fox pup she had tied up and deliberately knocked off the end of that branch some days ago?"
"She wasn't the one who knocked Sandalwood off that branch," retorted Aldebaran, "Your DAUGHTER ISABELLA AND HER COMRADES WERE!"
Marco yanked him back close to his face.
"No, our Isabella wasn't the one, kid," he said, "Your little friend Bellatrix was."
"Why do you BELIEVE THOSE STUPID LIES your kids MAKE!?" shouted Aldebaran, his eyes beginning to ooze tears of terror and his breathing speeding up.
"Bellatrix was the one who told those lies, just to get our Isabella and our sweet little kids into trouble," snapped Marco, "Do you remember what your own green macaw mother said about troublesome kids at some point?" Aldebaran shot Marco a look at the mentioning of Petunia, "She said that such kids are incredibly crafty in escaping trouble and punishment by fabricating a story and directing the blame on the kids who hadn't done anything wrong, and that's exactly what your little friend Bellatrix had done."
Aldebaran shook his head in disbelief and snapped. "That's a LIE. ISABELLA WAS the one who made up that story."
Bellatrix who was tied at the tree trunk with a toucan wing over her beak struggled as she watched Marco then harden his glare at the struggling chick.
"You sure are as stubborn as a coconut shell, ain't ya," said the toucan casually. Then with a diabolical smile, the toucan and Anastasia's mate plunged Aldebaran right through the cold water. The five tied-up chicks tried to scream but could not with the toucans clamping their beaks shut with their wings.
Aldebaran struggled under the water in Marco's grasp, a stream of bubbles escaping his beak as he struggled to try and surface but Marco kept him underwater. Then Marco yanked Aldebaran out of the water, water droplets flying everywhere and the little Verde macaw chick gasping and inhaling large lungfuls of air and his colourful plumage sodden and waterlogged, more droplets dripping from the feathers in his wings, tail and crest that greatly resembled his scarlet grandfather Felipe.
"I wonder if this is how that deranged cockatoo tried to drown your scarlet 'great-uncle'," said Marco flatly, mockingly referring to the incident where Athos was almost drowned by Nigel.
"Please, LET ME GO!" cried Aldebaran but Marco plunged him back into the cold water of the stream again, submerging him. A stream of bubbles and garbled screams erupted from his beak as the chick struggled and tried to surface but Marco once again refused to let him surface. Then Marco withdrew Aldebaran from the water and glared at him.
"P-p-please," cried the distraught and sodden chick desperately. In the background, Marco's comrades except the fainted Anastasia laughed out loud while Bellatrix's group looked on, fear for boiling within them.
"Not until I have taught you a good lesson about attackin' ya elders an' bein' violent," said Marco as Aldebaran continued to gasp heavily.
"V-v-violent!?" snapped the distressed chick.
"You heard me," said Marco flatly and with that, he plunged the distraught chick right back into the water again. As he did it, the toucan whom Aldebaran had attacked earlier, a mocking smile on his beak, said, "His scarlet father's a violent eagle as well. Must run in the family, I suppose."
The other toucans tittered after this. Marco then heaved Aldebaran, who was shaking, gasping and dripping wet, and held him in the air, an unsympathetic glare on the frightened chick.
"Absolutely," he said casually, before gazing sadistically at Aldebaran.
"Are you learnin' your lesson, little chick?" he crooned.
"W-w-what lesson!?" snapped Aldebaran timidly and between his rapid gasps, "I did nothing WRONG!"
"Not the answer I was lookin' for," said Marco flatly and with that, he plunged Aldebaran back into the water for the fourth time. The water around Aldebaran churned with the bubbles and garbled cries escaping his beak and the colourful chick thought he saw a flash of silver, implying a fish swim by. The chick's kicks then caused a disturbance of sediment on the wall, forming a small cloud. Marco then yanked a heavily breathing, sodden and trembling Aldebaran out of the water.
"Please, LET ME GOOOO!" screamed the chick in extreme desperation now, "YOU COULD DROWN ME IF YOU KEEP THIS GOING!"
Marco, upon hearing this, formed a devilish smile.
"Good," he said, "And I hope this traumatises you for a LONG time for almost blinding my friend."
And with that, he plunged Aldebaran back into the water again. The other toucans cheered as they watched Marco hold Aldebaran under the water.
"Yeah, go for it, Marco!" shouted one.
"Drown him, drown him!" cried another. From their binds, Bellatrix, Byron, Altair, Bambi and Sylvester, especially the third one, continued to emit muffled screams under their captors' feathers and shout Aldebaran's name, that name coming out muffled due to the toucans' wings clasping over them. Then Sylvester glared bitterly at the toucan, one of Marco's brothers covering his beak and felt hot rage tear through him. He began to struggle to free his beak to try and bite the toucan's wing but he could not due to how tight the toucan had his wing on his beak. But before things could get out of control with Marco continuously holding Aldebaran under the water as he struggled and released garbled cries of help, the sounds of wing-flaps reached the group's ears, followed by a, "What the- WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?"
Startled, all the toucans jumped into the air and shot terrified looks in the direction of the speaker, while Marco, that startle stinging him like a bee, also jumped and followed his comrades' gazes and accidentally tossed Aldebaran, who was sopping wet, gasping uncontrollably and shaking and whimpering from terror, into a patch of ferns.
Hovering in the air, a beautiful golden bird of prey-like creature with a yellow head and golden face markings was flapping kestrel-still with a bunch of some fruit in his orange talons. Its falcon-like eyes above a pretty black-tipped orange beak saturated with surprise and astonishment bore into Marco and his group and vice versa. Bellatrix and the other four also gazed at the hovering gold and yellow bird of prey with immense astonishment. There was a moment of awkward silence hanging over Marco and his group and the newcomer until finally, the newcomer spoke again, especially as his bulbous eyes travelled from the sopping wet rainbow form of Aldebaran who was gasping and coughing in the ferns to Marco, and then darted to the tied up Bellatrix and company to Marco's comrades.
"What… are you guys… doing?" asked the gold and yellow bird of prey who Bellatrix, Bambi, Byron, Sylvester and Altair had identified was the male golden fruithawk for they had seen him before.
"Aurum," whispered Bellatrix. Then Aldebaran found the strength to look up at Aurum as he continued to hover there, his orange talons full of fruit. He had obviously been out on a night-time foraging trip. Shakily and utterly dripping wet, the older brother of Altair held his upper body off the ground with his wings.
"Marco was trying to drown me," he blurted out. Shock tore through Aurum and he flinched, so much so that he almost dropped the fruit in his talons.
"WHAT!?" he replied confused. Marco immediately rushed over to Aldebaran and pretended to light-heartedly pick him up, but Aldebaran viciously hissed and lashed his tiny talons and beak at him.
"Oh, don't believe this little chick, gold and yellow falcon," said the toucan, "He's just fabricating a stupid story."
"Yeah, you know what kids are like these days," said another toucan just as Anastasia was coming round, "They always make up little fruities and tell 'em just to escape trouble."
Aurum continued to gaze at Aldebaran as he continued to hiss and bite at Marco as he tried to pick him up. Bellatrix and the other four with her gazed at the fruithawk, hoping that he would see through the toucans' lies and intervene while Marco and the other toucans hoped that Aurum would just butt out and continue his flight back to his hollow. However, the tide turned in the former group's favour when one of the toucans saw something, or someone, approach the group through the moonlit trees.
"(Gasp), Mom and Dad are coming!" she called to the others, "FLEEEE!"
And with that, the air above Bellatrix and company erupted with toucan wing-flaps as Marco's group began to scarper. The toucan hicks were seized and Anastasia was carried away. Amidst the chaos, Aldebaran was thrown upward a few inches and landed back in the ferns. Then within moments, Marco's group was gone, just before two more toucans, which Bellatrix and the other four recognised as Rafael and Eva, came in.
When the toco/keel-billed couple saw Bellatrix, Byron, Bambi, Sylvester and Altair tied to a tree, immense horror tore through them so they immediately flew over to them while Aurum descended towards Aldebaran as he continued to shudder and gasp, putting down the fruit he had foraged as he did.
"Good grief, what happened?" demanded Rafael as he examined the five chicks' predicament, while Eva began to look around for a sharp stone to cut through the vines. But nothing could prepare the two toucans for what Byron said next.
"Marco and his group did this," said he without hesitation. Rafael and his mate flinched harshly when they heard this.
"You WHAT, son!?" snapped Rafael.
"We were supposed to be stargazing but Marco and the others happened to be there and…" began Bellatrix but then Aurum called Rafael and Eva, unintentionally interrupting her.
"You two, I think one of the macaw chicks has taken a dip in that stream over there," said the fruithawk as he held a trembling bundle of colourful feathers in his silky golden wings. Rafael ran over to Aurum.
"You take care of the other five, my dear," called he to Eva who nodded. Rafael then stopped by Aurum and began to examine the bundle of sodden green, red, yellow and blue feathers that formed Aldebaran.
"Oh, no, ALDEBARAN!" cried the toco toucan when he saw the state of the chick, "You're sopping WET."
"And very cold," said Aurum. Aldebaran, as he continued to shake with cold and terror from the watery ordeal at Marco's clutches, then gazed up at Rafael.
"Marco tr-tried to dr-dr-dr-drown me," he managed to stammer.
"He WHAT!?" snapped Rafael incredulously. Aurum gazed at the toco toucan.
"While I was flying back to our hollow with the fruit, I saw one of those toucans hold a chick underwater in that stream from its bank…" then Aurum felt the memory of seeing that toucan and what chick he had plunged underwater flash in his head, before his eyes returned to the trembling and soaked Aldebaran, "I think it was this chick he was holding underwater…"
As he said this, Bellatrix, having been freed by Eva who had finally found a sharp stone to break the vines binding her and the other four chicks to the tree trunk, appeared, a scowl on her face.
"Marco was attempting to drown Aldebaran for scratching one of his friends who had almost blinded Zebedee," she said. This rooted Rafael to the spot as his brain registered these words. Nearby, Eva managed to break the vines and free the rest of the chicks with little time. She then brushed the remains of the green snakes off them and checked them over for any injuries. Then as soon as Rafael had absorbed the information given to him by Bellatrix, he felt his fury begin to boil dangerously within him. However, he managed to contain it. Turning to Eva, he said, "Eva, take those five chicks back to our hollow but make sure that they don't disturb Gylfie and our last remaining chicks. I wanna talk about this back there as out here is not safe."
Eva nodded and commanded Bellatrix and the other four to follow her. Turning to Aurum, Rafael said, "You carry Aldebaran back with us. We've gotta get him dry and wrapped up warm before he catches a chill."
Aurum nodded and moved the still-trembling and sopping wet Aldebaran gently to his talons and took off after Rafael and also Eva and the other chicks of Bellatrix's group, Mambi being carried in Eva's chicks as he could not actually fly. On the way, Rafael took some of the fruit Aurum had foraged. Though Rafael and Eva still had some young chicks who were under the age of leaving the nest, the couple had managed to discipline those chicks so that they would not fall into over-the-top and destructive mischievous habits, especially after learning what had become of so many of their older children like Marco and Sofia.
Somewhere else again in the forest
A small group of nocturnal marmosets were foraging on the forest floor and looking for small insects that crawled under the foliage, leafage, sticks and other material on the ground. Their eyes glowed like light bulbs in the partially moonlit ground level for most of the moonlight shafts had been absorbed by the upper levels of the forest, leaving only a few slivers of silvery moonlight to reach down to the ground level. However, those silvery slivers as well as the peaceful environment of the dark forest floor, was about to be disturbed, in a very bad way. As the marmoset clan continued to forage for insects, mothers carrying their babies on their backs or breasts, several of them jolted in the direction of another light emerging through the trees nearby. However, unlike the small shafts of moonlight, that light was orange and was spreading in the direction of the marmoset group. Then before the marmosets could deduce what was causing the light, the dark air above them was suddenly thrown into a bright orange light as the sources rocketed over them. The sources of light were the orange comet-like orbs on the branches and those branches were being carried by small toucan chicks as they laughed excitedly at the deformation of the orbs into comets as they continued to fly with them. However, all of them were completely unaware of the danger of these orbs and that they were spreading up the branches and vines of the surrounding trees, leading to those branches getting consumed by the orange orbs as they transformed into orange streams as they climbed up the wood of the branches and onto the leaf clusters at the end of them. The marmoset clan all squeaked in terror as some of the orange orbs rained down on them and landed gently amongst some foliage near where they were foraging. There, the orange orbs began to dance and spread amongst the leaf litter and other materials on the ground, and the marmosets could feel the orbs radiate large amounts of heat and see the black, char-smelling billows of puffs from their triangular tips. Alarmed, and disturbed by the heat of the orbs and the smell and sight of the puffs emanating from their tips, the marmoset clan abandoned their foraging trip and darted off into the trees that were still intact, followed by more animals, both nocturnal and diurnal alike, as they began to escape the orange orbs left in the wake of the naïve and excitement-blinded toucan chicks as they continued to surge through the trees with their orange orb-bearing branches in their talons, completely unaware of the destruction they were inadvertently spreading through the forest.
While this was happening, a group of greyhounds walked through the path built for tourists through the Blu Bird Sanctuary. Dash and Ginger were accompanied by James, Avellana, Rusty and Ebony but also the other two pups of Dash and Ginger's first litter: Esperanza and Danny and the former's mate, a male white greyhound with black patches named Worf, and Esperanza's belly was swollen for she was pregnant with her and Worf's litter of pups, and Avellana and Rusty's puppies, Cleo and Fido, were under the care of Inky the King Charles spaniel back in Susan and Lucy's neighbourhood.
"I'm wondering if Collette and Diasy are on about finding male cats and having kittens," said James as he walked alongside Ebony.
"Well, Collette did tell us that she had had some male cat admirers," said Esperanza as she walked alongside Worf, "And their owners hadn't sterilised her and Daisy so it seems plausible. Broccoli, however, cannot have kittens for he's been sterilised."
"However, Collette is a little uncertain how her kittens might behave towards birds," said Dash, "After all, cats and birds are natural enemies."
"True that, but still, she'll make a great mother," said Ginger, "And I heard that her owner is a big cat ecologist."
Avellana, as she walked alongside Rusty, smiled for she was also into ecology as well, albeit more diverse than that of just big cats.
"Veggie and Catina would have been so proud of their only three children if they were still alive," said Dash in a slightly sombre voice. The other greyhounds including Worf and Ebony all lowered their heads in mourning over their best cat friends. Ebony and Worf had met Veggie and Catina at some point during their pup-hood and had been amazed by Catina's converting from then life as a smuggler's cat to that of a housecat and a mother to the three kitten friends of James, Avellana, Danny and Esperanza.
"It's often a very rare thing that cats can get along well with birds," said Worf, "They often don't mix and the end result is often when the bird becomes a meal for the cat. I remember a small canary getting eaten by a pet cat once but it was not Nevada from Ebony and James's club. No wonder Collette seems a little uncertain about having her own kittens when she finds a nice, decent tom for a mate."
"True, Worf," said Dash, "That's why caution must be taken when keeping cats and birds together as pets. Fortunately Veggie and his family are among the exceptions."
The other greyhounds nodded in agreement.
As the group walked along, Worf spotted something in the distance, struggling in the moonlight on the path.
"Hey, look over there," he said to the other greyhounds delightfully and excitedly, and pointed to the thing he had spotted with a front paw. The other greyhounds followed his paw point.
"Looks like a baby bird," said Worf. Danny and Esperanza gazed at the little bird and saw more emerge from the bushes from the side and onto the path.
"Two of them," said Esperanza.
"More than two," said Danny.
"Are they jungle quail chicks?" asked Esperanza to Avellana, "Their mother should be emerging after them in a minute."
Avellana was about to speak when James, Rusty and Ebony examined the little birds more carefully. However, they had arrived to a very different conclusion to that of Worf.
"Aren't they…" began James. Dash and Ginger came in and also gazed at the birds and saw that they were not quail chicks, but macaw chicks, FOUR of them in fact. As Dash and Ginger examined the small group of macaw chicks more carefully, they saw that all four of them were blue coloured with two of them bearing a grey head. Ginger saw that one of the chicks bore a crest like that of Roberto but then Ebony immediately recognised the quartet wholly. She had seen these four chicks countless times before.
"I think they're four of Carla, Bia, Tiago and their friends chicks!" she shouted. The moment the other greyhounds' ears picked up this key information, the pattering of paws sounded on the stone and concrete surface of the path as Dash and the other greyhounds rushed over to the quartet of macaw chicks.
As the greyhounds skidded to a halt, they began to examine the chicks, which were indeed macaw chicks, more closely. They were four of Carla and company's kids: the two grey-headed forms were Canopus and Arcturus and the other two were Achernar and Diego, the former bearing the Roberto-like mop crest, and Ginger remembered that Roberto and his son Finnick had that same set. All four looked badly shaken, exhausted and traumatised and the greyhounds could see that they were all trembling, their feathers flattened and their crests spiked out, especially that of Achernar, a trait shared by his father Finnick and grandfather Roberto whenever they got scared or angry.
"You four look like you've just escaped a predator," said Worf.
"No, we haven't escaped from a predator," said Achernar who was the first to find the strength to speak, "We had managed to escape a flock of nasty DERANGED toucans."
The greyhounds felt disbelief tear through them when they heard this.
"Toucans?" repeated Dash with shock.
"We had managed to slip away from the bunch of toucans while they were discussing something, along with Polaris, Katniss and also Ferdinand, one of the flying fox pups," added Diego.
"We split up to confuse the toucans but Katniss, Polaris and Ferdinand were spotted and our toucan pursuers chased after them," put in Arcturus. Canopus, however, was too gripped by trauma to speak. Then the four felt a wave of guilt come over them and they began to release a few sobs. The greyhounds exchanged glances.
"Sounds like more toucan trouble," growled Ebony with a suspicious frown.
"We were supposed to be stargazing with our parents and some of our grandparents," continued Arcturus, "But a bunch of those toucans had to be there in our selected spot and they attacked us."
"Swiping us out from the grownups' noses and split away from each other," said Achernar.
"We have no idea where the others are but I presume they are scattered throughout the forest…" said Diego as he struggled to stand, prompting Avellana to assist him. Canopus then gazed into the wall of dark trees and shuddered.
"Our parents will be worried SICK about us by now," he managed to say in a fragile voice, "This is the SECOND TIME we have been torn from them by those horrible toucans…"
Worf gazed at Esperanza and Danny and mouthed the word 'toucans'. He had once been a victim of some of the gangster-like birds before and that incident had involved him being dunked into a stream where he had almost drowned. Then James came in, a severe look on his face. He gently picked up Achernar and Diego.
"We MUST get you to Tulio's Aviary ASAP," he said in an equally severe voice tone, "And hopefully devise a plan of rescue for the other missing kids…"
That made relief flow through Acharnar, Diego, Canopus and Arcturus and the quartet allowed themselves to be picked up by the greyhounds and placed onto their backs. This done, the greyhounds began to carry the four chicks in the direction of Tulio's Aviary.
"I had a hunch that a large majority of the toucan kids and their parents' behaviour would eventually venture beyond into the realm of sheer villainy and insanity like how Nigel had done," growled Ginger, "and that malicious pitfall trap in which Ebony, James, Broccoli, Daisy, Collette, Pelusa and Nevada had fallen I believe is one of the many warning bells of how bad those big nosed birds' behaviour is becoming."
"It's spread throughout the sanctuary as well, just like their population," said Dash, "Anyway, let's get these four chicks to Tulio's Aviary."
Then the greyhounds disappeared down the path to Tulio's Aviary with the four chicks on their backs.