Chapter 9: Scouting

(Azure's P.O.V.)

Angel and I were currently sitting nearby on a branch, and I was eating a mango while Angel was humming a tune. I looked over at him as I finished, and I asked, "Angel, what if Wolf dies while he is trying to help me? I don't want him to go through any more pain and suffering than he needs to already."

That is when I noticed the smile on Angel's lips and that he was gazing at me, before he opened his mouth and said, "Wolf is already planning on what to do, and I'm playing a fair part in helping him stay safe. Just like you said to him earlier; 'he is unique' in his own way."

I looked away from him and over the lake as a smile started to cross my beak, and I asked, "When this is all over, would you still watch over Wolf and I?"

Angel chuckled and I looked back at him as he folded his hands across his lap, and leaned back and against the tree before saying, "As much as that would be interesting, I'm sure that if Wolf and you are reunited, then I won't need to watch over you two at all… or I hope I won't need to." I saw Angel raise a hand up and draw an image in the air, and as I watched attentively and curiously; it started to glow blue as he was twisting his finger in extravagant angles and arcs. It looked stunning and beautiful to watch him doing that, and as I started to walk closer, the air closer to Angel was humming with what sounded like electricity and smelled of pure air. He pulled his hand away, and when he brought his hand up to the side and sort of twisted it, it was now facing me.

I gasped in delight as I looked at the image in front of me, and it seemed like a 3D picture of a macaw, and I watched as blue sparks and zaps would arc between the lines, "Tuum anima et habent fortuna Lupus ... esse tutum." I looked at Angel as he fluently strung out a string of foreign words. I looked back at the drawing as it started to sputter, before it shot into the middle of the clearing and exploded into a haze of white light. But instead of the light drifting downwards and towards the water, it started to quickly spiral towards a familiar tree, and then it hit me; that is my tree. "I won't be there to watch over Wolf… but he may be safer now."

Looking back at Angel, he smiled as he rubbed his hands together and yawned. I shook my head and then asked, "So, what did you do?"

"I gave him a blessing…"

(Wolf's P.O.V.)

If that Falcon is part of a group of smugglers, then he must have been scouting me out so he could know what and who to look for… but how would he be able to tell the smugglers about me? it isn't like they can speak bird, I only know because of that freak accident I had. Huh? I looked down as a wing was pressed into mine, and I saw Luke looking up at me with a mischievous grin on his face, and I internally groaned. Whenever Luke had that look in his eyes, it was either a time to watch him closely, or brace yourself for the worst, "May we go play with Isaac, Romeo, and Crystal dad?"

I sighed softly and Luke looked at me with a confused face, but I said, "Sure, let me go check if they are alright to play then." As I turned around, I felt like something hit me, yet not physically, and I heard a faint chanting like phrase in my ears, but it quickly faded, but I heard one word that I knew, 'Lupus'. That's Italian for wolf, but where did it come from, and why?

When I heard Luke moving away, I started to walk forward, and I shook the thought away, but the word lupus remained with me. I spread my wings as I exited my home, and took off quickly before quickly turning over and observing everything within sight quickly, taking extra attention with shadows, before I shifted back forward and repeated my observation again. I don't want that falcon to know about Blu and Jewel being my friends… I don't want to drag them into this conflict also.

I slowed my pace as I neared the branch near the hollow entrance, and I shouted out, "Blu, Jewel, are you in there?" I landed just as I finished, and I collected my breath just as I heard a feminine voice call out, "I will be right there Wolf."

A few moments later, Jewels head popped out of the hollow and asked tiredly, "Hi Wolf, what did you want?"

"Um, I wanted to know if your kids wanted to come over and play with mine… and are you alright?" I asked, noting the exhausted look in her eyes and how much of her once pristine feathers were unkempt.

She sighed in relief and flashed me a smile, "Yes, they can come over… and yes, I'm fine, thank you… just taking care of these chicks can become a task some times."

I chuckled as I recalled all the hard times I had to deal with the nonsense of my children as well. I opened my beak and asked, "Would you and Blu like to come over? I can grab some fruit beforehand if you would like?"

Jewel softly laughed and shook her head as she said, "That is tempting Wolf, really, but we are too tired to do much else but relax… maybe next time."

I smiled softly as I said, "I understand, now, do I leave or would you prefer I wait for them."

"You can go home, they should know how to get around the forest by now." I smiled as she ducked back into her hollow, and when I turned around, I heard giggling and laughter from inside. I smiled as I took off, and angled back towards home and quickly headed away. I chuckled softly as all my fears and troubles temporarily vanished, and I was able to relax as I soared across the sky, unknown of how dangerous my day was going to be tomorrow…

(Valis's P.O.V.)

I was currently leaning back in a chair as I was resting, and thinking over everything that had happened since I had first taken over the smuggling Cell operations. I remember when there were more of us… but there is nothing I can do about that now. I'm just glad that I still have four allies with me, though the other sixteen would've been great.

A few years ago, the smuggling Cell had been at an all-time high, and was notorious for its three animalistic allies that were capable of caring out tasks for their masters with little to no trouble. The law hadn't known about our whereabouts until a double crosser had told of a warehouse that we was going to be hosting a meeting…

That day was horrible, I tightened my fists as flashbacks of that day flashed behind my shut eye lids, all the top leaders were killed in the firefight that had ensued after the police warnings had failed, and only two of the five smuggler groups that made up the smuggler Cell had survived… Marcel's and my own. While we didn't technically rank our groups, Marcel and I both new we were on the bottom, though my groups success rate was higher than his, so I was 'ranked' fourth in the group listing.

I sighed as I heard movement in the other rooms, but I quickly took in a deep breath, the things that the others could do, what they hadn't taught us yet, the things Arien could have learned also were invaluable… but lost. Arien is nothing but a chick compared to the strength of the others animal allies, but even so, he is still quite an adversary…

My chair dropped forward on my will as I heard two loud metallic knocks on the door leading from the stairs leading to the entrance. I barely muttered under my breath, "Arien returns…"

I hit the red button on the tabletop and heard a screech resound down the staircase, but not loud enough alert any unwanted attention. I smiled as I brought my hand over the map and grabbed it, and then I started to unfold it. I looked down at it as I stood up, and observed the jungle terrain to the north of the city, and where Marcel had once said the Spix macaws resided.

Claws scrapped across the wooden tabletop as Arien landed and walked closer to the map. I looked at him and slightly smiled as I asked, "What did you discover?"

His collar lit up and as it beeped, his synthesized voice spoke out, "I have found the home of where the Spix macaws live, and I discovered the target along the way. He has three chicks and another adult female. They are a group of Hyacinth macaws, and the male seems to be the only one that is a threat… his eyesight is sharp and clear…"

I felt myself shudder at the mention of the familiar phrase; only the animalistic counterparts of the smuggler Cell used it, but the smugglers understood its meaning. Arien had implied something that was to be taken under great consideration, and then mixed with him being a threat, that made it even more dangerous for to take him out. I sighed as I asked, "What area do you suspect the target lives in?"

Arien walked closer to the map of the forest, and he dragged a talon across the paper lightly in a circular motion, and his said, "This is where I discovered the Spix macaws hollow, and if Nigel was telling the truth, then the Wolf is bound to be living right across a lake that sits there."

"I see… well then, let's begin our planning, I would like to have this finished before the week is up…"

A.N.: here is the next chapter, hope you all enjoyed it, but it ended up becoming a filler more than I actually intended for it to be… it holds minor information, but this is something that needed to be put in unless any of you wanted to be confused. I had intended to reveal a secret in this from what Luke was going to say to Gabriel, but I guess I didn't get around to that, though the hints should be enough by now… hope you enjoyed, and review.

The translation for what Angel says is in Latin for {May your soul and spirit have good luck Wolf... be safe.} -direct translation doesn't work in google translate, so sorry if it is wrong…