Chapter 11- Nigel and the dog pack find a new recruit
Meanwhile
Nigel and what was left of his dog friends and former smuggler co-workers continued their aimless trek through the forest, some of the female dog members stopping briefly to admire some flowers and dancing petals of butterflies as they walked past them and as the butterflies flitted past. At the front, Brutus, Paws and Otis were talking about another subject.
"Did you hear what some of those keel-billed toucans say as we passed under them?" asked the latter, "They mentioned that the conservationist team at Tulio's Aviary had discovered and brought in four more extremely rare birds thought to be the last of their species."
"Really?" asked Paws.
"What were they?" asked Brutus. Nigel then walked up alongside them, a sour look on his face.
"More blue macaw dung worms I bet," growled the dishevelled cockatoo.
"No, two white and silver owls and two gold and yellow hawks," said Otis, "A male and a female of each. The former are called Luna owls and the latter two, golden fruithawks."
Perplex rolled through Brutus, Nigel, Paws and the other dogs listening in. However, one of them was faking his surprise.
"A what?" repeated the Doberman in confusion.
"Fruithawks?" repeated Paws.
"Never heard of 'em," said Tom the Dachshund or sausage dog as he plodded along on his short legs.
"They're hawks but they don't eat animal prey like rodents," explained Otis, "They eat fruit and other plant matter, sort of like how pandas are vegetarian and eat bamboo unlike other bears which sometimes eat fish and other meat besides fruit like berries."
"A species of hawk... that eats ONLY plant material and fruit!?" asked Adriana the Labrador in surprise. Then a frown formed on Brutus' face.
"If we were still with our owners now and we managed to nab those four from the Aviary, smuggle out of Brazil and sell through the animal trade, they would no doubt have a MASSIVE price tag attached to them and haul in a MASSIVE sum of money," the Doberman leader said, "Probably more money even than the Spix and glaucous macaws and the Amazon flying foxes now that more of those species had been found in the Amazon rainforest..."
As Brutus talked, Nigel's wicked mind drifted into flashback mode as he began to remember meeting those four for the first time. First off, he remembered managing to escape his cage and enter into the breeding chamber where Blu and Jewel and later Aurora and company had been kept and tried to eat one of the fruithawks, Katniss the female one, only to be savagely attacked and thrown out by Cassiopeia, one of the Luna owls. Sometime after that, Nigel began to remember having a sour encounter with Soren, the male golden fruithawk and only other known member of the species in existence, when Soren was having his checkup.
Flashback starts
Nigel sat in his cage, a BITTER glare on his face. His self-proclaimed 'girlfriend' Gabi lay sleeping in one corner and Nigel glared bitterly at her before resuming raking his gaze over the other birds around the medical room as the human employees tended to them. Just then another employee came by with another bird perched on his arm. That bird was not a macaw but a hawk and that hawk's plumage was a glistening gold except for its head and neck which were a vivid yellow like yellow dragonfruit. Nigel glared bitterly at the hawk as the man placed him on the worktop near Nigel's cage and left to get some equipment. This metallic gold and yellow bird was a fruithawk, the male named Soren and he also wore a sour face. He did not notice the cockatoo in his cage first and though Soren despised humans, he had reluctantly allowed this group to care for him. However, he could NOT wait to be out of here and be back in the jungle. The REAL one outside that is.
"How I wish those blitherin' bipeds would HURRY UP with whatever they are doin' to me," the fruithawk grumbled, his caustic glare on the humans as they treated other birds, "The sooner I am OUTA here, the BETTER! And I ESPECIALLY wanna escape that city freak Kantiniss or whatever her name is..." though Soren despised Katniss, he did feel bad for bothering her during their first meeting. Nigel glared at the fruithawk.
"Join the club, goldie," grumbled the cockatoo. Soren turned to eye him. However, the moment the male fruithawk locked his green eyes with Nigel's brown, the pH of his glare plunged even lower.
"You're that cockatoo who tried to attack Katniss the other day in that lousy cage aren't you!?" growled Soren hostilely, "what were you doin' in there, anyway?"
Nigel looked away and didn't answer to this at first. Finally, he spoke.
"You know I do NOT like pretty birds," he growled in a low, threatening voice, "Even if they are exotic birds of prey like hawks and owls such as YOU FOUR."
"I always thought exotic birds were like brightly coloured parrots, toucans, finches and the like," replied Soren, "I didn't think the fruithawk and the Luna owl were also exotic birds..."
"Well, you certainly are to me, goldie," replied Nigel, before a sickening smile crept into his beak, "And although I LOATHE pretty birds so much, they make a GREAT meal. I would have had one served to me from the chamber that day."
At first Soren did not react as he did not understand what Nigel was saying at first. However, when it DID dawn upon him, a MASSIVE shockwave of PURE horror and revulsion tore through him. Nigel glared at the horrified fruithawk.
"Problem, eagle-face?" asked the cockatoo nonchalantly.
"Wait a minute, you attempted to turn Katniss INTO A-!?" blurted out Soren but then FURY and DISGUST replaced his horror. Nigel's evil and sickening smile returned.
"Why not, pretty bird?" he crooned, "Pretty birds are my favourite food, especially macaws but I fancied something different for a change," his voice then rose to one of caustic rancour, "after all, ALL pretty birds are DUNG MAGGOTS, especially BLUE MACAWS. In fact, one meal I fancy more than ANYTHING else is a blue macaw dish served with rats and smaller birds. Now THAT would be an awesome meal for me!" his sickening smile returned once again and he topped off this REVOLTING idea with a small titter. Soren stood there stock still at what he had just heard come out of the cockatoo's beak. Finally, he spoke, disgust flaring in his voice tone.
"You are SICK IN THE HEAD, did you KNOW THAT, CRESTED CITY BOY!?" he screeched. Nigel then turned his psychotic glare at the fruithawk. Anger then took hold once again.
"You wanna know WHY I fancy a delicious blue macaw meal, eagle face, ESPECIALLY IF THE MACAW SRERVED IS MY MOST DETESTED MACAWS BLUE AND JEWEL!?" screeched the cockatoo rancorously and wrathfully and with that, he raised his tattered wings to show the fruithawk the reason. A scornful smile formed on Soren's orange beak.
"Oh," he said, "if that is the case then maybe that's why the famous Spix macaw shredded those tatty wings of yours to teach you a LESSON about messing with him and Jewel and so many other poor birds that you had tortured. I wouldn't be surprised if that were true."
That stung Nigel in a sensitive spot like a bee. Outraged with his crest flared and his eyes erupting brown volcanic ash plumes, the cockatoo seized the flip bolt that locked him in his cage and swung open his door. Then he stormed out and prepared to pounce onto Soren to brutally attack him for mentioning his two nemeses like that but as he leapt at the fruithawk, the fruithawk lofted into flight and flapped out of Nigel's way just in time, sending the cockatoo crashing into the exact spot he had been. Then Soren fluttered up onto a high elevation, one of the blades of the ceiling fan (which was rotating slowly for there were loose birds in the room. If there were no birds in the room, the fan was turned to a faster spin and if the workers at the Aviary wanted to turn that fan's spin up to cool the room down, especially on particularly hot days, they would first return all the birds to their cages and ensure that there were no loose flying birds about before this. After all, fast spinning fans were DEADLY to birds). Nigel, upon seeing Soren fly to the slow-spinning fan and perch up there, tried to follow the fruithawk; his commotion attracting the attention of the other birds and the workers and they converged their gazes on him, and Gabi in the cage also woke up in time to see the scene. The cockatoo opened his tattered wings and took off from the worktop, his wings beating the air. However, he flopped like a stone onto the floor, his tattered wings unable to support his weight in the air. Nigel quickly recovered from his fall, got up and tried again, the determination to tear Soren limb from limb spurring him fierily on. However, the only result he got was jumping into the air and falling back to earth, his tattered wings beating at the air in a vain attempt to get him airborne, and he shed some tatty grey-white feathers. Soren gazed at the cockatoo's vain attempts to take off, puffed up his cheeks as the urge to laugh at the sight erupted and eventually lost it and exploded into an uncontrollable laughing fit, one of his golden feathers pointing at the cockatoo. THAT added lemon juice to the previous wound Soren had inflicted on Nigel when he mentioned Blu and Jewel tearing his wings up and he soon gave up trying to take off and began to vomit a MASSIVE torrent of EXTREMNELY ACIDIC abuse at the fruithawk. The other birds and Gabi covered their ears to block out the VULGAR, GRAPHIC lyrics from the cockatoo's music. Soren then prepared to jump onto Nigel to give him a piece of his mind but as he dropped from the fan blade, a pair of gloved hands appeared and seized him while another pair of hands seized Nigel and carried him back to his cage where Gabi was. Soren was immediately returned to the chamber by Tulio while another employee returned Nigel to his cage. However, Soren managed to give Nigel a caustic parting shot as he was carried off.
"You DARE bother ANY of us again, chicken psycho boy, especially Katniss, the consequences are gonna be DIRE," screeched the fruithawk, "I HOPE BLU AND JEWEL STRIP YA OF YA FEATHERS an' THROW YA INTO A THORNBUSH OR SOMMAT TH' NEXT TIME THEY MEET YA, POULTRY PEST!"
Nigel flared an EXTREMELY offensive gesture in response to this parting shot and he was placed back into his cage and reprimanded.
End of flashback
Nigel trembled with WRATH at the male fruithawk and how he had the NERVE to laugh at his inability to fly. Then festering memories of how the other three, Katniss, Cassiopeia and Aragorn mocked and scorned him when they also met him came to mind and he trembled with wrath at the other fruithawk and the two Luna owls as well. Just then Brutus' voice called him back to reality.
"Nigel?" asked the Doberman. Nigel glared at the concerned looks of the hulking dog and the other dogs with him.
"You were trembling with anger," said Otis.
"Something bothering you?" asked Adriana. Nigel, at first, was silent but then he quickly replied.
"No," he said, "Just frustrated at not being able to fly."
"I don't believe you," replied Brutus, clearly not fooled, "It's gotta be about those 'pretty birds', especially the Spix macaws and your thirst for brutal revenge on 'em, isn't it? I demand an honest answer in THAT respect."
Nigel then felt his festering hatred as corrosive as battery acid and his wrath against his most LOATHED birds boil dangerously within him and he trembled with it. Finally, he erupted and he exploded the reason to the dogs.
"Those fruithawks an' owls are AS BAD AS THOSE BLUE MACAW AN' BAT WORMS!" he screeched. Some of the dogs including twins Hopper and Jackie flinched at the cockatoo's temper outburst. They and some of the other dogs were VERY timid and easily frightened whenever Nigel has one of these fits and believe me, he had them often and they were almost always violent, unlike Brutus' violent outbursts which had more self-control except the odd times when he actually injured or even killed a few poached animals. But even these were not as violent as Nigel's SAVAGE volcanic eruptions. Brutus then decided to take action when he heard some of his underlings emit squeaky whines at Nigel's behaviour.
"Cool your temper, Nigel," commanded the Doberman. However, Nigel refused to listen and began to enter a volcanic hissy fit. His brown eyes flared blood-red and his crest flared and he entered into a violent paddy, his beak becoming a verbal acid fountain as VULGAR and incredibly OBSCENE and GORY geyser began to spew from his beak. Brutus took action.
"NIGEL, I said COOL YOUR TEMPER THIS MINUTE, or you ARE OUTA MY PACK FOR GOOD! UNDERSTAND!?" barked the Doberman in a louder voice and with that, he seized Nigel, hoping that this would bring the raging cockatoo back to his senses. However, Nigel yanked himself out of his front paws, left for somewhere and began to VENT... VIOLENTLY. The dogs including Brutus looked on in disgust.
"His beak is as FILTHY as his eating habits AND his plumage," growled Adriana repulsively. Near her, some other dogs winced and flinched at the VILE vomit that spewed out of Nigel's beak and he even shredded some nearby plants.
"Yeah, he had ALWAYS detested baths," added Otis.
"Well, that dumb and immature chicken should have left those bizarre hawks and owls alone then, shouldn't he?" said Brutus, "Like I've said; our days of kidnapping birds and other rare animals for the animal trade are COMPLETELY behind us."
Then after a few more minutes, Nigel returned, the pressure of his rancorous wrath against his nemeses, especially Blu and Jewel stabilised but there was no doubt that it will build up rapidly again.
"Happy now, cockatoo?" asked Brutus sternly, "You got it all outa your system?"
Nigel didn't answer and walked on with a pout like a stubborn chick. Brutus and his dog pack followed.
"He can NEVER get those causin' those macaws and bats trouble and grief off his mind, can he?" grumbled Tom the Dachshund as a wary Chihuahua underling cautiously crept after Nigel.
"Let's just move on," said Brutus and with that, the dog pack did.
As the group continued, Otis began a new thread of conversation. "By the way, dogs, do you guys remember when we met a VICIOUS swan in a park in Peru while we were trying to find some rare animals in the forest near that park's massive lake with our smuggler owners?"
"We did," said Brutus. Ahead of the pack, Nigel just looked straight ahead, his sour pout remaining on his face and his tattered wings crossed. He was uninterested in this story.
"We had to keep our distance from that monster of a waterbird," continued Brutus, "Even I had to do that. It managed to kill one of the parakeets that had managed to escape us while we were caging them. If I had taken that swan on, it would have easily overpowered me and severely injure me."
"Glad we don't live at that lake," said one of the other unnamed underlings, a Shih Tzu female.
"Otherwise we'd probably be oppressed by that tyrant," said the Chihuahua.
"That swan was often nicknamed the 'Tyrant of the Lake' because of how it bossed around the other inhabitants, especially ducks, other swans and geese to say the least," said Bryony the collie. The other dogs nodded in agreement. Nigel, however, continued to walk on ahead like a disgruntled child that had been scolded. Then the dogs continued to walk on and talk more about the swan.
Some distance ahead of the dogs and Nigel, another same-species group of animals was up to its antics. The species of animal this pack was the marmoset and all but a few of them were grey in colour. The remaining few were brown and one of them, a large male, had a paperclip in his top head hair and a golden wristwatch around his waist like an adornment. Beside him was a smaller brown marmoset who was almost a carbon copy of the bigger one except he did not wear the same adornments as the bigger one. This band of marmosets was flooding the air with mischievous and triumphant laughter as they gleefully juggled and played with and through a variety of sparkly and colourful items. The marmoset group had been on one of their looting trips to the tourists and had managed to pinch a few more knickknacks for themselves to the UTMOST chagrin and outrage of their victims, the tourists. There had been new rules to tourists and sanctuary visitors to keep CLOSE watch of their valuables at ALL times due to reports of thieving animals living within the area. However, it was clear that some of the visiting humans had NOT listened and this was the result. The large brown marmoset gazed at his underlings.
"Great job, boys and girls," he chuckled, "You did an AMAZIN' job in seizin' some more toys for us to play with and wear while my son Marty an' I distracted them with some street magic tricks," he then turned to the little brown marmoset and patted him on the head. A triumphant smile appeared on this little marmoset's face. This was Marty, the son of the lead marmoset who was Mauro and he was just as mischievous and as troublemaking as his father. However, his mother was absent, having accidentally drowned in the lake while trying to retrieve a dropped piece of jewellery from the water only to be caught by an undertow and dragged under. Mauro had spent some time grieving for the loss of his mate with his gang and had raised his son by himself. Though this marmoset gang would do ANYTHING to nab any valuables they found interesting from the visiting humans, they were now extremely careful to avoid dangerous areas and Mauro's mate's death in the lake had taught them an important lesson, but still, they did not forsake their thievery. They just learned to avoid any area that was too dangerous.
There were other young marmosets present in the group, some of Mauro's male underlings having found some females who were equally mischievous and skilled in thievery and had paired up and had babies with them. Thus this group now had young marmosets and new members and many of the babies were as mischievous as their parents, though they were not as destructive as many of the toucan kids of Rafael and Eva who were FAR naughtier even than these pesky primates. Mauro and his gang continued to celebrate their newly looted knickknacks and during their gleeful partying, two of the marmoset babies, both of them wearing bead bracelets they had managed to pinch from the tourists around their necks like necklaces, darted away from the pack's side to play chase.
"Don't go too far, you two," called the mother of one of them, "We'll be moving on shortly."
"Yes, and there are dangerous predators hiding in the bush," said another adult marmoset, "The last thing ANY of us want is you two running into danger and any of us adults having to risk themselves pullin' you out of it."
Though the marmoset pack was mischievous, they had wildlife survival sense and knew to avoid predators and playing with fire with them, and they would NEVER lure ANY other community member, not even their enemies, to their potential death by using predators as death tools, though Mauro did consider doing just that with a certain cockatoo that tormented them and coerced them into kidnapping two certain blue macaws at one point. However, he felt that photographing that cockatoo after his incident with the plane was enough and had completely abandoned that idea as it was too risky. After all, he wanted to be there for his band of marmosets and more importantly, his son Marty after his mate's death.
The two babies nodded and continued to chase each other, monkey giggles of glee escaping their mouths. However, they were in for a nasty shock. As the pair continued to run after each other on all fours, one of them, the chaser, screeched to a halt and gazed through a bush. His friend, upon seeing the chaser stop and stare at a bush, stopped running and came up to his friend.
"What is it?" asked he. When he got no answer from his friend, the baby marmoset paralleled his gaze with his and gazed into the bush. However, the moment his eyes landed on whatever was hiding in or through the bush...
The rest of the pack continued their jovial laughter and admiration of their new toys, among them another old-fashioned camera, some more jewels including bracelets and necklaces and rings (one of the young marmosets wore what looked like a wedding ring with a diamond on its head like a crown), and some other electronics such as a handheld screen flanked by a vivid blue and a teal handle on each side, those handles possessing black spots that can be pressed and strange moveable stick things with caps, rather like artificially made little 'mushrooms'. One of the marmosets played a game on this device and giggled gleefully and in fascination at this strange toy and he kept snatching it from the other marmosets who wanted to have a go with it. As Mauro's gang continued to have fun with their new toys, one of the mothers went to look for the two baby marmosets that had run a short distance from the rest of the group to call them back. Marty began to ask his father about the strange brightly coloured electronic with a screen and the black spots and mushrooms.
"What's that human device, Dad?" asked he. Mauro gazed at the device as some of his underlings and young group members began to squabble over it.
"I believe it is what humans call a games console of some sort, son," replied he, "You play what humans call video games on it..." suddenly, as the leader of the pack spoke, two screams erupted into the air, startling the group and pulling their attention in the direction of the screamers. The marmosets with the games console stopped squabbling over the device. Then two little blurs with colourful beads around their necks raced in and hopped into the arms of their mothers. They did so with such force that their mothers were almost bowled over. Then the two baby marmosets began to tremble in their mothers' arms. Their eyes were inflated out of their sockets and their fur was on end as though each hair was electrically charged.
"What is it, you two?" demanded one of the mothers. Then one of the young marmosets shakily pointed a finger in the direction of what caused him and his friend to return to them in such haste. Mauro came in, a curious look on his face.
"Is there a predator nearby?" the lead marmoset asked, "Did your two babies spot it? If they had, we need to move and NOW."
One of the mothers was about to answer when suddenly, a hiss shook the air, making the marmosets stiffen. Some then exchanged glances.
"What was that?" asked one of the other marmosets, a male and the father of one of the frightened babies.
"Sounds like a snake," said another. Mauro then slowly turned his wary gaze in the direction of the hiss sound's source's location as another hiss erupted from there. As he gazed in that direction, his eyes widened as dread came over him.
"That's not... a... sna-a-a-ake," he slowly said, before he turned his urgent glare to the parents, "Parents, pick up your babies right now, we need to..." but before the lead marmoset could finish, chaos erupted as whatever emitted the hostile hissing noise exploded upon them. Marmoset screeches of PURE terror erupted into the air as the group then scrambled to escape and Mauro barked for Marty to come to him RIGHT NOW. However, whatever had leaped upon them was not a predatory wildcat, or a snake as Mauro correctly deduced. It was something MUCH bigger and MORE aggressive.
Not too far away from where Mauro and his gang were, Brutus, Nigel and the other dogs were made aware of the sounds of panicked marmoset cries through the foliage. The group turned their gazes in the direction of the source.
"What on EARTH!?" shouted Brutus in disbelief. Then Bryony recognised the marmoset sounds.
"I do believe those cries belong to a certain pack of pesky and thievin' primates," said the black and white collie, "but what is startling them?"
Nigel also identified the owners of the marmoset cries. However, he did not look as alarmed as the dogs. Then Brutus took off in the direction of the frightened marmosets, the rest of the dogs followed him. Nigel was the last to start as he had been late in reacting to Brutus' sudden move and he was soon behind the dog pack.
"Wait for me, you CANINE IDIOTS!" the cockatoo screeched as he struggled to keep up with his former four-footed co-workers. He stumbled over a green-brown tendril of a tree root as he ran after the dog pack, "You know I'm NOT as fast you!" he then fell flat on his face when his foot snagged on a rock. Quickly, Nigel scrambled to his feet and bolted after the dogs but the gap between him and the dogs furthest back in the pack continued to widen. Tom the Dachshund and an unnamed poodle shot a sour glare at the lagging cockatoo.
"Well, if you were STILL able to fly, you chicken in parrot's clothing, you'd be ABLE to keep up with us then, won't ya?" the sausage dog acerbically grumbled.
"Yeah, absolutely," said the poodle in agreement. Nigel shot the two dogs a CAUSTIC glare for THAT struck a nerve. A FIERCE hiss exploding through his beak, the cockatoo picked up his pace and tried to catch up.
"HOW DARE YOU INSENSITIVELY REMARK ABOUT MY INABILITY TO FLY, YOU TWO!" screeched the cockatoo, "I'M GONNA GIVE YA SOME NEW MARKINGS FOR THAT!"
Tom and the poodle didn't hear Nigel and continued running after the other dogs. Grumbling and spewing profanity, Nigel carried on.
At the front, Brutus exploded from some bushes but as he did, he stopped... DEAD and AGHAST. The other dogs arrived but they crashed into each other as the ones at the front and nearest to Brutus stopped suddenly. Paws was bowled over by Hopper and Jackie while Bryony stumbled over the Chihuahua and landed headfirst into a flower patch. Then angry dog barks erupted as these pack members began to name call each other for bumping into each other and causing each other to trip or stumble. However, the squabble was cut short as these dogs' eyes landed on the commotion ahead of them. In front of the dogs was a brawl. A brown and white striped marmoset with a paperclip on his head hair and wristwatch around his waist was locked in a savage altercation with another animal, one three times his size. As Brutus looked harder, he thought it was a rosette spoonbill initially but then he remembered that rosette spoonbills were shaped and coloured differently to the creature that was fighting with the marmoset who Bryony, after recovering from her short flight into the flower patch and crawling out of it, her black and white fur dotted with colourful petals and pollen, identified as Mauro, the marmoset pack's leader. The lead marmoset was armed with a stick and was waving at the creature, his face boiling with wrath. The creature fighting Mauro was indeed a bird, but it was a large bird, far larger than Nigel (who had managed to arrive behind the dog pack and was trying to force his way through the crowd of four-legged creatures to get to the front). Its body was barrel shaped and well-muscled, and emanating from that bulk of feathers and muscle were two MASSIVE wings which flapped at the air. Beneath the body were two black webbed feet and ahead of it was a long neck which was curved, like a snake. At the end of the snake-like neck was a head and on that head was a bright orange and black beak, that beak gaping open and revealing a nasty neck and set of ridges as it emitted a FIERCE hiss at Mauro. The creature's feathers were grey-white, like those of Nigel and unlike a rosette spoonbill whose plumage was various shades of pink, but its plumage was crisscrossed with hideous claw mark-like streaks, especially on the body, wings and the neck. These marks were scars, indicating that the creature had been in previous brutal fights in its history. The creature's head sported equally hideous long feathers which cascaded down the bird's head to half-way down its neck like a mass of mouldy grey seaweed. The creature's eyes were bloodshot and red and flooded with hostility as they glared at the marmoset as he continued to drive it back with his stick. Brutus then identified the massive bird.
"Is that a swan!?" the Doberman blurted out.
"A swan, in RIO!?" barked Bryony in disbelief.
"B-b-but we RARELY have birds like swans and geese in THIS area of Brazil," said Otis, "Except the odd colourful ducks in the lake nearby maybe but NOT swans, if EVER."
As Otis spoke, Nigel managed to fight his way through the dog pack and reach the front to the annoyance of the canines. However, he managed to give Tom and the poodle a piece of his mind when he climbed over them; to the side of the pack, both dogs were holding their ears with their paws, their faces twisted in pain. Then Adriana gazed in a certain direction as Mauro continued to wrestle with the savage swan.
"Guys, look," the Labrador shouted and pointed a paw. The other dogs followed her paw point and saw a brown and white striped form propped against a tree trunk. Shock ripped through the dogs but Nigel looked on, a different look on his face.
"That little marmoset could be his SON!" Paws cried out.
"And he looks injured," said Bryony. She released a sneeze when some of the pollen from the flower patch she had landed in irritated her nose after saying this. Brutus looked on and said nothing. The little marmoset was indeed Mauro's son, Marty and he was clutching his arm, his face twisted in pain. It appeared that the swan Mauro was confronting had injured this little monkey. Then Mauro, after realising that his opponent was more than a match for him and not noticing the presence of Brutus and his pack including a bird that had bothered him and his pack some years ago, gave up fighting the swan and bolted for it. However, as the lead marmoset rushed to seize his injured son Marty, the swan lashed at him and clamped its beak onto Mauro's tail. Agonised marmoset screams exploded into the air and the dogs winced. Nigel, however, looked on with a sadistic grin on his beak, clearly enjoying the scene as though it was some comedy show. Then after a sickening rip as hair was torn from Mauro's tail by the swan, the lead marmoset, his son in his arms, fled like a frightened rabbit through the foliage, slivers of brown and white drifting gently to the ground in his wake. The swan then spat out a clump of more marmoset hair from its beak and glared after the fleeing marmoset. Then as Brutus and his pack looked closer at the swan's face, they were gripped with awe. They expected the swan to bear a furious, triumphant look on its face as one would expect of a swan that had driven out an intruder from its territory. However, that glare was quite different, and disturbingly so.
"That swan's glare looks incredibly like Nigel's look when he used to torture our feathered prisoners," whispered Hopper.
"You're meaning to say that the swan took pleasure in causing those marmosets trouble, bro?" asked his identical twin brother, Jackie. Hopper didn't reply for he was too dumbfounded by the swan to. Then Nigel glared at the massive waterbird, a sneer on his beak.
"Looks like I might have a new friend and ONE that is a BIRD like ME!" he said with sadistic glee, "Hopefully its strength and size will be of good use when we carry out our revenge plans on that blue feathered SLIME WORM an' his family an' friends!"
"Forget about that Spix macaw and company, Nigel," growled Tom, "Or I'll step on your toes about NOT bein' able to fly again!"
Nigel shot the Dachshund a VOLCANIC glare and raised his claws but then Brutus' bark pulled the pair out of the imminent fight between them and they shot the Doberman leader a look.
"GET READY TO RETREAT!" shouted Brutus and with that, he and the other dogs prepared to flee as the massive and hideously scarred swan turned to them and pierced them with an EXTREMELY hostile glare. Its wings and ragged head feathers were flared out and from its orange beak was a MASSIVE hiss. The swan was clearly ready to lunge at Brutus' group and attack them. The dogs prepared to bolt but then Nigel bravely stepped out from them and walked boldly towards the savage swan.
"NIGEL!" barked Brutus.
"Get back here you FLIGHTLESS CRESTED IDIOT!" shouted Otis. The other dogs also emitted barks as the cockatoo continued to saunter towards the swan and then stopped before it. The swan kept its hostile glare on the cockatoo and its wings flared open as the cockatoo began to talk with it. The dogs slowly lowered the urge and poise to flee and gazed in astonishment as the cockatoo engaged the swan despite risking being savagely pecked and attacked.
"Is he... talking with that beastly waterbird?" Hopper asked Brutus.
"He's putting himself at SERIOUS risk of injury," added Jackie. Brutus only flashed the identical twin spaniels a brief look before returning it to the scene. Nigel continued to converse with the swan and to the UTMOST astonishment to the dogs, the swan began to lower its wings and hostility levels. Then Brutus took in the size of the massive feathered beast and compared it to the cockatoo. The swan was indeed ENORMOUS. It was three times the size of Nigel and probably four times as strong and the bird even outsized Brutus himself, especially with its wings open. Adriana gazed at the swan.
"If that bird joins us, Brutus, it would make an excellent partner in dealin' with that wretched Dalmatian," the Labrador growled sadistically. Brutus raised a paw to her to tell her to be quiet. Adriana sourly obeyed and returned her gaze at the swan and Nigel as they continued to talk. Then the swan spoke. Its voice sounded like a snarl of a vicious dog, one more vicious even than Brutus.
"So you seem to 'ave taken a path of REVENGE, eh, COCKATOO, after you LOST YOUR ACTIN' CAREER to a PARAKEET!?" the swan growled, making some of Brutus' pack members, especially the smaller ones, flinch harshly, "Well, I am also on dat same path after I lost my place on the LAKE in PERU thanks to that BROWN AMAZON FLYIN' FOX!" its breath surged through Nigel's ragged feathers and made them shudder like leaves but the cockatoo did not flinch one bit. That sent another shockwave blasting through Brutus and his pack.
"That swan KNOWS THAT COCKATOO!?" asked Paws in astonishment. Brutus did not reply to this but then he winced when the swan's piercing snake-like gaze, its eyes being bright orange like one, glared at him and his pack once again. Nigel returned to the pack as it did.
"Now THAT was indeed foolhardy, you flightless show-off cockatoo!" growled Tom.
"At least I can do sommmat that YOU can't, sausage boy," growled Nigel condescendingly and acerbically, "I think your place is in a GIANT sarnie like a REAL hot dog."
Tom released a FIERCE snarl at this offensive statement but Nigel released a titter, having got back at the Dachshund for insulting his flightlessness, and the sausage dog trembled angrily, his feelings slashed like a claw swipe from that scathing remark. Being compared to a hot dog was EXTREMELY offensive and an UTMOST insult to Tom as it made him feel UTTERLY small and insignificant, like a prey item to be eaten. After all, Nigel LOVED meat. Then the swan examined the dog pack closely, its hostility levels now reduced.
"You city canines look familiar," it growled in a lower voice. Based on its voice sound, the swan was male.
"We were out on a poaching trip when you used to rule that lake in the park, looking for rare animals to capture for money, my former favourite thing in the world," replied Brutus. However, he was quite nervous around the swan under this bolder voice tone, clearly wary of its strength and savage nature. Brutus was rarely frightened or nervous but when confronted with a powerful foe that he knew could badly injure him such as a savage swan, he had good reason to. Another thing that scared Brutus was Nigel's 'feral mode' which the cockatoo often exploded into during the group's time as smugglers' pets and assistants. The swan replied.
"Ah, now I know why you four-legged fleabags are so familiar," he growled. As he spoke, Nigel took in the water bird's strength and size and jealousy began to well within him, especially at how much stronger and intimidating he looked compared to him.
"However, we had lost our role as smugglers' dogs and Nigel here as a smuggler's cockatoo," explained Brutus, "Our owners had been caught and put in prison."
Then Adriana asked the water bird some questions, "By the way, how did you end up here, in Rio, Brazil? How did you lose your place on the lake?"
"Do you REALLY WANNA KNOW WHY!?" the swan snarled, his voice sounding like the growl of an engine of a car of an angry driver in traffic, "That DUNG RAT WITH WINGS gathered ALL THE OTHER LOW-DOWN PESTS AGAINST ME an' DROVE ME OUTA THAT LAKE!"
Adriana released a timid whimper and cowered under Brutus to the Doberman's annoyance. Then the swan began to introduce himself.
"Oh, I do believe you city dog pests need to know my name first," the massive waterbird said in a calmer voice but with its growl present, "My name is Vecna an' I come from Peru. As to how I ended up 'ere, I flew t' here after my forced banishment by that dog-faced winged rat."
Astonishment ripped through the dogs and Nigel looked slightly surprised.
"You flew ALL the way from PERU TO HERE ALL BY YOURSELF!?" Tom blurted out.
"It's such a long way to go," added Paws.
"And that 'dog-faced winged rat'?" asked Bryony, "That sounds like that male Amazon flying fox called Orion..."
"THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT I AM TALKIN' ABOUT, DOG!" snarled Vecna volcanically, making Bryony release a startled bark and hide behind the Great Dane. Some of the dogs began to talk amongst themselves.
"That swan certainly does have a VOLCANIC temper," whispered the Chihuahua to the others, "He's probably worse than Nigel."
Suddenly Brutus called them and the other dogs and Nigel to attention. He had heard some rhythmic crunching noises through the vegetation which indicated footsteps, and they weren't from four-footed animals.
"There's a group of humans heading this way, let's move," the Doberman shouted. With that, the group got prepared to move on and as they did, Brutus turned to Vecna the savage swan, "You come with us too, unless you wanna be caught and possibly..." he trailed off, not wanting to say it for he was intimidated by the massive swan. Vecna shot a caustic glare in the direction of the footsteps' owners and then glared back at the dogs.
"Right," the swan said in his growly voice and with that, he followed the dogs as they began to move on, Nigel walking alongside them. Nigel then glared jealously at Vecna.
"Well, when those good-for-nothin' blue maggots and winged rats return here perhaps for a visit or sommat, I hope to perform better than that fat snake-necked, white-feathered water turkey since I am, after all, far more EVIL than ANY bird in Rio."
Suddenly, a grey-white head with ragged snake-like feathers cascading from it, an orange and black beak and snake-like orange eyes appeared right before Nigel's own, making the cockatoo flinch and raise his ragged pale yellow crest.
"Are you insultin' my body size, tatty parrot!?" snarled Vecna threateningly. Nigel immediately shook his head.
"Well, if you EVER DARE make ANY scathin' remark about me, at ALL, parrot boy," growled the swan in an even more threatening voice, "Then I'll show you just how SCATHIN' my BEAK can be when it latches ONTO YA THROAT!"
Nigel swallowed a lump of air at this threat and timidly nodded. Vecna then formed a wicked smile of satisfaction and resumed following the dog pack ad Brutus barked at them to get a move on.However, Nigel walked along sourly but he knew he must NOT insult Vecna again or the massive swan WILL carry out his threat on him. After all, Vecna was several times stronger than the cockatoo and can easily overpower him. Brutus' group, with their new recruit, then moved on before the group of humans, plant surveyors, arrived. However, they did not notice the pack of dogs, the cockatoo and the swan as they hurried away.