Chapter 8- meeting Zephyr, Brisa, Samara, Celeste and Orion

A little while later, Francisco's group drove down a road flanked by a series of trees on either side and arrived at Tulio's Aviary, pulling up in the car park outside the building. Once the humans got out of the jeep, Audrey picked up Milo in his cage and Brandon took hold of Aurora and Sirius' cage and followed Alejandra and Francisco into the building.

"Welcome to Centro de Conservaçāo Ambiental or Centre for Environmental Conservation in English for you English speakers, and also known as Tulio's Aviary," said Francisco with his arms spread wide to the building as he introduced it. Brandon and Audrey, together with Aurora, Milo and Sirius gazed in amazement at the size of the building as Alejandra continued, "It is the area where we tend to rescued birds and other animals, but mostly birds. Come, let's get inside..."

The group then went on and entered the building's entrance. Once they were in the main medical hall of the Centre, Brandon and company looked around the area in admiration, especially at the diversity of birds present. Some were perched on the blades of the ceiling fan (set to a safe speed for their sake); more were present in cages along the wall and yet more were present on the worktops being tended to by the workers of the place.

"This is where we take care of our bird casualties that have been rescued from the wild but most importantly, smugglers and poachers and also from the black market where they were being sold via illegal trade," said Francisco, "And once they are nursed back to health, we either release them into the wild or keep them here if they are too injured to go back to the jungle. We plan on building a special enclosure next to the Aviary for any animal that is too maimed or injured to return to the wild but that's another subject..." as he spoke, he went over to a cage containing two green-winged macaws to show Brandon and Audrey two examples of birds rescued from the black market, "As you can see, these two macaws have recently been rescued from one of the illegal trade facilities. They had been kept in appalling conditions with this one suffering an infection he contracted from the overfilled, squalid cage," he pointed to one of the macaws that looked weak. Audrey and Brandon gazed in horror at the poor macaws as did Sirius, Aurora and Milo.

"I've seen footage of birds and other animals being kept in such conditions off the internet," said Brandon, "Taken by undercover spies wearing undercover cameras to film said footage. And believe me, it was heartbreaking, how the poor creatures were kept."

"Indeed it is," said Alejandra as she checked a parakeet whose wing was in a cast and gently placed it before a drinking tube for it to have a sip of water, "But that's poachers for you. All they care about is the colourful slips and pieces of metal we use in trading. If an animal if of a particularly rare species, their price tag is high in the eyes of the poachers and they are nothing more than mere objects to sell through the pet trade, to collectors and to taxidermists, people who skin animals and stuff their skins to turn them into ornaments as a sort of trophy. It's infuriating really."

Audrey and Brandon nodded in agreement to this but then Francisco and Alejandra lead them further through the facility when Brandon noticed a peculiar looking eye.

"What's that thing on the wall?" he asked, pointing to the object.

"That's a motion sensor," said Francisco, "It casts a laser to a receiver across the room that detects movement and when such is detected, the laser switches off and the alarm is triggered. We also have other motion sensors, CCTV cameras and carbon dioxide detectors installed into the Aviary as part of improved security measures since the theft of Blu and Jewel from here some years ago by a band of smugglers. Further, our guards, particularly those of the night watch team, have received stricter training to better carry out their jobs, particularly Sylvio over there," he nodded to a hulking man nearby who waved.

"We read about that on one of your articles," said Brandon, "I sure hope this improved system will give any poacher that dare repeat that offense a SHRED of a chance of making it out without getting caught."

"I hope so too," said Francisco.

"Especially now that we have those two Spix macaws, the glaucous macaw, Lear's macaw and Amazon flying fox in the artificial habitat chamber," added Alejandra. As she said this, a young woman came by. Near her on a table was a ginger and red form in a cage. When Sirius, Milo and Aurora saw the form, they initially thought it was a bird but then they saw that it had fur, a dog-like face and black wings made from highly elongated fingers connected by membranous flaps. They macaws exchanged looks.

"Is that a flying fox over there?" Sirius asked the other two as they examined the furry form with wings. Then they remembered that Tulio's Aviary didn't just deal with birds, but other animals such as bats as well. As they gazed at the flying fox, the flying fox's carer came up to Francisco and he introduced her to Brandon and Audrey as they went and placed the three macaws in their cages next to the bat.

"Audrey, Brandon, this is Joanna, she's a chiroptologist or bat biologist in training," said he and then the woman, Joanna, shook hands with Audrey and Brandon. Close by, another man, the same man who visited Joanna named Luca was talking with one particular man wearing glasses. As Joanna entered into conversation with the macaws' owners, the three macaws began to introduce themselves to the flying fox.

"Hi, I suppose you're having a date here as well, are you?" asked Sirius. The orange and red furred bat who clung to the bars of her cage then turned and saw the three macaws in two cages near her. She had initially been wittering to herself in Brazilian Portuguese when she heard Sirius spoke. When the bat saw Aurora and Sirius, she asked, "Um, yes I am. Are... are you Blu and Jewel?"

"Blu and Jewel?" Aurora replied with surprise.

"No, we're not," said Sirius, "I'm Sirius, I'm a glaucous macaw and this is Aurora, a Spix macaw..."

"And the other macaw in the other cage is Milo, a Lear's macaw," Aurora added, nodding to Milo.

"We've come here to meet the female glaucous macaw, female Lear's macaw and the male of those two Spix macaws," the Lear's macaw spoke. The flying fox then smiled in fascination.

"Of course, we're having a group date, aren't we?" she said, "I'm to meet that male Amazon flying fox along with you three and those macaws," she then shook her head, realising her rudeness, "Oh, I do believe an introduction is a must, how impolite of me... my name is Ahsoka and that woman over there is my carer Joanna."

Milo, Sirius and Aurora turned and gazed at Joanna as she continued talking with Brandon and Audrey with Luca and the other man in the glasses, the leader of the Project: Blu Bird team, Tulio, having joined the conversation.

"So that's your owner?" asked Aurora with a point to Joanna.

"Not owner," said Ahsoka, correcting her, "carer. I am not her pet, but her foster bat. Joanna took me in when I was a pup."

"Of course, flying foxes can't be kept as pets unlike macaws such as us," said Milo, "Because of the obvious health reasons."

"Yes, and bats can carry plenty of germs and diseases," said Ahsoka sternly, "One of which is the NASTY rabies. Only vaccinated and licensed humans can work with bats and my carer Joanna and Luca and his team of chiroptologists or bat biologists and conservationists are some of those humans, along with a few members of the Project: Blu Bird team such as Tulio (most of the birds' favourite person) there."

"We've read that rabies can have a near-100 percent mortality rate with the symptoms of it being very... unpleasant to say the least," said Aurora.

"Yes, NOT the sort of disease to catch at all," said Ahsoka in agreement.

As Ahsoka continued to talk with the macaws, Brandon and Audrey gazed at the four with a smile. The conversation between the quartet sounded to them as mere macaw chirps and flying fox squeaks.

"I can see our macaws have made fast friends with your foster bat, Joanna," said the former to which Joanna smiled.

"That's a good start since the four of them will be meeting their future mates together," said Tulio with a smile. Joanna, Audrey, Alejandra, Luca, Francisco and Brandon nodded in agreement.

"So you c-c-c-care for other animals b-b-b-besides birds here?" asked Audrey, "P-p-p-pardon my stutter, I have speech trouble."

"We do," said Tulio with a proud smile, "I have recruited other teams specialising in the biology and conservation of animals besides birds to take care of those animals. We have the bat team lead by Luca here... a small team specialising in the care of primates... herpetologists who take care of the amphibians and reptiles..."

"That's quite a project," said Brandon.

"L-l-like in a k-k-k-kitchen," said Audrey, "w-w-where you have cooks t-t-to prepare food, w-w-waiters to set the tables... Milo and I w-w-work in a restaurant c-c-called the Blue Macaw's D-D-D-Diner back home in Sydney..."

"Good analogy, Audrey," said Alejandra.

"Yes, environmental conservation requires a LOT of work and the dedication of scientists and biologists specialised in the different animals and plants of the ecosystem on the Blu Bird Sanctuary," said Tulio, "Critical for the protection of the native species in our forests and the rest of the habitats in Brazil, especially the Amazon Rainforest but that's another subject. Anyway, on to the moment of truth..."

Audrey, Joanna and Brandon picked up the cages containing Ahsoka, Milo, Sirius and Aurora and carried them forward.

"So, where are the male flying fox, the female glaucous and Lear's macaws and the Spix macaw sibling duo held?" asked Joanna.

"In the very same chamber where we kept Jewel to await the arrival of Blu," replied Tulio but then his face formed a frown, "But bringing those five here had NOT been an easy task, especially that female glaucous macaw. She was FAR more aggressive than Jewel."

Then one of the employees turned round. His face was covered with scratches and bruises, just like one intern that had handled Jewel several years before.

"Ugh, you can say that again," muttered the man, "That glaucous macaw was a BEAST to handle. She in fact sent one of the other handlers to hospital to have the wounds she inflicted on her face stitched up."

"The Lear's macaw and the flying fox weren't as bad but still VERY free spirited," added a woman, her hands covered in bandages, testament to the struggles with the five wild birds and bat, "But the Spix macaw brother and sister, I'd say were as aggressive as the glaucous macaw."

That ignited the nerves within the quartet, especially Sirius and they shuddered.

"Is the female glaucous macaw really THAT aggressive?" asked Sirius nervously. Then Tulio smiled at the quartet.

"Oh, don't worry, I'm sure the four of you will be UTTERLY irresistible to them," said he. Then the next thing Aurora, Sirius, Ahsoka and Milo knew; they were shoved into the artificial habitat chamber one by one.

Ahsoka entered first through the hatch and she was greeted with an amazing sight of the scene in the artificial habitat. There were realistic-looking trees and plants, a small stream and a sandy floor. The walls and ceiling were painted blue and white to give the appearance of a sky and there was a skylight installed into the ceiling, the real sky visible with the sun's rays beaming down through the glass. Pulling her attention from the scenery, Ahsoka walked on. As soon as she was away from the hatch, Aurora was sent in. The hatch opened, Aurora was pushed lightly through it and the hatch closed. She too was stunned by the construction work of the chamber and thought it to be an amazing piece of art, but she resumed her focus on the main reason why she was here and walked further into the chamber. However, as she did, her nerves began to bubble.

"Hello?" she called, "Is there anyone in here?"

As she walked further away from the hatch, the metal door opened and through it entered Sirius and then Milo and as soon as the pair was in the chamber, the hatch closed. Then the pair began to walk further into the chamber. Sirius gazed at the artificial plants constructed in the chamber and flinched as he felt a flashback flash in his mind. For some reason, the plants reminded him of something but the flashback was not very clear. Putting this aside, Sirius moved on. Behind him, Milo went off in another direction, calling for whoever was in here to show themselves as nerves also boiled within him. Nervousness also gripped Sirius and Ahsoka as they also walked around, looking for whoever was already in here.

As the four ventured further into the chamber, the vegetation in the higher trees stirred with a shadowy blur whizzing past. Then another shadowy form shot past but it was too fast to be seen. Ahsoka continued to crawl along, looking nervously around the chamber, not only taking in the ingenuity of the chamber and how well it was constructed to mimic a piece of the jungle, but also for any of the four macaws or the bat already in here.

"Hi, if you show yourselves can you please not be hostile," she called, "We don't mean any threat upon you..." behind her, a blur shot past and stirred some of the tree leaves. Ahsoka looked in that direction but saw nothing. She continued looking around when suddenly, her eyes finally landed on a form flying through the air. At first, Ahsoka thought it was a bird but when she examined it more properly, she realise that it had fur, a dog-like face and large black membranous wings formed from giant webbed hands, just like what she had. This large bat had brown fur with a white patch on the front, a large mane around its neck like Ahsoka but coloured a darker brown and a stocky build. Its eyes were brown like its fur and it had a ruffle of fur on its head between its ears. Based on its looks, this bat was clearly a male... and clearly the same species as Ahsoka. As the male flying fox flew along, his large black membranous hand-wings sweeping at the air like a cloak, Ahsoka stood rooted to the spot.

"Wow, he's handsome," she whispered to herself. As she continued to admire him, she saw the male bat turn his head her way and connected his brown eyes with Ahsoka's cyan pair. Immediately, the brown bat changed direction and immediately began to descend towards her. Ahsoka, upon seeing him coming, snapped out of her enamoured trance and jumped aside as the flying fox landed onto the floor where she had been. Then the flying fox entered confrontation mode.

"Quem é você, o que você está fazendo aqui!? (Who are you!? What are you doing here!?)" he spoke in Brazilian Portuguese. Ahsoka gazed at him. Because she had grown up in Rio and thus the common tongue spoken in Brazil, she could understand what he was saying.

"P-p-por favour nāo me machuque de forma alguma (Pl-pl-please don't hurt me in any way)," she timidly responded in the same language, her membranous wings raised protectively over her head. The brown bat immediately lowered his guard upon realising who he was talking to.

"Oh, you're from here?" he asked in English before examining her closely. Ahsoka then began to introduce herself, "My name is Ahsoka. What's yours?"

"You look like me, so that implies you're an Amazon flying fox like me," said the male bat in slight joy, "And my name is Orion."

"Orion? Nice to meet you," said Ahsoka rather shyly, "and yes, I am an Amazon flying fox like you."

The male bat, Orion then gazed around the chamber before turning to Ahsoka, "Come on, there is no time to be messing about. Let's find Zephyr, Brisa, Samara and Celeste quick."

Then before Ahsoka could ask who the latter four names were, she was dragged along by the male born bat.

"Wait, wait, WAIT!" she protested and with that, she yanked her wing from his and stumbled onto her front. She then raised her head off the sand, snorted out some of it from her nose and looked up to see Orion climb onto a tree trunk, drop into flight and fly off to somewhere. Immediately, Ahsoka followed, driven by curiosity, following on the ground due to being unable to fly, the problem she did not tell her new macaw friends when she met them before entering into here.

While Ahsoka followed Orion, Aurora continued looking around somewhere else in the habitat.

"Is there anyone in here?" she called again. Behind her, a blur, a blue one, shot past in the trees. Aurora heard it but did not look behind her but she was being watched by two pairs of eyes among the trees. As the pigtailed Spix macaw continued walking and looking around, those two eye pairs peered down at her from a thick shadow under a dense cluster of leaves in one of the trees. One pair had green eyes and the other, lime green. The owners of the eyes then exchanged a discussion between each other about the odd looking Spix macaw, again in Brazilian Portuguese. The following discussion will be translated straight into English:

"Is that another Spix macaw, Zephyr?"

"Looks like it, Brisa, and I think it a female based on those pigtails. She certainly seems to share the same traits as us."

"I think we should check her out to see for sure."

"Good idea, Brisa, let's do that."

Aurora continued looking around and calling, entering directly into the line of light from one of the spotlights built into the ceiling to provide lighting. From a hidden camera, the humans watched on. Tulio, Francisco, Alejandra, Luca, Joanna, Audrey and Brandon gazed at Aurora as she continued looking around.

"She looks so nervous," said Brandon, "Has she found the Spix macaw sibling duo yet?"

"Ahsoka has already found the male bat," said Joanna.

"Just keep watching," said Tulio. Back in the chamber, Aurora continued looking around when suddenly, a shadow melted into view. This shadow was bird-like and the moment Aurora saw this, she turned round to face the light directly and to her surprise, she saw a form emerge out of the darkness. This form was indeed a bird and it had lush blue feathers, darker than Aurora's maya blue; blue-white head and neck with that colour melting into the blue down the neck, a flat tuft of blue feathers above the beak coloured black, and between the eyes coloured green, black feet and a fairly stocky build. And based on its traits, this bird was a male. Like how Ahsoka stood rooted to the spot when she first saw Orion for the first time, Aurora stood rooted the spot gazing at the male blue macaw, her eyes transfixed on him.

"Wow, he sure is handsome; sort of like... a bird version of... Prince Charming in the fairy tales I once read and watched..." she dreamily murmured, the male bird continuously emerging out of the light. She continued to gaze at the macaw but when she saw him hurtling towards her, she snapped out of her trance and dove to one side, sending the male macaw crashing into the ground. As the male macaw shook himself to from the daze and the sand from the crash, Aurora looked on but then a second blue macaw appeared and tackled into her. This time, Aurora was caught she soon found herself pinned against a tree trunk with a talon to the neck. Aurora shot her attacker a stunned look as she asked her who was she in Brazilian Portuguese. This macaw resembled the first macaw and was light blue like Aurora and like her it was a female. Her feathers were cerulean and she had a blue-white head and neck with the colour melting to her cerulean plumage down it. Between her eyes, coloured lime green and above her beak coloured black like the male was a tuft of feathers, coloured cerulean but they were larger than the male's. In fact this tuft stretched halfway over the macaw's crown as opposed to just stopping before the crown as in the male. The new macaw had a slightly stocky build and black feet, one of them holding Aurora by the neck against the tree trunk like a human hand. Aurora then glared at the female macaw, raised her own feet and kicked the female in the belly to make her realise her. The female macaw stumbled back and released Aurora from her grip. The male macaw then lunged at Aurora and released a hiss but Aurora hissed back, threatening to pounce onto him should he DARE do that to her. However, the male lowered his hostility and raised a talon. Nearby, the other female macaw rose to her feet.

"Let's not get off on the wrong claw, shall we," said he in English. Aurora glared at the male and the other female.

"Let's BETTER not," she snapped in irritation and with that, she shot the female a glare but the female glared back. Then once the confrontational fire between the three simmered down, Aurora began to introduce herself. "My name is Aurora, by the way. Who are you two? You're the Spix macaw brother and sister, I believe."

The other female shot Aurora a stunned look.

"Yes we ARE brother and sister," she snapped, "How did you know!? And are you American?"

"Actually, I'm British," said Aurora, before she frowned at the cerulean macaw, "Can't you tell from my accent?"

As she spoke, the male macaw examined her closely. The cerulean female then said, "I'm Brisa and that darker blue male there is my older brother Zephyr. He cares for me. We are NOT mates as those stupid biped pests initially believed us to be when they caught us and brought us into this rotten place along with Orion, Celeste and Samara."

Aurora remained silent as the male, Zephyr finished examining her features.

"Yep, you look like me and Brisa alright," said he, before he gazed around the chamber, "Now where are the other three?" he then turned to Brisa and said, "Brisa, you take this new macaw and find Orion while I go find Celeste and Samara and round them up."

"Wait, I'm not the..." Aurora was cut off as Brisa dragged her off, making her yelp in protest while Zephyr flew off to find the remaining two macaws.

Somewhere else in the chamber, Sirius continued cautiously walking through the chamber, looking around, calling out for anyone held here.

"Are you there?" he cried. He then turned and saw a shadow move in a light on the wall, the owner hidden by a large bush. Thinking the shadow to belong to either Aurora, Ahsoka or Milo, Sirius went over to it. However, as he peered around the bush, he was struck with an awesome sight. Dancing before Sirius was another macaw, a female but it was different from Brisa. This macaw had lush blue body feathers similar to Zephyr and her head and neck were light grey, like Sirius'. The grey melted to blue down the macaw's neck and also like Sirius, she had a ring surrounding each of her eyes and another piece of yellow behind her beak. Her eyes were coloured bright yellow, brighter than Aurora's amber pair, her bean and feet were grey and her build was slender. But her most eye-catching trait was her head feathers. They were long and cascaded down the sides and back of her head like a woman's hair, reaching as far as her chest. These feathers started grey but like her neck melted to blue towards the tips. As the macaw swung her head, her hair-like feathers swayed with the movement. Sirius was briefly stunned by the macaw's beauty for a moment until finally; he found the courage to speak.

"Um, hello," said he. The macaw flinched and released a squawk before connecting her yellow eyes with Sirius' blue. For a moment, both macaws gazed at each other in silence but then the female macaw, which was a glaucous macaw, bolted and lofted into flight. Sirius charged after her.

"Hey, WAIT A MINUTE!" he cried and lofted into flight himself, "PLEASE DON'T SEE ME AS A THREAT!" he then charged after her and began to pursue her in the air.

Somewhere else in the artificial habitat once again, Milo continued looking around until he, too, found the other macaw, the female Lear's macaw. The female Lear's macaw resembled Milo to a great extent, having the same navy blue feathers, dark teal facial markings, the eye rings and beak lappet and black beak and feet. However, her traits were different from Milo's. Her teal facial markings were a patch surrounding each of her eyes which were coloured violet and her eye rings and beak lappet were a vivid yellow instead of orange-yellow as in Milo's. She was a bit slimmer than Milo and her head crest was a ponytail on the left side, similar to Aurora's pigtails but a bit longer. The ponytail feathers were navy blue at the base but melted to dark teal at the tips similar to the female glaucous macaw's long head feathers. The female Lear's macaw met Milo in the same way Blu met Jewel: she flew out of the light in Milo's direction and pinned him to the ground with her talon to the neck but she soon let him up when she saw he meant no harm.

"My name is Milo," said Milo and he reached out a talon to shake feet with the female macaw. The macaw then examined him, amazed that he bore the same traits as her.

"My name's Celeste," said she, "And you look like me... same navy blue feathers... eye rings and beak lappet... I initially thought you were a hyacinth macaw from a distance..."

"Funny, I thought of myself as a hyacinth macaw until only recently," Milo replied, "And so did Aurora and Sirius. However, they recently found out that the former is a Spix macaw and the latter, the even rarer glaucous..."

"Wait a minute," the female Lear's macaw named Celeste, "Thewre's another glaucous and Spix macaw besides Samara, Zephyr and Brisa? I-I thought those three were the only surviving members of those blue macaw species..."

"No," said Milo, "And the male Amazon flying fox held here isn't the only member of his species either. Ahsoka is..."

"Who's Ahsoka?" asked Celeste. Milo was about to reply when Celeste heard her name get called. She looked up along with Milo and saw a brown furry form with black membranous wings flapping gaze down at her.

"Come on, we need to get out of here, Celeste," said the bat and with that, he turned and flew off to somewhere. Celeste immediately put a wing onto Milo's and began to drag him along.

"We'll discuss this another time," said she, "C'mon, let's follow Orion, find Zephyr, Brisa and Samara and focus on escaping from this place."

"Escape?" Milo repeated in confusion as he was dragged along. He then stumbled forward as he released his wing from Celeste's but managed to catch himself before he could actually go bowling forward. He then looked up and saw Celeste follow the brown bat, Orion. Immediately, Milo took off after her. If he hadn't learnt to fly back in Australia and make that intrepid 2000-plus mile journey from Perth to Sydney back in Australia to find Audrey, he would have been like Blu... and also Ahsoka right now.

Soon, Aurora, Zephyr and Brisa met with Orion and Ahsoka at a particular spot. Ahsoka had climbed up the tree to meet them but no-one had noticed her do this and ask why. When Ahsoka appeared, Zephyr asked Aurora, "Who is that orange bat?"

"That's Ahsoka," said Aurora, "She's another Amazon flying fox."

"Really?" said Brisa as she gazed at the ginger and red bat next to Orion, "And I thought he was the last Amazon flying fox alive."

"Apparently not," said Orion, before his gaze turned to Aurora, "And I believe that is..."

"Another Spix macaw and my name is Aurora," replied Aurora before he could ask.

"So it seems that you two have met before coming into this wretched place?" asked Orion. Ahsoka and Aurora nodded with a reply until the latter shot the brown bat over the word 'wretched'.

"What do you mean by..." she began but Zephyr cut her off.

"Let's just focus on getting out of here," he said, "Now whewre are Celeste and Samara..."

Suddenly, squawks alerted the five and pulled their attention in a particular direction of two macaws.

"WAIT A MINUTE!" cried a male voice, known to Aurora and Ahsoka as Sirius but unknown to Orion, Brisa and Zephyr. The five looked on and, to their surprise, they saw two glaucous macaws, one blue and the other azure, fly around and eventually in their direction. Then the glaucous macaw at the front, the female, landed beside Brisa while the other one, the male, crashed near Aurora and Ahsoka to their alarm. Then the male macaw, Sirius erupted into a rapid breathing fit from all that flying after the female macaw.

"I wondered who that bird was," the female glaucous macaw spoke, "He didn't half scare me, he did!"

"Cool it, Samara," said Orion. Then Aurora helped Sirius to rest as he continued to pant.

"I can see you've finally found the female glaucous macaw," said she.

"Yes, and she just took off before I could even introduce myself," grumbled Sirius, a glare at the female glaucous macaw, Samara as she glared back at him, "Boy she doesn't half have some wind in her wings..."

"And I can see you must be another glaucous macaw," Samara replied, "You have a grey head and neck... yellow facial features like me..."

"Of course I do," Sirius snapped, "Did you think I was an odd-looking hyacinth macaw or something!?"

"Quite the complainer ain't he, that male glaucous macaw?" said Orion with his wings folded.

"Samara can be a VERY fast flyer," said Zephyr. As he said this, two dark blue and teal macaws appeared to Zephyr's gladness. Oh, Celeste, excellent, you've found the potential escape spot."

"And who is that macaw with you?" asked Brisa when she saw Milo.

"My name is Milo," replied Milo, "I'm a Lear's macaw like Celeste here."

"Are you American too?" asked Brisa. Sirius, the moment he got his breath back, gazed at Milo and Celeste and said nothing.

"Actually, I'm from Australia," said Milo, "My accent's a bit different to that of Sirius and Aurora who are from the United Kingdom."

"What's 'Australia'?" asked Brisa.

"Never mind about that, let's be out of here," said Zephyr before he turned to Milo, Aurora, Ahsoka and Sirius, "Well, it sure is nice to meet you four but now is the time to leave, so let's do that."

He then left to the spot with Brisa, Celeste, Orion and Samara following. Milo, Aurora, Ahsoka and Sirius then began to discuss amongst themselves the REAL reason why they came here.

"We're here to um... breed, are we?" asked Sirius in a low voice, flashing a look at Zephyr's group to make sure none of those five overhead him say this.

"How are they gonna react when we tell them this?" asked Aurora. Suddenly, a voice from one of Zephyr's group spoke and pulled the four out of their discussion.

"What's the problem you four?" asked Celeste. The four exchanged looks until finally, Sirius found the courage to speak.

"Er... well... um..." he began, looking on as Samara, Orion, Zephyr and Brisa also came in. Sirius nervously continued, his nerves boiling all the more like a pan of oil over a stove.

"The... reason why... we are here... is... because..." the male glaucous macaw stammered.

"We're gonna escape?" Samara replied, "That's good."

"What are we gonna flee through if you don't mind me asking?" asked Sirius.

"Though this," said Orion and with that, Brisa pulled a leaf down to reveal a vent closed off by a grate. Some of the metallic bars were crumpled for the five had been working to make a hole in them to fit through. Plus this was the same grate Jewel tried to escape through when she first met Blu.

"Er well... that was not what I meant..." said Sirius, "The ACTUAL reason... why we're here is... so that we... can save... our species..."

At this, the five glared at the male glaucous macaw with suspicious looks. Near Sirius, Ahsoka, Aurora and Milo nodded in agreement.

"What do you mean by 'saving our species'?" asked Zephyr in a low growl. That made the nervousness of the four boil dramatically.

"Well, we're supposed to be... pairing up with you and..." began Aurora. That did it, a MASSIVE explosion of rage tore through Zephyr's group.

"Wait a minute," Samara snarled.

"Did you four think we were gonna pair up and HAVE CHICKS AND PUPS!?" Zephyr snapped, making Aurora, Sirius, Ahsoka and Milo flinch violently. Brisa, Celeste and Orion looked on angrily but said nothing. Then Ahsoka and Milo bolted with the former climbing down the tree and the latter lofting into flight to hide. Orion and Celeste followed them, leaving only the Spix and glaucous macaws on the branch to continue the confrontation over the matter.

"HOW DARE YOU MENTION THAT SUBJECT, ESPECIALLY SINCE WE'VE JUST MET A FEW SECONDS AGO!" screamed Samara and with that, she, Brisa and Zephyr lunged at Aurora and Sirius as they continued to protest. From the hidden camera, the humans looked on in shock at Zephyr, Brisa and Samara's aggression towards Sirius and Aurora, angry squawks exploding from them, especially Brandon.

"Wow, they certainly ARE aggressive, especially the female glaucous macaw," said he.

"But at least the flying foxes and the Lear's macaws have fallen for each other," said Joanna with Audrey nodding in agreement.

"I think a little help from us will help improve the mood for the Spix and the glaucous macaws," said Tulio, his hand placed on the knob of a lever, "Last time, 'Say You, Say Me' by Lionel Ritchie for Blu and Jewel didn't exactly work but I hope this song does..."

Back in the chamber, Aurora and Sirius continued to protest to an ENRAGED Zephyr, Samara and Brisa.

"Look, listen, we're among the last known Spix macaws alive," Aurora timidly admitted, "While Sirius and Samara are the last pair of glaucous macaws in existence; Celeste and Milo are part of the rare Lear's macaw species and Orion and Ahsoka are the last Amazon flying foxes alive, hence why..." suddenly Samara lashed at Aurora and screeched LOUDLY into her face, her head hair flaring out as she did. Aurora and Sirius released startled squawks with the former nearly falling off the perch but Sirius caught her and helped her regain her balance. Then suddenly, a mirror ball dropped down, the light changed and a song, the famous 'Take My Breath Away' by the American band Berlin that Sirius and Aurora remembered was from the soundtrack of the 80s film 'Top Gun' began to play.

"Okay, now THAT was unexpected," said Sirius as he gazed at the mirror ball, before his mood changed to admiration of the romantic song. Aurora also gazed in admiration while Samara, Brisa and Zephyr looked on with a glare of wonder.

"Take my breath awa-a-a-ay," Sirius sang with the song, "Oh, you sure did an excellent job with this romantic song, Berlin."

"They certainly did," said Aurora. Suddenly, a blue and grey blur shot in and tackled right into Sirius, knocking him off the perch. Sirius cried in shock as he and Samara, propelled by anger and with her wings wrapped around his neck, careened from the tree and into the artificial ferns below. Aurora looked on in wonder before another blur, this time a blue and blue-white one, tackled into her and knocked her off the branch. Zephyr, also propelled by anger, had tackled into Aurora and he, too, careened with Aurora into the ferns, Brisa right behind them. The two Spix and two glaucous macaws then struggled until Sirius and Samara assumed the same pose as Blu and Jewel in their situation. The pair glared at each other with stun but then Samara's face flashed to a look of UTMOST thunder and she and Sirius exploded apart. Then she pounced onto Sirius and began to attack him while Zephyr and Aurora exploded from the ferns, the male chasing the female also in rage. The humans watched through the hidden camera with surprise but for a different reason.

"Wow, that came suddenly," said Brandon as he watched Sirius and Samara struggle in the ferns, "Looks like the female macaw has indeed fallen head over feet in love with Sirius and the male Spix macaw with Aurora."

"Then I guess Berlin's Top Gun hit 'Take My Breath Away' did the trick," said Francisco, "Good thinking Tulio."

Tulio smiled a proud smile at this apparent achievement. "Well, let's leave them to it and check back on them later."

He then left the room, followed by Francisco, Alejandra, Luca, Audrey, Joanna and Brandon. After leaving the door, Alejandra smiled.

"Right, I'll resume my work in tending to some of the injured birds and I'll see you guys later," said she and with that, she left the group.

"And I'll get back to helping my employees treat the rescued bats," said Luca and he left to. Only Francisco, Tulio, Audrey, Brandon and Joanna remained.

"Are-are-are you sure our m-m-macaws and bat are gonna be okay?" asked Audrey.

"Oh, don't worry, Audrey," said Francisco, "With our improved security system and better trained night guards on patrol, nothing should happen to Milo and also Sirius, Aurora, your macaw Milo and Ahsoka."

"Indeed," said Tulio in agreement. Audrey gazed at the lead ornithologist and his employee with a little uncertainty and eventually relented to putting her trust in them looking after her beloved Lear's macaw friend. Joanna and Brandon, however, had complete trust in Tulio and his team and did not doubt their efforts to protect their companions too. Then the five humans left with Tulio leaving to resume his work and eventually return to his house to see to his wife Linda (who was Blu's human companion) and their adopted son Fernando, a former smuggler.

Back in the artificial habitat chamber (called a cage by Blu though it wasn't really a cage per se) through the camera, an inferno continued to rage between two certain pairs of macaws. Samara continued to furiously chase Sirius around the room, both on the land and in the air, screeching furiously while Zephyr and Brisa continued pursuing Aurora. Aurora's head then obscured the camera unintentionally and when Zephyr launched himself at her to pounce onto her, Aurora dodged and sent Zephyr crashing headfirst into the camera, damaging it. Milo, Celeste, Orion and Ahsoka, however, had gone into hiding.