Human One

30. Cages and Awkward Questions

Zero looks down the hallway towards where he wants to go, then back towards the open doorway.Finally he huffs an exasperated sigh, and sets me down, manuvering Malia to where she canr est more comfortably in his arms.

"Alright, but this can take no longer than a few minutes and if I deem anything dangerous we're leaving." He states and I nod.

Slowly, we walk back to the open doorway, and Zero gestures for me to stay back whie he goes first. He walks in front of the doorway, and I pause, wondering if Cato in his animal form is going to attack, but nothing happens.Instead, Zero looks at me with a confused face, and I wonder if the flash of orange I saw was really Cato in his animal form. It could ahve been something else.

I walk up beside Zero and peer into the room, taking in the scene before me that passed by in a blur when we ran by it.

The room is entirely made of thick glass walls, trees lining the huge space and making it look like what iw ould picture a Greenhouse to looklike, minus the cages.

Yes, there are cages hanging from the ceiling all over the room, all of them filled with birds of different colors and sizes.

I trail my eyes over the many birds, wondering if Malia has some kinds of bird-collecting obession, and that's when my eyes catch the orange that had made us stop in the first place.

In a slightly bigger cage than the rest, an orange bird perches, watching us with fox fur colored eyes.

I hurriedly make my way over, and the bird doe not break eye contact.

"Cato?" I ask, wondering how dumb I'd look if my hunch is incorrect and it turns out to just be some kind of exotic bird.

The bird makes no movements, but then there's the slight tilt of it's head, and I inhale a deep breath in surprise.

Wait wait, it could have tilted it's head by coicndience since it heard me speaking, I need to make sure.

"Nod your head if that's you Cato." I order.

the bird pauses again, and I can almost see the wheels in it's head turning as it debates what it should do, before slowly it bobs it's head in a nodding movement.

No way.

This bird really is Cato, but why is he locked up? He supposedly shouldn't even be at the Villa right now and isntead looking for me in the jungle.

Unless....Cato really is in kahoots with his Uncle, but then General Andre turned on him and locked him up here....at least that's the best possible scenario Ican come up with for now.

I hear Zero tap his foot right behind me, and remember we're in a time-senstitive situation. One of the culprits has been conveniently apprehended already by it's partner, which means all I have left to do is find General Andre, and if anyone would know where he is, it would be Cato.

I quickyl reach up on my tippy-toes and slide the cage off the hook, grunting at the weight of it, before turning to Zero and nodding.

"He's coming with us, although I think it best we not let him out of the cage." I tell Zero.

Only then does Cato have the urge to angrily squawk, his beak pecking at the lock on the door.

"You're not getting out until we find and arrest General Andre." I scowl down at the bird, defenitely feeling satisfication that the person who tried to kill me is now helplessly locked away in a cage.

Cato squaks again, flapping his wings as much as he can in the enclosed space.

"This will slow us down...." Zero trails off, not seeming happy with the newest addition.