“Any sign of her, boys?" Matilda asked, straining.

“I see something silver," Jake observed.

All eight birds were standing on top of each other. From top to bottom, it was Jay, Jake, Jim, Chuck, Red, Matilda, Bomb, and Terence. Terence didn't seem to have much trouble with holding up all seven birds.

“It is her!" Jay cried out. “She's flying funny and the pigs are chasing her! Now she's falling! Mayday! Mayday!"

“Hold still!" Jim yelled.

The tower was out of balance, but what caused it to crumble was Bomb exploding. Terence remained in his place while everyone else landed on the ground surrounding him. Except Matilda, she landed safely in his arms.

“Thank you, Terence," she cooed, smiling. Terence smiled back, blushing.

“What was the last thing you saw?" Red asked the Blues.

“Silver was flying around the mountains and she ‘felled,'" Jay answered. “The pigs were chasing her."

“Chuck! Go get Silver now!" Red demanded.

“On it!" Chuck replied, running off.

“I don't mean to be rude or anything, but don't you think we could've saved time by sending Chuck in the first place?" Bomb asked.

“Yeah, Red," Matilda agreed. “I think you might've taken Silver for granted there. She's still a little girl, you know."

“I didn't want her to get hurt," Red sighed. “I just didn't think Chuck would be much help."

The pigs had her surrounded, but just before they could capture her...

“It's... Chuck Time!" a familiar voice shouted.

In a flash of yellow, Silver was gone.

“What just happened?"

“One ice cold Silverita on the rocks!" Chuck announced, holding out the near frozen falcon.

“Oh my goodness!" Matilda cried out, taking Silver. “What happened?"

Silver tried to answer, but mixed with her shivering, all that came out was gibberish.

“We should build a fire," Red recommended. “That'll melt the ice."

That evening, the flock gathered around the fire and Silver was warm enough to talk.

“I got good news and bad news," she admitted. “The good news is I know where the castle is, and I'm pretty sure the eggs are in there."

“And the bad news?" Bomb asked.

“They know I'm here," she replied. “And since Chuck rescued me, thank you, Chuck..."

“You're welcome."

“... they might know he's here, too."

“Bomb, did you remember to bring the slingshot?" Red asked.

Bomb nodded. “Don't worry, Silver. We got your back."

“And Silver?" Red mentioned. “Sorry I sent you out there alone."

“It's okay," Silver said. “I understand."

🔻🔺🔻🔺🔻🔺🔻🔺🔻

“She did it," Leonard growled. “She actually did it."

“Who did what, now?" Ross asked.

“That little brat, Silver, actually decided to come and stop us!" Leonard answered angrily.

“I'll talk her out of it," Ross said optimistically.

“Forget it, Ross," Leonard objected. “She won't listen to you. Besides, I already hired someone to capture her."

“Who?"

Then, the doors opened. Aside from Leonard, every pig in the room dropped their jaw at the sight.

“Leonard, is that...?" Ross began.

“Yes," the bearded king answered. “My bounty hunter."

The bounty hunter was a small bird with crimson feathers, orange legs and feet, and large, brown eyes. She had blue eyeshadow, a purple scarf, and a yellow ribbon which was tied around her head.

While the pigs by the fireplace whistled and howled at her, Ross tried to be a little more decent.

“Hello, milady," he greeted, kissing her hand. The bird just pulled on his wrists and rolled him towards the other pigs, knocking them down like bowling pins.

“Strike..." Ross whimpered, trying to get up. But he just fell on his face.

The female red bird approached Leonard.

“Hello, handsome," she greeted coldly.

“Ruby, you're late," Leonard pointed out.

“I had to visit my mother," Ruby explained. “She kept rambling on about finding me a husband. So what is it you said about a ‘grand prize?'"

Leonard groaned. “If you can capture this bird and bring her back alive, I will give you twenty of these."

He handed her a large bag of gold. Ruby struggled to hold it up, so she just put it down and sat on it.

“Okay, I'm listening," Ruby said, smirking. “Describe this bird."

“She has silver feathers, a white tummy, and she's turning five next week, so she's really small."

“So... you're paying me a butt load of money to fetch you a child?" Ruby asked, a little confused.

Leonard sighed sadly. “This is no ordinary child. She's gifted in many ways. She was blessed with the power of flight, an amazing intellect, and great hair. I found her when she was just a baby, and I've protected her from this dark, cold world ever since. Now, she's run away and joined a group of thugs. I don't care what it takes, just bring my baby home."

Ruby could tell he was lying, but she didn't care. In her eyes, all that mattered was the money.

But that didn't mean she couldn't ask questions.

“What did you say?"

“Excuse me?" he said, a little annoyed.

“Buddy, I've been down that road before," Ruby explained. “Usually, a kid runs away from home because her parents tell her something that makes her upset. So what happened?"

Leonard didn't have time for this. He just grabbed her by the neck and pulled her face to his.

“Just get that kid!" he yelled.

“Okay, okay," she muttered. “I never had a customer who was this bossy."

Ruby knew she couldn't find Silver alone, so she would have Ross and the other pigs join her.

“You! All of you!" she shouted. The pigs stood in formation. “We're going to play a game. It's called ‘Capture The Falcon.' The only rule: capture the falcon. We leave immediately!"

With that, Ruby marched off.

“What about dinner?" Ross asked.

Ruby returned.

“We leave... in four hours."