...You're either very reckless or very optimistic. Okay then, let's have Pinion argue with Langoustine some more and see how well that turns out.

Pinion trembled with outrage. "No! I can ask these questions if I want to! They can't do this to us!"

"They can, they have, and they will continue to do so." Langoustine stared Pinion down, its beak high and its red eyes glaring into Pinion's own.

But Pinion was too furious to heed this warning. "You let them do it again! I'm not! Next time they come in here I'm going to-"

"What, little flamingo? What are you going to do?"

"I'll- I'll... I'll kill them all!" Pinion ranted.

It was that special 'K' word that really ended things for Pinion. You don't need me to tell you that Langoustine had never liked Pinion, do you? But neither had any of the other flamingos. They'd never quite been able to identify what they found so unnerving about it, but when Pinion said it would kill the keeper, they finally made the connection that something about their flock-mate signalled danger to them.

Now they finally knew they had a rogue in the flock. A would-be murderer.

Langoustine lowered its head. "Is that so?" it asked, its voice almost relieved as if it finally knew what was wrong with this young flamingo who had been born into its flock not so long ago. "Then this flock has no place for you."

Pinion begged and pleaded with Langoustine to readmit it to the flock, but the leader would not give in. Pinion couldn't leave, because it was just as cage-bound as the rest of them, but from that day on, no other flamingo spoke to it or even acknowledged its existence, ever again.

And that's it, I'm afraid: you're out of options. Want to try again?