Cyrus and Roxie arrived at a dark city street, the gargantuan buildings given a bluish hue due to the cloudy evening, as well as the streets being colored dark purple by the buildings shadows. Something was off, the two noticed after exiting the Dark Corridor. The street, first of all, seemed way too wide. The same thing with the buildings. Not only were they very wide, but they were very tall as well. Then they looked at each other, and all became clear. As well as extremely freaky.
When Cyrus looked at Roxie, she had somehow transformed into a Blue-Gold Macaw. One with, as one would imagine, a gold front and blue back, although she did keep her amber eyes. One thing was new, which was her set of head feathers, which looked like a striped-dyed hairdo. One feather was gold, the next blue, etc. that fell down the back of her head and some fell over her right eye.
From what Roxie could see, Cyrus had become a Scarlet Macaw with a sleek, almost feminine look. That part was almost hilarious all on its own. But then he kept his sharp, frost-blue eyes, as well as having sleek, smooth-looking feathers colored a near crimson. He was just a smidge taller than her, which still annoyed her. But he had a fabulous set of long head feathers that fell down the side of his face, and were just a bit of a lighter red than the rest of his plumage.
They decided to walk around, to take in the sights around them as they tried to figure out where they were, or at least get a good idea. They, ironically, felt lucky about having been taught to be extremely observant from previous recon missions. The outsides of the buildings weren't very well kept, as very many cracks could be seen in the plaster on the outside walls. There was rusty, groovy shaped metal plates thrown together for the roofing.
"Looks like we just got dropped in a crap-hole," Cyrus commented, taking in the dirty city around him.
"You could try giving this world a chance," Roxie stated, the moon starting to peak over the horizon which gave the city a bluish hue. She looked around as the walked into a closed food market to see some red and purple lights coming from the end of the street. "Do you see that?"
Cyrus nodded. "I do. Wanna go check it out?"
"Yeah," Roxie replied.
So they headed on over to the light source to find it to be a pile of boxes with a tarp being held up by a pole. With red, purple, and other colored lights peaking through the front opening. They heard music emanating from the box pile and tarp, as well as some hooting. Not owl hooting, like people, or animals in this case, having the time of their lives hooting.
Even more curious than they were before, they shared a glance before walking in. They were surprised to find it to be some sort of club, with a lot of birds dancing to what sounded like samba. There were spotlights being pointed every-which-way as a huge crowd of birds in the center of the club danced. Some birds were standing off to the edges of the club and socializing, and there was an actual bar off to the side serving what looked like assorted fruit drinks. And there were birds there too of course.
"Huh," Cyrus said finally, causing his sister to shoot him a shocked look.
"What do you mean 'huh'?" Roxie exclaimed.
"Just really wasn't expecting a club for birds," Cyrus stated matter-of-factly. He smiled. "It's actually pretty cool."
Roxie definitely thought he had a valid point, but still thought it to be a little crazy. She'd never been in a world where there was a club for birds. Then again, each world brought a new experience, and this one was definitely up there.
Cyrus saw some birds shooting them looks. They weren't negative ones, the looks they were getting from different birds were more like looks of curiosity/admiration. Heck, these birds were even smiling, girls and guys alike. This made Cyrus blush as he heard some of the things they were saying.
"Those two look so hot."
"Think those two ladies are single?"
"Damn, I'd give anything to spend some alone time with that Scarlet."
"Roxie," Cyrus said to his sister, breaking her out of her thoughts. "Can we go over to the bar?"
She gave her brother another look, only to stop when she saw the pleading in his eyes. "I suppose."
They made there way through the crowd to the left of the club where the bar was. The bartender was a handsome looking Army Macaw, both Cyrus and Roxie thought. He was tall with a muscular build, beautiful brown eyes, and a tiny tuft of green and yellow head-feathers.
"Damn," Cyrus said to himself as he observed the bartender serving drinks to other birds. Cyrus noticed he had the cutest beak, which got even better when he smiled at the other party-goers.
"Dibs," Roxie said with a sly smile, slightly enraging Cyrus.
"Now that's unfair!" Cyrus exclaimed, shooting his sister a look of disapproval.
"Snooze ya lose," Roxie said nonchalantly as she eyed the bartender preparing drinks for the other customers.
Cyrus sighed. "That's not what I meant. I meant that it's his decision which one of us he wants."
"True. But no one can resist me," Roxie said confidently, motioning the bartender over to them with a wing gesture.
"Here we go," Cyrus muttered with an eye roll.
"Hi," said the bartender with a smile. "Haven't seen you two around here before."
"Yeah, we're new here," Roxie stated with a flirtatious smile. "What do you recommend, hot stuff?"
That compliment made Cyrus wince on the outside and cringe on the inside. Really? 'Hot stuff?' Roxie must've gotten pretty rusty since he last heard her flirt, because, all he would say was she really just let herself down. She really could've done better than that.
The bartender, meanwhile, politely laughed. "I get those kinds of compliments a lot, so don't be surprised to hear me say, I'm gonna have to stop you right there. But other than that, I recommend the guava juice. It's very good, especially for first-timers."
Roxie's mouth, or beak, rather, fell open. No one ever turned her down like this guy just did. She was at a complete loss for words.
"Two please. And I apologize for my sister; she does this to every handsome guy she sees," Cyrus said with a half embarrassed, half apologetic look on his face as he pushed his sister's beak closed.
"It's fine, honestly. I get it from girls all the time. And two guava's, coming right up," the green macaw said with another smile. He then went to go get the drinks before Cyrus stopped.
"Wait. Can I just have a high five for you shooting my sister down like that? I've never seen that happen so quickly," Cyrus pleaded with a wing raised over the counter.
"Yes, you can," the bartender replied, giving Cyrus a high five before leaving to get the drinks, also leaving a smiling Cyrus and a glowering Roxie.
When the bartender returned with the drinks held in hollowed out Brazil nuts, Cyrus extended his wing in greeting. "I'm Cyrus, and this is my sister, Roxie. We are very pleased to meet you."
"Dominic, but everyone calls me Dom," Dominic said, taking Cyrus' scarlet wing in his green one and shaking it. "Nice to meet you too."
"Hey, Dom! How are ya?" A voice said from behind Cyrus and Roxie, causing them to turn around to see a canary with a bottle cap for a hat, and a red-crested cardinal walking up to the bar.
"Nico! Pedro! I was just talking to these two lovely ladies. See, they're new here and don't know what to expect. Maybe you could show 'em around," Dominic said with a sly smile.
This earned him a look from the two, but he just gave them a look which they quickly understood. This was going to be fun.
"Still got that high voice?" Roxie whispered to her brother who nodded. "Good, cause it's perfect for this situation."
Cyrus smiled at Roxie. "Let's have some fun."
"Really? Well then ladies, follow us. We'll show you how to have some fun," the canary, whom Cyrus assumed was Nico, stated, winking directly at Cyrus. This gesture made his face grow warm as he visibly blushed. Roxie was right, this was going to be fun.
"You got Scarlet, I got Blue-Gold," Pedro whispered in Nico's ear, to which the canary nodded with a sly smile.
"Scarlet, come with me," Nico said, holding out his smaller wing to Cyrus, who quickly downed his juice, wiped his beak, and took Nico's wing with his larger one.
Cyrus assumed the same happened to Roxie as the canary led him into the crowd of dancers. There were so many different birds dancing to the catchy music. Armies, Scarlets, Hyacinths, other birds that Cyrus didn't know the proper names of. There was even a pink Spoonbill shuffling on top of a pile of boxes.
"I'm Nico, what's your name?" Nico asked politely.
He looked like a nice guy, and was attractive too. He seemed to be very, but not overly confident, which Cyrus admired. He thought the bottle cap he wore made him look especially cute.
"Ciara. Pleased to meet you," Cyrus said in his convincing feminine voice.
"Pleased to meet you too, Ciara. Now let's dance," Nico stated before dancing along to the music.
He was concise, Cyrus thought. He liked that.
Cyrus, instead of thinking his moves through, let his body be carried by the music. As the music would change from samba to other different genres, so did his dancing. He felt his body go from flowing dance, to pop 'n' lock, to even breakdancing. (He had a lot of free time to make use of back home. So he took up most of it with self-taught gymnastics and dance).
Although, he wasn't aware of all the other birds that were watching him dance, or how they stared in amazement. He only noticed when he opened his eyes, as doing so relieved all pressure of others watching him. As he noticed everyone watching him, Cyrus froze.
"Ummm, did I do something wrong?" Cyrus asked, using his regular voice.
Everyone just cheered and swarmed him, much to his shock. Many birds made out with him, guys and girls alike. A lot of girls, much to his dismay. It was rather horrifying how all the birds were shoving each other out of the way just to get a piece of him. But when guys kissed him, he really enjoyed that. Some went slow and sensual, while others went rough with the added french kissing.
Meanwhile, Roxie, Dominic, Nico and Pedro were nearly hacking their way through the crowd, shoving birds this way and that just to get up to him, which they eventually did. He heard a shout from Nico, only to feel the talons of another, larger bird wrap around his body and fly him out of the club.
When Cyrus looked up, he saw it was the spoonbill he and Roxie saw upon entering the club. Once they were a good distance away from the club, the spoonbill set him down gently by a street corner.
"Thanks man, I owe ya one," Cyrus said to the larger bird with gratitude, to which the larger bird just smiled.
"No problem," the spoon bill said, smiling down at Cyrus. "And if you ever need a getaway, just shout for me, Kipo."
"I'll remember that. Take care."
"Hey man, you too."
With that, the spoonbill flew off. Around the same time he did so, Roxie and the other three came around to the street corner. Well, Roxie practically tackled him in a hug. Cyrus nearly fell over before finally pushing his overprotective sister off. She cupped his face in her wings and started looking him over to see if he was in any way harmed, like an overprotective mother with her child.
"Are you okay? Are you hurt? Do I need to kick anyone's ass for you?" Roxie said, her voice heavy with worry.
"ROXIE!" Cyrus exploded, shoving his sister away, surprising her. "A, I'm fine. B, I. AM NOT. A CHILD. I can take care of myself just fine."
It took her a moment to collect herself. "You're right. Sorry."
Cyrus sighed. It really annoyed him when she went mother bird (no pun intended) on him. He was a full-fledged teenager of 17, almost 18. He was perfectly capable of taking care of himself, especially after spending two, nearly three years at Organization XIII.
Now, the others had finally gotten their chance to speak.
"WHERE DID YOU LEARN TO DANCE LIKE THAT?!"
"Dude, props to you for those sick dance moves!"
"YOU'RE A GUY?!"
Cyrus just threw his wings up to get them to quiet down. He wouldn't be able to answer all those questions, and possibly more than just those three in one sitting without having a headache afterwards.
"Okay. One at a time guys," Roxie said to them before Cyrus could answer.
"I taught myself how to dance due to a great deal of free time I had when I was young. Sure, I could have spent that time going out and meeting new birds, but, I was very shy," Cyrus replied to Pedro.
"Secondly, thank you Dominic. I honestly haven't practiced dancing in a few years. I guess it's just like…" Cyrus trailed off, searching for a proper analogy.
"Flying," Roxie chimed in.
"Yes, flying," Cyrus echoed. "I guess it just sticks."
"Finally, yes Nico, I'm a guy. It was Dom's plan for me to act like a girl as a prank," Cyrus explained with a grin. "And I must say, your reaction was priceless."
Nico glared at Dominic, who only gave a sly smile in return. "You always have my back, don't you?"
"You know it Nico. Be it a guy or girl you end up with, I'll always make sure you're the last to know," Dom said with a devilish grin, as he loved messing with the club owner.
Cyrus noticed the moon was full and high in the sky, surrounded by the black void of night. The night wasn't totally void though. It was peppered with thousands of tiny white dots: the stars. It was his favorite time of the day, night time. It was dark, almost an oil black at times. But the light of the moon lit it up with the help of every visible star in the galaxy. Plus it was when he could go to sleep, which he relished greatly.
Roxie heard her brother yawn with contentment as he stared up at the sky, and smiled. Just like old times when they would climb out the window and on to the roof of their two story house, and lay there. Staring up at the night sky, sharing the highlights of their days, just a brother and sister hanging out like two of the world's greatest friends. It was funny; they were just that.
It might not have been awkward for the two of them, but it was for the other three. Nico and Pedro waited for someone else to speak, to break the tension. Dominic did just that.
"So, you two got a place to stay tonight?" Dom asked Cyrus and Roxie, snapping them both out of their thoughts, neither of them too happy about that.
But, they thought about it. They didn't have a place to stay the night, so they shook their heads no.
"Oh, well. I could probably house you two until you find a place to stay," Dom offered with a generous smile.
"Thanks! That would be great!" Roxie replied, Cyrus nodding in agreement.
"Alright. Follow me," Dom said before flying off, the two following him.
Turns out, flying wasn't so hard after all.