Phew! Finally! This chapter took me 3+ hours to write!
Here is the first piece to the puzzle of my fourth story!
This is the sequel to Transformed, and this is also going to be a fun story to write!
I will be updating daily starting tomorrow, and I hope you enjoy my coming chapters!
Please review when finished, and don't be afraid to be honest.
Theme song: The Script-For The First Time
Until tomorrow, all I can say is ~The Wolf is Out!~
Prologue: Blu and Jewel's next generation comes into being, and everything is finally back to normal for this happy macaw family.
Even though their first three children have recently found homes of their own, they will soon have a new obligation to keep them occupied.
As they try to enjoy this newfound peace, they will soon come to find out that although new life can be created, it can be obliterated just as quickly...
Chapter 1:The Emergence
The two months following the event of Blu's revival has been a roller-coaster for him and his family. Vicente, Ricardo and Esperanza had said goodbye to their parents a month before, as they had made the choice to live on their own.
A few days of sadness lingered as a result, but then things started looking up for Blu and Jewel. The night of "romance" they shared two months prior had culminated in something very special: the three lightly freckled cream orbs snuggled before them in a pile of moss.
Every so often, one would shudder ever so slightly, causing the two macaws to smile with glee.
"You know, Blu, I am getting this feeling of...I don't know...like we have been through this before!"
"Indeed we have! It isss a ssstrange ssssensssation. I felt it all the time back in Minnesssota. I think Linda called it déjà-vu."
"Déjà-vu, huh? Well, I have to say I am enjoying it! I wonder what these eggs will hatch out to be? What if your little 'gift' is passed onto one of them?"
"That isss a very good quessstion! I guesss we will have to wait and sssee! Thessse eggs might hatch in the next day or two."
The second-time macaw parents busied themselves with cleaning their hollow in preparation for the wondrous event that would soon come to pass. The sun drifted lazily by outside as they worked, and as it entered the last leg of its trek across the sky, three macaws flew into the hollow.
They rushed up to their parents and hugged them tight. "Mama! Papa! We have missed you! How are your eggs doing?"
"We have missed you too, dear children! They are doing just fine. They are very close to hatching. It could be late tonight, or even tomorrow when they do. It is all up to them to decide when to come out!"
Vicente trotted over to the nest and peered down at the three small shapes. "Oooh. They look so cute! Is this how we looked before we were born, Mama?"
Jewel replied, "Yes, Vicente. You and your siblings hatched from three tiny eggs just like these!"
His brother and sister attempted to see the eggs, but Vicente was blocking their view. "Move over, Vicente! We can't even see the eggs!"
He scooted over to make room for Esperanza and Ricardo, and they too stared at the gently rocking shapes below.
"Do you know what they will be, Papa?"
"No. Not yet, at leassst! We will find out when they hatch. Me and your mother are wondering if one of them has acquired some of my 'features'..."
The three siblings gazed at each other in alarm. Esperanza whispered, "What if Papa is right? What if one of our new brothers or sisters looks like him? That would be so cool!"
Her two brothers replied, "Hey, you're right! That would be so neat! We are about to burst with anticipation!"
Jewel turned from her children and gazed at Blu. A worried look was plastered on her lovely face.
"What if one of them looks like you, Blu? How will he or she react once they grow old enough to understand? I don't want our son or daughter to feel like an outcast..."
Blu shared her worry, but he was optimistic nonetheless. "We will jussst have to work at it, Jewel. If I can ssshow him or her that it isss okay to be different, everything ssshould work out."
Jewel smiled weakly and gave her mate a soft kiss. "I believe you, Blu. Together, we can do it, just like we always have..."
The five macaws continued their observations well into the night, and the pale sliver of the moon could be seen from the entrance. Blu and Jewel felt that the eggs would not hatch until the following day, so they decided to send their children home.
"Ricardo, Esperanza, Vicente, it is time for you to go home! It is getting late, and you need your rest. Tomorrow is going to be a busy day!"
"B-but, Mama, we want to stay and watch!"
"No. The eggs will not hatch until tomorrow. You can come by as soon as you wake up, if you want. Now go."
They all three frowned and shambled towards the entrance. Just before they lifted off, a strange crunching noise split the silence.
"Look, Jewel! One of the eggs is cracking! Children, come here!"
All five macaws rushed over to the nest, and what they saw made their hearts jump: The largest freckled egg now bore several cracks upon its pristine surface.
Not a word was said between the five macaws as the egg continued rocking, and the cracks continued to spread. It ceased all motion for a few tense seconds, and then the fragments fell away to reveal a quivering ball of soggy feathers.
The other eggs remained mostly still, and the tiny chick soon dried out and grew very fluffy. It turned its head and gazed at Jewel, a slight smile manifesting on its face.
Its eyes were a deep emerald color, and her feathers matched the hue of a sapphire. Jewel could tell immediately she was a female from the way her chirps sounded.
"That one is a female, Blu! Can't you hear it?"
He heard a high pitched squeak escape her beak from where he stood, thanks to his enhanced hearing. "She sounds so lively! What should we name her, Jewel?"
"Uh, let me think. Hold on. Yes! I got it!"
She leaned in close to the tiny chick and said, "You shall be...Liliana."
She turned to her mate and he said, "That is a lovely name, Jewel."
"I like it, Mama!" "Me too!" "So do I!"
Jewel turned to her children and whispered, "Please be quiet, you three! You don't want to hurt her ears!"
"We are sorry, Mama! We will whisper instead!"
The second and third eggs then began quaking in unison, and one after the other, two more chicks flopped out into the moss next to their sister.
Blu and Jewel anxiously waited for their wet bodies to fluff up, and when they did, their individual features emerged: The second chick was the same shade of blue as Jewel, and it appeared to be a male. The last chick resembled Liliana in every way, and Jewel realized that she was Liliana's twin sister.
"Liliana has a twin, Blu! Look at her! It is going to be hard to tell the difference when they get older!"
"I hope not! I don't want to get them mixed up!"
"Well, you can pick her name, okay?"
Blu nodded, and Jewel gazed at her other children. "Do you want to pick your new brother's name?"
Their eyes flashed with excitement, and they replied softly, "Yes, Mama! Let us think for a few minutes!" The three macaws huddled together and then began brainstorming names.
Meanwhile, Blu was doing just the same for his daughter. "What about...Josefina, Jewel?"
"Hmmm. I like it. Josefina it is!"
"I think his name should be Diego." "No, Ricardo. His name should be Santiago!" "No way, Esperanza! His name should be Arturo..."
Blu and Jewel heard the commotion that their children were causing, and they grew frustrated.
Blu declared, "Hey, keep it down! Quit arguing and just pick something!"
Their father's harsh words made their voices dwindle to mere whispers. "Papa is right. We will never find a name if we don't think of one we all like! Forget the others. What about Stefano?"
"I like it, Ricardo! What about you, Esperanza?"
"It's good. I can't think of any more!"
"Then it's settled. Our brother's name is now Stefano!"
Ricardo marched over to his parents and said, "We agreed on the name...Stefano. Is that okay with you?"
Blu and Jewel smiled at him and replied, "That is a wonderful name!"
He turned around and saw smiles plastered on his siblings' faces. Esperanza and Vicente joined the others at the nest, staring down at their new family members.
Jewel muttered, "Liliana, Stefano, Josefina, these are your siblings! Can you say hello to them?"
Three tiny voices seemed to squeak, "H-hello..."
Jewel peeked over their heads, and she no longer saw the pale scar of the moon outside of the hollow. "Oh my. Look how late it is! You need to go home now, children. You got to see them hatch. Now, run along."
They all three replied, "Okay, Mama! Thank you for letting us stay! When can we come over tomorrow?"
"Whenever you like!"
"Bye, Mama! Bye, Papa! Good night!"
"Good night, children! Sleep well!"
The three macaws lofted from the hollow and out into the chilly night air.
Jewel moved next to her mate and said, "I am going to sleep. Eu estou tão cansado. Can you *yawn* watch the children?"
"Don't worry. I will be right here next to them. You jussst get sssome sssleep. Good night, my angel..."
He watched as she settled down into their nest and shut her eyes. Blu shut his right eye and dozed off, keeping his left eye fixed on them as a surveillance measure.
He was awoken a few times throughout the night, when he had caught one of his chicks trying to clamber out of the nest. Despite that, he managed to get a good night's rest, and he maintained his watch until the world turned to face the sun once more.
Blu was torn from his semi-conscious state by the burn of the sun's rays on his left eye. He moved out of the harsh light and gave a huge yawn.
He gazed around and saw that Jewel was still asleep. He then looked down, and he counted three small bundles of feathers snoozing in the nest.
Looks like they finally settled down! I hope Jewel offers to watch them tonight. They have so much energy for being newborns! I don't know how she does it! Perhaps it's just her motherly instincts.
Blu terminated his mental ramble and approached his sleeping mate. "Bom dia. Como você dormiu?"
"What? W-who's there? Go...away. Oh, it's you."
"Who elssse would it be? You know, you are hilariousss when you talk in your sssleep. Keep doing it!"
She gave him a playful slap with her wing before climbing out of the nest. "Very funny, serpent boy. And if you must know, I slept just fine. You?"
"Pretty well, except for the fact that sssome chicksss don't know how to ssstay in their nessst!"
"Oh. Well, you have to forgive them. They were only a few hours old!"
Blu just gave an irritated snort in response.
Jewel walked over to the tiny chicks and nudged them gently with her wing. "Hora de acordar, os pequeninos."
The three tiny souls stirred and opened their crystalline eyes. Gazing up at her, they began to make chirping sounds.
Luckily, a few days before, Jewel had stockpiled a few mangoes in another corner for this exact situation. She plucked one from the pile and brought it back to them.
Placing it in front of the nest, she said, "Go on, my little ones. Eat!"
The two twins climbed out of the moss and began to take small bites out of the mango. Stefano, however, tripped on his way out, causing him to bury his face into the mango.
He withdrew his stained face and blinked, and his twin sisters chirped in laughter. Stefano began chirping happily as well, and he turned and started digging out tiny yellow chunks with his beak.
"Just look at them, Blu. So adorable..."
Blu wrapped her in his wings and gave her a soft kiss. Still holding her, he turned away and stared at the tiny balls of fluff before him.
He observed them carefully, and something about Josefina's tiny feet startled him. He noticed her claws were actually visible, while her siblings' claws were not.
A chilling thought ran around and around in his head: Is she the one? Did I pass on part of my changes to her? Is what Jewel and I feared would happen coming true?
"J-Jewel?"
"Yes, serpent boy?"
He fixed her with a look from his left eye and whispered, "Look at Josssefina'sss feet. What do you sssee?"
She focused her eyes on the tiny black shapes beneath her body. She started to quiver with dread, and she quickly led her mate to another corner of the hollow. "Is that...what I think it is, Blu?"
"I am afraid ssso, my dear. I think ssshe isss the one..."
"What do we do, Blu! How will she feel! Should we tell her?"
"No. Not yet, Jewel. She isss too young. I think we ssshould wait until ssshe dissscoversss it on her own."
"But, what if she gets angry at us for not telling her!"
"We will have to deal with that when it happensss, Jewel. But that isss in the future. For now, let'sss jussst focusss on taking care of them like nothing isss wrong. We can't give her any indication that she is not...normal."
Just as soon as Blu concluded his reply, his children stormed in, their feathers frayed and askew. "We woke up late, so we flew over as fast as we could!"
Before their parents could even reply, they caught sight of three chicks stumbling around the mango, obviously stuffed full of the sweet fruit.
"They are so cute! Come on you two! Let's go see them!"
Esperanza and her two brothers rushed over to them, and they each snatched a chick up in their wings.
Blu and Jewel quickly masked their intense worry and dread, and they hoped that Vicente wouldn't notice the claws on Josefina, who he was now holding.
They were holding the three chicks close to their faces, and the chicks were squeaking loudly. Blu and Jewel interpreted their squeaks of joy as squeaks of discomfort.
"Please be careful with them! They are not that durable yet!"
Esperanza cuddled Liliana into her face and replied, "We won't hurt them! We know better than that, Papa!"
They set the three chicks back down after a few minutes, and the newborn macaws stumbled their way over to their parents.
"M-Ma-ma? P-P-Pa-Pa?"
"Did you hear that, Blu? They talked! They said their first words!"
"Indeed I did. Pretty sssoon, we can ssstart teaching them how to ssspeak!"
Just then, the three chicks found their way to the nest and hopped back into the moss and feathers. They gave tiny, high pitched yawns and dozed off.
"They need to sleep. Why don't you go out and have some fun by yourselves? Go visit Rafael and Eva, or go spend some time with Tulio and Linda."
"If you say so, Papa!"
"Be careful!"
The three macaws simply left the hollow without replying.
"Isss it alright with you if I take a nap, Jewel?"
"Go ahead, dear. You watched them last night. It's my turn."
Blu nodded weakly and drooped into his nest, his eyes closing within seconds.
Jewel went over to her chicks and placed herself next to the nest. "Sleep well, my children. Sua mãe está bem aqui. Dream happy dreams..."
Jewel relaxed next to her snoozing chicks, and she gave a content sigh. Now that her mate was back in her life, and she had more sweet children to raise, she couldn't possibly have felt any better.
She was really starting to enjoy the little phenomenon called déjà- vu, and she hoped she could continue to experience it...every single day.