Chapter 1: The Start

My first Rio fic, so please have sympathy if I do something wrong.

To summarize this first chapter: What if Blu never told Roberto to warn the others of the construction machines heading to destroy there habitat? What if he had gotten help from the Scarlet Macaws instead and saved the rain forest? What if he was invited to join there clan afterwards? What would he find there? Would he ever return back to his family? Will the author ever stop asking questions and just move onto the story? Well, read to find out!

I do not own Rio or any of its content. I don't own the cover image either. Its called "RIO2" by NathanFowkes. I only own my OC's, thankfully few of them.

Enjoy the story!

The jungle sent thermals high in the sky as the sun's rays shot in and became trapped in the canopy. The Amazon rainforest held many secrets to everyone and everything that lived their, from the tiniest ant to the mighty jaguar.

Home to hundreds and hundreds of different creatures, ranging from mammals to insects to birds to reptiles and amphibians, plus many more species of plants and fungi, everywhere you looked you could see life, whether growing from the soil or moving through the land, water or air.

One such creature was a lone, Spix Macaw. Know for their all, pure blue feathers, they had become rare and were thought to be right on the brink of extinction. Till the only known specimens and their family traveled all the way from Rio to the rainforest and had discovered a whole colony of their kind.

The one flying away from their nesting grounds was one named Blu. He and his wife, Jewel, and their three chicks, Carla, Bia and Tiago, had come after hearing from the news by their human, biologist friends that they had found proof of their own kind in the Amazon. They came over thousands of miles with their close pals and had found the colony.

And Jewel's long-lost father.

Eduardo. Strong, smart and stern, accurate qualities for him since he also was the flock's chief. When he had discovered Blu had married his daughter and had three of his grandchicks, he had sought out to see Blu's worth as a member of the flock, putting him through vigorous training and had questioned him, over and over, till he was exhausted, both physically and mentally.

But as of right now, he had failed him. Failed the entire flock. Failed his family, his mate and chicks. So desperate to prove his worth that he got into a dispute over the Brazilian nut grove with the neighboring macaws, the Scarlet macaw tribe, and had started a war, or how they called a football game around here, over proprietary claim over the entire nut grove. In the last inning, he had finally gotten to play, only to score the nut ball in the other team's goal. They had lost the entire nut grove. All because of him.

After a small, hurtful conversation with Jewel, Blu flew away in shame from the Pit of Doom where the game had taken place. His heart seemed to weigh him down as he flew. Guilt throbbed inside his chest like a heartbeat. Guilt mixed with shame. It was too much for him to bear at the moment. He needed to get away from it all. Though he didn't know what to do afterwards.

Surely the tribe would shun, insult and just avoid him if he returned. He had just cost them their chief food supply. How were they supposed to find food now? Chances are everyone hated him and he would never be seen as a tribe member to any of them.

Clear liquid pooled at the base of each eyelid, soon gathering enough together to go over and trickle down both of his cheeks. He sniffed and wiped them away with his foot, but more just kept coming. Finally he settled down on a branch, far enough so that the flock wouldn't find him for awhile. Not like they were probably looking for him though.

His tears fell faster down his face as he began to heave in sobs. His lungs did double-intake as he cried harder, not caring if anyone heard or saw him. He just needed to get it out, all this pent up emotions had been weighing him down ever since he got here, they needed to be released.

It seemed like forever till he had gotten all his feeling out and stopped crying. He quickly brushed the remaining tears off his face, then wiped his beak of the ones clinging to his beak. He then just stood their and sniffed. His eyes were red and his vision was blurred from his emotional release. He looked down at the black fanny pack around his midsection, brought along just in-case. He unzipped it and broke off a piece of toilet paper, using it to wiped the remaining fluid off his face and blow his beak. He put the dirtied piece in a separate pocket of his pack.

"Okay, Blu. Okay," he instructed himself. "You've had your cry, you've had your time alone, and now you've got the entire colony against you because they're going to starve without the nut grove you've lost to the Scarlet Macaws and that stupid, old, can't-let-go-of-a-grudge, always-has-to-be-better-than, pompous leader Felipe. Man, oh man. Why did he have to challenge the Spix tribe? Why couldn't he had just forgiven me? Why does both tribes have to be so stubborn with each other? Why did I just have to come in and mess everything up? Everything was going just fine till I showed up here and set things in motion. And... and.. it's my fault," he whispered.

"It's all my fault," he repeated and another, fresh set of tears fell from his eyes. "It's all my fault", he kept repeating as the tears kept flowing.

For once in the rainforest, he couldn't here the off-distance squawking of birds the chattering of monkeys of anything else for that matter. No. For that one, rare moment in time, everything in the Amazon... was quiet. Too quiet.

But that moment was over all too soon. As soon as it came, it fell and went faster than a falling tree. Like the exact one he was on. His eyes opened wide and he quickly felt and heard the rumbling of the tree he was on. He quickly spun his direction around and looked over the branch he was on to see that a huge, yellow bulldozer was beginning to plow down the exact tree he was on.

As soon as he saw the bark near the bottom being chipped off as the bulldozer's metal plow pressed deeply into its core, he spread his wings quickly and lifted into the sky. He was going to head back to the tribe to warn them of the construction machinery, when he heard a voice call out, "Aah! Someone, please help me!"

He quickly stopped mid-flight and turned around, trying to search where the call for help was coming from. The air was becoming harder to see through from the smoke coming out of the exhaust port and the bark chips flying. It stung his eyes, forcing him to rely more of hearing then sight. He leaned off to the right as he felt he heard the voice coming from the direction there. He felt less stuff heading into his face and he blinked rapidly to relieve his eyes from the pain. There! Ahead he saw a hollow in the tree and blue wing feathers sticking out.

He stopped once more mid-flight. Blue feathers. That meant a Spix macaw, possibly one at the Pit of Doom that had seen his failure, was in there. If he went to help, they would recognize him and would most probably reject him and tell him to go away and possibly somethings worse. Was it really so much of a risk to help a bird that would hate him even if he did help?

He heard the scream again, but this time it was followed by, "Help! Some bird please help me! My eggs are in here!" The voice was female. A female Spix macaw calling out for help to save her and her eggs. Her eggs. Her un-hatched babies. In that moment, he lost all thoughts on the negative side of his internal argument. He flew down, pulling his wings slightly into the side to head straight into the hollow. The macaw looked up at him with green eyes, the shade of mint. But it wasn't her eyes that shocked him.

She wasn't a Spix macaw at all! The tips of her wings were blue feathers, but then it stopped and went into a bright yellow. The rest of her body was scarlet red, from her head to her legs. She was a Scarlet macaw. His thoughts immediately went to panic mode. He was expecting an angry Spix macaw, but now his thoughts had turned to worrying about a prideful, mean-worded Scarlet macaw who would thank him for losing for his tribe and giving her tribe all the glory, making him feel even lower than dirt.

"Please help me," she screamed. Her voice brought him out of his thoughts. He looked at her expression. Her eyes were full of fear, not at all judging or disgusted at him for not being of her own specie. No, she didn't care at the moment, all her emotions were all directed in worry and concern for her eggs in the nest she was sitting on and guarding as the tree and hollow they were in could collapse any second now. He broke out his thoughts and went quickly to work. He grasped and threw away the pieces of barks the had fallen off the wall and onto her. He nodded at her, sending out a silent signal that he was here to help and not harm her. Her eyes flickered with understanding and she nodded back

She stood up and got off her nest, revealing her eggs. Three, pearly orbs reflected the light from the edge of the hollow. He remembered how he felt when he saw his own eggs for the first time. So worried, so afraid they would break instead of hatched. Jewel's scolding for being so worried all the time. Wait, no. He shook his head clear of those thoughts for now and gently extended his foot towards the closest egg.

Crack! He retracted his foot swiftly away, thinking the tree was already collapsing, but then he realized it was too light to be the tree starting to crack. He heard more and focused closer on the egg he was reaching for. A large crack marred it surface. The female across from him gasped and leaned in to watch. Another crack appeared and then he saw it. The egg tooth, like a glistening, clear bead at at the start of the baby bird's beak that's sole purpose was to get the chick out of its shell. It fell off afterwards, since it had no further use.

With one last crack and another push, the egg wobbled and the top split and fell off. There, a bald, featherless bird poked its head out. Blu released the breath he was holding. It was quite ugly, he would admit it since almost all birds are when they hatch, but he could only feel joy for the new arrival. The female grinned widely at her new chick and stared at him with such love and adoration mothers have for their offspring.

A groan and a much louder cracked reached the two's ears and the hollow shook and started to lean over. The bulldozer! The tree! It was going to collapse any second. Wasting no time, he reached out again and firmly grasped the still-held together part of the eggshell with the chick inside with his foot, holding it so the chick was still contained inside.

"Go! I've got this one! Get the other two and let's move," he yelled. She wasted no time and grasped both of her eggs firmly in each foot. The tree was tipping over, the wall was becoming the floor now. They raced towards the exit, barely having time as they opened their wings and shot out one at a time as the tree fell. They flew straight up, towards the sky, each with a part of the precious cargo in their clutches. They were safe now!

The zoomed over the trees, searching for a spot to land and make sure the eggs and chick were safe. They found a branch covered in soft moss near over a niche in the tree. Flapping their wings as they flew down, they softly landed. The female set her eggs in first in the crater in the mossy wood before he carefully put the newly hatched chick in too. As soon as he placed the egg in upright, the chick squirmed and caused the egg it was in to tip over to the side, sending it out along with the bits of shell sticking and the egg fluid. Both gasped as the chick gave a small screech as it blindly moved where it was.

The mother gasped and quickly extended her wings over the chick, pulling the shivering, featherless thing close to her warm, chest feathers as she climbed over and set herself down on the eggs in the moss. Blu released the breath he did not realize he was holding in. He allowed his heartbeat to slow down as he collected his thoughts. A bulldozer had just collapsed the tree that he, the female, the eggs and the chick were in. If there was one bulldozer, then chances are there were plenty more where that came from. He could hear another tree collapsing back in the direction they had came from and the screeching of animals trying to get away. He couldn't just let some construction vehicles tear down the rainforest, not with this being prime wildlife-inhabited land and not with the tribe close by!

His eyes widened in shock as realization came tumbling down on him. This was the only place the Spix macaws found that was far away from humans and could support the tribe. If it was destroyed, they could all die out. And what about all the other creatures and organisms living here?! They wouldn't survive either! There had to be a way he could stop it. He had spent enough time in the city to know about the machines and how they worked. He could stop them, but not alone he couldn't. He needed help, but who could he turn to? The tribe he came from hated him, and that only left out the Scarlet macaws, who hated his species. He was way absorbed into his thoughts until the female behind him spoke.

"Um, excuse me," she asked. Her voice was young, yet soft. It still startled him and he quickly turned to look at her.

"Oh, um, s-sorry miss. I, uh, didn't mean to ignore you there," he stammered. "Just thinking of what to do not about the machines coming to take down the rainforest."

"Well, I just wanted to thank you for saving my eggs and chick. If you hadn't gotten there in time, well," she paused, "they would had been scrambled eggs."

"Heh heh. That's well, that's, um. Well, glad that didn't happen. Ahem, you're welcome. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go and find a way to shut down those construction machines," he said, getting ready by spreading his wings to get up into flight, but he voice stopped him before he could lift off.

"Wait," she interjected, causing him to halt just as he lifted his wings. "Aren't you that Spix macaw that scored the winning goal for our team in today's game," she asked. He froze and his heart sank to his stomach. His worries came up again full forward. She knew and now she was going to mercilessly tease him for it. But he could lie. He could lie and say it was not him, rather someone else. He could say that, could he?

"N-n-n-n-yes," he replied, his proper raising overwhelming his lying impulses. He couldn't lie, he just couldn't. He bowed his head in embarrassment and shame as his face grew red.

"Oh. Um, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you" she apologized. He looked up in confusion. She was apologizing instead of mocking him?

"N-no, it's fine, it's not your fault. It really... is...," he said, "all... my... fault." He felt something graze his wing tip and he turned in shock to see the female extend her wing and just barely touch his with her tip.

"Hey, is okay. Well, I mean you did kinda lose the entire Brazilian nut grove to my tribe and lost a big, major food source for yours but, hey, at least you know you can play soccer," she said, trying to raise his spirits. He lowered his head.

"Yeah, well, I'm pretty sure I'll never be welcomed into the tribe now. After all, Eduardo pretty much hates me, though it's not like he didn't before," he suddenly said. "But how was I supposed to know my wife was his long-lost daughter. How was I? I couldn't. Ooh, I've failed everyone."

"W-wa-wa-wait. Eduardo is your wife's father," the female asked. Blu's head slowly turned and he lowered his wings to show his reddened face. He forgotten in the middle of his rant that she wasn't part of the Spix tribe.

"Yeah," he replied quietly.

"So that means, your old Eddie's son-in-law," she said slowly. He turned his head away again.

"Yeah, well, I'm pretty sure he doesn't think of me as his son at all," Blu replied.

Silence greeted their conversation again. But it was short lived. A screech graced both their ear slits and Blu suddenly felt something grasped his throat and all the air leave his lungs. He fell back backwards, being pinned down to the branch by an unknown attacker. He tried to see who it was, but the late afternoon sun darkened the figure's face. He heard the female beside him gasp in surprise and shock.

He squirmed and try to push his attacker off him, but his grip was too strong and plus he had gravity on his side. Suddenly, the figure was pushed off and the pressure off his throat was lifted off. He sucked in the air into his aching lungs. He looked up to see at the bird or creature that had allowed him to breath, but he gasped as he recognized who it was.

Felipe. Chief of the Scarlet macaw tribe and the one who had issued the game of 'war' that had led to him gaining full possession over the Brazil nut grove.

"Oh crap," Blu thought as his brown eyes met with the fern green eyes and the smirking expression of his face.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't the little, blue macaw that just handed over the winning shot to the Scarlet macaw's tribe and lost the nut grove," he chuckled, the other two with him laughing as well.

"No, please. It wasn't my intention to," he tried to say, but was cut off by Felipe's foot pressing harder down on his throat.

"So, you decided to get back at us, eh? Decide to go after one of my tribe members, eh," he said, his expression growing darkener. Blu tried to pry the ever-growing tighter toes off his throat, but he couldn't. He was just too powerful.

"N-no. Its not like tha-ah," he gasped as his vocal cords were squeezed together.

"Well you know what I think, bluebird?" His foot pressed harder down on Blu's throat, pushing him deeper into the wood. Blu's eyes began rolling back in his head. "I think that I need to teach you a little lesson about-"

Whack! A wing came up from behind him and for a brief second, Felipe's foot came lighter off of Blu's neck. Blu gasped for as much air as he could intake. Felipe turned his head around to see the angry glare in the female's mint green eyes.

"Felipe! Knock it off! He wasn't attacking me. He actually saved me and our eggs and our chick," she yelled at him, partially revealing her wings to show him the new chick. Felipe gasped and quickly turned from the chick to Blu.

"Wait, you saved my mate," he asked, moving his foot off of Blu's throat completely. The other two macaws lost their threatening stance.

"Yes," Blu gasped out.

"Why," Felipe asked as Blu coughed a few more times, trying to regain his breath before he went to stare incredulously at the chief's wife. She gave him a friendly look before turning her head and giving an icy glare towards Felipe. Felipe's tense and stoic stance quickly broke under her eyes. He turned back to Blu with a sheepish and embarrassed expression as he helped the macaw onto his feet.

"Oh. Um, Sorry," he said quietly, before his voice grew more jovial. "Well, you can't blame me for not knowing. Hope I didn't get you too bad" he said loudly and slapped Blu on the back in a friendly, yet hard manner, only eliciting another fit of coughs from the Spix.

"Honey, this macaw saved the lives of myself and our children," the female behind him said. "The humans have come to our forest and are destroying it." Felipe and the two goons beside him gasped.

"What!? That can't be possible! If the humans are here, then what will happen to our home," he asked. His eyes shared the same amount of worry as hers held.

"I don't know, but this young bird here says he knows a way of how to disarm the human's destructive machines, but he can't do it alone," she said. He gasped and look between the both of them.

"But Mara-"

"Don't you 'but Mara' me," the female snapped, now having her name addressed. "This bird, true he is a Spix, saved my life, as well as our chicks' lives. He could have left and fly away from the danger, but he faced it, despite our two species' differences. You just can't rely completely on your own ideas all the time, sometimes you have to let someone else provide the answer when life presents a problem. The entire rainforest, our homeland, is at stake here, so are you just gonna run for the problem, or are you going to shut your beak, let the bird here give us his plan for saving us all?"

Felipe, Blu and the other Scarlet macaws were silent for that moment. What the female, Mara, had just said defied all things known between the two species. The Scarlet macaws listening to a Spix. The Scarlet had been wary and unfriendly with the Spix macaws ever since they had arrived around a year ago to escape the humans. The two tribes had been feuding ever since. Why should they be able to be friendly with one another now? A crack in the distance answered their silent question. Turning their heads, there they could see to there right a large tree tumbling to the forest floor. A flock of tropical birds flying away, screeching and squawking in fright and terror.

Felipe turned back to Blu. Using one of his talons, he spun Blu around to face him and stared deeply into his eyes. "Alright. We'll listen. For this moment, we trust you to help us out of this mess. What's your plan, bluebird?"

"Uh, my name is Blu, sir," Blu stammered out. Felipe jabbed the talon he was using into Blu's chest.

"Alright Blu," he said, his voice growing deep. "What's your plan," he asked again. Blu looked taken aback.

"Well, I uh, well first I need to see how many humans and construction machines we're dealing with before I can figure just how to disarm them all," he said before pausing, "but I can't do it alone. I need as many volunteers as I can get. Doesn't matter which specie or creature they are, as long as they are those who know the jungle and how to use it to their advantage." He stared at Felipe, who gave a firm expression back and nodded.

"You can count on the Scarlet macaw tribe," he replied. He then turned to the two other macaws he had arrived with. "Rico! Issac! Help Mara move our chick and eggs to somewhere safe, away from the machines. Then report to the center of our territory for further instructions when me and him return." He then turned back to Blu. "Blu, you and me are gonna check out those humans destroying are jungle," he ordered. The two nodded and came over to the mossy part of the branch as they each took an egg and started flying off towards the center of their tribe's territory. Mara gave one last look at them before she flew along after them with her chick.

"Be safe you two," she said.

With them gone, Blu took off into flight first, followed closely by Felipe. Any creature, be they bird or other, would had taken an opportunity to better look at them. A Scarlet and Spix macaw, flying closely together in flight. Unheard of until now.

But hey, until now, there hadn't been humans in this part of the rainforest either.

Hope you all enjoyed this first chapter, next one will be coming soon. Until then, I'll leave you readers to ask questions on what will happen next, like: "Will the Scarlet macaws agree to fight alongside Blu for their home?" and "Will Nigel, Gabi and Charlie make an appearance?" and "What's going on back at home with Blu's wife and family?" Well just stay tuned and you'll find out soon enough.

Please review and share your opinion on how I did with the story. Remember: reviews are loved and cherished. I'll see you next time! Sincerely, v.t.7