Rio: Colors of the Rainbow Chapter 1: Hollow Hunting, a rio fanfic

Welcome once more, my dear readers! Now, this may seem out of the blue, but I am afraid that I am highly discontent with the current course of the story. So, I will attempt a rewrite! I hope that my previous followers will enjoy the story, and continue to show their support. I know that you may have already read this, but still, I highly encourage everyone to read on anyways! I will work my hardest to make these chapters as high-quality as possible for you all!

Now, this rewrite is an uneasy undertaking. I truly wish to see this story succeed, or now, become better, but this lies solely in you, my readers. I want to try to make this story more emotional, more powerful. I will attempt to keep the plot mostly the same, though some things may change, some chapters, disappear.

Please, I am rather nervous about this decision. If you enjoy the story, tell me so in a review.

This first chapter is rather unchanged. I added some details, but it is largely the same. Still, it is one of the chapters that I enjoy the most, and I hope you all will too.

To all my previous followers, and my newcomers, I hope you will all enjoy!

-Prophet

The jungle stood lusciously around the city of Rio de Janeiro. A multitude of sounds could be heard throughout the jungle canopy, giving a sense of awe and wonder to the environment. Through the trees came the flapping sound of wings as a pair of blue birds wove their way through the endless trees. However, this particular set of birds, or to be more specific, macaws, were no ordinary fowl. Indeed, they just happened to be the last pair of Blue Spix Macaws on the planet.

"Whew, this is getting exhausting," commented Blu as he flapped his wings wearily. His mate, the freedom-loving, energetic Jewel, had no trouble shooting ahead of him. She hovered in the air for a moment as he struggled to catch up to her.

"Come on, Blu!" she shouted. Before Blu could reply, however, he looked up to see that the sky was rapidly turning gray, the distant sound of thunder increasing.

"Uh-oh," the macaw said as he looked up. He caught up to Jewel, and once more began to follow her.

The macaws had been traveling the jungle for a few hours now, in search for the perfect hollow to call home. However, while there was a variety of options, there were few available nests that seemed suitable. Most were too small, too big, to inconveniently located, etc. Blu wanted to find the perfect hollow, but they were running out of time.

"Huh?" Blu wondered as he felt something hit his wing. Looking up, he saw that it had now begun to rain, and the water was slowly coming down with increasing force.

"Jewel, wait! We've got to go back to the center! The rain's going to get worse!" he called to her. She looked hesitant as she stopped mid-flight, but she also knew that her mate had just learned how to fly not too long ago, and he was still not used to flying through such weather. It was a tricky thing.

She sighed and nodded in agreement. "You're right. Let's go."

The two did a U-turn and began to fly back in the general direction they had come from. The rain began to pour now, and Blu felt his wings begin to sag. From her sloppy flight patterns and grumbling, he could tell that Jewel was also becoming annoyed.

"Hold on, let's just stop up here," she called to him as she gestured to a nearby tree. They angled their wings, and both slowly descended until they had a firm grip on the tree branch. Luckily the tree had quite a bit of leaves, which helped shield them from the fierce rain. A misty fog had slowly begun to form.

"Just great..." Jewel grumbled. "There go our chances of finding a good hollow today..."

"Hey, it was you who didn't like any of the other hollows," Blu reminded her.

"Blu, are you crazy?! This is an important life decision! Everything has to be perfect! This is our sanctuary, this is where we will live together, this is where we will raise a family!" she exclaimed.

Blu was taken back by her seriousness, but he was even more caught off guard by that last remark. He started to feel nervous and felt a light blush coming to his face.

It had been around a month or so since Jewel had healed her wing. She hadn't been too happy about staying indoors while her wing healed, but luckily Blu had been there to keep her company. The two "lovebirds", as Rafael would always tease them, had grown much closer together during the time, as Blu would come in every day to visit her, trying to cheer her up. Their time together had revealed a lot to each other. Jewel had discovered that underneath all his clumsiness and weird habits, Blu was a very kind, sweethearted bird who simply had a unique way of expressing himself. Similiarly, their time together had shown Blu a softer, more loving side of Jewel, which she usually hid due to her difficult past.

Still, looking at Jewel and her annoyance with the weather, he decided she needed some cheering up. He smiled and walked over to her. He suddenly scooped her up and leaned over her, much like when they had met at the research center and she had tried to tackle him, only to end up in an unexpected position.

Jewel was bewildered at his sudden action. She tried to get free of his wings. "Blu, what are you doing?!"

He looked her directly in the eyes with the warmest smile she had ever seen. It surprised her so much that she froze for a few moments, heart beating frantically. Part of her mind screamed at her to ignore him, to preserve her fury. She couldn't help it though. As soon as she saw his gaze and that honest smile of his, she felt all of her anger melt away.

Blu looked at her right in the eye. Those beautiful green eyes. "Looks like you need some cheering up," he said, still smiling.

Jewel giggled. "Smooth, Casanova." She pulled him in for a deep kiss, savoring the warmness in her heart.

Eventually they broke apart. The sound of thunder was heard once more, slightly closer now. Blu kept one wing around her as he looked off into the heavy rain.

"We should go now."

"Yeah," she agreed.

The two once more took off into the storm. Probably not the best idea, Blu thought as they flew, since the rain kept pelting them, determined to take them down. His flaps became noisier, his path crooked. The fog was also increasingly troublesome, and his vision was becoming more limited by the moment.

"Blu, I can't see anything!" Jewel called out, worriedly. Her outline grew dimmer and dimmer in Blu's line of sight as the fog grew thicker, and the rain, faster.

"Don't worry, we're almost there," Blu tried to assure her, but his voice was drowned out by thunder. He couldn't even see the trees around them anymore. Jewel was trying to surge ahead in an attempt to find the center, but she was getting too far away.

"Jewel! Jewel!" Blu yelled as she disappeared from his line of sight. He tried to flap harder, but the downpour was too thick.

Before he could call out again, however, there was a spontaneous burst of light and roaring cry. He yelled in surprise as the fierce light blinded him. There was a nonstop ringing noise in his ears. He tried to close his eyes, but his wings were out of control, and he couldn't tell where he was going. For a few moments, he just flapped about frantically, with no destination. The ringing noise was subsiding and he was just thinking that he might be able to stop flapping when suddenly he felt himself smack into something hard.

"Ow!" he exclaimed as he crashed into something, fell, and landed on some other thing. His vision was blurry and he was dizzily blinking for a few moments until, groaning, he stood himself straight. His vision and hearing back, he could now hear the noise of the rain slowly growing fainter. He looked around in confusion until he looked at what was in front of him. He gasped. It was a hollow.

The sky had just started to clear to reveal a rapidly descending sun when Jewel came back. She looked at him with worry.

"Blu! Are you okay?" she asked him as she landed next to him on the branch.

"Look!" he told her, pointing at the hollow.

She looked at the hollow in amazement. She peeked her head to survey the inside.

"Blu, it's perfect!" she said in ecstasy.

"Really?" Blu said, shocked.

"Yes! It's the right size, we're pretty close to a river, there's some fruit trees not too far away, and there's even some dried moss we can use to make a nest!" she told him happily.

"I guess it's a pretty lucky find," he told her. He smiled as he once more pulled her closer. "Though my real treasure is right here in front of me." Jewel laughed as the two once more embraced each other.

For the rest of that evening, the two cleaned the hollow and arranged the moss in the nest, flying out occasionally to get more. Exhausted from their search, the two climbed into the nest just as the sun was setting, casting a soft orange color on the jungle. A soft chorus of animal cries created a peaceful symphony as the two lovebirds savored the first moments of their new life together.

Blu put his wing around Jewel and gave her a soft kiss on the head. She gave him a beautiful smile as she moved her head to nuzzle against his soft blue feathers.

"Good night, Jewel," he whispered to her as the darkness set in.

"Good night, Blu," she muttered contently.

…

Earlier that day, Fernando was in the research center's observation tower, cutting up some fruit in the kitchen as he listened to a woman speak on the news channel.

"...and for today, all inhabitants in Rio can expect some periodic storms later in the evening, with occasional thunder and possible lightning strikes..."

Alright, the risky journey known as a rewrite begins!

As I said, not much change in this chapter. Still, the larger changes are yet to come. I believe that I may eliminate chapter 2 from the story, though 3 is definitely a keeper.

It's up to you, my dear readers. Tell me in the reviews what you think of this rewrite!

I'll just say it now to get it out of the way for the rest of the story: I do not own or take credit for Rio and any UNORIGINAL work is the property of Blue Sky Studios and Fox Entertainment.

-Prophet