Rio: A nation divided

The writer

Welcome once again fellow readers and authors. I would like to thank you for taking interest and time on my work. Reviews are not demanded but always appreciated, as they give me conclusive feedback. Update schedule is still none existent, and the word count per chapter to expect is between 3k to 5k. Enjoy!

The story

No spaceships or aliens in this one. After re-watching Rio 2, I realized a pattern the creators hid in the film. Or I'm just delusional, but whichever it is, I thought it might be worth story material. The setting is an alternate universe where the Spix's macaw tribe was split in two by a natural disaster, and both gave up on finding the other, declaring each other dead. One of these tribes will be the canonical tribe of Jewel and Eduardo. The other will be home to Blu, who lived out a normal 'wild' bird's life. Rated T for safety. Minor swearing or blood may be present.

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Chapter 1

Trouble at the border Part 1

Disclaimer

I do not own Rio.

The sun slowly rose above the horizon, the rays illuminating the dark sky above the rain forest. The millions of sparkling stars were soon drowned out by the intense light, giving way towards a new day. The sun's rays penetrated the jungle canopy, slowly but steadily waking up the animals. In return, they filled up the air with chatter and other noises. Near a giant brazil nut grove, a rather large flock of an endangered species started to stir.

A female Spix's macaw woke up from her peaceful slumber, opening her eyes slowly as they got used to the intense light coming from outside the hollow's entrance. She slowly rose up from her nest and walked towards the entrance, glancing towards the forest before her. Dozens of birds walked on the branch in front of their entrances, before leaping in the air to begin their day.

The young lady launched herself in the air and headed towards the center of their tribe. Along the way she was and greeted many birds. Several minutes later she arrived at a large central tree, landing on the thickest branch. Two macaws stood guard at the entrance, but as soon as they saw who it was, they moved aside, allowing her to go through.

"I want the night patrol to start earlier today. According to some witnesses the scarlets were inside our border, again. If they are doing it, I want them caught red handed so I can speak with Felipe." A deep and rough voice echoed inside the giant tree hollow, as the female continued to walk towards her destination.

A couple of confirms like "Yes sir." and "Understood." followed soon after. She finally got around one of the corners and spotted the bird.

He was none other than the Spix's macaw tribe's current and long lived leader, Eduardo. He appeared to have a frown on his face, occupied by his work of leading a flock of several hundred birds. His facial expression changed instantly once he saw the person standing in front of him.

"Jewel! How are you doing?" He walked over and hugged her daughter, forgetting about his problems for a moment. After they parted away, she greeted her father back.

"I'm fine dad. Just woke up not too long ago… I heard you are sending out the patrol earlier today?" She had a slight tone of worry in her voice after listening to the way his father spoke. He just sighted, because no matter how hard he tried the women in his life just always managed to see through his lies. His mate, his sister and daughter in particular.

"Yes. Someone said they saw scarlets again. Someone trustworthy. This is the seventh time this month. Felipe is young and reckless, but I will not allow reds disrespecting our borders."

"I will be dispatching Roberto as well as Melisa and Esteban." This caught Jewel by surprise. Beto, Mel and Esteban? That's the three best we got. She thought to herself, trying to formulate a sentence to question the decision without giving it away. Her dad was the most loving father in the world, but he didn't like it when people questioned him too much.

"The three best just on the scarlet border?" She asked her father with a surprised tone and a raised eye.

"Yes. We cannot allow ourselves to not respond. They will think we are weak and try much more invasive stunts." His father explained his reasoning, satisfying Jewel's curiosity. She then realized this was a perfect opportunity to pressure his father about her intentions.

"Dad. If you need the best you should also send me with them. We work really well in a team." Eduardo just shook his head slowly, sighing. This was not the first time she requested to be a part of the border patrol.

"Jewel. Listen to me. I can't allow you to take on border duties. You are my daughter. Do you know how much bargaining power someone gets if they capture you? I love you more than anything in this world and I couldn't stand the thought of losing you." He placed a wing on the young female's shoulder, bringing her closer for another hug. She accepted her parent's embrace but was still annoyed.

"But you saw me train and brawl. I can handle myself. I even managed to beat Beto… Besides, I'm not a kid anymore." She pointed out the facts but her father ignored them, still keeping his stance on the position. He did laugh quietly, listening to his daughter's rambling.

"Sometimes I wonder just what you got from me and what from your mother…" He removed his wing and walked towards a small entrance, glancing outside towards the heart of the tribe. Spix's macaws were flying in all directions. This place was truly paradise for them, a safe haven in a cruel and unforgiving world.

"People keep saying I got my looks from mom. But I definitely got my stubbornness from you." Jewel walked over next to her father as she observed the sight before her. She was ready to drop the topic though, seeing how much pressure he is under. Ever since her mother died, her father had to manage the tribe all by himself. Sure, aunt Mimi was there as his sister to help, but it was not the same ever since.

"Alright… I'll send you with the patrol if that is what you truly want." He spoke up, turning towards his daughter who had the biggest shock on her face he ever saw.

"Are you serious?" Jewel exclaimed with excitement, observing her father's expression for hints of lying or misleading. She found none, but found his quick change of stance weird.

"But on one condition. If you speak to the trio and they say your presence will help them a lot." There it is. She thought to herself, but after thinking about it, it was not exactly a bad condition. It definitely made sense, she smiled knowing the team's response already.

Although Eduardo never allowed Jewel to go on actual patrols, she received training like everyone else in the tribe. It also happens to be that Roberto, Melisa and Esteban was part of her close friend group. This meant they trained together and worked as one. No way will they decline this opportunity. "Deal." She accepted the offer, and seconds later left the hollow to find the group in question.

The three blue macaws were sitting on a branch, overlooking most of the tribe from a very high tree. This was a group favorite ever since they were chicks. Jewel flew over and made a few circles around the giant canopy, trying to find the birds. After the second flyby, she managed to locate them and waved. The action was soon reciprocated as a female saw her and got the attention of the others.

"Hey Ju-ju!" Roberto called out, raising his right wing in a wave gesture. Moments later she landed and greeted the group, who were happy to see her.

"I got big news!" She announced.

"Oooh. Is there a boy involved?" The female blue macaw with dark feathers and brown eyes asked, attempting to tease Jewel. She was not so easily picked on, so she was able to answer with a straight face.

"No, Melisa… I spoke to dad about this new patrol and he let me join!" Jewel exclaimed happily, causing the rest of the group to cheer with surprise.

"No way! Eduardo let you join us? That is cool!" A male with a slightly darker shade of blue than Roberto with emerald green eyes spoke up, excited about the turn of events.

"I know Esteban. But there is one condition though..." She let her voice trail off, causing Roberto to raise and eye at the statement. What could Eddie ask from Jewel? He thought to himself as he asked his old time friend. "What is it?"

"The condition is that all of you agree that I'd be a help." She anxiously waited for the reactions from the three blue macaws, who glanced towards each other, as if silently conversing. For a moment she started to lose hope but it all changed when they turned towards her with big smiles on their faces.

"Like we even need to state that. If that was all The bird wants, he got it." Roberto replied, causing Jewel to yell in excitement, leaping in the air to do a quick loop de loop. She landed back on the branch and hugged all of them.

"You three are the best!" She said, releasing them a moment later before they could suffocate.

"Hey. We trained together since we were kids, why would we say no. We were quite bummed when we heard you couldn't originally join." Melisa admitted, happy to know her best friend will be joining them. Now that the initial excitement was over, Jewel got right to work.

"OK then. Anyone planned out anything about the patrol yet?"

She group shook their heads in unison as a response. "Actually, we wanted to start in a few minutes. We need to finish it fast, because Eduardo wants to oversee the plan before the patrol starts." Esteban added to the response.

"Perfect. When we got the plan and present it to him, you can tell him I can join too." Jewel replied, happy that they can complete two things at once. The group flew away from the branch to begin their brainstorming.

Several hours later, dusk

The four birds were finally given the go ahead. Eduardo found the plan to be excellent and gave his blessing. They leaped in the air from the hollow, soaring through the humid jungle at incredible speeds to get to the edge of their tribe. Roberto took the lead, followed by Jewel behind him. Esteban and Melisa covered their flanks as they flew.

For humans, the jungle canopy was one meshed up surface, impossible to navigate between. Macaws on the other hand evolved in this environment, allowing them to pick up on subtle cues, giving them an ability to find their way in the jungle. They could see the invisible border of their tribe and a couple of scarlet macaws in the distance.

Soon after, they saw the current patrol group and replaced them after they landed for a brief moment to exchange relevant information and sightings. The sun was slowly setting down, which was exactly what the blue macaws wanted. On average, their darker feathers allowed a much better blending during night than the scarlet's vibrant red coating.

If a group was really trespassing, their best chance to catch them was if they remained completely hidden but fully mobile. Now came their plan. Another group of macaws flew towards them. They were the decoys. Their job will be to patrol normally above the tree tops, giving intruders the illusion of control and safety.

What they won't know is that Jewel's group will use the canopy to blend in and move behind the decoy patrol. This time they talked over the plan, and once that was done the team pretended to fly away, diving under the treetops and going back. The decoy group began their patrol work as usual.

Half an hour later the sun finally set, giving rise to the sea of stars in the sky. The new moon barely gave enough light to allow the animals to see each other, but this helped the blue macaws tremendously. The decoy group flew past the military macaw tribe's border, now flying next to the scarlet one. Roberto was in the front, concentrating on the terrain in front of him, making sure neither he or his team mates hit a branch. With the path covered, Jewel, Mel and Esteban could use their sight to peek above the canopy, looking for anything out of the ordinary.

Due to being under the treetops, they had to rely on the decoys to tell them where they were. The blue macaws agreed that the lead bird will twist his tail feathers when they reach a forth of a border and two times if a border change occurred. Melisa saw the second tail twist, indicating they were already half way though.

She began to doubt that these intruders existed, but she was proven otherwise when Jewel caught the group's attention. They landed on a branch close to the canopy's top, and the female indicated towards an area a bit behind them. The macaws scanned the part of the area under the cover, and their eyes widened at what they saw.

Sure enough, a group of scarlet macaws were gliding silently through the border, directly into Spix macaw territory. They fixed their gaze on the birds and leaped from the branch, resuming their previous formation. They followed them to make sure the reds didn't just make a mistake.

The scarlet macaws kept flying into the heart of blue macaw territory, and what sealed their fate was utilizing a well known and effective stealth flying technique. There was no denying it, these reds are trespassing. What they had to find out now, is what the rivals wanted.

The blue macaw group followed them as a shadow, hiding under the treetops. It looked like the scarlets were searching for something. They all looked in different directions and talked to each other, but the distance was too big to make out what they were saying.

Suddenly, they banked to the right, changing their course by a long shot from the tribe's heart to the grove. This made Jewel worry even more. There was not much the reds could do within the heart of the tribe, unless they wanted to commit genocide. The grove was a different matter. The scarlet tribe wanted the grove all for themselves for decades now.

This could be a recon for an organized attack. She thought to herself, keeping her eyes on the intruders. They were weird to say the least. They kept changing formations, an endless loop of search patterns and efficient traveling flight. Sometimes they glanced behind them, right exactly where Jewel's team was flying. Luckily their color and stealth kept them hidden.

The scenery was starting to be familiar to Jewel, and she realized they were now at the edge of the grove. The scarlet macaw group started to slow down, glancing towards the horizon to find a place to land. They appeared to be bickering between each other. A few minutes later they found a good spot to rest. This was perfect for the blue macaws because they were out in the open.

Esteban left the group and flew towards the closest known guard tree to get backup. As the others continued to get closer to the intruders, they were relieved to see them permanently standing on a high branch, the bickering turned into a full blown argument. Now that their distance was reduced, they could finally make out what they were saying.

"We have been doing this for two weeks now. What's the point? There is no change." A male spoke up with annoyance, only to get shot down by another.

"Felipe want's to know what is going on. The blues have no idea. Heck, they don't even know we are here. We would have been busted long ago if they were competent."

"One day we are going to mess up and end up caught. That will worsen our already bad relations. This can easily escalate into a war you know!" The third one chimed in, and they engaged in heavy debating about obeying orders or not.

This went on for multiple minutes, before Esteban arrived with backup consisting of six macaws and more on the way. They silently planned the surprise attack, and flew to position below the treetops. The blue macaws worked as one, like a pride of lions hunting their prey. They all got ready, spreading their wings apart and keeping their eyes on their target. The reds not suspecting a thing. Without warning, Roberto yelled at the top of his lungs so everyone could hear him. "GET THEM!"

The ten Spix's macaws leaped of the branches, shooting through the canopy like bullets from a gun. The red macaws panicked and looked around but due to the dark blue feathers, they couldn't see them until it was too late. The five scarlet macaws were tackled by two blues each. The overwhelming force subdued all five of them quickly, and their wings were locked behind their backs.

Jewel and Roberto let go of their captives, as their partners were both strong enough to keep them at bay. The commotion woke up other macaws who quickly flew over and were shocked at the intruders. Now there was no way for them to get away, there was practically a flock surrounding them.

"Well well well. What do we have here?" Roberto spoke up with disgust and anger, getting all five scarlet macaws to look at him. The angry glare and threatening voice didn't seem to have an effect on them. These were not ordinary macaws, they were probably guards or trained individuals.

"Filthy intruders, that's who you are." He continued by taunting them, hoping some of them had anger management issues and would spill out information. Instead, they just glared at the blue macaw without speaking a single word or giving a sound.

"It is not worth playing the tough guys. You are all busted and Eduardo already knows about this. So why don't you guys spill and we can get this over with?" Esteban spoke up as he also let go of his captive to join Roberto's side.

"This can go down two ways. You guys tell us what you did, and we'll return you to Felipe, unharmed. Or..." He continued but didn't finish the sentence, giving Roberto the opportunity he wanted.

"We take you guys to the tribe center jail where nobody will know where you are. That place is not fun, I can tell that much." Just as he finished giving the threat, a new group of Spix macaws arrived at the scene, with the tribe leader in the lead. The old but high authority holding bird landed on the branch with force and determination, which caused a few of them to flinch.

"What is going on here?" Eduardo's deep voice boomed with anger, eyeing the scarlet macaws one by one. He was scanning to see if he could recognize any of them but they were complete strangers. He made a circular motion with his wings, and multiple blue macaws arrived with vines in their talons, tying up the reds. He turned towards Roberto.

"I'm guessing neither of them are willing to talk?" His right hand man just shook his head in conformation. Eduardo didn't seem to phased or surprised at all. He knew full well they couldn't torture them to get the information, they will just have to place them under enough pressure to know what was the point of the intrusion. "They sealed their fates then… Throw them in the jail cells. I want triple guards on each one. Maybe they will talk if we are more welcoming." He sarcastically remarked, ordering his fellow macaws. A bunch of males nodded their heads and picked up the scarlet macaws, flying away towards the heart of the tribe.

Without warning, an unexplained chiming noise rang through the jungle. It was very faint but distinct enough that birds realized it was not ambient. Everyone looked in all directions, trying to find the sound, without luck. Eduardo thought it might be a scarlet help chirp or something, and turned towards the four patrol birds as the crowd started to dissipate. "Find out what's making that noise." He ordered before flying off himself, possibly to deal with the caught intruders.

The sound was heard once again, but due to their position, the nearby trees made the sound echo, giving the impression it came from multiple directions. Roberto was the de facto leader of the group and decided their best chances were if they split up.

"OK. Let's split up to cover more ground. Esteban, you're with me. Jewel, Melisa, you go north." The group nodded their heads and took off without speaking a word.

Several minutes later, the five captives arrived at the Spix's macaw tribe center, where guards were already expecting them. The scarlet macaws were visibly anxious, seeing so many blue macaws in one place made them nervous. Their captors flew them inside a large semi hollow tree, which was filled with small holes blocked by vines or twigs.

They could see a few Spix's macaws inside, probably their criminals who were not banished. It was only now they realized their fate. Five cells were opened up and they were pretty harshly thrown against the inner walls before it was blocked off again. They adjusted to the surroundings rather quickly but neither said a word, even though the guards were continuously taunting them. This is going to be a long night. They all thought in unison.

Meanwhile with Jewel and Melisa

Minutes passed by in silence, as Jewel and Melisa continued to make their way towards the source of the strange sound. The macaws had to periodically stop to listen to the ambient noise. After a few seconds of silence, they heard the weird chiming again. This time they could locate it better since they were closer to the origin.

This also confirmed their way was the correct one. The females leaped in the air and flew towards the sound, gliding as much as possible to keep up their stealth approach. The chime happened once again, and now they knew it must be very close. Fortunately, they left the tribe territory and was currently in 'no mans land' as this area barely had any food macaws could eat.

While looking around, Jewel managed to spot a few trees on the horizon which were illuminated by a yellow light from underneath. She got her friend's attention and the duo banked to the right, coming closer and closer to the strange light. As they searched for a branch high enough to view whatever anomaly was there they heard a new sound.

Actually a voice, not a sound. But it was not a chirp, it was foul and savage. Jewel's heart started to beat faster as her anxiety increased. It can't be! She though to herself as he shook her head to clear her mind from those thoughts. Melisa found a good branch and the macaws landed silently on it. They glanced towards the jungle floor and were horrified at what they saw.

"H-h-humans!" Melisa exclaimed with terror, almost falling off the branch if Jewel didn't catch her in time. Neither of them could remove their eyes from the group of bipedal mammalians. There was a huge group of humans with tents, campfires and a lot of truly huge yellow things which some birds called 'machines'. One of these was tall with a rotating dish, giving off the weird chiming noise.

"There must be dozens of them… So close to the tribe… They're, they're loggers." Jewel spoke under her breath but it was loud enough that Melisa could hear. She looked around and found cages, some of them occupied. She turned towards Jewel.

"W-what do we do?!" She asked as her voice trembled, remembering the horrifying experience they lived through when they were chicks.

"We need to go back and warn the tribe!" The light cyan female stated, and leaped from the branch with haste, flying back towards the tribe without even waiting for her friend. Melisa took one last glance at the caged birds before she followed suit.

Unfortunately for them, they didn't get too far as a giant net flew towards them from under, catching them off guard. They yelled from surprise and shock, getting tangled in the alien contraption, losing the ability to fly instantly. They started plummeting towards the ground but their fall was cushioned by the many leafs and branches below them.

The blue macaws hit the jungle floor in a painful but not fatal thud. It took several seconds for them to regain their composure, but the sight before them was terrifying. Two humans walked towards them casually with metal cages in their hands. They were grinning like children at a candy store.

"Look at this catch, Tipa! They are Spix's macaws! These are rare!" The skinny human spoke up, getting his partner's attention who almost jumped in excitement.

"They must be worth a fortune Marcel!" The chubby one replied, already thinking about what he will do with the load of money they will get by selling a rare endangered species. Jewel and Melisa desperately tried to claw their way out but the net was too strong and they just became even more entangled.

The skinny human got something from his backpack and sprayed the two females with a foul smelling mist, making them dizzy as their vision blurred before they collapsed to the floor. The last thing they heard before blackness was an evil greedy laugh.