UPDATE: HEY, GUYS. IN CASE YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY NOTICED, A GOOD THIRD OF MY STORIES WERE DELETED BY SOME JERK SEVERAL DAYS AGO, INCLUDING THIS ONE. LUCKILY, I WAS ABLE TO REMOVE ANY PROHIBITED CONTENT FROM ALL THE DELETED STORIES AND REPOST THEM. THE SONG LYRICS TO THIS STORY (THE REASON THIS WAS ORIGINALLY REMOVED) WILL NOW BE LOCATED ON MY PROFILE TO AVOID ANY MORE FANFICS BEING DELETED. THIS IS FOLLOWING THE RULES. EVERY TIME YOU SEE -0-0- DURING A MUSICAL NUMBER IN THIS STORY, THAT REPRESENTS THE REMOVED SONG LYRICS. I DON'T WANT TO SEE ANY COMPLAINTS ABOUT THE LYRICS NOT BEING IN THE STORY. IF YOU'RE TOO LAZY TO VIEW THEM IN MY PROFILE, THAT'S YOUR PROBLEM! THANK YOU!
This lil' fanfic is my response to all the reviews requesting a sequel to my previous Rio oneshot "Smoke". I seriously doubt this will be half as good as "Smoke", but I'll try my best. Although, I can't help but notice that all my depressing stories seem to revolve around death. *Chuckles nervously* Hmm…anyway, those of you who don't assume that I'm a death-obsessed and/or deranged freak, please read on. I hope this is a satisfactory reply to all of your requests. Oh, before I forget, I should mention that I don't usually title my chapters, so don't be surprised if they aren't great. Either way, enjoy! =)
Special thanks to Mastfic, who was kind enough to take the time to critic this chapter! =)
DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN RIO! (Darn you lawyers!)
Chapter 1: Into the Wind
Pedro frantically flew towards the new samba club. His grey and red feathers were ruffled, and his brown eyes were wide in panic. The sun was bright and shining above him, but the cardinal didn't notice.
As he effortlessly navigated through the thick trees and foliage, Pedro panted to himself, "Oh, I am so late! Ralfy's gonna kill me!"
About two minutes later, Pedro finally arrived at his destination. Sighing in relief, the cardinal landed and tried to tiptoe inside the colorful tent unnoticed, but unfortunately his efforts were in vain.
"Pedro!"
The said cardinal winced at the sound of his name and the unmistakable tapping of a foot. He turned around and grinned sheepishly at the toucan standing behind him. "H-Hey, Ralfy." He stuttered, attempting to delay the inevitable chiding. "When did you get here? I didn't see you there…"
Rafael's answer was plain and simple. "You're late."
Pedro dropped his head in shame and dismay as his senior continued to scold him. "How could you be late on a day like this? On the first morning this samba club's officially in business, too!"
"Sorry, Ralfy, I just got sidetracked, and.."
At the last second, Rafael's face transformed from a scowl into his trademark smile and he said, "Never mind! Point is, you're here. Now let's go watch the opening performances!"
Pedro smiled back and gave the new samba club's interior an appreciative glance. The club closely resembled the Branch, only with a vivid yellow waterproof tarp covering it and colorful Christmas lights strung across the walls. It was actually quite attractive.
Pedro then frowned when he remembered why they had built a new samba club. Three months ago, a fire had swept through the (former) Rio rainforest, devastating everything in its path. All the surviving animals had moved to the neighboring rainforest and made a home there. In Pedro's opinion, one of the two things missing was a great samba club. The other was Nico.
Many of the rainforest's local fauna had been killed by the fire, the majority being birds. And Nico had been one of those birds. His mind flashed back to the memory of just a few hours after the fire had ceased. Frankly, it wasn't a pleasant one…
:Flashback:
Pedro paced back and forth, worry showing on all his features. Rafael and Eva and Blu and Jewel's kids looked on curiously. Since he had injured a wing in his attempt to locate Nico in that huge fire, Pedro had been left behind with the kids while the rest of the gang flew out to search for the missing canary.
Suddenly, the sound of wings flapping and the children chirping joyfully reached his ears and he spun around with a relieved facial expression. "Oh good, you're back!" He smiled at his friends, but was only rewarded with the faces of grieving birds.
As he peered around at the pained faces of his closest pals, his smile turned into a frown. "What's wrong?" he asked Rafael, who had something in his wings. "Did you find him?"
Blu, Eva, and Jewel suddenly appeared very uncomfortable. Rafael, obviously flustered, replied, "W-Well, yes, but-"
Pedro grinned. "Then where is he? Is he alright?"
Pedro's expression went from relieved to alarmed when Blu answered, "No, not really.."
"What's the matter? Is he hurt? What happened?"
Rafael sighed, his eyes full of sorrow. "Why don't you just see for yourself?"
The toucan gently removed one ebony wing from over the object he had been holding. Pedro gasped in horror when he recognized the limp form. Nico! The canary was missing his trademark bottle cap, and his body was covered in several burns. His normally bright yellow feathers were pale, and his chocolaty brown eyes closed. Pedro could tell by just a glance that there was something seriously wrong with his best friend.
"N-Nico…?" he asked, cautiously stepping towards the lifeless canary.
"It's useless, Pedro." The cardinal glanced up at the speaker (Rafael) with tears in his eyes.
"W-What do you mean?" The cardinal asked, fear gripping at his heart. "He's just unconscious…right?" He peered around at the silent group of birds. "Right…?"
Rafael glanced down, and Pedro could faintly see a tear running down the side of the toucan's face. Jewel walked over to Pedro and gently placed a wing on his shoulder.
"Pedro…" she started, speaking softly as if she were trying to calm an upset child. "I'm sorry, but…he's gone."
:Flashback end:
Pedro hadn't realized that he was silently crying until he felt Rafael's wing on his shoulder.
The toucan asked, "What's wrong, amigo? Don't you like the decorations?"
"I love 'em, it's just that…" Pedro spun around to face the older bird. "Oh, Rafael, I miss him so much!"
Rafael stared sadly and Pedro, then gently took the cardinal into his wings. He tenderly patted the round bird's back until he ceased quietly sobbing.
"There, there. It'll be alright, amigo, you just wait."
Pedro looked up at the toucan with a mixture of sorrow and loss in his eyes. "But how can I wait when it's not alright?"
Rafael frowned for a moment and looked Pedro in the eye while saying, "Pedro, it wasn't and isn't your fault. The flames were too high. No one could have gotten to him in time."
"You know that's not true…I was stupid enough not to look behind me and make sure he was still following…because of me, my best friend's gone!"
"Pedro.." Rafael murmured wearily. An awkward silence came, and neither fowl could muster up the courage to look at the other.
After a full minute of dead silence between them, Rafael decided to switch to a brighter subject. "So, did you and those other birds choose the name for this club?"
"Yeah."
"So, what'd you select?"
"Not that you don't know the reason already, but I'd like to tell you the backstory…"
:Flashback:
Pedro, Ricardo (the former owner of the Branch), Kipo, and two more birds that had been regular performers at the Branch were deciding on the name for the new samba club.
"Okay, folks." Said Ricardo, a military macaw. "The new name has to be catchy, but still has to make sense. Any ideas?"
"Why can't we just use Branch again?" inquired Peter. He was a woodpecker who had moved from the United States last summer. He had a marvelous singing voice, but wasn't exactly the brightest bulb in the bunch.
"This is a whole new samba club." Explained Ricardo. "Like a blank pallet. It represents a fresh start."
"What about the Lagoon?" suggested Julia, a gorgeous young scarlet macaw.
"No," Replied Ricardo. "That's taken. Besides, we aren't even near a lagoon."
Just then, Pedro piped up. "I think I might have an idea."
The four other birds glanced at him. The cardinal continued. "Do ya'll remember Nico?"
"Of course!" answered Peter. "He was the singer killed in the fire, right?" When Ricardo, Julia, and Kipo scowled at him for his bluntness, the woodpecker said, "What?"
"Well, yeah, but he was my partner and best friend." Pedro peered around at the group surrounding him. "He was also the best singer I ever knew."
Ricardo cocked his head. "Pedro, I don't mean to be rude, but where are you going with this?"
"Which performer at the Branch loved samba best?"
"Un-doubtfully Nico." Ricardo replied without hesitation.
Pedro turned to Peter. "What does that yellow tarp covering the club remind you of?"
"Bananas!" When everyone looked at him funny, Peter said "Sorry, I'm hungry."
"Anyway, it's yellow. Just like Nico." Lastly, Pedro turned to Julia. "And what are canaries?"
Julia replied, "They're song birds, aren't they?"
The other birds started to grin after connecting the dots. "Thing is," Pedro admitted, "I can't think up a name to match it."
Then, as if the other four birds became one mind, they all shouted, "The Canary Corner!"
:Flashback end:
"Wow! That's amazing!" exclaimed a tiny voice. "This new club's really dedicated to Uncle Nico?"
Pedro glanced down in surprise. The speaker was none other than Abelina, Blu and Jewel's daughter.
"Hey, Mini Macaw! When did you get here?"
Abelina giggled as Blu and Jewel came up with her two brothers, Julio and Adam.
"Heh, sorry." Chuckled Rafael. "They arrived while you were telling that story. You were so into it, I didn't want to disturb you."
Pedro shrugged. "S'okay." He turned to Blu and Jewel. "So what brought you to the Canary Corner?"
Jewel replied, "We decided we needed to get out a little bit." She gestured around the Canary Corner with her wing. "And what better time to check out the new samba club? I heard it's even more family-friendly than the Branch."
Pedro grinned childishly and answered, "On that you are correct, baby bird! Absolutely no inappropriate songs!" He gently messed the feathers on Julio's head. "Therefore, it's kid-friendly, but still awesome!" After a second, he added, "Just like a certain yellow canary."
The three little Blue Spix macaws hopped up and down around Pedro. "Uncle Pedro! Uncle Pedro!" they shouted.
The said cardinal turned away from Jewel. "What? What's wrong?"
"Will you rap for us?"
"Aw, gee, I don't know…I haven't practiced in a while…"
Jewel lightly nudged the cardinal. "Oh come on, Pedro. You should start rapping again."
"Oh, okay. I'll think of something."
Pedro sauntered over to the dance floor with the three small macaws. Taking a deep breath, he started to rap a song he and Nico had performed at the Branch just a few days before the fire:
-0-0-
Pedro mentally frowned, but didn't quit rapping.
-0-0-
The Mini Macaws were dancing away. Pedro didn't want to stop, but it just sounded so…empty…without Nico singing along.
-0-0-
Julio, Abelina, and Adam ceased dancing. They looked up at their Uncle Pedro in confusion as the older bird started to get quieter and trail off. The cardinal had a slight frown on his face, and a distant look in his eyes.
-0-0-
After that verse, the cardinal fell silent. He then shook his head and said, "This isn't working."
Abelina toddled over. "What isn't working, Uncle Pedro?" she inquired.
"Everything." Pedro peered apologetically at the three little birds. "Sorry, Mini Macaws, I'm just not feelin' it anymore…"
The grey and red bird walked over to where Rafael was chatting with Blu and Jewel. "Hey, Ralfy?"
The toucan glanced over at him. "Si?"
"I'm going home. The Mini Macaws are over on the dance floor."
Rafael crossed his wings and frowned. "So soon? Are you feeling alright, passaro?"
"I'm fine."
"Are you sure? You don't seem fine." Blu replied.
"I-I just want to go home!"
With that, the cardinal took flight and zipped out of the Canary Corner. In truth, he wasn't fine. Rapping, visiting samba clubs, dancing…it all just didn't seem worth it without his favorite canary by his side. There were just too many memories in all those places. He needed to be alone.
The cardinal zipped through the air towards his hollow. Tears started to fall from his black eyes, but thankfully the wind dried them. Pedro didn't want anyone to see him like this.
Pedro was nearly home when it happened. One moment he was in the air above a road, the next a large object charged into him with tremendous speed. Pain ripped through Pedro's round body. The last thing he recalled was tumbling to the ground and everything going dark…
Dun, dun, dun! Oh no, will Pedro be okay? Don't worry, this is just the beginning of the story! And yes, the story WILL get happier. I'm not one for fully depressing stories (unless you count "Smoke"). I'm a huge fan of happy endings, no matter how cliché they are! Once again, the lyrics to the song for this story can be found on my profile (which IS following the rules)! Great song. It just came out on itunes. Please R&R! Bye for now! Stay tuned for chapter two! =)
I REPEAT: IN CASE YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY NOTICED, A GOOD THIRD OF MY STORIES WERE DELETED BY SOME JERK SEVERAL DAYS AGO, INCLUDING THIS ONE. LUCKILY, I WAS ABLE TO REMOVE ANY PROHIBITED CONTENT FROM ALL THE DELETED STORIES AND REPOST THEM. THE SONG LYRICS TO THIS STORY (THE REASON THIS WAS ORIGINALLY REMOVED) WILL NOW BE LOCATED ON MY PROFILE TO AVOID ANY MORE FANFICS BEING DELETED. THIS IS FOLLOWING THE RULES. EVERY TIME YOU SEE -0-0- DURING A MUSICAL NUMBER IN THIS STORY, THAT REPRESENTS THE REMOVED SONG LYRICS. I DON'T WANT TO SEE ANY COMPLAINTS ABOUT THE LYRICS NOT BEING IN THE STORY. IF YOU'RE TOO LAZY TO VIEW THEM IN MY PROFILE, THAT'S YOUR PROBLEM! THANK YOU!