Ch. 2: Relocation
The morning started just like any other, my uncle waking me up way too early to go on morning patrol, grabbing some quick on the go food (grapes), and then spending the whole morning flying around the rainforest looking for signs of trouble. Even though I didn't like the idea of being an early riser, I still looked forward to going on patrol, just to fly in the cool quiet of the mornings. The fog that hadn't quite lifted was intertwined with the trees. I always thought that looked cool. I also take the quiet to kind of reflect on myself, all of the past events that had happened. Strangely, it's been very quiet the last couple of days, making me worry. Apparently my worry was noticeable because my uncle talked to me, snapping me back to reality, "What's the problem squirt?" he asked playfully. I shot him a fake annoyed look and replied, "First off, you shouldn't call me squirt considering I'm taller than you, at least by a good couple of inches. Second… *sigh*… it's just been too quiet lately, what do you think the Iron Talons could be up to?". This seemed to worry my uncle too, I could tell because he didn't answer right away, and he only does that when he's nervous or worried. "I honestly don't know buddy, that's one of the reasons I took us out here, maybe we could figure out what's going on." "And maybe we'll come across a certain harpy eagle too" I thought. We flew for a few more hours, not seeing anything wrong, before heading back to base, a rather large tree with multiple hollows to serve as our individual rooms. "Hey get the crew up and at 'em, I want them at the briefing perch in ten minutes". I nodded and headed out to the other hollows, starting with the lowest one that belonged to Boris. It's always funny to see Boris asleep, because he doesn't have the normal position of a sleeping bird, instead he lay flat on his back with his webbed feet up in the air and his wings sprawled out. His beak hung open, allowing a monstrous snore escape from it. Immediately I closed his beak with my talons, and slightly shook it saying, "Yo, hey Boris wake up, we gotta be at the briefing perch in ten minutes…. WAKE UP!" I finally yelled since the gentle approach didn't work. Boris' eyes shot open and he sat up, obviously dazed from being woken so roughly, "в чем проблема!" he shouted in Russian, making me burst out in laughter. He turned around and looked at me, his shocked look turning to that of slight annoyance and humor. "You know, my leetle friend, it is never wise to wake a sleeping Russian, it could be the last time you do" he said with a thick Russian accent. "y-yeah I'll take my chances" I stuttered, still holding back more laughter, "Briefing perch, ten minutes" "Dah" replied Boris and got up to stretch, his large body eventually forcing me to leave the hollow. Next I went to the only mammal in our group, Victor. He didn't sleep in a hollow, but slept upside-down on a small branch (Go figure). I tried to sneak close to him to startle him like I did his Russian friend, but right as I breathed in to shout him awake, he held out a leathery wing to keep my beak shut, ultimately taking the fun out of my joke. "Don't even try it Manuel" he said, his Transylvanian accent very present. I simply just shrugged and turned around to leave, "I'll get you one day" I said, "That I'd have to see to believe" replied Victor smugly. Rolling my eyes I relayed the message I told Boris and took off to the highest hollow, where the last member of our group was already up and preening. "Morning Gabriella" I said warmly, the Ruby throated hummingbird looked up at me, her bright eyes seemed to radiate good will, "Well good morning to you too mejo" she said, her happy Latina voice leaving her beak like a song. "How she always stays so upbeat and happy, I'll never know" I thought to myself. "Briefing perch, uncle Ricardo wants everyone there in ten minutes", "Ok" she said brightly, "is it about the Iron Talon's absence lately?" it seemed me and uncle Ricardo weren't the only ones to notice. I nodded and went to the briefing perch to wait for the others, taking the time to preen as I saw that I was in great need of it. Shortly after my arrival, Boris bolstered up to the perch, it took my best to not laugh at the albatross, but it was so hard when he tried to maneuver through small spaces with his large frame. He finally managed to find a comfortable spot and slumped down. Victor followed, standing next to Boris, his long wings wrapped around his body like a human's cloak, he was wearing his small tinted spectacles, which he only wore during the day because of his sensitive eyes. Finally, Ricardo fluttered in with Gabriella close behind, obviously finished with some kind of conversation. "Mornin' everyone, I hope you all slept well? Good, as you all may have noticed, there hasn't been anything heard from the Iron Talon's for the last four days, this is unusual of them to stay quiet for so long, so we need a small recon team to try to gain Intel on anything they might be planning. Gabriella has already volunteered, but we need someone else for back-up in case things get out of hand. I immediately perked up and said, "I'll do it!". My uncle looked like he was about to refuse, but a quick bump and glance from Gabriella seemed to change his mind. "*Sigh* fine Manuel, but remember, this is recon, do not engage with any enemy you see. This is simply gain info and return in as little time as possible. Understood?" he looked at me sternly. I slowly nodded and started to follow Gabriella, "Why is he so protective? Doesn't he know that I'm sixteen? I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself. I guess it's just cause I'm the only family he has left". I shook away my thoughts as I took off, getting ready for the upcoming mission. The flight was quiet, as it was normally on a recon mission, and I didn't mind it at all, I suddenly didn't feel like talking right now. We got close to the Iron Talon's base, which was no more than a rundown shack where the humans kept their smuggled birds prisoner. Luckily no calls for help sounded from the building, so there hasn't been much activity here lately. We landed in a grown over area as quietly as possible, just in case they were still here, but no birds on guard, no humans ambling around the building, just quiet. This quiet made me uncomfortable, I didn't like intense quiet, the tension I felt could be cut with a frickin' knife. We came closer to the building, glancing side to side to make sure it wasn't a trap, then swiftly entered through a small hole broken at the base of the door. "That's weird" said Gabriella, ending the silence, "nobody's here. Where is everyone?" I shrugged, "Maybe they relocated? Gave up on this place and went to find another?". Gabriella thought this over, "Well, if you're right, we better find something that could tell us where they went, start looking around" at that she took off to the other side of the room. I sighed and began to walk around, looking for some kind of clue. The whole building seemed to be emptied, save for a small desk near a broken window. I looked up and saw the corner of a paper hanging off. I flew up to the top of the desk and saw it was a map of all of South America. I looked around the map for a while until my eyes fell upon a circled city in Brazil. "Hey Gabriella, check this out" I called out. She zipped up to where I stood and I pointed with my foot to the circled city. She looked at the city and immediately smiled widely. I rolled my eyes, for certain what this meant, then she said, "OOOH… I've always wanted to visit Rio"….
Well that's the end of chapter two. What do you guys think of the group (Manuel mainly)? Anyway review my chapter and the next chapter will be in the POV of our favorite Spix's Macaw Tyler Blu Gunderson!