DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN RIO OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS IN IT. ALL RIGHTS GO TO BLUE SKY STUDIOS. THE ONLY THING I OWN IN THIS STORY IS OZ, MY OC.
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To Walk Without: Light
Chapter 3: Closer and Farther
The next day had come, and Oz was once again zipping through the city streets. Today was especially wonderful because he had another good dream last night. He couldn't remember the last time he felt so well-rested. He planned on seeing Nigel later, but for now, he kept to his daily routine of flying around finding interesting things or meeting new birds. He decided to drop by the market and watch the produce trucks arrive. He always found it oddly entertaining, even though all it involved was sitting and watching. There's nothing wrong with sitting back and just watching things happen around you. You might learn things, or see something thought provoking. At least, that's how he felt. He sat perched on the edge of the roof of one of the nearby buildings. He hummed contently as he watched a variety of delicious-looking fruits and vegetables pass by. Amid all the noise around him, he heard someone mumbling behind him. He looked over his shoulder, and saw two birds. One a canary, who was wearing a bottle cap, the other a robin. He listened in to what they were saying, even though he knew eavesdropping is rude.
"Just go up and ask her, man."
"It's not that easy. I gotta get my mojo flowing, y'know?"
"Pssh, your mojo is in a constant state of flow. You got this!"
Oz wasn't positive, but he was pretty sure of two things. Firstly, they thought he was a girl. Secondly, they wanted to ask him out. They finally noticed Oz looking back at them and they hushed up quickly. Oz smiled at them and faced back down to the market.
"See, man? She's into you. Or maybe me. If you don't hurry up and ask her, I will."
"Fine, fine."
Oz laughed quietly. He was used to having people flirt with him, an even mixture of both guys and girls, but he'd never really heard the process of thought and conversation that led up to it. He was amused by it. The canary approached him and spoke.
"Excuse me, but I think I'm lost. Would you mind pointing me in the direction of your heart?" he said, with a sly smile. Oz laughed, finding the pickup line rather sweet. He seemed to radiate confidence, a quality that Oz admired.
"Well, as far as I can tell, you're going down all the right paths." Oz said back with a wink, or more, it appeared to be a wink, due to his scarred eye being covered by a tuft of feathers. "But there's one tiny fork in the road you maybe haven't considered."
"What's that?"
"I'm a guy." The canary's smile dropped almost instantly as his face burned a bright crimson. The robin burst out laughing.
"SH-SHUT UP!"
"Wow, Nico! I didn't know you swung that way." The robin teased. Well, at least I know the canary's name now. Oz thought.
"You ass! You knew he was a guy, didn't you!"
"Maybe I did, maybe I didn't." said the robin, keeping his coy smile. The canary turned to face Oz, his face still bright red.
"Look, I'm really sorry about that. It's just... your figure... I just thought-"
"Really, it's fine. It's happened a million times before. I'm honestly flattered."
"Wait. If you're a guy, why did you wink at me?"
"I thought you were cute. Whether or not you knew I was a guy doesn't change the fact that you don't look half-bad yourself." Nico blinked a few times, completely confused.
"Uhh... What?"
"What I mean to say is that women aren't really my... 'preference.'" The two birds' eyes widened and they shot each other a look.
"So... you're gay?" the robin clarified.
"Yeah."
"So you flirted back because you thought I was gay?" Nico asked. Oz shook his head.
"No, I flirted back because I knew that I was. You're cute, you seem to have lots of confidence, and that pickup line... not the worst I've heard."
"Wait, what's the worst you've heard?"
"It was from another bird. He was actually gay. How did it go again... 'Do you come here often? Because I'm about to come here right now.' If I remember correctly." Their mouths fell open.
"Anyway, let's skip the rest of what is sure to be an increasingly awkward conversation and start over. Hello, my name is Oz and I would very much like it if we became friends." Oz extended his wing to them. Instead of shaking it, they high fived him.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Nico..."
"And I'm Pedro."
"And what you may not know is that you are looking the owners and operators..."
"Of the most happening bird club this side of Brazil..."
"The Branch!" They said in unison, striking a pose.
"Wow, really? Never heard of it."
"Oh, well then you gotta come on down right now! We were heading there anyway."
"Sure!" Oz followed them at a brisk pace, excited. He'd never been to a club before, but he'd heard that at human clubs, people do nothing but dance and laugh and have a good time. And if this bird club is anything like that, Oz knew he'd have a blast.
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It was a short flight, and when he first arrived, he was a bit surprised by what he saw. The exterior of the Branch was little more than a bunch of sheets and cloths held up by boxes and poles.
"Well, this is... a thing."
"Ah, but wait until you see the inside." They pulled back the curtain, and Oz was met with the sound of pounding samba beats and the sight of countless birds dancing up a storm underneath dazzling, colorful spotlights.
"THIS. IS. AWESOME!" Oz's eyes shot around the club, trying to take everything in.
"Welcome to paradise!" They proclaimed. As Oz scanned the club, a familiar flash of blue crossed his vision.
"Wait... Is that...?" As he looked closer, Oz was pleasantly surprised to find he was right. It was Blu and Jewel, sitting at one of the booths, supposedly resting from dancing. It totally is! No way!
"Blu! Jewel!" Oz shouted waving his wing. The looked over to Oz, and smiled as they waved back.
"Wait, you know them?" Nico asked.
"Yeah. Blu and I ran into each other a couple days ago."
"Where did you meet?"
"No, I mean I literally ran into him. Like, physically. I was flying around and accidentally crashed into him."
"Oh, so you're that 'interesting' bird Blu was talking about." Pedro chimed in.
"What?"
"Well, when we asked him how he got that cut in his wing, he told us he got tackled by an 'interesting' bird." Oz wasn't really sure what to make of the way Blu described him. "Interesting?" Oz decided to take it face value. Neither good nor bad; just interesting.
"Anyway, how about we cut loose and have some fun?" Nico said, nudging Oz.
"Aw yeah, finally! Time get this party started!" Pedro said. They grabbed Oz by his wings, Nico grabbed one, Pedro grabbed the other.
"Can you dance?" Nico asked.
"U-Uhh... well, a little, I guess." Oz was painfully humble, so he never liked to comment on his own abilities. But as far as dancing went, people would always tell him he had a heaven-sent gift. He would always shrug it off or just say thanks. However, Oz wouldn't deny that whenever music played... something in his soul sang out. Nico and Pedro dragged him to the center of the dance floor, and as they passed other birds, girls and guys alike would turn their heads to him. He heard them whisper about him as he passed.
Ooh, he's cute.
Think he's single?
Unf, I'd sell my soul to get a piece of that.
Oz blushed at what he heard, but he kept a smile. He liked the attention. He was brought to a stop in the middle of the dance floor, and Pedro and Nico flew onto the stage.
"Alright everybody, listen up! We got a newcomer here today! Give a warm Rio de Janeiro welcome to Oz!" The crowd cheered and called out to him. Oz waved at everyone, keeping a bright smile.
"As part of his welcome, Oz is gonna show us what he's got! So let's go!" The noise of the room fell to perfect silence as the music began. Oz felt the beating of his heart sync with the heavy pounding of drums as the explosive banging shook his very core. His eyes slid shut as the music flowed into and through him like a riptide. And then... it consumed him. There was nothing but the sound of the music. He felt his body twist and turn, leap and bound, in endless, fluid motion. Every single muscle in his body pulsed as he felt himself flow with the music. The music commanded his every move, like a puppet on strings. He felt truly and wholly alive, energy rushing through every inch of his body. No stopping, no thinking... just go, go, GO!
"Just feel it. If you need to think about your next step, you've already lost the rhythm. Don't think, just do."
The experience ended just as quickly as it had begun. He took a deep breath as he felt his body screech to a halt the exact moment the music ceased. The silence quelled his rapidly-pounding heart, still fueled by the lingering pure adrenaline. His eye slowly slid open as he normalized his stance from his ending pose. Everyone around him was speechless. Blu, Jewel, Nico, Pedro... every single person in the club were staring directly at him. Wide-eyed, everyone was slack-jawed, so much so that Oz thought it looked painful. He started to get a bit unsettled by the lack of change in their expressions. He noticed a faint glow coming from just beneath his line of vision. He looked down, and the symbol on his chest was shining brightly, but starting to fade. He looked around the room and noticed tiny, shimmering lights floating about the air. But as his symbol faded, so did the lights, until they vanished from existence.
"U-Umm..." Oz stuttered, mentally scrambling to find something to say, something to explain what had happened. This was interrupted, however, by uproarious applause and cheering as everyone rushed towards him. He trampled by a tidal wave of birds, wanting any piece of him they could get. People pulled at him, groped him, clawed at him... some even made out with him, shoving each other out of the way to get their turn. He faintly saw Blu, Pedro, and Nico fighting, almost literally, through the endless crowd of birds to help drag him out.
x.x.x.x.x.x.x
Escaping was not an easy task - Oz himself was still unsure of how he broke free - but Oz found himself in the V.I.P. booth, which was heavily guarded by two extremely muscular hawks, for obvious reasons. After a short period of silence, Nico spoke up.
"So... We have questions. Like, SOOO many questions." Oz sighed, feeling... not "defeated", but some odd form of regret.
"Ask away."
"WHERE DID YOU LEARN HOW TO DANCE LIKE THAT?! You were all over the place! And that twirly jump thing you did... that was... it was just... y'know?! And, and-" Oz answered as quickly as he could to cut Nico's fangirlish freak-out short.
"I learned from my older sister... She's an amazing dancer and, when I was younger, I told her I wanted to learn how. She taught me how to let the music carry me, as opposed to thinking about what steps should come next. I'm pretty okay, but I can't even hope to hold a candle to her."
"I have to meet her! Do you know where she lives?"
"Reeaaaally far from here. I think she's overseas somewhere in China. My siblings and I don't see each other as much as we used to. We've all gone our separate ways, but once in a while, they'll drop by to check on me, and vice-versa."
"Wait, hold on a second. Did you say she's in CHINA?" Blu asked.
"Last I heard, yeah. She likes to travel, but she said she'd be staying there for a while if I ever wanted to come see her. Haven't seen her in about a month, so she may have gone elsewhere by now." Everyone was a bit surprised by how he talked about his sister being in China like it was nothing.
"Do you have any other siblings?" Jewel chimed in.
"Yeah, I'm the youngest of five. Next is my brother, Roark. He's... kind of an enigma. Very quiet, keeps to himself... I actually haven't seen him in, like, two years, so I have no idea where he is. The middle child is Drew, my sister. She's really shy, but super smart. You could ask her any question about anything, and she could answer it without hesitation. I saw her three weeks ago, and she said she's staying somewhere in the states."
"Is this the sister that taught you how to dance?" Nico asked, with a fire in his eyes.
"No, but she did teach me how to sing-" This comment caused a slew of fangirl squeals from the army being held back by the hawks.
"BE MY MATE!"
"He sings, too?!"
"I LOVE YOU!"
"...Anyway, same story. I heard her singing and asked her to teach me. Her voice is... it belongs in a choir of angels." He said with a dreamy sigh.
"Next is my oldest brother, Cyrus. He's really serious, all the time. He can be really sweet, though. He isn't a people person, so it's hard to bond with him, but he never breaks promises, never lies, never gives up... This might be biased, seeing as how he's my brother, but I would entrust him with my life without a shadow of a doubt. I saw him a couple weeks ago, and he told me he's been staying in Alaska, god knows why. He said it's to make himself tougher, but I seriously worry about him..." He let out a heavy sigh, saddened by the realization of how little he really knows about his own family's lives.
"And finally, there's my oldest sister, Lily. But only me and my siblings are allowed to call her that. Her full name is Illisa. She's the one who taught me how to dance, the one who lives in China... the one who had to raise us like a mother. She's tender, loving, joyful... she was still pretty young when she started having to take care of us. Cyrus helped her." His expression brightened greatly after mentioning her.
"Wait, she raised you?" Pedro asked.
"Yeah."
"Where were your parents?" Oz visibly winced when he said the word "parents." There was a long pause as his pleasant demeanor fell.
"... It's not important." Oz stood abruptly. "I have somewhere to be." As Oz started to leave, Blu called out to him.
"Oz, wait!"
"...What?"
"We have one more question."
"What is it?"
"That symbol that was on your chest... and those lights... what was that?" Oz let out another heavy sigh.
"That's enough questions for today. I really need to go." Oz pushed his way through an opening in the curtain, and took to the skies.
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Where the hell is he? Nigel wondered, pacing. He should have been here long ago. I should have seen this coming. Of course he wouldn't keep his word. Damn crimson, obnoxious, lying, purple-eyed, fragile, elegant... Nigel's expression brightened as his vicious thoughts became kinder. He shook his head, casting those thoughts aside. He'd been starving himself most of the day in preparation for his dinner with Oz, and he was late. Hell, he probably wasn't even coming. Just another lie... another betrayal. Villainous thoughts of punishment started flying through his head. Plucking his feathers one by one, breaking his wing... he would make him regret lying to him like that. If he didn't show up tonight, he would find Oz and make him sorry for playing him for a fool. Just as he was about to go look for him, he heard the sound of flapping wings in the distance. It's him... He tucked away behind a few boxes in a dark corner and waited. Seeing as how he actually came, he wasn't going to punish him so severely... but he wasn't going to let him off the hook either.
Oz arrived at Nigel's home just as the sun was starting to set. Taking a deep breath, he shook off the sorrow and stress that Blu's and the others' questions created. He was here to help Nigel, a poor lonely bird who needed a friend. He wasn't going to let his bad mood ruin this, not if he could help it. He looked around the room, not finding any sign of Nigel anywhere. He flew down to the floor, and shined his wing so he might find him. Nigel already knew about his gift, so trying to hide it from him any further would be pointless. But as light filled the room, Oz noticed that he wasn't even there. Maybe he's out getting the food? he wondered.
"Nigel?" he called. No response. His eyes scanned the room trying to find any sign of him that he could, but to no avail. He turned around, figuring that he should just wait on the windowsill for him to return. A scowling face met his own as he turned, causing him to yelp and jump back in alarm. His wing dimmed out quickly as he tried as best he could to calm his breathing.
"Jeez, don't do that."
"You're late." He huffed.
"What?"
"I said you're late. I expected you here sooner." Nigel had begun walking over to Oz and his crest flared up. Not a good sign.
"I... well-"
"I don't want to hear your excuses. I simply wanted to let you know that I'm quite... displeased." he spat. The scratching of Nigel's talons against the cement floor echoed throughout the room.
"Well... now I know." Oz replied carefully. Nigel grunted and turned towards the window as his crest fell back down.
"Are you coming?" he asked. Oz blinked, puzzled by his question.
"Where are we going?"
"To get food. Out of respect, I've been starving myself waiting for you. I'll be damned if I do all the work getting the food, so you're going to help me, as part of your punishment for being late." Oz's blood froze. Did that mean he wanted his help getting the meat? Nigel saw the nervous look in his eye, and smiled malevolently.
"Relax. You just need to worry about the fruit. I'll take care of the meat." he said. Oz sighed in relief.
"Oh, good."
"At least, this time. Next time, though... who knows?" he said, laughing quietly. Oz shuddered at his final comment and followed him out of the room to begin searching for his portion of the meal. Nigel stopped and turned back toward Oz.
"However..."
"Y-Yes?"
"You will meet me back here in exactly one hour. If you're late once more..." Nigel finished his sentence by firing Oz one of the deadliest glares he'd ever seen in his life. They took off in their separate directions and began searching.
x.x.x.x.x.x.x
Exactly one hour later, Oz arrived back at the Dark Room (he decided to give it a name). Nigel arrived a few minutes after him.
"Well, well... look who's late." Oz said, smiling triumphantly. Nigel glared at him, but it was more of a childish pout.
"If it's all the same to you, I'd like to eat sometime before the day ends." He growled. Oz turned to go inside, but Nigel stopped him short.
"Not in there. We won't be able to see our own feet, let alone the food in front of us. Not at this hour. Let's eat on the roof." They flew up to the roof and unraveled the leaves they used to carry their food. As Oz dug in to his pile of berries and fruits, Nigel studied his meat carefully. Everything looked well cooked and safe to eat. He grabbed a piece was about to put it in his mouth when he got another wicked idea.
"Hmmmmm..."
"What is it?"
"Oh, nothing... This chicken just looks a bit sketchy." He held a piece out to Oz.
"Care to test it for me?" Oz's eyes widened as chills ran up his spine, almost painfully.
"W-W-What?"
"Test it for me. You wouldn't want me to become ill, would you?" he coaxed. Oz fidgeted, his eyes fixed upon the flesh in Nigel's talons.
"W-Well, no... but-"
"Either you eat it willingly or I shove it down your throat. Trust me, you don't want that..." Nigel said, an evil smile on his face and a venomous tone in his voice. Oz hesitantly took the meat from his talons into his own. He looked it over briefly before giving Nigel a pleading look. Nigel was unfazed, however. Oz whimpered in surrender as he dropped the slimey sinew into his mouth. The moment it touched his tongue, he wanted to vomit. He moved it around in his mouth for a while, checking if it was raw. The taste was foreign and awful. The meat was indeed cooked, but judging by the bloody taste in his mouth, it was very fresh. It was vile, every second felt like torture, and he knew it wouldn't end until he swallowed it. He steeled every bit of strength he could, and let it slide down his throat. With the meat finally out of his mouth he, turned back to his pile of berries and shoved them into his mouth, desperately trying to wash the taste away. Nigel laughed hard, like a mean kid who had just played a cruel prank. Oz fell onto his back, gasping for air after choking down half of his pile of berries, and Nigel's laughter subsided.
"I trust you won't arrive late from now on?" Oz nodded weakly in response.
"Good."
x.x.x.x.x.x.x
They'd finished eating their dinner without saying much else to each other. They were content to just be in each other's company. They sat on the roof, little more than an inch away from each other, staring at the infinite multitude of stars in the sky. Nigel absent-mindedly glanced at Oz, but soon found himself unable to look away. He surveyed Oz's body, taking in all of the tiny, intricate details of his figure. Every little inconsistency with the layering of his feathers, which feathers had a darker shade of crimson, the curve of his chest, the arch of his back... the longer he stared, the more warm his face felt. His wing twitched, wanting to reach out and touch him... wanting to be nearer to him. The one feature Nigel wanted to see most was Oz's eye. His perfect, shimmering, amethyst eye... He felt that it was made all the more valuable and precious by his other slashed eye. Only one was left, and that made it all the more rare. Oz passively turned his head to glance at Nigel, though he was secretly wondering if Nigel was planning some other form of mischief, and wanted to know if he was safe. When Nigel's eyes met Oz's, Nigel had a moment of nervous panic. He quickly broke eye contact with Oz and moved away slightly. The silence that persisted made Oz more and more uneasy, so he spoke up.
"S-So, umm... what's your story?" Oz asked nervously. Nigel kept looking forward, afraid that he'd get stuck staring at Oz again, and answered.
"Well, I'm afraid it's terribly boring. Not much to tell, really. I was an A-list star for a time... you may have heard of some of my movies. I had everything; adoring fans, slews of fanbirds of every species, size, and color, my own TV show... life was good." Nigel's expression began changing from an indifferent frown to a vicious glare.
"But then one day, those human BASTARDS decided to replace me with a younger, more colorful parakeet. They said I wasn't 'performing like I used to.' Of course, what they meant was I stopped listening to their commands. I was tired of listening to those featherless freaks order me around like some prostitute. They thought just because I was a bird, I couldn't think for myself. The moment I started showing some independent decision-making, they brought in some fresh, young, obedient little PET to replace me. Thieving, rotten, greedy little..." Nigel stopped himself from going on his rant and took a deep breath, regaining his composure.
"That's all. I'm a fallen star, too young, brilliant, and beautiful for those lowly humans to tolerate." Nigel said, with a little drama.
"Oh..."
"So, what about you?"
"W-What? Me?"
"Yes... I shared my story. I want to hear yours."
So Oz talked about his brothers and sisters. He talked about growing up with a sister who had to be his mother, about the key things he learned from each sibling... Nigel noticed a certain brightness in his eyes when he talked of his family.
"Now, about this 'being raised by your sister' situation. How did that come to be?" That brightness faded near instantly.
"Oh... well... my parents... died when I was very young. Illisa had no real choice, because our uncles and aunts all had far too many chicks to care for on their own already."
"How did your parents die? Surely not of natural causes." Oz started to fidget, avoiding all possible eye contact with Nigel.
"I-I don't really... want to talk about it."
"Why not?"
"Look, can you please just drop it?"
"... Does it have something to do with your injured eye?"
"Nigel... LET. IT. GO." Oz growled, firing an intense glare at Nigel. Nigel glared back, thinking Oz's request to be somewhat of a command.
"It's a very simple question. I don't understand why you're becoming so distraught, and I am NOT enjoying your tone."
"You're right! Simple question, simple answer! Read my beak carefully: I. AM NOT. GOING TO TALK ABOUT IT."
"You are DANGEROUSLY close to crossing the line." Nigel hissed.
"I could say the same to you! Why aren't you letting this go?!"
"You asked for my story! I gave it to you in its entirety! All I ask is that you do the same!"
"Are you kidding me?! That wasn't your story, that was a soundbite! A summary! I could EASILY tell there's something you didn't want to talk about, and I respected that! I didn't pressure you! Why is it so hard for you?!" Nigel crest flared up in full.
"How DARE YOU! 'Hiding something?!' I ought to rip out your tail feathers! Just because my life story is shorter and less interesting than yours, I'm HIDING SOMETHING?! YOU'RE THE ONLY ONE AVOIDING THE SUBJECT! HOW DARE YOU ACCUSE ME!" Oz began to shake violently his chest symbol began burning like a star, light dancing around his body, slowly concentrating to a tiny area in front of him. Nigel stepped back slowly, growing more and more alarmed as tears spilled from Oz's eye at an extreme rate.
"LEAVE ME ALONE!" He shrieked, and a massive blast of light struck Nigel at point blank, sending him flying into the wall of the next house over. Panic flooded into Oz as quickly as the blast of light shot out. His symbol vanished and he flew over to the wall. He landed away from Nigel, terrified that he may have killed him.
"N-Nigel...?" he whimpered. He slowly approached Nigel, and was relieved to hear the sound of breathing, though it was very labored. Oz rolled Nigel onto his back carefully so he could examine him. He had multiple cuts across his body, each one bleeding rather badly. Oz nipped his wing, nervously pondering his options. He couldn't just leave him like this. He eventually came to the less-than-ideal conclusion that he had to carry him to his nest. He quickly fetched a leaf, wrapped Nigel up, and carried him to his home.
AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH MYGAWD WHYDIDTHISCHAPTERTAKEFOREVEEERRRRRR?!
Well, mostly because I didn't know which route I wanted the discussion between them to take. One option, sexy times could have happened later, but I thought it would be WAAAYY too soon for that. Other options I ruled out were to much of a 'friendship ending' route that I didn't see any logical way to recover from. So, I decided on Nigel pushing Oz too far, and the bad feeling Oz gets from hurting Nigel due to loss of control over his powers would keep the fight from breaking their bond.
You'll learn all about Oz's inner turmoil in the NEXT CHAPTER! GET PSYCHED!
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~ritez4fun
