Chapter 3
Exodus
Disclaimer
I do not own Rio.
Evacuation. This word sent flocks of birds into a state of panic if their leader ever uttered it, but not the Spix's macaws. Unlike most birds in the area, who's flock might have lived here for hundreds if not thousands of years, the natural catastrophe forced the blue macaws into a life of almost nomadic nature. Their once great numbers were basically halved and the remaining population greatly diminished over time.
But this was nothing new within the natural world, and at one point they even believed they could actually recover from it. All of that changed when the first colonizers from across the Atlantic ocean arrived. Humans as a species were not unknown to the animals in Amazonia, but the pure greed and destructiveness of Europeans was something none of them could prepare for.
Due to their wonderfully blue plumage, the Spix's macaw quickly caught the attention of these new invaders, and soon after they were highly sought after. Like most other exotic species, they could not adapt in time to prevent their population from declining. Despite these issues, the blue macaws actually held out far longer than other now extinct parrots, and that was thanks to their adaptiveness and very well thought out evacuation plans.
While other species couldn't even imagine leaving their 'land', this became standard for Spix's macaws. The plans evolved alongside humans, incorporating every new tactic the bipedal mammalians came up with, but over the last hundred years or so, human technology started to outpace them, and the toll was showing. Back then, a relocation every two or three generations was expected, and it kept increasing ever since. Now it seems that an individual must expect more than one evacuation within their lifetime, a very worrying situation when the Amazon is shrinking due to deforestation.
As expected, the order was taken just as seriously as a declaration of war. Instead of mindlessly flying in all directions as most tribes would do, they followed the complex system, which was taught to all chicks next to the basic survival skills. Ironically, today was a perfect day to sound the order, because the whole tribe was already on edge and expecting the worst after their conflict with the scarlet tribe.
Eduardo caught up with his delegation group, which was incomplete since they were missing a few guards, who were tasked in passing on the word. He could see his fellow brothers and sisters all taking huge leaps in the air after hearing the order, and he could see that they were surprisingly calm. Sure, a few always got the occasional panic attack, but most of them learned to accept their situation and met it with a calm and level headed mind.
After all, running away from an unstoppable force was a much easier and safer thing to do than wage war against a similar sized tribe of macaws. Some were already in the air before even hearing the order, flying towards the direction Eduardo's group was heading. The elderly macaw concluded the explosion probably gave them a hunch.
There was visible tension within the group however, primarily between Jewel, Melisa and the others. Both subgroups had hundreds of questions racing through their minds, but neither was willing to initiate. Not until they arrived at their destination and figured out the next step. After all, they were all here and that's what mattered. Even if they wanted to discuss it, the privacy they needed was gone within minutes, as hundreds of blue macaws joined their side.
The massing flock was growing in size so rapidly, individuals high up in cruising altitude would be able to make them out as a big semi transparent blue blob above the jungle canopy. Their destination was non other than the very heart of their tribe, since the cliffs were the only structures massive enough to hold the flock's combined total weight.
After a few minutes of intense flying, they could finally see the cliff's outlines. A few athletic and faster guards sped forward to notify the area about the situation and clear it from obstructions, preparing it for the tribe's arrival. They acted quickly and efficiently, and by the time the massive flock got within landing distance, the cliff was all but empty besides birds.
The wing flaps caused really intense air currents, and the individual birds really had to keep their focus to land within the turbulence, created when hundreds of wings disturbed the air before them. The 'civilians' moved over, giving Eduardo and his close group a clear path towards the center, where no doubt patrol birds will already be waiting.
They walked fast and soon enough got within earshot of Eduardo's best patrols, fighters and advisors. The advisors managed the tribe's internal troubles, and this was the biggest event which could happen within a tribe, so they were all called together. A large male with brownish green eyes, dark blue plumage and gray beak similar in age to Eduardo spoke up first, greeting his friend.
"Eduardo. We got the evacuation orders, the patrols and every volunteer we could muster is already racing to every edge of our territory to warn the flock. Everyone should be here within half an hour, tops. What's our situation?" The macaw's deep voice rumbled though the air, coated with years of experience and wisdom, but also uncertainty.
"Not good at all, Sebastian. Scrap part one of the evacuation right now. The humans are coming through the grove, it is probably already overrun as we speak. We will have to go forward with our reserves only." The tribe leader greeted his fellow macaw, his tone conveying anything but good news. The other elderly macaw just nodded his head in silence, understanding the severity of their situation perfectly. His face slowly changed and displayed worry very quickly after he thought what this implied though.
"Are you sure about this? Food has been scarce for years now, our reserves are not enough to even last us two months." Eduardo looked down at the ground, sighing heavily at the fact, but there was nothing he could do about it. At least that's what he initially thought before an idea popped into his mind.
"Maybe not. Roberto!" He called for his right hand man, who stood in attention the moment he heard his name being called. He made his way closer to the conversing macaws to hear them better.
"Sir?" He simply asked for instructions, not speaking any more unnecessarily. The tone Eduardo used was one of authority and not their usually lighter almost father to son tone, meaning this was very serious and high priority indeed.
"The grove is a no fly zone from now on. No macaw gets within a minute flying distance. I need birds to collect as much food as possible around the area, before the other tribes get their talons on them. In a day, we should have enough to get away from here." Jewel and Melisa overheard the conversation and their eyes widened at the plan presented.
Their faces were quickly covered in dread, which Eduardo picked it up instantly and wanted to ask what was wrong, but he was interrupted before he could do so. Roberto simply nodded, spreading his wings to prepare to follow through the order when Melisa grabbed him with her wings, preventing the blue macaw from flying away.
"NO! No no no. We can't stay here any longer. We need to leave NOW!" The dark feathered female exclaimed, her outburst taking them by surprise. Roberto folded his wings but stared at her with a confused look. Sebastian was next to question her sudden insubordination but this time Jewel interrupted them.
"She is right! Those humans are not just loggers, they have a lot of poachers with them. Mel and I got captured last night, that's why we didn't return. We got free less than an hour ago. They will continue onward and get us if we stay here." The explanation provided by Jewel was enough to clear up most of their confusion, but her reasons to say that were still largely unknown. The fact that they were both captured was worrying, since they were one of the fastest, most agile females within the tribe. Surely they understood that with their current food supply they wouldn't get really far.
"Jewel, how do you know that?" Eduardo questioned his daughter, who while was angry at first that her own father questioned her word, she quickly realized neither Melisa or she explain their reasons why they cannot stay another day. She closed her eyes while she took a deep breath, collecting her thoughts. She had to be really convincing, since she couldn't actually prove anything unless risking capture again. She reopened her eyes and looked at her childhood friend, who had the very same idea.
"The humans took us out of the air with some spider web thing before two of them spayed something in our faces, causing us to go to sleep. When we woke up, we were in one of those loud machines, with dozens of cages. All of them filled with birds, macaws, toucans and even eagles." Melisa spoke up once again, explaining how they got captured since it will be important later on. Meanwhile Jewel examined their expressions and concluded they followed.
"We learned from another bird why humans take us." Jewel continued, and her statement caused everyone to look towards her instantly with their full undivided attention. She understood what a bold statement that was, but this was her opportunity to inform her tribe of some new and probably important information which was previously a mystery to all of them.
"Turns out humans have something they call money. You can't eat it or anything, but it is so important to them, they want as much of it as possible. To them, we are very exotic and humans are willing to pay a lot of this money to get us. That's why poachers try to capture as many as they can." She continued, dropping revelation after revelation on her fellow blue macaws like a carpet bomb.
The birds who were listening started to put together what they previously knew and realized just how twisted and evil these humans actually were. At first, they believed humans ate them and it was just some sort of hunting. Now, it turns out they separate families, destroy tribes and ruin lives for selfish and greedy reasons alone. This infuriated many to no end, but they were all powerless to stop it.
"We can't stay here because they will find and catch us. Right now they are busy tearing down the grove. We can use this to buy us time and get out while we still can." Melisa took over and finished their reasoning. The two females kept their gaze on the blue macaw leader, watching his every reaction carefully. The group was silent for obvious reasons, but that only worried the females even more. They were terrified they will be dismissed.
"Very well. I trust you two. If there is consensus, we will begin evacuation as soon as possible." Eduardo gave in, causing both women to let out a deep sigh of relief. Not everyone was too happy with the decision though, but nobody had the guts to stand up against Eduardo at that point. The leader turned back towards his best advisor to get his input, but as it turned out he was one of those who disagreed.
"Putting two together, what Jewel and Melisa said is plausible, but what evidence is there to back it up? Who was this bird you two got the information from?.. And just wait a moment. How did you two escape from a human cage?" The elderly advisor held no such restraints and made sure to give voice to his opinion and question the validity of the explanation. This was about their survival after all.
Jewel glanced towards Melisa with uncertainty, silently asking her what to do. The darker female read her mind like an open book but was lost just like her. Under so much pressure neither of them knew if they could pull off a lie, but the truth was just as bizarre if not equally unbelievable. Jewel decided risking the truth was better in the long run, and got the conformation from her friend via a silent nod. At least she would back her crazy story up.
"I got the information from a bird called Daniel… a harpy eagle." She compacted all three questions into one response, but her voice trembled a bit halfway through. Her fears were confirmed when the total shock and disbelief settled on everyone's face around them.
"A harpy eagle?" Sebastian repeated with a very disregarding tone, pretending to making sure he heard it right. There was no need to speak, her silence was the answer others might have been looking for. This changed the whole flow of the conversation. Some birds even glared at them for making such a bogus claim up, but Eduardo was the most conflicted of them all. He knew his daughter would never lie, especially about something as important as this.
"Harpy eagle? Why would you trust a predator?" He questioned his daughter's sanity but to his surprise, the answer came immediately, with almost no time to think about the answer. Jewel must have prepared for this situation mentally before, he concluded.
"Because the eagle saved our and many other birds life. Well… I freed him, and he kept his word about freeing us in return… When we flew away, he could have attacked us but he didn't." Jewel answered the question as truthfully as possible, her sincerity causing a lot of blue macaws to re-evaluate their opinions about her statement. While it did help validate her claims, it was not enough to fully convince everyone, but Melisa stepped up to help.
"Not to mention the eagle understood exactly how a lock worked. The explanations he gave us were logical, he had no reason to lie to us, especially in that regard. He must have known a lot about humans." This caused both Sebastian and Eduardo to look at each other, before they looked at the rest of the advisors. With no one else speaking up, the leader continued the discussion.
"It settles it then. We will evacuate as soon as possible." Eduardo announced his final decision loudly, making sure everyone who needs to heard it. He examined his fellow macaws expressions and was pleased to find no opposition he could see from their faces. He wasted no time and turned towards his right hand man once again, now with a new order. "Roberto. I want every patrol to scout the perimeter and find us an exit route as far away from the humans as possible. I'm guessing the other tribes are in a similar situation, so get ready for a chaotic border."
"Understood." Roberto acknowledged the orders and was gone a second later, only turbulence was left in his wake. A big chunk of patrol birds followed suit and met up with him. As soon as the group was formed, they were already flying towards the border with lightning speed. Once they were out of sight, Eduardo turned around to face a close friend of Roberto's, who snapped to attention when he realized the elderly macaw will be addressing him.
"Esteban. I want every healthy adult male without a family to take care of on food carrying duty at once. I want the reserve trees to be empty when we depart." Esteban silently nodded and leaped off the cliff with a few others, relaying the order and news to their designated birds. The tribe leader's next order was issued towards his very own sister. Ordering her was a very rare occurrence and caused quite a few surprised faces. "Mimi. I need every female and elderly to go and fetch as many leafs as possible. We need proper insulation for the unhatched eggs and flightless chicks."
"Sure thing, Eddie." She responded quickly and turned away to gather up the necessary man power to finish her given task. The next birds on the roaster were a couple of patrol birds who stayed behind. They were given a more tedious and perhaps dangerous task, but it had to be done nontheless.
"I need all of you to go into the other tribe territories and request a hearing with leadership if possible. We need to know what the other tribe leaders standpoints are before we make a move."
"Yes sir." The reply came in unison and the final group of patrols were gone from the cliff as well. By now the only ones remaining were either the too old, too young or families with chicks to take care of. Eduardo's remaining advisors scattered all around the territory, and for the first time today, the elderly macaw could finally rest for a moment. Until the patrol returns with more information that is.
He glanced towards the distance and could see the rising smoke columns and periodic explosion and screams coming from their primary food source. He heard talons scraping the cliff rock and recognized it as his daughter's. The next few minutes were spent in complete silence before Jewel broke it.
"Was it this bad when… The day mother…" She quietly asked, unable to properly form the question she wanted answered. Her voice was soft but breaking, and her father was powerless. He would give everything in the world to change their past, to see his daughter truly happy, but life is never like that. All he could do was drown the memories away for both of them, but this situation did the complete opposite.
"No… This time, the humans came in loud and far away enough from our home for us to get ready… That night, it was different. The patrols never saw them coming, we were all caught off guard…" Eduardo tried to answer her question, but the response came out just as hard and with stuttering. It was only now he realized that they never really talked about this, even though it took a giant toll on both of them.
"I was naive enough to think we were free from humans. The last time we moved was back when your grandfather was alive and going strong. I should have been more prepared, but I was not. A lot of good birds paid the price with their lives that night. Including your mother…" He continued rambling on, not even caring what he was saying at that point, the words just rolling off his tongue. Jewel looked up at her father and could almost physically see the pain coming from them as he remembered and probably relived that night.
Jewel was shocked after hearing the sentences and through them, his thoughts. She always knew he felt guilty but never would have thought that he blamed himself for that tragedy to that degree. There was not much she could say to make things better, instead she just wrapped a wing around the elderly macaw, giving him the most loving embrace a daughter could offer. He returned the gesture and they just stayed silent for tens of minutes, enjoying the ironic peace and quiet.
Their moment couldn't last forever, as they heard wing flaps behind them and talons scraping the rock as a couple of birds landed. "Sir?" One of them politely asked, praying they didn't just anger the Spix's macaw leader. They let go of each other and Eduardo took a deep breath, trying to exhale everything bad out of his system. He turned around and faced the birds, his silence and facial expression telling them to continue.
"We all got back from the neighboring tribes. Well, actually we only got to the border, because it turned out the other leaders had the same idea as you, sir. They will be setting off to the secondary area in a few minutes. We should get going too if we want to participate." Eduardo listened to the report and thought for a moment what the macaw meant by secondary area, but soon enough he remembered. He silently nodded and pointed his right wing to an area a few meters from their position, and the patrol birds got the message. As they walked away to get ready to depart once again, Eduardo called Sebastian over. The older macaw flew there as fast as his body allowed him.
"Any updates?" The advisor politely asked his friend and superior, since he watched Eduardo interact with the patrol group. The tribe leader confirmed his question and got right down to business.
"Yes. Just as we thought, the other tribes also want a meeting. I will be going there, so until I get back you are in charge. Get Roberto involved once he returns, and make sure to ready the tribe by the time I got back. I have a feeling we will be moving soon after." Sebastian confirmed he heard the order and flew off to take the load off Eduardo. With that out of the way, Eduardo turned towards Jewel, but neither of them had anything to say to each other. They silently said their temporary goodbyes and parted ways. Jewel looked around the cliff to see if she could help somewhere, while her father met up with the patrol birds and took off towards a previously unknown location.
Northern tribe territory
A female blue macaw was deep asleep inside her hollow, completely oblivious of the current events happening around her. She could periodically hear a loud thunder and the occasional chattering outside, but she was too exhausted to get up and check it out. Her exhaustion was well deserved, turns out she just became the proud mother of a new clutch the night before.
Her mate was right next to her, laying next to her sleeping form, a wing covering her like a protective blanket. He too was sleeping, trying to ignore the outside world, savoring the precious moments they enjoyed together. The turning point was when a small, but lively blue bundle stirred due to the outside stimuli in a smaller nest next to the two sleeping adults. It was a chick, about a year old with fully developed feathers. This female chick had enough and woke up, glancing outside with her almost golden eyes but failing to find anything which could explain what she heard.
Another boom echoed from the distance, frightening the chick to her core. It was an instinctive fear like she never experienced before, so the child slowly got out of her nest and walked over to her relatively big father and mother. She softly pecked her mother's head with her beak, hoping to wake her up. She was motionless at first, then she began to wake up but instead of opening her eyes, she nudged her mate.
"Uh… Carlos, Sofia needs something. Take care of it, please." She spoke up still half asleep, causing her mate to wake up as well. The male slowly opened up his emerald green eyes, adjusting them to the bright environment around them. When he could properly focus, he firstly saw the outlines and later on his first born child's form in front of him.
"Sofia. Why are you up so early, darling? Are you hungry?" Carlos greeted his daughter and slowly but steadily rose up from the ground, looking around and finding a bunch of brazil nuts in the hollow. He concluded it was not hunger which was bothering his child.
"Daddy, I'm scared." The chick replied as she walked closer, burying her small head in his father's plumage in an attempt to hide. He was stunned for a moment, but wrapped his wings around the small child in an attempt to comfort her.
"What is it? Bad dream?" He questioned her further, but got his answer when he too heard the thunder outside their hollow. He found it odd, as the sky was crystal clear with zero clouds anywhere. Suddenly his instincts kicked in and a gut feeling tore through him, making him wince.
"That." Sofia replied, confirming the sound was the source of her discomfort. Meanwhile the dread inside Carlos slowly but steadily increased, causing him to go outside and investigate. He turned around and slowly nudged his wife, knowing well she was tired and will probably be grumpy. But right now he had more pressing matters than his wife's potential backlash.
"Livia, honey please wake up. There is a situation." He spoke gently but with confidence, causing her mate to finally give up and open up her dark brown eyes. They focused on him and as expected, they were less than happy. She slowly got up, making sure to not damage the precious bundle under her. She glared at her mate when she finally stretched.
"I hope you have a very good reason." She stated angrily, looking into her mate's eyes. The serious look in them instantly vanished her grumpiness, because that stare was something he reserved for only truly important situations. Once her gaze softened it was replaced with slight concern. "What is it?"
"I have a bad feeling in my gut. Stay here with Sofia, please. I'm flying to check out what's going on." Carlos answered her question, and the female obeyed the command, taking the young chick from her father so he can move freely. The blue macaw walked over to the edge of the hollow and looked outside.
The scenery was nothing interesting, but he could see a lot of birds going about. Most were Spix's macaws, but since they lived close to the border he could see military as well as blue and yellow macaws zipping around with haste. He stretched his wings a bit before leaping off his branch, joining the flock in the air. He made his way up beyond his tree's canopy to see what was on the other side. The sight before him froze the blood in his veins, almost causing him to lose focus and fall down.
The thick cloud of smoke tainted the beautiful blue skies, and he could finally make out the distant ambient noise. It was screams and panicked voices. He was about to dive back down when a group of blue macaws appeared in the distance, calling him over. Carlos could see they came from the smoke's direction, so they must know what happened.
"Attention! Evacuation in progress. Report to your nearest patrol now!" He could hear them yell, which completely shocked him. He had to exert a lot of self control to not fire away his questions right there in the air. He landed on a nearby branch and met up with the group, with Esteban in the lead.
"What is going on here?" Carlos finally asked after waiting for the group to fold their wings. He could see a slight exhaustion on all of them, which means they were doing this for quite a while now.
"Humans were spotted at the border, and they are cutting down the grove as we speak. Eduardo ordered a full evacuation. You have family?" Esteban spoke up, giving him a run down version with the core details in place. The blue macaw understood the situation and replied as fast as his beak allowed him to.
"Yes. A mate, a year old chick and a fresh clutch of three." The messenger processed his answer, categorizing him immediately. He wasted no time in giving out the necessary orders, which the male eagerly awaited.
"I see. Congratulations… Now, prepare your family for transportation. If you have any excess food, leave it in community spots, designated birds will carry them away. Get your family to the tribe center, that is the staging area." Esteban congratulated the father, before turning back to serious and telling the macaw just what he needs to do. The male nodded his head in conformation, and there was no need for further conversation between them. The patrol leaped in the air, continuing their way around the tribe while the father dived below the canopy.
Carlos flew and darted inside the hollow as fast as he could, which managed to startled his wife and child a bit. They were eager to hear what he had to say, but his expression was far from calm. Livia was impatient and didn't wait for her husband to catch his breath before questioning him. "What's going on? What's with all the commotion outside?"
"Livia, get Sofia and our eggs ready. Humans attacked the grove. We are evacuating before the day ends. I'm leaving two brazil nuts here for breakfast, the rest has to go to public pick up points." The male informed his family, trying to coat the concern in his voice, making sure not to frighten their young daughter any more than they need to. His mate just nodded silently, understanding what needs to be done, and done fast.
A barren cliff, north of the Spix's macaw tribe border
There was a very short period in macaw history when the Pit of Doom was under the direct control of a tribe. It was generally decided and accepted that it was a neutral zone where the different tribes would meet up and discuss their problems. Territory disputes, war declarations, alliance forging or discussions concerning all tribes would be held there. The current situation was probably the biggest crisis this land faced since the natural disaster which shook Amazonia centuries before. Unfortunately, the humans have attacked close to the Pit, making it an unsafe location to hold any sort of meeting.
Luckily, there was a backup location. A less known and used but still prevalent terrain feature which was perfect for meetings. This was a barren rock, void of any vegetation for reasons the macaws never knew. Currently, a dozen or so birds were standing on the formation from multiple species. The tension was thick enough that your could cut it with a knife, and the reasons were both internal and external.
The various tribes just learned about the suddenly declared war between the scarlet and blue macaw tribe, and the other leaders were in shock that Eduardo was the one who initiated it. After hearing out the reasons they calmed down somewhat, imagining themselves in his shoes which gave some sense to the decision.
Despite this, Felipe and Eduardo ended the war right there and then, making it possibly the shortest war in their recorded or even unrecorded history. The birds were engaged in a heavy debate with each other regarding the new external threat they had to face together.
"I had it with these humans. We mass several thousand individuals. We could overrun them in a matter of seconds if we wanted to. I say we defend our home." A rather large but young military macaw suggested, looking through the other leaders expressions, but unable to find a consensus.
"Diego is right. I say we swoop in and flush them our of our land." Felipe was the next to speak up, agreeing with the military macaw. It looked like they were the only ones to agree though, because both the blue and yellow macaw leader and Eduardo seemed to disagree, deadlocking the situation.
"Nay. That would surely cost us casualties, and if Eduardo's reports are right, the grove is already gone, the damage is done." The blue and yellow voted against the attack, bringing up a fair point and a good counter argument. By this point they all knew what the Spix's macaw would reply but listened to it anyway. It looked like it was elderly caution versus youthful aggression.
"Manuel is correct, the grove is gone for good. I already ordered a no fly zone, and if you all take my advice, you should too. The whole escalation with Felipe was the direct result of humans. They have poachers with them." The last sentence sent chills down their spines, suddenly the situation just turned a lot worse. Sure, they all knew out of all the tribes the blue macaws were the most sought after, but that didn't mean the rest would be completely safe.
Diego and Felipe looked at each other and silently conversed, arriving to the mutual decision to withdraw their attack plan. But with defense out of the window and their food source decimated, the only logical step left was to flee the area for possibly decades.
"I think we all know what is left to do. We have no choice in the matter. We must accept that, for better or worse, this may very well be the last meeting our tribes take part in for either generations to come, or maybe ever." Eduardo broke the silence once more, conveying his intentions as straight forward as possible. Neither leader took it too kindly but couldn't argue against it. The Spix's tribe was the latest addition to their small little world, so for them to move along was not something too bad. But the others were here for who knows how long, and they all have a history which was just as rich in culture as in war.
All of them understood this, even though neither tribe was on particularly good terms at the moment. But the damned humans, which seemed like a threat so far away it almost appeared as fantasy created by the blue macaws, arrived, and with them their world came crashing down in flames. After this, there was nothing left to discuss, and Manuel decided it was best if they brought the meeting to a close. "Aye. It is the only option. The surrounding territories have very scarce food supplies, which cannot feed more than one tribe at a time. Our only sensible option is to move outwards, and find a new home there."
For a moment, there was total agreement, but a second later Eduardo realized just what the blue and yellow macaw was implying. A sudden outburst overtook him, and the raised coarse voice gave it away to the others.
"Wait a minute! That leaves us to go towards the west. That is the barren lands! Hundreds if not thousands of kilometers of literally no food. It would be the end of us!" The other macaws looked down on the ground, unable to make eye contact with Eduardo, because they all knew he was right. But in this situation, every leader had to keep their own tribe's interest in front, and there was simply no way to help the blue macaws without jeopardizing their own people.
His intense stare was kept on the birds for several seconds, but he soon realized that boat had already sailed. He let out a frustrated sigh, turned around and motioned with his wings to his bodyguards that it was time for them to go. The other macaws could finally look up but the guilt was still there as they watched the blue macaws disappear between the jungle canopy.
"Did we just cause a genocide?" Diego spoke up after what seemed like an eternity, his voice quiet but with a very sad and guilty undertone. The uncomfortable silence returned for several seconds, before all of them finally moved and began to get distance between each other to take off.
"Only time will tell." Manuel responded to the question, and with no further words, all three tribe leaders left the area, ending the last tribal meeting in this area of the Amazon.
Tribe center, cliffs
If we put every air traffic control tower in the world in this one place ,that still wouldn't be enough to control the amount of animals within such a small air space. In fact, for human eyes, the air looked like a chaotic tornado which picked up hundreds if not thousands of birds. For the macaws, this was a perfectly constructed system of highways and paths, allowing a massive quantity of birds to fly by each other without incident.
The cliff started to populate once more, this time with either families or birds with the all so important brazil nuts they needed for survival. Guards and volunteers helped sort out the massive flow of birds, grouping everyone nicely in a way that resources, help or information can travel quickly between them.
The teams organized by Mimi gathered massive quantities of leafs and other insulating materials, creating small but durable and transportable nests for the unhatched eggs or flightless chicks. The younger adult females or capable elderly helped the available fathers in transporting the finished contraptions back to their hollows, where their mates were already ready to move out of their homes which sometimes gone back a generation.
Jewel currently had three brazil nuts dangling from her beak, looking throughout the cliff to find her destination. She decided to help out with distributing the final meal before their departure as they awaited her father to return from the meeting. She snaked through the increasingly dense group of macaws, until she found the location in question. Jewel walked over and placed down the nuts next to three families, who were busy keeping their children calm or even allowing them to sleep.
Her eyes were stuck on a small chick currently fast asleep in his mother's wings. A small smile crept up on the side of her beak, admiring how the small bundle could be so peaceful in a situation like this. The mother in question caught her stare and smiled back, introducing the chick. "His name is Lorenzo. He is just like his father, well behaved and always calm. So beautiful."
"He is beautiful indeed. I cannot even imagine how he can sleep in a situation like this." Jewel agreed, admitting her confusion. This caused the mother to laugh.
"I have no idea, but thank the heavens for it. I'm not sure how much I could calm him down otherwise… Thank you for the food, it means a lot." The female made sure to politely thank Jewel for all the trouble she gone through getting them much needed food. She was more than happy to help, since these birds practically woke up to alarms about needing to move away.
"Absolutely no problem, I'm happy to help. I should get going now, there is probably more food to be spread around." Jewel replied, and after the macaws said their goodbyes, she flew away back towards one of the food piles to begin her next trip when she spotted something odd in her peripheral vision. The air was full of moving birds, so she landed to take a better look.
Soon enough she found the anomaly she managed to somehow spot. It was a small chick, from the looks of it barely old enough to have full feathers, completely alone, looking around with a panicked expression and watery eyes. She made her way towards the chick as fast as possible until she got within earshot.
"Hey. What's wrong little one?" She spoke up behind the chick, speaking softly and bending down a little to not appear as threatening. The child slowly turned around and it broke her heart when she saw the kid was indeed crying.
"I lost my mommy. I can't find her." The chick replied to the adult between sobs, using her wings to wipe away the tears. Jewel was stunned for a moment, not knowing what to do. There were hundreds of macaws around them, how will she find the chick's parents? She decided to investigate the issue and get as much information as possible.
"OK. Let's go and find them together!" She offered, but the chick was hesitant, the face conveying distrust towards the adult. She kept reading the child's body language and could see it was conflicted. She was about to ask what was wrong but the chick beat her to it.
"My daddy said not to speak to strangers." The child innocently replied, still conflicted on what it should actually do. Jewel was a bit relieved mentally hearing the statement. At least the parents taught the child proper safety. She thought to herself, thinking how to approach the issue most effectively.
"I see. Well, let's not be strangers then. My name is Jewel. What is yours?" She asked the chick, making sure to keep her distance to not frighten it more than it already is. She was hesitant once again but managed to overcome the fear and answered the adult.
"Sofia." The little girl replied, a bit more confident now but still not moving from her position.
Jewel smiled at the progress they made. Now she can properly find out where the child's parents are. "That is a beautiful name, Sofia. So, where did you see your parents last time?"
The chick nervously looked around, trying to remember where she saw her parents. After a while Jewel started to be concerned, because the girl stayed silent. She understood that she can't fully blame the child, but if they have no lead the chance of finding her parents are very slim at best. Fortunately the child fixed her gaze on a point and raised her left wing towards the direction.
"There." She simply said, after which she turned back towards the adult, as if asking for guidance. Meanwhile Jewel looked towards the direction and was relieved to see an area where families landed. That narrows their search by a lot. The bad news was that the area was pretty far away from them going on foot, but with so many birds in one place she didn't want to risk flying with a chick between her talons. She concluded their best option was simply walking. Understanding there is not much more she can ask the child, she decided it was time they got moving.
"Alright, that's where we go then. Come on, I'm sure your parents are there, already waiting for you." She extended a wings towards the direction the child pointed to, inviting her to join the adult. As expected, she was hesitant at first, but the internal fear of being alone was too much to fight, and the child's natural tendency to trust anyone won out. She nodded her head silently in agreement, and quickly walked next to Jewel, almost bumping into her as the two macaws began their journey together.
"If you spot your parents make sure to tell me, OK?" Jewel asked Sofia a favor, which she agreed to do, since she actually knew how her parents looked. As the duo made their ways around the cliff, both got to see the full extent of the evacuation. Sofia had no idea or could really comprehend what was going on, while Jewel was both fascinated and terrified by the situation. In one end, she knew she had to re-live that horrible and fateful day as a chick, but on the other she finally saw and understood just how incredibly carrying and cohesive their tribe was. Just like external issues, there were quite a few internal disagreements within, but everyone was able to see past that and place the tribe's survival in front of their personal gains.
The tribe looked more like a penguin colony than a macaw flock, but there was simply not enough space on trees to prepare for an event of this size. A new group of dozens of macaws arrived in the designated landing area, and soon enough their paths were crowded with macaws being led towards their resting place. Due to the crowd, Jewel instinctively brought the chick closer to her side with her right wing, and it was at that moment she realized this was probably how Sofia got lost in the first place. She couldn't blame her or her parents, this situation was chaotic to say the least.
She looked up and saw another group of adult males bringing a ton of a brazil nuts between their talons and beaks, flying overhead to a food pile a few dozens of meters from their position. They hovered above the pile before dropping the food, letting it fall and find its rest naturally. Guards were placed around the area to keep potential thieves at bay, and from the looks of it, it was working really well. The transporters then flew off towards the edges of the cliff, waiting patiently for patrol birds to tell them where to go next.
If someone arrived just now, they would be rightfully confused why the tribe was preparing to move, but the humans in the distance made their presence known every five to ten minutes with explosions, the distant sound of chainsaws and giant old trees falling down, hitting the ground with a deep rumbling thud. Every single boom was coming closer and closer, causing the blue macaws to pick up their pace.
Jewel made sure to ignore them as much as possible, focusing instead on her current objective. The two females managed to squeeze their way through the thick crowd, arriving at a smaller clearing. She finally let go of the chick, who used the opportunity now that her vision was not obstructed by feathers to look around in all directions, desperately searching for any sign of her parents. Even though Jewel knew the chick felt safe next to her, she also understood very well that there isn't a thing in the world which could replace someone's true parents.
The tribe leader's daughter followed suit and looked around the area, scanning the individuals one by one to find anything out of place. Almost every kind of reaction could be seen on the blue macaw faces, but a couple stood out like a sore thumb from the sea of blue. Their face displayed distress and panic, but somehow it felt like it was not because of the human activities. She observed them closer and thought she saw them looking around as if searching while saying something or calling out, but she was too far away to make out what they were saying next to the flock's ambient noise.
Sofia glanced up to see what Jewel was looking at, and after getting the direction, she too turned her little head towards the area the adult was fixated on. Her heart started to beat faster when she realized just who she was seeing. It was non other than her mother, and from the looks of it she was distressed. The child started to jump up and down, poking Jewel's plumage to get her attention. "My mommy! That's my mommy there!"
"Then let's go, hurry now." Jewel encouraged the little girl to move ahead, keeping an eye out to the worried parents, making sure to not lose them from her sight. They moved through a smaller crowd which was between them, but after they cleared it the mother just happened to look in the direction and her eyes widened.
"Sofia! Carlos, I found her!" She yelled out, and that volume was finally loud enough for Jewel to hear. The male turned around so fast it almost looked like he pulled a muscle, but it didn't bother him at all. The two adults excused themselves as they moved through birds, and by now the little chick got enough confidence to leave Jewel's side, running forward until she practically jumped between her worried mother's wings.
"Baby, I'm so glad you're here. Oh my, it was all my fault, I'm such a bad mother…" She said between small sobs, tears of joy flowing down her cheeks. The male walked next to her but glanced forward and realized Jewel was walking towards them and her daughter came from the same direction. He wanted to greet her but she beat him to it, although it was not directed at him.
"You don't seem like a bad mother to me. These crowded areas are torture, could have happened to anyone." She showed a warm smile seeing the mother and her child back together again. The mother looked up and finally noticed the other female, but she was shocked when she recognized who it was.
"Jewel? You found Sofia?" She asked in disbelief and with a bit of a panicked voice, but received a small laugh from the leader's daughter in return. She started to wave around her wings in denial.
"Oh, please. It was no problem at all. I was just giving brazil nuts to a macaw family when I saw your daughter all alone, lost. I'm happy she is back where she belongs." Her sincerity calmed the mother down somewhat, and her mate stepped up to finish her apology nontheless and properly introduce themselves.
"Still, thank you very much for helping her. We were going crazy, our clutch just arrived yesterday and we had to get it here… It was a mess. Anyways, I'm Carlos, my wife here is Livia and you already met our daughter, Sofia." Jewel's eyes widened in surprise by the mention of their eggs, and it made her respect them even more, thinking how much of a stress that might be to go through this whole mess.
"Wow. Congratulations on the clutch. Are they safe?"
"Yes, thank you for asking. They got wrapped not too long ago, now that we know Sofia is OK, we'll probably eat and wait until the signal is sent. Thanks to you, we can rest in peace." Livia spoke up once again, getting over her sudden shock of meeting the leader's daughter. Although there was never a legitimate royal status within the tribe, the family members of the current leader were always treated a bit differently by the rest of the blue macaws. Some liked the special treatment while others didn't.
She continued to converse with the parents for a few more minutes, asking them about how life was once she learned they lived at the tribe's edge. She always wanted to live there since the birds actually got to meet macaws from other tribes regularly. As the daughter of the tribe leader, she was practically always in the center or near it, shielded from outside influence.
During their conversation, the air traffic started to clear up as the entirety of the Spix's macaw flock arrived. The families were located within the center of the giant flock, followed by the birds appointed to food and finally the patrols and guards on the edge, keeping a high alert for intruders. Jewel glanced towards the area where the leadership was, and she could see movement. As much as she was enjoying the company, she realized they probably have things to do just like her. She politely ended the discussion and was preparing to leave when the child spoke up.
"Thank you for helping me." Sofia joined in the conversation at the end, as she felt the need to thank her too. Jewel smiled at the gesture, surprised how well mannered the child was for her age.
"You are welcome Sofia. Now, listen to your parents, alright?" The chick silently nodded, promising to keep up the good behavior. The adults made their goodbyes and Jewel flew off, meeting up with Melisa halfway who just finished the last series of food distributing. The two women just got back to the center area when Jewel saw her father appear between the jungle canopy.
She was happy to see him but when he got closer she could see the absolute rage and sorrow on his face, which caused a very bad feeling to form in her gut. She patiently waited for him to land, and by that time Sebastian, the other advisors, Mimi, Esteban and Roberto walked up next to her, all waiting to hear what he had to say in total silence.
Eduardo landed on the cliff with more force than usual, which was typical for him when he was mad. The question was if he was mad at them or the other leaders, or maybe both. Once he looked around and saw everyone was there who needed to know, he took a deep breath, calming himself down somewhat since they didn't deserve his rage. "The decision was made. Every tribe will flee the area outwards." He informed his tribe leadership, but it didn't take them long to realize just why he was angry. Reactions very similar to his own were voiced in the next few seconds.
"That's the barren lands!"
"We will starve that way!"
"There is no home for us there, only death!"
He let them vent their anger and frustration, before he held up a wing, instantly silencing everyone before word gets out and they cause a flock wide panic, something that would be catastrophic right now.
"I know the dangers, but we do not have a choice in the matter. This scenario was well known ever since we led the flock here. There was a reason the other tribes were willing to allow us to move in. My father was confident if it ever came to this, we would prevail this journey, just as we did before." The semi impromptu speech calmed down most individuals, allowing them to think logically again. Eduardo wasted no time and continued with work.
"Esteban. Is the flock ready to fly?" He asked the young adult, who looked at Mimi to get her side of the story. Eduardo's sister just nodded, telling him the young were secured. He quickly came forward before giving his reply.
"Yes sir. Everyone we know of is here. We are almost ready to fly off by your signal." The tribe leader nodded in approval, and turned towards his right hand man, who already knew what the question was, and after getting an opening, he spoke up.
"We scouted out every border, including the western line. No humans or macaws in the area. The line is free to cross." Eduardo summarized their current status and concluded they are as ready as they can be.
"Perfect. Everyone, get the last pieces of food ready and make sure nobody is lost. We leave within the hour." The group turned around and flew in every direction to prepare the flock for departure.
Ten minutes later
As they were getting the final preparations done, suddenly every bird looked towards the direction where a new scream appeared. It was none other than a patrol macaw, who kept repeating the same words over and over as he and his partner raced back towards the flock.
"HUMANS! THEY ARE HERE!" Just as he managed to get the attention of his flock, a net flew towards him from below, trapping the unsuspecting macaw. This was followed by even more nets coming from all sort of angles from the grove's direction. The blue macaws were stunned for a moment before Eduardo snapped out of it and realized just what was happening.
"EVACUATE! EVERYONE, GO, GO GO!" He yelled from the top of his lungs, and their leader's harsh and deep voice brought them back to reality. A giant blanket of blue suddenly and slowly risen from the cliff's surface like a carpet being removed from the floor. The birds assigned to food picked up as many nuts as possible, while the families in the center hurriedly grabbed their offspring and took towards the sky.
The truly massive flock caused a lot of air currents, shaking the tree canopies around them, disrupting the human poachers as they were not ready for such a mass. This greatly slowed down their work, allowing most birds to escape the area. In less than a minute, every Spix's macaw was in the air, and the giant cloud of birds slowly rose above the jungle canopy, moving away from the area which they called their home for years.
In the end, the poachers only got their hands on about a fifteen unfortunate blue macaws, who were too close to the edge when the surprise attack happened. They could only watch as their brothers and sisters flew away. They sat down on the ground, still trapped in the human made nets, waiting for the two legged mammalians to pick up and imprison them.
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Wow. First off, I have no idea what has gotten into me. This chapter was supposed to be a lot shorter, but I didn't know how to properly separate it, so it turned out to be my longest chapter written as of yet! Now that our well known tribe is on the way, I think it is time to see what the other one is doing.
OrangeMacawWorld:
Thank you for the detailed review once more!
The paragraph issue is now fixed and honestly, I have no idea why I did that. I don't even remember the reason for it. Went back and changed it, it should not happen again (intentionally).
I have been thinking about uploading a picture, because ironically I'm the type of person who can spend hours customizing everything he has, let that be a phone, an OS, a game character or whatever. I just didn't find or make anything which could represent me accurately, and I'd like to keep my private life separate so I can't use my default goto profile picture. But I will definitely look into it by the next chapter, because I see your point.
monsterjamvadim:
All will be revealed in due time.