Daniella hung close to Leo's side, skin prickling with slight unease, yet as she and her brother followed their cousins, she couldn't help but feel a touch of excitement. She was proud of herself for plucking up the courage to leave the safety of adult supervision, although her silent voice kept speaking the truth. I didn't want to look like a scaredy-marguay in front of them. Leo's right, I need to be a bit braver...
Bravery. Fat chance! Daniella's sarcastic side reminded her. She was worried about everything - every rustle in the bushes, every noise in the night, awakened a prick of fear. Why had she let Jessie drag her along on this little trip? She was so easily pressured, afraid of how she'd be judged, ruining other birds' fun. I don't want to seem like a stick in the mud, which is just brilliant.
"Daniella? Are you okay?" Leo whispered. Daniella's feathers flattened slightly; her brother was perhaps her closest friend. He didn't often understand her, but she could be herself around him, talk to Leo about anything without him getting too worried, like her parents would. She loved them, but she hated talking about her problems because they'd try to do something about them. "I'm sorry I dragged you along..."
"It's okay." Daniella shook her feathers. "You know, a little rebellion, it's good..." She wished that was her honest opinion. Leo had a knack for seeing through a lie - he was visibly unconvinced.
"If you want, we can head back -" Leo began, in a mild voice to help prove to his sister that he honestly wouldn't mind.
"No, I'm fine." Daniella insisted. "Don't worry about me, Leo." Leo hesitated, before sighing, knowing he couldn't persuade her.
"Hey! We're nearly there, I can see our friends!" Angelo's voice distracted the two siblings, pulling away Leo's concern. A sea of voices sounded up ahead.
"There they are!" Daniella looked up, hearing and then spotting a group of chicks up ahead, slightly older than herself. They were all a mixed group - a male Lear's macaw, two female Red-Bellieds, a large male Military macaw, and a female Hyacinth. Leo glanced at Daniella, the skin over his eyes raised slightly at the sight of the Lear's and Hyacinth. The Lear's macaw may have not been a Hyacinth - he was smaller, had a greenish hue to his plumage, but he still looked very similar to the female Hyacinth.
A shiver ran down Daniella's spine. She'd heard frightening stories about Hyacinths. "This Military macaw is Hernandez, the Lear's is Rarito, these two Red-Bellieds are Camille and Valentina..." Feliz was speaking, but Daniella was barely listening, thinking of Hyacinth stories.
"Daniella, this is Ivanna." Jessie's voice brought Daniella out of her thoughts about the war. She realized that the female Hyacinth had extended a large wing, but Daniella forgot to shake it, spending too much time staring at how large the wing was; twice as big as her own. She jumped at the sound of Jessie's voice, and, once again forgetting to shake the wing, gave Ivanna a smile that didn't have full heart, because she had been distracted. The skin over one of Ivanna's eyes raised, and she slowly looked at the two Red-Bellied females, Camille and Valentina, who exchanged narrowed eye glances.
"Hello, Daniella." Said Ivanna, in a cool voice. Daniella frowned, detecting the difference in tone. This frown didn't seem to convince the Hyacinth and two Red-Bellieds that they'd misread Daniella's actions.
"Hi." Daniella replied, boosting her voice's warmth, in an attempt to seem more friendly.
"Right, where's this cave?" Leo said, brightly, seeing the awkward failure of the attempted wing-shake.
"It's right here, actually!" Hernandez the Military macaw said, happily, sweeping the adjacent palm leaf aside. It was there that Daniella and Leo saw that the cave was literally right there - a foot away, several feet high. The vegetation had grown so thickly, right up to the cave entrance, so that someone could walk into it without even realizing it was there until it was too late.
"Wow, didn't see that coming!" Angelo grinned in a friendly manner, his ice-blue eyes bright and happy, as he lead the way into the cave. Daniella paused before going in, but then a wing slapped her on the shoulder - a little hard.
"Go on, then." Said one of the Red-Bellied macaws, the one called Camille. She smiled widely, in a sweet voice. "Scared of the dark?"
"No, of course not..." Daniella rubbed her shoulder with her wing, before going into the cave; she briefly thought she heard the sound of Tiago's voice in the distance, but with Camille urging her forwards, Daniella was forced to keep walking.
Her cousins and brother chatted along with Hernandez and Rarito, while the other three females stuck in a separate group - Daniella thought they kept looking back at her, but she ignored it, too fascinated by the cave. This surprised her, for Daniella thought she'd be terrified. Sure, she kept expecting to see something lurking in the dark, but as Daniella followed the group, she felt her nerves melt somewhat. The cave was very beautiful - the walls and floor had an almost glittery quality, and the rock was smooth with an almost blue tint.
"Wow..." Daniella looked around, in awe. Suddenly she felt less anxious. Her steps had more of a bounce as she ran to catch up with the others, and then she realized she could conjure a conversation - all kinds of questions emerged in her mind, but before she could ask, Jessie spoke.
"Hey, let's split up into two groups. We can explore more that way!" Her teal eyes glowed.
"That's a great idea!" Daniella surprised herself by this sentence. Maybe this is what I need - to get out more, be with more friends... the outside isn't so bad.
"I agree!" Rarito, the Lear's macaw, went to say her name, so she could be in his group. But then, Valentina interrupted from where she, Camille and Ivanna were whispering.
"I'll choose one group! Me, Camille, Ivanna, and Daniella will be a group." She announced, loudly.
"Uh, are you sure?" Jessie frowned, knowing that Daniella liked being with a member of her family. "Maybe I should -"
"That's fine!" Hernandez beamed. "Come on, Rarito, Leo, Angelo, Feliz, Jess! We'll go up along the stalactites!" He went away with Rarito, although Daniella's four relatives hesitated, especially Leo, who knew how his sister got shy.
"I'll be okay, go!" Daniella smiled, feeling much more relaxed, before running after Ivanna, Camille and Valentina, who had begun walking away rather quickly, disappearing over the rock ledge. Not looking back, she jumped down over the ledge, while the other group began flying toward the stalactites - Leo kept looking back, feeling uneasy. There was something about those three female chicks that he didn't like...
Meanwhile, Daniella landed on the foot of the rock ledge. Peering over another ledge, she noticed how a stream ran through the rock floor. Her skin prickled, as she saw the dark, glistening stream, sliding along like a thick black snake. She then realized that Camille, Valentina and Ivanna weren't in sight. Where are they? You don't just vanish into thin air...
Suddenly, a great weight collided with her side. With a squeal of surprise, Daniella was sent crashing into the wall. Mumbling, rubbing her neck, Daniella looked up with confused lavender eyes. Ivanna, the Hyacinth chick, was towering over her, flanked by Camille and Valentina. All their eyes were narrowed and cold, with hostility. She stared up at them, confused even further. "What was that for?" Daniella asked, utterly shocked.
"We know who you are." Camille said, in a cold voice, all sweetness gone. "Daniella and Leo, the kids of Bia and Azure?"
"What's my parentage got to do with you?" Daniella asked, feathers on end.
"Funny, how Kerja once held a knife to your dad's neck, how she dragged your mom into a plunge pool, how she almost killed your grandmother Jewel..." Ivanna's feathers bristled. "Is that why you were acting so funny? Didn't want to shake my wing, seemed scared of me, when my family were never a part of that monstrous tribe to begin with?" The Hyacinth's eyes flashed, and she raised a foot. She wrapped her toes over each other, making her talons look twisted; just like Kerja's deformed foot. "Afraid of me? Think I'll whip out a human weapon, try to take over your home or try to hurt your great-grandfather?"
"If there's someone we hate most, it's a prejudiced bird!" Valentina's eyes were angry and unfriendly. "Ivanna's never done anything to offend you, why would you judge her for her species?" Horror tore through Daniella. Oh, no! They've got it all wrong! I'm not prejudiced!
"I'm so sorry, I'm not! You've got it so, so wrong, I didn't shake your wing because I was -" Valentina cut her off, before Daniella could finish clearing up her mistake.
"Lying won't get you out. Nice try!" Suddenly, the three leapt upon her. Daniella cried out in terror, trying to fight back, but she was easily overpowered. She then realized that Camille had a vine in her talons.
"Keep her still!" She snapped, and Ivanna and Valentina held fast onto Daniella.
"What are you doing? Let me go!" Daniella struggled violently, trying to remember how her parents had taught her self defence. She felt the vine tighten around one of her legs, and suddenly, Ivanna and Valentina leapt away. Daniella staggered toward the rock ledge, but then, she was brutally shoved. Daniella lost her footing, and then there was no rock beneath her feet. Too shocked to fly, Daniella screamed before she plunged into the stream.
The water was shockingly cold. It froze everything - her blood, her mind, and limbs. She hung momentarily in the water, too shocked to try and move. Then she saw everything around her. Swirling black water, even darker, wriggling shapes showing the dark fish that swam by. Not everything was black - something white, below. Daniella's blood turned to ice water when she picked out the skull, saw the bones. She didn't know what animal it was, but the jaw of its skull hung open, as if mocking her, laughing hysterically with its terrifying grin.
Daniella then bursted into movement. She screamed, floundering in the stream, screaming like a bird possessed. The water clung to her, cold and turning everything to ice; she felt the claws in her lungs, as they screamed for air. The fish slid around her, bumping against her with their slimy, vile skin. All Daniella saw was the dark shapes, the animal skeleton a few inches from her face; the icy water was all she felt. Water! Water! The three girls were laughing above, pulling Daniella up briefly so that she could draw in a breath, before plunging her back into the stream. Their young minds wouldn't tell them how cruel and dangerous a joke this was. All the while, Daniella shrieked a blood-curdling screech, the terror heard by her cousins and brother in the rest of the cave. Camille, Ivanna and Valentina laughed all the while.
"Just to scare her a bit! This prank is hilarious!"
"That'll serve her right for judging!"
"That sounded like Daniella! What's going on down there?" Jessie, Angelo, Feliz and Leo appeared on the above rock, hearing the scream; now, they saw three chicks laughing, while the waterlogged shrieks of Daniella were heard at the end of the vine, in the water. They briefly froze in shock, before Leo acted, his brotherly instinct naturally telling him to defend his little sister.
With a wordless screech of rage, Leo leapt at Camille, who held the vine. In a blind fit of fury, he clawed fiercely at the Red-Bellied macaw, who shrieked when he left a scratch. A tiny bit of blood seeped upwards. "Get off!" She cried, but in his anger, Leo didn't stop his attack, continuing to claw at her. Rarito and Hernandez rushed to split them, while Angelo tore away, shrieking.
"Mom! Dad! Sophia!" He screeched, in an ear-splitting voice, going to get help.
"Daniella!" Jessie and Feliz shoved Valentina and Ivanna aside, but the vine was gone. When Leo had attacked Camille, she had let go of the vine - and Daniella. "Where is she?" Wailed Jessie. "What did you do?" She shot a look of absolute horror at the three females.
"She... she didn't shake my wing, and she... she jumped at the sight of me..." Ivanna whispered, in a small voice. "I thought she judged me for my species..."
"She's shy, you numbskull!" Feliz shouted. "She always jumps, and who cares if she shook your wing or not? That doesn't mean she hates you for your species! How thick could you get?" Ivanna opened her beak to protest, but then she and Valentina looked at one another as it dawned upon them.
"Daniella!" Jessie cried, again, staring into the darkness. The water rushed by; would she have sunk, or been carried away? What if she'd drowned?
"Look! There she is!" Valentina exclaimed, hoping for a chance of redemption and forgiveness, but based by the look everyone gave her, this would be impossible. A sodden creature was caught on a rock below, shaking like a leaf. Her lavender eyes were flooded with an unspeakable terror as she clung to the wall, not able to bear a single drop of water touching her. Her skin crawled intensively with every bead of water running through her feathers, only able to think of the sinister black shapes, the mocking skull, the feel of the vile water more like venom.
Meanwhile, outside, Angelo exploded out of some leaves. Up ahead, Orchid, Tiago, and Sophia were frantically calling the missing chicks' names, as was Azalea. All four adults whirled around, feathers on end at the sound of the crying chick. "Angelo!" Orchid cried out, in relief. "My boy... Oh, where were you? Where's Jess? Feliz, Leo -"
"It's Daniella!" Wailed Angelo. "She got pushed into a river!"
"Pushed?" Gasped Azalea, in horror. Shock tore through Orchid, Tiago and Sophia, and then fear.
"Where is she?" Sophia demanded, feathers bushed.
"That way!" Angelo pointed, and Sophia, Azalea, Tiago and Orchid shot in the direction.
"Angelo, stay here and look after Elias!" Tiago instructed, before disappearing. Angelo wanted to see if his cousin would be alright, but then he saw how young little Elias was, his red, yellow and blue feathers still very downy. Obeying, Angelo began to distract Azalea's little grandson, pulling down some berries and beginning to show him the different colours, although he kept looking back in fear.
The four adults were now close enough to hear the crying of chicks up ahead. Sophia flew fastest, a metre in front of Orchid and Tiago - she didn't see how a cave entrance was hidden up ahead. Azalea, however, did, seeing the rock behind the thick vegetation. "Sophia, no!" She cried. Too late. Sophia plunged through the palm leaf, straight into the cave.
Sophia halted as soon as she realized where she was. Briefly, she was frozen, staring around the place - but then memories crashed down upon her. She had visions of burning amber eyes, of her brother, Jespa, trying to kill her. But this wasn't the main thing. Pain rushed over her, the feeling of immense talons around her throat, brutal, crushing, cutting off her air. She felt herself being thrown against rocks, human weapons held to her neck, being clawed and kicked, bitten, her feathers being torn out. Kerja's voice sounded in her head, alongside her own.
"I'll never talk! Never! Never... nev..."
"What is Eduardo's weakness? Why did those kids leave? Who is Johanna taking care of?"
"Please, leave me alone! I'm begging you -"
Sophia released a piercing shriek. She turned tail and shot out of the cave, shrieking and crying at the same time. She crashed into Orchid, dislodging her bandana in the process. Sophia clung to a tree, trembling. "Mom! What's going on?" Orchid forgot to cover her lost eye, too absorbed in her mother's frenzy.
"I'm not going in there!" Screeched Sophia, shrunk against a tree trunk. Her midnight blue eyes blazed with terror. "You hear me? Never!" Orchid spun round, and, pushing a palm leaf aside, saw the gaping mouth of a cave open up. Her heart plunged into a pool of ice, remembering the feeling of talons on her face, her eye. She shook briefly, before turning back to Sophia, who was now slumped against the tree trunk, wings wrapped around herself tightly. Sophia rocked ever so slightly, trying to stop the flow of memories.
"Mom, calm down, there's no Hy -" Orchid stopped herself saying 'Hyacinth', wondering what it would do to Sophia. "There's no one in there. Ssh, I'm here, you're safe..." she held her mother, and Sophia shook in her wings, eyes screwed shut. Azalea crouched by Sophia also, hazel eyes horrified, knowing exactly what had happened to Sophia in the Hyacinth cave. This wasn't the one, but still, any cave had the same effect.
"I'll take care of her. Go help your niece!" Azalea took Orchid's place, trying to calm Sophia. Orchid paused briefly, before rushing into the cave, where Tiago had already gone in. They heard the sound of their kids up ahead, and rushed to the sound of rushing water.
"Mommy! Daddy!" Jessie tore toward them, in terror. "Daniella won't move!"
"What?!" Tiago exclaimed, going white under his feathers, misunderstanding.
"She's refusing to come back up!" Feliz shouted, behind Jessie. "She just keeps saying 'water'!" Tiago and Orchid exchanged relieved looks, realizing that Daniella was alive. Over the rock ledge, Ivanna, Camille and Valentina scrabbled up, looking incredibly guilty, and Jessie and Feliz shot them poisonous looks, proving to the two parents that these were the chicks responsible. Orchid and Tiago naturally froze at the sight of the Hyacinth chick, but the three froze in return, at the sight of Orchid's shrunken and empty eye socket, the three thin scars. Camille screamed in horror, and Tiago's brown eyes flashed with disgust at her insensitivity. Orchid's skin prickled, and she hastily readjusted her dislodged bandana so that it covered the damage. She took a moment to collect herself, to forget her bruised heart. Finally, she recovered.
"Tiago, find Daniella. My mother isn't seeing this!" Orchid was of course referring to Ivanna, for the presence of the Hyacinth chick would likely terrify Sophia even more. She shoved the three chicks along, wings spread so that Sophia wouldn't see Ivanna when they emerged from the cave. Orchid glared at them all the while with her single ice-blue eye.
Tiago, with Jessie and Feliz following in tow, saw Leo leaning over the ledge, trying to encourage Daniella to come up, but she was terrified of the water between them. Her eyes were locked upon the swirling blackness. Green and red feathers were caught in Leo's talons, from where he had attacked Camille, and a miniscule drop of blood lay on the stone. An ashamed Hernandez and Rarito hung to the side, feeling guilty.
Tiago didn't waste any time. He swooped down, plucking up Daniella from the rock, bringing her up to the safety of the rock ledge. There, Daniella hugged Tiago, weeping and shaking uncontrollably in her uncle's wings, utterly traumatized. Her black head feathers stuck to her, and her eyes were tightly closed, like Sophia's - except, it wasn't the cave that scared her. Thoughts of the stream of sinistery and death plagued her mind, of the black water that had surrounded her. Tiago held his niece tightly, shocked by how terrified she was, how cold she was, how sodden her feathers were. He murmured words of comfort, before slowly looking up at Leo, Feliz and Jessie. He opened his beak, but no sound came out at first. Finally, he formed words.
"What happened?"