Their flight took hours and they had to take breaks every hour or so for them to rest. Despite his condition, Nico tried to help Pedro by flapping his wings when he could stand it and keeping them tucked in when he couldn't.
They hadn't found Nico's family as they were hoping. Though, something vile had settled in the pit of Nico's stomach at the thought of his family. He hadn't thought about it before really, why would he? This was his family that he was talking about! But they had ABANDONED him. In a FIRE of all things! He could understand to a certain extent. Instincts and all, but they could have woken him up or something.
Shaking himself from his downhill thoughts, he tugged on one of Pedro's legs and pointed to a nearby building.
"You want to land already?" Pedro panted, gliding towards the building. They had been flying around all day and it was only just starting to cool off.
Pedro gently helped Nico onto the ground before landing next to the canary. They had almost looked through all of Rio and the cardinal couldn't help but sag a little where he sat. Performing was one thing, flying around looking for three little canaries was a whole other ball game.
Nico smiled at his best friend and couldn't help but admire the cardinal. He was willing to help him look for three canaries that he had only briefly seen a couple of times. Nico settled down on the roof, rolling his shoulders in small circles to relieve the tension on some of his wounds. His throat still hurt, but they had stopped for plenty of water breaks and it didn't hurt as bad anymore. He still didn't want to chance his voice though.
Pedro rolled onto his back and made an "oof" sound. Nico laid next to him and rested his head on Pedro's stomach, grinning.
"You better not make a habit out of this, I have an image to keep you know."
Nico snorted at him and proceeded to make himself more comfortable.
"Injured or not I'm not your pillow Nico."
Nico sat up and raised an eyebrow at him, smirking before laying back down.
Pedro laughed and patted Nico's shoulder. "You know me too well. I swear that you've been my friend our whole lives."
Nico looked at the singed feathers on the end of his wings and sighed at the missing ones. It would be a couple weeks before they were all back and mature. He hated blood feathers. They were sore and he couldn't do much until they matured or they would break and he would have to repeat the process. At least he would be able to do the show. If he was right, his family's humans had to postpone leaving because of the fire.
"Hey, why don't you stay at my place tonight? I have an extra nest in my hollow. It's just there because that side of the hollow as pretty empty and I had spare time. We can fix it up and everything!"
Nico grinned and nodded, swallowing his chuckle. Pedro looked so excited it was rubbing off on him already.
Pedro sat up quickly, startling Nico and making the canary fall. Pedro gasped like he had just killed his grandmother and helped Nico up, brushing him off and apologizing so fast Nico's head was spinning.
Nico slapped a wing over Pedro's beak and huffed out a laugh. The cardinal's shoulders slumped and he sighed. Nico pulled his wing back and tapped the cardinal's shoulder in what would have been a punch if he could have.
Pedro wrapped a wing around Nico's shoulders and pressed their heads together, knocking Nico's bottle cap askew.
"I've gotta stop doing that man."
Nico shook his head and pointed towards the jungle, nudging Pedro forward.
"You want to go back now? We haven't found your family yet though."
The canary shrugged, the vile feeling rolling in his stomach.
"Well, alright. We have to go see Rafael tomorrow though. I promised that I'd hang out with him and his family one of these days. I think I promised him a week ago..." Pedro shrugged. "It'll be a good chance for you to meet everyone. Their kids are a little rowdy but it could be worse. Just imagine if they had like... 20 or something! That would be insane!" Pedro flew up and reached a foot down to Nico, who jumped up, fluttering a bit and catching Pedro's foot. He dropped and linked his other foot in Pedro's, letting his friend carry him to the hollow.
When they got to the hollow, both birds collapsed onto the floor, groaning. Both of them were exhausted, Pedro even more so. Panting for a while, they looked to each other and immediately started cracking up.
"No one has EVER gotten me to do that much in one day!" Pedro gasped out, rolling onto his side. Nico mimicked him, rolling so they faced each other. Their chuckles slowly subsided and Pedro got up, reaching over and helping his companion up. The two walked over to the guest nest and Nico got into it, shifting a bit to get comfortable.
"Do you need anything, I could get it for you."
Nico chuckled and shook his head, shooing Pedro away. The cardinal smiled and walked over to his own nest, settling down and ruffling his feathers to cool off.
"Goodnight Nico." Pedro smiled and closed his eyes.
Nico swallowed a few times and cleared his throat quietly. "Night Pedro."
Pedro's head shot over to Nico and he was about to protest but Nico had already closed his eyes and was breathing deeply. Pedro snorted and fell asleep himself.
The moment Pedro's breathing evened out Nico cracked an eye open and smirked, closing his eyes again and falling asleep.
Rafael grabbed his first born, Murilo. He put the trouble making toucan by his younger brother, Breno, and glanced over at Eva and their family friend, another female toucan that was going to keep the egg warm for the day.
Grabbing Murilo, Rafael waited for Eva to take Breno and they took off towards the beach. It wasn't every day that they could get out of their hollow. The flight consisted of a lot of "Are we there yet"s, a few sighs from the mother toucan, and a very peeved off father. When they dropped the kids on the sand, the chicks almost immediately made a break for the water.
Eva settled down in the shade of a palm tree and watched the kids carefully. Rafael looked around for Nico and Pedro for a moment before joining his kids in splashing each other in the waves.
They had landed in a small cove a little ways from the beaches. Pedro had discovered it in one of his "adventures" as he called them. Though, with all the trouble he got into it might as well have been an adventure. There was a rock wall surrounding the small stretch of sand in a crescent. The waves that made it through to the cove were gentle up and downs that could lull you to sleep if anything.
"Hey Raffy!"
Rafael shielded his face with his wings and looked over to the two birds, laughing at their positioning. Nico was hanging from Pedro's feet, his wing over his face in mortification. Pedro helped Nico to the ground before flying back up into the air.
"Wait wait wait! Pedro NO!"
Pedro's cannonball pushed all three toucans towards the shore and soaked them. Murilo and Breno laughed and shouted for an encore while Rafael frowned. Nico, however, was holding his stomach, tears running down his face, and laughing so hard he couldn't stand. Rafael smirked at the canary, cupping his wing and flinging water at him.
Nico cracked his eyes open, gasping for a moment before his eyes widened and he held up his wings as a shield. The water crashed into him and he sat up furiously, glaring at the toucan.
"You're gonna get it!" He cleared his throat and ran into the water, splashing the shocked toucan.
"You can talk again?"
Nico snorted and flung water into Rafael's face. "The competition is tomorrow night Rafael. Besides, I was low enough that it wasn't too severe. Most of the damage was done when I was in the cage." Nico paused and looked at the four beady eyes staring into his soul. "Um... Rafael?" He swam back a bit, his eyes widening in horror when the little toucans followed him.
"Awww, they like you Nico!" Pedro cooed, barely holding back a laugh.
"They're almost bigger than I am!" He cleared his throat again and the two toucans dove on him at his momentary lapse of concentration. "Gah!"
He was pushed under the shallow waters and one of the toucans wrapped him in a hug, pulling him back up and keeping him from his brother.
Rafael sneaked back onto shore and settled down next to Eva, frowning at the feeling of sand sticking to his feathers.
Nico sighed and slumped in the little toucan's grasp. "This is oddly humiliating..."
Pedro waded over to the three birds and tried to take Nico from their grasp. This, of course, ended with Pedro recoiling in pain as one of them bit him.
Rafael chuckled, watching all four go under the water. Nico had a firm grip on his bottle cap, Murilo had a hold of Nico, Breno was trying to get Nico, and Pedro had a hold of all of them. Pressing his cheek against Eva's he grinned at her giggle and started quietly singing to her. He wrapped a wing around her and she pressed her head against his neck, smiling.
"It's a nice day isn't it Rafael?" She asked. Rafael murmured his agreement and smiled at a desperate looking Nico. The little canary was soaked head to toe and he was trying to get away from the little monsters. His efforts didn't do much since each toucan had one of his legs. Nico shrieked as they tossed him back into the water and went after him.
It took about an hour for Pedro to get the little toucans to calm down enough so that he could drag Nico back to shore. The canary put his wing to his forehead and dramatically explained how life scarring it was. Murilo and Breno giggled and sat down in front of the two birds in the sand, waiting to be entertained.
Nico got up. "I do believe we have an audience Pedro." He shook himself out and adjusted his bottle cap, stretching. He took a dramatic pose. "O woe! O woeful, woeful, woeful day! Most lamentable day. Most woeful day That ever, ever I did yet behold! O day, O day, O day! O hateful day! Never was seen so black a day as this. O woeful day! O woeful day!"
Pedro and the two toucans stared blankly at him. Nico gaped at them. "You don't know Shakespeare! He's famous!"
"Nah man, I've never heard of the guy."
Nico sighed, rubbing a wing over his face. "I'll tell you about him later. How about we find ourselves a good spot to dry off? I've got sand under my feathers."
Murilo giggled and skipped off, Breno not far behind him. Nico hopped over to the cliff side and leaned against the cool rock, sliding down until he was comfortably seated. Pedro joined him and the two leaned against each other.
"One thing that I miss about the states: it wasn't this hot."
Pedro laughed, smirking at the canary. "It isn't even the hottest day of the year yet bro. How are you gonna survive if you can't handle this much?"
"Adaptability and perseverance?"
Pedro choked on a laugh and kicked his feet. "Good luck with that one!"
Nico laughed with his brother, pausing after a moment. When had they started talking like he was staying permanently? Was the decision that easily made? Smiling, he resumed laughing. It wasn't that hard when Pedro kept snorting.
Rafael looked on at the two with a soft smile on his beak. They weren't going to be separated easily. Glancing over at his kids, the toucans, he huffed out a laugh when their sand castle crumbled on one side.
It was nice getting out. Eva stirred and yawned, leaning to whisper in Rafael's ear. "I forgot to mention this but... there's three more on the way." She settled back down, ignoring the look of shocked horror on Rafael's face. A couple seconds later, his facial expression faded and he slumped, unconscious.
Nico and Pedro had found themselves dragged into helping make the "best sand castle ever". The concept was easy enough, but actually getting it to stay standing and sturdy was in impossibility. The only one having any sort of luck was Pedro. His corner of the sand castle was stunning. He had made a tower, complete with a flag on top, and made windows on it. He had made his halves of the wall and was digging out a moat.
"How do you do it Pedro?"
The mentioned cardinal looked up and grinned at the yellow bird. "Practice. And a few mishaps with the tide here and there." He grabbed a stick and started drawing some designs into the side. After a moment of seemingly pointless scribbling, rocks started to show up on the walls Pedro built.
Nico laughed and looked to his own corner of the castle. So far, he had built a stunningly beautiful lump of sand. Yeah, sculpting apparently wasn't his thing.
Finishing off the last of his detail work, Pedro grinned and stood up to marvel at his work. Only to frown at the unidentifiable lumps around it. "Not working for you guys?"
All three sent him a devious look before they slowly got up and dove straight into the tower he had built.
Pedro squawked in shock and dove to try to stop them but ended up only helping in the destruction. Well, at least the castle matched now. The four birds slowly got up and shook out some sand. Nico sat down on the sand with a plop and leaned back against a mound of sand behind him. The two little toucans ran off a little ways and started digging for something. Pedro took a page from Nico and joined his friend by the mound.
"Where did you learn to build a sand castle?" Nico asked, sitting up.
Pedro chuckled. "Practice."
"That's not what I meant and you know it Pedro!" Nico's voice broke and scratched when he raised it and Pedro looked at him in worry. Nico cleared his throat again and gestured for Pedro to speak.
"They have sand castle contests every month. I've watched a couple."
"So when was the last time you missed one?"
"Well, you see..."
"You've seen all of them haven't you?"
Pedro sighed. "Yeah..."
Nico laughed, leaning back again.
"Will you be able to sing tomorrow night? You're sounding a little hoarse again."
Nico opened his beak to answer but was cut off by two little toucans almost literally dragging him off.
Murilo and Breno stopped in front of a large hole, pointing at it and Pedro excitedly.
"You want me to help you bury Pedro in the sand?"
The two giggled manically and nodded, jumping a bit. Nico snorted.
"You want me, an injured bird, to trick my best friend and savior, into getting into a hole to bury him?" He raised a brow.
The two toucans looked down, their expressions falling as well.
"I'm in."
The two brightened immediately and ran off behind a strategically placed sand dune. Nico hopped over to Pedro and motioned for him to get up. "I have something you gotta see!"
The cardinal grumbled and slowly got to his feet. "This better be good Nico."
Nico nodded and pulled him towards the hole, pointing towards the ocean to keep him distracted.
"I don't see anyth-!" He yelped as he fell into the hole, almost immediately being attacked with sand. When Pedro finally deemed it safe to open his eyes, his gaze immediately sought out the yellow canary that had tricked him. "That was a dirty trick Nico."
"You wouldn't beat up an injured bird would you?" His eyes got impossibly big and he blinked at him, his bottle cap falling back a bit. His wings were clasped in front of his chest and his lower beak trembled.
"You look too pitiful for words..."
Nico straightened up, only to bow at Pedro. "I aim to please."
Both of them stared at each other before Pedro broke the silence with a snort. They started laughing hysterically, Nico falling back and kicking his legs in the air.
When the two finally calmed down enough to start gasping, Nico gave a muffled yelp and disappeared from Pedro's peripheral vision. Breno suddenly started digging furiously next to Pedro, the hole was smaller than Pedro's and made in a rush. A struggling yellow canary was suddenly forced into the hole and sand was packed around him.
"I helped you!" Nico shrieked, trying and failing to escape.
The little toucans looked at each other and giggled, packing the sand down and running off. Nico sighed and rested his chin on the sand.
Pedro waggled his eyebrows. "Karma."
"Oh shut up Pedro."
The cardinal smirked. "So where have you been anyway?"
The canary raised his eyebrows at the cardinal.
"Places Nico! Geez, where have you traveled to?"
"Hm, all around the world honestly. I don't remember much of the states, but I remember New York. We went to Japan and traveled around there for a while. We went to Russia, Germany, Panama, London, York, Tuscany, Paris, Egypt, Zimbabwe, Rome, Greece, Israel, and a lot of others. I can't remember all of them. One of my owners was a business person. He had to travel a lot so he brought everyone with him."
"Wow... I've never even heard of most of those places."
Nico smiled. "They all have their good points. But none of them are better than Rio de Janiero." He shifted and frowned. "Good thing all my cuts are scabbed over, this would be torture if they weren't."
Pedro shifted and started pulling himself out of the sand, making Nico gape at him again.
"How?"
Pedro grinned and shook sand from his feathers, making sure to keep it away from Nico. "I've been to the beach with the toucans before. You have to learn these things when the tide starts coming in."
Nico's eyes widened in horror and he looked at the approaching and receding water.
"Hey... wanna get me out too Pedro?"
Pedro crossed his wings and took a ruminative pose. "I dunno Nico, you did help in burying me in the sand."
"But I was buried too! Come on man, I'll make it up to you, I swear!" He wriggled again, trying to get out of the sand.
"Ha! Now you're in my debt!" Pedro reached into the sand, digging for a moment before lifting Nico out by under his arms. Nico stretched joyfully, grinning and flapping his wings slowly.
Pedro set Nico onto his feet and stretched out as well, walking towards Rafael and Eva. The sun was setting and the two would have to spend the next day getting ready for their performance that night. They were the final act. Pedro would finally be himself on stage, and Nico would perform in front of a large crowd.
Nico so badly wanted his family to be there for him. The fire had done a lot more damage than he let on. It hadn't been all that long since Pedro had saved him, but it seemed to be long enough. His dreams were starting to fill with fire and fear. He would see his family flying away from him, and no matter how much he called for them, they never looked back. It scared him, to know that his family had abandoned him like that. He wanted to see his mother again, so that she could tell him that it was a misunderstanding. That they had done everything that they could to get him out. It was a long shot, but it was all he had left that kept his thoughts about his family happy.
"-co? Nico! You okay man?"
Nico shook his head and grinned at his best friend. "I'm fine, just thinking a bit."
Pedro frowned but nodded and grabbed Nico's foot, quickly flying straight into the air a grabbing his other foot. Nico rolled his eyes the two headed towards their hollow.
Rafael watched the two go, grabbing Murilo and smiling at his tired sons. Breno was on Eva's back, already asleep. Murilo's eyes were still fluttering, showing how hard he was fighting to stay up. The toucans carefully took to the air, flying towards their own hollow. Rafael smiled to himself, recalling the events of earlier. He was definitely going to have his wings full when his kids started flying.
Wow... It's been a while since I updated. Sorry about the delay guys, things have been hectic IRL lately. I swear my review rate for each chapter goes down by the second so you're welcome to press the review button and just say hi if that's what you feel like. Hope you guys enjoy the chapter, the next one is looking like the last.
I might add a chapter showing Nico's family's view during the fire, but I'm not sure. I might just make it a little one-shot if I get the time to type it. Tell me what you think!
