Ch. 7: then there was her
I woke up the next morning to the sun shining in my new hollow. I stood and stretched, fluffing up my feathers in the process. I hopped out to a small perch, looking out to the lush jungle, and smiled. Yes, can you believe it I actually smiled? But I had a reason to smile, for once in my life, I met others who didn't automatically label me for what I looked like. It seems these birds actually want to get to know me… the real me. My stomach began to growl and I quickly preened and headed out to find something to eat, I was strangely craving something sweet, and the star fruit tree I saw yesterday fit the bill perfectly. I headed to the tree and grabbed two of the plumpest ones I could find and headed to a branch to eat. A had just dug into my first star fruit when I heard a small tune being played, I looked around and saw that canary, Nico, was it? And I also saw his cardinal friend, uh, Pedro it think. Nico was tapping his bottle cap hat like a tambourine, while singing some Portuguese song, while Pedro beat boxed to the song. I was never really interested in learning Portuguese since I never really had to use it, but that didn't stop me from enjoying the song, and I soon found myself tapping my foot and nodding my head to the beat. "Hmm, meal and entertainment, great mix" I thought with a smile. Pedro looked over to me, seeing me enjoying the music, and motioned me over to where they were. I finished my first star fruit, grabbed the other one and headed to where they were. Nico stopped playing and looked at me smiling saying, "Yo Manuel, what up bird?" I simply shrugged, not used to such a cheery greeting by a different bird, and said, "Eh not much". Pedro came up next to me and said, "So, I see you're an appreciator of good samba?" again I shrugged and replied, "Well I listen to a lot of music, so there isn't much about it that I don't like". Nico sarcastically nodded, as if I had just preached a sermon and exclaimed, "Amen to that! Hey it's a good thing we found you here because we decided to throw a celebration to thank you guys for what you've done, were having it at Passaro Paraiso, the best samba club in all of Rio! Tell your team to meet us there this evening". "Uhh… ok" I said, suddenly nervous at the thought of being surrounded by tons of birds that I didn't know. The other two didn't recognize my nervousness, and said a joyful fair well, leaving me to finish up my star fruit alone. I headed straight to uncle Ricardo's hollow, seeing that he had just returned from a patrol, it sparked my curiosity as to why he hasn't sent me on a patrol yet, but I shook the thought away. "Mornin' kiddo" said my uncle brightly, "How you liking the new placement? Not bad this Rio place is huh?" I simply shrugged, hiding the true fact that I really did like it here, "It's alright, hey that canary and cardinal said that there is a party at some club to thank us, what do you think?". His eyes brightened and he smiled wide, "That's a great idea! Get to see the locals, check out the scene, you might even find yourself a little 'female friend' to 'socialize' with?" he elbowed my chest and I shrugged him off, humor in my voice as I said, "You're crazy, you know that?", "Maybe just a little" replied my uncle. I chuckled and flew off to spread the news, Gabriella was just as enthusiastic as my uncle, Boris took this as an invitation to try the true Brazilian cuisine (I mean, what's a party without food right?), and Victor found this as an opportunity to truly be 'nocturnal'. I went back to my hollow and sat for all little bit, enjoying the quiet. I was still unsure if I was really going to go. Most likely my uncle would end up forcing me to go, saying that I really needed to try and socialize with birds my age. I sighed, not seeing any way of getting out of this one, and decided to at least make myself decent for the party. I preened for about twenty minutes, making sure I didn't have any feathers out of place, and then sighed when I was satisfied with the results. "Now if there was something to cover this up" I thought, running a single feather across my scar. I heard the beating of wings and turned to see Blu accompanied by Jewel, both cleaned and practically glowing for tonight's event. "Hey guys" I said smiling, "I see you're both ready for the party", "Yep" replied Blu, "hope you're ready for a long night because Nico and Pedro are making this one of the biggest parties of the year! Almost every bird in Rio is gonna be there". If color could drain from feathers, I would have looked like a ghost, every bird in Rio! When will they learn that I hate crowds! Jewel seemed to have noticed my sudden nervousness and placed a comforting wing on my shoulder, "Hey, don't freak out, everyone there is just there to have fun, you just gotta let loose and you will fit right in!", "Yeah" agreed Blu, then said jokingly, "You think I was always this fun-tastic? It wasn't until my first trip to the club that I really started to loosen up, once that music starts, you'll never want to leave trust me". I took some comfort in their words and straightened up, they were right, maybe I did need to loosen up. I spent the rest of the day flying with Blu and Jewel, until we saw the sun beginning to set, signaling that it was time to head to the club. As we approached the fruit stands that was next to the entrance, we saw the rest of my team and Raphael and a female toucan next to him, his mate most likely. "Well it's about time you guys made it" said Raphael happily, "Manuel, this is my mate Eva, Eva, this is Manuel", Eva looked over to me, smiling warmly, "Well it is good to meet you Manuel, I can't thank you and your team enough for saving my Raphy, I wouldn't know what I would do if I lost him". I chuckled nervously, surprised by the sudden gratitude by her. "Oh… it's nothing- just what we do best". "Well are we going in or what!" asked an excited Blu, and at that we all bustled into the club. It was exactly what I expected to be… crowded, crowded, crowded… not to mention loud! The bass seemed to vibrate the entire club with a mix of rhythmic percussion and other instruments that I couldn't identify. I had to admit, this place was awesome! Birds were dancing and having a great time everywhere I looked, how so many birds could fit here, I had no idea. "Now thees ees a party!" exclaimed Boris happily, already tapping his large foot to the beat. I looked to the stage and saw Nico and Pedro singing their hearts out to the crowd, who cheered and begged for more. I had to admit, those guys had some serious talent, and I found my own foot tapping and my head nodding to the music as well. "Well my angel" I heard Blu say to Jewel, taking her wing, "shall we dance?" "We shall" she smiled, letting him lead her to the dance floor. Slowly but surely, the music drew each of my teammates to dance, I burst out in laughter as I watched Boris, who danced in some Russian style that was completely irrelevant to the Brazilian style of music, with the surrounding birds encouraging him! I found an empty table and sat. the music faded, making all of the birds look to the stage, Pedro was getting everyone's attention, "Ight e'erbody, as you may've heard, there is some kind of group of bird nappers in Rio, these guys nearly snatched up me, Nico, and the rest of our buds, but it was thanks to a group of brave birds that we sing here tonight, so put your wings together and let's hear it for Ricardo, Gabriella, Boris, Victor, and Manuel!". Multiple spotlights shone on each of us, the team standing proudly and waving to the cheering birds, I smiled nervously, tons of eyes suddenly on me, and birds I didn't know cheering and clapping for me. Thankfully, Nico got their attention saying, "Alright yall, now let's party!" and the music blasted again. I saw Blu and Jewel heading toward the table I was sitting at, obviously out of breath and looking at me. "Why aren't you dancing?" asked Blu, "I don't dance really" was all I could say, Blu shook his head, "Come on dude, you gotta loosen up and just have some fun! Nobody's judging you here, so go dance". I was still reluctant to go, then Jewel spoke up, "Well if you want some incentive, there is a friend of mine here on the dance floor, but she doesn't really like dancing alone, she pointed to a bird on the dance floor, and what I saw made my jaw drop. She was the most beautiful bird I have ever seen, her scarlet red feathers, complimented with green and blue tints on her wings and tail, dancing ever so gracefully, the lights seeming to give of an aura around her. All I could do was stand and stare, at least until I felt a shove from Blu and Jewel, making me move forward to the scarlet macaw. She must've seen my stumble because she flashed a vibrant ruby eye toward me… and smiled at me! I returned the smile, but with a ton of nervousness very noticeable. She giggled and waved at me, "Oh god, now what? I've never done this before!" I thought frantically. Apparently my body worked with its own mind, as I waved back and felt myself walking closer to her. Her eyes seemed to shine as they looked upon me, and all the while she was still swaying to the music, successful in only entrancing me even more. "So you gonna just stand and stare or are you gonna dance with me?" she asked playfully, her voice seemed almost as angelic as her figure. I was close to panicking, as I haven't really flirted before, so just made a mental decision of the second option and danced with her. Her smile widened as I started to move with her, I was a little shaky at first, but then started to sway and dance almost in sync with her. She did her heart-melting giggle again as we got closer, our dance becoming more complex as we moved with each other, our bodies weaving around the other as I took her wing in mine and spun her. She seemed to have her own plans as she spun, still holding my wing, and moving so that her back was to my chest and my wing was wrapped around her waist, causing me to blush severely. "Yo Manuel!" I heard Blu yell to me teasingly, "I thought you couldn't dance?", I looked to him and smiled, "I said I didn't dance, never said I couldn't". I heard her laugh again and suddenly facepalmed mentally as I forgot one important detail, "I never seemed to have caught your name" I said sheepishly. She smiled at me and replied, "It's Serra". "Serra… nice name" I thought, we continued to dance throughout the night, our bodies weaving among eachother, and occasionally making eye contact, oh how I loved those eyes. The music finally faded, and we walked to the club's exit where other birds were already leaving, "It was fun tonight Manuel" said Serra, I chuckled nervously and replied, "Y-yeah… I had tons of fun… with you- of course hehe" she simply smiled at me, quietly giggling, "Will I see you again?" I asked, she nodded and said, "My hollow is right at the bend of the stream, come and visit if you like", I happily nodded, "S-sure, I'll do that". We said our goodbyes and she turned to leave, but she hesitated, and quickly turned back to me and gave me a swift kiss on the cheek and took off, all I could do was stand there bewildered, placing my wing on the spot where her beak made contact. I heard someone cough behind me, I turned and saw Boris with the rest of the team, looking at me with a smug 'I told you so' face. I shrugged sarcastically, "Okay I admit it… you were right Boris". He simply let out a deep chuckle and walked past me. I sighed and took off, feeling much more happy than I ever thought I could ever feel…
YAY Manuel finally got a girl! Please review! Sorry I took so long on this chapter, my laptop was being retarded and I couldn't upload for a while, I will try to be a little quicker next time!
