Jewel and Sophia landed on a branch, knowing where to go from the luxurious sound of Roberto's voice. He had finally given into Trix and Catia's pleas, and was now singing a song of his own invention in a fluid, silvery voice. The males looked mesmerized, even envious, while many of the females were gazing dreamily like hopeless fangirls with the exception of Manuela, who had eyes only for Carlos. Sophia was trying not to giggle from the obvious, ridiculous show of affection from the twins and a group of females across the clearing they didn't really talk to.
The feather Felipe had ripped out had grown back now. Roberto's head feathers were now rather long, to his neck, yet he still had a small one sticking up over his forehead. He was now rather tall, his body visibly healthier and more full, where before he'd been a little scrawny and underfed. His eyes were blue and bright, always relaxed and confident. He'd kept his kind and charismatic demeanour, and he was a bit more assertive now, like Jewel was. She'd had a good influence on him, although he hadn't picked up her rebellious tendencies. He was a bit more sensible and tended to listen more, even though the mention of humans still made him behave a bit strangely, muttering indistinguishably and flying a mile.
"If I sing anymore I'll lose my voice!" He exclaimed, in protest, when Carlos asked for an encore. "I'd love to stay, but I need to be somewhere..."
"At least stay for five minutes." Tobias said. He was one of the survivors of the sickness - and therefore, incredibly lucky, like Mimi was. He'd caught it very young, but he'd bounced back. His girlfriend Isabella had also survived being struck down around the same time, which was probably why they were a pair; they'd bonded in their time in quarantine and this had turned to affection as teenagers. They were part of Jewel's outer friendship circle along with Trix, Catia, Carlos and Manuela, although Roberto and Sophia were her closest friends who she spent the most time with and she found Trix and Catia a little bit annoying sometimes. Occasionally they'd spend a little time with some Blue-and-Gold macaws including the leader's daughter Johanna, although most time was spent with Spix's.
Jewel leaned on a tree trunk, enjoying the sunshine; she loved these days. Mornings filled with fruit and flowers, happy conversations filled with optimism, especially now that only five of their tribe members were ill. They'd lost almost forty birds, a cruel blow to their low numbers, but things were finally beginning to look up. Tia and Mimi were back to their old selves, and Eduardo's coldness to Jewel for being so careless had melted away. He'd - as well as Tia - had given her and Roberto the silent treatment for a while, until they'd gotten over what happened. Just when Jewel thought all was right with the world, Manuela recalled something unsettling.
"Apparently Adao saw Rojo the other day." Said Manuela, and Jewel and Roberto immediately looked up. Roberto's scratch had healed, but Rojo's name made him - and Jewel - uncomfortable still.
"What?" Jewel asked, in fear. The first time somebody had seen Rojo, since Perlina's demise.
"Adao was near the Brazil nut grove border with Marcella. They saw him, inches from the border line!" This brought the entire group's attention. The twins dropped the berries they were eating, Sophia, Carlos and Tobias stopped their chatter - all eyes moved to Manuela.
"Did he say anything? How did he seem?" Carlos asked, with worried interest. Manuela shuffled her feet.
"Apparently... he was... off. He gave them 'the evils', as Adao put it." Manuela said, uncomfortably. "Then, spontaneously, he began yelling abuse at them. Stuff like, 'enjoy it while it lasts!', and then he just disappeared." This was strange and unsettling. The first time somebody had seen Rojo since the death of his mate, and the first thing he'd done suggested the mindset of a guy who wanted to cause trouble. Jewel was immediately on edge.
"Why didn't Adao say something, Manuela?" Jewel's feathers were on end at the thought of Rojo being so close to their land and behaving so strangely. "That's serious! Adao's a kid, and Rojo shouted that at him? Why didn't you say something? He's your little brother."
"Exactly, he's a kid." Trix reasoned, calmly. "I mean, they're always making stuff up..." Naturally, Catia nodded in agreement with her near-identical sister. To Jewel's surprise, the others looked as though they didn't believe the scenario, either.
"Hey, don't suggest my brother's a liar." Manuela looked irritably at them.
"It's not personal... I mean, kids that young do say all sorts of things..." Carlos said to her. "Manni, remember when you were yelling about that snake in your nest, for fun? You almost gave your mom a heart attack!"
"Why would he make something like that up?" Jewel asked, flabbergasted at how relaxed they seemed about this. They weren't taking it at all seriously, joking about it. She stood up quickly. "I'm not going to bury my head in the soil. I'm going to tell my father."
"Woah, is that wise?" Roberto asked, nervously, before muttering under his breath. "We only just got back into his good books, Ju-Ju. Do you honestly want to risk him blowing his top or going over there to start a war, for possibly no reason? Did you learn nothing from our experience?" Jewel stiffened at the memory of their imprisonment, which she still felt responsible for, but she held her ground.
"I don't learn, Beto." Jewel turned away, and flew off through the trees in anger. Roberto watched her go, stomach knotting in fear and unease, while Catia rolled her eyes.
"She's moody, Roberto. Always has been. Of course she won't tell Eduardo, she'll just sit in a tree and sulk for a while." Roberto gave her a look of annoyance at her rudeness, although he privately agreed. Reluctantly, he turned away from the direction of Jewel, while Sophia patted the moss next to her. I guess they're right. I'll let her cool off.
Jewel flew into the ravine, headed for her tree, but when she got there, it was empty. "Dad? Mom?" A little breeze stirred some down on the floor. "Great." She turned, scanning the ravine, spotting Mimi - and, like Sophia said, she was still wearing a mud mask. "Mimi, have you seen dad?" She called. Mimi looked up, taking the petals off her eyes.
"Your mom and him went to talk to Santiago and Hortense about sharing a grove of star fruit! They offered a few days ago, and he's gone to take them up on the offer." The Blue-and-Golds? She couldn't interupt a meeting between leaders... Jewel felt a hot flash of frustration at the delay. "Something important?"
"No, nothing..." She didn't want to stress Mimi out - she hadn't long been out of quarantine, evidenced by the down beginning to regrow on her neck which was smattered with coconut pulp to encourage feather growth. "It's not important, it can wait. Anything you need, aunt Mimi?" It would kill some time.
"Dear, do me a favour! Please dash over and fetch me a Brazil nut... I've got a real craving this morning..." The brazil nuts... where Rojo had been. Instead of feeling intimidated, Jewel was excited at the prospect. Maybe she could look herself, see if the threat was worth telling... nobody could accuse her of being nosy or reckless, then.
Meanwhile
Adelaide cautiously watched Juanita, from where she observed from the safety of a eight metres. Their sick birds - with the exception of Perlina - were taken to a hollow, dead tree outside the Kapoks. It was sheltered from the elements and protected from predators, the gaps stuffed with leaves and packed with earth - the only entrance was covered by a sheet of heavy slate at night, and it was from here Adelaide peered down.
Only three of their tribe members were sick now - her friend Miguel, a Green-Winged macaw who slept in a cluster of vines, his breathing sounding much better than it was the last time she was here; an elderly bird she didn't know who was also looking better; and her mother. On the soil floor, Juliana was helping Juanita drink from a water-filled coconut shell. They didn't know she was there - she wasn't supposed to be this close, but Adelaide thought she was a safe distance.
"How's Adelaide, Azalea? I haven't seen them for so long..." Juanita sounded a lot stronger than before. She was alert, moving around more.
"Adelaide's growing into a kind and beautiful young macaw, Nita. Felipe's taken a shining to her." Juliana smiled mischievously, for the first time in ages, at her sister. Adelaide listened with a glowing heart - but she'd barely heard the compliment. She'd heard Juliana mention the part about Felipe. He liked her, too? "Azalea's a bit... I don't want to say rude. But she drops subtle insults to those she dislikes - like Felipe. She always seems to have a bit of anger buried. The sarcasm she uses... Adelaide seems to be her only real friend." Adelaide listened in concern; was that what Juliana thought of her daughter? To be fair, Juliana wasn't being personal or unfair - what she said was true. If Azalea had been eavesdropping, she'd be infuriated. Azalea was moody a lot, so whenever a boy drawn by her looks tried to talk to her she would make her disinterest and hostility obvious. Adelaide thought it was something to do with the fact that she'd been born unwelcomed and unwanted by her father.
"She's a teenager, Juli." Juanita laughed, with confidence. "She's just moody. She'll grow out of it."
"I'm glad you're getting better. I think you'll be out once your neck feathers start growing back." Juliana smiled. She went to mention Perlina, but thought better of it. "I'm sorry for giving you the cold shoulder recently. I was just so selfish..."
"No, you weren't. I should've been there for you when... you know who left you and Azalea. You were there for me when my mate died, and I wasn't there for you when you needed me." Juanita smiled slightly. "Let's start over, shall we?" Adelaide's beak twitched with the beginning of a smile - her mother was recovering, and it looked as though she and Juliana were patching things up. She's okay. I'd better go, before they spot me up here.
Adelaide turned into the sun, fluffing her feathers, before there was movement in the corner of her eye. She glanced over, surprised to see who it was. Rojo? She hadn't seen him in a long time; he looked a state. His feathers rougher and more unkept than usual, he looked as though he hadn't preened himself for weeks. For some reason, every time she saw him - even before Perlina had died - he'd looked shifty and suspicious as though planning something, and the look hadn't changed, if anything now he looked as though he was hiding something more. He looked a bit nervous, glancing around to ensure he wasn't being followed. Unable to stop herself, Adelaide began to follow him toward the Brazil nut grove.
