Chapter 10
Nico and Pedro arrived back to the samba club in a hurry, surprised to see Luiz standing guard in front of the club.
"What up, homie?" Pedro yelled to Luiz as he saw him and began to land in front of the club.
"Hey! Pedro! Nico!" Luiz walked up to them as they landed, equally as surprised. "Where you been, brothers?"
"We've had some freaky stuff goin' down tonight," Nico replied. "We got a million stories for you!"
"As do I!" Luiz replied. "But I have all night. You guys seem in a hurry, so I'll let you go first."
"Alright," Nico started. "Remember when we were riding off into the sunset? Well you headed off but poor Pedro over here wasn't feeling too well. You good, Pedro?"
"Yeah I'm good," Pedro gave assurance.
"Okay," Nico continued. "We settled that and we headed down to the club for opening night, but not before Blu got there and was having a jolly old time with his own tunes. Apparently he couldn't sleep or something. But anyways. He freaked out and flew up to the sanctuary for something. Turns out, some group of birds attacked everyone up there, lotta' damage and a lotta' friends that lost their lives. The rest of the guys are up there now trying to clean everything up for the funeral tomorrow morning. Meanwhile, back down here, some birds were talking about the attack. We subdued 'em and took 'em out back. The guys squawked about everything. We know the guy's name is Peter, and we know he used the birds for his dirty work. He's got some kind of surrogate though."
"You gotta speak English around me," Pedro butted in. "I don't have that kind of vocabulary. And be lucky I can even say vocabulary!"
Nico and Luiz laughed. "Funny, Pedro," Nico said. "It means Peter's got someone between him and the birds." He turned to Luiz. "So as I was saying. Jewel got hit over the head by one of the birds, ane she was knocked out for a while. When she finally came to, she didn't know anyone anymore! She ran off and Blu followed her. She hit someone else and almost died, but Blu saved her life. So now they're back at their tree doing heaven knows what."
"Who was that huge blue guy I saw earlier?" Luiz inquired.
"Well there're actually many of them!" Nico replied. "You probably saw Kepler, though. He was good friends with my grandfather."
"Very touching," Luiz said. "I, on the other hand, have had an equally odd night."
"Do tell, my friend!" Pedro yelled.
"Alright," Luiz started. "So as I was in the air I headed back home on the hang glider. I landed back at the garage, thinking I was just gonna go to sleep, but then I realized. I could meet up with you guys! So this truck comes driving down the street and I hopped into the back. The view was spectacular and I feel asleep by accident. When I woke up, I was up by the docks on the north side of town! These two guys were talking. They were kinda creepy and were talking about some evil plot. So I hung tight and waited for their next move. They drove to a prison or something, and they released all of the prisoners! They went to the airport and some guys got out. They had some kind of animal with them, but I couldn't see who it was."
"What did the people look like?" Nico asked, curious.
"One was fat," Luiz continued. "The other was thin. Both were Brazilian. The third guy had a beard and glasses. His voice was, well, kinda French. I think it was French. I'm not so good with the accent stuff."
"Pedro!" Nico looked at Pedro. "We know those guys! Remember them? They're the guys that captured us! And Blu! And Jewel! And Rafael!"
"I remember them!" Pedro said. "They're smugglers! They might've had that evil white bird with them. What's his name?"
"I can't remember," Nico replied. "It doesn't sound like they're up to much good, though."
"After they left the airport," Luiz continued, "the last guy drove into town and stopped the truck on a little street. He got out and walked down the street. Next thing you know, I hear gunshots! Then that lady that knows Blu rounded the corner and saw me. She was kinda surprised."
"She barely even knows who you are!" Nico said.
"Still!" Luiz replied. "So she left and I walked away because I just wanted to go home. I went to the beach and relaxed for a few minutes, but I fell asleep again! I woke up a little while later and decided I'd go to the club and find you guys! So I came here and ran into your big blue friend. He told me to wait here. I've been waiting here ever since!"
"Alright," Nico acknowledged. "So we're all caught up now. I don't know what you should do, honestly. You're on the opposite side of the city from home, so I don't know how you'll get back in time to get any sleep for tomorrow."
"I don't have to go back," Luiz said. "I'll just chill with you guys. I mean, I know I can't fly, but I'll just stay here and help out, you know?"
"I feel ya," Nico replied. "But the thing is, I think we should pay our respects to the victims of the tragedy tonight by not having the samba club open for the rest of the night. If you wanna stay here for the night, you're more than welcome. There's plenty of room in the club for you to hit the hay. Gotta promise that you won't snore though."
Luiz and Pedro laughed. "I don't snore, bro!" he replied through his chuckles. "I promise! I agree with you, we gotta pay respects. It's what's right."
"I hate to leave you like this," Nico said to Luiz, "but we gotta go back up and check on the guys' progress. We'll pay you back for all of this, I promise. Would Nico lie to a brother?"
"Probably not," Luiz replied, acknowledging the situation. "I have nothing better to do. I'm always willing to do a good deed for a brother! Ain't nothin' happening to this place as long as I'm here!"
"You sir," Nico said, "are a boss! We'll be back soon, bro! Stay classy!"
"Peace," Luiz said to them as Nico and Pedro took off. He sat down and enjoyed the quiet for a little while.
Nico and Pedro made their way back to the forest. They arrived back at the center of the sanctuary to see a flurry of activity.
"Jobs don't get done by themselves!" Kepler yelled to everyone as he flew around the forest looking for the bodies of those who lost their lives in the attack. As soon as he found one on the floor of the forest, he carefully picked the lifeless bird up in his talons and barely closed them to avoid causing damage. "These birds must be treated with respect! They were your friends! Your brothers! Show them that you care enough to provide what's left of them with decency!" He took off with the lifeless bird, heading out of the forest towards Christo.
As he arrived, Sanchez greeted him.
"We're putting them here for now," Sanchez said, pointing to a growing pile of birds. "This place is closed to humans until 9 o'clock tomorrow morning! That means we got two hours to do something with all of them! But I'd hate to disrespect their corpses like that."
"Their families can't even believe that we're doing this," Kepler said, landing and dropping off the body. "They know that we're on a strict timetable here. The humans though," he snorted in disgust, "Everything needs to be perfect. They don't get that life isn't that pretty, and they need to accept that. Until then, they'll bury their dead 'till they run out of room."
"What's with you and philosophy?" Sanchez wondered.
"My owner loved philosophy," Kepler replied. "I got to enjoy a lot of things that he liked. They're just the perks of having a human take care of ya."
Just then, Newton brought a body to Christo as well.
"Look who I find chatting it up," Newton said in an instigating manner. "What a hypocrite. The boss'd be pretty disappointed."
"Save it," Kepler replied back. "You know that I could care less about what Leo thinks! Besides, he's six thousand miles away! The only way he's getting back here is if there's an army reunion between the guys!"
"We can only hope," Newton said. "Now, do you want to get this done or not?"
"Right behind you, you old blue coot!" Kepler lept from the banister and showed off in the skies with his flying moves.
"Look at this guy!" Newton yelled out loud to no one directly. "Hey, Kep!" he yelled to Kepler. "Look who's talkin'! You're an old blue coot, too!"
"Ah tell it to someone who cares!" Kepler yelled back playfully. Newton jumped off of the banister and followed Kepler back into the woods.
"Man I'll tell ya," Sanchez said to himself out loud while looking at the two Hyacinths. "They may be old, but they're still kids at heart."
Even the old can have plenty of fun! Magic can happen in Rio, people! I'm sorry I can't get as much out as I used to, the work is piling up and I'm finding little time to write anymore. I promise you all, I'm working as fast as I can. For those of you that wanted me to do the lemon, you've convinced me. But you're gonna have to wait a while! At the conclusion of the story (which is very far away from now), I will include it along with another special surprise at the end! Thanks guys! Chapter 11 will be out soon!