Hi everyone. I am glad I am finally back on track with this story, since last time I was confused regarding the way this story was going to go. But I solved that now, so that is good :D Also, I am sorry for the long wait, but my summer has just been so full. And just a week ago, I had my off-age party, so there's that :D

But, before going further, I have to answer a guest review:

My friend, I assure you that this story and plot are 100% original. Even though some parts might resemble other Rio stories, keep in mind that the departure point is the movie, so some similarities are bound to appear. This being said, and even if some Rio stories on this site remained with me, the direction of this story is all mine. And, as a fellow late sleeper (4 AM-ish), I can assure you that sometimes the details get mixed and give the impression of deja-vu. Thanks for your opinion :D

Also, as a mention...this story has nothing to do with Rio 2. If it will, I will leave a note.

And now that that has been taken care of, here is chapter eleven of this story. Enjoy :D

Chapter eleven - The way of the Order

The morning sun shone brightly over the jungle, signaling the beginning of a new day. Today was a quiet morning. The birds weren't singing. Today everything was unusually calm. Somewhere near the edge of Rio, on a small, almost crumbled building, an albino macaw stood. She was wearing a cloak over her. The hood was cut and thorn in several places. She had a small straw hat that was hiding her face. Under the hat, she kept her left eye closed. She had a big slash over it, a slash that became a scar. But her right eye was open. She was watching the clouds moving on the sky.

"Finally, my journey and extra training brought me back here. I am going to end this soon" she said in a whisper, as she kept watching the sky, her right eye, a small lily spot on her face, gazing in the deep blue sky.

- Somewhere inside the jungle-

A sun ray hit the inside of Blu's and Jewel's hollow. As the time crept by, the ray moved closer to Blu's sleeping form. When it hit his face, he opened his eyes, but didn't move. Jewel was still sleeping in his wings. Her breaths were long and steady. Blu smiled at her sleeping form and, willing or not, he had to wake her up.

"Jewel, wakey wakey" Blu whispered in her ear. She moved closer to Blu and mumbled something.

"Jewel, wakey wakey" Blu said again, a little louder this time. Jewel opened her eyes slowly and looked at him. A smile appeared on her face as he said:

"Morning, handsome. What's with the morning call?"

"I thought you would want some breakfast before we call for Leo so he can take us to our new hollow" Blu said with a loving smile as he hugged her.

He felt Jewel's smile fading for a second and he asked:

"Jewel, is something wrong?" Jewel looked at him and said:

"I just wish we could stay here."

"Me too, Jewel. Me too. But this place, at this moment, is not safe. The Purificators could come here any second. Of course, this might be an over-reaction, but I prefer it was just that then a real situation" Blu said. Jewel sighed and then smiled.

"You are right, Blu. This place is not safe now. And we have some training to start and complete" she said, putting her head under his chin. Blu hugged her tightly for a couple of seconds, before he raised her head to his level and said:

"So, regarding that breakfast...what do you want to have today?"

"Hmm...what do you think? Mango or papaya?" Jewel asked tracing patterns in his chest feathers.

"I don't think I have ever tried papaya. I'll bring a couple" Blu said as he was about to get Jewel off of him.

"Oh, no mister. Since we will no longer live here for some time, I'll come with you. We will eat in the papaya tree and then we will visit Leonard so we can get to the new hollow and build the nest. But first, let's stay here five more minutes and enjoy this morning" Jewel said as she buried her face in his chest again. Blu sighed and embraced her. He just hoped that Leonard won't drop by to take them to their new hollow earlier then they had to, so that they could have some breakfast.

They stood there for five more minutes, enjoying their last moments in that hollow for a long time. Suddenly, Jewel raised her head and said:

"Do you think that Rafael and Eva will answer our questions today?" Blu almost forgot about this. He and Jewel were supposed to ask Rafael and Eva about their purpose as leaders and about the singing part and why was it important.

"I am not sure if they will answer, but let's hope for the best. Anyway, we should go. Noon is four hours or so away, and by then we should be ready with everything so that we can go see what is with this training" Blu said. Jewel nodded and both of them got up and flew to the closest papaya tree.

They found a tree a couple of minutes away from their hollow. They landed somewhere close to the top branches.

"Look Blu. The two up there" Jewel said as she pointed to a branch a little higher than they were. Blu nodded and flew over them to clip them off.

"Be ready to catch it" Blu said as he clipped the second one. Jewel caught them and, after Blu landed on the branch again, they began eating the papayas. After they were done, they started their flight towards Leonardo's hollow.

"How was the papaya?" Jewel asked with a smile as she flew over him, making a shade on his body.

"Delicious" he said with a smile as he looked up at her.

"Is that so?" Jewel asked with a smirk. Blu smirked himself and the next thing they knew, they landed just outside Leonard's hollow. Blu knocked at the entrance and waited. A couple of seconds later, Leonard came outside. He smiled at them and said:

"Morning to you too. So, are you ready?"

"As ready as we can be" Blu said with a grin.

"Okay then. Let's get moving" Leonard said as he put his cloak on and the leather straps, along with some more bird-sized throwing knives. Jewel eyed them for a second and then asked Leonard:

"Are we expecting an attack?"

"No. At least, not as far as I know. But since this was a temporary hollow for me, I need to take my equipment back to my hollow. Plus, some extra protection is always good" he added with a knowing smile. Blu nodded and they started flying towards their new hollow. Their flight was quite short. They landed in a mango tree. Somewhere close to the middle of the trunk, there was a small opening. If you flew by and didn't know what you were looking for, you missed it for sure. Leonard went inside and was followed by Blu and then Jewel. The interior was almost as big as the other hollow they had. In a corner, the materials for the nest were stacked, ready to be used.

"Well...how do you like it?" Leonardo asked with a smile and very proud.

"This is actually quite good. I mean, it is almost as big as the other one, plus is more intimate. I love it" Jewel said.

"Yeah. And thanks for the resources for our nest. How did you even find this hollow?" Blu asked surprised.

"Well, in fact, Vladimir found it during a night when he was drunk and beak-planted in it. He showed it to me the next day. I knew it would become useful sometime" Leo said.

"And it had. Thanks a lot" Jewel said.

"No problem. Well, I'll leave you two to your things. I have to report back to Rafael. Also, he will be expecting you in a couple of hours at his hollow. See you two later" Leonard said as he jumped out of the hollow and flew towards Rafael's home. Jewel and Blu watched him leaving, before Jewel said:

"Okay Blu. Since this time you don't need to go and get the sticks and twigs for the nest, you will be helping me to build it."

"But, I've never done that before" Blu said looking confused. Jewel smiled at him and said:

"There is always a start. Now, take those two twigs while I take those two and do exactly as I do."

- 1 and a half hours later -

"Not bad, Blu" Jewel said as she took a step back to look at the nest. "Just one more thing..." she said, more to herself than to him. She took a feather from him and one from her and intertwined them in such a way that Blu's feather seemed to stand proud and tall over Jewel's, embracing and protecting it.

"Now this is perfect" Jewel said looking at the nest and then at Blu. Blu smiled and nodded, before he went to the opening of their hollow and look at the sun.

"We have about half an hour left until we have to meet Rafael" Blu said turning back to Jewel. He saw her in the nest, looking lovingly at him. He smiled and walked towards her. He stepped inside the nest and sat down beside her. Jewel put a wing around him and he put a wing around her, both of them enjoying their new home, even though they missed the old one.

After some time passed, Jewel said:

"Blu, we should go. I think Rafael is waiting for us already."

"Yes, I think you are right. Okay, let's get moving" Blu said with a smile and both of them flew towards Rafael's hollow. The journey was short and uneventful.

When Blu and Jewel landed in the Hollow, only Eva was there. She was in her nest and when she saw them, she smiled.

Blu looked at her and saw her eyes looking somewhat over them. 'Something isn't right' he thought as he briefly touched Jewel. Jewel looked at him and saw him looking at Eva. She understood and pushed both herself and Blu out of the way, just a split moment before Rafael jumped on where they stood earlier. All this took less than a second. Rafael then dusted himself and said:

"Good. I see that at least you can work as a team. So how did you do it so fast? What gave me off?"

"Eva's strange smile and the direction she looked at" Blu said. "But she only glanced for a second" he added.

"I see. Well done, Blu. Jewel, pay more attention to your surroundings. Blu, today, you will be working with me on reflexes, while Jewel will work with Eva on attention. We will go now Eva. We'll be back at dawn. Good luck" Rafael said before he and Blu flew who knows where.

Jewel remained on the place, looking at Eva. After about a minute, Eva finally talked:

"Okay. Let's get started. First thing first. Do you have any questions that might interrupt our training?"

"Now that you are asking, I do have some. First of all, why did the order make me sing that night at the club? And don't tell me the thing about keeping me in sight, because, I don't believe you on that. While the order was doing this, Vladimir was doing the same with Blu. So, I am sorry if I am too direct, but why?" Jewel asked confused and sitting down in front of Eva. Eva closed her eyes for another minute and said:

"I see Blu put the things head to tails. Probably he is asking Rafael the same thing. And since you are now part of the order, and training to become the leader along with Blu, I think it is time you knew. There is more to that story Rafael told you. And more to the meanings of those signs we have. You see, there is a prophecy that says, that the yin and the yang of the avians will someday awaken the power to bring peace to our world, the one of the avians. The prophecy also tells us that the two birds will be mates of blue color. The last detail to that thing, is that both their voices sound like a god singing and that their symbols will be a perfect match to one another. Up until now, you and Blu match two of these three points. All we have to do is know if your symbols match perfectly. Also, regarding those symbols...there is something you should know. These symbols, in time of need, put you in a trance or a fighting stance. This thing can be both a curse and a blessing but with the training we will give you, it can be controlled. That is why you singed and why Blu singed and why we are doing what we are doing." Eva concluded with a sigh and let the words sink in.

"I see. Is Rafael telling this to Blu?" Jewel asked.

"No. You will tell him. I told him that. Now, any more questions?" Eva asked smiling again.

"For now, no. So what are we doing?" Jewel asked.

"Well, first we will start by learning how to calm your mind and focus on one task at a time. Next, we will see. Now, what you have to do is ignore any other sound and thing, beside what I tell you to. Then you will have to focus on it and tell me all you can see. When I decide that you have seen enough, I will change the object. Let's begin."

-meanwhile, with Blu and Rafael-

"So...what are we doing here exactly?" Blu asked as they landed near a small stream.

"Here is our training camp. For your training, we need to build some muscle on you. So...any questions before we start?" Rafael said with his usual smile.

"Yeah...about that story you told us...and these signs...and the singing...something doesn't fit...can you tell me more?" Blu asked.

Rafael sighed with a smile and said:

"I see Eva was right. Nothing gets past you. She will explain everything to Jewel. And she will explain you. The problem with me telling you s that here, nature has ears...if you get it."

"Of course...so...what do I have to do?" Blu asked nodding.

"Alright. Let's start with a warming session. Fifty push-ups should be enough. And...start. One...two...come on Blu, three..." Rafael began counting as Blu did the push-ups.

-later that night, at Rafael's hollow-

"Honey, we're back" Rafael called as he landed with an exausted Blu inside.

They found her and Jewel in meditation. Eva opened her eyes and said:

"Okay Jewel dear, enough for today. See you two tomorrow at the same hour. No, go get some sleep."

Blu and Jewel said goodnight and then they flew towards their hollow. While flying, Blu asked:

"So how was meditation?"

"Calming...you should try it" Jewel said with a smile.

"Maybe tomorrow morning. I think I have an idea. What if in the morning each of us does the training of the other one? I mean, I meditate and you do push-ups" Blu said with a smile.

"That is an idea" Jewel said as she landed inside their hidden hollow.

"So...about that story..." Blu said.

"Yeah...let's sit for a second while I tell you" Jewel said as they sat in the nest.

"Okay...so there is some kind of prophecy. We are supposed to be the new leaders of the avian world. For that, we must accomplish 3 things. We must be blue and mates...which we are. We must sing like gods...which...apparently...at least according to Eva...we do. And our mystical signs that are not plain old symbols, must be perfect match. Now, these symbols put us in a trance or a fighting stance that we are now learning to control. That's about it. What do you think?"

"It starts to make some kind of sense now...but if we are supposed to save the avians, then why do the Purificators want us, besides for revenge? Unless that is their only reason, there is more to this story. But this explains more than I thought. I am afraid the rest will have to wait until we finish our training" Blu said with a smile as he kissed Jewel on her beak.

"Right you are, handsome. Let's get some sleep...we need it. Good night, Bluey" Jewel said kissing him and then resting her head on his chest.

"'Night, my Jewel" Blu said as he wrapped her in his wings and rested his head above hers.

Aaaaand scene. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Leave me a review to tell me what you liked/ didn't like. I am looking forward to reading them.

The song referred in this chapter is "The way of the warrior" by Hammerfall. I thought this fits best because, even though it is not about assassins and orders, it is a good song that expresses the warrior's mantra.

Until next time, LionPrankster, over and out.