Chapter 14- Jupiter and company's first night in the Amazon
Back in the Spix macaws' ravine, the majority of the Spix macaws were preparing to watch the sunset. In their new hollow, Venus had just put Justin, Charlotte, Matilda and Virgil to bed. As she tucked in Charlotte and Matilda in their shared bedroom, Matilda begged her mother to join in with watching the sunset. Near her, Charlotte had already entered the world of sleep.
"Can I watch the sunset, please, Mommy?" squeaked Matilda. Venus smiled.
"I'm sorry, Matilda but you're a bit too young to stay up at the moment. Maybe when you become a little older but for now, it's time for bed."
At the entrance to Charlotte and Matilda's room, Zephyr looked on, a loving smile on his beak. Then after Venus had kissed Matilda on the head and told her that she will see her tomorrow, Venus left the room and met Zephyr.
"It had only taken Justin and Virgil minutes to drop off," said Zephyr, "Not surprising really. It's been a long day."
"They could barely keep their eyes open," said Venus with a loving nuzzle against Zephyr's neck.
"Right, are we ready to watch the sunset?" asked Zephyr, "Most of the tribe's already gathering outside."
Venus smiled and with that, the pair dropped down from Charlotte and Matilda's room and then left their tree. Outside above the Spix macaws' ravine, the sky was changing colour and the sun was descending towards the horizon. As Zephyr and Venus flew by, Blu and Jewel were also preparing to watch the sunset. They had also tucked in Carla, Bia and Tiago into their nests.
"You know what one of our favourite romantic sights is, Blu?" asked Venus, "A starry night. Zephyr and I sometimes sat on a branch gazing at the sky back in Rio."
"It is an awesome sight to behold," said Blu as he looked through his fanny pack for something, "Jewel and I also watched the stars on night. Our daughter Bia actually knows quite a bit about the skies."
"You know every time I look at the heavens, I always see them as an amazing work of an All-powerful Artist, especially how the constellations such as Orion are set out," breathed Venus as she pictured a starry night in her head.
"Well, I wouldn't call it the work of some artist, Venus," said Blu as he continued looking through his belt bag, "Those stars are just balls of burning plasma gas billions of light years away. The products of the big bang billions of years ago."
"You can't possibly believe that the stars we see is the result of pure chance," said Venus, "Especially the arranged patterns of some of the stars like in the constellations of Orion, the Big Dipper of the Southern Cross in the Southern Hemisphere. It's got to be obvious that there is a Creator Who stretched out the heavens…"
"Well, that Creator…" began Blu when Zephyr interrupted.
"Are you coming, Venus and Blu?" shouted Zephyr as he hovered in the distance. Venus and Blu looked up at him, "We're waiting for you, especially Jewel, Blu."
"Coming," said Venus and with that, Zephyr flew off to the watch spot. When she saw Blu continue to fumble through the fanny pack, she frowned.
"What are you searching for in that bum bag of yours now, Blu?" asked Venus.
"I'm trying to find my bug spray," replied Blu, "I'm being bothered by a pesky fly again and I'm going to ward it off with the spray. Bingo!"
And with that, he lifted out a metal bottle Venus recognised as insect repellent, or bug spray. Then suddenly, a black speck flew in and buzzed around Blu's head.
"Oh, get outa here, you pesky bug," muttered Blu and with that, he tried to spray it with his bug spray. Venus looked on and rolled her eyes in amusement.
"Did you know we can actually eat certain insects, Blu?" she asked. Blu shot her a brief glare before turning his attention back to the annoying bug and didn't reply. He continued sending jets of more bug spray at the insect but it continued buzzing around his face. Then as the bug dodged another squirt of Blu's bug spray and buzzed towards Venus and then around her face, the pigtailed Spix macaw immediately opened her beak and snapped it shut over the fly, making Blu jolt and flinch in disgust.
"Ugh, did you just eat that?" he muttered repulsively.
"Let's just go to watch the sunset, shall we?" said Venus with a slightly annoyed look on her face. And with that she opened her wings and took off in the direction of the watch point. Blu looked on in shock.
"She may be named after the second planet in the Solar System," he muttered, "But it seems she is also named after that insectivorous plant with the jaw-like leaves as well."
Still repulsed at the sight of Venus eating the fly, Blu put the bug spray back into his fanny pack and took off and followed some of the other Spix macaws as they headed to the watch point. Soon the watch point, which was a cluster of trees, was decorated with blue of various shades. All eyes of the forms were turned towards the sunset, the sun by now sinking into the horizon. It was an awesome sight. The sun's rays painted the surrounding sky and cloud a brilliant combination of yellows and pinks. Among the crowd of blue birds, some couples were together. Venus and Zephyr were perched on the same branch, Venus leaning lovingly onto Zephyr's shoulder. Nearby, Jewel waited for Blu who appeared.
"There you are, Blu," said Jewel with a smile, "What took you so long?"
"You wouldn't believe what Venus just did with that annoying fly," muttered Blu, still repulsed at Venus eating the insect, "She snapped her beak on it and ate it."
Jewel just smiled and leaned onto Blu's shoulder as she fixed her eyes on the sunset.
"I can't believe that Venus would eat a bug," muttered Blu, "Ugh, the very thought of it makes me feel a bit nauseated."
Zephyr then looked at Blu with a smile.
"Well, it's one of those things, Blu," he said, "Bugs are a part of our diet besides fruit and certain other plant material."
Blu flinched in revulsion with his tongue sticking out. He clearly didn't like the thought of eating insects, and while he didn't mind eating natural fruit alongside certain human food which was the type of food he often consumed during his time with Linda in Minnesota, he hated the thought of eating an insect. Turning to Venus as she leaned lovingly onto Zephyr's shoulder, Blu frowned.
"Doesn't the jungle ever feel exotic and foreign to you at all?" he asked, "I mean for a bird from the United Kingdom it surely must feel strange…"
"Look, I may have lived as a pet for fifteen years of my life in that country, Blu," replied Venus, "But the jungle truly does feel like home."
Blu looked on in surprise. During his time as a domesticated bird in the United States under the care of Linda his human companion, he didn't seem to have learned many skills that would later be useful for his adapting in to the wild in the future, something Venus, along with Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Ceres and Pluto had done, such as using their beaks to bite through string which would later be used to cut through vines, flying which was something Blu had never learned to do throughout his time as a domestic bird, though Pluto hadn't learned to fly when he was smuggled out of Brazil, but he was eventually taught by Jupiter and his friends in London and had taken his first flight in that human city. What shocked and surprised Blu even more was the fact that Venus was able to forage for food quite well and build simple nests, something he hadn't been able to do up until his group's journey into the Amazon to find the Spix macaw tribe. However, Blu was making progress and was slowly learning to forage for food and build a nest. While Blu continued going over his surprise at Venus's rapid adaptation into the wild, the macaws in the watch spot continued to gaze into the darkening sky. The sun continued sinking behind the horizon and the pink and orange colour it painted the sky and clouds was slowly being overtaken by the darkness of night opposite the sunrise.
In the red tribe's home patch, which was a large cluster of trees, some of which were kapoks, some of the red macaws were also watching the sunset. Among them were Jupiter, Mars, Chiquitita and Ruby. They had also put their kids (Phobos, Deimos and Alexandre for Mars and Chiquitita and Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto for Jupiter and Ruby) to bed. Shortly after the celebration of Ruby and Chiquitita's return with the dance, 'The Red Macaws with the Blue, Yellow and Green Wings', Felipe had taken Jupiter and Mars out on a training session while Pearl had helped their respective mates Ruby and Chiquitita to find a tree each. Jupiter and Ruby's tree was similar to many of the trees in which the Spix macaws lived in their ravine. It had five bedrooms, which was perfect for a family with four chicks. Io got the topmost bedroom, Europa got the second most top, Ganymede got the third and Callisto chose the fourth while Jupiter and Ruby selected the lowermost room. Mars and Chiquitita's tree was smaller and had three bedrooms. Mars and Chiquitita had chosen the lowermost bedroom while Deimos got the middle room and Alexandre and Phobos both got the larger topmost room. The two trees were close to each other and not far from Felipe and Pearl's tree. After all, Ruby was Pearl's sister and Chiquitita was one of Pearl and Ruby's best friends when they were chicks. As the flock of scarlet and green-winged macaws watched the sun sink below the horizon, a thought about Mercury, Uranus and their families and of course the glaucous macaws came into Jupiter's head.
"You know something, I think there are more glaucous macaws out there somewhere," said Jupiter to Ruby who leaned against his shoulder, "I'm certain of it."
"Well, Felipe and Pearl may not believe it but I certainly agree," said Ruby, "After all, one of the bird ecologist groups have reported a sighting of one of those extremely rare birds."
As she said this, three small heads peered through the entrance of Jupiter and Ruby's new tree. Io, Ganymede and Callisto had come to watch their parents but Europa was still asleep.
"I would love to see other Anodorhynchus glaucous besides Uncle Pluto, Aunt Lapis Lazuli and Charon, Blueberry, Quincy and Flor," said Ganymede in a low voice.
"It would be an awesome sight to see a flock of those birds," said Callisto. Io sharply silenced her younger but larger brother and sister.
"I know it would, bro and sis but can you please keep our voices down?" she said in a whisper, "Mom, Dad, Auntie Pearl, Uncle Felipe and Uncle Mars and Auntie Chiquitita might hear us."
Callisto and Ganymede responded with slight glares.
"What do you mean the glaucous macaw tribe might still be alive?" asked Felipe who sat with Pearl leaning on his shoulder nearby, "I'm afraid they've been slaughtered by the flying foxes, Ruby."
"Yeah," said Pearl, "When Violeta's parents, when they led the Bluewing Clan before Violeta and her mate Demetrio took over, and some patrollers from that flock of hyacinth macaws and from the blue-throated macaw clan went into the former home of the glaucous macaws, carefully keeping out of sight of those bats, they found no signs of any of the tribe at all except corpses."
"A bird ecologist has managed to glimpse a glaucous macaw, Felipe," said Mars who sat with Chiquitita nearby, "We saw it on TV back in Rio."
"What's a 'TV'?" asked Pearl.
"It's a box that has moving pictures on it," explained Jupiter, "It's a human's electronic device kind of like the GPS you would have seen in Blu's possession when he accidentally intruded into your side…"
"I never got a glimpse of that JDS or whatever you call that thingamajig…" said Felipe. Jupiter then stopped trying to explain what a TV was, knowing that Felipe and Pearl might not understand for they had never seen one in their entire lives. Ruby then moved onto Mercury and Uranus and their families.
"I wonder how our Lear's and green macaw friends are doing in the green and Lear's macaw tribes," she said, "I think they'll have settled into those two tribes by now."
"The green and Lear's macaws are still in conflict with each other," said Pearl, "It's going to be a tough road for those two families."
"Well there is one thing," said Mars, "The green and Lear's macaws are still vulnerable to losing their trees to loggers or being captured by poachers especially the Lear's macaws for they are extremely rare."
"That's very true," said Pearl, "I'm surprised those humans that have set our home and the Spix, the two hyacinth clans and their co-inhabitants and the blue-and-gold macaws' homes up as a sanctuary and have not included the greens and the Lear's tribe's home…"
"The humans have yet to find sufficient evidence of their existence," said Jupiter, "I hope Mercury and Uranus convince the two tribes' leaders that their species needs protecting and that Pluto and his family can find those glaucous macaws…"
"Valentino and Alonso?" said Felipe, "Those two despise humans with a burning passion, kind of how like Soleado, Eduardo and I did. It's not going to be an easy task, especially with those two macaw tribes still in conflict."
Jupiter sighed and continued gazing at the sinking sun. Io, Ganymede and Callisto sighed with fallen faces.
"Sounds like Uncle Mercury, Uncle Uranus, Aunt Esmeralda and Aunt Sapphire are going to have some difficulties, sisters," said Ganymede. Io then yawned.
"Let's go back to bed," she murmured tiredly and with that she disappeared back into the tree. Callisto followed, remaining only Ganymede. He continued staring at his parents, Felipe, Pearl, Chiquitita and Mars for another minute before retreating back into the tree to go to bed as well.
In the blue-and-gold macaw tribe's home, some of the blue-and-gold macaws had also perched on some trees to watch the sunset but the rest had gone to bed. The sun was almost completely gone with a segment of the blinding star's disk still visible over the line of the horizon, getting one last glimpse of the day before disappearing completely. Saturn and Orquidea were outside their new tree. Their tree was large, larger than Roberto's tree in the Spix tribe's ravine and one of the largest trees in Soleado and Zoie's tribe's home. Its base was large and it was tall. The tree had seven bedrooms and it was decorated with some flowers. Orquidea had hoped to add more flowers to increase the diversity of colours in her family's new home, for she loved flowers. The seven rooms had been taken by Saturn and Orquidea's seven chicks. Saturn and Orquidea's sleeping spot, however, was at the very top of the tree on a branching root that protruded into the hollow. This root was strong enough to support two adult birds and Saturn and Orquidea had set to building a nest which will be their sleeping spot on this root. However, both macaws will have to sleep in a branch outside the tree for now until the nest was complete. The large tree did not have a bath pool unlike Roberto's tree but Saturn did not mind as long his family had a tree to live in. while their seven chicks were asleep for they had been put to bed by Orquidea, the couple were stood just outside the entrance to their new hollow, Orquidea leaning onto Saturn's shoulder and Saturn with his wing draped over Orquidea's back. The two had decided to have some romantic time together after a hard day before departing to bed themselves.
"Boy, I'm ready for bed, my flower," said Saturn followed by a large yawn.
"I know, sweetie," crooned Orquidea as she rested against his shoulder, "It's been a long flight and a busy time settling in."
Saturn sighed and continued watching the sunset.
"By the way, in which direction is the flying foxes' territory?" asked Saturn. Orquidea then pointed a wing in the direction.
"Over there," she said, "It is bordered by Demetrio and Reynaldo's clans' territory and the green tribe's territory with a strip of free area separating the two borders."
"Has any bird from this tribe ventured into the flying foxes' territory before?" asked Saturn.
"Only once," said Orquidea, "After those bats drove out the red-fronted macaw clan, Soleado had sent in some blue-and-gold patrollers to help the patrol groups from Demetrio and Reynaldo's clans to find and bring back any survivors while we took care of the red-fronted macaws that had managed to escape. They now live in the trees around our territory."
"How many red-fronted macaws have managed to escape?" asked Saturn.
"Several dozen," said Orquidea, "Honestly, those flying foxes are barbaric, Saturn. I just hope their latest leaders; Cicatriz and Iracebeth aren't planning on attacking us. We've reached a temporary truce that we birds won't intrude into their territory and vice versa and have kept our secret investigations to ourselves when trying to search for surviving red-fronted macaws."
"The red-fronted macaws' territory must have been littered with dead and dying macaws…" murmured Saturn slightly repulsed.
"It was carnage, honestly," said Orquidea, "It's like that with every bit of area formerly belonging to a bird tribe or clan. After the glaucous macaw tribe was driven out by those bats, some of the hyacinth macaws from the Bluewing Clan, when Violeta's parents led it at the time, they found dozens and dozens of dead and dying individual glaucous macaws and several other bird species that had lived on the territory of the glaucous macaw tribe and could not find any glaucous macaw within saving reach at all. Since then, we had come to the conclusion that the glaucous tribe had completely perished at the clutches of those barbaric bats."
"Of course Lapis Lazuli had managed to survive," said Saturn.
"The flying foxes' invasion of the glaucous tribe's territory took place months after the devastating fire, Zoie told me while I was settling into this tree while you were out training with Soleado," said Orquidea, "And shortly after, a clan of toco toucans were driven out. We don't know why but it appears that those bats are bent on expanding their colony and grabbing more land from every bird tribe and clan they could lay their claws on."
A worried look appeared on Saturn's face but Orquidea made a reassuring one.
"I wouldn't worry about it, my dear," she said, "Our tribe and clan leaders have made a strict truce with Cicatriz's parents to stop any more bird tribe and clan massacres and since then, there had been no activity from the bats around our borders but Demetrio and Reynaldo's patrollers are keeping a close eye on the border to make sure because we don't know how long that truce might last."
"Well, if there had been no flying fox activities around the border then there shouldn't be any reason to be worried about it," said Saturn.
"That's true but we must make sure that we are well prepared," said Orquidea, "Because we aren't sure if Cicatriz might plan on targeting our homes or not."
Saturn sighed and then turned his eyes toward the sunset with Orquidea leaning on his shoulder. The sun had completely disappeared behind the horizon but its rays still painted the surrounding sky with gold and pink. Overhead, the darkness of the night was chasing away the daylight and a few flecks of white light, indicating stars, were slowly emerging from the veil of the sun's bright rays.
In the Navyfeather hyacinth Clan's home patch, a group of hyacinth macaws were flying through a large cluster of trees to go to bed with the others. They too had been up to watch the sunset. The Navyfeather Clan's home patch was a very large cluster of trees and some were giant kapok trees. Kapoks were enormous trees and they sometimes towered above the other trees of the Amazon rainforest. Because of the sheer size of the trees' interiors, several bird families could live in one single kapok tree. However, some of the hyacinth macaws had chosen to live in the smaller trees. Due to the rather small number of birds in the clan, a lot of the trees were unoccupied and there was another large cluster of trees just outside the Navyfeathers' main home patch, almost all of which had hollows to live in. The Navyfeathers' home was large enough to support a tribe of macaws as big as the Spix tribe let alone a small clan of hyacinth macaws. However, the Navyfeathers had kept the large number of spare trees and surplus food supply in their territory open in case another clan or small tribe of birds wanted to move in. hyacinth macaw clans were known for their hospitality to other birds of the Amazon and sometimes sharing their habitat with another bird clan and sometimes a larger tribe but that was only possible if their territory was big enough with enough food to support two bird flocks. The leader of the Navyfeather Clan was Flavio and he was the uncle of Marinho and Ultramarine. After Ultramarine had reunited with her uncle, older brother and their friends, the clan had had a celebration dance to their anthem 'Dance of the Navyfeathers'. Following this, Flavio had taken Neptune out training and a tour of the area including to the homes of some of his friends, among them a hoatzin named Fedor (whose name meant 'stench' or 'stink' in Spanish, a fitting name for a bird known for its smelly breath due to the digestion of fruit in its stomach, and hoatzins were sometimes known as stinkbirds) while Marinho helped Ultramarine, Triton and Indigo to find a spot to live. Ultramarine's living space of choice was a small tree close to the entrance to the Navyfeather Clan's village. This tree had three rooms and some ripe fruit growing on it, and Ultramarine and Neptune liked it immediately and moved in. The tree was not too far away from Flavio's tree whose hollow entrance was closed off by a curtain of vine and moss decorated with navy blue feathers to signify that this was the clan leader's home. As the group of hyacinth macaws flew back into the cluster of trees, a group of four hyacinth macaws split from the others and flew towards Neptune and Ultramarine's tree.
"Well, it's been a great time watching the sunset," said one of them, Ultramarine, "I enjoyed it."
"It's been an awesome sight to watch," said Neptune, "Romantic too."
"Well, I'm glad you two enjoyed it," said one of the hyacinth macaws accompanying them, a male named Flavio. The other macaw was Marinho. Flavio was quite a middle-aged hyacinth macaw. Like most hyacinths he had dark navy blue feathers, yellow eye rings and beak lappet, and dark grey beak and feet. Flavio had a burly build and violet eyes like his niece and his head feathers were a short collection of short feathers hanging from the back of his head. Flavio was showing signs of old age. His navy blue feathers were streaked with silver and his talons were knobbly. However, unlike Eduardo and Valentino, Flavio did not have bags under his eyes. Marinho was also navy blue with yellow facial features and black feet and beak. However, he was slightly stockier than Ultramarine and had blue eyes, a short sheet of feathers flat on his crown and another flick of feathers sticking up from the back of his neck. The feathers flicked upward somewhat like Blu's neck feathers except that they were confined to just the back of his neck. Marinho's name derived from the Portuguese term for navy blue: 'azul marinho', the most common shade of blue for hyacinth macaws. As Neptune and Ultramarine continued flying in the direction of their new tree where Triton and Indigo were asleep, Neptune shot a glance in the direction of the large cluster of trees just outside the Navyfeathers' main home patch.
"Have you ever housed another bird flock on your territory, Flavio?" he asked.
"That cluster of trees hasn't been used since we moved in and no-one has ever used any of them to live in yet," said Flavio, "But we hope that another bird flock might move in so that they can be used. My clan members have been looking after and maintaining the hollows and making sure that they don't become worn and unsuitable to live in."
"Maybe that tree cluster could become some sort of a home for a bird tribe or clan that had been driven out by those flying foxes or something," said Neptune.
"That's a possibility but so often any bird tribe or clan that have been attacked very rarely survive in large numbers at the claws of those flying furballs," said Flavio with a frown on his face, "When the red-fronted macaw clan have been driven out recently as we've heard from some of Felipe and Pearl's patrollers, only as few as three dozen have survived. There had been little more than a hundred of those birds but the survivors have moved in to live as non-tribe or clan birds on the territories of our clan and Demetrio and Reynaldo's clans."
"The toco toucan clan didn't stand a chance when they were attacked when you were a chick, didn't they, Uncle?" asked Marinho. Flavio shook his head with a dark look on his face.
"No, they didn't," he said, "Very few had managed to survive when the flying foxes attacked their clan. The Azul Oscuro Clan of hyacinth macaws were also targeted by the flying foxes but before those furballs could drive them out, loggers came and decimated that clan of hyacinth macaws."
"So how do you know those flying foxes might be planning an invasion?" asked Neptune, "What are the warning signs?"
"Well, it could vary but generally," said Marinho, "The initial signs are reports of minor flying fox intrusions on the territory of a bird tribe or clan. These then escalate to more frequent intrusions with attacks on the members of the flock..."
Neptune shuddered at this.
"Yes," added Flavio as the hyacinth macaw quartet touched down outside of Neptune and Ultramarine's tree's hollow entrance, "And then finally, the devastating attack from a large wave of flying foxes. Some of the red-fronted macaws that had survived their clan's slaughter from those furballs had reported to us that the siege took place at midnight with the bats charging in, screeching battle cries and carrying sharp weapons, mostly in the form of sticks with a sharpened tip, and their eyes glowing terrifyingly in the dark."
Neptune widened his eyes in horror.
"Honestly," said Flavio with a stern look, "Those bats are savage and barbaric when they drive out a bird tribe or clan. When they do so, they practically slaughter every bird they could lay their claws on, regardless of whether they are chicks, elderly or young and fit birds. That's why corpses are found shortly in the aftermath of the attack. Some of the red-fronted macaws that now live here have suffered nightmares for weeks on end after their clan had been driven out."
"Those bats aren't planning an attack on us now, aren't they, uncle?" asked Ultramarine worriedly.
"No," said Flavio with a shake of his head, "We had reached a truce with the bat colony's leaders Bruto and Sombra that we keep ourselves to ourselves and stay out of each other's territory but now that their oldest son Cicatriz has taken over, we aren't sure how long the truce might last. Our patrol groups have been examining the territories and the border to the colony's territory to make sure that the bats aren't planning anything and so far, the reports have been no activity."
"That's good then," said Neptune, his nerves calmer, "Too bad about the glaucous macaw tribe…"
"The glaucous macaws?" repeated Marinho with a raised eyebrow, "Those birds are extremely rare, aren't they? Weren't those macaws also driven out by the flying foxes?"
"They were, sadly," said Flavio, "Four years after the fire caused by the loggers."
He then shot Neptune a surprised look and said, "But I'm still surprised that one of them by the name of Lapis Lazuli you told me has survived that massacre and is now the mate of a male glaucous with four chicks."
"She is, yes," said Neptune. He then wondered.
"Where are Lapis and her family now, anyway?" he asked.
"Well, I think it's time for bed," said Ultramarine followed by a big yawn, "I'm tired."
"Yeah, so am I," said Neptune and with that, he and Ultramarine hugged Marinho and then Flavio.
"We'll see you both tomorrow," said Flavio as he broke the hug with his niece, "I would like to take your two chicks with some other hyacinth macaw chicks out on a trip of our territory tomorrow."
Neptune and Ultramarine nodded and retreated into their hollow.
"And you did well in your training as well Neptune," said Flavio. Neptune smiled as his tail vanished into the dark hollow. As soon as the two macaws were in their hollow, Flavio and Marinho took off and flew in the direction of their trees to go to bed as well.
In the blue-throated and Bluewing hyacinth clans' territory, Ceres was settling into the new tree Cobalto had chosen for the family to live in. It was quite small and it had two bedrooms. One was very large and the other small. Wilbur, Azul and Aurelio had got the biggest bedroom for it was large enough for three chicks to sleep in, which they didn't mind, and Ceres and Cobalto had got the smaller bedroom. With Ceres were Cobalto, Violeta, Demetrio's mate and a blue-throated macaw named Hugo, one of Cobalto's child-hood friends and Reynaldo's inner circle birds and patrollers. Like most hyacinth macaws, Violeta had dark navy blue feathers but like every other hyacinth, she had yellow facial features, black beak and black feet and was almost twice the size of the blue-throated macaws and the other small macaw species including the Spix, scarlet and green-winged. However, she had a rather unusual colour to her navy blue feathers: in the right light they were violet tinted. Violeta's eyes were also dark blue and she had a short ponytail on her head which she kept tied in a vine. Violeta was a loving and kind hyacinth macaw and was always willing to help. Her voice was deep and had a silky tone to it, similar to Roberto's. Like some of the birds in the other macaw tribes and clans, some of the members had been out to watch the sunset but it was by now dark and Ceres and Cobalto had been among them.
"I'm glad you've enjoyed the sunset, Ceres," said Violeta in her deep, silky voice with a smile, "And also in your training with Reynaldo."
"Yeah, you did very well," said Hugo.
"Thanks," said Ceres as she prepared to go to bed with Cobalto.
"By the way, you're on night patrol at the border of our territory to that of the flying fox colony's turf, aren't you?" Cobalto asked Hugo.
"I certainly am," said Hugo, "I'm going to go out with some of the other blue-throated macaws and some of Violeta and Demetrio's clan members."
"We have to keep a constant eye on the border and the strip of unowned land dividing our border from the flying foxes' territory border to make sure that those bats are keeping to the truce my parents and the leaders of the other bird tribes and clans living here made with the then leaders of the bats, Bruto and Sombra," said Violeta. She then frowned and said, "But now that their eldest son Cicatriz and his mate Iracebeth have succeeded them as the colony's leaders, we're not sure how long that truce might last. That's why we have patrollers keeping a close eye on the border and our territory to make sure those bats aren't planning to drive us out. We also help the other macaw tribes and clans to check their territories for bats as well but it is not easy with the green and Lear's macaw tribes with their rift still in place. I just hope those two tribes make peace like how the red and Spix macaw tribes did…"
"Have you met Cicatriz or any of the bats before?" asked Ceres.
"I have, once," said Violeta. She then shuddered and felt her stomach twist slightly.
"But most of them were hideous in appearance, honestly," she mumbled, repulsively, "Especially Cicatriz. Those bats have scarred gashes cross-crossing their fur and some of them have tattered wings. Cicatriz especially bears quite a few scars, especially on his face and he is blind in his right eye."
"Eeek," spat Ceres in revulsion, "Is… is that from fighting birds?"
"Yes," said Hugo, "Those bats despise us birds and see us as vermin. Why, we don't know but fights between those bats and birds are very common. They also get those scars from the attacks they participate in when driving out a bird tribe or clan."
"Not to mention damaged wing membranes," said Violeta, "When those bats had driven out the red-fronted macaw clan, many of the invaders had suffered damage to their wing membranes but it's always been a thing with the colony, driving out bird flocks and any other bird living on the territory owned by that bird flock and taking over their emptied land, as far as we know, anyway."
Ceres and Cobalto shuddered but then proceeded to bed.
"As for the glaucous macaw tribe, we haven't heard or seen any sign of them since the bats' attack and invasion of their land and brutal driving of them out, anyway," said Hugo.
"Apart from Lapis Lazuli which you have told us," said Violeta to Ceres and Cobalto, "Which we were surprised to hear."
She then made a sad face and said, "Those poor glaucous macaws… they were such rare birds, they were much like the Spix macaws are."
"Well if Lapis Lazuli had survived," said Hugo, "Then that makes her the last surviving glaucous macaw alongside her mate and four chicks."
"Well at least she is with another of her species," said Violeta, "But the chances of Lapis and her family finding other glaucous macaws like themselves are pretty slim. There's no way the glaucous macaw tribe could have survived the flying foxes' invasion."
"Well, our human friends have found one piece of evidence hinting at the possibility of some glaucous macaws still surviving," said Cobalto, "If it is a whole flock, they will need protecting right away."
Hugo then looked outside and said, "Well, I think it's time for me to head out and meet my fellow patrollers. It's getting late and they will be wondering where I am, so I'll see you both in the morning. Goodnight, Ceres and Cobalto."
And with that, he spread his wings and flew away.
"Goodnight, Hugo," shouted Cobalto but Hugo was already out of earshot. Then Violeta prepared to leave.
"Well, I'd better be off as well," she said, "My mate Demetrio will have tucked our two sons Arlo and Vincente to bed by now and he'll be waiting for me to turn up, so I'll see you both in the morning too. Goodnight, you both."
And with that, Violeta opened her enormous wings and took off.
"Goodnight, Violeta and thank you," shouted Ceres as the purple tinted hyacinth macaw disappeared into the dark neighbourhood in the direction of her and Demetrio's tree. Ceres and Cobalto then walked into their sleeping chamber and prepared to settle down for their first night in the Amazon.
"Boy, it's been a busy day, eh, my dear Cobalto?" asked Ceres lovingly.
"Is sure has, my sweetheart Ceres," crooned Cobalto. As the two blue-throated macaws settled in their nest, Cobalto continued, "And tomorrow is another day."
He then nuzzled his head lovingly against Ceres's cheek. She then rubbed Cobalto's forehead with hers and crooned. Suddenly, a young male chick's voice sounded.
"Aaarrgh, help me! I'm being chased by a snake!" it screamed. Cobalto and Ceres stopped nuzzling and looked in the direction of their sons' room.
"That was Azul," said Cobalto, "Sounds like he's having a nightmare."
And with that, he quickly left the nest and disappeared into the main hall and into Azul and his brothers' room to wake Azul up from his nightmare and calm him down. Ceres sighed and said, "I hope we don't have nightmares about those flying foxes. I know Lapis Lazuli is sometimes plagued by them…"
In the green macaw tribe's home, Esmeralda and Uranus had just settled down for the night in their new tree. Miranda, Ariel, Umbriel, Titania and Oberon were already asleep. Uranus slept in his nest with Esmeralda by his side and a wing draped over her back when he heard someone talking outside. At this, he opened his eyes and looked outside through the hollow's entrance. Then curiosity bubbled within him. Glancing down to the sleeping Esmeralda who murmured something in her sleep, Uranus carefully left the nest to avoid waking her up and crept towards the outside of the hollow. He then peered outside and traced the voices to their sources: two shadowy macaw-shaped figures flying in the darkness. To his surprise, he recognised them as Alonso and Verde, the leaders of the green tribe.
"What are those two still doing up?" he asked himself in as low voice. He then cupped his ear to listen. At first the words sounded too garbled for Uranus to pick out for Alonso and Verde were too distant but as the two approached his tree, the words became clearer for Uranus to understand.
"Haven't I told you that Valentino has a newbie in his tribe, Verde?" asked Alonso's voice, "Apparently, it was by the name of Murphy or something like that."
"'Murphy'?" mouthed Uranus curiously without making a sound.
"Well, I'm not surprised, my dear," said Verde's voice in reply to Alonso's, "But don't dwell on it. It's not important."
"I wonder where that Murphy is from," said Alonso voice curiously, before changing his tune as he focussed on something else. "Anyway, I'm going to send out the night patrol to examine the border and strip of unowned land bordering the flying fox colony's territory to make sure that those bats aren't up to mischief. I'm looking forward to a good report as always."
"Okay, I'll see you when you return to our nest," said Verde and with that, Alonso's shape parted from Verde's as the latter flew away. Uranus raised an eyebrow in curiosity.
"'Murphy'?" he repeated in a low voice. However, Uranus soon shrugged it off as unimportant and returned to the nest with Esmeralda who was still asleep.