Leo followed Bia through the rainforest, with Rafael flying alongside. The past few days had been nightmarish. They'd been searching all day, and now, they were finally returning to Luiz's garage, unsuccessful once again. Bia wanted to keep looking, but Leo's exhaustion as well as Rafael's had persuaded her to call it a day. Leo was exhausted, but his tiredness was nothing compared to how worried he was for his lost sister.
My little sister has vanished off the face of the earth! My mom cries every night. Leo had woken in the middle of the night to find Azure comforting Bia, who was weeping her heart out. Bia put on a strong face in the day, but she broke down at night. Daniella had to be so scared, wherever she was. She'd never been alone before, and almost everything scared her. Leo was desperate to find her. Of course they hadn't told their family back home; they'd be in hysterics. What if they never found her? What if she was dead? Daniella couldn't be. Leo refused to believe it. She can't be.
They searched in teams. Azure, Pedro, and Eva had been a team today in the west of Rio, while Nico and Mia had scouted in the east of the city, with Luiz searching his area, searching the ground. That left Leo to join Bia and Rafael to search the rainforest. They were aided by friends in the surrounding area - the story of the missing Daniella had rapidly spread. Even strangers had kindly searched for the lost chick. Nico, Pedro and Mia had made announcements in their clubs, as well as asking everyone they knew. Daniella had a significant appearance - with her light, bright blue plumage, coal-black head feathers and lavender eyes, she couldn't be missed. Yet nobody had seen her, and Leo feared the worst.
They couldn't avoid the ringing phone forever. It was constantly singing out Adele, as their family back home tried to contact them. His mother and father couldn't bear to tell them that Daniella was missing. It was only ringing more as the wall of silence grew. Leo had overheard Bia and Azure planning to answer eventually - they intended on blaming poor reception, and they also intended on not telling them back home that Daniella had vanished. Of course they didn't want to worry them.
"I'm sure she's alright." Rafael was trying to be comforting. Bia couldn't think of a reply; she was silent. "She's sensible. She won't be doing something dangerous - she's probably hiding down somewhere." Rafael looked at Leo, to comfort him too. Leo's dark hazel eyes were clouded with worry, as clouded as his mind. Bia finally went to reply, but then her head snapped round. She had heard something up ahead. "-she's smart. She'll be hidden somewhere, perfectly safe-"
"Ssh." Bia hushed Rafael. She looked over her shoulder. "Stay here, Leo." Bia, followed by a confused Rafael, flew forwards, into some vines. Out of Leo's hearing range, Bia landed on a branch, Rafael landing next to her.
"What's going on?" Rafael asked, quizzically.
"Look." Bia pointed. She was pointing at an empty cage, slowly moving downwards through the air. It was plastered with mud and leaves, but empty. It reached the floor, landing at the feet of a female human. She was muttering in disappointed Portuguese, for her trap hadn't caught anything. "Smuggler." Bia hissed, in disgust, for once forgetting that Daniella was missing. "Clearly the sanctuary's not as airtight as Linda and Tulio think." Her anger faded. A realization dawned upon Bia. "Rafael. Do you think... do you think this has been going on for long? Since... before we got here."
"Bia, you can't surely think that..." Rafael didn't dare say what they were both thinking. What if Daniella got caught in one of those?
Leo wandered about the place Bia had told him to stay. For a sweet moment, he forgot that his sister was missing, that his parents were sick with fear and worry - in the night time, the forest was beautiful. The shadows didn't scare him - rather, they were fluid and rich, dancing in the moonbeams. The most vibrant of fruit and flowers were seemingly dipped in silver, and the scent of night flowers took possession of the area. Under his impulsive, sometimes reckless behaviour, he was a dreamer with a vivid imagination. He was really soft-hearted, even if he seemed thoughtless sometimes.
Leo was so distracted by his surroundings that he didn't notice a human below. It raised a weapon, taking aim at the fluttering bird above. Then Leo's wings were entangled. He plunged through the air, with a sqeaul of shock and confusion. The net had shot out of nowhere, clinging to him, wrapping him into a ball. Leo plummeted through the tree canopy; at first he thought he would hit the ground, but then he was caught by a pair of rough hands. He writhed, shrieking in terror as the grip on him became iron. Through the black mesh he was entangled in, Leo saw a smirking human face.
"Dumb bird." He sneered. He shouted through the trees, and a female started their way through the vegetation. Leo continued to screech as he was dropped into a silver cage, the door shut and padlocked. He'd heard all sorts of horror stories about being caught. He struggled free of the netting, continuing to squawk and throwing himself against the cage wall. "Got one! Your traps are useless -" but Leo's shrieks weren't unheard. A blood-curdling squawk ripped the quiet apart as the two adult birds returned. All around, birds sleeping in their nests were abruptly woken.
Bia launched herself through the air, talons outstretched, eyes blazing hazel fire. She screeched, and without hesitation, she raked her barb-like claws over the male's face - the parental instinct to protect her son took control. Leo closed his eyes in terror as drops of human blood flew, as his cage clattered to the ground. The male was shouting at his female accomplice, and her hands moved to pluck up Leo's cage - but Rafael had attacked. He grabbed her ponytail, yanking hard for drawing blood wasn't in his nature. It did enough damage, for the female jerked back, shouting and trying to dislodge the toucan.
"Scram!" Shouted the male, blood trickling through his fingers as Bia continued her savage attack, now pulling his hair. His toupee went flying, leaving him almost bald.
"It's just a few birds-" the female was swatting at Rafael.
"I'm not destroying my face for a little bird!" The male retorted. "Let's get out of here!" He staggered away, and the female briefly hesitated, but then Bia's enraged screech changed her mind. She tore after the male, covering her head as Bia went to chase her. As soon as the humans were long gone, Bia spun round.
"Mom! Rafael!" Leo cried, still trapped in the locked cage. He clung to the bars. "Help!"
"Try and stay calm, kid!" Rafael exclaimed, staring, dumbfounded, at the padlock. "Bia, how do we break it?"
Bia, still breathing heavily, rushed to the cage door, her rage dying away to desperation. Leo shook in the cage, terrified. "Rafael, get me a rock!" Bia looked at Rafael pleadingly, and the toucan searched the undergrowth. "It's okay, Leo!" Bia said, quickly, as Leo had tears threatening to spill in his terror.
"Got one!" Rafael returned with a large rock in his talons. Bia grabbed it.
"Stand back, Leo!" Bia then began hammering the stone against the padlock. Leo shrank into the back wall as far as he could, as the padlock made a horrible ringing noise, and the rock made the cage shake. But then, after an agonizing wait, the padlock broke. Bia threw it away, and Rafael grabbed the door, pulling it open. Immediately, Leo threw himself at the gap, desperate to get out. The bars raked his sides, but then he was free. Leo shot out of the cage, straight into Bia's wings; he clung to his mother, trembling in fear.
Bia held him tight, her heart racing with relief. She pulled back slightly, and she began to check Leo over, turning his face, examining him for an injury, but Leo, while shaken, was unharmed. Once she was satisfied that Leo was okay, Bia hugged him again, murmuring words of comfort. "I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have left you alone!" Behind the mother and son, Rafael was staring at the silver box, imagining Daniella in a cage.
Later
It was a deal. Emori would help her overcome her fear of water, if she could come with her. Come with me? Where would she go? She remembered the group of Chestnut-Fronted macaws living on the Spix's and Blue-and-Gold's border. If they ever got back to the mainland, could that be Emori's future? If we ever get off this rock.
Daniella watched the ceiling, worried about how they were going to tackle her fear. But thoughts of Kehua were spinning in her mind, instead. Her stomach churned with unease, as she pictured the unsettling, yellow eyes. The fish hook-like claws. The curved beak with the tip missing. The blood-coloured crest on it's head. She could have been killed, if it wasn't for Emori's quick thinking, as extreme an escape it may have been. She and Emori had talked for a while before going to bed - the Chestnut-Fronted macaw had given her some information on the killer eagle, as well as island life. But hardly anything about herself, absolutely nothing about her family. What happened to them - Emori refused to say.
The name 'Kehua' meant 'ghost' in Maori. The name had been coined by a kiwi from New Zealand, where Maori had been spoken when he was there. The killer bird was named 'ghost' for obvious reasons - he was dark like a shadow, terrifying and elusive. Kehua seemed to be the reason behind the majority of killings on the island. Marcos, the Cuban Red macaw, often told stories of how many times he had seen Kehua end someone's life, how he himself had nearly met the same fate.
Kehua had been on the ship that brought the islanders to Alegria, but he was so dangerous, unable to communicate with the other birds, they hadn't dared release him. But then, one day, it was learnt that Kehua had escaped. Marcos' deceased father had been the one to make this terrifying discovery, when he discovered the body of Anya's sister, whom the island was named after, covered in eagle-sized clawmarks.
The wrecked cage had been found on the beach outside the shipwreck, the weak metal bars chewed apart, and Kehua himself had been eventually spotted on the Northern part of the island, which he now inhabited. The Northern side was deathly avoided, because this was where he spent most of his time, where he usually hunted. Occasionally, he would stray to the Southern part, which was where the islanders lived. The island was divided via a stretch of grassland in the center, where no one dared go.
Why on earth did they stay here, with such a dangerous creature stalking them? Emori said it was because the world outside terrified the islanders more than Kehua did. As rare species, many must have witnessed such horrors inflicted on other rare birds in their home lands. Maybe this was why humans frightened them more.
Daniella saw movement in the corner of her eye. Looking to the right, she saw Emori sleeping on the floor. Emori had insisted that she sleep in the hammock, rather than the ground. Emori was, for the fifteenth time, muttering and turning in her sleep. She doesn't sleep well. I guess it has been a bad day for her. First those awful kids, then Kehua almost killed us, then I shouted at her for dragging me underwater. I didn't even thank her for saving my life.
"Come back..." muttered Emori. "Don't... don't leave me here..." Daniella stared at Emori on the floor. "Mom..." Emori twitched in her sleep, but then, finally, she was still and silent. Daniella looked at Emori, bewildered. Come back. Don't leave me here. Mom? Daniella didn't know what to think. She had assumed that Emori was an orphan. Was she right?