Nobody knew what was going on, so far away from the explosion. As Eduardo stumbled through his fallen tribemates, searching for Tia, Jewel, and Roberto, he had no idea he was looking in the wrong place. While Jewel and Adelaide were fighting for life, Tia and Roberto had been thrown by the explosion through the trees, for they had been on the edge of it when it happened. They lay a distance apart.
A heap of ferns and branches shifted slightly, rising and falling as though it were breathing, as someone tried to push away the debris crushing them, but lost strength and let it sink back down several times. Twigs showered off the pile and branches heaved, but eventually a bedraggled form pulled itself free, covered in dust and ash. Tia pushed the final branch off her, gasping as she did. Eyes streaming, ears ringing, she took a moment to come to her senses.
She took in her surroundings, deliriously wondering how the forest had ignited so quickly. The petrol was probably why. Tia staggered to her feet, teal eyes round with her horror, as she took in a wall of flaming trees. She heard distant wailing; she recognized the voices of her tribemates, of Eduardo and Mimi. Screaming, for her, Roberto, and Jewel. Jewel! She'd heard her daughter scream for her, but a few moments later, Roberto had shrieked. Naturally, Tia initially ran forwards, headed back to the clearing to search for Jewel. But then there was a weak cry of pain from behind her.
Tia spun round, seeing something half-sticking out of a pile of heavy looking branches. Her heart twisted. "Roberto!"
"Tia!" He wailed, sounding like a chick. Tia ran over to him, hearing his cries of pain, which made her run all the more faster. She reached his side, mortified to see a burn on his face, from where he was half-buried in debris. She frantically started trying to loosen the branches trapping him, and when she thought he could be moved, she grabbed his wings.
"It's okay, hang onto me -" Tia flinched when Roberto released another cry of pain, as she freed him. He was covered in scratches, and laying there he'd been burned slightly by charred branches. He was covered in ash, his blue feathers now grey, tears carving blue rivers through the greyness. Tia dusted some of the ash off his face, before hugging him, because he was as much a son to her as Jewel was her daughter.
"The humans did it - I saw the red canister, it exploded!" Roberto was traumatized. He'd had bad experiences with them before, but this had put the nail in the coffin. He was saying the five letter word, over and over, terrified of the thought of them. Tia clung onto him, trying to calm him.
"Ssh! Calm down! I'm here, I'm here!" Tia forced him to look into her eyes to reassure him, and eventually his stammering stopped, because her teal eyes reminded him of his own mother's, when she'd been alive. "You okay now?" Roberto nodded silently. "Alright." Tia didn't let go of him, wing clasped to the back of his head, as she stared up at the flaming ceiling, face filled with disbelief.
How did this happen?
"Tia!" Shouted a distant voice.
"Mimi!" She yelled back, to show where they were. A few moments later, Mimi and Eduardo came crashing through the ferns, running to Tia and Roberto.
"I thought you were gone." Eduardo said, hoarsely.
"Never." Tia kissed him briefly, before remembering what had sparked panic into her. "Where's Jewel?" She asked. Mimi and Eduardo went cold; they'd been unable to find Jewel in the clearing. Roberto, under his feathers, went pale as the blood drained from his face. Tia went white. "We have to find her."
"I'm sure she isn't far!" But Mimi's voice was high with distress. She didn't believe that.
"We'll fan out and find her. She must be nearby!" Eduardo held tight onto Tia's wing. But Tia was starting to panic. Her heart raced, her body shaking.
"I'll help -"
"You're not going anywhere!" Eduardo snapped at Roberto. "Get back to the ravine, it's too dangerous!"
"I'm not leaving without Jewel!" Roberto insisted, but then Zenaida and Freya came through the ferns, Freya less hysterical over her missing talon, but her eyes were glossed with shock. Neither could stay and help, for Freya seemed to be in shock, and Zenaida already had sensitive lungs and couldn't be too exposed to smoke. She was spluttering already.
"Zenaida, Freya! Roberto's going back with you!"
"But -" Roberto tried to protest, but Tia seized him.
"I can't lose you too." She whispered, and Roberto couldn't worry her anymore. He felt numb as Mimi ushered him over to Zenaida and Freya.
"Go on!" Mimi said, in a fragile voice, to Roberto. Tia's wing slipped from Eduardo's grasp, as they and Mimi went to search for Jewel.
While this was happening, Adelaide and Jewel leapt apart as Rojo came flailing at them like a battering ram. He'd clearly lost his mind, there was no negotiating. They had no other choice. They'd have to fight their way out - there was no escape right now, but they couldn't just stand there and wait for a path through the flames.
"The moment there's a clear path, we run for it!" Jewel managed to gasp, as she and Adelaide tried to evade Rojo and stick together.
"When do we -" Adelaide replied, before Jewel spun round and launched herself at Rojo. Rojo was surprised, and skidded to a halt, but this gave Jewel the upper hand. She didn't hesitate, driven by the anger and the fear, it was all a blur. Adelaide joined in, swiping her talon to strike Rojo on the cheek, so hard he staggered from the impact. She felt such satisfaction, after hating him for so long, after all he'd said and done to her.
But it was as if Rojo had unlimited energy. He looked such a state, but he continued to put up a fight, not seeming to weaken or slow down. Despite his bedraggled appearance, he was brutally strong. "This is tragic! The pair of you, what will you do? Kill me?" He asked, mockingly.
"We're not like you." Jewel spat. "We won't go that far -" suddenly there was a flash out of the corner of her eye; a split in the flame. "Adelaide! Go!" Adelaide blindly followed Jewel, her eyes stinging with the heat, as they ran through the gap. Jewel looked over her shoulder, realizing with terror that Rojo was following. She and Adelaide flew close to the forest floor, keeping under the smoke, as they tried to evade him.
A branch fell, and Rojo screeched as he was struck, falling briefly to the floor. This bought Jewel and Adelaide some time, as they raced ahead. But Jewel was exhausted. She was slowing, her flying clumsy - when a piece of branch came flying her way she was too slow to avoid it. She was struck and fell down, tumbling head over tail, until she came to a painful halt.
"Jewel!" Adelaide landed beside her, trying to drag her to her feet, but Jewel was weak. "Come on, we need to keep going!"
"Get yourself out, Adelaide. Just leave me..." Jewel was ready to pass out, but Adelaide shook her.
"No. You're my friend, I'm not going to leave you here with him!" Adelaide lifted Jewel's ash-covered face, looking at her with determined brown eyes. "I was thoughtless and emotional, and I didn't spare your feelings. I owe you." The moment shattered, when Rojo recovered and came charging through the smoke. Adelaide stood between him and Jewel, a fierce look in her eyes that made Rojo skid to a halt.
"You've always been a problem. From the beginning, I hated you hanging around my son! You -" Rojo swayed; Adelaide was sure that within a few minutes he would collapse, by the state of him. She had no sympathy.
"You need to shut up, right now!" Adelaide had never been so angry, bristling so much she almost equalled Rojo in size. She screamed at Rojo, her fury like the fire. "Don't use Felipe as an excuse. You never cared about him - you practically buried him alive!" Jewel struggled to her feet behind Adelaide, in an attempt to offer support.
Something strange was happening. Jewel's, and Adelaide's, hearts were racing dangerously fast. As if something were going to happen. But Adelaide had never felt more alive. Her blood pounded in her ears, and somehow she felt immune to the smoke. Rojo breathed heavily, his movements erratic.
"Why do you care? He seemed like a state! You've been arguing for weeks!"
"I love him. Just... not like that." Adelaide had realized a little while ago it wasn't romantic love she felt now. It was more like that of a dear friend. "But I loved him in a way you never knew. You'd understand if you loved Perlina enough to put her over your petty revenge plans! If it weren't for the human stuff I passed on my way here, I'd have thought you'd started this fire!" Rojo's eyes darkened at the mention of Perlina and this last statement.
"Don't you speak her name."
Adelaide was delirious and unthinking. She laughed hysterically at the hypocrisy, despite their ever dangerous surroundings. Cinders whirled around them, driven by the strong wind, and the trees were hissing as the fire burned through their trunks. "You criticized Felipe for loving me, yet you say something like that? You really are a hypocrite! And why do you always seem to make arrogant and preposterous speeches?" While Adelaide and Rojo were spitting insults, Jewel was thinking about everything Rojo had done.
"You make me sick." Jewel whispered, and Adelaide paused to look at Jewel. Jewel shook slightly, and Rojo glared at her. "Look around you. You're the reason we're here. My tribe is in danger and so is yours, because you wanted to drag us out here... if you hadn't, we'd be in our ravine away from danger, you'd be in your kapoks, and not trapped in the midst of the fire! We would have had a chance to avoid it!" Jewel's voice grew thick. "Was it really worth it, Rojo? What you've done to my tribe, for these past months?" Adelaide saw Rojo's muscles tense up. He was getting ready to spring, and Jewel didn't realize. Adelaide's pupils dilated.
With a screech to kill, Rojo sprang towards Jewel, barbed talons aimed for her throat; Jewel cried out and went to shield herself with her wings, but Adelaide threw herself between them. They went crashing across the burnt remains of ferns, claws slashing, screeching. Rojo, in desperation, reached around blindly, looking for a stone. So caught up by the attack, he didn't realize what object he'd found. He wildly carved his talon through space, and then blood sprayed through the air. Adelaide's voice abruptly cut off, and she grew eerily still. Jewel's breath caught briefly. Time stopped to observe this moment in pure horror.
It was silent, as if the world had been muted, everything happening in slow motion. Jewel's scream was unheard, the spitting of fire ceased. Slowly, Adelaide looked at Rojo, eyes filled with nothing but pure shock. She reached down, and pulled the shard of wood free. It was drenched in blood. Adelaide started to tremble, and then her legs gave out. Jewel's beak moved to form Adelaide's name as she dived to catch Adelaide in her wings. Suddenly sound came rushing back, as Rojo staggered backwards, stunned by what he had done. Jewel was screaming hysterically.
"No, no! Adelaide!" Jewel looked up at Rojo in horror. "What have you done?"
"I... I didn't mean to..." but he was ignored as Jewel focused on Adelaide, who had tears falling, slowly, from her eyes.
"Why did you do that?" Jewel cradled Adelaide in her wings. "He was going for me!" Adelaide was bleeding. The puncture was streaming dark red, so dark it was almost black. Her eyes flickered, she twitched slightly. Her eyes flickered open and shut, but Jewel shook her frantically to keep her awake.
"Adelaide! Look at me! Look at me, I'm right here. Stay with me." She seized a piece of moss, tried to stop the flow of blood from Adelaide's stomach. But the blood kept coming, soaking, staining the moss red, until it soaked through to Jewel's feathers. Her efforts were futile, for the shard of wood had hit something important. Still, she held the moss to the wound in desperation. Adelaide was limp now, eyes glossed over, but they were alive and lost in Jewel's comforting turquoise ones. Like a tropical version, of the blue, blue sea that the white, white moon sailed over. The sea of Juanita's song.
"Jewel." Adelaide's voice was soft yet urgent, silencing Jewel, who clung onto her wing. She didn't feel the pain. She just felt... detached. More and more, as though part of her were melting away from the other. Jewel stared down at her, tears in her eyes. "Jewel. I... I loved..."
"Don't talk like that! You'll be alright!" Jewel clutched onto her wing still. "Don't talk. Save your energy, I'll get help!"
"Stay with me." Adelaide whispered. She held Jewel's wing too, but she'se was pale under her feathers. "I'm sorry... for everything I've said... I haven't been the greatest friend, have I?"
"Friends always argue! You've always been the greatest friend, I could ever have. Ever since the day I met you, Adelaide! We can still be friends. No matter what happens between our tribes, we'll always meet."
"We will meet, Jewel. We will meet again..." Adelaide knew it was true.
"You've always been my friend." Jewel continued, wanting to keep Adelaide awake, but every word she said was true. "Ever since I first met you, I knew you were more than just some kid I bumped into... you cared about me from the very beginning. I'm sorry for every stupid thing I've said..."
"Jewel... say you'll remember me." Adelaide felt the sense of detachment growing. As if she were climbing out of a shell, leaving that behind, a lighter part of her set free.
"Always." Jewel whispered, the last words Adelaide would hear from someone who was alive. Jewel's beak was moving to show she was speaking to her, but Adelaide was hearing something else. She didn't hear the fire around her, or even feel the heat of the fire anymore. She was looking into the sky, where she thought she saw a star, flashing, despite the smoke.
"I'm not afraid." Adelaide murmured.
Behind Jewel, the flaming forest had darkened to black. From this star, came a river of silver-blue light, pooling through the darkness. Adelaide saw a beautiful figure land on the floor, with the distinct grace she remembered. Stars seemed to be woven within her feathers. Singing a song heard in one of Adelaide's first memories, the one that had lulled her and Azalea to sleep, every night.
"It's only a white, white moon... sailing over the blue, blue sea. But it wouldn't be beautiful... without your love for me." Adelaide heard Juanita's voice for the first time in months, and saw her outstretched wings. Then Adelaide found herself gliding across the space between them, unable to resist Juanita's embrace. She looked once more at Jewel, before her flame extinguished.
Always. Adelaide's voice, from somewhere, echoed.
"Adelaide... Adelaide?" Jewel was still there, as Adelaide's wing dropped from hers. She took a few moments to understand what had happened. Slowly, the horrifying realization washed over her. She no longer felt Adelaide's heart beat. Something inside her cracked.
Desperately, she tried. "I'm still here... come back." But there was nothing. Adelaide was dead, limp in her grasp. Jewel held Adelaide for a few more moments, before her wings loosened to allow her to slip to the floor. A new realization had come to Jewel, and suddenly she was shaking. Slowly, she got to her feet, and turned around. There was a dangerous look in her eyes as she stared at Rojo.
"You did this."
"I never meant to..." Rojo hated Adelaide, but had never meant to kill her. But Jewel had no sympathy.
"I'll kill you..." Jewel felt her grief turn to rage. All of this was his fault. He'd dragged them into the fire, and now, he'd done this. Adelaide was dead because of him. "I'll kill you!" With a wordless shriek, Jewel threw out her wings to spring at him, but then there was a crack from overhead - an unknown power, moving to stop Jewel from doing something she would regret, or to end this once and for all.
She whipped her head up, and saw a huge branch - more like the size of a tree trunk rather than a branch. Jewel leapt out of the way, but Rojo was too slow. He screamed like never before, disappearing under the branch, and then more debris came showering onto him. He was screaming, in true agony this time. Jewel staggered away, horrified.
Jewel didn't want to leave Adelaide, but more debris was falling, driving her back. Weeping, Jewel cried out that she was sorry, before spinning round and fleeing into the burnt forest, too terrified to stay. The burning was dying out in this part of the forest, leaving everything black, like death. Adelaide's body lay in a patch of grass that had escaped the fire, and a few metres away, Rojo screamed his lungs raw.
