Chapter 37:
The still breathless morning brought a sweltering heat across much of the Amazon Rainforest. Despite the growing gloominess brought forth by the trees which blocked out the sunlight, the two birds continued heading south as fast as their talons would carry them. Blu gasped, wiping the sweat from his forehead, eyeing the perspiration with a curious eye.
"It's so hot that I'm actually sweating." He groaned, stumbling to the ground. "…It's too hot…"
Rose peered back at her dad, noticing the clear liquid coming from his forehead, her eyes widened as she noticed exactly what he was talking about. Her beak hung ajar for a moment. "Huh, I didn't even know that was possible."
Blu raised himself back up onto his talons and stepped by his daughter's side. "I know, right? I actually mentioned that to your mother once. She couldn't believe it either. Though of course, at the time I was trying to tell her I loved her for the first time. I ended up choking on a cherry blossom that day."
Rose raised a wing to her ear. She listened for a second.
"You know, you don't have to pretend to be listening to me." Blu pouted. "You could always just say that you're not interested in hearing about your heritage."
Rose shook her head, continuing to listen. Her beak curled into a smile. "Dad, come with me, I think I know where we need to go, come on!"
Rose sprinted past her father with all the speed her body could muster. Blu held out his good wing, his eyes widened in horror.
"Rose, don't run so fast, it could be dangerous!" he shouted at the top of his lungs. The girl did not stop. She sprung through the jungle at tope speed until she vanished from sight. At the moment all sound in the jungle stopped, greeting his ears as the only reply to his concerned shouting. A deep rooted terror embraced him. He shook his head, picking up the speed and running to follow behind her.
#
When Blu had finally caught up to his daughter, he found her staring slack jawed in awe at the sight ahead of them. They stood before a massive river bed stretching from the east to west. The water ran fast with an unusually strong current. The waves splashed against a collection of large jagged and pointed rocks which Blu guessed would be the only source of salvation should one of them fall into the deep raging channel.
Blu trembled at the sight. "Do we really have to cross that?" he asked remembering the events that had transpired a few weeks ago. He could still hear the cruel laughter of the evil vicious cockatoo as he lifted him off the ground, strangling him. The cockatoo had every desire to drop him into the water to drown, ending his life with a watery grave… a moment in time that he held no desire to repeat.
"Yes," Rose nodded her head. "I believe this is what we're looking for. Trial number one."
Rose pulled out the book and recited the next few lines of the riddle.
"For three trials you shall face
Defeat the snake of blue sur face
Decrease the space and you will see
What the trial is supposed to be
Teeth the teeth, they'll eat you down
If you touch the thing that makes you drown"
Blu cocked his head to one side. He thought about the lines for a moment, then peered back out to the river, studying the swift moving river. The water splashed up against the sheer granite wall, spraying Blu with the misty run off. He swallowed a large lump in his throat as he shuddered at the cold clamminess of the spray.
"I remember falling in there like it was yesterday." He groaned, "It hurt badly. I think I might have even bounced off the granite on my way down. I don't remember much before I hit the water, except the sudden pain flowing through my wing."
Rose shuddered at the thought. She peered down at the long drop for several moments.
"I'm glad that wasn't me," she admitted eyeing the roaring current.
"If it had been any member of my family, I would have dived right in after you." Blu explained, "Whether my wing was damaged or not. Sometimes you just got to ignore what's in your head, and follow what's in your heart."
Rose formed a peaceful smile. Her mind traced back to all the times in her life she had heard stories about her mother's blossoming romance. She knew the story so well that it almost seemed like some kind of fictional belief. She could picture her father travelling over six thousand miles to find his future wife, only to be captured by smugglers and held prisoner in a cage. She could picture him leaping from a moving airplane in one last ditch effort to tell her mother how he felt. She breathed inwards sighing as she even pictured the romantic kiss during what could have possibly been their final few moments on Earth. It all seemed like some kind of wonderful fairy tale. But now standing here with her father, she could see that her mother's words were all too real. Inside the timid creature that was her father rested a real hero.
"He was willing to die to be with her," she frowned, eyeing her dad who stared trying to figure out their current situation. "He is one of the bravest birds I have ever known, I wish I could have seen them back then, how romantic it must have been to go through all of that. That is why they have an unbreakable bond."
Blu's eyes shifted towards his daughter for a moment. He had heard every word she had to say. He held out his good wing and placed it across his daughter's shoulder. "It's not just your mother either." He admitted, "I would have jumped even if it had been you or your brothers that day. You all mean the world to me."
Blu sighed as he continued. "You know though, the reason we're doing this is because I really want to fly with you again. I've been feeling terrible that I might let you down should my wing never heal properly."
Rose's eyes widened in shock.
"You were worried about disappointing me?" she echoed, her beak hung ajar at the news. "Dad, you could never disappoint me."
"Even if a cockatoo throws me in the river and I shatter my wing?"
Rose wrapped her wings around her father, hugging him tight. "Yes, Dad, even if a cockatoo throws you in a river and you shatter your wing. I'll always be proud of you."
"That's good," Blu smiled peering out towards the river bed, he swallowed a large lump in his throat, "because this one is a lot bigger… and worst of all, somewhere in there is a giant snake waiting to eat us."
Rose formed a mischievous grin. "Oh for sure, there's probably a lot of anacondas, pythons, and anything else in there." she teased, though deep down, she too worried about that possibility. Anacondas were notorious for blending in once their bodies hit the water. They wouldn't see it until it was too late and then they'd be a pair of bite sized snacks for the hungry predator.
"I don't think the snake of blue sur face is an actual snake," she admitted, "look how the river bends and curves, it's almost snake."
"Oh okay," Blu nodded his agreement.
"The line also says decrease the space and you will see, what your trial is supposed to be. We're looking at a snake with a blue surface, especially if you are looking at a map."
Blu cocked his head once more peering out at the river which continued to block their path. "But how are we supposed to defeat a river?"
"I'm not entirely sure," Rose frowned.
"You would think that one would cross a river," Blu admitted, scratching his head with his wing.
Rose's eyes widened with delight at the phrase her father had spoken out of pure dumb luck. She could not hide the smile from her face.
"Dad, you're such a genius. Mountain climbers defeat a mountain once they have reached its peak. We need to find a way to cross the river in order to defeat it."
"That doesn't sound so hard," Blu shrugged. "Except we can't swim, the current is too fast and way to strong. Last time it swept me away for miles."
"Then how are we supposed to cross?" Rose protested, "You can't fly, you're wings are too damaged."
Blu grabbed his daughter with his talon and proceeded to the edge. "Once I throw you, fly to the other side." He instructed her. "When you get there, find a comfortable place to sit, I'll meet back up with you, I promise."
Rose nodded her head, Blu spread both of his wings, ignoring the severe pain flowing through the joint. He cringed but continued onwards. He tossed his daughter and watched her land on the far side safe and sound.
"Okay, Blu," he told himself, "You are not an ostrich, now fly!"
Blu shifted his talons across the dirt ground, casting a cloud of dust into the air. Without thinking, he leapt forward spreading his wings as far apart as he could manage. He flapped them as hard as he could, ignoring the cracking of his bones as his entire wing mechanism moved groggily.
"I'm doing it," he smiled, "I'm actually doing it."
His body hovered in the air for a brief second, before stalling. "I'm not doing it!" he choked out, seconds before falling into the water."
SPLASH!
Blu struggled for a moment against the current, but found his talons glued to the ground. His eyes widened as he found himself walking with ease against the battering current which pummeled his body with excessive force. It took his breath away, but he kept moving, that is until he reached something solid.
The granite rocks, he thought to himself, forming a plan. He gripped his wing against the rock and climbed. His limbs attached like glue, creating a suction which allowed him to pull himself up and onto the plateau point. He stared in disbelief at what he had done with a single wing and his talons, a feat which in his mind should have been impossible.
"Okay…" Blu cocked his head, looking back at the task he had completed, "I don't know how I did that but I'm not complaining."
Blu peered down at his wings, surprised to find them covered in a thick sticky and green algae. He cringed at the sliminess seeping through his feathers.
"Well, this is certainly gross," he cringed, "But it definitely makes the job of crossing the river easier, especially if it doesn't wash off."
Blu's eyes narrowed as he studied the shore on the opposite side. It seemed a lot closer now that he had hatched an actual plan. Gulping, he walked off the ledge and took the plunge back into water.
#
Blu gasped for air as he reemerged on the shore, panting as he struggled to catch his breath. He cringed at the sliminess of the algae as it continued to spread across his body and soak across his feathers, staining them green.
"This is so gross," he shuddered. "Or better yet, let's never do that again."
"At least we've made it past the river," his daughter admitted appearing over top of him, her beak forcing a huge proud smile.
She grabbed the algae from her father, ridding it from him completely. She studied the big green blob of muck, and nodded her head.
"Yup, it's exactly what I thought it was," she grinned. "Teeth."
"Excuse me?" Blu arched a curious eye.
"No," Rose shook her head, holding up the blob for Blu to see. "This algae…it's called teeth because it sinks into your flesh creating a sort of suction cup effect. That's what the riddle means as it explains Trial one."
She peered through the passage and read the selected line aloud.
"For three trials you shall face
Defeat the snake of blue sur face
Decrease the space and you will see
What the trial is supposed to be
Teeth the teeth, they'll eat you down
If you touch the thing that makes you drown"
She peered up at her father. "You touched the river by swimming in it. The algae made you stick to the dirt beneath the surface and the rocks, like the riddle suggest it ate you down, or more exactly, swallowed you beneath the surface."
"Oh," Blu lowered his head. "I'm not bad for a flightless bird am I?"
"Nope, you solved one of the riddles, and we can move on." Rose grinned. "However, I will admit, I have seen better rock climbing every time someone tries to give Buster a bath. That little bird knows how to outsmart both of you."
"Oh ha ha, everyone is a critic," Blu pouted, "But to be fair, most of that is your mother."
Rose shoved her father playfully. She peered down at the next phrase in her book. Her eyes widened in horror at what she read.
"We're not done yet, we should keep on moving."
Blu studied the look on his daughter's face. His smile faded into a more serious tone. "What does it say, Rose?"
"Travel through fire the land of grim
Journey through death and find its brim"
Blu nodded his head, holding up his talon as he thought about the next phrase of the riddle. He pouted as he shuddered at the thought of what laid ahead.
"If that river was truly the snake of blue sur-face... then we still have to go through something involving fire... and something involving death."
Rose nodded her head.
Blu swallowed a large lump in his throat. He peered out at the horizon. Not sure what to make of the ominous instructions. Was he meant to die out this far from his home, without ever getting his wing fixed? Would he even reach the blood orchid before it died off?
"I think we might have just escaped the frying pan." Blu gulped, "But we landed in the fire."
Rose nodded her head.
"Let's keep going, dad." She said, "We'll never figure out the answer to this riddle if we sit here worrying about it."
Both birds continued onwards, neither slowing down as the sun grew higher in the sky... and neither saw the smoke hovering in the air just ahead of where they were heading.