Chapter 8: Moments Before the Expedition
The day of departure of the scouting and scavenging group has been getting closer and everyone felt the pressure that was going along with it. Blu´s training with Marco really paid off. He was getting more skilled with every new move he mastered, more capable with every attack he blocked, and more deadly with every attack he hit.
"Hello, Eduardo. Is everything regarding expedition preparations going smoothly? And will there be any kind of informational meeting before we leave?" Eduardo was flooded by Blu´s endless questions.
"Good evening Blu, I am more than happy to say that everything is going smoothly so far. Everyone who is going with us is ready, our supplies are also secured and today at midnight is the pre-flight meeting, be sure to be there." replied Eduardo with ease.
"Great news. I will go talk to Jewel and then meet you…where exactly?" asked Blu, with a drop of shame in his eyes.
"Outside of my treehouse. I also wanted to tell you, that you are allowed to bring than fanny-thingy of yours, it might come in handy as some spare storage. Also, bring that human knife, you never know who we will find out there." explained Eduardo and with all seriousness looked at Blu. He expected that Blu would look away, but he did not. Blu looked him straight in the eye and with courage behind his words said: "We are more than ready, sir. I am more than ready."
With those words being said, Blu left the scene and headed back to his treehouse. He landed on the edge of the entrance and saw his beloved wife inside. Jewel was tidying up their household while the kids were nowhere to be found.
"Hi honey…" greeted Blu love of his life with a warm smile.
"Hello Blu, how was your day?" Jewel kissed his cheek and continued her work.
"It was great. I spent some time with Roberto today, also I talked with Eduardo and it seems everything is going as planned. We should be ready by tomorrow morning." replied Blu.
"That sounds great." said Jewel and turned his back to Blu.
"Hey, is something wrong?" asked Blu as he slowly approached Jewel.
Even from behind, he could hear tears that were coming from her eyes. He slowly got behind her and wrapped his wings around her. They stayed like this for a while. Jewel calmed herself a bit and was ready to confess her feelings.
"You know honey…with all that happened to you last time…and everything that is happening around the borders…I am worried sick about you. I don´t think I would be strong enough if you didn´t return. And what about the kids?" said Jewel as tears started to roll down her cheeks once again.
"Oh come on honey, I will be okay. This time, if something happens, there will be more than enough of us to save the day. Eduardo is coming, Roberto is coming and almost every skilled fighter from the colony is coming as well, just to secure our safety." Blu´s reassuring words were like a poem to Jewel´s ears as she slowly stopped crying.
"Are you sure you will be ok? I need you to promise me that…" insisted Jewel.
"Don´t worry. I promise that nothing will happen to me, Eduardo or Roberto." promised Blu. This was a promise he would keep no matter the cost.
Jewel hugged his husband as his reassuring promise made her feel much better.
-Meanwhile on the other side of the Amazon jungle-
"So…is everything ready?" asked Vlad his partner.
"Almost everything. Our colony´s best warriors are ready. All it takes is one order from me and Amazon will be flooded by their blood." replied Rodrigo.
Rodrigo's figure could bring only glory to his species. Huge, dark blue body of this massive Hyacinth ara was the crown jewel of Amazon´s greatest and deadliest warriors. His razor-sharp talons would give him an upper wing over every opponent, which would be stupid enough to attack him. His deadly beak was reflecting dim light that sneaked into their hiding nest.
"Excellent. According to Basilli's information, their group will be divided into two smaller ones. One will go after fruits while the other will gather herbs and seeds. The fruit-gathering group will return much earlier so that fruit wouldn´t go bad over time. It should be relatively easy because it will be only a small group of Spix macaws. Once we take control over the major colony points, your warriors should be able to get an upper wing and break their formation." informed Vlad his companion.
"…should? You dare to underestimate us?! Even if we were to battle their whole forces, we would win! Don´t you forget the strength of our tribe you peasant." said Rodrigo with visible anger in his eyes.
"I am sorry. It sure won´t happen again. As I was saying – after we get rid of this small group, we just wait for the main one. We can use their families as hostages and under threat of their death, make them surrender. Easy as that…" Vlad finished his explanation.
"Yeah, sounds good. Inform your men and get ready as well. After the fights are over, what do you plan with those, who survive?" asked Rodrigo with excitement.
"Well, I was hoping to sell some to my old business partners. They are humans and will pay crazy money for this species. I will take mostly younger ones and some females as well. You can do whatever you want with the rest." replied Vlad calmly.
"Yeah, whatever. The rest will just work as slaves for our tribe. Also, it has been way too long since I mated with some other species." replied Rodrigo, who was getting overexcited.
"Sure, do whatever you want, but not until I take part, then they are all yours, whatever you do with them. See you soon Rodrigo…" Vlad said his goodbyes and left the nest.
Once he was left alone, he finished his sentence: "…you god damn disgusting savage…". With these last words, his figure got lost in the shade of the Amazon forest.
-Spix ara colony-
Basilli was tired because he was flying all day to make sure, that every from Eduardo´s leader circle is leaving with the expedition. Also, it was very important that every better fighter would leave as well. If anyone would get away from the fight and warn the scouting group, it would be more than troublesome. Everything was going according to plan. One more bird came up in Basillis´s mind.
"Damn, that bastard Marco might be a problem…Eduardo called him off this mission, so if he were to stay, it would be really bad. When we fought, it was really close, he might be even able to beat me if I wouldn´t get out of there. I was lucky that they had other problems so they didn´t even try to chase me." speculated Basilli with himself.
His heart stopped for a moment when he heard Marco´s voice. He quickly hid, even though Marco wouldn´t most likely recognize him. He stopped nearby and stayed out of sight. It really was Marco. He was talking with Jewel while packing some things inside natural bags, used for transporting things and food. Blu was also present and was talking to his children.
His eavesdropping position wasn´t the best, so all he could hear were just pieces of their dialogue. He was however able to catch words ´family trip´. That gave him a flash of faith. Jewel might get away from what was about to happen. She would escape and then he could be together with her. Basilli got lost in his thoughts again. Marco left with Blu towards the center of the colony.
"I must be sure…" thought Basilli to himself and left his hiding spot. He landed next to Jewel and with a friendly smile started a conversation: "Hello Jewel, how are you doing these last days?".
"Wow hello, Basilli. I haven´t seen you in a while. I am fine, thanks for asking." replied Jewel to her childhood friend with a warm smile.
"Yeah, I had some things I needed to take care of. Anyway, I heard something about a family trip. Are you going somewhere?" asked Basilli, hoping for a positive answer.
"Oh yes. Marco is taking me and the kids on a trip around the jungle. We will visit some places that Blu thought were very interesting. It is great for kids and for me as well. I needed a little vacation with all that happened recently." said Jewel and continued packing her things.
"…is he now. Well, that sounds great. I hope you all enjoy it. I am sorry, but I need to go. I still have things to do. See you, Jewel." Basilli in a hurry said his goodbyes and left.
"Now would you look at that. That scumbag is leaving the colony as well. That is great news. Once the colony is under our control, I can leave and kill him in his sleep, so he won´t interfere with our plans. That is good. Now, I need to get lost from here and report to Vlad." his evil thoughts darkened his mind once again as left the colony.
Once the night fell on the Amazon jungle and midnight was closing in, every member of the scouting group gathered in front of Eduardo´s treehouse. Everyone was full of expectation as the day of departure was only hours away. Eduardo landed on one of the branches of his treehouse and waited for the crowd to settle down.
"Good evening to all of you. Now, as everyone knows, due to recent events we practically lost all of our food sources. We are getting low on everything and such times call for drastic actions. Thanks to Blu, we were able to locate and secure a mango grove. This discovery gave us some time to settle down and calm ourselves. However…time calls once again and we need to head it´s call. In exactly 8 hours from now, we will leave our colony and go look for more food sources. If everything will go as planned, we will return in 5 weeks." Eduardo was forced to stop as the crowd started to speculate about the stated absence time.
"I know that it is a long time." Eduardo raised his voice and his authority did the rest of the job. Crowd settled down once again and Eduardo continued.
"I know very well what you all think. 5 weeks is a long time. You won´t see your families for a long time, but this is something that has to be done. And it all rests on your shoulders. Since the colony will be out of supplies in less than 2 weeks, we have to adapt to this fact. That is why the group will be divided into two groups. One will look for the fruits and nuts and will return to the colony in 2 weeks. Fruit wouldn´t last much longer as well, so this is the perfect way of solving both problems. Once this group leaves, the other one will continue looking for all the recourses we need. Seeds, herbs, tools materials, etc. I would like to tell you that there is no danger in this expedition…but I would be lying. As you all know, once we lost our old home and found this new one, we moved dangerously close to the Hyacinth macaw's territory. This tribe…is very simple and primitive…however…they are as dangerous as they are savage. If you ever cross paths with anyone from their tribe, all you can do is run and pray for your life." no one dared to disturb Eduardo´s speech anymore even during these disturbing moments.
"If any of you have any kind of question, ask now." Eduardo called on to anyone with any curiosity.
Not a single sound slipped from the crowd of the macaws. Eduardo smiled with pride.
"Great. We leave in 8 hours. We can only hope to return home safely and with loads of food and recourses. Everyone, get some sleep, and say your goodbyes. Thank you all for your attention. Dismissed!" Eduardo last word echoed throughout the colony and added to everyone´s courage. The crowd of macaws scattered into their homes, hoping for a calm night. Blu was also ready to leave but was stopped by Eduardo.
"So Blu, how are you feeling?" asked him.
"You don´t have to worry about me, sir. Since my wound perfectly healed, I trained my stamina, so I would be able to keep up with you. Everything will go smoothly…" replied Blu with courage, but he still couldn´t hide his nervousness.
"I am glad to hear that. Alright, I won´t bother you anymore, go get some sleep as well. See you in the morning." Eduardo took his leave and Blu was left alone. But not for long.
As he headed back to his treehouse, Marco was already waiting for him at the entrance.
"You feel it too, huh?" asked Blu once he landed by his side.
"Yeah. Something just doesn´t feel right. I just can´t figure out what. I have a feeling that something big will happen once the group leaves. After all, the colony will be unprotected…" started Marco.
"…every good fighter will be away on the expedition. If the colony got attacked, those few who are staying could not hold them. They would fall for sure. But nothing like this happened for over ten years. Only that stupid soccer match. The situation at the borders calmed down as well…it should be all right." continued Blu.
"I hope you are right. Oh, I almost forgot. A few days back, I met up with a buddy of mine from the Tria Atlantis and he gave me a pair of this new bird combat equipment." Marco spread his right wing and revealed razor-sharp titanium feathers, secretly hidden under his blue feathers.
"Now that is something…but what exactly is it?" asked Blu in awe.
"These, my friend, are special combat feathers. They are made from titanium so they are extremely hard yet light weighted. You place them on your wings and use them whenever you need them. If you don´t spread your wings too much, they are practically invisible, but once you get into a tough situation, you can easily use them in a fight. Think of them as sharp knives between your feathers. I have two sets of these. As you can see, I am already using this one, and I want you to have the other one." said Marco with a mild smile on his beak.
"Marco…that is very generous of you, but I already told you that I don´t like weapons. I am now even scared of my fighting skills." Blu observed Marco´s weapon with resistance, yet strange attraction.
"If used correctly, weapons are only tools to help you protect the ones that you love. Also, watch this…" as Marco finished the sentence, he spread his wing and tossed it in direction of one of the trees. One titanium feather from his set got loose and struck the tree trunk.
"Interesting toy…" appreciated Blu Marco´s skill with this new weapon.
"I call this move ´Feather Shuriken´ (Feather Throwing Knife). It is very effective at mid distances, while the feathers that are still connected, are used in close combat. The best part is, that you can go and pick that thrown piece, connect it back, and use it again." Interjected Marco.
"Well, they might come in handy…we will be flying through dangerous territory after all…" admitted Blu as he accepted Marco´s gift.
"And that is the reason why I am giving this to you. I will take care of Jewel and the kids. But you need to take care of yourself. You can´t rely on anyone but yourself." encouraged him Marco.
"Thanks to everything you taught me, I don´t have to be scared of anything anymore. I know everything you know, and as long as you are with my family, I know that I don´t have to worry about them…" replied Blu and placed his right wing around Marco´s shoulders.
"Well because you are very quick in learning new things, we are way before our schedule. I don´t have anything left to teach you from the original move sets. Also, I noticed that you are already adding your own moves, once can also add combat with Titanium Feathers and Feather Shurikens, you will be unstoppable. But always remember the basics…" complimented Marco Blu´s abilities.
"Marco…you did so much for me and my family…I am not sure I will ever be able to repay you for all this." Blu looked at Marco with shame.
"That day is yet to come, my friend. I am sure you will find a way…" replied Marco with understanding in his eyes and pure intentions in his heart.
A hug of these two brothers in arms and best friends ended their conversation. Blu entered their treehouse as Marco left to his treehouse to get some more sleep, which he wasn´t getting enough in these past few days.
"So, who is ready for some adventure?" asked Blu his beloved children.
All Blu got for and the answer was excited shouting, however that was enough for him. As he entered their bedroom, he found Jewel, finishing her preparations for the trip.
"Jewel?" asked Blu nervously.
"Yes, honey?" answered Jewel as she turned to him and revealed her lovely smile. That one smile was all Blu needed to blow away all of his doubts.
"…nothing. I am just happy things are finally getting better for all of us…"
Next Chapter: The Expedition