Chapter 10- meeting Zephyr, Brisa, Lapis Lazuli and Sapphire
D'Artagnan, Aurora and Levi found themselves shoved through a small hatch into some sort of artificially made habitat. As soon as all three birds were inside, a metal door slammed behind them. Levi then suddenly began to panic and backed away against the metal door, while Aurora and D'Artagnan looked nervously around the room with wide eyes. From a hidden camera Tulio, Francisco, Blake, Drake, Jake, Susan and Lucy watched the three macaws as they stood there and as Levi shivered against the metal door. While Tulio had pushed D'Artagnan, Aurora and Levi into the habitat, Susan, Lucy, Blake, Drake and Jake had released the other four macaws so that they could fly around and meet the other birds in the medical room. As the seven humans watched D'Artagnan, Aurora and Levi's actions via the hidden camera from the camera room, Susan became concerned.
"Are you sure this is going to work?" she asked Tulio and Francisco.
"Look, just give it a chance," replied Francisco and with that, he pressed a button to turn on the lights. D'Artagnan, Aurora and Levi flinched when a series of lights turned on, lighting up the habitat. Then after the nerves had faded away and some confidence developed, the three began to cautiously walk through the artificially made mini-jungle room.
The artificial habitat was cleverly constructed. The ground was made of a carpet of sand and there was an artificial stream with running water slicing through it. Dozens of plants and a few trees decorated the habitat, especially along the walls to make it look more like a patch of jungle. The walls and ceiling were painted a sky blue with white clouds with a background of trees drawn and painted along the walls, which D'Artagnan, Aurora and Levi assumed was to give the impression of a jungle landscape. However, they knew that it was artificial. There were a few toys dotting here and there including some climbing sticks and a large window, a skylight was constructed into the ceiling to allow some sunlight to enter the area. Then D'Artagnan, Levi and Aurora felt some sort of faint reminders from the habitat prick at them, the environment feeling familiar but they were fuzzy and faint. Brushing those thoughts off, the three continued pacing through the habitat, wary eyes on the collection of foliage. As the trio continued their cautious walk, Levi split from the other two and went a different direction while D'Artagnan and Aurora continued walking in the direction of their choice.
"Hello," cried D'Artagnan, "Anyone here?"
Aurora then stopped and looked around while D'Artagnan continued walking on.
"Is anyone here?" called D'Artagnan again in a louder voice.
While D'Artagnan continued walking on, Aurora took a moment to examine one of the plants decorating the floor. She ran a talon along its leaf surface. It did not feel like a real leaf at all but still, it resembled the real thing.
"Clever piece of artwork," said the pigtailed Spix macaw to herself, impressed by the replica of the natural jungle habitat. Then the strange feelings of familiarity bubbled in Aurora again. This artificial habitat reminded her of somewhere familiar but she cannot point a talon on the fuzzy memory. Then suddenly, a whoosh noise snapped her out of her thoughts. That noise came from above and behind her. Aurora turned in the direction but saw nothing there. Shrugging, she continued to examine the habitat some more. However, she was unaware that she was being watched. Behind her in one of the trees, two forms, one dark blue and blue-white and the other cerulean and blue-white peered down at her. The two forms were cloaked by the shadow of the leaves of the tree, but their eyes gleamed like polished stones in the light. One pair of eyes was dark green while the other pair was light green. The owners of the eyes then began talking but their voices were too quiet to be heard. Then the owner of the green eyes, which were filled with suspicion, then began to think about making the next move. Meanwhile Aurora continued looking around at the habitat, admiring the artificial trees and plants as well as the mini stream. There were also a few rocks scattered about the floor too. Aurora then thought to herself as she felt the feeling of familiarity creep back within her again.
"Why does this place feel familiar?" she asked herself, "Is it déjà vu or something?"
Aurora continued pondering the bizarre familiarity feeling. However she was in for a shock. While Aurora continued wondering why the plants of the artificial habitat were giving her apparent déjà vu, a faint shadow faded into view on the floor and the plants where she stood, cloaking her and startling her. Aurora flinched and began to examine it. It was shaped like a bird for it had wings and a tail. Filled with curiosity, Aurora turned and when her eyes landed on the shadow's owner, she became transfixed by a blue and blue-white macaw as it emerged from the glare of one of the lights.
This macaw had lush blue feathers and a blue-white head. Its eyes were separated by a tuft of blue feathers above the beak. These crest feathers were blue like the rest of its body. The macaw also had a black beak much like Aurora and its eyes were a shade of green, like the green of leaves. And based on its features, the macaw appeared to be male. Aurora continued gazing at the male macaw as he continued flying towards her.
"Wow, he's so handsome," she thought, her amber eyes transfixed on the macaw, "I've never seen a macaw as handsome as him..."
Aurora continued gazing at the male macaw as he continued flying towards her until finally; she snapped out of her trance and dodged the incoming macaw a split second before he could crash into her by diving out of the way. The male macaw then swerved around and lunged at Aurora again. This time, Aurora did not react in time and before she knew it, the macaw had her neck pinned against a tree trunk with a talon. Aurora gasped in shock as the male macaw then glared at her with his suspicious green eyes.
"Quem são você, e de onde você vieram (Who are you, and where did you come from)!?" snarled the bird aggressively. Aurora then glared back at the macaw before raising her feet and delivered a hefty double kick to the macaw's stomach to get him to release her. The macaw cried in shock as he was pushed back before falling to the floor, releasing Aurora from his grasp. Aurora then spread her wings defensively in case the macaw decided to attack her again when suddenly, a cerulean and white comet rushed in and tackled into her. Aurora cried in shock as she was flung into a nearby bush, crashing into there. As she shook herself from the resulting daze, Aurora looked out from the leaves. She then saw another macaw help the darker blue male to his feet. This second macaw was female and she looked very like the darker blue male. Like him, her head was entirely blue-white but her feathers were cerulean instead of blue. Her crest was similar to the male's but longer, and flowed over her crown. She had a dark grey beak and her eyes were a shade of lime green.
"É você alright, Zephyr (Are you alright, Zephyr)?" asked the female as she helped the male to his feet.
"Eu sou muito bem, Brisa, agradecimentos (I'm fine, Brisa, thanks)," said the male as he brushed his front down. He then began to look around for Aurora.
"Agora onde fêz que o macaw com os dois jogos estranhos das penas principais vai (Now where did that macaw with the weird two sets of head feathers go)?" he asked, a quizzical look on his face. Aurora rolled her eyes and decided to reveal herself to the two macaws.
As she stepped out from the bush, the two macaws flinched upon seeing her and got into defence mode, their eyes laced with hostility and suspicion.
"Whoa, it's okay," shouted Aurora with her wings up to convince the pair that she was not a threat, "I mean no harm. Don't attack me."
Then becoming assured that she definitely not a threat, the two macaws lowered their defensive mood. After this, they began to discuss about her.
"Um, Zephyr," said the female, "Is that macaw from America?"
"Well, she speaks English that's for sure, Brisa, so it seems so," said the male, whom Aurora assumed was called Zephyr. Then a frown formed on her face.
"I'm from the United Kingdom actually," said she, "Can't you tell from my accent?"
Then Zephyr and Brisa approached her cautiously. Aurora threw on a surprised gaze as the two, which were siblings, began to examine her closely.
"Are you a Spix macaw, like us?" asked Zephyr with a curious frown, "You have blue feathers... a dark grey beak... and blue-white facial markings, like us."
"Of course I'm a Spix macaw," replied Aurora annoyed, "Isn't it obvious? By the way, my name is Aurora."
"Oh, really?" said the female macaw, whom Aurora assumed was Zephyr's sister, "Well, I'm Brisa, and this is my older brother Zephyr."
Aurora then gave Zephyr a bit of a glare, irritated at his catching her by the throat.
"But it was a bit out of order to attack a lady on first sight like that," she growled slightly.
"We were suspicious at first," said Zephyr, "We saw you with that other Lear's macaw and the weird macaw with the turquoise plumage, grey head and yellow facial features walk about the habitat."
"Oh, that was D'Artagnan," said Aurora, "And the other macaw was Levi. He's a glaucous macaw."
"Glaucous macaw?" repeated Brisa to Zephyr with surprise, "I thought Lapis Lazuli was the only glaucous macaw in existence. She told us that when we met her and the Lear's macaw, Sapphire."
"Well, we've no time to discuss anything, Brisa," said Zephyr with a frown, his mind on something else, "Let's find Lapis Lazuli and Sapphire and find a way out of here."
He then turned to Aurora. "You come along as well. There isn't a moment to lose."
And with that, he took off, followed by Brisa. Aurora, at first looked on with confusion and wonder as to what Zephyr meant. Then she opened her wings and took off after Zephyr and Brisa to find out.
Elsewhere, D'Artagnan was still wandering around. He was unaware that Aurora had found two of the four macaws already in the habitat. However, he was about to meet another of the four macaws in the habitat as well.
"Is there anyone around at all?" he asked. He then looked under some of the bushes and moved on when he found nothing under them. As D'Artagnan continued walking along, he was alerted by a shadow on a green area of one of the walls. Curious, D'Artagnan walked towards it to investigate. As he got closer, he saw that the shadow was shaped like a macaw. There was another macaw here and it appeared to be moving. D'Artagnan then crept closer towards the shadow and hit behind a tree trunk. He then looked out and when he found the shadow's owner, he became awed. Standing before him and looking around was a macaw just like him. It had very dark navy blue feathers just like D'Artagnan and its face and chest were teal tinted. Its eyes were surrounded by a strip of orange-yellow skin and there was a large piece of orange-yellow skin behind its black beak. The macaw looked stunning. It had long head feathers cascading down the sides and back of its head, stopping just beneath the shoulders, and its eyes were a stunning shade of blue. And based on its features, the macaw was definitely a female. As the macaw swung her head, her woman's hair-like feathers swished this way and that in every direction she turned her head. D'Artagnan stood there amazed by the macaw's beauty. Then he finally found the courage to greet her.
"Hello," he said. The female Lear's macaw, upon hearing someone speak to her, stopped and drew in a startled gasp when she saw D'Artagnan. D'Artagnan in turn flinched as the macaw glared at him.
"I-I'm sorry, miss," said he timidly, "I only wanted to say hello."
The macaw looked at him for another second before turning round and rocketing into the air. D'Artagnan began to give chase.
"Hey, stop, I mean no harm," he shouted and with that, he began to pursue the female macaw.
Meanwhile, Levi was still pacing around somewhere else in the habitat when he heard squawking, prompting him to stop.
"D'Artagnan?" he said timidly, "Was that you?"
He then began to walk slowly backwards and slide against the wall, clearly laced with timidity.
"Oo-o-o-oh," moaned the male glaucous macaw in a low voice, his teal-tinted turquoise and grey feathers flattened; "I don't like this at all. I just want to be out of here. I've just got to find the door and..."
Suddenly, Levi bumped into something feathery. Startled by this, he gasped and whipped in the direction of the object. When his eyes found it, the rest of Levi froze with stun, the object turning out to be a blue and grey macaw with yellow eye rings and beak lappet. This macaw had an all-grey head and neck, just like Levi, but its body feathers were a dark blue, like those of some gems and rocks Levi had seen in a geology and gem book. The macaw had a dark grey beak, yellow eye-rings and a beak lappet also like Levi and its crest was a sheet of feathers, flat and sleek, cascading down the back of its head and flicked up at the ends. The crest started out grey but faded to blue towards the tips. The macaw's eyes were a shade of blue, and based on its features, the macaw was a female. The two macaws continued staring at each other in shock. It was though both of them were shocked to see another individual macaw of their species and it was especially clear from the look in the female's eyes as she stared at Levi. The two continued their mutual stare, speechless for a while until finally, Levi was the first to break the silence.
"Er.. are you a... glaucous macaw?" asked he timidly. The female macaw continued looking at him in shock until finally she began to speak. She then looked Levi up and down with a frown.
"Yes, I am," she said, "And... you look just... like me except your feathers are a lighter blue..."
She then let loose a slight laugh and continued, "And I thought I was the last surviving glaucous macaw but then I guess I might not be after all."
"I'm actually the last surviving male glaucous macaw," said Levi. Then the female glaucous macaw eyed him.
"Well, come on, let's find Zephyr, Brisa and Sapphire," she said, "We need to get out of here."
And with that, she grabbed Levi's wing and dragged him along.
"Wait," shouted Levi as he was pulled along, "We haven't introduced ourselves. What's your name?"
"It's Lapis Lazuli," replied the female glaucous macaw.
"I'm Levi," said Levi. The female macaw continued pulling him along until finally, he managed to free his wing from her grip and slowed to a stop. Then Levi stopped and looked on after the female named Lapis Lazuli for a second, before flying after her.
"Wait, who are Zephyr, Brisa and Sapphire?" he shouted. It was then that he heard a male macaw's voice shout, "Ah, there you are, Lapis Lazuli, we wondered where you've gone."
Levi stopped when he saw two more Spix macaws and a Lear's macaw. Lapis Lazuli had stopped before them. Nearby were D'Artagnan and Aurora. D'Artagnan looked out of puff. He must have given up chasing the female Lear's macaw (named Sapphire) as soon as she had met Zephyr and Brisa. Levi rushed off to join the pair.
As soon as he caught up to them, Levi formed a thrilled smile on his beak.
"Looks like meeting them hasn't been so bad after all, eh, you two?" he asked. Aurora glared at him.
"Maybe not for you, Levi," she replied in an irritated voice, "But that male macaw was rough with me when I found him!"
"And that female Lear's macaw just rocketed off when I said hello as well," muttered D'Artagnan as he slowly regained his breath.
"Well, it is nice to meet you three," said Zephyr, "But now isn't the time to be standing here. Now is the time to think about getting out of this miserable place."
Brisa, Lapis Lazuli and Sapphire nodded in agreement and with that, Zephyr beckoned Aurora and the other two and took off with his sister, the female glaucous macaw and the female Lear's macaw following. As the four vanished into a tree, Aurora, Levi and D'Artagnan exchanged puzzled glances before taking off after the four macaws. As they landed in the tree, Zephyr walked up to them.
"Right, let's get on with it," he said and with that, he walked off. Aurora then shot at Levi and D'Artagnan an uneasy look.
"We're here to um... breed, aren't we?" said Levi in a low voice. D'Artagnan then stole a glance at the four macaws as they looked over a patch of leaves and nodded.
"Should we tell them though?" he whispered. Aurora, meanwhile, remained silent, unsure about this.
"I don't know how they will react though," said Levi timidly. Suddenly, a female voice said, "What is it, you three?"
Levi, D'Artagnan and Aurora looked up as Lapis Lazuli looked at them with a slight suspicious look on her face.
"Er, well, um," said Levi as he struggled to look for words, reluctant to mention the real reason of the three's presence. Aurora and D'Artagnan also remained silent, reluctance paralysing their tongues too.
"You're ready to escape?" said Lapis Lazuli, "Good."
"Well, I hope you three are, because this wretched place isn't where we belong," said Brisa.
"How are we escaping?" asked Aurora, trying to put aside the real reason. Zephyr then sighed and gestured to something.
"Through that," he said. Aurora turned and saw a hole in the wall. It was blocked off by a grey thing with flat bars, and some of those bars looked mangled. (This was the same air vent Jewel attempted to escape through when she was here).
"Oh, I see," said Aurora, before bringing the real reason uneasily into the light, "But... have you ever wondered, um... why we're here?"
Zephyr, suspicion welling within him, turned and sauntered towards her, an angry look creeping into his face.
"What do you mean?" he asked. Levi and D'Artagnan exchanged glances with each other and began to find words to say as Sapphire, Brisa and Lapis Lazuli's faces morphed into a look of suspicion and anger as well.
"Er, Aurora," said D'Artagnan warily.
"Well, I, um," Aurora began, trying to search for a set of words to describe to Zephyr without offending him, "I was supposed to... pair up with you and..."
When she said this, outrage exploded through Zephyr, Brisa, Lapis Lazuli and Sapphire like a shockwave. Levi and D'Artagnan recoiled with shock.
"AURORA!" shouted D'Artagnan. Zephyr then glared at Aurora with green eyes burning with rage and his blue feathers puffed out.
"Wait a minute, lady," he snarled, "Were you thinking that we were going to breed and HAVE CHICKS!?"
"And I don't suppose your Lear's and glaucous macaw friends thought the same thing as well, did THEY!?" shouted Sapphire.
"How DARE you!" screeched Lapis Lazuli. Brisa looked on furiously but said nothing. Then Zephyr lunged at Aurora and screeched at her loudly, Lapis Lazuli and Sapphire paced closely behind.
"I just can't BELIEVE that you brought this stupid subject on WHEN WE'VE ONLY JUST MET A FEW SECONDS AGO," snarled the male Spix macaw.
"Look, I'm sorry," said Aurora timidly. Then Lapis Lazuli turned to Levi and threatened to attack him while Sapphire threatened to pounce onto D'Artagnan. The two male macaws emitted timid whimpers and backed away.
From the hidden camera, Susan, Tulio and the others watched the whole action with surprised eyes.
"Good grief," said Susan.
We've had this before with Blu and Jewel. However, we did play a song to help set the atmosphere when they didn't get along," said Francisco before turning to his boss, "Tulio."
Tulio sighed and placed a hand on a lever.
"Last time, Lionel Richie's 'Say You, Say Me' didn't exactly work, but I hope this song does," he said with hope. Back in the artificial habitat, Aurora continued trying to defend herself from Zephyr's rage while Levi and D'Artagnan, already terrified by Lapis Lazuli, Brisa and Sapphire's enraged looks, cowered behind her.
"Look, sorry to enrage you," continued Aurora, "But we're ultra rare species. Lapis Lazuli and Levi are the last pair of glaucous macaws alive and if they don't..."
Suddenly, Lapis Lazuli lurched at Aurora and screeched in her face. Aurora flinched harshly while D'Artagnan and Levi backed away. Then suddenly, the lights changed and a mirror ball appeared from the ceiling. As the mirror ball appeared, a song, 'Take My Breath Away' by Berlin started playing. Aurora shot the mirror ball a bewildered look while D'Artagnan and Levi flinched, taken aback by the sudden change of atmosphere and lights.
"Okay, now we didn't expect that at all," said D'Artagnan. Aurora, however, said nothing at first but then she became mesmerised by the song.
"But this Top Gun song is in fact, very romantic sounding," she cooed softly.
"Yeah, absolutely," said Levi. Zephyr, Brisa, Lapis Lazuli and Sapphire, however, looked on with perplexed glares on their faces. Aurora then nodded to the beat of the Berlin song while Levi sung some the chorus.
"Take my breath awa-a-a-a-a-ay," crooned the male glaucous macaw, "Oh; you certainly did a good job performing that song, Berlin."
"They certainly did," said Aurora in agreement, entranced by the melody of the song. Suddenly, a blue and blue-white blur shot in and tackled straight into her. Aurora gasped in shock as she and Zephyr, who had deliberately charged into her out of rage, careened from the branch and landed into a patch of vegetation below. Levi and D'Artagnan were stunned by Aurora's sudden disappearance when all of a sudden; a blue and grey blur charged into Levi and knocked him off the branch. Levi cried in utter shock as Lapis Lazuli, fuelled by anger, had pounced onto him. Then D'Artagnan was tackled by Sapphire and knocked off the branch. Then a wild chase started up between Zephyr and Aurora as the enraged male Spix macaw began chasing the pigtailed female around the habitat, screeching and squawking angrily while Lapis Lazuli and Levi began wrestling with Lapis Lazuli throttling Levi. Sapphire then began to chase D'Artagnan wildly around the habitat as well.
From the hidden camera room, Susan, Lucy, Blake, Drake and Jake were stunned. However, they were stunned for a different reason.
"Wow, looks like that male macaw's fallen head over feet in love with Aurora," said Susan.
"So has that female glaucous macaw with Levi and that female Lear's macaw with D'Artagnan," said Lucy. Tulio sat back in his seat and smiled proudly.
"Then I guess Berlin's Top Gun love theme classic was a success," he said, "It was Francisco's idea to use that song in case things didn't work out like they almost didn't."
"Yup," said Francisco proudly, "Anyway, let's leave them and check back on them later."
And with that, the seven humans left the room. Lucy looked at the camera picture one last time and followed the others out. Then Drake felt his stomach rumble.
"You know something, I'm getting hungry," he said with a hand on his belly. Blake and Jake nodded in agreement.
"I know it's dinner time," said Tulio. Then Francisco said, "I know, I'll take you to one of my favourite restaurants. I was planning on taking my wife and my two sons to that place for dinner today and they'll be expecting me to arrive. If you five come with me, I'll introduce you to my family."
"Oh, I'd love to meet your wife and sons," said Susan.
"So will I," said Lucy.
"Us too," said the triplet brothers together.
"Then it's settled," said Francisco.
"And I have to go out and see how my wife Linda and our adoptive son Fernando are doing," said Tulio. Then the group began to leave. Blake became concerned about Aurora, D'Artagnan and Levi in the artificial habitat or breeding chamber.
"Will our three macaws be alright in there?" he asked.
"Oh, they will," said Francisco with assurance, "And don't worry. We have new security systems installed and any chance of a burglar succeeding in entering this place and stealing anything is slim."
Blake sighed. He then looked at Athos, Porthos, Aramis and Phoebe as they socialised with some of the birds in the aviary.
"They'll be alright too," said Francisco. Then he checked his watch and said, "Come on, let's hurry. My wife will not be impressed if I turn up late."
And with that, Susan, Lucy, Blake, Drake and Jake followed Francisco. Phoebe watched the six humans leave before turning to the three smaller macaws.
"I wonder how D'Artagnan, Aurora and Levi are doing with their counterparts in the artificial habitat," she said to them.
Back in the artificial habitat through the camera, there was commotion. Levi and D'Artagnan had gone into hiding while poor Aurora was left to evade being throttled by the still-enraged Zephyr by herself. Aurora gasped as Zephyr swooped down on her and ducked. Then Aurora evaded the attacks from Lapis Lazuli, Brisa and Sapphire before running towards the camera. The back of her head completely obscured the camera as she cried in fright before ducking, sending Zephyr crashing headfirst into the camera, damaging it and causing the screen to not work properly. This was obviously no different from how Jewel attacked Blu when he enraged her.