Chapter 21- A heat wave hits Brazil
Four days later
Back in Rio, the city's people were up to their usual activities. The streets were swamped with people walking back and forth to different destinations whilst more streets were flooded with stands selling all kinds of items from fruit to objects such as books and ornaments. The roads were jam packed with cars and other vehicles. On Copacabana Beach, tourists sunbathed, played volleyball or played with kids in the sand or in the sea while above them, hang gliders flew overhead. The Christ the Redeemer statue stood, overlooking the city and dozens of people swamped the statue's base. It truly was busy in Rio, a typical city hustle and bustle. In one part of the street, a certain young woman was taking a family of six greyhounds out for a walk. Two were adults, one ginger coloured female and one light grey male and the other four were puppies. One had ginger fur, one hazelnut and the other two, light grey. Lucy was taking Dash, Ginger and their puppies Esperanza, James, Avellana and Danny out for their daily walk. It had seemed like a long time since their bird friends had left Rio to go to the Amazon and the puppies, and Veggie and Catina's three kittens back home missed the macaws and Travis and his family. Lucy and Susan had returned from their expedition in the Amazon and their search for the green and Lear's macaws. Now that the job has been done and the Lear's and green macaws' homes had been included into the Sanctuary de Amazon as the sanctuary had now been named, Susan and Lucy's group had returned to Rio.
"Boy, it sure has been a while since our bird friends have left," said Dash with a smile to his family, "I wonder how they are doing out in the wild jungle."
"I'm so proud that Susan and Lucy's group have managed to find that flock of Lear's macaws," said Ginger, her smile on her owner, "Now they will be safe from logging and poaching like the Spix macaws."
"Any news on Jeremy's group's search for the glaucous macaws yet, Mom and Dad?" asked Esperanza curiously. James, Avellana and Danny, her younger sister and brothers, also looked up at their parents. Dash and Ginger shook their heads sadly.
"That group of ornithologists did not have any luck so they've also returned home," said Dash, "It's disappointing really. The glaucous macaw is ever such a rare macaw species."
"Such a shame," said Ginger, "And that picture we saw on the news the other day before our bird friends left really did look like a glaucous macaw."
"They haven't been able to find even a glimmer of another glaucous macaw like that since," said Dash. "Maybe they're so rare that they are difficult to find in the cluttered rainforest."
"The Amazon rainforest is a very complicated habitat, I can tell you," said Ginger, "I remember the complexity of Tijuca Forest you told me about when you stayed there for the night after you escaped those poachers but the Amazon rainforest is far more complex than Tijuca."
Dash sighed, remembering that night when he and Veggie stayed in the jungle after escaping the smugglers with their bird friends when the wild macaws such as Ruby and Zephyr had been sour.
"Or maybe those macaws are shy?" asked James.
"I don't know but we'll find out," said Ginger, "I heard Susan say that Tulio is going to send another group back in that spot where that glaucous macaw had been spotted anytime soon. He's determined to get that flock of rare macaws found and included in the Sanctuary de Amazon."
Dash, Esperanza, James, Avellana and Danny all nodded in agreement. Then the six greyhounds continued their walk down the street with Lucy.
Back home, Susan was cooking lunch. The TV was on and in front of the sofa, also called a couch, a family of five cats lay. Four of them had their eyes glued to the TV while one of them was reading a book. Two of the cats were adults: one male tabby and the other a female calico. The three kittens were a mix of tabby and calico, the mixing of the two cat breed's patterns' most visible on the two daughters while the son was a spitting image of the adult male tabby. Veggie, Catina and their kittens Broccoli, Daisy and Collette were relaxing in front of the TV and Broccoli was reading a book on Amazonian ecology. The program currently on TV was the weather forecast. As Susan then walked in with three bowls filled with cat food and vegetables for Veggie, Broccoli and Daisy and set them down before the five cats, Broccoli said, "Hey, Mom, Dad, did you know that the glaucous macaw used to have a range extending from Brazil to Argentina and some other neighbouring countries? It's surprising how common it used to be before the population drastically declined due to smuggling and habitat loss."
"The glaucous macaw is extremely rare, son," said Veggie, "I'd be surprised if there was a flock of them discovered living in the Amazon, especially after that sighting the other day. Anyway, it's lunch time."
Broccoli then put down the ecology book and went over to one of the food bowls to eat. While the family of cats ate, Susan set the table when the voice of the weather forecaster caught her attention. She stopped setting the table and looked at the TV screen showing a map of Brazil and surrounding countries.
"There is going to be a heat wave in the coming weeks," said the weather forecaster, gesturing to the map with his hands, "Temperatures are expected to rise into the thirties and there will be lots of sunshine…"
The mentioning of this caught Veggie's attention, so he stopped eating and looked at the screen. When he saw the forecast, he widened his eyes slightly in surprise.
"Looks like we've got hot weather in the coming days," he said.
"High temperatures are common in Brazil, especially in summer," said Catina as she ate her lunch, "During some years, the temperatures can soar as high as the forties."
"I remember having hot summers in the UK when I lived in London," said Veggie, "The temperatures were sometimes in the low thirties."
"We're going to have to prepare for this hot weather, dear," said Catina, "It can get extremely hot in Brazil."
Veggie nodded and then continued eating his lunch. Daisy and Collette were too focussed on eating lunch to watch the TV.
Then a few days later, the heat wave finally came. The city of Rio became flooded with the intense light from the sun as it beamed down its hot rays onto every surface exposed. The temperatures soared as high as the thirties and low forties and there were barely any clouds in the sky. If there was anything there were only a few wisps of cloud dotting the clear blue sky. With the unforgiving heat rays harshly beating down on the city and the forest near it, activity of both humans and animals were affected. In Rio, humans and city animals were trying to search for the cools of the shade provided by the shadows of large objects such as buildings but even in the shade it was very warm. Any surface that was black or dark coloured became hot to the touch and people and animals avoided sitting on anything that was dark coloured. On Copacabana Beach, tourist activity was reduced as it was too hot to play or sunbathe. Every human was sweating like nobody's business and had to carry water bottles around. In the front windows of some electronic and TV shops, the news sent out warnings to everyone to wear sunscreen and stay hydrated. Susan, Dash and Ginger walked past one TV shop and heard these warnings.
"This could be the hottest heat wave we have ever had on record," said a news lady as the two greyhounds and their owner passed by the shop window, "The temperatures are higher than predicted by the weather forecasters and are expected to hover in the forties. It is important to stay hydrated and wear sunscreen at all times…"
Dash sighed as he heard the news lady say this.
"Speaking of dehydration, my mouth feels as dry as the Sahara Desert," he muttered, wincing at the discomfort of his sticky mouth. "I can't wait to fill my face with water."
"Neither can I," gasped Ginger as she struggled to fight the drowsiness from the immense heat and feeling the dryness of her mouth as well. Dash and Ginger had been panting to help release the excess heat for dogs do not sweat in hot weather unlike humans. Ginger then stole a glance from Susan. "Susan's really sweating."
She saw that her face and arms were shiny from sweat. Susan had one hand holding the leads connecting to Ginger and Dash's collars and in the other hand, she carried a water bottle. Susan was gasping with half-asleep eyes. She kept wiping her forehead with her water bottle arm of sweat and was drinking from the water bottle frequently. Around the three, the other people were doing the same. Dash and Ginger's puppies, Esperanza, James, Avellana and Danny had decided to stay at home as it was just too hot and uncomfortable for them. Dash then looked at the vehicles passing by on the road. Most of the drivers had their vehicles' windows fully open to allow a breeze into their vehicles to cool them down but since there was barely any breeze, the only thing they often got was a rush of hot air. Dash then cringed when he saw a few parked cars alongside the footpath (called a sidewalk in the Americas).
"You know, in weather like this, stationary vehicles, especially if they have their windows shut, often turn into ovens as the sun heats up the interior," he said, "Almost like a greenhouse effect."
"That's exactly true," said Ginger, clearly thirsty and desperate to get back home. Then the two greyhounds and their owner walked on. As soon as Susan had opened the door to her and Lucy's house and had released Dash and Ginger from their leads, the two greyhounds made a beeline for their drinking bowls in the hall and began to drink like crazy. Veggie and Catina, who had been dozing on the sofa with their four kittens Broccoli, Daisy and Collette and Dash and Ginger's four puppies near a fan, saw Dash and Ginger drink from their bowls. Susan and Lucy had set up a fan in each room to cool the place down due to the immense heat.
"I thought they'd be extremely thirsty after that walk in this blistering heat," said Veggie.
"Susan's very thirsty too," said Catina as she watched Susan refill her water bottle and then drink a lot of it. As Susan did that, Lucy walked in.
"Hi, sis," said Susan after she guzzled down some of the new water from the bottle, "Any news on the glaucous macaws yet?"
Lucy, a slight sombre look on her face, sadly shook her head. "I'm afraid Amy's group has given up their search to come home a while ago, Francisco told me. It's too hot to continue the search but Tulio is planning on sending Jeremy and some other ornithologists back to that spot in the rainforest once everything cools down."
Susan wiped her forehead of sweat again and took another guzzle from her water bottle. "I know, it's scorching out there. I remember having hot summers in England but I never thought that Brazil could face temperatures like this."
Catina sighed and said, "That's because Brazil is a tropical country. It's bound to get blistering heat waves from time to time."
Veggie then sighed and gazed outside through the window.
"And it's just too hot to go out," he muttered, "I'd love to go out into the garden but with the scorching heat out there, it's just too uncomfortable."
"I know how that often feels," said Catina as she looked down at the snoozing kittens and puppies, "It's just too hot for our kids to play out in the garden."
Then Dash and Ginger came in after drinking their fill.
"Ah, that was good," said Dash as he licked his lips to relish the relief of his rehydrated mouth, "My mouth was so dry you could grow cacti in it."
Ginger sighed and then laid down at the foot of the sofa to rest.
"I'm not surprised," said Veggie, "You dogs lose an awful lot of water through panting to eliminate the excess heat from your body, just like how humans lose a lot of water through sweating to cool down."
Dash just sighed and lay down next to Ginger to rest. Veggie sighed and then began to watch the TV.
"Our bird friends out in the rainforest are not going to be doing much in this weather," he said.
This was true. In Tijuca Forest, the rainforest outside Rio, the resident animals were not up to much at all. Most of the birds were hiding in their hollows trying to keep out of the fiery blades of blazing sunlight slicing through the air while other birds that were flying were trying to keep in the shadows provided by the trees. In one hollow, Rafael and Eva were not doing much and were relaxing for they were very hot. Having black feathers didn't really suit this type of weather for black was very good at absorbing heat than most other colours, and Rafael and Eva and other toco and keel-billed toucans wanted to stay in the shade as much as possible to avoid overheating. It was indeed a scorching heat wave in Rio.
In Tulio's Aviary, the ornithologists were up to their usual tasks despite the heat, for there were birds that needed medical attention and care. The air condition system had been switched on so that the place was kept cool so that working conditions and those of the birds were made more comfortable. In one department a group of ornithologists led by Jeremy were writing a report about the glaucous macaws. Although Jeremy and his group had had no luck in finding more evidence of the extremely rare macaw species' existence in the Amazon, Jeremy still clung to a glimmer of hope that there was a flock of them somewhere out in that vast rainforest and refused to give up. However, plans of returning to the rainforest had been postponed until the heat wave died down for it was too hot to go back to the rainforest. Near Jeremy and his group, three more ornithologists were examining a certain bird in a cage. This bird had greyish-white feathers, a faded yellow crest, brown eyes, and a large grey beak. A yellow and green piece of attire covered its body and its wings were an utter mess, and the bird had red bags under its eyes (guess who this is!). With the bird was a tiny frog. The frog's body was mostly dark burgundy and fuchsia pink. Its eyes were as mint green and eyelash-like flaps of skin protruded above its eyes. The frog, which was a female was in an extremely happy mood despite the heat and was snuggling up to the head of the bird, which was a male cockatoo. The cockatoo did not look very happy at all. His face was saturated with disgust, despair and anger, not to mention irritation from the frog's constant snuggling up to his face a lot… right in front of the eyes of some ornithologists. The frog had been showering the poor bird with affection ever since they met to go into the Amazon to carry out the cockatoo's plan of revenge on Blu for grounding him for life.
"Oooh, I wish I was out of this miserable place… and soppy mess," moaned the cockatoo in a dreary voice. The frog, in response, snuggled lovingly against his face her arms hugging his beak and cheek.
"But at least we are together, my sweet heartthrob Nigel," crooned the frog and with that, she planted a kiss on the cockatoo's cheek, much to the cockatoo's revulsion. The cockatoo named Nigel sighed and looked up at the ornithologists examining him and the frog with disgusted eyes. The amused smiles marked the three humans' faces as they watched the frog continue to snuggle against Nigel's face.
"You know something, that frog has been behaving like that towards that cockatoo since Tulio found them in the Amazon rainforest after discovering the Spix macaws," said one of them, a man. The other two ornithologists, who were another man and a woman, both sniggered.
"Yeah," said the woman, "When I saw that frog on the cockatoo's face, I almost fell over backwards laughing on the floor."
"This has got to be the funniest odd-couple behaviour I have ever observed," said the third ornithologist, the other man. The other two nodded in agreement. Nigel glared at the three ornithologists as they tittered. Then the female frog began to smooch all over his face another four times.
"Oooh, I'm so happy we're together," crooned the frog, "I wanna be with you forever, Nigey-Wigey."
Nigel just sighed and said nothing. Then some chirpy laughter emanated to the left of the cage in which Nigel and the frog were in. Nigel turned and saw some of the bird patients laughing.
"Hey guys, look, it's that ugly cockatoo that had caused us trouble when he used to work for those rotten smugglers," said one, a green-winged macaw whose wing was in a cast, "Looks like he's got himself a rather unusual girlfriend."
"Yeah, absolutely," said another bird, a toucan, "That ought to be a picture for Mauro and his marmoset gang."
The other birds nodded and tittered in agreement. Nigel shot the group of birds a caustic glare.
"You know something, you useless pretty birds," snarled the cockatoo, his tattered crest raised, "When I get out of this…"
But before he could finish this sentence, the frog became overstuffed with affection.
"Oh, NIGEEEEEEEEL!" cried she and with that, she began to give Nigel a huge torrent of kisses all over the face at high speed. She landed so many kisses all over Nigel's face so fast that she looked like she had a dozen heads. Dozens of kissing sounds emanated from the frog. When the three ornithologists and the birds saw this, they burst out laughing.
"Wow, that frog certainly is head over webbed feet in love with this cockatoo, isn't it?" said one of the ornithologists through his laughter. The other two ornithologists were too swamped by the amusing sight to reply. Then after the frog finished smothering Nigel's entire face with kisses and began to snuggle against his cheek again, the three ornithologists managed to gain control of their laughing. They clutched their stomachs as they ached from laughing so hard. The birds also stopped chortling and looked at Nigel with amused smiles on their faces, some bubbling with titters.
"At least we don't have to worry about him being a pest anymore," said another bird, a parakeet.
"Serves him right for losing his feathers," tittered one of the small birds, a spiteful and venomous glare at Nigel, "I'm gonna gossip about that crested slime ball and his little froggy girlfriend with my friends when I'm released."
"Every bird in Rio should hear about Nigel's new girlfriend," said the green-winged macaw, "A cute little frog."
When Nigel heard this, he let loose a sigh as the frog continued snuggling against his face. Then a toxic concoction of vengeful thoughts against a certain pair of blue macaws boiled in his mind...
Meanwhile
In the Sanctuary de Amazon, the macaw tribes and clans and the other resident animals were not doing much for the sun was casting its blanket of heated light onto the rainforest as well. Each blade of sunlight shaft was hot to walk or fly through in the above treetops and upper canopy levels but down towards the forest floor, where the leaves and other vegetation provided shadowy shelters from the immense heat, the air was somewhat cooler. Furthermore, the winds seemed to be nothing more than mere whispers and when they gently wafted through the trees, the saturation of heat was carried. Activity from the macaw tribes and clans was quite low because of the heat as it was too hot to do anything. In the glaucous macaw tribe, Rudi and Valeria were up to their usual activities. A few days after Eduardo, Blu, Aurora and Athos's visit with Levi and Lapis Lazuli in an attempt to convince them that they needed protection from logging and poaching, things didn't seem to have changed much with the glaucous macaw tribe. They were just like they were before Lapis Lazuli and Levi, along with their chicks and Travis and his family had found them. Patrol groups were being sent out and parents raised their chicks. However, many of the glaucous macaws seemed very miserable, and doubt seemed to plague some of them as well. Some of the glaucous macaws were concerned about the tribe's position and their vulnerability through living out in the wilderness, and as the words of Eduardo, Blu, Aurora, Athos, Levi and Lapis Lazuli echoed in their heads, pointing out that they were in a vulnerable spot, made concern and doubt prick at them even more. Furthermore, the boredom of living in nests built so close together in trees, with few of them having proper hollows, amplified the doubt of these glaucous macaws. However, the other glaucous macaws, those that were unmoved by Levi and Lapis Lazuli's warnings, had convinced the doubtful tribe members to snap out of it and to forget them.
While Rudi, who was working hard to fight the tiredness induced by the immense heat, set up more patrols to send out and continue the search for a home and the eye on the environment for any flying foxes, Valeria stood at the entrance to her and Rudi's makeshift hollow. Inside the couple's hollow, Lorenzo and Alberto were asleep for it was too hot for them to play. Valeria had been swamped with concern for, and the boredom of, the living conditions of the glaucous tribe and their vulnerability. As she watched Rudi send out more patrollers, she released a sigh.
"We've just got to find a new home soon," she muttered, "I'm sick of us living like this."
The other day, Rudi and Valeria had entered into an argument regarding the future of the glaucous macaw tribe. Rudi wants the tribe to remain away from the other macaw tribes and clans while Valeria had been considering taking Eduardo's advice about seeking help. This argument had been going on for two days but Valeria had given up after seeing that the arguing was going nowhere, just like the patrol groups' search for a new home. Valeria then stole a glance from her two sleeping sons and sighed as concerns about their future, alongside the future of the other chicks and young macaws in the tribe flooded her mind.
"What are our descendants going to do in the coming years?" murmured she despairingly. Sighing, she turned to continue to watch her mate send out more patrol groups.
The Spix tribe's ravine
The Spix macaw tribe's activity was not very high. Macaws were in their hollows, trying to stay out of the heat while patrol groups were trying to keep to the shade cast by branches and leaves. Each time a macaw flew through a shaft of sunlight beaming down between the gaps in the above trees; it felt like flying through a fire, only it was cooler. Because so many macaws were in their hollows, not very many blue forms decorated the ravine air. Aurora was bringing back a few fruit, a Brazil nut and some berries, to her and Zephyr's hollow. Because she was so hot, she didn't feel bothered about bringing back more fruit in one trip. As she flew over the ravine pool in the direction of her tree, a few baby macaws were sitting around in a circle chatting. Among the group were Carla, Bia, Tiago, Matilda and Virgil. Justin was at Zephyr and Aurora's tree while Charlotte was out with Zephyr on one of his patrol jobs with some other macaws including Roberto. Carla was listening to her Ipod, Bia was reading a book, Tiago was lost in thought, his mind swimming through a lake of ideas for pranks, and Matilda was on her back relaxing and talking with another female chick named Turquesa who was younger even than Matilda and her three siblings. Virgil was by the pool edge, splashing another chick as a way to cool down. It was clear that Carla, Bia, Tiago, Matilda and Virgil, along with Justin and Charlotte, were making friends with the chicks of the other macaws of the tribe, much to Blu, Jewel, Zephyr and Aurora's delight.
Matilda appeared to have become fast friends with Turquesa, the daughter of a macaw named Maximillian, one of the sentry birds. Turquesa looked a lot like Maximillian. She had a slightly chubby build and a narrow neck and caramel brown eyes like her father. Also like her father Turquesa had a flat sheet of feathers behind her head and had rather faint facial markings that were hard to see from a distance. Unlike Maximillian who had cerulean feathers, Turquesa's feathers were a light blue with a faint green tint, which was an unusual shade of feathers for a Spix macaw. Her name meant 'turquoise' in Spanish based on her feather colour. Maximillian was a widower; his mate had died when Turquesa was still an egg, having been killed by a bird of prey (not a harpy eagle) during a patrol trip. Despite the grief that came with the loss of his mate, Maximillian committed to raising Turquesa alone and had become impressed that she had befriended one of Zephyr and Aurora's four chicks. Turquesa was only a very young chick, having just learned to fly so she was nearly a fledgling.
"My Mommy was named Edwina," squeaked Turquesa, "She died when a forest falcon ambushed her and her group and caught her, Daddy told me, while I was still in my egg."
"Oh, that's sad," said Matilda sadly, "Losing your mother while you are still unborn."
Turquesa, with a sad face, nodded. "Daddy told me that Mommy had blue-green feathers just like I do."
"You do look a lot like your dad, actually," said Matilda, commenting on Turquesa's other features. She had been introduced to Maximillian by Zephyr when she met Turquesa and had been surprised at how much she resembled him other than the feather colour. Moving on and fighting the drowsiness caused by the immense heat, Turquesa asked, "So tell me now more about your past, Matilda."
"We were born in a city called Rio," said Matilda, "in a human's building called an aviary where humans take care of injured and sick birds and nurse them back to health before releasing them. I was the third of the four chicks to hatch. My older brother Justin was born first, Charlotte, my older sister hatched second, then me, and then Virgil who hatched last. We hatched a few minutes apart."
Turquesa then stole a glance from Virgil as he continued playing in the water with the other chick.
"When I saw that he had blue eyes," said Turquesa, "I was surprised since the rest of you seem to have either yellow or green eyes."
"It's possibly because some relatives on either Mom or Dad's side have or have had blue eyes," said Matilda, "Cousin Nuvem and great-uncle Viento, Dad's cousin and uncle respectively, have blue eyes."
"Interesting," said Turquesa.
"Mom claims that he bears a strong resemblance to her father named Erico," said Matilda, "Unfortunately, we have never met him, nor Mom's Mom, or Mom's sisters as they had died when Mom was a chick."
"How did they die?" asked Turquesa.
"Smugglers," said Matilda, "It's too complicated but they died during the chaos caused by smugglers when Mom was little."
Turquesa then turned and looked at Carla, Bia and Tiago.
"So it seems that your three friends over there like a variety of different things," she said with an intrigued smile, "Carla appears to like music, Bia likes animals and Tiago appears to like making pranks with you."
"Bia also likes other sciences including physics, astronomy, and biology," said Matilda as she looked at Blu and Jewel's three chicks, "My oldest brother Justin is into music as well. Charlotte likes soccer and is very good at it and Virgil appears to find nature interesting; I've seen him talk about some science topics with Bia several times."
"That's interesting," said Turquesa, "I like sightseeing and seeing the animals that live on our territory when Daddy carries me on one of his flights for I'm still too young to fly long distances by myself. One day, when I grow up, I wanna be a patroller like Daddy is."
"Interesting," said Matilda. Suddenly, complaining from the other chicks reached the two's ears. Matilda and Turquesa turned and saw a female chick gazing meanly at some of the other chicks. Behind her were two more chicks who appeared to be friends of hers. Turquesa made a distasteful face.
"Oh no, not Aguamarina," she muttered, "And her two friends Benita and Claudia. Stuck up trio of brats they are."
"Those three are brats?" asked Matilda curiously. Turquesa gave her a frown.
"Those three are very smug and boastful pieces of work," she replied. Turquesa then looked at the trio of female macaw chicks. The one at the front of the trio, Aguamarina, was a slender macaw. Her feathers were cerulean and her eyes were a shade of green. Her facial markings were a large blue-white patch around each eye and a band over the top of the beak. Aguamarina's crest was a sleek sheet of feathers running from her crown to her shoulders, where they flicked at the ends. Though she had similar features to Jewel, Aguamarina was not related to her. Instead she was the daughter of a macaw that disliked Jewel, Mertle. Her two friends, Benita and Claudia, were also cerulean. Benita has lime green eyes and a flick of feathers on her head while Claudia had brown eyes and a feather ruffle. Both girls were slender and like Aguamarina, both wore condescending looks on their faces as their eyes raked over the other chicks. The other chicks were not impressed. Aguamarina, Claudia and Benita were the 'cool kids' and they often looked down on shy and timid chicks, and also newcomers, especially chicks that had been born in captivity. Because of their attitude, the trio was often shunned by most of the other chicks. As Aguamarina and her two friends sneeringly raked their eyes over the group, one of the male chicks placed his wings on his hips.
"What do you want, Aguamarina?" he asked harshly.
"Now, now, don't get snappy, Garrett," sneered Aguamarina spitefully, "we're wonderin' who you're talking' to."
"Yee-aaaahhh," added Benita and Claudia in agreement. Aguamarina's eyes continued travelling over the bemused chicks until their eyes finally landed on Carla, Bia, Tiago and Virgil behind them playing in the water by the pool's edge with the other chick. Carla, Bia and Tiago looked up at Aguamarina when they saw her pierce them with her condescending green eyes.
"So, I presume you're some of the city chickies, am I right?" asked the chick spitefully. Benita and Claudia chuckled quietly behind her. Carla immediately removed a headphone from one of her left ear with a talon and glared at Aguamarina.
"City chickies!?" she retorted, "Who are you calling city chickies?"
Tiago also looked on rather bemused while Bia, who was quite shy, said nothing. Aguamarina's eyes then landed on Bia's book. A spiteful smirk forming on her beak, the bratty chick reached out with a talon and snatched it right out of Bia's talons.
"Hey," snapped Bia irritated as Aguamarina then looked at it, "That's MY book! Give it back!"
She lashed a talon at her book but Aguamarina pulled it away so that she could miss. Claudia and Benita then laughed. Carla and Tiago became cross while Virgil and the other chick, having heard Bia's shouts, looked up from the pool.
"Aguamarina," said Garrett, "Don't you dare…"
The proud chick, however, ignored him and quickly flicked through the book.
"I see," crooned Aguamarina spitefully, "You're into the most boring subject that could be invented, Nia."
"Aguamarina, give that back to Bia RIGHT NOW!" growled Matilda, Turquesa standing by her side with her wings on her hips, her face twisted into a scowl.
"Yes, do it or I'll fetch a grownup here," added Tiago. Carla nodded in agreement. Aguamarina continued flicking through the book until she finally burst out laughing.
"Well, if you think this is of any use, Nia," crooned the chick spitefully straight into Bia's face, "Then you oughta think again. All this thing is it's just a pack of useless material with silly piccies in it."
Bia flinched at this scathing comment while Carla began to lose patience.
"Give that book back to Bia this MINUTE!" she growled. However, Aguamarina smiled spitefully at Carla and then did something really nasty. Lifting the book, which was a book about the Amazon animals, Aguamarina tossed it in the direction of the pool, Benita and Claudia laughing. Bia drew in a horrified gasp and began to try and chase after it but Aguamarina stuck out a foot and tripped her up, sending her flying and landing flat on her face. Virgil tried catching the book but missed. The book then careened into the water of the ravine pool with a tiny splash. Bia, heaved her head and chest off the floor with her wings and when she saw her favourite book in the water, she began erupt into tears. Carla, Tiago, Matilda and Turquesa rushed to Bia's side and began to help her up while Virgil shot the laughing Aguamarina, Benita and Claudia an enraged glare.
"That was her only book you just threw into the water, Aguamarina," snarled he, his electric blue feathers raised, "How dare you pick on Bia like that!?"
"Oooh, aren't we feisty," said Benita as she continued laughing with Claudia and Aguamarina. Bia continued crying her eyes out while the other chicks looked on, shocked at Aguamarina's act but Aguamarina continued pushing the buttons.
"I wonder how any future friends that nerd bird makes are gonna cope with her love of scientific gobbledegook?" she crooned nastily, "For all I know, I don't think anyone would want nerd bird as a friend anyway, especially if she's gonna be yap on and on about some stupid scientific fact."
And with that, she burst out laughing, Benita and Claudia doing the same. This comment sent hot rage flaring inside Virgil when Bia flinched and began to cry all the more, stung by that comment. Seeing Bia in such a state, the electric blue macaw finally let his temper flash like a lightning bolt. Turquesa, Carla, Matilda and Tiago were also enraged by Aguamarina's remarks about Bia's love of science but what happened next shocked everyone.
Virgil strode towards Aguamarina, Claudia and Benita while they continued to laugh and, with a talon, seized Aguamarina by the neck feathers and yanked her towards his face. Virgil seemed to have inherited his father Zephyr's hot temper and fierceness, and those traits rose to the surface whenever others insult his friends. Aguamarina, shocked as she felt the vice-grip enclosing her neck feathers, drew in a frightened gasp. Then she found herself gazing into a pair of blue volcano clouds packed with lightning bolts.
"Apologise to Bia THIS MINUTE!" screeched Virgil angrily. Aguamarina whimpered in fright while Benita and Claudia, frightened by Virgil's raging temper, remained rooted to the spot. The other chicks continued standing there, too frightened to move. Then Carla intervened.
"Virgil, please don't do this," she said gently.
"Yes, bro," said Matilda, "If you hurt Aguamarina, you could get into trouble."
"Please, release Aguamarina," said Tiago. Virgil continued holding Aguamarina by the neck until finally, his temper subsided and he released Aguamarina from his grip. However, the rage still remained but in a lower temperature.
"Someone get one of the grownups here," growled Virgil as he looked at the still crying Bia. Aguamarina, Claudia and Benita, upon hearing this, screamed and made a break for it while Garrett volunteered to bring an adult along. However, he did not need to go far as the commotion had already attracted some attention.
"What's been going on?" asked an adult female grown-up voice. Virgil, Carla, Tiago, Matilda and the other chicks looked up and saw four adult macaws, Brisa, Jewel, Blu and Maximillian, Turquesa's father, fly over to the group, Brisa having been the one to speak. It was unbearably hot, and the group looked drowsy, but the situation involving Aguamarina and her two friends has made the atmosphere more unpleasant than it already was. When Blu and Jewel saw the crying Bia, they immediately flew over to her.
"Bia," cried Blu in shock. As soon as they were near their daughter, Blu and Jewel hugged her and Bia began sobbing into their tummy feathers. Brisa also flew over to the upset Bia while Virgil, seeing Bia's book still afloat in the pool water, immediate flew off to retrieve it. Maximillian, meanwhile, began to confront the other chicks.
"So tell me, what had happened?" he growled. Turquesa came forward.
"Aguamarina, Benita and Claudia said some nasty things about Bia, Daddy," she said, "Also, Aguamarina had tossed Bia's book into the pool."
Maximillian turned and saw Virgil bring back the sodden book of Amazon animals. As he touched down and held the waterlogged book in his wings, Matilda and Tiago began to scan the surroundings for any signs of Aguamarina and her two friends. To their frustration, they were nowhere in sight.
"They must have disappeared into some vegetation," said Tiago.
"Yeah, I can't see them anywhere," said Matilda. Then Jewel came in, a furious look on her face.
"Someone contact her mother Mertle," she snarled.
Blu then began to gently lead the still-crying Bia back to his family's tree. Brisa stood looking on in angry shock, her wings akimbo.
"I don't believe this," she muttered tiredly, "Bullying from other chicks is the last thing any of us needs under this burning sun."
Maximillian and Jewel then let loose a sigh each as the other chicks gathered around, Virgil holding up the sodden Amazon animal book. Jewel took the book from Virgil while Maximillian wafted a wing in his face, his eyes half-shut from the heat.
"I'll hang this up on a branch to dry," Jewel muttered, "The immense heat will see to this."
"Huh, this heat wave's too uncomfortable," muttered Maximillian, "I hope it doesn't last long."
He then turned to Turquesa and said, "Anyway, I'm going to take Turquesa home for lunch. Come along, my daughter please."
And with that, he opened his wings and took off. Turquesa looked at Matilda and company. "Oh, sorry, Matilda, folks, I gotta go. See you next time."
And with that, she took off and followed her dad. Matilda waved to her before turning to Jewel.
"Can I find Aguamarina's mother, Aunt Jewel?" she asked.
"No, leave it to us, Matilda," said Jewel, "We'll see to that. Besides that, Aguamarina's mother, Mertle, has a foul attitude and it seems that her daughter had picked that up."
Matilda put off the idea. Though she had no idea what Mertle was like for she had not seen her much but based on Jewel's scowl, it seemed that Mertle was a macaw with an attitude problem.
When Jewel, along with Roberto, Zephyr, Brisa and their friends had been chicks, Mertle used to look down on them a lot and had had a clique of macaws with her who would agree to almost everything Mertle said, much like Aguamarina did now. Apart from Ruby and Pearl at the time, Mertle had been one of Jewel's enemies. The two never got along and sometimes even fought. Mertle especially disliked Jewel and had been extremely jealous of her being the daughter of the tribe leader. Even though Mertle had been joyful that Jewel had made a safe return, she still had a strong dislike of her, especially of her mate Blu over his domesticated background. At one point Mertle even scorned Jewel of choosing a 'pet' to be her mate, and sometimes caused her trouble. Because of this, Carla, Bia, Tiago and Justin, Charlotte, Matilda and Virgil, together with some of the other chicks, had been barred from associating with Mertle's daughter Aguamarina and her friends for they were a bad influence. As Jewel then flew off to her and Blu's tree to put Bia's sodden book on a branch to dry before going over to Mertle's tree to tell her what her daughter Aguamarina and her two friends Benita and Claudia had done to Bia, Virgil and Matilda flew off in the direction of their parents' tree.
"I'll see you guys later," said Matilda as she and her brother flew by Carla and Tiago, "Mom and Dad will be expecting us to be ready for lunch too once Dad and Charlotte return from the patrol. I hope this issue can be resolved quickly."
"Okay, see you, Matilda and Virgil," said Carla. Tiago also waved to the two chicks as they left. Then the brother and sister left in the direction of Blu and Jewel's tree while the other chicks dispersed.