Chapter 28- the aftermath of the fire
The fire had spread considerably across the Amazon rainforest, even reaching as far as the territory of the Amazon birds' worst enemy, the dreaded and infamous flying fox colony. Almost all the area of the green and Lear's macaw tribes' territories, a very large part of the blue-and-gold, Spix and red macaw tribes' territories, and a small part of the blue-throated and Bluewing hyacinth clans' and the Navyfeather Clan's territories had been up in flames. However, the fire's rage was soon to be calmed. Hours after the fire had started, drops of water from the skies above had begun to fall, first in small trickles and then in larger amounts, until finally, a full torrent of downpour was reached. The rains had come much to the relief of everyone as the thunderstorm had marked the end of the drought and had arrived to replenish the extremely thirsty rainforest of its desperately needed water. As the rains fell onto the parched forest, shrunken rivers and streams and the raging fire, the fire had begun to shrink and die down as if cowering in fear of the sight of its nemesis: water.
The moment the rains had been noticed, ornithologists from some cities such as Rio and Manaus, among them Tulio and his team, had been called to prepare for a trip to the Amazon to help any injured animals as soon as the fire had been calmed enough such that the rainforest can now be safely entered. While the humans were preparing for this, the macaws in their evacuation points and all the other animals in their shelters and refuge points had begun to cautiously emerge to examine the status of the fire. In the Spix macaws' ravine, the Spix macaws prepared to emerge from their waterfall cave. Search groups had been set up by Eduardo's inner circle birds and Mimi for Eduardo was still too swamped with guilt and upset over forgetting the stargazing group and the news of Jewel, Blu, Zephyr, Tornado and Aurora's disappearance. Roberto and Brisa had opted to go out and search for the lost macaws while D'Artagnan and Sapphire had been entrusted with looking after Carla, Bia and Tiago while they were absent. The three siblings and offspring of Blu and Jewel stayed in the moss bed with Miranda, Jasmine and Annette. While Mimi continued organising the search groups, Rudi was setting up search groups of glaucous macaws to help find signs of any of the rest of the tribe as during their escape from the fire, the glaucous macaws had scattered all over the Sanctuary de Amazon. Lapis Lazuli looked on with Levi, Tristan, Quincy, Larimar and Trixie, a frown on her face. Nearby, Travis, Sunset, Eustace, Milo and Rosa began to help some of the Spix macaws prepare to carry their eggs and chicks to outside. Then Maximillian, one of the sentry macaws and Turquesa's father, flew in to give a report of the fire to Mimi. He had been sent out to examine the fire.
"The fire's much smaller than it had been, Mimi," he said, shaking his head of rainwater for he had got wet from flying in the rain, "However, there are still small patches of flames and it is raining heavily. We must be careful of any unstable trees and those small fire patches."
"Alright, thanks, Max," said Mimi. Roberto breathed a sigh of relief and wiped his forehead to shift some of his head feathers out of his face.
"At least the fire's rage has been quenched," he said as Maximillian left to return to Turquesa.
"Yeah," said Brisa in agreement. She then stole a glance from Gael, Viento and Nuvem as they comforted the frightened macaws who had been with the stargazing group, among them Justin and his siblings. "The fire certainly has taken that lot by surprise."
"It took us all by surprise in fact," said Roberto, "When Eduardo and Mimi called us to evacuate behind the waterfall cave as the fire was coming, I almost fell out of the tree."
As he said this, a glaucous macaw came by.
"We were the ones who were taken by surprise by that raging inferno first," he muttered, "Everything was sent flying into chaos."
The macaw then continued towards the waterfall cave's mouth, a female macaw and two chicks behind him. Brisa looked on in surprise.
"I hope there are other glaucous macaws besides these ones that have taken refuge with us that had escaped the fire too," she said. Roberto, a seriously surprised look marking his face, nodded in agreement. Nearby Travis, Sunset, Eustace, Rosa and Milo prepared to make their way toward the waterfall cave too as Spix and glaucous macaws shifted around.
"What a nightmare this has been," muttered Travis, shaken from the whole ordeal, "Good job we were in the ravine and not out there."
"Yeah, but Zephyr, Tornado, Aurora, Blu and Jewel are," said Sunset. She then stole a glance at the saddened Justin, Charlotte, Matilda and Virgil, and Gael, Nuvem and Viento. "If either Zephyr or Aurora or what's worse, both of them are found dead, those four are gonna be orphans."
"So would Carla, Bia and Tiago regarding Blu and Jewel's fate," said Travis, a nod to Blu and Jewel's three under D'Artagnan and Sapphire's care. Sunset nodded in agreement. Then the cockatoo family began to make their way toward the waterfall cave to survey the damage the fire had caused with some of the Spix and glaucous macaws. Nearby, Lapis Lazuli and her family were with Rudi as he continued organising a search group from the tribe members that had flown into this cave.
"So you decided to abandon your 'home' after all," she growled. Rudi, a shaken and sad look on his face, just gave his cousin a sad stare.
"Lapis Lazuli," said Levi gently. Lapis Lazuli then reluctantly left Rudi to continue his task and followed her mate and four chicks.
"This disaster is going to inflict a deep scar on my cousin and cousin-in-law for life," muttered Lapis Lazuli as she crept by a crowd of Spix macaws.
"I wouldn't be surprised," said Levi as he scanned the sea of cerulean, picking out the dots of grey heads with yellow facial features amongst the blue-white faced macaws, "I don't think Rudi would be taking his tribe back to where they were staying now after this."
"They need a proper living space," said Lapis Lazuli. It was then that Tristan's voice caught their attention.
"Mom, Dad, you need to take a look at this," shouted their oldest son and chick.
"The Spix macaws' trees," added Larimar. Levi and Lapis Lazuli looked up and saw their four chicks gesture to the outside past the waterfall. They went over and stood on the rock outside the lip of the cave's mouth. Travis, Sunset, Eustace, Milo, Rosa and several other macaws including Roberto and Brisa also came along and the moment their eyes landed on the Spix macaws' trees, beaks dropped open and gasps were drawn in when they saw the fire's damage. Travis and Sunset's crests were also raised as they examined the devastation caused by the fire. Through the rains, the macaws and cockatoos could see the outline of the trees the Spix macaws called home.
All the trees were reduced to a blackened and smoking mess and there wasn't a flash of green or other colour on any of them. Spots of fire still continued to burn here and there and smoke continued to lazily rise from their tips. It was practically like a disaster zone, every tree and fern incinerated and reduced to a blackened skeletal structure. Ashes and burned wood lay scattered all over the soft soiled ground, smoking and with specks of orange glowing on them.
"This reminds me of what happened to London's buildings after the Great Fire," whispered Travis in dreaded awe.
"All the trees have been burned," said Eustace in a nervous voice.
"The other macaw tribes and clans' home trees will be looking like this," put in Sunset as she thought about those other flocks. Then Roberto's patrol group began to prepare to fly through the rain and blackened disaster zone to begin their search for the missing macaws, alongside the glaucous macaw searchers.
"This is what our home looked like in the previous fire", Roberto whispered to Travis and his family, "All the trees had been burned to this mess."
"You'd better go and search for Blu, Jewel, Zephyr, Tornado and Aurora," said Travis. Nearby, Levi and Lapis Lazuli with their four chicks nodded in agreement. Then Roberto's group opened their wings and took off, heading for the ravine opening.
In the other macaw tribes and clans' territories, the other macaw flocks were also beginning to emerge from their evacuation points to survey the damage caused by the fire. Valentino and his tribe, along with the glaucous macaws that had taken refuge with them, came out of their underground cavern to see the blackened cliff faces where many of the Lear's macaws made their homes alongside burned down trees, Alonso and his tribe and their glaucous macaw guests also came out of their cave to see their home trees burned to blackened structures without any green on them. Aramis, Esmeralda, Chlorophyll and Petunia were especially horrified. In the blue-and-gold tribe's home, Soleado and his tribe and their glaucous macaw guests also emerged from the mouth leading to their underground cavern to survey the damage. Their home trees were also reduced to a blackened mess, and Porthos, who flew alongside Orquidea, Wilbur and Azul, had never seen so much destruction to a natural environment in his life. The Navyfeathers also came out of their cave to survey the damage to their home. However, they had been more fortunate. The fire had only spread through a fraction of their territory before the rain began to fall, but while Flavio and the other hyacinth macaws were relieved that the trees of their home patch were still intact and undamaged, they were horrified to see the sea of blackened trees where the fire had been raging. Phoebe, Cobalto, Indigo and Zebedee were especially thunderstruck.
In the red tribe's home, Felipe and his tribe also emerged from their cave to see that most of their home trees had been reduced to a serious mess as well. Athos, Ruby, Alexandre, Spinel and Poinsettia were in a horrified awe. As for the blue-throated clan and Bluewing hyacinth Clan's home, like the Navyfeathers, only part of their territory had been ablaze. Demetrio, Violeta, Reynaldo, Anita and their clans, among them Ariel and her family, had seen that their home trees had been spared, but when they came to where the fire had spread, they were struck with horror to see a sea of blackened trees as far as the eye could see and the disaster zone extended into the flying foxes' territory based on the blacked vegetation over there. Based on this, Demetrio and Reynaldo assumed that some of the flying foxes had likely been injured or trapped by the fire as well. But they daren't go over there and investigate because if any bird was found on the flying foxes' turf, they were killed right away. Throughout the affected areas, other animals and birds were also horrified to see the devastation the fire had caused. It truly was a disturbing revelation for the inhabitants of the Amazon rainforest.
As the rains continued pelting down and the fire continued reducing to nothing more than patches of flames, Blu and Jewel, who had been hiding in a small cave beside a shrunken stream, cautiously crept out. Jewel had been cowering against Blu's side the whole time but now that the fire had died down, she was calmer but still traumatised from the whole ordeal. As Blu looked out and examined the surroundings, horror smacked into him. He had never seen so much destruction in his entire life. All the tree trunks had turned into blackened pillars while the undergrowth, the ferns and shrubs, had been stripped of their greenery to nothing more than blackened skeletal structures. Blu then shuddered as he remembered reading about how destructive fire could be, especially if it got out of control or ended up in the wrong hands, and had read stories of cities and bush areas being reduced to a blackened disaster zone in some of the books he read while he lived in Moose Lake, Minnesota with his former owner Linda. However, Blu knew that he and Jewel had to find the Spix macaw tribe now that the fire was less angry. Turning to Jewel, who was still shaking, he said, "Jewel, are you ready?"
Jewel, still swamped with fear from the fire, nodded. However, her teal eyes were still swarming with terror for there were still patches of fire alight.
"Don't worry, the fire's died down," said Blu, "And I'm right with you, and will be throughout the way until we find our tribe."
Jewel, comforted by Blu's words, prepared to leave the small cave. Blu then smiled and prepared to lead the way when suddenly, they heard a familiar voice.
"Wait, aren't you Eddie's son-in-law?" it said.
"And that must be Eduardo's daughter," said another voice, a female. Startled as this scene felt familiar, Blu looked around until his eyes landed on some red feathered figures with yellow or green, and blue or teal wings. One of them had green eyes while another had light blue. Blu jumped back in shock but when he saw a tall, red macaw standing to the green-eyed macaw's left, he breathed a sigh of relief. It were only Felipe, Pearl and some of their macaws including Athos, Ruby, Alexandre, Spinel and Poinsettia and they all wore surprised looks at seeing two blue macaws in their area. However, understanding soon overtook the surprise. Then finally, Blu spoke after overcoming his shyness.
"I'm sorry," he timidly apologised, "Is- is this… your territory?"
"It is," said Pearl, the blue-eyed macaw.
Blu then began to mutter as he felt silly. When he first crossed into Felipe's side which happened when the Spix and red macaws were at loggerheads with each other, he had unintentionally whipped up a war between the two tribes for the whole Brazil nut grove. However, unlike last time, Felipe looked more sympathetic. He did not mind Spix macaws or any of the other macaws from the other tribes and clans visiting his territory now.
"Sorry," said Blu, "We got a bit lost in the fire so we took refuge here. It had been too dangerous to continue flying through the inferno."
He then changed the subject. "By the way, how are you lot doing?"
"Oh, shaken," shuddered Pearl timidly, "The fire has damaged a large part of our territory and we're dreading what damage the fire has caused the territories of the other tribes and clans including yours. It's been terrible honestly…"
"At least Athos and his three chicks have made it back to your tribe safely," said Blu when he saw Athos with his family. Then Ruby who stood by Athos's side saw Jewel trembling violently.
"And it looks like Jewel's had a nasty ordeal throughout the whole thing," she said sympathetically, "She needs to be taken back to your tribe and quick or Eduardo will be worried."
Blu looked at Jewel. "I agree," he said. Jewel then timidly emerged from the small cave and joined her mate's side, breathing rapidly and quivering.
"That's exactly how I feel," Ruby said, "Seeing the flames. It brought back hideous memories of when Ruby and I were torn from the red tribe."
Blu sighed and felt it was time to leave.
"I'd better go, anyway," he said, "Eduardo will be worried for us and I don't want him to break down…"
"Would you like one of us to escort you?" asked Felipe, "I'm setting up a patrol group to take Alonso and Valentino's patrollers, the ones that delivered us the fire warning, back to their tribes. They had been taking refuge with us throughout the fire…"
Blu nodded with a smile. Then Ramon, Sheldon's scarlet father, opted to be the escort.
"I'll take the couple back," he said, "I'm sure Eduardo wouldn't mind having a scarlet macaw flying into his territory…"
"Okay, be careful, Ramon," said Dani as she stood with Sheldon and with that, she gave him a kiss. Sheldon also hugged his father. Then Athos shook Ramon's wing.
"You watch yourself out there, Ramon," he said firmly, "There could be some unstable trees around here."
"Not to mention charred Brazil nuts as the Brazil nut grove would have been on fire as well," said Ruby.
"Absolutely," said Felipe, "Even though those fruits have been burned, they could still be heavy enough to kill us if they fall on us, so make sure you're extremely careful when you're flying through that grove."
"Fly over any Brazil nut clusters if you can and be careful of the rain," said Pearl. Ramon nodded. He then gazed at Blu and Jewel who signalled that they were ready. And with that, the trio took off and flew off in the direction of the Spix tribe's territory. Jewel shuddered and whimpered as she saw the few clusters of flame still alive in certain parts of the forest. However, since it was raining heavily and some of the rain was falling through the canopy, those clusters will soon be extinguished. Athos looked up into the sky through a gap in the above canopy where some of the rain poured through.
"Well, at least the rains have come at last," he said "and in time as well. I thought the fire was going to spread further due to how dehydrated the trees and plants have become from the drought."
"Those rains will replenish the water that had been lost from the lakes, streams, the Amazon River and the plants," said Pearl, "As always, heat waves often precede storms."
"Let's send some patrol groups into our neighbours' territory," said Felipe, "and make sure they are alright as well and see if they need any casualties tending to."
Pearl nodded and the group of scarlet and green-winged macaws left with Dani flashing a glance back in where her mate flew off with the two Spix macaws, hoping that he would be careful as he escorted them back to their ravine.
Meanwhile
Tornado, Zephyr and the seven young glaucous macaws they had found slowly and cautiously crept out of their refuge point and examined the surroundings. To their utter horror, every tree and fern had been reduced to blackened trunks and skeletal structures. There were still a few embers and small clusters of flame lazily burning in some areas but to Tornado and Zephyr's relief, drops of rain were falling through the canopy and they could hear the pattering of raindrops from above. The rains have come to end the drought at last. Then Zephyr was struck with thoughts about why they had come out here in the first place, to search for Aurora.
"Dad, shall we continue to search for my mate now?" he asked Tornado as he looked over the shaken chicks, "It's not as dangerous now."
"We need to do something about these six chicks and the adolescent macaw first," said Tornado. Zephyr with an impatient gasp, walked over to his father.
"These are glaucous macaws like Levi and his family," said Tornado, "And I believe they could be from the remaining glaucous macaws Eduardo and Blu told me they had found with Levi and Lapis Lazuli. We've got to get these birds to safety."
"Could there be any other glaucous macaws out there like them?" asked Zephyr, "not including Levi and his family?"
Tornado replied with a silent 'I don't know' expression, but based on his look, Zephyr knew the seven glaucous macaw chicks and adolescent needed to be taken to somewhere safe and soon. However, Tornado was stricken by immense surprise as he gazed at the seven young glaucous macaws. Like many of the other macaws, he thought that the entre glaucous tribe had been slaughtered by those flying foxes but now, that assumption had been called into question. Then Tornado had another thought, one that made him cringe with dread. "We need to examine our surroundings and see where we are. You look after these seven while I do that and gauge our location."
Zephyr obeyed and stayed by the six chicks and adolescents' side while Tornado took off from the refuge point and flew into the canopy. However, it was not an easy task for it was raining heavily, and Tornado did not want to hover for too long in the rain. Macaws and other tree birds could not fly very well with sodden feathers unlike water birds that had been built to swim (though with few exceptions even among these).
As Tornado emerged from the canopy and into the treetops, he looked around. He was horrified to see that the trees had been stripped of their greenery and other colour. All they looked like were skeletal structures with flimsy remains of leaves that were simply shed by the rain. Pulling his gaze off what the fire had done to the trees, Tornado continued examining the surroundings. Lightning flashed in the sky, briefly lighting up the surroundings in several split-second blinks. However, to his frustration, Tornado could not make heads or tails of where he and his son were for the trees looked too dark and unfamiliar to build a picture of their location. Giving up and not wanting to be in the rain for much longer, Tornado descended back through the canopy and towards the forest floor where it was more sheltered. As he touched down, Zephyr asked him.
"Anything?" he said. Tornado shook his head.
"I don't know where we are," he said, "It's just too dark and the rain is too heavy. We might have to wait until morning."
This was met with an irritated and frustrated sigh from Zephyr. He really wanted to find Aurora and did not want to spend the rest of the night out here.
"I'm sorry, son," said Tornado sadly as Zephyr sat down against the wall of the little burrow, "but it's too dangerous. It's dark and it's wet and I don't want us, especially those glaucous macaw chicks and adolescent, catching a chill by flying through this deluge."
Zephyr did not reply and continued to sulk. He wore a scowl on his face, had his wings crossed and his head hanging down. Tornado uttered an irritated 'tut'. Zephyr can be a stubborn macaw to deal with at times but he knew he knew best. It was too dangerous to be flying through the rains, especially while it is dark. As a thunderclap was heard in the above sky and the forest was lit but several times by a flash of lightning, Tornado sighed and sat down. The six glaucous macaw chicks and adolescent male came up to him, sad looks on their faces. While they were grateful for Tornado and Zephyr for rescuing them from the fire after their parents were crushed by that tree, they were clearly lost and devastated. Tornado just looked back at them, a disappointed look on his face and sighed.
"I know you seven want to be reunited with your other relatives and friends especially after losing your parents," he said, "But I can't risk us getting sopping wet and catching a chill, not to mention getting lost in the dark."
The chicks and adolescent moaned while Zephyr just sighed, not looking at his father or the chicks. Tears were beginning to fall from his face as he thought about Aurora. He did not want to raise his four chicks Justin, Charlotte, Matilda and Virgil alone. Chicks had been something Aurora had wanted so greatly and Zephyr remembered the times in Rio when she had spent hours playing with Carla, Bia and Tiago, Blu and Jewel's chicks, when she babysat them while their parents took a break by going out on romantic meals or simply browsing the cityscape, before Zephyr and Aurora had become mates and had their own brood. Further, there was n o female macaw that would ever completely fill in Aurora's place. If Aurora had ever been found dead, Zephyr's heart would be ripped in two like a piece of sheet humans called paper. He and Brisa had been heartbroken when they were torn from Tornado and Gael by chaos whipped up by smugglers. Zephyr couldn't bear to face heartbreak again, this time over the loss of a mate. Tornado then shot Zephyr a sympathetic look and understood how it felt to lose a loved one. He remembered losing Zephyr and Brisa when smugglers attacked and how he and Gael had been unable to find them before being forced to return to the Amazon. It had been years from then until their reunion with their son and daughter, and further joy that Tornado and Gael had become a grandpa and grandma when Zephyr revealed that he had found a mate and had six chicks with her. It was one of Tornado's fondest memories of finding out that he had grandchildren back then, and did not want to see his four grandchildren find out that their mother had died in the fire, especially after having just joined the tribe to live as a wild bird. Furthermore, Aurora was a lovely macaw to have as a daughter-in-law, and Tornado and Gael had been thrilled to have her as part of their family, especially after hearing of her tragic backstory of how she had lost her parents and two sisters to loggers when she was a chick. Tornado had thought fondly of Aurora's former owners who had raised her in the UK.
'They certainly have looked after her and her friends, including D'Artagnan and Levi, well,' he thought.
As Tornado thought about these things, he thought he heard faint 'whoosh' sounds. This made the middle-aged macaw peer out of the mini-cave. However, he thought it was the sound of a wind blowing through the burned vegetation. But when he soon heard that the whooshing noises were rhythmic and short, he stiffened with dread. That rhythmic sound of rushing air came from flapping wings as randomly gusting wind did not make that noise. Then the rhythmic rushes of air then began to increase in loudness, and there was not one but several which added to Tornado's feeling of utmost dread. Tornado then began to prepare for action. His feathers were flattened and his protective fatherly nature had overshadowed him. Glancing back at Zephyr and the seven glaucous macaw youngsters, Tornado began to creep out and examine the surroundings as the rhythmic rushes of air grew louder.
"I hope those aren't some of those flying furballs," he growled under his breath. He then called for Zephyr.
"What!?" snapped Zephyr irritably making the glaucous macaws flinch slightly.
"You may want to protect those glaucous macaw chicks," replied Tornado in a low voice, flooded with suspicion, "I can hear the sounds of flapping wings and I have a feeling it could be a group of those pesky bats on the prowl."
When Zephyr heard these words, his exasperation was replaced by dread and horror. He remembered that his family had run into a group of some of those infamous winged mammals shortly after they had been torn from the Spix macaw tribe in the previous fire. He immediately scooped up the whimpering seven glaucous macaw youngsters and commanded them to be quiet. The seven macaws did so as Zephyr watched Tornado as he listened to the flapping noises as they grew louder. Soon, they were loud enough for Tornado to deduce that the owners of the wings were now nearby.
"Stay here with the chicks, son," commanded Tornado sternly. Zephyr nodded as his father then disappeared from the entrance of the burrow to investigate the owners of the wing flaps. Zephyr then looked down at the six glaucous macaw chicks and the adolescent in his wings as they cowered. They reminded him of Justin, Charlotte, Matilda and Virgil when Zephyr sometimes hugged the whole brood at the same time. As the thoughts of his two sons and two daughters flooded his mind, Zephyr began to weep again.
"You know, I understand how you seven feel," said the Spix macaw in a strangled voice, "Losing a parent. I have four chicks who are likely missing both their parents back in my tribe, alongside a sister, an uncle, a cousin and a mother. I reckon they are worried about me and my mate whose name is Aurora…"
The seven young glaucous macaws looked up at him and whimpered. Then Zephyr hushed them to tell them to be quiet and fixed his eyes on the exit of the burrow, waiting for Tornado to return. Tension then began to rise as Zephyr continued gazing at the exit and into the dark, rainy forest with blackened plants, quivering with eyes flooded with fear. He began to wonder how Aurora, Blu and Jewel must feel, lost and alone out there with no idea of where they were but he had hoped that Blu and Jewel had been found sooner or later. As these thoughts flooded his mind and made his heart churn like white water in a rushing river, Zephyr suddenly flinched and hugged the seven young glaucous macaws closer to himself as he heard footsteps grow louder. This indicated that something was approaching the entrance to the burrow. They were too light to be from a human and too few to be from the most dangerous forest floor predator to the macaws, the jaguar. Tension continued to escalate as the eight quivered more and more when they heard the footsteps stop. Then suddenly… "Zephyr, it's alright."
Zephyr and the young glaucous macaws flinched harshly with one of the females emitting a scream. Zephyr then shot an alarmed look to the burrow entrance and saw Tornado peering into the burrow, a relieved smile on his beak. Based on this, Zepohyr released a sigh of relief as it relaxed the tension.
"You can come out now," continued Tornado, "The flapping wings weren't any of those pesky canine-faced bats after all, and I have got that group to come and help us."
Zephyr looked at the seven chicks and adolescent and began to cautiously move towards the entrance of the burrow. It was clear that Tornado had indeed found someone else, a group of birds. Zephyr emerged from the burrow with the six glaucous chicks and adolescent macaw in his wings and as he climbed out onto the surface, he saw Tornado and a group of four large birds behind him, all macaws with fairly dark blue to very dark navy blue feathers and yellow facial features. Thankfully, it turned out that the flapping sounds only belonged to this group of four hyacinth macaws. One of the hyacinth macaws looked familiar and she ran towards Zephyr with wings open wide.
"Zephyr," cried the macaw and as Zephyr placed the seven young glaucous macaws down, she was wrapped in a rather tight hug which drew the breath out of him.
"Phoebe," Zephyr managed to struggle out.
"Oh, brilliant, you're alright," cried the macaw, named Phoebe. Then as soon as Phoebe broke the hug with Zephyr, she placed him back onto the ground. A smile then crept onto Zephyr's face, the first one in hours since the fire began. The other three hyacinth macaws tittered in amusement.
"Sorry, we tend to be quite strong," said one of them, a male but not Cobalto, "We're twice the size of you, you see."
"We thought you were a group of those dreaded flying foxes at first," said Tornado.
"Oh, you're not in flying fox territory," said another of the three hyacinth macaws accompanying Phoebe, "Far from it."
"Do you know where we are?" asked Zephyr.
"You're on the edge of the Spix macaws' territory close to the Spix/blue-and-gold territory boundary," said one of Phoebe's group-mates, "Flavio has sent some patrol groups from his clan to check on the other macaw tribes and clans to see if they needed any help."
When Tornado and Zephyr heard this, they were full of relief to be still in the Sanctuary de Amazon.
"Getting lost in a fire is extremely common," said Zephyr. He then shuddered. "Oh, it was just horrible…"
Then the male hyacinth macaw saw the seven glaucous macaw chicks and adolescent.
"What are those chicks?" he asked.
"Oh, these are glaucous macaw chicks," said Tornado, "We found them in the fire. They are lost and need to be taken to safety."
Then Zephyr remembered Aurora. "Oh, Phoebe, you three, have you seen Aurora? She has gone missing from the stargazing group and have left to search for her but could not find her in the fire."
Phoebe, at this, looked at the other three hyacinth macaws and then back at Tornado and Zephyr.
"I'm afraid we haven't but we can help you look for her if you want," she said. She then examined the glaucous macaw chicks. "But first, let's get those chicks to safety. We'll take them and you to Falkor, Fedor and Ámbar's cave and then we'll come back out here to search for Aurora."
Zephyr and Tornado managed relieved smiles. With that, they and the seven glaucous macaw chicks went along with Phoebe and the other three hyacinth macaws and they began to lead Tornado, Zephyr and the seven chicks in the direction of the Navyfeathers' territory, and Falkor and company's cave.
"How is Falkor the milicinth macaw doing?" asked Tornado, "I have only met him once shortly after Gael and I re-joined the Spix macaw tribe."
"He's very busy," said Phoebe, "Quite a number of non-tribe and clan birds have been injured while many more had got lost in the fire."
"Thankfully the fire had not spread throughout our clan the Navyfeathers' territory," said the male hyacinth macaw, "Our home trees and most of the other trees in our area had been untouched by the fire and only a fraction of them had been burned. The rains had come and stopped the fire from spreading any further but we had evacuated to our cave just in case."
"I'm glad that your territory has only suffered minor damage," said Tornado.
"Yeah, but your territory looks even worse," said Phoebe, "We have been at the Navyfeather/Spix border and when we examined the damage to the trees in your tribe's territory, we could see burned trees as far as the eye could see. Looks like the fire had ripped throughout an enormous percentage of your land."
"We don't know the extent of the damage the fire has caused to the other tribes and clans' territories," said one of Phoebe's friends, "But I should imagine they could have suffered as much damage as the Spix macaws' territory."
"Flavio has sent patrol groups to check on the Spix tribe and Felipe's tribe the red macaws, anyway," said the male hyacinth macaw, "and to check to see if any help was needed. Anyway, let's get you to Falkor and his friends' cave. It's pretty dangerous to be flying out here in the dark and rain."
And with that, Tornado, Zephyr and the seven young glaucous macaws followed the four hyacinth macaws through the dark and raining forest, keeping to the canopy to avoid flying into curtains of rain falling through the gaps in the above plants.