Chapter 30- found and relieved reunions
Aurora charged at high speed through the dark and rainy forest like a rocket, covered in mud and bits of burned vegetation as the pieces of sticks she had used to help camouflage herself from the flying foxes led by the wicked Voldemort had fallen off. After two adrenaline-filled and near-death ordeals in one night, things had begun to take their toll on the poor Spix macaw. Aurora was now more frightened and desperate than ever. Despite the agonising pain emanating from her scratched back and bitten wing she had sustained during the flying foxes' pursuit of her, the pigtailed Spix macaw continued to rocket through the black forest, flapping like mad. Because Aurora was so consumed by extreme panic and terror like a tree ablaze with flames, her imagination began to run absolutely haywire and change her perspective on her surroundings. Extreme fear can have a psychological effect on your perception of your surroundings and make your imagination run amok. That is exactly what is happening to Aurora right now.
Aurora tore in one direction until she found herself staring into a pair of eyes. They belonged to a moustached tamarin monkey. The primate released a startled cry into Aurora's face and fled, prompting Aurora to change direction. However, Aurora struck something scaly and slimy. The Spix macaw examined the surface, wondering what it was, until she found herself receiving a loud hiss to the face by a snake. Startled, she flew away, the serpent hissing after her and flicking its forked tongue. Aurora continued flying on until she gazed in the direction of a large tree trunk smothered with creeping vines surrounding a hollow. The way the vines snaked around the hollow and up the trunk, as well as the hollow itself, then appeared to transform into a leering face with the hollow forming a gaping mouth and two breaks in the vines, the eyes. The 'face' was so frightening that Aurora let loose a loud screech and charged off. However, the face was just a figment of Aurora's terror-fuelled imagination.
Aurora continued to charge away from the illusory face until she struck another branch and fell onto a yet another branch whose width was wide enough to hold a macaw. As Aurora shook herself to and gazed at a cluster of twisted fingers and remains of burnt leaves, those twigs and leaves appeared to morph into large frightening mutant fish with sharp teeth, like a pack of piranha, the twigs appearing to take on the form of spiky dorsal fins. Aurora screeched and backed away and fell off the branch, pulling herself out of the fall as she flapped to stop herself from careening to the forest floor, pain from her bitten right wing making her yelp. Aurora then flew through the forest which appeared to be filled with trees with menacing faces glaring at her in the most frightening way. Branches seemed to morph into malicious arms and claws while hollows seemed to transform into eyes and mouths, and charged vines and creeping plants seemed to transform into ugly fingers or snakes. the flash of lightning and the rain, as well as the winds ripping through the charred branches and making them waver, added to the frightening illusion by making the 'monsters' seem to come to life much to Aurora's extreme fright. Petrified, the Spix macaw screeched loudly and rocketed on. A little while later, Aurora flashed a terrified glance behind her and spotted a glow. That glow then emerged out of the canopy and began to pursue the Spix macaw, revealing itself to be a ghostly creature. This spectral creature, which was really a manifestation of Aurora's intense fear and terror by her imagination, had a cockatoo-like face but its face was nothing at all like that of Travis or Sunset, or Eustace, Milo and Rosa, their three chicks for their faces were always friendly. Instead, this cockatoo's face greatly resembled another cockatoo Aurora had known as a chick. Its 'eyes' glared menacingly after Aurora and its 'beak' wore a smile of scornful and sadistic mockery, like the ones Voldemort and his gang had on their faces earlier, and also that malicious cockatoo that killed Aurora's family. A large set of glowing crescents, resembling the feathers of a cockatoo's crest, made the spectral cockatoo look more terrifying and behind its 'head' snaked a long, glowing tail, like a comet. This cockatoo-faced manifestation then chased Aurora through the darkened forest of nightmare creatures (from her perspective).
Aurora continued flying on through the terrifying nightmare forest with the fear-induced imaginary spectral cockatoo in hot pursuit for a good while until she entered a part of the forest that was buried in total darkness and shadow as black as death and the flying foxes' wings. Here, she was confronted by glowing and terrifying eyes, crests and beaks similar to the glowing cockatoo-faced creature. These cockatoo-faced creatures had frightening eyes, beaks widened into a menacingly evil smile and crests raised in the most terrifying way. Aurora began shoot severely panicked gazes in all directions to escape these imaginary faces, but everywhere she looked, there were more cockatoo faces, all with beaks hanging open in evil smiles as though mocking her. Fright then boiled inside Aurora as she saw more and more cockatoo faces appear in every single direction until finally, she was overwhelmed by EXTREME terror. After a crack of lightning sounded and lit up the forest and made the cockatoo faces take on a more demonic form, Aurora's immense fright reached its breaking point, erupting out of Aurora's beak through an extremely loud and piercing squawk. The pigtailed Spix macaw then fell out of the air and collapsed onto another large and wide branch, face buried in her wings and her body shaking violently all over. Aurora then slowly and timidly raised her head from her wings and examined the surroundings somewhat as blackness slowly began to envelop her vision. However, before her world was masked completely by darkness, she thought she saw a few blurry shapes approach her but these weren't reddish, brown or dark brown with black wings like the hideous flying foxes. These shapes were large and dark blue, small and green or had other colours but one of the larger shapes was green and teal with blue tips at its emanations, presumably wings and wings made of feathers and not skin membranes. Before Aurora could tell what these shapes were, she passed out completely.
Later
The fires had completely died down by now but the rains continued pelting the blackened rainforest. Rivers and lakes continued being replenished of their lost water, and animals had taken shelter in dens and under burned bushes to stay out of the deluge. However, some animals were not doing this for they had an important task to carry out. In one part of the Sanctuary de Amazon in the Spix tribe's territory, Roberto and his group were flying around looking for Blu and Jewel, Zephyr, Brisa and Aurora and calling their names. They had been searching much of the territory but had not found the five missing macaws anywhere, and had moved the search to near the Brazil nut grove. Roberto, Brisa, Maximillian, Roxie and the other four macaws with them continued looking around in every nook and cranny of the burned trees and on the forest floor. Travis was with them, having volunteered to come and help, while Sunset remained behind in the Spix macaws' ravine with Eustace, Milo and Rosa, their hybrid chicks. Travis had been horrified by the devastation the fire had caused as he flew with the Spix macaws through the area. He had never known fires to spread so much and consume so much area. However, he did not care about this. His main priority was finding Blu, Jewel, Zephyr, Tornado and Aurora. Travis moved from one hollow to the next. As he did that, Roxie searched the branches.
"You know, trying to find a macaw, even a brightly coloured one, in this cluttered environment is like trying to find a needle in a haystack," said Travis.
"A what?" asked Roxie, the Spix macaws' Pit of Doom scoremarker confused.
"It's a saying or idiom," explained Travis, "It's a way to describe something that is extremely hard to find."
Roxie tilted her head to one side, still confused so Travis explained it in a different way.
"Put it like this," he said, "Have you tried finding a stick insect or leaf grasshopper hiding among a large tree with leaves?"
"Oh, I get it," said Roxie, "and 'needle' I have heard of. But 'haystack' is a word I have never heard of."
"A haystack is a pile or bundle of dried grass, called hay," said Travis, "Humans use it to feed farm animals. But that aside, I think a stick insect or leaf grasshopper is a better analogy for you to understand since you don't know what a farm or hay are."
Roxie replied with a worried look. "Well I hope Blu, Jewel, your brother Zephyr, father Tornado and sister-in-law Aurora aren't that hard to find."
"I hope not either," said Brisa with a sigh nearby, "Let's just continue the search."
Travis nodded and flew over to the next hollow to check it. As he inserted his head into the hollow, Roberto came by.
"Maximillian, where are we?" he called to a macaw flying overhead, gauging the group's location.
"We're near the Brazil nut grove and the Spix/red border," replied he. Roxie then let a frustrated sigh escape her beak.
"Those five have just GOT to be somewhere," she muttered, "Especially Jewel, otherwise, our patriarch's going to be like how he was when we lost Jewel the first time in the previous fire."
"Huh, I remember that all too well," said a middle-aged male macaw named Bernardo, who was one of the other four macaws in the search group, "He was in absolute BITS for months after the fire. But Eduardo isn't going to be the only one to face heartbreak over Jewel's disappearance. Jewel has three chicks waiting for her, and also their father Blu…"
"And Justin and his three siblings have a mother, a father, and a paternal grandfather still out there too," added Travis. Bernardo nodded and then resumed his search. Roberto then came by, a sombre look on his face.
"Last time Ju-Ju was found missing, Eduardo was seriously heartbroken," he said in a low voice, remembering the state of the patriarch that time, "and so were the rest of us, but Eduardo was especially affected."
Travis looked at him sympathetically as Roberto continued. "For fifteen years we've lived with that loss until she returned. Eduardo can't bear this the second time… and neither could we. She's just GOT to be found."
Travis sighed and then moved on and continued to shout the missing macaws' names. However, Roberto's group was rather close to two of the macaws they were looking for. Blu, Jewel and Ramon, Sheldon's scarlet father, were flying through the Brazil nut grove, eyes filled with horror at the burned trees. However, Ramon was wary of a particular hazard in addition.
"Be careful, you two," he said, "There could be some burned Brazil nuts ready to fall."
Blu and Jewel did so and kept a sharp eye out for any Brazil but clusters and avoided flying under them. Blu looked around.
"This is definitely like a warzone," he said in a hushed voice, "It's like a bombsite."
"Fire can burn pretty much anything to the ground, Blu, if allowed to get out of control," explained Ramon, "Athos told me that even large human cities can be reduced to a pile of burned rubble. Don't get me wrong; fire is useful when handled aright and with care, as Athos has also told me but if you ever let fire run amok; the results can be disastrous such as in this case."
Blu nodded before looking at Jewel. She seemed calmer now that the fire had finally died down completely save for a few cinders still glowing on the forest floor and smoke rising lazily from one of the burned ferns. However, Jewel was completely shaken from the whole nightmare. Despite this, she continued following Ramon and Blu as they flew on, avoiding the Brazil nut clusters and the rain.
As the trio continued flying on, Blu slowed to a stop and began to listen, his ears having detected something.
"What is it, Blu?" asked Ramon as Jewel hovered near him. Blu raised a talon to tell him to be quiet. Ramon and Jewel did so and began to listen. It sounded like someone calling in the distance. Ramon, who had quite keen hearing, then began to try and decipher the words in the calls.
"It sounds like we're approaching some of the macaws who are trying to search for us," said he. At this, hope and joy bloomed within Blu and Jewel like a cloud of algae in a lake.
"Then we're nearing some of the members from our tribe," cried Blu joyfully, "We'd better hurry!"
And with that, he and Jewel rocketed off in the direction of the sounds, tracing their sources. Ramon followed after a late start.
"Hey, guys wait up!" he shouted, narrowly avoiding colliding into a tree branch in his haste. Back with Roberto's group, Travis and the Spix macaws continued looking in every hollow in each tree and holes in the ground, calling Blu, Jewel, Zephyr, Tornado and Aurora's names as loud as they could. While Roberto searched the upper canopy with Maximillian, Roberto shouting Jewel's childhood nickname (Ju-Ju), Travis landed onto a branch and peered into a hollow. However, he forgot that he was under a large cluster of burned Brazil nuts; a lethal mistake. As Travis then retracted his head out of the hollow, a lush blue blur shot in and tackled him off the branch. Travis yelled in shock and then noticed that it was Roberto who had knocked him off the branch.
"Be careful not to perch under any Brazil nuts, yellow crest," said he sternly, forgetting Travis's name. Travis then looked at where he stood and then up at the cluster of blackened Brazil nuts directly where he had been standing. One Brazil nut then came loose. Its stem snapped and the heavyweight ball of burned shell and fruit careened through the air, striking the branch with a heavy thud exactly where Travis had been standing seconds earlier, before rolling aside and then entering freefall towards the forest floor as it left the branch. Travis drew in a slight gasp and raised his head feathers a little as he watched the whole thing.
"That would have landed on you and fatally broken your spine had I not knocked you away in time," explained Roberto, Travis giving him a surprised look. "Brazil nuts, even burned ones, are lethal when they fall from their trees and they could instantly kill a bird if they land on it, and there are many Brazil nuts around here, so be careful of where you fly and where you land."
"I see," said Travis "Thanks for reminding me of the hazards and tackling me out of that death trap. I'll have to remember that and tell Sunset and my chicks before we plan a visit to this grove."
"Then make sure you do," said Roberto sternly. Then he and Travis resumed their search for the missing Spix macaws, shouting their names.
Below, Roxie continued scanning the forest floor, blue eyes scanning every nook and cranny below her such as every area under the ferns and in any holes in the ground while Brisa, Bernardo and the other three macaws scanned the trees above. However, Roberto's group were unaware that they were nearing two of their five target macaws.
Blu, Jewel and Ramon continued tracing the source's sounds and as they approached it, the words became much clearer. The three stopped and listened.
"Blu, Jewel!"
"Zephyr, Tornado, Aurora!"
"Where are you?"
"Ju-Ju!"
That last call was from an unmistakable macaw, which Jewel immediately recognised. As she did so, joy, the first she had ever experienced since getting lost in the fire, flared within her.
"That's Roberto," she told Blu and Ramon, "That's definitely Roberto!"
Then before Blu or Ramon could say a word or stop her, Jewel accelerated her flight in a split-second, becoming a cerulean comet, screeching to answer Roberto and the other macaws' calls and make herself known. Blu and Ramon followed; the former struggling to keep up due to his inexperience in flying through a cluttered environment still present. Back with Roberto's group, Brisa stopped when she thought she heard something. She called the others to freeze with a 'Shhh'. The other macaws and Travis did so and listened, cocking their ears to the surroundings.
"Roberto!"
"Anyone recognise that?" asked Brisa, a bubble of hope expanding within her. Roberto immediately popped to attention, his crest feathers spiking out.
"Yes," he said, "It sounds like Ju-Ju! Let's trace the sound and try and meet her!"
As the other macaws heard this, they were filled with immense hope that Eduardo's daughter was still alive and began to follow Roberto and Brisa. Travis also went along.
"Eduardo's going to be over the moon when we find her," said Bernardo as he flapped alongside Roxie.
"I bet he will," said Travis, "She's his only daughter I've been told."
"Jewel is his only daughter," said Brisa. Then the group continued flying through the forest. Jewel then stopped and perched onto a branch to look around with Ramon and then Blu turning up moments later. Blu flopped onto a nearby burned branch strong enough to support a macaw's weight and began gasping for air. Ramon then shot him a slight frown.
"You seriously need more proper training in flying through the canopy, Blu," he commented with a slight frown, before his eyes found Blu's fanny pack, the brown blob connected to a belt tied around Blu's waist. "AND you're seriously being weighed down by that belt bag thing tied around your waist as well. You seriously need to start thinking about not flying around with that as much. Based on what your tribemates and what Athos and his family have told me…"
"I had to have it on me for the stargazing group," said Blu as he took a moment to regain his breathing rate, "Especially for this magnifying tool humans also use in bird-watching…"
With that, he unzipped his fanny pack and showed Ramon a pair of manmade tubes joined by a bridge. Ramon just rolled his eyes in annoyance, clearly not interested in the pair of binoculars. All he was concerned about was getting Blu and Jewel back to the Spix macaw tribe.
While Ramon showed his disapproval towards Blu, Jewel gazed into the distance through the burned trees. It was then that a few blue forms and a white form with a yellow splotch on its head emerged from some branches and into view. When Jewel saw this, joy finally exploded within her like a shockwave.
"Roberto!" she screeched and with that, she rocketed off the branch and dashed straight for the one at the front, the one with the mop-like head feathers. "ROOBEEEERTOOOOO!"
Blu and Ramon immediately followed, Blu lagging behind because of the weight of his fanny pack, which had the binoculars, dragging him down again. Ahead, Roberto saw his childhood friend come rocketing towards him.
"Ju-Ju!" he cried and with that, he opened his wings and the moment Jewel collided with him, he locked her into a relieved and emotional embrace. "You're ALIVE!"
Then Jewel began to cry into his shoulder. Blu and Ramon then turned up when suddenly, a white and yellow bundle of feathers jumped at Blu and hugged him tightly, much to his shock such that he went red under his rich blue facial feathers.
"Blu, you're alright too!" cried Travis as the other macaws gathered round.
"Seriously Travis," muttered Blu as he struggled in Travis's rather tight hug "you're embarrassing me in front of the other macaws..."
Then Travis broke the hug with Blu while Roberto broke the hug with Jewel. Brisa then came forward, a bright smile adorning her face as she looked at Blu.
"You certainly were brave to fly out and find Jewel in the inferno, Blu, despite the risk to your own life," she said.
"Blu," said Roxie, "You're a hero. Eduardo is going to be SO pleased."
Bernardo, Maximillian and the other three then came round as Jewel then landed next to Blu. Blu then turned to Ramon.
"Actually, Ramon here, and Athos and Felipe and the other red macaws with them deserve the thanks, not me," he said humbly, "They were the ones who found us first after the fire. Ramon chose to escort us back to our territory and tribe while Felipe and the others moved on to continue to survey the damage done to their home."
"Then I shall reward Felipe greatly," said Roberto with a beaming smile, "You did an excellent job in looking after Blu and Jewel, Ramon."
Ramon sighed and formed a smile. "No need to reward me, Roberto. We just found these two hiding in a little cave in our territory. They must have wandered into our patch during the fire."
"We did," said Blu. Then he found himself meeting the grateful and thankful eyes of Jewel.
"I cannot thank you enough for risking your life to look for me, Blu," she said lovingly. Blu shrugged shyly.
"I just um... did what I have to do," he said, "There was no way I was going to let you die in that fire and I didn't want to see Eduardo break down again after what happened to you in the previous fire…"
As he said this, Jewel was overflowing with love and thankfulness for her mate. Not wanting to hold it in any longer, she lunged at Blu, locked him into an embrace and entered into a passionate smooching episode with him much to Blu's surprise. The others looked on with smiles on their beaks. Roberto was especially enamoured by how strong the bond between Jewel and Blu was, and was hoping to find a mate for himself one day. Nearly all his friends were either dating or had mates with chicks. Jewel had Blu, Zephyr had Aurora and Nuvem, Zephyr and Brisa's cousin was going out with a female in-training nurse macaw, Cassia, and Roxie had no shortage of male admirers. However, the only female macaw who was still single was Brisa, and she seemed to show some feelings toward Roberto and he seemed to reciprocate. However, only time will tell if those feelings would develop into romance. Then Travis turned to Ramon as he admired Blu and Jewel's passionate session.
"Have you or any of your tribe seen Zephyr, Tornado and Aurora at all?" he asked. Ramon made a surprised face.
"That newcomer Spix macaw named Aurora whom Athos told me about got lost in the fire, alongside Zephyr and his father?" he replied incredulously.
"Aurora was reported missing from the stargazing group, and Zephyr and Tornado also went into the fire to look for her," explained Roxie, "Aurora's the one with the pigtails just so that you know."
Then Ramon, though he was still stricken with surprise at the news, sadly shook his head. "We only found Blu and Jewel hiding in our territory. But we haven't seen any signs of Tornado and Zephyr."
But as he said this, worry swamped him and he felt his heart lurch. His green-winged mate, Dani and their son, Sheldon, would have gone missing in the fire as well, but to hear that Aurora had actually done so made him flinch, and he dreaded Athos's reaction. Aurora was one of Athos's closest friends, as was Zephyr, and Ramon also dreaded the reaction of those two macaws' chicks whom Athos told him about; Justin, Charlotte, Matilda and Virgil when they find out that their mother had disappeared. It would be devastating for them. Further, if she and also Zephyr were found dead, those four chicks would become orphans. Not to mention the possible loss of Tornado, Zephyr and Brisa's father, as well.
Turning to Roberto's group as Jewel broke the last kiss with Blu, Ramon said, "I just hope Zephyr, the Spix newcomer and also Zephyr's father are found right away, because I'd hate to think of the heartbreak that would cause Zephyr's family and chicks."
Brisa breathed an agreeing sigh to this. Her brother, father and sister-in-law were still missing. Then Roberto decided it was time to head back.
"Well, we'd better get back to the ravine anyway," he said, "Eduardo will be waiting for us but I'll inform him that Zephyr, Aurora and Tornado are still missing. Anyway, thanks again, Ramon and we'll see you next time."
Ramon, his job accomplished, nodded and prepared to return to the red tribe. After sharing a hug with Roxie, Blu, Travis and then Jewel, Ramon part ways with the group.
Meanwhile
Zephyr and Tornado, together with the six glaucous macaw chicks and adolescent, continued following Phoebe and the other three hyacinth macaws toward the Navyfeather Clan's territory. They had, in fact, already entered the hyacinth macaw clan's turf and were now searching for Falkor and his friends' cave. Zephyr still wore a saddened face as he thought about Aurora. He looked around at the surroundings as they flowed by and let loose a saddened sigh. Unlike the burned trees in a large percentage of the Sanctuary, this part was unaffected and the plants still had their greenery and colour on them. Tornado and Zephyr had been surprised to see the change.
"As you can see," explained Phoebe, "The fire had not spread all the way here, so the vegetation is still green."
"I'm glad you hyacinth macaws hadn't suffered as much damage from the fire as our tribe had," said Tornado as he still shuddered from the nightmarish scene from the fire. "Our chicks are not going to sleep well in the coming nights, I can tell you," he nodded to the seven glaucous macaw youngsters, "these seven especially. They've been much traumatised. In fact they lost their parents to a fallen tree."
"We've all been traumatised by the fire," said the male hyacinth macaw, "I just hope the other macaws and birds are alright," he then turned to the seven young glaucous macaws, "And I'm sorry to hear about their parents' fate. We'd better sort out their situation as soon as they can."
Zephyr and Tornado sighed and continued following the four hyacinth macaws toward Falkor's cave.
A good while later, the cave of the milicinth macaw finally melted into view and the moment it did, Phoebe led Tornado, Zephyr and the glaucous macaw youngsters toward it with her three friends following closely behind. Tornado then looked around and saw that the cave and its surroundings were dotted with many colourful forms. It was clear that Falkor's cave was busy tonight. The fire had caused an awful lot of damage and non-tribe and clan resident birds had come from the Spix and red macaw tribes' territories to seek help from Falkor and his friends, bringing in casualties to seek treatment for them. A few members from Flavio's clan had also come to help the injured birds or those that had got lost in the fire. As Phoebe and her three companions touched down near the entrance to the cave with Tornado, Zephyr and the glaucous macaw chicks, she gazed at them.
"Wait here," she said and with that, she walked into the cave to find either Flavio, Marinho, her mate Cobalto or Falkor. Tornado and Zephyr obeyed and waited with the three hyacinth macaws and the seven young glaucous macaws.
"It's surprising to see some more glaucous macaws besides Levi and his family," said the male hyacinth macaw, "Phoebe had told us about Lapis Lazuli and how she had managed to escape those barbaric bats when her tribe was viciously attacked by them years ago. I thought all the other glaucous macaws would have died in the slaughter."
"Well it seems that a large number of the glaucous macaw tribe had managed to survive," said Zephyr, looking down on the six glaucous macaw chicks and adolescent, "Aurora told me all about it and how those macaws led by Rudi, who I think was Lapis Lazuli's cousin, were too stubborn to see that they were living in vulnerable conditions…"
"Well, by the sounds of it, that tribe will have been decimated by the fire," said another of the three hyacinth macaws, "Especially if that inferno took them by surprise."
Tornado and Zephyr sighed but they didn't realise that the majority of the glaucous macaws were still alive and had taken refuge with some of the macaw tribes and clans on the sanctuary. Then Phoebe emerged from the cave with a large green and teal macaw. However, he was not a pure hyacinth macaw based on his plumage. His wing and tail flight feathers, and some of the feathers on his chest were tipped dark blue, similar to the colour of most hyacinth macaws, and he had a fleshy ring surrounding each eye and a beak lappet behind his lower mandible which showed his hyacinth heritage. As soon as Falkor the milicinth macaw met Zephyr and Tornado and saw the seven young glaucous macaws, he drew in a relieved gasp.
"Oh, Tornado, Zephyr," he said in utter relief, enclosing the two macaws in a tight hug. Zephyr squirmed as Falkor's rather immense strength threatened to suffocate him and Tornado but the milicinth macaw soon released the two. Falkor then gazed at them with his amber eyes.
"You two have arrived just in time," he said. Zephyr and Tornado exchanged glances and gazed back at the hyacinth/military hybrid. Then a couple of hyacinth macaws came and took the glaucous macaws away into the cave.
"What do you mean?" asked Zephyr. But then he felt a pang of hope bubble within him. Falkor then entered into explanation. "We found a Spix macaw in a state of hysteria. While we were flying out searching for more non-tribe and clan bird survivors, we heard an extremely loud squawk. Knowing that squawk was of a bird in distress, we followed that sound and we found the macaw lying on a large branch and trembling violently all over but as we approached her, she passed out. It is a female with a double set of head feathers and was partly covered in mud and a few bits of burned vegetation. We believe that the trauma of the fire might have caused her to enter that seizure-like state and faint. Anyway, we picked her up and then carried her to our cave, treated her wounds, and now she's under Ámbar's care. She has just woken up now and had been uttering…"
But before he could finish, Zephyr blurted out, "Pigtailed female Spix macaw? That sounds like Aurora! Can you take us to her?"
Falkor nodded and turned to Phoebe.
"Can you take care of the seven glaucous macaws that two of your clan-mates had taken into the cave while I lead Zephyr and Tornado to that Spix macaw named Aurora please?" he asked. Phoebe nodded and left for the cave entrance while Falkor nodded to the three hyacinth macaws who had accompanied Phoebe in bringing Tornado and company here. The three big navy blue birds nodded in reply and left to help the other macaws deal with more birds needing help while the six glaucous macaw chicks and the adolescent male were escorted away by another hyacinth macaw. Falkor then led Tornado and Zephyr through the cave entrance and into the cave itself.
As Tornado and Zephyr walked down the tunnel, they looked around and were surprised to see that the cave, though dark, was lit up by glowing bugs called fireflies. Holes in the cave wall provided fresh air and served as windows to the structure as well as light during the daytime. The beginning of the cave was a tunnel and birds were going in and out of it, bringing more frightened and injured birds in while those that went out left to help those that had just turned up.
"This cave is under a well-sheltered part of the canopy," explained Falkor as he led the father and son Spix macaws through the tunnel toward an opening at the other end, "Thus it makes a great infirmary or refuge for injured or lost birds. However, we cannot use it in the event of a fire since this place has so much vegetation around it that it could actually turn into a death chamber as smoke could leak into this place through those holes. We had to evacuate the place when Flavio had alerted us of the fire spreading and had to wait in a large clearing until the fire died down. Thankfully it did not spread all the way here but it had been very scary."
Tornado and Zephyr sighed. They knew that very well. 'Too well,' thought Tornado. Then soon the three had entered the end of the tunnel. As they stepped out of the end, they were greeted by a large cavity opening up before them. Dozens of birds of various species under the care of a few hyacinth macaws and their friends dotted the area and the floor was smothered with soft soil. Moss beds had been constructed for the bird casualties and refugees to lay in. The moss beds had been spaced out in a way to allow carers easier walking space between the birds under their care. The rocky ceiling was perforated by holes which led to outside. These holes served as air vents and prevented the cavity from becoming stagnant with potentially suffocating consequences. Tornado then spotted a hoatzin among the group of carers as he moved from one bird to the next.
"That's Fedor," said Falkor with a point to the hoatzin, "As you will know he is Cobalto and his family's friend, and a close friend of the Navyfeather Clan. He's come to help us tend to these lost and injured birds."
Zephyr also watched Fedor as he helped an amazon helper check a cast made of stiff sticks and twigs covering a wing of a red-fronted macaw. He felt a pang of pity for the green, blue and red bird and remembered Felipe's report of the clan of red-fronted macaws being driven out by the flying foxes.
"That's one of the red-fronted macaw refugees," explained Falkor, "She has come to live here for a few weeks while we help her find a home in the Navyfeather Clans' territory. She is a widowed macaw who had lost her entire family during the siege of the flying foxes on her clan's home and has suffered a broken wing. That is why her wing is in a cast as you can see."
"I know," said Tornado, "we heard all about it."
Zephyr's eyes then travelled from the red-fronted macaw and began to scan the large cavity. Then suddenly, a female voice shouted "Falkor!"
At the call of his name, Falkor turned and saw a bright ivory and golden-yellow macaw wave to her. Falkor immediately led Tornado and Zephyr through the clearing in her direction.
Then as soon as Falkor had met Ámbar and hugged her, Zephyr and Tornado saw a rather bedraggled looking Spix macaw lying on her left in a bed of moss, her back turned to them. Her maya blue plumage, which was normally glossy and glowed brilliantly when exposed to the moonlight like her namesake light phenomena were wet and streaked with mud and Zephyr was horrified to see that her back was covered with a large leaf. The macaw's pigtail feathers were out of place and messy and her right wing appeared to have another leaf wrapped around it as well. Then without another moment's hesitation, Zephyr ran over to the macaw, Tornado following.
"Aurora!" cried Zephyr. At the call of her name, the female macaw stirred and tried to roll over but the pain from her scratched back prevented her from doing so. So Zephyr and Tornado ran around to the front. The moment Aurora saw a blue macaw with a blue tuft of feathers and a blue-white head stand in front of her, she gasped.
"Zephyr!" she cried and with that, she opened her wings, flinching at the pain from her bitten wing and hugged her mate. Zephyr returned the hug. Then the two began crying in relief and shared a passionate kiss with Tornado, Falkor and Ámbar looking on. After the two had broken the kiss, Zephyr said, "I thought you would have died in the fire!"
Aurora just sighed. She was very traumatised, but it was not just from the fire. Then Zephyr began to weep.
"I am so sorry we couldn't find you," he sobbed, "It's all my fault."
"Oh, don't blame yourself, my amado (Spanish for beloved)," said Aurora sympathetically, "I was the one who got lost in the fire after being struck by a fleeing bird with my stargazing group and knocked away from them."
"We had to break off the search for you because things had become too dangerous," said Zephyr sadly. He then erupted into tears such that he could not talk, Aurora hugging him again and allowing him to cry into her shoulder. Tornado, Falkor and Ámbar looked on. Then after the couple had broken their hug and Zephyr sniffed, Tornado began leaned forward to hug his daughter-in-law, glad that she was safe. He took care not to brush Aurora's leaf-bandaged back during the hug for he deduced that she could have a bad injury there. Then after he had broken the hug with Aurora, Tornado began to ask her some questions.
"How did you manage to survive the fire?" he said, "And how did you end up with an injured wing and back?"
"You know I was going to ask her the same question," said Ámbar. Aurora sighed and began to explain.
"I took refuge on an island in the middle of what appeared to be the Amazon River based on the river's size and width. Dozens and dozens of other animals, among them capybaras, monkeys, reptiles, frogs and other birds, were there too, some with young. We waited until the fire died down and the moment it did, and after it started raining heavily, I left the island and flew back into the forest."
"It's a good thing you took refuge out in the Amazon River," said Ámbar, "The space above the river is vast, which serves as a natural barrier against the fire and prevents it from spreading."
"Then… then… then..." began Aurora but she began to tremble and weep as she remembered what happened next.
"Take your time," said Zephyr gently and patiently. Aurora dreaded to tell the group that she had run into a group of every Amazon bird's sworn enemies, but she had to.
"I-I-I," she continued, "While I was trying to search for a bird tribe or clan for help, I just happened to run into a small group of… flying foxes."
The moment Aurora mentioned this; she flinched at the dreaded and shocked looks on Zephyr, Tornado, Ámbar and Falkor's faces.
"You're JOKING!" Zephyr blurted out incredulously, almost shouting the two words.
"Did you turn away from those furballs?" asked Tornado firmly, "Because remember what I said about them: they are dangerous to us birds and you're not to talk to them for they could attack you, and they do often carry weapons."
This made Aurora shake with guilt and regret. Tears sprang into her eyes and ran down her cheeks. Then Falkor said, "Actually, they can attack a bird or small groups of birds without provocation, especially if they are far away from a larger flock. I remember Roberto's family being slaughtered by a group of them and they did nothing to provoke those bats when Roberto had been a youngster."
Aurora then began to tell the four macaws what had happened but she dreaded Tornado and Zephyr's reaction and what they might do.
"They began to mock Eduardo's tribe by making fun of how they thought they had died in the previous fire and that it would be fun to watch them get burned alive and all that," she said in a strangled, guilt-saturated voice, "And I retorted at them to shut up and that if Eduardo ever heard them say that, he would tear them apart but they laughed at that…"
"And then what?" asked Tornado with a frown. Aurora began to shudder at the frightening memories of being chased by those savage bats.
"They began to chase me through the jungle but twice they had me cornered on the forest floor. The first time one of them was about to impale me with a sharp-ended stick. I saw that the stick had a cluster of feathers tied to one end, but I managed to defend myself by scratching the flying fox about to kill me across the face and flew on but the second time, I was brutally scratched down the back by the lead flying fox which went by the name of Voldemort…"
The moment Aurora mentioned Voldemort's name, shivers ran down Tornado, Zephyr, Falkor and Ámbar's spines.
"Voldemort," repeated Ámbar, "Psychotic bat, he is. Was he the one of those bats that killed Roberto's family when he was a younger bat?"
"Yes," said Falkor darkly, "I remember Roberto telling me that one of those bats had chocolate brown fur and a muscular build. Bloodthirsty furball, he is. He was the one who helped to brutally slaughter Roberto's mother, siblings and cousins, and fatally wounded his father."
"And that explains the long scratches down her back," said Ámbar, "And the tooth marks on her right wing."
"That was done by one of the pups after I was knocked out of the air when I was scratched," said Aurora.
"Anyway, continue," said Tornado. So Aurora did so.
"After that, I continued to escape those bats until I hid myself by camouflaging myself using mud and some of the burned vegetation for cover. They could not find me, gave up their search and left for their colony's territory, and then I went on my way, but then everything seemed to transform into frightening monsters and I just passed out."
After Aurora had finished her explanation of what happened to her from when she had escaped to fire to being found and brought here, Tornado began to speak.
"Well, you did an excellent job in applying what you learned from Eduardo's training to escape those flying furballs, my daughter-in-law," said he firmly, "But I think we need to let Flavio, as well as Demetrio, Reynaldo, Soleado and Alonso know and have them keep a constant eye on the borders nearest to that of the flying fox colony's territory. I believe those bats might have been torn from their colony by the fire as well."
"Will I be evicted from the tribe after disobeying you?" whimpered Aurora timidly.
"No," said Tornado, "I'm going to let you off but now you know how dangerous those winged furballs are, especially when they are armed. I just hope that Voldemort and his group stay within the colony's borders or else they will be killed on the spot if they are EVER found on the territory."
"Absolutely," said Falkor seriously, "We can't have any of those flying mammals with minds and colony teachings as twisted as the gnarled roots of an old tree roaming these areas. They're a serious danger to all macaws, parakeets and the other birds living here, including the birds of prey like forest falcons."
"I also hope that those bats continue to believe that the Spix macaw tribe and some of the other bird tribes and clans have not survived the fire as well, therefore, they will not bother Eduardo, Felipe and Valentino's tribes and hopefully the surviving glaucous macaws," said Ámbar. Tornado, Zephyr and Falkor nodded in agreement. Then Aurora, after breathing a sigh of relief that she was not going to be evicted from the Spix macaw tribe, asked, "So, how did I end up here?"
"You were carried here," explained Falkor, "We cleaned your back and wing injuries and bandaged them with the large leaves as you can see, but to hear that you managed to escape that group of flying foxes led by that bloodthirsty killer and participant in the slaughter of Roberto's family was some courage."
"Definitely," said Zephyr, "Often, a lone macaw or parakeet never stands a chance against a group of those bats, especially if they are inexperienced and new to the jungle, but you seem to be an exception, Aurora."
Aurora nodded but she promised herself never to go anywhere near those bats again. Then she laid her head back into the moss to rest. Zephyr and Tornado then decided to stay with Aurora until dawn for it was still dark and raining out there and Tornado felt it was unsafe to return to the Spix macaw tribe. Then Falkor and Ámbar moved on.
"We're going to tend to the other patients now," said Falkor, "Will you three be alright?"
"We will, thanks," said Tornado, "We're going to be spending the rest of the night here until the rain slows and the sun comes up."
"Yeah," said Zephyr in agreement. Then the milicinth and lutino blue-and-gold macaws smiled and left to help Fedor tend to an orange-winged amazon family, leaving the trio of Spix macaws to rest.