Chapter 102- new beginnings after the destruction
The recovery of the Blu Bird Sanctuary and its residents over the next few months were extremely difficult and the healing was very slow. The grief and devastation over the loss of various things, such as loved ones, such as Tom for Diantha, Gladion and Lillie, and the rest of Blu and company's group including Rafael and Eva and the good toucans that have been allowed to stay, the birds and other animals' homes, and in Tulio and his team's case, both of the last pair of golden fruithawks, continued to grip everyone along with the trauma of the disaster and the extreme horror that the whole thing was caused by the toucan chicks, among other, smaller devastations (such as Betelgeuse with the loss of her left foot's toes and the scar on her forehead above her left eye, Aldebaran and several others with their newly developed aversion to water and an extreme fear of fire developed by many of Carla and company's kids), and everyone knew that they had a long and steep healing slope to ascend. Not to mention the majority of Blu and company's bird members had to wait a long time until their wings regrew the flight feathers they needed to get aloft and fly properly, after Marco and some of the other bad toucans had attacked them and tore out some of their wing flight feathers before making off with the group's kids.
Because so much of the sanctuary had been burned and reduced to a sea of ashen skeletal remains of the trees with the undergrowth nothing more than piles of charcoal (as well as the Chinesa Vista which was also nothing more than a pile of singed wood and straw and will need a replacement built in its place eventually), Tulio and his team had been forced to build plenty of artificial and temporary birdhouses for many of the avian and other animal residents to live in and Nico, Pedro, Sparkle, Rose and the Control de Plagas Squad contributed by using their clubs and base as temporary refuge of stay for some more. Even the bird-friendly city dogs and cats, such as Luiz the bulldog, Dash, Ginger, Broccoli, Daisy, Collette, Avellana, Rusty, Esperanza, Worf, Riker, James, Ebony and Danny, had offered to provide some of the avian residents with temporary shelter until their natural homes regrew. In order to use their club to house birds, Ebony, James and their Shih Tzu friend Pelusa had temporarily closed down their club to all city cats and dogs, including Nevado the white Persian cat, for the birds' safety since many of the city cats were a danger to birds for they could not control their instinctive urges to pounce on them, and they kept it closed down and open only to the birds they housed until the trees in the sanctuary recovered enough for them to return.
As for Basil the bat and his small colony of Linda's little orange bats, they were returned to their cave for, unlike the tree homes of many of the Blu Bird Sanctuary's birds and other animals, the cave, being made of solid rock, did not catch fire and burn down to the ground. However, the evacuation of them was still essential as the smoke would have suffocated them in their cave. After their return to their rightful home once the vegetation growing around their home started showing signs of recovery, the bat experts of Tulio's team always dropped by to check on them and to leave some fruit and check the insect population to ensure that the small bat colony had plenty to eat, whilst some of Blu and company's group members, those that were still able to fly or had flying mounts in Andromeda and Eragon's case, paid regular visits to the bat clan. Among these regular visitors were Andromeda and her bat-bird Rouge and Travis and Sunset and they also provided the small bat colony with fruit and insects during some of their visits. While the bat colony was being looked after and the other Tijuca Forest inhabitants staying in temporary refuges until the trees grew back and the damage to the sanctuary from the fire repaired itself, investigation as to how the fire had got its start in the first place had been carried out and it had been found that the fire, along with evidence from some of the witnesses from Blu and company's group such as Katniss, Polaris and Ferdinand, had been started by the act of a bunch of reckless toucan chicks getting hold of quite a number of boxes of matches and cigarette lighters and had somehow, from the humans' perspective, managed to find a way to set them alight and kindle the branches, which they then recklessly and playfully took on their excitement-fuelled flight through the forest, unknowingly setting everything around them ablaze. However, none of the humans believed that it was actually a chameleon (Dalek) who had convinced and manipulated the toucan chicks into playing with the lit branches and had been the one to purloin the dozens of matches and cigarette lighters from various humans, among them Bill, in the first place. The conclusion was then drawn: the toucan chicks had snaffled the fire-starting materials and had been the ones to start the fire.
Because it was not the humans' fault and there was no evidence that some of the fire was started by humans, Bill and the other humans who had matches or other fire-starting materials at the time the fire had started had been vindicated for the mess, but Tulio had very greatly cautioned those with fire-starting materials to take extreme care when carrying them around, even in bags, on the sanctuary for there were some mischievous item-stealing animals, such as the common marmosets, living on the site, and those animals were infamous in stealing a variety of things from workers and tourists while their backs were turned, and among those things were valuables such as jewellery, things that most of the tourists had learned to keep within close eye by now.
Two months since the fire
Signs of recovery had begun to take root in the Blu Bird Sanctuary forest and those signs had germinated or in bud, literally. On the ends of the twigs of a lot of the burned trees, small leaf and flower buds had appeared and developed into fresh leaves and flowers, while in the ground on the forest floor, fresh shoots were sprouting, signifying the beginnings of new undergrowth plants like shrubs and ferns. However, the residents of the Blu Bird Sanctuary, both animal and bird, continued to shelter in the artificially made homes built for them by Tulio and his team and also in the clubs owned by Nico, Pedro, Sparkle, Rose, Ebony, James and Pelusa, among other places for the forest was still in the process of recovery.
In one part of the city of Rio, not too far away from where Luiz's garage was situated, an aged toco toucan emerged from a hole in the roof. The black and white toucan with silvery grey strewn through his plumage, let loose a yawn and stretched his wings before turning to relish the warm rays of the rising morning sun as the golden circle ascended into the sky from below the glistening blue carpet of ocean. Inside his temporary home where he and his family had taken refuge for the past two months, his mate Eva, together with the fifteen good toucan chicks and a few of his and his keel-billed mate's remaining older sons and daughters such as Rita and Carlos, some with mates and chicks as well (but not as many chicks as many of the bad toucans had had for these toucans were sensible in the number of offspring they had produced; their numbers averaging around five or six which is well and truly enough for these good toucans to manage since dozens and dozens would be a MASSIVE burden in a number of ways which these sensible toucans, and you readers as well, knew all too well), were still asleep. However, Diantha, Lillie and Gladion were absent for they were back at Tulio's Aviary for Gladion still had his broken wing, which was now out of its cast, to finish its healing and regular check-ups by the bird doctors. Rafael gazed lovingly back at his family which was now nothing more than a tiny fraction of far fewer individuals as opposed to a massive clan, or rather tribe or colony of them since all the badly behaved toucans had been removed, much to his gladness, continued to snooze. Forming a smile on his large black-tipped orange bill, Rafael returned his gaze to the morning rays and sucked in a massive breath of fresh air. However, as he did that, the morning silence surrounding him was suddenly torn apart by the sounds of frantic flapping, but that flapping was not fuelled by extreme terror or fear, like it would have been during the disaster time with the sanctuary's fire.
Sandalwood charged in excitedly and rocketed towards the roof hollow where Rafael was staying with what was left of his family excluding Diantha, Lillie and Gladion. Behind him were his cousins Acerola and Ferdinand and all three of the young bats who were now slightly bigger than they had been two months ago were flooded with extreme excitement. As the three young flying foxes approached him and released constant squeals of sheer enthusiasm, Rafael jolted out of his relaxed state and shot the three incoming winged mammals a look of surprise.
"Hey, Mr Rafael, WAKE UP!" shouted Sandalwood as he braked abruptly in the air, making the toco toucan jump again. Acerola and Ferdinand then giggled mischievously and swooped past the toucan's face and then several times around his head to startle him awake.
"Whoa, whoa, Sandalwood, Acerola, Ferdinand, calm down," said Rafael as the three bats continued to flutter playfully around him, giggling, "What's with all the fuss?"
In reply to this, the three bat pups charged off in the direction of Luiz's garage.
"Something amazing is HAPPENING!" cried Acerola as she pursued her brother and cousin, "GET MRS EVA and the other toucans UP, QUICK!"
Rafael jolted again, threw on an excited look on his face and retreated into his temporary place of stay to wake up Eva and the other toucans. Then a few minutes later all the toucans were awake and were out of the roof hollow. As Rita emerged from the hole for she was last in the line, a few small colourful comets darted by on the ground like a traffic line of little cars. Carlos looked down with a worried and dreaded look.
"Looks like something HORRIBLE has happened, Mom and Dad," he cried fearfully to Rafael and Eva as they counted the fifteen chicks, their youngest, and last, additions to their family, and the other members consisting of their remaining older sons and daughters and the fewer children-in-law and grand-chicks. Eva gazed at Carlos and turned her gaze to the rush of passing birds and other animals on the floor.
"Oh, no, son," said the keel-billed mother with a small smile on her large magenta-tipped lime green bill, "It's nothing horrible…"
Carlos then took another look at the faces of the birds as they passed and saw that they were flooded with excitement, like the faces of Sandalwood, Acerola and Ferdinand. Then Rita and one of their well-behaved brothers named Fabio, walked in.
"Still fretting about the events of the fire, eh, bro?" asked Rita with a look of concern.
"I guess you're still dreaming about the Blu Bird Sanctuary still being engulfed in flames, aren't you, Carlos?" asked Fabio. Carlos, realising his mistake and melodrama, buried his face in his wings.
"Sorry you two, I guess I'm being a bit paranoid and over-worried… after the disaster you've said Fabio that had occurred two months ago…" he said in his wings.
"Huh, our younger brothers and sisters and some of our well-behaved chicks have been having nightmares for weeks since that inferno had been quelled," said Fabio's mate, a female toco toucan named Donna as she held two of her and Fabio's chicks in her wings, cradling them as they slept. Her face then fell, "But the sister-in-law to sympathise most is Diantha and her chicks Gladion and Lillie. I still cannot believe that Tom would lose his life so abruptly."
Carlos, Rita and Fabio's faces also fell.
"Yeah, it's horrible what that deranged parrot-hating lizard had done to him…" said Carlos in a saddened voice. Then Rita imagined a wood blade in her stomach and winced harshly, especially as she imagined what sort of agony Tom had been when Dalek impaled him on that wooden dagger the chameleon had intended to use on Blu. However, the sombre moment was dissipated when a familiar cat's voice called the toucan family.
"Hey, Rafael, are you and your family up?" it called. Broccoli's voice, and immediately Rafael jumped off the gutter, fluttered down to the stony pavement spread out before the houses and landed before a tabby cat resembling the late Veggie. More birds darted past, including two spoonbills (Orton and Kipo) carrying some colourful bundles on their backs.
"What's going on, Broc?" asked Rafael. Broccoli smiled as a black greyhound appeared beside him, a look of excitement sparkling on her face.
"New life is on its way," Ebony said. Behind Rafael, Eva and the other good toucans touched down. Many of the toucan chicks squealed excitedly when they heard this.
"Life?" repeated Rafael with an excited smile.
"Yes, life," said Ebony, "The eggs of Orion and Hermione are about to hatch and Phoebe's family has had some new arrivals too!"
"Hurry and see the newcomers," said Broccoli and with that, the tabby cat and greyhound darted off and joined the small traffic of passing animals converging towards Luiz's garage. Rafael flashed the rest of his family an excited glance, spread his wings and took off after the passing, Eva and their offspring following.
Then minutes later, Luiz's garage was flooded with a small sea of colourful feathers and drabber coloured fur as the animals had swarmed like ants into the bulldog's home and had stopped to gaze up at the nests of two certain couples built onto the shelves screwed to the wall. Among the crowd of animals were Blu, Jewel, D'Artagnan, Sapphire, Aurora, Zephyr, Athos, Ruby, Porthos, Orquidea, Aramis, Esmeralda, Levi, Lapis Lazuli, Roberto and Brisa and they were accompanied by Carla, Bia, Tiago, Justin, Matilda, Virgil, Kira, Finnick and their chicks Sonia, Spica and Melody (Carla and Justin's daughters), Sirius, Einstein, Miles (the sons of Bia and Virgil), Byron and Bellatrix (Tiago and Matilda's chicks), and Achernar, Diego and Polaris (Kira and Finnick's three chicks). Near Athos, Ruby, Porthos and Orquidea were Poinsettia, Wilbur and their chicks Adenine, Thymine, Guanine and Cytosine. Sandalwood, Acerola and Ferdinand stood excitedly with Stella, Soren, Anabelle, Sebastian, Luna, Connie (whose wing which was broken before was out of its cast for it had healed), Melissa and Augustus while near Aramis and Esmeralda (who was un-bandaged now that her injuries were healed) stood Benjamin, Petunia, Altair and Aldebaran. D'Artagnan, Sapphire, Levi and Lapis Lazuli were Jasmine and Finn with their chicks Vega and Regulus and Tristan, Neytiri, Trixie and Aiden with their chicks Canopus, Katniss and Arcturus.
Also present were Frodo and Ellie the Cuban macaws and their son Sylvester; Spyro, Marella and their son Bambi and also Eragon, the bat-birds of the three archaeobirds presen with Bambi riding on his father's, Garnet; and Eustace, his mate Serena and their chicks Yolanda and Vincent; Milo, and Rosa and her mate Clemont and daughter Peach. Broccoli, Daisy, Collette, Dash, Ginger, Ebony, James, Avellana, Rusty and their puppies Cleo and Fido were also present. Some of the gang, such as Andromeda, Travis, Sunset, Spinel, Sheldon, Betelgeuse, Rigel and Antares were absent and were back at Tulio's Aviary or were helping Tulio and his team with a variety of tasks such as looking after the currently-homeless birds, Basil the bat and his colony in the cave, and the clutch of five golden fruithawk eggs left behind by Gylfie moments before her death and also the two orphaned eggs of a pair of deceased owls, now identified to be white-and-silver owls, and had been unable to come, but Spinel's family also had the problem with Betelgeuse's shattered self-esteem regarding her scarred forehead and toeless left foot to contend with as well, and the chick was still very depressed over these souvenirs from the fire even after two months since the fire had been quelled. Furthermore, Mumble, Atreyu, Balthazar and Ginny had been taken back to their home of Emperor-land in the Antarctic after a tearful goodbye with Sandalwood and company, while JD had been sent to an aquatic nature reserve in Rio for conservation purposes, and Greg, Sardonyx, Steven and Kevin were also back at Tulio's Aviary though Roxanne the galah had come along to witness the new arrivals as well, and Nico, Pedro, Sparkle and Rose were also present.
Luiz stood by an old car, a drooly smile of pride on his face as he gazed at the gathering while on the shelves, the nesters gazed happily down at the congregation. In one nest were Orion and Hermione and they were accompanied by Cometa, Lightning, Velocity, Riker, Zelda, and Spike: the parents and parents-in-law, sister/sister-in-law, friend and future brother-in-law, niece and brother/brother-in-law of Orion and Hermione respectively. By the other nest were Phoebe, Indigo, Victor, Sugilite and Violet and in the nest was Iris, a proud smile on her beak as she also gazed at the congregation of animals on the garage floor with Orion and his family. However, Cobalto and Zebedee, Iris's now-mate were absent and Blu and company, together with the other animals, exchanged confused glances, some laced with worry. Rafael and his family fluttered over the congregation of animals and touched down at the front of the crowd by Luiz, and Rafael shared a hug with his bulldog friend, not minding getting some drool from the bulldog's mouth on his back to which some of Blu's group members, such as Finnick and Kira, wrinkled their faces with a slight 'Eew' expression. Nico, Pedro, Sparkle and Rose also joined the hug shared by Rafael and Luiz.
"Hey, Lu," said the toucan as he broke the hug.
"Orion and Hermione's eggs are about to hatch," said Luiz as he turned round and faced the falcon nest, drips of drool falling from his mouth as he did with some of the drops landing grotesquely onto Rose who, rather repulsively shook her plumage of the spit and backed away, "However, Iris and Zebedee's eggs had already done so."
"Where are Cobalto and Zebedee?" asked Athos as he came in with Ruby and Poinsettia and her family. Then Phoebe walked over to the end of the shelf, turned round and ascended down a small parrot ladder erected there by Blu to allow her and the other hyacinth macaws still unable to fly for their wings were still growing the replacement flight feathers to climb from and to the shelf and to Zebedee and Iris's nest, and touched down onto the worktop. Then she climbed down another parrot ladder erected against a worktop and jumped onto the floor before walking over to the gathering of animals.
"Zebedee and Cobalto have taken one of the eggs to Tulio's Aviary for assisted hatching," she said. Glances were exchanged through the gathering of animals.
"Assisted hatching?" asked Blu. Then Cometa touched down.
"Zebedee and Iris had had a clutch of three eggs but only two of them had hatched," the peregrine falcon explained. Blu and everyone else's gazes rose to the hyacinth macaw nest and saw two small, featherless creatures squirm in Iris's wings, "So Cobalto and Zebedee had taken the third egg to the Aviary to seek assistance in its hatching."
"Was there a problem with the egg?" asked Jewel.
"No," said Phoebe with a shake of her head, "But you'll be very surprised to hear this; the third egg had two chicks in it."
"We checked the three eggs under a flashlight and we saw that one of them had that result," said Iris on the shelf as she cradled the newborn chicks, the first and second hatchlings, in her wings. Shock and surprise flowed through the crowd of animals.
"TWO chicks in ONE EGG?" asked Rafael.
"You mean that egg actually contained TWO chicks in the SAME shell?" put in Eva.
"A double-yolked egg," said Blu for he knew the term for such a phenomenon, as did D'Artagnan, Aurora, Athos, Porthos, Aramis, Phoebe, Levi and also the city animals such as Broccoli, Daisy, Collette, Dash and Ginger and also Finn even though he and a number of other Lear's macaws found in Guyana had only spent a short amount of time in a city before being retrieved by Tulio years ago. However, everyone else was confused.
"A double what?" asked Zephyr as he stood with Aurora, Carla, Bia, Tiago and their families.
"It's when two ova, or eggs, end up encased in the same eggshell during their travel down the oviduct," explained Aurora with Justin, Matilda, Virgil and their respective mates Carla, Tiago and Bia, and their chicks, listening with intrigue, fascination and wonder, "It's especially common in city chickens."
"Exactly, when two eggs are ovulated in a short enough space of time and end up travelling together down the female's reproductive tract," put in Poinsettia as she stood with Wilbur and their hybrid Catalina chicks.
"Sounds interesting," said Zephyr, "And bizarre."
"I know it tends to occur in city chickens but macaws," said Athos, "That is indeed unusual."
"Normally, if both of those eggs are fertilised," added Porthos, "and end up in the same eggshell, both chicks will be unable to survive because of restricted access to space and air. It's not like in the womb of a mammal that develops an organ called the placenta where both babies can develop and survive at birth. Eggs have a hard shell unlike a placenta-developing mammal's uterus, hence the limited space."
"You certainly have been studying reproductive physiology well during your time as a pet in the UK, Uncle Porthos," said Bia with a smile, "I'm impressed."
"An uncle of our owners and his family had a chicken farm back in the UK, in the countryside," said Porthos proudly, "And I've been reading a book on animal reproductive physiology in Linda's bookstore as well."
"And Susan and Lucy's uncle, who is also Blake, Drake and Jake's father, had an incident with a double-yolked egg getting fertilised, resulting in inviable chicks," put in Aramis.
"But still, is it possible to get both chicks in a double-yolked egg surviving?" asked Finn.
"Oh, you'll be surprised to know," D'Artagnan said, "However, it is incredibly slim."
Finn shot his father-in-law a surprised look.
"But both double-yolked egg chicks surviving is only possible with human intervention, though," said D'Artagnan.
"That is why Cobalto and Zebedee have rushed that two-yolked egg to Tulio's Aviary to hopefully save at least one of the chicks," said Phoebe, before her proud gaze was directed at Iris, Sugilite, Victor, Indigo, Violet and the new arrivals in Iris's wings, Sugilite proudly gazing at her two new cousin as well, "Hopefully Celeste and Capella will have a third sibling to grow up with."
"Celeste and Capella?" repeated Blu confused.
"It's the names of our new daughters," said Iris as she cradled the two female newborn chicks, "Celeste is one of my favourite names while we chose Capella because it is a star. After all, a lot of us have named our offspring after stars and we plan on naming our third chick after a star too."
Intrigued smiles formed on the faces of the gathered animals.
"What star name do you have in mind for the third chick?" asked Carla.
"It's currently undecided," said Victor as he stood with Indigo, Sugilite and Violet, gazing at his two new nieces in Iris's wings, "It depends if one of those two chicks in that egg has made it or not."
Then Iris's face fell, "It's gonna be very heart-breaking if neither of those two chicks survive or makes it."
None of the others said anything at first but then Cometa put on a comforting smile.
"But at least you'll have two chicks to raise, Iris," Cometa said, slightly raising the new hyacinth macaw's spirits. Iris managed a small smile at this comment but was still worried for the two chicks in that same egg and hoped that either one would survive. Then Cometa flashed a glance at the two white orbs in Orion and Hermione's nest as one of them rocked slightly. Soon, a crack and then a hole will form in its shell and a small chirping will emanate from that hole.
"Not far from hatching now," said Orion excitedly as he saw the rocking of the egg.
"I can hardly wait!" squeaked Hermione in a squeaky voice hQened by excitement.
"Yes, a replacement for the loss of your son plus a bonus chick for our family," said Lightning to his merlin daughter-in-law. Then he turned his gaze to the crowd of animals with Cometa, Velocity, Hermione, Orion, Spike, Riker and Zelda. However, Hermione kept a constant eye on the soon-to-hatch eggs. Then Phoebe's face formed a frown.
"By the way, where are Spinel and her family?" she asked after noticing that five of the red macaws were missing from Athos and his family's side, "I thought all of you would be here to witness the birth of Zebedee, Iris, Orion and Hermione's chicks."
"Back at Tulio's Aviary still I believe," said Velocity. In response to this question, Stella came forward with Sandalwood by her side.
"Yes, Spinel and her family have decided to remain at Tulio's Aviary for Betelgeuse, Rigel and Antares are both still depressed over the after-effects from the fire," she said. The falcons and the hyacinth macaws' faces fell.
"Betelgeuse is still very upset over the loss of the toes from her left foot and the scar on her face," put in Augustus.
"Yes," said Jewel in a growl, rage at Sofia and her comrades' abandonment of that poor chick and her two siblings in the fire still boiling within her. Even though that was two months ago, she was still extremely angry with Sofia and the other bad toucans and what they had put Betelgeuse, Rigel, Antares and the other kids including Sandalwood through, "Her self-esteem has taken a massive battering."
"Thanks to those ungrateful BRATS!" put in Poinsettia in a snarl, making Adenine, Guanine, Thymine and Cytosine flinch slightly to which she apologised before continuing, "And I hope the scratch I had inflicted on her face would scar nastily," then she paused, "Come to think of it, I've heard that those toucans, Sofia and her massive family and the others sent with them to one of the sanctuaries outside Brazil are really, REALLY struggling to adapt into their new home."
"We can't remember where they had been sent, except out of this country, but they are facing constant bullying and trouble from some of that sanctuary's residents," added Poinsettia's blue-and-gold mate Wilbur, "Especially some of her and Marcel's chicks, those that had foolishly been playing and messing with the fire resulting in a mass of burn scars and bald patches on their bodies. Those chicks are experiencing constant bullying over their… for lack of a better word… burned and ruined appearances caused by the fire from the branches they were carrying spreading to them…"
A flash of sympathy flickered within some of the other animals but not in others, such as Blu, Jewel, Carla, Bia and Tiago especially.
"Well, it serves them right," said Jewel smugly, "Let's see how those brats like being bullied and harassed for a change."
"And I hope the same of the other badly behaved toucans as well," put in Zephyr, "Especially after all the nightmares that lot has put us through."
Some of the others, including Rafael, Eva, Carlos, Rita and some of the other good toucans, nodded in agreement. Just then, Hermione's voice rang out.
"Here we go!" cried the merlin. All the falcons' eyes turned to the egg as a crack formed in its shell. The crack then grew and branched, the branches elongating until finally, a piece of the shell dropped from the orb, forming a small hole and through the hole, a tiny beak poked out and emitted small cute chirps. Orion then put his beak to the tiny hatching chick's beak and smiled. The other egg then began to rock and soon, a crack will form in its shell as well. On the floor, the crowd of animals including Luiz continued to smile up to the falcons as they excitedly watched the birth of their new family member.
"This is the first time we've witnessed the birth of new life in months!" said D'Artagnan as he remembered witnessing the birth/hatching of Vega and Regulus in his own daughter Jasmine and her mate Finn's nest back in the Amazon, along with the hatching of the other chicks and the births of Acerola, Ferdinand and Sandalwood to Sebastian, Anabelle, Stella and Soren.
While Orion and Hermione's new chick continued to try and break out of its nurturing shell that had protected it during its growth, the sounds of wing flaps reached the ears of the group. Everyone looked up and saw two more hyacinth macaws, one with a bandana covering the left side of his face and clouded eye, descend through the hole in the roof and fly over to the shelf where Iris, Indigo, Victor, Sugilite, Violet and newborn Celeste and Capella were waiting.
"You're just in time, Zebedee and Cobalto," said Lightning, "Hermione and Orion's eggs had just started hatching."
He then noticed something being carried in the talons of Zebedee, "Did any of those two chicks encased in the same shell survive?"
"Yes, thankfully," said Cobalto as Zebedee handed the two tiny bundles to Iris and gave her a loving nuzzle against the beak with his own with Indigo, Violet, Sugilite and Victor looking on. Cobalto then fluttered down to Phoebe and gave her a kiss on the cheek, "Both are healthy little boys."
Relief flowed through the other animals, especially Iris and Zebedee.
"Looks like Zebedee an' his hot-wing Iris have a pair o' 'egg-twins'," said Nico with a smile, his bottle-cap hat in his wings.
"What are ya gonna call 'em, you two?" called Pedro as he stood with Rose and Sparkle. Zebedee gazed at the two newborn sons in Iris's wings as she cradled them with their older sisters.
"Well, since those two chicks had come from the same egg," he said, "I think I'll call them Castor and Pollux, after the two stars in the Gemini constellation since they are also the names of the twins in Greek mythology."
Delight flowed through the group.
"I love it," said Iris as she shared another nuzzle with Zebedee, "It's an excellent idea."
"You're just like Bia and Poinsettia, Z," said Victor, a wing rising to his fruit-shell cap and pushing it back as it fell over his eyes, to which Zebedee turned his single-eyed gaze to his brother-in-law and smiled. This was followed by the tittering of the other animals. Then the whole audience's attention turned to Orion and Hermione's nest as the former's merlin mate reached down and lifted the newborn chick, now out of its shell, into the air and cradled it, much to the smiles of Lightning, Velocity, Riker, Spike, Orion and the other animals gathered on the floor. Zebedee managed a smile and his single eye sparkled with joy.
Zebedee had never thought that he would find another female macaw to become his mate, much less become a father to three chicks, especially due to his badly scarred left facial side and clouded eye, in which he was blind, the result of one of Cicatriz's hulking hench-bats slashing his claws over that area when he tried protecting Stella, Luna and Sebastian when they were young. Since that incident and Penelope's dumping of him, Zebedee's self-esteem had been badly lacerated, along with his confidence in devoting himself in a serious relationship with another female macaw, fearing that that macaw would shun him for his disfigured face, especially after a few insensitive individuals had mocked him for his scarred face after Penelope broke up with him and before he met Iris. However, after meeting Iris who accepted him despite this, Zebedee's self-esteem and confidence began to repair itself but it had been a long and painful journey, and as his friendship with Iris evolved into romance after two years of going out with her, Zebedee's confidence had begun to shudder as timidity took hold, and it had taken a lot of encouragement from both his immediate family that were his own parents Cobalto and Phoebe, sister Indigo and brother-in-law Victor, younger sister Violet and niece Sugilite, and his extended family, among them Blu and Jewel to keep that confidence intact and growing, but it had not been a very easy path. Some of the Blu Bird Sanctuary residents, but mostly many of the badly behaved toucans, among them Sofia, Marcel, Marco, Anastasia, Mabel and Robbie, had picked on the poor hyacinth macaw and kept telling him that he would not make a great friend for anyone because of his 'hideous appearance'. However, these hurtful statements had been proven wrong in a number of ways, especially since Sugilite, Zebedee's niece, still loved her uncle despite his facial disfigurement, especially after learning how he had earned those scars and blindness in the left eye during his protection of Augustus and Melissa's three children, then bat pups and an adolescent, from certain death from that hulking flying fox henchman of Cicatriz who had likely been sent on a mission by the deranged scar-faced leader of the flying fox colony to deal with Stella, Luna and Sebastian, and these three were still grateful for Zebedee for his selfless and brave sacrifice of half his sight to protect them, as were Melissa, Augustus and everyone else in Blu's group.
Then shortly after Zebedee and Iris became engaged, it took quite some time for Zebedee to go ahead with starting a family with Iris for he feared that his own chicks would find him repulsive, and that had taken a lot of encouragement from his friends and family too. But now after witnessing the birth of his own chicks, with two of them coming from the same egg, Zebedee had a lot to be proud of. It was a remarkable achievement becoming a father despite his disfigured face, and he had hoped that he would be a good father to Celeste, Capella, Castor and Pollux, just like how he had been an excellent uncle to Sugilite and to the other kids of Blu's group, including Sandalwood, Acerola and Ferdinand, the pups of Stella, Soren, Anabelle and Sebastian, all of who had accepted Zebedee despite his disfigured face. However, as these thoughts played through Zebedee's mind, worry about a certain red macaw chick began to bubble within him. 'What about Betelgeuse?' the hyacinth macaw thought, 'Especially with her toeless foot and scar on her face, above her left eye? Will she be okay?'
However, as this question played in his mind, Zebedee's single eye travelled down to Eustace as he stood gazing at Orion and Hermione's new chick, a son, wriggling in his merlin mother's wings, along with Serena, Yolanda, Vincent, Rosa, Clemont, Peach and Milo, and Zebedee immediately remembered how Eustace had had to have his leg amputated after having it suffer severe damage from one of the other violent flying fox henchmen of Cicatriz when he threatened some of the birds during the Great War for the Sanctuary de Amazon, leaving a stump that, like Zebedee's clouded eye and scarred left facial side, was a souvenir of that war. 'Maybe Eustace could help Betelgeuse adapt to life with a single talon?' thought Zebedee, 'And perhaps I could help her adapt to life with a facial disfigurement, even though it's minor compared to my scarred facial side?'
With this on his mind, the hyacinth macaw opened his wings and took off from his family's nest and shelf to fly over to Eustace to talk to him. As Zebedee fluttered over to him, Eustace looked up and smiled. However, he already deduced what subject Zebedee had on his mind before the hyacinth macaw even touched down next to him, his pure sulfur-crested mate, two chicks, brother, sister, citron-crested brother-in-law and niece.
Meanwhile
Betelgeuse sat on the window ledge gazing through the transparent material called glass and the surroundings of the Aviary outside. Behind her, the air of the main medical room was flooded with the sounds of bird chirps, human chatting and footsteps as the workers at the aviary went about their usual tasks in treating the bird casualties and talked. While this happened, the older daughter of Sheldon and Spinel gazed sombrely and sadly at the stump of what remained of her left foot and sighed and bowed her head, before gazing into a mirror to stare at the scar above her left eye. That scar, a remnant of the burn she had suffered to the face during the forest fire, was quite large and feathers had failed to grow here, resulting in a bald patch of scar tissue. Sadly, Betelgeuse pulled her gaze away from the mirror and resumed looking out of the window. Below the window ledge, several birds came in. Greg, Sardonyx, Steven, Kevin and Tiny, a small green finch whom Greg and his family had befriended and was a resident of the Blu Bird Sanctuary, as well as a friend of Blu, Jewel and the gang, gazed up at the very depressed Betelgeuse as she continued staring out of the window.
"Do you think she's okay?" asked Steven worriedly.
"Well, whatever you do, don't talk about her…" began Tiny but then Betelgeuse turned round, fluttered down from the window ledge, her wing flight feathers having grown back now, touched down and walked through the group of five.
"It's okay, Miss Tiny, I know what you're talking about," groaned the chick as she went past. Tiny put on a surprised look while Sardonyx shot her a raised eyebrow. Betelgeuse then limped miserably on her right foot and toeless left foot in the direction of her parents and sister as they talked with some of the parakeets. Near the group were the incubators housing the five golden fruithawk eggs and the two white-and-silver owl eggs and near them as well were Diantha, Gladion and Lillie, Gladion now without his wing cast for his broken wing had healed.
"Mom, Dad, Rigel, Antares?" asked Betelgeuse sadly. Hearing their older daughter's voice, Sheldon and Spinel turned round and gazed at her as she came in. Rigel's left shoulder was now covered in a sea of red feathers that had grown in to replace the old feathers that had to be shaved off by the surgeons before her surgery to remove the twig but under those feathers, a small scar, a leftover from the stitched-up incision, was present but it was not as noticeable as Betelgeuse's more serious scar on her face. Antares, however, had no significant injuries and was able to fly again, his sprained wing also healed.
When the five saw Betelgeuse come up to them, Spinel formed a small smile at her.
"Hi, daughter," she said in a low voice while the rest of the family looked on. As she said this, Diantha, Gladion and Lillie came over. Betelgeuse then gazed down at her toeless foot.
"Mom, I'm… sorry for the mess of my foot…" she moaned guiltily but Spinel firmly interrupted.
"No, don't blame yourself, daughter," said her scarlet mother gently, going over to Betelgeuse and scooping her up in her wings, "It's not your fault."
"Neither is it Rigel or Antares'," put in Sheldon as he stood with these two chicks, Betelgeuse's siblings. The parakeets, along with Sardonyx, Greg, Steven, Tiny and Kevin nodded in agreement. Then Diantha came in with Gladion and Lillie. Their grief over the loss of Tom was still present but it had lessened over the past two months.
"Exactly," said Diantha, before a scowl came upon her face, "It was the stupid, selfish fault of Sofia and the others who had cowardly abandoned you and your brother and sister to get yourselves out of that fire…"
"Yes," put in Gladion, both of his wings, including the one that had been broken and removed from its cast, by his sides, "You three were nearly KILLED."
"And look what they have left you three with," put in Lillie, a gesture to Betelgeuse's toeless left foot and scar above her left eye and also to Rigel and Antares, but she was also referring to the mental trauma Sofia's abandonment of the three as well. Both sisters and the brother had developed a sheer phobia of fire and it was going to take a very long time for them to recover from and overcome it.
However, Gladion had a more cheery comment.
"But we'll help you adapt to your loss, Betty," he squeaked, "After all, doesn't Uncle Eustace have a missing foot too, and Uncle Zebedee have a facial disfigurement?"
"Yes they do," said Sheldon, "I remember those two being devastated over their losses back in the Sanctuary de Amazon; Eustace over the loss of his left talon and Zebedee, his left facial side and sight in his left eye, when they faced the wrath of some of those hulking hench-bats of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named when they protected the more vulnerable members such as Sebastian and his sisters."
Gladion, Lillie, Tiny, Sardonyx, Greg, Steven and Kevin all flinched and could not imagine the carnage the poor cockatoo, and also the hyacinth macaw, faced during that event. Then Spinel smiled.
"Well, at least those bad toucans, or as many of them as possible, have been removed," she said, "all we have to do now is help each other get our lives back on track."
"Guess so," said Diantha. As she said this, Lillie went to the egg incubator to check on the golden fruithawk and white-and-silver owl eggs.
"And I wonder how Zebedee, Orion and their families are doing," said Sheldon with a smile, "I heard that Zebedee and his father had come in to have one of the eggs checked but we were too busy spending some time in the artificial jungle chamber…"
"Oh, Zebedee and Cobalto had come in to have that egg hatched with assistance," said Diantha, "According to Zebedee, the egg had two chicks in it."
"A double-chick egg?" asked Sheldon confused. Spinel smiled while the parakeets nearby exchanged glances and shrugged.
"Two-yolk eggs have been known to happen in birds, especially chickens," she said.
"It is highly usual and often completely unheard of," said Diantha but then a small smile formed on her colourful bill, "But at least both of those 'egg-twins' are fine."
As she spoke, loud squeals of excitement erupted from near the group, making them all jump. One of the parakeets shot a stunned look in Lillie's direction.
"Your daughter is in hysterics, Diantha," he said. Diantha, Spinel, Sheldon, Sardonyx and Greg rushed over to Lillie. Betelgeuse, Rigel, Antares, Gladion, Lillie, Steven and Kevin looked on.
"Something's sent my sister into a crazy surge of excitement," said Gladion to the other six.
"What is it, daughter?" asked Diantha. Lillie jumped from the egg incubator's top and into her mother's wings, a look of pure enthusiasm saturating her face.
"I just saw one of the eggs MOOOVE!" she squealed loudly, making some of the parakeets cover their ears with their wings and twist their faces as Lillie's piercing scream assaulted their ears.
"She's just like her grandmother Eva," grumbled one of them to which Tiny shot an irritated look. Then Antares rushed over to the incubator to peer through its window while Sheldon shot Lillie an urgent look.
"When did it move, Lillie? Tell us!" Spinel's half-scarlet, half-green-winged mate demanded. Lillie was about to reply when Spinel shot past.
"We MUST alert Tulio at ONCE!" she shouted as she surged by the group, "One of the eggs has formed a crack in its shell."
Diantha flashed Sheldon, Sardonyx and Greg a stunned look, put Lillie down and took off after Spinel with Sheldon and Greg following. Sardonyx was left behind with Betelgeuse, Rigel and Antares, Steven, Kevin, Gladion, Tiny and the parakeets.
"Mr Tulio's gonna be utterly OVER THE MOON when he sees that one the golden fruithawk's eggs are beginning to hatch," said Betelgeuse, the good news overshadowing her depression over the loss of her left foot's toes and the scar on her face.
"Yes, and hopefully the golden fruithawk species' existence will have a new hope in the generation Gylfie and Aurum had managed to leave behind," said Sardonyx with a smile, "In addition to the recently-discovered white-and-silver owls".
"I can't wait to see the five chicks when they're born," said Steven excitedly.
"It's almost as mystical as some legendary island story Atreyu, Mr Mumble, Mrs Ginny and Mr Balthazar had told us," said Kevin. Gladion, Betelgeuse, Rigel and Antares' gazes converged on him and his brother.
"Legendary island story?" asked Rigel confused.
"Oh, it's a long story," said Steven, "But to put it short, it's supposed to be a 'Mirage island' inhabited by strange creatures with one of them being a 'Megatross'…"
"Megatross?" said Spinel and Sheldon's three chicks and Gladion together. Then Kevin stepped in, "Let's just put that aside and enjoy your human friend's jubilation over those fruithawk and white-and-silver owl eggs hatching, shall we? We'll explain another time."
The four exchanged glances and turned to watch Sheldon, Spinel, Greg and Diantha flap about Tulio's head while he was talking to one of his employees in an attempt to bring him to the egg incubator containing the five fruithawk eggs, eventually persuading him into following them to the device… and to the imminent hatching of those eggs.