Chapter 1:Chapter 1: The Leap of Love
The story here was written by the amazing Logan Jindrak X! I will be posting the chapters that he has written first just so you can re-read it if you wish to do so. Then I will notify you when I've written the next chapter!
Just a heads up! This isn't copyright! Me and LoganJindrak X have agreed that I will be finishing his story to carry on his legacy! He's a great author and a great friend! I hope you do enjoy the chapters ahead, and when I have the time between writing my spin offs and work! I shall finish the story in his honour! Here we go!
Blu's body trembled as he approached the edge of the plane's cargo ramp. All of his survival instincts were screaming at him to step back... but something else, something much stronger pushed him forward. And it wasn't the violent breeze that ruffled his feathers. He planted his talons in the metal underneath his feet before leaning his head above the void and staring down at the blue spot falling in a row toward the ocean.
"JEWEL!" his voice shouted with desperation at seeing his friend approaching death. He had to do something! But what?! Looking up, he could see the city of Rio de Janeiro in the distance bathing in the light of the rising sun. It was too far; there was no way he and Jewel would be able to swim back to the beach before drowning. The only option that could possibly save them... was flying. No, impossible. He already tried thousands of times before... and it always failed.
But right now, things were different. Jewel's scream of panic awakened something inside Blu - something he never felt before. His mind rushed back to all the moments they shared together during the last twenty-four hours, from their escape of the smugglers' lair to their deadly fall at the Corcovado hills to the dance they shared at the club. The dance during which he got to stare at the most beautiful face in the world: hers. Those glowing turquoise eyes that brought the brightest light in his life.
No! He couldn't just stand back and allow the ocean to take away the girl of his dreams! The sound of the alarm screaming behind him reminded the macaw that the plane was going to crash down anyway, so he might as well spend the last moments of his life with her. Opening his beak and filling his lungs with air, Blu let out a deep sigh before stepping away from the edge of the ramp. Then, with the strongest determination in the world, he charged forward, leaping to his doom.
The wind rubbed violently against the Spix's macaw's feathers, feeling like his body would be set on fire soon. He couldn't help but scream at the sensation of free fall which still felt alien to him despite experiencing it at least three times in less than twenty-four hours. Once he regained his composure, his hazel brown eyes stared down to see the distance between the girl of his life and himself getting smaller and smaller. Pulling the thought of death aside, he pressed his wings against his sides and made sure to keep his body straight like an arrow to dive faster. He opened his wings to grab Jewel just as he reached her, making sure not to let her go.
"Blu!" she screamed after realizing what was going on and whose wings were holding her. Her turquoise eyes widened in pure shock and confusion as to why the bird whom she rejected and whom could not fly would jump to his own death. "What are you doing?! You're crazy!"
"I'm not going to let you go!" Blu declared, screaming to be heard through the violent breeze. He briefly gazed down at the ocean below getting closer, wondering how it would feel to drown-No, the only thing that mattered at this moment was Jewel and Jewel alone. "We're chained to each other birds, remember?"
Jewel's turquoise eyes widened at that statement. Blu, the bird whom she despised and mocked for being a pet unable to fly, was ready to spend the last moments of his life with her? Throughout her whole life, she met hundreds if not thousands of guys who affirmed they would be ready to die for her... but that was only in hopes of seducing her. Blu was different. There has always been nothing but sincerity in his words, and he truly was ready to save her life - he proved it when he helped her escape the smugglers in the streets of Rio or when he gave up his chance to reunite with his human friend to come to her rescue.
The corners of her beak twisted upward in a smile before she closed her eyes and leaned her head forward for a kiss.
Blu's hazel brown eyes widened by this gesture. Getting kissed by Jewel was... impossible to describe with words. It was like hundreds of different flavors were invading his beak and a flow of warmth slowly slipped down his throat. He couldn't help himself, closing his eyes and returning the gesture. This kiss seemed to last forever to him, as if everything disappeared except for the beating of his heart and the warmth. Even after their beaks pulled apart, nothing changed. The warmth started growing, twisting, pulling against the walls of his being. It started changing, becoming an alien energy. Blu did not even realize his wings were slowly opening themselves...
Then, it all clicked. Blu's eyes opened and, without even taking time to think, his wings slammed against the wind, catching Jewel in his talons just as she skimmed over the surface of the water. And he didn't even understand how it was happening; he just flapped his wings over and over again as if he had done it all of his life. Even then, his eyes blinked multiple times in disbelief, not being able to believe it any more than the love of his life.
"Blu!" Jewel cried in joy underneath him. "You're doing it! You're flying!"
"Yeah... Yeah!" Blu answered, laughing out loud as he was unable to contain his joy. "You were right, Jewel! I'm not an ostrich. I'm not an ostrich!"
The young Spix's macaw flapped his wings, flying back toward the beautiful city. His aerial moves were not as fluid and graceful as he wished they would be, but that was the least of his concern at the moment. All that mattered was that he got the love of his life back on the safety of land. He held her tight in his talons, not wanting to lose her another time.
A groan of pain brought him out of his thoughts, and he looked down, realizing that Jewel's wing was still damaged from her confrontation with Nigel on the plane. "Jewel, are you okay?" he asked in worry.
"My wing hurts, Blu," she groaned with a wince, feeling the agonizing pulsations in her poor limb. "I can't move it!"
"Okay, I'm gonna try to land as soon as I can!" Blu said and flapped his wings faster. As much as he wanted to just land at the beach and allow Jewel to rest, he didn't have the knowledge or supplies to fix her wing. They would need help from an ornithologist... and lucky for them, there was one waiting at the little airport where the smugglers parked their plane. Hopefully...
Around twenty minutes passed by the time Blu reached the airport. He gently laid Jewel down on the ground, his breath heavy and his feathers drenched in sweat. Despite being fun, flying was exhausting; he would need a lot of practice before getting used to it. However, these thoughts were pulled away when he realized Jewel was still trembling and crying in pain. And he understood why; her wing was twisted in a way it should never face. He reached his wing to stroke her head feathers in an attempt to calm her down a bit.
"Blu!" The macaw's worry eased down a bit upon seeing his long-time best friend arriving on the scene. Linda was accompanied by Dr. Tulio Monteiro along with the young boy who captured the two macaws for the smugglers. "Oh my gosh, her wing!" she exclaimed with a hand on her mouth upon seeing Jewel's injury.
Tulio kneeled down, his eyes giving an inspecting gaze on the broken wing. "This doesn't look good. Her wing look like it has been snapped in half. We have to take her back to the aviary at this very moment." He reached his hands forward. "Here, climb in."
The female avian backed up, her expression displaying fear. Seeing as she still felt frightened around humans, Blu gently stroke her head feathers again. "Don't be afraid, Jewel. He's gonna fix your wing, you can trust him."
Her turquoise eyes looked up at Blu, even as Tulio took her in his hands and gently pulled her off the ground. Even if she trusted Blu with her life, especially since he just saved it, the idea of being brought inside a human building to get treated by humans wasn't appealing in the slightest. However, her wing was hurting a lot; she didn't exactly have five different choices. So, for the first time in her life, she didn't fight back against the human and allowed herself to be taken away.
A Few Moments Later…
Blu remained at Jewel's side during the whole ride back to the aviary and even inside the examination room. Even if she had been there in the last few days, he knew how unsecure and nervous she felt in the human building, so he did the best he could to soothe her. It worked to a certain extent. However, for the take of X-rays and radiography, he was forced to leave the room and begrudgingly left the love of his life alone with Tulio.
While he waited with Linda in the other room, Blu got to meet the young boy who captured Jewel and him on their first night at the aviary. Fernando was his name. He apologized for his actions, explaining that he gave them to the smugglers because he needed money. "Food is expensive and I didn't have the money to buy any. But that doesn't excuse what I've done. I'm sorry," he said.
Despite everything that he did, Blu did not hold any grudge against the young boy. First of all, because Linda told him everything he did in the aftermath of their escape to help both her and Tulio saving Jewel and him. And second, because if he had not captured them at the aviary, then they wouldn't have been chained to each other, went on the trip of their life, and ultimately fell in love. "I'm not mad at you... I'm grateful," he told the young boy on a piece of paper.
The waiting seemed to last forever until Tulio finally walked out of the treatment room with some papers in his hands. "I have good news and bad news," he announced with a gaze located somewhere between happy and nervous. "The good news is that Jewel's wing did not suffer any permanent damage and should make a complete recover."
"That's great news," Linda exclaimed with a sigh of relief shared by Blu. "What's the bad news?"
Tulio rubbed the back of his head. "Well, she's gonna have to wait ten days before being able to fly again. During that time, she has to keep her wing completely still and not put any pressure on it. I gave her some medicine to ease the pain down a bit."
Blu's chocolate brown eyes widened and blinked several times. Ten days? Without flying? Inside an aviary? This would be an eternity of boredom for a free-spirited bird like Jewel! She already hated being trapped in here when she was able to fly; how was she supposed to survive being grounded in addition?
"I brought her to the artificial jungle so that she could rest after the radiography," the ornithologist added, staring down at Blu. "I think you should go keep her some company, Blu. She probably won't want to spend all of her recovery time alone in there." He didn't have to suggest it twice as Blu immediately agreed to follow him.
Crossing the entrance passage into the artificial jungle felt... weird to the young Spix's macaw. Barely over twenty-four hours ago, he entered the very same place through the very same entrance to meet the girl of his dreams. The girl who choked him down mere seconds after laying eyes on him, hated him for being a flightless pet, and found herself chained to him. Crazy how much changed in so little time...
Stepping forward, Blu made his way across the familiar territory, eventually reaching the same tree where he attempted to kiss Jewel moments after meeting her. His gaze fell upon the steps lodged in the trunk he used to climb the first time, and he couldn't help but feel some pride at the perspective of no longer requiring them. Opening his wings, he not-so gracefully took to the air and clumsily landed on the tree branch. "I'm gonna need a lot more practice before being able to fly properly," he mumbled to himself and started searching for the love of his life.
Jewel was resting inside the nest that she built upon being brought to the aviary in the first place. A bandage had been carefully wrapped around her injured wing and the twisted frown on her face indicated the medicine did not make the pain completely disappear. Blu felt a pinch in his heart at seeing such a beautiful creature lying in a vulnerable position like this - she looked like a fallen angel. A fallen angel he would keep safe and warm...
"Jewel, I'm here," Blu said to let his presence being known, not wanting to make her jump.
The bird girl's face brightened up almost instantly upon seeing who entered the nest. "Blu, you came!"
"Of course, you didn't think I'd leave you here all by yourself, did you?" Blu jokingly asked as he came to lay down beside Jewel and wrap a comforting wing around her back. His gaze fell over her bandaged wing, and he frowned a bit. "How's the wing doing?"
Jewel gave a sad look toward her broken limb. "The human doctor gave me some disgusting thing supposed to ease the pain, but it still hurts whenever I'm moving it. I did survive worse though." She then looked up at Blu with a smile. "Thanks for saving my life back there, Blu."
The male macaw gave her a bright smile. "No problems, Jewel. After everything we went through together, I wasn't going to let you down like this." Jewel snuggled her head against his chest following this adorable statement. A comfortable silence settled in the nest afterwards, lasting until a thought popped into Blu's mind. "Hum... Jewel?"
"Yes?"
"... About what happened... before I learned how to fly..." Blu rubbed the back of his head with his wing, his face flushing in embarrassment and his eyes looking everywhere except at Jewel.
"Yeah, what of it?" Jewel asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Well... I haven't been in a couple ever before, so... Does that mean that we're... Y'know, together?"
Jewel's turquoise eyes blinked multiple times, as if Blu asked the dumbest question in the world. A few seconds later, her beak opened and let out a wave of giggles - not the same mocking ones that she always had when laughing at Blu for being a pet or unable to flight, these were sincere and kind-hearted. "Of course it means we're together, silly," she said with teasingly kissing his cheek.
Blu's face became redder than a tomato.
"So? What did that human doctor tell you? How long will it take before I can fly again... Well, if I CAN ever get to fly again..." Seeing his now-official mate's face bathing in worry of losing her freedom, Blu couldn't help but feel some pain in his heart. Lucky for him the answer was good.
"Don't worry, Jewel. Tulio said that your wing should make a full recovery. You're just gonna have to wait ten days before getting there," Blu explained.
"T-Ten days?!" Jewel exclaimed, her eyes widened in horror as if Blu told her ten YEARS. "I'm gonna have to stay locked in this fake jungle for ten days?! I don't know if I'm gonna survive; two days already felt like an eternity to me." She lowered her head and pushed a sigh of sorrow and despair.
Blu gently pulled his mate closer to him and planted a delicate, comforting kiss on top of her head. "Don't worry, Jewel. I'm gonna stay with you during all that time, doing my best to entertain you and fulfilling all your desires." Right after this statement, Jewel's stomach let out a loud growl, reminding the two of them that she didn't eat anything ever since their first encounter. Jewel's cheeks reddened a bit at this. "... And looks like your first desire's gonna be some food," Blu remarked with a chuckle and patted his mate's tummy before standing up. "I'll be back in a minute."
Meanwhile…
The flight to the rainforest had been... peculiar for Blu. Firstly, because getting to his destination required a lot of time (around twenty minutes) and effort from his poor wings. And secondly, because the search for food that came afterward was no fun game either. Due to his lack of experience in the flying department, the young Spix's macaw bumped into branches and trees far too many times to his liking. And the uneasiness of being alone in the middle of a forest, at the mercy of potential predators wasn't gone either.
As much as he would have liked to stay a bit longer and gather many of Jewel's favorite fruits, Blu knew it would not be possible. The sun was already close to disappear over the horizon, bringing a pinkish-red color to the sky, and indicating night would fall soon. And being alone in a forest in the dark was the least appealing idea Blu could think of. Instead, he decided to settle on a mango tree. The wood-textured stalk holding the big fruits was solid, but not enough for the strength of Blu's beak - a strength he didn't even know he possessed.
"I hope this will satisfy Jewel," the young Spix's macaw thought to himself, flapping his tired wings to cross the miles separating the rainforest from the aviary... and the heavy fruits in his talons were not helping.
By the time he landed at the aviary's entrance, Blu's wings were hotter than melting lava, and his feathers were so drenched in sweat that one could believe that he flew across a storm. And Jewel could fly like this every day for fun? Man, Blu would need a lot of training if he wanted to keep up with her and his other friends like Rafael, Nico and Pedro. But he would worry about that latter. For now, his mate was starving, and he had some fruits to deliver.
The young Spix's macaw made his way inside through the air vent as he didn't have the strength to push the doors open. Jewel's initial idea to escape wasn't so bad after all. He landed in the middle of the aviary's hall leading to various rooms and offices. The lack of light plunged most of the place in darkness. It was past work time and the employees had all left the building to return home and rest for the night. Blu and Jewel would probably do the same after eating the fruits.
CRACK!
Blu stopped in his track and immediately turned around upon hearing this cracking noise behind him. Nothing. Just a dark, empty hallway. "Hum, hello? Is someone here?" What could have caused that noise? All the employees did leave, right? Bah, maybe it was just a gust of air or Tulio who passed by. With his passion for birds, it wouldn't surprise Blu to learn he actually lived in the building itself. He resumed walking toward the artificial jungle, not wanting to make Jewel wait any longer.
BAM!
A groan of pain escaped the avian's beak as something slammed hard into his back, causing him to drop the two mangoes, and fall down with a loud thud. Cheese and sprinkles! Who's the joker who did this?! Unfortunately, he did not get to see who because something heavy jumped on his back, pinning him on the floor. A cold and disgusting breath was softly blown on the back of his neck. Struggling to turn his head, he finally got to see his attacker... and his hazel-brown eyes widened.
A rusty and cracked skull served as the creature's head. Two white globes displaying no emotion or sign of life pierced Blu's soul with an empty stare. Managing to stare lower in spite of his current position, Blu could see its skeletal figure covered by some sort of grey sheet robe that had not been cleaned in ages. Its skirt floated in the air despite the lack of breeze or wind inside the room. To top it all, the lower portion of the skull lacked a jaw which didn't prevent a greenish tongue from sticking out. This thing looked like the kind of monster you only see in horror movies or video games.
Blu's whole body trembled, sweat forming on the back of his head. What was that thing? Where did it come from? What did it want from Blu? Did he fall asleep upon arriving at the aviary after getting the mangoes? Yes, this was the only logical explanation. But the pain felt pretty real for a dream. Blu decided to try and communicate with the thing. "Hum... Could you get off me please?"
"... RAAAAARGH!" The creature's nonexistent jaw somehow widened to pull an ear-piercing screech that almost made Blu's ears bleed while also making him understand it wasn't friendly.
Panic took over Blu's heart, making him push a scream as he squirmed his body.
After somehow managing to break free from the monster, he immediately got back to his feet and darted in the direction opposite to it. His heart attempted to burst out of his chest and his breath became short. Turning his head, Blu's fear grew even more upon seeing the ghost thing dashing after him - and it floated above the ground despite not having any wings!
Running his way across the corridors, Blu almost hyperventilated. His whole being was shaking under the sense of terror and his mind went blank, making it almost impossible for him to think. He pushed many cries of help, begging for someone to save him from the thing on his feet. But the aviary was still empty; nobody answered. Nobody would come. The only hope for the Spix's macaw was to reach the artificial jungle and lock both Jewel and himself in there while hoping that this... thing couldn't get in.
However, upon turning around the next corner, he was met with the last thing he wanted to see: a dead end. Reality then hit him like a train: in his panic, Blu failed to take the right turn leading to the artificial jungle and instead ran to the end of the corridor. He was trapped! Just a second after turning around, Blu's heart fell down to his stomach as the skeleton monster arrived once again, blocking any possibility of escape for him.
As the thing pulled another fear-inducting screech, Blu backed away until his feathers touched the wall. Was this really how it would end for him? Killed by a monster that came out of nowhere in a Brazilian aviary? And just when he got to meet the love of his life? No. It couldn't be! It couldn't...
Just as the monster arrived in front of Blu with its slimy tongue about to touch his feathers, something unexpected happened. A coal-black blade came through its chest, the pointy tip almost touching Blu's torso. The ghost thing pushed one last screech - this one sounding painful - as its bones and skull started cracking. It then completely collapsed in a pile of crumbs and ashes. In the process, Blu got to see his savior.
Even in the darkness of the corridor, Blu could discern an avian figure. A dark brown hoodie prevented his face from being seen, but Blu saw his feathers. Dark blue feathers. Could this mean... No, impossible, Jewel and he were the last Spix's macaws alive. He pulled the black-bladed sword he used to kill the monster over his shoulder and into a scabbard tied to his back. There was another one which formed an X with the other.
Who was this? An enemy? It seemed very unlikely considering he just saved Blu's life. Before the young Spix's macaw could ask anything, his savior pulled his hoodie back, revealing a smiling face.
"What's up?"
Okay this is the first chapter of LoganJindrak X's story The Blue Thunder Team! Today I will be posting every chapter he has written so you could familiarise yourself with his work! Then I will carry it on once I've posted every chapter! Enjoy my friends!