Chapter 3:
"Are we there yet?" Jewel asked, impatient to rest her poor feet that were not used to walk such distances.
After eating the mangoes and leaving a message for Linda and Tulio, Blu and Jewel left the aviary alongside Nightfly. Jewel had hoped that their destination would be somewhere nearby, but in vain as Nightfly informed them that his friend lived in the rainforest outside the city. This meant a walk as long as the one they did to reach Luiz' garage was lying ahead. And no tramways this time.
The trio of Spix's macaws arrived at the rainforest' entrance over one hour after departing. While Nightfly kept his back straight and head high the same way he had when they departed, no trace of fatigue or anything, Blu sweated a bit as it was the third time he crossed a huge distance in less than forty-eight hours, Jewel, for her part, was beyond exhausted. Having spent most of her life in the air, she wasn't used to walk for so long, but her injured wing did not allow her to fly. She would give anything for a nice, cozy nest to lay on.
"Don't worry, young lady," Nightfly assured. "My friend's living inside this forest... Well, he should be."
"What do you mean 'he should be'?" Blu asked, rising a curious eyebrow.
"Well, true to be told, I haven't seen him in a very long time. Our last encounter goes back to six months ago. I hope he did not change residence during that time period," the hooded macaw explained before resuming the walk. "Come on now, a little health walk in the forest will do us some good."
"Speak for yourself," Jewel grumbled, shooting a glare in the walking macaw's back. She pushed a sigh and rested against a tree trunk. "I can't do this, Blu! My body's killing me and my feet are on fire. If I take another step, I'm gonna be sick..."
Blu's face twisted into a frown. It felt weird to see the usually energetic and lively Jewel getting tired before him, the nerdy bird. Guess she would still need some time before getting used to walk the way he did. An idea then popped into his mind, and he turned around so that his back was facing Jewel. "Climb on, Jewel. I'll carry you for the rest of the walk."
Jewel blinked her turquoise eyes in surprise and disbelief. "Are you serious, Blu? I mean, won't that be too much for you?"
The male macaw scoffed and waved his wing. "Come on, Jewel. If I managed to carry you back to the airport on my first time flying - and let's not forget how I also carried your little butt up that human structure, the other night - I can certainly carry you for a few extra minutes."
"You'll never let me forget that one, are you?" Jewel asked with a roll from her eyes and a little amused grin. "Alright, nerdy boy, let's see how long you can carry my butt this time." She pulled herself up onto her fateful rider, ready to keep going forward. Blu couldn't help but blush a little bit as he felt the warm ventral section of his mate pressed against his back.
Twigs cracked underneath the macaws' feet with every step they took. Blu more than Nightfly due to the extra weight applied on his body. If someone had told Jewel that she would one day travel across a rainforest carried on a pet-erm, companion's back instead of flying, she wouldn't have believed it. Still, the female macaw didn't think she ever felt so uneasy and vulnerable inside the wild world of Brazil. She now understood why her mate felt so nervous when they first came here; without the ability to fly, a bird like her was very vulnerable to predators and other dangers.
After around twenty minutes since they entered the rainforest, Blu stopped dead in his tracks and tensed up. "Wait! Stop!" Nightfly did as he asked and turned around to address a confused look. "I think I heard something. Movement around us... I think it...?!" Just then, Blu saw it. A big, slender figure hidden by the trees' darkness came out into what little light offered by the moon. Its dark green scale reflected the moonlight and its pure black eyes were fixed on its soon-to-be prey.
"NIGHTFLY! LOOK OUT!" Blu and Jewel exclaimed at the same time.
The hooded avian turned around just in time to see the towering tree snake opening its jaw and launching at him. Blu and Jewel's eyes widened. Their friend was going to get snapped by a predator while trying to help them. No, it couldn't end like this for him!
However, just as the wide jaw was inches away from his face, Nightfly narrowed his chocolate brown eyes into a glare that pierced through the predator's own eyes. This somehow caused it to stop in its tracks and stare horrifyingly at the blue bird, as if he turned into a ghost. The jaw slowly closed and the reptile retreated back in the shadows where it came from, like a dog getting scolded by a firm master.
The young couple could only blink their eyes in confusion at what just happened before them. To add another layer, Nightfly turned his head back in their direction and gave a little smile, as if nothing happened at all. "We continue?"
'We continue?' How could he just say such a thing after pushing back one of Rio's deadliest predators with a mere stare?! "W-What did you just do?! H-How did you scare that snake off?!" Blu muttered.
"It's simple; my will and spiritual strength is bigger than his. Now let's go if we wanna arrive and have time to rest a bit."
The will and spiritual strength. Of course, the answer was clear. Not being in the mood for another explanation about some supernatural stuff he didn't understand, Blu adjusted Jewel on his back and pressed up the ante to catch up with Nightfly. Hopefully things would become clearer once all this story was over...
Many more hours seemed to pass until the trio finally arrived at their destination. A large tree located at the very far end of the rainforest - the part where Jewel never ventured before. Unlike the other nests that were located far from the ground to avoid potential predators, this one was found at the base of the trunk. The entry was covered by what looked like a makeshift wooden door. As they approached the door in question, Blu couldn't help but notice that the trunks around were badly damaged and riddled with holes.
KNOCK! KNOCK!
Nightfly curled his wing into a fist and knocked at the door a few times, waiting for someone to respond. "Leave my home, please!" a somewhat serious and tired voice shouted from the other side of the door. "It's too late; come back tomorrow!"
"You won't even receive an old friend for one night? What happened to your sense of hospitality?" Nightfly asked, crossing his wings with an amused look.
A little silence followed that statement. The sound of rushing steps on a wooden floor echoed from inside the nest for the macaws to hear and the wooden door got pulled inward for an avian figure to step out. White head feathers mixed with dark on the face of the harpy eagle. While the upper part of his torso was covered in pitch-black feathers, his lower part had contrasting pure white ones, forming a divide in colors. A long, straight scar ran down across his right eye. However, his most impressive feature was no doubt his size; reaching around 36-40 inches, he towered over the three blue birds.
"Nightfly?!" the harpy eagle exclaimed, his strong face twisted by surprise.
"Dominic!" the hooded macaw replied with the brightest smile on his face.
The raptor stepped out of his hollow to wrap his big wings around Nightfly, pulling him up in what could be described as a bear hug. "You old f***!" he exclaimed with a laughter coming out of his beak.
"Good to see you again!" After breaking from the hug, Nightfly gave an inspecting look to his friend. "My, you haven't taken a single scratch since the last time I've seen you. I take it that you didn't come across any dangerous predator or evil bird?"
Dominic let out an amused chuckle. "It's gonna take more than just a mere predator to take that old eagle down. You, of all people, should know that, Nightfly." He moved aside to make some space for the blue birds to enter. "Come in, come in, don't just stay outside."
The harpy eagle's nest was the total opposite of the one in the artificial jungle: a terrible smell of gunpowder invaded the guests' nostrils and the cool night breeze slipped between the cracks in the wooden walls. However, it also had the luxury of possessing many rooms, the entrance one looking like a living room with bird-sized chairs and even a fireplace! Two circular entrances led to other rooms, but neither Blu nor Jewel got to give a good look inside. The moonlight was allowed to bring some clarity inside through round holes in the walls that served as windows.
After making sure his guests were sitting comfortably, Dominic left to go get them something to eat, returning a few moments after with one banana for everyone along with a pot of tea. "Sorry if it's not much, but that's all I have. Had I known that I'd receive visit, I would've gone to get more food."
"Don't worry, it's more than enough. Thank you," Nightfly assured, peeling his banana to take a bite of the delicious fruit.
"Hum, excuse me, but where did you manage to get all this human furniture?" Blu asked, unable to look away from the bird-sized chairs, table, fireplace, and teapot.
"There's an old furniture production factory not too far from here. It has been abandoned a long time ago," Dominic explained while filling teacups for everyone. "I got the chance to fly near it when I moved in here. Since there was so many abandoned stuff, I decided to pay myself the pleasure of having a well-equipped nest. Sure, most of it was too big to get in here, so I had to get help from a friend in the city. But it was worth it."
After filling the cups, Dominic offered one to all of his guests. Jewel hurt her wing a bit as, having never drank tea before, the burning heat caught her by surprise. However, after blowing in her drink a bit, she got to taste possibly the best thing her beak ever touched! "This is the most delicious thing ever! What is this?!" she asked.
"It's just some tea with honey," Dominic replied.
Blu had to agree with Jewel on this point. He didn't know how he made his tea, but this raptor certainly knew how to make it a delight for his beak. He would have to ask his recipe after all of this was done.
"Now let's cut to the chase," Dominic said after taking two sips of his own teacup. "Why did you decide to visit me so late, Nightfly? I know that the King of the Night likes to do things at dark, but I still feel like you didn't come here just to pay me a nostalgic visit."
"You're right. I'm afraid the reason of my visit is more serious than that," Nightfly confirmed, pulling down his now empty teacup on the table and leaning forward, his wing pointing at the macaw couple. "These young macaws are named Blu and Jewel. Believe it or not, but they are the last of their species in this world."
"Is that so?"
"Yes. Just a few hours ago, I saved them from a Ghoul that penetrated their aviary and attempted to devour one of them. Possibly the other one too."
Dominic's face lit up with surprise and confusion. "A Ghoul? In this world? But... aren't they supposed to exist only in your world?"
"That's what I thought too. However, one of them somehow managed to come in here and attacked the last Cerulean Macaws in this world. There's also the fact that I sensed more Dark Magic activities around this city lately. I strongly doubt that this is mere coincidence..."
"You think that these monsters want to kill them because they are the last of their kind?" Dominic asked, causing the young couple to widen their eyes in shock.
Nightfly rubbed his chin while giving a thoughtful look. "I honestly don't know, Dominic. It could be possible, but that still wouldn't explain why evil decided to awake in this region all of a sudden." Pressing his wings together, the hooded macaw leaned forward. "Which brings me to the reason of this visit: would it be fine with you if Blu and Jewel stayed with you for the night? I managed to kill the Ghoul, but not before it left its smell on Blu; other evil creatures might be attracted by it. We have to keep him safe until the smell wears off. I'm really sorry for invading your property like this, but I wouldn't do it if I had better ideas."
Dominic remained silent for many seconds, staring at his blue friend. Blu and Jewel also stared at him, waiting impatiently to hear what his answer would be. Then, he pulled his teacup down on the table, stood up from his chair, and went to put his wing on Nightfly's shoulder. "You will always be welcome at my nest, Nightfly. And your friends too. You can all stay with me for the night."
Nightfly's beak twisted into a sincere and grateful smile. "Thanks, Dominic, you're a life saver." He then stood up from his chair and walked over to the nest's entrance. "I'm gonna make a little patrol around the sector to make sure there's nothing dangerous. This is gonna give you guys a chance to get more familiar with each other. See ya later!"
With their savior gone, Blu and Jewel were left alone with their new harpy eagle friend. Even though he was an ally of the bird who saved him, Blu couldn't help but feel nervous. In all his life, he never got to meet a raptor bird (except maybe Nigel) and heard about how ferocious they could be. His instincts immediately warned him not to p*** this guy off.
Standing up, Dominic walked over to the fireplace without saying a word. During the two friends' conversation, Blu gave an analyzing stare at the fireplace and couldn't help but notice how professionally it had been set up - as if Dominic was a hunter. Neither he nor Jewel could see what he was doing due to his large back, but once the harpy eagle stepped back, a bright fire was burning inside the fireplace. Little lights were projected inside the otherwise dark living room and the two macaws felt the heat surrounding them, as if they entered a nice, warm bath.
After making sure that the fire would not spread everywhere and destroy his nest, the raptor left to the kitchen, returning a few seconds later with what looked like pieces of meat. He went to place them on a metal plate over the fire, causing the smell of roasting meat to invade the room. While Blu and Jewel frowned at it, Dominic welcomed it with glee in his nostrils, smiling in enjoyment.
"Sorry, I know you folks are probably not used to smell meat, being herbivores and all," the raptor apologized with sitting back in his chair.
"No problem. This is your nest; you can do what you want," Jewel assured, trying to fan the weird smell away. "So, where are you from, Dominic? I never got the chance to meet a harpy eagle like you around here before."
"Believe it or not, but I'm not from Central America like most of my kind," Dominic explained. "I was born in Russia."
"In Russia?!" Blu exclaimed, his brown eyes wide open in surprise. "That's pretty odd; from what I've read, harpy eagles aren't common in Asia."
"Well, my family was," the raptor mused. "And don't worry, I'm not gonna eat you. I don't eat other birds; just the small prey that can be caught easily. Plus, I never kill something I don't plan on eating."
"That's good to know," Blu recognized, feeling some weight removed from his shoulders. When he planned to let out a sight of relief, he instead coughed once more because of the roasting meat smell.
"Are you guys tired?" Dominic asked when Jewel let out a long, loud yawn. "It's pretty late. If you want, I can show you where you can sleep for the night."
"That'd be greatly appreciated," Blu admitted. "We have walked a long time to get here and Jewel is not used to walk such distances."
Nodding, Dominic stood up from his chair and led his two guests to a nest at the back of the tree. The nest was crafted in the softest moss and large enough for at least three Spix's macaws to sleep in at the same time. It looked even better than Blu's bed back home. He would need to ask Dominic on how he made this up when it would be time for Jewel and he to move into the rainforest with their own hollow.
"Aww, man!" A sigh of pleasure escaped Blu's beak as soon as his back entered in contact with the soft nest moss. A thousand times better than the artificial jungle's. The nice texture would keep him warm and, mixed with the cool breeze coming through the room's window, brought a perfectly balanced temperature.
"This Dominic is a really nice guy, don't you think?" Jewel asked in a mumble. However, Blu was so tired that he didn't have the will to respond and just closed his eyes, allowing himself to drift away to the land of dreams alongside his mate.
Meanwhile…
Blu woke up with a groan, his body trembling with unusual violence. He wasn't sure how much had passed since the moment he fell asleep, but his hopes of resting as much as he wanted and wake up late in the morning with no problem were ruined by a cold breeze. It wasn't the same, soft one as when he and Jewel went to bed; this breeze was stronger and so cold that it should exist in a place like Antarctica instead of Brazil.
Mumbling a swear underneath his breath, Blu decided to forget the idea of going back to sleep and carefully stood up from the nest, leaving Jewel's side. She, too, was shivering in the nest, but hadn't waken up... yet. Wrapping his wings around his poor body, Blu made his way to the room's window. His eyes were forced to remain half-closed to avoid getting hurt by the cold storm as he tried to stare outside, believing snow would actually fall down. However, what he found instead was some white material on the surface of the window's circle.
Was that... frost?
BOOM! BOOM!
The whole room started shaking and Blu almost lost his footing. What the cheese and sprinkles was going on?! It was like a gorilla slammed its fists on top of the tree. Blu was about to turn around and go find Dominic when...
CRAC!
The wall was hit hard and collapsed to the ground, causing a deafening crash. Luckily, neither Blu nor Jewel were in its radius thus didn't get crushed. However, the force of the impact mixed with the surprise of the scene caused Blu to fall down beside his mate who got woken up in the process.
Five imposing figures stood in the newly made opening. Their faces were hidden by what looked like metallic grey opera mask and pitch-black hoods. Holes were pierced in these masks for the eyes... even if none were visible, and their bodies were covered by some sort of black armor. They were almost like those knights Blu saw in knight movies or TV shows... but no air of nobility or kindness emanated from those things.
Blu's whole body trembled - and it had nothing to do with the freezing atmosphere. What were those things? Were they going to kill him just like the Ghoul tried to do a few hours ago? His questions received answers when the closest of the figures reached its hand covered by a metal glove to its hip and brandished a sword whose surface reflected the moonlight.
"B-Blu... BLU!" Jewel managed to exclaim in fear, snapping Blu out of his shock. Turning his head, he could see his mate trembling in fear and confusion.
Lost in panic and confusion, Blu couldn't think of anything else to do except crawling backwards alongside Jewel. The five strangers all brandished their sword and approached the defenseless macaws, rising their weapons in the air, ready to strike. Was this the end? Nightfly managed to save Blu from the Ghoul at the last second, and he managed to do the same with Jewel in the plane. Did their luck finally run out? His instincts kicking in, Blu wrapped one protective wing around Jewel and rose the other as the monster was about to bring its sword down upon them.
CLANG!
Instead of being met by the sharp pain of a sword tearing through his flesh, Blu did not feel anything. He dared opening one of his eyes to see if another miracle saved his life yet again... And it seemed to be the case. Some sort of cyan-colored, circular object appeared out of nowhere and in front of Blu's wing. The figure's sword got blocked by it. What was that?
POW! POW!
Before he could start to speculate on the situation, Blu's ears got pierced by what sounded like tires exploding. Both he and Jewel turned their head to see Nightfly and Dominic standing in the doorway of the room. The hooded macaw unsheathed his two sabers while the harpy eagle held some sort of long, black gun with a circular middle in his wings.
"BLU! JEWEL! STEP BACK!" Nightfly ordered just as Dominic pressed the trigger of his weapon, causing another POW! and sending the remaining figures flying backwards and out of the room. "You're okay? Did they hurt you?" the hooded macaw asked, immediately rushing at his friends' side.
"No, we're fine. I managed to block them with... this...," Blu explained, giving a confused pointing look at the glowing shield floating over his wing.
Nighftly seemed surprised by this, but quickly brushed it off, getting back up and approaching the hole through which the mysterious creatures entered. "Stay here! Don't move until we've come back! Let's go, Dominic!"
Blu and Jewel could only look as their defenders walked through the broken wall and disappeared outside, their wings wrapped around each other in concern. The sound of gunshots and blades clashing reached their ears, but they were still too afraid to move. After what felt like an eternity, but was actually just one minute, the sounds stopped. What happened? Did Nightfly and Dominic win?
Yes. Their figures appeared in the wall's hole once again, filling the young couple with relief. "Nightfly! Dominic!" Blu exclaimed, jumping back to his feet in joy.
"Those guys were stubborn. Good thing I always keep my striker nearby," Dominic sighed, recharging his gun.
Nightfly, however, did not seem to share their relief and even looked genuinely troubled. "... This is worse than I thought," he mumbled with pulling his two blades covered in a dark liquid back to their scabbards.
Blu curiously rose his eyebrow at this statement. "What do you mean, Nightfly? Weren't you expecting monsters to come after me because of that Ghoul's smell or something?"
"Indeed, Blu, but... those things were Dark Riders. They aren't part of the same category as Ghouls. Normally, their smell is supposed to attract Drowners, Devourers, or more Ghouls. Not Dark Riders..." A long silence followed suit until the wizard sighed and looked up at the Spix's macaws. "Guys... I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but... the situation is more serious than I expected. When someone gets targeted by Dark Riders, it is never a good sign."
"Why's that?" Jewel inquired. "How is it different from the Ghoul?"
"Usually, Dark Riders only hunt preys that are of high importance. I couldn't explain why, but it seems like the forces of evil are interested in you, Blu..."
The macaw's hazel brown eyes widened upon hearing this. "But then... You're saying that...?!"
"Yes... You never truly will be safe; the monsters will come after you again and again until they kill you..."
Blu's heart dropped into his stomach. He was a permanent target for all sorts of dangerous monsters? As Jewel started asking Nightfly about this and searching for a solution, Blu proceeded all of this in his mind. If what Nightfly said was true, then... he was putting Jewel and all those close to him in danger. What if Linda got hurt by a Ghoul or Jewel eaten by a werewolf because of him? No, he couldn't live with this. But then, the only apparent solution was... for him to commit suicide. Just the thought of ending his own life was enough to bring nausea to Blu's throat. Especially when he just learned how to fly and was about to start his new life with his mate. But still...
"There might a solution." Nightfly's voice brought Blu out of his train of dark thoughts. "What you did earlier, Blu... it was a magic technique. I don't know how it's called, but I sensed a strong energy emanating from it."
"M-Magic?" Blu inquired, looking down at his wing that summoned the shield thing earlier.
"Yes. I thought that magic no longer existed in your world... but you somehow managed to summon a shield to stop the Dark Riders. This definitely means that you possess magic powers. Thus, if you were to develop them and grow strong enough, you would be able to defend yourself from the forces of evil."
Blu blinked his eyes, slowly realizing what Nightfly was trying to say. "Then you're saying...?!"
"Yes." Nightfly placed his wings on Blu's shoulders. "I will teach you how to defend yourself..."