Chapter 4:

"I will teach you how to defend yourself..."

These words echoed through Blu's mind over and over again. Not matter how much time passed, it still felt to him like it happened seconds ago. Defending himself... Blu never thought in his whole life that he would have to come to this. His life consisted of spending days with Linda at their library and helping the customers with books, a nice cup of hot chocolate at wing's reach alongside delicious cookies. But now, it looked like he was gonna have to defend himself - and Jewel - from monsters.

After fending off the Dark Riders, Nightfly and Dominic brought the two Spix's macaws to another room where they could rest for the night... but if there was one thing Blu failed to do, it was sleeping. Too many questions stormed inside his poor mind: how was he supposed to fend off those Ghouls, Dark Riders, and whatever other creatures would come after him? What was that shield that saved his life? Was Nightfly going to stay with them to keep them safe? How was he going to explain this to everyone?

Yup, a lot of questions, very little answers.

"Where are you guys going?" Nightfly asked with a loud yawn upon seeing his two protégés getting up from their nest. "It's still very early."

"I want to go back at the aviary before Linda and Tulio get up," Blu explained, stretching his wings to make them crack. "If they see us gone upon waking up, they're gonna panic, and that's the last thing we want right now."

The frown on Nightfly's face clearly indicated he wanted nothing more than to stay in his nest and sleep a little longer. However, he pushed that desire away, sighed, and got back up. "Alright then. As much as I'd like to stay here and sleep a little longer, I don't want you to get snapped by Ghouls on your way back." He then turned toward his harpy eagle friend. "Thanks for your hospitality, Dominic. And sorry about your wall."

"No worries, Nightfly. I'll just fix it," he assured. "You go and be careful."

Despite feeling tired, Blu knew that the last thing Jewel wanted to do at this very moment was walking another mile. Therefore, pushing his tiredness aside, he took her in his talons and proceeded to take off to the skies. The city was coming to life down below with people coming out of their home and getting in their cars to get to work. This made him flap his wings faster, knowing the doctors of the aviary would do the same soon.

Thankfully, they managed to arrive on time. Blu asked Nightfly to wait for them outside the building as the doctors would probably freak out at seeing a Spix's macaw with a hoodie and two swords walking around in their corridors. "Alright, if you say so. I'll go get some breakfast while waiting for you. You should do the same; as soon as you come out, we'll start your training," the hooded macaw said before walking away, letting the two Spix's macaws entering through the air vent.

As soon as they arrived in the artificial jungle, Blu grabbed the message that was destined for Linda, pressed it into a ball, and then pulled it away. At the same moment, the room's door opened, revealing the skinny figure of Tulio. The bags underneath his eyes and the cup of coffee in his hand indicated that he had gotten up very recently. Linda followed suit, looking exactly the same.

"Morning, guys," Tulio said with the trademark smile he displayed every time he got to see the last Spix's macaws on Earth. "You look like you slept well... Unless you finally decided to save the species?" he asked with a little grin.

As Blu and Jewel's faces turned into tomatoes, Linda gave the doctor a nudge in the shoulder. "Tulio!"

"What? That's the whole reason why we brought them together in the first place," the ornithologist defended himself.

Linda rolled her eyes behind her glasses and then looked down at the two avians. "Good morning, Blu," she mumbled, kneeling down to pet her best friend's head feathers. "You too, Jewel. Your wing didn't hurt too much?" the human added toward the other Spix's macaw who responded with a positive SQUAWK!

"Wow, and to think that not even two days ago, she wouldn't let me or any of my assistants near her," Tulio told himself, blinking his big eyes in surprise. "Oh, this reminds me! I have to do another check-up on Jewel's wing to see if the healing process is doing good."

"We'll do that after breakfast, Tulio." Linda got back up after allowing the two macaws to get on her arms. "We were about to eat, wanna join us, guys?" Blu responded with a nod, his stomach growling a bit.

Despite eating delicious fruits brought by the ornithologist in company of his mate and best friend, Blu's mind was not at peace. The events that happened in the last twenty-four hours were still too fresh. How was he going to tell Linda and his friends that he would learn how to do magic? And fight monsters like Ghouls? Should he tell them at all? He didn't want them to get worried about him. Blu wasn't in the mood to talk about all of this. He preferred not to talk at all.

"Aww, that hits the spot," Tulio sighed after finishing his breakfast, a smile of satisfaction on his face. "I think we're ready for your check-up now, Jewel."

Blu pushed a SQUAWK! to get Linda's attention and then went to write something on a piece of paper which he handed her afterwards. "Would you mind keeping an eye on Jewel for today, Linda? I'd like to stay, but one of the new friends I made during my time away with Jewel proposed to help me improve my flying. He's waiting for me outside."

Linda gave her best friend a smile. "Sure, Blu. After fifteen years on the ground, I'm sure you wanna discover everything flying has to offer. Just promise me to be careful and to come back here if anything happens, alright?" After receiving another positive SQUAWK! from her best friend, Linda patted his head. "That's my big, brave boy!"

"Are you sure you wanna go?" Jewel asked, taking Blu's wings with hers, a look of worry plastered on her face. "I don't like this magic and monsters story, Blu."

Touched by his girlfriend's worry, Blu wrapped a comfortable wing around her while allowing her head to rest on his chest. "I don't like it either, Jewel. But you heard what Nightfly said; these things are gonna keep coming after us again and again. I'm not just gonna sit around and wait for them to hurt us. Plus, you saw it too; I summoned that shield thing that saved us from that monster's sword. If I can really use magic, then I have to learn how. I won't let anybody hurt you." His stare zeroed down to her damaged wing. "Not again..."

Smiling, Jewel kissed Blu on the beak, the male returning the gesture. "Alright then. But be careful with all this supernatural stuff, will ya?"

"I will." Blu kissed her on the beak again and then walked away toward the aviary's exit, giving one last stare over his shoulder to see his mate walking inside the operation room with Linda and Tulio.

Blu arrived at the same spot where he and Jewel left Nightfly, finding the hooded macaw sitting down in what looked like a meditating position. His head perked up upon seeing the other macaw approaching and crossed his wings. "I was about to start meditating. You arrived just in time."

Blu's head turned toward the aviary's building, a look of concern on his face. "Are you sure we should be doing this, Nightfly? I'm not certain I feel comfortable leaving Jewel alone knowing your monsters could go after her at any moment."

"No worries, my friend. If anything evil gets near this building, I will sense it coming; I have placed a sensitivity barrier around it," the hooded macaw assured. "Plus, we won't be going far from here to start your training. We could've done it inside your false jungle, if there were no humans watching us." He reached his wing to take Blu's. "It's time to start now."

Nightfly dragged Blu into the small forest located behind the center. Good thing it was located away from the most active and busy parts of Rio. They arrived into an open area where the trees and plants around would provide cover, preventing any unwanted attention from coming to them. Around midway through the open field, Nightfly stopped Blu with a wing and took a few steps forward, his back facing him with dignity.

"Are you ready to begin your training, young pupil?" he asked, not turning around to look at Blu.

"Hum... Yeah, I guess...?" the young Spix's macaw responded, rubbing the back of his head with uncertainty.

"You didn't have any confidence in your voice. I will ask it again; are you ready to begin your training, young pupil?"

Blu's face twisted in a frown. Of course, he was ready! They were talking about keeping both his friends and himself face. "Yes, I am!" he declared, a lot more confidence in his voice this time. Nightfly finally turned around, seemingly satisfied by this answer. "So? How am I supposed to... What are you doing?"

Nightfly interrupted Blu by pressing his wings together and arching his back for a bow. "Salute your teacher back, young pupil."

'Ok, that guy is taking this training thing way too seriously,' Blu thought to himself. Complying, he mimicked the hooded macaw's gesture, though not with the same grace. It started to feel like he would take part in a Kung Fu movie training scene. "So? What am I supposed to learn now?"

The teacher rose back from his bow, giving a serious look to his pupil. "First things first, we must figure out what that shield you summoned was and how you managed to bring it up. What did you feel when the shield appeared, Blu?"

The young Spix's macaw rubbed his chin, trying to remember. His memory was a bit blurry as everything happened so fast at that moment. The Dark Riders broke into the nest room when he was certain that Jewel and he were safe. When these scary monsters approached him, Blu remembered fear and panic - the normal emotions one would experience when approached by crazy knights looking to slice you into pieces. However, that wasn't all; there was something else.

"Yeah, there's something special I felt at that moment...," Blu confirmed, still lost in his memories.

"What was it?"

"Well, it's the same feeling I had just a few hours before you came to see us. I was afraid to be on the brink of death, but... there was another, stronger feeling in my heart at the same time. I turned my head to look at Jewel and I saw how terrified she was."

Nightfly blinked his brown eyes a few times. "Are you saying that this sensation you felt was...?"

"Yes. It was the desire to defend Jewel. I wanted to run away, but I wanted to protect her from danger even more. So, when I saw the sword about to strike us down, I instinctively got in position to protect her from the blow, and that's when this shield appeared. I don't know if it has a link, but around twenty-four hours before, Jewel was in a similar position and I managed to save her by learning how to fly which I never succeeded in doing before."

Nightfly blinked his eyes a few times, a confused expression on his face. "... Wait a second, you never flew before the day before?"

"Well... Yes."

"How old are you?"

"Fifteen."

The hooded macaw seemed more dumbfounded than ever. "You're fifteen years old, and you never managed to figure out the most basic skill a bird can have? It's a bit hard to believe. It would be like seeing a fish not knowing how to swim or a dog not knowing how to smell."

Blu's face twisted into an annoyed expression, feeling like his teacher was making fun of him... in a polite way. "Anyway! Can we go back to our main subject now?"

Nodding a yes, the hooded macaw started rubbing his chin with a thinking expression. "Yeah, I see what you're thinking, Blu. It's very possible that your desire to keep your mate safe is what caused your magical power to manifest itself. Magic works in very mysterious ways; my co-Order members and me are learning new things about it every day."

Blu's gaze zeroed down toward his wing - the one with which he summoned the shield. "You really think this thing came to me because I wanted to protect Jewel?"

"Only one way to find out." Before Blu could ask another question, Nightfly suddenly grabbed the handle of one of his two sabers, pulled it out of the scabbard over his shoulder, and charged at him. What was he doing?! The way he rose his weapon made Blu understand he was about to strike him down.

Time slowed down around Blu. His heartbeat increased. This feeling... it was the exact same one as when he and Jewel were about to be killed by the Dark Riders. His right wing shot upwards to protect his face from the incoming blow.

CLANG!

Once more, Blu did not feel the blade tearing through his flesh. Could it mean...? Daring to open his eyes, he saw the black blade of Nightfly's sword stopped by a transparent wall of cobalt energy. There it was. The very same shield that saved his and Jewel's lives last night once again hovered over his wing and shielded him from another potential injury.

"Looks our theory was right," Nightfly remarked with a smile on his beak, pulling his sword back. "Your shield is triggered by your desire to defend either yourself or someone else from harms."

"ARE YOU CRAZY?!" Blu shouted at the top of his lungs, grabbing Nightfly by his hoodie and pulling him to his face. "YOU COULD HAVE CUT MY WING OFF OR SOMETHING! WHAT HAS GOTTEN INTO YOU?!"

"Calm down, my friend, calm down," Nightfly eased his pupil with pulling his sword back into its scabbard. "I had no intention to harm you whatsoever. If your shield had not appeared, I would've stopped my sword before it could connect. Now, try to focus on what you're feeling right now and keep your shield summoned."

As much as he wanted to keep scolding his teacher for his seemingly reckless idea, Blu also wished to learn more about this power of his. Taking a deep breath, he pulled Nightfly down and stared at the energy shield. It seemed to follow all the movements of his right wing despite the lack of physical contact. At least, the shield was still present instead of disappearing like last time.

"That's weird," Blu mumbled to himself while rubbing the solid surface of his magical weapon. "This shield feels so light despite being so solid..."

"Yeah, the advantage of magical powers is that they have different attributes from material weapons," Nightfly pointed out with a nod. "You think you can keep your shield summoned?"

"Well, yes, I think."

"Good. Now that you figured out how to summon your shield, we're gonna teach you how to use it. I'm gonna send attacks that you will try to block with your shield while also trying to stand your grounds." Seeing the nervous expression on his pupil's face, Nightfly chuckled and placed a comforting wing on his shoulder. "Don't worry; I'll start with soft attacks before going harder and harder as you get the thing."

As Nightfly walked a fair distance away, Blu couldn't help but gulp nervously. Even thought his shield could block a sword, he wasn't feeling entirely easy about blocking violent blows. True to be told, he did watch a lot of action movies and TV shows with characters using shields in combat... but none like his. What if the shield disappeared in the middle of the practice, and got him hurt?

The idea didn't sound any pleasant... but neither did leaving Jewel and Linda in harm's way. For them, Blu would take the risk. "Alright, let's do it!" he said with the strongest determination in his voice.

"That's the spirit!" Nightfly praised his pupil. "Now, take your defensive position. Spread your legs, rise your shield to cover both your head and torso, and try to put as much strength into keeping your position upon impact as you can."

Blu nodded and tried to follow the instructions. Spreading his legs. Rising his shield. Trying to cover as much of his body as he could. Getting ready for the incoming impact. "Alright! I'm ready!"

Nodding, Nightfly rose one wing forward and seemed to focus. "Wind Blast!" Blu saw some energy gathering before his wing, somehow changing the shape of the air into a ball. That ball then flew at full speed toward him, connecting with his shield. While it managed to take the shot, Blu didn't. The impact made him lose his balance and knocked him back a few feet away, ending on his stomach. Seeing this, Nightfly shook his head in disappointment.

"We have a lot of work to do..."