Chapter 7:
The next two weeks flew by like the water of a river. Thanks to his precise, repetitive training with Nightfly and will to become strong enough to fight back any threats, Blu progressed at a speed that impressed his teacher. Within five days, the young Spix's macaw memorized the victory factors of a sword duel along with all five counter positions by heart. Sure, his foot game wasn't perfect, but macaws weren't supposed to be walking masters.
"Three! Five! Two! One! Five! Five! Four!" Nightfly yelled while pressing on his attacks. Little after Blu got his wooden sword, the hooded macaw decided to craft one from a tree branch for himself as he didn't want to injure his student with his dual swords. He wasn't as swift as usual with one sword though.
Groans escaped Blu's beak as he lifted and twirled his sword in every direction, the wooden blade colliding with Nightfly's multiple times. Thanks to his last days of training, he was now almost able to counter his teacher's offense without having to step back. His stamina had also greatly increased, being able to train for a long time without having to take a break. His stamina was surprisingly good already, especially considering he could run away from Nigel and the smugglers for a long time, but a little boost was always welcome.
This time, Blu wanted to do more than just counter Nightfly's sword. After their wooden swords collided for the last time, the younger Spix's macaw rose his foot and planted it into his teacher's torso, his kick almost knocking him onto his back.
"Didn't expect that, did you, Nightfly?" Blu asked with a cheeky grin.
As a response, Nightfly smiled and chuckled a little. "You're learning fast, my young student. Congratulations."
Such words filled Blu's heart with joy... But not as much as the joy he experienced a few days ago. He woke up early that morning to get mangoes both for Jewel and himself just before joining Linda and Tulio for a nice, fun breakfast. Once their stomachs were full, it was time for Jewel's usual check-up with the female avian excited to get this over with and seeing what she and her mate could do for the day. By now, she had become accustomed to spending most of her time in the artificial jungle, alone with her thoughts.
So it was no surprise to anyone that she squawked in joy when Tulio announced that her wing's healing process was completed and that she could now fly once again. She planted a big kiss on Blu's beak before Linda and Tulio led her to the aviary's entrance. For the first time in what felt like an eternity, the free-spirited bird was able to open her wings and take to the air. Blu would never forget the smile on her face and the cries of joy she pushed - they were almost like the ones he heard after they got free of their chains at Luiz's garage. The only difference was that, this time, he was able to join and fly with her in the sky. For a whole afternoon, the last Spix's macaws on earth flew together in the air with joy and energy until their wings ran out of energy.
"We did enough swordship for today. Now, it's time to work on your Cobalt Shield."
As much as he would have wanted to keep swinging his wooden sword around and get praised by his teacher, Blu knew the 'getting knocked to the ground fun session' was unavoidable. So, for the next two hours, he could only groan in both pain and annoyance as Nightfly sent him in the sand with his wind blasts, causing his feathers to get dirty over and over again. He could already tell he would have to take a long bath tonight...
The only positive aspect was that Blu managed to keep his Cobalt Shield summoned longer than usual. As Nightfly pointed out before, the more he practiced with it, the more he was able to control and develop his magical powers. And he could feel himself able to keep it on a little more every day! Hopefully his resistance strength would do the same. But for now, he still needed to develop his muscles...
Only when Blu became too tired to keep his Cobalt Shield summoned that Nightfly ended the physical portion of his training. Now came the verbal part. "You must always take your environment in consideration. The sunlight can blind you if you're in the right position; if possible, get into position so that your opponent has the sun in his eyes, making it harder to see you."
"Try not to stand still as it can give your opponent the occasion to analyze your stance and find an opening in your defense. You must always be on the move without draining your energy to boost your chances of avoiding getting hit and also be unpredictable."
"If you fight in a natural environment, cliffs, rivers, the ocean, or stone walls can be used to cut any escape possibility from your opponent. Alternately, if you're in a forest, you can use the trees and their branches as a way to escape your opponents and bushes to hide from them."
"Alright, that's all for today, you may dispose now."
These words came not too soon for Blu's taste. After two whole weeks of training like this, you would believe that he'd be used to it by now... but that wasn't the case. Once all of his training session was done, he didn't felt like doing anything but lay down in his hollow and rest with Jewel until nighttime. Today was no exception. "Say, Nightfly, there's something I'd like to ask you."
"What is it?"
"There's a big event happening tomorrow at the Estadio de Maracana and our friends really want Jewel and I to attend," Blu explained. "Two popular avian football teams are gonna have a big encounter and Pedro told us it's gonna be a huge match."
"Football?" Nightfly asked with a puzzled expression. "What's that?"
"Oh, I forgot, you don't know about our sports. Football is a very popular sport in Brazil - everywhere across the world, but mostly in Brazil," Blu said. "Why don't you come too? That way, you'll get to see what we like to do in our world. Plus, if monsters come after Jewel and I, you'd be there to help."
Nightfly rubbed his chin, nodding his head in approval. "This is not a bad idea. I, indeed, would like to learn more about your culture. But promise me to remain vigilant, alright?"
Meanwhile…
Blu spent this night with very little slumber. After waiting two more days in the artificial jungle for extra measures, Jewel decided it was time for the two of them to finally move in the jungle and live like real birds. The last female of her kind had already found a nest for herself before being caught by the humans of the aviary and, luckily, no other bird came to claim it during her time in captivity. She and Blu were able to make their official home together in there.
The problem was that sleeping in a nest located inside a safe human building and one in the middle of the jungle were two entirely different things. No matter how hard he tried, Blu was not able to calm his mind and close his eyes. He always had that alerting feeling in the back of his mind that a snake or venomous spider would sneak inside their hollow and kill him while he kept his guard down. Jewel assuring him that everything would be fine and that she would sense danger coming wasn't enough to make him go to sleep.
By the time the sun rose over the beautiful city of Rio and all its avian population came to life, the last male Spix's macaw in the world remained in the world of dreams. His mate kept yelling to wake him up in vain. It took a good leaf full of water to finally snap out of it.
"Why did you do that?!" Blu exclaimed in a mix of shock and indignation, staring at his poor wet feathers.
"Because you refused to rise your butt out of the nest," Jewel replied, a wing on her hip, and a risen eyebrow on her face. Even though she was trying to teach her boyfriend a lesson, she still had to hold back the desire to giggle at his reaction. "Only those who wake up early can survive in the jungle."
"Those who wake up early?" Blu repeated, looking as if Jewel just said something dumb. "Are you kidding, Jewel? It doesn't matter what time of the day or night it is; you're always in danger inside a tropical jungle like this one. There are predators - and monsters - lurking everywhere, just waiting to chew on us!"
A look of disbelief appeared over Jewel's face. "Really? You have magical powers and you know how to use a sword, but you're still afraid of spiders and snakes?" The corners of her beak pulled up into a smile, and she giggled, pulling her boyfriend in for a kiss on the cheek. "Sometimes, I wonder how things work in that little brain of yours." After Blu returned the gesture, she took his wing and dragged him toward the hollow's entrance. "Now come on; I'm hungry."
The Spix's macaws started the day by flying over to a mango tree - the same one Blu went to get mangoes for Jewel on her first injury day at the aviary. To both birds' joy, it was located relatively close to their home and it didn't take them more than three minutes to reach it. Once their stomachs were full, Jewel decided to go take a bath in the river... inviting Blu to join her. The male Spix's turned redder than a scarlet macaw.
Once their feathers were clean enough, it was departure time. They left the rainforest and flew across the city in search of Estadio de Maracana. And it didn't take very long to locate it; the gigantic stadium looked like a white ring in the middle of a miniature city with a green square at its center. Blu always dreamed to see one sports stadium in person, but Linda never had the money to attend big sports events... and even if she did, chances that animals like Blu would be allowed were very low.
"Wow!" Blu exclaimed once he and Jewel landed on the edge of the stadium's white roof. "This place is huge!"
"I must recognize it is a sight to behold," Jewel admitted, trying to hide her amazement that matched her boyfriend's. "Why did I never come here before?"
"Hey, lovebirds!" beamed Nico as he and Pedro arrived to join their blue friends. "You came! I was afraid you wouldn't want to come after spending a whole night doing... lovebirds stuff," he said, giving an accomplice wink toward the avians.
Blu and Jewel widened their eyes at this statement, exchanging a gaze, and blushing a lot. "Nico! Shut up! We haven't done... things in our nest. We just slept!"
"Don't worry; you'll get to it soon," Pedro said, chuckling in amusement to himself.
"How would you know? You never did anything with any girl," Nico pointed out with his wings crossed.
Pedro widened his eyes at this statement and took a flustered expression, getting into his best friend's face. "Shut up, dude! You don't know that! I did a lot of stuff before we met!"
"You do remember we met when we were kids, right?"
Blu decided to interfere before the two best friends could escalate their dispute any further. "So, guys? This is where the big football game's supposed to take place right?"
His idea thankfully worked, the cardinal and canary immediately looking away from each other and at him, their mad expressions melting away, leaving place for excited ones. "Oh yeah! You arrive just in time; the game will start soon! It's down there, in the stadium!" Nico explained, pointing a wing down inside the large, green field of the stadium below them.
Leaning on the edge to look downward, Blu and Jewel indeed saw a vast ray of colors in the stands around the play field. Lots of feathers gathered to watch the show. "Rafael, Kipo, and Luiz have all come to watch the game!" Pedro beamed in excitation, flying next to his amazed friends. "Your hooded friend carrying two swords, Nightguy or something, has arrived too!"
"Really? Cool!" Jewel exclaimed in excitation, grabbing her boyfriend's wing. "Come on, Blu! Let's go down!"
A few moments later, the two last Spix's macaws on earth were standing on the very edge of the stands bordering on the green play field of the stadium. Blu stood with Jewel to his left and Rafael to his right. Nico and Pedro were respectively following the toco toucan with Nightfly, Luiz and Kipo next to Jewel. All of them were as excited as all the cheering birds in the stands who waited impatiently for the game to begin.
"I'm so excited, you guys! I have always wanted to see a real Brazilian football match!" Blu exclaimed above the screams of the crowd. "I mean, sure, I did watch a few matches on television, but seeing it live is a whole different experience! You think the birds who will compete will do combos and even hits with their heads? Cause I heard birds were not supposed to-"
"HERE THEY ARE!" a bird cut Blu's observation analysis and all the birds started cheering.
Two teams of differently colored avians came from both ends of the play field like normal football teams would do, waving their wings at the audience. Blu noticed that they were all wearing pieces of clothes like scarfs or hats with different colors, probably to be able to distinct one team from the other. One side was red and the other was green. Both teams stopped around mid-way through the field while one bird from each team, whom Blu assumed were the captains, stepped forward to meet.
"You see this gal?" Pedro asked Blu and Jewel, pointing a black feather toward one of the two captains. A female hyacinth macaw whose feathers matched Blu's in terms of color with the exception being the yellow facial expressions around her eyes and beak. A red headband was wrapped around her forehead while two goalkeeper gloves of the same color covered her wings (which Blu thought was impossible). "This is Tanya, captain of the Rio Fireballs and one of the best avian athletes in all of Brazil!"
"Really? She's that good?" Jewel asked.
"Yup, hotwing! As a goalkeeper, she is an unbreakable wall, and as a field player, she is an unstoppable force! Their opponents are the Wild Thorns led by Antonio; they are good, but the Fireballs are my pick for this match!" Nico explained with his best friend nodding in agreement.
"It's starting! It's starting!" Luiz beamed, hopping in excitation.
The Fireballs started the match with the bird-sized soccer ball. The attacker flew his way to the goal (which, too, was small enough for a bird to keep) and made a pass to his partner for a kick. However, the goalkeeper caught the ball in his gloved wings and proceeded to throw it at his captain. Before Antonio could go too far, the Fireballs defender managed to snatch it half-way through the field. Getting back to the Wild Thorns' goal, one of the attackers kicked the ball in the air, looking for an aerial technique. However, the goalkeeper decided to take a risk and leave his goal to tackle the Fireball attacker, sending him to the ground.
"Ouch! That's gonna leave a mark!" Kipo remarked with a frown.
With the balls back in their possession, the Wild Thorns darted their way at the Fireballs' goal. Instead of looking nervous, Tanya grinned and seemed excited. Antonio kicked the ball with great force, which didn't stop the hyacinth captain from catching it with her two gloved wings, no sweat lost. This caused the whole stadium to cheer.
"See? I told you that girl's a genius!" Nico exclaimed in excitation.
"I have to agree! Although someone's gonna have to explain to me how she managed to stop a ball at such speed!" Blu remarked. "Hyacinth macaws are known for having strong wings, but not to that point."
This statement caused the Spix's macaw to receive blank looks from his friends followed by amused laughters. "That's my boy, alright! What you say never makes any sense!" Rafael mused.
Back on the play field, the game continued with Captain Tanya doing the best she could to counter all the Wild Thorns' attacks. However, nobody could keep it that way forever and one of the green team's very tricky combos eventually managed to slip past her defense, getting into the goal. "GOAL!" shouted the bird who served as the referee. "POINT TO THE WILD THORNS!"
The audience roared as loud as possible while the green team celebrated the fact that they scored the very first point of the match. Tanya, meanwhile, tried to comfort her teammates, assuring that they did their best and that the match wasn't over yet.
"T-Tanya failed to block a shot?!" Pedro exclaimed, a look of shock and awe plastered on his face. "Impossible! It's the first time ever this happens!"
"He's exaggerating," Nico mumbled to Blu and Jewel. "She did miss many shots in the past; it's just that she's so good that he's not used to it."
After a little break, the game resumed with Tanya switching places with one of her teammates, letting him defend the goal while she led the attack. Her team started with the ball and, as soon as the ref whistled, she darted forward with her fellow attackers at her side. Sneaking past the opponents' defense, she arrived before their goal, kicked the ball up in the air, and then performed an impressive backflip kick that sent the soccer ball flying faster than a bee into the goal.
"GOAL! POINT TO THE FIREBALLS!" the referee announced.
"W-What just happen?!" a stunned Jewel asked. "She managed to score a goal in not even ten seconds!"
"That's how good she is; Tanya is capable of switching the tides of a match like no one else!" Rafael stated, a smile on his huge beak.
"I have to admit this is quite an interesting sport you have there... Football you call it, right?" Nightfly asked with rubbing his chin. "It reminds me of a game I used to play with my friends when I was a young boy."
The football match went on for twenty whole minutes, being divided in two rounds that each lasted ten minutes. Near the end of the second round, Nightfly had to leave to go... relieve himself. Once the second round was up, the encounter ended with a score of 4-3 for the Rio Fireballs. Every avian cheered in joy, both teams exchanging high-fives and respectful wingshakes as a proof of sportsmanship.
"I think that was the best football game I ever saw!" Pedro beamed.
"Nah; the one in São Paulo was a lot better!" Luiz replied, shaking his head in disagreement. In the process, he accidentally threw some saliva to nearby birds, grossing them off.
"Well, that was really fun," Blu remarked, stretching his wings out. "All of this made me hungry; wanna go grab a snack?"
"Not so fast, dude!" Pedro stopped his blue friend. "We can't leave without introducing you to Tanya! You'll see; she's a really cool girl to be around. Come on!"
The group of avians and bulldog got off the stands and onto the play field. While her teammates left to grab a snack, Tanya remained behind to drink from a bird-sized bottle of water. She had removed her goalkeeper gloves, but still had her red headband on. Just as she finished her sip of water, the hyacinth macaw took notice of the newcomers approaching. "Oh, hello?"
"Hey, Tanya girl, what's up?" Pedro greeted her back. "You remember us? Pedro, Nico, Ralfi, and Luiz! We were present at your match in São Paulo; we cheered louder than anyone else in the area!"
"Hum... Wait... Oh, yeah! You were the little guys! How could I ever forget?" the captain mused, pulling her water bottle down and giving a friendly pat on the back of all three birds and the bulldog too. "Been forever since I last saw you! How has life been for you?"
"Huh, pretty good," Rafael replied with a smile on his big beak. "We threw a lot of parties, Eva and I got new kids, and we also made new friends!"
"I can see that," Tanya said with looking in the two Spix's macaws direction. "Gonna make the introductions, Banana Beak?"
Rafael did just that, bringing the blue birds closer and wrapping his wings around their shoulders. "Tanya, meet Blu and Jewel, the last of their kind in Rio, and the youngest lovebirds couple to date!"
"Hi, I'm very glad to meet you," Blu politely said, stepping forward with his wing stretched out.
The young Spix's macaw was caught by surprise when the football bird grabbed his wing with her own, squeezing it with force and shaking it up and down with tremendous speed. "Same here, buddy! Any friend of my friends is my friend too! Especially if we have the same feather colors!" Tanya let go of Blu's wing, allowing him to rub it in pain, and turned toward Jewel. "I sure hope you guys enjoyed the match!" she declared, holding her wing forward in a fist.
"Hum... Yeah. What are you doing?" Jewel asked with a confused expression, staring at the hyacinth macaw's wing.
"Sorry, my girlfriend's not used to civilian stuff," Blu explained with a chuckle. "This is called a dump-fist, honey. You curl your wing into a fist and press it against your friend's; it's a sign of friendship and mutual respect."
Jewel blinked her turquoise eyes a few times. Deciding to give it a try, she rose her wing and curled it into a fist, pressing it against Tanya's. "Like this?"
"Yeah. Could use a little more enthusiasm, but it's a good start," Tanya said before breaking contact. "You guys are new to the city?"
"Yeah; we moved in a few weeks ago," Blu explained. "Jewel has been living in Brazil all of her life, but I'm from Minnesota, it's in the United States."
"Really? And what made you want to move in here?" Tanya asked with an interested expression.
"That's a long story," Blu explained with rubbing the back of his head. "But to make it short, it was love." Giving a smile at his girlfriend, the male macaw exchanged a loving kiss with her, charming all the birds - and the bulldog - watching.
"Aww, so cute!" Tanya cooed. "You guys can tell me all about it around a good snack! Come on, everyone, it's my team's treat!"
As everyone walked after Tanya, ready to leave the stadium and go have a good something to eat, Blu dragged down a little behind everyone. For reasons he could not explain, a shiver was running down his spine - not the shiver of pleasure that he got during the football game; the kind that one got when feeling ill-at-ease. Why was he feeling like this all of a sudden? He just watched his first live football game with his friends and girlfriend, they had lots of fun, and now, they were about to have even more fun around a nice meal. He had no reason to feel like this.
Blu's anxiety grew more and more with every passing second. Sweat started forming on his feathers and goosebumps reached his shoulders. It felt like he had a snake coiling up around his neck, ready to choke him out and break his bones... even though he perfectly knew there was no snake on him. His instincts were all yelling at him to be careful and to turn around. Deciding to trust them, he stopped walking and spun around on his talons.
A dark purple and round slit appeared slightly above the play field's ground. Blu managed to turn around just in time to see a figure stepping out of this magical opening in question... A big... imposing... figure. Standing tall on its two back paws, it easily towered over Blu, the sun reflecting over its silver-grey fur. As its threatening golden eyes laid on the avian, its large ears perked up, its lips opening to bare its fangs, and a growl escaping its chest. As long, sharp claws came out from its fingertips, Blu's whole body started trembling.
Hundreds of questions stormed in the Spix's macaw's mind. But they would all have to wait as the... wolf thing charged at him. His survival instincts kicking in, Blu opened his wings and took off, narrowly avoiding the sharp claws. He kept flying up until he was a safe distance away. Once certain to be out of harm's way, he stopped flapping his wings too hard and stared down.
The werewolf pushed an ear-piercing roar that echoed throughout the whole stadium, visibly angry to not be able to reach the avian. This roar alerted the other avians (and bulldog) who turned around and showed shocked expressions upon seeing the creature. Unfortunately, as Blu attempted to save his life, he realized that he forgot to warn his friends about the incoming threat. Turning its head, the werewolf noticed the group and made a run for them.
"Holy cheese and sprinkles!" Not wasting a second, Blu darted toward his friends like a rocket. Despite his lack of experience in the flying department, he managed to get between the group and the monster in time before the latter could reach the former. "Alright, time to finally put Nightfly's training to use!"
Getting into position, Blu rose his wing and summoned his Cobalt Shield just as the werewolf arrived before him. It rose its paw and brought it down, colliding with the avian's magical protection, almost making him lose his balance. It was at this moment that he felt grateful to Nightfly for knocking him to the ground so many times in the last few weeks. Sure, this thing hit a lot harder than the hooded macaw's wind blasts, but the training still did help a lot.
"Get out of here! Now!" Blu shouted at his friends over his shoulder. He could already tell their faces were probably twisted by confusion and their minds filled with questions, but it wasn't exactly the right time to make explanations.
"Blu!" he heard Jewel's voice shouting from behind.
"Don't worry about me, Jewel!" he replied without looking away from the angry werewolf. "I just have to keep it busy until Nightfly returns! You go and get to safety until then!"
The brief moment of silence before Jewel ordered: "Follow me! Let's go!" made Blu understand that his girlfriend didn't want to leave his side at this moment. As much as this touched his heart, her safety mattered more. And all of his focus needed to be targeted on blocking the werewolf's attacks.
After blocking about twenty strikes, Blu got knocked on his back by the creature. Swearing in his mind, he started crawling backwards, sweating nervously as the predator closed in on him. Where was Nightfly? 'Maybe I should have brought my wooden sword with me... even though it probably wouldn't have been very effective against this thing,' the macaw thought.
Growling, the werewolf rose its sharp claws, ready to tear its prey apart. However, just as Blu was about to see his life flashing before his eyes, a fist came out of nowhere, connecting with the canine's cheek, and knocking it back a surprisingly good amount of feet away. Of course, thanks to its feral instincts, it managed to skid to a stop with its claws and then look up with anger at who cut its meal short.
"Why don't you come and pick up a fight with someone your own size?! Figuratively," Tanya taunted, rising her two wings in a fighting stance, her green eyes narrowed into a glare.
Blu blinked his hazel-brown eyes multiple times in confusion. "T-Tanya?! What are you doing here? You can't stay; it's dangerous!"
"You think I haven't noticed?" the hyacinth macaw sarcastically asked back without looking away from the hostile canine. "Sorry, but I won't leave you alone. I might have no idea what this wolf-thing is supposed to be, but I can't let one of my friends get in harm's way when I can help it. So bring it on, doggy face!"
This girl really saw him as a friend? Even though they have known each other for only a few minutes? This concept felt weird to Blu; back in Minnesota, he attempted many times to get other birds to become his friends, but they always refused for a yes or a no. Being accepted so easily was really strange. But now was not the time to think about it.
The werewolf pushed a strong roar and attempted to claw her head off Tanya's shoulders. Unfortunately for it, the captain of the Fireballs managed to crouch down in time and replied with an uppercut directly under its jaw, knocking it on its back with a loud thud. Blu had to admit he was rather impressed by this girl's physical strength.
"Okay, thanks for helping me, Tanya," Blu gratefully said, getting back on his two feet and at his helper's side. "If you really wanna be useful, make sure to hit him as hard as you can while I block all of his attacks," he added with summoning his Cobalt Shield once again.
"You got it!"
The lips in the corners of the predator's lips twisted upwards into some sort of grin - Blu couldn't tell if it was happy to now have two preys instead of one or if it was just crazy. Probably the former case. Getting down on all four of its paws, the evil monster darted off, rising one paw to take another slash at the blue avians. Blu followed the strategy by stepping forward and blocking what could have been a deadly attack with his shield. Unfortunately, the monster didn't stop there and kept slashing at the blue barricade over and over again.
It was at this moment that Tanya took her chance to slide on the ground and get below the monster. Curling her wing into a fist, she delivered a powerful right hook at the middle of its leg, snapping it in half with a CRACK! and getting a roar of pain. Not stopping there, she quickly got back up and followed up with a series of quick punches into the canine's torso, making it groan and bleed from the mouth.
While she was taking action, Blu couldn't help but notice that she had pulled her goalkeeper's wing gloves back on. But these weren't the same ones as before; these were clementine-orange with some white streaks. She finished her combo with a devastating left hook that snapped the wolf's jaw and sent him skidding many feet away across the play field.
"... There!" the hyacinth macaw boasted after panting for many seconds, rubbing the tip of her beak with a snobbish grin. "He won't get back from this. That's what happens when you mess around with the captain of the Rio Fireballs, puppy!"
Unfortunately, if the avians thought they were out of trouble, they were dead wrong. Groaning softly, the werewolf somehow found the strength to pull itself back on its own two feet. Their eyes widened once they saw that its leg and jaw that Tanya had broken moments ago seemed to be perfectly fine again. It once again smirked and licked its lips.
"... Get back in position, quick!" Blu ordered as he rose his Cobalt Shield once again.
The next minutes saw Blu and Tanya repeating the cycle and blocking with the former's shield and counter-attacking with the latter's strikes. But no matter how many times she hit it, the werewolf just kept recovering from its wounds and getting back on the offensive. Blu started getting tired from using his magical trick and Tanya from punching nonstop in vain. They had to find a solution before running out of juice and falling helpless to the predator.
Suddenly, just as the werewolf was going to slash at them once again, two gusts of wind came out of nowhere, cutting deep scars into the monster's shoulders. It roared in pain and stumbled back as jets of blood flew across the air. The two blue birds froze and then turned around to see a second Spix's macaw carrying two black swords joining them.
"Nightfly!" Blu exclaimed with a smile, glad to see his teacher.
"Are you okay, Blu? You're not hurt?" Nightfly quickly asked, getting at his student's side and checking up for any injury.
"No, don't worry, I'm okay," Blu assured before looking back at the enemy. "But we're kinda having a hard time with him."
"I can see why," Nightfly confirmed, his face twisting into a frown as he stared at the werewolf who already started recovering from the two cuts he sustained. "A werewolf... I was not really expecting to meet one of these here today."
"We did everything we could to take him down, but he always recovers, no matter what we do! How are we supposed to defeat him?" Blu asked.
"Werewolves are stronger than common monsters of my world; they are also known for their regenerative abilities," Nightfly explained without looking away from the canine. "They are weak against two things only: fire and silver. Unfortunately, I don't have any of the two on me right now."
"So we cannot defeat it?"
"Well, the only thing we can do is try to cut him down fast enough before he can recover, but we're gonna have to be VERY fast to do so," the hooded macaw explained, pulling his two black sabers up.
"Wait! Let me try something!" Tanya suddenly said and stepped forward. Glaring at the werewolf, she seemed to focus hard, when her two gloved wings were suddenly set on fire. "Here I come! Firepaw Burner!" Rising her burning wings forward, she shot a blast of fire that directly hit the werewolf, setting it on fire.
All three avians watched as the canine monster pushed growls of pain, trying in vain to pull the fire consuming it off. After many seconds, it ended up collapsing on the floor, its growls becoming softer and softer before completely disappearing. The flames on its body died at the same time as the ones on Tanya's wings. The hyacinth macaw removed her headband and proceeded to rub sweat off her forehead with a wing.
"... Well, that takes care of that," Nightfly simply commented, pulling his two black swords back in their scabbards with Blu pulling his Cobalt Shield away. The two Spix's macaws were about to check on their friend when they heard a coughing noise behind them. They turned around to see all of their friends staring at them with looks mixing confusion and wonder. Jewel, on the other hand, just gave them a nervous grin.
"Hum... Hi, guys," Blu innocently mumbled.