Vici led Blu to her locker, discussing from the beginning how she came up with the idea of building this underground garage, how she designed the making of the place, and how she executed it.
"All right, but where did you find so much wood? After all, you couldn't have just picked up so many nicely cut bales!" said Blu as Vici narrated on the walls.
"Yes, that's right, but you wouldn't believe how monkeys can be stupid."
"Monkeys?" repeated a surprised Blu.
"Yes, monkeys. There was a time when they were short of food and bananas were very high in the trees. I made a deal with them that I would get them if they would help me Borrow... (laughs) some wood"
"Sounds interesting. But where to borrow from?"
"Well, actually I stole them..." laughed Vici nervously admitting to stealing.
"It's easier to say that in your mind," thought Vici.
"Quite recently, a group of people were out here logging..." began Vici to say, the mention of tree felling again stimulated Blu's memory a little, again he felt like he knew what Vici was talking about.
"Again I feel like I'm associating this from somewhere..." thought Blu without listening to the girl's further statement.
"And that's where I got the wood from" finished Vici's pronouncement.
"Yes...yes, very interesting indeed. And could you say something about the clippings?" asked Blu.
"By saying random things I remind him of something" thought Vici a little upset by her stupidity.
"I don't honestly have anything to say about that... So, how about we move on?" suggested Vici, to which Blu nodded with a motion of his head.
They continued on to the main hall, which Blu had been in before.
"I assume this is where you've seen practically everything right?" Vici asked.
"No... Well... I don't know, and is there anything I might have missed?" asked Blu.
"I think you've rather seen everything here that might interest you" replied Vici looking around the room. Although her answer indicated that there was nothing here her smile indicated that she still had something to show.
"How long did you collect all this equipment?"
"So honestly, I don't know. Practically every day something... I took... For myself to have parts to spare...now that I've built myself a house and this garage I don't have to do that... At least as often." replied Vici as she left the room to walk through the hallway turning right. Blu followed the girl's footsteps after a still brief observation of the room.
"Over there I have just worthless rubbish... But here" sighed Vici stopping for a moment at the threshold of the entrance.
"What here?" asked Blu.
"Here's the important stuff" sighed Vici pointing to the papers that were nailed to the wall above the desk that was opposite the threshold. Blu walked over to the desk looking at the papers, which up close appeared to be torn pages from newspapers. On each of them were slightly different headlines, but concerning the same subject:
"Disaster in the Amazon!"
"Helicopter on fire in the heart of the jungle!"
"Helicopter in flames! Drastic death of two people!"
Blu calmly read these three topics while looking at the pictures that were attached in the pages.
"Is that..." wanted to ask Blu when Vici gave a sign nodding her head in confirmation.
"I'm sorry...but don't you think it's worth forgetting?"
"It's impossible to forget it," Vici laughed, though it was more to cry than to laugh.
"I couldn't forget him just like that; I lived with him for a dozen years."
"Well, yes, but do you want to remember how he died?"
"That's what I have as a reminder, to remember that I have nothing to go back there for," Vici replied. Her expression changed from a slight smile to a serious one, she had a stony expression on her face.
"His family is alive..."
"I already said, I couldn't look at them with the knowledge that Henry is gone" interrupted Vici for Blu. He merely nodded with a movement of his head. He expected that insisting on Vici's will could only cause an unnecessary argument. There was still some dusty book lying in the corner of the desk. Blu was already about to take it when Vici picked it up at the last moment hiding it in the desk drawer.
"Maybe one day..." said Vici seeing the surprised look on Blu's face. Despite his surprise he obediently tucked the wing into himself.
"I'll go get something to eat" suggested Vici when she made sure Blu wouldn't try to take her into his wings.
Raphael and the private stood at the spot where the act of arms was said to have taken place. Although Samuel reluctantly obeyed the order he was given he had to obey it.
"Do you see how the river runs?" asked Samuel of the toucan.
"Yes."
"Then listen, because I'm not going to repeat: To reach our companions, you fly straight until the branch of the river ends. It's quite a long way, so I would advise eating to have energy..."
"I'll eat on the way" thought Rafael.
"...They haven't returned yet, so there's a chance they found something. At the exit of the river they should be near the mouth, you should find them. But be careful not to turn into any other smaller estuaries! It's easy to get lost here, and I don't think anyone wants to have to do 2 searches. "
" Yes that's understandable. Anything else I need to know? " asked Rafael.
" Ekhm... It's quite a long journey, so remember to have shelter when it could rain... " here he looked up at the sky. It was slightly overcast, there were patches of clouds in the sky in some places which meant that the sun couldn't fully reach the ground.
" It's not supposed to rain today, but it's worth pointing out... You're not local so you probably didn't know" Samuel added after a short thought.
"I see, anything else?"
"Wait..." sighed Samuel thoughtfully.
"Stupid military directives. You need to learn something you'll need once a year" Samuel thought, then turned to the toucan.
"No, I think that's all the necessary information I've given you already. Just follow my directions, watch out for the weather and you should come back safe and sound"
"Well thanks, for the advice" Rafael said, at which he was about to take off but was stopped by Samuel. This took Rafael by surprise, but he stopped.
"Just tell me, why do you want to fly to them?" asked the private looking straight into Rafael's eyes, as if to catch that way if the toucan was going to lie.
"Well... I guess every pair of wings in search is important isn't it?" replied Rafael quickly. Samuel tore his gaze away from the toucan with a slow nod.
"Yes... Indeed..." replied the private letting go of Rafael, allowing him to take off.
The toucan took one last look in the direction of his flat. Even though he couldn't see it he imagined it in his head.
"They probably won't even notice I'm gone... Not that I'd be surprised" Rafael thought.
"Thanks for the advice, I'll see you around" Rafael said to the private as he finished pondering. He stood for a while longer, looking off into the distance, the river seemingly endless. A moment later the toucan flew off down the valley.