it Has been done before, and I'm just talking a load of waffle.
But anyway, since this is the story of Rio, as you may imagine, your favourite characters are all here! But in this case, they need to be introduced to you,
as their backstories may be a little different to what you were used to. Or, you may not know it at all...
I'll start with Jewel.
Jewel is a female blue spix's macaw, and in her early life, up to the age of 8, she lived happily in a tribal community with her father and mother. They were excellent
parental figures, and always took good care of her. And her father, in specific, took care of the tribe too. He was the leader. So, Jewel is like a princess, if you will.
They lived happily together there, she had even made a boyfriend, Roberto, who was the top student in every field, and they got along well, even having very cute
nicknames for each other, "Beto" was what Jewel called Roberto, and Roberto called her "Ju-Ju". Cute.
For this to be a decent story, predictably, something has to happen to her for her to have ended up in Rio. And unfortunately (But predictably), something did happen.
One fateful day, there was a huge forest fire, expected to have been started by illegal loggers in the amazon rainforest, who showed no pity for the birds who lived there.
Eduardo, her father and leader of the tribe, after being warned of the blaze, took immediate action to evacuate everyone to a safe place. He took Jewel and ran for safety
but it was soon discovered that they were surrounded. The fire was already burning in all directions.
After a risky decision, he decided to head north away from the blaze, as he thought that seemed like the weakest part of the conflagration.
He could be forgiven if he were wrong. The flames were taller than most of the trees in the jungle, the sky was black with smoke, and the air thick, and barely breathable.
Soon after heading off in the northward direction, they found it to be a living nightmare. Trees were collapsing left, right and center, bringing down hopes of survival
for both the tribe, and the forest with them.
Waging war against mother nature herself to escape with his family, he sound found he was fighting a losing battle. His fears that his family wouldn't make it out alive
were slowly starting to dawn on him. He didn't care if he couldn't make it out, so long as his daughter, and wife did.
It was when they were three quarters of the way out, that the war was nearly over for them. They had all been running through whatever paths were available, Eduardo's guess
that Northwards was a good way to go were mostly correct, but still wasn't safe.
With such a large danger, casualties were expected, and suffered. Eduardo saved everyone he could, but in some cases, was forced to leave them to fend for themselves, as he couldn't afford to lose his daughter, or wife. All women and children in distress were rescued successfully, with acceptable losses. There would be a much larger death toll, had the tribe escaped in any other direction. It seemed as though Eduardo's gamble paid off.
They were three quarters of the way out, until, the felling of the tree that would seal the fate of the family, to be seperated, through two different kinds of loss.
Missing, and death.
Faced with a large obstacle which couldn't be flown, nor jumped over, he knew that it was the end of the road for them. He held Jewel and his wife, who was at his side, tight, until they were knocked off their feet by an explosion behind them. The loggers often used dynamite to fell trees. A box could have perhaps been lost in the blaze, either that, or a large amount of air was added to a tight space.
Eduardo was left stunned by the blast, and his wife was nowhere to be seen.
Jewel, was thrown back through the dense jungle foliage, mercifully (And not for plot convinience), to a safer place.
She was terrified, fire was still all around her, she called out to her father, "Dad!" but it was no use. Her voice was shattered from a combination of both terror, and the smoke filled air, which was so thick, it could practically be chewed on.
It was her turn to do the running now.
Fifteen frightful minutes later, she made it to a clearing that was flame free.
She could slow down to a walking pace.
"A walking pace?" You ask? Well, this story is a bit different to others. In the way that, in this story, all birds show human qualities, or are, "Anthropomorphic". A good example of this, is The Cat in the Hat. He is a cat that shows human qualities. And very much like the way he is a human like cat, these are human like birds.
Are we on the same page now? Good.
If not? Well. You've got the font of all knowledge at your fingertips, so use it to look up the definition of "Anthropomorphic" and stop using it to look at cat photos and have arguments with strangers.
NOW are you on the same page?
If yes, That's great. I'll carry on.
If no, then you're really starting to get my dander up, you grotty little man!
~ ~ ~
After trekking through the jungle for a few days, trying to keep herself safe, Jewel began to lose hope. She had lost both her parents, all her friends, and her beloved. All in a few hours.
The last memory she had of Roberto was saying goodbye to him for the night, and then him flying home. And the last she had of her father, was being in his wings one minute, and getting knocked away the next.
This was a traumatic experience for her, and was one she was not going to forget soon.
She was tired, and hungry, and upset. Tears streaked down her cheeks, and neck as she rolled around the saddening thought in her mind's eye.
After walking for several hours, she became very weary, just fighting the urge to lay down, and sleep. Despite being only over the age of eight, Jewel was no fool, and knew of the things she needed to survive. She needed rest, and her stomach was giving her audible reminders that she was in need of some nourishment, something she decided she would set as her next task.
The jungle was our equivalent of a supermarket. You found what you wanted to eat, and you ate it. Whether it was a juicy fruit.. or bug.
Luckily for Jewel, she wasn't going to be lunching on lugworms, for she found some mangoes which were a reasonable distance above the ground. She put her jungle instincts to good use, expertly climbing the medium tall tree and separating the golden fruit from it. On closer inspection of this tree, she found that at the base, there was a good place to make herself a small den, large enough for her to sleep in.
She thought to herself, "I had best get my strength up before I do anything too strenuous."
There was a small pond very nearby to where she planned to rest herself for the night. It was a clear pond, and some small fish were darting around in the crystal clear water. She watched the moon reflect off their scales. The way the fish effortlessly moved through the water was hypnotic, and Jewel soon found herself in a trance, rolling the bad thoughts around her head.
She was obviously upset at losing her parents. And she couldn't help but feel guilty, as if it were her fault.
Jewel lowered her head in shame, and said quietly to herself, "I've let you down, daddy."
Her mind was racing, she was wondering what to do.
She came to the conclusion, that crying over them wouldn't get her anywhere.
A tear rolled down her beak, she caught it with her tongue and tasted it.
Bitter and salty.
Having had enough of dark thoughts, she began to eat the food and had provided herself. The mango and found was ripe, and sweet, and once it was all gone, Jewel deemed herself thoroughly satisfied.
Not wasting another moment she spent moping, Jewel set about constructing her temporary accommodation.
Jewel was a jungle girl to the core, and a fast learner. She soon had lashed together a cosy little den, big enough to sleep in, with enough room to be comfortable for her.
She had made the walls out of the obvious, and readily available materials, sticks, and the roof was made of large leaves, effortlessly taken from the trees they were attached to thanks to Jewel's determination.
Exhausted, she slid into her humble effort, and give her body the thing it required most,
Rest.
End of part 1.
(Remember to let me know what you thought!)