Blu and company in Nigel's Revenge

by VPVPVP

Blu and company are forced to return to Rio early due to a serious problem. However, while in Rio, they are forced to deal with some old foes, particularly a cockatoo who is out for heated revenge against them and he kidnaps the group's children as bait for the adults. Blu and company must rescue their kids and confront Nigel and his dog friends once and for all.

2. Sad story, meet new additions

Chapter 2- the sad story of Luke and his family and meet the new additions to Blu and company's families

The Sanctuary de Amazon had not changed much since the events of Aurora and company's arrival though it had suffered devastation by the fire which reduced it to a blackened mess for singed plant material while the water areas like the Amazon River had lost a lot of their water to the drought. However, the rainforest had since recovered from the subsequent rains which replenished the dehydrated rivers and lakes and allowed for replacement leaves and plants to grow to start the recovery process. Another thing that had changed was the construction and opening of an animal hospital, the Sanctuary de Amazon Animal Hospital, built by the conservationist from both Rio and Manaus. The medical centre had been built in a deforested area and served as a place of treatment for the animals of the Amazon sanctuary. This was good as it saved a LOT of air travel into the rainforest and other hassle as animals can be treated here and not at faraway places like Manaus. The building had three storeys. The bottom floor was reserved for the more dangerous creatures of the Amazon Rainforest such as jaguars, anacondas and river crocodiles while the higher levels were for birds and other smaller animals, providing them a safer facility away from the predators treated on the ground floor. The area of the sanctuary itself was vast, larger than the Blu Bird Sanctuary in Rio de Janeiro. It covered the territories of all three tribes living here, the Spix macaw tribe, the red macaw tribe and the mixed-species tribe which was formed from a wide variety of animal clans, among them a clan of endemic Amazon flying foxes, supposed-to-be-extinct winged creatures like pterosaurs and archaeobirds as well as Cuban red macaws which originated from Central America, and new species recently discovered such as the purple-and-pink macaw, as well as other extremely rare creatures like the glaucous and Lear's macaws. The Sanctuary de Amazon also covered unoccupied territory including the area in which Rudi's group of glaucous macaws lived before they claimed it. Life continued to flow by via its normal pace in these areas with the usual business of gathering food, raising young and going out on patrol trips as sent by the leaders Eduardo of the Spix macaw tribe, Felipe of the red macaw tribe which consisted of scarlet and green-winged macaws, and Augustus from the mixed-species tribe to check on things, but especially Rudi's group's activities in their little area for reasons mentioned in the previous chapter. Things were indeed fine for now.

In a certain part of the Sanctuary de Amazon just outside the Spix macaw tribe's ravine, a meet-up by a circle of friends established by a group of certain young teen macaws and near-adult flying foxes was going on. This circle had been established by Carla, Bia and Tiago, the first brood daughters and son of Blu and Jewel, alongside Zephyr and Aurora's chicks Justin, Charlotte, Matilda, Virgil and Eustace; the glaucous macaws and offspring of Sirius and Bellatrix and their respective mates Samara and Antares, Tristan, Quincy, Sapphire, Trixie, Aiden, Levi and Phoebe; the two Catalina son and daughter of scarlet macaw Ruby and blue-and-gold macaw Ferdinand, Opal and Sheldon; and Sandalwood, Acerola and Hermione, the three older pups of Orion and Ahsoka. The circle of friends were the usual friends of the central group and among them were Petunia the scarlet/green-winged hybrid macaw who was dating Sheldon (her mother was a green-winged macaw named Dani and her father, a scarlet macaw named Ramon. She had a rather rocky relationship with her parents who had becoming overbearing and overprotective of her since the fire last year), Connie, a female flying fox who was dating Sandalwood; a female great green macaw named Esmeralda, a male hyacinth macaw chick named Victor who often wore a fruit shell cap, a female blue-and-gold macaw chick named Orquidea and her brother Brock who was dating Opal; Annette the Lear's macaw from the small Lear's macaw clan of the mixed-species tribe, Spyro the archaeobird who was the son of the archaeobird clan leaders, Eragon and Andromeda, Alexandre the silver bat-bird; Wilbur the Cuban red macaw who was the son of a childhood friend of Orion, Cersei, a Cuban red macaw, Rosa the purple-and-pink macaw, Stinky the hoatzin who was Fedor's son, and Cobalto the blue-throated macaw. Also with the group were Spix macaws Turquesa (daughter of the head sentry macaw named Maximillian) who was dating Eustace, and a male macaw named Azul who was dating Charlotte, and also Neytiri, the daughter of the mixed-species tribe glaucous macaw leaders Rodrigo and Ceu who was dating Tristan. Raul, another male Spix macaw teen who used to date Bia, was no longer a part of the group as we shall see later, but what he had done had shattered Bia's heart and Bia was still overcoming the mental wounds inflicted on her by him and she had her friends and siblings to comfort her. This rather large group of a variety of animals were talking, the subject being the three new Lear's macaw friends of Carla, Bia and Tiago and company back in Rio, and Annette the Lear's macaw asked the next question for she was curious about this little family.

"So, tell us more about this chick Quaoar and his parents Luke and um..." began she when she forgot the name of the mother. The others had their ears cocked to drink in the story of the three Lear's macaws.

"Hauyne," said Carla, to which Annette nodded.

"They met in Peru, right?" asked Turquesa.

"They did," said Carla, "Luke used to be a pet of a human named Nick who raised him in Australia. Luke was smuggled out of this country and taken to that part of the world as a chick much like Dad, Uncle Sirius and Aunts Bellatrix and Aurora were except they went to the United States and Britain respectively. However, Luke was born in a different part of Brazil far away from here."

"Then Luke and Nick had to travel to Iquitos, Peru so that Luke could meet Hauyne who had been rescued from a black market selling captured exotic animals," said Bia. Then Tiago spoke, a dark look on his face. "You don't wanna know what HORRIBLE torture that poor macaw had to endure but she had been kept in appalling conditions. She had been kept in a small plastic box with only a few holes poked into the sides to allow her to breathe and she was purchased in that box by the Iquitos conservationists posing as collectors and quickly taken to the conservation centre to be nursed back to health. The black marketers, however, were eventually arrested for the treatment of their animals, thankfully, when the conservationists showed them footage they had recorded with a hidden thing called a camera by humans to the authorities, people in charge and who run justice in the human areas."

"Hauyne absolutely DESPISES dark tight spaces," said Justin, "The term for that is claustrophobia. Any box always makes Hauyne shudder."

Revulsion tore through the listeners.

"That's HORRIBLE!" said Connie.

"Ma and Pa have told us about poacher cruelty but we didn't think they'd treat their captured animals like THAT!" said Orquidea.

"Putting animals into those cube things like they are rocks," put in Brock repulsively, "the very thought of it makes my stomach sick, sick, sick..."

The others nodded in agreement.

"Anyway, go on," said Esmeralda, she and the others eager to hear more. Charlotte told the next segment of the Lear's macaw family's story.

"As soon as Hauyne was nursed back to health, she was put in a breeding enclosure to meet Luke. However, when Luke was introduced, he absolutely refused to have chicks with her as he didn't want to that with a macaw he had just met, to the dismay of the conservationists including his owner Nick."

"Then one night, thieves came and ransacked the enclosure, kidnapping both Luke and Hauyne in a similar way Uncle Blu, Uncle Jewel and then Mom, Dad, and Aunties Brisa, Samara, Bellatrix and Ahsoka and Uncles Sirius, Orion and Antares were taken from the Rio conservation centre," continued Matilda, "Apparently, those thieves had been bribed into stealing those two Lear's macaws for the smugglers of which this hideous Nigel cockatoo and Brutus and his dog pack were a part. And there, began the adventures of the couple in Peru, starting with their escape. Their adventures occurred a few months before Uncle Blu and Aunt Jewel's adventures in Rio began."

"They bonded and eventually had to confront Nigel and his dog friends," said Virgil, before a dark look formed on his face, "And here's where their story gets particularly dark."

"This Hauyne macaw was kidnapped by those mean dogs and parrot?" asked Azul.

"Correct," said Eustace, the others including Carla, Bia and Tuago nodding in agreement to this, "Brutus' minions had captured Hauyne and held as bait by Nigel and the other city dogs to lure in Luke. But those HORRIBLE beasts put poor Hauyne through serious torture."

"One of them being forcing her into a tight plastic box which brought back a MASSIVE floodwater of HORRIFIC memories of her time at that black market," said Tristan, the glaucous macaws taking their turn to tell the next parts of the backstory of Luke and Hauyne. The oldest son of Sirius and Samara then began to tremble. "And... and Nigel got a LOT of pleasure from the screams of terror and distress from the poor macaw while she was struggling in that box, begging to be let out. Apparently, some dogs, including even Brutus apparently though he likes to torment and taunt his prisoners before their selling by their owners, believed that he was going TOO FAR with his torturing of Hauyne for they wanted her in good condition for their owners the smugglers to sell and rake in a LARGE sum of money, the thing humans use to trade things."

"And when Luke finally found that group's hideout with some ravens and pigeons he and Hauyne had befriended during their adventures," added Quincy, "You will NOT believe what happened next."

"I bet he was FURIOUS at what that cockatoo was doing to his poor girlfriend," said Wilbur the Cuban red macaw with a frown.

"I INDEED would be if MY girlfriend was put through that kinda torture," said Alexandre the silver-and-white bat-bird."

"Same here," added Spyro, "I am currently dating Marella and if ANYONE EVER treated her like that, I wouldn't hesitate to launch myself at the torturer and rip his feathers or fur out."

"Oh, Luke did worse than that, Spyro," said Sapphire darkly.

"Luke loved Hauyne very deeply and their bond is still strong even now," put in little Trixie in squeaky voice. Then Aiden continued. "When Luke saw what that psycho-too was doing to his girlfriend, he practically LAUNCHED himself at him and began to savagely beat him while his raven and pigeon friends battled the dog pack including their leader, Brutus, as well as rescue Hauyne from that torture prison-box Nigel had stuffed her into."

"And that battle with Nigel was to change Luke's life forever," continued Levi darkly. "He managed to land some NASTY injuries on Nigel including brutal claw marks, and he deliberately tore off his magnificent crest (which I believed looked like a tatty feather duster when we got a glimpse of him but Dad (Antares) had to hastily get us to safety when that cockatoo lost his temper at the 'insensitive' remark), with one yank."

"But the moment Luke tore off the part of the plumage he took most pride in, all bets were off," continued Phoebe. The listeners then shuddered as Opal stepped forward to tell the next part of the story. "That cockatoo, described by Luke when he told us his and Hauyne's story back in Rio during our first summer trip there (after that STUPID ordeal those big-nosed brats put poor Sandalwood, Acerola and Hermione through with Mauro and his marmoset gang)," as she said this, said three bats nodded in agreement, scowls on their faces. Opal continued. "Um... Luke described to us the cockatoo's untold WRATH as being like a HUGE flash of fire, that wrath terrifying even to Brutus and his dog pack and they daren't provoke Nigel to THAT level of anger. He described to us that Nigel had simply lost ALL thought and went EXTREMELY rabid."

"We won't describe what happened to Luke but that cockatoo reduced him to a SEVERELY partially featherless and beaten mess to say the least," continued Sheldon, making the listeners flinch in horror, "his left wing suffered SEVERE damage and his life was left on the line."

"Did he almost DIE?" asked Stinky the hoatzin.

"He would have done had the ravens and pigeons not guided the conservationist and police group to Nigel and company's location, though sadly, Nigel (despite his severely beaten state) and company and their smuggler owners fled, having abandoned trying to steal the two Lear's macaws to avoid getting caught," said Sandalwood, the flying foxes now taking their turn to explain the story, "and when the conservationists found Hauyne and the terrible state Luke was in (to his owner Nick's UTMOST horror and tears), they immediately took the two Lear's macaws and whatever other bird the smugglers had managed to capture back to Iquitos Conservation Centre for treatment."

"And here's where the most heartbreaking news comes in," continued Acerola. She tried to stifle the urge to weep for this was indeed the saddest part of the story. "The surgeons tried to save Luke's badly mangled left wing but... it was so damaged beyond repair that they had no choice... but to..." she then felt her emotions overwhelm her and she began to weep. Apologising to the listeners, she went aside with Sandalwood to have a cry. Hermione continued. She jerked her head to shift the part of the fringe covering her left eye away from her mouth. Since leaving her mother Ahsoka's breast and being weaned, Hermione had grown and her hair had grown in length, the left part of the fringe cascading down over her left eye. Though she liked this style, sometimes the fringe tickled her nose and mouth.

"Luke lost his wing completely," said Victor, raising a wing to shift his fruit shell hat back to its correct place on his head when it slid with his head as he tilted it.

"He did and he ended up grounded for life," replied Hermione, "in addition to a LOT of scars including one on his forehead dangerously close to his left eye. He had been UTTERLY lucky there as he would have lost an eye too, like Grandpa did when he dealt with that harpy eagle threatening his tribe and clan."

"Dad (Blu) told us how LUCKY he and Jewel got off when facing that cockatoo," said Carla, "We had ABSOLUTELY no idea that he would be SO VIOLENT to THAT extent."

"Grandpa Alvin and Grandma Isabella told us that they had glimpsed that cockatoo's barbaric sadism and fury when they killed Aunt Aurora's parents and injured them as well," said Tristan, his siblings Quincy, Sapphire and Trixie and cousins Aiden, Levi and Sapphire nodding in agreement.

"Continue," said Victor, the others cocking their ears to hear more. Hermione continued.

"Anyway, Luke lost his left wing and his ability to fly. He had been able to fly even under the ownership of his human friend Nick but not as a chick for he had been under the age of flight when he was poached, but Nick eventually taught him. However, he was returned to that state after losing his left wing. That result had reduced poor Luke and also Nick to EXTREME sadness and depression."

"However, Hauyne ASOLUTELY refused to leave his side despite this," said Carla, "Though Luke profusely insisted that she do so for she would be burdened with a one-winged, grounded mate for one and she was a wild macaw who wasn't keen on human environments for another. However, despite all that, Hauyne refused to leave him."

"And then the pair became mates but then another obstacle swooped into their path like a bird of prey," said Bia, "Hauyne was struggling to conceive and produce viable eggs."

"That's like how Tristan here and Quincy, Sapphire and Trixie had what would have been a fifth sibling but that egg never hatched," interjected Neytiri.

"That was simply a one-off," said Tristan, "But in Hauyne's case, it was more than once."

"Anyway, continuing," said Tiago, "The two Lear's macaws tried to have chicks for weeks until finally, they managed to hatch one egg from a clutch of three, a son they had named Quaoar. After that, Hauyne suffered a condition called egg binding and had to undergo surgery to save her life from that horrendous problem and since then, she cannot have any more eggs."

"Quaoar is their ONLY chick and TRULY treasured son," said Justin, "and he was also treasured by the conservationists including Nick and they set to helping the couple raise him, including teaching him how to fly which Nick contributed mostly, using the experience he had with Luke when he taught him to fly. The group ensured that he survived for the trio, after all, was part of a critically endangered macaw species."

"We Lear's macaws are rare but not as rare as the glaucous and Spix macaws, though," said Annette, "And certainly not the even rarer macaws such as the Cuban red or Dominican green-and-yellow macaws."

"Or the archaeobirds, dragonbirds and bat-birds," put in Spyro.

"Then a little while later after Quaoar took his first wing flaps," continued Charlotte, "the conservation centre became targeted by another group of smugglers who were clearly after the little Lear's macaw family and despite Luke having one wing. Eventually, Luke and Hauyne and their son were transferred from Iquitos to Rio for the Blue Bird Project Team to look after and protect for they had stronger and better protection measures, especially that enclosure built beside the conservation centre for birds and other animals too injured to be returned to the wild, and the Lear's macaw family took up residence in there."

"And that is how we met them during our trip to Rio almost last year," said Matilda, essentially wrapping out the backstory of the three Lear's macaws and bringing the sun back out of the dark clouds, "As for Luke's human friend Nick, he had begun dating Joanna, Auntie Ahsoka's foster human and expert bat-studier specialising in the Amazon flying fox, and has been doing so throughout this time."

"I'm glad that they have a happier life in your secondary home now," said Petunia with a smile, "I would love to meet them at some point."

"Luke cannot fly, Petunia," said Sheldon, reminding the ruby (scarlet/green-winged hybrid) macaw, "Because of that, alongside all the trauma the trio went through, they cannot accompany us to here."

"Quaoar might once he leaves his parents' side when he is old enough," said Sandalwood who stood with Acerola who had recovered from her weeping over Luke, Hauyne and Quaoar's sad backstory, "Though I am not sure if his parents might allow him..."

The listeners then formed smiles.

"Well, I hope he does come here," said Annette, "My Lear's macaw clan will not hesitate to welcome him with open wings, especially if he decides to join us and become a member."

"He is too young at the moment," said Matilda, her wing interlocking with Tiago's, showing the two's relationship as a couple which was still developing, "His parents are quite overprotective of him and don't want him to..."

Suddenly, a shout exploded from nearby, yanking the group's attention in the shouter's direction. One member, Petunia, rolled her eyes for she knew who that voice belonged to.

"Petunia!" yelled the shouter, a female green-winged macaw named Dani, a glare on her face aiming directly at the half-green-winged chick, "You have been hanging out with those lot long enough .it is time for you to come home."

"But Mom," began Petunia but her green-winged mother cut her off.

"No 'BUTS', young lady, now COME along!" retorted she and with that, she flew a little further and waited for her daughter to follow. Petunia gazed in disappointment at the others.

"Mom and Dad NEVER allow me out of their hollow to hang out with you guys for long," she groaned in disgruntlement, before he gaze rested on Sheldon, "They do NOT approve of me dating you as well."

Then before anyone could speak, the ruby macaw opened her wings and lofted into flight after her mother to return to the red macaw tribe's home grove. Hermione glared after the pair sourly, her right eye, her left one hidden under her fringe, laced with the sourness.

"Her parents HONESTLY aren't fair with her, are they?" she told the others, "She's a TEEN MACAW now, not a young CHICK. Not anymore, anyway."

"Since the fire last year," said Brock, his sister Orquidea looking on, "Her parents had become EXTREMELY overprotective of her for she was almost lost to it along with her mother."

"But their overprotective and overbearing attitude is poisoning their relationship," said Opal, "When Mom, Dad and I, along with Uncle Felipe, Auntie Pearl and our three cousins Luca, Realgar and Spinel flew past their tree on an outing and training the latter three in flight, we heard an argument explode from the hollow and Uncle Felipe actually went there to ask what was going on, and Ramon told him that their daughter had been misbehaving and that he had just sent her to her room."

"Something's gotta give," said Sandalwood, "If that blended red macaw family continues down that path, Petunia will eventually start to rebel."

"Frequent arguments even over the most insignificant things is usually in indicator that the relationship is about to go sour," said Matilda, the others nodding in agreement to this.

"And sometimes, relationships can just shatter like that," said Virgil with a click of his talon toes at the exact moment he said the last word.

"Yes, and that had happened between me and Raul last week," growled Bia angrily, "He dumped me for someone else that he won't mention, claiming me to be 'too smart' who 'talks nothing but gobbledegook'..." and as she spoke, her still-wounded emotions began to boil and tears welled within her eyes. Carla and Tiago put comforting wings on her back as she began to weep again.

"I hope he is not dating that foul Aguamarina," said Acerola seriously, "because you know she has been evicted from the Spix macaw tribe along with her mother Myrtle for her behaviour towards Uncle Roberto and Aunt Brisa, especially the latter, among other things such as her treatment of Mom and company and numerous other macaws and other animals including Aunt Ruby and her family."

"Uncle Roberto actually CLAWED Myrtle across the face when she was about to actually kill Brisa so that she could have him, and she still bears the scars of that NASTY set of claw marks," said Tristan. "She actually looks awful with them now."

"Got her REAL good," growled Carla scornfully, "THAT was what Mom said when we were told how she had tried to drive a wedge between Uncle Beto and Auntie Brisa to the point of fighting and almost killing the latter."

The others nodded in agreement though some sympathised with Myrtle at how she will have to spend the rest of her life alone, having been permanently evicted from the Spix macaw tribe with a set of disfiguring claw mark scars inflicted on her by Roberto, and her daughter Aguamarina will likely have to grow up alone unless she changed her ways.

As the group continued talking, wing flaps sounded nearby. The group turned to a small group of older flying foxes, Spix macaws and a red and a blue-and-gold macaw as they entered their earshot.

"Hi, Grandpa Augustus and Grandma Melissa, Mom, Dad," called Sandalwood, Acerola and Hermione together when they saw the four flying foxes, one of them with scars on his belly and a leaf-bandana over his right eye, souvenirs of his brush with death at the clutches of the deadliest air predator in the rainforest, the harpy eagle when rescuing some of his clan members.

"Hello, Mom, Auntie Mimi, Uncle Roberto, Auntie Brisa, Uncle Zephyr and Auntie Ruby," called the glaucous and Spix chicks while Opal and Sheldon shouted 'Mom' when they saw their scarlet mother. The group consisting of these individuals smiled. However, they had some youngsters with them.

"Hi, you lot," said Zephyr with a smile, his sister, handsome brother-in-law and two young chicks flanking him, "Enjoying your time together?"

"Yes, we were just discussing about our new friends Luke and his family," said Carla.

"It had been VERY sad and disturbing," said Esmeralda the great green macaw teen. Zephyr's sister, Brisa, fluttered forward, an agreeing frown on her face.

"Indeed it is VERY sad," she said.

"It was HORRENDOUS what the poor couple went through, especially Luke with the loss of his left wing," said Ruby who was surrounded by three scarlet macaw chicks.

"Even we cannot believe what damage that VILE, LOW-DOWN, MAGGOT Nigel could do to his exotic bird victims when Luke explained his family's backstory," put in Jewel, malice with a pH as low as a human thing called a car's battery acid boiling within her voice tone. She hasn't forgotten the broken wing that cockatoo had inflicted on her and despite Aurora, Sirius and Bellatrix's insistence that she move on and put that behind her, she still wanted to give Nigel a piece of her mind. Even MORE so after hearing from Luke what he had done to him and Hauyne.

"But Petunia had been called away by Mrs Dani," said Sandalwood.

"Again!?" said Ruby with a scowl, "Ramon and Dani HONESTLY have a problem," she then turned to the Spix macaws and the flying foxes, who were Jewel, Mimi, Roberto, Brisa, Zephyr and Augustus, Melissa, Orion and Ahsoka, the latter two having two bundles of fur on their back and front respectively. "Their relationship with their daughter honestly has soured since she has become a teen."

"They have become overprotective of her since the fire," said Mimi, "That may be no surprise but I think they are going too far with it."

"Their relationship's honestly gonna become toxic," said Roberto in his sparkling clean glass water voice.

"Don't get me wrong, I had been overprotective of our chicks too," said Zephyr, "Especially after that fire last year but as Mom and Dad (Gael and Viento) have told me and Brisa, you can't keep your kids in your hollow forever."

"Yes," said Augustus, "there'll come a time when they have to leave the nest to start their own lives."

The others nodded in agreement.

"By the way, I can see you've brought our younger siblings, cousins and Ganymede and Gordie with you," said Carla with a smile at the little forms surrounding the group.

"Oh, we are just taking Neptune, Arrokoth, Chrysocolla, Lavendulan, Finnick, Ganymede, Gordie and also Ruby's nephew Luca and nieces Spinel and Realgar out for a flight," explained Jewel with a nod to the new additions to the families, "Blu is back in the ravine undergoing training with Dad in leadership skills when he and I take over his role as leaders of our tribe while Felipe and Pearl are busy with tribe duties with Ferdinand helping..."

As she spoke, the ten new members fluttered forward with Sandalwood and his sisters' new brothers jumping off Orion's back and Ahsoka's breast.

"Don't go too far, Ganymede and Gordie," Ahsoka told the twins. Carla and company smiled as they gazed at their new siblings, their extra-family friends looking on.

Neptune, Arrokoth and Chrysocolla, Blu and Jewel's second-brood chicks, the younger brothers and sister of Carla, Bia and Tiago, and three new grandkids of Eduardo and great nephews and niece of Mimi, had passed the stage when they looked very similar with few distinguishing features. They were now older chicks. Neptune, he oldest of the second brood, had blue feathers like his father Blu and also had his eye patches bordered by a solid band, three-feathered crest behind his head and a ruffle of feathers behind his neck, and he had a stocky build. He basically looked like a spitting image of Blu but he had solid green feathers like his grandfather Eduardo and older sister Carla, but not actually teal like his mother Jewel. Neptune therefore resembled a young Blu with green eyes. He was a lot like Bia and favoured stargazing and for his age, he knew all the constellations, having learned them from Bia and Sheldon's astronomy books. Arrokoth sported cerulean feathers unlike his brothers Neptune and Tiago and like his mother Jewel and grandfather Eduardo, and he had a white face mask like Jewel. His build was also stocky and he had a crest similar to Blu and his brown eyes. His main interests were drawing and art, an interest not present in the first-brood chicks. For his age, Arrokoth could draw some impressive pictures using berry juice and Blu and Jewel had found him a drawing book and some crayons for him to use, those things being back at the family's hollow in the Spixt tribe's ravine. Lastly, Chrysocolla, named after a blue-green mineral, sported cyan body feathers with a teal tint. However, her wing and tail feathers were cerulean and she had separate eye patches bordered by a dark blue band like her father Blu. Her crest and somewhat stocky build resembled her mother Jewel's crest and build. She was feisty and seemed to show no special interests yet. Her eyes were a shade of teal, also like her mother Jewel.

Felipe and Pearl's chicks who were also Ruby's nephew and nieces, Luca, Realgar and Spinel were also past the young chick stage. All three had red plumage feathers like every scarlet macaw but Luca's was red-orange, Realgar's was pure red like her parents and Spinel had a pink tinge to hers. All three had blue wing and tail flight feathers but in Luca, they were blue; Realgars were azure and Spinel's were teal. Luca had a feather ruffle like his father, blue-green eyes and a stocky build; Realgar's eyes were lime green and she also had a feather ruffle like her father and brother and her build was slender while Spine; had a simpler flick of feathers on her head, blue eyes and a slender build. Their personalities were also beginning to show with Luca being protective, feisty and a rhyme-speaker not much different from his father Felipe's tendency; Realgar was extremely feisty and occasionally had a short temper and Spinel was more laidback and slightly prideful. Of the three that bore most of Felipe's personality, it had to be his son Luca.

Roberto and Brisa's chicks and the cousins of Justin, Charlotte, Virgil, Matilda and Eustace and Zephyr and Aurora's nephew and niece, Finnick and Lavendulan, had inherited their father's crystalline traits. Finnick looked a lot like Roberto but he had Brisa's cerulean feathers, his flight feathers being darker than the rest of his body plumage. He had Brisa's blue-white head and neck, sea-green eyes and a stocky build. The most obvious feature he had inherited from Roberto was his crest. The feathers were blue and contrasted with the rest of his plumage. However, Finnick lacked the additional small feather that stuck up. Like his father, these feathers were expressive and during a surge of emotion like fright or anger, they would spike out. Finnick's singing voice was as elaborate as his father's and he had a protective nature and liked soccer, much like one of his cousins, Charlotte. His younger sister Lavendulan sported eye-catching electric blue feathers similar to Virgil and Matilda, though her wings, tail and crest which was a tuft above the beak like her mother Brisa, were a darker cerulean. Lavendulan had Roberto's head markings, the blue-white extending up her neck and to her eyes. She also had Roberto's crest, though they were thinner and longer, much like Samara due to her sex and she kept them tied into a ponytail. The ponytail feathers were pale blue-lilac, almost periwinkle. Like Finnick, whenever Lavendulan got angry or scared, her ponytail would flare out. She was a talented dancer and sports enthusiast and had a beautiful singing voice, but Lavendulan also sported a feisty and free-spirited personality not unlike that of Jewel or Antares.

Last of all, Ahsoka and Orion's two new pups, Ganymede and Gordie, were identical twin flying foxes due to them having the exact same physical traits. However, they differed from their three older siblings Sandalwood, Acerola and Hermione in their fur colour. While Sandalwood was golden yellow, Acerola was brown and Hermione, ginger and red, Ganymede and Gordie sported chocolate brown fur, darker than Augustus, Orion and Acerola's brown. Both had a white patch on their chests, ruffle around their necks like their father Orion, and pale blue eyes that was obviously closer in correlation to their father's eyes than their mother's lilac eyes, and they were slightly stocky in build. However, their build may change as they grew. Because Ganymede and Gordie looked so alike, they were often hard to tell apart, even by their parents and macaw 'aunts and uncles' and it was not a surprise that mix-ups between the two occurred, and Blu was no exception. The twins were quite mischievous, much like Tiago and Matilda (but NEVER to the same extent as the TRULY naughty toucan kids of Rafael and Eva back in Rio) and often used their identical appearance to their advantage in their pranks. One time, they joined Tiago, Matilda and some other macaw chicks, and also one of Antares and Bellatrix's sons, Levi, in pranking Blu with a spider during Orion and his family's previous visit to the Spix tribe ravine with Sirius, Bellatirx and their big family including their parents Isabella and Alvin and younger siblings Pietro and Wanda (both of who were dating a female and a male glaucous macaw respectively from Rodrigo's clan at the time) and Orion and Ahsoka had brought their new pups with them. Blu had tried to sleep in while Jewel went to get a Brazil nut to introduce Neptune, Arrokoth and Chrysocolla to them. No-one else had been in the tree at the time of the prank for midmorning was approaching. And as before, the usual frightened scream exploded from Blu and his family's tree. That scream had attracted the attention of Eduardo, Zephyr, Aurora, Sirius, Bellatrix, Antares, Samara, Alvin, Isabella, Pietro and Wanda and the last two's respective girlfriend and boyfriend, a female macaw named Carolina and a male macaw named Wikstrom, who were also the future mates of the two, and Orion and Ahsoka and they went to investigate. To the amusement of all of them, Blu was chasing several Spix macaw chicks, among them Tiago and Matilda, and to Antares, Bellatrix, Orion and Ahsoka's astonishment, a GLAUCOUS MACAW CHICK and two FLYING FOX PUPS out of his family's hollow, and that was where Ganymede and Gordie pulled off their confusion prank on the poor Spix macaw. To Eduardo and the others', especially Orion and Ahsoka's, UTMOST amusement, Blu kept calling Ganymede Gordie and Gordie, Ganymede and the pair deliberately added more power to the current of confusion of the poor former bird companion of Linda. When he reprimanded Ganymede for the spider prank, Gordie called out, "He's not Ganymede, Uncle Blu, I AM!"

"Seriously, Uncle Blu, call yourself a nerd bird?" Ganymede had taunted.

"Oh, sorry, Gordie," said Blu in annoyance to Ganymede, taken in by the induced mix-up. Then Ganymede smirked, walked over to Blu and his family's tree and climbed up it until he was the same level as Blu's eyes.

"Gotcha, Uncle Blu, I AM Ganymede," he had tittered cheekily and dropped off into flight towards his parents, Gordie, titters also escaping his mouth, following, leaving Blu in a state of further embarrassment, especially as Eduardo and company also released titters.

"Yes, our two new sons are indeed difficult to tell apart at times," said Orion with a smile on his new sons, and the way they took advantage of this after pranking Blu with that spider when he tried to sleep in was certainly hilarious."

"And at least they know to avoid taking ANY prank TOO so as to cause harm or severe consequences," put in Ahsoka with a frown, "One of the marmosets from Mauro's gang, his own mate (he now has a mate with a couple of babies but they are as mischievous as him and his gang, especially when it comes to human valuables like jewels and expensive watches) actually got hurt when those STUPID toucan kids of that irresponsible toco toucan and his keel-billed screechy mate pelted them and their gang with fruit and nabbed their loot."

"Yes, she fell down a steep incline of the bank towards the river after slipping on a banana skin put there by one of the toucan kids, stopping just before the water," said Orion angrily. The others nodded in agreement.

"Rafael may be my and Blu's friend but he certainly has a serious problem," said Jewel as Neptune, Arrokoth and Chrysocolla returned to her while Lavendulan and Finnick returned to Zephyr, Brisa and Roberto and Spinel, Realgar and Luca joined Ruby.

"When you told me and my younger brother how many chicks that toucan couple who live in your place of origin had, I almost fainted," said Mimi, "I could NEVER understand HOW ON EARTH they could manage with THAT many children at one time..."

"Too many to tend to, that's all I can say," said Augustus.

"Definitely," said Melissa in agreement.

"I would NEVER want to have THAT many little Roberto's in such a short amount of time," added Roberto with a frown, before his loving fatherly gaze turned to his son and daughter, "Two is enough for us at the moment but in time, we may add some siblings to them to play with."

"Felipe and Pearl are UTTERLY glad that you have managed to settle down with a mate and two chicks," said Ruby, "They, along with me and Ferdinand, are proud of you."

The others nodded in agreement. Then Bia gazed at Ganymede and Gordie.

"Anyway, coming back to Sandalwood and his sisters' two new brothers, they are indeed SO alike, like you've said," said she as she examined the two little chocolate brown bat pups before they returned to their parents, "Even I cannot tell them apart."

"Flying fox twins are actually quite rare," said Stinky the hoatzin.

"They are, Stinky, and they are a BIG challenge to raise by the mother and her mate alone," said Melissa, "Especially carrying them. The mother bat can only carry so much load, and TWO pups clutching to her breast just adds too much weight for her to fly."

"Mother bats can only carry one pup at a time," said Augustus.

"The only other example I can think of is a flying fox friend of my parents," said Wilbur the Cuban red macaw, "but their pups are a son and a daughter and both differed in appearance. They are teens now."

"They're called dizygotic twins, or fraternal twins, originating from TWO separate zygotes or fertilised eggs," said Bia.

"While monozygotic or identical twins come from the SAME fertilised egg or zygote," said Sheldon before nodding to Ganymede and Gordie as they clutched onto Ahsoka's breast and Orion's back, "Like those two."

Titters rolled through the two groups and Esmeralda turned to the others.

"Complicated terms, they are," she said, "I don't know how they seem to get them."

Then Brock leaned in and whispered to her and Orquidea, his wing covering his beak to prevent Bia and the others from hearing, "To be honest with you folks, they sound like gibberish terms," however, he flinched when he found himself on the receiving end of a yellow-eyed glare from a colourful macaw. Opal had shot him a glare, having heard what he had said about Bia and her brother's scientific intelligence. Brock immediately issued an apology. Then Trixie stepped up, a smile on her beak.

"Well, I'm off to meet Volo for another outing with some other glaucous macaws from our little clan," the shorter-than-average young glaucous macaw squeaked, "We are planning on going on a group trip out to the orchid grove to admire those pretty looking flowers."

"Then you get yourself off, TRrixie, and I hope it goes well," said Carla, before she turned to the others, "And as for the rest of you, I'm afraid our meet-up has come to an end, sorry to say. I shall meet you all in two days' time at the same location at the same time. Dismissed."

With that, the mixed-species group dispersed, though some were indeed disappointed that the session had to end. As Esmeralda, Spyro, Victor, Orquidea and Brock, Wilbur and the other non-Spix and red macaw group members flew off to return to the mixed-species tribe and their parents, Annette approached Carla, Bia and Tiago while Trixie followed the other mixed-species tribe members back to their grove where her big family had moved.

"I hope this Quaoar macaw or whatever his name is could come with you from this Rio place," she said, "I would love to meet him."

"So would I," said Spyro on a distant branch before he dropped into a glide. The others were out of earshot to hear this. Then Zephyr touched down, a small smile on his beak.

"We'll see," said he, "His parents Luke and Hauyne are a bit against their only son venturing off into this wild environment at the moment."

"Yes, and secondly, he is still too young to go by himself," put in Jewel. Annette breathed a slightly disappointed sigh and followed the other mixed-species tribe members, as well as Trixie, back to the mixed-species tribe's home grove.

"Well, I think we should make our way back to the Spix tribe's ravine ourselves," said Roberto, his gaze on his son and daughter, "I would like to introduce Finnick and Lavendulan on how to plant flowers."

"And I have to return these three to their parents back in our tribe's grove," said Ruby, her smile on Luca, Spinel and Realgar, "I think they've been out here with me long enough."

"Yes, and Blu will be waiting for us after his training session with Dad," said Jewel as she hovered with Mimi, Neptune, Arrokoth and Chrysocolla.

"Would you lot like to come with us, kids?" asked Zephyr.

"Especially you, glaucous macaws, as your parents are waiting for you back in our ravine," said Brisa.

"We'll have to let them know that Trixie is on a group outing with her boyfriend Volo and some other young glaucous macaws," said Roberto. Carla, Bia and Tiago, together with Sheldon, Opal, Tristan, Quincy, Sapphire, Aiden, Levi, Phoebe, Sandalwood, Acerola and Hermione smiled and either dropped or lofted into flight and joined the group. Then once the two groups merged into one, they returned to the Spix tribe's ravine though Ruby, together with Sheldon and Opal, will be continuing on to the red tribe's territory top return Luca, Realgar and Spinel to Felipe and Pearl, as well as meet Ferdinand. On the way, Carla, Bia and Tiago happily gave Neptune, Arrokoth and Chrysocolla flying piggy backs to their amusement while Sandalwood, Acerola and Hermione offered to carry Ganymede and Gordie and Justin, Charlotte, Matilda, Virgil and Eustace, their two new cousins Lavendulan and Finnick foe the trip back. Jewel, Roberto, Brisa, Zepyr, Orion and Ahsoka obliged, happy that the older siblings and cousins were bonding with the new additions.